Sexual Assault

A 37-year-old La Crescenta man accused of kidnapping and sexually assaulting women has been charged with four felony counts, the Los Angeles County district attorney's office said Tuesday. Jason Maynard Kies allegedly grabbed a woman exiting her car March 22 in North Hollywood and attempted to force her into his gray GMC sport utility vehicle, Los Angeles police said. Later that day, police said, Kies fought a security guard after attempting to steal something from a department store and tried to pull a female jogger into his vehicle near Tujunga Avenue and Sarah Street in Studio City.

A Santa Clarita Valley man was charged with sexually assaulting 14 girls, one of them 12 years old, authorities said Tuesday night. Michael Downs, 19, met many of the the girls on Facebook, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department said. Downs claimed he was 16 and allegedly gained the victims' confidence by saying he was friends with other teen girls whom he named. He would persuade the girls to meet him, the department said in a statement. The girls were between 12 and 16 years old. Continue reading > > -- Robert J. Lopez, Los Angeles Times

Amber Willard THORNYCROFT -- A 14-year-old Glendale boy was arrested Thursday on suspicion of inappropriately grabbing girls at Glendale High School. The boy, whose name was withheld because he is a minor, is accused by three girls of grabbing their breasts and pubic areas on several occasions, which were reported Oct. 18. One girl said the boy, who was in ninth grade, started harassing her at summer school. The boy was suspended from school and has since transferred to another school, officials said.

Nevermind that they misspelled the word 'prostitution' in the headline, but the student paper at Boston University is in hot water after running an April Fool's Day edition that ran the faux story: "Cinderella in political prostituion [sic] ring, stepsisters vie for throne". Taking the riff further, the paper, the Daily Free Press, came out April 1 as the "Disney Free Press. " The story inserted Disney characters into recalled incidents of rape and sexual assault on campus -- an issue the college has apparently been grappling with -- including the arrest of "seven frat dwarves" accused of date rape.

An Arkansas man who posed as a musician was charged Tuesday with allegedly sexually assaulting a 21-year-old Illinois woman in Glendale after she responded to his Craigslist job posting for a personal assistant, police said. Garry Dwayne Boga, who also used the name “Tavion,” faces one felony count of sexual penetration by a foreign object, felony sexual battery by fraud, two felony counts of assault on his cohabitant and felony robbery, according to a Los Angeles County Superior Court criminal complaint.

Glendale resident Bill Lefkovits, 57, was outnumbered Thursday evening as he walked in a pair of women's shoes to raise awareness of sexual assault and rape. Across the country, the Walk a Mile in Her Shoes campaign draws thousands of men to walk a mile in high heels. Among more than 100 men and women participating in Glendale on Thursday, Lefkovits appeared to be the only man to don women's footwear, wearing his wife Kathy's low-heel brown sandal wedges. “Good causes like this - I'm into it,” he said.

A 44-year-old man pleaded not guilty Thursday to charges that he sexually abused his ex-girlfriend's daughter for years in their Glendale home, police said. Jose Ricardo Yanez of Eagle Rock was charged with four felony counts of lewd acts on a child, aggravated sexual assault of a child, attempted sodomy by force and oral copulation on a child, according to a Los Angeles County Superior Court criminal complaint. The U.S. Marshal's Task Force conducted surveillance on Yanez, who was arrested Tuesday in the 2600 block of Saxon Drive in connection with the charges, Glendale Police Sgt. Tom Lorenz said.

Tim Willert DOWNTOWN -- Assemblyman Dario Frommer (D-Glendale) will host a free self-defense safety workshop from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Glendale YWCA, 735 E. Lexington Drive. The workshop will provide safety tips and self-defense techniques and is designed to prevent sexual assault. Although women typically are victims of sexual assault, one of out of four children and one out of nine men are victims, according to statistics provided by Frommer's office.

"The first step in curing a social ill is to admit it exists," said Eliza Karagezian, the volunteer coordinator of the YWCA of Glendale. Karagezian was referring to sexual assault. Every two and half minutes, somewhere in America someone is sexually assaulted, according to the U.S. Department of Justice's 2002 National Crime Survey, as listed on The Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network website http://www.rain.org" href="http://www.rain.org" class="linkification-ext"> www.rain.

Elvia Huizar felt alone during the four years she spent in the U.S. Air Force, part of which she spent in Iraq. She didn't find the sisterhood she had expected. The men formed close bonds with each other. However, she and other women put up walls, creating an environment of competition among themselves. PHOTOS: YWCA and Sunergos honor female veterans But on Friday, those walls began to fall at the end of a three-day program designed to help female veterans succeed in civilian life.

An Arkansas man who posed as a musician was charged Tuesday with allegedly sexually assaulting a 21-year-old Illinois woman in Glendale after she responded to his Craigslist job posting for a personal assistant, police said. Garry Dwayne Boga, who also used the name “Tavion,” faces one felony count of sexual penetration by a foreign object, felony sexual battery by fraud, two felony counts of assault on his cohabitant and felony robbery, according to a Los Angeles County Superior Court criminal complaint.

As the investigation into a 10-year-old Northridge girl's kidnapping and sexual assault continued, an L.A. County supervisor criticized the so-called realignment program which transfers authority of some felons from state prisons to county jails. The circumstances of Tobias Dustin Summers' July 2012 release from custody were not clear. Police said Saturday that the 30-year-old had a criminal history dating back to 2002 that includes charges of kidnapping, robbery, explosives possession and petty theft.

A 37-year-old La Crescenta man accused of kidnapping and sexually assaulting women has been charged with four felony counts, the Los Angeles County district attorney's office said Tuesday. Jason Maynard Kies allegedly grabbed a woman exiting her car March 22 in North Hollywood and attempted to force her into his gray GMC sport utility vehicle, Los Angeles police said. Later that day, police said, Kies fought a security guard after attempting to steal something from a department store and tried to pull a female jogger into his vehicle near Tujunga Avenue and Sarah Street in Studio City.

A 44-year-old man pleaded not guilty Thursday to charges that he sexually abused his ex-girlfriend's daughter for years in their Glendale home, police said. Jose Ricardo Yanez of Eagle Rock was charged with four felony counts of lewd acts on a child, aggravated sexual assault of a child, attempted sodomy by force and oral copulation on a child, according to a Los Angeles County Superior Court criminal complaint. The U.S. Marshal's Task Force conducted surveillance on Yanez, who was arrested Tuesday in the 2600 block of Saxon Drive in connection with the charges, Glendale Police Sgt. Tom Lorenz said.

Elvia Huizar felt alone during the four years she spent in the U.S. Air Force, part of which she spent in Iraq. She didn't find the sisterhood she had expected. The men formed close bonds with each other. However, she and other women put up walls, creating an environment of competition among themselves. PHOTOS: YWCA and Sunergos honor female veterans But on Friday, those walls began to fall at the end of a three-day program designed to help female veterans succeed in civilian life.

A Glendale High School student who was arrested this week after he allegedly grabbed a 42-year-old woman's crotch told police he was accused of the same crime at another school campus, according to police. The student, Ryan Navarrete, 18, of Los Angeles was arrested Monday on suspicion of sexual battery after he allegedly assaulted the Santa Clarita woman as she walked on Brand Boulevard in downtown Glendale. Navarrete denied grabbing the woman, but told officers he was accused of “doing the same thing at Crescenta Valley High School and has had to transfer to Glendale High due to the allegations,” according to police reports.

Glendale resident Bill Lefkovits, 57, was outnumbered Thursday evening as he walked in a pair of women's shoes to raise awareness of sexual assault and rape. Across the country, the Walk a Mile in Her Shoes campaign draws thousands of men to walk a mile in high heels. Among more than 100 men and women participating in Glendale on Thursday, Lefkovits appeared to be the only man to don women's footwear, wearing his wife Kathy's low-heel brown sandal wedges. “Good causes like this - I'm into it,” he said.

Nevermind that they misspelled the word 'prostitution' in the headline, but the student paper at Boston University is in hot water after running an April Fool's Day edition that ran the faux story: "Cinderella in political prostituion [sic] ring, stepsisters vie for throne". Taking the riff further, the paper, the Daily Free Press, came out April 1 as the "Disney Free Press. " The story inserted Disney characters into recalled incidents of rape and sexual assault on campus -- an issue the college has apparently been grappling with -- including the arrest of "seven frat dwarves" accused of date rape.

A Santa Clarita Valley man was charged with sexually assaulting 14 girls, one of them 12 years old, authorities said Tuesday night. Michael Downs, 19, met many of the the girls on Facebook, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department said. Downs claimed he was 16 and allegedly gained the victims' confidence by saying he was friends with other teen girls whom he named. He would persuade the girls to meet him, the department said in a statement. The girls were between 12 and 16 years old. Continue reading > > -- Robert J. Lopez, Los Angeles Times

CITY HALL — Dozens of women took a stand against violence toward women as they marched together Friday night on Glendale Avenue, holding signs and wearing white T-shirts in honor of Sexual Assault Awareness Month. Some of the women were victims of domestic violence and sexual assault, but others were supporters who participated in the Take Back the Night march to bring awareness to the issues. Marchers gathered inside the YWCA of Glendale, a nonprofit women’s organization, and heard poetry from women who were domestic violence victims.