Devlin charged with molestation
Authorities have charged a Missouri man accused of kidnapping two boys with molesting them nearly 70 times.
Michael Devlin, a 41-year-old pizzeria manager, was charged with 69 counts of forcible sodomy, all felonies and each punishable by up to life in prison. It’s the first time authorities have openly accused Devlin of molesting the children.
St. Louis County prosecutor Robert McCulloch said 17 of the counts related to 13-year-old Ben Ownby, who disappeared Jan. 8, and the remaining counts were related to Shawn Hornbeck, now 15, who was abducted in 2002.
“Devlin acknowledged committing these acts,” McCulloch said.
Boston
MIT professor on hunger strike
A black MIT professor began a hunger strike Monday to protest the university’s decision to deny him tenure, which he claims was based on race.
James Sherley, a stem cell scientist, said he tried for two years to persuade administrators at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to reverse the department head’s rejection of his tenure bid.
“I’m not actually doing this to get tenured,” Sherley said. “I’m doing this for the reason that I wasn’t tenured – which is racism – and I want this institution to admit that that is the problem and make plans to do something about it.”
University administrators denied Sherley’s allegations and said less than half of junior faculty members are promoted to tenured positions.
WASHINGTON
Giuliani files statement for bid
Rudy is ready to run.
Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani filed a so-called “statement of candidacy” with the Federal Election Commission on Monday. The filing indicates that he would seek the presidency as a Republican if he decides to go forward with a campaign.
In the process of filing, Giuliani was eliminating the phrase “testing the waters” from earlier paperwork establishing his exploratory committee.
The steps Monday put Giuliani on the same level, legally, as John McCain and Mitt Romney, the other two top-tier GOP candidates who have formed regular exploratory committees and filed statements of candidacy.
SAN FRANCISCO
Mayor to seek alcohol counseling
Mayor Gavin Newsom said Monday that he plans to seek counseling for alcohol use, following the disclosure that he had an affair with the wife of a veteran aide.
Newsom, 39, said that although “my problems with alcohol are not an excuse for my personal lapses in judgment,” he had stopped drinking and wanted professional help staying sober.
“Upon reflection with friends and family this weekend, I have come to the conclusion that I will be a better person without alcohol in my life,” Newsom said in a statement.