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Copyright © 2026, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Inc. All rights reserved. This document may not be reprinted without the express written permission of Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Inc. Material from the Associated Press is Copyright © 2026, Associated Press and may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press text, photo, graphic, audio and/or video material shall not be published, broadcast, rewritten for broadcast or publication or redistributed directly or indirectly in any medium. Neither these AP materials nor any portion thereof may be stored in a computer except for personal and noncommercial use. The AP will not be held liable for any delays, inaccuracies, errors or omissions therefrom or in the transmission or delivery of all or any part thereof or for any damages arising from any of the foregoing. All rights reserved.

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By Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office Mon Jun 22, 2026 | 12:37pm Press releases are posted on Independent.com as a free community service. Credit: Courtesy Santa Barbara, Calif. – The Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office is asking for the public’s help in identifying additional survivors following the arrest of a Santa Maria man accused of using social media and messaging applications to contact and exploit minors. On May 28, 2026, Sheriff’s detectives began an investigation into allegations that 20-year-old Edward “Eddie” Alessandro Zarate of Santa Maria was communicating with underage girls online and exchanging sexually explicit material. During the investigation, detectives learned Zarate used applications including Whipd, Purp, Wizz, Snapchat, and text messaging to communicate with minors. Detectives believe Zarate communicated with minors in multiple states, including Florida and Illinois, as well as throughout California. Detectives believe Zarate also had contact with minors from Santa Barbara, Santa Maria, Lompoc, Paso Robles, Nipomo, Arroyo Grande, Oxnard, San Diego, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. Investigators discovered that Zarate’s profiles on these applications appeared to portray him as a juvenile. Once he established communication with minors, he would often encourage them to move conversations off the platform and continue communicating via text message. During

Two cousins were arrested this past week after they allegedly snuck onto a private ranch to illegally hunt hogs and were tracked down through surveillance cameras, a Snapchat video and an impounded pit bull. Gavin Keith Dasher, 30, of Oxford, and his 18-year-old cousin, Gracin Randell Dasher-Richardson of Wildwood, were arrested by Sumter County sheriff’s deputies on misdemeanor trespassing charges. Gavin Dasher Gracin Dasher-Richardson The investigation began in late May when a detective found suspicious tire tracks leading to a fenced, private cattle ranch along Interstate 75 in Bushnell. The property owner authorized deputies to investigate after reporting that trespassers had been illegally hunting hogs on his land. The detective set up hidden surveillance cameras in the area. Late on the night of June 3, the cameras captured three men and a black dog moving hastily through a metal gate onto the property. When deputies responded to the area, they located a Chevrolet pickup truck parked nearby. As deputies approached, they spotted three men who suddenly turned and fled westbound deep into the ranch. While the men managed to escape, deputies captured a tan pit bull equipped with a tracking collar that was left behind. The dog was transported to

A former Launceston teacher’s aide has been jailed for grooming three teenage boys at the school where he worked and sending them explicit images of himself. Brandon Lee Anthony Chell, 28, was this month sentenced in the Supreme Court to 15 months’ imprisonment, backdated to June 12. He pleaded guilty to two counts of grooming with intent to expose a young person to indecent material and two counts of attempting to involve a person under 18 in the production of child exploitation material. The crimes were committed between April and August 2023, when Chell was 25 and working as a teacher’s aide at a Launceston high school. All three victims were male students at the school. Two were aged 15 and one was 15 and 16. Justice Robert Pearce said protection of children was the dominant consideration. Image / Pulse The court heard Chell befriended the boys on Snapchat. He sent one of them nude and semi-nude images of himself almost daily, often late at night and asked the boy to send images of his penis. He sent a second boy a message demanding an explicit image. The boy blocked him minutes later. He sent a third boy an explicit

Younger generations are set to face the biggest shake-up of theirs live in the coming months following Sir Keir Starmer's recent under-16 social media ban confirmation. The ban will see children no longer able to access apps like Instagram, X, Snapchat, TikTok, and Facebook. Reaction to the ban has been mixed, as some fear it will make children feel lonely, while others think it's the necessary thing to do. But it does make you think that we’ve all become too reliant on social media. If you were to tell someone in the 1970s that 50 years later, the world would revolve around social media, they would ask you what it was and to not be ridiculous. The ban is likely to come into force by spring 2027. (Image: Getty Images) But here in the 21st century, we have all become addicted to the endless offerings of the great media world. It’s fair to assume that, as a society, we’ve become more reliant on social media than we could have ever imagined. 15 years ago, we were limited to chat rooms and Facebook pokes. Now, with Instagram, X, TikTok, Snapchat and endless other platforms, the world has shifted. In one click

AI game is changing. The chip guys, like Nvidia, they had their moment. The first AI wave? They rode it high. But guess what? That ride’s over. Nvidia’s been flatlining since October 2025. Remember the internet boom? Everyone thought Cisco and Intel were the kings, right? Wrong. The real money was made by the companies that actually used the internet to build something new: e-commerce, search engines, social media. And it’s the same deal with AI. NVDA? They’re yesterday’s news. The real winners? They’re the robotics companies, the ones building the robots we only dreamed about before. We’re talking AI 2.0. The first wave was about the chips, this one’s about the robots. Robots that can do your chores, robots that can work in factories, robots that will change everything. Labor shortages? Gone. Industries revolutionized? You bet. This isn’t some far-off fantasy, it’s happening right now. And there’s one company, a robotics company, that’s leading the charge. They’ve got the cutting-edge tech, they’re ahead of the curve, and they’re dirt cheap right now. We’re talking potential 100x returns in the next few years. You snooze, you lose. Here’s the catch (it’s a good one): To uncover this sleeping giant, you’ll

Updated June 19, 2026, 8:05 p.m. ET HARTFORD CITY, IN — A sex offender from Blackford County has been accused of trying to arrange improper contact with a 14-year-old girl. Investigators said when 36-year-old Christopher Ryan Baker of Montpelier believed he was exchanging messages with a juvenile via Snapchat, he was actually communicating with a sergeant from the Blackford County Sheriff's Department. That communication began on April 25 and continued until Monday, June 15, when Baker encountered the deputy at a Hartford City park where he reportedly planned to meet the girl.

A dangerous rapist has been jailed after luring a vulnerable woman to a secluded area and assaulting her.