LAPD detective commits suicide after molestation allegations, authorities say

12-5-2014 California:

A detective for the Los Angeles Police Department who once investigated sexual assault cases killed himself Thanksgiving morning after two relatives accused him of sexually abusing them, authorities said Friday.

The body of Dennis Derr, 52, a 17-year LAPD veteran, was found in his car in a Wal-Mart parking lot in Palmdale, law enforcement officials said. Derr died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, according to Los Angeles County coroner's Assistant Chief Ed Winter.

Brian Hudson, a sergeant in the L.A. County Sheriff’s Special Victims Bureau, confirmed two adults made sexual abuse allegations against Derr shortly before he committed suicide. Hudson declined to provide any other details about the investigation into Derr, but other sheriff’s and LAPD sources with knowledge of the case said the two accusers were relatives of Derr.

Although he said the investigation was in its early stages, Hudson said that at this time there have been no other molestation allegations made against Derr.

Philip Derr, the detective's son, said in an interview that two adult men related to Derr recently confided in each other that Derr had molested them when they were teenagers. One of the relatives alleged that he had been abused repeatedly, while the other could recall one instance of abuse a few years ago, Philip Derr said.

Police: man raped girl, committed suicide

12-19-2014 Maine:

The Waterville man who killed himself in the Benton Elementary parking lot Wednesday had kidnapped and raped a teenage girl the day before, said police.

The Morning Sentinel reports that Anthony Harding, 41, had planned the kidnapping and the rape. Waterville Police Chief Joseph Massey said that Harding took the girl to a storage unit with a hidden makeshift room with enough food to last three or four days, along with some furniture.

Police confirmed that Harding and the girl knew each other prior to the abduction. Harding allegedly told the girl after taking her that he had been contemplating suicide for some time. Police said he told the girl he didn't think he had the courage to do it, but if he committed a heinous crime, he would be able to kill himself.

Police said they received a call Wednesday afternoon from a woman who said she was taking a girl to the emergency room because the girl told her she had been raped. Police went to the hospital and talked to the girl who identified Harding as her abductor and rapist. She said Harding had taken her from her home and then to a storage unit, said Massey. While there, he allegedly pulled out a handgun and told her he was he was going to rape her and if she told her mother or police, he would kill her.

Inmate at San Juan County Adult Detention Center fatally hangs self

12-22-2014 New Mexico:

FARMINGTON — An inmate died after hanging himself with a shredded bed sheet in his cell at the San Juan County Adult Detention Center on Monday, according to authorities.

Stephen Freeman, 53, from Bloomfield, was scheduled for a jury trial in Aztec District Court on Dec. 30 for narcotic drug charges among other charges, according to court records. He also was a convicted sex offender, according to court records.

Freeman showed no signs he was contemplating suicide, said Cory Tanner, a San Juan County Sheriff's Office detective lieutenant.

"His neighboring cell mates said that he didn't say anything about it," he said.

Deputies were dispatched to the jail before noon, according to a sheriff's office press release. Sheriff's office Detective Sgt. Kyle Lincoln said medics also responded.

Accused child molester found dead in Marion County Jail

12-4-2014 Indiana:

Officials are investigating the death of a Marion County Jail inmate.

Mark Snyder, 37, was found dead Wednesday inside of a jail cell block from an apparent suicide, according to a news release from the Marion County Sheriff’s Office. No foul play is suspected.

The investigation is being conducted by the Sheriff’s Office, the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department and the Marion County Coroner’s Office, officials said.

Snyder was taken into custody on May 21 on nine counts of felony child molesting and two counts of felony incest. He was also facing three counts of felony child molesting in Morgan County. ..Source.. by Justin L. Mack

Ex-deputy found dead on day molestation trial was to begin

11-10-2014 Georgia:

A former Clayton County deputy accused of child molestation was found dead of an apparent suicide Monday morning after he failed to show up for his trial, according to police.

Phillip Emanuel Richards, then 42, was arrested in March for allegedly assaulting a 13-year-old girl, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution previously reported. The girl told police she awoke to find Richards attacking her so she ran, climbing out of a window and running for help.

Richards’ trial was to begin Monday morning, according to the Clayton County Superior Court docket. He was charged with aggravated child molestation, child molestation, aggravated sodomy and sexual battery, court records showed. He was out of jail on bond.

Inmate serving sentence for child sex abuse dies

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Convicted rapist Danny Cromeans found dead in prison cell at state's Supermax Unit

11-11-2014 Arkansas:

An inmate with a long criminal history in Columbia and Lafayette counties was found dead in his prison cell on Tuesday morning.

Danny Cromeans, 38, who was serving a life sentence for rape, used a bed sheet to hang himself in a single-man cell at the Supermax Unit of the Arkansas Department of Correction in Varner, spokeswoman Dina Tyler said.

Tyler said that Cromeans was last seen alive about 3 a.m. He was found dead at 6:08 a.m. Cromeans was being held at the Supermax unit due to disciplinary problems, Tyler said.

The Arkansas State Police will investigate Cromeans’ death, which is standard procedure in such cases.

Cromeans was sentenced July 19, 2002 by Lafayette County Circuit Court to life in prison for rape, and to an additional 240 months on a related kidnapping count.

In January 1996, Cromeans was sentenced by Columbia County Circuit Court to 10 years in prison on separate counts of residential burglary and criminal mischief first degree.