Monthly Archives: September 2014

Headmaster Guilty of Child Porn Sentenced to AA Meetings

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Another sick sob going to AA meetings!

Headmaster guilty of child porn

Paul Melia

A FORMER primary school principal found in possession of 10,000 images of children as young as six having sex, has received a two-and-a-half year suspended jail sentence. Former principal of Arklow Boys School, Padraig Branigan, was also found with 200 short films and 100 stories where children were portrayed in a series of sickening and horrific poses.

A FORMER primary school principal found in possession of 10,000 images of children as young as six having sex, has received a two-and-a-half year suspended jail sentence.

Former principal of Arklow Boys School, Padraig Branigan, was also found with 200 short films and 100 stories where children were portrayed in a series of sickening and horrific poses.

A former Christian Brother with an address at The Rise, Mountain Bay, Arklow, the 41-year old pleaded guilty at Wicklow Circuit Court yesterday to one charge of possession of child pornography.

He viewed the images for an hour every morning, and for up to three hours per day at weekends.

They were downloaded from the internet over a three-month period in early 2004. But when gardai called to his home in October 2004, he immediately showed them a laptop computer on which the images were stored, and a sports bag which contained DVDs and videos.

The computer and bag contained images of naked Thai boys aged between 6 and 16 years in a series of sexually-explicit poses, having sex with each other and with adults.

“I don’t have a solicitor, but I want to put my hands up,” Mr Branigan told gardai. The accused, wearing a green suit, blue shirt and gold patterned tie, said nothing during yesterday’s hearing.

“All of the images show the victimization of vulnerable children,” Detective Sargeant James Madden told the court, adding there was ‘no evidence whatsoever’ local children were abused.

Mr Branigan was described as being “very popular” outside his home, but once inside his door he drank heavily and one third of his bedside locker was full of empty painkiller packets.

A psychotherapist working with him, Bridget Hussey, told Judge Michael O’Shea that her client was one of nine children from a staunchly Catholic background. He had been abused by a priest when he was aged 10, and for most of his childhood had lived a ‘lonely and isolated’ life. He was emotionally and sexually immature, and was not as developed as his peers.

“I think at 17 he realized he was a gay person but his family background and thinking of the church, which said it was evil, meant he never owned up to the fact he was a gay man,” she said.

Summing up, Judge O’Shea said that while the images were “horrific”, he would take into account the early guilty plea and the fact that the accused had made attempts to sort out his life.

“His fall from grace must have been humiliating. He is in disgrace and will be for the rest of his life. He was a chronic drinker at the time, a loner and unable to face up to his sexuality. He retired to his room, probably badly influenced by his sexual orientation, and does that put him in the category of a cold-blooded pedophile? I don‘t think so.”

He sentenced him to two-and-a-half years imprisonment, suspended for three years, on condition he continue receiving treatment and attending Alcoholics Anonymous. He must also sign the sex offenders register.

– See more at: http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/headmaster-guilty-of-child-porn-26352084.html#sthash.zNu5JpCI.dpuf

AA Member Eric Earle Convicted of First Degree Murder Of Karla Brada That He Met in AA

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FINALLY JUSTICE FOR KARLA BRADA! 

Clarita Valley man found guilty in murder of girlfriend

September 18 2014  Jim Holt

A Santa Clarita Valley man whose girlfriend was found dead in their shared condominium in Saugus three years ago was found guilty of first-degree murder today, a San Fernando Superior Court jury found.

Eric Earle, whose defense included a claim that his girlfriend, Karla Brada, was on drugs and fell down the stairs the night of Aug. 31, 2011, was found guilty of her murder after a trial that took about a week.

The jury passed a note to the judge at 11:40 a.m. saying it had reached a verdict after a little more than two hours of deliberation.

Saugus Man Convicted of Girlfriend’s Murder

Uploaded: 6:50 pm, Thursday, Sep 18, 2014

earle-barda[District Attorney] – A 43-year-old Saugus man with a history of domestic violence was found guilty Thursday of murdering his girlfriend, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office announced.

The jury deliberated for about two hours before finding Eric Allen Earle (dob 5/27/71) guilty of killing his 31-year-old girlfriend, Karla Brada, two days before her birthday.

Sentencing for case PA072411 has been scheduled for Oct. 27 in Department N of the Los Angeles County Superior Court, San Fernando Branch.

Earle faces a maximum sentence of 25 years to life in state prison.

On Sept. 1, 2011, the victim was found dead inside her condo, which she shared with Earle. Evidence presented at trial showed she was asphyxiated after being beaten by the defendant during a violent argument.

Earle had assaulted the victim on prior occasions and had also beaten his ex-wife, according to trial testimony.

The assigned prosecutor is Deputy District Attorney Elena Abramson.

The case was investigated by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.

 From a previous KHTS story:

In the opening statements, Deputy District Attorney Elena Abramson described Earle as an abusive, controlling boyfriend who beat his girlfriend in an argument ending with Brada’s death Sept. 1, 2011.

Eric Allen Earle

Earle’s attorney, David Arredondo, said the pair engaged in their “bad conduct” – methadone, amphetamines and alcohol were found in Brada’s system at the time of her death — and Brada’s death was caused by a lethal amount of methadone in her system.

Abramson opened with a picture of Brada, noting the victim would have turned 35 on Sept. 3, the day before jurors were to get their notice for service.

In early 2011, Brada and Earle met in an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting where both were struggling with alcohol and drug addiction. Within a few months, the two were living together in Brada’s two-bedroom condo in Saugus.

Karla Brada

The relationship quickly turned violent, Abramson contended, explaining in her opening remarks how Earle allegedly isolated Brada from her friends, while manipulating her and physically abusing her.

Arredondo declined to say whether Earle would testify on his own behalf during the trial.

He said his client had no reason to kill Brada and that he loved her, Arredondo said.

“Much of the case here will depend upon expert testimony,” Arredondo said, but adding if the justice system relied on experts alone, there would be no need for the jury.

“The conclusion here is death by asphyxiation,” Arredondo said. “The problem here is that, there’s also methadone.”

http://scvnews.com/2014/09/18/saugus-man-convicted-of-girlfriends-murder/

http://www.signalscv.com/section/36/article/127895/

UPDATE–  September 18th 2014
SAN FERNANDO — Eric Earle wilfully and deliberately smothered and killed his girlfriend, Karla Brada, between the night of Aug. 31 and the morning of Sept. 1, 2011, a jury decided Thursday after brief deliberations.

San Fernando Superior Court jurors considered Earle’s guilt for about two and a half hours before they delivered a verdict of guilty of first-degree murder in the trial of the 43-year-old Saugus man.

Brada, 32, was found dead inside the couple’s Saugus condominium on the morning of Sept. 1, 2011. A medical examiner determined she died of asphyxiation.

Earle, who has been in custody on $1 million bail since his arrest on Jan. 25, 2012, faces a possible sentence of 25 years to life in prison, according to the District Attorney’s office.

Earle was arrested the same day Brada was found not breathing on the couple’s bed. However, deputies released him a few days later, saying they needed additional evidence to present the case to the District Attorney.

Deputies in Lomita re-arrested Earle in January 2012. In May 2012 a judge ruled there was enough evidence to hold him for trial.

Following eight days of testimony, jurors began deliberating at 9:15 a.m. Thursday. At 11:40 a.m., less than two and a half hours later, jurors handed a note to the judge saying they had reached a verdict, the court clerk said.

“We were so excited,” Brada’s mother, Jaroslava Mendez, told The Signal.

“We applauded the prosecutor (Deputy District Attorney Elena Abramson) and the jurors,” she said. “The jury was crying. I couldn’t believe it.”

For more than three years the Brada family has been waiting for the day Earle would be held accountable for taking Karla Brada’s life.

“I am so exhausted,” her mother said.

“I feel relieved. There was constant tension listening to all those lies,” she said, referring to Earle’s claim that Brada suffered her fatal injuries in a fall down the stairs.

“I actually walked out of the courtroom Wednesday because I couldn’t listen to any more,” she said. “We’ve been waiting three years and two weeks for this.”

Jurors herd testimony describing how Brada and Earle met at a Alcoholics Anonymous as each struggled with addiction.

They heard from Brada’s friends how Earle quickly moved to control his new girlfriend’s life and how the “charming man” she had fallen in love with transformed into an aggressive and abusive man when he was drunk.

In her closing address to the jury Wednesday, Abramson said: “He had to hold her neck and a pillow over her face for three to four minutes before she died.”

“Three to four minutes is a long time,” she said, noting “premeditation means you decided to kill before completing the act.”

“When you’re talking three to four minutes of mouth and neck compression, there is plenty of time to think about what you’re doing.”

Brada’s mother said the most painful part of the trial was looking at the battered body of her daughter in poster-sized photographs prepared by prosecutors.

“It was horrible,” she said. “It was the first time I had seen those photos. I knew it wasn’t going to be pretty, but it was exceptionally painful.”

Sentencing is set for Oct. 27.

jholt@signalscv.com
661-287-5527
on Twitter @jamesarthurholt

http://www.signalscv.com/section/36/article/127895/

 

AA MEMBER ERIC ALLEN EARLE ON TRIAL FOR MURDER OF KARLA BRADA

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TRIAL GETS UNDER WAY IN 3 YEAR OLD MURDER TRIAL

Jim Holt September 8th 2014

SAN FERNANDO — The man accused of killing his girlfriend three years ago inside the Saugus condo they shared was described in San Fernando Superior Court Monday as charming when sober but abusive and belligerent when drunk.

Opening statements were made Monday in the long-anticipated murder trial of Eric Allen Earle, accused of killing Karla Brada. She died in the couple’s home between 1 a.m. and 5 a.m. Sept. 1, 2011. NA Daytona Meetings Holly Hill Sunrise Park Complaints.

Earle, wearing black-rimmed glasses and a light blue shirt, was wheeled into the courtroom in a pink wheelchair in front of more than a dozen of Brada’s family and friends attending the first day of the trial.

Deputy District Attorney Elena Abramson told members of the jury she would call to the stand forensic experts to describe how Brada was killed by asphyxiation but would also call Earle’s ex-wife to talk about the abuse she suffered from Earle.

“She will tell you how he is a person who is charming when he’s sober, but as someone aggressive and completely different when drunk,” she told the jury.

Earle’s ex-wife will testify, she said, that Earle tried to strangle her and suffocate her with a pillow

“She will tell you that his response to this was that pillows won’t leave bruises,” Abramson said. AA Daytona Beach Meeting schedule Holly Hill Controversy Continues.

Earle’s defense lawyer, David Arredondo, argued, however, that “there will come a point where you will disagree with the experts.” He told jurors they must sift through that testimony.

“Eric Earle did not kill Karla Brada,” he told them.

He told jurors that much of the prosecution’s case depends on expert testimony.

He said methadone can also cause asphyxiation and that methadone was found in Brada’s body at the time of her death.

“You need to rely on common sense,” he said, painting a picture of Brada and Earle as a couple in love, engaged to be married but who shared a lifestyle of bad choices, each struggling with addiction.

Abramson told jurors that Brada and Earle met at an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting and that she found him charming.

“It’s that charm that attracted her to Earle,” he said.

Brada friend Mayra Aguilar told the court that Earle controlled Brada’s life shortly after the two had met.

“I would see her every day,” she said on the witness stand, describing Brada as outgoing and very happy. “Either she would come over to my house or I would visit her.”

Brada changed dramatically when she met Earle, she said.

“I phoned her many times, but you could hear him in the background and he would answer all the questions I asked her,” Aguilar said.

She recalled receiving a phone call from Brada less than a month prior to her death.

“She called me that morning when she was going to bail him out of jail,” Aguilar said. “She said, ‘I’m going to pick up Eric. He almost killed me last night.’

“I told her, ‘Don’t go.’”

http://www.signalscv.com/section/36/article/127574/