Oklahoma woman receives 30-year sentence for enabling child sexual abuse
By Wendy Burton Phoenix Staff Writer
A Stilwell woman was ordered in Muskogee County District Court to serve 30 years in prison for enabling child sexual abuse.
Melissa Skelton, wearing a faded orange jumpsuit with chains on her ankles and wrists, cried quietly as an attorney explained the plea deal offered to her Wednesday morning.
Skelton, 26, signed the plea in the courtroom just before the morning's court session began, agreeing to a sentence of 30 years on enabling child sexual abuse and 10 years on a conspiracy charge.
Skelton pleaded guilty to allowing former Muskogee firefighter Zackery Perry (5th story on link) to have sexual relations with a 6-year-old child and providing explicit photos and videos of the child engaged in explicit activities in exchange for money.
She will serve the sentences concurrently and will not be eligible for parole for at least 25.5 years, because enabling child sexual abuse is a crime in which 85 percent of the time sentenced must be served before being considered for parole.
In addition, she will receive credit for time served and is ordered to serve two years of post-imprisonment supervision under the Department of Corrections after she is released and pay fines.
The charges against Skelton arose out of evidence found during an investigation into a previous case filed against Perry, 30.
Perry was charged Jan. 19 with aggravated possession of child pornography, distributing obscene material, child sexual exploitation and crime against nature. He is held without bond, and is set for jury trial Sept. 18 in the case.
While investigating the Jan. 19 case, investigators found text messages, images and communications on social media between Skelton and Perry that showed they conspired "to determine meeting locations, the exchange of sexual images and videos, and the exchange of money for services rendered," according to a probable cause affidavit.
Perry was then given additional charges of conspiracy and child sexual abuse at the same time as Skelton was charged on Feb. 6. He is held without bond on that case and returns to court Jan. 12 for a disposition docket at which time a date will be set for trial.
Alabama police officer accused of child sexual abuse
By Stephanie Taylor / Staff Writer
A Sulligent police officer has been suspended from duty following allegations of sexual abuse.
Gary Farrior, 60, was charged Tuesday under a 12-count indictment including 10 count of sexual abuse of a child younger than 12, first-degree sexual abuse and attempted sexual abuse.
The allegations involve three female victims, including two who are younger than 12, said 24th Judicial Circuit Chief Assistant District Attorney Andy Hamlin. The abuse is alleged to have happened in Lamar County this year, and was reported to authorities around the first of June.
Farrior has been suspended from the Sulligent force, with pay, since the allegations were made. He is a former Fayette Police officer.
Alabama Law Enforcement Agency’s Bureau of Investigation handled the case because Farrior is a law enforcement officer. They presented the case to a grand jury in August.
State agents arrested him at his home Tuesday morning. Farrior was being held in the Lamar County Jail Wednesday with bond set at $500,000.
Utah man arrested for allegedly raping,
sodomizing 2 children
Bree Burkitt,
A Parowan man was arrested Monday after he allegedly confessed to raping and sodomizing two children.
Robert Randall Titensor, 39, is charged with three counts of sodomy of a child in addition to one count of aggravated sexual abuse of a child – all first-degree felonies.
Parowan Police first learned about the alleged assaults after an anonymous caller made a complaint to the Utah Division of Child and Family Services.
Both the 8-year-old female and 7-year-old male were interviewed at the Iron County Children’s Justice Center. The female victim told investigators that Titensor had sexually assaulted her at least two times, Parowan Police Sgt. Mike Berg wrote in the probable cause statement filed in 5th District Court Monday.
Titensor was brought in for questioning on Aug. 4. During the interview, he allegedly confessed to raping the female child victim at least one time. He also provided details on multiple other assaults on both the male and female victims that occurred during a time span of approximately three to four months, according to the report.
Following the interview, Titensor was booked into the Iron County Jail. The setting of the $100,000 cash-only bail was delayed to Tuesday due to the Labor Day holiday. An initial appearance has not been scheduled as of Wednesday.
Under Utah state code, Titensor could face 25 years to life in the Utah State Prison if he were to be convicted on just one of the counts of the four first-degree felonies.
One in four females will be sexually abused before they turn 18, according to Prevent Child Abuse Utah. Utah’s child sexual abuse rate is three times the national average. For more information or to seek help, call the rape and sexual assault crisis line at 1-888-411-1100.
New York man gets 8 years in prison for attempted criminal sex act with child
Anthony Borrelli
An Endicott man will spend eight years in prison for a sex crime against a child victim.
Jared Hotaling, 41, pleaded guilty in Broome County Court to a felony count of attempted first-degree criminal sexual act in connection with a six-count indictment that listed two girls and one boy as victims of alleged abuses going back to 2001.
At sentencing Wednesday, Assistant District Attorney Lisa Bideaux said the plea agreement and prearranged prison term was negotiated with consent of the victims "to spare them from the trauma" of further court proceedings. The charge he admitted to carried a possible maximum of 15 years in prison.
"It's despicable," Bideaux said, that Hotaling seemed unwilling to accept responsibility for his conduct when questioned by the probation department for a pre-sentence report.
Regardless of the defendant's statements to a probation officer, Judge Kevin Dooley said, what counts is what Hotaling admitted to in court.
"You've got some problems, some issues, and you can deny them to other people," Dooley told Hotaling in court Wednesday. "The lives of these children were impacted; they'll have to deal with this for the rest of their lives."
After serving the prison term, Hotaling will spend 15 years on post-release supervision. He also will be required to register as a sex offender.
The Broome County grand jury in September 2016 indicted Hotaling on 10 felony counts, the most severe of which was predatory sexual assault against a child, which carried a possible penalty of 10 years to life in prison if he were convicted.
Prosecutors accused Hotaling of attempting to engage in oral sexual conduct by forcible compulsion with a 15-year-old girl during the summer of 2012.
Hotaling also had been charged with having sex with the same girl at some time between January and March in 2012, according to the indictment.
Endicott police investigated the case, which resulted with Hotaling's arrest in May 2016. At the time, police said, a girl had recently disclosed abuses that were allegedly committed by Hotaling.
N.D. judge won’t dismiss child sex abuse case
By Jamie Kelly
A judge has declined to dismiss a charge of continuous sexual abuse of a child, saying that the jury that hears the case will have to decide whether the charge was filed within the statute of limitations.
In a ruling issued Tuesday, Northwest District Judge Kirsten Sjue wrote that because
there is a dispute about when the statute of limitations started to run in the case against Dennis Pitman, the issues should be handled by a jury rather than a judge.
According to an affidavit filed by the Bureau of Criminal Investigation, a woman in Arizona had told a detective there that Pitman, 70, sexually abused her when she was age 7 through 13. The alleged abuse happened from 1992 through 1998, when she lived in Williams County.
Under North Dakota law, prosecutors have two chances to file charges. If the case involves something that happened before the alleged victim turned 15, the state has 10 years from the alleged victim’s 15th birthday to file charges. If that time expires and the alleged victim makes a report after turning 25, charges can be filed within 3 years of law enforcement being notified.
At a hearing in August, attorneys for Pitman argued that because law enforcement in Arizona was told about the charges in April 2013, the charges against Pitman were filed in October, six months after the statute of limitations had run out.
The prosecution argued that the statute of limitations didn’t start to run until law enforcement in North Dakota were informed of the charges, which happened in 2016.
In her ruling, Sjue pointed out that the North Dakota Supreme Court has ruled several times that when there is a dispute over the facts regarding the statute of limitations, it should be left to a jury.
“Because there are issues of fact concerning whether the statute of limitations in this case has run, the jury must be instructed on the matter at trial,” she wrote. “The State must prove compliance with the statute of limitations by a preponderance of the evidence.”
Sjue asked both sides to submit proposed jury instructions regarding the statute of limitations issue.
Pitman is scheduled to go to trial on the charge on Sept. 18. Continuous sexual abuse of a child is a class AA felony and carries a maximum sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole if he were to be convicted.
Pitman is currently being held without bond in Cass County awaiting extradition to Arizona to face child abuse charges in that state.
Williams Co., ND
Bronx perv gets 168 years for taping child sex abuse
('Taping' is Victoria's choice of words; it's not a word I have used in this century to describe videoing)
VICTORIA BEKIEMPIS
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Even with time off for good behavior, a Bronx man will have to wait more than a century before he can hurt another kid.
David Keith, 39, was sentenced Tuesday to 168 years in federal prison for sexually exploiting minors — and recording his sick acts on video, officials said.
Keith pleaded guilty in November to five counts related to the child exploitation and related child pornography crimes, as well as lying to the feds about abusing kids, according to the Manhattan U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Prosecutors said Keith lured a 12-year-old girl into his car on Oct. 13, 2013, and taped “himself engaging in coercive sexual conduct with her.” Keith told the girl he would hurt her if she told anyone what had happened and threatened that he was watching her, prosecutors said.
The day before, Keith lured a girl between ages 8 and 9 into his car and “caused her to remove some of her clothing so that he could record her exposed genitals,” according to the feds.
Keith, who was arrested on Nov. 17, 2015, also downloaded child pornography and admitted he lied about having an alibi during the depraved attacks, officials said.
“For his predatory crimes that included luring a girl as young as 9 years old into his van to make sexually explicit videos and even threatening to harm another if she reported his sexual assault, David Keith has received a lengthy prison sentence,” said Acting Manhattan U.S. Attorney Joon Kim. “Protecting children from sexual exploitation is, and will remain, one of the most important missions of this office.”
And God bless ya!
N.M. school employee accused of child sex abuse
By KRQE News 13
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – A Pecos school employee is accused of sexually abusing a child.
According to court documents, 45-year-old Louis Vigil, of San Jose, is accused of abusing a male relative since the age of nine.
He is facing 35 counts.
Documents allege, that if the child refused, Vigil would threaten to shoot them and their parents and that Vigil may have attempted to assault other relatives.
Prosecutors are asking Vigil remain locked up pending his trial saying he’s a danger to the community.
Second mistrial declared in child sex abuse case in Arizona
By Paulina Pineda
Defense lawyer Joe Heinzl speaks to the jury for one final time during closing arguments in a sexual molestation case on Sept. 1.
Photo by Paulina Pineda
A judge declared a mistrial Friday when a Superior Court jury could not reach a verdict in the case of a 43-year-old Nogales, AZ man accused of sexually assaulting a young girl while he and his family lived at her home roughly seven to eight years ago, and then exposing himself to her years later while his wife slept in the same room.
The seven men and five women on the jury panel deliberated for approximately five hours but could not come to a unanimous decision by the end of the eighth day of trial.
The defendant, Joaquin Mohinea, who pleaded not guilty, was facing three counts of sexual conduct with a minor under the age of 15, one count of molestation of a child, a sexual abuse charge, attempted sexual conduct with a minor, and two counts of indecent exposure.
Judge Anna Montoya-Paez set a new trial date of Oct. 17.
