MEGA-THREAD: High-profile controversies, or accused in CP/CSA/AMSC investigations

[Batmanthecute]

That's such bullshit. If he was a child trafficker then fuck him but if the girl truly wanted to it with him then do you man. Most of all he should be able to do whatever he wants as far as having a thriving career in the film industry. We all have pay taxes some how and if the law says he's good then the world should as well.

[MoleMan]

This is the 'controversial' Vanity Fair article for those of you wondering what's going on: https://archive.ph/5Xqm5

Original article: https://www.vanityfair.com/style/story/ ... -exclusive

Thanks for the share.

[Artaxerxes II]

https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-out ... ng-n822461

Ralph Shortey, a former Oklahoma state senator who last year served as Donald Trump's campaign chair in the state, was meticulous about keeping up his reputation as a pious man, according to several fellow Oklahomans. That reputation, however, has all but disappeared. According to Shortey's attorney, the former Republican lawmaker will plead guilty to one count of child sex trafficking on Nov. 30.

Shortey, a 35-year-old married father of three, resigned from the state Legislature in March after being charged with several felonies, including engaging in child prostitution, after police found him in a hotel room with a 17-year-old male. Shortey's attorney, Ed Blau, confirmed that his client will plead guilty to a charge of child sex trafficking in exchange for U.S. prosecutors' dropping three child pornography charges against him.

"Mr. Shortey feels this is a necessary step in putting this painful and humiliating ordeal behind him, for both himself, his family and for the state of Oklahoma," Blau told local news site NewsOK on Friday.
Blau did not respond to NBC News' requests for comment.
While the age of consent in Oklahoma is 16, child prostitution statutes apply to anyone under 18. Shortey faces a minimum of 10 years in prison on the child sex trafficking charge.

According to court documents, Shortey and the unnamed teen, referred to as John Doe, connected on Craigslist in or around February 2016. From then until March, the documents state, Shortey "obtained at least one image of John Doe's penis." Then, on or around March 8, the teen messaged Shortey saying, I need money for spring break." The then-lawmaker asked if the teen would be interested in "sexual stuff."
Following a tip from John Doe's father, police went looking for the teen at a Super 8 Motel in Moore, Oklahoma, on March 9, at a room rented with Shortey's driver's license and credit card. When officers knocked, Shortey told them he and the teen were getting dressed.

"When Shortey opened the door, Doe left the room with his backpack, which contained a bottle of lotion," the police report stated. "Inside the room, Moore Police offers found Shortey's backpack. Shortey's backpack contained an open box of condoms and a laptop computer."
The report also stated Shortey was in possession of child pornography that "depicts a man engaging in sexually explicit conduct with a prepubescent girl."

For LGBTQ advocates in the heartland, Shortey's fall from grace exposed the "family values" politician as a hypocrite. Troy Stevenson, executive director of the LGBTQ organization Freedom Oklahoma, said he knew Shortey as a person who cared a great deal about maintaining his image as a good Christian lawmaker.
Stevenson described one encounter with Shortey ahead of a vote on an anti-transgender "bathroom bill" in which the lawmaker allegedly told Stevenson that while he couldn't vote against the measure because it would inflame his Christian base, he would abstain.
"Then, not 12 hours later, he sits in the committee and voted in the bill," Stevenson lamented.
This was not the first time Shortey voted against the state's LGBTQ community because of his Christian beliefs. He routinely voted with his Republican colleagues on bills targeting gay and transgender people, including a measure passed earlier this year that would allow business owners to discriminate against gay people.

Shortey is not the only social conservative who has taken a recent fall from grace either. Wesley Goodman, a Republican and first-term state representative in Ohio, resigned on Nov. 14 because of "inappropriate behavior." Several local news outlets, including The Cleveland Plain Dealer and The Columbus Dispatch, reported Goodman — a vocal proponent of "natural marriage" — was caught engaging in sexual activity with a male visitor in his legislative office. The New York Times and The Washington Post also reported on Goodman's alleged inappropriate behavior with young men.
"I've seen it in both parties, but there are these ultra right-wing politicians trying to prove their piety and running on issues of moral superiority while having behind-the-scenes lives," Stevenson said. "They don't think anyone is going to catch them."

Stevenson said he does not believe Shortey's sexual orientation is worth delving into.
"We've made it very clear that this isn’t about him being gay. It’s about him being a child predator and a sex trafficker and a hypocrite," Stevenson said. "He was also caught with child pornography of both males and females of a much younger age. He's an equal opportunity predator."

[Artaxerxes II]

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/articl ... -ring.html

Ruben Verastigui, 27, was charged with distributing child pornography, according to a release from the Metropolitan Police Department. According to his LinkedIn, Verastigui worked for the Senate Republican Conference from March 2019 until July 2020. By then, the investigation into Verastigui was in full swing. The Texas native had most recently been working at non-profit Citizens for Responsible Energy Solutions. He was no longer working there as of Saturday

A former digital strategist who helped design social media ads for Donald Trump's reelection campaign was arrested Friday for his alleged role in a child-porn distribution ring.
Ruben Verastigui, 27, was charged with distributing child pornography, according to a release from the Metropolitan Police Department.
'Between March 2020 and February 2021, an investigation revealed the suspect distributed, received and possessed images of child pornography,' the release states.

According to his LinkedIn, Verastigui worked for the Senate Republican Conference from March 2019 until July 2020. By then, the investigation into Verastigui had been in full swing.

The Texas native had most recently been working at non-profit Citizens for Responsible Energy Solutions. He was no longer working there as of Saturday, the Daily Beast reports.
'The details of the allegations against Mr. Verastigui are tragic and shocking,' a spokesperson for the non-profit told the Daily Beast. 'He is no longer employed by the organization and we are prepared to fully cooperate with law enforcement requests in this matter to any extent needed.'
Special agents with Homeland Security began looking to Verastigui while investigating a group of at least 18 people who they say were trading child porn, according to court documents.

The website name was not released 'to protect the integrity of the ongoing investigation.'
Investigators say that Verastigui allegedly went by the username 'Landon' in the group chat and used the handle @somethingtaken.
In one instance of communication, Verastigui is said to have told another user that 'babies' were his 'absolute favorite.'

He also allegedly sent additional messages about wanting to look at 'hardcore' videos, responding 'F**K YES!!!' to a video he was sent of an adult sexually penetrating a child.
Photos on Verastigui's social media show him all over the White House and the Capitol last year. Following the attack on the Capitol January 6, Verastigui posted a photo of the Capitol building.
'America will prevail,' he said in the post.

[Artaxerxes II]

https://lawandcrime.com/high-profile/mu ... y-charges/

Another of former special counsel Robert Mueller‘s key witnesses has pleaded guilty to criminal charges–but this time, the charges aren’t directly related to the Mueller probe at all. On Monday, George Nader pleaded guilty to child sex trafficking and possession of child pornography in a federal courtroom in Alexandria, Virginia.

Nader is believed to have orchestrated a 2016 meeting between former national security advisor Michael Flynn, presidential son-in-law Jared Kushner, then-strategist Steven Bannon and United Arab Emirates (“UAE”) Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed.
A high-profile hanger-on and Trump ally, Nader is additionally believed to have organized a controversial 2017 meeting in the Seychelles during which mercenary Erik Prince and others–including Kirill Dmitriev, chief executive of the Russian Direct Investment Fund–met with bin Zayed. Nader also offered his services to Donald Trump Jr. at an infamous Trump Tower meeting in 2016.

Nader’s myriad connections to Trumpworld–and the various allegations of international impropriety–are what initially put him in Mueller’s sights as an important witness in January 2018.
Served a grand jury subpoena, Nader was explicitly questioned as to whether the UAE had improperly tried to influence members of President Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign. In return for his testimony in Mueller’s foreign interference investigation, he was given immunity from prosecution for any potential charges related to those issues.

Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents followed up on the lead and gained access to Nader’s cell phones. Once those devices were in the FBI’s possession, child pornography was apparently discovered—depicting children as young as three years of age. Nader was arrested on charges related to those files in June 2019 and accused of “transporting visual depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct.”
Nader was slapped with additional charges–including the sex trafficking allegation–in July 2019. In that second indictment, Nader was accused of flying a 14-year-old boy from Europe to the United States for sexual abuse. His defense team later fought an unsuccessful effort to have those charges dismissed based on the statute of limitations. A federal judge ruled against him in November 2019 and allowed the prosecution to proceed.

The statute of limitations surrounding that incident actually had already tolled—but were eliminated in 2006 and retroactively applied to Nader’s behavior. Judge Leonie M. Brinkema reasoned that the government’s prosecution was “timely” and therefore the retroactivity statute could apply.
A small kerfuffle occurred in March 2018–immediately prior to Nader’s arrest. British tabloid the Daily Mail and the Washington Post‘s Beirut Bureau Chief Liz Sly claimed that Nader had jumped bail–or attempted to jump bail–after receiving immunity from Mueller.

“George Nader, who was cooperating with the Mueller investigation, has fled to the UAE after UAE officials ‘pulled strings; with the Trump administration, the Daily Mail reports,” Sly tweeted. Nader’s attorney, however, vehemently denied the accusation.
Kathryn Ruemmler, a former Obama White House counsel who serves as one of Nader’s attorneys, told MSNBC‘s Rachel Maddow that the Daily Mail report was “totally and unequivocally false” but also confirmed that Nader traveled “back and forth between the United States and the UAE regularly”–confusion over which apparently led the press to character such travels as an escape attempt.
But apparently Nader did have reason to flee.

Earlier that year, The Atlantic reported on his prior sex crimes charges and convictions. One such set of charges–which did not result in a conviction–was filed in 1985. In 1991, however, Nader was convicted of transporting child pornography and given a six-month sentence. Records in that case were sealed due to his status as something of a Republican Party foreign policy wunderkind.
But neither his attachment to the institutional GOP’s foreign policy elite or his overtures to the Trump administration seem to have worked to his benefit now.

According to the Washington Post, Nader pleaded guilty and faces up to 10 years in prison. While the statutory maximum for his conduct is 30 years, in exchange for his plea, federal prosecutors agreed to request the statutory minimum sentence. His sentencing hearing is scheduled for April 10.

[Artaxerxes II]

https://lawandcrime.com/crime/trump-cam ... afficking/

One of President Donald Trump‘s Kentucky campaign chairs pleaded guilty to multiple counts of human trafficking–including child trafficking–last Friday.
Tim Nolan, the campaign chair for Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign in Campbell County, Kentucky now faces up to 20 years in prison on those various felony charges.

Court documents note that, on numerous occasions, Nolan forced women and children into commercial sex work “for months” and “sometimes years.” A victim’s statement against Nolan accused him of preying on poverty-stricken women and girls and making them his “sex slaves.”
A former judge, Nolan was arrested last April and later indicted on 28 felony counts as well as two misdemeanor charges. Per the terms of a plea agreement, Nolan copped to 21 of the 30 total charges against him and will receive lighter sentencing. In sum, Nolan’s admitted crimes affected at least 19 different victims dating back to 2004. Some of those victims were children under the age of consent.

Judge Kathleen Lape has not yet unsealed all of the documents in Nolan’s case, however, she did summarize some of the allegations against the former judge.
Notably, Nolan forced at least one woman to perform sexual acts on him in order to avoid being evicted. Additionally, Nolan threatened multiple other victims with arrest unless they had sex with him. And, he also exchanged heroin and painkillers for sex with others.
Nolan is a well-known political figure in Campbell County, Kentucky where he frequently opines upon hot-button political issues and controversies. He served as a district judge during the 1970s and 1980s. Nolan later joined the Tea Party movement and was elected to the Campbell County School Board in 2016 after spiritedly campaigning for Trump and serving as Trump’s campaign chair there.
Nolan’s attorney, Margo Grubbs, issued a statement redolent of Roy Moore’s defenders which asserted that what Nolan did would have been accepted by previous generations of Americans. She said,

He took full personal responsibility for these acts that in his potential day and generation would not necessarily be considered to rise to the level of human trafficking.

Grubbs’ interesting account of shifting American norms and mores should be considered in light of her client’s decision to enter some of his pleas as Alford pleas–meaning he accepts punishment for the crime because of the evidence against him but does not admit to the underlying criminality. Alford pleas can be appealed.
Nolan will be sentenced on March 29.

[terminally_unique]

CP sentences were actually reasonable and statute of limitations applied to everything but murder at one point in this godforsaken country. Who would’ve thought?!

[MoleMan]

I know this guy is one of the elite, but I can't help but feel my blood boil at every conviction for non-violent, "crimes" like CP and dating.

[terminally_unique]

If I’m understanding this correctly, the 17-year-old ceased being able to consent to sex when the defendant gave him money that he asked for? And the court is calling that sex trafficking? What a slap in the face to real victims of sex trafficking.

[RoosterDance]

I feel like "trafficking" is one of those words that has just lost its meaning in today's discourse. Right up there with "rape" and "abuse".

I'm saving this one. It's a pretty great example of how ridiculous the laws around this can be. Like the part that said "Oh noes! This man got has a picture of this 17-year-old "child's" penis! How despicable!"