Crime

The South Florida Sun-Sentinel reports: Former School Resource Officer Scot Peterson, the only person other than the gunman to face charges in the 2018 Parkland massacre when he was accused of failing to rush into the building to confront the mass shooter, has been found not guilty on all charges. After the first not guilty verdict was read, Peterson placed …

The Associated Press reports: Former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder was sentenced to 20 years in prison on Thursday for his role in the largest corruption scandal in state history. Householder had pleaded for mercy ahead of the sentencing — not on behalf of himself, but his wife of 40 years, sons and friends. The 64-year-old Republican appeared before U.S. …

The Arlington Heights Daily Herald reports: A man accused of possessing and disseminating child pornography worked at a Geneva-area church from 2016 until March. Rejoice Lutheran Church hired the Rev. Michael C. Willis to lead its youth ministry in 2016, according to the church’s Facebook page. Willis was ordained as a pastor in 2022, according to records on the website …

From the Justice Department: The Justice Department, together with federal and state law enforcement partners, announced today a strategically coordinated, two-week nationwide law enforcement action that resulted in criminal charges against 78 defendants for their alleged participation in health care fraud and opioid abuse schemes that included over $2.5 billion in alleged fraud. The defendants allegedly defrauded programs entrusted for …

Gothamist reports: The 24-year-old Marine veteran accused of fatally choking a homeless man on the subway last month pleaded not guilty Wednesday in New York State Supreme Court to charges of manslaughter in the second degree and criminally negligent homicide after a grand jury voted to indict him earlier this month. At a brief arraignment, prosecutors unsealed the charges against …

Wichita Falls’ NBC affiliate reports: The longtime pastor of a Wichita Falls church has been indicted on six counts of sex crimes against children involving three different victims over eleven years. According to court documents, Wichita Falls pastor Ronnie Allen Killingsworth, 78, was indicted by a Wichita County Grand Jury on six counts of indecency with a child by sexual …

Fort Wayne’s ABC affiliate reports: Allen County court records show former Bishop Luers teacher Matthew Brown has been charged with four counts of child seduction. Investigators say staff at the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend contacted police in August of 2018 to disclose that a former student reported “being in a sexual relationship with a teacher named Matt Brown while …

Bloomberg News reports: A British man was sentenced to five years in prison for his involvement in a social media hack that included hijacking Twitter accounts of top US political and business leaders, and for cyberstalking and threatening several individuals. Joseph James O’Connor, 24, pleaded guilty in New York last month to taking part in numerous online schemes, including a …

Wausau, Wisconsin’s CBS affiliate reports: A former Plover youth pastor has agreed to the terms of a plea deal in a child sexual assault case during a hearing Friday in Portage County. Jordan Huffman, 52, pleaded guilty to two counts of repeated sexual assault of a child and was convicted as a result. Six other charges were dismissed as part …

Charlotte’s CBS affiliate reports: A Concord man has been arrested and charged with hate crimes after investigators say he harassed his neighbors—a Mexican family—and Black motorists for more than a year. Marian Hudak was arrested by FBI agents on Thursday. He faces two charges related to intimidating people based on their race. One incident, according to the court document, was …

The Pottsville Republican-Herald reports: The former pastor of a church in Andreas was jailed Wednesday after being charged by West Penn Twp. police with indecent assault involving three juvenile girls between 2007 and 2012. Marvin Leroy Mosley, 43, of 101 College Ave., Milroy, Mifflin County, was arraigned on two felony counts each of indecent assault of a person under the …

Cleveland’s Fox affiliate reports: A Geauga County pastor has pleaded guilty to sex crimes relating to the abuse of minors. Under a plea agreement reached Wednesday, Dennis W. Laferty, 37, of Tiro, in Crawford County, could face up to 10 years in prison on the two felony counts of gross sexual imposition to which he pleaded Wednesday, as well as …

The Detroit Free Press reports: Ryan Kelley, a real estate agent and conservative activist who sought to become governor of Michigan in 2022, will plead guilty next month to a misdemeanor charge stemming from his participation in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol. Kelley had initially pleaded not guilty to all of the charges. In June 2022, …

Reuters reports: A Kenyan accused of involvement in the deaths of hundreds of members of a starvation cult has died after a 10-day hunger strike in police custody, a prosecutor said on Wednesday. Joseph Buyuka was among 30 people, including self-styled pastor Paul Mackenzie of Good News International Church, in custody over the deaths of 337 followers of the church. …

Denver’s NBC affiliate reports: Six people are accused of forging signatures in attempt to get a Republican candidate on the primary ballot for the 7th Congressional District (CD7), according to the Colorado Attorney General’s office. According to court documents, the charged individuals — Alex Joseph, Terris Kintchen, Patrick Rimpel, Jordahni Rimpel, Aliyah Moss, and Diana Watt — were paid circulators …

Portland’s CBS affiliate reports: The former pastor and co-founder of North Clackamas Bible Community was sentenced to 160 months in prison after he was found guilty for sex abuse, Multnomah County District Attorney Mike Schmidt announced Tuesday. Michael Sperou, 72, was found guilty of two counts of first-degree unlawful sexual penetration on May 19. It’s the third time since 2015 …

From the Justice Department: A federal jury in the Eastern District of New York convicted a Canadian man today for perpetrating a decades-long mass-mailing fraud scheme that stole more than $175 million from victims in the United States. According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Patrice Runner, 57, a Canadian and French citizen, operated a mass-mailing fraud scheme …

Patch New Hampshire reports: One of the Queen City’s state Senators has been arrested on assault and criminal threatening charges, according to police. Keith Murphy, 47, of Chestnut Street in Manchester, was arrested Monday on two counts of simple assault and a criminal threatening charge on a warrant. According to police, an employee at Murphy’s Taproom filed a complaint with …

NBC News reports: Disgraced influencer Andrew Tate will face trial on charges of rape, human trafficking and forming a criminal gang to sexually exploit women, authorities in Romania said Tuesday. Tate, his brother Tristan and two other suspects have been under house arrest after a police investigation that led to their arrest in December. They deny the allegations. Tate is …

From the Labor Department: Federal wage and hour investigators have seen corrupt employers try all kinds of scams to shortchange workers and to intimidate or retaliate against employees but a northern California restaurant’s attempt to use an alleged priest to get employees to admit workplace “sins” may be among the most shameless. During litigation by the U.S. Department of Labor …