Lost In Lima Ohio - A true crime blog

Before Aaron Nichols could even get a drivers license, he'd already molested enough children to convince most people that he was a danger to society. Most people, but not all people. Not his father, who he'd confessed to and who had instructed him to 'remain quiet', not the original prosecutor that waited until the last minute to admit that his dealings with Nichols father (the county coroner) and Nichols uncle (a county councilman) had conflicts of interest in handling the case, not even the first judge who also ended up recusing himself because of dealings with the same two men. And, amazingly after years of waiting for this to go to court- it seems that Nichols, charged with molesting an 11 year old boy in 2002 and an 8 year old boy in 2003, still hasn't had enough victims to convince the current prosecutor that he's a clear danger to society and needs to be locked up. Instead, the prosecutors office has worked up a plea deal with the defense that seems to do...

It started with me just reading one article about a woman in Ohio who works at a 'sex shop', which I can only assume is an adult related store. Anyway, it seems that the woman, who is a mother of some odd number of children has decided to sue the state of Ohio because she doesn't like Ohio's new sex offender laws. How they actually effect her is confusing, at least to me, but the article says she fears she'll be arrested for pandering obscenity because of her job as manager of the sex shop. And, evidently if she does get arrested- she faces the prospect of being labeled a sex offender which then in turn would " mean her daughters could no longer go to Catholic school because the school conducts background checks ." Honestly- I think she's putting a lot of pressure on the 'what if' aspect of this all. It's not like working in a sex shop really makes her all that great of a Catholic to begin with, but that's just my two cents. After th...

I sometimes wonder if certain men have some sort of animal DNA breed into them. The type of DNA or whatever it is that makes animals ritually preform certain actions. Like lions, when a male lion takes over a pride it'll often kill the offspring of the previous male, before mating with the female lions and creating cubs of it's own. I only wonder this, because it seems like there are an overwhelming number of men out there that end up killing the children of their girlfriends, not all of them do- but on a case by case comparison between girlfriends killing their boyfriends offspring and boyfriends doing it, it just seems that it's a lot more common amoung men. NOT THAT ALL OF THEM DO THIS... there are some great boyfriends/stepfathers out there that actually take care of kids as if they are their own... but then we have cases like Christopher Thunborg and Kashon Scott. Thunborg was babysitting his girlfriend's 11 month of baby in March when police say he caused ...

Donald Edward Lynch might like to travel a bit, but thanks to a judge with a backbone and some proper ethics- the only trips Lynch will be taking for the remander of his life are the ones from his jail cell to the jail house cafeteria. "I know you're not gonna probably live that long Mr. Lynch, but it is my intent that you never be outside the walls of the Tennessee Department of Correction at any time ever for the rest of your life," retired senior judge Jerry Scott informed Lynch at the conclusion of Friday's sentencing hearing. Lynch was convicted earlier this month of two counts each of especially aggravated sexual exploitation of a minor and aggravated sexual battery, and six counts of rape of a child. For his crimes, Scott ordered Lynch to serve 66 years in prison and pay $400,000 in fines. Credit for this proper sentence has been given to the testimony of counselors who talked about the effects Lynchs' actions have had, and will continue to have on hi...

Unknown Randi Gorenberg Murder: Detectives continue to try to unravel the murder mystery of a well-liked Boca Raton resident, Randi Gorenberg. Is her murder connected to two other similar crimes in the same town, or was she targeted for another reason? http://www.amw.com/fugitives /brief.cfm?id=44363 Unknown Nancy and Joey Bochicchio Killer: Authorities have released new surveillance video of a "suspicious" person of interest in the South Florida mall murders. In March, AMW released the latest sketch of the suspect in the killing of Nancy Bochicchio and her 7-year-old daughter Joey -- and the person of interest in the new video bears a striking resemblance to the sketch. http://www.amw.com/fugitives /brief.cfm?id=51704 Michael Chavez: Police say Michael Chavez, 26, was living a horrible secret life. Newly married, cops say Chavez was sexually abusing his wife's two young daughters. Now, the Sacramento Sheriff's detectives have launched a manhunt for this...

A 14 year old girl has been charged in the death of her newborn baby after giving birth in a school bathroom and allowing the child to drown in a toilet. But this doesn't seem to just be a case of the teenager giving birth and walking away, leaving the baby to die- especially given the condition of the infant. Investigators said the 5-pound, 6-ounce boy died April 2 in a restroom at Cedar Bayou Junior School, located at 2600 Elvinta. The baby had toilet paper stuffed in his throat, and suffered blunt trauma to his head and neck, according to an autopsy Officials said the baby boy was alive and was drowned in the toilet. The medical examiner said the newborn died of water submersion and internal airway obstruction

I've heard of some odd things, but I have to admit that Frederick McKaney's recent assaults on his mother and another woman might just be the strangest thing I've read in a few days. It seems that during a disagreement, McKaney decided to stab his mother, with a fork. Apparently she had refused to give him money, thus earning his rath and a stab to the back of the neck with the fork. About an hour later, he had a even stranger method of assault, when he attacked a neighbor with a frozen chicken. Read all...

Brooke Bennett had told her uncle that she was suppose to meet a friend to go visit someone sick in the hospital. But, after Brooke failed to return home, her family's questions about the meeting seemed to lead them no where. Now, it is believed that the 12 year old made the story up in order to meet up with a man she meet on the internet and police are searching for any information that may lead to finding her. Surveillance camera footage from the Cumberland Farms store showed Brooke being dropped off by her uncle and cousin, who drove off, according to Covell. The footage showed Brooke walking away from the store by herself, he said. That was the last time she was seen. A family member searching for her Thursday in Brookfield — near her uncle's home, where she spent the night — found items belonging to her near Route 65 that were similar to what she had been wearing, prompting an intensive search by police and dogs in the area of the Floating Bridge. An Amber Alert ha...

The little 10 year old girl suffered from cerebral palsy and was blind and partially paralyzed, relying on a wheelchair. Her fathers girlfriend decided to give her a bath in April of 2007, and placed her into a scalding tub of water, which left her with burns so sever she later died but not before suffering for 8 days while neither the girlfriend, LaShawn Brown or the child's father Shawn Lockett Sr attempted to get her any medical attention. He's looking at 40 years, which sounds about right. The girlfriend however took a deal, and for some strange reason got a much better outlook for her future plans of freedom: Brown pleaded guilty to third-degree murder last month in exchange for a seven- to 14-year term. She "has at least expressed some responsibility in this girl's death," prosecutor Sean McCormack said Thursday. At least some responsibility? That's the best they can come up with? Who the living hell puts a child into a scalding tub of water and then cal...

Perhaps we've all jumped the gun, and maybe just maybe, the Sub prime* Court is right about sentencing rapists to death. After all, there is always the option of sentencing these sexual deviants to long prison terms where they are monitored and unable to continue carrying out heinous crimes. Or, not. One thing most of us have learned by now is that regardless of the best attempts by society to restrain these freaks from tainting society with their vile acts, it's impossible to ever 'stop them forever' without the assistance of their death. Even locking them up behind bars and guarding them doesn't really stop them, if it's there intent to persist in their perversions. Take Enoch Hall, of the Tomoka Correctional Institution in Florida. He's currently serving two life sentences for sexual battery with a weapon and kidnapping convictions from a 1993 case . But being in prison didn't do much to stop him from taking another victim. An inmate raped and murde...

Patrick Kennedy walked into the bedroom of his 8 year old daughter, and raped her so severely that the child required surgery. Richard Davis prostituted a 16 year old girl before getting her pregnant, then sexually abused the child they conceived- before spending nearing a year raping another child who was five at the time. For their crimes, they faced a trial by their peers in which they were found guilty. They were given the max sentence allowed by the law of the state (Louisiana), the death penalty. Until yesterday, they were sitting rightfully on death row- the only two death row inmates in the United States sentenced to death for the crime of raping a child. But the Supreme Court of the United States has said their sentences are beyond was is allowable- that child isn't bad enough to make the punishment fitting of the crime. That the death penalty should be saved for crimes that take a life- rather than just damaging the life to the most extreme extent. Oh- wait. Except for tr...

Just what constitutes cruel and unusual? I suppose, it depends on who you ask these days. Promoting a 16-year-old for prostitution in 1996- an example of cruel and unusual, getting that 16 year old pregnant, and then sexually abusing the child when he's four years old- even more 'cruel and unusual'. Moving on to repeatedly rape a five year old girl for nearly a year- let's just say now that this man is in line with the worst of the worst. And for his crimes, Louisiana jurors sentenced him to death in line with a state law that allows them to do so. But, that's wasn't the end of Richard Davis, formerly of Ohio. No, he appealed the sentence calling IT 'cruel and unusual' punishment for his crimes. The man that sexually abused children, including his own, and who cried during the trial had the gull to think that the death penalty was 'unfair'. Even worse- an appeal court agreed with him today. In another appeal dealing with child rapists, LA Justic...

I'm going to let some people in on a not so little secret about child abuse, because it seems that James Fagan isn't exactly aware of it and should be told. Victims of sexual abuse often deal with the emotional and often times physical results of that abuse all of their lives. Counseling may help, a loving environment helps, in fact a lot of things help- but the sad truth is that the effects are always there to some degree. No child victim of rape needs someone to remind them of it- it's there in their head every day of their life. They will feel it at 8, feel it at 12, and guess what? At 19 they still feel it. It's stays with them their entire life, they'll go through the throwing up, the not sleeping, the difficult relationships- not because of some half witted lawyer who decided it was a good idea to run them through the ringer during the criminal trial of their attacker- but because they had an attacker to begin with. James Fagan doesn't get that though. In...

Christel C. Gravlin was labeled a level 1 sex offender and given a sweeter than hell deal for charges that she sexually abused a student. 33-year-old Christel C. Gravlin plead guilty in March to one count of 3rd degree Rape in a deal that will see her sentenced to no more than six months in jail followed by ten years probation. Today, Judge Richards set her Sex Offender status at Level 1, the lowest level. The judge cited “clear and convincing evidence” that she was not a risk to be a repeat offender, as she has been undergoing drug counseling and psychiatric treatment since the case came to light. This winner of a woman who never should have been in a classroom blamed her actions on depression, pressure from the boy, alcohol, prescription drugs Which makes me wonder what the hell the judge was thinking. After all, we know that offenders who refuse to take responsibility for their crimes are more likely to repeat them (blaming the victim, blaming everything else... ringing any bells h...

After a year of searching for answers, Donna Jou's family is no closer to solving the question of her whereabouts than they were when the 19 year old disappeared with a man she met on the internet , John Steven Burgess. Burdess is a convicted sex offender currently doing time in a California prison on unrelated charges stemming from his failure to register as a sex offender. He'll be spending the next three years behind bars, while Jou's family continues to hope for information on what happened to her. Investigators say Jou met Burgess through Craigslist. Jou offered her services on the Web site as a math tutor, and Burgess advertised rooms for rent at his Los Angeles home. Authorities say Jou received phone calls from Burgess on June 23, 2007. He picked her up near her mother's home on his motorcycle that evening. From there, the two went to Burgess' home for a party, police said. Jou has not been seen since. There has been no activity on her bank account or her c...

Johnny A. Foster doesn't seem to have a lot of common sense, or a lot of self control. "Baby J," "J-Dog" or "Little Mac," as he likes to be called was just released in April after doing a 14 year stint for sexually battery of a child under the age of 12. But, to the complete surprise of no one, police have arrested him already and now he's looking at another long stretch. It might have saved a few tax payer dollars in court costs and law enforcement costs if they would have second thought letting him free and just kept in in prison to begin with. In stead, Foster was able to go free, and then traumatize a teenage girl. Foster, 31, is accused of climbing through a Fort Pierce teen's bedroom window June 6 and trying to pay her $50 for sex. [...] According to the warrant affidavit used to secure Foster's arrest, the terrified 16-year-old victim awoke about 4 a.m. to find Foster in bed with her and pulling on the sheets. "Foster offered he...

We've all read the articles about people who in some cruel twist of fate have been left in charge of children. You know the people I'm talking about- they are the sort you'd feel bad leaving an animal with, let alone allowing them to 'care' for children. People who shouldn't have kids, but do. Parents who should not only have their children removed, but should have all their reproductive organs taken out too for preventive measures. Trench calls them Bad Breeders , and has added yet another blog to his collection of many many blogs, dedicated just to them.

There is an editorial from Jeff Webb , editor of editorials at the St Petersburg Times covering the recent highlighting of the botched case of Thomas Wolverton . He's a convicted sexual offender, whose victims were 4, 5, and 7. He'd spent just 6 years in prison, and then was released without any SOR requirements. He'd promptly moved into a place that was extremely close to an elementary school in Brooksville. The errors that lead to all of this was only 'caught' when the mother of the victims spotted him and began asking questions. Webb makes some very good points on the entire case, while giving an update on the current status, and the editorial is worth taking a few moments to read. I won't get into the entire piece to deeply, because I really do want you to read it, but out of fear that some of you just won't click over regardless of how much I insist that you do- I want to share the last lines of his writings. This big boy, whom I will forever more ...

This week on America's Most Wanted: Giovanni Ruanova: Federal agents say Giovanni Ruanova and his stripper girlfriend are in love ... with drugs and money. The couple discovered common ground as alleged co-workers in a drug organization worth millions of dollars. The DEA believes Ruanova is a big-time drug runner, and that his sidekick was along for a wild ride. http://www.amw.com/fugitives /brief.cfm?id=41524 Annette Sanchez: Cops say Annette Sanchez was willing to do anything for her drug-running boyfriend -- including lie to the police. When cops found $9,000 in her purse, she said it was money she'd earned by stripping. Detroit cops say they might've even bought her story, if it weren't for the $1.8 million of dirty money hidden in the trunk of her car. http://www.amw.com/fugitives /brief.cfm?id=41525 Rodolfo Gonzalez: On Oct. 30, 2005, a group of close friends celebrated Halloween with a party with a special theme: "Crime Scene." But before...

I know it's not the usual sort of crime I post about- but you're stuck reading it now. Police are investigating 28 stolen vases, taken from the graves of Veterans in Crownsville Md. I've just got to come out and say it, it's almost a sure thing that these are being taken to be sold off for scape metal- there's no other reason why any stranger would want them, and the chances of someone being related to all 28 vets is extremely slim. So, they've clearly got some low life asshole over there in Md, disgracing the entire town, and bringing shame to generations of his/her/their families. I can only hope that guilt eats away at the responsible person, as well as some sort of nasty infection- starting with his/her/their appendages. The entire idea of showing such complete disrespect for someone who served to protect the rest of us is nothing short of unforgivable. Cemetery officials said the vases started disappearing in April and that 28 of them have been taken. Click...

Jeff Pelo once was a respected member of law enforcement, earning himself a position as a Bloomington Ill. police sergeant. That's before he was convicted of raping four women and the stalking of a another woman. Jeff Pelo, 43, was found guilty on 35 counts, including 25 of aggravated sexual assault. Two other charges were dropped during the trial. The rapes took place from 2002 to 2005. Pelo has been jailed since his June 2006 arrest, unable to post $100,000 to cover $1 million bail. Prosecutor Mark Messman noted that the jurors reached their decision despite a lack of DNA or similar forensic evidence linking Pelo directly to the rapes. While the trail contained 'no smoking gun', according to Messman, three of the women were able to pick him out of police lineup, and other strong evidence was presented to the jury. Defense attorney Michael Rosenblat said he likely would appeal. He plans to argue that the judge shouldn't have let jurors see pornography found on Pelo...

Mohammed Al Hamdani may not be a big fan of people who give their young kids cell phones, especially cell phones that are capable of snapping his photo. Police say that Hamdani attempted to abduct an 11 year old girl by luring her to his vehicle when she pulled out her camera phone and snapped a photo of him before running away. The girl then took the photo to police, who distributed the photo to the community. I've seen the little kids out and running around with cell phones, and never been a huge fan of the idea- mostly because I think it provides a false sense of security to parents who believe that tossing a cell phone at a child constitutes 'keeping an eye on them'. In truth, had this child had an adult with her instead of a cell phone, it's unlikely she would have even been approached. But, I will give her complete credit for some fast thinking- she likely did something few adults would have had the mind to do.

When child services received a tip that something was wrong at the apartment where 24 year old Starkeisha Brown and her girlfriend resided with Brown's five year old boy, she agreed to come into the office to discuss the allegations. She even brought in two healthy children, to show child services that the children were fine and in good health. The problem was that the children she brought in where not her children, and the child DHS was concerned about, had received the tip about- was left with a complete stranger. Starkeisha Brown had left the little 5 year old boy, telling a stranger to watch him because she'd be right back. The person, who has so far gone unnamed, started going to a few people in the neighborhood concerned about what to do with the little boy as he appeared hurt, and ill. Police were called and back in the child services building Brown and her girlfriend were failing to trick to officials into believing that the 4 year old boy and 6 year old girl they had b...

Your boyfriend, long time scam artist and career criminal sexually abuses your two daughters. I can understand a victim feeling guilt about their abuser going to jail, and in a twisted in need of some emotional help from a medical professional- I can even see them believing that their abuser has changed and deserves leniency. After all, the victim was just a child, and it's hard to deal with both the pain of what happened, and the guilt that someone you cared for did such a thing.. and it's sometimes even hard to see that person punished for it. But- as adults we should know better when that victim is our child, and that abuser is our boyfriend. They don't change. They may learn something from it- how to not get caught so soon the next time is a frequent lesson, but they don't change. And honestly- something in side of me thinks that the victims sympathy for her abuser in this case was helped out quite a bit by her mothers own desire to forget and forget. Freeze, 44, f...

Curtis R. Lange has an 1982 conviction for the rape and attempted murder of a teenager, for which he was released on parole in 2002. Records show that the unemployed Sun Valley resident was paroled in 2002 after serving 20 years for raping a 17-year-old fellow Douglas High School student in 1982, stabbing her in the head and robbing her of $50. According to Nevada parole records, in 1990, a prison psychologist evaluated Lange as not having a high risk to commit more sexually motivated crimes. Lange is a Tier 2 registered sex offender in Washoe County. Tier 2 offenders are assessed as having a "moderate" risk to reoffend. Thankfully, he wasn't a high risk according to the evaluation , cause it'd be a shame to say he was a high risk only to get dirty looks for the fact that you released him, and he went on to commit more sexual crimes. So glad the State slipped under the radar on that one- cause now that he's committed more crimes, the rest of us can just blame... o...

Carlton Don Anderson has four children- ages 4, 3, 3, and 1- with his wife. Despite one neighbors assurance that Anderson always seems to do a pretty good job of keeping a watchful eye on the little ones, police might be a little skeptical of his parenting abilities. Turns out that Anderson left the four children alone while he went to pick his wife up from a bar. She refused to go with him, so he decided to spend the next 12 hours drinking. In the meantime, his two three year old twin decided to do a little hopping around on their own, and headed for the highway, I-17 to be exact. A motorist who almost ran the children over was able to pull over and contact police. The other two children remained at the apartment, which had broken glass from beer bottles covering the kitchen floor and trash piled up in the corner. Police arrested Anderson on arrival, and he admitted to leaving the children alone in the past, including a previous incident where the children had wandered along Glendale...

Christmas brings the pedophile Santas , Halloween brings the haunted houses with perverts running about, and evidently summer brings the pool party predators . Scott Lurken, 47 of River Drive NE, is being held without bond at the Brevard County jail, according to a Palm Bay police spokeswoman. Investigators said they don't know how many kids have been invited to pool parties at Lurken's home over the years, but they said they have had three young girls who don't know each other come forward on their own and they wonder if there are more. Detectives say he performed oral sex on a nine-year-old girl. They also believe he abused an 11-year-old girl and a 13-year-old girl.

A mother who wishes to remain unnamed stumbled upon a startling discovery after her young teenage daughter informed her that she'd been chatting with someone on MySpace. The mother says that the daughter approached her after the conversations began making her uncomfortable. Failing to find a phone number for the man in question- the mom turned to the sex offender registry, only to discover that Andrew Coslett, 30 was indeed listed there, having served time for a sexual assault on a child on 2000. The mother said she discussed the experience with her daughter. "When I showed her his photograph and there it was as a sex offender, she started to cry." Police say Coslett also has previous arrests for aggravated vehicle theft, burglary, forgery and fraud. They also will investigate whether he had communicated with other children. Coslett had also failed to register, so it's imaginable that the charges against him should help to put him away for at least a small amount o...

Police allege that a 12 year old girl was kidnapped and sexually abused by Billy Potts, although she managed to walk away from him at some point and get help. After an amber alert was canceled for the California girl, police began searching Potts and for a van which matched the description of the one used in the crime. A highway patrol officer spotted the vehicle, and approached it to question the driver, who informed the officer that he was a registered sexual offender gave his name to the officer. As the officer was turning to walk away, Potts evidently shot himself, which resulted in his death. Source. If Potts did indeed sexually abuse the child after kidnapping her- then it's a shame he waited until after doing so to end his pathetic life...

Updates from America's Most Wanted- which airs at 9pm on your local Fox station. You can also check out their website, www.amw.com for updates and other cases. Starting this week, you can catch all the latest episodes of America’s Most Wanted at www.hulu.com . James Gonzalez: It took less than 48 hours for AMW tipsters to help nab the man suspected of being New York's "Supermarket Slasher." Now, James Gonzalez is back in N.Y.C. to face the music. He is being held without bail, and his attorney has asked him to be put on suicide watch. When we asked him what he had to say to AMW, he said, "You did a great job." http://www.amw.com/fugitives /brief.cfm?id=53799 Carlos Thompson: New York cops say Carlos Thompson handed a .38-caliber revolver to a 13-year-old boy and ordered him to murder 15-year-old Phoenix Garrett in 2005. The crime shocked Harlem's conscience, and now police, Phoenix's family, and a legend of hip-hop are all teaming up wi...

Generally speaking, one of the safest places a person could normally find themselves is stuck in a bar with two law enforcement officials. After all, who's going to commit a crime against you when you have not one, but two cops right there beside you? Well, for one woman, the answer to that is rather shocking- because as it turns out, the most dangerous place for her at that moment was in the bar she worked out, while she was alone with two police officers from Creston Iowa. Police Chief James Christensen, 40, and Assist. Police Chief John Sickles, 38, turned themselves in for arrest Friday afternoon at Iowa State Patrol Post No. 1 in Des Moines, after Judge Arthur Gamble issued arrest warrants. Click here to find out more! According to Division of Criminal Investigation investigator's affidavit, the alleged victim was a female bartender working at the Crestmoor Golf Club in Creston on April 18. She told the investigator that Sickles raped her behind the bar while Christensen ...

You're at home minding your own business when suddenly someone knocks on your door. The man standing on the other side, is wearing running shorts, a tank top and no shoes. He asks if there are any kids home in the house, because his uncle is having a party and he's suppose to find some youngsters to invite. The hair on the back of your neck starts to stand up... you've gotten that nagging feeling that something just isn't right. Could it possibly be that a child predator has become so obsessed in his need to victimize someone, that he's actually begun going door to door looking for victims? Coweta County officials have charged a suspected child molester they say went door to door in search of young victims. But when Eugene Murphy, 20, knocked on the door of an officer who investigates sex crimes, she made sure authorities knew what he was up to. Authorities said Murphy had an intense desire to harm children. Murphy was knocking on doors wearing running shorts, a tan...