Albuquerque pastor resigns amid sex abuse allegations on a 5 y/o boy
Christina Rodriguez, KOB4
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — The longtime pastor at Grace Baptist Chapel has resigned amid allegations of child rape and molestation. Curtis Ray Brown, 55, was arrested Thursday.
According to the criminal complaint, Brown is facing charges for criminal sexual penetration and criminal sexual contact of a 5-year-old boy.
The boy's parents had called police in late August after the boy told his father he had a "secret" to tell him.
After the boy finished telling his father about the "secret", the boy's father confronted Brown about the allegations. According to the complaint, the father said Brown did not deny the allegations and told him it "just happened" and it "started in the shower one day".
The complaint also states that Brown had sent an apologetic message to a group chat that included the boy's mother. Screenshots of the message were shared with police and transcribed in the complaint, which reads in part:
"I know no amount of words or actions can undo the damage that I have done. I can only express my shame and disgust in what I have done."
Brown had been the pastor at Grace Baptist Chapel for 18 years. He will be in court Friday.
Idaho teacher, coach charged with child sex abuse
EAGLE, Idaho (AP/KBOI) - A former high school teacher and coach for Eagle High School has been charged with rape, sexual battery of a minor and other crimes after prosecutors say he sexually abused a teen girl.
Detectives arrested Jeff Lewis Ranstrom Wednesday night. He made his first appearance in court on Thursday, and has not yet entered a plea. Court records do not show if he has obtained an attorney.
West Ada School District spokesman Eric Exline says Ranstrom was a social studies teacher and the head boys basketball coach, and he resigned from both positions on Sept. 23.
He coached the varsity boy’s basketball team for the past three years until recently resigning and taught social studies for six.
Ada County Sheriff's Office spokesman Patrick Orr says investigators believe Ranstrom had contact with the 17-year-old girl dozens of times between March and August. Orr says the investigation began after a third party contacted authorities.
Towanda, Pa, man sentenced to up to 52 years behind bars in child sex abuse case
Jeff Murray, Elmira Star-Gazette
A Bradford County man convicted in August (9th story on link) of multiple felonies and misdemeanors related to a child sex abuse case faces decades in prison.
Jonathan Rivera, 29, of Towanda, was found guilty following a three-day trial in Bradford County Court on two counts of indecent assault of a child (younger than age 13,) one count of endangering the welfare of a child, and four counts of corruption of minors, all felonies.
He was also convicted on one count of indecent assault of a child as a misdemeanor, two counts of indecent exposure and one count of attempted indecent assault of a child, also misdemeanors.
This week, Rivera was sentenced in Bradford County Court to a minimum of eight years in state prison and a maximum of 52 years.
He will also have to pay $2,000 in fines and will be required to register as a lifetime sex offender.
Rivera was arrested in late June 2018 following a three-month investigation by Pennsylvania State Police at Towanda into incidents with four minor girls that reportedly took place on Barner Road in Sheshequin Township, Bradford County.
The victims were all females ages 7, 8, 10 and 15, according to state police.
Rivera has been in custody at the Bradford County Correctional Facility since his arrest.
Oregon man sentenced to 10 years in prison
for child sex abuse
by KATU News
HILLSBORO, Ore. — A judge on Thursday sentenced an Oregon man to 10 years in prison for child sex abuse.
Ronald Jordan previously pleaded guilty to two counts of abuse in the case.
Police say a victim came forward in February of this year alleging he had abused her since she was a young child.
Jordan was later arrested and apologized for his actions in court.
In addition to the prison sentence, he'll have to register as a sex offender.
10 years seems like a pretty light sentence for years of sexual abuse.
Child sexual abuse charge dropped for Marine colonel
Now the alleged victim’s family is calling to remove appeals process
By: Philip Athey, Marine Times
When a Marine colonel was sentenced to 66 months of confinement in 2017 after a court-martial into sexual abuse allegations (8th story on link) of their 6-year-old daughter, the Perry family said they thought justice was served.
In addition to his prison sentence, the conviction meant Col. Daniel Wilson would lose his military retirement benefits and have to register as a sex offender upon his release.
In July, though, Wilson’s sexual abuse charge was tossed by a military appeals court using Uniformed Code of Military Justice Article 66(c), or factual sufficiency powers. Factual sufficiency allows an appellate court to review the trial record and act and as a final juror on the case, overturning the conviction if it says guilt was not proved beyond a reasonable doubt.
But the Perry family is now calling on Congress to remove from the UCMJ the power, which does not exist in most U.S. civilian courts, so that, as they say, future victims can be protected.
“Article 66 (c) is wrecking the lives of victims who brazenly step out on faith and entrust in our nation’s military justice system to see justice served for the abuse they have endured,” Adrian Perry, mother of the alleged victim, said during a press conference call Friday from Okinawa, Japan. The family has been stationed on the island with husband and father Marine Lt. Col. Brock Perry. Wilson previously had been Brock Perry’s boss, according to a news release.
“This is astounding and our country should be outraged," Adrian Perry said during the call.
The unanimous opinion cited problems with the child victim’s testimony and a lack of other witnesses.
By contrast to the UCMJ power, most civilian courts can only overturn cases on factual sufficiency grounds if the conviction was not rational, a much higher burden of proof than beyond a reasonable doubt, regardless of whether they agree with the verdict.
Lancaster, PA, man gets prison for 5 years of
rape and child sexual abuse
LANCASTER, Pa. (WHTM) – A Lancaster County man will serve up to 20 years in prison for sexually abusing a pre-teenage girl.
Thomas Irwin, 71, of Manheim Township, was sentenced to 10 to 20 years after he pleaded guilty to 10 charges, nine felonies, including rape of a child, aggravated indecent assault and several other felonies.
He pleaded no contest to a second count of rape.
The district attorney’s office said Irwin abused the girl between 2013 and October 2018. The abuse was reported to Manheim Township police in March.
Tx woman pleads guilty, gets life plus 80 years
for child sex abuse, jury decides
By Field Walsh, TXK Today
NEW BOSTON, Texas: A woman who permitted and directed the sexual abuse of a juvenile female pleaded guilty to multiple crimes Tuesday at the Bowie County courthouse.
Della Lou Griffin, 53, asked that a jury decide what punishment she should face on four counts of sexual assault of a child and one count of aggravated sexual assault of a child. Six men and six women were selected to serve on Griffin’s jury Tuesday during proceedings before 202nd District Judge John Tidwell. The jury determined Griffin should serve life + 80 years for her crimes.
A motion to cumulate the sentences filed by the Bowie County District Attorney’s Office was granted by 202nd District Judge John Tidwell so the sentence of life and four sentences of 20 years will run consecutively. The jury also ordered five maximum $10,000 fines.
Griffin came under scrutiny after investigators with the Texas Department of Public Safety found a video recording during a search of John Littleton’s bedroom in April 2018 at his home in New Boston, according to a probable cause affidavit. The video, labeled with a girl’s name, contained recordings of Littleton sexually assaulting an underage girl. Griffin held the camera and can be seen in the recordings.
Littleton died before he could be brought to trial for human trafficking and sexual assault charges. Littleton’s roommate, Charles Garton, was sentenced to 160 years in prison for sexually abusing a 12-year-old girl. Another associate of Littleton’s, Kenneth Nelson, is currently serving five life sentences for human trafficking.
Claiborne, Tenn, Sheriff’s Office catches man
wanted on child sexual abuse charges
by: WATE 6 staff
TAZEWELL, Tenn. — The Claiborne County Sheriff’s Office has found a man they were searching for wanted on child sexual abuse charges.
Stephen Paul Ferguson Jr., 47, was wanted on two counts of sexual abuse of a child, rape of a child, three counts of rape, four counts of incest, aggravated child abuse, and three counts of educational neglect.
The CCSO put out an alert they were searching for Ferguson on Friday night. About an hour later he was found.
Now that's good work!
Williamsburg, Va, man to serve 6 years in prison
for child sexual abuse, child pornography
NEWPORT NEWS, Va. – A Williamsburg man was sentenced Friday to six years in prison for travelling to North Carolina to sexually abuse a child and receiving child pornography from a child in Nebraska.
Court documents say 26-year-old Derek Thomas met Jane Doe #1 online and began a relationship with her during the summer of 2018. She was 14 years old at the time.
During the summer, both Jane Doe #1 and Thomas sent nude images of themselves to each other via social media. Eventually, Thomas went to North Carolina to engage in sexual activities with her.
Records say also during the summer of 2018, Thomas met Jane Doe #2 online. They were said to have sent nude images of themselves to each other.
Thomas knew the age of each victim before engaging in criminal activity with them, court documents say.
This case was part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched by the Department of Justice in May 2006 to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse.
Santaquin, Ut, man arrested on suspicion of
sex abuse of 3 y/o girl
BY DAVID WELLS, FOX13
SANTAQUIN, Utah — Santaquin Police arrested a man Wednesday after he was accused of sexually abusing a 3-year-old girl on Sunday.
Kendall Merrill Johnson, 30, faces felony charges of aggravated sexual abuse of a child and sodomy on a child.
According to a probable cause statement, the girl and a 7-year-old boy reported the abuse occurred while they were watching a movie with Johnson at his home.
An interviewer with the Division of Child and Family Services spoke with both children. The boy reported that the girl was on Johnson’s lap, with a blanket covering them, and that there were “unusual movements” under the blanket, the probable cause statement said.
The girl told the DCFS interviewer about the ways she “played with” Johnson’s genitalia and that “he said I have to do that,” the statement said. The girl also told a Children’s Justice Center nurse that her vagina hurt, and that Johnson had touched her there with his hands and genitalia, according to a police report.
Johnson’s bail amount was set at $50,000.
Head Start teacher arrested on sexual assault on 3 y/o,
child welfare charges in N.J.
Alexis Shanes, North Jersey Record
Thomas Meier, a teacher at Head Start (preschool) of Morris County, was arrested Sunday on a sexual assault charge, authorities said.
Meier, 35, of Mount Arlington was charged with one count of sexual assault and one count of endangering child welfare, according to the Morris County Prosecutor’s Office.
Meier was taken into custody at the Morris County Correctional Facility after an investigation by the Prosecutor’s Office, the Morris Township Police Detective Bureau and the Mount Arlington Police Department.
The charges come after a co-worker saw Meier “engaged in an act of sexual contact upon a 3-year-old child,” the Prosecutor’s Office said.
The Head Start Community Program of Morris County provides free programs for vulnerable children and families at its locations in Dover and Morristown.
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