‘Sobador’ masseur accused of sexually assaulting multiple Valley women
“We exposed some concerning issues Spanish-speaking women face when reporting a sexual assault claim to the Phoenix Police Department.
A language barrier was the excuse given by the Phoenix Police Department to justify their limited investigation, lack of interpreters, and ineffective legal advocacy for victims.
We asked tough questions, persisted on the investigation for two months, and only received resistance from the Phoenix police department.
After seeing our questions weren’t being answered, we contacted at least 5 city council members representing the districts where the victims reside. This last approach helped to finally receive information from officials.
This series of reports are available in both English and Spanish to make sure all potential victims can access to this valuable information.
Together, our series of stories in Spanish reached about 250K views on Facebook. We received calls from at least 11 more women claiming to be victims.
Consequently, four more women filed a police report, adding more victims to the police investigation.
Not only was the system unfair to these women, but also put the whole community safety at risk by allowing a potential serial sexual predator go free.
The case is now under the Maricopa County Attorney General pending charges.”
Salen a la luz mas presuntas víctimas
11 mujeres más acusan a sobador de Phoenix de tocarlas inapropiadamente durante un masaje curativo. A pesar de que cinco de ellas lo denunciaron desde mayo, el hombre nunca fue interrogado por la policía.
Cronologia: Víctimas cuestionan investigación policial.
¿Qué sucedió con el sospechoso? ¿Porqué nadie lo cuestionó? aquí un relato cronológico de los hechos empezando con la primera denuncia.
CASUALTIES OF THE STREET "Víctimas de las calles"
While working for Noticias Univision 62 in Austin Texas, I led a nine month investigation by partnering with the Austin American-Statesman. Our team consisted of bilingual print/broadcast journalists and photojournalists. Through a Texas Public Information Act request, we obtained death reports for 77 individuals who died in 2013 and 2014 and who were categorized as “transient” by the Travis County Medical Examiner’s office.
“An unprecedented American-Statesman analysis of the ways Central Texas’ homeless are dying.”
“Homeless more susceptible to homicides, suicides and traffic-related deaths than general population”
For almost a year, we examined the reasons behind the deaths of Austin’s homeless population. Using case narrative reports supplied by the Travis County Medical Examiner’s office, we were able to identify trends beyond cause and manner of death. Below you will find our stories for digital,print, and broadcast in English and Spanish, an investigation awarded by the OJAs and the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (Lone Star Chapter) in 2016 .
https://awards.journalists.org/entries/casualties-of-the-streets/
“Very good investigation. Nice use of video and photography. Great data. And nice that it’s available in Spanish or English. Excellent.”
Víctimas de las Calles, Univision 62 Report.
This story highlights the leading killer among this population and how they are at a higher risk of premature death than the general public; it also humanizes homelessness providing heartbreaking testimonies from homeless and their families. But what is more shocking throughout this investigation is the discovery of what happens to their remains after they die.. https://www.univision.com/local/austin-kakw/investigacion-especial-victimas-de-las-calles
Expediente-0101: Abuso De Autoridad
A year-long investigation of four Phoenix Police officers and a Hispanic woman involved in a cover up case of abuse of power and discrimination. It took 6 months to obtain this report due to a pending appeal to dismiss the case and 9 months to obtain critical footage and find the victim. This story presents an inappropriate arrest and a current gap between the phoenix police force and the Hispanic communities they serve. The officers were not able to appeal, but received only 40 hours of unpaid leave and a transfer to a different station. Was justice served?
