Category: Kidnapping

1491: Jeannette Garcia

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Jeannette Garcia

Jeannette Garcia is a Republican member of the Avondale, Arizona, city council. She was also a staff member for Turning Point USA, the extreme conservative organization founded by Charlie Kirk. While she has not been criminally charged, she has been accused of kidnapping a man’s 14-year-old daughter after the man rebuffed her sexual advances.

The lawsuit has been filed anonymously. According to the suit, the plaintiff, Father John Doe, worked under Garcia’s supervision on a Turning Point USA team last November. After the election, the team went out to celebrate. There, the plaintiff alleges that Garcia made remarks suggesting they have sex and even dangled a job at TPUSA as incentive. As the drinking continued, she became more aggressive and he left.

When he got home, he discovered his daughter was missing. Deputies told him that Garcia had his daughter and she was safe. She had told his daughter that she was afraid he was going to be violent with her because he was so drunk, so his daughter went with Garcia. She is also accused of manipulating sheriff’s deputies to assist in the kidnapping. The suit claims Jane Doe, the daughter, is depressed, afraid to leave her room, and that her studies are suffering.

She denies this was kidnapping, claiming she acted out of concern for the child. She said, “The situation being referenced involved me helping a young girl. Anyone twisting an act of support into something malicious is spreading intentional misinformation.”

San Francisco Chronicle (CA)
December 3, 2025

1486: John Emanuel Banuelos

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John Emanuel Banuelos

John Emanuel Banuelos is an insurrectionist. He brought a gun to the insurrection and fired it twice inside the Capitol. He was still pardoned in the mass pardon of January 6 participants, even the violent ones. He was arrested for the stabbing and killing of a man in 2021, though the DA decided he acted in self-defense and did not charge him. However, during interrogation for that offense, he bragged to detectives about being at the Insurrection, even pointing himself out on video. When indicted for that he was making light, telling the judge Trump would win the election and pardon him. Well, that happened. However, his DNA was collected and it matched a 2018 rape case, leading to his most recent indictment for eight counts of sexual assault and one count of kidnapping. These crimes happened in Utah, though he has since moved to Illinois.

According to the charges, the victim was newly houseless. “The victim recounted that the day she met the defendant was the first day she had experienced homelessness, and she was scared and vulnerable. She reported that she accepted the defendant’s offer of a house party because she knew it would provide her with a place to be. What she didn’t realize at the time was the defendant’s deception. The defendant lured the victim to his home, drugged her, and then sexually assaulted her for over 12 hours.”

Southern Illinoisan, The (Carbondale, IL)
November 11, 2025
John Emanuel BanuelosDownload

1436: Curlon Edwards

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Curlon Edwards is a Baltimore police officer, suspended without pay while held in jail without bail on charges of rape and assault of a sixteen-year-old girl. He is thirty-four.

According to him, they were dating. They were at his house. After what she claimed is consensual sex, he took her phone to see if she was cheating. There was a struggle. He choked her to the point she was unconscious. After she regained consciousness, he handed her his gun (unloaded) and told her to shoot him because he was afraid she would report him. Then he said if she didn’t do something to calm him down he would kill her. He chased her around the house and she had sex with him that she said was not consensual.

He then drove her to a store to get concealer to cover up the bruises on her neck. He took her home. She told her mother what happened. Her mom took her to the hospital and police were called.

Edwards was charged with two counts of rape, two counts of assault, false imprisonment, and reckless endangerment.

The Baltimore Sun
Wed, Jul 02, 2025 ·Page A001

1431: Curtis Cochran

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Curtis Cochran

Curtis Cochran was the Swain County, North Carolina, Sheriff. He was elected in 2006 and served five consecutive terms until his arrest and suspension in June 2025.

Swain County includes the Cherokee Reserve which belongs to and is governed by the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. That puts parts of Swain County under the jurisdiction of the tribe as well as the state and county.

The State of North Carolina has charged Cochran with felonious restraint, assault on a female, sexual battery and solicitation to commit prostitution. Cochran is also charged under the Cherokee Code with two counts of oppression in office and one count of abusive sexual contact.

Two women have come forward alleging very similar assaults. According to them, they were offered a ride by Cochran who then touched them, exposed his genitals, and assaulted them after offering them a ride.

A third woman came forward and a grand jury indicted him for 2nd-degree rape.

The News-Record
Marshall, North Carolina · Wednesday, July 02, 2025

1383: Casey Medina

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Casey R. Medina was hired by the Avon (New York) Police Department as a trainee but was arrested after just three days on the job. He was charged with attempted kidnapping, aiding and abetting, cyberstalking, and distribution, receipt, and possession of child sexual abuse imagery.

He pleaded guilty to possession of CSAM and cyberstalking.

His sentencing hearing is scheduled for August 4th, 2025.

The Post-Standard (Syracuse, NY)
Sun, Sep 01, 2024 ·Page A2

1321: Patrick Stephen Miller

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Patrick Stephen Miller

Patrick Stephen Miller was the Assistant Director of Children’s Ministry at Immanuel Baptist Church in Little Rock, Arkansas. In 2016, he was arrested and charged with sexually abusing an elementary school student. In a negotiated plea, Miller pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor harassment charge. He received a suspended sentence and was not required to register as a sex offender.

Since then, a second victim came forward alleging he abused her. When he tried to seal the record, his victims, who were in third and fourth grade at the time of the alleged abouse, opposed sealing the case. Their affidavit is below. He withdrew the motion to seal after it reignited publicity about the first case and the new charges. He is currently charged with second degree sexual assault and kidnapping.

Miller moved to Moore, Oklahoma, and was hired by the Baptist Church there as Assistant Director of Children’s Ministry. They had no idea that he had ever been charged with sexually abusing minors. The Little Rock pastor and church leaders had never told the congregation until Miller filed to seal his conviction.

Republican Registration in Moore OK
Texarkana Gazette (TX)
June 10, 2024
Victim Response to Motion to SealDownload

1157: Kevin Ruditsky

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Kevin Ruditsky

Kevin Ruditsky was a New Jersey police officer. At National Night Out – an event designed to foster good relations between police and the communities they serve – Ruditsky met a sixteen-year-old girl. After the event he began stalking her.

He asked for her address on social media. She refused and reminded him she was just sixteen. He used his access to law enforcement data to get her address and parked his car in front of her home. He pulled her over, handcuffed, and kissed her. He sent her sexually explicit messages and images.

He has been charged with endangering the welfare of a child, official misconduct, computer theft, hindering apprehension, stalking and false imprisonment. He is currently suspended from work.

NJ officer ‘creeps out’ teen September 3, 2023 | New York Post (NY) Author/Byline: Dean Balsamini | Page: 006 | Section: News 139 Words | Readability: Lexile: 1540, grade level(s): >12 Read News Document A creepy New Jersey cop stalked an underage girl he met at a National Night Out event — even cuffing her in an attempt to kiss her, prosecutors said. Manalapan Patrolman Kevin Ruditsky, 46, was in full uniform when he met the 16-year-old on Aug. 1 at the event. He let her sit in his patrol car, and later that evening began peppering the girl with sexually explicit messages and photos on social media, Monmouth County Prosecutor Raymond S. Santiago said. Later, he pulled the teen over on Route 9, handcuffed her and attempted to kiss her “while his dash camera and body-worn camera were both deactivated,” Santiago said. Ruditsky was charged Wednesday with second-degree endangering the welfare of a child, official misconduct and stalking. His attorney, Mitchell Ansell, did not return a request for comment. Caption: KEVIN RUDITSKY Suspended and arrested.
New York Post (NY)
September 3, 2023

1141: Fabian Marta

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Fabia Marta

Fabian Marta is a right-wing school board activist who also was one of the many donors for the crowdfunded “Sound of Freedom.” He is accused of assisting a woman who kidnapped her children from their lawful parent, harboring them in an apartment building he owns.

He is also closely associated with Rockwood School Board member Jessica Clark as he was her first “Sugar Daddy.” Clark is infamous for disparaging LGBTIQA and disabled students and has been removed from some school board duties and will no longer represent the district to the state.

Marta has been released on his own recognizance. He has a preliminary hearing on October 5th.

DescriptionAcry-Child Kidnapping { Felony A RSMo: 565.115 }Date07/21/2023Code565.115-001Y20201011.2OCNCK050893Arresting AgencyST LOUIS METROPOLITAN POLICE
Missouri C=Net
Human Trafficking Is it really happening in Central Virginia? September 7, 2023 | Daily Progress, The (Charlottesville, VA) Author/Byline: LUKE FOUNTAIN AND FAITH REDD The Daily Progress | Section: News 1612 Words | Readability: Lexile: 1540, grade level(s): >12 Read News Document HUMAN TRAFFICKING A conservative women's group rallied nearly 100 people last month to raise the alarm about the growing threat of human trafficking to local children — despite a dearth of local cases. "Human trafficking is all around us, we just don't know it," Alcinda Hatfield, a "community ambassador" with Anti-Trafficking International, told The Daily Progress at the Aug. 8 event at Novum Baptist Church in Reva.
September 7, 2023 Daily Progress, The (Charlottesville, VA) LUKE FOUNTAIN AND FAITH REDD
She's wrong, at least according to police. Law enforcement officials from Madison, Greene and Culpeper counties were in attendance for Hatfield's presentation hosted by the Moms for America group. None of them were able to detail any cases of someone within their jurisdictions being traded for the purpose of forced labor, sexual slavery or commercial sexual exploitation. "Sex trafficking cases we don't have a lot of, if we have any," Culpeper police Capt. Tim Chilton told The Daily Progress. Nevertheless, Hatfield and the Madison-Culpeper Moms for America want the Anti-Trafficking International "Just Ask Prevention Curriculum" to be taught in schools across the commonwealth. "We would love to put this program into more schools in the commonwealth," Hatfield said. "Schools are very hesitant, unfortunately. With the time constraints and funding issues. We have grants and private donors, but even still some schools have not signed on for whatever reasons." While local school boards may not be on board, the group has backers in Richmond. Maggie Cleary previously served as deputy secretary of the state Department of Public Safety and Homeland Security under Gov. Glenn Youngkin; she is now special counsel to Attorney General Jason Miyares. Cleary said combatting human trafficking is Youngkin's top priority. "The first lady mentioned this while they were campaigning in 2021, but this is really their top priority," Cleary said. "As someone who worked in the office with him, it was reiterated to us multiple times that stopping human trafficking, fighting human trafficking were Glenn Younkin and Suzanne's top priority." Were the curriculum detailed by Hatfield to be adopted, Virginia's students would be taught in class the "signs" of sex trafficking. Hatfield said students could learn about trafficking from real-life stories such as Susan Young's daughter, who was trafficked and exploited by the MS-13 gang in Fairfax County. Young was at the Aug. 8 event. "She met a young boy at a local movie theater who pretended to be her boyfriend for all intents and purposes. They became friends, had an online friendship, eventually started dating him. This young boy introduced her to MS-13 affiliates at her high school, and at the time we did not know they were MS-13, and these affiliates begin bullying her, threatening her and then she kind of was aware of who they were and what they were kind of wanted," Young said. Young's daughter asked for help multiple times, she said. When no one came to her rescue, the gang retaliated. "She reached out to the school 22 times to her counselor for help," Young said. "No one came to her rescue or simply answered her request. So the gang got wind that she was trying to get away from them, so they took her to a secluded part of the school property where they hit her over the head and they gang-raped her while they videotaped." The video was used as blackmail, which then led to the trafficking, Young said. "So she right after that was trafficked every day after school," Young said. "She would be taken to a nearby house where eight to 10 gentlemen were waiting and she could not leave until she was done. She had to come home and pretend as if nothing had happened, but my husband and I knew there was something wrong, we just didn't know what, and we tried to get her to talk any way we could to tell us what was going on because her behavior was just spiraling out of control and she couldn't for fear of safety and retaliation from the gang." Young decided to change he daughter's school, she said, then she went missing for four days. "So we decided we were going to pull her out of school and put her into a private school, and the day before we were going to do that the gang got wind, and that's when they came and took her," Young said. "That's when she was missing and she was trafficked over the DMV area. We were able to rescue her and she was briefly home for about four months recovering, and again, we had no idea what had happened because she never disclosed. She was afraid." The gang didn't stop there, according to Young. "She was taken again and she was missing for 10 days and she was recovered in Prince William by a Prince William County gang unit where they were selling her to an out-of-state gang for $2,000," Young said. "They were going to transport her to New York, and if that had happened, we probably never would have seen Courtney again." Young's story, and those like it, are rare. The National Human Trafficking Hotline identified 140 human trafficking cases in Virginia in 2021, the latest numbers available. By comparison, there were 562 homicides, 11,638 vehicle thefts and 10,464 burglaries and burglary attempts reported that same year, according to Virginia State Police data. What is more common than what is considered typical human trafficking is something called "sextortion." It's a form of blackmail, usually targeting teenagers, in which someone threatens to share a nude or sexual image or video of the victim unless they pay a ransom or meet other demands. "A lot of the kids are getting into this same kind of scenario. A kid gets friended by a real pretty girl online and obviously the girls are fake," Chilton said. "Once they do that, the scammers start pushing the kids to send them pictures. As soon as they threaten to leak the photos, they make money." Part of what is fueling the fear of human trafficking in the U.S. is media. Shelley Burnham, co-director of Moms for America, said the recent event was planned to coincide with the release of the film "Sound of Freedom." "What we wanted to do was let people know not only is it a problem around our country, but how is it a problem here, why is it a problem here and what you can do about it," Burnham said. "So we did host this on the heels of that movie because so many people had seen it and wanted to know does this affect my community and what can I do about it." "Sound of Freedom" depicts the story of a former government agent who rescued girls from sex traffickers in Colombia. In the five weeks between its release and the Aug. 8 event, it had already grossed more than $155 million. The movie has been criticized for peddling conspiracy theories about trafficking. Its star, James Caviezel, is a prominent promoter of outlandish QAnon conspiracy theories about "elites" abusing and killing American children. One of the movie's funders, Fabian Marta, was charged on July 21 with accessory to child kidnapping. While the Moms for America group said the Aug. 8 event wasn't politically motivated, the organization has a habit of endorsing right-wing candidates in school board races, such as Terese Matricardi who is running for a seat on the Culpeper County School Board. Matricardi is a vocal supporter of schools outing children who have not conformed to gender norms to their parents and has argued that "Christians and Conservatives" are primary targets of bullying in schools. While trafficking remains a less common crime, political experts say there has been a significant uptick in discussion of it, especially in places such as Virginia. "Discussion of sex trafficking and transgender issues have really ramped up in Virginia in the past several months as the elections have drawn closer," said Stephen J. Farnsworth, a professor of political science and international affairs and the director of the Center for Leadership and Media Studies at the University of Mary Washington. "It would be useful for people talking about these issues to draw more attention to specific cases to give people a sense of whether this is a greater threat to students than gun violence in schools, for example." Trafficking has been used for years as a tactic to stoke fear and rally political support. "Fear is a common motivator to increase turnout, and Democrats and Republicans have been using issues they consider to be valuable for that end for years," Farnsworth said. Much of today's rhetoric surrounding human trafficking resembles the "white slavery" panic of the early 20th century. According to the National Institute of Health, "white slavery" was the term used to describe organized coerced prostitution. While anyone could be a target of "slavers," the primary concern was White women. "Efforts to stop 'white slavery' share many of the hallmarks of moral panic: crusaders often used misleading statistics and shocking narratives of abduction that obscured the economic context of prostitution, sex work, and trafficking," Brian Donovan, a sociologist at the University of Kansas, wrote in an article for the Social Science Research Council. "Narratives of innocent white girls abducted into sex work formed a justification for anti-immigrant policies and ideologies." "Like the Progressive Era crusades against coercive prostitution, many contemporary antitrafficking efforts are about more than stopping sexual violence," Donovan continued. Back in Reva, Cleary told the audience gathered that the best thing they could do to stop the "surge" of trafficking would be to watch "Sound of Freedom" and then go vote. "Watch 'Sound of Freedom' and learn about this," Cleary said. "You should talk to people who are running. Talk to your candidates and see what they want to do. Then, vote, vote, vote, vote. Please, please, please, vote in local elections. They matter." Luke Fountain (828) 320-6633 lfountain@dailyprogress.com @Luke_Fountain25 on Twitter
September 7, 2023 Daily Progress, The (Charlottesville, VA) LUKE FOUNTAIN AND FAITH REDD

1126: Jeff Thomas

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Jeff Thomas

Jeff Thomas was the Republican District Attorney in Somerset County, Pennsylvania. He was found guilty of strangulation during sexual violence, criminal trespass, unlawful restraint, indecent assault (lack of consent), false imprisonment, and simple assault. He went to her house despite her negative response to his request to let him come over and to send dirty pictures. He showed up and she claims he sexually assaulted her, striking her and strangling her.

His defense was that she wanted rough sex and that previously she sent him friendly emojis. He even claimed she inflicted the bruises to her eyes and neck herself. Unfortunately, he was acquitted of sexual assault.

He had been harassing her for months. She asked a friend why she attracted all the creepy guys. She testified that his position as DA made her feel intimidated and was the reason she didn’t complain to police about his harassing text. The defense made much of her having marijuana growing in her basement which is weird.

He was sentenced to 2.5 to 7 years in prison.

Witness testifies about night she alleges DA - Daily American, The (Somerset, PA) - March 8, 2023 - page 1 March 8, 2023 | Daily American, The (Somerset, PA) | Judy D.J. Ellich, The Daily American The prosecution's first witness in the sexual assault trial of suspended Somerset County District Attorney Jeffrey Thomas sat on the stand, her eyes never wavering, appearing to struggle to contain her emotions, at times scared and nervous, at other times angry and defiant through her second day on the stand. Thomas, 37, of Windber, is accused of entering her home on the evening of Sept. 18, 2021, without permission and remaining there. Police said he then sexually and physically assaulted her. Because of a new law, Somerset County DA Jeff Thomas is no longer receiving a paycheck On Wednesday afternoon, the woman testified about meeting Thomas when he was a customer at a local vehicle dealership where she worked. Soon she said he was texting her, asking her what she was doing, if she wanted to "hang out" and if he could "come over." Throughout their acquaintance, the woman testified, the text messages on her phone and on her SnapChat account were "always initiated by him." The woman said she hinted in her responses to the monthslong numerous messages from Thomas that she was not interested in him, but that he did not seem to get the hints. She said she'd write that she was going to sleep, or that her 8-year-old child was there with her and she did not want company. Or she just didn't respond. She said she did not come straight out and tell him she was not interested because he was the district attorney and that position is powerful. At one point during her testimony Wednesday, the woman turned and spoke directly to the jurors, saying, "He was the DA. What was I supposed to do?" The woman said Thomas even visited her place of work to a point that she "ended up hiding away" when he did. She testified that when she spoke to her manager about her concerns for her safety, his advice was "just stay away from him."
March 8, 2023 | Daily American, The (Somerset, PA)
Author/Byline: Judy D.J. Ellich, The Daily American | Section: News
Her early testimony led to a night that took away her peace of mind, caused her sleepless nights and put her on a path with her friends trying to find someone or somewhere to fight to protect herself and her daughter so "it wouldn't happen again," she testified Thursday morning. Last motions hearing in the suspended DA Jeffrey Thomas case held, trial begins She began her testimony Thursday describing the night she claimed Thomas came through her front door with an armload of beer, uninvited, and assaulted her a short time later. She indicated that she felt Thomas did not understand her kindness and niceness for what it was when she communicated with him. When asked Wednesday if she was attracted to Thomas, she replied, "Absolutely not." She continued with those sentiments throughout her testimony Thursday morning. That night The questions by the prosecution Wednesday afternoon built on the situation ending at the moment when she claimed that Thomas entered her home on the night of Sept. 18, 2021. Four days later, charges of sexual assault, indecent aggravated assault, indecent assault, strangulation, simple assault and criminal trespass were brought against Thomas based on the alleged encounter. He is on trial facing those charges. That evening, after Thomas entered her home while she was dressed for bed wearing loose-fitting exercise bra and shorts, she said she was "appalled. He just walked in. I felt unsafe. Concerned for my daughter upstairs asleep. My 8-year-old."
When asked by Chief Deputy General Patrick Schulte, with the prosecution, if she thought Thomas was intoxicated, she responded, "I don't know him well enough to know if he was intoxicated. He had been drinking." She said she asked him, "Why are you here?" and that he responded, "I don't know." Then she said, "If you don't have a reason to be here, you need to get out of my house. You need to leave." They talked about what vehicle he drove to her home. She went to the window to look outside for it. The vehicle was not there, she said. The woman said Thomas told her he had driven his mother's car and parked it a couple blocks up the street. He had come up close behind her. "Do you want to smoke?" he asked. She testified that she started smoking marijuana after an injury and kept a bong behind several items on a shelf near the door. Thomas grabbed at it and tried to light it, she testified. "He didn't know what to do." The woman then lit it and he took a puff. "I told him to leave," she said. When asked by the prosecutor why she did that, she responded: "I thought that is why he came and he is going to leave." More details of her testimony will follow in the next report on the trial. The prosecution What a new misconduct probe could mean for the Somerset County DA On Wednesday, the state attorney general's office prosecutors, Schulte and Senior Deputy Attorney General Tomm Mutschler, said the woman said she was never attracted to Thomas, but didn't know how to deal with him because he is the county's district attorney. The result was a physical and sexual traumatic experience and fear and confusion on what to do about the incident, Schulte said. She did not report the incident to the police immediately, he said the evidence will show. "He is the district attorney. What am I supposed to do?" Schulte said about her mindset.
The defense The defense team is Ryan Tutera and Eric Jackson Lurie, both of Pittsburgh. Tutera said Wednesday that the woman who claims that Thomas sexually and physically assaulted her was the person who "did the things that were criminal," such as destroying evidence. She destroyed telling text messages and "a marijuana grow operation in her basement," he said. "The police in this case were well aware of what she was doing at the house. The police gave her time to get rid of it" before they came to her home to gather evidence used to make a case against Thomas. Destroying evidence such as text messages and a marijuana grow operation is a felony, Tutera said. © Copyright 2023 The Daily American. All rights reserved.

1116: Ray Uttaro

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Raymond Uttaro

Raymond Uttaro worked for Nelson County Sheriff’s Office in Virginia as a jailer and a D.A.R.E. officer. D.A.R.E is a program that works with children to teach them strategies for resisting bad choices regarding drugs, gangs, and other violence.

A young boy came forward and described what was done to him. He also said Uttaro held a gun to his head and told him he would shoot him if he talked. The list of charges is epic and sick-making.

  • 18.2-48 – Abduction with intent to extort money or for immoral purpose
  • 18.2-53.1 – Use or display of firearm in committing felony (two counts)
  • 18.2-61 – Rape (two counts)
  • 18.2-63 – Carnal knowledge of child between thirteen and fifteen years of age (two counts)
  • 18.2-67.1 – Forcible sodomy (three counts)
  • 18.2-67.2 – Object sexual penetration (four counts)
  • 18.2-67.3 – Aggravated Sexual Battery (four counts)
  • 18.2-67.4:2 – Sexual abuse of a child under 15 years of age (two counts)
  • 18.2-255 – Distribution of certain drugs to persons under 18 (four counts)
  • 18.2-374.1 – Production, publication, sale, financing, etc., of child pornography
  • 18.2-374.3 – Use of communications systems to facilitate certain offenses involving children
  • 18.2-374.4 – Display of child pornography or grooming video or materials to a child