Abilene man sentenced to life for
sexually abusing 2 girls
Maria Aguilera Andrew McMillan
ABILENE, Texas - UPDATE:
Howard Dee Sturgis (7th story on link) of Abilene was found guilty of continuous sexual abuse of a child Thursday.
The jurors returned the verdict at about 4:35 p.m. before starting deliberation on a punishment. It didn't take long for the jury to determine Sturgis' sentence: life in prison.
Sturgis will not be eligible for parole due to the continuous aspect of the abuse.
SAPD fires detective who didn’t investigate
sexual assault, family violence cases
By Emilie Eaton
The San Antonio police detective responsible for failing to investigate more than 130 sexual assault and family violence cases was fired Thursday, City Manager Sheryl Sculley announced.
Detective Kenneth Valdez, who has been with the department for 17 years, received an indefinite suspension, which is tantamount to firing, for insubordination; failing to act on DNA evidence; not properly preserving or handling evidence; and closing cases without approval from a supervisor, according to records released by the city.
“There simply is no excuse for such improper behavior, and Detective Valdez is not representative of the thousands of men and women in our Police Department who are passionately committed to protecting the most vulnerable among us,” Sculley said in a news release.
In fiscal year 2016, Valdez received about $157,100 in total compensation — including $23,955 in overtime, records show. It was not clear how much Valdez received in overtime other years.
Valdez — who hadn’t been named by the city prior to Thursday’s announcement — has not appealed the indefinite suspension yet, a spokesman for the city said Thursday afternoon. He has 15 days under the police union’s collective bargaining agreement to appeal.
On Thursday, Mayor Ron Nirenberg applauded Chief William McManus for his swift response.
“The mishandling of these cases cannot be taken lightly, and today’s response was in keeping with the seriousness of the situation,” Nirenberg said in a statement. “We will ensure that systemic issues discovered by the independent investigation are resolved and justice is delivered.”
At least twice, the Bexar County Crime Lab gave Valdez documentation of DNA in sexual assault cases that Valdez failed to act on.
Valdez did not submit evidence to the crime lab for 27 cases he was responsible for between Aug. 15, 2016, and Aug. 15, 2017. The evidence was found in the department’s property room.
Valdez failed to properly handle or preserve other evidence. When looking through Valdez’s office, officials found seven cell phones — two of which had no identifying case information — five untested cheek swabs, DVDs and CDs with no case information and a $50 in an envelope.
On three occasions, Valdez closed cases without forwarding them to a supervisor. In July of this year, a supervisor asked Valdez to perform additional tasks in five cases, but Valdez allegedly closed the cases anyway.
The announcement Thursday comes exactly a week after Sculley and McManus revealed the mishandled cases, making some of them ineligible for prosecution.
At the same time, a supervising lieutenant and two sergeants were transferred from the Special Victims Unit.
McManus said he became aware of the issue after supervisors with the unit noticed the division was not filing as many cases as usual with the Bexar County District Attorney’s Office.
McManus said he thinks Valdez was the only officer in the unit who did not properly investigate cases, but if other officers were involved, they will be disciplined accordingly.
“There are any range of disciplinary actions, if it turns out that way,” McManus said last week.
The Special Victims Unit — formerly called Sex Crimes — is responsible for investigating about 28 different offenses, including human trafficking, family violence, child abuse and sexual assault. A large portion of the cases handled by the unit involve children.
Officials said it’s too soon to tell how many of the 130 cases were not prosecuted due to insufficient evidence. It’s also too soon to tell how many cases involved children.
2 child pornography arrests,
man accused of bestiality
By Ashley Remkus aremkus@al.com
The search of a DeKalb County home yielded two arrests for child pornography, as well as allegations that a man had sexual contact with a dog, lawmen said.
Robert Bishop was arrested Monday after investigators searched his home in Sylvania. Police and sheriff's deputies found a pornographic video of a 2-year-old, an investigator wrote in an arrest affidavit.
Additionally, 27-year-old Bishop "engaged in or submitted to any sexual contact with an animal...a German Shepherd," Investigator Scott Tarrant wrote in another affidavit.
The search of Bishop's home also led to the arrest of Ashley Hartline, a 26-year-old from Rainsville, said DeKalb County Sheriff Jimmy Harris. Hartline is accused of sexually abusing and sodomizing the 2-year-old, court records state. Hartline also is accused of recording the abuse and distributing pornographic videos, an arrest affidavit alleges.
Hartline is charged with first-degree sodomy, sexual abuse, dissemination of obscene material and production of obscene material. She faces up to life in prison and would be required to register as a sex offender, if convicted. Hartline was being held with bail set at $30,000.
Bishop is charged with two counts of dissemination of obscene matter and one count each of possession of obscene matter and bestiality. If convicted of all charges, he faces a maximum sentence of 50 years in prison. He also would be required to register as a sex offender. Bishop was being held in the DeKalb County Jail with bail set at $23,500.
Sylvania, AL
DCF orders Bright Horizons to pay $700 after
child sex abuse allegations
Day care will have its license put on probation for 6 months
By Adrienne Cutway - Web Editor
ORLANDO, Fla. - The Department of Children and Families has ordered an Orlando child care facility to pay $700 in fines, among other things, as part of a lawsuit settlement stemming from allegations of sexual abuse at the day care.
Bright Horizons Child Care and Learning Center in Baldwin Park first came under fire in May when allegations of that
three preschool-aged children had been sexually abused by a teacher's assistant.
News 6 is not naming the teacher's assistant because he has not been charged with a crime, although his employment at the facility has been terminated.
DCF officials said the department's investigation found that the day care did not perform a proper background check before hiring the employee last year and that administrators should have heeded warnings from other employees about the man's inappropriate behavior.
Bright Horizons reached a settlement agreement with DCF while still denying the allegations made in the lawsuit.
As part of the settlement, Bright Horizons will pay $700 in fines, have its Gold Seal Quality Care designation revoked and have its license placed on probation for six months. DCF has rescinded its 90-day suspension of Bright Horizons's license.
The settlement document also listed several actions Bright Horizons has taken since the allegations came to light. That list includes new background checks for all employees, installing cameras, assigning new directors and implementing new childhood sexuality training for staff and parents.
Second person accused of sexually abusing
child in Oswego County
By Samantha House shouse@syracuse.com,
RICHLAND, N.Y. -- A second person has been charged with sexually abusing a child younger than 11 years last summer in Oswego County.
Clifford Thurston, 33, of 3446 County Route 22, Orwell, was arrested Wednesday by the Oswego County Sheriff's Office. He has been accused of sexually abusing a boy who was younger than 11 years old, deputies said.
He was arrested less than two weeks after the arrest of Amanda Squadrito (4th story on link), 21, of Richland, deputies said.
The sexual abuse happened in Richland between June and August, deputies said.
Thurston was charged with two counts of first-degree sexual abuse, a felony, and two counts of endangering the welfare of a child, a misdemeanor.
Squadrito was arrested on Oct. 20. Like Thurston, she was charged with two counts of first-degree sexual abuse and two counts of endangering the welfare of a child.
The co-defendants are being held in the Oswego County Jail in lieu of $15,000 cash or a $30,000 bond.
Graham Guilty All Counts Sex Abuse of Minors
Rita Dukes Smith, SurfKY News Director
GREENVILLE, Ky. — It took jurors a little more than an hour and a half to reach verdicts in the child sex abuse/case of J. L. Graham today.
Jesse Graham faced six separate charges of sodomy and sexual abuse/victims under age 12 involving two victims.
The Muhlenberg Circuit Court jury found Graham guilty of four counts of first-degree sodomy and two counts of first-degree sex abuse.
Graham remained stoic during the verdict readings.
Commonweath’s Attorney Ralph Vick finished his final remarks in the trial in which Graham was accused of sex abuse and sodomy of two boys aged 8-9 at the time of his arrest in October 2016.
The jury left for its deliberation at 12:07 p.m. and returned at 2:15 p.m. with a finding of guilty on all counts.
Both boys and parents testified that Graham became trusted and loved by the victims and their families over a period of time. After the trust was gained, Graham used their trust and affection to get into intimate situations with the boys including overnight trips, Vick said in closing remarks.
Vick told jurors that Graham targeted the boys and used their love of video games to find ways to be in the boys’ bedrooms. He also said the two boys were in separate households and had separate families and that Graham was working to entrust both at about the same time.
One victim and parent testified that Graham gave the boy an expensive guitar and threatened to take it back if the boy told anyone about their activities.
Graham’s public defender James Chamberlain told jurors that both boys initially denied anything happened when asked if they had been touched inappropriately. He said the boys initially lied and had been coached in telling their stories.
Graham testified in his defense denying any wrongdoing regarding the youths. He maintained his innocence throughout the process from being charged and throughout his testimony in court today, said Chamberlain in closing remarks.
The jury is now considering the penalty phase.
Ex-school trustee shared porn in group,
planned sex trip with girl, affidavit says
BY DOMINGO RAMIREZ JR.
Former Northwest school district Trustee Mel Fuller was a member of group that shared nude photos of young people, and he received child porn from a man who claimed to be a pastor, according to an affidavit.
Fuller also admitted to federal agents that he recently downloaded pictures of a family friend’s young daughter from Facebook and planned to abuse her, according to the probable cause affidavit obtained by the Star-Telegram on Thursday.
He is the second Northwest school board member under a criminal investigation for a youth-related crime since 2012. Former Trustee Kerry D. Jones was indicted in 2013 by a Denton County grand jury on four counts of improper relationship between an educator and a student. His trial is pending.
Fuller was arrested Tuesday and faces a charge of possession of child pornography, according to Denton County jail records.
The school district said in a statement released Thursday that Fuller resigned Wednesday.
Fuller, who had been on the school board since 2008, posted $25,000 bond on the day he was arrested, according to jail records.
Federal agents and police from Trophy Club and Flower Mound executed a search warrant on Fuller’s home in Trophy Club on Aug. 31, according to the affidavit. Fuller, who is married, was home but he was not arrested.
‘Play every other weekend’
The affidavit gave this account of the case:
In December 2016, agents with Homeland Security were alerted by Ontario Provincial police about an internet user with the name PASTOR4YNG1 who later used the name HORNYPASTOR, PASTORONY and PASTORSDAUGHTER666. The user posted images of children he sexually abused that he claimed were from his church and other churches.
In the investigation, agents determined that the pastor had communicated with a user named DAVEBARD in December 2016, and at least two images and one video appeared to be child sexual abuse material.
In April, the investigation showed that the DAVEBARD account was registered to an email address, melfuller4@gmail.com and that person was Mel Fuller, according to the affidavit.
At some point, a federal agent reached out to Fuller through DAVEBARD, and asked him if he had any images or videos he wanted to share. Fuller sent the agent images of a 16-year-old teenage girl in a bikini, saying he was taking her to Mexico on Labor Day and she would perform sex acts on him.
“She and I play every other weekend,” Fuller told the agent. “Everything but _____.”
Fuller also told the agent he was in a group that shares nude photos, but it had closed for anyone else to join.
At the time, Fuller was working for an organization involved in college admission ACT tests and the Texas Education Agency, federal agents said.
During the Aug. 31 search of his home, Fuller admitted he used the DAVEBARD account to receive child pornography.
Hearing is Friday in other case
In the other criminal case involving an ex-Northwest trustee, a hearing Friday is set to determine if Kerry D. Jones goes to trial on Nov. 13 in Denton.
Jones, who is out on $40,000 bail, also was a counselor at Colleyville Heritage High School and a reserve deputy constable in Denton County.
Jones is accused of having sexual encounters with a male student at Jones’ Trophy Club home between April 2010 and March 2011, according to Trophy Club police reports.
Authorities began an investigation into Jones after receiving a complaint in 2012 from a male student who was legally an adult. The student was 17 at the time of the first encounter, Trophy Club police said.
In August 2012, the student notified state Child Protective Services of the encounters, authorities said. At the time, Jones, the father of three adult sons, was a licensed foster parent caring for an 8-year-old boy. The student told a CPS caseworker that he was concerned Jones might do something inappropriate with the boy.
The boy was moved from Jones’ home and the Trophy Club man is no longer a licensed foster parent, according to CPS records. CPS subsequently informed Trophy Club police, and an investigation of the student’s complaint began. The investigation was presented to a Denton County grand jury, which indicted Jones in March 2013.
After the indictment, officials at Colleyville Heritage High School sent letters to parents indicating that police had confirmed that the alleged misconduct did not occur on school property and that no other students related to CHHS were involved.
Colleyville Heritage is in the Grapevine-Colleyville district. Trophy Club is in the Northwest school district.
Registered sex offender gets 33 years for
crimes against two kids in 2016
George Houde
Chicago Tribune
A registered sex offender was sentenced to 33 years in prison Tuesday after admitting he molested one young boy and attempted to molest another in separate incidents in Elk Grove Village and Bartlett last year.
Ryan French, 36, of Elk Grove Village, pleaded guilty to predatory criminal sexual assault, aggravated criminal sexual abuse and attempted aggravated criminal sexual abuse in connection with the incidents. One of the victims was 9 and the other was 13.
Assistant State’s Attorney Jaclyn Lantz said French approached the 13-year-old at a playground in Elk Grove Village last November and tried to lure the boy to an isolated area. The teen became wary and called his father, officials said. French was a registered sex offender and registered child predator at the time, Lantz said.
A day later, French lured the 9-year-old into a secluded stairwell at a Bartlett playground and molested him, Lantz said. A surveillance camera recorded him luring the boy, authorities said.
French, of the 1200 block of Diane Lane, was convicted in 2008 of aggravated criminal sexual abuse and was sentenced to three years in prison. French will have to serve 85 percent of his current sentence, Lantz said.
Conviction Upheld For Tulsa Man Found Guilty
Of Child Sexual Abuse
BY: NEWSON6.COM
TULSA, Oklahoma -
The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals has upheld a Tulsa man's 2016 conviction of child sexual abuse and possession of child pornography.
Joshua Gordon was convicted in September 2016 of sexually abusing a child and being in possession of nearly 300 images of child porn.
Gordon appealed the conviction and sentence.
The state court of criminal appeals upheld his Thursday.
