California creeps who solicit sex from certain minors can't be charged with felony, thanks to Democrats



Predators in California who solicit sex from certain minors will not face felony charges now that state Democrats have eliminated that portion of a new bill.

Under current California law, anyone who solicits sex from someone at least 16 years old can be charged with a misdemeanor. Those who solicit sex from a child under 16 or a trafficking victim under 18 can be charged with a misdemeanor or a felony at the discretion of local prosecutors.

The law, amended last year to include the felony option, was considered a compromise after Republican state Sen. Shannon Grove proposed making any solicitation of a minor under 18 a felony.

Back in February, Democratic Assemblywoman Maggy Krell introduced AB 379, the Survivor Support and Demand Reduction Act, which, among other things, would have given prosecutors the option of slapping felony charges on any creep who solicits sex from a child under 18.

Krell spent decades prosecuting trafficking cases with the California Department of Justice and claimed she wants solicitors to be held accountable as well as prostitutes.

'Solicitation statutes ... have been used disproportionately against people of color, LGBTQ+ individuals, and those experiencing poverty.'

She didn't get her way.

Democrats on the Assembly Public Safety Committee refused to send the bill along for full consideration unless the felony option was eliminated from it. "I was told that [AB 379] was pulled and the only way I could get it back on the agenda is if parts of the bill would be blocked," Krell claimed.

Krell called the decision "a disgrace."

Grove went a step further. "It's completely evil," she declared.

Assemblyman Nick Shultz, the Democratic committee chairman, responded to questions about the decision mostly with vague political platitudes.

"My perspective as chair, there was a carefully crafted deal last year," Schultz said. "We're not saying no, but what we're saying is if we're going to be thoughtful policymakers, we really need to dive deep into this issue."

Schultz also suggested that the felony option would be little more than "knee-jerk policy." "It's my job to make sure ... we're having good, substantive conversation and landing on a good spot," he added to KCRA-TV.

Other opponents, including the ACLU of Southern California, claimed that the bill would land too many racial and sexual minorities behind bars.

"Anti-loitering and solicitation statutes, like the one at issue in AB 379, have been used disproportionately against people of color, LGBTQ+ individuals, and those experiencing poverty, under the pretext of public safety," the ACLU SoCal wrote in a letter late last month.

Notorious far-left state Sen. Scott Wiener of San Francisco made a similar argument in 2021 when he proposed the Safer Streets for All Act, which decriminalized loitering for prostitution and which some lawmakers hope to countermand with AB 379.

"Sex workers are workers, and they deserve respect and safety," Weiner said at the time. "We must work toward a future where people — especially the most marginalized — aren’t criminalized because of who they are and what they look like."

In his interview with KCRA-TV, Schultz likewise hinted that he opposed AB 379's felony option on DEI-related grounds as well, claiming that any "solution" lawmakers find "needs to be equitable."

Krell and other supporters of AB 379 were not nearly so careful about using politically correct terms regarding sexuality and gender when speaking about the issues the bill addresses.

"AB 379 creates a law that allows law enforcement to intervene when men are out on the prowl to buy victims for sex," Krell asserted.

Sacramento County Sheriff Jim Cooper, a Democrat former assemblyman and member of the California Black Caucus, slammed Wiener's law as emboldening criminals and vice behaviors.

"With that, we’ve seen a statewide, dramatic explosion of juvenile prostitution. The buyers don’t care. So, to me, change the narrative. Make people afraid to go out and buy these young girls," Cooper said.

Though the felony option has been nixed for now, Krell says she isn't giving up. "I’ve been doing this for 20 years, and I’m not going to quit now." She pledged to bring this part of this bill back every year until it passes.

"That’s what I’m going to do."

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64-year-old female paid boys to shovel snow, got them drunk, attempted to inappropriately touch one of them: Police



A 64-year-old Pennsylvania female is accused of getting two boys drunk and trying to sexually assault one of them after they came to her house to shovel snow for money, according to police.

Two boys — ages 12 and 13 — reportedly were in their Pittsburgh neighborhood asking people if they could shovel snow from their walkways and driveways for money. The boys offered to shovel snow in front of Rochelle Stewart's home on Jan. 8, according to police. Stewart allegedly agreed to pay the boys $5 for the task.

'The juveniles were speaking in a nonsensical way exclaiming that a lady had just got them drunk and touched them.'

In the criminal complaint obtained by KDKA-TV, the boys told investigators that Stewart invited the pair inside for hot chocolate. However, police said Stewart then offered the boys alcohol, which they consumed. One of the boys allegedly confessed to detectives that he became drunk.

The criminal complaint said Stewart sat down next to the intoxicated boy and put her leg over his and then attempted to touch him in an inappropriate and sexual manner. One of the boys recorded a video of Stewart rubbing the victim’s arm and shoulder, according to the criminal complaint.

The boys told police they then left Stewart's home but had to go back after one of them realized he left his coat at the house.

Stewart called police to report a burglary in progress around 9 p.m. that night, according to Law & Crime. Police said they attempted to make contact with the 911 caller but were unsuccessful.

When police arrived, they reportedly found the boys, who allegedly appeared to be highly intoxicated.

"The juveniles were speaking in a nonsensical way exclaiming that a lady had just got them drunk and touched them," police wrote in the criminal complaint.

Officers said they separated the boys to question them individually, and the children gave a similar version of the events, according to court documents.

Police determined that Stewart was "extremely intoxicated," according to court docs. Stewart told police that neighborhood kids were "pranking" her and were "drug dealers," according to People magazine.

When questioned by police, Stewart reportedly denied the boys were ever inside her house. Police found the boy's coat inside Stewart's home as well as a half-empty bottle of vodka, according to the complaint.

Stewart was arrested and booked at the Allegheny County Jail. Stewart was charged with six misdemeanors: one count of indecent assault, one count of making a false police report, two counts of giving minors alcohol, and two counts of corruption of minors. Court records show that Stewart was released after posting $1,000 bail Thursday.

Stewart is scheduled to appear at a preliminary hearing on Jan. 22.

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Prosecutors attacked underage victims as prostitutes to sabotage 2006 case against Epstein, new transcripts appear to show



Prosecutors handling a grand jury trial proceeding against Jeffrey Epstein in 2006 may have sabotaged their own case by attacking two underage victims as prostitutes and criminals, newly released transcripts appear to show.

On Monday, Circuit Judge Luis Delgado released about 150 pages of a transcript taken during Epstein's four-hour grand jury hearing in Palm Beach County in July 2006. Though grand jury transcripts are usually sealed permanently, Florida's Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a law earlier this year to ensure the public's access to grand jury transcripts in certain cases such as Epstein's.

'Does her website also include pictures of her in skimpy attire, drinking alcohol and sexually provocative photos?'

Delgado seemed eager to disseminate the transcripts, indicating it was necessary to preserve the integrity of the court. "For almost 20 years, the story of how Jeffrey Epstein victimized some of Palm Beach County’s most vulnerable has been the subject of much anger and has at times diminished the public’s perception of the criminal justice system," he wrote.

"The details in the record will be outrageous to decent people. The testimony taken by the Grand Jury concerns activity ranging from grossly unacceptable to rape — all of the conduct at issue is sexually deviant, disgusting, and criminal."

Delgado did not exaggerate. The transcripts appear to show former State's Attorney Barry Krischer and Lanna Belohlavek painting two victims as criminals and prostitutes.

The first victim testified that she was just 14 years old when she first went to Epstein's mansion to give him a massage in exchange for $300. At Epstein's request, she allegedly stripped down to her underwear, gave him a massage, and then allowed him to use a vibrator on her for an extra $100.

The girl also admitted that she lied and told Epstein she was 18. It is unclear how many encounters she may have had with Epstein. About a year after her initial visit to his mansion, the girl's stepmother found the money, learned the reason Epstein had given it to her, and reported the girl's claims to local police.

Despite evidence that the girl was likely the victim of statutory rape and sexual grooming, prosecutors called her out as a criminal.

"You aware that you committed a crime?" prosecutor Belohlavek asked the girl during the grand jury hearing.

The girl replied that she didn't realize at the time that what she had done was a crime but had since come to realize that it was. "Now, I guess it's prostitution or something like that," she said.

A juror also asked the girl whether she knew "deep down" when she was going to Epstein's mansion that what she was doing was "wrong" and damaging to her "reputation." The girl replied that she did.

The other victim who testified at the grand jury proceeding claimed that she had visited Epstein's mansion more than 100 times, and during the course of those visits, Epstein gradually convinced her to participate in more and more sexual activity in exchange for $200. She also received money and even a rental car for her personal use if she brought along other girls, she said.

"He told her, 'The younger, the better,'" Palm Beach Police Detective Joe Recarey testified at the hearing.

The girl said Epstein knew she was 17 from the start of these visits. On the day before her 18th birthday, Epstein allegedly escalated their encounters to intercourse for the first time. "She screamed no," Recarey testified. So Epstein reportedly stopped and paid the girl $1,000.

Once again, prosecutors appeared to impugn the girl's character.

"You understand that you in effect were committing prostitution yourself," one said.

At various times during the hearing, Krischer and Belohlavek also harped on the girls' body piercings, their shoplifting escapades, their arrests for other alleged crimes, and how much money they made from Epstein. During the testimony of one investigator, one prosecutor even asked, "Does her [MySpace page] also include pictures of her in skimpy attire, drinking alcohol and sexually provocative photos?"

'It is so sad, the number of victims Epstein was able to abuse because the State carried water for him when they had a chance to put him away.'

Though the grand jury transcript does not reveal all the possible charges on which the grand jury could have indicted Epstein, the grand jury ultimately indicted him on a single count of solicitation of prostitution.

In an agreement with federal prosecutors two years later, Epstein pled guilty to that original solicitation charge plus an additional count of soliciting a minor into prostitution. He served 13 months of an 18-month sentence in a low-security prison with almost daily work release, so he was able to return to his office on a regular basis.

With the newly released transcripts, critics are once again appalled at the way prosecutors handled the initial case. Spencer Kuvin, who represented nine of Epstein's alleged victims, including one of the girls who testified before the grand jury, called it "despicable" and "atrocious."

"They basically tanked their own case," he said.

"It just reaffirmed what we always knew was happening is that the state attorney was afraid to prosecute him, and that they tanked their own case by attacking their own witnesses during the grand jury proceeding," he added.

"It was almost like the grand jury proceeding was an attempt to prosecute the teenagers and ignore Epstein."

Brad Edwards, another attorney for some of Epstein's alleged victims, made similar comments, claiming prosecutors wanted the grand jury "to return minimal" charges against Jeffrey Epstein — "if any."

"A fraction of the evidence was presented, in a misleading way, and the Office portrayed the victims as criminals," Edwards continued. "It is so sad, the number of victims Epstein was able to abuse because the State carried water for him when they had a chance to put him away."

Detective Recarey died in 2018. Epstein then died the following year while awaiting federal trial in New York. Reports indicate he hanged himself in his prison cell.

Krischer did not respond to a request for comment from the AP about the transcript but has previously defended his handling of the case. "No matter how my office resolved the state charges, the U.S. Attorney's Office always had the ability to file its own federal charges," he said in a statement in 2019.

The Miami Herald attempted to reach Belohlavek for comment but was unsuccessful.

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Are Public Schools ROBBING Us of Our Parental Rights? | Ep 648
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Are Public Schools ROBBING Us of Our Parental Rights? | Ep 648

No, The State Shouldn’t Cut Parents Out Of Medical Decisions For Minors

We don’t let minors use tobacco, vape, or vote. So, the question is really: Who will help guide and protect minor children — government bureaucrats or parents?

Gov. Ron DeSantis files complaint against Miami restaurant where 'nearly nude' drag queens 'squatted and gyrated' around kids



Governor Ron DeSantis (R-Florida) has filed a formal complaint against R House, the Miami bar and restaurant which features a popular drag show brunch on weekends. The complaint alleges that drag queens at R House have interacted with children during their "sexually explicit" performances.

"[N]ot only were there minors there — and these are sexually explicit drag shows — the bar had a children’s menu. And you think to yourself: ‘Give me a break, what’s going on?'” DeSantis told reporters on Wednesday.

The R House drag shows first became a national story when the Twitter account Libs of TikTok shared a video of a drag queen, wearing pasties to cover the nipples of womanly-shaped breasts and a G-string filled with dollar bills, holding the hand of a young girl and parading around the restaurant.

The complaint lists other examples in which minors have been compelled to participate or engage with drag queens during the R House drag show brunches. It claims that another child “between the ages of ten and twelve” was also recently “seen recoiling and turning away in her seat as a Brunch performer climbed on the back of the child’s bench, squatted, and gyrated a couple of feet above the child’s head.”

Citing a 1947 Supreme Court decision, which determined that “suggestive and indecent” performances by "men impersonating women" is a public nuisance, the complaint states that such performances are “manifestly injurious to the morals or manners of the people.”

The first lady of Florida, Casey DeSantis, agreed: "Speaking on behalf of A LOT of moms across the state, we do not want our children exposed to inappropriate sexualized content. Full stop."

The owners of R House, listed on the restaurant website as Rocco Carulli and his husband Owen Bale, have 21 days to respond to the complaint. R House stands to lose its liquor license, depending on the outcome of the legal process.

"[P]erfomances and simulated sexual activity — particularly when conducted in the presence of young children — constituted lewd activity and warrants revocation of respondent’s license,” the complaint states.

R House has released a public response to the complaint: "We are an inclusive establishment and welcome all people to visit our restaurant. We are hopeful that Governor DeSantis, a vociferous supporter and champion of Florida’s hospitality industry and small businesses, will see this as what it is, a misunderstanding, and that the matter will be resolved positively and promptly."

Report: Hyundai supplier employed children as young as 12 at Alabama plant



The Hyundai supplier SMART Alabama LLC is facing scrutiny and backlash following a report from Reuters that several children, perhaps as young as 12, had been employed at the plant as recently as earlier this year.

Many first became suspicious of the hiring practices at SMART back in February when a young migrant girl from Guatemala, not yet 14 years old, went missing from her home in Enterprise, Alabama. During investigations into her disappearance, police discovered that she and her brothers, ages 12 and 15, had been working at the plant rather than attending school. Their father Pedro Tzi also confirmed to Reuters that his kids once worked at SMART.

After this information became public, Reuters contacted other SMART employees and members of the community to corroborate the stories regarding the Tzi children and to find out whether SMART had employed other underage children to work at the facility. Several of the employees confirmed that minors had been in the SMART workforce, though none could say for certain how many. Their estimates range anywhere from 12 to 50.

Though most employees interviewed by Reuters insisted on remaining anonymous, one employee, Tabatha Moultry, 39, spoke on the record and claimed that one girl who used to work at the plant "looked 11 or 12 years old."

Both SMART and Hyundai have vehemently denied the allegations.

Hyundai "does not tolerate illegal employment practices at any Hyundai entity," the company said in a statement. "We have policies and procedures in place that require compliance with all local, state and federal laws."

In a separate statement, SMART said it "denies any allegation that it knowingly employed anyone who is ineligible for employment."

Though the Alabama attorney general has not commented on the reports, former U.S. Assistant Secretary of Labor for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration David Michaels is furious at the possibility of child labor violations, especially at a plant which poses considerable safety risks to adults, let alone children.

"Consumers should be outraged," he said. "They should know that these cars are being built, at least in part, by workers who are children and need to be in school rather than risking life and limb because their families are desperate for income."

The young Tzi girl, whom Reuters did not name because of her age, was eventually found safe and returned to her family. All three Tzi children have now been enrolled at school for the fall.