Bay Area McDonald’s Cashier Convicted of Trying to Drown Newborn in Toilet After Giving Birth at Work
A Northern California woman charged with trying to drown her baby after giving birth in a McDonald’s restaurant has pleaded no contest to child endangerment.
KPIX-TV reports that 26-year-old Sarah Lockner entered the plea Monday and faces up to four years in prison.
Authorities say Lockner was a cashier at a McDonald’s in Redwood City when she gave birth in a bathroom during her shift in September of 2017.
Prosecutors say a co-worker who went to check on Lockner found a newborn baby boy face down in the toilet bowl with Lockner’s hand on his back.
Police were called and found the boy had no pulse and wasn’t breathing. He was taken to a hospital and survived.
Lockner was charged with attempted murder but pleaded to the lesser charge.
Man filmed punching 11-year-old girl outside mall facing charges
ASHEVILLE, N.C. — A 51-year-old man is accused of pushing and punching an 11-year-old girl outside a North Carolina shopping mall.
The Asheville Citizen Times reported that David Steven Bell, of Black Mountain, was caught on video assaulting the victim Saturday outside the Asheville Mall.
Bell was arrested by an off-duty officer and charged with assault on a child under the age of 12, a misdemeanor offense.
He was also charged with two other counts of assault on a female after two 13-year-old girls also said Bell pushed them.
Bell is listed in an incident report as standing 6-feet-5 and weighing 250 pounds. Video of the assault was shared widely on social media.
Some people online came to the suspect’s defense, saying he was responding to a threat after being pushed. The exact circumstances of what led up to the assault remain uncertain. Bell has not responded to the paper’s request for a comment.
via: https://fox2now.com/2019/01/15/man-filmed-punching-11-year-old-girl-outside-mall-facing-charges/
Ex-Yankee John Wetteland sexually abused boy between ages 4 and 6: officials
Yankee great John Wetteland, who was MVP of the 1996 World Series as the team’s closer, was arrested this week on charges he sexually abused a male relative, officials said.
The 52-year-old abused the boy from October 2004 to October 2006 — when he was between the ages of 4 and 6, according to his arrest affidavit.
He posted $25,000 bond and was released Monday just hours after being taken into custody.
Wetteland — who also played for the Rangers from 1997 to 2000 after a two-year stint with the Yanks — was living in Texas at the time of the alleged abuse.
The victim claims to have been assaulted by Wetteland when he would return home from work trips.
“[The victim] stated that his [attacker] was gone most of the year for work responsibilities and would return for about a month at a time,” the affidavit states.
Wetteland is accused of forcing the boy to perform a sex act on him “on three separate occasions between the years of 2004-2006. Each of these three acts occurred while they were in the master bathroom shower located at [his] residence.”
Wetteland, a born-again Christian, was living in Bartonville at the time and serving on the board of directors for the Calvary Chapel church in Katy.
“He volunteered to do it,” church leader Mark Martinez told The Post.
Over the years, Wetteland has worked at Liberty Christian School in Texas as the school’s baseball coach and also taught Bible studies. He divorced from his wife, Michele, in 2015 and the pair had four children together.
Wetteland had made a name for himself in the mid-1990s as a dominant closer, who saved a record four games during the Yankees’ World Series win against the Braves in 1996.
It was the team’s first title in 18 years, and his performance earned Wetteland World Series MVP honors.
The iconic image of that championship was Wetteland in the arms of catcher Joe Girardi with a fist raised in the air as the Yankee Stadium crowd exploded with joy.
Wetteland went on to play for the Rangers the following year.
His setup man, rookie Mariano Rivera, moved into the Yankees closer’s role after Wetteland’s departure and went on to a Hall of Fame career.
Wetteland recorded 330 saves over the course of his 12-season career, which also included stints with the Dodgers and Expos.
The California native struggled with drugs and alcohol throughout his youth but was still able to land in the minors in 1986. According to Yankees analyst and journalist Jack Curry, he almost died twice — when he was just 17.
“Once he nearly overdosed on a combination of drugs, including LSD, at a Grateful Dead concert,” wrote Curry in a 1995 profile on Wetteland for the New York Times. “Another time, Wetteland was in the front seat when a drunken friend rammed his car into a telephone pole. Something happened. He trudged on. He kept playing baseball and guitar. He kept walking crooked.”
According to his then wife, Michele, “it was difficult for him to forgive his parents for some things he had to go through as a kid.”
“He wishes they would have protected him from some of the things he experienced,” Michele explained in the 1995 article.
“He was really wild and really out there at one time and it was so opposed to my beliefs as a Christian,” she said, noting how “it really is two different persons with John.”
“God’s word says the old man is cast off. John’s old man has been cast off. If you asked me if I sit here in awe of John and how obedient he has been to God’s word, I’d tell you that I do.”
Michele could not be reached for comment Tuesday and declined to speak to the Dallas Morning News.
Neither Wetteland nor his attorney could be reached for comment.
His arrest on Tuesday is the worst turn for the former Yankees star, who has faced troubles since retiring after the 2000 season.
After entering the coaching ranks in 2006 — a year after being inducted into the Texas Rangers’ Hall of Fame — he failed to make it through one season with the Nationals as bullpen coach.
Wetteland reportedly irked team management by encouraging pranks, like setting off firecrackers during spring training. He also allegedly tried to disassemble a video camera.
Nationals manager Frank Robinson eventually said enough is enough and fired Wetteland in June 2006.
“They seem to focus a little bit more on practical jokes and fooling around out there in the bullpen rather than focusing and concentrating on the game, and keeping their minds focused to what they would have to do when they came into the ballgame to get people out,” Robinson told the Washington Post at the time.
“I just couldn’t put up with it anymore. I talked to John on a number of occasions and told him flat-out what I needed and how I wanted things done. He just didn’t seem to understand.”
More seriously, there were once worries about Wetteland’s mental health.
In November 2009, he was hospitalized in Texas in what police believed to be a suicidal situation.
A woman at Wetteland’s home had called the cops about a possibly suicidal person believed to be Wetteland.
The CBS affiliate in Texas reported that when officers arrived at the home, Wetteland emerged, saying he “needed help.”
Later, Wetteland and the Mariners — for whom he was then a bullpen coach — said he had an elevated heart rate.
He claimed in a statement that “the circumstances leading to my elevated blood pressure and heart rate” had been addressed.
Additional reporting by Zach Braziller
Photo Credit: Denton County Jail via AP
Nas Says JAY-Z Was Aware of R. Kelly’s Pedophilia in Unearthed 2002 Interview
Things are getting more and more interesting a week following the premiere of the Surviving R. Kelly docuseries. Many people who have collaborated with the disgraced singer in the past have joined the #MuteRKelly movement, meanwhile, others assured that they been hopped on the wave decades ago when his pedophilia was made public knowledge.
JAY-Z was one of the people who opted to not participate in the documentary for whatever reason. According to an unearthed 2002 interview with Wendy Williams and Nas, Hov seen a “14-year-old girl come in the studio sit on R. Kelly’s lap” during the production of the Best of Both Worlds. Wendy agreed to say that anyone who has worked with him witnessed disgusting acts of sexual misconduct.
Dame Dash recently made headlines for claiming he was allegedly against his former artist collaborating with R. Kelly because of the nature of the relationship between his late fiance, Aaliyah, and Kells.
“I remember having the conversation with Aaliyah. And I was like ‘Yo, tell me what happened.’ And she was like ‘uh.’ She just couldn’t,” Dame said. “What you think I felt? I’m human, bro. I had to look the other way. All these years. Publicly, that man did a record with that n*gga that raped my girl, that he liked as well. But no one said nothing.”
Article via TheSource
‘Nothing to lose’: Saudi teen Rahaf Mohammed details family abuse
After gaining asylum in Canada, Rahaf Mohammed says she was exposed to violence and locked up for months in the kingdom.
Saudi teenager Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun, who was granted asylum in Canada, said she was physically and mentally abused by her family since the age of 16, forcing her to risk her life and flee the kingdom.
Speaking to the media for the first time since landing in Toronto on Saturday, the 18-year-old detailed the mistreatment by her family saying she hoped her story would encourage other Saudi women to be “brave and free”.
Last week, she fled to Thailand while visiting Kuwait with her family. Her case drew international attention on social media after she barricaded herself in a Bangkok airport hotel room after Thai authorities threatened to deport her and live-tweeted her desperate attempt to flee.
“My life was in danger and I felt I had nothing to lose. I wanted to tell people my story and about what happens to Saudi women,” she told Canada’s CBC news and the Toronto Star on Monday.
Mohammed, who has dropped “al-Qunun” from her name after learning about her family disowning her, said she was beaten up for not praying and locked in the house for six months for cutting her hair short.
“I was exposed to physical violence, persecution, oppression, threats to be killed,” she said. “I felt that I could not achieve my dreams that I wanted as long as I was still living in Saudi Arabia.
“It’s daily oppression,” Mohammed added. “We are treated as an object, like a slave. We could not make decisions about what we want.”
Following a 48-hour standoff at Bangkok’s airport, Mohammed was allowed to enter Thailand and was then processed as a refugee by the UN’s refugee agency.
The teenager claimed she had contemplated ending her life during the ordeal, as her father and brother travelled to retrieve her in Thailand.
“I was scared of being captured, arrested and sent back home, and no one would know anything about [me],” she said.
‘Born again’
On Friday, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Canada had accepted a request from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to take in Mohammed.
Several other countries, including Australia, had been in talks with the UN’s refugee agency to accept the Saudi citizen before she flew to Canada.
She was welcomed by Canada’s Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland at Toronto’s airport on Saturday.
“I feel very happy. I feel born again from feeling the love coming from everyone waiting for my arrival,” she said.
Mohammed told reporters she plans to learn English, rejoin school and find work in her adopted homeland.
She said she hopes that her story that has garnered international attention will be a catalyst for change in Saudi Arabia.
“I think the number of women fleeing from the Saudi administration and abuse will increase, especially since there is no system to stop them,” she told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
“I’m sure that there will be a lot more women running away … I hope my story prompts a change to the law, especially as it’s been exposed to the world.”
Article via Aljazeeria
US judge rules that feds can’t force fingerprint or face phone unlocks
All logins are equal, regardless of whether they’re a passcode or a biometric unlock.
Authorities can’t force people to unlock devices with their faces, fingers or irises, a magistrate judge from California has ruled. Forbes has uncovered a nine-page order denying the search warrant for an investigation looking into a Facebook extortion crime. While the judge admits that investigators were able to establish probable cause for the warrant, she called their request to unlock any phone on the premises with biometrics “overbroad.” The request wasn’t limited to a particular person or device, and authorities would’ve been able to get everyone in the house to open their devices.
Magistrate judge Kandis Westmore stressed that law enforcement doesn’t have the right to force people to unlock their phones even with a warrant, thereby declaring that biometrics are equal to passcodes. Courts commonly allow biometric unlocks, because judges don’t consider body parts “testimonial.” The reason being, people have to give up passwords and passcodes verbally and willingly, so they’re covered under the Fifth Amendment protections against self-incrimination. Westmore wrote in her ruling:
“If a person cannot be compelled to provide a passcode because it is a testimonial communication, a person cannot be compelled to provide one’s finger, thumb, iris, face, or other biometric feature to unlock that same device.
The undersigned finds that a biometric feature is analogous to the 20 nonverbal, physiological responses elicited during a polygraph test, which are used to determine guilt or innocence, and are considered testimonial.”
Westmore noted that “technology is outpacing the law” and that the government has other means to solve the case. In this particular instance, investigators can obtain Messenger communications from Facebook itself with a proper warrant under the Stored Communications Act. According to Forbes, Facebook had been willing to hand over messages to authorities for a significant number of previous cases, so there’s really no reason investigators can’t go that route. While Westmore’s decision is out of the norm and can still be overturned, EFF senior staff attorney Andrew Crocker said it’s worth noting that “courts are beginning to look at these issues on their own terms.”
Article via EnGadget
Couple charged after their toddler died with 17 pound tumor
An Oklahoma couple, whose 3-year-old daughter died on Jan. 3 from cancer and had a 17-pound tumor, is facing manslaughter charges for their alleged negligence, the Lawton Constitution reported.
Authorities in Lawton, Okla., responded to reports of an unconscious toddler at a camper home, according to the paper. The girl was unconscious but breathing and had a 17-pound tumor, the report said.
She was then taken to a hospital where she died, the report said. First responders said at least six other children were living with the couple in the camper, the report said.
The child’s parents – Bonnie Beth Mills-Lilly, 42, and Henry Clarence Lilly III, 49 – failed to seek medical care for the child, authorities said. It was not clear where the tumor was located.
The couple was arrested and charged Thursday with first-degree manslaughter, according to the report. They face a minimum of four years in prison if convicted, the report said.
Lawton is about 90 miles southwest of Oklahoma City.
via: https://nypost.com/2019/01/14/couple-charged-after-their-toddler-died-with-17-pound-tumor/
3 children dead after becoming trapped in chest freezer
SUWANNEE COUNTY, Fla. — Three children in Florida have died after climbing inside a chest freezer that was recently brought to their home.
WCTV reported that the children, ages 1, 4, and 6, were found unresponsive and taken to a hospital where they were pronounced dead.
The children were playing outside in the yard when they climbed inside a chest freezer that had not been plugged in or brought inside, according to authorities.
A woman at the home who was with the kids said she went inside to use the bathroom and could not find the children when she returned.
She said she opened the freezer and found the children inside not breathing. The woman then called 911.
Authorities believe the freezer’s lid closed and a hasp fell shut, trapping the children inside. Authorities do not suspect foul play.
R. Kelly accuser says he threatened to reveal her sex life; holds news conference with Gloria Allred
NEW YORK — R. Kelly wrote a letter threatening to reveal embarrassing details of a woman’s sexual history if she didn’t drop a lawsuit accusing him of sexual abuse, the woman and her lawyer said Monday.
In the letter, a person identifying himself as R. Kelly warned a lawyer for the woman, Faith Rodgers, that if she persisted with the suit, she would be “subjected to public opinion.”
The letter said the singer would demand medical documentation of her claim that he gave her herpes, force her to turn over texts and social media posts, and have “10 personal male witnesses testifying under oath about her sex life.”
“If Ms. Rodgers really cares about her own reputation she should cease her participation and association with the organizers of this negative campaign,” the letter said.
A lawyer for R. Kelly in Chicago, Steve Greenberg, denied the letter’s authenticity, saying it “looks fake.”
“It obviously was not authored or signed by Mr. Kelly, nor sent on his behalf,” Greenberg said. “He doesn’t write letters.”
The letter was sent in October to one of Rodgers’ lawyers in New York, a few weeks after the singer was served with the lawsuit accusing him of demeaning her, locking her in rooms and vehicles, and subjecting her to “non-permissive, painful and abusive sex.”
Rodgers, 21, said she met Kelly as a 19-year-old after a concert in San Antonio. She participated in the recently aired Lifetime documentary “Surviving R. Kelly,” which catalogued years of accusations against the singer.
“We are here today to let Mr. Kelly know in no uncertain terms that he cannot and will not intimidate his alleged victims into keeping silent about their allegations,” one of her lawyers, Gloria Allred, said at the news conference Monday.
“No woman should be victim-shamed, harassed or retaliated against because she asserted her rights and spoke her truth,” Rodgers added.
The Associated Press does not typically name people alleging sexual abuse unless they come forward publicly, as Rodgers has done.
Kelly has vehemently denied any wrongdoing.
The letter send to Rodgers’ New York lawyer, Lydia Hills, also lectured her in sometimes nonsensical terms about her understanding of the law.
“This is to enlighten you concerning the presumption of court appearances that you may not be aware of since attorneys are taught a coloring of law and not Canon or Common Law. Color-of-Law is NOT law. It’s fiction for corporate fictions of which I am not.”
The letter writer added later that, “I am exempt and not subject to this court so I don’t know why you are even addressing me.”
via: https://pix11.com/2019/01/14/r-kelly-accuser-says-he-threatened-to-reveal-her-sex-life/
Walmart bans woman who rode cart while drinking wine from Pringles can
Police in Texas received a strange call on Friday that involved a woman drinking wine in the parking lot of a Walmart.
According to USA Today, employees at the store in Wichita Falls had asked officers to ban the woman after she had been drinking wine from a Pringles can for several hours as she rode around on an electric cart.
The incident reportedly began just after 9 a.m., when officers received a call about a suspicious person in the parking lot.
The woman was reportedly riding around on an electric shopping cart that’s generally used by people with physical limitations.
She was also drinking wine from a Pringles can, according to USA Today.
Police said they were told that the woman had been riding around the parking lot since 6:30 a.m. while drinking the wine.
When officers arrived, they found the woman at a nearby restaurant and notified her that she’d been banned from the Walmart.
Article via FOXNews