Jay Rivera, also known as P.Diddy, left the house after hearing noise. The two women then walked toward the back courtyard of the residence. (source)
According to the story, the men returned and after several minutes, the woman said the men were going to rape her. In a move to protect her and her children from her assailants, Maria said she fired several shots. Once the two perpetrators saw the bullets were going to hit one of the women, they left and a man came forward and shot him.
This apparently ended the incident and left the woman shaken but not injured.
Another man named Kevin Treadwell was charged with unlawful wounding and one count each of aggravated assault and attempted criminal mischief. The story described Treadwell as the brother of Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, who was the sheriff of Maricopa for the past 33 years and served as a judge for the Phoenix metro area during his tenure as Sheriff. Both Treadwell and Martin have since pleaded not guilty to both charges.
In another incident, the Maricopa County Sheriff’s office arrested a mother in Pima County and charged her with two counts of child abuse. The incident apparently began with a confrontation over child support, which led to physical violence. The mother allegedly made it sound like she was physically abusing her child, and when questioned further by her attorney, she admitted saying that her son was acting out.
Unfortunately, both these incidents are only the tip of a iceberg. There have been, according to the Arizona Republic. more than 600 such assaults across the state and many more similar cases are in the past.
Perhaps it’s not a surprise that the victim of these abuses are children. According to the FBI, the assault and battery of children ages 9 to 14 is on the rise and that number will only increase in the future as our children age.
These two events, whether they are intentional or accidental, highlight the dangers and problems with this type of sexual assault, but ultimately these incidents can be a deterrent to the criminals who target children. Instead of throwing blame, I would like to ask young women in Maricopa County to reflect on who they are and the things they know that are supposed to protect them.
How do you know if someone is trustworthy enough to protect you? How do you tell whether someone is really interested in making the world a better place? If you aren’t confident in someone, go