Judicial Favoritism - Judge in Jerry Sandusky Case Was Donor and Volunteer to His Charity

Published on Nov 14, 2011 by AssociatedPress

The judge who recently set bail for accused pedophile and former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky donated to his charity two years ago, raising questions about whether the bail was appropriate. (Nov. 14)

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Revealed: Judge who freed Penn State 'paedophile' Sandusky worked for his children's charity

• District Judge Leslie Dutchcot ruled Sandusky be freed without bail unless he doesn't show up for court
• Dutchcot previously volunteered for The Second Mile charity, which Sandusky founded in the 1970s
• The Second Mile helps disadvantaged children (but Sandusky allegedly picked his victims from it and adopted his now adult son from the charity)
• Sandusky denies charges of alleged sexual abuse

The judge who requested Jerry Sandusky be freed on $100,000 unsecured bail, undertook volunteer work for the retired American football coach’s charity, according to reports.

District Judge Leslie Dutchcot, who previously volunteered for The Second Mile charity, ruled that the former Pennsylvania State University defensive coordinator be freed without posting any bail money unless he doesn't arrive for court.

Her decision overruled a bid by prosecutors, who requested a $500,000 bail be set for the 67-year-old and for him to be fitted with a leg monitor, after being charged with 21 felony counts for alleged sexual abuse...[Full Article]

End Times Militia Hearing: Feds Say Ward Is Mentally Unstable

Eight suspected members of a Midwest Christian militia charged with conspiring to overthrow the government will have to wait until Friday to learn whether they'll be released before their trial.

Two local men, Kristopher Sickles, 27, of Sandusky and Jacob Ward, 33, of Huron, are among those facing charges.

While a U.S. attorney portrayed Sickles as a militia leader who expressed a desire to blow up the Huron Police Department, local police records involving Ward paint a picture of an increasingly paranoid man preoccupied with weapons...

Ohioan Who Was Arrested In FBI Raid Denies Charges

COLUMBUS, Ohio — An Ohio man accused of conspiring with a militia group to kill police officers and overthrow the government said in a statement Thursday night that he is "not an extremist, racist or a cop killer."

Kristopher Sickles of Sandusky renounced his role as a militia member in the statement released by his brother, Alec Romick of nearby Huron, who said he received it from Sickles during a telephone call.

"My intentions were good and I am simply guilty by association and personally had no intentions of harming any person, member of law enforcement or the United States government," Sickles, 27, said in the statement...

Ohio Militia Members Among Those Plotting Police Attacks

...Among those taken into custody, 27-year-old Kristopher Sickles of Sandusky and 33-year-old Jacob Ward of Huron.

Kristopher Sickle's wife told the Associated Press that her husband, a laid off sales associate at a local mall, occasionally trained with the militia but she says he had no knowledge of any plans to kill anyone or attack the U.S. government.

But U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder says the nine arrests have quote "dealt a severe blow to a dangerous organization that stands accused of conspiring to levy war against the United States."

Kristopher Sickles's wife says her husband and the other northeast Ohioan now under arrest, Jacob Ward, have known each other since childhood.

The AP says Ward's mother told Huron Police that family members took away his guns last summer because they thought he needed mental health treatment.

Police, Federal Agents In Raids In Sandusky, Huron

SANDUSKY and HURON

_{The Toledo Police Northwest Ohio Bomb Squad and a police dog unit from Cleveland's RTA were among those responding with the FBI Saturday, March 27, 2010, at Bayshore Estates in Sandusky. Register photo/SARAH WEBER}

A battalion of local officers and federal agents flooded the Bayshore Estates neighborhood Saturday afternoon.

A second raid was conducted in Huron. An FBI agent at the scene of the Bayshore Estates raid said a second, related raid was taking place at “another location.” Huron police confirmed late Saturday a raid had taken place in that city, but would say nothing more.

Likewise, FBI agents at the scene and at the Cleveland field office are staying mum on the cause of the commotion.

“We did make some arrests,” said special agent Scott Wilson of the FBI’s Cleveland office.

He said the warrants were sealed in federal court and he could not release any information until after the suspects appear in court Monday.

Sandusky Police, Erie County Sheriff’s deputies, agents from Toledo Police Bomb Squad and Cleveland Regional Transit Authority’s K9 Unit assisted at the scene.

Capt. Paul Sigsworth of the Erie County Sheriff’s office said he could not talk about the investigation.

Agents at Bayshore Estates yelled at residents to stay back at least a block from where they conducted the arrest on East Cedarwood Drive. Agents placed a handcuffed white male wearing a black shirt into a silver car.

Some officers in green uniforms carried large automatic rifles.

“We’re definitely in the dark,” said Terry Mills, who manages the trailer park with his wife, Barb.

A resident who asked her name not be used said she was reading in her living room when she heard sounds “like a semi” and a police radio, and looked outside to see two agents in FBI jackets crouching behind her car and more armed officers in her lawn.

She said an armored vehicle at the scene was one she’d seen earlier in the day on West Perkins Avenue.

The quiet east side neighborhood has seen its share of disturbances this year. It’s been the site of three total-loss trailer fires, one of which killed veteran John C. O’Reilly, 66, on New Year’s Day.

“It’s getting to be too much now,” Mills said.

He said he didn’t know who was arrested or why.