HONESDALE - A Wayne County man - who has no arms and is a father of three - had sexual contact numerous times with a 13-year-old girl in 2005, the girl testified Tuesday in Wayne County Court. Lipski, at the time of his arrest, gave police a seven-page statement - written with his feet - admitting he had sexual contact with the girl, First Assistant District Attorney Patrick Robinson told jurors in his opening statement. The testimony was at times graphic and bizarre - the girl testified how at one time Lipski took off her shirt with his feet. State police Trooper John Decker, who took the confession from Lipski, testified the defendant admitted having inappropriate physical contact with the girl. read more

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After the birth of her first child, Val was besieged by thoughts of throwing her beloved infant out the window or jumping herself to save her child from that fate. Eventually, she joined a therapist-led support group in Manchester, and last fall, after the therapist moved, she continued the group by creating a 12-step support group. She said she believes the group, based on the Alcoholics Anonymous program, is the first of its kind in the state for OCD sufferers. Family members or other significant others of sufferers are referred to Codependents Anonymous, another 12-step program that addresses the issues of those who live with, or are close to, a person with OCD. Obsessive-compulsive disorder, OCD, is an anxiety disorder and is characterized by recurrent, unwanted thoughts (obsessions) and/or repetitive behaviors (compulsions), according to the National Institute of Mental Health. By contrast, an obsession is an obtrusive thought that horrifies the thinker, while a compulsion is behavior used to deflect disturbing thoughts, Val said, adding the disorder may have a genetic component. read more

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The conviction stems from investigations by the state attorney general’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, which four years ago began prosecuting the little-used law against endangering the welfare of an incompetent person. John Billam-Walker, who was a job coach and caregiver for a mentally disabled 34-year-old man in 2005, was sentenced on July 2 to 120 days in prison after a jury found him guilty of the misdemeanor charge. Senaga said he was eventually diagnosed with anxiety disorder, which is similar to post-traumatic stress and resulted from the cumulative abuse from Billam-Walker. Endangering the welfare of an incompetent person occurs when someone “knowingly acts in a manner likely to be injurious to the physical or mental welfare” of someone unable to care for himself or herself. Because the law is very broad, Senaga said, many people may not outright know that insulting or being mean to a mentally disabled person is breaking the law. read more

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