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CNN Producer From Fairfield County Charged With Sexual Abusing Minors CNN Producer From Fairfield County Charged With Sexual Abusing Minors
CNN Producer From Fairfield County Charged With Sexual Abusing Minors A Connecticut man who was a producer at CNN headquarters in New York City has been charged with sexually abusing underage girls. The Office of the United States Attorney for the District of Vermont announced on Friday, Dec. 10 that Fairfield County resident John Griffin, 44, of Stamford, was arrested by the FBI after a federal grand jury in Vermont charged Griffin with three counts of using a facility of interstate commerce to attempt to entice minors to engage in unlawful sexual activity.  According to the indictment: From April to July of 2020, Griffin utilized the messaging applic…

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by Joe Lombardi
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CT Man Sentenced For Attempting To Engage In Sex With Minor CT Man Sentenced For Attempting To Engage In Sex With Minor
CT Man Sentenced For Attempting To Engage In Sex With Minor A 39-year-old man will spend a decade behind bars after being sentenced for attempting to coerce a teen in Connecticut he sought to have sex with and impregnate, authorities announced. New London County resident William Meier, of Norwich, was sentenced on Tuesday, Oct. 19 to 120 months in prison, followed by five years of supervised release for attempting to engage in sexual activity with a minor by using sexual media. Acting US Attorney Leonard C. Boyle said that in May 2020, Meier accessed a chatroom dedicated to teens on the Kik social messaging app and began chatting with an undercover …

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by Zak Failla
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CT Basketball Coach Charged With Enticement Of Minor, Drug Offenses CT Basketball Coach Charged With Enticement Of Minor, Drug Offenses
CT Basketball Coach Charged With Enticement Of Minor, Drug Offenses A former Connecticut basketball coach is facing federal charges after he was accused of sexually assaulting underage girls. Danny Lawhorn, age 30, of Hartford, was charged by federal criminal complaint with child enticement and narcotics distribution offenses, according to an announcement from Leonard Boyle, Acting United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, on Tuesday, Oct. 19. Lawhorn is detained pending a hearing scheduled for Friday, Oct. 22, Boyle said. He has been in state custody since Tuesday, Oct. 5, when he was arrested on related state charges. According to a cr…

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by Nicole Valinote
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Brian Laundrie Went Camping With His Parents In The Days After He Returned Home From Van Trip Brian Laundrie Went Camping With His Parents In The Days After He Returned Home From Van Trip
Brian Laundrie Went Camping With His Parents In The Days After He Returned Home From Van Trip Days before Gabby Petito’s family realized the young woman was lying dead among the rocks in Wyoming, her boyfriend and fellow Long Island native Brian Laundrie, was camping with his family. Petito, age 22, of the hamlet of Blue Point in Suffolk County, was reported missing by her mother on Saturday, Sept. 11, after learning Laundrie had returned from the couple's cross-country "van life" trip alone in her white Fort Transit van. Her body was found days later on Sunday, Sept. 19 in Wyoming. The manner of her death was determined a homicide by the medical examiner. Days after returning, wh…

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by Kathy Reakes
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Why Hasn't Arrest Warrant Been Issued For Boyfriend In Homicide Case? Legal Expert Explains Why Hasn't Arrest Warrant Been Issued For Boyfriend In Homicide Case? Legal Expert Explains
Why Hasn't Arrest Warrant Been Issued For Boyfriend In Homicide Case? Legal Expert Explains Updated story: Federal Arrest Warrant Issued For Missing Fiancé In Gabby Petito Homicide Investigation A nationally-known legal expert is offering his take on why an arrest warrant has not been issued for the boyfriend of the late Gabby Petito. ABC News Chief Legal Analyst Dan Abrams told hosts on "Good Morning America," that law enforcement has one goal right now. "They want to find him. Period," Abrams said. "They are now devoting all of their resources as if there was an arrest warrant out for him. But there's still not officially an arrest warrant." Related Story: 'Don’t Try To …

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by Kathy Reakes
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Ex-Police Chief In Fairfield County Sentenced For Rigging Exam Ex-Police Chief In Fairfield County Sentenced For Rigging Exam
Ex-Police Chief In Fairfield County Sentenced For Rigging Exam A former Fairfield County police chief arrested last year for rigging a police chief's exam has been sentenced. Bridgeport's former police chief AJ Perez was sentenced to 12 months and one day in prison on Monday, April 12. “I hold no malice to anyone, I did this to myself, I panicked,” Perez told U.S. District Judge Kari Dooley during his sentencing hearing. Perez, 65, was accused along with his former personnel director David Dunn of rigging the police chief's exam so Perez would secure the job in 2018. In addition to a year and a day in prison, the judge ordered Perez to serve four yea…

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by Kathy Reakes
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FBI Offering $100K Reward For Info On Person/Persons Who Placed Pipe Bombs Near Capitol FBI Offering $100K Reward For Info On Person/Persons Who Placed Pipe Bombs Near Capitol
FBI Offering $100K Reward For Info On Person/Persons Who Placed Pipe Bombs Near Capitol The reward has been increased again for information about who planted pipe bombs at the Democratic and Republican national committee headquarters the night before the Jan. 6 Capitol Building Riot. The Federal Bureau of Investigation and Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives are offering up to $100,000 for information that leads to the suspect’s location, arrest, and conviction. This is an increase from the $50,000 that was being offered several days after the Jan. 6 fatal attack on the Capitol Building. On that day a mob of pro-Trump loyalists broke into the Capitol Building …

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by Kristin Palpini
Police & Fire
CT Mom, 41, Tried Meeting With Teen Same Age As Her Own Child For Sex At PA Hotel, Feds Say CT Mom, 41, Tried Meeting With Teen Same Age As Her Own Child For Sex At PA Hotel, Feds Say
CT Mom, 41, Tried Meeting With Teen Same Age As Her Own Child For Sex At PA Hotel, Feds Say A 41-year-old mother of three from Connecticut is facing 14 years behind bars for her alleged attempts to have sex with a 14-year-old boy at a Pennsylvania hotel, authorities said. Sarah Norton, of Jewett City, a borough in New London County, met the teen while “gaming” online, according to Acting United States Attorney Jennifer Arbittier Williams. Norton then attempted to seduce the boy into engaging in sexually explicit contact through online messaging and cell phone conversations, Williams said. In late 2017, Norton traveled from her home in Connecticut to Pennsylvania to meet with the …

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by Nicole Acosta
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Fairfield County Man Among 12 Charged In Undercover Sex Sting Fairfield County Man Among 12 Charged In Undercover Sex Sting
Fairfield County Man Among 12 Charged In Undercover Sex Sting The president of a financial institution and software engineer, as well as a Fairfield County resident, were among a dozen men who thought they were meeting a child for sex but instead, were arrested on the spot in an undercover New Jersey sting, authorities announced Tuesday, Oct. 27.  The 12 men in "Operation Spotlight" thought they were meeting up with children they'd met on various social media platforms, but instead, were arrested at various pre-arranged locations across Somerset County between Oct. 15 and Oct. 18, Prosecutor Michael H. Robertson and U.S. Attorney/District of …

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by Cecilia Levine
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Bridgeport Police Chief, Personnel Director Both Admit To Rigging City’s Job Search Bridgeport Police Chief, Personnel Director Both Admit To Rigging City’s Job Search
Bridgeport Police Chief, Personnel Director Both Admit To Rigging City’s Job Search The former chief and former acting personnel director for the Bridgeport Police Department both pleaded guilty to defrauding the city by rigging the 2018 police chief examination in order to ensure Armando J. Perez would be selected as chief, and to making false statements to federal agents in the course of the investigation. Perez and David Dunn appeared on Monday morning, Oct. 5 in Bridgeport federal court. “As they have now admitted, former Chief Perez and former Personnel Director Dunn schemed to rig the purportedly impartial and objective search for a permanent police chief to ensure …

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by Joe Lombardi
Police & Fire
Innkeeper With A 'Sex Dungeon' Sentenced To 29 Years In Prison Over Child Exploitation Innkeeper With A 'Sex Dungeon' Sentenced To 29 Years In Prison Over Child Exploitation
Innkeeper With A 'Sex Dungeon' Sentenced To 29 Years In Prison Over Child Exploitation A Connecticut man who had a “sex dungeon” and attempted to pay for "limitless" sex with a child has been sentenced to nearly 29 years in federal prison. Simon Hessler, 48, formerly of Ellington, has been sentenced to nearly 29 years in federal prison, followed by 10 years of supervised release over child exploration offenses. Hessler was the owner of Baymont Inn & Suites in Manchester, according to his LinkedIn profile. He was also the president of New England Hospitality Management, Inc. and an EMT driver with the Ellington Volunteer Ambulance service. From the United States Att…

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by Kristin Palpini
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Fairfield County Man Admits To Embezzling $1.1 Million From Printing Company, Feds Say Fairfield County Man Admits To Embezzling $1.1 Million From Printing Company, Feds Say
Fairfield County Man Admits To Embezzling $1.1 Million From Printing Company, Feds Say A Fairfield County man has admitted to an embezzlement scheme of more than $1 million involving a Hartford company, federal authorities have announced. Anthony Teixeira, 50, of Danbury,  was employed by Joseph Merritt & Company, a Hartford-based printing company, for more than 25 years, and most recently oversaw the JMC branch located in Danbury.   The loss to the company attributable to Teixeira through his schemes is approximately $1.1 million, John H. Durham, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced. According to court documents and state…

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by Joe Lombardi