Crime

Penn Live reports: A Lycoming County man awaiting sentencing for illegally entering the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, has died. The death Wednesday of Mark R. Aungst, 47, of South Williamsport, was ruled a suicide, Coroner Charles E. Kiessling Jr. said. Aungst pleaded guilty June 27 in District of Columbia federal court to a charge of demonstrating or parading …

Courthouse News reports: Just two and a half hours into deliberations following a two-day trial, a federal jury found onetime R. Kelly manager Donnell Russell guilty on Friday of calling in a shooting threat to sabotage the docuseries premiere of the gut-wrenching “Surviving R. Kelly.” The conviction carries a maximum sentence of five years for Russell, who did not testify …

Washington DC’s CBS affiliate reports: A 61-year-old former church leader is facing over 20 charges for multiple sex crimes, including the sexual assault of a child, according to the Fairfax County Police Department. A family member informed the police department in June 2022 that the victim was sexually assaulted by a member of Saint Matthews United Methodist Church in Annandale. …

The Christian Post reports: A nonprofit organization called the House of Prayer, a chain of schools that students branded as a cult, has been accused of recruiting veterans and active service members and then bilking them out of more than $7 million in GI Bill benefits and disability checks to pay for Bible classes that were not accredited. On June …

The Greenville News reports: A former pastor of an Easley church is facing criminal sexual conduct charges involving a 13-year-old child, according to arrest warrants and court records. The charges against Tracy Darin Turner, former pastor of Trinity Point Church, were made months before the Southern Baptist Convention released a list of abusers and suspected abusers in its affiliated churches. …

The Everett Herald reports: An Arlington youth pastor has been charged with two counts of third-degree child rape for accusations he abused a girl he met in a youth group. Kendal Kippen, 27, of Stanwood, worked at Jake’s House Church in 2017 and 2018, according to charging papers filed this month in Snohomish County Superior Court. His father is the …

Rochester First reports: A Fairport man has been charged with attempted assault for his involvement in an attack on Congressman Lee Zeldin during a campaign event in Perinton Thursday night. Zeldin is the Republican candidate for governor in New York State. Witnesses say Zeldin was giving a speech about bail reform at the VFW on Macedon Center Road when a …

From the Justice Department: A Memphis, Tennessee area man was found guilty today by a jury in the District of Columbia of felony and misdemeanor offenses for his actions during the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol breach. 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 …

Colorado Springs’ Fox affiliate reports: Barry Morphew was arrested for first-degree murder on May 5, 2021, nearly a year after his wife, Suzanne Morphew, was reported missing. Her body has still not been found. But in April of this year, after spending five months in jail and several additional months under court-mandated supervision, the murder charges facing Barry Morphew were …

The Christian Post reports: A Canadian court has approved the sale of 43 Catholic Church properties as part of a financial settlement with victims of sex abuse, with more sales expected to come later. The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of St. John’s, based in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador, will sell the properties, including 13 church properties, after the …

Courthouse News reports: A Southern California pharmacist was sentenced to more than 11 years in federal prison after a jury convicted him of trying to seek $27 million in pandemic relief loans for companies that had no employees. Robert Benlevi, 53, of Encino was given a 135-month sentence Tuesday. He had been found guilty this past March of multiple counts …

Memphis’s NBC News affiliate reports: Two pastors and a child’s mother were indicted on charges of child abuse years after it was reported. The alleged abuse was reported in October 2018. At the time, the then-8-year-old girl was taken to Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital and examined. The results found severe bruising and swelling as well as scars and whip marks. …

Huntsville’s CBS affiliate reports: A former Florence pastor who admitted to having inappropriate relationships with young boys in a pulpit confession has been sentenced, according to the Lauderdale District Attorney’s Office. John Thomas Martin pleaded guilty to three counts of first-degree sexual abuse on June 23, 2022. He was sentenced to serve 10 years in the Department of Corrections on …

The New Orleans Times-Picayune reports: A former youth program minister at First Baptist Church in Covington pleaded guilty in 22nd Judicial District Court on Monday to felony second-degree battery and a misdemeanor count of sexual battery, both stemming from the abuse of a girl who belonged to the church youth group in the early 2000s. Darrell Jay English, 50, could …

The Christian Post reports: Caleb Snodgrass, an elder at Fellowship Baptist Church who has been serving in that role for approximately four years, told The Christian Post in an interview Friday that the church was told on June 5 by Jordan Hall’s wife, Mandy, that he physically abused her and her son. After the incident, she reportedly kicked him out …

Providence’s CBS affiliate reports: A former Providence priest already facing federal child pornography charges has been arrested again and is being returned to Rhode Island for violating the conditions of his release. The Rev. James Jackson was arrested in Kansas on Friday, according to a court filing. Danielle Thomas, a spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s office in Kansas, said in …

Flagler Live reports: Alphonso Joseph, a 48-year-old Palm Coast resident and pastor associated with several Bunnell churches and spiritual organizations, was arrested Friday and charged with molesting a 15-year-old boy in a vehicle on the Matanzas Woods Golf Course. Joseph himself may have inadvertently attracted sheriff’s deputies to the area: the 911 center had received a noise complaint late the …

From the Justice Department: A criminal complaint was unsealed today in Brooklyn federal court charging Sherry Xue Li and Lianbo Wang with wire fraud conspiracy, money laundering conspiracy and conspiracy to defraud the United States by obstructing the Federal Election Commission’s (FEC) administration of campaign finance laws. Li and Wang, both naturalized U.S. citizens, were arrested earlier today in Oyster …

Baltimore’s CBS affiliate reports: Ryan Dark White, a Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate in Maryland under the name Jon McGreevey, has been arrested and charged with filing a false report after he allegedly told law enforcement an adult bookstore in Edgewood was forcing a young girl to perform sex acts on men, the Harford County Sheriff’s Office said. The …

Yahoo News reports: A New Hampshire man who police said was working as a pastor at a Georgetown church owned by his wife has been charged with failure to register as a sex offender in Massachusetts. Steven Newman, 56, was arraigned July 13 in Haverhill District Court on the charge. Police said Newman is registered in New Hampshire as a …