Sexual abuse allegations suspends license at Bright Horizons Daycare at Baldwin Park
by: Daralene Jones
ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. - Officials with the state of Florida have suspended the license for Bright Horizons Daycare facility in Baldwin Park, Channel 9 investigative reporter Daralene Jones learned.
The license was suspended following allegations a former teacher, Jayrico Hamilton, sexually abused two young children at the facility for months.
Investigators with the Department of Children and Families said Hamilton sexually abused children in his classroom.
Eyewitness News has reported that two civil lawsuits have been filed by the families against the day care facility and Hamilton.
Investigators with DCF determined the facility failed to perform a proper background check on Hamilton and said in the report, "When a licensing counselor inspected the facility during this investigation, they found ‘no employment’ reference checks were performed prior to Mr. Hamilton being hired in 2016. Had a check been done they would have known he was terminated for cause from a Navy facility in Virginia."
The fact that he is male should have been enough reason to reject him as a child carer.
A child told investigators that Hamilton would kiss him while he used the bathroom.
Eyewitness News has reached out to Bright Horizons at Baldwin Park for comment and is waiting on a response.
Orlando police told Eyewitness News Wednesday that Hamiton has not been charged with any crime.
Oh! And why is that?
Pastor G’s appeal of child sex abuse convictions
denied by Texas court
BY VERNON FREEMAN JR.,
FORT WORTH, Tx. — The appeal of child molestation convictions by former Richmond pastor Geronimo Aguilar was denied Wednesday by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals.
Aguilar, also known as Pastor G, is severing a 40 year sentence after being convicted in 2015 of seven charges related to sexually abusing multiple minors.
The former pastor and founder of the Richmond Outreach Center (ROC) church, was convicted on two counts of aggravated sexual assault of a child under fourteen years of age, three counts of sexual assault of a child under seventeen years of age, and two counts of indecency with a child by contact.
A Texas jury found Aguilar guilty of sex crimes against two sisters who he started to abuse when they were 11 and 13 years old. The girls, now women, said they were abused in the 1990s while Aguilar was a pastor at their church in Texas.
Wednesday’s appeal to the 2nd Court of Appeals was Aguilar’s last appeal. Earlier this year his appeal was also denied by a Texas court.
Aguilar must serve 20 years in prison before he’s eligible for parole.
House bill to require mandatory prison for
child sex offenders in Ohio
Trista Thurston, Reporter
COLUMBUS - Law enforcement sees so many of those convicted of soliciting minors for sex on just probation, able to re-offend as soon as they're released.
Victims of child sex abuse say the lack of proper penalties for offenders can be just as traumatic as the original abuse. Lawmakers are looking to put mandatory sentences in place to make sure this doesn't happen to children in the future.
A bill reintroduced in the state House of Representatives Wednesday by Reps. Tim Schaffer (R-Lancaster) and Kent Smith (D-Euclid) would create mandatory sentences for importuning of at least six months in prison.
Those convicted of importuning, or soliciting a minor for sex over the internet, can currently see little to no prison time. A vast majority receive a slap on the wrist, Schaffer said.
And these criminals are often not just soliciting children for sex. Schaffer said that those that start with importuning can evolve to child pornography and human trafficking if left unpunished. Mandatory prison could interrupt that cycle of abuse.
In many cases, it's law enforcement posing as children online that catch these criminals, leading some to believe this a victimless crime. Smith says that we're "lucky they find law enforcement first."
Smith's experience on the Ohio Internet Crimes Against Children task force, based in Cuyahoga County, led him to this work. Schaffer himself has been working to pass this legislation since 2008.
David Frattare, the commander of the Ohio ICAC task force, said that social media is a virtual playground for these predators and a casual conversation can quickly become dangerous. These are individuals have every intention of meeting a real child in person to abuse. It's the same crime, with new technologies being used every day.
"We're playing catch-up now," Schaffer said.
The House of Representatives unanimously passed this same bill, as House Bill 405, last year. Schaffer said much of that time was spent educating colleagues as to what importuning actually is. The bill didn't get enough hearings last time, but he's confident it can pass this time around.
The bill would require that those with a first offense of importuning with a victim of under 13, a third-degree felony, to see somewhere between nine and 36 months in prison. Sentences for a first offense for those ten years or older than the victim and a victim between 13 and 16 years old, a fifth-degree felony, would start at six months.
Baltimore Police Chief Mike Tussey was previously the commander of the online predator unit of the Westerville Police Department and said it could be frustrating to see some of these offenders not get the time behind bars he felt was necessary. The justice system, he added, can get too involved in trying to fix the accused versus protecting the victims.
"That's unacceptable," Tussey said. "This is a crime that knows no boundaries. It knows no race. It knows no gender. Any child can be a victim."
His instinct, he added, was to always err on the side of children. There's a lot we don't agree on in society, Tussey said, but everyone can agree that our primary responsibility is to protect children.
While with Westerville, Tussey worked with Steve Grubbs, who is now with the Franklin County ICAC task force. He's been working on these types of cases for over 11 years. Right now, predators have no motivation to change their current behavior. Their interpreted reward outweighs the current risk of the crime.
"The issue is getting some of the judges to sentence what we feel is appropriate," he said.
With no ramifications, they're likely to re-offend. The reintroduced bill is a start, Grubbs said. In some instances, predators are back online doing the same thing in 48 hours.
73 y/o man arrested in child sex abuse case
By: WTVQ News Desk
LONDON, Ky. – An East Bernstadt man was arrested Wednesday, accused of sexually abusing a 12-year old child, according to London Police.
Investigators say the child told them in an interview that they had been subjected to sexual contact this summer by 73-year old Wilkie Smith.
Police say Smith admitted to the crime during questioning.
Investigators say Smith was charged with First Degree Rape, First Degree Sodomy, First Degree Sexual Abuse and other charges.
He was lodged in the Laurel County Detention Center.
Illinois man faces child sexual abuse charges
ROCKFORD — A Rockford man is behind bars today for allegedly sexually abusing a child.
Winnebago County prosecutors on Monday charged Shanan Q. Berry, 28, with two counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse of a child younger than 13 and one count of battery. Rockford police stated in a release today that detectives began investigating sexual abuse allegations against Berry several months ago.
Police didn’t disclose the time frame or year during which the molestation reportedly occurred.
Police didn’t disclose the age and gender of the child, or state whether Berry knew the child or if the child was a stranger. City spokeswoman Kimberly Bruce declined to comment.
Berry was booked into the jail Tuesday night, jail logs show. Berry is not listed on Illinois’ Sex Offender Registry, Illinois State Police records show.
Berry is scheduled to appear in bond court this afternoon, court records show.
Man freed after new evidence in
child sex case points to pal
By Fox News
A onetime Texas high school football star, who was sentenced to 25 years behind bars without the possibility of parole for sexually assaulting a child, has been granted bond and released after a judge said his due-process rights were violated during a flawed police investigation.
State District Judge Donna King said police did not corroborate information from the child victim and did not speak to other potential persons of interest.
King also granted bond to Greg Kelley, 22, based on what she ruled was ineffective assistance from his attorney. The judge cited Kelley’s decision to waive his appeal. She wrote: “There can be no sound strategy to waive the appeal of a conviction unsupported by sufficient evidence. Counsel’s advice to waive his appeal was deficient.”
Four years ago, Kelley, then 18, was arrested on a charge of sexual assault of a 4-year-old boy at an in-home daycare center. Two weeks later, a second boy came forward with allegations of assault. Almost a year later, in July 2014, he was convicted and sentenced.
The case was brought back to life in May this year after Williamson County District Attorney Shawn Dick claimed he had been given “credible” evidence suggesting that Johnathan McCarty, the son of the daycare facility operator, may have been involved in the abuse. This spurred Texas Rangers to reinvestigate the case. McCarty, a friend of Kelley’s, has not been charged, but has been named by Texas Rangers as one of three suspects.
According to the Austin American-Statesman, McCarty remains in the Williamson County Jail on unrelated charges. A third person who authorities say is also a suspect has not been identified.
Fox News reported McCarty’s lawyer vehemently denied allegations against her client, with claims he is being scapegoated in a quest to prove Kelley’s innocence.
Kelley initially was accused of sexual assaulting two young boys in 2013, at the age of 18, at the daycare center run by McCarty’s mother. The guilty verdict was handed out a year later, although at the trial there was no physical evidence and one of the young victims, who testified via closed-circuit TV, denied that Kelley had touched him. The daycare owner also took the stand, professing her belief that Kelley was innocent.
A motion for a new trial, filed soon after the verdict, was denied after a new judge took the case. More than 18 months of state appeals followed from Kelley’s new defense team, with claims they had evidence to prove he was not at the daycare during the time the alleged crimes occurred. The appeals were dismissed.
Williamson Co., TX
Jury returns guilty verdict for Alabama man
accused of sexually abusing a child
BY JESSICA GROTJAHN AND SHEVAUN BRYAN,
LIMESTONE COUNTY, Ala. – A jury has returned a guilty verdict in the trial of 65-year-old William Wesley Bryant Jr., of Elkmont.
The jury deliberated for less than an hour and found Bryant guilty on all counts, including three counts of sexual abuse of a child under the age of 12, and one count of 1st degree sodomy of a child under 12.
The trial began on August 21. The victim was asked to testify as well as several other relatives.
Bryant faces anywhere from 10 to 99 years in prison and a $60,000 fine for first-degree sodomy, and 2 to 20 years and a $30,000 fine for each count of sexual abuse.
He is set to be sentenced in Judge Robert Baker’s courtroom at a later date.
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