If he was sex victim, boy may get U.S. visa

A 13-year-old illegal immigrant who fled to his native Mexico with his schoolteacher amid a sex scandal may be able to return to the United States under a new visa the government began granting the week before he vanished.

The visa helps illegal immigrants who are victims of sex crimes. If the boy, who has spent most of his life in Lexington, Neb., qualifies, he could stay legally in the United States for four years and eventually apply for permanent residency. It also would extend temporary residency to his parents and his unmarried siblings under 18, if they applied for it.

"It's a win-win," U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services spokeswoman Marilu Cabrera said of the so-called "U" visa. "It helps us and law enforcement be able to solve a crime, and it certainly helps the individual who is a victim of a crime."

The boy and middle-school teacher Kelsey Peterson were found in Mexicali, Mexico, 1,500 miles from where the pair disappeared Oct. 26. Peterson, 25, remains in federal custody in El Centro, Calif. A judge denied bail for her Wednesday, and she was expected to be sent back to Nebraska to face federal charges of crossing state lines to have sex with a minor.

Last week, the boy said he would be willing to return to the United States to testify against Peterson.

New York

Bearing flowers, bandits gain entry

Robbers posed as flower deliverymen to get into an 80-year-old woman's apartment and steal at least $60,000 in savings her husband kept in cash, the victims and police said.

Two bouquet-toting bandits persuaded Carmen Nieves to open her door to them, she said Saturday.

"How can I not open the door? They have flowers, they say [my husband sent] them to me, and, besides, they were young kids," said Nieves, whose husband was out at the time of the Nov. 3 robbery. Police estimated the suspects were 20 to 30 years old.

Once inside, the thieves bound Nieves' hands and feet and ransacked the house until they found the money. "It was like a tornado," she said.

Also

Broadway: Twenty-seven New York City shows remained closed Sunday, the day after stagehands went on strike largely over work rules.

Police report: A woman in St. Joseph, Mo., who sent text messages to her family claiming she had been abducted, was charged Sunday with making a false police report after she was found unharmed at an acquaintance's house.

Accident: A daughter backing up her pickup in Somersworth, N.H., accidentally hit her elderly mother in the driveway and killed her.