Crime

TMZ reports: Lady Gaga just won a legal case over her huge dog reward offer that a woman was trying to claim — ’cause a judge just told her … ya can’t have your stolen cake and eat it too. According to legal docs, obtained by TMZ, a judge tossed Jennifer McBride’s lawsuit against the singer … in which she …

The Dubois County Free Press reports: The Jasper Police Department arrested a Jasper man on eight counts of child molestation involving a girl under the age of 14. According to police, they received information on the allegations of child molestation on June 30. After an extensive investigation, police were able to establish probable cause that Michael Crockett, 49, Jasper, had …

The New Orleans Times-Picayune reports: Stephen Sauer, the former Roman Catholic priest and ousted executive director of the Arc of Greater New Orleans, was sentenced Friday to 25 years in prison for drugging 17 men he met in the French Quarter, driving them to his Metairie home and taking pictures of them unconscious and partially undressed while he masturbated. Judge …

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports: A Pennsylvania grand jury investigating child sexual abuse in the Jehovah’s Witnesses community has charged another five people with raping or molesting children as young as 4, the latest developments in an ongoing probe that has identified 14 suspects. Pennsylvania Attorney General Michelle Henry [photo], at a Friday news conference, said that while the misconduct dates …

Illinois talk radio station WMIX reports: A member of what investigators have called a child pornography ring in Vandalia filed a jury trial waiver Friday morning and is now scheduled to change his plea in the case later this month. Former Patoka pastor Ferrell Kissiar is the third person charged in Fayette County Court as playing a role in the …

South Bend’s NBC affiliate reports: A man who preached at a Michiana church is accused of sexually abusing a child. Gregory Sebastian, 41, is facing two counts of felony child molesting. He allegedly laid in bed with and inappropriately touched a girl who is under the age of 14. Sebastian was booked into the St. Joseph County Jail on June …

Philadelphia’s NBC affiliate reports: A gunman who was armed with two weapons and wearing a bulletproof vest killed five men and injured a toddler and teenager in a mass shooting in Southwest Philadelphia Monday night, police said. “We have absolutely no idea why this happened,” Philadelphia Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw said a late Monday night news conference. “This person decided …

From the Justice Department: A Michigan man has been arrested on multiple felony and misdemeanor charges, including assaulting a law enforcement officer, for his actions 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 …

NBC News reports: A Trump supporter who stormed the Capitol wearing a “Make Space Great Again” hat had two guns and 400 rounds of ammunition in his van when he was arrested Thursday near former President Barack Obama’s home, federal authorities said Friday. A federal prosecutor said in court Friday that Taylor Taranto, a 37-year-old man first identified by online …

The Associated Press reports: Ohio lobbyist Matt Borges was sentenced Friday to five years in prison and three years of probation for his part in the largest corruption scandal in Ohio history, a sentence the former Ohio Republican Party chair vowed to appeal. The punishment by U.S. District Judge Timothy Black came just a day after former Republican Ohio House …

Baltimore’s CBS News affiliate reports: Twin brothers Blake Krenzer, 19, and Brandon Krenzer, 19, of Gambrills have been charged for alleged involvement in the vandalism of the Black Lives Matter and Pride signs at the Ark & Dove Presbyterian Church. Officers responded to the Odenton church on the morning of June 14, where they found the vandalized signs. An investigation …

From the Justice Department: A Michigan man was indicted for conspiring with others and allegedly defacing Temple Jacob – a Jewish synagogue in Hancock, Michigan. According to the court documents, Nathan Weeden, 23, of Houghton, and co-conspirators Richard Tobin, of New Jersey, and Yousef Barasneh, of Wisconsin defaced Temple Jacob with swastikas and symbols associated with The Base, a multi-state, …

Austin’s Fox affiliate reports: The pastor of a Round Rock church has pled guilty to a federal charge related to child sexual abuse material, or CSAM. David Lloyd Walter, 57, of Georgetown pled guilty June 27 to an enhanced charge of possession of child pornography. According to court documents, Walther knowingly searched for, downloaded, distributed and possessed CSAM using BitTorrent, …

The Santa Fe New Mexican reports: A Roman Catholic priest removed from a Santa Fe parish nearly a year ago amid a misconduct investigation was arrested Thursday on federal charges accusing him of enticement of a minor with the intent to engage in sexual activity. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Mexico and the FBI field office …

The Chicago Sun-Times reports: A former Catholic priest has been sentenced to seven years in prison after pleading guilty to molesting a boy more than two decades ago at an Evanston hotel. Kenneth Lewis, 62, entered the plea Thursday to a felony count of aggravated sexual abuse in a deal with Cook County prosecutors that saw other charges against him …

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 …