Excerpted from Ex-Hub Councilor Nabbed in Bid to Have Sex with Minor (now archived), by Laura Crimaldi, published Oct 11, 2006, by Boston Herald:

Former Boston City Councilor David Scondras (mugshot shown left) faces sex charges after he was busted in a Lawrence school parking lot with lubricant and booze while allegedly seeking a tryst in the woods with a 15-year-old boy he’d trolled for online.

Police say the “boy” that Scondras, 60, of Cambridge drove some 30 miles to meet for sex turned out to be a 20-year-old Lawrence General Hospital security guard.

The guard said he’d received a series of lurid instant messages and graphic pictures from the former five-term councilor, who used the screen name “Toppdadd,” seeking sex with a minor, and approached a cop for help in dealing with the messages, court and police records indicate.

“You know a lot of people have prejudices against guys who like to have sex with children,” Scondras allegedly told the security guard, identified in court papers as Michael W. Fornesi, during a cell phone conversation after the illicit underage rendezvous was set up.

…According to Shafer’s police report, Scondras, Boston’s first openly gay councilor, initially exchanged sexually explicit IM’s with the guard, and after being told he was communicating with a willing 15-year-old, who used the screen name “Cubscout4mastr86,” sent along his cell phone number and began soliciting sex.At Shafer’s direction, the guard called Scondras to offer directions to the school lot. Scondras told the guard, who used the pseudonym Josh, that he wanted to have unprotected sex with him “in the woods” and would bring marijuana, a police report states.

After Scondras arrived at the lot and identified himself to “Josh,” Shafer moved in for the arrest. In his report, he said Scondras resisted arrest and tried to flee.

…In Scondras’ car, Shafer said, were four blue packages of “Wet” lubricant, an open bottle containing a “red alcohol substance” and a printout of the instant messages.Scondras lost his council seat in 1993 after details of a series of obscenity-laced and slurred calls he made to a 911-dispatch operator. In 1996, he was charged with groping a 16-year-old boy in a movie theater, but the case was dropped when the teen refused to testify.

Continue reading at Boston Herald…

Excerpted from Former City Councilor Is Arrested on Sex Charge (Charged with trying to entice a minor), by Brian R. Ballou and Michael Levenson, published Oct 11, 2006, by Boston Globe:

David Scondras swept onto the City Council in 1983, a Harvard-educated tenant activist from the Fenway who wanted to fight for the less fortunate. He was reelected five times, serving as the city’s first openly gay councilor when few politicians spoke about their sexuality.

But a series of problems hastened Scondras’s fall from office. He was caught making rambling calls to police and acknowledged that he was an alcoholic, had been taking pain medication, and that his partner had been diagnosed with AIDS. In 1993, he was voted out of office.

Yesterday, Scondras faced new allegations when he was charged in Lawrence District Court with trying to entice a minor into having sex.

Police alleged that Scondras, 60, used the screen name Topdadd to send pornographic images and messages to someone he thought was a 15-year-old boy. Police arrested Scondras at 1:15 a.m. in the parking lot of Day Charter School in Lawrence, where authorities say he had arranged to meet for sex. Scondras allegedly tussled with an officer and tried to run away, before being wrestled to the ground and handcuffed.

…Many recalled another episode in 1997, when Scondras was accused of trying to fondle a 16-year-old boy in a Back Bay movie theater. That charge was dropped when the youth refused to testify in court.

Excerpted from Sutton: Nothing Wrong With Sharing Bed With Page, by Chet Brokaw, published Jan 25, 2007, by Yankton Daily:

A state senator accused of sexually groping a male legislative page last February testified Wednesday night that he saw nothing wrong with sharing a motel bed with the lad.

Dan Sutton, D-Flandreau, is the subject of a special state Senate inquiry into an allegation that he fondled Austin Wiese, 19, now a college student.

“I didn’t do what Austin is claiming that I did,” Sutton told a lawyer hired by the Senate to grill him…

Asked whether he thought it was appropriate to climb into bed with his legislative page, Sutton responded that Wiese “was like a nephew or a son to me and my wife. I had no concern.”…

Asked directly Wednesday if he groped Wiese, Sutton responded several times: “I didn’t do anything.”

Sutton, who is in the insurance business, said he was shocked when Wiese called him on the phone and made the allegation.

“I was stunned in disbelief,” Sutton said. “All that was going through my mind was … my wife, my family, my career.”

Continue reading at Yankton Press…

Excerpted from Democrats Shopped Foley Story to Newspapers, by Christina Bellantoni, published Dec 12, 2006, by The Washington Times:

Democratic campaign operatives pushed newspapers to write about then-Rep. Mark Foley’s e-mails to teenage pages in the hope that a scandal would emerge before the midterm elections, according to a House ethics report.

The findings were bolstered when an aide to Rep. Rahm Emanuel (pictured right), Illinois Democrat, said the congressman also knew about the e-mails, which were dubbed “inappropriate” by the ethics panel. Mr. Emanuel, who was chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) when Mr. Foley’s sex scandal broke in late September, had denied knowledge of the Florida Republican’s e-mails.

…CNN first reported Saturday that Mr. Emanuel, the incoming chairman of the Democratic caucus, was “informed” but never saw the e-mails that Mr. Foley sent to a former page in the summer of 2005.

An Emanuel aide yesterday confirmed to The Washington Times that DCCC staffer Bill Burton told the congressman about the Foley e-mails in fall 2005. The aide said Mr. Emanuel took no action because the e-mails were mentioned in passing as a “rumor” about Mr. Foley.

On Oct. 8, Mr. Emanuel was put on the spot during his appearance on ABC’s “This Week.”

“Did you or your staff know anything about these e-mails or instant messages before they came out?” host George Stephanopoulos asked. Mr. Emanuel interrupted with “No.”

“George — Never saw ’em,” he said twice.

When Rep. Adam H. Putnam, chairman of the Republican Policy Committee and a guest on the show, started questioning Mr. Emanuel, the DCCC chairman blanched.

“What you guys want to do is take your dirty laundry and throw it over the fence and try to blame other people for the problems,” Mr. Emanuel told the Florida Republican.

Rep. Patrick T. McHenry, North Carolina Republican, called the news “stunning,” and accused Mr. Emanuel of letting a “predator roam free” for “cold, calculated political advantage.”

…The panel found “political considerations played a role in decisions that were made,” and theorized Republicans didn’t act for fear of exposing Mr. Foley’s homosexuality.

Continue reading in The Washington Times…

Excerpted from Police Say Men Were Targets of Rape Spree, by Cindy Horswell, published Dec 16, 2006, by Houston Chronicle:

The serial rapist-robber began his attacks in east Harris County in April and his assaults have occurred every 30 to 60 days.

But what makes this case so unusual is that women are not the target. So far the five victims have all been young, white males in their late teens or early 20s, mostly students still living at their parents’ homes…

They believe he carefully selects, then stalks each victim.

“He does his homework and has everything well planned out,” Clifford said. “Most of the time victims are totally unaware that this guy was anywhere around.”

…About 3 percent of American men have been victims of sexual assault or an attempted sexual assault, according to a 1998 study cited on the National Sexual Assault Hotline Web site. One in 10 rape victims are male, according to the Web site, citing the National Crime Victimization study of 2003.

Continue reading in Houston Chronicle…

Excerpted from Twin Teachers Accused Of Lewd Acts On Student, published Dec 16, 2006, by CBS2:

Twin sisters who teach at Lakeside High School in Lake Elsinore were arrested on suspicion of committing lewd acts on a female student at the school, authorities said Friday.

Franca Munoz-Juvera, 26, and her sister, Antonia, were taken into custody Thursday after a brief investigation that started with an anonymous tip, Riverside County Sheriff’s Department Cpl. Carlos Gutierrez said. The sisters’ roommate, Eileen Valerio, 18, was also arrested and charged, Gutierrez said.

Franca Munoz-Juvera is charged with committing lewd acts on a minor, while all three suspects “are looking at charges of conspiracy and contributing to the delinquency of a minor,” Gutierrez said.

“The crime began at the high school and led back to Franca’s apartment,” Gutierrez said. “Antonia and Ms. Valerio knew what was going on, but they failed to report the illegal contact.”

Continue reading at CBS2…

Excerpted from The Undercover Agent Comes in from the Cold, by Robert K Elder, published Oct 16, 2006, by Chicago Tribune:

While buying surface-to-air missiles and counterfeit $100 bills from Chinese nationals, he facilitated offshore trysts for pedophiles and scored crystal meth from a Los Angeles gang.

But Wallace had a secret: His name wasn’t Wallace at all.

“Robert William Wallace” was a front, a name taken by undercover FBI agent Robert Hamer…

The final sting

In Hamer’s final undercover sting, in 2005, the bureau targeted the North American Man/Boy Love Association (NAMBLA), an organization that advocates sex with children.

For most of that career, he posed as tough guys, gentlemen thugs. Transforming into a homosexual pedophile wasn’t easy. Hamer found the group’s appetites repulsive and worried about blending in.

“When I first started posing as a boy lover, I thought I looked too much like a cop. I was a little too macho,” he says. “I thought, ‘What am I going to do to throw them off?’ It was almost like the heavens opened up
and said, ‘Handicapped.’ And that’s what I did.”

Hamer went to the Salvation Army, bought a cane for $5 and hobbled his way to eight convictions. Over three years, Hamer became part of the association’s inner circle, eventually helping to facilitate a boat trip
to Mexico for men to have sex with boys.

Prosecutors said that David Mayer, a Chicago flight attendant and psychologist, suggested the trip to Mexico at a NAMBLA convention in 2004. On a surveillance tape, Mayer said he kept his job as a flight
attendant so he could travel overseas to places where underage sex for hire was commonplace.

In February 2005, the FBI arrested Mayer and two colleagues on a San Diego dock for alleged interstate travel for the purpose of illicit sex. To keep his cover, Hamer pretended to faint when his fellow agents
carted him off. Mayer received a sentence of more than three years in federal prison.

From Man-Boy Love Association Member Stung By FBI, by Matt O’Connor, published Aug 21, 2006, by Chicago Tribune:

A flight attendant from Chicago…David C. Mayer, 51, was about to board a boat to Mexico when he was arrested last year. He and six others snared in the FBI investigation thought they were traveling to a bed-and-breakfast that provided boys for their sexual pleasure, authorities charged.

A federal judge in San Diego sentenced Mayer to 37 months in prison on Aug. 11.

Mayer had pleaded guilty to the sex offense on the condition he be allowed to appeal the judge’s refusal to dismiss the charge on 1st Amendment grounds.

The defense alleged the government had over-reached after an undercover FBI agent infiltrated the North American Man/Boy Love Association, or NAMBLA, secretly tape-recording discussions at annual conventions in 2003 and 2004.

Within half an hour of meeting the FBI agent at the 2004 convention, Mayer expressed frustration at the group’s political agenda, authorities said. The organization, formed in 1978, is dedicated to eliminating age-of-consent laws.

Mayer wanted advice on traveling abroad to have sex with young boys, according to court records.

“I don’t know who’s lying to who or if … they’re lying to themselves and saying, ‘This is all political. This is all to change society,'” Mayer said of conference organizers in the tape-recorded conversation. “[Expletive], it’s like, bring on the boys.”

A spokeswoman for American Airlines confirmed that Mayer, formerly of the 1200 block of North Sandburg Terrace, had worked for the airline for almost 20 years until his arrest last year.

Mayer was also a licensed clinical social worker until late 2003, according to state regulatory authorities, but he had never been the subject of disciplinary action.

From Secret Gay Network Behind Foley Scandal, by Cliff Kincaid, published Nov 29, 2006, by Accuracy In Media:

The Mark Foley sex scandal was a legitimate and real example of Republican corruption on Capitol Hill. A more conservative House GOP coming into office next January will not be able to avoid coming to grips with the infiltration of the party by gay Republicans actually committed to the social agenda of the Democratic Party. Not only Foley but retiring Republican Rep. Jim Kolbe (R-Ariz.), an open homosexual who is accused of having inappropriate contacts with former male congressional pages, has been leading a double-life on Capitol Hill but getting rewarded for it by Congressional leaders.

In a major new development confirming our theory that radical gay activists were behind the scandal, the mysterious source responsible for exposing Foley’s behavior has been identified as an employee of the Human Rights Campaign. This is the radical homosexual organization that functions as an adjunct of the national Democratic Party.

Conservative bloggers discovered that the source, who operated a website called stopsexualpredators.com, had used the Internet facilities of the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) to post the Foley emails that found their way into the hands of Brian Ross of ABC news and led to the congressman’s resignation. HRC issued a statement saying that when this information came to their attention, “We investigated the matter, determined that HRC resources had been inappropriately used, and let him go. No one at the Human Rights Campaign, other than this individual, had any knowledge of his activities.”

One of the board members of the HRC is Jeff Trandahl, the former House clerk who has inside information about the scandal and has testified before the House Ethics Committee. During his “Republican” career on Capitol Hill, Trandahl had contributed financially to the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund, a group supporting mostly Democrats for public office.

Mystery Man Trandahl

Citing a source in the case, ABC’s The Blotter reported that Trandahl had identified Foley and Kolbe as being among a small number of “problem members” of Congress who “spent too much time socializing with pages, taking them to dinner or sporting events outside of official duties.”

All of this means that there was inside information, available to radical gay activists allied with the Democratic Party, which could be used to create scandals for Republican gay members of Congress. Of course, the problem wouldn’t have surfaced in the first place if Congressional Republican leaders had not been protecting homosexuals in their ranks. House leaders knew that Foley was a homosexual but permitted him to serve as a co-chair of the House Caucus on Missing and Exploited Children. In the case of Kolbe, who announced that he was a homosexual after being threatened with “outing” by a radical homosexual publication, House leaders still defended him.

Kolbe is under investigation by the U.S. Attorney in Phoenix because of a 1996 camping trip he took with two male former pages, both of them 17-years-old. MSNBC reported that “One participant, who requested anonymity, said he was uncomfortable with the attention Kolbe paid to one of the former pages. He was ‘creeped out by it,’ he said, adding that there was a lot of ‘fawning, petting and touching’ on the teenager’s arms, shoulders and back by Kolbe.”

Kolbe’s alleged corrupt activities go far beyond inappropriate relationships or contacts of a possible sexual nature with former pages. Associated Press reported that Kolbe was up for the job leading the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, even though he had helped determine its funding as chairman of a House Appropriations subcommittee. AP said, “The committee’s bill, approved May 25, included $3.4 billion in global assistance to combat AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, including $445 million for the U.S. contribution to the Global Fund.” This figure, advocated by Kolbe, was over twice the amount requested by the Bush Administration.

So Kolbe padded the bank account of an organization that considered hiring him as its executive director. The corruption seems to be following him as he leaves office.