Tag: child abuse

Disgraced Cop Arrested for Sexually Assaulting Boys at ‘Youth Special Forces’ Camp He Started at Church

When the parents of children at the MorningStart Fellowship Church heard about a youth program for boys started by a police officer, they likely felt their children would be learning how to become men and that they would be protected. Unfortunately, however, it was the exact opposite, and their children were preyed on and exploited by the very person they thought would do the protecting.

In a shocking revelation, a now-former Cornelius police officer has been accused of exploiting his position within a local church to sexually assault multiple young boys. Erickson Douglas Lee, 25, who was once an active member of MorningStar Fellowship Church, reportedly turned himself in to authorities on May 2nd.

The church’s safety coordinator, Nate Degranpre, alerted the York County Sheriff’s Office (YCSO) after receiving complaints from concerned parents. The allegations against Lee stem from a program he founded in 2018, dubbed the ‘Young Special Forces.’ Lee pitched the program as a leadership school designed to teach young men valuable skills and foster team-building habits. Instead of teaching them skills, however, he was sexually preying on them.

The narrative took a sinister turn when, in early 2020, Lee allegedly began hosting parties for at least four juveniles, during which he provided them with alcohol and engaged in sexual acts. These incidents are said to have taken place at Lee’s Fort Mill residence and other locations.

According to the investigation, Lee lured the unsuspecting parents by claiming that he wanted to take their children for leadership exercises or camping trips. Instead, he took the minors to various places both within and outside York County, including the MorningStar Church. Lee’s status as a police officer likely helped him garner the trust of the boys’ parents. Unfortunately, that trust was extremely misplaced.

Keep reading

Santa Monica cops who ignored warnings that staffer Eric Uller allegedly molested boys should be prosecuted: lawyer

A California attorney who represented more than 80 victims allegedly molested and raped by a Santa Monica, Calif., police employee said cops and other officials who ignored warnings also should face criminal charges.

Attorney Brian Claypool said decades of abuse could’ve been prevented if officers listened to his clients’ pleas to fire the late Eric Uller, who worked for the nonprofit after-school Police Activities League program since the late 1980s.

The City of Santa Monica this week agreed to a whopping $122.5 million settlement involving 124 victims but court records show Uller molested more than 200 victims, who were minors at the time.

“The fact that this was a nonprofit connected to police makes it even worse,” Claypool told The Post. “Police are hired to protect and serve, and the fact that they had this guy around children … it never should’ve happened.

“They knew this guy had a propensity for molesting kids but did nothing. They were protecting a dangerous sexual predator.”

Keep reading

Billionaire T. Denny Sanford Was Investigated For Child Pornography—Newly Unsealed Documents Reveal Why

Nude photos of underage girls between the ages of 8 and 15 were discovered in the email account of billionaire T. Denny Sanford, who is the wealthiest person in South Dakota, newly unsealed documents show, shedding light on a child pornography investigation into the philanthropist which was closed without charges in 2022.

In the summer of 2019, images of nude underage girls were discovered in an AOL email linked to Sanford, prompting an investigation into the founder of First Premier Bank who is worth $2 billion and has donated large sums to children’s causes, according to documents released Thursday.

The images were revealed in unsealed court documents this week after a court battle by the news organizations ProPublica and South Dakota’s Argus Leader newspaper.

In 2019 the parent company of AOL sent information about the images to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, which in turn made the referral to law enforcement, sparking an investigation that included five search warrants for Sanford’s email, phone, and internet data; one investigator wrote he believed there was evidence of criminality, according to the documents.

Sanford’s attorney Stacey Hegge said Thursday that after an “exhaustive” investigation, no prosecutable offense was discovered, partly because many individuals had access to Sanford’s devices, including, potentially, hackers.

The investigation was closed last year after the South Dakota attorney general, who was leading it, was impeached, but it isn’t fully clear why Sanford was not indicted.

Sanford fought to keep the documents sealed, but, after a years-long battle led by news organizations ProPublica and the Argus Leader to publicize the affidavit, South Dakota courts ruled to unseal them on April 6.

Keep reading

Transgender Minnesota lawmaker introduces bill removing anti-pedophile language from state’s Human Rights Act

A transgender state lawmaker in Minnesota introduced a measure that would remove language from the state’s Human Rights Act that currently declares pedophiles are not included in protections based on “sexual orientation.”

The proposed language has shocked and bewildered Republicans, but the bill’s author says nothing in the text would weaken pedophilia laws. The “Take Pride Act” (HF 1655) was introduced earlier this year by state Rep. Leigh Finke, a member of the Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party and the first transgender legislator in Minnesota House history.

The bill would amend Minnesota’s Human Rights Act, which is described by the state as “one of the strongest civil rights laws in the country.” The current Human Rights Act protects against discrimination based on sexual orientation, defined as “having or being perceived as having an emotional, physical, or sexual attachment to another person without regard to the sex of that person or having or being perceived as having an orientation for such attachment, or having or being perceived as having a self-image or identity not traditionally associated with one’s biological maleness or femaleness.”

The law also includes this caveat: “‘Sexual orientation’ does not include a physical or sexual attachment to children by an adult.” That language would be removed under Finke’s proposal.

Keep reading

Shocking Allegation: Jan. 6th Provocateur Ray Epps Accused of Pedophilia by Adopted Daughter

The adopted daughter of notorious Jan. 6 provocateur Ray Epps, Tiffany, has come forward with startling allegations of pedophilia against the man who raised her.

In recent Twitter Space interviews hosted by independent journalist Dom Lucre, Tiffany Epps revealed she suffered years of physical and mental abuse and sexual molestation at the hands of her adopted father “James” Ray Epps.

After admitting she last spoke to her adopted father at her brother’s funeral six years ago, Tiffany said, “I don’t speak to him, because he’s a — he’s a fuckin’ pedophile. That’s why I don’t speak to him.”

Lucre acknowledged to Tiffany the FBI looks for people who are “compromised” to hire as assets.

Tiffany evidently brought receipts, with Lucre showing a certificate of adoption from the state of Arizona showing James Ray Epps and his wife Robyn indeed adopted her.

Keep reading

Socialite mom, 45, is arrested in child porn sting at Virginia hotel where she allegedly planned to sexually abuse eight-year-old girl. Now federal judge ex-husband launches court battle to win full custody of their daughters – aged 10 and 12

A federal judge in Virginia is fighting for full custody of his two young daughters after his high society ex-wife was arrested at a hotel where she allegedly planned to sexually assault an eight-year-old girl, DailyMail.com can exclusively reveal.

Eleanor Hunton Hoppe, 45, a member of one of Virginia’s most prominent families, was snared in an FBI sting last month after messaging an undercover agent explicit and sickening details about what she wanted to do to the child, according to court filings. 

The mother-of-two – who has been charged with child porn and child sex abuse offenses – is also accused of sending the agent a 30-second video and three still images of young minor girls being horrifically sexually abused by men.

Her arrest has stunned communities in Charlottesville, where she lives, and in Richmond where she grew up amid wealth and prestige as a member of a legal powerhouse family who helped found the city’s biggest law firm, now known as Hunton, Andrews, Kurth.

Keep reading

Oregon teachers’ aide, ‘drag mom’ to child drag queen sentenced to less than 1 year in jail for 11 felony child sex crimes

A former Oregon elementary school teaching assistant and “drag mom” to a controversial child drag performer has been convicted of 11 felonies over the distribution of child sex abuse content and sentenced to less than a year in a local jail. 

Kelsey Meta Boren, 33, was convicted in Lane County, Ore. on March 23 of 11 felony counts of encouraging child sexual abuse in the first degree. A single charge of using a child in a display of sexually explicit conduct was dismissed as part of the plea deal. Boren was sentenced to 330 days in county jail—30 days for each felony count—in a sweetheart deal agreed upon between the district attorney’s office and her counsel.

“Our office must decide each case individually, taking into account the facts of the offenses, and the nature of the offender,” wrote Lane County Deputy District Attorney Robert Lane to The Post Millennial. “This case was assigned to me, and I made those decisions.”

Keep reading

Survivors Alleging Satanic Ritual Abuse Raise Awareness Amid Media Claims of ‘Panic’

Survivors alleging satanic ritual abuse (SRA) and their advocates are continuing a decades-long fight to advance their cases as media companies push a narrative that the type of abuse they allege is largely the creation of a social panic.

Last month, the South by Southwest film festival screened “Satan Wants You,” which “tells the untold story of how the Satanic Panic of the 1980s was ignited,” according to the festival’s website. Echoing years of skeptical news coverage, the description adds that “satanic rumors spread through panic-stricken communities across the world, leaving a wave of destruction and wrongful convictions in their wake.” Other “satanic panic” warnings can be found in recent coverage of cases in Scotland and Utah while the backlash against Sam Smith’s Grammys performance has prompted similar caution.

But for advocates like Cindy Metcalf, the “Satanic Panic” narrative is false and degrades the stories she encounters on a regular basis. In March, Metcalf’s newly formed group Relentless Hope held a meeting in the Salt Lake area for survivors to discuss potential legal options for pursuing allegations involving the Church of Latter-Day Saints (LDS).

Keep reading

Koskan pleads guilty to two charges of incest, sentenced to 10 years in prison

Disgraced former South Dakota state senate candidate Joel Koskan has been sentenced to ten years in state prison on two charges of incest.

Judge Margo Northup, a Sixth Circuit Court Judge, opted to sentence Koskan to the maximum sentence, and to pay roughly $20,000 in fines during a sentencing hearing Tuesday at the Hughes County courthouse.

The charges Koskan pleaded guilty to stem from crimes committed at his residence.

“He acted like a jealous lover more than a father,” Northup said. “He took advantage of a child that viewed him as a father.”

But Koskan’s need for control didn’t end once the investigation began. Immediately after Koskan found out that the victim had reported his crimes to the Spink County Sheriff’s office, Koskan sought to pressure the victim to back off the allegations against him.

Shortly after the victim approached police for the first time, Koskan reported the victim’s vehicle as stolen to the police.

As a result, the victim struggled with mental health issues, having intermittent panic attacks most specifically when speaking with law enforcement and prosecutors.

“She would not be in the position she is if not for the defendant’s actions,” said Brent Kempema, a Deputy Attorney General who represented the prosecution.

Koskan’s family also pressured the victim to not cooperate with law enforcement. According to the prosecution, family members of Koskan’s sent the victim a news article, detailing how a former South Dakota state lawmaker had rape charges dismissed against him because the victims chose not to cooperate in the investigation.

“The defendant’s gamble didn’t pay off. He gambled she would fold and she didn’t,” Kempema said in his closing remarks. “He needs to pay for his failed gamble.”

Keep reading

Former Planned Parenthood Director Commits Suicide as Child Porn Investigation Intensifies

A former Planned Parenthood director, Tim Yergeau, 35, was found dead in his New Haven, Connecticut, apartment on Tuesday from suicide.

His death comes as a police investigation into a child pornography case intensified but was hampered by a botched raid on the apartment building in which Yergeau resided.

The Middletown Press reports:

Investigators are looking into the city police department’s botched child pornography raid last week at the apartment building of Long Wharf Theatre staffer Tim Yergeau who died by suicide on Tuesday, officials said.

“The person who died was definitely the suspect in a child pornography investigation and the person who committed suicide,” New Haven Police Chief Karl Jacobson told Hearst Connecticut Media Group on Wednesday.

The chief has requested an internal affairs investigation after members of the Special Victims Unit investigating the child pornography case broke down the door of Yergeau’s neighbor and handcuffed the woman before realizing they raided the wrong apartment.

“They obviously hit the wrong door,” Jacobson said.

The internal affairs investigation will also examine how Yergeau wound up taking his own life five days later, the chief said.

“Unfortunately, a mistake was made,” Jacobson said. “We feel for the woman and we’re going to do everything we can to make it right.”

“The investigation is part of holding my department accountable and transparent,” he added.

Jacobson, who said he plans to reach out to the woman, declined to confirm Yergeau was the suspect in the child pornography investigation. But Yergeau’s neighbor and the state Office of the Chief State Medical Examiner both confirmed he died Tuesday morning. The medical examiner also confirmed Yergeau died by suicide.

Keep reading