Mother wants understanding for her dead son

1-31-2012 Maine:

AUGUSTA -- In the early morning hours of Jan. 3, 2011, Scott Penney covered his recliner in plastic and carefully leaned plywood against the backrest.

He walked around his State Street apartment, pulling closed the window shades. He felt his way across the dark room and nestled into the recliner. There, on a coffee table in front of him, Penney left a note to his family that he hoped would explain his decision, even as it begged for their forgiveness.

Penney covered his head with a tarp, grabbed a rusty shotgun, and put the barrel under his chin. He pulled the trigger.

"He didn't want to make a mess for the landlord," his mother, Linda Penney, said. "He planned it right to the letter."

Scott Penney, 45, was a trusted employee, a loyal friend, a beloved son and a proud father.

But he also was a convicted child molester.

It was this sordid past that darkened Penney's life. Everyone knew, or could easily find out, the worst thing Penney had ever done. It became who he was: Scott Penney, sexual offender.

"I will never have my life back," Penney wrote in his final letter. "I can't deal with all this around me and what has happened."

Linda Penney has her reasons for telling her son's story, but gaining sympathy isn't one of them. She doesn't offer excuses for the crimes her son committed and is not mad at the judicial system for punishing her son.

But Linda Penney hopes others will see her son as she did. She hopes others will understand the crushing social stigma he experienced as a convicted sex offender. Linda Penney also hopes that experience is understood by a probation officer assigned to supervise her son whom she believes mishandled of the case and contributed to her son's decision to end his life.

"I want people out there aware that not every child molester is a bad person," she said.

Matthew Anderson: Sex offender's suicide after standoff doesn't end worries in Northglenn

1-3-2012 Colorado:

Matthew Richard Anderson's suicide is reverberating two days later, and not just because Northglenn Police officer Dennis Alps is still recovering from a wound sustained during the standoff that preceded the sex offender's final act. Parents are aghast at learning that Anderson was living legally near Northglenn Middle School, despite a 2006 conviction for trying to entice what he thought was a young teen -- but which turned out to be a cop.

Although five communities in Colorado place restrictions on sex offenders living near schools, Northglenn is not among them -- so Anderson wasn't violating any procedures due to his choice of address. That came as a surprise to at least one parent featured in a Fox31 report on view below. View it after checking out a larger photo of Anderson and the original release issued by the NPD following the officer-involved shooting and its aftermath.

Northglenn Police Department release, January 3:

On January 3, 2011, at approximately 6:45p.m., Northglenn Police officers were attempting to execute a Felony search warrant at 1443 Bowman Place, on a Matthew Richard Anderson (DOB 10-26-70). Mr. Anderson had three Felony warrants out for his arrest, which included failed to register as a sex offender, internet sexual exploitation of a child and sexual assault on a child.

Officers attempted to make contact at the front door of the residence, when a male suspect fired numerous shots out the front door, hitting one officer twice. The suspect barricade himself in the residence. Officer Dennis Alps was ground transported to a local hospital with a wound to his right shoulder. The wound is non life threatening.

The Northglenn/Thornton SWAT team was activated along with other outside agencies. The SWAT Team attempted to contact the suspect numerous times over several hours with no success.

At approximately 2a.m. the SWAT Team made entry into the residence. A body was found inside the residence with a self inflicted wound to the head. We are currently waiting identification of the body from the coroner's office.

..Source.. by Michael Roberts

Man accused of killing Waveland priest found dead in cell

1-26-2012 Mississippi:

A state prisoner accused of killing a Louisiana priest last year in Waveland was found dead in his cell Thursday at the Central Mississippi Correctional Facility, according to a spokesperson.

State inmate Jeremy Wayne Manieri was found dead in his cell at 5 a.m. Thursday by correctional officers, spokeswoman Suzanne Singletary said.

Singletary said it appears Manieri killed himself, but did not disclose the manner.

Manieri's attorney, Brian Alexander, told the Associated Press that Manieri "had a sheet wrapped around his neck" when he was discovered dead.

An investigation division at the Department of Corrections and the state Highway Patrol investigates suicides at all Mississippi correction facilities.

"Further details will be released as they become available," Singletary said.

Manieri, 33, was serving five years for failure to register as a sex offender in Hancock County. He was sentenced in August on the sex crime, but awaiting trial on murder and grand larceny offenses relating to the priest's death.

Manieri was accused of killing the Rev. Edward Everitt, 71, and the stealing the preist's money and vehicle before Manieri took his ex-wife and children on a Disney World vacation to Florida.

Manieri claimed in an audio confession with Polk County, Fla., authorities that he and the Houma, La., priest smoked marijuana and that the priest fondled him in the hours leading up to Everitt's death.

Everitt's body was found July 11 in a Waveland beach house that priests from Hammond used as a retreat villa.

Manieri was arrested the following day at a hotel near Winterhaven, Fla.

Authorities said Manieri had bought 3-day passes to Disney World for his ex-wife, his stepson and daughter.

Manieri might have been in jail at the time if it weren't for a mix-up between the state's prison and court systems, authorities have said.

Manieri pleaded guilty to molesting a child in 2006 in Hancock and was sentenced to two years in prison, with 1 year suspended.

When he was released, he failed to register as a sex offender and wound up serving another 16 months for that before being sentenced to probation early 2011.

Manieri never reported to his probation officer, authorities have said, and if the violation had been noticed, he could have been sent him back to prison.

The Mississippi Department of Corrections received the probation paperwork from the Hancock County Circuit Clerk's office, "but a glitch in the computer system kept the information from being received by the probation officer, who was not at fault," prisons spokeswoman Tara Booth said in July. ..Source.. by Cherie Ward - The Mississippi Press

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Manieri found dead in his cell, attorney shocked over possible suicide

The attorney representing the man suspected of killing a Louisiana priest at a Waveland beach house in July said he was shocked to learn Jeremy W. Manieri was found dead in his state prison cell this morning.

“I’m still trying to process it,” Brian Alexander told the Sun Herald.

Alexander said he was notified by e-mail this morning that corrections officers found Manieri dead about 5 p.m. in his cell at Central Mississippi Correctional Facility.

Suzanne Singletary, spokeswoman for the Mississippi Department of Corrections, said preliminary information suggests he died by suicide.

Manieri was serving time at the state prison in Pearl for failing to register as a sex offender following a conviction on child molestation. Prison records list his tentative release date as March 25, 2015.

He also was awaiting prosecution on charges of murder and grand larceny in the slaying of the Rev. Edward Everitt, shot in the head at a beach house used by his Dominican order. Manieri was later arrested in Florida, where authorities said he had driven the priest’s car to take his family on a vacation to Disney World.

Alexander this morning said he has spoken to the coroner handling Manieri’s death investigation.

Manieri’s murder case has not yet been presented to a grand jury. Alexander had filed a motion asking a judge to have the case reviewed by a grand jury outside of Hancock County.

“A decision has not been made and a hearing has not even been set on the motion,” Alexander said.

Everitt, 71, was pastor of Holy Ghost Church in Hammond, La., and at Our Lady of Pompeii Church in nearby Tickfaw.

Manieri, a handyman, had claimed he had smoked marijuana with the priest and had woken up to find the cleric was fondling him, according to a detective’s testimony in a preliminary hearing. ..Source.. by ROBIN FITZGERALD

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Autopsy Rules Suicide On Inmate Death

1-27-2012 Mississippi:

JACKSON, Miss. -- An autopsy has ruled that a man accused of killing a Roman Catholic priest and taking the victim's car on a family vacation to Walt Disney World died in a jailhouse suicide.

Jeremy Wayne Manieri, 33, was found dead early Thursday in a Rankin County prison cell with a sheet wrapped around his neck.

Rankin County Coroner Jimmy Roberts said on Friday that Manieri died from death by hanging.

Manieri was charged with shooting the Rev. Ed Everitt of Hammond, La., in July 2011 at a beach house in Waveland, Miss.

Manieri's attorney, Brian Alexander, has said he was told that Manieri was found in his cell at the Central Mississippi Correctional Facility in Rankin County, where he serving a five-year sentence for failure to register as a sex offender. ..Source.. by 16WAPT.com

Mammoth Lakes Doctor Commits Suicide

1-24-2012 California:

KEY News has learned a Mammoth Lakes doctor charged with sex crimes involving a 14 year old Santa Barbara girl has committed suicide.

Doctor Andrew Bourne faced eight counts of illegal communication with a minor to facilitate sexual activity.

Sources tell KEY News that Bourne killed himself on Tuesday by injecting himself with drugs.

Santa Barbara police arrested Bourne and businessman Joe Walker, earlier this month in Mammoth Lakes. Both men were transported to Santa Barbara where they went before a judge and eventually posted $750,000 bail.

The Mono County Sheriff's Office released a statement saying 46 year old Dr. Bourne was found unresponsive in the Mammoth Lakes area. Local authorities were dispatched to the scene and found Bourne dead. The coroner's office has started an investigation, however foul play is not suspected.

KEY News was first to report that the alleged sexual contact with the girl happened for more than a year and included possibly thousands of emails and other electronic communications between Bourne, Walker and the girl. Sources say both men knew the family.

Police were called after the girl's parents discovered a suspicious email. That's when Santa Barbara Police detectives started an investigation.

Bourne was notified on January 9th that his contract at the Mammoth hospital where he worked was terminated because he could not fulfill its terms due to the ongoing criminal case. Dr. Bourne also resigned from his post on the Mammoth Lakes School Board. ..Source.. by C.J. Ward

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Accused Sex Offender Found Dead

Dr. Andrew Bourne, a highly-regarded vascular surgeon who had been recently charged in Santa Barbara with unlawful contact with a child with intent to commit a sexual crime, was today found dead near his Mammoth Lakes residence. As reported in Crime Voice on January 19th, Bourne, 46, and Joseph Walker, 48, filed pleas of not guilty with the court and were released by Santa Barbara Superior Court Judge George Eskin on $750,000 bond with GPS tracking devices to monitor their movements.

It was Bourne’s tracking device that led to the discovery of his body by his wife on Hot Creek Hatchery Road in the Mammoth Lakes community.

Mono County Sheriff’s Department issued a media release indicating that Bourne had been found unresponsive in the late afternoon of January 24th, and that while they do not suspect foul play in Bourne’s death, the exact cause of death remains under investigation by the Inyo County Coroner’s Office in Bishop. It had earlier been reported that Santa Barbara Deputy District Attorney Mary Barron, reputedly expert in prosecuting sex crimes under the guidance of D.A. Joyce Dudley, informed Judge Eskin that Bourne had announced to his alleged teenage victim his intent to commit suicide if he were indicted.

Bourne’s Ventura County attorney, Ron Bamieh, indicated to the media that his client had committed suicide by self-inflicted lethal injection. Bamieh did not mince words in comments to the media, suggesting that the Santa Barbara County District Attorney’s aggressive charging of the case based upon the evidence at hand is the underlying motivator in Bourne’s suicide. “These charges led to my client’s suicide,” he said. “The charges filed are life-altering, and Dr. Bourne could not deal with the fact that everyone assumed him to be guilty.”

Bamieh’s frustration was apparent in his comments to the media, as he had spoken to his client just six hours before the reported time of death. “I told him I though we had a viable defense and that there were a lot of assumptions that were defensible.”

Dr. Bourne, who was recently chief of staff at Mammoth Hospital and sat on the Mammoth Lakes Unified School District Board of Trustees, resigned those positions when he was arrested and extradited on warrants issued by the Santa Barbara County District Attorney, Joyce Dudley.

Upon learning of Bourne’s death, Dudley indicated that an amended complaint will be filed against his co-defendant, Joseph Walker, who is due to next appear in Judge Eskin’s courtroom on February 10th. ..Source.. by R.L. McCullough

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Parents of Victim in Child Sex Case File Civil Suit Against Perpetrator

3-20-2012 California:

Mammoth Lakes ski instructor Joseph Walker, who pleaded guilty in a child sex case earlier this month, is facing a civil case filed last week by the minor and her parents in Santa Barbara County Superior Court.

Walker, 48, and Dr. Andrew Bourne, 46, also of Mammoth Lakes, were arrested Jan. 4 by Santa Barbara police on suspicion of illegally contacting a minor for sexual activity.

The two friends were released on bail Jan. 10 after entering not guilty pleas in the case, which involved a now-16-year-old Santa Barbara girl whose family was friends with both men.

Bourne committed suicide Jan. 24, and the charges against him were later dropped. Prosecutors subsequently amended the case against Walker and filed 21 charges against him.

Walker pleaded guilty to five felony counts of illegal sexual activity with a minor, and could be ordered to serve five years in state prison at his June 1 sentencing.

Santa Barbara police launched an investigation last September after suspicious emails sent to the girl were discovered by one of her parents and reported to police.

The new civil case was filed against Walker last Wednesday by the minor’s attorney, Chris Kroes. The complaint alleges sexual battery, infliction of emotional distress, fraud and deceit, statutory violations, conspiracy, seduction of a minor and violation of mandatory reporting obligations.

“Bourne and Walker held themselves out to be pillars of the community when in fact they were both sexual predators,” the documents read. In the fall of 2009, the pair “engaged in a common plan to befriend the parents of Jane Doe, a minor, for the actual purposes of deceit and in order to gain trust and sexual access to their daughter, in order to engage in illegal lewd acts and sexual relations upon the minor child.”

According to court documents, the plaintiffs believe that the 47-year-old Walker had sex with the girl in excess of 30 times, when she was 14 to 15 years old.

The documents also said that 45-year-old Bourne had sexual relations with the girl multiple times, and that the men knew about the other’s activities and “encouraged the other to have sex with Jane Doe for approximately the last two years.”

The plaintiffs say the men told the girl that they loved her and “both made false promises to her regarding her future with them” in order to persuade the girl to have sex with them. The complaint also alleges that they engaged in “extensive electronic exploits” with each other and with the girl. ..Source.. by Lara Cooper, Noozhawk Staff Writer

Standoff ends with self-inflicted gunshot, police say

1-24-2012 North Carolina:

A four-hour standoff between police and a West Marion man ended Tuesday afternoon when officers stormed the home to find that the resident had shot himself.

George Elmer Painter III, 47, of 70 W. Wilhelmina St. was taken by ambulance to The McDowell Hospital, where he was loaded aboard MAMA, Memorial Mission’s helicopter, and transported to the Asheville facility. EMS Director William Kehler said Painter was in critical condition late Tuesday afternoon. Lt. Rusty Jenkins of the Marion Police Department stated that Painter suffered a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head from a .25-caliber handgun.

Painter is an accused child sex offender. Detective Sgt. Rick Gutierrez of the Marion Police Department arrested him in September on two counts each of first-degree statutory sex offense and taking indecent liberties with a child.

Gutierrez said the suspect handcuffed, blindfolded and molested a 5-year-old girl.

His charges are still pending in McDowell County Superior Court.

Jenkins said Painter’s wife came to the Police Department shortly before 10 a.m. Tuesday, requesting assistance at the West Wilhelmina Street residence due to domestic-related issues.

When an officer arrived at the house, Painter approached a window with a gun in his hand, Jenkins stated in a news release. When asked to drop the weapon, Painter retreated from the window and the officer called for assistance.

Jenkins tried several attempts to contact Painter by cell phone and even by loud speaker from a patrol car and by bullhorn.

“George, I need you to answer your telephone, friend,” Jenkins pleaded. “All I’m here to do is talk to you.”

Painter’s aunt was standing by at the scene in case he wanted to talk to a family member instead of police.

Each request for contact was met with silence.

On a couple of occasions, a team of officers crept their way up to the mobile home.

“We were trying to see if we could hear anything, but there was nothing,” the lieutenant stated.

Authorities obtained an arrest warrant for Painter on the grounds that he violated a court order. When released from jail on bond for the pending sex charges, he was told not to be in possession of a firearm.

Close to 1:30 p.m., McDowell County sheriff’s deputies and Marion police officers, all armed and some dressed in tactical gear, stormed the residence and found Painter on the living room couch, suffering from the self-inflicted wound.

EMS paramedics were already on the scene and immediately began to treat Painter.

The hours-long commotion brought West Marion residents out onto their porches and out into the streets. They watched, waited and speculated as to the goings on.

Anna Staten, who lives next door to the Painters, was among the crowd of spectators. She said officers made her leave her house until they knew everything was safe and secure.

“Before he was charged, you couldn’t get (Painter) to say anything to you,” she stated. “He just got out of jail not too long ago. Now, every once in a while, he will come around wanting to buy a couple of cigarettes. … (Painter’s wife) is as antisocial as he is.”

On the scene Tuesday were members of the Marion Police Department, the McDowell County Sheriff’s Office, McDowell County EMS, Marion Fire Department, McDowell County Emergency Management, the N.C. State Bureau of Investigation and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). ..Source.. by Richelle Bailey | McDowell News

Florida man commits suicide in Smokies days before trial in Key West

1-24-2012 North Carolina:

A Key West, Fla., man who steadfastly maintained his innocence on child pornography charges and was set to stand trial there Monday morning killed himself Friday afternoon in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

The body of Charles Dale Lee, 56, was found on the North Carolina side of the National Park shortly before 5 p.m. Friday, said Molly Schroer, public information officer with the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

According to a press release, National Park dispatchers received a report of a person lying beneath the observation deck at Newfound Gap who did not appear to be breathing. Park rangers responded and found Lee's body with a fatal gunshot wound to the head, and a suicide note was also found in the Lee's vehicle, officials said.

Schroer said Lee's next of kin in Florida have been notified.

Lee's attorney, Richard Wunsch of Key West, Fla., said he did not know why his client chose to travel to the park to end his life. Lee was 22 counts of possession of child pornography, and Lee adamantly maintained his innocence, Wunsch said.

"It wasn't a situation where a guy says, 'I did this — minimize my prison time.' He said he was not guilty of these charges and maintained that from the beginning," Wunsch said. "He was a decent guy with no criminal history accused of very serious crimes."

According a story from the July 21, 2009, edition The Citizen newspaper in Key West, Lee had been arrested days earlier and charged with the child porn counts.

Officers alleged that images found on a computer owned by Lee contained photos of naked underage females, some of them engaged in sex acts, according to an arrest warrant. ..Source.. by Lance Coleman

NY jail inmate jumps to his death from 2nd floor

1-24-2012 New York:

LOCKPORT, N.Y. — The Niagara County Sheriff's Office says an inmate has died after jumping head-first from a second-floor landing at the jail.

The sheriff says the inmate was being moved from his cell by two guards at 6 a.m. Monday to be transported to state prison when he quickly climbed onto a railing and jumped.

The inmate's name wasn't released, pending notification of relatives. The sheriff says he was recently sentenced to 15 years in state prison for attempted rape and was to start that sentenced on Monday.

The incident is under investigation by the sheriff's office criminal division. ..Source.. by WSJ

Cops: Slain teen was to testify against man found dead with her

Posted in Related Deaths

10-29-2010 Michigan:

He had been charged with sexual assault against her

Taylor Manley was found in a minivan with Raymond Bush, 38. The teen was supposed to testify against him Wednesday morning in trial for allegedly sexually assaulting her, but she disappeared before that happened, police and prosecutors say.

Bush died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head, the Wayne County Medical Examiner’s Office said.

Taylor's father told the Free Press earlier he believes his daughter wouldn’t have committed suicide. She was afraid of Bush, he said.

Robert Manley said Bush had threatened her against testifying.

Suicide

2008:

Excellent paper reviewing subject.

For the remainder of this paper: by Stephen Soreff, MD; Chief Editor: Eduardo Dunayevich, MD

Differential suicide rates in typologies of child sex offenders in a 6-year consecutive cohort of male suicides.

2005:

Abstract
Earlier research identified 3 typologies of Child Sex Offenders [CSO] with high rates of suicide. To test this finding suicide rates of 3 types of CSO were compared in a 6-year cohort of regional suicides. All male suicides were identified from Coroners" inquest files and CSO data drawn from police records to calculate CSO suicide rates. The results show that suicide in "Multi-criminal" CSO is 12 times higher than the general population but not statistically significantly. Two significant results were "Sex Only" CSO suicides were 183 times the general population and 15 times the Multi-criminal CSO rates, with no suicides amongst the Violent CSO's. Implications for suicide prevention and child protection are presented.

For the remainder of this paper: by Pritchard C, King E., School of Medicine, University of Southampton, UK. cpritchard@bournemouth.ac.uk

Sex offender commits suicide in jail cell

11-21-2000 New Mexico:

PORTALES, N.M. A convicted sex offender who had been arrested and jailed this month on multiple new felony charges involving sex with a young child hanged himself Sunday morning inside his cell at the Roosevelt County Detention Center, Sheriff C.D. Newberry Jr. said Monday.

The body of Alfonso P. Gonzales, 38, of Portales was discovered hanging from a bed sheet tied to an air vent in his jail cell about 6:20 a.m. MST on Sunday, Newberry said.

The death marked the first suicide in the detention center's new facility, which was built in the mid-1980s, officials said.

Gonzales had been in custody at the Roosevelt County Detention Center since Nov. 8, when he was arrested on five first-degree felony charges of criminal sexual penetration of a minor; two third-degree felony charges of criminal sexual contact with a minor; and one charge of failure to register as a convicted sex offender, New Mexico State Police investigator Steve Mulkey said.

Gonzales' case had just been presented to a Roosevelt County grand jury on Thursday, when he was indicted on four of the charges of criminal sexual penetration of a minor and the two charges of criminal sexual contact with a minor, according to court records.

The additional charge of failure to register as a convicted sex offender was dropped because there were questions about his previous conviction coming before New Mexico's sex offender notification law took effect, officials said.

The more recent sexual molestation offenses took place with a child under 13 years of age between Oct. 29 and Nov. 6, court records show.

Gonzales was being held in lieu of $75,000 cash-only bond, according to jail records.

Authorities believe Gonzales hanged himself between 4:30 a.m. Sunday, when detention center officers conducted a routine check of inmates, and 6:20 a.m. Sunday, when the inmates in his section of the jail were being let out of their cells for breakfast, Newberry said.

Gonzales was alone in his locked cell, which was part of a day room with seven other cells housing nine other inmates.

An inmate who saw Gonzales hanging inside his cell immediately alerted detention officers.

Detention center employees and Portales Fire Department emergency medical technicians were unable to revive Gonzales.

Gonzales was not on suicide watch because he had not given any indication to officers or inmates that he planned to kill himself, Newberry said. ..Source.. by JANET BRESENHAM, Morris News Service

Georgia man who admitted murdering girl found dead in apparent suicide

1-19-2012 Georgia:

Atlanta (CNN) -- Ryan Brunn, the man who this week was sentenced to life in prison after pleading guilty to murdering a Georgia girl, apparently killed himself in his prison cell Thursday, a corrections spokeswoman said.

Georgia Department of Corrections spokeswoman Kristen Stancil said that Brunn was found unresponsive at 4:15 p.m. in his cell at Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Prison in Jackson. Brunn was pronounced dead at a hospital at 5:37 p.m. due to an apparent suicide, she said.

The case since has been referred to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, according to Stancil.

Brunn had entered a guilty plea Tuesday at a hearing in a Cherokee County courthouse, during which he described in detail how he enticed, molested and killed 7-year-old Jorelys Rivera. He was subsequently sentenced to life in prison without the chance of parole, avoiding a potential death sentence by lethal injection.

Tulsa man commits suicide while being questioned by federal agents

1-19-2012 Oklahoma:

A man who was being questioned by federal agents committed suicide during the interview Thursday morning, officials said.

Special agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations Division and Tulsa County sheriff’s deputies were speaking to the man at his home in the 3400 block of South Oswego Avenue.

About 8:50 a.m., the man grabbed a gun he kept in the home and shot himself, according to a statement from Carl Rusnok, spokesman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Tulsa Police Officer Jason Willingham said the man died just before 10 a.m. Thursday.

He was being questioned by special agents as part of an ongoing investigation into child pornography, Rusnok said.

Willingham said Tulsa police are leading the investigation into the shooting. ..Source.. by JERRY WOFFORD World Staff Writer

Mike Current: Former NFL Offensive Lineman Found Dead After Apparent Suicide

1-18-2012 Oregon:

Michael Current, who played in the NFL for 13 years as an offensive lineman with the Denver Broncos, Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Miami Dolphins, was found dead at an Oregon Baskett Slough National Wildlife Refuge in an apparent suicide, according to the Statesman Journal.

According to The Columbus Dispatch, Current was facing sex abuse charges.

The report also said that Current was found by off-duty paramedics on a viewing platform off Highway 22. The apparent cause of death was a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Current was a resident of Las Vegas and there is no information with regards to why he was in Oregon.

Current was born in Lima, Ohio and attended Ohio State University. He was drafted in the third round of the 1967 AFL/NFL common draft by the Broncos. Current was a one-time Pro Bowler as he was selected to the game in 1969. Current is also well known for a memoir he published about his football career, entitled "Rememberin' Life in the Trenches."

The 6'5", 274-lb. Current was primarily an offensive right tackle at the professional level and started nearly every game of his AFL/NFL career. Current twice qualified for the postseason near the end of his 13-year career as a member of the Dolphins.

Current was 66 years old at the time of his death. ..Source.. by Mike Chiari

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Ohio State football: Former captain found dead in Oregon

1-17-2012 Oregon:

SALEM, Ore. — Former Ohio State football captain and NFL lineman Michael Current, who wrote a 2002 memoir of his time in the league, was found dead yesterday in an Oregon wildlife refuge. He was facing sex abuse charges.

Polk County sheriff’sheriff's officials said Current, 66, of Las Vegas, apparently shot himself with a shotgun in the Baskett Slough National Wildlife Refuge west of Salem. He had formerly lived and coached youth football in the Silverton area, which is about 25 miles from where his body was found, the Salem Statesman Journal reports.

Court records obtained by The Associated Press show 66-year-old Michael Wayne Current was scheduled to enter a plea today in Marion County Circuit Court in Salem, Ore.

He had been indicted in November on five counts of first-degree sexual abuse, and one count of luring a minor. The charges stemmed from 2004 and 2008 in Silverton, Ore.

Current was found dead Monday at a viewing area at the Baskett Slough National Wildlife Refuge, about 10 miles west of Salem, Ore.

Polk County sheriff’s deputies say he shot himself in the head with a 20-gauge shotgun that was not his. He had gotten a ride to the viewing area and was wearing sweats and a blanket.

A native of Lima, Ohio, Current played at Ohio State in the 1960s, earning letters as an offensive tackle in 1965 and 1966 and serving as one of three captains on the 1966 team for Coach Woody Hayes.

Current was drafted in the 3rd round of the 1967 NFL draft by the Denver Broncos. He also played for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Miami Dolphins, starting 164 of the 169 games in which he played.

His memoir is called Rememberin’ Life in the Trenches. ..Source.. by The Columbus Disatch

Benton Harbor cop charged with sexual assault

1-12-2012 Michigan:

BENTON HARBOR, Mich. - A former Benton Harbor police officer was arrested today and is now facing prison time if convicted of sexual assault allegations.

42-year-old Jared Graves, a 14-year veteran employee of the Benton Harbor Department of Public Safety was arrested at his home today by Michigan State Police.

Graves mostly sat in silence Thursday afternoon over a video transmission from the jail while the judge read off charges. Graves faces felonies: two for criminal sexual conduct, one for misconduct in office and another for delivery of marijuana.

According to charging documents, on October 5th, Graves investigated a reported smell of marijuana at the Harbor Towers apartment complex right across the street from the police station. Graves took the weed from a 24-year-old woman but never busted her.

According to the complaint, two days later he called the woman to the department, took her in a storage room and threatened to arrest her if she didn’t perform sexual acts on him. He gave the drugs back when it was over.

On November 15th Graves called the victim to back to the department and said he could still charge her with marijuana possession if she didn’t have sex with him.
Roger Lange, Director of Public Safety, said he reacted with “disappointment and disgust” when he learned about the allegations. Lange says within hours the department started an internal investigation into Graves.

Lange said video surveillance of the building confirmed the allegations. “These cameras came in very useful in obtaining evidence needed to prove the allegations,” he said. Lange says within 12 hours of the victim coming forward Graves was taken off of patrol work and within days Graves resigned from his position.

Lange says the department moved fast and this type of behavior will not be tolerated. “This department is going to be accountable for its actions and every officer here will be held accountable for their actions,” he said.

According to the documents, Graves admitted most of the allegations except he says the sex with the victim was consensual. ..Source.. by Ryan Klund

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Former Benton Harbor officer accused of wrongdoing found dead from apparent suicide

1-12-2012 Michigan:

BERRIEN COUNTY – The Berrien County prosecutor tells WSBT that Jared Graves was found dead in his home Thursday afternoon from an apparent suicide.

Graves resigned from the Benton Harbor police department last November. He faced drug, misconduct in office, and criminal sexual conduct charges.

Investigators say he threatened to arrest a woman for marijuana possession if she did not perform sex acts in an apartment, and then at the police department last fall. ..Source.. by WSBT

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Accused ex-cop kills himself

1-14-2012:

BENTON HARBOR -- A former Benton Harbor policeman who was in trouble with the law has killed himself.

Jared Graves, 42, hanged himself in his Benton Township home Thursday, police and court officials said.

Graves was accused of forcing a Benton Harbor woman into sex acts with him on two occasions in exchange for his not arresting her on a marijuana charge. A court hearing was to take place next week.

Berrien County Prosecutor Arthur Cotter called Graves' suicide "regrettable."

Graves was arrested last month on four felony counts, including two counts of criminal sexual conduct. He was out of jail on bond and was scheduled for a pre-exam conference today and a preliminary hearing in Berrien County Trial Court on Tuesday. The Tuesday hearing would have established whether there was probable cause to put Graves on trial for the charges facing him.

Benton Township police Detective Lt. Delmar Lange said police and Medic 1 ambulance were called to the Graves home at 1919 Broadway around 1 p.m. Thursday. He said police and paramedics found Joyce Graves in the basement performing CPR on her husband. Graves had hanged himself and was pronounced dead at the scene, Lange said.

Graves was facing two counts of third-degree criminal sexual conduct, a 15-year felony; one count of misconduct in office, a five-year felony; and one count of delivery of marijuana, a four-year felony.

State police investigated the case after a woman came into the Benton Harbor police station in late November and said Graves was forcing her into sex acts.

Benton Harbor Director of Public Safety Roger Lange put Graves on immediate administrative leave, and Graves resigned Nov. 28. He had been a police officer in Benton Harbor from 1994 to '98 and again from 2001 until he resigned. He was a Benton Harbor Police Officer of the Year in 2008.

Graves was also a church pastor. He was appointed pastor of the Franklin African Methodist Episcopal Church in Niles in 2005 and had previously served as pastor of Quinn Chapel AME Church near Cassopolis.

The charges against Graves alleged that on Oct. 5, while still a Benton Harbor patrolman, he forced a 24-year-old woman to perform oral sex on him under the threat that he would arrest her for possession of marijuana, which he had confiscated from her two days earlier.

The woman told police that Graves had called her and insisted that she come to the police station to discuss possible charges. It was at the police station that he told her he would return the marijuana to her if she would perform the sex act, the woman told police.

The woman said Graves contacted her again Nov. 16 at Harbor Towers, where she lives, took her to a police office inside the apartment building and forced her to have sex with him under the continuing threat that he could still charge her with a marijuana offense.

"Based upon the evidence I had in this case, he committed a despicable act, but having known him as a court officer and having some sense of who he was, I don't think that told the whole picture," Cotter said Thursday. "He wasn't beyond redemption. I'm sorry for his family that he decided to do what he did."

Cotter said he saw some good in Graves.

"Based upon what I've learned, he had demons that he was wrestling with when it came to sex, and he had a debt to pay. But at some point when he'd paid that debt he'd have been back with his family," Cotter said. "His family has suffered a lot and I think they'll continue to suffer. This is regrettable for his family." ..Source.. by JULIE SWIDWA The Herald-Palladium

Child-rape suspect dies after jailing

12-9-2011 New Mexico:

Man charged with alleged crimes from 20 years ago

BERNALILLO, N.M. (KRQE) - An accused child rapist arrested late Thursday is headed for a mortuary instead of court after being found dead in his jail cell.

Rio Rancho police busted Stephen Vincent, 52, Thursday night after he eluded arrest for months on charges of child rape and child abuse.

Just after 3:30 a.m. the Sandoval County Detention Center notified the sheriff's department that Vincent had apparently committed suicide in his cell.

The official cause of death still must be determined by the state Office of the Medical Investigator.

Jail officials have not returned calls from News 13 asking for comment.

A grand jury in Albuquerque had indicted Vincent in September for alleged crimes dating to the early 1990s.

The district attorney's office said once they get a copy of Vincent's death certificate the case against him will be dismissed. ..Source.. by KASA.com Amanda Goodman