Crime

Charleston’s CBS affiliate reports: North Charleston Police have charged a man with more than a dozen counts after investigating claims he had touched underage girls without their consent. Vernon Willis, 26, faces 13 counts of second-degree assault and battery, according to jail records. Police say detectives were able to identify 10 victims ranging in age from 13 to 16 years …

Law & Crime reports: One of the men accused of attacking Metropolitan Police Officer Michael Fanone during the Jan. 6 Capitol riot has admitted to participating in the assault and stealing the officer’s badge. Thomas Sibick pleaded guilty Friday to assaulting Fanone, identified only as “Officer M.F.” in charging documents, and stealing his badge. The nine-page statement of offense, however, …

The Tri-State News reports: A former youth pastor at Washington Avenue Church of Christ in Evansville has been sentenced after he was arrested on sexual assault charges. A federal judge handed down a sentence of 45 years in prison plus 10 years supervised release. Officials say Joshua Henley, formerly of Benton County, Tennessee, and Evansville, Indiana, pled guilty in federal …

Salt Lake City’s Fox affiliate reports: A former church bishop and mayor of West Bountiful was sentenced to prison Thursday on child sex abuse charges following incidents that dated back to the 80s. Carl Johnson was given a sentence of 9 years to life for one felony, and another sentence of 1-to-15 years for a second. The sentences handed down …

Cleveland’s Fox affiliate reports: A former local rabbi will spend 6 months in jail after he pled guilty to sex crimes. Stephen Weiss, 61, was sentenced on Monday. He faced up to 2.5 years behind bars. The longtime rabbi is accused of sending explicit messages to a police officer he thought was a 15-year-old boy. The Cuyahoga County Prosecutor’s Office …

The Washington Blade reports: Prince George’s County, Md., police announced on Thursday morning that they have arrested the gay mayor of the City of College Park, Patrick Wojahn, 47, on 56 counts of possession and distribution of child pornography. “On February 28, 2023, PGPD detectives served a search warrant at Wojahn’s College Park Home,” a statement released by PG police …

The Fresno Bee reports: Fresno Police Chief Paco Balderrama on Wednesday announced the arrest of five people after a series of bombings in the city. A task force of local police and FBI agents also seized bomb-making components, firearms, methamphetamine and white supremacist paraphernalia, including Nazi flags. The investigation ranged as far as Riverside County, where Scott Anderson, 44, the …

Columbus’ ABC affiliate reports: A former Chalkville pastor was released from one jail and taken to another on charges of having sex with a child. Kenneth Daniel, 64, of Alabaster was the pastor of First Baptist Church of Chalkville in Jefferson County. He was arrested and indicted in October in Blount County on charges of facilitating solicitation of unlawful sexual …

Miami’s ABC affiliate reports: A Broward County pastor has been arrested on multiple charges after he defrauded a church to support his drug habit, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement announced Wednesday. According to the FDLE, James Edward Smith II, 49, of Lauderhill, was the pastor of the New Jerusalem Baptist Church in Pompano Beach. Agents began investigating him last …

Law & Crime reports: A 72-year-old man in Florida was arrested last week after authorities say they recovered so many images depicting child sexual abuse that the total weight of the printed photos tipped the scales at more than 2,600 pounds, well over one ton. Paul Stephen Zittel was taken into custody on Thursday and charged with 25 counts obscene …

Reuters reports: Lawyers for former Roman Catholic Cardinal Theodore McCarrick on Monday asked a Massachusetts judge to dismiss a criminal case charging him with molesting a 16-year-old boy in 1974, saying the 92-year-old is not mentally competent to face trial due to dementia. McCarrick, a former archbishop of Washington, D.C., last July became the only current or former U.S. Catholic …

Tampa’s ABC affiliate reports: An arrest warrant was issued for rapper and Florida native, Kodak Black, who authorities said violated his bail conditions when he failed a drug test earlier this month. According to the Broward County Clerk of Courts, Kodak Black, whose legal name is Bill Kapri, violated the conditions of his pretrial release after he failed to submit …

NBC News reports: A New Jersey felon attempted to board a flight late last year with an AR-15 rifle, a Taser and a fake U.S. Marshal badge, according to a federal complaint that was unsealed Monday. Seretse Clouden has been charged with unlawful possession of firearms and ammunition by a convicted felon and fraudulent possession of an identification document and …

Law & Crime reports: A woman charged in connection with the violent theft of Lady Gaga’s French bulldogs is suing the star singer for the reward money, alleging that the superstar broke a promise to give $500,000 for the safe return of her dogs. Jennifer McBride, 52, was one of five people charged in connection with the Feb. 24, 2021 …

The Orange County Register reports: A 60-year-old former Santa Ana church youth pastor pleaded guilty and was immediately sentenced Friday to 12 years in prison for sexually assaulting a 12-year-old girl. The victim came forward to police in October 2018 and said Jonathan Lamont Jenkins started making “sexual advances toward her” in January 2018, according to police. She was at …

The Olean Times-Herald reports: A Christian musician, pastor and former Bradford store owner is in McKean County Jail, charged with more than 880 felony counts of child pornography. Daniel W. Merrick, 64, of 858 Route 446, Smethport, is charged with 570 counts of child pornography-involving indecent contact, second-degree felonies; 316 counts of child pornography-involving nudity, third-degree felonies; and one count …

Missoula CBS affiliate reports: A Kalispell man is accused of threatening to kill Montana U.S. Senator Jon Tester. Kevin Patrick Smith, 45, is charged with two counts of “threats to injure and murder a United States Senator,” a felony. Smith pleaded not guilty to those charges in U.S. District Court in Missoula Thursday afternoon. In the indictment, prosecutors say on …

Law & Crime reports: A 64-year-old admitted double murderer who insisted upon receiving the death penalty in Florida bizarrely thanked his trial judge for the capital sentence Friday and asserted this his “soul is fine.” Steven Lorenzo had already confessed in December to murdering Jason Galehouse and Michael Wachholtz, both 26, in 2003. Prosecutors said that Lorenzo drugged, sexually assaulted, …

The Memphis Commercial Appeal reports: A former youth pastor at Bellevue Baptist Church in Shelby County pleaded guilty Friday to 13 sex-related crimes involving children. Keenan Maurice Hord received 60 years for the crimes but will be eligible for parole in 15. He must also register as a sex offender and have no contact with any children. At Hord’s bond …

NPR reports: An Australian pleaded guilty on Thursday to the manslaughter of an American who fell to his death 35 years ago from a Sydney clifftop that was known as a gay meeting place, with the victim’s family welcoming the latest twist in their long campaign for justice. Scott White’s admission in the New South Wales state Supreme Court comes …