#the fact she could have been arrested for drug use and solicitation

[bat-besties]

I'm having Thoughts and Feelings about how Mia and Connor both had outstanding arrest warrants for juvenile detention in Quiver.......

[chobit92]

The Quarry: Part Five

Warning: Miscarriage.

(Travis is dozing off again when the door opens and a nurse walks in. She looks at Mara then smiles at Travis.).

Nurse: Has she woken up?

Travis: She did. She was very upset. She cried herself to sleep again.

Nurse: Poor love. You look tired. You should go home and get some rest.

Travis: I’m fine.

Nurse: Suit yourself.

(The nurse leaves again and Travis looks at Mara. He sighs. He leaves the room and goes down the hall to the coffee machine. It’s rubbish stuff but he’s used to that. He spends most of his time at that old station trying to solve all of his families problems. He walks down the hall and goes down a flight of stairs. He walks down another hallway following the signs overhead and on the walls. A nurse walks past and smiles at him. A doctor nods in his direction as he passes. He stops at a set of doors and then pushes his way through them entering the chapel. It’s empty. He walks to the front of the front of the room and sits down. He takes a sip of coffee and grimaces. It isn’t great. He looks up at the large cross and the stained glass decorating the room. He thinks of Mara and her baby. He wonders if it was the Ketamine he drugged her with that killed her child. He takes another sip of coffee and stares at his hands. He can still see blood on them. He looks at the clock on the wall and sighs again. He’s exhausted. Hopefully they can leave soon and he can sleep properly. He sits there for over an hour before going back to the small room that Mara is lying in. She is still out of it thankfully. He stares down at her and swallows hard. He tosses the empty coffee cup in the bin then sits down and leans back in the chair. His eyes drift closed and he ends up falling asleep again.).

 (Travis wakes up and blinks looking around the room. Mara is still lying there out of it. He walks out into the hall and looks at the clock. It’s just gone midday. Damn. They’ve been here all night and most of the day. He wonders how the other two are doing back at the station. He goes back into the room and looks at Mara. He is still tired and his neck aches. He goes into the bathroom and takes a piss. He washes his hands and splashes water on his face. He stares at his reflection in the mirror. He then goes back out into the room. He paces up and down for a few minutes then sits back down and sighs. He could do with a decent cup of coffee. Mara fidgets and lets out a small moan. He looks up but she still seems to be out. Several minutes later a doctor walks in. Travis stands up.).

Doctor: Ah hello. I’m Doctor Gerrett.

Travis: Sheriff Hackett.

(They shake hands.).

Doctor: I hear this young lady is a criminal?

Travis: Yes. I arrested her yesterday morning.

Doctor: I see. May I ask why she was placed under arrest?

Travis: Solicitation why?

Doctor: Ah. I see. Well I don’t suppose you have a last name for her? My colleagues are trying to get her medical records but have had no luck so far.

Travis: I think her last name is Benton. She woke up a few hours ago and I was asking her some questions. I think that’s what she said.

Doctor: Right. Mara Benton. Excellent.

(Travis hopes that giving her full name will keep the doctors happy and off his back and not cause problems.).

Doctor: We can check to see if she has insurance but if she is a prostitute it doesn’t seem likely.

Travis: Oh. Right.

(Travis hadn’t really given much thought to the fact that someone will have to pay for this.).

Doctor: Well I will go and see if she’s in the system and then we can go from there. Thank you for your help.

Travis: You’re welcome.

(The doctor leaves and Travis sighs. He looks at Mara. Not only has she lost her baby but she now has a medical bill to try and pay.).

 (Nurse Larson is sat at her desk. Her colleague Doctor Gerrett is stood there looking at a chart. She has now found Mara Benton’s medical records and she is reading through it frowning.).

Doctor: What’s up with you?

Nurse: Well you say that Sheriff told you that the young lady that lost her baby is a prostitute.

Doctor: Yes. Why?

Nurse: Well according to her medical records she’s been trying to have a baby for a while. She’s been visiting a sperm donor clinic.

Doctor: Really?

Nurse: Yes. This is her fifth miscarriage too. The poor love.

Doctor: Hm. Well does she have insurance?

Nurse: Yes she does. Either prostitutes earn far more than I thought or...

Doctor: Or?

Nurse: I don’t know. I just find it odd that’s all. Why would a prostitute who takes Ketamine pay thousands of dollars for a sperm donor?

Doctor: Well maybe because she wants to have a baby?

Nurse: Yes but...If she has this amount of money why is she selling her body?

Doctor: Well I don’t know. Maybe that’s how she has that amount of money. Perhaps that’s why she started selling her body. To save up for treatment.

Nurse: Hm, maybe. Well I’d better get this paperwork printed. I dunno why the cops bothered arresting her. With money like that she ain’t getting locked up.

Doctor: Our job isn’t to gossip about the patients. Our job is to look after them.

Nurse: I know.

Doctor: I need to check on Mrs Windslow.

Nurse: Hm. Have fun.

(Doctor Gerrett smiles and leaves the room.).

 (Travis is sat looking at Mara. He’s moved the chair next to the bed and he’s looking down at her as she lies there unconscious. He brushes her hair out of her face tucking the strands behind her ear. He wonders if they can leave soon. He hopes so. He has no idea how he’s going to get her out of here without causing a scene. The doctor suddenly returns.).

Doctor: Afternoon.

Travis: Afternoon.

Doctor: We’ve managed to get hold of her medical records. She has insurance, I’m sure that will cover the costs of her visit. This is a copy of the bill and this...

(He hands Travis a prescription.).

Doctor: ...Is the antibiotics I’ve prescribed. She needs to take two a day for at least two weeks.

Travis: Right. So can she leave?

Doctor: The nurse checked her over early this morning and she seems to be recovering as best as she can. I see no reason why she can’t leave once she wakes up and feels up to it. But I must stress that she take it easy and rest. She needs plenty of fluids and make sure she gets those tablets twice a day.

Travis: Understood.

Doctor: I’m sure she’ll wake up again soon. I’ll come back in an hour or so.

Travis: Okay.

(The doctor nods and leaves the room closing the door behind him leaving Travis alone in the room with the steady beep of the monitor and Mara’s unconscious body.).

 (It’s early evening and Mara is still hasn’t woken up. Travis is sat with a cup of coffee. He’s starving and the vending machine down the hall isn’t up to much. He supposes he can go to the canteen and get something. He sighs and gets up leaving the room and going down the hall.).

 (Mara wakes up. She blinks several times. It takes her a minute to remember where she is and what happened. Damn cop bastard. He drugged her again. She tries to sit up but she goes dizzy and lies back again. She feels tired and weak. She suddenly realises that she’s hungry. She sighs. The door opens and the cop walks in. She glares at him. He stands there staring at her.).

Travis: You’re awake.

Mara: Well spotted. You here to drug me again?

Travis: Do I need to?

(He walks over to the bed and looks down at her.).

Mara: Get the fuck away from me you murderer.

Travis: Doc says you can leave soon.

Mara: Oh good. Back to your little prison so you can rape us whenever you want?

Travis: I’ve already told you I haven’t...

(He grits his teeth.).

Travis: You are going to do as I tell you. Do that and everything will be fine.

Mara: I don’t believe you. Nothing is fine. I’ve lost my baby!

Travis: Do you want to lose your friends too?

(He leans down, his lips inches from her ear. She shrinks away from him.).

Travis: You tell anyone anything and your friends die. I’ll deny everything and I will never tell anyone where they are. They’ll starve to death. You want that? You do as I say and keep your mouth shut. ‘Kay?

Mara: Liar. They’re at the police station in Hackett’s Quarry.

Travis: Nope. You think I would keep you at the police station? People walking in and out all day?

(He shakes his head.).

Travis: So you be a good girl and don’t try anything.

(He sits down in the chair smirking at her. She wants to hit him.).

Mara: I’m going to kill you.

(He stares at her then chuckles and shakes his head.).

[ethrenisnotthehero]

@hogwartsmystory is a predator (part one)

Ethren Whitecross is a Hogwarts Mystery MC created by an abuser, and his story has been utilized to torment the survivor. Ren, his enablers, and the friends who support him are a danger to the HPHM community, and it’s important that people are made aware of their presence on tumblr. To ensure this callout reaches as many people as possible, some of the normal tags on our posts are not present on this callout. I know that this isn’t the kind of content most people want to see, but it would mean a lot for everyone who reads it to pass the warning on. It’s the responsibility of adults (all adults, period) to help prevent kids in our circles from getting wrapped up with people who would hurt them. TW: Pedophilia, Abuse, Gaslighting, Sexual Assault, Self Harm, Suicide, NSFW Topics

Thanks to everyone who’s been checking in. It means a lot to Ren’s victim to know that people hear her and believe her, especially after all the time she’s spent suffering because of this. I’m frustrated that no one did this sooner, because predators like Ren will continue to abuse people to cater to their power fantasy unless they’re consistently called out for their behavior. Unfortunately, many of the people who support Ren now were also some of the same people who excused/enabled his behavior, or were even children themselves at the time. @hogwartsmystory is run by a man who used to role-play on children’s websites, going by the names “Wolfsabre,” “Strider,” and “aaron.”

The Act of Grooming, Part One: Access  

One of the communities he frequented was an adoptable pet website known as Chicken Smoothie. We’ll refer to this website as CS from now on. Between 2011 and 2014, CS staff went through several periods of cracking down on adult topics their role-play forums. Frustrated with not being able to get away with RPing adult topics on CS, Ren decided that he would make his own site to serve as a “haven” for mature role-players. At the time that Ren created his site (first known as Awesome Sauce and then later as Advanced Scribes), he could have been as old as 16. For the rest of this callout, his website will be referred to as AS.

Ren’s founder blurb on the Staff section of AS:

A significant portion of users who switched to AS did it because they could no longer RP popular topics on CS, including: + sexually explicit scenes (crackdowns in 2009, 2011, and 2014) + nonconsensual romance (huge crackdowns in 2011/2012) + slave/master dynamics (crackdowns in 2010, 2011, and 2013) + prolific violence (crackdowns in 2011/2013) + detailed gore (crackdowns in 2010, 2013, and 2014) + most swearing (consistently since 2011) + dog-fighting, puppy mills, and animal abuse (banned in 2012) + and abusive relationships (huge crackdowns in 2011/2012). When I say get away with, I mean get away with. Explicit or sexual scenes/RP topics were banned in 2009, so by the time staff were truly cracking down on NSFW RPs it had been banned for years. Official topic banning explicit content on CS in 2009:

Ren knew the rules of the site, but chose to RP mature content in the forums, making excuses about why he continued to stay. He also consistently proved that he was aware of the fact that it was against site rules, but continued to advertise his website as a place where users could RP sex, drugs, and violence, among other things.

And this is just a fraction of his advertising. After he created AS, a significant portion of users flooded over to his site to get around CS rules. In fact, so many users used CS to solicit partners for mature AS role-plays that even mentioning the site was banned for a period of time after it was created. Proof of AS ban from advertising on the site:

And despite everything said, it’s not like AS’s content was occasionally outside the scope of CS rules. People knew AS as the place to RP suicide, addiction, sex, drugs, abuse, salve and mater RPs, violence, gore, etc. These were people who were bothered that they couldn’t RP slave and master relationships on a children’s website. 

And keep in mind, CS was created in the early 2000s. A lot of the people who grew up on the site were pretty young back then, myself included. Jill, the person that Ren would go on to abuse, was 12 at the time that he started advertising this bullshit on CS. This behavior was pervasive on CS, literally so bad that there would be huge waves of bans every few months during the early days. I had my own underaged character be sexually assaulted in an RP by someone who claimed to be an adult man. For God’s sakes, there have been actual arrests made in connection with this site, that’s how bad these infractions of the rules were. From 2011 to 2013, at the height of predatory behavior happening in a place meant to be a safe haven for children, Ren gave them a safe haven to go to and created a space perfect for luring in impressionable, vulnerable youth. And that’s how he met Jill.

Continue to Part 2

[thestrippershateyou]

Radfems: “I think sex work should be illegal! That will stop rape and sex trafficking!”

What ACTUALLY happens when sex work is illegal:

Alaska

“One of [the police officers] put his hand up my skirt and ripped my underwear off. He slammed me down on the car, he injured me. Um, left me with some broken fingertips, broken toes, fractured cheekbone... I was bleeding, I had my skirt ripped... people were just mortified because they'd seen a teenage girl get assaulted by a police officer..”.— study respondent

Baltimore

“Prior to the DOJ investigation, an internal investigation by the BCPD found an officer receiving sex from a sex worker in exchange for money and immunity from arrest. The case was closed without any attempt to gather more evidence, interview the police officer, or prosecute the officer. Cases were opened for the same officer a second and third time for the same offense. The witness for the third case died before she could be interviewed, and only then did the BCPD review the officer's phone records and discover that he had sent sexually explicit messages to a number of female sex workers. The officer was allowed to retire. The DOJ found similar cases involving other officers.”

Chicago

“I was solicited by a police officer who said that if I had sex with him he wouldn't arrest me. So I did. Then afterwards he cuffed me and pressed charges anyway.“

“I was going to meet a new john, it turned out to be a sting set up by the cops. He got violent with me, handcuffed me and then raped me. He cleaned me up for the police station and I got sentenced to four months in jail for prostitution.”

“I keep being arrested in Rogers Park just for standing still. They keep taking me in for prostitution even though I'm not doing anything at all. It's the same white cop doing it too.”

“When being held in protective custody [because they said I was a victim of human trafficking] they started withholding my sheets, then towels, then pillows, then food because they said I wasn't telling them everything I could—when in fact I was.”

(Claiming non trafficking victims are actually trafficking victims as justification for abusing them - Hey, radfems, the police are stealing your tactics!)

“Twenty four percent of street-based sex workers had been raped by a police officer. Twenty percent had experienced other sexual assault from police officers. Women doing survival sex and women in drug houses experienced a lot of violence from police. Thirty percent of exotic dancers who had been raped were raped by police, and twenty percent of the sexual violence they experienced was committed by police. Twenty five percent of escorts had been robbed by a police officer. Eighteen percent of escorts had been forced to masturbate a police officer.”

Las Vegas

“One respondent was given the choice between arrest and doing something "disgusting". She wouldn't tell the researcher what she was asked to do, but she told the other police officers at the station about it and they laughed at her.

A respondent was asked by an officer to show her breasts in order to avoid arrest. Another respondent had charges dropped because of police misconduct; the officer who arrested her had her perform oral sex on him.”

Miami

“One respondent was arrested because she refused to have sex with the officers who arrested her. Another was asked by an officer for sex, but she was afraid it was a set up and said no.”

New Orleans

“Survey respondents said that police profiled transgender people as sex workers and subjected them to verbal abuse and sexual misconduct, including demands for sex in exchange for leniency. Police were arresting people for solicitation if they carried condoms. Even trans sex workers who weren't arrested for carrying condoms saw it happen to others and where afraid to carry condoms. Some police officers used possession of condoms to coerce trans sex workers into providing free sexual services.

People who tested positive for HIV while in jail were visited by an HIV task force that scheduled appointments at a clinic. However, many people were rearrested before their scheduled appointment. One woman was arrested ten times in three years, preventing her from going to any scheduled appointments to receive care for her HIV infection during that period. Jail interrupts taking medication on a regular basis.”

(I know radfems don’t care about trans people though. Y’all are definitely celebrating the New Orleans situation as a success.)

New York City

“Examples of police language: bitch ho slut you're not dead yet? we gotta go clean up the trash why should we help you?”

(Again, I know radfems approve of this. This is how they talk to me.)

Police raped me a couple of times in Queens. The last time that happened was a couple of months ago. But you don't tell anybody. You just deal wit it.— nineteen year old female

“Police officers propositioned underage youth and made lewd comments. Most female youth in the study reported trading sex to avoid arrest. Pimps were not arrested or received less jail time than the youth that worked with them, even when one of the youths was identified as fourteen years old.”

Thirty percent of the respondents reported threats of violence from the police, and twenty seven percent reported experiencing violence. One respondent said "I've seen cops get out of a car and beat a girl, and then get back in the car and leave." Another said that her greatest fear during arrest was "not coming home at all." The white woman from the Bronx said "... they throw you on the floor and they step on you..."

Another respondent reported seeing officers injure a women in the pelvic area to prevent her from working. “... it was like he was squeezing a handball or something, but really really hard... it was two guys in a car and they drove up on the sidewalk. He pushed her against the wall and then he pushed her against the wall after he finished that and then he said "now get off the street"...-respondent

“One likes to beat me now and then, or he wants me to suck his dick. I mean, it's crazy. He hits me with his gun and gives me these marks on my legs and my back. I don't know what to do...I can't call the other cops. I did that once and they asked this guy to stop beating me. But he got so mad that he came around and beat me up even worse. So I really have to get out of here. Now he wants me to give him 25% of what I make...I had to go to the hospital because I got beat so bad. — respondent

San Francisco 

“4% of respondents described being threatened with arrest unless they had sex with a police officer. 8% said they were arrested after having sex with a police officer. 5% said they were arrested after refusing to have sex with a police officer. 40% of interactions with police officers during the previous three months were bad or very bad.”

Washington DC

38.5% of survey respondents reported being humiliated or verbally abused by police during relatively minor interactions such as checking ID. One respondent said the officer called her a whore, prostitute, and trick. During 8.6% of these interactions, officers confiscated or destroyed safe sex supplies, including condoms. 17.3% of respondents said that police-initiated interactions involved the officer asking for sexual services, or demanding sexual services to avoid arrest. 9.1% of respondents reported being assaulted by police officers. 3 respondents reported strip searches.

Seventy eight respondents were profiled as sex workers and ordered to "move along." The most common result of this was that they ended up in an area where they felt less safe.

75% of trans people and 82.4% of Latinos said they were treated worse than others when they were in lock up.

When the survey respondents initiated contact with the police, usually to report a crime, in a number of cases the police tried to have sex with them. This seemed to be particularly true of trans Latinas.

Studies not limited to certain areas

“Police abuse of sex workers includes verbal insults, coerced sex, brutal beatings, and rape. When police know that a woman is a sex worker, they may harass her when she is not working.The most common abuses are verbal abuse and threats to arrest sex workers if the police don't receive sexual services. Police often assume that sex workers don't care who they will have sex with and will do anything to avoid arrest. But experienced street-based sex workers often refuse to provide free services. They are resigned to frequent arrests, including arrests for questionable charges. What they want to avoid are fear and indignity forced on them by bad officers.“

“During arrest or taking someone into custody, police often degrade or humiliate sex workers, including removing wigs or clothing, confiscating or destroying property, making homophobic, anti-transgender, and racists slurs, and engaging on sexual harassment. Organizations working with sex workers have documented a pattern of police practice that includes assault, sexual harassment, public strip searches for the purpose of viewing genitalia, and rape. This pattern of practice is supported by the difficulty or impossibility of obtaining justice in these cases.”

“When sex workers try to report crimes against them, officers don't take their complaints seriously, refuse to file a report, and may arrest them, physically assault them, or pressure them for sex. When a sex worker tried to bring charges against a security guard who handcuffed and raped her, the police referred to the guard as "a big teddy bear", and added exculpatory statements to her report that she didn't make. This refusal to deal with crimes against sex workers leads serial killers to target sex workers and people profiled as sex workers.”

“Six of the twelve women who had been trafficking victims left their trafficking situation without help from law enforcement, through the help of a coworker or an attorney they met through a coworker or friend. Nationwide, it appears that the majority of trafficking victims escape without the involvement of law enforcement. One supervisor in a national organization said that 90% of their cases were not produced by raids or identified by law enforcement.”

Of the six trafficking victims picked up in law enforcement raids, one would have left her situation in a few days if she had not been picked up in a raid and arrested. As a result of the raid, she was pistol-whipped by a police officer and incarcerated. 

Her conclusion: “A better way to help leave my situation would be anything that didn't involve the police.”

[daesungindistress]

Not to keep talking about him, but you said he’s regarded as the worst k-celebrity? That’s weird that they deem him worst than his “friends”. Maybe because his shit is STILL dragging on months later?

The molka stuff was only a small part of a much larger scandal. The reason there’s still so much discourse about it among VIPs is because, based on my observations at the time, his presence in the molka chats is what prompted most fans to drop him (and many of them stopped paying attention after that). His remaining fans know this and are focusing so much of their fight on that in an effort to reverse the narrative and regain support for him. It’s a complete waste of time though; they’re running circles around themselves trying to disprove something Seungri himself already admitted to ages ago. “Those messages aren’t my entire life,” he said when asked why he didn’t reprimand JJY for the illegal videos he shared in the chats. He was there, he saw, he knew.

(What’s funny is they can’t even keep their own stories straight; I’ve had anons in my inbox the last few days trying to erase his presence in the chats with “It wasn’t Seungri, it was Lee Jonghyun!” and “It wasn’t Seungri, it was another Lee Seunghyun!” And not a peep about his Chosun interview. It sure is funny watching them trip over themselves trying to get it right when the answer has been right there in front of them all along.)

I think about this sometimes… how for those who weren’t in the fandom back then and/or weren’t following along, much of Seungri’s role in the Burning Sun controversy is going to be lost to time. New fans will take an interest in Big Bang and join the fandom and no doubt they’ll ask, “What happened to Seungri?” And there’s just no way to sum it all up cleanly and concisely. There’s too much. It would be nice to see someone put together a timeline of events, but I have a feeling the only people possessing that kind of dedication to the case nowadays are the fans still committed to defending him. No thanks.

Anyway, just for funsies, here’s a list of as many allegations as I can think of off the top of my head, with explanations that I tried (and failed ofc) to keep condensed. Just various things for anyone who’s new here…

- The alleged drugging and sexual assault of women by wealthy clients in the VIP room at the club Burning Sun. Burning Sun was widely known as Seungri’s club as he had spent the better part of the prior year (2018) promoting it, calling it his, DJ-ing there, etc… proudly boasting throughout his solo promotions about how, unlike most celebrities, he doesn’t just loan out his name and face, he manages his businesses himself. Because of this, no matter how hard he backpedaled when the news about Burning Sun broke, insisting that he wasn’t responsible for the day-to-day operations of the club and didn’t have a clue about what was happening there, there was no separating himself from it completely. He was in too deep already. Worse, media got their hands on some club documents and found that he did in fact have part-ownership of the club – he was one of its investors and was even listed as the executive director. Granted, the percentage of shares he held was a very small one, but he really should have been forthcoming with that info from the start because this is what began the narrative that painted him as a liar. Or should I say he outed himself as one.

- Widespread corruption within the police force. Not just with regards to Burning Sun but many bars and clubs throughout the Gangnam area. It was suspected that local police had arrangements with the clubs to look the other way and often neglected to investigate crimes being reported on their premises. Minors entering the clubs, drug use, sexual violence, etc. This leads to…

- Police collusion… i.e., suspicions of having friends in high places. Seungri was in a chat with friends in which they discussed Choi Jonghoon having a DUI covered up and kept quiet, the news suppressed. Not even his own agency knew. Seungri said, “Don’t think that it’ll be covered up the next time you drink and drive. [Name redacted] hyung used his own money to keep them from telling.” His “Korean law is shit, that’s why I love it” comment in another chat didn’t earn him any brownie points with the public either.

- More on bribing the police: Seungri and his business partner Yoo Insuk had connections with a high-ranking police official, one referred to in the chats as “police chief”. This turned out to be Superintendent Yoon, who was suspected of alerting them to violations related to his other club, Monkey Museum, and helping them avoid prosecution for it. Seungri had registered the business as a general restaurant but began operating the business outside the limits of an ordinary restaurant (installing a stage, dance floor, etc) despite being aware that it could become a legal issue down the road. He was suspected to have done so for the purpose of paying lower taxes.

This is where the Food & Sanitation Act charge comes in. Not especially major in itself, the bigger issue was Seungri suggesting in the chats that they could just bribe the police if there was ever a crackdown.

Superintendent Yoon had meals and went on golf outings with Seungri & Yoo Insuk. They said that he paid for his portion every time, however it was found that SR & Yoo had in fact treated him on a few occasions. Big Bang concert tickets were also given as gifts. However, it was determined that the value of what they gave him didn’t quite meet the threshold to be considered a crime, so bribery charges were dropped… on a technicality. Superintendent Yoon is currently being detained on abuse of power charges related to another case.

- Financial crimes, i.e., embezzlement of Burning Sun funds (together with Yoo Insuk, totaling almost a million dollars) and embezzlement of funds from Monkey Museum to pay the attorney’s fees for a DJ accused of sexual assault.

- Prostitution mediation, i.e., arranging sex workers for foreign investors of his 2015 startup Yuri Holdings. He was investigated for 2 instances of this occurring in late 2015 (Club Arena and the “Seung-tsby” Christmas Party), and another at his big birthday bash in the Philippines in 2017. Charges related to the Philippines party were dropped as it couldn’t “legally be seen as prostitution” but I personally think the evidence presented is substantial enough to warrant suspicion.

- Soliciting prostitution for himself. At first he claimed it was “someone he knew before” and said he hadn’t paid her for sex, but police were able to trace payment records back to the establishment where she worked. He reportedly admitted to the charge at his arrest warrant hearing in May.

- Molka (spycam), i.e., secretly filmed photos and videos of women in sexual situations, taken by Seungri’s friends and business partners and shared in a group chat in which he was present. Questions were raised about why he didn’t at least reprimand them. It was later discovered that not only were the victims filmed without their consent, many of them had been drugged and raped… and some were even used against the women as blackmail.

- Instigating the destruction of evidence by advising his friends to change their phones when these chats were released to the public. Reportedly, of the phones handed to police, all but one were new / wiped clean.

- Here’s something I’ll forever be curious about: it was reported that Seungri had been using Burning Sun funds to pay his YGE-appointed manager a separate salary (in addition to his regular salary from the agency) without informing the company. And it was no small amount. I’m not sure why he did this or why, exactly, it’s a problem, but apparently it’s a big no-no because when YGE learned of it Seungri’s manager was promptly let go.

- Gambling. This first came up back in the spring when a chat was released that showed Seungri talking about money he’d won through gambling and telling a business acquaintance he could win big too. In response to this, Seungri said he was only “bluffing”, that he hadn’t really won any money through gambling… Well, months later he was formally called in for questioning on suspicions of habitual gambling and illegal currency exchange transactions. The currency exchange suspicions were dropped in the end, the gambling charge he reportedly admitted to. As for that chat? I think it’s safe to say he wasn’t bluffing that day.

- There was also that gross chat that appeared to show him offering women to a business acquaintance? The man was traveling and asked for a woman, and Seungri responded with photos of a few women, detailed descriptions of their personalities, and price. Pretty sure this is where the trafficking accusations you still see floating around occasionally come from. His explanation for that was essentially “It wasn’t what it looked like.” He said it was about travel companions, not sex, and they never went through with it. IDK what to make of it, but let’s be honest, that was going to reflect badly on him no matter how he spun it.

- Things got really wild when speculation about him having connections to the Chinese triad (organized crime) started up due to his business relationship with a powerful woman known as Madam Lin. She was one of his investors and according to police statements, is believed to have aided in helping him embezzle funds from Burning Sun. Korean police summoned her for questioning and requested her cooperation multiple times to no avail.

…I’ll stop there, but just keep in mind there is more, suspicions that didn’t seem to lead anywhere in the end but that dealt blow after blow after blow to what little was left of his reputation. The whole thing became mind-boggling. I think it’s easier for us as IVIPs to forget the fervor that swept the nation as this scandal erupted because we weren’t really there for it, not in the same way as Koreans who must have seen it plastered across every major news station day in and day out for months… people who saw their fellow citizens protesting in the streets against the atrocities reported at Burning Sun and the corruption in the police force that failed to prevent it. And yes… in a way, it’s still dragging on. Seungri was known for having connections everywhere, even where you’d least expect it; here that reputation of his worked against him as the floodgates opened and he became the connecting piece for all the nasty that came pouring out. And you know what they say: the bigger they are, the harder they fall. He wanted to be famous. Now he’s infamous.

[heartslogos]

the unclassified texts of the inquisition’s elite [30]

785): Got home. Somebody tried to sell me weed on the street. I've never had to try so little to find a dealer before.

(705): Did I ever tell you what happened that night after he ran you over?

“It’s like,” Evelyn pauses, sighs, putting her head in her hands, “Listen. I want us to look legitimate. I want us to have recognition and prestige and some modicum of respect. I want the newspapers to stop running stories about us like they’re tabloids out to expose our dirty little secrets and have that be their baseline for telling stories about us because we are literally giving them non-stop gossip fodder rather than real results. I want to go one day without social media blowing up over one of us doing something completely out of this world stupid slash socially questionable. Ethically questionable. Morally and legally questionable.”

“I can hardly see how it’s my fault,” Sera says. “It’s not like I was actively soliciting people for weed. I was in uniform this time, even. I never wear the fucking uniform. You can barely even get me to wear my fucking badge. I did everything right this time, for real. I wore the uniform, I wore the badge, I was with three other Inquisition soldiers who were also in their boring ass uniforms with their stupid badges. We were right next to Inquisition marked cars. Seeker Cassandra fuckin’ righteousness Pentaghast was walking ahead of me. You can’t really blame me for this one.”

“Something about you,” Evelyn gestures to all of Sera at once. Rude. “Something about this just…screams for people to treat you like a hooligan.”

“What are you, eighty? Hooligan. The fuck. Go on urban dictionary, grandma.”

“This is exactly what I mean.” Evelyn shakes her head. “Sera. Just. Tell me one thing. Did you take the weed?”

“He was offering to sell it, not give it away for free.”

“Tell me that you didn’t buy the weed.”

“Of course I didn’t buy the weed, he was charging way above market price.”

“Sera.”

“I’m kidding. His price was average but his goods were shit. Quit it with the look. I didn’t buy any, okay? And Pentaghast turned around, gave him the look, and he nearly shat his pants. Which is, like, character growth or something from her because she held back enough to spare the dumbass some shred of dignity. You should reward that kind of behavior, you know? She’s learning…sympathy or something. Whatever. He’s been arrested and his stash seized, so you can stop having a little fit over there.”

“I am not having a fit.”

“Yes you are. I can see it in your eyes. They get squirrelly.”

“What?”

“Yeah, just ask Rutherford or Josephine or somebody who does paperwork with you. I bet they see that squirrelly look all the time.”

“Squirrelly? I don’t look squirrelly!”

“Listen, boss, you can think that however much you want. You can think that until the sky turns fuchsia or whatever. Doesn’t change the fact that you look two seconds away from a mental break down and suburban-mom-like hysterics.”

“Suburban — I’ve lost you completely. You make things up to confuse me.”

“Spoken like a true old lady. You know you should probably have kids before you skip to the middle aged mom stage, right? Like. You haven’t lived through raising teenagers so you shouldn’t have that frazzled everything going on.”

“Sera, the longer you talk the less I understand you. Can we please get back to the fact that people walk up to you and solicit you for drugs?”

“I’ve stopped the side hustle if that’s what you want to talk about.”

“The what?”

“Nightingale didn’t tell you about that one? Well, shit. I mean. I thought she told you everything? Because? You’re our boss? You know? Wow. Guess we all know who’s really in charge now, huh?”

-

“Excuse me, what?”

Herah hums as Kaaras slowly loses his mind. “Oh, guess you forgot that part. I mean. You were like, what, eight? That was some time ago. Totally reasonable that you don’t remember it. You were unconscious for two days in the hospital. Mom was probably going to murder Kaariss. Good thing he was so apologetic about it. He wrote an entire poem about it. That’s why he treats you extra gentle, you know.”

“Kaariss treats me gently?” This is news to Kaaras. Kaariss usually takes every opportunity to drag him on increasingly dangerous and remotely located hiking trips that he calls survival training.

“Yeah, he didn’t give me that kind of special treatment. He gave you an entire survival kit for your twelfth birthday. What did I get on my birthday? A gift card.”

Honestly, Kaaras would really have preferred a gift card.

“This family is so messed up,” he bemoans. “He ran me over?”

“Yup. In the driveway. In his defense, it was Halloween, it was dark, you were dressed as a vampire with the black cape and all that. Also you had bent down behind the car to pick up some candy you dropped.” Herah pauses. “Technically he ran you over twice because he reversed, and then he drove forward.”

“What?”

“Yeah. That’s why one of your horns is crooked, by the way.”

“One of my horns is crooked?”

“You probably don’t notice because you’ve had it that way for as long as you can remember. But I remember how they used to look.”

“I was eight. I should remember this kind of trauma happening to me.”

“Kaaras,” Herah clasps him on the shoulder. “You remember so little of our childhood. I could tell you anything right now and you’d believe me.”

He squints at her. It’s true. Herah is a very good liar. A con. It’s why she’s Shokrakar’s favorite. But he also feels like she wouldn’t lie to him about his existence.

Then again…she did trick him into thinking that it was socially appropriate to eat raw pasta. So. It’s possible.

“I mean. You forgot that you were run over by a car,” Herah continues. “And you still claim that you don’t remember that time you were abducted and taken all the way to Antiva when you were six.”

“That didn’t happen! There’s no way that happened! There’s no records of it! I’ve looked!”

Herah pinches Kaaras’ cheek. “You think our family can’t make records disappear? So naive.”

[b-afterhours]

Sympathy For The Devil: Did You Mean It? (oneshot series)

summary: After the event’s of an undercover operation in late 1970s New York City. NYPD officer Bill and his former CI Star are dealing with the repercussions of fulfilling their job while also trying to discover each other intimately.

author’s note: this is the first part of a oneshot series to the original story of sympathy for the devil. i just really enjoy the characters of Star and cop!Bill and there is still some things i’d like to explore with them that we didn’t get to in the main story. i don’t know how many of these i’ll do? but this is one that was highly requested :) if you want straight smut feel free to scroll to the middle the first bit kinda gives you an update of what’s been going on since we last seen them. 

also is this is the first time you’re seeing this and are interested in reading the original Sympathy for the Devil story you can read here.

warnings: strong language, sexual acts, smut

playlist: Billie Holiday’s - I'll Be Seeing You and Easy Living

5 months later…

In the summer heat, the staunch smell of piss and rotting trash permeated outside the courthouse. Star had been quiet all day but Bill understood it wasn’t anything he had done. Today was day two of court proceedings for Stan. Star had gone up the day before, giving her testimony and she had been a mess since leaving the court. It took everything in Bill to not kick Stan’s asshole lawyer’s ass as he doubted her and twisted her words and made her seem like an unreliable witness. She cried all night until Bill let her get so stoned she eventually fell asleep in his arms.

Parked in his car, Star picked at her long nails. He could feel her anxious energy crowding the car and he wished he could do anything to put her at ease but in all honesty, he was feeling the same dreadful feelings she was having.

They stepped in the courthouse where their lawyer, Mr. Hornbeck, was waiting just outside the courtroom door. Bill had insisted and urged Star that the smartest thing they could do was to have his lawyer represent the both of them. She tried to stubbornly decline but for a case this big she knew a shotty public defender wasn’t going to help her case. Today, was Bill’s turn to bat on the stand. He was called on by the judge to testify against Stan and to defend Star’s claims. Thankfully, he knew what to expect after what Stan’s lawyer put Star through.

“They don’t believe me,” she choked out the night before. Her face flushed and wet with tears.

He softly rubbed her back telling her that they did. Though inside he wasn’t so sure. He felt just as defeated leaving the courthouse yesterday. Working undercover gave Bill rights and leeway for his drug-addled actions. He was protected and being a cop sure helped a ton. He only wished it was him that saw Stan that Thanksgiving night. It would have made this case open and shut.

“Ready?” He asked Star before they stepped into the courtroom.

She nodded. “Are you?” She asked softly.

He took a deep breath, “Gotta be.”

Stan was already seated with his lawyer, the both of them whispering in each other’s ear, it was still dreadful to see him. Yesterday, Bill and Star froze reaching for each other's knees in comfort when he stepped into the courtroom after not seeing him for months after he was arrested. Today on their way to their seat Star hid behind Bill walking in step with him to block her view of Stan. 

Stan’s lawyer had to have been an even bigger asshole than he was. Mr. Parker quizzed Bill and questioned him about where he was, what he was doing, and why he was at Randi’s loft the night he “allegedly” saw Stan at. He asked questions that were relatively the same to trip him up and to get him to second guess but Bill wasn’t taking the bait.

“And what makes you so sure that Miss Esposito, saw my client at Randall Jacobson’s party,” Mr. Parker questioned.

“Like I said, I was at the party too. But I’m sure because I know she wouldn’t lie. She’s not a liar.”

“You are aware of her criminal record, right? She was working as a Criminal Informant under your supervision, correct?”

“Yes,” Bill nodded once.

Mr. Parker wiped his sweaty upper lip with the back of his portly hand as he turned around for a file given to him by his assistant. “So you know, about her many soliciting charges, indecent exposure, theft, and her latest from fall of last year, possession and conspiracy to distribute narcotics, specifically cocaine?” He said looking up from reading off a list from his file.

“I don’t see what Angela’s record has to do with anything?” Bill could feel anger bubbling within him. “None of those charges tell me she’s a liar. When I worked with her not once was she dishonest with me.”

“So...” the lawyer raised a brow, “I take it that you and Miss Esposito became good friends then? Since you seem to know your CI so well.”

“Objection your honor,” Mr. Hornbeck called out, “what is the basis for this line of questioning? Mr. Skarsgård, nor Miss Esposito are the ones on trial here.”

The gray-haired judge grumbled. “Mr. Parker can carry on,” he overruled.

“As I was saying,” Mr. Parker continued with a smug look on his face, “it seems you two became close. Do you think maybe, you have some sort of bias to believe her claims about my client?”

“No,” Bill’s lips formed into a hard thin line.

“Or is it that you may have wanted my client’s position as Co-director of the Criminal Informant Unit that he once held? Seeing that you took the job for it just a month ago after being promoted?”

“Objection your hon--” Mr. Hornbeck was cut off by the judge's curt hand raise.

“No, I wasn’t after Stan’s job,” Bill said. “I just, I just wanted to be a cop.”

“A cop, huh? Well, most cops wouldn’t cozy up with their CI. Doesn’t seem very professional.”

“What?” Bill spit out, appalled, his brows pulling together.

Mr. Parker pulled - from the same file - developed photos of Bill and Star placing them in front of him as well as copies for the judge. A few were of them in front of his apartment or pictures of them in the diner taken from across the street. It didn’t look too incriminating, it only just looked like they were hanging out until a photo of him and Star kissing on her fire escape one night was placed on top of all the others. They had been spied on. Bill’s feet went numb and his palms began to sweat as he felt his blood boil while an icy chill slowly crept up his back.

“We’re you mixing business and pleasure while undercover, Mr. Skarsgård? She is a known prostitute. She goes by Star on the streets. But I’m sure you knew that about Angela, too.”

“Don’t...” Bill shut his eyes collecting himself before he spoke out of turn. “It’s Miss Esposito. Don’t say her name,” he warned. His stern response only made Mr. Parker smirk, knowing he had Bill where he wanted him. “And she was, was, a sex worker. But whether she is or isn’t doesn’t matter. This has nothing to do with why we’re really here. Stan murdered someone!” He argued.

“You didn’t answer my question,” Mr. Parker said simply, ignoring what Bill had said.

“What was your damn question?” He snipped.

“Mr. Skarsgård,” the judge scolded.

“Were you intimate with Miss Esposito? Was there some kind of trade between you two?”

“No,” Bill sighed. “We never did anything on the job. We kept things professional, we were all about getting the job done. And we did, or else we wouldn’t be here, right?”

“That... still doesn’t answer my question, Mr. Skarsgård.” He pressed.

“Your honor!” Mr. Hornbeck said entirely out of desperation at this point.

Bill took a deep breath. “We’ve never, haven’t, been intimate in that way. Especially while working.”

“So, what is your relationship to Miss Esposito then?”

Bill swallowed the little spit he had in his dry mouth. And looked over at Star who looked like she was on the verge of a nervous breakdown. She felt helpless in the fact that she couldn’t do anything to save him.

He sat up looking Mr. Parker square in the eyes. He was going to give in and give him what he wanted because, ultimately, it was what he wanted too. “She’s my girlfriend,” he said confidently and earnestly.

Star’s eyes widened and her mouth dropped in shock when he said it. The tears she tried to keep a bay finally rolling down her cheeks. They hadn’t discussed their exclusivity with each other, really. They just liked being together in each other's company and they kept it at that. They didn’t have a label, not until, just now. Bill knew he probably fucked up in the court of law and things but he couldn’t get himself to regret it. Not even a little bit.

“Now, was that so hard to say?” Mr. Parker smirked. “No further questions your honor.”

Mr. Hornbeck was shaking his head at Bill while he walked back to join them. Their lawyer ran a hand down his face and glared at Bill before he went to give his closing statement for his hopelessly stupid clients. Star slowly reached for Bill’s hand and squeezed it tightly. They had been advised by Mr. Hornbeck - who knew their clients secret - to stay respectful and mindful of their affections towards each other but since the cat was out the bag there was no use in pretending to be cold towards each other.

The jury took hours deliberating, both of their stomachs in knots and worry as they desperately waited. Neither had an appetite to leave for lunch like everyone else. The longer the jury deliberated they were sure that they were in favor of Stan. When the registrar finally entered the room and read the guilty verdict relief and vindication washed over them. Half the court clapped and cheered along with them as they stood to their feet. Bill picked Star up and kissed her unashamed in front of God, the judge, and everyone. Stan was fuming and glowering at them as he walked passed them cuffed and ushered by three burly police officers.

“Fuck you,” Star seethed meeting him with a glower of her own. Her visceral outburst even threw her off, she couldn’t help it. “Think about what you did to me while you rot in your cell, asshole!” Tears spilled over, running down her cheeks.

Mr. Hornbeck went to reach for Star’s arm to lead her out the courtroom before the judge could hold her for contempt but Bill stopped him. Instead, he held her to his side leading her out, holding her close as she buried her head into his side sobbing.

…

They hadn’t spoken a word about court or what he had said on the stand the whole trip to Bill’s apartment. He was beginning to worry maybe it wasn’t appropriate to just blurt out that Star was his girlfriend. Hell, he didn’t know if she really wanted to be. She was fine just being with him - and so was he - but he wasn’t absolutely sure.

Only about two months ago they had barely just begun to be intimate. It did take a while for Star to get used to his touch being in more delicate areas of her body. Bill didn’t push it if she said to stop he would. Just a few weeks ago was the first time he felt her ease into his touch. His hand slipped under her panties and he paused, carefully trying to gauge her reaction to his hand being there. Her eyes were closed, her chest rising unevenly. He felt her hips buck, she wanted it. He ducked his head into the crook her neck kissing nimbly at the soft skin and pressed his middle finger down on her clit. Her hand clutched the hair on his head bracing herself. She began to squirm and pant as he flicked his finger back and forth. Warmth began to creep from her toes to the top of her head, finally settling in her belly, radiating and building. She pulled her legs together, squeezing Bill’s hand between her thighs.

“You want me to stop?” He said worriedly and even breathless himself.

She couldn’t answer with words, instead, she put her free hand on top of his urging him to keep going. She was so close. He flicked her swollen nub with more purpose. He was hard all while pleasing her and feeling how wet she had gotten and how quickly only made him throb. She arched her back letting her orgasm completely take hold of her. Her hand tightly fisted his hair as she brought his face to hers kissing him hard.

“More,” she said with bated breath when she pulled away.

Bill let her settle before slowly rubbing her again until she grabbed his hand and pushed it further down.

“No, I want your fingers in me,” she pleaded.

“Really?”

“Shhh, yes.”

She gasped when he felt his long middle finger buried inside her. He fingered her, giving her a few orgasms and held her as she shook coming down from the highs he had given her. Her hand slowly trailed down his belly, brushing through the hair below his belly button, and lightly grabbed his bulge. He winced at the feeling, his cock, sensitive. She looked up at him her brows furrowed.

“You’re not turned on?” She said softly, noticing he wasn’t hard.

His face flushed and he bit his lip before speaking. “I am. Uh, I came a little bit ago...”

“Oh...” She giggled lightly before whispering, “sorry.”

“It’s fine. I just want you to feel good,” he kissed the top of her head.

She was his main focus for days since that night. He desperately wanted her touch but also he didn’t mind. Her giving him the privilege of feeling and seeing her body react to him was enough.

In the apartment, Star kicked her cork wedge heels off behind the couch while Bill hung his suit jacket in the coat closet. It was a bit awkward not knowing where he stood with her after what he said on the stand. He turned his head to see that she was shaking her hair out of the tight bun she had it in.

“Ang, listen, I--”

“Did you mean it?” She cut him off. “I’m your girlfriend?”

He sauntered over to her cautiously. “Only if you want to be. I should have asked before I went blurting things out.” When she grabbed his hand his stomach sank. She was going to let him down gently he knew it.

“So.” She looked up at him locking eyes with his. “That makes you my boyfriend then,” she took his hand and held the back of it to her cheek.

“Yeah,” he smiled wide before leaning down to kiss her, his hands in her hair.

“Pick me up,” she commanded with a light laugh.

His hands slid down her bottom and picked her up effortlessly onto his hips. Her tight skirt rolled up to her waist as she wrapped her legs around him.

“To the room,” she said through the kisses she laid on his neck and jawline.

Bill gently laid her down on his bed, both of them laughing as he scooted down her body to kiss her inner thighs. He curled his fingers around her red panties, slowly slipping them off along with her skirt as she worked to take her own blouse off. He got comfortable between her legs to go down on her. That’s when she noticed him grinding his hips on the mattress to feel some kind of friction against his growing erection. While nimbly kissing her core she ran her hand through his brown hair lightly tugging to coax his head up.

“Wait,” she bit her lip.

“I got ahead of myself, sorry...” he kissed her thigh.

“No, I want to touch you too.”

“Angie…” his brows scrunched. He didn’t want her to do anything out of obligation. Though her offer made his dick twitch in his trousers and made him realize just how desperate he was for her touch.

“I want too. I really do,” she lightly pleaded.

“Tell me what to do,” he said. He knew to go about this new territory, it had to be at Star’s pace. But he could feel his heart racing and his palms go damp and not to mention the hardest erection he’d ever felt pressing tight against his pants.

Star swung her leg over his head and sat up at the edge of the other side and motioned for him to come over. He stood in front of her fully clothed. He held his breath when her hand gently groped his bulge before untucking his shirt and unbuttoning it from the bottom. He helped with the top buttons knowing she couldn’t reach them while she sat naked in front of him. She moved to his belt while he shrugged his shirt off, letting it fall the floor. He watched her work at the buckle and the button of his jeans with little effort and pushed the trousers off his hips. Bill caught that she had lightly frowned, suddenly looking unsure. Her hands trembled slightly when she went to pull his white briefs off but he grabbed her hand and held them, stopping her.

“You don’t have to...” he assured. Yet the sight of her eyes looking up at him and his crotch right at level with her he could feel his body ache.

“I really want to, just give me a sec’.” She took a deep breath.

Bill put his finger up and reached over to his nightstand to light a cigarette for her. “I’ll be right back. Hold on,” he said passing the cig to her before excusing himself.

He strode over to his record player in his living room, he knew music always calmed Star and that’s exactly what she needed right now. The Billie Holiday Greatest Hit’s record that he bought for her during an evening at the record store was ready waiting for the needle to be placed on it. As soon as he dropped the needle, I’ll Be Seeing You began to softly play.

When he walked into his room, Star had her head turned to him smoking her cigarette with a small smile.

“I love this song,” she said softly blowing smoke.

He went back into position but not before leaning down to steal some kisses from her. She leaned over to set her cigarette in the ashtray and stood up in front of him. She only just came up to his chest in height. Her sudden movement made him stiffen not wanting to do something that would cause her to stop. When she wrapped her arms around his body, her hands glided over the rigged muscles in his back. His breath caught in his throat when his hardened flesh pressed against her belly, feeling her warmth even through the stretched cotton fabric that separated them. He watched her intently with half-lidded eyes as she planted open mouth kisses across his chest and then looked up at him with a smile.

“Relax,” she whispered. “I can seriously hear your heart thumping in your chest,” she laughed.

He bit his bottom lip bashfully and finally took a deep breath, relaxing like she said to.

“Turn around,” she said through little kiss she landed on his left arm.

He shuffled around and clasped his hands in front of his crotch. She pressed her body flush against his. She had never done anything so intimate and for a man to let her take her time and have control for once, was a foreign feeling to her. She looped her arms through his and touched his chest running them down softly to the muscles of his belly. The sensation almost ticklish. He felt her bare chest pressed hard against his back as she herself took a deep breath before putting her hands on his, unclasping them. Her left hand slipped slowly under the waistband of his underwear causing his breath to hitch. His eyes shut tight when her hand gripped his hardness, pulling it out of his briefs. She had stroked a few times before his head lulled forward to watch her petite hand work his thick long cock. It was a sight he’d secretly been begging to see and it was happening. He closed his eyes focusing on the Billie record now playing Easy Living to even his heavy breathy moans. Desperately, needed to settle down before he ended it all.

“Can I telling you something,” Star asked. Her warm breath causing goosebumps to rise on the smooth flesh of his back.

The sensations were driving him mad, he was at her mercy as she stroked him firm and steady and occasionally rolling her palm over the tip. He swallowed hard before saying, “yeah.”

“I’m nervous to say...” she felt him begin to reach for her hands as soon as she said the word ‘nervous’. “Don’t stop me,” she kissed the dip in the middle of his shoulders. Her free hand idly went to his balls gently tugging them and kneading. Bill sucked hair between his teeth. “I just wanted to say,” Star spoke again, “I love you.”

Bill’s eyes snapped open. He had been floating for a moment until her words brought him to reality. She said it before he ever could. Of course, he thought it all the time but was too scared to say so. Too scared to push a boundary she wasn’t comfortable with.

“What?” He was only able to muster since her hands still jerked and kneaded him. “I mean, wait...” he stopped her hands taking chance to turn around and kissed her eagerly. His hands in her hair cradling her head. “Say it again,” he said breathlessly centimeters away from her lips.

Star looked into his big green eyes, “I love you.” She kissed him and he moaned against her lips.

“I love you,” he said back as he took a few steps forward to get her back on the bed. “I love you,” he said over and over between kisses until he was between her legs on the mattress.

He kissed her down to her neck and to her chest and she stopped him before he went any further down. “No, I want you now,” she said with a finger under his chin.

Bill nodded, “You sure?” He said still being the considerate gentleman he was.

“I need you.”

Bill reached a long arm into the nightstand for a condom and hastily opened it and rolled it down his hard length. He kissed her as he positioned himself at her entrance. He gazed into her eyes for a moment to gauge her and to lock the moment in his mind forever. They both gasped as he slowly slipped into her, stretching and filling her to the hilt. He stilled just to feel her warmth enveloping him, to relish in it. Star ran her hands through his hair and nip his ear with her teeth enjoying the feeling of him inside her too. She wrapped her legs around his waist, her heel dug into his skin to coax him to start moving his hips.

While he was grinding his hips into hers he concentrated on lasting long enough to have her cum before he did. Though her nails raking down his back and biting his blushed lips were setting him near the edge. She was rough, not terribly so, but enough that even he didn’t know he’d enjoy such a thing. He felt her tighten around him when he roughly grabbed her breast, pinching her nipple to the point she yelped. Her back arched giving him ample room to thrust deeper and harder.

“Like that,” she said with a moan. “Keep going… like that.”

Bill slipped his arm between the mattress and her back holding her flush with his body, thrusting in beat with the pulsations of her clenching core. The sounds of the creaking bed frame and Star’s beautifully erratic moans filled the room along with his groans.

“Uh, let go, baby,” he groaned into the crook of her neck.

He could feel her release when she screamed, her hand went to the back of his head harshly pulling his hair. It was her favorite thing to do. He glanced at her scrunched face, her eyes were shut tight until they snapped open and there was a wild yet slightly confused look in her eyes. He came right on the heels of her orgasm and softly collapsed on her.

They held each other catching their breath as they ran adoring hands over each others body. While they were kissing Bill felt a dampness on his cheeks from hers. It was only when he pulled away when he noticed that there were tears in her eyes. He reflexively tried to pull away thinking he’d done something wrong but Star held on to him.

“D-did I do something?” He asked wiping the tears with his thumbs on either side of her face.

She smiled before speaking, “No,” she lightly laughed. “I just never had it like that,” she bashfully bit her lip.

“Oh…” he raised a brow.

“No ones ever cared if I got off while they were inside me.”

“Oh.” He said understanding then.

“I love you,” she pecked him. “Really.”

“I love you, too. Really.”

“You want to do it again?” She smoothed down the mess she made of his hair.

Bill laughed. “Give me a second.”

tags: @kikilikes @partypoison00 @squirrel666 @skrsgards @itsbillskarsgard @billieskars @imaginingyournotsolikelyfuture @bskarsgardfilth @biskarsgards

[womenofcolor15]

Cardi B Talks That 'Gangster' Ish During 4-Hour Long Deposition + Bardi's Bodyguard Gets Busted By The Feds For Allegedly Selling Drugs

Cardi B stayed true to herself during a four-hour deposition in the $5 million legal battle that she's currently involved in. She also compared herself to a Powerpuff Girl and went off on the lawyer for holding her up for so long. See the transcript, plus deets on one of her bodyguards getting hemmed up by the Feds inside...

Cardi B popped off on a lawyer during an intense deposition as part of a $5 million legal battle that she's currently involved in. She's being sued by a man named Kevin Michael Brophy Jr, who claims she used a photo of his distinctive tattoo for the cover of her mixtape, Gangsta B*tch Music Vol.1.

The transcript to the "Press" rapper's deposition was recently made public and sis was def her authentic self. The same outspoken Cardi we see on Instagram and television was the same Cardi who showed out during this deposition that went down for four-hours on April 19th in NYC.

The "Clout" rapper was pressed about traveling to California for business and the tattoo featured on the mixtape cover. The Grammy Award winner basically said she wasn't concerned about the tattoo because it wasn't her doing.

“I never really cared to, like see, because I didn’t give a fuck. I cared for me, and it was, like, all about me … I didn’t give a fuck about this tattoo. I didn’t give a fuck about none of that shit. So, when it comes to that, you need to go to the photographer, or whoever edited this shit, because that’s who did it --- clearly," she said.

Then, she started talking that "gangster" ish:

The lawyer questioned the "Please Me" rapper about what type of image was she trying to portray with the mixtape cover and that's when she explained she's a "gangster." She also compared herself to the Green Powerpuff Girl, Buttercup.

“I mean I am I am a gangster. Like, I feel like I am a gangster, like I’m a gangsta. You know? I’m a stand-up girl. You know what I’m saying.”

She continued, “Like I’m not a pretty girl, or I am a pretty girl. But I’m not like this, this pink girly girl … I’m like the Buttercup, you know? There’s three powerful girls. There’s Blossom and there’s Bubbles and there’s Buttercup, the green one. That’s me. That’s who I am.”

They probed the NYC raptress about how much money she was raking in back when she was a stripper:

“When I was a stripper I was getting paid, like, $3,000 [a night]. Gees, I came a long way," she said.

Then, she started to get mad, questioning how Kevin Brophy is "distressed" over a mixtape cover, especially with him gunning for $5 million.

"Like, I could really be with my kid right now. Like, I'm really upset because I really have to be with my kid. All because of some bullsh*t, trying to get money, and then $5,000,000. Are you f*cking kidding me? That mixtape didn't even make, not even one million dollars," she said.

By this time, she was heated:

“I got real lawsuits with real sh*t, and I got to deal with this bullsh*t. This is four hours long taking away from my time, my job, my motherhood.”

According to THR, the judge ruled that Kevin Brophy Jr. has stated a plausible claim for using his likeness without consent.

The site reports:

"Defendants argue that Plaintiff’s claim fails because he fails to allege that his face was visible or his name was used," writes Carney in the order. "Defendants, however, cite no authority for the proposition that a commercial misappropriation claim requires the use of the plaintiff’s face or name. Plaintiff here alleges that his tattoo is part of his likeness because it is unique and distinctive. People, in fact, purportedly instantly recognize Plaintiff by his tiger snake tattoo."

In the opinion, the judge avoids much of a First Amendment analysis. Instead, the decision states, "Whether the Gangsta Bitch cover is sufficiently transformative to obtain First Amendment protection is a question of fact," which seems to set up the prospect of a jury trial.

Yikes.

That's not all that's going on in Cardi's camp...

        View this post on Instagram

                  Bronx Bound

A post shared by MOSTHATEDCARDI (@iamcardib) on Aug 19, 2019 at 5:40pm PDT

A bodyguard in her camp has been arrested for allegedly selling more that $12,000 worth of crack. These charges were added to the charges of allegedly serving as "muscle" for Cardi during he alleged strip club brawl. You'll recall, the "Bodak Yellow" rapper was indicted on felony charges stemming from a strip club brawl last year.

Page Six reports:

Jeffrey Bush, who allegedly served as “muscle” for the hip-hop star during the club brawl, was arrested Thursday morning at his Williamsburg home — where authorities say they then found a bag “believed to be crack” along with pills, pot, a scale and nearly $15,000 in cash, according to court documents.

The arrest followed a joint bust by the feds and NYPD.

Wearing a red T-shirt and high-top sneakers, Bush pleaded not guilty at an arraignment Thursday afternoon in Brooklyn federal court and was held without bail — with prosecutors arguing that his connection to the “Bodak Yellow” rapper made him a “flight risk.”

“Based on the defendant’s profit from just the crack sales … as well as the celebrity connection with [Cardi B], he has myriad means at his disposal to enable his flight,” a detention memo states.

Bush — who prosecutors say is a known member of the 5-9 Brims Bloods street gang — is accused of hawking a total of 280 grams of rock in Williamsburg at least six times between February and April, prosecutors said in court documents.

Both Cardi and Bush have pleaded not guilty to charges including attempted assault, harassment, conspiracy and criminal solicitation. The case is currently pending. Bush will go before a judge on the new drug charges on September 10th.

Photo: Cardi's IG

[Read More ...] source http://theybf.com/2019/08/23/cardi-b-talks-that-gangsta-ish-during-4-hour-long-deposition-bardis-bodyguard-gets-busted

[nolaroleplay]

✧ NAME: Ava Selene Sawyer ✧ AGE: 28 ✧ BIRTHDAY: November 7th, 1989 ✧ GENDER: Female ✧ LOCATION: CBD ✧ TIME IN NOLA: 10 years ✧ OCCUPATION: Detective at NOLA PD

TW: drug use, alcohol, abuse, abortion, overdose, death.

Breathe.

It was the one word, the one notion that had ignited something of a survivor in Ava Selene Xiomara Moreno. They say those who are damaged are most dangerous, because they know how to survive. It was most certainly the case for brunette born into a broken Louisiana household, to parents who had left Cuba a number of years prior. Living in a withered and poor excuse for a shack with only a mattress for all three never bothered Ava much. Nor did the fact that she’d slept on the floor most nights. It was the lack of warmth in the house that left her spending majority of her time outside, especially when her parents came to blow. With a drug abusing mother and an alcoholic for a father, Ava was essentially neglected from birth in every way, shape and form. Her father, at times, attempted to have a relationship with his daughter, constantly reminding her to be kind no matter the circumstance. He was something of a soft soul, an utter contrast to the bitterness of her cold mother who constantly accused Ava of every problem their little family came to face. And despite believing then that her life was normal, an unhappiness sparked within the girl that faltered to cease.

At ten years old, Ava came home from school to find her mother in bed with a married man — someone who wasn’t her father. Her mother yelled and screamed at her, claiming that it was her fault and that if she was ever to tell her father, she would be punished. In fear of what her mother told her, Ava kept her mouth shut. It was some time after the young girl would understand what her mother’s act meant, and that men paid for her time. Money, used to purchase mind-altering substances. Ava would also one day come to realise that her father was well aware of her mother’s choice of activities. The girl watched as her mother tore away at her father, until he became nothing but a hollow, shell of a man. He was far too weak to stand up to the woman he loved, and also too in love to deny her of her choices. Yet it only drove him further into an alcoholic abyss.

On her twelfth birthday, Ava was taken away by Child Protective Services for neglect, physical abuse, and for her parents’ inability to care for the child. The young girl wasn’t sure then whether it was the best or worst thing that had ever happened to her, considering that from then on, she would move home to home every few months for the rest of her childhood. By the age of sixteen she had been arrested six times. The charges included retail theft, solicitation, unlawful possession of drugs, and misdemeanour. At seventeen, she ran away from her last ever foster home, and took it upon herself to reallylive on the streets, for anything was better than those torturous homes. And she sure as hell wasn’t going ‘home’ to look for her parents.

Ava made the first friend she ever had on the streets.. Anya, a girl in a similar situation and with methods of making money — good money — and fast. It meant partaking in an act she resented her very mother for, but she had no other choice. Money wasn’t the only issue, it was a need to escape the world she was in and start over on her own. She had dreams of living a better life, one she wasn’t fortunate enough to be born into. Her third time successful rendered her pregnant. It was the first time she’d ever really been angry at herself for ever allowing such a thing to happen. The money she had acquired was used for an abortion, something that later came to be the greatest regret of her life. No matter how many times she convinced or reminded herself that this was the best and only choice she had, guilt coursed through her veins. She could barely look after herself, and she refused to let a child of her own grow up the way she did.. and yet, it was the most difficult and heartbreaking choice she ever made.

One day, she was under the assumption, as she climbed into another passenger seat, that she would be led to do the same thing she had the first few times. John Sawyer was man in his late fifties, an undercover cop determined to help young individuals off the streets. When the girl entered the car with a sombre look on her features, he decided then and there that he would never see a look like that on the girl again. After some intense discussion, days of getting to know one another, he managed to convince the girl against that line of work with an offer of his own — a position as his CI, and that meant money and protection, but only on the condition that she quit working her other job. After some time, Ava came to trust John, to the best of her ability, and allowed him to take her under his wing. She would later realise that John was her saviour; the very first person to protect her, to provide shelter, to be a father figure, and finally — to make a young Ava understand that life didn’t have to be so bad.

Once she had a taste of the normality of John’s world, Ava let the bitterness somewhat subside to allow for a new view and understanding of the world. It was an understanding she wanted to share with others, particularly with Anya. It was only meant to end in tragedy, as her friend refused to listen and some weeks later, was found dead in a motel room. It was then that Ava swore she would do absolutely everything in her power to help young women on the streets. Along with John’s influence, it became a momentary decision — she wanted to be a cop. After spending years in training Ava now works for the intelligence unit at one of the local New Orleans’ police stations. Additionally, she decided to change her surname to ‘Sawyer’, a name she came to love being called, reminding her of the late John Sawyer, who had passed several years prior of natural causes. A man who had saved her life.

Now, she lives in an apartment in the CBD of New Orleans — a roof she’s put over her own head. She’s sparked a relationship with one of the town’s own, Talan Zaretti, something she never thought she’d invest time in whatsoever. Believing monogamy wasn’t for her, it took almost a year and a half to convince the young detective that she could be in a relationship with him. Although she’s still learning to trust him entirely, facing stronger feelings flowing through her veins for him than she’s prepared herself for, Sawyer finds Talan to be the sole person to make her question her monogamous beliefs.. and that scares the hell out of her, because she knows what it’s like to be hurt, to be neglected, to be heartbroken. And that’s what keeps her at arms length, more often than not, with most people. Her entire life was filled with hardships and adversities she’d somehow had the strength to endure and overcome. Perhaps it was naive, but she believed everyone could be saved. She wanted to protect others, the same way John had protected her, the same way she failed to protect Anya — even if it meant risking herself every day for the rest of her life.

Although Sawyer is hard working and dedicated, she enjoys letting her hair down once in a while to have a good time. But if one thing is for certain, it’s that NOLA Police Department is her life. As honest as they come, this brunette tends to be viewed as quite blunt in the things she says. She pays no mind to fake people or dishonesty, and neverbeats around the bush. Confidence blankets her demeanour to an almost intimidating state. And if you cross her? You best beware. The girl’s unwavering temper is something you want to avoid. Fiercely independent, Sawyer is the type of person to prefer to do things on her own. Relying on others is quite foreign to her which is why having a partner in the Intelligence Unit is something she struggles with. There is a level of detachment in Sawyer’s personality that makes it difficult for her to get close to people. Trusting others is something that doesn’t come easily to her, and it most certainly isn’t easily given. She can count on one hand the list of people that she genuinely trusts. In relationships, Sawyer tends to be so cynical that she always leaves before the person in question leaves her first. It’s a way for her to guard her heart and ensure that nobody breaks it or hurts her ever again. Because vulnerability? Truly caring? They’re weaknesses. And weaknesses are something she can’t fathom. Little does she realise, however, that she’s probably the one that cares the most.

AVA’S FACECLAIM IS ANA DE ARMAS AND IS PORTRAYED BY TEE.

[districofcolumbiaprelawland-blog]

Cyntoia Brown Is Granted Clemency by Tennessee Governor After Serving 15 years in Prison for Murder

By Nana Evison, George Washington University Class of 2021

February 14, 2019

Cyntoia Brown, an sex traffic victim who was sentenced to life in prison when she was 16 years old, has recently been granted clemency by Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam. He commuted her prison sentence for killing a man who had picked her up for sex. Haslam announced that Brown will be released to supervised parole on August. 7 after she has served 15 years in prison [1]. 

“Cyntoia Brown committed by her own admission, a horrific crime at the age of 16. Yet, imposing a life sentence on a juvenile that would require her to serve at 51 years before even being eligible for parole consideration is too harsh, especially in light of the extraordinary steps Ms. Brown has taken to rebuild her life,” stated Haslam [1]. 

On August 7, 2004 Nashville Police responded to a 911 call and found Johnny Allen, a real estate agent, dead. Allen was nude, lying face down in his bed in a pool of his own blood. He was shot in the back of the head. A day later, police found his white pick-up truck in a Walmart parking lot and arrested 16-year-old Brown in connection to the murder of Allen. She had been staying with her pimp, “Cut Throat”, in a nearby hotel. She had taken several firearms and a wallet from Allen [2].

She waived her Miranda Rights and told investigators that Allen had solicited her for sex on August 6and drove her to his home. Then, he showed her guns and became violent. Fearing for her life, she shot Allen with a .40-caliber handgun she had in her purse, killing him in self-defense [2].

On the contrary, prosecutors argued that Brown killed Allen to steal from him since she had taken Allen’s firearms and wallet. Her drug abuse and juvenile criminal record was also used to prove that she had a history of being felonious [3]. Despite her age, she was tried as an adult and charged with first-degree felony murder and aggravated murder. Soon after, she was sentenced to serve two concurrent life sentences [2].

At her first trial, she wasn’t permitted to testify on her behalf and her attorney didn’t provide details of Brown’s traumatic childhood history and severe neurodevelopmental disorder, which could’ve helped her case [2]. According to years of local media reports, a 2011 documentary regarding her case, and court documents detailing Brown’s own testimony and that of a juvenile psychiatrist, Brown suffered from Fetal Alcohol Syndrome [4]. Her mother testified that she drank a fifth of whiskey every day while pregnant with Brown. In turn, she showed signs of being subjected to this syndrome. Some of the devastating consequences of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome include slower brain development, reduced reasoning skils, and an inability to control impulses [5]. At eight-months-old, she entered into the foster care system. In her early teens, she became a runaway and during this time she experienced several rapes and assaults [2].

In 2004, she began residing in a series of hotels with “Cut Throat”. Her relationship with Cut Throat was sexually, physically, and emotionally abusive. He pulled a gun out on her on multiple occasions and once choked until she passed out [2].

At the time of the murder, he had already forced her into prostitution and was sexually abusing her on a consistent basis, according to claims in a 2014 court petition for her appeal [6].

Brown testified, “He would explain to me that some people were born whores, and that I was one, and I was a slut, and nobody’d want me but him, and the best thing I could do was just learn to be a good whore.”

On the night of August 6, he had ordered her to go out and “get money.” Brown met Allen later in the evening in the parking lot of a Sonic franchise. He agreed to pay $150 for sex and drove them back to his home where she later shot him [2].

Brown’s attorneys argued that her mother’s alcohol drinking while pregnant left the teen with a neurodevelopmental disorder, which is what could’ve caused her behavior that day. Her disorder has been characterized as a “severe mental disease and defect” and has lowered her IQ. However, this evidence was not mentioned or shown during her first trial, according to the Associated Press [3].

In 2011, “Me Facing Life: Cyntoia’s Story”, debuted on PBS. The documentary detailed the many complicated angles of the case including juvenile justice reform, Brown’s flawed first trial and the ways in which it was prejudiced by the fact that she was a woman of color engaging in sex work, and the lack of a social safety net available to young at-risk women such as Brown who are at a high risk for sex trafficking [2].

The film assisted in changing the law in Tennessee. Now children under the age of 18 cannot be tried as an adult for prostitution. If she were arrested today, she would be tried as a human trafficking victim [2].

In 2017, Brown’s case came back into the spotlight when Rihanna shared Brown’s story in the following Instagram post:

Since Rihanna’s original post, several celebrities including Kim Kardashian West, Cara Delevingne, Lebron James, and Snoop Dogg have brought attention to the case, calling for justice and for her release. Despite this public call, in early December of 2018 the Tennessean Supreme Court ruled that Brown’s sentence was not unconstitutional since she was sentenced to 51 years, which is less than the 60 years that legally qualifies as a life sentence [7].The court wrote “under state law, a life sentence is a determinate sentence of 60 years. However, the sixty-year sentence can be reduced by up to 15 percent, or by 9 years, by earning various sentence credits [2].” However, Brown has earned some of these credits with her model behavior; she has received her associate degree, is working on her bachelor’s, and consults on an unpaid basis for the juvenile justice system. Despite this, the court still claims that her sentence isn’t unconstitutional since she will have the possibility of parole when she serves at least 51 years [8]. Consequently, Brown appealed that decision which then pended before the 6th U.S. Circuit Appeals [9]. 

In light of years of national attention from criminal justice advocates, celebrities, and politicians calling for mercy – and just days before he is to leave office - Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam granted clemency to the now 30-year-old Brown. She will remain on parole supervision for 10 years on the condition that she doesn’t violate any state or federal laws, holds a job, and participates in regular counseling sessions. To date, Haslam has granted five commutations, 15 pardons, and one exoneration. He continues to review and consider additional clemency requests [10].

 _______________________________________________________________

[1] https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/07/us/cyntoia-brown-clemency-granted.html

[2] https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/2018/12/219015/cyntoia-brown-case-facts-real-story

[3] https://www.newsweek.com/cyntoia-brown-heres-why-teen-was-sentenced-life-after-claiming-she-was-sex-718766

[4] https://www.cnn.com/2017/11/23/us/cyntoia-brown-social-media-murder-case-trnd/index.html

[5] https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/2018/12/19/cyntoia-brown-case-facts-story-clemency-haslam/2362755002/

[6] https://www.insideedition.com/cyntoia-brown-case-will-she-be-granted-clemency-49363

[7]https://bust.com/feminism/195477-clemency-cyntoia-brown.html

[8] https://www.teenvogue.com/story/cyntoia-brown-facing-51-years-prison-tennessee-governor-bill-haslam-clemency

[9] https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/cyntoia-brown-life-sentence-supreme-court_us_5c0c7f30e4b0ab8cf693f5c5

[10] http://time.com/5495871/tennessee-governor-clemency-cyntoia-brown/

[hellomissmabel]

Manhattan Mistress part 4

MASTERLIST

Pairing: Bucky x reader, Steve x reader, Tony x reader and OC!Casey (daughter of Y/N and Tony)

Summary: It’s time to get to know Wanda, Natasha and Pietro a little better.

Word count: 3.400

Warnings: Talk of murder, sex, abuse, prostitution, violence and death. There’s also an actual death in this part so be aware. Please do not read belong the cut if you’re not comfortable with any of forementioned!

A/N: Dedicated to my favourite mob AU writer @caplanbuckybarnes. Enjoy sweetie!

Part 1: the background story

Part 2: the friction

Part 3: the madness

The havoc

There are two kinds of hookers, one good and one bad. Good hookers give you half a blowjob and let you fuck them without complaining. They accept your cash at the end of the deed and that is that, no more fuss and no more contact. Natasha used to be like that and you remember when your father brought her to the house to have his way with her. The mob boss was known for his brutality and he treated his sluts with the same respects as he would treat a stray dog.

Just like many others she was forced into prostitution in order to pay for her student loans but don’t be mistaken, Nat was no ordinary girl. She’d do her job properly because she didn’t know anything else to do, although there was always a fire of defiance burning brighter and brighter behind those dark eyes and cheeky smile. You paid the pimp Bruce, who coincidentally is also her ex, a handsome amount of money to release her into your care and you’ve been inseparable ever since.

Nat was young and vulnerable when Bruce got a hold of her and he moulded her into the perfect prostitute. Bruce isn’t all that bad but he has a low tolerance for disobedience and seems to be always angry. If there’s something like a Stockholm syndrome for prostitutes and their handlers, than Natasha most definitely has it. It took you months before you could finally convince her that he was no good for her and yet she kept coming back to him after she’d hit a rough patch. He’d provide her with uppers and downers and all that shit which was also partly to blame for her addiction to this awful man. You’re just happy she eventually pulled the plug on him, or rather, the trigger.

Unfortunately Wanda is the latter. She was one of Loki’s high-end escorts until he found out she was robbing the customers of their money and other valuable items. He kicked her out and two days later Fury arrested her for soliciting. Her brother Pietro begged you to get her out of jail, he is one of your favourite employees and since Fury is a dirty cop and on your father’s payroll for as long as you can remember, all it took was one phone call and she had her freedom back. You sent Clint to pick her up at the police station and told him to bring her to the mansion. She stayed for approximately two weeks and by the looks of it, she stepped up her game since the last time you saw her.

Wearing expensive clothing only a sugar daddy could have provided her with, the woman now sitting in front of you is in full control of her sexuality, long auburn hair falling in waves down her back and scarlet-brown eyes smirking at me from behind her cocktail, a Manhattan and you know for a fact that when she ordered it, she solely did it to provoke you. “What did you want to talk to me about?” the little vixen asks, clicking her tongue and looking at you with malice in her eyes.

You’ve been singing at Sam’s bar again and business has never been better. You absolutely love the attention you receive from some of your most loyal fans, Bucky included. Nevertheless something’s been bothering you and in order to put the matter to bed, you need a spy. You absolutely despise Wanda but for the sake of maintaining your control, you sometimes have to put your own personal issues aside and focus on the bigger picture. Clint passed on a message to Wanda for you, telling her you wanted to meet with her at the end of your shift.

Slowly you take another sip of your drink, eyeing her intently, the material hiking up a little higher as she crosses her legs. It gives you a great view of her choice of underwear or rather the lack thereof. This girl has a nerve going commando to a rendezvous with none other than the Manhattan mistress. “You have a debt that needs to be paid. You know who I am, don’t you? And I’m not talking about my nickname.”

A lot of parents didn’t want their children to attend Casey’s birthday party because of your reputation and it pained your heart to see your daughter so unhappy and not being able to explain to her why they’d cancelled all of a sudden. Steve however did a great job at damage-control and told Casey a very sugar-coated version of how mommy and him fell in love, saying lots of people didn’t understand what you and Steve felt for each other and as a result of their ignorance tried to sabotage the relationship before it had even started.

Wanda gives you a curt nod of her head. “I know who you are. And thank you for not telling anyone.”

It happened by accident really. You were collecting your stuff from your dressing room after opening night and heard muffled sounds coming from Sam’s office. Unaware of a new woman in Sam’s life and vaguely recognising the male voice as Clint’s, you carefully opened the door to take a peak only to see Clint buried balls deep in Wanda’s tight hole, his hand on her mouth to prevent her from screaming.

Clint has gained your respect but the only thing Wanda gained from you was disgust. Not in a position to judge either of them, you closed the door again and walked away, all the while thinking out a plan to put this new kind of information to good use. “Natasha is my best friend and I care deeply for her. She’ll kill you as soon as she finds out. I want to make you a deal, my silence in exchange for your services.”

Wanda seems to think it over for a second, her hands fidgeting in her lap. One of Sam’s regulars asks him to change the music and a slow song starts playing in the background. She seems to recognise the first notes and momentarily looks thrown off. I briefly wonder what’s so special about this particular song until I remember she used to date this guy named Vision, a well-known musician and this just happens to be his greatest hit, one of many he wrote in her name.

“I’m not going to ask you to do things you don’t want to do,” I reassure her, beckoning Sam over with a wave of my hand. He fills up our glasses, smiling politely at Wanda and me before returning to his fixed spot behind the bar. “I just want you to be my eyes and ears for me, here, at the bar. I’ve already made the necessary arrangements with Sam. No more picking men up from the streets, from now on you’ll be waitressing instead.”

She seems to be content with the offer, agreeing quickly. “That sounds fair.”

The door opens and a gust of wind causes goose bumps to erupt on her skin. A male slides in the booth next to me, throwing his arm around my shoulders and pecking my cheek lightly before greeting Wanda with a cheeky smile. “Hi sister, good to see you again,” the silver-haired individual says. “What’s going on? Boss giving you a hard time?”

“That’s none of your business, Piet,” she retorts with a grin. Her eyes lock with mine, silently asking for my permission to leave which I grant without much hesitation. This conversation is not meant for her ears and I don’t want her here anymore. I simply can’t stand the girl any longer and the only reason I tolerate her around me is because she’s screwing Clint and her brother Pietro is one of my trustees. But as soon as she’s done what I set her out to do, I’ll throw her straight into Natasha’s claws. She’ll know what to do with her and no-one will be able to trace it back to me.

Pietro leans closer until his lips caress the shell of my ears as he whispers his message, finishing with a flirty “You look so damn delicious in that little black dress, boss. Shame you’re already spoken for.”

Pietro started out working for me as I first took over the empire after my father’s death. Much like Bucky, he was a mere errant boy, quick on his feet and eager to please, nothing too difficult for him to take care of. Roughly 4 months later I promoted him.

“Oh shut it, Speedy,” I grin back, ruffling his already tousled silver hair and he graces me with a genuine laugh, one that inspires me to laugh as well.  He’s a fine-looking chap with a good heart and a sharp mind but unfortunately the drugs have got a tight grip on him, speed being his biggest vice. “Better tell me what you found out about that bitch.”

Loki takes care of the girls and the drugs, Nick runs the casino’s and laundries the dirty money. But I would never trust both of them with a job as delicate as buying and selling information. Stocks and shares, as my father liked to call it, has always been the mob’s main priority. Pietro is in charge of New York’s finest secrets and yesterday I asked him to run a background check on a woman of particular interest to me.

“Pepper Pots, Stark’s newest lay, has been around for a very long time. Works with a certain schedule and according to my informants, she’s been targeting rich men all over the country. Looks like Tony’s next.”

Pietro fishes his cell phone from the pocket of his dress jacket, holding it out for me to take a look at some of the evidence he gathered. “This is all the proof you need, boss.”

I first heard about Pepper Pots at Casey’s birthday party when Tony introduced her to Steve and myself. Wearing a white jumpsuit that accentuated her slim figure, she smiled at me with perfect teeth and a haughty posture, treating me as if I’m beneath her and excuse me if that didn’t sit well with me. It’s bad enough not everyone who was invited showed up, but that Tony’s skank thinks less of me is something I cannot swallow.

I watched her intently the entire time, how she snuggles up to Tony and palms his dick when she thinks nobody’s watching or how her handshake is just a tad firmer when she’s greeting women that could be a potential threat to her claim on my ex-husband. She was establishing her dominance and now I am about to establish mine.

“There are pictures of her with various men, all around Tony’s age. Much to my surprise, she’s actually a natural blonde. Who would’ve thought, eh?,” he jokes and I laugh lightly, shoving his biceps with the back of my hand. His fingers rest on my upper thigh, tenderly stroking and tracing nonsense patterns on my soft skin.

Our history started during the hiatus between my divorce to Tony and my first encounter with Steve. I was horny and he was the first man to show a genuine interest in me, no need to gift-wrap it. I was in need of some cock and he was willing to tend to my needs.  “Could’ve fooled me,” I mutter under my breath and Pietro snickers, his hand moving a little higher.

All men stayed clear from me out of fear for Tony’s wrath but not Pietro. He went all out trying to swoon me and we shared one hell of a passionate night, burned into my memory until the end of days. “Doesn’t seem like Tony’s type at all to me,” Pietro confesses and I shrug in response.

“Who knows what his type is, he’s fucked so many already.” The notion does awaken a certain green monster of jealousy inside of me and suddenly I can understand why Bruce did what he did. That man had a short fuse and Natasha liked to push his buttons just to see how far she could take it. Unfortunately it resulted in only more pain and Bruce was happy to return to his duties as a lover boy once the storm had blown over, picking up schoolgirls and offering them the way to paradise only to introduce them to the ways of the night after talking them into his bed.

But me and Pietro, it was just sex and nothing more, no feelings or anything else involved. It was fun and we remain friendly, sometimes pushing the boundaries between friendly and intimate but in all innocence, he would never make a move on me knowing I’m still married to another man. Unlike Bucky.

“I’ll ask Buck to pay her a visit when Tony isn’t around,” I discuss with Pietro, placing my hand on his and interlacing our fingers. His expression perks up at the gesture, it’s been a while since he’s felt the delicate brush of a woman’s skin against his own. The poor guy never gets any actions, simply because he’s always too caught up in whatever I order him to do. I should go more easy on him, but the mob life isn’t going to run itself anytime soon.

Pietro scoffs, a few stray strands of hair falling in front of his eyes, their silver glow complimented by the dim lighting of the bar. “I can do it for you,” he states confidently.

“I know you can,” I tell him, gently cupping his face in my hands. “I know you can but this is Tony we’re talking about. The guy’s got a temper and I don’t want you to get hurt. You’re far too valuable to me.”

“Dear Lord, can you be any more perfect? Please don’t flatter me like that, Y/N,” he sighs deeply, “If it weren’t for Steve, I’d fuck you right here right now,” he huffs boldly, leaning into my touch and closing his eyes for a split second before a confident grin tugs at his lips and an idea pops into his silly head, obviously lifting his spirits. “Maybe we can have a threesome?,” he snickers and I remove my hand from his cheek before connecting it with his face as I slap him out of his dreamy haze.

“We seriously gotta find you a lady friend,” I reply jokingly as he rubs his aching cheek, reddening in both pain and embarrassment. “Unfortunately everybody is already spoken for.”

“I did like Jess, you know, the girl that used to sing here. She had a nice pair of tits.”

“That’s all you men can think about, a nice pair of tits and a pussy.” Scowling, I get up from my seat, taking my empty glass with me over to where Sam’s waiting in front of the bar. It’s near closing time and he’s tapping the counter impatiently, always munching on those damn peanuts he can’t seem to get enough of. “Yeah, well, I didn’t like her. Good riddance if you ask me.”

“Boss,” Pietro says as he comes up next to me, leaning against the counter with a cocky nonchalance that suits him like a glove. “She was no match for you, she wasn’t nearly half as talented as you.”

“But you literally just told me you think she was pretty,” I retort, pulling out a couple ten dollar bills and handing them over to Sam who mutters a quiet thank you before disappearing in the back. Turning towards Pietro, I do not recognise the emotion behind his pale eyes, their grey as intriguing as always and brimming with childlike enthusiasm.

“Pretty, yes. But you are gorgeous, boss,” he smirks and I laugh at his compliment.

“Pietro,” I say as I roll my eyes, “You’re such a tease.”

“You love me for it. Besides, somebody has to remind you how fucking stunning you are, boss.” He offers me his arm and I gladly take him up on it, linking our arms as he escorts me outside.

We’ve barely made it outside as a black van pulls up the curb, the sliding doors opening in front of us and two men, equipped with heavy weaponry, pull out their guns and start shooting. Glass shatters all around us and Pietro pushes me away from the crossfire and onto the pavement. Screaming his name in anguish, Sam runs out of his bar and picks me up from where I’ve tumbled to the floor, cocking back his gun as he aims for the intruders.

“There’s a spare gun underneath the bar, go get it, boss,” he yells at me and I do as he tells me. Running inside the establishment, my hands skim the bottom of the counter before they touch the familiar curves of a sleek black Colt Paterson revolver. I check how many rounds there are left and am pleased to see all are accounted for.

“Nobody fucks around with me,” I growl before releasing the trigger and one of my bullets pierces the skull of the youngest shooter. His partner shoves his body onto the street and motions for the driver to get them the hell out of there, their job seemingly done. For now.

Tires speed off, scraping against the asphalt and screeching in our ears. “You motherfuckers,” Sam grunts as he fires another round of bullets in the general directions to where the assailants have driven off. I join his side and frantically look around for Pietro until my eyes land on a lifeless body slumped against the wall, a nasty pool of thick, red blood surrounding him like a halo from hell.

“NO!,” you cry out, rushing over to Pietro’s dead corpse and clutching him in your arms, not caring about the sticky liquid staining your legs and clothes. “No no no no…,” you whimper silently, “They killed my boy. My sweet, beautiful boy.”

A pair of strong arms roughly pulls you up from the ground, your hands reaching out to keep a hold on your friend’s body. “Y/N, we gotta get you outta here real fast. They might try something else, it’s not safe on the streets for you anymore. That was a calculated hit, you hear me?,” he shouts into your ears, shaking you until you come back to your senses.

Thick tears cascade down you cheeks, your jaw clenched in unseen anger. “They’ll pay for what they’ve done, Sam. Every last one of them.”

“I know, I know,” Sam shushes, leading you back to the bar where you’re at least sheltered from curious eyes, gathering on the streets after the initial shock has subsided, gasping at the massacre in front of them. “Let’s get you inside first. Want me to call Steve to pick you up?”

“Not Steve, Bucky, call Bucky,” you say adamantly. Sam guides you towards the nearest barstool and sits you down, holding your face in his hands as he gently forces you to look up into his dark eyes.

“Okay, I’ll call Bucky. Wait here.” You can hear him talking to Bucky on the other end of the phone and just before the line goes dead, he growls lowly at Bucky, insisting he does not inform Steve about this. “Boss gave her orders.”

Sam hands you a couple handkerchiefs to wipe away the blood and the tears and you smile up at him, grateful for such a good friend like Sam. “He’ll be here shortly,” he informs you and he pulls you in for a comforting hug, his earthy cologne soothing to your nerves.

“Sam, I can’t stay here, you know that. I can’t stand doin’ nothin’ but waitin’ around,” you grit your teeth and reach for the gun on the counter only for Sam to stop you and give you a pointed look.

“Don’t even think about going out there now, Y/N,” he warns, taking the gun himself and stuffing it between the waistband of his jeans. It’s still well within your reach but you know better than to mess with Sam as he knows it’s best not to mess with you.

“Those fuckers,” you breathe out sharply, “They fucking assassinated my Pietro and by all that is holy and all that is not, I am going to kill every last one of them.”

Part 5: the mayhem

@mellifluous-melodramas @mrshopkirk @winterboobaer @kiwi71281 @a-little-hell-to-raise @unpredictable-firecracker @marvelingatthewonder @emilyinwonderland3 @hardcorehippos @iiharu-kunii @knittingknerdy @winterwolf57 @dontbeamenacetotheforce @shamvictoria11 @theoneandonlysaucymo @bovaria @marvel-lucy @marvel-ash @thedragonblood @movingonto-betterthings @blacwings-and-bucky-barnes @marveliskindacool @redroomproperty @feelmyroarrrr @imamotherfuckingstar-lord @seargantbcky @seeyainanotherlifebrotha@meatballevan

[clibassi]

[Eugene Volokh] Interesting Entrapment Case https://ift.tt/2DGIDSu

["Using a bait-and-switch tactic, a detective posing as [eighteen-year-old] Amber chatted and flirted with DeMare online and via text message for four days as an adult before revealing on the fifth day that she was actually a minor."]

From DeMare v. State, written by Judge Morris Silberman and joined by Judges Daniel Sleet and Andrea Teves Smith:

The charges against DeMare arose from a sting operation in which law enforcement set up a fictitious profile of an eighteen-year-old woman named "Amber" on the dating website Meetme.com. Using a bait-and-switch tactic, a detective posing as Amber chatted and flirted with DeMare online and via text message for four days as an adult before revealing on the fifth day that she was actually a minor. DeMare was arrested when he traveled to meet the fictitious Amber at her home later that day.

The State charged DeMare with violating section 847.0135(4)(a), which proscribes traveling in Florida for the purpose of engaging in unlawful sexual conduct with a minor or a person believed to be a minor after using an electronic communication device "to seduce, solicit, lure, or entice the child or person that the defendant believed to be a child to engage in the illegal act or other unlawful sexual conduct or to attempt to do so."

DeMare filed a motion to dismiss in which he asserted, among other things, that he was subjectively entrapped by law enforcement. DeMare attached as exhibits a screenshot of "Amber's" Meetme.com profile and transcripts of the chats, text messages, and telephone call that the State provided during discovery.

The earliest communication established that Amber and DeMare began chatting as adults on May 16, 2018. Just after midnight on May 20, 2018, they switched to text messaging and flirted for about forty minutes. Their flirting included some sexual innuendo, and the detective sent DeMare a photo purporting to be of Amber. They resumed texting in earnest at 1:31 p.m. The conversation became more intimate as they planned to meet. They also exchanged more photos. When their plans became concrete, Amber "admitted" that she was only fourteen years old. This occurred at 3:49 p.m.

DeMare immediately tried to end the relationship, but Amber suggested they could still be friends. DeMare agreed but emphasized that the couple could not have sex because it was illegal. Amber told him that she liked older men and repeatedly attempted to convince him that a sexual relationship was still possible despite her age. DeMare remained reluctant but eventually responded to Amber's suggestions with sexual innuendo about what he would do if she were eighteen. Amber sent another photo. DeMare asked for more photos but specified that she not send nudes.

At 4:51 p.m., the pair agreed to speak on the phone. They also continued to exchange texts. DeMare asked if Amber was "really fourteen" and reminded her that he could get into legal trouble if they had a sexual relationship. Amber was undeterred and told DeMare that her parents were out of town and that she wanted to take advantage of it. DeMare was sheepish but offered to send Amber some selfies. Amber said she would see him when he got there and to send more photos while she got ready. DeMare sent the selfies, and Amber asked if he had any "abs shots." DeMare sent a shirtless selfie.

While the couple continued to engage in banter, DeMare vacillated from sexual innuendo about their upcoming meeting to suggesting the couple just hang out as friends and smoke pot. Amber continued to press DeMare to make sexual comments, encouraging him by telling him how excited she was, asking for specifics, and asking if he had condoms. When DeMare reverted to talking about just meeting as friends, Amber used various tactics to change his mind. She cajoled him, complained about his reluctance, accused him of being scared, and assured him he could trust her. But even when DeMare relented, he was hesitant and equivocal. Amber nonetheless asked him to come over and provided her address. DeMare was arrested at 6:07 p.m. when he pulled into the driveway of the address. He was not carrying any drugs or condoms.

The State filed a traverse in which it agreed that the exhibits were accurate and relevant to understand the chronology and nature of the communications. At an evidentiary hearing on the motion to dismiss, the trial court stated that DeMare had met his threshold burden to establish lack of predisposition to engage in the crime. However, after hearing the State's evidence, the trial court determined that the State had established a prima facie case of traveling to meet a minor and that DeMare failed to establish an entrapment defense. We disagree and conclude that DeMare established his subjective entrapment defense.

"A law enforcement officer, a person engaged in cooperation with a law enforcement officer, or a person acting as an agent of a law enforcement officer perpetrates an entrapment if, for the purpose of obtaining evidence of the commission of a crime, he or she induces or encourages and, as a direct result, causes another person to engage in conduct constituting such crime by employing methods of persuasion or inducement which create a substantial risk that such crime will be committed by a person other than one who is ready to commit it." § 777.201(1), Fla. Stat. (2017); see also Munoz v. State (Fla. 1993). The defendant must prove this subjective entrapment defense by a preponderance of the evidence. § 777.201(2).

Under this statute, the first question to be determined is whether law enforcement induced the defendant to commit the charged offense. If the answer is yes, then the second question is whether the defendant was predisposed to commit the charged offense. The defendant bears the initial burden of proving a lack of predisposition. However, when the defendant produces evidence of a lack of predisposition, the burden shifts to the State to rebut the evidence beyond a reasonable doubt….

As to the first question, based on the undisputed facts set out above, we conclude without hesitation that law enforcement induced DeMare to commit the offense of traveling to meet a minor. As to the second question, a defendant is predisposed if he "was awaiting any propitious opportunity or was ready and willing, without persuasion, to commit the offense." "[P]redisposition is not the same as mens rea. The former involves the defendant's character and criminal inclinations; the latter involves the defendant's state of mind while carrying out the allegedly criminal act."

DeMare did not have a prior record of offenses against minors, and there was no evidence he was ever investigated for or engaged in such an offense. In fact, he responded to a profile of an eighteen-year-old woman in the adult section of Meetme.com. Thus, DeMare met his burden of presenting evidence of lack of predisposition.

The burden therefore shifted to the State to establish beyond a reasonable doubt that DeMare "was awaiting any propitious opportunity or was ready and willing, without persuasion, to commit the offense." The State failed to meet this burden. When DeMare contacted Amber on Meetme.com, he thought she was an adult and was led to believe he was speaking with an adult for four days. When law enforcement finally "admitted" that Amber was only fourteen, DeMare immediately tried to end the relationship. But Amber persuaded him to remain friends and then went about seducing and luring him into entertaining the idea of having a sexual relationship. DeMare repeatedly expressed an unwillingness to engage in sex with a minor. His reluctance to violate the law was overcome by law enforcement inducement.

"Government agents may not originate a criminal design, implant in an innocent person's mind the disposition to commit a criminal act, and then induce commission of the crime so that the Government may prosecute." … In this case, … law enforcement took the lead in the conversation, initially suggested a sexual relationship between DeMare and a minor, coaxed and cajoled DeMare for more details, and challenged his reluctance by impugning his nerve and suggesting he was scared…. [L]aw enforcement's persistent urging eventually overcame DeMare's reluctance to commit or even describe sexual activity with a minor.

This leads us to … whether the defense should be decided as a matter of law or submitted to the jury…. [A]ll the communications that made up the charge were contained in the record so there was no dispute of any material facts. Because DeMare established that law enforcement induced him to commit the charged offense and the undisputed evidence failed to rebut the defense, DeMare's subjective entrapment defense should have been decided as a matter of law. Accordingly, the trial court erred in denying DeMare's motion to dismiss. We therefore reverse DeMare's judgment and sentence and remand for discharge.

Thanks for the pointer to reader Henry Krinkle, but I think that's actually a pseudonym, and his real name is Alan Smithee.

https://reason.com

[newsfundastuff]

Outrage and intrigue surrounds the apparent suicide in prison of Jeffrey Epstein, a convicted paedophile who had connections to celebrities and presidents.  His death sparked questions about whether the alleged victims will have a full chance at justice, though US Attorney Geoffrey Berman said the federal investigation into allegations that Epstein ran a sex trafficking ring remains ongoing. Among those dragged into one of the biggest sex scandals of a generation is the Duke of York, a former friend of the high-flying financier. Epstein, who hobnobbed with countless politicians and celebrities over the years, was found dead in his cell on Saturday while awaiting trial. Here is everything we know about the case.  Who was Jeffrey Epstein? Epstein, 66, was a hedge fund manager who once socialised with the rich, famous and powerful. Epstein owned a private island in the Caribbean, homes in Paris and New York City, a New Mexico ranch, and a fleet of high-price cars.  Under a 2008 non-prosecution agreement, Epstein pleaded guilty to state charges in Florida of solicitation of prostitution involving a minor and another similar prostitution charge. That allowed him to avoid federal prosecution and a possible life sentence, instead serving 13 months in a work-release programme. He was required to make payments to victims and register as a sex offender. Jeffrey Epstein looks on during a a bail hearing last month  Credit: Reuters Last month, he was arrested by FBI officers when his private jet landed at Teterboro Airport in New Jersey following a trip to Paris. He was then charged with one count of sex trafficking of minors and one count of conspiracy to commit sex trafficking of minors. Prosecutors said Epstein sexually exploited dozens of underage teens, some as young as 14, at his homes in Manhattan and Palm Beach, Florida, between 2002 and 2005. The young women were paid hundreds of dollars in cash to massage him, perform sexual acts and to recruit other girls, prosecutors alleged. Epstein denied the charges and faced up to 45 years in prison if convicted. Who has been caught up in the scandal? Politicians, celebrities and even members of the Royal family have been embroiled in the controversy after a Manhattan court released 1,200 pages of documents detailing lurid claims of the alleged abuse carried out by Jeffrey Epstein. Prince Andrew and Ghislaine Maxwell The files relate to the case of Giuffre v Maxwell, in which Virginia Giuffre, who claims to have been the US ­businessman’s teenage “sex slave”, sued Ghislaine Maxwell, a British ­socialite and the billionaire’s former girlfriend, for defamation. Testimony includes claims by Giuffre that she had sex with the Duke of York when she was 17.  All the allegations about Prince Andrew were struck from the court record in 2015 after being described as "immaterial and impertinent" by the judge. The Prince has always denied the allegations and any involvement. The documents released state it is “an undisputed fact that multiple witnesses deposed in this case” have testified that Ms Maxwell, daughter of Robert Maxwell “operated as convicted paedophile Epstein’s procurer of under age girls”. The defamation case, filed in 2015, was settled out of court by Ms Maxwell in 2017. Ms Maxwell called Ms Guiffre’s claims ­“fictitious lies and stories to make this a salacious event”. Jeffrey Epstein: The tangled web left behind Separately, the documents refer to his former friendships with people such as Donald Trump and Bill Clinton. Both have denied knowing anything about Epstein's alleged crimes.  How did Epstein die? According to the US department of justice it was an "apparent suicide" in which he hanged himself in his cell at the Metropolitan Correctional center in Manhattan. He was discovered at 6.30am on Saturday. Epstein had previously been found on the floor of his cell with bruises on his neck on July 23. He was placed on suicide watch, which included having a daily psychiatric evaluation, and checks by prison guards every 15 minutes. But less than a week later he was taken off suicide watch. He was still supposed to be checked every 30 minutes but that was not done on the night he died. His cellmate had been transferred and he was alone in the cell. The US attorney general said he was "livid". The FBI and the inspector general have launched inquiries into what went wrong. What are the conspiracy theories? Epstein's death immediately sparked conspiracy theories because the possibility he might tell all about his sordid life was undeniably embarrassing to a host of high profile politicians and celebrities who knew him. Depending on political persuasion, conspiracy theorists pointed the finger at either Mr Trump, or Bill and Hillary Clinton. The hashtags "Trumpbodycount" and "Clintonbodycount" began trending on Twitter. One Trump administration official wrote on social media that Epstein had been "Hillary'd". The Clintons responded that the conspiracy theory was "ridiculous." Death of financier | Epstein's final days Bill de Blasio, the New York mayor, fanned the flames. He said: "What a lot of us want to know is, what did he know? How on earth is he not under special protection? What's really going on here?" A former inmate at the jail in Manhattan, where drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman was once held, said: "There’s no way that man [Epstein] could have killed himself. I’ve done too much time in those units. It’s an impossibility." What happens to the Epstein case? His death means the criminal case against Epstein, in which he was charged with trafficking underage girls for sex, is over. However, the charges included that he was part of a "conspiracy" and prosecutors made clear they would continue to pursue any alleged co-conspirators. That means other individuals in Epstein's orbit could still be charged with crimes. The focus now is on associates of Epstein who have been accused either of having sex with teenage girls, or procuring them for Epstein and others. Adam Citron, a former New York prosecutor, told The Daily Telegraph the prosecutors might "absolutely" want to speak to the Duke and Ms Maxwell, as witnesses as they built up a picture of Epstein's world. The prosecutors in New York believe a flood of new information could emerge as employees of Epstein who signed non disclosure agreements during his lifetime may now feel free to talk. However, Epstein's estate could still sue them if they breach the agreements by speaking. Will the alleged victims be compensated? Epstein was worth hundreds of millions of dollars and lawyers for the alleged victims immediately called for his estate to be frozen, saying they will sue his estate. Several of Epstein's accusers said they were disappointed that the financier would not face them in court or serve a long prison sentence if convicted. They called on federal authorities to investigate associates of Epstein for any role in his activities. Sigrid McCawley, a lawyer representing one accuser, said in a statement that "the reckoning of accountability begun by the voices of brave and truthful victims should not end" with Epstein's death. Jennifer Araoz Another accuser, Jennifer Araoz, who came forward after the new charges were filed, said she was angered by Epstein's suicide. Ms Araoz alleged that Epstein raped her in his New York mansion in the early 2000s when she was 15. "We have to live with the scars of his actions for the rest of our lives, while he will never face the consequences of the crimes he committed the pain and trauma he caused so many people," she said. Eva Ford, mother of alleged Epstein victim Courtney Wild, questioned why Epstein was not being monitored more closely. “How does someone who is this high profile commit suicide?” Ford told the Miami Herald. “They had to have cameras on him! Someone must have been paid to look the other way.”

https://ift.tt/2MaBXiB

[myeclecticcollectorblazeus]

Outrage and intrigue surrounds the apparent suicide in prison of Jeffrey Epstein, a convicted paedophile who had connections to celebrities and presidents.  His death sparked questions about whether the alleged victims will have a full chance at justice, though US Attorney Geoffrey Berman said the federal investigation into allegations that Epstein ran a sex trafficking ring remains ongoing. Among those dragged into one of the biggest sex scandals of a generation is the Duke of York, a former friend of the high-flying financier. Epstein, who hobnobbed with countless politicians and celebrities over the years, was found dead in his cell on Saturday while awaiting trial. Here is everything we know about the case.  Who was Jeffrey Epstein? Epstein, 66, was a hedge fund manager who once socialised with the rich, famous and powerful. Epstein owned a private island in the Caribbean, homes in Paris and New York City, a New Mexico ranch, and a fleet of high-price cars.  Under a 2008 non-prosecution agreement, Epstein pleaded guilty to state charges in Florida of solicitation of prostitution involving a minor and another similar prostitution charge. That allowed him to avoid federal prosecution and a possible life sentence, instead serving 13 months in a work-release programme. He was required to make payments to victims and register as a sex offender. Jeffrey Epstein looks on during a a bail hearing last month  Credit: Reuters Last month, he was arrested by FBI officers when his private jet landed at Teterboro Airport in New Jersey following a trip to Paris. He was then charged with one count of sex trafficking of minors and one count of conspiracy to commit sex trafficking of minors. Prosecutors said Epstein sexually exploited dozens of underage teens, some as young as 14, at his homes in Manhattan and Palm Beach, Florida, between 2002 and 2005. The young women were paid hundreds of dollars in cash to massage him, perform sexual acts and to recruit other girls, prosecutors alleged. Epstein denied the charges and faced up to 45 years in prison if convicted. Who has been caught up in the scandal? Politicians, celebrities and even members of the Royal family have been embroiled in the controversy after a Manhattan court released 1,200 pages of documents detailing lurid claims of the alleged abuse carried out by Jeffrey Epstein. Prince Andrew and Ghislaine Maxwell The files relate to the case of Giuffre v Maxwell, in which Virginia Giuffre, who claims to have been the US ­businessman’s teenage “sex slave”, sued Ghislaine Maxwell, a British ­socialite and the billionaire’s former girlfriend, for defamation. Testimony includes claims by Giuffre that she had sex with the Duke of York when she was 17.  All the allegations about Prince Andrew were struck from the court record in 2015 after being described as "immaterial and impertinent" by the judge. The Prince has always denied the allegations and any involvement. The documents released state it is “an undisputed fact that multiple witnesses deposed in this case” have testified that Ms Maxwell, daughter of Robert Maxwell “operated as convicted paedophile Epstein’s procurer of under age girls”. The defamation case, filed in 2015, was settled out of court by Ms Maxwell in 2017. Ms Maxwell called Ms Guiffre’s claims ­“fictitious lies and stories to make this a salacious event”. Jeffrey Epstein: The tangled web left behind Separately, the documents refer to his former friendships with people such as Donald Trump and Bill Clinton. Both have denied knowing anything about Epstein's alleged crimes.  How did Epstein die? According to the US department of justice it was an "apparent suicide" in which he hanged himself in his cell at the Metropolitan Correctional center in Manhattan. He was discovered at 6.30am on Saturday. Epstein had previously been found on the floor of his cell with bruises on his neck on July 23. He was placed on suicide watch, which included having a daily psychiatric evaluation, and checks by prison guards every 15 minutes. But less than a week later he was taken off suicide watch. He was still supposed to be checked every 30 minutes but that was not done on the night he died. His cellmate had been transferred and he was alone in the cell. The US attorney general said he was "livid". The FBI and the inspector general have launched inquiries into what went wrong. What are the conspiracy theories? Epstein's death immediately sparked conspiracy theories because the possibility he might tell all about his sordid life was undeniably embarrassing to a host of high profile politicians and celebrities who knew him. Depending on political persuasion, conspiracy theorists pointed the finger at either Mr Trump, or Bill and Hillary Clinton. The hashtags "Trumpbodycount" and "Clintonbodycount" began trending on Twitter. One Trump administration official wrote on social media that Epstein had been "Hillary'd". The Clintons responded that the conspiracy theory was "ridiculous." Death of financier | Epstein's final days Bill de Blasio, the New York mayor, fanned the flames. He said: "What a lot of us want to know is, what did he know? How on earth is he not under special protection? What's really going on here?" A former inmate at the jail in Manhattan, where drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman was once held, said: "There’s no way that man [Epstein] could have killed himself. I’ve done too much time in those units. It’s an impossibility." What happens to the Epstein case? His death means the criminal case against Epstein, in which he was charged with trafficking underage girls for sex, is over. However, the charges included that he was part of a "conspiracy" and prosecutors made clear they would continue to pursue any alleged co-conspirators. That means other individuals in Epstein's orbit could still be charged with crimes. The focus now is on associates of Epstein who have been accused either of having sex with teenage girls, or procuring them for Epstein and others. Adam Citron, a former New York prosecutor, told The Daily Telegraph the prosecutors might "absolutely" want to speak to the Duke and Ms Maxwell, as witnesses as they built up a picture of Epstein's world. The prosecutors in New York believe a flood of new information could emerge as employees of Epstein who signed non disclosure agreements during his lifetime may now feel free to talk. However, Epstein's estate could still sue them if they breach the agreements by speaking. Will the alleged victims be compensated? Epstein was worth hundreds of millions of dollars and lawyers for the alleged victims immediately called for his estate to be frozen, saying they will sue his estate. Several of Epstein's accusers said they were disappointed that the financier would not face them in court or serve a long prison sentence if convicted. They called on federal authorities to investigate associates of Epstein for any role in his activities. Sigrid McCawley, a lawyer representing one accuser, said in a statement that "the reckoning of accountability begun by the voices of brave and truthful victims should not end" with Epstein's death. Jennifer Araoz Another accuser, Jennifer Araoz, who came forward after the new charges were filed, said she was angered by Epstein's suicide. Ms Araoz alleged that Epstein raped her in his New York mansion in the early 2000s when she was 15. "We have to live with the scars of his actions for the rest of our lives, while he will never face the consequences of the crimes he committed the pain and trauma he caused so many people," she said. Eva Ford, mother of alleged Epstein victim Courtney Wild, questioned why Epstein was not being monitored more closely. “How does someone who is this high profile commit suicide?” Ford told the Miami Herald. “They had to have cameras on him! Someone must have been paid to look the other way.”

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2MaBXiB

[bigbirdgladiator]

Outrage and intrigue surrounds the apparent suicide in prison of Jeffrey Epstein, a convicted paedophile who had connections to celebrities and presidents.  His death sparked questions about whether the alleged victims will have a full chance at justice, though US Attorney Geoffrey Berman said the federal investigation into allegations that Epstein ran a sex trafficking ring remains ongoing. Among those dragged into one of the biggest sex scandals of a generation is the Duke of York, a former friend of the high-flying financier. Epstein, who hobnobbed with countless politicians and celebrities over the years, was found dead in his cell on Saturday while awaiting trial. Here is everything we know about the case.  Who was Jeffrey Epstein? Epstein, 66, was a hedge fund manager who once socialised with the rich, famous and powerful. Epstein owned a private island in the Caribbean, homes in Paris and New York City, a New Mexico ranch, and a fleet of high-price cars.  Under a 2008 non-prosecution agreement, Epstein pleaded guilty to state charges in Florida of solicitation of prostitution involving a minor and another similar prostitution charge. That allowed him to avoid federal prosecution and a possible life sentence, instead serving 13 months in a work-release programme. He was required to make payments to victims and register as a sex offender. Jeffrey Epstein looks on during a a bail hearing last month  Credit: Reuters Last month, he was arrested by FBI officers when his private jet landed at Teterboro Airport in New Jersey following a trip to Paris. He was then charged with one count of sex trafficking of minors and one count of conspiracy to commit sex trafficking of minors. Prosecutors said Epstein sexually exploited dozens of underage teens, some as young as 14, at his homes in Manhattan and Palm Beach, Florida, between 2002 and 2005. The young women were paid hundreds of dollars in cash to massage him, perform sexual acts and to recruit other girls, prosecutors alleged. Epstein denied the charges and faced up to 45 years in prison if convicted. Who has been caught up in the scandal? Politicians, celebrities and even members of the Royal family have been embroiled in the controversy after a Manhattan court released 1,200 pages of documents detailing lurid claims of the alleged abuse carried out by Jeffrey Epstein. Prince Andrew and Ghislaine Maxwell The files relate to the case of Giuffre v Maxwell, in which Virginia Giuffre, who claims to have been the US ­businessman’s teenage “sex slave”, sued Ghislaine Maxwell, a British ­socialite and the billionaire’s former girlfriend, for defamation. Testimony includes claims by Giuffre that she had sex with the Duke of York when she was 17.  All the allegations about Prince Andrew were struck from the court record in 2015 after being described as "immaterial and impertinent" by the judge. The Prince has always denied the allegations and any involvement. The documents released state it is “an undisputed fact that multiple witnesses deposed in this case” have testified that Ms Maxwell, daughter of Robert Maxwell “operated as convicted paedophile Epstein’s procurer of under age girls”. The defamation case, filed in 2015, was settled out of court by Ms Maxwell in 2017. Ms Maxwell called Ms Guiffre’s claims ­“fictitious lies and stories to make this a salacious event”. Jeffrey Epstein: The tangled web left behind Separately, the documents refer to his former friendships with people such as Donald Trump and Bill Clinton. Both have denied knowing anything about Epstein's alleged crimes.  How did Epstein die? According to the US department of justice it was an "apparent suicide" in which he hanged himself in his cell at the Metropolitan Correctional center in Manhattan. He was discovered at 6.30am on Saturday. Epstein had previously been found on the floor of his cell with bruises on his neck on July 23. He was placed on suicide watch, which included having a daily psychiatric evaluation, and checks by prison guards every 15 minutes. But less than a week later he was taken off suicide watch. He was still supposed to be checked every 30 minutes but that was not done on the night he died. His cellmate had been transferred and he was alone in the cell. The US attorney general said he was "livid". The FBI and the inspector general have launched inquiries into what went wrong. What are the conspiracy theories? Epstein's death immediately sparked conspiracy theories because the possibility he might tell all about his sordid life was undeniably embarrassing to a host of high profile politicians and celebrities who knew him. Depending on political persuasion, conspiracy theorists pointed the finger at either Mr Trump, or Bill and Hillary Clinton. The hashtags "Trumpbodycount" and "Clintonbodycount" began trending on Twitter. One Trump administration official wrote on social media that Epstein had been "Hillary'd". The Clintons responded that the conspiracy theory was "ridiculous." Death of financier | Epstein's final days Bill de Blasio, the New York mayor, fanned the flames. He said: "What a lot of us want to know is, what did he know? How on earth is he not under special protection? What's really going on here?" A former inmate at the jail in Manhattan, where drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman was once held, said: "There’s no way that man [Epstein] could have killed himself. I’ve done too much time in those units. It’s an impossibility." What happens to the Epstein case? His death means the criminal case against Epstein, in which he was charged with trafficking underage girls for sex, is over. However, the charges included that he was part of a "conspiracy" and prosecutors made clear they would continue to pursue any alleged co-conspirators. That means other individuals in Epstein's orbit could still be charged with crimes. The focus now is on associates of Epstein who have been accused either of having sex with teenage girls, or procuring them for Epstein and others. Adam Citron, a former New York prosecutor, told The Daily Telegraph the prosecutors might "absolutely" want to speak to the Duke and Ms Maxwell, as witnesses as they built up a picture of Epstein's world. The prosecutors in New York believe a flood of new information could emerge as employees of Epstein who signed non disclosure agreements during his lifetime may now feel free to talk. However, Epstein's estate could still sue them if they breach the agreements by speaking. Will the alleged victims be compensated? Epstein was worth hundreds of millions of dollars and lawyers for the alleged victims immediately called for his estate to be frozen, saying they will sue his estate. Several of Epstein's accusers said they were disappointed that the financier would not face them in court or serve a long prison sentence if convicted. They called on federal authorities to investigate associates of Epstein for any role in his activities. Sigrid McCawley, a lawyer representing one accuser, said in a statement that "the reckoning of accountability begun by the voices of brave and truthful victims should not end" with Epstein's death. Jennifer Araoz Another accuser, Jennifer Araoz, who came forward after the new charges were filed, said she was angered by Epstein's suicide. Ms Araoz alleged that Epstein raped her in his New York mansion in the early 2000s when she was 15. "We have to live with the scars of his actions for the rest of our lives, while he will never face the consequences of the crimes he committed the pain and trauma he caused so many people," she said. Eva Ford, mother of alleged Epstein victim Courtney Wild, questioned why Epstein was not being monitored more closely. “How does someone who is this high profile commit suicide?” Ford told the Miami Herald. “They had to have cameras on him! Someone must have been paid to look the other way.”

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Outrage and intrigue surrounds the apparent suicide in prison of Jeffrey Epstein, a convicted paedophile who had connections to celebrities and presidents.  His death sparked questions about whether the alleged victims will have a full chance at justice, though US Attorney Geoffrey Berman said the federal investigation into allegations that Epstein ran a sex trafficking ring remains ongoing. Among those dragged into one of the biggest sex scandals of a generation is the Duke of York, a former friend of the high-flying financier. Epstein, who hobnobbed with countless politicians and celebrities over the years, was found dead in his cell on Saturday while awaiting trial. Here is everything we know about the case.  Who was Jeffrey Epstein? Epstein, 66, was a hedge fund manager who once socialised with the rich, famous and powerful. Epstein owned a private island in the Caribbean, homes in Paris and New York City, a New Mexico ranch, and a fleet of high-price cars.  Under a 2008 non-prosecution agreement, Epstein pleaded guilty to state charges in Florida of solicitation of prostitution involving a minor and another similar prostitution charge. That allowed him to avoid federal prosecution and a possible life sentence, instead serving 13 months in a work-release programme. He was required to make payments to victims and register as a sex offender. Jeffrey Epstein looks on during a a bail hearing last month  Credit: Reuters Last month, he was arrested by FBI officers when his private jet landed at Teterboro Airport in New Jersey following a trip to Paris. He was then charged with one count of sex trafficking of minors and one count of conspiracy to commit sex trafficking of minors. Prosecutors said Epstein sexually exploited dozens of underage teens, some as young as 14, at his homes in Manhattan and Palm Beach, Florida, between 2002 and 2005. The young women were paid hundreds of dollars in cash to massage him, perform sexual acts and to recruit other girls, prosecutors alleged. Epstein denied the charges and faced up to 45 years in prison if convicted. Who has been caught up in the scandal? Politicians, celebrities and even members of the Royal family have been embroiled in the controversy after a Manhattan court released 1,200 pages of documents detailing lurid claims of the alleged abuse carried out by Jeffrey Epstein. Prince Andrew and Ghislaine Maxwell The files relate to the case of Giuffre v Maxwell, in which Virginia Giuffre, who claims to have been the US ­businessman’s teenage “sex slave”, sued Ghislaine Maxwell, a British ­socialite and the billionaire’s former girlfriend, for defamation. Testimony includes claims by Giuffre that she had sex with the Duke of York when she was 17.  All the allegations about Prince Andrew were struck from the court record in 2015 after being described as "immaterial and impertinent" by the judge. The Prince has always denied the allegations and any involvement. The documents released state it is “an undisputed fact that multiple witnesses deposed in this case” have testified that Ms Maxwell, daughter of Robert Maxwell “operated as convicted paedophile Epstein’s procurer of under age girls”. The defamation case, filed in 2015, was settled out of court by Ms Maxwell in 2017. Ms Maxwell called Ms Guiffre’s claims ­“fictitious lies and stories to make this a salacious event”. Jeffrey Epstein: The tangled web left behind Separately, the documents refer to his former friendships with people such as Donald Trump and Bill Clinton. Both have denied knowing anything about Epstein's alleged crimes.  How did Epstein die? According to the US department of justice it was an "apparent suicide" in which he hanged himself in his cell at the Metropolitan Correctional center in Manhattan. He was discovered at 6.30am on Saturday. Epstein had previously been found on the floor of his cell with bruises on his neck on July 23. He was placed on suicide watch, which included having a daily psychiatric evaluation, and checks by prison guards every 15 minutes. But less than a week later he was taken off suicide watch. He was still supposed to be checked every 30 minutes but that was not done on the night he died. His cellmate had been transferred and he was alone in the cell. The US attorney general said he was "livid". The FBI and the inspector general have launched inquiries into what went wrong. What are the conspiracy theories? Epstein's death immediately sparked conspiracy theories because the possibility he might tell all about his sordid life was undeniably embarrassing to a host of high profile politicians and celebrities who knew him. Depending on political persuasion, conspiracy theorists pointed the finger at either Mr Trump, or Bill and Hillary Clinton. The hashtags "Trumpbodycount" and "Clintonbodycount" began trending on Twitter. One Trump administration official wrote on social media that Epstein had been "Hillary'd". The Clintons responded that the conspiracy theory was "ridiculous." Death of financier | Epstein's final days Bill de Blasio, the New York mayor, fanned the flames. He said: "What a lot of us want to know is, what did he know? How on earth is he not under special protection? What's really going on here?" A former inmate at the jail in Manhattan, where drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman was once held, said: "There’s no way that man [Epstein] could have killed himself. I’ve done too much time in those units. It’s an impossibility." What happens to the Epstein case? His death means the criminal case against Epstein, in which he was charged with trafficking underage girls for sex, is over. However, the charges included that he was part of a "conspiracy" and prosecutors made clear they would continue to pursue any alleged co-conspirators. That means other individuals in Epstein's orbit could still be charged with crimes. The focus now is on associates of Epstein who have been accused either of having sex with teenage girls, or procuring them for Epstein and others. Adam Citron, a former New York prosecutor, told The Daily Telegraph the prosecutors might "absolutely" want to speak to the Duke and Ms Maxwell, as witnesses as they built up a picture of Epstein's world. The prosecutors in New York believe a flood of new information could emerge as employees of Epstein who signed non disclosure agreements during his lifetime may now feel free to talk. However, Epstein's estate could still sue them if they breach the agreements by speaking. Will the alleged victims be compensated? Epstein was worth hundreds of millions of dollars and lawyers for the alleged victims immediately called for his estate to be frozen, saying they will sue his estate. Several of Epstein's accusers said they were disappointed that the financier would not face them in court or serve a long prison sentence if convicted. They called on federal authorities to investigate associates of Epstein for any role in his activities. Sigrid McCawley, a lawyer representing one accuser, said in a statement that "the reckoning of accountability begun by the voices of brave and truthful victims should not end" with Epstein's death. Jennifer Araoz Another accuser, Jennifer Araoz, who came forward after the new charges were filed, said she was angered by Epstein's suicide. Ms Araoz alleged that Epstein raped her in his New York mansion in the early 2000s when she was 15. "We have to live with the scars of his actions for the rest of our lives, while he will never face the consequences of the crimes he committed the pain and trauma he caused so many people," she said. Eva Ford, mother of alleged Epstein victim Courtney Wild, questioned why Epstein was not being monitored more closely. “How does someone who is this high profile commit suicide?” Ford told the Miami Herald. “They had to have cameras on him! Someone must have been paid to look the other way.”

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