A Philadelphia woman who narrowly escaped alleged “house of horrors killer” Raymond “RC” Horsch as a child has described the terrifying encounter that stayed with her for years.

Ashley Rivera, now 26, later discovered that the man who tried to take her from the street in 2009 was a prolific pornographer linked to several missing women.

Rivera recalled walking into a 7-Eleven across from her Kensington home on a Friday night, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer.

She was still wearing pajamas and remained within sight of her stepfather, who was sitting on the front porch smoking cigarettes with his crutches beside him.

As Rivera left the store, she noticed a man in his 60s with long, greasy hair slowly circling the block in a green Jeep.

She initially tried to ignore him, but could feel him watching her before he pulled up alongside her.

The man lowered his window, called her “sexy” and asked her to get into the vehicle.

Rivera moved away, but the man suddenly got out and seized her arm. As he dragged her toward the Jeep, she screamed for help.

Seventeen years later, Rivera still remembers his expression. “He looked very evil,” she said.

Rivera said she escaped only because her stepfather heard her cries and rushed to intervene, in a moment that seemed to come straight from a horror film.

He reportedly hobbled from the porch and struck the rear window of Horsch’s Jeep with one of his crutches. Horsch released Ashley and sped away.

Rivera ran into the house in tears and told her mother, Sasha, who called 911.

Sasha Rivera told the Inquirer that she went outside and saw Horsch continuing to circle the block.

“I chased him with a baseball bat,” she said, swinging it at the Jeep as it drove past.

“I thought he was going to kill her. If he had taken her, I may never have found my daughter.”

Police arrived and arrested Horsch. Inside his Jeep, officers found high-powered binoculars, a digital camera, a telephoto lens, an eye patch and a condom.

When officers asked Ashley and her mother whether Horsch was the man who had tried to lure her into the vehicle, Rivera said she “couldn’t forget that face.”

Horsch was charged with luring a child into a motor vehicle and corrupting the morals of a minor, the Inquirer reported.

Rivera was stunned to learn this week that this man was Horsch, the creepy pervert linked to at least seven missing women. 

Horsch’s Olney home and its disturbing past have been at the center of extensive investigations since June which uncovered a trove of disturbing digital evidence suggesting he may have killed women he lured off the streets of Kensington.

Horsch died in 2025 at 82.

Rivera’s account is the first known instance of the sex pest laying his dirty hands on a child. It also offers new insight into how Horsch evaded consequences.

‘I really do feel like I escaped something big,’ Rivera said. ‘He could have kidnapped me. He could have done the same thing to me that he did to those women. He could have raped me, killed me.

‘I was a 9-year-old girl. I was just a kid.’

Months later, in January 2010, Rivera testified against Horsch in court.

Rivera was shaking as she walked to the stand to testify, Horsch and his lawyers sat just feet away. She remembered him glaring at her, with one eye looking straight ahead and the other bulging out.

‘I was so scared, and he just kept staring at me. I just broke down crying,’ she said. ‘I felt like I was looking at a killer.’

Rivera said her testimony had to be cut short. ‘They made me get off the stand because I was crying so much,’ she told the Inquirer.

Common Pleas Court Judge Roger Gordon convicted Horsch of both counts and sentenced him to two and a half to five years in prison.

The conviction meant Horsch would have been required to register as a sex offender under Megan’s Law, but he requested a ‘trial de novo’ in Common Pleas Court.

Unlike a typical appeal – in which a higher court reads the transcript of the lower -court proceedings to check for any legal or procedural errors – a trial de novo wipes the slate blank and would have required Rivera to testify again.

She begged her mother not to make her go back to court. Sasha Rivera, 46, did not want her daughter to relive this trauma.

‘I thought he and his family would do something to us,’ the mother said.

A new prosecutor took over the case. But without Rivera’s testimony, the District Attorney’s Office dropped the charges against Horsch. The original conviction was vacated and Horsch successfully petitioned for the case to be erased in 2015.

The prosecutor on the case, Jill Fertel, said Rivera’s experience was ‘horrible.’

‘The system was not designed for children,’ Fertel said. ‘There is a difference between being able to confront your accuser and being able to intimidate a victim.’

The state upgraded the crime of luring a child under the age of 13 to a felony in 2013. Fertel also explained courts now tend to allow children to testify on camera to avoid their abuser.

Ashley Rivera said the terrifying moment left her scared to play outside and that she continues to struggle with anxiety until today: ‘When men stare at me, I’m instantly scared.’

Her son is now the same age she was when Horsch tried to grab her. She said she is afraid of letting him go anywhere on his own, also not to play in a park down the block from her house.

‘I tried to get that memory out of my head,’ she said. ‘But I can’t. It stays with me.’

Margot Robbie has quietly begun using her British husband’s surname in company records, nearly a decade after the couple married—a decision that has sparked mixed reactions from fans.

The 36-year-old Australian star is listed as Margot Elise Ackerley in newly filed Companies House documents associated with LuckyChap Entertainment, the production company she operates with her husband, Tom Ackerley, 36.

Although the Barbie actress remains professionally known as Margot Robbie, the documents indicate that she is using her married surname for business matters.

The change prompted an immediate online debate, with some fans asking why a major Hollywood star would adopt another surname when Robbie has become such a recognizable global brand.

‘Why would you do that when your name is your brand,’ one person wrote on X.

Another user joked: ‘Respectfully, nobodies [sic] respecting this lol.’

‘Changing your name as a well-known celebrity feels like a bad business decision,’ another commenter said.

One Barbie fan added: ‘Barbie would never take a man’s surname.’

Others, however, defended Robbie’s choice, stressing that using Ackerley in official company paperwork does not require her to give up the Robbie name professionally.

‘Happy for her taking his name on her own timeline is a solid move,’ one supporter wrote.

Another commented: ‘Ten years is crazy to think about but honestly good for her, married name fits her vibe way better than Robbie ever did.’

There is currently no suggestion that Margot plans to be credited in films as Margot Ackerley.

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The Queensland-born actress has enjoyed a formidable Hollywood career spanning more than 15 years, rising from her early work on Neighbours to acclaimed and high-profile roles in The Wolf of Wall Street, Suicide Squad and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.

Her greatest commercial success arrived with 2023’s Barbie, in which she starred and served as a producer.

Greta Gerwig’s blockbuster earned more than US$1.4 billion worldwide, while Robbie reportedly received a substantial payday through her combined acting and producing agreement.

Robbie and Tom’s relationship began before they became established partners in the filmmaking business.

The pair met in 2013 while working on the Second World War drama Suite Française. Robbie had a supporting role in the film, while Ackerley worked as an assistant director.

The following year, they lived in a London house shared with several friends from the film industry before their friendship eventually developed into a relationship.

Margot, Tom, Sophia Kerr and Josey McNamara also launched LuckyChap Entertainment in 2014.

The company has since developed a string of acclaimed and commercially successful projects, including I, Tonya, Promising Young Woman, Saltburn, Barbie and Wuthering Heights. 

Margot and Tom married during an intimate ceremony in Byron Bay in December 2016.

Despite working together and regularly attending major Hollywood events side-by-side, the private couple have largely kept their relationship out of the spotlight. 

They welcomed their first child, a baby boy, in 2024 and have not publicly revealed his name.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is preparing to campaign for New York Governor Kathy Hochul outside deep-blue New York City, fueling further speculation about the congresswoman’s ambitions for higher office.

Ocasio-Cortez has said she will determine her next political step after the midterm elections. Some observers believe she could seek the Democratic presidential nomination, while others expect her to challenge Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer in 2028.

Hochul has now asked Ocasio-Cortez to appear at campaign events in more conservative areas of upstate New York, where the governor is seeking reelection against Republican Bruce Blakeman. The appearances could offer an early test of Ocasio-Cortez’s statewide appeal.

Her team is expected to organize events in Buffalo, Syracuse and Ithaca—far beyond the single Queens event Ocasio-Cortez attended on Election Day in 2022.

“I think she brings a lot of energy to the process and engages young people in particular,” Hochul told WNYC earlier this week.

“I’ve encouraged this. I have asked her and others to go statewide to create the momentum and energy we need around this next election. So I think she’ll be very well-received.”

Hochul, once known as a moderate Democrat, has increasingly aligned herself with New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Ocasio-Cortez in recent years.

While upstate New York tends to vote Republican – a recent poll shows Hochul trailing Blakeman there by three points – there are AOC-friendly areas within those three cities. 

Both Buffalo and Syracuse have elected Democratic Socialists of America members to citywide and statewide office, while Ithaca is home to Cornell University.

Hochul has confirmed that she will campaign alongside Ocasio-Cortez at some events, although she has not yet identified which appearances she will attend.

Blakeman has welcomed the opportunity to portray Ocasio-Cortez as a political contrast with Hochul.

“The more she campaigns for Kathy Hochul, the greater chance of my election,” he said Tuesday, according to Gothamist.

After this year’s midterm election, Ocasio-Cortez will decide whether to pursue the presidency, run for the US Senate or remain in the House representing her Bronx and Queens district.

She has also identified two deeply personal considerations: her race and her gender.

“Every element of this is something that’s within consideration,” she told The New York Times.

The 36-year-old Latina lawmaker, who is unmarried, also told the Times that her age and plans to start a family would factor into her decision.

Ocasio-Cortez has recently publicly discussed freezing her eggs, a decision she announced in August, while filming injecting herself.

She split from her longtime fiancé, Riley Roberts, although she has declined to comment publicly on her relationship status.

‘I am 36, I’m about to turn 37 years old… and what that means for my life,’ she told the Times.

‘Pretty candidly, I think about my identity,’ Ocasio-Cortez noted.

‘I’m not naïve to the fact that we are living under a very regressive administration, and I happen to be a woman, and I, you know, happen to be Latina.’

Ocasio-Cortez said she often hesitates to talk about race and gender because people can treat such comments as an excuse for why a politician might lose.

But if she is seriously considering a presidential campaign, she said she can’t simply pretend those questions do not exist.

‘It’s funny because it’s kind of like, everyone else is allowed to talk about it, but I’m not?’

Her argument is rooted in the fact that the US has never elected a woman president. Hillary Clinton came closest, winning the popular vote in 2016 but losing the Electoral College to Donald Trump.

‘That doesn’t make it impossible,’ she said.

Ocasio-Cortez also pointed to how women in politics are covered. She cited a video of herself fixing her hair this summer in the Bronx that drew 25 million views on X and a flood of sexualized comments. 

That, she said, is the ‘most brazen’ version of a bias she says she faces ‘from the right and from the left.’

Race factors in too. The daughter of a Puerto Rican immigrant, Ocasio-Cortez is one of the party’s most prominent Latina politicians and its most recognizable progressive voice — and she doesn’t dodge questions about whether that hurts her electability.

She’s also watching history: Hillary Clinton and Kamala Harris are the only women to win the Democratic nomination, and both lost. ‘I absolutely empathize with the heartbreak people feel around that,’ she said, ‘and how those women were treated.’

She hasn’t ruled out challenging Schumer, and rejects the idea she owes anyone deference. 

But a presidential bid is binary for her: ‘If I were to run in this cycle, and not win, I would be done.’

The numbers also show just how complicated Ocasio-Cortez’s national political picture could be.

The numbers underscore the challenge. In a recent New York Times/Siena poll, fewer than 1 percent of Republicans viewed her favorably, versus 75 percent unfavorably. 

Among likely voters overall, just 30 percent viewed her favorably against 41 percent unfavorable — a double-digit deficit.

RealClearPolitics’ current national Democratic presidential primary polling average has Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez at 11 percent, trailing only Kamala Harris (24 percent), Gavin Newsom (14 percent) and Pete Buttigieg (13 percent).

Dr Amir Anwary enjoys treating dogs of every shape and size, but there is one pet-owner habit that drives him particularly mad: giving dogs ordinary human names.

The popular South African veterinarian has urged dog owners to think twice before choosing a human name for their pets.

‘I’m a veterinarian, and this is serious… This is the biggest issue I’ve ever seen,’ he declared in a light-hearted rant.

‘I don’t know which dog owner needs to hear this, but you need to stop giving dogs human names that have no business being dog names.’

Dr Anwary explained that the situation can become particularly awkward when vets carry out invasive procedures on dogs with distinctly human names.

‘I just had to express the anal glands of Craig. Craig… Do you know what that does to a person?’ he joked.

He said that was not the only time, recalling that he had also expressed the anal glands of dogs called Sarah, Geoff and Jared.

‘Stop giving your dogs human names. It’s enough. You need to stop giving your pets the most basic human names,’ he warned.

The vet did concede that some names traditionally associated with people can work perfectly well for dogs.

‘Some names that belong to humans are good for dogs,’ he explained.

‘Oscar is a good name; Harvey is a good name; Archie is a great name. So there are certain human names that you can give to dogs.’

‘But other names have no business being dog names. For example, Craig, Jared and Jason. Why would you name a dog Jason? Is it a philanderer?’

‘Daniel, William… No, guys. Some human names simply do not belong to dogs.’

‘You know what I’m saying? Someone has to say it.’

Patricia was another human name that appeared to particularly irritate him.

‘Patricia has no business being a dog name,’ he said.

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‘Shame, poor dog.’

His latest video has been viewed more than 300,000 times, and many viewers admitted that they had given their dogs human names.

‘Exclusively human names for dogs is my favourite thing ever. Have never disagreed with a take more in my life. It is endlessly amusing. If anyone has an aggressively human named dog please share it with me and bring me joy,’ one said.

‘My neighbour has a dachshund named Paul. It will never not be hilarious to me,’ another revealed.

‘My dog is Dave. David when he is naughty,’ one shared.

‘As an ER vet tech, please don’t stop this! I love telling Steven he needs to relax while I lube up my gloves,’ another added, laughing. 

One owner realised her mistake after giving her dog a human name.

‘I named my dog Kiara. I didn’t know it’s a human name. Imaging the confusion when I yelled: “Kiara! No!” and the neighbour’s (sad) daughter said, “Okay sorry” from the other side of the wall,’ she said.

Another jokingly suggested: ‘Use a human name that you’d name a child. Then you can use them as an excuse at work. “Sorry, I can’t stay late, I need to pick up Emily from daycare.” They think it’s your kid, but Emily’s a dachshund.’

Meanwhile, many revealed they felt ‘weirded out’ after hearing strangers call their name to a dog. 

‘Took my dog to a vet once. The vet came into the waiting area and called “Maisie”. I got up to answer as that’s my name, quickly sat back down when a woman got up and took her terrier through… Never been so embarrassed,’ one said.

‘I heard someone constantly shouting “Vicky”, but she wasn’t acknowledging me. Then she shouted “Vicky, biscuit” and a black lab ran over,’ another shared.

‘My daughter is Maggie, named after her grandmother. Do you know how many dogs are named Maggie? Like all of them,’ one revealed.