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

The reporter, in this case, spins the story to evoke outrage from her/his readers that an enraged father could be held responsible for his premeditated and vicious attack on a man he suspected of molesting his daughter.

This has been a recurring trope in America for some time now, possibly starting with the thuggish Ellie Nessler's execution style murder of her sons "molester" within the very courtroom where he was being tried, nearly twenty years ago.

After serving just three years in prison for shooting her victim five times in the head, she returned to her life as a low-level methamphetamine dealer and mother of a nearly grown-up career criminal and soon-to-be murderer in his own right (he stomped a man to death whom he had hired to clean up his family's property).

But according to her supporters, who were, and still are, legion, she should have, instead, received a handsome reward for summarily executing a "child molester".

Largely unacknowledged is the transformation of the American public into an angry, vengeance-seeking mob who have become convinced by their leaders and their journalists that mob-violence and summary execution are perfectly reasonable propositions for securing justice. The media, through outrageously biased "realistic" crime shows, and journalistically bankrupt news magazines and cable news shows, have continuously communicated to the public that real justice is denied them through the courts.

Even the concept of rights have been redefined to include special "victim's rights" and since all virtuous people are now imbued with these emergent rights, they now see the traditional rights of the accused in direct conflict with their own "victim's rights" and demand those of the accused be degraded relative to their own.

And it isn't just the U.S. anymore. It's the U.K., Australia and even The Netherlands.

Marthijn Uittenbogaard, a controversial Dutchman who argued against that country's raising of the age-of-consent laws and who has argued for its abolition, has been continually hounded, harassed, assaulted and had his house vandalized by those who apparently believe that he should not have the right to speak or even to exist, despite his having committed no crime.

This is a very dangerous path which the U.S. has trod and which the rest of world is now following.

http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_18492755?IADID=Search-www.mercurynews.com-www.mercurynews.com

Petition forces parliamentary debate on "Martijn" in The Netherlands

The previously "tolerant" Dutch nation is quickly erasing any traces of their legendary open-mindedness. U.S.-style sting operations and unprovoked searches are the new face of Dutch justice.

The group "Vereniging Martijn", is being subjected to escalating levels of legal harassment and vigilante violence.

Yesterday, one of the group's spokespersons, Marthijn Uittenbogaard, had the front window of his house smashed by rocks and ammonia was poured through his mail slot.

Previously, he has been physically assaulted and receives almost daily threats. A motorcycle gang recently held a large protest in front of his house.

So far, the police show little interest in affording him the same protections that it provides to Geert Wilders or, previously, to Ayan Hirsi Ali, despite continuous threats to his life.

http://www.dutchnews.nl/news/archives/2011/07/petition_forces_parliamentary.php

Why is the government doing so little to end sexual assault in prisons?

The short answer, of course, is that they don't care. They really, really don't.

http://reason.com/archives/2011/06/20/rape-factories

Family Extorts Paedophile of more than £50,000

THREE members of a family extorted more than £50,000 from a convicted paedophile by threatening to expose his sordid past.

Liverpool crown court heard their victim had turned his life around and had a good job after serving a jail sentence for indecently assaulting young boys in 1983.

But his life was thrown into turmoil after social services revealed his criminal past to his new “friends” – parents-of-six Kerry Edwards, 31, and her husband Leslie Johnson, 32, in June 2007.

Keith Sutton, prosecuting, told how over the next year the couple, and Johnson’s brother Edward Lawler, 38, threatened, intimidated and blackmailed him into handing over his life savings.

During the conspiracy, the scheming relatives sent “sackfuls” of threatening letters, warning their victim he would “leave in a body bag” if he refused to pay up.

Mr Sutton also told how he was marched to a cash machine in the middle of the night to hand over cash, while on another occasion he was assaulted and ordered to pay for a flat-screen TV and a child’s motorbike.

Judge David Boulton said when their victim eventually ran out of cash, a “wholly put up” allegation of child sexual abuse was made against him to police and he was arrested. It was only when he was released without charge he finally revealed the plot against him.

Judge Boulton said: “It was only when he was released he had the courage to produce sackfuls of letters which showed precisely what you had been up to over that year or so.

“It was little short of despicable.

“The threats were not only to reveal his previous convictions, which he had managed over the years to put behind him, but to threaten him with violence.

“One graphically put it that if he did not pay he would ‘leave in a body bag’.”

Judge Boulton told the gang blackmail was one of the “most vicious crimes in the calendar of criminal offences”.

He jailed Edwards, of Rappart Road, Wallasey, who pleaded guilty to conspiracy to blackmail, to five years and four months.

Johnson, of Naples Road, Wallasey, and Lawler, of Balls Road, Prenton, who were convicted by jurors, were put behind bars for eight years each.

Barristers defending the men told how they maintained their denials, with Johnson putting the blame on his wife.

But Judge Boulton said they were found guilty on the “most powerful of evidence”.

Hand-writing analysis revealed Edwards had written many of the threatening letters, but Judge Boulton said he suspected she was not the “instigator”.

Mr Sutton told the court how a statement from their diabetic victim revealed how their crimes had left him financially ruined and afraid to leave his house.

He had become friends with Johnson and Lawler after moving to Merseyside in 2003 and had even loaned them up to £10,000.

But Judge Boulton said the family had “no prospect whatsoever” of repaying the cash and then, after learning of his background, used it as a “weapon” against him.

Gareth Bellis, defending Johnson, who has 20 previous convictions, said: “He denies any involvement in this offence as per his interview and his evidence-in-chief during the trial when he said this was Kerry Edwards’ doing.”

David Watson, defending Lawler, said his client only became involved at a much later stage, adding: “It seems clear Edward Lawler was not present at the inception of this offence.”

Lawler has 84 previous convictions, including 46 for theft.

'That paedo is going to get it': Drunken vigilante's threat to police moments before he knifed child porn suspect to death

Victim: Geoffrey Harries, a former policeman charged with child pornography offences, was allegedly stabbed to death by Daniel Williams

A former police officer facing child porn charges was stabbed to death by a drunken neighbour, a court heard today.

Geoffrey Harries, 49, died after Daniel Williams attacked him in the street with a heavy-duty hunting knife,a jury was told.

Williams, 30, had drunkenly boasted to police that he was going to 'get' Harries moments before carrying out the crime.

'That paedo is going to get it. I'm going to have him,' he reportedly told officers. 'If you don't do something about it then I will.'

Brutal Murderer Of Sex Offender Sentenced

U.K.

A Macclesfield dad of three has been jailed for life for brutally murdering his 60-year-old flatmate after learning he was a convicted paedophile.

Ex-butcher [Ed: I'd say that he's a "current" butcher] Lea Mason, 33, formerly of Turnock Street, will serve a minimum of 17 and a half years after launching a "violent and frenzied attack" on his victim.

Mason used knives to stab, and a frying pan to bludgeon, Darren Presley – until they bent or broke – then stamped on his head, which left "huge gaping holes" and soaked the killer’s trainers in blood, a judge heard.

Mason and co-defendant Stephen Brian Kidd, 37, originally from Stoke, both pleaded guilty to murder at Preston Crown Court and were sentenced last Thursday (January 22).

Mason was a thug well-known to police in Macclesfield through a string of violent offences stretching back 15 years.

He admitted the murder after being captured by police in Blackpool.

Lottery winner attacked; one man taken into custody

Ed: Usually, the envy one feels when someone other than you wins the lottery does not extend to actual physical assault. But as we know, when that "someone else" is a sex offender, some feel compelled to express both their hatred of sex offenders as well as their jealousy and fury, in a very different way. Never mind that the sex offender bought the lottery ticket and took his chances just like everyone else. Anything he might do, even though it be something that everyone else is free to do, can be used, in this case LITERALLY, as a club against him. Jews in Nazi Germany were attacked with impunity on the streets by resentful "Aryans" who had been thoroughly programmed to despise them and their alleged wealth and power. Prior to the mass deportations to the death camps, Jews were increasingly and systematically excluded from taking part in much of German society. They were barred from schools, parks, buses and trams, universities, government offices, swimming pools, and much more. Without exagerrating, one can say that the sex offender in America today is facing an identical oppression. ]

The winner of the state's first half-million dollar lottery was severely beaten on a downtown street Tuesday afternoon by a man wielding a tire iron or metal pipe, according to Anchorage police.

Police say Alec Ahsoak, 53, was attacked in the 400 block of D Street at about 3:30 p.m. when a man, accompanied by two women, approached him to ask if he was the man who won the $500,000 jackpot.

Whether the attack was motivated by Ahsoak's winning the lottery, which was held to benefit an advocacy group for sexual abuse victims, or the widely distributed reports that Ahsoak is a three-time convicted sex-offender was unclear.

"There was no apparent attempt at robbery," police Lt. Dave Parker said. "He was struck eight to 10 times, and then he threw his Pepsi at the assailant and he ran for Phyllis' Cafe and the assailant ran off."

By Tuesday evening, Ahsoak had been discharged from the hospital. In a show-up, Ahsoak identified the suspect as his attacker, but the man in custody had not yet been charged with a crime, Parker said. Police had also identified one of the two women and were treating her as a witness, Parker said.

Ahsoak told officers he had been stopped by a white man believed to be about 21 and wearing a blue and white checked shirt, blue jeans and a white baseball cap as he entered the 5th Avenue Mall. The stranger asked if he was the lottery winner, and Ahsoak said he was, then went into the mall.

When he walked out minutes later carrying a Pepsi, the man approached him, saying nothing more, and began hitting him on the head with the weapon, police said.

"Oh my God, I was so afraid something was going to happen to him," said Nancy Haag, executive director of Standing Together Against Rape, the nonprofit that benefitted from the lottery. "I'm just very sorry to hear that this has happened. ... Nobody deserves to be a victim of any kind of violence, and that's our stand."

Ahsoak was transported to a local hospital to be treated for his injuries, which did not appear to be life-threatening, police said.

"There were injuries to his head -- lacerations, that kind of stuff," Parker said. "Nobody knows how bad it is until doctors do their job, but he was talking and able to communicate with the officers."

There were "loads of witnesses" to the attack, but none of them were immediately able to identify the man, Parker said. It did not immediately appear that the attack had been caught on any surveillance cameras, he said.

The lottery, billed as the first of its kind, was conducted under Alaska law that allows games of chance that benefit a charity. The charity must get at least 10 percent of what's left after the prize is paid out, and organizers have estimated STAR stands to get between $2,000 and $20,000.

Ahsoak claimed $350,000 in prize money after taxes, and, the day he came forward, pledged to give $100,000 of it to STAR, the owner of Lucky Times, Abe Spicola, has said. Spicola did not return a call seeking comment Tuesday.

Ahsoak came forward as the lottery winner Saturday, and reports that he is a convicted sex offender were soon publicized by KTUU Channel 2 News and picked up by other outlets, including the Daily News. By Monday, Ahsoak's victims were telling the media they thought Ahsoak should not benefit from the lottery, which was conducted by Lucky Times Pull Tabs to benefit the nonprofit Standing Together Against Rape.

Asked whether the media should have publicized that Asoak was a convicted sex offender, Haag said, "I think it put him, obviously, at greater risk because there are people who like to take justice into their own hands."

Ahsoak was convicted in 1993 of molesting two girls under the age of 13 and sentenced to four years in prison, according to court records.

Police arrested him again in March 2000 for molesting a different young girl he was baby-sitting. He was sentenced to six years in prison on a single count of sexual abuse of a minor in a plea deal that took another sex abuse charge and a charge of failing to register as a sex offender off the table.

Ashoak has finished his time in prison and is now on probation, but he is registered as a sex offender on a state-run public database. He told KTUU on Saturday that he's worked hard to turn his life around and has been in treatment for the past year.

A message left on the cell phone of Ahsoak's attorney was not returned Tuesday.

In reports that began surfacing Monday, some of Ahsoak's victims and their parents expressed an interest in suing him since he won the lottery, saying the money should go to his victims instead of benefitting a convicted sex offender.

One victim, who was molested in the early 1990s while Ahsoak, a family friend, was staying at her home, said Tuesday she thinks Ahsoak should not have gotten the money, especially since the money benefits STAR. But it was out of her hands and she doesn't think she'll sue, said the woman.

"I'm in shock that happened. That's terrible," she said upon hearing of the attack. "I don't wish that on anybody. The only thing I wished for him is that he would get better. ... I just think it's crazy the way that everything happened."

Find James Halpin online at adn.com/contact/jhalpin or call him at 257-4589. 

Prosecutor: Accused Sex Offender Died While Fleeing Vigilante Gang

[Ed: The U.K. continues to lead the world in levels of unbridled hysteria over sex offenders with mob justice becoming increasingly more common.

I find it interesting that the English, renowned for their historically harsh mistreatment, both physical and psychological, of their children and, of course, their stoicism, can become so irrational when the topic turns to kids and sex.

The Queen herself and Prince Phillip are reported to have treated their own children with an icy coldness which would be almost unimaginable today. And this was a model loosely emulated down the ladder of class which, upon arriving at its bottom, frequently took the form of actual child-beating.

Of course, I must hasten to add that, over the last several decades, major cultural shifts have occurred in the British Isles and that parental treatment of children has vastly improved. That the froideur reserved for children in the past has become an anachronism in today's Britain, is certainly to the good and laudable.

But there are other characteristics, admirable qualities, which have diminished as well and I rather miss them. There was a rationalism and objectivity which seem to have completely vanished amongst the paroxysms of grief expressed in the aftermath of Princess Diana's death. And, as in the States, the freedom of children to roam about unchaperoned by fussing adults has virtually disappeared. And then there's the blind rage which we see now today when the subject turns to "paedophiles".

I wonder if these cultural shifts are somehow connected. One thing I am sure of: television has something to do with it. ]

A British man suspected of sexually abusing a teen fell to his death while trying to run from a group of five vigilantes, a prosecutor said Thursday.

Several individual showed up at the apartment of 44-year-old Scott Campbell in July 2008, hours after a 13-year-old boy claimed Campbell sexually assaulted him, the Manchester Evening News reported. Prosecutor Peter Cadwallader told a Manchester Crown Court that the group was armed with a variety of weapons, including a baseball bat, hammer and bicycle chain.

Campbell was able to close his door before the group could force their way in to his second floor apartment and tried to climb over his balcony in an attempt to escape as the gang banged on his front door, the Daily Mail newspaper reported. But he lost his grip on a rail and fell to the ground, dying instantly.

The five suspects allegedly tried to hide their weapons from CCTV cameras, which also captured Campbell's death.

"The only sensible conclusion is that they intended to give the man a beating,” the Manchester Evening News quoted Cadwallader as saying. “This was a vigilante group seeking revenge.”

The five suspects have been charged with manslaughter.

Guilty plea avoids trial for mother who beat offender

The new neighbor was a convicted sex offender, so Tammy Lee Gibson attacked him with an aluminum baseball bat.

Gibson, a Pierce County resident, pleaded guilty Monday to third-degree assault stemming from the incident on June 16 of last year. It was a plea bargain, reduced from original charges of second-degree assault and felony harassment.

Gibson, 40, faces up to eight months in jail. Her sentencing is set for for Feb. 27 in Pierce County Superior Court.

Deputy prosecutor Sunni Ko said the guilty plea resolves a case that could have turned into a tricky trial. Initial police reports of the incident said the victim, William Allen Baldwin, might have suffered a broken arm. He didn’t.

Charging papers said Gibson saw fliers announcing that Baldwin, a Level 3 sex offender, had moved into the 7900 block of River Road East to live with a relative. Gibson, armed with the small aluminum bat, went to the address and knocked. Baldwin answered the door.

Gibson accused him of molesting her children. Baldwin hadn’t. Gibson started swinging.

Ko said a trial would have raised several questions. Would the small bat qualify as a deadly weapon? Would a jury sympathize with Gibson, allegedly a crime victim in the past?

“That could certainly sway a juror,” Ko said. “We took a lot of that into consideration. This is a plea to a felony, which still recognizes this person who was assaulted.” 

Threatens To Expose Man As Paedophile, Then Kills Man's Children

[Ed: Who does he think he is? Janet Reno? ]

Queensland, Australia
A JUDGE will listen to a secret recording of Max Sica allegedly being told by his father to flee Queensland, before he decides whether to let the accused triple-murderer out on bail.

The prosecution told the Supreme Court in Brisbane yesterday that police had taped a conversation between Mr Sica and his father, Carlos, in September, 2006.

Mr Sica's father allegedly tells his son: "You go get yourself a ticket and get yourself out of here before it happens ... we can't do airport."

The tape allegedly contains evidence that Mr Sica was planning to go to Western Australia.

Mr Sica, 38, of Toorbul, north of Brisbane, was charged with three counts of murder four days ago, almost six years after allegedly killing his former girlfriend and two of her siblings.

The bodies of Neelma, 24, Kunal, 18, and Sidhi Singh, 12, were found at their family home in Bridgeman Downs, Brisbane on April 22, 2003.

Mr Sica is a former neighbour.

He applied for bail yesterday, represented by Michael Byrne, QC. He was not in court.

Mr Byrne argued that the conversation was more than two years ago and his client had not fled.

Justice James Douglas said now Mr Sica had been charged and faced a potentially heavy sentence if found guilty, there was a greater risk.

"I regard it (the tape) as significant," he said.

Mr Byrne said there was 'no logical or lawful basis' for bail to be refused, referring to the prosecution case as 'somewhat tenuous'.

During the bail application, Mr Byrne referred to an argument between Mr Sica and the father of the Singh children which took place weeks before the children were killed.

Mr Sica allegedly accused Vijay Singh of being a pedophile and of mistreating his children.

Mr Sica allegedly said: "I can cave your head in right now, you are a (expletive) pedophile ... I'll come here myself with the (expletive) cops and send you to jail."

Mr Byrne asked for an adjournment and that the tapes relating to Mr Sica being a flight risk be provided to the court so they could be put in proper context before bail was determined.

Director of Public Prosecutions Tony Moynihan, SC, said Mr Sica's defence team had wanted the matter brought on early and for them to seek an adjournment was 'absurd'.

Justice Douglas adjourned the hearing until January 27.

A committal mention date has been set for the Supreme Court in Brisbane on March 16.

Before closing the court yesterday, Justice Douglas warned Mr Sica's lawyer, Kerry Smith Douglas, of contempt of court if she continued making comments to the media which might be prejudicial after Ms Smith Douglas said the charges had been 'trumped up'.

"These are very serious charges, they must be tried fairly in the courts, not in the media," said Justice Douglas.

Outside the court, Carlos Sica wanted to say his son was innocent.

"If I knew my son did that, I'd kill him myself," he said.

Mr Sica said his son had been persecuted by the police and media.

"God witnessed who killed those kids," he said.

Stab murder man was sex offender

B.B.C. U.K.
Andrew Cunningham suffered stab injuries to his head, neck and chest A man found stabbed to death in a "frenzied" attack was a convicted child sex offender, it has been revealed.

Andrew Cunningham, 52, was found dead in his caravan in Riverside Road in Earlsfield, south London, on Wednesday.

A post-mortem examination said the cause of death was multiple wounds including mutilation of the groin.

Mr Cunningham who worked as a lorry driver, was convicted of a sex attack on a girl under the age of 16 in 2001, police sources said.

Scotland Yard sources said Mr Cunningham had recently been taken off the sex offenders' register.

Police do not know how many people may have been involved in the attack, which they described as "frenzied".

Mr Cunningham had been stabbed numerous times in the head, neck and body and his groin area was mutilated.

Det Chief Insp Nick Scola, leading the investigation, said: "We're currently at an early stage in our inquiries and are keeping an open mind about the circumstances of this man's death."

He appealed for anyone in the area on Tuesday night or early Wednesday morning to contact police.

Teesside mum fears she has been mistakenly linked to a paedophile

Dec 1 2008 Evening Gazette

A Stockton mum-of-three fears her window was smashed because she shares the same surname as a sex offender on her street.

But Colleen Waterhouse says she is no relation to Andrew Peter Waterhouse, who is facing jail this week for spying on teenage girls as they undressed at a swimming pool.

The mum was just getting ready to go to work when a missile was thrown through her living room window at around 4.30pm on Friday, November 21.

“I just heard a big crack,” she said. “I opened the blinds and the front pane had gone. It was a bit of a shock.

“My children were in the room. My little girl was very upset and my youngest son was shaken up. But when I went outside I couldn’t see anybody.”

Colleen, who works at the University Hospital of North Tees, lives with her three children, James, 11, Matthew, nine, and Elizabeth, three, on Etherley Walk, Hardwick, Stockton.

She said when police came to investigate the incident they told her she may have been mistakenly targeted for having the same surname as Andrew Peter Waterhouse.

“They thought that was the reason for this. I’d never had any problems before his court case,” she said.

As reported, Andrew Waterhouse, who also lives in Etherley Walk, admitted voyeurism when he appeared at Teesside Magistrates’ Court last month and is awaiting sentencing on Wednesday.

The court heard the 42-year-old used a shaving mirror to spy on a group of girls aged 13 and 14 as they undressed at Splash swimming baths, in Stockton, on November 3.

Upstate man arrested in sex offender's fatal stabbing

JOHNSTOWN, N.Y. (AP) - An upstate man is charged with second-degree murder in the fatal stabbing of another man in Gloversville.

Registered sex offender Raymond Pike was found dead on a bridge on the Rail Trail on August 15th. He'd been stabbed multiple times.

Randy Green was arrested later. On Monday, he was indicted on six counts.

Police say Green, Pike and another man were walking on the trail when Green pulled out a hunting knife and stabbed Pike. The two had been arguing throughout the day and police say Green claims the argument was over a stash of child pornography Pike allegedly had. Investigators found no evidence of child porn in Pike's home.

After the stabbing, authorities say Green went to a camp on Great Sacandaga Lake and tried to burn his clothing and the hunting knife. 

Probation ordered in beating of Appleton Sex Offender

APPLETON — A 22-year-old Appleton man, who attacked another man because he was a registered sex offender, was placed on probation Friday for 18 months.

Outagamie County Circuit Judge Dee Dyer imposed and stayed a one-year jail sentence for David T. Starkey, who was convicted of disorderly conduct and bail jumping.

At a Nov. 5 jury trial, Starkey was found not guilty of the more serious charge of substantial battery but was found guilty on the misdemeanor charges.

"I am really sorry for everything that happened," Starkey said.

Starkey beat a 33-year-old Appleton man on Aug. 30, 2007. Starkey had targeted the victim because of his status as a registered sex offender, according to the criminal complaint.

The victim required hospitalization for treatment of extensive facial injuries and lost teeth.

[Ed: So, here's a clear illustration of how we, as a society, ajudge two different kinds of criminals. On the one hand, we think that a demonstrably violent crime in which the perpetrator beats the victim, a registered sex offender (having located him on the sex offender website), so severely that he is hospitalized and "loses teeth," warrants probation and not jail time. On the other hand, the man he has beaten was reported to have been convicted 15 or more years ago for having consensual sex with his then-14 year old girlfriend. He was 19 at the time. And yet he is still required to wear the scarlet letter of "sex offender".  The message couldn't be more clear: maim or kill a sex offender and it will be as if you had attacked a subhuman who is worth far less than the rest of society. This is comparable to the value that the Jim Crow south placed upon "nigger" lives. ]

Vigilante hunted down alleged paedophile

County Durham, U.K.

A vigilante who armed herself with a large kitchen knife to attack an alleged paedophile has been spared jail.

Michelle Smith said she was "going to kill" the Sunderland man who she believed had been involved in a sexual offence against a child, and also his partner.

Newcastle Crown Court heard how the potential victims of the knife attack were not at home and Smith was arrested when a neighbour contacted the police.

The 39-year-old told officers: "I took a large knife with me.

"I was going to stick them both.

"He's not going to get away with it.

"I was going to kill both of them, I had a lot of vodka to drink to give me courage."

Smith, of Patrick Crescent, South Hetton, admitted having an offensive weapon.

Defence barrister Julian Smith said Smith was drunk when the incident happened.

Mr Recorder Hatton told her: "You cannot take the law into your own hands in the way that you did.

"You cannot take weapons to other people."

The judge sentenced Smith to a community order for two years with supervision. 

[Ed: And now for one of those delightful reader comments which appeared below the original story]:

J.Moffatt, chilton says...

5:39pm Fri 21 Nov 08

The only cure for filthy paedo scum is execution.I'm glad this lady wasn't jailed.For once could our police protect children from paedo filth,because they can always protect child molestors fom so called vigilantes and angry parents.

Accused molester shot dead

An 18-year-old youth, who had been accused of molesting a five-year-old relative, was shot dead in Montego Bay, St James, Jamaica on Tuesday.

It is believed that his death might have been a reprisal.

Dead is Keneil 'Ticky' Simons of Salt Spring, Montego Bay, St James. He was shot dead at the Cornwall Courts housing scheme in the parish.

Reports are that at 4:35 p.m., Simons alighted from a taxi at the housing scheme and was approached by a lone gunman who asked his name. Shortly after he responded, the gunman opened fire, hitting him several times.

He died on the spot. The police were alerted, the crime scene processed and the body removed to the morgue for post- mortem. The Montego Bay CIB is investigating.

What is this world coming to?

A man, who pleaded guilty to wining on his six-year-old grand niece until he had an orgasm, was remanded when he appeared in the Corporate Area Resident Magistrate's Court on Wednesday.

The accused appeared before Senior Resident Magistrate Glen Brown where he pleaded guilty to indecent assault.

The court heard that the accused wined on the child until he ejaculated.

His fingerprints were ordered taken and he was ordered remanded until December 2 when the matter is to be sentenced.

Accused molester shot dead

An 18-year-old youth, who had been accused of molesting a five-year-old relative, was shot dead in Montego Bay, St James, on Tuesday.

It is believed that his death might have been a reprisal.

Dead is Keneil 'Ticky' Simons of Salt Spring, Montego Bay, St James. He was shot dead at the Cornwall Courts housing scheme in the parish.

Reports are that at 4:35 p.m., Simons alighted from a taxi at the housing scheme and was approached by a lone gunman who asked his name. Shortly after he responded, the gunman opened fire, hitting him several times.

He died on the spot. The police were alerted, the crime scene processed and the body removed to the morgue for post- mortem. The Montego Bay CIB is investigating.

What is this world coming to?

A man, who pleaded guilty to wining on his six-year-old grand niece until he had an orgasm, was remanded when he appeared in the Corporate Area Resident Magistrate's Court on Wednesday.

The accused appeared before Senior Resident Magistrate Glen Brown where he pleaded guilty to indecent assault.

The court heard that the accused wined on the child until he ejaculated.

His fingerprints were ordered taken and he was ordered remanded until December 2 when the matter is to be sentenced.

Sex offender killed outside game arcade

A North Miami man shot and mortally wounded Sunday night outside a children's amusement center in Lake Worth was a registered sex offender, according to state records.

Edner Eustache, 27, was shot at least twice in the ''upper part of his body'' at about 8:30 p.m. after a fist fight outside Fun Depot, 2003 10th Ave. North, the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office said.

Eustache was flown to Delray Medical Center, where he died, said Teri Barbera, a sheriff's office spokeswoman.

Witnesses told deputies that three men were involved in the fight in the parking lot, and that two drove away in a white van and green car.

In February 2002, Eustache registered in Broward County as a sex offender who had assaulted a minor, according to Florida Department of Law Enforcement records.

In three arrests in Miami-Dade and Broward counties since December 2007, Eustache was charged with failure to obey state registration laws for sexual offenders. In the case of a Dec. 1 arrest by Miami-Dade police, he pleaded guilty to the charge, records show.

It was not immediately clear what Eustache was doing outside Fun Depot, where young people gather to play video games and laser tag.

Fun Depot general manager Eddie Naphan said he watched security camera footage Monday morning but did not see anyone who looked like the victim enter or leave the park's arcade in the hour before the shooting.

Naphan said the security cameras showed a car sitting by a trash bin in Fun Depot's parking lot.

''You can't see anything but headlights,'' he said.

As detectives paced outside Fun Depot, patrons continued to hit baseballs in the batting cages, which overlooked the crime scene.

''I've been around here for 20 years, and I can tell you we've never had an incident like this near this place,'' said Naphan, whose father opened Fun Depot in 1988..

Mountain View Sex Offenders Warned After Attacks

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. -- Mountain View police Friday are investigating two separate attacks on registered sex offenders living in the city that police say may be connected.

The sex offenders attacked in each case were convicted more than 15 years ago for sex crimes against children, police spokeswoman Liz Wylie said. Both men have been problem-free and compliant since living in the city, she added.

The latest attack was carried out Thursday around 7:15 a.m. when a suspect used a wooden stick to force his way into the home of a registered sex offender living in the northern section of the city, according to police.

The suspect attacked the man, hitting him several times over the head before fleeing the area. The suspect indicated that he was attacking the victim because of the victim's sex offender status, Wylie said.

Wylie would not reveal what the suspect did to indicate his intent in attacking the victim.

"We're not sure if it will be important to the investigation," she said.

Police were unable to locate the suspect, and the victim, who suffered several lacerations to his head, was taken to the hospital for treatment.

Another attack was carried out last month, when on Oct. 19 around 9:40 a.m. a suspect armed with a bat left a Molotov cocktail device at the front door of a registered sex offender's apartment on the west side of the city, police said.

A witness approached the suspect, who indicated in some way that he was at the home because the resident is a registered sex offender, Wylie said.

The suspect, who took the Molotov cocktail device and left the scene, was not located, but police did locate two Molotov cocktails in the area.

In both cases the suspect was described as a man in his 20s standing about 6 feet tall wearing all dark clothing and a dark baseball hat.

However, in Thursday's attack the suspect was described as a white man in his 20s weighing about 170 to 175 pounds and in the Oct. 19 case the suspect was described as a Hispanic man in his 20s.

"(The description) is exactly the same other than race," said Wylie, who added that police are considering the possibility the crimes were carried out by the same man.

"We know people see things differently," she explained.

Police Friday had not yet released sketches of the suspects.

Investigators have called nearby police agencies to see if similar attacks had occurred outside of Mountain View, but no other attacks have been reported, Wylie said.

Both of the sex offenders who were victim to the crimes were convicted more than 15 years ago, an indication the young suspect is not likely connected to the victims' cases, according to Wylie.

"It doesn't seem likely he was involved (in their convictions)," she said.

Wylie said one of the sex offenders was convicted in Santa Clara County but did not know where the other had been convicted. She would not release further information about the men.

"Who they are might have a lot to do with why they were picked," Wylie said.

Investigators sent letters out to the estimated 80 registered sex offenders living in Mountain View, a figure that fluctuates frequently, according to Wylie. The residents have been warned to be extra vigilant with their safety and contact police if they see anything or anyone suspicious.

"We want to be sure they understand that we don't care about their status as a sex offender," Wylie said. "If they're a victim, they're a victim."

Paedophile, 73, found strangled in remote woods

Times of London

Great Witchingham An elderly paedophile who was found strangled in remote woodland may have been murdered in revenge for his crimes, police said.

The body of Gordon Boon, 73, was discovered in an area used by fly-tippers near the headquarters of the Bernard Matthews poultry company in Great Witchingham, Norfolk, on Monday, three days after he was last seen alive.

Boon, a former cider factory worker, was on licence after being released from a six-year prison sentence for assaulting three girls, and had been placed on the sex offenders register for life. At his trial in 2001 he admitted assaulting one of his victims, a 13-year-old, after plying her with alcohol and playing strip poker with her. He also took pornographic photographs of the girl.

Boon, who was living in Attleborough, Norfolk, when he carried out the offences and is thought to have moved to Norwich on his release from prison had also admitted indecently assaulting another 13-year-old and an 8-year-old. Police would not confirm when he was released.