WebProNews

Tag: rape case

  • One-month Rape Sentence Reversed: Judge To Be Unseated?

    It’s hard to fathom how a man can receive a one-month sentence in a rape trial, but that’s exactly what happened in the Stacey Rambold case.

    Rambold was sentenced to a single month in prison following the 2007 sexual assault of his student, Cherice Moralez.

    Montana Judge G. Todd Baugh not only credited Rambold with serving 15 years in prison minus 31 days, but he actually alleged that the victim, was “probably as much in control of the situation” as her much older teacher.

    Moralez had killed herself and therefore was not available to actually speak on her own behalf about what happened.

    The idea that a court judge would make such a statement and ruling was appalling to many onlookers.

    On Wednesday, the Montana Supreme Court threw out the original ruling and ordered the case be re-assigned to a different judge.

    Justice Michael Wheat wrote in the opinion that the “district court lacked authority to suspend all but 31 days of Rambold’s sentence”.

    In a plea agreement, Rambold had admitted to committing one count of sexual intercourse without consent. He was to avoid jail time through participating in a treatment program.

    The case was reinstated when he violated the conditions of the program and was thrown out.

    Despite this, Baugh was willing to give all the credit to the teacher at the expense of a teenager victim.

    Baugh’s actions moved the Montana Judicial Standards Commission to recommend that the Supreme Court discipline him. The high court stated that a ruling on Baugh’s conduct would come later.

    The tragic mishandling of this case was a source of great anger to the people of Montana and especially the family of the victim.

    Hopefully, the move to throw out the original conviction and possibly discipline the judge responsible will encourage more victims of rape to come forward and believe that justice will be served.

    Image via YouTube

  • Sara Ylen Fakes Cervical Cancer, Sentenced to One Year for Fraud

    On Wednesday, a 38-year-old Michigan woman was sentenced to one year in prison for money fraud against a healthcare insurance company and generous local supporters.

    Sara Ylen of Lexington, Mich., accepted thousands of dollars in donations for years by publicizing false claims of cervical cancer.

    According to NY Daily News, her story first reached local media coverage in 2003 when she submitted a series of accounts called “Sara’s Story” to The Times Herald. 

    Ylen created a false story detailing how she developed the ailment in 2001 after alleged attacker, James Grissom, raped her in the parking lot of a retail store. She also claimed that she was cared for by Cancer Treatment Centers of America in Zion, Ill.

    For many years, Ylen forged the names of specialists on her medical records in order to receive care. Additionally, a nurse from Michigan Mercy Hospice treated her for two years. The “great pretender” received $100,000 in donations to fund her hospice care.

    Ylen even played the part. According to witnesses, she wore a scarf on her head and used a wheelchair.

    It was not until 2011 that the facility terminated her treatment. The hospice said that they couldn’t find her name in the system or evidence of cervical cancer.

    Oddly enough, her story received immense support even without the confirmation of a doctor’s diagnosis.

    One of her many victims included Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan. Ylen owes the insurance company $122,000. Croswell Wesleyan Church and employees at Sandusky State Police Department were among others that donated money to support Ylen’s phony medical expenses.

    “All of these fraudulent acts that you perpetrated on so many people, and the extent that you went to perpetrate them, is almost mind-boggling,” Sanilac County Circuit Judge Donald Teeple said on Wednesday, according to NY Daily News. “You took advantage of the goodwill and generosity of people who were more than willing to assist you, all based on lies.”

    In a separate sentencing by a St. Clair County Judge, Ylen will serve additional five years in prison for falsely accusing Grissom and another man of rape.

    Fortunately, Grissom was released in 2012 after a judge decided to throw out his 15-year sentence. He had already served nearly 10 years in prison.

    Image via YouTube

  • Audrie Pott: 15-Year Old Girl Implicated In Suicide

    Audrie Pott–the 15-year old California girl who committed suicide last year after discovering a group of boys had sexually assaulted her while she was passed out at a party and then posted photos of it online–brings to mind the Steubenville rape case. Both girls involved had been drinking while at a party, and both were raped while they were unconscious. Both cases had far-reaching effects in their communities. But now, new information has come to light that sets the cases apart: a female has been accused of involvement in Pott’s assault.

    The 15-year old girl has been named in the Pott family’s lawsuit as someone who was in the room at the time of the incident, encouraging the boys to take off Audrie’s clothes and to write in marker on her private parts. They took photos of the assault which were later spread online, and then the girl allegedly buttoned Audrie’s shorts and covered her up, leaving her alone in the room. The girl–named only as Jane C. in the lawsuit because of her age–reportedly lied about her involvement in the assault.

    Audrie’s Facebook account provided information for investigators after her death, as messages were found recounting her recollection of the night and the fact that she was being bullied.

    “I have a reputation for a night I don’t even remember and the whole school knows,” she wrote in one Facebook message to a friend. “I cried when I found out what they did.”

    The three boys involved have been charged with sexual battery, dissemination of child pornography and possession of child pornography and are on house arrest as they await trial.

    Image: Facebook