Articles Posted in Sexual Offenses

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A former culinary arts school teacher, Nichole Noel Thiel, was accused by her former student of having sex with him when he was 16 years old at her condominium in Idaho for a period lasting over two years. Thiel was 46 years old when the incidents allegedly took place.

The teen said it all started when he came across the teacher crying and upset and he gave her a hug. He said that she kissed him on the cheek and later he claimed she picked him up from his father’s home to take him back to her Coeur d’Alene home to have sex. He wouldn’t report the incident to his school counselor until the following year.

Thiel maintained her innocence throughout the investigation and trial. Due to the time that had passed, investigators were not able to find any physical evidence of the crime, so prosecutors were forced to rely almost entirely upon the testimony of witnesses. Throughout the trial, Thiel relied upon the support of her friends, colleagues, and family. From others, opinions of Thiel were harsh. Allegations of adults having sex with minors creates a sense of disgust, hysteria, and drives a “guilty-until-proven-innocent” rush to judgement from many in the community. Simply being arrested for a crime is often enough to convince people of guilt. Throughout the trial, criminal defense attorney Michael G. Palmer fought for Thiel’s innocence and realized she was faced with a teen who said that the sex happened and the only way to be acquitted was to somehow prove it didn’t.

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A Border Patrol agent working at the Ajo Border crossing station in Pima County, AZ was taken into custody two weeks ago on a fugitive warrant issued for suspicion of lewd acts with a minor. The alleged offense took place in Imperial County, CA in 2013.

29-year-old Supervisory Agent Kyle Mrofka was detained by Pima County Sheriff’s Deputies on September 29. He remains in Pima County jail without bond awaiting extradition to Imperial County, CA where he is charged with two counts of lewd acts for alleged sexual contact with a child age 14 or 15 when he was at least 10 years older. The identity of the victim is being withheld.

The Tucson Sector public affairs office issued a statement announcing that Mrofka, a 9-year employee of the federal border enforcement agency, has been put on indefinite unpaid suspension awaiting the outcome of the investigation.

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Derek Starnes and his wife rented a condominium on Longboat Key, FL through Airbnb based partly on over 40 positive reviews posted on the site regarding the property. A day after checking into the rental Starnes who has a career in IT saw something amiss with one of the smoke detectors. Upon inspection he discovered it was a hidden security camera with a microphone pointed directly at their bed in the master bedroom.

Starnes called the police and they seized all computer equipment capable of storing data. A second camera was discovered in the living room.

The owner of the property, 56-year-old Wayne Natt, was taken into custody and charged with one count of video voyeurism. Natt’s Airbnb listing has been active for two years and police are investigating the possibility of others affected by the alleged breach of privacy. “We don’t know if there are local victims, someone who may have been dating him or a companion that doesn’t realize they are being videotaped, and then we have the other side of who he rented to through Airbnb,” said Lt. Bob Bourque.

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An independent teaching contractor who instructed a music program in more than one Southern California school district is currently under investigation for allegedly contaminating flutes with his semen before giving them to young students.

On September 29th, parents of the students attending elementary schools in Fountain Valley, Los Angeles, Fullerton, Inland Empire, Fullerton, Chatsworth, Capistrano Unified and Newport-Mesa, and a minimum of five other school districts in Southern California received email alerting them about an ongoing investigation regarding the possible contamination of flutes that had been distributed to the children.

It has not yet been determined which of the schools in each district may have been affected by the suspected tainted instruments. Accounting for the time it will take to investigate the considerable amount of sites in the districts, administration felt it was a priority to communicate with parents as soon as possible.

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The Los Angeles Regional Human Trafficking Task Force, comprised of the combined efforts of the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department and DA’s office, the FBI and the California Highway Patrol, shut down an alleged prostitution ring in a raid in Compton this Wednesday resulting in a total of 36 arrests.

As reported by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, 8 people were rescued during the mission including three girls who are purportedly commercially sexually exploited children, and five women who were identified as the possible victims of human trafficking. The children are currently being cared for by the Department of Children and Family Services.

Sheriff’s deputies working undercover obtained a large number of the arrests. 16 of the men were arrested for allegedly soliciting undercover law enforcement agents for sexual relations. Three additional men, 27-year-old Demario Bell, 25-year-old Damon Thomas, and 37-year-old Damien Henry were taken into custody for felony pandering after allegedly attempting to recruit undercover detectives to work for them in the commercial sex industry.

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On Wednesday morning at the Century Regional Detention Facility in Lynwood, a female inmate approached a teaching instructor on the staff claiming she had been raped by a deputy during the night in the one of the jail dormitories. The woman named her alleged attacker as 31-year-old Giancarlo Scotti; a San Pedro resident and 10-year veteran deputy of the LA County sheriff’s department who is employed at the facility. Shortly after the initial report a second woman made similar allegations about Scotti, who was on duty during the time the assaults occurred.

As reported during a news conference by L.A. County Sheriff Jim McDonnell, the area of the jail where the alleged attacks took place was hastily secured in order to preserve any possible evidence. Investigators were called to the scene, and Scotti was held in a watch commander’s office. After an initial inspection, enough data including DNA evidence was obtained to justify Scotti’s arrest on suspicion of two counts of rape and two counts of oral copulation, both under the color of authority.

No charges were filed, and within 10 hours of his booking Scotti was released after posting $100,000 bail. He has currently been put on paid administrative leave.

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Police received a call in the early morning hours on Sunday, September 10th concerning a woman who was lying on the ground outside. When they arrived at the scene they discovered a 68-year-old Garden Grove woman who appeared to be the victim of an assault. It was announced that she was in critical condition, and after three days of treatment she still remains in the hospital.

The police found the alleged attacker, 30-year-old Garden Grove resident Michael Varela, at the scene. Varela was taken into custody for attempted murder and attempted sexual assault, and is being held at the Orange County Jail.

If you or someone you love is suspected of attempted murder or sexual assault, contact Orange County criminal defense lawyer Staycie R. Sena at (949) 477-8088 for a consultation now.

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Authorities reported that an observant airline passenger aboard a flight from Seattle, WA to San Jose. CA spotted a man sitting in the seat in front of her allegedly sending alarming texts regarding child sexual assault. The screen display was large enough that she was able to capture photographic evidence of the conversation, and she alerted the flight crew about the incident.

The suspect, 56-year-old Michael Keller, was spied sending text messages to 50-year-old Gail Burnworth consisting of details about molesting children. Both Kellar and Burnworth are residents of Tacoma, Washington where Burnworth provides babysitting services. Police speculated this is what gave Kellar access to the victims: two children ages 5 and 7. The relationship between the suspects currently remains unknown.

After the passenger, who has chosen to remain anonymous, spoke with the flight attendant on board the law enforcement at the San Jose airport was notified. When Kellar disembarked the plane he was taken into custody immediately. Seattle police arrested Burnworth.

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Death Metal band Decapitated is currently visiting the United States from Poland on their “Double Homicide” tour. A woman who attended their show at The Pin, a venue in downtown Spokane, WA, has accused the four members of the band of kidnapping and gang-raping her in the bathroom of their bus following the performance.

The day after the show the woman filed a report alleging that she entered the bus for drinks with Michal Mikolaj Lysejko, 27; Waclaw Jan Kieltyka, 35; Rafal Tomasz Piotrowski, 31; and Hubert Edward Wiecek, 30, where they each took a turn sexually assaulting her. Information regarding the alleged kidnapping has not been disclosed at this time.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department investigated the case at the request of the Spokane police. The band continued their tour for a month after the woman’s claims, when they were apprehended after their performance at The Observatory in Santa Ana, CA.

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41-year-old Alejandro Hernandez Garcia from San Juan Capistrano, suspected of sexually assaulting two teenage females, is facing seven felony charges for forcible rape and sexual penetration by a foreign object.

The first victim, a 16-year-old girl from San Juan Capistrano, was familiar with Garcia before the assault. He allegedly raped her after forcing her into a garage, and she recognized him nearly a year later when he returned to the neighborhood where the assault took place.

The second incident took place approximately one month later. Garcia was said to have given a 19-year-old woman who was lost in Santa Ana a drink laced with an illegal substance, and then proceeded to rape her in the backseat of his car.

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