We just can’t wrap our heads around animals who get off on the disgusting images of babies being molested and sexually exploited. It makes no sense. And some of these people are working with kids!!! The man pictured above is one of 26 such depraved characters who were recently arrested in a widespread bust of New York kiddie porn enthusiasts. Twenty six perverts, including a substitute public school teacher, have been busted on charges of keeping a stomach-turning kiddie porn stash on their computers, prosecutors said Tuesday. “The defendants in these cases traded images of child sexual assault the way that others trade baseball cards,” prosecutor Cyrus Vance said. “They were curators of their collections, who carefully labeled, sorted and shared their cache with others.” The DA’s office conducted the probe with federal authorities. The parade of purported perverts included a Harvard-educated lawyer, a building super, a banker, a bartender, a high school student and a National Guard member. One of the suspects worked at Alice’s Tea Cup on Amsterdam Ave., an Alice in Wonderland-themed teahouse that caters to parents and children. “Their professions are as diverse as our city,” Vance said. The tens of thousands of pictures were as vile as anything ever discovered by law enforcers, including a 3-year-old getting raped in a bathtub and a 5-year-old forced to perform oral sex. “These images are not pornography or pictures of erotica intended for sexual excitement,” Vance said. “These are babies, these are toddlers.” Vance released details about the ring after a Manhattan substitute teacher pleaded not guilty Tuesday to trading child pornography files – including graphic sex videos – over the internet. Joshua Ruiz, 32, who has been teaching at four public schools in Manhattan, was hauled into Manhattan Supreme Court on a grand jury indictment charging him with felony possession and distribution of sexual performances by children. He faces seven years behind bars. While demanding that Ruiz be held on $35,000 bail, prosecutors described online chats they said they found on Ruiz’s home computer since he was first busted in May – including discussing the abuse of his 3-year-old nephew. They said they may bring more charges relating to the chats. “I’m so jealous of you,” Ruiz told one chat buddy who described having sex with a 12-year-old boy, prosecutors told the judge. “Where do you meet them?” Ruiz asked, according to Assistant District Attorney Lauren Gretina. “How do you approach them?” Prosecutors say Ruiz’ computer chats also involved the father of a 3-month-old baby girl, who described having sex with the infant, officials said. “I would love to be a part of it, even, at least, if you could let me just watch,” Ruiz told the dad, Gretina said. The prosecutor said Ruiz – who came to court with his mother, who he lives with on W. 170th St., and his pastor – spoke about sexually abusing his own 3-year-old nephew during one chat. Despite that claim, Ruiz told investigators, “I have never touched a child sexually in any way,” court papers show. And prosecutors said they have not spoken to the parents of the child. A woman answering the door at Ruiz’s apartment Tuesday said he wasn’t there. “I’m not talking to nobody,” the woman said in Spanish. The documents say Ruiz admitted to having child porn on his computer. “The downloading of child pornography got to be an obsession,” prosecutors say he told investigators. “I have about 50-100 child pornography files on my computer now.” Official said Ruiz used computer from 2009 to 2011 to access the porn. The judge let Ruiz stay out on the $15,000 bail set after his arrest. Ruiz lawyer, Marc Laykind, maintained his client was innocent. Ruiz has been a substitute teacher in public schools since September 2008, most recently at PS 199, PS166, PS 111 and PS 333 in Manhattan. An agency spokeswoman said he was removed from the classroom on May 4, when we was arrested and had no prior criminal record when he was hired. We don’t understand what’s taking them so long to investigate whether this Ruiz character actually molested his nephew. Clearly you can’t take his word for anything! And why the hell is this guy out roaming the streets like a free man still — talkin’ about watching some sicko rape his own baby. Just nasty!
We don’t even know where to start with this one. Hours after three brothers were seen playing with a gun outside their home, a 13-year-old Cobb County boy was dead Thursday night. A 16-year-old older brother is accused in death. But Friday afternoon, he was still on the loose. When he’s found, Oscar Mondragon is expected to be charged as an adult and face felony murder and aggravated assault charges, Sgt. Dana Pierce with Cobb County police told the AJC. Until then, investigators are asking for the public’s help in locating the teen, who should be considered armed and dangerous, Pierce said. Officers responding to a 9:24 p.m. 911 call about a shooting at the Eastside Mobile Home Park on Eastside Drive found the younger boy dead inside the trailer, Pierce said. Police did not release the name of the victim, but neighbors told the AJC the boy who died was Javier Mondragon, one of six children living in the home. Police have not yet determined what led to the shooting and whether or not it was accidental, Pierce said. Investigators plan to question Oscar Mondragon once he is located. “He does have a lot of companions and fellow friends in that area,” Pierce said. “It could be that someone is harboring him.” A person who knowingly assists the suspect could also face charges, Pierce said. Friends and neighbors at the mobile home park described Javier as a polite boy who was looking forward to being a seventh-grader at Griffin Middle School in the fall. “He was the best friend I’ve ever had,” Emoni Jones, 13, told the AJC as her mother, Errietta Jones, stood beside her. “I tell him everything and I trust him with everything. He didn’t deserve to die like that.” Our initial thought was that maybe this was just a tragic accident and the older brother was getting bad advice from friends encouraging him to hide out. But, neighbors pretty much described Oscar Mondragon as the kind of kid who people much expected to see behind bars at some point. How terrible this must be for the family though. Source
Another local weather emergency makes national headlines. The National Weather Service confirmed a tornado struck the airport, and it was conducting a survey of other possible tornadoes, forecaster Scott Truett told CNN. The region was receiving more rainfall Saturday. A tornado warning for the airport was issued at 7:36 p.m. Friday, about 35 minutes before the twister struck. Truett said “one parent thunderstorm” formed near Jefferson City, Missouri, on Friday and moved east toward St. Louis. The tornado that struck the airport may first have touched down in New Melle, about 30 miles to the west. About 30,000 homes in the county remained without power, and five shelters had been established. Major highways were open, but officials advised people to stay home. Searchers were going door to door in several communities. “We’re looking for the family that may be missing,” Earls told CNN. Inspections of buildings will take several days and hauling off debris will take longer. “We are doing a second door-to-door search right now,” said Bridgeton Police Chief Don Hood. So far, everyone has been accounted for and there were no reported injuries, he said. Many homes in the town were heavily damaged. Most of the city was without power and some roads were not passable, Hood told CNN. Airport officials were relieved that the severe storm Friday evening injured only a relative few passengers. Five people were taken to hospitals for minor injuries and about a dozen others were treated at the airport for cuts and scrapes after the storm struck around 8:15 p.m. Friday, said airport spokesman Jeff Lea. “It’s amazing given the number of people and the amount of damage,” he said. Airport Director Rhonda Hamm-Niebruegge said one terminal was in good shape and the other also will be able to provide service Sunday. A few hundred passengers were stranded, but most stayed at hotels, she said. Concourse C in the main terminal, however, will take a while to repair and carriers will have to use other locations in the airport, she said. Concourse C is used by American Airlines, Frontier, AirTran and Cape Air. A van was left hanging precariously off the edge of a terminal parking garage. A video posted on YouTube showed strong winds pushing a Southwest Airlines plane away from a walkway and passengers moving quickly away from tall windows, dark clouds moving in. Passengers were hit with flying glass and debris as winds ripped off part of the roof in the airport’s C concourse, CNN affiliate KSDK said. “All the windows were busted. … The airport looks like a war zone,” Elizabeth Rastberger, 32, told CNN’s iReport. All this stuff can’t be coincidental, man. Source
PISCATAWAY, N.J. — The pouf is mightier than the pen when it comes to speaking fees at New Jersey’s largest university. The Rutgers University Programming Association paid Snooki of the reality TV show “Jersey Shore” $32,000 Thursday to dish on her hairstyle, fist pumps, and the gym, tan, laundry lifestyle. That’s $2,000 more than the $30,000 the university is paying Nobel-winning novelist Toni Morrison to deliver Rutgers’ commencement address in May. Money for Thursday’s appearance came from the mandatory student activity fee. Freshman Adham Abdel-Raouf told the newspaper he thought the price was a bargain given Snooki’s popularity. Source
PISCATAWAY, N.J. — The pouf is mightier than the pen when it comes to speaking fees at New Jersey’s largest university. The Rutgers University Programming Association paid Snooki of the reality TV show “Jersey Shore” $32,000 Thursday to dish on her hairstyle, fist pumps, and the gym, tan, laundry lifestyle. That’s $2,000 more than the $30,000 the university is paying Nobel-winning novelist Toni Morrison to deliver Rutgers’ commencement address in May. Money for Thursday’s appearance came from the mandatory student activity fee. Freshman Adham Abdel-Raouf told the newspaper he thought the price was a bargain given Snooki’s popularity. Source
Sadly, as we expected, things have gone from bad to worse for the people of Japan. An explosion rocked another nuclear plant in northeastern Japan earlier today, causing authorities to issue another evacuation warning. Soldiers and officials along a stretch of Japan’s northeastern coast warned residents that the area could be hit by another tsunami Monday and ordered them to higher ground. But the Meteorological Agency said there was no risk of another deadly wave. The warning came as an explosion rocked the nearby Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant. The blast was felt 30 miles away by Associated Press journalists in the coastal town of Soma, where residents fled the town for safety after being herded quickly through muddy, debris-strewn streets. TV footage showed a massive column of smoke belching from the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant’s No. 3 unit, about 125 miles north of Tokyo. Japanese officials said they believe it was a hydrogen explosion similar to an earlier one at a different unit in the facility. The problems at the plant stem from failed cooling systems caused by damage from Friday’s earthquake and tsunami. More than 180,000 people have evacuated the area, and up to 160 may have been exposed to radiation. Before the power plant blast, sirens around Soma, which was battered by Friday’s tsunami, went off and public address systems ordered residents to safety. Farther south along the coast, helicopters flew over coastal communities warning residents to head to higher ground. In Sendai, the biggest city in the area, police announced warnings on a public address system. In Tokyo and elsewhere, authorities began rolling blackouts to conserve power as they tried desperately to stabilize the nuclear reactors at risk of meltdown in the aftermath of the earthquake and tsunami. The disasters sent Tokyo’s stock market plunging as it opened, raising fears of a steep economic toll on top of the already overwhelming human suffering. The planned blackouts of about three hours each in Tokyo and other cities are meant to help make up for the loss of power from key nuclear plants. Trade Minister Banri Kaieda said Sunday that the power utility expects a 25 percent shortfall. Some 1.9 million households were without electricity, but many people were without even more basic necessities. At least 1.4 million households had gone without water since the quake struck, and food aid was slow in reaching many areas. And the death toll keeps rising . And they’re expecting snow this week, which will make the situation even tougher for survivors and rescue workers… SMH.