Georgia
Former soldier gets prison for sexual contact with child
SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) — An Illinois man has been sentenced to spend more than nine years in prison after he admitted having sexual contact with a child 15 years ago when he was a soldier at Georgia’s Fort Stewart.
Clarence Michael Lynch of Highland, Illinois, was sentenced Thursday to serve nine years and one month in prison followed by 15 years of supervised release and was ordered to pay a fine of $2,000. He had pleaded guilty to abusive sexual contact of a child under 12. He was already a registered sex offender because of a previous conviction, prosecutors said.
“Justice for this victim was long delayed, but ultimately not denied as the predator is now being held accountable for his vile actions,” U.S. Attorney David Estes said in a news release.
Lynch, 43, was convicted in 2007 on state charges of sexual battery and false imprisonment with a 15-year-old victim and served 10 years in a Georgia state prison. He received a dishonorable discharge from the Army because of the conviction.
Three years after he was released from state prison, a previous victim contacted police in Belleville, Illinois, to report multiple contacts from Lynch. They included messages in which he admitted sexually abusing the victim, who was 10 years old at the time, while he was stationed at Fort Stewart in 2006.
U.S. Army criminal investigators questioned Lynch and arrested him in March 2021. He was returned to Georgia and pleaded guilty.
Nevada
Man convicted of murdering teen in 2020
ELKO, Nev. (AP) — An Elko County jury has found a 20-year-old man guilty of first-degree murder and sexual assault with a deadly weapon in the death of a Spring Creek teenager two years ago.
The same jury will return to district court Monday for the penalty phase after convicting Bryce Dickey Thursday in the killing of 16-year-old Gabrielle “Britney” Ujaky, the Elko Daily Free Press reported.
Prosecutors said earlier they weren’t seeking the death penalty.
Police originally treated Ujaky’s disappearance as a runaway case after Dickey told investigators he saw her get into a pickup truck with a tall man wearing a cowboy hat outside Spring Creek High School on March 8, 2020
Her body was discovered three days later wrapped in a blue tarp and Dickey was arrested eight days after that.
Defense attorney Gary Woodbury told jurors at the opening of the seven-day trial that the prosecution’s case was “entirely circumstantial.”
“You will not hear any evidence that anybody anywhere saw Bryce Dickey kill or rape Britney Ujlaky,” he said.
District Attorney Tyler Ingram said the state also wasn’t required to provide an eyewitness to the crime.
“You can look at the circumstantial evidence to decide whether the state has proven the intent beyond a reasonable doubt,” he said.
Texas
Power Rangers actor charged with paycheck protection fraud
PLANO, Texas (AP) — The actor who played Red Power Ranger in the “Mighty Morphin Power Rangers” films and television series has been charged with wire fraud conspiracy relating to the federal Paycheck Protection Program, officials said.
Jason Lawrence Geiger, 47, of McKinney, Texas, is one of 19 defendants named in a federal indictment, the FBI said. Acting under the name Austin St. John, Geiger played Jason Lee Scott, the Red Power Ranger.
Geiger was arrested Tuesday and remained jailed pending a Monday detention hearing before a federal magistrate in the Dallas suburb of Plano, according to court documents. He pleaded not guilty to the single count against him and “intends to vigorously defend himself against this allegation,” said his attorney, David Klaudt of Dallas.
The Payroll Protection Program was part of the CARES Act designed to provide emergency financial assistance to millions of Americans who were suffering the economic effects caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
In a statement issued Thursday, federal prosecutors said the 19 defendants made fraudulent applications for payroll protection benefits during the pandemic lockdown and used the proceeds for personal purchases and expenditures. In all, the defendants were accused of obtaining at least 16 loans worth at least $3.5 million.
If convicted, each could be sentenced to up to 20 years in federal prison.
South Carolina
Ex-‘American Idol’ star charged in crash granted bond
SPARTANBURG, S.C. (AP) — A South Carolina judge granted bond on Friday to the former “American Idol” contestant accused of barreling into a man with his pickup truck and killing him.
Caleb Kennedy, 17, received a $50,000 bond and was ordered to receive mental health treatment while in home detention, news outlets reported.
The country music singer had been jailed since February on a charge of driving under the influence resulting in the death of 54-year-old Larry Duane Parris. Police say Kennedy drove his truck up a private driveway in Spartanburg County and struck Larry Duane Parris, 54, pushing Parris into a building.
A toxicology report showed that Kennedy had marijuana and Prozac in his system at the time. Kennedy told deputies after the crash that he had taken a “deep draw” from a vaping device and then felt its effects while driving, prosecutors have said.
Judges had previously denied bond for Kennedy several times, citing pending toxicology results as well as Kennedy’s mental health.
Kennedy advanced into the Top 5 of the television talent show last year, but dropped out of the singing competition after a video circulated of him sitting next to someone wearing what appeared to be a Ku Klux Klan hood. Kennedy apologized at the time for the video, saying “it displayed actions that were not meant to be taken in that way.”
Kennedy’s mother, Anita Guy, told news outlets the video was filmed when Kennedy was 12 and had been taken out of context. She said Kennedy had been imitating characters from the film “The Strangers: Prey at Night.”
Kennedy’s hometown is listed as Roebuck, just south of Spartanburg.
He faces up to 25 years in prison if convicted.
Indiana
Woman convicted in 3-year-old son’s beating death
LAFAYETTE, Ind. (AP) — A northwestern Indiana woman has been convicted in the death of her 3-year-old son, who died last year after her boyfriend allegedly punched the boy repeatedly.
A Tippecanoe County jury on Thursday convicted Crystal Cox of murder, neglect of a dependent resulting in death, aggravated battery resulting in death and battery resulting in death of a person younger than 14 years old.
Prosecutors said Cox allowed her boyfriend, Jermaine Garnes, to punch her son, Zeus, in the chest several times, rupturing his intestines and kidneys and breaking his ribs. A forensic pathologist testified the boy was also covered in bruises and cuts, the Journal & Courier reported.
Deputy Prosecutor Cassidy Laux told jurors Zeus died long before a 911 call was placed and that Cox and Garnes staged the couple’s Lafayette home to fit their story of caring parents tending to a sick child.
Laux cited testimony from paramedics that Zeus was cold to the touch when they arrived at the home on July 5, 2021.
After the verdict, Cox’s attorney said she would appeal her conviction.
Garnes’ trial in the boy’s death is set for October. He faces the same charges Cox had faced in her trial.
Florida
Former police lieutenant gets life for molesting sisters
MIAMI (AP) — A judge sentenced a former South Florida police lieutenant to life in prison Friday for molesting two young girls who are now in their 20s.
“There will be no closure here,” Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Miguel de la O said during the sentencing hearing for Braulio Gonzalez, 48. “The fact that people continue to defend you is just classic cognitive dissonance.”
A jury deliberated just 15 minutes three months ago before convicting Gonzalez of armed kidnapping and lascivious molestation, the Miami Herald reported.
Gonzalez’s defense lawyer, Bruce Lehr, had asked for a 25-year sentence, noting that he was a dedicated officer who saved multiple lives during his time on the force. His wife of four years also testified on his behalf during the trial, along with two police officers.
Prosecutors argued that Gonzalez lived a double life.
“Behind the scenes, he was very violent,” prosecutor Natalie Snyder said. “He’s a very dangerous person.”
Gonzalez, who worked for the Miami-Dade Police Department, did not address the court or apologize to the victims, the newspaper reported. He is expected to appeal the conviction.
Gonzalez was arrested in 2018 after a girl told a psychologist he fondled her several times when she was between 8 and 10 years old, court records show. She also told an interviewer for the Florida Department of Children & Families that he had pointed a gun at her and threatened to kill a relative if she told.
Her sister also told officials she was molested by Gonzalez.
On Friday, they told the judge Gonzalez had shattered their lives, the Herald reported.
Gonzalez had been allowed to keep his job despite multiple allegations that had repeatedly beaten and abused his former lovers, the newspaper reported, citing internal police files. Miami-Dade police cleared him of those allegations.
“He had hurt so many people for such a long time, and he always got away with it,” the mother of the victims told the court. “He will never change.”
Massachusetts
Retired music teacher convicted of raping student sentenced
WORCESTER, Mass. (AP) — A former elementary school music teacher convicted of raping a fifth-grade student more than a decade ago was sentenced Friday to up to 20 years in prison.
Stephen Jaszek, 66, of South Hadley, Massachusetts, was sentenced following his conviction last week by a Worcester Superior Court judge in a jury-waived trial of five separate rape charges.
He sexually assaulted the girl in 2009 and 2010 in a classroom at an Auburn elementary school, prosecutors said. The now 23-year-old victim took the stand to testify during the trial.
“This was an egregious case involving an educator abusing a young student,” Worcester District Attorney Joseph Early Jr. said in a statement. “This sexual assault survivor showed strength and courage while testifying about what she endured.”
Jaszek, who retired in 2014, was arrested in August 2018.
The prosecution asked for 25 to 35 years in prison. The defense sought a 10-year sentence.
Jaszek denied the charges and his attorney said there is no evidence, no eyewitnesses, and his client has never been in any legal trouble.
