Month: May 2022

Former reality TV star Josh Duggar, who appeared in TLC’s “19 Kids and Counting,” was sentenced Wednesday to more than 12 years in federal prison for downloading and possessing child pornography. Duggar was sentenced to 151 months in prison and fined $10,000, according to legal documents. Josh’s father, Jim Bob, his wife Anna, and siblings Joy-Anna (Duggar) Forsyth and Jason Duggar were present in court to support him.

In December, a Fayetteville, Arkansas, jury found the 34-year-old Duggar guilty on one count each of receiving and possessing child pornography. Duggar faced up to 20 years in prison and fines of up to $250,000 for each count. Prosecutors had asked U.S. District Judge Timothy Brooks to give the maximum term of 20 years to Duggar, arguing in a pre-sentencing court filing that Duggar has a “deep-seated, pervasive and violent sexual interest in children.”

Duggar, whose lawyers sought a five-year sentence, maintains his innocence and has said he will appeal. Duggar’s lawyer Justin K. Gelfand said: “We’re grateful the judge dismissed Count 2 and rejected the Government’s request for a 240-month sentence. We look forward to continuing the fight on appeal.”

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Authorities say the death toll from a mass shooting at a Texas elementary school shooting now stands at 19 children and two teacher, after a gunman opened fire at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde. Uvalde is located about 85 miles west of San Antonio and about 50 miles east of the Mexican border. At least six victims had been publicly identified by family members:  third grade student Annabell Guadalupe Rodriguez, 10; and fourth graders Uziyah Garcia; Xavier Lopez, 10; and Amerie Jo Garza, 9; were among the 19 students killed, relatives confirmed to news outlets. Family members also identified the two teachers as Eva Mireles, a 17-year educator who taught fourth grade, and Irma Garcia, who taught at the school for 23 years.

Speaking at a news conference shortly after the mass shooting, Texas Governor Greg Abbott identified the shooter as Salvador Ramos, a resident of Uvalde. He said the 18-year-old was killed by law enforcement officers, two of whom also sustained minor injuries. Abbott said Ramos entered the school with a handgun and possibly a rifle. The Texas Department of Public Safety said the suspect shot his grandmother before he drove toward the school;  after he apparently crashed nearby, he went to the campus and opened fire.

The assault at Robb Elementary School was the deadliest shooting at a U.S. grade school since a gunman killed 20 children and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Connecticut, almost a decade ago. Hal Harrell, the school district superintendent, announcing that all school activities were canceled until further notice, saying: “My heart is broken today. We’re a small community, and we’re going to need your prayers to get through this.”

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A suspect in the unprovoked fatal shooting of a man on a Q train in New York City is in custody. Law enforcement sources identified the suspect as Andrew Abdullah, a 25-year-old man from Brooklyn with about 20 prior arrests, including an outstanding gun charge from last year. He also has prior arrests for assault, robbery, menacing and grand larceny, sources said.

Abdullah has three cases that are still pending, including an April arrest for fourth-degree criminal possession of stolen property for allegedly being found with a stolen motorcycle, as well as a June 2021 arrest for violating a protective order and March 2021 arrest for assault.

Abdullah arranged a surrender through his pastor to officers at the 5th precinct. The New York Police Department had released surveillance photos Monday of the suspect believed to have shot 48-year-old Daniel Enriquez, taken shortly after he exited the subway.  Detectives have also recovered the gun used in the shooting, which the suspect allegedly handed to a homeless man as he fled the Canal Street station. Sources say the homeless man then apparently sold the gun for $10 to a third person, who reported it to police.

Witnesses say the suspect was pacing back and forth in the last car of a Manhattan-bound train around 11:45 a.m. when he pulled out a gun and fired it at Enriquez unprovoked. A motive for the shooting is still unknown.

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Washington D.C. Attorney General Karl Racine is suing Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, claiming decisions that he made in 2018 allowed Cambridge Analytica to expose millions of users’ personal data. The suit, filed Monday in the District of Columbia Superior Court, charged the Facebook founder with violations of the District’s Consumer Protection Procedures Act for failing to protect Facebook users’ data before and after the Cambridge Analytica leak. Meta, Facebook’s parent company, has not commented about the lawsuit.

Racine said in a news release:  “The evidence shows Mr. Zuckerberg was personally involved in Facebook’s failure to protect the privacy and data of its users leading directly to the Cambridge Analytica incident. This unprecedented security breach exposed tens of millions of Americans’ personal information, and Mr. Zuckerberg’s policies enabled a multi-year effort to mislead users about the extent of Facebook’s wrongful conduct.”  Racine said he filed the lawsuit against Zuckerberg after evidence surfaced during the ongoing litigation that showed a failure to protect user’s personal and consumer privacy: “This lawsuit is not only warranted, but necessary, and sends a message that corporate leaders, including CEOs, will be held accountable for their actions.”

In December 2018, Racine filed a lawsuit against Facebook, after Cambridge Analytica shut down over accusations it data-mined 87 million Facebook users. Cambridge Analytica said a “siege of media coverage” of its dealings with Facebook had driven away customers, leaving the company no longer viable. In 2019, Facebook settled with the Federal Trade Commission for $5 billion over the company’s handling of the Cambridge Analytica leak.

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Los Angeles police said that four people — two men and two women — plunged at least 300 feet over the side of a cliff in Palos Verdes Estates, Calif. Monday morning, leaving one dead and three people injured on a beach below an ocean cliff early Monday. Two of the people suffered traumatic injuries while the fourth person suffered a minor injury and was able to walk away. The deadly fall happened around 4:45 a.m., about an hour before sunrise. First responders began their rescue and recovery operation around 5:45 a.m.

Reports state that one person was hoisted from the bottom of the cliff by a helicopter, and brought to the top of the cliff, while a second person was airlifted straight to the hospital. A second person was taken to the hospital by ambulance. Both people taken to the hospital are in critical condition.

No car was involved in the fall, and L.A. County Fire officials say they all appeared to have been on foot. Palos Verdes Estates is on the Palos Verdes Peninsula at the south end of Los Angeles County. A trail runs along the bluff top high above the Pacific Ocean. The area where the fall happened was described as very unstable, with very loose soil, and no fencing in the area.

https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/found-dead-injured-beach-california-cliff-84911376

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