PA- Ex-guard gets probation for forcing inmates to sing nursery rhymes, bark like dogs

2-24-2009 Pennsylvania:

A former corrections officer at Westmoreland County Prison will serve probation after pleading guilty Monday to forcing inmates to kneel and sing nursery rhymes and bark like dogs.

Scott A. Rogers, 39, of Mt. Pleasant was a 10-year guard before he was charged with three misdemeanor charges of official oppression. He was sentenced yesterday to serve nine months on probation by Westmoreland County Judge Rita Hathaway.

He could have received maximum sentences of two years in prison for each offense.

Assistant District Attorney Karen Patterson said the penalty, which was part of a negotiated plea bargain with Rogers, was within the standard range of sentences he was eligible to receive under state sentencing guidelines. Rogers had no previous criminal record.

Police said Rogers, while working at the county jail between April 1 and June 30, 2007, forced three inmates to kneel to the ground and sing songs, such as "Mary Had a Little Lamb" and the alphabet song, forward and backward.

In addition, inmates said they were forced to bark.

Patterson said those inmates were being held in a unit of the jail that housed mental health patients and sex offenders.

In July 2007, after he was fired by the Westmoreland County Prison Board, Rogers claimed he was being singled out by officials.

FL- Trailer where Jessica Lunsford died is torched

2-16-2009 Florida:

HOMOSASSA — Officials say the mobile home where a repeat sex offender raped and murdered a 9-year-old Florida girl in 2005 has burned down.

Citrus County officials said Monday that the fire was suspicious. John Evander Couey’s former trailer was vacant when the fire started Sunday night, but officials say it’s a “total loss” because of extensive damage. The fire investigation was turned over to the Florida State Fire Marshals Office.

Couey told investigators he kept Jessica in a closet for several days before burying her alive in a shallow grave outside the trailer. Jessica had been abducted from her home nearby.

Couey was convicted of murder and sentenced to death. ..News Source.. by Florida Today.com

FL- Counselor charged with extorting sex offender

2-16-2009 Florida:

Bartow, Florida -- Deputies have arrested a mental health therapist on charges he tried to extort money from a sex offender he was counseling.

They say Dr. Paul H. Sandman, PhD., of Winter Haven, owner and operator of Adjustment & Awareness, took advantage of one of his court-ordered clients.

Investigators said a registered sexual offender attending four years of therapy was one month shy of completion when Sandman was arrested for marijuana possession and was removed from the list of acceptable providers for the Department of Corrections. Nonetheless, the offender was assured he would get his letter of completion.

Citing financial difficulties and the need to move to Tennessee, the doctor said he would provide a letter of completion, if the sex offender paid him $2,500. He later dropped the amount to $2,000, deputies said.

The offender complained to the sheriff's office. Deputies interviewed Sandman and booked him into the county jail without bond pending a court appearance Tuesday. ..News Source.. by Jim Peppard

CA- San Domenico parents swarm sex offender at courthouse

2-9-2009 California:

A convicted sex offender arrested after a dustup at a San Anselmo school appeared in court Monday as a posse of about 50 agitated parents swarmed him at the courthouse.

David James McCampbell, 54, hobbling into court on a walker, attended a brief hearing to set future dates as the investigation continues. When he left the courtroom he was surrounded by parents, many snapping photos with their cell phones and warning him to stay away from their children.

"We appreciate that people are concerned, and nobody wants our children harmed," said his lawyer, Chief Deputy Public Defender Debra Leyva. "But we have to balance that with due process of law, no matter what the crime is. The system has to be fair for everyone."

McCampbell was arrested last Tuesday after an incident at San Domenico School, a private K-12 school on Butterfield Road in Sleepy Hollow, where a man was seen watching girls ride horses in the school's equestrian arena, according to the Sheriff's Office.

By some accounts the man stayed on campus some 45 minutes, even after he was asked to leave. He eventually drove off in a blue Honda Civic, which police stopped on Sir Francis Drake Boulevard in Fairfax.

The driver was identified as McCampbell, a Santa Clara resident who was convicted of child porn charges in his home county. McCampbell first told police that he was lost, then said he was driving around the area, said Fairfax police Sgt. Chris Morin.

Prosecutors charged McCampbell with a misdemeanor count of being a sex offender on school grounds and disrupting activities. He has pleaded not guilty and is free on bail.

McCampbell, through his lawyer, declined to grant an interview Monday. He is using a walker because of a hip replacement, Leyva said.

McCampbell returns for further hearings on March 6. He is not posted in the state Megan's Law database because the child porn for which he was convicted does not qualify him for listing, said Chief Deputy District Attorney Kathryn Mitchell. ..Source.. by Gary Klien