Rape suspect has unlikely story of how 11-year-old had his baby – girl became pregnant only after touching a piece of clothing on which he’d ejaculated
NISKAYUNA, N.Y. — A 33-year-old man accused of raping and impregnating an 11-year-old girl claims it was all the work of a piece of cloth.
Robert Cronin of Niskayuna, N.Y., pleaded not guilty to predatory sexual assault against a child on Wednesday—the same day he told WTEN‘s Anya Tucker that the girl became pregnant only after touching a piece of clothing on which he’d ejaculated.
“Do you understand why it would be hard for people to understand the reasoning behind this conception that you’re offering?” Tucker asked, with Cronin responding “yes.”
Per WTEN, Cronin says “the Niskayuna Police who arrested him are just lacking in scientific knowledge.”
Fox News reports that Cronin, held without bail in Schenectady County jail, has five children with a fiance. He did not deny he is father to the child born recently to the 11-year-old, which a DNA test has confirmed, per WTEN.
A preliminary hearing is set for Friday, per the Albany Times Union.
via: https://pix11.com/2019/01/17/suspect-has-unlikely-story-of-how-11-year-old-had-his-baby/
Man who used dog-walking app to lure teen, demand sex pleads guilty
MOUNT VERNON, N.Y. — A man who used a popular dog-walking app to lure a teenager to his home to demand sex has pleaded guilty, the Westchester County District Attorney’s Office said Thursday.
Charles Johnson, of Mount Vernon, pleaded guilty to first-degree attempted sex abuse, a felony, in the May 3, 2018, incident, the DA said.
Johnson, who was 39 at the time, used Rover.com, a popular pet-care hiring app, to lure a victim, described by the DA as a teenage woman, to his Mount Vernon home on May 3 under the pretense that he needed a dog sitter, officials said.
He groped the teen as he trapped her behind a locked door, offered money for sex acts and exposed himself.
The teen freed herself and called police.
Johnson is scheduled to be sentenced on Feb. 22.
Prosecutors previously said they were investigating other incidents over the three years prior in which flyers were posted near schools and on Craigslist in Mount Vernon and Yonkers.
The ads were meant to lure teenagers and women to perform “jobs” for money, and included asking someone to videotape a workout and act as a “cheerleader,” and another seeking an “amateur painter” to paint the interior of a home, the DA said.
The DA did not address the Craigslist investigation on Thursday.
via: https://pix11.com/2019/01/17/man-who-used-dog-walking-app-to-lure-teen-demand-sex-pleads-guilty-da/
Photo Credit: Charles Johnson, of Mount Vernon, used a dog-walking app to lure a girl to his home for sex on May 3, 2018, officials said. (Westchester County District Attorney’s Office)
Woman stabs 2-year-old son to death
COVINA, Calif. — A Covina woman has been charged with murder after allegedly stabbing her young son to death last week, prosecutors told PIX11 sister station KTLAon Tuesday.
In addition to the count of murder, Xa Dinh Ngo — also known as Michelle Ngo — faces a special circumstances allegation that she used a deadly and dangerous weapon in the child’s killing, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office. The weapon was identified as a knife.
The 2-year-old boy died after being stabbed multiple times in the family’s townhouse, located in the 100 block of Italia Street, last Friday, a news release from the DA’s office stated.
When officers first came into contact with the 39-year-old woman, she was partially-clothed and running down the middle of the 300 block of Second Avenue around 3:20 a.m. What appeared to be blood was spattered on her body, according to the Covina Police Department.
She was quickly detained after allegedly trying to flee from officers. Ngo initially was uncooperative with authorities, but she made statements that led officers to believe there was a possible victim, police officials said in the release.
Investigators were able to determine where she lived and went to the townhouse.
When police entered the residence, they found the toddler’s body. A small fire was also burning on the second floor.
Ngo was taken for a psychiatric evaluation and then arrested on suspicion of murder after being released from a local hospital.
She faces a possible sentence of 26 years to life in prison if convicted.
Ngo’s bail has been set at $2 million. Her arraignment is scheduled to take place Wednesday.
via: https://pix11.com/2019/01/17/woman-stabs-2-year-old-son-to-death-prosecutors/
Photo Credit: Xa Dinh Ngo — also known as Michelle Ngo — is seen in a booking photo released by the Covina Police Department.
Woman accused of leaving newborn in toilet after giving birth at work
LANCASTER COUNTY, Pa. – A newborn is in critical condition after his mother allegedly gave birth in a Pennsylvania bathroom and left the boy partially submerged in a toilet bowl, according to the Lancaster County District Attorney’s Office.
Emmanuella Osei, 23, now faces a charge of endangering the welfare of a child, a felony because of the boy’s age.
Osei gave birth to the baby boy in the bathroom of a Warwick Township assisted-living facility where she was working, according to WPMT. Minutes prior, she called her supervisor to relieve her at work because she was in pain, and, shortly after that, advised her boss to call 911 as she couldn’t hold the pain anymore.
Osei, who came from Ghana to live with her uncle in Reading in May, 2018, also told police she was “afraid to touch it” and “didn’t know how to help [the baby],” a criminal complaint states.
Osei allegedly admitted that she remained on the toilet and never moved to check and see if the newborn was moving or breathing.
Police found Osei in the bathroom with the door ajar, a large amount of blood and what appeared to be an umbilical cord, according to a news release from the Lancaster DA.
The unresponsive infant, whose skin was cold and appeared blue, was believed to have been in the water for about 10 to 15 minutes, according to the Lancaster County District Attorney’s Office.
Cpl. Curtis Orchs used CPR to get the boy breathing again, and he was transported to the hospital after being resuscitated. The baby is currently on a ventilator in stable but critical condition.
“The quick thinking and actions of Corporal Ochs almost certainly saved this child’s life,” District Attorney Craig Stedman said. “This is a reminder of how much our men and women in uniform do for us.”
Osei claimed she first learned of her pregnancy on January 4 during a trip to Reading Hospital, police wrote in the criminal complaint. She later admitted that wasn’t the case — having known since May 2018, when she went to a clinic in Ghana.
Medical records confirmed Osei’s visit to the emergency room, the criminal complaint notes, and she was told by hospital staff that she was at least 34 weeks pregnant, possibly more. Police also wrote that Osei left the hospital following the visit, going against doctor’s orders after staff tried to admit her. The criminal complaint adds that Osei did not seek follow-up medical care since the visit.
According to the criminal complaint, Osei kept her pregnancy a secret from friends and family because she feared that they would be disappointed in her. She has an almost 2-year-old daughter in Ghana currently living with her mother, police said.
Osei was arrested Wednesday afternoon and is being held at Lancaster County Prison without bail.
Man accused of locking toddler dryer ‘on numerous occasions,’ turning it on
ALABASTER, Ala. – An Alabama man faces multiple charges after authorities say he abused a toddler on multiple occasions by locking the child inside a dryer and turning it on.
Steven Garrett Todhunter, 25, faces charges of domestic violence by strangulation or suffocation and aggravated child abuse, Shelby County Sheriff’s Office records show.
“On numerous occasions Steven G. Todhunter placed the victim in the washing machine or dryer,’’ according to an arrest warrant obtained by The Birmingham News. “When the victim was placed in the drying (sic), (the suspect) would close and secure the door with a chair, and sometimes turn the dryer on.”
The court documents did not specify the age of the victim, now what relationship he might have to Todhunter. According to the paper, Todhunter is the father of a 3-year-old.
Todhunter is also accused of choking an adult until the victim “passed out,” according to the Alabaster Reporter.
Court records show Todhunter, who is due back in court in early Feb. posted $10,000 bond for each charge and was released from jail Jan. 13.
via: https://pix11.com/2019/01/16/alabama-man-accused-of-locking-toddler-in-running-dryer/
Dishwasher awarded $21M after being forced to work on Sundays
MIAMI – A dishwasher at a Miami hotel claimed in a lawsuit that her former employer violated her religious rights by scheduling her to work on Sundays.
This week, a jury agreed and awarded Marie Jean Pierre $21 million in punitive damages, NBC reports. But, as WTVJ points out, she’ll end up with only a fraction of that, some $300,000, due to a cap on punitive damages in federal court.
Pierre, who worked at the Conrad Miami for a decade, sued the hotel’s parent company, in 2017, saying it violated the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits employment discrimination based on color, religion, sex, or national origin. The 60-year-old mother of six is a member of Catholic missionary group Soldiers of Christ.
Pierre claimed that the hotel knew from the onset of her employment that she could not work Sundays, and that her employer accommodated her until 2015, when she began to be scheduled to work on Sundays. She said she traded shifts with coworkers for several weeks until her boss said she had to come in, the Miami Herald reports. When she didn’t, he fired her.
Pierre’s lawyer tells NBC that the hotel argued in court that it didn’t know that she was a missionary and why she needed Sundays off.
“During Ms. Pierre’s ten years with the hotel, multiple concessions were made to accommodate her personal and religious commitments,” a spokeswoman says, adding that the hotel will appeal.
In addition to the punitive damages, Pierre was reportedly awarded $36,000 for lost wages and $500,000 for emotional suffering.
via: https://pix11.com/2019/01/16/dishwasher-awarded-21m-after-being-forced-to-work-on-sundays/
Motorola’s RAZR is returning as a $1,500 folding smartphone
The legendary Motorola RAZR might be making a comeback as a $1,500 foldable screen smartphone, and it could launch as early as February, according to a new report from The Wall Street Journal.
The original RAZR was one of the most iconic cellphones ever made, and it seems that Motorola’s parent company Lenovo is looking to cash in on that branding with an updated foldable phone (similar to the one that Samsung has teased for later this year). Per the WSJ, the new RAZR will be exclusive to Verizon in the US with a planned February launch, although the device is still in testing and details have yet to be finalized.
Also unknown is nearly any concrete information about the phone. There’s no word yet on things like screen size, specifications, or even form factor. Will the revived RAZR just borrow the name but use a more traditional landscape folding display? Will Lenovo follow the original RAZR design and have some sort of super long vertically folding screen?
This isn’t the first time that the RAZR brand has seen an attempted resurrection, either: in 2011 and 2012, Motorola also teamed up with Verizon (it seems to really like the RAZR name) for a series of Droid RAZR devices, which tried to cash in on the goodwill of RAZR devices, albeit without any of the flip phone design that was part of the original charm.
That said, dragging old smartphone designs to the present in updated forms is starting to become a trend. The HMD-owned iteration of Nokia has practically made a cottage industry of it with rereleases of the Nokia 3310 and Nokia 8110, but those devices were meant to be fun, nostalgic novelties, not flagship competitors.
According to the WSJ report, Lenovo is hoping to manufacture over 200,000 of the new RAZRs, which may seem optimistic for a $1,500 luxury smartphone. But considering that the (admittedly much cheaper) RAZR V3 model sold 130 million units over its lifespan, if lightning does manage to strike twice, that goal might not be so hard to hit.
Article via TheVerge
Putting its foot down… again — YouTube updates policies to explicitly ban dangerous pranks, challenges
Stunts like the inane “Bird Box challenge” are getting the ax
Pranks and challenges have always been popular on YouTube, but now the Google-owned company has set stricter guidelines for such content. A new YouTube support page details the company’s updated policy surrounding “harmful and dangerous” content to explicitly ban pranks and challenges that cause immediate or lasting physical or emotional harm.
“YouTube is home to many beloved viral challenges and pranks, like Jimmy Kimmel’s Terrible Christmas Presents prank or the water bottle flip challenge,” the FAQ post says. “That said, we’ve always had policies to make sure what’s funny doesn’t cross the line into also being harmful or dangerous.”
The updated policies page now highlights three specific types of videos that are prohibited:
- Challenges that encourage acts that have an inherent risk of severe physical harm
- Pranks that make victims believe they’re in physical danger
- Pranks that cause emotional distress to children
These are included with content like “instructional bomb making” and “hard drug use” as content that encourages or promotes dangerous and/or illegal activity. As with most YouTube policies, the examples given are not an exhaustive list, meaning that YouTube’s moderators will decide what is considered a harmful or dangerous prank when they review individual videos.
Channels that produce prank and challenge videos have two months to “review and clean up” any content that might violate these new policies. After that period, any videos that were posted before these new rules came into effect will be removed, but channels will not receive a strike. Going forward, YouTube will treat offending videos as it would any other video in violation of its Community Guidelines—multiple offenses in a short period of time can result in a channel’s ban.
Driving while blindfolded and ingesting detergent
YouTube is likely acting now in part due to the popularity of the “Bird Box challenge,” which dares people to wear blindfolds and navigate the world similarly to how Sandra Bullock and others do in the new Netflix movie. Numerous adults (and children) have been hurt trying to complete the challenge—one teenager in Salt Lake City, Utah, even crashed her car while reportedly attempting to drive while covering her eyes.
Prank channels were some of the most popular on YouTube a few years ago, and some continue to be popular today. Popular creators like Jake and Logan Paul often ride on the latest trends, creating one-off prank or challenge videos that get millions of views. The Bird Box challenge is just one of many potentially dangerous stunts creators attempt for views. Last year, YouTube pulled many “Tide Pod challenge” videos after adults and children filmed themselves eating the tiny detergent-filled sacks.
Prank and challenge videos have the potential to harm children and young viewers the most. Some professional pranksters are known to fake their stunts, but they’ve done well enough that young viewers don’t understand that what they’re watching isn’t real. These revised guidelines are YouTube’s way of telling these creators that this content isn’t welcome and they risk being banned if they don’t clean up their content.
In addition to the new rules surrounding pranks and challenges, YouTube updated its custom thumbnail and external links rules. Creators can no longer promote their videos with custom thumbnails that contain prohibited content such as pornography or graphic violence. Creators also cannot include external links that drive viewers to content that violates YouTube guidelines, such as pornography, malware, and spam.
Article via Arstechnica
Chris Hansen Usually Helps Cops. Not In This Case
‘To Catch a Predator’ host failed to pay $13K bill for marketing materials: police
(Newser) – For once, To Catch a Predator host Chris Hansen is on the other side of a police investigation. The 59-year-old, charged Monday with issuing a bad check, allegedly failed to pay a $13,000 bill despite a police warning. He ordered 355 ceramic mugs, 288 T-shirts and 650 vinyl decals from Promotional Sales Limited in Stamford, Conn., receiving an invoice for $12,998.05 in September 2017, reports the Stamford Advocate. Owner Peter Psichopaidas then filed a complaint in April, saying a check he received had bounced. An apologetic Hansen offered to make partial payments, but the money never came, according to an arrest affidavit, which notes Hansen also bailed after agreeing to give a statement to police.
The charges came after Hansen was warned he could be arrested for larceny, according to investigator Sean Coughlin. “I told Chris … that nearly $13,000 is a lot of money to a ‘mom-and-pop’ business and it is not fair that he accepted the material but hasn’t paid for it,” he writes. Per the Wrap, Hansen previously offered coffee mugs and T-shirts as a way to attract investors to a 2015 Kickstarter campaign intended to revive “To Catch a Predator,” which NBC canceled. (The campaign worked, sort of.)
Article via Newser