Man out on low bail after allegedly raping young stepdaughter has now murdered her, killed himself: Report



A Massachusetts man out on low bail after allegedly repeatedly raping his young stepdaughter has now apparently killed her and himself, police say.

On September 7, 2021, a young girl called police to report that her stepfather, Juliano Santana, had raped her on "multiple occasions," said a press release from Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan, perhaps over the course of several years. The most recent assault had reportedly occurred just one month earlier.

'Why was he out?' one outraged resident demanded to know. 'Why was he out?'

The victim told investigators that Santana had warned her "not to be scared and not to tell her mom." Investigators also examined a diary in which the victim reportedly documented the attacks and shared them with her sister.

The same day that the girl lodged the accusations, officers arrested Santana, and prosecutors charged him with six counts of aggravated rape of a child. Despite the quick movement from law enforcement and the heinous accusations against Santana, the district court in Malden, Massachusetts, about five miles north of Boston, issued him bail of just $30,000, which Santana quickly paid.

As conditions of his release, the court ordered Santana to wear an ankle monitor and to have no contact with his stepdaughter. He was also forbidden to have unsupervised contact with anyone under age 18.

The girl's mother, Olena Wilson, immediately secured a restraining order against Santana on behalf of her daughter and herself. "I also fear for my safety because I [realized] that I do not know this man and based on this situation I do not know what he is capable of," Wilson wrote at the time.

Santana was originally scheduled to stand trial about a year later, but the case was issued one delay after another. Finally, it had been rescheduled for July 29, 2024. Unfortunately, neither the defendant nor the victim lived to see it.

Around 4 p.m. last Thursday, police in Acton, Massachusetts, received an alarming report that Santana, 49, had kidnapped his stepdaughter as she was walking home from school. Because of the ankle tether, his probation officer soon pinpointed Santana's location in the parking lot outside his condo.

When cops arrived at the scene, they quickly located Santana's vehicle. Inside, they found Santana and the girl both dead from apparent gunshot wounds to the head. The girl was just 16 years old at the time of her death, which means she was 12 or 13 the last time Santana allegedly raped her.

"Why was he out?" one outraged resident demanded to know. "Why was he out?"

The Middlesex District Attorney’s Office, members of the Massachusetts State Police Detective Unit, and Acton Police are continuing to investigate, the DA's press release said.

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Horowitz: When setting someone on fire is considered a low-level crime



So, what would you define as a “nonviolent, low-level” crime eligible for cheap bond? How about setting a pregnant woman on fire and breaking out of jail on just $5,000 bond?

Devonne Marsh, 42, had a two-decade violent criminal record under his belt when he allegedly poured lighter fluid on his girlfriend and set her on fire in his Malcomb, Michigan, home. The victim was 27 weeks pregnant with twins and remains in the hospital in critical condition with burns on more than 60% of her body. According to the Macomb Daily, police say the victim was being held against her will and tortured. The total list of charges against Marsh last Friday includes attempted murder, assault and battery of a pregnant individual, domestic violence, assault with intent to do great bodily harm, delivery/manufacturing of controlled substances, felony possession, felonious assault, and felony firearm.

Now, one would expect someone like this to be held without bail, you know, like those military veterans held without bail in D.C. for trespassing charges, even though they have no prior criminal history. Instead, his bond was set at just $50,000, which means he was released on just $5,000 cash deposit. This, despite the fact that not only is he a convicted violent felon, but according to the Michigan Department of Corrections, he absconded from probation since 2020 and has an outstanding arrest warrant from the Livonia Police Department.

Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy announced she is filing a motion to have Marsh's bail increased. She said: “His original bond was woefully inadequate, and we will be seeking a more appropriate bond given these charges.” However, like all big-city prosecutors, Kym Worthy is part of a political party that supports the de-incarceration agenda, which has created a culture of leniency up and down the criminal justice system. Sure, they will get embarrassed by bad PR from low bail requirements after heinous crimes are committed, but why are these criminals given so many chances to commit these crimes in the first place? The judges in the big urban centers reflect these values and have continuously set bail at appallingly low levels for such dangerous criminals.

Meanwhile, in Houston, Emmanuel Mallard, 27, is charged with a similar crime, allegedly brutally beating his wife and then burning down the house with her in it. She managed to escape, and the suspect is still on the run. But again, such behavior doesn’t occur in a vacuum. From 2013 to 2019, he racked up a rap sheet that included charges related to theft of property, burglary of vehicle, obstruction or retaliation, terroristic threat in a public place, and various charges of assault of a family or household member with bodily injury. How could someone like that have been out of jail enough to commit that many crimes?

According to police, the victim claims the husband was attempting to kill her to prevent her from testifying against him in a previous case. He allegedly tied her up in her father’s home, stripped her clothes, stabbed her in the stomach, hit her with a crowbar, and threw a cloth doused with lighter fluid on her as he set the house ablaze.

Notice he was trying to prevent her from testifying about a previous case. This is what happens when criminals are constantly released. Not only are they free to commit more crimes, but it makes it harder to convict them on the previous crimes because they are able to constantly threaten victims and witnesses.

What about child sex crimes? Do you think relatively low bail is a good idea for those criminals? Are they also considered low-level? Moss Worthington is charged with two counts of luring a minor for sexual exploitation, 11 counts of sexual conduct with a minor, and two counts of custodial interference in connection with the kidnapping of two teen girls in Tucson. He was originally held on $250,000 bond in December, but was released on Friday after bail was reduced to just $50,000. What do you think this does to the ability of the victims and their families to testify against him?

Then there is the juvenile crime crisis. In the Houston domestic violence case, Mallard also had a record when he was a juvenile. That is another facet of our broken justice system and failed deterrent. It begins when they are juveniles, as minors are increasingly committing more numerous and violent crimes than ever before. Once they learn not to fear the justice system as minors, that behavior is never deterred when they are adults.

Just a day before the alleged Mallard incident in Houston, 17 year-old Frank Deleon Jr. is accused of shooting his girlfriend Diamond Alvarez 22 times. Despite the heinous murder charge, he was released the very next day after posting a $250,000 bond. I would say this is another example of lax juvenile justice laws, but we now see adult murder suspects being released as well. And if murder suspects who are juveniles are released on bail, you can only imagine those who commit “lower” level crimes, such as carjackings, are free in perpetuity.

The nation is suffering from a carjacking crisis, nearly all of which is committed by juveniles. According to Philadelphia police, there have been 90 carjackings just during the first half of January in the City of Brotherly Love. They say most of the carjackings are being committed by juveniles between the ages of 14 and 17. But these are not children’s crimes. They are holding people up at gunpoint. If they go undeterred at this age, their criminal careers will only deteriorate with age.

But fear not. These are not the sorts of juvenile “criminals” the police are interested in. The NYPD is now enforcing vaccine passports on little boys in restaurants. Once again, we must ask, what is the purpose of the big-city police if the only thing they succeed at is enforcing immoral and inhumane edicts of tyrannical mayors? The only thing worse than abolishing the police is abolishing prison, appointing liberal judges, and electing pro-criminal district attorneys who neuter all the positive work police do in affecting an arrest. For in that case, police can only become a liability to serve as a conduit for tyranny rather than an indispensable tool for ordered liberty.

Report: More than 150 people in one Texas county have been killed by suspects released on bond



Suspects released on bond pending trial have killed 155 people in Harris County, Texas, according to data gathered by Crime Stoppers of Houston.

KRIV-TV reporter Greg Googan publicized the shocking data during a panel segment titled, "What's Your Point?" that aired Monday.

In addition, he shared that "in Harris County, no fewer than 113 defendants charged with capital murder have been inexplicably granted bond and released back onto our streets pending trial."

"We are talking about capital murder — the most egregious offense in the criminal code — a conviction for which carries either life imprisonment or the death penalty," Googan noted.

"In all, more than 50,000 accused felons have benefited from the catch-and-release philosophy of criminal justice perpetrated by the current crop of Democratic reform judges," he added.

During the segment, Houston attorney Charles Adams argued that the troubling new bond policies were an overreaction to past stringent bond policies that often resulted in nonviolent offenders sitting in jail for excessive periods of time as their trial dates loomed.

But now, he argued, the pendulum has swung too far in the other direction, as Democratic judges advance bail reform with no regard to the safety of the community and are "making decisions that sound better to movements as opposed to citizens."

The revelation from Harris County comes as progressive jurisdictions around the country enact low cash bail or zero-bail measures in an effort to provide justice for the accused. The policies have, in turn, endangered communities.

Just last month in Waukesha, Wisconsin, an accused criminal released on bond reportedly went on to drive his vehicle into a crowd of people gathered for a Christmas parade, killing five and injuring at least 40 more. The district attorney later acknowledged that the suspect, Darrell Brooks Jr., had been released on "inappropriately low" bail.

The problem has been particularly pronounced in Harris County, especially since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, when judges began approving extremely low bonds to reduce the prison population. But even as the pandemic waned, the practice continued, alongside soaring crime.

Last January, Crime Stoppers of Houston announced its full support for Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott's push to make bail reform a major priority for the upcoming legislative session.

“The ramifications of bail reform have taken its toll on the citizens of Harris County, many who have paid the ultimate price with the loss of their life," Crime Stoppers of Houston director of victim services Andy Kahan said at the time.

“Crime Stoppers of Houston wants to make it perfectly clear: We support Misdemeanor Bond Reform. What we don’t support is when public safety is placed at a higher risk when career habitual offenders are continuously released back to the community only to re-offend time after time again," Kahan added.