Crime

The mother of a teenager who killed himself after becoming obsessed with an artificial intelligence-powered chatbot now accuses its maker of complicity in his death.

Megan Garcia filed a civil suit against Character.ai, which makes a customizable chatbot for role-playing, in Florida federal court on Wednesday, alleging negligence, wrongful death and deceptive trade practices. Her son Sewell Setzer III, 14, died in Orlando, Florida, in February. In the months leading up to his death, Setzer used the chatbot day and night, according to Garcia.

“A dangerous AI chatbot app marketed to children abused and preyed on my son, manipulating him into taking his own life,” Garcia said in a press release. “Our family has been devastated by this tragedy, but I’m speaking out to warn families of the dangers of deceptive, addictive AI technology and demand accountability from Character.AI, its founders, and Google.”

In a tweet, Character.ai responded: “We are heartbroken by the tragic loss of one of our users and want to express our deepest condolences to the family. As a company, we take the safety of our users very seriously.” It has denied the suit’s allegations.

Setzer had become enthralled with a chatbot built by Character.ai that he nicknamed Daenerys Targaryen, a character in Game of Thrones. He texted the bot dozens of times a day from his phone and spent hours alone in his room talking to it, according to Garcia’s complaint.

Garcia accuses Character.ai of creating a product that exacerbated her son’s depression, which she says was already the result of overuse of the startup’s product. “Daenerys” at one point asked Setzer if he had devised a plan for killing himself, according to the lawsuit. Setzer admitted that he had but that he did not know if it would succeed or cause him great pain, the complaint alleges. The chatbot allegedly told him: “That’s not a reason not to go through with it.”

A professional athlete allegedly stopped an "intoxicated" Sean "Diddy" Combs from sexually assaulting an unidentified man at a celebrity-filled party in 2022, according to a new lawsuit.

The man, who had formed a professional business relationship with Combs at the time, was invited to a promotional party for the rapper's liquor business – Ciroc. Identified only as John Doe, the alleged victim claimed he was invited to the party by Combs to interact with other "high-profile guests" in the entertainment industry.

Combs invited the man into his office during the party, and the alleged victim believed the two were about to have a "discussion about business," according to the lawsuit. "However, Plaintiff immediately realized Combs was intoxicated and acting strangely," the lawsuit, obtained by Fox News Digital, noted. "Combs began awkwardly moving closer to Plaintiff. As he did so, Combs removed his pants and exposed his genitals to Plaintiff. Combs continued to move closer and then grabbed Plaintiff’s genitals through his pants, squeezing them in a rough and sexual manner.

"The situation escalated until another individual, Professional Athlete A, entered the office and, intervened which ended the Combs’ assault of Plaintiff," the lawsuit read. "At this moment, Plaintiff escaped from Combs and left the office. After escaping the office, Plaintiff left the party to return home."

John Doe claimed he had been "shocked and disoriented" after the unwanted sexual encounter and that he had been "frozen momentarily" by the "weirdly inappropriate sexual advance."

The alleged victim is requesting a trial by jury to determine "compensatory damages for all physical injuries, emotional distress, psychological harm, anxiety, humiliation, physical and emotional pain and suffering, family and social disruption, and other harm."

Fox News Digital has reached out to Combs' team for comment. The legal team previously denied that Combs sexually abused anyone, including minors.

North Korean authorities have been punishing doctors who carry out abortions and the providers of contraceptives amid a drive by the country to boost its birthrate, according to a recent report.

Radio Free Asia (RFA) cited a medical field source in the northern province of Ryanggang, which borders China, in its article. The source, who requested anonymity for their own safety, said the head of the obstetrics and gynecology department of Paegam County Hospital was put on trial for having conducted at-home abortions.

The doctor, who conducted one abortion at home that resulted in the death of a woman, was sentenced to five years in prison, according to RFA. His trial was held in a conference room at a medical university hospital.

North Korea's fertility rate, or the number of babies expected per woman's lifetime, dropped to 1.8 births per woman last year, according to estimates by the United Nations Population Fund. A fertility rate of 2.1 is considered the minimum rate necessary for a population to sustain itself over time.

The Texas Supreme Court halted Robert Roberson’s scheduled execution late Thursday night, following an extraordinary series of legal twists and turns spurred by a bipartisan group of state lawmakers.

The legislators, including influential members of the House Criminal Jurisprudence Committee, deployed a sequence of jiu-jitsu-like moves to give Roberson a chance to prove his innocence. Their efforts centered around a first-of-its-kind statute in Texas that allows people incarcerated based on flawed forensics to challenge their convictions.

“The vast team fighting for Robert Roberson — people all across Texas, the country, and the world — are elated tonight that a contingent of brave, bipartisan Texas lawmakers chose to dig deep into the facts of Robert’s case that no court had yet considered and recognized that his life was worth fighting for,” Roberson’s lawyer, Gretchen Sween, said in a statement. “He lives to fight another day and hopes that his experience can help improve the integrity of our criminal legal system.”

Roberson was sent to death row in 2003 for killing his 2-year-old daughter Nikki. Medical professionals attributed the child’s death to so-called shaken baby syndrome, or SBS: a diagnosis based on the belief that a certain combination of injuries found in a baby or toddler could only be caused by violent shaking. This theory has since been disproven by scientific research. Across the country, 34 people convicted based on SBS have been exonerated, according to the National Registry of Exonerations.

Roberson, who insists he is innocent, challenged his conviction using the state’s so-called junk science law. But Texas courts ignored the overwhelming evidence undermining the state’s case against him, greenlighting his execution on October 17. As that date approached, Roberson gained the support of a bipartisan group of more than 80 Texas lawmakers, who implored both the board and the courts to spare his life.

CINCINNATI — A woman has been charged with reckless homicide after allegedly shooting a man in the groin, according to court documents.

An affidavit filed in Hamilton County Municipal Court alleges Kathleen Geiger, 77, shot Arthur Osborne, 58, in the "pelvic region."

According to court records, Geiger said she and Osborne were "engaged in harmless banter," when he requested she shoot him as a joke.

Geiger, believing her gun was not loaded, pointed it at Osborne and pulled the trigger, documents say.

Cincinnati police say they responded to the shooting around 7:47 p.m. Sunday night, in the 2700 block of East Tower Drive.

Records say Geiger provided medical aid to Osborne and called 911.

Police say Osborne was pronounced dead at the scene.

A man charged with two rapes in Utah who lived under a series of names in the United Kingdom and allegedly faked his own death said Wednesday that he changed his name because of threats made against his life.

During a court hearing in Provo, Nicholas Rossi testified that, after moving to Europe in 2017, he learned in 2020 through contacts he made while working in politics in Rhode Island that there were credible threats against his life.

Rossi — who has also been known as Nicholas Alahverdian, Nicholas Brown and Arthur Knight — had been an outspoken critic of Rhode Island’s Department of Children, Youth and Families, testifying before state lawmakers about being sexually abused and tortured while in foster care as a child. He implied the threats were related to his work to reform the foster care system but objected to disclosing who was threatening him.

“I don’t want to give a mouse cheese,” he said.

Fourth District Judge Derek Pullan temporarily closed the courtroom to the public so Rossi could identify the source of the threats.

Rossi’s comments came as his lawyers unsuccessfully tried to convince Pullan that Rossi was not a flight risk and that his bail should be lowered so he could be released from jail while facing prosecution. He is charged with the rape of a 21-year-old woman in Orem, Utah in 2008. The rape kit in the case was not tested until 2017 because of a backlog of untested DNA kits at the Utah State Crime Lab.

Rossi pleaded not guilty in the case during the hearing.

He is also charged with raping a 26-year-old former girlfriend after an argument in Salt Lake County, also in 2008.

Rossi was arrested in Scotland in 2021 after being recognized at a Glasgow hospital during treatment for COVID-19. He fought extradition to Utah for three years and has denied until recently that he was Rossi, previously claiming he was an Irish orphan named Arthur Knight who had never set foot on American soil and was being framed.

Investigator Derek Coates testified during the hearing that Rossi left the U.S. for Ireland in 2017 while a foundation he launched to help abused children was being investigated for suspected fraud in Ohio by the FBI. Rossi had an Irish driver’s license using the name Nicholas Brown but police there confirmed it was a false identification using a stolen document, Coates said.

Rossi depends on oxygen to breathe and uses a wheelchair as a result of his muscles becoming weakened by the coronavirus. The defense argued that Rossi should be let out of jail partly so he could get physical therapy to allow him to walk again.

FORT DODGE, Iowa — A woman says she was blindsided when the man she was dating confessed to her that he murdered his brother and had been on the run for years.

Janey Voyek said she met Kyle Coolack Thursday through her brother. Her brother, Eddy Mason, said he had seen Coolack on the side of the road with a sign that said he was a veteran looking for help. Mason took Coolack in, gave him a job and let him live in his home.

"Nobody ever seen him be this kind of person," Voyek said. "Or to ever expect that it would ever come out that he was a murderer."

Voyek said he was charismatic and charming. She said Coolack told everyone his name was James.

The two started dating by Friday. But during a Saturday night phone call, Voyek said Coolack's personality quickly changed. She said he was drunk that night.

"He just kind of got mad and crazy and just bluntly told me that he had murdered his brother two years ago," Voyek said.

She immediately hung up the phone and texted her brother, who was in the same home as Coolack at the time in Pomeroy, Iowa. When Mason confronted Coolack about it, he made the same confession. Mason kicked Coolack and his stuff out of the house and contacted the police.

The Calhoun County Sheriff's Office said Coolack, 39, was stopped by a Calhoun County deputy a short while later just outside of Pomeroy on Highway 4. Coolack initially gave the deputy a false name but eventually admitted to his identity.

Coolack had an outstanding murder warrant from the Houston Police Department in July 2022. Coolack was arrested and booked into the Carroll County Jail to await extradition back to Texas.

The defense attorney for 15-year-old Carly Gregg says their client deserves a new trial because she was previously treated for hearing voices using horse therapy.

In Sept., a jury in Rankin County, Mississippi, found Gregg, 15, guilty on all counts, and prosecutor Kathryn Newman said Gregg had shown "zero remorse."

The teen was charged with murder and aggravated assault in the March 19 shooting that killed her mother, 40-year-old Ashley Smylie, and wounded her stepfather, Heath Smylie. She was also charged with tampering with evidence for hiding a security camera after the shooting.

On the first and second counts, Gregg was sentenced to life in prison. On the third count, she received 10 years.

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Now, Gregg's defense said that the teen's father revealed that she was "placed in equestrian therapy as a young child due to experiencing auditory hallucinations."

"This new information supports Dr. Clark’s diagnosis of unspecified schizophrenic disorder and is likely to lead to a different result at a new trial," the defense said. "As such, Carly is entitled to a new trial."

A California man has been charged with drugging and sexually assaulting nine women, including one woman who died from the drugs, prosecutors said Friday.

Michael DiGiorgio, 50, faces multiple charges including murder, rape by use of a drug and furnishing a controlled substance, according to court records obtained by CNN.

He is being represented by the Los Angeles County Public Defender’s Office, according to court records, and CNN has reached out to his attorney for comment Friday and overnight into Saturday.

DiGiorgio is accused of drugging and sexually assaulting the women between May 2019 and November 2021 at his homes in Hermosa Beach and Redondo Beach, prosecutors said, and investigators believe more victims may come forward.

Experts say the channel’s profit structure suggests a high level of demand and a lack of understanding that the images it creates are illegal Pornographic deepfakes, or digitally altered images generated through AI technology, are being widely distributed on the Telegram messaging app, including on one Telegram channel that produces deepfake nude images on demand for over 220,000 members. The channel, which was easily accessed through a basic online search, charges money for the fabricated images, which are based on photographs of actual people. Experts say the channel is a stark illustration of the current state of deepfake pornography — which many people are not even aware is illegal.

A Telegram channel that the Hankyoreh accessed through a link on X (formerly known as Twitter) on Wednesday features an image bot that converts photographs of women uploaded to the channel into deepfake nude images. When the Hankyoreh entered the channel, a message popped up asking the user to “upload a photograph of a woman you like.”

The Hankyoreh uploaded an AI-generated photograph of a woman and within five seconds, the channel generated a nude deepfake of that photograph. The deepfake tool even allows users to customize body parts in the resulting image. As of Wednesday, Aug. 21, the Telegram channel had some 227,000 users. As Telegram is used across the world, it’s likely that members of a variety of nationalities belong to the chat.

The Telegram channel was very easy to access. A search for specific terms on X and other social media brought up links to the channel, and one post with a link was even featured as a “trending post” on X. Despite recent coverage of sex crimes involving deepfakes and related police investigations, posts are still going up to promote the channel.

The Telegram channel generates up to two deepfake nudes for free but requires payment for further images. Each photograph costs one “diamond” — a form of in-channel currency worth US$0.49, or about 650 won — and users are required to purchase a minimum of 10 diamonds, with discounts available for bulk purchases. Diamonds are also given out for free to users who invite friends to the channel, in an obvious attempt to broaden the user base. Cryptocurrency is the only accepted form of payment, likely for anonymity reasons.

The chat room does not allow users to send messages or pictures to one another. The trouble is that there is no way of knowing how the deepfakes the channel generates are being used by members.

The accused murderer of Beaverton nurse Melissa Jubane made an appearance in Washington County court on Tuesday, as friends and advocates of Jubane rallied outside.

The 32-year-old Providence St. Vincent nurse had been married just weeks before she was found dead, two days after she was reported missing on Sept. 4.

Her neighbor, 27-year-old Bryce Schubert, stands accused of her murder.

Last month, he pleaded not guilty to charges of first degree murder, kidnapping, and second degree abuse of a corpse. A status hearing is scheduled for next month.

“It’s the same thing, it’s just another checkup and it’s just going to be dragged on - another month, how many more, right?” asked Fredie Misay, a regional coordinator of local Filipino advocacy organization BAYAN Oregon.

Misay didn’t know Jubane, but she also attended the University of Portland and shares a community in the Northwest Filipino American Students Association with her.

CASPER, Wyo. — Sublette County man Robert Wayne Eaker was recently sentenced to 18 years in federal prison for the production of child sexual abuse materials, with 15 years of supervised release to follow.

The court also ordered the defendant to pay $36,000 in restitution and a $100 special assessment.

Eaker was already a registered sex offender with prior offenses involving the sexual abuse of minors.

In September 2023, the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force was conducting an online investigation for people sharing child sexual abuse materials. Agents noticed a Wyoming IP address sharing numerous files and traced it back to Eaker. Agents later received a search warrant for the house where he was living. Upon searching Eaker’s home, agents found he had produced lewd and lascivious materials of a child.

Eaker admitted to producing the files without the child’s knowledge. In addition, investigators found hundreds of files containing prepubescent children on multiple devices belonging to Eaker.

ERWIN, Tenn. – Among the devastation caused by Hurricane Helene and the countless stories of loss and hardship, one particular tragedy is under investigation after the deaths of several workers at a plastics company in East Tennessee.

Robert Jarvis, an employee at Impact Plastics in Erwin, is consumed by anger and frustration as he recalls the terrifying events of last week when several of his coworkers were swept away by floodwaters outside the plant. He recounts how he and his colleagues were forced to continue working despite the deteriorating weather conditions.

"We were all working and the power went out," he told FOX 39 in Greeneville. "I got a text … from another employee saying that the parking lot was flooded."

Panicked, he tried to move his car to higher ground, as the parking lot became submerged. Jarvis said there was only one way out – a narrow road that was quickly becoming blocked.

Jarvis said that despite his co-workers' pleas to be allowed to leave, they were told to stay put as other employees were reportedly trapped in the floodwaters outside.

"We were in panic mode," he said. "The water was coming up, and then we did what we had to survive. It was a guy in a 4x4 who came, picked a bunch of us up, and saved our lives, or we'd have been dead too."

A company spokesperson confirmed to FOX Weather that only two of the seven people missing in the flood have been located, with their bodies being recovered earlier this week. A third body was located Thursday, county officials said.

"It hurts knowing that they didn't make it, and I did," Jarvis said. "It just doesn't seem fair to me that they didn't make it."

Saudi authorities have arrested Lieutenant Colonel Omar Nizar, an officer in Iraq's elite Rapid Response Forces, for reportedly posting against Israel during Umrah (pilgrimage) in Mecca..

Nizar was detained after posting a video on social media in which he prayed for the victory of Palestinians in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon, The New Arab reported.

According to reports, the video is believed to be the reason behind his arrest. The video has been widely circulated..

The officer has been referred to the Saudi State Security Agency (SSA), and his fate remains unclear, his lawyer told Iraq's state television.

The Saudi kingdom has not allowed criticism of Israel since the regime of Israel launched a genocidal war on Gaza on October 7 last year.

The official death toll stands at nearly 42,000, with about 100,000 injured and 10,000 missing. The majority of the casualties are women and children, health officials

Some big-name celebrities are quietly paying off victims to avoid being publicly named in lawsuits related to the Diddy sex assault case, according to a lawyer.

Attorney Tony Buzbee — who is representing more than 120 of Sean “Diddy” Combs’ alleged victims — told TMZ that huge stars are about to be sued by his firm and he’s giving them a chance to settle up before the claims hit public court.

Some celebrities have opted to settle, he said.

“In every single case, especially cases like this… because it’s in the best interests of the victim, we attempt to resolve these matters without the filing of a public lawsuit and we’ve done that already with a handful of individuals, many of which you’re heard of before,” Buzbee said, according to a report by the Daily Mail.

The Bad Boy Records founder was arrested in a criminal sex-trafficking case last month. He’s pleaded not guilty.

Some big-name celebrities are quietly paying off victims to avoid being publicly named in lawsuits related to the Diddy sex assault case, according to a lawyer.

Attorney Tony Buzbee — who is representing more than 120 of Sean “Diddy” Combs’ alleged victims — told TMZ that huge stars are about to be sued by his firm and he’s giving them a chance to settle up before the claims hit public court.

A Minnesota doctor accused of fatally poisoning his pharmacist wife now faces a tougher charge that could put him in prison for the rest of his life, if convicted.

Connor Fitzgerald Bowman, 30, was indicted last week on one count of first-degree murder – premeditated and one count of second-degree murder with intent for the August 2023 death of Betty Bowman, 32.

The Olmstead County Attorney’s Office said if Bowman is convicted on the first-degree murder charge, he would automatically be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. “The Grand Jury found probable cause that Mr. Bowman intentionally and with premeditation was responsible for her death,” County Attorney Mark Ostrem said in a statement.

Bowman was arrested on October 20 and initially charged with second-degree murder. The criminal complaint said that Betty Bowman, who worked for the Mayo Clinic, died from “the toxic effect of colchicine,” a medicine primarily used to treat gout. There was nothing in Betty Bowman’s medical record to indicate she was ever prescribed colchicine or diagnosed with gout, investigators said.

A multi award winning country megastar has been accused of sexual assault and battery in a lawsuit filed by a former employee. Garth Brooks, 62, who is married to fellow country music icon Trisha Yearwood, is alleged to have raped a hairstylist during a work trip in 2019.

An anonymous "Jane Roe" filed the complaint in a California court, where she claimed that the assault happened after she began working with him in 2017 - 18 years after working with his wife Trisha.

She alleged that in two separate incidents, he inappropriately touched her with force — once at his home and another in a hotel room during a trip for a Grammy tribute performance, according to court documents obtained by The Mirror US.

The Grammy winner is facing allegations of assault, battery, and sexual battery. Additionally, he was accused of violating the Bane Act, Ralph Act, and committing gender based violence.

The complaint states: “Usually there were others on Brooks’ private jet but this time, Ms. Roe and Brooks were the only two passengers. Once in Los Angeles at the hotel, Ms. Roe could not believe that Brooks had booked a hotel suite with one bedroom and she did not have a separate room.”

Prior to the filing, Brooks filed a request to a Mississippi court in an effort to label the sexual assault accusers allegations as not true before she even filed the suit. At the time of his filing, he reportedly entered the request anonymously under the name "John Doe," but his identity was later revealed to The Mirror.

Prosecutors in Los Angeles are reviewing new evidence in the case of Erik and Lyle Menendez to determine whether they should be serving life sentences for killing their parents in their Beverly Hills mansion more than 35 years ago, the city’s district attorney said Thursday.

Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón said during a news conference that attorneys for Erik Menendez, 53, and his 56-year-old brother, Lyle Menendez, have asked a court to vacate their conviction.

Gascón said there is no question the brothers committed the murders, but that his office will be reviewing new evidence and will make a decision on whether it warrants a resentencing. A hearing was scheduled for Nov. 29.

“We have not decided on an outcome. We are reviewing information,” Gascón said.

The new evidence presented in a petition includes a letter written by Erik Menendez that his attorneys say corroborates the allegations that he was sexually abused by his father. Gascón said he believes that the topic of sexual assault would have been treated with more sensitivity if the case had happened today.