| Man pleads not guilty to luring Escondido girl online
SAN DIEGO -- A South Dakota man pleaded not guilty Monday afternoon to multiple felony charges in connection with allegations that he lured an Escondido teen he met on the Internet to accompany him to his home state and committed sex crimes against her, a prosecutor said.Charles Leroy Crowell, 35, a former prison guard, remains jailed without bail. A preliminary hearing has been scheduled for Dec. 4, Deputy District Attorney Gretchen Means said. Means said Crowell has been charged with luring a minor with the intent to commit a sex offense, statutory rape and multiple charges of committing lewd acts on a minor. .
Boy, 11, in court over bashing
A COURT has been told that an 11-year-old boy and a 16-year-old youth accused of bashing an off-duty police officer and his girlfriend had "no regard for human life". The 27-year-old officer and his 26-year-old girlfriend were walking in Coolangatta early on Saturday when about 20 youths began kicking and punching them, police allege. The officer was allegedly beaten to the ground before having his head stomped on and his wallet stolen. His girlfriend was also hurt. An 11-year-old boy, who cannot be named, from West Tweed Heads, NSW, appeared in Southport Children's Court today charged with robbery with violence in company, assault occasioning bodily harm in company, affray and possession of a utensil. He was bailed on strict conditions.
Assault suspect identified
A 19-year-old Houston man has been identified as a suspect in the October sexual assault of a clerk at a Richmond bail bonding company.After releasing a sketch in early November and through further investigation and a photo line-up, the suspect was identified as William Grant Wilson, who has been indicted on aggravated robbery and aggravated sexual assault charges. He is currently being held in the Harris County Jail on unrelated charges. The other suspect in the case is still at large, said Sgt. Lowell D. Neinast, public liaison of the Richmond Police Department.According to investigators, Wilson and an accomplice pulled a gun and demanded money from the clerk at Allied Bonding Agency, 610 S. Second St., at 1:30 a.m. on Oct. 15. When the suspects learned that there was no money in the business, they forced the employee to a back room where she was sexually assaulted, police said.This case continues under investigation, and anyone with information is asked to contact Detective John Dawson at 281-342-2849.
3RD UPDATE: Northern Rock Shares Slump As Takeover Bids Disappoint
LONDON (Dow Jones) -- Stricken mortgage bank Northern Rock Plc on Monday warned investors that the takeover proposals it's received so far are " materially" below its closing price on Friday, as the U.K. government said it would favor the bid requiring the least support from authorities. Northern Rock, which has been trying to sell itself since it nearly collapsed in the midst of this summer's global credit crisis and had to be bailed out by the Bank of England, confirmed it has received several indicative proposals and said it expects to receive several more in the next few days. But it warned investors not to get their hopes up. "The value to shareholders from any of the proposals...remains highly uncertain and will be dependent, among other things, on when and if there is an improvement in market conditions including access to liquidity and the value created, if any, from the run-off of the assets and liabilities remaining in the company following any disposal of all or part of its business," the company said a statement.
Furniture firm eyes regional markets
NATIONAL Furniture Industries Limited (NFI) is eyeing regional markets after securing more than $100 billion from its parent firm, the Industrial Development Corporation, (IDC) to recapitalise operations.
IDC general manager Mr Mike Ndudzo yesterday confirmed that NFI was on a recovery path adding the company was exploring markets in the 14-member Southern African Development Community (Sadc).
"NFI is looking for growth opportunities and this can only be achieved through tapping the regional markets," said Mr Ndudzo.
He said that the IDC had in the past 18 months availed $200 billion to bail out NFI.
"The IDC received about $800 billion from the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe's Parastatals and Local Authorities Reorientation Programme and some of the funds were used to rescue the furniture manufacturing firm," he said.
Sex offender charged after working in school kitchens
ST. CHARLES – Batavia school officials continue to probe why a sex offender was allowed to work in their school kitchens.Gary L. Gasper Jr., 41, of Elgin, remained in jail Tuesday evening with bail set at $50,000, facing charges that he worked in two Batavia schools as a food-service provider despite his sex-offender status.Gasper served prison time in Wisconsin for sexually assaulting a 9-year-old girl in 1989, according to court records.Batavia police arrested Gasper on Monday after learning that he was at the Rotolo Middle School kitchen that day, as well as Nov. 5 and Nov. 6. Gasper also was working in the Batavia High School kitchen Monday, Detective Eric Mathewson said.State law requires that all sex offenders must not be within 500 feet of a school or other places where children dwell.Gasper was working for Sodexho, a Maryland-based food-service provider.The district has a contract with the company, which began July 1, Superintendent Jack Barshinger said.Now the school is investigating exactly where Gasper was while he worked and whether he had any contact with students."We believe at this time the probability is low that he was ever alone with the kids," Barshinger said.School officials also are looking into whether Sodexho ran a background check on Gasper, which is required of all the district’s subcontractors, Barshinger said."You don’t work in our district until your criminal background has been [searched], and that goes if you are a district employee, or if you are a subcontractor," he said.A Sodexho spokeswoman did not return phone calls Tuesday.Barshinger also sent a letter to parents explaining the situation.Mathewson said police did not believe that Gasper had contact with students or was working the job to target them."He helped prepare food in the kitchen," he said.Gasper also was convicted of failing to register on the Illinois sex-offender registry in 2005, according to court records.
Jury in Ulmer trial asked to determine if kidnapping was a mistake or a crime
Former Mobile County Sheriff's candidate and bail bond company owner Clint Ulmer went on trial Monday in a Mobile courtroom, charged with what his attorney acknowledged was a "mistake" on Ulmer's part, but not a crime. Ulmer, 43, and Bobby Crook, 25, were both on trial before Circuit Judge Rick Stout, charged with second-degree kidnapping. Their alleged offenses came, prosecutors said, during an incident in January 2006 at the downtown McDonald's restaurant on Government Street. Ulmer, the owner of Bandit Bonding, and Crook, an employee there, were trying to track down a client who had failed to show up for a court date, according to testimony. As the woman's bail bondsman, Ulmer was responsible for making sure she was in court.
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