North Carolina is one of the worst states in America, so this story doesn't surprise me.
https://www.cbs17.com/news/nc-sex-offender-convicted-of-being-at-middle-school-shelter-after-hurricane-florence/
NC sex offender convicted of being at middle school shelter after Hurricane Florence
NEWS
by: Fantasia Harvey
Posted: Jan 17, 2020 / 11:26 AM EST / Updated: Jan 17, 2020 / 11:26 AM EST
(NC Sex Offender Registry)
BEAUFORT, N.C. (WNCT) – A sex offender has been convicted in a Carteret County trial of being at a school serving as a shelter in the days after Hurricane Florence.
District Attorney Scott Thomas announced 52-year-old Jerry Lee Faircloth of Newport was convicted following a jury trial of being a sex offender unlawfully on-premises.
Faircloth was convicted in 2008 of crime against nature and sexual battery stemming from an October 2006 offense.
North Carolina law states sex offenders are barred from being on premises of any place that is primarily for the use, care, or supervision of minors, including schools, children’s museums, child care centers, nurseries, and playgrounds.
Immediately following Hurricane Florence, Carteret County Probation Officers went through the county, looking for any probationers who had been displaced by the storm.
One of the places they went to was the Newport Middle School, which was designated as one of two storm shelters in the area.
An officer recognized Faircloth, as he had supervised him on probation previously, and believed he was a sex offender.
The officer in charge of the sex offender registry confirmed that Faircloth was a sex offender, so the officers returned, with a Carteret County Sheriff’s Office deputy, and found Faircloth standing by the front entrance of the school.
The officers told him to leave, as he was in violation of the sex offender laws by being on the premises of the school.
Although the defendant claimed to have been visiting a family member who was in mental distress, the officers spoke with the family member, who showed no signs of distress in their presence.
Carteret County Deputy Sheriff Harold Pendergrass obtained a warrant charging Faircloth with Being a Sex Offender Unlawfully on Certain Premises.
The jury found Faircloth to be guilty of the charge against him.
Faircloth then pleaded guilty to the status of a habitual felon, having at least three separate felony convictions on his record.
Resident Superior Court Judge Josh Willey then sentenced Faircloth to a prison term of 84 to 113 months in prison.
The prosecution was aided greatly by an official from the Carteret County Department of Social Services, who explained in detail the records kept of people who stayed in the school, the absence of records allowing Faircloth on the premises, and the rules of the shelter operation.
https://nypost.com/2020/01/18/vigilante-david-carlson-acquitted-of-killing-fugitive-rape-suspect/
ReplyDeleteAccused killer vigilante David Carlson has finally won his freedom — but will never regain the life he lost.
Capping a six-year legal battle to prove he acted in self-defense when he shotgunned a fugitive rape suspect, an upstate judge on Thursday found Carlson not guilty of manslaughter.
But the surprising verdict, which reversed an earlier jury conviction at trial, won’t bring back the wife who left him with two of his children, the job he couldn’t hold onto, the home he’s about to lose, or his fractured peace of mind.
Carlson, standing in his rural, spartan home, parts of it still bare plywood and joists, looks almost beaten down.
He says the case was “the catalyst” for his family falling apart just seven months after the controversial shooting, although his eldest son, who is 20, still lives with him.
The end of his marriage “very layered and complex,” said Carlson, who was diagnosed with PTSD in 2014 and remains in therapy.
“Looking back with the therapy I think we already had a failing marriage and the shooting might have been the catalyst,” he said.
“For like six months after it happened she was on my side…And then one day (in Aug. 2014) she just left. I came home and she was gone.”
On Jan. 27, the Sparrow Bush, New York, home where he kept horses, two dogs, a cat and a goat, will go into foreclosure.
“I’m losing my whole farm over this,” the 48-year-old carpenter told The Post during a series of post-verdict interviews. He says it was impossible to hold down a job and keep up with mortgage payments while fighting the case.
He plans to go back to work full time but might still not be in the financial clear; he faces a civil suit brought by the relatives of the man he killed in 2013, 35-year-old Norris Acosta-Sanchez.
And Carlson may never shake the regret he feels every day.
“This man lost his life and I feel horrible about it,” Carlson says. “I can’t go back and change that. It’s always going to haunt me.”
Thursday brought at least a moment of joy to Carlson, when Judge Robert Freehill announced, “I find the defendant not guilty of all charges.” A weary-looking Carlson hugged attorney Michael Mazzariello, who choked back tears.
“I thought I misunderstood him. I really did,” a stunned Carlson said moments afterward. “I feel like I’m almost dreaming . . . This is the day I’ve been waiting for six years to happen . . . I almost want to leave the building because I’m scared they’re going to change their mind.”
The odyssey began innocently enough in October 2013, when a bearded Acosta-Sanchez popped out of the thick woods while Carlson was fishing with a friend, and introduced himself as “Daniel,” the caretaker of a cabin next door. Carlson befriended him, and gave him odd jobs in exchange for fresh eggs and his wife’s homemade bread.
But one night over the campfire, Acosta-Sanchez admitted his first name was Norris, and he was running from criminal charges in Rockland County of having sex with a 14-year-old girl. “It was consensual,” he claimed.
“He made it out like he’s the victim,” Carlson recalled. Two days later, Carlson and his wife decided to secretly alert the local Deerpark police, sparking a chain of events that led to tragedy.
The cops enlisted Carlson to help them capture the fugitive, but they botched every attempt.
Looking back bitterly, Carlson said: “I never would have trusted the Deerpark police. I shouldn’t have played along with this stupid plan to begin with. They just keep dragging me into it. I’m a carpenter — not a cop.”