Michael Healy Charged with Breaking Toddler's Leg

A 28-year-old south suburban man has been charged with aggravated battery to a child after allegedly breaking a toddler's leg, police said.

Michael Healy of W. 108th St., in Chicago Ridge was babysitting the 2-year-old boy Thursday night at the home while his girlfriend and mother were out, Chicago Ridge Deputy Police Chief Dennis Kapilinski said.

When the women returned, Healy left to get a pack of cigarettes, he said.

When the girlfriend went to pick up her son, he began to cry, and she called 911, Kapilinski said. An ambulance took the child to Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, where they discovered he had a broken femur.

Healy made a statement to police about the incident, but Kapilinski said he could not immediately provide details.

5-year-old Dies from Blunt Force Trauma by Christopher Mack

A preliminary autopsy report reveals 5-year-old Sincear Kirven of Mexia died of blunt force trauma.

Arrest warrant affidavits state that the boy was beaten to death Sunday by his uncle, who struck the boy and his 3-year-old brother repeatedly with a belt.

Christopher Mack, 22, was arrested Monday in Limestone County, and is being held in jail there on charges of capital murder and aggravated assault in lieu of $1.5 million bail.

Andrea Shante Thomas, 24, the woman with whom Mack was living, also was arrested on those charges Monday, and is being held in the McLennan County Jail in lieu of $525,000 bail.

Sincear, his 4-year-old and 3-year-old brothers, and 7-year-old sister were staying with their uncle, who was visiting his girlfriend, Thomas, at her apartment on 1708 E. Crest Drive in Lacy-Lakeview, the affidavit states.

Marissa Gonzales, a spokeswoman with Child Protective Services, said the four children live in Mexia with their mother, Brandi Mack, and their great-grandmother.

After the beatings, CPS officials placed the three remaining children in foster care until a hearing is set to determine otherwise, Gonzales said.

According to Limestone County court records, Mack was convicted in March on a charge of abandoning/endangering a child and evading arrest. He was sentenced to probation, records show.

Just before midnight Sunday, Lacy-Lakeview police were dispatched to Providence Health Center in connection with the alleged beatings.

Mack had driven Sincear to the hospital, and told doctors that the boy collapsed in the apartment.

The affidavit states Sincear had “extensive visible injuries” including “bruises, abrasions and lacerations to his head, arms, front and back torso and legs.” The injured child was brought to the hospital by another family member, the affidavit states, and was said to have suffered similar injuries.

Police later learned from talking with witnesses that Mack had repeatedly beaten the boys with a belt. The affidavit states that Sincear was beaten until “he passed out and was not moving.”

According to the affidavits, Thomas was present at the time of the beatings, and did nothing to stop it, call the police or seek medical attention for the boys.

Medical staff told police that Sincear had been dead about an hour at the time when he was brought in by his uncle. The injured child has been treated for his injuries and released from the hospital, according to a news release issued today by the Lacy-Lakeview Police Department.

It is unclear why Mack, who is reportedly from Mexia, and his nephews were staying in Lacy-Lakeview. The news release states that Mack was watching the boys for the Mexia-based family.

An autopsy has been ordered on Sincear’s body.

Christopher Mack & Andrea Thomas Charged with Murder & Assault

Lacy Lakeview police are investigating the murder of a young child.

Police Chief Dennis Stapleton said police learned a child had been injured and transported to Providence Hospital by personal vehicle.

Police said the child, who was under 10 years old, was pronounced dead in the emergency room.

Police say they arrested 22-year-old Christopher Mack and 24-year-old Andrea Thomas. Both have been charged with capital murder and aggravated assault.

Police say another child that lived with the two at an apartment complex in the 1700 block of East Crest Drive received non-life threatening injuries.

Police say Child Protective Services is ensuring the care of other children.

Police say the case remains under investigation.
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http://www.kwtx.com/home/headlines/48814097.html

Bruce Unger Pleads Guilty to Assault on Child

Former Bryan teacher Bruce Unger agreed to a plea bargain Monday morning and was sentenced to 40 years in prison just minutes before a jury was expected to be selected for his trial on aggravated assault of a child charges.

He pleaded guilty to all charges he faced, which also included indecency with a child and bond jumping.

Opening statements were set to begin in the trial Tuesday morning.

Unger once taught fifth grade at Neal Elementary School in Bryan and received national accolades for creating and coaching a soccer team for at-risk youth.

He was arrested on two charges of indecency with a child by sexual contact in November 2006 after police said he fondled two boys.

In January 2007, he was arrested again and charged with three more counts of indecency and one count of aggravated sexual assault of a child after more people came forward with molestation accusations.

His trial first was scheduled for late 2007, but he failed to show up at a pretrial hearing. His father said at the time that he had taken his motorcycle to Colorado to clear his head.

Unger wasn’t heard from again until December 2008, when local officials, FBI agents and U.S. Marshals tracked him to a town outside Kiev, Ukraine. Authorities said he was living there under the adopted name Tylor McCoy and teaching English lessons.

He was arrested and extradited to Brazos County soon after he was located.

The 30-year-old will return to court Monday afternoon to hear statements from his victims.

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Video & Picture: http://www.kbtx.com/home/headlines/48792387.html

Michael Ted Staples Charged with Sexually Abusing 9-year-old

A 43-year-old South Salt Lake man was booked into jail Thursday for investigation into charges he sexually abused a 9-year-old girl while swimming in a community pool.

Michael Ted Staples is charged with two counts of aggravated sexual abuse of a child and one count of possession of a controlled substance, both first-degree felonies.

According to charging documents, Staples touched the girl inapropriately while she swam May 22 at Holladay Lions Fitness and Recreation Center, 1661 E. Murray-Holladay Road.

Between the alleged incident and the arrest, police also found marijuana in Staples' backpack, the documents say.

Bail has been set at $150,000.
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http://www.deseretnews.com/article/705310370/Man-faces-child-sex-abuse-charges-over-pool-incident.html

Derek Plummer Arrested for Sexual Contart with 13-year-old

A Fruita man has been sentenced to three years in community corrections after pleading guilty to sexual assault on a child.

A judge also sentenced 24-year-old Derek Plummer to 10 years to life on highly supervised probation during a hearing this week in a Mesa County courtroom.

Police arrested Plummer on Jan. 24 for allegedly having sexual contact with a 13-year-old girl after the girl's mother found him in her daughter's bedroom.

He escaped through a window but was captured a short time later.

Plummer's sentence requires him to wear a GPS tracking device and bars him from having contact with anyone under the age of 18 until he completes a sex offender treatment program.

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Information from: KKCO-TV, http://www.nbc11news.com

Teacher Michael Drebes Charged with Sexually Assaulting 2 Teens

A teacher at Memorial High School was recently charged with three offenses, including first-degree aggravated assault, for allegedly sexually assaulting two teenage students, Cumberland County Prosecutor Ronald J. Casella announced Friday.

Michael Drebes, 37, of Millville, was arrested also on charges for second-degree endangering the welfare of a child, and third-degree official misconduct, Casella said in a news release.

Drebes allegedly sexually assaulted a current 14-year-old student over the course of four months in Cumberland, Cape May and Camden counties, the release said. He is also alleged to have committed an act of sexual assault on a former student who is currently 16 years old.

The Cape May Prosecutor’s Office charged Drebes with first-degree aggravated assault upon a minor less than 16 years old, and second-degree charges of endangering the welfare of a child and sexual assault, the release said.

Charges are also pending in Camden County. The investigation is continuing, the release said.

Millville schools Superintendent Shelly Schneider said the school learned of the arrest June 5, the day after, in a call from city Police Chief Ed Grennon. Police and the Prosecutor's Office asked for confidentiality while the investigation proceeded.

"All I can verify is he is a teacher of math at the Memorial School for five years," Schneider said.

Schneider said Drebes is suspended with pay. That could go to suspended without pay if he is indicted," she said.

Schneider said the students did not contact the district.

"I was only fully aware of the one _ the 14-year-old student," Schneider said. "I know other students were questioned at the high school. I didn't get the results."

Anyone with information should contact Det. Keith Kanauss from the Cumberland County Prosecutor’s Office at (856) 453-0486 and Det. Keith O’Brien of the Millville Police Department at (856) 825-7010.
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Other Information: http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2009/06/millville_teacher_accused_in_s.html

Jerry Lee Guth Guilty of Sexually Assaulting Teen Boy

Jerry Lee Guth was found guilty Thursday of sexually assaulting a teenage boy in 2007.

The 29-year-old Lindale man, who is hearing impaired and uses sign language interpreters, was charged with aggravated sexual assault of a child for the alleged Oct. 24, 2007, incident.

After five hours of deliberation, the jury in 241st District Judge Jack Skeen Jr.'s court convicted him of the lesser-included offense of sexual assault of a child. The charge is aggravated if the child is younger than 14 and is not aggravated if the child is 14 or older but younger than 17. The jury will return today for the punishment phase. Guth faces two to 20 years in prison.

John White is the pseudonym used in the indictment for the victim to protect his identity.

White testified he couldn't remember the date Guth raped him but said he believed it was before his 14th birthday.

During a videotaped interview Lindale police conducted with Guth on June 30, 2008, the defendant admitted he had sex with White but said it was consensual and that the incident occurred Oct. 24, 2007, when the boy was 13.

During closing arguments, Assistant District Attorney Joe Murphy said the victim testified, crying and alone, for three hours about what happened to him and he was called a liar. He said to believe the victim was 14, not 13, at the time of the incident, the jury would have to call the victim a liar and not believe Guth's confession to police.

"The truth does not change," Murphy said, adding there were no inconsistencies in the victim's statements and that Guth lied repeatedly, changing the story he gave to police several times.

Murphy played a clip for the jury of the nearly three-hour interview Guth had with authorities, in which the defendant admitted he had consensual sex with the boy.

"Do you really think (the victim) went over there and wanted to have sex with him? No," Murphy said. He asked the jurors to find Guth guilty of aggravated sexual assault to show the victim they believed him.

"Justice is ending it today," he said. "Let him (White) start healing."

Defense attorney Don Davidson said the jurors had to presume Guth innocent unless and until the state proved his guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. He said Guth was the town nuisance, the village idiot and a "low-functioning person" and that there was no physical evidence connecting him to any kind of sexual crime. He said it came down to White's testimony and Guth's "so-called confession."

"If you have a reasonable doubt about what (White) is saying, then Jerry is not guilty," Davidson said. He asked the jurors how many times White said he wasn't sure about things when he was testifying. He asked why the boy waited so long to tell police about the assault.

Davidson said children make up stories and that the boy's tears on the witness stand may have been tears of regret. He said the "so-called confession" was a three-hour interview of police badgering and "taking this low-functioning town nuisance down." He said there was nothing Guth could have said or done during the interview to change things because he was already arrested for the crime. Ultimately, he told police what they wanted him to say, Davidson said.

"You are the last protection for the rights of the falsely accused," he said.

White was not sure of the date of the alleged incident, why he didn't tell anyone, if Guth threatened him or of what he saw or what object was used in Guth's dark bedroom, he said.

"All of those not sures mean not guilty. He's not guilty," Davidson said.

Murphy said people lie to get out of trouble; people don't lie to get on the witness stand for three hours and talk about a homosexual encounter. He said Davidson wanted to paint it as a frame up but police went above and beyond for Guth, hiring two certified sign language interpreters before they arrested and interviewed him; they did not force him to say he had sex with White. Murphy said no one but Davidson said Guth was low-functioning, and he went through four years of high school.

The victim, now 15, said he went to Guth's house several times to go swimming or to watch pornographic videos and television. Once while they were in his bedroom, White said Guth pushed him on the bed, pulled down his jeans, held him down and "raped me." He said he tried to fight him and was able to roll off the bed and leave. As he ran away, he saw Guth run his finger across his neck, as if slashing his throat, and White said he took it as a threat.

He said he didn't tell anyone what happened because he felt ashamed and embarrassed and was afraid Guth would hurt him again. On June, 24, 2008, White said Guth chased White, who was riding a bike, "halfway across town" on Guth's lawnmower. White rode to his friend's house, told him what Guth had done and his friend called police, he said.

Rodney Bramlett Convicted of Aggravated Sexual Assault

A 34-year-old man faces life in prison after he was convicted today on sex charges stemming from incidents involving two boys younger than 13.

Rodney Bramlett was convicted after a jury trial and in front of Judge Joseph G. McGraw on charges of two counts of predatory criminal sexual assault of a child and one count of aggravated criminal sexual abuse, said Winnebago County State’s Attorney Joe Bruscato.

Predatory criminal sexual assault of a child is a Class X felony punishable by six to 30 years in prison for each count. Truth in sentencing applies.

However, mandatory natural life shall be imposed when the defendant commits predatory criminal sexual assault of more than one child.

Bramlett is scheduled to be sentenced by McGraw at 9 a.m. July 21.

Michael Jay Bays Charged with Sexual Abuse of Child

Michael Jay Bays, 56, of Longview was released Saturday on $225,000 bond, charged with continuous sexual abuse of a child younger than 14 years old, aggravated assault of a child and indecent exposure, all felonies. A Gregg County Sheriff's deputy arrested Bays on the three warrants at 7:45 p.m. Friday at the Gregg County Courthouse.