Filipino cult leader and followers arrested for different cases of child abuse 

Senior Agila, other Socorro 'cult' members arrested for alleged illegal activities that harm minors

By Edward Era Barbacena 

Alleged cult leader Jey Rence Quilario. also known as "Senior Aguila," and other officers of the Socorro Bayanihan Services Inc. (SBSI) were arrested on Tuesday for committing various illegal activities that harmed over a thousand children.

During a Senate inquiry before the arrest, Justice Undersecretary Nicholas Felix Ty said a Surigao del Norte regional trial court issued warrants of arrest against 13 respondents.

He said the respondents are facing 21 violations, including nine counts of qualified trafficking, eight counts of child abuse and facilitation of child marriage.

Testimonies in the Senate hearings revealed that minors in the SBSI were forced to marry an adult and were locked in a room until they engaged in sexual intercourse. Fifteen-year-old "Chloe" confirmed the incident during Tuesday's hearing.

Sen. Riza Hontiveros, who chairs the Senate Committee on Women and Children, lifted the move of contempt against Quilario and three members of the SBSI.

Quilario, Mamerto Galanida, Janeth Ajoc and Karren Sanico Jr. were cited in contempt for allegedly lying during the probe on crimes linked to the group.

Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla earlier said the case should be tried in Manila so that justice will not be influenced by people who may want to intervene in the process.

 

Deranged ‘Central Park Karen’ Plays the Victim Card in Wild Op-Ed

American woman Amy Cooper stands firm on her claim that Black-American bird watcher Christian Cooper really threatened him, though it was obviously a terrible lie 

By Edward Era Barbacena 

Amy Cooper, the stupid racist white American woman who called the cops on a humble  Black-American birdwatcher in Central Park and falsely claimed he was threatening her life, is still not done playing the victim.

In an op-ed published by Newsweek on Tuesday, more than three years after the incident, Cooper placed the blame on birdwatcher Christian Cooper for instigating the viral incident, and raised a host of reasons to justify her behavior, from pandemic anxieties, to childhood sexual assault, to poor phone reception.

“As Christian’s video went viral, my life, as I knew it, was over,” she wrote.

Cooper (no relation to Christian) argued in her op-ed that “anxieties” were running high due to the COVID pandemic when she accidentally took her dog—“whom my life revolved around”—into the Ramble, a protected nature preserve in Central Park that is popular with bird watchers. She claimed Christian scared her when she heard his voice “boom,” telling her she shouldn’t be there with an unleashed dog.

As Christian has also acknowledged, when Cooper refused to leash her dog, he held out a dog treat and said, “Look, if you’re going to do what you want, I’m going to do what I want, but you’re not going to like it.”

“I was a female, alone in a secluded area of Central Park, with a man yelling at me and threatening me,” Cooper wrote Tuesday. “As a victim of a sexual assault in my late teens, I was completely panicked for my safety and wellbeing.”

She claimed Christian “bizarrely” offered her dog a treat, which raised a “red flag” with her due to news stories about dog poisonings. (Christian previously said he kept treats on him while birdwatching as a way of getting dog owners to leash their dogs.)

As the subsequent viral video showed, she called 911 to repeatedly claim that an “African-American man” was “threatening myself and my dog.” (Her repeated description of his skin color was due to poor phone reception, she argued.) In a call-back from a dispatcher, she also falsely accused Christian of assault.

“There were never any racial implications to my words. I just felt raw fear, and desperately wanted help,” she wrote.

Cooper was fired from her job with an investment firm in the wake of the May 2020 encounter and charged with filing a false police report. She was allowed to complete five therapy sessions on racial bias in exchange for having the charge dropped.

For his part, Christian previously said he was “uncomfortable” with the level of public backlash against Cooper.

Nevertheless, Cooper claimed in her piece that Christian had threatened other dog owners in the past but they were too scared to speak out lest they be “canceled—as I have been.”

She wrote that she had been living “in hiding” for three years, without a job “that meets my qualifications.” She even appeared to blame Christian for leaving domestic violence survivors in harm’s way because she was forced to flee her New York City apartment, which had been used as a safe haven for “numerous women who had endured abusive relationships.”

Unrepentant, she wrote, “I only reported exactly what happened to me that day when I was threatened by a man with a history of aggressive behavior towards other dog owners in a remote, isolated area of Central Park. I was terrified and traumatized.”

After all that, she wrote that she had tried to contact Christian for an “honest, productive conversation” but, for reasons she doesn’t seem to grasp, he hadn’t responded.

‘Tenant From Hell’ Finally Leaves L.A. Airbnb—but Owner Says It’s ‘Infested’

 

‘Tenant From Hell’ Finally Leaves L.A. Airbnb—but Owner Says It’s ‘Infested’

American squatter Elizabeth Hirschhorn moves out of Brentwood Airbnb after 570 rent-free days. She said she had a right to stay though she's not the owner 

By Edward Era Barbacena 

American squatter Elizabeth Hirschhorn, the Brentwood tenant who did not pay rent for her luxury Airbnb rental for 570 days, moved out of the unit on Friday.

The move was exactly one month after The Times chronicled Hirschhorn’s contentious tenancy, which began with a cordial stay on Airbnb and ended with her and Sascha Jovanovic, the landlord and property owner, suing each other.

“I’m a little overwhelmed, but I finally have my home back,” Jovanovic said. “I had such a peaceful weekend once she left.”

During her stay, which began in September 2021, Hirschhorn said that the lease was extended off Airbnb and that the unit was subject to the Rent Control Ordinance, so Jovanovic would have to evict her if he wanted her to leave. She also argued that she didn’t have to pay rent since Jovanovic never obtained an occupancy license for the guesthouse.

Jovanovic, who lives on the property, was at the home on Friday being interviewed for a documentary detailing the battle between him and Hirschhorn when he saw three men, who turned out to be movers, walk into the guesthouse.

He said he asked why they were there, and they didn’t clearly say why. He suspected she could be moving out but feared it also could be a home invasion, so he called the police.

The police arrived, and once all of Hirschhorn’s belongings were packed, they escorted her off the property, Jovanovic said.

Jovanovic and his attorney, Sebastian Rucci, knocked on the door to confirm she was gone and then entered the guesthouse and found it empty. Within an hour, a locksmith arrived and changed the locks.

As of now, it’s unclear whether Hirschhorn moved out permanently, or if she’s planning to return to the property.

Jovanovic and Rucci said they hadn’t heard anything from either Hirschhorn or her legal team, so they assumed she had moved out for good. On Saturday, Rucci emailed Hirschhorn’s attorney, Amanda Seward, to figure out the next steps regarding Jovanovic’s eviction lawsuit against Hirschhorn.

“My review of the case law is that once a tenant abandons the unit, the unlawful detainer is dismissed. If you wish, I can file the dismissal, or we can file a joint dismissal,” Rucci wrote.

Seward replied that they “may have jumped the gun,” according to the email exchange reviewed by The Times.

“Ms. Hirschhorn had discussed with me concern over the constant harassment and surveillance, and also the desire to get the things repaired that needed to be repaired. Subject to my discussions with Ms. Hirschhorn, please be advised that you have no authority to change the locks or to assume abandonment of the unit,” Seward wrote. “Further, you have violated the law by entering without permission and changing the locks.”

Neither Hirschhorn nor Seward immediately responded to a request for comment.

Rucci said he’s planning to drop the unlawful detainer lawsuit, assuming Hirschhorn has moved out for good. But he’ll still pursue damages in a separate lawsuit, since he claims Hirschhorn owes roughly $58,000 in unpaid rent. Hirschhorn said she owes nothing since Jovanovic never had a license to rent the unit, and her lawsuit accuses him of multiple forms of harassment and intimidation in attempts to get her to leave the place, which Jovanovic has denied.

Hirchhorn’s tenancy became a viral story in the days and weeks after The Times chronicled the saga. News vans posted up outside the home, and paparazzi followed Hirschhorn whenever she left.

“Drones were flying above my house every day. It was crazy,” Jovanovic said.

Now, he plans to address the mold damage in the unit, which was an issue during Hirschhorn’s stay that eventually soured their relationship. He also plans to get the necessary permits from the city, which was another issue; Jovanovic never obtained a license to rent the unit, and Hirschhorn argued in court that he wasn’t allowed to charge rent on a unit he didn’t have a license for.

After that, he plans to turn the space into a recreation room for his two adolescent children.

“We need to get the bad energy out and turn it back into a happy, family space,” he said.

 

Racist white American cop of California sacked after making derogatory text messages against Black-American people 

‘I hate Black people’: Mark McNamara in controversial police shooting fired over racist texts

By Edward Era Barbacena 

A San Jose, California, police officer was fired after an investigation revealed he had sent "disgusting text messages that demonstrated racial bias," San Jose Chief of Police Anthony Mata said in a release Friday.

The former officer, Mark McNamara, allegedly sent a number of racist text messages. The department’s internal affairs investigators discovered the messages during an unrelated criminal investigation into the officer, according to the release.

McNamara had been involved in an officer-related shooting at La Victoria Taqueria in downtown San Jose on March 27, 2022, according to the release. He was placed on routine administrative leave after the shooting, according to a police briefing.

Text messages shared by the department, with the names and phone numbers of the people involved partially redacted, were sent the day after the shooting and in June and July 2023.

Mata said that when the text messages were discovered, a separate investigation into McNamara was launched "immediately."

"I hate black people," one of the texts McNamara sent said, according to documents released by police. In another message, McNamara identifies himself as white.

He also used variations of the N-word multiple times, according to the set of messages police released.

A current employee of the police force who was found to be on the receiving end of some of McNamara's messages "engaged in other concerning dialogue with the former officer," Mata said in the release. That unnamed employee has been placed on administrative leave pending an internal investigation.

"There is zero tolerance for even a single expression of racial bias at the San Jose Police Department," Mata said in the statement, adding that "the messages were found due to the expansion of our Internal Affairs Unit’s efforts to thoroughly investigate all questionable conduct and is why we have made investments in a new early warning system."

Mata said this is the "promised accountability" resulting from his department being "proactive and transparent" in all investigations.

 

Philippine Bureau of Immigration prevents an American paedophile and convicted sex offender from entering the country

Thomas Henry Vander Waal was arrested in Iowa on September 2023 for the charge of first offence sex offender 

By Edward Era Barbacena 

An American white paedophile convicted of sex crimes involving minors was barred from entering the country last Nov. 2, the Bureau of Immigration (BI) reported yesterday.

Thomas Henry Vander Waal, 39, arrived at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 1 on a flight from Taipei, Taiwan but immigration officers found his name was on the BI’s alert list of registered sex offenders, the bureau said in a statement.

“Our immigration law expressly forbids entry of aliens who have been convicted of a crime involving moral turpitude because they are an undesirable aliens,” BI Commissioner Norman Tansingco said.

According to the Interpol’s national central bureau in Manila, Vander Waal – who hails from Rock Valley in Sioux County, Iowa – was convicted of child pornography, sexual abuse and molesting a child under 15 years old.

Tansingco said he has issued an order directing Vander Waal’s inclusion in the BI’s blacklist of unwanted aliens.

“This effectively bans him from re-entering the Philippines so that he won’t pose a threat and risk to our women and children,” he added

 

British paedophile of Colchester imprisoned for sexually abusing children in Vietnam

Christopher Behn travelled to countries in south-east Asia to carry out abuse

By Edward Era Barbacena 

A "dangerous" paedophile who travelled to developing countries to groom and sexually abuse children has had his prison term extended.

Christopher Behn, of Colchester, targeted 10 boys, aged six to 11, in Vietnam from 2008 to 2018.

Chelmsford Crown Court heard the crimes, which were detailed in Behn's diary, took place on at least 17 occasions.

He was sentenced to 11 years in prison with six years on extended licence.

The court heard police found eight videos and 254 photographs of the 68-year-old carrying out the sexual abuse which he had stored for his "sexual gratification".

Mark Gadsden, prosecuting, said Behn "travelled to remote areas of significant deprivation in order to ensure [the victims] have the least amount of protection".

Behn, who is already serving a six-year prison term for abusing 11 children in Myanmar in 2016, appeared at court on Friday via video link from HMP Albany on the Isle of Wight.

In August, Behn admitted 17 offences of sexually assaulting a child and four of causing a child to engage in sexual activity.

Recorder Karim Khalil KC said: "This was a campaign of sexual abuse against young boys over a prolonged period of time."

The latest sentence will run concurrently to the 12-year extended sentence he is already serving.

Behn was arrested at Gatwick Airport in February 2020 before he could board a flight to Vietnam.

Investigators had identified him as a member of a Europe-wide network whose members travelled together to abuse children across the globe.

The retired engineer had been uncovered after appearing in images with another member of the group - a Dutch national who has since been convicted.

His travel history showed he had visited Vietnam 18 times since 2006, along with trips to India, Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos, Philippines and Thailand.

Behn and his Dutch counterpart had also written diaries describing in graphic detail the abuse they committed.

Mr Khalil said the Dutch paedophile acted as a "cameraman" while Behn abused his victims.

"You are, plainly, a dangerous offender," Mr Khalil said.

Behn was made the subject of a 10-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order and banned from all foreign travel for five years.

 

American man of Montana Sentenced to 100 Years in Prison for Accidentally Killing His 8-Year-Old Daughter While Trying to Shoot His 18-Year-Old Son

Tony Valez, 66, flew into a rage when he thought he was being evicted from his home, authorities said

By Edward Era Barbacena 

A Montana white  man Montana  sentenced to 100 years in prison for unintentionally shooting and killing his 8-year-old daughter while firing shots at the girl's mother and his son.

Tony Louis Valez, 66, of Helena, learned his fate on Wednesday, when Lewis and Clark District Court Judge Mike Menahan handed down the sentence.

In September, Valez pleaded guilty to one count of deliberate homicide, KTVH reports.

He was initially charged with one count of deliberate homicide, two counts of attempted deliberate homicide and one count of criminal endangerment, KVTH reports.

Valez was arrested on July 10, 2022, after he killed his 8-year-old daughter, Arianna Valez, when he flew into a rage, authorities said, the Independent Recordreports.

Valez believed that two women had come to the house to evict him and he lost his temper, according to court documents, according to the Independent Record.

He grabbed a gun from his bedroom and began shooting, court records show, KRTV reports.

He told police he shot his partner, Heather Hall, until she fell to the ground, the Independent Record reports. He then began shooting at his 18-year-old son, police said.

He missed, and instead shot his daughter in the back as she was trying to run from the gunfire, Helena Police Department Sgt. Adam Shanks testified, the Independent Record reports.

Arianna was standing on the back deck at the top of the stairs when she was struck by one of the bullets, which caused her to fall off the deck. She was rushed to the hospital where she was pronounced dead.

"He felt justified in trying to shoot (his partner and son)," Shanks said from the witness stand. "I don't think he initially realized he had shot Arianna,” Shanks said.

Valez’s attorney asked for a 40-year sentence.

District Attorney Kevin Downs recommended a sentence of 100 years, which the judge found “appropriate and warranted,” the Independent Record reports.

"I just can't believe being evicted would justify picking up a handgun in that small of a space with children present," the judge said during the sentencing hearing, the Independent Record reports.

"He engaged in dangerous behavior that put everyone's life at risk and intended to bring harm to the adults present."

Valez appeared at the hearing via Zoom.

Arianna’s mother is still mourning her daughter’s loss.

“The day Arianna died, so did a part of my heart,” Heather Hall said, KTVH reports. “I feel lost, I don’t know what to do. It’s a never-ending nightmare of pain. Night and day it’s this prevailing thought that she died, and I lived.”

Valez, who will be eligible for parole when he is 91, apologized for his actions.

“I’m sorry for all this,” he said. “I can’t undo what I’ve done. The pain and the misery will last a lifetime and I’m sorry for that.”