The Average Life Expectancy of Sex Trafficked Child - 7 yrs; Today's USA PnP List

East Idaho organization works to rescue children from sex trafficking

This story is about east Idaho but it is typical of

virtually every region in the USA

By Jenni Whiteley For the Journal 

In Southeast Idaho, the horrors of child sex trafficking seem more like a subject for far-away developing nations. But Matthew Smith, the executive director of Operation Shield, an Idaho Falls-based non-profit organization fighting to prevent, rescue and treat victims, says, 

“It’s happening right here.”

Smith, Idaho Falls Police Chief Bryce Johnson and a local survivor will all be available Wednesday during a Community Round Table at Hillcrest High School’s Performing Arts Center in Idaho Falls at 7 p.m. to answer questions about sex trafficking.

Smith said that on Oct. 26 of last year alone he found 28 ads in Southeast Idaho for sex trafficking on places such as Craigslist. He also stated that in 2017, 22 cases of sex trafficking were identified in Southeast Idaho news stories where the child was recovered and prosecution procedures had begun.

“The rule of thumb that we go by is that for every one recovered, there are at least five more in need of recovery,” he said.

Smith also said that a lot of child pornography is produced in Southeast Idaho.

“There’s a whole dark web that has a black economy that sells and trades this garbage,” he said. “There’s a lot of money involved in it. This isn’t pornography of a child in the bathtub either. This is horrific stuff.”

In 2010, Smith, Doug Andrus, Mike Adams, and Nick Thompson started the Prosperity Project to bring medical aid to victims of the earthquake in Haiti. The Prosperity Project leaders were approached by Operation Underground Railroad and asked to also help provide therapy to rescued sex trafficking children in orphanages. They found that many orphaned children or families who could no longer afford to provide for their children were falling prey to sex traffickers with promises of food, shelter and safety.

Smith said that right now the Prosperity Project is working with a Haitian orphanage that houses 123 children. The orphanage had originally identified eight sex trafficking victims, but when Smith’s team tested the others, they found the total number was closer to 60.

That's pretty close to 50%. Good grief!

Operation Shield was started in 2013, which was a time when Smith said, “We started seeing the signs of sex trafficking here in Eastern Idaho and decided we were not going to ignore our own backyard.”

So far, Operation Shield has only been able to help fully rescue six victims, though the need is much greater.

“A big problem is that very few people know we exist,” Smith said. “Another reason is that these girls do not seek out help on their own. We normally only get our referrals from other survivors with whom I interact. Traffickers isolate and teach them not to trust normal people and then you’ve got the ‘Johns’ [people who pay for their services] who appear as normal people, yet are abusing them right and left so they don’t know who to trust.”

The average life expectancy, which is backed up with evidence,

is only seven years from the point of entry.

They are usually killed by being beaten to death or shot.”

Smith continued, “The tragedy is that very few of these victims actually escape, even here in Idaho. The girls that I network with are saying that only about 2 percent of the girls who are in the business live through it. The average life expectancy, which is backed up with evidence, is only seven years from the point of entry. They are usually killed by being beaten to death or shot.”

Smith said that Southeast Idaho doesn’t yet have adequate training and resources to identify, rescue and rehabilitate this population of victims, which is Operation Shield’s focus right now.

Besides not knowing who to trust, Smith says that victims do not seek help for fear of harm to themselves or their families by their pimps. Those at Operation Shield are training personnel such as police officers and emergency room workers to recognize victims and ask the right questions at “points of contact” to help them escape.

In October, more than 70 police officers from Eastern Idaho and Wyoming received training from those at Operation Shield at a conference in Idaho Falls. The organization is also informing therapists about the trauma and needs of sex trafficking victims.

“Many therapists hold the belief that these victims are just typical PTSD clients,” Smith said. “But Complex PTSD is PTSD on steroids due to someone continually being traumatized from an environment that they don’t feel they can escape from. … You have to understand where they are coming from and build a relationship or they will close down.”

Though the trauma is deep, Smith said that recovery and hope is possible for these victims. He said that the therapy that Bob Stahn, the clinical director for Operation Shield and owner of Well Spring Counseling, uses is creating miracles in the lives of these victims. Though the trauma is always there, survivors have been able to learn to cope and live healthy lifestyles to rebuild their lives.

Most child victims in the U.S. aged 11-16 fall prey to sex traffickers

not by being kidnapped, but through social media sites

such as Facebook, SnapChat or chat rooms

Smith said that victims of sex trafficking do not fit a stereotype.

“We’d like to believe that it’s poor kids from the bad part of town or an issue of poor parenting, but that’s not how the facts bear out,” he said. “I have seen victims where the mother is a school teacher and the dad is in law enforcement.”

Smith also said that most child victims in the U.S. aged 11-16 fall prey to sex traffickers not by being kidnapped, but through social media sites such as Facebook, SnapChat or chat rooms.

Children in these developmental stages are trying to gain their independence and sometimes rebel against authority figures. Predators are looking for this vulnerability and create false characters. They pose as someone who loves these children more than their parents and groom the children away from their support systems.

The predator begins an online romantic relationship with the child, which often includes sending inappropriate pictures and promises of marriage if the child will run away. Once the child leaves, the predator tells the child that they need money to stay together and the child is then prostituted.

Before starting Operation Shield, Smith worked with hundreds of therapists as a program developer in the children’s mental health industry for 25 years. He earned his bachelor’s degree in psychology and a graduate certificate in substance abuse counseling.

Through his work, Smith has seen that one of the biggest indicators that a child might be getting involved with a predator is a dramatic, sudden change in the child’s behavior.

The best way parents can help prevent their children from being victimized is to build relationships of trust and keep communication lines open.

“I’m not a therapist,” Smith said, “but this is what we have learned. … They will stop trusting the people closest to them, they will alienate themselves from their support group. You re-establish that first and then, you start asking gently about the behavior changes you are noticing. … It’s not just girls either. It’s boys as well who fall victim.”

Though Operation Shield’s main focus is child sex trafficking, they will help adults who contact them as well. “We know of ways to leave that life without any trace and can give you a good opportunity for a new start,” Smith said.

Operation Shield can be reached at 208-534-8303 and msgi@live.com. The address is 5130 Treyden Dr., Idaho Falls, ID 83406

Omaha prosecutor says he'll appeal sex abuse sentence

by The Associated Press

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Douglas County prosecutor Don Kleine says he plans to appeal the sentence of retired Omaha fire captain found guilty earlier this year of sexually assaulting three young girls, saying he thinks the man got off too easy.

Lee Dunbar was sentenced Friday to 15-16 years on each of all five counts of first-degree child sexual assault for assaults on girls all younger than 12. The victims included two foster children of Dunbar's. The judge ordered the sentences served at the same time.

The Omaha World-Herald reports that Kleine said Friday that by ordering the sentences served concurrently, the judge effectively wiped out four of the convictions.

Precisely! Concurrent sentences are a gift to pedophiles and a re-victimization of the children. It also puts more children at risk. Go for it Mr. Kleine!

Dunbar had faced up to life in prison.

Eddie Fischer's sex abuse at Charleston's Porter-Gaud school subject of new documentary

Please note: This is not The Eddie Fisher, the 1950s pop singer

By Adam Parker aparker@postandcourier.com  

The Terrace Charleston Film Festival, which runs March 15-18, includes a documentary film that dares to scrutinize one of Charleston’s most tender wounds, a collective injury inflicted by a sexual predator.

“What Haunts Us,” a new film by Porter-Gaud alumna Paige Goldberg Tolmach, strives to come to terms with the damage caused by Eddie Fischer, who taught at Porter-Gaud from 1972 to 1982, and subsequently at College Preparatory School and James Island High School. He was discovered to have abused 20 boys at Porter-Gaud, and as many as 50 total.

The documentary concentrates on the Porter-Gaud Class of 1979, which has lost six people to suicide in the years since the scandal became public. Among the questions raised by the movie: How was it possible for so many people — teachers, administrators, students and parents — to remain ignorant of, or silent about, Fischer’s behavior?

If You Go

WHAT: Terrace Charleston Film Festival

WHEN: March 15-18

WHERE: Terrace Theater, 1956D Maybank Highway, James Island

COST: $11

MORE INFO: http://terracetheater.com/. Screening of "What Haunts Us" are scheduled for 7 p.m. March 17 and 2:30 p.m. March 18. Tickets for "What Haunts Us" are $15 each. A panel discussion will follow the first showing.

Fischer was arrested in 1997 largely as a result of persistent efforts by one of his victims, Guerry Glover, whose father Harry Glover filed a civil suit against Porter-Gaud the following year. In April 1999, Fischer was sentenced to 20 years in prison. (Guerry Glover is featured prominently in the movie.)

In October 2000, a jury found that two school officials, Principal James Bishop “Skip” Alexander and Headmaster Berkeley Grimball were negligent for failing to stop abuse they knew about. The trials made national news. A series of legal settlements ensued. The school and its affiliate, The Episcopal Church, paid out millions of dollars to numerous victims and their families.

In 2002, Fischer died while serving time. Alexander killed himself just before the trial started. Grimball remained in his position until 1988 and died in 1999.

Now the scandal will receive renewed attention in the city where it all unfolded, at an independent movie theater just a couple of miles away from the prestigious private school.

'In his sunshine'

Tolmach said she was compelled to make the movie, to confront all she didn’t know about those terrible years, after her child was born and after learning in late 2011 about another sexual predator, Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky.

“What Haunts Us,” her first movie, was difficult to make, she said. It led to all sorts of unsettling discoveries, self-recrimination and distress, admiration for those who have managed to survive the abuse and, ultimately, a degree of healing.

“It was heartbreaking, totally heartbreaking,” she said. “I didn’t know what I was getting into. It broke my heart for the little girl I was then, the friends around me and as a mother now. We never learned anything (about the case) because we never talked about it. That wasn’t OK. I had to do something about it. In order to protect my son in the now I had to go back to the then.”

At Porter-Gaud, Fischer was her teacher.

Tolmach started at the school as a fourth-grader in 1977 and graduated in 1985. She remembers hearing a rumor or two, and knowing about the boys who went to Fischer’s home.

“We knew he had favorites,” she said. “We knew he hung out with a flock of boys in the summer. All we knew as children was it was funny. ... They wanted to be in his sunshine. We thought it was cool to be one of Eddie Fischer’s boys. We just didn’t realize how deep it was.”

Then, suddenly, Fischer vanished. “His departure was unexplained,” she said. “We came back from summer vacation and he was gone.” He hadn’t gone far. With recommendations in hand from his Porter-Gaud supervisors, Fischer landed a position first at College Prep, then at James Island High.

Shame and confusion

Carlos Salinas was among the many Porter-Gaud boys molested by Fischer. “For me the big relief came ... when Guerry blows the lid off and I talk to him that night when the article comes out,” Salinas said. He told Glover he was not alone and offered to help with the campaign to bring Fischer to justice. “It was a major liberation. That’s what really sets me free. It’s no longer something I hide, this is something I share. I resolved to talk freely about my experience.”

It also helped Salinas to go through a ritual soul-cleaning ceremony in the Colombian Amazon, where he had connections and was working to protect indigenous tribes. “I literally vomited the evil out of myself," he said.

In hindsight, he could see the patterns. At the time, people could tell something was wrong, but couldn’t discern the nature or extent of the problem, he said. “When someone is always there, it’s hard to recognize that he shouldn’t be there.”

Salinas transferred to Porter-Gaud from a Catholic school when he was entering seventh grade, and it was a big culture shock and difficult adjustment, he said. “Fischer was one of the first to reach out to me,” Salinas recalled. “He must have realized I was a duck out of water.”

He paid Salinas a lot of attention. He spoke a little Spanish. He looked out for the new middle-schooler. “He was seen as kind of a cool guy, so I certainly did not shy away from that attention,” Salinas said. Besides, he was used to interacting with adults, so none of this seemed terribly odd. A few years later, though, it did get odd.

Salinas was in 10th grade and could drive. He was invited to Fischer’s beach house one day and figured, why not? He dismissed his mother’s observation that visiting a teacher at his home was, well, weird. But teachers were trustworthy, right? “I know what I’m doing,” he told his mother.

Fischer confided to Salinas that he was a gigolo with a huge ring of women ready to pay for sex with young men. To the student, this was a shared secret. Salinas declined to participate in the sex ring, but was embarrassed because he felt he had betrayed his teacher’s confidence, he said.

He was trapped emotionally, he was vulnerable, confused, and he fell victim to Fischer’s sexual advances. “I’d always felt bad,” he said. “I know the rational argument (that children are not at fault), but that doesn’t take away the pain and disappointment.”

Salinas said he wishes he had spoken up sooner “because of all the kids who came after.” But shame and confusion have a paralyzing effect. “That’s the evil mastery at work,” he said.

A ripple effect

Porter-Gaud Head of School DuBose Egleston said the new documentary has “provoked a very good conversation.” Egleston said he has participated in many discussions about preventing sexual assault and helped to implement robust new policies and procedures that better safeguard students. He also has spoken with victims and learned a lot, he said.

The trauma of sexual abuse affects generations, Egleston said. “There’s a ripple effect. Some have moved on, others are struggling.” Some have remained part of the Porter-Gaud community, others are reaching out now. “It’s been great to be able to talk to some of the victims and hear their story and be able to apologize as much as possible to them, and tell them what we do now,” he said.

The school sent a note to alumni dated March 1 notifying them about the screening of Tolmach’s movie. “We deeply regret this painful part of our past and the poor manner in which the school treated the victims,” Egleston wrote. “To those victims and their families, we offer our sincerest and most heartfelt apology, knowing full well that no apology will ever return to them what was so horribly taken away.”

Egleston and several others from the school will attend the screening of “What Haunts Us” and join the conversation afterward. Tolmach said it’s important to know the full story to “help us protect our children in the future.” Some current Porter-Gaud parents don’t know about the Fischer scandal, she noted.

“I feel like, as parents, we don’t want to believe this can be true, so we tend to look the other way. It’s not because we are bad people. We walk away from it, and that leaves a lot on the table. We can’t do that.” 

There is too much to lose. “Two victims died, basically by suicide, while I was making the film,” Tolmach said. “The ripple effects don’t end.”

Much can be done, from introducing formal safety practices to telling children how to recognize inappropriate behavior. “You have to educate people,” Tolmach said. “We all play role when bad things happen. If we have a hand in the badness we certainly could have a hand in the goodness.”

Former speedskater, child sex abuse victim Bridie Farrell launches nonprofit group to aid survivors

Former speedskater Bridie Farrell created a nonprofit group, NY Loves Kids, to help survivors and "to talk to people who have been abused in the communities.” (RICHARD DREW/AP)

BY KENNETH LOVETT

NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

ALBANY — Former speedskater and child sexual assault victim Bridie Farrell has created a nonprofit group to help fellow survivors and push for passage of the Child Victims Act.

The group, NY Loves Kids, has received funding from another survivor who received a significant settlement with a prestigious upstate girls’ school.

“The organization seeks to get people to talk about the topic,” Farrell told the Daily News. “The state Capitol is where a lot of people focus on the law. But we seek to talk to people who have been abused in the communities.”

From there, part of the discussion is how people can pressure their state lawmakers into enacting the Child Victims Act, which would give victims of child sex abuse more time to bring criminal and civil cases as adults.

Good luck with that! You would have to put more money in the pockets of legislators than the Catholic Church does. 

“It’s in the local communities where we’re going to see a difference,” said Farrell, who has lobbied for the measure at the state Capitol.

Her efforts with her new group are taking her across the state. NY Loves Kids held an event in Farmingdale on Long Island on Thursday night and had another scheduled in Buffalo Saturday.

NY Loves Kids received $25,000 from Kat Sullivan, who is using part of the settlement she received from the Emma Willard School in upstate Troy, where she was sexually abused by a teacher in the 1990s. Sullivan said as part of the settlement, she can’t publicly disclose how much she received.

But she said she plans to give away nearly the entire amount to non-profit groups like Farrell’s that deal with child sex abuse.

She said she also used part of the settlement on therapy. “I could have bought myself a Lexus or some diamond earrings,” Sullivan said. “Instead, I decided to move (from Orlando, Fla.) to New York City and become more focused on activism and help my fellow survivors.”

God bless you, Kat!

Sullivan said she so far has also given $25,000 to the Foundation for Survivors and $15,000 to SurvJustice.

Bridie Farrell says N.Y. law 'doesn't protect children'

Because she already settled, Sullivan would not benefit from the Child Victims Act and its proposed one-year window to revive old cases. But she said she is involved in the effort to get the bill passed to help other survivors who haven’t received any type of justice.

“The most catharsis I’ve found is trying to take what happened and improve things for other people,” Sullivan said.

Gov. Cuomo this year for the first time included the measure in his budget proposal, meaning it can be removed only if the Senate Republicans and Assembly Democrats refuse to negotiate a final deal that includes the measure and the governor acquiesces.

Cuomo’s proposal would allow survivors to bring civil cases up to 50 years from the attack and would eliminate the statute of limitations for any felony sexually related offense committed against someone under the age of 18.

Under current law, someone sexually abused as a child has until their 23rd birthday to bring a case.

Cuomo’s plan would also treat public and private institutions the same when it comes to child sex abuse and create the one-year window to revive old cases that is vehemently opposed by groups like the Catholic Church.

The Assembly passed different versions of the CVA several times over the past dozen years, including in 2017. But it’s never come up for a vote in the GOP-controlled Senate.

Apparently, Republicans like Catholic money more than NY children.

Rotherham Gang Jailed for a Total of 96 Years

Another dent in the Pakistani paedophile community in Rotherham

BY: ADELE FORREST, Rotherham Advertiser

Top row: left to right:Mohammed Whied,Waleed Ali and Asif Ali. Middle row, left to right: Sageer Hussain and Ishtiaq Khaliq. Bottom row, left to right: Basharat Hussain, Masoued Malik, Naeem Rafiq.

EIGHT friends and relatives who sexually abused three teenage girls have been jailed for a total of 96 years.

The grooming gang were found guilty of 19 sexual offences on October 17 following a four-week trial at Sheffield Crown Court and were remanded in custody.

Her Honour Judge Sarah Wright sentenced the gang today (Friday) at the same court.

Most of the charges relate to offences committed against a Rotherham girl who was just 13 when the abuse began in 2003.

One defendant ­- Ishtiaq Khaliq ­- was also found guilty of indecently assaulting two other girls aged 14 to 15 between 1999 and 2001.

The men were aged between 17 and 26 years old at the time of the offences.

Ringleader Sageer Hussain (31), of Clough Road, Rotherham was jailed for 19 years for four counts of rape and one of indecent assault.

His older brother Basharat Hussain (40), who was already in custody for child sex offences, was given another seven years to run concurrent to his current sentence after being found guilty of indecent assault.

Concurrent!!!! Why?

The Hussains' cousins Mohammed Whied (32) of Psalters Lane, Kimberworth, was jailed for five years for aiding and abetting rape and Asif Ali (31), of Clough Road, was jailed for 12 years for rape.

Khaliq (33), of Carlisle Street, Rotherham, jailed for 17 years for rape and three counts of indecent assault.

Waleed Ali (34), of Canklow Road, Rotherham, jailed for 13 years for rape and indecent assault.

Masoued Malik (32) of Bridgewater Way, Rotherham, jailed for 15 years for rape, false imprisonment and conspiracy to commit indecent assault.

Naeem Rafiq (33), of Clarendon Road, Eastwood, jailed for eight years for conspiracy to commit indecent assault and false imprisonment.

The judge said Sageer Hussain had conducted “a campaign of violent rape against a 13 year old vulnerable girl”.

She added: “The abuse of the victims was often carefully planned.  

“An abuser would build up their trust and it is a common feature of this case that abusers are often described as initially caring and loving but then turning to becoming controlling and domineering”.

Another Repeat Violent Sex Offender on Parole in British Columbia

Three times designated a dangerous offender, expected to commit violent rape with a very good chance of murdering his victim(s). That is who is living in the community of Chilliwack just east of here (Abbotsford), and where two sons and several of my grand-children live. 

It is sheer insanity to allow a monster like that loose on the streets of any city at any time. But that's Canadian justice where the welfare of the criminal is paramount, the sanity of his victims doesn't count for anything, and there is no concern whatsoever for the safety of Canadian girls.

Sentencing laws have to be re-written to protect Canadians from monsters like this. There is no reason on God's green earth for that man to ever see the light of day again. None! Minimum and concurrent sentencing for dangerous criminals is insane.


Repeat violent sexual offender is living in a halfway house in Chilliwack under a long-term supervision order, something that angers at least one of his victims.— Image Credit: Snohomish Valley Sheriff's Office

by  Paul J. Henderson - Chilliwack Times

One of the many victims of a one-time designated dangerous offender convicted of violent sexual assaults of multiple women is upset the man is out on bail, living in a halfway house in Chilliwack.

Not only does the victim fear Kevin Scott Miller but she is angry he was released on bail after spending two years at large in the U.S. when he was supposed to be under a long-term supervision order.

One of Miller’s convictions from 1995 involved raping a 14-year-old girl near Victoria after grabbing her in a van and wrapping a cord around her neck.

Two months after that he met a 21-year-old woman at a cabaret downtown Victoria. The woman told the court she was drunk and tired, and the next thing she remembered was being strangled so hard her nose was bleeding.

Then on May 10, 1996 during an altercation with a prostitute, Miller pulled a drawstring out of his jacket and strangled her with it until she passed out.

“His counsel conceded that Mr. Miller may have used excessive force in defending himself from her attack,” according to a B.C. Court of Appeal judgment from 2000.

That was from the decision of Miller’s appeal of his dangerous offender designation, a label that comes with an indeterminate sentence.

“He’s a very dangerous man,” a victim told the Times.

A psychiatrist who testified in 2000 said that because of his youth, 28 at the time, his psychopathic score in the 86th percentile, and his excessive violence by the use of strangulation, Miller, if released, “would be much more likely than not to commit violent sexual offences with the possibility future offences would be much worse if indeed there is an aspect of sexual sadism present.”

Despite the evidence, the three B.C. Appeal Court Justices found the original judge made errors, and Miller’s appeal was granted and a new dangerous offender hearing ordered.

Miller was again designated a dangerous offender in June 2002. His appeal of that designation was also successful and the Crown applied for the designation a third time in mid-2005.

The result of all those proceedings was that on Jan. 17, 2006, Miller was sentenced to four years on each of two counts of aggravated sexual assault to be served concurrently.

Concurrently!!!!! What idiot judge ruled he serve his sentences concurrently. Thank God Stephen Harper took that option away from judges in sentences of child sex abuse.

He had been in custody for 10 years by then, and the judge ordered Miller be subject to the LTO for the maximum period allowed, 10 years.

The Times has learned that Miller reached the statutory release date on Sept. 17, 2008 (two thirds of his sentence), and his warrant expired on Jan. 16, 2010.

It was then that he began a series of conflicts at residences where he stayed, he tested positive for THC at one, and he continued to miss appointments.

In 2013, a provincial court judge sentenced him to a further 11 months in jail for a breach.

But it was in 2014 as he was serving the 10-year long-term supervision order that he failed to return to his Vancouver halfway house and slipped into the U.S. under dual citizenship.

On June 27, 2014 a felony arrest warrant was issued for the 45-year-old Miller, as he failed to register as a sex offender in Washington with Snohomish Country Sheriff’s Office detectives.

Then on July 8, 2014, he was caught in Albany, New York, registered as a sex offender, but released.

For almost two years he remained in the U.S. when finally this year he was apprehended and last week, on Aug. 19, he was granted bail.

His victim is upset there was no warning to the community: “And sadly, no justice for us victims.”

“I really am just exasperated with the justice system,” she said via email. “I’m tired of referring to myself, and others, as victims; however, the system continues to re-victimize every person who has ever been raped or sexually assaulted. His release is the most ridiculous outcome I could ever imagine for a person who regularly breaches conditions, and has previously been unlawfully at large.”

The Times obtained a copy of a federal release notice regarding Miller and his requirement to reside in a halfway house in the Chilliwack area “to which he must return on a nightly basis.”

Miller faces numerous conditions on the LTO, including that he not be alone or in an isolated setting with any females; not to own, use or possess a computer; abstain from intoxicants; report all relationships with women to a parole officer; address issues and emotional instability and anger management; and participate in a sex offender program.

How likely is it that he will comply with those conditions? Just about zero probability. Someone do something, please. This is insanity! We have the Balaclava Rapist living in Vancouver, another child rapist living in Victoria, one in Mission just across the Fraser River from here. ARRRRGH!

Miller’s 10-year long-term supervision order began in 2010, which means that, adding in the time he was at large in the U.S., his order expires on July 7, 2022.

Another Day Care Worker, a Bail Jumper and 81 y/o Man on Today's P & P List

New York State man accused of child sex abuse held without bail after extradition

Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs, The Ithaca Voice

ITHACA, N.Y. — An Ithaca man accused of sexually abusing two young children over several years was remanded to Tompkins County Jail without bail on Monday, the day after he was extradited to New York from southern Texas.

Ever Benites, 36, is facing two counts of felony first-degree sexual abuse, felony course of sexual conduct against a child and two counts of misdemeanor endangering the welfare of a child.

Skipped bail

He was flown from Texas to Tompkins County with two local law enforcement officers on Sunday night after he was apprehended within 15 miles from the U.S.-Mexico border in July, Deputy District Attorney Andrew Bonavia said.

Judge John Rowley agreed with Bonavia, who argued that because Benites missed a court appearance and was found near the U.S.-Mexico border, he should not be given another opportunity to post bail.

Bail may be forfeited

Rowley also ruled that the $20,000 Benites had previously posted as bail would be withheld by the court, pending Judge Joseph Cassidy's decision on whether or not to return the bail at all. Bonavia has filed an application with Cassidy asking that the $20,000 be forfeited because Benites missed a court appearance.

After missing the opening of his trial in July, Benites, who is represented by Ithaca attorney Seth Peacock, was taken into custody at a travel center in Edinburg, Texas. He had boarded the Tornado Bus Company bus in Nashville, where he was working as a contractor. The bus's final stop was Brownsville, Texas, a city directly bordering Mexico.

Benites will be back in court on Aug. 22 before Judge Cassidy.

Old Oregon man, 81, gets 83 years in prison for

child sex abuse

BAKER CITY, Oregon (AP) — An Eastern Oregon man has been sentenced to 83 years in prison for raping and sexually abusing three young girls.

Baker County District Attorney Matthew Shirtcliff says 81-year-old Robert Lee Witter, of Huntington, was sentenced last week for 15 counts related to child sexual abuse and a firearm violation.

In a news release, Shirtcliff called it "the most graphic and heinous child sex crime" he's ever prosecuted.

The Argus Observer reports that Witter was found guilty in July after a two-day trial in Baker County Circuit Court.

Young Iowa man gets prison sentence in

child sex-abuse case

— Mary Pieper

CLEAR LAKE, Iowa — A Clear Lake man was sentenced to up to 10 years in prison Monday in a child sexual abuse case.

Daniel J. Wigant, 25, received that sentence for two counts of lascivious acts with a child, a Class C felony.

He plead guilty to those charges in June.

Wigant received a sentence of up to 10 years in prison on each count. District Court Judge Colleen Weiland ordered the sentences to be served concurrently with each other.

The offenses took place on July 10 and July 16, 2015, according to Clear Lake Police Department criminal complaints.

The victim was under age 12.

Wigant was ordered to register as a sex offender after he is released from prison. He also will be under post-release supervision by the Iowa Department of Corrections for the rest of his life with eligibility for parole.

Wigant must pay two civil penalties of $250 each. Two $1,000 fines were suspended.

Wigant originally was charged with two counts of second-degree sexual abuse, a Class B felony, in addition to the two counts of lascivious acts with a child. The state is dismissing both Class B felony charges.

    Clear Lake, Iowa

Another Child Care Worker Arrested On

Sexual Abuse Charges

HESPERIA, California (CBSLA.com) — A Hesperia man is scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday on child sex abuse charges.

Humberto Escobar, 76, was arrested August 5 after an investigation by the San Bernardino Sheriff’s Department.

According to a sheriff’s department news release, the investigation began after several accusations of child sexual abuse were made against Escobar.

The abuse was alleged to have taken place at Escobar Family Child Care in Hesperia.

Escobar was booked at High Desert Detention Center in Victorville on a charge of penetration with a foreign object with a child less than 10 years old.

Bail was set at $500,000.

Men and day cares should never be in the same vicinity of each other! That's about 4 such stories in the past couple weeks.

Minuteman Co-Founder Chris Simcox Sentenced to 19.5 Years in Child Sex-abuse Case

Chris Simcox was the co-founder of the border-watch vigilante group Minuteman Civil Defense Corps. David Kadlubowski/The Republic

 Megan Cassidy, The Republic

Chris Simcox, the former leader of the Minuteman border vigilante group, was sentenced to 19.5 years in prison Monday, bringing an end to a sex-abuse case involving two girls under 10.

A Maricopa County Superior Court jury found Simcox, 55, guilty last month of two counts of child molestation and one count of furnishing obscene material to a minor after a three-week trial. The jury composed of three women and nine men, found him not guilty on three other counts of sexual conduct with a minor — a charge that carries a mandatory sentence of life in prison.

Simcox was arrested in 2013 after two girls, ages 5 and 6, accused him of touching them inappropriately between 2012 and 2013.

Simcox was sentenced to two concurrent sentences of 17 years for each of the molestation counts and an additional 2.5-year sentence for furnishing obscene materials to a minor.

The jury’s verdict was essentially split by accuser. Simcox was convicted of all of the charges tied to the 5-year-old girl and none of those tied to the 6-year-old.

Prosecutor: 'He is not to be trusted within society'

Simcox, who represented himself in trial, declined to address the court Monday. The choice was a departure from his earlier approach, which included verbose handwritten motions and a trial defense laced with innuendos of a conspiracy against him.

Though the victim's mother submitted a statement to the court, she declined to speak at the hearing. The girl, now 9, was not present.

Maricopa County prosecutor Yigael Cohen was the only one to make a statement before the sentencing. Cohen had asked for the sentences to run consecutive to each other, which would have tacked on another 17 years.

It was clear from Simcox's pre-sentence report that he wasn't willing to take responsibility for what he had done, Cohen said. Instead, Simcox "made up a story" to explain why the victim was upset with him and would have motive to implicate him, Cohen said.

“He is not to be trusted within society. He is not to be trusted with children," Cohen said. "He should be kept away from children for as long as possible.”

An end to an emotionally charged time in court

The sentencing caps three years of emotionally charged court proceedings, which reached a boiling point last year after Simcox announced that he planned to personally cross-examine his accusers.

The intended strategy prompted various delays in the trial as prosecutors and victims’ attorneys attempted to fight it in higher courts. Simcox ultimately abandoned the plan earlier this year.

Speaking to reporters just after the hearing, the victim's mother said her daughter hasn't spoken much about the incidents but has had a great amount of support from her family. She said she recently asked her daughter if she wanted to make a victim impact statement for the sentencing.

"The only thing she said was, 'He messed with the wrong family,' " the victim's mother said.

When asked about her opinion on Simcox, the mother said she viewed him "in the same way I would view anybody who did what he did to my child. I'm glad he's gone."

Simcox first stepped onto the public stage in the mid-2000s, emerging as a firebrand amid the debate on illegal immigration in Arizona. He co-founded the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps, a group that urged citizens to take it upon themselves to secure the U.S.’ southern border, and later ran a brief campaign to unseat U.S. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.

I wonder how he will make out with the Hispanic gangs in prison? 

Texas Firefighter Gets Slap on the Wrist for Repeated Sex Abuse of 2 Pre-Teens

Texas firefighter sentenced for child sex abuse

Richard Fredrick Adams Sr., 63, of Weatherford, TX

BY DOMINGO RAMIREZ JR.
ramirez@star-telegram.com

WEATHERFORD, Texas - A former Hudson Oaks firefighter was sentenced to 15 years in prison for repeatedly sexually assaulting two young girls last year.

Richard Fredrick Adams Sr., 63, also a retired Fort Worth firefighter, was sentenced earlier this month after pleading guilty to two counts of aggravated sexual assault of a child in a plea agreement.

He got 15 years on each charge, and the two sentences would be served concurrently. Adams will have to serve half his sentence before he is eligible for parole, and he must register as a sex offender upon his release, Parker County Assistant District Attorney Jeff Swain said on Tuesday.

Stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid! Stop with the concurrent sentences for child sex abuse, please. Wow! That's some kind of plea bargain; it's obvious who got the bargain and it wasn't his victims. Good grief! Eligible for parole in 7.5 years. Those girls will still be in their teens. There should be 'no possibility' of him getting out of prison while those girls are still teens. Someone should be investigated over this plea bargain, and someone should be fired!

Charges of sex abuse of a child continuous and indecency with a child will not be pursued by prosecutors as part of the plea agreement.

Adams remained in the Parker County Jail Tuesday awaiting his transfer to state prison.

He was arrested in July 2014 after investigators seized rolls of duct tape, cellphones, pornographic videos, towels and electronic equipment from his two houses in unincorporated Parker County near Weatherford, authorities said.

He assaulted the girls, ages 11 and 8, at the houses and in his vehicle. The girls were acquaintances of his.

According to a search warrant affidavit obtained by the Star-Telegram in July 2014, the 8-year-old told an investigator that Adams forced her to commit sex acts on him and he did the same to her at his houses. Also, Adams drove her to a lake and sexually assaulted her in his pickup, authorities said.

At times, Adams showed her movies of “grown-ups doing” sex acts, and then would perform sex acts on her, the girl told investigators.

She said that Adams used white tape and gray duct tape to bind her hands and feet, and also used the tape to bind her to a bloody mattress. Adams used towels to clean up rooms and his truck after performing sex acts on the girls, the affidavit said.

OMG, this is utterly disgraceful!

Hudson Oaks, Weatherford, Texas

The investigation began July 7, 2014, when Child Protective Services “alerted deputies about a possible sexual assault,” Lt. Mark Arnett, a spokesman for the Parker County Sheriff’s Department, said in an interview with the Star-Telegram in July 2014.

The girls were interviewed July 18, 2014, in Fort Worth. Investigators have found no other girls who might be involved, Arnett said in the interview.

At the time of his arrest, Adams was suspended from Hudson Oaks Fire Rescue, Chief Pat English said in July 2014. Adams later resigned from the department, English said in a Tuesday email.

Adams was a Fort Worth firefighter from 1977 until he retired in 2009, Fort Worth fire officials have said.

Domingo Ramirez Jr.: 817-390-7763, @mingoramirezjr

Child Sex Abuser Gets Incredible Break After Lawyer's Mishandling of Evidence

By: Lena Tillett
WOWT News

A Sarpy County, Nebraska man convicted and sentenced to at least 15 years in prison for sexually assaulting two children, received a new sentence Tuesday after a retrial, and it does not include more jail time.

Deputy Sarpy County Attorney Jennifer Jessig told WOWT 6 News, Philip Armstrong, 73, pled to two felony counts of intentional child abuse. Each count carries a maximum sentence of up to five years, one per victim. Armstrong was sentenced immediately to four to five years on each count to run concurrent. However, because Armstrong has already served time for the initial conviction in 2009, he will not face more jail time.

Why concurrent sentences? Why? They are so stupid!

Armstrong was initially sentenced to 15 to 30 years in 2009. After an appeal, the Nebraska Supreme Court ruled his attorney, Steve Delaney, made major errors in the case and that it might have affected the outcome of the trial.

According to the mistrial ruling, the major error was how video evidence was used. Delaney showed Armstrong a recording of the victims' interview with investigators and Armstrong then showed the video to members of his family. The family members were initially going to be witnesses for the defense, but after seeing the video they were not allowed to testify.

Seriously, Delaney gave Armstrong a copy of the victims' interview? Is the Nebraska bar looking into Delaney's conduct? He should not go unpunished for such a careless act.

The mother of the victims sent WOWT 6 News reporter Lena Tillett the following statement:

"In 2008, Project Harmony did everything they promised to maintain the privacy and safety of my children. For this I am deeply grateful. Everyone that came in contact with my children, treated them with the greatest amount of respect.

Mr. Steve Delaney, Mr. Philip Armstrong and the members of his family were the ones who mishandled the video evidence in this hearing, that ultimately resulted in Mr. Armstrong winning his appeal. Although no felony charges were ever filed against Delaney or the members of the Armstrong family, they tampered with evidence.

It is my hope, that this will NEVER happen again to another victim. It is my hope that this will not hinder victims from coming forward in crime cases like this. This was a unique situation where one incompetent lawyer, and a family that was desperate to find some way to dispute my girls' testimonies resulted in the failure of the judicial system.

Although Mr. Armstrong will not be on the sex offender registry, we know what he did. He knows what he did. Our neighbors know what he did. His family knows what he did. It is he who will have to carry this guilt with him forever. As for my girls, they are strong, beautiful and intelligent young women who will not allow Mr. Armstrong's actions define them."

And, so, why is he not on the sex offender registry when he admitted two felony counts of intentional child abuse? I don't get it.

Sarpy County, Nebraska

American Child Rapists and Abusers Today 10/21/15

HIV-Positive Man Charged in Child Rape Case

By Matt Barcaro
WGAL News

HARRISBURG, Pennsylvania — Police in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, have charged a man with raping a child while another man took video of it. 

Authorities have charged Ira Task with rape and other child sex abuse charges. 

Ira Trask

Court records show that Task admitted to police that he raped the child in April and then he forced the child to inhale amyl nitrite - a drug that can cause a high. 

Task also admitted that he is HIV positive.

Does anyone else think this guy deserves the death penalty? At the very least he should never see the light of day again.

Police say Task arranged sexual encounters with another man, William Byers-Augusta.

William Byers-Augusta

Byers-Augusta has already been charged with similar crimes involving the same child and broadcasting the rape "live" over the internet. 

Court records show that Task requested Byers-Augusta bring the child to his house in Harrisburg for sex. Police say Byers-Augusta shot video of Task raping the child, but was careful not to show Task's face.

North Middleton Township Police used moles on Task's body and jewelry he was wearing at the time to later identify him.

A detective told News 8 that more people may have been involved with abusing the same child and more children may have been abused. 

Trial Begins for Utah Man Accused of Child Sex Abuse Charges

Dean Ferguson

Dean Ferguson, 56, arrested May 19, 2014 on charges of sexual abuse of a child and object rape, both first-degree felonies. 

Cache Valley Daily
Will Feelright (seriously!)

LOGAN — The trial for a 57-year-old Millville man, accused of sexually abusing several teenage girls, began Tuesday with jury selection and attorneys for both sides presenting their opening statements.

Court records show Dean A. Ferguson appeared in 1st District Court. He faces five charges of aggravated sexual abuse of a child, all first-degree felonies.

Ferguson was arrested May 19, 2014, after several teenage girls claimed he sexually abused them. Cache County Sheriff’s investigators interviewed the victims before charges were filed by the Cache County Attorney’s Office. He was later released from the Cache County Jail after posting a $25,000 bond.

The trial has been postponed several times as attorneys worked to line up expert witnesses.

Ferguson faces up to five-years-to-life in prison for each charge if found guilty. The trial is scheduled to run through Friday.

Cache County, Utah

Plea Deal Resolves 3 Utah Child Sex Abuse Cases

By Geoff Liesik, Deseret News

Seth L. Forster

VERNAL — A Uintah County man who faced multiple allegations of child sex abuse in three separate cases has accepted a plea deal from prosecutors that will require him to serve prison time.

Seth L. Forster entered Alford pleas last week in 8th District Court to two counts of attempted aggravated sexual abuse of a child, according to court records. Under an Alford plea, a defendant does not admit guilt but acknowledges there is sufficient evidence for a conviction if the case were to go to trial.

Courts treat an Alford plea the same as a guilty plea for purposes of sentencing.

Forster, 38, was initially charged in September 2014 with three counts of aggravated sexual abuse of a child, three counts of furnishing alcohol to a minor and two counts of lewdness involving a child.

Prosecutors filed two more cases against Forster in June 2015, charging him with aggravated sexual abuse of a child in one case, and rape of a child and aggravated sexual abuse of a child in the other.

Forster provided Dr Pepper mixed with whiskey to three girls under the age of 14 while they were in a hot tub at his house in 2014, according to charging documents. When one of the girls left, the two remaining girls said Forster got in the hot tub with them.

Detectives were told that Forster repeatedly touched one of the girls in an inappropriate manner. He also undressed in front of the girls, ran naked through the house and encouraged one of the girls to expose herself, the charges state.

Forster was arrested and interviewed. He acknowledged that he took of his clothes in front of girls while playing "Truth or Dare," and that he provided the girls with alcohol, detectives said.

In exchange for Forster's pleas to the attempted aggravated child sex abuse charges, prosecutors have asked the judge to dismiss all remaining charges in the three pending cases.

Forster agreed that he would not be eligible for probation when he is sentenced on Nov. 16. Instead, he will be sentenced to two concurrent terms of three years to life in prison.

Wow! That's quite a spread - 3 years to life! How does that work? Concurrent sentences should be illegal. Judges who use it should get two concurrent smacks upside the head.

Uintah County, Utah

 Man on Trial Accused of Sexually Abusing Girl from Age 7 to 12

ROCKVILLE, Connecticut — A Superior Court jury began deliberating the fate of a Vernon man accused of repeatedly sexually assaulting a girl over several years.

Daniel Wine, 47, faces 16 counts related to the abuse of the girl from the time she was 7 until she was 12. Wine faces trial in two more cases of alleged sexual abuse of young girls. The victims in those cases were friends of Wine's daughter and the assaults allegedly occurred during sleepovers.

During closing arguments Tuesday, prosecutor Elizabeth Leaming led jurors through the 16 charges against Wine, including five counts of first-degree sexual assault, and described the alleged conduct that correlates to each charge.

She urged jurors to consider the victim's description of the abuse and the testimony of seven other witnesses who provided corroboration. The girl took several years to disclose the abuse, which Leaming said is not unusual, because she was afraid doing so would hurt Wine's wife and children.

She also asked jurors to examine letters Wine wrote to his now former wife from prison. The letters show Wine urging his wife, Jessica Wine, not to talk to police or state Department of Children and Families investigators. "You went along with this and were a big part of this too," he wrote in one letter.

Daniel Wine

Jessica Wine, 28, is serving a five-year prison sentence after pleading guilty to charges that she helped Wine abuse one of the girls.

Wine, when he took the stand Friday, said that what he wrote in the letters referred to a period of time he sold marijuana, not to sexual abuse of the victim. Yeah, right, 'cause that involves the Department of Children and Families!

Leaming asked the jury to carefully evaluate Wine's credibility and to apply common sense.

Defense attorney Robert McKay asked jurors to consider inconsistencies in stories about the time of alleged assaults. They undermine the accuser's credibility, he said.

He suggested to jurors that the accuser "fabricated" the allegations because she wanted to help Jessica Wine end her marriage with Daniel Wine. Jessica Wine had a boyfriend and wanted to keep her children, McKay argued.

That explanation made no sense, Leaming said, because in talking to the police, Jessica Wine incriminated herself, was arrested and ultimately convicted and sentenced to prison for five years.

Jurors have just delivered the verdict a couple hours ago. 

Daniel Wine, 47, was convicted of all 16 counts he faced, including five counts of first-degree sexual assault. He faces at least 10 years in prison and a maximum of 320 years at his sentencing, scheduled for Jan. 8.