New York may soon require sex abuse awareness in school
ALBANY, N.Y. — New York could soon join 35 other states in requiring schools to teach sexual abuse awareness.
The bill would mandate age-appropriate lessons to help children understand the difference between inappropriate and appropriate touching, and how to report abuse to a trusted adult.
Lawmakers passed the bill, known as Erin’s Law, before adjourning last month. It was blocked for several years after critics said curriculum questions should be left to education officials.
Businessman Gary Greenberg, a child sex abuse survivor, created a political action committee to push for the bill, which he says will empower and protect children.
Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo hasn’t weighed in on the measure.
It’s named after an Illinois woman who has lobbied for the law throughout the U.S. after being abused as a girl.
via: https://pix11.com/2019/07/02/new-york-may-soon-require-sex-abuse-awareness-in-school/
Photo Credit: Getty Images
7-year-old boy saves sister who was having a seizure, drowning in pool
BRANTLEY COUNTY, Ga. – Morgan Smith, 20, was on the bottom step of the pool in her family’s backyard in Brantley County, Georgia when she said black spots started to take over her vision.
Smith has no memory of what happened next.
Luckily for Smith, her 7-year-old brother, Aiden McCullough, was nearby when she had a seizure and fell backwards into the pool.
When he saw his sister fall into the pool, McCullough told CNN affiliate WJAX, “I was thinking, like, ‘Oh, my god. Oh, my God. She’s going to die.’”
McCullough quickly sprung into action, and he said that his instincts kicked in as he grabbed Smith by her hair and held her above the water while he screamed until help came.
“He has never been taught how to help me,” Smith told CNN. “He just knew I needed to be helped and did it.”
Smith said that she would have drowned if not for her brother.
“I know that there are real life angels because I’m lucky enough to call him mine,” Smith said of McCullough. “I have an everyday superhero in my life.”
Smith said she was having seizures two to three times a day, but she recently started taking an anticonvulsant medication and has not had any seizures since.
This was the first swimming incident in which she suffered a seizure, she said and now she plans to always have an adult with her when she goes swimming.
“I love you and I’m so thankful for you every day,” Smith said to McCullough. “You are forever my hero and every day I’m only more thankful that I get to call you my little brother. Sissy always loves you.”
Photo Credit: Getty Images
12-year-old girl arrested for gang assault at Staten Island Mall
NEW SPRINGVILLE, Staten Island — A 12-year-old girl has been arrested in connection with a gang assault at the Staten Island Mall, police said Wednesday.
The attack happened on June 21.
The victims, two 15 and two 16 year old girls, said they were approached by three unknown females who began to punch, push and kick them.
The 12-year-old was arrested on Tuesday on four counts of gang assault charges.
Security has been increased at the mall since the attacks, but many Staten Island parents are on edge and say they don’t feel comfortable having their teenagers at this mall without their supervision.
Staten Island mom Stacey Sobel said she’s afraid to bring her children to the mall, especially her 14-year old daughter.
“I’m here with my two kids and they were afraid to come,” Sobel said. “I had to convince them that I would keep them safe because they don’t feel safe here right now.”
Councilman Steven Matteo said he’s doing all he can to make sure the mall remains a safe haven for families to go to.
“A couple of moms emailed me very concerned and rightfully so,” Matteo said. “I talked to a father yesterday of one of the girls hearing it makes my stomach turn hearing his daughter had to go through that and recover physically mentally.”
Police say they don’t believe the assaults were committed by the same group of girls and say they are actively looking for more suspects.
PIX11 News reached out to mall management, but have not received a response.
Photo Credit: Getty Images
Georgia boy dies in 116 degree car as drugged parents slept
DOTHAN, Ala. (AP) — Alabama police said the parents of a 2-year-old boy were under the influence of marijuana when the toddler left the house, got trapped inside a hot vehicle and died. News outlets report Melinda and Robert King were arrested Tuesday on charges of manslaughter and first-degree marijuana possession. Dothan Police Capt Will Benny says Castiel King slipped out of the home Friday while both parents were asleep under the influence of marijuana. The toddler managed to get himself into the car but couldn’t get out.
The temperature in Dothan Friday was about 94 degrees, making it about 116 degrees in the vehicle. Benny said there were other children in the house as well.
It is unclear whether the Kings have lawyers.
Photo Credit: Dothan PD
Judge says teen accused of raping girl, filming assault at party deserves leniency because he comes from ‘good family’ and ‘good school’
NEWARK, N.J. (KMOV.com) — A New Jersey family court judge is under fire after his comments arguing for leniency in a rape case became public.
According to a report from the New York Times, Judge James Troiano of Superior Court said the 16-year-old would not be tried as an adult, and said pressing criminal charges in adult criminal court could ruin the teen’s life.
The Times reports the suspect allegedly had sex with a girl who was heavily intoxicated, and filmed the entire act on his phone.
He then shared the video with his friends with the message, “When your first time having sex was rape.”
Judge Troiano’s reasoning for leniency was the teen “comes from a good family who put him in an excellent school where he was doing extremely well.”
He also said the suspect was a candidate to get into a good college and the victim should have been informed that pressing charges could ruin the teen’s life.
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A Hawaiian man wore blackface to court, where he was jailed for life — claiming the offensive get-up was a protest at being “treated like a black man.”
Mark Char stunned the court in Honolulu on Monday when he arrived to be sentenced for a vicious road-rage attack wearing standard orange prison fatigues but with his head completely blackened.
“I prepared myself to play my part in your kangaroo court, treating me like a black man — so today I’m gonna be a black man,” he told Judge Todd Eddins in an almost three-minute rant complaining about unfair treatment and his “incompetent” lawyer, according to Hawaii News Now.
Char is believed to have used a permanent marker for the vile stunt, law enforcement sources told the TV station.
“This continues a pattern of disruptive behavior designed to undermine the administration of justice,” the judge complained.
Char was found guilty in March of attempted murder and assault for stabbing three men when he was cut off on a freeway in 2016. One of the victims was stabbed five times and almost died, the court heard.
However, Char always maintained he only acted in self-defense after being chased and beaten up by the younger man he ended up stabbing.
He was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole, based on prosecutors’ recommendations, according to the report.
via: https://nypost.com/2019/07/02/road-rage-nutcase-shows-up-to-court-in-blackface/
Photo Credit: nypost.com
A Wisconsin man was sentenced to 150 days behind bars on Monday for intentionally clogging the toilets in the women’s bathroom at his workplace
Patrick D. Beeman was handed the jail sentence plus three years of probation for repeatedly using a water bottle to create a blockage in the women’s bathroom at the community center where he worked, according to the Sheboygan Press.
Beeman told police “he could not explain this behavior, but simply that he would get very strong urges to do this.”
The man apologized for his behavior in a statement he read during the sentencing hearing.
“I need to make things right and pray forgiveness every day,” he said.
The toilet caper was uncovered when officers discovered an overflowed toilet at the Deland Community Center last March.
Cops then discovered that similar incidents had taken place at least 10 times at the location since April of 2017.
When cops interviewed the manager at Beeman’s temp company, he told them that he received complaints about similar incidents at another location where the toilet clogger had been employed.
Beeman told cops he stopped once he realized there was a criminal investigation.
Judge Kent Hoffmann sentenced him to 30 days for each of the five counts of criminal damage to property, citing the need for a more severe punishment, according to the Sheboygan Press.
n addition to the sentence, the man must pay $5,500 in restitution for the damage he caused from the toilets overflowing.
via: https://nypost.com/2019/07/01/bizarre-toilet-clogging-obsession-lands-wisconsin-man-in-jail/
Photo Credit: Getty Images
Florida man arrested for pelting girlfriend with McDonald’s sweet and sour packets, which prompted her to rip off part of his beard during fight
A Florida man pelted his girlfriend in the “head and face area” with sweet and sour sauce packets Sunday because he was angry she had “bought the wrong food from McDonald’s,” a felony battery complaint said.
Jesus Oscar Ferrer Jr., 30, attacked his girlfriend — with whom he has a child — in the couple’s motel room in Tampa, police said.
A struggle ensued and Ferrer allegedly pinned his girlfriend to the ground. He “placed his palm on her face and pressed her head into the ground using his body weight,” which prompted the woman to rip off part of his beard, the complaint said.
By the time officers arrived, Ferrer had fled the motel, according to the complaint. He was arrested and booked into the Pasco County jail on a charge of felony battery. He made his initial court appearance Monday, according to the Smoking Gun.
Ferrer was charged with battery earlier this year involving the same woman at another motel, the report said. He pleaded no contest to the misdemeanor charge, was sentenced to time served, and paid $750 in fines and court costs, according to the report.
Photo Credit: Pasco County Jail
Woman gives waitress $5,000 tip has been arrested, as deputies say she used a credit card in her boyfriend’s name to get back at him for not buying her a plane ticket to New York
Serina Wolfe, 24, of Buffalo, N.Y., was in the news a few days ago when she left a $5,000 tip for a server grieving the loss of her dog in Pinellas County, but now we have the rest of the story.
According to an arrest affidavit, Wolfe made a purchase using a credit card in her boyfriend’s name. He said they were in an argument because he wouldn’t buy her a plane ticket home to New York.
Deputies say he initially put a hold on the card so she couldn’t buy a plane ticket, but once he lifted the hold she gave the $5k tip.
Wolfe denied making the purchase. Then her boyfriend reported the charge to his credit card company as fraudulent, saying he believes she was drunk or trying to get back at him.
Clear Sky Cafe, where the tip was given, was notified the purchase was fraudulent on Monday, and they had already paid out their waitress for the amount of $5,000 for the tip and $55.37 for the food.
Wolfe voluntarily handed over the card she used to deputies and was arrested for grand theft.
It is unclear at this time whether or not the server will get to keep the money.
Photo Credit: pix11.com
Nike pulls sneaker with early version of American flag after Colin Kaepernick says it’s offensive
Nike is canceling a sneaker that featured a version of the American flag from the late 18th century.
“Nike has chosen not to release the Air Max 1 Quick Strike Fourth of July as it featured an old version of the American flag,” Nike said in a statement to CNN Business.
The Wall Street Journal reported earlier that the athletic-wear company delivered the sneakers to retailers, but asked stores to return them to Nike after the company received a complaint from former NFL star Colin Kaepernick. The Journal indicated Kaepernick said he and others found the shoe offensive.
Kaepernick could not be reached for comment Monday evening.
The shoe was set to be released Monday for $140, according to Sneakernews.com. The website included photos of a shoe that featured a version of the American flag with 13 stars organized in a circle and 13 stripes. That version of the flag, according to the Smithsonian, was used in the United States from 1777 to 1795.
It is unclear if any of the shoes were sold.
This is the second instance of Nike removing a product in recent days. The company stopped selling some products in China after a fashion designer’s support for protests in Hong Kong sparked a social media backlash.
Nike said in a statement at the time that it had decided to remove some of its goods “based on feedback from Chinese consumers.”
In May, according to footwearnews.com, Nike canceled an Air Force 1 sneaker after an indigenous group in Panama objected to its design.
Photo Credit: pix11.com