Sex Offender Assaulted During Home Invasion

7-16-2011 Texas:

CORPUS CHRISTI - Police are still looking for a second suspect in connection with a early morning home invasion on the southside of Corpus Christi.

There is a trail of blood outside the home of 41-year-old Daniel Villarreal in the 3800 block of Los Arroyos.

Villarreal, who is a registered sex offender, told police when he got home from work he found two men inside his house who attacked him.

Villarreal was taken to the hospital with some facial injuries while police arrested 27-year-old Jay Benavides at the scene.

He's been charged with burglary of a habitation with intent to commit further felonies.

The second suspect allegedly stole Villarreal's car, but abandoned it a block away.

If you have any information about this assault, call Crime Stoppers at 361-888-TIPS. ..Source.. by KZTV10.com

Washington state man sentenced for shooting a man he thought was a sex offender

7-13-2011 Washington:

SPOKANE, Wash. — A Washington state man who shot another man in the head because the shooter mistakenly thought the victim was a sex offender has been sentenced to more than 15 years in prison on assault and gun convictions.

Robert Startin cried in Spokane County Superior Court as he apologized for shooting 26-year-old Shane Reilly at a drinking party in March in Spokane Valley.

The prosecutor said someone joked that Reilly was a sex offender. Startin had a relative who was molested. He got a gun and shot Reilly in the head.

The Spokesman-Review reports Reilly was paralyzed below the neck but has recovered some movement in his limbs. He’s still in the hospital.

The 27-year-old Startin was sentenced Tuesday. ..Source.. by Washington Post

Woman charged after damaging security cams at sex offender's house

5-31-2011 Ohio:

HENRIETTA TOWNSHIP, OH (WOIO) - A Lorain County woman arrested after damaging security cameras at the home of a former registered sex offender.

Annette Osborn is charged with criminal damaging.

Lorain County Sheriff's Deputies tell 19 Action News she ripped the cords off the cameras at Henry Bennett's home on State Route 113.

Bennett is a convicted sex offender out of California who no longer has to register with the Sheriff's office.

Osborn was convinced his cameras pointed towards her house, which is behind Bennett's.

However, when deputies looked at Bennett's laptop, they determined that was not true and the cameras were only pointed towards his backyard. ..Source.. by 19 Action News

Oklahoma City man had RAPEST tattooed on forehead by attackers

5-3-2011 Oklahoma:

Four people being held in jail. More arrests possible, police say.

An Oklahoma City man had RAPEST tattooed on his forehead during an attack in April and then was left for dead at a Del City lake, police said.

Four suspects are being held in the Oklahoma County jail. Del City police said more arrests are possible.

Stetson Johnson, 18, was shocked with a stun gun twice in the genitals during the tattooing, police said. He was forcibly restrained at a house in southeast Oklahoma City while a tattoo artist from Texas tattooed RAPEST on his forehead and, “I like little boys,” on his chest, police said.

At the lake, he was beaten with a baseball bat, police said.

In jail are Richard Lynn Dellert, 31, of Irving, Texas; Zachary Chase Provence, 21, of Midwest City; Kimberly Sue Vergara, 25, of Midwest City, and Lorena Amanda Hodges, 33, of Oklahoma City.

Johnson said he doesn't know why he was attacked. He spent days in intensive care at an Oklahoma City hospital.

He said he had recently become friends with Vergara. Police said he was attacked at Hodge's mother's house.

He had a bar code tattooed on his forehead to cover up RAPEST, which apparently is a misspelling of the word “rapist." ..Source.. by Nolan Clay

Wheelchair-Bound Vigilante Faces Charges

7-21-2011 Massachusetts:

Man Says He Was Protecting Girl From Alleged Abuser

BOSTON -- A wheelchair-bound Martha's Vineyard man is fighting to stay out of jail.

Frank Hebert, 57, is accused of striking an alleged pedophile with a bat inside a store earlier this year.

Even though child protection advocates are hailing Hebert as a hero, prosecutors aren't backing off on charges that could land him in jail for 10 years.

Hebert said he was trying to protect his granddaughter when he hit his girlfriend's son-in-law, Joshua Hardy, with a bat in February. Hebert said the girl told him Hardy, 28, had been assaulting the girl.

"He had been molesting her," Hebert said.

Hebert called state police. He said they decided to have Hardy come to Hebert's store, thinking he was there to pick up the girl. When inside, Hebert was supposed to call police. During the time they were inside the store, Hebert confronted Hardy.

"He turned white. After about two minutes, he said, 'OK, fine. I did it,'" Hebert said.

Hebert said Hardy tried to leave and a scuffle ensued.

"I hit him like a 2-year-old. I mean, I don't have any more power than that," Hebert said.

Hebert was charged with assault. Hardy said he would not testify against Hebert, but the Plymouth District Attorney’s Office refused to drop the case.

"If this is what they are after -- God help them," Hebert said. ..Source.. by WCVB TV.com

San Jose man faces life sentence for attacking man suspected of molesting his stepdaughter

It appears the argument here is, should a sentence for a crime be based on the reason a crime was committed? Think about that with respect to all kinds of crimes, sexual and otherwise.

7-21-2011 California:

A San Jose man is facing a maximum of life in prison for something many fathers would be tempted to do -- badly beating a Thanksgiving weekend houseguest who molested his 8-year-old stepdaughter.

Surely the suspected molester, who has confessed to the sexual attack and even apologized to the child, is in worse trouble than the stepfather?

Actually, the stepfather is facing the possibility of spending more time behind bars -- perhaps his entire life.

The stiff penalty the stepfather faces for his allegedly violent reaction to what many would consider extreme provocation has lawyers debating whether he deserves leniency.

Nationwide, penalties for other fathers in high-profile cases who have beaten up -- or even killed -- men they believed molested their children range from 12 years in prison to mere probation.

The controversial Santa Clara County case follows a similar incident on the verge of trial here -- the revenge beating of a priest by a man who says the cleric molested him when he was a child.

Without condoning vigilantism, defense attorneys and some legal scholars contend the girl's stepfather deserves to be treated far more leniently -- especially because if he had killed the houseguest in a rage, the most he could get under California's perplexing sentencing scheme would be 11 years. The attack came after the 8-year-old woke up her mother at about 2 a.m., saying the family's friend had duct-taped her mouth and sexually abused her.

"I have a 10-year-old daughter and I'm not at all sure I'd act differently or regret it if I did," said Scott Altman, a law-school professor at the University of Southern California and expert in jurisprudence.

But Santa Clara County District Attorney Jeff Rosen makes no apologies for throwing the book at stepfather Miguel Cerda and his brother Erik, who is also accused of participating in the Nov. 26 beating.

He has filed the maximum felony charges possible -- torture, mayhem, battery, assault and making criminal threats. According to the police report, Avelino Rodriguez had two black eyes, a broken jaw, missing teeth, several burn marks that could have been made by a cigarette on one of his hips, and bruising from what appeared to be a whipping. Rosen said his office also came down hard on the brothers because they didn't act immediately in the heat of the moment; they drove Rodriguez from San Jose to a Gilroy ranch where the beating took place.

"This is not the way we settle disputes in a civilized society," Rosen said. "Certainly we understand the mitigating circumstances, but we can't give somebody a pass for this."

The charges against the Cerdas carry a sentence of seven years to life in prison. It would be up to the parole board after they served seven years whether to ever let them out -- a risk that defense attorneys in the case say is out of line considering the circumstances.

"There's no guarantee about the parole board," said Ruben Munoz, Miguel Cerda's lawyer. "If we went to trial and lost, it would be a miscarriage of justice."

Rodriguez, on the other hand, pleaded no contest to two felony counts of oral copulation or sexual penetration with a child 14 years old or younger. Under the plea bargain, he will be sentenced to 22 years in prison and could be released after 19 years.

Rosen said prosecutors and defense attorneys could reach a plea deal in the Cerdas' case that would result in reduced charges and less prison time than Rodriguez will get. Sources said prosecutors have offered six to eight years in state prison. The trial is set for next month if the case isn't settled. Erik Cerda doesn't have a criminal record. Miguel Cerda has been convicted of misdemeanor battery for hitting a 10-year-old and slapping and punching his girlfriend. But Rosen said that "his background did not sway me either way."

The proposed plea deal is not good enough for Erik Cerda's lawyers, who are seeking either probation or a short jail sentence, or at most two years in prison.

"Each of us certainly understands that the first reaction of a caring family member to the report of the sexual molest of a loved one would be emotional and impulsive," said Supervising Deputy Public Defender Damon Silver, who oversees all felony cases. "We are optimistic that the District Attorney's Office will recognize these basic human responses as they review the case to determine whether sending someone to prison for six to eight years is consistent with the values of our community or excessive under these circumstances."

In Florida earlier this year, a Broward County father got probation after bashing a man with rocks and concrete blocks hours after his child reported being sexually abused. The molester, who was sentenced to two life terms in prison, was injured so badly he had to be put in a medically induced coma.

Some legal scholars contend that such lenient treatment gives people the sense they can take the law into their own hands -- and thus increases the chances of innocent people being badly hurt.

Indeed, in a 2006 Connecticut case, there are indications that patent lawyer Jonathon Edington, who fatally stabbed a neighbor he believed had molested his daughter, had been misinformed by his wife, who suffered from postpartum depression. Edington pleaded guilty to manslaughter and was sentenced to 12 years in state prison -- less than the potential life term the Cerdas are facing. ..Source.. by Tracey Kaplan

Herhold: We can't have a society based on vigilantism

7-19-2011 California:

Let's get one thing straight. Santa Clara County District Attorney Jeff Rosen is not a turn-the-other cheek guy. If someone harmed his family, he would be outraged. He once chased down litterbugs in his neighborhood.

But Rosen is no believer in vigilantism. And as he sifted through the photos of the severe beating and whipping suffered by a child molester at the hands of his victim's relatives, he couldn't hide his distaste. "This is a prison case," he said.

It's a tale with an ugly set of facts. On Thanksgiving weekend, an 8-year-old San Jose girl woke her mother at 2 a.m. to tell her that she had been sexually abused by a houseguest who had duct-taped her mouth and attacked her.

Several hours later, the girl's stepfather, Miguel Cerda, and his brother, Erik Cerda, allegedly drove the accused molester, Avelino Rodriguez, to a ranch in Gilroy.

In the mayhem that followed, Rodriguez lost several teeth and suffered two black eyes, a broken jaw, burn marks and bruising from what appeared to be a whipping.

Saying he understood the provocation, Rosen nevertheless has charged the Cerdas with mayhem, torture, battery, assault and making criminal threats. The district attorney reportedly has offered them a deal of six to eight years in prison.

Rodriguez, meanwhile, has confessed to the attack and pleaded no contest to two felony counts. He is expected to receive a sentence that will require him to serve 19 years in prison before a parole board can consider releasing him.

Lengthy beating

For an experienced prosecutor like Rosen, the call on the Cerdas was not hard. He says the beating and whipping occurred several hours after the molestation, indicating planning, and lasted much longer than a few brief seconds.

"Nobody is calling the police," said Rosen, who points out that Rodriguez could have been left free to commit another crime. "The thought is, 'We're going to get this guy.' "

For a politician, however -- and remember, the DA is also an elected official -- the Cerda case poses more challenges. It's one thing to go after a molester. It's another to go after relatives seeking vengeance.

The online comments on the piece by Mercury News reporter Tracey Kaplan criticized Rosen. "What parent would not want to protect their child or punish the person who harmed their child? What message does this send to the stepdaughter?" asked one reader.

No private vengeance

My take? We can't base a society on private vengeance. We have police and prosecutors for a reason. The gulf between the Cerdas' revenge and honor killings is not so great.

"There are certain core functions of government, and justice for its citizens is one of them," Rosen said. "If we said, 'Yeah, we're gonna give these guys a pass,' then we're encouraging that kind of behavior."

How does Rosen answer critics? "When people do this, it isn't about justice," he said. "It's not helping their daughter or niece. There's nothing for her. All this does is feed their own egos and their sense that now we're in control."

That, I think, is the message to the victim: This is terrible, we are with you, and we will seek justice. But we are better than the man who attacked you. ..Source.. by Scott Herhold

Woman shoots handyman making sexual advances, sheriff says

7-18-2011 North Carolina:

LINCOLNTON - A Lincolnton woman was arrested and a man was sent to the hospital following a shooting incident Friday night, the Lincoln County Sheriff's Office said.

The shooting happened at the woman’s home in the 1600 block of Cloudburst Circle north of Lincolnton around 9:18 p.m.

Detectives said the call came in to the Communications Center from a woman who stated she had just shot a man outside her home.

The suspect, Ida-Monetta Duckworth, 67, of Cloudburst Circle, told detectives that Paul Michael Tucker, 60, was at the woman’s home where he had been doing some handyman type work and made sexual advances toward her.

According to the sheriff's office, the two had an on-going relationship for several years.

Duckworth reportedly told Tucker to leave when the suspect felt threatened and fired shots from a 22 caliber pistol.

Tucker was hit by one round in the stomach, investigators say.

He was transported to CMC-Lincoln and then airlifted to Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte with non-life threatening injuries.

Detectives said Tucker had been working most of the week with the suspect doing repair work to several rental residences she owns and had also been living in a vehicle that the suspect was buying and parked in a lot beside her house.

Tucker was also wanted by Lincoln County authorities for Failure to Notify Authorities about a Change of Address for a Registered Sex Offender. The warrant will be served when Tucker is released from the hospital, the sheriff's office said.

Ida-Monetta Duckworth was charged with Assault with a Deadly Weapon with Intent to Kill and Inflicting Serious Injury. She was placed in the Harven A. Crouse Detention Center under a $150,000 secured bond. ..Source.. by Alison Hill, Community Web Producer