Texas caregiver sentenced to life in prison
for sexual abuse of 8-y/o for 14 years
A Fort Bend County district court judge who vowed to be tough on crime if elected is living up to his promise.
Republican Steve Rogers sentenced a 46-year-old Meadows Place man to life in prison without the possibility of parole last month after he was convicted of continuous sexual assault of a child.
Tassin pleaded guilty to all three offenses on July 23.
Assistant District Attorney Alycia Curtis presented evidence during a sentencing hearing on Sept. 23 revealing that Tassin began sexually abusing a family member when the child was approximately eight years old and continued his abuse for over 14 years.
During this time, Tassin abused the victim on an almost daily basis and was able to keep the child quiet by convincing the child that sexual contact between an adult and child was “normal” and through grooming techniques and emotional abuse, Curtis explained.
“The breadth and magnitude of sexual abuse in this case was hard to comprehend,” Curtis said.
“All children deserve to feel safe in their homes, and Tassin betrayed his role as caretaker and protector, manipulating this child for almost fifteen years for his own sexual gain. I’m so proud of the child for their bravery in coming forward, and for helping to put Tassin where he belongs and unable to prey on any child for the rest of his life.”
Curtis commended the hard work of the Meadows Place Police Department for their investigation of this case, and expressed immense gratitude to Child Advocates of Fort Bend for the therapy services the agency has provided to the victim since the time the abuse came to light.
“Betrayal on this level is accomplished by a lack of humanity,” said District Attorney Brian Middleton. “To so easily cast aside human decency, to abandon your responsibility, and to sacrifice a child’s dignity, is reprehensible. You fail that child, and you fail humanity. And when we call you to answer, we will seek justice in measures. And survivors will recover what was taken from them.”
A lack of humanity? Or, a lack of the fear of God?
Continuous sexual abuse of young child is a first-degree felony punishable by 25 to 99 years or life in prison with no parole. Sexual assault of a child is a second-degree felony punishable by 2 to 20 years in prison.
Both offenses require lifetime registration as a sex offender.
Arizona FLDS brothers found guilty in
child sex trafficking case
Miguel Torres
LaDell Jay Bistline was found guilty of taking receipt of child pornography, transferring the material, and transporting minors for sexual activity.
Torrance Bistline was found guilty of destroying records, tampering with official proceedings, and using interstate commerce to coerce minors to engage in sexual activities.
Children were transported and abused across multiple states, including Arizona, Nebraska, Colorado, and Utah, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office.
LaDell Jay Bistline’s sentencing is scheduled for Dec. 16, and Torrance Bistline’s is scheduled for Dec. 20. Both brothers face ten years to life in prison.
“The Bistlines used their positions of power and trust to sexually exploit children and to profane their community. The devastating trauma and harm they inflicted is unfathomable,” said U.S. Attorney Gary Restaino. “But today’s guilty verdicts hold them to account — for their despicable acts, for their breach of trust, and for their complete indifference to the mental and psychological scars their victims will live with for the rest of their lives.”
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Former teacher and Scout leader is jailed for
child sex offences
A former primary school teacher and Scout leader has been jailed after having a sexual conversation with what he thought was a 13-year-old girl.
The 27-year-old (pictured) made contact with the person on social media chat platforms between April 7 and April 11 last year, the force said.
The decoy repeatedly told Robinson they were 13 but he continued with the sexual conversation.
Robinson was arrested after the activist group visited his home on the evening of April 11.
His electronic devices were seized, and examination of his Snapchat account found he had also communicated with a 15-year-old girl between May 2021 and June 2022.
The conversation was sexual, and Robinson offered to send inappropriate pictures of himself.
Robinson was sentenced on Wednesday at Cambridge Crown Court to two years and 10 months in prison, police said.
The force said he had pleaded guilty to engaging in sexual communication with a child, attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child and attempting to cause a girl to engage in sexual activity.
Detective Constable Caroline Murphy said the offences had no connection with Robinson’s teaching or his role as a Scout leader.
She said: “Robinson was well aware of the obligation we all have to protecting young people so to contact what he believed were children in this way and engage them in grossly inappropriate conversation was appalling.
“This case shows the seriousness with which we take protecting children from harm.”
Former St Peter's School teacher Geoffrey Coker
found guilty of historical sex abuse charges
Former St Peter's School teacher Geoffrey Coker has been found guilty of all charges relating to historical indecency offending relating to naked piggyback rides and getting two boys to bathe together naked and watching them.
The 75-year-old has been defending the charges in the Hamilton District Court for the past two weeks and Judge Tini Clark sent the jury out to begin their deliberations at 11.50am on Friday and returned just after 4pm.
Coker, who remained emotionless as the verdicts were read out, was convicted by Judge Clark and remanded on bail for sentencing on 9 December.
The nine charges consisted of four of doing an indecent act on a boy under 12 and five of inducing a boy to do an indecent act between 1975 and 1976 around Waikato, including in Hamilton, Matamata, and at his staff apartment at the school near Cambridge.
The allegations involved Coker rubbing his naked body against the naked body of a complainant, asking two boys to bathe together naked and show each other their genitals while he watched them, and indecently touching another boy over his clothes.
The charges came out after St Peter's School issued an apology in September 2021 after an investigation revealed historic cases of abuse against former pupils at the school by a former staff member.
Police then investigated the allegations and Coker, who taught at the school between 1974 and 1976, was identified and charged.
At the time it was an exclusive boys' school and Coker lived on-site alongside other teachers, in private living quarters.
'Their silence does not mean they forgot'
In her summing up this morning, Judge Clark reminded the jury that it was up to them to decide whether the complainants were mistaken or telling the truth about the allegations.
She outlined the Crown's closing by Rebecca Guthrie who said the complainants were "very young and vulnerable" at the time and did not speak out earlier for differing reasons including being kicked out of school and fearing repercussions.
"But their silence does not mean that they forgot," the judge said.
Guthrie had asked the jury not to overcomplicate the task that lay ahead of them and said it was not unusual for people involved in cases of a historical nature not to have all the details firmly imprinted in their minds.
She told them they didn't need to know what life might have been like in the 1970s and said that wasn't necessary to consider the allegations.
The alleged acts were felt to be "unusual or inappropriate" by the complainants and were carried out by Coker who was in a position of trust at the time.
While St Peter's at the time was quite regimented and rules-based, Coker's alleged behaviour was "not part of ordinary schooling in the 1970s", and said the defence case contained some red herrings including whether he was dismissed for improper conduct or whether he resigned.
'Full of holes, denials and doubt'
Defence counsel JD Dallas told the jury they faced an arduous duty but asked them to do it by using common sense and fairness.
He also suggested the allegations were grave for his client, but also "easy to make", however, Judge Clark noted that would be something that the jury would need to decide.
Dallas said that even honest witnesses could be mistaken and urged them to take into account any issues of hostility or bias that the complainants had about Coker.
Coker didn't need to prove or disprove anything and said the Crown case was "full of holes, denials and doubt".
The inconsistencies in the case were so fundamental that they would be left feeling unsure as to what happened which equated to doubt and therefore they should find him not guilty on all charges.
He also criticised the officer in charge, Detective Natasha Lopes, by seemingly accepting the complainants' credibility without questioning whether there had been any inconsistencies.
He said Coker "did not do anything wrong whatsoever" and they should find him innocent.
They instead found him guilty on all nine charges - eight were unanimous and one a majority verdict.
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