Mar-a-Lago Should Be Taxed at Value Trump Gave It

[Wile E. Coyote]

House Democrat Asks if Mar-a-Lago Can Be Taxed at Value Trump Gave It
The former president’s valuation of his residence and private club is part
of New York’s civil fraud case against him.


Jonathan Weisman
By Jonathan Weisman

Oct. 5, 2023Updated 6:08 p.m. ET

Attempting to call former President Donald J. Trump’s bluff, a congressman
from Florida on Thursday asked Palm Beach County to tax Mar-a-Lago, Mr.
Trump’s seaside residence and private club, at the value he claimed it was
worth, more than $1 billion. The gambit, by Representative Jared
Moskowitz, Democrat of Florida, goes to the core of New York’s civil case
against Mr. Trump. The state has accused the former president of grossly
inflating the value of his properties to obtain favorable bank loans while
paying taxes on valuations at or below market value. Judge Arthur Engoron
valued Mar-a-Lago at $18 million, the low end of the $18 million to $28
million appraisal used by Palm Beach County for property taxes. Eric
Trump, Mr. Trump’s son, speculated on X, the social media platform
formerly known as Twitter, that the home and resort could be worth $1
billion. He called it “arguably the most valuable residential property in
the country,” and said the judge’s figure was “an attempt to destroy my
father and kick him out of New York.” In a letter to the Palm Beach County
Property Appraiser, Mr. Moskowitz asked, “If the property value of
Mar-a-Lago is so much higher than it was appraised, will you be amending
the property value in line with the Trump family’s belief that the
property is worth well over a billion dollars?”



https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/05/us/politics/trump-mar-a-lago-appraisal.h
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[The Disappearing Karen Bass]

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This photo provided by the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department shows Darrell Goodlow. An Indiana judge has sentenced the convicted serial rapist to more than 150 years in prison, authorities said.(Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department/WXIN via AP)

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — An Indiana judge has sentenced a convicted serial rapist to more than 150 years in prison, authorities said Monday.

Darrell Goodlow was charged in 2021 with 57 counts, including rape, burglary and criminal confinement. He pleaded guilty in March to nine counts, including eight felony counts of rape and one felony count of killing a domestic animal, as part of a plea agreement.

Marion Superior Judge Mark Stoner sentenced him to 156 1/2 years behind bars on Friday, prosecutors said in a news release.

“With this resolution, the defendant will spend the rest of his life in prison without putting the survivors in a position to relive the trauma they have experienced throughout the duration of a trial,” Marion County Prosecutor Ryan Mears said.

Telephone messages were left with defense attorneys listed in online court records as representing Goodlow.

Prosecutors alleged that Goodlow targeted women in their 60s and 70s on the east side of Indianapolis and in the suburb of Lawrence. They accused Goodlow of sexually assaulting eight women on six different occasions between August 2020 and September 2021.

In some cases, he dressed as a utility worker to gain access to his victims’ homes. He killed one of his victims’ dogs during one attack, police said.

A fingerprint at one of the scenes helped investigators identify him. They also matched his DNA to evidence collected in all eight cases.

https://www.fox5vegas.com/2023/04/17/convicted-serial-rapist-sentenced-more-than-150-years/

[The Disappearing Karen Bass]

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Quadir H. Jones

PHILADELPHIA - A suspected rapist is in custody for the sexual assault of a 13-year-old girl after two girls became victims of sexual assault on their way to school this week, according to the Philadelphia District Attorney's office.

Quadir H. Jones, 23, is charged with rape, kidnapping, robbery, sexual assault, aggravated assault, false imprisonment, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, unlawful contact with a minor and related offenses.

Officials say the 13-year-old victim had just exited the SEPTA station at Broad and Race streets on Friday when she was approached by Jones, who told her he had a gun, forced her into a parking garage stairway, and sexually assaulted her.

After the assault, police say the suspect walked with the victim towards her school, where she was able to report the sexual assault.

Prior to the assault, the suspect allegedly took the girl's phone, only giving it back when she provided her number. Jones later called and texted the victim, according to the DA's office.

Detectives were able to track the suspect's location through his phone number, and take him into custody later that day.

Philadelphia police told reporters during a press conference Friday that they were also able to recover surveillance images of the suspect walking with the victim.

Friday's incident comes just 24 hours after a 15-year-old girl was also sexually assaulted on her way to school. Police say the girl was getting off the SEPTA train at 8th Street when a suspect tried to sexually assault her. He then followed her to the street, where he forced her into an apartment in the area and successfully sexually assaulted her.

Police say they are not ruling that one person may be responsible to both incidents, but currently have no evidence to indicate a possible connection.

https://www.fox29.com/news/philadelphia-da-man-charged-with-rape-after-girl-13-sexually-assaulted-on-her-way-to-school

[The Disappearing Karen Bass]

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Daton Viel, 28 (Orlando Police Department)

ORLANDO, Fla. – A report released Wednesday details how a man facing sexually battery charges raped a 14-year-old girl in Orlando after offering her a ride to school.

Daton Viel, 28, was arrested in connection to the Dec. 1, 2022, sexual battery, according to the affidavit. The affidavit shows around 10 a.m. that day, the victim was walking to school when Viel called her to his car and offered to drive her the rest of the way to school.

He said his name was “D” and that he lived with his sister in Apopka, the affidavit continues. Police said once they were in the school front office parking lot, the suspect said he wanted to spend more time with the girl and drove her to Trotters Park, located at 2701 Lee Road.

According to officers, he then parked his vehicle, proceeded to put the sunshade on his windshield and raped the girl, despite her telling him, “No” and that “she did not want to engage in said acts.”

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Viel then dropped the victim off at school, where she reported the sexual battery to friends and school staff, police said.

School surveillance footage verified the suspect’s car was seen entering, leaving and reentering the campus parking lot and a DNA test led detectives to Viel, according to the affidavit.

Viel faces charges for sexual battery, lewd or lascivious molestation, and lewd or lascivious exhibition on a child between the ages of 12 and 16.

During a first appearance in court back in March, Viel’s bond was set at over $125,000 and a judge ordered that he could have no contact with anyone under the age of 18, can’t be within 1,000 feet of Bishop Moore High School or 500 feet of any school, and is not allowed to return to Trotters Park.

https://www.clickorlando.com/news/local/2023/04/12/man-rapes-14-year-old-after-offering-her-ride-to-school-in-orlando-report-shows/

[The Disappearing Karen Bass]

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ORLANDO, Fla. – A man was arrested on early Sunday morning after witnesses reported that he had sexually assaulted a woman near an Orlando bar, according to the police department.

Police said they responded to reports of the attack at 1:57 a.m. on Sunday near the Stonewall Bar at 741 W. Church St.

Upon arrival, police found 56-year-old Sammy Pursley nearby with no shirt, his shorts falling slightly and his belt unbuckled, an arrest affidavit shows.

According to the affidavit, Pursley claimed that he had been trying to help a woman when someone accused him of rape, prompting him to run away and his shorts to starting falling.

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However, detectives said several witnesses reported seeing the sexual assault take place, describing the man responsible as “bald, no shirt, baggy shorts” and “wearing no shirt.”

Police said that the woman had been “extremely intoxicated” and was unable to stand. The witnesses were responsible for chasing off Pursley after they realized what he was doing, investigators said.

Pursley was arrested and face a charge of sexual battery involving an intoxicating substance. He is held on $25,000 bond.

https://www.clickorlando.com/news/local/2023/04/17/man-accused-of-raping-woman-outside-orlando-bar-police-say/

[That Idiot Karen Bass]

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Police on Friday released new surveillance video of a man believed to have raped a 16-year-old girl who he allegedly followed from Long Beach to South L.A.

The incident unfolded about 9 p.m. Sept. 26, Los Angeles Police Department officials said this week.

The man approached the victim a few times while she was on the train platform and when the train arrived at the station, he allegedly followed her on, but she went to a different car to avoid him, Lt. Kerri Potter told KTLA Friday.

The man allegedly followed the victim to the train car she was on and tried to engage her in conversation, but she ignored him and then asked him to leave her alone, Potter said.

The girl then transferred onto MTA bus line 105 heading to L.A., and so did the man.

She got off the bus at Vernon Avenue and San Pedro Street in Historic South-Central. As the victim walked home, the assailant allegedly grabbed her around the neck, forced her behind an apartment building and raped her. At one point he also allegedly threatened to kill her, police said.

No further details about the incident, the victim or assailant have been released.

Police previously released two surveillance images of the man, and on Friday, new surveillance video showed him walking along the train platform.

The man is described as being 35 years old, about 6 feet, 2 inches tall and weighing approximately 200 pounds. He has black dreadlocks, brown eyes and was last seen wearing a white shirt and black pants.

Anyone with information regarding the incident is asked to call the LAPD’s juvenile division at 213-486-0570. During non-business hours or on weekends, calls can be directed to 1-877-527-3247, and anyone wishing to remain anonymous can call the LA Regional Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.

https://ktla.com/news/local-news/new-video-released-amid-search-for-man-who-allegedly-raped-threatened-to-kill-girl-in-south-l-a/

[That Idiot Karen Bass]

https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/Ju70Fjf7sZmLS7nrAk0J3A--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTE2MDA7aD04NTA-/https://media.zenfs.com/en/nextshark_articles_509/ecf781a5c40652c13fce3a0b1de026b7

A Massachusetts man has been arrested and charged in connection with an hours-long attack on a senior Asian woman that involved kidnapping, torture and rape, authorities announced on Monday.

The victim, 64, was at Wollaston station in Quincy on Saturday morning when she was allegedly kidnapped shortly after 7 a.m.

The senior woman, who was supposed to go to work, was instead driven to an apartment on East Elm Avenue. There, she was bound, strangled and sexually assaulted for hours, according to the Norfolk County District Attorney’s Office.

At around 6 p.m., the victim was dropped off at a parking lot at Westgate Mall in Brockton. A passerby who heard her screaming called 911, NBC10 Boston reported.

Surveillance footage showing her attacker’s vehicle helped police identify Christian M. Lynch, 26, as its owner. The Quincy resident was arrested at a convenience store near his home on Sunday, as per Boston 25 News.

During his police interview, Lynch claimed that he was “tired of swiping” on dating apps. He also reportedly said, “This is me going out into the world getting a date.”

Police said surveillance footage shows a man locking his arms around the victim’s torso and forcing her into his vehicle. The victim can be seen kicking her feet in an apparent attempt to escape, WCVB reported.

The victim alleged that the abuse began in the car right after she was abducted. At the apartment, she said her mouth, hands and feet were duct-taped.

At one point, the victim believed she was “going to die.” She reportedly received treatment at Good Samaritan Hospital.

Lynch was arraigned on Monday on charges of rape, kidnapping, strangulation and assault and battery on a person aged 60 or older.

He was also charged with attempted kidnapping and assault with the intent to rape in connection with another incident. As it turns out, he allegedly tried to kidnap another woman 20 minutes before he targeted the Asian senior. That victim — who was also described as Asian — managed to fight back and eventually flee, according to reports.

The recent incidents have stoked fear among MBTA commuters.

“We are not safe anymore, anywhere,” Diane Mahan told CBS Boston. “I very often go to work first thing early in the morning to my job in Boston and now I am afraid, I'm afraid to do that.”

Lynch pleaded not guilty to the charges. He is currently being held without bail and will return to court on a dangerousness hearing next week.

Featured Image via Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority Transit Police

https://www.yahoo.com/news/man-charged-kidnapping-sexual-assault-181322117.html

[That Idiot Karen Bass]

The accused serial sex predator just nabbed for raping a woman in the West Village was ordered held without bail Friday — as prosecutors and sources said his latest victim is a tourist who was choked so hard, several bones broke in her neck.

Suspected fiend Carl Phanor — who police sources say has a “scales of justice” tattoo on his left hand — swayed and said nothing at his court arraignment as prosecutors detailed the “clear predatory pattern” he used in his string of attacks over the past nine months in Manhattan.

“In each case, the defendant targeted women in areas that, in the very early mornings, are desolate, with minimal surveillance,” Manhattan Assistant District Attorney Lauren Breen said during the hearing.

“The defendant demonstrated a clear predatory pattern. He chose unpopulated areas, he targeted women who were either walking or jogging home, he attacked each of them from behind, choked them, and sexually assaulted each of the three victims.”

On Thursday, a 43-year-old tourist, possibly from Illinois, was out for a run on Pier 45 near West and Christopher streets around 5:45 a.m. when Phanor, 29, grabbed her from behind, threw her to the ground and choked her until she was unconscious, prosecutors and law-enforcement sources said.

The sicko pulled off her running shoes, workout pants and underwear and raped her before stealing her cell phone, debit card, hotel key card and ID and taking off on a Citi Bike, authorities said.

“The victim from yesterday currently remains in the ICU receiving treatment for several bone fractures, and she was choked to the point of losing consciousness,” Breen told the judge.

When cops arrived at Thursday’s scene, after a Good Samaritan had called 911, the victim’s face was bruised, and she had blood on her arms, fingernails and fingers, prosecutors said.

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After the attack, Phanor went to the Port Authority bus terminal and tried to buy a Greyhound bus ticket with the victim’s credit card, authorities said.

But eagle-eyed Port Authority cops — who by this point had an alert issued by the NYPD with his photo for them to be on the lookout — took him into custody, sources said.

When he was arrested, Phanor was in the same outfit he wore while raping his victim and had the woman’s wallet and other possessions on him, prosecutors said.

Phanor’s first known attack in the Big Apple occurred March 27 at 6 a.m., prosecutors said.

A 39-year-old woman was on the running path near Pier 46 when Phanor, who was on a bike, allegedly tackled her to the ground, choked her and pinned her down as he screamed at her to perform a sex act on him and then orally raped her.

When the victim was later taken to the hospital, cops were able to secure DNA evidence from the woman’s neck.

It matched with a sample cops already had on file for Phanor after he was charged with aggravated assault and aggravated sexual assault in Newark, NJ, in Jan. 2019, police sources said. The disposition of the case is unclear.

Cops released Phanor’s name and his photo to the media in a desperate attempt to find him, but while still on the lam Oct. 6, Phanor struck again on the FDR service road near East 37th Street, authorities said.

A woman was walking along the road when Phanor came up behind her, placed her in a chokehold and ripped her jeans open, prosecutors said.

When the woman screamed for help, Phanor ran off, but not before swiping the woman’s cell phone and credit card, which he used at a nearby smoke shop about a half hour later, authorities said.

“The defendant sexually assaulted three women in the early morning hours in public places for the past nine months,” Breen said as she asked Judge Jonathan Svetkey to remand Phanor on a slew of charges, including first-degree rape, predatory sexual assault and strangulation.

Phanor’s lawyer asked for bail and said his client has “nowhere to live” and “no income.

“He has no chance in life. He was abandoned by his parents when he was young,” the lawyer said.

Svetkey remanded Phanor. He’s due back in court Nov. 9.

https://nypost.com/2022/11/04/west-village-rapist-held-without-bail-latest-vic-was-tourist/

[That Idiot Karen Bass]

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A rapper-actor who appeared in the 2018 film “SuperFly'' was sentenced on Monday to 50 years to life in state prison for sex-related charges involving three teens and four young women in attacks dating back to 2013.

Superior Court Judge Joseph Brandolino also ordered Kaalan Walker, 27, to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life, according to Deputy District Attorney Cynthia Wallace, who told City News Service that she believes the defendant is "truly a predator.''

A Van Nuys jury convicted Walker on April 18 of three counts of forcible rape, two counts each of unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor and rape of an intoxicated victim and one count of assault with intent to commit oral copulation involving crimes between 2013 and 2018.

Jurors acquitted him of two counts of forcible rape and one count of forcible digital penetration involving three other alleged victims.

In her opening statement in March, Deputy District Attorney Yasmin Fardghassemi told the jury that the case involved women who didn't know each other, and that the "single thing that unites all of these women is the defendant Kaalan Walker.''

"You're going to see a dark side of him ...'' the prosecutor told jurors, saying Walker primarily used Instagram and Twitter to lure his alleged victims to locations he chose by booking them for fake photo or music video shoots or with a false promise of introducing them to someone famous.

"When they said 'Stop,' he didn't care,'' Fardghassemi said.

Walker's attorney, Andrew Flier, countered that his client — whom he said had been “portrayed as a monster'' — was innocent of the charges.

"They're going to lie to you because they know that they fell for his B.S.,'' the defense lawyer told jurors, saying the alleged victims were out for “revenge.''

"The pattern of Mr. Walker is to make false promises, and they bought it... Each one of these women voluntarily made their own decisions,'' Flier said. "He didn't force them... It's pay-back to Mr. Walker and we're not going to let that happen.''

He said his client has endured “a living nightmare'' and had a great career that has since been ruined.

Walker — who also appeared in the 2017 Halle Berry-Daniel Craig film “Kings'' — was arrested in September 2018. He was subsequently released on bond, but he was taken into custody again after the jury's verdict was read.

https://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/kaalan-walker-superfly-actor-rapper-sentenced-50-years-to-life-sexual-assaults/3009824/

[That Idiot Karen Bass]

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Vincent Scott is being charged with attempted rape, assault, resisting arrest, public intoxication and drug paraphernalia

A man was arrested for attempting to rape and rob a woman at a McDonald’s Wednesday morning. Vincent Scott, 39, was apprehended on the scene by Mobile police.

The victim was walking back to her car from the McDonald’s on Government Street where Scott entered from her passenger seat asking her for money, police said. When she refused, he began to physically assault her.

Afterwards, he jumped on top of her and attempted to pull her pants down. The victim was able to scream out for help and was helped out by others who also called the authorities.

The suspect fled the scene and was shortly located by the authorities. After resisting, he was arrested a couple of yards away from the McDonald’s. The victim was then taken to a nearby hospital to treat the injuries sustained from the assault.

Scott has been charged with first degree attempted rape, resisting arrest, third degree robbery, third degree assault, possession of drug paraphernalia and first degree sexual abuse.

https://www.al.com/news/2019/09/man-attempted-to-rape-woman-in-her-car-at-mcdonalds-mobile-police-say.html

[DEI elected Tina Kotek]

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A convicted rapist serving a prison sentence was booked into the King County Jail on Friday to face another rape charge filed earlier this month after his DNA was matched to a second victim through a previously untested rape kit, jail and court records show.

Kirose Hailu, now 27, is serving a 14-year prison term for raping an intoxicated woman in an alley on Seattle’s Capitol Hill in February 2014. He was charged earlier this month with second-degree rape, accused of raping a second woman in downtown Seattle eight months after the first rape, charging papers say.

Since 2015, police agencies across the state have been required to submit evidence from every sexual-assault exam to the State Patrol Crime Lab for forensic analysis after a law was passed taking discretion away from individual officers and detectives to decide which kits to send in for testing. At the same time, the state began a concerted effort to catalog and test some 6,000 previously-untested kits that had sat untouched in evidence rooms for years, with the hope of linking cases and identifying serial offenders.

Among the tests sent in was the one belonging to a now-34-year-old woman, who was struggling with a heroin addiction when she was raped by a stranger on Oct. 22, 2014, say the charges against Hailu.

Following the rape, she went to the hospital and underwent a sexual-assault exam, where evidence taken from her body was packaged into what is commonly referred to as a rape kit, according to charging papers.

The kits can contain a variety of evidence, including underwear and swabs of a victim’s mouth, fingernails, genitals and any part of the skin where semen or saliva may be present. Blood and urine are also collected and bruises and other injuries are photographed.

A detective entered the woman’s rape kit into evidence and tried to contact her for a follow-up interview, but never heard back from her. Her case was closed in November 2014.

Though Seattle police submitted the woman’s rape kit in March 2015 for forensic testing, it doesn’t appear that it was analyzed at that time; court documents don’t indicate why. Police again requested that her kit be tested in June 2016 — but the results didn’t come back until April, nearly two years later. The DNA was matched to Hailu, the charges say.

In August, the case was assigned to another detective. By then, a victim advocate had located the woman, who agreed to come in for an interview.

According to the charges, at the time of the rape the woman was struggling with heroin addiction and after six months being sober, she went downtown looking to score drugs from her usual dealer. A man approached her, claimed he’d seen the dealer walk down a nearby alley, and offered to walk with her, the charges say.

Once in the alley, the man pushed her down, threatened to kill her and raped her, the charges say. Then he left.

Following the rape, the woman described hitting rock bottom and eventually overdosing.

She entered a one-year treatment program in February 2015.

By then, Hailu and a second man, Wolid Mohammed, had been identified as suspects in the February 2014 rape on Capitol Hill. They were charged with second-degree rape after their DNA was matched to DNA recovered from the then-21-year-old victim’s rape kit, court records show.

The woman had been out drinking with friends at R Place, but got separated from them when the bar closed. She encountered Hailu and Mohammed, who were both strangers to her, in an alley where they raped her, according to the charges.

Hailu and Mohammed pleaded guilty to the rape and other charges in August 2015.

https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/law-justice/dna-from-2014-seattle-sexual-assault-matched-to-man-already-serving-time-for-rape/

[DEI elected Tina Kotek]

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SEATTLE — Investigators arrested a registered sex offender who is accused of selling a woman for sex on Aurora Ave. in Seattle and raping the victim while acting as her 'pimp.'

Dawnte Jackson, 43, was charged Wednesday afternoon with two counts of rape, assault, promoting prostitution, and unlawful possession of a weapon, according to filings in King County Superior Court.

Seattle police arrested Jackson on Saturday after responding to a report of a fight with shots fired at his home on South Bennet Street.

A woman told police that Jackson had threatened her before breaking out windows in the home and firing a gun multiple times, then punching her in the head repeatedly, a police report states.

The victim was taken to Harborview Medical Center for treatment where she later told police Jackson was her pimp.

According to police, Jackson took the woman to Aurora Avenue, where he forced her to perform sex acts on him after she had been trying to get ‘customers’ on the street.

A judge set Jackson’s bail at $1 million on Wednesday. Prosecutors also secured a court order that if Jackson were to post bail and be released, he would be prohibited from going within five blocks of Aurora Avenue.

“He poses a clear danger to women in the community and continues to commit crimes of violence,” Senior Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Alexandra Voorhees wrote in charging papers.

Jackson has a criminal history with convictions of rape, theft, domestic violence, assault, unlawful possession of a firearm, felony violation of a no-contact order, harassment, drug distribution, and attempted residential burglary.

“Furthermore, the defendant’s history demonstrates a pattern of refusing to abide by court orders,” Voorhees wrote. “The defendant has been found guilty of multiple violations of no contact orders, he committed new offenses while out on bail and conditions of release and he has repeatedly been told that he no longer has the right to possess a firearm and he continues to be found in possession of firearms.”

Jackson served time in prison from 2019 to 2021. Shortly after being released from prison, Jackson followed a woman home in Seattle and shoved his way into her house while demanding she make a pornographic film with him, according to court records.

Jackson was convicted of attempted residential burglary and harassment for that case earlier this year. That victim told a sentencing judge that Jackson changed her life and shattered her sense of safety.

“What this man did was horrible,” the victim wrote in a statement to the court. “I now sleep with my loaded shotgun by my side, and extra locks on the door please take punishing this man very seriously. Next time he does this, and he will do this again, it may not turn out as well for all involved.”

In June, Jackson was sentenced to 37 months in prison and given credit for 30 months previously served. Jail records show he was released from custody one day after sentencing.

Jackson is scheduled to appear in court next week for an arraignment hearing on the new charges.

https://komonews.com/news/local/seattle-sex-offender-aurora-avenue-rape-sex-work-pimp-king-county-superior-court-police-department-senior-deputy-prosecuting-attorney-charging-papers-domestic-violence-firearm

[DEI elected Tina Kotek]

https://images.seattletimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/01252019_hailu_162655.jpg?d=768x956

A convicted rapist serving a prison sentence was booked into the King County Jail on Friday to face another rape charge filed earlier this month after his DNA was matched to a second victim through a previously untested rape kit, jail and court records show.

Kirose Hailu, now 27, is serving a 14-year prison term for raping an intoxicated woman in an alley on Seattle’s Capitol Hill in February 2014. He was charged earlier this month with second-degree rape, accused of raping a second woman in downtown Seattle eight months after the first rape, charging papers say.

Since 2015, police agencies across the state have been required to submit evidence from every sexual-assault exam to the State Patrol Crime Lab for forensic analysis after a law was passed taking discretion away from individual officers and detectives to decide which kits to send in for testing. At the same time, the state began a concerted effort to catalog and test some 6,000 previously-untested kits that had sat untouched in evidence rooms for years, with the hope of linking cases and identifying serial offenders.

Among the tests sent in was the one belonging to a now-34-year-old woman, who was struggling with a heroin addiction when she was raped by a stranger on Oct. 22, 2014, say the charges against Hailu.

Following the rape, she went to the hospital and underwent a sexual-assault exam, where evidence taken from her body was packaged into what is commonly referred to as a rape kit, according to charging papers.

The kits can contain a variety of evidence, including underwear and swabs of a victim’s mouth, fingernails, genitals and any part of the skin where semen or saliva may be present. Blood and urine are also collected and bruises and other injuries are photographed.

A detective entered the woman’s rape kit into evidence and tried to contact her for a follow-up interview, but never heard back from her. Her case was closed in November 2014.

Though Seattle police submitted the woman’s rape kit in March 2015 for forensic testing, it doesn’t appear that it was analyzed at that time; court documents don’t indicate why. Police again requested that her kit be tested in June 2016 — but the results didn’t come back until April, nearly two years later. The DNA was matched to Hailu, the charges say.

In August, the case was assigned to another detective. By then, a victim advocate had located the woman, who agreed to come in for an interview.

According to the charges, at the time of the rape the woman was struggling with heroin addiction and after six months being sober, she went downtown looking to score drugs from her usual dealer. A man approached her, claimed he’d seen the dealer walk down a nearby alley, and offered to walk with her, the charges say.

Once in the alley, the man pushed her down, threatened to kill her and raped her, the charges say. Then he left.

Following the rape, the woman described hitting rock bottom and eventually overdosing.

She entered a one-year treatment program in February 2015.

By then, Hailu and a second man, Wolid Mohammed, had been identified as suspects in the February 2014 rape on Capitol Hill. They were charged with second-degree rape after their DNA was matched to DNA recovered from the then-21-year-old victim’s rape kit, court records show.

The woman had been out drinking with friends at R Place, but got separated from them when the bar closed. She encountered Hailu and Mohammed, who were both strangers to her, in an alley where they raped her, according to the charges.

Hailu and Mohammed pleaded guilty to the rape and other charges in August 2015.

https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/law-justice/dna-from-2014-seattle-sexual-assault-matched-to-man-already-serving-time-for-rape/

[DEI elected Tina Kotek]

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More than a decade after a woman was grabbed off the streets in downtown Seattle and raped, her alleged attacker has been identified through DNA after the victim’s rape kit — which at one time was among about 6,000 untested sexual-assault kits in the state — was finally analyzed and run through a national database.

Jonnie Lee Lay, a 48-year-old homeless sex offender now registered in Waukegan, Illinois, was charged this week with first-degree rape and a $500,000 warrant was issued for his arrest, according to King County prosecutors.

Lay’s criminal history includes convictions for third-degree assault with sexual motivation and failure to register as a sex offender, court records show.

According to the charges:

On March 14, 2007, the then-44-year-old woman was walking near Second Avenue and Pike Street when she was pulled into the back seat of a white Cadillac. The driver dropped the woman and her assailant off in a wooded area near a homeless encampment, where the woman was thrown to the ground and raped.

During the attack, the man threatened to kill the woman with a screwdriver. When he told the woman he wanted her to work for him as a prostitute, she told him he would have to kill her first.

After the rape, the man called the driver of the Cadillac to pick them up and he again raped the woman in the back seat. The man dropped his ID and the woman was able to read his name — and he again threatened to kill her if she reported the sexual assault, telling her it would be easy to find her since he knew she was living at a homeless shelter at the time.

Several hours later, the men dropped the woman off at the Olympic Sculpture Park and she reported the rape to police. She went to Harborview Medical Center, where she underwent a sexual-assault exam.

During the exams, forensic evidence is collected from a victim’s body and clothing and can include underwear, swabs of a victim’s mouth, fingernails, genitals and any part of the skin where semen or saliva may be present. Blood and urine are also collected and bruises and other injuries are photographed.

The evidence, or rape kit, became part of a logjam of such kits that sat untested for years because of limited funding and staffing issues at the Washington State Patrol Crime Lab.

Legislation that went into effect in July 2015 requires police across the state to send every new rape kit to the crime lab for forensic analysis. But before then, it was up to individual officers or detectives to decide which kits to send to the crime lab for testing. Often, kits weren’t analyzed if the victim knew her assailant because creating a DNA profile was deemed unnecessary.

Six months before the law went into effect, former Seattle Police Chief Kathleen O’Toole ordered that all new rape kits be submitted for testing and said her department would begin addressing its backlog of old kits. In December 2016, Seattle police finished submitting paperwork to the crime lab on 1,063 old rape kits, the oldest from 1996.

In the case against Lay, the victim’s rape kit was finally analyzed in September 2017 and a male DNA profile was developed, Senior Deputy Prosecutor Emily Petersen wrote in charging papers. In February, the DNA profile was entered into the FBI’s DNA database — the Combined DNA Index System or CODIS — and matched to Lay, Petersen wrote.

Lay’s DNA was in CODIS as a result of his prior felony convictions. His first name is spelled “Jonnie” and “Johnny” in the charges.

Statewide, there remain an estimated 6,000 untested kits. In October, Washington received a $3 million grant from the U.S. Department of Justice’s Sexual Assault Kit Initiative.

Half the money was earmarked to test 2,100 rape kits, roughly a third of the estimated backlog. Each kit costs about $700 to analyze. The remaining grant money will be spent inventorying the state’s backlogged kits and investigating criminal cases against suspects identified through DNA, the state Attorney General’s Office said at the time.

A team recently began working on a detailed inventory of the state’s untested rape kits, Attorney General’s Office spokeswoman Brionna Aho said Friday.

https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/law-justice/11-years-after-a-rape-in-seattle-dna-leads-to-charges-against-illinois-man/

[DEI elected Tina Kotek]

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OLYMPIA, Wash. (KOMO) — Prosecutors in Thurston County filed charges Tuesday against an Uber driver who is accused of driving an intoxicated female passenger to a secluded area and raping her over the weekend.

Ahmed Hassan Ali, 58, of Seattle, faces one count of rape in the second degree and one count of kidnapping in the first degree with sexual motivation aggravating circumstance.

According to the arrest report, Ali was driving for Uber Saturday morning when he gave a ride to an intoxicated woman who was at a bar in Olympia.

Investigators allege Ali marked the woman’s ride as complete in the Uber app but kept her in the car and drove to 6th Avenue SE in an unincorporated area of Thurston County and raped her.

The victim’s family became alarmed when she did not arrive at the house and her father tracked her location to a parking area near the Nisqually River, the arrest report said.

The father and other family members drove to the location and found the woman unclothed in the backseat of Ali’s car, and Ali appeared to be pulling up his pants while climbing over the center console, according to the sheriff’s office report.

Investigators said family members assaulted Ali and took the woman out of the car. At some point during the confrontation, the victim’s father fired a gun twice, but the bullets did not strike anyone, according to the report.

RELATED:Rideshare driver shot at then arrested in rape, kidnapping of intoxicated passenger

Neighbors called 911 to report the gunfire and deputies stopped Ali’s vehicle as he was driving out of the area. A deputy noted that Ali was bleeding heavily from his head and hands when he was contacted, but the report notes Ali was in a hurry to leave and initially refused medical treatment.

Prosecutors said in a court hearing Monday that Ali’s injuries were so severe that it was suspicious Ali would attempt to refuse medical care.

A judge set Ali’s bail at $100,000 at the hearing. Jail records show he posted the bail Monday night and was released from custody.

Ali is scheduled to appear at an arraignment on July 2.

Uber sent the following statement to KOMO News in response to Ali’s arrest:

The driver’s behavior is appalling and has no place in our society or on the Uber platform. We take reports of this nature very seriously and removed the driver’s access to the platform as soon as we were made aware of the incident. We have a dedicated team standing ready to assist law enforcement with their investigation.

https://weartv.com/news/nation-world/uber-driver-appear-in-court-thurston-county-prosecutors-in-kidnapping-rape-charges-after-passenger-assaulted-investigation-crime-hospital-intoxicated-olympia

[DEI elected Tina Kotek]

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SEATTLE - Seattle Police have arrested a man accused of breaking into a woman's apartment and attempting to rape her while she was asleep.

24-year-old Jaylen Tyrique Johnson was arrested and booked into jail on Sept. 11 for first-degree attempted rape.

According to charging documents, in early August Johnson broke into the apartment in the middle of the night where a woman was sleeping. He stood over her, pulled the covers from her and attempted to force her legs open several times, charging docs say.

The victim fought back and screamed, and he told her to "shut up or he would kill her," documents say. He struck her in the ribs, body and face, leaving a cut on her forehead, bruising on her body and swelling to her face.

She kicked and scratched Johnson, and was eventually able to escape and run to her neighbor for help, charging docs say. According to documents, her face was covered in blood and she was going in and out of consciousness. Her injuries required stitches at the hospital.

PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Seattle Police seek help locating attempted rape suspect, reward offered

According to documents, Johnson ran from the apartment. He was only identified later in August when his fingerprints matched those collected at the scene, and his description was matched to the victim description and surveillance video.

Johnson is scheduled to be arraigned in court on Sept. 20 for first-degree attempted rape. He is being held on $600,000 bail.

https://www.fox13seattle.com/news/suspect-arrested-in-seattle-home-invasion-attempted-rape

[DEI elected Tina Kotek]

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A 27-year-old man is accused of trying to rape a woman and assaulting her at a Spokane Valley business. Detectives say the man is also suspected in other sex crimes in the area, and they’re asking people with information on him to come forward.

Gordon Majmeto was booked into the Spokane County Jail on suspicion of first-degree attempted rape, first-degree burglary, first-degree attempted robbery, second-degree assault and second-degree attempted kidnapping, according to a Spokane Valley police news release.

Deputies responded around 11 p.m. Monday at a business on the 13500 block of East Sprague Avenue, the release said. The caller reported Majmeto was still at the location, took the victim’s cell phone the day before and was back at the business demanding money.

Deputies heard a woman scream as they entered the building and found the victim bleeding from her hand, police said. She declined medical attention.

The woman told deputies Majmeto harassed her and other employees previously.

That night, she told deputies Majmeto hit her in the head with his fists, brought her to a back room against her will, threw her down on a bed and removed her clothes as she tried to resist. She thought he was going to rape her but then heard deputies arrive, causing Majmeto to flee the business, police said.

She said Majmeto previously stole $1,000 and a cellphone from her, the release said. She also alleged Majmeto sexually assaulted her two days before the incident, but she had not reported it yet.

Deputies eventually located and arrested Majmeto.

Majmeto was also arrested Aug. 31 on suspicion of fourth-degree assault with sexual motivation and was released from jail the next day, police said. Majmeto is listed as a suspect in other sex crimes.

Detectives believe Majmeto may be associated with other incidents not reported yet.

Majmeto is described as Asian/Pacific Islander and approximately 5-foot-6, and 140 pounds, with black hair and brown eyes.

Detectives hope to contact anyone who may recognize Majmeto and may have witnessed any suspicious behavior or potential criminal activity in the last few months, the release said.

Contact Detective Tom Keys at [phone] and reference Majmeto or case No. 10133564.

Majmeto is set for an arraignment on Sept. 19 in Spokane County Superior Court. He remained in jail Friday night on a $200,000 bond.

https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2023/sep/08/man-accused-of-assaulting-employee-trying-to-rape-/