Rhode Island man threatened to kill Democrats, eat pro-abortion professor ‘piece by piece
A Rhode Island man threatened to eat a pro-abortion professor “piece by piece” — including his eyeballs — and vowed to kill “every Democrat in the world,” the U.S. attorney’s office said.
Matthew Haviland, 30, was charged with cyberstalking and transmitting a threat in interstate commerce for terrorizing a college professor in Massachusetts, who was not identified but reportedly worked at Harvard, Boston25 reported. Haviland sent the professor about 28 emails on March 10 threatening to “rip every limb” from his body, investigators said.
“I will rip every limb from your body and eat it, piece by piece [and] I will bite through your eyeballs while you’re still alive, and I will laugh while you scream,” an email read.
Other emails slammed the professor for his supposed support for abortion.
“You will be held accountable for every [expletive] baby you murdered through your horrible deception of they are not humans…You will have your face ripped off and eaten by me, personally. I will enjoy raping your body after you’re dead. And that will only be the start,” officials said another threatening message stated.
“You are Evil. Pure evil — all Democrats must be eradicated, like the Confederates before them and among their ranks,” Haviland allegedly wrote, USA Today reported. “They must be slaughtered.”
The 30-year-old sent about 12 more emails five days later to the admissions office of the professor’s university.
“[Expletive], my existence is not a blight on society. Yours is, for pushing the idea that if you are able-bodied or white or okay WITH THE [EXPLETIVE] GENDER YOU WERE BORN WITH, you are a bad person,” one of the messages stated, according to authorities. “You people are Evil, putrid, and somebody shoudl [sic] BOMB your school for spreading the idea that it’s okay to HATE people because of their race.”
Federal authorities said Haviland wrote in another email, “You should be Murdered in cold blood.”
Haviland also sent 114 voice messages at a women’s medical center earlier this month.
Haviland later admitted he made the threatening calls but was not planning to harm anyone, USA Today reported. He faces up to five years in prison if convicted.
Couple had son of different race after clinic mixed up embryos
A couple is fighting a Connecticut fertility clinic in court after they say the facility gave them the wrong embryo — and they wound up giving birth to a baby of another race.
The husband and wife, who now live in the UK, are suing the recently shuttered CT Fertility in Trumbell and Dr. Melvin Thornton, claiming the shocking mixup has left them with “haunting uncertainties regarding their second-born son.”
The pair first visited the clinic in 2015 while struggling to conceive and froze embryos using the husband’s sperm and eggs from a donor they specifically chose, according to their suit, which was first filed in a Bridgeport court in November.
The wife then became pregnant with the couple’s first child via in vitro fertilization — and gave birth to a boy in April 2016, the suit says.
They returned to the clinic in September 2016 in the hopes of giving their son a full sibling by using the embryos stored from the previous procedure.
But when the wife gave birth to another son in August 2018, the tot didn’t resemble his older brother “whatsoever” — and had “much darker skin pigmentation than either the father, genetic mother or their first son.”
Realizing something was very wrong, they ordered DNA tests — which gave the stunning result that their youngest child is not biologically related to the dad, according to court papers.
“While their second-born son is loved and healthy in every aspect, he is not in fact their biological baby,” court papers say.
They now live with a “constant, nagging and debilitating fear” that this mystery sperm donor will realize what happened and claim custody of their kid.
They also say the situation has left the family vulnerable to “ignorant and cruel harassment” from judgmental strangers.
“They are barraged daily with questions and suspicions regarding who the child’s real father is and even whether the [sic] mother had an affair,” the suit says.
And they’re worried about the fate of the rest of the sperm they gave to the clinic.
“They have reason to believe they have lost genetic material (embryos) belonging to them, with no knowledge as to whether it has been transferred to another person, destroyed or frozen under an incorrect name,” the suit reads.
In court papers filed earlier this month, the parents described the anguish that plagues them as they continue to pursue the case, which isn’t set to go to trial until September 2021.
“They are left with potential life-long haunting uncertainties regarding their second born son, and unknowns about what happened to their genetic material and where their genetic material ended up,” court papers said.
“Whose genetic material was transferred to the plaintiff? Is the child’s biological father a carrier of some sort of disease? What is the genetic makeup and background of the baby? Will someone one day attempt to make claim to the custody of their child?”
Lawyers for Thornton and CT Fertility didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.
The couple’s attorney declined to comment.
via: https://nypost.com/2019/04/25/couple-had-son-of-different-race-after-clinic-mixed-up-embryos-suit/
Woman accused of raping child, posting video on social media
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A Tennessee woman is accused of raping a 4-year-old boy and posting videos of the sex act on social media.
News outlets report Memphis police arrested 24-year-old Tamara Marion on Tuesday and charged her with child rape and sexual exploitation of a minor.
A police affidavit says Marion is seen performing sex acts with the child in two videos shared on social media.
According to officers, the first video showed a woman push a small child to the ground, remove his pants and perform a sex act on him. The second reportedly showed the child attempting to engage in a different act on the same adult female.
The relationship between Marion and the child was not released.
The Memphis Police Department said it began investigating after officers received a complaint on April 22 about the videos.
It wasn’t immediately clear if Marion has an attorney.
via: https://pix11.com/2019/04/25/woman-accused-of-raping-child-posting-video-on-social-media/
FL Mom accused of beating son with spiked, metal meat tenderizer for not doing homework
MIAMI, Fla. (WFOR) — A Miami mother is charged with aggravated child abuse for hitting her 9-year-old son with a spiked, metal meat tenderizer when she got angry because he didn’t do some homework, according to police.
Martha Ciguenas, 44, appeared in bond court Tuesday.
According to the police report, Ciguenas’ son told her on April 4 that “he had additional homework, while he was out of school during Spring Break.” She became “irate” and threw a water bottle at him twice, and her cellphone, but missed.
“The defendant then grabbed a glass candle holder and struck him on his head twice,” the report states. “Then she went to the kitchen and grabbed a metal meat tenderizer and “struck him once in the head, causing lacerations.”
Police say she continued to yell and screamed at him to clean his room and as he walked towards his room, she “struck him a second time with the meat tenderizer on his left arm below his bicep causing spike marks/indentations (from the meat tenderizer) which bled.”
The boy was examined by the Child Protection Team (CPT), which concluded the injuries were consistent with child physical abuse, according to the police report.
“When the defendant was shown the pictures of the victim’s injuries, the defendant admitted that she caused the injuries when she threw the meat tenderizer, and other objects, but denied striking him intentionally.”
Bond was set Tuesday at $5,000 with a stay away order, meaning she must stay at least 500 feet away from where he lives and goes to school.
The case is now moving to dependency court to determine custody, visitation and contact rights because Ciguenas is a widow.
Man repeatedly stabs teen, steals his headphones in the Bronx
FORDHAM HEIGHTS, the Bronx — A man repeatedly stabbed a teen and stole his headphones in a Bronx attack, police said.
The 19-year-old victim was in front of an apartment building on Morris Avenue when a man walked up, displayed a knife and demanded the victim’s property, officials said. When the teen refused, the knife-wielding attacker stabbed him several times in the torso.
The attacker took the teen’s headphone and fled in an unknown direction.
Emergency medical services rushed the teen to Saint Barnabas Hospital.
Police have asked for help identifying the attacker. He’s in his late teens to early twenties. The man was last seen wearing a blue cap, blue jacket and dark pants.
Submit tips to police by calling Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477), visiting http://www.nypdcrimestoppers.com, or texting 274637 (CRIMES) then entering TIP577. Spanish-speaking callers are asked to dial 1-888-57-PISTA (74782).
via: https://pix11.com/2019/04/23/man-repeatedly-stabs-teen-steals-his-headphones-in-the-bronx/
Man stabs Lyft driver, female passenger in NJ
CLARK, N.J. — Authorities say a rideshare driver and a female passenger were stabbed and seriously injured by a male passenger who then drove off but was captured when he crashed on the Garden State Parkway.
The attack occurred in Clark around 1 a.m. Wednesday.
The 47-year-old Lyft driver had picked up the 20-year-old woman and 27-year-old Farrakhan Howard in Bloomfield and was headed to Woodbridge when Howard allegedly started stabbing them with a screwdriver. After the woman and the driver got out, Howard allegedly drove off in the vehicle but soon crashed in Woodbridge.
The two victims were found lying in the street, suffering from stab wounds and numerous cuts. Both were hospitalized in serious condition, but their names have not been released.
Howard faces numerous counts, including carjacking, robbery and weapons counts. It’s not known if he’s retained an attorney.
via: https://pix11.com/2019/04/25/authorities-man-stabs-lyft-driver-female-passenger-in-nj/
Lego releases Braille bricks to teach blind and visually impaired children
(CNN) — Lego has unveiled a new project aimed at helping blind and visually impaired children learn Braille in a “playful and engaging way.”
Lego Braille Bricks, a concept originally proposed to the toy company by two charities, will allow children to learn the touch writing system through play.
The bricks, which will launch fully in 2020, feature the studs used for characters in the Braille alphabet, as well as printed characters allowing sighted people to read the bricks. They will be “fully compatible” with existing Lego bricks, the company said in a press release.
The Danish Association of the Blind suggested the concept to the Lego Foundation in 2011, while the Dorina Nowill Foundation for the Blind, based in Brazil, proposed the bricks in 2017.
A spokesperson for Lego told CNN that the company had gone on to develop prototypes with both organizations, as well as the British charities Leonard Cheshire and Royal National Institute of Blind People, and the Norwegian Association of the Blind and Partially Sighted.
The final set will comprise approximately 250 bricks, covering the complete Braille alphabet, numbers from zero to nine, math symbols, as well as “inspiration for teaching and interactive games.”
Braille Bricks are currently undergoing testing in schools in Portuguese, Danish, English and Norwegian, while Spanish, French and German versions will be tested later this year.
They will ultimately be distributed free of charge to institutions through the partner organisations.
Philippe Chazal, treasurer of the European Blind Union, said in a statement: “With thousands of audiobooks and computer programs now available, fewer kids are learning to read Braille.”
“This is particularly critical when we know that Braille users often are more independent, have a higher level of education and better employment opportunities,” Chazal continued. “We strongly believe Lego Braille Bricks can help boost the level of interest in learning Braille, so we’re thrilled that the Lego Foundation is making it possible to further this concept and bring it to children around the world.”
Only 10% of visually impaired children in the US are now learning to read Braille, a 2009 study from the National Federation of the Blind found. According to the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB), 1,077 children in England were learning Braille in 2017, out of an estimated 21,900 visually impaired children in the country — just under 5%. However, the real figure is likely to be higher, an RNIB spokesperson explained, as there is no official register for Braille learners.
David Clarke, director of services at the RNIB, said in a statement that the bricks would “improve education for children with vision impairment and encourage inclusion.”
“Thanks to this innovation, children with vision impairment will be able to learn braille and interact with their friends and classmates in a fun way, using play to encourage creativity while learning to read and write,” Clarke added.
Morten Bonde, the senior art director for the Lego Group who is losing his sight to a genetic eye disorder, said in a statement: “Experiencing reactions from both students and teachers to Lego Braille Bricks has been hugely inspirational and reminded me that the only limitations I will meet in life are those I create in my mind.”
“I am moved to see the impact this product has on developing blind and visually impaired children’s academic confidence and curiosity already in its infant days,” Bonde said.
Couple filmed sex abuse of dozens of children, including babies, prosecutors say
DALLAS (AP) — A Texas couple were sentenced Wednesday to 60 years each in prison for filming themselves sexually abusing kids, a case that prosecutors say involved more than two dozen young victims including babies.
A federal judge in Waco gave Christopher Almaguer and his wife Sarah Rashelle Almaguer the maximum prison sentences. They had pleaded guilty in October to one count each of sexual exploitation of children and production of child pornography.
Paul Perez Jr., Christopher Almaguer’s brother, also was sentenced to 20 years in prison after pleading guilty to two counts of receiving child porn.
The Almaguers filmed themselves sexually assaulting at least 25 children — ranging in age from 8 months to 14 years old — including members of their own family, children they baby-sat for and kids from their Central Texas church, federal prosecutors said. Court records say the 27-year-olds were the legal guardians of at least one of the children.
“The sexual abuse involved here is the most indescribable abuse imaginable,” John Bash, U.S. attorney for the Western District of Texas, said Wednesday, adding that Almaguers are “probably two of the worst criminals in the history of Texas.”
U.S. District Judge Alan Albright also sentenced Perez and both Almaguers to a lifetime of supervised release and ordered each of them to pay $10,000 to a victims’ compensation fund.
State and federal law enforcement officials arrested the Almaguers last year in their hometown of Killeen, a city about 70 miles (110 kilometers) north of Austin, after receiving an anonymous tip to an online child exploitation hotline.
Bash said it’s unknown how many people the Almaguers sent their child porn to online.
“These kids’ suffering and abuse will continue for their entire lives because those images will be continually shared online,” he said.
Metro East man sentenced after bragging about high-speed chase on Facebook
CAHOKIA, Il. (KMOV.com) — A Metro East man has been sentenced to nearly six years in prison after leading police on a high-speed chase and bragging about it on Facebook.
Lee Nichols, 35, was driving a Corvette in Dupo on June 21, 2017, when an officer attempted to pull him over sometime around midnight.
Nichols fled, later saying in a Facebook post he reached speeds 120 miles per hour.
Police called off the pursuit for safety, but the officer recognized Nichols and applied for arrest warrants.
Nichols posted on social media two hours later about his escape, bragging about the chase.
A week later, he uploaded a video to Facebook talking about his pursuit and claiming he would do it again. He also threatened to hurt any officer who got in his way.
On July 16, an off-duty Dupo officer recognized Nichols in a bar in Columbia, Illinois.
The officer contacted on-duty cops and Nichols was arrested.
He had methamphetamine and a Colt .22 on his person during the arrest. Having been convicted of aggravated assault in 2003, Nichols was legally barred from owning a firearm.
Thursday, he was sentenced to 71 months in federal prison.
Parents vote on removing Michael Jackson’s name from L.A. school auditorium
Article via LATimes
Gardner Street Elementary School is undergoing a most unusual soul searching this week, weighing whether to break a symbolic link with pop star Michael Jackson, whose name is on the auditorium of the Hollywood campus.
A man in a white T-shirt and tan shorts said he was conflicted.
“I’ve tried to digest this,” said the man, whose daughter is a fifth-grader at the school. “I’ve grappled with it and I haven’t come to any decision.”
“The documentary was a dark thing,” he said. “And I believe the two men. But his music still lives. My gosh, people love his music. It’s a huge joy for them.”
He walked away shaking his head.
The documentary is “Leaving Neverland,” which aired on HBO in March and portrays Jackson through the eyes of Wade Robson and James Safechuck, two men who allege Jackson sexually abused them when they were children. Jackson was never charged with molesting either.
Still, the broadcast was deeply unsettling for parents and staff at Gardner, who are voting this week on whether to banish Jackson’s name.
The documentary should not convict Jackson in the eyes of the Gardner community, said Howard Weitzman, who represents Jackson’s estate, which has sued HBO.
“It would be a terrible shame to remove Michael’s name from the auditorium based on an intentionally one-sided film,” Weitzman said. “There is no fair consideration when you only hear from one side. Michael Jackson is not guilty, and he, like all citizens, is entitled to the presumption of innocence.”
The man in shorts requested anonymity because he knew people who worked for the Jackson estate and said he couldn’t afford to damage personal and professional relationships. Gardner has a sizable contingent of parents in the entertainment industry, who know its dark and light sides.
Their presence at Gardner represents something of a middle-class resurgence at the diverse campus, where families speak languages from across the globe and range widely across the spectrum of prosperity.
Outside the campus Tuesday morning, some parents or grandparents replied in broken English that they didn’t know enough to comment. Others said they wished the school could be left alone to settle the matter out of the spotlight.
Jackson long has been a small but significant piece of the school’s history, starting as an 11-year-old, when he attended the school for several months — before stardom whisked him away and ended any semblance of a normal childhood. He returned to the school in 1989, to celebrate the naming of the auditorium.
It has been a subject of pride or embarrassment and a regular tourist stop for out-of-towners.
The issue has divided the campus, which is nestled on a quiet street just north of Sunset Boulevard in the flats below the Hollywood Hills. For some, the path ahead is clear.
“The name probably should be taken down,” said parent Robert Fitzgerald. “It’s just not appropriate for an elementary school. The documentary painted the picture pretty clearly.”
Fitzgerald, who spoke after dropping off his daughter for kindergarten, found the accusers believable and felt “disgust” toward Jackson.
But Myreon Arslan said he voted to keep the name.
“There are people in this country who have done worse things to the country that have been convicted and that still have their names on buildings,” Arslan said. “The gentleman’s passed away. His name’s been on that building for, God only knows, more than 20 years, I think.
“We have people like President Trump, who’s assaulted women, and he becomes president of the United States,” Arslan added.
(Trump has denied the numerous allegations of assault and improper conduct levied against him. He has not been charged in connection with any alleged acts.)
Voting among parents began April 10 and 11 and will resume Wednesday and Thursday. Staff members have been able to vote by picking up ballots in the office.
One teacher said she did not want a name on the school “that is associated with allegations of pedophilia.” She declined to give her name because she wasn’t authorized to speak. Principal Karen Hollis also declined to be interviewed, but she had lots of hugs for students and parents as she waved students across a crosswalk before school.
District officials said Tuesday they would follow the lead of the Gardner community, but school board member Nick Melvoin, who represents the school, said “the figures whose names adorn our school buildings should be held to the same standard of values that we wish to impart on our students.”
He added, “Many of his alleged victims were the same age as the students who gather in that auditorium daily.”
So indeed was Jackson when he enrolled after his family moved in 1969 from Gary, Ind., to Los Angeles. Family members were staying in the nearby home of famed Motown founder Berry Gordy Jr. The youngest of the Jackson Five attended school only briefly before the group — comprising Michael and four older brothers — scored a hit record, and that was it for public school.
His association with a local campus was so brief that Jackson is not included in an authoritative online site of famous students from the L.A. Unified School District. But Jackson attended the 1989 dedication of the spruced-up auditorium in his name.
Jackson, dressed in a tight-fitting black-and-red outfit with silver buckles and a thick silver belt, walked onstage to loud applause and scattered screams. A school chorus performed his song “We Are the World.”
“I am deeply touched and honored that the PTA, principal and faculty members and students have been so kind as to dedicate the auditorium, where I sat as a child, in my honor,” Jackson said. “We must all never forget that the children are our future and without them humankind will become extinct.”
After receiving the key to the school, Jackson was escorted by security to Room 8, his former classroom, where he autographed the wall. As he walked, he flashed the peace sign and blew kisses to children.
Since then, Jackson’s evolving reputation has made for an on-, off-, on- and off-again love affair with the school. Some parents complained about the name on the auditorium in 1993 — just four years after the dedication — when word leaked that Jackson was under investigation for his conduct with a boy. Jackson settled out of court with his accuser and prosecutors filed no charges.
In 2003, district officials ordered that Jackson’s name be covered with plywood — but not removed — after Jackson was arrested on charges of sexually abusing another boy. He was found not guilty following a criminal trial in 2005.
In 2010, a year after Jackson’s death from an accidental drug overdose at age 50, school district officials ordered the covering removed — amid much celebration from Jackson fans.
The man in the shorts, a longtime area resident, remembers feeling mixed emotions.
“To me it was a little strange when the sign came back up,” he said. “The general feeling was that there was something weird going on here.”
Parent Maria Frank said she’d love to see the end of the association and all the distraction that came with it.
But another parent, Meredith Patterson Brayley, opposed removing the name. She felt that weight should be given to the fact that Jackson was tried and acquitted in the 2005 case. She felt the documentary was not enough despite content that she agreed was “shocking.”
“It’s a dangerous road we are going down,” she said.
Heather Fox, parent of a kindergartner, supported removing the name from the auditorium but said it was important for people to separate the art from the artist.
She admires Jackson’s music, Fox said. “I still believe he should be recognized for his place in music history.”
Parents were making their way to home and work, and school was getting started when the man in the shorts returned.
“I’ve made up my mind,” he said. “The name needs to come down.”