Latest news with #SummerStephan
Daily Mail
2 days ago
- Daily Mail
Female babysitter asked to care for disabled children because her pedophile boyfriend liked sexually abusing them
A babysitter who wanted to gain access to young special needs children so that her pedophile boyfriend could abuse them has been sentenced to 100 years in prison. Brittney Lyon, 31, procured at least four young girls, two aged three and two aged seven, for her partner Samuel Cabrera, 31, to molest while she participated in 2016. San Diego County District Attorney Summer Stephan released a statement about the horrific case on Thursday, saying Lyon had been sentenced to 100 years or life in jail. Stephan said that two of the girls had an autism diagnosis, and one was non-verbal. She slammed Lyon's abuse as 'despicable' and 'ruthless'. Lyon, of San Marcos, California, pleaded guilty in May to two felony counts of lewd act upon a child and two counts of forcible lewd act upon a child. She also admitted to several counts of kidnapping, residential burglary and sexually assaulting multiple victims. Meanwhile, her pedophile boyfriend Cabrera was previously convicted by a jury in 2019 and sentenced to eight life terms without parole in 2021. Officials became aware of the abuse one of the seven-year-old girls told her mother in 2016 that she no longer wanted to go anywhere with Lyon, who was a family friend. Police investigated Lyon and Cabrera, and found a double-locked box in his car containing six computer hard drives containing hundreds of videos of the abuse. They showed the couple sexually abusing the children and even drugging them, while 'using extreme cruelty and brutality', according to the attorney's office. 'In addition to the videos of the young victims, there were dozens of videos that Lyon had taken surreptitiously of women and girls in changing rooms at clothing stores, bathrooms and locker rooms at various North County businesses,' Stephan said. After the first child came forward, police tracked down parents who had hired Lyon, who had posted her babysitting services online. The other three victims had responded to Lyon's ad saying she wanted to work with special needs children specifically. Police also seized phones belonging to Lyon and Cabrera, and found messages showing them regularly coordinating access to the children at their houses. 'Today's just sentence ends a despicable chapter that has destroyed innocence and devastated families in San Diego County,' DA Stephan said on Thursday. 'This defendant was ruthless in posing as a trustworthy babysitter and recruiting autistic children, only to commit the most atrocious acts upon them.' Though Stephan sentenced Lyon to 100 years in jail, under current laws she will be eligible for parole at age 50, meaning she will only have served 28 years. Stephan is pushing legislation to exclude convicted sex offenders from the elderly parole laws under the proposed Senate Bill 286. The bill was tabled by State Senator Brian Jones, but it is currently in the suspense file of the Senate Appropriations Committee meaning it won't be debated for a while. Jones has cited Lyon's case to argue for his proposed legislation to be expedited. 'After the horrific sexual crimes Brittney Lyon committed against children, District Attorney Summer Stephan did her job in securing a just sentence of 100 years-to-life,' he said. 'Now, it's time for the state to do its job and honor that sentence for the sake of the victims. 'Shamefully, a loophole in California law could allow Lyon to walk free after serving less than a third of her sentence. 'Senate Bill 286 would close that loophole and ensure violent child rapists serve their full sentences. 'I'm calling on my Democrat colleagues to stop protecting predators, move this important bill forward, and deliver justice for victims.'
Yahoo
10-06-2025
- Yahoo
New app helps connect unhoused people to shelters in San Diego County
(FOX 5/KUSI) — Service providers in San Diego County who help connect unhoused people with emergency shelters now have a new tool to help their work. The county district attorney announced the county-wide expansion of Shelter Ready, a mobile phone app that displays what shelters have space in real-time and can take a person's needs into consideration. 'With Shelter Ready, we are equipping our partners with a powerful tool to reduce time-consuming barriers and provide life-changing assistance to people in crisis,' DA Summer Stephan said in a news release. The app has been used in northern San Diego County for several months in a pilot phase, and is reportedly modeled on technology that has been used to help victims of domestic violence and human trafficking find shelter space quickly. San Diego City Council approves trash fee The app is intended to be used by service providers, not the public, and providers can input details about the person so they receive a proper space, such as a ground-floor shelter for someone who uses a wheelchair, or a space that accepts pets. Tamera Kohler, the CEO of the Regional Task Force on Homelessness, said, 'It's incredibly timely to have an app to help connect people to services they need, including finding a shelter bed. This has been a real challenge, but that's a little easier now thanks to this innovative technology…' In San Diego County's last point-in-time count of the unhoused population, 9,905 individuals were reported to be experiencing homelessness, with more than 5,700 of them not having a shelter, the DA's office said. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
22-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
California legislators, law enforcement, and advocates support new Assembly bill punishing people purchasing sex from minors
( — California legislators, law enforcement, and advocates gathered on Monday in support of CA Assembly Bill 379. Those who spoke said they've made progress in targeting sex traffickers themselves, but not enough action has yet been taken to punish those who purchase sex from minors being trafficked. Officials who spoke believe this bill can help change that. San Diego District Attorney Summer Stephan said she's seen rows of cars lined up to solicit sex from minors as if buyers were in line at a fast-food drive-through, placing an order. 'It is a terrible reality that while President Lincoln thought that he had ended slavery, that today in America we have human trafficking, modern-day slavery, as the second largest criminal industry in our nation,' the DA said. Under current California law, it's a misdemeanor to solicit or offer sexual services. This bill would make it a felony to purchase sexual services from anyone under the age of 18. Current California law only makes it a felony to purchase sex for a child 15 and under. Local law enforcement expressed frustration with the status quo. 'We could be arresting someone in the same parking lot, and another buyer pulls up to buy somebody else because they're so oblivious to it, they don't care,' Sacramento County Sheriff and former Assembly Member Jim Cooper told reporters. 'Why are we protecting them? They're abusing young girls, it makes zero sense.' The bill would offer a diversion program and establish a survivor fund to support victims. Sacramento Democratic Assembly Member Maggy Krell authored the bipartisan bill. 'It helps support those girls, helps them rebuild their lives while penalizing the sleazy men who are buying them in terms of setting up this fund that would come directly from those buyers, it would be a $1,000 fine,' Krell said. Marjorie Saylor was a victim of sex and labor trafficking for 17 years, beginning at age 15. She now works as an advocate for victims and says this bill could be a game-changer. Targeting buyers, she said, is a crucial step in the right direction. 'In the first incident where I nearly lost my life, before he beat me, he said you're just a prostitute, nobody's gonna care, I can do whatever I want to you,' Saylor told FOX40. 'And he was right.' California also has the fifth-highest number of missing and murdered Indigenous people in the country. Regina Cuellar is the chairwoman of the Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians and spoke alongside California legislators in support of the bill. 'Native Americans account for 40% of trafficking victims despite comprising only three percent of the U.S. population, these statistics are unacceptable,' Cuellar said. 'Assembly Bill 379 marks an important step in confronting those who prey on Indigenous children and all at-risk youth.' Those in attendance agreed that the time for change is now. 'This bill needs to be remembered as California declaring for the first time that our children are not for sale,' San Diego DA Stephan continued. 'I am amazed that this is even up for debate, aren't you?' The Public Safety Committee will vote on the Assembly Bill next week. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
