John L Horace: parole denied

Rochester, New York - The Rochester Democrat and Chronicle reports on the release of the July parole hearing for John L. Horace, 64, who is serving 8 1/3 to 25 years in prison in connection with the rape of a comatose patient at a Rochester nursing home more than a decade ago. This was his third bid for parole, and a three-person panel has refused to release him. The case became widely known when the woman he raped gave birth to a son in March 1996. She never came out of her coma and died in March 1997. It's noteworthy that Horace, who worked as a nurses aid at the nursing home, still claims that he did not have any sexual contact with the woman, but rather, that he artificially inseminated her in order to bring her out of her coma. According to Horace,

"Because she was my patient (at Westfall) I felt she should have the life to walk around like every other person," Horace told the Parole Board in July. "Having read books and studied what I studied in gynecology, that a trigger reaction could cause this lady to come out of this coma, at least probably talk if not walk."

While working at the nursing home, Horace also operated as a “sex therapist. He was charged with, and pleaded guilty, to performing gynecological exams without a medical license. Horace was also convicted of sexually assaulting another patient at the nursing home, a 48-year-old woman who had multiple sclerosis.

Horace's victim was known publicly as "Kathy." Kathy's son went to live with his maternal grandmother after his birth.

Missing twins have been found

The Los Angeles News reports that the sixteen-year-old twins with developmental disabilities, who went missing from their home in Malibu (Ca) last weekend have been found. They were found on Thursday in the Los Angeles home of Alejandro Mora, 23, who has been charged with child abduction and rape. He is being held on $380,000 bail.

A special needs van driver has been charged with raping a 12-year-old, autistic girl

From this story out of Boston:

BOSTON -- A school van driver was arrested and charged with sexually assaulting an elementary school student, Brookline police said Tuesday.

A woman told Brookline police that a school van driver had sexually assaulted her 12-year-old daughter in Larz Anderson Park on Friday afternoon. The girl has autism.

"On the way home from school, he supposedly pulled over in a parking area, a parking lot, and the assault took place," Brookline Police Capt. John O'Leary said.

The van driver, Israel Santiago, 41, of Roslindale, pleaded not guilty in Brookline Municipal Court to two counts of aggravated rape, kidnapping and indecent assault on a child under 14 years of age.

According to the police report, the victim told her mother that she "sits close to Israel on the bus and that he touches her." The victim also told her mother that Santiago has taken her to "the farm" on two other occasions. Police said the girl refers to the parking area as "the farm."

The van company, YCN, has been cooperative in the investigation, police said. The Norwood-based company transports children and adults with special needs to schools and day programs. Santiago has worked for the company for six years.

"We are horrified that something like this would have been alleged to have happened to one of our students on one of our contracted buses," Brookline Superintendent Dr. William Lupini said.

Lupini said 13 to 15 other students were transported by Santiago daily, and said there is no evidence to suggest that there are any other victims.

Santiago was ordered held on $20,000 cash bail. He will return to court on June 10.

Read more here ...

(Thanks to Autism Vox for the link)

Advocates for people with developmental disabilities say law enforcement could have done more to prevent the repeated gang rape of a intellectually impaired man

From this story in the South Coast Today

NEW BEDFORD - Advocates for the developmentally disabled say law enforcement authorities could have done more to prevent the repeated gang rapes of a mentally handicapped man.

Suspect Buddy E. Smith, 22, of Fall River, as well as an uncle of Mr. Smith and several friends who are still at large, stalked, kidnapped and raped the mentally retarded man more than a dozen times from 2004 to 2007, prosecutors say. Mr. Smith and his friends also engaged in a campaign of threats and intimidation to keep the Tiverton, R.I., man from reporting the crimes, prosecutors said.

"This is the worst alleged case of sustained abuse of a person with mental retardation in New England since the Raynham 'House of Horrors' was exposed more than 10 years ago," said Colleen Lutkevich, executive director of the Massachusetts Coalition of Families and Advocates for the Retarded.

COFAR officials have been working with the victim's relatives since they reached out to the organization last summer. The group has been monitoring the ongoing court proceedings against Mr. Smith, and has been critical of how law enforcement initially handled the case.

COFAR officials claim the Fall River Police Department refused to take a report when the victim's family approached them in January 2006 because the victim was developmentally disabled.