From The Vault: How To Catch A Predator
Child sexual abuse can take shape in many forms, making it a threat that can be especially difficult to spot. But with an understanding of how grooming can occur, families can take the necessary steps to make sure their children are protected.
Emily revisits her conversation with the author of Duck Duck Groom, Anna Sonoda, LCSW to discuss the ways in which grooming can take place, and how to intervene when warning signs are present.
Follow Emily on Instagram: @realemilycompagno
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New York Post
an hour ago
- New York Post
Emmy-winning Detroit TV reporter's home searched by authorities amid sexual harassment probe
The investigator becomes the investigated. Authorities in Detroit searched the home of an Emmy-winning television reporter who co-hosts a podcast with a Los Angeles Rams player's wife following alleged sexual misconduct. 3 Television reporter Hank Winchester's home was searched by authorities following reports of alleged unwanted sexual advances with a man during a massage. hankwinchester/Instagram Hank Winchester, an investigative reporter at the NBC-affiliated WDIV Local 4 station and host of HelpMeHank, is married to Oakland County Circuit Judge Jacob Cunningham, according to Winchester's Instagram. The two also share a young daughter. Beverly Hills Police searched his home alongside the Oakland County Sheriff's Office while executing a search warrant related to alleged unwanted sexual advances Winchester made toward a man during a massage, as reported by Fox 2. Winchester also co-hosts 'The Morning After' podcast with Kelly Stafford, who is married to LA Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford. The show occasionally features high-profile guests employed by media powerhouses like Access Hollywood and ESPN. 3 Winchester hosts HelpMeHank at WDIV Local 4. hankwinchester/Instagram Before joining the Rams, Matthew Stafford played for the Detroit Lions from 2009 to 2020. Winchester has been close with the entire family for years, he wrote in a farewell to the Staffords when they moved to LA in 2021. Winchester was also placed on administrative leave as a result of the 'external investigation,' WDIV Vice President Bob Ellis wrote in a statement. 3 Winchester co-hosts 'The Morning After' podcast Kelly Stafford. hankwinchester/Instagram Todd Flood, Winchester's attorney, is confident the probe will flop. 'Hank has spent decades bringing truth to our community and fighting for our citizens. Because he holds a high-profile position in our community, that can at times generate false accusations. This investigation will end where it began – nowhere,' he wrote. No charges have been filed. The investigation is still ongoing. Winchester isn't the only media figure to find himself facing similar allegations in recent months. In April, a disgraced weatherman in Virginia was arrested after allegedly making a sex tape and using it to extort his victims. Last year, a Louisiana television anchor resigned after he was caught sexting who he thought was a 15-year-old girl but was in reality a vigilante trio dubbed the 'predator hunters.'
New York Post
2 hours ago
- New York Post
Dogs are family, says NY judge in dachshund death case
What was once was man's best friend is now man's closest family — in New York, at least. Dogs are so much more than just possessions, a Brooklyn judge just ruled, in allowing the heartbroken family of an adorable, Tuxedo-wearing dachschund named Duke to sue for emotional distress after the tiny pup was cruelly mowed down by a driver. Nan DeBlase, who was walking her son Trevor DeBlase's pooch on July 4, 2023, is entitled to damages because she was tormented by witnessing the helpless 4-year-old get crushed, Supreme Court Judge Aaron Maslow said. Advertisement 'It is reasonable for a jury to conclude that witnessing Duke being crushed led to emotional distress that goes beyond that which is generally felt by the loss of mere property,' Maslow wrote in his bombshell decision Tuesday. 'This Court fails to see why a beloved companion pet could not be considered 'immediate family' in the context of the zone of danger doctrine under the fact pattern presented by Plaintiffs.' 7 Duke decked out in a sharp tuxedo for Trevor Deblase's April 2023 wedding. Instagram/@trevdeblase Advertisement Nearly exactly two years ago, Nan was walking with Duke in Mill Basin when an out-of-control driver blew through a stop sign, slamming into the leashed wiener dog as Nan jumped out of harm's way. 'It was very traumatic, extremely,' Nan, 66, told The Post Wednesday. 'I mean, I was hysterical when it happened.' Duke's untimely death — just a few months after he walked down the aisle at Trevor's wedding, dressed in a sharp tux — was all captured on video and shows how Nan even patiently waited for an earlier car to drive through before crossing the street. 'A few hours ago a man blew a stop sign, almost hit my mother and hit my poor sweet Duke and killed him,' Deblase wrote on his Instagram page on July 4, 2023. Advertisement 7 Dogs, like Duke the dachshund, can be legally family, according to a Brooklyn judge this week. Instagram/@ 'I can't even believe I am typing these words right now,' the post reads. 'I loved this dog more than life itself and things will never be the same without him.' Challenging an outdated law — and winning The DeBlases sued a month later, challenging an 'antiquated' law which only allowed Trevor to sue driver Mitchell Hill for the market value of his treasured pooch, plus medical costs — roughly $2,000. And the mother-son duo won — mostly — with Maslow granting Nan's claim to emotional distress because she was there and Duke was leashed, but denying it for Trevor as he was not at the scene. Advertisement 7 On July 4, 2023, a driver plowed through a stop sign in Mill Basin and took a sharp left-hand turn, right into Duke, killing him, and narrowly missing Trevor DeBlase's mother, Nan. 'Since Nan DeBlase was tethered to Duke at the time of the accident,' Maslow's decision read, 'it is proper for her to recover damages for emotional distress resulting from witnessing Duke's death and fear for her own safety, all due to Defendant's negligent, indeed reckless, operation of his vehicle.' While the decision greatly expands the legal definition of family tree, the judge made his ruling a 'carveout' that applies to people walking a leashed dog, only to watch a negligent driver crush and kill their beloved dog, and nearly kill them too. 'I took a step to get out of the way of this monster, who not only ran a stop sign, but was making a turn,' Nan recalled. 'If you don't see the stop sign, how do you see people? It was like he was driving with his eyes closed, and yet was able to make a left turn — I can't even understand it.' 7 'I can't even believe I am typing these words right now,' Trevor DeBlase wrote in a social media post about his dog Duke's death. 'I loved this dog more than life itself and things will never be the same without him.' Instagram/@ She called Maslow's ruling 'long overdue' in New York. Dog owners in Tennessee are similarly allowed to sue for up to $5,000 of non-economic damages if a pet is killed or sustains serious injury from another — but the act must occur on the victim's property. 'These things — they should have changed a long time ago — and not just in New York, but in all the states,' she said. While Trevor now has another dachshund — Cooper — Duke's death still affects him and Nan 'horribly.' Advertisement 7 While Trevor now has another dachshund — Cooper — Duke's death still affects him and his mom 'horribly,' she told The Post. Facebook/Trevor DeBlase 'They miss Duke so much,' Nan told The Post. 'They have a little shrine in their house dedicated to him.' 'You can't fill that spot,' Nan said, adding that she also got her own dog, a poodle mix named Cashew, 'but you can try.' How the 'zone of danger' came into play The DeBlase family's argument for negligent emotional distress over Duke's death comes from a legal concept known as 'zone of danger,' which limits such claims to relatives who were in harm's way when their loved one was killed. Advertisement 7 'I took a step to get out of the way of this monster,' Nan DeBlase told The Post, 'who not only ran a stop sign, but was making a turn. It was like he was driving with his eyes closed, and yet was able to make a left turn — I can't even understand it.' Hill and his lawyer, who the judge said 'provided no opposing evidence' in the hearings, did not reply to requests for comment. The judge found him in the wrong on various fronts: he ran the stop sign, didn't use his turn single and did not check before turning at the intersection. In a move that showed Maslow took the dog-human family relationship seriously, he asked for outside groups to file papers in support of DeBlase or Hill — and surprisingly, many big-name animal groups sided with the deadly driver. A ruling in favor of Duke and his family, according to groups like the the New York State Veterinary Medical Society and the American Kennel Club, would create out-of-control liabilities for the pet industry, and raise costs across the board. Advertisement But Maslow's ruling was crafted almost specifically to avoid this 'parade of horrors' argument,' which he called 'overstated.' Maslow wrote 'it stands to reason that companion animals, like Duke, could also be recognized, as a matter of common sense, as immediate family,' citing changing societal norms. 7 Trevor's claim for emotional damages was denied, but his mother's was granted, since she was nearly killed herself and witnessed Duke's death while she was holding his leash. Instagram/@ He added that the ruling would be limited to dogs, because of his 'leashed' stipulation and that 'very few people walk tethered to their cats, rabbits, or other non-dog pets on a leash,' Maslow wrote. Advertisement Other animal rights groups who filed papers supporting Duke's family cheered the ruling, with one group thanking Maslow for his 'wisdom and courage.' 'Animals are not 'things'; they are living, breathing, sentient beings,' Nora Marino from the Legal Action Network for Animals told The Post. 'Courts must realize that and issue decisions accordingly. This decision was an enormous step in the right direction.' 'It serves the interest of justice to recognize that Duke was not a legal 'thing,'' said Christopher Berry from the Nonhuman Rights Project. 'He was a member of the family.' Trevor declined to comment through his attorney. 'Our clients are grateful for the court's decision, which will enable them to obtain justice for their damages,' said the family's attorney, Gregory T. Cerchione. 'Animals are people' cases have been heard in New York before The case will surely face legal review — as 'changing societal norms' Maslow cites have found their way to the state's highest court before. Judge Rowan Wilson is one of two jurists who filed a dissenting opinion with the famous Happy the Elephant case, where the state's top court rejected an effort to sue for human rights claims on behalf of a not-so-happy caged pachyderm at the Bronx Zoo back in 2022. The next year, Wilson was confirmed as chief judge for the state's highest court. For Nan, who will have to testify at the trial to confirm their damages, she sees reminders of the trauma every day. The intersection where Duke was slaughtered is just steps from her home. 'It's so difficult for me,' she says of watching people still plowing through the stop signs. 'Keep your eyes open — stop being distracted,' Nan said. 'You gotta pay attention, it's very sad.'
USA Today
3 hours ago
- USA Today
Los Angeles Dodgers say they denied ICE access to Dodger Stadium parking lots
ICE agents drove to Dodger Stadium's parking entrances in an apparent effort to use the vast lots as a staging area, but did not gain entry to the venerable Los Angeles ballpark, the Dodgers said in a statement Thursday. Shortly after 10 a.m. PDT, a caravan of vans and other vehicles appeared at multiple parking lot entry points, according to social media posts. An overhead view of the caravan, captured by Fox 11 Los Angeles, indicated the presence of Department of Homeland Security officers. In the ensuing hours, a small group of protestors arrived at Gate E, chanting at ICE officers outside the stadium gates. Eventually, Los Angeles Police Department officers arrived. 'This morning, ICE agents came to Dodger Stadium and requested permission to access the parking lots. They were denied entry to the grounds by the organization,' the Dodgers said in a statement. 'Tonight's game will be played as scheduled.' A message with ICE's media relations office was not immediately returned. Expert MLB daily picks: Unique MLB betting insights only at USA TODAY The Dodgers are scheduled to play the San Diego Padres at 7:10 PDT, with a celebrity softball game hosted by All-Star Mookie Betts preceding the game at 5:30. A crowd of more than 50,000 is expected for the game. The apparently unscheduled ICE arrival is the latest twist in a saga pitting President Donald Trump's desire to deport large amounts of undocumented persons against cities aiming to salvage due process for its residents. Los Angeles is one of the cities specifically targeted by Trump, with nearly two weeks of aggressive raids in the Southland, sparking widespread protests and aggressive reaction from both LAPD and Los Angeles County Sheriffs. Dodgers players remained largely mum on the issue, until veteran utilityman Kiké Hernández released a statement on Instagram pledging support for Latinos profiled, arrested and disappeared under ICE. Manager Dave Roberts professed not having enough information to weigh in on the issue, though the franchise came under more scrutiny for its lack of support after R&B singer Nezza sang the national anthem in Spanish at Dodger Stadium, and posted videos and correspondence showing it was against the Dodgers' wishes. That led to a Dodgers spokesperson telling reporters Wednesday that they would announce 'plans for assistance to immigrant communities impacted by the recent events in Los Angeles.' Barely 12 hours later, ICE vehicles showed up at the stadium gates. The Dodgers' fan base is heavily Latino, and in the past week right-wing influencers have entered the fray, with one noting that it would be 'amazing' if ICE agents staged a raid at Dodger Stadium. The USA TODAY app gets you to the heart of the news — fast. Download for award-winning coverage, crosswords, audio storytelling, the eNewspaper and more.
