Crime

Alaska Public Media reports: A former Ketchikan church leader was sentenced to 20 years in prison with 30 more suspended by a local judge last week, in a high-profile case of child sexual abuse. Earlier this year, 72-year-old Dwight “Chris” John was charged with 14 counts of first-degree, second-degree and third-degree sexual abuse of a minor, as well as three …

The Associated Press reports: A judge has ordered a woman who set fire to Wyoming’s only full-service abortion clinic to pay nearly $300,000 in restitution, the full amount sought by prosecutors. Lorna Green is serving five years in prison for burning Wellspring Health Access weeks before the clinic was set to open in Casper in 2022. The fire gutted the …

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 …

Boston’s NPR affiliate reports: The Boston Police Department has confirmed that the Roslindale home of Mayor Michelle Wu was the target of a swatting incident. The fake emergency call came in to the city’s 311 system around 5:30 p.m. Monday evening. It was ultimately routed to 911 dispatchers. A man told officials that he shot his wife at an address …

ABC News reports:  Republican leaders have called on a North Dakota lawmaker to resign after he lashed out at police with homophobic and anti-migrant remarks during a traffic stop earlier this month in which he was arrested for drunken driving. Republican House Majority Leader Mike Lefor said Tuesday he called on Republican state Rep. Nico Rios, of Williston, to resign …

The Associated Press reports: Federal prosecutors on Tuesday urged a judge to reject U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez’s request to delay his bribery trial scheduled for next spring by two months, until July. Prosecutors argued against the postponement a week after defense lawyers offered multiple reasons why they say a trial of the Democrat and codefendants, including his wife, should be …

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 Auburn Citizen reports: U.S. Rep. Brandon Williams was the victim of a “swatting” incident on Christmas Day, Cayuga County Sheriff Brian Schenck told The Citizen. Members of Schenck’s office and the New York State Police responded to a report of a shooting at 2 p.m. at Williams’ home in Sennett, Schenck said. The call was made to the Cayuga …

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 …

The Daily Beast reports: After losing his Idaho home and falling off the radar for weeks, militia leader Ammon Bundy has popped his head up to issue thinly veiled threats against those he blames for losing a massive defamation lawsuit. Bundy was ordered to pay more than $50 million to St. Luke’s Meridian Medical Center after a judge ruled he …

The Associated Press reports: A North Dakota lawmaker who serves on a panel that handles law enforcement legislation made homophobic and anti-migrant remarks to a police officer who arrested him on a charge of driving drunk, body camera footage shows. Republican state Rep. Nico Rios of Williston was also charged with refusing to provide a chemical test. Both that and …

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 …

The Long Island Press reports: Suffolk County Police have arrested a 17-year-old for threatening to “shoot up” Sequoya High School in Holtsville, according to District Attorney Ray Tierney’s office. Tierney’s office said in a news release that police had been made aware of an email sent to school administrators threatening to “shoot up the school” and warning them to “be …

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 …

The Minneapolis Star-Tribune reports: A tip from a high school classmate led the FBI to arrest a Lakeville man who has been charged with invading the U.S. Capitol during the violent and destructive Jan. 6 insurrection in 2021. Martin James Cudo, 43, was charged with illegal entry of the Capitol with the intent to impede or disrupt the U.S. House …

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 …

From the Justice Department: A California man has been arrested on felony and misdemeanor charges related to his conduct 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 2020 presidential election. Kyle …

Richmond’s ABC affiliate reports: A former pastor of an independent Baptist church in the town of Warsaw in Richmond County is facing 30 felony charges relating to multiple incidents the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office alleges occurred at the church between 1981 and 1997. Albert Benjamin Wharton, 86, of South Carolina, was arrested in South Carolina at 8:42 a.m. on Friday, …

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 …