Navajo man sentenced to 18 years for federal
child sex abuse conviction
By Navajo-Hopi Observer
ALBUQUERQUE — Patrick Begay, 43, a member of the Navajo Nation who resides in Churchrock, New Mexico, was sentenced Aug. 8 in federal court in Albuquerque, New Mexico to 216 months in prison followed by five years of supervised release for his conviction on an abusive sexual contact charge.
Begay will also be required to register as a sex offender.
Begay was arrested in November 2016 on a four-count indictment charging him with sexually abusing a child under the age of 12 years from November 2013 through December 2015, and engaging in sexual contact with a child under the age of 12 years on January 6, 2016. Begay committed the offenses on the Navajo Indian Reservation in McKinley County, New Mexico.
On March 17, Begay pled guilty to count 4 of the indictment charging him with abusive sexual contact with a child. In entering the guilty plea, Begay admitted that on January 6, 2016, he engaged in sexual contact with the victim, who was then nine-years old. Begay further admitted that he repeatedly sexually abused the victim from the time she was seven-years old.
This case was investigated by the Gallup office of the FBI and the Navajo Nation Department of Public Safety. Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicholas J. Marshall prosecuted this case as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice (DOJ) to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by United States Attorneys’ Offices and Department of Justice’s Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims.
More information about Project Safe Childhood is available at http://www.justice.gov/psc/.
Navajo Indian Reservation in McKinley County
Former Oklahoma minister sentenced in
child pornography case
TURLEY, Okla. – A former Oklahoma minister will spend the next four years in prison after pleading guilty to a child pornography charge.
On May 9, Ronald Robinson pleaded guilty to one count of accessing with intent to view child pornography on a website.
Robinson was arrested after he allegedly watched child pornography that was live streamed on a website. Investigators say they didn’t find child pornography on his home computer, but did find logs that linked him to chat room activity involving child pornography.
Agents say Robsinson, who was a minister in Turley at the time, made comments about raping a child and responded to a comment about killing a child after sexual abuse.
According to FOX 23, Robinson allegedly admitted to fantasizing about hurting children but never acted on those fantasies.
Robinson’s attorney, Scott Graham, told the Tulsa World that “there is nothing illegal with what he was typing,” adding that Robinson was using his creative writing as a way to “exorcise some of his demons.”
He's a minister! He's trying to exorcise his demons by sharing his demonic thoughts with like-minded perverts? He should try having a relationship with Jesus Christ rather than fellow pedophiles.
Robinson was sentenced to 57 months in prison related to the charges.
Adrian area man arrested for having
child sex abuse material
By 6 News Web Staff
ADRIAN, Mich (WLNS) – An Adrian-area man has been charged with a variety of crimes relating to child sex abuse.
Brett Shaw, 27 of Sand Creek, was arrested Thursday by a Michigan State Police trooper from the Monroe Post.
The investigation began with a cybertip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. A search of his home resulted in the seizure of several electronic devices and evidence.
Shaw has been charged with three counts of possession of child sexually abusive material and three counts of using a computer to commit a crime.
He has been arraigned on all counts and is held on a $60,000 bond.
If convicted, Shaw faces up to four years in prison for each count of possession of child sexually abusive material and seven years in prison for each count of using of a computer to commit a crime.
Keeping children safe online: National Center for Missing and Exploited Children
Waco man gets 35 years in child sex abuse
By TOMMY WITHERSPOON
A Waco man was sentenced to 35 years in prison Tuesday for sexually assaulting two young sisters in 2013.
Roman Beltran, 27, pleaded guilty to five counts of aggravated sexual assault of a child and three counts of indecency with a child by contact in a plea bargain with prosecutors.
Judge Ralph Strother of Waco's 19th State District Court sentenced Beltran to five 35-year prison terms plus three 20-year terms. Beltran will serve the sentences concurrently, meaning he must serve a minimum of 17½ years before he can seek parole.
Wait a minute! 4 terms adding up to 95 years and he gets to ask for parole in 17.5? Sweet deal, for the pervert!
According to court records, Beltran sexually assaulted the young girls beginning when they were 5 and 4 in May 2013.
Good grief! Why should this man ever see the light of day again?
In victim-impact statements Tuesday, both girls said they were scared of him and continue to have nightmares about him sneaking into their rooms at night. The younger girl said she pulls her hair out every day from the effects of the abuse.
"If I was a judge, I would leave you in prison for the rest of your life so you won't hurt me again," she said.
If you had a decent judge and prosecutor, that's exactly what would have happened. Britain has a law where anyone can challenge a sentence given to a convict. If these girls had any real advocates this sentence would be challenged.
The older girl said she has trouble trusting people now. "I hate you because you made me feel this way," she said.
Homeless man accused of child sex abuse
hangs self in jail
GULFPORT, Miss. (AP) - Mississippi authorities say a homeless man convicted in Mississippi and Louisiana of sexually abusing children has hanged himself in jail.
Coastal news media report that 28-year-old Jared Anthony Epperson was found hanging by bed sheets in his cell after being served lunch on Friday in the Harrison County jail.
A news release said guards performed CPR and brought back a pulse, but he died in a hospital.
The Sun Herald reports that Epperson had been convicted in 2008 of indecent behavior with a juvenile in Lafayette, Louisiana, and in 2009 of sexual battery and touching a child for lustful purposes in Harrison County.
He was arrested July 27 for violating state probation and was serving five years in the Harrison County jail on that charge.
Judge orders Okla. teacher who admitted to sex with 15-year-old student to pay $1 million
BY CAITLYN HITT
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
A former Okla. Teacher will have to pay for her crimes…literally.
According to The Oklahoman, Jennifer Caswell, currently serving 10 years in prison for having sex with a 15-year-old student in 2015, has been ordered to fork over $1 million in damages to her victim.
The publication reports that the disgraced former middle school English teacher doesn't have the money to pay the judgement. It's unclear how that will affect her sentence.
The payout is a result of a lawsuit filed on behalf of the victim and his father. Judge Robin J. Cauthron, who presided over the case, ruled that Caswell caused the child intentional emotional distress, the report states.
Cauthron said in her judgement obtained by that paper that the boy, whose name is being withheld due to the nature of Caswell's crimes, has experienced "depression, isolation, and self-blame" in the wake of his intimate relationship with his former teacher.
"He experienced humiliation when members of his community publicly chastised him and when strangers recognized him and questioned him about the scandal," she wrote, according to the Oklahoman.
The victim's lawyer, Bob Wyatt, told the newspaper he and his clients are thrilled with Cauthron's ruling.
"We are pleased that the judge considered the outrageous behavior of the teacher and are pleased with the fact that the judge sent a message to teachers and schools across the state of Oklahoma that sexual abuse of a child by a teacher will not be condoned," he said.
The boy and his family previously received payment from Hollis Public Schools, where Caswell was employed, in the amount of $125,000. School officials were accused of having attempted to cover up the abuse the pupil suffered.
The lawsuit revealed that the school agreed to allow Caswell to keep her teaching credentials if she resigned from her position. She did so in April 2014.
Additionally, the victim's father alleged in the filing that Hollis Public Schools employees failed to report his son's abuse to police after two separate witnesses saw her and the child having sex in a classroom.
The school district opted to settle with the family, the paper reported.
Andy Fugitt, the lawyer chosen to represent the school, told The Oklahoman school officials had chosen to maintain the position that the situation was correctly handled.
"The district's overall position is that they acted appropriately once they were aware of the issue," he said.
But they settled for $125k anyway. Just out of the goodness of their hearts. Can't anyone be honest anymore?
Caswell pleaded guilty to six counts of second-degree rape, child enticement and forcible sodomy in June 2015. At the time, the Oklahoman reported that she opted not to defend herself against the family's lawsuit.
She remains imprisoned at Mabel Basset Correctional Center, according to online records. Caswell was sentenced to 10 years in 2015 and will be required to register as a sex offender upon release.
Alabama judge dismisses charges against teacher accused of having sex with students as unconstitutional
BY JESSICA SCHLADEBECK
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Carrie Witt in March was charged with having sex with two students between the ages of 16 and 19 while she taught at Decatur High School. Morgan County Circuit Judge Glenn Thompson on Thursday dismissed both charges without prejudice, which means the state can still refile, WHNT reported.
In Alabama, the age of consent is 16, though the law prohibits teachers from having sex with students under the age of 19.
Thompson in a 5-page ruling wrote the law forbidding sexual activity between consenting ages was too broad, adding the prosecution most prove the teacher was in a position of authority over her students if they want charges to stick, according to the news station.
“The court acknowledges that a disparity of power may inherently exist in a teacher/student relationship, but it clearly does not exist between every school employee and student regardless of where the student is enrolled,” the judge wrote. “By eliminating the requirement that the state show a position of authority, grooming, abuse, coercion, or lack of consent, the state criminalizes behaviors outside the state’s legitimate purpose.”
Morgan County District Attorney Scott Anderson told Decatur Daily he “respectfully disagrees with the court’s ruling” and that he intends to file an appeal.
The 44-year-old teacher allegedly had sex with a 17-year-old male student and then had another relationship with an 18-year-old. She was suspended from her teaching job in March 2016, but still continues to earn her salary, according to the newspaper.
Her attorney, Robert Tuten, argued the students were not under her direct authority when the relationships occurred and that they were both over the age of consent.
The judge cited a Kansas law in his ruling, pointing out that it specifically bars relationships between students and officials when students are enrolled at the school. Alabama law offers no such stipulation, according to WHNT.
Thompson in his ruling noted the “Court does not endeavor to absolve any wrongdoing,” but said it’s an overstep to immediately deny all possibilities of a consensual relationship.
“It is this court's finding that the law grants these students the capacity to consent until and unless there is some showing that authority was used to obtain illegitimate or coerced consent,” he wrote. “If no such position of authority is alleged, the defendant must be permitted to show consent as a defense.”
He also dismissed charges against David Solomon, a former teaching aide at Falkville High School who was accused with having a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old student.
Hood County man indicted for sexual abuse of a child
A Hood County man has been indicted on seven sexual abuse of a child charges.
David Marin Tijerina, 29, of Indian Harbor, was indicted for continuous sexual abuse of a child, four counts of aggravated sexual assault of a child and two counts of indecency with a child. Indictments are formal charges.
If he is convicted of the most serious charge, continuous sexual abuse of a child, Tijerina would receive a sentence of between 25 and 99 years in prison, said District Attorney Rob Christian.
Tijerina remains in the Hood County Jail on a $100,000 bond.
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