Crime

The Oskaloosa Herald reports: A former youth director at a Pella church is facing multiple charges of sexual abuse, according to court documents. Travis Albers, 38, of rural Pella, has been charged with two counts of lascivious acts with a child – inflict pain or discomfort, both class D felonies; and two counts of indecent contact with a child. According …

Jacksonville’s NBC affiliate reports: James Rankin Johnson, a former teacher at New Beginnings Christian Academy in Jacksonville, pleaded guilty to the charge of “offenses against students by authority figures” Tuesday. He accepted a plea deal for a lesser charge, with the state agreeing to drop two counts of lewd or lascivious molestation. He will serve four years in state prison …

Politico reports: The former editor of an Orthodox Jewish newspaper in New York City — identified two years ago as a member of the Jan. 6 mob by POLITICO — was charged Thursday with two felonies for his actions at the Capitol on Jan. 6. Elliot Resnick, who had drawn controversy prior to Jan. 6 for incendiary and bigoted comments …

The New York Daily News reports: A disgraced Queens Catholic Church deacon will spend 16 years behind bars for enticing three boys he met online into having sex with him. Rogelio Vega, 52, faced his reckoning in Brooklyn Federal Court on Wednesday, breaking down in tears as he described how his actions hurt his victims and his family. The detective …

Mobile’s NBC affiliate reports: According to the Mobile County Sheriff’s Office, a local teacher has been arrested and charged for engaging in a sexual relationship with a student. Jonathan Sauers, a teacher and soccer coach at Faith Academy, has been charged with “School employee engaging in a sex act with a student under the age of 19 years.” According to …

Reuters reports: A Wisconsin man pleaded guilty Wednesday to a reduced charge for his role in a foiled plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, handing another victory to prosecutors who have viewed the scheme as domestic terrorism. Michigan prosecutors accused Brian Higgins, 54, of aiding the conspiracy by surveilling Whitmer’s vacation home. As part of a plea deal, he …

Bloomberg News reports: More than 1,000 additional people could still face charges in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol, according to a letter to the DC federal court from the US attorney in Washington. The letter from US Attorney Matthew Graves to Chief Judge Beryl Howell, which came as the department neared its 900th arrest, …

Penn Live reports: “God is still good. God is strong.” Those were the words the former youth pastor called out to her family on Wednesday as she was escorted from the Perry County courtroom after being sentenced to six to 12 years in state prison for sexual assault. Meanwhile, a 26-year-old woman whom prosecutors say Lindsey Melnick molested 11 years …

New York City’s ABC affiliate reports: A fire broke out inside an Upper East Side hotel on Wednesday and the FBI is now involved in the investigation. The FBI’s New York Field office is working to determine whether the fire at the Sherry-Netherland Hotel in the Upper East Side is linked to the Wednesday morning arrest of exiled Chinese businessman …

ABC News reports: Guo Wengui, an exiled Chinese billionaire with business ties to Steve Bannon, has been arrested on federal charges out of New York. Wengui owned the 152-foot-long yacht Lady May on which Bannon was arrested in August 2020. Guo and Bannon have been under investigation in connection with GTV Media Group, which the Securities and Exchange Commission previously …

NewsNation reports: Elon Musk’s reduced Twitter safety oversight has allowed Mexican cartel members to flaunt their lifestyles online, post violent content and recruit new members, according to a new study. Several previously banned accounts of known cartel members are again open and active on Musk’s Twitter, according to a report published last week by the Alliance to Counter Crime Online …

NBC News reports: Federal authorities began a manhunt Tuesday for former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan’s onetime chief of staff after he failed to appear in court in connection with a series of fraud and other charges. The U.S. Marshals Service tweeted that it had launched an interstate fugitive investigation into Roy McGrath and that its Baltimore office “is now seeking …

The Ocala Gazette reports: A change of plea hearing has been set in the case of former State Rep. Joe Harding, who faces several federal charges related to allegations that he defrauded a pandemic-related government small business loan program. The hearing has been set for 4 p.m. March 21 at the U.S. Courthouse in Gainesville. Harding, an Ocala Republican who …

CBS News reports: The Justice Department can seize money that has recently flowed into the prison inmate account of white supremacist James Alex Fields Jr., the Ohio man who in 2017 rammed his car into a group of anti-racism protesters in Charlottesville, Virginia, killing one. According to prosecutors, he has amassed “significant funds” in his prison inmate account at the …

San Francisco’s CBS affiliate reports: The Diocese of Santa Rosa filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy on Monday in the face of potentially hundreds of sexual abuse lawsuits. Bishop Robert Vasa had announced the filing was imminent in a media release. “This decision was made necessary due to the number of child sexual abuse lawsuits filed against the Diocese over the …

From the Justice Department: A Michigan man was arrested and charged in a criminal complaint with illegally possessing firearms after having been committed to a mental institution and while being an unlawful user of a controlled substance, announced United States Attorney Dawn N. Ison. The man came to the attention of the FBI after he made numerous threats over YouTube …

The Lafayette Courier & Journal reports: On Friday, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York convicted former Indiana Rep. Stephen Buyer on insider trading charges. These charges were filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission based on allegations that Buyer had used insider information to purchase stock in Navigant Consulting and Sprint Corp. before their acquisitions …

The Geauga Maple Leaf reports: Dennis W. Laferty, a pastor at Thompson United Methodist Church in Thompson Township, is accused of sexual battery against one or more minors. Laferty, 37, who lives in a home Trustees of Thompson Methodist Church own at 6724 Madison Road, is facing multiple felony counts. Laferty was charged with five counts of third-degree felony sexual …

The New York Times reports: A former New York City police officer was convicted this week of several crimes for her role in the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021, during which, prosecutors said, she pushed against and slapped the arms of police officers, all while yelling and wielding a tambourine. A federal jury in Washington, D.C., found the retired …

Hannibal’s CBS affiliate reports: The Quincy Police Department says an investigation began in January on Isaiah W. Mikkelson after law enforcement was contacted by a parent of a juvenile that had disclosed possible sexual abuse by a Youth Director/Pastor, at Hope Lutheran Church. Police say during the investigation, multiple juveniles were interviewed at the Child Advocacy Center and alleged abuse …