Widening Sex Scandal Rocks Lackland Air Force Base In Texas

SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS – From a chapel pulpit on Lackland Air Force Base, where every American airman reports for basic training, Col. Glenn Palmer delivered his first order to nearly 600 recruits seated in the pews: If you’re sexually harassed or assaulted, tell someone.

“My job is to give you a safe, effective training environment,” Palmer said firmly.

What the colonel did not mention directly in his recent address was a widening sex scandal that has rocked the base, one of the nation’s busiest military training centers. Allegations that male instructors had sex with, and in one case raped, female trainees have led to criminal charges against four men. Charges against others are possible.

The most serious accusations surround an Air Force staff sergeant scheduled to face a court-martial in July on charges that include rape and multiple counts of aggravated sexual assault. The other three defendants were charged with lesser crimes ranging from sexual misconduct to adultery. All of the defendants were assigned to turn raw recruits into airmen in eight weeks of basic training.

A two-star general is now investigating alongside a separate criminal probe, which military prosecutors say could sweep up more airmen. Advocates for female service members and members of Congress have started taking notice.

“It’s a pretty big scandal the Air Force is having to deal with at this point,” said Greg Jacob, a former Marine infantry officer and policy director of the Service Women’s Action Network. “It’s pretty substantial in its scope.”

Yet there are signs the Air Force still doesn’t have a handle on the full depth of the problem. Staff Sgt. Peter Vega-Maldonado pleaded guilty earlier this month to having sex with a female trainee and struck a plea deal for 90 days’ confinement. Then he acknowledged being involved with a total of 10 trainees – a number previously unknown to investigators.

On Friday, after months of embarrassing disclosures, the head of the Air Force’s training command ordered Maj. Gen. Margaret H. Woodward to lead an independent investigation. That same day, the Air Force gave reporters rare access to Lackland’s instructional headquarters in an effort to show there was nothing to hide.

The headquarters facility is where Lackland trains the people who train recruits. Inside one small classroom, three women and two men were lectured on the importance of having a moral compass while watching a slide presentation titled “Integrity First.”

Lackland has about 475 instructors for the nearly 36,000 airmen who will graduate this year. That’s about 85 percent of what Lackland would consider a full roster of instructors, a demanding job that requires airmen to work longer hours than most for four years, at the expense of family and personal time. The Air Force recently launched a smartphone app to help recruit instructors. Topping a page of frequently asked questions is whether the divorce rate for instructors really is higher. (The Air Force says no.)

Palmer said that a slight shortage in instructors has not lowered the standards for applicants. In response to the allegations, he said instructor training is being revamped and that he was accountable for problems within the training wing.

Leaders of the instructor program, however, said the responsibility falls on the accused.

“A person sitting in that seat, they’re going to do what they’re going to do when no one is watching,” said Master Sgt. Greg Pendleton, who oversees the training. “That’s across the board. That’s just them. When we’re outside this door or outside these walls, there are individuals that have their own personal values.”

So widespread is the fallout that Lackland halted operations for an entire day in March to survey about 5,900 trainees about whether they had seen or been a victim of sexual misconduct.

It was a highly unusual move for a vast 15-square-mile base that runs with relentless efficiency. A new class of airmen graduates every Friday for 50 of the 52 weeks in the year. At first, Palmer, commander of the 737th training wing, said he wasn’t sure that halting training was even possible.

Airman Andrea Madison, a new graduate who was in basic training at the height of the investigation at Lackland, said she never felt uncomfortable with her instructors.

“They want to make sure no foul play is happening, no one is taking advantage of us,” said Madison, of Columbus, Ohio.

Last week, one commander of a Lackland training squadron caught up in the sex scandal was dismissed after the Air Force lost confidence in his leadership. Col. Polly Kenny, 2nd Air Force Staff, said the dismissal was not directly related to the sexual misconduct investigation.

Nearly three dozen instructors at Lackland have also been removed in the past year, but the Air Force will not say how many lost their jobs as a result of the investigation that began last fall, only that the majority of dismissals were unrelated.

The first sexual misconduct allegations at Lackland surfaced a year ago against Staff Sgt. Luis Walker, who is charged with 28 counts.

Walker, the only instructor who has been accused of sexually assaulting another airman, faces life in prison if convicted. His civilian attorney, Joseph Esparza, has declined to speak with reporters and did not return multiple calls for comment.

Sexual assault victims are reassigned and can apply for a “humanitarian discharge” from the military, but Lackland civilian spokeswoman Collen McGhee said she did not know whether those affected by this case had done so.

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Gadsden County Florida Deputy Sheriff Deric Mordica Arrested And Charged With Sexual Assault On An Inmate

QUINCY, FLORIDA – Authorities with the Gadsden County sheriff’s Office says a deputy has been arrested after an alleged sexual assault.

According to Public Information Officer Ulysses Jenkins, Detention Deputy Deric Mordica surrendered to GCSO authorities after a warrant was issued for his arrest. We’re told he turned himself in at the end of May.

Mordica is accused of having sex with an inmate who was being housed at the Gadsden County Jail.

“We must abide by same laws that we are sworn to enforce and will act upon any violation of such,” said Gadsden County Sheriff Morris Young. “We will continue to provide professional law enforcement services to this community with the integrity that the citizens deserve.”

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Milwaukee Police Officers Conducted Illegal Strip Searches And Body Cavity Searches – And Of Course Assaulted Those Who Resisted

MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN – Seven officers and a supervisor at the Milwaukee police department have had their badges taken away after allegations surfaced that police have been conducting body cavity searches on suspects with no authority to do so.

Reports of officers arresting suspects then subjecting them to cavity searches first surfaced in local media in March. On Monday, after getting access to a police report, The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported that officers allegedly performed these searches on a routine basis.

One Milwaukee officer, Michael Vagnini, “had a reputation” for forcing suspects he believed had drugs in their body cavities to bend over for him, said defense attorney Alex Cossi, who handled a July 2011 case that alleges Vagnini searched his client and another suspect in the booking room.

“This was not a rogue happenstance. This was a tacit acceptance of strip searches without proper procedures or supervision,” Cossi told The Journal Sentinel.

Vagnini found suspected cocaine “between (their) butt cheeks,” the police report said.

Strip searches, which Wisconsin state law defines as searching “a detained person’s genitals, pubic area, buttock or anus, or a detained female person’s breast,” can only be performed by a doctor, physician’s assistant or registered nurse. The state law requires written permission before a strip search is conducted, unless there’s probable cause to believe the suspect is hiding a weapon.

Cossi said his client was not provided with written documents before Vagnini performed the cavity search, which is a strip search involving penetration, on him. Because improper tactics were used to find the cocaine, the drug dealing charge against Cossi’s client was thrown out, The Journal Sentinel reported.

It’s not clear how many allegations of cavity searches the Police Department is facing.

“A number of people came forward so that we have many more complaints than we certainly started out with,” Milwaukee police Chief Edward Flynn said at a news conference Wednesday on April 11. “Of those complaints, I’d say a significant majority of them are of a very similar nature, which indicates that we have more people to talk to than we initially had.”

An improper strip search carries a maximum penalty of 90 days in jail and a fine of up to $1,000, according to Wisconsin law.

Vagnini, six other officers and a supervisor, Sgt. Jason Mucha, have had their badges and guns taken away while the department investigates the claims.

In March, an alleged victim came forward to speak to NBC’s TMJ-4 to talk about his claim, which he said happened when he was only 15.

‘They slammed me on the ground’

Kevin Freeman Jr. told TMJ-4 he and his friends were violated during a traffic stop in December.

“When they searched me they eased their hands right between my butt. I tried to reach back and soon as I tried to reach back to stop them, they slammed me on the ground,” Freeman said.

It’s illegal to conduct a body cavity search outside, where people other than the one conducting the search could see it taking place.

Milwaukee police spokeswoman Anne Schwartz told msnbc.com she could not comment on the matter since it was a pending investigation. Police chief Edward Flynn said in a news conference in March the cavity search complaints go back a couple of years. The department’s internal investigation will determine whether searches violated department policy, state law, or both, The Journal Sentinel said.

Improperly conducted body searches can be construed under Wisconsin law as sexual assaults because of their invasive nature. It’s not clear how much penetration allegedly occurred during the searches.

John Birdsall, a Milwaukee defense attorney, said that if the claims are true, police are abusing their authority.

“One thing is clear, if they’re doing rectal searches in the field, that’s just illegal,” he told the Journal Sentinel. “Clothes or no clothes, you can’t do a body cavity search. They don’t have the authority to do that.”

Milwaukee County prosecutors have launched a John Doe investigation, in which prosecutors can subpoena documents without public knowledge. The FBI and U.S. Attorney’s Office are monitoring the investigation, The Journal Sentinel reported, and could launch an investigation.

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Former Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Officer Marcus Jackson Released From Prison After Just 2 Years – Slap On The Wrist For Sexually Assaulting 6 Women While On Duty – Faced A Dozen Sex Related Charges

CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA – Former Charlotte-Mecklenburg police officer Marcus Jackson was released from prison on Friday, more than two years after he was arrested for sexually assaulting women while on duty.

Jackson, 28, now must complete nine months of post-release supervision and is required to register as a sex offender, said a spokesman with the N.C. Department of Public Safety.

Jackson pleaded guilty in December 2010 to more than a dozen sex-related charges in connection with assaults on six women. He was sentenced to about two years, though he received credit for 344 days he’d spent in jail after his initial arrest.

Records show Jackson most recently was incarcerated at the Pamlico Correctional Institution, a medium-custody facility near the Outer Banks. He’d also spent time in Central Prison, and had committed no infractions during his incarceration, according to the website of the state Division of Adult Correction.

Jackson’s public defender could not be reached for comment.

On Friday, an attorney for two of Jackson’s accusers said they were aware of his release and were worried about whether he would return to Charlotte.

“The irony is that Marcus Jackson is being released (Friday) from jail. He’s now paid his debt to society and is able to move on with his life,” said attorney Brad Smith. “Our clients, however, are still waiting for a resolution to this matter.”

Jackson was arrested in December of 2009 after two women told police he’d sexually assaulted them during traffic stops. In one case, a 17-year-old girl said Jackson offered not to write a ticket in exchange for her performing oral sex on him.

Authorities have said Jackson fondled the other five women.

Jackson was terminated after the initial allegations surfaced. But the case raised questions about his hiring with the Charlotte-Mecklenburg police department.

Police admitted that a pre-employment screening did not turn up a domestic violence restraining order filed by Jackson’s girlfriend, which should have disqualified him. The department has since made changes to its hiring procedures.

Meanwhile, the city of Charlotte also has spent nearly $700,000 to defend and settle lawsuits filed by some of Jackson’s accusers.

But two remaining civil suits involving Smith’s clients are expected to go to trial in early 2013, after the accusers rejected the city’s offer. Smith said the case is currently in the discovery phase.

The city has retained outside counsel, including attorney Jim Cooney of the firm Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice, to help with its defense on the civil cases. City officials said it is not unusual to retain outside counsel for cases involving an officer or employee, and the attorneys are paid from the city’s risk fund.

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University Of Montana At Missoula, Missoula Police, And County Attorney’s Office Under Investigation By Fed For Mishandling As Many As 80 Sexual Assault Complaints

MISSOULA, MONTANA – The U.S. Justice Department has launched a probe into allegations that up to 80 complaints of sexual assault over three years were not investigated thoroughly in a college town in Montana.

The investigation will look into sexual assault investigations at the University of Montana at Missoula, the Missoula Police Department and Missoula County Attorney’s Office.

“Late last year, the Department became aware of serious concerns that alleged sexual assaults of women, including but not limited to students at the University of Montana, were not being investigated in a prompt and adequate fashion,” Assistant Attorney General Thomas E. Perez of the Justice Department’s civil rights division said at news conference Tuesday.

“Our primary focus is not the number of reported allegations of sexual assault; rather, our focus is on the response,” he added.

Fred Van Valkenburg, Missoula County chief prosecutor, vehemently defended his office and the police officers involved in the investigations.

“We adamantly deny that we have done any such thing and we are deeply disturbed with the allegation that we have done so,” he said, according to the Missoulian newspaper. “While we have no choice, given the heavy hand of the federal government, but to cooperate with this investigation… I think it is an overreach by the federal government.”

The 80 reported cases occurred in a three-year period. A rash of sexual assault complaints at the University of Montana are also under investigation. At least two of the allegations are said to involve football players on the University of Montana Grizzlies football team.

Missoula, a city of about 67,000 people in western Montana, is tied to the school in many ways. The University of Montana is the top employer in the city.

In December, the University of Montana initiated its own investigation after allegations of a female being gang-raped and possibly drugged by other students. The university hired Montana Supreme Court Justice Diane Barz to investigate and she looked into nine alleged sexual assaults from September 2010 through December.

Barz wrote in her report that the university has “a problem of sexual assault on and off campus.”

Perez said there has been at least 11 allegations of sexual assault involving students in the last 18 months.

“As to the University, we are investigating whether it responds promptly and effectively to allegations of sexual assault and harassment on campus and has taken the necessary steps to combat sexual violence,” Perez said.

At least two of the allegations have involved players at the University of Montana Grizzlies football team, the Missoulian reported.

After the allegations last year, the school’s football coach and athletic director were dismissed, the paper reported.

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Congressman Assaulted By TSA Agent At San Antonio Texas Airport

SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS – U.S. Rep. Francisco Canseco said he was assaulted by a TSA agent at the San Antonio International Airport.

The Texas Congressman said the security agent went too far during a pat-down earlier this month.

“The agent was very aggressive in his pat-down, and he was patting me down where no one is supposed to go,” said Canseco. “It got very uncomfortable so I moved his hand away. That stopped everything and brought in supervisors and everyone else.”

Canseco told the KENS 5 I-Team the agent said he too was assaulted when Canseco pushed his hand away.

According to TSA, neither man was cited.

A week later when going through the San Antonio International Airport, Canseco was once again selected for a pat-down.

“I did not see it as a coincidence,” he said. “I asked them why are you going to pat me down again, so we discussed it further and after discussing it further, they patted me down.”

However, before the discussion was over San Antonio Police Department officers were called to the security check point area.

Again, no one was cited.

TSA issued the I-Team the following statement about the incident:

“TSA incorporates random and unpredictable security measures throughout the airport. Once a passenger enters the screening process, they must complete it prior to continuing to a flight or secure area.”

Canseco said his experience illustrated changes in the airport security are needed.

“It is very important that Americans feel safe and secure as they travel in our nation’s airways – safe and secure from acts of terrorism and all that. But, I also think that TSA sometimes gets too aggressive, and it’s not just about me it’s about every American that goes through those TSA scanners.”

The I-Team requested video from TSA of both incidents. A TSA spokesperson said our request is being reviewed.

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Federal Class Action Lawsuit Filed On Behalf Of Women Sexually Assaulted While In Custody Of Texas Based US Immigration And Customs Enforcement (ICE) – 200 Reported In Custody Assaults In US Since 2007

TEXAS – A class-action lawsuit has been filed on behalf of three immigrant women who were allegedly sexually assaulted while in the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Texas, the American Civil Liberties Union said this week.

The ACLU, citing documents it said it had obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, said in a news release that there have been nearly 200 allegations of sexual abuse of immigration detainees jailed at detention facilities across the United States since 2007.

The ACLU release did not give dates of any of the alleged assaults, including those involving the three women who are plaintiffs in the class-action suit. The plaintiffs were identified only as Sarah Doe, Kimberly Doe and Raquel Doe “to protect them from further harm,” the ACLU said.

The alleged attacks occurred while the plaintiffs were being transported from the T. Don Hutto Family Residential Center in Taylor, Texas, to the airport or bus station in nearby Austin, the ACLU said.

Its release did not say where the class-action suit was filed Wednesday, but it said defendants include three ICE officials; Williamson County, Texas, where the Hutto facility is; the Corrections Corporation of America (CCA), a private prison company that manages the Hutto facility; the former facility administrator for Hutto; and a guard at the facility.

The lawsuit alleges that ICE along with Williamson County and the Corrections Corporation of America were “deliberately indifferent and willfully blind to the fact that (the guard named as a defendant) and other employees regularly violated the rule that detainees are not be transported without another escort officer of the same gender present,” the ACLU said.

ICE did not comment specifically on the ACLU’s announcement of the lawsuit, but an agency spokeswoman said ICE “maintains a strict zero tolerance policy for any kind of abusive or inappropriate behavior and requires all contractors working with the agency to adhere to this policy.”

ICE Public Affairs Officer Gillian Christensen added that the agency requires regular criminal backgrounds checks for its workforce.

“The (Department of Homeland Security) Office of the Inspector General and ICE’s Office of Professional Responsibility investigate ALL allegations of sexual abuse or misconduct and the agency takes appropriate action — whether it is pursuing criminal charges or administrative action — when those allegations are substantiated,” Christensen said in the ICE statement.

The Corrections Corporation of America did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the ACLU announcement.

The ACLU said it was basing its claim that there have been 185 allegations of sexual abuse in federal detention centers against female immigration detainees on various federal documents.

The documents — obtained from the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General, Office of Civil Rights and Civil Liberties and ICE, according to the ACLU — showed that Texas had more alleged abuse cases, 56, than any other state, the organization’s news release said.

“While the information gleaned from the documents likely does not represent the full scope of the problem given that sexual abuse is notoriously underreported, the documents nonetheless make clear that the sexual abuse of immigration detainees is not an isolated problem limited to a few rogue facilities or to a handful of bad-apple government contractors who staff some of the nation’s immigration jails,” the ACLU said.

“Unfortunately, we believe these complaints are just the tip of the iceberg,” said Mark Whitburn, senior staff attorney for the ACLU of Texas.

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Former Bergin Correctional Institution Deputy Warden Neal Kearney Sentenced To 30 Months In Connecticut Prison After Sexually Abusing A Male Inmate For Years

VERNON, CONNECTICUT –  A former deputy warden at a Connecticut prison has been sentenced to 30 months in prison for sexually assaulting an inmate in 2008.

Fifty-year-old Neal Kearney of Bloomfield, who also was once the cheerleading coach at the University of Connecticut, had pleaded guilty to one count of second-degree sexual assault last month.

The inmate told police that Kearney abused him for years at the Bergin Correctional Institution in Mansfield and coerced him into having sex after he was released from prison. Officials say the inmate had hidden evidence in the case in the prison, included a rubber glove containing Kearney’s DNA.

Kearney also was ordered to register as a sex offender after he is released.

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TSA Creator Says It Sucks, Dismantle It And Privatize Operations

WASHINGTON, DC – They’ve been accused of rampant thievery, spending billions of dollars like drunken sailors, groping children and little old ladies, and making everyone take off their shoes.

But the real job of the tens of thousands of screeners at the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is to protect Americans from a terrorist attack.

Yet a decade after the TSA was created following the September 11 attacks, the author of the legislation that established the massive agency grades its performance at “D-.”

“The whole program has been hijacked by bureaucrats,” said Rep. John Mica (R. -Fla.), chairman of the House Transportation Committee.

“It mushroomed into an army,” Mica said. “It’s gone from a couple-billion-dollar enterprise to close to $9 billion.”

As for keeping the American public safe, Mica says, “They’ve failed to actually detect any threat in 10 years.”

“Everything they have done has been reactive. They take shoes off because of [shoe-bomber] Richard Reid, passengers are patted down because of the diaper bomber, and you can’t pack liquids because the British uncovered a plot using liquids,” Mica said.

“It’s an agency that is always one step out of step,” Mica said.

It cost $1 billion just to train workers, which now number more than 62,000, and “they actually trained more workers than they have on the job,” Mica said.

“The whole thing is a complete fiasco,” Mica said.

In a wide-ranging interview with HUMAN EVENTS just days before the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, Mica said screeners should be privatized and the agency dismantled.

Instead, the agency should number no more than 5,000, and carry out his original intent, which was to monitor terrorist threats and collect intelligence.

The fledgling agency was quickly engulfed in its first scandal in 2002 as it rushed to hire 30,000 screeners, and the $104 million awarded to the company to contract workers quickly escalated to more than $740 million.

Federal investigators tracked those cost overruns to recruiting sessions held at swank hotels and resorts in St. Croix, the Virgin Islands, Florida and the Wyndham Peaks Resort and Golden Door Spa in Telluride, Colo.

Charges in the hundreds of thousands of dollars were made for cash withdrawals, valet parking and beverages, plus a $5.4 million salary for one executive for nine months of work.

Other over-the-top expenditures included nearly $2,000 for 20 gallons of Starbucks Coffee, $8,000 for elevator operators at a Manhattan hotel, and $1,500 to rent more than a dozen extension cords for the Colorado recruiting fair.

The agency inadvertently caused security gaps by failing for years to keep track of lost uniforms and passes that lead to restricted areas of airports.

Screeners have also been accused of committing crimes, from smuggling drugs to stealing valuables from passengers’ luggage. In 2004, several screeners were arrested and charged with stealing jewelry, computers and cameras, cash, credit cards and other valuables. One of their more notable victims was actress Shirley McClain, who was robbed of jewelry and crystals.

One of the screeners confessed that he was trying to steal enough to sell the items and buy a big-screen television.

In 2006, screeners at Los Angeles and Chicago O’Hare airports failed to find more than 60% of fake explosives during checkpoint security tests.

The sometimes rudder-less agency has gone through five administrators in the past decade, and it took longer than a year for President Obama to put his one man in place. Mica’s bill also blocked collective bargaining rights for screeners, but the Obama administration managed to reverse that provision.

Asked whether the agency should be privatized, Mica answered with a qualified yes.

“They need to get out of the screening business and back into security. Most of the screening they do should be abandoned,” Mica said. “I just don’t have a lot of faith at this point,” Mica said.

Allowing airports to privatize screening was a key element of Mica’s legislation and a report released by the committee in June determined that privatizing those efforts would result in a 40% savings for taxpayers.

“We have thousands of workers trying to do their job. My concern is the bureaucracy we built,” Mica said.

“We are one of the only countries still using this model of security,” Mica said, “other than Bulgaria, Romania, Poland, and I think, Libya.”

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Bill Passes Texas House Criminalizing Sexual Assault Style Seaches By TSA Agents

AUSTIN, TEXAS – The Texas House passed a bill that would make it a criminal offense for public servants to inappropriately touch travelers during airport security pat-downs.

Approved late Thursday night, the measure makes it illegal for anyone conducting searches to touch “the anus, sexual organ, buttocks, or breast of another person” including through clothing.

It also prohibits searches “that would be offensive to a reasonable person.”

The bill’s chief sponsor is Republican Rep. David Simpson, who said, “this has to do with dignity and travel, and prohibiting indecent, groping searches.”

He believes it will keep Transportation Security Administration officials from treating travelers like criminals, though the measure may be superseded by federal law.

After a brief but raucous debate, lawmakers approved the measure with little opposition — drawing applause from supporters.

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Texas Bill Would Criminalize Sexual Assaults By TSA Thugs After Agent Groped Former Miss America’s Vagina During “Pat-Down” Search

FORT WORTH, TEXAS — A former Miss USA’s claims of being groped during a pat-down at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport could be a felony under a bill gaining momentum in the Texas Legislature.

The bill would make it illegal for a security officer to intentionally touch someone’s private areas — even atop clothing — unless they have probable cause to believe the person is carrying something illegal.

Bill sponsor State Rep. David Simpson says the searches are removing people’s dignity.

Last fall the Transportation Security Administration started a new pat-down procedure.

Susie Castillo, crowned Miss USA in 2003, said she was “molested” during a pat-down last April.

TSA spokesman Nicholas Kimball says the agency doesn’t comment on pending legislation. He says current security measures are the best ways to mitigate the risk of terrorism.

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Dallas Texas TSA Agent Sexually Molested Former Miss America – Refused Body Scanner, Screener Fondled Her Vagina

DALLAS, TEXAS – In the video below, the former beauty queen who held the Miss America title in 2003, Susie Castillo, says a TSA “screener” fondled her vagina during an intrusive pat-down.

Ms. Castillo was subjected to the groping after she refused to enter a naked body scanner at the airport in Dallas, Texas.

In late 2010, the TSA put in place new procedure guidelines instructing agents to use their “palms and fingers” to “probe” airline customer bodies for hidden weapons, including breasts and other private parts.

On April 15, CNN reported that people who complain about naked body scanners and intrusive airport pat-downs will be investigated as terrorists and criminals.

Lawmakers around the country have introduced legislation designed to rollback the pat-downs after the public and airline employees voiced complaints. In March, legislation was introduced into the Texas House of Representatives directly challenging the authority of the TSA in airports within the state and specifically aimed at criminalizing the use of naked body scanners and enhanced pat-downs.

In November of 2010, chief deputy DA and incoming DA of San Mateo County Steve Wagstaffe told the Alex Jones Show his office will prosecute TSA employees who engage in lewd and lascivious behavior while conducting pat-downs at the San Francisco International Airport. Wagstaffe told Alex Jones that county police will be sent into the San Francisco International Airport. If they witness TSA employees engaged in criminal conduct, they will make arrests and the DA’s office will prosecute.

In January, former Minnesota governor Jesse Ventura launched a lawsuit against the TSA for subjecting him to humiliating pat-downs as he traveled for his work as the host of the popular TruTV show Conspiracy Theory. Ventura said that he would “no longer be forced by the TSA to prove he is not a criminal or terrorist.”

Earlier this week, Janet Napolitano, head of the Department of Homeland Security, said the TSA had the authority to conduct an intrusive pat-down on a six year old girl. “Parts of the pat down, in another setting, clearly constituted the kind of inappropriate touching that, if done by anyone else, would have resulted in charges of child abuse and sexual assault. The pat down even caused the little girl to cry, her parents later said in televised interviews,” writes J. D. Heyes.

In November, an Alex Jones employee related her experience with the TSA in Denver. Her children were subjected to the intrusive pat-down procedure.

Castillo is currently a spokeswoman for Neutrogena and has appeared on a number of television shows, including the ABC Family reality television series, America’s Prom Queen.

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Lawsuit Charges Denver Colorado TSA With Sexual Assault – TSA Agent Concentrated Only On Man’s Genitals After Trying To Force Man Into Body Scanner

DENVER, COLORADO – Geoff Biddulph of Berthoud, Colo. is a frequent flyer. He travels at least 30 times a year for business and has been “pat down” by airport security all across the world.

But he says he has never experienced anything like the pat down he got at Denver International Airport on April 5th.

“I felt like I was sexually assaulted,” he said.

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Biddulph says he was line at the security checkpoint waiting to go through the metal detector when a Transportation Security Administration agent tried to force him to go through the body scanner.

“A TSA agent literally started pushing me towards this other line,” he told us.

Biddulph asked the TSA agent why he was being moved, and that’s when he says the agent called a supervisor, threatened to kick him out of the airport and began an “inappropriate pat down.”

Biddulph says the TSA agent rubbed his groin area, buttocks and stuck his hand down his pants.

“He was only focused on my private parts,” Biddulph said.

Biddulph filed a report with Denver Police and filed a complaint with the TSA.

He received a response from a TSA customer service representative that said, in part, “I regret this incident and the rude behavior you have described is unacceptable. I have forwarded your report to our operations managers. I have asked them to investigate and act as appropriate.”

Still, Biddulph believes TSA needs to take a closer look at their pat down procedures.

“We have the right to reasonable search and seizures. This is not reasonable. It’s not reasonable to have somebody shoving his hands down your pants,” he said.

TSA spokesperson Carrie Harmon tells FOX 31 News they have received 898 complaints about pat downs from November 2010 to March of 2011.

She points out over 251 million people passed through the nation’s airports during that span of time.

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Veteran Durham North Carolina Police Officer Arrested, Suspended, Charged With On-Duty Kidnapping And Sexual Assault

DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA – A Durham police officer was arrested Friday afternoon on kidnapping and sexual assault charges. The alleged incident occurred on April 3 while the officer was on duty.

Sgt. Lester Rhodes is charged with first-degree kidnapping and first-degree sexual offense and has been transported to the Durham County Magistrate’s Office for processing.

“This is an ongoing investigation and we are not releasing further details at this time to avoid compromising the investigation,” Police Chief Jose L. Lopez Sr. said in a prepared statement.

Police began investigating after receiving a complaint.

“We’ll see how the investigation shakes out,” said City Manager Tom Bonfield.

Bonfield said the allegations taint a police department that has many dedicated and hard-working officers and employees.

“When a situation like like this happens, unfortunately it becomes a negative spillover on everybody,” he said.

Rhodes, 42, joined the Durham force in February 1996 and is currently assigned to the Patrol Bureau. He has been placed on administrative leave with pay.

He is the third Durham officer charged with breaking the law in recent months. In early December, Officer Kevin A. Stewart was charged with driving while impaired while he was on duty. Stewart was fired shortly thereafter. A few days later, Officer L.A. Harvey was charged with running a red light after he collided with another vehicle while answering a call.

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Niles Indiana Police Officer Ivery Cross Arraigned – Charged With Sexually Assaulting Teen Inmate – Family Shows Up In Court And Causes A Scene

NILES, INDIANA — It was a tumultuous scene Thursday outside Berrien County Trial Court in Niles where supporters and family members of Ivery Cross, a Niles police officer accused of the sexual assault of a 19-year-old inmate in the holding facility at the Niles Law Enforcement Complex, gathered following Cross’s arraignment.

Mary Cross, the officer’s mother and one of the few family members who was willing to identify herself, shouted several times that her son is innocent as Mark Coulston, the Trial Court bailiff, attempted to move the angry group of roughly 40 people outside into the parking lot.

“I don’t believe it,’’ she said, apparently referring to the charges authorized Wednesday against her son, who’s black. “This is a prejudiced town and a prejudiced court.’’

Others took the media to task for their coverage of the high-profile case, yelling at cameramen and other media representatives that they’d “already lynched’’ Cross. One woman who seemed to support that position leveled criticism as well at the county’s criminal justice system, shouting that her mother had been raped several years ago and that the perpetrator had been allowed to go free.

That woman, too, refused to identify herself, as did yet another woman who had to be restrained as she shouted at TV cameramen and reporters.

In court, Cross, 25, a life-long Niles resident and a member of the city’s police department for a little more than two years, hugged family members and supporters prior to his appearance before Schofield. He was represented by R. McKinley Elliott, who told Schofield he was filling in for another attorney who had a conflict.

Neither Elliott nor Steve Pierangeli, a Berrien assistant prosecutor, asked Schofield to recuse himself based on the judge’s previous dealings with Cross in his role as a police officer. Neither did Elliott object when Pierangeli asked the judge to order Cross to turn over his uniform, weapons and other police equipment, to have no contact with the Niles schools where he had worked as an assistant football coach and to impose a curfew.

But Elliott did object when Pierangeli asked that Cross’ $25,000 bond, which he posted Saturday, be increased to $250,000. Pierangeli asked for the higher bond based on the “serious nature’’ of the charges — 1st degree criminal sexual conduct (digital penetration), three counts of 2nd degree criminal sexual conduct (contact with genitals and a buttock) and one count of misconduct of office. The 1st degree charge is punishable by a maximum of life in prison.

Despite Elliott’s objections, Schofield agreed to the $250,000 bond but said Cross could post $100,000 should he submit to home tether. One of Cross’ supporters shouted to the media in the parking lot that they’d have the money raised by this morning.

Cross is scheduled to have a pre-exam conference on Thursday. His preliminary exam is set for April 12.

Suspended by the department without pay, Cross stands accused of assaulting the teenager in a bathroom at the LEC’s holding facility on March 17. The teen had been picked up on a charge of possession of marijuana.

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Greeley Colorado Police Officer Daniel Shepherd Arrested, Charged With Sexually Assaulting Female Teen Motorist

GREELEY, COLORADO — A Greeley police officer was charged Thursday with sexual assault, accused of molesting a teen girl during a traffic stop.

Daniel Shepherd, 28, was arrested last Friday at the police department. Shepherd was charged with one felony count of sexual assault and one count of official oppression.

According to the arrest affidavit, the incident occurred on March 13 at 20th Street and 28th Avenue in Greeley.

The girl told police that she was asked to leave a party after she got drunk and started yelling at other people.

She said the officer called to the party — Shepherd — told her to go home. When she said she would wait for her sister to give her a ride, the officer walked her to her car and started the car for her, even though she was obviously drunk, according to the affidavit.

The teen said she drove a bit and then pulled over to the side of the road, thinking the officer was following her. She said she didn’t see him so she drove off again, just to be stopped by Shepherd minutes later.

Once she got out of the car and had her facing the car, the officer held her hands behind her back with one of his hands, grabbed her breasts and put his hands down the front of her pants, she said in the affidavit.

“She said she felt trapped during the patdown and felt if she wouldn’t have quickly grabbed her phone and called her sister, it would have gotten worse … She felt the officer could have raped her if she hadn’t called her sister,” detectives wrote in the affidavit.

When the officer told her she was too drunk to drive and asked, “What should we do about this?” she felt his question was a strong hint for a sexual favor.

While she was on the phone with her sister, the teen suddenly realized that the officer who had just stopped her had left.

The teen was never ticketed or cited.

When investigators first questioned Shepherd, he denied pulling her over and said that he only had contact with her at the party.

An electronic device confirmed Shepherd’s car was stationary at the alleged assault location for five minutes. Shepherd later admitted he did stop the teen but denied groping her.

Shepherd is out on $50,000 bond and due in court next month.

He has been a police officer for three years.

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2 Veteran Chicago Illinois Police Officers Arrested, Suspended, And Under Investigation For On-Duty Sexual Assault

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS – Two Chicago police officers are under criminal investigation amid explosive allegations they played strip poker with a young woman and sexually assaulted her in her Far North Side apartment while on duty early Wednesday.

At a news conference, an outraged Terry Hillard, the interim police superintendent, noted he is a father before calling the officers’ conduct “inappropriate. You just can’t justify it.” He referred to the allegations as “heinous criminal activity.”

Hillard said at least one of the officers allegedly sexually assaulted the woman. The officers were arrested later Wednesday and questioned at Belmont Area headquarters with legal counsel present before being released without charges.

The criminal inquiry continues as investigators collect “evidence and forensics,” Hillard said. Cook County prosecutors have been notified about the allegations. In the meantime, the 10-year veterans were relieved of police powers and put on administrative duty, he said.

The alleged sexual assault took place at the woman’s Rogers Park apartment, several miles from the Town Hall District, where the two officers were assigned to work patrol duties on the overnight shift.

The uniformed officers, driving a marked police SUV, had offered the 22-year-old woman a ride as she walked near Wrigley Field, crying and upset after drinking and arguing with a male friend, according to a police report.

According to the report, the woman said she accepted, and while they were en route to her residence, she had sex with one officer in a passenger seat. At her apartment, the three of them played strip poker, and she again had sex with one of the officers.

But she told police she began to feel intimidated and was afraid to refuse their sexual advances, according to the report. She said she pounded on the wall to get her neighbor’s attention and later got up and ran screaming out of the apartment. A neighbor saw her and called police about 3 a.m. The woman was treated at St. Francis Hospital in Evanston.

Another neighbor contacted by the Tribune said he opened his door after hearing the commotion and saw a naked man running down the hall and another man who may have been wearing a police uniform.

Detectives found a cell phone belonging to one of the officers as well as parts of the officers’ uniforms in the woman’s apartment, according to police sources.

Hillard, a retired superintendent who was appointed to the interim post until Mayor-elect Rahm Emanuel names a permanent successor, bristled when asked about reports that the alleged victim was drunk and may have first had consensual sex with one of the officers before the alleged assault.

“I’m a father,” he said after a pause. “I also used to be a policeman before I retired. … Inappropriate. You can’t justify it.”

At another point, Hillard said whether the woman was drunk “has nothing to do with the case.”

“If proven true, these officers will fully be held accountable and punished,” he said. “I will not tolerate this type of behavior. The Chicago Police Department will not tolerate this type of behavior.”

Police Department records show both officers are 38 years old and were hired in 2001. They’ve worked for at least the last three years in the Town Hall District, which encompasses parts of the Lincoln Park, Lakeview and Uptown neighborhoods.

Neither officer has had any cases before the Chicago Police Board, which hears appeals of disciplinary suspensions of six to 30 days as well as cases in which the superintendent moves to fire an officer, according to Max Caproni, its executive director.

This is not the first time a Chicago police officer allegedly committed a sexual assault while on duty. Sgt. John Herman was convicted and sentenced to 25 years in prison for allegedly raping a woman at her South Side apartment in 2004 after giving her a ride home.

But in a unanimous decision last month, the Illinois Appellate Court threw out Herman’s conviction, saying the alleged victim’s crack-cocaine habit as well as inconsistencies in her testimony shed serious doubt on her credibility.

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Former Calumet County Wisconsin Prosecutor Ken Kratz Not Charged After Racy Text Messages To Domestic Assault Victim – More Than A Dozen Woman Reported Sexual Assault And Misconduct

MADISON, WISCONSIN –  A former prosecutor accused of sending racy text messages to a domestic abuse victim is not going to face criminal charges, the Wisconsin Justice Department announced Monday.

State investigators looked into allegations from more than a dozen women that former Calumet County District Attorney Ken Kratz committed sexual assault and misconduct in office, the department said.

“His conduct appears to fit the connotation of ‘misconduct’ and demonstrates inappropriate behavior but does not satisfy the elements required to prosecute,” wrote Assistant Attorney General Tom Storm, who led the investigation.

Kratz’s attorney, Robert Bellin, said he was pleased with the decision. He said his office is investigating whether people lied to hurt Kratz.

“I think it’s obviously the right decision,” Bellin said of the decision not to file charges. “I don’t think we were that worried about it. We think that there were statements from individuals who came forward who were not completely truthful.”

Kratz resigned from his $105,000 per year position in October after The Associated Press reported he had sent 30 text messages to a domestic abuse victim trying to strike up an affair while he prosecuted her ex-boyfriend on a strangulation charge. Kratz, who was 50 at the time, called 26-year-old Stephanie Van Groll “a hot nymph” and asked if she was “the kind of girl that likes secret contact with an older married DA.”

Van Groll complained to police and Kratz was removed from the case. The Justice Department investigated at the time but decided not to file charges. Kratz was instead ordered to self-report the messages to the Office of Lawyer Regulation, a separate state entity that reviews attorneys’ conduct. The office declined to discipline Kratz, saying he hadn’t violated any rules.

Pressure mounted on Kratz to resign after Van Groll’s allegations became public. Then-Gov. Jim Doyle began removal procedures against him and other people began coming forward with accusations. The Justice Department and the lawyer regulation office both reopened investigations.

The Justice Department on Monday released its case summary, which said 15 women, including Van Groll, filed complaints against Kratz.

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Cleveland Ohio Corrections Officer Arrested, Charged With Sexually Assaulting A Male Inmate

CLEVELAND, OHIO – Highland Hills Police have arrested a 32-year-old Cleveland correction officer for the alleged sexual assault of a male inmate.

Authorities say the incident happened at the House of Correction on Northfield Road in Highland Hills Friday.

Cleveland Police Sgt. Sammy Morris tells Fox 8 News, “The police investigation was initiated following a complaint by a 24-year-old inmate. Upon receipt of the complaint, Assistant Director Bounds immediately notified Highland Hills who responded to the scene and initiated the investigation.”

According to Sgt. Morris, if the correction officer is charged with a crime, he will be suspended from duty, without pay, pending the outcome of the case.

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Greely Colorado Police Officer Daniel Shepherd Arrested, Suspended, And Charged With Sexually Assaulting Teen Female Motorist

GREELEY, COLORADO – Greeley police have arrested an officer accused of inappropriately touching a 19-year-old woman during a pat-down search.

Police Chief Jerry Garner says 28-year-old Daniel Shepherd pulled the woman over around 5:15 a.m. March 13 after police were called to a party she had attended. Garner says others at the party said she was too drunk and needed to leave. Investigators allege Shepherd pulled her over after following her from the party.

Shepherd is on administrative leave. He was arrested Friday on suspicion of felony sexual assault and official oppression. His bond was set at $50,000.

Shepherd has an unlisted phone number, and it wasn’t known if he has an attorney who could comment on his behalf.

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El Paso Texas Police Officer Zake Rivera Arrested, Charged With On Duty Sexual Assault

EL PASO, TEXAS — A 29-year-old El Paso police officer has been arrested after a woman accused him of sexually assaulting her.

A police department statement says Officer Zake Rivera and another officer responded to a domestic disturbance call on Jan. 23. After separating the two parties involved, Rivera was left alone with the victim, who later reported the alleged assault.

Internal Affairs detectives investigating the case received evidence on Thursday that prompted them to obtain an arrest warrant for Rivera, a 4-year department veteran. He was booked into the El Paso County Jail and released after posting a bond of $25,000.

The statement says the department has begun termination proceedings for Rivera. Jail records show no attorney listed for Rivera.

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