Crime

NBC News reports: An 18-year-old Indiana student has been accused of plotting a mass shooting at school on Valentine’s Day, a plan he allegedly wrote was inspired by the 2018 school shooting in Parkland, Florida, that killed 17 people. Jamie Shockley has been charged with conspiracy to commit murder, intimidation: threat to commit terrorism, and conspiracy intimidation, according to Morgan …

The New York Post reports: Manhattan federal prosecutors were prepared to bring a new bombshell indictment charging Mayor Eric Adams with destroying evidence and telling people to lie to the FBI, a letter obtained by The Post reveals. The letter sent by Danielle Sassoon, who resigned from her post Thursday rather than obey an order from President Trump’s Justice Department …

Charlotte’s Queen City News reports: A former Caldwell County pastor was sentenced to 10 years in prison Thursday after being convicted for possessing child pornography. According to court documents from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, in April 2023, law enforcement identified a Dropbox account belonging to 53-year-old Ashley Crouse, then a pastor at a church in Caldwell County, had videos containing child …

Montgomery’s ABC affiliate reports: A former Troy church volunteer accused of possessing child porn has reportedly taken his own life. Samuel McCall was arrested on Wednesday, January 29, and charged with one count Possession of Child Pornography with Intent to Disseminate. He was released from the Pike County Jail on a $25,000 bond. According to Pike County Sheriff Russell Thomas, …

From Maryland’s Montgomery County prosecutors: Today, in the Circuit Court for Montgomery County, MD, before the Honorable Margaret Schweitzer, the defendant Ervin Alfaro-Lopez, 34, of Germantown, pleaded guilty to one count of sex abuse of a minor and three counts of third-degree sex offense. Alfaro-Lopez faces up to 55 years in prison. A sentencing hearing is scheduled for August 28, …

Memphis’s CBS affiliate reports: An Arkansas priest who was arrested and charged with abusing cats has been suspended by his diocese. Charles Thessing, 63, priest at St. Michael Church in West Memphis, was charged Tuesday with two counts of aggravated animal cruelty. He is accused of trapping and drowning cats. Late Wednesday, the Diocese of Little Rock sent out a …

The Myrtle Beach Sun News reports: North Myrtle Beach Police arrested a Virginia man after they found “voluminous amounts” of child porn on his cell phone. The man appears to be a former pastor at a Virginia Baptist church. Chadwick Branch, 55, was arrested for two counts of second-degree sexual exploitation of a minor on Feb. 11. Branch seems to …

Philadelphia’s PBS affiliate reports: Since July, a tall, lanky man named Justin Lee Smith has headed the small private St. Anne’s Episcopal School in Delaware. But during that time, state police say in court records, Smith has also used several aliases online, among them “agoodtimejobud” and “anythinggoesbud.” Using those screen names with his account on the file-sharing app known as …

Kansas City’s NBC affiliate reports: A former Shawnee, Kansas, children’s pastor who attacked his family and set their house on fire to hide financial problems has pleaded guilty in connection with the incident. Matthew Lee Richards was charged with five counts of attempted murder and one count of aggravated arson with risk of bodily harm after the Sept. 16, 2023, …

Memphis’s CBS affiliate reports: A priest at a church in West Memphis, Arkansas has been arrested in connection with a case involving two cats who police say appeared to have been drowned, city officials said Tuesday. Charles Thessing, 63, is listed in the Crittenden County jail log, charged with two counts of aggravated cruelty to animals. On Feb. 7, West …

Florence, South Carolina’s ABC affiliate reports: Florence County Magistrate, Jerry F. Rivers is presiding over a bond hearing Tuesday morning for four employees at a private school after being arrested on Monday in connection with allegations of child abuse, according to the Florence County Sheriff’s Office. Laurin B. Boyce, 73, was charged with two counts of unlawful conduct toward a …

Metro Weekly reports: Nine students from Salisbury University have been sentenced for taking part in the assault of a gay man whom they reportedly lured to a house using the gay dating app Grindr. When the man — whose name has not been revealed — arrived at the apartment, a group of 15 students affiliated with the university’s Sigma Alpha …

The Daily Beast reports: Months after the slaying of UnitedHealthcare’s CEO, suspect Luigi Mangione has garnered over $300,000 for his legal defense via donations on GiveSendGo. His lawyer, Karen Friedman Agnifilo, confirmed that Mangione would be using the funds for his defense and that he “very much appreciates the outpouring of support.” The fund has a goal of $500,000, with …

The Salt Lake Tribune reports: Former Utah County therapist Scott Owen admitted in a Provo courtroom on Monday that he sexually abused several of his patients during sessions. Owen, 66, pleaded guilty to three charges of first-degree felony forcible sodomy, admitting that he sexually abused two male patients “using his position as a therapist” and led them to believe that …

New York City’s NBC affiliate reports: Three men accused of drugging and robbing men at Manhattan gay bars and nightclubs were found guilty Monday, more than two years after the deaths of two of their victims. Jayqwan Hamilton, Robert Demaio, and Jacob Barroso were found guilty on all charges following a three-week trial in downtown Manhattan. Prosecutors had accused the …

Houston’s ABC affiliate reports: Cell phone video captured several passengers restraining a man on a Frontier Airlines flight from Denver to Houston. But what happened before those dramatic moments is what scared Victoria Clark and her grandmother, Charlotte Jones. “The lady in front of the gentlemen asked to move seats, and right when she did, he started kicking profusely and …

Gothamist reports: Salvatore Bonaccorso, the former longtime mayor of Clark, New Jersey, was sentenced Friday to three years probation and barred from holding public office again after pleading guilty to charges of official misconduct and forgery. Bonaccorso, 64, a Republican who served as mayor of the Union County township from 2001 until last month, was also fined $15,000. He resigned …

Memphis’s NBC affiliate reports: A Bartlett man is behind bars indicted on rape charges. John Miller, a former youth volunteer at Hope Church, is charged with rape of a child—a class-A felony. According to the indictment, the crime allegedly occurred in 2006; the case was presented to a grand jury last month. Hope Church says all its volunteers must undergo repeated …

Tampa’s ABC affiliate reports: A Hillsborough County jury found Gerald Declan Radford not guilty for the shooting of a gay man at a Tampa dog park last year. Radford was charged with second-degree murder for the death of a gay man at a Tampa dog park in 2024. According to prosecutors, Radford fatally shot Walt Lay last February after witnesses …

Houston’s NPR affiliate reports: A Houston man released from federal prison in Colorado last month, after being pardoned for his crimes during the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection, was arrested Thursday on a charge of online solicitation of a minor dating back to 2016. Andrew Taake, 36, was sentenced to six years in prison in June 2024 after pleading guilty to …