Tag: connecticut

  • Child predator was fired from school

    Child predator was fired from school

    Documents: MySpace suspect was fired from Ellington school in 2004:

    I originally posted about alleged child rapist Scott Shefelbine here. Apparently, there were signs of his behavior…

    ELLINGTON – The Tolland man charged with sexually assaulting several girls he met on MySpace.com was fired in 2004 from the teacher’s aide position he held at Ellington High School for two years after an investigation revealed that he had “acted inappropriately” with students, according to documents in his personnel file.

    Scott Shefelbine, 31, of 167 Mountain Spring Road, was arrested Oct. 10 and charged with first-degree sexual assault, two counts of second-degree sexual assault, and four counts of risk of injury to a minor.

    The Journal Inquirer obtained dozens of records from Shefelbine’s Ellington school system personnel file Monday through a freedom-of-information request.

    According to the documents, Shefelbine was hired in September 2002 as a program aide at EHS, earning an hourly wage of $9.86, and worked there until September 2004.

    According to former Superintendent Richard E. Packman’s notes on the investigation into Shefelbine’s conduct, troubles began to surface towards the end of the 2003-04 school year, when there were “parental complaints that Scott was involved socially with students and that he allegedly had provided students with rides and had arranged to transport students to a ‘juice bar’ or club in Hartford.”

    At that time, EHS Assistant Principal Jack Leonard confronted Shefelbine with those complaints, the notes say.

    According to the notes, Shefelbine admitted he had given a student a ride home from work once, but denied the other allegations. Shefelbine also told Leonard that he “understood an employee should not be involved socially with students,” the notes say.

    In August 2004, Packman received another complaint about Shefelbine, this time from a parent whose daughter attempted to run away from home. The parent said that Shefelbine had driven the young girl to his house.

    According to the notes, Shefelbine related his version of the events in a meeting with Packman on Aug. 25.

    Shefelbine claimed that a 19-year-old former EHS student who had run away from home with his girlfriend, an 18-year-old EHS student, called his house on Aug. 2 and left a message telling him they had run away but had changed their minds, and asking him to pick them up and take them home.

    Shefelbine said the young man called him the next day from Hall Memorial Library after having spent the night in Brookside Park and asked him to pick them up. Shefelbine said he picked up the young man, took him to the young man’s home, and then reported to work.

    Shefelbine acknowledged that the girlfriend had gone to his home but said he did not know how she got there, the notes say. At this point, Packman reminded Shefelbine that he had earlier said that she probably walked to his house. To this, Shefelbine said that he was guessing, the notes say.

    According to Packman’s notes, the girl told him said that on Aug. 3, Shefelbine picked her and her boyfriend up from the library She said they picked up their bags from Brookside Park and then Shefelbine dropped off the boy at his home, brought the girl to his house, and then went to work.

    The notes say the girl’s mother then picked her up from Shefelbine’s house. When asked if Shefelbine ever tried contacting her, the girl replied that she had spoken to him through a three-way telephone call, and that Shefelbine told her that if anyone were to ask, to tell them she had walked from the library to his house.

    Packman met with the girlfriend on Aug. 27. At that meeting, according to Packman’s notes, the girl said that she knew Shefelbine from school and that he had once driven her and a friend to a movie and afterwards to a fireworks display in the Rockville section of Vernon, the notes say.

    According to a questionnaire submitted by Shefelbine to Leonard, Shefelbine gives a different account of the same incident, saying that he rode his bike to the fireworks display, and since it ended late, accepted a ride home from a student.

    Packman’s notes from meetings with Shefelbine’s colleagues say they indicated they had observed that Shefelbine was socially involved with students in ways they thought were inappropriate, such as frequent cell phone conversations and giving rides home.

    In a Sept. 7 letter from Packman to Shefelbine, Packman told him that he had been fired for “insubordination for your actions during an investigation, tampering with witnesses during an investigation, lying during an investigation and insubordination to a directive by your supervisor.”

    A few days later, on Sept. 10, Shefelbine submitted a letter of resignation.

    Link via Liepar.

  • Conn. child predator used MySpace

    Conn. child predator used MySpace

    Man arrested for preying on teens on myspace.com:

    Seriously, what is up with Connecticut? They seem to be breeding more and more child molesters every day…

    (Vernon-WTNH, Oct. 10, 2006 10:30 PM) _ Police have arrested a Connecticut man they say preyed on teens on myspace.com.

    Police say the suspect may have sexually assaulted five teens he met online and there may be more.

    Scott Shefelbine does not have a police record but police say he has been going online and lying to teenage girls that he is also a teen in order to gain their trust and meet them.

    It was 12:30 a.m. at a tower in Henry Park in Vernon when a police officer patrolling the grounds noticed a teenaged girl with an older man and began asking questions.

    31-year-old Scott Shefelbine does not particularly look 19 or 17, but that is what he told at least 5 different victims that he allegedly met on myspace.com.

    The Vernon police, State Police and the FBI have now seized 5 computers from Shefelbine’s home.

    “We don’t know how many victims are out there. The internet is so pervasive and these predators are using it to contact so many different victims it is entirely possible that there are some out of state,” says Collins.

    The five victims that police know of are all in Connecticut and between the ages of 14 and 17.

    The age of consent is 16, but police say that Shefelbine has had sex with a 16-year-old he met in Henry Park when she was just 15. Shefelbine is also accused of raping the 17-year-old. He is also suspected of plying his victims with alcohol before sexually assaulting them.

    I wasn’t able to find a MySpace attributed to Shefelbine, but his actions are disgusting and reprehensible. I hope he goes away for a long time.

  • Another Conn. MySpace assault arrest

    Another Conn. MySpace assault arrest

    Man Charged With Raping Girl He Met Through Internet:

    Another sexual predator arrest in Connecticut. It’s officially the MySpace predator capital of the world…

    BRIDGEPORT, Conn. — A city man has been arrested on a sexual assault charge, accused of raping a 12-year-old girl he met on the Internet site, Myspace.com.

    Bienvenido Garcia, 19, was arrested Wednesday by members of the U.S. Marshals Violent Crime Fugitive Task Force.

    A task force member said that while police knocked on his door, task force members caught Garcia climbing out his back window in his underwear.

    Police said the alleged victim’s mother had turned over to police 16 pages of computer correspondence between her daughter and Garcia from the Web site.

    The girl said on a number of occasions Garcia had come into her room, pinned her on her bed and raped her, police said.

    I was unable to find a MySpace for Garcia.

  • Yet another Conn. Creeper

    Yet another Conn. Creeper

    Man Charged In MySpace Case:

    A 26-year-old wedding videographer from Somers was charged Tuesday with having illicit sexual contact with a 15-year-old local girl whom he brought to Massachusetts after meeting her on the popular Internet website MySpace.com.

    Jason Palmeira was arrested at his residence by the FBI, Simsbury police and state police. He is 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.

    Palmeira was presented in U.S. District Court in Hartford and released after posting $100,000 bail. U.S. Magistrate Judge Thomas P. Smith ordered Palmeira to reside with his parents at their home in Springfield. Smith also restricted Palmeira’s access to the Internet, according to a news release.

    The federal arrest affidavit says the girl posted a message on the online networking website in June, saying she wanted to meet single guys in Connecticut who are under the age of 18. On June 21, Palmeira sent an e-mail saying he was 26 and the two began communicating through e-mails and the phone, according to authorities.

    In July, the girl asked Palmeira if it was okay if the two did not engage in sex and Palmeira responded that they could do what she felt comfortable with, according to the affidavit. He talked with the girl about taking photographs of herself. On July 12, he sent her an e-mail saying he could get together over the next two days, according to the affidavit.

    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. He later sent an e-mail to her, saying that he hoped she didn’t get into too much trouble with her parents, that he was sorry and that he felt bad about cheating on his girlfriend. Several days later he e-mailed her, telling her to lie about her name and to call him.

    Eventually, Palmeira was busted by the girl’s mom.

    I wasn’t able to find his MySpace, but I did find his business site. I get the feeling that TLC will no longer be doing business with him.

  • David Leonard arrested again

    David Leonard arrested again

    Leonard arrested on sexual assault charges:

    It seems our favorite Conn. College Creeper is at it again. Dave Leonard has been arrested once more…

    NEW BRITAIN – The rap sheet on 22-year-old David Leonard continues to expand as he was arrested on additional charges over the weekend after investigations revealed he may have committed illegal sexual acts with a pair of females in New Britain.

    Leonard, who is listed as living with his parents in Vernon, was arrested Friday morning on charges of two counts of second-degree sexual assault, two counts of illegal sexual contact, employing a minor in an obscene performance and promoting a minor in an obscene performance.

    This is the second time Leonard, who was arrested in May on charges of possession of a weapon in a motor vehicle, has been in trouble with New Britain police and the third time he has been arrested for sexual contact with a minor in the past year.

    Leonard is already facing charges of second-degree sexual assault on a minor in Tolland Superior Court for an incident that occurred in the Vernon area last fall and has been arraigned on charges of third-degree sexual assault and resisting arrest for an alleged encounter with two 12-year-old female victims in Newington.

    Details on the latest arrest were unavailable through the police department on Sunday afternoon. Leonard was detained over the weekend and the amount of bond withheld from arrest reports.

    You would think that since he’s been busted twice, he wouldn’t have tried it a 3rd time. That’s what you get for thinking. I hope this gets him sent away for an awfully long time.

    His MySpace has been removed and if he has a new one I can’t find it.

    H/T to Deb.

  • Another Conn. Creeper

    Another Conn. Creeper

    Chaplin man arrested; allegedly met girl, 13, on MySpace.com:

    A 27-year-old Chaplin man was arrested and a missing 13-year-old Hebron girl was found in a Portland motel room late Monday night. State police say the pair allegedly began a relationship after she used the Web site Myspace.com.

    Aaron Whitney was charged with second-degree sexual assault and risk of injury to a minor. He is being held on $750,000 bond and was to appear in Middletown Superior Court today.

    State police responded to a complaint of a missing girl Monday afternoon. Troopers learned the girl never got on her school bus and did not go to school. After finding out about the alleged relationship, police identified the suspect and put out descriptions of the suspect, his car and the missing girl. A Portland police officer located the car at the Portland Motel just before midnight. Police say both Whitney and the girl were in the room.

    Whitney was taken into custody and the girl was transported to Middlesex Hospital in Middletown, was treated and released to her parents.

    What is up with Connecticut? It seems like they have more of these stories than any other state.

    Anyway, here is more than likely Aaron Whitney’s MySpace. The only thing that doesn’t match is his age. Plus, it’s all stripped down. Maybe he was clearing it in case of an arrest.

  • Cops Catch Conn. College Creeper

    Cops Catch Conn. College Creeper

    CCSU student held in MySpace case :

    Is Conn. like the MySpace predator breeding ground?

    A Central Connecticut State University student was arrested Tuesday morning after police said they discovered he had made contact with a 12-year-old Newington girl on MySpace and used the connection to set up a sexual encounter with the girl and a 12-year-old friend. David Leonard of New Britain, was arrested by the Newington detectives at his home on charges of third-degree sexual assault and resisting arrest.

    Lt. Stephen Clark of the Newington Police Department said detectives first began investigating the incident after they received information from a Department of Children and Families worker about the victim’s encounter with Leonard.

    Police said the relationship first began in summer 2005 when one of the victims used her sister’s screen name and began corresponding with Leonard using the popular Internet profile and chat program, myspace.com. The relationship eventually led to phone conversations via cell phone and eventually he established a meeting time with the two girls, police said.

    According to the incident reports, Leonard proceeded to meet the girls at a local school and the three went into a wooded area together. Once they were in the area, Leonard proceeded to kiss and fondle both victims.

    Assistant State’s Attorney Louis Luba Jr. said that during investigations, Leonard indicated to police that he had believed the girls were actually 14 years old, stating that he was unaware of their actual age.

    This is the second time Leonard has been in trouble for possible involvement with a minor. He was scheduled to face charges of second-degree sexual assault and risk of injury to a minor for what is believed to be a similar case in Tolland Superior Court today, but the case was continued until April 19 because of Tuesday’s arrest.

    Several facts stated in Leonard’s MySpace profile indicate that he has had several other established Internet relationships with females under the age of 18 as well. His site, which was last accessed by the user on Monday, contains a list of 17 friends, of which nearly a dozen are females registered as under the age of 18.

    In his profile, Leonard admits to being a CCSU student from New Britain, but claims to be only 18 years old himself. His actual age is 22.

    So, telling the cops you thought they were 14 makes it right? For someone so dumb, how did you get into college?

    And Mr. A brings us Davey’s MySpace profile. Nothing is funnier than reading the comments of a MySpace creeper when his friends find out that he’s been busted.

  • Letavec pleads not guilty

    MySpace suspect pleads not guilty of sex with teen:

    One of our earliest inductees to the Rogues Gallery, Stephen M. Letavec, pleaded not guilty yesterday to charges of traveling across state lines to molest a 14-year-old girl in Conn. that he met through MySpace. But here’s where it gets weird…

    He has been in custody since his arrest in Pennsylvania in February. The teenage girl’s mother and a girlfriend met Letavec and even welcomed him into their homes.

    The girlfriend’s mother allegedly allowed him to spend 13 hours with the alleged victim and her daughter in their home while the mother wasn’t there, according to court documents.

    Huh?

    What parent would let their 14-year-old daughter be befriended by a 39-year-old father of four that she met on MySpace?

    His MySpace has since been deleted and the cache has expired, however the always intrepid Mr. A has a mirror of it here.

    Mr. A also found this, where Letavec offers some kind of defense, stating that the girl claimed she was 18, and he was trying to help her out with family problems. Surprisingly, I’ve had commenters leave comments on my site about another man accused of traveling across state lines to engage in sex with a minor, who said the exact same thing.

    Will this become the MySpace molester’s mantra? That remains to be seen.

  • I’m from the government and I’m here to help

    I’m from the government and I’m here to help

    Blumenthal Asks MySpace To Make Site Safer For Kids:

    Why are most politicians so clueless?…

    HARTFORD, Conn. — Attorney General Richard Blumenthal has sent MySpace.com a letter asking the company to take steps to make the site safer for children.

    He is asking them to provide parents with software to block the Web site, ban kids under 16, institute new measures against pornography and take other steps to protect children from sexual predators and inappropriate material.

    Has Attorney General Blumenthal thought about asking parents to keep an eye on their own damn kids? MySpace has no responsibility to pay for software for the parents of teen MySpace users.

    I’m not surprised, though. An Attorney General is just another lawyer.

  • Mr. A Returns

    Mr. A Returns

    Mr. A comes through again. Only he’s not so mysterious anymore. Mr. A has his own site that is not unlike much this one. Where I focus on the criminals, Mr. A focuses mostly on the victims. You can visit his site here.

    Anyway, Mr. A has come through big time for the long coated one again. This time he sent me a cached MySpace profile of one Stephen M. Letavec, the father of two from Elrama, Pa. who molested a 14-year-old girl in his car while in Conn.

    Welcome to the Rogues Gallery Steve.