Tag Archives: Ohio

OH Trumper: I Accidentally Voted Twice In 2020 & 2022

Cleveland.com reports: A Shaker Heights attorney accused of illegally voting in the last two general elections should be acquitted, in part, because he cast ballots in two states by accident, his attorney argued to a judge. James Saunders, a 56-year-old former lawyer for the Internal Revenue Service, did not mean to commit a crime when he cast ballots in both …

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Ohio Youth Pastor Gets 25 Years On Child Porn Charges

Columbus’s PBS affiliate reports: A Licking County man was given a 25-year prison sentence Tuesday in federal court after he was convicted on charges of child sexual exploitation and soliciting child pornography. According to the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio, 27-year-old Matthew Reif, of Newark, victimized at least 52 boys between October 2020 and July 2022. He …

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Ex-Ohio GOP Chair Gets Five Years In Bribery Scheme

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 …

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Former Ohio Republican House Speaker Sentenced To 20 Years In $60M Nuclear Power Plant Bribery Scheme

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. …

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Ohio Pastor Pleads Guilty To Felony Child Sex Charges

Cleveland’s Fox affiliate reports: A Geauga County pastor has pleaded guilty to sex crimes relating to the abuse of minors. Under a plea agreement reached Wednesday, Dennis W. Laferty, 37, of Tiro, in Crawford County, could face up to 10 years in prison on the two felony counts of gross sexual imposition to which he pleaded Wednesday, as well as …

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Pastor Convicted In Ohio Child Sex Trafficking Sting

The New Castle News reports: A New Castle man accused of child sex trafficking and corrupting children in Ohio has been found guilty by a jury in Mahoning County Court. The Ohio jury’s verdict was delivered Wednesday against 35-year-old Jarod Mills of West Terrace Ave. of unlawful attempted sexual contact with a minor. Mill was arrested in Mahoning County in …

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Ohio Advances Bill Requiring Teachers To Out Students

Columbus’s NBC affiliate reports: Ohio lawmakers are advancing a bill allowing parents to opt their child of out school “sexuality” lessons, legislation opponents said is anti-LGBTQ+ and will force educators to out students. House Bill 8 — the “Parents’ Bill of Rights” — would require teachers to notify parents before teaching “sexuality content” and of any change in a student’s …

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OH Pastor Sentenced To Six Years On Child Sex Charges

Toledo’s ABC affiliate reports: A former Monroe pastor was sentenced Monday after he was convicted of sex crimes. Judge Bruce Winters of Ottawa County sentenced Robert Auxter to six years in prison after pleading guilty to two counts of Gross Sexual Imposition, which are third-degree felonies, in April. Auxter is required to register as a tier 2 sex offender. Court …

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Ohio Catholic Priest Found Guilty On Child Sex Charges

The Mansfield News Journal reports: Guilty on all five counts was the verdict Friday in the federal sex-trafficking trial of the Rev. Michael Jude Zacharias, a Roman Catholic priest who has led parishes in Mansfield and Fremont. The jury’s decision was announced a little before 5 p.m. Friday. Zacharias, 56, was found guilty of all five counts of sex trafficking, …

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OH GOP Moves To Tank Abortion Rights Referendum

The Associated Press reports: An effort by a Republican faction in Ohio to make it harder to change the state constitution faces a critical juncture this week, with action needed in the politically fractured Ohio House where the undertaking has so far stalled. Potentially at stake are the future of abortion access in the state, as well as the legality …

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Armed Nazis Menace Ohio All-Adults Drag Brunch

From the website of the host brewery: Kaleidoscope Youth Center (KYC) and Land-Grant Brewing Company are back for the 2nd Annual Land-Grant Drag Brunch on Saturday, April 29th, benefiting KYC and LGBTQIA+ youth in our community! Hosted by Anisa Love and Virginia West, this is a FREE admission event, but this year we are introducing very limited VIP seating where …

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Ohio Trumper Indicted On Felony Voter Fraud Charges

Dayton’s NBC affiliate reports: An attorney from Ohio is indicted for voter fraud, accused of casting a ballot twice in both the 2020 and 2022 elections. Prosecutors say Shaker Heights Attorney James Saunders voted in Cuyahoga County and Broward County, Florida. An indictment accuses the 56-year-old Saunders of two counts of election fraud, both fourth degree felonies. Saunders is accused …

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Ohio Anti-Trans Activist Testifies That Non-Christian Lawmakers Are Probably Possessed By Demons [Video]

Columbus’s NBC affiliate reports: As one Ohio House committee heard dozens of opponents speak against a bill to ban transgender athletes from all levels of female sports, another committee heard from supporters of a second bill targeting transgender youth: A bill to ban gender-affirming care for minors entirely. Its sponsor, Rep. Gary Click (R-Vickery), did not testify Wednesday and instead …

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Republicans Battle To Keep Abortion Off State Ballots

The New York Times reports: Voters pushed back decisively after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last year, approving ballot measures that established or upheld abortion rights in all six states where they appeared. Now, with abortion rights groups pushing for similar citizen-led ballot initiatives in at least six other states, Republican-controlled legislatures and anti-abortion groups are trying to …

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Ohio GOP State Rep Busted For Claiming MIT Degree

The Associated Press reports: A freshman state lawmaker in Ohio falsely claimed to have graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, according to the prestigious university, and he has stepped down from a House committee leadership post after that revelation. Rep. Dave Dobos, a Columbus-area Republican, attended MIT in the 1970s and 1980 and studied economics but did not receive …

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Nazi Arrested In Anti-Drag Firebombing Of OH Church

Law & Crime reports: A racist “White Lives Matter” member firebombed an Ohio church that planned to host a “Drag Queen Story Time,” federal prosecutors say. Ohio resident Aimenn D. Penny, 20, faces up to 30 years imprisonment if convicted on two charges of malicious use of explosive materials and possession of a destructive device in the March 25 attack. …

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Ohio High School To Raffle Off AR-15 Assault Rifle

Vice News reports: A high school athletics department in a small town in central Ohio is raffling off powerful firearms—including an AR-15—to raise funds to buy equipment for the track team. The gun raffle, in aid of the Upper Sandusky Rams Track and Field, has been so popular that this week the organizers announced all 500 $10 tickets have been …

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Ohio Church Vandalized Ahead Of Drag Story Hour

Cleveland’s Fox affiliate reports: A local church says it was vandalized on Friday ahead of its drag show brunch and story hour planned for April 1. The Community Church of Chesterland said in a press release that its sign was destroyed by Molotov cocktails leaving minimal damage to the church, which was unoccupied at the time, and no injuries. “Despite …

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Ohio Sues Rail Company Over Toxic Derailment

The Washington Post reports: Ohio is suing Norfolk Southern after one of the railroad’s trains that was carrying toxic chemicals derailed, leading to an environmental disaster. Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost (R) announced the lawsuit in a news conference Tuesday afternoon. A Norfolk Southern train was carrying hazardous chemicals such as vinyl chloride and butyl acrylate when it derailed in …

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Ohio Pastor Arrested On Felony Child Sex Charges

The Geauga Maple Leaf reports: Dennis W. Laferty, a pastor at Thompson United Methodist Church in Thompson Township, is accused of sexual battery against one or more minors. Laferty, 37, who lives in a home Trustees of Thompson Methodist Church own at 6724 Madison Road, is facing multiple felony counts. Laferty was charged with five counts of third-degree felony sexual …

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