Tag: sexual assaults

Colorado police chief on leave amid probe into teen’s alleged rape at home

A Colorado police chief has been placed on administrative leave after his stepson and three men were accused of raping a 17-year-old girl in his home while he slept upstairs.

The city of Ouray announced Monday that Police Chief Jeff Wood would remain on leave “pending the outcome of the criminal proceedings of the alleged rape” during a May 2023 party the stepson threw at Wood’s home.

The city did not clarify the exact reason why Wood was asked to step down, but the move comes more than a week after a man unsuccessfully tried to smother a local newspaper’s reporting on the alleged crime by stealing stacks of papers from its racks, instead amplifying the story to nation-wide attention.

The city had previously stated that it had been monitoring the case and Wood’s familial ties to it since Wood was first made aware of the investigation in July 2023.

Wood did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment.

His stepson, Nate Dieffenderffer, 18, was arrested in December along with Gabriel Trujillo, 20, and Ashton Whittington, 18, with felony sexual assault, a case that is being handled by the Colorado Bureau of Investigation.

Dieffenderffer is accused of initiating a night-long gang rape horror after a 17-year-old guest at a party he was throwing at Wood’s home passed out from intoxication.

The alleged rape took place in Police Chief Jeff Wood’s home during a party thrown by his stepson. City of Ouray County

The police chief’s stepson restrained her when she tried to fight back and scream before he and Trujillo dragged her into the bathroom and took turns violently abusing her, according to an arrest affidavit.

Whittington allegedly did not participate but did not intervene.

The next morning, the survivor woke up naked and grabbed a sweatshirt from a pile of laundry, which turned out to belong to Wood. His DNA turned up in a subsequent investigation, but not in a significant amount to reflect wrongdoing.

Accused rapist Nathan Dieffenderffer, then 17, is Wood’s stepson. Colorado Bureau of Investigation

According to the victim, the police chief was home the entire time, but slept throughout the hours-long torture.

Wood told The Post last week that he “was first made aware of [the rape allegations] approximately two months after the incident was alleged to have occurred.”

“I anticipate being called as a witness at trial so I feel it is not appropriate to comment on the plausibility of the young lady’s allegations at this time,” Wood said in a statement over email.

Hundreds of newspapers were stolen the morning the Ouray County Plaindealer ran a front-page story on the rape allegations. Ouray County Plaindealer

The charges became widely known when a local restaurant owner stole hundreds of copies of the Ouray County Plaindealer on Jan. 18, the morning it ran a front-page story on the horrifying accusations.

Paul Choate, 41, accused the Plaindealer of attempting to profit off the story and claimed on social media he pulled off the heist to protect the victim.

Shockingly, Choate does not appear to have any ties to the police department, Wood, his stepson or the other three men named in the criminal case.

The upsetting case had triggered intense calls from the community for Wood to resign.

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‘Party Mom’ Shannon O’Connor attacked by in California jail

A mom accused of hosting secret parties where she watched her teen sons’ friends having sex was attacked by inmates at a California jail.

The five inmates, who are being held at a Santa Clara County jail, allegedly kicked Shannon O’Connor and beat her with their bare hands, according to court documents obtained by KRON.

The five inmates — Erika Amaya, Danielle Chavez, Sophia Vigil, Anita Quiroz and Marjaana Gardea — allegedly attacked O’Connor, 47, while inside a dorm room on Oct. 24, Los Gatos Sheriff’s Deputy Frank Thrall wrote in court documents.

O’Connor has been locked up at Elmwood Correctional Facility since she was arrested for throwing the booze-filled teen sex parties during an eight-month period in 2020 to 2021 without her husband’s knowledge.


Shannon O’Connor is accused of hosting wild parties and helping drunk teenage boys sexually assault girls in California.
Ada County Sheriff’s Office

Prosecutors said the “Party Mom” met the then-14 and 15-year old teens through social media and through her sons, who attend Los Gatos High School. The girls told investigators that O’Connor watched as they were sexually assaulted by the boys.

The girls “would vomit, be unable to stand and fall unconscious,” prosecutors said.


“Party Mom” Shannon O’Connor was attacked by five inmates at Elmwood Correctional Facility.
Google Earth

During one party, O’Connor allegedly handed a boy a condom and pushed him into a room where an intoxicated 14-year old girl was lying on the bed.

“[The girl] was afraid, ran and locked herself in the bathroom, prosecutors said.

O’Connor, who has been awaiting trial, was attacked by the five inmates for about 16 seconds before deputies broke up the fight. The alleged party mom didn’t fight back, Thrall wrote in court documents. She was treated at the hospital for injuries.

Her alleged attackers are scheduled to appear in court on Thursday to face charges.

Meanwhile, O’Connor is facing 39 counts, including felony child endangerment and sexual battery. O’Connor, who worked as an administrative assistant at Aruba Networks, also faces fraud charges for more than $120,000 in unauthorized charges on a company credit card.

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Bruce Whitehead wanted for mutilating Orlando, Florida woman

A registered sex offender with the word “Sacrifice” tattooed on his face is being sought in Florida for a horrific rape in which authorities said the victim was mutilated.

The Orange County Sheriff’s Office said Wednesday that deputies were searching for 54-year-old Bryce Whitehead — described as a “brutal rapist” — in connection with a violent sex assault that took place in Orlando Saturday.

According to a redacted incident report obtained by the station ClickOrlando, the victim was approached by Whitehead while walking near a strip club off Pine Hills Road near North Lane and got into his car willingly.

Whitehead stopped off at a 7-Eleven store to buy water and then drove to a different location, where he pulled over and walked around to the passenger door where the woman was sitting.

The report stated that the ex-convict ordered the woman to get out of the car at knifepoint and then raped her after she refused to have consensual sex with him.

In the course of the attack, Whitehead also allegedly mutilated the victim, although officials did not elaborate on her injuries.

Bruce Whitehead is wanted in connection with a violent sex assault that took place in Orlando on Saturday.
Orange County Sheriff’s Office

After Whitehead fled, deputies were called to the scene and found the victim “scared and shocked.” She told the officers she thought Whitehead was going to kill her.

The woman was taken to Orlando Regional Medical Center and was expected to recover, officials said.

According to Orange County authorities and information available on the Duval County Sex Offender Registry’s website, Whitehead was convicted of kidnapping, armed sexual battery and first-degree attempted murder in 1986 and spent 20 years in prison.

The victim met Whitehead near a strip club off Pine Hills Road near North Lane.
Google Maps

Whitehead has the word “Sacrifice” written in gothic style tattooed across his forehead, along with several teardrop tattoos on his left cheek.

“His tattoos are unmistakable. If you spot him, call 911 immediately,” the sheriff’s office urged the public.



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‘Superfly’ actor Kaalan Walker sentenced to 50 years to life in prison for rape charges

A Los Angeles-based rapper who acted in the 2018 movie “SuperFly” was sentenced Monday to 50 years to life in prison after he was convicted of sexually assaulting seven victims — including three minors.

Kaalan Walker, 27, was also ordered to register as a lifetime sex offender for the series of crimes dating back to 2013, according to City News Service.

The performer was convicted of three counts of forcible rape, two counts of unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor, two counts of rape of an intoxication victim and one count of assault with intent to commit oral copulation by a Van Nuys jury on April 18.

Deputy District Attorney Cynthia Wallace said she believes Walker is “truly a predator” for his assaults on young women and teenagers between 2013 and 2018, according to City News Service.

Walker used Instagram and Twitter to find his victims — who were often aspiring models and actresses — and lure them to locations by saying he had booked them for photo shoots and music video productions that never happened.

Kaalan Walker, who was ordered to register as a lifetime sex offender for the crimes, used Instagram and Twitter to find his victims.
WireImage

Instead the rapper raped as well as assaulted the women and underage girls, prosecutors said.

“When they said ‘Stop,’ he didn’t care,” Deputy District Attorney Yasmin Fardghassemi told the jury of Walker during the trial in March, the news service reported.

Walker’s attorney said he didn’t force the women and girls and that they were seeking revenge against his client for the false promises he made of music shoots and opportunities to meet his famous and well-connected friends.

Deputy District Attorney Cynthia Wallace said Kaalan Walker is “truly a predator” for his attacks on his victims.
Getty Images

The lawyer, Andrew Flier, added that the rapper’s career has been ruined and that he has suffered “a living nightmare” due to the allegations he was later convicted of.

Walker — who also appeared in the 2017 film “Kings” starring Halle Berry and Daniel Craig — was arrested in September 2018 and released on bond. He was taken into custody again after he was found guilty.

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Harvey Weinstein’s LA sex crime trial begins

Five years after bombshell reports of sexual misconduct ended his career and propelled the #MeToo movement, Harvey Weinstein will stand trial in Los Angeles Monday on a slew of sex-crimes charges.

The fallen movie mogul — currently locked up on a 23-year sentence for rape and sexual assault in New York — is staring down four counts of rape and seven counts of sexual assault from five women in LA.

His second trial is set to test the endurance of the #MeToo movement: the chances Weinstein, 70, might win an appeal for his New York conviction are increasing, and if the LA jury fails to convict, he could soon be a free man.

“It is disturbing and shocking that Harvey was allowed to continue his New York appeal, and so we – survivors, supporters – are paying very, very close attention to the Los Angeles trial,” one of his accusers, Caitlin Dulany, said in a recent interview with The New York Times.

“There’s obviously a lot at stake for the women who are testifying, but there is also a lot at stake for all of us,’ Dulany said, referencing the women will take the stand in LA under the name Jane Doe.

“If it goes the wrong way, it will be a step backwards. I think it will make it harder for women to come forward in the future.”

Weinstein is charged with four counts of rape and seven counts of sexual assault from five women in Los Angeles.
John Angelillo/UPI/Shutterstock

Jury selection will begin Monday in the trial expected to last two months. The charges stem from alleged incidents between 2004 and 2013.

Despite the high stakes, the courtroom scene is expected to be quieter than at Weinstein’s first trial in Manhattan, with only a dozen reporters allowed to sit in the gallery.

“Mr. Weinstein’s notoriety and his place in our culture at the center of the firestorm which is the #MeToo movement is real, and we’re trying to do everything we can to avoid having a trial when there will be a swirl of adverse publicity toward him,” his lawyer Mark Workman said a pre-trial hearing.

The disgraced producer has been in poor health as of late, appearing unkempt and with bags under his eyes in a courtroom at the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center, where the proceedings will take place. He has been jailed at LA’s Twin Towers Correctional Facility while awaiting trial.

A “Silence Breakers” press conference held in Los Angeles after Weinstein was convicted of rape and sexual assault on February 25, 2020.
Photo by Rodin Eckenroth/Getty Images
Weinstein at a hearing at Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center in Los Angeles on October 4, 2022.
Photo by ETIENNE LAURENT/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock

“I’m in pain every day. I have cavities and I can’t eat because I’m missing teeth,” he recently told the court.

In February 2020, a Manhattan jury found Weinstein guilty of forcibly performing oral sex on former “Project Runway” production assistant Miriam “Mimi” Haleyi in 2006 and of raping hairstylist Jessica Mann in 2013.

He was acquitted on two charges of predatory sexual assault related to allegations he raped actress Annabella Sciorra in the mid-1990s.

With Post wires

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