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Mother of 2-Year-Old Thaddeus Sran Facing Murder Charges
in Another Child’s Death
Last year, I told you the heartbreaking story of two-year-old Thaddeus Sran, a sweet, happy little boy with special needs who was reported missing by his parents on July 15, 2020.
Thaddeus was born premature, required a feeding tube and special care, was non-verbal, and had just learned to walk and therefore primarily crawled to get around.
Police in Madera, California launched a massive search of the area, even requesting assistance from the FBI and the US Marshal Service.
Within a week of Thaddeus’s reported disappearance, Madera Police announced that his parents, who refused to appear in the media to plead for their son’s safe return, had stopped cooperating with the investigation.
On Thursday, July 23, 2020, Madera Police Chief Dino Lawson told reporters at a news conference that the burned remains of a child between the ages of two and three were found by cadaver dogs in an agricultural fire pit close to an almond orchard west of Madera. The remains were later confirmed to be those of little Thaddeus.
The following day, Madera Police announced the arrests of Thaddeus’s father, 42-year-old Sukhjinder Sran, and mother, 29-year-old Bresida Sran, who was eight months pregnant at the time. Both later entered pleas of not guilty to their charges of murder and child abuse resulting in death.
Divina Nazareth Sran. (Dignity Memorial)
One extremely concerning factor in the case was the fact that the couple had previously lost another child. Their daughter, Divina Nazareth Sran, was four months old when she died as a result of blocked airways; she was found to have suffered bruises and burns, as well. At the time of Thaddeus’s disappearance, Divina’s death was still under investigation. The couple’s attorney, Roger T. Nuttal, told reporters that Divina’s death was caused by SIDS.
Apparently not so much, because on Friday, September 10, 2021, the Madera County District Attorney’s Office announced that Briseida Sran, now 30, was charged with Divina’s murder and child abuse leading to her daughter’s death.
Briseida is scheduled for arraignment on her new charges on October 8. Both she and Sukhjinder have been held in the Madera County jail on $1,000,000 bail since their arrests in July of 2020.
And the baby? What happened to the new baby?
Rutland man charged with uploading child sex abuse materials online
Sep 19 2021, 8:42 AM
VTDigger
Robert Scott III, 61, pleaded not guilty Wednesday in Rutland County Superior criminal court to two charges of possession of child sex abuse materials and one court of failing to comply with the sex offender registry law, according to a release Friday from the Vermont Attorney General’s Office.
The charges followed an investigation that included search warrants for online data, conducted by the Vermont Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.
The investigation started when the task force received reports via the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children’s CyberTipline that someone was uploading images of child sexual abuse onto Facebook. Scott was identified as the source of the images, according to the release.
Judge David Fenster, during the arraignment Wednesday, released Scott on conditions, including that he not contact minors or use the internet.
Saratoga County sex offender pleads guilty to child pornography charges
By SARATOGIAN STAFF |
September 19, 2021 at 6:30 a.m.
ALBANY, N.Y. — Zachary L. Duchesne, 25, of Stillwater, pleaded guilty to seven counts of transportation of child pornography and one count of possessing child pornography.
Duchesne admitted to using a Dropbox account to store, possess, and view images and videos depicting the sexual abuse of children, between Dec. 26, 2017, and June 23, 2019. He admitted to periodically transferring child pornography videos into his Dropbox account, and to using the stored child pornography as a form of “currency” to trade with other people.
Duchesne has been in custody since his arrest on July 15, 2020.
Duchesne, who has a prior conviction relating to the possession of child pornography, faces at least 15 years and up to 40 years in prison, and at least five years of post-imprisonment supervised release when Senior United States District Judge Thomas J. McAvoy sentences him on Jan. 11, 2022.
This case was investigated by HSI, with assistance from the Stillwater Police Department, and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Barnett as part of Project Safe Childhood.
Tennessee lawmakers consider prohibiting anonymous reports
on child abuse, neglect
Yue Stella Yu
Nashville Tennessean
Tennessee lawmakers are exploring an initiative that would require those who report child abuse and neglect to disclose their identity and allow the accused to petition the court for that information.
House Bill 908/Senate Bill 1014, which drew emotional testimony from parents across the state Tuesday, was discussed at length after lawmakers delayed the bill during the regular legislative session earlier this year.
Advocates for the change argue the anonymous reporting system allows the potential for false child abuse claims out of grudge. But representatives from the Tennessee Department of Children's Services cautioned lawmakers that abolishing the system could pose a chilling effect on honest callers, who could fear retaliation by the accused after their identity is revealed.
Under the bill, championed by Rep. Clay Doggett, R-Pulaski, and Sen. Janice Bowling, R-Tullahoma, those who report child abuse, neglect and sexual abuse must disclose their names and contact information to the Department of Children's Services.
The department must keep those details confidential at the person's request. But someone accused of child abuse might petition the court for the identity of the person who reported them. The judge would release the information if they decided there is "good cause shown."
Doggett said the intent is to give wrongly accused people a legal avenue to pursue compensation for the damage they suffer.
"The main intent is for them to ... pursue some type of criminal charges or civil charges against the person for the harassment," he said. "You have an avenue to go through the courts for remedy."
Those arguing against the anonymous reporting system shared anecdotal tales Tuesday about families torn apart due to false reports of child abuse and neglect. The system shields reporters with anonymity, leaving accused guardians without recourse if a claim proves to be false, they said.
Abigail West, a Nashville native, said she was in a "nasty" fight for custody of her daughter when she was reported to the state's child protection agency. She said although she complied with the state's requirements and tested clean for the drug screen, the state still took away her child, and she had to wait nine months before the state cleared her name.
"I still don't know why they took my baby for nine months," West said. "An anonymous call created an avalanche of unneeded trauma for my family."
Sarah Brown, a mother of three in Cumberland County, choked up when she described the physical and psychological abuse her children went through in their father's custody. The father choked her oldest son three times, and installed a secret recorder in her daughter's bedroom, she said.
Brown said she, as well as those around her children who suspected abuse, had reported her ex-husband multiple times. But as the anonymous reports piled up, the ex-husband accused Brown of harassment by filing malicious reports, and the state decided the children should remain with their father, she said.
Astonishing!
"The opposing attorney representing my ex-husband claimed that I had called in many false allegations. Without any evidence to support this, the court agreed and ruled against me (in a custody battle)," Brown said Tuesday. "Because of the anonymous reporting, I was never able to prove to the court that I never made the reports."
It should not have been up to you to prove that you did not make those calls, but it should have been up to the court to prove that you did. How could a judge make such a ruling?
But Drew Wright, legislation and policies director for the Tennessee Department of Children's Services, said there's already law on the books punishing those who make malicious reports about child abuse and neglect. According to Tennessee Code, knowingly filing or helping file a false report of child abuse, neglect or sexual abuse is a Class E felony, which could result in one to six years in prison or a fine of up to $50,000.
How can they prosecute someone if the calls are made anonymously?
Anyone in Tennessee who has a reason to believe a child is abused or neglected must report the case to the state, state law says. But the bill could discourage those who report suspected abuse to the children's services department, because they would risk being found out by the accused, Wright said.
"Certain folks who do report child abuse choose to do so anonymously because they fear retaliation from the person who they'll be alleging the abuse against," he said. "We might lose one (report) that might protect a child from dying, and that's not worth the risk."
Doggett said he will work with lawmakers to examine options to address the problem. If there is a better alternative to his legislation, he would not bring the bill forward during next year's session, he said.
The goal, he said, is to strike a balance.
"You don't want (reporters) to fall (victim) to harassment or intimidation themselves for trying to do the same thing," he said. "But at the same time, for those that are being malicious by doing so wrongfully, how do you get that? Well, you can get the information for someone that's making the false report if their information is confidential."
Which is the only logical way to deal with this problem, however, if an apparently false report is made and the person whose reputation has been destroyed wants to go to court, either civil or criminal, how can he do that without the name of the reporter becoming known?
I appreciate Drew Wright giving the voiceless a voice in this debate. So, please, when in doubt, err in the side of caution toward the children.
Supreme Court to Hear Blockbuster Challenge to Roe v. Wade Dec. 1
Michael Foust |
ChristianHeadlines.com Contributor |
Tuesday, September 21, 2021
The US Supreme Court Building, The US Supreme Court rejects case challenging PA's handling of the Presidential election
The U.S. Supreme Court has set oral arguments for Dec. 1 in a blockbuster Mississippi case that could transform the nation’s abortion laws and lead to the overturning of Roe v. Wade.
The case, Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, involves a Mississippi abortion law that prohibits abortion after the 15th week of a woman’s term. It includes exceptions for medical emergencies and fetal abnormality.
The case could be the biggest abortion case in decades – and perhaps as big as any case since Roe itself. It will be the first time the high court has heard oral arguments in an abortion case since the conservative bloc grew to six members with the confirmation of Amy Coney Barrett.
Lower courts struck down the law as unconstitutional and pointed to Supreme Court decisions in Roe (1973) and Planned Parenthood v. Casey (1992) as controlling. The high court, though, is not bound by its own precedent.
The Supreme Court in May agreed to take the case and said it would limit the scope to one question: Are all laws restricting pre-viability abortions unconstitutional? The court on Monday announced the Dec. 1 date.
Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch, in a 49-page brief to the court this summer, asked the justices to overturn Roe.
Fitch, in a news release Monday, said her office was “looking forward to the opportunity” to “present our case.”
“The Court has acknowledged that states have the authority to promote legitimate interests, including protecting women’s health and defending life; but its abortion precedents have denied the people and their elected leaders the ability to fully do so,” Fitch said. “In fact, the Roe decision shackles states to a view of facts that is decades old, such that while science, medicine, technology, and culture have all rapidly progressed since 1973, duly enacted laws on abortion are unable to keep up. With Dobbs, the Supreme Court can return decision-making about abortion policy to the elected leaders and allow the people to empower women and promote life.”
In her summer brief, Fitch told the court that “nothing in constitutional text, structure, history, or tradition supports a right to abortion.”
The Mississippi law’s findings note that the majority of abortion procedures performed after 15 weeks use a procedure (dilation and evacuation) that involves using instruments “to crush and tear the unborn child apart before removing the pieces of the dead child from the womb.”
“The Legislature,” the text says, “finds that the intentional commitment of such acts for nontherapeutic or elective reasons is a barbaric practice, dangerous for the maternal patient, and demeaning to the medical profession.”
2 workers on Enbridge's Line 3 pipeline arrested in sex trafficking sting
Sarah Rieger ·
CBC News ·
Posted: Jul 01, 2021 5:33 PM MT | Last Updated: July 2
Enbridge confirms two employees of one of its contractors have been fired after they were arrested
in a sex trafficking sting. (Alex Kormann/Star Tribune via AP)
Two men working on construction of Enbridge's Line 3 oil pipeline have been arrested in Minnesota as part of a sex-trafficking sting operation.
The U.S. state's human trafficking task force ran the operation from June 25 to 26, placing an ad on a sex advertisement website. The agency said in a news release that six suspects were arrested as they arrived at an arranged meeting place with the intention of committing a sex crime, and charges are pending.
Calgary-based Enbridge confirmed that two of those arrested last week were working for a subcontractor on the Line 3 replacement project.
Workers fired, company says it has 'zero tolerance'
"Upon learning of their arrests, the employment of these two individuals was immediately terminated. Enbridge and our contractors have zero tolerance for illegal and exploitative actions. That is why we are joining with our contractors and unions to denounce the illegal and exploitive actions of those who participate in sex trafficking," the company said in a release on Monday.
It's not the first time workers on the pipeline have been charged with human trafficking. A sting in February saw two other contract workers for Enbridge in Minnesota arrested.
Minnesota State Senator Mary Kunesh said in a statement that Indigenous women testified to the state's public utilities commission in advance of work beginning on the pipeline that they feared it could put their communities at risk.
There is precedent for that concern. The U.S. Department of Justice's office on violence against women noted in a 2014 report to congress that the Dakota Access Pipeline oil development brought itinerant workers and a sharp increase in sex trafficking and domestic violence to North Dakota.
"What do you expect when you flood rural communities with 4,000 men, flush with cash, time on their hands? They were warned, by the victims themselves," Kunesh said.
Enbridge said all of its workers on Line 3 are required to complete human trafficking awareness training, and the company said it's committed to working with Native American tribes along the pipeline's route to raise awareness of the issue.
"We recognize that human trafficking is an ongoing issue in our community and in society as a whole, and we encourage everyone to join us in our commitment to working together with law enforcement and government agencies to bring awareness to the victims of these crimes, and end this illegal and exploitative behaviour," the company said.
Line 3 carries Canadian crude from Alberta, through North Dakota and across northern Minnesota to a terminal in Superior, Wisconsin.
The pipeline is aging, and Enbridge says the new line will restore its capacity to 760,000 barrels per day and better protect the environment. Thousands of workers have been brought on to work on the $7.3-billion US replacement, which is largely complete with the exception of the Minnesota leg.
Opponents to the replacement line say it will aggravate climate change and risk spills in ecologically sensitive areas, as well as areas important to Indigenous groups.
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