Articles Posted in Sexual Offenses

Published on:

by

In October 2016, a Huntington Beach woman took the stand as a witness in defense her boyfriend who was charged with the sexual assault of a 13-year-old girl. Her boyfriend was found guilty and sentenced. The woman was arrested on Thursday for allegations of providing false testimony during the trial in order to protect him from a conviction.

Jeffrey Scott Jones, boyfriend of 50-year-old Cynthia Marie Dunaway-Erickson, stood trial for raping a teenage girl living under her care. The victim told her friend’s mother about the sexual assault and the mother reported it to the police. Officers took the girl for a rape examination where DNA was collected and examined. When the sample matched Jones’ DNA he was taken into custody.

Dunaway-Erickson testified on behalf of Jones, and she confirmed the defense’s claim that the semen was discovered inside the girl because she and Jones used the same towel.

Continue reading →
Published on:

by

A former case manager that worked with foster youths who had been neglected or abused was accused of raping a 16-year-old girl in June.

Morris Leroi Brinker was working as a case manager with the Children’s Law Center of California who regularly represent abused, neglected or abandoned children in Los Angeles and Sacramento counties. He was in charge of the victim’s case at the time during which the alleged crime took place.

Part of Brinker’s job description involved driving children various places in his personal vehicle. Authorities reported that the teenage girl claimed on June 29, Brinker had sex with her in a parking lot in his car.

Continue reading →
Published on:

by

Last year after winning the election President Donald Trump issued an executive order establishing the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity. Chaired by the Vice President the commission was formed to investigate Trump’s posit that voter fraud in the United States needs to be addressed, after he made claims that numerous phony ballots were counted causing him to lose the popular vote to Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton. According to a senior administration official who asked to remain anonymous, a man working as a researcher on the commission was arrested on alleged charges of child pornography after law enforcement observed the pornographic material on his cell phone.

The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children issued a tip to the Maryland State Police’s Internet Crime against Children Task Force about possible circulation of child pornography traced to a specific internet address. The suspect was purported to be 37-year-old Ronald Williams II, a researcher working with the Advisory Commission on assignment from an independent federal investigative and prosecutorial agency called the Office of the Special Counsel.

State police reported that they searched Williams’ home and on initial inspection of his cellphone, “multiple files of child pornography” were located. He was taken into custody and he is facing 11 counts of possession and distribution of child pornography.

Continue reading →
Published on:

by

Thiel-214x300
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.

Continue reading →
Published on:

by

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.

Continue reading →
Published on:

by

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.

Continue reading →
Published on:

by

alleged-flutes-274x300
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.

Continue reading →
Published on:

by

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.

Continue reading →
Published on:

by

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.

Continue reading →
Published on:

by

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.

Contact Information
19200 Von Karman Ave, #600
Irvine, CA 92612
Phone: (949) 477-8088 Fax: (949) 477-8089

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Please do not include any confidential or sensitive information in a contact form, text message, or voicemail. The contact form sends information by non-encrypted email, which is not secure. Submitting a contact form, sending a text message, making a phone call, or leaving a voicemail does not create an attorney-client relationship.

Copyright © 2016 – 2025, Law Offices Of Staycie R. Sena
JUSTIA Law Firm Blog Design