Case delayed; CHP officer could face more charges in July

Case delayed; CHP officer could face more charges in July

By Sean LongoriaA California Highway Patrol officer under investigation in a child pornography case and charged with having a cache of illegal guns, explosives, drugs and stolen driver's licenses at his Anderson area home will have to wait until next month to find out whether he'll stand trial.

CHP officer Gerald "Gary" Roland Harris, 45, appeared in court only briefly Monday morning as prosecutors and criminal defense attorney Joe Gazzigli asked retired Superior Court Judge Anthony Anderson to hold off setting preliminary hearing date as the District Attorney's Office contemplates filing further charges against him.

The officer is under investigation in a child pornography case, according to two independent sources and a sealed Shasta County search warrant. But the extent of the investigation remains unclear.

Harris hasn't been charged with any child pornography allegations.

Josh Lowery, chief deputy district attorney, last week said the CHP submitted a second report on Harris to his office, but a decision on whether to file additional charges won't be made until July.

Harris will be back in court July 11 to set a preliminary hearing date. Gazzigli initially asked to hold off until July 9 to see if prosecutors file further charges, though Sarah Van Slyke, deputy district attorney, requested the date two days later.

Harris, now sporting a goatee, quickly left the court after the short

hearing along with three others. Gazzigli was in-between cases but offered a brief comment to reporters outside the courthouse.

"My gut reaction is that they're struggling with it," he said of the DA's investigation into Harris.

It's the second delay in the case in as many months. Gazzigli and prosecutors during a May hearing asked for a continuance in the case as the District Attorney's Office continued an investigation expected to be complete this month.

District Attorney Steve Carlton wasn't available for comment Monday on why the case has met delays or the status of his office's investigation.

CHP investigators, who have said they were collecting evidence in a crime that occurred nearly a month earlier at the Redding CHP patrol office, searched Harris' Deschutes Road house Feb. 21.

Investigators said they found 10 illegal assault rifles as well as an illegal assault pistol, homemade explosives, methadone pills and dozens of stolen driver's licenses.

Harris is charged with 13 felony counts related to the guns, drugs and explosives and one misdemeanor count of embezzlement by a public or private officer for the driver's licenses.

After the much-publicized February search of the Deschutes Road home, Harris was cited and released.

He turned himself in March 2 and his bail was set at $100,000. He bailed out 70 minutes after he was booked.

Gazzigli has said Harris is on leave from his duties as a patrol officer.

Davie cop accused of 2009 rape still waiting on second trial

Davie cop accused of 2009 rape still waiting on second trial

DAVIE — Stephen Olenchak, the Davie officer accused of drugging and raping a family member in March 2009, is still waiting for a new trial date.

On Monday, Broward Circuit Judge Jeffrey Levenson said he may set a trial date at the next status hearing on July 11.

It will be Olenchak's second trial.  

His attorney, Jim Lewis, expects it to begin sometime this summer.

In his first trial, jurors found him guilty in December 2010 on one charge of sexual battery by digital penetration and acquitted him of a second charge of penile penetration.

A judge was forced to declare a mistrial after a juror admitted to doing her own research on Wikipedia and bringing printouts to the jury room.

Olenchak was arrested in March 2009 by Davie police on charges he raped a family member, then 19, while his wife and 4-year-old son slept next to them in the same bed. Olenchak claimed the young woman seduced him.

In the upcoming trial, Olenchak will be tried on one count of sexual battery on a helpless victim, a first-degree felony with a maximum 30-year sentence.

In the first trial, Olenchak faced two charges of sexual battery, a second-degree felony with a maximum 15-year sentence.

Prosecutors upgraded the charge in January after Olenchak rejected a plea deal of three years.

Since his arrest, Olenchak has come to every hearing, but was not in court Monday.

In May, Levenson told Olenchak he was no longer required to attend status hearings.

"It's OK, your honor," Olenchak said. "I've got to be my best advocate. My life's on the line."

Olenchak, 37, remains employed by the Davie Police Department pending the trial's outcome.

Even if Olenchak is acquitted by a Broward jury, he might still lose his job if department brass determine he engaged in conduct unbecoming of an officer, Davie Police Capt. Dale Engle said.

Walmart won’t hire you?

Walmart won’t hire you?

Do you have thoughts of suicide?

Are you sure your wives is cheating on you can’t prove it?

Do you get sexually aroused by hurting people and animals?

Are you angry your father didn’t pay any attention to you? Hell, are you just plain angry?

Thought about college but just too lazy to work that much?

Do you fear your attraction to the same sex and don’t know what do about?

THEN YOU BE A CANDIDATE FOR THE FAIRFAX COUNTY CITIZENS POLICE ACADEMY!

Learn Law Enforcement from behind the Scenes

The Fairfax County Police Department is accepting applications for the Citizens Police Academy, which teaches residents about

- How to vaguely threaten reporters who ask for the name of cop who gunned down an unarmed citizen.

-How to kill and beat and falsely arrest people of color so it looks like you were only doing your job!

-How to avoid interacting with citizens who may actual fight back and sue you!

-Best of all….you can get away with all of it!  That’s right, you can get away with anything!

-The board of supervisors intimidated by us they vote down oversight and say and do nothing when we murder, rob, and beat citizens!

-Don’t believe it? Check our history. It speaks for itself.

APPLICANTS MUST LIVE OR WORK IN THE COUNTY EVEN THOUGH 86% OF US LIVE OUTSIDE THE COUNTY

The program, which is another over the top attempt by us at public relations, is offered free of charge because even though teachers have to bring their own crayons and chalk to work……we pretty much get whatever we want    (See above notation on Board of Supervisors)

Acceptance is subject to review of applicant’s criminal record and police contact history, which is code for we’re trying to keep this thing Lilly white.  

PARTICIPANTS WILL LEARN ABOUT THE DAILY CHALLENGES FACED BY POLICE OFFICERS INCLUDING:

Where to get free food.

How to shake down Korean massage parlors for free service. (especially the one’s run out of apartments in Reston) 

Places to hide while you’re supposed to be working.

Classes will be held on ten consecutive Thursday evenings from 6:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. at various police facilities throughout the county. If you miss a class, we don’t really care because this is all intended to keep our budget padded and make people thing that we aren’t resented and reviled across the county.

Wichita police officer charged with indecent liberties

Wichita police officer charged with indecent liberties

(WICHITA, Kan.) — A Wichita police officer who pleaded guilty to sexual battery against two citizens while on duty is now charged with two counts of indecent liberties against two children. Charges were officially filed against Joseph McGill today. McGill is charged with one count of aggravated indecent liberties against a one year old. The other alleged victim was just three months old when prosecutors say the crime occurred. McGill is scheduled to be back in court next month.

N.J. court won't dismiss charges against Irvington cop

SOMERVILLE — A Superior Court judge will not throw out charges against an off-duty Irvington cop who allegedly helped two women escape after they beat a 17-year-old girl in Raritan last year.

Judge Robert Reed Thursday denied Herne LaCoste’s request to dismiss his indictment, which LaCoste’s attorney said was tainted by the omission of crucial evidence.
"None of that ... is of any consequence to this motion," Reed said.
LaCoste, a 14-year-Irvington police veteran, has been charged with robbery, kidnapping and official misconduct. He also faces several weapons charges and counts of aggravated assault and hindering apprehension.
The 40-year-old officer is accused of standing by while his 19-year-old girlfriend, Shanikah Daniels of East Orange, and another woman, Markeesa Coleman, 18, of Irvington, beat the victim in a parking lot on Oct. 16.
The beating came minutes after Coleman and Daniels allegedly robbed the teen at gunpoint and took her cell phone, bus ticket and MetroCard. Authorities said the attackers and LaCoste, of Plainfield, fled in his SUV.
A .38-caliber handgun used in the robbery was not LaCoste’s police-issued sidearm, but an unregistered weapon allegedly belonging to him, court documents state.
According to those papers, the plan was to take the victim, who Daniels knew, and strand her somewhere. Daniels intended to beat the victim because she had disrespected her mother, according to authorities.
A Somerset County grand jury indicted LaCoste last fall, but defense attorney Dan Smith said the panel didn’t get to see key evidence — surveillance footage and a witness statement — that could have raised doubt as to whether LaCoste refused to help the victim.
"The grand jury should have had a chance to decide," he said.
Reed, however, said the evidence was not enough to negate guilt.
LaCoste is currently suspended from the Irvington force, Smith said.
Irvington police did not return a phone call seeking confirmation.

A Wichita Police officer convicted of touching two girls

WPD Officer Headed To Trial For Child Sex Crimes

A Sedgwick County judge has bound over a Wichita Police officer accused of fondling his own children.

Prosecutors charged Joseph McGill with indecent liberties with a child last month. Investigators said the crimes occurred while the children lived with McGill.

The state called one witness, McGill's estranged wife, to testify during a preliminary hearing Thursday.

She said McGill fondled the couple's daughters, ages 3 months and 1-year-old. She said McGill admitted to touching the girls in the shower.

The defense argued the girls were never examined by a medical professional.

But District Court Judge Jeff Syrios ruled the woman's testimony was enough to send the case to trial.

McGill is expected to return to court July 30.

Thursday, June 7, 2012

A Wichita Police officer convicted of touching two girls on duty now faces a judge on additional sex crime charges.

Joseph McGill was arrested last month on suspicion of aggravated indecent liberties with a child. Capt. Brent Allred, Wichita Police, said the crimes happened about two years ago while the girls lived with McGill.

It's believed the allegations were uncovered through McGill's probation process for the previous crimes.

McGill was charged with sexual battery while on duty as a Wichita Police Officer in January. After pleading guilty, he was given three months probation and fired from his job.

A Sedgwick County judge will decide whether there is enough evidence in the newest case to send McGill to trial.

Cop’s arrest roils Troy

A 26-year veteran police sergeant was arrested Friday morning by the New York Police Department on charges accusing him of committing computer crimes dangerous to minors, city police said.

Sgt. Patrick Rosney, 53, was arrested Friday morning when he arrived for work at police headquarters. He was handcuffed while in uniform. It was a sting operation involving a New York City police officer posing as a 14-year-old girl, according to several people briefed on the arrest.

Rosney was allowed to change into civilian clothes before he was driven to Queens to be arraigned for first-degree attempted dissemination of indecent material to minors, a felony and attempted endangering the welfare of a child, a misdemeanor.

Rosney was suspended without pay for 30 days when he was arrested. Rosney’s fellow officers were shocked and angered by his alleged actions, Tedesco said.

“We are a strong department. We are a department of character. We expect a rough road,” Tedesco said.

“To see a police officer in handcuffs is very disturbing and hurtful,” said Officer Robert Fitzgerald, president of the Troy Police Benevolent Association. Mayor Lou Rosamilia said the city would cooperate with the NYPD investigation. “The allegations in this case are deplorable,” the mayor said. “This is a deeply disturbing incident, and certainly not reflective of the overall character and quality of our police department.”

Upstate NY cop arrested in NYPD computer sting

TROY, N.Y. (AP) -- New York City police have accused a veteran upstate police officer of having sexual conversations via computer with a person he thought was a 14-year-old girl.

 Troy Police Chief John Tedesco tells local media Friday that Sgt. Pat Rosney of East Greenbush was arrested earlier in the day by a Queens-based NYPD vice squad and charged with endangering the welfare of a child and disseminating indecent material to a minor.

 Rosney was being brought to Queens for arraignment. It couldn't initially be determined if he has a lawyer. Tedesco says Rosney has been suspended without pay. His age and years with the Troy force weren't immediately available from police officials.

Maui police officer indicted for sex assault

An 18-year veteran of the Maui Police Department was indicted on four counts of sexual assault against a 15-year-old girl on Friday.  Sergeant Paul Bailey was indicted on four counts of sexual assault in the third degree. Maui police say the incident happened on May, 21.  Police say Bailey turned himself in at the Wailuku Station, where he was processed and released on a $100,000 bail bond. His court date is set for Tuesday, June 19 at 8 a.m. in Wailuku.  He is currently on paid administrative leave until further notice.