Teacher who faced 10 years behind bars for "relationship" with 19 year old student gets 10 months

(Original Post 5-29-10)
A 28 year old Shelby, NC teacher is facing a decade behind bars for an "affair" with a 19 year old student at the school she worked at. Nichole Chapman, a married mother of three daughters was arraigned at the Cleveland County Law Enforcement Center Thursday morning. Chapman was charged with two counts each of indecent liberties with a student and sex offense with a student.

The judge set Chapman's bond at $75,000 and ordered her not to have any contact with the victim, 19 year old Vavaughia Snipes. This may be a problem since instead of listing her estranged husband, Chapman listed Snipes' mother, Chella Whisnant as her nearest relative during booking.

Chapman and Snipes began their "relationship" about a month ago at North Shelby School, a school for special needs students between 3 and 21. All encounters took place at his home, and he claimed to have started the relationship. Snipes said that "I ain't no victim...I love her and she loves me, so as far as that goes. They are not going to stop me from seeing her so it don't matter,” he said. He suffers from seizures and a learning disability.

Chapman said she believes she was arrested and charged “Probably because I'm white and he's black." Jeff Ledford, the Shelby police chief, disagrees. "That teacher-student relationship, that's where it's at. That's where your issue lies. The age goes out the window when you are talking about a teacher [and a] student,” because North Carolina law considers teachers to be guardians of students.

(Update 5-2-11) Chapman was sentenced to 10 to 12 months in jail for indecent liberties with a student and sex offense with a student. In December, Cleveland County (NC) Superior Court Judge Forrest D. Bridges accepted Chapman's pleas. On Monday, May 2, it wasn't Judge Bridges, but Judge James W. Morgan who formally sentenced Chapman. Bridges ordered psychatric evaulations for Chapman, conducted while at a psychiatric hospital in Butner, NC. The evaluations stated that she was competent to stand trial.

Chapman’s lawyer, Katherine Haen, said the former teacher was on medications to treat her various disorders at the time of the incident. Haen said this “cocktail” of medicine affected her behavior.

Chapman’s mother and father sat in the courtroom during the proceedings. Haen said Chapman’s parents drove to Raleigh on a regular basis to visit their daughter over the three months she was at the psychiatric hospital. Haen said it was over the course of her stay at the psychiatric hospital that Chapman changed.

"I think she’s gotten to know herself. She actually thanks Judge Bridges for putting her through that program...She has three daughters she hasn’t seen since December. I hope that the court will allow her to be released today to start a new life, a new direction. This experience has really transformed her.”

Chapman echoed her lawyer's statement. “I’m not the same Nicole. I can tell, and my family can tell, I’m a different person thanks to the help I’ve gotten.”

Duke lacrosse accuser charged with attempted murder of "boyfriend", convicted on misdemeanor counts

(Original post 2-19-10)
The Duke Lacrosse accuser has been charged with serious offenses of her own, including arson and the attempted murder of her "boyfriend." 31 year old Crystal Mangum attacked her "boyfriend" and set his clothes on fire while her three children were inside, according to an arrest warrant handed out Wednesday night.

According to the arrest warrant, Mangum scratched, punched, and threatened her "boyfriend," Milton Walker after he decided to break up with her. Mangum's 9 year old daughter called 911.

After picking up the remains of his clothes, the victim said, "I don't know what she was thinking, sometimes she does things without thinking...I believe Crystal is a good person, so there's no problem. We were friends before so I hope everything works out for the best,"

In March 2006, Mangum accused three Duke lacrosse players of raping her at a party where she was hired to strip. The case gained national attention. In April 2007, all charges were dropped by Attorney General Roy Cooper. The case also led to Durham District Attorney Mike Nifong being disbarred. Mangum later released a book entitled "The Last Dance for Grace: The Crystal Mangum Story."

Mangum is currently being held on $1 million bond. Her official charges are 5 counts of arson, 3 counts of misdemeanor child abuse, attempted first degree murder, assault and battery, identification theft, communicating a threat, injury to personal property, and resisting [a] public officer.

(Update 1-7-11 - mistrial on arson charges) Last month on December 16, Mangum was found guilty of injury to personal property, child abuse, and resisting an officer. Superior Court Judge Abe Jones sentenced her to 88 days in jail - time she had already served. Jurors deadlocked 9 to 3 in favor of a non guilty verdict on the 1st degree arson charge. Three of those jurors believed Mangum was guilty of being reckless in setting fire to the "boyfriend"'s clothing.

Supporter Victoria Peterson reiterated a claim by the Friends of Crystal Mangum that authorities were punishing Mangum for accusing Duke lacrosse players of rape in 2006. Mangum was retaliating against her boyfriend, Milton Walker, for allegedly punching her in the face; Walker was never charged. "It's a victory," Peterson said of the judge and jury's decisions.

Over the past 10 months, Peterson and others have complained about Mangum's treatment, which included an attempted murder charge, $1 million bond, the 88 days in jail and a no-contact order with her children."There did seem to be a lot of severe charges for what the evidence showed," said jury forewoman Shauna Mitchell.

Meanwhile, Durham County prosecutor Mark McCullough will decide later this month whether to retry Mangum on the 1st degree arson count.

Maria Lauterbach's killer sentenced to life without parole

(Originally Posted 1-12-08)

Maria Lauterbach, a 20 year old Marine who was 8 months pregnant, was found murdered yesterday in North Carolina along with her fetus after her disappearance December 19th. She last spoke to her mother December 14th and her car was found a week ago (January 7th). Yesterday, remains of a woman and her fetus were found in the primary suspect's home, that of another Marine she suspected of rape in April last year. The idea that the baby was the rape suspect's is plausible.

The suspect in her murder, Marine Cpl. Cesar Laurean 21, was accused of rape by Maria, and she was scheduled to testify against Laurean at a military hearing.

While Maria's mother described her as a liar, her uncle, Peter Steiner, described the pregnancy as due to the alleged rape, and maintained that the Marines did not protect his niece. When her car was found, a military protective order, similar to a restraining order, was found, but civilian officials said they were never notified. The order, which lasted from July to September, stated Laurean could not come within 1000 feet of Maria.

The Jacksonville (NC) Daily News has more.

Civilian investigators have said a military protective order — similar to a restraining order, but authorized by the commanding officer in charge of the Marine being restrained — existed for a pregnant Marine against the Marine accused of killing her, but they were never made aware of it by anyone from Camp Lejeune.

Paul Chiccarelli, special agent in charge of Naval Criminal Investigative Service aboard Camp Lejeune, said the "crucial information that brought the turn in the case came through the base," adding the base had been very cooperative throughout the investigation. Chiccarelli said Laurean was not taken into custody after Lauterbach reported the alleged rape because there were indications that Lauterbach and Laurean carried on "some sort of friendly relationship" after she filed the complaint against him.

Chiccarelli said Laurean had not been considered a flight risk after the Lauterbach disappearance.

Laurean ended up fleeing at around 4AM Friday, and is currently on the run. He is believed to be in either Louisiana or Texas as of 6:30 PM Sunday.

Lauterbach's uncle, Peter Steiner, a psychiatrist who lives in Louisville, Ky., and had been in Jacksonville in the past week looking into his niece's disappearance, said his niece called her uncle's home at least twice a week, because they were very close. "She was a very beautiful, athletic young lady. She volunteered to join the Marine Corps. She was very committed to the Marines, and she is being portrayed in a way that does not look well."

Because of the widespread coverage, Victimized Over The AOC will link to sources which provide more in-depth coverage of this story.

Holly's Fight Against Violence, a Canada-centric blog against violence against women, has this tribute to the young Marine.

The Jacksonville, NC Daily News has this special section related to coverage of her disappearance and murder.

Update (1-15-08): According to the autopsy report, Maria Lauterbach died of blunt trauma to the head, putting to rest all doubt about her murder. There was a note written by Lauren claiming that she committed suicide by slitting her throat. Laurean is said to be in hiding, and not actively on the run.

"It is believed that he has reached a location where his need to move in high speed or long distance no longer exists,” said Onslow County Sheriff Ed Brown. A $25,000 reward has been postedfor information leading to Laurean's arrest.

Update (1-18-08): Marine officials did not believe that Lauterbach was the victim of foul play until she was found dead. Mrs. Laurean waited 24 hours before reporting Lauterbach's death to authorities, and an item, believed to be a crowbar, suspected as being the murder weapon, was recovered after being turned in by a witness. Police found Laurean's truck, and are going over evidence inside it.

“We believe that we have an item that may have been used in the murder of Maria Lauterbach,” Sheriff’s Department Capt. Rick Sutherland said. “It is consistent with what the Medical Examiner believes is the cause of death. We have not confirmed what this item is.”

Laurean is now believed to be in Mexico, where he allegedly told fellow Marines and his wife he would flee to if convicted in the rape.

The FBI filed court documents this week stating Laurean told members of his Marine Corps unit he would flee to Mexico if it appeared he would be found guilty of raping Lauterbach. Laurean's wife, Christina Laurean, also told authorities she believed her husband would head to Mexico if he was in legal trouble. Laurean is reported to have mailed letters back to his wife in North Carolina, according to two law enforcement officials who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity. The letters had a Houston postmark, the AP reported.

"We strongly suspect, but have not confirmed, that Laurean may be in Mexico," said FBI spokesman Richard Kolko in Washington. "We have a strong working relationship with law enforcement partners in Mexico, and we're working with them to locate and apprehend him." In addition to the original charges of first-degree murder, bank card theft and obtaining property by false pretense, Laurean has been charged by the FBI with unlawful flight to avoid prosecution.

(Update 4-11-08)

Laurean has been captured in Morelia, capital of the Mexican state of Michoacan. Besides murder, charges include theft, robbery with a dangerous weapon, and fraud. Police carrying out an anti-kidnapping operation stopped Laurean because he was acting suspicious, and then ran him through a criminal database. It is believe that Laurean used Lauterbach's ATM card to with draw funds for his flight to Mexico, which according to prosecutors occured January 14.

U.S. Ambassador Tony Garza said in a statement that “Laurean fled to Mexico early this year in the hope of avoiding justice” and called the arrest “a clear message to all would-be fugitives from U.S. law that Mexico will not provide them refuge.”

Prosecutors dropped the death penalty as the maximum sentence to secure Laurean's extradiction.

Phone messages seeking comment left at Lauterbach’s parents’ home in Vandalia, Ohio, with Lauterbach’s uncle Pete Steiner, and with family attorney Chris Conard were not immediately returned late Thursday.

Another family attorney, Merle Wilberding, said Lauterbach’s mother, Mary, received the call from the FBI informing her of the arrest with “shock and surprise.”

“She’s been living with Cpl. Laurean being on the run ... and living without an expectation that he was going to be captured any time soon, so when the word came it really caught her by surprise, and she’s still trying to let it all sink in,” Wilberding told WDTN-TV in Dayton, Ohio.

(Update 4-20-09) Laurean was formally extradicted back to North Carolina from Mexico last Friday. Earlier today, he was in court for a bond hearing in Onslow County District Court. The hearing, presided over by Judge Paul A. Hardison, enede with Laurean being denied bond. His next court appearence will be May 18. Official charges include 1st degree murder, robbery with a dangerous weapon, and numerous theft related charges.

(Update 8-24-10) Laurean was convicted by a jury after three hours of deliberation of bludgeoning Lauterbach to death and immediately sentenced to life without parole. The trial was moved to Wayne County, NC from Onslow County due to pre-trial publicity. Besides the 1st degree murder charge, Laurean was also convicted of theft and fraud by using Lauterbach's ATM card.

During closing arguments, Chief Assistant District Attorney Ernie Lee talked about the 4 weeks between when the victim's mother last saw her daughter and when Lauterbach's body was found in a burn pit. “On Jan. 11, 2008, Mary Lauterbach’s nightmare became a reality when her daughter’s body was found buried in the defendant’s backyard,” Lee said. Lee went on to say how Laurean's career was at stake, since sex with a subordinate is a crime in the Marine Corps.  Despite the DNA test showing that Laurean was not the father of Lauterbach's unborn child, “as long as Maria Lauterbach was still out there he could not [be a good Marine].”

Meanwhile, Lauterbach's defense attorney, Dick McNeil, said that his client should not be convicted of 1st degree murder because Laurean's wife, Christina, also had motive. Texts and computer records make no record of Laurean and Lauterbach being in contact between the rape allegation and the murder. Laurean was eventually cleared of that rape allegation.

McNeil painted his client as a panicked Marine who was at home minding his own business when a troubled, distraught woman came to his door in violation of a protective order. McNeil says he questioned Lauterbach’s truthfulness during the trial, not to degrade her reputation, but to show she was depressed and confused.

Before sentencing but after the verdict, Maria Lauterbach told Laurean to look at his mother and think of his daughter. “I feel so sorry for your daughter. She will have to live with the shame that her father is in prison for murdering not one but two people,” she said.
 
McNeil said that he planned to appeal the verdict.

Two rapists sentenced to de facto life terms in New Hanover County courts

Last Thursday, December 10, 2009, two separate rapists were convicted by New Hanover County juries of separate sex and kidnapping crimes against mainly adult victims. Nicholas Lee Lofton, a 28 year old resicent of Rocky Point, NC, was convicted of robbery, two counts of kidnapping, burglary and two counts of assaulting a child under 12 years old, malicious castration, one count of attempted sex offense and two counts of sex offense. Lofton was sentenced to 84-115 years in prison. The second rapist, 51 year old Douglas Job Smith, was sentenced to 94-115 years in prison after convictions of rape, sex offense and kidnapping. The New Hanover County District Attorney's Office prosecuted both cases.

In the Lofton case, a man and woman testified that three men, including Lofton, burst into their bedroom on Oct. 5, 2007 while they slept in a home in the 600 block of Sharease Circle and pointed guns at them. The attackers punched and kicked the man, and burned his neck and genitals with hot pliers, said prosecutor Barrett Temple. The attackers bound the man and his girlfriend, she said. During the attack, all three attackers sexually assaulted the man's girlfriend in front of the man's two young girls, whose eyes were duct-taped, Temple said. “The girls were awake the whole time and aware of what was going on."

The attackers, who were known by their victims, rummaged through the house and grabbed $400 in cash and jewelry. Lofton was caught because the victims knew his voice and saw his face. Temple said that “It was a tough case for us, and we were pleased with the verdict.”

On December 10, 2007, Smith pulled up in his vehicle and offered a 32 year old woman a ride home, but instead of taking her home, he took her to his house, a 8' x 27' camped behind a Castle Hayne business, according to prosecutor Connie Jordan.

When the woman asked to use the bathroom, she couldn't because the room was littered with feces. That's when Smith pulled out a butcher knife and forced her to take off her clothes. He bound her wrists and ankles and duct-taped her mouth before raping and sexually assaulting her over six hours, Jordan said.

It wasn't until workers at the business arrived the following morning that they asked Smith to move his truck because it was parked across several parking spaces. He moved his vehicle and returned to the residence where the woman eventually managed to undo the duct tape on her ankles and run outside to an automotive business where workers contacted 911, Jordan said.

Police found the woman's clothes inside a garbage bag in the camper, and arrested Smith in Columbus County, NC. According to Jordan, “The jury's verdict will really help her attempt to put this behind her more. Not only has she been trying to forget it for two years, I really feel like their verdict is a powerful healing tool for her...This will be with her for the rest of her life. I don't see any way around that. It's a devastating crime. I can't even begin to understand how you cope with this.”

Mother of 2's remains found - husband charged

After a 14 month search, the parents of a North Carolina mother of 2 were relieved after discovering the remains of their daughter inside of the Tar River Fox Pen. The remains of Kelly Morris, 28, was found last week in the hunting tract, located near Creedmore, NC. She disappeared after leaving from her stepmother's house September 3, 2008, and the next morning, firefighters were called to the Granville County home she shared with her husband and accused murderer, William Scott Morris, 35. The fire was determined to be arson, yet there was no sign of Kelly.

In the next few days, Kelly's dad, Pat Currin began the search for Kelly, which quickly turned into a search for her remains. "Fourteen months - I really don't have much to say right now," he said after learning his daughter's remains were found. Kelly's mother, Wanda Hollis, said "I knew that this day would come eventually. It's like a brick lifted off your chest. I'm glad I didn't have to wait five years, or 10 years."

[Al] Mignacci, a retired IBM engineer, took the search's lead within a month of her disappearance. It wasn't his first missing-person chase. Two years before, he helped look for a Lee County woman thought to be abducted. Just last week, he was helping to find a 5-year-old Fayetteville girl killed and hidden under thick kudzu.

For Morris, Mignacci set up inside the workshop of Currin's construction company, plotting a 15-mile radius from her house, divvying up roads to other volunteers, highlighting all the combed-over territory in yellow.

When he heard the news that Morris had been found at Tar River Fox Pen, he recalled walking outside the fence line along Sam Moss-Hayes Road, passing maybe a few hundred feet from where she was found. Inside, he said, sportsmen bring dogs to chase the foxes and coyotes that wander over roughly 900 acres. A 4-foot fence surrounds the property, and dogs can be heard howling inside from the road.

On Wednesday, at least a dozen State Bureau of Investigation agents and sheriff's deputies were again walking that the fence line, this time inside and lined up abreast with wooden staffs to poke through the leaves and underbrush.

Meanwhile, Morris made his first court appearance in Oxford, NC, where he was being held without bail on 1st degree murder and arson charges. He faces the death penalty. Mignacci said, while going over new areas to find Kelly's remains, that  "It's been a long, tough struggle. A lot of kind searchers put in a lot of time."

Habitual criminal sentenced to at least 32 years for rape

A Greenville, NC man was sentenced to 32 to 39 years in prison Monday, November 16 for raping a 22 year old woman. James Lee Cotton, who turns 40 on November 22, was supposed to go to trial for the rape of the woman, but decided to enter an Alford (or no contest) plea. Superior Court Judge W. Russell Duke Jr. sentenced Cotton, and after he's released, he'll have to register as a sex offender.

Cotton was arrested in 2007 after DNA testing matched him to evidence collected in the 2002 rape. The woman, then 22, said she woke up to someone who put a pillow to her face, produced a knife and raped her, police reported. The suspect entered the residence through a partially opened window at the residence on East Fifth Street.

Cotton was in prison at the time of his arrest. N.C. Department of Correction records indicate Cotton had been convicted on multiple breaking and entering of vehicle charges and a habitual felon charge.

Cotton's plea spared him from a possible de facto life sentence for two counts of 1st degree rape, 1st degree sex offense, and a count of 1st degree burglary.

NC teacher charged with 9 counts for sexual relationship with student - sentenced to 45 days jail, 3 years probation

(Original Post 6-10-08)

Shebana Rajput of Kinston, NC, a Jones High School teacher, was charged with 8 counts of sexual activity with a student and a single count of sex offense with a 17 year old student. She is being held on $100,000 bond in the Lenoir County Jail.

According to a news release, Lenoir County Sheriff's investigators were contacted May 23 by Jones County authorities regarding an investigation of sexual assault by a teacher with a 17-year-old student, who attended Jones Senior High. The incidents took place at Rajput's home, the news release said, which is why Lenoir County authorities got involved.

According to officials, all incidents occured between March and May. Rajput was arrested at her home. Sex between teachers and students, regardless of age, in North Carolina is a felony.

(Update 9-3-09) Rajput pled no contest to having sex with the victim at least 9 times Monday, August 31. Sentencing is set for September 28. The student attended Jones Senior High School, and was hired to clean the gutters of her home, which were only accessible thruogh Rajput's bedroom. When inside, Rajput lured the victim onto the bed, saying that he owed her something. During later sexual encounters, rajput bought the student a car and other expensive gifts, among other things. She resigned in May of last year.

(Update 10-28-09) Rajput was sentenced to 45 days in jail, 3 years probation and a $10,000 fine by the Lenoir County Superior Court yesterday on nine felony charges. According to Lead investigator Detective Christy Smith, “This was the first time the defendant had been charged with a felony. The victim in this case was not underage, but the fact that he was a student of Rajput’s makes it a felony.” The now 19 year old victim is currently undergoing counseling.

The boy and his parents filed a federal lawsuit Monday.

The lawsuit says the 17-year-old boy suffered severe physical, mental and emotional trauma after being "sexually exploited, assaulted and abused" by Shebana Rajput.

The suit says the science teacher made sexually provocative contact with the student on school property, both during and after school hours. It says the sex began in March 2008, with Rajput providing alcohol, gifts, money and a cell phone to the 17-year old.

It claims the teacher purchased the student a car and even promised to marry him. The lawsuit says the boy was ridiculed by a former coach, who blamed him for the teacher's arrest.

Myron Britt sentenced to life without parole in murder of wife

After killing his wife, all that was left for a Roberson County, NC jury to decide, according to his lawyer, was how Myron Britt would die in jail - by the hands of the state through lethal injection, or by the hands of God (or another inmate). After 40 minutes of deliberation, the jury chose the latter option yesterday, July 30.

Nancy Britt was murdered at her childhood home in August 2003 while caring for a disabled sister. The murder, according to prosecutors, was a way for Britt to pay off a growing pile of debt by cashing in of his wife's $800,000 insurance policy.

[Robeson County District Attorney]Johnson Britt said Myron Britt killed his wife to maintain a particular lifestyle and keep up appearances.

The jury was told it would have to determine whether the aggravating factor outweighed the 11 mitigating circumstances the defense would present, Johnson Britt said. Aggravating factors favor imposing the death penalty. Mitigating factors favor a life sentence.

"I am not going to stand up here and tell you there is no value of a father-son relationship, that there is no value in a father-daughter relationship or that there is no value in a son-mother relationship,'' Johnson Britt said. "What I am going to tell you is that the 11 pale in comparison for the reason Nancy Britt was murdered.''

Myron Britt's grown children - 22-year-old Lauren and 29-year-old Brandon - told jurors Wednesday they have a strong relationship with their father and still rely on him for advice.

Superior Court Judge Gregory Weeks allowed Myron Britt time to address the courtroom after he passed sentence of life without parole. Britt thanked his supporters, but also told the jury he forgave them for "wrongfully convicting" him. He also said that the life without parole sentence was a sentence on his children as well as himself.

Jim Parrish and Sue Berry, Myron Britt's attorneys, stated that the mitigating families justify nothing; they prove that he still has value to his family, friends, and faith community, and that the jury will spare his life if there's still value.

"Man" arranges for wife rape through Craigslist

(Original Post 6-3-09)

According to the Kannapolis Police, a 25 year old man used Craigslist to find a man willing to rape the poster's wife. The incident, which occured with the victim's two kids sleeping in the home, happened at 2:45 AM on May 31. The attacker, armed with a knife, raped the victim at knifepoint. The kids, aged 3 and 4, in the home were found unharmed, and the woman was taken to a local hospital for an exam.

Kannapolis Police Chief James “Woody” Chavis said about the attack, “When the victim woke up and she saw a male standing at the foot of the bed holding a knife.”

"[The 'husband'] solicited him to enter his house and sexually assault his wife," Chavis also said. "It's very unusual, and I've been in law enforcement a long time."

Police grew suspicious when discrepancies in the victim's and the husband's stories appeared during questioning. The lack of forced entry also raised suspicions, confirmed after the police found the husband's Craigslist ads seeking someone "to have sex with his wife using some type of scare tactic.”

Another clue that pointed to the husband was that the "man" did nothing to stop the attack.

Because the posting was done without the victim's knowledge, let alone consent, the husband was charged with a count of rape, 2 counts of 1st degree sex offense, and a count a attempted 1st degree sex offense.

Craigslist has come under fire in recent months. In April, Philip Markoff was accused of killing a New York City woman who offered masseuse services through the Web site. Police have also accused the 22-year-old in the armed robbery of another woman. Police said both women had advertised erotic services on Craigslist.

The company has promised to eliminate the category and replace it with a new “adult services” section, where ads will be screened before they are posted.

The man who actually had sex with the victim may not have been aware that the woman had not consented, which is necessary to prove rape.

(Update 6-11-09) Kannapolis police have released a court document detailing more about the crime commited when the "husband" allegedly asked a man to rape his wife at gunpoint.

According to the court document, the wife and her husband were in bed and confronted at about 2 a.m. by a six-foot-tall assailant wielding a knife. He demanded $3,000. The wife said she only had a few hundred dollars.

“… the suspect said that was not enough and that he would get the money from her one way or the other,” the investigating officer wrote in the affidavit. “(The victim) stated that she was afraid for her children who were in another room directly across from her room.”

At the hospital, the victim described the events to the investigator.

“She also stated that her husband's sexual fantasy is having sex with her and another male,” the investigator wrote in the affidavit. “She said that she has checked her husband's e-mail in the past and found e-mail communication where he was requesting someone to please her.”

The husband was convicted last year of indecent exposure in Chesterfield County, Va., according to court documents. He was accused by police of exposing himself twice to a woman delivering pizza to his hotel room.

The Kannapolis home was also the site of a daycare, however, since the sex offense ws a misdemeanor, the husband was not required to stay away from children. Lt. Ken Jackson of the Kannapolis police said that only 1 child was attending the daycare, and the child was off the premises at the time of the attack.

The most shocking part of this, in my opinion, was that the husband told his wife to take a shower (destroying DNA evidence) and not to call police. The wife, after the intruder set down his knife, “was able to get the knife and throw it off the opposite side of the bed near her husband.” Her aim was a bit off, I suspect.

(Update 6-13-09) Kannapolis police arrested the remaining suspect in the case yesterday. 39 year old Rodney Liverman, of Norwood, NC, is being held on $250,000 bond on charges of 1st degree rape.

Note - In all stories, the husband's name has been withheld in order to protect the victim, but in this case, the information already released by the officials in this case is enough to identify the victim. It doesn't just take releasing names for people to figure out more info in cases like this.

North Carolina man sentenced to life without parole for murder of baby's mama

Robert Lee Byrd pled guilty to 1st degree murder on October 27 in the death of his baby’s mama. The 42 year old man was sentenced to life without parole in a North Carolina courtroom. Chasdadi Michelle Stroud, 32, was stabbed multiple times, with knife wounds which penetrated as deep as 6 ½ inches and organs like her lungs. Byrd was arrested in Statesville, NC after he told his sister and other family members that he stabbed Stroud. Rotonda Stroud asked the landlord to check on her sister after the statements.

The couple had been on and off for the past 16 years, and the 3 year old son they had was at the scene of his mother’s murder. The motive for Stroud’s murder was Byrd’s jealousy that the victim had a new boyfriend.

"If I can't have her, nobody can," Byrd told investigators, according to Brown.

In June 2007, Davie County Child Support Enforcement filed a child-support claim on Stroud's behalf against Byrd. That October, Byrd was ordered to pay $103 a month in child support, but he didn't pay, according to court records filed in Davie County.

He failed to appear in court several times for child-support hearings, and in March of this year, he was found in contempt of court and ordered arrested. By that time, Byrd owed $721 in child support, according to court records.Brown said Stroud's family had indicated that Chasdadi Stroud had been abused by Byrd, but there is no evidence that she filed a restraining order against Byrd.

The victim’s parents have custody of their 3 year old grandson as well as another son they had.

Former postmaster sentenced to 17 1/2 years for attempt on ex-wife

Postmaster David Willis of Cornelius, NC was sentenced to 17 ½ years in prison for a murder-for hire scheme hatched so his ex-wife wouldn’t share his retirement pension. Federal authorities (the FBI and US Postal Inspection Service) wiretapped Willis discussing with another postal employee how to kill the ex-wife, April Timmons with antifreeze and also asked about hiring a hit man.

Willis said that “antifreeze, the old formula, tastes as sweet as lemonade. And it will kill your ass real quick. You throw a little lemon juice in it, it’s already orange colored and all you gotta do is drink it – and it doesn’t take that much. Two days later, they croak.”

He complained that half of the $5,000 per month retirement pension would have to go to his ex. “I might have worked for Wal Mart the last 30 years…I can’t live on $2500 a month. I’m going to have to work 30 more years – I can’t stand 30 more years at the post office. I need to retire and enjoy life while I can.”

There is no parole in the federal prison system, and Willis has to serve at least 85% of his sentence.

Female North Carolina teacher sentenced to 3 years probation for sex with 17 year old student

Julie Miller Culbertson, 38, was formally sentenced to 3 years on sex offender probation yesterday for having a sexual relationship with a 17 year old high school student. In North Carolina, the regular AOC is 16, but teachers are prohibited from sex with students at any age, including 18 or over. Besides the probation, Culbertson was ordered to pay a $1000 fine, perform 200 community service hours, and she is permanently prohibited from working with students again.

The former East Henderson High School teacher started work as a health occupation teacher on October 8, 2004, teaching grades 10 through 12. According to Sheriff Rick Davis, the investigation into the relationship started May 2007, with a citizen’s tip. Culbertson resigned later that month, and she was arrested in front of school system headquarters. Davis said, “It appears that the abuse has been going on for several weeks prior to the arrest.”

According to Assistant District Attorney Beth Dierauf, Culbertson’s guilty plea occurred in July, when she served a month in jail before release in August. Her formal sentencing was yesterday in Chief Resident Superior Court Judge Mark Powell’s courtroom.

Though the 17 year old victim wasn’t there, her father, a Hendersonville police officer, lamented the fact that as a law enforcement official, he protected others but could not stop his daughter’s molestation.

“It’s a shame that in my 24 years in law enforcement I have protected strangers, and I couldn’t even protect my own daughter,” he said while sobbing.

Culbertson was remorseful about the incident and addressed the court and the victim’s family.

“There are no words to express the pain I have caused my family and the victim’s family,” she said. “My actions did not come from a predatory intent, but were wrong.”

Culbertson’s attorney, Roy Neill, said that he believed his clients actions were due to a change in medication at the time of the incident.

“Julie is college educated and has no criminal record,” Neill said. “She has been married for 16 years and has two young children herself. There is still no excuse for this.”

Judge Powell, while sentencing, denounced Culbertson’s conduct.

“Every person is terribly flawed, I am too. If I could send you to prison I would. Be careful about this situation. People know about it and will be quick to accuse you.”

A quote from Mediaskeptic, of Teachers & Trash Education is below:

She pleaded to the felony charge which gives her a criminal record for the rest of her life.It also means she'll never teach anywhere. Ever again. And it is likely that she will find professional employment difficult, if not impossible.The bonus was that the victim did not have to testify, which, from a parent's point of view, is a good thing.Those are things that the victim, the victim's family and the prosecutor consider when determining charges.

Attempted North Carolina rapist already serving life with parole gets LWOP for another rape attempt

A North Carolina attempted rapist serving life with the chance of parole was sentenced to life without parole for the attempted rape of a female prison sergeant, but the parole option was dropped after he attacked a woman prison employee in February 2007.

Robert Donnell Johnson Jr., 41, went to the sergeant’s office to ask for a coat hanger, but pushed her into a bathroom and locked the door. The woman hit her head of the toilet, and hurt her foot and chest. Harnett County assistant district attorney Teresa Postell tried the case. He had anextensive criminal history in Lee County, NC, including 2nd degree rape and burglary.

Union County, NC man charged in shooting death of wife after violating protection order

Gregory Coffey, 41, who has had a history of violence against his wife, allegedly killed his estranged wife, 32 year old Towanda Lashawa Chambers Coffey. He forced her into a car, shot her in the back of the head, all the while driving the car towds, then into a shopping mall not far from the Waxhaw police department. Gregory was served a restraining order in June ordering him to stay away from his wife. The order replaced a dropped charge of misdemeanor assault on a female.

The incident began around 6 p.m. Tuesday, when police say Gregory Coffey approached his 32-year-old wife in a convenience store parking lot near downtown Waxhaw. Witnesses told police the man forced the woman into the car, then got in the back seat and pointed a gun at the back of her head.

The two drove off, but minutes later the car struck a brick wall outside the Captain's Galley restaurant on N.C. 75, in the same shopping center as the Waxhaw Police Department.
When police arrived, they found the woman dead from a gunshot wound, and the man on the ground outside, with cuts and bruises. Witnesses said the man shouted several times, “It was an accident.”

Police did not disclose a possible motive.

The victim was married to her husband for 3 years and had a criminal history, both misdemeanor and felony convictions, dating back to 1992. Her history included financial card theft and assault with a deadly weapon.

Questions ramain in Megan Touma's death

Tom Foreman Jr.

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP)- Even with a suspect in custody, there are still plenty of questions surrounding the death of a pregnant soldier found in a motel bathtub in Fayetteville more than a month ago.

Police have charged Fort Bragg soldier Edgar Patino in the death of Army Spc. Megan L. Touma, but investigators haven't released a cause of death or motive.

Touma was last seen alive not long after she arrived on June 12 at Fort Bragg, home to the Army's 82nd Airborne Division and its Special Operations Command. She was divorced, though authorities have said nothing about the father of her child.

She was temporarily assigned to Fort Bragg's 19th Replacement Company, and would have eventually been assigned to work at a base dental clinic.

Police scheduled an 11 a.m. news conference Wednesday, the same day Patino is scheduled to appear in court.
Patino was arrested without incident at his home Tuesday, said Lt. Lars Paul, a police watch commander. He was being held in the Cumberland County jail without bond.

Sgt. Patino was transferred to Fort Bragg in December 2007, said Bruce Anderson, spokesman with the U.S. Army Europe. Before that, Patino had been assigned as a combat engineer to the 18th Engineer Brigade in Bamberg, Germany, Anderson said.

Touma, 23, was found dead June 21 at a Fayetteville motel after a maintenance supervisor smelled a foul odor coming from a room, which had been protected by a "Do Not Disturb" sign for four days. A dental specialist from Cold Spring, Ky., Touma was seven months pregnant and had recently arrived from a base in Germany.

Authorities have said a soldier studying psychological warfare at Fort Bragg was a person of interest in the case. It wasn't immediately clear if police were referring to Patino.

Police also investigated a letter sent to The Fayetteville Observer from a person who claimed to be a serial killer responsible for Touma's death. The letter featured a circle-and-cross drawing that was the same as one used a generation ago by San Francisco's infamous Zodiac Killer. Authorities said a similar symbol had also been drawn in lipstick on the motel room mirror.
Police have said they believed the letter was written to mislead investigators and the news media.

Touma is among three servicewomen killed in recent months near a North Carolina military base.

Earlier this month, Army 2nd Lt. Holley Wimunc, 24, was found dead in a wooded area near Camp Lejeune three days after a suspicious fire at her Fayetteville apartment. Her estranged husband, Marine Cpl. John Wimunc, who is stationed at Camp Lejeune, has been charged in her death.

In January, the burned body of Lance Cpl. Maria Lauterbach, 20, who was eight months pregnant, was discovered in a shallow grave near Camp Lejeune in the back yard of her former co-worker and a man she accused of rape, Cpl. Cesar Laurean. Laurean fled to Mexico but was arrested April 10. He has been charged with murder and is awaiting extradition.

During a news conference, police said that Patino, who was married, was the father of Touma's unborn baby, and that he was the last person who went into Touma's hotel room while she was alive.

Marine faces murder, arson charges in death of wife, an Army nurse

By KEVIN MAURER, Associated Press Writer

FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. - The husband of an Army nurse who worked in the maternity ward at Fort Bragg's hospital was charged Monday with murder in her death, a day after her body was discovered by authorities.

Marine Cpl. John Wimunc, 23, was also charged with first-degree arson and conspiracy to commit arson in the death of his wife, Army 2nd Lt. Holley Wimunc, of Dubuque, Iowa. Her body was found Sunday, three days after a suspicious fire at her Fayetteville apartment.

In May, Wimunc secured a temporary restraining order against her husband. She told authorities he got drunk and held a loaded handgun to her head and his. At the time of her death, the couple was going through a divorce.

"You start with people who are closest to the spouse and you work your way out from that," Fayetteville Detective Jeff Locklear said of the investigation.

Authorities also charged Marine Lance Cpl. Kyle Alden, 22, with first-degree arson, conspiracy to commit arson and accessory after the fact to first-degree murder. Both were arrested at Camp Lejeune, the Marine Corps base about 130 miles southeast of Fayetteville where they are stationed as combat engineers.

Wimunc's body was found in a wooded area near the southern border of Camp Lejeune late Sunday afternoon, not far from Alden's residence. The body had been there several days and there is evidence she was dead upon arrival, said Onslow County District Attorney Dewey Hudson, who wouldn't elaborate. The men were arrested late Sunday night after police interviewed Alden.

"We were able to corroborate a lot of the things he told us," Locklear said. "We used that information, interviews with witnesses ... to get the arrest warrant."

Both men are currently being held without bond in the Cumberland County jail and are scheduled to appear in court Tuesday. It wasn't immediately clear if they had attorneys. John Wimunc's father declined to comment when reached by The Associated Press, but Alden's mother said her son's only involvement was giving a friend a ride to Fayetteville.

"He had no idea what was going on. He didn't do this," Connie Johnson said in a phone interview from her home in Pequot Lakes, Minn.

Fayetteville police began searching for Wimunc when she didn't show up for work Thursday. Co-workers could not find her at her apartment, but smelled what they suspected was a fire and called police. Once inside, investigators found evidence of arson.

Sgt. Chris Corcione said Monday that investigators found several points where the fire was started, but the blaze was concentrated in the apartment's rear bedroom. While the interior walls of the burned room were black with soot, Corcione said, the fire burned itself out and left behind useable evidence.

Holley Wimunc, 24, was commissioned by the Army Nurse Corps in 2007. Her first duty assignment was at Fort Bragg, where she worked in the mother and baby unit at Womack Army Medical Center.

Corcione said Wimunc was last seen alive the night of July 8, when she went out with friends and used her ATM card. Police believe she was dead when she was taken out of the apartment, but they are not yet sure when her body was taken to Onslow County.

Hudson said an attempt to burn the body set off a brush fire that drew the attention of authorities, and the body was located by Division of Forest Resources personnel. He said detectives likely would never have found her body had it been burned in a brush-free area about 100 feet away.

"It seems that someone tried to torch the body in the shallow grave," Hudson said.

Maj. Cliff W. Gilmore, a spokesman with the 2nd Marine Division at Camp Lejeune, said both suspects are assigned to the division's 2nd Combat Engineer Battalion. John Wimunc has served two tours in Iraq, including that ended in January.

Teacher charged with sexual acts against 18 year old student, pleads guilty to misdemeanors

(Original Post 4-16-08)

A 33 year old Raleigh, NC teacher who allegedly had sex with an 18 year old student at her apartmment this weekend was charged with a single count of taking indecent liberties with a student. Shannon Lee Best was charged because no relationship between a teacher and a student is consensual under North Carolina law.

Although the alleged victim is of legal age, police said criminal charges are being pursued because of the teacher-student nature of the alleged encounter."Under (state) statute, there is no age of consent when the suspect is a teacher and the victim is a student," Sughrue said.

Michael Evans, a spokesman for the Wake County Public School System, said Best taught at Sanderson High since August 2004.Students who were in her class, said Tuesday they were shocked by the news."She was a good person. She was a really nice teacher," said student Kendall Joyner said. "It's crazy – stuff that happens these days," another student, Ashley Fletcher, said. "You never know anymore."

Best was released from the Wake County jail after posting a $5000 bond.

(Update 4-19-08) A second student is allegedly involved in the sleepover at Best's apartment last weekend. The warrant said that the sleepovers were so Best could take them to a track meet, and that two photos, one of Best nude, and the second of her kissing a student, were taken. The nude photo was sent to the student she was sexually involved with, and police are searching for other victims. Police are searching Best's school owned computer and three flash drives.

(Update 6-19-08) Best was sentenced to 45 days in jail, suspended, 18 months of unsupervised probation, and a $250 fine and court costs. Best pleaded down to misdemeanor attempted crime against nature and giving alcohol to a student. She must have no contact with her victim at all or minors without adult supervision. Best now works at a restaraunt, but plans to get back into teaching again.

"We wanted to make sure she pled to something that was on her record, so, if someone did a background check, it would be a red flag that it was something they needed to inquire about,"
said Wake County District Attorney Jeff Cruden.

Best's defense attorney, Lee Turner, said his client, who resigned from the Wake County Public School System in April after nearly four years of teaching at Sanderson, knows what she did was improper and irresponsible and that she is devastated by what she did.

Turner said she comes from a family of teachers in Kinston and that he has received e-mails and letters from colleagues and parents about how she was a motivational teacher who inspired children who did not want to be in school.She is now working at a restaurant in Sampson County where she grew up but hopes to get back to teaching some day, he said."

Her whole life was planned around being a teacher, and apparently, she was a very good teacher from all I've learned," Turner said. "Hopefully, somewhere, someone down the line will give her an opportunity again."

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.

Rape victim shares her story of victimization by an ex boyfriend

Annie, a North Carolina woman, was raped by an ex boyfriend after five years and a child with him. While with him, she suffered verbal and physical abuse, and he became HIV positive. The woman looks back and says,

"Truthfully, I didn't know I had so many things going on," she said. "Not only was I a victim of rape, but also of mental and verbal abuse. So, it's a variety of things that go along with rape; it's not just rape alone."

The domestic violence she suffered were nothing compared to what would happen next:

In Annie's case, her rapist came to her place of employment under the guise of bringing their daughter to the doctor's office. Instead, he showed up without Annie's children and eventually forced his way into the driver's seat in her car, she said. He then took her to another location and raped her.

Then, more than one week later, he broke into her home and tried to murder her, she said.
However, for Annie, the horror of the situation didn't end there: Her rapist is HIV positive.

"He knew he was HIV positive, and I did too," she said. "He tried to inject me with the virus, but I'm negative. I don't have HIV. I've been tested and re-tested so many times."

To help her get through all she's experienced, Annie got in touch with a local domestic violence and sexual assault crisis center, SAFE in Lenoir County. The organization exists in the county to help victims of physical and sexual violence, Assistant Director Carolyn Fields said.

"We act as advocates and try to do everything we can do to help her (the victim)," she said.
Fields said one of the problems with sexual assault is that it is a "hidden crime."
"It's a lot easier to get away with that sometimes," she said.

Statistics back up Fields' assertion: According to the N.C. Council for Women, only 46 percent of victims reported their rapes in the state in 2002. Though Annie reported her rape to law enforcement, she said she didn't know much about the legal process.

Annie went to the police, but the time that to her rapist's conviction was three years. She also didn't want to get her child's father in trouble.

"I didn't know anything about a protective order. I kept calling police on the regular about him. I kept trying to get him out of the house on the regular."

"This is my child's father, and I don't want to get him in trouble. I tried to protect him for the child. A lot of mothers try to protect the father for the child, but he ends up hurting her."

Being in the courtroom wasn't easy for Annie. She said it was "difficult" to talk about her rape and attack because she'd tried so hard to put it all behind her.

"It was like opening up something that had just happened all over again. I don't feel like he got enough time for what he done because I still have to live with these scars, this abuse, the rape, everything he did to me."

Annie’s experience is typical, according to Fields.

"The person often feels they're being re-victimized when the go through the court system. That's why some men are able to rape over and over and over again."

Another factor to consider is that the rapist, coercer, or sexual predator with an adult victim uses grooming tactics to convince the victim that they are in love. Yet another factor is that “real rape” as defined by laymen and lay women, only includes strangers jumping out of the bushes at night. If all of the above elements are not in place, then the sexual attack isn’t considered real rape.

After the rape, Annie feels that she’s been given a second chance to be the mother that she could be, but her feelings about men have changed. She won’t give a man a second chance to abuse her, at least for a while.

"I have a special chance to enjoy my kids. They are my priority... God gave me a better chance to be with my children. I'm happy, I'm content with my kids, but I'm hurt to think about what occurred, what happened to me. It put a damper on me about trusting men. It will take a lot for me to ever trust one. You just don't look at them the same way.

"But, it's going to be a hard process. It's going to take some time."

According to Johnson-Hostler, each rape victim deals with her sexual attack differently.

"Clearly, the way a rape victim deals with rape is specific to that victim," she said. "There's not a cookie-cutter response for victims of rape."

Acquaintance (or “partner”/spousal rape victims) often blame themselves, when in reality, rape is always the fault of the rapist, no one else.

Annie said she wanted to tell her story for several reasons, one of which is the stigma attached to rape victims.

"I feel like somebody should talk about it," she said. "It's something that you are ashamed of, but I didn't do it to myself: Somebody done it to me."

Now, she said, she's trying to put her rape behind her, and she hopes talking about her experience will help even "one person out of a thousand or a million" to not go through the same thing.

And the biggest lesson Annie said she learned?

"A woman don't need a man to stand up on her own two feet."

Haywood County, NC roundup of child sexual abuse cases

Beginning with a plea entered by a Tennessee man to solicit a Waynesville minor for prostitution and ending with the tearful, emotional plea by a young Waynesville man who’s consensual relationship with his young girlfriend led to criminal charges, this week in Haywood County Superior Court has been dominated with pleas to sex crimes.

One woman will spend almost seven years in prison after pleading guilty to second degree rape of a young boy, another will be sentenced in May after pleading guilty to 18 felony charges related to sex crimes against children.

Following is a recap of pleas entered this week in superior court:

Russel Lang Perhaps the most heart-wrenching plea of the week, according to courtroom witnesses, was entered Thursday by Russel James Lang, 20, of Waynesville, who pleaded guilty to statutory rape of a victim who was at the time 14 years old and more than four years, but less than six years, younger than Lang who was 19 when the incident occurred.

The case itself was described by Lang’s defense attorney Jeff Jones as a sort of Shakespearian romance, likening the relationship between Lang and the victim, who at the time was his girlfriend, to that of Romeo and Juliet. During a hearing that left few without tears, Lang pleaded guilty to one of two counts of statutory rape and was sentenced by Superior Court Judge Mark Powell to spend the next three years, six months in the North Carolina Department of Corrections. One count of the same charge was dismissed.

Under state statute, Lang is not required to register as a sex offender. The victim, who sobbed throughout the entire court proceeding, addressed the court through a letter, read aloud by Assistant District Attorney Angie Rogers. In the letter, the victim wrote that she and Lang initially grew to know each other at a party held at Lang’s house.

After realizing they shared a lot in common, the two began a relationship that lasted two years and ended with Lang’s arrest on Aug. 31, 2007. The victim — who is five years, five months younger than Lang — said she and Lang engaged in consensual sexual intercourse.
“I just don’t want anything to happen to him because of me,” she wrote. “I just don’t want to see him get hurt.”

Lang told the court that the loving, committed, long-term relationship between himself and the victim was based on love between two people who shared a lot in common. Dr. Pete Sansbury, a clinical psychologist from Asheville, told the court he has evaluated Lang and determined he is not a sexual predator, nor a pedophile, and would have a low risk of recidivism. Sansbury described the situation as an adolescent romantic relationship between an immature male and a victim who is simply too young to be involved with him. Lang is supported by a large network of people throughout the community, Jones told the judge.

When Jones asked if, by a show of hands, there was anyone present in the courtroom who supported Lang, at least 24 people raised their hands.

Judge Powell was also asked to consider a stack of 26 letters presented to the court — written by friends and family members, including a church pastor and numerous Haywood Community College instructors — each coming to Lang’s defense as a person of good character. Furthermore, Jones pointed out, when Lang was first notified of warrants being issued for his arrest, he turned himself into the Waynesville Police Department and offered a video confession of his relations with the victim.

“He told them everything because he had nothing to hide,” said Jones. “He was in love. She was in love.” At that time, Lang spent 92 days in the Haywood County Jail — for which he is to be given credit.

Immediately upon his release from jail, he got a job and enrolled in college, said Jones. He was scheduled to take his final college exam today, but “his whole semester is shot now.”

Stephanie Rae Mathis Spann

After pleading guilty Monday to the second-degree rape of a 13-year-old boy, Stephanie Spann, 31, of Jackson County, will spend at least six years, eight months in the North Carolina Department of Corrections, a sentence also imposed by Judge Powell. She could spend as many as eight years, nine months incarcerated.

The crime to which Spann pleaded guilty was committed on Jan. 7, 2007, in the victim’s home, while his mother was away. At that time, after a night of drinking alcohol and using methamphetamines, Spann initially had sexual intercourse with an older male adult, then with the victim who was also under the influence of drugs and alcohol, Assistant District Attorney Jim Moore said.

Initially she was also charged with first-degree statutory rape and first- degree sexual offense — charges that were dismissed pursuant to the plea agreement. While second-degree rape usually requires evidence of forced intercourse against a victim’s will, Spann was convicted due to the young victim’s incognizance, which rendered him physically helpless, Moore said.

The victim was also drinking alcohol and using methamphetamines the night the incident occurred, he continued, and wasn’t fully aware of what was happening. “When a person is mentally disabled or, in this case, was physically helpless and can’t appreciate what is happening” that also counts as second-degree rape, said Moore. Upon her release from prison, Spann will be required to register as a sex offender.