Crimes against Children 11-1-13

New York man charged for murder plot against a sex trafficking witness

Ohio man sentenced for child pornography

Maryland man charged with seeking illicit contact with a minor and child pornography

Minnesota man guilty of sex trafficking of a minor

FBI seeks unsub in child molestation case

Minnesota teacher accused of assaulting student with an 11-pound backpack

Pennsylvania teacher accused of raping student, more victims possible

Mescalero Apache guilty of assaulting a16-month old child

More details in Danvers, MA murder case

Danvers, MA

A classmate of the 14-year old student who murdered Colleen Ritzer last week said that the teacher had asked the boy to stay behind after class.  The boy had been doodling in his notebook instead of taking notes.  The classmate said the boy did not appear to be agitated.

After following the teacher into a restroom and beating her, the assailant slashed her throat, dumped her body into a recycling bin, and then dumped her body in the woods behind the school.  He then went to go watch a Woody Allen movie.

No motive has been established.

Child Abduction Digest 8-5-13

Attempted child abduction in Vermont

Arizona has alleged abduction, police investigate

17-year old abducted on way home from summer school, murdered

Attempted abduction of two boys in Edmonds, WA

Autumn Pasquale Disappearance, Death May Be Linked To String Of Attempted Kidnappings In NJ

Westwood, NJ
The search for missing New Jersey 12-year-old Autumn Pasquale ended last night with the discovery of the girl’s body in a recycling container, and police are currently investigating the girl’s disappearance and murder.

While no arrests have been made in Autumn Pasquale’s kidnapping, police have admitted the case may be linked to a series of attempted abductions in Bergen County in recent weeks.

Fox News spoke to local law enforcement officials about Autumn Pasquale’s case, and cops say that they are investigating a link to attempted abductions in Westwood, Oradell, Hawthorne, New Milford, Maywood, Hackensack, Fair Lawn and Ridgewood, all in Bergen County.

Westwood Police Chief Frank Regino said that while police are examining all leads, the possibility of a connection between the kidnapping attempts and Pasquale’s death is being examined:

“We are absolutely investigating whether there is a link … There certainly is a possibility and only time will tell. We’re looking into every possible angle that we can.”

Safe Havens, International

Crimes against Children 10-16-12

Richmond, VA
A Louisiana man was sentenced to 25 years in prison this morning in Lynchburg, Virginia federal court, after previously pleading guilty to recording his sexual abuse of a 14-year-old girl and related offenses, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Virginia Timothy J. Heaphy.

Gregory Thomas Miller, 57, of Deville, Louisiana, pleaded guilty on April 27, 2012, to a 10-count indictment charging him with seven counts of production of child pornography, one count of transporting child pornography, one count of possessing child pornography, and one count of marijuana possession. Today’s sentence was imposed by U.S. District Judge Norman K. Moon.

According to court documents, Miller repeatedly sexually abused a 14-year-old girl and filmed numerous incidents of the abuse during a several-month period in 2008. In October 2010, the defendant’s car was stopped by National Park Service (NPS) rangers at a DUI checkpoint in Virginia. The defendant was in the car with the girl he had abused. NPS Rangers quickly determined that a missing persons/runaway report for her had been recorded with the National Crime Information Center.

Savannah, GA
A federal indictment unsealed last week in federal court has charged Shawn Bragg, 21, of Savannah, Georgia with sex trafficking a child. Bragg is currently a fugitive. Anyone with information on his whereabouts is urged to contact the FBI.

According to the allegations in the indictment, from 2010 to March of this year, Bragg recruited a child who was under 14 years old to work as a prostitute in the Savannah area. The indictment further alleges that Bragg benefitted financially from the child engaging in commercial sex acts.

Bragg is charged with one count of sex trafficking of a child, which carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in prison and a potential life sentence.

Albuquerque, NM
This morning in federal court, Jay Rutherford Paiz, 31, a member of the Jicarilla Apache Nation who resides in Dulce, New Mexico, entered a guilty plea to a second-degree murder charge under a plea agreement with the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

During today’s plea hearing, Paiz admitted killing his 3-year-old son on July 20, 2008, at his residence, which is located on the Jicarilla Apache Indian Reservation, U.S. Attorney Kenneth J. Gonzales said.

Court records reflect that Paiz was arrested on July 22, 2008, on a criminal complaint charging him with attempting to kill or to commit manslaughter of his 3-year-old son through a pattern of child abuse.

Joliet, IL
A former local youth soccer coach is heading to prison after pleading guilty Monday to one count of aggravated criminal sexual abuse and one count of aggravated child pornography.

Darrell J. Stephenson, 25, formerly of 2038 Manico in Crest Hill, will spend five years in the Department of Corrections after agreeing to a plea deal in Will County Circuit Court.

Stephenson was arrested in June 2011 on a charge of aggravated criminal sexual abuse, accused of molesting a 12-year-old boy in fall 2010.

Monett, MO
A southwest Missouri man who was turned in to police by his wife pleaded guilty to possessing cartoons that depict child pornography.

Prosecutors announced Monday that 36-year-old Christian Bee of Monett entered his plea Monday in federal court in Springfield.

The Joplin Globe reports Bee's wife called Monett police in August 2011 after finding the files on her husband's computer.

Forensic investigators found a collection of electronic comics, titled "Incest Comics," on the computer. The U.S. Attorney's office says it will recommend a sentence of three years in prison without parole.

Tulsa, OK
A Tulsa man is behind bars for allegedly possessing and distributing child pornography.

According to the arrest report, 48-year-old Shawn Neihart was taken into custody Monday around 10:30 a.m. after he turned himself in to the Tulsa County Jail.

Among the charges Neihart faces are aggravated possession of child pornography, possession of child pornography, distribution of child pornography and possession of obscene material.

Spartanburg Co., SC
A Spartanburg man who was a teacher when he was arrested on child pornography charges earlier this year was sentenced on Tuesday.
 
Mark Anthony Soza, 57, of Roebuck, pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography and was sentenced to 40 months in prison.

Evidence presented at the plea hearing showed that Soza, who was a Spartanburg School District 4 teacher prior to his arrest in February 2012, was a customer of a commercial child pornography operation under investigation by the Department of Homeland Security.

Long Island, NY
A Roosevelt High School administrator was arrested by federal agents at his home Tuesday and charged with receiving child pornography, according to Newsday, citing a criminal complaint filed by a Homeland Security agent.

Tuesday morning, federal agents executed a search warrant at the Patchogue home of Kevin O’Connell, after they reportedly traced an internet address advertising video files available for sharing to O’Connell’s house.

According to the complaint, agents conducted a preliminary forensic examination of computer equipment found during the raid. Agents “confirmed the presence of numerous videos of apparent child pornography,” the complaint said.

Pembroke, NY
A Pembroke woman who allegedly supplied child pornography to a man later convicted of molesting toddlers entered a guilty plea in County Court today to one count of possession of sexual performance of a child.

As a term of the plea deal, Beverly Hensel, 53, of 8921 Alleghany Road, Pembroke, could receive up to 10 years probation and an intermittent jail term.

Hansel admitted to possessing child pornography between January 2008 and December 2009.
According to court documents, Hansel met James L. Little Jr., 41, formerly of Batavia, at a bar in Corfu. During the meeting, Little said Hansel offered to acquire child pornography for him.

Bear, DE
An 18-year-old Bear man faces 25 counts of dealing in child pornography, the state Attorney General’s Office announced in a release today.

Delaware Child Predator Task Force officials carried out a search warrant for a residence in the 4200 block of Cindy Drive in Bear on Oct. 9 following an undercover investigation, public information officer Jason P. Miller said.



Detectives seized two laptops and other evidence, and an initial forensic preview revealed multiple images and video of child pornography, Miller said.


Roosevelt J. Cubbage, 18, who was in the residence, was taken to Delaware State Police Troop 2 for questioning, where he was arrested and charged with 25 counts of dealing in child pornography based on evidence obtained during the investigation, Miller said.

Naperville, IL

Residents of a Naperville neighborhood were reeling Tuesday after the arrest of a man suspected of secretly videotaping several neighbors in the nude.

Renzo Barduagni, 50, of the 700 block of Violet Circle, also is accused of possessing about 100 images of child pornography on his computer.

Police arrested Barduagni on Monday after executing a search warrant at his house, the culmination of a four-month online child pornography investigation. In addition to locating child pornography, authorities said they found a videotape containing footage of a naked neighbor child.

Teen Charged with Killing Principal Competent

Memphis, TN
A 17-year-old boy charged with fatally stabbing his high school principal is competent to stand trial, his lawyer said Thursday.

Leslie Ballin said a doctor informed him that there were no issues of competency or sanity in a mental evaluation of his client, Eduardo Marmolejo.

Marmolejo has pleaded not guilty to adult first-degree murder charges in the stabbing of Suzette York in August 2011. York, 49, was Marmolejo's principal at Memphis Junior Academy, a private school affiliated with the Seventh-day Adventist Church.

York's body was found in a pool of blood in a classroom on the third day of school. An autopsy showed she had cuts to her head and neck.


Safe Havens, International

Child Abduction Digest 10-7-12

Sergeant Bluff, IA
The Sergeant Bluff Police Department reported an attempted abduction on Wednesday.

The incident follows on a string of reported abduction attempts reported recently in Northwest Iowa. However, it's not clear whether they are related to the Sergeant Bluff attempt, and no arrests have been made.

An 8-year-old girl was approached by a man in a white van near the elementary school in Sergeant Bluff, the police report said. The man asked her to get into his van.

The girl ran back into the school building, but did not tell her parents about the incident for a few days, officials said.

Baton Rouge, LA
A scenario hit home for one local mother Friday afternoon in Baton Rouge, when she learned that moments before she arrived, complete strangers asked to pick up her second grade son by name from Inspire Charter Academy.

Along with her questions, the mother also fears the couple saw her child's face before being sent away. The supervisor in charge of the after-school program, run by the Boys and Girls Club of Greater Baton Rouge, determined the couple was not on the student's approved pick up list and even took a picture of the man's license.

Cherokee, NE
Officials of Alta-Aurelia schools issued a warning email throughout the district Thursday after an alleged attempted abduction in Cherokee was reported to them by a Cherokee County Deputy.

A teenage male was reportedly approached around 11 a.m. at Central Park in Cherokee, near the Fareway store, by an older male in a silver minivan of unknown make, according to the schools report. The suspect told the person walking to get into the van and was very persistent in trying to get the person into the vehicle with him, but the person refused. The suspect was described as 40-50 years old with short gray hair.

In response to the report, a Cherokee County deputy was posted in Aurelia for additional patrol and to stand by as students were dismissed in the afternoon. Buena Vista County Sheriff Gary Launderville said that his office provided additional coverage for Alta throughout the day, and sent three officers to cover school dismissal time there. The schools and law enforcement planned to continue increased supervision at least through the end of the week. Parents who wished to pick up their children were encouraged to do so.

Bolivar, TN
A Mississippi man's infatuation with a 12-year-old Tennessee girl led him to plot her abduction for a year and kill her mother and sister, according to testimony in court Monday.

The abduction of the girl and another sister, along with the killings, spurred a manhunt through rugged, hilly Mississippi terrain for several days in the spring. The search ended when 35-year-old Adam Mayes fatally shot himself May 10 as authorities closed in on him in the northern Mississippi woods. Twelve-year-old Alexandria Bain and another sister who'd been kidnapped, 8-year-old sister Kyliyah, were rescued.

Minooka, IL
The Board of Education at Minooka Elementary School District 201 has given Superintendent Al Gegenheimer approval to seek bids for a chain-link fence along the edge of the Aux Sable Elementary School property on Misty Creek Drive in Minooka.

The decision to erect a fence came after a student at Aux Sable was allegedly the victim of an attempted child abduction during school hours several weeks ago.

After the boy ate lunch at school, he walked outside as usual for recess, he told his mom. He was one of the first kids out of the doors this time and stopped to wait for his brother and friends to catch up.


After veering slightly to the left toward the playground once he was outside, the boy stepped off of the school's blacktop and onto a grassy area separating the school from a cornfield.

The boy's back was to the cornfield as he was watching the school, waiting for his brother.

"He heard a crunching noise behind him and when he turned around he saw a man coming toward him," the mother recalled from her son's story. "The man covered (my son's) mouth and dragged him into the cornfield about three rows back."

Lafayette, LA
Lafayette Parish Sheriff's Deputies are investigating an attempted abduction.

According to Captain Kip Judice, a 14-year old boy was walking to his bus stop on Tideland Road in Lafayette, when he says he was approached by a man in a van saying that school was cancelled and that the teen should get inside his van. As that was happening the boy's school bus turned the corner and the boy continued to his bus, as the van drove away.

The boy's bus driver witnessed the incident and questioned the teen about the van. Deputies are working to put together a description of the suspect, but in the mean time they urge parents and students to be extra cautious.

Dearborn Heights Police Identify Woman Stabbed Thursday Night as 33-Year-Old DPS Teacher

Dearborn Heights, MI
Dearborn Heights Police are still investigating the killing. They say Dupree’s husband called 911 and told them a home invader had stabbed his wife.  Police arrived minutes later.  They aren’t releasing details, but what they found led them to arrest Nytia Dupree’s 38-year-old husband.  He is in jail, but has not yet been charged with a crime.

“What he told police, did not match up to evidence at the scene,” said Dearborn Heights Police Capt. Jeff Seipenko.

Teen, 17, Charged as Adult in Fatal CA Stabbing

Santa Ana, CA
Orange County prosecutors have charged a 17-year-old as an adult in the stabbing murder of another teen during a group fight in Anaheim.

Deputy District Attorney Howard Gundy said Wednesday that Ryan Nichols Coale will face one felony count of murder, with a sentencing enhancement for use of a deadly weapon.

Anaheim police say Coale was at Sycamore Junior High School playing handball with his friends on March 19 when a fight broke out among several people on a nearby basketball court.

Coale is accused of joining the fight and stabbing 19-year-old Edgar Cervantes in the chest with a small knife. The victim later died of the wound in a hospital.

Death Walked in the Door in Wisconsin

Madison, WI
A news story out of Wisconsin tells a sad tale of a father who has allegedly killed his three daughters.  He and his wife were divorced in January, and she had custody of the children in Madison, while he lived in North Dakota.

11-year-old Amara Schaffhausen, 8-year-old Sophie and 5-year-old Cecilia

The court testimony provides some grisly details, but little illumination on why this heinous incident occurred.

The three girls attended Greenwood Elementary School, which is in summer break.  Even so, the school has opened its doors, and has provided personnel to assist people with processing their grief and shock.  It is always difficult for a school when they lose one of their own.  Losing three is a tragedy that will take some time from which to recover, especially with the incident's horrific nature.

As a society, this incident raises numerous questions that are not the purview of this blog.  Of greater concern here is how a school would begin to recover from something like this.  From the details I have gleaned, it appears that this school is off on the right track.  Serving as a source of comfort and aid solidifies the school's role in the community, and is serving as a focal point for recovery.  It appears that this school has thought ahead, and was prepared.

Are you?

Facebook


Our Forum On

Teen Makes Plea Deal in Teacher's Death

Crown Point, IN
A judge has accepted a Merrillville teen's guilty plea to a voluntary manslaughter charge in the slaying nearly a year ago of an 80-year-old Gary high school teacher.

The Times of Munster reports 17-year-old Royal Marshall received a 30-year prison sentence under the deal accepted Thursday by Lake Superior Court Judge Salvador Vasquez. Prosecutors agreed to drop charges of murder, robbery and auto theft.

Defense attorney Eric Clark says Marshall always wanted to accept responsibility and receive his punishment for the July 6, 2011, slaying of Anna Schulz in her Merrillville home.

Marshall told the judge last month that he cut the woman's neck with a knife while fleeing officers investigating a burglary.

Human Remains Delivered to 2 Canada Schools

Montreal, Canada
Packages containing a human foot and hand were discovered at two schools in Vancouver on Tuesday, in what could be the latest gruesome twist in the case of a Canadian porn actor suspected of dismembering and eating his former lover.

Police said they could not immediately confirm if the body parts in question were the missing extremities of Chinese student Jun Lin, whose hand and foot were discovered last week when they were mailed to Canada's top political parties.

The suspect, Luka Rocco Magnotta, 29, was caught Monday in Berlin, after evading police for days while he partied in Paris. He told German authorities he would not fight extradition to Canada.

Precautionary Code Yellow Imposed at South

Minneapolis, MN
A code yellow alert was imposed at South High School on Monday as a precaution for the final two days of the school year following a fatal shooting Friday less than half a mile from the school.

District spokeswoman Rachel Hicks said that  the restrictions were imposed "due to concerns happening in the surrounding neighborhood," but said she was unable to tie them immediately to Friday's slaying. But one student said that teachers gave that as a reason.

A 16-year-old Roosevelt High School student, Trequan Sykes,  was shot to death Friday afternoon in the 2900 block of Bloomington Avenue S. Another 16-year-old was arrested later that day in what was described as an argument among teens.

Student Who Plotted Mom's Murder Identified

Hesperia, CA
The 13-year-old girl arrested along with two friends for plotting to kill the middle school student’s mother reportedly had a long history of violence and fighting, according to sources close to the case.

Jackie Salcido, a 14-year-old girl and a 14-year-old boy identified as Ricardo Saldaña — all Ranchero Middle School students — were booked for attempted murder, conspiracy and burglary Tuesday when San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Hesperia station investigators learned of the teens’ plan to murder the girl’s mother. The identity of the second girl has not been confirmed.

San Jose Police Identify Victim in School Grounds Homicide

San Jose, CA
Fernando Hernandez, 18, of San Jose, has been identified as the young man found shot to death Saturday night on the campus of Lowell Elementary School, located on South Seventh Street. Dwyer said investigators are "exploring the possibility that the shooting was gang motivated."

Police responded to the school at 9:25 p.m. after getting reports of shots fired. They found Hernandez suffering from at least one gunshot wound. Hernandez died at the scene.

Today's Child Abduction Digest 4-26-12

Kansas

The Hays Police Department is currently investigating a report of suspicious activity in the area of O’Loughlin Elementary School.

It was reported that shortly after school was dismissed on Tuesday, a group of students were approached by a white van occupied by two adult males. The students were invited into the van, but the students loudly refused, instead running to one of the student’s nearby homes, where they told their parents, who called the police.

Glenwood Springs, CO
A second juvenile was taken into custody Wednesday for allegedly plotting to kidnap and murder another youth in Basalt, authorities said.

The Basalt Police Department, with assistance from Carbondale police, arrested the 17-year-old Basalt resident Wednesday morning, Basalt Sgt. Stu Curry said. The juvenile was in Carbondale, where Curry said he believed the youth was attending school.

He was arrested for conspiracy to commit first-degree kidnapping, a third-degree felony, and conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, a class two felony, Curry said. The police department determined the charges after conferring with the Eagle County District Attorney's office, Curry said.

 Hays, KS
The Hays Police Department is currently investigating a report of an abduction attempt in the area of O’Loughlin Elementary School. 


It was reported that shortly after school was dismissed on Tuesday.