Morning Blotter

Bad people, doing bad stuff, everywhere. What follows is a quick list of current true crime headlines of interest.

* Christian School Principal Charged with Rape -- Mark Evan Brown, age 37, has been charged with one count of third-degree rape. During Brown's 3-year tenure as the principal of Highland Christian School, he allegedly exchanged texts and phone calls with a 14-year-old female student. Brown may have even prodded the girl into running away from home. When she did run away on June 12 this year, Brown allegedly set her up in a little room at the school, complete with a bed and television. Ever the good Christian role model, police say Brown then provided the girl with alcohol and some old-fashioned molestation. Court papers indicate the girl tried to protect Brown until this week, when she finally gave him up.[KING5.com]

* Don't Ask Christian Bale For Money -- The source of the alleged dust-up earlier this week that led to Dark Knight star Christian Bale spending several hours with the London Metropolitan Police may have been a request for money. A report out of London states that Bale's sister Sharon asked for $200,000. He refused the loan, his mama Jenny started talking smack about Bale's wife, and the 34-year-old actor allegedly went ballistic. [NYDN]

More below...

* Rape-Lover Thomas Gillen Busted Again -- Thomas Gillen once coaxed his wife into taking some nude photos. Then the college recruiter from Rockaway Park, NY posted the pics on the Web and invited anyone who might be feeling a bit rape-ish to come along and do their thing. That was 2 years ago. Proving that some people never learn, Gillen has once again been arrested, basically for not taking his medicine. The court was easy on him the first time around; there weren't any laws to cover what he did. He ended up copping to identity theft and receiving 5 years probation. Then he blew off his probation meetings and sex offender classes -- and police think he was probably on the Web, trying to con new women into rape fantasy-related situations. Swell guy that he is, Gillen faces 4 years in prison for real, now. [NYDN]

* City of San Francisco Pwned by Maggot617-- Terry Childs, age 43, planned to take out an entire city computer network, and he got damn close to succeeding. Using screen names like "Maggot617," he set up a wholesale sabotage of many of the city of San Francisco's crucial systems and ensured that he was the only one with the keys to the kingdom. Even after he was jailed on July 13, Childs held on to the passwords and access codes city administrators needed to get in and start figuring out just how much damage he'd done. Childs didn't give anything up until this week, when he met with SF Mayor Gavin Newsom. Prosecutors haven't lowered Childs's $5 million in bail, though -- he may remain in jail till late September. [SFGate.com]

* Lori Drew Challenges Charges of Online Harassment -- Lori Drew, the woman accused of harassing Dardenne Praire, MO teen Megan Meier online until Meieir committed suicide, has challenged the legal basis of the charges against her. Last May, a Los Angeles-based federal grand jury indicted Drew, charging her with felony conspiracy and illegally accessing MySpace computers. The Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, which is being used to prosecute Drew, has typically been used against hackers in the past. Drew's attorney says the charges against his client are unconstitutional and flawed. A few million people on the Internet, where Megan Meier became a cause celebre, are still sharpening pitchforks and readying torches. [STLToday.com]

* Teen Girl Sought in KC Shooting -- Police in Kansas City, KS are on the lookout for a 5'0", 150 lb. teenage girl clad in a white tank top, blue capris, and tennis shoes. The girl may have shot and killed a teen boy last Wednesday as the boy was driving on Laurel Ave. in KC. [KC Star]

* Country Star's Killer May Go Free -- On November 10, 1973, cousins John and Marvin Brown murdered Grand Ole Opry Star David "Stringbean" Akeman and Akeman's wife, Estelle. It was an In Cold Blood situation; the two young losers thought that the country star surely had money socked away, and they laid in wait at Akeman's Ridgetop, TN cabin for hours that night, in anticipation of Akeman and Estelle getting home from a gig at the Opry. The Akemans were shot just after they got out of their car. The Browns, far more inept at robbery than they were at murder, only came away with Akeman's chainsaw and some firearms. Had they let Stringbean live, they might have learned of the $20,000 or so in cash the musician had stowed away behind bricks in the chimney of his cabin's fireplace. As it was, that money didn't come to light until 1996. The Brown boys were tried and convicted. Marvin died in 2003, but John Brown just had a parole hearing. He's already received two yes votes from the board. Two more, and the man who admitted to shooting Estelle Akeman as she ran for her life through the cold November night may just go free. [Tennesseean]

* There Can Be Only One -- Two as-yet unnamed brothers got into a fight overnight in Tulsa, OK. When all was said and done, one brother lay dead from wounds to his neck and abdomen, and the other brother, age 41, was in custody and being questioned about the murder. The murder weapon may have been a Samurai sword. [KJRH.com]