Lewd Act on a Child

Oct 16 2012

Christ's Community Church

INGLEWOOD, Calif.—A judge today found sufficient evidence to put an Inglewood pastor on trial for nine felony sex-related counts involving an underage girl, a judge ruled today.

Inglewood Superior Court Judge John Meigs ruled there was sufficient evidence to require Gordon Barrington Solomon, 50, of Christ's Community Church, to go to trial on seven counts of committing a lewd act on a child, and one count each of continuous sexual abuse and oral copulation of a person under the age of 14.

Mar 4 2011

Foster Elementary School

COMPTON, Calif.—A former teacher accused of molesting three female students while he was assigned to Foster Elementary School in Compton pleaded not guilty today to three felony counts.

Ronald Sture Hoppe, 45, of Diamond Bar, appeared late this afternoon in Compton Superior Court, where he is charged with three counts of lewd act on a child under 14.

Hoppe, who was arrested Thursday, is accused of molesting one student between August 2005 and June 2006, the second between August 2007 and June 2008 and the third in November 2008.

Mar 2 2011

Daniel Brazelton

LOS ANGELES, Calif.—A 15-year-old Antelope Valley girl who was allegedly raped by an Army rifleman who escaped last month, prompting a weeklong national manhunt that ended with his arrest in Florida, said she was thankful to have received an apology from the Army, but she wanted more done.

Nov 1 2010

America's Best Dance Crew

VAN NUYS, Calif.—Choreographer Shane Sparks, who was a judge on MTV's "America's Best Dance Crew,'' was ordered today to stand trial on eight sex-related counts involving an underage girl in the 1990s.

Van Nuys Superior Court Judge Jessica Silvers found sufficient evidence to require Sparks—whose full name is Melvin Shane Sparks—to proceed to trial on six counts of lewd act on a child and two counts of oral copulation of a person under 16.

Across Black America

Here’s a look at African American people and issues making headlines throughout the country.
 

Alabama
Freeman A. Hrabowski, president of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, will address the annual African American Business Council luncheon on June 28. Hrabowski, who is chairman of President Barack Obama’s Advisory Commission on Education Excellence for African Americans, has a national reputation for his work studying the performance of minority students in math and science. Hrabowski, named one of the 10 best college presidents in the country by Time magazine, was a child leader in the Civil Rights Movement in Birmingham in the 1960s.
 

Arkansas
The Liberty Counsel filed a motion and a brief in United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas seeking to intervene on behalf of a Concepts of Life crisis pregnancy center to defend against a suit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union and the Center for Reproductive Rights. The groups seek to impose a permanent injunction before the Human Heartbeat Protection Act goes into effect July 18. Liberty Counsel also filed a brief opposing the ACLU’s request for an injunction. The “Heartbeat” bill states that when a woman seeks an abortion at or after the 12th week, doctors must test for a fetal heartbeat before an abortion is performed and inform the pregnant mother that the child in her womb has a heartbeat. If a heartbeat is detected, a woman cannot have an abortion, except in cases of rape, incest, and if a mother’s life is in danger. “As we promised when the legislation was introduced, Liberty Counsel will defend this law without reservation for the people of Arkansas, born and pre-born,” said Matt Staver, founder and chairman of Liberty Counsel. “No right is more foundational than the right to life. Without life, all other rights are irrelevant,” concluded Staver.