Articles Tagged with abuse

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An ex-insurance agent from San Clemente has been accused of using fraudulent practices to profit off of investments he made for at least six elderly clients in Southern California.

55-year-old Mark Malatesta, a man employed as a licensed insurance agent, was taken into custody on Monday after the California Department of Insurance detectives found what they believe is supporting evidence that he was taking part in a monetary ruse which cost his former clients over $1.6 million. The alleged victims were reported as senior citizens, who are said to be a target demographic of an increasing number of deceptions designed to cheat them out of their money, as reported by Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones.

Malatesta has been accused of a procedure called “churning,” wherein a broker who typically has permission to make independent determinations on how to invest money from the client’s account performs transactions “chiefly to generate commissions that benefit the broker,” as described by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

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A woman was taken into custody on allegations that she stole the identities of at least two of the elderly patients for whom she provided in-home health care, and used the information for her personal financial gain.

Aujana Johnson-Payne works for an agency in Orange County where she is sent on live-in assignments to clients’ homes, and she supplies them with meeting their healthcare needs. Many of the patients are senior citizens who live with debilitating symptoms after suffering strokes, developing dementia and Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and other serious afflictions.

Johnson-Payne has been accused of abusing her position with two elderly patients in her care when at some point during her employment she reportedly stole their credit card or debit card information and assumed their identities to make purchases for herself.

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A man who crashed a wedding in Wisconsin took a blow from the bride when she learned he was allegedly acting in a lewd manner by touching and flirting with several of the teenage girls in attendance.

25-year-old William Dickinson and a male coworker had been hanging out in a local hotel bar and having drinks when they reportedly decided to crash a wedding in search of women.

Dickinson purportedly began acting inappropriately with teenage girls at the celebration. He approached two females, aged 17 and 18, and attempted to dance with them. They were uninterested in his advances and tried to move away from Dickinson, but according to the complaint, he asked the 18-year-old to join him in his hotel room. When the girls began moving away from Dickinson he reached out and grabbed the girl’s bottom.

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An Oklahoma man who was left to care for his girlfriend’s child as she ran errands on Saturday is suspected of causing injuries to the boy by striking him as punishment for opening a Christmas present early without permission.

Bridgette Payne enlisted her boyfriend, Wesley McCollum, to babysit her 5-year-old son Ayrian while she finished her holiday errands. At some point during the time she was out shopping McCollum allegedly used physical disciplinary measures when he noticed Ayrian had gone under the Christmas tree and opened one of the wrapped gifts.

When Payne returned home McCollum informed her that he had sent Ayrian to bed early because of his misbehavior, and she went into the bedroom to check on her son. She became highly distraught when she noticed bruises covering his body and the impression of a hand on his face as if he had been slapped. When Payne asked the child what happened she reported that he told her, “Wesley hurt me bad mama.”

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A physical education teacher working at Herndon Barstow Elementary School in the Clovis Unified School District has been accused of punishing students by briefly constricting their necks with a jump rope. The victims are all children between the ages of 9 and 11.

Detectives reported that the incident occurred on Thursday afternoon when the teacher, Peter Samhammer, allegedly utilized disciplinary measures consisting of holding a jump rope around their necks for a brief time before releasing them. Visible red marks were left on the neck and shoulder areas of the victims.

The Central Unified School District responded to the situation by releasing a statement confirming that Samhammer, who worked as a seasonal employee, has been placed on official administrative leave. They also announced, “Student safety is a top priority for the district and as such, we are fully cooperating with the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office and will continue to do so throughout the course of its investigation.”

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A South Dakota woman entered a plea of guilty on Friday to felony child abuse and neglect of two of her children. Darcel Featherman allegedly left her daughters, age 2 and 3, on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in the care of her mother and sister. The children were discovered by tribal police emaciated and near death.

Featherman signed a factual basis statement claiming she was aware that her mother and sister suffer from addiction and use of methamphetamine and alcohol and they would be unlikely to provide proper care for the children. When officers recovered the little girls they were lying on the floor of their grandmother’s home covered in blankets, lethargic and weighing only thirteen pounds. It was also discovered that due to chronic non-accidental trauma to her brain, the three-year-old child had lost her eyesight.

Featherman is the mother to eight children total, six of whom she does not have legal custody. Her daughters were placed into the care of the Oglala Sioux Tribe, and they have put on weight since their relocation.

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52-year-old Mary Jahn, an English teacher at Lakewood High School since 2006, has been accused of engaging in a sexual relationship for three years with a former female student which began when the girl was 15 years old in 2008. According to the authorities, after the girl turned 18 in 2011 she and Jahn’s physical intimacy ended, but they stayed in touch on and off until early spring of this year when the student reported the alleged sexual abuse to the police.

Following the student’s report an investigation began, and Jahn was put on leave from her teaching position. She was arrested on September 13. The Long Beach Unified School District has offered their support to the authorities, and after Jahn’s arrest they released a public statement assuring that the “safety and well-being of our students is always our primary concern.”

Following a short court proceeding Jahn now faces criminal charges for 9 felonies comprised of four counts of sexual penetration by a foreign object, three counts of lewd acts upon a child, and two counts of oral copulation of a person under 18. If convicted on all charges Jahn could face eight years and four months in state prison, and she would have a mandatory legal obligation to register as a sex offender for the remainder of her life.

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The trial for a Long Island, New York, foster father who is accused of numerous allegations of sexual abuse with children in his care began on Wednesday. Prosecutors describe his home as tranquil in appearance, having a nicely manicured lawn and classic cars parked in the driveway. But, was “like a prison” for the boys he was raising. Many of these boys suffered from mental illness or low I.Q.s.

According to the prosecutors in this case against Cesar Gonzales-Mugaburu, boys would wake up in the middle of the night to find Mr. Gonzales-Mugaburu allegedly on top of them. At other times, the boys would be chasing the dogs around the house and would allegedly find him sexually abusing another child.

One boy allegedly allowed the rape to happen. He hoped that if he submitted to Mr. Gonzales-Mugaburu and kept his attention on him, that he would be less likely to sexually abuse his younger brother.

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Sherri Lynn Wilkins, a substance abuse counselor in California, hit a man with her vehicle and drove two miles with his body plastered to her windshield. Wilkins was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison.

The 55 year old Wilkins had pleaded no contest to second-degree murder and two counts of driving under the influence (DUI).

In 2014, Wilkins was found guilty on similar charges relating to the same crime, but an appeals court threw out the conviction based on the fact that her whole life’s criminal history had been admitted into trial and could have possibly caused prejudice with the jury.

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Timothy Randall Korr, 25, of Baltimore was employed as a tutor of the Baltimore Curriculum Project. While tutoring at City Springs Elementary School, Korr allegedly told police he removed Trayvon Grayson a seven-year old, from the class for misbehaving.

The boy then suffered a fractured jaw and missing teeth. According to reports Korr said the boy lost his footing and “hit himself” on the wall. Trayvon’s mother didn’t believe his story. “He can’t throw himself into wall and fracture his jaw and lose his teeth. He’s only 7 years old. He’s so small…” she said

Police examined the boy at a local hospital, where he was diagnosed with major head trauma. Korr was charged with first and second degree child abuse, first and second degree assault, reckless endangerment and neglect of a minor.

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