Crime

Salt Lake City’s NBC affiliate reports: A former youth leader from Springville has admitted to sexually abusing a 14-year-old boy after police say he paid the boy thousands of dollars not to tell anyone. Kevin Sykes, 55, pleaded guilty Feb. 9 to attempted aggravated sex abuse of a child and aggravated sex abuse of a child, first-degree felonies, plus three …

Dallas’s ABC affiliate reports: More than 30 law enforcement agencies around North Texas arrested nearly 60 people in a month-long operation aimed at rescuing child victims of online sexual exploitation. The operation, Operation Janus, resulted in 80 charges against 59 people, and rescued 28 children from online sexual abuse, police said. Plano Detective Jeff Rich said some of the suspects …

The Houston Chronicle reports: Former Texas Right to Life Political Director Luke Bowen was sentenced to five years in prison after admitting he tried to meet up with who he believed was a 13-year-old girl for sex. Bowen, 34, of Montgomery, pleaded guilty to online solicitation of a minor, signing a judicial confession before his sentencing on Tuesday, according to …

From the Justice Department: A federal jury convicted a Montana man of hate and firearms crimes for firing an AK-style assault rifle at the residence of a woman, who identified as lesbian, and was home at the time. After a four-day trial that began on Feb. 14, the jury found John Russell Howald, 46, of Basin, Montana, guilty of hate …

Fort Worth’s CBS affiliate reports: Friday morning, at the Sherman Federal Courthouse, former Denison youth leader Chad Michael Rider was sentenced to 720 months in federal prison. District Judge Amos Mazzant gave Rider a total of 60 years for sexually exploiting children and producing child pornography, stacking two 30 year sentences on three charges. Both Rider, 48 and co-conspirator former …

Orlando’s NBC affiliate reports: Peter Filiberto has resigned from the Palm Bay City Council. He submitted a letter saying he was resigning from his position as a council member and that the resignation will immediately be effective. He is facing charges of DUI and possession of cocaine. Police say when they attempted to pull him over, Filiberto tried to outrun …

From the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office: On February 9, 2023, #teamHCSO’s Human Trafficking Section began investigating a case after a mother found disturbing content on her 16-year-old’s cell phone. Through investigative means, detectives were able to learn that Moises Escoto, 36, of Temple Terrace, had made contact with the victim two years earlier on a chat and meetup app called …

Evansville’s NBC affiliate reports: Police say an Evansville man has been arrested again for sex crimes against children. 21-year-old Joshua Leduc was arrested Wednesday night. He’s charged with child seduction and child molesting. Leduc was arrested last year after police say he molested a young child several times while he worked as a pre-school teacher at Bethel United Church of …

Northwest Missouri News reports: Daviess County authorities have charged a Hamilton woman with seven felony counts of sex crimes with a child. It is alleged that twenty-nine-year-old Anastasia Dawson engaged in illicit activity with the minor while she was the victim’s church leader. A probable cause statement issued by the Daviess County Sheriff’s Office says Dawson later paid the victim …

Law & Crime reports: A 31-year-old church deacon in Florida will spend more than two decades behind bars for secretly filming young boys using the bathroom inside the church where he served and possessing “hundreds, if not thousands” of child pornography images and videos, prosecutors said. On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Allen Winsor sentenced Jonathan High, a former deacon of …

New details on yesterday’s servant of Jesus: A Wyandotte pastor accused of abusing a child sent several sexually suggestive and inappropriate text messages to a juvenile victim, including one message about “wanting to smell her underwear,” court documents show. Fred McCoy Gammon, Jr, 42, of Miami, is charged in Ottawa County District Court with child sexual abuse. He is free …

The Macon Telegraph reports: A Macon pastor pleaded guilty Monday to child molestation and other charges related to an incident in which prosecutors said he offered a girl in her early teens — a stranger to him — a ride home from a sporting event at Stratford Academy as part of ruse to sexually assault her. Donald Eugene Williams, 33, …

Joplin’s NBC affiliate reports: A warrant was issued Monday for a Wyandotte pastor. Fred McCoy Gammon, Jr, 42, of Miami, is charged in Ottawa County District Court with child sexual abuse. A $35,000 warrant was also issued on Monday, court records show. Gammon is the pastor of Wayside Assembly of God church in Wyandotte. The church has taken down its …

The Washington Post reports: The gunman who targeted two buildings at Michigan State University on Monday night, killing three students and critically wounding five, had been previously arrested for carrying a loaded firearm without a concealed-weapons permit in 2019 but served no prison time. Anthony Dwayne McRae, 43, was not affiliated with the university in any way before Monday’s shooting, …

Indianapolis’s NBC affiliate reports: A 52-year-old day care director in Cumblerland is facing multiple charges after she allegedly gave melatonin gummies to kids without their parents’ consent. According to court documents, Tonya Rachelle Voris ran the Kidz Life Childcare Ministry at New Life Church. Court documents said pastor David Faulk told Cumberland police of potential child neglect at the day …

The News York Times reports: A man driving a U-Haul box truck was arrested on Monday after he drove onto sidewalks and hit at least three people in the Bay Ridge section of Brooklyn, the police said. The driver, whom the police had not identified by Monday early afternoon, had been stopped by officers around 10:50 a.m. He tried to …

Portland’s NPR affiliate reports: A Portland-area woman convicted of assaulting a Eugene cookie shop owner has been sentenced to nearly four years in prison. Today, Lane County Circuit Court Judge Stephen Morgan sentenced 46-year-old Amy Verlee Hall of Gresham to 46 months after a 12-member jury found her guilty of assault, criminal trespass, harassment, burglary, and disorderly conduct on Jan. …

The Ohio Times-Reporter reports: A 60-year-old man who formerly volunteered with a church youth ministry has received a life sentence with the possibility of parole after 20 years for raping and committing other sex offenses against two girls. Tuscarawas County Judge Michael J. Ernest sentenced Jeffrey A. Pringle Thursday on three counts of child rape and four counts of gross …

From the Justice Department: A Texas man has been arrested on felony charges, including assaulting a law enforcement officer, for his actions during the breach of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. His actions and the actions of others disrupted a joint session of the U.S. Congress convened to ascertain and count the electoral votes related to the presidential …

The Associated Press reports: A Texas man pleaded guilty Wednesday to federal charges accusing him of killing nearly two dozen people in a racist attack at an El Paso Walmart, changing his plea weeks after the U.S. government said it wouldn’t seek the death penalty for the hate crimes and firearms violations. Patrick Crusius still faces a potential death sentence …