Suburban St. Louis police officer sentenced to 25 years for forcing women into sex acts

A former Uplands Park, MO police officer was sentenced to 25 years in federal prison for raping and robbing prostitutes. One attack occurred at his own police station. 32 year old Leon Pullen of Foley, MO was sentenced in a St. Louis federal court Friday, January 28 to the 300 month sentence after pleading guilty to nine federal felonies.

These felonies included conspiracy, deprivation of civil rights, witness tampering, and lying to the FBI. Federal prosecutors dropped ten other charges after Pullen pled guilty July 28, 2010. Pullen faced a sentence of 18 1/2 to 25 years of federal confinement.

Pullen's MO was to respond to online escort ads, then after the women responded, he would identify himself as a police officer, pull out his gun, then force the victims to perform sex acts on him. Two of the victims were forced into sex at gunpoint. Pullen was arrested by the FBI on Saturday, September 19, 2009.

The affidavit goes on to say that Pullen called the woman, said his name was "Jimmy," and agreed to pay $400 for a sexual act and that he had her and another woman meet him in Uplands Park on July 15, 2009.

At the meeting, the affidavit said, Pullen rubbed himself against one woman and told her that she had two choices: to give him all her money or get naked, LaCombe wrote. Another officer was present, [FBI special agent Greg]LaCombe wrote, but that officer is not named in the complaint.

Pullen then ordered her and the other woman back in their car and told them to follow him to the police station, where he took the victim to an office in the rear of the station, forced her to undress and then forcibly performed oral sex on her.

The woman, afraid that Pullen would call in the other officer to have sex with her, tried to end the attack by offering to meet Pullen later, LaCombe wrote. Pullen gave her his contact information, and then she left, later calling the FBI.

The victim of that encounter, identified as D.S., gave a victim impact statement and said the sexual assault left her with PTSD and a back injury. "I've always considered myself a very strong woman until that day," she said. The attack had also affected her ability to parent her four children.

Judge Rodney Sippel gave Pullen the 25 year sentence, stating "[People] trust law enforcement to make sure they're safe," Sippel said. "For law enforcement to turn on them and take from them that sense of safety . . . it's hard to comprehend." Pullen was also ordered to pay thousands of dollars in restitution, with the exact amount being disputed.

The second officer in the federal complaint, Justin Biancardi, plead guilty in St. Louis federal court Monday, January 10, 2011 to shaking down over a dozen prostitutes for money. Biancardi, who cooperated with the feds, faces a maximum sentence of 10 years imprisonment and a $250,000 fine when he is sentenced April 13.

Rape-slaying of retired St. Louis journalist nets sex offender life without parole

A man with a history of sex crimes got life without parole Tuesday, June 1 for the rape-slaying of a retired St. Louis journalist. Nancy Miller, 59, was slain February 1, 2008 by a repeat sex offender. Brian Walters, who turned 30 the day of the sentencing, broke into Miller's Chesterfield, MO condo and attacked her when she encountered him. After raping Miller, Walters stabbed Miller with a knife until it broke, then got another knife he used to slit her throat. She didn't die immediately, even after Miller left and poured bleach over her body, which an autopsy showed suffered 50 stab wounds.

He was arrested in 1999 in Charlotte, N.C., accused of beating and raping a teenage girl there, according to police and court records. He pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges of assault and false imprisonment. A judge sentenced Walters to 120 days in jail and released him on time served. Later that year, a police officer found Walters outside Parkway North High School before dawn. Walters drove at the officer, who got out of the way.

Months later, Walters was charged with several burglaries in Maryland Heights. During one, he had cut the screen of the apartment of three female college students and stolen a pair of underwear from each of their dressers. For the encounter at Parkway and the burglaries, Walters was imprisoned for 2½ years.

In May 2003, he was caught in the garage of a home in Chesterfield. Police said he had been casing homes and keeping a journal of the comings and goings of women. He was sentenced to seven years for the burglary and paroled after serving about 4½ years.

St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Robert McCulloch originally sought the death penalty for Walters, but the perpetrator's mother's cooperation with the investigation led McCulloch to offer Walters a plea deal. That deal, which Walters took, featured a sentenced of two life without parole terms plus 45 years. "Today marks the end of a tragic situation. From the very beginning of this case, my primary concern was justice for Nancy Miller and the members of her family. This … was an appropriate sentence, all things considered."
 
During the sentencing hearing, presided over by Circuit Judge Richard C. Bresnahan, Walters never made a statement, but the victim's brother, Ben Nix did.  "Nancy was the glue that made us even closer. She was the most loving, giving, caring human being on this Earth." Nix went on to tell how friends put together a memorial book, featuring her old St. Louis Post Dispatch columns.

Relatives' persistance pays off in conviction of man for wife's murder

A family's search for justice for their loved one turned out to bear fruit when ker killer, her husband - was sentenced to 25 years in the Missouri Department Of Corrections Thursday, November 12. Bradley Jennings killed his wife Christmas Day 2006, but it took a determined effort by Lisa's family to convince the Missouri Highway Pareol that her death was murder, not suicide.

Bradley Jennings initially told investigators his wife committed suicide following an argument between the couple. But the story eventually unravelled after disbelieving relatives of Lisa Jennings pushed for further investigation.

Although Jennings' original story stood for almost a year, relatives disputed the idea that Lisa Jennings would have walked into a closet and shot herself as her husband described.

While Dallas County, MO prosecutors issued a written statement about the lack of evidence, the Dallas County Sheriff,  Mike Rackley, remined suspicious. After the Missouri Highway Patrol opened an investigation, they found that the blood spatters over the victim's body were inconsistant with suicide - and that her husband likely pulled the trigger, as shown by his bloody clothes, stained by his wife's blood.

Dallas County jurors found Bradley Jennings guilty of 2nd degree murder and armed criminal action, recommendning 20 years for the murder and 5 years for the criminal action charge - sentenced which were handed down by Circuit Court Judge John W. Sims.

Carthage, MO man charged with rape, physical assault on wife

William F. Hutson, a 33 year old man, was arrested and charged with forcible rape and forcible sodomy for allegedly attacking his wife Wednesday, July 15 at around 10 PM. The assault began after Hutson slapped his 32 year old wife hard enough to make her unconscious. Before the slapping, the wife told authorities that her husband raped and sodomized her after holding her down on their bed and after she plead with him to stop.

Carthage police stopped Hutson at around 10:20 PM, where they took him to the police department. They also issued a press release as shown below:

Further investigation by the Carthage Police Department uncovered that Hutson also committed the crimes of Forcible Rape and Forcible Sodomy on the same night. Hutson was held at the Carthage Police Department and charges were sent to the Jasper County Prosecutor for consideration of charges for rape, sodomy, and domestic assault third degree.

The Jasper County prosecutor’s office filed charges Thursday against Hutson for forcible rape and forcible sodomy. A probable-cause affidavit states that he allegedly held the woman down on a bed and sexually assaulted her despite her efforts to get him to stop.

A police detective called in on the case wrote in the affidavit that he observed fresh bruising on the woman’s arms and a bra strap that was bent due to the undergarment being forcibly removed.

Hutson is currently being held on $100,000 bond in the Jasper County Jail.

East Springfield, MO man sentenced to 80 years in murder of wife

An East Springfield, MO husband was sentenced to 80 years in prison for stabbing his wife 5 times in the chest and slashing her throat from the back on June 14, 2007. Richard Allred, 53, tried to commit suicide, but failed after he killed his wife Jamie on September 14, 2007.

The reason that the charges were 2nd instead of 1st degree murder was because the wife had a history of substance abuse problems and infidelity. Defense attorneys claimed that Richard was defensing himself from his wife. After conviction by a jury in March of this year, Green County Circuit Judge Tom Mountjoy meted out 30 years for 2nd degree murder and 50 years for armed criminal action, counts that will be served consecutively and almost ensures that Allred will die in prison.

Jail guard sentenced to 60 days jail, sex offender restrictions after "affair"

A Missouri jail officer was ordered to undergo 5 years of probation, sex offender treatment, and 60 days in jail after a sexual relationship with an inmate turned into marriage. 29 year old Tara Hewkin, of the St. Louis suburb of Warrenton was sentenced by Circuit Judge Keith Sutherland yesterday after being convicted on March 26 in a bench trial. Sentencing was delayed to give probation officers time to prepare a report.

Hewkin began working at the jail as a corrections officer in April 2007. David Latham, 34, was one of several federal inmates being housed in the Warren County jail in the fall of 2007. On Oct. 15, 2007, jail staff found a cell phone in Latham's cell. Officers determined it belonged to Hewkin.

Hewkin admitted to police she gave Latham the phone so he could stay in touch with her. She told police she and Latham were involved in an intimate relationship. She reported that on three occasions she and Latham had sexual contact, once in the laundry room of the jail and the other times between the doors of two cell pods.

Latham was convicted on marijuana charges and sentenced to 5 years in USP Leavenworth. Besides the conviction, as a sex offender, Hewkin cannot live within 1000 feet of schools or day care centers.

Kansas City rapist gets 2 1/2 decades in prison

Robert Greer Jr. was sentenced to 25 years in prison on Monday for the rape and beating of a woman last year on April 26, 2007.

According to court documents, Greer accused the 44-year-old female victim of stealing his wallet earlier in the day [4-26-07]. The man and woman who accompanied Greer left the residence, but Greer allegedly refused to let the victim leave. The victim told police Greer struck her in the head with a metal pipe and forced her to have sex with him. After he left, she managed to call police.

Greer, who turns 59 on New Years' Day, was sentenced by Judge Robert Schieber. The sentence was as follows - 20 years concurrently for forcible rape and forcible sodomy, and 5 years for armed criminal action, the criminal action sentence to run consecutively to the sex convictions.

Two University of Missouri - Kansas City professors resign rather than face stripping of tenure and firing

Psychology professors S. Carlos Poston II and C. Keith Haddock, University of Missouri-Kansas City professors accused of sexual harassment, resigned last week Monday because they ran out of money to defend themselves from an internal procedure which would have led to revocation of tenure and dismissal from the university.

Both denied sexually harassing a former graduate student and a faculty member, creating a hostile environment in the psychology lab they oversaw. Poston said, “I did not resign because I was guilty of anything. I resigned because I was told that was the only way to get a letter that says I didn’t do it.”

Linda Garavalia, a victim and associate professor of psychology at UMKC, was surprised by the resignations, but stated that giving up tenure is a sign of guilt.

“I thought they would fight it out. If you weren’t guilty, then why not go through with it. If there was no evidence against them, then what would it cost? What would they have to defend against? I would never give up my tenure if I were innocent.”

The other woman, Megan Pinkston-Camp, was not available for comment. She was a graduate student when the suit was filed and now is a clinical psychologist doing post-doctoral work at Brown University.

The university settled the $1.1 million lawsuit in June 2007. The suit, filed a year earlier, claimed that women were groped and fondled and subjected to explicit sexual conversations and that the two male professors had physically threatened people in the lab.

Garavalia and Pinkston-Camp had complained to the their department chairman in 2004 and later to the UMKC affirmative action office, which led to an order for the professors to implement a risk management plan. Later, the professors were granted tenure and given raises — from $76,707 to $101,707 for Poston and from $75,876 to $93,376 for Haddock.

Haddock tried to file two record requests to gain access to the report, but “I wanted the truth to come out. I thought it would exonerate me. But we still haven’t seen it, and now I don’t think we ever will.”

Karen R. Glickstein, lawyers for both accused, received a letter from university lawyers suggesting that resignation would lead to avoidance of internal discipline and the chance to receive the draft of the findings. That draft came in the form of a letter by Grace Hernandez, former affirmative director, currently chief of staff in UMKC.

Suburban St. Louis man kills ex-wife, then himself

By CHERYL WITTENAUER, Associated Press Writer 2 hours, 7 minutes ago

FLORISSANT, Mo. - A man recently divorced from his wife of more than 20 years shot and killed her inside a suburban St. Louis mall on Wednesday before committing suicide, police said. No one else was injured but the Jamestown Mall in Florissant was evacuated.

The shooter was 49 and his ex-wife was 47, but their names had not been released, St. Louis County police spokeswoman Tracy Panus said. Panus said they both lived in the nearby suburb of Hazelwood and had been married more than 20 years with grown children before recently divorcing.

The motive for the shooting just outside the Sears store had not been determined, Panus said.
Marcus Gwynn said he heard four shots as he was walking into the mall to begin his shift at a Radio Shack store.

"I seen a lady on the ground face down, then he sits on the ground and shot himself in the head," said Gwynn, 21.

Deborah and Michael Mingo said they were shopping at Sears when they heard several shots. She said she asked a clerk about the noise and was told it was likely construction, but a short time later people in the store were telling them to get out.

Police tape was wrapped around the entrance to the food court near the scene of the shooting.
St. Louis County police Detective Mike Williams inspected a gray Ford Focus — the female victim's car — on the lot outside the Sears. Two of the tires were deflated, leading Williams to believe the shooter did not want the woman to flee.

Earlier, a distraught man told two reporters he and the victims were cousins. But police later said the victims were a recently divorced couple. Calls seeking comment from officials of Sears and several other stores in that area of the mall were either unanswered or not returned.
A woman who answered phones in the mall office declined to comment.

Jamestown Mall is in far northern St. Louis County. It has about 60 stores and restaurants. It was not immediately clear when it would reopen.

Kansas City man sentenced to 20 years for rape, robbery of fast food manager

20 year old O’Brian Jones was sentenced to 20 years in prison for the rape, burglary, and robbery of a Kansas City mother who was also the night manager of a fast food place. Jones plead guilty in May, admitting the crimes.

Jones and another man, suspected to be Jon M. Vaughns (scheduled to go to trial later this month), are accused of walking through a woman’s house after breaking in, repeatedly raping her, and stealing clothing from her kids’ rooms, food from her refrigerator, and an X-Box. After all of this, they drove her to her credit union and forced her to cash her $935 paycheck she earned from her work as a fast food outlet manager. After the rape, Jones and his accomplice poured bleach on their victim to try and eliminate DNA evidence, a technique learned from crime programs.

Assistant Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Baker asked for a 25-year sentence, noting that Jones often held the gun during the assaults, which lasted up to three hours. “This defendant deserves no mercy by this court,” Baker said. “Treat him for what he is, a brutal, brutal rapist."

Defense lawyer Kenton Hall asked for mercy, noting that Jones had no prior conditions for any crimes, with a 12 year sentence recommendation. He said that Jones was abusing drugs at the time.

“Look at O’Brian Jones as an individual who will come back to society some day,” Hall said.

Jackson County Judge Jay Daugherty presided over Jones’ sentencing.

Man convicted of rape and torture of 19 year old acquaintance

(Original Post 5-18-08)

Robert Gnade, a 42 year old man from Troy, Missouri, was convicted on 2 counts of rape and felonious restraint for raping and torturing a 19 year old acquaintance last summer. He offered to give her a ride to pick up prescriptions, but took his victim to a shed owned by his parents in rural Lincoln County and raped and tortured her.

Police say Gnade had a duffel bag in his vehicle that contained handcuffs, rope, and sex toys. Instead of taking the woman to a pharmacy, he took her to a shed on his parents' rural Lincoln County property.There, he handcuffed her to the ceiling of a shed, beating her with a belt, police say.

As he beat her, he told her he would stop the beating if she would agree to have sex with him, police say. When she repeatedly refused, he raped her several times.In a released statement, Lincoln County Sheriff Dan Torres said, "This is an especially egregious crime because it is associated with unimaginable brutality that goes far beyond just a sexual assault."

The woman told family members what happened and Gnade was arrested a short time later. Prosecutors are trying Gnade for 10 other counts of sodomy involving victims between 1977 and 1989.

(Update 7-11-08)

Gnade was sentenced to 14 years in prison, a sentence which his victim, who is currently attending counseling, said wasn't enough.

"I'm scared to walk by myself," she said. I'm scared to be by myself. It's very terrifying for me."

Gnade's attorney, public defender Gary Grunick, said a pre-sentence report prepared by Probation and Parole officers recommended a sentence of 3 years in prison if there were aggravating circumstances. He asked for the three-year sentence and said his client had no prior felony or misdemeanor convictions. The first of the remaining three cases against Gnade is scheduled for trial on Oct. 28.

Man sentenced to 3 years in prison for sexual assault of another man

Circuit Judge Gayle Crane sentenced Eugene Amato, 60 to 3 years in prison for sexually assaulting another man at a Carthage Bowling alley. The Jasper County court where Amato was sentenced is located in Joplin, Mo. Amato himself lives in Lamar, Mo.

Police and court records state that Amato approached another man at Star Lanes Bowling on April 27, 2007, and performed oral sex on him against his will. The victim has an IQ bordering on mental retardation, according to court records.

The assault took place after the bowling alley had closed, and the victim believed the doors were locked and he could not get out. Amato reportedly pushed him up against a wall and performed the oral sex act on him, despite his protests. The victim told Carthage police that he was afraid of the defendant and was unable to fend him off.

The defendant initially was charged with forcible sodomy, a crime that carries up to life in prison in Missouri.

Amato entered the Alford plea to deviate sexual assault on April 14 with the Jasper County prosecutors office, where his 3 year sentence was the maximum.

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.

St. Louis area man sentenced to 15 years for sexual attacks following photo shoots

Lester “Jay” Krupp will be sentenced to 15 years in prison for a plea agreement reached with prosecutors following the conviction for 4 counts of deviant sexual assault and a single count of felonious restraint. A St. Louis County Circuit Court jury found him guilty of these charges, which stemmed from a May 10, 2006 incident when he enticed a then 20 year old woman into a secluded valley for the promise of a photo shoot. Instead, he attacked and made her perform sex acts.

A second woman's photo shoot gone wrong lead to a misdemeanor conviction of sexual misconduct. This occurred on April 11, 2006.

Under an agreement reached between the prosecution and Krupp's attorneys after the verdicts, Krupp will be sentenced to 15 years in prison. Krupp also agreed to plead guilty to two additional charges, felonious restraint and domestic assault, involving a third woman in 2006.

The episode involving the most charges began when Krupp showed up outside the tanning salon where the woman worked. Although she declined his offer of a photo shoot, she drove off with him. The woman testified she had dated Krupp once about a year earlier. “There's been no motive for her to lie,” prosecutor Joe Dueker said. “(The woman) was just trying to stay alive that day.”Krupp did not testify.

Krupp's attorney, Travis Noble, said the woman's story had too many inconsistencies to be believable. “This girl's story changed all the time,” Noble said to the jury in his closing statement “ ... This girl's word -– that's all it is because there's no physical evidence.”Noble said text message records showed the girl could not have been with Krupp during the time she claimed to have been assaulted.

Noble stated his client was stupid, but not criminal to show interest in photo shoots of stupid young women and posting them on the internet.

Estranged wife shoots husband to death

Stacy Lynn Powell, 40, an US Army soldier who was the wife of a Dixon, MO man, was charged with shooting him to death after visiting her husband. After an argument, Stacy Powell shot her husband, who was in the process of filing divorce papers.

“She came up for a visit — they were in the process of a divorce,” said Pulaski County Sheriff J.B. King. Brian Powell was still alive when Pulaski County Sheriff’s deputies arrived at the scene but died after being taken to General Leonard Wood Community Hospital.

Stacy Powell, who reportedly had knife wounds, also was taken to the hospital at Fort Leonard Wood and remains in U.S. Army custody. King said the warrant for Stacy Powell’s arrest has not yet been served, but he anticipates the “outstanding support” of the Army in the case will continue when the warrant is served.

Iraq war veteran sentenced to 25 years for prostitute rape

A Kansas soldier who served time in Iraq before being charged then convicted of raping and cutting a prostitute has been sentenced to serve the next quarter-century in prison.

The Kansas City Star has more in the article "Man sentenced to 25 years for sexual assault".

Judge Brian Wimes said James D. Baldwin thought he could get away with attacking such victims because most prostitutes would not complain and no one would believe or care if they did.

“That jury cared and this court cared,” Wimes told him.

A jury convicted Baldwin last year of rape, sodomy and two counts of second-degree assault for the Nov. 1, 2004, assault. He originally was charged with attacks on three women that year. Sexual assault charges involving another prostitute were dropped after she died of a drug overdose. A weapons charge is pending against him related to the third woman.

All three women were attacked by a man in a white van. The trial victim and the woman who died both were picked up at Ninth and Genessee streets, driven elsewhere and assaulted in the van.

Baldwin, who lived in Olathe, KS, was a suspect, and he later went into the Army and fought in Iraq, but was sent directly to the county jail after his arrest. This was made possible when Baldwin's DNA was proven to be a match with DNA found on the jeans of the trial victim. That victim also wrote down his license plate.

On Friday, Baldwin told the judge he was innocent and is a nonviolent person. Several members of his church and his wife testified in his favor. Leonardo Balderes said that Baldwin had been active in church and that he had never seen him drink or curse.

Assistant prosecutor Tricia Lacey countered that court records show Baldwin has a history of consorting with prostitutes and once was robbed by one. When he attacked them, she said, he counted on them not telling or no one caring if they did.

The 39-year-old rape victim told someone a week after her attack because she hoped police would stop the van driver from assaulting others, Lacey said, and the woman has since quit drugs and crime and is a productive citizen.

The sentence is not about the victim’s past choices, Lacey said. “It is about the choice he made.” She asked for a 27-year prison term for Baldwin.

Defense lawyer Molly Hastings asked for a sentence of either probation or 10 years because that would tie into the argument than everyone is redeemable. Judge Wimes, however, said that Baldwin failed to show his dark side. "“You were a predator.”

Cabbie charged with rape of passenger

A cab driver has been charged with sexual assault and kidnapping for an attack which took place a year ago. The woman, then 28, called a cab after a night of drinking. After the night was over, she woke up at the Admiral Hotel in Kansas City, Missouri, nude from the waist down.

KCTV (Kansas CIty, MO) reports below:

Abdi Qamaan, 47, picked her up at the bar and she passed out drunk in the back of his cab, prosecutors said. They claimed that Qamaan then took her to the hotel, booked a room and sexually assaulted her.

She awoke the next morning with no memory of what had happened and called police.
As they questioned her, Qamaan returned to the hotel room and told police he'd gotten her room number because he didn't know where she lived and had come back to take her home, prosecutors said.

DNA evidence refuted his claims. Police took samples from a used condom from a trash can. The semen sample matched Qamaan's, and he was charged with aggravated forcible sodomy and kidnapping. Qamaan is being held on $100,000 bond.

Reference:

Cab driver accused of sex assault

Two separate Joplin, MO assaults reported

Joplin (Missouri) police are investigating a sexual assault and an attempted rape over the weekend.

In the 1st incident, a 29 year old woman allegedly woke up to a man performing oral sex on her after she fell asleep at his house early on the morning of October 5th. After fighting her assailant off, the victim hailed a ride to St. John's Regional Medical Center for a rape exam. When she went down to the police station to file charges, the alleged attacker claimed the charges were false.

In the second incident, an 18 year old woman was allegedly attacked after trying to retrieve her cell phone from a man at her friend's apartment. The man allegedly grabbed the victim's phone and told her she would have to go into a room with him to get the phone back. After going into the bedroom, the man allegedly tried to pull her clothes off. The suspect is still at large as of Monday, October 8th.

Two separate assaults reported to police