SAN ANTONIO - A man is facing charges for sexually abusing his adopted teenage daughters.

The Bexar County Sheriff's deputies arrested Bryce Chatland, 55, was charged with continuous sex abuse. He's accused of sexually assaulting the two girls ( ages 13 and 15) for the last seven years.

The 15-year-old told investigators on June 7 that Chatland began abusing her when she was seven, making her engage in sexual acts, including one that she described as "gross." The 13-year-old said Chatland continued to try and convince her do to "stuff with him"

Both claim that he tried to record them in the restroom. The mother of both juveniles, who reported the offense to both the Department of Family and Protective Services and the sheriff's office, gave investigators data storage devices that she believe may contain inappropriate images of her daughters.

After consent was obtained, deputies searched and found numerous videos "depicting the juveniles using the restroom and taking baths" on the data storage units.

Bryce Chatland charged with continuous sexual abuse of a child

SAN ANTONIO – A 55-year-old man has been arrested after two children made an outcry that he had sexually assaulted them over the course of seven years, according to an arrest warrant affidavit.

Bryce Conrad Chatland was arrested Wednesday and charged with two first-degree felony counts of continuous sexual abuse of a child. His bonds total $160,000 for the charges.

On June 7, the victims told investigators with the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office that Chatland had been sexually abusing them for years starting in 2016.

The victims told deputies that they also believed they had been recorded.

COLIN ATAGI

Kidnapping charges should be dismissed against a Rohnert Park couple because they legally adopted and never concealed three children believed to have been tortured for years, the couple’s defense attorneys say.

The defense motions for dismissal were filed June 13 by the attorneys of Jose and Gina Centeno, who are expected to stand trial on charges of kidnapping, torture, and the sexual abuse of their former foster children.

The motions are expected to be addressed during a hearing on Tuesday.

Each defendant is charged with three counts of kidnapping for ransom and three counts of torture. Jose Centeno also is charged with nine additional counts related to rape and sex abuse.

Filing contends mandated reporters witnessed suspected child abuse and neglect but didn’t report it

By Alexis Rivas, Mike Dorfman, Meredith Royster and Jay Yoo

A civil lawsuit filed on behalf of the surviving younger sisters of Arabella McCormack, an 11-year-old adopted girl, describe numerous failures to report and investigate child abuse.

The 27-page lawsuit filed late last week levels accusations at:

• The San Diego Police Department & one of its officers
• The San Diego Fire Rescue Department & one of its employees
• The Rock Church & one of its employees
• San Diego County Child Welfare Services and two of its employees
• Pacific Coast Academy & two of its employees
• The adoptive family: Leticia McCormack, the Estate of Brian McCormack, Adella Tom, & Stanley Tom

ROBERT MITTENDORF The Bellingham Herald

A former schoolteacher and current Blaine school board candidate pleaded not guilty Friday in Whatcom County Superior Court to nearly a dozen felony charges that accuse her of torturing and sexually assaulting four children who were known to her. 

Tana Perkins Reneau, 51, stood mostly silent before Court Commissioner Ann Vetter-Hansen. Her lawyer entered a plea of not guilty and Reneau said “uh-uh” when Vetter-Hansen asked whether Reneau had any questions. 

A tentative trial date was set for 9 a.m. Aug. 28 in Superior Court.

After the hearing, a member of Reneau’s legal staff told The Bellingham Herald that Reneau had no comment. Her legal entourage left quickly through the rear courthouse stairwell. 

Abstract: This article exposes human rights violations committed at Brothers Home in Busan, South Korea in the 1970s and 1980s, identifying their structural causes and discussing Korean society’s efforts to address them. From 1975 to 1987, Brothers Home was the largest group residential facility for the homeless, the ill, the disabled, and the poor—a program that was even commended by the Korean government. However, over the years, various human rights abuses led to the death of 657 residents. While these violations remained hidden from public view for almost 25 years, survivors and supporters waged a long battle to bring them to light. Recently, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission investigated and confirmed the human rights violations as state violence . In this essay, the authors assess the significance this case holds for Korean society.

Keywords: Brothers Home; Human Rights Violations; Truth and Reconciliation Commission of the Republic of Korea; State Violence; Homelessness

Introduction

On 23 August 2022, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) of the Republic of Korea— a government agency created in 2005 to probe human rights violations by the state before Korea’s democratization—concluded that human rights violations had been committed between 1975 to 1987 at Brothers Home, a group residential center for homeless people in Busan. These abuses included confinement, isolation, forced unpaid labor, and various forms of violence. This conclusion by the TRC meant that the state’s culpability was officially acknowledged. The following day, Jung Keun-sik, chairman of the TRC, formally announced this decision, and the news was widely covered by major domestic and international media outlets, which also published follow-up articles on the story.1

Details of the horrific incidents that had taken place years earlier at Brothers Home shocked South Korean society. This outcry represented the culmination of a long campaign led by survivors’ organisations and supported by civic groups that called for a public inquiry. Of equally critical importance was the launch of the second Truth and Reconciliation Commission on 10 December 2020, a development that was made possible by a consensus across society and among politicians that human rights violations at facilities such as Brothers Home should be properly addressed.2 Immediately after taking office, Chairman Jung Keun-sik also specified that establishing the truth about state violence committed at these facilities was a priority for the Commission.3

BY RACHEL SHOWALTER

The Blaine woman facing almost a dozen felony charges for allegedly torturing four children is scheduled to appear for her arraignment hearing Friday in Whatcom County Superior Court. 

Tana Perkins Reneau, 51, was formally charged earlier this month with four counts of second-degree child assault, three counts of first-degree incest, one count of first-degree child rape, one count of second-degree child rape, one count of third-degree child rape, and one count of second-degree assault, all related to the alleged years-long physical and sexual abuse of four children, according to court records.

Reneau will be asked to enter a plea regarding the charges at the arraignment hearing. She was booked into the Whatcom County Jail after being arrested June 2. Her bail was originally set at $500,000. She has since bonded out of custody, jail records show. 

The alleged abuse occurred from January 2020 through May 2023, court records show. Reneau’s arrest came after Whatcom County detectives were assigned to investigate through state Child Protective Services.

A pair of Rohnert Park foster parents will learn this week whether they will face trial for allegedly abusing and raping three children they adopted. Both Jose and Gina Centeno have been charged with three counts of kidnapping for ransom and three counts of torture. Jose Centeno is also charged with nine more counts related to rape and sexual abuse. Their defense attorneys will make their case tomorrow on why the Centenos shouldn’t stand trial. Police tells the Press Democrat that the couple made their foster children run barefoot in a backyard until their feet bled, locked them in their rooms at night and beat them if they triggered a motion sensor. Jose is also accused of sexually abusing one of the girls several times. The case came to light when two of the children were abandoned in Mexico. There was a third child but she disappeared years earlier and has not been seen or heard from since.

Former foster parents Jose and Gina Centeno are scheduled to face a jury as early as September. Severe abuse, detailed in testimony, included children being chained to their bunk beds and forced to stay in a pet cage for weeks.

COLIN ATAGI

THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

It was a low-slung two-story house on a quiet street in Rohnert Park. A large oak tree graced the front yard, and just beyond the back fence was an elementary school ball field where students played.

Neighbors say they rarely saw the young children who lived in the home and didn’t know much about them.

Denver Pratt / The Bellingham Herald (TNS)

The Blaine woman accused of torturing four children over several years has been officially charged with nearly a dozen felonies and could face life in prison if convicted.

Tana Perkins Reneau, 51, was formally charged Tuesday in Whatcom County Superior Court with four counts of second-degree child assault (domestic violence); three counts of first-degree incest (domestic violence); one count of first-degree child rape (domestic violence); one count of second-degree child rape (domestic violence); one count of third-degree child rape (domestic violence), and one count of second-degree assault (domestic violence), all related to the years-long physical and sexual abuse of four children, according to court records.

Each of the 11 felony charges includes at least three aggravating factors that would allow prosecutors to seek an exceptional prison sentence for Reneau above the standard range for her crimes.

For each of the felony charges Reneau is facing, prosecutors allege that Reneau's conduct during the crimes manifested deliberate cruelty to the victims, that the crimes involved domestic violence and that the crimes were part of "an ongoing pattern of psychological, physical, or sexual abuse of a victim or multiple victims manifested by multiple incidents over a prolonged period of time," the court documents state.