An Oklahoma man who broke into a home and stabbed his ex-girlfriend before being shot by the woman's daughter has been formally charged in Oklahoma County District Court.
Leo Demon Henry, 25, is charged with one count each of assault and battery with intent to kill, maiming, and first degree burglary. He is represented by a public defender with the Oklahoma Indigent Defense System.
Burglary in the first degree is punishable by 7 to 20 years in prison. Both assault and battery with intent to kill and maiming carry a maximum sentence of life in prison. All three offenses are 85 percent crimes, which means that if the defendant is ultimately convicted, he must serve at least 85 percent of his sentence before becoming eligible for parole.
Henry is charged as the result of an early morning attack on September 24.
According to a probable cause affidavit, the victim, Brandy Moreno, filed a police report on September 17, accusing Henry of molesting her children. Henry stayed away from Moreno's trailer home for about a week before returning with a vengeance at about 4:30 a.m. on September 24.
The affidavit says that Henry broke into the victim's home, and she attempted to barricade herself inside a bedroom with five children. Despite a dresser being pressed up against the door, Henry was able to push his way into the room. He allegedly grabbed the victim by the hair and began dragging her around the room, stabbing her in the head and face.
The woman says she screamed for help, telling her 11-year-old daughter to get a gun. Before the girl got the gun, the attacker stabbed Moreno in her left eye, causing her to lose vision. She told investigators that after she lost her sight, she heard Henry exclaim, "Oh, [expletive," and begging her daughter not to shoot.
Moreno says she heard gunshots, and then her children began telling her that Henry had fled. The girl who ended the attack by shooting the intruder called 9-1-1 for help.
The affidavit reports that doctors say the victim will lose normal function in her eye and will most likely lose the eye altogether.
October is Domestic Violence Awareness month, and this incident demonstrates how dangerous domestic abuse can be. A study released in early September by the Violence Policy Center reveals that Oklahoma ranks third in the nation in the number of women killed by men.
The Oklahoma Domestic Violence Fatality Review Board reports that in 2012, there were 88 victims of fatal intimate partner violence, and 21 perpetrators died as a result of suicide or law enforcement or bystander intervention.
Of the 88 people killed, only one had a current protective order against the perpetrator. Only 6 had a past protective order against his or her killer.
If you are involved in an abusive relationship and need help, contact the Oklahoma Domestic Violence Safeline at 800-522-SAFE (7233) or click here to find help in your area.
On the surface, it seemed to be a typical incident of workplace violence. A man, upon being fired from his job, leaves the facility only to return with a vengeance, lashing out at whoever was in his way.
As details emerged, however, the public imagination was captured and horrified, and Oklahomans and Americans are left wondering if this is just a particularly brutal form of workplace violence, or if the act at Vaughan Foods is an act of terrorism connected to radical Islam.
This wasn't just any assault. This wasn't just any stabbing. Instead, police say Alton Alexander Nolen beheaded one woman and was attacking a second before the company COO, a reserve deputy officer, shot him, ending the assault.
When investigating officers questioned Nolen's former co-workers, they learned that the man had recently converted to Islam, and that he was trying to convert his colleagues as well. Some say he was drawn to the radical, militant aspects espoused by the Islamic State (IS), a terrorist regime also known as ISIS or ISIL.
Because of the nature of the attack and Nolen's possible ties to Islam, Moore police notified the FBI, who is now probing Nolen's history and internet footprint, looking for terrorist ties. For now, law enforcement is saying that the beheading at a food processing plant in Moore is a random act of workplace violence that is not linked to IS terrorism.
Nolen was not fatally wounded when he was shot by the reserve officer. He was transported to a local hospital, and the FBI was waiting to question him until the suspect was "coherent." At about 6:00 p.m. Friday evening, it was reported that Nolen was coming out of sedation, and investigators were hoping to speak with him soon.
Still, interviewing a man who beheaded one co-worker and attempted to kill another may not yield clear answers.
While many have jumped to the conclusion that Nolen's acts were the terrorist acts of a radical Muslim, there are several possibilities at play.
There is a lot we don't know, and given the speed with which the media reports hearsay and gossip, some of the "facts" we hear about the case may soon be disproven. We do know that Nolen has a criminal history in Oklahoma, with convictions for marijuana and cocaine, possession, escape from detention, and assault and battery on a police officer. He was in prison from March 2011 until March 2013, and he was currently serving the probation of he suspended sentence.
Oklahoma Highway Patrol Trooper Betsy Randolph, who was injured by Nolen when he attempted to avoid arrest in 2011, told KFOR's Linda Cavanaugh in an interview Friday that one thing that stood out to her about Nolen when she tried to arrest him was how quickly he became enraged and turned violent. One minute, she says, he was talking to her and being compliant. The next minute, he was shoving her and running away.
Could Nolen's grisly rampage Thursday in Moore be the result of impulsive violent rage? Or has terrorism once again hit Oklahoma? Is this an isolated incident? Or is it a harbinger of random jihad violence to come?
Next week begins Domestic Violence Awareness month, and with domestic violence in the news thanks to Ray Rice, Adrian Peterson, and athletes and celebrities, the timing certainly seems right. But one Oklahoma mother is taking domestic violence awareness personally, using social media to publicly shame her daughter's alleged abuser.
KOCO reports that when her 24-year-old daughter came home with bruises and scratches on her face and neck, the Shawnee mother took pictures and uploaded them to Facebook, naming her daughter's boyfriend as the person who inflicted the injuries. The mother said she wanted to "make it real" to her daughter, and that public visibility of her injuries would make it less likely for her to hide from the truth and return to an abusive relationship.
Still, while one admires a mother's tenacity in protecting her daughter, the growing trend of public shaming via social media could have serious consequences.
Filing a police report and, if necessary, a Victims Protective Order (VPO) is the first step in stopping an abuser in a domestic violence relationship. If possible, the victim of abuse should immediately remove himself or herself from a dangerous situation and/or call police for assistance. Immediate response from law enforcement can be vital for one's safety. However, in some cases it is not possible to get away during the altercation. In this case, it is important to find a safe time to leave and contact police or the domestic violence hotline:
Making accusations on the internet may give a personal sense of justice or vindication, but it can also have dangerous ramifications. A violent individual may become so angry at the public shaming that he or she extends the violence, coming after the family member who posted the images or comments or escalating the violence against the original victim. Family and friends may become so enraged at the idea of someone hurting their loved ones that they take matters into their own hands, expanding the circle of violence and leading to criminal assault charges against self-appointed vigilantes.
If a third party posts images without knowing the full story, and wrongfully accuses someone of a crime, the person making false claims may be sued for libel, defined in 12 O.S. § 1441 as "false or malicious unprivileged publication by writing, printing, picture, or effigy or other fixed representation to the eye, which exposes any person to public hatred, contempt, ridicule or obloquy, or which tends to deprive him of public confidence, or to injure him in his occupation, or any malicious publication as aforesaid, designed to blacken or vilify the memory of one who is dead, and tending to scandalize his surviving relatives or friends."
Truth is a defense to libel, but as anyone involved in criminal prosecution or defense understands, truth can be a slippery thing.
No one should be victimized by domestic violence. No man, woman, or child should suffer from physical, emotional, or sexual abuse. If you or someone you love is in an abusive relationship, don't take it to Facebook--take it to law enforcement and organizations who can provide real help and support to victims of domestic violence.
When former Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice knocked out his fiance in an elevator, it put domestic violence in the spotlight. In Oklahoma, the arrest of Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson held special interest as the former University of Oklahoma Sooners football star was accused of child abuse. His arrest continued the discussion of domestic violence as a very real problem.
Now, an Oklahoma Highway Patrol trooper's arrest adds more attention to the issue. Trooper Derrick Lynn Ware, 47, has been suspended with pay since an incident in late May involving an altercation with his adult daughter. Harrah police responded to an early morning incident in Ware allegedly chased his daughter, pinning her to the ground, and placing her in a chokehold, leaving visible bruises on her neck. Ware was arrested on the scene and suspended from the OHP the following day.
The 23-year OHP veteran is charged with domestic abuse by strangulation.
Domestic abuse is considered the assault and battery against someone who has a relationship with the defendant in one or more of the following ways:
Typically, we think of domestic violence as occurring between spouses or dating partners or by parents against their children, but as the above list shows, domestic assault and battery charges can come from all sorts of relationships, including even roommates not romantically involved.
In general, domestic assault and battery is a misdemeanor, but there are several circumstances which can elevate the charge and enhance the penalties. Among these is domestic abuse by strangulation.
Title 21 Section 844 (J) states that domestic abuse by strangulation is a felony punishable by 1 to 3 years in prison on the first offense. A second or subsequent offense is punishable by 3 to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $20,000.
State law defines "strangulation" as "any form of asphyxia; including, but not limited to, asphyxia characterized by closure of the blood vessels or air passages of the neck as a result of external pressure on the neck or the closure of the nostrils or mouth as a result of external pressure on the head."
Ware is not the only Oklahoma Highway Patrol trooper currently facing serious criminal charges. In July, Trooper Joshua Davies was arrested for DUI in Sequoyah County after crashing his patrol vehicle and an OHP boat while on duty. He resigned in August.
Also in July, Trooper Eric Roberts was suspended after allegations that he raped a woman following a traffic stop. Roberts was arrested earlier this week in Creek County.
A security officer at Booker T. Washington High School in Tulsa has been released from his job amid allegations that he sexually abused a 13-year-old relative. Police and school officials believe that Yvon Demesmin, 42, was not involved in any inappropriate activity with students at the school and that his accuser is the only victim.
Demesmin was arrested on September 3 after Tulsa police received a report that he had been molesting a family member for the past year. He was booked into the Tulsa County Jail on three complaints of sexual abuse of a minor. He was held on $150,000 bond but has since been released.
That same day, a woman filed an emergency protective order against Demesmin on behalf of herself and her three children, which prevents the man from having any contact with the victim or the other parties named in the order, and he is prevented from returning to the home he once shared with them. He must remain 100 feet from them at all times.
Police say Demesmin admitted to sexually abusing the girl, but said that he has never sexually assaulted any other child. They say he tried to mitigate the offense by saying that in his native country of Haiti, being sexually involved with a minor relative was "acceptable." However, the woman's protective order and her decision to turn to police over the sexual abuse of her child certainly belies his assertion that his acts were permissible in another country. Furthermore, the age of consent in Haiti is 18.
Regardless of whether or not sex with minors and sexually abusing children is "acceptable" in foreign lands, it is neither morally nor legally acceptable in the United States.
Demesmin was charged this week in Tulsa County District Court with five counts of child sexual abuse in violation of 21 O.S. § 843.5 (E). This statute says that an parent or other person convicted of willfully or maliciously engaging in child sexual abuse is guilty of a felony punishable by a maximum of life in prison. If the victim is under the age of 12, the offense is punishable by a minimum of 25 years in prison.
Read more about child sexual abuse laws in Oklahoma.
Child sexual abuse is a Level 3 sex offense. Anyone convicted of this crime is considered to be the highest risk to public safety and at the highest risk of re-offense, regardless of any other factors or considerations in the case. Level 3 sex offenders are subject to lifetime sex offender registration and all the stigma and restrictions associated with being an Oklahoma Sex Offender.
An Oklahoma City police officer and former NFL hopeful has been charged with multiple felony counts, including rape and other sex crimes for crimes allegedly committed while the officer was on patrol.
Daniel Ken Holtzclaw, 27, was part of the Oklahoma City Police Department's Springlake Patrol Division, which covers portions of northeast and northwest Oklahoma City, including the Adventure District near the zoo and Remington Park, and the state Capitol complex. Prosecutors say Holtzclaw, who worked the 4:00 p.m. to 2:00 a.m. shift, would detain women in traffic stops or as they walked through neighborhoods and sexually assault them.
Investigators say that the officer would threaten the women with arrest if they did not comply with his sexual demands. In some cases, they say, he would require the women to expose themselves. In others, he would fondle them or force them to perform sex acts. At least one woman accused Holtzclaw of raping her.
Holtzclaw came under investigation after a woman reported in June that he had sexually assaulted her during a traffic stop. He was suspended in mid-June and arrested on August 21. He was booked into the Oklahoma County Jail on multiple sex crime complaints as well as a stalking and burglary complaint.
The stalking and burglary complaints are related to an incident in March in which Holtzclaw is alleged to have entered a man's home without a warrant in order to look for the man's girlfriend.
In addition to the stalking and burglary charges, the police officer is charged with 14 other felony counts:
At least six women have accused Holtzclaw of sexually assaulting them, but investigators suspect there may be more victims.
The former police officer is currently held on $5 million bond, but his attorney has filed a motion for a bond reduction in an attempt to significantly lower his bond to $139,000.
Holtzclaw is not the only Oklahoma law enforcement officer currently accused of raping someone while on duty. In August, Oklahoma Highway Patrol Trooper Eric Roberts was named in a lawsuit by a woman accusing him of raping her during a traffic stop. Roberts is suspended during an investigation, but has not been charged. A little more than a week after the lawsuit was filed, a second woman came forward and was added to the lawsuit as a plaintiff. Roberts's attorney says his client is not guilty and points to the initial accuser's history of filing a false rape report.
Earlier this month, about two weeks before Edmond children were to begin school, one of the district's school bus drivers was arrested for allegedly molesting a child. Now, Scott Keith Jepson, 32, has been formally charged in Oklahoma County District Court with multiple counts of sex crimes against a child.
Jepson, of Guthrie, has been charged with two counts of indecent or lewd acts with a child younger than 16, two counts of possession of obscene material involving a minor, three counts of distributing child pornography and one count of manufacturing child pornography.
Investigators say that a woman notified police after her 8-year-old son, who is not an Edmond Public Schools student, told a CARE Center counselor that Jepson, an acquaintance, had inappropriate sexual contact with him at the child's home in Luther twice in the same day in July 2013.
A petition for a protective order filed against the defendant on behalf of minor children was denied in June.
In late July, investigators served a search warrant at Jepson's home and seized his cell phone, which is alleged to have contained sexually explicit images of children. He is accused of then distributing child pornography through an email account.
Investigators also obtained a warrant for Jepson's computer, which was sent to Homeland Security for forensic analysis. The computer also allegedly contained images and videos of child pornography. Oklahoma Deputy Sheriff Bruce Henley, with the agency's Special Investigations Division, says that six of the videos are apparently internet downloads, but a seventh appears to have been taken by the defendant. In that case, says Henley, it appears that Jepson covertly recorded a boy as he used the restroom in the next stall of a public restroom.
The man was arrested August 6, and he was formally charged on Monday.
Edmond Public Schools officials say that there is no evidence that the bus driver, who drove a bus in the district for six years, molested any students on his route, and they assure parents that he is no longer driving a bus for the district. As a "no-show" for work earlier this month, he is in the process of being terminated from the district.
If convicted, the defendant faces significant penalties. Lewd Acts with a child under 12 carries a minimum sentence of 25 years in prison and a maximum of life. If a person convicted of lewd acts with a child is released from prison, he or she must register as a Level 3 sex offender for the remainder of his or her life.
The former director of the Naval Surface Warfare Center at the McAlester Army Ammunition Plant was sentenced in federal court last week after pleading guilty to three counts of video voyeurism for secretly recording women as they used the restroom at the facility.
Magistrate Judge Steven P. Schreder of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma in Muskogee sentenced Kenneth Wade Elkins, 56, to 10 months in federal prison. Additionally, he must pay a $10,000 fine for each of the three counts of video voyeurism, must pay $393 in restitution, and must register as a federal sex offender.
The case fell under the jurisdiction of the United States because the offenses occurred at the ammunition plant, which is federal property.
An investigation by the McAlester Army Ammunition Plant Security, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the McAlester Police Department was launched in 2013 after a female employee of the plant walked into Elkins's office and saw the video feed of the women's restroom. Elkins had placed two covert cameras in the women's restroom of the Naval Center. One was camouflaged as an electrical outlet and the other as a smoke detector. These cameras secretly videotaped the women in the restroom, and the recordings were captured on a VCR in the former Naval Surface Warfare Center director's office.
Investigators recovered a VHS tape which contained footage of three different employees of the center, and Elkins was charged with three counts of Video Voyeurism, in violation of 18 USC § 1801. Video Voyeurism is a Tier I sex offense which requires annual sex offender registration for 15 years.
However, in addition to being convicted of federal sex offenses, Elkins also faces state charges for covertly recording fellow employees in the women's restroom. He is charged in Pittsburg County with two counts each of Recording/Transmitting Obscenity, in violation 21 O.S. § 1021(A)(3) and Using Electronic Equipment in Clandestine Manner in violation of 21 O.S. § 1171(C).
Under Oklahoma law, recording or transmitting obscenity is a felony sex offense punishable by 30 days to 10 years in prison and fines of $500 to $20,000.
Under 21 O.S.§ 1171(C), using electronic equipment in a clandestine manner is a misdemeanor:
Every person who uses photographic, electronic or video equipment in a clandestine manner for any illegal, illegitimate, prurient, lewd or lascivious purpose with the unlawful and willful intent to view, watch, gaze or look upon any person and capture an image of a private area of a person without the knowledge and consent of such person and knowingly does so under circumstances in which a reasonable person would believe that the private area of the person would not be visible to the public, regardless of whether the person is in a public or private place shall, upon conviction, be guilty of a misdemeanor. The violator shall be punished by imprisonment in the county jail for a term of not more than one (1) year, or by a fine not exceeding Five Thousand Dollars ($5,000.00), or by both such fine and imprisonment.
For Elkins and others like him, the most difficult portion of the sentence is not the jail or prison time, but the sex offender registration that follows, seriously restricting the rights and liberties of the offender and branding him or her in the public eye. Read more about Oklahoma sex offender registration.
Just three days after Oklahoma City Public Schools students headed back to school, one of the district's former teacher was charged in Oklahoma County District Court with sex crimes involving students.
Callie Elise Miller, 25, was a first-year English teacher at Capitol Hill High School last year. She made it only a semester before allegations of sexual relationships with students led to her suspension.
A principal notified Oklahoma City police after discovering that sexually explicit images of the teacher were circulating among students throughout the school. Miller was placed on administrative leave and asked not to return to the district for the current school year.
During an investigation, two students, aged 17 and 18, admitted to having sex with the teacher. One said that Miller gave him her phone number after the two discussed mechanical issues with her car. He said the two began exchanging texts, which became sexual in nature and ultimately led to the couple having sex.
The other said his teacher contacted him through Facebook, where the two exchanged phone numbers and arranged a sexual liaison at a local park.
A warrant was issued for Miller's arrest on August 8, alleging two counts of second degree rape and one count of soliciting sexual conduct with a minor.
Miller appeared in court on Monday, where bond was set at $75,000. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for September 11.
Second degree rape is a felony sex crime that is punishable by one to 15 years in prison. It is classified as a Level 3 sex offense, which requires lifetime sex offender registration in Oklahoma.
Teachers must always be aware that sex with students is not just unethical or unprofessional--it is illegal. The consequences of engaging in a sexual relationship with a student are far too damaging to risk, even if the student has achieved the age of consent and even if he or she is an instigator in the relationship.
Remember, the two young men who say they had sex with their teacher are aged 17 and 18--past the age of consent in Oklahoma, which is 16. In fact, an 18-year-old is considered an adult in most aspects of the law. However, according to 21 O.S. § 1111, no student under the age of 20 can legally consent to sex with any employee aged 18 or older of the same district the student attends. It does not matter if the student is not in the class or under the authority of the teacher, it does not even matter if the teacher works at an entirely different school in the district. In fact, according to the letter of the law, an 18-year-old school custodian could be charged with second degree rape after engaging in a sexual relationship with a 19-year-old student.
Currently, an Oklahoma City attorney is challenging the law, saying that prohibiting sex between consenting adults (for example, a teacher and an 18-year-old student) is a violation of personal privacy rights, and that if a student is not under the supervision or authority of a particular teacher, that relationship should not be illegal if the student has reached the age of consent.
In the meantime, however, teachers need to remain aware that sex with students--even willing students--is strictly against the law, and the penalties of ignoring that fact can last a lifetime.
An Edmond teenager accused of raping orphans while serving as a missionary in Kenya was approved for release on $10,000 bond under the condition of home confinement, but federal prosecutors appealed his release Tuesday.
A judge delayed the release of Matthew Durham, 19, in order to give federal prosecutors time to appeal the decision, and indeed, they did.
In the appeal, United States attorneys dispute the Magistrate Judge's opinion that approving bond for Durham was a "close call." They say that the circumstances of the case make it clear that the young man should remain in custody.
Prosecutors say that Durham, by his own admission, raped and sexually abused several children in Kenya, and that he blames his acts on an inability to control his urges. In the appeal, attorneys write, "The defendant blames his 'inner demon' that he has named Luke. Hehas proclaimed more than once that he has no control over his inner demon’s influence." Because of Durham's self-described lack of control over his urges to prey upon and touch young children, U.S. attorneys say that the defendant should remain in federal custody to protect other children from possible victimization.
In addition to citing the defendant's alleged criminal acts and his lack of impulse control, prosecutors allege that the defendant has repeatedly threatened a witness, telling different people that he was going to burn down the house of the witness. Prosecutors do not see this claim as an empty threat by a scared and angry teenager, but rather a credible threat by a criminal defendant facing life in prison. The appeal asks, "How many children need to be harmed and how many threatening statements against a witness need to be made for the defendant to be detained?"
The appeal cites 18 U.S.C. § 3142(e) regarding the pre-trial release or detention of a defendant. Under this section, federal law states that "it shall be presumed that no condition or combination of conditions will reasonably assure the appearance of the person as required and the safety of the community" if the offense involved a minor victim in violation of one or more of several statutes, including 18 U.S.C. § 2423. Section 2423 is the federal law involving travel with intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct and engaging in illicit sexual conduct in foreign places.
In its appeal, the United States describes the details of Durham's case in relation to indicators for presumption of pre-trial detention as described in the aforementioned statute:
"Pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3142(e), both of the above statutes charged in theIndictment carry a presumption in favor of pre-trial detention based on risk of flight anddanger to the community. In light of the fact that the defendant is facing significant timein prison, has demonstrated a pattern and an admitted history of sexual urges towardminors (both in the United States and abroad), has the means to live comfortably abroad,and has traveled abroad extensively in the past several years, there are no conditions orcombination of conditions that will reasonably assure the appearance of the defendant orthe safety of the community."
Although the defendant's father has vowed to take a leave of absence from work to supervise his son around the clock, prosecutors say that the young man's impulses, motives, and means to commit further crimes or to flee justice outweigh any arguments for pre-trial release.
