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"[T]he only good n[igger] is a dead n[igger] and they should hang you in the town square to prevent any other n[igger] from coming in the area."
-- July 2011 Statement by Oakland Public Schools Police Chief Pete Sarna, referring to an African-American police officer.
A Grand View!
August 12, 2011
This time, former police officer and accused double murderer Jeffrey Moreland walked into the courtroom. In earlier appearances, Moreland, who reportedly suffers a degenerative neurological disease, was rolled into court in a wheelchair. Moreland, 52, of Harrisonville, today waived his right to a preliminary hearing in Cass County Circuit Court. Family members of victims lined an entire row of seats in the Harrisonville courtroom. Moreland, in a gray-striped jail suit and shackled at the wrists and ankles, did not look their way as he shuffled across the room.
The former Grandview police officer (pictured above, left) is charged in the 2008 cold case rape and murder of Cara Jo Roberts in her Harrisonville home. He also is charged in Jackson County with killing 75-year-old Nina Whitney last year at her home in south Kansas City. Another rape in early July in Harrisonville led to charges against Moreland, who had fled to Iowa where he was arrested.Moreland, who is married and has two young children as well as several adult children from earlier relationships, served as a school resource officer at Grandview High School and in 2007 ran unsuccessfully for the Harrisonville school board.
Judge Michael Rumley set Sept. 12 as Moreland’s next court date.
Sammy Cohen!
Published: 09/15/09 11:55 pm | Updated: 02/22/11 4:36 pm
"[Officer Anthony] Rollins was an anomaly in the department, which now must begin rebuilding the public trust damaged by Rollins' actions."
-- Anchorage, Alaska Police Chief Mark Mew (February 23, 2011)
Jury selection is under way in the trial of a former Anchorage police officer accused of molesting his daughter. Sammy Cohen, 55, is also charged with possessing child pornography. Cohen was a veteran officer teaching at the police academy when he was arrested in 2005, sending shock waves throughout the department. Investigators say he had child pornography on his computer and that subsequent investigation showed he abused his daughter. Cohen has denied the charges. After he was charged, Cohen was put on administrative leave from the department. He is no longer a police officer or employee of the department, according to a police spokesman.Cohen has been out on bail since November 2008 but spent more than two years in jail awaiting his first trial, which almost happened in March 2008. It was declared a mistrial shortly after a jury had been chosen. At the time prosecutors had been unable to find the victim. When she turned up at the last minute, her availability changed how Cohen's lawyer planned to defend his client, necessitating a delay.
The charging documents in the case say Cohen abused his daughter when she was 12 to 14 years old, including taking inappropriate pictures of her. She left Alaska with Cohen's ex-wife after the pair divorced. Cohen's daughter is now an adult. Opening statements in the trial are expected early next week, said prosecutor John Skidmore.
Another Anchorage police officer was recently arrested on felony sex charges. Anthony Rollins, now suspended from the force, was accused in July of sexually assaulting six women over a span of three years. He says he's not guilty and is awaiting trial.
Chief Officer Friendly!
Posted: Friday, January 7, 2011
Updated: January 7th, 2011 08:35 AM CDT
CARLISLE, Mass. -- The town's police chief, who unexpectedly retired last month, admitted to an improper relationship with a subordinate, according to internal investigative reports obtained by The Sun. "No it doesn't look good for a Chief to be dating a subordinate officer," Police Chief John Sullivan (pictured left) told private investigators. "I realize that." A town sergeant also resigned amid similar but unrelated allegations. Chief Sullivan admitted to investigators that he had dated his administrative assistant since 2007, about one year after becoming chief. Sullivan told investigators he left the office on several occasions during the work day with his assistant only for errands, such as trips to Staples.The allegations in the reports detail a relationship between Sullivan and a female "special police officer" for Carlisle who also served as his administrative assistant. Town police officers speculated about the pair, noting their hours-long absences and her return to work with Sullivan and the assistant, sometimes with wet hair, according to reports. The only special officer for the town who also serves as the chief's administrative assistant, said Town Administrator Timothy Goddard, is Deborah Saponaro. When asked if Saponaro is the woman alleged to be in a relationship with Sullivan in the report, Goddard declined to comment.
Saponaro worked as a full-time police officer for the town in 2002, and then switched to working part time as a "special officer" in August 2005, Goddard said. Goddard added that Saponaro began working as former Police Chief David Galvin's administrative assistant. Galvin left the department in 2006. While chief, Sullivan pushed for annual raises for special police officers, including Saponaro, increasing the hourly pay rate from about $19 per hour in 2006 to $25 in October 2009, according to the reports and Sullivan's interview with investigators.
The chief's assistant was allowed to arrive to work late and leave early, and she did not work the required patrol shifts to maintain her rank as special police officer, according to the internal reports. She also accompanied Sullivan, whom Goddard said is divorced, to annual conferences for the International Association of Chiefs of Police in Denver in 2009 and in Orlando in 2010, according to investigators.
The report notes that Sullivan submitted expense reports for a four-night room charge for a 2006 Boston conference at the Westin Hotel, including an in-room dining charge of $84.92, and receipts totaling about $77 for the Birch Bar in the hotel lobby. In interviews, Sullivan told investigators his bill at Birch Bar was for alcohol. It's illegal for government employees to request reimbursement for alcohol, but Sullivan said he wasn't aware of that law until 2009, according to internal investigation reports. Sullivan told investigators he couldn't recall the in-room dining charge. He told investigators his assistant paid for her own plane ticket to the Orlando conference and that he didn't submit a receipt for every meal at the Denver conference in an effort to eliminate costs to the town.
In an e-mailed statement to the media, Sullivan called the allegations "lies, exaggerations and assumptions" brought by a disgruntled officer who accused Sullivan of showing favoritism to a female Police Department employee. Sullivan denied that charge and said he was prepared to fight the allegations, but opted to retire after thinking selectmen already had made up their minds. He said he is a private person, but told selectmen more than a year ago whom he was dating.
"Suffice it to say that I was convinced I had done nothing inappropriate, but there are always two sides to every story, and I could not allow such a 'Peyton Place' circus to unfold in the town and department I love," said Sullivan in his statement.
The report also alleges Sullivan took his assistant to law-enforcement trade shows after telling his police officers no funds were available for them to attend. Sullivan told investigators his assistant attended several trade shows and so did his officers. Sullivan had reportedly trumpeted the "added value" his assistant provided the department because she is police academy-trained and conducts interviews with domestic violence and rape victims, investigators report. But investigators found that Carlisle police call Bedford or Concord police departments to send a female officer for arrested females because Saponaro doesn't book prisoners and doesn't perform any police functions outside of her clerical duties, according to internal reports.
Goddard said Saponaro still works for the town as the chief's administrative assistant at 16 hours per week for $25 per hour. There is no active investigation involving her or any other town employee or officer, according to Goddard. Media Sources have been unable to reach Saponaro.
Sullivan filed an application for retirement Dec. 17, 2010 and is scheduled to begin receiving payments in March for his pension, which is expected to be $69,000 annually, according to Thomas Gibson, chairman of the Middlesex County Retirement Board. Sullivan had worked for the Carlisle Police Department for 30 years.
Sgt. Kevin Cardonne, who also resigned amid a separate investigation, stood accused of spending up to 170 shifts parked with his "girlfriend" in a cruiser near the town's soccer fields and other town locations, according to the reports released yesterday. In an e-mail reply to the media, Cardonne said, "The allegations in the report are untrue." Cardonne blamed another officer for lying and declined further comment. Gibson said Cardonne has not filed for retirement with the board.
One of Cardonne's fellow night-shift officers was left "fuming" when Cardonne allegedly showed up late for a report of a bicycle accident and failed to back him up for a suspicious-person call in 2009, according to internal reports. The fellow officer, whose name is blacked out in the report, told investigators he confronted Cardonne for spending four hours with his "girlfriend" while he was supposed to be working. According to investigation reports, Cardonne reportedly told the other officer, "You're the junior officer. You can handle it," and, "I wasn't there 5 hours -- it was more like 3 1/2."
The fellow officer told investigators he had seen Cardonne with the woman up to 170 times while he was supposed to be on duty, often sitting in the woman's pickup truck or Cardonne's cruiser parked in the dirt area at Banta-Davis Field or the conservation lot on Maple Street, according to internal investigation reports. Cardonne is married, according to Town Administrator Timothy Goddard. The woman's name in Cardonne's case is blacked out in most of the reports. Her identity is unclear from the reports.
Town officials declined to publicly state the allegations against the police officers. The town spent about $10,000 to hire Boston-based private investigators to look into the allegations, Goddard said. The town blacked out all names, except for Sullivan's and Cardonne's, citing a privacy exemption in public-records law, according to an attorney with a law firm. Various narratives in the reports were also blacked out.
The Media filed a public-records request last month for the private investigator's reports and yesterday received copies of 15 reports and interviews investigators produced between Nov. 2 and Nov. 22, with some names and incidences blacked out. Selectmen accepted the resignations of Sullivan and Cardonne at a meeting on Dec. 21, 2010. Before the resignations, Sullivan had been on paid administrative leave since Oct. 24, 2010. Cardonne was placed on paid leave five days after Sullivan.
Officer of the Year!
POSTED: 2:49 pm CST December 30, 2010
UPDATED: 10:06 am CST December 31, 2010
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- A former Lansing, Kan., police officer and school board member was charged in federal court on Thursday with attempting to entice a minor for illicit sex, United States Attorney Beth Phillips said. William Brian Duncan, 40, of Leavenworth, Kan., was charged in a criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court and remained in federal custody pending a hearing on Jan. 5, 2011. Phillips said Duncan was an officer with the Lansing Police Department until November. He had been a DARE officer and coordinator of the Safe Kids program, and was named Officer of the Year in 2008. Duncan resigned from the Lansing School Board in November.
According to an affidavit filed in support of the complaint, Duncan (pictured left) communicated online with a person he believed to be 14 years old. The affidavit said Duncan was communicating with an undercover law enforcement officer. Many of the conversations were sexual in nature, according to the affidavit. During an online chat Tuesday, Duncan began arranging to meet in person and drove to a meeting location the next day. He was arrested by a Kansas City, Mo., police officer.Sex Offender Cops!
Lance Mosher!
July 2, 2011
Former Salinas Police Officer Lance Mosher pled no contest on charges he committed lewd acts upon a child under the age of 14. According to the Monterey County District Attorney's Office, Mosher will be required to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life. He will be required to undergo a psychological evaluation. He will be sentenced on September 23rd. Under the agreed upon disposition, through which the victim was spared the trauma of going through a jury trial, the judge can sentence the defendant to up to a year in county jail. He will also be placed on felony probation for a period of at least three years, and could be sent to state prison for up to eight years if he violates his probation. Lance Mosher on placed on administrative leave from the Salinas Police Department in April after the allegations came out against him. The assault allegedly happened in 2007.
Posted: 09/28/2010 01:30:05 AM PDT
A Salinas police officer pleaded not guilty Monday to charges that he molested a 12-year-old girl over the course of several months more than four years ago. Lance Mosher, 44, (pictured left) of Pebble Beach, is charged with three counts of lewd acts with a child under 14, and a special allegation of digital penetration, said prosecutor Cristina Johnson. Mosher, who remains free on $200,000 bail, faces up to 12 years in prison if found guilty.
Johnson declined to discuss specifics of the case, partly to avoid identifying the alleged victim, who is now 15. She alleged the lewd acts occurred from November 2005 to June 2006, but declined to comment on why it took so long for the allegations to be reported or investigated. Judge Adrienne Grover set Mosher's preliminary hearing for Oct. 28 before Judge Larry Hayes. Mosher's next court appearance is scheduled for Oct. 26, 2010. Mosher was arrested Sept. 14, 2010 by Pacific Grove police after a months-long investigation that began in April, when Mosher was placed on leave after the allegations were reported to Salinas police. Mosher, who has worked as a Salinas police officer since 2004, is on paid administrative leave. The alleged acts reportedly occurred when Mosher was off-duty. Salinas police also conducted an administrative investigation in connection with the allegations.
The Defense attorney who represents Mosher, said her client "absolutely denies the allegations entirely" and blamed them on the accuser's mental illness. The attorney said the girl has been diagnosed with "bipolarism and borderline personality disorder." "Mr. Mosher and his family have been dealing with this for a long time," the defense attorney said. "It's a very sad situation for everyone involved."
Johnson said she believed it was inappropriate to discuss an alleged sexual assault victim's "medical history."
Posted: 09/15/2010 08:51:37 PM PDT
Updated: 09/15/2010 08:51:37 PM PDT
PACIFIC GROVE, Calif. — A 44-year-old Salinas police officer is facing charges of sexually molesting a minor. Lance M. Mosher, a Salinas police officer for six years, was arrested Tuesday by Pacific Grove police detectives on charges of lewd acts with a minor and penetration by a foreign object. Mosher's attorney said the officer "absolutely denies any wrongdoing" and will plead not guilty to the charges at his scheduled Sept. 27 arraignment.
Mosher's Defense attorney described Mosher's accuser as a "troubled" teenage girl. Mosher, a Pebble Beach resident, was placed on paid administrative April 21, days after allegations that he had engaged in inappropriate sexual activity were reported to Salinas police, Salinas police Chief Louis Fetherolf said.
The alleged activity took place in Pacific Grove, and the criminal investigation was referred to police there, Fetherolf said Wednesday. Fetherolf said his department has been conducting an administrative investigation while Pacific Grove police were conducting the criminal investigation. On Tuesday, he said, prosecutors determined there was sufficient evidence to file charges against Mosher. Mosher was released from custody on a $200,000 bond, Pacific Grove police said. Pacific Grove police Cmdr. John Nyunt said the alleged lewd acts were committed in 2007, according to the girl. Nyunt said he couldn't release any information about the minor involved in the case.
Mosher's attorney declined to elaborate on the girl, saying "that will be more appropriate for court procedures." Mosher was hired in Salinas in December 2004 and had a clean disciplinary record prior to the current case, Fetherolf said. Mosher's attorney said, "This is a very sad situation for the family. He has tremendous family and community support." The defense attorney said Mosher is married and moved to the Peninsula in 2000.
Fetherolf said the alleged acts were unrelated to his police work and allegedly occurred during off-duty time. "These sex crimes transcend all races, socio-economic classes, individuals and jobs," Fetherolf said. Mosher was working as a patrol officer when he was suspended, Fetherolf said. He wouldn't say how the allegations involving the officer were reported to Salinas police.
"Another One!"
August 31, 2010
WEST MELBOURNE, Fla. -- A West Melbourne police officer was arrested on charges of rape, according to authorities with the Palm Bay Police Department. Officer William Young, 35, was charged with sexual battery and kidnap-false imprisonment, according to an arrest report. Young was arrested on Monday for an incident that occurred on Aug. 26, according to the Palm Bay Police Department. Young struck the adult female victim, according to police spokeswoman Yvonne Martinez, and then forced her to perform oral sex. He then forced her to have sex with him, Martinez said. Young is being held without bail at the Brevard County Jail. He resigned as an officer with the West Melbourne Police Department Tuesday evening.
August 23, 2010
Karinah Guzman feared that the explosive accusations that she was sexually molested by her uncle, a veteran Santa Clara County corrections officer, would tear apart her tightknit family. But after remaining silent for about 13 years, Guzman came forward with the allegations that Jose Zarate molested her starting when she was 9 years old. Zarate was convicted earlier this year and is scheduled to be sentenced Monday in Santa Clara County Superior Court. He could be sentenced to up to 30 years in prison.Guzman, now 21, plans to be in court, but she said she dreads seeing other family members, who as she feared, have cut off ties with her, her siblings and mother. "Even now I don't like going to San Jose, because I'm terrified of seeing my family," said Guzman, who recently moved to Southern California to get away from the relatives. Guzman is speaking publicly about the case to possibly help others caught in similar situations. "I'm not the guilty one," she said. "I'm not ashamed of what happened to me."
Zarate worked as a Santa Clara County corrections officer from November 1992 until June 8, 2009, when he was arrested while on duty at Elmwood Correctional Facility in Milpitas, according to law enforcement officials. He was convicted of two counts of lewd and lascivious acts on a child by force, violence, duress menace and fear and four counts of lewd or lascivious acts on a child under 14. Because Zarate was convicted of a forcible sex crime, his minimum sentence would be nine years, according to prosecutor Ray Mendoza.
But Jinkerson has filed a motion claiming the prosecution did not adequately prove forcible sex crimes were committed. If Judge Rise Pichon rules in Zarate's favor, he could be eligible for probation, Mendoza said. "I expect the forcible sex crimes will stand and he will be sentenced appropriately for his conduct," Mendoza said.
Guzman is in counseling and remains depressed by the fallout within her family. She has struggled in dealing with the allegations made by family members who questioned her integrity and honesty. "I felt like a boxer in a ring, trying to defend myself," said Guzman, a college student. "It was so hard for me to come out; this was the most vulnerable secret that I've kept. To see it attacked so severely was so hurtful."
According to police reports, Guzman told investigators that the abuse began when she was about 9 and lasted until she was about 13. Guzman told police Zarate would touch her inappropriately and at times have her touch him in a similar manner. She recalled one event where he "French kissed" her on a bed.
During the investigation, San Jose police detectives had Guzman call her uncle and talk about the incidents. During the conversation, Zarate did not remember any specific instance but apologized numerous times for making her "feel uncomfortable" and expressed his wish "to take anything back that I ever said or did."
During the call, Guzman asked Zarate why he acted inappropriately, and he replied "the stresses of life," according to the police report. She asked him if he had ever done it to anyone else, and he quickly replied 'no.' "To me that was as good as an admission," Mendoza said. A recording of the 48-minute phone call was played in court for the jury.
"The pretext call was very helpful," Mendoza said. "I think the jury really focused on that." Guzman also testified during the trial and was put through a lengthy and trying cross-examination over two days. "I didn't feel like the victim," she said. "I felt like I was the one on trial."
When it was time for the jury to deliver its verdict, Zarate's side of the courtroom was filled with supporters, Guzman said. On the prosecution's side, Guzman sat alone with her mom, sister and a victim advocate. When the guilty verdict was read on all six counts, Guzman cried. "I felt so grateful that people believed me," Guzman said. "To hear accusations that I was a liar for so long, it felt great to finally get justice. I don't care how much time he gets; I just want him to go to prison, because that's where he belongs."
Zarate's attorney,of San Jose, did not return a phone call seeking comment.
"Coke is it!"
August 17, 2010
(Scott Lando, sitting outside court Monday in Austin with his wife, Melissa, is accused of giving prostitutes money, drugs and some of his wife's belongings while he was an Austin police officer. Travis County jurors deciding his case were deadlocked Monday; they'll continue deliberating today.) A Travis County jury deliberated for about 51/2 hours without reaching a verdict Monday in the drug case of former Austin police officer Scott Lando, who prosecutors say gave money and drugs to prostitutes and their boyfriends in 2006. Lando traded the drugs and money for sex from one prostitute and in the hopes of having sex with another, prosecutors said. He also gave the women some of his wife's belongings, including a pair of leather Harley-Davidson boots, when they visited his Cedar Park home, the women testified. After the jury said it was deadlocked about 6:30 p.m., visiting state District Judge Fred Moore ordered them to continue deliberating. They will reconvene at 9 a.m. today.
During closing arguments, First Assistant District Attorney John Neal said Lando, 48, suffered "a moral, ethical and professional collapse" in 2006. Lando's defense lawyer said the chief witnesses against Lando are unreliable and that Lando, once a commended officer who led his sector in arrests, forged close relationships with prostitutes as part of his community policing tactics. "This case," the defense attorney said, "is about the credibility of a drug dealer" who said that Lando gave him drugs.
Although he is under indictment on several charges, prosecutors took Lando to trial this week only on four drug charges. Before closing arguments, Moore dismissed three of the delivery-of-a-controlled-substance counts after finding that prosecutors failed to produce evidence that the substances Lando was accused of giving to a prostitute in 2006 were illegal drugs. Outside the presence of the jury, prosecutors urged Moore to accept the woman's testimony that she could identify the substances based on her years of drug use. The drugs were consumed and never seized by authorities, the woman, Denise Pfeifer, testified. Moore said that because prosecutors could not produce lab reports indicating that the substances were illegal, the evidence against Lando on the three counts was legally insufficient.
Lando, who was fired from the force in 2008, is also charged with misuse of official information, aggravated assault by a public servant and prostitution. Those cases will be tried separately.
His drug trial began last week. The remaining count, punishable by up to two years in state jail, involves an allegation that he gave crack cocaine to the boyfriend of a prostitute he met while patrolling the area of Powell Lane and Sam Rayburn Drive in North Austin.
Derek Easely testified last week that when Lando helped him and his then-girlfriend change motel rooms in 2006, Lando gave him three crack rocks. Easely said he consumed some of the crack before he was arrested and accused of selling the rest to an undercover officer. Because those drugs were seized and shown to be crack, Moore allowed that case to move ahead. The Defense attorney pointed out what he called problems with Easely's testimony, including that Lando got the crack rocks from his car's visor and that Lando's truck was a "classic." The defense attorney said Lando's truck was a 2005 model and suggested that it would be difficult to corral three crack rocks after pulling the driver's side visor down.
Earlier Monday, Lando's wife, who has been in court since the start of the trial, testified that she does not believe the allegations against her husband. "I know my husband, and I know he wouldn't do any of this," said Melissa Lando, 54. She said she thinks that Pfeifer broke into their house and stole her possessions. Pfeifer, who has a lengthy criminal history that includes drug possession, prostitution and burglary, testified that she had unprotected sex with Lando four times in 2006, including in the bed of his pickup. She said he gave her cocaine and Vicodin.
Pfeifer said that one day, Lando bought her jeans at Wal-Mart, gave her money to buy boots and then took her to Threadgill's and to the Republic of Texas Biker Rally. Pfeifer said that on another occasion, Lando took her to his Cedar Park house, where he gave her his wife's leather Harley boots, jeans and shirt.
A second prostitute said that she did not have sex with Lando but that he also brought her to his house in 2006. That woman, Lyndi Tarvin, 31, said that Lando gave her a gold necklace that belonged to his wife, prosecutors said.
Neal noted that phone records show 73 phone calls or texts between Lando and Tarvin in an eight-day period in 2006. Other documentation corroborates the testimony of the witnesses against Lando, including hotel, bank and other phone records, Neal said.
$1 million bond!
August 16, 2010
An Orion Township code enforcement officer and former Ferndale policeman is being held on a $1 million bond on four criminal sexual conduct allegations involving a child younger than 13. Thomas Patrick Cupples (pictured left) of Oxford was arraigned on video Friday in 52-3 District Court in Rochester on charges of having sexual contact with a minor. Cupples is being charged with first-degree criminal sexual conduct; first-degree criminal sexual conduct involving someone younger than 13; second-degree criminal sexual conduct; and second-degree criminal sexual conduct involving someone younger than 13. In 2007, Cupples was hired by the township to serve as a full-time code enforcer, being paid $16.07 an hour, according to minutes from a township board meeting. “Our concern, of course, is with the family of the victim and his family as well,” Whiting said.
Cupples also says on his LinkedIn web profile that he worked as a law enforcement command officer in the Metro Detroit area and spent 28 years in law enforcement. Ferndale Police Lt. Gary Whiting said Cupples started with the department in 1978, was promoted to sergeant in 1996 and retired in 2005. Cupples also listed that he has an associate’s degree in criminal justice from Oakland Community College and certifications from Michigan State University, Oakland Community College and Eastern Michigan University.
Hartford PD!
July 29, 2010
"He did entice her to go there for the purpose of committing a sexual act, and that did involve the rescue squad building. He was taking advantage of her age, and he was using her."
-- Assistant Geneva County District Attorney Stephen Smith on the arrest [of] Officer Robert Price Cook last week.
A Hartford reserve police officer faces multiple felony charges after investigators charged him with sexually assaulting a 15-year-old girl. Investigators with the Hartford Police Department arrested Robert Price Cook (pictured left) last week, but the Dothan Eagle learned Tuesday that Cook serves as a reserve officer with the Hartford Police Department. Hartford police said Monday that Cook was charged with felony second-degree rape, felony second-degree sodomy and felony enticing a child for immoral purposes. Assistant Geneva County District Attorney Stephen Smith said Cook serves as a member of the Hartford Rescue Squad, along with his reserve police duties. Hartford Police Chief Ben Berry could not be reached for comment to determine whether Cook's status as a volunteer police officer has changed. Smith said Cook, 42, of Geneva County Road 69, in Hartford, remained held at the Geneva County Jail on Tuesday. Court records show he's held without bond. Smith said the sexual assaults allegedly started happening earlier this year during the month of February with a 15-year-old girl. "He was charged with enticing her into the rescue building," Smith said. "He did entice her to go there for the purpose of committing a sexual act, and that did involve the rescue squad building. He was taking advantage of her age, and he was using her."Smith said he could not specifically comment on where the rape and sodomy acts happened. He also said Cook knew the victim, and that they were acquaintances. He called the allegations part of an ongoing investigation with the possibility of more charges pending. Cook faces two to 20 years in prison if convicted of the rape and sodomy charges, which are class B felony crimes. He also faces one to 10 years in prison if he's convicted of the enticing a child charge, a class C felony crime. "What's most troubling was he was a respectable person in the community based on his job as a reserve police officer and at the rescue squad," Smith said. "I think that is the base of this, it's a very bad breach of trust. He'll be entitled to his day in court."
Byron Thornton !
July 16, 2010
A former Santa Rosa County corrections department officer was sentenced as a sexual predator to 30 years in state prison, followed by life probation. Byron Thornton, 39, of Milton is charged with two counts of attempted sexual battery of a victim less than 12 years old, two counts of lewd and lascivious molestation and one count of lewd and lascivious conduct in Escambia County, according to a press release issued by State Attorney Bill Eddins. He was also charged with an additional count of lewd and lascivious molestation in Santa Rosa County. The offenses occurred between 2008 and 2009. He was arrested Jan. 13, 2010. The charges stem from sexual abuse of his lover's children, according to the release. Escambia and Santa Rosa deputies cooperated in the investigation, as well as Gulf Coast Kids House and Santa Rosa Kids House.See: Lt. John Mitchell Tomlinson, Santa Rosa County Sheriff's Department (arrested for three counts of capital sexual battery on a child less than 12 years old and three counts of sexual battery by a custodial authority).
Daniel Bell!
July 12, 2010
A Tennessee Department of Corrections guard was arrested Wednesday and charged with allegedly tying up and raping a woman last week at his apartment. A woman reported to police Daniel Bell raped her in his Kingsbury Road apartment on July 3, [2010] according to an arrest warrant by Officer Candace Daugherty. The alleged victim claims she had been drinking and fell asleep. Bell raped her while she slept, the warrant said. She also claimed Bell covered her mouth with black tape and tied her up, Daugherty wrote.When she woke the next morning without her clothes, she questioned Bell. He allegedly said she passed out and when she didn’t respond to his request, he assumed sex with her was okay, the warrant stated. Bell recorded the sexual act on his cell phone, the warrant said. Bell works as a correctional officer at the DeBerry Special Needs Facility and was arrested in Nashville Wednesday night and booked into the Montgomery County Jail Thursday evening. He is charged with domestic assault and rape. His bond is set at $100,000. Bell was hired in October 2006 and will be put on administrative leave with pay once he is formally charged. He will then have the right to a due process hearing to determine his future status with the Tennessee Department of Correction, according to news partners.
Chief Dyer, Fresno PD !
July 14, 2010
"It’s important for me and for all of us to not rush to judgment on this case. There is no indication that any other detective in that unit was involved."
-- Fresno Police Chief commenting on the arrest of [three] Fresno Police Officers.
(Fresno Police Chief Jerry Dyer speaks during a July 13, 2010 news conference about the alleged rape of an 11-year-old girl (AP Photo).) Two junior college football players pleaded not guilty Wednesday July 13, 2010 to sexually assaulting an 11-year-old runaway in an attack that may have involved eight other men. The girl, who had run away from a group home in north Fresno on Friday, told the couple she had been assaulted, Cardinale said. Officers went to the apartment several minutes later and arrested Davis and Scott. Defense lawyers entered the pleas for Mackey Davis, 20, and Eddie Scott, 19, who did not speak during their arraignment on one count each of lewd and lascivious conduct with a child. Each remained jailed on $55,000 bail. The lewd conduct charge incorporates the crimes for which police arrested Davis and Scott: child molestation and oral copulation, according to the Fresno County prosecutor's office. If convicted, each could be sentenced to eight years in prison. A preliminary hearing was scheduled for July 24, 2010.
(The rape suspects, Eddie Scott,left, and Mackey Davis, right, are shown in this undated AP Photo.) In 2001, Jerry Dyer had the police chief's job so wired he was the lone candidate for the job -- even though his early career included two Internal Affairs investigations into allegations he had illegal sex with a 16-year-old girl. Dyer wasn't charged, and he quickly rose through the department after embracing Christianity. Years later, at a news conference following his appointment as police chief, Dyer said he would neither confirm nor deny that he had sex with the girl.[F]ormer-accused-statutory-rapist-turned-police-chief Jerry Dyer is no stranger to questionable police conduct: After one-third of his specialized drug enforcement team came under criminal suspicion and two officers were arrested for running a car theft ring, Dyer reminded everyone: "It’s important for me and for all of us to not rush to judgment on this case. There is no indication that any other detective in that unit was involved." In this particular case, the Chief was right. His other officers were busy elsewhere (beating a drunk, homeless citizen, 52-year-old Glen Beaty).
Jerry Dyer, Fresno police chief: "We take these matters very very seriously, cause we know that the public trusts us to use force appropriately. They also trust us to do the internal affairs investigations in a very effective and thorough manner." But as this internal investigation moves forward, so does one involving three undercover Fresno narcotics officers, who were arrested and charged last week, in connection with an auto theft case. Now, the attorneys representing at least two of the witnesses to Beaty’s arrest question the department's ability to truthfully investigate its own officers.
The rape: "We do know that a sexual assault did occur," Chief Dyer said at a televised news conference, noting that physical evidence had been obtained at the site that "substantiates the victim's account." Dyer said two men had been arrested and that police were looking for as many as eight others who may have been involved in the assault at a Fresno-area apartment complex that houses several members of the Fresno City College football team. There is "strong reason to believe that both of these individuals are involved in the sexual assault," Dyer said.
When I think of 11, I think of a girl jumping rope and playing jacks. But apparently she was more mature than that." Chief Dyer declined to discuss the mental state of the victim beforehand or whether she may have consented initially to physical contact. "We know that 11-year-olds don't always make good decisions," Dyer said.
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