Tag: CONNECTICUT
Couple had son of different race after clinic mixed up embryos
A couple is fighting a Connecticut fertility clinic in court after they say the facility gave them the wrong embryo — and they wound up giving birth to a baby of another race.
The husband and wife, who now live in the UK, are suing the recently shuttered CT Fertility in Trumbell and Dr. Melvin Thornton, claiming the shocking mixup has left them with “haunting uncertainties regarding their second-born son.”
The pair first visited the clinic in 2015 while struggling to conceive and froze embryos using the husband’s sperm and eggs from a donor they specifically chose, according to their suit, which was first filed in a Bridgeport court in November.
The wife then became pregnant with the couple’s first child via in vitro fertilization — and gave birth to a boy in April 2016, the suit says.
They returned to the clinic in September 2016 in the hopes of giving their son a full sibling by using the embryos stored from the previous procedure.
But when the wife gave birth to another son in August 2018, the tot didn’t resemble his older brother “whatsoever” — and had “much darker skin pigmentation than either the father, genetic mother or their first son.”
Realizing something was very wrong, they ordered DNA tests — which gave the stunning result that their youngest child is not biologically related to the dad, according to court papers.
“While their second-born son is loved and healthy in every aspect, he is not in fact their biological baby,” court papers say.
They now live with a “constant, nagging and debilitating fear” that this mystery sperm donor will realize what happened and claim custody of their kid.
They also say the situation has left the family vulnerable to “ignorant and cruel harassment” from judgmental strangers.
“They are barraged daily with questions and suspicions regarding who the child’s real father is and even whether the [sic] mother had an affair,” the suit says.
And they’re worried about the fate of the rest of the sperm they gave to the clinic.
“They have reason to believe they have lost genetic material (embryos) belonging to them, with no knowledge as to whether it has been transferred to another person, destroyed or frozen under an incorrect name,” the suit reads.
In court papers filed earlier this month, the parents described the anguish that plagues them as they continue to pursue the case, which isn’t set to go to trial until September 2021.
“They are left with potential life-long haunting uncertainties regarding their second born son, and unknowns about what happened to their genetic material and where their genetic material ended up,” court papers said.
“Whose genetic material was transferred to the plaintiff? Is the child’s biological father a carrier of some sort of disease? What is the genetic makeup and background of the baby? Will someone one day attempt to make claim to the custody of their child?”
Lawyers for Thornton and CT Fertility didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.
The couple’s attorney declined to comment.
via: https://nypost.com/2019/04/25/couple-had-son-of-different-race-after-clinic-mixed-up-embryos-suit/
Hotel owner with sex dungeon tried to buy girl for ‘slave training’
A Connecticut hotel owner who had a “sex dungeon” hidden at his business was arrested after he attempted to buy a preteen girl for “slave training” and “limitless sex” for two days, police said.
Simon Hessler was arrested Tuesday after investigators set up a sting to nab the 46-year-old man during a child prostitution and human trafficking investigation. Hessler was caught attempting to purchase a 12-year-old girl for two days in exchange for $500, the Hartford Courant reported.
The preteen girl, however, was a “very petite narcotics officer from East Hartford.”
Police began investigating Hessler in October after they discovered he sought photos of young Mexican girls for a “casting couch interview,” the newspaper reported, citing the arrest warrant. In conversations with Connecticut State Police Det. Samantha McCord, Hessler revealed he had a dungeon he used to train slaves. The alleged sex dungeon was “an elaborate sado-masochism room with multiple beds with whips and chains and handcuffs on the wall.” It also included a metal cage with a padlock.
Hessler shared with the detective several photos of the dungeon, which was located in Hessler’s business, New England Hospitality Management.
The hotel owner eventually asked McCord to bring him a “DCF/foster kid” so he could train her in his “slave quarters” and have sex with her, the police report stated. He allegedly asked for the girl to be dropped off at a trailer parked in the Manchester hotel parking lot where she would be left handcuffed with a black hood and on the floor.
Hessler was arrested once he pulled up to the trailer. Police also recovered 11 flash drives from Hessler’s house after they contacted his wife, who asked if her husband had “done something with underage girls.”
Hessler was arrested and faces several charges, including attempted felony to patronize a prostitute and second-degree attempted sex assault.
He is being held on $1 million bail and expected back in court on Dec. 12.
Woman blows off fingers after mistaking dynamite for candle
BRIDGEPORT, Connecticut — A Connecticut woman blew off several of her fingers after lighting a stick of dynamite that she thought was a candle.
It happened in Bridgeport on Thursday night. According to CTPost.com, the woman was trying to light a candle during a power outage in a thunderstorm. Instead, she lit a quarter stick of dynamite.
One of her children called 911 and she was transported to the hospital with a serious hand injury. Nobody else was injured in the accident, which is under investigation. Police and fire crews on the scene found a second device that they described as a “makeshift firework.”
via: https://nypost.com/2018/09/07/woman-blows-off-fingers-after-mistaking-dynamite-for-candle/
Man sent to prison for biting off chunk of wife’s nose
HARTFORD, Conn. — A Connecticut man who bit off a chunk of his wife’s nose, permanently disfiguring her, will spend more than six years in prison following his Tuesday sentencing.
Rodwell Clay, 55, was sentenced after pleading under the Alford doctrine to a first-degree assault charge, the Hartford Court reported. That means while he does not agree with all the state’s allegations, he acknowledges there is enough evidence to convict him.
Clay bit the victim in their Bloomfield home in August 2015, prosecutors said. The couple has since divorced.
She now wants nothing to do with Clay, who stalked, harassed and threatened her during their marriage, she said in court. Every day she looks in the mirror she’s reminded of the attack and hopes to have surgery to further repair the damage, she said.
Clay told the judge he still loves the victim, still considers her his wife despite the divorce and compared his prosecution to the persecution of Christ. He apologized only after his attorney prompted him to do so.
That led prosecutor Christopher Pelosi to say Clay’s apparent lack of remorse makes him fear for the victim.
“The state has concerns for her life,” he said.
Clay was sentenced to 15 years in prison, with 6½ years to serve, and three years of probation. He also was also barred from contacting his ex-wife.
via: http://pix11.com/2018/01/18/man-sent-to-prison-for-biting-off-chunk-of-wifes-nose/
Man says he had sex with dead girlfriend in effort to wake her up
A Connecticut man is behind bars after he had sex with his dead girlfriend — in the hope it would wake her up, according to reports.
Aaron Graser, 39, was sentenced to a year in prison for fourth-degree sexual assault of a corpse on Tuesday, the Hartford Courant reported.
Cops found Graser’s girlfriend dead in their apartment and surrounded by needles back in January, the paper reported.
Graser told police that he found her unresponsive with heroin and drug paraphernalia in her lap — and decided sex would be the best way to rouse her because she didn’t like sleeping with him.
“Aaron stated he listened to see if the victim was breathing and he heard gurgling. Aaron stated he knew the victim hated having sex with him so he figured that the victim might wake up if he had sex with her,” a warrant for Graser’s arrest read.
He also admitted tying her ankles and wrists to the bedposts because it was one of his kinks.
When the attempted coital revival failed, he put her pants on and called his neighbor, who used to be a paramedic. The neighbor later told police he believed the woman had been dead for hours.
An autopsy later determined the paramedic was correct — the ligatures caused by the bedpost ties didn’t have bruises, which means no blood was flowing at the time, a medical examiner testified at the trial.
The ME also testified that the gurgling Graser heard could have been decomposition gases escaping the woman’s body.
A toxicology report determined the woman had high levels of fentanyl, heroin and another synthetic drug in her body and she died from a drug overdose.
Graser originally was charged with second-degree assault, but agreed to plead guilty to the lesser charge.
He was spared from being placed on the sex offender registry — the judge determined it wasn’t necessary for public safety “based upon the facts” of the case.
via: https://nypost.com/2017/12/07/man-says-he-had-sex-with-dead-girlfriend-in-effort-to-wake-her-up/
Connecticut Mom Arrested After 5 Children Found Eating Dog Food Off Floor, Living in Feces Covered Apartment
Police arrested a woman Thursday after they found five children living in deplorable conditions in a third floor Connecticut apartment, according to WTIC.
Police and fire crews were called to the apartment in downtown Middletown around 2 p.m. after a report of an air conditioner fire caused by a cigarette thrown from the third floor window. The rear exit of the apartment was blocked by trash, fire officials learned.
The health department was also on scene because of complaints that there was a leak from the apartment into the second floor ceiling.
Chloe Edwards, 27, opened the door when officers arrived and they were “taken back by the smell coming from the apartment.” Police said the carpet was covered with food, urine, feces, and cockroach carcasses. There were “a multitude of flies were in the apartment as well.”
Officers found five juveniles in the apartment – four were her children and the fifth had been reported missing by her mother Aug. 4.
Officers found a tub with a continuously running faucet and a broken toilet, according to the police report. There were also broken beds and mattresses on the floor, some of which were stained with vomit and feces. Dishes in the kitchen overflowed from the sink. The refrigerator contained only two jars of sauce, a can of pasta and two small jars of baby food.
Officers found exposed electrical sockets and a 3- to 4-foot pile of debris blocking the exit.
Police said that while waiting for officials from the Department of Children and Families to arrive, “two of the juveniles found dry dog food on the floor and began eating it, saying they were hungry.”
Edwards was charged with five counts of risk of injury and her bond was set at $10,000. She was scheduled to appear in court on Friday.
The children were taken it protective custody by DCF and health officials placed an “unfit for occupancy” on the apartment.