William Mickel, 70, of Lake Hopatcong, NJ has pleaded guilty to charges of possessing and sharing child pornography. Officials said he was found with videos that depicted children at the camps where he worked A former worker at several Boy Scout camps throughout New Jersey, has pleaded guilty to charges of possessing and distributing child pornography -- including videos that depicted children at the camps where he worked. According to U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger, 70-year-old William Mickel, of Lake Hopatcong, NJ, pleaded guilty to charges of distribution and possession of child pornography. According to court documents,...

William Mickel was employed by the Boy Scouts of America in Morris County when he trafficked videos and still images of child sex abuse via email, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger said. Mickel had hundreds of files stored on electronic devices in his Lake Hopatcong home, some of which "depicted children who were surreptitiously recorded using bathrooms in the Boy Scout camps where Mickel worked," Sellinger said -------------------- Local authorities originally arrested Mickel before the FBI assumed jurisdiction and gathered evidence that led to an indictment returned by a grand jury in U.S. District Court in Newark.

A powerful former North Dakota lawmaker pleaded guilty in federal court Thursday to a charge that he traveled to Europe with the intent to pay for sex with a minor. Ray Holmberg, 80, of Grand Forks, admitted in court that he had paid young male masseuses, with some of whom he had sexual contact, during multiple visits to the Czech Republic, though he said he did not know for certain how old they were. Holmberg was indicted in October 2023 for travel with intent to engage in illicit sexual activity and receipt and attempted receipt of child sexual...

A former Nebraska Boy Scouts leader accused of child sex crimes was sentenced last Friday, court documents say. John Shores, Jr., 54, pleaded guilty to one count of attempted sexual exploitation of a minor. Six other counts were dropped. Shores will serve 20 years in prison, with an additional 20 years of supervision after his release, according to court documents.

John Shores, 55, got 20 years in federal prison with a 20-year term of supervised release for attempted sexual exploitation of a child. ----- “I don’t discount what you’ve done with the community in the light, but what you’ve done here was in the dark,” Judge Robert Rossiter Jr. told Shores. ----- Last year, Shores used his cellphone to chat online with an undercover officer posing as a 13-year-old girl. Shores continually asked the user for sexually explicit photos, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. On Aug. 10, 2023, Shores set up a meeting with...

Paul M. Soots, 42, is charged with 22 counts related to child molestation including several Level 1 felonies — the most serious criminal charge in Indiana outside of murder. Soots’ wife, who has since divorced him, told police she suspected her husband had been cheating on her so ended up searching his phone for proof. Located on the phone, however, were videos even more appalling, court documents claim.  Deputies reported reviewing the content of the phone and said images and video contained Soots committing sex acts on a child. Soot agreed to sign a plea deal where...

Phil Drechsler, 61, of Santa Clarita, who worked for NBC4 until he departed in February 2023, shared more than 100 videos, images and other types of files depicting child pornography between August 2020 and June 2021, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. He pleaded guilty in downtown Los Angeles to a single count of distribution of child pornography. Sentencing was set for Oct. 7. A federal grand jury returned an indictment last year on three counts of distribution of child pornography. The charge carries a mandatory minimum sentence of five years imprisonment with a possible maximum of up...

Over a year after Phil Drechsler was arrested on child pornography charges, the former KNBC-TV news producer has made a plea deal with prosecutors that could see him receiving a greatly reduced sentence. Picked up on the run in Cincinnati in April 2023, Drechsler today entered a guilty plea in federal court on the lone charge of distribution of child pornography, a May 20 filing of a revised plea agreement details Compelled to register as a sex offender, wearing a monitoring device, and stay away from schools, kids, computers, post office boxes and much more, Drechsler’s deal with the...

He reportedly sent thousands of messages across multiple platforms to underage girls using the Whisper App. They said an undercover officer posed as a minor, which led to his arrest in August 2023. Under Thursday's plea agreement, Shores pleaded guilty to one count of attempting to produce child pornography, while six other counts were dismissed. He will serve 15-20 years in prison, and the court may require him to pay restitution to the victims.

The former YMCA director and former Parkersburg High School Girls Tennis coach was sentenced to two years in jail on Thursday. Jeff Olson, 53, appeared before Wood County Circuit Judge Robert Waters for sentencing after he entered into a plea agreement on Feb. 1 where he pleaded guilty to distribution and exhibition of a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct.