The owner of a Lake Lillian liquor store destroyed by fire last year has been charged with arson.

A convicted sex offender has been sentenced to 40 years in prison for coaxing a 12-year-old girl to send him sexually explicit photos and videos on her cellphone.

Fifty-six-year-old Lauren Kerr Thomas of Warren was sentenced this week in Union County. He pleaded guilty to multiple felonies. Thomas’ attorney didn’t immediately return a call for comment Saturday.

Prosecutors said Thomas used a smartphone app to chat with the girl, convincing her that he was a 15-year-old disabled girl. He then instructed her to take the photos and videos of herself.

The child’s parents called Marysville police after they noticed an unusually high amount of phone data being used and questioned the girl.

http://liarcatchers.com/pedophile_tracking.html

Authorities say Thomas has previous convictions for sex crimes against children.

The Union County Prosecutor’s Office issued the following media release about the sex offender’s sentencing:

An Ohio man has been sentenced to 40-years in prison for creating sexually-oriented materials involving a 12-year old child. Lauren Kerr Thomas, 56, of Warren, Ohio who pleaded guilty to five counts of Pandering Sexually-Oriented Matters Involving a Minor and Illegal Use of a Minor in Nudity Oriented Materials was sentenced today by Judge Don Fraser to the lengthy prison term. The crimes are second degree felonies.

Thomas used a phone app called KIK to chat with a 12-year old girl in Union County. “Thomas convinced the young victim that he was a 15-year old disabled girl. After adopting this persona, he persuaded her to video and photograph herself engaging in various sexual acts and send those images to him,” said Union County Prosecuting Attorney David Phillips, “He is every parent’s nightmare.” According to the prosecutor, Thomas kept the conversation casual for a several weeks moving to sexually explicit conversation and then to videos and photographs. The chat and images became more graphic as time progressed.

The case came to light after the child’s parents noticed an unusually high amount of phone data being used and questioned the girl. She told her parents, who notified Marysville Police. At the time of the police report, the parents were unaware that the person on the other end of the communication was a convicted sex-offender. Police Chief Floyd Golden credits the parent’s diligence. “Young people are vulnerable, and this man knew how to exploit this vulnerability,” said the Chief. “Thomas convinced the girl he was her friend. He deceived her. He adopted multiple identities. Thomas has targeted young children before, and knew what to say and how to say it. But for this young woman’s parent’s monitoring their daughter, this girl would have been victimized further.”

Thomas found the girl’s user name on the Internet. “She had reviewed the app, and was looking for people to chat with, “said Chief Golden. “All Thomas needed was this information to begin talking to her.”

To identify Thomas, Marysville Police detectives subpoenaed phone records, but the phone was pre-paid, and subscriber identification was difficult. “Detectives weren’t deterred, and followed a trail eventually leading to Thomas, “said prosecutor Phillips. Once detectives identified Thomas, they worked with computer forensic specialists from the Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation (BCI&I) to analyze the phone and computer records. A search warrant was executed on Thomas’s home with the assistance of the Warren Police Department.” Investigators learned there were other victims.

“There were at least four victims whom investigators could identify, and many more who could not be identified,” said Phillips. BCI&I identified victims in Michigan and Tennessee and Ohio. “The BCI analyst determined Thomas had contact with over 350 different profiles. Many of those were probably children, but they could not be identified.” Thomas, however, will face additional charges in Trumbull County for crimes he committed there.

Thomas has prior convictions for sex crimes against children. He was convicted in Montgomery County in 2003 for Unlawful Sexual Conduct with a Child and faced similar charges in Greene County in 2006. Phillips confirmed that Thomas did not meet with the Union County girl.

Phillips said adolescents are susceptible to the abuse because they are sexually curious, rebellious and feel they are invincible. “Teenagers are always looking for someone that they feel understands them,” he said. “The predator knows this. The Internet and phone apps provide anonymity for these predators to lure children into a relationship. Once they establish trust, the predator convinces the child to engage in more explicit behavior. Parents need to be aware.”

Two people were sentenced Friday for a fraud and identity scheme that  allowed them access to the bank accounts of 21 people, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Cameron Allen, 27, of Norfolk, was sentenced Friday to 46 months in prison, followed by 5 years of supervised release for conspiracy to commit bank fraud.

Dymond Chappelle, 19, of Portsmouth, was sentenced to 20 months in prison, followed by 5 years of supervised release for conspiracy to commit bank fraud.

  http://liarcatchers.com/identity_theft_investigation.html

According to court documents, Allen, Chappelle, and three co-conspirators executed a fraud and identity theft scheme and stole about $87,000 from Navy Federal Credit Union from January 2013 to March 2013.

A co-conspirator illegally obtained apartment lease applications, which contained the applicant’s personal information such as name, date of birth, social security number, and bank account information, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Using this personal information, Chappelle and Allen were able to gain access to their accounts.  The members of the scheme accessed the accounts of 21 individuals.

Indianapolis police are seeking the public’s help in searching for a 23-year-old woman with diminished mental capacities.

At about 8:15 p.m. Friday, officers were dispatched to the 3600 block of South East Street on a report of a missing person.

Mary Beth Fox was last seen near the Dollar General near her home at around 6:20 p.m., police said.

According to a news release, Fox is 5-foot, 10-inches tall and weighs about 220 pounds. She has dark-brown, short spiked hair. Fox, who is said to have the mental capacity of an 8-year-old was last seen wearing a dark denim jacket and blue jeans and was barefoot.

http://liarcatchers.com/missing_persons_investigations.html

Anyone with information on her whereabouts is asked to call 911.

An autopsy has confirmed a body found in the woods near a mobile home park where a Washington girl went missing was that of 6-year-old Jenise Wright, authorities said Friday

The coroner also ruled the death a homicide, said Earl Smith, incident commander for the Kitsap County Sheriff’s office. No exact cause of death was immediately released.

Sheriff’s office spokesman Scott Wilson said earlier Friday that the wooded area where an FBI team found the body contained thick brush and likely was muddy. He said the person responsible for the girl’s disappearance likely would have been covered in mud.

http://liarcatchers.com/wrongful_death.html

Meanwhile, Wilson said authorities are collecting DNA cheek swabs from dozens of residents who volunteer them in the Bremerton-area mobile home park where Jenise lived. The samples could be used to eliminate suspects if investigators later come across DNA evidence, he said, adding the DNA collection might be expanded outside the mobile-home park.

Jenise disappeared over the weekend, and her body was found Thursday in woods near the trailer park. Her family has said she was an outgoing girl

“She was a happy child, a bright light for those around her,” Smith said.

Authorities are focusing on a criminal investigation of the death, though so far no arrests have been made.

The FBI’s Specialty Search Dogs Unit discovered the body after volunteer canine search teams reported their dogs showed interest in a particular area.

Jenise was last seen when she went to bed Saturday night. Her parents waited a day before calling for help because they say the girl had wandered around the Steele Creek Mobile Home Park on her own in the past.

Wilson said Thursday there were no signs of forced entry at Jenise’s home and no indication she was taken from her room.

The girl’s parents are cooperating with authorities, he said.

Hundreds of people, including officers from 15 law enforcement agencies, searched for Jenise, going door to door at the mobile home park on the west side of Puget Sound, across from Seattle.

They also pulled surveillance video from nearby businesses and checked in with sex offenders in the county.

After the search began, state child welfare workers removed two other children, an 8-year-old boy and 12-year-old girl, from the home.

Jenise Wright’s father, James Wright, was charged more than a decade ago with molesting two girls, ages 8 and 15, court records show.

He eventually pleaded guilty in Whatcom County Superior Court in December 2001 to a misdemeanor assault charge related to the older girl. It was not immediately clear why the molestation charges were dropped. Prosecutors there did not return calls.

A judge in Whatcom County Superior Court sentenced Wright to a year in jail but suspended the entire jail term on the condition that he follow certain conditions, including paying fees.

Wilson has said authorities were aware of the past charge against the father, but officers were focused on finding the girl.

A man has been arrested after raping and impregnating a 13-year-old girl.

Police say Lexington’s Demetrius Hill, 35, has been charged with incest and rape of a 13-year-old girl.

http://liarcatchers.com/pedophile_tracking.html

The victim gave birth on July 24 and Hill was arrested after a paternity test proved the child was his. Police say the teen told them that Hill raped her last fall when she was only 13-years-old.

A Lexington man is in jail after being charged with distributing child pornography.

Police say Jacob Wasson, 32, used a cell phone to communicate with a 13-year-old boy with the intent of engaging in sexual activity.

http://liarcatchers.com/pedophile_tracking.html

Wasson reportedly sent a sexually explicit photo of himself to the boy. When police arrested Wasson he attempted to delete the photo from his phone.

He’s been charged with possession and distribution of child pornography, as well as tampering with evidence.

Police in Clark County say there isn’t a lot they can do about a new scam, but they want the public to be aware.

Winchester police say they’ve taken dozens of calls from people and businesses over the last few days reporting a phone scam regarding their utilities bills.

http://liarcatchers.com/fraud_investigation.html

According to police, the scammer claims to be with either a water or electric company, and says there is something wrong with a recent payment, asking the person to pay through a Green Dot card.

Police say if you get one of these calls, hang up and contact your utility company.

Police are searching for a man who went missing a week ago from the South Side Hyde Park neighborhood.

Keith Roddy, 35, was last seen about noon July 31 in the 5300 block of South Hyde Park Boulevard and may need medical attention, according to a missing person alert issued by Area Central detectives.

http://liarcatchers.com/missing_persons_investigations.html

He was last seen wearing brown jeans, a white T-shirt and white gym shoes, the alert said.

Roddy frequents the Hyde Park neighborhood, as well as the 5200 block of South Green Street, police said.

He is described as a 5-foot-7, 175-pound black man with brown eyes, black hair and a medium to dark complexion, the alert said.

Anyone with information on Roddy’s whereabouts is asked to call police at (312) 747-8380.

A man has been arrested in connection to a shooting in Clay County that left one hunter dead and another injured back in April.

61-year-old Dwight Hughes was booked into the Clay County Detention Center Friday afternoon charged with murder, assault and wanton endangerment.

According to the Clay County Sheriff’s Office, Hughes is accused of shooting in the direction of three hunters who were turkey hunting on April 17 in a wooded area off HWY 638.

http://liarcatchers.com/wrongful_death.html

Brian Griffin, 28, was killed and Jason Roberts, 21, was hurt. A third man, Chad Bullock, 21, suffered no injuries.

Griffin was transported to Saint Joseph-London Hospital where he was pronounced dead. Roberts was flown to the University of Kentucky Medical Center where he was treated for his injuries.

Officials initially believed the shooting was an accident, but were waiting on DNA results from evidence they found near the scene. They were treating the case as a death investigation.