Crime

The Mansfield News Journal reports: Guilty on all five counts was the verdict Friday in the federal sex-trafficking trial of the Rev. Michael Jude Zacharias, a Roman Catholic priest who has led parishes in Mansfield and Fremont. The jury’s decision was announced a little before 5 p.m. Friday. Zacharias, 56, was found guilty of all five counts of sex trafficking, …

Reuters reports: Kenyan investigators unearthed 29 more bodies on Friday in a continuing search for victims of a doomsday cult in the country’s southeast. The death toll now stands at 179. Authorities this week have searched for remains in shallow graves scattered throughout the Shakahola forest and for any survivors as hundreds of people are still reported missing. Kenya’s Deputy …

From the Christian crowdfunding site GiveSendGo: Daniel Penny is, a twenty-four-year-old college student and decorated Marine veteran, facing a criminal investigation stemming from him protecting individuals on a NYC subway train from an assailant who later died. Funds are being raised to pay Mr. Penny’s legal fees incurred from any criminal charges filed and any future civil lawsuits that may …

The New York Daily News reports: Daniel Penny, the Marine veteran whose chokehold killed Jordan Neely on a Manhattan subway train, is to be charged with second-degree manslaughter and will turn himself in to police on Friday, sources told the Daily News. Penny, 24, is expected to turn himself in at the Fifth Precinct stationhouse on Elizabeth St. in Chinatown, …

Global News reports: “Possible hate-motivated” assaults outside of a Vaughan liquor store last weekend were likely initiated over a suspected Bud Light purchase, police say. York Regional Police issued a news release about the incident, which happened at around 8:30 p.m. Saturday. A man and a woman were allegedly accosted by several males outside of a store located in the …

The Associated Press reports: A U.S. Army sergeant who fatally shot an armed protester at a Black Lives Matter march in Texas was sentenced to 25 years in prison Wednesday, after prosecutors used his social media history and text messages to portray him as a racist who may commit violence again. Daniel Perry’s sentence now pushes the case toward a …

The New York Daily News reports: A juror in E. Jean Carroll’s case against Donald Trump, who told the court his sole source of news was a prominent conservative commentator, was among those who found the former president liable for sexual abuse and defamation, according to court records unsealed Wednesday. Juror No. 77, a Bronx native who works in security, …

San Francisco’s ABC affiliate reports: The Diocese of Oakland has announced it is filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in light of over 330 lawsuits alleging child sexual abuse. In a press release, the Roman Catholic Bishop of Oakland says that the lawsuits have come after a new California statute allows claims that have expired to be filed. RCBO says that …

From the Justice Department: U.S. Attorney Trini E. Ross announced that Daniel Parson, 33, of Charlotte, NC, was arrested and charged by criminal complaint with making threats in or affecting interstate commerce. The charge carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Assistant U.S. Attorney Joel L. Violanti, who is handling the case, stated that …

The Telegraph reports: Kenyan cult leaders may have harvested the organs of followers they convinced to starve to death to meet Jesus, police have said. Police believe most of the bodies are followers of Paul Nthenge Mackenzie, a taxi driver who became a pastor and is now accused of ordering them to forgo food “to meet Jesus”, because the world …

St. Louis’s NBC affiliate reports: A former nurse at St. John Vianney High School was charged Thursday with multiple sex crimes after allegations of inappropriate conduct with a student. Erin Foerstel was charged with two felonies: one count of second-degree statutory sodomy and one count of sexual contact with a student. According to charging documents, Foerstel performed oral sex on …

CNN reports: The man who drove a vehicle into a group of people near a migrant shelter in Brownsville, Texas, on Sunday, killing eight and injuring 10 more, has been charged with eight counts of manslaughter, Brownsville Police chief Felix Sauceda said Monday. The driver was identified as George Alvarez, a 34-year-old with an extensive rap sheet, including prior charges …

The Associated Press reports: Police are preparing to arrest the hospitalized driver of an SUV that slammed into a crowd, killing eight people waiting for a bus Sunday outside a migrant shelter in the border city of Brownsville, Texas. The driver was taken to the hospital for injuries sustained when the car rolled over, Brownsville police investigator Martin Sandoval said. …

NBC News reports: The breakthrough in the FBI investigation started inside a Joann Fabric and Crafts store. Last weekend, a clothing designer was standing in the checkout line waiting to purchase a needle for his sewing machine when his buddy saw something funny on his phone. It was a tweet from the FBI featuring two striking images of the 537th …

Memphis’s CBS affiliate reports: A Mississippi educator was arrested and charged Thursday with two counts of molestation – touching a child for lustful purposes, two counts of sexual battery and one count of unnatural intercourse. Daniel Paul Harris, 44, of Olive Branch was given a bond of $950,000 on the charges, according to DeSoto County Jail records. Harris and his …

The Charlotte Observer reports: A former North Carolina police officer now faces additional sex and alcohol charges involving minors in York County, after officials from a Fort Mill church called deputies last month to report the allegations, according to law enforcement and court documents. Erickson Douglas Lee, 25, of Charlotte, was charged with four sex crimes Tuesday by York County …

Charlotte’s ABC affiliate reports: Records show a Cornelius police officer arrested for child sex-related crimes is accused of committing them while acting as a church youth leader. According to his arrest warrant out of York County, the allegations against Erickson Douglas Lee were for incidents reported between December 2020 and July 2022. The crimes all appear to have happened at …

New York City’s ABC affiliate reports: The woman arrested for allegedly setting fire to a gay pride flag outside a Manhattan restaurant, an incident caught on camera, was found mentally unfit for trial. Angelina Cando, who is charged with hate crimes, appeared briefly in court Tuesday. Her case was adjourned to May 9 for the Manhattan district attorney’s office to …

Fox Business reports: A United Airlines passenger from Texas was restrained by other passengers after he allegedly assaulted a flight attendant and attempted to jump out of the emergency exit before the plane took off from San Francisco International Airport to Houston International Airport. According to a dramatic video posted by Naya Jimenez, the passenger, later identified as 47-year-old Cody …

CTV News reports: In December 2022, an elementary Catholic teacher was charged with making, possessing and distributing child pornography. At the time, police said the accused used various personas like “Dan Forest” to lure children online. Investigators also said that in February 2022, the accused met with a 14-year-old girl in Brampton and allegedly sexually assaulted her. The suspect, identified …