A 44-year-old man has admitted to groping a teenager at a community pool in a Hugo housing development.

Jeremy John Miller, of Hugo, pleaded guilty Friday in Washington County District Court to fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct of a minor in connection with the July 28 incident in the Water’s Edge housing development.

Jeremy John Miller (Courtesy of the Washington County Sheriff’s Office)

A second count involving another teenager will be dismissed at sentencing as part of a plea deal he reached with prosecutors. It also calls for a stay of imposition, which means the felony conviction will be considered a misdemeanor if he successfully completes probation. Sentencing is scheduled for Dec. 10.

According to the criminal complaint, a 14-year-old girl told deputies July 28 that a man approached her at the pool in the 15000 block of Farnham Avenue North and made comments about wanting a girlfriend. He told her he should “pay her” and touched himself. He also gave her a “creepy” look as he spoke, the girl reported.

Shortly afterward he swam underwater toward her and groped her. When she kicked to get away from him, he followed her and grabbed her foot.

The girl said she got out of the pool and told him to stop doing what he was doing. She said he responded that he was trying to get his daughter, who was also in the pool.

Video footage at the pool showed Miller then approached the girl and, as she tried to back away and told him to stop, he grabbed her and threw her into the water.

A 13-year-old boy at the pool that day said the man also came up to him from behind and “bear hugged” him, running his hands down the boy’s body and grabbing his crotch, the complaint says. Also, when the boy was playing football in the pool with others, the man had groped him several times while “tackling” him.

Adults at the pool described the man as “acting creepy toward the kids” and identified him as Miller.

Deputies were not able to make contact with Miller that day. The next day, authorities were told the man was back at the pool and he was arrested.

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By JEAN-YVES KAMALE

KINSHASA, Congo (AP) — Over 200 health facilities in eastern Congo are experiencing shortages of medicines as a result of fighting in the region and a lack of humanitarian funding, the International Committee of the Red Cross said Wednesday.

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The Red Cross said it assessed 240 health centers and clinics in North and South Kivu, two provinces where the Rwanda-backed M23 rebels made an unprecedented advance earlier this year, further deepening one of the world’s largest humanitarian crises.

The difficulties in crossing front lines in the war-hit regions have prevented health facilities from getting access to medicine, even when it is available, the ICRC said.

“The lives of thousands of people are at stake,” due to the shortage of essential medicine against malaria, HIV, tuberculosis, and other diseases, François Moreillon, the head of the ICRC’s delegation in Congo, said during a news conference Wednesday.

Many humanitarian organizations supporting health facilities in the region have been forced to reduce their work or shutdown because of a lack of funding, he added.

“Currently, more than 80 per cent of health facilities in the Kivu provinces receive no support from humanitarian partners and are only operational thanks to the remarkable commitment of their staff on both sides of the front lines,” Moreillon said.

Many health workers have also fled the war-torn regions, leading to staff shortages in almost half of the facilities assessed by the ICRC, according to the organization.

Congo’s mineral-rich east has long been battered by fighting involving more than 100 armed groups including the Rwanda-backed M23 rebels. The rebels seized the provincial capitals Goma and Bukavu earlier this year, escalating the decades-old conflict.

The rebels’ advance has killed some 3,000 people this year and worsened what was already one of the world’s largest humanitarian crises, with around 7 million people displaced. While fighting has largely decreased as a result of peace efforts, there are still clashes and civilians are still being killed.

By MICHELLE GUMEDE, Associated Press

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — Six South African activists who were detained by Israel while attempting to reach Gaza as part of an aid flotilla said Wednesday they were subjected to harsher treatment than other detainees because of South Africa’s role in a genocide case against Israel.

Speaking after their return, the activists, which include the grandson of Nelson Mandela, said they were singled out after Israeli guards noticed that they were from South Africa. Two Muslim women among the group said they had their hijabs ripped off their heads and were forced to strip naked in front of Israeli soldiers.

Since 2023, South Africa has been involved in a highly contentious case in the United Nations’ top court accusing Israel of genocide in Gaza.

Mandla Mandela, the grandson of South Africa’s anti-apartheid icon and first Black president, said the South African activists on the flotilla were “harshly dealt with” because their country has confronted Israel over its actions in Gaza by launching the case at the International Court of Justice.

Their treatment was “because we are a nation that dared through our government to take apartheid Israel to the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court and hold them accountable,” Mandla Mandela said.

South African activists Fatima Hendricks and Zaheera Soomar told reporters at Johannesburg’s OR Tambo airport on their return that their hijabs were forcibly removed from their heads while they were detained by Israel, which didn’t happen to other Muslim female activists.

“Both of us were forced behind a screen, our heads pushed against the wall and completely stripped naked in front of Israeli soldiers. This did not happen to other women,” said Soomar. “When they saw our passports, this is how we were treated as South Africans.”

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Israel’s Foreign Ministry has vehemently denied any claims of mistreatment, and noted that all activists were given the opportunity to voluntarily be deported without detention.

The six South Africans were among some 450 activists who were arrested as Israeli forces intercepted the Global Sumud Flotilla, a fleet of 42 boats seeking to break Israel’s naval blockade of Gaza and deliver a symbolic amount of aid to the famine-stricken territory. They were detained last week and were brought to Israel.

Swedish environmental activist Greta Thunberg was among the activists arrested. Thunberg and activists from other countries have also claimed they were mistreated by Israeli guards, claims Israel has rejected as “brazen lies.”

The Israeli military intercepted another flotilla early Wednesday and detained scores more activists on board.

Mandla Mandela has previously been criticized over his alleged support for the Palestinian militant group Hamas and was denied a visa to travel to the U.K. last year.

South Africa has long been a supporter of the Palestinian cause dating back to when Nelson Mandela was president. The country has compared Israel’s treatment of Palestinians to the South African apartheid government’s treatment of Black South Africans during its previous period of racial segregation. Israel has rejected that comparison.

South Africa lodged its case accusing Israel of genocide in Gaza in late 2023. Several countries, including Nicaragua, Palestine, Turkey, Spain, Mexico, Libya and Colombia have supported South Africa’s case, it said.

Israel has vehemently rejected the allegation it is committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza and has accused South Africa of being Hamas’ “legal arm” by filing the case.

By SAMUEL PETREQUIN and JOHN LEICESTER

PARIS (AP) — Outgoing French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu, aiming to calm the political storm triggered by his resignation on Monday less than 24 hours after unveiling his ministers, faced a tight deadline Wednesday to break the deadlock caused by his departure.

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After accepting Lecornu’s resignation, President Emmanuel Macron gave him 48 hours to hold further talks with political parties, citing the need to preserve national stability.

The tight time frame for Lecornu bought Macron some time to consider his options. But all eyes turned to Macron on Wednesday as debate swirls about how he may respond to France’s political crisis and dig himself out of the crisis.

The fragile coalition between Macron’s centrists and the conservatives unraveled almost immediately after Lecornu’s government was announced, leaving parties deeply divided, and he failed to secure the parliamentary backing needed to pass the 2026 budget.

Lecornu invited all political forces to talks, but far-right leaders Marine Le Pen and Jordan Bardella of the National Rally party rejected the call, pressing instead for snap elections. On the far left, France Unbowed officials also boycotted.

The French constitution gives large powers to the president, who names the prime minister. Even when weakened politically, he still holds some powers over foreign policy, European affairs and negotiates and ratifies international treaties. The president also is the commander-in-chief of the armed forces.

Macron, whose approval ratings have sunk to record lows, has not indicated his next move if Lecornu fails. Rivals say his choices are limited to calling new elections, appointing a prime minister from outside his camp or resigning.

Here is a closer look at Macron’s options:

Choosing an outsider for a political cohabitation

Republicans party leader Bruno Retailleau, along with the Socialists, Greens and Communists, have pushed for the inclusion of a prime minister from another party. Retailleau, who withdrew support from the government coalition, said he could join a new cabinet only under such an arrangement.

The left also argues cohabitation is overdue. Their alliance, the New Popular Front, won the most seats in the 2024 French legislative election, though it fell short of a majority and later split amid infighting with Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s France Unbowed.

Under cohabitation, the prime minister governs with the backing of parliament, while the president retains influence mainly over foreign policy, defense and European affairs. France has seen three such periods, most recently from 1997 to 2002, when President Jacques Chirac shared power with Socialist Prime Minister Lionel Jospin.

Calling snap elections

The French president can dissolve the National Assembly and call elections before the end of deputies’ terms. The tool has been used repeatedly under since 1958 to resolve political crises, but it carries risks of deepening divisions.

Macron already tried this path last year after the European elections, when the National Rally surged to a historic win. The move produced a fractured Assembly in which the far right and left now hold more than 320 seats, while centrists and conservatives control 210. That fragmentation has led to chronic instability and a rapid succession of governments.

While unlikely to win an outright majority, the National Rally views a snap election as a golden chance to come to power. Jordan Bardella, the party president, has said he would be ready to work with Republicans MPs in order to secure a majority.

Lecornu voiced hopes Wednesday morning that a compromise could be reached to end the crisis and avoid new elections.

“There is a will to secure a budget for France before Dec. 31,” he said ahead of a meeting with Socialist officials. “And this will is creating momentum and convergence, which clearly pushes back the prospect of a dissolution.”

Resignation is possible but unlikely

Macron’s second term is set to end in May 2027 and he has repeatedly said he will not resign. But if his mind changed and he quit, the Constitutional Council would declare a vacancy, the Senate president would assume interim powers and a new presidential election would be held within 35 days.

On the far left, Melenchon’s France Unbowed has asked for Macron’s departure.

More surprisingly, and a sign of Macron’s growing isolation inside his own camp, Édouard Philippe, Macron’s first prime minister after he swept to power in 2017 and once a close ally, has suggested the president should step down and call an early presidential election once the 2026 budget is adopted.

Since 1958 and the inception of the Fifth Republic, only one French president has resigned: Charles De Gaulle after losing a 1969 referendum.

Petrequin reported from London.