Corrections Officer Richard Hanson Accused of Sex Crimes

Continuing coverage on the Presque Isle County corrections officer accused of sex crimes against a woman outside the jail.

The victim says Richard Hanson touched her inappropriately at her home in Rogers City.
Today, Hanson was charged with two counts of force or coercion, which are sex crimes.

State police say the charges involve touching another person for personal gratification.

Hanson is on administrative leave from his position in Presque Isle County.

The case is being handled in Cheboygan County to avoid a conflict of interest.

Officer Robert McChester Arrested for Enticing Minor

Robert McChester Jr., 27, has been arrested on charges of using a facility and means of interstate and foreign commerce - a telephone and a computer connected to the Internet - to coerce and entice a minor to engage in sexual activity, United States Attorney Kenneth Magidson announced today. 

The complaint alleges that between May 1, 2011, and April 1, 2012, McChester began communicating with a child he knew to be 15 years old. Shortly thereafter, the victim allegedly made an outcry to medical professionals regarding the inappropriate relationship she had been engaged in with a Corpus Christi Police Department (CCPD) officer.  

McChester was discovered to be an active duty patrol officer with the CCPD and that he had been communicating with the victim via the Internet for approximately one year beginning in May of 2011 and continuing up to the date of the victim's outcry, according to the complaint. The victim further alleged they had met on several occasions and engaged inappropriate activities.

Online communications between McChester and the victim were recovered and determined to contain content of an inappropriate sexual nature.

McChester was arrested shortly following the filing of the federal complaint Tuesday afternoon and is expected to appear before U.S. Magistrate Judge B. Janice Ellington Wednesday.

The investigation was conducted by the Corpus Christi Police Department's Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force (ICAC) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement - Homeland Security Investigations. 

Former Officer Gary Pignato Pleads Guilty to Another Charge

Former Greece Police Officer Gary F. Pignato, who already is in prison for sexually coercing a woman he met on duty, pleaded guilty today to charges involving another woman.

Pignato pleaded guilty before Monroe County Court Judge Frank P. Geraci Jr. to misdemeanors of official misconduct and second-degree criminal trespass.

He will receive two years in the Monroe County Jail to run at the same time as his sentence for the previous conviction.

Pignato, 49, is serving a prison term of two to six years for forcing a woman to have sex with him in 2008 in exchange for not reporting her for violating probation on a misdemeanor conviction for petit larceny. He was convicted after a trial last spring.

The latest charge he admitted to involves a woman who said he forced her into having sex with him in 2005 in exchange for not reporting her for smoking marijuana.

Officer David Reilly Accused of Using Internet to Extort Money

A Naugatuck police officer accused of extortion has resigned from the police department.

David Reilly is accused of using the Internet to extort money from a Wallingford woman in order to pay gambling debts.

According to an arrest warrant affidavit, Reilly threatened to send humiliating information about the woman's sex life to her employer and parents.

The mayor's office confirmed Tuesday that the 40-year-old Reilly, who joined the police force in 1996, had resigned.

Reilly has pleaded not guilty to charges of extortion, coercion and computer crimes and is due back in Meriden Superior Court on March 8. He is free after posting a $25,000 bond.

Officer Wilfredo Rosario Convicted of Sexually Assaulting Several Women

A New York City police officer who is accused of sexually assaulting several women was convicted Friday of telling an 18-year-old that he would destroy a summons he was issuing her in exchange for oral sex.

After the jury found the officer, Wilfredo Rosario, guilty of official misconduct and attempted coercion, Justice Daniel P. FitzGerald of State Supreme Court in Manhattan ordered that he be held without bail. Mr. Rosario will face up to a year in jail behind bars when he is sentenced on Jan. 29.

Mr. Rosario faces unrelated charges — including sexual abuse and rape — involving three other women. Those will be decided in a separate trial.

Because of the conviction on Friday, Mr. Rosario was fired, a Police Department spokesman said.

Steven R. Fusfeld, Mr. Rosario’s lawyer, said he planned to appeal the conviction.

“We really are surprised and disappointed with the verdict,” Mr. Fusfeld said in an interview. “I just don’t think there was enough credible evidence to support the verdict.”

The case stemmed from an encounter in 2002 in which Mr. Rosario and his partner saw a woman, now 26, and her male friend sitting in Riverside Park after hours. Mr. Rosario took the woman to one side of the van, while his partner took the man to the other. The woman testified at trial that Mr. Rosario began asking her normal police questions for the summons, like her address and phone number, before the tenor changed.

He asked her if she was “going to make out” with her friend or have sex with him, she testified. She responded no. After that, the woman said, Mr. Rosario asked her if she would perform oral sex on him, agreeing to throw out the summons if she did.

The woman testified that she told Mr. Rosario that she would give him oral sex later, hoping it would buy her time to get out of the situation. They agreed to meet the following day at 4 p.m., she said. But she never again saw Mr. Rosario, she said, and she reported the incident to the authorities a few days later.


More Information

Three Connecticut Officers Arrested

Three police officers in three Connecticut towns were arrested Wednesday and Thursday.

Police said officers from Naugatuck, Middletown and Hartford were all arrested and were not connected.

Hartford police Officer Rhashim Campbell was arrested on Thursday after an internal investigation into an assault in the city lockup.

Police said Campbell was arrested on Thursday.

Campbell was charged with assault and fabricating physical evidence.

Police said Campbell was released on a promise to appear.

In addition to the criminal charges, Campbell also faces administrative charges, according to police.

Campbell is suspended without pay from the Hartford Police Department.

Hartford Police Chief Daryl K. Roberts said, "We take the care of persons in our custody very seriously. The inappropriate acts of these officers are not representative of the dedicated and professional officers of the Hartford Police Department. The Hartford Police Department will continue to serve our community with the highest professional standards, always focusing on service, relationships and safety."

A New York man who said Hartford police assaulted him while he was in the city lockup stood before a judge on Thursday.

Michael Stewart appeared in court on his breach of peace arrest that occurred the morning after Halloween.

Peter Oldum, Stewart's attorney did all the talking.

The Long Island man was charged in connection with an arrest in the early morning the day after Halloween. Hartford police reports said Stewart had to be pepper sprayed twice.

It's what happened after Stewart's arrest, in the city lockup, that has generated the most attention.

Officers Kent Lee and Rhashim Campbell were suspended with pay after a confrontation between them and Stewart was caught on the city lockup's surveillance cameras.

In court on Thursday, Oldum asked the judge to make sure that the recording is preserved.

Judge Glen Woods granted the request.

Lee has since retired since the incident took place.

In Middletown, police Officer Angelo Passanisi surrendered to Capt. William McKenna at the Middletown Police Department.

Police said Passanisi was charged with insurance fraud, fabricating evidence and falsely reporting an incident.

Officials said the arrest followed a lengthy investigation conducted by McKenna.

In September, Passanisi filed a police report with the Middletown Police Department in which he reported that his parked car had been struck by another vehicle that then fled the scene.

In October, after receiving information that Passanisi crashed the vehicle himself and staged an accident scene to make it appear that the accident was a hit-and-run, he was placed on administrative leave.

After his arrest, Passanisi was processed and released on a $2,500 non-surety bond and was scheduled to appear in court on Dec. 23.

In Naugatuck, Officer David Reilly was arrested by Wallingford police and is facing felony charges involving larceny and computer crimes.

Police said they received a complaint from a resident in April.

Police would not elaborate on the actual crime but Wallingford police said Reilly was charged with larceny, computer crimes and coercion.

Officer Ismael Ramirez Charged with Coercing Woman to Have Sex

A Medina police officer has been accused of coercing a woman to have sex to make charges against her go away.

Officer Ismael Gaston Garcia Ramirez is charged with official misconduct. The 30-year-old is scheduled to be arraigned Nov. 12 in King County Superior Court.

Documents from Issaquah police say he pulled over the woman in November 2008 and found a small amount of marijuana in her car.

Prosecutors say he told her she was sexy and could make the charges go away.

About a week later they met at an Issaquah pub and he took her to his home where he is accused of having sex with her over her objections.

He asked the prosecutor to drop the marijuana charge because the amount was too small.
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More Information:
http://www.tdn.com/articles/2009/10/31/breaking_news/doc4aec7aa6cd447545672173.txt

Former Houston Officer & others Arrested for Sex Trafficking

A sex trade ring in which young girls were allegedly pistol-whipped and forced from their homes into sexual slavery was broken up in Houston this week and several suspects are in custody.

Five people, including a former Houston police officer, were arrested in the largest sex trafficking case in Texas' southern district, MyFOXHouston.com reported. A sixth remains on the run.

John Butler, 47, William Hornbeak, 34, Jamine Lake, 27, Andre McDaniels, 39, and Kristen Land, 28, all of Houston, as well as Tulsa, Okla., resident Ronnie Presley, 35, are named as suspects in the case.

All are charged with conspiracy to traffic women and children for the purposes of commercialized sex; sex trafficking of children; sex trafficking by force, fraud and coercion; and other offenses, according to the station.

The five Houston residents were arrested Monday and Tuesday; Presley is still at large, MyFOXHouston.com reported.

Butler was a Houston police officer for a brief period in the 1980s, sources told the station.

The sting was the result of a joint investigation by local and federal authorities.

“It is a horrible reflection on our society when adults prey on the vulnerabilities of children and reduce them to indentured sex slaves,” U.S. Attorney Tim Johnson said in a prepared statement.

The suspects allegedly used businesses like massage parlors, modeling studios and health spas to disguise their sex trade business, according to the 16-count indictment unsealed on Tuesday.

Women and teens as young as 16 were among the victims allegedly coerced into prostitution and regularly beaten and threatened, according to the U.S. attorney's statement.

Officer Gary Pignato Found Guilty of Coercing Woman into Having Sex

Jurors came back at 5 p.m. Monday and found suspended Greece Police Officer Gary Pignato guilty of all charges. He was accused of using his police powers to coerce a woman into having sex, and was charged with coercion, accepting a bribe, and official misconduct.

While deliberating, the jury came back twice to have testimony read back. Boiled down, it was a case of who they believed - Officer Gary Pignato or the woman who says he exerted his influence for sex.

The woman testified that she had been drinking that night and agreed to the encounter in an effort to avoid a probation violation which could have sent her to jail. But in his closing arguments Monday morning, Pignato's attorney Scott Green, painted a much different picture of what happened the night of August 24 2008.

He told jurors Officer Pignato didn't know at the time that the woman was even on probation. He then proceeded to try to break down her credibility, portraying her as a woman motivated by greed and said, "she has repeatedly lied, misspoke and shaded the truth."

Green conceded Pignato's decision to have a sexual encounter with her was maybe not smart, but in the end said, "what we have here is a consensual act between two adults."

The DA's office clearly disagreed. William Gargan said, “What occurred between those two adults was not an instance of consenting adults deciding to make a decision to engage in sexual relations later."

In his summation, Gargan called the woman a vulnerable wreck - abusing drugs and alcohol, caring for a sick mother, while being thrown out by her boyfriend and he says Pignato knew it.

Replaying a taped phone conversation between the alleged victim and Pignato, Gargan noted a portion of the conversation where Pignato seemed surprised she even knew his name.

Pignato: (How did you) find out who I was anyways? You never asked me who I was.
Woman: Yes I did. I asked you what your name was.

Gargan continued, “So it gives you a hint of what transpired the night in August. This was an incident of several hours together, but names were not shared, and again, there was one that was sober and a police officer and one that was not."

The jury deliberated for more than four hours, returning twice requesting more information. Once to have some legal definitions read back and the other to have testimony read back.

The judge did warn them not to consider the fact that Pignato did not testify at this trial.

Despite the conviction, Officer Pignato's legal problems are not be behind him. He's charged with similar conduct involving a second woman who claims she was also coerced.

When sentenced, Pignato faces two and a third to seven years in prison.

For more Rochester, N.Y. news go to our website http://www.whec.com/.
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Other information: http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/newyork/ny-bc-ny--policeofficerconv0609jun09,0,1755889.story

New York police officer arrested on sex charges

A 10 year veteran New York police officer has been arrested and charged with sexually abusing one woman and trying to force another to have sex with him.

Officer Wilfredo Rosario first met the 27 years old woman while on duty, on March 26, when he offered to help her get a job as a school crossing guard. He also promised to help her get her son into an after school program, and took her address and telephone number.

Four days later, while off duty, he went to her home, picked her up and drove to a secluded area along Riverside Drive where he sexually abused her. The woman said she tried to get out of the car, but Officer Rosario grabbed her and pulled her back into the car. He then sexually abused her again before finally taking her home.

While investigating this incident, investigators learned that in March 2002, Rosario attempted to force a 18 year old woman to have sex with him. Officer Rosario had found the teen and a male friend in the park after it had closed, and told her if she would have sex with him, he would not tell her parents or give her a ticket, but the 18 year old rejected his offer. This poor woman complained to the NYPD, but no action was ever taken.

Women living in the area say the allegations have opened their eyes.

"Having the knowledge after hearing these stories, definitely, I would be a little more vigilant, a little bit more aware, a little bit unfortunately more uncomfortable being alone with a cop, especially at night," Valerie Davidkova said.

"Oh it's awful," said one woman. "Somebody who people are supposed to be able to trust, who you're taught as a child to go to for help when you need assistance. Somebody who takes advantage of that. It's terrible."

The other woman added, “It certainly makes you wonder...I guess it makes it harder to trust the system.”

“There are other victims our there,” stated the prosecutor. Investigators are asking any other victims to please call them at (212)335-8905.

This disgraced officers bail was set at just $10,000. For sex crimes and being an ass in a uniform should have tripled his bond in my opinion.

He has been indicted on charges of sex abuse, official misconduct, unlawful imprisonment, and attempted coercion for allegedly having forced a woman into having sex with him.
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Hope he gets 20 years, but oh yeah I forgot they save that time for people with drug problems, not former police officers who sexually abuse women. Hmmmm...sounds like justice to me...WRONG!!!