Latest news with #PleasantHills
Daily Mail
24-05-2025
- Daily Mail
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.
CBS News
15-05-2025
- Politics
- CBS News
Pittsburgh-area health workers reinstated after layoffs
U.S. Rep. Chris Deluzio is one of a group of local lawmakers who continue to fight layoffs of federal employees by the Trump administration. This week, they won one of those rounds when 70 people who were previously laid off were reinstated, specifically respirator certification workers from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health facility in Pleasant Hills. Deluzio, a Democrat who represents Pennsylvania's 17th District, said those employees do important work around respirators that he's been told are not only safe for first responders but also people who work in building trades. "They could live anywhere in our region," Deluzio said. "But their work is public safety work that matters to painters, construction workers, firefighters, on and on. It's important that the administration change course here, that these public safety folks are getting back to work. But we still have mine safety workers there at that facility who are on the chopping block." Those mine safety workers were among the greater sum of about 200 workers who were laid off from the Pleasant Hills facility. Those layoffs were announced on April 1, amid claims from Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. that his department was filled with "duplicative and wasteful offices." Deluzio said he wants the federal government to focus on areas where he believes there is more wasteful spending, citing the Pentagon for markups on equipment and weapon systems, for instance. "To me, it goes to the recklessness and the chaos of this DOGE effort and the administration," he said. "It's not focused on whether a service is needed or not. It just seems to be a pretty aggressive sledgehammer to government programs that are about keeping us safe." Deluzio said he will continue to work with his colleagues in the delegation, like Rep. Summer Lee, who represents the district where the NIOSH facility is located, to get the Trump administration to change its mind on more federal layoffs to eliminate what he says is important, bipartisan public safety work. "I'll keep pushing and making sure folks understand that their work is important, and that it's foolish to cut them," he said. "Public service is honorable, and I think the importance of the work that comes out of so many of these programs is something we need to think about and be clear about, whether we expect these services to be delivered or whether you're willing to cut them. "I think the story hear about what happened with these NIOSH workers is a cautionary one. We've got to be clear about pushing back where cuts are going to hurt things that we expect and demand of our government."
