Sexual Assault

Dec 5 2012

Bail set $1.5 million

LOS ANGELES, Calif. — A man accused of attacking three women—one of whom was left unconscious at a South Los Angeles bus stop after being sexually assaulted—pleaded not guilty today to nine felony charges.

Allen Phillip Crews, 22, is facing a hearing Jan. 31 to determine if there is enough evidence to require him to stand trial in connection with the three attacks in mid-June.

Jul 13 2012

Victim sustained injuries during attack, taken to hospital

PALMDALE, Calif.—A paroled sex offender wearing an ankle monitor was in custody today, accused of assaulting a woman after a witness helped Los Angeles Sheriff's Department deputies find the suspect, authorities said.

Corey Green, 41, was arrested Wednesday. A witness notified sheriff's deputies that a woman was being harassed by Green in the parking lot of an Auto Zone in the 1100 block of E. Palmdale Blvd, according to Deputy Robbie Royster of the Palmdale Sheriff's Station.

Jul 6 2012

Facing up to 26 years in state prison

INGLEWOOD, Calif.—A pastor at an Inglewood church was charged today with nine felony sex-related counts involving an underage girl.

Gordon Barrington Solomon, 50, of Christ’s Community Church, is scheduled to be arraigned today in Inglewood Superior Court 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.

The criminal complaint alleges that the crimes occurred between June 1, 2010, and last Sunday.

Jun 5 2012

Suspect left behind flip-flops as he fled

Los Angeles County sheriff’s officials have arrested a man suspected of groping a woman in her home by tracing DNA on the flip-flops he was wearing.

Sgt. Mark Machanic said 20-year-old Christopher Prather was charged Friday, June 1, with burglary and sexual battery for entering the Lancaster apartment of a 21-year-old woman in the early hours of Feb. 11.

Mar 29 2012

He was awaiting trial on an unrelated case

A man who runs a Pasadena/Altadena-based boot camp for youths was charged this week with sexually assaulting two teenage girls in 2004.

Kelvin Bernard McFarland, 42, of Monrovia, was already awaiting trial on unrelated charges for allegedly handcuffing a teenage truant, transporting the girl to a relative’s house and demanding money.

He pleaded not guilty Thursday to new charges of sexual penetration by a foreign object, forcible rape, oral copulation of a person under 16, lewd act upon a child and unlawful sexual intercourse.

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.