Ex-flight attendant serves just a week in jail for sex with 15-year-old
A former flight attendant had sex with a 15-year-old boy at an Australian school where she worked — but spent just a week behind bars because she is considered at “low risk” for reoffending, according to a report.
Melissa Nosti, 33, who lives in a suburb of Sydney, pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 18 months in the slammer for having sex with the student at the school where she worked in 2010, the Sun reported.
The former Tiger Air flight attendant made a video appearance in court from the Silverwater lockup as her lawyer made a bail appeal that she was at “low risk” for engaging in similar behavior again based on a doctor’s assessment.
“She has had an employment history after this. She was in the airline industry,” the lawyer said.
Nosti has been banned from being in the company of anyone under age 16 and is not allowed to contact the victim or anyone at the airline.
via: https://nypost.com/2020/10/23/ex-flight-attendant-serves-week-in-jail-for-having-sex-with-teen/
Photo Credit: facebook
California 7th grader threatened with arrest for missing Zoom class, dad says
LAFAYETTE, Calif. (KGO/CNN) – A parent in California says he received a letter from his son’s middle school threatening the boy’s arrest for missing less than two hours of Zoom class.
Mark Mastrov said, “This is our fourth child going through this middle school and out of the blue, we got a letter.”
Mastrov said his family was stunned when they received the letter that threatened his 7th grade son for missing three 30-minute Zoom sessions, which the school said were unexcused absences.
“He can become a truant of the state and he could be arrested. I said, ‘are you going to come and try to arrest my son at my home, or try to fine me for not getting him to his Zoom class perfect, on time everyday?’” Mastrov said.
Merek Mastrov spends up to seven hours a day attending virtual school at Stanley Middle School. The letter from school administrators lists the three periods he missed and states “when a student is absent without a valid excuse, the student is considered truant” according to California law. It also states, “the pupil may be subject to arrest.”
The school’s principal said the letter is the result of new state guidelines passed this fall, Senate Bill 98, which requires districts to keep a closer eye on student attendance.
Principal Betsey Balmat said, “The letter is part of our responsibly to the state for our student attendance review boards, as always, the schools have a responsibility to ensure students are engaged and learning.”
Mastrov said other parents have told him they’ve received similar letters. He also said he is writing lawmakers to urge a change in the law.
“Obviously we’re in a pandemic and Gov. Newsom is trying to manage it, but if the state of California is focusing on arresting 12-year-old children for missing 90 minutes of school in ten months… it’s ridiculous,” he said.
California public schools traditionally rely on daily attendance numbers for state and federal funding.
Photo Credit: kmov.com
Two Wisconsin women are accused in Chicago of drugging 10 men and robbing them of about $85,000 after they fell unconscious
Tiana Trammel, 25, and Tjwana Rainey, 32, both of Milwaukee, allegedly ran the scheme from January until last Sunday. They are charged with operating a continuing financial criminal enterprise and possession of a controlled substance.
The women allegedly lured drunken men from bars and nightclubs in Chicago’s River North district with invitations to their place. There, the men were given a drink that knocked them out. They awoke either in their own homes or by the side of the road, unharmed but without wallets and valuables. The women allegedly used stolen credit and debit cards at ATMs at Walmart and Target stores in the Milwaukee area.
The women were arrested early Sunday after carrying a man from a club to Trammell’s car, Assistant State’s Attorney Paul Kiefer told Judge Charles Beach II. Authorities were aware of the women’s activities and a tracker had been placed on Trammell’s vehicle, Kiefer said, adding surveillance video and license plate readers captured Trammell’s movements, which align with what happened to several victims.
Attorneys for the women told Beach neither have significant criminal histories and both are mothers of young children. Beach said drugging a person without their knowledge or consent was “an act of violence,” and set bail at $55,000 for Trammell and $45,000 for Rainey.
Photo Credit: Chicago Police Department via AP
Child forced to kneel on tacks, drink hot sauce until he vomited
NAUGATUCK, CT (WFSB) – Two people were arrested in connection with a case of child abuse where the victim was forced to kneel on tacks and drink hot sauce until he vomited.
Kevin Grant, 31, and 29-year-old Kaitlyn Elizabeth Baptiste were arrested on Oct. 16.
According to Naugatuck, Connecticut police, they responded to a home on Oct. 1 for a report of the abuse.
They said they learned that Grant, the victim’s stepfather, forced the child to sleep locked in a closet for several months and punished him with the tacks and hot sauce.
Grant was charged with risk of injury to a child, second-degree assault, intentional cruelty to persons, disorderly conduct and second-degree reckless endangerment.
Baptiste was charged with risk of injury to a child, conspiracy to commit intentional cruelty to persons, conspiracy to commit disorderly conduct and second-degree reckless endangerment.
Both suspects faced a judge on Oct. 19.
Photo Credit: Naugatuck police
Bag of dog feces flung at California home with Black Lives Matter sign
A California homeowner says dog poop was thrown at his front door in what he believes was a targeted attack for displaying a sign supporting Black Lives Matter.
The incident was captured on surveillance video at 3 a.m. Wednesday morning in Roseville, California, according to CBS 13 Sacramento.
The bag of feces can be heard striking the porch in the footage as a man and his unleashed German Shepard walk past the house.
Homeowner Anthony Taula-Lieras said the incident has his family on edge as they believe it could be because of the BLM sign on their front lawn.
He told the station his five-year-old daughter even asked him, “Daddy did someone put poop on our door because of our sign?”
He added: “And we are a little more on edge to think, ‘in our community, are we ultimately as safe as we thought we were?’”
Taula-Lieras believes a neighbor is responsible — but says he would be willing to open a dialogue with that person and forgive them.
However, if it happens again, he said he would press charges.
via: https://nypost.com/2020/10/21/dog-feces-flung-at-ca-home-with-black-lives-matter-sign/
Photo Credit: nypost.com/shutterstock
Texas man wanted for shooting ex-girlfriend as she drove with new boyfriend
A Texas man is on the run after allegedly gunning down his ex-girlfriend while she was driving with her new beau, authorities said.
Mann Austin Hayes, 21, is accused of following Julie De La Garza as she rode in a truck in Cypress on Sunday afternoon — and shooting her in the head, according to the Harris County Sheriff’s Office.
The 20-year-old woman was rushed to a nearby hospital by her boyfriend. She was air-lifted to a different medical facility and declared dead on Monday.
“I just want justice for Julie and I just want [Hayes] to come forward,” De La Garza’s sister, who asked for her name not to be used, told Click2Houston.
“I just want him to come forward so the investigation can continue and my sister can rest in peace.”
Hayes’ vehicle, a white Toyota, was found abandoned not far from the scene of the shooting.
He faces a charge of murder.
A GoFundMe set up by De La Garza’s family to cover funeral expenses described the young woman, who lost her mother at the age of 18, as “strong and [with a] positive outlook on life.”
“Our sister has left a huge loss in the lives of all whom she knew, she will be missed dearly,” the page reads. “Our family is in need of many prayers for strength, peace and grace to move forward and any financial assistance which can help cover the cost of this great loss.”
Photo Credit: Harris County Sheriff’s Office
Man diagnosed with brain tumor after being told pain was from Zoom calls
A British man who was told his neck pain was the result of spending too much time on Zoom during the coronavirus lockdown has received the devastating diagnosis of an inoperable brain tumor, according to a report.
Gary Nelson, 42, a Fitbit marketing manager from Chester, began experiencing pain in April, so he called his doctor, who told him the symptoms were likely related to his posture while huddled by the screen, South West News Service reported.
But when he began experiencing vision problems, he underwent an MRI scan that revealed an aggressive tumor on his brain stem, according to the outlet.
“Gary has suffered two brain tumors in the past but both were operable and he went on to recover well,” said his wife Amy, 40, a charity worker.
“Another brain tumor diagnosis was the last thing we were expecting, having been reassured that he had probably been having too much screen time on Zoom calls,” she said.
“Some rest did help to alleviate the aches and pains for a short time but a few weeks later, things got worse,” Amy continued. “Due to the coronavirus restrictions, he was on his own when he got the results. He was so brave.
I sat in the car park listening in over the phone when the doctor broke the news to us that they had found a ‘shadow’ in his brain stem,” she added.
“We later found out that the tumor is high grade. It was just devastating.”
Nelson was told his tumor was likely caused by radiotherapy treatment he received for a low-grade tumor as a child, according to SWNS.
He also was diagnosed with a brain tumor in 2012 after he began losing his sense of touch and struggled to complete basic tasks such as fastening his shoelaces or putting on his belt.
“Gary and I were living in the Middle East at the time, where Gary worked for Apple as a regional program manager,” his wife said.
“We’d been on holiday to Sardinia when his symptoms occurred so when we got home to Dubai, he made an appointment with the doctor and he was sent for an MRI scan,” she said.
“We were distraught to discover that he had a large meningioma tumor on a main ventricle in his brain. He was referred to the American Hospital and within days he was undergoing life-threatening surgery to remove the tumor.”
After moving to Chester five years ago, Gary and Amy traveled with their 2-year-old daughter, Olive.
“We went to New York, Malaysia, Singapore, Nepal, Hong Kong, India and Thailand, to name just some of the places we visited,” she said.
“Gary has always traveled with work and he would fly me out to wherever he was, to make the most of the opportunity and to spend as much time together as possible.”
In August 2019, Nelson received radiotherapy after regular scans detected regrowth of the tumor — but it was the last time it could be offered to him because he had reached his lifetime limit of that kind of treatment.
It means treatment options for his brainstem glioma tumor are limited.
“An operation would render Gary paralyzed from the neck down. We already knew that re-radiation therapy wasn’t an option either, as it would cause brain necrosis,” his wife said.
“But our prayers were answered when we were given the option of chemotherapy,” Amy said.
“One thing I know for sure about Gary is that he is a fighter, the strongest and most determined of all. This is a fight we are taking on together,” she said. “We fight for our beautiful, clever, 6-year-old daughter Olive, who loves her daddy so very much.”
via: https://nypost.com/2020/10/21/man-with-brain-tumor-was-told-pain-came-from-zoom-calls/
Photo Credit: Brain Tumour Research / SWNS
Man charged with threatening to kidnap, kill Biden and Kamala Harris
A Maryland man “upset at the political situation” was charged by federal authorities with threatening to kidnap “Grandpa Biden” and rape his running mate, Sen. Kamala Harris, and then kill them both, according to a report on Wednesday.
James Dale Reed, 42, allegedly dropped a letter detailing the threats on the doorstop of a home with Biden/Harris campaign signs in Frederick on Oct. 4, the Baltimore Sun reported.
“We have a list of homes and addresses by your election signs. We are the ones with those scary guns, We are the ones your children have nightmares about. The Boogeymen coming in the night,” Reed wrote, according to court documents.
He was spotted on a security camera leaving the home.
Reed admitted to writing the letter when interviewed after being picked up by local police last week.
He was being held without bond.
Prosecutors said he didn’t know the homeowner and planned to leave the letter at the first home he came to in his hometown with campaign signs for former Vice President Joe Biden.
He told prosecutors that he was “upset at the political situation” and explained that “this will happen … due to the political climate.”
US Attorney for Maryland Robert Hur said he takes such threats “extremely seriously.”
“Conduct like this that threatens major candidates and fellow citizens only undermines our democracy and the principles upon which America was founded. We will not tolerate threatening conduct that seeks to intimidate, harass or dissuade Americans from exercising their right to vote,” he said in a statement.
The incident comes just weeks after the feds busted plots by militia groups to kidnap Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam and Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.
via: https://nypost.com/2020/10/21/man-charged-with-threatening-to-kidnap-kill-biden-and-kamala-harris/
Photo Credit: Randi Bass
Trump supporters receive menacing letters threatening to burn down their homes
President Trump supporters in two small New England towns have gotten menacing letters threatening to burn down their homes.
Police in Milford, New Hampshire, said they’re working to track down the culprits who mailed the letters to several Trump supporters in the small town, while cops in nearby Brookline reported that at least two residents there have also gotten the threatening correspondence, WMUR-TV reported.
“I was kind of quite shocked that anyone would send a letter out with that type of threat,” Brookline Police Chief Bill Quigley told the outlet.
“Dear neighbors,” the letters read. “You have been identified by our group as being a Trump supporter.”
“Your address has been added into our database as a target for when we attack should Trump not concede the election,” it goes on. “We recommend that you check your home insurance policy and make that it is current and that it has adequate coverage for fire damage.”
Police said they’ve reported the threats to the US Postal Service, but have yet to identify those responsible for them.
“I was very taken aback,” one targeted Milford resident, who asked to be identified only as Kelly, told WMUR. “This is my home. You’re not supposed to threaten my home. I’m very worried in the sense that this is going on in my town.”
via: https://nypost.com/2020/10/20/trump-supporters-sent-letters-threatening-to-burn-down-homes/
Photo Credit: WMUR
Bill Cosby smiles in creepy new mug shot from PA prison
America’s favorite dad-turned-convicted sex offender, Bill Cosby, had a new prison photo taken of him last month — and in it, he wears an eerie, grizzled grin as he looks down, with his face mask around his neck.
Officials at the maximum-security State Correctional Institution in Collegeville, Pa. — where the 83-year-old fallen superstar is doing three to 10 years for sexually assaulting Andrea Constand — told TMZ that prisoners get new mug shots every once in awhile as their appearance changes and that Cosby was due for one.
The snap of the accused serial sex predator was taken Sept. 4.
via: https://nypost.com/2020/10/20/bill-cosby-smiles-in-creepy-new-mug-shot-from-pa-prison/
Photo Credit: SCI Phoenix