Over 1,600 Images and 270 Videos of Child Pornography Found on Department of Justice Employee’s Personal Computer
A former Department of Justice information technology specialist has been sentenced to federal prison for possession of child pornography.
Robert Thomas Darenberg, 34, was sentenced to 48 months in federal prison. He has also been ordered to pay $15,000.00 in restitution, serve 10 years of supervised release following his prison term, and register as a sex offender upon his release from prison.
During their investigation, investigators discovered that Darenberg’s personal computer contained approximately 1,630 images of child pornography, including approximately 270 videos, that had been encrypted in an attempt to conceal the evidence.
He had been employed by the Department of Justice at the time, but is no longer employed by them.
This poorly written story gives us absolutely no clue as to where it took place.
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Watsontown, Pa. man pleads guilty to
child sexual abuse charges
Morgan SnookA 30-year-old Watsontown man has pleaded guilty to child sexual abuse charges, according to court records.
James Watson Lewis entered a guilty plea to two first degree felony counts of involuntary deviant sexual intercourse with a child before Lycoming County President Judge Nancy L. Butts, on October 1, 2019.
He also pleaded guilty to five third degree felony counts of corruption of minors, and five first degree misdemeanor counts of indecent assault of a person under 13 years of age, court records filed on October 9, 2019, stated.
Lewis committed the crimes crimes on or about January 1, 2014.
"The Court accepts as knowing, intelligent and voluntary the defendant's plea of guilty to said charges," President Judge Butts wrote.
When asked why he wished to plead guilty to these charges, James Lewis said, "I'm guilty."
At least he's honest, even if he is a pervert.
Clifton Park, NY, sex offender indicted on
aggravated child sex abuse counts
aggravated child sex abuse counts
CLIFTON PARK -- A Clifton Park sex offender has been indicted in federal court on nine separate counts related to allegations he sexually abused children in Massachusetts, Florida and Nevada, federal prosecutors said.
The federal allegations date from 1998 to 2008 and involve three separate victims, the man's indictment reads.
Arraigned Thursday on the indictment was Gary Ryan, 48. He faces three counts of aggravated sex abuse and six counts of transportation with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity.
He was ordered detained pending trial.
The aggravated sex abuse counts each carry sentences of at least 30 years in federal prison and up to life, upon conviction.
The aggravated sex abuse charges date from 2003 to 2008 and involve a single victim over the three states, the indictment reads. The transportation counts involve the three victims and span from 1998 to 2008.
Federal prosecutors did not indicate what led to the charges now. The federal charges have no statute of limitations.
Ryan is listed in the state sex offender registry, federal authorities said. He is on the registry in connection with cases that date back to 2008. Ryan, then of Mechanicville, was arrested in February 2008 and charged with child pornography possession.
Ryan had been a longtime coach in the local Little League at the time, newspaper records indicate. He had also been active in local Mechanicville politics.
He was then charged that March in Nassau County with attempted dissemination of indecent material to a minor. Ryan received 10 years probation in the Saratoga County case, newspaper records indicate. The outcome of the Nassau County case was not available.
The current case is being investigated by the FBI and its Child Exploitation Task Force. The task force includes members of the Colonie Police Department, Saratoga County Sheriff's Department and the state police. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Katherine Kopita.
Former Utah deaf school aide charged with
multiple counts of child rape
It has been a long time coming for parents of alleged abuse victims who for years have been wondering if they were being ignored and abandoned.
The only case to move forward before these new charges involved an accusation that he solicited sex from an underage girl. On July 11, Jex stood awkwardly before 3rd District Judge Judith Atherton. With his rail-thin frame, large glasses and tousled dark hair the 28-year-old looked more like a high school student who had wandered mistakenly into the West Jordan courtroom.
Jamie Greenwood, who sat in the gallery that day for what turned out to be a procedural hearing that was continued, said she knew what Jex was capable of. She said he began sexually abusing her deaf daughter in 2012 at the Jean Massieu School of the Deaf in Salt Lake City.
Jex, a student teaching aide at the time, repeatedly lured her then 11-year-old daughter into a bathroom to grope her and then paid her to keep it quiet, she — and now prosecutors — allege. Greenwood and other families have been asking for years how such a man could slip past so many authorities for so long.
Greenwood challenges the Utah Deaf and Blind School for not believing her daughter, she also questioned a state law that will not allow her, the mother of a victim to access the Division of Child and Family Services investigation report into the abuse — a report that actually determined the abuse took place. Under state law only the alleged abuser, Jex, can see those documents.
David and Daniela Malepeai are baffled why it was that even though they had Jex’s Facebook messages allegedly admitting to having abused their deaf and developmentally disabled daughter that charges weren’t brought against him.
Ginnette Jenkins, meanwhile, wondered if something had been done when she alleges Jex abused her daughter in 2012 at the Deaf and Blind School, would that have halted the stalking and terrorizing of her daughter even as recently as the spring of 2019?
To be clear, Jex has not been convicted of any sexual crimes against minors. And his attorney, Ed Brass, said Thursday that “Mr. Jex maintains his innocence.”
Jason McLean, former Children's Theatre teacher accused of child sex abuse, returns to U.S.
Sued for sexual abuse of Children's Theatre students,
he's in Calif., faces $6M in judgments
By Kelly Smith Star Tribune 
Jason McLean at his restaurant, the Loring Pasta Bar, in Minneapolis' Dinkytown in the summer of 2014.
Jason McLean fled to Mexico more than two years ago after lawsuits accused him of sexually abusing children at the Children's Theatre Company in the 1980s.
Now, McLean, who faces more than $6 million in judgments against him, has returned to the U.S., resurfacing in Oakland, Calif., where he owns a restaurant and bar called Small Wonder.
Jeff Anderson, the attorney for plaintiffs in cases against McLean and the Children's Theatre, said he was "a little surprised" to learn that McLean had returned to the U.S., but "I've never underestimated his hubris, his arrogance or the danger that he poses."
"I have no intention of letting him escape accountability in any way, shape or form," Anderson said Thursday. "We have and will continue to pursue all legal remedies to both expose this guy for the risks that he presents wherever he is and to do everything in our power to collect the judgments that have been entered against him for rape and sexual assault."
McLean, now 65, was a teacher at the south Minneapolis theater in the 1980s and was never criminally charged. He couldn't be reached for comment Thursday; a local phone number was disconnected.
But according to a Bay City News Service article posted on SFGate.com, which first reported the news of his return, McLean denied the allegations and said in a statement that the "cost of defense against these unwarranted claims, mostly tried by damaging publicity in the media, destroyed my enterprises in Minnesota and forced me into default."
Jina Penn-Tracy, who said Jason McLean and Children’s Theatre co-founder John Clark Donahue abused her from 1983 to 1985, became emotional as she stood with her husband, Scott Tracy, during a protest outside the theater.
A former employee of Small Wonder, who declined to be named fearing retribution, said McLean fled to Mexico in 2017 before a judge returned a $2.5 million judgment (5th story on link) against him. For two years, employees ran the bar while McLean continued to own and receive money from the business in Mexico, the employee said. Two weeks ago, McLean showed up at the Oakland bar, fired the employee and the 10 staff and took over the restaurant, planning to reopen, the employee said.
"It's such a surprise," the employee said. "It's like seeing a ghost. No one thought he'd come back to the U.S."
'Baffled' by his return
In 2015 and 2016, six women sued McLean and the Children's Theatre under the 2013 Minnesota Child Victims Act, which extended the statute of limitations on old abuse cases. By 2017, McLean sold his two businesses in Minneapolis' Dinkytown neighborhood, the Varsity Theater and the Loring Pasta Bar, and moved to California, where he opened Small Wonder.
The former employee said Thursday that McLean left for Mexico just three months before the $2.5 million judgment was entered against him in a case brought by a Jane Doe who accused him of "unpermitted sexual contact" when she was 15 to 16 years old and he was 29.
Then in 2019, a jury returned a $3.68 million verdict against McLean in Laura Stearns' case — the first and so far only case to go to trial. The jury also found in her case that the Children's Theatre had been negligent but was not liable for damages.
Stearns, who accused McLean of raping her at age 15 in the 1980s, said she doesn't expect to recover any of the money he owes in the judgment, even after he returned to the United States.
"I'm baffled that he would come back," Stearns said Thursday. "His guilt is so obvious."
Even though he's far from Minnesota, she said the news that's he's returned to the country would be alarming to many victims.
Twin Cities attorney Marshall Tanick, who has no connection to the Children's Theatre or McLean lawsuits, said Anderson's firm will have an easier time trying to collect the $6 million in judgments from McLean now that he's back in the U.S.
"The fact that he's in the United States and engaging in business is a significant stride forward," Tanick said, adding that attorneys would have to transfer the judgments to California courts and then go through the collection process to find assets that don't have liens or mortgages on them. That could include going after any money McLean has in a bank, or they could shut down or sell Small Wonder.
More cases remain
Several of the lawsuits filed against the Children's Theatre were also filed against John Clark Donahue, the co-founder of the theater who pleaded guilty in 1984 to abusing three boys and served 10 months in jail. Donahue admitted in a deposition that he abused or raped 16 boys since starting the theater. He died in March at age 80.
Anderson says more than 100 victims were abused by 20 offenders. Five other administrators and staff were charged with sexually abusing students or failing to report abuse, but they were acquitted or their charges were dismissed.
So far, the Children's Theatre has settled seven cases, but the terms of the settlements haven't been disclosed. Eight cases remain against the theater. The theater's leaders have said they're trying to reach settlements on the remaining cases and to heal and rebuild trust after the painful era of abuse and more recent legal and communication missteps.
Stearns, who works at the Guthrie Theater, is also trying to change how sexual violence is addressed in the Twin Cities theater community. She organized a coalition of about 20 arts leaders who are putting on 10 forums, starting with one at 6 p.m. Monday at Park Square Theatre in St. Paul.
Marine colonel released from brig three months after
child sexual abuse conviction dismissed
WASHINGTON — A Marine colonel who had his conviction for sexually abusing a child dismissed in July has been released from confinement and awaiting approval for retirement, according to the Marine Corps.
Col. Daniel Wilson was released from pretrial confinement Oct. 18 after a presentencing agreement was signed and he immediately went on leave while awaiting administrative separation, the Marine Corps said Friday in a statement.
In 2017, Wilson was sentenced to 66 months, or more than five years, behind bars and a dismissal — the officer equivalent of a dishonorable discharge — after he was convicted of sexual abuse of a child, six counts of conduct unbecoming an officer and gentleman, and one count of unauthorized absence, according to the decision of the judges from the U.S. Navy-Marine Corps Court of Criminal Appeals.
Wilson’s court-martial took place at Camp Lejeune, N.C., where he was with the II Marine Expeditionary Force. He was accused of sexually abusing the six-year-old daughter of a fellow Marine in 2016. Wilson had previously worked with the girl’s father at another base, and when the girl’s family moved to Camp Lejeune, they developed a close friendship with Wilson and his wife, according to court documents.
Before the appeals court, Wilson’s lawyers asserted the conviction of sexual abuse of the child is “legally and factually insufficient,” which the judges found to have merit, according to their decision.
The judges dismissed the sexual abuse charge “with prejudice,” meaning the decision is final and the charge cannot be retried.
Since July, Wilson had been confined to the Camp Pendleton Brig in California, awaiting a sentencing rehearing for his remaining felony-level convictions for conduct unbecoming and unauthorized absence.
Wilson has submitted a retirement request to be decided by Navy Secretary Richard Spencer. If the request is approved, Spencer will determine at what rank Wilson will be authorized to retire based on his service, according to the Marine Corps.
When the Navy secretary makes his decision on Wilson’s retirement request, the convening authority or the top official overseeing court-martial proceedings has agreed to approve “no punishment” on Wilson’s court-martial in lieu of a sentence rehearing, according to the Marine Corps. The name of the convening authority was not given in the statement.
The now 9 y/o girl, is tough out of luck. The Marines are not about children.
Winooski, Vt., man suspected of child sex abuse arrested
By Jacob Dawson, VTDigger
A man suspected of sexually abusing multiple juveniles is in custody after initially fleeing from police.
Hojohn is accused of sexually abusing three children, according to Chittenden Unit for Special Investigations, or CUSI.
He was arraigned Friday morning and is being held at Chittenden Regional Correctional Facility without bond, according to police.
Winooksi Police reached out to CUSI, a special law enforcement unit that handles sex crimes, about reports of sexual abuse on Wednesday.
CUSI detectives and a Department for Children and Families social worker investigated the claims, and, according to police, an arrest warrant for Hojohn was issued based on the results of the investigation.
The warrant was for four counts of aggrevated sexual assult of a child, one count of aggrevated sexual assault, three counts of lewd or lascivious conduct with a child and two counts of lewd or lascivious conduct.
Prior to police responding, Hojohn fled the scene and threatened suicide, CUSI said. Investigators asked the public to help locate him or his blue Kia Forte.
Thursday afternoon, Barre police officers, assisted by the U.S. Marshalls, arrested Hojohn at a Barre apartment complex.
Hojohn has a lengthy criminal record, including more than 50 prior arrests, according to police. He was on probation with the Department of Corrections at the time of his arrest. Previously, Hojohn has been convicted of four counts of simple assault, four counts of sale of cocaine, two counts of unlawful mischief, trespassing, possession of stolen property, grand larceny and violation of conditions of release.
Aggravated sexual assault of a child has a minimum penalty of 25 years and a maximum of life in prison plus a $50,000 fine. Lewd or lascivious conduct with a child brings a penalty of three to 15 years in prison, a $5,000 fine, or both. Aggrevated sexual assault with a victim younger than 13 years old and perpetrator older than 18 years old, has a penalty of an indeterminate life sentence.
I'm guessing Hojohn's lengthy criminal record is soon going to plateau.
Connecticut dentist Allegedly Tried to
Meet Up With 15-y/o for Sex
A Trumbull dentist is facing federal charges, accused of planning to meet up with someone he believed was a 15-year-old girl for sexual activities.
According to a release from the US Attorney’s Office, 39-year-old Scott David Cohen of Stratford was arrested Friday and charged with multiple child sexual exploitation offenses.
Investigators allege that Cohen used Instagram to communicate with someone he believed was a 15-year-old girl. They said that in multiple conversations Cohen talked of sexual activities he wanted to have with the minor, and sent sexually explicit images of himself. Investigators said he used graphic detail to describe the sexual acts he wanted to engage in.
The “minor” told Cohen she lived out of state and was planning to travel to New York to meet a relative. Over chat, Cohen said he would reschedule patients at his dental practice to meet with her.
He was arrested after he traveled to the Stratford train station to meet with the “girl.” He is charged with enticement of a minor to engage in illegal sexual activity, travel with intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct, transfer of obscene material to minors, and sexual exploitation of children.
The FBI and Connecticut Child Exploitation Task Force are investigating the case. The prosecution is part of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Project Safe Childhood Initiative, a program which aims to protect children from sexual abuse and exploitation.
Rockford, Ill., man sentenced to 26 years in prison
for child sexual abuse
ROCKFORD (WREX) — A man is sentenced to more than 26 years in prison for sexual abusing a child under 13.
Scottie A. Pulliam, 48, was sentenced to 26 years and 3 months in prison by Hon. Brendan Maher, according to the Winnebago County State’s Attorney’s Office.Pulliam was found guilty of predatory criminal sexual assault and aggravated criminal sexual assault after a jury trial in May.
According to the state’s attorney’s office, the abuse happened multiple times between 2014 and 2018. The abuse was reported in 2018.
Pulliam must register as a sex offender for the rest of his life. Hopefully, he will spend it all in prison.
Gaston, S.C., man sentenced for soliciting,
coercing underage girls online for sex
by Hal MillardA Lexington County man has been sentenced to 7½ years in prison for soliciting minors for sex, S.C. Attorney General Alan Wilson said Friday.
“This case is a good example of why we urge parents to teach their children about Internet safety,” Wilson said Friday. “This predator was going online looking for children to solicit, so our kids need to be aware of that and know what to watch out for.”
Spivey was originally arrested on Feb. 22, 2018. At that time he was booked on five charges, including one count of first-degree sexual exploitation of a minor, one count of criminal solicitation of a minor, two counts of disseminating obscene material to a person under age 18, and one count of stalking.
If he had been convicted at trial on all five charges he could have received a maximum of 50 years in prison.
According to Wilson, on Aug. 1, 2017, Facebook contacted the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children in reference to an individual in South Carolina contacting underage girls for nude photos and to meet for sex. The center then contacted the S.C. Attorney General’s Office and determined the individual resided in Lexington County and forwarded the case to the Lexington County Sheriff’s Department.
Investigator Adam Creech with the LCSD eventually identified Spivey as a suspect. A search warrant was executed on Spivey’s home. He later confessed to contacting the girls, and a forensic examination of his electronic devices found additional evidence of child exploitation. Investigator Creech was also able to identify at least three victims, ages 16, 15, and 12.
Wilson’s office said Spivey “used coercion and threats of violence to compel the children to send him nude photos of themselves.”
Upon release, Spivey will have to register as a sex offender, and also will have to register with the child-abuse registry, Wilson said.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant S.C. Attorney General Stephen Ryan.
Man guilty of child sex assault ‘groomed’ family member for 3 years, Sacramento DA says
BY MICHAEL MCGOUGHA man was convicted this week on 14 counts of sexual assault or abuse involving a child, with a Sacramento County jury determining that he groomed and sexually assaulted a family member for three years.
Brian Winfield Arnold was arrested in early 2018, after the male victim “ultimately disclosed the years of abuse he suffered at the hands of Arnold” during counseling, the Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office said Friday in a news release.
“Over the course of three years, Arnold groomed and sexually assaulted a male family member whenever he was alone with the victim during family events,” the news release said. “When the victim told his parents that he took a naked nap with Arnold, the parents became very concerned.”
The victim’s grandfather reported seeing Arnold “take the victim to the park bathroom” during a family birthday party and intervened, the DA’s news release said.
Good for you, Grampa!
Arnold on Wednesday was found guilty of 14 of the 16 charges he faced: three counts of oral copulation or sexual penetration of a child 10 years old or younger, and 11 counts of lewd and lascivious acts on a child under 14. He was acquitted on one charge of each crime, court records show.
Arnold’s crimes carry a maximum sentence of 71 years to life in prison. He is scheduled to be sentenced Nov. 22.
Nebraska sex offender found guilty of
federal child porn charges
YORK -- United States Attorney Joe Kelly has announced that following a four-day jury trial in federal court in Omaha, Jack Eugene Knight, 53, (formerly of York, currently of Lincoln) was convicted of two counts of receipt of child pornography and two counts of possession of child pornography. Knight is being held in federal custody pending sentencing.
Knight has prior convictions for attempted sexual assault of a child (1996- Lancaster County), third degree sexual assault of a child (2013- York County), and possession with intent to distribute visual depiction of sexually explicit acts (2013- York County).
Knight is a registered sex offender in the state of Nebraska.
The evidence at trial (in the most recent case against Knight) established that a November 2017 CyberTip from the National Center for Missing and Exploiting Children led federal law enforcements agents from the Department of Homeland Security to investigate Knight for committing federal child exploitation offenses. As part of the investigation, on Aug. 22, 2018, federal agents executed a search warrant of Knight’s van which is where Knight was living at the time. Agents seized two cellular telephones, one laptop and multiple external storage devices. Knight admitted to agents to collecting child pornography and told agents that child pornography would be located on the devices inside of his van. Knight also told agents that he had a storage unit in Lincoln which contained more devices containing child pornography. Agents traveled to Lincoln and collected three laptops from the defendant’s storage unit in Lincoln.
On Sept. 24, 2018, after conducting initial forensics of some of Knight’s devices, agents arrested Knight in Valley, Nebraska. At the time of the arrest, Knight had a new cellular phone that he obtained after the Aug. 22, 2018 search warrant. Knight admitted that additional child pornography would be located on this new cellular phone. Agents seized the new cellular phone for forensic analysis.
Agents conducted forensics analysis of Knight’s devices. Among Knight’s laptops, cell phones, and external storage devices, agents located more than 8,000 images of child pornography and 3,000 videos of child pornography. The images included children under the age of 12 and prepubescent minors engaging in sex acts.
Knight’s two (latest) convictions for receipt of child pornography both carry a mandatory minimum of 15 years in prison and a maximum of 40 years. Knight’s two convictions for possession of child pornography both carry a mandatory minimum of 10 years in prison and a maximum of 20 years. Knight will be sentenced on Jan. 17, 2020.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), 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. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.
The case was investigated by the Department of Homeland Security-Homeland Security Investigations.
San Antonio man sexually assaulted child in wife's car
SAN ANTONIO - A San Antonio man was arrested Thursday on suspicion of continuous sexual abuse of a child, Bexar County Jail records show.
Martin Ruben Jaramillo-Bernal, 26, was taken into custody roughly one month after a 13-year-old girl reported him to authorities. The girl told police that Jaramillo-Bernal is a friend of her family.
The abuse allegedly continued throughout the year, with the most recent incident coming a few days before the girl reported Jaramillo-Bernal to authorities.
In that instance, the girl was watching TV with a friend's baby when Jaramillo-Bernal walked out of the bathroom and exposed himself to her, according to the affidavit.
The girl went to police "because she is afraid (the suspect) may do something similar to his wife's sister, who is close to the (girl's) age," according to the affidavit.
Jaramillo-Bernal denied the allegations when police confronted him, but he did admit being alone with her in the car to get snacks, according to the affidavit.
Jaramillo-Bernal was arrested on a $100,000 bond, records show.
Laredo man faces multiple sex assault of a child charges
By Lisa Dreher, LMTonline.com / Laredo Morning Times
Carlos Manzano-Rodriguez was charged with one count of continuous sexual abuse of a child and two counts of indecency with a child by contact.
A man convicted of aggravated sexual assault of a child is set to have a status conference Thursday.
The aggravated sexual assault count from September 2018 involves a girl who was in 2003 younger than 14, according to the indictment.
His attorney is Russell Jordan and the Assistant District Attorney is Rene Benavides. All evidence was exchanged, and the assistant district attorney conveyed a plea bargain offer, according to a conference report.
The other two counts from August 2003 involve another girl who at the time was younger than 17, according to the indictment. He was offered a plea bargain offer of serving five years, but the case is still active.
His attorney is Jordan, and the Assistant District Attorney is Joaquin Rodriguez.
Background
On or around Sept 26, 2018, police officers responded to a sexual abuse report at Doctors Hospital, according to a previous LMT article.
The parents of a 7-year-old girl told police that Manzano-Rodriguez sexually abused their daughter, according to LPD. Police investigated this allegation and said it yielded enough evidence for probable cause to obtain a warrant for his arrest.
Manzano-Rodriguez was arrested in late October 2018 for aggravated sexual abuse of a child and remained behind bars. Laredo Police during this investigation also investigated him that month after receiving a second allegation.
A 23-year-old woman told police he inappropriately touched her when she was a child at a ranch near Laredo in 2003, according to LPD in 2018.
In January 2019 he was indicted on two counts of indecency by sexual contact with a child. There is no statute of limitations in Texas for sexual assault and indecency with a child.
Iowa man found guilty of sexual abuse of 11-y/o girl
KCCIALDEN, Iowa —
A Hardin County man has been convicted of sexual abuse. A criminal complaint says Triston King Phillips abuse a young girl last year.
The therapist set up an interview with the Child Protection Center in Mason City.
The girl told the interviewer that Phillips had inappropriately touched her.
He was charged with two counts of second-degree sexual abuse, one count of third-degree sexual abuse and lascivious acts with a child.
Phillips faces 25 years in prison. His sentencing is set for December 10th.
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