Brazoria County, TX judge resigns after pleading guilty to groping

61 year old Brazoria County Judge Court-at-Law Judge James Blackstock resigned Friday as part of a plea agreement where he was sentenced for groping 4 women employees who he came in contact with while serving as judge.

Judge George Goodwin, of Harris County, TX (which includes Houston) fined Blackstock $750 for the misdemeanor oppression charges, and $350 for each misdemeanor assault charge, for a total of $2150 in fines.

I'm just glad something was done about it," said Brazoria County Clerk Joyce Hudman, who said she also was a victim of the judge's unwanted advances but didn't seek charges against him.

In April 2006, Hudman said, Blackstock called her into his office for a meeting. As the two sat side by side, she said, "he held my face and kissed me." She said he then touched her breasts.
"I was so startled that I just got up and walked out," she said. As she walked away, the judge groped her bottom, she said.

Hudman said that although she had heard courthouse rumors about the judge groping women, she had never known him to act inappropriately before. She was his court clerk from 1995 to 1997 and never had any trouble, she said.

She said she told Brazoria County District Attorney Jeri Yenne about the incident, but decided not to file charges.

Yenne filed misdemeanor charges against Blackstock on Aug. 12 after what she said was an extensive investigation. The charges alleged that he groped several staff members of the county adult and juvenile probation departments between July 2007 and June of this year.
The judge also was accused of sending obscene photos to women from his county computer.

Chief Brazoria County Juvenile Probation Officer Diana CoatesChief Brazoria County Juvenile Probation Officer Diana Coates spoke about her ordeal at the hands of the predatory judge.

"James Blackstock not only disgraced himself and his family while subjecting numerous women, myself included, to unwarranted humiliation and assault over the years, but he tainted the bench from which he sat and violated the trust placed in him by the public"

Yenne stated that Judge Blackstock's victims "felt they couldn't do anything because of his powerful position," and that the plea was appropriate because he is permanently gone from the judicial bench. "He can't hurt anyone the same way again," Yenne said.

The day after the charges were filed, the State Commission on Judicial Conduct suspended him from the bench pending the outcome of the criminal case.

In 1997, the commission issued Blackstock a public warning after he sued someone while he was the judge in a criminal case in which that person was the defendant.

The commission also cited him for telephoning an appeals court justice who was considering a child custody case in which Blackstock was involved.

Blackstock will retain his pension.

Texas federal judge charged with sexual abuse

By JUAN A. LOZANO Associated Press Writer

HOUSTON — A federal judge accused of fondling a former court employee was indicted by a federal grand jury Thursday on sexual abuse charges.
U.S. District Judge Samuel Kent is charged with two counts of abusive sexual contact and one count of attempted aggravated sexual abuse.


A former case manager at the U.S. District Court in Galveston accused Kent of twice touching her under her clothing and repeatedly making obscene suggestions during the six years she worked with him.

The indictment, first reported by the Houston Chronicle, alleges the criminal conduct happened on Aug. 29, 2003, and March 23, 2007, Acting Assistant Attorney General Matthew Friedrich said in a statement.

Kent's attorney, Dick DeGuerin, called any sexual contact that may have happened between Kent and his accuser consensual.

"He's angry and ready for a fight. He is innocent. We will try this case. It is nothing but a false accusation," said DeGuerin said.

Kent's accuser issued a statement Thursday saying she felt vindicated by the grand jury's decision.

"After a very difficult 17 months, I feel like I have finally been validated. I have listened and read with horror as Judge Kent's lawyer suggested that what happened to me was 'enthusiastically consensual,'" she said. "I am relieved to find that even federal judges are not above the law, and that sexual abuse in the workplace is never acceptable, no matter the status of the offender."

The abuse allegations were first investigated by the Judicial Council of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which reprimanded Kent in September 2007. The council gave no details about the allegations, only saying a complaint alleging sexual harassment had been filed against Kent. It ordered the judge to go on leave for four months, but Kent still collected his $165,000 annual salary.

Kent was reassigned from Galveston to Houston.

If convicted of attempted aggravated sexual abuse, Kent could face up to life in prison and a fine of up to $250,000. Each count of abusive sexual contact carries a sentence of up to two years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.

An agreement with prosecutors will allow Kent to surrender Wednesday for an initial court appearance.

82 year old suburban Chicago man starting 6 month sentence for fingering wife's caregiver

A Lombard man is spending the first day of a 6 month sentence in the DuPage County Jail in Wheaton, IL today for sexually assaulting his terminally ill wife’s caregiver. Guiseppe Metallo, 82, was sentenced to 6 months in the DuPage County Jail, 6 additional months of home confinement, 2 years of sex offender probation, and registration as a sex offender on July 22.

Metallo’s official plea was to a count of aggravated criminal sexual abuse and another count of criminal sexual abuse for the December 21, 2005 incident. DuPage Circuit Judge Kathryn Creswell presided over the deal, reached after conviction by trial on more serious charges. The victim contacted police 2 days later, and she went to Lombard’s Edward Hospital, where doctors found a vaginal scratch. The woman was only on her 2nd day on the job caring for Metallo’s wife.

Lombard police arrested Metallo, the grandfather of a local police officer, on felony charges. One year later, the caregiver filed a federal lawsuit against Lombard and Officer Joseph Metallo, alleging he tried to hinder the investigation involving his grandfather by instructing his grandfather to cut his long fingernails and thus, destroy possible physical evidence, among other issues, before police arrived with a search warrant.

Both sides later reached a $25,000 settlement, which is less in legal fees than the cost of taking the case to trial. Officer Joseph Metallo since retired on a disability pension after becoming injured.

"We took her complaint seriously and, after an investigation, we arrested and charged the defendant with a felony," Lombard police Chief Ray Byrne said. "(The lawsuit) was completely without merit. We did everything appropriately."

The victim, who drove 3 hours to the sentencing, said, "I try to get on with my life, but at times simply don't care about anything," the woman wrote in a victim-impact statement that her husband read in court. "I have had something taken from me that I can never get back. I feel as if a chunk of my heart and soul have been ripped away."

Dupage State’s Attorney Joe Birkett said he sympathized with the victim, but the defendant’s old age, lack of other criminal history, frail health, and valid appeal issues make a plea deal appropriate.

For example, defense attorney Jack Donahue argued a new trial was warranted because the Italian-speaking defendant did not have a proper interpreter and, therefore, didn't understand the legal proceedings.

Lombard Police Chief Ray Byrne defended his force from the lawsuit allegations, saying "We took her complaint seriously and, after an investigation, we arrested and charged the defendant with a felony. It was completely without merit. We did everything appropriately."

Air Force Colonel acquitted of rape, convicted of other sex crimes

By ANGELA K. BROWN, Associated Press Writer

WICHITA FALLS, Texas - As the verdicts were read, a woman who had accused Col. Samuel Lofton of rape darted from the courtroom.

A military jury acquitted the Air Force colonel of rape on Wednesday, but the panel of seven men and two women found him guilty of two counts of indecent assault in cases involving two other women at Sheppard Air Force Base.

Lofton, the former 82nd Training Group commander at the base, also was convicted of two counts of conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentleman for calling a high-ranking enlisted member at her home and for making sexually suggestive comments to her at work.

He faces a maximum prison sentence of five years on each indecent assault count and one year on each conduct unbecoming count. The court could also decide that no punishment is warranted.

Lofton could have been sentenced to life in prison had he been convicted of rape. Jurors in the court-martial deliberated nearly five hours. Their verdict did not have to be unanimous; two-thirds had to agree.

Prosecutors and defense attorneys declined to comment after the verdict.
Lofton pleaded guilty last week to 17 counts of larceny, being absent without leave nearly a dozen times and two counts of dereliction of duty. The charges could bring an end to his 27-year military career as well as more than 100 years in prison.

Sentencing for all charges was set for Thursday.

Lofton was removed from his post about a year ago as he was being investigated for misusing his government travel card.

Two civilian workers testified that he forcibly kissed them and placed their hands on his genitals. One woman said she was assaulted twice in the fall of 2006, the other twice in the spring of 2007. Neither worked for Lofton but all worked in the same building.

During closing arguments Wednesday, lead defense attorney Maj. Mark Etheridge said the accuser's account of the rape was "ridiculous." The woman had testified that after the attack Lofton asked to keep her pantyhose as a souvenir and that she threw them at him after wiping herself.
"They are the piece of evidence that could corroborate her account and she throws it at him? Are you kidding me?" Etheridge said.

He also reminded jurors about several flirtatious work e-mails she sent to Lofton after the alleged incidents, even after he was removed from his post. An e-mail sent the day after the alleged rape says, "I would be foolish to say I'm not interested in a promotion."

But the military prosecutor, Capt. Brett Landry, told jurors that the woman remained on friendly terms with Lofton because she was afraid of losing her job. He said all of the accusers were credible.

"There is no motivation for these two women to have made up these incidents," Landry said. "There is no overarching conspiracy ... to ruin his life by putting him through this."

Cabbie sentenced to year in jail for inappropriate behavior

Abrahamad Gamadid, 25, a cabdriver who lives in Chicago's Northwest Side, was sentenced to a year in the Cook County Jail for making inappropriate comments and having inappropriate contact with his victim, a downtown customer who hailed his cab on February 9, but ran away. She reported the incident to the Chicago Police who identified and arrested the suspect with the help of the Chicago Department of Consumer Services.

Chicago foot doctor convicted of sexual abuse in bench trial

(Original Story 3-29-08)
A prominent South Side (of Chicago) foot doctor, Dr. Anthony Overton, is facing trial in a sexual abuse case involving inappropriate touching of female patients before foot surgeries. Thursday's testimony involved a 52 year old woman not involved in the charging complaint, but who testified the doctor molested her in connection with bunion surgery many times in 2005, culminating when Overton asked her to drop her pants to her knees during a post operation checkup.

Overton is charged with two counts of criminal sexual assault and a count of criminal sexual abuse of a 76 year old woman. He is currently undergoing a bench trial (without a jury) in the courtroom of Cook County Circuit Judge Michael Toomin.

The charges stem from the alleged sexual assault of the 76-year-old, but others came forward and were allowed to testify at the trial, said Tandra Simonton, a spokeswoman for the state's attorney's office.

The woman who testified Thursday said she heard about the allegations on the radio while she was at work and decided to tell authorities.She alleged that the abuse began in August 2005 when she went to Overton's office for an initial visit before bunions were to be removed from her feet.Even though she told the podiatrist that she had a pre-surgical examination with her primary-care physician, Overton insisted on doing another physical, she testified. He touched her inappropriately, she said.

On the day of her surgery at Jackson Park Hospital, Overton walked over to her in the surgical waiting area, pulled the curtain around the bed, checked her heart rate and then inappropriately touched her, the woman testified."I was shocked," the woman said.

"He checked my feet and had me pull my pants down to my knees," the woman said.

Overton against asked the woman to drop her pants, and in this incident in December 2005, she finally confronted him.

"I asked him, 'What does that have to do with my feet?' " the woman said. "He said, 'You can have a nurse in here the next time.' "

Bill Hooks, Overton's defense attorney, cross examined the victim and got her to admit that she never took her complaints to authorities, either regulatory or law enforcement, and got her to acknowledged that she checked a form citing excessive bleeding. The defense attorney implied that Overton's touching was to check for bleeding.

(Update 4-3-08) Overton's ruling will be declared on April 21. Prosecutors in closing arguments Wednedsay April 2 said that Overton had no legitimate reason to give anthing other than foot exams to patients.

Isn't this just common sense?" said Asst. State's Atty. Cheryl Galvin. "Does it make any sense to go to a proctologist to have your teeth cleaned?"Overton, 64, of Olympia Fields is on trial in Cook County Criminal Court for allegedly fondling an elderly woman and giving her a vaginal and rectal examination. The woman had sought treatment for a sprained ankle in 2006. She was 75 at the time.

Overton has said he frequently gave full-body physicals to patients to diagnose other problems that may affect his patients' feet. He said it was sometimes necessary to conduct breast, vaginal and rectal exams to check for other ailments.

(Update 4-21-08) Overton was convicted of two counts of aggravated criminal sexual assault following the bench trial (trial by a judge alone) by Circuit Judge Michael P. Toomin. He faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 12 years in prison.

Aggravated criminal sexual assault is a felony punishable by 6 to 30 years in prison per count in Illinois, and if a sex offender is convicted on more than one count, the counts must be served consecutively. Unlike most crimes, where 50% remission is granted, if someone sentenced to prison for aggravated criminal sexual assault is on their best behavior, they can only get 15% remission. Assuming Overton is sentenced to the minimum 12 years, he'll serve at least 10.2 years.

(Update 5-29-08) Overton was sentenced to 6 years in prison, meaning that the minimum sentence will be 5.1 years, assuming good behavior. Speaking of which, Judge Toomin cited Overton's formerly impeccable behavior in the community as the reason that he had the sentences run concurrently, not consecutively.

In explaining his leniency, Circuit Court Judge Michael Toomin said in his 28 years as a judge he had never seen a defendant with a more impeccable background. He noted that Overton, a doctor with four advanced degrees, had never been charged with a crime previously. He added that he had received dozens of letters in support of the podiatrist.

Prosecutors were miffed and Judge Toomin expects an appeal.

"I would have liked to have seen a bigger sentence. The mandatory minimum is 12 years," Assistant States Attorney Cheryl Galvin said.

Chiropractor charged with groping patient

A Middletown chiropractor who was featured on the Fox network’s Marriage 911 show was charged with forcible touching, a misdemeanor for groping a woman under his care. Christopher King, 48, on Goshen was released on $500 bail.

In 2005, King's family was on Fox Network's "Nanny 911" to get help with their unruly children. Then King and his wife were featured as an argumentative couple on their own short-lived spin-off, "Marriage 911."

A Fox news release for the "Nanny 911" episodes called King "a self-proclaimed 'old-fashioned guy'" who expected his wife to do all the chores and raise their five kids.

According to Detective Sgt. Gerald Mishk, after a woman finished a chiropractic treatment, she was lying down on a table. King began to say suggestive things to her, then squezzed her breast after sliding his hand under her.

James Monroe, King’s lawyer, and Jeffery Spina, who is King’s empoyer, both believe in King’s innocence.

The lawyer stated that "Dr. King adamantly denies any wrongdoing, and the practice remains committed to delivering quality health care to their patients."

Spina said: "It doesn't make sense to me, knowing the circumstances, but I believe he's innocent."

Yesterday, the patient and her husband spoke out.

The patient had spinal surgery two years ago for a degenerative condition. She weaned herself off pain medications, and two months ago started going to Dolson Avenue Medical for chiropractic and other treatments.

She says King made remarks and asked questions that made her uncomfortable, but she shrugged them off.

After treating her on May 13, her husband says, King started asking the woman about her orgasms. She got off King's table, walked to the physical therapy area and lay down there. King walked over and started to rub her shoulders, the husband says, and that's when he groped her. When she resisted, he says, King pushed her down, told her to relax and fondled her other breast.

"I'm definitely afraid to go to a doctor right now," she said. "I don't sleep. I'm sick to my stomach. It's awful."

The victim and her husband went to police May 16, and hopes other victims do the same.

NC state tropper sentenced to 6 to 9 years for sexual battery

A North Carolina state trooper who target Hispanic women, some of them illegal immigrants, for sexual battery at traffic stops has been sentenced to between 6 and 9 years in prison. Michael Steele was sentenced by Judge Allan Baddour, and asked for leinency before sentencing.

"I hope if it's in your pleasure, I have a chance to spend time with my family," he said.

Steele, 28, will now spend up to nine years in jail for 10 charges he pled guilty to last month. Those charges range from felonious restraint, to second-degree kidnapping, extortion, assault on a female and sexual battery.

It was August of last year that three Hispanic women claimed he pulled them over in separate traffic stops, touched and kissed them and threatened to kill their families or report them to immigration officials if they did not comply. Some of the victims were illegal immigrants.

"He used his position in a way I've never seen in the almost 18 years I've been a prosecutor," said Jim Woodall, Orange County District Attorney. "I've never seen an officer use his position in this way to target people he felt were powerless against him."

Woodall said this case has affected every member of the highway patrol and beyond.

"Law enforcement in general has been touched and every person who lives in this state who wants to trust law enforcement has been affected by this," he said.

Steele's attorney said his client took responsibility for his actions, has never been in trouble before and is remorseful.

After court, neither Steel's attorney or family had a comment.

According to prosecutors, Steele's prosecutors said that he will probably serve about 8 years.

Bus driver sentenced to 5 years probaiton for indecently touching woman

A 69 year old bus driver in Aliquippa, PA was sentenced on April 30 to five years probation for sexually assaulting a developmentally disabled woman on the bus he was driving sometime between July and November 1, last year. Harold Cain was a bus driver for Passavant Memorial Homes in Rochester Township before the incident. Cain plead no contest, which is the same as a guilty plea but without automatic civil liability.

Cain was a driver for the BCTA’s Demand and Response Transit program.Passavant employees went to police Nov. 6 to tell them that the woman, described as being moderately mentally retarded and who suffers from depression and convulsions, told them that Cain had touched her buttocks on Nov. 1, while the two were on the bus, police said in a report.

The woman told police Cain had been touching her since last summer. The woman said Cain was touching her after he picked her up at her home, when there were no other passengers on the bus, until the next stop, according to the report.When interviewed by police Nov. 9, Cain admitted touching the woman, but said he did so “because she wanted him to and so that she would not have convulsions.”

Beaver County Judge Harry Knafelc said that Cain isn't to have any contact with the woman or her family. Cain also must submit to DNA testing and Megan's Law sex offender registration.

Trainer acquitted of rape, convicted of lesser charges in 2005 "date"

A personal trainer who was acquitted of rape was convicted of 4th degree sexual contact and simple assault after testimony from a date-rape expert failed to convince the jury that a sexual assault occured. Stephen Hernandez was convicted of the lesser charges in Superior Court in Hackensack, NJ The incident occured at his Englewood Cliffs home after a June 2005 date.

The jurors, however, convicted Hernandez of fourth-degree sexual contact and simple assault, a disorderly persons offense. He faces up to 18 months in prison when he is sentenced June 27, but with no prior convictions, he is unlikely to face any jail time.

Hernandez showed no emotion as the verdict was read. He said later that he was pleased with the verdict but declined to comment further.

Hernandez and his attorney argued during the two-week trial that he only had consensual sex with the woman, who at first resisted his advances but later became passive, engaged him in friendly conversation and even helped him put on a condom.

She tried to flee from him after that, but then apologized and allowed him to driver her to her car, prosecutors said. She then hugged him and asked him to call her in a week for another date, prosecutors said.

Bergen County prosecutors argued - with the help of testimony from an expert on "rape trauma syndrome" - that the woman's inconsistent behavior was common among date-rape victims.

Far from being proof of consent, such behavior is actually an attempt by victims to survive a harrowing ordeal, testified the expert, Larry McCann.

Defense attorney Raymond Flood said the acquittal on the sexual assault charges says a lot about the weight of McCann's testimony.

"The jury discounted the testimony on rape trauma syndrome," he said.

Massage therapist charged with offensive touching

Travis Conrad Friedrichs, a 23 year old massage therapist has been charged with 4th degree criminal sexual conduct for inappropriately touching a woman at a chiropractic firm in Mankato.

According to the criminal complaint, when the client became upset with the massage and went to leave, Friedrichs became apologetic and told her she would not have to pay for the service. Authorities say Friedrichs admitted to some of the inappropriate touching during questioning. Friedrichs is legally blind.

A court date has been set for May 19.

SO job scam leads to inappropriate touches

Oscar Corea, 38, a convicted sex offender, has been arrested for luring women to a hotel for fake interviews so he could grope them. Four women showed up for interviews at the Hacienda Hotel in El Segundo, but there was no AT&T job waiting for them, but unwanted sexual touching.

Corea had been sentenced three weeks earlier in Los Angeles Superior Court to a 6 year suspended sentence for assault to commit rape for the same scam.

Reference:

Job Scam Gets Sex Offender Arrested Again

Sex offender burglar charged with touching, stealing garments from women

A convicted burglar with a history of breaking into women's homes and stealing their personal belongings has been caught doing so again. Bruce A. Sitton, 56, was charges in a string of burglaries between August 25 and October 23 where women in their late teens to early 20s were sexually touched before Sitton stole personal items.

According to the Corvallis Gazette-Times article, "Sex Offender Arrested For Burglaries,"

“He has a history of going to college towns with young women, stalking them and entering their homes,” said Lt. Tim Brewer of the Corvallis Police Department. “He would watch and touch (the victims). If they woke up, he would run out.”

Sitton was charged with the burglaries and assaults while in jail for a parole violation. Police arrested him while he was in jail, but did not disclose it until a week later due to further investigation.

More from the Corvallis Gazette-Times article:

After Sitton was arrested, detectives obtained a warrant to search his home at 1117 S.E. Queen Ave. in Albany. Police discovered women’s undergarments, a hand-woven purse and other personal items in Sitton’s home that victims of the Corvallis burglaries identified as their property, Brewer said.

Sitton was convicted in Polk County in 2000 and in Benton County in 2001 for a series of burglaries in which he attempted to sexually assault some of his victims, Brewer said. He served five years in prison for those convictions. In 1998, Sitton was convicted of burglary and rape in Josephine County, but served no prison time.

Brewer said that what occurred in the Corvallis burglaries this summer and fall matched the manner in which Sitton was known to break into homes.

“We had our eye on him for the burglaries because they matched his M.O. and we knew he had been released from prison in 2006,” Brewer said.

Sex offender cop gets 4 years for unwanted contact

A NYC ex-cop has been sentenced to 4 years in prison for sexually assaulting two different women while on duty. The judge which sentenced him, Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Cheryl Chambers (unnamed in the New York Post story), said that Clerge "used the power of his office to obtain sexual gratification."

According to the Post and the New York Daily News:

Fernand Clerge, 40, had faced up to seven years behind bars for his crimes, which included unwanted sexual advances against two women on two separate occasions while armed and in uniform.

One of his victims, a 37-year-old waitress, testified at trial that Clerge and his partner followed her home after a routine traffic stop and tried to force her to perform oral sex on him.

The other victim was 21 when Clerge performed a sexually intrusive search on her while investigating a noise complaint. Clerge's apology rang hollow in court to the older victim, as noted below:

"You, myself and God know the truth of what occurred that day," he said to one of the victims, reading from a carefully worded, handwritten statement through tears and begging the judge to spare him. "I'm so sorry for any harm I may have caused you."

His words did little more than reduce the victim to tears herself.

"I think he was just doing that to get fewer years in jail," the 37-year-old woman said afterward as she left the courthouse still crying and barely able to talk.

Clerge was convicted of official misconduct, attempted criminal sex act, and sex abuse.

A comment at the Daily News describes what many people have on their minds about sex offender cops:

Another lowlife creep molesting women. Why don't they casterate[sic] his *** & call it a day. What is even more frightening it that he was an ex-cop!! I wonder how many ppl he beat up & molested during his stint as a cop? Well when those boys know about him being an ex-cop. I guess he will be somebody's B***H

Inappropriate touching by cabbie = assault charges

This story taken from the Toronto Star:

A taxi driver faces sexual assault charges after a Richmond Hill woman complained that she had been touched inappropriately.

The 45-year-old woman called a York Region Transit Mobility Plus taxi to pick her up from her home on Oct. 30. It was while he was in the taxi that the woman alleges she was assaulted. She was not hurt and reported the incident to York police shortly afterward.

Charged is Mohamed Naleeye, 54, of Toronto, who was arrested today.

Anyone with information is asked to call Detective Cindy Laidlaw in the Sexual Assault Bureau at 1-866-867-5423 ext. 7071 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS. An anonymous tip can be left online at www.1800222tip.com.

Reference:

Woman assaulted, taxi driver charged