Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Cristián Aros - Repeat Sex Offender - Leader of International Child Porn Ring

After five months of investigation, officers from the Special Police Investigation Department (BIPE) have arrested a suspect identified as Cristián Aros Silva, who is charged with leading and participating in an international child-pornography ring operating out of Chile.

According to police, the network was detected in the German city of Wiesbaden through the use of Internet and electronic mail analysis, after which a complaint was filed at Interpol.

The suspect was captured just after 7:30 AM this morning and did not resist arrest.

Police have seized two computer hard drives with images and films of child pornography from the man’s residence, as well as material on DVDs, CDs and adult pornographic magazines containing photos of minors.

According to initial reports, Cristián Aros was previously been sentenced to three years in prison by the prior justice system for having sexually molested an 11 year-old girl.

"25% of all sex offenders re-offend within 15 years"
.........Sarah Tofte

Cristián Aros - Repeat Sex Offender - Leader of International Child Porn Ring

After five months of investigation, officers from the Special Police Investigation Department (BIPE) have arrested a suspect identified as Cristián Aros Silva, who is charged with leading and participating in an international child-pornography ring operating out of Chile.

According to police, the network was detected in the German city of Wiesbaden through the use of Internet and electronic mail analysis, after which a complaint was filed at Interpol.

The suspect was captured just after 7:30 AM this morning and did not resist arrest.

Police have seized two computer hard drives with images and films of child pornography from the man’s residence, as well as material on DVDs, CDs and adult pornographic magazines containing photos of minors.

According to initial reports, Cristián Aros was previously been sentenced to three years in prison by the prior justice system for having sexually molested an 11 year-old girl.

"25% of all sex offenders re-offend within 15 years"
.........Sarah Tofte

Larenzo Corleone - Charged for Possession Child Pornography


Officers from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation’s Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force charged a Rutherford County man for possessing child pornography after an investigation by TBI and Florida law enforcement agencies.

Larenzo Corleone, 47, of La Vergne, is being held for a fugitive from justice warrant from Tennessee, reported TBI spokeswoman Kristin Helm. He faces a charge of transmission of child pornography by electronic device/equipment in Florida.

Investigators in the St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office in Florida notified investigators in Tennessee Corleone was using the Internet to chat about molesting children and transmit child pornography.

He is currently awaiting extradition.

Jeffrey Brisson and Harold Spurling BABY RAPER PEDOPHILES


Newly released arrest and search warrants served on two city men accused of sexually assaulting a 3-month-old baby reveal they were likely using local children to make pornographic movies and one man admitted the duo preferred molesting children under the age of 9.

Jeffrey Brisson, 29, and Harold Spurling, 39, were arrested Jan. 30 after police serving a warrant for the sexual assault of a young boy, which occured over the course of nine years, found a 3-month-old girl in the apartment whom the duo had videotaped, police said.

Both men were in New Britain Superior Court Monday when Judge Joan Alexander unsealed the search warrants used to gather evidence against both men.

During questioning, Spurling told officers the two molested children and he preferred having sex with boys ages 4 to 9 while Brisson preferred male and female infants and toddlers, according to one of the warrants.

The warrant indicates that Brisson and Spurling repeatedly committed sexual acts with a Middletown victim that began nine years ago when the boy was 5. The boy told police he thought he had been videotaped while performing sexual acts, police said.

Police started investigating Brisson and Spurling Jan. 4 after a city middle-school staff member received an anonymous flier providing information that the two were using the Internet to engage in “pedophile activities.” Officers were able to confirm that the flier wasn’t a hoax by determining that one of the addresses listed on the sheet was that of a 14-year-old boy now living in Middletown.

The warrant indicates that, during an interview with police Jan. 29, Brisson admitted the boy may have seen a Hustler magazine at their home when he came to visit. Both men declined to allow police to examine their computers that day.

Police contacted the 14-year-old boy and he admitted that both men had committed sexual acts with him and Brisson had often shown him pornographic videos and photos of children when he came to visit, according to a warrant. The teen said the victims in the shots appeared to be as young as 5 to 9 years old. He said Brisson had committed a sexual act with him the last time he was at the apartment Jan. 18.

Armed with arrest and search warrants, police arrived Jan. 30 to find the two refusing to allow them entry into their apartment. Once inside police found a 3-month-old girl in the home, which was filled with animal feces and urine, according to the warrant.

Police also discovered that while they were trying to stall police from entering, the men had shredded paper documents and had started an encryption process to hide computer materials, police said. When the process was stopped, police discovered the video the pair was attempting to erase was of Brisson sexually assaulting the baby. Other videos and images showed Brisson and Spurling with city children recognizable to Youth Bureau officers, according to the warrant.

Police also seized a tripod and other video and still photography recording devices and numerous disks containing sexual assaults of young victims during the search, according to the warrant. Detailed photographs of the apartment will be used to determine if the two were using the location to film other child pornography.

Both men were arrested by warrant on charges of fourth-degree sexual assault, four counts of illegal sexual contact and risk of injury for the teen’s assaults.

Brisson was also charged with first-degree sexual assault, three counts of risk of injury, employing a minor in an obscene performance, tampering with evidence and interfering with a search warrant in connection with the baby’s assault.

Spurling was also charged with tampering with evidence, risk of injury and interfering with a search warrant. Brisson has been held on $3 million bond and Spurling on $2 million bond since their arrest. More charges may be pending.

Their cases were continued Monday until May 20.

Monday, April 28, 2008

Martin Cusick - Repeat Sex offender - CAPTURED Pedophile Absconder


"25% of all sex offenders re-offend within 15 years"
.........Sarah Tofte

A registered sex offender who went missing in Scotland three years ago has been arrested in Canada and is awaiting extradition.

Martin Cusick, 52, a former police officer, was sentenced to a five-year jail term for abusing three girls, one aged six.

As a registered sex offender, Cusick, from Clarkston near Glasgow, was supposed to tell authorities whenever he changed address.

Last month Strathclyde Police issued details of Cusick two-and-a-half years after he had disappeared from police supervision. It was later discovered he had moved to Canada.

He was picked up by officers in South Porcupine in Ontario on Thursday.

Canadian police were aware he was in the area and his description was circulated. He was spotted by officers and arrested after he disembarked from a local bus.

Marc Depatie, of South Porcupine police, said: "The South Porcupine crime unit deployed itself in areas likely to yield a sighting of the wanted person and, as it happened, it worked out quite well.

"Thanks to photos provided to assist officers, he was seen walking on Highway 101 toward South Porcupine and was arrested without incident.

"There was no immediate threat to public safety, but, given his background, he has been designated a high-risk sex offender.

"There was no resistance with his arrest. He knew there was a warrant out in his name and for the most part he was compliant."

Cusick left the police in 1991 and has held down a number of other jobs, including lorry driving, raising concerns that he could be working anywhere in the UK.

Originally from the city's Pollok area, he signed up for the old City of Glasgow Police on the same day as his identical twin brother and triplet sister. He was married with two children when he was convicted of his offences.

A spokeswoman for Strathclyde Police said: "We are grateful for the positive response that we had to the appeal for information regarding Mr Cusick. We are working closely with our colleagues in Canada and the Procurator Fiscal here has been informed of Mr Cusick's arrest."

Police in Canada were unable to say when Cusick had arrived in Canada or give details of his movements since he arrived. Although not considered an immediate risk by Scottish police, the public was advised not to approach him.

Cusick was transported to North Bay, in the Ontario area, where he was expected to be handed over to Immigration Canada personnel. He will be extradited to the UK, where he will face additional arrest warrants in Scotland.

Cusick's disappearance was revealed by police, who earlier this month also issued photographs of another two missing paedophiles, Indian Surjit Singh and Malawian Frank Mvula, who are also believed to have fled the country.

The force said it knew where all but five of its 1100 registered sex offenders were. Singh and Mvula, both of whom were convicted of indecent assaults on women, had failed to comply with rules under which they must keep in contact with authorities after they leave prison.


13% of all new sex crimes is committed by someone
who is already on the sex offender registry
..........Sarah Tofte, Human Rights Watch

Steven Ruby - Repeat Sex Offender gets 13 years for Child Porn



"25% of all sex offenders re-offend within 15 years"
.........Sarah Tofte

An Aurora man has been sentenced to prison for possessing child pornography he sought to distribute.

Steven Ruby, 44, of the 200 block of South LaSalle Street, Aurora, was sentenced Monday to 13 years in prison possession of child pornography with intent to disseminate, the Kane County state’s attorney’s office said.

Ruby was convicted Feb. 22, Judge Tim Sheldon after a bench trial that concluded Jan. 28.

On April 27, 2005, parole agents making a routine visit found printed images of child pornography in Ruby’s bedroom, prosecutors said. Officers later then found printed images stored in aluminum cooking trays in his refrigerator and about 1,000 images of child pornography on his computer, prosecutors said.

Authorities also found more than 2,500 images and more than 100 movies of child pornography, prosecutors said. The images and movies depicted children as young as infants engaged in various sex acts, prosecutors said.

Ruby’s was convicted aggravated sexual abuse in Kendall County in 1989; failure to register as a sex offender in Kane County in 1998 and possession of child pornography with intent to disseminate in Kane County in 2001.

Ruby was given credit for 1,094 days he has already spent in the Kane County jail.

“This sentence demonstrates the deplorable nature of child pornography,” said Assistant State’s Attorney Justin Fitzsimmons, who prosecuted the case.

13% of all new sex crimes is committed by someone
who is already on the sex offender registry
..........Sarah Tofte, Human Rights Watch

Sunday, April 27, 2008

Pierre Earnest Falgout, III - Sadistic Child Molesting Child Pornography Producer gets 1000 year prison sentence

although the defendant is not in the presence of the victims anymore, he will “never be out of their lives.”
A federal judge sentenced a man he described as malicious and sadistic to nearly a thousand years in prison for child pornography.

Pierre Earnest Falgout, III was sentenced in U.S. District Court to 960 years without parole for 32 counts of knowingly enticing and coercing a minor to engage in sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of producing a visual depiction of such conduct.

Child exploitation doesn’t begin to describe the sadistic, cruel abuse this man inflicted on pre-school victims. It is one of the most horrific cases we have prosecuted and life is the most appropriate sentence,” said U.S. Attorney Alice H. Martin.

"To say the video was shocking would be an understatement,” said U.S. District Judge David Proctor who called the case one of the worst ever prosecuted in the Northern District of Alabama.

During the sentencing, Judge Proctor indicated that, although the defendant is not in the presence of the victims anymore, he will “never be out of their lives.”

U.S. Marshals took the 35-year-old man from the Federal Courthouse in Birmingham back to Lamar County where he faces further related charges.

Enos Cree Dailey - Repeat Sex Offender trying to pick up kids

Dailey is a registered sex offender and was wearing a GPS tracking device. Investigators said they were able to track his movements to corroborate the childrens’ accounts.


"25% of all sex offenders re-offend within 15 years"
.........Sarah Tofte

A registered sex offender was arrested after allegedly asking children in Morro Bay and Los Osos if they wanted to get into his car to see his snake bite wound.

Enos Cree Dailey, 30, allegedly approached boys and girls ages 10 to 13 in the Los Osos area April 14 and asked for directions to a hospital, according to a Sheriff’s Department news release. He would then allegedly drive around the block before returning to tell the children he had been bitten by a snake, and asked if they would like to get into his car to see the wound. The children fled and told their parents, who then called the Sheriff’s Department.

The next day, Dailey allegedly approached children three separate times in Morro Bay and tried to talk to them, according to sheriff’s officials.

Dailey is a registered sex offender and was wearing a GPS tracking device. Investigators said they were able to track his movements to corroborate the childrens’ accounts.

Dailey is in County Jail on various charges.

Investigators are trying to find any additional victims or witnesses. Dailey is 6 feet tall, 170 pounds with short brown hair, hazel eyes and a mustache. He was driving a black metallic 2008 Toyota Scion during the alleged incidents.

Anyone who may have seen Dailey or whose children relate similar events are asked to call the Sheriff’s Department’s Sexual Assault Felony Enforcement Team at 781-4508.


13% of all new sex crimes is committed by someone
who is already on the sex offender registry
..........Sarah Tofte, Human Rights Watch

Lawrence Woodard - Repeat Sex Offender

They say it is unfair to the offender. What would really be unfair would be to let violent, mentally unstable offenders continue to make victims out of innocent women and children

Last year, a new law allowing the state to keep the most dangerous sexual predators off the streets took effect. The Sexual Predators Act allows some sex offenders to be held in what is called civil commitment after their prison sentences are up.

A case that came to light this week shows why this is such a good law.

A convicted violent sex offender, Lawrence Woodard, was released in 2006 after serving a total of 33 years for violent crimes against women, including rape, kidnapping and assault (he stabbed a woman 19 times with a letter opener).

From the time he was 19 years old, any time Woodard was free, he preyed on women. He had been sentenced to life in the state psychiatric hospital, but after seven escapes and numerous crimes he finally was found competent to stand trial and was locked up for 33 years, the Concord Monitor reported this week.

When he was released two years ago, "I knew damn well he was going to do it again," Thomas Winn, a retired state police trooper, told the Monitor. But New Hampshire had no law allowing the civil commitment of violent sex offenders to the state psychiatric hospital.

Woodard has been charged with raping and kidnapping a woman at knifepoint on Monday near his family's home town in New York state.

When Woodard moved to New York, Winn and police in Concord contacted local police and the media to alert them, the Monitor reported. But it wasn't enough. A civil commitment statute could have kept this dangerous sexual predator off the streets.

Some are trying to overturn the statute that was passed just months after Woodard was released.

They say it is unfair to the offender. What would really be unfair would be to let violent, mentally unstable offenders continue to make victims out of innocent women and children.

"25% of all sex offenders re-offend within 15 years"
.........Sarah Tofte

13% of all new sex crimes is committed by someone
who is already on the sex offender registry
..........Sarah Tofte, Human Rights Watch


Robert Joe Strange - Child Molester sentenced to life in prison

“Child pornography depicts children being sexually abused and tortured. These are real victims and child pornography is a stepping stone for molesters to travel from thoughts to actions”


Robert Joe Strange was sentenced to life in prison by the Honorable David Stephens on April 24. He pled guilty to 15 felony counts on April 10. The 15 charges included counts of first and second degree rape, lewd proposals and acts to children, producing child pornography and multiple counts of possession of child pornography. There were three local victims related to these counts, including two small children. District Attorney Bret Burns praised the Anadarko Police Department for their professionalism during the investigation. Strange, who is nearing his 55th birthday, received three life sentences plus 130 years. All the counts were ordered to run concurrently.

According to Burns, the sentence was the result of a plea bargain so that the minor children would not be put through the trauma of a trial. “This sentence will keep Strange in prison for the rest of his life and protect other children in our community,” said Burns. In an unrelated case, Robert Strange’s brother David Strange, was convicted of 55 counts of child sexual abuse on December 7, 2007 in Caddo county. David Strange was sentenced to 55 life sentences for his actions, including molesting a child.

The involvment of child pornography was not a surprise for the District Attorney.

“Child pornography depicts children being sexually abused and tortured. These are real victims and child pornography is a stepping stone for molesters to travel from thoughts to actions,” said Burns.

Daniel A. Mahnke - Repeat Sex Offender - Back to jail he goes


"25% of all sex offenders re-offend within 15 years"
.........Sarah Tofte

A 40-year-old convicted sex offender will be spending the next 20 years in prison for a crime a judge called "eerily similar" to an assault that landed him behind bars in 1994.

Daniel A. Mahnke, 40, was found guilty by a jury in February of second-degree sexual assault of a child under 16, exposing a child to harmful materials and a misdemeanor offense of fourth-degree sexual assault.


On Friday, Circuit Court Judge Lee S. Dreyfus Jr. sentenced Mahnke to 20 years of incarceration and 15 years on extended supervision, calling him a danger to other people and to members of his own family.

Mahnke served more than four years of a 10-year prison term from 1994 to 1998 for assaulting a 14-year-old girl who was babysitting his girlfriend's children.

13% of all new sex crimes is committed by someone
who is already on the sex offender registry
..........Sarah Tofte, Human Rights Watch

Charles Christopher Furth - Receives 14 years in prison for Child Pornography

A Baltimore man who possessed more than 5,000 images of child pornography and six movies of young children was sentenced yesterday to 14 years in prison for distributing child pornography by computer, federal officials announced.

Charles Christopher Furth, 46, made contact with an undercover U.S. Postal Service inspector in March 2006 and e-mailed the inspector videos of adult men having sex with young girls, officials said. Furth asked the inspector to send him a videotape of pornography involving four minors, ages 9 to 11, and mailed the inspector a check to cover shipping costs.

The check contained Furth's name and address, authorities said. Agents then searched his home in the 300 block of Eastway Court, north of Guilford, and found movies and pictures depicting child pornography.

Furth was arrested and charged by the U.S. attorney under Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to protect children from online exploitation and abuse.

U.S. District Judge William D. Quarles Jr. ordered that Furth be supervised for life upon completion of his sentence. He also is not to have access to computers or the Internet without the approval of his probation officer.

CAPTURED: Stephen Bell - Sexual Predator cut off GPS and ran for it


A convicted sex offender is back in police custody after authorities say he cut off his electronic ankle monitor on Tybee Island and disappeared earlier this month.

Stephen Bell, 40, classified by the state as a dangerous sexual predator, was captured Tuesday night by the US Coast Guard and the the Brevard County Sheriff's Office in Port Canaveral, Florida. They say he was found aboard a stolen sail boat.

The Coast Guard says Bell was spotted drifting on a sail boat 100 yards south of the entrance jetties at Port Canaveral. The Coast Guard responded to a call that the vessel was apparently disabled and drifting toward the jetties.

Coast Guard members at Station Port Canaveral recognized the boat's name, Showtime, as that of a vessel reported stolen from Tybee Island on April 10.

Bell is expected to go before a judge at an extradition hearing on Wednesday. The Chatham County Sheriff's Department says if Bell will not contest extradition to Georgia and will be returned here as soon as charges against him in Florida are settled.

Bell, convicted in 2004 of molesting a girl on Tybee Island, faces full revocation of his probated sentence, which runs through 2018. He is also facing charges for destroying state property by cutting his ankle monitor off, as well as charges in Florida for possession of a stolen boat.

The owners of the stolen boat have also been notified by officials.

Willoughby Warren Colonna IV - Pleads Guilty to Child Pornography

A Chesapeake man pleaded guilty to child pornography charges Thursday and was sentenced to 12 years in prison in a plea deal with the federal government.

Willoughby Warren Colonna IV, 28, was accused by the FBI in 2004 of operating an Internet file-sharing system from his bedroom computer.

"The illegal system offered access to images and videos of child pornography, including depictions of pre-pubescent children being subject to sex acts by adult men or teenagers," a press release from the Justice Department said.

Colonna was convicted on 10 counts related to the child pornography case in August 2006 and received a 17-year sentence. But his convictions were reversed on appeal, and he was slated for a new trial early this year.

Before the new trial began, he was charged separately on Jan. 25 with obstruction of justice and perjury related to statements he gave under oath during earlier court appearances. In those statements, he claimed he did not view child pornography and never admitted to federal agents that he had.

On Thursday, he pleaded guilty to one of the 10 original counts from 2006. The other nine charges were dropped — as were the later obstruction and perjury charges. A court filing with the guilty plea — a statement Colonna agreed to — says Colonna's computer contained a child pornography collection of more than 400 illegal movies and 300 illegal images.

Colonna is the grandson of W.W. "Bill" Colonna Jr., the owner and chairman of the board of Colonna's Shipyard Inc., an established Norfolk firm with more than 400 employees. Founded in 1875, it is the oldest family-owned, full-service shipyard in the United States, according to its Web site.

Taxi Driving sex predator arrested in Sweden


The suspected killer of a Swedish teenager whose partly charred body was found in a wood outside Paris is a repeat sex offender, sources close to the investigation said on Saturday.

The 51-year-old suspect, who was arrested on Friday, has previously spent some 20 years in prison for violent acts, rape and sexual attacks sometimes coupled with kidnapping, they said.

His first brush with the law was at 15 for armed robbery. He was then subsequently convicted for raping and kidnapping a young woman. He raped two others -- a 21-year-old woman and a 12-year-old girl.


Meanwhile, the father of the Swedish woman who was murdered in Paris last week said Saturday he and his family were relieved by the arrest of a suspect in the killing, the Swedish tabloid Expressen reported.

"It's a relief," he said, adding: "We're trying hard to get through this."

The victim, identified as Susanna Zetterberg, was found in a forest in Chantilly, north of the capital, on April 19 with four bullets in the head.

She was handcuffed, had also been knifed, and her body was partly charred.

She had gone missing on her way home from a Paris nightclub just hours earlier.

The victim had gone to a nightclub and after taking a taxi at 4am sent a text message to a friend saying the driver "doesn't look nice."

The suspect, a man who posed as a taxi driver, was arrested in a western suburb of the capital on Friday, a police official said, and his Paris flat was searched for four hours.

He was spotted getting rid of potential evidence in Paris' famed Bois de Boulogne, a sprawling park, before his arrest.

Sources close to the investigation said the man's vehicle was being minutely examined on Saturday for possible clues, including DNA traces.

Another young Swedish woman was recently raped by a fake Paris driver after she left a city nightclub. She was left in a western Paris suburb.

In France, the brutal murder has been a top news story.

The murder comes just weeks after Sweden experienced an outpouring of grief over the abduction and killing of a 10-year-old girl who had been missing for a week, a story which continues to make headlines.

Alex James Crow - Sex Offender charged with murder


A Medford man charged with murdering an Evesham woman who had been missing since September 2005 was a sex offender whose DNA was required to be kept on record due to Megan’s Law, authorities said.

Alex James Crow, 32, of Oak Ridge was convicted in 1998 of endangering the welfare of a minor stemming from an incident with a juvenile in Cinnaminson. Details about the incident were not available but prosecutors said the conviction required him to register as a sex offender under New Jersey’s Megan’s Law.

Crow was convicted of violating the Megan’s Law requirements by failing to report his address to authorities in 1990, authorities said. He was also charged in 2006 with receiving stolen property after he was stopped in Medford driving a vehicle that had been reported stolen.

The prior convictions and arrests were announced during Crow’s first appearance in Superior Court this afternoon on a first-degree murder charge in the choking death of Evesham resident Marianne DeMartin.

During the hearing, First Assistant Prosecutor Ray Milavsky told the judge that Crow confessed to choking DeMartin to death during a burglary inside her Sagemore Drive home in Evesham. He then backed her body in the trunk of her car, waited in her home for several hours and drove to Pennsylvania, where he dumped it next to an abandoned warehouse.

Milavsky said prosecutors would seek a life sentence for Crow.

Judge John A. Almeida maintained Crow’s bail at $1 million. He remains lodged in Burlington County Jail in Mount Holly.

Marqice Martin - Repeat Sex Offender - Attempted Rape

"25% of all sex offenders re-offend within 15 years"
.........Sarah Tofte

Police in Chesapeake have arrested and charged a man they say attacked a woman at knife point in her own driveway.

Chesapeake police say Marqice Martin ambushed the woman, then forced her back into her home.

Neighbor Eudell Walker says he heard her screams, but didn't realize until it was too late that she was actually calling for help.

Police say the 33-year-old victim was about to head to work Tuesday morning, when they say a man carrying a knife jumped out and forced the woman back into her home.

Police tell us the man then told the woman to turn off her alarm system and ordered her into a bedroom.

The woman says she fought back, breaking the knife's blade. The suspect then ran out the door, and by that time -- neighbors were already looking out their windows.

Police found the handle of the broken knife and a jacket in the bushes in front of the house next door.

Court documents show Martin was living in the home with his grandmother.

According to state police, Martin is also a registered sex offender, convicted in Chesapeake and Portsmouth for abusing children.

Martin's grandmother didn't want to comment on her grandson's arrest. Neighbors say the news of a convicted sex offender living that close is disturbing.

Martin is now behind bars, facing several charges, including Abduction and Burglary with the Use of a Weapon.

Saturday, April 26, 2008

Robert N. Baldwin - Child Molester sentenced to life in prison

Robert N. Baldwin, 44, was sentenced in Bay County Circuit Court to life in prison for a charge of lewd or lascivious molestation of a child under the age of 12.

Baldwin was convicted of the offense on March 19.

Circuit Court Judge Michael Overstreet found Baldwin to be a dangerous sexual felony offender and imposed the life sentence, the news release said. Under current Florida law, a life sentence means Baldwin is not eligible for parole.

Baldwin is currently serving a prison sentence for a Citrus County robbery.

Tim Ricks - Habitual Child Molester


A Madison County man who has allegedly been molesting kids for 29 years made his first court appearance today.

58-year-old Tim Ricks was arrested two weeks ago after three people told deputies Ricks molested them.

He was supposed to have a preliminary hearing this morning but his attorney was held up in a federal trial so the hearing was postponed.

Ricks is out of jail on 50 thousand dollars bond.

Charles Sparks - School Employee charged with 58 counts Child Sex Abuse


A Clark County, Indiana man is in jail facing child sex abuse charges. The suspect works at a local school, but that is not the most disturbing part of the story....the alleged victims tried to get help seven years ago to no avail.

According to court documents, the three alleged victims are family members of 60-year-old Charles Sparks and police say the abuse has been going on for years. Sparks was arrested at his Jeffersonville home Thursday and charged with 58 counts of child sex abuse.

Detectives say they have been investigating Sparks, who works as a custodian at Parkview Middle School, for several months. The investigation started after one of his alleged victims finally stepped forward.

According to the probable cause affidavit, Sparks had forced the girls to perform sexual acts for the past 12 years and as recently as five months ago.

"On December 14th was the last time he had sexual intercourse with one of the victims," said Clark County Deputy Prosecutor Shelley Marble.

Court records show the girls, who are allegedly related to Sparks, now ages 22, 20, and 17, tried to come forward in 2001. The case was dismissed in Clark Superior Court.

"The system failed these girls and that is what is so sad," said Marble. "I'm trying my best to make sure that I am fair and equitable to him, but I believe that justice needs to be served in this case."

The probable cause affidavit also stated that two of Sparks' alleged victims recorded him apologizing for the abuse and the pain he caused them. The tape was given to investigators.

Sparks is being held in the Clark County Jail on a $100,000 cash only bond.

Todd R. Gavorcik - Twisted Pedophile off to meet Bubba



Gavorcik told investigators that he lusts after boys and liked to fondle them by playing a game in which he put his hand in their pockets.

The Franklin County judge who drew fire two years ago for giving probation to a convicted sex offender sentenced another pedophile yesterday to more than seven years in prison.

Common Pleas Judge John A. Connor said he now believes that the Ohio prison system can treat pedophiles -- an about-face from his 2005 ruling that sent a man to treatment after he admitted to abusing two boys over three years.

Pedophilia "is a sickness," Connor said yesterday at the sentencing of Todd R. Gavorcik, 26. "Pedophilia is not an addiction; it's not a mental-health issue.

"Pedophilia is in a class by itself, and the public is afraid of pedophiles. Prison is the appropriate facility not only for rehabilitation but for protection of the public."

Gavorcik, of Broad Meadows Boulevard on the North Side, pleaded guilty last month to gross sexual imposition and pandering obscenity. While out on bond on charges of fondling two 10-year-old boys in Groveport, he was picked up near an elementary school by Dublin police, who found nude photos of children in his car.

More photos were found in his house. Gavorcik admitted to downloading pornographic images at his job as a medical-claims specialist for OhioHealth, saying he thought it was legal because the photos were on the Internet.

Gavorcik told investigators that he lusts after boys and liked to fondle them by playing a game in which he put his hand in their pockets.

Connor sentenced Gavorcik to 87 months in prison. Families of the two victims, who were in court for the sentencing, had asked for the maximum sentence of eight years, saying Gavorcik had robbed their children of their innocence.

Gavorcik, who had no criminal record, must register as a sex offender for 25 years after he is released from prison.

"I hope I can someday be productive and not a menace to society," he said as part of an apology in court.

In December 2005, Connor sentenced Andrew S. Selva to five years of probation, including a year on house arrest, on the condition that he receive treatment. Selva was indicted on 20 counts of rape and two counts of gross sexual imposition; he pleaded guilty to two counts of sexual battery.

A few months later, Connor's sentence touched off a firestorm of criticism and brought calls for his ouster from victims-rights advocates, the governor and state legislators, and national TV commentators.

Keith Allen Porter - 160 years for molesting children and cruelty to animals

A man who rejected a plea deal that would have sent him to prison for 20 years for sexual assault of a child was sentenced to 160 years after jurors quickly convicted him of repeatedly abusing a 12-year-old boy.

"The victim testified that Porter put the kitten
into the jar of oil while it was still alive."

Jurors deliberated for just over an hour before convicting Keith Allen Porter on Thursday of two counts of aggravated sexual assault of a child and one count of indecency with a child by exposure. He'll serve two 75-year terms on the assault charges and 10 years on the indecency count consecutively.

Before the trial in state district court, prosecutors offered 20 years in prison in a plea bargain but increased it to 25 years after the boy, now a fifth-grader, testified about years of abuse Tuesday.

"I am glad the jury took this opportunity to sentence a pedophile," Prosecutor Charissa Sloan was quoted as saying in Friday's Waco Tribune-Herald. "I think the sentence is appropriate considering the facts and the evidence."

Porter's attorney, Stan Schwieger, said he will appeal the conviction and stacked sentence.

"I think it is a tragedy for everybody," Schwieger said. "Certainly it is a tragedy for my client, certainly a tragedy for his family and certainly a tragedy for those who made the allegations."

Porter, who lives in nearby West and has past misdemeanor convictions for family violence and criminal mischief, kept a collection of dead animals in jars filled with oil in his closet and in his freezer, according to court testimony.

The animals included a kitten, turtles, frogs, a snake and an unidentified animal, according to testimony. The victim testified that Porter put the kitten into the jar of oil while it was still alive.

John J. Briggs - Repeat Kiddie Pervert

A former Upper Saucon Township man will spend 18 to 36 months in state prison after pleading guilty to child pornography and related charges in Montgomery County Court, according to the state attorney general's office.

John J. Briggs, 54, who lived at 6746 Walnut Lane at the time of his February 2006 arrest, also was sentenced Wednesday to spend seven years on probation following his release from prison. Briggs was ordered to pay a $35,000 fine, or nearly $100 for each of the 319 child pornographic images police said they found on his computer.

Briggs was arrested in a pedophile sting by the attorney general's Child Predator Unit after he traveled to a Kmart in Abington Township, Montgomery County, to have sex with what he believed to be a 13-year-old girl named Jennie that he met in an Internet chat room, police said.

Jennie was actually an undercover officer participating in child-sex sting.

Following his arrest, investigators seized his laptop computer and found the child pornography, police said.

In March 2006, Briggs was arrested for allegedly molesting a 13-year-old girl, who told police Briggs pinched her buttocks and twice sexually assaulted her between September 2005 and February 2006, police said. The girl told her mother about the alleged assaults the day after Briggs was arrested on the chat room allegations, police said.

Briggs, whose most recent address in court records is listed as Saylorsburg, pleaded guilty to sexual abuse of children, criminal attempt to have unlawful contact with a minor and criminal use of a communication facility.

Briggs, following an assessment by the state Sexual Offenders Assessment Board, was found not to be a sexually violent predator, a label that would have required him to register his address with state police for the rest of his life, according to Nils Frederiksen, an attorney general spokesman. As a result of his plea, he will be required to register his home address for 10 years after his release.

Friday, April 25, 2008

Lyle Jervey - Repeat Sex Offender - Views Child Porn at the Library

"25% of all sex offenders re-offend within 15 years"
.........Sarah Tofte

A Wilmington man faces child pornography charges after a worker at the city's Northern Branch Library noticed a disk with inappropriate images in one of the library's computers.

Wilmington police say detectives were able to identify Lyle Jervey after they took custody of the disk and the computer last week.

A search of Jervey's home Thursday turned up more porn, and Jervey, a registered sex offender since 1997, was arrested.

Police expect to charge him once they finish computer forensic work

Thursday, April 24, 2008

Gil Gauthe - The pedophile priest next door

later he calmly told us a pedophile can
"pretty much convince any child to have sex with them."


One of the nation's most well known child sex offenders was living in our backyard and you would have never known.

He's one of the nation's first Catholic priests ever accused of child sex abuse.

He made it to Houston and lived for years without ever being detected until Eyewitness News tracked him down. We're talking about a guy who admits he abused 39 kids inside his church rectory. Then he told us there's no reason to fear him or a need for him to register as a sex offender because he is making sure he doesn't abuse any more kids.

It is one of those out of the way, unknown, unseen, anonymous spots you'd never see, unless you were looking for it. But in an RV parked at a La Marque bus company parking lot, one of the nation's most notorious former priest pedophiles was hiding in plain view.


Gil Gauthe was a parish priest in rural Louisiana in the mid 80's when allegations surfaced he was sexually abusing dozens of young boys at the church rectory. According to news reports, he fondled some boys in confessionals, convinced others to engage in sex acts with each other while the pedophile priest took Polaroid photos.
Apparently reluctant to believe it at first, published accounts at the time indicate the church tried to ignore it. Gauthe was put in counseling and told to disappear, but eventually he was charged with molesting 39 kids.

That made him one of the first priests in the country to be charged.

Gil Gauthe: "I paid for that."
Ted Oberg: "Have you paid for that?"
Gauthe: "Well, you know, please turn the microphone off."

Gauthe pleaded guilty to sexually molesting 37 boys and two girls in Louisiana. He was sentenced to 20 years in a prison, but with good time credit though, Gauthe walked out of Louisiana prisons in just nine years and headed for Texas.

Less than a year after his release, in 1996 Gauthe was in trouble again. This time accused of molesting his three year old neighbor at a Polk County subdivision.

"There wasn't any doubt in my mind Gauthe did what he was accused of," said Polk County District Attorney Lee Hon.

The boy's mother had no idea Gauthe was a sex offender. Back then he wasn't registered and because of problems with the three year old boy's memory, the Polk County charge was reduced to a non-sex crime and Gauthe didn't have to register as a sex offender for that either.

Ted Oberg: "Does any part of you feel you let a pedophile go?"
Lee Hon: "That case is one where you wish you could do more, because in my heart, I have no doubt he was a pedophile and one of the most serious pedophiles I've ever encountered."

Gauthe was on probation, but out of the spotlight for years after that charge. That was until we found him in La Marque where he's been a bus driver for a private company for years.

Ted Oberg: "The issue becomes how much people in Texas have a right to know who you are, what you've done and whether they should be afraid of you?"
Gil Gauthe: "There's no reason to be afraid."

Gauthe never did come out of that RV, but he invited us in without our camera. We talked for 90 minutes.

He told us a therapist once diagnosed him as a homosexual pedophile fixated on 11 to 13 year old boys, a condition that doesn't go away. He told us he still has feelings for young boys, but doesn't act on them.

Talking about his past, he said some of his young Louisiana victims actually wanted to have sex with him. And later he calmly told us a pedophile can "pretty much convince any child to have sex with them."

All that from a man living unregistered within a few blocks of a church, school and a daycare center.

Gauthe lists a vacant house as his address. It's right next to Sonia Palmer's home.

"It's just that the man who is next door, is the same man with this past," she said.

Gauthe actually lives in an RV a few blocks down the same street and claims he's not required to register as a sex offender. That's not the way DPS, the Galveston County Sheriff, the La Marque Police Department and the last DA to ever prosecute Gauthe see the law.

"He is living and breathing in the State of Texas, he absolutely should be registered and people should know where he is," Hon said.

Now he is.

After we started looking at his case, two police agencies started looking for him and last Wednesday Gauthe finally registered.

A change in Texas law required him to do it in 2005. He claimed not to know, but also claimed he tried to voluntary register in 2002. Now registered and back in the spotlight, Gauthe sounds like he sees himself as a bit of a victim.

Gil Gauthe: "The hard part is that anytime something like this happens, I have to start completely over."
Ted Oberg: "Should we have sympathy for that?"
Gauthe: "No sir. I think understanding."

When Gauthe moved to Texas in 1996 he wasn't required to register. His crimes pre-dated the registry, but Texas law changed in 2005 to close that loophole.

Gauthe won't face charges for not registering, but is required to check in every 90 days. I spoke to him again this afternoon. He is still in La Marque and doesn't know what he'll do now.

Gauthe was accused of molestation in the mid 80s. The church threw him out when the accusations were substantiated. Gauthe says church officials should've acted faster.

Stephen Eric Snipes - Repeat Sex Offender RAPES AGAIN

"25% of all sex offenders re-offend within 15 years"
.........Sarah Tofte

Chatham County deputies arrested a registered sex offender Monday for a rape that allegedly occurred in Pittsboro earlier in April.

Stephen Eric Snipes, 48, of 3528 Teague Farm Road, Seagrove in Randolph County, faces one charge of second-degree rape. Sgts. Daniel Tilley and Mike Williams conducted the investigation and made the arrest.

The victim said the rape happened in the area of Hadley Mill Road on April 9. Snipes was an acquaintance of the victim, deputies said.

Snipes was convicted of first-degree rape in Philadelphia in September 1981. He registered with the North Carolina sex offender registry in October 2002.

Snipes was also found guilty on a rape charge in Randolph in November 1977. He was released from prison in August 1980.

Chatham County deputies arrested a registered sex offender Monday for a rape that allegedly occurred in Pittsboro earlier in April.

Stephen Eric Snipes, 48, of 3528 Teague Farm Road, Seagrove in Randolph County, faces one charge of second-degree rape. Sgts. Daniel Tilley and Mike Williams conducted the investigation and made the arrest.

The victim said the rape happened in the area of Hadley Mill Road on April 9. Snipes was an acquaintance of the victim, deputies said.

Snipes was convicted of first-degree rape in Philadelphia in September 1981. He registered with the North Carolina sex offender registry in October 2002.

Snipes was also found guilty on a rape charge in Randolph in November 1977. He was released from prison in August 1980.

Armando Gracia Confesses to Baby Raping


A 42-year-old man was arrested Tuesday on charges of sexual assault of a child.

Armando Gracia faces one count of aggravated sexual assault of a child and two counts of indecency with a child through sexual contact and exposure, police Sgt. Jimmy Manrrique said.

"Gracia was arrested after he confessed to sexually molesting a female child under the age of 10 years old," he said. "The child made an outcry at her school and school administrators contacted (Child Protective Services) and the police. "

The investigation led to Gracia's confession in which he told detectives he molested the girl.

Gracia's bond is set at $170,000. He was being held Wednesday afternoon at the Carrizalez-Rucker Detention Center.

Henry Richard Newell - Repeat Sex Offender luring 7year old boy

"25% of all sex offenders re-offend within 15 years"
.........Sarah Tofte

A 33-year-old convicted sex offender who police say tried to entice a 7-year-old boy inside a Capitol Hill grocery store earlier this month has been charged with attempted luring in King County Superior Court.


Police say Henry Richard Newell approached the boy who was with his father inside a supermarket in the 1400 block of Broadway on April 2. While the boy's father was a few feet away talking to a salesperson, Newell walked up to the boy and said, "Come with me," according to charging documents.


The alleged incident was captured on the store's camera, the documents say. Newell left the store when he realized the boy's father was nearby. He was arrested when he returned to the store two days later and an employee called 911, according to police.


Newell, who is homeless, has a prior felony conviction in Oregon for raping an 11-year-old girl and is a registered sex offender, according to the documents. He is being held in King County Jail in lieu of $50,000 bail and is scheduled to be arraigned May 7.

James Vincent-Reece Hansard - Repeat Sex Offender Rapes young girl

"25% of all sex offenders re-offend within 15 years"
.........Sarah Tofte


A 27-year-old registered sex offender was arrested late Wednesday in the rape of a 14-year-old girl in Butler County.



Sheriff’s officials said James Vincent-Reece Hansard is accused of assaulting the girl the night before while both were visiting a residence at the Towne and Country Mobile Home Park in St. Clair Township.



The state sex offender registry shows that Hansard was convicted in Warren County of three counts of gross sexual imposition in 2005.

Monday, April 21, 2008

Douglas Simmons Kidnapped and killed a 6 year old girl


A group of Wethersfield residents is calling for changes to the state's sex offender registry after learning that a neighbor was convicted of kidnapping and killing a 6-year-old girl.

The residents said that only the kidnapping conviction appears on the sex offender registry, and not the murder conviction.

According to the state's sex offender registry, Douglas Simmons lives on Lancaster Drive and was convicted of kidnapping.


State residents won't learn from the registry that
Simmons was also convicted of strangling the girl to death........
or that he admitted to sexually assaulting her.

Wethersfield resident David Long said that he knew Simmons briefly, but didn't know that he was a convicted murderer.

"They're letting him roam the streets free without letting anybody know he's actually committed a murder, which is the most heinous crime, especially on a 6-year-old girl," said Long.

Lt. Paul Vance of the state police said that only certain convictions require people to register as a sex offender.

"Specifically the charge of kidnapping mandates you register as a sex offender," Vance said. "Mandated by law, the other charge may not be applicable."

After his conviction, Simmons served 22 years in prison and was released on probation in 2003. He lived in New Hampshire, and was recently arrested in Hartford for allegedly not registering his new address with the sex offender registry.

Wethersfield's police chief told Eyewitness News that Simmons had moved out of his apartment, but that his red truck with New Hampshire plates was still parked outside.

No one answered the door at the apartment listed as his home.

State police told Eyewitness News that the department is in the process of upgrading the system to provide more information.

In the meantime, the department recommended that residents use the registry as a starting point. If more information is needed a complete criminal history of a convicted sex offender can be obtained from the state police.

Saturday, April 19, 2008

How Pedophiles Groom Children

The communication process whereby paedophiles entrap children is being studied by University of Missouri researchers, who say they have started to understand how sexual predators lure their victims.

Their study attains significance because it may help equip parents and community members to put a full stop to the day-by-day escalating incidence of child sexual abuse.

Our children are our greatest gift and our greatest responsibility. The fact that they could be abused in any way, shape or form is horrific–both in the moment of the abuse and in the long-term effect, said Loreen Olson, MU associate professor of communication in the College of Arts and Science.

Its a social problem with grave consequences that is prevalent and needs attention. Its incomprehensible, but its happening. The sexual abuse of children has dramatic negative consequences to their emotional well-being throughout their lives, she added.

Loreen says that her team has identified certain communicative elements in the cycle of entrapment.

These elements include the core phenomenon of deceptive trust development, which describes the predators ability to build a trusting relationship with the victim in order to improve the likelihood of sexual encounter.

According to Loreen, deceptive trust development is key to other manipulative strategies used by the predator, such as grooming which sets the stage for abuse by desensitising the victim to sexual contact.

She pinpoints that grooming may include accidentally touching the child inappropriately, showing the child pornographic image, and even making contact or sex play with implicit sexual suggestions.

She says that paedophiles simultaneously work to isolate their victims physically and emotionally from their support network by using strategies like offers to baby sit, giving the child a ride home, and taking advantage of fragile family and friend relationships.

Isolation makes the victim to become more and more dependent on the perpetrator, Loreen says.

The third scheme used by perpetrators is approach strategy, which includes suggestions to play sex games, more explicit discussions about sexual issues, giving a child a rubdown, bathing or undressing a child, and instigating wrestling and other physical games as a means to escalate sexual physical contact.

Loreen has revealed that their theory on the communication process used by child sexual predators is based on an analysis of existing published material on paedophilia and child sexual abuse.

The more we know about how these adults are entrapping children and building a sexual relationship with them, the better we can either intervene and stop the cycle from happening, or de-escalate it, she said.

She further said that the theory of luring communication might also provide fresh insight into how con-artists lure victims and the recruitment strategies of gang or cult members.

The Devious World of Pedophilia

Researchers have unmasked how paedophiles use what has been called the “communication of deviance” to target a child’s innocence and vulnerability for nefarious ends. This knowledge could better equip parents and community members to prevent, or at least interrupt, the escalation of child sexual abuse.

“Our children are our greatest gift and our greatest responsibility. The fact that they could be abused in any way, shape or form is horrific - both in the moment of the abuse and in the long-term effect,” said Loreen Olson of Missouri University.

Olson and her co-authors analysed existing published material on paedophilia and child sexual abuse and proposed their theory that explains the communication process used by child predators.

According to the researchers, perpetrator first gains access to the potential victim through various exploitive means, including the core phenomenon of “deceptive trust development”.

It describes the predator’s ability to build a trusting relationship with the victim in order to improve the likelihood of sexual encounter. It is central to other manipulative strategies such as grooming.

Grooming sets the stage for abuse by desensitising the victim to sexual contact. It may include activities like sitting on a child’s bed and watching them get into their bedclothes, ‘accidentally’ touching them inappropriately, showing them child pornographic images, and making contact or sex play with implicit sexual suggestions.

As perpetrators are grooming their victims and building deceptive trust, they also work to isolate them both physically and emotionally from their support network.

Isolation strategies may include offers to baby sit, giving the child a ride home, and taking advantage of fragile family and friend relationships. Isolation causes the victim to become more and more dependent on the perpetrator.

A third strategy is the initial physical contact or verbal lead-ins that occur just prior to the sexual act. Examples include suggestions to play sex games, more explicit discussions about sexual issues, giving a child a rubdown, bathing or undressing a child, and instigating wrestling and other physical games as a means to escalate sexual physical contact.

Jason Seth "Albion" O'Connell - Repeat Sex Offender finally facing trial for molesting a 3 year old

"25% of all sex offenders re-offend within 15 years"
.........Sarah Tofte

The trial of a man accused of breaking into a Santa Cruz family's home and molesting a 3-year-old girl in 1998 will start Wednesday, almost 10 years after the alleged attack.

Jason Seth "Albion" O'Connell, now 37, waived his right to a jury trial Friday. The court trial, which Judge Jeff Almquist will preside over, begins Wednesday morning and is expected to end by Friday.

O'Connell allegedly broke into the family's Blaine Street apartment in November 1998 and molested the little girl. The girl's cries awoke her parents and her father fired a round from a .45-caliber handgun at the attacker as he fled, but the shot missed its mark.

Police suspected O'Connell based on evidence he'd left in the home - including a leather jacket - but despite a nationwide manhunt and an FBI arrest warrant, O'Connell eluded authorities for years.

In August 2006, O'Connell was named a suspect in three attempted molestations of little girls in Oregon and appeared on "America's Most Wanted." He was arrested in October 2006 when authorities in Redding connected him to an FBI wanted poster.

O'Connell was convicted in Oregon of trying to molest three girls - two 5-year-olds and a 7-year-old - and identity theft. He was sentenced to 10 years in state prison, then sent back to Santa Cruz in May to face the decade-old charges here.

O'Connell is accused of four counts of child molest, one count of aggravated sex with a child and one count of burglary. He faces life in prison if convicted, according to District Attorney Bob Lee.

The court trial process means Almquist, not a jury, will review evidence and reach a verdict.

"We're going to apparently be submitting this case on statements from witnesses," Almquist said in court Tuesday afternoon. It's expected attorneys will agree to use police reports instead of live testimony during the trial, he said.

That change means O'Connell and his attorney will have fewer chances to challenge statements and will not be able to cross-examine witnesses. Almquist did point out to O'Connell that the type of trial "increases the likelihood that you will be convicted because you've given up your right to cross-examination."

When Almquist asked O'Connell if he thought that would be in his best interest, O'Connell responded, "Yes, sir."

O'Connell has pleaded not guilty to all the charges.

He will call one witness - a doctor - in his defense. That testimony is expected Wednesday afternoon.

No one, either in support of O'Connell or from the girl's family, appeared in court Tuesday. Police said last year that the girl and her family moved out of Santa Cruz the year after the attack, though they have kept in contact with investigators and it was possible the girl, now 12 years old, would have testified had the case gone before a jury.

Regardless of the outcome of the court trial, O'Connell will return to Oregon to serve the remainder of his prison sentence there.

13% of all new sex crimes is committed by someone
who is already on the sex offender registry
..........Sarah Tofte, Human Rights Watch



Richard Handy - Arrested for Child Pornography


Brevard County investigators arrested a man for child pornography Friday.

Richard Handy, 38, of Merritt Island, was taken into custody after agents from several different agencies received a tip that Handy had images of underage children on his computer.

While executing a search warrant, agents said they found his computer did contain several images of child porn.

Handy faces a slew of charges, and was held on a bond of $490,000.

Rally for Jessica's Law Today in Asheville NC

Residents and groups are rallying today to push state legislators to pass harsher punishments for convicted child molesters.

The rally will be 10 a.m. - 1 p.m. at Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College, 340 Victoria Road. The event is free and open to the public. Food will be provided.

Supporters want legislators to pass Jessica's Law, named after a nine-year-old who was kidnapped from her grandmother's home, raped and buried alive, said a release from organizer Jeff Gerber of Monroe.

"Her kidnapper was a registered, repeat sex offender that the sheriff's department had lost in the system," the release said.

Jessica's Law would require a mandatory sentence of 25 years to life in prison for anyone convicted of molesting a child aged 12 years and younger. An offender serving less than life would be required to wear a global positioning device.

For more information, go to www.coalitionforjessicaslaw.com.

Hissein Atie - Rapist incapable of self control

"He is a sexual predator and
a complete and utter danger to the public.
He can sense his victims' vulnerability
and singles them out.
He uses violence.
He is incapable of self-control in sexual matters."


A FAILED asylum seeker who raped two men and indecently assaulted two others is a "complete and utter danger to the public", a court heard yesterday.

Hissein Atie, 30, who arrived in Britain in 2000 from Chad in central Africa, prowled the streets of Glasgow looking for men to attack, the court heard.

He committed the offences between January and July last year and was finally caught by DNA evidence.

The judge, Ian Peebles, QC, said he would consider deporting Atie and placed him on the sex offenders register.

Sentence was deferred for reports.

At the time of the last attack Atie had been granted bail from Glasgow Sheriff Court for police assault and alleged indecency six weeks earlier.

Dorothy Bain, QC, prosecuting, said of Atie: "He is a sexual predator and a complete and utter danger to the public. He can sense his victims' vulnerability and singles them out. He uses violence. He is incapable of self-control in sexual matters."

Ms Bain added: "He is a citizen of Chad in west Africa, a failed asylum seeker, and for him all rights of appeal have expired.

"At the time of the last offence the Home Office was seeking to have him removed from the country. A deportation notice has been served on him."

The High Court in Glasgow heard that Atie's first victim was a 21-year-old man, who he found crying after a row with his partner in Buchanan Street on 25 January. Atie asked the man if he was all right before dragging him into a lane, where he removed his trousers and forced him to repeatedly perform a sex act.

His second victim was found by police wandering the city centre streets on 13 May after being attacked by Atie. He had taken the 23-year-old man, who was upset after a row with his girlfriend, to a flat, forcibly removed his clothing and forced him to have sex.

On 1 June, an 18-year-old managed to run away after Atie tried to kiss him and prevent him leaving his flat.

His last victim was offered accommodation for the night by Atie after he found him in George Square, Glasgow, upset and crying on 25 July last year. Atie took the 23-year-old, who was very drunk, to his flat in Meadowpark Street.

The man woke up to find Atie raping him. After his ordeal he managed to phone the police and Atie was arrested.

The jury heard that Atie's DNA was recovered from one of his victims and from the underwear of another.

Atie, who denied the charges, was convicted of two charges of male rape and two charges of indecent assault. He was also found guilty of police assault and breach of the peace.

Friday, April 18, 2008

Merrill James Powers - Repeat Sex Offender

"25% of all sex offenders re-offend within 15 years"
.........Sarah Tofte


[35-42-4-1] RAPE
48D03 0007 CF 207
20 years, none suspended, consec to sexual battery
Madison
INDIANA
11/13/2000
[35-42-4-2] CRIMINAL DEVIATE CONDUCT
48D03 0007 CF 207
20 years, none suspended, consec to sexual battery
Madison
INDIANA
11/13/2000
[35-42-4-8] SEXUAL BATTERY
48D03 9810 CF 495
3 years, none suspended
Madison
INDIANA
05/24/1999
[35-42-4-2] CRIMINAL DEVIATE CONDUCT
48D03 0007 CF 207
20 years, none suspended, consec to sexual battery
Madison
INDIANA
11/13/2000

La Porte police arrested a convicted sex offender Friday after he allegedly attempted to speak to an underage girl in defiance of the terms of his parole.

Police said Merrill James Powers, 31, approached a teenage girl at a convenience store Tuesday and said things that bothered her. She went to Indiana's online sex offender registry and identified him through his description, despite the fact he gave her a fake name, said Capt. Clyde Crass, La Porte Police chief of detectives.

"(She) felt compelled to do her own research," Crass said. Along with her family, she filed a report with the proof of his sex-offender status.

Crass said Powers is expected to be arraigned Friday morning in La Porte Circuit Court. He is being held in La Porte County Jail without bond.

Powers was convicted in 2000 in Madison County, Ind., of rape, two counts of criminal deviate conduct and sexual battery. He was released March 15, moved to La Porte and found a job, Crass said. It is unknown why he came to the city, he said.

Crass said during the investigation, police found out the sheriff's department also was investigating Powers about a similar complaint of enticing teenage girls.

Crass said police sent the report to Powers' parole officer, who went to the court and obtained a warrant for retaking of an offender on parole violation.

As part of Powers' parole, he is not to have contact or associate with anyone under the age of 18, Crass said.

The action of this girl helped prevent further possible victims of the offender, Crass said.

13% of all new sex crimes is committed by someone
who is already on the sex offender registry
..........Sarah Tofte, Human Rights Watch

Alicia's Message: I'm Here to Save Your Life

In a sense, she's rescuing a sliver of her own lost 13-year-old soul with each presentation she makes. It's important work and work she expects to continue for a good, long while.

"Somebody has to and I feel that I was rescued for a reason."


Alicia Kozakiewicz was 13 when she was kidnapped and tortured by a man she'd met on the internet.

After her miraculous rescue by the FBI, Alicia could easily have retreated into a world of depression - experienced by so many other victims.

Instead, she chose to turn her personal tragedy into a personal message for other children, parents and teachers. Now a student at Point Park University, Alicia speaks at schools about online predators and other dangers a child might encounter on the internet. Her unforgettable presentation is in demand by educators throughout the United States and abroad.


Alicia Kozakiewicz isn't uncomfortable with her burgeoning national reputation as an Internet safety advocate.

She's just trying to get used to the nicer side of fame. The last time her name made big headlines, the judgments were harsh.

She's a tall, slip of a young woman who has known horrors far beyond her 19 years. Still, she has a teenage playfulness about her.

Last month, People magazine did a 1,300-word feature on her, recalling how a 38-year-old man tortured her, sexually assaulted her and chained her to the bedroom floor in his Virginia townhouse during the first four days of January 2002 when she was a mere 13.

She'd met him in an Internet chat room, and he'd driven to Pennsylvania to spirit her away. Acting on a tip, FBI agents tracked her captor and saved her life. He was sentenced to 19 years in prison. Now, she tries to help children avoid what happened to her.

"I want to be a forensic psychologist and work with the same group of people that rescued me," says Ms. Kozakiewicz, a Point Park University psychology major from Crafton Heights. "I want to rescue the child, then try to recover their soul."

Earlier this month, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children gave her its Courage Award for the resilience and courage she exhibited in pulling through her ordeal.

Two weeks ago, she traveled around Florida with the state's attorney general, Bill McCollum, kicking off a statewide campaign against computer predators.

Last week, she taped a segment for a National Center for Missing & Exploited Children's telethon.

This week, CNN's Anderson Cooper and the United Kingdom's edition of Cosmopolitan are slated to interview her.

Each Friday during the school year, she gives presentations to grade school children, warning them about the dangers of the Internet as part of the university's outreach program.

"She's become sort of an icon for this topic," says Pat Moran, director of Point Park's Community Outreach Partnership Center. "As a result of the People story, we've been getting calls from all over the United States -- Seattle, Mississippi, Florida, Boston, California -- and the U.K."

Ms. Kozakiewicz, who will be a sophomore in the fall, spoke to 13 schools this past semester, reaching thousands of children.

"When I speak to them, I transfer back into that 13-year-old that I was," she says. "That's so cathartic, not only for the 13-year-old that I was, but the 19-year-old that I am. ... That 13-year-old is always in pain, but when I can get up there and take control of it, it heals all that."

Her mother, Mary Kozakiewicz, was extremely concerned about her daughter putting herself back in the public eye. Media and the public at large were critical of the family in the aftermath of Alicia's ordeal.

"She's still very fragile," her mother says. "You don't just bounce back from horrific things."

However, Mrs. Kozakiewicz also realizes there's a desperate need to inform people about Internet dangers.

"Right now, there's a lot of noise about [Internet safety] but I find when we speak with parents, they're still as clueless as I was five years ago," says Mrs. Kozakiewicz, who counsels families of missing children through the national support network Team HOPE. "Until somebody does speak up, until somebody starts yelling, it's going to continue."

Parents shouldn't discount how differently their children can behave in public and online than they do at home, she says.

"If people can say I was a bad mom or she was a bad child, then they can say NIMBY -- not in my backyard," she says. "So they feel safe and like it couldn't happen to them."

But it can happen anywhere.

"You're there at home. Your child is safe, and it's warm and you're there," she says. "But all the evils of the world are in that box."

That's why she suggests parents use filtering software and stealthware on their home computers to monitor Web sites visited, keystrokes made and even both sides of chat.

One in seven youths 10- to 17-years old has been sexually solicited or approached via the Internet, according to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children's 2006 report, "Online Victimization of Youth: Five Years Later."

"It's not stopping, it's getting worse," her mom says.

Alicia Kozakiewicz has done all of her advocacy work free and continues to juggle lots of duties, from giving presentations and countless interviews to working at the Point Park Children's School and attending college full-time on grants and scholarships.

And she wouldn't have it any other way.

In a sense, she's rescuing a sliver of her own lost 13-year-old soul with each presentation she makes. It's important work and work she expects to continue for a good, long while.

"Somebody has to and I feel that I was rescued for a reason."