TheTrenchcoat Chronicles

Tag: connecticut

  • Forced sexual acts

    MySpace encounter leads to charges:

    Seriously Connecticut, is there something in the water that causes your state to produce so many sex offenders?

    BANTAM – A Morris man is facing charges for allegedly using his computer to entice a 15-year-old girl who listed her age as 20 years old in her MySpace.com page.

    Gabriel Simmons, 31, was served with an arrest warrant Monday by state police at the Bantam Superior Court charging him with using a computer to entice a minor, second-degree sexual assault, risk of injury to a minor, and illegal distribution of liquor to a minor.

    Simmons was reportedly on parole when he met the 15-year-old girl Dec. 31 to spend a New Year’s Eve weekend in his Morris apartment, according to an arrest warrant. Another couple joined them for the small party that included video games, beer and smoking marijuana.

    The victim told police she went willingly with Simmons but that he forced her to perform sexual acts. She was intoxicated at the time, she told police, according to the warrant.

    Now while the girl made some incredibly stupid choices the “forced her to perform sexual acts” part is still illegal no matter what age the victim is. And smoking dope while on probation we’ll probably get you locked up too.

  • Conn. Creeper Sentenced

    Man sentenced for arranging sex with girl he met on MySpace:

    I originally posted about Jason Palmeira here. He was charged with using the Internet to persuade a minor to engage in sexual activity and traveling in interstate commerce for the purpose of attempting to have, and having, illicit sexual conduct with a minor. That’s a mouthful. In English…

    Palmeira traveled on July 13 from Massachusetts to Connecticut to meet the girl, picking her up in a green sports car. He drove the girl to Massachusetts, bringing her to a location he described as his girlfriend’s house, the affidavit says.

    Once at the house, Palmeira is accused of having sexual contact with the girl, putting his finger in her vagina and driving her back to Connecticut, dropping her off at the Simsbury Public Library the following morning, according to the affidavit.

    Of course, this was all arranged over MySpace.

    For his troubles, Palmeira was sentenced to three years behind bars.

  • Shefelbine’s dad gets probation

    Suspect’s Father Gets Probation:

    David Shefelbine, the father of suspected serial predator Scott Shefelbine, received probation for punching out a female reporter.

    David Shefelbine of Tolland, father of Scott Shefelbine, received the special form of probation for a year, by Judge Patricia L. Harleston.

    In granting the probation, Harleston directed David Shefelbine to have “no assaultive behavior toward anyone, particularly anyone in the news media.”

    I guess there goes the father-son picnic at county lockup.

  • Court employee failed to supervise Shefelbine

    Court worker suspended for failing to track whereabouts of accused MySpace molester:

    You remember Scott Shefelbine don’t you? He’s the guy who was arrested a brazillion times for molesting underage girls he met on MySpace even after he was already arrested. It turns out that a court employee by the name of Joann Vaughan has been suspended without pay because she failed to keep track of Shefelbine after one of the many times he posted bail. During that time it’s believed he visited one of his victims when his bond specified he was forbidden from doing so.

  • Conn. AG turns to Facebook

    Popular Web site is target of probe:

    Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal is up to his usual misguided ways. This time he’s focusing his wrath on Facebook.

    Connecticut’s attorney general is scrutinizing Facebook, the popular social-networking site, for allowing convicted sex offenders to register, calling into question whether the company is doing enough to protect users.

    The inquiry by Richard Blumenthal is designed to force Palo Alto’s Facebook to take a more aggressive stand against sexual predators after his office uncovered at least three cases of such offenders becoming members, a spokesman confirmed. In addition, Blumenthal’s team found that some of Facebook’s users had posted sexually explicit material that was not swiftly removed.

    A whole three, compared to MySpace’s 29,000. Ooooooooh, Facebook really is a criminal haven.

    Connecticut officials have contacted Facebook and asked it to remove the sex offenders’ profiles. Blumenthal plans to continue his inquiry.

    A Facebook spokeswoman did not return telephone calls seeking comment. Chris Kelly, the company’s chief privacy officer, told the New York Times that he is not familiar with the Connecticut investigation but that the company receives many reports about sex offenders registering on the Web site. The profiles are usually removed within 72 hours, he said.

    “We want to be a good partner to the states in attempting to address this societal problem,” Kelly told the Times. “We’ve worked with them for quite some time now, and we look forward to continuing our fruitful partnership.”

    Facebook maintains more-stringent security rules than some of its competitors because of its early days as an online destination for students. Full user profiles aren’t visible to the general public, for instance, and can be seen only by people who have been confirmed as friends.

    It’s bad enough that AG Blumenthal places the blame on MySpace instead of inattentive parents now he’s going after a site that has very little criminal activity. In the year and a half that I’ve been doing this site the stories about Facebook pale in comparison to the stories about MySpace.

    As I’ve said before AG Blumenthal needs to concentrate on keeping sex offenders off the streets than off of MySpace or Facebook.

  • Shefelbine trial moved

    Shefelbine Cases Moved To Rockville:

    Everyone’s favorite repeat arrestee and all around creepy guy, Scott Shefelbine, is having two of his cases moved from Hartford to Rockville, CT. However, it’s not because of any change of venue requests.

    Judge Thomas P. Miano said that he was transferring the cases for administrative purposes to Rockville, where seven other cases are pending against Shefelbine. Miano said that the move did not preclude the defense from filing a change of venue motion.

    So Judge Miano is basically saying “Look here Slapnuts. Since you have seven other cases pending against you in Rockville we’re going to let them have these two as well”. So basically Shefelbine only has to make one stop before he heads to the joint.

    Rockville may not be his last stop though. His defense attorney may file a change of venue request due to all the pre-trial publicity. Maybe if her client’s father didn’t punch out a reporter there wouldn’t be so much publicity.

  • A Shefelbine strikes back

    Defendant’s Father Punches Reporter:

    The saga of alleged serial predator Scott Shefelbine took a bizarre twist today. After his bail was revoked his father, David Shefelbine, punched out a reporter…a female reporter.

    VERNON – After his son was jailed today, David Shefelbine punched a television reporter in the face outside Superior Court in Rockville.

    Erin Cox, from WTNH Channel 8, was asking him for a comment on the judge’s decision involving Scott Shefelbine, 32, when David Shefelbine, 67, swung his right arm and punched her.

    Vernon police were called, interviewed witnesses and viewed footage of the alleged assault taken by photographers for Channel 8 and WVIT Channel 30. Cox went to Rockville General Hospital at 2:35 p.m. to be evaluated.

    Police went to Shefelbine’s Tolland home after the incident to question him, but he refused to answer the door, police said. He later turned himself in at Vernon police headquarters, accompanied by his lawyer. He was charged with second-degree breach of peace and released without having to post bail.

    I’m not surprised he didn’t have to post bail. He should have a $1.5M credit.

    It also seems that a lack of respect for women runs in the family.

  • Marshals, please take Mr. Shefelbine into custody

    That’s the quote from Judge Stanley T. Fuger Jr. when he ordered the bail of Scott Shefelbine revoked.

    In his ruling, which came at noon, Fuger said he found the parents’ testimony not believable. The judge said he believed Shefelbine and his parents fabricated evidence and conspired to lie in order to keep him out of jail.

    Shefelbine’s mother sobbed. He showed no emotion, stood and faced the marshals and held out his hands.

    I’ve seen mothers in denial about their kids before but Mrs. Shefelbine takes the cake.

    Since Shefelbine’s bail was revoked doesn’t that mean that his family loses that $1.5M that they posted? If I was on the verge of losing $1.5M because of an ungrateful son maybe I would fabricate evidence too.

    But let’s not lose sight of something. Shefelbine should have had his bail revoked a long time ago. He was arrested multiple times for pretty much the exact same thing. His bail should have been revoked after his second arrest. The first arrest of his that I posted about was back in October 2006. Why in God’s name did it take 9 months to finally get him off the streets? And why is no one asking these questions to Conn. Attorney General Richard Blumenthal? You know him, he’s the guy who started all the MySpace hysteria. He likes to brag about how much he does to keep Connecticut’s children safe yet a serial pedophile like Shefelbine is allowed to walk free.

    Maybe I’ll have to ask him that question myself.

    Thanks to A Mom for the link.

  • As the Shefelbines turn

    This story gets more bizarre with each passing day.

    Yesterday the mother of Scott Shefelbine testified in her son’s bail revocation hearing. Her alibi for her son was that he was at church and not trying to molest a 14-year-old girl. Was church really the best thing she could come up with?

    Scott D. Shefelbine was not in West Hartford on the evening of April 19 trying to hook up with a 14-year-old girl, but at Victory Tabernacle Church in Middlefield praying for the Virginia Tech massacre victims, his mother told a Rockville Superior Court judge Wednesday.

    Gail Shefelbine’s offer of an alibi for her 32-year-old son, accused of sexually assaulting several teenage girls, came during the second day of a hearing on the state’s effort to send Shefelbine to jail until his trial.

    The defense offered a dated church bulletin as evidence of the April 19 visit to Victory Tabernacle.

    Gail Shefelbine also said that on May 13 and May 20 she was at church with her son – at St. Thomas the Apostle Roman Catholic Church in West Hartford. Under cross-examination, she acknowledged that she unsuccessfully sought after the fact to obtain a dated church bulletin to offer as proof of the May 13 visit.

    The defense Wednesday presented a May 20 church bulletin from St. Thomas and date-stamped photographs of Gail and Scott Shefelbine in front of the church. Gail Shefelbine testified they posed for the shots as further proof they were there May 20.

    Shefelbine’s mother also said an elderly nun at the church wrote on the bulletin “Gail and Scott were here.”

    The electronic monitor shows that Shefelbine was out of his house from 4:45 to 5:53 p.m. May 20. Gail Shefelbine and Cooney testified that they arrived at the church late and stayed only about a half hour, leaving before communion because as non-Catholics they could not partake.

    Leaming wasn’t buying it. “You arrived late, left early and you drove all the way to West Hartford to attend Mass?” Leaming asked. Yes, Gail Shefelbine responded.

    Leaming also asked whether “anything on [the May 20 church bulletin] proves you were at that church on that date?” Shefelbine responded that she did not know. When Leaming asked her whether date stamps on a digital photo, such as those of her and her son at the church, could be manipulated, she replied: “I have no idea.”

    For those of you who aren’t Catholic, this is an old Catholic trick that most of us did when we were kids. Back in the day when you could send your kids to church alone, my parents would always make me bring back a church bulletin to prove that I was there. So I would go to church, grab a bulletin, and then run off to the mall. It worked on Mom but not Dad and I sure as hell wouldn’t use it as a defense in criminal proceedings.

    His sister’s explanation wasn’t much better.

    The girl and her sister have identified Shefelbine in court, but said he looked different in May. They said he didn’t have a beard as he does now.

    Cindy Shefelbine, the suspect’s sister, testified on Wednesday that her brother has had a beard for nearly a year. Photos taken in May, just a day or two before the victim said she saw Scott Shefelbine, were shown in court on Wednesday. The pictures depict that he did have a beard.

    Channel 3 Eyewitness News reporter Susan Raff reported Cindy Shefelbine appeared agitated when asked about her brother’s whereabouts.

    Cindy Shefelbine said her brother was with her at church the day that one of the victims said Scott Shefelbine came to her home. Prosecutors asked whether Cindy Shefelbine felt her brother was being unfairly prosecuted and she said she didn’t know what that meant.

    So there best explanations for Shefelbine’s whereabouts are church and a beard. Are you sure it wasn’t the one-armed man? Or maybe Shefelbine was saving babies from burning buildings at the time? Good luck with that.

    Proceedings are scheduled for today as well.

  • Update on Scott Shefelbine

    Prosecutors Want Shefelbine’s Bond Revoked:

    Just a quick update on Scott Shefelbine’s bail revocation hearing. No decision was made yesterday but one is expected today.

    But let’s throw some weaselly lawyer in for good measure.

    The most recent victim said she met Shefelbine online and they met in West Hartford Center. After that, she said he went to her home one day and told her he was at his therapist’s office on Prospect Avenue in Hartford and that he decided to walk over.

    Shefelbine’s attorney, Jeffery Denner, questioned the meetings, pointing out that the time the girl said Shefelbine was at her house, he was still at a therapy session.

    “The evidence speaks for itself and Mr. Shefelbine was not in their houses. If they say he was, they are mistaken,” Denner said.

    What about the other bajillion victims? Are they mistaken too?