Featured OK News Stories:
Convicted Tulsa Sex Offender Files Federal Lawsuit Over State Law
01 Sep 2006 8:47 am
A convicted sex offender says he wants to live at home and he wants the court to approve it.
David Graham is a convicted rapist. He served his time, but because he's a sex offender, he can't live in buffer zones around schools, bus stops, churches and parks. He's suing in federal court in Tulsa to have that law overturned, claiming the state law is unconstitutional punishment.
"I can understand more if it was a person who was a habitual offender or a child molester or something like that."
Cannibalism suspect faces murder trial
SEAN MURPHY
22 Aug 2006 12:37 pm
A man accused of killing a 10-year-old girl in what investigators describe as a cannibalistic plot will be tried for first-degree murder, a judge ruled Tuesday. Prosecutors have said they will seek the death penalty for Kevin Ray Underwood, 26, accused of strangling Jamie Rose Bolin.
A judge has granted a request by Underwood's attorney for a gag order that prohibits attorneys and law enforcement from discussing the case publicly.
However, Underwood documented his thoughts and musings for years in an Internet blog.
In it, he joked about cannibalism and wrote about feeling isolated, depressed and even homicidal.
"My fantasies are just getting weirder and weirder. Dangerously weird," Underwood wrote in September 2004. "If people knew the kinds of things I think about anymore, I'd probably be locked away. No probably about it, I know I would be."
Sex crimes: Vital help: Nurses aid police, victims
MATT ELLIOTT
14 Aug 2006 12:00 am
The Tulsa Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners have treated 4,643 victims in the 15 years since the SANE program began in July 1991 through July 31 of this year.
The local program was a "fly by the seat of your pants" operation until about seven years ago, but it is now kept abreast of national trends, [said Kathy Bell, Tulsa's SANE coordinator].
The program has branched out into forensic nursing, a field in which nurses, although primarily concerned with a patient's care, help collect evidence of a variety of crimes other than sexual assault.
Now they conduct examinations for crimes including domestic violence and also care for "drug-endangered" children who are removed from homes, she said.
Insanity verdicts stir debate
ROD WALTON
13 Aug 2006 12:00 am
The recent decision in the Daniel Fears case brings this hot-button issue back to the forefront.
Not guilty by reason of insanity.
Few, if any, verdicts inspire as much passion and debate in the criminal justice system. Defenders hail it as a crucial protection for mentally ill people whose sickness propels them to misdeeds or even murder. Others see it as a judicial cop-out that allows offenders a way to avoid taking responsibility for their violent actions.
Airman bound over in molestation case
Tom Blakey
03 Aug 2006 12:00 am
A staff sergeant in the U.S. Air Force has been bound over for trial in Cleveland County District Court on two counts of lewd molestation of a minor.
According to court documents, the girl’s mother contacted police, and said her daughter had told her about being sexually abused by the man on two occasions. Once, the girl said she was fondled after being picked up from school. The next time was when she was kneeling in front of the couch, doing her homework, and she said the man kneeled behind her, unzipped his flight suit and molested her.
Also Monday, an Oklahoma City man was bound over on a charge of first-degree rape by instrumentation.
Sex offender ordered to serve prison term
19 Jul 2006 12:00 am
A registered sex offender facing six new felony charges in connection with the alleged molestation of 9- and 11-year-old Norman boys, was sentenced Tuesday to serve the full portion of a suspended term -- 19 years and 8 months -- to which he was sentenced in 1999.
Richard Bob Largent, 40, Oklahoma City, will be transferred into the custody of the Department of Corrections by the Cleveland County Sheriff's Department, after a mandatory 10-day period.
"It is clear to the court, based on testimony heard and court exhibits received, the defendant violated (special rules and conditions of probation) and continues to pose an ongoing threat to minor children," said District Judge Tom Lucas in granting the prosecutors' motion to revoke.
Bill requires sending sex offender list to health commissioner
Associated Press
02 May 2006 12:00 am
The Oklahoma Senate today approved a bill requiring the state's sex offender registry be sent to the state Commissioner of Health.
The measure designed to protect nursing home residents from sexual predators now goes to Governor Brad Henry for consideration.
The bill also allows the commissioner to distribute information from the registry to any nursing home or long-term care facility.
If signed by the governor, the new law will become effective July 1st.
