Crime

Miami’s NBC affiliate reports: The City of Miami Beach has issued a state of emergency and set an 11:59 p.m. curfew after a tumultuous weekend of deadly shootings. The measures come after a man died and another man was injured in a shooting in South Beach Friday night, and another deadly shooting in Miami Beach early Sunday morning. The state …

Salt Lake City’s ABC affiliate reports: A Sandy man faces 10 felonies for possessing child porn, some of it allegedly LDS themed. Roland E. Westrup, 23, was charged in the 3rd District Court with 10 counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, a 2nd-degree felony. He could be put away for up to 15 years for each charge, if that …

Charlotte’s NBC affiliate reports: The Lincolnton Police Department says a man is accused of child sex crimes, one of which reportedly happened recently. The department said 49-year-old Terry Wayne Rudisill was arrested Friday afternoon. He is charged with three counts of taking indecent liberties with children. A news release from police said one of the charges stems from a reportedly …

The Charlotte Observer reports: A North Carolina man, the second youngest defendant in more than 1,000 arrests linked to the deadly riot at U.S. Capitol, will spend the next three years of his early adulthood behind bars. Aiden Bilyard of Cary was 18 when he sprayed chemical agents at police and broke out a window in the Capitol during the …

The Justice Department reports: A Las Vegas resident was sentenced yesterday by U.S. District Judge Jennifer A. Dorsey to 33 years in prison followed by lifetime supervised release for committing multiple child sexual exploitation crimes. Stephen Thomas Parshall, aka “Kiwi,” (38) pleaded guilty in October 2022, to two counts of sexual exploitation of children, one count of coercion and enticement, …

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 …