Independent Australian senator Nick Xenophon tabled letters with the Australian parliament this week from former members of the Church of Scientology that accuse the organization of torture, coerced abortions, embezzlement and more crimes.  According to the Times of London, Mr. Xenophon made some very sweeping claims against Scientology:

Scientology is not a religious organisation, it is a criminal organisation that hides behind its so-called religious beliefs …

The letters received by me which were written by former followers in Australia contains extensive allegations of crimes and abuses that are truly shocking – crimes against them and crimes they say they were coerced into committing.

These victims of Scientology claim it is an abusive, manipulative, violent and criminal organisation, and that criminality is condoned at the highest levels.

While nothing is definite yet, Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd is calling for investigations into the accusations which the Church of Scientology mearly says they are the angry ramblings of disgruntled former members.  “Many people in Australia have real concerns about Scientology,” Prime Minister Rudd said. He also commented, “I share some of those concerns. Let us proceed carefully and look carefully at the material he has provided before we make a decision on further parliamentary action.”

The list of allegations include (again from the Time of London):

• Paul Schofield admitted to being part of a campaign to cover up the facts surrounding the death of his two daughters, including two and a half-year-old Kirsty, who died during a purification program.
• Aaron Saxton confined and tortured a follower and coerced females to have abortions, one who used a coat hanger for fear of punishment. He also has details of murder confessions from members in the US, information that was never passed on to police.
• Carmel Underwood was put under “extreme pressure” to have an abortion, and witnessed a young sexually abused girl being coached on how to keep it secret.
• Anna and Dean Detheridge, who were forced to reject a gay relative, provided evidence that personal information was used to blackmail and control them.
• Kevin Mackey revealed how he handed over nearly a million dollars in exchange for services and products after he was conditioned by the sect.
• Peta O’Brien was discouraged from seeking treatment for cancer, was cut off from her son and provided evidence of being assaulted.

While the Church of Scientology can claim these are the ramblings of disgruntled former members, but these fit in with numerous stories from anti-Scientology sites such as Xenu.net that have been collected over the years.

While this is the first time I have heard claims of coerced abortions, it is far from the first time I have had stories of Scientologists being forced to reject (known as “disconnection” in the Church) family members.  Paul Haggis, the Oscar winning screenwriter who recently left the Church, told a story of how he was forced to disconnect from relatives who had left the Church.  The Church denies that this policy still exists, but the evidence continues to mount that it indeed does.

All of these claims are of course nothing more than claims at this time, and as with any time I write about Scientology, I highly recommend you do your own research into the organization.  I would, however, say, that if the government of an entire country is becoming interested in investigating them, doesn’t that say something isn’t completely right here?  Again, do your own reading, but for those of us who already speak out against Scientology, this is a major step in the right direction.

[hat tip to Jo for pointing out this story to me on Twitter]

Post from: SeanPAune.com

Australian Government Investigates Accusations Against The Church Of Scientology

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At 11:30 AM GMT October 9, the  Lunar CRater Observing and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) will impact the Moon in a crater named Cabeus A in the South Polar region.  The impact will occur at 5,600 MPH, creating a new crater about 1/3rd the size of an American football field.  The resulting plume of debris is expected to extend up to 30 miles from the Lunar surface.

Why are we doing this?  Well, first of all, it’s fun, and secondly, NASA is attempting to see if there is any water or ice crystals mixed in the debris.

While we have been doing some scans of the Moon’s surface that indicate there is ice, an essential element to us building any sort of long-term colony on our planet’s only satellite, we do not have any definitive proof as of yet.  While a return to the Moon has been brought into question as of late, this is something we still need to know if we ever hope to go back there for an extended period.

If you have a telescope at home that lens surface is 10″ or more, you will be able to watch it happen, but somehow I doubt that is very many of you.  Gizmodo made a handy guide of how you can watch this event for yourself:

• Attend one of the many public events organized by observatories throughout the country. You can see a list of events here.
• Watch NASA TV, which will broadcast the event.
• Use Slooh, the site that lets you control telescopes around the world in your PJs. Go to this page here to get more information about it.

The event will take place at 7:31AM Eastern/4:31AM Pacific.  Below is a map of the bombing site, click for a super-sized version.

Now, here’s hoping the Moon doesn’t retaliate!

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Earth Declares War On The Moon!

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On last night’s episode of Late Show with David Letterman, Mr. Letterman revealed that he had been the target of an extortion attempt by someone who was later revealed to be Joe Halderman, a producer on the CBS series 48 Hours.   Mr. Halderman had attempted to blackmail Mr. Letterman for $2 million dollars over evidence had of the late night talk show host having affairs with staff members of his series.  Mr. Halderman threatened to write a screenplay and book about the evidence he had, and even after asking for the $2 million, he did not guarantee that he would no go forward with this projects.

Mr. Letterman worked with his attorney and the New York City prosecutor’s office to gather evidence about the case, and after three meetings with the gentleman, Mr. Letterman did give Mr. Halderman a fake check for the $2 million.  Yesterday morning Mr. Letterman went before a grand jury to testify in the case, and Mr. Halderman was arrested later in the day.

During the course of telling this story, Mr. Letterman did not allude to when these affairs with staff took place, but he did use several plurals that insinuated that there had been more than one.

In March of this year, Mr. Letterman married Regina Lasko with whom has been dating since 1986, and they have a 5-year-old son, Harry, together.

Mr. Letterman ended the story by saying these would be his only comments on the situation, which is not unusual as he is a notoriously private individual.

UPDATE: RadarOnline has learned that Joe Halderman lived with with one of the women that David Letterman had his affair with.  The New York Daily News was able to dig up that Halderman once lived with Letterman’s assistant, Stephanie Birkitt.  The affair is said to have ended six years ago, before Mr. Letterman had his son Harry, or married his wife.  He was, however, living with her at the time.  Ms. Birkitt is still employed by Mr. Letterman.

All of this is supposition at this time as to if it was Ms. Birkitt, but the evidence seems fairly strong.

Post from: SeanPAune.com

David Letterman Victim Of Extortion Over Affairs With Staffers

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26-year-old Helen Goddard, a trumpet instructor at the City of London School for Girls, was discovered to be having a sexual relationship with one of her 15-year-old female students.

Ms. Goddard, nicknamed “the Jazz Lady” by her students, was a child musical prodigy, and even performed at the opening ceremonies of the Olympics in Sydney, Australia in 2000.  The unnamed girl was a student of hers and they started meeting for coffee after lessons which eventually led to the sexual affair.  Reports indicate that the fair lasted from February to July of this year when another teacher at the school received an anonymous tip to the affair.

After the tip was received, the Headmistress of the school was alerted to the situation and she informed the authorities of the situation.  The police conducted a raid and found the teacher and student together along with an assortment of sexual toys.  Ms. Goddard’s mobile phone was confiscated and text messages of a sexual nature, also known as “sexting”, were found on the teacher’s phone.

Being caught red-handed, Ms. Goddard confessed to the affair.  She went before a judge and plead guilty to six counts of sexual activity with a minor under the age of 16.  (16 is the age of sexual consent in England as opposed to the standard of 18 in the USA)  The judge issued bail and set sentencing for September 21st.  Ms. Goddard faces a maximum sentence of 14 years in prison, and has already been required to register with the sex offender registry.

In an odd twist, the parents of the girl, both reported to be highly educated individuals, say they will have no problem with the relationship if it was to resume once their daughter turns 16.  The date of her birthday was not disclosed.

Ms. Goddard has been suspended from her teaching duties.

This women now joins the roll call of teacher sex scandals for 2009!

• Christine McCallum, Boston, MA
• Lisa Lavoie, Holyoke, MA
• Christy Lynn Martin, St. Petersburg, FL
• Linda Nef and Valynne Bowers, Bountiful, UT
• Sarah L. Tolzien, Richton Park, IL
• Autumn Faulkner, Randolph County, WV
• Lindsay Massaro, Hackettstown, NJ
• Lauren Breslin, Vineland, NJ
• Kristina Anna Baeta, Union City, CA
• Raeanna Jewell, Apache Junction, AZ
• Jennifer Lea Burton, Orangefield, TX
• Tamara Hofmann, Chandler, AZ
• Jennifer Marie Collier, Jacksonville, FL
• Gina Marie Watring, Durham, NC
• Alison M. Peck, Greenfield, MO
• Maria Guman Hernandez, Hialeah, FL

UPDATE: Helen Goddard has been sentenced

Post from: SeanPAune.com

London Teacher Confesses To Lesbian Affair With Student

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The George Sodoni YouTube videos that have been discovered just seem to reveal an even more depressing view of this man’s life.  The first one seems to be some sort of “think positive” video about himself.  I’m not a psychologist, so I can’t say for sure, but that sure seems to be what it feels like on first viewing of it.  He talks as if there is already a woman in his life, but from what we know, there wasn’t.  Listening to it I would almost say this type of talk was a “beliee there is a woman in your life and there will be” type exercise.

The second one is a tour of his home and belongings that makes you think he was trying to impress someone in an infomercial type pitch of “Look what I can provide you with.”  He does make a reference to “I’ve bought all this since I joined the list”, so I’m thinking he was on some sort of mailing list or Usenet group, which also means probably more information will begin to trickle out about what was happening with this man.

The house tour video.

What this man did to those innocent women was despicable, but you can’t help but feeling a bit sad when you watch these, almost a sense of pity. Does it excuse what he did? Of course not, and nothing ever could, but you really have to wonder what brought this guy to this point in his life.

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George Sodoni YouTube Videos Just Deepen The Mystery

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Around 8PM on August 4th, 48-year-old George Sodoni walked in to the LA Fitness branch in a suburb of Pittsburgh.  He then strode into an aerobics class, flipped off the lights and opened fire with handguns on the women in the class. By the time he finally killed himself he had wounded nine women and killed three. The dead included:

• Heidi Overmier, 46, of Collier
• Elizabeth Gannon, 49, of Green Tree
• Jody Billingsley, 38, of Mount Lebanon

Allegheny County police Superintendent Charles Moffatt made a statement shortly after 2 AM local time this morning about the wonunded that said, “Some of them are undergoing surgery, some of them are in critical condition, others were treated and released.”

Now in the aftermath of this sensless violence, there comes the discovery that he kept a blog at GeorgeSodoni.com, however it appears his site may have been deleted.  CNN and The Inquisitr provide numerous entries from his blog that were salvaged.

November 5, 2008:

Planned to do this in the summer but figure to stick around to see the election outcome.

December 22, 2008:

Time is moving along. Planned to have this done already. I will just keep a running log here as time passes. Many of the young girls here look so beautiful as to not be human, very edible. After joining this gym, started lifting weights and like it.

December 24, 2008:

Moving into Christmas again. No girlfriend since 1984, last Christmas with Pam was in 1983. Who knows why. I am not ugly or too weird. No sex since July 1990 either (I was 29).

December 25, 2008:

He chooses January 6, 2009 as his target time.

January 5, 2009:

Every evening I am alone, and then go to bed alone. … Why should I continue another 20+ years alone? I will just work, come home, eat, maybe do something, then go to bed (alone) for the next day of the same thing. This is the Auschwitz Syndrome, to be in serious pain for so long one thinks it is normal. I cannot wait for tomorrow!

January 6, 2009:

It is 8:45PM. I chickened out! [Expletive] I brought the loaded guns, everything. Hell!

May 5, 2009:

To pull the exit plan off, it popped into my mind to just use some booze.  After the gym, I stopped at Shop N Save and got a fifth of vodka and a small bottle of Jack Daniels.

May 18, 2009:

There are 30 million desirable women in the US (my estimate) and I cannot find one. Not one of them finds me attractive. These problems have gotten worse over a 30-year period. I need to expect nothing from me or other people.

August 2, 2009:

The biggest problem of all is not having relationships or friends, but not being able to achieve and acquire what I desire in those or many other areas. Everthing stays the same regardless of the effert I put in. If I had control over my life then I would be happier. But for about the past 30 years, I have not

August 3, 2009: (last entry before he carried out the killings)

I took off today, Monday, and tomorrow to practice my routine and make sure it is well polished. I need to work out every detail, there is only one shot. Also I need to be completely immersed into something before I can be successful. I haven’t had a drink since Friday at about 2:30. Total effort needed. Tomorrow is the big day.

Unfortunately I talked to my neighbor today, who is very positive and upbeat. I need to remain focused and absorbed COMPLETELY. Last time I tried this, in January, I chickened out. Lets see how this new approach works.

Maybe soon, I will see God and Jesus. At least that is what I was told. Eternal life does NOT depend on works. If it did, we will all be in hell. Christ paid for EVERY sin, so how can I or you be judged BY GOD for a sin when the penalty was ALREADY paid. People judge but that does not matter. I was reading the Bible and The Integrity of God beginning yesterday, because soon I will see them.

I will try not to add anymore entries because this computer clicking distracts me.

Also, any of the “Practice Papers” left on my coffee table I used or the notes in my gym bag can be published freely. I will not be embarased, because, well, I will be dead. Some people like to study that stuff. Maybe all this will shed insight on why some people just cannot make things happen in their life, which can potentially benefit others.

There was also an odd miscellaneous section of his site:

Miscellaneous:

1. Probably 99% of the people who know me well don’t even think I was this crazy. Told by at least 100 girls/women over the years I was a “nice guy”. Not kidding.

2. Lee Ann Valdiserri had my baby in early 1991. Haven’t seen her since she was about four months into it. I knew her sister, Chris, from high school.

3. Net worth slightly more than $250K, (after all debt) as of end of 2008.

4. Death Lives!

It is amazing that any one could have read any of these and not have a red flag go up in their head that something was very, very wrong here.

My deepest condolences to the families of the women who lost their lives.

Post from: SeanPAune.com

George Sodoni Leaves Online Trail Before Gym Shooting In Pennsylvania

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Back in April, the Associated Press (A.P.) began its war on the Internet.  At that time they were already saying that they wanted news aggregator sites such as Google News to stop indexing their stories as it iolated the Fair Use doctorine in their eyes.  Fine, whatever, this is the same group of yahoos who was trying to set up a system where every site that quoted any story of theirs was charged $1.50 per word for the use.

Well, late last week the A.P. took another hit off their collective bong they keep in the office and came up with a new policy that is just mind boggling.  In a story from The New York Times entitled A.P. Cracks Down on Unpaid Use of Articles on Web (and I am using the full headline on purpose here), the A.P. has now said that no one may use their headlines without express consent from the association.

The Associated Press said Thursday that it would add software to each article that shows what limits apply to the rights to use it, and that notifies The A.P. about how the article is used.

Tom Curley, The A.P.’s president and chief executive, said the company’s position was that even minimal use of a news article online required a licensing agreement with the news organization that produced it. In an interview, he specifically cited references that include a headline and a link to an article, a standard practice of search engines like Google, Bing and Yahoo, news aggregators and blogs.

Now, you notice how nice all of this is for The New York Times? They’re getting a link (which helps get them better rankings in search engines… they’re getting free advertising… some of you will click on the link, giving them another pageview and assists in upping their ad impressions… heck, some of you may even click on an ad, generating revenue for them.  Well, here is just a little bit more from the article from you that shows you how the A.P. obviously doesn’t have a brain in their heads.

Asked if that stance went further than The A.P. had gone before, he said, “That’s right.” The company envisions a campaign that goes far beyond The A.P., a nonprofit corporation. It wants the 1,400 American newspapers that own the company to join the effort and use its software.

“If someone can build multibillion-dollar businesses out of keywords, we can build multihundred-million businesses out of headlines, and we’re going to do that,” Mr. Curley said. The goal, he said, was not to have less use of the news articles, but to be paid for any use.

Okay, let me explain this in the simplest terms for the A.P…. no, you are not going to grow a “multihundred-million businesses” out of this.  Well, wait, I take that back, you just might, but it won’t be yours, it will be all of the other sites that will get the traffic you once did.

Think I’m alone in these thoughts?

- Scott Rosenberg

Need another?

When AP tries to impose a license fee on linking to its content, people will stop linking to AP content. Not just some sites, but 99% of sites. There may be no official boycott as such, but likewise most won’t be interested in battling AP in court. The result will be a big drop in traffic to AP content as the link juice it previously had disappears, juice that also helps their search engine rankings.

But it could be better again, because big players like Google won’t stand for paying for the right to link, so AP content may disappear altogether from most search engines as well.

The net result is that papers who rely on AP content online will see their traffic and online revenue plummet at a time that many of them are struggling to survive as it is. The drop in newspaper advertising may have driven many of them to the point of extinction, but AP will help push them off the final cliff.

- Duncan Riley, The Inquisitr

How can a group that has been in the publishing business as long as the A.P. not be getting this?  Instead of making money you are only accomplishing making enemies out of every blogger out there.  Sure they will be able to continue to sell their wire services, but the idea that anyone on the Internet is going to pay them a single penny when there are so many sites that gladly welcome you linking to them, well then… the office bong is working overtime.

Give it up A.P., you have failed at the Internet, and you might as well leave because you are going to be non-existent here pretty darn quick.  No links = Internet death… I am sure it will be a lovely funeral.

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Someone Needs To Teach AP The Basics Of The Internet

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Folks, please, just… stop.

I have really tried refraining from even touching on the subject of Michael Jackson, but this has now reached absurd proportions.  I can understand fans being sad at his passing, but the idea that the website set up to award tickets to his memorial service (which the fact they are giving out tickets to this is disturbing in its own right) received 500 million hits in the first hour of operation.  While it is safe to say many of those were multiple visits from the same people, that is still insane.

Even though only 8,750 people will be issued a pair of tickets, 1.2 million officially applied for tickets.  The city of Los Angeles is expecting around 500,000 to 750,000 to descend upon the Staples Center to stand around outside the center during the ceremony.

Now comes the news that the networks are going to make this in to even more of a circus

• CBS is handing over the majority of its programming for the day to coverage of the event.  The Early Show, Evening News with Katie Couric and a special edition of 48 Hours anchored by Katie Couric will all originate from the Staples Center in Los Angeles where the event is being held.
• ABC will be doing live coverage of the event starting at 10 AM PDT and will pre-empt their normal daytime programming.  They are sending Charles Gibson to do the coverage.
• NBC will not do live coverage, but instead will do a one-hour highlights show Tuesday night.
• CNN will be live.
• MSNBC will be live.
• E! will be live.

Stop… please, for the love of the deity of your choice, just stop.

Michael Jackson was indeed a talented singer, but he was just that… a singer.  He didn’t cure diseases.  He didn’t serve his country.  He did nothing heroic.  He was a cute child singer, and he grew in to a very disturbed adult man due to any number of reasons that became better known for his eccentricities than his talents.  If you want to mourn him, fine, but does anyone really need to stand outside of an arena in the summer heat to mark his passing?  (hope you all remember to bring water)  Does every network need to have a crew on hand for this?  No.

This is all part of an idolism of celebrities that makes no real sense.  Anyone remember the insanity surrounding the death of Princess Diana?  At least she went out and tried to change people’s lives, while Michael… spent money on amusement park rides?  The fervor over Diana’s death didn’t make any sense either, as I said in Scattercast Episode 50, I’m not sure a terrorist attack by Osama Bin Laden would have gotten media coverage during that week in 1997, and that’s how I’m feeling about this insanity swirling around everything involving Michael Jackson.

You don’t think it has spun horribly out of control? Did you know that Anderson Cooper 360 actually went through the trouble to track down Michael Jackson’s pet chimp, Bubbles? Thanks to The Colbert Report, you can see this news handled in the manner it was most deserving of.

When you start hunting down a chimp as ‘news’, you know this story has been beat to within an inch of its life.

Up until the day he died, Michael Jackson was vilified by the media for close to 20 years, but come the day he died, he turned into something close to being a saint in the eyes of the media, and that is just sickening to me.  Not only have you obviously used this man’s death to improve your ratings, but you have betrayed your previous stance on him with your sickeningly saccharine-laced new version of the events of what and who Michael Jackson was.  Shame on the media.  How about you take that energy you spent on finding Bubbles and look in to what happened in Ft. Worth?  What is the latest on the civil unrest in Iran?  How is the world reacting to the seven ballistic missles North Korea fired in to the Sea of Japan today?  No no, that’s okay, please go do a hard hitting interview with Bubbles… really, that’s what we need more of in this world, not real news.

As for the public… well… I won’t say “shame on you” because I don’t know what each person’s individual motivation is for caring about this man so much about him, but it sure doesn’t make any sense to me to get this worked up over a celeberities death.

Post from: SeanPAune.com

For Crying Out Loud, Just STOP!

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It seems back on May 24th that Trooper Daniel Martin was responding to a call when he had to pass an ambulance on the way to his destination.  Trooper Martin’s lights and sirens were on, but the ambulance was not running any sort of signals, but it also failed to yield to the cop car.  After he learned he was not needed on the original call he decided to go and find the ambulance that he had passed.

The reason he states that he pulled over the vehicle was he claims that the driver had flipped him the bird and he wanted to talk to him about failing to yield.  Ambulance suprervisor Maurice White jumps out of the back to see what was going on and all heck breaks loose.  It may be better for you just to watch the video and see what happened.  (Steven Hodson over at The Inquisitr is responsible for bring this little gem to my attention.)

One of the family members thought to us his camerphone to record some other angles of the situation and he picks up some audio that the dash cam missed along with another angle that clears up some things the original video missed.

This is one of those situations where it is difficult to tell who was in the wrong, but it seems to me that both parties played a roll in why this ended up going so badly.  The Trooper seems to over react from very beginning, and Mr. White shouldn’t have leaped out of the truck the way he did.

Again, each person needs to make up their own minds, but it sure does make for some interesting viewing.

Post from: SeanPAune.com

Oklahoma Trooper Pulls Over An Ambulance

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Maria Guman Hernandez, 32-years-old, has been asked to resign from her position as a sixth-grade teacher at Our Lady of Charity in Hialeah, FL.  The reason is that around May 20th rumors began to circulate that Ms. Hernandez was  having a sexual relationship with a 15-year-old eigth-grader at the school.  Principal Xenia Torres struggled with the idea of reporting the rumor to the Department of Children & Families (DCF).  She was informaed by a school lawyer that they had no choice under Florida law, so they made the call.

While the police sought the teacher for questioning, they had to wait for her to return from a vacation she was taking with the student to Walt Disney World.

During the time where they waited for the pair to return, they spoke with the student’s mother and discovered that she was well aware of the relationship and had approved of it because she felt Hernandez “was a nice enough person and a good influence on her son.”

Upon Ms. Hernandez’s return from the vacation, she was taken into custody and admitted to the relationship after she was read her rights.  The student also admitted to a sexual relationship with the teacher, and he informed the police that the sexual relations began in March of this year and that they used his family apartment for their meetings with his mother’s approval.

The mother has not yet been charged with anything, but that may change as the investigation continues.  On late Wednesday a juvenille judge ruled that the mother could keep custody of both the 15-year-old and her 4-year-old, but she would have to under go counseling, and the two boys would have to be checked for emotional damage.  The court also said that a guardian would have to live in the house for a while to help the mother out, and DCF was authoried to make unannounced visits to check in on how the family was doing.

There is still no word on if Hernandez has resigned, but she did make her bail of $10,000 and is currently out of jail.

This women now joins the roll call of teacher sex scandals for 2009!

• Christine McCallum, Boston, MA
• Lisa Lavoie, Holyoke, MA
• Christy Lynn Martin, St. Petersburg, FL
• Linda Nef and Valynne Bowers, Bountiful, UT
• Sarah L. Tolzien, Richton Park, IL
• Autumn Faulkner, Randolph County, WV
• Lindsay Massaro, Hackettstown, NJ
• Lauren Breslin, Vineland, NJ
• Kristina Anna Baeta, Union City, CA
• Raeanna Jewell, Apache Junction, AZ
• Jennifer Lea Burton, Orangefield, TX
• Tamara Hofmann, Chandler, AZ
• Jennifer Marie Collier, Jacksonville, FL
• Gina Marie Watring, Durham, NC
• Alison M. Peck, Greenfield, MO
• Helen Goddard, London, England
• Amy Elsworth & Brian Drake, Waterford, MI

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32-Year-Old Religious School Teacher Charged With Sexual Relationship With Student

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