National Roundup

Pennsylvania
Cops: Man stole wallet to pay court fines 
LEECHBURG, Pa. (AP) — Police say a man who was at a Pennsylvania judge’s office to pay court fines stole a wallet that was near the payment window and used the cash inside to pay his fees.

Allegheny Township Patrolman Kerry Myers tells the Tribune-Review surveillance cameras caught the actions of Steven Rago.

Rago was out on bail on simple assault charges and was at a district court judge’s offices on Thursday to pay fees.

Myers says video shows the 31-year-old Rago putting a wallet into his sweat shirt pocket. He’s seen later paying the fine with cash.

Police say he admitted to having the wallet and returned it. He paid back the money, but his bail was rescinded due to the new theft charge.

Rago was transported to county prison ahead of a preliminary hearing on the simple assault charges.

Texas
Punished child forced to brush teeth with feces
SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Investigators say a San Antonio-area couple punished their three young children by forcing one to brush her teeth with cat feces, using a shock collar as punishment and beating them with a thorny switch.

Thirty-two-year-old James Chalkley and 22-year-old Cheyanne Chalkley were being held Tuesday on charges of injury to a child.

James Chalkley is the father of a 3-year-old boy and two girls who are 5 and 10. Cheyanne Chalkley is their stepmother.

Arrest warrants show a teacher noticed bruising on the 5-year-old in September. Investigators say interviews with child-protective workers revealed the extent of their punishments.

The 5-year-old told authorities that her father used a dog’s shock collar on her that left green marks on her skin.


Ohio
Charges say man had silencer, stolen missile warning system
DAYTON, Ohio (AP) — A former Ohio air base employee has been indicted on federal charges alleging he had an unregistered firearm silencer and a stolen missile warning system that is used on aircraft.

The Dayton Daily News reports the charges against Joel Montgomery are tied to search warrants from 2015, after he was terminated from Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.

The jailed 48-year-old man pleaded not guilty. His attorney, Cheryll Bennett, says he denies allegations in the indictment.

The newspaper reports Montgomery’s Spring Valley home was raided again Oct. 19, after an informant told the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms that Montgomery had hundreds of weapons and bomb-making materials and that his drinking was of concern.

Virginia
Charges against KKK protesters dismissed
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) — A Virginia judge has dismissed charges against nine counterprotesters arrested during a Ku Klux Klan rally in Charlottesville.

About 50 members of the North Carolina-based Loyal White Knights were met by more than 1,000 protesters when they came to Charlottesville on July 8 to protest the removal of a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee.

A month later, white nationalists returned and violence erupted. One counterprotester was killed and two state troopers died when their helicopter crashed.

The defendants who appeared in court Monday were charged during the first protest with obstructing free passage and failing to heed police commands to disperse. Two others pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice and were ordered to perform 40 hours of community service. Three other cases were continued.

Florida
She suspected an affair, then found a secret camera
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — Police in Florida say a daughter suspected her mother’s live-in partner was having an affair, so she looked at files under his profile in their household computer.

Instead of another woman, the daughter found pictures and video of herself — naked and undressing in the privacy of her bedroom and bathroom.

Investigators eventually found more than 2,500 images taken with a secret camera. Sunrise police say 48-year-old Matthew Bordeaux, who has lived with the mother and daughter for seven years, was jailed on charges of video voyeurism.

The SunSentinel reports that Bordeaux was jailed on $10,000 bail after a court hearing Monday.

Kentucky
Hearing set for judge who refused to handle gay adoptions
FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — A panel says ethics charges will proceed against a Kentucky judge who declared his conscientious objection to handling adoption cases involving gay and lesbian adults, despite his resignation last week.

News outlets report the state Judicial Conduct Commission announced Monday that a hearing for Judge W. Mitchell Nance is scheduled for Dec. 15, a day before his resignation takes effect. The 66-year-old Nance has presided over family court cases in Barren and Metcalfe counties in rural south-central Kentucky.

The commission said Nance’s April order, which he said was motivated by religious convictions, violated several ethics provisions. That included a rule barring judges from showing bias based on sexual orientation. Several civil rights groups had filed a complaint against Nance.

Nance’s attorneys argued for charges to be dismissed after he resigned.

Washington
Trial begins in death of juror who died outside
SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) — Spokane County jurors are hearing the case of a man who died of hypothermia outside the county courthouse after reporting for jury duty.

KXLY-TV reports the trial began Monday nearly 10 years after 84-year-old Kay Mita was found covered in snow near the courthouse steps.

His family sued Spokane County and a guard company for negligence in 2010. A judge dismissed the claims, ruling the county and Guardsmark did not owe Mita a duty of care.

In 2014, a state appeals court reversed the decision and reinstated the claims.

Kay Mita reported for jury duty on Nov. 26, 2007. When he didn’t return to the courtroom after lunch and didn’t make it home, his family called the Spokane Criminal Reporting Center, a non-emergency line, for help.

Floyd Mita, Kay Mita’s son, alleges the county was negligent.