Michael Jackson’s Family Condemns Documentary on Child Molestation Accusations, Calling It a ‘Public Lynching
Michael Jackson’s family members said Monday that they are “furious” that two men who accuse him of sexually abusing them as boys have received renewed attention because of a new documentary about them.
The family released a statement denouncing “Leaving Neverland,” a documentary film featuring Jackson accusers Wade Robson and James Safechuck that premiered last week at the Sundance Film Festival and is set to air in the spring on HBO and the U.K.’s Channel 4.
“Michael always turned the other cheek, and we have always turned the other cheek when people have gone after members of our family — that is the Jackson way,” the statement said. “But we can’t just stand by while this public lynching goes on…. Michael is not here to defend himself, otherwise these allegations would not have been made.”
The family points out that Jackson was subjected to a thorough investigation that included a surprise raid of his home, the Neverland Ranch, but was still acquitted at his criminal trial in 2005, in a case involving another young man.
Robson testified at that trial, saying he had slept in Jackson’s room many times, but that Jackson had never molested him. Safechuck made similar statements to investigators as a boy. Jackson died in 2009.
Both men filed lawsuits in 2013 saying stress and trauma had forced them to face the truth and admit they were sexually abused. The suits have been thrown out on technical grounds but are under appeal.
The Jackson statement calls the men “perjurers” because of this reversal, saying the family is “furious” that media outlets without evidence have chosen “to believe the word of two admitted liars over the word of hundreds of families and friends around the world who spent time with Michael.”
“Leaving Neverland” director Dan Reed said in a statement Monday that the film focuses only on the two men and their families because he felt “no need to include the opinions of people with no direct knowledge of what happened” to them.
“Anyone who sees the film will know it is solely about hearing the stories of two specific individuals and their families in their own words, and that is a focus we are very proud of,” Reed said.
Reed has said previously he has no doubts about the validity of the men’s claims.
The Associated Press does not typically identify people who say they are victims of sexual assault unless they come forward publicly, which Robson and Safechuck have done on multiple occasions.
The family insists that truth and evidence are on their side.
“We are proud of what Michael Jackson stands for,” the statement said.
Florida Man Killed Parents, Brother After Being Kicked Out Over Theft of $210K He Sent to Woman He Met on Porn Site
A Florida man killed his parents and brother after he was kicked out of his home and accused of stealing $210,000 from his family to send to a woman he had met on a porn website, according to a sheriff’s office.
Grant Amato, 29, has been charged with three counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of his parents, Chad and Margaret Ann Amato, and brother Cody.
Seminole County Sheriff’s Office deputies found the victims’ bodies Friday in their Chuluota home after a co-worker reported that Cody Amato had not shown up for work.
Grant Amato was arrested and ordered held without bail Monday.
According to an affidavit, Cody Amato’s girlfriend told deputies Grant Amato had stolen $60,000 and guns from his brother. She said Grant Amato had recently been kicked out of a training program to become a nurse anesthetist and stole the money to talk to a Bulgarian woman he met online. She also said Cody Amato told her he was afraid Grant “would kill everyone.”
Another brother, Jason Amato, told investigators Grant had stolen $150,000 from their father, including a loan taken out on his parents’ house, and had sent the woman over $200,000 in a three-month period.
In an interview with investigators, Grant Amato said he had argued with his parents over his relationship with the woman he met through an adult website in June, and that his parents told him he could have no contact with her if he wanted to continue living at their home.
Amato said he began a 60-day internet- and sex-addiction treatment program in Fort Lauderdale in late December at his parents’ request, but he left Jan. 4.
“Grant Amato initially agreed to the rules his father had set, but he didn’t think they were fair because he felt that the Bulgarian female was his girlfriend and they had a relationship,” the affidavit said.
According to the affidavit, in response to seeing crime-scene pictures of his parents and brother, Amato said “his family had been blaming him for months for ruining their lives … so he might as well be blamed for this, too.”
“There’s some issues there, I think we have some mental health issues,” Jeffery Dowdy, Amato’s public defender, told WOFL-TV .
Amato is scheduled for arraignment March 26.
The Orlando Sentinel reported that last year, authorities responded twice to calls about Amato’s behavior.
In June, Orlando police responded to AdventHealth Orlando, where he worked as a nurse, about a report of a suicidal person. Officers said Amato did not meet the criteria to be held for observation as a danger to himself or others, but he was arrested on a grand theft charge for allegedly stealing vials of Propofol, a powerful sedative.
Amato said he took the drug for patients who were not “adequately relaxed by doctor-ordered medication,” according to a police report. Prosecutors opted against filing charges against him.
On Dec. 20, his mother and brother reported that Amato was missing, depressed and possibly suicidal after losing his job and failing out of school. They also told deputies Amato had access to guns.
Jail records did not show whether Amato had an attorney.
Photo credit: Grant Amato, 29, is seen in a photo released by the Seminole County Sheriff’s Office on Jan. 28, 2019.
Woman shot after performing sexual act in exchange for $5 and Pringles
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (Meredith) — The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office is investigating after a woman told authorities she was shot after she performed a sex act in exchange for $5 and Pringles potato chips.
Police told WJXT, the suspect ran off after the occurred outside a gas station Monday night. The woman was shot in the shoulder and immediately taken to a local hospital. Her injuries were not considered life-threatening.
Investigators say she said she agreed to perform a sex act with a man for a payment of $5 and a couple Pringles potato chips.
Following the act, the man demanded the woman to return the $5 and when she refused, he shot her. WJXT reports the he ran off and police did not have a suspect description.
The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office is currently investigating this case.
XXXTentacion’s son born 7 months after rapper’s death
NEW YORK — Seven months after XXXTentacion was killed, the rapper’s son has been born.
Jenesis Sanchez, XXXTentacion’s girlfriend, gave birth Saturday to baby boy Gekyume Onfroy. The birth was announced Saturday evening by XXXTentacion’s mother Cleopatra Bernard.
Gekyume’s name is derived from a word the rapper created prior to his passing. His family defined it as meaning “a different state” or “next universe of thought.”
The 20-year-old rising star, whose real name is Jahseh Dwayne Onfroy, was fatally shot in June in Florida in what authorities called a robbery attempt. XXXTentacion’s sophomore album debuted No. 1 on the Billboard charts last March. In December, a posthumous album also reached No. 1.
Four men have been indicted by a grand jury on suspicion of first-degree murder and armed robbery in the death of XXXTentacion.
via: https://pix11.com/2019/01/27/xxxtentacions-son-born-7-months-after-rappers-death/
Gas station clerk who shot patron he wrongly thought stole $1.10 worth of candy gets 9 years in prison
ST. LOUIS (AP) — A former gas station clerk in St. Louis has been sentenced to more than nine years in prison for shooting a customer he wrongly suspected of stealing candy.
Taleb Jawher was sentenced Wednesday in U.S. District Court, where he pleaded guilty in May to being an illegal alien in possession of a firearm. He is awaiting trial in state court on a first-degree murder charge.
Jawher was working at a Phillips 66 store on Sept. 26, 2017, when he accused 34-year-old Christopher Simmons, of trying to steal a $1.10 bag of candy.
Court documents say Jawher followed Simmons outside and was beating him on the head when his handgun discharged.
Immigration officials say Jawher, who is originally from Jordan, came to the U.S. legally but overstayed his visa.
Mom charged after infant drinks meth-laced breast milk
BANGOR, Maine — Police have charged a Maine mother after her 7-month-old child ingested methamphetamine through breast milk.
Authorities say 20-year-old Alyssa Murch, of Bangor, is facing charges of felony aggravated furnishing of a scheduled drug and endangering the welfare of a child.
Bangor Police Sgt. Wade Betters says officers responded to a hospital Dec. 16 after the baby was reported unconscious after ingesting the drug.
The child regained consciousness by the time police arrived and was being treated by medical staff. The child’s current condition has not been released.
Murch is due in court Feb. 20.
It is unclear if she has a lawyer, and The Associated Press was unable to find a working phone number for her.
via: https://nypost.com/2019/01/24/mom-charged-after-infant-drinks-meth-laced-breast-milk/
Mother says 10-year-old son who killed himself was bullied over colostomy bag
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – A Kentucky mother says her 10-year-old son was bullied relentlessly at school before he took his own life over the weekend, according to WAVE.
Tami Charles said her son, Seven Bridges, was tormented over the colostomy bag he used after undergoing numerous surgeries that failed to completely repair a medical defect. Bullies reportedly targeted him over the smell from the device.
“Twenty-six surgeries from the day my son was born. Twenty-six surgeries,” Tami Charles told WHAS. “He just wanted to be normal, that’s all.”
Charles said she came home from the grocery store Saturday morning to find Seven Bridges dead of an apparent suicide.
She said the fifth grader loved to dress up as a super hero, but she always worried that his smile hid a deep sadness.
Tami and Donnie Charles told WDRB that they are considering legal action against Jefferson County Public Schools, saying that their son was routinely bullied at school and on the bus – including one instance when another student allegedly called Seven Bridges a racial slur and choked him until he nearly lost consciousness.
Communications Director Renee Murphy said the school district will conduct a “full investigation” into past complaints and added that “our hearts are breaking for this family.”
Charles said Seven Bridges was already signed up to change schools the next year.
“We would talk to him about having new friends and a new start,” she told WAVE. “He just had to get to the end of the year.”
A GoFundMe page has been created to help pay for the boy’s funeral.
School superintendent charged with fraud for using own insurance to help ill student
ELWOOD, Ind. – An Indiana school superintendent faces several charges after police say she sought medical treatment for a student using her son’s name.
Charges against Casey Smitherman include official misconduct, insurance fraud, insurance application fraud and identity deception.
According to court documents, a 15-year-old student didn’t come to school on Jan. 9 because he had a sore throat. Smitherman picked him up and took him to the med check in Elwood so a doctor could examine him. However, she allegedly signed the student in under her son’s name and also had a prescription for Amoxicillin filled at CVS under her son’s name.
The teen tore the name off the bottle’s label because he “knew it was wrong” and “to have a prescription in his possession with a different name is bad,” court documents said.
Police received a tip about the situation and followed up with the teen’s guardian on Jan. 16. A day later, Smitherman talked to Elwood police about the situation.
During her statement, she told police she realized the student wasn’t at school on Jan. 9 and was worried about him. In the past, she’s bought clothes for him and helped clean his house, according to court documents.
She said she didn’t contact the Department of Child Services because she feared the teen would be placed in foster care, the documents say. She admitted taking him to the med check and signing him in under her son’s name.
She also said she’d taken him to CVS to get a prescription, authorities say, and had the prescription filled under her son’s name. She dropped the boy off at home with the prescription and said she didn’t realize he’d torn the name off the bottle.
Medical records obtained by subpoena showed a prescription was filled under her son’s name on Jan. 9. The total claim was $233, according to court documents. Police contacted the Department of Child Services to advise them that “financial help may be needed” for the teen.
Smitherman issued this statement:
Recently, I was given notice one of our students was not at school. I went to his home to check on him, and he told me that he had not felt well enough to come to school. After making sure he had eaten, I could tell he had some of the symptoms of strep throat. As a parent, I know how serious this illness can be if left untreated, and I took him to an emergency clinic.
After one clinic refused to give the boy necessary treatment, I took him to a different clinic and told them he was my son. I knew he did not have insurance, and I wanted to do all I could to help him get well. I know this action was wrong. In the moment, my only concern was for this child’s health.
I have been charged with three felonies and a misdemeanor, and I have cooperated with authorities every step of the way. I turned myself in to the Elwood police this afternoon and was immediately released on bail. It is my understanding the prosecutor has agreed to a diversion program and that should be finalized yet this afternoon.
The Elwood community has been welcoming since I started this position, and I am so grateful for your support. I am committed to this community and our students, and I regret if this action has undermined your trust in me. From the beginning, my ultimate goal has been to provide the best environment for Elwood students’ growth physically, mentally and academically, and I remain focused on that purpose.
School board president Brent Kane has issued a statement of support below, for which I am also grateful. I am continuing to work with appropriate authorities as necessary and want to be transparent about my work with the Elwood community.
The Elwood school board issued this statement:
Dr. Smitherman has tirelessly worked for the best interests of all students in Elwood Community Schools since she was hired. She made an unfortunate mistake, but we understand that it was out of concern for this child’s welfare. We know she understands what she did was wrong, but she continues to have our support.
It is our understanding that the prosecutor has agreed to a diversion program and that will be finalized this afternoon
Man Allegedly Threatened Mass Shooting Against Women because he’ still a virgin.
A man, allegedly upset over not having a girlfriend who loved him, posted concerning remarks on Facebook, which prompted local police officers to partner with the FBI and arrest him for making terroristic threats.
Christopher Cleary was taken into custody in Provo, Utah, by Provo Police Department officers on Saturday and is still being held in the Utah County Jail. The 27-year-old is from Denver, according to the Deseret News, but was staying in an Airbnb in Utah while visiting the area.
Officers in Provo were alerted to potential dangers posed by Cleary by officers in Colorado after they were notified about a concerning Facebook post that was published ahead of several Women’s March events. The post said there’s “nothing more dangerous than [a] man ready to die,” KUTVreported.
Cleary, who allegedly admitted to officers to writing the now-deleted post, appeared to be upset over his lack of romantic relationships with women.
“All I wanted was a girlfriend, not 1000 not a bunch of hoes not money none of that. All I wanted was to be loved, yet no one cares about me I’m 27 years old and I’ve never had a girlfriend before and I’m still a virgin, this is why I’m planning on shooting up a public place soon and being the next mass shooter cause I’m ready to die and all the girls the turned me down is going to make it right by killing as many girls as I see,” Cleary reportedly posted on Facebook.
Provo police officers joined forces with the FBI and together the law enforcement agents found Cleary at a McDonald’s in Provo. He was escorted out of the establishment and read his Miranda rights, which is when the 27-year-old agreed to be questioned.
An arrest affidavit obtained by the Deseret News stated that Cleary said he wasn’t “thinking clearly” when he posted the messages and had a problem with impulse control. He also made suicidal comments, which, according to KUTV, included him saying he “thought it might be better if he died.” Officers searched his phone but found no further threats.
Along with facing a charge of threatening terrorism, which is a third-degree felony, Cleary was also booked for violating probation instituted in Colorado. A Colorado probation officer told the Provo Police Department that intimidating women is a “pattern of behavior” for Cleary, according to the affidavit. The probation officer said the 27-year-old was on probation for felony stalking and threatening of women.
Officers requested a large amount of bail, although, Utah County Jail Records don’t list a specific amount. Colorado probation officers want Cleary extradited for his probation violation.
Swizz Beatz’s son makes runway debut in Paris
Swizz Beatz’s son Nasir “Marcato” Dean made his runway debut in the Louis Vuitton show in Paris on Thursday.
A rep for Swizz told Page Six that the 18-year-old signed an exclusive deal to walk in the show for the fall 2019 menswear collection, designed by LV’s buzzy new menswear artistic director, Vigil Abloh.
It’s Abloh’s second collection for the brand.
The collection was inspired by Michael Jackson.
Dean’s first look was all black with an LV suitcase.
via: https://pagesix.com/2019/01/18/swizz-beatzs-son-makes-runway-debut-in-paris/