info
Google Groups no longer supports new Usenet posts or subscriptions. Historical content remains viewable.
Dismiss
Prominent trans activist arrested for child rape of young boys
3 views
Skip to first unread message
D. Ray
Dec 31, 2023, 3:14:25 PM12/31/23
to
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania – A prominent LGBTQ+ activist has been charged
with allegedly raping two boys ages 14 and 9, court documents reveal.
Police arrested 37-year-old Kendall Stephens on a slew of charges,
including rape, involuntary deviant sexual intercourse, unlawful contact
with minors, corruption of minors, unlawful contact with minors, indecent
assault against people less than 13 years of age, obscenity to minors and
endangering the welfare of children.
The investigation began in September 2023 when the Philadelphia Police
Special Victims Unit received disturbing reports from the grandmother of
one of the victims who reported that family friend Kendall Stephens—who is
Black—allegedly abused her grandchild. Officials say Stephens abused one
boy on at least three occasions since 2022, beginning when he was just
eight years old.
Stephens also allegedly gave the 14-year-old victim gifts “out of nowhere,”
the victim claims in a possible attempt to “keep him quiet,” court
documents detail. Moreover, Stephens purportedly told the younger victim
that he would be locked up if the boy disclosed to anyone the abuse taking
place.
The victims’ aunt—who asked to remain anonymous—spoke exclusively to Fox 29
News about details in the disturbing accusations, revealing that Stephens
has been a family friend to the victims “since they were born,” as well as
what transpired after her nephews informed their grandmother about the
ongoing abuse.
“We were able to sit them down individually, which is when they broke down
and cried and said everything that happened,” the aunt recalled.
The aunt claimed that Stephens did not deny the allegations when confronted
by her and her mother, stating that “she didn’t deny it to us, she tried to
flip the story and say my nephew tried to kiss her first…he’s nine years
old. No, he didn’t.”
The 37-year-old activist has already posted bail on Tuesday, which was set
at $250,000 by the judge and is scheduled for a preliminary hearing on Dec.
29, according to court reports.
Stephens previously made headlines in August 2020 after he was attacked in
his Point Breeze neighborhood in South Philadelphia after confronting a
rowdy crowd of six outside his home, threatening to call 911 if they didn’t
quiet down and disperse. Stephens claimed three members of the violent
group then targeted him for being a trans woman while his two goddaughters
were present in the residence.
<https://youtu.be/-D4SNS_T9ic>
“They called me a tranny, they said, ‘You’re a man, we’re gonna get you.’
And they were repeating this all throughout the beating, (they) said that I
deserved it,” said Stephens.
One of the attackers, Tymesha Wearing, pleaded guilty earlier this year to
aggravated assault, conspiracy, as well as hate crime charges.
“Nearly three years ago, Kendall Stephens endured a frightening crime that
was intended to demean and silence her,” Philadelphia District Attorney
Larry Krasner stated on the case. “Instead, Ms. Stephens continues to speak
out loudly on behalf of other queer victims of violent crime — all while
pursuing graduate studies. This criminal case is now closed, but Ms.
Stephens will never stop fighting for the respect, support, and protections
that queer people deserve in order to live safely, freely, and joyfully.”
Following the attack, Stephens became involved in local activism within the
LGBTQ+ community, collaborating with city prosecutors on investigations
involving LGBTQ+ victims and using political ties with top Pennsylvania
Democrats to press for updates to Pennsylvania’s hate crime statutes that
extended anti-discrimination protections to LGBTQ+ Pennsylvanians in 2021.
The legislative change was supported by Krasner, who lamented how he could
not bring tougher charges against Wearing the prior year for the assault
against Stephens. Stephens and other activists later joined Krasner for a
2021 press conference to help launch the LGBTQ+ Advisory Board as a “source
of information and resources for victims and survivors of crime within the
community.”
A spokesperson for the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office’s LGBTQ
Advisory Committee confirmed with NBC10 that Stephens is no longer a member
of the board:
“She was removed from the committee after the DA’s Office was informed
about her arrest and referred the case to the AG’s Office,”
In an October 2022 post to Stephens’ Instagram account, Senator Bob Casey
(D-PA) invited Stephens to speak “about the horrors facing the LGBTQIA+
community,” referring to Casey as a “true ally to the community.”
During his 2022 gubernatorial run against Republican Doug Mastriano,
Governor Josh Shapiro also appeared with Stephens at a campaign event to
promote his endorsements from “a diverse group of LGBTQ+ leaders” at the
William Way LGBT Community Center in Philadelphia.
Manuel Bonder, a spokesperson for the governor, called the recent
allegations “abhorrent,” telling Fox that Stephens “should be prosecuted to
the fullest extent and process of the law.”
The Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office is prosecuting the case against
Stephens after it was referred to them by the Philadelphia District
Attorney’s Office due to a potential conflict of interest given Stephens’
political ties and declined to provide further comment.
The extent of Stephens’ activism is well documented via archived links to
his now-deleted Twitter account. The alleged 2020 hate crime incident that
propelled Stephens into the city’s local celebrity status was featured in
the Fall 2020 issue of Equality Magazine, “the nation’s largest LGBTQ
magazine,” as well as the cover for the Community College of Philadelphia’s
student newspaper, The Vanguard. Stephens also attended Temple University,
which platformed the transgender activist in April 2021 “to elevate the
voices of the marginalized and the forgotten,” according to his Twitter.
That same month, as the nation was reeling from the aftermath of the summer
2020 racial riots, another high-profile officer-involved shooting took
place in Minneapolis when 20-year-old Daunte Wright was shot dead by White
police officer Kimberly Potter after discharging what she thought was her
taser as Wright resisted arrest and attempted to flee by vehicle.
According to Grid Magazine, Stephens helped lead a Philadelphia march in
“solidarity with the people of Minneapolis,” in response to Wright’s
shooting. A clip uploaded to YouTube that same day shows Stephens shouting
into a microphone at the city’s luxury apartment residents to “use your
privilege and your power to elevate and enhance the voice of the
voiceless,” prompting several nervous White onlookers from the complex to
join the protests.
“I rebuke the continued assassination of Black & Brown people in this
country by racist law enforcement murderers who harass, brutalize, and
target marginalized communities in their efforts to control, terrorize &
neglect when they should be serving and protecting. #DaunteWright” Stephens
took to Twitter again a few days after the protest.
The disturbing case of Kendall Stephens is the latest in a pattern of
recent arrests of transgender activists on similar charges. In May 2022,
Carlos Arturo Aparicio Hernandez, 36, another prominent trans activist,
faced 16 felony charges following accusations of sexual abuse and
exploitation of a 15-year-old boy. Described by The New York Times as a
“transgender human rights activist” in a 2018 article about LGBT migrants,
Hernandez was granted asylum in the United States in 2017, citing severe
police brutality in his native El Salvador before settling in Los Angeles,
California.
Later that year, Lailani Muniz, a 39-year-old trans and HIV activist in the
Bronx LGBT community was arrested for allegedly soliciting sex from an
underage boy online and arranging to meet with him. Muniz was honored in
June last year during a pride flag-raising ceremony at Bronx Borough Hall
in honor of Pride Month.
The first openly transgender state legislator, former New Hampshire
Representative Stacie Laughton, was arrested on charges of distributing
child sexual abuse images in June of this year. Following Laughton’s
federal indictment and unrelenting pressure from the concerned public,
Hillsborough County jail confirmed that the former Democratic state
representative is being housed in a male unit, which State Rep. Kathrine
Prudhomme O’Brien (R-Derry) called “a victory for public safety.”
“The safety of female inmates is important, and there shouldn’t be
loopholes that could be taken advantage of that make them more vulnerable.
I’m pleased to learn Laughton is housed appropriately,” Prudhomme O’Brien
explained.
Perhaps the most notorious act of trans-related criminal violence was the
notorious case of transgender mass shooter Audrey Hale. Hale, a biological
female-turned-male, trained the end of a high-powered assault rifle onto
innocent people inside a Nashville Christian school, killing six, including
three 9-year-old children. Despite a systemic cover-up of Hale’s political
writings and manifesto, portions of it were leaked to conservative media,
revealing a racially motivated desire to specifically kill White children.
Have a story? Please forward any tips or leads to the editors at
justicer...@proton.me
<https://justicereport.news/articles/2023/12/26/prominent-trans-activist-arrested-for-child-rape-of-young-boys/>
<https://archive.ph/kAPjr>
with allegedly raping two boys ages 14 and 9, court documents reveal.
Police arrested 37-year-old Kendall Stephens on a slew of charges,
including rape, involuntary deviant sexual intercourse, unlawful contact
with minors, corruption of minors, unlawful contact with minors, indecent
assault against people less than 13 years of age, obscenity to minors and
endangering the welfare of children.
The investigation began in September 2023 when the Philadelphia Police
Special Victims Unit received disturbing reports from the grandmother of
one of the victims who reported that family friend Kendall Stephens—who is
Black—allegedly abused her grandchild. Officials say Stephens abused one
boy on at least three occasions since 2022, beginning when he was just
eight years old.
Stephens also allegedly gave the 14-year-old victim gifts “out of nowhere,”
the victim claims in a possible attempt to “keep him quiet,” court
documents detail. Moreover, Stephens purportedly told the younger victim
that he would be locked up if the boy disclosed to anyone the abuse taking
place.
The victims’ aunt—who asked to remain anonymous—spoke exclusively to Fox 29
News about details in the disturbing accusations, revealing that Stephens
has been a family friend to the victims “since they were born,” as well as
what transpired after her nephews informed their grandmother about the
ongoing abuse.
“We were able to sit them down individually, which is when they broke down
and cried and said everything that happened,” the aunt recalled.
The aunt claimed that Stephens did not deny the allegations when confronted
by her and her mother, stating that “she didn’t deny it to us, she tried to
flip the story and say my nephew tried to kiss her first…he’s nine years
old. No, he didn’t.”
The 37-year-old activist has already posted bail on Tuesday, which was set
at $250,000 by the judge and is scheduled for a preliminary hearing on Dec.
29, according to court reports.
Stephens previously made headlines in August 2020 after he was attacked in
his Point Breeze neighborhood in South Philadelphia after confronting a
rowdy crowd of six outside his home, threatening to call 911 if they didn’t
quiet down and disperse. Stephens claimed three members of the violent
group then targeted him for being a trans woman while his two goddaughters
were present in the residence.
<https://youtu.be/-D4SNS_T9ic>
“They called me a tranny, they said, ‘You’re a man, we’re gonna get you.’
And they were repeating this all throughout the beating, (they) said that I
deserved it,” said Stephens.
One of the attackers, Tymesha Wearing, pleaded guilty earlier this year to
aggravated assault, conspiracy, as well as hate crime charges.
“Nearly three years ago, Kendall Stephens endured a frightening crime that
was intended to demean and silence her,” Philadelphia District Attorney
Larry Krasner stated on the case. “Instead, Ms. Stephens continues to speak
out loudly on behalf of other queer victims of violent crime — all while
pursuing graduate studies. This criminal case is now closed, but Ms.
Stephens will never stop fighting for the respect, support, and protections
that queer people deserve in order to live safely, freely, and joyfully.”
Following the attack, Stephens became involved in local activism within the
LGBTQ+ community, collaborating with city prosecutors on investigations
involving LGBTQ+ victims and using political ties with top Pennsylvania
Democrats to press for updates to Pennsylvania’s hate crime statutes that
extended anti-discrimination protections to LGBTQ+ Pennsylvanians in 2021.
The legislative change was supported by Krasner, who lamented how he could
not bring tougher charges against Wearing the prior year for the assault
against Stephens. Stephens and other activists later joined Krasner for a
2021 press conference to help launch the LGBTQ+ Advisory Board as a “source
of information and resources for victims and survivors of crime within the
community.”
A spokesperson for the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office’s LGBTQ
Advisory Committee confirmed with NBC10 that Stephens is no longer a member
of the board:
“She was removed from the committee after the DA’s Office was informed
about her arrest and referred the case to the AG’s Office,”
In an October 2022 post to Stephens’ Instagram account, Senator Bob Casey
(D-PA) invited Stephens to speak “about the horrors facing the LGBTQIA+
community,” referring to Casey as a “true ally to the community.”
During his 2022 gubernatorial run against Republican Doug Mastriano,
Governor Josh Shapiro also appeared with Stephens at a campaign event to
promote his endorsements from “a diverse group of LGBTQ+ leaders” at the
William Way LGBT Community Center in Philadelphia.
Manuel Bonder, a spokesperson for the governor, called the recent
allegations “abhorrent,” telling Fox that Stephens “should be prosecuted to
the fullest extent and process of the law.”
The Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office is prosecuting the case against
Stephens after it was referred to them by the Philadelphia District
Attorney’s Office due to a potential conflict of interest given Stephens’
political ties and declined to provide further comment.
The extent of Stephens’ activism is well documented via archived links to
his now-deleted Twitter account. The alleged 2020 hate crime incident that
propelled Stephens into the city’s local celebrity status was featured in
the Fall 2020 issue of Equality Magazine, “the nation’s largest LGBTQ
magazine,” as well as the cover for the Community College of Philadelphia’s
student newspaper, The Vanguard. Stephens also attended Temple University,
which platformed the transgender activist in April 2021 “to elevate the
voices of the marginalized and the forgotten,” according to his Twitter.
That same month, as the nation was reeling from the aftermath of the summer
2020 racial riots, another high-profile officer-involved shooting took
place in Minneapolis when 20-year-old Daunte Wright was shot dead by White
police officer Kimberly Potter after discharging what she thought was her
taser as Wright resisted arrest and attempted to flee by vehicle.
According to Grid Magazine, Stephens helped lead a Philadelphia march in
“solidarity with the people of Minneapolis,” in response to Wright’s
shooting. A clip uploaded to YouTube that same day shows Stephens shouting
into a microphone at the city’s luxury apartment residents to “use your
privilege and your power to elevate and enhance the voice of the
voiceless,” prompting several nervous White onlookers from the complex to
join the protests.
“I rebuke the continued assassination of Black & Brown people in this
country by racist law enforcement murderers who harass, brutalize, and
target marginalized communities in their efforts to control, terrorize &
neglect when they should be serving and protecting. #DaunteWright” Stephens
took to Twitter again a few days after the protest.
The disturbing case of Kendall Stephens is the latest in a pattern of
recent arrests of transgender activists on similar charges. In May 2022,
Carlos Arturo Aparicio Hernandez, 36, another prominent trans activist,
faced 16 felony charges following accusations of sexual abuse and
exploitation of a 15-year-old boy. Described by The New York Times as a
“transgender human rights activist” in a 2018 article about LGBT migrants,
Hernandez was granted asylum in the United States in 2017, citing severe
police brutality in his native El Salvador before settling in Los Angeles,
California.
Later that year, Lailani Muniz, a 39-year-old trans and HIV activist in the
Bronx LGBT community was arrested for allegedly soliciting sex from an
underage boy online and arranging to meet with him. Muniz was honored in
June last year during a pride flag-raising ceremony at Bronx Borough Hall
in honor of Pride Month.
The first openly transgender state legislator, former New Hampshire
Representative Stacie Laughton, was arrested on charges of distributing
child sexual abuse images in June of this year. Following Laughton’s
federal indictment and unrelenting pressure from the concerned public,
Hillsborough County jail confirmed that the former Democratic state
representative is being housed in a male unit, which State Rep. Kathrine
Prudhomme O’Brien (R-Derry) called “a victory for public safety.”
“The safety of female inmates is important, and there shouldn’t be
loopholes that could be taken advantage of that make them more vulnerable.
I’m pleased to learn Laughton is housed appropriately,” Prudhomme O’Brien
explained.
Perhaps the most notorious act of trans-related criminal violence was the
notorious case of transgender mass shooter Audrey Hale. Hale, a biological
female-turned-male, trained the end of a high-powered assault rifle onto
innocent people inside a Nashville Christian school, killing six, including
three 9-year-old children. Despite a systemic cover-up of Hale’s political
writings and manifesto, portions of it were leaked to conservative media,
revealing a racially motivated desire to specifically kill White children.
Have a story? Please forward any tips or leads to the editors at
justicer...@proton.me
<https://justicereport.news/articles/2023/12/26/prominent-trans-activist-arrested-for-child-rape-of-young-boys/>
<https://archive.ph/kAPjr>
0 new messages