On October 18, a Florida court dropped four of five felony charges after a lawsuit filed against a teacher charged with sexually abusing a teenage student was dropped due to a clause in the school’s enrollment contract. Last November, MinistryWatch reported on the case of Harriet Sugg, a teacher at First Academy in Orlando, Florida. A former student claimed Sugg sexually abused her and that the school failed to report the crimes. The student, now in her twenties and referred to as “Jane Doe” to protect her identity, came forward in 2022. Last year, she sued Sugg, First...

A teacher who sexually abused two schoolboys and became pregnant by one of them has been jailed. Rebecca Joynes groomed both boys from the age of 15, first exchanging messages on social media, Manchester Crown Court heard. The 30-year-old was previously convicted of four counts of sexual activity with a child and two counts of sexual activity with another child. Joynes cried and shook in the dock as she was sentenced to six-and-a-half years.

An eighth grade teacher in Texas resigned after being arrested on Friday for allegedly sending sexually explicit messages and photos to a 15-year-old on Instagram, according to multiple reports. Christine Paige Cockrell, an earth science teacher at Gatesville Junior High School, faces charges of indecency with a child and possession of child pornography with intent to distribute, according to a criminal complaint obtained by local outlets including KXXV and KWTX. The 15-year-old high school student told the Gatesville Independent School District on April 11 about him and Cockrell exchanging nude photos and sexting since October 2023, the Waco,...

The last known person to see Sandra Birchmore alive was a police officer. He stopped by her apartment days before the elementary school teacher’s aide, 23 years old and newly pregnant, was found dead in February 2021. The medical examiner later ruled her death a suicide. The officer worked for the Stoughton Police Department, near Boston, where he first met Birchmore about a decade earlier through the agency’s Explorer post — part of a youth mentorship program run by local departments across the country. He acknowledged having sex with her when she was 15, according to a...

A 62-year-old man who served as a First Baptist Church pastor when a teenage girl accused him of giving her a spiked drink and sexually abusing her appeared in court on Saturday in the Florida Keys. Rev. Monte LaVelle Chitty, a registered police volunteer, appeared before Monroe County Circuit Judge James W. Morgan III at the Marathon Courthouse wearing a light blue jumpsuit and handcuffs. Monroe County Sheriff’s Office deputies arrested Chitty on March 4 after they found incriminating text messages to the girl including, “I prefer you pass out after I play not before” and “You can’t...

A South Florida pastor accused of sexually battering a 15-year-old girl in his church became a wanted man Monday after skipping out on scheduled court hearings. He’s believed to be on the run. Monte Chitty, the 62-year-old pastor of First Baptist Marathon, had been released on a $75,000 bond soon after his March arrest. Prosecutors say Chitty, who was supposed to be arraigned Monday, fled in a white van with out-of-state plates and is no longer believed to be in the Florida Keys. “Our understanding is that he’s already on the road and he’s left the state of Florida,” Monroe...

In a news release, Monroe County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Becky Herrin said deputies were informed of what happened after an anonymous caller reported overhearing a girl telling an adult that she had been raped. Herrin said the girl and her grandmother had boarded a dinghy and headed out to the harbor. Meanwhile, as deputies were searching for her, authorities received a second call. It was from Chitty, Herrin said. Chitty, Herrin said, told dispatchers “he believed he was about to be accused of something and he wanted to get ahead of it,” saying that “a young girl at...

- Sentenced Wednesday to 18 months in state prison for sexually abusing a 15-year-old camper - Engaged in a sexual relationship with a camper at Boy Scouts of America Camp No-Be-Bo-Sco in Hardwick Township back in 2011 - Engaged in various sexual acts with the minor while working the medical tent at the camp - Skeele pleaded guilty to criminal sexual contact. This charge was tacked on to federal child porn charges in 2020. He is currently serving a federal prison sentence for distributing child sexual abuse material.

Luis Jesus Barajas, 76, a former priest accused of “inappropriately touching” a 15-year-old Westlake girl sick with cancer while giving her a blessing, was indicted on six counts of gross sexual imposition by a grand jury. Witnesses told police Barajas used blankets and clothing to to hide his actions and his movements during the blessing were “unconventional.” Another Catholic priest learned of the incident and reported it to police on Oct. 20. Barajas was accused of sexual misconduct involving juveniles in the Diocese of Harrisburg, PA around 1989 and sent back to Columbia, said Westlake police.

According to the lawsuit, the school employed Suggs from around July 2003 until around May 2016. The suit alleges that Sugg met the victim in September 2014 a few weeks after the victim began to attend the school and Sugg quickly “ingratiated herself into Jane Doe’s life under the guise of faith-based mentorship.” The victim met Sugg after the teacher spoke to the school’s upper-school students during chapel about her own experience as a victim of child sexual abuse and her willingness to help any students with similar struggles, according to court documents. The lawsuit alleges that Sugg used her...