Society's ChildS


Fish

Man sentenced for abusing Great White Shark

Great White
© Ocean Society
Animal abuse cases usually involve common pets, like dogs and cats, but a South African man was sentenced this week for abusing a great white shark.

Leon Bekker of George in the Western Cape pleaded guilty to his contravention of various sections of the Marine Living Resources Act No 18 of 1988. He was charged with "fishing for, collecting, attempting to kill, disturbing, harassing, chumming or attracting using bait or other means, keeping controlling or being in possession of a white shark (Carcharodon carcharias) or part thereof, without a permit."

He was sentenced to a fine of 120,000 South African rands ($13,200) or a year in jail.

According to the organization Oceans Society, last year in Mossel Bay, Bekker hooked a great white shark in front of onlookers. He and two others then dragged the shark onto the rocks, using both a large hook and also by placing their hands into its gills. The shark lay on the rocks while photographs were taken of Bekker with his catch. (You have to wonder if he was inspired by Go Daddy CEO Bob Parsons, who infamously shot an elephant and had photographs quickly snapped to capture the moment.)

Bad Guys

Chef Peter Cumming kills girlfriend because she wasn't hungry - gets life sentence in High Court

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Scottish chef Peter Cumming will spend the rest of his left behind bars after admitting to the High Court in Glasgow that he killed his girlfriend, Lynda Brown.

Cumming, 58, stabbed Brown to death while the couple was preparing for a dinner party. According to The Daily News, he flew into a rage after he returned home ready to cook and Brown told him that she had already eaten and wasn't hungry.

This sparked an argument between the couple and caused Cumming to become "really angry."

That anger prompted him to grab a large knife from the kitchen.

2 + 2 = 4

Life skills program sends Down syndrome child home from school with shoes duct-taped to feet

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An 8-year-old girl with Down syndrome recently came home from elementary school with her shoes duct-taped to her feet and ankles.

For obvious reasons, the girl's parents, Nate and Elizabeth Searcy, wanted to know why their daughter Shaylyn arrived from her life skills program at Westlake Elementary in such a manner.

They have yet to receive an answer.

Phoenix

Volunteer fire fighter Alex Averette arrested for setting Colorado wildfire

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© ECSOAlex J. Averette was charged on Tuesday with setting wildfires that burned for 18 days last June in Colorado's Elbert County.
A Colorado firefighter is in hot water after he allegedly set fire to a Colorado town, forcing it to evacuate according to a Feb. 5, 2013 press release from the Elbert County Sheriff's office.

Alex J. Averette, 19, was arrested Tuesday for allegedly setting fire to the Colorado town of Elbert on June 24, 2012. The Elbert County Sheriff has spent several months investigating the fire that burned several hundred acres and caused the evacuation of the Town of Elbert and surrounding area.

Averette, a volunteer fire fighter and Elbert County resident, is being held responsible for the fire that lasted for 6 operational periods (12 hours each) and utilized over 100 fire and law enforcement personnel from multiple agencies.

Averette is being held at the Elbert County Jail on a $50,000.00 bond for the offenses of Intentionally Setting Wildfire, 2nd Degree Arson, Reckless Endangerment, Criminal Mischief and 2nd Degree Criminal Trespass.

The June 2012 fire, known as the "County Road 102 Fire", burned for 18 days north of the town of Elbert in the area of County Road 102.


Eye 1

Manhunt underway for former LAPD officer suspected in shootings of three cops, two slayings


Christopher Jordan Dorner
© The Associated PressFormer Los Angeles police officer Christopher Jordan Dorner is shown in this handout photo; a manhunt spread across southern California on Feb. 7, 2013 for Dorner, who has threatened to kill police and who is being sought in two weekend killings and is a suspect in an overnight shooting that killed one officer and wounded another.
Police in Southern California say they suspect that a fired cop is connected to the shootings -- one fatal -- of three police officers this morning, as well as the weekend slayings of an assistant women's college basketball coach and her fiancé in what cops believe are acts of revenge against the LAPD, as suggested in the suspect's online manifesto.

Former police officer Christopher Jordan Dorner, 33, who's also a former U.S. Navy reservist, has been publically named as a suspect in the killings of Monica Quan, 28, and her 27-year-old fiancé, Keith Lawrence, Irvine police Chief David L. Maggard said at a news conference Wednesday night.

"We are considering him armed and dangerous," Lt. Julia Engen of the Irvine Police Department said.

Police say the expert marksman shot at four officers in two incidents overnight, hitting three of them: one in Corona, Calif., and two in Riverside, Calif.

Sgt. Rudy Lopez of the LAPD said two LAPD officers were in Corona and headed out on special detail to check on one of the individuals named in Dorner's manifesto. Dorner allegedly grazed one of them but missed the other.

"[This is an] extremely tense situation," Lopez said. "We call this a manhunt. We approach it cautiously because of the propensity of what has already happened."

The Riverside Police Department said two of its officers were shot before one of them died, KABC-TV reported. The extent of the other's injuries is unclear. Police suspected a connection to Dorner.

Bizarro Earth

Police look for father after 9-year-old Mexican girl gives birth

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© AFP Photo
A nine-year-old Mexican girl has given birth and authorities are looking for the presumed father, who is 17, officials said Wednesday.

The girl, identified as Dafne, gave birth by Cesarean section to a baby girl weighing 2.7 kilos (5.7 pounds) and measuring 50 centimeters (20 inches) on January 27 in a hospital in the western state of Jalisco.

The girl was not seen by doctors during her pregnancy and was almost in labor when she arrived at the hospital, said Enrique Rabago, director of the Occidente General Hospital where the child gave birth in the town of Zapopan.

"It is dismaying that a young girl became pregnant. You shouldn't be pregnant at this age," Rabago told a news conference.

Bad Guys

Five New York firms charged with importing toxic toys from China

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© Courtesy of Immigration and Customs EnforcementImmigration and Customs Enforcement agents search for toxic goods in this handout photo; the agency was recently involved in the indictment of 5 men from Queens, NY for importing toys and other goods from China that contained high levels of lead.
The children's scooters imported into the United States from China by ZY Wholesale Inc. may have looked like ordinary scooters and basketball sets like ordinary basketball sets but federal prosecutors in Brooklyn said today they contained high levels of lead and toxic chemicals.

ZY Wholesale's owner, Chenglan Hu, is one of five New York City-based importers charged with illegally bringing hazardous and counterfeit toys into the country.

"For years, the defendants sought to enrich themselves by importing and selling dangerous and counterfeit children's toys without regard for the law or the health of our children," said Loretta Lynch, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York.

Just today authorities seized five tractor trailers worth of counterfeit/dangerous goods worth an estimated $10 million to $15 million.

Heart - Black

Frail teen found chained in parents' basement

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© KCTV
Authorities found a frail 17-year-old boy handcuffed to a pole in his parents' Kansas City basement, where he said he'd been kept since his father withdrew him from school in September.

Police said Wednesday that they were still investigating and hadn't turned over any of their findings to prosecutors for consideration of possible charges. Police have not released the names of anyone involved in the case. The teen was placed in the custody of child services.

According to a police report, an officer and social worker who were acting on a phoned-in tip visited the family's home on Monday. When they entered the basement, they heard someone cry out, "I didn't do anything. I didn't do anything. I didn't do anything."

"I then observed a thin frail looking male getting out of the fetal position on the concrete floor around a steel support pole," Officer Jonathan Stone wrote in the report. The teen was handcuffed to the pole and looked very thin for his height, with a sunken face and eyes that "had a look of desperation."

Stop

Feds: 4 charged with selling Miracle Mineral Supplement online as cure-all

Spokane - Two people from Oregon and two from Washington have been charged with selling an ingredient for bleach online as a cure-all for arthritis, cancer and the flu.

An indictment unsealed in federal court in Spokane Tuesday charges 42-year-old Louis Daniel Smith and 38-year-old Karis Delong, both of Ashland, Ore., as well as 49-year-old Chris Olson and 50-year-old Tammy Olson, of Nine Mile Falls, Wash.

Prosecutors say they were involved in a business called Project GreenLife, which imported sodium chlorite from Canada, and that they sold the chemical online as a "miracle mineral supplement." Buyers were instructed to mix it with orange juice or other source of citric acid before drinking it.

Mixing sodium chlorite with citric acid makes chlorine dioxide - a powerful bleach. It wasn't immediately clear if anyone was injured by consuming it. Charges include conspiracy, smuggling and interstate sales of misbranded drugs.

The Olsons were scheduled to appear in federal court Wednesday.

Comment:
MMS: Miracle Mineral Solution or Trojan Horse? Your Body and DNA Decide

Magical Mineral Supplement (MMS)


Arrow Down

Indonesian Komodo dragon attack leaves two hospitalised

Komodo Dragon
© Kenneth Garrett/National GeographicWith its sheer strength and deadly, bacteria-ridden saliva, the Komodo dragon is the top predator in its range.
One victim, a 50-year-old park ranger, was sitting at his desk at the Rinca island front office, where tourists usually check in, when the two-metre-long monitor snuck into his room Tuesday afternoon.

"The man panicked when he saw the Komodo and tried to escape by jumping on a chair, but the Komodo quickly grabbed and bit one of his legs," Komodo National Park official Heru Rudiharto told AFP.

Rudiharto said the ranger was the victim of a similar Komodo attack in 2009 and was still traumatised.

Another employee, aged 35, heard the ranger scream and quickly ran to his aid, but the lizard also attacked him, taking a bite at his leg.

Both are in good condition after being given stitches at a health clinic, Rudiharto said, but they are being monitored in hospital to ensure an infection does not develop.

Until recently, Komodos were believed to hunt with a "bite and wait" strategy using toxic bacteria in their saliva to weaken or kill their prey, before descending in numbers to feast.