NY – Gym owner gets 10 yrs. in child-sex case

Article
Victoria E. Freile and Michael Zeigler
Staff writers

December 4, 2006 10:52 am — East Rochester gymnastics center owner Marian Asenov Penev will spend 10 years in prison for sexually assaulting a 13-year-old student.

Under terms of a plea deal, Penev admitted guilt this morning in federal charges levied in U.S. District Court, and is scheduled to plead guilty to state charges this afternoon in Monroe County Court.

In exchange for the pleas, Penev, 40, will serve a combined sentence in a federal prison, said U.S. attorney Rick Resnick. Although Penev faced up to 30 years behind bars on the federal charges and 10 to 20 years on the state charges, prosecutors said they offered him the deal, with the consent of the student’s family.

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CA – Fresno Priest Takes Stand in Molestation Case

Article

– A Fresno priest, accused of sexually abusing a teen, told jurors his side of the story Monday. Army Staff Sergeant Juan Rocha claims he was molested while staying overnight with Father Eric Swearingen.

Father Eric Swearingen has been waiting four years to tell his side of this story. He is a practicing priest at Holy Spirit Catholic Church in North Fresno.While on the stand he told of several visits Rocha made to his personal living quarters but the priest denied ever sexually abusing the former altar boy.

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MD – Former Teacher Arrested On Sex Abuse Charges

Article
POSTED: 3:14 pm EST December 4, 2006
UPDATED: 5:56 pm EST December 4, 2006

BALTIMORE — Baltimore County police arrested a former teacher on charges of the alleged sexual abuse of a 13-year-old girl. Timothy Nicholas Gounaris, 50, of Perry Hall, was arrested Nov. 30 and charged with second-degree sex offense and perverted practice. Police said Gounaris assaulted the victim during a two-week period in December 2005. The victim told police they engaged in sexual acts in the bedroom of his home. Gounaris, a teacher at Chinquapin Middle School, has been placed on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of the case, a school spokeswoman said. Read the rest of this entry »

IN – Sex offender sentenced to 85 years; Pleaded guilty but mentally ill to child molesting, other charges

Article
By Dionne Waugh
The Journal Gazette

An Allen Superior Court judge on Monday ordered a registered sex offender to spend the next 85 years in prison.

Richard B. Jessup, 44, of the 200 block of Third Avenue, pleaded guilty but mentally ill last month to child molesting, burglary and being a habitual offender. On April 13, he broke into a home on Cass Street about 4:30 a.m. and sexually assaulted a 6-year-old girl inside.

In court, Jessup apologized for his actions, and his defense attorney told the judge that Jessup hoped to be a normal person who didn’t suffer from mental disorders.

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Making Life Yours

There is no secret recipe for happiness and contentment. The individuals who move through life joyously have not necessarily been blessed with lives of abundance, love, success, and prosperity. Such people have, however, been blessed with the ability to take the circumstances they’ve been handed and make them into something great. Our individual realities are colored by perception-delight and despair come from within rather than without. Situations we regard as fortuitous please us while situations we judge inauspicious cause us no end of grief. Yet if we can look at all we have accomplished without dwelling on our perceived misfortune and make each new circumstance our own, the world as a whole becomes a brighter place. A simple shift in attitude can help us recognize and unearth the hidden potential for personal and outer world fulfillment in every event, every relationship, every duty, and every setback.

The universe is often an unpredictable and chaotic place, and the human tendency is to focus on the negative and assume the positive will care for itself. But life can be no more or no less than what you make of it. If you are working in a job you dislike, you can concentrate on the positive aspects of the position and approach your work with gusto. What can you do with this job that can turn it around so you do love it. When faced with the prospect of undertaking a task you fear, you can view it as an opportunity to discover what you are truly capable of doing. Similarly, unexpected events, when viewed as surprises, can add flavor to your existence. By choosing to love life no matter what crosses your path, you can create an atmosphere of jubilance that is wonderfully infectious. A change in perspective is all it takes to change your world, but you must be willing to adopt an optimistic, hopeful mind-set.

To make a conscious decision to be happy is not enough. You must learn to observe life’s complexities through the eyes of a child seeing everything for the first time. You must furthermore divest yourself of preconceived notions of what is good and what is bad so that you can appreciate the rich insights concealed in each stage of your life’s journey. And you must strive to discover the dual joys of wanting what you have. As you gradually shift your perspective, your existence will be imbued with happiness and contentment that will remain with you forever.

Author Unknown

Australia – Lawyer sought sex with children

Article
David King
December 05, 2006

HIGH-FLYING lawyer Michael John Poynder was at Misty’s massage parlour when he first expressed his desire to have sex with children.

The Sydney-based special counsel with law firm Minter Ellison told a prostitute in the Potts Point parlour about his intention to have sex with young girls and left his contact details with her.

But the woman passed on his details to police, who bugged his phones and recorded his attempts in a telephone chatroom to entice children to have sex with him.

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