March 3, 1996
Web posted at: 9:50 p.m. EST
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A Justice Department report shows that two-thirds of state inmates imprisoned for rape or sexual assault attacked children.
Three out of four of the victims in the sexual assaults were girls, and 88 percent of the sex offenders knew their victim, the report, released Sunday, said.
"This high rate of child victims is behind the heightened concern and the growing number of states passing laws that provide for notifying neighborhoods when sexual predators move in," said David Beatty, acting director of the National Victims Center.
The study was based on a survey of state prisoners serving jail time for violent crime in 1991. More than 14,000 convicts in 277 prisons in 45 states participated in the survey.
FORT SMITH, Arkansas (CNN) -- A man convicted of conspiring to sell weapons to Iran in 1986 was captured at an Arkansas airport when he threatened to shoot employees because of a boarding delay.
Paul Sjeklocha, also known as Paul Cutter, fled the U.S. during an appeal of his conviction, and had been living in Greece. He was caught in the FBI sting known as "Iranscam" when he bought anti-tank missiles and jet surveillance cameras from FBI agents.
Sjeklocha and Charles St. Claire were convicted of wire fraud and conspiring to sell the weapons to Iran, violating a ban on such sales.
Sjeklocha will be returned to Florida, where he was convicted, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Cromwell.
JACKSON, Mississippi (CNN) -- The U.S. District Court on Monday will hear the case of a woman who wants a Mississippi school system to stop broadcasting prayers to students. The case is considered a major test of the separation of church and state.
Lisa Herdahl sued the local school system in Pontotoc County because officials read prayers and Bible classes over school public address systems. Herdahl, who says her children have been harassed since she filed the lawsuit, denies that she wants to take prayer out of the school.
"We just don't want one religion forced on us," she said.
School Superintendent Jerry Horton says the school system will fight the lawsuit all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.
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