Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office MCKINLEYVILLE – On Tuesday, Feb. 12 just before 3 p.m., Humboldt County Sheriff’s deputies were dispatched to the McKinleyville Shopping Center on the 1500 block of Central Avenue for the report of a sexual assault that had just occurred. When deputies arrived on scene, they learned that the 18-year-old female victim…
Sex offender arrested in McKinleyville
Mad River Union McKINLEYVILLE – A registered sex offender was arrested Monday afternoon, Jan. 9 after he allegedly touched a juvenile in an inappropriate manner at a laundromat in McKinleyville. Deputies with the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office responded to the laundromat on the 1300 block of Hiller Road at 3 p.m. and talked to the…
Rapist pleads guilty, will get 18+ years in prison
Humboldt County District Attorney EUREKA – Thirty-five-year-old Thomas Leonard Lusk, II, pled guilty Tuesday, Nov. 1 to two violent sex offenses: assault with intent to commit rape or forced oral copulation of one woman and forced oral copulation involving a second woman. The defendant also admitted to a prior conviction for a serious felony under…
HSU sexual assault survivor on crusade
Paul Mann Mad River Union ARCATA – Norwegian transfer student Rigmor Angel Soerensen, who won a sexual assault conviction Aug. 3 against another Humboldt State student, urges women everywhere to report their assailants and pursue legal redress. In an exclusive interview with the Union, Soerensen said Friday that government, law enforcement and the judicial system…
Accused HSU rapist pleads to lesser charge
Paul Mann Mad River Union EUREKA – Accused rapist and former Humboldt State University student Raul Sierra IV has been placed on three years’ probation with no additional jail time, under a plea agreement accepted Aug. 3 by Humboldt Superior Court Judge Timothy P. Cissna. Sierra is subject to a criminal protection order that blocks…
Plea deal pending in rape case
Paul Mann Mad River Union EUREKA – The prosecution and defense are working jointly to resolve as soon as Wednesday, Aug. 3, the acquaintance rape charge against former Humboldt State University student and football player Raul Sierra IV. The plea bargain, known in legalese as a resolution, is scheduled for presentation Wednesday, Aug 3 to…
Rapist gets 23 years
Paul Mann Mad River Union EUREKA – The 23-year prison sentence of convicted rapist Kailan Meserve, 45, of Petrolia, was the medium-term judgment Superior Court Judge Timothy P. Cissna could impose under the law. The judge also sentenced Kailan Meserve July 28 to lifetime registration as a sex offender, a lifetime ban on gun possession…
Evidence withheld in sexual assault trial
Paul Mann Mad River Union EUREKA – When Deputy District Attorney Brie Bennett delivered her closing argument in the failed sexual assault prosecution in mid-June of former Humboldt County Sheriff Sgt. Jason Scott Daniels, she said the case was only as strong as the evidence she was allowed to introduce. What the five-woman, seven-man jury…
No charges in sex assault case
Jack Durham Mad River Union EUREKA/ARCATA – The Humboldt County District Attorney has decided to not press charges against a former Humboldt State student who was accused of sexual assault. Robert Ikpomwonsa Daudu was arrested on suspicion of sexual assault in February for an incident that University Police say took place in December 2015. After…
Ex-sheriff deputy’s defense unfolds in sexual assault case
Warning: This article contains graphic content. Paul Mann Mad River Union EUREKA – Adhering to the traditional catechism of the defense, the two lawyers representing ex-Sheriff Sergeant Jason Scott Daniels, 42, have focused on inconsistencies in the plaintiffs’ recollections. Yet throughout their testimony in the long-awaited sexual assault trial, both Jane Does 1 and 2…