Crime

Man Sentence to Life in Prison for Raping and Impregnating 9-Year-Old Girl

In a case that became a national flashpoint on abortion rights because the girl had to fly out of state to stop the pregnancy, a man confessed to raping and impregnating a 9-year-old Ohio girl and was sentenced to life in prison.

Gerson Fuentes, 28, was sentenced to life in prison, although his plea agreement allows him to seek parole after 25 to 30 years. He would subsequently be required to register as a sexual offender.

Judge Julie Lynch of the Common Pleas Court, who was not compelled to approve the plea arrangement, said the girl’s family “begged” her to do so. Lynch described the agreement as a “very hard pill for this court to swallow.”

“Anyone who has ever sat in this courtroom in the last 20 years knows how this court feels about these babies, these young people being violated,” Lynch said. “However, at the request of the family, this court will sentence without comment today.”

The maximum penalty would have been life in prison without the possibility of release. The survivor will not have to testify in court if the matter is settled before trial.

After the hearing, Fuentes’ attorney, Zachary Olah, told The Columbus Dispatch that his client has been cooperative since the beginning.

“He was anxious to get this resolved,” Olah explained.

According to Franklin County prosecutors, the child, who turned 10 before having the abortion, verified that Fuentes assaulted her, and Fuentes confessed to Columbus police officers. Prosecutors said DNA testing on the aborted foetus proved Fuentes was the father.

Fuentes, who is from Guatemala and was living in Columbus at the time of his arrest, had been held without bond since his arrest. If he is granted parole, he will almost certainly be deported because authorities have stated that they have discovered no evidence that he is lawfully permitted to be in the United States.

life in prison for rapist

Dr. Caitlin Bernard of Indianapolis said a 9-year-old child had to travel to Indiana to terminate a pregnancy because Ohio prohibited the surgery at the first detected foetal heartbeat. Since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, 25 states have prohibited or restricted abortion, while many of the new laws are still being challenged.

In May, the Indiana Medical Licencing Board voted to censure Bernard, ruling that she breached patient privacy rules when she told a newspaper reporter about the case, even though she did not share directly protected information such as the survivor’s name or address.

The board dismissed allegations made by Indiana’s Republican attorney general that Bernard violated state law by failing to disclose child abuse to Indiana authorities. A plea to suspend the doctor’s medical licence was also denied by the board.

Instead, it penalized Bernard $3,000 for the infractions but did not place any restrictions on her ability to practise medicine. —- The summary of this story has been updated to reflect that Fuentes will be eligible for parole rather than probation.

Child Abuse in the United States

Child sexual abuse is difficult to quantify because it is frequently unreported; experts agree that the frequency is significantly higher than what is reported to authorities. Because CSA is not universally defined, numbers may vary. The statistics below are from some of the research on child sexual abuse.

According to the Children’s Bureau of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ report Child Maltreatment, 9.2% of victimised children were sexually assaulted (page 24).

David Finkelhor, Director of the Crimes Against Children Research Centre, has conducted studies that show:

1 in 5 girls and 1 in 20 boys is a victim of child sexual abuse;
Self-report studies show that 20% of adult females and 5-10% of adult males recall a childhood sexual assault or sexual abuse incident;
During a one-year period in the U.S., 16% of youth ages 14 to 17 had been sexually victimized;
Over the course of their lifetime, 28% of U.S. youth ages 14 to 17 had been sexually victimized;
Children are most vulnerable to CSA between the ages of 7 and 13.

According to a National Institute of Justice research, three out of every four sexually attacked adolescents were victimized by someone they knew well (page 5). According to a Bureau of Justice Statistics report, 1.6% (sixteen out of one thousand) of youngsters aged 12 to 17 were victims of rape or sexual assault (page 18).

A 1986 study discovered that 63% of women who had experienced sexual abuse by a family member also reported a rape or attempted rape after the age of 14. Recent investigations reached similar conclusions.

Children who had been raped or tried raped as adolescents were 13.7 times more likely to be raped or attempted raped in their first year of college.

A youngster who has been sexually abused for an extended period of time is likely to develop low self-esteem, a sense of worthlessness, and an abnormal or distorted view of sex. The child may withdraw and become distrustful of adults, as well as suicidal.

Children who do not live with both parents, as well as those who live in households marked by parental disagreement, divorce, or domestic violence, are more likely to be sexually molested.

Only between 5 and 15% of children with genital injuries compatible with sexual abuse will have genital injuries in the vast majority of situations when there is convincing evidence that a child has been penetrated.

Child sexual abuse does not have to be physical contact; it can also include non-contact abuse such as exposure, voyeurism, and child pornography.

According to a study published online and in the June print issue of the Journal of Adolescent Health, young males who were sexually abused were five times more likely to cause teen pregnancy, three times more likely to have multiple sexual partners, and two times more likely to have unprotected sex than those who had no history of sexual abuse.

Sex Offenders in Thailand Face 10 Years of Electronic Monitoring After Prison

Sex Offenders in Thailand Face 10 Years of Electronic Monitoring After Prison

Crime

Police Officer Being Ordained at Temple Arrested for Running Scam Call Center

Police in Northern Thailand have arrested a fellow officer as he was being ordained at a temple in Ngao district of neighbouring Lampang province.

Pol Lt Col Bandit Khonkan chief inspector from the Hang Dong police station was disrobed and taken to the Chang Puak station in Chiang Mai. He was arrested on charges of running a call centre scam gang in Chiang Mai Province.

According to Thai Media Chiang Mai Provincial Police Region 5 obtained an arrest warrant for Pol Lt Col Bandit on Friday from the Chiang Mai Provincial Court for procuring illegal telecom equipment, setting up a station and using public airwaves to run a telecommunications business without permission.

Pol Lt Col Bandit reportedly told investigators that he was not the ringleader and was only a member of the gang with Chinese partners.

His arrest followed the apprehension of his 26-year-old daughter, Miss Wanuchapond, 26, and three others during raids at three housing projects in Chiang Mai on Friday, Pol Maj Gen Weerachon Boontawee, deputy chief of Provincial Police Region 5 told Thai media.

During the raids police police discovered around 12 GSM gateways, or SIM boxes, which are devices used for converting cellular networks into mobile phone numbers used domestically.

The chief inspectors daughter Miss Wanuchapond told the arresting officers that she was paid 8,000 baht a month at each of the three locations for renting thr rooms and monitoring devices.

She claimed she had no idea what the devices were and accepted the job because the pay was attractive.

Police investigators working with telecom regulators used a special tracking device to monitor the gang’s communications and learned that its base was in Myanmar opposite Mae Sai district of Chiang Rai.

The call center gang used the GSM gateways to make calls over the internet to scam people in Thailand out of million of baht.

The GSM gateways transmitting signals via SIM boxes to convert them into domestic phone numbers, duping victims into thinking they were being called from Thai government agencies.

Pol Maj Gen Weerachon said that each SIM box held 32 SIM cards, with a capacity of up to 300,000 calls a month. The seized devices had made fraudulent calls over 3.6 million times.

He said the their investigation is ongoing and they are working to track down the remaining conspirators, including Chinese and other Thai suspects.

Authorities are still deciding whether Pol Lt Col Bandit will be dismissed from the force, he said, adding that so far, no other officers are known to have been involved.

Police in Chiang Rai Launch Crackdown on Cyber Criminals in Golden Triangle

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Settha Thavisin has authorized the establishment of an emergency cyber center operated by the Royal Thai Police to combat transnational crimes committed by call center gangs along the Thai border in Chiang Rai province.

On July 19, Prime Minister Settha Thavisin directed the Center to combat information technology crimes. The Royal Thai Police (Royal Thai Police) will crack down on call center gangs in Myanmar, Laos, and along the border.

His directive comes as call center gangs ratchet up their scams to defraud people of their money, causing concern among Thais and jeopardizing the country’s economic and social stability.

Related Police News:

Machete Wielding Man Shot an Killed by Police in Chiang Rai

https://www.chiangraitimes.com/chiangrai-news/machete-wielding-man-shot-an-killed-by-police-in-chiang-rai/

Crime

Thai Immigration Police Arrest Colombian Tourists Over Home Invasions

Immigration police officers have arrested four Colombian nationals in connection with a series of home burglaries at luxury housing complexes in the Bangkok metropolitan area and Chiang Buri Province.

Pol Maj Gen Panthana Nuchanart, deputy commissioner of the Immigration Bureau, told a press briefing that three of the suspects were apprehended in Nonthaburi Province and the fourth in South Pattaya, Chon Buri Province.

According to the Bangkok Post, the Colombians were charged with stealing conspiracy and seized around 3 million baht (US$82,500.00).

According to Pol Maj Gen Panthana, the criminals rode motorcycles through housing estates, scoping out the properties and waiting for the owners to depart before committing their crimes.

He stated that all four of the accused denied any involvement in the home break-ins, but the arresting squad discovered evidence that implicated them.

Police called to home invasion

Meanwhile, police were dispatched to a luxury housing development in Tambon Nong Prue, Chonburi Province, after a Chinese man was attacked during a house invasion.

When they arrived, they discovered the house owner, Mr. Qian Peng Yi, visibly scared and with marks from being tied up with a cable. He informed police that three Chinese males broke into his home at 9 p.m., one of whom brandished a gun at him and directed him to his bedroom.

They bound his hands and feet, gagged him with fabric, taped his head, and forced him into the bed. The intruders then attempted to compel him into transferring 10 million baht in cryptocurrencies to them, endangering the life of his 33-year-old cousin who was in a second-floor bedroom.

While they scoured the house in search of riches, Mr. Peng Yi managed to flee and hide; he subsequently observed them leave with his cousin. Officials investigated the property and analyzed security camera footage from the incident and surrounding areas.

Around 9 p.m., a 30-year-old van driver came at the Bang Lamung police station after being contacted by an agency to carry Chinese customers from Pattaya to Suvarnabhumi Airport.

The driver informed authorities that he was supposed to pick them up at a motel about a kilometer from the Chinese businessman’s home. He then drove them to Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi airport, arriving at 1 a.m. and receiving 1,800 baht.

The driver took a snapshot of the group smoking at the airport gate and identified one of them as the victim’s cousin. Police suspected coordination between her and the three suspects in her cousin’s heist, who all departed Thailand on the same aircraft.

Other Bangkok News:

Police in Bangkok Discover Six Vietnamese Tourists Dead in 5 Star Hotel

Police in Bangkok Discover Six Vietnamese Tourists Dead in 5 Star Hotel

Crime

Son of Thailand’s Leading Legal Scholar on Corruption Arrested for Running Online Gambling Network

The son of a former senator and leading economist and expert on corruption and gambling in Thailand has been arrested for on charges of running an online gambling network and its payment system.

Police from Thailand’s Technology Crime Suppression Division (TCSD) have confiscated assets worth more than (US$ 11.1 million) 400 million baht.

Narote Piriyarangsan, 33, was arrested following crackdowns in three sites around the city, according to Pol Maj Gen Athip Pongsiwapai, commander of the police Technology Crime Suppression Division (TCSD).

Mr Narote’s father, Sangsit Piriyarangsan, is an economist who has written articles and books about corruption and gambling. He was one of the appointed senators that were investigating the government’s intention to legalize casino gaming before their terms expired.

Police also detained 39-year-old Narayut Narakaew, the owner of the gambling website 69pgslot.com. The Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for the couple for operating an internet gambling service and money laundering.

According to the Bangkok Post, police seized two desktop computers, one laptop computer, 14 mobile phones, 21 bank passbooks, 53 ATM cards, and four high-end cars — a Ferrari 926 GTS, an Aston Martin, a Lexus, and a Subaru — totaling more than 400 million baht.

Police launched the inquiry after discovering the online gambling site, which accepted funds via an automatic deposit-withdrawal system through bank accounts and deposits in the AskMePay system. Players scanned the VPay QR code as well as the QR codes for Heng Online 888 or Heng Pay Company.

Police also discovered that payments received via QR code scans were transferred to the account of Heng Pay Co and then to the gambling website’s mule accounts using AskMePay, which did not use banks’ face recognition scanning. An inquiry indicated a monthly turnover of approximately 5 billion baht.

According to investigators, the website has been up and running for around four years, with the payment mechanism in use for roughly eight months.

According to Pol Maj Gen Athip, Mr Narote owns the gaming website’s payment systems and is the director of Heng Pay Co. After gathering evidence, authorities requested arrest warrants for 14 people.

Thailand does not allow almost any kind of gaming. Even though the law doesn’t say anything specific about online gaming, it is still considered gambling. The country has pretty strict rules about gambling. Thai punters can bet on the national lottery and horse races, but they can’t bet on any other types of games.

But it’s not a secret that there is a huge illegal gaming business in Thailand, even though it’s illegal.

The illegal casinos, online betting shops, underground lotteries, and pop-up bookies that take bets on everything from cockfights to Muay Thai make a shadow economy that is worth billions of dollars every year.