Man convicted on rape regarding woman he met at bar

(Original Story 5-31-08)
Shaun Tappendick, 27, was convicted of rape, aggravated burglary and attempted criminal sodomy for a sexual attack on a woman he had met at a Salina, KS bar on July 31, 2007. He was convicted by a Saline County District Court after under three hours of afternoon deliberations Thursday, May 29. Bond was revoked and Tappendick was taken to the Salina county jail to await sentencing July 16.

Much of the testimony during the trial centered around the timeline of the night's events and cell phone calls made by Tappendick and his accuser.

"The time frame doesn't fit, and that's where the burden of proof beyond a reasonable doubt comes in, as well as the lack of evidence," defense attorney Roger Struble told jurors during his closing argument.

Witnesses testified that Tappendick and some of his friends went to two bars, the accuser's home and a private house party that night. Tappendick left the party about 3:30 a.m. and arrived home sometime shortly before 4 a.m., defense witnesses said.

The defense claimed Tappendick had been at the woman's home briefly after leaving a bar earlier in the night, but did not return.

Struble asserted that Tappendick would not have had time to drive from the party to the accuser's home, pry open a window, assault the woman and make it home between 3:30 and 4 a.m., when his now ex-wife testified that he got home.

The prosecution argued that after Tappendick left the party, he made several calls to his accuser. Those calls went unanswered because the woman was in bed, said Prosecutor Christina Trocheck, an assistant Saline County attorney.

The last of those calls was made at 3:33 a.m. No more calls were made from Tappendick's phone until 4:03 a.m.

Trocheck said that during that time, Tappendick drove to the accuser's home, used a tool to pry a screen off the window and attacked the woman, who was asleep in her bed.

Tappendick's 4:03 a.m. phone call was to a friend. The victim also called a friend about the same time. Trocheck said both calls were made just after Tappendick left the woman's house.

In the 15 minutes following the attack, Tappendick left two messages on the accuser's phone. Records indicate that in both messages, he apologized for "that." The defense asserted Tappendick's apologies were for an altercation he had been in at the bar earlier in the night with the accuser's ex-boyfriend.

Trocheck said that didn't make any sense. The altercation would have happened hours prior and Tappendick, according to both his and the accuser's testimony, had seen the woman since that time.

"It's crystal clear what he was apologizing for," Trocheck said.

(Update 8-26-08) Tappendick was sentenced to 12 years, 11 months for the rape.

Another NJ teacher sex scandal - this time fem on fem!

(Originally Posted 10-12-07)

Yet another case of New Jersey teacher-student sexual misconduct. Victoria Blevins, of Robbinsville, was arrested at her home Wednesday, 10 days after a mother found messages on her teenage daughter's computer suggesting a sexual relationship between the two. Monroe Township High School, in Monroe, NJ, was where Blevins graduated in 2002, then worked as a gym teacher, and also where the student, who was not a student of Blevins, attended. Blevins was listed as an assistant girls' basketball coach on the school website.

A subsequent investigation turned up evidence of extensive contact, some of it sexual in nature, between the two, and the student eventually told investigators that the sexual activity between herself and Blevins lasted from April & June.

Blevins was charged with sexual assault and official misconduct. Sometimes, only the official misconduct count in a teacher-student sex case in New Jersey is charged. This occurs if the alleged victim is 16 or over, NJ's age of consent. Sex offender registration is not required for a guilty verdict or plea when this occurs. Blevins is being held at the Middlesex County Adult Correction Center in North Brunswick on $100,000 bail.

Note to Blevins - Why risk your career by going with a student who is less than 7 years younger than you if you can have women your age, or legally date 16 & 17 year old girls outside of your school? You are 23, and official misconduct convictions in NJ means loss of your teaching license forever, not just for 2 or 3 years. You can always travel to NYC or Philly for a relationship with a woman.

NJ gym teacher held in sex case

(Updated 6-2-08) (Pled Guilty to Lesser Charge 4-18-08)I missed this BIG time. Blevins, according to this website, pleaded guilty to harassment April 18 after the victim recanted. She still contacts the "victim", who is still a student, and according to her lawyer, pland to go into the military. Her teaching certificate will be given up to the state, and she will be sentenced July 18.

(Updated 7-19-08) Blevins was sentenced to 3 years probation on reduced charges of harassment after non cooperation from the victim forced prosecutors to drop more serious charges of official misconduct and sexual assault. Blevins won't be required to register as a sex offender, though she has permanently forfeited her New Jersey teaching certificate.

The student, who was not in any of Blevins' classes, no longer goes to Monroe High.

Blevins, who apologized before Superior Court Judge Frederick DeVesa, plans to go into the military.

KC man convicted of rape he committed while still teenage - 18 year DNA storage cracks case

Harry McNeal, now 33, will spend more time in prison because of rape due to DNA evidence kept for the last 18 years. Jackson County jurors convicted him of an attack on a then 29 year old woman in 1990 as she slept with her then 6 year old son. The then 15 year old assailant pointed a handgun at her, raped her in front of her son, then stole $75 from her. Jurors acquitted McNeal of an armed robbery charge because it was unclear if the gun was out when he stole the money.

After the verdict, the victim, now 47, and her son, now 24, discussed the case in the courthouse hallway. Science closed the case, they said, and protected others from McNeal.

Police matched semen from the 1990 rape to McNeal last year and charged him as he was about to finish a 17-year sentence for another rape. He went to prison for that crime in 1991 as part of a plea deal.

The trial this week also demonstrated how sure DNA is compared to eyewitness evidence, which is a leading cause of false convictions.

Police matched semen from the rape to McNeal last year and charged him just before he would have finished a 17 year sentence for another rape. In 1991, the victim pointed to another man as part of a lineup, not McNeal. At trial, defense attorney Molly Hastings noted than and tried to blame the other man for the rape, but prosecutors countered with the evidence that there was a 1 in 7.3 quadrillion (1 with 15 zeros after it) that anyone but McNeal was the rapist.

Repeat offender convicted on rape and kidnapping in NJ - paroled from VA on same charges

After a jury found a Lakewood, NJ man guilty of an abduction which occurred back in 2004, Executive Assistant State’s Attorney Ocean County Prosecutor Michel A. Paulhus filed papers seeking a life sentence based on the rapist’s prior record.

James L. Calhoun’s trial in the courtroom of Superior Court Wendel E. Daniels began on May 14, and continued until 3:30 PM Tuesday, when after two days of deliberation, a jury returned a guilty verdict on multiple counts. Calhoun commited the crimes while absconding from Virginia parole supervision for the same crimes - kidnapping and sex assault.

The jury found Calhoun, 30, of Lakewood, NJ was found guilty carjacking, aggravated sexual assault, kidnapping, burglary, robbery and sexual assault. The panel, however, acquitted Calhoun of possessing a knife for an unlawful purpose and unlawfully possessing the knife.
Calhoun was on parole in Virginia from a 10-year prison term imposed in 2002 for sexual battery and abduction, according to the court papers. Calhoun also has prior convictions in New Jersey for burglary and theft.

The victim in the Lakewood case testified at trial that Calhoun abducted her at knifepoint from the Seagull Square shopping plaza on Route 9 in Lakewood on Oct. 3, 2004. He forced her into her car and drove to Vine Street in Lakewood, where he repeatedly raped her, she said. Then, he drove to a series of three ATMs, where he forced her to tell him her personal identification number so that he could withdraw $700 from her accounts, she said.

The victim also testified Calhoun drove around Lakewood and South Toms River to buy marijuana and other drugs. She said she smoked marijuana with him in hopes of gaining his trust and her eventual release.

Defense attorney Paul Zager contended that the victim had consensual sex with Calhoun, although prosecutor’s Investigator Kenneth Hess testified that Calhoun confessed to the rape.

In the confession, Calhoun told Hess he placed a knife to a woman’s throat at the shopping plaza, forced her into the back seat of her car, drove her around, tied her up with socks and raped her. After that, he demanded the victim’s ATM card and drove to several cash machines to withdraw money he later used to buy marijuana, heroin and cocaine.

After almost five hours of holding the woman captive, Calhoun apologized to her and told her to drop him off, according to Hess. Another state witness, Sgt. Eugene Thatcher of the Ocean County Sheriff’s Office, testified at the trial that Calhoun’s fingerprint was recovered from inside the victim’s car.

Calhoun will undergo a pre sentencing sex offender evaluation at the Adult Diagnostic and Treatment Center in Avenal, NJ to determine if his sex offending is repetitive and compulsive.

Because Calhoun is a repeat offender, he faces life in prison on either the carjacking or sexual assault charge, and Paulhaus intends to seek such a sentence. If the judge does not sentence him to life, he faces 10 to 20 years in prison for each offense. For the other crimes, Calhoun faces 5 to 10 years.

Suburban Toronto man convicted on manslaughter charge for beating girlfriend to death

(Original Post 3-8-08)

A man who admitted killing his girlfriend by beating her to death was convicted of manslaughter, not 2nd degree murder by an Ontario court, the same sentence his lawyer tried to have him plead guilty to before his trial.

Audrey Cote, 21, was killed when 28 year old Ryan Bucknor punched her in the face and stomped on her chest in Brampton, a northwest suburb of Toronto. Bucknor could have been convicted of 2nd degree (but not 1st degree) murder, which carries a life sentence with no parole from between 10 and 25 years.

Crown prosecutor Dave King rejected Bucknor's bid to plead guilty to manslaughter before the trial began. King was confident he could prove Bucknor knew what he was doing when he repeatedly punched Cote in the face, stomped on her chest and possibly tried to strangle her in her basement apartment on Fletcher's Creek Blvd. in Brampton.

Bucknor never denied killing Cote, who worked at a Brampton strip club.

Police investigators told how Cote was laying down at her apartment when Buckner beat her so viciously that blood flew up and reached the ceiling.

He told a Crown-appointed psychiatrist that he thought he was killing "a demon" when he was beating Cote. After beating her and leaving her dying, Bucknor left the apartment and tore off his clothes as he ran down the street, throwing money to passersby and shouting he was "a messenger from God." He was initially arrested under the Mental Health Act after he was found naked and sitting in the back seat of a stranger's car. He told a police officer he was God.

But King suggested to jurors that Bucknor faked his mental problems to get out of a murder charge. In a police interview after his arrest, Bucknor described how he punched and hit Cote and how the beating gave him a "rush." He also agreed it felt like a "thrill kill," although he admitted he felt it was as if he was "acting in a movie." A close friend testified that Bucknor acted strangely just days before the fatal attack.

Bucknor was hearing voices, the friend said, and thought people could read his thoughts. He had also moved all of his furniture to one side of the living room in his apartment.
Hall urged jurors to rely on the evidence of two forensic psychiatrists, who said Bucknor was suffering from a major mental illness, likely schizophrenia, which could have been triggered by his chronic marijuana use.

"If he's killing a demon, then he can't be seeing reality the way we do," Hall told jurors.
"This man was delusional ... he was not rational.

"At the time of the incident, this man was suffering from a mental illness, a psychotic illness. His thoughts, his emotions, his behaviour was impaired."

Psychiatrists conceded Bucknor wasn't suffering from any mental health problems at trial but jurors heard he was placed on anti-psychotic medicine during his first year while in custody awaiting trial.

Bucknor will be sentenced May 5.

(Update 5-29-08) Bucknor was sentenced to 10 years in prison, between the defense recommendation for 7.5 years and the prosecution's recommendation for between 12 and 15 years. Justice John Sproat said the "intentional application of force" overrode Bucknor's mental illiness, however, he also expressed the opinion that "I hope you are able to rehabilitate yourself and make something of your life."

Bucknor was given credit for 68 months in jail (Canada gives time served in jail before trial double time, so he has to serve 52 months more. Bucknor is barred for life from owning weapons, and must submit a sample to Canada's DNA database.

Polish national convicted in suburban Chicago rape

Taduez Slusarz, a Polish national in his 50s who was convicted of criminal sexual assault, which is a Class 1 felony punishable by up to 15 years in prison, begged for mercy while his victim, who was 20 during the 1999 attack, recounted how Slusarz robbed her of her dignity after the rape.

The sexual assault occurred at a party in Slusarz’s home in 1999 after she passed out drunk. He was caught in the act by his daughter in law, the victim’s best friend. Slusarz jumped bail and evaded authorities for 7 years before FBI agents caught him last year.

The victim, in the immediate aftermath of the attack, closed herself off from friends, had trouble sleeping, and blamed herself. She thought she had put the episode behind her, then the trial started and she testified.

"That little old man ... has once again taken my dignity," she said. Though raised to believe in the innate goodness of people, she said, "There is one man I cannot believe comes from anything good," namely Slusarz.

Longtime employers were brought to the stand to testify as character witnesses for Slusarz.

Palos Park real estate broker Wayne O'Day said he had known Slusarz for a dozen years and relied on him to do maintenance work at apartment buildings he owned. He called him a "stand-up person" with "an incredible, strong work ethic."

"He's not an evil man," O'Day said. He said Slusarz's flight from justice and conviction did not change his opinion.

Slusarz's attorney, John Eannace, noted that aside from his recent conviction and a pair of drunken driving convictions from the 1990s, his client's record since he arrived in the United States in 1986 is clean. Although he denies it, Slusarz may have a drinking problem, and his judgment may have been impaired by his drinking the night of the rape, Eannace said.

"He is not likely to commit another crime," Eannace said.

Woman convicted in federal court of trying to kill husband

Gwen Bergman, a Denver woman, was convicted Friday of using two poteitial hitmen and the proceeds of her mother's retirement fund to try and kill her ex-husband back in 2004.

Bergman was found guilty Friday after a four-day bench trial presided by U.S. District Judge Walker Miller. Bergman was offering $30,000 for the hit on her former husband. Police say the 52-year-old woman hired a hit man once before but the man made off with the $50,000 she gave him.

Bergman was charged with using interstate transfers, the mail, and wires to commit murder and murder for hire. She faced life in prison without parole if the attempt was sucessful, but only 20 years in prison during sentencing due to the attack not being carried out Therer is no federal parole, and each prisoner has to serve at least 85% of their sentence.

Father convicted of incest in rape of 18 year old daughter

An 18 year old Sheboygan, WI woman raped by her father received justice Thursday after her 39 year old father was convicted of incest for sexually assaulting her while she slept. The father, who is being held on $10,000 bond pending sentencing, faces 7 1/2 years in prison and a $10,000 fine.

The 18-year-old daughter told police that she woke up to find her father — whom she recently met for the first time — sexually assaulting her. She began crying and told him to get off, which he eventually did.

Another family member heard the daughter crying and saw the act from a distance. The incident occurred at a home on the city's south side.

The father, who came to visit his daughter after arranging a visit through her mother, later admitted to police he had sex with her and initiated the act while she was asleep.

Sheboygan County District Attorney Joe DeCecco approved the plea deal where felony incest charges were plead guilty to in exchange for dropping 3rd degree sexual assault charges. Incest, according to DeCecco, are normally more serious than sexual assault charges because the victims are usually minors. The sexual assault charge is less serious than the incest charges in this case because the victim is 18. Wisconsin law prohibits marriage between relatives closer than 2nd cousins, and makes sex with such relatives a felony.

Surburban Columbus, OH man convicted of rape, kidnapping

A Pataskala, OH man was convicted after 5 hours of jury deliberation in the rape of a then 23 year old woman on New Years Day 2007 Thursday. Gregory S. Willis, 40, attacked the woman at her apartment complex in Columbus and, then raped her in his van on COlumbus' east side. Willis was convicted of 2 counts of rape and a count of kidnapping. He is charged with raping a second woman.

No date has been set for a trial on the second rape charge. Willis is accused of attacking a woman he met in a West Side bar three months after the attack for which he was convicted.

Willis is a suspect in a third rape. That woman told police that Willis had raped her, after officers described a tattoo of a scorpion on one of his arms. Willis wore long sleeves in his trial this week.

The woman in the Jan. 1 attack told jurors she was walking to her car about 8 a.m. when a man grabbed her from behind and punched her in the face before throwing her into a minivan parked nearby. She said he forced her to perform oral sex as he drove around Bexley. She escaped when he slowed the minivan, Assistant County Prosecutor William Davies said.

Police and a witness found the woman running down the street and bleeding from the mouth, according to testimony.

Willis faces 30 years in prison when he is sentenced on May 28 by Common Pleas Judge Charles A. Schneider. Rape is a tier 3 offense, meaning if released, Willis will spend the rest of his life on the Sex Offender Registry, and will have to report every 90 days.

Neighbor convicted of rape of woman

David Small, 29, was convicted of the rape of his neighbor in 2005 in his Chester, CA condo complex April 9.

Crucial DNA was recovered from a soda can, linking Small to the May 2005 crime.Small testified in his own defense during the trial this week, but the jury convicted him of all the charges he faced: burglary, attempted rape and unlawful imprisonment, all felonies. The jury began deliberating Tuesday afternoon and returned its verdict shortly before 1 p.m. yesterday.

He faces 15 years in prison when sentenced by County Court Judge Nicholas DeRosa. The sentencing is schedulrd to be on May 12.

Rapist convicted of attack on 82 year old woman

Freemansburg, PA native Bobby Jo Buskirk, 28, was convicted of raping and robbing an 82 year old Bethlehem woman on November 2, 2002. Buskirk will face a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a $25,000 fine and sex offender registration under Megan's Law.

Assistant District Attorney Patricia Broscius said Buskirk, wearing a black knit face mask, broke into the victim's home on Nov. 2, 2002, and demanded money.

"He stated, 'I know you have money. I know all about you,'" Broscius said.

When the victim handed over $2, Buskirk pushed her on a sofa and demanded she perform oral sex on him before raping her. Broscius said the victim pleaded with Buskirk to stop.
"He only replied by repeating 'Do you like it?'" Broscius said.

Buskirk ejaculated on the victim, bound her hands with a cable and told her to count to 50 before he left.

Police took DNA samples and sent the results to the state police crime lab. The case languished until last October, when state police reported the samples matched Buskirk.

Buskirk was released from state prison July 6 after finishing time for a parole violation on a felony aggravated assault with a deadly weapon charge from 2004. Buskirk was arrested Nov. 5, and a blood test matched him to the DNA samples taken from the victim.

Judge William Moran ordered a pre-sentencing report and a violent sex offendre evaluation before Buskirk's sentencing on July 2.

False rape victim gets probation for charges

One must remember that for every false rape report, there are 20 credible rape reports, and 60 rapes which occured, but have either never been reported to the police, or worse, reports which have been deemed unfounded. In this case, while the perpetrator must be punished, one must remember that she is a true CSA victim and that her grandfather did go to prison for child rape.

A 22 year old woman has been ordered to spend a year in jail, with all but 8 days suspended, pay a $5000 fine with most of it suspended, perform community service and pay the professor's attorney's fees. Katherine Clifton, formally of Woodinville, WA was officially convicted and sentenced to making false statements to a public servant.

King County District Court Judge Peter Nault said the case saddened him and led to the castigation of the professor, who stated through a filing that though he has his job back, the experience (and court charges) will always stay with him.

"Even though I did absolutely nothing wrong ... my rape and burglary with sexual-motivation charges, albeit false, will remain in the court records forever."

Clifton declined to comment at the hearing but filed a detailed statement saying that she had been sexually abused by her grandfather, who was convicted of rape of a child in 1994.
"In order to understand why, I have to explain what has happened to me in my past that has forever affected me," she wrote.

Clifton, who now lives in Ellensburg, was sentenced to serve 365 days in jail, with 357 days suspended, and to pay a $5,000 fine, with $4,750 suspended, plus other conditions that include probation and community service. Nault also ordered her to pay the professor's attorney fees.

The professor declined to discuss the charges, saying he wants to put the past behind him, and asked not to be identified.

The King County Prosecutor's Office concedes a mistake was made in the original prosecution but said it was acting on the best information available at the time.

"In hindsight, what was presented to us was an allegation of a violent rape," said Ian Goodhew, deputy chief of staff. "That doesn't mean the investigation stopped."

Clifton was "an extremely articulate and credible victim," said Sgt. John Urquhart, Sheriff's Office spokesman. "There was no reason to suspect she wasn't telling the truth."

King County Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Shelby Smith said Clifton's actions will also "harm the community of sexual-assault victims," who will find their cases more difficult to pursue.
"Other victims will be treated with more scrutiny," she said.

The investigation started after Clifton met with a detective and stated that the professor was stalking and trying to exchange grades for sex between March and July. On July 10, detectives contacted the professor and who acknowldged sending e-mails, denied seeing Clifton off campus. The professor was charged with 1st degree rape among other charges on July 12, with bond set at $500,000 dollars.

But as detectives continued working, it became clear that the text in the e-mails had been changed. None of the professor's fingerprints were found at Clifton's house. A sexual-assault examination found no evidence of rape.

The detective also checked on a supposed court order shown by Clifton to people at the college that seemed to bear the heading "In the Superior Court of Washington State for King County" and apparently ordered her not to talk about the professor.

But the judge's signature was illegible and the case number didn't match any King County filings.

Clifton admitted making up legal documents relating to the case and the false rape charges on July 25, with all charges being dropped July 26. Charges were filed against Clifton on July 27.

Clifton's attorney, Kelly Faoro, said her client has "extremely deep remorse" for the false statements and realizes that "none of this makes it any better" for the professor.

WA state trooper convicted of sexual misconduct

Carlos Torres, 46, was a state trooper before he was charged with sexual misconduct with women that he pulled over for aallegedly driving drunk. Now, one can say that he has officially gone over to the other side of the law - as a sex offender.

The [1st degree custodial sexual misconduct] charges stem from a complaint made by the woman, then 38, who said she was driving home to Federal Way in June 2005 when Torres pulled over her pickup truck, accused her of drunken driving and had her get into his patrol vehicle.

He sent home her two passengers -- the woman's boyfriend and teenage daughter -- and then, after taking her to a Fife police station for a breath test, drove the suspect to a deserted truck-weighing station along Interstate 5, making her partially undress before initiating sexual contact with her, according to court documents.

The woman's blood-alcohol level was well below the legal limit, authorities said.

Two other women accused Torres of using drunk driving arrests as an excuse to behave inappropriately with them, and the victim who Torres was convicted of abusing expressed relief at his conviction.

"She's relieved the trial's over and happy that the jury believed her," said a King County Prosecutor's Office spokesperson.

The trooper's attorney, Michael Schwartz, had argued that the woman made the whole thing up because she was worried about the consequences of a drunken-driving charge and wanted to sue for money.

He pointed out that FBI investigators had interviewed the woman several times but found insufficient evidence to proceed with federal charges. Torres, Schwartz said, was "shocked at the jury's verdict."

He was very disappointed and very sad," the attorney said. "He's just spending the time at home now with his family."

Torres faces a year in jail for the sexual misconduct charges. He was fired in January, and will be sentenced May 2. Torres plans to appeal the conviction.

Man convicted of assaulting 3 military men, one 14 year old boy - sentenced to life

Oliver Newell, 29, from Colorado Springs, was convicted of the kidnapping and rape of 4 males, three military men and a 14 year old boy. The counts Newell was convicted of included kidnapping, which carries a 48 year maximum sentence, and sexual assault, which results in an indeterminate sentence with a life maximum.

Newell picked up 2 Air Force Academy cadets at a downtown Colorado Springs bar in July 2006, and either drugged or made them drunk. One cadet awoke naked while Newell was performing oral sex; the other man told jurors Newell tried to sodomize him.

The other two victims were made to believe that they were meeting a woman from Live Links, a chat line. One victim, a then 14 year old boy, was taken to Newell’s house September 2006 befor being raped at gunpoint, and a then 26 year old Fort Carson soldier went to Newell’s home Christmas Eve where he got drunk and passed out. He woke of too Newell performing oral sex.

Newell, public defender, Dennis McGuire, said that he will appeal the verdicts. “This is a travesty. It’s difficult for the jury to look solely at each charge without feeling overwhelmed by all of them. He certainly would have had a better shot if it had been three separate trials. Newell will be sentenced February 29th.

(Update 3-1-08)

Newell was sentenced to 178 years to life in prison for the attacks.

“I don’t know where all this started, or how it came about,” said 4th Judicial District Judge J. Patrick Kelly. “But hearing the evidence and observing the victims it was, quite frankly, despicable. ... The effects on these victims won’t go away anytime soon.”

One of the victims attempted suicide and is in a wheelchair.

“This man came to the United States looking for opportunity and instead he preyed on these men and this boy,” said Colorado Springs police detective Adam Romine. “Many lives were ruined because of this man’s actions ... Two men who proudly serve their country were so disgusted and shamed by this, they didn’t want to be here today.” Romine said it would be a travesty if Kelly gave Newell, who came to Colorado Springs from Jamaica, anything less than the maximum.

Deputy District Attorney Melissa Burchell spoke for the victims, none of whom were present Friday. One victim made a brief statement via telephone. “On the outside, the defendant appears calm,” Burchell said. “But on the inside he’s obviously a monster.” She urged Kelly to “keep him out of the community” so he couldn’t victimize anyone else.

Kansas rapist convicted after two previous hung juries

After two previous mistrials and a lengthy deliberation, a Kansas man was convicted of raping a 19 year old Olathe, KS woman at her home May 19, 2006. Cesar Lopez-Martinez, 30 was convicted of rape even while maintaining his innocence and that the sex was consensual.

The ruling comes after juries in August and December couldn’t reach unanimous verdicts. District Court Judge John Anderson III declared each of the previous trials mistrials. Anderson said before this trial that another hung jury may have caused him to dismiss the case.

“Justice took a long time in this case,” Assistant District Attorney Jill Kenney said. “The jury was ultimately able to reach a decision, and that’s how the system works.”

Kenney added that she’s pleased for the victim’s sake that the case was resolved.

Defense attorney Jessica Travis argued at each trial that the sexual act that occurred between Lopez-Martinez and the victim was consensual, which has been Lopez-Martinez’s stance since the beginning.

“He maintains his innocence, and he was hoping to be found innocent today,” she said.

Travis said she will file a motion of acquittal before Lopez-Martinez’s sentencing hearing because she doesn’t believe the prosecution presented enough evidence for a jury to find him guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Kenney said she would file a response to Travis’ motion.

Lopez-Martinez, who is facing 147 to 165 months when he is sentenced April 17, will be credited for 22 months he has served in jail.

Man sentenced to 78 years for torturing, killing "girlfriend"

A Joliet Township man, who tortured, then killed his girlfriend after he allegedly stole just over $100 from her was sentenced to 78 years in prison. Will County Judge Carla Alessio Policandriotes sentenced him to 78 years. 58 years were for murder, 12 years were for arson, and 8 years were for concealing a body.

Describing the torture-murder as "incomprehensible," Policandriotes called Hall "a danger to society."

Bailey died in July 2005 after Hall hit her in the head with a clothes iron, slammed her fingers in a door hinge, tied her up with speaker wire and put her in his bathtub.

Hall, an alleged drug dealer and aspiring rap musician with a history of physically abusing women, tired to conceal the murder by burning Bailey's body on a wood pile in rural Kankakee County and setting fire to his Preston Heights-area apartment, records show.Hall was angry because Bailey allegedly had taken between $100 and $120 from him, according to testimony.

Will County State's Atty. Jim Glasgow credited prosecutors Domenica "Dede" Osterberger, Jessica Colon-Sayre and Chris Messina for "expert trial work" that led to Hall's conviction and lengthy sentence. Glasgow also praised the Will County Sheriff's Department for a first-rate investigation.Prior to sentencing, Policandriotes read an anguished victim-impact statement written by Rose Bailey's mother, Deborah, who sat in the audience, as she had during Hall's trial for the murder of her youngest daughter."

When I learned of Rose's suffering and death, I could not be consoled. To find out that you don't even have your daughter's body to bury is more painful than I can explain here and now," the mother said.

Hall declined to speak on his own behalf. Defense attorneys, searching for a clemency issue, argued that their client had been respectful during his weeklong trial and that incarceration would be a hardship for his seven children.Policandriotes pointed out that Hall actually had fathered nine children, but only knew the names of seven. She said he had routinely dodged making child support.

Baytown Stalker, male on male rapist, convicted in Texas

Keith Hill, 20, known as the Baytown Stalker for attacks on other young men around his age, was convicted of aggravated sexual assault on a teenager for a May 2006 attack. Jurors in State District Judge Don Stricklin’s court took only 1.5 hours to convict Hill. Two more victims testified in the punishment phase.

After the guilty verdict, Hill's mother, Sherry, a teacher, and his father, Phillip, a petrochemical worker, huddled with other family members, hugging and choking back tears. They have declined comment since Hill's arrest Feb. 7 at their two-story brick home in Baytown's upscale Tanglewilde subdivision.

Hill was the first serial rapist of males profiled on America’s Most Wanted, and targeted white males around his age with a slender build, medium size, and who lived at home with their families in Baytown area back in 2006. He averaged a sexual attack every 1 to 2 months.

Hill was tried for sexual assault of only one of the five alleged victims, but two others testified in the punishment phase. Hill could get anywhere from probation to life.

The incident where the victim Hill was convicted of raping is shown below.

Jurors in the State District Judge Don Strickland's court are only hearing testimony in the case involving a Robert E. Lee High school graduate, who was 17 when accosted in his driveway on May 18, 2006, in Chaparral Village.

The Baytown teen, now 19 and who is not being named due to the nature of the incident, told jurors his attacker kidnapped, sexually assaulted and pistol-whipped him. He also thought his attacker was going to kill him.

Hill stated that he made the decision to "capture him" by using a "silver pistol" and some "zip ties" for handcuffs. He also opted to use his own car in the abduction instead of the teen's car after "talking to God," he stated.

After forcing the teen to perform oral sex, Hill stated he struck the teen in the head with his fists a few times.

"I was mad at him for doing what I told him to do," Hill said in the statement.
A Harris County DNA analyst testified that the teen's shirt had semen stains that were linked to Hill.

The teen told jurors he was accosted when he went to his car parked in the driveway. He said the attacker grabbed him, pulled a semiautomatic pistol from his sweatshirt pocket and said, "Let's take a walk."

The attacker marched him to his neighbor's driveway, demanded his wallet and refused to believe he did not have the wallet with him, the teen said. The attacker then secured his wrists, placed duct tape over his eyes, and forced him into the backseat of an SUV.

After driving around some more, the attacker stopped and got in the backseat.
"You're going to have to pay for not having any money," the teen quoted his kidnapper as saying. The attacker then grabbed the teen's hair, put a gun to his head and demanded oral sex.
He said afterward, he thought his attacker struck the back of his head with the butt of the gun.
After another short drive, the teen said his attacker cut the restraints and told the teen to "get out fast."

After the attack ended, the trial victim wound up less than half a mile away from his home, where he called police.

A 20 year old victim who was attacked November 30, 2006 heard a noise downstairs, and when he returned to his bedroom, Hill, with his T-shirt pulled over his head, attacked.

Then, he said, his attacker led him out of the house where his mother and brothers were asleep in other rooms. The victim, barefoot and wearing only boxer shorts, was taken to an isolated wooded area.

The attacker, then holding a knife that slightly cut into the victim's throat, made him lie on the ground.

"That's when I knew his intention was to rape me," he said. They struggled after the victim refused to perform oral sex.

"He picks me up and slams my head into a tree, three or four times," he testified, adding that he was then forced to walk farther into the woods. The victim said his attacker warned him that he might perform other sex acts if he didn't cooperate.

But again they struggled, and the victim broke free and ran home. Photos were introduced that show bloody scrapes and scratches all over his body. A week later, while driving out of his subdivision, the victim spotted Hill in another car, he testified.

"He's wearing sunglasses and pulling his (hood) up, acting suspicious," the victim said. He pursued the car as it sped away and called the police.

Hill's car was found later that day in the police parking lot where he had gone to pay a parking ticket.

A 3rd victim was attacked July 7, 2006 by Hill. The Baytown Stalker pointed a gun at him, tied him up, then searched the house for money. When this victim tried to escape, the attacker threw him up against the door and demanded oral sex. "You're going to do something for me now."

Again the two fought, and this time the victim said his attacker taped his nose and mouth shut with duct tape. The victim, unable to breathe, passed out, he said. He then awoke to find his attacker kicking him in the head, poking him with a knife and telling him to "get up." He said the attacker then fled.

(Update 1-21-08) Hill was sentenced to 99 years in prison, with 35 years to serve before parole, for the Baytown rapes.

Keith Hill, found guilty of the assault Tuesday, confessed in a written statement to police to being the Baytown stalker who attacked five young men in 2006. As part of his sentence, he must also pay a $10,000 fine.

Hill, 20, stood solemnly as the jury's sentence was read by State District Judge Don Stricklin. Because Hill had no prior criminal record, jurors could have sentenced him to as little as probation for his assault on one of the five victims.

Prosecutors now plan to visit with the other victims before deciding whether to proceed on the remaining kidnapping, robbery and sexual assault charges.

After Hill was sentenced Thursday, the father of one of the five victims agreed to speak for all the victims' families.

"My heart goes out to the parents of Keith Hill. I hold them totally blameless for what happened," he began, his voice cracking. "The jury had a job to do, and they did it. The streets will be safer now."

According to Hill's statement to investigators, he stalked his victims as they left jobs or stores. Investigators also found evidence on Hill's computer that he had looked at his victims' MySpace pages and gotten maps and telephone numbers to their homes.

Testimony showed Hill ambushed two victims from their driveways, abducted two more by knocking on their front doors and pointing a gun at them, and kidnapping the final one by picking the lock to his house and hiding under his bed.

Victims told in their testimony of being blindfolded, handcuffed, robbed and sometimes beaten while demands were made for sexual favors.

York, PA man pleads no contest to rape

Scott Allen Yohn, 36, pleaded no-contest to a single count of sexual assault. Yohn used a knife to kidnapp a woman from near the York Police Department last March. Initially, he faced York County Common Pleas Court. Initially, he also faced rape, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, aggravated indecent assault and false imprisonment charges.

No contest plea to sex assault, by the York Daily Record, has more.

The woman told police she was walking through a lot at West King and South Beaver streets about 11 p.m. March 30 when Yohn threatened her with an object in his pocket. She said he placed a bandanna over her eyes and led her to a nearby building and forced her to climb the fire escape into an apartment.

There, the woman said, Yohn ordered her to strip and repeatedly sexually assaulted her. After hours of abuse, the woman said, she attempted to escape by running toward and opening a door. She said that the door did not lead out of the apartment and that Yohn caught her and choked her. In the early morning hours of March 31, police said, the woman succeeded in a second escape attempt and ran directly to the city police station. According to police reports, Yohn, when questioned, confirmed the woman had been in his apartment and said they had consensual sex. At York Hospital, where the woman was evaluated, doctors noted injuries to the woman's genitals and marks around her face and neck.

As part of Yohn's plea agreement to the single second-degree felony charge, he will be sentenced to three to six years in prison and lifetime registration with the Pennsylvania State Police in accordance with Megan's Law, senior prosecutor Christopher Moore said Thursday.

The victim aggreed to the sentence resolution, and the mandatory Megan's Law registration requirement. “In the end, it is our decision what to do, but we take heavy account of the victim's position. Sexual assault best fit the crime here.”

Another police officer convicted of sexual assault

Kenneth Deshun Woods, 28, a former Galveston, TX patrolman, was convicted of aggravated kidnapping for an incident where he handcuffed and sexually assaulted a woman while on duty.

According to the Houston Chronicle's Galveston ex-police officer convicted in assault on woman:

Woods faces five to 99 years in prison and a $10,000 fine, said Joel Bennett, an assistant Galveston County district attorney.According to testimony during the trial, the 43-year-old woman was sitting alone in her car on the beach early on May 27, 2006, at Apffel Park when a police officer confronted her.

The officer, whom she identified as Woods, placed her in his police car, drove her to another part of the beach, handcuffed her and sexually assaulted her. Afterward, she said, he drove her back to her car.

A second woman, a known prostitute, was with a client when Woods arrested, then raped her, according to trial testimony. Woods joined the Galveston police department in 2005 and was a patrolman before the indictment, when he was fired.

Soldier charged in Penn. state court for raping another soldier

Jury selection began Monday in the case of a 45 year old man charged with the rape of a 22 year old woman last March.

The Lebanon Daily News, "Gap rape case set for trial this week," has more.

Robert Shackelford Jr. of Dover has been charged with rape, sexual assault, aggravated indecent assault and indecent assault, according to the criminal complaint. The trial will be held in President Judge Robert Eby’s courtroom and is expected to last all week.

Shackelford, a member of the 233rd Quartermaster Company based in Philadelphia, was charged with raping the 22-year-old Wilkes-Barre-area woman in a men’s barracks on March 3 or March 4.

The woman told state police that a male soldier escorted her back to her barracks about 11 p.m. on March 3, when they saw Shackelford standing on a second-floor platform of his barracks smoking a cigarette. The woman said her male escort asked Shackelford for a cigarette, and both of them climbed up a ladder to reach Shackelford.

Both left, but the woman returned after Shackleford asked her to.

The woman told police that she was drinking in the barracks and later blacked out. She told police she remembered being sexually assaulted and waking up later underneath a bunk in the men’s barracks. She told police she believed Shackelford had raped her.

Shackelford told police that the woman was drinking heavily and he found her lying on the floor after he had returned from going to the bathroom. He told police that he did not have any sexual contact with the woman and saw no one else having sex with her, according to the complaint.

Four soldiers told state police and the Army Criminal Investigation DIvision they saw sexual contact between the woman and Shackleford.

(Update 1-11-08) Shackelford was ACQUITTED of the rape and sexual assault charges, but convicted of indecent assault. She left the courtroom in tears, and prosecutors has harsh words for her "colleagues."

Assistant State's Attorney Megan Ryland-Tanner said,"Each and every one of them knew what was going on and did nothing to help her," Ryland-Tanner said.
"Every single one of them betrayed her. These are the people she could potentially go to war with," she added.

Shackleford will still have to register as a sex offender, and may be released from jail because indecent assault carries a 3 to 14 month sentence, and he has been held since April.

Shackelford did not testify. Williams said Shackelford told him during an interview several weeks after the incident that he had tried to have sex with the woman, with her encouragement, but was unable to do so.

[Ryland-Tanner] said Shackelford would be evaluated under Megan's Law to determine whether he should be labeled a sexually violent predator.