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Saturday, apr 27
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Police & Fire
Man From Region Accused Of Sending Explicit Photos To 13-Year-Old
A Connecticut man has been accused of sending explicit images to a girl in the Midwest. Detectives at the Jackson Police Department in Missouri determined Litchfield County resident Carter Denlinger, of Bridgewater, sent Snapchats to the 13-year-old in their jurisdiction. Connecticut State Police detectives then joined the investigation, and an arrest warrant was issued in Missouri. Denlinger, age 25, was located in Bridgewater on Friday, April 12, and taken into custody as an extradition arrest, state police said. He is being held on a $1 million dollar bond and is due to …
Police & Fire
6 Western Mass Teens Held Mock 'Slave Auction,' Made Racist Comments On Social Media: DA
Six Hampden County eighth-grade students have been charged in juvenile court after chat logs were discovered where they made threats against minority students, used racist slurs, shared racist memes and comments, and held a mock "slave auction" for two black classmates, authorities said. Hampden District Attorney Anthony D. Gulluni held a press conference on Thursday, March 14, explaining his decision to charge the Southwick Regional School students. He called their online chat "vile, cruel, and contemptible" in a news release. Hatred and racism have no place in this community. …
Police & Fire
Former School Employee In Region Charged With Sexual Assault Of 11-Year-Old Boy
Connecticut State Police have arrested a former Connecticut school employee for allegedly sexually abusing an 11-year-old boy on numerous occasions. Tolland County resident, Alyson Cranick, age 42, of Columbia, was charged with sexual assault on Tuesday, Nov. 14. According to the arrest warrant provided by state police, Cranick assaulted the boy during July and August of 2022. During an interview with state police, the boy told investigators the two began their "relationship" via iMessage and Snapchat and then moved their communication to Discord after Cranick learned the …
News
Woman Helps Cover Up Killing Of Father From Mass, Sells His Belongings: Here's Her Sentence
A Connecticut woman will spend time in prison after helping to cover up the kidnapping and murder of a Massachusetts man on Christmas Eve, officials announced. Hartford County resident Shamari Smith, age 34, of Manchester, also known as "Dakota," was sentenced on Friday, Oct. 13 to 25 months in prison for helping to cover up the murder of 28-year-old Francisco Roman, Jr. in December 2020, the US Attorney's Office for District of Connecticut announced. Earlier Report: Murder Conviction: Manchester Woman Admits To Role In 2020 Killing Of Father Of 3 According …
Police & Fire
Child Porn Conviction: Gardner Man Who Had 500 Videos, 1,000 Images Gets 10 Years
A 46-year-old Worcester County man who admitted to having hundreds of images and videos of child porn and using social media to solicit nudes from children will spend a decade behind bars, authorities said Michael Irons, 46, of Gardner, pleaded guilty in January to one count of possession of child pornography and one count of distribution of child pornography, the US Attorney for Massachusetts said. A judge sentenced him to 10 years in prison last week, the prosecutor announced on Tuesday, May 23. Police searched Irons' home in July 2020 and found two cell phones in his bedroom that c…
Police & Fire
'Sexual Predator' Gets 12 Years For Blackmailing Massachusetts Teen Into Send Nudes: Feds
A 33-year-old Chicago man who bullied a 16-year-old Massachusetts girl into sending him nude photos and then threatened to release them to her friends and family if she didn't give him more will spend more than a decade behind bars, federal authorities said. Ernesto Herrera, who pleaded guilty to one count of coercion and enticement of a minor in August, was sentenced to 12 years in federal prison on Friday, Fed. 24, the US Attorney for Massachusetts said. Herrera reached out to the victim from an anonymous phone number through a social media app in June 2020 and manipulate…
Lifestyle
New Survey Reveals Gen Z’s Favorite Restaurant
When it comes to satisfying those hunger pangs, it turns out nothing does it for Zoomers quite like the delectably irresistible taste of America’s favorite chicken shack. A new survey by investment firm Piper Sandler found that Generation Z’s favorite restaurant is Chick-fil-A. Of those polled, 18 percent picked the Atlanta-based chicken chain as their favorite place to eat, followed by Starbucks (17 percent) and Chipotle (13 percent). The restaurant category was just one of several that was gauged as part of Piper Sandler’s 44th semi-annual “Taking Stock With Teens” survey, which includ…
Police & Fire
Man Used Snapchat to 'Blackmail' Massachusetts Teen To Perform Sex Acts With Dog: Feds
Federal authorities arrested a 33-year-old Chicago man after he bullied a 16-year-old Massachusetts girl into sending him nude selfies and videos and to perform a sex act with her dog, prosecutors said. Ernesto Herrera was arrested and charged with coercion and enticement of a minor, the Department of Justice said on Tuesday, July 26. Authorities also charged Herrera with sexual exploitation of children in June 2021 in an unrelated case, authorities said. Herrara reportedly first contacted the girl on the social media app Snapchat in June 2020, prosecutors said. He said he …
News
Level 3 Massachusetts Sex Offender Admits To Extorting Child For Explicit Photos
A Level 3 Registered Sex Offender from Lowell pleaded guilty to receiving child pornography from a minor over Snapchat, the US Attorney's Office for Massachusetts reports. Chayanne Nieves, age 24, forced an 11-year-old from Vermont to send him naked pictures of himself from around November 30, 2020 to December 3, 2020, the office reports. Nieves has been in custody since he was arrested and charged with receiving child pornography in August 2021, the office reports. Based on his criminal history, Nieves could face up to 40 years in prison and a lifetime of …
News
Former Massachusetts Substitute Teacher Facing Child Pornography Charges
A former educator in the Pentucket Regional School District was arraigned on child pornography charges on Tuesday, June 21, the Merrimac Police Department said. Kenneth Niven, age 24, who substituted at Sweetsir and Donaghue Schools pleaded not guilty to possessing child pornography and photographing an unsuspecting nude person, police said. Investigators uncovered two alleged images of child pornography on Niven's phone after a parent reported an inappropriate conversation between him and their child on SnapChat, police said. Superintendent Justin Bartholomew sa…
News
Police Possible Middle School Threat In Massachusetts
Extra police officers are on patrol at four Western Massachusetts schools after a possible social media threat was made thru Snapchat. The threat was made against a school in Hampden County in South Hadley on Monday, May 30. Officials first became aware of the "possible" threat after school officials were notified that someone had sent a Snapchat message referencing violence at Michael E Smith Middle School, located at 100 Mosier Street, said Lt. Lt William Sowa, of the South Hadley Police Department. In an abundance of caution, the department has stationed extra officers at South Had…
Schools
Possible Middle School Threat Under Investigation In Massachusetts
Extra police officers were stationed at a Western Massachusetts middle school on Friday, May 27, after a threat was made via social media. The threat was uncovered in Hampden County late Thursday, May 26, and targeted West Springfield Middle School. According to police, on Thursday, the West Springfield Police Department received information from a neighboring police department concerning a threat made on social media. The threat made towards the West Springfield Middle School was captured on Snapchat, via screenshot, the police department said. After receiving the information, the …
News
Man From Region Sexually Assaulted Girl He Met On Snapchat, Fed Says
A 27-year-old Connecticut man is facing charges for allegedly soliciting teens to commit lewd acts through social media, federal authorities announced. Hartford County resident Justin McKenney, of Windsor Locks, has been charged in a federal criminal complaint with multiple child exploitation offenses following his arrest on Thursday, March 17 at his workplace in Boston. US Attorney Leonard Boyle said that beginning in October 2021, Glastonbury Police began investigating the sexual assault of a 13-year-old girl by an individual she met on Snapchat. The investigation revealed that Mc…
News
Mom From Region Sues Social Media Companies Over Daughter's Death
A Connecticut mother has sued Meta-owned Instagram and Snapchat alleging the two played a role in her 11-year-old daughter's suicide. Hartford County mother Tammy Rodriguez of Enfield said she noticed a change in her daughter, Selena, as she became addicted to the media platforms, reported Bloomberg News. The child suffered from depression and sleep deprivation after becoming addicted, Rodriguez alleged in a lawsuit filed in San Francisco federal court. Rodriguez said in the suit, Selena struggled for two years with "extreme addiction," and that the companies have deliberately de…
Business
17-Year-Old New England Girl Is Outearning Top CEOs By Millions
A teen social media star from Connecticut is outearning some of the most successful CEOs in the US by millions of dollars, according to new reports by Forbes and the Wall Street Journal. With 133 million TikToker followers, 17-year-old Fairfield County resident Charli D'Amelio, of Norwalk, who started posting to TikTok in 2019 -- has the video-sharing app's largest following, Forbes says. Last year, she brought in $17.5 million. The median pay for chief executives of S&P 500 companies in 2020 was $13.4 million, the WSJ reports. Darren Woods was the highest-earning CEO of 2020, brin…
Police & Fire
Suspect Nabbed In Sex Assault Case In Region, Police Say
A 22-year-old man in Connecticut is facing charges for allegedly sexually assaulting a teen, State Police announced. Torrington resident Jacob Joseph Haag, of Litchfield County, was arrested by Connecticut State Police investigators following an investigation into alleged sexual assault. The investigation into Haag was launched in late March, police said, when troopers received a report of a possible sexual assault involving a 15-year-old that happened in the Town of Goshen. According to police, investigators spoke to the teen, who said that a man she met online had picked her up near her …
Police & Fire
Massachusetts School District Increases Security After National Threat
Following social media threats, there will additional police presence at a school district in the region. The posts were shared in Western Massachusetts from another municipality in another state, according to the Springfield Police Department. The individuals who shared them locally are the subject of a criminal investigation, said the Springfield Police. There will be an additional police presence at the school, which is reportedly Springfield Central High School, on Monday, Oct. 25 out of an abundance of caution, the department added. Springfield Police Commissioner Cheryl Clappr…
News
Man Admits To Posing As Teen To Receive Explicit Videos Of CT Girl
This story has been updated. A 36-year-old out-of-state man has pleaded guilty to the distribution of child pornography in connection with a Fairfield County case. Brian Grinnell, of Lakewood, Ohio (near Cleveland), pleaded guilty on Monday, April 19 in Hartford for posting nude videos of a 12-year-old New Canaan girl on a popular video-sharing service, said Leonard C Boyle, Acting United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut. According to court documents and statements made in court, in March 2020, Grinnell posed as a 15-year-old girl and met a New Canaan girl, who at the time w…
Politics
Pelosi Laptop Thief's Dad Busted On Child Porn Charges In Undercover Sting
The father of a Pennsylvania woman who stole Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi's laptop was busted on child porn charges after asking an undercover detective posing as a teenage girl online to film herself using the bathroom, news reports say. Rickey Williams, 55, -- a security guard from Dauphin County -- was communicating with the detective under the belief he was a girl on the Snapchat app, Fox43 says citing the criminal complaint. During the course of this alleged communication, Williams, of Steelton, requested a video of the girl using the bathroom, Local21news reports. …
News
FBI Asks For Help Identifying Possible Victims In Child Porn
Authorities are asking for help in identifying possible victims from throughout the country in a sextortion investigation involving a New York man from Westchester County. The FBI Westchester County Safe Streets Task Force and Port Chester Police Department issued the joint advisory on Friday, Feb. 5. Investigators arrested Jose Zafra on Saturday, Jan. 9, 2021, and charged him with the production of child sexual abuse material (CSAM), or what is commonly known as child pornography. Based on the criminal complaint filed in the Southern District of New York, investigators allege Zafra …
Police & Fire
Sentenced: Deputy Abused Worcester Area Girls He Met Through Minecraft
A former Texas Deputy Sheriff has been sentenced to 18 years in prison for sexually abusing and stalking two Worcester County girls. Pasquale “Gino” Salas, 26, a former deputy with the Matagorda County Sheriff’s Office in Texas, pleaded guilty in May to sexual exploitation of a minor and cyberstalking, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Massachusetts. On Tuesday, Sept. 14, Salas was sentenced in Worcester district court to 220 months - about 18 years - in federal prison, the U.S. Attorney's Office said. Salas met his victims through the online video game Minecraft in 2014 when they …
Police & Fire
Ex-con Accused Of Selling Guns Via Snapchat, Social Media
A man who allegedly tried to sell firearms through social media platform Snapchat is facing gun-related charges. Juan Aparicio, 29, of Lowell, was indicted Thursday, Aug. 13, on the charges of being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition and possession with intent to distribute cocaine, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Massachusetts. Law enforcement officials searched Aparicio’s residence in January after viewing Snapchat videos in which Aparicio allegedly tries to sell multiple firearms. During the search officers allegedly recovered a loaded assault rifle and cocaine,…
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