Crime

Asheville’s ABC affiliate reports: Macon County authorities say a former youth pastor and current school employee was arrested and charged with felony indecent liberties with a child. Authorities say on Thursday, Feb. 2, 2023, officials with the Special Victims Unit of the Macon County Sheriff’s Office were investigating an allegation of sexual misconduct. Authorities arrested and charged Evan Jordan Jensen, …

ABC News reports: Americans’ confidence in how police are trained and their treatment of Black people both have fallen to new lows in an ABC News/Washington Post poll. Following the death of Tyre Nichols after he was beaten by Memphis police on Jan. 7, just 39 percent of adults in the national survey are confident that the police in this …

Fargo’s KFGO reports: A man who has been under investigation for inappropriate behavior at a Catholic church in Jamestown has been arrested for suspicion of committing sexual exploitation by therapist. According to Jamestown Police, 48-year-old Father Neil Pfeifer was arrested in Rugby, North Dakota on Wednesday. Pfeifer has been under investigation since Jan. 13 when Jamestown Police were contacted by …

From the Justice Department: Joseph F. Morelli, 51, of Endicott, New York pled guilty today to making threatening phone calls from his home in Endicott, New York to the voicemail in the office of a member of Congress in Washington, D.C. United States Attorney Carla B. Freedman and Janeen DiGuiseppi, Special Agent in Charge of the Albany Field Office of …

PBS NewsHour reports: A federal judge in Wisconsin on Wednesday ruled that a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the father of a man shot and killed by Kyle Rittenhouse during a protest in 2020 can proceed against Rittenhouse, police officers and others. The father of Anthony Huber, one of two men shot and killed by Rittenhouse, filed the lawsuit in …

ABC News reports: A federal judge sentenced a U.S. Marine Corps veteran to more than five years in prison Wednesday for assaulting a line of police officers with chemical spray on Jan. 6, 2021. Daniel Ray Caldwell, 51, of The Colony, Texas, appeared before U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly for sentencing on one count of assaulting police with a dangerous …

The Orlando Weekly reports: A federal judge has sentenced the CEO of Airsign Airship Group to more than five years in prison for defrauding the government over $7.8 million meant to help average Americans during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. He is the brother-in-law of a former Florida lawmaker who resigned after he was accused of federal fraud, too. …

The Christian Post reports: A Utah-based Christian K-12 academy fired four top administrators for their alleged involvement in what is potentially a multi-million dollar embezzlement scheme involving tuition funds. The Layton Christian Academy has filed a lawsuit in an effort to recoup some of the losses and prevent the accused individuals from accessing the financial records. On Tuesday, the academy …

The Hudson Star-Observer reports: On Wednesday, Washington County District Judge Siv Mjanger in Minnesota sentenced Jason James Taylor, formerly a pastor at Calvary Chapel Solid Rock in New Richmond, to serve 45 days in Washington County Jail for his conviction on a single felony count of prostitution involving a teen 16 to 17 years old. Undercover agents posing as minors …

Click Orlando reports: All four residents of The Villages charged with voting twice in the 2020 election have now admitted to the crime, court records show. John Rider, 62, recently entered into a pre-trial intervention program that will allow him to avoid potential prison time if he successfully completes court-ordered requirements and refrains from violating the law. Three other residents …

Buffalo’s NBC affiliate reports: A principal at a parochial school in Genesee County is accused of sexually abusing a child when he was a teacher several years ago. A Grand Jury indictment unsealed Monday says Jason R. Clark “engaged in two or more acts of sexual conduct with a child less than eleven years old.” At the time of the …

Law & Crime reports: A Michigan couple who drove to Washington, D.C., from New York were forced to take a bus back home after losing track of their car while allegedly participating in the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. Isaac Thomas, 20, and Christina Legros, 22, were arrested in Michigan on multiple charges related to the incident, the …

Kalamazoo’s Fox affiliate reports: A former Kalamazoo pastor convicted of sex crimes involving teenage boys learned his sentence Monday. Stricjavvar “Strick” Strickland was sentenced to 12 months behind bars on Monday. The former pastor at Second Baptist Church pleaded guilty to one count last August for knowingly offering to sell transportation services for the purpose of engaging in prostitution. Back …

Politico reports: A family friend of Mark Meadows has agreed to plead guilty to accepting an illegal campaign contribution during an ill-fated 2020 run to succeed the former Trump White House chief of staff in Congress, according to newly-released court papers. Lynda Bennett, who lost in a 2020 Republican primary campaign to Madison Cawthorn, accepted a contribution from a family …

CNN reports: A day after the public release of video showing the horrific police beating of Tyre Nichols, the Memphis police department announced it is permanently deactivating the unit that five of the involved officers belonged to. The SCORPION unit, launched in 2021, was tasked with tackling rising crime in the city, but has been heavily criticized in the aftermath …

ABC News reports: Twenty-six Delaware nurses were informed that their nursing license was annulled as part of a fraudulent nursing diploma scheme uncovered by the Department of Justice. “All of us feel this is egregious,” said Dr. Pamela Zickafoose, the Executive Director of Delaware’s Board of Nursing. On Wednesday, the Justice Department released details of what’s been dubbed Operation Nightingale, …

The Biloxi Sun Herald reports: The home and businesses of Biloxi Councilman Robert Deming III were raided Thursday by the Drug Enforcement Administration and other law enforcement officers. Locations of The Candy Shop & Kratom in Biloxi, Gulfport and Ocean Springs also were searched. “We had complaints at the businesses in and around the Gulf Coast of products that were …

The Christian Post reports: Just over a year ago, as he was pictured on Facebook officiating a wedding, Washington pastor and grandfather Steve Parker was praised as an “amazing man of God.” On his Facebook page, Parker, 57, introduces himself as “a new convert, a soul in the midst of spiritual growth, a fish on the line.” He also lists …

San Francisco’s Fox affiliate reports: David DePape called the KTVU newsroom from San Francisco County Jail Friday, the same day a superior court judge ordered video of the hammer attack on Paul Pelosi to be released. The call was unexpected. He told our reporter he had an important message. He said he attacked Pelosi because people’s individual liberties are under …

Little Rock’s Fox affiliate reports: A Gravette sober living facility pastor was arrested for sexual assault after he allegedly used his position of authority to take advantage of a resident. Thomas Hartman, 53, was arrested on January 20 and booked into the Benton County jail on a $150,000 bond. According to a police report, the Wings of Peace NWA website …