Theodore Medina Violently Killed His Father In Law and Mandated to AA Meetings

Sidney man sentenced to probation in fatal assault

 Tuesday, June 24, 2014  By MAUNETTE LOEKS New Media Editor

SIDNEY — A 24-year-old Sidney man has been sentenced in an assault that led to the death of his father-in-law.

Theodore D. Medina, 24, Sidney, was sentenced to 60 months intensive supervised probation on a charge of attempted second-degree assault, a Class IV felony, and an additional 24 months probation on a charge of third-degree assault, a misdemeanor, Cheyenne County Attorney Paul Schaub said. Medina’s probation sentence includes him having to wear an alcohol monitoring bracelet and complete Alcoholics Anonymous counseling. Schaub said Medina was given credit for 234 days in jail, but was sentenced to an additional 80 days in jail to be served in 10-day increments during his probation term. However, the court can waive the jail upon recommendation by Medina’s probation officer.

Cheyenne County authorities arrested Medina on Nov. 4, 2013, after he had been involved in an assault with his father-in-law, Ernest Ward, 50, of Sidney. Ward died as a result of injuries suffered in the assault.

At the time of his arrest, Medina had told police that Ward had been drunk and belligerent and picking a fight with him. During the fight, Medina pushed Ward and he fell. Medina told police that Ward kept coming at him after the fall and he hit the man, picked him up and threw him to the floor. He told police he “snapped.”

Another man, Jose Campos, had witnessed the assault. The men contacted emergency services after Ward had remained on the floor and they determined he had a slow heart rate. At the hospital, doctors advised he had suffered extensive brain injuries and bleeding around his skull and brain.

Schaub said prosecutors agreed to a plea agreement after interviews with witnesses and family.

http://www.starherald.com/news/local_news/sidney-man-sentenced-to-probation-in-fatal-assault/article_b30a7116-c27c-5f0f-871b-33496154c83c.html

Pacific Health System Has to Pay 2.3 Million to Boys Who Were Molested By 12 Step AA Sponsor Volunteer

$2.3M to victims in rehab sex abuse suit

By Kristina Davis JUNE 27 2014

 — A San Diego jury awarded nearly $2.3 million this week to two boys who were sexually abused by a volunteer at a National City rehabilitation clinic.

Wednesday’s verdict ended a 15-day trial against Pacific Health System, which operates an outpatient facility treating substance abuse and mental illness.

The boys were 13 when they were victimized by Robert Poizner, a volunteer and mentor who was tasked with driving the patients to Alcoholics Anonymous meetings. Instead, he took them to his apartment, molesting them and providing them with drugs for a roughly yearlong period, according to the 2011 complaint.

The abuse also occurred during overnight hotel and apartment stays, the suit says.

Poizner, 44, was convicted of 24 counts of sex abuse against children. He is serving a sentence of 82 years to life in prison.

The lawsuit alleges that Pacific Health put Poizner in a position of power despite his own history of substance abuse and previous criminal convictions. The victims were particularly vulnerable, the lawsuit says, because the boys suffered from psychological problems along with substance abuse.

The jury deliberated for two and a half days before reaching a $6.5 million verdict, but also found that Poizner and, to a much lesser degree, one of the boys’ parents shared some of the responsibility for the conduct, thus reducing the amount Pacific Health owed. The jury found that Pacific Health owed one boy $975,000 in damages and the other $1.3 million.

“We are hoping outcomes with civil remedies for the victims force these facilities to do extensive background checks and more efficient supervision on their volunteers,” the boys’ attorney, Stephen Estey, said in a statement.

Pacific Health’s attorney, Douglas Guy, said Friday that it was premature to comment on the verdict.

http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2014/jun/27/pacific-health-poizner-sex-abuse-lawsuit/

Narcotics Anonymous Sponsee Killed by Her 12 Step NA Sponsor in Robbery Plot

state police file

Police: Trenton woman was killed by her Narcotics Anonymous sponsor in robbery plot

By Steven Miller/The Times of Trenton
on June 16, 2014 at 8:59 PM, updated June 17, 2014 

TABERNACLE — Eight months after a Trenton woman’s bullet-ridden corpse was discovered in woods in Tabernacle, police have named the victim’s Narcotics Anonymous sponsor as a suspect in her death.

Loraine Hawkins, 47, of Trenton, is the second suspect charged in the death of 47-year-old city resident Lisa Armstrong, State Police said Monday.

Police previously arrested Terrance Patterson, 37, of Trenton, four days after the Oct. 8 discovery of Armstrong’s body in the woods along Route 206. Armstrong died from multiple gunshot wounds to the head, police said.

The investigation suggested Patterson had a co-conspirator and that they also robbed Armstrong. State Police arrested Hawkins Friday at her Trenton home, charging her with felony murder, robbery and kidnapping.

She is being held at the Burlington County Jail in lieu of $500,000 full-cash bail.

 http://www.nj.com/mercer/index.ssf/2014/06/trenton_woman_charged_in_shooting_death_of_her_narcotics_anonymous_sponsee.html

Man Guilty of Child Porn Possession of Girl Being Raped by Her Father Attends Narcotics Anonymous Meetings

Man guilty of possession of child pornography attends Narcotics Anonymous after arrest. These are some of the sick twisted people that sit next to you in a 12 step meeting.

A St. Charles man was ordered Wednesday to pay restitution to a child pornography victim, videos of whom are among the most downloaded worldwide.

It was part of the sentence for Gary L. Harris, 53, who pleaded guilty in March to aggravated possession of child pornography of a victim under age 13, and to possession of marijuana.

 Kane County Assistant State’s Attorney Nick Gaeke said it was the first time he has sought restitution in such a case, and that he thought it might be the first time it’s been attempted in Kane County circuit court.

Harris will have to pay $5,000 to the victim, who was featured in several of the videos police found on his laptop computer and a DVD in 2012. Circuit Judge Karen Simpson also sentenced him to sex-offender probation for six years. Gaeke requested six years in prison. Harris could have been sentenced to as many as 14 years in prison.

The victim, who lives on the West Coast, was raped by her father repeatedly between 2000 and 2001, when she was 10 and 11, according to news reports. He videotaped the sessions and put them on the Internet. Her father pleaded guilty to production of child pornography and transporting a minor across state lines for sexual purposes in federal court in 2008, and he is serving a 50-year prison sentence. He also pleaded guilty to state charges of rape of a child.

The victim has spoken publicly about the effect of child pornography on victims, including the helplessness she feels knowing the videos are still being distributed and watched. She has sought restitution in federal and state courts, and her situation was cited in a Supreme Court case about the liability of child-porn viewers to pay restitution.

“Hundreds of people nationwide have been prosecuted for disseminating the images and videos of this victim,” Gaeke said after the sentencing.

Gaeke said the victim has bills for psychological and psychiatric counseling of at least $10,000 a year. He asked for $5,000, since evidence indicated Harris owned the pornography for about six months.

According to St. Charles police detective Andrew Lamela, Harris downloaded files off a peer-to-peer file-sharing site to which he subscribed. Police found 25 videos on the laptop computer and five others on a desktop computer. They also found 300 thumbnail images of child pornography leftover from deleted files, he said.

After Harris pleaded guilty in March, Gaeke asked St. Charles police to submit the videos to a child sexual exploitation unit of the federal National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. The center identified at least 11 victims.

Harris’ attorney, Kathleen Colton, argued against restitution, saying he couldn’t have caused the victim harm because her exploitation happened years before he was arrested. There was no evidence he knew the victim or that she was being harmed, she said.

Gaeke argued ordering restitution would “impress upon offenders that child pornography, even simple possession, affects child victims.”

Harris began sex offender counseling in January and has been attending Narcotics Anonymous meetings, according to a court-ordered pre-sentence investigation report. In counseling, he said, “I have learned there are victims. To them I also apologize.”

Simpson said: “The statement is really, it’s very moving and it brings home to myself the seriousness of this offense.”

The judge likened child pornography distribution to a pyramid scheme: “Some real live human beings are raping these children” on the videos, which are then promoted via the Internet and downloaded by voyeurs. She noted that the victim has been stalked and that people still seek her out.

She also said not enough attention is paid to the matter.

“It winds up being a paragraph maybe in the local paper, when really it (the news) ought to be posted online, maybe on YouTube,” Simpson said.

http://www.dailyherald.com/article/20140611/news/140619574/

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AA Member Aaron Ybarra Murders Two Students at Seattle Pacific University

First court appearance: Shooting suspect Aaron Ybarra, left, is led in chains to a court hearing at a King County Jail courtroom Friday, June 6, 2014, in Seattle

A Washington State AA Member goes on a shooting spree at the Seattle Pacific University killing 2 students. He had been attending 12 step meetings for sometime. They obviously did not address this man’s mental problems. Maybe doing his 4th step sent him over the edge.

Friend says Seattle Pacific University shooter is a ‘sweet kid’ haunted by his past

By 

  • Friend Nate Flesch had dinner with shooting suspect Aaron Ybarra the night before the rampage
  • The two attended Alcoholics Anonymous meetings together    NA Daytona
  • Ybarra wasn’t a student and had no connection to Seattle Pacific or his victims
  • A 19-year-old man was killed and a 20-year-old woman remains in critical condition
  • The other two students are in stable condition
  • Engineering student Jon Meis has been identified by classmates as the hero who stopped the gunman

By Ryan Gorman and Michael Zennie Published: 7 June 2014

A friend of the 26-year-old gunman who opened fire on a Seattle university says the shooter is a’ sweet kid’ but is haunted by his struggle with addiction.

One student died and three others were wounded after Aaron Ybarra stormed the campus of Seattle Pacific University Thursday night with a shotgun – and a friend who had dinner with the suspect the night before the rampage says he is ‘shocked’ the recovering alcoholic is involved. Daytona Beach AA and NA Meetings in Ormond Beach.

Nate Flesch told the Seattle Post-Intelligencer that he and Ybarra attend the same Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, and that the troubled man has been sober for about one year. He spoke with the paper only hours before the suspected shooter was led into court in shackles. Holly Hill commissioners and the Mayor race 2014.

‘For the past year and a half or so he’s been trying to turn his life around,’ Flesch said. ‘He attends the same (Alcoholics Anonymous) classes as I do in the Lynnwood area. He’s a kid that I think has been sober now for a little bit over a year.’

Flesch called Ybarra ‘socially awkward,’ but ‘sweet.’

‘He’s a sweet kid, he’s a nice kid, very thankful, very appreciative, and I’m just kind of shocked to hear it was Aaron who was involved in this.’

Ybarra would often go to the bar where Flesch works as a bartender and order a soda or juice – never alcohol.

The suspected shooter also just started a new job, Flesch told the paper.

‘He was proud that they were starting to like him at his job. They were giving him more hours, and he was excited that he would have more money.

Flesch insists he has no idea ‘what set [Ybarra] off,’ and that he is ‘flabbergasted by the sequence of events.

‘He was trying to turn his life around, that he was trying to be a better person, and he was kind of working on his social skills, too,’ Flesch continued, adding he had lunch with Ybarra the night before the assault. Solemn: Students and other supporters form a prayer circle Friday on the campus of Seattle Pacific UniversitySolemn: Students and other supporters form a prayer circle Friday on the campus of Seattle Pacific University  ‘It’s a little eerie, a little scary,’ said Flesch. ‘To be honest with you, I’m a little heartbroken. It breaks my heart to see a kid like this, who was turning himself around, kind of just go off the deep end. I don’t know what triggered it. ‘For this to happen is mind-boggling, and I don’t know what else to say.’ The friend spoke not long after the identity of the hero who brought the onslaught to an end with a can of pepper spray was identified by police.

 

Students at Seattle Pacific University say Jon Meis saved countless lives when he sprang into action as the shooter stopped to reload his weapon Thursday afternoon.

The heroic engineering student reportedly hit Ybarra with the pepper spray as he ran at and tackled him, saving countless lives.

Meis, 26, is engaged to be married and has ‘everything to live for’ friends said. But he risked his life and ended the murderous rampage.

‘I’m proud of the selfless actions that my roommate, Jon Meis, showed today taking down the shooter. He is a hero,’ tweeted Matt Garcia.

A victim is loaded into an ambulance on the campus of Seattle Pacific University after a shooting Thursday afternoon Tragedy: A victim is loaded into an ambulance on the campus of Seattle Pacific University after a shooting Thursday afternoon

A victim is loaded into an ambulance on the campus of Seattle Pacific University after a shooting Thursday afternoon 

Classmate Briana Clarke told the Seattle Times that Meis, who was on duty as a hall monitor, sprayed the attacker in the face, grabbed him around the neck and then wrestled him to the ground.

‘There were a lot of shells on the ground..it looked like he was planning to go the distance and Jon stopped him,’ another student told KOMO-TV.

Several other students then piled on the attacker and held him until police arrived.

‘But for the great response for the people at Seattle Pacific this incident would have been much more tragic,’ assistant police chief Paul McDonagh said Thursday night.

A 19-year-old male student was shot in the head and died at a nearby hospital. A 20-year-old female student was shot in the neck and remains in critical condition. Two other students, both males in their 20s, were wounded but are in good condition after sustaining minor injuries. The gunman has been identified as Aaron Ybarra, 26, according to KIRO-TV. Authorities say he is not a student and has no connection to Seattle Pacific University or to any of his victims. Detectives are still trying to determine why he targeted the college.

Police say he is not a student, but reports indicate he had visited campus in recent weeks to scope it out. KING-TV reports that Ybarra lives with his parents in the Seattle area. He has reportedly confessed to the shootings and even bragged about the carnage he inflicted on the campus. Authorities say he did not expect to survive the rampage. His Facebook page says he is a former janitor at LA Fitness and attended Edmonds Community College. In the panic, police believed there was a second shooter and searched for up to an hour, possibly delaying medical attention for the wounded, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reports.

Witnesses said the gunman barged into Otto Miller Hall – the science and engineering building for the university – about 3.30pm on Thursday. One witness told KIRO-TV that the gunman held his weapon on three students and told them not to move, when they did, he shot and wounded two and shot another student in the face. The victim who was shot in the face was rushed to the hospital, where he died. ‘The shooter began to reload his shotgun and a student that is the building monitor inside the hall confronted the shooter, was able to subdued the individual, and once on the ground, other students jumped on top of him and were able to pin the shooter to the ground until police arrived,’ Seattle Police Captain Chris Fowler said in a press conference. Seattle Pacific is a small Christian college associated with the Free Methodist Church with a student body just of about 4,370

The university was placed on lockdown and the administrators advised students to stay inside and lock their windows and doors and close their blinds. Students were sent an email blast that warned: ‘THIS IS NOT A DRILL.’

It’s unknown whether the gunman is a student at the university or whether the victims were random strangers or targeted.

Some students told KCPQ-TV that they recognized the shooter, indicating that they might have recognized the gunman.

Video from KIRO-TV showed a young man who appeared to be in his late teens or early 20s being led away in handcuffs.

– See more at: http://www.ablxboston.com/national/60674-friend-says-seattle-pacific-university-shooter-is-a-sweet-kid-haunted-by-his-past.html