Decorated double amputee former Marine, 36, is charged with heinous act on 13-year-old girl
A heavily-decorated former Marine who lost both his legs in Afghanistan has been charged with repeatedly raping a 13-year-old girl.
Brandon Rumbaugh, 34, was charged on Tuesday for the vile acts he allegedly committed while the victim slept over at his home in Pleasant Hills, Pennsylvania.
Police launched an investigation into the sickening claims on May 5 after receiving a report from a child protective agency.
The girl told cops Rumbaugh, a well known motivational speaker, is family friend who she has known since she was 10.
When she turned 11 or 12, the father-of-two allegedly started contacting her over the phone.
The abuse began when she turned 13 and started staying over at his house, where he gave her alcohol and forced her into sex, she told detectives.
She reportedly stayed at Rumbaugh's home three times in April. He did not attack her the first night, she said. They went to the gym and watched military movies.
But he allegedly raped her twice each night the second and third times she stayed at his house.
He once gave her alcoholic iced tea before he assaulted her, she claims. Describing how the liquor affected her, she said 'she didn't feel like herself,' the criminal complaint reads.
She also slept in the same bed as the accused predator on one occasion, with another person sleeping across the hall, police said.
Rumbaugh had tried to scare her into silence, allegedly telling her to 'to keep this a secret until she was eighteen years old'.
The former marine is now facing a slew of charges including rape, statutory sexual assault and furnishing alcohol to minors.
He was arrested and is being held in jail without bond. Rumbaugh is due in court on Wednesday.
His Pittsburgh-area community members are now grappling with the shocking news after he was for years treated as a hero for his military service.
Uniontown resident Jenn Smith told CBS: 'He's supposed to be a positive person for this community and now this is coming out.'
She added: 'It teaches us we need to be a little more careful with our babies.'
Another woman said on Facebook: 'Hopefully he gets what he deserves for something so horrible.'
She added: 'We need to protect our children and send this message that this will not be tolerated.'
'Hey just wanted to pop by and say I hope you go to prison forever. Best of luck,' someone commented under one of Rumbaugh's Instagram posts.
Rumbaugh lost both his legs after stepping on a landmine while carrying another Marine to safety in 2009.
'I had to learn to be independent at 21 years old, starting a whole new life without either of my legs,' he told The Daily Nebraskan in 2018.
'My life wasn't over, but I had to find a new path.' He went on to become a motivational speaker and the CEO of Action Conquers Terror.
Aside from being celebrated on multiple occasions, he was recognized by the US Marines with a Commendation Medal for valor.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
34 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Read the email political staffer sent to politician who allegedly sexually assualted him years earlier
A political staffer has admitted embellishing a glowing email he wrote to a state MP who allegedly sexually assaulted him years earlier. Kiama MP Gareth Ward, 44, is on trial in the NSW District Court after pleading not guilty to sexual intercourse without consent and indecent assault charges. The jury was told he approached a young, drunk political staffer after a mid-week event at NSW Parliament House in 2015 and offered him a place to stay for the night. The man, who was 24 at the time but is now in his 30s, said Ward climbed into bed with him, groped his backside, and sexually assaulted him despite him repeatedly saying 'no'. During his third day of cross-examination on Tuesday, he was asked about an email he wrote to Ward in March 2019, congratulating him on his appointment as minister for families. 'Your friendship means the world to me and my respect for you is already as high as it can be,' the complainant wrote to Ward. He told the jury he sent the email in the hopes of securing a job in politics at a time when he was worried about his career prospects, so he embellished and fibbed about appreciating Ward's friendship. The complainant maintained the email was not inconsistent with his claims he had been sexually assaulted by Ward, whom he continues to hold in professional esteem. 'I respect Mr Ward immensely. He is an incredible local member and he has done some incredible work as a minister,' the alleged victim said. When asked if he told another political staffer that NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian had chosen a 'rapist' for her cabinet, the complainant said he couldn't recall the conversation but the words were consistent with what he has reported. He said he didn't tell anyone about the alleged sexual assault before 2019 because it was 'incredibly embarrassing' and 'not something I would bring up in conversation.' The jury was told the man was left feeling 'dirty' and 'confused' after the painful assault and he continued to ask himself whether he had invited the unwanted advances. Ward is also accused of indecently assaulting an intoxicated 18-year-old in 2013 at his South Coast home after meeting the man at a networking event a year earlier. The man claims the MP fondled his buttocks and scrotum, and gave him an unwelcome back massage despite his repeated requests to stop. Ward, who was charged over the alleged assaults in 2022, is fighting the allegations in a four-week trial. He has held the Kiama electorate since 2011, winning three elections as a Liberal before securing the 2023 poll as an independent.
Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
Victim's fury as teenagers who almost stabbed footy legend Toutai Kefu to death in savage home invasion have a HUGE win in court
A pair of teenagers who invaded the home of Wallabies legend Toutai Kefu and stabbed him and his wife have had a huge legal win after a court ruled they should not receive more jail time or have convictions recorded against them. In June last year the two teens - who cannot be named for legal reasons - were convicted of storming into Kefu's Brisbane home on August 16, 2021 in an attempt to steal cars. Kefu's wife Rachel disturbed them in the early hours of the morning. She and Toutai were both stabbed, as was their son Joshua and daughter Madison. The Wallabies legend suffered life-threatening injuries and his wife's arm was cut to the bone. The pair were jailed for seven and eight years with no convictions recorded, with Justice Peter Davis ruling the pair had to serve half of those sentences before they could be released. That meant one of the teens would have been eligible to be freed within six months of being convicted. The Queensland attorney-general lost an appeal against the sentences when three judges in the state's Court of Appeal made their ruling on Tuesday. The judges ruled the teens should not have convictions recorded and said the attorney-general had failed to prove the sentences were manifestly inadequate. One teen who only stabbed Mr Kefu served his sentence and is now free, while the other boy is due to be released on August 18. Ben Cannon - a neighbour of the Kefus who was assaulted by the teens when he came to the family's aid - lashed out at the appeal verdict on Tuesday. 'The news in a sad way, it's not unexpected,' he said. 'It seems like the system has more tolerance for injustice than it does for justice and it seems to always favour those who commit the crimes. 'This shows the system needs a total upheaval,' he said. 'We need a system that understands that unless we catch these kids earlier and we steer them in a different direction ... then we will end up with more and more victims.' Rachel Kefu disturbed the intruders at 3.10am, with her screams awakening her husband, who jumped over a banister from the upstairs bedroom to defend his wife. Both teenagers attacked him, but only one was found to have stabbed him in the chest. The knife penetrated 25mm into his liver. The other assailant attacked Rachel, cutting her with a sickle after they offered him their car keys, giving them the opportunity to leave the home. 'We want the keys to the car or we will hurt her,' the teens said at the time of the attack. The couple's son Joshua, who was 21 at the time, also suffered deep cuts to his back and arm, as well as a dislocated shoulder, where their 18-year-old daughter Madison's hand was cut. 'The sickle cut Mrs Kefu literally to the bone, so I mean quite apart from the fact that it looks like a fairly wicked weapon,' Justice Davis said, adding that the inside of the home looked like a 'war zone' with blood 'splashed and smeared' throughout the property. The pair of teens were initially charged with attempted murder but the charges were downgraded following a plea-deal. Both juveniles pleaded guilty to seven charges, including four counts of malicious act with intent, burglary and unlawful use of a motor vehicle. One of the teens pleaded guilty to two further charges, including the assault of Cannon. 'I constantly experience flashbacks of the crime and I am still plagued by the graphic memories of my family fighting for lives, to survive, that night,' Rachel Kefu told the court before the boys were sentenced.
The Independent
an hour ago
- The Independent
Attack at demonstration calling for Israeli hostages' release was first where group faced violence
Demonstrators with Run for Their Lives have staged global events since 2023 calling for Hamas to release Israeli hostages, but organizers say Sunday's walk in Boulder, Colorado, where 12 people were injured in a fiery attack, was the first in which they have faced violence. The group was wrapping their weekly demonstration at a bustling pedestrian mall when a man with a makeshift flamethrower yelled 'Free Palestine' and threw Molotov cocktails into the crowd, authorities said. Little was known immediately about the 12 victims injured in the attack, and none were ready to talk as of Monday, according to police liaisons assigned to them. They range in age from 52 to 88, and their injuries spanned from serious to minor, Boulder Police Chief Steve Redfearn said. The violence in downtown Boulder unfolded against the backdrop of the Israel-Hamas war that continues to inflame global tensions and has contributed to a spike in antisemitism in the United States. A week earlier, a man who also yelled 'Free Palestine' was charged with fatally shooting two Israeli embassy staffers outside a Jewish museum in Washington. U.S. supporters of the Israeli hostages say they're scared but have vowed to keep demonstrating. Attacker wanted to 'kill all Zionist people' The man charged in the Boulder attack told police he planned it for a year and was driven by a desire 'to kill all Zionist people,' a reference to the movement to establish and sustain a Jewish state in Israel. Mohamed Sabry Soliman, whose first name also was spelled Mohammed in some court documents, confessed to trying to kill members of the local Run for Their Lives chapter with Molotov cocktails and told police he would do it again, according to an FBI affidavit. He had posed as a gardener to get close to the group as they waved U.S. and Israeli flags and read out the names of the 58 people believed to still be in captivity in the Gaza Strip. Run for Their Lives is a global grassroots initiative that started in October 2023 after Hamas militants from the Gaza Strip stormed into Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking 250 others hostage. The group's 230 chapters seek to raise awareness of the hostages' plight, with many of the chapters still walking weekly, said Shira Weiss, the global coordinator for Run for Their Lives. 'We're really about humanity and nothing else,' Weiss said. Demonstrators marched for 'life' The Boulder group walks every weekend for 18 minutes, the numerical value of the Hebrew word 'chai,' which means 'life.' Participants include retirees, families with children, Jewish and non-Jewish community members. Rachel Amaru, leader of the Boulder chapter, had spoken to local police the night before the demonstration but was out of town the day of, said fellow organizer Miri Kornfeld in Denver. Amaru had requested extra security following the attack in Washington and, moving forward, will ask for a police escort for the group. Federal and state prosecutors filed separate criminal cases against Soliman, charging him with a hate crime and attempted murder, respectively. He faces additional state charges related to the incendiary devices, and more charges are possible in federal court, where the Justice Department will seek a grand jury indictment. Photos and video from the scene in Boulder, 30 miles (48 kilometers) from Denver, showed a burning woman lying on the ground in a fetal position and a man helping to put out the flames using a jug of water. Witness Alex Osante said he was across the pedestrian mall when he heard the crash of a bottle breaking and a 'boom' followed by people yelling and screaming. Six of the injured people were taken to hospitals, and four have since been released, Kornfeld said. Others may have been treated at the scene, she said. Jewish community grapples with fear during holiday The attack also came at the start of the Jewish holiday of Shavuot, which commemorates God giving the Torah to the Jewish people at Mount Sinai in Egypt. Rabbi Yisroel and Leah Wilhelm, directors of the Rohr Chabad House at the University of Colorado, have asked people to keep victims in their prayers and not let the attack take the joy out of their Shavuot celebrations. 'Run for Their Lives is an organization built on love, and if you ever have the chance to walk with them, you will feel that love to the utmost," said Caleb Loewengart, a student at the University of Colorado Boulder who grew up in the community. Loewengart and his parents have marched with the group in the past but were not in attendance for Sunday's attack. Many of the people who show up weekly to walk along Pearl Street have been present in Loewengart's life since his early childhood. The college student said he's heartbroken for the Jewish community that raised him and grappling with newfound fear as a vocal Israel supporter on the nearby university campus. But that fear, he said, will not stop him from speaking out. Jewish people who are not outspoken about Israel are afraid, too, Kornfeld said. 'This issue isn't something that's just contained to the Middle East. It's not something that is just contained in Israel,' Kornfeld said. 'We're seeing the effects of unchecked antisemitism all around the world. And we must stand up in the strongest way possible. Elected officials and everybody who has a heart needs to stand up against it in all of its forms all around the world.'
