Federal judge doubles sentence for American cop of New Orleans  in child  rape plea deal

Judge had rejected earlier deal, saying Rodney Vicknair's sentence was 'unjustifiably lenient.'

By  Edward Era Barbacena

A federal judge on Tuesday doubled the sentence for a former New Orleans police officer who sexually molested a 14-year-old rape survivor he met through work.

Last week, U.S. District Judge Lance Africk rejected a seven-year plea deal that Rodney Vicknair reached with federal prosecutors, calling it "unjustifiably lenient." Africk on Tuesday then signed off on a second plea deal that increased Vicknair's sentence to 14 years behind bars.

"The court is obligated to protect other children from unacceptable criminal behavior, and the court is of the opinion that this sentence does so," said Africk, who was nominated to the court by President George W. Bush. "The fact a police officer would engage in this brazen and outrageous conduct is unimaginable."

A former emergency medical technician and 13-year veteran of the NOPD, Vicknair drove the teen to Children's Hospital for a "rape kit" exam in May 2020.  Shortly thereafter, he began a grooming process that started with sexually charged texts and culminated in rape in September 2020, when Vicknair went to the girl's house, locked her in his police vehicle and touched her genitals under her clothing.

"He made sure she was victimized a second time," Africk said.

On separate occasions, Vicknair fondled the girl's breasts and buttocks, struck her with his police baton under the guise of roughhousing, forcefully twisted her arm and "described how he could easily commit acts of physical violence, such as breaking peoples’ necks, and joked about how he could kill (the victim's loved ones)," according to a civil complaint filed by the victim's mother.

In the years prior to his conviction, Vicknair was issued multiple suspensions and a letter of reprimand. Two disciplinary actions were related to his behavior toward women, including an incident in 2009 in which he inappropriately retrieved a woman's personal information and used it to summon her as she walked in the Ideal Food Market parking lot.

"This case should send a strong message to law enforcement officers who sexually abuse victims, particularly children, that they are not above the law and will be held accountable," said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division in an emailed statement.

The department's Public Integrity Bureau opened an investigation in 2020 after learning that Vicknair had an inappropriate relationship with the victim. The FBI New Orleans Field Office also investigated the case. Independent Police Monitor Stella Cziment was present in court Tuesday to monitor the proceedings. 

"We're here to support those brave enough to come forward to report sexual assault committed by officers," Cziment said.

The victim was not present at the sentencing because she was "not doing well," her mother said.

"Last week was extremely emotional to her to the point where she couldn't find it to come back," said her mother, who is not named to protect the identity of the rape victim. "It was tough."

Vicknair, 55, is on 24-7 lockdown at his home until May 15, when he must surrender to the Federal Bureau of Prisons to begin his 14-year sentence, after which he will be subject to five years supervised release. He also must pay restitution to the victim. That amount will be decided at a hearing on May 3.

 

American man of Georgia arrested for 2008 cold case murder

Shannon Tapley, 43, was booked into the Bartow County Jail after 15 years charged with murder for the death of 20-year-old Lance Jay Banister

By Edward Era Barbacena

Authorities have arrested a white Cartersville man for the 2008 murder of an Acworth man whose body was found at Talking Rock Creek.

Shannon Tapley, 43, was booked into the Bartow County Jail after 15 years charged with murder for the death of 20-year-old Lance Jay Banister, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation says.

The GBI was asked by the Murray County Sheriff’s Office to help in the death investigation after a body was found near Carters Lake in Chatsworth on March 28, 2008. Investigators later identified the body as Banister.

Investigators say he had been missing for three weeks before his body was found.

The GBI Medical Examiner’s Office ruled Banister’s death a homicide.

Investigators say Banister and Tapley were friends and were together the day he disappeared.

Murray County Sheriff’s Office detectives, FBI special agents from the Dalton Safe Streets Task Force, Bartow County Sheriff’s Office detectives, and GBI agents all assisted in the investigation.

The Bartow County District Attorney’s Office will be prosecuting the case.

It was not immediately known when Tapley’s next court appearance was scheduled.

 

American trans-identified biological male daycare worker charged with sexual abuse of infant in Kentucky

Kentucky transgender daycare worker Maria Childers is accused of sexually abusing a baby while changing the child's diaper.

By Edward Era Barbacena

 Kentucky transgender daycare worker Maria Childers is accused of sexually abusing a baby while changing the child's diaper, according to official documents obtained by WPSD Local 6.

The Paducah Police Department got a complaint of the alleged abuse on February 8 from the Kentucky Department for Community Based Services after an anonymous tip came in about trans-identified male Childers, 25, who was employed at the Explore Learning Academy in November when the crime allegedly took place.

According to the local outlet, a police citation says a witness at the childcare facility corroborated the details of the complaint, and the daycare's director said she was already aware of the allegations and had written up Childers over an incident regarding inappropriate comments.

Childers, who identifies as a transgender woman, was arrested the same day as police investigated the center and initially denied touching the baby's diaper in an interview. However, Childers switched the story after the investigator read a text the daycare worker sent to the director confirming the diaper change. 

While admitting to changing the diaper, "Childers then maintained that he had not made inappropriate comments or touched the baby sexually," reported women's sex-based news site Reduxx.

According to the outlet, Childers was hit with a charge of first-degree sexual abuse of a victim under the age of 12, and is incarcerated in the McCracken County Jail with a $100,000 bond. As the publication reports, the official sex listed on the jail's inmate roster is "male."

Childers took their mother's maiden name after identifying as a woman. Childers previous name was Mark.

Childers is scheduled for an arraignment hearing on March 23. It is unclear what Childers' employment status is with the Explore Learning Academy.

 

 

NYC teen with autism attacked and beaten by a group in subway

By Edward Era Barbacena

Shocking video of teens attacking a 15-year-old in an uptown train station has spurred an NYPD hate crime investigation.

A  group yelled anti-Black slurs before brutally attacking the boy in the Manhattan subway station on Friday afternoon, police said on Monday as video of the incident circulated on social media.

Video shows a black teen attempting to board the train while a young woman in a Chicago Bulls sweatshirt forcefully pulls the teen off an A train. A large group of teens surround the teen  screaming repeatedly, “Get off” and “Ni***r Alert!!”

]The group passes at least 20 other kids and 10 adults standing on the uptown platform, video shows.

The teen tries to get back on the train, but the girl drags him off again, another teen throws a punch and then the group tackles him, the video shows.

“Fight back” someone screams in the video.

The teen tries to defend himself as he’s thrown on a bench and his glasses are knocked from his face, the video shows.

The 15-year-old’s lip was cut and, according to police, his attackers broke his glasses.

Uptown’s 34th Precinct released photos on Monday afternoon of three suspects wanted in connection to the attack.

 

Russian fighter jet forces shoots  down US drone over Black Sea after intercept

By Edward Era Barbacena

CNN: A Russian fighter jet forced down a US Air Force drone over the Black Sea on Tuesday after damaging the propeller of the American MQ-9 Reaper drone, according to a US official familiar with the incident.

The Reaper drone and two SU-27 Flanker jets were operating over international waters over the Black Sea when one of the Russian jets intentionally flew in front of and dumped fuel in front of the unmanned drone, according to the official. One of the jets then damaged the propeller of the Reaper, which is mounted on the rear of the drone, the official said. The damage to the propeller forced the US to bring down the Reaper in international waters in the Black Sea.

The US Air Force issued a statement accusing the Russian aircraft of acting in a “reckless, environmentally unsound and unprofessional manner.”

“At approximately 7:03 AM (CET), one of the Russian Su-27 aircraft struck the propeller of the MQ-9, causing U.S. forces to have to bring the MQ-9 down in international waters. Several times before the collision, the Su-27s dumped fuel on and flew in front of the MQ-9 in a reckless, environmentally unsound and unprofessional manner. This incident demonstrates a lack of competence in addition to being unsafe and unprofessional,” US Air Force Gen. James B.Hecker, commander, U.S. Air Forces Europe and Air Forces Africa said in the statement.

President Joe Biden was briefed on the incident by national security adviser Jake Sullivan on Tuesday morning, according to National Security Council communications coordinator John Kirby.

Kirby He said it was “not uncommon” for Russian aircraft to intercept US aircraft over the Black Sea, and said there had been other intercepts in recent weeks.

But he said the episode Tuesday was unique in how “unsafe, unprofessional and reckless” the Russian actions were.

CNN has asked the Russian Ministry of Defense for comment.

Russian and US aircraft have operated over the Black Sea during the course of the Ukraine war, but this is the first known such interaction, a potentially dangerous escalation at a critical time in the fighting.

The US has been operating Reaper drones over the Black Sea since before the beginning of the war, using the spy drones to monitor the area. Reaper drones can fly as high as 50,000 feet, according to the Air Force, and they have sensors and capabilities to gather intelligence and perform reconnaissance for extended periods of time, making it an ideal platform to track movements on the battlefield and in the Black Sea.

 

American dad, daughter face murder charges after newborn boy intentionally left to die alone in snow

First Degree Murder charges have been filed against Megan Staube, 25, and her father Rodney A. Staude, 64.

By Edward Era Barbacena

A newborn died because of the negligence of the people who are supposed to be taking care of it. This case in not new in the United States and there are quite many cases wherein a newborn died because of the incompetence of parents or guardians have failed to look after it. Majority of these cases are common among white people.   

A white father and white daughter in Norwalk are now charged with murder after the death of a newborn baby.

Investigators say Megan Staude, 25, had the baby at home at the end of February and that she and her dad, Rodney Staude, 64, let the baby die before leaving it along the road.

Police say the baby's body was found along the 5300 block of Delaware Street in Warren County on Thursday, March 9th, after Megan's coworkers called them on Wednesday thinking something was wrong when Megan came back to work and wasn't pregnant anymore.

An autopsy was performed by the Office of the State Medical Examiner and results are still pending.

What is Iowa's safe haven law for newborns?

A parent, or someone with a parent's permission, may leave an infant up to 90 days old at a hospital or health care facility without fear of legal action for abandonment under Iowa law, according to the state Department of Health and Human Services.

A parent also can call 911 and give the child to a first responder. Parents who relinquish their children under the Safe Haven Act are not required to give identification.

Iowa's safe haven law has been in place since 2002 after a teenager in Chelsea gave birth and left the newborn in a snowbank the year prior.

More than 50 newborns have received the safe haven status under the law, according to the human services department.

 

Drag Queen  Taught 11-Year-Olds About Anal Sex, Parent Complains

The parent of one child has alleged her 11-year-old was taught about anal and oral sex by a drag queen while attending her local school.

By Edward Era Barbacena

The mother of one 11-year-old has expressed outrage after her 11-year-old daughter was reportedly taught about both oral and anal sex by a drag queen while attending school.

It comes after another boy in the school was allegedly given detention by the same drag queen after he publicly rejected his claim that there are 73 genders.

According to a report by The Mail, the drag queen had come to the Queen Elizabeth II school located in the Crown Dependency of the Isle of Man to teach children sexual education.

Such lessons provided to children however are said to have been extremely graphic, with the educational facility reportedly being forced to suspend their sex education lessons after public outcry over the drag queen’s actions.

“When my daughter told me what had happened, I got onto the school immediately and asked them what on earth they were doing talking in such graphic detail,” one mother, whose young daughter was reportedly taught by the drag queen, reportedly told The Mail.

“My daughter is just 11 years old, she’s five years below the age of consent and is learning about anal sex and oral sex,” she explained. “What were the school thinking of?”

Although parents have expressed particular concern regarding the graphic content of the drag queen’s lessons, controversy has also emerged regarding the ideological nature of the lessons, which reportedly taught various tenets of transgenderism to children as fact.

According to The Telegraph, the guest speaker instructed children that there are 73 genders, and that when one 14-year-old boy challenged them on this, they were reportedly sent out of the room.

“You’ve upset me,” the drag queen reportedly said before ejecting the young teenager, who is said to have subsequently been given detention by the school for “being disruptive”.

Both the boy and his parents have rejected this claim made by the school, however, insisting that he was just “simply expressing his own opinion”.

“As far as I’m concerned you can’t change biology and I was amazed when I called the school to find out why my son had been given a detention,” the mother of the boy said.

“The fact our children are not allowed to have their own view, in other words that there are only two genders is disgusting,” she continued. “The teacher was drumming it into them that there were several genders and he just said as he is entitled to that he didn’t accept it and he was punished for having his own opinion.”

“There is absolutely no need to ram gender and pride down kids’ throats and the more it’s done then the more it just alienates the majority of parents and children,” she went on to say.