An active-duty U.S. Marine has been arrested on accusations of kidnapping a 12-year-old girl from Indiana with the intent of sexually assaulting her, the FBI said Thursday.
William Richard Roy, 24, who was stationed at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, flew to Chicago last week, met the girl in a park and then took her to a hotel overnight before boarding a bus to Durham, North Carolina, the FBI said in a statement.
The girl’s grandmother first reported her missing on Friday, according to the statement.
The FBI arrested Roy when he arrived in Durham on Sunday and the girl was “safely recovered,” the agency said.
Roy faces three charges, which entail enticing and transporting a minor across state lines for an illicit sexual act.
Public records listed one working number that appeared to be associated with Roy, but the person who picked up declined to comment.
The U.S. Marine Corps did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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Some parents and children who use the soccer fields at San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park are on high alert after police say a child was sexually assaulted last week.
It happened when the child went to use the restroom during soccer practice.
“As a dad, it makes me angry,” said parent Clark Mariotti.
“You never want to think that that can happen,” Mariotti explained.
He says his daughter was rattled by this situation.
“It was scary for her, which immediately pulled at my heartstrings,” Mariotti said.
So, while some parents drop off their kids and pick them up after practice, he wanted to stay the whole time, just as a precaution.
“I was joking with another dad here, I’m here in case we need to apprehend somebody, but I doubt it would come to that,” Mariotti said.
But it’s still important to be prepared. SF Recreation and Parks has made some changes.
“A San Francisco Park Ranger is now stationed near the restrooms on weekdays between 3 p.m. and 5 p.m., when youth are primarily using the field,” said Rec and Park in a statement. “This is in addition to our regular field monitor who rotates between the Beach Chalet and Polo Fields during after-school hours (3:30–6:30 p.m.). Rangers are also conducting additional spot checks throughout the day, including weekends. A security camera has been installed in the area to support the investigation and enhance ongoing safety monitoring.”
San Francisco Youth Soccer also put out a statement saying they’re heartbroken and they are sending out reminders about taking extra precautions.
Mariotti is educating his daughter as well, to make sure she is protecting herself.
“Awareness is number one and when you have that awareness, you can feel more confident and you can remember to have your friend’s back,” Mariotti explained about what he is telling his daughter. “Usually, people prey on somebody they feel is more defenseless, so strength in numbers.”
He was reading the book “Play” by psychiatrist Dr. Stuart Brown. The book’s argument is that play is essential for emotional well-being and even survival.
He’s trying to gain insight on how to support his daughter through this and encourage her to stay on the field, play soccer and have fun.
“The reality is it comes in waves, and these things happen and it’s good to see people out here and showing face for the kids,” Mariotti said.
A federal judge threw out Shante Kelly’s suit under New York City’s gender-violence law, saying her story was too vague and may have taken place outside of New York City
A federal judge has dismissed a civil lawsuit accusing Sean “Diddy” Combs of drugging and raping an independent artist named Shante Kelly, but left the door open for her to refile her case if she can fix the errors in question.
In a 22-page opinion, Judge Valerie Caproni ruled that Shante Kelly’s lawsuit failed to allege sufficient facts to connect Combs or his affiliated companies to the alleged assault. The complaint, filed under New York City’s Victims of Gender Motivated Violence Protection Act, claimed that Kelly was assaulted after being invited to a party hosted by Combs.
Judge Caproni granted the defendants’ motion to dismiss, but said Kelly could amend and refile her complaint by November 21, 2025, if she can correct the “deficiencies.”
In the matter of Kelly v. Combs,
The motion to dismiss is GRANTED, with leave to amend by November 21 and establish the alleged incident occurred in New York City. pic.twitter.com/3GNThDrWrm
According to court documents, Caproni found that Kelly’s filing did not clearly establish where the alleged assault occurred, an element for jurisdiction under the law. Kelly described a “large, white, elegant house with a curved driveway” in Manhattan, but Combs’s attorneys argued no such residence exists in the city, and that the description better matches Combs’s East Hampton property, which lies outside the court’s jurisdiction.
The judge also criticized Kelly’s legal team for admitting the uncertainty about the location, noting that attorneys are required under Rule 11 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure to verify these types of claims before filing. “A lawyer may not plead facts that might be true but for which the lawyer has no evidentiary support,” Caproni wrote in the opinion brief.
Caproni also rejected Kelly’s request to begin discovery to determine where the alleged assault took place, stating that discovery “is not a fishing expedition to find out whether a viable claim exists.” The dismissal was issued without prejudice, meaning Kelly can refile if she provides factual evidence showing that the alleged assault occurred within New York City and that Combs’s business entities, including Bad Boy Entertainment and Combs Global, were directly involved.
The decision marks a much-needed legal victory for Combs; attorneys for both sides have not commented on the ruling.
DETROIT — DETROIT (AP) — The state of Michigan has acquired a life ring that washed ashore 50 years ago from the Edmund Fitzgerald, a rare artifact that strangely became part of a settlement in a lawsuit that had nothing to do with the famous shipwreck.
Taxpayers are paying $600,000 to settle the lawsuit by Larry Orr, who accused a state police officer of violating his rights during a sexual abuse investigation that was discredited, court records show.
Orr, in turn, agreed to give up the life ring, which he owned. U.S. Magistrate Judge David Grand said it was an “unusual settlement conference” when lawyers appeared in court on Oct. 8 and put the deal on the record.
The Associated Press reached out to the state police this week to try to learn why it wanted the life ring and who had authorized Lt. David Busacca’s attorney to bargain for it.
“Upon learning the details of the settlement, we are not comfortable with the life preserver being included and will be reaching out to Mr. Orr’s attorney,” spokesperson Shanon Banner said in an email Thursday.
Banner wouldn’t answer follow-up questions. The state already has the orange ring.
Orr found it on the Lake Superior shore after the Fitzgerald sank during an incredible storm in November 1975. All 29 men on the ore vessel died. Canadian singer-songwriter Gordon Lightfoot memorialized the disaster with an iconic ballad, “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.”
Orr had planned to auction the ring, figuring it might attract more attention around the 50th anniversary in a few weeks, said his attorney Shannon Smith.
Busacca apparently knew that Orr had one, and it was suddenly brought up during talks to settle Orr’s lawsuit against him, Smith said.
She said it probably represented half the value of the $600,000 deal reached over allegations of police misconduct.
“Are we at a mediation for a wrongful prosecution or an estate sale?” Smith said she wondered.
Busacca’s lawyer, Audrey Forbush, declined to comment when reached by AP. Orr, who is in his 70s, also declined to comment.
The life ring had been on loan to the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula until Orr retrieved it this year.
“They’re pretty unusual,” museum director Bruce Lynn said. “I don’t honestly have any idea how many are out there.”
Denver prosecutors on Tuesday opened their long-awaited criminal case against former business owner Jay Bianchi, who is accused of drugging and sexually assaulting three women at his Grateful Dead-themed bars between 2020 and 2024, as well as drugging another man and a woman during that time period.
“This is not about character or lifestyles or choices the victims may have made,” said chief deputy DA Chris Curtis in his opening statements. “It’s not a memory test … (and) it’s absolutely not some kind of gigantic conspiracy against Jay Bianchi. So don’t get distracted. Focus on the evidence.”
Bianchi, 56, was arrested in April 2024 and charged with three counts of sexual assault dating to Oct. 31, 2020, in the 700 block of East Colfax Avenue; one count of unlawful sexual contact, a misdemeanor, on Nov. 1, 2020, in the 900 block of West First Avenue; and three counts of felony sexual assault on April 7, 2024, in the same block of West First Avenue.
He has pleaded not guilty on all counts.
The first sexual assault, alleged by Bonnie Utter, took place following a Halloween party at Sancho’s Broken Arrow, formerly at 741 E. Colfax Ave., in 2020. Utter’s friend Kylie Heringer, who worked as a sound engineer for Bianchi, also alleged that Bianchi groped her the next day in his office at So Many Roads Brewery, formerly at 918 W. First Ave., and that Bianchi attempted to discredit the women with character assassination and coercion. Both of his businesseshave since closed.
The Denver Post is identifying Utter and Heringer because they previously agreed to speak to the newspaper about their experiences.
Another woman identified during the proceedings alleged she was sexually assaulted by Bianchi in March 2024, and a man and a woman separately said that Bianchi drugged them — in the man’s case, for attempting to intervene in a conflict at Sancho’s. All will testify as part of the case, Curtis said.
Bianchi, dressed in a black jacket with a maroon tie, sat expressionless most of Tuesday as he watched each witness and speaker, occasionally taking notes. His case has been delayed multiple times as more people have come forward to make claims against him. Bianchi, who has several past arrests and convictions for drug charges and assault, has denied those allegations in multiple interviews with The Denver Post. His past convictions and arrests were not mentioned on Tuesday.
The trial, which could potentially last through mid-November, began Friday with a jury and evidence review that ran through Monday. On Tuesday, the first witnesses were called: a pair of police detectives and a former nurse from Denver Health who conducted a sexual-assault examination of Utter after she reported it on Nov. 1, 2020.
Bianchi’s defense team on Tuesday vigorously maintained his innocence. In her opening statements, deputy state public defender Megan Jungsun Lee previewed a strategy that will cast the prosecutor’s witnesses and experts as tainted by misinformation and rumors on social media, as well as news reports in The Denver Post and Westword.
“You will hear that during this time … that gossip, speculation assumptions were repeated again and again,” Lee said during opening statements. She also cast doubt on the years-long, on-and-off Denver Police Department investigation into the assaults, which she said had been compromised by the gossip-driven narrative and by news reports.
“Ms. Utter was alert,” Lee said of the events before the alleged assault on Nov. 1, 2020, noting that defense witnesses saw Bianchi and Utter “cuddled up.” The pair was laughing and holding hands as they went downstairs to the basement at Sancho’s that night, Lee said.
That’s where Utter said the assault took place. However, there was no evidence she was unable to make her own choices despite consuming alcohol, cocaine and cannabis that night, Lee said.
“(Bianchi) did not hand her a drink, touch her drink, offer her food or offer her drugs,” Lee added. “There is no evidence he caused her any kind of fear or made any threat. She was fully capable of exercising her own free will.”
The District Attorney’s Office spent much of Tuesday afternoon establishing the physical layout of So Many Roads with dozens of on-site photos, which included an unidentified substance in a baggie in Bianchi’s office, where Heringer’s assault allegedly took place.
In March 2024, a woman alleged she was raped by Bianchi, also at So Many Roads Brewery, which was co-owned by Tyler Bishop. That bar closed the next month, having been the subject of Denver Police Department stings for underage drinking and drug sales. Bianchi had also been the subject of protests outside the brewery in June 2021, after Utter and Heringer came forward to discuss their experiences, first on social media and later with The Denver Post. Local musicians who felt they had been mistreated by Bianchi rallied during the protest.
“We will sit here as long as it takes,” Curtis said, noting that the DA’s office will call a mix of eyewitnesses, detectives and experts who can comment on toxicology and crime lab results, sexual assault, consent, how memory works, and various firsthand details of the investigation.
Bianchi has been a fixture of Colorado’s jam-band scene for more than two decades, previously owning and booking bands at “Don Quixote”-inspired venues including Quixote’s True Blue, Dulcinea’s 100th Monkey, Be on Key Psychedelic Ripple, and Cervantes’ Masterpiece Ballroom.
WCCO continues the series investigating the laws and policies surrounding grooming. We first introduced you to Hannah LoPresto. She told police her band director groomed and sexually assaulted her in high school, but he was never charged. Senior investigative reporter Jennifer Mayerle digs into why and how a change in law could lead to more accountability in future cases.
Eagan Police Department Detective Chad Clausen says he interviewed close to 50 staff, parents and students. Conducting the investigation into then-Eagan High School band director Brett Benson for nearly a year, beginning in 2022.
“There was some pretty strong allegations that there was some inappropriate things that a former band teacher was doing or had been involved with,” Clausen said.
Clausen says he interviewed close to 50 staff, parents and students. Conducting the investigation into then-Eagan High School Band Director Brett Benson for nearly a year, beginning in 2022.
“There was a lot of concerning behaviors that I observed, not necessarily saying that that all were crimes, or that they were chargeable crimes. But there was definitely some concerning behaviors that were seen by this former band teacher with numerous students to different degrees of concern,” Clausen said.
According to the police report, the behavior came into focus when a student spoke up about Benson’s “close relationship” with another student during an overseas band trip.
“Kinda try to put some pieces together. That would lead me down, you know, a path,” Clausen said.
Clausen says during his investigation, he also learned about LoPresto, a former student. Noting her story about interactions with Benson often mirrored what he was told happened with the other student.
“That’s kind of the scary thing with grooming. It’s almost like a playbook, so to speak. These patterns and behaviors, they can tend to be the same, the same exact patterns, and when you start to see those similarities in two different stories, it makes it all the more concerning,” Clausen said.
LoPresto says she didn’t realize what was happening to her at the time.
“I needed someone to call me, because I never, I never would have called myself,” LoPresto said.
But now, a decade removed, she says she believes all the attention paid to her — the texts, calls and alone time — were all a part of what she calls the grooming process. She says she told police it ultimately led to her being sexually assaulted on the last day of senior year.
“He had so deeply psychologically manipulated me to believe that I was an active participant, that I had allowed that to happen, that I was responsible for what happened. So I couldn’t have labeled that an assault, certainly not then. And it took many, many years after to be able to understand what that was,” LoPresto said.
The detective writes in the police report, “The sexual contact was not consensual in nature due to Brett’s grooming behaviors that started freshman year of High School.”
Clausen says it’s important to watch for warning signs of grooming.
“There’s this slow kind of control that the person in power can have over a student or a juvenile. It starts to normalize behaviors and things that, if it went quickly, people would see it faster and easier,” Clausen said.
“Why is grooming so concerning?” Mayerle asked.
“Our youth, they don’t have the capacity, necessarily, to understand things essentially. They are innocent. When the youth is preyed upon, it’s going to affect their lives forever,” Clausen said.
Clausen believes there were a number of inappropriate relationships with students which he detailed in the police report. The police report says, “While examining the evidence in this case, I uncovered a pattern of predatory grooming behaviors that Brett has had with numerous students.”
The police report goes on to say “these inappropriate relationships go back to 2011” when he was with another school district. Clausen writes, “It appeared Brett targeted a specific type of young female student … turning 18 years old towards the end of their senior year and often were shy and lacked self-confidence.”
LoPresto says it was learning that gave her the courage to speak up.
“I think because I could see that it was bigger than me for the first time. I really latched on to the fact that, like, if I could help other people if I do this. I think that also made me a little bit braver too.” LoPresto said.
Benson provided a statement. It reads in part, “I vehemently deny any allegations of wrongdoing. I deeply cared for the well-being of every student I have ever taught.”
He was never charged with a crime in connection with any of the alleged inappropriate relationships. In one instance, police say they believe they had probable cause for him to be charged with neglected or endangered a child, but the student “was not interested in pursuing charges.”
In that case, a document provided by Benson’s attorney says a Minnesota Department of Education investigation did not find maltreatment occurred.
Clausen presented LoPresto’s case to the Dakota County Attorney’s Office. A document she provided from the Office says, “In this case the decision not to charge was not based on a belief that we would not be able to prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt. The decision is based on the law in 2016, when he committed the offense involving you. The law in 2016 … only allowed us to prosecute a person in a position of authority if the child was between the ages of 16 and 17 years old.”
LoPresto was 18 at the time. That law has since changed.
“Even though I was prepared for the no, I mean, it still hurt for sure. Even though it doesn’t change what happened or what evidence there was to prove it, it still feels like you’re being let down, or like, like what happened to you doesn’t matter,” LoPresto said.
Benson was placed on administrative leave. The district informed police and police began their investigation. He later resigned. But he still had a valid teaching license. It could be automatically revoked if he was charged and convicted. Because he was not charged or convicted in LoPresto’s case, she filed a complaint with the Minnesota Professional Educator Licensing and Standards Board, known as PELSB, noting his alleged violations of statutes to try to have his license revoked.
In this case, the board pursued suspending or revoking Benson’s license. Instead of going through a contested case, Benson voluntarily surrendered his teaching license, resulting in this public stipulation agreement. We spoke with Dr. Yelena Bailey, who is the executive director and on the ethics board.
“What the stipulation does make clear is that, based on all the items outlined, we are happy with the outcome that this person no longer holds a teaching license in the state of Minnesota,” Bailey said.
Full statement of Brett Benson:
“I vehemently deny any allegations of wrongdoing. They are replete with mischaracterizations, exaggerations, and false statements that are wholly inconsistent with who I am as a person and who I was as a teacher. I deeply cared for the well-being of every student I have ever taught. The thorough police and Minnesota Department of Education investigations are closed, resulting in no criminal charges and findings of no student maltreatment. Now, however, I am compelled to defend myself against unproven allegations being aired in the public sphere. I strenuously object to this story, which violates core principles of journalistic ethics. My family and I are thankful this extensive investigation is closed.”
Sexual Assault Resources
General Sites for information related to sexual assault and resources throughout Minnesota:
About 260 sexual abuse lawsuits were paused when the Catholic Diocese of Santa Rosa filed for bankruptcy in 2023. That has been a frustration for survivors who want the actions of their abusers, and the failings of the powerful institution that obscured the crimes, dragged into the daylight.
Now, it looks like a few of those survivors may have their days in court.
The judge in the bankruptcy, Charles Novack of the Northern District of California, recently put a small set of lawsuits on the path to trial, where they are expected to set a baseline for the diocese’s potential financial liability.
It’s an important step, those involved say, in pushing insurance companies to enter into a global settlement with the diocese and the dozens of people who say they were harmed by predatory church figures. And it could offer a rare chance for claimants to speak openly of their abuse in a courtroom, and to gather additional information through the legal discovery process.
When cases are “quieted” by bankruptcy, said Dan McNevin, who is on the board of directors of the advocacy group Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, or SNAP, it means “the public won’t have a clear read on who enabled the abuse, who covered it up and whether those people are still in power and behaving in that fashion.”
When McNevin was molested in the Oakland Diocese, he said, the bishop there told him his abuser, the Rev. James Clark, had no prior record. After he sued, McNevin found out Clark had in fact been convicted of a sex crime before moving into his parish.
“His file was sanitized. There was no record of his probation,” McNevin said. “We got the information by deposing the former chancellor of the diocese. So discovery is really important.”
Little has been revealed publicly about the cases Novack is allowing to proceed.
Should any of the plaintiffs win those lawsuits, it’s likely funds recovered in judgment would be held in trust, said Jennifer Stein, an attorney with Jeff Anderson & Associates, a Los Angeles-based firm that has represented thousands of victims of predatory priests. That money would be distributed later among qualifying survivors.
The Santa Rosa Diocese, which oversees 42 parishes reaching from American Canyon in Napa County to Crescent City near the Oregon border, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in March 2023. Like Catholic dioceses across the U.S., the local jurisdiction said it was facing an existential threat from a massive wave of sex abuse suits.
Bishop Robert Vasa of the Catholic Diocese of Santa Rosa, Oct. 13, 2025. (Kent Porter / The Press Democrat)
Christopher Chung/The Press Democrat
Mike Tarvid filed a lawsuit against the Santa Rosa Catholic Diocese after harboring a secret for nearly 50 years involving his abuse at the hands of North Coast priest Gary Timmons. Photo taken in Santa Rosa on Dec. 12, 2022. (Christopher Chung/The Press Democrat)
Kent Porter/The Press Democrat
Father John Crews, the former executive director of the Hanna Boys Center in Sonoma Valley, was among 39 names released in 2019 by the Santa Rosa Diocese, listing those who committed child sexual abuse or were credibly accused of such crimes. Hanna Boys Center is a co-defendant in dozens of lawsuits against the Santa Rosa Diocese. Crews resigned in 2013, when he was first accused of child sex abuse by the widow of a man who had been assaulted at a Sebastopol church. He was last known to be in South Carolina. (Kent Porter/The Press Democrat)
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Bishop Robert Vasa of the Catholic Diocese of Santa Rosa, Oct. 13, 2025. (Kent Porter / The Press Democrat)
By that time, the Santa Rosa Diocese had been served with about 160 claims of sexual abuse under a 2019 state law that opened a three-year window for survivors 40 and older to file personal injury cases for past child sex abuse cases.
By August 2023, the diocese had paid out at least $35 million in settlements, dating back to the 1990s, at the onset of a painful worldwide reckoning with sexual abuse by clergy within the Catholic church.
In January 2019, the diocese released a list of 39 of its priests and bishops who committed sexual abuse and misconduct, or had been credibly accused of doing so, between the 1960s and the 2010s.
The efforts of survivors are now moving along two tracks. There is Novack’s courtroom, the setting for one of 17 bankruptcy cases nationwide involving Catholic dioceses, including six in California — Oakland, San Francisco and Sacramento among them. Another 20 dioceses have emerged from bankruptcy since 2005.
And there’s Judicial Council Coordinated Proceeding 5108, or JCCP 5108, which consolidates hundreds of lawsuits against multiple Catholic dioceses in Northern California. That proceeding is being administered in Alameda County Superior Court.
The decision by religious leaders to file for bankruptcy demonstrates the strength of the abuse cases, according to Stein. “They would not be taking such expensive, egregious measures if there weren’t fear of liability,” she said.
Bishop Robert F. Vasa of Santa Rosa, leader of the diocese since 2011, acknowledges the gravity of the threat.
“It’s absolutely no secret that sexual abuse lawsuits, even in the secular world, bring huge judgments in a court of law,” Vasa said. “So there’s no doubt in the case of the church they be equally large if not larger. But it’s beyond our scope to generate the money to pay for those. Regardless of whether it’s a $1 million judgment or a $2 million judgment, we don’t have the resources in a million years is to pay for those.”
Long list of co-defendants
A bankruptcy court exhibit filed in April offers detail on sites connected to the alleged abuse in the Santa Rosa Diocese.
The largest share of complaints, 60 in all, name Hanna Boys Center, the 80-year-old residential school and service campus for at-risk youth that has sought to remake itself with a retooled mission even as new suits piled up alleging long-ago abuse.
But the list of diocesan sites is long and varied.
Camp St. Michael, an outdoor ministry in Mendocino County that ceased operation in 2011, is named in 25 claims. The diocesan cathedral, St. Eugene’s in Santa Rosa, is named in 13. Nine are tied to St. Bernard’s Catholic Church in Eureka, nine to St. Rose of Lima church in Santa Rosa, seven to St. Apollinaris in Napa and six to Cardinal Newman High School in Santa Rosa.
In all, 27 diocese sites are represented.
The exhibit laying out that information pertains to a subset of 207 cases that include co-defendants. The state court is currently weighing a request to allow those suits to proceed against the co-defendants, even if they are paused against the diocese. The church is fighting the effort, arguing that because co-defendants such as Hanna Boys Center and Cardinal Newman are covered by the same insurance policies as the diocese, any legal fees or settlements they end up paying will only further deplete the money potentially available for the wider pool of survivors.
The Santa Rosa Diocese estimates the sexual abuse cases levied against it would average $2 million each in monetary demands — liability that could surpass half a billion dollars if the church were to lose all the cases. In its bankruptcy petition, the diocese reported unidentified assets valued between $10 million and $50 million.
To get a more accurate read on liability, it is common in litigation spanning multiple districts for the court to select one or more cases to proceed to trial. Novack signaled his approval in the bankruptcy, and the diocese worked with a committee of unsecured creditors in the case — made up of sex abuse survivors — to identify a handful of representative cases.
“The committee wanted several cases released for trial to kind of set a benchmark — what are these cases worth in a real trial?” Vasa said. “Just to say to the insurers, ‘If these go to trial, there may be a huge judgment.’”
Insurers called out
Insurance companies are a major player in these bankruptcy proceedings. Some of the other parties believe they are an impediment.
The insurers have been “woefully deficient in fulfilling contractual promises” to pay claims, said attorney Rick Simons, who serves as a liaison for the hundreds of sex abuse cases that make up JCCP 5108, the consolidated civil action.
“They sold these policies in the ’70s, the ’80s, the ’60s, some into the 2000s, for $25,000, $35,000 and $55,000 apiece,” Simons said of the insurers. “Now they owe, nationally, billions and billions of dollars in claims. They don’t care about rules and laws. They just want to keep saying no so they can negotiate a lump sum that’s like 8 cents on the dollar.”
Just over a year ago, the creditors committee petitioned for a two-hour court conference allowing survivors to read personal statements. “This proceeding is likely the only opportunity that Survivors in Santa Rosa will have to seek acknowledgement and justice for the decades of isolation and pain they endured,” the committee argued.
The church supported the motion. At least five insurance companies opposed it — Lloyd’s of London, Pacific Indemnity, Pacific Employers Insurance, Century Indemnity and Westchester Fire Insurance, the latter four all under the umbrella of Pacific. Novack granted the petition over their objections, and survivors were allowed to read statements during a private conference on Feb. 6.
Meanwhile, committee members have joined the diocese and its insurers in several rounds of court-approved mediation. Vasa insists all parties, including the church, are working hard to reach an agreement everyone can live with.
“It’s kind of a dance,” the bishop said. “What is a reasonable number that the committee will accept, so that survivors will see they’ve done their due diligence? We can never compensate for all the harm done. But we can manifest care and concern, and demonstrate that we are not trying to stand in the way of what is just.”
You can reach Phil Barber at 707-521-5263 or phil.barber@pressdemocrat.com. On X (Twitter) @Skinny_Post.
SALT LAKE CITY — SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A Rhode Island man who appeared to fake his death and flee the United States to avoid rape charges is scheduled to be sentenced Monday on one of two rape convictions in Utah.
Nicholas Rossi, 38, faces between five years and life in prison when sentenced Monday by District Judge Barry Lawrence in Salt Lake City.
The sentence is the first of two scheduled for Rossi after he was convicted separately in August and September of raping two women in northern Utah in 2008. He is scheduled to be sentenced on Nov. 4 for the second conviction, also for five years to life in prison.
In August, jurors found Rossi guilty of rape after a three-day trial in which his accuser and her parents each took the stand. Rossi did not testify on his own behalf.
It took more than a decade from the time of the rapes to his convictions. Utah authorities began searching for Rossi, whose legal name is Nicholas Alahverdian, when he was identified in 2018 through a decade-old DNA rape kit tied to the other case. He was among thousands of rape suspects identified and later charged when Utah made a push to clear its rape kit backlog.
Months after he was charged in that case, an online obituary claimed Rossi died on Feb. 29, 2020, of non-Hodgkin lymphoma. But police in his home state of Rhode Island, along with his former lawyer and a former foster family, cast doubt on whether he was dead.
He was arrested in Scotland the following year while receiving treatment for COVID-19. Hospital staff recognized his distinctive tattoos — including the crest of Brown University inked on his shoulder, although he never attended — from an Interpol notice.
He was extradited to Utah in January 2024 after a protracted court battle. At the time, Rossi insisted he was an Irish orphan named Arthur Knight who was being framed. Investigators say they identified at least a dozen aliases Rossi used over the years to evade capture.
In his first Utah trial, Rossi’s public defender denied the rape claim and urged jurors not to read too much into his move overseas.
The victim had been living with her parents and recovering from a traumatic brain injury in 2008 when she responded to a personal ad Rossi posted on Craigslist. They began dating and were engaged within a couple weeks.
She testified that Rossi asked her to pay for dates and car repairs, lend him $1,000 so he wouldn’t be evicted, and take on debt to buy their engagement rings. He grew hostile soon after their engagement and raped her in his bedroom one night after she drove him home, she said.
She went to police years later after hearing Rossi was accused of raping another woman in Utah around the same time.
The victim in that case went to police soon after Rossi attacked her at his apartment in Orem. The woman had gone there to collect money she said he stole from her to buy a computer.
Rossi grew up in foster homes in Rhode Island and returned there before he appeared to fake his death and flee the country. He was previously wanted in the state for failing to register as a sex offender. The FBI says he also faces fraud charges in Ohio, where he was convicted of sex-related charges in 2008.
A DoorDash driver just got removed from the platform after reporting her sexual assault to the company. Many people are wondering, what’s wrong with DoorDash?
In a previous story posted to The Mary Sue’s news section, we covered how Livie Rose Henderson (@irlmonsterhighdoll), a dasher for the food delivery service, got sexually harassed and assaulted when a man exposed himself in front of her. Now, DoorDash has removed Henderson from the platform, a shocking update that has left many commenters confused and baffled by the company’s decision-making.
Henderson explains the situation
Henderson stated that while the company did ban the customer, they banned her two days after posting her original video. She immediately appealed the ban and, within a matter of hours, got denied. She added that she can never get her DoorDash account back.
Henderson also clarified that TikTok has removed her videos multiple times since Oct. 12, possibly because she posted the original video she took of the indecently exposed customer.
“ This is my third time posting this because TikTok keeps silencing me and taking my videos down and giving me strikes,” she explained. “So if I get one more strike you guys, I’m just letting you know right now my account is going to be banned.”
Frustrated with the situation, Henderson said, “ DoorDash punished me for exposing my assaulter, and TikTok is currently punishing me… This is the only justice I’m getting because I also reported this to the police, and the police are doing nothing.”
Why did DoorDash remove her from the platform?
DoorDash generally prohibits driver activity that creates an “unsafe” environment, which can include recording. Generally, the company does not want its dashers posting personal details of their customers, even if they’re doing something illegal.
DoorDash confirmed this in a statement made on its TikTok story and in the comments of a recent Instagram post. The TikTok story read, “Posting a customer in their home, and disclosing their personal details publicly, is a clear violation of our policies. That is the sole reason that this DoorDasher’s account was deactivated, along with the customer’s.”
The case concludes, but hundreds boycott
Henderson pointed out during her update that she was the one getting most punished for being honest about the state the man was in when she arrived at his door.
“ He’s not getting in trouble with the police. He didn’t lose his job, if he has one. What’s going on with him? Why am I getting fired?” she said. “Why are my videos getting taken down and why am I getting strikes like I’m about to lose my account? I was assaulted.”
Some people took issue with the way that Henderson approached the situation. “So explain why you were looking into this man’s house when [your] only job was put [the food] down, [take a] picture of [the] bag [and] walk away,” one commenter scathingly said. “No part of your job said, ‘look into customers home to see if they’re completely dressed or not.’”
However, many expressed support for Henderson. Many viewers pointed out that if she didn’t take a video, she wouldn’t have any evidence. Hundreds of people said that they’re deleting DoorDash in Henderson’s comment section. One user even claimed that the boycott was singlehandedly lowering the company’s stock.
A Chantilly, Virginia, man was sentenced to 10 years in prison on Friday for sexually assaulting a jogger in 1998.
A Chantilly, Virginia, man was sentenced Friday to 10 years in prison for sexually assaulting a jogger in 1998.
Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano announced in a news release that Edward Pottmyer, 60, was determined as a suspect in the 27-year-old cold case after DNA evidence positively matched.
In 1998, Pottmyer assaulted a 48-year-old woman who was running on a bike path in the Fair Lakes area, implying he had a knife. He sexually assaulted her and then ran away.
Detectives in the investigation were able to match DNA evidence from the woman’s body to beer cans recovered from Pottmyer’s garage, Descano’s office said.
“This is the type of scenario that usually only exists in our nightmares, and certainly not in Fairfax County,” Descano said.
He was arrested and charged in June 2024. He pleaded guilty to one count of aggravated sexual battery and one count of abduction in July of this year.
Pottmyer has ties to two other sex offense cases in 2000 and 2004.
In the 2000 case, Pottmyer broke into the home of a 66-year-old woman and sexually assaulted her as she slept. The victim woke up and fought the suspect, who police say fled after jumping from a second-story balcony.
In the 2004 case, Pottymer exposed himself to a 51-year-old woman while standing in the backyard of her home in Burke. The victim yelled and he ran away.
“After nearly 30 long years, the victim of this horrific act is finally receiving the closure she deserves,” Descano said.
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NEW YORK — NEW YORK (AP) — A Georgia man accused of sexually assaulting five women during a New York City crime spree in the early 1990s was linked to the cases by DNA authorities obtained from a discarded cup, prosecutors said.
Michael Benjamin, 57, of Conyers, was arraigned Thursday after being extradited to New York and was ordered held without bail due to his high flight risk, prosecutors said.
While officers escorted Benjamin from a New York police station Thursday he told reporters he was innocent of the allegations.
“I didn’t do this! I didn’t do none of this!” he screamed. “What witness? What fingerprints? I didn’t do this!”
The assaults occurred between July 1995 and February 1997, with the attacker entering the residences through a window, prosecutors said. The victims ranged in age from 21 to 42 — including one woman who was assaulted on two separate occasions. Each victim was also robbed of money and valuables.
Benjamin was linked to the assaults by DNA obtained last year from a discarded cup he had used inside the Rockdale County Sheriff’s office, prosecutors said. It was submitted for testing and matched DNA retrieved at the time the assaults occurred.
Benjamin was arrested in Georgia on Sept. 22 and extradited to New York on Tuesday. He faces 17 counts, including sexual assault and burglary charges.
“Although decades have passed, these cold cases were not forgotten,” Queens County District Attorney Melinda Katz said. “It is never too late for justice.”
Benjamin’s lawyer, Joseph Amsel, said his client “vigorously, vehemently and vociferously” denies the charges. “Most of these charges are outside of the statute of limitations,” Amsel said.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg police officers are investigating an alleged sexual assault at Piedmont Middle School, the department told The Charlotte Observer Thursday.
Reports about an assault surfaced on social media Wednesday, but exact details on the incident remain shielded as police investigate.
CMPD did not have any public reports related to the alleged assault at the middle school east of uptown and near Charlotte’s Plaza Midwood neighborhood. The department said “there is an ongoing active investigation” in response to an Observer question. Since the incident involves minors, there is “little information available to the public,” CMPD said.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools said parents at the school were notified Wednesday about an “alleged incident.” The district told The Observer the matter is being investigated but no further information can be shared at this time.
“We are aware of a video and rumors circulating about an alleged incident on the campus yesterday. We are unable to share any details, but we are following all protocols and procedures,” Piedmont Principal Jackie Barone wrote in a message to families. “We take the safety and well-being of our students very seriously.”
Barone also requested parents remind their children to never take or share inappropriate videos and that “consequences” may result from doing so.
Rebecca Noel reports on education for The Charlotte Observer. She’s a native of Houston, Texas, and graduated from Rice University. She later received a master’s degree in journalism from the University of Missouri. When she’s not reporting, she enjoys reading, running and frequenting coffee shops around Charlotte.
Julia Coin covers courts, legal issues, police and public safety around Charlotte and is part of the Pulitzer-finalist team that covered Tropical Storm Helene in North Carolina. As the Observer’s breaking news reporter, she unveiled how fentanyl infiltrated local schools. Michigan-born and Florida-raised, she studied journalism at the University of Florida, where she covered statewide legislation, sexual assault on campus and Hurricane Ian in her hometown of Sanibel Island. Support my work with a digital subscription
VATICAN CITY — The Vatican’s child protection board said Thursday the Catholic Church has a moral obligation to help victims of clergy sexual abuse heal. Financial reparations for the abused and tougher sanctions for the abusers and their enablers are essential remedies, it said.
The Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors focused on the issue of reparations in its second annual report — an often sensitive topic for the church, given the financial, reputational and legal implications involved.
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Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
LOS ANGELES — LOS ANGELES (AP) — A University of Southern California graduate student who police say is a serial sexual predator has been charged with drugging and raping multiple women as investigators look for additional victims, Los Angeles authorities said.
Sizhe Weng, a 30-year-old Chinese national also known as Steven Weng, was arrested Aug. 28, though the district attorney and police just released statements about the case on Wednesday.
Weng has pleaded not guilty to eight felony counts including forcible rape and sodomy by controlled substance or anesthesia, according to the LA County District Attorney’s Office.
Weng was held without bail and could not be reached for comment. A lawyer for him could not be found, and the LA Public Defender’s Office didn’t respond to an email asking if one of its attorneys is representing Weng.
USC said in a statement Wednesday that it is cooperating fully with police and has taken steps to bar Weng from campus.
“Providing a safe environment for learning, teaching, and research is our top priority,” the statement said.
Detectives began investigating in January after receiving information from authorities about a potential suspect who plied women with drugs before raping them in Los Angeles, police said in a statement.
“Evidence was recovered at Weng’s residence that corroborated his involvement in drug facilitated sexual assaults of multiple victims dating back to 2021 and continuing into 2025,” the police statement said. Investigators said Weng put unspecified incapacitating drugs in his victims’ food or drinks.
Weng first enrolled as a doctoral student at USC in 2021, prosecutors said.
District Attorney Nathan Hochman urged any other potential victims to contact the police department’s Robbery-Homicide Division.
“We want every victim to know that their voices matter and we will fight to ensure you are heard,” Hochman said in a statement.
If convicted as charged, Weng faces 25 years to life plus 56 years in state prison, the DA’s office said.
A doctoral student has been accused of drugging and raping three women from 2021 to 2024, California officials said.
Getty Images/iStockphoto
A doctoral student was arrested after being accused of drugging and raping women, California officials said.
Sizhe Weng, 30, from China, who was enrolled at the University of Southern California was accused of spiking the food or drink of three women from 2021 to 2024, then raping them, according to an Oct. 15 news release by the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.
He was charged with forcible rape, sodomy by controlled substance or anesthesia, rape by controlled substance and sexual penetration by controlled substance or anesthesia, prosecutors said.
The investigation began when police received a tip from German authorities, according to a news release posted on X by the Los Angeles Police Department’s public information officer.
Weng pleaded not guilty Sept. 2 and was being held without bail as of Oct. 15, prosecutors said.
If convicted, he is facing 25 years to life plus 56 years in prison and must register as a sex offender for life, prosecutors said.
Additional victims, whether living locally or abroad, are asked to call LAPD at 213-486-6890.
“I know a lot of times there’s trepidation in terms of victims coming forward because they think they could be re-victimized,” Los Angeles Police Department’s Deputy Chief Alan Hamilton told NBC 4 . “We have no plans on letting this individual out of our custody anytime soon.”
If you have experienced sexual assault and need someone to talk to, call the National Sexual Assault Hotline for support at 1-800-656-4673 or visit the hotline’s online chatroom.
A doctoral student has been accused of drugging and raping three women from 2021 to 2024, California officials said.
Getty Images/iStockphoto
A doctoral student was arrested after being accused of drugging and raping women, California officials said.
Sizhe Weng, 30, from China, who was enrolled at the University of Southern California was accused of spiking the food or drink of three women from 2021 to 2024, then raping them, according to an Oct. 15 news release by the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.
He was charged with forcible rape, sodomy by controlled substance or anesthesia, rape by controlled substance and sexual penetration by controlled substance or anesthesia, prosecutors said.
The investigation began when police received a tip from German authorities, according to a news release posted on X by the Los Angeles Police Department’s public information officer.
Weng pleaded not guilty Sept. 2 and was being held without bail as of Oct. 15, prosecutors said.
If convicted, he is facing 25 years to life plus 56 years in prison and must register as a sex offender for life, prosecutors said.
Additional victims, whether living locally or abroad, are asked to call LAPD at 213-486-6890.
“I know a lot of times there’s trepidation in terms of victims coming forward because they think they could be re-victimized,” Los Angeles Police Department’s Deputy Chief Alan Hamilton told NBC 4 . “We have no plans on letting this individual out of our custody anytime soon.”
If you have experienced sexual assault and need someone to talk to, call the National Sexual Assault Hotline for support at 1-800-656-4673 or visit the hotline’s online chatroom.
A former FBI agent will be sentenced in Montgomery County, Maryland, after being convicted of raping three women in tattoo parlors he operated.
Former FBI agent Eduardo Valdivia, who was convicted of raping three women in small tattoo parlors that he operated, could face up to 122 years in prison when he’s sentenced in Montgomery County Circuit Court.
Valdivia, 31, was found guilty in July 2025 of six counts of second-degree rape and two counts of fourth-degree sex offense. He is scheduled to be sentenced Tuesday afternoon.
Prosecutors said Valdivia raped the three women after offering them free tattoos in exchange for modeling opportunities.
“He created an illusion in their minds that if they continue contact with him, they were going to to make their professional modeling dreams come true,” according to county prosecutors’ sentencing memo, reported by the Washington Post, which says prosecutors are seeking the statutory maximum, 122 years behind bars.
Circuit Court Judge Cheryl McCally will be able to consider an earlier felony arrest in Montgomery County. The jury that convicted Valdivia of the tattoo shop rapes didn’t hear about that earlier arrest during his trial last summer.
Dr. Maurizio Miglietta, a surgery professor at Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine, has been indicted on charges including first-degree rape and attempted first-degree rape.
Photo by Linkedin
A surgery professor at Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine in Harlem has been accused of allegedly raping a woman in his apartment after showing her a firearm, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said Tuesday.
Dr. Maurizio Miglietta, 56, who also serves as an honorary police surgeon providing trauma consultation for the NYPD, was indicted Tuesday on charges including first-degree rape and attempted first-degree rape, according to court filings. He faces additional charges, including sexual abuse, unlawful imprisonment, and criminal possession of a firearm. He pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Prosecutors allege that Miglietta met a 28-year-old woman through a medical networking event. On June 5, she went to his Financial District apartment expecting to discuss business ventures.
Once inside, Miglietta allegedly kissed her without consent. When she tried to push him away, he allegedly lifted his shirt to show a firearm he said was loaded.
Manhattan DA Alvin BraggPhoto by Lloyd Mitchell
The indictment alleges he placed the gun on a coffee table near her head before orally raping her and attempting to vaginally rape her. The woman was able to leave after initially being prevented from doing so, prosecutors said.
“As alleged, this prominent doctor used his position to lure a woman to his apartment under the guise of professional networking and mentorship,” Bragg said. “Instead, he allegedly displayed a firearm that he said was loaded, and sexually assaulted her as she repeatedly said no.”
Migiletta was arrested on Monday, Oct. 13, and arraigned before Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Ann Thompson on Oct. 14.
The court executed a warrant, issued a discovery scheduling order, and placed a temporary order of protection for the alleged victim. Bail was set at $1 million cash, $3 million insured bond, or $3 million partially secured surety bond. He is scheduled to return to court in January.
Bragg said the investigation is ongoing and urged anyone with information about similar incidents to contact the DA’s Special Victims Division at 212-335-9373.
amNewYork did not receive a response from Miglietta’s attorney or Touro College, where he had been working for the past 14 years, at the time of publication.
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — A man convicted of raping and killing a 6-year-old girl in central Florida is scheduled to be put to death in November under a death warrant signed by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, who continues to set a record pace for executions.
Bryan Fredrick Jennings, 66, is scheduled to die by lethal injection Nov. 13 at Florida State Prison. Jennings would be the 16th person set for execution in Florida in 2025, with DeSantis overseeing more executions in a single year than any other Florida governor since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976.
DeSantis signed the death warrant Friday, just days before the scheduled execution Tuesday of Samuel Lee Smithers. Another convicted killer, Norman Mearle Grim Jr., is set to die Oct. 28.
Jennings was convicted of murder, kidnapping and sexual battery and sentenced to death in 1986 after two previous convictions were overturned.
According to court records, Jennings climbed through the window of a Brevard County home in May 1979 and abducted 6-year-old Rebecca Kunash. Investigators said Jennings drove the girl to an area near a Merritt Island canal and raped her. Following the assault, Jennings smashed the girl’s head on the ground and then drowned her in the nearby canal, where police later found her body.
A short time later, Jennings was arrested on a traffic warrant, and police eventually linked him to the girl’s murder.
Attorneys for Jennings are expected to file appeals to the Florida Supreme Court and the U.S. Supreme Court.
So far 35 people have been executed in the U.S. in 2025 , with Florida leading the way behind a flurry of death warrants signed by DeSantis. The most recent execution in Florida was the Sept. 30 lethal injection of Victory Tony Jones, convicted of killing a married couple during a 1990 robbery in South Florida.
The previous record for executions in one year in Florida was eight, most recently in 2014.
NEW YORK (AP) — Two jurors who voted in June to convict Harvey Weinstein of sexual assault said they regret the decision and only did so because others on the panel bullied them, the former movie mogul’s lawyers said in a newly public court filing.
Weinstein’s lawyers are seeking to overturn his conviction for first-degree criminal sex act, arguing in papers unsealed Thursday that the guilty verdict was marred by “threats, intimidation, and extraneous bias,” and that the judge failed to properly deal with it at the time.
In sworn affidavits included with the filing, two jurors said they felt overwhelmed and intimidated by jurors who wanted to convict Weinstein on the charge, which accused him of forcing oral sex on TV and film production assistant and producer Miriam Haley in 2006.
One juror said she was screamed at in the jury room and told, “we have to get rid of you.” The other juror said anyone who doubted Weinstein’s guilt was grilled by other jurors and that if he could have voted by secret ballot, “I would have returned a not guilty verdict on all three charges.”
“I regret the verdict,” that juror said. “Without the intimidation from other jurors, I believe that the jury would have hung on the Miriam Haley charge.”
Weinstein, 73, was acquitted on a second criminal sex act charge involving a different woman, Polish psychotherapist and former model Kaja Sokola. The judge declared a mistrial on the final charge, alleging Weinstein raped former actor Jessica Mann, after the jury foreperson declined to deliberate further.
It was the second time the Oscar-winning producer was tried on some of the charges. His 2020 conviction, a watershed moment for the # MeToo movement, was overturned last year. Now his defense team, led by attorney Arthur Aidala, is fighting to eliminate his retrial conviction and head off another retrial on the undecided count.
Judge Curtis Farber gave Manhattan prosecutors until Nov. 10 to conduct its own investigation and file a written response before he rules on Dec. 22. That means a decision and a possible retrial or sentencing won’t come until after Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg is up for reelection on Nov. 4.
Jurors said they feared for their safety
In the affidavits, which blacked out juror names and identifying numbers, the two jurors said they feared for their safety and the foreperson’s safety. They said that when the foreperson asked for civility, another juror got in his face, pointed a finger and told him: “You don’t know me. I’ll catch you outside.”
One of the jurors said deliberations were poisoned by a belief among some jurors that a member of the panel had been paid off by Weinstein or his lawyers. That claim, which has not been supported by any evidence, shifted the jury of seven women and five men “from an even 6-6 spit to a sudden unanimous verdict,” the juror said.
Some of what was said in the affidavits echoed acrimony that spilled into public view during deliberations. As jurors weighed charges for five days, one juror asked to be excused because he felt another was being treated unfairly.
After the jury returned a verdict on two of the three charges, Farber asked the foreperson whether he was willing to deliberate further. The man said no, triggering a mistrial on the rape count.
After the trial, two jurors disputed the foreperson’s account. One said no one mistreated him. The other said deliberations were contentious, but respectful.
Jurors spoke with the judge
When jurors came forward with concerns, Farber was strict about respecting the sanctity of deliberations and cautioned them not to discuss the content or tenor of jury room discussions, transcripts show. In their affidavits, the two jurors said they didn’t feel the judge was willing to listen to their concerns.
When jurors were asked if they agreed with the guilty verdict, one of the jurors noted in her affidavit that she paused “to try and indicate my discomfort in the verdict.” Afterward, when Farber spoke with jurors, she said she told him “the deliberations were unprofessional.”
Weinstein denies all the charges. The first-degree criminal sex act conviction carries the potential for up to 25 years in prison, while the unresolved third-degree rape charge is punishable by up to four years — less than he already has served.
Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
