ESSEX, MD— Authorities in Baltimore County have charged an Essex police officer with rape. Officer Anthony Michael Westerman, 25, has been charged with two counts of second-degree rape and three counts of second-degree assault. Westerman has been employed by the Baltimore County Police Department since 2013. His most recent assignment was at the Essex Precinct. This case was initiated when police in Baltimore County received information concerning the allegations. The Special

Billionaire convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein was arrested Saturday in connection with federal sex trafficking allegations, law enforcement officials said. The arrest stems from incidents spanning from 2002 to 2005, three law enforcement officials said. Epstein, 66, of Palm Beach, Florida, had flown from Paris to New York when he was arrested in Teterboro, New Jersey, the officials said. The arrest was part of a joint NYPD and FBI investigation. The New York Police Depar

Over 2017 and 2018, police departments in the Baltimore area prompted sexual assault victims to waive their rights to an investigation — 223 times, according to a survey by The Baltimore Sun. The practice runs counter to guidance from experts and from the International Association of Chiefs of Police. Baltimore County had the highest number: 172 victims reporting sexual assault signed the forms over the two years. After inquiries from The Baltimore Sun, Baltimore County polic

A former Philadelphia Police Department detective pleaded not guilty Tuesday to allegations that he sexually assaulted male witnesses and suspects over more than a decade. Philip Nordo allegedly "groomed" his victims during ongoing investigations and engaged in conduct to make these men "more susceptible to his sexually assaultive and/ or coercive behavior," the heavily redacted grand jury report said. He was denied bail. His next hearing is set for late March. In their repor

Police have arrested a hulking 51-year-old white man who was caught on video punching a young Black girl in the face at the Asheville Mall in North Carolina on Saturday. David Steven Bell was taken into custody by an off-duty cop and charged for the assault on a female under the age of 12 and two counts of assault on a female, according to WLOS. The disturbing video, which soon went viral after it was posted on social media, shows a girl getting punched brutally in the face b

The CEO of Hacienda Health Care, the nursing facility where a woman in a vegetative state gave birth to a baby boy, resigned Monday as new allegations of abuse surfaced. Bill Timmons' resignation was unanimously accepted by Hacienda's board of directors, reported CBS News. At the end of December, the 29-year-old Native American, who has been in a vegetative state for 14 years, went into labor. The Arizona facility then opened an investigation and learned the patient was raped

DALLAS (AP) — The Texas judge who approved a plea deal allowing a former Baylor University student accused of rape to avoid jail time holds three degrees from Baylor. The criminal district attorney overseeing the case holds two. The prosecutor who agreed to the plea agreement graduated from Baylor law school. Local leaders say those connections to the world’s largest Baptist university cast doubt on the handling of the criminal case against ex-Phi Delta Theta president Jacob

Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam is investigating the possibility of clemency for Cyntoia Brown, a sex trafficking victim who was told by the state’s Supreme Court that she must serve at least 51 years in prison for killing a man when she was 16, ABC News reports. “I will say this, we’re reviewing a lot of cases, and while Cyntoia’s case has gotten a lot of publicity, I don’t think you want us to treat her’s any different than a whole lot of cases that I think people want us to rev

A jury acquitted a man accused of raping a teenage girl after his lawyer instructed jurors to consider the type of underwear the teen was wearing when the alleged assault took place in Cork, Ireland. The issue of consent was at the center of the case involving a 27-year-old man and his 17-year-old accuser. Senior counsel Elizabeth O’Connell told the jury to consider that the girl was wearing a lacy thong at the time of the encounter, The Irish Examiner reported. “Does the evi

A man accused of groping a woman during a Southwest Airlines flight over the weekend apparently justified his actions by invoking President Trump. According to an affidavit obtained by CBS affiliate KHOU, he said the president says it's OK to grab women by their private parts. Bruce Alexander, 49, was arrested on Sunday after a Southwest Flight 5421 coming from Houston landed in Albuquerque. He appeared in federal court on Monday and was charged with abusive sexual contact af

Melania Trump sat down with ABC World News Tonight for an interview that will air on Friday, during which she discussed the #MeToo movement and sexual assault allegations against Brett Kavanaugh, who was confirmed to the Supreme Court on Saturday. Trump was away on a trip to Kenya last week as Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearing took place. In the clip of Trump’s interview with ABC News anchor Tom Llamas, the first lady made her position on reporting sexual assault loud and clea

NEW YORK — Harvey Weinstein was arrested and charged with rape and other abuse charges Friday, months after allegations of sexual violence and harassment toppled the once-powerful Hollywood mogul. Weinstein, 66, was charged with rape, criminal sex act, sexual abuse and sexual misconduct for cases involving two women. “This defendant used his position, money and power to lure young women into situations where he was able to violate them sexually,” the prosecutor, Assistant Dis

Every Chilean bishop offered to resign Friday over a sex abuse and cover-up scandal, in the biggest shakeup ever in the Catholic Church's long-running abuse saga. The bishops announced at the end of an emergency summit with Pope Francis that all 31 active bishops and three retired ones in Rome had signed a document offering to resign and putting their fate in the hands of the pope. Francis can accept the resignations one by one, reject them or delay a decision. It marked the

Norristown, Pennsylvania (CNN)The jury in Bill Cosby's indecent assault trial found the comedian guilty Thursday of all three counts. Cosby was convicted on three counts of aggravated indecent assault for drugging and sexually assaulting Andrea Constand in a Philadelphia suburb in 2004. The 80-year-old former comedian faces up to 10 years in prison on each count, but would likely serve them concurrently. The panel began deliberating Wednesday around 11 a.m., and worked for mo