Crime

The Christian Post reports: Public trust in pastors has dropped to a new low, according to the latest Gallup poll. The survey finds that only 30% of Americans rate clergy as highly honest and ethical, continuing a downward trend. Gallup’s findings, released last week, place clergy in 10th position among the 23 professions measured. Clergy were ranked below auto mechanics …

Boston’s NBC affiliate reports: A New Hampshire man is under investigation for possible civil rights violations. Frank Hobbs Jr. is accused of swiping someone else’s signs supporting gay rights. New Hampshire authorities say Hobbs was caught on camera stealing signs from a Goffstown intersection. A woman had lawfully placed signs in support of the LGBTQ community, and when one of …

Asheville’s ABC affiliate reports: The McDowell County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO) has charged a local pastor with multiple felonies. According to an MSCO Facebook post, Detective Grant Robinson with the MSCO charged Jeffrey Brian Merrow, 60, of Marion, N.C., with felony embezzlement and felony larceny.The release said Deputy Alicia Lund spoke with members of Garden Creek Baptist Church, where Merrow was …

ABC News reports: A Missouri man who brandished a Nazi flag after a thwarted attack on the White House in 2023 was sentenced to eight years in federal prison on Thursday. Sai Varsith Kandula traveled from St. Louis, Missouri, to Washington, D.C., on May 22, 2023. Four hours after his arrival, Kandula — then 19 years old — crashed the …

NBC News reports: President Joe Biden said Friday he is commuting the sentences of nearly 2500 people convicted of nonviolent drug offenses, cementing his legacy as the president who has issued the most individual pardons and commutations in U.S. history. “Today’s clemency action provides relief for individuals who received lengthy sentences based on discredited distinctions between crack and powder cocaine, …

Law & Crime reports: A Jan. 6 rioter who was arrested in Canada after failing to report to prison and attempting to apply for asylum is now looking at the possibility of spending another year behind bars — on top of his original nine month sentence — for fleeing justice, according to federal prosecutors. Antony Vo, a former Indiana resident …

The Austin Statesman reports: Austin real estate investor Nate Paul on Wednesday pleaded guilty to a charge of making false statements to a financial institution as part of a deal with prosecutors, ending a six-year legal saga. All other counts against Paul will be dropped under the terms of the agreement. He faces up to six months in prison. Paul …

The Roys Report reports: The former pastor of a now-shuttered Calvary Chapel congregation in south-central Texas has been sentenced to two years in prison for possessing child sex abuse material. On Tuesday, Judge Phil Grant of the 9th District Court of Texas sentenced Bruce Hollen, 63, to two years in state prison, according to court records. For several years, Hollen …

Law & Crime reports: A Jan. 6 rioter from Virginia who claimed he was “part of the revolution” and swung a pocketknife in the U.S. Capitol during the insurrection is going to prison. Jay Matthew Kenyon, 47, was sentenced to 15 months in prison by U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson, a Barack Obama appointee, the U.S. Attorney’s Office announced …

The Guardian reports: Pope Francis has said he inherited a “large white box” full of documents related to various scandals faced by the Catholic church when he took over from his predecessor. The pontiff makes the revelation in his much-anticipated autobiography, Spera (Hope), which is published on Tuesday. Francis became pope in 2013 after the shock resignation of Benedict XVI, …

Milwaukee’s ABC affiliate reports: A former Racine pastor convicted of child enticement was sentenced Monday to 11 years in prison. Prosecutors argued Bernabe Leon-Alvarez used his position of power to inappropriately touch two teenage girls while he worked at a Racine church that is now closed. A jury found him guilty of attempted sexual exploitation by a therapist and child …

The Tampa Bay Times reports: A Clearwater man who vandalized the Delray Beach LGBTQ+ pride intersection pleaded guilty in court Wednesday morning before apologizing at the request of a Palm Beach County judge. “Do you understand what I mean when I use the word ‘remorse’?” Judge Daliah Weiss asked Dylan Reese Brewer, 19, before granting the plea deal, which critics …

The Ventura County Star reports: A former Oxnard priest was sentenced Thursday to a year in jail in connection with sex offenses against two youths in Los Angeles County but avoided state prison, officials said. Rodolfo Martinez-Guevara pleaded no contest to sodomy with a person under age 16 and a lewd act with a child age 14 or 15, according …

Law & Crime reports: A U.S. Navy veteran and Oath Keeper who rioted on Jan. 6 at the U.S. Capitol in a Depends adult diaper was sentenced to time served this week. Thomas Caldwell, 70, learned that he will avoid any further time in custody at his sentencing hearing on Friday in front of U.S. District Court Judge Amit Mehta. …

Washington DC’s NBC affiliate reports: A D.C. man says he was taking a Metrobus to the Anacostia Metro Station when a stranger set his shirt on fire. “Crazy, you know,” Eric Walton said. “Like, I never even spoke to that guy.” Walton says he was on the way to the library with friends on the A4 bus around noon Nov. …

Panama City’s NBC affiliate reports: A church leader in Okaloosa County, Florida has been arrested and is facing several counts of possession of child pornography after a months-long investigation. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) received a tip back in May 2024. Information obtained from the tip and other findings ultimately led law enforcement to a home …

From the Justice Department: A federal grand jury for the Eastern District of Washington has returned an indictment charging Francier Obando Pinillo, age 51, of Miami, Florida, with 26 counts of fraud in connection with running a cryptocurrency scam that defrauded investors of millions of dollars between November 2021 and October 2023. Pinillo was arraigned today at the U.S. District …

The New York Times reports: Federal prosecutors in the Southern District of New York have recommended a sentence of at least 15 years for Robert Menendez, New Jersey’s former senator who was convicted of trading his political clout for bribes. The U.S. attorney’s office is requesting a similarly long period of incarceration for Mr. Menendez’s two co-defendants, Wael Hana and …

Cincinnati’s NBC affiliate reports: A Northern Kentucky man is facing dozens of charges, including sexual abuse and sodomy. According to the Boone County Sheriff’s Office, a victim reported in late December that he had been sexually abused for several years by an adult male. Investigators alleged that Michael Howard, 36, of Burlington, sent text messages of a sexual nature to …

The Daily Telegram reports: A retired Adrian pastor accused of molesting boys has been charged with a new offense and will be appointed a new attorney. Michael Ronald Goble, 76, already faced four counts of second-degree criminal sexual conduct with a person younger than 13 and two counts of second-degree criminal sexual conduct with a detained juvenile. He was arrested …