National Roundup

Tennessee
Police: Suspect had abuse warrant before slaying girlfriend

ANTIOCH, Tenn. (AP) — Police in Tennessee say the man accused of stabbing his ex-girlfriend and her son to death was wanted for domestic assault and had a protective order issued against him the week before the slaying.

A Nashville Metro Police news release accuses Jermaine Agee of abusing his estranged girlfriend, Mayra Garcia, days before killing her and her 13-year-old son and attacking her 16-year-old daughter.

The release says Agee forced his way into Garcia’s home Monday morning and used a butcher-type knife from her kitchen to stab her son in his bedroom. Garcia tried to fight Agee before fleeing to a neighbor’s porch where she collapsed. Her teenage daughter, who also tried to fight Agee, remains hospitalized. Garcia’s 8-year-old daughter escaped unharmed.

News outlets report Agee faces murder and attempted murder charges.


Pennsylvania
Judge chosen to resentence Sandusky in child sex abuse case

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — A new judge is in place to handle the child sexual abuse resentencing hearing for former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky.

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court on Monday issued an order appointing Judge Maureen Skerda to take over the case.

The previous jurist, Judge John Foradora of Jefferson County, recused himself last month.

A prosecutor and Sandusky’s defense lawyer agreed in a court document that Foradora needed to step aside because of what they called an action in August by the attorney general’s office that was “separate, distinct and wholly unrelated” to the Sandusky case.

The 75-year-old Sandusky’s serving a 45-count conviction, but an appeals court ruled in February that mandatory minimums had been improperly applied.

Skerda is a judge in Warren and Forest counties.


California
Facebook to settle advertiser lawsuit for $40M

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Facebook has agreed to pay $40 million to advertisers who said it inflated the amount of time its users watched videos.

The San Jose Mercury News says the California-based social media giant denied any wrongdoing in a lawsuit settlement. The settlement notice was filed Friday by the plaintiffs in Oakland federal court.

Advertisers sued Facebook in 2016 over user metrics that supposedly measured the average length of time consumers spent viewing posted video ads. The lawsuit said that the time was inflated by up to 900 percent and that helped convince advertisers to buy Facebook’s video advertising services.

Facebook publicly acknowledged an error in the formula. The company denied allegations that its engineers knew about problems for more than a year and did nothing.


Utah
Victims of ex-Utah State football player suing university

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Two women raped by a former Utah State University football player are suing the university.

The Salt Lake Tribune reports the lawsuit filed Monday in U.S. District Court claims the school fostered an environment where sexual assaults were tolerated.

Torrey Green was sentenced in March to 26 years to life in prison for sexually assaulting six women he dated between 2013 and 2015.

Green had signed with the Atlanta Falcons in 2016 but was dropped after the allegations surfaced.

The women say the university failed to investigate multiple assault allegations, offer health and counseling services or warn other students about Green.

A USU spokesman says the school has not yet been served with the lawsuit.


Connecticut
Man pleads guilty to child porn charge for messaging minor

NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) — A Connecticut man authorities say engaged in sexually explicit communications with a 13-year-old boy has pleaded guilty to receiving child pornography.

Brian Gregan, of Windsor Locks, waived his right to indictment and pleaded guilty in federal court Monday.

Authorities say 33-year-old Gregan knew the boy was underage.

Prosecutors say Gregan began communicating in 2017 with the boy through a messaging app, and engaged in sexually explicit communications during which the boy sent sexually explicit pictures and video of himself.

The boy’s parents found the interactions on his iPad.

Gregan faces up to 20 years in prison at sentencing on Jan. 2.

He remains free on $50,000 bond with monitoring.


Tennessee
Man sentenced  in meth ring case

GREENEVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A South Carolina man has been sentenced to almost 20 years in federal prison after pleading guilty in a conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, launder money and possess firearms in connection with trafficking.

The U.S. attorney’s office in East Tennessee said 49-year-old Leonard Wayne Mullinax, of Gaffney, was sentenced Monday to 19 years and seven months. Prosecutors said Gaffney said he had supplied 48-year-old co-defendant Edward Walters of Surgoinsville, Tennessee, with more than 8 pounds (4 kilograms) of methamphetamine for about a year. Walters is awaiting sentencing.

Six others from Tennessee and South Carolina were previously sentenced to terms ranging from 10 years to about 16 1/2 years.


New Jersey
Man sentenced for stabbing mom, grandma with sword

JERSEY CITY, N.J. (AP) — A man who fatally stabbed his mother and grandmother with a sword, meat cleaver and knife while high on drugs is now headed to prison.

Hudson County prosecutors say Kevin Hodges received separate 25-year sentences Friday for the December 2016 deaths of 56-year-old Rebecca Hodges and 76-year-old Dorothy Bradshaw. But he will serve the terms concurrently.

Kevin Hodges had pleaded guilty to aggravated manslaughter counts for both deaths.

The slayings occurred in the family’s home in the Arlington Gardens public housing complex in Jersey City.

The two women had suffered multiple stab wounds, and 39-year-old Kevin Hodges was found a block away from the home, covered in blood. He admitted being high on PCP at the time of the slayings.