Police officer in MA charged with raping 16-year-old homeless girl while on duty
Lowell, MA (WBZ ) — A Lowell police officer was arraigned Thursday on two charges of rape after he allegedly assaulted a 16-year-old homeless girl while on duty.
A Middlesex County grand jury indicted 49-year-old Kevin Garneau of Pelham, N.H.
Prosecutors say that in 2016, Garneau was working as part of a community outreach program to help homeless residents.
Garneau allegedly entered the girl’s tent and told her there were warrants out for her arrest but in exchange for sexual services he would not arrest her. Prosecutors say Garneau sexually assaulted the girl several more times in the ensuing months.
Lowell Police learned about the allegation in January 2019 and launched an investigation in May. He is on unpaid administrative leave pending the outcome of his case.
“I’m astonished and deeply disappointed. I acted as soon as we were made aware of these allegations. This is not what the men and women of the Lowell PD represent. They police legally, respectfully and compassionately,” Superintendent of Police Raymond Richardson said in a statement.
A clerk magistrate released Garneau on personal recognizance and ordered him be placed on a GPS monitoring system and stay away from the girl. Garneau is next scheduled to appear in court on July 23.
Photo Credit: pix11.com
School snow days could become a thing of the past in PA. Lawmakers want kids to telecommute to school if it’s closed for weather
Technology disrupts everything, and now it’s coming for beloved snow days.
Lawmakers in Pennsylvania have just greenlit a bill that would transform snow days into work-from-home days for students. Senate Bill 440 would create an opt-in program for school districts to establish “flexible instruction days,” using technology to fill the gap rather than have students and teachers take the day off for inclement weather.
If districts choose to participate, young scholars will spend snowy days inside working on writing assignments and math problems, rather than building snowmen and pelting friends with snowballs.
No more snow days
The legislation is now on Gov. Tom Wolf’s desk to be signed into law. Wolf has previously expressed support, saying “Cyber snow days, I think it’s a great idea, I would sign it,” according to CNN affiliate KYW.
But Wolf added the caveat, “You don’t have broadband, you can’t do cyber snow days.”
The bill would require that school districts applying for the program demonstrate they have ways for students without Internet to participate.
Justin Johnson, a parent with a school-age child, told KYW he supported putting snow days to better use. “With the new bill, that’s something that could definitely be productive,” Johnson said.
If it becomes law, the bill would take effect take effect in 60 days, in plenty of time to be in practice for snow days this winter.
Schools have already shown the idea can work
According to a fiscal note on the legislature’s website, the state’s Department of Education has tested the program for three years with 10 districts.
In February, KYW reported that Holy Cross Prep just across the New Jersey border was succeeding with the Google Classroom App on snow days.
Senior Dominic Decker told the station, “Honestly, it was just a change of environment. It was no different than what I do every day.”
Holy Cross principal Bill Stonis told KYW schools could use these technologies to give students more flexibility to learn from home throughout the year, and not just on snow days. Students might be able to telecommute to school on certain days the same way that some workplaces allow employees to work from home.
“As we travel through the 21st century, schools are going to look different,” he said. “I don’t think we’re going to have the same structure.”
Photo Credit: Getty Images
Pregnant women shot in stomach charged with manslaughter over unborn baby’s death; shooter freed
MONTGOMERY, AL — A pregnant Alabama woman who was shot in the stomach during an altercation was charged with manslaughter for the death of her unborn child, while the woman accused of shooting her was set free.
Marshae Jones, 28, was five months pregnant when 23-year-old Ebony Jemison allegedly shot her in the stomach during an altercation about Jones’ baby’s father, the Associated Press reported.
The incident happened in December and, at the time, Jemison was charged with manslaughter; however, she was not indicted after investigators said that Jones was the one who started the fight and Jemison was acting in self-defense.
On Wednesday, Jones was indicted by a grand jury for the death of her unborn child.
According to AL.com, Lt. Danny Reid of the Pleasant Grove Police Department said the only true victim in the altercation was the unborn baby and that Jones initiating the fight ultimately caused the death of her unborn child.
Advocates for women’s rights expressed outrage.
Lynn Paltrow, executive director of National Advocates for Pregnant Women, said women across the country have been prosecuted for manslaughter or murder for having an abortion or experiencing a miscarriage. She said Alabama currently leads the nation in charging women for crimes related to their pregnancies. She said hundreds have been prosecuted for running afoul of the state’s “chemical endangerment of a child” statute by exposing their embryo or fetus to controlled substances.
But this is the first time she’s heard of a pregnant woman being charged after getting shot.
“This takes us to a new level of inhumanity and illegality towards pregnant women,” Paltrow said. “I can’t think of any other circumstance where a person who themselves is a victim of a crime is treated as the criminal.”
Jones’ arrest also drew criticism from the Yellowhammer Fund, which raises money to help women have access to abortions.
“The state of Alabama has proven yet again that the moment a person becomes pregnant their sole responsibility is to produce a live, healthy baby and that it considers any action a pregnant person takes that might impede in that live birth to be a criminal act,” said Amanda Reyes, the group’s director.
Photo Credit: Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office
New Mexico mom accused of beating her children, boiling their puppies to death
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — A woman beat and tortured at least some of her 15 children and forced them to watch as she brutally killed their pets, authorities said in New Mexico, the latest place where the woman and her husband have been the subject of complaints.
Martha Crouch and her husband Timothy of Aztec, New Mexico, were arrested Monday following interviews with a number of their adult and young children living in different states, according to court records. It was not immediately clear if all the allegations made by the children had been verified by authorities.
State officials say documents also point to prior complaints involving the couple in Missouri, Alaska, Kansas and Montana.
Martha Crouch, 53, was charged with child abuse and extreme cruelty to animals. Timothy Crouch, 57, is facing an obstruction charge. The couple has yet to be assigned public defenders. They are due in court Wednesday.
The San Juan County sheriff’s office began an investigation following the arrest of one the couple’s adult children on a charge of assault with a deadly weapon. Detectives say they uncovered false allegations that two sons beat another brother to death and kidnapped a sister, but heard other claims of abuse, torture and extreme animal cruelty.
One teen daughter told authorities of physical and emotional abuse that had gotten so bad that two of her older siblings took her from New Mexico to Arizona to keep her safe, according to court documents. The teen said after one of their dogs had puppies, the mother “took the puppies and put them into a giant pot and boiled them, making all the kids watch,” the documents said.
The girl told investigators the mother also fed a kitten poison.
She said she was hit by her mother with a plastic cooking spatula for questioning why she wasn’t allowed to go to school. Another, whose age also wasn’t disclosed, said she got pregnant at 14 and her mother beat her until she had a miscarriage.
Another daughter told authorities she was kept in a “fat chain” for three years while the family lived in Alaska because her mother thought she was overweight.
A son told detectives he was “beaten, shot, stabbed and run over by his parents” and “had BBs still inside his arm from when the mother shot him with a shotgun.”
He said New Mexico child welfare investigators recently came to the house to look into allegations of educational neglect but the mother loaded up the three younger children in a car and took them to the Navajo Dam to avoid them being spotted.
The children told detectives the family had lived in a number of places over the years and every time authorities questioned the parents’ activities, they fled to a new place, according to court documents.
Deanna Taylor, an investigator with the New Mexico Children, Youth and Families Department, said she received hundreds of pages of reports from other social service agencies in several other states, including Alaska, Kansas, Missouri and Montana. It is not clear what types of allegations were made against the couple in those states and whether any action was taken against them.
Court records show Timothy Crouch pleaded no contest to a theft charge in 1999 in Alaska. A forgery charge in Alaska also was dismissed that year.
Court records show the family had at least one other recent encounter with authorities. San Juan County officials cited Timothy Crouch in May with illegally burning trash.
Court records also show that county authorities’ initial investigation into an assault by an adult son at the family’s home on May 30 came after several brothers said they had been arguing over food.
The son, a 31-year-old also named Timothy Crouch, was accused of pointing a gun at three of his brothers saying he would shoot them. One of the three said the fight started because he was allergic to beef and could not eat hot dogs, an affidavit for an arrest warrant said.
A sister told a deputy there were guns located “throughout the house.”
Authorities also reported finding the body of a dog buried in the backyard that was shot as a punishment to the children.
Photo Credit: San Juan County Sheriff’s Office
Nearly 100 drivers followed a Google Maps detour — and ended up stuck in an empty field
(CNN) — Technology isn’t always foolproof, as about 100 Colorado drivers learned when Google Maps offered them a supposedly quick way out of a traffic jam.
A crash on Peña Boulevard, a road leading to Denver International Airport, prompted the app to take drivers on a detour on Sunday.
But it was too good to be true.
The alternate route took drivers down a dirt road that rain had turned into a muddy mess, and cars started sliding around.
Some vehicles couldn’t make it through the mud, and about 100 others became trapped behind them.
Connie Monsees was on her way to pick up her husband at the airport when she encountered the wreck on Peña Boulevard.
“I thought ‘maybe there’s a detour’ and pulled it up on Google Maps, and it gave me a a detour that was half the time,” she said. “It was 43 minutes initially, and it was going to be 23 instead — so I took the exit and drove where they told me to.
“There were a bunch of other cars going down [the dirt road] too, so I said, ‘I guess it’s OK.’ It was not OK.”
Luckily, Monsees’ car has all-wheel drive, and she was able to get through the sticky situation. She even gave two people a ride to the airport, and they were able to catch their flights.
“I tore up the front passenger wheel well liner,” Monsees said, adding that others had it much worse.
Google did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Photo Credit: Courtesy Connie Monsees
Art teacher accused of stealing craft supplies from Walmart
(Meredith) – A high school teacher allegedly walked out of a North Carolina Walmart with more than $200 worth of unpaid craft supplies stuffed inside her raincoat.
Joanna Frantz, 59, was charged with misdemeanor larceny following the incident on Saturday, the Johnson County News reported.
An employee at the store in Clayton called police to report a woman hiding merchandise underneath a coat that was inside a shopping cart, according to the newspaper.
Authorities said the woman had nearly $225 worth of unpaid merchandise in her possession when loss prevention workers stopped her on the way out the store. She cooperated with both store staff and police.
Frantz is an art teacher at Clayton High School and has worked there for six years, WTVD reported.
Photo Credit: Johnson County Schools
Black woman claims bartender made her give up seat for white customers
A woman in Michigan has filed a class-action lawsuit against J. Alexander’s restaurant after alleging she was the victim of racial discrimination at a location just outside of Detroit.
On Wednesday afternoon, however, the restaurant responded with a lengthy statement, calling the woman’s allegations false and claiming to have surveillance footage that proves the staff was not discriminatory.
Liah Gant claims she was sitting at the bar of the J. Alexander’s in West Bloomfield on Thursday night when a bartender asked her to give up her seat so two white men could sit down. She refused, and the bartender responded by taking her drinks away and pouring them out, according to Gant.
The issue was escalated to a manager, who initially offered to sit her elsewhere in the dining area, said Gant during a Monday press conference alongside her lawyer, Maurice Davis, and another patron, Jerrick Jefferson, who said he was also discriminated against on the same night.
Gant claims she tried to explain further, but was told by the manager that she shouldn’t be upset because the drink wasn’t thrown “on” her, but rather down the sink.
“And that’s when I was like, OK. I wanted to pull out my phone and record in that moment.”
Gant said the manager warned her against pulling out her phone to film anything and started “getting loud.” Shortly afterward, another black patron approached the manager on Gant’s behalf, at which point a white customer began yelling at Gant and the other patron, and allegedly threw food at him, according to Fox 2 Detroit.
Footage Gant took from the restaurant appears to show the white customer, dressed in all black, throwing or pushing something at someone just off the screen. Gant can be heard turning to other staff members and saying, “He threw that!”
Gant claims she was also physically pushed out of the restaurant by staff, while the white customer was “protected” inside the restaurant and allowed to leave through the back.
“It’s been a very traumatic experience. And then as I’m exiting the restaurant, to be physically pushed out by staff, while someone [else] is protected, that’s called me … [the] b-word, saying f-you and all types of things, it just shows that no matter how innocent you are, no matter how innocent I was, I was still not protected. They chose to protect that other individual, and that deeply saddens me.”
Davis is also representing another customer, Jerrick Jefferson, who was in the restaurant the same night celebrating his anniversary with his wife. Jefferson claims he, too, was treated poorly after complaining about bad service and racial profiling, with the manager walking away from him mid-complaint.
“This isn’t coincidental; this restaurant has a culture of racism,” Jefferson said, per Fox 2 Detroit.
J. Alexander’s has since responded to the allegations in a statement provided to Fox News. The company calls the allegations “false,” and claims to have surveillance footage proving Gant was not asked to leave.
“The recent allegations of racial discrimination by a guest at our West Bloomfield location on June 20 are false,” the company said in an emailed statement to Fox News. “Surveillance video clearly shows that the female guest making the charge of discrimination was not asked to give up her seat for white guests. The female guest was trying to save a seat for a friend who had not yet arrived, and she was informed that seats in the pub area could not be saved. She was offered a table for herself and her party in the main dining area, but declined, insisting that she stay in the pub area. Surveillance video clearly shows this female guest remains in her seat in the pub area for more than an hour enjoying beverages and dining with two acquaintances.”
The statement also claims a separate guest had been “shouting at a disruptive manner” at the manager and “uttering profanity and insults” at the staff.
“As he and his family were leaving the restaurant, surveillance video shows that another patron – not a restaurant employee – threw a container of food from a take-out order at the male guest and his party. According to surveillance video, the patron who threw the container of food later left the restaurant through the front door after employees attempted to separate the two parties and diffuse the altercation to the best of their ability,” the statement reads.
J. Alexander’s said police arrived to collect information. The restaurant also gave police its surveillance footage, and now awaits “a report on their investigation and their determination as to whether any formal charges related to this behavior are warranted.”
“J. Alexander’s Restaurant has consistently adhered to a set of non-discriminatory standards that are as comprehensive as any in our industry. We are proud of our track record of non-discrimination during the 21 years we have been a member of the community and look forward to continuing to serve our guests with outstanding food and service,” the restaurant concluded.
Local law enforcement officials are reportedly conducting an investigation.
Photo Credit: Getty Images
Woman has been convicted of murder after leaving her 3-year-old daughter in an SUV for 9 1/2 hours during a blazing California summer and saying she wanted to remove “lustful demons” from the girl
Angela Phakhin was convicted Wednesday of first-degree murder and torture.
Authorities say Phakhin and her fiance repeatedly left her daughter, Maiya, in the car in 2017.
The girl spent 4 ½ hours there one June day. The next day, she was found dead under a pile of blankets after a 9 ½-hour stretch.
Sacramento County prosecutors say Phakhin told authorities she and Untwan Smith were trying to remove “lustful demons” from the girl.
Prosecutors say Phakhin was repeatedly warned and advised to take the girl to a cooling shelter.
Smith’s murder trial is pending.
via: https://nypost.com/2019/06/27/mom-convicted-of-murder-after-purposely-leaving-3-year-old-in-hot-car/
Photo Credit: Getty Images
Father fatally punched 5-year-old boy, upset that he ate his Father’s Day cake
MILWAUKEE — A Milwaukee father is facing a homicide charge, accused of fatally punching his own 5-year-old son, upset the boy had eaten his Father’s Day cake, PIX11 sister station WITI reported. The boy died on Saturday, June 22 near 26th and Ruby
Travis Stackhouse, 29, faces one count of first degree reckless homicide.
According to a criminal complaint, police were dispatched to the area near 26th and Ruby around 3 a.m. on Saturday, June 22 for a report of a sick/injured individual. A 5-year-old boy was pronounced dead at the scene.
The complaint said the child was found to have suffered bruising to both eyes, a cut to his lip, and a laceration to his sternum. He had three healing cuts to his back. His caretakers reported he’d fallen down the stairs, but police did not believe the injuries were consistent with an incident like that. An autopsy revealed he suffered blunt force trauma to the abdomen, and his death was ruled a homicide.
Stackhouse was interviewed by police, and the complaint said he indicated he lived at the home with his girlfriend and their five children. The victim in this case was Stackhouse’s son. He said he was the main caretaker for the children, as his girlfriend worked.
He said on June 21, he was at home with the children. His girlfriend returned from work around noon, and then left again around 3 p.m. He said the 5-year-old and another child were playing Nerf basketball upstairs, and soon, Stackhouse said the 5-year-old was “somersaulting down the stairwell.” Afterwards, Stackhouse said the boy appeared fine, and he didn’t observe any injuries on him.
A short time later, the complaint said the child said he wasn’t feeling well, and he vomited.
The complaint said when the girlfriend came home, they went outside to hang out with family, and at some point, Stackhouse went back inside and found the three oldest children, including the victim, eating Stackhouse’s Father’s Day cake. Stackhouse said he was angry, but denied assaulting the children.
According to the complaint, Stackhouse said the girlfriend eventually fell asleep on the couch and he went out with friends. When he returned, the girlfriend said something was wrong with the 5-year-old, and she was on the phone with 911.
An older brother of the victim said Stackhouse hit the 5-year-old boy in the stomach and back — and denied the 5-year-old ever fell down the stairs.
Stackhouse was re-interviewed, and the complaint said Stackhouse initially continued the story that the 5-year-old fell down the stairs, but he eventually admitted to punching the boy in the stomach and hitting him in the face because he ate his Father’s Day cake. He said he had one piece, and he “was upset that others were eating it.” He said the boy fell down the stairs later in the day. He noted the girlfriend had “often warned him not to hit the children so hard.”
Photo Credit: pix11.com
This big brother can’t contain his excitement for his little sister’s pre-K graduation
Graduations are emotional. Especially when it’s your little sister.
A Connecticut mom captured the moment her 8-year-old son Derek congratulated her 5-year-old daughter Charlee after her Pre-K graduation and the image is making the rounds on social media.
Aundrea and Matthew Smith posted the photo on Instagram saying their son walked up to their daughter to give her a hug … but that wasn’t all. He had some words of encouragement to add.
“I’m just so proud of you,” he said.
That’s when Charlee started crying and quick to follow were mom and dad.
When dad asked her why she was crying she said, “I’m just so happy.” We are so blessed.”
Aundrea Smith said the two siblings have a great relationship.
“They definitely have their moments when they get on each other’s nerves,” she said. “But he (Derek) works really hard to be a good big brother … always looking out for her.”
The post is filled with comments and tags from others after the post asked for people to “tag someone who is a blessing in your life.”
Aundrea Smith said after seeing how much attention the post has received she’s happy that her family could bring joy to others.
“We were not expecting this,” she said. “It’s a blessing.”
Photo Credit: pix11.com