Kansas Man Posed as Black Teen To Sexually Exploit Minors Online: Court Docs

WICHITA, KAN. – A Cherryvale, Kan., man pleaded guilty today to federal charges of sexually exploiting minors, U.S. Attorney Stephen McAllister said.

Austin Ballew, 21, Cherryvale, Kan., pleaded guilty to five counts of sexually exploiting a child and three counts of sex trafficking of a minor. In his plea, Ballew admitted he used Facebook to pose as an African-American teenager or young man to communicate with minor females in southeast Kansas towns. An investigation began when a victim’s parents contacted the Independence (Kansas) Police Department. Investigators learned that Ballew, calling himself Deandre Johnson, was soliciting other minor females for sex acts and child pornography.

Ballew offered victims money and marijuana to send him sexually explicit videos of themselves. He also threatened victims that he would make their videos public unless they kept cooperating with him.

Sentencing is set for March 23.

https://breaking911.com/kansas-man-posed-as-black-teen-to-sexually-exploit-minors-online-court-docs/

Arizona Mom Sentenced For ‘Unimaginable’ Child Abuse After Her Daughter Was Found In a Closet Inside a Trash Bag Bound With Duct Tape

WARNING: Story Contains Disturbing Details

PHOENIX — Mayra Solis has been sentenced to 17 years in the Department of Corrections for the role she played in the horrific abuse of her 3-year-old daughter who was rescued from a closet, found in a trash bag and covered in filth. Solis plead guilty to one count of Child Abuse for the severe malnourishment of her daughter, and two counts of Attempted Child Abuse for leaving her daughter with Francisco Covarrubias, who has previously been sentenced to 35 years for the abuse he inflicted on the child.

“A little girl’s life has been impacted forever by the extreme physical and emotional abuse she endured in her very early years,” said Maricopa County Attorney Allister Adel. “Acts like this defy all comprehension, and the heartbreak is amplified in the knowledge that they were perpetrated by her own mother. Today’s sentence was just, but can never make this innocent girl whole again.”

Sometime in late 2015, Solis had shaved her daughter’s head. The two were seen on surveillance camera at a local Walmart in January 2016 and a witness called and reported seeing a child that looked malnourished and the mother was asking for money saying the child had cancer. A forensic pediatrician who examined the child after her rescue found the child found the child suffering from malnutrition. Solis admitted she tried to pass her daughter off as a cancer patient to get money.

On January 18, 2016 officers received reports that a 3-year-old girl was being severely abused by her caretaker and he was possibly offering the young child to other men to sexually abuse. Once officers located the Mesa apartment where the girl was seen, they found Covarrubias inside the apartment but no sign of the little girl. Mayra Solis met Covarrubias when they were coworkers at a prior job and admitted to occasionally leaving her daughter with him for days at time.

Covarrubias finally admitted to officers the victim was being kept in a closet. They discovered the young girl on the floor of a hallway closet inside of a trash bag that had been pulled up to the top of her head. Once officers freed her from the trash bag they found that she had tape over her mouth and tape bounding her wrists and ankles. She had multiple bruises and injuries and had obviously been left in a heavily soiled diaper for some time.

The little girl was taken to a nearby hospital where she was found to be malnourished and dehydrated. She also had extensive injuries related to being left in soiled diapers and possible sexual abuse. She was not able to communicate and could barely stand.

https://breaking911.com/arizona-mom-sentenced-for-unimaginable-child-abuse-after-her-daughter-was-found-in-a-closet-inside-a-trash-bag-bound-with-duct-tape/

Intensified drills at Russia’s doorstep indicate NATO is gearing up for a major conflict – Russia’s top general

Increased intensity and scale of US-led NATO military exercises in the Baltics and the Black Sea suggest the alliance is preparing for a major military conflict, said General Valery Gerasimov, chief of the Russian General Staff.

NATO’s ramping up of large-scale wargames in the Baltics, Poland and the Black Sea region show that it is gearing up for a major confrontation, Gerasimov said on Thursday, briefing foreign military attaches in Moscow.

“The scenario [of the drills] point that NATO is purposefully training its troops to be engaged in a major military conflict.”

Gerasimov pointed out that in addition to flexing its military muscles around the Russian borders, the US continues to deploy its anti-ballistic missile systems to Europe, which Moscow considers to be an acute threat to its national security.

Furthermore, there is an ongoing smear campaign about a “Russian military threat” aimed at vilifying Moscow, the general said. Any military build-up attempted by Russia, transparent and defensive in nature, is being spun by Western media outlets and governments as a “threat to peace,” he added.

Russia has not been sitting idly in the face of the US and NATO military build-up and has been developing new cutting-edge weapons that able to bypass any existing air defenses. One of them is Kinzhal, an air-launched hypersonic missile. Gerasimov confirmed on Tuesday that the missile has successfully completed a series of tests, including in the Arctic.

When asked if he believes a major war can break out by 2050, Gerasimov has said that there are no immediate “prerequisites” for a full-blown war, although the situation is “unstable” due to political, economic and information pressure placed on independent actors such as Russia.

However, he noted that given the current uncertainty in the world, that can change overnight.

"In such conditions, we can't rule out that crises could emerge that may get out of control and develop into a large-scale military conflict.”

Taking that into account, it’s essential to calm the tensions building up between the West and Russia so the animosity does not lead to dangerous military incidents, Gerasimov said, describing it as “the most important area in the dialog between Russian with the US and NATO.”

https://www.rt.com/news/476141-nato-drills-war-scenario/