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FBI warns parents after Florida man charged with sextortion of 13-year-old Michigan girl

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FBI warns parents after Florida man charged with sextortion of 13-year-old Michigan girl


DETROIT (WXYZ) — On Wednesday, the Division of Justice and the FBI Detroit discipline workplace are warning concerning the rise in sextortion schemes primarily concentrating on youngsters.

This comes because the division introduced costs towards 21-year-old Brandon Le. The Florida man is accused of coercing a 13-year-girl in Michigan to ship sexual specific materials on social media.

He is dealing with three costs for coercing a minor to interact in sexual exercise, producing baby pornography and receiving baby pornography.

“The speedy rise of sextortion throughout Michigan and throughout the US is a deeply disturbing pattern,” mentioned Mark Totten, U.S. legal professional within the Western District of Michigan.

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Totten alleges Le coerced the younger lady from Clinton County into having sexual conversations over snapchat earlier than utilizing them towards her.

“He then took a screenshot of the sexual portion of that dialog and threatened to publicly put up that dialog on-line along with her identify,” Totten mentioned

Utilizing the dialog as blackmail, Le allegedly demanded sexual images and movies to maintain quiet. Authorities imagine this 13-year-old is way from the one sufferer.

“We imagine that Mr. Le could have contacted a big variety of different folks throughout the nation,” Totten mentioned.

Based on the FBI, experiences of sextortion in Michigan had been almost thrice greater in 2022 in comparison with 2021. Dr. Justin Patchin with the Cyberbullying Analysis Heart has been finding out the difficulty.

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“We first studied sextortion in 2016 and once more in 2019 and about 5% of the center and highschool college students we surveyed mentioned they’d been a goal of sextortion,” Patchin mentioned.

Pathcin says in each research, they discovered boys had been extra usually targets, and most perpetrators knew their sufferer. Nevertheless, many high-profile instances like this one contain strangers.

Patchin urges dad and mom to be understanding and join with their youngsters, in order that they really feel protected coming ahead.

“We’d like to verify if our youngsters do discover themselves in these very destructive conditions they’ve somebody to show to,” Patchin mentioned.

The FBI offered the next six recommendations on how folks can shield themselves from sextortion schemes:

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  1. Be selective about what you share on-line. In case your social media accounts are open to everybody, a predator might be able to work out numerous details about you.
  2. Be cautious of anybody you encounter for the primary time on-line. Block or ignore messages from strangers.
  3. Bear in mind that folks can fake to be something or anybody on-line. Movies and images will not be proof that persons are who they declare to be. Pictures will be altered or stolen. In some instances, predators have even taken over the social media accounts of their victims.
  4. Be suspicious if you happen to meet somebody on one sport or app and this particular person asks you to begin speaking on a unique platform.
  5. Be within the know. Any content material you create on-line — whether or not it’s a textual content message, photograph, or video — will be made public. And nothing really “disappears” on-line. When you ship one thing, you don’t have any management over the place it goes subsequent.
  6. Be prepared to ask for assist. In case you are getting messages or requests on-line that don’t appear proper, block the sender, report the habits to the location administrator or go to an grownup. You probably have been victimized on-line, inform somebody.

“We’re 100% dedicated to utilizing each software we’ve got to carry perpetrators accountable,” Totten mentioned.

The U.S. Legal professional’s workplace believes that Le used the identify “Ty” and the next usernames on varied social media, messaging and e mail accounts:

  • addityyt
  • tyaddinude
  • tyaddibaby
  • tycroneaddi
  • tygrazittenudef

Should you imagine that you’re a sufferer on this case, please go to the U.S. Legal professional’s web site or contact Kathy Schuette, sufferer coordinator, at 616-808-2034 or kathy.schuette@usdoj.gov.

You probably have details about or imagine you’re a sufferer of sextortion, contact your native FBI discipline workplace by calling 1-800-CALL-FBI or report it on-line at the FBI ideas web site. Extra info is out there on the FBI’s sextortion’s webpage.





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Michigan

Michigan health officials report rise in whooping cough cases

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Michigan health officials report rise in whooping cough cases


CDC reports rise in whooping cough cases

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CDC reports rise in whooping cough cases

03:51

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(CBS DETROIT) – Michigan health officials are warning residents about a rise in cases of pertussis, commonly known as whooping cough. 

As of Oct. 28, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services has reported 830 confirmed or probable cases this year. Between 2017 and 2019, the state averaged 596 cases of whopping cough each year. 

According to MDHHS, early symptoms of pertussis can resemble a common cold, and symptoms can take five to 10 days to appear after being exposed. Babies and children might not have a cough but could have pauses in their breathing, which can cause their skin to look bluish or cause shortness of breath. Later symptoms include uncontrolled coughing fits.

The median age of pertussis cases is 13, and officials say 75% of those cases have been in people under 18. An acute case of pertussis can cause serious illness in people of all ages but is more likely to be severe and potentially deadly for infants. 

“Vaccinations continue to be our top line of defense against the spread of pertussis,” said Dr. Natasha Bagdasarian, chief medical executive. “With a declining rate of immunizations, we are unfortunately seeing a rise in pertussis and other vaccine preventable diseases statewide. We encourage all Michiganders to stay up to date with their immunization schedule.” 

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The CDC recommends the pertussis vaccine for infants, children, adolescents and those who are pregnant, as well as for adults who haven’t received a dose as a child or adult. 

State health officials say 82.9% of children have received their first dose of the Diphtheria, Tetanus, Pertussis (DTaP) vaccine by the time they are three months old, but only 65.6% of 19-month-olds received the four recommended doses. 



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1.2M cast early, in-person ballots in Michigan ahead of Election Day

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1.2M cast early, in-person ballots in Michigan ahead of Election Day


Lansing — About 1.2 million people voted at early, in-person voting sites across Michigan in the first presidential election where the state constitution allowed for the voting option.

The number of Michigan voters — updated by the Secretary of State’s office early Monday morning after the conclusion of early, in-person voting — represent more than one-fifth of the total who cast ballots in the 2020 presidential election. When the 1.98 million absentee ballots received as of Sunday night are added, the total number of early voters moves to about 3.2 million, or nearly 44% of active registered voters in Michigan.

The total number of early voters so far is on par with 2020, when roughly 3.2 million people voted absentee ballots during the pandemic. A total of nearly 5.6 million voted in that presidential election.

A constitutional amendment passed by voters in 2022 requires all clerks to offer at least nine days of early, in-person voting ahead of Election Day, a mandate that resulted in the majority of communities offering early voting from Saturday, Oct. 26 through Sunday. Three communities opted to open voting centers earlier: Detroit, Canton Township and East Lansing.

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Some of the highest numbers of early, in-person voters turned out in Detroit, with a final tally of 42,902 people voting sites in the state’s largest city. Additionally, Detroit has received back about 89,000 of roughly 109,000 absentee ballots sent, according to the Secretary of State’s office.

“We knew they would be eager for it,” Detroit Clerk Janice Winfrey said Sunday of early, in-person voting. “This is our first year doing it in Detroit. It started out slow — you know, the presidential primary, was slow — but I am so pleased with turnout.”

Winfrey said lines for early voting topped out at about an hour and 10 minutes, but voters weren’t deterred by the wait.

“It’s impressive to see,” Winfrey said. “Everybody’s energy is high. Nobody’s mad about being in line. And that’s the part that I’m thankful for.”

Rural turnout

Chris Ferguson was among the more than 1.2 million who cast a ballot in-person at an early voting site in Shiawassee County. The 59-year-old Owosso teacher stopped at Owosso City Hall on Sunday to cast a ballot while running errands.

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Ferguson said she likely could have made time Tuesday to cast her ballot but decided to stop by on a day when she had less on her plate.

“Everybody that I know has voted early,” Ferguson said. “They just thought it was so nice, no pressure, convenient. I’m on my way to the grocery store and then I’m going to go home and rake leaves.”

Owosso City Clerk Amy Kirkland said Sunday afternoon that her office saw a marked uptick in early, in-person voters compared to the August primary.

“Our traffic has really picked up,” Kirkland said. “In August, we had 100 voters over nine days. The last time I checked downstairs, we had over 1,300 for this election. Early voting seems to have really caught on.”

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The mid-Michigan city, which has about 12,200 registered voters, also issued about 2,500 absentee ballots, Kirkland said. She expects the use of early, in-person options to increase as more people learn of the option.

“I actually like early voting and, if it continues to grow the way I think it will, we may actually be able to cut down on our costs on Election Day,” Kirkland said.

In the northeast Lower Peninsula, Alpena Township Clerk Michele Palevich said Sunday that roughly 2,000 people have circulated through an early voting site the township is operating with the city of Alpena.

She was pleased with the early, in-person turnout, which was much steadier than the trickle the township saw in August. On one of the nine days of early voting in August, a total of six people visited the early voting site, she said.

“This is the first election where I’ve really seen the benefit of it, where we’re getting a good turnout,” Palevich said. “When we’re getting a good turnout, it feels beneficial. But when we’re getting days with just six voters, it doesn’t feel that beneficial.”

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In southern Livingston County, Kristina Behm made good time Saturday getting through the line at her Putnam Township early voting center.

“It’s kind of nice to just get it done over the weekend and then you don’t have to go before work or after work or whatever,” said Behm, 31. “It’s great for people who have lives and things happen.”

Urban and suburban use

At Lansing’s Reo Road voting center Saturday afternoon, voters waited about 20 minutes to fill out their ballots — part of a steady stream of voters the city has seen over the nine days of early voting, City Clerk Chris Swope said. The capital city also had a second early voting site at Foster Community Center.

The city was one of several pilot communities to roll out early, in-person voting sooner than the rest of the state. Lansing offered some period of early voting ahead of its November 2023 election, the presidential primary in February, a city election in May and the August primary.

Early, in-person voting numbers were much smaller in those earlier elections, which typically have lower turnout than a presidential election, Swope said.

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“It was really great to see it catch on and see voters coming out,” Swope said. “And it’s really just people coming all day long.”

In Kent County, each jurisdiction ran its own early voting centers, with Grand Rapids hosting four within the city alone, said Kent County Clerk Lisa Posthumus Lyons. Countywide, about 96,265 early, in-person votes were cast within Kent County, she said.

Lyons said she was relieved to see the early, in-person voting centers used after attendance was underwhelming in the February presidential primary and August primary. Participation in the county’s first day of early voting on Oct. 26 was double the February and August early, in-person voting tallies together, she said.

“I think early voting in Michigan has proven to work and proven to be secure,” Lyons said Sunday. “And the voters have proven that they are interested in it.”

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Lyons said Kent County’s absentee numbers are down from 2020, but it’s hard to tell just yet if that’s an effect of the pandemic or voters shifting from absentee to early, in-person. Until a better trend is established, it’s difficult anticipate how each voting option will be utilized, she said.

“Things went smoothly, but we had lines,” Lyons said. “Not knowing where the baseline would be with this being our first large turnout election with early voting, we didn’t know what to expect.”

West Michigan wasn’t the only region experiencing lines at it’s early, in-person voting centers.

In DeWitt, 23-year-old Brayden Shaw walked into the city’s early voting site around noon only to walk back out again after seeing the line. Voters leaving the voting site said they had waited about an hour and 10 minutes in line.

Shaw said he planned to return later in the day or early Tuesday to cast his ballot. He said, next time, he may find a weekday to vote.

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“I think it’s smart to cut down on lines on Election Day,” Shaw said. “But I think everyone has the same mindset to try and vote early because they think it’s going to be shorter lines. And then that just causes a backup.”

eleblanc@detroitnews.com



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VP Kamala Harris makes 11th campaign stop in Michigan

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VP Kamala Harris makes 11th campaign stop in Michigan


EAST LANSING, Mich. (WILX) – Vice President Kamala Harris made a campaign stop here in East Lansing on Sunday with just days to go until the election. Speaking on topics like abortion, young voters and the war in Gaza.

“Hello Michigan,” said Kamala Harris.

The race for the presidency is closing in as election day is just days away. Vice President Kamala Harris making her 11th trip to Michigan and opening her speech with remarks on the Israel-Hamas war.

“This year has been difficult given the scale of death and destruction in Gaza and given the civilian casualties and displacement in Lebanon, it is devastating and as president, I will do everything in my power to end the war in Gaza,” said Harris.

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Harris along with Representative Elissa Slotkin and several Michigan State students rallied at Michigan State Jenison Fieldhouse on Sunday. Calling this campaign stop ‘Get out the vote’ as they encourage voters, especially the younger generation to get out and vote on election day.

“As a student and a first-time voter, I’m looking for someone who will fight for me, my future and everyone else in this room. Not just them self,” said an MSU Senior.

During her speech, Harris said it’s time for a new generation of leadership in America.

“We have the momentum because our campaign is tapping into the ambition, the aspiration and the dreams of the American people because we are optimistic and excited about what we can do together,” said Harris.

Harris finishing her campaigning in Michigan with this message…

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“We have an opportunity in this election to finally turn the page on a decade of politics driven by fear and division,” said Harris. “And America is ready. America is ready for a fresh start. Ready for a new way forward.”

Kamala Harris is expected to wrap up her campaign in Pennsylvania on Monday with rallies in both Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. While her running mate Minnesota Governor Tim Walz will be in Michigan.

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