The lawsuit comes after state authorities disclosed that ChatGPT gave information to the shooter about what time and location would maximize victims on campus, as well as the type of gun and ammunition to use. Authorities say he was also told that an attack can get more media attention if children are involved.

“OpenAI knew this would happen. It’s happened before and it was only a matter of time before it happened again,” Vandana Joshi, whose husband Tiru Chabba was one of two people killed, said in a statement Monday. Six people were also wounded.

The lawsuit, filed Sunday in federal court, says OpenAI should have built ChatGPT with guardrails to let someone know that police may need to investigate “to prevent a specific plan for imminent harm to the public.”

OpenAI has denied any wrongdoing in what it called a “terrible crime.”

“In this case, ChatGPT provided factual responses to questions with information that could be found broadly across public sources on the internet, and it did not encourage or promote illegal or harmful activity,” Drew Pusateri, a spokesman for the company, said in an email to The Associated Press.

Separately, in April, Florida’s attorney general said there was a rare criminal investigation into ChatGPT over whether the AI tool offered advice to Phoenix Ikner that enabled the April 2025 shooting in Tallahassee. The 21-year-old has pleaded not guilty to two counts of first-degree murder and several counts of attempted murder. Prosecutors intend to seek the death penalty.

Investigators said Ikner, a Florida State student, was on campus for an hour before he walked in and out of campus buildings and green spaces while firing a handgun. The shooting took place on a weekday just before lunchtime near the school’s Student Union, which has food and shops. The lawsuit says Ikner asked ChatGPT about the busiest times there.

Joshi’s husband, a 45-year-old father of two from Greenville, South Carolina, was a regional vice president of the food service vendor Aramark Collegiate Hospitality. The other man who was killed, Robert Morales, 57, was a campus dining coordinator at Florida State.

OpenAI “put their profits over our safety and it killed my husband. They need to be responsible before another family has to go through this,” Joshi said in a statement released by her lawyer.

OpenAI is currently valued at $852 billion.

Several lawsuits have sought damages from AI and tech companies over the influence of chatbots and social media on loved ones’ mental health.

In March, a jury in Los Angeles found both Meta and YouTube liable for harms to children using their services. In New Mexico, a jury determined that Meta knowingly harmed children’s mental health and concealed what it knew about child sexual exploitation on its platforms.

The post Lawsuit blames ChatGPT maker OpenAI for helping plan a school shooting appeared first on The Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle.

    The lawsuit was announced Tuesday as Renteria faces multiple felony charges tied to separate alleged assaults involving three women. According to the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department, Renteria was rearrested Friday and is now facing 12 felony counts that include kidnapping, forcible rape and assault.

    Investigators allege the incidents occurred during 2025 while Renteria was employed as a firefighter with CAL FIRE/Riverside County Fire Department. Authorities said the criminal investigation remains active and additional victims may still come forward.

    According to the civil complaint, one alleged victim claims she was assaulted over a period of roughly six hours beginning the night of Nov. 6 and continuing into the early morning hours of Nov. 7, 2025. The lawsuit alleges the woman was brought to Fire Station 96 on Glen Oaks Road in Temecula, where the attacks allegedly took place.

    Court filings state the woman was allegedly taken to a shed located behind the station and repeatedly assaulted. The complaint further alleges she was later brought inside the station, photographed while unclothed and threatened when she asked to return home to her children.

    According to the lawsuit, the woman was ultimately released around 5 a.m. on Nov. 7 after several hours of alleged abuse.

    The complaint states the woman reported the alleged incident shortly afterward to a retired firefighter friend, who then contacted law enforcement authorities. An official investigation involving the sheriff’s department reportedly began in January 2026.

    Renteria was placed on leave by CAL FIRE after the agency became aware of the allegations, according to previous statements released by the department. He was later arrested in April on multiple felony charges connected to sexual assault allegations before being released on bond. Authorities said Friday’s rearrest involved additional accusations tied to other victims.

    Attorney David Ring, who represents one of the accusers, criticized the alleged conduct and questioned how the incidents were allowed to occur.

    “This is shocking behavior, particularly from a firefighter on duty — someone who is hired to protect our communities,” Ring said in a statement. “Renteria must be held accountable, and CAL FIRE must answer for how this was allowed to happen.”

    The lawsuit claims CAL FIRE and the State of California were negligent in hiring, supervising and retaining Renteria as an employee. Attorneys representing the plaintiff argue the agency failed to act quickly enough after allegations were first reported.

    In an earlier statement, CAL FIRE said Renteria had been served with administrative leave paperwork and had not returned to work after the department learned of the allegations on Jan. 4, 2026.

    “CAL FIRE demands its employees uphold standards of professional conduct both on- and off-duty,” the agency previously stated.

    Another attorney representing the plaintiff, Neil Gehlawat, said the allegations outlined in the lawsuit suggest the possibility of additional victims.

    “The severity and what appear to be deliberate preparations for our client’s horrific assault lead us to believe this is not an isolated incident,” Gehlawat said. “If there are additional victims or witnesses, we encourage them to contact our office so these actions can be fully investigated.”

    The Riverside County Sheriff’s Department has also indicated there may be additional victims connected to the investigation. Officials are encouraging anyone with information involving Renteria or possible related incidents to contact Investigator Joe Riddle at 951-955-1700 or through the department’s tip lines.

The post Woman Suing CAL FIRE Over Alleged Assault by Temecula Firefighter appeared first on The Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle.

Wired Works LLC, and its constituent business component, Statewide Services Inc., are suing the foundation over its alleged refusal to abide by terms of an agreement initiated as part of Wired Works’ consultation on the Cook Street Substation Project in Thousand Palms.

“Our clients delivered a result that had eluded this project for decades, and they did so at their own expense,” plaintiffs’ attorney James Bohm of Costa Mesa said. “They secured the approvals that made this project viable. Instead of honoring its commitments, the foundation refused payment and then made statements that damaged our clients’ reputations. This case is about accountability and fairness.”

Berger Foundation President Michael Rover issued a statement Monday saying the civil action was under review by the foundation’s attorneys.

“The foundation contends that the claims are without merit and strongly denies any wrongdoing,” according to Rover’s statement. “The foundation has a long-standing history of working fairly and responsibly with vendors and contractors. The press release issued by the plaintiffs through a public relations service appears intended to shape a narrative outside the courtroom. We will respond to the allegations through the appropriate legal process, where we are confident the facts will support the foundation’s position.”

State business filings indicated that Statewide Services Inc. is comprised of general contractors, and Wired Works is a consulting company that launched in April 2024, based at an office on Wildcat Drive in Palm Desert.

The civil suit was originally filed in March but has been amended as recently as last week in Riverside County Superior Court. It’s under case management at the Palm Springs Courthouse, and no hearings are set until October. In the meantime, the parties may engage in prospective out-of-court settlement negotiations.

According to the plaintiffs, Wired Works was hired by the foundation in the first half of 2024 to carry out “development work” directly linked to a proposed 100-megawatt substation intended to establish reliable electrical access for the foundation’s 1,200-acre master planned commercial project, featuring “hotels, restaurants … healthcare campuses, a hospital” and other edifices.

The plaintiffs allege that $300,000 was expended and “5,000 hours of labor” were committed to sort out requirements to put the substation project on track and bring it to fruition, culminating in approvals by the Imperial Irrigation District. IID announced in November the Cook Street Substation Project in Thousand Palms had been formally approved by its Board of Directors, which authorized a budget of $39.6 million.

Groundbreaking is set by the start of next year, and completion of the project is likely by the summer of 2028, according to IID.

The plaintiffs said their agreement with the foundation was terminated “following a leadership transition within the foundation.”

The plaintiffs allege they weren’t compensated for their work, and “inaccurate and damaging statements were communicated to IID and others within the regional development community,” damaging their reputations.

The suit cites “lost construction profits” to Wired Works of $40 million to $45 million, as well as “lost smart grid revenues” of roughly $10 million annually.

Along with reimbursement for losses, the plaintiffs are seeking unspecified punitive damages.

The post Firm Pursues Multi-Million Civil Suit Against Palm Desert’s Berger Foundation over Power Project appeared first on The Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle.

News of the lawsuit spread quickly through chat groups of parents of transgender kids, LGBTQ organizations and the broader transgender community. It was the first major action the state has taken against a hospital that had severely limited or ended transgender health services.

Many in the community see this move as a major step towards protecting transgender health, but some still question why the state’s legal claims don’t rest on broader civil rights questions. Instead, the key argument relies on the state’s corporations code — a provision governing business transactions — to try to compel Rady into continuing gender-affirming care.

The claim filed against Rady alleges the health system violated a merger agreement signed last year when Rady took over Children’s Hospital of Orange County and Children’s Hospital of Mission. That agreement requires Rady to maintain existing services, including transgender health care.

“We have anti-discrimination laws on the books. We have legal protection of gender-affirming care on the books. But if Rob Bonta does not feel confident in his ability to win a case on the basis of those laws do we really have those laws?” said Kanan Durham, executive director of Pride at the Pier, an Orange County group organizing opposition to Rady’s announced transgender clinic closure.

Durham said he was in a room full of trans people when the news of the lawsuit broke. People cheered, he said. But many were conflicted about the narrow application of the claim.

California’s civil rights law — the Unruh Civil Rights Act — is the backbone of the state’s guarantee of equal access to transgender health services, which can include puberty blockers, hormones, surgery and therapy, said Megan Noor, a staff attorney at the Transgender Law Center. The law prohibits discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. 

Noor said that means, for example, if a hospital offers puberty blockers to a cisgender child who is starting puberty too young, they cannot deny access to that same treatment to a transgender child even if it is for a different purpose, such as giving the child more time to explore their gender identity. 

Other laws require insurers to cover gender-affirming care and protect the privacy of transgender patients and their doctors.

In a press release, Bonta said “We will fight to uphold the law and ensure Californians can access gender-affirming care without facing unfair roadblocks.” His office, in an unsigned statement, said it had no comment on enforcement of the state’s civil rights law.

Ben Metcalf, a spokesperson for Rady Children’s Health, said in a statement that the organization could not comment on pending litigation, but called the decision to shutter gender-affirming care services “very difficult.”

“That decision was guided by our responsibilities as a nonprofit pediatric health care system to continue serving all children and families across our communities, including through participation in essential federal programs,” Metcalf said.

Rady notified parents of transgender children in mid-January that it would be closing its Center for Gender Affirming Care on Feb. 6.

Hospitals under pressure

Over the past year, transgender youth and their parents have watched with growing fear as California’s largest health systems retreated from providing transgender health services to people under the age of 19.

Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles was the first to stop care. Then Stanford Medicine, Kaiser Permanente, Sutter Health and most recently Rady limited or announced plans to terminate care. Sutter had told parents in December that it would stop providing services to their children, but quietly backtracked under fierce public pressure.

Hospitals say their hands were forced by an unfriendly federal government that does not recognize the existence of transgender people. 

On his first day in office, President Donald Trump issued an executive order characterizing transgender health procedures as “chemical and surgical mutilation” and directing agencies to defund any supportive programs. 

Since then his administration has intensified the pressure against health care organizations. Over the summer, federal investigators issued subpoenas to clinics and hospitals around the country, alleging fraud and seeking medical records. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in November published a self-described peer reviewed report “on the medical dangers posed to children” of gender-affirming care.

Rady, in a statement issued prior to the state’s lawsuit, confirmed the Health and Human Services inspector general was investigating the hospital, and said “the environment around gender-affirming care has changed dramatically.” 

The American Medical Association, American Academy of Pediatrics and dozens of independent scientific studies reject the claim that gender-affirming services are harmful to children with gender dysphoria. Instead, they conclude that “trans and non-binary gender identities are normal variations of human identity and expression” and having access to supportive health care positively impacts youth mental health and decreases suicidality.

Most recently, the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is considering proposed rules that would eliminate government funding for hospitals that provide transgender health care to minors. If formalized, the rules would effectively create a near-total national ban on gender-affirming services for young people because nearly all hospitals in the U.S. receive more than 50% of revenue from Medicare and Medicaid payments, according to the American Hospital Association.

Advocates, legal experts and parents say that even with this existential threat hanging over health providers, for now, it’s just that: A threat.

“Nobody needs to stop this care at this point. It is a policy that has been announced. There has not been a law passed, nothing has been finalized,” said Kathie Moehlig, executive director of TransFamily Support Services based in San Diego. “We have to resist.”

Parents and advocates look to leaders to uphold state protections

Bonta has sued the Trump administration multiple times in an effort to protect transgender patient care, but some parents and advocates say his office needs to do more to uphold state law. 

The attorney general must review nonprofit hospital transactions, and can impose conditions to preserve patient care. 

Dannie Ceseña, director of the California LGBTQ Health and Human Services Network, said it was meaningful that Bonta did that in Rady’s merger, adding language protecting gender-affirming and other specialty health services for 10 years. 

“What about all of the other hospitals and families that don’t have this protective clause? They are still violating families’ civil rights. They are still stopping access to care,” Ceseña said. “Why isn’t the attorney general doing more in regards to this issue?”

Last February, the California Department of Justice sent a letter to Children’s Hospital Los Angeles warning that its refusal to serve transgender minors would violate the state’s civil rights law. In July, the hospital permanently closed its transgender health clinic.

Ceseña says he feels the state has been inconsistent in its support of the trans community. He and other LGBTQ advocates expected the state to sue Children’s Hospital Los Angeles and others well before the Rady lawsuit. And specifically, to protect civil rights for trans children. 

“We need to stop with the letters. We need to stop with the announcements. We need to see action,” Ceseña said. “Our kids are suffering.”

Others say it’s significant that the state stepped in at all after months of “despair.”

Arne Johnson, a Bay Area parent and organizer with Rainbow Families Action, acknowledged that many members of the community had “complex feelings” about the  latest lawsuit.

But he said he cried after hearing of the lawsuit against Rady. 

“The thing that is so powerful for so many of us who have been working so hard and crying out for someone to do something is that it’s the first time the state has recognized our children are valid members of society and worthy of protection by the laws of this state,” Johnson said. “That’s all we’ve been asking for.”

Parents are fighting back 

Parents of transgender kids say they have been moved to action by the steady erosion of gender-affirming care in the state. In December, hundreds of Northern California parents protested Sutter Health’s initial decision to stop gender-affirming care.

Last month, more than 600 people rallied outside of Rady Children’s Hospital in San Diego while another 100 protested at the system’s affiliate Children’s Hospital of Orange County.

Ceseña said this marks a “huge change” since the start of the Trump administration among families who have transgender children and had previously kept their heads down in hopes that the issue would blow over.

That includes Todd, a San Diego native and father to a 15-year-old transgender boy. He asked to be identified by his middle name only to protect the identity of his son.

Before Rady informed parents it would stop services, Todd hadn’t been too involved in the transgender community. But he attended the protest and is looking to do more; Rady’s decision felt like a “betrayal,” he said.

“It felt like people who said ‘you can trust us’ were now collaborating with the people trying to hurt us,” Todd said. 

Todd’s son came out to his parents when he was 11. He saw a therapist for two years before going to Rady’s where, for more than a year, the family spoke with doctors and counselors to “help him understand himself” and “find the words and language to explain to himself what he was feeling.” 

The process looks different for every child and family, Todd said. Some kids think surgery is important to them, while others don’t; some want puberty blockers and hormone therapy, while others just want to be in an environment that is supportive. The process – broadly supported by the American Academy of Pediatrics and other leading medical societies – is often lengthy and involves the whole family, Todd said.

“If you’re not dealing with it personally, you don’t have to know those details, but what you do have to do is allow doctors and families to do the correct things to make their families healthy,” he said. 

Todd said he’s optimistic the state’s lawsuit will help Southern California families and build momentum.

The post Parents of trans kids ask: Does California really protect our rights? appeared first on The Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle.

“This administration is devastating one of our nation’s fastest-growing sources of clean, reliable and affordable energy,” said Attorney General Letitia James of New York, which is one of the plaintiffs. She said the halt threatened “the loss of thousands of good-paying jobs and billions in investments” and was “delaying our transition away from the fossil fuels that harm our health and our planet.”

The halt on federal permits for wind energy was first laid out in a Jan. 20 executive order, one of a barrage that President Trump signed immediately upon taking office. It directed agencies to stop all permits for wind farms pending federal review.

The lawsuit says that, by complying, federal agencies have put major investments that have already been made at risk. The order also instructed the United States attorney general and the interior secretary to explore “terminating or amending” existing leases to wind farms, further increasing uncertainty for companies.

The wind industry provides about 10 percent of the nation’s electricity, and has many new projects under development, particularly in the Great Plains and the Atlantic Ocean.

Last month, the Trump administration halted a major wind farm under construction off the coast of Long Island, the Empire Wind project. It was designed to provide enough electricity to power a half-million homes. It had already received the permits it needed, but Interior Secretary Doug Burgum suggested the Biden administration’s analysis during the approval process was rushed and insufficient.

Ms. James noted that Mr. Trump had also declared an energy emergency. Energy experts have called that declaration overstated. Nevertheless, she said, the moratorium on wind permits is harming the ability to provide a new source of energy.

New York also has a new law on the books requiring it to dramatically increase the amount of electricity that comes from renewable sources. Achieving that goal will become more complicated without wind sources.

The lawsuit names numerous federal officials and agencies, including the Environmental Protection Agency and the Interior Department. The E.P.A. didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Taylor Rogers, a White House spokeswoman, accused the Democratic attorneys general who sued of using “lawfare” to thwart the president’s energy agenda. “Americans in blue states should not have to pay the price of the Democrats’ radical climate agenda,” she said.

The Interior Department said in a statement that it was committed to “overseeing public lands and waters for the benefit of all Americans, while prioritizing fiscal responsibility for the American people.”

The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Massachusetts, asks a judge to prevent federal agencies from taking any action to block wind-energy development and to declare the executive order unlawful.

“The Trump administration’s directive to halt the development of offshore wind energy is illegal,” said Rob Bonta, the attorney general of California.

His office said the federal policy would “derail the clean energy transition” and lead to higher costs for Americans. In addition to onshore wind sites, the state has five federal offshore wind leases, the office said. Offshore operations are more complicated and expensive to operate.

Timothy Fox, managing director of ClearView Energy Partners, a Washington consulting firm, said that he expected the lawsuit to face an uphill climb in convincing the court to block the executive order. The firm’s “best-case scenario” for the offshore wind industry is that facilities that are already operating, or far along in development, may continue without opposition from the Trump administration, he said.

The post 18 States Sue Over Trump’s Halting of Wind Power Projects appeared first on The Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle.

“It is with great sadness that we announce the closing of LEMX,” the track’s operators wrote on Facebook earlier this week.

They added that the owners of the property had terminated their contract due to a lawsuit over the deadly accident, which occurred in June.

“It was their decision it would be in their best interest to have the track closed. I can’t say I blame them. All in all they have been very good to deal with as has the City of Lake Elsinore,” according to the Facebook post.

“It has been an honor and a pleasure to see you all at the track,” the post concludes.

Brooke Carlton of Vista was pronounced dead on June 2 — the day of the accident — at Wildomar’s Inland Valley Hospital. Her death was recorded 80 minutes after the 10:04 incident at the track located at 20700 Cereal Street, according to the Riverside County Sheriff-Coroner’s Bureau.

According to the Lake Elsinore Sheriff’s Station, which is investigating the fatal crash, Brooke was riding an electric motorbike at the park and was struck by another juvenile who was also riding an off-road motorbike. She was unconscious when first responders arrived at the scene.

The other child involved in the crash was treated at the scene for minor injuries, according to the sheriff’s station.

The Carton started a GoFundMe in June to help the family overcome their grief as they mourned a daughter described as “an absolute sweetheart” and a “total spitfire” with glittering eyes and a toothy smile.

The family has raised $85,310 to date. The donation page can be found here.

“Yesterday the good Lord called our dear Brooke Lily to heaven after a freak accident at a local motocross track,” the family wrote on June 3. “PLEASE lift our family into your thoughts and prayers, and hold your loved ones a little tighter for us as we try to navigate through this sudden hurdle in our lives. We love you always and forever Brooke Lily.”

The post Death Of RivCo 9-Year-Old Spurs Permanent Closure Of Motorsports Park appeared first on The Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle.

“These siblings are extremely relieved the defendants can never do to another child what happened to them,” attorney Elan Zektser said during a briefing outside the Riverside Historic Courthouse Monday. “But now they’re asking, what’s next? Each of them truly wants to see change.”

Zektser represents two of the girls from the Turpin family, while fellow attorney Roger Booth represents four other children — all of whom were placed with Marcelino Camacho Olguin, 65, his wife, Rosa Armida Olguin, 60, and their adult daughter, Lennys Giovanna Olguin, 39, after the victims were rescued from an oft-described “house of horrors” maintained by their parents in 2018.

The Olguins reached plea deals with the D.A.’s office, and on Friday, they were sentenced.

Marcelino Olguin admitted seven counts of lewd acts on a minor and one count of false imprisonment. He received seven years in state prison and was ordered to register as a sex offender for life. His wife admitted three counts of child abuse and one count each of witness intimidation, grand theft and false imprisonment. She received four years’ felony probation. The couple’s daughter admitted three counts of child abuse and one count each of false imprisonment and witness intimidation. She received four years’ probation.

Coordinating with placement agency ChildNet, county Child Protective Services placed the six victims with the Olguins despite complaints of prior abuse in their home, according to the plaintiffs. When CPS agents were alerted to the endangerment of the Turpin children, they failed to act, according to Zektser and Booth.

“The county and ChildNet told them, `Trust us; we got you,”‘ Zektser said. “Then they placed them with child abusers and molesters. I was the head of the sexual assault unit at the (Riverside County) District Attorney’s Office, and I can tell you, prosecutors there are sick and tired of dealing with these cases from CPS.”

The county Executive Office released a statement to City News Service Monday calling the Turpin siblings’ experiences “heartbreaking.”

“We remain committed to their wellbeing and their lifelong journey of healing,” the EO stated. “We appreciate our county and community partners, who collaborate with us to support this family, and every family, with services and resources.”

Zektser said instead of removing the victims from the house to take statements from them in late 2020 and early 2021, the minors were interviewed by agents in front of the defendants, causing them to clam up. It was only when the sheriff’s detective who had investigated the victims’ parents, Tom Salisbury, learned of the abuse allegations against the Olguins that the siblings were interviewed by “professionals,” culminating in a criminal investigation and charges, the attorneys said.

“Salisbury insisted they be removed from that home (in 2021),” Booth said.

Zektser characterized the abuse inflicted by the Olguins as “far greater” than what the victims experienced from their parents.

“They were treated worse than animals,” he said. “The Olguins made them sit in circles, and they would tell them, `No one cares about you. You are nothing.”‘

The attorneys’ consolidated civil complaint recited the following additional acts: “making the plaintiffs sit by themselves, sometimes outside, for many hours at a time”; “making plaintiffs recount, in detail, the horrors that they had experienced while living with their parents”; “verbally abusing plaintiffs, cursing at them, and telling them that they were worthless and should commit suicide”; “forcing them to eat until they began to vomit,” then compelling them “to eat their own vomit.”

Marcelino Olguin also repeatedly groped and kissed two of the girls. Money that was intended for the plaintiffs was sometimes pocketed by the defendants, the attorneys said.

Zektser said while his and Booth’s clients are “content with what happened” in the Olguins’ case, “they are continuously asking what the county is going to do.”

The attorneys said they hoped reforms to the foster care system proposed by former federal Judge Stephen Larson and the county Grand Jury in 2022 would net results.

“Things happen that you don’t know about,” Booth said. “Much of what happens in the system is shrouded in secrecy. There are lots of children being subjected to abuse, and no one knows about it.”

Zektser said if his clients, whose parental mistreatment gained international attention, can end up in conditions like those they encountered in the Olguin home, there’s “a bigger issue” that warrants resolution for the good of all minors in foster care.

“Money changes things,” the attorney said. “We are seeking a confidential amount. These now-young adults, our clients, need help. This (lawsuit) will also hopefully change how these agencies do business.”

A settlement conference is set for January. If there’s no pretrial agreement, the attorneys said they’ll be ready for trial.

County spokeswoman Brooke Federico said ChildNet is no longer utilized by the Department of Public Social Services.

“DPSS continues to address existing placement gaps and expand safe, available placements,” she said. “The county is dedicated to continuous quality improvement, and we are constantly reviewing our practices, procedures and policies. We have implemented many of the Larson report’s recommendations and are in the process of implementing several more.”

Only one of the 13 Turpin children, a girl who’s now 8 years old, remains in foster care. The others are in college, trying to procure employment and find paths forward, Zektser and Booth said.

District Attorney Mike Hestrin and the Larson report acknowledged the Turpin siblings had received some funds from hundreds of thousands of dollars in charitable donations made after they were liberated from their parents’ Muir Woods Road residence. How much of that money remains available has not been divulged.

The victims’ parents, David Turpin, 61, and Louise Turpin, 54, were each sentenced to 25 years to life in state prison in 2019 after admitting child cruelty charges.

They kept some of their children restrained most times of the day, forced them to subsist on peanut butter sandwiches and burritos, made them sleep up to 20 hours daily, and allowed them to shower only once a year. There was also physical abuse that resulted in injuries.

The post After Horrific Child Abuse, ‘What’s Next’ In Riverside County? appeared first on The Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle.

Houston attorney Tony Buzbee said he expects lawsuits to be filed within the next month, with most expected to be filed in New York and Los Angeles. Buzbee described the victims as 60 males and 60 females, and that 25 were minors at the time of the alleged misconduct. One individual alleged he was 9 years old when he was abused, Buzbee said. The allegations cover a period from 1991 to this year.

“This type of sexual assault, sexual abuse, sexual exploitation should never happen in the United States or anywhere else. This should have never been allowed to go on for so long. This conduct has created a mass of individuals who are injured, scared and scarred,” Buzbee said at a news conference.

Following the announcement of the accusations in Texas, an attorney for Combs said the performer “cannot address every meritless allegation in what has become a reckless media circus.”

“That said, Mr. Combs emphatically and categorically denies as false and defamatory any claim that he sexually abused anyone, including minors,” attorney Erica Wolff said in a statement. “He looks forward to proving his innocence and vindicating himself in court, where the truth will be established based on evidence, not speculation.”

Buzbee said more than 3,280 individuals contacted his firm and alleged they were victimized by Combs and that after vetting the allegations, his firm decided to represent 120 people. Other cases are still being reviewed. He said some of his clients have spoken with the FBI.

The individuals that Buzbee’s firm is representing are from more than 25 states, with the majority from California, New York, Georgia and Florida.

The abuse that’s being alleged took place mostly at parties held in New York, California and Florida where individuals were given drinks that were laced with drugs, Buzbee said.

Some of the alleged conduct took place at auditions where “many times, especially young people, people wanting to break into the industry were coerced into this type of conduct in the promise of being made a star,” Buzbee said.

Combs, 54, has been locked up at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn since pleading not guilty Sept. 17 to federal charges that he used his “power and prestige” to induce female victims into drugged-up, elaborately produced sexual performances with male sex workers in events dubbed “Freak Offs.”

Other alleged victims have already filed lawsuits against Combs that include allegations of sexual assault.

Combs has pleaded not guilty to racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking. His attorney said he is innocent and will fight to clear his name.

Combs is one of the best-known music executives, producers and performers across hip-hop, having won three Grammys and worked with artists such as Notorious B.I.G., Mary J. Blige, Usher, Lil Kim, Faith Evans and 112. He founded Bad Boy Records in 1993, the influential fashion line Sean John, a vodka brand and the Revolt TV network. He sold off his stake in the latter company in June of this year.

Buzbee has also represented women who accused NFL quarterback Deshaun Watson of sexual assault and misconduct.

The post Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs accused of sexual misconduct by 120 people, attorney says appeared first on The Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle.

“It’s time to tell contract cities, ‘You need to go on your own and build your own shelters,”‘ Supervisor Kevin Jeffries said. “We’re going to have to do something different. We cannot continue to be your punching bag. Because your city has hundreds, if not thousands, of animals being turned into our (four) county shelters, nationally and internationally, we receive the criticism.”

Jeffries vented his frustrations during an otherwise routine series of contract rate adjustments for the cities of Desert Hot Springs, Hemet and Palm Desert.

The adjustments were required under the 2024-25 fiscal year budget to contend with unforeseen higher operational costs impacting the Department of Animal Services, resulting in 5% across-the-board hikes in rates, totaling roughly $1.58 million in total obligations for all three municipalities until June 30, 2025.

Most of Jeffries’ displeasure seemed to stem from last week’s announcement of a lawsuit against the county filed by four animal welfare activists in the Coachella Valley.

The suit, spearheaded by the Rancho Mirage-based Walter Clark Law Group and filed in Riverside County Superior Court, seeks a permanent injunction against the Department of Animal Services’ humane euthanasia programs.

Clark called it a “groundbreaking case” that’s predicated on the Hayden Act of 1998. That legislation, authored by then-state Sen. Tom Hayden, D-Santa Monica, states, in part, “no adoptable animal should be euthanized if it can be adopted into a suitable home.”

The measure further bars euthanization even if a pet lacks qualities that make the animal suited to immediate adoption, “but could become adoptable with reasonable efforts.”

The plaintiffs, based on data gleaned and produced by the nonprofit Best Friends Animal Society, contend that in 2022, county Department of Animal Services shelters “killed more animals than any other reporting shelter in the United States.”

Altogether, in 2022 and 2023, an estimated 24,000 canines and felines were euthanized in county shelters, according to the organization.

“We’ve been asking all these different groups that keep quoting ‘we’re the worst in the nation (for kill rates)’ where are you getting that? And it’s one group on the internet — Best Friends,” Supervisor Karen Spiegel said. “Many municipalities have the same challenges. We have had a severe amount of animals, hundreds at a time, coming into the shelters. Municipalities cannot take these animals. It’s very challenging.”

To date in 2024, she said, there have been five major seizures by animal control officers countywide, during which hundreds of dogs and cats have been impounded due to neglect, malnutrition and related factors, largely attributable to hoarding by residents ill-equipped to provide care.

Spiegel said in spite of the county now refusing to dedicate resources for contract animal control services in cities within neighboring San Bernardino County, the Department of Animal Services remains under pressure handling unincorporated communities and servicing municipalities in Riverside County.

“People need to know, not everything that’s spewed out is accurate,” the supervisor said. “And it’s not fair to continue to bad-mouth our staff.”

Jeffries said he recognized the issue of cities constructing their own shelter space “won’t be fixed overnight.”

“But how much longer can we ask our staff to take the abuse they’ve been taking on a daily basis before they finally say, ‘take my (employee) badge, I’m done’? What we’re doing now is not working.”

A few municipalities in the county maintain independent animal control services, either through city-paid personnel or contracts with nongovernmental organizations. Examples include the cities of Canyon Lake, Lake Elsinore, Menifee, Murrieta, Temecula and Wildomar that contract with Wildomar-based nonprofit Animals Friends of the Valleys. The city of Palm Springs has its own animal services department.

Last month, the board approved formation of an Ad Hoc Committee for Continuous Improvement of Animal Services, headed by Supervisors Manuel Perez and Yxstian Gutierrez.

The pair pledged to delve into the “high kill rate” allegations, as well as analyze the department’s adoption policies, data banking and distribution.

“There are a lot of issues we’ve prioritized, but this hasn’t been one of them,” Perez said. “You’re right about the cities. Eventually I think they’ll get there. Every city needs to pay their fair share. We are way behind. There is misinformation out there, partly because we have not updated our data. We need to clear up the misinformation for the public. We can all win. But we have to be willing to come together to collaborate.”

The committee is slated to hold its first meeting in the next two months.

If you are interested in adopting a pet from the Riverside County Department of Animal Services, click here.

The post Animal Services In Riverside County Faces Challenges, Lawsuit appeared first on The Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle.

The suit filed in U.S. District Court alleges that Upland-based Garrett J. Gentry General Engineering Inc. and its owner, Garrett J. Gentry, were negligent by starting the non-injury South Fire and failing to prevent it from spreading. As a result, they are liable for damages incurred by the federal government, according to the lawsuit.

The U.S. Forest Service sustained fire suppression costs of more than $2.2 million, the complaint states.

“Defendants are liable for all damages to the United States resulting from the South Fire, including its fire suppression costs and the United States’ administrative, investigative, accounting, and collection costs,” according to the complaint.

“Investigators determined that the fire started when the steel treads of the excavator, operated by Gentry Engineering and Gentry, contacted rocks, causing ignition of fuel, such as dry vegetation,” the complaint continues. “Gentry Engineering and Gentry were aware of the danger of a rock strike by the excavator and failed to take action to prevent a fire.”

The South Fire broke out Aug. 25, 2021, and burned more than 680 acres, including 450 acres in the San Bernardino National Forest.

According to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, nine structures — residential and commercial — were destroyed and 28 others were damaged.

The fire was contained Sept. 2, 2021.

The post Devastating Inland Empire Brush Fire Sparks Federal Lawsuit appeared first on The Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle.