Prosecutors: Alleged Montco jailhouse slasher targeted child sex offenders

4-13-15 Pennsylvania:

A Montgomery County jail inmate accused of using a razor-like object to violently slash a child sex offender’s face and neck wants to prevent a jury from hearing that he also was accused of assaulting another alleged sex offender at the jail five months earlier.

Michael Daniel Call, 29, who is awaiting trial on charges of attempted murder and aggravated assault in connection with the alleged Dec. 31, 2013, razor blade attack of then fellow inmate Gary Romano, wants a judge to prevent prosecutors from telling a jury that he received a misconduct while in jail for allegedly punching Paul Corrigan, another alleged child sex offender, during a jailhouse fist-fight on July 12, 2013.

Assistant District Attorney Lindsay O’Brien argued Call’s fist-fight with Corrigan should be permitted as trial evidence against Call as “a prior bad act” to show his “common plan or scheme” to target and attack other inmates accused of committing sexual-related crimes against children.

“There are a lot of similarities between these two incidents,” O’Brien, assisted by co-prosecutor Alexandria MacMaster, argued to President Judge William J. Furber Jr. “These similarities are not merely coincidental, rather they indicate that the defendant’s conduct was part of a common plan, scheme or design, to assault individuals incarcerated on charges involving child molestation.”

Andrew Belant stabbed in jail

12-3-2008 California:

Andrew Belant, a former teacher's aide and part-time church youth director accused of molesting four young boys, was stabbed in jail Tuesday night, the Humboldt County Sheriff's Office reported this morning.

The 25-year-old Belant was transported to a nearby hospital, where he was treated and returned to the jail the same night.

According to HCSO information, some time between 7 p.m. and 8 p.m., Belant was in a common area in the jail when he was approached by 30-year-old Allen Guilliams, who reportedly stabbed him in the upper arm, shoulder and armpit approximately six times.

The blade of the prison-made shiv was about 7 inches long above the cloth-wrapped handle, the Sheriff's Office reported.

Guilliams, who has been in the jail since Nov. 14 for felony evasion of a peace officer, driving when unlicensed and a parole hold, was booked again for attempted murder and possession of a weapon in jail.

According to Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Brenda Godsey, who has worked with the HCSO for 17 years, stabbing events are very uncommon at the jail.

”This is the first stabbing I can remember,” she said. “It's significant stuff.”

Belant is scheduled to return to court for a hearing Dec. 8, and his jury trial is scheduled to begin Dec. 15. ..News Source.. by Sean Garmire/The Times-Standard

Case highlights challenges of keeping child molesters safe in prison

5-10-2010 Maryland:

A Montgomery County judge shaved 14 years off a child molester's prison sentence Friday, a ruling that followed the same judge cutting almost 16 years off another molester's sentence in 2008.

In shortening the latest sentence, Circuit Court Judge Eric M. Johnson called Jason Lay a different person than he was five years ago, when he was convicted of making a 4-year-old girl perform sexual acts inside a townhouse in Germantown and sentenced to 30 years.

"I find your remorse to be genuine," Johnson told Lay, 26, who wore a blue state Division of Correction shirt and little expression on his face.

The new sentence, 16 years, is retroactive to 2005. Lay will be eligible for parole in 2013.

His case reflects the challenge of keeping child molesters safe in prison. Other inmates -- even those who give little thought to robbing or killing people -- often take a moral stand against child molesters, if only because they have children themselves.

Convicted Murderer Stabs Child Molester in Jail

12-14-2010 California:

SACRAMENTO — A bizaare story out of the Sacramento County jail where a convicted child molester is savagely attacked by a convicted murderer.

55 year old Robert Precobb was stabbed in the face and neck as many as 10 times last Friday night by convicted murderer Ruben Rivera.

It's not known if Precobb was returning from the shower or recreation time, but the jail tells FOX40 Rivera somehow opened his locked cell to spring the attacked.

"We have an instrument that we believe he used to manipulate his lock," it's actually two items; but Sergeant Tim Curran would not be more specific. "What did he attack him with?" asked FOX40's John Lobertini, "An instrument that he had manufactured inside the jail. If he was stabbed I guess it was sharp? A stabbing instrument of some type yes" says Sgt. Curran.

The 30 year old Rivera is a hardcore gang member who was recently convicted of murdering his girl friend in the parking lot of a cell phone call center in January of 2007. One law enforcement source believes Rivera was trying to enhance his trough guy image as he heads to state prison.

Accused double-murderer who allegedly targeted sex offenders attacks inmate offender in Clallam County jail

7-1-2012 Washington:

PORT ANGELES — A Sequim man accused of double murder, who allegedly told police he was targeting sex offenders, was placed in a segregated cell last week in the Clallam County jail after he stabbed a man serving time for failing to register as a sex offender, said jail Superintendent Ron Sukert.

Patrick Drum, 34, stabbed Joseph W. Recoy, 19, of Port Angeles with the sharpened handle of a plastic utensil, Sukert said last week.

Recoy received minor puncture wounds from the combination fork-spoon allegedly wielded by Drum and was not hospitalized, Sukert said.

Drum is awaiting an Aug. 6 trial on two counts of aggravated first-degree murder in the deaths of Jerry W. Ray, 56, of Port Angeles and Gary L. Blanton Jr., 28, of Sequim, Drum's housemate.

The bodies of Ray and Blanton were found inside their homes June 3, the same day Drum was arrested.

Convicted child killer slashed in attack at WCI

5-9-2011 Maryland:

A convicted child killer serving life sentences at the Western Correctional Institution is recovering from slash wounds, apparently inflicted by another inmate, according to published reports.

Thomas J. Legge Jr., 31, of Salisbury, was injured in the May 1 attack in a prison dining hall and was treated by medical personnel at the prison. He did not require hospitalization, officials said.

Legge was convicted of kidnapping and murder of 11-year-old Sarah Haley Foxwell, who was killed Dec. 23, 2009. The victim’s body was found three days later in a wooded area of Wicomico County.

Officials said Legge suffered slash wounds to the head, neck and hand that were apparently inflicted with a homemade weapon.

On March 29, Legge reportedly appeared in Cecil County Circuit Court where he admitted guilt in Foxwell’s death. He received two consecutive life sentences with no chance for parole for first-degree murder and first-degree sex offense. He was also sentenced to 20 years for burglary and 30 years for kidnapping.

Legge, who is a convicted sex offender in Maryland and Delaware, had dated the victim’s aunt for a short time several months before the girl’s kidnapping and death, according to published reports. ..Source.. by From Staff Reports

Accused child molester stabbed in jail

11-6-2009 California:

RANCHO CUCAMONGA • The man accused of running a phony fire explorer program to molest children was stabbed while in jail, San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department officials said on Friday.

Robert William Tell, 39, of Apple Valley was in a day-room area at the West Valley Detention Center in Rancho Cucamonga on Monday afternoon when another inmate — Jimmy Dale Kelley, 41, of Yucca Valley — assaulted and stabbed Tell with a home-made weapon, said Cindy Beavers, spokeswoman for the Sheriff’s Department.

Deputies were quickly on scene and Tell was taken to Arrowhead Regional Medical Center in Colton.

Tell’s injuries were not life-threatening. ..Source.. by VV DailtPress.com

TX- Death-row inmate stabbed 54 times, listed as stable

11-5-1998 Texas:

Convicted capital murderer Robert James Anderson remained in serious but stable condition Wednesday after he was stabbed 54 times Tuesday by prison inmates.

Anderson was sentenced to die in 1993 for the kidnapping, rape and murder of 5-year-old Audra Ann Reeves of Amarillo.

The 32-year-old death-row inmate was found bleeding in his cell in the Ellis Unit at Huntsville at 12:15 p.m., said Huntsville spokesman Larry Todd. Anderson was transported by ambulance to a prison hospital in Galveston where he remained Wednesday, Todd said.

After the attack, the Ellis Unit wing where Anderson and other death-row inmates are housed, was locked down, Todd said. The lock-down was over at 8:30 a.m. Wednesday.

Internal investigators spoke with several suspects and are holding two suspects in solitary cells while the investigation continues, Todd said.

Twenty-three puncture wounds were counted on Anderson's left arm, 15 in his chest, 11 in the abdomen, four in his back and one in the head, Todd said.

Investigators said blood was found in the hall outside Anderson's cell, and a shank, possibly made from a fence, was found in a nearby trash can.

Reeves' body was found on June 9, 1992, in an ice chest that had been dropped in a Dumpster in Amarillo.

The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals rejected a motion for rehearing the case in 1996.

The court had upheld his conviction and death sentence a month earlier. ..Source.. by HOLLY PARKER, Globe-News Staff Writer

Sex offender stabbed at Cook County Jail

8-3-2005 Illinois:

A Cook County Jail inmate was recovering Tuesday from a stabbing in a maximum-security wing of the Southwest Side complex.

Demtre Golden, 28, was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital for a wound to the chest. At least three other inmates are suspected in the attack, said Bill Cunningham, a spokesman for Cook County Sheriff Michael Sheahan, who runs the jail.

Golden was booked into the jail in June on a charge of failing to register as a sex offender. The motive for the attack is unclear, Cunningham said, but investigators are looking into whether it was related to his history as a sex offender or whether it was gang-related. ..more.. by