Junior firefighters

A Pennsylvania fire chief is facing obstruction of justice charges for failing to report allegations that his deputy chief sexually abused a junior firefighter. Fire Chief Thomas Weber of the Folcroft Fire Department has been charged with failing to report suspected child abuse, endangering the welfare of a child, and obstructing an investigation.

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A fire district in New York is one of five entities being sued by a sexual abuse victim under a special state law that extends the statute of limitations to August 14, 2021 for otherwise time-barred claims brought by minors. Jeffrey Corley filed suit naming the Woodbourne Fire District and four other entities under the Child Victims Act of 2019.

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A volunteer firefighter from New Cumberland, Pennsylvania has been sentenced to three to ten years in prison for sexually assaulting a junior firefighter in 2019. James W. Ainsworth III, 26, pled guilty in Cumberland County Court to a single charge of aggravated indecent assault of a person less than 16 years of age.

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The former fire chief of the Cordova Volunteer Fire Department has been sentenced to 60 years in prison for sexually abusing minors, including members of his own fire department. James Morris Jr., 70, pled guilty yesterday in US District Court to attempted enticement of a minor.

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A volunteer EMT has filed suit claiming she was sexually assaulted by a career lieutenant while participating in ride-along training with the Bedford County Department of Fire & Rescue when she was a minor. Identified as Jane Doe in the complaint, the EMT alleges she was sexually assaulted by Lieutenant Larry Scott Hawkins during a ride-along training session in February, 2018.

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A Pennsylvania fire chief has been charged with having sex with a 14-year-old junior firefighter. Kevin Mains, fire chief for the Strong Fire Company, is accused of having sex with the girl on four occasions, twice at the fire station and twice at a motorcycle club in Coal Township.

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A lawsuit that alleged a 13-year old girl was sexually assaulted by a fire lieutenant while participating in the department’s junior program has been settled. The family of the victim, who was identified in the pleadings as T.S., filed the suit last year naming Lieutenant Joshua James Ralston and the Trucksville Volunteer Fire Department as defendants.

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A former Oregon firefighter who was accused of sexually abusing a junior firefighter when she was 14 and 15, has been acquitted of all charged. Carlos Villa-Garcia was acquitted yesterday on one count of second-degree sexual abuse and two counts of third-degree sexual abuse.

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A Michigan fire department is being sued by a former junior firefighter who was sexually assaulted by two firefighters while she was participating in the department’s Explorer program. The plaintiff, identified in the suit as Jane Doe, filed the complaint on August 31, 2018 in US District Court for the Western District of Michigan naming Cascade Charter Township and the Boy Scouts of America.

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A former junior firefighter with the Strinestown Community Fire Department has been charged with stealing one of the department’s fire trucks and taking it for a joyride last Sunday. The youth was observed on surveillance video using a stolen Ford Explorer to push in an overhead door to access the fire station.

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The family of a junior firefighter in Pennsylvania who was sexually assaulted by the head of the junior program is suing the fire department and the officer. The Trucksville Volunteer Fire Department and Lieutenant Joshua James Ralston have been named as defendants in a suit.

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A firefighting camp for girls sponsored by the San Diego Fire Rescue Foundation has been cancelled after a civil rights attorney complained that it discriminated against boys. The Second Annual Girls Empowerment Camp was intended introduce girls ages 14 to 18 to career opportunities in the fire and emergency services

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A junior firefighter who claims to have been sexual assaulted by a firefighter is now suing an Oregon fire department for $3.5 million. The girl identified as Donna Doe filed suit last Friday against the Monroe Rural Fire Protection District.

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A captain with the Plainfield Fire Department has been charged with sexually assaulting a junior firefighter. Kevin Wells, 27, is facing three counts of second-degree sexual assault. The victim reported the assault on August 8, 2017. She reported that the assault occurred at the fire station.

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