Crime

The Associated Press reports: The mother of a 30-year-old Michigan man who’s accused of making death threats against Democratic politicians is now charged with lying when she purchased firearms later found in her son’s possession. Threats against public officials have become increasingly common in Michigan in recent years. A plot to kidnap Gov. Gretchen Whitmer [photo] was broken up by …

The Philadelphia Inquirer reports: The Archdiocese of Philadelphia will pay $3.5 million to settle a lawsuit alleging that one of its priests sexually assaulted a 14-year-old boy in Delaware County nearly two decades ago. Filed in 2020, the lawsuit alleges that Pastor John Close raped the boy at St. Katherine’s of Siena in Wayne in 2006. The plaintiff, whose name …

The Associated Press reports: A formerly well-connected GOP donor convicted of giving teenage girls gifts, alcohol and money in exchange for sex was sentenced Wednesday to 21 years in prison on sex trafficking charges. Anton “Tony” Lazzaro was found guilty in March by a federal jury of seven counts involving “commercial sex acts” with five girls ages 15 and 16 …

The Lexington Times reports: A Lexington high school teacher, Kevin Lentz, 49, has been charged with 17 sexual offenses involving minors and has been placed on leave by the Fayette County district. Lentz, an English teacher at Henry Clay High School, was arrested and charged with 10 counts of distribution of obscene matter to a minor, seven counts of use …

The Miami Herald reports: A federal judge issued arrest warrants this month for two people living in the Florida Keys who the FBI said participated in the Jan. 6, 2021, riots at the U.S. Capitol.  Bryan Roger Bishop, 51, is accused of spraying a chemical irritant in the face of two Washington, D.C., Metropolitan Police Department officers. He faces several …

New York City’s Pix11 reports: As loved ones prepare to celebrate the life of O’Shae Sibley on Tuesday in his native Philadelphia, the attorney for the teen accused in his stabbing death is speaking out. Dmitriy Popov, 17, of Brooklyn, was arraigned on multiple charges, including murder and a hate crime. The Kings County district attorney is charging Popov as …

The Guardian reports: A board which helps the Roman Catholic archbishop of New Orleans, Gregory Aymond, evaluate abuse allegations against priests and deacons in six cases found clergymen to be credibly accused only for Aymond to ignore the findings and conceal them from the public, a Guardian investigation has found. Aymond’s management of the cases in question as the leader …

The Vermilion County First reports: Former First Baptist Church of Danville School Principal and Church Deacon Robert Lazzell has been sentenced to 12 years in prison after pleading guilty to Criminal Sexual Assault against former student Michael Young. The sentence was handed down by Judge Derek J. Girton Tuesday morning, after a sentencing hearing in front of a standing room …

The Arizona Republic reports: Cyber Ninjas CEO Doug Logan is trying to keep secret more than 1,600 texts he exchanged with a Michigan lawyer who was indicted on charges of illegally accessing voting machines as part of a plot to overturn 2020 election results. Logan sent and received nearly 2,400 texts with Stefanie Lambert, more than any other person he …

Fort Myers’ CBS affiliate reports: A Cape Coral church deacon has been arrested, accused of sexually assaulting a child when she was 8 years old. Cape Coral police arrested 53-year-old Brian Patsy Rogolino, Thursday. According to police, on Jan. 18, the victim told school staff that eight years ago, she was touched inappropriately by Deacon Brian Rogolino of the Church …

Tampa’s Fox affiliate reports: The leader of a St. Petersburg church may have skipped over the ‘thou shalt not steal’ commandment as authorities arrest him for operating a multimillion-dollar theft ring that spanned several Florida counties. Authorities say Robert Dell, the founder of The Rock Church and runs a halfway house for people recovering from drug addiction, is accused of …

CNN reports: The 17-year-old suspected of fatally stabbing O’Shae Sibley has been charged with murder as a hate crime and criminal possession of a weapon, New York officials said Saturday. Sibley, a 28-year-old professional dancer, was stabbed to death at a Brooklyn gas station after dancing to a Beyoncé song last weekend. A friend of Sibley’s said the dancer was …

The Associated Press reports: A Texas man who advocated for a mass shooting of poll workers and threatened two Arizona officials and their children has been sentenced to 3 1/2 years in federal prison, prosecutors said Friday. Frederick Francis Goltz, 52, of Lubbock, pleaded guilty earlier this year to interstate threatening communications. Goltz was sentenced Thursday by U.S. District Judge …

The Shelby Star reports: A Kings Mountain woman who served as a youth leader at a church has been charged with felony child sexual offenses, according to Kings Mountain Police. Amanda Buchanan Justice, of Phifer Road, was arrested Thursday. Justice turned herself in to Kings Mountain Police on Thursday without incident and was transported to the Cleveland County Magistrate’s Office …

Twin Falls’ CBS affiliate reports: A former youth pastor accused of child sexual abuse is facing a slew of felony charges. 31-year-old Dakota Kennemer was a youth pastor at Grace Baptist Church in Twin Falls. He is being investigated for an inappropriate relationship with a minor between the years of 2019 and 2022. According to court documents, the pastor and …

Spectrum News reports: A pastor with Camino Church in Charlotte faces 14 charges involving sex crimes against children, dating back to the 2000s, Charlotte police said. Investigators said there may be more victims who have not yet come forward. The children were between 9 and 15 years old at the time, police said. Robert “Bobby” Price, 56, is already a …

The Salt Lake Tribune reports: Andrew was feeling crushed by the cultural expectation to get married. Twenty-two years old, he had just returned from a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and was attending a singles’ ward in Provo — a local congregation of unmarried college students. But Andrew is gay. And marriage between a man …

Michigan Live reports: Convicted of sexually assaulting children in the mid-1990s, former church group leader Michael Baxter will be 73 years old when he will be eligible for parole from prison. Jackson County Circuit Judge Thomas Wilson sentenced Baxter, 48, to serve 25 to 40 years in prison Thursday, Aug. 3, before a court packed with victims and their family …

South Carolina’s The State reports: Four members of a South Carolina family who acted as “ringleaders” to an unruly mob inside the U.S. Capitol building on Jan. 6 have been sentenced to stints in prison for their actions. Linwood Robinson Sr.; his son, Linwood Robinson II; a younger son, Benjamin Robinson; and Brittany Robinson, the wife of Linwood Robinson II, …

The Space Coast Rocket reports: Kyle Robinson, 30, an associate pastor at First Baptist Church of Indialantic, was arrested July 28th on 2 felony counts of child molestation charges. He’s currently out on $30,000 bond. According to his LinkedIn account, Kyle is a graduate of the Christian-based Liberty University with a Bachelor’s of Christian Ministry. Child Protective Services coordinated with …