Paul Brunelle Apley - Child Molester

A Madison Township man was sentenced this morning to 12 years in prison after being convicted of nine counts of sex misconduct with a minor and a count of corruption of a minor.

Paul Brunelle Apley, 26, was convicted of having sex multiple times with a 14-year-old girl, whom he was dating at the time. He also was convicted of sleeping with her 15-year-old friend during the same two-month period over the summer.

Before his sentencing, Apley insisted he was being convicted of a nonsense law. He had previously told Lake County's probation department that "he didn't care if a woman was 15 years old or 50 years old. If there's a mutual attraction and the relationship's consensual, then sex should be permitted," Prosecutor Jamie Eck said.

"I face 73 1/2 years for having sex with my girlfriend. I fail to see the logic in any of this," Apley said, during his hearing.

To which, Lake County Common Pleas Judge Vincent A. Culotta replied, "Which one was your girlfriend? You had sex with both of them the same day."

Apley declined to answer, because he claimed his answer might affect his upcoming appeal.

In addition to his prison sentence, Apley also was named a sexual predator. He will now have to register with local sheriff's offices in counties where he lives for the rest of his life.

Michael Ray Husted - Child Molester

A Missouri man has been sentenced to 18 months in federal prison for failing to register as a sex offender.

U.S. Attorney John Richter said 32-year-old Michael Ray Husted of Phillipsberg, Mo., was charged in April after moving from Enid, Okla., to Missouri, where he failed to register as a sex offender.

Husted was convicted in 1993 in Illionis of aggravated criminal sexual abuse of a 3-year-old child.

He pleaded guilty in July to failing to register.

After his 18 month prison sentence, Husted also was ordered to serve five years supervised release.

William Anthony Simpson - Sex Offender

A convicted sex offender discovered living near a park is in jail after Palm Bay police tried unsuccessfully several times to get him to register and move.

William Anthony Simpson, 46, was charged with four counts of failing to register and violation of Brevard County code prohibiting sex offenders from living within 1,000 feet of a park. He’s being held at the Brevard County Jail in Sharpes on a $60,000 bond.

Officer Dan Fisher found Simpson at his home at 2138 Monroe St. NE, Apt. B on Saturday, police spokeswoman Yvonne Martinez said. Three weeks earlier, while making routine sex offender address checks, Fisher had put Simpson on notice that he was in violation of the county ordinance because he lives across from Driskell Park, she said.

Fisher also reminded Simpson he had to register his address with local police twice a year. Further investigation found that Simpson hadn’t registered since December 2005, Martinez said.

Simpson told Fisher that he was moving because of a bond condition resulting from a domestic violence arrest on Christmas, she said.

Simpson was convicted in 1999 of attempted sexual battery and false imprisonment. He was sentenced to six years in prison, but released in July 2003.

Simpson was designated a registered sexual offender requiring him to provide an accurate residential address to local authorities in addition to abiding by local ordinances designating specific locations where he cannot reside.

William Osborne - Repeat Sex Offender

ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- A convicted sex offender who has challenged the DNA evidence to prosecute him in a 1993 case is again in serious trouble with the law.

William Osborne has served time for raping, beating and shooting a woman and leaving her for dead.

Police said he was one of four men involved in a violent home invasion, Friday night. If proven guilty of the accusations, they could be sent away to jail for life.

Twenty-six year-old Dylan Wright, 24 year-old Kristopher Schell and 35 year-old William Osborne are accused barging into an apartment near 53rd and Arctic Boulevard with their faces hidden behind masks and armed with guns.

Police said they used duct tape to bind the arms and legs of the people inside - two men and two women.

And that they beat the men and threatened the women, demanding money and valuables throughout the attack.

For prosecutors, it was enough to charge the trio with 18 felonies, including kidnapping, robbery, assault, weapons misconduct, and theft.

But for Osborne, it's not the first time he's been accused of frightening violence.

In 1993, Osborne and another man were accused and later convicted of brutally raping and beating a prostitute, leaving her for dead, and trying to hide the crime.

Channel 2 was unable to determine exactly when Osborne, a now convicted sex offender and sentenced to 26 years in that case, was released from jail.

Osborne has fought for years to overturn that conviction by challenging the DNA evidence against him.

Police said this latest case may be drug related. Osborne, Schell and wright will have to come up with $200,000 each for bail.

Police say a fourth suspect who managed to get away remains at large.

Since he was wearing a mask police say they don't have a good description, only that he is white and is 25-35.

Anyone with information is asked to call police at 786-8900, or CrimeStoppers at 561-STOP

Walter Hayes - Child Pornography

A 43-year-old New Castle area man wanted by Maryland authorities for possessing child pornography was arrested early today at his Delaware home by New Castle County police.

Walter Hayes, of the first block of Melanie Drive in the Melanie Woods community, was committed to the Young Correctional Institution in lieu of $20,000 on fugitive charges.

County police spokesman Cpl. Trinidad Navarro said Hayes was wanted by Harford County authorities on the child pornography offense.

Harford County Sheriff’s Office officials requested that New Castle County police pick him up in Delaware.

Navarro said when officers went to Hayes’ home at about 2:04 a.m. today, they were greeted at the door by Hayes, who was promptly taken into custody.

He is awaiting extradition to Maryland to face charges there.

Ouk Ratha - Buddhist monk arrested for molesting child tourist

A teenaged Cambodian Buddhist monk was jailed after being accused of molesting an 8-year-old French girl at the Angkor Wat temple complex, police said Monday. Sun Bunthong, chief of the anti-trafficking police in the northern province of Siem Reap, said Ouk Ratha, 17, had confessed to indecently assaulting the child after her parents lodged a complaint.

"He led the girl away and the parents thought nothing of it because he was dressed in a monk's saffron robes at a sacred place," Bunthong said by telephone. "Even when he brought the girl back, they asked him to take pictures because they thought he had been kind."

"It was only when the girl cried that they started to ask what was wrong," he said.

The incident happened Friday and the monk was defrocked, arrested and jailed Saturday, he said.

"The girl's parents want him educated so he will not hurt other children," Bunthong said. "Under the law, if he did this, he must go to jail."

Angkor Wat, about 400 kilometres north of Phnom Penh, is Cambodia's most sacred site and hosts more than a million foreign visitors a year.

In Cambodia's highly subjective court system, Ratha could face five to 20 years in prison if convicted, depending on how seriously the judge determines he has affected the nation's honour as well as the crime against the victim, police said.

Lamar Wayne Bolton - Registered Sex Offender

Buffalo, N.Y. -- A U.S. citizen wanted in California on sex-offense charges against a child was arrested this weekend at the Canadian border.

Lamar Wayne Bolton was returned to the United States, Canadian officials said in notifying U.S. Customs and Border Protection at the Peace Bridge border crossing on Saturday.

The 38-year-old from San Bernardino, Calif., had applied for entry into Canada on the same day and was being refused admission because of prior criminal convictions in the United States.

A California warrant charges that Mr. Bolton failed to register as a sex offender.

Top Stories Councilman Jon Winningham - confesses to child-porn addiction

The yearlong saga of a city councilman who refused to step down from his post after being arrested on child-pornography charges wrapped up early in 2007.

Former Councilman Jon Winningham admitted an addiction to child pornography on Jan. 27 hours before he surrendered himself to guards at Robert Presley Detention Center in Riverside.

The 13-year City Council veteran pleaded guilty to 10 felony counts of intent to distribute child pornography and three misdemeanor counts of possession of child pornography before having his attorney read a prepared letter apologizing to the community and his family.

Winningham, 51, spent more than seven months in jail before being released in late September.

Dr Charles Gordon Bartlett - convicted paedophile

16,000 images were recovered from his computer

CHILDREN’S charities reacted with alarm last night to the news a paedophile doctor could soon be cleared to work with kids again.

Dad-of-two Dr Charles Gordon Bartlett, 53, a convicted paedophile, will have his position reviewed by the General Medical Council in the new year.

Two years ago the consultant radiologist, who worked at the West Wales General Hospital in Glangwili, Carmarthenshire, was banned from treating under 18s because of a conviction for possessing indecent photographs of children.

They included hardcore pictures of youngsters as young as five being abused by adults.

In all, 16,000 images were recovered from his computer and from CDs at his then family home in Ferryside, Llanelli, after police were tipped off by the FBI in a worldwide paedophile clampdown called Operation Ore. His credit card numbers had been found listed on a US website.

16,000 images were recovered from his computer

In April 2003 he admitted 17 charges of making and possessing indecent photos and was given a three-year rehabilitation order.

In April 2004 the GMC suspended Dr Bartlett, who worked at West Wales General Hospital, in Glangwili, Carmarthenshire, for nine months. This was revoked in January 2005 when the ban on treating under 18s was introduced. He was also barred from working with adults without a supervisor’s permission.

Now a GMC panel will sit in London on January 7 to review the case.

16,000 images were recovered from his computer

A spokesman said: “The panel will review the case of Charles Gordon Bartlett, a consultant radiologist, whose registration is subject to conditions until January 8, 2008, as a consequence of a direction of a fitness to practise panel in January 2005.

“A professional conduct committee in April 2004 determined to suspend Dr Bartlett’s registration for a period of nine months. At that hearing, Dr Bartlett admitted his conviction of 12 counts of making indecent photographs or pseudo-photographs of children, and five counts of having indecent photographs or pseudo-photographs of children under section 1(a) of the Protection of Children Act 1978 and section 160 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988.

“Dr Bartlett also admitted that he had then been sentenced at Swansea Crown Court on November 3, 2003, to a community rehabilitation order for three years on each count to run concurrently, and placed on the sex offender’s register for five years. A fitness to practise panel, applying the General Medical Council’s preliminary proceedings committee and professional conduct committee procedure rules 1988, reviewed Dr Bartlett’s case in January 2005 and determined that it would be both appropriate and proportionate to impose conditions on Dr Bartlett’s registration for a period of three years.”

16,000 images were recovered from his computer

But news of the review have put children’s groups on alert.

The NSPCC urged the General Medical Council to follow their guidance “that no doctor registered as a sex offender should have unrestricted registration”.

NSPCC Cymru director, Greta Thomas, said: “The NSPCC expects all professional bodies to take convictions and cautions for downloading child pornography very seriously.

“Doctors who download indecent images of children should not be allowed to work with children.”

16,000 images were recovered from his computer

Predator rapes Camden girl, 14

A 14-year-old Camden girl was abducted and sexually assaulted on Wednesday night, the fourth such incident in the city in less than three months.

Capt. Joseph Bowen of the Camden County Prosecutor's Office said only that the girl was sexually assaulted in East Camden.

"It's top priority right now for us and for the Camden Police Department," Bowen said Saturday.

Hermes Perez Jr. said that about 9 p.m., he spotted the victim running down Garden Avenue, near Highland Avenue, naked and in tears.

Perez, who lives in that neighborhood on the Camden-Pennsauken border, said the victim told him she was abducted from another part of Camden then sexually assaulted.

"I ran after her and said, "What's going on?' And she said, 'I was raped,' " Perez said. "We brought her in, I had my wife clothe her and we called the police."

It is unclear if Wednesday's incident is related to three other attacks on girls since October.

A dark minivan has been present at each of the previous three incidents, police said.

The first attack occurred about 1:20 p.m. Oct. 16 at 8th and Everett streets, when a 14-year-old girl escaped the suspect near Sumner Elementary School.

The second attack occurred about 7 p.m. Nov. 11 in the 1900 block of Mulford Street. A 14-year-old girl was grabbed near Cream Elementary School about 7 p.m. and the suspect took her to the 1800 block of Mulford Street, where he sexually assaulted her in a yard, police said.

The third incident happened about 5:30 p.m. Dec. 11 on Hayes Avenue between 32nd and 36th streets. The suspect attempted to pull an 11-year-old girl into his van, but she escaped.

The victims' descriptions of the suspect vary widely so no sketch or description was available.

Donald & Steven Muncey - Brothers molest children together

COCOA, Fla. -- A yard sale featuring children's toys at a home where a convicted sex predator and his brother, who has also served time for harming a child, live has prompted outrage in the community.

For the last several months, the merchandise has been set outside a home on Green Hill Street in Cocoa where Donald Muncey lives.

Muncey was convicted nearly four years ago of molesting a girl under the age of 12, Local 6's Kimberly Houk reported.

Muncey and his brother, Steven, who also served time for a lewd and lascivious act on a girl underthe age of 16, are both living with their mother in the house.

Some neighbors said they are concerned that the sale of the items in their yard is just a lure for more potential victims.

"It is scary to even see their kids up there with them to buy stuff," neighbor Jim Youngman said.

"It is not a real comforting thing knowing a kid is within so many feet of a predator like that," a resident told Houk.

Local 6 reported that Muncey is forbidden to be near children. However, neighbors said Muncey had been selling the toys in his front yard in recent weeks.

The mother of the men said a Brevard County probation officer who stopped by Friday said she is allowed to sell toys in her front yard as long as her sons stay inside.

A deputy has been driving by the home to make sure the Muncey brothers do not venture outside.

Ronald T. Garney - Pleads Guilty Child Pornography

"He told the officers that he essentially lived in two worlds - the world where he was a teacher and referee, and the world where he was viewing and collecting child pornography"

"In the months that followed the police search of Garney's apartment, Cahillane said investigators identified all 21 of the children pictured in his collection."

NORTHAMPTON - Ronald T. Garney, a former Amherst teacher who collected hundreds of digital photos and movies of children as young as 4 engaged in sex acts, pleaded guilty Dec. 20 to 11 counts of possessing child pornography.

Each offense carries a potential sentence of up to five years in state prison. A sentencing hearing in the case will be held Feb. 11.

Garney, 60, of 35 Cottage St., was one of many around the United States to come under scrutiny during a federal investigation into a Web site purveying child pornography from around the world. He was arrested in November 2006, after police searched his apartment and found hundreds of images and videos of child pornography. None of the children were local children, authorities have said.

Garney had been free on $10,000 cash bail since shortly after his arrest. But after accepting Garney's guilty plea, Judge Mary-Lou Rup revoked Garney's bail and ordered him sent to jail pending the sentencing hearing. In the meantime, the probation department will conduct an evaluation of Garney, which Rup requested to help guide her sentencing decisions.

Assistant Northwestern District Attorney Michael A. Cahillane has asked that Garney be sentenced to three to five years in state prison, followed by 10 years' probation. Defense attorney Meade G. Burrows has recommended his client be given a suspended jail sentence and serve five years' probation.

Formerly a ninth-grade earth science teacher at Amherst Regional High School, Garney had been teaching in the district since 1984. He was president of the Amherst-Pelham Education Association from 1998 to 2000, and was also a referee for youth sports.

After he was first charged in November 2006, Garney was placed on paid administrative leave from the school district. He resigned the following month.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in 2004 began an child pornography investigation called Project Watchdog. During the operation, according to Cahillane, federal investigators determined Garney had purchased a subscription to a Web site called "Pedoland," also called "The Children Porno Club."

ICE investigators presented their evidence to Amherst police in August 2006. Police carefully verified that the email address, credit card and PayPal account used to purchase the subscription belonged to Garney, and that he was the sole occupant of his Cottage Street apartment, Cahillane said.

On Nov. 27, 2006, Amherst police and a member of the state police Computer Forensics Unit searched Garney's home, and Garney, there at the time, admitted to viewing and downloading child pornography. He showed investigators several CDs containing photographs and videos, Cahillane said.

Cahillane said Garney told investigators in a later interview that he had been viewing child pornography for about 10 years, and purchased his first subscription to a child pornography Web site about five years previous. He admitted viewing child pornography as recently as a day before police searched his apartment, Cahillane said.

"He told the officers that he essentially lived in two worlds - the world where he was a teacher and referee, and the world where he was viewing and collecting child pornography," Cahillane said.

Cahillane said the children depicted in Garney's collection of photographs and movies range in age from 4 to 17. They are pictured performing sex acts with each other and with adults, he said. Under state law, possessing pornographic material depicting anyone under the age of 18 is illegal.

In the months that followed the police search of Garney's apartment, Cahillane said investigators identified all 21 of the children pictured in his collection. It was a cooperative effort by Amherst police, ICE and the FBI, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, and overseas law enforcement agencies.

The images and videos trace back to Angleton, Texas, the Chicago and Phoenix areas within the United States, as well as to Britain, Holland, Denmark, Germany, France and Switzerland, Cahillane said.

Investigators learned that in at least some of the cases, the images were created by the parents or step-parents of the children depicted, Cahillane said. The creators of all the pictures and videos have all been prosecuted on child abuse and pornography charges in their respective countries, Cahillane said.

Motion to dismiss

In August, Garney's defense attorney, Meade G. Burrows, sought to have the charges against his client dismissed on the grounds that the search warrant was illegal.

Amherst police Detective Sgt. Christopher Pronovost applied to an Eastern Hampshire District Court clerk magistrate for the search warrant using a 33-page affidavit. The affidavit has been sealed, but Burrows summarizes it in his motion.

According to the summary, an ICE forensics team determined Garney had visited the child pornography Web site on March 2, 2005, and made a $79.95 purchase under the pseudonym Alex Yarne, according to the summary. Garney canceled a second purchase July 24, 2005.

The ICE investigators also concluded Garney had made two other purchases from similar Web sites Aug. 23 and 25, 2002, though further details are not given in affidavit, according to Burrow's summary.

In his motion to dismiss, Burrows argued that the information ICE had collected on Garney was "stale," and said the fact that Garney canceled the July 2005 payment was evidence he had ceased collecting child pornography.

Burrows also sought to suppress, or remove from the evidence, statements Garney made to investigators while his apartment was being searched.

The motion was ultimately denied in September by Hampshire Superior Court Judge Bertha D. Josephson, who ruled the warrant was legal. Josephson wrote Pronovost had presented solid evidence that Garney had downloaded child pornography and that it was reasonable to assume he still possessed the child pornography when the warrant was issued. Burrows appealed to the Supreme Judicial Court for a review of Josephson's decision, but this request was also denied.

Mark E. Abbey - Repeat Sex Offender

"He asked me if he could take naked pictures of me."

Mark E. Abbey

That was the testimony of a Muskegon teen Thursday about an incident that happened in the summer of 2006 when he was 13 years old, at the home of family friend Mark Edwin Abbey, 50, of 760 Catherine.

The boy said Abbey offered him $50 per picture if he agreed to be photographed. The boy did so on two separate occasions, he said.

That testimony -- coupled with exhibits of some 200 allegedly pornographic photographs and testimony by Muskegon Police Detective Peter Boterenbrood -- was enough to persuade visiting 60th District Judge Robert Benson to bind Abbey over for trial in 14th Circuit Court on three counts: manufacturing child pornography, a 20-year felony; possessing child porn, a four-year felony; and accosting a child for immoral purposes.

More charges are likely against Abbey, who is lodged in the Muskegon County Jail in lieu of $500,000 case bond. In court Thursday, Senior Assistant Prosecutor Robert Hedges said an additional count of third-degree criminal sexual conduct was expected later that day. As of 3 p.m., no new charges had been filed.

The boy who testified in court, who is now 15, testified that Abbey had not asked him to perform any sexual acts -- just pose naked.

But at least two other children already have been identified from photos found at Abbey's home, Prosecutor Tony Tague said earlier. Officials believe more victims may also be out there.

The investigation of Abbey began Nov. 15 after a visitor to the man's home was shown some of the pictures, police said. Police executed a search warrant Nov. 21 at his home and seized child pornography and computer equipment, including a Web camera.

Last week, Tague said investigators learned Abbey had enticed children to let him take nude, sexually suggestive photos.

Abbey has a prior conviction for second-degree criminal sexual conduct
involving a child younger than 13, committed in 1992.
He was in prison from 1994 to 2005 for that.

Mark Andrew Lutz - Cub Scout Leader - Child Pornography

More than 260 people in 44 states have been arrested nationwide as the result of the operation, the prosecutors said. More than two-dozen defendants arrested through the investigation have been identified as being involved in the molestation of children and approximately 12 others have been previously convicted of sex offenses against minors.

A Cub Scout den leader has been charged with possession of child pornography, U.S. Attorney Christopher J. Christie announced Friday. Mark Andrew Lutz, 46, of 7 Franklin Ave. in Pequannock Township, has been charged in the one count federal criminal complaint with knowingly possessing at least three images of child pornography, prosecutors said.

Agents with the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement executed a search warrant at his home on Nov. 20, according to the criminal complaint against Lutz. A desktop computer was seized.

Among the files on the computers hard drive were numerous images of what appear to be child pornography, the complaint said. Two of the photos involved prepubescent females and one involved a prepubescent male, according to the document.

Following an appearance Thursday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Patty Shwartz, Lutz was released on $100,000 bond, prosecutors said. He was prohibited, as a condition of bail, from contact with minors unless the child?s parent or guardian was present and have been made aware of the charges against him, Christie said in a statement.

Lutz, who has served as a den leader for Cub Scout Pack 144 in Pompton Plains, indicated he would be resigning from his position through his attorney at his initial court appearance.

The complaint is the result of an international investigation known as Operation Emissary, which was initiated by the New Jersey office of Immigration and Customs Enforcement in late 2005 in conjunction with the U.S. Attorney?s Office for the District of New Jersey, the prosecutors office said.

The investigation focused on a commercial Internet Web site that offered access to videos and images of hard-core child pornography, prosecutors said. It alerted would-be subscribers that subscribing to the site was illegal, and warned them to be discreet about their purchase, according to prosecutors.

More than 260 people in 44 states have been arrested nationwide as the result of the operation, the prosecutors said. More than two-dozen defendants arrested through the investigation have been identified as being involved in the molestation of children and approximately 12 others have been previously convicted of sex offenses against minors.

The charge of possessing at least three images of child pornography carries a maximum statutory penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

Raymond Eugene Jenkins - Repeat Sex Offender

Jenkins is not allowed to be around children, not even his own — of which he has 12 — under his parole

"he was living with children"

BARSTOW — A local sex offender recently arrested could face charges of bigamy and false imprisonment.

Raymond Eugene Jenkins, 46, was arrested last Saturday, Dec. 22, for failing to register as a sex offender living in Lenwood. Now, Deputy Eugene Barela is putting together a case to could add having multiple wives, keeping one of them against her will, further parole violations and writing a bad check to charges pending against Jenkins.

Barela said the investigation is complicated, involving several agencies in several states, but hopes to have a strong case to present to the district attorney’s office.

Previously, Jenkins pleaded guilty to a sexual battery crime in Los Angeles County after being charged with committing a lewd sex act with a child. Under the terms of his probation for the previous offense, Jenkins must register as a sex offender when he moves. He had registered as a transient in both Barstow and Victorville but had not registered his new residence on Western Avenue, Sgt. Eric Mello said.

“He’s out of compliance because he is lying about his residence,” Mello said.

Jenkins is not allowed to be around children, not even his own — of which he has 12 — under his parole, Barela said.

Barela learned from one of Jenkins’ wives, who claimed she was kept hostage by Jenkins, that he had been living in Lenwood for about two months without registering. Thus far, Barela knows of two wives, both married to Jenkins in Las Vegas three years apart, but he is working with Clark County to determine if there are more wives on file. His 12 children are with women from Barstow, Apple Valley, Victorville, Los Angeles and as far away as Memphis. Jenkins also wrote his landlord a bad check for $5,000 for which he could face forgery charges.

Following the call, Barela went to the residence in Lenwood and found proof that Jenkins had been living there and that he was living with children. Barela began looking for Jenkins in the Lenwood area and found one of his wives with one of Jenkins’ children at the Discount Lenwood Market on West Main Street. She said she fled Jenkins the day before when he went to Victorville.

“She said it was her chance to get away, and she took off with his baby,” Barela said.

Later that day, Deputy Jacob Gault made a traffic stop on a vehicle identified as one of Jenkins’ and found Jenkins, with another wife and two small children inside the vehicle. He was arrested, booked and is currently held in state prison for his registration violation. In the meantime, Barela is sorting out Jenkins’ other crimes.

Saturday’s incident is not the first trouble Jenkins has gotten into in Barstow. In 2005, Sgt. Mark Franey of the Barstow Police Department arrested Jenkins for failing to register as a sex offender in Barstow and for child endangerment after tracking a kidnapping case out of Oklahoma to a motel in Barstow where Jenkins was staying. Jenkins pleaded no contest to the registration violation and was sentenced to one year, four months in state prison.

25% of all sex offenders re-offend within 15 years

....Sarah Tofte

Kenneth Cooke - The 4 year old enticed me!

A Calgary man convicted of molesting a four-year-old Illinois girl blamed the child for acting sexually provocative toward him, before a judge sentenced him Friday to three years in prison.

Kenneth Cooke, a 73-year-old retired pastor, told Judge Joseph Condon in a U.S. courtroom he tried to avoid the encounters.

"On a couple of times, I thought I was being sexually harassed. I think there is psychological evidence today that children, even in their younger years, could become interested in sex," Cooke told the judge, according to the Northwest Herald newspaper.

"He is not accepting responsibility for his actions. He could have gotten probation on this. But the judge said to give probation would deprecate the seriousness of the offence," said Sharyl Eisenstein, an assistant McHenry County state's attorney.

During the hour-long sentencing hearing, Cooke expressed remorse and said he was misrepresented and misunderstood, the Northwest Herald reported.

"I never touched that child in an inappropriate manner," Cooke said.

Cooke said he pleaded guilty because of his ailing health.

"My family felt I'd have a nervous breakdown or heart attack, so I had no other choice."

Cooke is being sent to Joliet Correctional Center in Illinois, the McHenry County Circuit Court clerk's office has confirmed.

Cooke faced seven years in prison for pleading guilty to aggravated criminal sexual abuse of a victim under 13, said the clerk's office.

Now, with good behaviour, he would only have to serve half his sentence, or 18 months in prison.

Cooke molested the child while visiting the community of Lake in the Hills in June 2003. He reportedly met the child while one of his relatives was caring for her.

Timmy Keil - Camp Counselor - Sexual Predator

In August a former Perry County camp counselor was sentenced to eight years in prison and classified as a sexual predator.


He refused a plea deal in the case. Eight boys confirmed each others story while Timmy maintained his innocence.

No Remorse!

Timmy, the father of six children, has a history....

Drake indicated Keil was convicted of similar crimes in 1990, but may have made it past background checks to work at local camps because the prior offense took place in Pennsylvania.

"There could possibly be more victims. He's went from church camp to church camp for 14 years," Lt. Drake said.

Officials from the Scioto Youth Camp said they did not check Keil's background because a minister at the Fairfield Christian Church recommended him. Keil belongs to the youth ministry there, and teaches at Ohio Christian University in Circleville.

In January 2002, Keil called police and told them that he "could not promise to keep himself safe" and threatened to "chop his head off with a hatchet or overdose."

In May 2003, police received another call from Keil, saying "he was suicidal and homicidal and wants to blow up an elementary school so others can suffer like he is." Police never determined if the threat was real, Landers reported.

In October 2004, Keil again called police, threatening "to harm himself and family." Police later found Keil picketing outside the Diagnostic Health Center. Officers called Children Services and requested his "children are not to be left alone." Doctors placed Keil on psychiatric medication.

In June 2003, Keil called police to report the "theft of a hanging basket" and threatened "to take pruning shears to the suspects' fingers" if he caught them before police. Since then, Keil's calls to police had more to do about his neighbors or his missing dog than himself, Landers reported.

In June, Keil accused a neighbor of taking "photos of him and his children and posting them online." "The neighbor denied any involvement," according to the police report. In 1990, Keil was convicted in Pennsylvania for indecent assault and corruption of a minor.

BooHoo

Keil refused to admit any wrongdoing at the Scioto Camp and told Judge Linton Lewis he did not touch any of the boys in any inappropriate way.

"I do know I am here by my own actions and choices of the things I have done," Keil said. "I have brought shame and pain to my church, my family and my children. I accept responsibility for those actions. I have lost everything. My wife has filed for divorce. She will not allow my children to see me. I have lost my job and reputation. Your sentence will be mercy to me."

Lewis classified Keil as a sexual predator, which means that for the rest of his life he will have to report to law enforcement his employment, any school he may be attending and his living arrangements.

Gordon Rees Repeat Sex Offender

A SERIAL sex offender was back behind bars yesterday after groping a schoolgirl while he was on an extended license from prison.

Judge Dafydd Hughes told him, “There is no doubt you are a man who has, on a regular basis, preyed upon young children and from this you derive some sexual pleasure.”

Gordon Rees, 40, put his hand through a crowd of people to touch the seven-year-old girl at a public fireworks display.

He was spotted by other members of the crowd who called security officers.

Rees denied sexual assault but was found guilty at an earlier hearing.

Newport Crown Court heard Rees had a previous conviction for gross indecency on an 11-year-old girl. He was jailed for three years but was released on a 10-year extended license.

Rees had been free for three-and-a half years when he re-offended at the fireworks display in Cardiff Bay last July.

Judge Dafydd Hughes told him, “There is no doubt you are a man who has, on a regular basis, preyed upon young children and from this you derive some sexual pleasure.”

Rees, who has previous offences dating back to 1983 when he was aged just 16, was jailed for 15 months. But the court heard Rees of Riverside, Cardiff, could be locked up for five years for breaking the terms of his extended licence.

Kenneth Douglas Baker- over 1000 Child Pornography images

A Lubbock man who had more than 1,000 images of child pornography will spend the next two decades in prison.

Kenneth Douglas Baker Junior was sentenced to 20 years and a $100 fine for interstate receipt of child pornography. Baker pleaded guilty to the charge in October.

In addition to the pictures, authorities also found over 45 pornographic videos in Baker's possession.

Steven A. Hoover - charged - Child Porn

A Columbia man has been arrested and charged with five counts of possession of child pornography.

Hoover

Steven A. Hoover, 43, was arrested yesterday after a three-month investigation by the Mid-Missouri Internet Crimes Task Force. The investigation originated with a complaint from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, which claimed a person from Mid-Missouri had uploaded a sexually explicit photograph of a child onto the Internet.

According to a statement released by the Boone County Sheriff’s Department, the Mid-Missouri Internet Crimes Task Force was able to trace the photograph to the suspect’s residence. After a court-ordered search of Hoover’s home on Oct. 30, investigators seized two computers with child pornography images.

Hoover was arrested at his home yesterday and is being held at the Boone County Jail on $22,500 bond.

Karl Volosin - predatory sex offender - habitual criminal

A man that police have been looking for for several weeks was arrested Wednesday afternoon in the Green District, after he was found living under a tarp along the South Umpqua River.

Sheriff's Deputies say children playing in the area along River Place in Green noticed the man living under the tarp.

Deputies say they identified the man as 27-year-old Karl Volosin, who jumped in the water and swam downstream. After about a 45 minute chase, Volosin was taken into custody.

Police say Volosin is a predatory sex offender, who was wanted on several local warrants stemming from an incident in July of this year, when he allegedly assaulted a man and led deputies on a vehicle pursuit.

With the help of Sheriff's officers, Roseburg Police, Winston Police and several citizens, Volosin was found hiding under a porch on Adams Loop.

He was charged with Criminal Trespass II, Assault II, Criminal Mischief I, Attempting to Elude, Reckless Driving and Failure to Register as a Sex Offender.

Bail is set at $300,000.

Maryland looking for sex offenders

County police need the public’s help in locating five convicted sex offenders wanted for various registration violations.


Three of the men are wanted for failing to comply with registry requirements. They are: Jeffrey Anthony Feagins, 41, last known address 247 Candlelight Lane, Glen Burnie. John Herbert Bodley, 51, last known address 810 Brook Court, Apt. A, Annapolis.

Clifton Darnell Thompson, 43, last known address 3714 Claymont St., Laurel. Two others are wanted on outstanding warrants for never registering with Anne Arundel. They are: James Roman Butler, 41, last known address 700 N. Avondale Road, Dundalk.

Louis Elmer Torreyson, 28, last known address 133 S. Market St., Apt. 1, Frederick.

The five men are all wanted since at least late October, said Cpl. Mark Shawkey, a county police spokesman.

Anyone with information is asked to call the county Police Department’s Sex Offender Registry Squad at 410-222-3457 or after hours at 410-222-8610.

Florida - Sexual Predator Driver’s Licenses

Since summer, Florida law requires convicted sexual predators and offenders to have a code on their driver’s license that identifies them. Florida is the only state with this requirement. The sheriff who pushed for the law hopes other states follow Florida’s lead.

You have to look closely to see whether a person is a sexual predator or offender by their driver’s license. The identifier is a small number in the lower right hand corner.

Jefferson County Sheriff David Hobbs came up with the idea. It became law in July. He believes it helps officers quickly identify if someone could cause trouble, when computer systems go down, like during a hurricane inside a shelter.

“I think the public needs to be made aware if it, at any costs. That’s a lifestyle that individual chooses. And I personally have no tolerance or patience for an individual that would do anything to a child.”

Sexual predators and offenders already have to register with the state. They also have limits on where they can live. Some parents like Jason Knowles wonder if the law goes too far.

“I don’t know if that’s the best way to identify who sex offenders are, by putting a marking on their driver’s license. But I think it is important to identify who the sex predators or potential child molesters are.”

The Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles says there are no known issues with the requirement.

Because kids often can’t protect themselves, the sheriff behind the law hopes other states adopt similar measures.

A sexual predator or offender who fails to register with DHSMV could face up to five years in prison.

Convicted MySpace Pedophile Faces 46 Years In Custody

Uckele, 24, Found Guilty On Ten Felony Counts

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- A former West Valley College student is facing a possible 46 years in prison after being convicted Thursday of having sex with a 12-year-old girl he met on MySpace.

Saratoga resident Anthony Uckele, 24, was convicted of 10 felony counts Thursday. The same jury earlier this month convicted him of 10 additional felonies in connection with the same girl. However, jurors hung on 16 additional counts, and Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Paul Bernal declared a mistrial on those counts Thursday, according to Deputy District Attorney Jim Shore.

"There was one juror who had a difference of opinion about the number of times," Uckele and the girl had sexual contact, Shore said.

Prosecutors will decide by Jan. 9 whether or not to retry Uckele on the 16 counts. His sentencing for the 20 counts of which he was convicted is scheduled for Feb. 29, according to Shore.

"We will be asking for prison time," Shore said.

According to trial testimony, Uckele and the girl, now 14, had a sexual relationship between October 2005 and April 2006 after meeting on MySpace. Both lied about their ages on their MySpace profiles with the girl claiming to be older and Uckele claiming to be younger. The girl is not being identified because of her age.

Sentence for abuse is a disgrace

Ontario Justice John McGarry does not seem to have grasped the enormity of the crime committed by the St. Thomas father who sexually assaulted his 4-year-old daughter live on the Internet.

The father, who is not named to protect the identity of his child, pleaded guilty in October to seven criminal charges, including sexual assault and making, possessing and distributing child pornography.

Last week, McGarry sentenced the 39-year-old man to four years in prison.

Since the father has already served 28 months in prison, he has only about 20 months to go.

This man was part of an international ring whose members would make appointments to watch, in real time, a child being sexually abused.

The 4-year-old girl was one of an unknown number of children subjected to online abuse, for paid viewing by hundreds of pedophiles around the world. According to police, the victims ranged from babies to young teenagers.

The St. Thomas man was discovered when the international pedophile ring was infiltrated by British police, acting on a tip from Canada. The ring's kingpin, 28-year-old British brewery worker Timothy Cox, was convicted and sentenced, this summer, to four years and eight months.

But Cox - unlike the Ontario man - was also given an indeterminate sentence. He can go free only when he is no longer considered a danger. We have commented before on the mysterious shortness of sentences for violence, including sexual assault, against children.

This sentence, too, is both a mystery and a disgrace.

N.J. Bill Signed To Restrict Paroled Sex Offenders From Internet

Sex offenders will have new restrictions in New Jersey.

A bill was signed into law Thursday that bans some paroled sex offenders from surfing the Internet.

Acting governor Richard Cody, who personally sponsored the bill, signed it.

Cody is filling in, while Gov. Jon Corzine is on vacation in the Caribbean.

The law specifically restricts Internet use for any sex offender who used a computer to help commit their original crime.

Children unknowingly find sex offender in Roseburg

ROSEBURG, Ore. (AP) - Some children playing near a creek, just south of Roseburg, came across a man living under a tarp.

Authorities say the kids unwittingly found a predatory sex offender who was wanted on several outstanding warrants.

A deputy identified the man as 27-year-old Carl Volosin. But when the deputy attempted to approach him, Volosin jumped in the creek and started swimming downstream.

Authorities say after a 45-minute search involving several people, Volosin was found hiding under a porch.

Deputies had been looking for Volosin since he eluded them in a car chase in July. He was booked on several charges, including failure to register as a sex offender.

His bail is set at $300,000. Authorities say it does NOT appear any of the children who found Volosin had any contact with him.

A sex offender on the run from the law for more than 16-years was captured in Berrien County.

Berrien County - A sex offender on the run from the law for more than 16-years was captured in Berrien County.

46-year-old James Stevens has been wanted in Florida since 1991. He was arrested in Volusia County for sexual assault of a child under the age of 16.

He took off, violating parole and never registered his sex offender status.

A tip helped Berrien County investigators locate and arrest him in Enigma.

"Sex offenders have found Berrien County to be a safe haven but since taking office we are actively searching them out, keeping up with them as federal law states, reporting and finding out as much information on them as we can, where they live," says Berrien County Sheriff Anthony Heath.

They update their sex offender information every month.

Stevens will soon be sent back to Florida

New Jersey enacts law limiting sex offenders' Internet use

New Jersey sex offenders' Internet use can be sharply curtailed under a new law enacted Thursday.

The new measure, signed into law by Acting Governor Richard J. Codey, D-West Orange, bars convicted sex offenders -- who used the Internet to commit their crimes -- from going online unless it relates to their job or to finding a new job.

The new law, which goes into effect in 60 days, also gives the state broad authority to impose similar restrictions on other, high-risk sex offenders who are permanently tracked by parole officers.

Supporters cautioned that the new law is not a fool-proof panacea, since libraries, Internet cafes and cell phones with online services still give sex offenders opportunities to use the Internet anonymously. Still, Codey, the Senate president who is filling in as acting governor while Governor Corzine is out of the country and on vacation, said the new law maintains New Jersey’s role as a national leader in the protection of children against sexual predators.

“Every day we hear another horror story about some unsavory character using the Internet to prey on our children,” Codey said during a morning bill signing ceremony at New Jersey State Police headquarters in West Trenton. “This legislation will give us some of the toughest tools in the nation.”

The new law supplements New Jersey’s Megan’s Law restrictions, which require law enforcement officials to notify residents when a convicted sex offender moves into a neighborhood. The law, enacted in 1994, is named after Megan Kanka, a 7-year-old girl who was raped and murdered by a twice-convicted sex offender who lived on her street in Hamilton Township, a suburb of Trenton.

Only two other states, Florida and Nevada, already restrict the Internet use of convicted sex offenders.

“This is landmark legislation,” said state Assemblywoman Linda Greenstein, a Democrat from Mercer County who represent Hamilton Township.

The new law will give judges the authority to impose a sentence that bars convicted sex offenders from using computers or any other devices to go online for any reason not related to their job or finding a new job upon their release from prison.

It also gives state law enforcement officials the authority to monitor the Internet usage of other convicted sex offenders who are considered a risk to commit another offense.

Sex offenders caught violating the new law would face penalties of up to 18 months in jail and those caught using the Internet in attempt to commit another sex crime would face up to five years in prison.

Codey introduced the legislation in 2006 and it passed unanimously in both the Assembly and Senate earlier this month.

Dustin Emmett Saunders - Charged Child Pornography

Police arrested a Portsmouth man Sunday on child pornography and other charges involving a 9-year-old child.

Dustin Emmett Saunders, 26, is charged with five counts of possession with intent to distribute child pornography; five counts of possession of child pornography; aggravated sexual battery, and contributing to the delinquency of a minor, according to a news release from Detective Jan Westerbeck.

Police began investigating the case on Dec. 22 after receiving a report from the parents of the 9-year-old child about Saunders. When police searched Saunders’ home on the 4100 block of Scott Street, they found child pornography, the release stated.

Police anticipate that there may be other victims in the case, possibly in other jurisdictions, according to the release.

Anyone with information about the case is asked to call Crime Line at 1-888-LOCK-U-UP (562-5887).

Jimmie L. Mable - Child Molester Released

A sex offender convicted of assaulting children will be released on Wednesday to live at Rock Valley Community Programs, 203 W. Sunny Lane.

Jimmie L. Mable, 60, was convicted on Oct. 14, 1994, of first-degree sexual assault of a child and second-degree sexual assault of a child.

Mable was convicted after sexually assaulting his minor female relatives. He threatened to kill both victims.

Mable is to have no unsupervised contact with minors and no contact with his victims. He is forbidden to drink alcohol or take drugs and must stay out of taverns, bars and liquor stores. He also must wear an electronic monitor.

Leon Baldomero Villarreal

A sex offender who was out of jail for less than two weeks before being arrested is now back in prison after failing to register as a predatory offender.

Leon Baldomero Villarreal, 22, of Worthington, was released from incarceration Oct. 13 after serving time for third-degree criminal sexual conduct for having sexual contact with a 13-yearold girl. Upon his release, he provided an address for a residence where he would live. He met with a probation agent a few days later and was given instruction about keeping an address on file. He was told if he changed his address, he had to register the new one immediately.

On Oct. 17, the agent went to the address provided by Villarreal and was told by the occupant Villarreal did not live there. A warrant for his arrest was issued, and he was picked up by authorities Oct. 24.

During a recent revocation hearing, Villarreal was sentenced to 48 months at a state correctional facility after admitting he had violated the terms and conditions of his supervision by failing to register.

He will serve two-thirds of the time in prison and the remainder on supervised release, providing he abides by the rules of the institution and has no infractions.

Villarreal was originally charged in June with two counts of third-degree criminal sexual conduct against a girl who had been reported as a runaway. He pleaded guilty to one count in July and was sentenced in August.

Earl Francis Anthony - Child Molester

A 57-year-old Denton, Md. man is behind bars after being charged with sexually abusing an 8-year-old girl.

Maryland State Police say that on Dec. 14, troopers were contacted to investigate a report of a child sexual abuse incident alleged to have occurred the day before in Greensboro.

Police say that it was learned that the suspect, Earl Francis Anthony Sr., had inappropriately touched an 8-year-old girl.

Police say that through further investigation and a forensic interview with the victim by Caroline County Department of Social Services, it was learned that the incident had occurred while the suspect was baby-sitting the victim.

On Dec. 21, Anthony was arrested and charged with sexual abuse of a minor, child abuse, third- and fourth-degree sexual offense and second-degree assault.

Anthony was jailed on $15,000 bond.

Michael David Simpson - Sexually Violent Predator

Fort Morgan police will host a community meeting Thursday, Jan. 2, on a sexually violent predator moving into the area.

The meeting is scheduled at 7 p.m. at the Lutheran Church of Our Redeemer, 1100 W. Platte Ave.

State law requires such a meeting when a sex offender classified as a sexually violent predator moves into a community.

The man moving into the area is Michael David Simpson, 49, who is living at 505 Euclid St.

He was convicted of rape and classified as a sex offender, which required him to register. He was later discharged and subsequently reclassified as a sexually violent predator.

At meetings involving sexually violent predators, residents are reminded that they are not to harass the subject. The meetings are intended to be informational only and alert residents to the presence of such a person in the community.

Visitors now stopped for district check-in

The newest security check-in process at Carroll ISD has already deterred one registered sex offender from entering the campus. Raptor Technologies V-soft visitor tracking system uses a swipe of the visitor’s driver’s license to check through a national registered sex offender’s database.

“We’re just checking to make sure that people with prior offenses do not gain access to our campuses,” said Julie Thannum, Director of Communications and Marketing.

Thannum also said the program only checks for sexual offenders and does not give information about tickets or other offenses.

There has been one positive hit, identifying a construction worker last month.

“The offender chose to leave the campus before the police arrived on the scene,” Thannum said.

CISD administrators piloted the new security check-in system at five campuses last month.

Johnson Elementary, Dawson Middle, Rockenbaugh Elementary, Carroll High and Carroll Senior High schools began using the equipment. The remaining seven campuses have the program but are not using it yet.

“The pilot gives us the opportunity to work out any bugs or procedure problems, and it gives people a chance to ask questions before we implement it at all 11 campuses,” Thannum said.

One of the bugs to work out is issues concerning large events where families are visiting and the check-in process could be significantly slowed down Thannum said.

“The system is not really designed for occasions where 100s of parents are coming to a school all at once, like a parent’s day or a choir performance,” Thannum said. “It’s more for visitors, people making deliveries and contractors who are entering the campuses during the day.”

There are also occasions when a false hit comes up, Thannum said. If the database matches a name of an offender with the name on the driver’s license, it may not be the person on the campus.

“Fortunately, a picture comes up, so you don’t get a mistaken identity,” she said.

The new security procedures are in addition to the existing check-in process and safety measures CISD has already implemented.

“This is just one more thing to add to our overall safety initiatives,” Thannum said. “We had the surveillance equipment installed last year as part of the bond projects and we do background checks on people who work one-on one with students.”

Nicholas Brent Gibson - Failure to Register

A Tyrone family contacted police on December 25 because they were suspicious of a man who arrived in Tyrone on a bus with a 15-year-old girl. The man and the juvenile female were staying at the family’s Washington Avenue residence.

Nicholas Brent Gibson, 21, was placed in Blair County Prison Wednesday night in lieu of $100,000 cash bail, after he was arraigned before Magisterial District Judge Fred B. Miller around 5 p.m.

On Christmas day, the suspicious family contacted Tyrone police about Gibson, who, according to a court affidavit, “tagged along” with the juvenile about a week ago from the Chicago area. The juvenile was planning on moving back to Tyrone and residing with the family.

The family allowed Gibson to stay with them, but soon became suspicious of Gibson when “they started to catch him in lies,” as stated in the affidavit.

Tyrone police officer Greg Ray ran a check on Gibson and received two hits, one from Illinois and one from Arizona. The hits came back informing police that Gibson was a sexual offender and a sexually violent offender.

Officer Ray attempted to contact sex offender units in both states, but attempts were unsuccessful due to the holiday.

On Wednesday, December 26, Ray was able to contact both Illinois and Arizona Sex Offender Units. Illinois confirmed that the sex offense Gibson committed actually occurred in Illinois and he was required to register for life under Megan’s Law. The Illinois unit indicated when Gibson was released from prison for his previous crime, he was released to an address in Tucson, AZ, that now has jurisdiction.

Ray then contacted the sex offender unit in Pima County, AZ and the unit confirmed that Gibson was a sexual offender and was required to register, and that Pima County was not aware he left Arizona.

A picture of Gibson was emailed to Tyrone PD and a resident of the home by which Gibson was staying positively identified Gibson from the picture. Officer Ray again contacted the Pima County Sex Offender Unit, which confirmed that Gibson was required to register under Megan’s Law.

After police contacted the Pennsylvania State Police Megan’s Law Section and found that Gibson did not register in PA, police then contacted the Blair County District Attorney’s Office and was advised to charge Gibson under Pennsylvania Law for failing to register.

Gibson was arraigned late Wednesday afternoon for failing to comply with registration of sexual offenders’ requirements, a third-degree felony.

His preliminary hearing is set for January 8, 2008 at 9 a.m. at Magisterial District Judge Fred B. Miller’s office in Tyrone.

2007 top story: Bruneau gets 106 years in jail for sexual abuse

Assistant State’s Attorney Kelley Galvin, said she believed the chance to face the girls on the stand was one reason he wanted to represent himself in the trial.

Bruneau, 37, of Pleasant Valley was sentenced to 106 years in prison for sexually abusing two young girls over several years.

He was convicted in May of 25 counts, including second-degree rape, child sexual abuse and various sexual offenses after a trial in which he served as his own attorney.

Between Bruneau’s 2001 arrest and his sentencing, he mounted a successful challenge of a plea bargain his attorney had made with prosecutors and spent several years as a fugitive in Indiana before being extradited back to Maryland to face trial.

Bruneau had agreed in 2005 to plead guilty to two counts each of child abuse and second-degree sex offense, but was granted a new trial after he claimed his public defender didn’t provide an adequate defense and manipulated him into accepting the deal.

The May trial featured dramatic testimony from the two victims, both now teenagers, who faced cross-examination from Bruneau.

Both girls testified that Bruneau touched them inappropriately over more than three years while they were in elementary and middle school. Bruneau challenged their memories of events and raised doubts about contradictions between their testimony and what they told investigators after his arrest.

Both girls appeared uncomfortable on the witness stand and sometimes had trouble recalling when incidents happened or details of a specific incident.

After the verdict, Assistant State’s Attorney Kelley Galvin, who tried the case, said she believed the chance to face the girls on the stand was one reason he wanted to represent himself in the trial.

Police seek eight sex offenders who allegedly failed to register

State corrections officers are looking for eight sex offenders who, in most cases, allegedly have failed to register and tell officials where they are living, as required by state law.


Troy Alexander Hanna, 22, also has used the name Curtis A. Strickland. He is white, 6 feet 1 inch tall and 164 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes.

He is a Level 2 sex offender, defined as moderately dangerous, and is wanted on suspicion of first-degree incest and failing to register.

Anyone with information is asked to call Officer Lisa Curtis at 360-571-4327.

Justin Brian McKinney is 25 and wanted on three counts of allegedly failing to register.

He's black, 5 feet 10 inches tall and 168 pounds, with black hair and brown eyes.

He is a Level 1 sex offender, the least dangerous.

Call Officer Jayne Keplin, 360-571-4328.



Jeremiah Isaiah Gibson, 24, is a Level 2 sex offender being sought on suspicion of third-degree rape. He's white, 5 feet 7 inches tall and weighs 160 pounds. His eyes and hair are brown.

Call Officer Charles Dorendorf, 360-571-4317.




Michael Ernesto Banks, 25, a Level 1 sex offender, is being sought for allegedly violating a court domestic-violence protection order.

He's white, 5 feet 10 inches tall and 220 pounds, with brown hair and blue eyes.

Call Officer Shelley Smith, 360-571-4313.


Alicia Frances Dionio, 24, is being sought for allegedly failing to register.

She's white, 5 feet 5 inches tall and 175 pounds, with red hair and blue eyes - and is a Level 1 sex offender. Call Officer Smith, 360-571-4313.



William Ray Ellis, 29, is a Level 2 sex offender sought for allegedly failing to register.

He's white, 5 feet 2 inches tall and 125 pounds, with blue eyes and brown hair.

Call Officer Gelinda Amell, 360-571-4337.

Holly Marie Matheney, 22, also has used the last name Darga and is wanted on suspicion of third-degree assault of a child with sexual motivation. She is a Level 1 sex offender.

She is white, 5 feet 1 inch tall and 145 pounds, with brown hair and blue eyes. Call Officer Amell, 360-571-4337.

Jeffrey Michael McDermott, 37, is a Level 2 sex offender wanted for allegedly failing to register.

He's white, 5 feet 10 inches tall and 174 pounds, with brown hair and blue eyes.

Call Officer Amell, 360-571-4337

John Paul Nichols - Charged child molestation and child porn

An airman stationed at Barksdale Air Force Base has been arrested on charges he was sexually involved with an 8-year-old girl and also had child pornography on his home computer.

John Paul Nichols, 30, of Haughton, was booked on the sex charge as well as a charge of pornography involving juveniles.

Bossier Parish sheriff's detectives would not provide details about what they found in a search of Nichols' house, saying their investigation is continuing.

Deputies said the investigation began after they were contacted by child protective services.

Nichols is assigned to the 2nd Munitions Squadron at Barksdale, Sheriff Larry Deen said.

Mateo Lorenzo Gaspar - Charged with Child Molestation

A 19-year-old Boynton Beach man accused of molesting a 12-year-old girl is being held at the Palm Beach County Jail today, police and jail records show.

The girl's mother told authorities that on Chirstmas Day she saw her daughter on the couch with Mateo Lorenzo Gaspar standing over her with his pants down to his ankles, according to a Boynton Beach police report.

The girl, whose name and age were not released, told authorities that Gaspar had sex with her, according to the report.

Gaspar denied having sex with the girl but, according to the report, admitted kissing and touching her before her mother walked downstairs.

Officers charged Gaspar with lewd and lascivious molestation.

Sex felons register in Pierce County

The following convicted sex offenders recently registered to live in Pierce County.

All are categorized as Level 3 sex offenders, those considered most likely to commit similar crimes. None is wanted by law enforcement officers at this time.




Oliver J. Guyton

Age: 28.

Description: 5 feet 4 inches tall, 140 pounds, with brown hair and blue eyes.

Where registered to live: Transient in Pierce County.

Criminal history: Convicted in 1996 of first-degree child molestation in Pierce County and in 1999 of three counts of third-degree child molestation in the county. He was convicted in 2006 of failing to register as a sex offender.

Sex offender treatment: Participated in sex offender treatment while in juvenile detention.

Other information: Under community supervision by the Corrections Department.




Robert T. Hamilton

Age: 41.

Description: 5 feet 10 inches tall, 210 pounds, with black hair and brown eyes.

Where registered to live: 500 block of East 69th Street in Tacoma.

Criminal history: Convicted in 1993 of second-degree rape in Pierce County after he entered an apartment and sexually assaulted a woman he didn’t know while threatening her with a pair of scissors.

Sex offender treatment: Participated in the treatment program while incarcerated.



Alexander Page

Age: 44.

Description: 6 feet 1 inches tall, 320 pounds, with black hair and brown eyes.

Where registered to live: 100 block of 177th Street East in Spanaway.

Criminal history: Convicted in 1995 in Pierce County of third-degree sexual motivation after he had sexual contact with a 14-year-old girl. He was convicted of indecent liberties in 1979.

Sex offender treatment: Completed the state Department of Corrections sex offender treatment program in 2001.

Other information: Is not under state supervision.




Mark D. Wilmer

Age: 25.

Description: 6 feet 1 inches tall, 200 pounds, with brown hair and blue eyes.

Where registered to live: 1200 block of South Eighth Street in Tacoma.

Criminal history: Convicted in 2003 of third-degree child rape in Snohomish County after he sexually assaulted a 15-year-old girl he knew. He also was convicted of indecent liberties with forcible compulsion in Pierce County.

Sex offender treatment: Did not participate in sex offender treatment while incarcerated.

Richard Croxton - Repeat Sex Offender

It took the justice system more than 10 years to put Richard Croxton in prison for sex crimes against children, but even after he finished his prison term, society still grappled with what to do with him.

At a trial last month, a jury concluded that Croxton, 62, met Missouri's definition of a sexually violent predator. Circuit Judge Jon Cunningham then committed him to a state mental facility. He'll stay there until he is deemed no longer to be a threat. He is one of about 20 sex offenders committed each year in the state.

Croxton had not completed a treatment program while he was imprisoned, and his case was reviewed by psychiatrists, prosecutors and other experts who asked the attorney general's office to pursue commitment.

But Eric Selig, one of the attorneys who represented Croxton, said, "Individuals should get time for their crime on the front end. They shouldn't, as they're being released, have to get an additional sentence."

Croxton's family, who said during the trial that they would watch over him on their farm in Illinois if he were released, declined to comment.

The mother of one of Croxton's victims, from St. Charles County, said Croxton needed to get help.

"Richard is an old man now, but that doesn't mean that he can stop doing what he did," she said. "It just means he has a few more years on him."

YEARS OF VICTIMS

Croxton's St. Charles County victim was not his first. In the trial last month, Assistant Attorney General David Hansen told the jury about Croxton's past.

Croxton befriended children and their families in the Victoria, Texas, area in the early 1980s. After he was caught trying to develop pictures of young girls, authorities learned that he had fondled them.

He pleaded guilty to molestation charges in 1983 and got probation.

Croxton then went to Albuquerque, N.M., where he again was accused of fondling young girls but was not convicted. He made his way to St. Charles County, where the mother of his victim here said she and her family had known nothing of his past.

"We thought he was just a nice person," she said.

So nice, in fact, that when she and her family moved out of an apartment and into a home in St. Peters, he asked to move in with them and they agreed.

On May 30 and 31, 1992, Croxton fondled their 8-year-old daughter. When she told her parents, they called police. The victim's mother said she almost took matters into her own hands.

"I went out the front door with a knife in my hand," she said. "It took four police officers to hold me back."

Croxton pleaded guilty on Dec. 7, 1992. Part of his plea agreement was a sentence that would send him to Texas to serve 10 years in prison. The case garnered media attention when Circuit Judge David A. Dalton released Croxton and ordered him to go to Texas on his own.

Croxton detoured instead to his parents' home in Illinois, but he eventually traveled to Texas. A judge there, though, refused to revoke his probation and ordered him back to Missouri.

He started serving a prison sentence in Missouri, but his new attorney got a judge to set aside the previous guilty plea and set the case for trial again.

Finally, on April 7, 1995, Croxton pleaded guilty to one count of sodomy and received a 10-year prison sentence. He served the sentence with some credit for time served during the previous legal wrangling.

The Legislature, meanwhile, passed a law in 1998 — while Croxton was in prison — that made it possible for the attorney general's office to pursue civil commitments for sex offenders.

MENTAL ABNORMALITY

In order to have them committed under the law's current form, the state has to prove that the offender is a sexually violent predator.

The statute's definition requires a judge or jury to find that the offender has a mental abnormality that makes it more likely than not that he or she will commit another sex offense.

Croxton was placed in the custody of the Department of Mental Health in November 2003 after a probable cause hearing. His civil commitment case was postponed several times until it finally came to trial in November.

At the trial, much of the testimony came from two psychologists who disagreed on the likelihood that Croxton would commit another offense if released.

Ultimately, the jury sided with the state. Two weeks ago, Cunningham denied Selig's request for a new trial. Selig said he didn't know whether Croxton would appeal.

Since the sexually violent predator law took effect on Jan. 1, 1999, the state has had 205 people referred to the attorney general's office. Not all make it to trial.

Bob Bax, a spokesman for the Department of Mental Health, said 144 people were currently in the program. No one has been released for completing treatment, he said. Several have had their commitments overturned by the courts, he said.

One was a woman who was released because the courts found there wasn't enough study of female offenders' recidivism rates.

The attorney general's office said 48 cases are pending.

Croxton's St. Charles County victim, now 24, is married with a child of her own. She is moving on with her life. But no one in her family approaches life the same way, even though 15 years have washed away some of the hurt.

Despite never wanting to see Croxton or have him around her family again, the victim's mother summarized his situation this way:

"Maybe they will find help for Richard, maybe they won't. You hope they do, though. That's all you can say."

Michael Dale Gray - Sentenced to 70 years for child molestation

A Crestview man was sentenced Wednesday to 70 years in prison for repeatedly molesting a girl, starting when she was 10 years old, according to a release from the state attorney’s office.

Michael Dale Gray, 32, was convicted Nov. 16 after a jury heard charges that he “routinely took the little girl into his bedroom, sexually battered and molested her while another child was in another room,” according to the release.

He threatened to kill himself in front of her if she told anyone, the release states.

Investigators also said Gray used routine excessive physical force to punish both the girl and the young boy.

Lawmen say the abuse began in 2004 when the girl was 10 and continued in 2006 after she turned 12.

Gray was charged with sexual battery on a victim 12 years or older and lewd or lascivious molestation on a victim less than 12 years old. Both crimes are first-degree felonies.

He also faced two counts of child abuse without great bodily harm, a third-degree felony.

The Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office and Department of Children and Families investigated the case.

Neil Edwards - Repeat Sex Offender

A child molester recently released from prison was arrested Monday on suspicion of sexually assaulting a mentally retarded man.

Neil Edwards, 66, befriended the man last Friday and brought him to Edwards' Peeples Valley home, where he proceeded to sexually abuse him, Yavapai County sheriff's detectives said.

Detectives said the victim went home and reported the abuse to his mother, who notified authorities.

Edwards was booked into the Yavapai County Jail on three counts of sexual assault and six counts of vulnerable adult abuse.

Andrew C. Grover - Sexual Predator Registers in Vernon

Andrew C. Grover, 60, of Stencel Drive in Vernon has been registered as a sexual predator by the Walton County Sheriff’s Office.

Grover is 5-feet, 10-inches tall with gray hair and blue eyes. He weighs about 158 pounds.

According to the sheriff’s office, Grover’s offenses include lewd or lascivious battery on a victim 12 years old to 15 years old and lewd or lascivious conduct with a victim less than 16 years old.

TOP STORIES OF 2007: Christopher Barrios

For a week in March, hundreds searched the woods and fields near Brunswick for 6-year-old Christopher Michael Barrios Jr.

They waded in ditches, pushed through briars and thickets looking for a little boy who had disappeared March 8 while playing in Canal Mobile Home Park. Those who couldn't search helped feed those who could and many who couldn't do either prayed.

Christopher's smiling face was on T-shirts, posters and national TV until a state Department of Natural Resources law enforcement officer spotted a black plastic bag in woods two miles away. Christopher's body was inside.

Glynn County police said Christopher had been abducted by a family of three that lived in a mobile home on a worn footpath between the homes of Christopher's grandmother and father.

Convicted child molester George Edenfield, 34, and his parents, David Edenfield, 58, and Peggy Edenfield, 57, are charged with malice murder in his death. A family friend, Donald Dale, also is charged with concealing a death and tampering with evidence.

What's next

Court proceedings against George Edenfield and Dale are on hold until experts determine their mental competency.

To escape the death penalty, Peggy Edenfield has agreed to testify against her husband and son when they go to trial.

Christopher's grandmother, Sue Rodriguez, has made every court appearance and pledged to do all she can to make sure all four get the worst possible punishment.

"Every child should be free to play outside without being preyed on by monsters," she said.