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Orange County teacher now faces more than 1500 child pornography charges www.privateofficer.com
KISSIMMEE FLA Feb 11 2011 An Orange County teacher charged with child pornography earlier in February has been rearrested, this time by detectives from Osceola County.
Detectives from the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office arrested Stephen Wise at his Orlando home Wednesday.
Wise, 43, had originally been charged with 10 counts of possessing child porn.
Osceola detectives added an additional 1,557 counts after they said they searched electronic equipment and digital images found in Wise’s home.
Investigators said the children depicted in the images were “well below the age of 12.”
Wise taught at Lake Nona High School, and had been teaching in the Orange County school district since July 2006.
He was also active with the Boy Scouts, but was later removed from the organization.
Wise was booked in the Orange County Jail with $65,560 bond. He has since bonded out.
Source:News 13
Three priests, a Monsignor and teacher charged with sex crimes www.privateofficer.com
Philadelphia PA Feb 11 2011 Three priests, a Monsignor and a Catholic school teacher are all facing criminal charges after a Philadelphia grand jury found a pattern of child sexual abuse.
Edward Avery, Charles Engelhardt and Bernard Shero, in addition to parochial school teacher James Brennan are facing rape, indecent sexual assault and other charges in connection with the sexual abuse of boys between 1996 and 2000.
District Attorney Seth Williams says the information given to the grand jury came from the Archdiocese of Philadelphia’s investigation into abuse by priests. Williams spoke of one allegation made by the grand jury after hearing testimony.
“What makes this even more disgusting for me…is that it appears that this priest at the time then shared his accomplishment…with another priest that was also assigned at the parish at that same time. And within weeks he did the same exact same thing to this poor young boy who was 10 years of age,” said Williams.
Monsignor William Lynn, Secretary for Clergy of the Archdiocese under former Archbishop Anthony Bevilacqua was also charged with failing to protect children from abuse. The investigation also found about 30 active priests with allegations of sexual abuse in the past. Bishop Daniel Thomas of the Archdiocese says that is not the case.
“There are no Archdiocesan priests currently in ministry who have an established or admitted allegation of sexual abuse of a minor,” Thomas said.
Cardinal Justin Rigali says the diocese has not been able to review the charges and so won’t comment specifically. Cardinal Rigali is pledging full cooperation with the investigation. He also expressed sympathy to victims of sexual abuse.
Barbara Dorris is a national director with the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP).
Dorris says she’s most heartened by the felony charges against Monsignor William Lynn
“We hope this is the first of many times that church officials who engage in this deceptive maneuvers of hiding these that they’re held accountable because unless wrongdoers are held accountable and punished they will continue this behavior,” said Dorris.
Midland County substitute teacher had sex with students www.privateofficer.com
The woman was arrested last month after a girl at the school told a Bay City Central High School administrator about a relationship between the teacher and student.
Police say Heidi Lewis was involved with boys who are central high school students.
The boys say all of the incidents took place off school grounds, and not during school hours.
Former school resource officer pleads guilty to sex crimes www.privateofficer.com
The Daily Citizen newspaper reports the plea was entered Monday by 48-year-old Hamilton Riley, who had been scheduled for trial on Tuesday in White County Circuit Court.
Prosecutor Chris Raff said a sentencing hearing is set for March 2 before Circuit Judge Robert Edwards.
Police said Riley was arrested by state police on Feb. 23, 2010, after he crawled through a window into the bedroom of the girl, who was not present. Riley, who joined the police force in November 2002, resigned the day of his arrest.
Police investigate school security guard who assaulted student www.privateofficer.com
CASA GRANDE, AZ Feb 11 2011- A Casa Grande parent said a 30-second cell phone video is proof a high school security guard overstepped his boundaries and attacked his son.
“This is a grown man hitting my son,” said John Altamirano.
In the video, you can see two students fighting outside Vista Grande High School before classes on Wednesday morning. But Altamirano feels the video also shows the security guard repeatedly, and unnecessarily, hitting his son with a walkie talkie.
Altamirano also told ABC15 he feels the guard acted too rough with the student fighting his son.
“The security guard doesn’t come in to break the fight up, in my opinion. You see him come in with a jump kick,” said Altamirano.
School principal Tim Hamilton told ABC15 he has seen several videos of the fight.
“We’re concerned about the welfare of all our students and staff and we’re going to take appropriate action,” said Hamilton.
Both the school and the Casa Grande Police Department are investigating the incident. Depending on the outcome, the guard could lose his job but as of now the school won’t comment on any possible action taken.
“Being a security guard is very difficult. They have to make decisions in split second. They don’t have weeks or years to review a video and say ‘I should have done this or that.’ They have to react now,” said Hamilton.
Hamilton said a decision on the guard’s future at the school could be announced as early as next week.
Source:15.com
Jefferson Community & Technical College teacher arrested www.privateofficer.com
Chad Fightmaster, 43, of Louisville, is charged with a single count of unlawful use of an electronic means to induce a minor to engage in sexual or other prohibited activities.
Fightmaster was arrested on an indictment warrant issued in Bourbon County, according to a news release from Kentucky State Police.
It does not appear that any criminal activity took place at the school, according to the release.
Fightmaster taught aviation technology and has worked fulltime for JCTC since 2001, according to college spokeswoman Lisa Brosky. That program is housed at Shawnee High School.
Fightmaster was being held at Metro Corrections and was placed on paid administrative leave pending the police investigation.
Brosky said in a statement that even though the charges do not involve the college or Shawnee High School, “safety and security of our students is of utmost concern.”
“Jefferson Community & Technical College takes these charges very seriously and we are attempting to get more details,” she said.
Source:courier-journal
Houston security guard arrested for rape www.privateofficer.com
HOUSTON TX Feb 11 2011—An apartment security guard is facing charges for allegedly having sexual contact with an unconscious woman.
According to court documents, 47-year-old Ivan Coleman was working security at an apartment complex in the 2700 block of Bellfort when the alleged assault occurred.
The victim told an HPD investigator that she had gone out with her friends on the evening of August 15, 2010, and had several mixed drinks.
She said she was intoxicated when she came home.
The victim told police she was being helped out of her friend’s car in the apartment parking lot when Coleman approached and insisted that he help her back to her home.
Investigators said the friends initially objected, but they let Coleman take her after he threatened to call police and have them arrested for public intoxication.
The victim told police she remembered Coleman taking her into her apartment before she passed out.
When she woke up, the victim said she was naked and in her bed, and Coleman was standing by the bed, also naked.
The victim said Coleman told her that they had engaged in sexual activity, and she yelled at him to leave.
She then called police and went to the hospital to have a rape kit exam.
Police said on August 24, 2010, they interviewed Coleman, who denied having any sexual contact with the victim but gave them a saliva sample.
When DNA from the saliva swab was compared to DNA collected from the victim, police said they found a match.
Coleman was arrested last week and charged with sexual assault.
He was being held Thursday in the Harris County Jail on $30,000 bond.
Source:KHOU.com
Mall security officer assaulted-teens arrested www.privateofficer.com
LAFAYETTE, Ind. Feb 11 2011(WLFI) – A pair of boys have been arrested after allegedly assaulting a Tippecanoe Mall security guard.
Lafayette Police Sgt. Jay Rosen said a large group of teens were blocking a walkway near Entrance E by Sears on Wednesday evening. A 52-year-old security guard approached the group and asked them to move, but the teens argued with him. The security guard then asked them to leave, and that’s when police said the guard was punched in the head.
Lafayette Police were called and arrested two boys. The security guard refused medical treatment.
Ga. home invasion leaves 1 & 3 year old children dead www.privateofficer.com
Gwinnett County GA Feb 11 2011 Georgia police have arrested a man accused of a gruesome killing, allegedly stabbing to death two young children and seriously wounding another child and their father.
Cardenas Rico, 28, was arrested by Gwinnett County police early this morning and charged with two counts of murder, after a heart-rending 911 call made by Elvis Garcia, the father or stepfather of the children.
Police say Rico knew the Garcia family, but they did not yet know the nature of their relationship.
Police say Garcia entered the family’s basement apartment and allegedly stabbed to death two little boys, Edward Garcia, 1 and Bradley Garcia, 3.
After the attack, around 6:30 p.m., Elvis Garcia, 23, bleeding from a stab wound to his chest, called 911 from a cell phone and ran outside to a neighbor, police said.
“He killed my children,” Garcia told neighbor Lewon Thomas, according to the Atlanta Journal Constitution.
“He wanted me to go back and see what happened,” Thomas told the paper. “It was horrific.”
Thomas said Elvis told him that Rico was the boys’ mother’s ex-boyfriend.
Police, however, could not confirm how Rico knew the family.
“He knew the family, but we don’t know the exact nature of their relationship,” Cpl. Jake Smith said.
Two of the children were declared dead at the scene, but another unidentified 3-year old boy was evacuated to a children’s hospital in Georgia. Elvis Garcia was taken to the hospital by ambulance and is in “serious condition,” Smith said.
Police have not identified the boys’ mother, but said she was not at home at the time. She is, they said, being questioned by police.
Source:ABC NEWS
Police kill NC bank robber who took hostage www.privateofficer.com
CARY NC Feb 11 2011 — Police shot and killed a bank robber who took hostages inside a Wachovia bank at 1050 Green Level Church Road in Cary just after 6 p.m. Thursday.
“This is absolutely not how we wanted this to end,” said Cary Police Chief Pat Bazemore.
The bank is located in the Cary Park Towne Center in an area west of Highway 55 near the intersection with Carpenter Fire Station Road.
Bazemore said her officers had been in negotiations with the robber – who she identified as 19-year-old Devon Mitchell of the 900 block of Pony Club Circle in Cary – after the standoff began around 3 p.m.
There were seven hostages in the bank at the beginning. Bazemore said two were released very early on and two more were released later in the afternoon.
Before the shooting, there were three people in the bank with Mitchell. One was hidden in an office in the bank and the robber wasn’t aware he was there.
Just after 6 p.m., pictures from Chopper 11 HD showed Mitchell walk through the front door of the bank with a hostage. He was holding a gun to the woman’s head. As he walked down the sidewalk, the hostage sat on the ground and officers opened fire. The hostage was not hurt.
Bazemore said none of her officers were hurt. She said five officers were involved in shooting the robber. They weren’t immediately named. A check shows Mitchell had no criminal record prior to the bank robbery attempt.
During the standoff, a nearby Kids R Kids daycare near the bank was evacuated and nearby public schools were put on lockdown for two hours – including Alston Ridge Elementary, Mill Park Elementary, Mills Park Middle and Panther Creek High School. At 5 p.m., Alston Ridge and Panther Creek dismissed as usual. Buses took students from Mills Park, but students who walk were told their parents would have to pick them up.
A parent at Mills Park Elementary told ABC11 that she was told students were kept under their desks during the lockdown and teachers showed them movies to keep them calm.
Bazemore said her department’s investigation into the incident was just beginning. She said the State Bureau of Investigation would be called in – as is routine in any officer involved shooting.
“I stand behind my officers and what they did,” she said.
Wachovia Wells Fargo released a statement soon after the shooting.
“This is a tragic and unfortunate situation, and our thoughts and prayers go out to those who were involved. We are thankful that all of the customers and our team members present during this incident are safe. They were remarkably brave and courageous throughout this ordeal,” it said.
The company also said it plans to offer counseling for the employees involved in the incident and will continue to work with law enforcement officials as they conduct their investigation.
Source:WTVD
Durham NC sheriff’s lieutenant pleads guilty to embezzlement www.privateofficer.com
As part of the plea deal, prosecutors agree to drop three other indictments that include obstructing justice and possession of cocaine. O’Mary agreed to repay the $97,976 he took from Durham County.
O’Mary was accused of pocketing money used by the sheriff’s office to pay confidential informants and to buy drugs in undercover drug investigations.
He had been with the sheriff’s office since November 4, 1991, rising through to ranks to a lieutenant supervising the Sheriff’s Anti-Crime & Narcotics Unit.
Durham County Sheriff Worth Hill fired O’Mary on April 9, 2009 after the allegations surfaced.
O’Mary is facing up to 56 months in jail.
Charlotte security officer aids police in capture of burglars www.privateofficer.com
CHARLOTTE, NC Feb 11 2011 – Police arrested two teens for stealing copper wiring from a metals company near Carolina Golf Club early Thursday morning.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police officers responded to Southern Metals Company, located at 2200 Donald Ross Road, after a security guard reported seeing two men force their way into the building.
Upon arrival, an officer and his K9 quickly located 17-year-old Dustin Elliot and 19-year-old Nicholas Melendez inside the building.
Police also found four bags containing various tools and copper wiring. Both teens have been charged with breaking and entering with force, larceny, and possession of burglary tools.
Source:WBTV
Man dies in hospital parking lot waiting on ambulance www.privateofficer.com
– A man suffering a heart attack who crashed his car within sight of Portland Adventist Hospital was forced to wait for an ambulance because of hospital policy, Portland police said.
Birgilio Marin-Fuentes, 61, died shortly afterwards from cardiac complications.
The man crashed about 100 yards from the hospital entrance. Officers who were already on scene rushed to the man’s aid, and one went in to the hospital to request help.
“The officer was told it’s hospital policy that they don’t treat people outside their hospital and they need to call an ambulance,” said Sgt. Pete Simpson with the Portland Police.
While one officer performed CPR, another officer called for an ambulance. According to police, six minutes later an ambulance arrived and medics wheeled the man on a gurney the short distance into the hospital.
Radio dispatch calls and audio confirm the timeline provided to KGW by Portland police.
TIMELINE: Man dies seeking care
“Hospital said they won’t come out. We need to contact AMR first,” the officer is heard telling dispatch on the radio call.
“No policy is going to prevent a Portland Police officer from helping someone in need,” said Sgt. Simpson.
Adventist spokeswoman Judy Lindsay Leach gave KGW a different account of what happened. She said the charge nurse directed a paramedic to go immediately to the scene, then dispatched first responders. According the hospital spokesperson, when the call came in, they immediately put their security first reponse team out to the parking lot and by the time a nurse got out there, paramedics were already on scene.
The announcement came several hours later that Marin-Fuentes had died.
The man’s wife, Claudia, was devastated by the news.
“We are very torn up, destroyed…we have a very strong pain in our hearts,” she said through a translator.
Adventist Medical Center released a statement Thursday afternoon that read, in part, “Our hearts and prayers go out to the family and friends who lost a loved one today.”
“We do NOT have a policy against responding to emergencies in our parking lot. In fact, we always call 9-1-1 and send our own staff into these situations whether they are gun shot wounds, heart attacks, or any other medical emergency. We have done so many times in the past year alone.”
Chicago transit security guard charged with sexual assault of teen www.privateofficer.com
Christopher Buchanan stopped the 17-year-old when the boy tried to sneak onto the train after his card wouldn’t register at the L station at 4900 S. Kedzie early Saturday, assistant state’s attorney Tom McGuire said.
The teen explained that his card wasn’t working and Buchanan, 22, said he could head back to his workplace to get some money.
But as the boy started walking away, Buchanan asked him to come back with him to the CTA station, McGuire said.
Buchanan, who is studying criminal justice at DeVry, then directed the teenager into a restroom on the CTA property, McGuire said. There, he allegedly searched the boy before handcuffing him and ordering him to lie on his stomach.
Buchanan then removed the boy’s shoes and socks and rubbed his genitals against the boy’s foot, McGuire said. He then let the teenager go.
Buchanan, of the 4800 block of South Calumet, is facing charges of criminal sexual abuse and unlawful restraint.
When officers came to Buchanan’s house on Wednesday, he wasn’t there. But when his mom called him, Buchanan agreed to meet the police at 3900 S. Cottage Grove where he was arrested, according to a police report.
Judge Donald Panarese Jr. ordered Buchanan held in lieu of $25,000 bail.
At the time of the incident, Buchanan worked for Star Detective & Security Agency, a subcontractor of Securitas Security Services USA. Securitas, a private firm, is contracted to provide security for the CTA, officials said. After the allegations, Buchanan was taken off the CTA account, according to a statement issued by Securitas
TSA director says he’ll fire any worker who strikes www.privateofficer.com
Washington DC Feb 11 2011 Transportation Security Administration boss John Pistole said Thursday that he would fire any workers who strike or purposely slow their work over disagreements with the agency’s labor policies, noting that neither option is legally allowed anyway.
“I won’t allow anything that would adversely affect security,” Pistole said Thursday at a House Homeland Security subcommittee hearing on TSA matters. Republicans grilled him on the specifics of his decision last week to permit limited collective bargaining rights for TSA workers on issues not related to national security.
Under questioning, he said workers would be risking their jobs if they try to strike or fail to show up for work, because “there’s no right to do that.”
If agency employees decide to join a union, negotiations would be handled only at the national level, he said. More specific airport concerns would be handled at the local level and workers with individual concerns should continue to speak with supervisors, but union representatives might one day take up those concerns, Pistole said.
From March 9 through April 19, eligible TSA workers will be able to choose between joining two unions, the National Treasury Employees Union and the American Federation of Government Employees, or they can select “No union.” Workers will be able to vote online or by calling a toll-free number. Ballots will be counted starting on April 20.
If a union wins the election, it will serve as the exclusive representative for the agency’s transportation security officers, behavior detection officers, training instructors and equipment maintenance workers.
Mike Rogers (R-Ala.), chairman of the subcommittee on transportation security, said Republicans continue to have legitimate concerns with TSA unionization, because future administrators might permit broader negotiations on issues more closely related to national security.
“We may have an administrator who decides to put more things in the pot, so to speak,” Rogers told reporters. He said he hasn’t decided whether to support Senate efforts to block collective bargaining rights.
Pistole also defended his decision to suspend a program permitting airports to opt out of TSA in favor of private security screeners.
“TSA should be a federal counterterrorism agency and we’re best able to train, to deploy to execute on our mission as a federal workforce,” he said, adding later he is still open to “new ideas and new opportunities” involving private screeners.
Rogers said Republicans would introduce legislation reopening the program only if they felt Pistole wasn’t open to permitting reasonable private security options.
Source:Washington Post
Wife of Alabama sheriff’s deputy tired to kill him-children in house fire www.privateofficer.com
GADSDEN, AL Feb 11 2011 – The wife of an Etowah County sheriff’s deputy has been charged with attempted murder and arson after she allegedly set fire to the home she shared with her husband and two children, Sheriff Todd Entrekin said.
Danielle Joslyn Raley, 26, is charged with first-degree arson and three counts of attempted murder, investigator Jeremy Walker said.
A cash bond of $200,000 has been set.
Raley is accused of setting a fire on Jan. 31 at the family’s home on Croft Ferry Road in the Ball Play community.
The fire began inside the house when a set of curtains were lit with matches. One wall and the curtains were damaged.
Raley’s husband and two children were in the house at the time of the fire.
According to a report filed at the sheriff’s office about the fire, Jason Raley was asleep on the couch between 3 a.m. and 3:30 a.m. and awoke to the smell of smoke.
He jumped up and got his wife and kids out of the house and threw water on the fire to extinguish it, according to the report.
Danielle Raley was arrested on Monday after she confessed to investigators she set the fire.
“It’s a tragic situation that a mother would even think to do something to harm her family,” Entrekin said. “It doesn’t matter if it was a deputy sheriff’s wife. We’re going to treat this case like we would any other.”
Entrekin said that is one of the reasons the Etowah County Arson Task Force, which consists of several different fire and law enforcement agencies, was involved with the Etowah County Sheriff’s Office in the investigation.
“We wanted to make sure this was looked at with outside eyes,” Entrekin said.
Deputy State Fire Marshal Ray Cumby works with the Arson Task Force.
“We are pleased that this case was solved quickly and without injury to anyone,” Cumby said. “The cooperation between agencies involved in the Arson Task Force has proven beneficial to everyone. We will continue to prosecute anyone who is involved in setting fires and putting other lives at risk.”
A fire in 2009 that destroyed the Raleys’ home in Southside was ruled accidental after an investigation by the Arson Task Force, Entrekin said.
“If there is any information that comes up in the current investigation that warrants (it), an investigation could be reopened in the 2009 fire,” he said.
