Conor McGregor arrested for 'attempted sexual assault and sexual exhibition' in France
Arrested: UFC star Conor McGregor © Reuters
Conor McGregor has landed in hot water with the authorities in France after being arrested for alleged "attempted sexual assault and sexual exhibition" in Corsica.
The ex-UFC featherweight and lightweight champion was arrested and questioned by police before later being released. His management told TMZ Sports that McGregor "strenuously denies" the charges.
The news was first broken by AFP Sport, who tweeted to say that McGregor had been arrested for "indecent exposure," but a follow-up tweet provided more context to the incident following a statement from the prosecutor's office.
"Following a complaint filed on September 10 denouncing acts that could be described as attempted sexual assault and sexual exhibition, Mr. Conor Anthony Mac Gregor was the subject of a hearing by the police," the statement read.
McGregor was due to participate in a charity water-bike race with Princess Charlene of Monaco, but now looks set to miss the event, which takes place Saturday and Sunday between Corsica and Monaco.
McGregor was arrested and prosecuted following the infamous dolly-throwing incident before UFC 223 in Brooklyn, and he was arrested for felony robbery outside a Miami nightclub in 2019.
He also hit the headlines for punching an elderly man in a Dublin pub in April 2019.
He announced his retirement from the UFC earlier this year, but many believe it was simply a ploy to ensure he gets the best deal possible upon his return to action.
China to deport U.S. lawyer following 'unproven' rape charges
By Elizabeth Shim
A U.S. attorney in China who served on the board of China's ZTE Corp. is to be deported following charges of sexual assault. File Photo by Stephen Shaver/UPI | License Photo
Sept. 17 (UPI) -- Chinese authorities have decided to deport a U.S. attorney for violating local laws in connection to the alleged rape of his "foster daughter."
Bao Yuming, an American lawyer originally from Tianjin, China, and licensed to practice law in both countries, was accused of infractions related to charges of sexual assault, Xinhua news agency reported Thursday. The charges remain unproven, according to the report.
The decision to deport Bao complies with China's immigration control act, the Yantai Public Security Bureau in Shandong Province said. The charges are serious and the Beijing Judicial Bureau has decided to revoke his license, Chinese public security said in its official statement.
China's Supreme People's Procuratorate and the Ministry of Public Security said their findings indicate insufficient evidence, however.
"We conducted a full in-depth investigation [on the matter], but the current evidence has not been sufficient to prove Mr. Bao's actions constituted sexual assault," Chinese agencies said in statement.
China is moving forward with Bao's deportation after local media claimed the lawyer, a highly sought after attorney who served on the board of major firms including ZTE Corp., had repeatedly raped an adoptee from 2016 to 2019. The alleged victim was 14 when Bao adopted her in October 2015, local media reported.
On Thursday, Chinese authorities said Bao's adoptee was 18 at the time of adoption, not 14, and that she was technically not a minor when the two met. In fact, the adoption was not legally completed. - Global Times.
Han was over 18 years old when she first had sexual relations with Bao. She reported the case when she had quarrels with Bao and revoked it when the conflict was resolved, and repeated this process multiple times. There is no evidence of Bao cutting off Han's connections with the outside world, authorities said.
Local government organs that helped Han change her age on her ID card and household registration are also under investigations, the Supreme People's Procuratorate said. Some 12 officials involved in the change have already been punished.
However, Bao, as a Beijing-based lawyer, knew that he and Han do not meet the requirement for adoption, but still interacted and had sexual relations with Han under the guise of adoption, which is a serious violation of public order and social morality and deserves public condemnation, the Supreme People's Procuratorate said.
Current evidence showed Bao did not know Han's real age and thought she was a teenager when they developed a relationship. Although there was not enough evidence to support putting Bao in jail, netizens noted that it seems Bao is nonetheless a pedophile.
Despite being cleared of sexual assault charges, Bao was found to have been illegally practicing as a lawyer since 2006 when he attained US nationality. Bao submitted fake materials to retain his lawyer's certificate in China, which can only be granted to Chinese nationals. The certificate was revoked on September 11, the Beijing Judicial Bureau said on Thursday.
The government is probing the lax management of law firms that Bao was affiliated with, said the bureau.
Peter Nygard's son fears dad will flee Canada before sex assault investigation is complete
'He's never had to answer anybody. And he doesn't intend to answer anything on this either,' says son
Caroline Barghout, Joanne Levasseur · CBC News
Billionaire Peter Nygard is photographed with one of his oversize lion heads for Vanity Fair Magazine on July 3, 2015, at Nygard Cay in the Bahamas. (Jonathan Becker/Contour by Getty Images)
Peter Nygard's son says he fears his father will flee Canada before it's determined whether or not criminal charges can be laid in connection with allegations of sexual assault, leaving no way to bring the fashion mogul back to face his accusers in the future.
CBC News is not using the first name of the man — who is one of Nygard's 10 children — in order to protect the identities of his two brothers, who recently filed a lawsuit claiming Peter Nygard hired a "known sex worker" to have sex with them when they were underage. The son says people could easily identify his brothers if his name is made public.
The 79-year-old fashion designer is under investigation in Canada, the U.S. and the Bahamas for allegations of sex crimes. In February, the FBI raided Nygard's New York headquarters and two grand jury subpoenas have been issued for Nygard company records.
No charges have been laid in any of the investigations and it's not known if any of them are complete. Nygard has consistently denied he has sexually abused anyone, and maintains the allegations are fabrications as part of a conspiracy to malign his reputation.
"It's been really difficult to deal with," Nygard's son said in an exclusive interview with CBC News. "He was someone that I really admired in a lot of ways because I only knew him as my dad."
On Feb. 25, 2020, the FBI raided Nygard company offices in New York as part of a criminal investigation. (Earl Wilson/The New York Times)
The son says he's speaking out now because he's afraid if he stays quiet, his father's accusers — including his two brothers — may never get justice. "My No. 1 goal is for him not to escape," he said.
He says Nygard spends summers in Falcon Lake in southeastern Manitoba, and would normally head to one of his properties in California or the Bahamas by the third week of September. But with his father under a cloud of sex allegations, the son thinks his father will instead set his sights on a jurisdiction that won't extradite him if charges are ever authorized.
"He believes that he's above the law — the law does not apply to him," said the son, adding he bases that on his father's past actions. "He's never had to answer anybody. And he doesn't intend to answer anything on this either."
Peter Nygard says he lived in the Bahamas at Nygard Cay for 40 years. He returned to Canada in 2019 before he was scheduled to appear in court over allegations of illegal dredging and development activities at his waterfront home.
In November 2019, Nygard was convicted of contempt of court in the Bahamas and sentenced to 90 days in jail after failing to appear in court for a long-running environmental dispute. Nygard has appealed that ruling.
Nygard's son says his father called the Bahamas home for 40 years, but chose to leave the island nation right before he was scheduled in court. He says his dad never returned after an arrest warrant was issued in that case. "If he steps foot in the Bahamas right now, they would arrest him on the spot," said Nygard's son.
Nygard, companies accused of facilitating sex assaults
In a court affidavit earlier this summer, Nygard said he was staying at his cottage in Falcon Lake. He also said over the past year and a half, he'd been in Manitoba, living in an apartment attached to one of his Winnipeg warehouses.
The sale of that warehouse was approved in June as part of a court-ordered receivership involving nine Nygard companies.
In February, 10 women filed a class-action lawsuit in a Southern District of New York court, claiming the fashion designer raped them at his properties in the U.S. and the Bahamas. Some of the women said they were as young as 14 years old at the time of the alleged assaults.
A handful of his companies were also named as defendants for allegedly facilitating and participating in a "decades-long sex trafficking scheme."
That lawsuit now includes a total of 57 women, who say Nygard sexually assaulted them dating as far back as the 1970s. At least two of the women have told CBC News they have also filed formal complaints with Winnipeg police.
There is much more on this story at CBC.
Jerry Harris, star of Netflix show ‘Cheer,’ appears in federal court in Chicago on charges of producing child pornography
By JASON MEISNER, TRACY SWARTZ and JESSICA VILLAGOMEZ
CHICAGO TRIBUNE |
Jerry Harris, a Waubonsie Valley High School graduate from suburban Bolingbrook, appears in the Netflix series "Cheer." (Netflix)
Chicago-area native Jerry Harris rocketed to fame earlier this year as the breakout star of the Netflix docuseries “Cheer,” parlaying his contagious exuberance into talk show appearances, an Oscars gig and more than a million Instagram followers.
But the young star’s image was shattered Thursday when FBI agents arrested him on child pornography charges, alleging he repeatedly coerced minor victims to send him obscene photos and videos of themselves and solicited sex from boys as young as 13 at cheerleading competitions.
Harris, 21, of Naperville, was charged in a criminal complaint with one count of production of child pornography, which carries a minimum of 15 years in prison upon conviction.
Harris made his initial court appearance Thursday afternoon at the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse, walking into the courtroom wearing a disposable face mask, red shirt and gray pants. He then stood next to his lawyer with his hands behind his back. Federal agents stood nearby.
Prosecutors told U.S. Magistrate Judge David Weisman they want Harris held without bond pending trial because he is a danger to the community and is accused of crimes of violence against children.
Harris’ lawyer said he intends to argue for his release, in part because Harris has asthma and uses an inhaler and is at increased risk of contracting COVID-19 behind bars.
Harris was ordered to remain in custody pending another hearing scheduled for Monday.
After Thursday’s 10-minute hearing was over, Harris kept his eyes to the ground as he was handcuffed and escorted out of the courtroom. His lawyer, Todd Pugh, had no comment as he left the courthouse.
Lawsuit also
The criminal charges appear to be related to a lawsuit filed in Texas this week by two teenagers who accused him of “sexual harassment, exploitation, manipulation, intimidation and sexual abuse.” Harris has denied those allegations through a spokesperson.
“We categorically dispute the claims made against Jerry Harris, which are alleged to have occurred when he was a teenager,” the statement read. “We are confident that when the investigation is completed the true facts will be revealed.”
A representative from Netflix did not return a message seeking comment, and a manager for Harris could not immediately be reached.
Harris was arrested shortly after 11 a.m. Thursday, three days after the FBI raided his home in an upscale Naperville neighborhood in the 2600 block of Evercrest Court. USA Today was the first to report on the raid and criminal investigation.
The U.S. attorney’s office said Thursday its investigation is ongoing, and any other potential victims were encouraged to contact the FBI Chicago field office.
According to the criminal complaint, Harris first contacted one male victim on Snapchat in December 2018 and, over the next 15 months repeatedly enticed him to produce sexually explicit videos and photographs of himself and send them to Harris. The boy informed Harris during their initial online encounter that he was 13 years old, the complaint stated.
The victim’s parent discovered some of the images on the boy’s cellphone and confronted him, and he said that Harris had also solicited oral sex from him in a bathroom at a cheerleading event they both attended, according to the charges.
The boy told his parent Harris had also sought a second in-person sexual encounter at a different competition, according to the complaint. The parent then called law enforcement.
After the FBI raided Harris’ Naperville home on Monday, he admitted to agents during an interview that he had solicited lewd images and sex from the boy on numerous occasions, according to the complaint.
The complaint stated Harris also admitted to soliciting and receiving child pornography on Snapchat from “at least between 10 to 15 other individuals he knew were minors.”
The charges include numerous screenshots from the phone of the first victim — identified only as Minor 1 — including nude images purportedly demanded by Harris of the boy doing a cheerleading move called “the Needle.”
“doit naked take a video and show me,” Harris allegedly wrote, followed by a winking emoji.
Another screenshot contained a message allegedly sent by Harris in which he apologized for his behavior. “I’m sorry for what I’ve done in the past,” the message read. “I don’t think it’s a good idea we be friends on Snap.”
The complaint lists a total of five minors who allegedly had sexual contact with Harris, including two who reached out to law enforcement and were interviewed earlier this week.
One of those boys — identified in the complaint as Minor 4 — said he’d met Harris at a party over the summer, where he told Harris he was 17. Harris later contacted the minor on Snapchat and asked him to send lewd photos of his body, which the boy initially refused to do, according to the complaint.
“Minor 4 described Harris as relentless and asking for naked photos of Minor 4 for three straight hours,” the complaint stated.
Harris eventually told the teen he was willing to pay for photos and sent money through on online service along with specific instructions on what he wanted, according to the complaint. Minor 4 later convinced an acquaintance, Minor 5, to also send Harris photos, the complaint alleged.
In all, Harris paid Minor 4 about $2,000 to $3,000 before ending the relationship on Aug. 22, when he sent Minor 4 a final $500 and instructions to block him on Snapchat, the complaint alleged.
Born in Hinsdale and raised in Bolingbrook, Harris rose to fame on the Emmy-winning “Cheer,” which premiered in January. The docuseries follows the competitive cheerleading squad at Navarro College in Texas.
Harris graduated in 2017 from Waubonsie Valley High School in Aurora, where he was a standout student, and studied at Navarro.
Viewers and celebrities took note of the way he enthusiastically motivated his fellow cheerleaders while they performed stunts, also known as “mat talking.”
He worked the Oscars red carpet in February as a correspondent for Ellen DeGeneres’ talk show. He shared a stage with Oprah Winfrey, appeared in a sketch on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” and recently got a surprise virtual visit from actress Gabrielle Union, who showered him with praise.
Since “Cheer” premiered, Harris has amassed more than 1.2 million Instagram followers and partnered with various brands. A representative for the Schmidt’s deodorant company said Thursday that its partnership with Harris has ended, saying “Schmidt’s is firmly committed to ensuring a safe environment for everyone. While we partnered with Jerry from May through July of 2020, we are no longer working with him.”
Pedophiles are often gregarious and very popular.
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