{"id":7630,"date":"2023-09-28T12:59:30","date_gmt":"2023-09-28T12:59:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bloomingtonnews.online\/?p=7630"},"modified":"2023-09-28T13:00:18","modified_gmt":"2023-09-28T13:00:18","slug":"local-news-headlines-september-28-2023","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bloomingtonnews.online\/?p=7630","title":{"rendered":"Local News Headlines: September 28, 2023"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Coach Moren honored as Marshal of the Seymour Oktoberfest Parade<\/strong>
Indiana University Women’s Basketball Head Coach Teri Moren will be the 2023 Seymour Oktoberfest Parade Marshal. This year will be the 50th anniversary for the event, being held Saturday, October 7th at 1:30pm, commencing at Seymour High School.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Coach Moren was a local basketball standout for the Seymour Lady Owls, who went on to become an Indiana High School All-Star before playing for Purdue. She was inducted into the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame in 2014. Coach Moren has become the IU’s all-time winningest Coach in the program’s history. She is also the reigning AP Coach of the Year, and a two time Big Ten Coach of the Year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Westfield Child Predator Sentenced to 38 Years in Federal Prison for Seeking Sex with a 14-Year-Old and Trafficking in Child Sex Abuse Materials<\/strong>
Erik Hanson, 31, of Westfield, Indiana, has been sentenced to 38 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to sexual exploitation of a child, conspiracy to commit sexual exploitation of a child, and transportation of child sexual abuse material.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to court documents, after an online undercover investigation, the Federal Bureau of Investigation alerted detectives with the Westfield Police Department to evidence that Erik Hanson was using the Kik communications application solicit sex with a 14-year-old girl. In fact, an undercover FBI Special Agent was communicating with Hanson posing as the child and the child\u2019s father. In the conversations, Hanson stated that 14-year-old girls were his \u201cfavorite age\u201d for sex, and that it was not a fantasy, but something he intended to act on. Hanson asked the \u2018girl\u201d for sexually explicit photos, sent her images of his penis, and attempted to meet with her for sex at a hotel in Tennessee. Hanson asked how soon he could meet with the 14-year-old girl because he wanted her to be \u201cas young as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Investigators obtained a warrant to search Hanson\u2019s Kik account and located 91 91 photos and videos of child sexual abuse material including the sexual abuse of infants, child bondage, and child bestiality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On April 22, 2022, Hanson\u2019s Westfield home was searched by HCMCETF and Homeland Security agents, who located multiple electronic iPhones and an iPad Hanson admitted contained child sexual abuse material. During an interview with agents, Hanson admitted to owning two Kik accounts for the purpose of viewing child sexual abuse material, and that he belonged to many online groups that traded these images. Over a period of three months, Hanson used CashApp multiple times to pay another individual a total of $75 to produce child sexual abuse material involving Minor Victim 1, who Hanson believed was the producer\u2019s 11-year-old daughter. Hanson directed the other user to engage in specific sex acts with the child, and distributed some of this material to another individual.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood<\/a>, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by U.S. Attorneys\u2019 Offices and the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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New leader named for IU Innovation and Commercialization Office<\/strong>
Nicholas Hammond, an innovative executive and researcher with over 15 years of demonstrated leadership in technology intellectual property development, technology transfer, licensing and commercialization, has been named associate vice president for innovation and commercialization at Indiana University.View print quality image<\/a>Nick Hammond. Photo provided by Nick Hammond.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Assuming the role Nov. 13, Hammond will lead the IU Innovation and Commercialization Office, which has university-wide responsibility for fostering connections between IU inventors and entrepreneurs with prospective collaborators, as well as facilitating the transfer of university discoveries to the market. He will be critical to growing transformative research and creativity, innovation, industry engagement and commercialization, all key priorities of the IU 2030 strategic plan<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As Senior Director of the Department of Innovation and Technology Research at the American Dental Association Science and Research Institute, Hammond leads various aspects of the institute\u2019s research and technology transfer process and significantly increased federal and privately funded grant awards. In addition to setting the research strategy of the department, he initiates collaborations with external research institutions, manages the institute\u2019s partnership with the National Institute of Standards and Technology and manages the institute\u2019s intellectual property portfolio.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hammond earned a Ph.D. from the University of Mississippi and a Bachelor\u2019s Degree from Butler University. He has had numerous patents, publications and funded grants for his research and graduate student training programs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Add the IDHS earthquake safety video competition to this year’s lesson plan<\/strong>
Sitting close to two seismic zones, both with the potential of producing major quakes, Hoosiers need to Get ShakIN’<\/em> when it comes to earthquake preparedness. The Get ShakIN’<\/em> competition will allow students to create their own earthquake awareness video, with the contest winner receiving an Indiana Earthquake Day at their school and a visit by the Quake Cottage<\/a> earthquake simulator (if available).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The contest ends Oct. 31, 2023, near the time of the Great Central U.S. ShakeOut<\/a>. The Indiana Earthquake Day for the contest winner will be scheduled at a convenient time for both the school and IDHS staff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Student groups or classes can enter by submitting a student-produced video focused on earthquake preparedness and\/or safety. A panel of judges from IDHS will select an overall winner for the grand prize: an \u201cIndiana Earthquake Day\u201d event, either at their school or at the State Emergency Operations Center in Indianapolis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Additional information about the video contest and earthquake safety is on the Get ShakIN’<\/em> webpage<\/a> (on.in.gov\/get-shakin).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

IDHS shares earthquake and other disaster preparedness information routinely with Indiana schools via the Get Prepared website<\/a>. Teachers may request a teacher’s earthquake preparedness toolkit by sending their information to pio@dhs.in.gov<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Note: Please share this information with relevant teachers in your school system. To receive Get ShakIN’ program updates, click here<\/a> and select the appropriate topic.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Attorney General urges Indiana consumers to be on the lookout for romance scams 
<\/strong>\u201cOnline dating is a popular route for a lot of people these days in their search for true love,\u201d Attorney General Rokita said. \u201cIn some cases, innocent people are connecting with scammers who lie and cheat them out of their hard-earned money instead. Protecting Hoosiers from fraudsters is one of my office\u2019s top priorities.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In romance scams, perpetrators prey on unsuspecting matches by creating fake profiles to take advantage of victims online. They go to great lengths to pose as prospective romantic partners with similar interests to lure people into providing gifts, money, or personal information. Just this year, a Westfield resident lost nearly $100,000 to a romance scam. This type of dupery can happen even in Indiana. According to the FBI, victims of romance scams lost $1 billion in 2021 alone. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here are a few warning signs that someone might be more interested in your money or personal information than a relationship:<\/p>\n\n\n\n