Morning News Briefing
Written by WBTA STAFF on September 20, 2019
A Batavia man has admitted in Federal Court to possessing child pornography.
51 year old Daryl Sumeriski was residing in a halfway house in Bath when fellow residents expressed concern about certain images they observed on the defendant’s cell phone and alerted authorities.
As a result, a search warrant was executed and investigators found more than 3,000 images of child pornography on Sumeriski’s phone.
Some of the images depicted violent abuse of infants and toddlers.
He faces up to 20 years in prison and a possible quarter million dollars fine when he is sentenced on January 10th of next year.
Batavia man accepts plea agreement to sex abuse charges on an Alford basis.
Wesley Thigpen accepted a plea deal in Genesee County Court yesterday on sex abuse charges on an Alford basis, meaning that he accepts the charges against him without admitting to committing the crimes.
First Assistant District Attorney Melissa Cianfrini accused Thigpen of showing sexually explicit pictures of himself to and committing other sexually related actions with a 13 year old girl which he denied doing yet pled guilty to.
The plea deal promises Thigpen no more than four years in prison, avoiding the more than a decade he could have faced were he convicted at trial of sexual abuse, two counts of burglary, and criminal contempt.
He was remanded back to jail to await sentencing in lieu of $10,000 bail.
A North Spruce Street man busted for drugs.
25 year old Geoffrey Jamele was apprehended by Genesee County Sheriff’s Deputies took following a traffic stop for an alleged violation on College Road in Batavia yesterday afternoon.
During the investigation Jamele was allegedly found in possession of 2 THC oil cartridges and was charged with Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance, Unlawful Possession of Marijuana and for having an obstructed view.
He was issued an appearance ticket for Batavia Town Court on October 10th.
Buffalo Diocese Bishop Richard Malone is telling area priests he won’t be stepping down from his position.
In a letter, Malone apologized for failing to act more decisively during the clergy sex abuse scandal and said this isn’t the time to defend errors of the past.
A recent poll by The Buffalo News showed nearly 86-percent of local Catholics believe he should resign.
From August 14th through September 16th, 138 lawsuits have been filed against the Buffalo Diocese claiming it allowed priests or other employees to sexually abuse children.
Tomorrow is National Seat Check Saturday and City Fire are hosting a free car seat safety event.
The Batavia city fire department is conducting a child safety seat inspection where you can have your child’s car seat checked for proper installation or get some training on how to install one properly.
The inspection will be held this Saturday, from 10 until 2, at the fire station on Evans Street.
