#felony sex assault charges

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Erin Reed at Erin In The Morning:

A new bill introduced by far-right Republican legislator Tom Oliverson, HB3817, seeks to criminalize being transgender by classifying it as felony fraud. While the bill has no cosponsors—making its passage significantly less likely—it marks a significant escalation in anti-trans legislation. It is the first measure to explicitly criminalize identifying as a gender different from one’s sex assigned at birth and communicating that identity to others. The proposal also aligns with broader efforts at the state and federal levels, including Trump administration policies, that seek to label transgender existence as "fraudulent." The bill states that transgender individuals who "make a false or misleading verbal or written statement" to their employer or the government are guilty of felony fraud if that statement "identifies the person’s biological sex as the opposite of the biological sex assigned to the person at birth." This language effectively criminalizes transgender people for merely existing and identifying as their gender identity. Beyond employment, the bill could also apply to interactions with law enforcement, attempts to update gender markers on official documents, and other routine disclosures of gender identity. If enacted, it would amount to the direct criminalization of being transgender, with felony fraud charges carrying the potential for jail time. [...] Though this is the first direct attempt to criminalize being transgender, the use of "fraud" language in anti-trans policies has appeared in other settings. In 2024, the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles announced that transgender individuals could be "guilty of fraud" for "misrepresenting" their sex assigned at birth on driver's licenses. Shortly after, the state banned all gender marker changes on those licenses. While previous policies have used the concept of fraud to justify restrictions, this bill takes it further—escalating from bureaucratic barriers to outright criminalization. Nationally, similar language has been used to justify sweeping restrictions on transgender people under the Trump administration. Trump’s military ban explicitly frames transgender identity as deception, stating that "A man’s assertion that he is a woman, and his requirement that others honor this falsehood, is not consistent with the humility and selflessness required of a service member." This framing treats gender identity itself as a "false statement," barring transgender people from service on the grounds of dishonesty.

Texas State Rep. Tom Oliverson (R) introduces a very hateful and bigoted bill (HB3817) that calls for trans people to be criminalized under the guise of preventing “fraud” by making it a felony fraud to be trans in Texas.

Texas HB3817 is part of the right’s all-out assault on the existence of trans people.

[thelawfulchaotic]

This is a summary of how court cases go. Partly inspired from posts about recent events that show me just how much the general public doesn't know about what happens after arrest and before prison (or acquittal).

Warning: Much of this is specific to my state. Not even just my country: my state! I've tried here and there to mention other ways things are done, but I have almost ten years of experience in this one and approximately zero in any other.

Part 1: How Cases Begin/"Investigation"

One question seems to come up a lot in true crime cases. That question is: why are the police so bad at this? Why didn't they canvass the scene? Why didn't they get witnesses? Why didn't they (insert incredibly basic investigative step here)?

Sorry to bust your bubble, but police rarely do any actual investigating. Cases most commonly begin in the following ways.

1: Case directly reported to police. There are several different types of this. The most common two are via 911 call and via citizen report (i.e., coming into the police station to report a crime). However, in recent years, we've seen the rise of automated reporting of certain crimes via social media companies, most famously with regards to child sex abuse material. The police will simply get a report that x IP address accessed/shared/downloaded Y image at Z time.

2: Traffic stop. The police saw a car committing a minor traffic violation (ran a red light, headlights out, failed to come to a complete stop at a stop sign, changed lanes without signalling, etc.) and they stopped it. They found a pretext or got "permission" to search the car from the driver (who likely did not really know they could refuse). Or they got a drug dog to run around the car. (Drug dogs are not nearly as accurate as people think they are; overwhelmingly drug dogs respond to the signals of their handler and not the presence of drugs. I can cite studies if requested.)

3: Narcotics investigation. This is a distant third, but worth mentioning because it's probably the most proactive that most police departments get on a regular basis. They will have undercover officers or informants do controlled buys of narcotics on video, meticulously documented before and after. They take a level of care with this type of investigation otherwise only really reserved for the most violent felonies.

This all isn't to say that cases can't come up any other way. Sometimes police departments really do just do long-term investigations of things. Mostly, I find, they spend so much time picking the low-hanging fruit (guy who had drugs on traffic stop, yelling drunk homeless person) that the more complex and complicated cases just get dropped.

—

What happens next?

Next, the police are supposed to investigate. Gather evidence? Talk to people?

This is going to be disappointing to many people as well, but police tend to do the absolute minimum necessary investigation to establish the case and get a conviction, then pass it over to the prosecution. This is even if there are leads and suspects they haven't cleared. They'll just leave that kind of thing out of the final report, unless the defense comes specifically nosing around.

Let me give a few specific examples.

Example 1: 911 call for assault and battery. Officers arrive to find that two brothers absolutely beat the ever-loving shit out of each other at grandma's funeral. Brother 2 has left. Brother 1 remains. The police talk to Brother 1, who has a broken nose. Brother 1 fully blames the aggression on Brother 2, claiming that Brother 2 attacked him unprovoked and broke his nose. Brother 2's wife backs him up. The police, having gotten two witnesses saying one version of events, bring a malicious wounding charge without ever having spoken to Brother 1. A different officer serves Brother 1's arrest warrant and does not interrogate him in any way.

This is not unusual. Once the officers have found enough to arrest one person, often the last thing they want to do is generate more work for themselves by then finding a reason the case isn't so simple and easy. That would mean they then have to talk to many more people, examine evidence, and make a decision as to who the "primary aggressor" was, which will require a judgment call. Meanwhile, their extra investigation has just made it easier for the defense to win at a trial later on, because now the defense has loads of helpful info. They helped the “bad guys” by doing their job better. Can y’all see why an officer wouldn’t even bother? Would just go on to the next easy case instead of staying late and tracking down another witness?

In my past assault and battery cases, it has been just about as common for officers to have spoken to both parties as it was for officers to have only spoken to one party.

Example 2: Reported Property Damage. Girlfriend walks into a police station and says "my boyfriend broke my phone." (In my jurisdiction, a person can just walk straight in front of a judge, swear that what they said was true, and the judge will issue an arrest warrant. This is not true in all jurisdictions and is in fact completely fucking buck wild.) Police ask her a couple questions, look at the phone, bring a warrant, it's done. Maybe they call the boyfriend and ask him what happened. This is most likely the extent of the investigation.

You notice both of these are incredibly low-effort cases that result in easy arrests and immediate prosecutions. Wow, could that help an officer’s statistics? Could it actually hurt his stats if he takes longer and does a better job?

–

Okay, what happens now? The police have a suspect, they (in theory) know what happened.

Next, police seek an arrest warrant.

This involves going before a judge and swearing that there's probable cause to believe that their suspect committed their crime as alleged.

1: The Affidavit. There are very few rules for what they can and can't say in these affidavits to get their search warrants. Police officers can attest/swear to things that other police officers saw, because of "imputed knowledge." They can quote witnesses. They can decline to identify informants, as long as they say that their informant has a history of being reliable. (They do not have to provide any evidence of that history.)

They don't have to include all the facts. They don't have to include facts that contradict their version of events. They're not supposed to lie, but sometimes these affidavits are not provided to defense counsel and are sealed, so the defense can't even find out later what they said. And they can shop around for judges who are the most friendly. If one judge says "no," they can try another.

On top of that, all they have to show is "probable cause." Nobody is willing to put a percentage likelihood on "probable cause," but places tend to agree to things like: if there are four guys in a car and you find drugs where all four could reach it, you have probable cause for all four. It's not that you probably did it. It's more than a suspicion that you did it. In my experience, "probable cause" means that there's literally any reason to believe that this person might have actually done this thing.

2: No-Knock Warrants. The media has made a big deal these days of no-knock warrants and nighttime "warrant service." These are when the police bust into someone's house without announcing themselves, at night, in order to take everyone by surprise. This is horrendously dangerous! And yet, police seem to crave it. They get really, really mad when anyone tries to take it away.

My jurisdiction banned arrest warrants after dark, but didn't do the same for search warrants. Guess when all search warrants seem to get served? Goddamn midnight, that's when.

Furthermore, police seem to be able to request exceptions to the no-knock, daytime only rules. Recently, I saw a case where that exception was granted for the following reason: "drugs can be consumed or sold with great speed so might not be there in the morning." Okay, cool, if that's a good enough reason to dispense with the knock-in-the-daytime requirement for one case, that means that literally every other drug case qualifies for dispensing with that requirement too.

3: When to serve the warrant? After business hours on a Friday, obviously. That means that the person they arrest will be in holding over the whole weekend before getting to see a judge on Monday. That's like forty-eight extra hours of jail time, in which they won't have a lawyer, for police to visit them and try and pressure them into confessing, or just intimidate them into feeling like shit.

4: What happens when warrant is served? The suspect is arrested in whatever they were wearing, sometimes allowed to grab phone and wallet but sometimes not for reasons I can't even attempt to explain, they are driven to the jail, and they are processed in. They then wait until they can see a judicial officer to hear about the question of bond. But that's the subject of the next post!

See tomorrow for information on bail, bond, pretrial supervision, counsel at first appearance, and why it all matters. Edit: Bail and pretrial post here.

[transformationsproject]

Trans rights are still under attack in the United States. Please visit our website linked below to learn about your state and contact your reps. Here's a thread of today's updates:

Bathroom bills deny access to public restrooms by gender or trans identity. 

They increase danger without making anyone any safer and have even prompted attacks on cis and trans people alike. Many national health and anti-sexual assault organizations oppose these bills.

Tennessee crossfiled bathroom bills HB0571 and SB0468 yesterday.

Tennessee filed a bathroom bill SB0472 yesterday.

Michigan introduced bathroom bill HB4024 yesterday and sent it to the  House Education And Workforce Committee.

Missouri introduced bathroom bill SB632 back on Monday.

Utah had a hearing for bill HB0269 today. The results are as yet unknown.

Mississippi passed bill HB188 through its committee yesterday and sent it to the House floor.

Nebraska LB89 has a hearing scheduled on 2/7 at 1:30pm in Room 1507.

Arizona passed bill SB1003 through its committee yesterday and sent it to the Senate floor.

Healthcare bills go against professional and scientific consensus that gender-affirming care saves lives. Denying access will cause harm.

Providers are faced with criminal charges, parents are threatened with child abuse charges, and intersex children are typically exempted.

Georgia introduced health care bill SB39 yesterday and sent it to the Senate Insurance and Labor Committee. This bill places restrictions on insurance and gender-affirming care.

Missouri sent bills HB1038 and HB1016 to the House Emerging Issues committee yesterday.

Kansas passed bill SB63 through the Senate yesterday and introduced it in the House.

Montana passed bill SB164 through its committee yesterday and sent it to the Senate floor.

Educational Censorship and Student Suppression bills force schools to misgender or deadname students, ban instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity, and make schools alert parents if they suspect a child is trans.

They remove life-saving affirmation and support for trans youth. 

Texas filed educational censorship bill SB983 yesterday.

Missouri introduced educational censorship bill HB1085 yesterday. This bill makes it a felony for teachers to support a child's social transition.

Ohio sent bill SB1 to the Senate Higher Education Committee yesterday.

Arizona passed bill SB1002 through its committee yesterday and sent it to the Senate floor.

Trans Erasure bills create legal definitions of terms like “sex” designed to exclude or erase trans identity and insert them into various laws. This can have many different effects, depending on what laws are affected.

They can force a male or female designation based on sex assigned at birth.

Some target anti-discrimination statutes, legally empowering trans discrimination. 

Missouri introduced trans erasure bill HB1053 back on Tuesday.

New Hampshire HB148 has a hearing scheduled on 2/19 at 9:45am in Legislative Office Building 206-208 in the House Judiciary Committee.

Digital Censorship Bills describe any legislation that potentially targets Queer and Trans media/material for removal. 

They typically do this by using vague and broad definitions of "Obscene" or "Harmful to Minors" and then banning such content from being accessible to minors, which often either removes the material entirely or requires age verification methods in order to view. 

This includes online censorship bills, library book bans, and other such legislation.

Iowa passed bill HF62 through its subcommittee yesterday and sent it to the House Judiciary Committee.

Wyoming passed bill HB0043 through its second reading on the House floor yesterday and sent it on to its third. 

Most sports bills force schools to designate teams by sex assigned at birth. 

They are often one-sided and ban trans girls from playing on teams consistent with their gender identity.

Some egregious bills even force invasive genital examinations on student athletes.

New Mexico introduced sports bill HB185 back on Tuesday and sent it to the House Consumer & Public Affairs Committee.

Washington sent sports bill HB1699 to the House Education Committee yesterday.

Maryland introduced sports bill SB588 back on Monday and sent it to the Senate Education, Energy, and the Environment Committee.

Michigan introduced sports bill HB4031 back on Tuesday and sent it to the House Education And Workforce Committee.

It's not too late to stop these and other hateful anti-trans bills from passing into law. YOU can go to http://transformationsproject.org/ to learn more and contact your representatives!

[coochiequeens]

It bad enough men are being placed in a women's prison, but these scum?

By Genevieve Gluck September 11, 2024

A total of five male convicts were transferred to a Minnesota’s women-only prison following the adoption of a gender identity policy by the Department of Corrections in January of 2023. Two of the men who are now being held at MCF-Shakopee , a female correctional center, are sexual predators serving sentences related to the abuse of children.

Another, Sean Windingland, 35, sexually assaulted two 6-year-old relatives and posted videos of the abuse and grooming on pornography and pro-pedophile websites.

Windingland admitted to engaging in sexual contact with the young girls when questioned by investigators, but claimed that the children had consented. He pleaded guilty to two counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct in 2019. Windingland is now serving his 36-year prison sentence among women at MCF-Shakopee.

The third, Bradley Richard Sirvio, is a convicted murderer who is serving a life sentence. Sirvio, 52, beat a man to death with a hammer before setting his house on fire in November of 1995. A repeat offender, Sirvio has several other convictions that include multiple charges of assault, burglary, and theft. He was quietly transferred to MCF-Shakopee in November 2023, a full five months ahead of the date that a newly-drafted gender identity policy was set to take effect.

Bradley Richard Sirvio. Source: Minnesota DOC

The two remaining men confirmed by Reduxx to have been transferred into the women’s prison are Nathan Charles Johnson, serving two years for aiding and abetting a burglary, and a trans-identified male who uses the name Christina Suzanne Lusk, but was born Craig Lusk.

In June 2022, Lusk launched a discrimination lawsuit against the Minnesota Department of Corrections which ultimately resulted in the implementation of measures permitting male convicts to be housed in the female estate. Lusk, who was serving a five-year sentence for the possession of methamphetamine at the Moose Lake correctional facility for men, was backed by the trans activist non-profit organization Gender Justice – which was recently revealed to have received nearly $500,000 in taxpayer funds from the administration of Governor Tim Walz.

The Democratic vice presidential nominee’s office handed out $448,904 to Gender Justice just one year after the organization filed the sex discrimination complaint against Minnesota’s DOC on behalf of Lusk, according to a review of public records published by the taxpayer watchdog group OpenTheBooks.com.

Lusk was arrested on two drug-related felonies, but was ultimately only convicted on one after striking a plea deal. He pleaded guilty to first degree possession of a controlled substance, and was sentenced to 98 months in prison. The defendant fact sheet lists Lusk’s gender as “male,” though he had changed his legal name the year prior.

Lusk had a previous felony conviction for first-degree robbery.

The legal claim, which was successful in court, demanded that Lusk be transferred to MCF-Shakopee and refers to him as “a woman who was assigned male at birth”, using feminine pronouns throughout.

“Gender identity refers to a person’s innate sense and deeply held understanding of their own gender. Everyone has a gender identity,” reads the complaint. Lusk began taking female hormones in 2009 and received chest implants in 2017.

Gender Justice further demanded that Lusk be given “women’s undergarments,” and claimed that DOC “punished Ms. Lusk for having breasts and for wearing women’s clothing.” Additionally it was stated that Lusk was “repeatedly misgendered and misnamed”.

Craig ‘Christina’ Lusk shortly after undergoing a chest implant procedure in 2017.

As previously reported by Reduxx, a Facebook account belonging to Lusk showed that he was obsessively posting about seeking female sexual partners, and that he wanted “a bride from Japan”.

As a result of a settlement between Gender Justice and the DOC, Lusk was awarded a $495,000 payout, of which approximately $250,000 was allocated to cover the cost of legal fees. The DOC also rolled out a new policy that would streamline the process for male convicts to transfer into the women’s prison.

The legal team responsible for arguing Lusk’s case was honored with the title “Attorneys of the Year” by law publication Minnesota Lawyer.

The new transgender inmate policy, which was revised in April last year and came into effect at the beginning of April 2024, established an Agency Gender Identity Committee in order to identify and make placement recommendations for “incarcerated people who are transgender” or “gender diverse”. The document cites as an authority the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH), a lobbying group that Reduxx has repeatedly connected with sex offenders and sexologists sympathetic to pedophiles.

Christina Lusk.

This week, a woman formerly employed at the Minnesota Department of Corrections came forward to tell Alpha News that she had resigned from her post in protest of the new policy allowing men who claim a transgender status to be transferred into the female prison estate. Alicia Beckmann, who worked as a GED instructor at MCF-Shakopee, says the policy which prioritizes “gender identity” over biological sex creates an “unsafe environment.”

“I think it has just created a lot of risk, a lot of unknown confusion, frustration, anger,” Beckmann said. “It just has a vibe that doesn’t sit right with a lot of us who work at Shakopee because we are a women’s correctional facility.”

“We house every custody level. We have what would be considered low-level offenders who are there on DWI charges, theft charges, drug possession. Then, you bring in biological males who are violent, who would be housed at a custody level four facility. I just believe we’re re-victimizing some of these women, re-traumatizing them. They are incarcerated, however, they all have a past and a lot of their past includes physical, sexual, and emotional abuse. I think allowing men to live amongst these women is traumatizing and it’s also unsafe for staff,” she added.

Beckmann remarked that the policy had caused a climate of fear among staff at the women’s prison. “We just fear saying anything. I’ve been away from the DOC now for a few months and I still fear any kind of retaliation from the agency for speaking out, and I’m speaking out for these women who deserve a chance to be rehabilitated and returned to society. I just don’t think the way they’re doing it is appropriate.”

[beardedmrbean]

A woman stabbed a convicted sex offender to death over the weekend as police said the felon attempted to rape her inside a Louisiana business in broad daylight.

The attack took place at a laundromat in Lacombe, a small, rural community about a 50-mile drive northeast of New Orleans.

The St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office reported deputies responded about 3:30 p.m. Sunday to a laundromat off U.S. 190 for a report of unresponsive man with an apparent stab wound.

While en route to the scene, deputies were also dispatched to a call in reference to a woman claiming she stabbed a man who had attacked her while she was at the same laundromat.

Arriving officers found 40-year-old Nicholas Tranchant at the business suffering from a stab wound, officials said.

Tranchant was taken to a hospital where he died, according to a press release from the department.

Woman fatally stabs attempted rapist

A preliminary investigation into the death determined Tranchant − a convicted sex offender − entered the business armed with what officials described as a sharp weapon, and attempted to sexually assault the woman.

But she fought back.  

"The female was able to gain possession of the weapon, and used it to stab him before fleeing to safety," the department wrote in the release.

Sheriff praises woman for 'fighting back'

The woman was also taken to a hospital to be treated for injuries suffered in the attack, the department said.

“I want to compliment this brave woman on the courage and strength she showed in fighting back against her attacker and ask for prayers for her continued recovery,” Sheriff Randy Smith said.

Convicted sex offender Nicholas Tranchant's criminal history

Court records show Tranchant was convicted in Louisiana in July 2003 on a felony charge of indecent behavior with juveniles.

Then in May 2008, records show, he was convicted of felony attempted aggravated rape and aggravated burglary. 

Tranchant was released from jail on those charges on Dec, 21, 2023, the sheriff's office reported, and by law, required to register as a sex offender for life.

[follow-up-news]

A Salisbury man infamously known for a shooting at a Washington, D.C. pizza restaurant was identified as the man who was shot and killed by officers during a traffic stop earlier this month in Kannapolis. A Kannapolis Police officer patrolled North Cannon Boulevard around 10 p.m. on Jan. 4 when he recognized a GMC Yukon normally driven by someone he knew had an outstanding warrant for their arrest. The officer pulled over the Yukon and while talking to the driver, recognized the passenger in the front seat as Edgar Maddison Welch, 36, who had an outstanding warrant for felony probation violation.  When the officer attempted to open the passenger door to arrest Welch, investigators claimed that Welch pulled a handgun from his jacket and pointed it at the officer. That officer, and a second officer who arrived to assist with the traffic stop, commanded Welch to drop the weapon. He allegedly refused, leading to both officers shooting him.  Welch was taken to Atrium Health-Cabarrus for treatment and later transferred to a Charlotte hospital, where he died from his injuries on Jan. 6. The driver of the GMC and three officers involved in the traffic stop were not hurt.  Kannapolis police identified the officers as Brooks Jones and Caleb Tate. The third officer didn't fire his weapon, according to police. The North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation is still looking into the incident to determine all protocols were followed by the officers.  Welch was sentenced to four years in federal prison after he entered Comet Ping Pong in Washington on Dec. 4, 2016, with firearms and fired shots inside the building. He said he drove to the restaurant from North Carolina to investigate an unfounded conspiracy theory about Democrats committing child sex crimes at the pizza restaurant. The incident became known as "Pizzagate." Welch pleaded guilty to a federal charge of interstate transport of firearms and a Washington D.C. charge of assault with a dangerous weapon. He was sentenced in June 2017 to four years in prison and was released in March 2020.

[bandedbulbussnarfblat]

Alright y'all, I'm going do something I don't normally do and get political for a minute. I mean, I reblog things that are political sometimes, but I don't make my own posts about them.

So, I was on Kamala Harris' wikipedia page. Bc she's running for president. And I'm gonna vote for her bc she's not Trump. But I wanna see what she stands for or whatever. For what that's worth in American politics these days. (btw how fucked up is it that everyone refers to Biden and Trump by their last name, but Kamala by her first? like with Hillary there was the excuse of her last name being tied to a former president aka her husband. but with Kamala Harris there is no reason to justify it? it's just plain old sexism)

And I found this:

That's a screenshot from her wikipedia page. Oh shit, screen readers won't be able to pic up what that says. Let me copy and paste it here:

In February 1998, San Francisco district attorneyTerence Hallinan recruited Harris as an assistant district attorney.[55] There she became the chief of the Career Criminal Division, supervising five other attorneys, where she prosecuted homicide, burglary, robbery, and sexual assault cases – particularly three-strikes cases. In 2000, Harris reportedly clashed with Hallinan's assistant, Darrell Salomon,[56] over Proposition 21, which granted prosecutors the option of trying juvenile defendants in Superior Court rather than juvenile courts.[57] Harris campaigned against the measure, which passed. Salomon opposed directing media inquiries about Prop 21 to Harris and reassigned her, a de facto demotion. Harris filed a complaint against Salomon and quit

For those of you who don't know what Prop 21 is, here is a summary from the wikipedia page:

California Proposition 21, known also as Prop 21, was a proposition proposed and passed in 2000 that increased a variety of criminal penalties for crimes committed by youth and incorporated many youth offenders into the adult criminal justice system. Major provisions of the proposition, as summarized by Attorney General of California are:

Increased punishment for gang-related felonies; death penalty for gang-related murder; indeterminate life sentences for home-invasion robbery, carjacking, witness intimidation and drive-by shootings; and a new crime of recruiting for gang activities; and authorizes wiretapping for gang activities.

Requires adult trial for juveniles 14 or older charged with murder or specified sex offenses.

Elimination of informal probation for juveniles committing felonies.

Required registration for gang related offenses.

Designation of additional crimes as violent and serious felonies, thereby making offenders subject to longer sentences.

As someone who works with kids, let me just say that charging a literal teenager as an adult is absolutely horrendous. Because they are not adults. Studies have, in fact, shown that the adolescent brain is only about 80 percent developed.

I have worked with teenagers. They are not children, but they aren't adults. Like Britney Spears said "Not a girl, not yet a woman" Except you know, replace girl and woman with whatever your gender is.

And it's tough for these kids. I think a lot of adults forget how hard it is. Puberty. Hormones. The social hell that is high school. And there are so many of these kids walking around undiagnosed. Bc a lot of mental illnesses can trigger in your teenage years, most commonly depression and anxiety. Which is like, just a natural fear response to the American education system, tbh. Not only for mental illness, but also for disorders and disabilities. There are parents who refuse to get their kids help. I'm not talking about the 'I don't want to medicate my child' people, though they are annoying af too. Like, there are parents who will be told somehow by the school system that their child is showing delays, etc. And they just...refuse to process that. They can't accept it, so their kid goes their whole life until adulthood without getting the help they need. Some of them get help as adults. Some of them don't. And that's not even to mention the dozens of kids who fall through the cracks.

So I personally think it's a good thing that our possible future president was opposed to it. Like, she's got that going for her. And in today's political hellscape I take my wins where I can.

[5trawberry5hampoo]

scrub & rinse: tinder and flames

As an eighteen-year-old, the most pressing thing on my mind is, of course, a boyfriend. I’ve never been good at romance. I’ve been reading romance novels and watching romcoms since before I can remember, but I get stuck when it comes to actually flirting with someone.

And, like many other romantically desperate late teens, I downloaded Tinder. And Hinge. And Bumble. The whole nine yards. And if you’re wondering, the situationship I mentioned from last time didn’t pan out. At all. We weren’t a situationship and that became even more apparent when he said he didn’t think we were “romantically compatible.” I’m not bitter about it at all, if you couldn’t tell. Since I’ve moved on from that romantic prospect, I’ve turned to the bitter wasteland that is Tinder in the Midwest.

It's bleak. Last week, the second image on a guy’s profile was Donald Trump post-assassination attempt. Yikes! The guy I’ve been trying to talk to currently, who I will be referring to as Felon, is certainly interesting. Our first and only in person interaction was him coming to my job to buy a pair of shoes that we didn’t have. Felon was cuter than his profile and incredibly kind. He had my number because I gave it to him to use my employee discount, and then I realized that might’ve been a bad idea. He asked about my hobbies, which was standard for first time talking to a pretty “girl” from Tinder. And he was extremely relieved when he found out I wasn’t in high school. Did I mention he’s 23? A fully grown, adult man, liking an eighteen-year-old on Tinder and not seeing anything wrong with that, except for that they might be in high school. Yeah, sure, whatever. And then I went to bed because this morning I had to wake up at six-thirty in the morning. I’m on that college grind, or whatever.

He had sent me six messages while I was asleep. SIX! The last thing I had sent was about how I thought “big and meaty and smelly” was hot. My fault for leading him into what he was about to send. He said he wanted to throw me around. Throw me around? It’s not like my life is a weird, bodice-ripper romance novel. And, not to embarrass myself online or anything, but I’ve never had sex. I’m not the type of person to drop everything to go get “thrown around” at twelve in the morning. He also told me he needed good luck because he had court. I’m sorry? Court?? I bet the wheels are turning on this guy’s fake name for a lot of you. When I woke up (yes at six-thirty) I apologized for going to bed and he responded three hours later with “my lawyer got me off Scott free in 20 minutes.” I can’t help but wonder if he knows that he spelled scot-free wrong. It’s not like I’m the grammar police or anything, this journal is no doubt littered with grammar errors, but still.

Though, after he said that his lawyer got him off raised more questions for me. When I asked him why he was in court, his answer was someone was mad he stole their girl. This was something that had come up earlier, as if it were something that came up frequently. Stealing people’s girls, that is. I don’t think he goes to court frequently. I hope he doesn’t go to court frequently. Then he drops that he was there for felony assault! Felony! Assault! The nickname has to be making sense now. But it was cleared for self-defense, so that makes it all better, right? As someone who was at least kind of interested in this guy, I immediately was worried. As a virgin and a hopeless romantic, a man that wants to throw me around and has almost had a felony assault charge is not my ideal type. I want a boyfriend, not a fuck buddy. I had to change my Tinder relationship preference to “long-term open to short” rather than the opposite, “short-term open to long.” Because I’m stupid and inexperienced, in my mind short-term meant a few dates, maybe a few kisses, and then seeing where that goes. Apparently, to everyone else, short-term means sex.

I wasn’t aware that Tinder was used widely as a hookup app until I saw a TikTok, around three months after my 18th birthday, of a girl recounting her own inexperience with that idea, and how one of her dates had to let her know. I also sort of found out on my own after multiple messages of “I want you to reread the first three words.” Which, by the way, is the worst fucking pickup line of all time. I’m not exaggerating. If you use that on me, I will not respond. It makes you seem like a dick. The most constant Tinder guy in my life is someone who I’ll call Rave Guy. This name is because I saw him at a rave, thought he was super cute, and then saw him on Tinder after. Which was, personally, the awesomest thing that’s ever happened to me. We’ve been on three dates (over the course of five months) and have kissed twice. Rave Guy is probably the nicest guy I’ve met on Tinder, and I’m honestly fumbling him? I might have to get on this.

Another wasteland, though perhaps not as desolate, is Hinge. I don’t like Hinge as much because it’s focused on finding people to actually connect with. Which, I guess is the whole point of a dating app, but Tinder is almost like gambling. With Hinge, I have to actually think about it. Sending a Hinge like feels like being a beggar on the street, but in lieu of money, I’m asking for love. I realize that I might be describing a prostitution service. C’est la vie! I did match with a guy on Hinge, and we supposedly had a class together. I got to this class, excited to see this guy in person, and he didn’t show up. I wonder if he thinks I’m not interested. I did leave him on read a few times, but in my defense the last message was a smiley face. How am I supposed to respond to a smiley face, like, seriously?

I don’t really have any Bumble stories because something on my account got locked and I did not feel like fixing it, so I deleted it. Oops! Dating in the Midwest as a queer teenager is definitely hard. I feel like a solid third of the guys on Tinder are homophobic, and another third are uggos (sorry), and then the decent third? All guys who don’t text back. I’m sure that, eventually, I’ll find someone. Right now, though, I just am not sure that “someone” is in the cards for me.

This has been Scrub & Rinse, thank you for reading! Yours, Ajax

[offender42085]

Post 0645

Stephen Casper, Michigan inmate 297654, born 1997, incarceration intake December 2016 at age 19, discharged December 2021

Criminal Sexual Conduct

In November 2016 Kalamazoo County Circuit Court Judge Paul Bridenstine sentenced Stephen Josef Casper, 19, to 30 months to 20 years in prison on one charge of first-degree criminal sexual conduct and one charge of assault with intent to commit second-degree criminal sexual conduct.

Casper's defense attorney, James Kinney, called it "a very sad case" and said Casper, who Bridenstine noted had a history of drug use, had never been in trouble before due to illegal drug use.

"He must've been incredibly high to do what he did," Kinney said.

According to court records, Casper entered an apartment in Oshtemo Township around 4 a.m. September 5 2016 through a door that had been left unlocked for one of the alleged victims' boyfriends.

There, police say, he groped a woman who was sleeping on a couch. He then entered a bedroom and laid down on the bed, fondled a woman's breasts, kissed her and digitally penetrated her.

The woman turned on the lights and ran away, yelling for help, according to a detective's testimony during a probable cause hearing in Kalamazoo County District Court.

Police say three women in the apartment gathered in another bedroom and called police, and Casper took off his clothes and got into the shower. When officers arrived, Casper told them the apartment was either his or his cousin's, and that no women were there, even though the women were in the bedroom.

As part of the plea agreement, Casper will be on the sex offender registry for the rest of his life and also will wear an electronic tether for the rest of his life, according to his attorney.

"That in and of itself is a huge punishment," Kinney said.

Neither of Casper's victims were present in the courtroom during his sentencing, but Bridenstine noted one victim had submitted an impact statement describing how his actions affected her.

When Bridenstine asked Casper if he had anything to say, Casper apologized to to the victims, the state of Michigan, the court and his family.

Bridenstine noted Casper had no other felony convictions and six misdemeanor convictions on his record. Bridenstine said Casper appeared to have used a lot of drugs in his lifetime and appeared to have had a lengthy history of drug use at 19 years old. Still, he said, Casper has stable housing and education and isn't someone he would normally find standing in front of him facing a potential life sentence.

"I don't know what you did on this particular occasion in terms of the consumption of substances that left you so disoriented that you didn't realize you were in somebody else's home ... touching somebody and you had no idea ..." Bridenstine said. "You deserve certainly to be punished for this."

3s

[transformationsproject]

Today’s Legislative Updates February 27, 2025

Trans rights are still under attack in the United States. Please visit our website linked below to learn about your state and contact your reps. Here's a thread of today's updates:

Bathroom bills deny access to public restrooms by gender or trans identity. 

They increase danger without making anyone any safer and have even prompted attacks on cis and trans people alike. Many national health and anti-sexual assault organizations oppose these bills.

Old Bills:

Wyoming set up a conference committee between chambers for bill HB0072 yesterday when the House and Senate versions of the bill did not concur.

West Virginia passed bill HB2006 through its committee today and gave it its first House reading.

West Virginia passed bill SB456 through its committee today and gave it its first Senate reading.

Healthcare bills go against professional and scientific consensus that gender-affirming care saves lives. Denying access will cause harm.

Providers are faced with criminal charges, parents are threatened with child abuse charges, and intersex children are typically exempted.

New Bills:

Texas filed bill HB3431 yesterday. This bill is a felony ban on mental health care that supports minors’ transition.

Texas filed adult healthcare ban HB3399 yesterday.

Old Bills:

Georgia passed bill SB185 through its committee yesterday and sent it to the Senate floor.

Educational Censorship and Student Suppression bills force schools to misgender or deadname students, ban instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity, and make schools alert parents if they suspect a child is trans.

They remove life-saving affirmation and support for trans youth. 

New Bills:

Ohio introduced school DEI ban SB113 yesterday and sent it to the Senate Education Committee.

Texas filed bill HB3411 yesterday. This bill bans teachers from supporting social transition - aka forces misgendering and deadnaming of students in schools.

Old Bills:

Montana passed bill SB299 through its committee yesterday and sent it to the Senate floor.

Arizona gave bill SB1694 its third Senate reading yesterday.

Ohio sent bill SB1 to the House Workforce and Higher Education Committee yesterday.

Digital Censorship Bills describe any legislation that potentially targets Queer and Trans media/material for removal. 

They typically do this by using vague and broad definitions of "Obscene" or "Harmful to Minors" and then banning such content from being accessible to minors, which often either removes the material entirely or requires age verification methods in order to view. 

This includes online censorship bills, library book bans, and other such legislation.

New Bills:

Missouri introduced school book ban SB765 last Tuesday.

Iowa edited and renumbered online censorship bill SF443 before passing it through its committee and sending it to the Senate floor.

Old Bills:

Georgia sent bill SB248 to the Senate Education and Youth Committee yesterday.

Kentucky sent bill HB653 to the House Primary and Secondary Education Committee yesterday.

Most sports bills force schools to designate teams by sex assigned at birth. 

They are often one-sided and ban trans girls from playing on teams consistent with their gender identity.

Some egregious bills even force invasive genital examinations on student athletes.

New Bills:

Minnesota introduced sports bill SF1883 today and sent it to the Senate Judiciary and Public Safety Committee.

In other bills that either fit multiple categories or stand on their own, we have:

New Bills:

Texas introduced DEI ban HB3427 yesterday.

Old Bills:

Montana bill HB734 has a hearing tomorrow, February 28 at 3:00 p.m. Mountain Time in Room 137 in the House Education Committee.

Kansas sent bill HB2311 to the Senate Public Health and Welfare Committee yesterday.

Oklahoma passed bill SB658 through the Senate yesterday and sent it to the House.

It's not too late to stop these and other hateful anti-trans bills from passing into law. YOU can go to http://transformationsproject.org/ to learn more and contact your representatives!

[beardedmrbean]

YON, France (AP) — A French court ruled on Monday that the American man accused of sexually assaulting a Pennsylvania college student in 2013 and later sending her a Facebook message that said, “So I raped you,” can be extradited to the United States.

Ian Cleary, 31, of Saratoga, California, was detained in April in the city of Metz in northeastern France after a three-year search. He has been held in custody pending extradition proceedings since his arrest.

The Court of Appeal in Metz said that Cleary can be extradited. When asked if he wished to be extradited or not, in line with French law, Cleary refused, prosecutors said in a statement Monday. His refusal may delay the extradition process, but it won't stop it.

The ruling is final. Cleary's case is now the responsibility of the French Justice Ministry, which must prepare and submit the extradition order for the French prime minister. While he awaits the prime minister's signature, Cleary remains detained in France.

Justice Ministry officials didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

Cleary had been the subject of an international search since authorities in Pennsylvania issued a 2021 felony warrant in the case weeks after an Associated Press story detailed the reluctance of local prosecutors to pursue campus sex crimes.

The arrest warrant accuses Cleary of stalking an 18-year-old Gettysburg College student at a party, sneaking into her dorm and sexually assaulting her while she texted friends for help. He was a 20-year-old Gettysburg student at the time, but didn't return to campus.

The Gettysburg accuser, Shannon Keeler, had a rape exam done the same day she was assaulted in 2013. She gathered witnesses and evidence and spent years urging officials to file charges. She went to authorities again in 2021 after discovering the Facebook messages that seemed to come from Cleary’s account.

“So I raped you,” the sender had written in a string of messages.

“I’ll never do it to anyone ever again.”

“I need to hear your voice.”

“I’ll pray for you.”

The AP doesn't typically identify sexual assault victims without their permission, which Keeler has granted. The accuser’s lawyer in Pennsylvania, reached on Monday, declined to comment on the development.

According to the June 2021 warrant, police verified that the Facebook account used to send the messages belonged to Ian Cleary. Adams County District Attorney Brian Sinnett, who filed it, declined to comment on developments when reached Monday.

After leaving Gettysburg, Cleary earned undergraduate and graduate degrees from Santa Clara University, near his family home in California, worked for Tesla, and then moved to France for several years, according to his website, which describes his self-published medieval fiction.

Keeler, originally from Moorestown, New Jersey, stayed on to graduate from Gettysburg and help lead the women’s lacrosse team to a national title.

By 2023, two years after the warrant was filed, Keeler and her lawyers wondered how he was avoiding capture in the age of digital tracking. The U.S. Marshals Service thought he was likely overseas and on the move, even as he was the subject of an Interpol alert called a red notice.

Across the U.S., very few campus rapes are prosecuted, both because victims fear going to police and prosecutors hesitate to bring cases that can be hard to win, the AP investigation found.

Keeler, when the warrant was issued, said she was grateful, but knew it only happened “because I went public with my story, which no survivor should have to do in order to obtain justice.”

[follow-up-news]

Harvey Weinstein was arraigned on an additional sex crimes charge in a New York City courtroom Wednesday, roughly two months ahead of a retrial in the disgraced Hollywood producer’s landmark #MeToo case. Weinstein, who arrived at the Manhattan courthouse in a wheelchair, pleaded not guilty to one count of criminal sexual act in the first degree. He is recovering from emergency heart surgery this month, and his lawyer said he takes 19 medications. In the New York penal code, a criminal sexual act in the first degree concerns engaging in “oral sexual conduct or anal sexual conduct with another person” by “forcible compulsion.” It is a class B felony. In a statement, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said the charge stemmed from the alleged sexual assault of a woman in a lower Manhattan hotel in 2006 sometime from April 29 to May 6. “Thanks to this survivor who bravely came forward, Harvey Weinstein now stands indicted for an additional alleged violent sexual assault,” Bragg said. “This investigation is ongoing.”

[miawashere]

sexual battery & sexual assault: the difference between the two.

sexual assault is a term used to cover many types of sexual acts done without consent of the victim. from unwanted touch to actual r*pe, sexual assault, you can be charged with a felony or misdemeanor (based on what happened) and can even be put on a federal sex offender list. on the other hand, sexual battery is to use forceful physical contact to do sexual things without consent. hitting and even drugging is considered sexual battery, and can lead to spending time in prison and depending on the state will determine whether or not the harmer will be charged with a felony or misdemeanor.

[eruruu]

Let’s talk about sex work

In an ABC news poll, at least 15% of American men have admitted to paying for sex at least once, (Source 2) but research suggests this is a serious underestimate.

As many as 1-in-3 children are sexually abused in some form by age 18 in the united states. 1-in-4 adults are victims of attempted or completed rape in their lives, but more than 60% experience any type of sexual victimization. Almost half of childhood sexual abuse victims are re-victimized later in life.

Girls aged 16-19 are at the highest overall risk of sexual violence, as an age bracket.

Studies have found that 68% of prostitutes have been raped since entering prostitution, and 83% were victims of physical violence. 57% experienced prior sexual abuse as children.

Rates of violence are higher for 'street' prostitutes, and significantly higher for those in the global south.

the US Department of Justice office for victims of Crime reports that up to 66% of transgender people are victims of sexual violence in their lives, most were first assaulted in childhood and often in very serious ways. in nearly half of cases, the victim's transgender status was a factor in the perpetrator's motive.

Transgender female prostitutes experience higher rates of overall violence than even cisgender female prostitutes. (Full source, paywall)

After leaving prostitution, most experience long term emotional and psychological problems, including PTSD at potential rates of 68%. They are also at risk for depression and self-image problems as a result of the extreme degradation they face, as they are seen as subhuman, ‘undesirables’, 'dirty', and called pejoratives like "whores".

As a result of their adverse experiences and their duration and repetition, former prostitutes can have lasting feelings of worthlessness, shame, and self-hatred. They may find it difficult to be physically intimate with their partners, become averse to sex, and struggle to maintain healthy, trusting relationships.

Is it fair for prostitutes to be at risk of severe sexual violence, physical violence and murder, emotional abuse, illness, AND be targeted by the police? fined, when they make barely enough, and often not enough, money to even survive, at the cost of trauma they can never undo? Imprisoned, where they face further sexual violence (mostly by prison staff!), for even more of their difficult and painful lives to be stolen from them? Police themselves may even perpetrate sexual assault against prostitutes.

In countries such as the United States sex work is illegal, and so sex workers are not able to report violence done against them in fear of being arrested themselves. In certain states anti-prostitution mandates carry a minimum sentence and can increase to felony charge after multiple arrests, which leads to difficulty finding housing and employment, and disqualification for social safety net benefits. (Original source) In some locations, prostitutes who are arrested must register as sex offenders.

Who are these policies helping? Who are the victims of the crime of prostitution!!! Who are the perpetrators!!!

Researcher Melissa Farley has described prostitution as nothing more than “paid rape”.

Is it right to laugh at, look down upon, and be disgusted by people engaged in prostitution? An already disadvantaged group who enter the activity as a result of prior trauma, disability, poverty, and other forms of suffering, who then experience further trauma? Is society secondarily victimizing them?

At the other extreme, there is a growing trend (especially on social media) that advocates for 'normalization' and 'support' for "sex work," with a tenor of encouragement and empowerment rather than concern. Advocate Norma Ramos, executive director of the Coalition Against Trafficking in Women says "The more the commercial sex industry normalizes this behavior, the more of this behavior you get." Some researchers argue that the sex industry helps to create a supply of victims for human trafficking (source 2), and indeed, many end up with this fate.

Has the positive framing of the term "sex work" in order to de-stigmatize prostitution gradually come to do more harm than good, by presenting prostitution as a legitimate option? Has the conversation about "sex work" been trivialized by the rise of OnlyFans and the distance of seeing the issue from behind a screen and social media? How is prostitution distinct from some contemporary applications of the term "sex work", and has that term become diluted in a way that erases the clear and present dangers?

What actually happens in "sex work"? What is it really like for people who have to go out and accept being sexually penetrated by untrustworthy strangers, perform physical sex acts by direct order, in the temporary custody of someone who seeks only to harm and exploit them? who seeks to gratify themselves with more extreme acts than they can get consensually?

Do we talk about "sex work" responsibly? Should the issue be treated with more gravity? Should prostitutes be supported through de-stigmatization, mental health and safety resources, help escaping prostitution and recovering, and addressing underlying risk factors? What should "support sex workers" mean?

Is the risk of harm from the attitude of 'normalization' disproportionate for young people, especially teenagers who don’t know better, who may enter prostitution with warped expectations and end up horribly traumatized? 

How do modeled relationships in childhood predispose people to certain behaviors, psychological issues, and to seek certain patterns/relationships? can childhood poverty, which is a risk factor for abuse, lead someone down a pipeline accelerated by misguided “pro-sex work” ideas?

The federal minimum wage is still only $7.25 per hour, which is less than 1200 dollars a month working full time before taxes. adjusted for inflation, this wage is worth 28% less in 2023 than it was in 2009, yet it has not been increased. median rent costs have exceeded 2000 dollars nationally, and most landlords will not lease to anyone whose income is less than 3 times the cost of rent.

84% of a sample of prostitutes reported current or past homelessness. Eighty-eight percent stated that they wanted to leave prostitution, and described what they needed in order to escape.

Do economic decisions that continue to disadvantage poor people to benefit corporations and the wealthy really result in a cycle of trickle-down trauma?

There is no magical boundary crossed on someones 18th birthday that makes someone immediately a psychologically mature adult. 18 year olds were 17 just months ago, but how are they perceived differently? Why is "b*reIy I***I" pornography popular? Is this morally acceptable? Is their psychological trauma less real because they are a few months older than someone else? Does society ignore their exploitation?

Does the rampant sexualization and control over teenage girls' bodies from puberty contribute to their victimization once perpetrators can get away with it? If perpetrators can get away with it, are teenage victims less likely to conceptualize themselves as victims and get appropriate, timely psychological help, and escape?

Does the false sense of agency that "pro sex work" rhetoric online peddles also lead them to minimize their trauma and self-blame?

How is real life pornography produced? How much of that pornography is produced through human trafficking? Can you even know by watching it? Is it morally acceptable to consume it?

How hard is it to put on a show where you behave in these absurd ways to satisfy someone's fetishistic demands, no matter how scared you are and what you're going through?

How are participants in pornographic material re-victimized throughout their lives by the creation of a permanent record of their exploitation? Who are the human beings behind videos and images? what is the story of the person who is being reduced to a sexual object? How did they get there and what are they feeling?

Do you forget about them when you turn a video off? Can they ever forget?

"Lesbian" and "transgender" pornography were the first and fourth most popular search terms *among self-identified men* on PornHub in 2022. Why? How might this relate to the current climate of severe homophobic and transphobic rhetoric in this country going on at the same time?

You don't think... that some groups people perceive LGBT people as sexual deviants because they are only exposed to them through consuming fetish pornography, produced through corruptions of consent, that exploits them, do you...? How can we stop all of this from happening, without driving the sex trade underground and drastically increasing victimization? There is no easy answer, and it is sadly probably impossible. But can the way we talk about it, and responsibly look out for each other, be part of the picture? Do the little decisions we make as a culture make a difference?

[vague-humanoid]

The ex-wife of a former Provo therapist charged with sexually abusing a young girl 30 years ago is now being accused of the same crime.

cw child sexual abuse under the cut

Roselle Anderson Stevenson, 70, was arrested Wednesday by the Utah County Sheriff’s Office for investigation of sodomy on a child.

Stevenson is the ex-wife of David Lee Hamblin, who was charged last fall with six counts of sex abuse of a child in one case and in another case is facing three counts of sodomy on a child, two counts of sex abuse of a child and rape of a child.

She is accused of sexually abusing a 12-year-old girl in 1994 in Spring City, Sanpete County, according to the sheriff’s office.

“This investigation has been going on for more than a year with several different witnesses, suspects and victims from all over the state of Utah and further. During this investigation it has been found that (Stevenson) was known to be one of the main suspects in sexually assaulting several children over an extended period,” a police booking affidavit filed Wednesday states.

Stevenson is accused, along with her former husband, of forcing a girl to perform a sex act while being “coached” by Hamblin, the affidavit alleges.

In 2012, Hamblin was charged in 4th District Court with 18 first-degree felonies, including sodomy on a child, multiple counts of rape of a child, and aggravated sexual abuse of a child. The case was dismissed without prejudice in 2014. Dismissing a case “without prejudice” means a prosecutor has the option of refiling charges if new evidence arises.

In May 2022, the sheriff’s office issued a statement asking for victims of ritualistic child sexual abuse to contact them. The sheriff’s office declined at the time to say who was being investigated or what kind of ritualistic abuse was occurring.

However, based on its investigation, deputies said they learned that “other victims had previously reported similar forms of ritualistic sexual abuse and trafficking that occurred in Utah County, Juab County and Sanpete County during the time between 1990 and 2010.”

Prior to that, in April 2022, Hamblin filed a petition with the court requesting that the court records from his previous charges be expunged.

A judge has ordered Stevenson be held in the Utah County Jail without the possibility of posting bail pending the filing of formal charges.

[offender42085]

Post 0557

...The DNA test showed that his profile is at least 163 octillion times more likely or otherwise expressed -- the number 163 followed by 27 zeros...... 

Chet Neilson, Idaho inmate 134749, born 1988, incarceration intake in 2020 at age 31, parole eligible on 08/23/2034 with full discharge on 08/22/2044

Rape

A man who almost got away with a violent rape for over two years was sentenced.  District Judge Steven Boyce sentenced 31-year-old Chet K. Neilson to 15 to 25 years in prison after he pleaded guilty to felony rape. The courtroom was packed and deputies brought in extra chairs for people attending the sentencing hearing.

Neilson’s comments during the hearing were barely audible to other people in the room.  Neilson never looked at anyone else in the eye and constantly looked to the floor as he spoke.

The guilty plea came as part of an agreement made with Teton County Prosecutors at a mitigation hearing. In exchange for the guilty plea, prosecutors dropped a felony battery charge and felony enhancement of infliction of great bodily injury.

Investigators with the Teton County Sheriff’s Office tied Neilson to the Aug. 4, 2017, rape by collecting his used chewing tobacco and matching it with DNA from a sexual assault exam of the victim.

“Mr. Neilson, you committed a shocking crime,” Boyce said before handing down the sentence. “I’ve been in the law 25 years and this is one of the worst things I’ve ever seen.”

Neilson attacked the then 26-year-old woman as she was walking in the Victor City Park around 1 a.m. that August morning. The man, later identified as Neilson, grabbed her mouth and threw her to the ground before raping her. During the assault, Neilson repeatedly said he would kill her if she made any noise.

During the sentencing hearing, it was made known that Neilson strangled the victim to the point she passed out. The lack of oxygen caused blood vessels in her eyes to burst. Boyce said he’s only seen injuries like that in cases where the victim does not survive.

The Teton County Sheriff’s Office opened its investigation immediately after the attack but had little leads. Last August, detectives received a tip that led them to Neilson.

The following week, detectives, along with the Idaho State Police and the Fremont County Sheriff’s Office, began a surveillance operation to collect a DNA sample from Neilson. Investigators were successful in obtaining used chewing tobacco spit from Neilson’s mouth.

Lab results from the DNA test showed the “profile is at least 163 octillion times more likely to be seen if Chet Neilson is the source than if an unrelated individual randomly selected from the general population is the source.”

Deputies arrested Neilson and he confessed to the violent rape.

Defense attorney Sean Moulton recommended his client serve a rider and said when he first met Neilson, he was completely candid about what he did and wanted to plead guilty. He mentioned how Neilson has no prior criminal record but struggles with cognitive disabilities. Moulton described reports calling those cognitive deficits as “thinking errors.”

Boyce referred to a psychosexual evaluation done before Neilson was sentenced showed deception in a polygraph. He also said it’s concerning how Neilson said he saw the victim and had a “sexual urge” before raping her in a seemingly random act.

“This rape was so violent she was literally fighting for her life,” Boyce said.

In addition to time in prison, Boyce ordered Neilson to pay a $1,000 fine and $375 in court costs. He will also have to pay $5,000 to the victim as well as restitution.

Neilson will have to register as a sex offender for life.

“You’ve thrown your whole life away with one random act,” Boyce said.

3a