A star basketball player at the University of Illinois was suspended after a woman accused him of sexual assault, but the school has now dropped its own investigation into the athlete.
Terrence Shannon Jr. was suspended from the Illinois basketball team after he was charged with rape in Kansas, the Associated Press <a href="https://apnews.com/article/terrence-shannon-jr-illinois-basketball-rape-charge-9d4bb7e676fa2ba6f0d83018c5f5f463" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> earlier this year. Shannon successfully lobbied a U.S. District Court judge to overturn the suspension and allow him to start playing again, and now the university has ended its attempt to discipline the athlete, citing a lack of evidence.
Shannon was charged with rape on December 5 by prosecutors in Douglas County, Kansas, after a woman claimed that he put his hands under her skirt and violated her. The alleged incident occurred on September 9, 2023, while Shannon and a teammate were at a bar after attending Illinois’ football game against Kansas. The woman claimed Shannon – whom she identified after searching the school’s online basketball team roster – called her over and then grabbed her buttocks before reaching under her skirt to touch her sexually, the AP reported.
A graduate assistant for the basketball team assigned to drive Shannon and his teammate to Kansas and chaperone them said he was near Shannon the entire night in question and never saw anything the woman described in her allegations, the AP report noted.
After the charges were filed, the University of Illinois suspended Shannon from the team, and he missed six games. Judge Colleen Lawless ruled on January 19 that the university had violated Shannon’s civil rights and deprived him of his “protected property interests” by suspending him without due process. She noted that Shannon was supporting several family members and his suspension jeopardized his chances of being one of the first players to be drafted by the NBA and to make money through endorsements allowed by the NCAA’s name, image, and likeness policy.
“Plaintiff’s participation in sports is vital to the development of his career as well as his current and future economic opportunities considering plaintiff’s intention to declare for the 2024 NBA Draft,” Lawless wrote in her ruling, the AP reported. “Prior to his suspension, plaintiff was projected to be a lottery pick in the NBA. His participation in future games impact his prospects in the draft and his earning potential.”
On April 5, Illinois sent a memo to Shannon, his accuser, and university officials stating that it would not follow through on disciplinary proceedings against the star player.
“… a determination was made that the evidence available to [the Office for Student Conflict Resolution] at this time is not sufficient to allow a reasonable hearing panel to find [Shannon] in violation of the Student Code sections identified in the allegation notice,” the school&#8217;s director of its Office for Student Conflict Resolution <a href="https://twitter.com/kcjohnson9/status/1778162577425768806?s=43&amp;t=zEuer7j4Ff8TVIcpiUO1KA" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wrote</a>. “For example, access to the complainant, the complainant’s witness and the complete Lawrence Police Department file was not available to the investigator.”
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“The complainant has not indicated an intent to participate in a hearing before a hearing panel at this time,” the school administrator continued. “As a result, the process has concluded, charges have been dropped, and no disciplinary action will be taken against [Shannon] at this time.”
The school did, however, say that it may bring disciplinary proceedings against Shannon should “new substantial evidence” come to light.
Shannon still faces charges in Kansas. His attorney gave <a href="https://abc7chicago.com/university-of-illinois-drops-sex-assault-investigation-into-illini-basketball-player-terrence-shannon-jr-his-attorney-says/14644377/#:~:text=The%20University%20of%20Illinois%20has,basketball%20player%20Terrence%20Shannon%20Junior.">a statement</a> to ABC 7 in December saying Shannon is innocent.
“Since September, when these allegations surfaced, Terrence has cooperated with law enforcement throughout the investigation, declaring his innocence from the beginning,&#8221; the attorney said. &#8220;Now, several months later, my office learned that formal charges were filed against him [in December] in Lawrence, KS. In less than 24 hours, my client responded, and he voluntarily surrendered to local authorities for processing and release. Terrence is innocent of these charges, and he intends to take his case to trial.”
Shannon’s team was ranked 14th in the nation and second in the Big Ten conference, with Shannon averaging 21.7 points per game, according to the AP.

Terrence Shannon

School Drops Investigation Into Star Basketball Player Charged With Rape, Citing Lack Of Evidence

Crime

false accusations

Illinois

Sexual Assault

Title IX

U.S.

The woman who accused Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her when they were teenagers has resurfaced after speaking with Rolling Stone and writing a book.
During Christine Blasey Ford&#8217;s recent appearance on “The View,” co-host Sarah Haines pointed out that “even today some people remain skeptical of your story.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
ABC’s <a href="https://twitter.com/sarahaines?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@sarahaines</a> to Christine Blasey Ford: “Even today some people remain skeptical of your story” <a href="https://t.co/MomNLed6ML">pic.twitter.com/MomNLed6ML</a>
— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) <a href="https://twitter.com/tomselliott/status/1770114274133708804?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 19, 2024</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The Federalist’s Mollie Hemingway, who co-authored a book about Blasey Ford’s allegations against Kavanaugh, wrote a lengthy post on X detailing all the reasons to doubt the accusation. According to Hemingway, some of the reasons people still doubt Blasey Ford’s story include the lack of evidence that she had ever even met Kavanaugh and the fact that witnesses she named to back up her story contradicted her.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
1. There Is No Evidence that Ford and Kavanaugh Ever Met
2. Leland Keyser Said She Did Not Have ‘Any Confidence’ in Her Friend’s Story
3. Friends Pressured Keyser to Change Her Story
4. All Alleged Witnesses Strongly Dispute the Claim
5. Ford’s Father Supported Kavanaugh’s… <a href="https://t.co/tEJxIbkhuE">https://t.co/tEJxIbkhuE</a>
— Mollie (@MZHemingway) <a href="https://twitter.com/MZHemingway/status/1770298907098054797?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 20, 2024</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Hemingway also pointed out that Blasey Ford could never say where the alleged sexual assault took place, how she arrived at that location, or how she got home. Blasey Ford also changed the date of the alleged assault by years after first telling her story.
One of the biggest issues for Blasey Ford was that the witnesses she named as being able to corroborate her allegations all said they had <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/3-witnesses-named-ford-questioned-fbi-deny-party-amanda-prestigiacomo?amp" target="_blank" rel="noopener">no recollection</a> of such an event. Blasey Ford’s best friend at the time, Leland Keyser, would eventually come out and say in the 2019 book “The Education of Brett Kavanaugh: An Investigation,” by reporters Robin Pogebrin and Kate Kelly, that <a href="https://thefederalist.com/2019/09/15/new-book-christine-blasey-fords-friend-leland-keyser-doesnt-believe/#.XX7SCNWkVfg.twitter" target="_blank" rel="noopener">she didn’t believe</a> Blasey Ford’s claims.
Keyser said “that she didn’t recall that get-together or any others like it.” Keyser also “challenged Ford’s accuracy,” the authors wrote. Keyser told them: “I don’t have any confidence in the story.”
Keyser also told the authors that she was pressured to support Ford’s story, and threatened for not doing so: “I was told behind the scenes that certain things could be spread about me if I didn’t comply.&#8221;
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In Hemingway’s own book on the saga, titled “Justice on Trial: The Kavanaugh Confirmation and the Future of the Supreme Court,” she reveals that Keyser had “logistical and character-driving” issues with Blasey Ford’s story. Keyser told Hemingway and her co-author, Carrie Campbell Severino, that “It would be impossible for me to be the only girl at a get-together with three guys, have her leave, and then not figure out how she’s going to get home.”
Blasey Ford’s media tour is about selling her new book, “One Way Home,” about her allegations against Kavanaugh. In the book, she claims to have received death threats following her testimony. A Rolling Stone <a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/christine-blasey-ford-book-death-threats-kavanaugh-1234989129/amp/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">article</a> about these alleged death threats fails to mention the death threats that Kavanaugh received in the wake of Blasey Ford’s allegations – and <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/police-id-armed-man-who-said-he-wanted-to-kill-supreme-court-justice-kavanaugh-report" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the very real attempt</a> on his life by a man angry about the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade.

Christine Blasey Ford

‘The View’ Co-Host Bemoans Fact People ‘Remain Skeptical’ Of Christine Blasey Ford’s Accusations Against Brett Kavanaugh. Here’s Why People Are Skeptical.

Brett Kavanaugh

Supreme Court

A Kansas City Chiefs fan is looking to set the record straight after photos of him in handcuffs spread on social media following the shooting at the team’s Super Bowl parade last week.
Denton Loudermill of Olathe, Kansas, addressed the public with LaRonna Lassiter Saunders, a lawyer advocating on his behalf, in a press conference that was posted to social media over the weekend, KSHB <a href="https://www.kshb.com/news/local-news/parade-shooting/lets-let-the-truth-go-viral-olathe-man-wants-to-clear-name-after-being-wrongly-identified-as-rally-shooter">reported</a>. The father of three and Saunders allege that “misinformation” spread online accusing Loudermill of being a gunman behind the Kansas City mass shooting. 
&#8220;I just want to clear my name that I had nothing to do with anything,&#8221; Loudermill said, adding, &#8220;I was just enjoying myself like everybody else, but other than that, I was out there not to harm anybody. I was just enjoying the parade like everybody else.&#8221;
Pictures of Loudermill in handcuffs spread on social media after the shooting, with some posts even <a href="https://twitter.com/redsteeze/status/1758215011913118073" target="_blank" rel="noopener">claiming</a> that the Kansas native is an illegal immigrant. Saunders said during the press conference that Loudermill was detained after having “several drinks” and was then released by police without a citation. 
“Mr. Denton had several drinks, but so did a half million other people, including some of the Chiefs players,” Saunders said. “It&#8217;s not a crime. It doesn&#8217;t make you a mass shooter.” 
“Mr. Denton has received death threats over a lie, over misinformation,” Saunders added. “He didn’t do anything wrong. He did not commit a crime. So please, run, tell that. Get the truth out there. Help us clear his name. Help us save his life.”
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The Kansas City, Missouri, Police Department told KSHB, “There were many people detained at one time or another on Wednesday.” 
“Some of the detainments could result in future charges unrelated to the shooting. No one who is believed to be involved in the shooting has been released,” the police department added. 
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Authorities are holding two juveniles, who remain unidentified, on gun-related and resisting arrest charges in connection to the shooting. One person was killed, and more than 20 people, including 11 children, were injured. Police identified Lisa Lopez-Galvan as the victim who died from her gunshot wounds. Lopez-Galvan was a DJ for a Kansas City radio station and the mother of two children.  
Saunders said that she and Loudermill want the attention following the shooting to be on pursuing justice for Lopez-Galvan and her family. 
&#8220;We want to focus on how great of a person she was and not spend our time letting lies, and misinformation, and bigotry and hatred spread,&#8221; she said.

Kansas City Chiefs Victory Parade

Kansas Man Speaks Out After He Was Wrongly Accused Of Being Suspected KC Parade Shooter: ‘I Just Want To Clear My Name’

Kansas City

Kansas City Chiefs

Mass Shooting

Missouri

Police

Shooting

A Miami-Dade policeman faced life in prison after his ex-girlfriend accused him of kidnapping and sexually assaulting her until the charges were dropped after she recanted her testimony.
The officer, who is not being named by The Daily Wire because his accuser has not been named in media outlets, was arrested last month and charged with armed sexual battery, kidnapping, and armed burglary, <a href="https://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local/charges-dropped-for-miami-dade-officer-accused-of-kidnapping-sexually-assaulting-ex-girlfriend/3210918/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according to NBC Miami</a>. On Friday, when the officer arrived in court for his arraignment, the charges were dropped.
“We are grateful for the decision,” the officer’s attorney, Edward Tapanes, told the outlet.
The charges were reportedly dropped after the accuser refused to provide a statement and told prosecutors she didn&#8217;t use their &#8220;safe word, which &#8220;might&#8217;ve caused him to believe we were role playing,&#8221; according to the case report.
An arrest warrant reviewed by NBC Miami showed that the accused and accuser became involved in a verbal dispute at Buffalo Wild Wings in Homestead, Florida. The accuser claimed that when she arrived at her residence, the accused man was waiting for her in his marked police car while wearing his uniform and carrying his department-issued firearm. The two continued to fight, according to the woman, and the officer grabbed her by the hair and dragged her into her home, where she claimed he tried to force her to perform a sexual act on him.
She claimed that when she refused, he hit her head on the stairs and put his handcuffs on her wrist before sexually assaulting her. She claimed that she screamed for her 12-year-old son to call 911, and the officer got dressed and ran from the home.
The 12-year-old told the 911 operator that his mother told him to call but that he “doesn’t know what the situation is,” according to a case disposition memo obtained by The Daily Wire.
Police said in the warrant that the accuser got the man to admit to his actions during a controlled phone call. During that call, the accused man repeatedly said his accuser did not use the “safe word” and that the two regularly solved their problems by having sex. The accuser also admitted during that call that she kissed another man in front of the accused to “make him angry.”
Police tried to take a statement from the woman but said she refused and appeared nervous, saying she was ruining the accused man’s career.
A detective present during the call realized the accuser and the accused were texting and later seized the accused man’s cell phone. A text from the accuser – sent two minutes after the controlled call – said, “I love you and I am sorry.”
Thirty minutes later, she texted: “You’re going to get arrested and I’m really sorry about it. I love you with my all.”
The accused responded, “What are you talking about” and then said, after not receiving a response, asked, “What do you mean?”
The accuser (who is referred to as a “victim” in the case disposition memo) tried to call the man, but he didn’t answer. She then texted him: “What I said. I’m sorry [accused], I did what I thought was the right thing to do. I’m confused about what’s right or wrong but it’s too late now. I love you.”
The accused was arrested and interviewed for three hours, during which he discussed the toxic relationship with his ex. He also said that the encounter occurred during a breakup, but that the two were back together.
After again attempting to get a formal statement from the accuser, she texted a detective to say, “After much consideration I feel that the allegations I made were not as I felt them to be on the first night. I believe there was a misunderstanding between him and I.” The woman hired an attorney and called the State Attorney’s Office several times to say she didn’t want to proceed with the case.
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“Given the Defendant’s explanation that their sexual encounter that night was consensual, and the Victim’s recanted testimony about the nature of the sexual encounter, the State’s ability to proceed and prove these charges beyond a reasonable doubt has been severely compromised. Therefore, the charges will be no-actioned,” the disposition memo said.
The State Attorney’s Office would not say whether it planned to charge the woman for her actions. The man’s attorney did not respond to a Daily Wire request for comment.
The accused man is still on paid leave and the Miami-Dade Police Department did not immediately respond to a Daily Wire inquiry regarding his employment.

Man Walking In Dark Tunnel

He Faced Life In Prison Based On Her Sexual Assault Allegation. The Charges Were Dropped After She Recanted Her Testimony.

Miami

Lindsey Hill, who accused former MLB pitcher Trevor Bauer of rape and assault, had a 27-minute phone conversation with him in the days after the alleged assault.
The call was secretly recorded by the Pasadena Police Department with Hill’s cooperation, and was publicly released on Thursday, just days after Bauer <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/next-victim-star-pitcher-for-the-dodgers-trevor-bauer-reveals-texts-from-his-accuser-following-settlement" target="_blank" rel="noopener">revealed text messages</a> showing Hill was asking friends about how to get Bauer&#8217;s money even before she met him in person. The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office declined to charge Bauer, but Hill used the phone call as evidence against the pitcher in her lawsuit.
Hill apparently told Bauer about her alleged injuries from their second sexual encounter, injuries that were not present in a video she filmed of herself lying in bed with Bauer the morning after this allegedly violent encounter. The video also shows Hill smirking at the camera and in no distress.
But in the May 22, 2021, phone call, <a href="https://www.legalaffairsandtrials.com/p/never-said-that-i-wanted-to-be-punched" target="_blank" rel="noopener">obtained</a> by Legal Affairs and Trials, Hill leads Bauer into a conversation about him allegedly crossing boundaries. Throughout the phone call, Bauer maintains that he kept asking Hill “Do you want to stop? Are you OK?” but she told him to keep going.
Later in the phone call, Hill said that she wanted them both to “accept boundaries and, like, move forward, but, like, for my own peace of mind, like, I just have to communicate, like, I never, like, said it was a free for all.” Bauer replied that he never meant to hurt her.
He also told her that he was confused that she could have sustained the injuries she claimed to have based on their activity.
“We, like, checked multiple times about having a safe word and, like, and all that, like, I thought that it was, like — I thought you were OK,” he said. “I would check multiple times like, ‘Hey are you OK? You want to stop or not?’ You said no. So, like, I was — that was kinda my way of, like, trying to make sure that we weren’t crossing any boundaries.”
Bauer has always maintained that the pair had rough sex, but that it was consensual. On Monday, the two settled their lawsuits against each other with neither paying a penny to the other. Hill, however, will receive $300,000 from her insurance company.
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After the phone call was released, Bauer&#8217;s attorneys, Jon Fetterolf and Shawn Holley, issued a statement noting that the phone call proves what Bauer has always said about his innocence.
&#8220;Trevor Bauer and Lindsey Hill had consensual rough sex and the pretext call confirms that his version of events — the truth — never wavered, despite her attempts to get him to admit what she told the police,&#8221; the attorneys said.
&#8220;Throughout the call, Mr. Bauer politely disagreed with her assessment multiple times while still trying to be thoughtful and courteous to a person he believed was a friend, rather than a person trying to deliberately set him up by recording this call, unbeknownst to him, with the police,&#8221; the added. &#8220;He continuously notes that they discussed her preferences and boundaries in advance; how she asked him to be physical; how he checked on her multiple times during intercourse to confirm she was enjoying herself and to ensure that she wanted to continue; that he was following her lead; that it was his understanding—based on what she had told him—that she was experienced with and enjoyed rough sex; and he expressed his confusion at her alleged injuries given what did and did not take place. While there was consensual slapping at her request, he never punched Ms. Hill.&#8221;
Once the settlement was announced, Bauer released a video revealing some of the text messages Hill sent to her friends prior to meeting Bauer and after their encounter that suggests she was always focused on getting money from him.
“‘Next victim. Star pitcher for the Dodgers,&#8217;” Bauer begins in the video with a picture of Hill’s text. “A text Lindsey Hill sent to a friend before she ever even met me. ‘What should I steal?’ she asked another, in reference to visiting my house for the first time. The answer? ‘Take his money.’ So how might that work? ‘I’m going to his house Wednesday.’ she said, ‘I already have my hooks in. You know how I roll.’ Then, after the first time we met, “Net worth is 51 mil” she said. ‘b—h, you better secure the bag,’ was the response.”
“But how was she going to do that?” Bauer continued. “‘Need daddy to choke me out,’ she said. ‘being an absolute whore to try to get in on his 51 million,’ read another text. Then, after the second time we met, former [San Diego] Padres pitcher Jacob Nix told her ‘you gotta get this bag.’ ‘I’ll give you 50,000’ Lindsey replied. Her AA sponsor asked her at one point, ‘do you feel a tiny bit guilty?’ ‘Not really,’ she replied.”
Bauer said these messages were “deliberately and unlawfully concealed from me and my legal team” until he filed his lawsuit against Hill and the case entered discovery.
He also played a video taken just minutes before Hill left Bauer’s house in the morning after the alleged assault, showing her in bed next to him smirking at the camera with no evidence of injury or distress.
He said Hill’s legal team had approached him for money, but after this evidence was turned over, they approached with a settlement offer that included no money. He agreed to a settlement that allowed him to publicly discuss the case since he could not do so for legal reasons prior.
“Now over the last two years, I’ve been forced to defend my integrity and my reputation in a very public setting, but hopefully this is the last time I have to do so, as I’d prefer to just remain focused on doing my job, winning baseball games and entertaining fans around the world. So today I’m happy to be moving on with my life,” Bauer concluded his video.
After the settlement, Bauer’s attorneys released a statement.
“Trevor Bauer and Lindsey Hill have settled all outstanding litigation,” Bauer’s attorneys, Jon Fetterolf and Shawn Holley, said in a statement on Monday, <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/sports/trevor-bauer-settles-legal-dispute-accuser-reveals-damning-messages" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according to Fox News</a>. “Both of their respective claims have been withdrawn with prejudice, effective today. Mr. Bauer did not make — and never has made — any payments to Ms. Hill, including to resolve their litigation. “
“With this matter now at rest, Mr. Bauer can focus completely on baseball,” the attorneys added.
Bauer was suspended for 324 games due solely to the allegations, but that ban was reduced to 194 games by an independent arbitrator in December, Fox reported. No team picked him up, so he began playing in Japan for the Yokohama DeNa Baystars, where he was 10-4 with a 2.76 ERA and 130 strikeouts in 19 games.
This article has been updated to include a statement from Bauer&#8217;s attorneys.

Trevor Bauer

Phone Call Between Trevor Bauer And Lindsey Hill Released

After reaching a settlement in his legal dispute, former Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Trevor Bauer on Monday revealed the text messages his accuser sent to her friends.
Bauer was placed on administrative leave by his team before any investigation was conducted after Lindsey Hill accused him of beating and sexually assaulting her twice in 2021. He never faced charges relating to the allegations, and a restraining order filed by Hill was denied. Bauer always maintained that the rough sex between him and Hill was consensual.
Once the settlement was announced, Bauer released a video revealing some of the text messages Hill sent to her friends prior to meeting Bauer and after their encounter that suggests she was always focused on getting money from him.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
2 years later and I can finally talk about this ⬇️ <a href="https://t.co/o6jFqMzY05">pic.twitter.com/o6jFqMzY05</a>
— Trevor Bauer (トレバー・バウアー) (@BauerOutage) <a href="https://twitter.com/BauerOutage/status/1708904525724270659?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 2, 2023</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
“&#8217;Next victim. Star pitcher for the Dodgers,'&#8221; Bauer begins in the video with a picture of Hill’s text. &#8220;A text Lindsey Hill sent to a friend before she ever even met me. ‘What should I steal?’ she asked another, in reference to visiting my house for the first time. The answer? ‘Take his money.’ So how might that work? ‘I’m going to his house Wednesday.’ she said, ‘I already have my hooks in. You know how I roll.’ Then, after the first time we met, &#8220;Net worth is 51 mil&#8221; she said. ‘b&#8212;h, you better secure the bag’, was the response.”
&#8220;But how was she going to do that?” Bauer continued. “‘Need daddy to choke me out,’ she said. ‘being an absolute whore to try to get in on his 51 million,’ read another text. Then, after the second time we met, former [San Diego] Padres pitcher Jacob Nix told her ‘you gotta get this bag.’ ‘I’ll give you 50,000’ Lindsey replied. Her AA sponsor asked her at one point, ‘do you feel a tiny bit guilty?’ ‘Not really,’ she replied.&#8221;
Bauer said these messages were &#8220;deliberately and unlawfully concealed from me and my legal team&#8221; until he filed his lawsuit against Hill and the case entered discovery.
He also played a video taken just minutes before Hill left Bauer’s house in the morning after the alleged assault, showing her in bed next to him smirking at the camera with no evidence of injury or distress.
He said Hill’s legal team had approached him for money, but after this evidence was turned over, they approached with a settlement offer that included no money. He agreed to a settlement that allowed him to publicly discuss the case since he could not do so for legal reasons prior.
&#8220;Now over the last two years, I’ve been forced to defend my integrity and my reputation in a very public setting, but hopefully this is the last time I have to do so, as I’d prefer to just remain focused on doing my job, winning baseball games and entertaining fans around the world. So today I’m happy to be moving on with my life,&#8221; Bauer concluded his video.
After the settlement, Bauer&#8217;s attorneys released a statement.
&#8220;Trevor Bauer and Lindsey Hill have settled all outstanding litigation,&#8221; Bauer’s attorneys, Jon Fetterolf and Shawn Holley, said in a statement on Monday, <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/sports/trevor-bauer-settles-legal-dispute-accuser-reveals-damning-messages" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according to Fox News</a>. &#8220;Both of their respective claims have been withdrawn with prejudice, effective today. Mr. Bauer did not make — and never has made — any payments to Ms. Hill, including to resolve their litigation. “
&#8220;With this matter now at rest, Mr. Bauer can focus completely on baseball,&#8221; the attorneys added.
Bauer was suspended for 324 games due solely to the allegations, but that ban was reduced to 194 games by an independent arbitrator in December, Fox reported. No team picked him up, so he began playing in Japan for the Yokohama DeNa Baystars, where he was 10-4 with a 2.76 ERA and 130 strikeouts in 19 games.
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In March 2022, Bauer <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trevor-bauer-suing-the-athletic-for-defamation-over-sexual-assault-allegations" target="_blank" rel="noopener">sued</a> The Athletic for defamation after it reported that Hill sustained a fractured skull due to Bauer’s alleged attack. Bauer in his lawsuit said the Athletic had access to Hill’s medical records, which showed no skull fracture, yet published the information anyway.
“While this is not the time or the place to address every single lie or falsehood that this woman or her lawyers made to the court, I do want to be crystal clear about a few things,” Bauer said in a February 2022 video in which he defended himself. “I never punched this woman in the face. I never punched her in the vagina. I never scratched her face. I never had anal sex with her or sodomized her in any way. I never assaulted her in any way at any time. While we did have consensual rough sex, the disturbing acts and conduct that she described simply did not occur.”
Bauer eventually dropped his lawsuit against the Athletic.
He later sued Hill for defamation, but she countersued. The two settled and exchanged no money, though Hill will receive $300,000 from her insurance company, which is independent of her settlement with Bauer.

‘Next Victim. Star Pitcher For The Dodgers’: Trevor Bauer Reveals Texts From His Accuser Following Settlement

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Male students accused of sexual assault face an uphill battle in proving their innocence on college campuses. Their reputations are destroyed, their future prospects ruined, and thousands of dollars in tuition is lost.
Usually, these students only face the pseudo-judicial proceedings of a campus court designed to find the accused responsible. Once that proceeding is done, they’re forgotten and must rebuild their lives in silence and despair.
But one student has been targeted again and again – by law enforcement, by his school, and by the media – in a way most students never experience.
Saifullah Khan, 30, was born in a refugee camp in Pakistan six months after his family fled Afghanistan to avoid potentially being killed by the Taliban. He grew up in and around the refugee camp before fleeing to the United Arab Emirates. Khan, a bright student, applied to Yale and was accepted, but suggested he attend the preparatory Hotchkiss School in nearby Lakeville, Connecticut first. Khan accepted a full scholarship to Hotchkiss and Yale. Prior to attending Hotchkiss, Khan hadn’t even learned to use a knife and fork.
Khan’s bright future came crashing down on Halloween night in 2015, when he slept with a woman who never has been named publicly and will therefore be referred to as Jane Doe. This one-night stand has lost Khan nearly 10 years of his life – and there is no end in sight.
On the night of the sexual encounter, Khan, who knew his accuser previously, attended a Halloween party where the pair met up before a concert by the Yale Student Orchestra later that evening. 
Jane, by her own admission, stated that she did not drink much that evening, certainly not enough to render her so intoxicated that she could not consent to sex. She claimed to have had two drinks that contained two-fingers’ height of rum, which was mixed with soda. She also said she had a third drink, which contained one-finger height of bourbon.
Khan, Jane, and their group of friends walked from the party to Yale’s Woolsey Hall to attend the concert. Another man, who would end up dating the accuser just weeks after her encounter with Khan, said that when Jane left the initial party, she was a four out of 10 on a scale of drunkenness, but somehow, by the time the group made it to Woolsey Hall, she was an eight out of 10.
During the concert, Jane threw up a little on her costume, so she and Khan left. The prosecution would later describe this as major evidence, but the preserved dress showed very little vomit on it, making Jane appear much less drunk than she claimed.
After leaving the concert, Khan and Jane walked together across campus and returned to their dormitory. Khan took Jane to her room and used his key card to swipe her in. A minute later, Khan used his key card to enter his own dorm room. Khan and his attorneys say that Jane called Khan to ask him to come back to her room.
According to Khan, once there, Jane asked him to check up on one of her friends, who had too much to drink that night. Time codes show that Khan used his key card in an area of the dorm he had no otherwise reason to be in — the area where Jane’s friend was sick. Khan returned to Jane’s room after checking on her friend, and Jane performed oral sex on Khan. Jane asked Khan to wear a condom, but she gagged on it and went into the bathroom to vomit, Khan says.
While she was in the bathroom, Khan called his girlfriend at another university, with whom he had an open relationship. Khan said he did not understand how an American girl might feel about him talking to another woman just after engaging in sexual activity, as Khan and his girlfriend were both from Afghanistan.
Khan and Jane then engaged in sexual intercourse and fell asleep in Jane’s bed. The next morning, Khan returned to his own room.
Khan alleges that shortly after this encounter, Jane began telling her friends she was raped, but told a campus health care worker that she had consensual unprotected sex. Jane then publicly accused Khan of rape and went to the Yale Women’s Center where she was advised to file a formal complaint against Khan. Based on her complaint, Khan was immediately suspended, and police opened an investigation.
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At trial, Khan’s attorneys came under fire for allegedly asking “victim-blaming” questions of Jane, including how much she had to drink and why she chose a skimpy costume instead of a more modest one. Because Jane’s accusation rested on her being too drunk to consent, a question about how much she drank was relevant.
As for the dress, jurors who spoke to the media after the trial said the style of the dress had no bearing on their decision.
“The significance of the dress to me was another issue [besides whether it was skimpy or not],” juror Jim Gallulo <a href="https://thefederalist.com/2018/03/16/setting-the-record-straight-on-the-yale-sex-assault-trial/">said</a>, adding that the prosecution made it seem as if she had vomited after getting off an amusement park ride. The prosecution didn’t even attempt to address the discrepancy between their claims and the actual evidence, Gallulo added.
Jurors found Khan not guilty of rape just three hours after the jury went into deliberation, based mainly on surveillance footage of Khan and Jane walking across campus together.
“That’s when the case really fell apart for her narrative,” Gallulo said after the trial.
Prosecutors claimed the video showed Khan practically dragging the woman back to the dorms because she was too drunk to walk, even though by her own claims she hadn’t drunk anything since leaving that first party.
“When the prosecutor first put it up on the video, I thought it was a happy couple that was going to be a witness to see him leave her dorm room,” alternate juror Elise Wiener said in 2018 after the trial. “She was not limping or being dragged – she was arm-in-arm with him.”
Having won at trial – in which all evidence for both sides was presented and witnesses were cross-examined – Khan thought his future again looked bright.
“He’s innocent, and the facts prove it,” Weiner said. “He was acquitted because he deserved to be acquitted and the prosecutor should never have brought the case in the first place.”
But upon returning to Yale, Khan was informed he would face a much less rigorous campus tribunal, where cross-examination is denied and only evidence Yale wants to be heard is included, particularly evidence that helps the accuser. 
“Yale has let me know that the [University-Wide Committee on Sexual Misconduct] process has been extended all the way till September for a ‘more thorough investigation,’” Khan wrote in the summer of 2018. “I am deciding to attend University this fall.”
As expected, Khan was found responsible under Yale’s preponderance-of-the-evidence standard, which only requires administrators trained to believe accusers to be 50% plus a feather sure that the accused is responsible.
Khan sued Yale and his accuser in 2019, and that lawsuit is now working its way through the court system. In June, Khan received a big win – the Connecticut Supreme Court ruled that Yale administrators did not have qualified immunity to be sued, as they had argued. Yale argued that the campus process was quasi-judicial, and therefore immunity was warranted, but the court ruled that the process was not quasi-judicial because it lacked due process, including cross-examination.
“For absolute immunity to apply under Connecticut law,” the justices wrote, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/17/us/yale-rape-case-defamation.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according to The New York Times</a>, “fundamental fairness requires meaningful cross-examination in proceedings like the one at issue.”
The court added that Khan’s attorney during the Yale proceedings essentially amounted to the role of a “potted plant.”
Norman Pattis, one of Khan’s attorneys, told the Times that it “is fundamentally unfair to take a person accused and put him in a situation where the accuser is believed and pandered to and the person’s right to defend himself is minimized.”
Yet the Times loads it’s article on Khan’s lawsuit with people who claim that cross-examining a witness amounts to “retraumitization” and should therefore be discontinued – but only in sexual assault allegations.
Joseph Vincent, who isn’t an attorney and worked for a Title IX consulting firm that consulted with colleges on how to find male students responsible, told the Times that cross-examination has no value in a campus hearing, claiming it is only mean to test the credibility and demeanor of the accuser under pressure, and therefore are not a meaningful way to discover the truth.
Vincent added that cross-examination only helps those who can afford to hire the “flashiest attack dog attorney money can buy.”
Defense attorney Scott Greenfield countered that claim on <a href="https://blog.simplejustice.us/2023/09/17/why-is-cross-so-feared/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">his personal blog</a>, Simple Justice, arguing that Vincent’s claims, devoid of any knowledge of the law, legal process, or even how cross-examination is carried out, serves one purpose: “it’s a lot easier to win when the person accused can’t do anything to challenge lies, exaggerations and delusions.”
Greenfield <a href="https://www.opn.ca6.uscourts.gov/opinions.pdf/18a0200p-06.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">cited</a> the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, which ruled that in cases of he said/she said, which most campus allegations are, schools need to use cross-examination to determine credibility.
“…[W]hen credibility is at issue, the Due Process Clause mandates that a university provide accused students a hearing with the opportunity to conduct cross-examination,” the court ruled.
Even with this win, Khan’s lawsuit continues. He expects a decision from the Second Circuit Court of Appeals regarding qualified immunity to also fall in his favor, with both rulings leading up to a trial.
Khan’s case highlights an issue that some accused students face – an ongoing reputational assault. For Khan, now 30, it has come from Yale, activists, the legal system, and the media.
“I mentioned to the Times that ‘Yale took my 20s away,’ I’ll let them [the media and others] have my 30s,” Khan told The Daily Wire, adding that this is his “response to the depressing onslaught and persistent harm that Yale, the mob, and the 15 amici have been targeting me with.”
The “15 amici” is a reference to the amicus briefs filed in Khan’s case from activists seeking to deprive him of the millions of dollars he has requested in damages.
As the case continues through the courts, Khan is struggling. He was a neuroscience major at Yale, hoping to understand the interplay between consciousness and artificial intelligence, but that dream has been shattered. He had also founded two startups while in college, but both have crumbled due to the allegations and ongoing reputational harm.
Another issue for Khan is his legal status in the U.S. Khan says deportation proceedings had been initiated against him when he was expelled from Yale, as he had immigrated to the U.S. on a student visa. But he has not been deported, since his legal case is ongoing, putting his immigration status in limbo and limiting his job prospects.
“The American dream,” Khan said. “Yale stole that.”

Views Of Yale University As Ivy League Pay Soars

He Was Acquitted Of Rape At Trial But Still Expelled From His University. Now The NYT Is Going After Him.

Readers Pass

True Crime

Universities

Yale University

A California wife and mother who faked her own kidnapping in 2016 has been released from prison after serving less than a year of her 18-month sentence.
Sherri Papini, 41, was released from federal prison last week and is currently under community confinement, People Magazine <a href="https://people.com/sherri-papini-released-prison-kidnapping-hoax-community-confinement-7853470" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>. She is currently living at a residential re-entry facility in Sacramento County, California.
Papini pleaded guilty in April to mail fraud and lying to a law enforcement officer, just two counts of a 35-count indictment, NBC News <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/sherri-papini-faked-kidnapping-2016-sentenced-18-months-prison-rcna48335" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>. Those charges were related to Papini’s actions after she faked her own kidnapping, rather than the faked kidnapping itself.
Prosecutors had requested eight months in prison for Papini’s plea deal, arguing that “A lesser sentence, such as the one month of imprisonment recommended by probation or home detention in lieu of incarceration, is not sufficient to achieve the purposes of sentencing.”
U.S District Judge William Shubb went further, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/woman-who-pleaded-guilty-to-faking-her-own-kidnapping-in-2016-receives-her-sentence" target="_blank" rel="noopener">sentencing</a> Papini to 18 months in prison plus 36 months of supervised release. She was also ordered to pay $309,902 in restitution to the California Victim Compensation Board, the Social Security Administration, the Shasta County Sheriff’s Office, and the FBI.
Papini’s counsel claimed she was a different person now.
“Whatever happened five years ago, that’s a different Sherri Papini than the person you see here today,” her attorney, William Portanova, said at the time.
Three weeks after Papini disappeared, she was found on the side of a Yolo County freeway with a chain around her waist and a “brand” on her shoulder, which she claimed had been put on her by her kidnappers.
“In truth, Papini had been voluntarily staying with a former boyfriend in Costa Mesa and had harmed herself to support her false statements,” the U.S. attorney’s office said in <a href="https://www.justice.gov/usao-edca/pr/shasta-county-woman-arrested-lying-federal-agents-regarding-kidnapping-and-defrauding" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a press release</a>.
Papini originally told investigators that two Hispanic women kept her captive at gunpoint, and even worked with an FBI sketch artist to come up with images of the two women, which police used to search for them. It was DNA from her clothing that ultimately unraveled her story. DNA had been collected and put into a database that was routinely checked, NBC reported. It was this DNA that led to Papini’s ex-boyfriend.
When questioned, the ex-boyfriend, who has not been charged and thus has not been named, told investigators that Papini had told him she needed help and to get away, so he agreed to pick her up in Redding, California, and let her stay with him the entire time she was missing, according to FBI documents. The ex-boyfriend told investigators he didn’t know what Papini’s “final plan was” or if the situation meant they were getting back together.
The ex also said that Papini asked him to brand her using a wood-burning tool and eventually asked him to drive her back to Northern California.
“Investigators say the ex-boyfriend’s story was corroborated with car rental receipts and phone records, and the ex-boyfriend knew details not known to the public,” NBC <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/california-woman-sherri-papini-made-2016-abduction-officials-say-rcna18682?utm_source=facebook&amp;utm_medium=news_tab" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>. “The ex-boyfriend told investigators he initially thought he was just helping a friend, but after seeing the news about the later kidnapping claims he got worried, according to the affidavit.”

Woman in Handcuffs

Woman Who Faked Her Own Kidnapping Released From Prison After Less Than A Year

Sherri Papini, Who Faked Her Own Kidnapping, Released From Prison After Less Than A Year

kidnapping

Oberlin College is suing four of its insurers after each refused to pay the school for the $36 million in damages it owed to the owners of Gibson’s Bakery, whom the college falsely accused of racism.
When Oberlin College was ordered to pay Gibson’s, the college suggested that the damages were merely a drop in the bucket for the school.
“The size of this verdict is significant. However, our careful financial planning, which includes insurance coverage, means that we can satisfy our legal obligation without impacting our academic and student experience,” the college said in a press release at the time.
But now those insurers have denied the college the millions it has already paid to the Gibson family, Legal Insurrection <a href="https://legalinsurrection.com/2023/08/oberlin-college-sues-insurers-for-refusing-to-cover-36-million-it-paid-gibsons-bakery-for-defamation-and-other-torts/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>. The college filed the lawsuit in April, but it only came to light this week when The Chronicle-Telegram <a href="https://chroniclet.com/news/361165/oberlin-college-sues-4-insurance-companies-over-gibsons-bakery-settlement/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">obtained</a> a copy of the court filing.
Oberlin is suing Lexington Insurance Company, United Educators Insurance, Mount Hawley Insurance Company, and StarStone Specialty Insurance Company. The college claims the insurance companies wrongfully refused &#8220;to honor promises they made in their respective policies to protect the interests of Oberlin College&#8221; and its former vice president and dean of students, Meredith Raimondo, who helped lead the false charge against Gibson’s Bakery.
The college hopes the court will force the insurers to reimburse the college for the $36 million it has <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/three-years-later-gibsons-bakery-finally-receives-36-million-from-oberlin-college-after-false-racism-claim" target="_blank" rel="noopener">already paid</a> to the Gibsons. One of the insurance companies reportedly gave the college $1 million, but the school argued in the lawsuit that it &#8220;also incurred millions of dollars in defense costs pursuing its appeals,&#8221; appeals the college says the insurance companies urged to potentially lessen the damages. It is unclear how much Oberlin spent on legal fees throughout the lawsuit, trial, and appeals process.
Oberlin had $25 million in commercial umbrella liability coverage from Lexington, a $10 million policy from Mount Hawley, a $5 million policy from StarStone, and $25 million in overlapping educators&#8217; legal liability coverage from United Educators according to the lawsuit, per the Chronicle-Telegram.
&#8220;These policies were intended to provide seamless coverage for lawsuits like the Gibson litigation,&#8221; the lawsuit says. &#8220;Unfortunately, the defendant insurers have failed to pay a penny toward the $36,590,572.48 sum that Oberlin paid the Gibson plaintiffs. They also have failed to pay for the full cost of Oberlin&#8217;s appeals, which were pursued at the behest of the insurers in order to reduce their collective exposure.&#8221;
Oberlin says in its lawsuit that the insurance companies told the college that &#8220;some, if not all, of the damages&#8221; would be covered. But the college contends that Lexington and United Educators &#8220;engaged in a systematic, multi-year effort to avoid their coverage obligations by attempting to shift responsibility from the Gibson lawsuit to each other,&#8221; as well as other insurance companies and to the college itself, Oberlin says in its lawsuit.
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Had the insurers taken a pretrial opportunity to resolve the litigation, Oberlin says, the case could have been settled for less than $10 million.
As The Daily Wire previously <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/worse-you-think-theres-more-oberlin-story-ashe-schow">reported</a>, several non-white Oberlin students attempted to steal alcohol from Gibson’s, a local bakery with a long history of serving the Oberlin community. A Gibson family member working at the bakery that day chased the students out of the store, where they attacked him. He called the police and the students were arrested, pleaded guilty, and admitted race had nothing to do with the incident.
But other students and faculty accused the bakery of racism and staged protests outside, with Oberlin officials fully endorsing and supporting the protestors’ false narrative. Further, while Oberlin claimed in court the protests were peaceful, some demonstrators entered the bakery and harassed customers, taking pictures of them and making disparaging comments. They also blocked customers from moving down the aisles and slashed the tires of a store employee.
Behind the scenes, Oberlin administrators trashed the bakery and anyone who defended it, calling defenders “idiots” and saying, “F*** them.”
Jurors sided with the bakery and awarded $44 million in total damages, which became $36 million after state limits were imposed.

Memorial Arch, Oberlin College

Oberlin College Sues Insurance Companies After They Refuse To Cover $36M Payment To Falsely Accused Bakery

Courts

Lawsuit

Oberlin College

A New York police officer who began filing reports in May 2022 alleging her colleagues had been sending her vulgar, menacing text messages has been accused of sending the messages to herself.
Emily Hirshowitz, a 36-year-old officer with the Ossining Police Department, was charged last Wednesday with four counts of third-degree falsely reporting an incident and three counts of first-degree filing a false instrument, The New York Post <a href="https://nypost.com/2023/07/02/new-york-police-officer-who-accused-colleagues-of-menacing-her-with-text-messages-arrested-for-sending-them-herself/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>. The false instrument charge is a felony, which comes from her allegedly filing a report with the intent to defraud.
In May 2022, Hirshowitz filed a report with the Westchester District Attorney’s Office claiming she had received threatening text messages from multiple numbers. On May 4, Hirshowitz claimed &#8220;that a fellow police officer or multiple police officers at my department are involved,&#8221; according to the criminal complaint <a href="https://www.lohud.com/story/news/local/westchester/ossining/2023/06/29/ossining-police-officer-emily-hirshowitz-facing-felony-charge-falsely-reporting-harassing-texts/70365694007/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">obtained</a> by the Westchester Journal News.
Then in July and August, she filed more complaints, giving investigators screenshots of long, expletive-filled messages she said her colleagues sent to her phone. The messages urged her to commit suicide and called her a slew of cruel names, including “useless,” “reject,” and a “dumb [expletive],” the Post reported.
Her superiors and other local officials, alarmed by the “increasingly threatening content” of the messages, also reached out to the DA to implore her to investigate further.
After this, on August 12, Hirshowitz told authorities she wanted to drop the complaint. But investigators continued, with Police Chief Kevin Sylvester calling a department-wide meeting on August 23 to discuss the case. In addition to police officers, the Ossining mayor and other local officials were invited to attend the meeting, the Journal News reported.
Investigators quickly suspected Hirshowitz herself was behind the messages and issued a search warrant for her phone and digital accounts in October 2022. The evidence they obtained showed that she was connected to several of the phone numbers that had sent threatening messages, meaning she likely sent them to herself, according to prosecutors.
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But not all the numbers were connected to Hirshowitz. Prosecutors alleged in the criminal complaint that another number was found to belong to somebody known to the DA’s office, though they didn’t elaborate further. That number sent three text messages to Hirshowitz.
Former Ossining police officer Louis Rinaldi, who resigned earlier this year due to separate disciplinary charges, is thought to be Hirshowitz’s accomplice in the matter. His name was reportedly brought up several times during the investigation, the Journal News reported, and his attorney said he was the subject of an investigation.
“There’s a lot of mystery and confusion surrounding the allegations in this case and we’ll evaluate as we learn more,” Hirshowitz’s attorney, Paul DerOhannesian, told the Journal News.
Hirshowitz has been suspended with pay and is scheduled to appear at the White Plains City Court on July 12.

Woman Using Smartphone

She Accused Her Cop Colleagues Of Sending Her Menacing Messages. She Allegedly Sent Them To Herself.

New York

A California Instagram “mommy influencer” has been sentenced to 90 days in jail after she was <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/white-influencer-found-guilty-after-falsely-claiming-a-latino-couple-tried-to-kidnap-her-kids" target="_blank" rel="noopener">previously found guilty</a> of falsely claiming in 2020 that a couple tried to abduct her children.
Kathleen “Katie” Sorensen, 31, received her sentence last week, according to <a href="https://da.sonomacounty.ca.gov/influencer-sentenced-to-jail-for-knowingly-making-a-false-report-of-attempted-kidnap" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a statement</a> from the Sonoma County District Attorney’s Office. Judge Laura Passaglia said 60 days of the sentence could be served on a work-release program.
Sorensen was immediately sent to jail after the sentence, which includes 12 months of informal probation, during which time she is ordered to stay off social media; submit to warrantless search and seizure, including her electronic devices; complete a 4-hour implicit bias training; and pay various fines and fees.
“Ms. Sorensen has been held accountable for her crime and we believe the Judge handed down a fair sentence,” District Attorney Carla Rodriguez said. “Our hope is that this measure of accountability will help provide some closure to the couple that was falsely accused of having attempted to kidnap two young children.”
Sorensen <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/white-instagram-influencer-charged-with-lying-after-accusing-latino-couple-of-trying-to-kidnap-her-children" target="_blank" rel="noopener">went viral</a> on social media in December 2020 when she accused a Latino couple of following her around a Michael’s craft store and attempting to kidnap her children. The accused couple, Eduardo and Sadie Martinez, insisted at the time of Sorenson’s allegations that race played a role.
“Great news for us all but mostly for my cousin, Sadie Vega-Martinez and her husband Eddie,” a family member <a href="https://www.facebook.com/erikamgarcia/posts/10226027985949358" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wrote on Facebook</a> after Sorensen was charged in April 2021. “They were falsely accused by this ‘influencer’ of trying to kidnap her kids at a local Michaels store. A major allegation! She obviously didn’t know who she was messing with… my cousin. Prima, I’m so glad you persisted! There absolutely need[s] to be consequences for attention seeking ‘influencers’ that make up drama for likes and views on social… Can you imagine this happening to YOU? It totally could. And it’s unreal.”
Sorenson claimed in an Instagram post that her “children were the targets of attempted kidnap.”
Fox News <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/us/california-police-mom-influencer-kidnap-latino" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> that Sorensen accused the Martinezes of trying to kidnap her children from the craft store. Sorensen regularly posts on social media about her kids, and her allegations ended up pushing her number of followers on Instagram from 6,000 to more than 80,000.
Sorensen reportedly told police the couple followed her as she pushed her children in a stroller in the parking lot heading toward her car. She said the couple made comments about her children’s appearances and stood near her vehicle as she put her children inside.
Sorensen posted a video on social media a week after the alleged incident where she “included information that had not been initially presented” to police, the Petaluma Police Department said.
Sorensen also spoke to KTVU-TV about the alleged incident.
“I saw these people, they didn’t look necessarily clean-cut,” she told the outlet. “I felt uncomfortable around them, and instead of making them uncomfortable with my discomfort, I chose to remain in my discomfort.”
She claimed the man had looked at her when she was outside the store and that he and his wife followed her around the store and described her children to someone while on the phone.
“I heard them talking about the features of my children, but I was totally paralyzed with fear,” Sorensen told the outlet. “I just couldn’t bring myself to say anything.”
She claimed the couple followed her around the store and stood behind her in line even though they didn’t buy anything, and then followed her through the parking lot to her SUV. She said a white van was parked next to her vehicle, which was far from the store. She claimed the couple took a few steps toward her but then stepped back, saying the only explanation for this was that they “were just building the courage” for the kidnapping.
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Sorensen claimed the man reached for the stroller, but an older man was nearby, who “saw what was going on, and I just yelled for help.”
She then said the couple drove off in a car, but another person came up behind her, possibly getting out of that white van.
The Martinez family said they went to Michael’s to buy decorations for a Nativity scene and “fully cooperated” with police. At the time, police said, “The investigation has produced no evidence or witnesses corroborating the account provided by the reporting party.”
“Evidence gathered has served to support the account provided by the couple from the store,” the police department added.
The couple spoke to reporters about the incident.
“I couldn’t believe it. It’s like we’re literally guilty of being brown while shopping,” Sadie said. “One of my kids wanted to go there to buy stuff to make hot chocolate balls and I just don’t feel comfortable. I feel like I have a target on my back, now that our image is out on the internet. Who’s to say some crazy person is not gonna come for us?”
Police eventually cleared the couple, noting the “inconsistencies” in Sorensen’s story, such as her claim the couple didn’t buy anything even though surveillance footage shows that to be false.

Social Media

Mom Influencer Who Falsely Accused Latino Couple Of Trying To Kidnap Baby Sentenced

California

People who claim to be victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking, and/or human trafficking can apply for $1,000 in cash from the Chicago mayor’s office.
Democratic Mayor Brandon Johnson announced this week a $5 million fund for people claiming to be survivors of gender-based violence, WBBM <a href="https://www.audacy.com/wbbm780/news/local/chicago-victims-of-gender-based-violence-eligible-for-usd1-000" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>. Those seeking the money do not have to prove they are survivors.
&#8220;In its commitment to trauma-informed practices, survivors will not be asked for evidence of survivorship, but will be asked to self-attest, or instead provide a connection to an advocate or service provider,&#8221; the mayor’s office said in a <a href="https://www.chicago.gov/city/en/depts/mayor/press_room/press_releases/2023/june/CashAssistanceGenderBasedViolenceSurvivors.html">press release</a>.
Those seeking the funds must be at or below 300% of the poverty level, WBBM added.
A pilot program accepted 1,000 applications for the grant, and Johnson in early May said 733 people had already received their money. Thirty-five percent of the pilot program applications identified themselves as Latino and 47% identified themselves as black.
Providing this free one-time payment to those at or below 300% of the poverty level – which means an annual income of $40,770 for a single person or up to $139,890 for a family of 8 – could incentivize false accusations, according to defense attorney Scott Greenfield.
“On the one hand, free money for claiming to be a ‘survivor.’ On the other hand, great incentive for false accusations,” Greenfield tweeted. “What could possibly go wrong?”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
&#8220;In its commitment to trauma-informed practices, survivors will not be asked for evidence of survivorship&#8230;&#8221;
On the one hand, free money for claiming to be a &#8220;survivor.&#8221; On the other hand, great incentive for false accusations.
What could possibly go wrong? <a href="https://t.co/aw6GGruNMQ">https://t.co/aw6GGruNMQ</a>
— Scott Greenfield (@ScottGreenfield) <a href="https://twitter.com/ScottGreenfield/status/1671600960051851264?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 21, 2023</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
False accusations are <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/lies-damned-lies-and-campus-sexual-assault-ashe-schow" target="_blank" rel="noopener">not as rare</a> as many claim.
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Media outlets regularly report that 2% to 10% of rape accusations are false, implying that women rarely, if ever, lie about such crimes.
The statistic, however, is misleading, as it only applies to accusations made to police that are proven false. And the proven false statistic is only one category of sexual assault classifications. Other categories include “baseless,” wrongly reported as sexual assault, cases without enough evidence for an arrest, cases with enough evidence but for some reason outside police control an arrest is not made, and cases where there is enough evidence for an arrest. Of the cases that lead to an arrest, a small percentage actually go to trial and result in a “guilty” finding.
It is unlikely that Chicago would ever release information that could be used to determine whether any applicant lied about being a victim in order to obtain free money from the government.

Money flying off stack of bills in man’s hand

Chicago To Give $1,000 To People Claiming To Be Sexual Assault Victims — Without Having To Provide Proof

Chicago To Give $1,000 To People Claiming To Be Sexual Assault Victims - Without Having To Provide Proof

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