Wichita Falls, Tx man indicted on seven child sex crimes allegedly involving little boy
Trish Choate
Wichita Falls Times Record News
A 31-year-old Wichita Falls man has been indicted by a Wichita County grand jury on seven counts of child sex crimes, according to court documents filed Thursday.
Sells was being held Friday in Wichita County Jail on $1.55 million in bonds, according to online jail records. He is scheduled to have a bond reduction hearing Tuesday via Zoom in 78th District Court, according to court documents.
He has been indicted on one count of indecency with a child by exposure and six counts of aggravated sexual assault of a child younger than 14 in connection with incidents May 1, 2019, according to the indictment.
Sells faces up to life in prison if convicted of aggravated sexual assault and up to 10 years in prison if convicted of indecency with a child.
Police affidavits gave this account:
Child Protective Services contacted a Wichita Falls police detective Aug. 16 about a forensic interview regarding the possible sexual assault of a 7-year-old boy.
At 1:19 p.m. that day, an interviewer at Patsy's House Child Advocacy Center conducted a videotaped interview of the little boy.
He promised to tell the truth and said he was there to talk about "a grown up man and me." He identified Sells as the man and as being related to him.
The child described alleged sexual abuse incidents involving Sells on May 1, 2019, at various locations around the home. The child told the interviewer that Sells had sex toys in his bedroom.
The investigation led to allegations against Sells that he sexually assaulted the boy orally, anally and by contact, as well as committed indecency with a child by exposure of the alleged victim's genitals.
Nunda, NY man pleads guilty to sexually abusing child from age 4 - 12
by WHAM
A man from Nunda pleaded guilty to child sex abuse charges Thursday in Wyoming County Court.
Wyoming County District Attorney Donald O'Geen said Lonnie Day, 74, pleaded guilty to first-degree course of sexual conduct against a child. Day had originally been charged with several felonies, including predatory sexual assault against a child - a Class A felony that could have resulted in a sentence of 25 years to life in prison.
According to prosecutors, Day sexually abused a child between 2008 and 2017 from the time the child was four years old until the child was 12.
Day agreed to serve a sentence of 12 years in state prison with 20 years of post-release supervision. After being released from prison, Day will be required to register as a sex offender. As part of the plea agreement, Day waived his right to appeal.
"Given the defendant’s age this result is the equivalent of a life sentence so I am confident he will not be able to harm anymore children,” O’Geen said.
Day is scheduled to be sentenced on November 5. Until that date, he is being held in the Wyoming County Jail on $150,000 cash bail, $500,000 bond or $750,000 partially secured bond.
Colorado Springs man arrested for possession of child porn
According to CSPD, Joshua Montgomery was arrested after a search was executed Tuesday at his home in the 2000 block of Lexington Village.
Montgomery was arrested for sexual exploitation of a child and for possession and distribution of child sex abuse material.
Montgomery was booked into the El Paso County Jail but has since been released on a $25,000 bond.
Easton, Ct Man Accused Of Producing Images Of Child Sex Abuse
Zak Failla, DV
A Fairfield County man faces up to 30 years in prison after being busted on child pornography charges.
Easton resident Robert McGuire, 41, has been arrested and charged by a federal grand jury with the production of child pornography on multiple occasions over the course of more than two years.
The indictment alleges that McGuire produced images of child pornography between February 2018 and June this year. The investigation into McGuire was led by the FBI and Easton Police Department.
McGuire, who has been detained since his arrest by the Easton Police Department on Friday, July 10, has pleaded not guilty to the child pornography charge.
If convicted, McGuire faces a minimum of 15 years and a maximum term of 30 years
Easton, Ct
Her stepfather admitted to sexually abusing her.
That wasn’t enough to keep her safe.
More than 30 years after telling a teacher that her stepfather was molesting her, Sherri Stewart is running out of time to understand why he remained free, and why she was sent back to endure more harm.
One Alaska Survivor's Story
Author: Nadia Sussman, ProPublica
Sherri Stewart in her home in Anchorage in May. (Anne Raup / ADN)
This article was produced in partnership with ProPublica as part of the ProPublica Local Reporting Network and is part of a continuing series, Lawless: Sexual violence in Alaska.
Dennis Mouser walked into Anchorage police headquarters on Sept. 2, 1987, for an interview he had requested with a detective.
By the time he walked out, he had admitted to sexually assaulting his stepdaughter Sherri on at least two occasions when she was 10. He’d also exposed himself to her, he told police.
It was the second time Mouser had asked police to interview him and the second time he described entering his stepdaughter’s room naked. A detective recorded his statement. Then he left the station.
A lifetime passed.
In June, Sherri Stewart, 44, looked into her iPad at the face of Karen Rhodes-Johnson, the now-retired Anchorage police detective who had investigated the case when she was a child and referred it for prosecution.
Stewart, who was born Sherri Patterson, lay in the bed that she has barely left since August 2019 because of an alarming neurological decline. Her bright red hair was in a French braid, a deep blue velvet blanket tucked around her frail body.
Nearly 34 years after they first met, this was a singular moment in the lives of a sexual abuse survivor and a detective who spent much of her career investigating crimes against children.
Why, Stewart had always wondered, had her stepfather gone free?
“I didn’t understand why he didn’t go to jail,” Stewart told Rhodes-Johnson. “And I didn’t understand why nobody was coming to take me away from all of this.”
“I’ve reread the confession,” Rhodes-Johnson said. “And yes, he did confess, twice. And I’m going to tell you that your case was one of those cases that lived with me forever because he was not convicted.”
Sherri Stewart on a video call with retired detective Karen Rhodes-Johnson in June, the first time they have spoken to each other in nearly 34 years. (Photo courtesy of Shannon Patterson)
Stewart fears her time to get answers may be running short. She told her children months ago she believes she is dying.
That was before a cardiologist visit in mid-August turned into yet another trip to the ER. It was before her husband arranged a last-minute flight to Minnesota in a desperate effort to visit the Mayo Clinic in the middle of a pandemic.
Doctors are still struggling to diagnose and treat her. Her days are urgent and uncertain.
No matter what happens, Stewart said, she wants her story told.
Stewart is among many Alaskans who still bear the wounds of childhood sexual abuse. In her lifetime, Alaska has tried and failed to reduce the soaring rates of rape and child abuse that, only now, in some corners of the state, are being recognized as epidemic.
“It can’t continue,” Stewart said. “We can’t keep breaking people and think that we are going to have a healthy society.”
In Alaska, women and girls are more likely to be raped than anywhere else in the U.S. More than half the victims of felony sex crimes in 2018 were children and teens, the vast majority of whom were abused by someone they knew, the state Department of Public Safety reported.
[Read more in our ongoing series: Lawless - sexual violence in Alaska]
For Stewart, the wheels of justice turned so slowly that they undermined the few protections in place for her at the time she was a child. Her legal case made it to the state Court of Appeals in the early 1990s. Yet the long delays that prevented her stepfather from ever being held accountable or receiving treatment continue to plague sexual assault cases today. Just last year, a state judge in Fairbanks said the state’s courts were in crisis, declaring that turnover among public defenders had delayed criminal trials and denied justice to both victims and defendants.
A family photograph of Sherri Stewart with her brother, mother Beth Blake and stepfather Dennis Mouser at her grandparents' homestead in Sterling. (Photo courtesy of Sherri Stewart)
Looking back now, some of the professionals involved in Stewart’s case maintain that they did what they could according to the laws and policies in place at the time.
Unlike many child sexual abuse cases in Alaska and around the U.S., Stewart’s was one that did receive attention from law enforcement, social services, prosecutors and judges. Yet, amid it all, the child was lost. She told adults she was in danger, but she was sent back to endure more harm.
There is much more to this story at Anchorage Daily News.
Myrtle Beach, SC man faces over 20 charges connected to
child sex crime case
By WMBF News Staff |
The South Carolina Attorney General’s Office announced 35-year-old Theodore Bye III’s arrest on Friday.
Investigators said that Bye encouraged a minor to produce and send sexually explicit images and he also possessed multiple files of child sexual abuse material.
He was arrested on Thursday. Bye is charged with 13 counts of first-degree sexual exploitation of a minor and 13 counts of third-degree sexual exploitation of a minor.
He is currently at the J. Reuben Long Detention Center. The case will be prosecuted by the Attorney General’s Office.
Holmen, Wis man charged with child sexual assault
Steve Rundio
La Crosse Tribune
A 31-year-old Holmen man could face more than 70 years in prison after being accused of repeatedly abusing a woman and two girls at a Holmen residence.
Devenport was also charged with the following misdemeanors: two counts of battery and one count each of intimidating a witness, criminal damage to property and disorderly conduct.
According to the criminal complaint, a woman called Holmen police and said Devenport was ripping things off the wall and destroying the house. Police encountered a visibly intoxicated Devenport, who recorded a PBT of 0.231. Police said he resisted arrest, fought attempts to place him in the squad car and kicked the inside of the vehicle after the door was closed. He also threatened officers and asked one if he was “ready to die,” according to the criminal complaint.
Devenport is accused of committing numerous acts of physical violence against the woman, including choking her, shoving food in her face and burning her face with a lit cigarette.
The complaint says Devenport forced all three to take cold showers in his presence while he was naked and had illegal sexual contact with the two girls. Devenport is being held in the La Crosse County Jail on $10,000 cash bond.
Phone sex company alerts police to alleged child sex abuse in Brackenridge, Pa
Brian C. Rittmeyer
TribLIVE
A tip from a phone sex company owner resulted in Allegheny County Police charging a 42-year-old Brackenridge man with sexually abusing a 9-year-old boy.
Police charged Godfrey with 18 felony offenses, including 10 counts of possession of child pornography and one count of dissemination of child pornography. He also is charged with unlawful contact with a minor, indecent assault, endangering the welfare of children and corruption of minors.
The complaint said the owner of a phone sex company contacted Brackenridge police on Sept. 3 about disturbing comments Godfrey allegedly made to one of her operators earlier that day.
Godfrey allegedly talked about performing sex acts on a 9-year-old boy and masturbating in front of him, and had the boy say hello on the call.
Godfrey was identified because he gave his date of birth, home address, credit card number and the boy’s name to the operator, the complaint said.
The owner of the company gave county detectives a recording of the conversation.
The complaint said Godfrey admitted to detectives that he made the call to the phone sex operator, but he claimed it was all fantasy and denied ever sexually abusing the boy. He did not expect anyone from the phone sex company to call police.
“Godfrey believed it would be exciting and that it would add to the fantasy by having (the boy) say hello to the phone sex operator,” police said in the complaint.
The complaint said Godfrey also admitted to having child porn on his cellphone. He allegedly said he has requested and received pornographic images of girls as young as 14 from various accounts on phone apps for several years.
The complaint said Godfrey also admitted to sending photos of nude girls he claimed to be as young as 12 or 13 to others using the same apps.
Police said Godfrey gave permission for detectives to search his cellphone. Police said they found numerous images of child pornography, including multiple images they say corroborate the sexual acts Godfrey described carrying out on the boy to the phone sex operator.
In December 2017, a Warren County judge sentenced Godfrey to three months to two years in jail for molesting a girl when she was 8 or 9 years old. Godfrey had pleaded guilty to indecent assault in September of that year. His sentence was marked as satisfied in January 2018, according to court records.
After one month??? Wow! Was someone in a hurry to get him back out on the streets molesting children again?
Godfrey’s bail was set at $50,000 during an arraignment Friday morning. He was sent to Allegheny County Jail in Pittsburgh.
He is scheduled for a preliminary hearing Sept. 30 before District Judge Carolyn Bengel.
Bradenton, Fla man charged with sexual abuse of minor.
Cell phone held clues
BY MARK YOUNG
Bradenton.com
A 20-year-old Bradenton man has been charged with three counts of lewd and lascivious battery on a child, according to the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office.
The victim’s “secret” cellphone, which was found by a family member and turned over to law enforcement, revealed the abuse of the child by Angel De La Cruz Paz, the sheriff’s office said. The child was described as being between 12 and 16 years old.
The victim disclosed the abuse to investigators on Sept. 16.
De La Cruz Paz admitted to the abuse to detectives the following day, according to the report and he was booked into the Manatee County jail on Thursday. He remains in custody on bonds totaling $45,000.
Elizabethtown, Ky man arrested for second time on child sex abuse charges
According to an arrest warrant, Sweat inappropriately touched two young female victims when they were about 7 years old and made them watch pornography with him.
The alleged sexual abuse occurred over several years at his home, according to the warrant.
Sweat was also arrested two years ago by Elizabethtown Police officers on child sexual abuse charges. Sweat worked as computer technician for LaRue County Public Schools, but has not worked for the district since February 2018.
International investigation leads to Longview, Tx man’s child porn conviction
By KLTV Digital Media Staff
From the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Texas
TYLER, Texas (News Release) - U.S. Attorney Stephen J. Cox announced that a Longview sex offender who was identified in the course of a joint international investigation has been found guilty of possession of child pornography in the Eastern District of Texas.
Charles Orange, 55, of Longview, Texas, was indicted by a federal grand jury on Feb. 20, 2019, and charged with possession of child pornography. Orange was tried and found guilty by a jury. At sentencing, Orange faces between 10 years and 20 years in federal prison.
“Congratulations to the team who brought Charles Orange to a well-deserved appointment with justice,” said U.S. Attorney Stephen J. Cox. “The jury’s guilty verdict sends a clear message that child exploitation of any kind will not be tolerated. On behalf of the Eastern District of Texas, I wish to express our gratitude to INTERPOL, Thailand’s DSI, Australia’s AFP, and our other law enforcement partners from around the world for their tireless efforts and shared commitment to save the lives of children and bring sexual predators to justice,” added U.S. Attorney Cox. “This investigation exemplifies the important work that can be accomplished through close coordination and cooperation with our international partners.”
“Child predators often believe they can conceal their identities by hiding behind their computer screens in furtherance of their efforts to exploit those most vulnerable,” said Ryan L. Spradlin, special agent in charge of HSI Dallas. “This is a deplorable crime, and those who commit it have no place in our society. HSI will continue to work tirelessly with our international and domestic partners to pursue those who seek to sexually exploit children no matter where they are.”
According to information presented at trial, the investigation of Charles Orange originated as a lead from Operation Blackwrist. Named after a bracelet worn by one of the victims, Operation Blackwrist was launched by the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL) in 2017 following the discovery of material depicting the abuse of 11 boys, all under 13 years old.
The material - first identified on the dark web - originated from a subscription-based website with nearly 63,000 users worldwide. For years, the site had published new material weekly, with the abuser taking great care to avoid detection, often masking the children and leaving very few visual or audio clues. Officers relied on the physical traits of the children to track their ongoing abuse and reached out to the global police community for help.
In June 2017, Thailand’s Department of Special Investigations (DSI) took on the case, working in close collaboration with INTERPOL’s Liaison Bureau in Bangkok. Investigators around the world also joined the effort to identify the 11 boys and find site administrators. HSI identified the website IP address and worked on establishing potential links to the United States.
There is much more to this story at KTRE9ABC
Charles Co., Md Middle School Employee Sentenced to 12 Years in Prison
for Child Sexual Abuse
Tony Covington, State’s Attorney for Charles County, announced that on Friday, September 18, 2020, Charles County Circuit Court Judge H. James West sentenced Anthony Tyrone Williams, Jr., 25 of Waldorf, to 25 years with all but 12 years suspended in prison for Sexual Abuse of a Minor.
On February 6, 2019, a detective with the Charles County Sheriff’s Office met with the then 14-year-old victim at the Center for Children in La Plata, MD. The victim reported that Williams had inappropriate contact with her through Instagram, Facetime, and text message. The victim also reported that Williams had sexually assaulted her. Williams was an instructional assistant at Mattawoman Middle School in Waldorf, MD, where the victim attended school.
An investigation revealed that in December of 2018, Williams obtained the victim’s Instagram account information and began contacting the victim through Instagram. Williams then began contacting the victim through Facetime and text message. During those communications, Williams asked the victim to send videos of herself unclothed and to Facetime him while she was in the shower. The victim refused.
On one occasion, the victim was walking home after school when Williams approached her in his vehicle and told the victim to get inside of the vehicle. Williams then drove the victim to his Waldorf residence and had sexual intercourse with her. After intercourse, Williams drove the victim back to her neighborhood, where she then walked home.
On February 5, 2019, the victim’s mother was made aware of the inappropriate communications between Williams and the victim by a friend of the victim. The victim’s mother then contacted school officials, who contacted law enforcement once the victim revealed there was inappropriate touching.
Upon release, Williams will be on supervised probation for five years.
Prestigious NYC middle school rocked by teacher sex-assault claims
By Selim Algar and Laura Italiano, NYPost
The Salk School of Science middle school in Gramercy Park Matthew McDermott
Parents at the prestigious Salk School of Science middle school in Gramercy Park are in an uproar after two former students alleged online that an unnamed teacher there had sexually assaulted them.
The accusations were posted anonymously on Instagram last month, and since then have gone viral among parents at the small, well-ranked school for sixth through eighth graders, The Post has learned.
At a school town hall meeting held on Zoom on Thursday — attended by 300 parents — Principal Rhonda Perry faced a barrage of angry questions about the teacher they believe is the subject of the accusations, based on the initials one accuser had used online.
Parents demanded that this teacher be yanked from leading in-person classes at the East 20th Street school, according to multiple sources who were in on the Zoom meeting.
Perry said she could not do so — though she did confirm that “an investigation” into the allegations is ongoing by both the NYPD and the Special Commissioner of Investigation for city schools.
“We have no credible evidence your child is unsafe,” Perry said, according to parent sources who attended the Zoom meeting.
“We are waiting to hear from the Chancellor’s office about the determination and outcome and once we know that we’ll inform you,” she also told parents, according to the sources.
“Once again we are proceeding with the understanding that the investigation is underway,” the principal added. “All staffing matters are determined by the DOE,” she said. “In other words, it’s not my decision.”
The lack of action has led some parents to pull their students from classes taught by the accused teacher, whose name is being withheld by The Post because it has not been confirmed by the accusers or by officials.
“The lack of guidance from principal Perry for parents and for students to understand how this situation is being handled makes me very uncomfortable about sending my child to seventh grade,” one astonished parent told The Post.
In the Instagram posts that started the controversy, one student — who did not use a name or indicate a gender — said that two years ago, an unnamed teacher allegedly forced them into oral sex in exchange for a passing grade.
The second accuser said that last year, the same teacher tried to pull down their leggings while offering private “homework help.”
Attempts to reach the teacher who parents believe is the accused Salk faculty member were not immediately successful.
Asked about the investigation, a DOE spokesperson issued this statement:
“Student safety is our top priority, and this deeply disturbing allegation was immediately reported to SCI. Due to the anonymous nature of the complaint, there is little known at this time, but we are closely monitoring the investigation and will take swift follow-up action as appropriate.
“We encourage those who have allegations to report them to the appropriate authority.”
There will be additional staff and school safety agents in the school building and in classrooms as in-person classes begin, one administrative source said.
Gramercy Park, NYC
Provo Canyon School’s history of abuse accusations spans decades,
far beyond Paris Hilton
By Jessica Miller
Salt Lake Tribune
·
When celebrity Paris Hilton went public recently with allegations that she was physically and mentally abused at Provo Canyon School in the 1990s, the treatment facility’s owner quickly brushed off responsibility.
Universal Health Services didn’t own or run the school then, so it said it couldn’t weigh in on what Hilton says happened to her.
But people who were residents at Provo Canyon School in recent years have made similar accusations. There is a pattern of controversy and allegations of abuse that stretches from the 1980s to today at one of Utah’s largest youth residential treatment centers.
Eight former students whose stays spanned decades told The Salt Lake Tribune about their experiences at three of the four campuses that have operated as Provo Canyon School.
They spoke of repeated physical restraints, with up to 10 staffers piling on young children. Some were chemically sedated, or so overmedicated they felt like a zombie. Others spoke of being left in isolation rooms for days after getting in trouble for things like not getting out of bed or asking for an inhaler.
Provo Canyon School has remained operational for nearly 50 years — despite multiple lawsuits, a company bankruptcy, state threats to pull its license, and public accounts of abuse from young people who were sent there.
Former students are once again speaking out about their experiences at the Utah residential treatment center after Hilton, an heiress to the Hilton hotel fortune and a reality television star, released a documentary last week detailing her experiences.
Like Hilton, they hope sharing their stories will lead to changes in the way young people are treated at Provo Canyon School and similar places.
Christopher Cherrington | The Salt Lake Tribune
“I don’t know if my nightmares are ever going to go away,” Hilton said in the film, released on YouTube. “But I do know there are probably hundreds of thousands of kids going through the same thing right now. And maybe if I can help stop their nightmares, it will help stop mine.”
There is much more to this story at the Salt Lake Tribune.
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