Boy Scouts, LDS, Amish, Mayor Lead Today's USA Pervs n Pedos List

Former CNY mayor, scoutmaster who worked at school accused of child sex abuse in ’70s

Scott Coats, who now lives out of state, spoke publicly for the first time today about his alleged abuse at the hands of a Boy Scout leader and school district employee. The accused, Victor Sine, died in 2018 and served for a time as mayor of the village of Weedsport. Coats is flanked by his attorneys Cynthia LaFave and Michael Finnegan. (Julie McMahon | jmcmahon@syracuse.com)

By Julie McMahon | jmcmahon@syracuse.com

A lawsuit filed today under New York’s Child Victims Act accuses a former Weedsport school district employee, Boy Scout leader and village mayor of sexually abusing a 13-year-old boy in the 1970s.

The plaintiff, Scott Coats, spoke publicly about his alleged abuse for the first time at a news conference this morning. It was also the first time Victor Sine, who died in 2018, was publicly accused of sexual abuse.

The suit accuses Boy Scout and local officials of failing to act in 1999 when he brought the accusation to their attention. Coats was only able to sue now under a new state law that created a “look-back window” for old claims.

The Weedsport superintendent said the school district had not yet seen the lawsuit, but would investigate the matter. Scout Executive Grey Rolland, of the Longhouse Council based in Syracuse, said his organization had not yet been served with a lawsuit, so he couldn’t respond to specific claims.

“We believe victims,” Rolland said. “We want to make sure they’re compensated for injuries they have suffered.”

Sine was a longtime Boy Scout leader and worked as a clerk and business manager for the Weedsport Central School District, according to his obituary. Coats said he first met Sine through the Weedsport schools’ AV Club, which Sine led.

Coats was the son of a single mom who struggled to make friends as the new kid in the district in 1976, he said.

Sine took the boy under his wing, giving him rides home from school and encouraging his involvement in clubs, Coats said. Coats later in life, as he began to attend therapy in 1999, came to view this behavior as grooming.

Coats said as he came to terms with the abuse in 1999 and reached out to authorities to report Sine. Coats said he contacted the Boy Scouts of America and the Cayuga County District Attorney’s Office. He provided a copy of the letter he said he sent to the Boy Scouts. National Boy Scouts of America officials, who received the letter, could not be reached for comment.

Coats said the DA’s office responded cordially that there was nothing they could do to help him because the state’s statute of limitations prevented criminal or civil cases dating back as far as Coats’ abuse.

Boy Scout leader and school district employee Victor Sine died in 2018 and served for a time as mayor of the village of Weedsport. A former Weedsport student and Boy Scout Scott Coats, who now lives out of state, spoke publicly for the first time today about his alleged abuse by Sine. (Julie McMahon | jmcmahon@syracuse.com)

The Boy Scouts did not respond, Coats said. In 1999 Sine remained a Boy Scout troop leader, according to Coats and his attorneys Mike Finnegan, of the national law firm Anderson & Associates, and Cynthia LaFave, of LaFave, Wein & Framont near Albany.

Yet documents provided by Finnegan and LaFave appear to show that the Boy Scouts acknowledged Coats’ report of abuse in internal files. These files, known as “perversion files,” became public in 2012 as part of a lawsuit in Oregon.

A database of more than 5,000 potential abusers, compiled by The Los Angeles Times based on the files, shows a report associated with the Weedsport Boy Scout troop, Troop 59, in 1999. The file does (not?) list a name but instead a four-digit code.

Finnegan called this part of a “systematic” coverup by the Boy Scouts.

“They didn’t share that with the public, didn’t share that with the police, didn’t share that with the parents who needed to know what a risk guys like Vic Sine posed to kids like Scott across the country,” Finnegan said. “It still puts kids at risk today.”

Coats discussed with reporters how he felt Sine had targeted, profiled and worked diligently to turn him into a victim. He said his attempts to take action in 1999, and the lack of response at the time, was “devastating.” He felt alone, he said.

Coats learned one day watching national news that New York’s Child Victims Act would give him a new avenue to pursue justice. He hesitated at first, but decided after 40 years of “trying to bury it" -- that he no longer wanted to live with the silence and frustration, he said.

Coats said his primary motivation for filing the lawsuit was for other victims to know they were not alone. He encouraged others to come forward. “Don’t do what I did. Don’t bury this. It doesn’t work,” Coats said. “The only thing that works is getting the truth out there and knowing you are not alone.”

Coats said he was only was able to escape the abuse because his mother got a job outside of New York state about two years after they had moved to Weedsport.

Coats also said he believes people knew of the abuse and were either “bullied” by Sine -- or thought they’d be humiliated or treated as a pariah in a small town of just a few thousand people.

Sine, too, was a “pillar of the local community,” Coats said. According to Sine’s obituary, he served as mayor, on the village council, in the Lions Club, Masonic Lodge and American Legion. He was an Army veteran who served in South Korea and was active in his church. He was married and had four children.

Coats said over the last year he had researched and investigated his own case, and multiple people had indicated to him they were aware of child abuse by Sine. Someone even said school district employees quietly nicknamed the youngsters who were close with Sine “Vic’s kids.”

Coats had the option of filing his case anonymously, using the name “John Doe." He opted to use his real name instead. “I wanted my name out there," he said. “I wanted my fellow scouts and classmates to know I’m coming forward to tell the story."

Sarasota man accused of possessing images of

child sexual abuse

By Alan Shaw

Herald-Tribune

A Sarasota man was arrested Tuesday on charges of possessing images of child sexual abuse.

According to the Sarasota Police Department, detectives acting on information from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children searched a home in the 3500 block of Tangier Terrace on Tuesday morning.

More than 100 images of child sexual abuse were found on a computer owned by Scott Allen Johnston, 47, who said he searched for child pornography on multiple applications.

Johnston was arrested and charged with 40 counts of possession of child pornography. Additional charges are possible and the case remains under investigation. 

Anyone with information on the case is asked to call Detective Megan Buck at 941-263-6067 or leave an anonymous tip with Crime Stoppers at 941-366-TIPS or at www.sarasotacrimestoppers.com.

Sundance doc ‘Church and the Fourth Estate’ takes Boy Scouts, LDS Church to task over child sex abuse

Nan Chalat Noaker

Park Record contributor

The Sundance Film Festival documentary “Church and The Fourth Estate” highlights an Idaho Boy Scout who comes forward about being molested by a troop leader, unleashing a torrent of allegations about widespread abuse in the organization and cover-ups involving the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Courtesy of Sundance Institute | Photo by Sean Michael Smith

   

This week, while the spotlights shine brightly on red carpets in Park City and Salt Lake City, one filmmaker is anticipating attention of a darker sort. During the Sundance Film Festival, Brian Knappenberger’s documentary “Church and the Fourth Estate” will screen just 3 miles from the epicenter of his searing expose about the Boy Scouts’ decades-long failure to address child sex abuse among its ranks and allegations that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was complicit in covering up thousands of victim reports.

The Sundance selection will screen at the Tower Theatre in Salt Lake City on Feb. 1, just a few blocks from the church’s global headquarters at Temple Square. But Knappenberger says he is prepared to handle the fallout. The director is a Sundance and Slamdance veteran whose self-defined specialty is speaking truth to power — especially when conflicts involve powerful billionaires trying to intimidate investigative reporters.

Knappenberger first displayed his keen ability to explore the ragged boundaries of social change and new technology in his Slamdance documentary “We Are Legion: The Story of the Hacktivists.”

He reappeared on the Sundance slate in 2014 with “The Internet’s Own Boy: The Story of Aaron Swartz,” about the controversial computer programmer’s efforts to defy attempts to limit public access to the internet, his arrest and eventual suicide.

In 2016, Knappenberger’s film “Nobody Speak: Trials of the Free Press” began as a tale about the incendiary trial, financed by arch-conservative Peter Thiel, that silenced the website Gawker. But as attacks on the media engulfed the presidential election that year, he enlarged the project to include several examples of well-financed blitzes on the free press.

When casting that net, Knappenberger came across an example in Idaho that fit the mold perfectly. An Idaho billionaire had purchased a series of full-page newspaper ads to discredit one of its reporters. But due to the roller coaster ride that ended in Donald Trump’s victory, and its timing just as Knappenberger was wrapping his film for Sundance, he set those notes aside.

The Idaho ads, however, kept nagging at Knappenberger. And, when he dug a little deeper, he decided the story merited its own documentary, one that has become more timely than he could have imagined.

In 2005, The Post Register in Idaho Falls published a series of articles about a local Boy Scout who had been sexually abused by a troop leader. The 14-year-old was told by his church leaders not to report the matter, that the perpetrator, who was also a church member, would be handled internally. But when the man was not removed from his post at the Scout camp, the victim went to the police. A subsequent investigation revealed the man had a decade-long rap sheet of multiple child molestation charges — and the church had been well aware of his background.

The Post Register’s series unleashed a wave of similar reports from other victims, some involving the same offender. In fact, as the reporter and his editor began to follow up on the issue they discovered an even bigger problem: The Boy Scouts organization and the closely connected Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints had gone to great lengths to cover up the abuse.

Many in the community were incensed that the newspaper had made the case public. The local magnate who placed the ads that had captured Knappenberger’s attention claimed the articles were part of a personal agenda to smear both the Scouts and the church.

There's a little more to this story on the Park Record.

McHenry man stands trial on child sex abuse charges

By KATIE SMITH

Northwest Herald

Jury selection began Tuesday in the trial of a 60-year-old McHenry man accused of having sexual contact with a child in 2017 in McHenry County.

James Barnard, of the 1800 block of Kerry Lane, is charged with aggravated criminal sexual abuse and domestic battery in connection with a Lake in the Hills police investigation into the allegations.

Kalamazoo, Mi, woman pleads guilty to

three counts of child sex abuse

By Ryan Boldrey | rboldrey@mlive.com

KALAMAZOO, MI — A Kalamazoo woman pleaded guilty Tuesday to three counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct that were a result of performing sexual acts on a 9-year-old girl, recording video of those acts and sharing those videos over the internet.

As part of the plea agreement with the Kalamazoo County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, Shannon Renee Moore, 35, has agreed to testify against Peter Casey II, 28, in a related yet separate trial that is scheduled for March 11 in Kalamazoo County Circuit Court.

Amazing! Yet another case where a pervert convinces his partner to sexually abuse a child and send him the video. I have posted many such stories and they are almost always involving a man who is younger than the woman. Go figure! Part of the grooming process?

In addition to testifying against Casey, Moore has agreed to be sentenced to a minimum of 20 years and maximum of 35 years on each of the three charges, Kalamazoo County Chief Assistant Prosecutor Scott Brower said. Those sentences will be served concurrently, meaning at the same time.

“We are glad that she is taking responsibility for her actions. Obviously, she will be sentenced to prison for a very lengthy period of time, which is what needs to happen to people who do things like this,” Kalamazoo Prosecuting Attorney Jeff Getting said.

“Reaching resolutions in cases like this is always a balance between making sure that there is accountability and protecting the victim from further trauma. I believe that we reached that balance in this case with cooperation of the child’s father and aggressive prosecution."

I might even agree with you, though I normally despise plea deals, this one looks pretty good.

Casey, who was Moore’s boyfriend at the time the crimes were committed in March 2019, is accused of ordering Moore to perform the acts on the child, record them and send them to him via Facebook Messenger and text message.

At his preliminary hearing Nov. 14, 2019 in Kalamazoo County District Court, detailed extractions of the messages between Moore’s and Casey’s phones were submitted as evidence by Kalamazoo County assistant prosecutor Aubrey Koches.

Michigan State Police Detective Kyle Bowers testified at the November hearing that Casey had, along with other graphic material, a minimum of nine pornographic videos, involving varying types of penetration of the young girl, saved to his phone.

Casey faces charges that include one count of first-degree criminal sexual assault on a person under the age of 13, one count of second-degree criminal sexual conduct on a person under the age of 13 and one county of aggravated sexual abuse on a child.

He will also stand trial on one count of possession of sexually abusive material involving a child, one count of using a computer to commit a crime, and one count of using the internet to communicate a crime with another.

The Coldwater Computer Crimes Unit arrested Moore in May 2019 after investigating a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. At the time of Moore’s arrest, Casey’s phone, along with her’s, was seized by police. Casey was arrested later, on Sept. 25.

Investigation Into Child Sex Abuse In Amish Communities

NPR's Michel Martin speaks with reporter Sarah McClure about her year-long investigation about child sexual abuse in Amish communities.

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

We're going to turn now to a story that some listeners might find disturbing. It's about sexual abuse - specifically, among the Amish. That's a traditional Christian group based in rural areas in the Mid and Northwest, which many people might know by their adherence to plain dress and a simple lifestyle.

Sarah McClure is an investigative journalist who spent a year reporting on sexual abuse among the Amish. She uncovered 52 cases, which include rape and incest, across seven states over the past two decades. And she says that that does not capture the full picture. McClure's investigative piece is in the February edition of Cosmopolitan magazine. It's called "The Amish Keep To Themselves. And They're Hiding A Horrifying Secret." It's a collaboration with Type Investigations, which is a nonprofit investigative news organization. And Sarah McClure is with us now to tell us more about her reporting. Sarah McClure, thank you so much for joining us.

SARAH MCCLURE: Thank you for having me.

MARTIN: As we mentioned, you uncovered 52 cases of sexual abuse across seven states. And by that, I assume you mean that these were cases that were actually prosecuted - would that be correct? - or that they were verified by some sort of process of accountability. Would that be accurate?

MCCLURE: Absolutely. All of those 52 cases were charged and prosecuted sexual assault cases from the Amish community.

MARTIN: But you said that you don't think this captures the full scope of the problem. Why do you say that?

MCCLURE: The majority of my sources never made a police report. They never had a court case. Whenever I spoke with these women, they had dozens of other victims that they told me about, dozens of other cousins and friends and family members that - they told me that this had happened to them, too. And, obviously, I can't put a number out there that's unverified or not supported or corroborated by a court case or a police report. It's very difficult to do a story like this where the evidence is limited. And so just anecdotally, just based on my conversations with these women and men, there are a lot more victims out there in Amish country that we may never know of simply because there is no paper trail.

MARTIN: And here's where I'm going to once again say that this may be very disturbing for some people to hear. But who were the main perpetrators here? Is this mainly within people's own families? Is this mainly fathers and brothers?

MCCLURE: I'm hesitant to say who the main perpetrator is because it varies so greatly between these communities. It's easy to lump all the Amish together. But in my experience with these sources, some of the alleged perpetrators that I have heard of are their own father, their own uncles, their brothers, a neighbor. It is often a situation where it's someone within the family.

MARTIN: You mentioned that a number of the women who report their abuse, women who are or thought to be about to report their abuse are sent away to these special Amish or Mennonite mental health facilities. Why would that be? I mean, this is a theology that upholds, like, the dignity of all persons, you know? Why is it that - it seems that there's kind of a bias toward protecting the men as opposed to protecting the women and the girls. So why?

MCCLURE: This is a story where we can at least look at an example of one Amish woman who was able to speak to a journalist, speak to somebody outside their own communities about what is happening, allegedly, at these mental health facilities. To her account, she says that many, many Amish women are sent away to these facilities and never have a life, again. She calls them zombies because they have been medicated. And in her case, she had gotten off her drug, which was olanzapine, and she was able to speak about her own experiences.

There's no real way to quantify exactly how many Amish people have been affected by this issue. But there are other women who have been allegedly silenced using facilities. And in some of these cases, I've heard that they've been taken across state lines to go for counseling. And keep in mind, there are Amish leaders who are reporting, who are talking to the police. But there are others who are not.

MARTIN: Have you been able to follow up what has happened to women who have, in fact, brought charges, who have brought criminal cases against people who assaulted them? How have they been treated within the community?

MCCLURE: The reaction has not been supportive. There has been a lot of threats made against these victims. Sometimes, they are shamed, even if they've left the community. Their entire lives are just turned upside-down. They don't have support, oftentimes, from their own family members. In many cases, we see charges are downgraded from - you know? I saw a case that was downgraded from rape to sexual assault so that these alleged abusers are able to be charged with probation and a fine versus having to serve time.

MARTIN: Is it in part because there's such a strong emphasis on forgiveness that the feeling is that a breach within the community is best addressed by some sort of reconciliation, even at the cost of the victim feeling that they haven't been supported?

MCCLURE: Absolutely. There - these sources tell me that the forgiveness and repentance is much more of a priority for the abuser in place of any legal action. Once a community is made aware of an abuse case, there - little might be done beyond taking the issue to their bishop, their ministers and deacon. In that situation, what the church often does is has the abuser confess their sin in front of the church. They're given six weeks of shunning. There's no police report filed. There's no rape kit. There's no real follow-up treatment to these victims in this case. There's a really strong preference to keep the family together at all costs.

MARTIN: That is journalist Sarah McClure. Her story "The Amish Keep To Themselves. And They're Hiding A Horrifying Secret" is in the February edition of Cosmopolitan magazine. Sarah McClure, thank you so much for talking to us today.

MCCLURE: Thank you for having me.

=====================================================================================

Elgin, Ill, Man Skips Trial, Found Guilty Of

Child Sex Assault, Now a Fugitive

By Rebecca Bream (Hughes), Patch Staff

ELGIN, IL — An arrest warrant has been issued for an Elgin man who authorities said failed to appear in court Thursday for his trial for sexually assaulting a child he knew. 

According to the Kane County State's Attorney's office, 37-year-old Mario Piñeda, of the 1-99 block of South DuBois Avenue in Elgin, faces a lengthy prison sentence after he was convicted on sexual assault charges Thursday despite being absent from his trial. A Kane County jury found Piñeda guilty of seven counts of felony predatory criminal sexual assault of a child, and two counts of felony aggravated criminal sexual abuse, according to the state's attorney's office.

Piñeda had been free on $20,000 bond and last appeared in court for a Sept. 20 hearing, officials said. He did not show up for a Jan. 9 hearing, and Kane County Associate Judge Charles E. Petersen issued a warrant for his arrest, according to the state's attorney's office.

Kane County Assistant State's Attorneys Matt Rodgers and Lori Schmidt presented evidence during the four-day trial claiming on several occasions during 2016 Piñeda sexually assaulted the victim, who was younger than 13 years old.

According to the state's attorney's office, the victim told her parents about the assaults, and her father made a report to the police.

Judge Petersen set Piñeda's next court appearance for March 26 at the Kane County Judicial Center, according to the state's attorney's office. He faces a minimum sentence of 42 years in prison in the Illinois Department of Corrections, and must register for life as a sexual offender in accordance with the Illinois Sexual Offender Registration Act, according to the state's attorney's office.

"I'm proud of this victim for showing the strength to tell her story at her abuser's trial," Kane County State's Attorney Joe McMahon said, according to the state's attorney's office. "Her courage towers over that of Mr. Piñeda, who fled like a coward instead of owning up to his selfish crimes. My thanks to ASAs Rodgers and Schmidt and to the Kane County Child Advocacy Center staff for their work in this case."

Anyone with information on Piñeda's whereabouts should call the Kane County Child Advocacy Center at 630-208-5160.

Peoria, Az, man sentenced to 12 years in prison

for sexual exploitation of a minor

By: Jessica Goodman

ABC15AZ

PEORIA, AZ — The Arizona Attorney General's Office has sentenced Joseph Charles Nolan from Peoria to 12 years in prison for sexual exploitation of a minor.

In 2016, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in Tucson found a computer located in the Phoenix area believed to be sharing videos of graphic child sexual exploitation online.

“Predators may try and hide behind the internet, but anyone who sexually exploits children will be aggressively prosecuted by our office,” said Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich.

According to a press release from the Arizona Attorney General's Office, investigators narrowed down the search which led to Nolan's Peoria home. HSI got a search warrant on November 3, 2016.

Agents searched Nolan's apartment and found a laptop with two external storage drives, which contained images and videos of child sexual exploitation involving a girl believed to be under 13.

“Child exploitation investigations are one of HSI’s highest priorities, because children remain vulnerable to online abuse and are deserving of our protection and concern,” said Scott Brown, special agent in charge for HSI Phoenix. “While many of these perpetrators attempt to shield their illegal activities and hide behind their keyboards, HSI and their law enforcement partners will continue efforts to locate them and bring them to justice. Those attempting to evade law enforcement by hiding in the dark parts of the internet seeking to exploit children or conduct other illicit activity will be found and be held accountable for their despicable crimes.”

Nolan pleaded guilty to two felony counts and will begin a lifetime probation once he is released in 2030 and will have to register as a sex offender.