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Sunday, mar 2
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Berks County District Attorney's Office
News
PA Middle School Social Worker Showed Nude Selfie To 14-Year-Old Student: DA
A Reading school social worker is accused of showing a 14-year-old student a picture of his genitalia and asking her to send him an explicit photo, Berks County authorities announced on Thursday, Feb. 27. Brenden D. Lindsey, 30, of Reading, was arrested after a child abuse referral to the Berks County District Attorney’s Office sparked an investigation into his alleged misconduct at Central Middle School, prosecutors said. Detectives determined that in January, Lindsey displayed an explicit image on his phone to a student during a private meeting in his office and requested she send him a p…
News
PA Man Who Sexually Abused Autistic Child, Fled Sentencing, Captured In Dominican Republic
A Reading man who sexually abused an autistic child and skipped his sentencing hearing was captured in the Dominican Republic and returned to Berks County, authorities announced Friday, Feb. 7. Rafael Vendrell, 75, pleaded nolo contendere to two counts of Aggravated Indecent Assault in November 2023 after being accused of sexually abusing an autistic juvenile, according to Berks County District Attorney John T. Adams. Vendrell was released on bail while awaiting his sentencing on Feb. 14, 2024, but failed to appear in court, prompting a judge to issue a bench warrant, authorities said. On …
News
Explicit Video Shown To Students, Threatened Teen By Pennsylvania Paraprofessional: DA
A Reading School District employee showed sexually explicit material to middle school students, inappropriately touched a 13-year-old boy, and threatened another teen, the Berks County District Attorney's Office announced on Wednesday, Jan. 29. Stephanie Quintero-Ochoa, 19, of Reading, was charged with unlawful contact with a minor, indecent exposure, dissemination of explicit sexual material via electronic communication, corruption of minors, and endangering the welfare of children. The investigation began in December 2024 after multiple ChildLine reports alleged that Quintero-Ochoa was en…
News
PA Dad Used Pen Camera To Record Victims In Bathroom, Sexually Abused Boys: Affidavit
A Harrisburg dad is accused of sexually abusing two boys and secretly recording videos of them and another family member using a hidden pen camera, the Berks County District Attorney’s Office announced on Tuesday, Jan. 28. Kemish A. Soto-Munet, 29, was charged with rape, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, statutory sexual assault, aggravated indecent assault, sexual abuse of children, invasion of privacy, and corruption of minors, according to investigators. **WARNING THE FOLLOWING DETAILS ARE DISTURBING** The investigation began on Sunday, July 28, 2024, with a Childline referral alle…
Police & Fire
Harrisburg Rapist Abused 13-Year-Old In Tent Behind Home Repeatedly, DA Says
A 31-year-old Harrisburg man has been arrested and charged with raping a victim 10 years ago when she was 13 years old, the Berks County District Attorney's office announced. The victim, now 23, came forward in November 2024 alleging that Jesse A. Hartman sexually abused her multiple times in 2014 in a tent behind a friend's home in Exeter Township, DA John T. Adams said. Hartman was 21 years old and was living in the basement of this same home, Adams said. The victim also said that on several occasions throughout the summer of 2014, Hartman sexually abused her along a walking trail located…
News
PA Mom Justified In Fatal Shooting Of Son During Break-In: DA
A Berks County woman who shot and killed her son after he broke into her home acted in self-defense, authorities announced on Tuesday, Dec. 17. Sean M. Clemens, 32, of Myerstown, was shot multiple times by his 64-year-old mother during a confrontation at her residence on Little Mountain Road in Bethel Township, Berks County, on Wednesday, Nov. 6, according to the Berks County District Attorney’s Office. The incident began around 7:50 a.m. when the woman called 911 to report that she had shot her son after he forcibly entered her home, officials said. Investigators said Clemens, who had a h…
News
PA Mom Who Googled 'Methods Of Killing' Same Day She Hanged Her Kids Gets 2 Life Sentences
A Reading mom who Googled "methods of killing" before hanging her two children in her basement has been sentenced to life in prison, the Berks County District Attorney John T. Adams announced on Thursday, Oct. 17. Lisa Snyder, 41, was found guilty of the following on Tuesday, Sept. 24; 2 counts of First-Degree Murder, 2 counts of Endangering the Welfare of Children, and Tampering with Evidence, the Berks County DA explained in the release. The charges stem from an investigation into the Sept. 2019 death of her 8-year-old son, 4-year-old daughter, and the family…
News
Sword-Wielding Drug Dealer Convicted PA Murder: DA
A convicted drug dealer is back behind bars again, this time for murdering a man with a sword, the Berks County District Attorney's Office announced on Thursday, Oct. 10. William Smoot, 50, Exeter Township, was convicted of First-Degree Murder and Conspiracy to Commit Murder for stabbing DelCollo multiple times with a sword on Thursday, Oct. 10, according to the Berks County District Attorney's Office. Smoot has been held in the Berks County Prison while awaiting sentencing, the district attorney's office said. A sentencing date was not available at the time of publication. Smoot's accompl…
Police & Fire
PA Man Who Executed His Wife Gets 50 Years In Prison: DA
A Berks County man who was charged for the execution-style murder of his estranged wife was sentenced to 25 to 50 years in prison, authorities said. Ignacio Peralta-Agramonte, 50, of Leesport, will serve up to 50 years in prison after pleading guilty to Third-Degree Murder on Thursday, Oct. 10, according to the Berks County District Attorney's Office. Peralta-Agramonte encountered his estranged wife, Librad Reyes De Peralta, at the intersection of Route 61 and Snyder Road in Ontelaunee Township on Friday, Aug. 4, 2023, the district attorney's office said. That's when he shot her. A Norther…
News
PA Passenger Guilty Of Involuntary Manslaughter For I-78 Fatal Crash: DA
A passenger has been found guilty of Involuntary Manslaughter for a fatal crash on Interstate 78, the Berks County District Attorney's Office annoued on Friday, Oct. 11. Dustin Micheal Harbaugh, 37, of Lebanon, was convicted for causing the crash that killed Jason Carl Blauch, 38, of Myerstown, according to the DA and his obituary posted by Rohland Funeral Home Inc. Blauch was one of six people the 2013 Chrysler Town and Country crossed the fog line and onto the snowy and icy berm near mile marker 9.8 in Bethel Township around 2 a.m., on Saturday, Jan. 8, 2022, as Daily Voice previousl…
Police & Fire
PA Woman Shot By Husband While Reading Bible: Affidavit
An 84-year-old Bethel woman was shot in the head as she was reading the Bible, according to court documents obtained by Daily Voice on Tuesday, Oct. 8. The woman was shot by her husband, Howard "Philip" Boltz, as she was sitting at their dinner at their dining room table at 9:10 a.m. on Friday, Oct. 4, as detailed in the affidavit of probable cause. Boltz, 82, told his wife, "I can't stand it no more. You are cutting me down," as he placed a .22 caliber rifle's barrel against her head, according to the document. The rifle was still covered with a cloth Boltz used to protect it while i…
News
Man Accused Of Raping 2 Girls At PA Home: DA
A 32-year-old man from Berks County has been arrested in connection with the rape of two girls at a home in Reading, one when she was 11 years old, authorities said on Friday, Sept. 6. Janson G. Paz-Ochoa of Shillington was charged with rape, rape of a child, and multiple other offenses, according to the Berks County District Attorney's Office. He was arrested on Aug. 27 and is due to reappear in court on Sept. 13, court records show. Berks County District Attorney’s detectives received a childline referral on April 12 from the state Department of Human Services which reported that a&n…
Police & Fire
Cigarette Butt Leads To NJ Suspect's Arrest In 2012 PA Diner Killing: DA
The alleged gunman in a deadly 2012 Reading shooting is in police custody in New Jersey, according to Berks County prosecutors. Vallis L. Slaughter, of Jersey City, is being held in Hudson County pending his extradition to Pennsylvania, said the District Attorney's Office on Monday, March 25. Investigators believe he killed 34-year-old Julio A. Torres on March 24, 2012. Torres was shot while sitting in his car in the parking lot of the West Reading Diner after a confrontation with suspects, the DA's Office said. Jomaine Case was eventually convicted in connectio…
Police & Fire
Reading Police Shoot And Kill Knife-Wielding Man: Authorities (
Updated
)
Update: The Berks County District Attorney's Office has identified the man as 50-year-old Damon S. Stern. Reading police officers said they killed a man who was armed with a knife early Monday morning, March 25. Authorities were called to the 400 block of Windsor Street around 3:45 a.m. for reports of a "male armed with a knife making suicidal threats," the department said in a release. Police said they commanded the man to drop the knife, "however, the male ignored those commands and moved towards the officers," the release says. They shot him and he succumbe…
News
Berks Mom Sentenced For Stabbing Fiance To Death While Daughter Was Home: DA
A Sinking Spring woman will spend up to two decades behind bars for stabbing her fiance to death during an "altercation" more than three years ago, said the Berks County District Attorney's Office in a release. Jillian R. Blimline, now 41, was sentenced to 10 to 20 years after pleading no contest to the third-degree murder of Chad MacWilliam, according to officials. Authorities have said they were called to Blimline and MacWilliam's shared home at 20 Maywood Avenue around 9 p.m. on Dec. 13, 2020. Police and medics arrived to find MacWilliam, 39, apparently suffering …
Police & Fire
9 Escaped Inmates Recaptured After Riot At 'Secure' PA Facility (
Update
)
All nine juveniles that broke out of Abraxas Academy juvenile detention center have been recaptured, Pennsylvania State Police Trooper Beohm said on Monday morning. The teens escaped the "secure youth treatment facility" Abraxas Academy located at 1000 Academy Drive, Morgantown, Caernarvon Township, on Sunday, Sept. 17 around 8 p.m., according to area police. Trooper Beohm said these boys were at the Academy as a holding facility not the long-term location of sentenced youth. The boys were between the ages of 14 and 17 years of age. Seven of them were from Harrisburg, one from Lehigh Co…
Police & Fire
Toddler's Killer Captured By US Marshals In Philadelphia: Cops
A man accused of killing a 2-year-old Berks County boy was arrested by US Marshals in Philadelphia early on Thursday, July 6, according to authorities. Charles A. Acosta, 25, was taken into custody in Tacony, Marshals said. Acosta was caring for the 2-year-old victim, the boy's younger brother, and his own daughter while his partner and her daughter went out to pick up laundry on the evening of May 4, the Berks County District Attorney's Office said. Acosta called his girlfriend and told her to return to their Bern Township home after the child became "swollen and lethargic" an…
Police & Fire
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aced Fake Branded Products Seized In Central PA: DA
Brand-name products were used to disguise illegal drugs found in Lancaster, according to a release by the District Attorney's Office on Thursday, June 1, 2023. Kellogg’s, Ruffles, and Nerds were among the over 7,200 products seized by the Lancaster County Drug Task Force during a two-day operation– with a total estimated value of approximately $290,000, as detailed in the DA's release. The task force went to 43 stores throughout the county and conducted searches with the store owners' consent to find the Delta-8 and Delta-10 THC products. Products seized included vapes, cartridges, oi…
Police & Fire
Fentanyl, Cocaine Worth $4.3M Seized In Takedown Of Massive PA Drug Ring, DA Says
Nearly thirty people are facing criminal charges after authorities dismantled a "large-scale" operation that trafficked drugs from Mexico and Puerto Rico to Pennsylvania, with nearly $4.3 million worth of fentanyl and cocaine seized as evidence, authorities said. In an early-morning roundup on Thursday, Dec. 1, a total of 22 adults were taken into custody, said Berks District Attorney John T. Adams and Montgomery District Attorney Kevin R. Steele in a joint statement. Posted by Berks County District Attorney on Thursday, December 1, 2022 Posted by Berks County District Attorney on T…
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