Danish inventor is charged with killing and dismembering reporter Kim Wall on his submarine
The Danish inventor at the center of the mysterious death of Swedish freelance journalist Kim Wall, whose dismembered body was found off the coast of Copenhagen in August, was formally charged with killing her Tuesday.
Prosecutors say that during a trip on his private submarine, Peter Madsen, 47, either strangled or cut Wall’s throat before severing her body and tossing it into the sea. Madsen is charged with homicide, dismemberment and the indecent handling of a corpse.
“This is a very unusual and extremely brutal case which has had tragic consequences for Kim Wall and her relatives,” prosecutor Jakob Buch-Jepsen said in a statement from the Danish prosecution authority.
Wall’s disappearance and gruesome death has drawn international attention, demonstrating the risks female freelance journalists can face. Friends and family say Wall, 30, was a brave reporter who had reported from Sri Lanka, the Marshall Islands and North Korea.
Madsen in October denied killing Wall and said she died of carbon monoxide poisoning inside his submarine while he was on deck. Wall boarded the submarine on Aug. 10 to report a story about Madsen, according to her family. Madsen is known in Denmark for raising money through crowdfunding to build rockets and submarines.
She was reported missing the next day. Madsen was rescued from Koge Bay, according to police, after purposely sinking his vessel, a 60-foot UC3 Nautilus.
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Simone Biles says she, too, was abused by former USA team doctor
On the eve of former USA Gymnastics team doctor Larry Nassar’s sentencing for sexually abusing girls in his care, American gymnast Simone Biles has come forward to say me, too.
“I, too, am one of the many survivors that was sexually abused by Larry Nassar,” she said Monday afternoon in a Twitter post with the hashtag #MeToo.
“There are many reasons that I have been reluctant to share my story, but I know now that it is not my fault.”
Nassar was the team doctor for USA Gymnastics through four Olympic Games, treating young hopefuls and gold medal winners. His case illustrates the drive of the #MeToo movement to call out serial predatory behavior and the forces that enable it.
This experience ‘does not define me’
More than 140 female athletes said they were abused by the once-respected doctor, including Aly Raisman, Gabby Douglas and McKayla Maroney, members of the “Fierce Five” US Olympic gymnastics team that won the gold in 2012. Many said they were pressured into silence by powerful institutions, including USA Gymnastics, the sport’s governing body in the United States.
In response to Biles’ statement, the organization pledged “unwavering” support for Biles and others who have “courageously” come forward.
“USA Gymnastics is absolutely heartbroken, sorry and angry that Simone Biles or any of our athletes have been harmed by the horrific acts of Larry Nassar,” the group said. “We are our athletes’ advocates. USA Gymnastics will continue to listen to our athletes and our members in our efforts of creating a culture of empowerment with a relentless focus on athlete safety every single day.”
Biles, now 20, joined the US Olympic gymnastics team in 2016, winning the individual all-around. Though her statement did not include specific allegations against Nassar, she described experiencing abuse under the guise of “special treatment,” a recurring claim from Nassar’s victims.
“This behavior is completely unacceptable, disgusting, and abusive, especially coming from someone I was TOLD to trust,” she said Monday.
She, too, called out USA Gymnastics for its alleged role in allowing Nassar to prey on young girls for decades.
“For far too long I’ve asked myself ‘Was I too naive? Was it my fault?’ I now know the answer to those questions. No. No. It was not my fault. No, I will not and should not carry the guilt that belongs to Larry Nassar, USAG, and others.
“After hearing the brave stories of my friends and other survivors, I know that this horrific experience does not define me.”
Dozens of victims expected to speak
Nassar faces sentencing on Tuesday in Michigan state court after pleading guilty in November to seven counts of criminal sexual conduct. He faces additional sentencing later this month on three counts of criminal sexual assault involving victims in a neighboring county.
He worked at Michigan State University from 1997 to 2016 as an associate professor, and he served as the gymnastics and women’s crew team physician. In his plea, Nassar admitted to sexually abusing patients under the guise of providing medically necessary treatment in instances as far back as 1998, some of which involved girls under 13.
Several days have been set aside in Nassar’s sentencing for victim impact statements. At least 88 people are expected to speak, according to the Michigan Attorney General’s Office.
At his plea hearing, Nassar apologized and compared his crimes to “a match that turned into a forest fire.”
Allegations of a culture of complicity
Biles’ teammates and others have repeatedly accused USA Gymnastics of complicity in Nassar’s abuse. In 2017, the organization said it would implement 70 policy change recommendations from an independent investigator.
In a lawsuit, Maroney said USA Gymnastics paid her to be quiet about the abuse, which she said began when she was 13.
University of Oklahoma gymnast Maggie Nichols said she and a coach reported abuse by Nassar to USA Gymnastics in 2015, a few years after Nassar began treating Nichols for a back injury. USA Gymnastics said it hired an independent investigator to look into her allegations.
Raisman said she was first treated by Nassar when she was 15. She called for a thorough investigation of a system that she said enabled a “monster” to thrive for decades by silencing victims.
On Monday, Raisman praised Biles for coming forward and vowed to stand with her.
“I know we will all get through this together,” Raisman said on Twitter.
In her statement Monday, Biles said she hoped for the kind of reckoning that would prevent serial predators from striking again.
“We need to know why this was able to take place for so long and to so many of us. We need to make sure something like this never happens again.”
via: http://pix11.com/2018/01/16/simone-biles-says-she-too-was-abused-by-former-usa-team-doctor/
Actress Tracey Birdsall accuses Seal of groping and forcibly kissing her in 2016
Singer Seal was accused by his neighbor of groping her and forcibly kissing her; police are investigating the incident.
Actress Tracey Birdsall told TMZ she was close with the “Kiss From A Rose” crooner when they were neighbors in Los Angeles in 2016. The actress said she went to Seal’s home to take back a salad spinner she allowed him to borrow when he forced himself on her and tried to give her a kiss.
“What are you doing?” Birdsall recalled yelling at the singer.
“I’m kissing you!” he replied.
Birdsall claimed the British-born musician ridiculed her clothes, shorts and a tank top, and grabbed her breasts. She said she told the singer to stop.
The “Doomsday” actress told TMZ she sat down next to Seal on a couch and he tried to grope her again. Birdsall said she left soon after and never spoke him after.
The actress said she decided to come forward with her allegations after she saw Seal’s comments regarding Oprah Winfrey. The former talk show host was praised for her speech at the Golden Globe Awards on sexual misconduct in Hollywood.
Last Wednesday, Seal posted a picture of Winfrey with disgraced Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein and wrote: “Oh I forgot, that’s right…..you’d heard the rumors but you had no idea he was actually serially assaulting young starry-eyed actresses who in turn had no idea what they were getting into. My bad.” He added the hashtag “#SanctimonoiusHollywood” to the post.
Weinstein has been accused of sexual misconduct spanning decades.
Birdsall told TMZ she has filed a police report. The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department told TMZ a report was filed for sexual battery and was currently under investigation. The L.A. County Sheriff’s Department did not immediately return Fox News’ request for comment.
A representative told TMZ Seal denies the allegations.
Two Members of Utah Doomsday Sect Allegedly Married Each Other’s 7- and 8-Year-Old Daughters
Two Utah men believed to be involved in a doomsday religious cult allegedly married each other’s underage daughters.
Samuel Shaffer, 34, and 33-year-old John Coltharp have both been charged with kidnapping. Coltharp also faces charges of sodomy of a child for a sexual assault stemming from an alleged incident on August 1, 2017, KUTV reports.
Shaffer allegedly told detectives that he was married to Coltharp’s 8-year-old daughter, and that Coltharp was married to Shaffer’s 7-year-old daughter, according to a search warrant affidavit obtained by Salt Lake Tribune.
Both are allegedly members of the Knights of the Crystal Blade, which identifies as a fundamentalist offshoot of the Mormon church. Shaffer told deputies he had been the prophet of the church — which allegedly believes in doomsday prophecies and practices polygamy — but had recently passed down the title to Coltharp.
Police began investigating on Dec. 1 after Coltharp’s ex-wife called police to report that Coltharp had allegedly kidnapped their four children, according to an Iron County Sheriff’s Office press release obtained by PEOPLE.
Coltharp was arrested at his home, but his children were not with him. On Dec. 4, police raided a compound in a remote area about one mile west of Lund, where members of the sect were living inside shipping containers.
At the compound, policed found Coltharp’s parents and his two sons, according to a press release obtained by PEOPLE.
Police learned that Shaffer was allegedly last seen with his two daughters, ages seven and five, and Coltharp’s two daughters. He had spent the previous night with the four girls in a tent near the compound, the release states.
Shortly after an AMBER Alert was issued for Coltharp’s two daughters, a tipster called police reporting they saw a white male later identified as Shaffer walking alone on a dirt road several miles west of the compound.
Shaffer was taken into custody and told police where they could find two of the girls. Deputies discovered one of Shaffer’s daughters and one of Coltharp’s daughters inside two blue plastic 50 gallon water barrels located approximately 1,000 yards south of the Coltharp property. Shaffer allegedly told police the two girls had been placed in the water barrels to hide them from law enforcement.
Police alleged the two girls had spent approximately 24 hours inside the barrel in subfreezing temperatures. “These two children were not properly dressed for the cold temperatures and did not have food or water at that time,” the release states. “Shaffer also made statements he had left a firearm behind on the ground next to the barrel.”
Police alleged Shaffer initially refused to tell authorities the whereabouts of the remaining two girls but that he finally did. The girls were found in “poor health with signs of dehydration and acting lethargic” in an abandoned single-wide mobile trailer, police allege.
All four girls were transported by ambulance to the Cedar City hospital where they received emergency medical care.
According to the affidavit, a man who lived out of state called the Spring City Police Chief and told him that he had communicated with the two men over social media and had gone to Utah to explore the sect. He told the chief he was “forcefully” baptized into the church by Shaffer and was promised a child bride, the Tribune reports.
Shaffer was arrested and charged with two counts of kidnapping and four counts of child abuse. Coltharp was originally charged with first-degree-felony kidnapping and obstruction of justice.
It is unclear if the two men have obtained attorneys.
Preliminary hearings are scheduled for Wednesday.
via: http://people.com/crime/utah-church-allegedly-married-child-daughters/
Woman accidentally leaves backpack full of heroin outside school
BENSALEM, Pa. – A Pennsylvania woman faces drug charges after accidentally leaving a backpack containing four “bricks” of heroin outside a school, police say.
26-year-old Natasha Willis was charged with possession with intent to deliver heroin and possession of drug paraphernalia, according to Bensalem police. She allegedly admitted to placing the bag outside her vehicle behind the school on Dec. 20th.
The bag was discovered by staff members at Cecilia Snyder Middle School at 9:28 a.m., police say. The heroin in the bag had already been packaged for sale, according to WPMT.
Police say the bag contained approximately 10,000 dosage units of heroin, with an estimated street value of $100,000.
After the bag was discovered, Bensalem Police Department narcotics officers reviewed the school’s video surveillance and found that a tan Toyota Corolla with New Jersey registration was in the area where the bag was discovered. That vehicle was stopped by police on Wednesday, which led to the identification and arrest of Willis.
Willis was arraigned and transported to Bucks County Correction Facility, where she is being held in lieu of $750,000 bail.
Parents shackle their 13 children to beds, hold them captive
Two California parents were arrested after authorities found a dozen children and adults shackled to beds with chains and padlocks in their home, officials said Monday.
The 13 victims held captive in the home in Perris, California range in age from 2 to 29, the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department.
Authorities started investigating after a 17-year-old girl managed to escape from the residence on Sunday and called 911. The girl claimed her 12 brothers and sisters were being held captive inside the home by her parents, the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department said.
Police initially believe the 17-year-old girl who’d escaped was just 10 because she was emaciated.
Sheriff deputies responded and identified the 13 victims. They were “in dark and foul-smelling surroundings,” police said. Deputies initially thought all of the victims were children based on their size and were shocked to discover that seven of them were actually adults, ranging in age from 18 to 29. All of the victims were malnourished and dirty.
The vitims were given food and drinks “after they claimed to be starving,” police said.
David Allen Turpin, 57, and Louise Anna Turpin, 49, face charges of torture and child endangerment. Bail was set at $9 million for each.
“The parents were unable to immediately provide a logical reason why their children were restrained,” officials said.
The six children are being treated at Riverside University Health System Medical Center in Moreno Valley. The seven adults are being treated at Corona Regional Medical Center in Corona, authorities said.
via: http://pix11.com/2018/01/15/parents-shackle-their-13-children-to-beds-hold-them-captive-police-say/
Man guilty of photoshopping stepdaughter’s head onto porn
A man who photoshopped his teenage stepdaughter into pornographic photos involving himself said he did so because he was morally outraged about her blossoming sexuality.
However, Brisbane District Court Judge Leanne Clare on Monday dismissed his claims as “implausible,” saying his sexual obsession with the girl he had raised since she was two warranted 12 months behind bars.
The court heard the creation of the images took place in late 2014, just months after he was given a suspended sentence for touching the same girl’s genitals while she slept.
He used Photoshop to digitally add images of the girl when she was about 13 onto the bodies of adult women engaged in sexual acts with himself. He also created an image of her engaged in bestiality with a dog. The man, now 51, was arrested in September 2015 after being caught with around 100 images on hard drives in his luggage as he returned to Brisbane from a trip to South Africa.
He described the photos as “artworks” and said there was no sexual motivation behind their creation.
However, he pleaded guilty to four charges including possessing or producing child pornography material outside Australia, and importing and exporting objectionable goods without approval.
His lawyer, Colin Reid, urged the court to accept the man’s claims, saying he had “unusual beliefs” about promiscuity.
He told the court his client created the photos after his stepdaughter, then aged 16, told him she was becoming sexually active with her boyfriend. Judge Clare was sceptical.
“On material that I currently have before me, I find your client’s explanation not credible,” she said.
“Perhaps you were jealous of her interest in other people, but what you did was hardly an act of parental concern.” She sentenced the man to two years’ jail but ordered he be released on a good behaviour bond after serving 12 months.
The 51-year-old was arrested in September 2015 after being caught by customs officers with around 100 images on hard drives in his luggage as he returned to Brisbane from a trip to South Africa.
He is being sentenced on Monday in the Brisbane District Court on four charges including possessing or producing child pornography material outside Australia, and importing and exporting “tier two goods” without approval.
via: https://nypost.com/2018/01/15/man-guilty-of-photoshopping-stepdaughters-head-onto-porn/
Ohio Teacher Reprimanded After Telling Student He Will Be Lynched if He Didn’t Do Better in Class
The mother of an African-American teenager who was told by his teacher that other students would lynch him if he didn’t do better in class said a reprimand of the Ohio educator is not sufficient.
“She should not be in the classroom,” Tanisha Agee-Bell said of the white middle school teacher in Mason. The teacher needs to demonstrate she understands the context in which her words were taken, Agee-Bell told CNN on Friday.
Agee-Bell said her son Nathan told her that his eighth-grade social studies teacher last month said he was not pulling his weight in classroom group work.
Mason City Schools spokeswoman Tracey Carson on Friday said the teacher told Nathan: “Your classmates are tired of you costing them points. When you come in tomorrow without your homework completed, your classmates are going to be angry and become a mob who will want to lynch you.”
Carson told CNN on Friday that the teacher “was reprimanded and is required to have cultural proficiency training.”
“I didn’t understand how she could say that to any child, much less my black child in her white classroom,” Agee-Bell said, referring to the teacher.
CNN is not naming the Mason Middle School teacher because there is no evidence she has been investigated by law enforcement.
The mother said the teacher apologized to the 13-year-old in front of the class, saying she did not mean any harm.
According to the Ohio Department of Education, just 4% of the Mason school district student body is black. Just over 63% of district students identify as non-Hispanic white.
Agee-Bell, who serves on the Mason City Schools’ Diversity Council, said Nathan is the only black student in the class.
Agee-Bell said that she and representatives of the Diversity Council approached the district last month regarding the incident, but that the district only responded after the story received local media attention.
The mother said she hoped the teacher would educate herself further on African-American history, “so she can know what pictures her words put in [Nathan’s] head.”
“My son knows his history,” she said.
In a statement, Superintendent Gail Kist-Kline acknowledged problems within the school system.
“We have seen an uptick in the number of racially and culturally insensitive comments in our schools and community,” she wrote. “We will continue to invest in training and resources on culturally proficient practices for administrators, educators and classified staff members that lift up our district’s values.
Son shoots mom to death during dispute over broken video game headset
CERES, Calif. – A Northern California man has been arrested for homicide after police say he killed his mom during a dispute over a video game headset.
Around 9:50 p.m. Thursday, authorities responded to a home on River Valley Circle in Ceres for reports of a victim suffering from a gunshot wound to the head.
The 68-year-old woman later died from her injuries at the hospital, according to KTXL.
During their investigation, police determined 28-year-old Matthew Nicholson had been in his bedroom playing video games when he became upset and started yelling.
When the victim went to check on Nicholson, the pair began to argue.
During the argument, Nicholson broke his video game headset and blamed his mother.
After threatening to kill both his mother and father, police say Nicholson used a handgun to shoot two rounds into the wall and then shot his mother in the head.
Nicholson fled to a relative’s house in Riverbank after his father wrestled the gun from him.
Police located his car in Riverbank and took him into custody without further incident.
Nicholson was booked into the Stanislaus County Jail for homicide where he is being held without bail.
Mom who beat ‘possessed’ daughter and shoved crucifix down her throat is found guilty
An Oklahoma City mom who fatally forced a crucifix and medallion down her daughter’s throat because she thought the woman was possessed by the devil was convicted of first-degree murder Thursday.
Juanita Martinez Gomez, 51, was found guilty in the death of her daughter, Geneva Gomez, 33. The jury only deliberated for 20 minutes. Jurors recommended a sentence of life in prison without parole. Juanita Gomez did not display any emotion when the verdict was read, The Oklahoman reported.
“We think it was a just verdict,” Suzanne Lavenue, the assistant district attorney, told the media after the trial. “It was an incredibly heinous murder. The victim suffered quite a bit before her life was ended. The crime scene was horrific. It was obvious that there’d been an extensive struggle all over the house.”
Juanita Gomez said she punched her daughter multiple times and shoved a crucifix and medallion down her throat and watched her die. Police believe the murder occurred Aug. 27, 2016.
When police arrived at the scene, they found Geneva Gomez lying on the ground inside her mother’s Oklahoma City home with her arms spread out as if she had been crucified. A large crucifix had been placed on her chest.
The medical examiner’s office ruled Gomez died from “blunt force trauma to the face and head.” She also had “puncture wounds to her throat and her hair had been pulled out,” court documents stated.
Geneva Gomez’s boyfriend, Francisco Merlos, who found her body, said during the trial his girlfriend’s face was unrecognizable, CBS News reported.
“You couldn’t recognize her face at all,” Merlos said.
Police said Juanita Gomez’s hands were swollen and she had bruises on her arms. She reportedly told officers the marks were from her daughter after they fought while she was attempting to “rid Satan from her body.”
Police said Gomez attempted to clean the house following the slaying to rid it of “evil blood.” Investigators found hair that belonged to the victim and cleaning wipes in the trash.
A psychologist found her competent to stand trial and said she was feigning memory problems to appear incompetent. She did not testify. The trial began Monday.