Tag Archives: crime

CBS News reports: Cleveland Police say they got a lead from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children of child sexual abuse material online. Their detectives got a search warrant for Richard Sentell’s home. Sentell was arrested on Tuesday for Sexual Exploitation of a Minor with greater than a hundred images. Sentell is the pastor at Cornerstone Church of …

Bloomberg Law reports: Former US Rep. Jeff Fortenberry (R-Neb.) won an appeal to vacate his convictions for making false statements to federal investigators after the Ninth Circuit said Tuesday that he shouldn’t have been tried in Los Angeles. The alleged false statements were made during in-person interviews in Nebraska and Washington, D.C. A jury found Fortenberry guilty of one count …

The New York Daily News reports: The NYPD is investigating disturbing bomb threats emailed to synagogues throughout the city on Christmas Eve Day, though the messages appear to be a hoax, cops said Sunday. Police described the threat as “not credible” but added, “we will continue to deploy resources to houses of worship around the city.” “These emails appear to …

From the Justice Department: A San Fernando Valley man was arrested today on a federal criminal complaint alleging he sent a series of threatening emails to the FBI, including ones in which he threatened to bomb the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office and referenced the notorious “Unabomber.” Mark William Anten, 52, of Sun Valley, is charged with making threats by …

Courthouse News reports: Judges in Amsterdam sentenced a man convicted of harassing a 15-year-old girl who later died by suicide to six additional years in prison on Thursday. The Amsterdam District Court was tasked with bringing Aydin Coban’s Canadian sentence for blackmailing teenager Amanda Todd in line with Dutch guidelines, opting for the legal maximum and exceeding the nearly four …

Lexington’s ABC affiliate reports: A former Lancaster pastor last week agreed to a plea deal to drop 12 charges of sexual abuse of children in exchange for pleading guilty to one charge. Thomas Wall on Dec. 8 pleaded guilty to one count of sexual abuse of a child, according to Garrard County court records. In 2022, Wall was arrested and …

Oak Hill, West Virginia’s ABC affiliate reports: The now former lead pastor of Mount Hope Christian Church has been arrested on charges of patronizing a minor victimized by sexual servitude. Elbert Eugene Goins, known as Buddy Goins, was arrested on December 8 in Beckley. According to the criminal complaint, he had been talking to an adult about having sex with …

The Messenger reports: The names of nearly 200 people connected to pedophile sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein are likely to be unsealed in the New Year, according to ruling by a federal judge on Monday. U.S. District Judge Loretta Preska ordered that sealed names and material related to 177 people be publicly filed in 14 days, according to court filings. That …

The Biloxi Sun-Herald reports: A retired software developer and former media minister at an Ocean Springs church pleaded guilty Monday to a federal charge of possessing child pornography. Cameron “Cam” Cotrill, 66, of Vancleave, entered the plea Monday in federal court in Gulfport. In exchange for the plea, federal prosecutors dismissed a second charge of distribution of child pornography. U.S. …

Click On Detroit reports: New charges approved Thursday against the 42-year-old son of U.S. Sen. Kevin Cramer included an upgraded homicide count in a crash that killed a North Dakota sheriff’s deputy. Ian Cramer initially faced a manslaughter charge related to the Dec. 6 death of Mercer County Sheriff’s Deputy Paul Martin on a highway near Hazen. A judge on …

The New York Daily News reports: Ex-Rep. George Santos got a reprieve Tuesday when a judge turned back a prosecution push to move up his trial on charges of fraud and campaign finance law violations. Prosecutors had hoped to have the trial as soon as April or May — but Judge Joanna Seybert backed Santos’ lawyers, who said they needed …

CNBC reports: Federal prosecutors on Monday said in a court filing that they are “engaged in plea negotiations” with former Rep. George Santos of New York to potentially resolve his pending criminal fraud case. The disclosure came in a letter from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Brooklyn to Judge Joanna Seybert, proposing a joint agenda with Santos’ lawyer for a …

The Insider reports: George Santos may be raking in big bucks with his Cameo appearances, but the former congressman is worried about going to prison. “Are you afraid of going to jail?” CBS New York’s Marcia Kramer asked Santos during an interview that aired on Sunday. “I think everybody should be afraid of going to jail. It’s not a pretty …

Washington DC’s NBC affiliate reports: A popular restaurant and bar in Takoma Park, Maryland, received bomb threats on Saturday morning over a drag brunch and story time event. The restaurant, Motorkat, bills itself as “a safe space for people of all orientations and backgrounds. Motorkat was forced to cancel the drag brunch to keep its patrons safe, the restaurant said …

The New York Daily News reports: According to authorities who uncovered the scheme during their “Operation Bad Elf” crackdown, a shocking number of gift cards were found to have been tampered with. Police say thieves have been stealing gift cards, replacing the barcodes with their own, and putting them back on the shelves. “When the consumer goes to check out, …

The New York Times reports: A national lobbying group has retracted its startling estimate that “organized retail crime” was responsible for nearly half the $94.5 billion in store merchandise that disappeared in 2021, a figure that helped amplify claims that the United States was experiencing a nationwide wave of shoplifting. The group, the National Retail Federation, edited that claim last …

The Huffington Post reports: A former Jacksonville Jaguars employee faces wire fraud and illegal monetary transaction charges after allegedly stealing more than $22 million from the football franchise over the span of a few years. According to documents filed this week in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, Amit Patel used his position overseeing the NFL …

Southern Illinois Now reports: A 39-year-old Centralia minister has been charged in Marion County Court with four counts of child pornography. Ian Maphet of Edgewood Lane was taken into custody by Centralia Police at the Calumet Street Christian Church on Wednesday where he is Worship Minister. In a Facebook post, the church says after hearing the evidence from Illinois State …

Kansas City’s ABC affiliate reports: An Independence pastor is facing child molestation charges. Court documents state that multiple people under the age of 18 accused Virgil Marsh of sexually assaulting them between 2011 and 2018. Marsh, 71, is now in the Jackson County jail. He was charged with two counts of first-degree of child molestation and first-degree statutory sodomy. A …

Pittsburgh’s ABC affiliate reports: A Butler County pastor is in jail Wednesday evening after engaging in what state police are calling inappropriate sexual contact with two minors. Herman Clarence Rushing, Jr., 67, of Portersville Borough, is facing charges of corruption of minors, endangering the welfare of children and indecent assault. Rushing is in the Butler County Prison as of Wednesday …