NYC middle school teacher used Venmo to pay for child porn
A Queens middle school teacher was busted with kiddie porn on his phone Tuesday — which prosecutors said he bought using payment app Venmo.
Eric Paulino, 30, a Department of Education employee who a source says works as a special ed teacher at IS 93 in Ridgewood, pleaded not guilty in Brooklyn federal court to possessing child porn and was released after posting a $250,000 bond.
According to the criminal complaint against Paulino, the FBI allegedly found videos and images of children engaging in sex acts on the teacher’s smartphone Tuesday morning after federal agents executed a search warrant at his residence, which is also in Ridgewood.
Agents obtained the warrant after learning that Paulino allegedly used an online alias and made purchases from a “known purveyor of child pornography” via Venmo, court documents say.
Paulino allegedly admitted to agents that he has used his phone to download and trade kiddie porn, the complaint states.
Paulino’s attorney, Jeffery Greco, noted to The Post that his client is not being accused of accessing child porn on school grounds or having any sexual contact with students.
“He wasn’t searching on any school property and at no time did he violate any barrier between a teacher and a student,” Greco said.
The DOE said the are “reassigning this teacher away from the classroom because of this deeply disturbing allegation.”
via: https://nypost.com/2019/08/27/nyc-middle-school-teacher-used-venmo-to-pay-for-child-porn-feds/
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School resource officer fired after sending nude selfies while on duty
A school resource officer in Florida was fired after she was caught taking nude selfies in the school bathroom to send to her husband, a report said.
The unidentified officer with the Kissimmee Police Department took the nude video during a school day in December at the Imagine Kissimmee Charter Academy, according to Fox News.
The video shows the woman touching herself in an inappropriate manner and urinating while speaking to a person she refers to as her husband, the report said.
The Osceola County Sheriff’s Office discovered the illicit video earlier this year while investigating a domestic issue between the woman and her husband.
The restroom was locked at the time. But investigators said the incident could have delayed “any immediate response” in the event of an emergency.
The officer told investigators that she had been coerced by her husband to take the video.
“Sending the material did not affect the ability to perform my job; and it is imperative to note that no one was hurt because of my actions,” she wrote in a memorandum to the department’s deputy chief.
Photo Credit: heraldpublicist.com
Touch-screen voting machines appear to be changing votes in Mississippi
There have been widespread reports of voting machine problems in Mississippi — with residents from more than a half-dozen counties claiming to have had their ballots automatically changed Tuesday while trying to vote in the state’s GOP governor primary runoff.
“It is not letting me vote for who I want to vote for,” said one Mississippian in a Facebook video, which showed one of the voting machines malfunctioning.
Every time the man tried to select his pick for governor — Bill Waller Jr. — the device would automatically choose his opponent, Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves.
“How can that happen?” a woman can be heard asking on video.
“I don’t know, it’s in the machine,” a man replies.
A Facebook user named Sally Kate Walker posted the footage of the malfunction on her page Tuesday, with the caption: “Ummmm…. seems legit, Mississippi.”
“As if you needed another reason to VOTE!” she added.
According to the Clarion-Ledger, Waller’s campaign received reports of similar issues with touch-screen voting machines in at least seven counties. The Walker footage was captured at a voting precinct in Oxford.
The machines that were being affected were reportedly TSX models purchased from Election Systems and Software. Those that experienced the “jumping” error, as officials put it, were taken out of service. They were believed to have been mishandled during transport — causing them to lose calibration, officials said.
Waller, a former Supreme Court Chief justice, is currently in a runoff with Reeves for the Republican primary race to see who will face Democratic Attorney General Jim Hood in the general election.
Reeves was in the lead — with 49 percent of the vote to Waller’s 33 percent — when the ballots were originally tallied on Aug. 6.
Photo Credit: nypost.com
TV anchor makes tearful apology after comparing black colleague to gorilla
A white Oklahoma City TV station anchor has tearfully apologized to her black colleague for comparing him to a gorilla during a broadcast last week.
KOCO-TV morning anchor Alex Housden finished a segment Thursday about a gorilla at the Oklahoma City Zoo by comparing the animal to co-anchor Jason Hackett.
“Kind of looks like you,” she said to Hackett, who paused and responded: “He kind of does, actually, yeah.”
While seated next to Hackett the following day, a distraught-looking Housdon said she was sorry — while reaching out to touch his arm.
“I said something yesterday that was inconsiderate, it was inappropriate, and I hurt people,” Housden said. “I want you to know I understand how much I hurt you out there and how much I hurt (Hackett).”
She said she would “never do anything on purpose to hurt” him.
“I want you all to know from the bottom of my heart I apologize for what I said,” Housden said. “I know it was wrong, and I am so sorry.”
Hackett accepted Housden’s apology, saying she’s one of his best friends, but made it clear that her comment hurt his feelings.
“What she said yesterday was wrong,” Hackett said, adding that the apology was a “teachable moment” and that “words matter.”
“It cut deep for me, and it cut deep for a lot of you in the community,” he said.
“We’re becoming a more diverse country, and there’s no excuse. We have to understand the stereotypes. We have to understand each other’s backgrounds and the words that hurt, the words that cut deep,” Hackett said.
“We have to find a way to replace those words with love and words of affirmation as well.”
The clip of Housden’s crass comment was shared on social media, where users lambasted her through her Facebook page.
“You should be fired! Your voice doesn’t belong on the news anymore. If you’re comfortable saying those kind of things on air, who knows what you say behind closed doors,” user Sonny Holloway wrote.
“The petition to have you fired is coming and your days as an anchor are numbered. #YoureNotForgiven#YoureFired.”
User Julie Wexler also called for Housden to be canned.
“Nope. You need to go. It’s 2019 and you’re comparing black men to simians? You. Need. To. Go. No tearful apology makes up for that. GO!” she wrote.
Photo Credit: cnn.com
Student practicing extreme yoga pose falls 80 feet from balcony
A Mexican college student is alive after falling 80 feet from her balcony while practicing a yoga pose.
Alexa Terrazas, 23, was known to do yoga on her sixth-floor apartment’s balcony, often using the guardrail as a prop for extreme poses. But a risky move nearly cost the yogi her life on Saturday afternoon, as she slipped and landed on the pavement outside her building in the northeastern Mexican state of Nuevo León, according to reports in El Imparcial.
The health and nutrition student at Tecnológico de Monterrey was treated by paramedics with the Red Cross and Nuevo León Civil Protection, then brought to the hospital, where she underwent 11 hours of surgery. She was considered to be in critical condition as of Monday, having suffered fractures to both legs and arms, hips and head.
El Imparcial reported that doctors had to “reconstruct” her legs, and that it may be three years before she walks again. People on social media asked their followers to consider giving blood to help her. As of Sunday, a relative of Terrazas tweeted that there was no need.
Neighbors claim they saw Terrazas perform the upside-down pose over the edge of her terrace. The Nuevo León Attorney General’s Office also confirmed that the rail was structurally sound, and that the woman’s slip was an accident.
via: https://nypost.com/2019/08/27/student-practicing-extreme-yoga-pose-falls-80-feet-from-balcony/
Photo Credit: nypost.com/Example of the pose reportedly performed by Alexa Terrazas before she fell.
Boy holds hand of crying classmate with autism on first day of school
A Kansas second-grader is warming hearts around the web with a photo posted online of him consoling an autistic classmate.
Courtney Coko Moore of Wichita uploaded an image to Facebook of the moment her son, 8-year-old Christian, held hands with the other boy, Connor, also 8 years old, when he was crying, WIVB reported.
The snap was captioned: “I’m so proud of my son, he [saw] a kid balled up into a corner crying, so he went to console him, grabbed his hand and walked him inside of the school! It is an honor to raise such a loving, compassionate child! He’s a kid with a big heart, the first day of school started off right.”
The photo has been shared over 4,000 times.
The mother of the other boy, April Cites, was touched by the second-grader’s gesture to her son, reports KWCH12.
Cites said: “Tell your son I said thank you so very much! That little boy he helped is my son and is autistic, I worry every day that he is going to get bullied for being different and your son just absolutely warmed my heart. If there were more children like him I wouldn’t worry about such things.”
Moore said she hopes the two will become buddies.
“I hope that this will be the beginning of a new friendship for both our boys. Your son was so sweet,” she said, adding that her son struggles with speech as well.
via: https://nypost.com/2019/08/27/boy-holds-hand-of-crying-classmate-with-autism-on-first-day-of-school/
Photo Credit: Facebook
A black homeowner was handcuffed and detained in his boxers after his burglar alarm went off
When Kazeem Oyeneyin’s friend accidentally set off his burglar alarm, the North Carolina man went downstairs, turned it off, and went back upstairs to sleep.
Minutes later, Raleigh police showed up, handcuffed Oyeneyin and took him outside in his underwear while they started clearing his house.
“What have I done wrong?” the black homeowner asks, as seen in his home security camera footage from August 17. “I haven’t done nothing wrong.”
On Monday, Raleigh police explained the officers’ actions, saying there were several clues that led police to believe a real burglary might have happened.
But Oyeneyin, a concert promoter and nightclub owner known as Tim Boss, said the case is just another example of a black man getting profiled as a criminal in a predominantly white neighborhood.
“It’s a stereotype that I just don’t want to deal with,” Oyeneyin said.
What the home security footage shows
In one clip, Oyeneyin’s burglar alarm blares through his townhouse.
Oyeneyin walks downstairs, punches in a code to stop the alarm, and goes back upstairs.
In an interview with CNN, Oyeneyin said the alarm went off because a friend had stayed at his house the night before. When the friend left the house, he accidentally set off the alarm.
Oyeneyin said he’s had about four false alarms before. But in the past, police usually came to his house and asked for identification. The officer typically took note of the incident and left, Oyeneyin said.
Not this time.
The security footage shows the first arriving officer opening Oyeneyin’s unlocked front door. “Police! (If) you’re inside, let yourself be known,” the officer shouts into the home.
Oyeneyin responds from upstairs, though his words aren’t clear in the video.
The officer tells him to come down with his hands up. He quickly sees Oyeneyin has a gun in his hand.
Oyeneyin told CNN he wasn’t sure who was downstairs at his front door, so he took his legally owned handgun with him as a precaution. In the video, he announces that he has a firearm.
The officer tells Oyeneyin to drop the weapon, and Oyeneyin immediately does.
“Come on out here,” the officer says, stepping farther outside the house.
“I got on my drawers,” Oyeneyin responded, refusing to leave his foyer.
“Turn around. Put your hands behind your back,” the officer said.
“For what?” Oyeneyin replies, exasperated.
The homeowner and officer have a tense exchange, with the officer demanding Oyeneyin get down on his knees and turn around with his hands behind his back.
Oyeneyin does get down on his knees, but he refuses to turn his back toward the officer. He later told CNN he feared for his safety.
“It’s turning around that I’m afraid of. I’m afraid you’re going to shoot me,” Oyeneyin told CNN.
“I’m tired of having cops pointing guns at me. I’ve been through this rodeo before,” he told CNN. You want me to turn around and face the other (side) where I cant see you? It was more of a safety thing for me, not a compliance.”
The officer eventually enters Oyeneyin’s home and handcuffs him. As they wait for a police supervisor to arrive, the officer asks Oyeneyin if he lives at the home and if he has identification.
“Yep,” Oyeneyin replied both times.
But the officer doesn’t ask Oyeneyin to show him his ID. Instead, the officer explains his actions, saying the door was unlocked, he made several announcements before Oyeneyin responded, and that Oyeneyin emerged from upstairs with a gun.
“I’m just trying to figure out whether you’re supposed to be here or not, OK?” the officer said.
“I got on drawers, bro … (what do) you mean, am I supposed to be here?” Oyeneyin replied.
“I’m just trying to figure out who you are, and whether you’re supposed to be here or not,” the officer said. But he does not ask to see Oyeneyin’s ID.
Moments later, the officer’s supervisor shows up. The sergeant tells Oyeneyin to “have a seat, because we’re going to clear the rest of the house.”
More officers show up. As Oyeneyin keeps asking questions, one officer says, “put him in the car.”
“I haven’t done nothing wrong,” Oyeneyin says, as he’s taken away handcuffed.
Later in the video, one of the officers brings Oyeneyin back inside, telling other police that Oyeneyin is the homeowner and that no burglary took place. The officers leave.
What the police department says
Raleigh police sent a statement to CNN on Monday explaining the first officer’s actions.
After receiving a report of an active burglar alarm, the officer “arrived within minutes and found the front door ajar.”
“After several attempts to contact anyone within the residence, an unidentified male who was armed with a handgun came into the officer’s view,” Raleigh police spokeswoman Donna-maria Harris said in the statement.
“While the resident stated he turned off his alarm prior to RPD’s arrival, the alarm company never called dispatch to cancel police response.”
The police statement said even though the resident said he lived at the house, “the officer had no way to safely confirm the validity of the statement or check the residence for additional persons until other officers arrived on scene.”
“Based on all available facts known to the officer at the time, the resident was detained until additional officers arrived and his identity could be confirmed,” police said.
The resident was detained for about seven minutes, police said. The department said it is reviewing the incident.
‘This has been going on too long’
Oyeneyin said the incident is just the latest indignity he’s faced as a successful black homeowner.
“I’ve been kicked out of a home I used to live (in) because police have accused me of being a gang member,” he said.
“I’ve been sweeping this under a rug, thinking this is America.”
But now that he has a son, Oyeneyin said it’s time to speak out.
“I want to raise awareness to what’s going on,” he said. “This has been going on too long, and I just need it to stop.”
Photo Credit: pix11.com
Teen accused of murdering his father, critically wounding 12-year-old brother over room cleaning argument
MADISON COUNTY, Ala. – A domestic shooting in Alabama over the weekend ended with the father dead, a child injured, and a juvenile behind bars.
Deputies say they received multiple 911 calls about a dispute at the house on Barberry Lane in Toney Saturday afternoon.
Jeffrey Dale Wanca, 16, is charged with the murder of his father, 43-year-old Chad Wanca, and attempted murder of his 12-year-old brother, Hunter, who remains in critical condition at Children’s Hospital of Alabama in Birmingham.
Police haven’t said what led up to the double shooting, but Wanca’s grandparents, Linda and Rick McNamara, told WAFF that the incident happened after their grandson was told to clean his room.
Wanca is charged as an adult and is in the Madison County Jail on a combined $200,000 bond and is set for a felon examination in court on September 4.
Deputies who responded to the 911 calls say they found the 16-year-old outside of the home. They say he walked toward them with his hands raised. He was later arrested after questioning.
Family members and several neighbors say there was dysfunction in the home, but not necessarily more than most families go through. Madison County Deputies are trained to respond to domestic incidences by always expecting the worst.
“We realize and we recognize that domestic violence and involuntary mental health commitments are the most dangerous situations that you go to,” says Madison County Sheriff Office Spokesperson Lt. Donny Shaw.
Many people are saying Chad Wanca was doing his best as a single father raising two boys. His mother, Linda McNamara, says she still loves her grandson who is currently in jail and wants to help him, despite the circumstances.
“Chad was a good father. He loved his sons so much. He will be terribly missed by his family and his friends. Please pray for my grandsons, as they need all prayers and support they can get,” said Linda McNamara.
The sheriff’s office said they expect more details to come out in preliminary hearings as they work to find out what happened.
Madison County Sheriff Kevin Turner released a statement about the shooting Monday afternoon:
“This is a tragic event for the family and the community. Our thoughts and prayers are with the Wanca family and, especially Hunter. Domestic violence is something that can affect any family regardless of income or race. If anyone knows someone who is suffering as a victim of domestic violence, we ask them to please contact law enforcement. See something, say something.”
Community members are rallying together to pray for all involved, especially the 12-year-old shooting victim.
“It’s a tragic incident for that family, for that community and for Madison County as a whole. We have a student that is not going to be going to Madison County schools. We have another one that is injured and will be some time before they go back to school,” said Lt. Shaw.
Both juveniles are in the Madison County Schools system, which issued a statement saying that counselors would on hand to provide extra counseling hours as needed.Advocates at the National Domestic Violence Hotline are available 24-hours a day, 365 days a year to talk confidentially with anyone experiencing domestic violence, seeking resources or information, or questioning unhealthy aspects of their relationship just call 1 (800) 799-7233.
Photo Credit: pix11.com
Mother and daughter accused of stealing crab legs in purse, punching manager
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A trip to the grocery store ended with a Memphis mother and daughter being arrested after allegedly stealing hundreds of dollars worth of crab legs.
Police said Felicia Hollins and daughter Gabrielle Hodges stuffed hundreds of dollars worth of food into a purse at an East Memphis SuperLo Foods on Quince Road, and when a store manager tried to stop them, detectives said things took another bizarre turn.
Police said when the manager tried stopping the pair, she was reportedly “struck twice in the face” while Hollins and Hodges got away.
“What’s wrong with them?” shopper Clord Thornton wondered. Thornton said the solution to enjoying things like crab legs is simple: work for it.
“I’m 78, I have a lawn service business, and I work 7 days a week,” Thornton said.
Another manager told WREG they weren’t too surprised to hear the seafood was swiped. They said crab legs and oxtails are both targeted items.
Hollins and Hodges were later arrested, and detectives said the mom and daughter admitted to running out with the costly crab, which was valued at around $200.
Both Hollins and Hodges are charged with theft of property and assault. They’re set to face a judge Wednesday.
Photo Credit: pix11.com
2 Men Arrested for Allegedly Threatening to Shoot Up Las Vegas Nightclub
Two men were recently arrested by police after they allegedly threatened to shoot up the XS Nightclub at Wynn Las Vegas, authorities said.
Braxton Ryback, 25, and Johnny Young, 22, were taken into custody by Las Vegas police after the incident on Aug. 10, Las Vegas television station KTNV reported.
Police were told that Ryback and Young were shouting, “White privilege, white power, we are white supremacist,” and locking their fists like they were going to hit people, the KTNV report stated. Police were also told that the men told security that they were going to come back and shoot the place up. Young then allegedly returned to the hotel-casino with pepper spray.
During an interview with police, Young allegedly told police that he had a weapon in his vehicle at the Wynn and another weapon in his apartment, KTNV reported.
He also told police that Ryback spent time on a website called “Daily Stormer” and that he shared Ryback’s beliefs.
Young also allegedly told police that he was drunk and angry at security because they had stopped him from taking photos of security cameras, but he never had any intention of hurting someone. He said he intended to only use the pepper spray for protection if needed, KTNV reported.
Young also explained that Ryback was from Canada and that he ran an illegal AirBnB, and Young and his girlfriend were staying with him.
Ryback told people that he did not remember what he said and did not recall making any threats and did not want to talk to detectives.
Police removed several items in Young’s and Ryback’s apartment including a loaded Cobra handgun, ammunition, a global entry ID and Belgium ID, a Nevada driver’s license, a Macbook Pro, an iPhone and a Samsung phone.
Police also removed a pellet gun and hard drive from Young’s car at the Wynn, according to KTNV.
Based on numerous witness statements and the fact that Young specifically stated he would return with a gun, both people are being charged with making threats or conveying false information concerning an act of terrorism or the presence with the intent to injure, intimidate or alarm any person.
Photo Credit: ktla.com