TLC has CANCELLED "Here Comes Honey Boo Boo" TMZ has learned, in the wake of our story that Mama June is dating a convicted child molester who sexually abused one of her relatives. The decision comes one day after TMZ broke the story ... June has been secretly dating Mark McDaniel, who got out of prison in March after serving 10 years for forcing oral sex on an 8-year-old.
We've learned June has denied she's seeing McDaniel, despite a photo we posted showing the 2 of them at a small party in a hotel room. TLC clearly did not believe her and cancelled the show because they felt she was putting her children at risk.
TLC has shot an entire new season of episodes but will not air them. Although the show has fallen off its ratings high, we're told it's still very profitable, so TLC is taking a financial hit.
But the network is not turning its back on the kids, telling us, "Supporting the health and welfare of these remarkable children is our only priority. TLC is faithfully committed to the children's ongoing comfort and well-being." Our sources say the network will pay for tutors and counselors for the kids.
Mama June just responded -- she continues to deny that she is dating McDaniel ... Mama June's New man Molested Her Daughter And she Wants you to Know
The 8-year-old girl who was molested by Mama June's new guy is June's own daughter, Anna ... and Anna wanted us to tell everybody.
TMZ broke the story ... June is dating her ex, Mark McDaniel, who was released in March after serving 10 years in prison for forcing a girl to perform oral sex on him. June has been dating McDaniel since his release -- something she denies despite photos and other evidence -- and that's why TLC cancelled "Here Comes Honey Boo Boo."
Sources tell TMZ ... Anna Cardwell -- who is now 20 and married with a child -- believed her mom earlier today that she was not dating the man who molested her. But we're told Anna has now received a lot more info, and is now convinced June betrayed her by seeing McDaniel again.
Anna wants it known she's the victim because it makes what her mom is doing all the more egregious. We're told Anna feels her relationship with her mom has been destroyed, and the only way June can see her granddaughter is if McDaniel is nowhere to be seen.
We're also told TLC reached out to Anna today to offer her counseling.
*************************************************** 'Honey Boo Boo' Cancellation : The Evidence Is On Wheels
TLC has plenty of evidence Mama June has been dating a convicted sex offender who molested her 8-year-old relative ... including the fact she went car shopping for the con.
As we first reported ... Mama June bought gifts for Mark McDaniel, who got out of prison in March after serving 10 years. We're told last month June went shopping for a used car ... a car we're told she was getting for McDaniel.
We know she went to at least one dealership near her home and said the used car was for her daughter. But sources say she was secretly car shopping for McDaniel.
Our sources say TLC also got wind of this. The car, the photo we posted, and other "compelling evidence" led the network to cancel the show, despite June's denials.
********************************************** Sugar Bear Shows Up At Mama June's House
Not long after word came down that their show, "Here Comes Honey Boo Boo," was cancelled ... Sugar Bear showed up at the home of Mama June, perhaps to offer support.
Sugar Bear and Mama June broke up last month and it was Mama June's new relationship -- with a convicted child molester -- that lead to TLC's decision to ax the show.
Sugar Bear does have a dog in the fight ... the plan was for him to remain on the show.
******************************** Mama June Child Services and Police Alerted For Dating Child Molester
Alleged Child Molester ... Mark McDaniel "Here Comes Honey Boo Boo" star Mama June is now in the crosshairs of children's services and local police ... TMZ has learned.
Sources connected to law enforcement tell TMZ ... children's services was alerted shortly after we broke the story that June has been secretly dating Mark McDaniel, who got out of prison in March after serving 10 years for forcing oral sex on an 8-year-old relative of June's.
We're also told the local Sheriff's Dept. has been notified.
As we first reported ... TLC cancelled the popular show just one day after learning she was secretly dating the child molester, who is now a registered sex offender.
Dear Friends and readers , we are adding a new feature to our blogs , entertainment and news from around the cities of Louisiana , mostly what's going on in North Louisiana in the arts, music and casinos.
You are familiar with our 'Roving Reporter , he writes food for thought on Wandering Brook and Maxy's Hideout as the 'Proud grandpoppa ... G.'
So here's our Roving reporter with his first post . BATON ROUGE – Former President Bill Clinton praised U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu’s work for Louisiana but stressed to supporters at a rally that if they don’t vote and get others to vote for her, she could lose this race.
Landrieu’s campaign is counting on Clinton’s support adding a boost and prompting voters to head to the polls prior to the Nov. 4 election with the opening of early voting.
Having a rally is "all very nice but it won’t amount to a hill of beans if you don’t vote," Clinton told a crowd of Landrieu supporters.
The rally focused on Landrieu’s efforts to improve health care, ease the burden of paying off student loans by allowing graduates to refinance them like any other loan, bring more offshore oil production to the state and restore coastal areas after being devastated by hurricanes.
Clinton said after watching Landrieu’s actions in the Senate while he was president, he knows "She’s going to do the right thing. I saw her fight for 10 years to get revenues from offshore" oil production.
While Republicans paint her as toeing the Democratic Party line, Clinton said she is "one of the most bipartisan and one of the 10 most effective senators."
Performance-wise, "she should be winning this race 10-to-15 percent except for the situation we’re in," he said.
Political forecasters have predicted rough seas for Landrieu as she seeks re-election in a highly conservative state, even though the Democratic Party still leads in voter registration.
Both parties are pouring large sums of money into television advertising.
Republican challengers U.S. Rep. Bill Cassidy and retired Air Force Col. Rob Maness are pushing Landrieu’s support of most of President Barack Obama’s policies as a reason to oust her. They’re counting on Obama’s unpopularity in the state to sway voters against her.
Landrieu is pushing her rise to powerful positions in the Senate that can help the state as a reason to keep her.
Ben Voelkel, spokesman for the National Republican Committee said "Bringing President Clinton to town only underscores how much Mary Landrieu has swung to the liberal end of the Democrat party, as her support of President Obama’s policies 97 percent of the time demonstrate. Landrieu’s rock solid support for President Obama shows that his agenda is her agenda, and Louisiana voters can see through today’s misdirection."
Among those in the crowd to hear Landrieu and Clinton was Mike Belcher, a Baton Rouge Republican who believes his party has gone "way too far out of line" in its fight to unseat Landrieu.
"Frankly, I’m not too happy with her opponents" and "she holds seats on committees we don’t want to lose," he said.
PRETORIA, South Africa (AP) -- Oscar Pistorius was taken away in a police van with barred windows Tuesday to start serving a five-year prison sentence for killing girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp.
Delivering her sentence, Judge Thokozile Masipa cited the "gross negligence" the double-amputee Olympic runner showed when he shot Steenkamp multiple times through a toilet cubicle door in his home.
Pistorius, who had cried and wretched during his trial, was unemotional as he stood to hear his sentence. His prison term begins immediately and he was led down a flight of stairs and toward holding cells before leaving the South African courthouse in the armored vehicle.
Pistorius could be released after 10 months in jail to serve the remainder under house arrest, according to legal experts.
Steenkamp's parents were also in court to hear the sentence and the dead model's mother, June, said justice had been done. A close friend of Steenkamp, Gina Myers, said: "I really don't think any of us will heal anytime soon ... there will always be questions."
Pistorius' uncle, Arnold Pistorius, said: "Oscar will embrace this opportunity to pay back to society." He appealed to reporters to give the family privacy after what he called "20 months of relentless public trial."
Pistorius' uncle also criticized state prosecutors for pursuing a premeditated charge against Pistorius, and said "they decided to inflict as much collateral damage as they could."
Masipa said her sentence was a balancing act between retribution and clemency.
"I am of the view that a non-custodial sentence would send a wrong message to the community," Masipa said after summarizing parts of the case and explaining why she reached her decision. "On the other hand, a long sentence would not be appropriate either as it would lack the element of mercy."
Masipa last month convicted Pistorius of culpable homicide, but acquitted him of murder after he testified he mistook Steenkamp for a nighttime intruder. She asked Pistorius to stand as she delivered the sentence Tuesday, and he faced her with his hands clasped in front of him. Pistorius was then led away by police, stopping briefly to grip the hands of his uncle and other family members as he headed to prison.
Pistorius' defense and the prosecution have 14 days to lodge any appeal against the judge's decision.
Prosecutors said they are considering whether to appeal the sentence, where Pistorius, 27, could serve less than a year in jail for killing his 29-year-old girlfriend.
Nathi Mncube, the prosecution spokesman, said his office was disappointed in the culpable homicide conviction and had not yet decided whether to appeal the sentence.
"We have not made up our minds whether we're going to appeal it or not," he said. He added that there was an "appetite" to appeal but that prosecutors would review their options.
"We are satisfied with the fact that he will be serving some time in prison," Mncube said.
Masipa had a wide range of options available to her because South Africa does not have a minimum sentence for culpable homicide, which is comparable to manslaughter. Pistorius faced up to 15 years in jail, but could also have received a completely suspended sentence or house arrest.
Marius du Toit, a legal analyst and criminal defense lawyer, said Pistorius would have to serve one-sixth of his sentence in prison - 10 months - before he could be eligible to be moved to house arrest.
"It's an appropriate sentence," du Toit said. He said a higher sentence would have been impossible because "you cannot elevate the sentence to murder."
Another analyst, law professor Kelly Phelps, said Judge Masipa had done "a remarkable job at balancing all of the competing interests that were weighing down on her."
As Pistorius left in the police van, a raucous crowd gathered around the vehicle, whistling, shouting and banging on the caged windows.
Witchy sez ;
Let's see, hubby's in the bathroom. Bet I could get off in 2 with good behavior-wait, I look prettier crying than he does. Honey? BLAM BLAM. This sentence is a joke and an insult.
I guess the judge could have just slapped him on the wrist as it would be about equivalent to this puny sentence. Justice wasn't served here. Nice to see we aren't the only ones with a broken criminal justice system and soft hearted lenient judges.
Isn't amazing be it our justice system or another these judges let the real criminals walk free. The prosecutors proved he knew she was there he should have gotten life.
South African president criticises defence team for arguing Olympian should be spared jail because he is disabled.
South Africa's president, Jacob Zuma, has made his first public comments on the trial of Oscar Pistorius. Photograph: Stringer/REUTERS Africa’s president, Jacob Zuma, has criticised Oscar Pistorius’s defence team for arguing the Paralympian should be spared prison because he is disabled and "has money". Zuma’s first public comments about the most closely watched trial in the country’s post-apartheid history came as Pistorius, convicted of culpable homicide for the killing of Reeva Steenkamp, awaits sentencing on Tuesday. Pistorius’s lawyers called expert witnesses last week to testify that South African jails are ill-equipped for disabled people because, for example, the showers lack handrails. His lawyer warned that even in a hospital section the athlete would be exposed to diseases.
"I’m not sure why that comes into the picture," Zuma told the Guardian in Pretoria. "They were taking that too far in my view. There are people who are [physically] challenged in prisons; it’s not an issue here. That brings an unfortunate thing, an added thing, because a man has money."
The president added: "I thought that was an unfortunate debate. You don’t need it, because there are people who are disabled South who are in prison. Why it is raised as if he was the first one to be convicted? I thought they were pushing it too far." Zuma, a former inmate on Robben Island during white minority rule, said he was saddened by the fall of Pistorius – "a hero in a very special way," – but felt the trial had shown the strength of the judicial system. "Very fair, very open. Not just to other people but even to South Africans, because usually South Africans are not informed. This time around, in their own houses they were informed as to how things happen." He also backed judge Thokozile Masipa, whose decision to clear the double amputee athlete of murder was widely attacked. "The fact that the judge says he’s acquitted of murder, but on culpable homicide convicted, teaches people I think something in law, that you don’t just say because the life was lost it’s a murder," he said. "It could be murder, it could be an unintended kind of thing. I think people must have learned.
"The judge was under a bit of criticism, particularly because she’s a woman and women felt that she was not sympathetic to women, but she’s applying the law. So I’m just saying it was an interesting lesson for us." Masipa will decide in the high court in Pretoria on Tuesday whether to meet the prosecution’s demand for 10 years’ imprisonment, grant the defense’s request for house arrest and community service, or seek a middle ground. Either side could then appeal and prolong the case yet further.
The sentencing hearing last week focused scrutiny on South Africa’s ability to cope with disabled people in jails notorious for overcrowding, tuberculosis, violent gangs and allegations of torture. Zach Modise, the acting national commissioner of the department of correctional services, told the court that it deals with 128 disabled prisoners on a daily basis, some of whom are blind, paraplegic or have had limbs partially or totally amputated.
"In the continent of Africa, there are no better facilities than those that we have in our country," he said, adding that he had also visited facilities in the UK and New York’s Sing Sing maximum security jail and found South Africa compared favourably. He gave assurances that Pistorius would be held in a hospital section to cater for his specific needs. But watchdogs have raised concerns. Ruth Hopkins, an investigative journalist at the Johannesburg-based Wits Justice Project, visited the hospital section of Pretoria’s Kgosi Mampuru II prison two years ago, where the athlete is likely to be sent. "I did see a number of inmates cleaning but it did seem quite rundown and understaffed," she said.
"The general problem with the department of correctional services is that the legal framework is very robust and impressive but in practice it’s a whole different ballgame. However, I don’t think Oscar Pistorius will run into a lot of problems because he has a name and connections and network and most importantly money. Most of the cases we investigate are poor people who lack money or the ability to navigate the criminal justice system." Golden Miles Bhudu, who spent five months in jail in 2009, recalled seeing an inmate without legs forced to help himself get meals and left in the sun all day because he was unable to pay fellow prisoners. "The conditions for disabled people leave a hell of a lot to be desired," said Bhudu, now a spokesman for the South African Prisoners’ Organization for Human Rights.
"It all depends how well connected outside and how rich you are. It will be difficult if it’s you or me and no one knows us. But Oscar Pistorius is a millionaire. He will have to pay a protection fee to prisoners and some corrupt correctional officers to look after him. Some officers will run to him to offer care and protection."
Sister Amiee and brother Oscar PistoriusMeanwhile, on the eve of sentencing, Pistorius’s siblings have spoken publicly about their anguish and unwavering support for the athlete. His sister, Aimee, recalled the moment that she learned 29-year-old Steenkamp had been shot. "When I first heard what had happened obviously my initial reaction was just shock and devastation and extreme heartache," she told ITV News. "My first thoughts were that knowing my brother, … the kind of person he is … he must have thought it was an intruder, before I knew the facts." She added: "I do not doubt my brother at all. I have the privileged position of knowing my brother – his strengths, his faults as you do when you’re as close as we are. And yet knowing those things, I know that people who think maliciously are so far from the truth."
The family have been seen shaking their heads in court while listening to prosecutor Gerrie Nel. Pistorius’s brother, Carl, said: "I can’t relate to the Oscar that’s been portrayed by the prosecution. Oscar growing up, up until now, is the same person. He’s bold, he’s brave, he’s got courage, he’s got charisma, he’s exciting and fun, thoughtful and intelligent, and has been the perfect fit as a middle child between us three siblings.
"I believe Oscar without a reservation. There’s not an inkling of reservation as to what I believe Oscar says … We cannot speculate ahead of final sentencing but what I do know for certain, regardless of the outcome, the three of us will stand together and continue to stand together."
PRETORIA, South Africa - The chief prosecutor in the Oscar Pistorius trial urged the judge on Friday to send the Olympic athlete to prison for at least 10 years, calling it the minimum acceptable term and noting the horrific nature of the shooting death of Reeva Steenkamp.
Judge Thokozile Masipa is expected to announce Pistorius' sentence on Tuesday. She adjourned court Friday after chief prosecutor Gerrie Nel and chief defence lawyer Barry Roux presented their final arguments for sentencing, summing up the testimony in the weeklong hearing.
Masipa found Pistorius guilty last month of culpable homicide for negligently killing Steenkamp, but acquitted him of murder. Culpable homicide is comparable to manslaughter and Masipa has a wide range of options on Pistorius' sentence. She could issue a suspended jail sentence and a fine, order the 27-year-old Paralympic champion to go under house arrest, or send him to prison for up to 15 years.
Nel said to Judge Masipa: "The minimum term that society will be happy with is 10 years in prison."
It was the first time prosecutors have said what sentence they are seeking for the double-amputee runner for shooting his girlfriend.
"The deceased died in a small cubicle behind a closed door," Nel said. "Three bullets ripped through her body."
Later, Nel said "this is a serious matter. The negligence borders on intent."
Pistorius' chief defence lawyer Roux said the world-famous athlete did not act with any "deviousness" when he killed Steenkamp, and acted while feeling extremely vulnerable and anxious. Pistorius testified he mistook Steenkamp for a dangerous intruder in his home and claimed the shooting was a tragic accident.
"The accused's actions were to some extent dominated by vulnerability and anxiety," Roux said to the red-robed judge who will decide Pistorius' fate. "When you come to sentence ... you have to look at the actions with his frame of mind."
Roux said there was also "no conscious unlawfulness" from Pistorius. He described Pistorius' suffering, both emotional and financial, since the Feb. 14, 2013 shooting.
"He's lost everything," Roux said of Pistorius, once an inspirational figure who became the first amputee to run at the Olympics in 2012. "He was an icon in the eyes of South Africans."
Pistorius at one point cried as he sat, his head bowed, on a wooden bench behind his lawyer.
"He's not only broke, but he's broken. There is nothing left of this man," Roux said. He said that Pistorius "hasn't even the money to pay for legal expenses. He has nothing left."
Pistorius' lawyers have argued for a three-year sentence of occasional house arrest and community service and no jail time, saying Pistorius has suffered emotionally and financially already, and would be under duress in prison because of his disability as a double amputee.
Nel called a house arrest sentence "shockingly disproportionate" to what Pistorius did in the pre-dawn hours of Valentine's Day last year when he shot four times with his 9 mm pistol through a toilet cubicle door in his home, hitting Steenkamp in the head, arm and hip.
Nel said Pistorius should never be allowed to own a firearm again after he was also convicted on another charge of unlawfully firing a gun in a public place in a restaurant incident in early 2013, weeks before Steenkamp's killing.
Mel Gibson's 500-acre estate in Costa Rica -- priced at $29.75 million -- includes three villas in a remote rainforest area.
You'd think actor Mel Gibson could use a little solitude, like the Costa Rica rainforest, to collect his thoughts, renew his spirit, and forget about his infamous personal problems. You'd think wrong.
For the last two years, the actor has been trying to sell his Costa Rica compound -- Playa Barrigona -- complete with three villas and 500 acres of private jungle on the tip of the Nicoya Peninsula. Playa Barrigona is so remote, it's not shown on most maps of that northwestern part of Costa Rica, near the famous Arenal volcano.
Maybe the estate is a little too out-of-the-way. Or maybe it's too expensive -- $29.75 million. Or maybe the property has bad juju -- perhaps the result of Gibson's highly publicized slurs against minorities and battles with ex-girlfriend Oksana Grigorieva.
The Costa Rican Star says the hilltop estate was the infamous scene where Gibson was taped in 2012 "ranting and screaming at his house guests" -- including screenwriter Joe Eszterhas -- "and was heard making disparaging remarks about his baby mama Oksana Grigorieva."
Whatever the reason, something sure as hell is keeping buyers away from this little slice of heaven, where "olive ridley sea turtles travel thousands of miles across the Pacific each year to lay their eggs on this beach," the Christie's International Real Estate listing says.
"It's for a unique buyer," says Danielle Austin, a Christie's spokeswoman. "It's incredibly large and remote. We're looking for that specific buyer."
Austin says the property has had "some offers, but not what we're looking for."
This is the second time that Gibson has tried to sell the property. He put it on the market in 2010 for $35 million, The Costa Rica Star reports, and then again in 2012 for the current $29.75 million price tag.
Antoine deRas/ Getty Images PRETORIA, South Africa -- The parents of Reeva Steenkamp will not pursue a civil claim against Oscar Pistorius for killing their daughter and will pay back cash he gave them because they don't want his money, they said Wednesday in a statement that was read out during the athlete's sentencing hearing.
Barry and June Steenkamp will pay back around $10,000 that Pistorius gave them in monthly installments for nearly two years to help with their living expenses, they said in a statement initially released through their lawyer.
Reeva Steenkamp's parents will pay back around $10,000 that Oscar Pistorius gave them in monthly installments for nearly two years to help with their living expenses.
Pistorius' chief defense lawyer, Barry Roux, later read the statement in court, and said that Pistorius gave the parents the money "unconditionally" and didn't want it back.
Pistorius, 27, was found guilty last month of negligently killing his girlfriend. He could face years in prison, although he could also receive a suspended jail term and a fine.
Revelations over payments made by the double-amputee Olympic runner to the parents of the woman he shot multiple times in his home on Feb. 14, 2013, were made earlier during the hearing. The chief prosecutor said the Steenkamps had turned down another settlement offer of $34,000 from Pistorius -- which came from the sale of his car -- because they considered it "blood money."
"When the parents were made aware of this offer, they considered it carefully but decided, for various reasons, that they did not want any payment from Mr. Pistorius," the statement from Steenkamp lawyer Dup de Bruyn said. "This is also why we were instructed to advise that no civil claim would be instituted."
Pistorius was convicted of culpable homicide for acting negligently in Steenkamp's death when he shot her through a toilet cubicle door on that day in February 2013, but he was acquitted of murder.
The money he gave her parents was first raised in a report by a social worker testifying for the defense, which is aiming to show that Pistorius has shown remorse for what he claims was a tragic accidental killing and shouldn't be sent to prison. Prosecutors maintain Pistorius should serve prison time, citing the level of negligence he showed when he shot four times through a door with his 9 mm pistol.
Lawyer de Bruyn said he had advised the Steenkamps to remain "neutral" with regard to Pistorius' sentence, but they were "quite surprised" that Pistorius' lawyers had first raised the payments in court. Pistorius had asked the Steenkamps to keep them confidential, de Bruyn said.
The Steenkamps accepted monthly payments of $550 from Pistorius from March 2013 -- weeks after their daughter's shooting death -- until last month because they were in "financial difficulties," they said. Reeva Steenkamp, a model and budding reality TV star, had helped her parents out with money.
De Bruyn said he had also approached Pistorius' legal team over a possible civil settlement and Pistorius made the $34,000 offer after selling what he said was his last asset, a car. The parents considered it and turned it down.
The world-famous athlete has had to sell many of his assets, including the luxurious house where he killed Steenkamp, to pay his high-powered defense team during a lengthy murder trial.
Judge Thokozile Masipa will decide Pistorius' punishment and has wide latitude. The judge could send him to prison for as many as 15 years or order a fine and a suspended sentence. House arrest is also an option, and has been suggested by two social workers called by Pistorius' defense.
Arguing that he has suffered emotionally and financially already, Pistorius' lawyers say the judge should be lenient, and have called two social workers who testified that three years of house arrest and community service would be a suitable sentence.
Chief prosecutor Gerrie Nel reacted incredulously to the recommendation of one of the social workers, Annette Vergeer, saying that correctional supervision and 16 hours of community service a month was a "shockingly inappropriate" sentence.
"It cannot even be considered," Nel said.
Let's hear it from our in-house expert Mr. Humble : No money can ever replace her but they should sue him for what he has left and donate it to her favorite charity or a cause they believe in.
Seems to me that returning the money and refusing to proceed with a civil claim may be a tactic to force the judge's hand to give Oscar an actual prison sentence instead of the house arrest/community service that the defense is recommending. Just a thought.
This is all a tactic by the Prosecution to try to ensure he goes to jail and doesn't get house arrest. There is no other explanation for accepting payments for as long as they did then suddenly say they don't want it and are going to return it. They've been accepting the money for more than a year when they thought he would be found guilty of at least murder. Prosecutors didn't do their job and a three person panel all agreed that the prosecution didn't prove murder. Now you admit that the family of the victim has been accepting money from the defendant and have to cover up that fact fast. Now not only do they give the money "back" but they drop any civil claims? Yeah Mr. prosecutor you didn't do your job and are getting caught with your pants down yet again.
South Africa doesn't have jury trials because of its extreme racial segregation in the 20th century. People were afraid to serve on juries and they sought any means possible to exclude themselves. Juries were seen as much more emotional and perhaps biased toward one or the other races, and the practice fell out of disfavor well before it was legally banned in 1969. This judge did have two assessors who assisted her in making her decision. It does look like a lighter sentence is ahead, but I'm surprised by the tiny amounts of money being offered. I thought the cost of living was very high in SA, and inflation would be rampant, and even Pistorius's $550 monthly payments would amount to grocery money at best. I have no idea how to put a financial figure to a life, but it would seem to be more than even a million dollars in SA money...
$34,000? That's the entire sum of the hush money after killing their daughter? Unless I'm missing something here, that seems to be a rather insulting amount and makes him even more contemptible, if that's possible.
