Saturday, July 11, 2009

Joseph Michael Graber III Arrested for Posssession of Child Porn

A borough man was charged Friday with possessing child pornography on his home computer as well as endangering the welfare of children.

Joseph Michael Graber III, 39, was arrested Friday morning after officers raided his Blackfoot Trail home and found sexually explicit photographs and videos of children on a computer hard drive, police said. Equipment that included a desktop and laptop computer and unspecified media related to the case was seized.

Graber also is suspected of distributing an explicit photo to a person he believed to be a juvenile girl. Police did not specify what the photo showed or depicted or identify the person who sent the image.

Graber was charged with endangering the welfare of children, possessing child pornography and promoting obscene material. He was sent to Burlington County Jail in Mount Holly in lieu of $102,500 bail.

The case was investigated by Sgt. Darren Dogostino with assistance from the New Jersey State Police's Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.

David Burnett Arrested for Child Porn

A Sewickley Township man charged with more than 200 counts relating to child pornography is being held in the Westmoreland County Prison.

David Burnett, 21, of 296 Sutersville Road, faces charges of sexual abuse of children, dissemination of child pornography, computer trespass, criminal use of a communication facility and unlawful use of a computer.

Charges were filed July 2 by Greensburg Sgt. Robert Jones, a member of the state police Area III Computer Crimes Task Force. In addition, Westmoreland County detectives charged Burnett with statutory sexual abuse, aggravated indecent assault and criminal coercion.

Jeannette District Judge Joseph DeMarchis set a $25,000 bond for Burnett.

According to a criminal complaint filed by Jones, Burnett uploaded sexually explicit pictures of a 15-year-old Jeannette girl into a Myspace Web page. Burnett allegedly photographed the victim with his mobile phone between Jan. 19, 2008 and July 24, 2008, coercing her to perform sexual acts, according to the complaint.

"Burnett used ... access to her personal account to attempt to psychologically control the victim," the complaint read. "He would threaten her that he would disseminate the aforementioned sexually explicit photographs through her Myspace account to attempt to get her to do what he wanted."

A search warrant was served April 6 on Burnett's residence, during which police seized two computers and Burnett's mobile phone.

A forensic analysis of the phone recovered 10 photographs and eight movie files of Burnett and the victim engaged in sexual acts. The complaint alleges Burnett posted four explicit photographs of the victim on her Myspace account.

A preliminary hearing for Burnett will be held July 23 before DeMarchis.

Sexual Abuse Information

How many people have suffered sexual abuse as children?

It is estimated that between 20 – 40 percent of women and 2 – 9 percent of boys are sexually abused by the age of 18. These are conservative estimates since many people never tell.

What is child sexual abuse?

Child sexual abuse is any sexual behavior directed toward a child who has power over that child, and uses this power for self-gratification. It is very different from normal sexual curiosity. It can include things such as masturbation, intercourse, fondling, oral sex, and anal or vaginal penetration with objects. Other forms of sexual abuse that don’t involve physical contact are exhibitionism, leering, and suggestiveness.

Who are the abusers?

Almost always perpetrators are someone the victim knows well; someone they love and trust (think teachers, neighbors, coaches, pastors, and relatives). That’s why it is so confusing and so damaging. Often some things that the abuser offers may seem good (touch, feelings of specialness, gifts, attention, etc). The parts that seem good leave the victim feeling as if she/he asked for, deserved, or wanted it. Therefore, she/he is filled with shame, so she keeps the secret quiet. This is exactly how the perpetrator grooms his/her victim. Also, if there is one victim, there are usually many many more! Most perpetrators don't stop, they just get sneakier.

What are the effects of sexual abuse?

Feelings of worthlessness and shame
Sense of perfectionism
Not knowing how you feel
Feeling crazy
Substance abuse
Not feeling present in your body
Feeling as if you are not part of your body
Restricted range of emotions
Having a hard time loving yourself/accepting your body
Self injury or suicidal feelings
Finding it difficult to trust others
Wanting to trust others, but fearful of emotional intimacy
Difficulty making commitments
Expecting people to leave you
Using sex as “medicine” (using sex to get other needs met)
Avoiding sex in committed loving relationships
Staying present during lovemaking in committed love relationships
Flashbacks during sex
If you have experienced sexual abuse and suffer some of these symptoms, you can heal. It is important to find a therapist who specializes and understands the dynamics of sexual abuse.

David Cuspilich Arrested for Sexual Assault


A Delanco man was arrested Thursday on charges of sexually assaulting a girl multiple times over a period of several years, the Burlington County Prosecutor's Office announced.

David Cuspilich, 37, of Spruce Street, was charged with two counts of first-degree aggravated sexual assault, three counts of second-degree sexual assault and two counts of third-degree endangering the welfare of children, according to Prosecutor Robert D. Bernardi and Delanco police Lt. George N. Sacalis.

If convicted on all counts, Cuspilich could receive a life sentence.

Authorities allege the assaults occurred over a six-year period beginning when the victim was 9. Because of the nature of the charges and the need to protect the victim's identity, the prosecutor's office did not release any further information.

Cuspilich, a mortgage broker, made his first appearance in Superior Court on Friday before Judge Patricia R. LeBon. She lowered his bail from $150,000 to $100,000 after hearing from his defense attorney, John Sitzler.

Sitzler said Cuspilich has no prior record, is a lifelong resident of Burlington County, owns property here, and has strong family ties to the area. He said the defendant's family could make the $100,000 bail.

"He has a reputation for honesty and integrity in the community," Sitzler said. He also told Cuspilich, who appeared by closed-circuit television from Burlington County Jail, to not discuss the case with anyone but him.

Assistant Prosecutor Jennifer Stonerod said the bail range for the charges was between $150,000 and $300,000. She argued for the bail to remain at $150,000 because of the seriousness of the charges and the proofs of the case.

LeBon lowered the bail after citing Cuspilich's lack of a record and ties to the county. She ordered him to have no contact with the victim and no unsupervised contact with minors.

The prosecutor's office's Sexual Assault/Child Abuse Unit and the Delanco Police Department conducted the investigation, which authorities said is still ongoing.

Anyone with information about the incident or any others involving Cuspilich is asked to call the Burlington County Prosecutor's Office at 609-265-5771.

James Anthony Acres Arrested for Beating & Burning Two Children

An Oneida man faces two counts of aggravated child abuse after allegedly returning two children left in his care beaten and burned.

Scott County authorities say James Anthony Acres, 27, deliberately burned a 22-month-old boy and beat a 6-year-old boy with mental and physical disabilities to the point of brain damage.

The boys' mother left them in Acres' care Tuesday, Scott County Sheriff's Department Detective Ricky Jeffers wrote in an arrest warrant. She returned to pick them up and found the 22-month-old with second- and third-degree burns on his face, back, arms and legs, according to the warrant. Court records describe the abuse as "torture."

The 6-year-old had "visible injuries" to his face, chin, arm and foot. A hospital visit revealed a head injury, internal bleeding and a brain contusion, the warrant states.

Acres became "agitated, defensive and aggressive," when questioned about the injuries and told inconsistent, illogical stories about how they happened, authorities said. Deputies arrested Acres on Thursday. A judge set his bond at $1 million.

The child murder epidemic: Deaths as shocking and avoidable as Baby P's happen every single week

As a nation, we became obsessed with the case of Baby P. We winced at the details of his unbelievably cruel death at the hands of his mother and her vicious boyfriend.

We were angered by the failure of social services to protect this innocent little boy from harm.

If there was any consolation in the outcry that followed, it was the thought that, in 21st-century Britain, such cases were rare. But this is a dangerously mistaken impression.

Sadly, there was nothing out of the ordinary about the ordeal of Baby P, or of eight-year-old Victoria Climbie - another notorious case of violence and neglect ten years earlier.
Deaths every bit as terrible as theirs take place nearly every week in this country, largely unnoticed and unreported.

The numbers are rising all the time, as a unique survey carried out for the Channel 4 Dispatches programme reveals.

For six months, researchers trawled through social service inquiries and reports from courts and inquests up and down the country.
The Freedom of Information Act had to be invoked to get some councils to release key documents.

In the end, we uncovered a total of 183 child killings between 2004 and 2008 attributed to a parent, a parent's partner or a carer.

In 2004, there were 29. The number doubled to 55 in 2007. The trend is upwards; shamingly so.

For a supposedly civilised society, the statistics make chilling reading . Two-thirds of the 183 victims were under five.

A third were less than a year old. Most were beaten to death, stabbed, smothered or strangled.
In nearly three-quarters of the cases, the killers were either the child's mother or father (and on rare occasions both).

One-fifth of deaths involved the mother's partner or new boyfriend. Men were twice as likely to kill as women.

But look behind the figures to the reality of these tortured lives and the picture that emerges is almost Dickensian in its horror.

For example, James Howson placed his 16-month-old daughter Amy - already skeletal from under-nourishment - across his knee and pressed down so hard he broke her back.

A mortem revealed 40 other wounds inflicted on her in the four weeks before her death, including six fractures to her arms and legs.

Howson had progressed from wife beating to child-beating - a not unusual phenomenon.

There were warning signs that, had they been picked up, might have prevented these deaths He had been expelled from school for violence, with a warning from a teacher that 'this boy will commit murder'.
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More of the story:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1198725/The-child-murder-epidemic-Deaths-shocking-avoidable-Baby-Ps-happen-single-week.html

Peter Lukasavitz Sentenced to 15 Years for Child Porn

An Ann Arbor man was sentenced to federal prison Thursday for possessing and trading child pornography through a now-defunct feature of Google.com.

Peter Christian Lukasavitz, 31, was ordered to serve 15 years in prison during a brief sentencing hearing in Detroit federal court Thursday, the U.S. Attorney's office press release indicated.

Lukasavitz pleaded guilty to transportation of child pornographic material earlier this year. Investigators said he had a collection of more than 1,000 erotic images of children and pornographic movies depicting the sexual abuse of children as young as 20 months old, the release said.

Neither Lukasavitz nor his Saline-based attorney, M. Ellen Dennis, returned calls from the News on Friday.

Prior to his arrest in 2008, Lukasavitz consistently traded the images with others through "Google Hello,'' a peer-to-peer messaging and instant photo-sharing Web site.

He and others discussed their mutual sexual interest in and the sexual assaults of children, officials said.

"The judge aptly described these images as horrifying and unimaginable, " U.S. Attorney Terry Berg said in a written statement. "A 15-year prison sentence will hopefully provide a strong deterrent to others who would consider traveling this road.''

The site was known for its instant messenger-style photos sharing application that simplified sending photos to others via an encrypted connection.

The Internet search giant ceased the photo-sharing and chat site in May 2008.

Lukasavitz was arrested after authorities seized the computer of a trading partner in Pennsylvania.

William Dongwoo Suh Arrested for Sexually Assaulting 13-year-old on MySpace

A man arrested last week for investigation of sexually assaulting a 13-year-old girl he met on MySpace also threatened to harm the girl and kill her friends, according to court documents.

New details about the case came out Thursday when William Dongwoo Suh, 25, was charged in 3rd District Court with four counts of aggravated sex abuse of a child, one count of sodomy on a child and two counts of making terrorist threats.

Suh, who was previously convicted in California for having sex with a minor, met the Utah girl through MySpace. He traveled to Utah in June with the intent of having sex with the girl, according to police.

When Suh arrived, the girl told him she was just 13, according to court documents. Over the next few weeks, the two engaged in various sexual acts, according to police and court documents.

But when the girl tried to back off from the relationship, Suh sent her text messages threatening to find her friends and "slit their throats," and later sent her a text ordering her to perform a sex act "if you want your dad out of jail," and also texting, "… or I'll hurt you," according to court documents.

While being interviewed by police, Suh told investigators that he had looked up the law on the age of consent in Las Vegas and believed the juvenile could consent to sexual activity, court documents stated.

About five years ago, Suh was convicted in California on a similar offense and spent six months in jail, Cottonwood Heights police detective Beau Babka said. In that case, Suh had also threatened a family member of the victim and had a shotgun. He was waiting for that person when police arrived first and arrested him, he said.

When Suh arrived in Utah he had his laptop computer with him. Babka said investigators were going through the computer to see if Suh had chatted with any other young girls and if there were any other potential victims.

Orvid Miller Arrested for Sexual Assault

A 51-year-old Englewood man was ordered held on $350,000 bail Saturday, accused of sexually assaulting a young relative.

Orvid Miller appeared before Cook County Judge Laura Sullivan on a charge of predatory criminal sexual assault.

The minor girl was a guest at Miller's home Tuesday when he assaulted her, according to Assistant Cook County State's Attorney Martha Kross. Another relative witnessed the incident and told the girl's mother, Kross said.

The victim initially denied anything had happened. But she told her mother about the assault on Friday, explaining she had been too afraid of Miller to talk about it in his presence at his house, Kross said.

Miller is scheduled to return to court for a Monday preliminary hearing.

Andrew Majewski Arrested for Sexual Misconduct


A LaGrange County military school official is behind bars accused of having inappropriate sexual conduct with a 14-year-old male student.

37-year-old Andrew Majewski of Howe was arrested on felony charges of "sexual misconduct with a minor, contributing to the delinquency of a minor and child seduction."

Officials say Majewski, the lower class principal and director of summer camps at Howe Military School committed the alleged acts on multiple occasions at a LaGrange County home and “not” at the school.

Former Officer Wade Langer Arrested for Sexual Assault


Former Center police officer Wade Langer, 36, was arrested at his home, July 2, by Center Police on a warrant issued out of Mesa County alleging nine counts of sex assault against a child and one count of first-degree sex assault.

After his arrest last Thursday, Langer was taken to the Saguache County Jail. He was handed over to the Mesa County Sheriff’s Office Friday, the Saguache County Sheriff’s Office reported. He is being held without bond.

Later it was determined that the investigation into Langer’s activities is being conducted by the Colorado Bureau of Investigation, (CBI). A CBI spokesperson stated that the warrant in Langer’s case has been sealed until the investigation is concluded.

When asked what circumstances might lead to a sealed warrant, Denver press information officer Lance Clem commented that this often is done to protect the identity of a minor or when the case is still under investigation.

Mesa County records indicate that Langer also was charged with a sexually related offense in 2001 that was later judged to be unfounded.

Background

Langer came to Center from Grand Junction. He resided in Center with his wife and three step-children where he served as a Center Police Officer for two years. Langer resigned last summer after contesting a speeding ticket issued by the Colorado State Patrol. He said he submitted his resignation to accept another position as a police officer.

Charges from Langer’s speeding ticket were successfully contested and later dropped. He was able to prove that he had been called to a family emergency that could have involved a life or death situation.

Langer also is named in a suit filed Dec. 4, 2008 by Maria J. Cisneros. Cisneros alleges that Langer and two fellow officers at that time searched her home without a proper search warrant. The civil action filed in U.S. District Court on Cisneros’ behalf states that, “On May 15, 2008, a notice of claim was submitted to the Town of Center, via registered mail, pursuant to requirements of C.R.S. § 24-10-109, Exhibit E. There was no response to the notice of claim from any of the Defendants or their agents.”

Langer denies that events unfolded as Cisneros states in her complaint. Cisneros cites violations of the fourth and fourteenth amendments to the U.S. Constitution and is seeking damages for emotional injury and the use of excessive force.

In the course of protesting the search, Cisneros says she was treated roughly while being arrested and later sought treatment at San Luis Valley Regional Medical Center. At the time she was recovering from breast cancer surgery.

Former Chief Timothy Boyer Arrested for Sexual Abuse


In a shocking case, a former police chief is in jail after confessing to sexually abusing a child for the last eight years--since she was eight years old.

Timothy Boyer was police chief of tiny Wynona from March 17 to June 16, when he resigned. Reports say that during his short tenure, Boyer wasn't popular with the town.

As it turns out, he had a secret: eight years of sexually molesting a young girl, now 16 years old. Boyer voluntarily turned himself in to the Sand Springs police department and admitted the years of abuse. He's in the Tulsa County jail with bond set at $200,000.

He's been charged with rape by instrumentation and lewd molestation of a child under 16. Boyer reportedly told officers that he performed "everything but intercourse" in his sexual acts with the child.

Boyer previously worked in two other Oklahoma police departments, as well as working as a registered nurse.