Colorado ski coach suspended after arrest, accused of sexual assault on 9-year-old boy
According to the attorneys for the victim and the family, the child was on a ski team trip organized by Hedges, 48, in Taos, New Mexico when the alleged incident occurred. The victim lives in Summit County, according to the attorney's office. Hedges is from Frisco, according to authorities.
The Taos County Sheriff confirms that deputies responded to the area of the Taos Ski Valley regarding an assault on March 22 and that Hedges was identified as the suspect. Hedges was the coach "on a training trip with a group of ski students from Colorado" skiing at the Taos Ski Valley, according to investigators.
Hedges was arrested by Taos County Sheriff's deputies and charged with criminal sexual penetration of a minor and criminal sexual contact. He was booked into the Taos County Adult Detention Center without incident, according to the sheriff.
"We're deeply concerned there may be additional victims. These kinds of crimes are often committed by repeat offenders, and for years, Jared Hedges was responsible for travel logistics and controlling sleeping arrangements for young children," said Jason Jordan, attorney for the victim and family, in a statement. "We fear there are other children who may be too scared to come forward, and we want them to know that they are not alone and that it's important that they speak up. We're strongly urging state and federal law enforcement to open a full investigation into the matter, and we're hopeful our partners in the media will help amplify this call so that other victims and their families feel safe coming forward."
Hedges was certified as a coach by U.S. Ski & Snowboard. U.S. SafeSport is also responsible for investigating sexual abuse cases involving US Olympic athletes.
According to the attorneys for the victim and the family, "Team Summit is widely considered one of the premier ski clubs feeding skiers into U.S. Ski & Snowboard."
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
San Francisco Chronicle
2 hours ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
Lawsuit against Lyft alleges driver failed to intervene before ax murder
A lawsuit against Lyft is moving forward in federal court based on allegations that a driver for the San Francisco-based rideshare company brought an ax-wielding killer to the scene of the crime, according to court records. U.S. District Judge Victor Bolden denied a motion by Lyft to dismiss the lawsuit, which claims the company is liable for negligence and wrongful death in connection with a 2022 killing in Milford, Conn., court records show. According to the complaint, Ewen Dewitt took a Lyft ride in December 2022 to the home of his ex-girlfriend, 39-year-old Julie Minogue, where he broke into her house and killed her with an ax in front of two of her children. Dewitt carried the large ax in plain view during the ride, but the Lyft driver failed to call the police, notify someone or 'do anything to prevent this imminent attack' despite the 'bizarre behavior,' according to the complaint. The driver also allegedly stopped during the ride to allow his passenger to buy liquor and 'other supplies needed to carry out his heinous crime.' The lawsuit against Lyft was brought by Minogue's family, including her three children. In a February motion to dismiss the lawsuit, Lyft said Minogue was 'undoubtedly the victim of a heinous crime,' but the company 'simply lacked any legal duty to her,' court records show. Minogue was not a Lyft passenger and the attack occurred after the ride concluded, the company said. But in a ruling issued Friday, the federal judge disagreed with the company's arguments. 'It is true that Lyft would likely have no duty of care and thus could not be negligent if a Lyft driver drove past a crime taking place and did not intervene, or even if a passenger displaying no unusual behavior happened to commit a crime after being dropped off,' Bolden wrote in the order. 'But the circumstances in this case are different.' Bolden said the plaintiffs 'have presented sufficient factual allegations to plead that Lyft owed a duty of care, at least at this time.' In criminal court, Dewitt was sentenced to 40 years in prison in May after pleading guilty to murder. Another negligence lawsuit is pending against Milford police in connection with the murder. CT Insider, a local news outlet, reported that Minogue had reached out to police weeks before her death to complain of hundreds of harassing text messages from Dewitt, but an officer failed to follow up with an arrest warrant.
Los Angeles Times
3 hours ago
- Los Angeles Times
Fox News hosts were determined to help Trump stay in office after 2020 election, legal filing says
The 2020 presidential election is history, but a legal dispute over Fox News' reporting on President Trump's false claims of voter fraud is heating up. A motion for summary judgment by voting equipment company Smartmatic filed Tuesday in New York Supreme Court laid out in detail how phony allegations that it manipulated votes to swing the election to Joe Biden were amplified on Fox News. The motion also described how the Fox News Media hosts who are defendants in the suit — the late Lou Dobbs, Jeanine Pirro and Maria Bartiromo of Fox Business — were allegedly committed to helping Trump prove his fraud theories so he could remain in office. 'I work so hard for the President and the party,' Pirro wrote in a text to Ronna McDaniel, then chair of the Republican National Committee. Pirro left Fox News in May to become U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia. Smartmatic is suing Fox News for $2.7 billion in damages, claiming that the network's airing of the false statements hurt the London-based company's ability to expand its business in the U.S. Fox News settled a similar suit from Dominion Voting Systems for $787.5 million in 2023. The motion alleged that on-air hosts repeated the fraud claims even though executives and producers were told they were false. The Fox News research department, known as the 'Brainroom,' allegedly informed network producers that Smartmatic's role in the 2020 election was limited to Los Angeles County and that the company's software was not used in Dominion voting machines, another false claim made on the air. Fox News maintains the network's reporting on President Trump's false claims were newsworthy and protected by the 1st Amendment. But part of the company's legal strategy has been focused on minimizing the damage claims. Fox News has asserted that any problems Smartmatic has experienced in attracting new business are rooted not in its reporting but in the federal investigation into the company's activities with overseas governments. Last year, Smartmatic's founder, Roger Alejandro Piñate Martinez, and two other company officials were indicted by the U.S. attorney's office and charged with bribing Philippine officials in order to get voting machine contracts in the country in 2016. While the Trump camp's assertions that the election was fixed were not believed throughout Fox News and parent company Fox Corp., the conservative-leaning network gave continued to give them oxygen to keep its audience tuned in, the motion alleged. The motion described a 'pivot' that occurred on Nov. 8, 2020, when then-Fox News Executive Chairman Rupert Murdoch and his son Lachlan asked Fox News Media Chief Executive Suzanne Scott to address the decline in the network's ratings after Biden was declared the winner of the election. The network also looked at research to evaluate why viewers were leaving. 'The conclusion reached based on performance analytics: give the audience more election fraud,' the court document stated. Such thinking, the filing said, permeated the company, already in a panic over losing viewers to right-leaning network Newsmax. The upstart outlet saw a ratings surge after Biden's win due to its unwavering support of Trump's claims. 'Think about how incredible our ratings would be if Fox went ALL in on STOP THE STEAL,' Fox News host Jesse Watters said in a text to his colleague Greg Gutfeld. Throughout November and December 2020, the three hosts named in the suit, Dobbs, Pirro and Bartiromo, repeatedly featured Trump's attorneys Rudolph Giuliani and Sidney Powell as guests. They spread the falsehoods that Smartmatic software was used in Dominion voting machines and altered millions of votes. Smartmatic's work in Los Angeles during the 2020 election was meant to be an entry point for the company to expand its domestic business. The company's defamation suit claims that Fox News obliterated those efforts by presenting the false fraud claims. But Fox News believes that issues with Smartmatic's $282-million contract with Los Angeles County could help advance its case. On Aug. 1, federal prosecutors filing a legal brief alleging that taxpayer funds from the county went into a slush fund held by a shell company to help pay for its illegal activities. Federal prosecutors handling the case involving Smartmatic's business in the Philippines said they plan to detail similar alleged schemes out of L.A. County and Venezuela to show that the bribery fits a larger pattern. Fox News attorneys have filed a brief asking for county records that they believe will help bolster their case. The network is also expected to try to get the Smartmatic indictments in front of the court to raise doubts about the company's reputation. A Smartmatic representative said Fox News' records request is a diversion tactic. 'Fox lies and when caught they lie again to distract,' a Smartmatic representative said in a statement. 'Fox's latest filing is just another attempt to divert attention from its long-standing campaign of falsehoods and defamation against Smartmatic.' The company added that it abided with the law in Los Angeles County and 'every jurisdiction where we operate.' Smartmatic's Tuesday court filing also included information that contradicted public statements Fox News made at the time. The document alleged that Fox News fired political analyst Chris Stirewalt and longtime Washington bureau executives Bill Sammon for their involvement in calling the state of Arizona for Biden on election night. The early call of the close result in the state upset the Trump camp and alienated his supporters. At the time, Fox News said Stirewalt departed as part of a reorganization and Sammon retired. But the motion said Rupert Murdoch himself signed off on the decision to sever Stirewalt and Sammon from the company in an effort to assuage angry viewers who defected. The motion cited a communication from Dana Perino, co-host of Fox News show 'The Five,' describing a phone call with Stirewalt after his dismissal. 'I explained to him — you were right, you didn't cave, and you got fired for doing the right thing,' Perino said. Both Sammon and Stirewalt now work in the Washington bureau of NewsNation, the cable news network owned by Nexstar Media Group.
CBS News
5 hours ago
- CBS News
Wyoming man accused of making violent threats against Denver Anti-Defamation League office
A Wyoming man is facing charges in connection with several violent, antisemitic threats made against the Anti-Defamation League office in Denver and another against an office in Texas. According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Casper resident Derek Allen Fulfer called the ADL Mountain States Region office three times on March 5 and left voicemails full of racial slurs threatening violence against Jewish people. According to transcripts provided in court documents, Fulfer also demanded to be put on a supposed "ban list" for anti-semitic people, denied the holocaust and claimed that Hitler is coming back and will destroy the Jewish people. Investigators confirmed the number belonged to Fulfer, and FBI agents interviewed him outside his home on Aug. 7. Officials said Fulfer claimed not to know what the ADL was and denied making the calls. He reportedly told the agents he believed a Jewish person called the FBI on him. Authorities said that he claimed someone was "trolling" him by using his voice and his opinions and calling the ADL. Fulfer also reported that the phone number used was no longer his, and he has a new number. Agents later interviewed Fulfer's father, who told them his son expressed similar sentiments to him when he was angry, and the voice in the messages sounded like his son's. Later that day, Fulfer contacted the FBI and asked to speak with the interviewing agents. Fulfer reportedly told them that he spoke to his father and admitted to leaving the threatening voicemails. According to the FBI, Fulfer admitted that he knew what the ADL is, that he was aware the group supports Jewish people and combats hate. He reportedly told agents that it was him speaking in the voicemails, and he made the calls while in Cheyenne for work. Fulfer claimed that he did not take further action after those calls and that he didn't think any victims would be affected. He allegedly told the agents he believed someone could only be a victim if a specific person was targeted. He's facing charges of making interstate threats, which carries a sentence of 0-5 years imprisonment and up to a $250,000 fine.
