Four REPORTED cases of cops molesting children in the past few days...how many went unreported?

Mathis Police Officer Accused of Indecency with a Child Arrested

ALICE (Kiii News) - Mathis Police Officer Antonio Gutierrez, 50, was arrested by the Jim Wells County Sheriff's Department Tuesday after he was accused of indecency with a child, according to Sheriff's Department Sgt. Felix Saenz.

Saenz said that a 14-year old girl reported indecency by sexual contact to the Sheriff's Office on Sunday. She was 13 year's old at the time and is not a relative of Guitierrez'. Police said that the girl reported that the incident happened within the last few months.

Mathis Police Chief Gerald Arismendez said that Gutierrez has been placed on suspension without pay pending the outcome of the investigation, which is being conducted by the Jim Wells County Sheriff's Department, Texas Rangers and Child Protective Services.

Gutierrez is being held on a $50,000 bond.

Vinita Police Officer arrested, accused of lewd acts with child

The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation said a police officer in Vinita was arrested for lewd molestation of a child.

Sean Floyd, 35, was arrested by the OSBI for multiple counts of lewd molestation with a child under 16. According to the OSBI, Floyd was an officer at the Vinita Police Department.

OSBI says it was called August 18th by the Craig County Sheriff's Office to investigate claims that he was have sexual contact with a girl under 16. He was arrested and booked into the Craig County Jail Thursday.

OSBI agents believe only one victim is involved however the investigation is still open.

Former HPD officer who was shot in face charged with indecency with child

By Dale Lezon

More details have emerged after a former Houston police officer was arrested in Brazoria County for alleged sexual activity.

Daniel Vaughan is charged with attempt to commit indecency with a child and indecency by exposure criminal episode, according to the Brazoria County Sheriff's Office. His indicment was executed Wednesday and he surrendered to authorities at 4:20 a.m.

Vaughan was being held in the Brazoria County jail in lieu of $25,000 bail.

Deputies said Vaughan was one of four people accused after a 15-year-old girl told authorities in 2013 her 42-year-old father and the others had been involved in sexually abusing her. The allegations sparked an investigation that led to the arrests in the case.

The girl's father was arrested in June 2014 and later pleaded gulity to five counts of aggravated sexual assault of a child. He was sentenced to 50 years in state prison. His name has not been released to protect his daughter's identity. Vaughan was the man's landlord.

Deputies said Amy Gilliam was also arrested and charged in the case. She pleaded guilty to aggravated sexual assault of a child and was sentenced to five years in state prison.

Deputies said Steven Watkins, 23, was charged with aggravated sexual assault of a child and was arrested in February. He is awaiting trial.

Vaughan retired from the Houston Police Department in 2001, according to HPD officials. In 1993, police said, he was wounded when he was shot in the face while on duty.

On March 20 of that year, a gunman walked into a police substation at Webster and St. Emanuel about 11:45 a.m. and asked to see a supervisor. Before the supervisor came to the desk, Vaughan, dressed in plain clothes, walked through the door carrying some files, and the gunman apparently mistook him for a supervisor and opened fire with a .380-caliber pistol.

Vaughan was struck once just above the right eye and once beside his nose. The suspect then pointed the gun at two other officers, who dove for cover. The man fled the substation without firing another shot.

"I looked down the barrel and saw the bullet, " Vaughan told the Chronicle after the incident. "A few moments later that bullet went in my right eye and through the back of my head."

Vaughan is now a law enforcement trainer and motivational speaker, according to his website, dannyvaughan.com.

Police: Henry sheriff’s captain arrested for arranging tryst with child

By Michelle E. Shaw

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

A Henry County sheriff’s deputy was arrested in DeKalb County and stands accused of attempting to arrange a sexual encounter with a 14-year-old.

Capt. David McCart of the Henry County Sheriff’s Office was arrested Tuesday after a two-month investigation, according to Channel 2 Action News.

DeKalb investigators told Channel 2 that McCart met the boy online through social media. The two allegedly talked about different sexual activities and agreed to meet, according to the television report.

“We were doing a cross-country operation with the FBI and during that time we came into contact with an individual later identified as Captain McCart,” DeKalb County police Sgt. Torrey Kennedy told Channel 2. “Mr. McCart was on a social media website chatting with who he believed was an underage child. During that chat, they had a sexual, explicit conversation in which they agreed to meet for sex.”

The conversation moved to texting as McCart allegedly planned to meet the child. Once they agreed on a time and place, McCart showed up at the mall, where he was met by police, according to the report.

The investigation into McCart’s activities continues, as police determine whether he had contact with other children.

Settlement Is Approved in Central Park Jogger Case, but New York Deflects Blame

A $41 million settlement for five men whose convictions in the 1989 beating and rape of a female jogger in Central Park were later overturned was made final on Friday, with the deal including unusual language that sought to absolve New York City from blame.

The agreement, which awards the five black and Hispanic plaintiffs about $1 million for each year of their imprisonment, includes no admission of wrongdoing from the city; in fact, the city explicitly asserts that prosecutors and police detectives did nothing wrong at the time.

“The City of New York has denied and continues to deny that it and the individually named defendants have committed any violations of law or engaged in any wrongful acts concerning or related to any allegations that were or could have been alleged,” the settlement states.

The city’s corporation counsel, Zachary W. Carter, later amplified the city’s stance, saying that the agreement “should not be construed as an acknowledgment that the convictions of these five plaintiffs were the result of law enforcement misconduct.”

 “On the contrary,” he continued, “our review of the record suggests that both the investigating detectives and the assistant district attorneys involved in the case acted reasonably, given the circumstances with which they were confronted.”

The agreement nonetheless brings to a conclusion a long and bitterly contested legal battle that stemmed from the men’s arrests and imprisonment in the sensational crime..

The settlement, Mayor Bill de Blasio said in a statement, arose from “a moral obligation to right this injustice.”

“This settlement is an act of justice for those five men that is long overdue,” he added.

Four of the men — Antron McCray, Kevin Richardson, Yusef Salaam and Raymond Santana Jr. — spent about seven years in prison; each will receive $7.125 million under terms of the deal. The fifth man, Kharey Wise, who served about 13 years, will receive $12.25 million.

One of the plaintiff’s lawyers, Jonathan C. Moore, said it was “wonderful this case is finally over for these young men, who maintained their innocence all along.” He said the settlement was “some measure of justice, and nobody would deny that, but no amount of money could really compensate them for what they and their families suffered.”

 ‘We Lost Those Years’

Three of the five men whose convictions were overturned in the 1989 Central Park jogger case spoke at City Hall Friday, after reaching a settlement of about $40 million with New York City.

Video Credit By Stephen Farrell on Publish Date June 27, 2014. Image CreditChang W. Lee/The New York Times

Magistrate Judge Ronald L. Ellis approved the settlement on Friday. The city typically denies liability in settling lawsuits but the language in the Central Park settlement goes further than the statements that are often used.

The attack on the jogger, a 28-year-old investment banker, led to sensational news reports and statements by politicians, and served to inflame racial tensions in the city, which was portrayed as a place of lawlessness.

The men, ages 14 to 16 at the time of their arrests, had claimed that incriminating statements they made to the authorities had been coerced. But a judge ruled that the statements were admissible, and the men were convicted in two trials in 1990.

In 2002, the convictions were vacated after the office of the Manhattan district attorney, Robert M. Morgenthau, found DNA and other evidence that the woman had been raped and beaten by another person, Matias Reyes.

The Bloomberg administration had fought the lawsuit, which was filed in 2003; after Mr. de Blasio took office, the city reversed its position. The defendants included former Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly and other current and former members of the Police Department and the district attorney’s office.

Cyrus R. Vance Jr., the current district attorney, said, “After more than a decade in which numerous parties have investigated and litigated the case, there has been no finding of wrongdoing or unprofessional behavior by any of the prosecutors involved.”

In his statement, Mr. Carter seemed to offer a rationale for the settlement while acknowledging that some issues would remain unresolved. “To the extent that the evidence suggests that these five young men were wrongfully convicted and sentenced to substantial prison terms for a crime they did not commit,” he said, “that in and of itself constitutes an injustice in need of redress.”

He noted that his office’s review of the case suggested detectives and prosecutors had acted reasonably. “In the end, however, that is an issue that would ultimately be determined by a jury at trial, absent a settlement of this litigation,” he added. “We have determined that a resolution of this matter is in the best interests of the city.”

Settlement Is Approved in Central Park Jogger Case, but New York Deflects Blame

A $41 million settlement for five men whose convictions in the 1989 beating and rape of a female jogger in Central Park were later overturned was made final on Friday, with the deal including unusual language that sought to absolve New York City from blame.

The agreement, which awards the five black and Hispanic plaintiffs about $1 million for each year of their imprisonment, includes no admission of wrongdoing from the city; in fact, the city explicitly asserts that prosecutors and police detectives did nothing wrong at the time.

“The City of New York has denied and continues to deny that it and the individually named defendants have committed any violations of law or engaged in any wrongful acts concerning or related to any allegations that were or could have been alleged,” the settlement states.

The city’s corporation counsel, Zachary W. Carter, later amplified the city’s stance, saying that the agreement “should not be construed as an acknowledgment that the convictions of these five plaintiffs were the result of law enforcement misconduct.”

 “On the contrary,” he continued, “our review of the record suggests that both the investigating detectives and the assistant district attorneys involved in the case acted reasonably, given the circumstances with which they were confronted.”

The agreement nonetheless brings to a conclusion a long and bitterly contested legal battle that stemmed from the men’s arrests and imprisonment in the sensational crime..

The settlement, Mayor Bill de Blasio said in a statement, arose from “a moral obligation to right this injustice.”

“This settlement is an act of justice for those five men that is long overdue,” he added.

Four of the men — Antron McCray, Kevin Richardson, Yusef Salaam and Raymond Santana Jr. — spent about seven years in prison; each will receive $7.125 million under terms of the deal. The fifth man, Kharey Wise, who served about 13 years, will receive $12.25 million.

One of the plaintiff’s lawyers, Jonathan C. Moore, said it was “wonderful this case is finally over for these young men, who maintained their innocence all along.” He said the settlement was “some measure of justice, and nobody would deny that, but no amount of money could really compensate them for what they and their families suffered.”

 ‘We Lost Those Years’

Three of the five men whose convictions were overturned in the 1989 Central Park jogger case spoke at City Hall Friday, after reaching a settlement of about $40 million with New York City.

Video Credit By Stephen Farrell on Publish Date June 27, 2014. Image CreditChang W. Lee/The New York Times

Magistrate Judge Ronald L. Ellis approved the settlement on Friday. The city typically denies liability in settling lawsuits but the language in the Central Park settlement goes further than the statements that are often used.

The attack on the jogger, a 28-year-old investment banker, led to sensational news reports and statements by politicians, and served to inflame racial tensions in the city, which was portrayed as a place of lawlessness.

The men, ages 14 to 16 at the time of their arrests, had claimed that incriminating statements they made to the authorities had been coerced. But a judge ruled that the statements were admissible, and the men were convicted in two trials in 1990.

In 2002, the convictions were vacated after the office of the Manhattan district attorney, Robert M. Morgenthau, found DNA and other evidence that the woman had been raped and beaten by another person, Matias Reyes.

The Bloomberg administration had fought the lawsuit, which was filed in 2003; after Mr. de Blasio took office, the city reversed its position. The defendants included former Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly and other current and former members of the Police Department and the district attorney’s office.

Cyrus R. Vance Jr., the current district attorney, said, “After more than a decade in which numerous parties have investigated and litigated the case, there has been no finding of wrongdoing or unprofessional behavior by any of the prosecutors involved.”

In his statement, Mr. Carter seemed to offer a rationale for the settlement while acknowledging that some issues would remain unresolved. “To the extent that the evidence suggests that these five young men were wrongfully convicted and sentenced to substantial prison terms for a crime they did not commit,” he said, “that in and of itself constitutes an injustice in need of redress.”

He noted that his office’s review of the case suggested detectives and prosecutors had acted reasonably. “In the end, however, that is an issue that would ultimately be determined by a jury at trial, absent a settlement of this litigation,” he added. “We have determined that a resolution of this matter is in the best interests of the city.”