3/20/14: Today’s Round-up of Child Sex Abuse in the News
LOCAL
Los Angeles, CA – Sex Assault Reported Near UCLA
UCLA police are searching for a man who sexually assaulted a female student as she was walking near the campus. It was the latest of several in recent months. Two months ago, a woman was sexually assaulted at a dance party west of campus. Three peeping Toms were seen west of campus in January. An arrest was made in that case. Student Haley Mitchell said her sorority is so concerned their thinking of hiring security guards. “It’s so common recently,” she said. “Something needs to be done.” Read more here:
Berkeley, CA – Sexual assault victims file federal complaint
Students angered by how their campus handles sexual assaults have filed a sweeping new federal complaint against the University of California, Berkeley, drawing more scrutiny to a campus already facing a state investigation and mounting criticism. For the second time since May, but in far larger numbers, a group of current and former students is asking the U.S. Department of Education to investigate the university, claiming Cal violated federal anti-discrimination laws by failing to protect them against sexual harassment and assault. And now their show of force is starting to get results from the university. Read more here:
Ventura, CA – Port Hueneme man to be arraigned on sex charges
A Port Hueneme man will be arraigned next month on charges that he sexually abused a young female relative for nearly six years. Read more here:
NATIONAL
Phoenix, AZ – Massage therapist impersonator faces sex charge
A Phoenix man has been arrested on a sexual abuse charge for allegedly pretending to be a massage therapist so he could take advantage of a paralyzed woman. According to a court document, 40-year-old Ruben Munoz Felix came to the Phoenix apartment of the female victim on March 11. The woman is disabled, paralyzed from the waist down, and in a wheelchair. Read more here:
Atlanta, GA – Former Curtis High teacher accused of violating no-contact order
Fulton County prosecutors say a former massage therapist will be sentenced later this week on charges of sexually assaulting a client. Authorities said Tuesday that 35-year-old William Stringfellow was found guilty of aggravated sexual battery against a 21-year-old woman in December of 2010. Prosecutors say Stringfellow began touching the victim inappropriately during a massage and forcibly performed sex acts on her after she repeatedly told him to stop. Read more here:
Brooklyn, NY – Former guard at Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn imprisoned for sexually abusing inmate
A former federal counselor and guard at the embattled Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn was sentenced Wednesday to 16 months in prison for sexually abusing a female inmate.
Theodore Raines, 60, had claimed the sexual contact was consensual and denied the victim’s assertion that she was raped. Investigators recovered his DNA on her panties. But Raines was permitted to plead guilty to the lesser charge because the woman was facing deportation on federal drug charges. Read more here:
Hampton, IA – Ex-Fairfield fencing coach gets jail term for sexually assaulting Ludlowe student
A former Iowa doctor convicted of sexual exploitation has been found guilty of violating his probation. The sentencing for 40-year-old Brian Hansen is scheduled for April 14. Court records say he was convicted Tuesday of violating a probation provision that barred him from contacting victims or their families. Hansen was sentenced to probation after pleading guilty in May 2013 to one count of sexual exploitation by a counselor or therapist. Read more here:
Providence, RI – Providence Police Investigating Players for Sexual Assault
Police in Providence, R.I., are investigating a claim by a student at Providence College who alleges she was sexually assaulted in November by two members of the school’s men’s basketball team. Major David Lapatin of the Providence Police confirmed Tuesday that the alleged victim made the allegations to them “a couple of weeks ago” and that the department is investigating two men who were students at Providence at the time the alleged attack occurred. Read more here:
Atkinson, MA – Atkinson piano teacher arraigned in sex assault
An Atkinson piano teacher remains free on bail after being charged with sexually assaulting a young student a decade ago. John Goodwin, 74, was arraigned Monday in 10th Circuit Court on a single charge of aggravated felonious sexual assault. Goodwin is charged with molesting the boy at his Academy Avenue home and business between May 2002 and October 2005. Read more here:
Lawrence, IN – Teen arrested after report of sexual assault at high school
Lawrence Police detectives say they have made an arrest in a sexual assault investigation at a local high school. According to a release from the police department, at around 2:20 p.m. Tuesday, detectives were called to Lawrence Central High School where a 17-year-old student reported to staff that she had just been the victim of a sexual assault by a fellow student she knows, age 16. Read more here:
Annapolis, MD – Naval Academy sexual assault case enters Day 2
A woman at the center of a sexual assault case involving a former U.S. Naval Academy football player was expected to take the stand for a second day Wednesday at the man’s court-martial, a day after she testified he had told her they had sex, though she doesn’t remember it after a night of drinking. The woman testified Tuesday that Joshua Tate, a classmate of hers at the Naval Academy, “kind of laughed” when she asked him if they had sex at a party and said: “What? You don’t remember? Read more here:
Mechanicsburg, PA – CV teacher could face jail time, Megan’s Law registry: The Judicial Notice
Recent front page news has revolved around Emily Nesbit, the female Cumberland Valley teacher charged with inappropriate sexual contact with an 18-year old student. She has been charged with the felony of Institutional Sexual Assault. Originally enacted in 1998, Institutional Sexual Assault began as a first degree misdemeanor in cases where a prison employee had sexual contact with an inmate. In 2000, the crime was increased to a felony of the third degree, and was expanded to include employees of mental health centers and juvenile correctional facilities. At the end of 2011, the law was again amended to its current form. Read more here:
Charleston, SC – Man charged with molesting, taking photos of girlfriend’s daughter
A West Ashley mother told police that someone had molested her daughter and now her boyfriend is facing charges. According to a Charleston Police incident report, the woman came to the station on Lockwood Blvd in January because she believed her daughter had been “touched inappropriately and photographed naked.” Read more here:
Talala, OK – Sunday School Teacher Arrested for Molesting 12-Year-Old
A Talala Sunday school teacher was arrested Tuesday and charged with molesting a 12-year-old girl. 29-year-old, Timothy Gregston faces four counts of lewd acts with a young child. Tulsa’s Channel 8 went to the Gregston family home in Talala Tuesday. A woman at the house did not identify herself and refused to speak to us, but other residents in the close-knit town had plenty to say. “Knowing it’s that close to home makes me feel uneasy, but it’s pretty peaceful around here, really,” one resident said. Read more here:
Las Vegas, NV – 25-year-old man arrested for molesting girlfriend’s young daughter
A Las Vegas man has been arrested and charged for allegedly molesting a little girl. According to newly-released paperwork, 25-year-old Phillip Thomas Henley Jr. has been charged with 4 counts of sexual assault of a minor under the age of 14 and 2 counts of lewdness with a child under the age of 14. The child was the daughter of his girlfriend and the mother, who is pregnant with Henley’s child, may have had knowledge of what was happening. Read more here:
Lewiston, ME – Former state police chief charged with sexually abusing 4-year-old female relative after being released from hospital following suicide attempt
A former police chief allegedly tried to commit suicide after being charged with the sexual abuse of a four-year-old female relative. Andrew Demers Jr, a 73-year-old married grandfather, reportedly tried to kill himself days before an investigation was launched into whether he engaged in unlawful sexual conduct with a child. The former chief of the Maine State Police confessed from his intensive care bed last week at the Central Maine Medical Center in Lewiston, according to the sheriff’s office. Read more here:
Muscle Shoals, AL – Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Shoals Volunteer Indicted on Sexual Abuse Charges
A Colbert County man who once volunteered with Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Shoals has been indicted on sexual abuse charges. Tuscumbia police say 41-year-old Chadmon Drew Wright is charged with Sexual Abuse, Sexual Abuse of a Child under the Age of Twelve, Enticing a Child for Immoral Purposes, and Sodomy. Read more here:
INTERNATIONAL
Calgary, Alberta, Canada – Calgary teacher charged with sexual assault of student
A Calgary teacher is facing multiple sex charges in connection to an alleged relationship with a student. Calgary police say between April 2011 and February 2014, the 36-year-old man had a sexual relationship with a now 17-year-old student at a private school in the city. Read more here:
Cairo, Egypt – Activists condemn victim blaming after Cairo University mob sexual assault
The mob sexual harassment of a female student at Cairo University has caused outrage across Egyptian society. The criticism was heightened when Gaber Nassar, the university dean, implied the woman had provoked the attack by wearing “inappropriate clothes.” Speaking to private satellite channel ONTV on Monday, Nassar said the woman had been wearing a long garment over her clothes when she entered the campus gates, but had later removed it, “which led to the incident occurring.” Read more here:
New Delhi, India – Defence ministry babu accused of molesting minor
A joint-director-level officer with the defence ministry has been booked for molesting a minor. Though police has registered an FIR, they are yet to arrest the accused. The incident was reported from Rohini on Monday afternoon. The 14-year-old girl, a Class-IX student, studies at a private school in the area, police said. Read more here:
London, England – Senior British Politician in Court over Sex Abuse Charges
The trial of Nigel Evans, a conservative member of the British Parliament, continues in court. He is accused of sexually assaulting a man in a bar inside the British Houses of Parliament. Read more here: