New Hampshire

Priest rape case ends because accuser was 16

The state dropped its prosecution of a Roman Catholic priest Friday during his second trial on charges that he raped a teenage altar boy nearly 20 years ago.

Prosecutors ended their case against the Rev. George Robichaud because his accuser was 16, the age of consent, at the time of the alleged assaults. The jury in Robichaud’s first trial in April had deadlocked over questions about the accuser’s age.

“Though the event occurred, the statute in effect at the time does not allow for prosecution,” prosecutor Lauren Noether said.

Robichaud, 60, was the first priest to face criminal charges in New Hampshire since the church-abuse scandal erupted over a year ago. He pleaded not guilty and denied raping the boy, though he acknowledged having inappropriate sexual contact with him.

South Carolina

Susan Smith asked to withdraw online ad

The Web site that accepted a personal ad from convicted child killer Susan Smith seeking pen pals from her prison cell asked her Friday to withdraw the ad because the result has been “kind of a freak show.”

Jason Roberts, spokesman for writeaprisoner.com, said Smith’s online ad had gotten hundreds of responses but was becoming a distraction from the site’s mission of helping other inmates make contacts in the outside world.

Smith, who is serving a life sentence, gained notoriety in 1994 for going on national television to tearfully plead for the return of her missing sons. She later admitted strapping 3-year-old Michael and 14-month-old Alex into their car seats and rolling the sleeping boys into a lake.

NEW ORLEANS

Grandmother killed by Six Flags park ride

A woman standing near an amusement park ride was hit by at least one of the ride’s cars and killed at Six Flags New Orleans.

The cars were about 3 feet off the ground at the time, park spokeswoman Ann Wills said. She said it wasn’t clear how Rosa Donaldson got so close to the ride Wednesday night.

Donaldson, 52, was taken to Lakeland Medical Center where she died of internal injuries from a crushed pelvis, the coroner’s office said.

Donaldson’s sister, Dianne Bowens, said she was told Donaldson was fastening her 4-year-old grandson into the ride, called Joker’s Jukebox. The ride, with spinning cars set on arms that move, started, and Donaldson was hit in the head by one car and then struck again, she said.