Shelter worker sexually abusing 13-year-old was fired, re-hired, GA lawsuit says
While working at the Rainbow House in Jonesboro, Caleb Xavier Randolph sexually assaulted the teen in 2022, and was later criminally convicted of abuse charges, according to the lawsuit brought by the girl's mother on July 17.
Randolph was fired, then re-hired more than a week later and continued abusing the girl at the shelter affiliated with the Georgia Department of Human Services, a complaint says.
The lawsuit argues the department's Division of Family and Children Services, Clayton County District Attorney Tasha Mosley, Randolph's mother, Mia Kimber, and other local leaders are complicit in a cover-up.
They are accused of working to hide sexual abuse at the Rainbow House, as detailed in a news release by attorneys for the girl's mother, Roger Soroka, of Soroka & Associates, and Bryan Sutlive, of Sutlive Law.
'This case isn't just about one predator, it's about a network of power that enabled him,' Soroka said in a statement.
'The District Attorney knew, Rainbow House leadership knew, the Department of Family & Children Services knew, and many others knew,' Soroka said. 'They didn't just look the other way…'
The girl's mother is suing on 12 causes of action, including negligence and an organized crime claim under Georgia's RICO Act.
Mosley, one of the defendants, refuted the claims brought against her in an email to McClatchy News on July 24.
The lawsuit says Mosley was the Rainbow House's chairperson when Randolph sexually assaulted the 13-year-old and that she 'failed to properly investigate' reports of sexual abuse.
'I do categorically deny all of the allegations listed in the lawsuit,' Mosley said in a statement.
The lawsuit comes more than a year after Randolph, of Macon, pleaded guilty in May 2024 to statutory rape and first-degree sexual contact in connection with another teen in the Rainbow House's care, the Macon Telegraph reported.
Randolph, who was 27 at the time, was sentenced to 17 years in prison, followed by 13 years of probation.
When Clayton County police arrested Randolph in March 2023, they also arrested Kimber and another shelter employee, according to a news release the police department shared on Facebook.
As the Rainbow House's executive director, Kimber and the other employee were accused of failing to report sexual misconduct at the shelter. The employee was later cleared of wrongdoing, according to Soroka and Sutlive.
A criminal case against Kimber is pending, court records show. She is charged with cruelty against children.
In addition to Mosley, Randolph, Kimber, Clayton County, the Division of Children and Family Services are named as defendants in the lawsuit.
A criminal defense attorney who represented Randolph, Kimber's criminal defense attorney, Clayton County and the state Department of Human Services did not return McClatchy News' requests for comment June 24.
The teen is placed in the Rainbow House
According to the lawsuit, in January 2022, the mother, her then-13-year-old daughter and her two other children moved to the Atlanta metro area.
After a few weeks, the mother 'reached out to local ministries for clothing, personal care items, and housing assistance,' as her resources were limited, the complaint says.
A member of New Life Church and Community Center, a non-profit based in Decatur, offered to help and told her to meet her at Lithonia Park in DeKalb County in April 2022, according to the filing.
The organization runs a 'Hotels to Home' program for families experiencing hardship, the complaint says. But Soroka and Sutlive said the program funnels 'vulnerable families into danger.'
New Life Church and Community Center did not immediately respond to McClatchy News' request for comment.
The morning of April 26, 2022, after walking her 13-year-old daughter to school, the mother arrived at the park to meet with the church member, according to the complaint, which says she was under the impression the woman was going to help enroll her in the church's program and find temporary housing.
But she encountered police instead, the complaint says.
'Without her knowledge or consent, (her daughter) was pulled from school by DFCS and placed into state custody,' Soroka and Sutlive's news release said.
The 13-year-old was in DFCS custody in Atlanta for days, while her mother and siblings relocated to a hotel and tried looking for her, according to the lawsuit.
'(She) endured starvation, food poisoning, neglect and unfit living conditions while in the care and custody of DFCS,' the complaint says, and was not allowed to shower for days.
She stayed 'in the same clothes as the day she was removed from school,' the filing continues.
Then she was placed in the Rainbow House in May 2022, the complaint says.
According to Soroka and Sutlive, multiple staff members, in addition to Randolph, assaulted her.
'This little girl was a child in crisis, placed in state care to be protected, but instead, was exploited, hidden away, and ignored,' Sutlive said in a statement.
Alleged RICO enterprise
The lawsuit specifically accuses Kimber, Mosley, Rainbow House and Jeffrey Turner, the former chairman of Clayton County Board of Commissioners who also formerly served as the county's police chief, of racketeering activities, referring to them as RICO defendants.
They 'systematically took active steps to conceal reports of child sexual abuse occurring at the Rainbow House,' the complaint says.
With the lawsuit, the mother of the teen is seeking a jury trial and more than $1 million in general, special and compensatory damages.
'Rainbow House and multiple people in power preyed on the most vulnerable: children with no stable homes, no consistent records, and often no one looking out for them,' Sutlive said. 'These weren't just isolated failures; this was a deliberate targeting of kids who could disappear without anyone asking questions.'
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Chicago Tribune
4 hours ago
- Chicago Tribune
Video of Merrillville woman's arrest by Lake County Sheriff's Department shows excessive force before miscarriage, lawyer says
A Merrillville woman's lawyer said recently released bodycam footage backs up her accusations that Lake County Sheriff's deputies forcibly pulled her from a vehicle during an arrest despite knowing she was pregnant. Three months later, she had a miscarriage. I'm '(expletive) pregnant,' Shikeia Randolph, 31, yells just before two officers pull her from a red Chevrolet Trailblazer, according to video obtained by the Post-Tribune through a public records request. A federal lawsuit accusing the officers of excessive force was filed two months ago in the U.S. District Court in Hammond. It alleges that a 3:24 a.m. traffic stop on June 5, 2023 was 'pretextual' — for an issue with a license plate cover, then a school truancy warrant — and quickly spiraled out of control. The video from an officer's dashboard camera appears to show, as she is arrested, the two officers turn her on her stomach as one pins her down to handcuff her hands behind her back. Randolph previously told the Post-Tribune she had just stopped for milk at a 24-hour gas station in Gary near Ridge Road and Grant Street with her four kids in the vehicle. She was supposed to drop them off at her mother's house, then head to her early shift as a receptionist at the Gary Housing Authority. Officer Peter Hamady, who pulled her over, is named with the sheriff's department in the lawsuit. His lawyer Casey McCloskey declined comment. In a federal filing on Aug. 7, McCloskey formally denied the accusations against Hamady, saying in part that his actions were 'objectively reasonable' and protected by 'qualified immunity.' Some of Randolph's claims could fall outside of a two-year statute of limitations, he wrote. McCloskey argued because Randolph refused to get out of her SUV, she forced cops to go after her, according to court documents. She disputed this, in interviews with the Post-Tribune. On the way to booking, Randolph tells Hamady the truancy case in Merrillville Town Court was for taking her daughter repeatedly to school a little late when she was in pain from just having another baby, according to footage recorded inside Hamady's police car. He appears to soften. 'I didn't know they had warrants for that,' he said in the footage. In an interview, Matthew Custardo, Randolph's lawyer in the federal lawsuit, argued the use of force was unjustified, even if she was arguing with the cops. 'She was confused why she was being pulled over,' he said. 'She's scared. She has every reason to be a little concerned about what's going on. She's standing up for herself, certainly.' According to the nearly 40-minute bodycam video, police officers tell her to call someone to pick up the kids, so they don't have to call child protective services. Originally, Randolph said she thought it might have been a warrant for an old driving while suspended case. 'Call CPS for what?' she responds in the video. 'A warrant for a suspended license?' 'It's not for that,' Hamady tells her in the footage. After she asks again, he says it's for truancy. 'Listen, you have a warrant,' Hamady said in the video. 'You're lucky I don't have you cuffed out of the car right now. You wanna go that route?' In the video, she accuses Hamady of pulling out of a nearby parking lot before she passed him. 'Ma'am, I was behind you,' he responded in the footage. At least three other officers are in view. 'I'm taking you to court,' she the phone, Randolph tells her mother the '(expletive) police' pulled her over as she asked her to get her kids, according to the video. She asks officers to wait until her mother arrives. 'I guess they are going to take me to jail,' she said over the phone in the footage. Randolph said in a previous interview with the Post-Tribune that the encounter appeared to escalate when she rolled up her window slightly to hear what her mom was saying. The arrest happens within about 12 minutes into the footage. As officers open her car door and grab her arm, Randolph's children can be heard crying in the back seat. 'This is your last warning,' one of the officers said in the video. 'We don't want your kids to see this.' 'You already freaked my kids out,' she said. 'Get out of the (expletive) car,' one officer stated in the footage. I'm '(expletive) pregnant,' she yells just before two officers pull her from the vehicle after she tried to cling to the steering wheel in the video. 'Let me go! Get off of me! Please get off of me! Somebody help me!' After she is handcuffed on the ground, a police dog is seen in the background of the dashboard camera footage. Randolph's white shoes are scattered nearby. 'I'm trying to help you out here,' one officer tells her in the video. Randolph was charged with resisting law enforcement two months later. Hamady's account in court documents makes no mention of her pregnancy. During the ride to booking at the Lake County Jail, they talk at length about her decision to have a fifth child, according to footage inside the police car. Her fiancé wanted one last child, she said. When Hamady asks how far along she is on the video, she responds she's nearly 12 weeks pregnant. 'Well, congrats to you,' he said in the video. Hamady stated in the footage that her bond should be $400. It's 'not Friday, so it's a good thing,' he tells her in the video. 'I'll make sure they keep you updated.' He asks if she's comfortable as late-'90s era music plays over the radio, the footage shows, before they chat about where she is planning to get married. Do you 'want the window open back there, or are you good?' he asks in the video. Since police insisted on towing her red Chevrolet Trailblazer, Randolph's mother had to take four kids back in a cramped sedan, a situation that was not likely 'legally safe,' Custardo said. Randolph's lawsuit alleged her arrest suggested a 'broader pattern' in the Lake County Sheriff's Department, including 'inadequate training,' 'insufficient supervision' and a 'failure to implement effective accountability measures,' according to court documents. The Lake County Sheriff's Department refused to answer questions related to the incident, including what kind of de-escalation training its officers receive at various stages in their careers. Hamady joined the department in 2022, according to court filings. Sheriff Oscar Martinez Jr. declined comment through a spokeswoman, who said he could not discuss pending litigation. Watching the video with her mother was 'very emotional,' Randolph said in an Aug. 5 interview, especially hearing her kids crying in the video's background. She refused to let her 12-year-old daughter view it. 'I feel better now that I've seen it,' Randolph said. 'It matches the exact story I've been telling for so long.' There's been some 'expected' backlash online after a pair of articles in local newspapers, Randolph said. She was there trying to protect herself and her Williams, her criminal public defender, said she did remember parts of the case in retrospect, and confirmed she tried to get the bodycam from the Lake County Sheriff's Department 'multiple times' since the case was filed in August 2023. Court filings show one discovery request for the body cam was made as late as October 2024. The only reason not to turn it over was if they 'didn't want me to see something,' she said. Randolph was tired of repeatedly coming to court for a slow-moving case, Williams said. She told her client that she could fight to get the bodycam footage, or take a pretrial diversion to get rid of the case in a year. 'It's common to get slow discovery (evidence) when you're requesting bodycams,' Williams said, adding that some police departments are worse than others, but she's had 'good experience' with the sheriff's department in the past. Randolph's case is scheduled for a pretrial diversion hearing on Aug. 15. However, an automatic court filing on Aug. 11 appears to show there may be a snag. Court filings show Randolph, her fiancé and sister were charged June 26 with resisting law enforcement in Hobart. Hobart Police Cpl. Christopher Sipes wrote that Randolph and her fiancé got his attention around 1:30 a.m. May 25 on Main Street for ignoring a 'pedestrian signal.' , Randolph said they were out that night celebrating her fiancé's birthday. As End Zone let out across the street, a crowd, including the half-dozen in her group, were migrating to the other bar, Randolph said. At least two officers were there, as someone behind them yelled something about the guy handcuffed on the ground getting arrested nearby. The officer thought her fiancé said something, she said. Sipes wrote he and the other officer followed them into Cagney's. 'Bulls jersey, stop right there,' the other officer said to Randolph's fiancé, according to court records. As they got to the bar, Randolph said an officer grabbed her arm from behind. According to court documents, when the officer asked for identification, the couple 'ignored' him and said they 'didn't do anything.' Randolph 'stepped in front' of officers to block them from her fiance. As the cops went to arrest them just inside the bar's entrance, the crowd 'became aggressive,' the officer wrote. During a 'struggle' as she was being handcuffed, Randolph's black strapless top fell down, exposing her breasts, records state. Randolph said in an interview she tried to turn away for some privacy, because there were a 'million people standing around.' Once she stood up, an officer wrote, he pulled her top back up, records state. She denied she got in their way or refused to give her identification card. The officer was bigger than her, and it didn't make sense that she could overpower him. The whole incident was 'very unfortunate,' her lawyer Patrick Young said Aug. 7, adding he's working with prosecutors to resolve the case.
Business Wire
07-08-2025
- Business Wire
Fintiv Files RICO and Trade Secret Misappropriation Suit Against Apple Stemming from Alleged Theft of Mobile Wallet Technology Used to Create Apple Pay
AUSTIN, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Fintiv, Inc., a global leader in patented, digital wallet ecosystems, announced today the filing of a civil lawsuit against Apple, Inc. in the Northern District of Georgia, Atlanta Division, alleging violations of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act, Georgia's RICO Act, The Defend Trade Secrets Act, and Georgia's Trade Secret Act. The lawsuit, filed by Kasowitz LLP, alleges that Apple engaged in a pattern of racketeering activity, including wire fraud and trade secret misappropriation, in furtherance of a scheme to steal Fintiv's proprietary mobile wallet technology and trade secrets that Apple used to create Apple Pay, a service that generates billions in annual revenue and has been a major force in growing Apple's market valuation to more than $3 trillion. As alleged in the complaint, Apple approached CorFire (Fintiv's predecessor) more than a decade ago under the pretense of forming a mobile payment business partnership. Between 2011 and 2012, it is alleged, Apple attended multiple meetings with CorFire representatives and received confidential technical information under non-disclosure agreements (NDAs). The purpose of those meetings was to enter into an agreement in which Apple would license CorFire's mobile wallet technology, for which CorFire would receive licensing fees, according to the complaint. Instead, it is alleged, Apple stole Fintiv's confidential information and later hired away key CorFire employees, before launching Apple Pay in 2014. Fintiv asserts in the court filing that Apple Pay's core features including secure element technology, NFC technology, and trusted service management platform were based on CorFire's innovations. The complaint further alleges that Apple, in order to convert Fintiv's stolen mobile wallet technology and trade secrets into cash, set up a fence by forming an association-in-fact enterprise with leading credit card issuing banks, like JP Morgan Chase and Citibank, and payment processing networks, like Visa and Mastercard, for the purpose of enabling and processing the billions of transactions and trillions in payments that Apple Pay users engage in annually. By utilizing Fintiv's stolen mobile wallet technology and trade secrets in Apple Pay, it is alleged Apple and the other RICO enterprise members earn tens of billions each year servicing the Apple Pay transactions. "The scale of Apple's unlawful conduct has been staggering," the complaint alleges. "By modifying Apple Pay for use on four separate categories of its devices, Apple has repeated and compounded its theft by knowingly utilizing Fintiv's stolen technology in the hundreds of millions of iPhones, iPads, Apple Watches and MacBooks it has sold worldwide," the complaint alleges. As further alleged in the complaint, "Apple Pay is the engine" that drives the RICO Enterprise. "Without the on-going benefit of Fintiv's stolen mobile wallet technology and trade secrets," the ability of Apple "to generate billions utilizing Apple Pay would be severely compromised." The complaint further alleges, "Apple's theft of Fintiv's technology is part of a pattern and practice that Apple has engaged in for years – falsely pretending to partner with companies in order to steal confidential and proprietary information under the guise of a working relationship, and thereafter hiring away key employees, all in order to steal the company's valuable intellectual property and use it to commercialize the business on its own." As examples, the complaint cites "a similar pernicious scheme" to steal trade secrets from Masimo Corp. "which had developed non-invasive technology related to blood oxygen monitoring which Apple believed was key to overcoming performance issues with its Apple watch." Apple, it is alleged, perpetrated a similar scheme against a biotech company named Valencell Inc., where it entered into discussions and negotiations under the guise of seeking to license Valencell's active heart- monitoring technology. Apple's alleged scheme was – as with Fintiv and Masimo – not to partner or license with Valencell, but to steal Valencell's technology and incorporate it into Apple's own products, which Apple then marketed and sold on its own without paying a nickel to Valencell," according to the complaint. Likewise, according to the allegations in the complaint, Apple never licensed Fintiv's trade secret and proprietary mobile wallet technology but has realized tens and tens of billions of dollars in value and revenues from Apple Pay. Marc Kasowitz, Fintiv's lead lawyer, calls Apple's alleged theft of trade secrets from Fintiv and its on-going racketeering, as the complaint alleges, "a colossal case of wrongdoing that is one the most egregious examples of corporate malfeasance I've seen in 45 years of law practice. By this action, Fintiv intends to hold Apple responsible for the full extent of its alleged illegal activities." About Fintiv Fintiv, a global leader of patented, white labeled Web2 to Web3 digital solutions for merchant payments, cross border and digital asset tokenization having deployed over 100 ecosystems in more than 35 countries. Fintiv has built one of the most significant and relevant patent portfolios globally and is now managing over 150 patents. Learn more at
New York Post
03-08-2025
- New York Post
Hero cyclist, 28, killed shielding mom and children from knife-wielding madman at California train station
A beloved cyclist was allegedly stabbed to death by a knife-wielding madman after heroically stepping in to protect a mother and her children who were being harassed at a California train station. Colden Kimber, 28, was waiting at a Muni stop in San Francisco with his girlfriend on July 26 when a ranting lunatic approached a terrified family and hurled unhinged threats that prompted the 6-foot-4 New York native to courageously intervene, according to court documents obtained by KGO. 'Oh, you think you are better than me,' alleged assailant Sean Collins, 29, screamed at the mother and her two children at the Ingleside transit hub, adding, 'You are scared of me.' 5 Colden Kimber, 28, was killed on July 26 when a knife-wielding madman allegedly stabbed him in the neck. Gofundme Kimber, heading home from a lunch date, positioned himself between the frightened family and Collins when the frenzied attacker plunged a six-inch blade into the unsuspecting man's neck as he glanced toward an approaching train, court documents said. The San Francisco State University student and avid cyclist stopped moving after the 'completely and utterly unprovoked attack' as blood gushed out of his neck, officials said. 5 Police said the knifing happened at a Muni stop in Ingleside. ABC7 The Dryden native was taken to San Francisco General Hospital, where he died following surgery, according to a GoFundMe launched by his heartbroken mother. 'There is no making sense of this and no words to convey the devastation we are feeling,' his mom, Lara Litchfield-Kimber, wrote in the fundraiser, which has since amassed over $91,000. 'He had this protective thing about him,' the grief-stricken mom told WSYR, noting her son was endearingly nicknamed a 'country moose.' 5 Police said the deadly incident was captured on surveillance camera. ABC7/Pakwan Restaurant A blood-stained Collins was arrested and charged with murder after being found just blocks from the deadly scene, where the horrific knifing was captured on surveillance cameras, according to local reports. Kimber was studying kinesiology, the science of human movement, and working at American Cyclery, where he had spent the past three years repairing and building bikes, when he was ruthlessly killed. 'I'm going to miss him for his good nature and his kind spirit, and he really lived such an exemplary life,' Bradley Woehl, owner of American Cyclery, told KGO. 5 Clothing and a shoe were left behind at the San Francisco stop where Kimber stepped in to help a terrified family. ABC7 'He was a very positive influence on myself and my staff. He is totally irreplaceable as a worker, and totally irreplaceable as a friend and person and someone who had a good influence on my life.' Kimber's love for cycling began when he took his mother's place in the New York Triathlon after she was forced to withdraw while battling breast cancer, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. 'He had never ridden a bike on a road,' Litchfield-Kimber told the outlet. 5 Kimber, a student at San Francisco State University, was an avid cyclist. Gofundme 'The bikes were the things that stuck. People would say, 'I had a Colden sighting,' because it wasn't that rare because he was always on his bike.' A memorial bike ride has since been scheduled in Kimber's honor on Sept. 7. Collins is due back in court for his arraignment on Aug. 14.
