Virginia man accused of sodomizing 8-year-old girl allegedly tried to bribe victim's mother with a house

Cameron Scott Jared Mayo, who is facing charges for sodomizing an 8-year-old girl, tried to bribe the girl's mother with a house to drop the charges in January, a Virginia prosecutor alleged.

A grand jury indicted Mayo, who was already facing 10 charges, including forcible sodomy, on a fresh count of bribery in February, according to the indictment obtained by Fox News Digital.

Mayo allegedly sent text messages to the victim's mother, Christine Houff, who he shares a home with, asking her to help make the charges go away.

In court, Albemarle Circuit Court prosecutor Lawton Tufts read the texts Mayo allegedly sent Houff.

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"If yall are willing to stop all this, you can have 100%," Mayo allegedly wrote.

Mayo and Houff share a Virginia home that the mother was willing to sell and split the proceeds from, Tufts argued Wednesday during Mayo's pretrial hearing, The Daily Progress reported.

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"You have the power to stop this, if you wanted to," Mayo continued in the texts.

"The case doesn’t exist without your cooperation," Mayo allegedly added, according to the prosecutor.

"He's essentially saying you can have the house if you make the case go away," Tufts said in the hearing.

Mayo was originally charged with the sodomy counts in December 2023.

A separate grand jury indictment obtained by Fox News Digital alleged that he repeatedly sodomized the young girl between June 2022 and June 2023. During that time, she was between the ages of 8 and 9 and he was between the ages of 27 and 28.

Mayo, who is being held without bond at Albemarle-Charlottesville Regional Jail, will have a four-day jury trial in October.

Mayo could face life in prison if convicted on the sodomy charges.

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Popular social media platform is making a comeback thanks to an unlikely hero

Does anyone here remember Vine?

Unless you're between the ages of 25 and 40, you likely have no idea what I’m talking about, but for millennials, Vine was basically a precursor to TikTok, wherein creators would have a maximum of six seconds to put together a video conveying what they wanted to say.

It was a snapshot of a very specific slice of pop culture during the early-to-mid 2010s and delivered more memes per capita than any social media platform outside of Twitter.

Then, just as quickly as it came, it disappeared, making way for other brain-rot vessels like the aforementioned TikTok.

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Well, what if I told you Vine made a comeback?

That’s right, folks! According to the New York Post, Vine is back and better than ever before, and it’s all thanks to a relatively unlikely source.

"By bringing back Vine on a decentralized network, they are finally correcting every mistake," former Twitter CEO and co-founder Jack Dorsey said.

Though it won't be called Vine -- they're opting for Divine, clever -- it will still deliver the short-form video goodies it did during its heyday, this time in an AI-free format (how refreshing).

The app launched on Thursday and is available on both the App Store and Google Play, and, according to the Post, over 500,000 former creators, including stars like Lele Pons, JimmyHere, MightyDuck, and Jack & Jack, have already reclaimed their accounts.

"We want social media that makes us feel happy," said Evan Henshaw-Plath, who runs Divine and was one of the original Twitter developers, "We need more of that joy. We need technology that makes us happy… When I give people the app and they start playing with it, they start giggling, they start laughing."

Henshaw-Plath went on to say that he wants people who spend their time on Divine to start "joy scrolling" instead of "doom scrolling."

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I'm here for it.

This might be my rose-tinted nostalgia goggles talking, but social media just felt simpler and happier during the days of Vine, so if Jack Dorsey and the boys can bring even a modicum of that happiness back to our lives, then count me in.

The fact that AI-generated content is banned from the platform feels like an added bonus, too.

So, if you're feeling down today, just put on some Carly Rae Jepsen, dust off your Romney-Ryan 2012 shirt and download Divine.

Then you can forget all about just how far we've slid in the last dozen years, if only for a brief moment.

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What's the point? Why one area in Wisconsin has a very specific speed limit

It’s not a typo.

One Wisconsin county has set one area's speed limit to 17.3 mph in an eye-catching move aimed at jolting drivers into staying alert in a high-traffic work zone.

Officials in Outagamie County rolled out the unusual speed limit at the county’s Recycling and Solid Waste facility, where a constant flow of trucks, contractors and residents creates a busy and sometimes hazardous environment.

County leaders say the oddly specific number is intentional — and psychological.

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"Why 17.3? Because it makes you pause. It makes you look twice," officials said in a social media post announcing the change. The goal, they say, is to snap drivers out of "autopilot" and force them to pay closer attention to speed and safety while behind the wheel.

The site sees steady traffic from large hauling vehicles and smaller passenger cars, often moving in tight quarters.

The county believes the unconventional speed limit is a small change that will get drivers to slow down, stay alert and watch out for others.

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Whether it catches on elsewhere remains to be seen, but for now, 17.3 mph is turning heads in Wisconsin.

"Worked last weekend when I was there. Made us laugh," one user replied to the post.

Other users, however, were skeptical of the move.

"Sounds like something outagamie would do," another user wrote. "Plus you’ll get speeding for 17.4 and impeding traffic at 17.2, everyone gonna be paying up."

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House passes Senate DHS funding bill after Johnson reverses course on 76-day shutdown standoff

Congress took a major step toward ending the record-breaking Department of Homeland Security shutdown on Thursday as the White House warned hundreds of thousands of federal employees were on the verge of missing paychecks amid the 76-day funding lapse.

The House of Representatives approved by voice vote a Senate-passed spending measure covering most of the department’s appropriations through September.  

President Donald Trump is expected to swiftly sign the measure into law, restoring funding for the Secret Service, Coast Guard, Federal Emergency Management Agency and Transportation Security Administration, among other agencies.

The vote came after the Senate's DHS funding bill had stalled in the lower chamber for more than a month as House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., declined to put the bill on the floor over objections to language he said defunded law enforcement. The speaker's opposition reflected the views of many in the Republican conference, who viewed the bill as a dead letter when the Senate passed it unanimously in March.

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Johnson changed course this week after the White House appeared to side with the Senate and urged swift passage of the upper chamber’s bill. 

"We’re not defying the White House," Johnson told reporters Wednesday. "Everybody understands what we're doing. We're all one team."

In an internal memo sent to Hill offices and obtained by Fox News Digital, the White House warned it would not be able to pay employees starting in May if the House did not pass the Senate’s partial DHS bill. The administration since early April had been using existing funds to cover six weeks of back pay and a new pay period for DHS employees — but warned that money was quickly depleting.

"If this funding is exhausted, the Administration will be unable to pay DHS personnel beginning in May, which will once again unleash havoc on air travel, leave critical law enforcement officers—including our brave Secret Service agents—and the Coast Guard without paychecks, and jeopardize national security," the memo states.

Republicans are in the beginning stages of writing a separate party-line package to fund Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP). But that legislation will not advance before lawmakers leave Washington for the upcoming recess period. 

Trump has requested top Republicans send the immigration enforcement measure to his desk by June 1.

Johnson said he dropped his objections to the Senate bill after his chamber took the first step toward funding Trump’s immigration enforcement agenda late Wednesday.

"We had to ensure that they could not isolate and eliminate those two critical agencies," Johnson told reporters. "That was critically important for us to ensure that we’re going to protect the homeland."

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Some Republicans argued that failure to move the Senate’s DHS bill prior to leaving Washington for a planned recess was untenable.

"We have got to fund DHS, even if it's 80% of DHS," Rep. Nick Langworthy, R-N.Y., told Fox News Digital in an interview. "We're in a dangerous position with funding levels right now. We have to get this done before we even think of leaving on a recess."

Langworthy sent a letter, obtained by Fox News Digital, to Johnson earlier in the week imploring the speaker to put the Senate’s DHS bill up for a vote. 

"What other avenue of approach are you going to have?" Rep. Troy Nehls, R-Texas, told Fox News Digital when asked about whether the House would take up the Senate’s languishing DHS bill. "This is hurting families of individuals willing to serve their communities, their nation, their state. Why wouldn't we?"

The prolonged funding lapse created financial distress for a vast swath of DHS employees who were forced to report to work for weeks at a time without pay. More than 1,000 TSA agents quit their jobs during the shutdown, DHS announced this week.

Democrats, who initially sparked the shutdown over objections to funding immigration enforcement, supported the Senate measure because it did not include funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP).

"Bring the bipartisan Senate-passed bill to the House Floor today, and it would fund the Department of Homeland Security in its entirety with the exception of ICE and the violent Republican mass deportation machine," Jeffries said at a news conference on Monday.

House conservatives did not ask for a recorded vote on the Senate DHS bill despite warning about the precedent of passing an appropriations bill that isolates immigration enforcement funding from the rest of the department. 

"That vote was going to pass if there was a suspension vote, so we agree to let it go by voice [vote]," Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, told reporters Thursday.

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US eyes first-ever hypersonic Dark Eagle deployment as Iran pushes beyond strike range

The U.S. military has explored deploying its new Dark Eagle hypersonic weapon to the Middle East, according to a report, as the Army begins fielding the long-range system after years of delays.

U.S. Central Command has requested deployment of the Army’s Long Range Hypersonic Weapon, known as Dark Eagle, to the Middle East, according to a Bloomberg report citing a person with direct knowledge of the matter.

A defense official told Fox News Digital the system has reached initial operational capability, marking the first time the U.S. has a land-based hypersonic weapon available for potential use.

The request was driven in part by concerns that Iranian ballistic missile launchers have been moved beyond the range of existing U.S. systems, including the Army’s Precision Strike Missile, which can strike targets more than 300 miles away, according to the Bloomberg report.

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It reflects growing concern that existing U.S. strike capabilities may not be sufficient to reach key Iranian missile assets, while also highlighting a major milestone for the Army as it fields its first land-based hypersonic weapon. If deployed, Dark Eagle would significantly expand the U.S. military’s ability to strike distant, hard-to-reach targets with little warning, marking a shift in how the Pentagon can project power in the region.

The Army began fielding the system to one of its multidomain task forces in December 2025 following testing and live-fire exercises, according to the official, placing the weapon within specialized units designed to carry out long-range precision strikes across multiple domains.

Individual Dark Eagle missiles are estimated to cost around $15 million each, though earlier analyses have placed the cost significantly higher, while a single battery — including launchers and support equipment — is estimated at roughly $2.7 billion.

No deployment of the system to the Middle East has been publicly announced, and officials have not confirmed any request. The U.S. and Iran are still currently adhering to a ceasefire in hopes of broader negotiations on Iran's nuclear program.

Dark Eagle is designed to travel at hypersonic speeds while maneuvering in flight, allowing it to strike targets at much longer ranges — potentially exceeding 1,700 miles — and with far less warning than traditional missiles.

That combination of speed and range makes it particularly suited for targeting mobile or hardened systems, such as missile launchers, that are difficult to reach with existing weapons.

Unlike traditional ballistic missiles, hypersonic weapons can maneuver in flight, making them more difficult to track and intercept.

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The reported request comes as the Pentagon continues efforts to accelerate its hypersonic weapons programs amid concerns about competition with China and Russia.

The U.S. has spent years developing hypersonic weapons, though some programs have faced delays, testing constraints and shifting priorities as the Pentagon works to advance the technology.

China and Russia already have fielded hypersonic systems, underscoring the growing importance of weapons designed to travel at extreme speeds while maneuvering in flight, making them more difficult to detect and intercept.

"Fielding and scaling hypersonic weapons is a top priority for the War Department — and we are delivering at a  rapid speed," a Pentagon official told Fox News Digital. "'Scaled hypersonics' has been designated as one of the Department’s critical technology areas by Chief Technology Officer Emil Michael to focus resources on delivering cost-effective and lethal hypersonic solutions to the warfighter." 

"The Department’s Test Resource Management Center (TRMC) is working to upgrade test facilities and establish new, nontraditional testing locations," the official said. "Simultaneously, the Department is placing its acquisition system on a ‘wartime footing’ to forge a robust, responsive industrial base capable of rapidly delivering these advanced technologies."

U.S. Central Command declined to comment to Fox News Digital. 

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Speaker Johnson one step closer to renewing controversial spy program after conservatives fall in line

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., is one step closer to averting a lapse in a controversial surveillance program after GOP privacy hawks fell in line to back a procedural measure amid weeks of infighting.

House lawmakers approved a test vote teeing up a three-year extension of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) for a vote on final passage as early as Wednesday evening. The procedural measure also includes a Senate-passed budget resolution funding immigration enforcement for the rest of President Donald Trump's term.

GOP leadership held the vote open for more than two hours as they worked to flip dozens of conservative holdouts. In order to get the rule adopted, leadership agreed to punt consideration of a third piece of legislation known as the farm bill, which includes agriculture and nutrition priorities.

Every Republican present ultimately voted yes during the marathon session in a major victory for Johnson. He could afford to lose just a handful of GOP defections given House Republicans’ razor-thin majority.

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The successful procedural vote came after a sustained lobbying campaign from the Trump administration and Republican leadership to sell GOP privacy hawks on an extension of the spy law.

"This is by far the most collaborative effort that I've seen on FISA, and we've had a number of these kinds of fights," Rep. Warren Davidson, R-Ohio, a leading FISA skeptic, told reporters earlier this week. "So I think it's a very collaborative work product, and that's why I say I support it."

"It's not to say I don't think there's other reforms that I would support, but I think this is a good win, and we should focus on a broader set of reforms that apply way beyond the scope of 702," the Ohio Republican added.

House conservatives also appeared to soften their opposition after leadership included language permanently banning central bank digital currencies (CBDC) in the procedural measure.

GOP privacy hawks have long pushed for adding a CBDC ban to a legislative vehicle, casting it as a necessary effort to ward off government surveillance.

But Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., has warned that any FISA renewal bill with CBDC language is "dead on arrival" in the Senate. 

"They know that," Thune told reporters Tuesday, referring to House Republicans.

The Senate could also move to pass a rival FISA plan and force the House to swallow it ahead of Thursday’s deadline to extend the spy law.

"FISA is critical to our national defense and our national security," Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., told Fox News. "If we lose FISA, we lose the ability to defend this country the way that it should be defended. We use that information to find out what the bad guys are doing, where they're at, what they're looking to attack, what their strategies are."

"I know we've got folks out there that are concerned about protecting Americans and so forth," Rounds added. "We really need them to take a look at the other side of this, which is, are you going to hurt Americans?"

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Johnson is also seeking to clear the Senate budget resolution as soon as Wednesday evening.

Leadership has scheduled a vote on the measure, but it is not clear if House Republicans will support the resolution without modifications. Democrats are expected to line up in opposition to the measure, citing concerns about funding immigration enforcement absent sweeping reforms.

Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., is still vowing to strip out controversial pesticide language from the farm bill, arguing it would block lawsuits against some pesticide manufacturers.

"On behalf of all the moms and dads that aren’t in office, I am not going to be bullied into supporting a bill that is providing protections and immunity to corporations that are responsible for giving children and adults cancer," Luna wrote on social media. "This is literally above party affiliation."

Trump has urged House Republicans to quickly pass the Senate’s budget blueprint to fund immigration enforcement.

"It is imperative that Congress immediately fund DHS and its critical operations to protect the Homeland," the White House Office of Management and Budget wrote in a memo to Hill offices on Tuesday that was obtained by Fox News Digital. "Failure to pass the budget resolution will jeopardize paychecks for the DHS personnel that keep the Homeland safe."

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US Middle East ally strips citizenship from 69 in crackdown on pro-Iran support

Bahrain stripped citizenship from dozens of nationals Monday after accusing them of promoting pro-Iran sentiment online, marking the latest use of a controversial law that allows the government to revoke nationality for security concerns.

The interior ministry said 69 people — including some relatives of those accused — lost their citizenship for allegedly "glorifying" hostile Iranian actions and maintaining ties with foreign entities.

Bahrain said the revocations were carried out under Article 10(3) of its nationality law, which allows authorities to strip citizenship from individuals deemed to have harmed the kingdom’s interests or violated their duty of loyalty. Officials said those targeted — along with some of their family members — were all of non-Bahraini origin, a category that typically includes naturalized citizens rather than native-born nationals.

The move follows a directive issued days earlier by Bahrain’s King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, who ordered officials to act against those who "betrayed the nation" or undermined its security and stability, including reviewing whether individuals should retain their citizenship.

The Kingdom of Bahrain Tuesday sentenced five people to life in prison and 25 more to 10 years on charges of spying for Iran. The prosecution said 25 others were separately sentenced to 10 years each for supporting Iran’s "terrorist acts" in Bahrain.

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The decision comes as Bahrain grapples with fallout from Iran’s recent missile and drone strikes across the Gulf, including attacks on U.S. military assets in the kingdom. Officials have cast the citizenship revocations as a national security measure aimed at suppressing domestic support for Iran and cutting off suspected ties to foreign networks.

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Relations between Bahrain and Iran long have been strained, with Bahrain accusing Iran of backing militant networks and unrest inside the kingdom. The two countries severed diplomatic ties in 2016, and Bahrain’s role as host of the U.S. Navy’s Fifth Fleet has placed it on the front lines of the current confrontation, with Iranian strikes hitting near the base during recent retaliatory attacks.

Bahrain also is home to a sizable community of citizens of Iranian descent — often referred to as the Ajam — estimated to number in the hundreds of thousands.

Authorities have linked the crackdown to a wider campaign against what they describe as Iran-backed influence operations, including arrests of individuals accused of sharing videos of Iranian strikes, posting pro-Iran content, or communicating with foreign groups. Bahrain also has reported uncovering cells tied to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which officials say were tasked with gathering intelligence on sensitive sites inside the kingdom.

Similar crackdowns have been reported across the Gulf since the start of the conflict, with hundreds of people arrested in countries including the United Arab Emirates for posting videos, images or commentary about Iranian attacks. Authorities have cited national security and public order laws, warning that even sharing footage of strikes could expose sensitive information or fuel unrest.

The measures come amid a broader regional trend of governments tightening citizenship rules on security grounds. Kuwait, for example, has revoked nationality from more than 70,000 people since 2024, with officials there saying the program is aimed at addressing fraud.

The move has drawn criticism from the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy, whose advocacy director Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei called it "the beginning of a dangerous era of repression" and said the decisions were imposed without legal safeguards or the right of appeal.

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