Child molester kills self before expected guilty plea

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A 40-year-old Springfield man committed suicide in the Alexandria jail just hours before he was expected to plead guilty to filming a 15-year-old girl as he sexually abused her, an Alexandria sheriff’s spokesman said Monday.

Don Douglas, known as “Uncle Donte” to the victim and her several siblings, had convinced the girl to mix sleeping pills into her parents’ drinks so she could sneak out earlier in the evening to see him, according to documents filed in Alexandria’s U.S. District Court.

On Nov. 17 Douglas was ordered to remain in the Alexandria jail without bail because he had already fled from similar charges in Texas, U.S. District Judge Ivan D. Davis wrote in the order.

In the early morning hours of Jan. 12, jail guards conducting a routine check discovered Douglas had hanged himself in a shower, sheriff’s spokesman Harry Covert said. Douglas was pronounced dead at Inova Alexandria Hospital at 3 a.m. Jan. 12. He was expected to appear in court later that day to plead guilty to the charges, court documents said.

child rapist commits suicide

Scottsbluff police have found the body of a Mitchell man who was set to appear in court on child sex assault charges.

Authorities had charged 53-year-old Gerald Dittbenner with dozens of counts, including two counts of forcible rape, two counts of first-degree sexual assault, two pornography counts and two counts of incest.

Investigators have said Dittbenner had repeatedly assaulted the two girls over 10 years, beginning when they were 6 and 9 years old.

Police found Dittbenner’s body in his home Tuesday morning, the same day he was set to enter a plea to the charges. Scotts Bluff County Attorney Derek Weimer says Dittbenner apparently shot himself.

Child porn defendant found dead in his home

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Officers were asked to locate Mark A. Meadows, 44, at Case's Mobile Home Park after he didn't appear for a bond revocation hearing Wednesday in an FBI case, Sparks wrote.

They found Meadows dead in his home, the victim of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Meadows was indicted by a grand jury in March and charged with knowingly receiving, possessing and distributing child pornography.

Convicted child molester jumps off bridge

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A convicted child molester committed suicide this week just one day before his scheduled sentencing hearing in Montgomery County Court."All indications are that this was a self-imposed death sentence," said county First Assistant District Attorney Kevin R. Steele.

Child Molester Gets Three Life Sentences

A 33-year-old man who pleaded guilty to drugging and raping a 10-year-old girl — and videotaping the ordeal — will serve three life sentences in prison, a district court judge ruled Tuesday.

Dusty Shane Snow of Bacliff was in the county jail on misdemeanor charges when his relatives found a video tape among his possessions.

The tape shows Snow forcing a 10-year-old relative to have sex and perform oral sex on him. The tape also shows him touching the girl and taking photos of her.In the video, the girl cries and asks him to let her stop.

The videotape also depicts the girl smoking what investigators said they suspected was methamphetamine.

Snow pleaded guilty to three counts of sexual assault of a child, and 56th District Court Judge Lonnie Cox sentenced him to the life sentences, which is the maximum punishment.

Sex offender ordered to keep warning signs on car and house

Sex offender Leroy Schad of Kansas is under a court order to keep large signs on his car that read, "Sex Offender In This Car." He has a similar sign on his house.
The 72-year-old, who has lived in the town since 1971, was originally charged with four counts of taking indecent liberties with a 9-year-old girl and an 11-year-old boy in 2005.

In March last year, he was allowed to plead guilty to a lesser charge of aggravated indecent solicitation of a child, and the original charges were dismissed.

District Judge Ron Svaty ordered him to position the signs as part of his punishment as well as house arrest and five years probation.