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Police & Fire
Suspect In Custody For Dollar Tree Sexual Assault In Philly: Police (UPDATED) Suspect In Custody For Dollar Tree Sexual Assault In Philly: Police (UPDATED)
Suspect In Custody For Dollar Tree Sexual Assault In Philly: Police (Updated) A suspect surrendered to police in connection with a sexual assault in Philadelphia last month, authorities say. Gary A. Miles, 35, is charged with indecent assault, indecent exposure, open lewdness, and harassment, said city police on Thursday morning, July 11.  A woman was attacked at the 56 E. Snyder Avenue Dollar Tree on June 23, PPD said previously. Store employees told police the suspect frequented Snyder Pizza and the nearby I-95 underpass, where he may park a vehicle, authorities said.  "Additional updates, including charges and a mugshot, will be provided once charg…

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by Mac Bullock
News
Convicted Child Porn Collector Accused Of Rape In Lebanon City: Police Convicted Child Porn Collector Accused Of Rape In Lebanon City: Police
Convicted Child Porn Collector Accused Of Rape In Lebanon City: Police "Mondays Got Me Like," Samuel James Rhoads's t-shirt reads in his first Pennsylvania State Police Megan's Law Sex Offender Registry photo on March 13, 2024  — but Monday really got him on July 8, when police announced he was charged with rape.  When police announced the new charges, Rhoads, 20 of Lebanon, was still in the Lebanon County Prison serving a four-month to 11 months and 29 days sentence for felons for child pornography and unlawful contact with a minor/sexual abuse, court records show.  Rhoads was charged with Rape, Involuntary Deviate Sexual Intercourse, Statutory…

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by Jillian Pikora
News
Lebanon Sex Offender Arrested Again After Separate Investigation Police Say Lebanon Sex Offender Arrested Again After Separate Investigation Police Say
Lebanon Sex Offender Arrested Again After Separate Investigation Police Say A 34-year-old convicted rapist is back behind bars after a police investigation into someone else led officers to discover he wasn't up to date on the Pennsylvania State Police Sexual Offender Registry, according to a release on July 3. Luis Miguel Rivera Ruiz's failure to update his lifetime sexual offender information appears to have come to light when Lebanon City police "responded to a report of a suspicious person in the 200 block of Guilford Street on June 26, 2024," according to multiple police releases.  The following day, Anthony George Benavidez, was charged with Lo…

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by Jillian Pikora
News
PA Jehovah's Witness Member Sentenced For Sexually Assaulting Girl While She Slept: AG PA Jehovah's Witness Member Sentenced For Sexually Assaulting Girl While She Slept: AG
PA Jehovah's Witness Member Sentenced For Sexually Assaulting Girl While She Slept: AG A 56-year-old Pennsylvania man has been sentenced to prison for sexual assault of a girl that began more than 20 years ago, officials said. Luis Manuel Ayala-Velasquez, 56, of Reading, was arrested last year after a grand jury investigation where sexual assault charges were recommended against more than a dozen members of the Jehovah’s Witnesses faith, Attorney General Michelle Henry said. Ayala-Velasquez will serve 14 to 46 years in prison after pleading guilty earlier this year to five felony counts, including rape of an unconscious person, Henry said. He was sentenced Wednesday…

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by Cecilia Levine
Police & Fire
Special Education Teacher Accused Of Sexually Assaulting Student, Monmouth Prosecutor Says Special Education Teacher Accused Of Sexually Assaulting Student, Monmouth Prosecutor Says
Special Education Teacher Accused Of Sexually Assaulting Student, Monmouth Prosecutor Says A special education teacher in Monmouth County was accused of sexually assaulting a student, authorities said. Allison Havemann-Niedrach, 43, of Jackson Township, was charged with first-degree aggravated sexual assault and second-degree endangering the welfare of a child. Monmouth County Prosecutor Raymond Santiago announced her arrest in a news release on Saturday, June 29.  Prosecutors said Havemann-Niedrach is a teacher at Freehold Intermediate School and according to her LinkedIn profile, she teaches special education in the borough's district. He…

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by Chris Spiker
News
HS Band Director Convicted Of Sexually Assaulting Student: Pennsylvania AG HS Band Director Convicted Of Sexually Assaulting Student: Pennsylvania AG
HS Band Director Convicted Of Sexually Assaulting Student: Pennsylvania AG A former school employee in Wilkes Barre was convicted of groping a student on Friday, June 28, said the state Attorney General's Office in a release.  Theron Roberts, the 41-year-old ex-band director at Crestwood High School in Mountain Top, was found guilty of felony institutional sexual assault and corruption of minors, prosecutors said.  According to authorities, Roberts groped a tenth-grade student after pulling them into a "secluded alcove" and threatened her not to report the incident.  The AG's Office said he met the victim three years earlier when they were in …

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by Mac Bullock
News
Lititz Sex Offender Called 'Dad' By 7-Year-Old Victim, DA Says Lititz Sex Offender Called 'Dad' By 7-Year-Old Victim, DA Says
Lititz Sex Offender Called 'Dad' By 7-Year-Old Victim, DA Says A 29-year-old registered sex offender has been sentenced yet again for sexual contact with a minor but this time the young victim was calling him "dad" at the trial, according to a release by the Lancaster District Attorney's office on Wednesday, June 27.  Derek Alan Manz, who recently had a Manheim address according to the Pennsylvania State Police Sex Offender Megan's Law registry, previously lived in the 400 block of West Marion Street, according to the DA's release. The Lititz address is where he was when he touched the "private parts" of a 7-year-old girl between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. …

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by Daily Voice
News
PA Man Kidnapped Four 'Females,' Held Them In Shipping Container: State Police PA Man Kidnapped Four 'Females,' Held Them In Shipping Container: State Police
PA Man Kidnapped Four 'Females,' Held Them In Shipping Container: State Police Four women were abducted, threatened with weapons, and sexually assaulted in a shipping container in the Poconos this week, according to state troopers.  Police said they received a phone call about a possible kidnapping involving a Ford SUV around 10:45 a.m. on Tuesday. They tracked the vehicle down at the Mount Pocono Walmart and found one victim with suspect Isaiah Rogers-Keeney, troopers said. Another victim was spotted leaving the store with a second suspect, Davaun Carlon Jackson, according to authorities.  Investigators believe Jackson and Rogers-Keeney…

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by Mac Bullock
News
Nudes Sent To Children 'Almost Every Night' For 3 Years: Manheim Twp. PD Nudes Sent To Children 'Almost Every Night' For 3 Years: Manheim Twp. PD
Nudes Sent To Children 'Almost Every Night' For 3 Years: Manheim Twp. PD A 23-year-old man has been texting nude photos and videos of himself to children for the past three years, Manheim Township Police announced on Monday, June 24.  Raul Ramos Jr. of the 100 block of Jennings Drive in Lancaster City, began sending the images when he was 20 years old and the victims were 13 and 12 years old, according to the police release.  After a parent reported the images found on the children's phones, the police searched the phones and confirmed the images and video were sent by Ramos, the police explained.  In an interview with the police on the children …

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by Jillian Pikora
News
NJ Restaurant Owner Preyed On Job Applicant, Sexually Assaulted Others, Authorities Say NJ Restaurant Owner Preyed On Job Applicant, Sexually Assaulted Others, Authorities Say
NJ Restaurant Owner Preyed On Job Applicant, Sexually Assaulted Others, Authorities Say The owner of three restaurants in Trenton has been arrested for multiple sexual assaults including a job applicant, authorities said. Gerald Araya, 44, of Ewing, was arrested in Trenton on Wednesday, June 19, according to Mercer County Prosecutor Angelo J. Onofri, Lawrence Township Police Chief Christopher Longo and Trenton Police Director Steve Wilson.  He is charged with five counts of first-degree aggravated sexual assault, one count of first-degree sexual assault, two counts of second-degree sexual assault, one count of first-degree kidnapping, two counts o…

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by Jon Craig
Police & Fire
9-Year-Old Found Strangled In Bristol Church, Tips Sought 62 Years Later 9-Year-Old Found Strangled In Bristol Church, Tips Sought 62 Years Later
9-Year-Old Found Strangled In Bristol Church, Tips Sought 62 Years Later Pennsylvania State Police investigators are seeking tips in a 9-year-old girl's cold case murder.  Carol Ann Dougherty was found dead inside St. Mark’s Roman Catholic Church in Bristol Borough on Oct. 22, 1962. She was strangled and had been sexually assaulted, according to troopers.  Police said Dougherty had stopped at the church while riding her bike to the library. She had stopped there to say a prayer, according to a report in the Bristol Courier-Times the day after her murder.  Then-Bristol Police Chief Vincent Faragalli called her killing "one of the most br…

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by Mac Bullock
News
Lancaster Jehovah's Witness Elder Convicted Of Sexually Abusing Children Lancaster Jehovah's Witness Elder Convicted Of Sexually Abusing Children
Lancaster Jehovah's Witness Elder Convicted Of Sexually Abusing Children One of several Jehovah's Witnesses accused of child sexual abuse has been convicted, the Pennsylvania Attorney General's Office announced on Thursday, June 6.  Norman Aviles-Garriga, 44 of Lancaster County, molested at least three young children between the ages of five and ten, as Daily Voice previously reported. Aviles-Garriga's status as an elder in his congregation helped him gain the trust of many parents and afforded him access to their children, as initially noted. The abuse happened between 1999 and 2003 in Lancaster City, Attorney General Michelle Henry explained in this update…

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by Jillian Pikora