Philadelphia Mom Admits Plotting Girl’s Death: ‘I Wanted Her to Go Away’
The mother of a girl who was raped, murdered and dismembered testified Wednesday that she helped plot the attack and carry it out, telling her daughter before her death that “I can’t help you anymore.”
Appearing to smirk at times, Sara Packer calmly recounted how she watched her boyfriend sexually assault her daughter, 14-year-old Grace Packer, then strangle her in a hot attic outside Philadelphia. She said Grace looked at her as she was being choked to death, and Sara Packer took her hand and told her it was “OK to go.”
“Grace had become, for lack of a better word, a non-entity,” Sara Packer said in a monotone. “She just didn’t exist anymore. I wanted her to go away.”
Sara Packer’s testimony came at a sentencing hearing for Jacob Sullivan, who pleaded guilty to rape, first-degree murder and other offenses in Grace’s death. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for Sullivan. The defense is seeking life in prison.
Sara Packer has agreed to plead guilty to first-degree murder in exchange for a life sentence.
On Wednesday, she told the jury that her daughter was a discipline problem — a “very difficult child” —and she wanted her dead. She admitted she hated Grace, shared a rape-murder fantasy with Sullivan, and helped hack up her daughter’s body and dispose of it months later.
Bucks County District Attorney Matthew Weintraub told the jury that he agreed to a life sentence for Sara Packer in exchange for her confession and guilty plea because the physical evidence against her was weak, because it was Sullivan who raped and killed Grace, and because her crimes did not qualify for the death penalty.
But Weintraub made it clear what he thought of Packer.
“Is it fair to say you are an utter and miserable failure at being a worthwhile human being?” he thundered at her.
Relatives testified about the impact of the killing early Wednesday.
“It sickens me to know that Grace was abused, tortured and literally thrown away like she was a piece of trash,” said her cousin, Karie Heisserer, with whom Grace lived for a time in 2015. “Grace is in a better place now, free from evil and pain.”
Jurors saw photos of the bubbly child in happier times: Sitting in the cab of her uncle’s big rig, frolicking in the sand at her first trip to the beach, delighting in birthday cake at a pool party. But all of that happened with relatives, not with Sara Packer, a former county adoptions supervisor who prosecutors say spent years physically and mentally abusing the little girl she fostered and then adopted.
Sara Packer testified that she and Sullivan tried to kill Grace with an overdose of over-the-counter medicine, thinking the pills and the heat of the attic would kill her. She also admitted helping bind her daughter with zip ties and stuffing a ball gag in her mouth.
The couple left her to die.
Grace eventually managed to escape some of her bindings and spit the gag out. But she was unable to make it out of the vacant house before Sullivan and Sara Packer returned overnight — some 12 hours later — and Sullivan strangled her.
Sara Packer and Sullivan stored Grace’s body in cat litter for months, then hacked it up and dumped it in a remote area where hunters found it in October 2016.
In a statement read by a detective, Grace’s younger brother, Josh Packer, now 14, said the only way he can bear his loss is if adults know her story and then act to prevent child abuse.
He said that if his big sister was told she could save other kids’ lives by giving her own, she would have asked, “What do I have to do?”
“Watch out for all the kids so that a loss like Grace’s loss never happens again,” Josh wrote. “Do your best to help kids who can’t help themselves.”
That’s not what happened in Grace’s case.
Sara Packer and her husband at the time, David Packer, adopted Grace and Josh in 2007. The couple cared for dozens of foster children before David Packer was sent to prison for sexually assaulting Grace and a 15-year-old foster daughter at their Allentown home, about an hour outside Philadelphia.
Sara Packer lost her job as a Northampton County adoptions supervisor in 2010 and was barred from taking in any more foster children. But child welfare authorities did not remove Grace from the home, despite evidence of abuse.
The Pennsylvania Department of Human Services launched an investigation after Grace’s murder but its findings have not been made public.
via: https://ktla.com/2019/03/20/philadelphia-mom-admits-plotting-girls-death-i-wanted-her-to-go-away/
Woman arrested after elderly dad found living with hundreds of rats
CALIFORNIA — A Southern California woman is in custody after deputies discovered her 96-year-old father and multiple pets living in a home stinking of feces and infested with up to 700 rats, authorities said Tuesday.
Catherine Ann Vandermaesen, 65, was arrested on suspicion of felony elder abuse and misdemeanor animal neglect, the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement. She was in custody and couldn’t be reached for comment.
Vandermaesen didn’t want to allow deputies inside the home during a welfare check last Wednesday in Ojai, a small city in a rural valley northwest of Los Angeles, the statement said.
A sheriff’s task force returned the next day and encountered multiple pets and urine and feces throughout the residence, authorities said.
The home was also filled with garbage, according to the release.
Eight dogs, two rabbits, a cat, a parrot and 55 pet rats were removed. Animal Control estimated the house was infested with another 200 to 700 rats.
Vandermaesen’s elderly father and her 74-year-old sister, whom deputies described as a “possible victim,” were taken by ambulance to a hospital. Their conditions were unknown.
County welfare authorities assumed custody of Vandermaesen’s father, who uses a wheelchair.
Officials also helped the sister get temporary housing services.
Vandermaesen had “willfully caused or permitted the health of her elderly father to suffer” by allowing him to live at the home, officials said.
The city declared the home “unlivable and a danger to the occupants and animals.”
via: https://nypost.com/2019/03/20/woman-arrested-after-elderly-dad-found-living-with-hundreds-of-rats/
Mom accused of allowing man to sexually assault 5-year-old daughter for $400
ECTOR COUNTY, Texas – A Texas mother is accused of allowing a man to sexually assault her 5-year-old daughter for $400.
Shirley Harmon, 36, has been charged with felony aggravated sexual assault of a child, according to Ector County Sheriff’s Office records. Authorities arrested 62-year-old Gary Landreth on for aggravated sexual assault of a child.
Records show Landreth, who has a bond of $50,000, posted bail Jan. 14.
According to the Odessa American, a sheriff’s office affidavit states that the abuse happened between 2017 and 2019.
Harmon was arrested March 4 for failing to report the alleged abuse. She admitted to investigators that, on multiple occasions, she allowed Landreth to inappropriately touch the 5-year-old while ignoring the girl’s cries, according to the paper.
Records show Harmon is being held on a $50,000 bond.
Bronx dad charged in connection to son’s death ‘got angry and threw’ his baby ‘to the ground face first’
MOTT HAVEN, the Bronx — The Bronx dad charged in connection to his 1-month-old son’s death told investigators he got angry and threw the baby boy to the ground, court documents show.
Christian Rodriguez, 24, was arraigned Wednesday on assault charges. Aiden Rodriguez, who was just 1 month old, had several fractures to his skull. His dad said he first bumped his baby’s head accidentally. Then the child started to cry and “wouldn’t stop.”
“I got angry and threw Aiden to the ground face first,” Rodriguez said, according to the criminal complaint. ” I got frustrated and threw him to the ground.”
They’d just gotten home from the baby’s grandmother’s home. She lived a few buildings over.
When the baby was taken to Lincoln Hospital on Monday, he had no pulse and was not breathing, court documents show. A scan found he suffered fractures to his skull, an acute subdural hemorrhage, a scattered left acute subarachnoid hemorrhage, a midline shift of the brain and bruising to both sides of the head.
The Medical Examiner’s Office determined the baby’s death to be a homicide caused by abusive head trauma.
Arizona mom accused of abusing 7 adopted children, forcing them to star in YouTube videos and would be punished if they didn’t remember their lines
MARICOPA, AZ (3TV/CBS5) — A Maricopa, Arizona woman is accused of abusing seven adopted children in her home, including using pepper spray on them and locking them in a closet.
HOW POLICE FOUND OUT
On March 13, Maricopa police became aware of the alleged child abuse after Machelle Hackney’s 19-year-old daughter reported the allegations to officers at the Maricopa police department. She told officers children in the house were pepper sprayed, left in a locked closet for days with no food, water or bathroom.
POLICE CHECK ON HOUSE
When officers checked on the house, a child was found in an unlocked closet, which had a locking mechanism, wearing only a diaper.
At the same time, officers came in contact with six other children who appeared to be malnourished and underweight. Court paperwork indicates the children told officers they were thirsty and hungry.
While officers were speaking with one of the children, he drank three bottles of water within 20 minutes. He told officers he was pepper sprayed several times as punishment by Hackney.
Another child told officers she was extremely hungry and thirsty. Maricopa police officers gave her a bag of chips. According to police, the girl was scared to eat because she did not want her mom to smell chips on her breath.
On March 13, Arizona Department of Child Safety (DCS) removed seven children from Hackney’s custody.
LOCKED IN CLOSET FOR “DAYS”
A search warrant was eventually granted to search the house. Authorities found two cans of pepper spray in Hackney’s room. The closet, where the children were reportedly held in, was located in the mother’s master bedroom with a deadbolt lock and tile floor. There were no windows, furniture, clothes or toys in the closet.
DCS assisted in making sure all of the children were interviewed and had a physical exam. One of the children told investigators that Hackney kept her locked in a closet for “multiple days at a time with no food, water or restroom.” She went onto say Hackney would pepper spray all of the children, spank them and force them to take ice baths. When children resisted ice baths, Hackney would reportedly force their head underwater and make them stand in the corner with their arms above their head.
According to court documents, Hackney also touched one of the children inappropriately several times and sprayed pepper spray in the vagina of one of the girls. The girl told investigators she was in pain for four to five days.
YOUTUBE VIDEOS
All of the children participated in their mom’s YouTube channel, where she has over 700,000 followers with over 242 million video views.
The videos showed the adopted children in different scenarios. Court paperwork indicated if the children did not want to be in the videos or did not recall their lines, they would be punished.
The children told investigators they were taken out of school to perform in the videos. They told police they have not been in school for “years.”
ARRESTS MADE
On March 15, Hackney and her two adult sons, Logan and Ryan Hackney were arrested at their home. Logan and Ryan reportedly admitted to knowing about the child abuse. Ryan would reportedly sneak food into the closet so the juveniles could eat.
The mother told police her closet was never used for punishment, denied using pepper spray and ice baths. She told police she only used standing in a corner, spankings and being grounded as forms of punishments.
Logan and Ryan Hackney were booked into Pinal County Jail for seven counts of failing to report abuse of a minor.
The mother was booked into jail for two counts of molestation of a child, seven counts of child abuse, five counts of unlawful imprisonment and five counts of child neglect.
One of Hackney’s neighbors told us that he thought it was strange that Hackney’s children never got to play with other kids.
“We’ve met them,” said neighbor Bruno Schlueter. “I took my children down there to introduce them to their children. My children wanted to play with them but whenever my children wanted to play down there, they never got to play.”
“I never really understood why they couldn’t play,” continued Schlueter. “I just assumed they didn’t have any interest playing with my kids.”
Schlueter says his kids knew about the family’s YouTube videos.
“We learned they did YouTube videos, which was pretty exciting,” said Schlueter. “My children thought that was pretty exciting; they started watching the videos.”
The details about the alleged abuse at the home have shocked Schlueter, who said he had no idea.
“I’m blown away that was going on down there,” said Schlueter. “I have six kids myself and I can’t even imagine doing something like that happening to these poor kids. I just wish I would’ve been able to pick up on that.”
Man sentenced to life in prison for recording himself sexually abusing a 4-year-old boy
PICKENS, SC (FOX Carolina) – Solicitor Walt Wilkins said Tuesday Aaron Beach, 32, of Pickens was sentenced to life in prison for sexually assaulting a 4-year-old boy.
The abuse happened on July 4 and 5, 2016 at a home in Easley.
Beach recorded video and photos of the abuse and sent those media files to a woman in Virginia, who then called police.
A jury convicted Beach Tuesday for criminal sexual conduct first degree and sexual exploitation of a minor first degree.
The judge issued a life sentence plus 20 years in prison.
“This extensive sentence will send the message that child predators and their deviant actions will not be tolerated in our communities,” Wilkins stated in a news release.
Woman sues medical group after her medical information was allegedly posted on Twitter
CHICAGO, Ill. (WBBM) — A woman at the center of a lawsuit said Northwestern Medicine Regional Medical Group did not inform her of a privacy breach of her medical records until she called after seeing the records posted on social media.
Gina Graziano called it a breach of trust, and said Northwestern should have better policies in place.
“I was humiliated,” she said. “Embarrassed.”
Graziano filed a lawsuit against Northwestern Medicine Regional Medical Group, her ex-boyfriend David Wirth and his girlfriend, Jessica Wagner.
“I did not know her,” Graziano said of Wagner. She said she also did not know Wirth and Wagner were dating.
The suit alleges Wagner, a hospital employee, used her credentials to log in and access Graziano’s medical records, charts and files. Then, Wirth posted about procedures and treatments Graziano received at Northwestern Medicine Kishwaukee Hospital on social media.
“That point I know, that curiosity intrigued them enough to know more about me, and my name was searched in a database on two separate dates — March 5 and March 6,” Graziano said.
In a letter from Northwestern Medicine to Graziano, the hospital acknowledges after “a thorough investigation” there was “inappropriate access” to her medical record by an employee on March 5 and 6 of last year. The lawsuit said Wagner looked at the records for about 37 minutes and provided them to Wirth.
On March 5 the lawsuit says Wirth put Graziano’s private information on Twitter. A police report said Wagner was fired from Northwestern Medicine because of the incident.
In a video of Wagner being questioned by Bloomingdale Police, she told the officer someone must have used her computer to access the records after she logged in.
“Can you think of any scenario under which somebody else would search for your boyfriend’s ex-girlfriend’s medical history on your computer?” the officer can be heard asking.
“No, and that’s where I am coming to the point that I search a thousand charts a day,” Wagner said in the video.
“It’s a complete invasion of my client’s privacy,” said attorney Ted Diamantopoulos. “When a patient goes to a hospital, they expect to have their medical records private.”
“They were treating me for something I didn’t want anybody to know about,” Graziano said. “Northwestern needs better policies in place for their staff to understand what HIPAA really means.”
A lawyer for Wagner and Wirth did not respond to requests comment.
Neither has been charged with any crime in this case.
Wirth did receive six months’ probation and paid a fine for harassing Graziano in a separate case.
Northwestern issued the the following statement regarding the lawsuit:
“Protecting the confidentiality of patient information is essential to our mission. Employees are trained to comply with privacy laws and face disciplinary action in accordance with our privacy policy for any violation. Regarding this specific incident, we do not comment on pending litigation.”
Hundreds of hotel guests were secretly filmed and live-streamed online
(CNN) — Around 1,600 people have been secretly filmed in hotel rooms in South Korea, with the footage live-streamed online for paying customers to watch, police said Wednesday.
Two men have been arrested and another pair investigated in connection with the scandal, which involved 42 rooms in 30 hotels in 10 cities around the country. Police said there was no indication the hotels were complicit in the scheme.
Cameras were hidden inside digital TV boxes, wall sockets and hairdryer holders and the footage was streamed online, the Cyber Investigation Department at the National Police Agency said in a statement.
The site had more than 4,000 members, 97 of whom paid a $44.95 monthly fee to access extra features, such as the ability to replay certain live streams. Between November 2018 and this month, police said, the service brought in upwards of $6,000.
“There was a similar case in the past where illegal cameras were installed in (hotels) and were consistently and secretly watched, but this is the first time the police caught where videos were broadcast live on the internet,” police said.
South Korea has a serious problem with spy cameras and illicit filming. In 2017, more than 6,400 cases of illegal filming were reported to police compared to around 2,400 in 2012.
Last year, tens of thousands of women took to the streets of Seoul and other cities to protest against the practice and demand action, under the slogan “My Life is Not Your Porn.”
In response, Seoul launched a special squad of women inspectors, who have been conducting regular inspections of the city’s 20,000 or so public toilets to search for spy cameras, though some critics have denounced the move as a superficial response to a societal issue.
Lee Ji-soo, a computer specialist who helps women scrub the web of images taken without their consent, told CNN last year her company had seen a surge in demand since the protests drew attention to the issue.
“The most common things that the clients are saying — and they are quite heartbreaking — are ‘I want to die’ or ‘I cannot leave my house.’ Especially the victims of spy cam or illegally taken videos say that when they encounter people on the street, they feel like they would be recognized,” she said.
In January, the co-owner of a South Korean revenge porn site was sentenced to four years in prison and ordered to pay a fine of $1.26 million. Soranet, which was shut down last year, was a popular site for uploading videos and photos taken using hidden and upskirt cameras.
More than 100 dead cats found in woman’s freezer
VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (AP) — Authorities in Virginia say a Virginia Beach woman has once again been found to be in possession of dozens of dead animals.
The Virginian-Pilot reports authorities responding to the home Monday found more than 100 dead animals. Animal Control Supervisor Meghan Conti says the dead animals had been stored in freezers or in a plastic container in the garage, where they decomposed beyond recognition.
Officials also found 24 live cats and a live dog on the property.
“Our hearts go out to the animals inside the home, but they also go out to the resident,” said Conti. “This isn’t just your every day owner, this is someone who really has some concerning problems.”
This isn’t the first time so many dead creatures were found at a home belonging to Lisa D. Ross, who wasn’t immediately reached for comment.
In 2009, Ross’ son was linked to a plot to kill high school students. Authorities searching her home for weapons found 120 cats, half were dead. Similar discoveries happened again in 2012 and 2013.
Jordan Peeles Us Featurette
Us in theaters March 22nd