Police Investigating Whether Boy's Rape Was Taped By Mom

LAUDERDALE LAKES, Fla.- Detectives are investigating a 9-year-old boy's allegations that his mother videotaped him being raped by a man, then sold or gave away the tape. The Broward County Sheriff's Office is looking into a formal complaint that the boy was raped at least five times between July and October, spokeswoman Veda Coleman-Wright said. Detectives are searching for the tape, she said. The man, Kevin Jerome Bynes, 27, of Lauderdale Lakes, was arrested Tuesday on five counts of sexual battery on a child under 12. He was being held without bond in the Broward County Jail. "The victim stated that his mother once witnessed the defendant raping him and also videotaped the incident," Coleman-Wright said Friday. Bynes' arrest affidavit states that the boy's older sister told detectives that she saw Bynes enter her brother's bedroom and that she believed her brother was being assaulted. He has denied the charges. Bynes has violated his probation on false imprisonment charges out of Leon County, the sheriff's office said. The boy's 29-year-old mother has been jailed since Oct. 18 on charges stemming from an aggravated battery charge in an unrelated case. She also is denying the allegations that she videotaped her son being raped.

(Local 6 article here)

Video: Police handcuffed 5-year-old girl

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. --A 5-year-old girl was handcuffed by police after she tore papers off a bulletin board and punched an assistant principal in kindergarten class, according to a video released by a lawyer for the child's mother. The 30-minute tape shows the child appearing to calm down before three officers pinned her arms behind her back and put on handcuffs as she screamed, "No!" The camera was rolling March 14 as part of a classroom self-improvement exercise at Fairmount Park Elementary, attorney John Trevena said. Trevena, who provided the tape to the media this week, said he got it from police. "The image itself will be seared into people's minds when you have three police officers bending a child over a table and forcibly handcuffing her," said Trevena, who represents the girl's mother, Inga Akins. Police spokesman Bill Proffitt said an investigation into the matter would be complete in about two weeks and the findings would be made public.

(Boston Globe article here)

Overflowing Toilets Send Sewage Into Elementary School Hallways

MAITLAND, Fla.- A Maitland elementary school was cleared when toilets backed up and sent sewage flowing into first-floor hallways. An electrical problem at a sewage lift station near the school was blamed for the overflowing toilets. The backup forced the evacuation of about 200 students at Domerich Elementary School, according to the report. Twelve classes were shifted to different rooms in the three-story building during the cleanup. The principal at Dommerich Elementary School said the overflow was a clear liquid. A similar thing happened during power outages after last year's hurricanes when no students were in the building.

(Local 6 article here)

Man Confesses 'It Was Kind Of Fun' Killing Neighbor

OSCEOLA COUNTY, Fla.- A 34-year-old man said during a jailhouse interview with Local 6 News that he enjoyed killing his "busy body" neighbor and would kill again if given the chance. Zommer was arrested Tuesday in connection with the death of a 77-year-old woman who was found dead in her home on Miami Terrace in Osceola County. Police found Zommer driving a car missing from the home. Zommer admitted to Local 6 News Wednesday that he killed his neighbor. He said she was a busy body and he wanted her dead, according to the report. He also said he was tired of the woman spying on him so he brutally beat her and sliced her throat. "I would do it again," Zommer said for jail Wednesday. "It was kind of fun. You see, when it was done I went home and ate and I went back and made the house look like a robbery. I was in there for a while." Zommer said it was easy to forget about the crime. "It was like I was sitting down and somebody else was doing it because I was like out and looking in," Zommer said. "It felt so good when it was done." Neighbors found the body of a woman, who was not identified, early Tuesday inside her home on Miami Terrace in Osceola County. Police are trying to determine an exact cause of death. "We do know that there were obvious signs of struggle," Osceola County Sheriff's Office Capt. July Rivers said. "The medical examiner has come and removed the body, and we will wait until the autopsy is completed before we will know the exact of death." Zommer said he also randomly attacked a man walking down the street hours after killing the woman. "I beat that guy later that night with a crowbar about nine times over 75 cents," Zommer said. During the afternoon interview, Zommer also said he had planned to kill his girlfriend and also threatened Local 6 News reporter Deborah Garcia. "What purpose do I have to live, to drive a Saturn around and smoke crack all my life?" Zommer said. Zommer was not charged with the woman's murder Wednesday night. However, he was charged with attempted felony murder and robbery for an attack on a man, attempting to elude police and violation of probation. Investigators are looking at several other crimes Zommer admitted to on videotape, Local 6 News reported.

(Local 6 article here)

Police: Woman sold daughter for car

OKEECHOBEE, Florida- A woman was arrested for allegedly forcing her 12-year-old daughter into prostitution and trading a 14-year-old daughter for a car. The 39-year-old woman was charged with aggravated child abuse and sexual performance by a child. Both girls have been turned over to the Department of Children & Families. The youngest girl and her mother were living out of their car, and would sell sex for food and an occasional shower at the men's homes, according to a report by Okeechobee County Sheriff's Detective K.J. Ammons. The youngest daughter is three months pregnant, the report said; she was 11 when her mother first forced her to have sex with a man. The older daughter refused to be a prostitute and was allegedly sold for a car. "She was sold to a man for a Mercury Cougar," Ammons said. "But he never gave the mother the vehicle." He was arrested in the case. The youngest girl told detectives her mother took them out of school. "She said she was a good student and made A's and B's, and all she wants to do is go back to school," he said.

(CNN article here)

Car Stolen With Infant Inside After Sitter Leaves Keys In Ignition

Authorities in Orlando are searching for a man who allegedly stole a minivan with a 1-year-old girl inside after the infant's babysitter left the keys in the ignition at a dry cleaners, according to Local 6 News. Investigators said the car was left at Kim's Dry Cleaners with the motor still running Monday morning when an unidentified man hopped in and drove off. "Apparently, the babysitter left the keys in the ignition so the suspect hopped into the vehicle and drove off," Orange County Sheriff's spokeswoman Barbara Miller said. The car thief dropped the baby, still inside a car seat, at the entrance of a Save Rite Grocery Warehouse store in Orange County. He drove the vehicle away from the scene. Police are still searching for the missing mini-van. It is described as a hunter green Dodge mini-van with license plate P01-5JW. "How many times do we have to inform viewers or citizens to secure your vehicle and never leave a child unattended in that vehicle, Miller said.

(Local 6 Article Here)