Tag: sexual predators

Wisconsin elementary school teacher, 24, busted for ‘making out’ with 5th-grader — three months before wedding

A 24-year-old Wisconsin elementary school teacher was arrested Wednesday for allegedly “making out” with her fifth-grade student — less than three months before her wedding.

Madison Bergmann’s alleged abuse of the 11-year-old boy came to light when the student’s mother overheard her son talking to the teacher on the phone, CBS News Minnesota reported.

The victim’s parents allegedly found texts between the pair, and the boy’s father then stormed into River Crest Elementary School with printouts of the conversations.

The deranged text chain included messages from Bergmann allegedly discussing multiple encounters inside the classroom during lunch or after school.

She is also accused of telling the child how much she enjoyed him touching her and “making out,” the charging documents state.

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Archdiocese of New Orleans Suspected of Child Sex Trafficking, Warrant Shows

A criminal investigation into the Archdiocese of New Orleans is based on a suspicion that it may be linked to child sex trafficking, according to allegations presented in a search warrant granted to Louisiana State Police.

The affidavit requesting the search warrant, first obtained by the New Orleans-based WWL Radio, alleges that multiple sex abuse victims provided statements that claim they were transported to other parishes and outside of Louisiana, where they were sexually abused. It further alleges a scheme within the archdiocese in which abused children were instructed to provide “gifts” to certain priests, which were meant to signal that the children were targets for sexual abuse.

According to the allegations in the affidavit, multiple victims reported that they were brought to the New Orleans Seminary, where they were instructed to “swim naked in the pool and would be sexually assaulted or abused.” It also alleges that investigators found that this was “a common occurrence” and that other members of the archdiocese were present. 

“Based on these findings, as well as the allegations of previous widespread child sexual abuse, it was determined that further investigation into the Archdiocese of New Orleans was necessary,” investigator Scott Rodrigue wrote in the affidavit. 

Judge Juana Lombard granted police the search warrant last week, but the allegations in the warrant were not made public until Tuesday, April 30. It allows police to search personnel files, financial records, communications, and other documents related to allegations of sexual abuse.

The warrant acknowledges that the police have probable cause to suspect felony violations of the law that prohibits the “trafficking of children for a sexual purpose.”

Although the allegations contained in the warrant do not indicate when the alleged trafficking occurred, the information that led to a suspicion of sex trafficking was obtained by police during an earlier investigation into a retired priest named Lawrence Hecker, who is accused of raping an underage teenage boy in the 1970s. Father Hecker was indicted for the alleged crime but has not yet been tried.

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Former Arizona Dem State Senator Convicted Of Sexual Misconduct With Minor Sentenced, Old Posts Resurface Of Him Alongside High-Level Politicians

A court has convicted Otoniel “Tony” Navarrete, a former Democratic state lawmaker in Arizona, of sexual misconduct with a minor. He has been sentenced to one year in prison and 10 years of supervised release.

Social media users swiftly resurfaced images of Navarrete alongside other high-level Democratic politicians following the news, including Vice President Kamala Harris and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.  

Fox 10 reported the verdict, stating that Navarrete was found guilty of engaging in sexual conduct with a minor, though not guilty of sexual molestation, which was one of the initial charges.

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Trans-Identified Male Rapist Housed In Women’s Prison Files Lawsuit Demanding To Be Released Into Women’s General Population

A trans-identified male inmate serving three life sentences for crimes against women has filed a discrimination lawsuit in an attempt to be transferred into the general population among female prisoners. Thomas Preston Lamb, also known as Michelle Renee Lamb, is currently detained in a women’s facility in Topeka, Kansas, but has been kept separate from the female inmates — an arrangement Lamb deems unacceptable.

Lamb, 82, alleges he is being discriminated against by the staff of Topeka Correctional Facility and the Kansas Department of Corrections on the grounds that he is being held in restricted housing instead of being allowed to frequently interact with incarcerated women.

Lamb first filed his legal claim against Governor Laura Kelly, Topeka Correctional Facility, and the Kansas Department of Corrections last November, and a ruling is expected to be reached by early May.

Authorities at Topeka Correctional Facility (TCF) made the decision to separate Lamb from the female prison population due to both his history as a sex offender and his conduct while in prison. Lamb, who was quietly transferred into the female prison estate in January of 2023, has repeatedly ignored no-contact orders and has been sexually harassing female correctional officers. On at least one occasion, he was charged with lewd conduct with a female inmate.

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New York appeals court overturns Harvey Weinstein’s 2020 rape conviction from landmark #MeToo trial

New York’s highest court on Thursday overturned Harvey Weinstein’s 2020 rape conviction, finding the judge at the landmark #MeToo trial prejudiced the ex-movie mogul with “egregious” improper rulings, including a decision to let women testify about allegations that weren’t part of the case.

The state Court of Appeals ruling reopens a painful chapter in America’s reckoning with sexual misconduct by powerful figures — an era that began in 2017 with a flood of allegations against Weinstein. The court ordered a new trial. His accusers could again be forced to relive their traumas on the witness stand.

Weinstein, 72, has been serving a 23-year sentence in a New York prison following his conviction on charges of criminal sex act for forcibly performing oral sex on a TV and film production assistant in 2006 and rape in the third degree for an attack on an aspiring actress in 2013.

He will remain imprisoned because he was convicted in Los Angeles in 2022 of another rape and sentenced to 16 years in prison. Weinstein was acquitted in Los Angeles on charges involving one of the women who testified in New York.

Weinstein’s lawyers argued Judge James Burke’s rulings in favor of the prosecution turned the trial into “1-800-GET-HARVEY.”

The reversal of Weinstein’s conviction is the second major #MeToo setback in the last two years, after the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal of a Pennsylvania court decision to throw out Bill Cosby’s sexual assault conviction.

Weinstein’s conviction stood for more than four years, heralded by activists and advocates as a milestone achievement, but dissected just as quickly by his lawyers and, later, the Court of Appeals when it heard arguments on the matter in February.

Allegations against Weinstein, the once powerful and feared studio boss behind such Oscar winners as “Pulp Fiction” and “Shakespeare in Love,” ushered in the #MeToo movement. Dozens of women came forward to accuse Weinstein, including famous actresses such as Ashley Judd and Uma Thurman. His New York trial drew intense publicity, with protesters chanting “rapist” outside the courthouse.

Weinstein is incarcerated in New York at the Mohawk Correctional Facility, about 100 miles (160 kilometers) northwest of Albany.

He maintains his innocence. He contends any sexual activity was consensual.

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Local CT Officials Ignored ICE Immigration Detainer, Released Illegal Immigrant “Sexual Predator” Into CT Neighborhood

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced that Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) Boston apprehended an unlawfully present Honduran national who was arrested locally and charged with first degree sexual assault of a minor.

Turns out, the local officials in the sanctuary city of Hartford ignored the ICE immigration detainer and released the Honduran national from the Hartford Correctional Center.

“This is a disturbing example of how noncooperative jurisdictions can pose a significant threat to communities in our region,” said ERO Boston Field Office Director Todd M. Lyons. “Despite the presence of an immigration detainer, local authorities released an alleged sexual predator onto the streets of a Connecticut neighborhood. ERO Boston stands ready to work with local jurisdictions to prioritize public safety throughout New England.”

According to the ICE report, the Honduran national unlawfully entered the U.S. in August 2013, near Rio Grande City, Texas. U.S. Border Patrol arrested him, issued him a notice to appear before a Department of Justice immigration judge, and released him on recognizance to family members in New Britain.

On September 14, 2023, police in New Britain arrested and charged him with sexual assault offenses, including first degree sexual assault against a minor under the age of 13 and illegal sexual contact with a minor.

On October 13, 2023, ERO Boston lodged a detainer against him with the Hartford Correctional Center.

Officials at the Hartford Correctional Center ignored ERO Boston’s immigration detainer and released the Honduran national Feb. 1, 2024.

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Wisconsin Sex Offender Who Identifies as a Transgender Vampire Convicted of Sexually Assaulting Disabled Minor, Now Charged With Homicide

A Wisconsin registered sex offender who identifies as a “transgender vampire” has been convicted of sexually assaulting a mentally disabled girl — and charged with homicide for allegedly strangling a similarly disabled man.

Adam “Sabrina” Hetke, 35, was convicted last week of first-degree sexual assault by threatening the use of a dangerous weapon and second-degree assault of a mentally ill victim for an attack on a 16-year-old developmentally disabled girl.

Hetke was already a registered sex offender and was released from prison in November 2020

The Waukesha County Freeman reports, “According to the complaint in the case, Hetke met a 16-year-old girl with cognitive disabilities at a Waukesha gas station on July 6, 2021, went to her nearby home, and allegedly sexually assaulted her while keeping a knife nearby and threatening to use it before she jumped out of a bedroom window.”

“Victim A said that the Defendant ‘told her that he was a vampire and that he would bite her if she didn’t do what he wanted,” the complaint said. 

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Former senior policy advisor to Obama White House charged with child sex offences in British court

A former senior policy adviser to the Obama administration has appeared in court in Britain charged with child sex offences.

Rahamim ‘Rami’ Shy, 46, who co-ordinated the US government’s strategy to combat terrorists from Al Qaeda and the Taliban, is accused of arranging the commission of a child sex offence, court documents reveal.

He is also charged with possession of two category C indecent images of children and possessing a prohibited image of a child.

Shy, a US citizen, who lives in New Jersey, worked for the White House under president Barack Obama and secretary of state Hillary Clinton, was arrested in late February by Bedfordshire Police. He was charged the following day and appeared at Luton Crown Court via video-link from HMP Bedford on Friday wearing a grey prison-issue tracksuit.

He was not asked to enter a plea to any of the charges and was remanded in custody ahead of a hearing in June.

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High Court In India Rules That Viewing, Downloading Child Porn Is Not A Crime

The Supreme Court of India is hearing arguments from child protection organizations after the Madras High Court ruled that downloading and watching child pornography is not a criminal offense. In January, the High Court dismissed charges against 28-year-old S. Harish, who was caught in possession of two pieces of child sexual abuse material on his cell phone. 

According to OpIndia, in addition to claiming Harish was innocent because he’d never viewed child porn before, Madras High Court Judge N. Anand Venkatesh also noted that it was “done in privacy without affecting or influencing anyone else.”

The defendant claimed that the CSAM had auto-downloaded after he received it through the popular messaging app WhatsApp, which his attorneys maintained is not a criminal offense under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses (POCSO) Act and the Information Technology (IT) Act.

“To make out an offense under Section 14(1) of the Protection of Child from Sexual Offenses Act, 2012, a child or children must have been used for pornography purposes. This would mean that the accused person should have used the child for pornographic purposes. Even assuming that the accused person had watched child pornography [videos], that strictly will not fall within the scope of Section 14(1) of the Protection of Child from Sexual Offenses Act, 2012,” explained the judge at the Madras High Court.

Harish had his charges quashed, with the judge explaining that merely downloading and watching child pornography would not be considered a criminal offense under the POCSO Act and the Information Technology law. The decision lead to outrage from child protection groups.

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California legislators water down bill making buying child prostitutes a felony

Over the author’s objections, California legislators watered down of a bill that would make soliciting sex from underage prostitutes a felony. Under the amended bill now solicitation of 16 and 17 year-olds will remain a misdemeanor.

State Sen. Shannon Grove, R-Bakersfield, introduced SB 1414, which would make solicitation, attempting to engage or engaging in sex with a minor for money a felony with a prison sentence ranging from 2 to 4 years, a fine not exceeding $25,000, and registration as a sex offender. The bill would punish all those who solicit from a child, regardless of whether or not the person knew or reasonably should have known that the person solicited was a minor.

Under existing law, such crimes are misdemeanors, with felony charges only available for cases involving minors 14 or under, or use of force, but Grove says these loopholes encourage offenders to use older children to avoid consequences.

“In order to sell a child for sex there must be someone willing to purchase a child for sex,” said Grove to the State Senate Public Safety Committee. “That’s why we’re here today.”

Grove authored SB 14 last year, a bill that became law, which made child sex trafficking a serious felony. SB 14 passed unanimously in the state Senate before failing its first vote in the Assembly Public Safety Committee after Assembly Majority Leader Issac Bryan (D—Los Angeles) blocked the bill over concerns that any increase in sentencing would “increase our investment in systems of harm and subjugation.”

Natasha Minsker, a policy advisor for Smart Justice California and the lead speaker in opposition to the bill, focused on the potential harm to other minors making bad decisions.

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