US Jesuits agree $166 million abuse payout by Laura Onstot Mar 25 2011
SEATTLE (AFP) – A US Jesuit order has agreed to pay $166 million to compensate some 500 mostly native American child victims of "horrific" sexual abuse at religious mission schools, lawyers said.
The US Northwest chapter of the Rome-based Society of Jesus agreed to the payout -- which lawyers said is the biggest by a religious organization in the United States -- as part of bankruptcy proceedings.
Most of those abused by members of the Oregon Province -- the Jesuit order covering the states of Oregon, Washington, Alaska, Idaho and Montana -- were at mission schools on Indian reservations, from the 1940s through to the 1990s.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20110326/ts_alt_afp/usreligioncatholicabuse_20110326025049
Germany extends statute of limitations on abuse
Mar 23, 2011
BERLIN – Germans who were sexually abused as children will now have up to 30 years after their 21st birthday to bring their alleged attackers before the courts.
The change was triggered by last year's sex abuse scandal that rocked the nation's Roman Catholic Church.
The previous statute of limitations on civil abuse cases was only three years. Criminal cases have a statute of limitations ranging from three to 30 years, depending on the charges.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110323/ap_on_re_eu/eu_germany_church_abuse_1
Saturday, March 26, 2011
Friday, March 25, 2011
Northwest Jesuits will pay $166 million to sex abuse victims in bankruptcy settlement
Northwest Jesuits will pay $166 million to sex abuse victims in bankruptcy settlement March 25, 2011
Bryan Denson, The Oregonian The Northwest's Jesuits and their insurers have agreed to pay $166.1 million in a bankruptcy settlement aimed at compensating nearly 500 people with active claims of sexual abuse by priests.
The payout is one of the largest ever made by a religious organization in the United States to abuse victims. The settlement, part of a Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization, is designed to restore financial stability to the Portland-based province....
Creditors include about 460 people with sexual-abuse claims against priests and another 15 or 20 with physical-abuse claims, Tamaki said. They are expected to vote in favor of the settlement some time in the next 45 days, with payments likely reaching them by early fall, he said.
Tamaki's firm, headquartered in Yakima, represents nearly 100 people who he says were sexually abused in Washington and Montana.
"For them, it's a record-breaking settlement and a day of justice for Native Americans who were sexually molested," he said....
Under terms of the global settlement, the Northwest's Jesuits, formally known as the Society of Jesus, Oregon Province, will pay $48.1 million and their insurer will pay $118 million. About $6 million from the settlement will go into a pool for future claims, he said.
http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2011/03/northwest_jesuits_will_pay_166.html
Washington woman says Jesuit priest abuse 'every single day ... was a nightmare' March 25, 2011, The Oregonian By Kimberly A.C. Wilson
....This morning, three years after she came forward as the initial plaintiff in a 21-plaintiff federal lawsuit in Spokane against priests from St. Mary’s -- a suit filed three months before the Oregon Province of the Society of Jesus declared bankruptcy -- Mendez, now 55, is poised for a measure of justice.
The Northwest's Jesuits and their insurers agreed to pay $166.1 million in a bankruptcy settlement aimed at compensating nearly 500 people with active claims of sexual abuse by priests in Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Washington, including Mendez.
http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2011/03/washington_woman_says_jesuit_p.html
21-plaintiff federal lawsuit in Spokane against priests from St. Mary’s
http://media.oregonlive.com/portland_impact/other/10%20-%20Amended%20Complaint%20for%20Damages.pdf
Bryan Denson, The Oregonian The Northwest's Jesuits and their insurers have agreed to pay $166.1 million in a bankruptcy settlement aimed at compensating nearly 500 people with active claims of sexual abuse by priests.
The payout is one of the largest ever made by a religious organization in the United States to abuse victims. The settlement, part of a Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization, is designed to restore financial stability to the Portland-based province....
Creditors include about 460 people with sexual-abuse claims against priests and another 15 or 20 with physical-abuse claims, Tamaki said. They are expected to vote in favor of the settlement some time in the next 45 days, with payments likely reaching them by early fall, he said.
Tamaki's firm, headquartered in Yakima, represents nearly 100 people who he says were sexually abused in Washington and Montana.
"For them, it's a record-breaking settlement and a day of justice for Native Americans who were sexually molested," he said....
Under terms of the global settlement, the Northwest's Jesuits, formally known as the Society of Jesus, Oregon Province, will pay $48.1 million and their insurer will pay $118 million. About $6 million from the settlement will go into a pool for future claims, he said.
http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2011/03/northwest_jesuits_will_pay_166.html
Washington woman says Jesuit priest abuse 'every single day ... was a nightmare' March 25, 2011, The Oregonian By Kimberly A.C. Wilson
....This morning, three years after she came forward as the initial plaintiff in a 21-plaintiff federal lawsuit in Spokane against priests from St. Mary’s -- a suit filed three months before the Oregon Province of the Society of Jesus declared bankruptcy -- Mendez, now 55, is poised for a measure of justice.
The Northwest's Jesuits and their insurers agreed to pay $166.1 million in a bankruptcy settlement aimed at compensating nearly 500 people with active claims of sexual abuse by priests in Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Washington, including Mendez.
http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2011/03/washington_woman_says_jesuit_p.html
21-plaintiff federal lawsuit in Spokane against priests from St. Mary’s
http://media.oregonlive.com/portland_impact/other/10%20-%20Amended%20Complaint%20for%20Damages.pdf
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
CIA Psychologist's Notes Reveal True Purpose Behind Bush's Torture Program
EXCLUSIVE: CIA Psychologist's Notes Reveal True Purpose Behind Bush's Torture Program 22 March 2011 Jason Leopold and Jeffrey Kaye, t r u t h o u t | Investigative Report
Dr. Bruce Jessen's handwritten notes describe some of the torture techniques that were used to "exploit" "war on terror" detainees in custody of the CIA and Department of Defense.
Bush administration officials have long asserted that the torture techniques used on "war on terror" detainees were utilized as a last resort in an effort to gain actionable intelligence to thwart pending terrorist attacks against the United States and its interests abroad.
But the handwritten notes obtained exclusively by Truthout drafted two decades ago by Dr. John Bruce Jessen, the psychologist who was under contract to the CIA and credited as being one of the architects of the government's top-secret torture program, tell a dramatically different story about the reasons detainees were brutalized and it was not just about obtaining intelligence. Rather, as Jessen's notes explain, torture was used to "exploit" detainees, that is, to break them down physically and mentally, in order to get them to "collaborate" with government authorities. Jessen's notes emphasize how a "detainer" uses the stresses of detention to produce the appearance of compliance in a prisoner.
....However, according to the Senate Armed Services Committee report "SERE resistance training ... was used to inform" Yoo and Bybee's torture memo, specifically, nearly a dozen of the brutal techniques detainees were subjected to, which included waterboarding, sleep deprivation, painful stress positions, wall slamming and placing detainees in a confined space, such as a container, where his movement is restricted.
http://www.truth-out.org/cia-psychologists-notes-reveal-bushs-torture-program68542
Statement of Senator Carl Levin on Senate Armed Services Committee Report of its Inquiry into the Treatment of Detainees in U.S. Custody FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE December 11, 2008
Contact: Senator Levin's Office....
“On February 7, 2002, President George W. Bush made a written determination that Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions, which would have afforded minimum standards for humane treatment, did not apply to al Qaeda or Taliban detainees. Following the President’s determination, techniques such as waterboarding, nudity, and stress positions, used in SERE training to simulate tactics used by enemies that refuse to follow the Geneva Conventions, were authorized for use in interrogations of detainees in U.S. custody.”
http://levin.senate.gov/newsroom/release.cfm?id=305734
SENATE ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE INQUIRY INTO THE TREATMENT OF DETAINEES IN U.S. CUSTODY ....The abuse of detainees in U.S. custody cannot simply be attributed to the actions of “a few bad apples” acting on their own. The fact is that senior officials in the United States government solicited information on how to use aggressive techniques, redefined the law to create the appearance of their legality, and authorized their use against detainees.
....On February 7, 2002, President Bush signed a memorandum stating that the Third Geneva Convention did not apply to the conflict with al Qaeda and concluding that Taliban detainees were not entitled to prisoner of war status or the legal protections afforded by the Third Geneva Convention. The President’s order closed off application of Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions, which would have afforded minimum standards for humane treatment, to al Qaeda or Taliban detainees. While the President’s order stated that, as “a matter of policy, the United States Armed Forces shall continue to treat detainees humanely and, to the extent appropriate and consistent with military necessity, in a manner consistent with the principles of the Geneva Conventions,” the decision to replace well established military doctrine, i.e., legal compliance with the Geneva Conventions, with a policy subject to interpretation, impacted the treatment of detainees in U.S. custody.
http://levin.senate.gov/newsroom/supporting/2008/Detainees.121108.pdf
Dr. Bruce Jessen's handwritten notes describe some of the torture techniques that were used to "exploit" "war on terror" detainees in custody of the CIA and Department of Defense.
Bush administration officials have long asserted that the torture techniques used on "war on terror" detainees were utilized as a last resort in an effort to gain actionable intelligence to thwart pending terrorist attacks against the United States and its interests abroad.
But the handwritten notes obtained exclusively by Truthout drafted two decades ago by Dr. John Bruce Jessen, the psychologist who was under contract to the CIA and credited as being one of the architects of the government's top-secret torture program, tell a dramatically different story about the reasons detainees were brutalized and it was not just about obtaining intelligence. Rather, as Jessen's notes explain, torture was used to "exploit" detainees, that is, to break them down physically and mentally, in order to get them to "collaborate" with government authorities. Jessen's notes emphasize how a "detainer" uses the stresses of detention to produce the appearance of compliance in a prisoner.
....However, according to the Senate Armed Services Committee report "SERE resistance training ... was used to inform" Yoo and Bybee's torture memo, specifically, nearly a dozen of the brutal techniques detainees were subjected to, which included waterboarding, sleep deprivation, painful stress positions, wall slamming and placing detainees in a confined space, such as a container, where his movement is restricted.
http://www.truth-out.org/cia-psychologists-notes-reveal-bushs-torture-program68542
Statement of Senator Carl Levin on Senate Armed Services Committee Report of its Inquiry into the Treatment of Detainees in U.S. Custody FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE December 11, 2008
Contact: Senator Levin's Office....
“On February 7, 2002, President George W. Bush made a written determination that Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions, which would have afforded minimum standards for humane treatment, did not apply to al Qaeda or Taliban detainees. Following the President’s determination, techniques such as waterboarding, nudity, and stress positions, used in SERE training to simulate tactics used by enemies that refuse to follow the Geneva Conventions, were authorized for use in interrogations of detainees in U.S. custody.”
http://levin.senate.gov/newsroom/release.cfm?id=305734
SENATE ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE INQUIRY INTO THE TREATMENT OF DETAINEES IN U.S. CUSTODY ....The abuse of detainees in U.S. custody cannot simply be attributed to the actions of “a few bad apples” acting on their own. The fact is that senior officials in the United States government solicited information on how to use aggressive techniques, redefined the law to create the appearance of their legality, and authorized their use against detainees.
....On February 7, 2002, President Bush signed a memorandum stating that the Third Geneva Convention did not apply to the conflict with al Qaeda and concluding that Taliban detainees were not entitled to prisoner of war status or the legal protections afforded by the Third Geneva Convention. The President’s order closed off application of Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions, which would have afforded minimum standards for humane treatment, to al Qaeda or Taliban detainees. While the President’s order stated that, as “a matter of policy, the United States Armed Forces shall continue to treat detainees humanely and, to the extent appropriate and consistent with military necessity, in a manner consistent with the principles of the Geneva Conventions,” the decision to replace well established military doctrine, i.e., legal compliance with the Geneva Conventions, with a policy subject to interpretation, impacted the treatment of detainees in U.S. custody.
http://levin.senate.gov/newsroom/supporting/2008/Detainees.121108.pdf
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Batley - Wales child abuse case, Report of the Ritual Abuse Task Force
also: A CONSOLIDATION OF SRA AND FALSE MEMORY DATA - JAMES QUAN
Carmarthenshire victims speak out as 'sick' paedophile sex cult leader is jailed March 16, 2011
....Detectives uncovered evidence of a bizarre, quasi- religious cult which involved the commission of sex acts, the wearing of robes, and the reading of passages from a text called The Book Of The Law.
Colin Batley was the "manipulative sexual predator" who led the group. The guilty verdicts reflected offences against two boys and four girls, all of whom are now adults and whose identities are protected by press restrictions....
Judge Thomas, who condemned The Book Of The Law — by mystic and magician Aleister Crowley — as a "ludicrous document", said Batley had used the text as a way of authorising his sexual crimes.....
Marling had been besotted with Batley and The Book Of The Law. Batley had controlled the group both sexually and financially, said the judge, and it was significant that in prostitute Millar's address book he was listed as "My Lord"....
Colin Batley was sentenced for 11 offences of rape; six of buggery; three of indecent assault; and for other offences of causing prostitution for gain, indecency with a child, inciting a child to engage in sexual activity, and possessing indecent photographs of a child. Elaine Batley was dealt with for indecency and sexual activity with a child; and indecent assault.
http://www.thisissouthwales.co.uk/news/Victims-speak-sick-paedo-cult-leader-jailed/article-3331781-detail/article.html
Articles on Batley - Wales child abuse case http://www.thisissouthwales.co.uk/topics/person/colinbatley
REPORT OF THE RITUAL ABUSE TASK FORCE - LOS ANGELES COUNTY COMMISSION FOR WOMEN MARCH 15, 1991
Ritual abuse is a brutal form of abuse of children, adolescents, and adults, consisting of physical, sexual, and psychological abuse, and involving the use of rituals. Ritual does not necessarily mean satanic. However, most survivors state that they were ritually abused as part of satanic worship for the purpose of indoctrinating them into satanic beliefs and practices. Ritual abuse rarely consists of a single episode. It usually involves repeated abuse over an extended period of time.
The physical abuse is severe, sometimes including torture and killing. The sexual abuse is usually painful, sadistic, and humiliating, intended as a means of gaining dominance over the victim. The psychological abuse is devastating and involves the use of ritual/indoctrination, which includes mind control techniques and mind altering drugs, and ritual/intimidation which conveys to the victim a profound terror of the cult members and of the evil spirits they believe cult members can command. Both during and after the abuse, most victims are in a state of terror, mind control, and dissociation in which disclosure is exceedingly difficult.
http://sites.google.com/site/mcrais/ritualab
A CONSOLIDATION OF SRA AND FALSE MEMORY DATA - JAMES QUAN
Portland, Oregon November 1996 The purpose of this paper is to consolidate and present some of the major data for those skeptical of the existence of Satanic Ritual Abuse (SRA) and to suggest more mutual affirmation in pursuit of the truth in this area. This paper, nonetheless, attempts to critically examine both sides of the debate, namely: critical thinking and belief, “no official” evidence, the context of evidence, actual corroborative evidence (including a map of the McMartin Preschool tunnels), false memory, the sharp rise in MPD/DID diagnoses, and alternate explanations for the profound similarities in child and adult accounts. In light of the semantic difficulties inherent in “memories” it is important to avoid overgeneralizing on either side, and yet to fully accept that for which both memory and corroboration exists....
in a 1991 informal survey, 93% of APA therapists who have personal experience with adult SRA survivors stated they believe the memories of SRA are accurate. Contrary to accusations, many have been skeptical at first (Young, et al, 1990; Friesen, 1990; Calof, 1994), but: 1) The quality of therapists’ experiences with their clients was sufficient to broaden their criteria for the existence of this crime; 2) There are extensive similarities in the accounts from both young children and adults throughout the country, many with minimal therapist suggestion and minimal cultural exposure; and 3) There is corroboration in some cases, yet for therapists to file reports with law enforcement would endanger the vital trust-based relationship and would not be in the client’s best interest for safety or privacy....
as therapists know well, the denial process is an extremely strong mechanism, and it is therefore quite possible that some who recant, claiming their memories were falsely acquired, are actually lapsing into a denial about their painful pasts and/or deciding on some level that the break in family relationship is much more painful than anticipated. Recanting is the clearest, if not the only, way to consciously or subconsciously deny one’s own accusations if the goal of the confrontation (confession and healing) was not met.
Finally, a recanter suffering from a dissociative disorder often has the ability to separate many ordinary things from consciousness. Thus, especially when motivated, all prior knowledge and conviction of one’s own abuse can likewise be split off from consciousness, providing a means for deep denial and a full retraction. This is the same mechanism under which a DID patient may “lose time” and the memory of immediate, but normal everyday experiences.
....Judy Johnson personally consulted Dr. Summit who maintains that she was quite sane and emotionally contained at the beginning of the case, her psychotic break and alcoholic toxicity beginning only afterward, due to inconceivable multiple stressors: she was alienated from her husband, living only with her two children, one a victim of sexual abuse, the other dying of a brain malignancy, and she became increasingly alienated by the other McMartin parents.
http://sites.google.com/site/mcrais/consldra
Carmarthenshire victims speak out as 'sick' paedophile sex cult leader is jailed March 16, 2011
....Detectives uncovered evidence of a bizarre, quasi- religious cult which involved the commission of sex acts, the wearing of robes, and the reading of passages from a text called The Book Of The Law.
Colin Batley was the "manipulative sexual predator" who led the group. The guilty verdicts reflected offences against two boys and four girls, all of whom are now adults and whose identities are protected by press restrictions....
Judge Thomas, who condemned The Book Of The Law — by mystic and magician Aleister Crowley — as a "ludicrous document", said Batley had used the text as a way of authorising his sexual crimes.....
Marling had been besotted with Batley and The Book Of The Law. Batley had controlled the group both sexually and financially, said the judge, and it was significant that in prostitute Millar's address book he was listed as "My Lord"....
Colin Batley was sentenced for 11 offences of rape; six of buggery; three of indecent assault; and for other offences of causing prostitution for gain, indecency with a child, inciting a child to engage in sexual activity, and possessing indecent photographs of a child. Elaine Batley was dealt with for indecency and sexual activity with a child; and indecent assault.
http://www.thisissouthwales.co.uk/news/Victims-speak-sick-paedo-cult-leader-jailed/article-3331781-detail/article.html
Articles on Batley - Wales child abuse case http://www.thisissouthwales.co.uk/topics/person/colinbatley
REPORT OF THE RITUAL ABUSE TASK FORCE - LOS ANGELES COUNTY COMMISSION FOR WOMEN MARCH 15, 1991
Ritual abuse is a brutal form of abuse of children, adolescents, and adults, consisting of physical, sexual, and psychological abuse, and involving the use of rituals. Ritual does not necessarily mean satanic. However, most survivors state that they were ritually abused as part of satanic worship for the purpose of indoctrinating them into satanic beliefs and practices. Ritual abuse rarely consists of a single episode. It usually involves repeated abuse over an extended period of time.
The physical abuse is severe, sometimes including torture and killing. The sexual abuse is usually painful, sadistic, and humiliating, intended as a means of gaining dominance over the victim. The psychological abuse is devastating and involves the use of ritual/indoctrination, which includes mind control techniques and mind altering drugs, and ritual/intimidation which conveys to the victim a profound terror of the cult members and of the evil spirits they believe cult members can command. Both during and after the abuse, most victims are in a state of terror, mind control, and dissociation in which disclosure is exceedingly difficult.
http://sites.google.com/site/mcrais/ritualab
A CONSOLIDATION OF SRA AND FALSE MEMORY DATA - JAMES QUAN
Portland, Oregon November 1996 The purpose of this paper is to consolidate and present some of the major data for those skeptical of the existence of Satanic Ritual Abuse (SRA) and to suggest more mutual affirmation in pursuit of the truth in this area. This paper, nonetheless, attempts to critically examine both sides of the debate, namely: critical thinking and belief, “no official” evidence, the context of evidence, actual corroborative evidence (including a map of the McMartin Preschool tunnels), false memory, the sharp rise in MPD/DID diagnoses, and alternate explanations for the profound similarities in child and adult accounts. In light of the semantic difficulties inherent in “memories” it is important to avoid overgeneralizing on either side, and yet to fully accept that for which both memory and corroboration exists....
in a 1991 informal survey, 93% of APA therapists who have personal experience with adult SRA survivors stated they believe the memories of SRA are accurate. Contrary to accusations, many have been skeptical at first (Young, et al, 1990; Friesen, 1990; Calof, 1994), but: 1) The quality of therapists’ experiences with their clients was sufficient to broaden their criteria for the existence of this crime; 2) There are extensive similarities in the accounts from both young children and adults throughout the country, many with minimal therapist suggestion and minimal cultural exposure; and 3) There is corroboration in some cases, yet for therapists to file reports with law enforcement would endanger the vital trust-based relationship and would not be in the client’s best interest for safety or privacy....
as therapists know well, the denial process is an extremely strong mechanism, and it is therefore quite possible that some who recant, claiming their memories were falsely acquired, are actually lapsing into a denial about their painful pasts and/or deciding on some level that the break in family relationship is much more painful than anticipated. Recanting is the clearest, if not the only, way to consciously or subconsciously deny one’s own accusations if the goal of the confrontation (confession and healing) was not met.
Finally, a recanter suffering from a dissociative disorder often has the ability to separate many ordinary things from consciousness. Thus, especially when motivated, all prior knowledge and conviction of one’s own abuse can likewise be split off from consciousness, providing a means for deep denial and a full retraction. This is the same mechanism under which a DID patient may “lose time” and the memory of immediate, but normal everyday experiences.
....Judy Johnson personally consulted Dr. Summit who maintains that she was quite sane and emotionally contained at the beginning of the case, her psychotic break and alcoholic toxicity beginning only afterward, due to inconceivable multiple stressors: she was alienated from her husband, living only with her two children, one a victim of sexual abuse, the other dying of a brain malignancy, and she became increasingly alienated by the other McMartin parents.
http://sites.google.com/site/mcrais/consldra
Saturday, March 19, 2011
clergy abuse - Unrepentant - Disrobing the Emperor - Kevin Annett
Unrepentant - Disrobing the Emperor - Kevin Annett
January 2011
In 1992, Kevin Annett was an ordained minister with the United Church of Canada in Port Alberni on British Columbia's Vancouver Island, a logging town half populated with native Indians. He discovered a history of abuse....among the native children in the church's residential school....He later discovered that such was the case in more than 140 schools run by the major churches with the complicity of the Canadian government. Refusing to remain silent, Kevin Annett was defrocked by his church and lost his family and livelihood. For 15 years, he has conducted a one man campaign for justice for the survivors of this crime, and for the bringing to trial of those responsible.
http://www.hiddenfromhistory.org/RecentUpdatesampArticles/Oct272010BookReleaseDisrobingtheEmperor/tabid/142/Default.aspx
Feature length documentary film: "UNREPENTANT: Kevin Annett and Canada's Genocide" (January 2007). View the Promotional Trailer (2:36, 7 MB)
http://www.hiddenfromhistory.org/Home/tabid/36/Default.aspx
For 15 years (Kevin Annett) has conducted a one man campaign for justice and the revision of colonial laws for a race of subjugated people. ISBN: 978-1-84694-405-5 28 Jan 2011
http://www.o-books.com/book/detail/1122/Unrepentant
January 2011
In 1992, Kevin Annett was an ordained minister with the United Church of Canada in Port Alberni on British Columbia's Vancouver Island, a logging town half populated with native Indians. He discovered a history of abuse....among the native children in the church's residential school....He later discovered that such was the case in more than 140 schools run by the major churches with the complicity of the Canadian government. Refusing to remain silent, Kevin Annett was defrocked by his church and lost his family and livelihood. For 15 years, he has conducted a one man campaign for justice for the survivors of this crime, and for the bringing to trial of those responsible.
http://www.hiddenfromhistory.org/RecentUpdatesampArticles/Oct272010BookReleaseDisrobingtheEmperor/tabid/142/Default.aspx
Feature length documentary film: "UNREPENTANT: Kevin Annett and Canada's Genocide" (January 2007). View the Promotional Trailer (2:36, 7 MB)
http://www.hiddenfromhistory.org/Home/tabid/36/Default.aspx
For 15 years (Kevin Annett) has conducted a one man campaign for justice and the revision of colonial laws for a race of subjugated people. ISBN: 978-1-84694-405-5 28 Jan 2011
http://www.o-books.com/book/detail/1122/Unrepentant
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
'World's largest paedophile ring' uncovered, priest abuse case
'World's largest paedophile ring' uncovered
16 March 2011 By Dominic Casciani BBC News home affairs correspondent
International police led by a UK team say they shut down the largest internet paedophile ring yet discovered.
The global forum had 70,000 followers at its height, leading to 4,000 intelligence reports being sent to police across 30 countries.
The operation has so far identified 670 suspects and 230 abused children. Detectives say 184 people have been arrested - 121 of them were in the UK. Some 60 children have been protected in the UK.
The three-year investigation, Operation Rescue, was led by investigators from the UK's Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (Ceop). Speaking at a news conference at The Hague in the Netherlands, investigators said the network hid behind a legal online forum which operated out of the country - but its members came from around the world.
Along with the Netherlands and the UK, suspects have been identified in Australia, Italy, Canada, New Zealand and Thailand.
The members of the network went into a private channel, boylover.net, and then used its secret systems to share films and images of abused children, said Rob Wainwright, director of European police agency Europol.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-12762333
Child abuse 'big business online'12 May 2010
There are around 450 criminal gangs around the world making money from images of child sex abuse, the UK's Internet Watch Foundation has said. The watchdog's annual report says that the 10 most prolific of these account for more than 650 web pages.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10108720
Philadelphia judge fired up at priest during sex-abuse hearing
http://m.philly.com/phillycom/db_/contentdetail.htm;jsessionid=077E98FEED1D9AE045148527BC666D1D?contentguid=fJPVsew9&full=true#display
Defense Fights Charges in Pa. Priest Abuse Case
Associated Press
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3wbOyLDJU3c&feature=youtube_gdata_player
Holy See accused of flouting UN Convention on the Rights of the Child - At the plenary session of the United Nations Human Rights Council on Tuesday 15 March 2011, Keith Porteous Wood of Britain's National Secular Society accused the Holy See of contravening its duties under the UN Convention of the Rights of the Child in relation to child abuse.
http://www.youtube.com/user/SecularismOrgUK?feature=mhum
16 March 2011 By Dominic Casciani BBC News home affairs correspondent
International police led by a UK team say they shut down the largest internet paedophile ring yet discovered.
The global forum had 70,000 followers at its height, leading to 4,000 intelligence reports being sent to police across 30 countries.
The operation has so far identified 670 suspects and 230 abused children. Detectives say 184 people have been arrested - 121 of them were in the UK. Some 60 children have been protected in the UK.
The three-year investigation, Operation Rescue, was led by investigators from the UK's Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (Ceop). Speaking at a news conference at The Hague in the Netherlands, investigators said the network hid behind a legal online forum which operated out of the country - but its members came from around the world.
Along with the Netherlands and the UK, suspects have been identified in Australia, Italy, Canada, New Zealand and Thailand.
The members of the network went into a private channel, boylover.net, and then used its secret systems to share films and images of abused children, said Rob Wainwright, director of European police agency Europol.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-12762333
Child abuse 'big business online'12 May 2010
There are around 450 criminal gangs around the world making money from images of child sex abuse, the UK's Internet Watch Foundation has said. The watchdog's annual report says that the 10 most prolific of these account for more than 650 web pages.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10108720
Philadelphia judge fired up at priest during sex-abuse hearing
http://m.philly.com/phillycom/db_/contentdetail.htm;jsessionid=077E98FEED1D9AE045148527BC666D1D?contentguid=fJPVsew9&full=true#display
Defense Fights Charges in Pa. Priest Abuse Case
Associated Press
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3wbOyLDJU3c&feature=youtube_gdata_player
Holy See accused of flouting UN Convention on the Rights of the Child - At the plenary session of the United Nations Human Rights Council on Tuesday 15 March 2011, Keith Porteous Wood of Britain's National Secular Society accused the Holy See of contravening its duties under the UN Convention of the Rights of the Child in relation to child abuse.
http://www.youtube.com/user/SecularismOrgUK?feature=mhum
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Stop Ritual Abuse and Mind Control Podcasts
Stop Ritual Abuse and Mind Control Podcasts
Smart -Talks - Stop Ritual Abuse and Mind Control Podcasts
http://smart-talks.podomatic.com
Carmen Yana Holiday 2010: Survivors of Extreme Abuse: The Awful Rowing Toward Social Emancipation
Carmen Yana Holiday is a survivor of extreme domestic violence, human trafficking, child pornography, ritual abuse-torture and mind control. She has been an advocate for other survivors since 2001, developing and facilitating trauma recovery workshops and presenting as a survivor of RA-MC for several organizations.
A transcript of this talk can be seen here:
http://ritualabuse.us/smart-conference/2010-conference/survivors-of-extreme-abuse-the-awful-rowing-toward-social-emancipation/
Neil Brick 2010: Fighting the Spin: The Truth About Child Abuse Cases
Neil Brick is a survivor of Masonic based Ritual Abuse and MK-ULTRA. He is the editor of S.M.A.R.T. – A Ritual Abuse Newsletter. His topic is: Fighting the Spin : The Truth about Child Abuse Cases.
In the last 20 years, many child abuse and ritual abuse cases have been made public. Almost all of these have been subjected to media campaigns and spin by organizations and researchers skeptical of the existence of ritual abuse. These groups have done whatever they can to make sure that only their view on the topic is heard and that ours is not allowed to be made public.
We discuss this at our website on a page called “False memory syndrome proponents tactics”:
http://ritualabuse.us/research/memory-fms/false-memory-syndrome-proponents-tactics/
This presentation will briefly review some of the more famous child abuse cases and present the perspective of the victims of these crimes, not the perspectives of the alleged or convicted perpetrators or those defending them.
http://ritualabuse.us/smart-conference/2010-conference/fighting-the-spin-the-truth-about-child-abuse-cases/
Neil Brick 2010: The Move From Blame the Victim to Blame the Helper
Neil Brick is a survivor of Masonic based Ritual Abuse and MK-ULTRA. He is the editor of S.M.A.R.T. – A Ritual Abuse Newsletter. His topics today is “The Move from Blame the Victim to Blame the Helper.”
Historically speaking, the credibility of the accounts of child abuse and trauma victims stories have been attacked in various ways. Untrue statements were made that rape victims asked for the abuse or that children somehow deserved to be abused or were attracting abusers. Children and women were seen as property or lower in status. Now most people know these ideas are false and that child abuse and rape do exist.
This presentation will highlight some of the major attacks on those defending child abuse survivors. I myself have been attacked, but I have decided to fight those attacking me for the sake of making sure that child abuse in all its forms is stopped.
I will detail four of the most famous attacks on clinicians in the last 20 years, those of Bennett Braun, Judith Peterson, David Calof and Anna Salter.
http://ritualabuse.us/smart-conference/2010-conference/the-move-from-blame-the-victim-to-blame-the-helper/
Wanda Karriker Ph.D. 2010: The Ritual Abuse Controversy: A Personal Perspective
Wanda Karriker, Ph.D. is a retired psychologist who spent a career working with survivors of extreme abuse. She is author of the novel, “Morning, Come Quickly,” co-developer of the Extreme Abuse Survey Project and former editor of Survivorship. Her topic is: The Ritual Abuse Controversy: A Personal Perspective.
Smart -Talks - Stop Ritual Abuse and Mind Control Podcasts
http://smart-talks.podomatic.com
Carmen Yana Holiday 2010: Survivors of Extreme Abuse: The Awful Rowing Toward Social Emancipation
Carmen Yana Holiday is a survivor of extreme domestic violence, human trafficking, child pornography, ritual abuse-torture and mind control. She has been an advocate for other survivors since 2001, developing and facilitating trauma recovery workshops and presenting as a survivor of RA-MC for several organizations.
A transcript of this talk can be seen here:
http://ritualabuse.us/smart-conference/2010-conference/survivors-of-extreme-abuse-the-awful-rowing-toward-social-emancipation/
Neil Brick 2010: Fighting the Spin: The Truth About Child Abuse Cases
Neil Brick is a survivor of Masonic based Ritual Abuse and MK-ULTRA. He is the editor of S.M.A.R.T. – A Ritual Abuse Newsletter. His topic is: Fighting the Spin : The Truth about Child Abuse Cases.
In the last 20 years, many child abuse and ritual abuse cases have been made public. Almost all of these have been subjected to media campaigns and spin by organizations and researchers skeptical of the existence of ritual abuse. These groups have done whatever they can to make sure that only their view on the topic is heard and that ours is not allowed to be made public.
We discuss this at our website on a page called “False memory syndrome proponents tactics”:
http://ritualabuse.us/research/memory-fms/false-memory-syndrome-proponents-tactics/
This presentation will briefly review some of the more famous child abuse cases and present the perspective of the victims of these crimes, not the perspectives of the alleged or convicted perpetrators or those defending them.
http://ritualabuse.us/smart-conference/2010-conference/fighting-the-spin-the-truth-about-child-abuse-cases/
Neil Brick 2010: The Move From Blame the Victim to Blame the Helper
Neil Brick is a survivor of Masonic based Ritual Abuse and MK-ULTRA. He is the editor of S.M.A.R.T. – A Ritual Abuse Newsletter. His topics today is “The Move from Blame the Victim to Blame the Helper.”
Historically speaking, the credibility of the accounts of child abuse and trauma victims stories have been attacked in various ways. Untrue statements were made that rape victims asked for the abuse or that children somehow deserved to be abused or were attracting abusers. Children and women were seen as property or lower in status. Now most people know these ideas are false and that child abuse and rape do exist.
This presentation will highlight some of the major attacks on those defending child abuse survivors. I myself have been attacked, but I have decided to fight those attacking me for the sake of making sure that child abuse in all its forms is stopped.
I will detail four of the most famous attacks on clinicians in the last 20 years, those of Bennett Braun, Judith Peterson, David Calof and Anna Salter.
http://ritualabuse.us/smart-conference/2010-conference/the-move-from-blame-the-victim-to-blame-the-helper/
Wanda Karriker Ph.D. 2010: The Ritual Abuse Controversy: A Personal Perspective
Wanda Karriker, Ph.D. is a retired psychologist who spent a career working with survivors of extreme abuse. She is author of the novel, “Morning, Come Quickly,” co-developer of the Extreme Abuse Survey Project and former editor of Survivorship. Her topic is: The Ritual Abuse Controversy: A Personal Perspective.
Monday, March 14, 2011
Survivorship Ritual Abuse Webinars
You do not have to be a Survivorship member to attend a Webinar -- we welcome all survivors, as well as partners, friends, therapists, clergy, and other supporters. And a Webinar is a very good introduction to Survivorship's philosophy and resources.
OUR NEXT WEBINAR
Saturday, March 26
12 noon Pacific Time
Trish Fotheringham
"Inner Structures - Settle In and Get Comfortable."
Trish was born into a female-only matriarchal healing cult and an ancient patriarchal family clan who were connected to a variety of organized crime groups, including a group of wealthy political elite and their child pornography rings and child sex slave trafficking network. She is a 50-year-old Canadian Survivor of extreme abuse and trauma that included MKUltra-style ritual abuse, torture, mind control, and experimentation.
Trish will share some of the ways she handled her many different implanted Inner structures and tell how she, as an adult, intentionally self-created more structures that served healing purposes. The Webinar will be designed for dialog and interaction rather than as a lecture.
COST
Last year, Webinars cost $20.00. Now we have changed to a sliding scale so that each person can pay what they are able to. The scale starts at $50.00 and, in $5.00 increments, goes down to $0.00 (full scholarship). There is no longer any need to request a full or partial scholarship -- you make the decision yourself. (Please factor in the cost of a telephone call to the East Coast.)
We do ask you, if you have a full or partial scholarship, to help publicize our Webinar series.
The PayPal button is under the description of the Webinar at http://www.survivorship.org/webinars.html
REGISTRATION
Registration closes Thursday evening January 17. If you wish to pay by PayPal, go to http://www.survivorship.org/webinars.html Otherwise, send your check to:
SURVIVORSHIP
Family Justice Center
470 27th Street
Oakland, CA 94612
To reserve a space in the Webinar, e-mail Shamai at shamai@survivorship.org and give her this information:
1.Your name
2. The Webinar you wish to attend: "Safety for Ritual Abuse and Mind Control Survivors" on February 19 and/or one of the Webinars listed below
3. Amount and method of payment (check, PayPal, money order)
4. Your preferred e-mail address (so we can send you instructions)
5. The name you will be using for the Webinar. (This does not have to be your real name or your message board screen name.)
FUTURE WEBINARS
Saturday, April 9
12 noon Pacific Time
Staci Sprout, LICSW, CSAT
"Authentic Sexuality after Extreme Sexual Abuse: Part II: Tools You Can Use."
This Webinar follows up what was begun in the December Webinar. (If you were not there I recommend reviewing it on the Survivorship Website). We will take the concepts of sexual addiction/anorexia in the context of surviving extreme trauma to the next practical level: how to assess your current sexual health today, how to organize daily nurturing tasks to improve sexual self-esteem, what is the role of making love with yourself/masturbation, and what are your visions for a healthy tomorrow?
We will discuss sexuality in both general and specific terms.
Staci Sprout works as an individual group psychotherapist at Sexual Recovery Services in Washington state. (See www.sexualrecoveryservices.com for more information.). She is a Certified Sexual Addiction Therapist (CSAT). She is also a survivor of extreme trauma and will share "what's worked" along her personal journey of recovery as part of the presentation. Caution will be taken to promote safety by not using explicit language or stories, though content at times may be triggering for survivors.
Saturday, May 21
Note: This Webinar will be at 9 AM Pacific Time
Adah Sachs
"Attachment: How Did It Harm You, and How Can That Harm Be Healed?"
This Webinar will look at abuse and torture (at all ages) in the context of attachment theory. It will explain that the worst damage caused by abuse is not to the body, but to the victim’s attachment system; and that the damaged attachment system continues to cause destruction in the person’s life, sometimes forever. We’ll then look at healing the attachment system.
Adah Sachs is an attachment-based psychoanalytic psychotherapist. She is a visiting faculty and a training supervisor at the Bowlby Centre and at the Centre for Child Mental Health and a consultant psychotherapist at the Clinic for Dissociative Studies, London. She lectures and publishes widely on trauma and dissociation and maintains a small private practice. Her co-edited book, "Forensic Aspects of DID," was published in 2008.
PAST WEBINARS
Survivorship members may listen to past Webinars for free in the members’ section. (For information on joining Survivorship, go to http://www.survivorship.org/about/membership.html
Complete details on all our Webinars are at http://www.survivorship.org/webinars.html
OUR NEXT WEBINAR
Saturday, March 26
12 noon Pacific Time
Trish Fotheringham
"Inner Structures - Settle In and Get Comfortable."
Trish was born into a female-only matriarchal healing cult and an ancient patriarchal family clan who were connected to a variety of organized crime groups, including a group of wealthy political elite and their child pornography rings and child sex slave trafficking network. She is a 50-year-old Canadian Survivor of extreme abuse and trauma that included MKUltra-style ritual abuse, torture, mind control, and experimentation.
Trish will share some of the ways she handled her many different implanted Inner structures and tell how she, as an adult, intentionally self-created more structures that served healing purposes. The Webinar will be designed for dialog and interaction rather than as a lecture.
COST
Last year, Webinars cost $20.00. Now we have changed to a sliding scale so that each person can pay what they are able to. The scale starts at $50.00 and, in $5.00 increments, goes down to $0.00 (full scholarship). There is no longer any need to request a full or partial scholarship -- you make the decision yourself. (Please factor in the cost of a telephone call to the East Coast.)
We do ask you, if you have a full or partial scholarship, to help publicize our Webinar series.
The PayPal button is under the description of the Webinar at http://www.survivorship.org/webinars.html
REGISTRATION
Registration closes Thursday evening January 17. If you wish to pay by PayPal, go to http://www.survivorship.org/webinars.html Otherwise, send your check to:
SURVIVORSHIP
Family Justice Center
470 27th Street
Oakland, CA 94612
To reserve a space in the Webinar, e-mail Shamai at shamai@survivorship.org and give her this information:
1.Your name
2. The Webinar you wish to attend: "Safety for Ritual Abuse and Mind Control Survivors" on February 19 and/or one of the Webinars listed below
3. Amount and method of payment (check, PayPal, money order)
4. Your preferred e-mail address (so we can send you instructions)
5. The name you will be using for the Webinar. (This does not have to be your real name or your message board screen name.)
FUTURE WEBINARS
Saturday, April 9
12 noon Pacific Time
Staci Sprout, LICSW, CSAT
"Authentic Sexuality after Extreme Sexual Abuse: Part II: Tools You Can Use."
This Webinar follows up what was begun in the December Webinar. (If you were not there I recommend reviewing it on the Survivorship Website). We will take the concepts of sexual addiction/anorexia in the context of surviving extreme trauma to the next practical level: how to assess your current sexual health today, how to organize daily nurturing tasks to improve sexual self-esteem, what is the role of making love with yourself/masturbation, and what are your visions for a healthy tomorrow?
We will discuss sexuality in both general and specific terms.
Staci Sprout works as an individual group psychotherapist at Sexual Recovery Services in Washington state. (See www.sexualrecoveryservices.com for more information.). She is a Certified Sexual Addiction Therapist (CSAT). She is also a survivor of extreme trauma and will share "what's worked" along her personal journey of recovery as part of the presentation. Caution will be taken to promote safety by not using explicit language or stories, though content at times may be triggering for survivors.
Saturday, May 21
Note: This Webinar will be at 9 AM Pacific Time
Adah Sachs
"Attachment: How Did It Harm You, and How Can That Harm Be Healed?"
This Webinar will look at abuse and torture (at all ages) in the context of attachment theory. It will explain that the worst damage caused by abuse is not to the body, but to the victim’s attachment system; and that the damaged attachment system continues to cause destruction in the person’s life, sometimes forever. We’ll then look at healing the attachment system.
Adah Sachs is an attachment-based psychoanalytic psychotherapist. She is a visiting faculty and a training supervisor at the Bowlby Centre and at the Centre for Child Mental Health and a consultant psychotherapist at the Clinic for Dissociative Studies, London. She lectures and publishes widely on trauma and dissociation and maintains a small private practice. Her co-edited book, "Forensic Aspects of DID," was published in 2008.
PAST WEBINARS
Survivorship members may listen to past Webinars for free in the members’ section. (For information on joining Survivorship, go to http://www.survivorship.org/about/membership.html
Complete details on all our Webinars are at http://www.survivorship.org/webinars.html
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Ritual Abuse And Extreme Abuse Clinician’s Conference 2011
Ritual Abuse And Extreme Abuse Clinician’s Conference 2011
August 5, 2011
DoubleTree near
Bradley International Airport
16 Ella Grasso Turnpike
Windsor Locks, CT
(Permission to forward to clinical lists without headers and trailers.)
Internet conference information is at: http://ritualabuse.us/smart-conference/ritual-abuse-and-extreme-abuse-clinicians-conference-2011/
A one day conference preceding our regular conference will be open to licensed practitioners in related fields to discuss issues in working with clients suffering from ritual abuse and extreme abuse symptoms. Students studying in related fields and retired licensed practitioners may write smartnews@aol.com by e-mail for more information.
The conference will be held on August 5, 2011 from 8 am until 5 pm at the DoubleTree near the Bradley International Airport, 16 Ella Grasso Turnpike, Windsor Locks, CT. A free shuttle is available to and from the airport.
A free lunch buffet will be available to all conference participants. The cost of this conference is only $50 and limited seating will be available, so please register as soon as possible.
Speakers:
Staci Sprout MSW, LICSW, CSAT specializes in empowering individuals who have survived complex traumas and are seeking support in moving forward toward their life visions. Her practice is particularly dedicated to those in recovery from sexual addiction, and she is a Nationally Certified Sex Addiction Therapist trained directly by Patrick Carnes, Ph.D. through the International Institute for Trauma and Addiction Professionals (IITAP). Staci graduated from the University of Washington in 1992 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology and a Master’s of Social Work degree in 1994, with a concentration in Health and Mental Health Treatment. She has worked in both private practice and agency settings as a psychotherapist and group facilitator over the past 14 years. She uses cognitive behavioral skill-building approaches combined with deep listening, validation, encouragement, and education about healing and recovery. She is a trained provider of Lifespan Integration therapy, levels I and II, a gentle yet effective method for healing past traumas. Her topic is: Sexual Health after Extreme Trauma: Questions to Ask and Tools You Can Use
Lee Schwecke has been a psychiatric nursing educator for 42 years and a staff nurse in an inpatient psychiatric facility for 23 years, working with survivors of violence and trauma. She co-authored 5 editions of a psychiatric nursing textbook and is a contributor to the 6th edition. (Schwecke, LH. (2011). Survivors of violence and trauma, in NL Keltner, CE Bostrom, and TM McGuinness. (2011). Psychiatric Nursing (6th ed). St. Louis: Elsevier. She has published 2 editorials on the same topics in a national psychiatric nursing journal: Schwecke, LH. (2009). Childhood sexual abuse, PTSD, borderline personality personality: Understanding the connections. Journal of Psychosocial Nursing, 47(7), 4-6. and Schwecke, LH. (2011). Beyond childhood sexual abuse: Ritual abuse-torture and human trafficking. Journal of Psychosocial Nursing, 49(1), 8-10. Her topic is: Helping survivors of violence and trauma through education of nurses and mental health professionals.
Ginny Fouts, LPC, LMFT, is founder of Innovative Therapies LLC. Mrs. Fouts has worked in the mental health field for 30 years in a variety of settings. She has experience helping individuals, couples, adolescents and groups, along with a wide-range of training working with those who have experienced severe trauma. Over the years she has seen counseling bring healing to many lives and relationships. Her topic is: Foundations of good DID Therapy
Registration is not guaranteed, so before making any travel arrangements, please contact smartnews@aol.com by e-mail, sending your professional qualifications. Due to the nature of the information being discussed, all conference proceedings will be confidential. Handouts and materials will be available for participants to take home.
Conference Registration
(Please read the entire brochure before registering.)
After approval, please mail this registration form and checks (made out to S.M.A.R.T., US Banks only please), money orders (US) to: Clinician's Conference, c/o S.M.A.R.T., P O Box 1295, Easthampton, MA 01027 USA
Name: (please include names and individual addresses of all registrees, thanks.)
___________________________
Licensing information : ___________________________________
Street: ____________________________
City: ___________________State:______
Zip:________E-mail_________________
Refund Policy: Fees will not be refunded after July 7, 2011. Please send us written notice. Refund will be minus $20.00 deposit per registree.
Transportation
There is a free shuttle to and from the airport. Hotel parking is available at no charge for those attending the conference. Conference sponsors, etc. assume no responsibility for ground and/or air transportation arrangements. Conference sponsors cannot assume responsibility for additional expense or losses due to illnesses, cancellation of flights, strikes or other causes.
Attendance Policy
Presentation of a picture ID will be required of all conference participants, unless prior arrangements are made. This is for the protection of all participants. The conference is educational and not intended as therapy or treatment. Conference sponsors, cosponsor, speakers, organizers and exhibitors assume no responsibility for any reactions resulting from attending our conference. Statements made and materials exhibited and distributed by attendees, speakers and exhibitors are their own and don’t necessarily represent the policies or views of conference sponsors, cosponsor, speakers, exhibitors, organizers or attendees. Children are not permitted to attend the conference. S.M.A.R.T. and its representatives also reserve the right to remove anyone from the conference at any time. Photographing, audio taping and videotaping without written permission from S.M.A.R.T. are prohibited.
Accommodations
Room rates for Friday night at the DoubleTree Hotel at Bradley International Airport (CT) are $89 a day for one person (not incl. tax), please mention the SMART 2011 conference to get the special rate. This rate is guaranteed until 7/7/11 or all rooms at the special rate are gone. Call 860-627-5171 for information. The hotel has no information about the conference, other than room information.
August 5, 2011
DoubleTree near
Bradley International Airport
16 Ella Grasso Turnpike
Windsor Locks, CT
(Permission to forward to clinical lists without headers and trailers.)
Internet conference information is at: http://ritualabuse.us/smart-conference/ritual-abuse-and-extreme-abuse-clinicians-conference-2011/
A one day conference preceding our regular conference will be open to licensed practitioners in related fields to discuss issues in working with clients suffering from ritual abuse and extreme abuse symptoms. Students studying in related fields and retired licensed practitioners may write smartnews@aol.com by e-mail for more information.
The conference will be held on August 5, 2011 from 8 am until 5 pm at the DoubleTree near the Bradley International Airport, 16 Ella Grasso Turnpike, Windsor Locks, CT. A free shuttle is available to and from the airport.
A free lunch buffet will be available to all conference participants. The cost of this conference is only $50 and limited seating will be available, so please register as soon as possible.
Speakers:
Staci Sprout MSW, LICSW, CSAT specializes in empowering individuals who have survived complex traumas and are seeking support in moving forward toward their life visions. Her practice is particularly dedicated to those in recovery from sexual addiction, and she is a Nationally Certified Sex Addiction Therapist trained directly by Patrick Carnes, Ph.D. through the International Institute for Trauma and Addiction Professionals (IITAP). Staci graduated from the University of Washington in 1992 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology and a Master’s of Social Work degree in 1994, with a concentration in Health and Mental Health Treatment. She has worked in both private practice and agency settings as a psychotherapist and group facilitator over the past 14 years. She uses cognitive behavioral skill-building approaches combined with deep listening, validation, encouragement, and education about healing and recovery. She is a trained provider of Lifespan Integration therapy, levels I and II, a gentle yet effective method for healing past traumas. Her topic is: Sexual Health after Extreme Trauma: Questions to Ask and Tools You Can Use
Lee Schwecke has been a psychiatric nursing educator for 42 years and a staff nurse in an inpatient psychiatric facility for 23 years, working with survivors of violence and trauma. She co-authored 5 editions of a psychiatric nursing textbook and is a contributor to the 6th edition. (Schwecke, LH. (2011). Survivors of violence and trauma, in NL Keltner, CE Bostrom, and TM McGuinness. (2011). Psychiatric Nursing (6th ed). St. Louis: Elsevier. She has published 2 editorials on the same topics in a national psychiatric nursing journal: Schwecke, LH. (2009). Childhood sexual abuse, PTSD, borderline personality personality: Understanding the connections. Journal of Psychosocial Nursing, 47(7), 4-6. and Schwecke, LH. (2011). Beyond childhood sexual abuse: Ritual abuse-torture and human trafficking. Journal of Psychosocial Nursing, 49(1), 8-10. Her topic is: Helping survivors of violence and trauma through education of nurses and mental health professionals.
Ginny Fouts, LPC, LMFT, is founder of Innovative Therapies LLC. Mrs. Fouts has worked in the mental health field for 30 years in a variety of settings. She has experience helping individuals, couples, adolescents and groups, along with a wide-range of training working with those who have experienced severe trauma. Over the years she has seen counseling bring healing to many lives and relationships. Her topic is: Foundations of good DID Therapy
Registration is not guaranteed, so before making any travel arrangements, please contact smartnews@aol.com by e-mail, sending your professional qualifications. Due to the nature of the information being discussed, all conference proceedings will be confidential. Handouts and materials will be available for participants to take home.
Conference Registration
(Please read the entire brochure before registering.)
After approval, please mail this registration form and checks (made out to S.M.A.R.T., US Banks only please), money orders (US) to: Clinician's Conference, c/o S.M.A.R.T., P O Box 1295, Easthampton, MA 01027 USA
Name: (please include names and individual addresses of all registrees, thanks.)
___________________________
Licensing information : ___________________________________
Street: ____________________________
City: ___________________State:______
Zip:________E-mail_________________
Refund Policy: Fees will not be refunded after July 7, 2011. Please send us written notice. Refund will be minus $20.00 deposit per registree.
Transportation
There is a free shuttle to and from the airport. Hotel parking is available at no charge for those attending the conference. Conference sponsors, etc. assume no responsibility for ground and/or air transportation arrangements. Conference sponsors cannot assume responsibility for additional expense or losses due to illnesses, cancellation of flights, strikes or other causes.
Attendance Policy
Presentation of a picture ID will be required of all conference participants, unless prior arrangements are made. This is for the protection of all participants. The conference is educational and not intended as therapy or treatment. Conference sponsors, cosponsor, speakers, organizers and exhibitors assume no responsibility for any reactions resulting from attending our conference. Statements made and materials exhibited and distributed by attendees, speakers and exhibitors are their own and don’t necessarily represent the policies or views of conference sponsors, cosponsor, speakers, exhibitors, organizers or attendees. Children are not permitted to attend the conference. S.M.A.R.T. and its representatives also reserve the right to remove anyone from the conference at any time. Photographing, audio taping and videotaping without written permission from S.M.A.R.T. are prohibited.
Accommodations
Room rates for Friday night at the DoubleTree Hotel at Bradley International Airport (CT) are $89 a day for one person (not incl. tax), please mention the SMART 2011 conference to get the special rate. This rate is guaranteed until 7/7/11 or all rooms at the special rate are gone. Call 860-627-5171 for information. The hotel has no information about the conference, other than room information.
Saturday, March 12, 2011
Satanic sex cult leader guilty of child rape
By Hannah Thomas on Wednesday 9 March 2011 The quaint cul-de-sac of Kidwelly in west Wales has been stirred by news that a satanic cult has been carrying out sexual assaults and a string of child rapes over the past several decades within the small community.
Self-styled high priest, Colin Batley, was yesterday found guilty of conducting quasi-religious sex sessions involving children with his wife Elaine and fellow cult members Jacqueline Marling and Shelly Millar.
Batley began the sordid rituals by reading from The Book Of The Law, written more than 100 years ago by occultist Aleister Crowley, to brainwash his victims before ordering hooded cult members to have sex.
One victim was told she would be killed if she did not take part in an initiation ceremony, which concluded with sex. ‘I did it because I was told to by Colin,’ she sobbed as she gave evidence by videolink.
The cult leader was yesterday found guilty of 27 offences and warned by the judge at Swansea crown court that he faced a vast prison sentence. His wife and the two other women were also found guilty of a range of sexual offences and will be sentenced tomorrow.
Batley’s obsession with Satanism and Egyptian icons was well documented by police before his arrest last summer.
http://www.marieclaire.co.uk/news/world/518740/satanic-sex-cult-leader-guilty-of-child-rape.html
Self-styled high priest, Colin Batley, was yesterday found guilty of conducting quasi-religious sex sessions involving children with his wife Elaine and fellow cult members Jacqueline Marling and Shelly Millar.
Batley began the sordid rituals by reading from The Book Of The Law, written more than 100 years ago by occultist Aleister Crowley, to brainwash his victims before ordering hooded cult members to have sex.
One victim was told she would be killed if she did not take part in an initiation ceremony, which concluded with sex. ‘I did it because I was told to by Colin,’ she sobbed as she gave evidence by videolink.
The cult leader was yesterday found guilty of 27 offences and warned by the judge at Swansea crown court that he faced a vast prison sentence. His wife and the two other women were also found guilty of a range of sexual offences and will be sentenced tomorrow.
Batley’s obsession with Satanism and Egyptian icons was well documented by police before his arrest last summer.
http://www.marieclaire.co.uk/news/world/518740/satanic-sex-cult-leader-guilty-of-child-rape.html
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Guilty: Paedo cult’s demon ‘Lord’ - paedophile crimes over 15 years
Guilty: Paedo cult’s demon ‘Lord’ By JOHN COLES
10 Mar 2011 THE self-styled "Lord" of a black magic sex cult was facing jail last night - after being convicted of sexually abusing young children. Colin Batley, 48, ran a group whose members wore hooded robes for group sex and paedophile crimes over 15 years.
The scruffy Svengali surrounded himself with four "disciples" - wife Elaine, 47, and three other women - who helped him abuse youngsters.
All four women were tattooed on Batley's orders with an Egyptian symbol, the Eye of Horus. At meetings, Batley read from an occult "bible" and told youngsters they would go to Hell if they did not agree to his sexual demands. Their "temple" was the Batleys' semi-detached home on a sleepy cul-de-sac in Kidwelly, west Wales.
Jobless Batley, who charged members a quarter of their income, was exposed when a woman groomed for sex from age six went to cops. http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/3457120/Guilty-Paedophile-black-magic-cults-demon-Lord.html
My ‘cult sex’ at 15 By JOHN COLES 09 Feb 2011
A WOMAN yesterday told a court she was forced to have sex with the leader of a cult when she was just 15. The alleged victim said "evil" Colin Batley told her she would be killed if she didn't take part in the sickening initiation ceremony.
She claimed she was then ordered to perform sex acts on Batley's wife Elaine - and was taken to meetings where she had to have sex with men and women. The alleged victim, now an adult, said: "I was told I'd be killed if I didn't become part of the cult. Colin Batley had a gun and took it to meetings. I was so scared I just did what I was told. I was in the living room at his home and he told me there would be an initiation. http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/3400359/My-cult-sex-at-15.html
‘Tattooed child sex cult in cul-de-sac’ By JOHN COLES
03 Feb 2011 THREE couples and a woman pal moved from London to a cul-de-sac in rural Wales to set up a sick sex cult, a jury heard yesterday. They relocated over four years and were led by "evil and manipulative" Colin Batley, it was said. He allegedly persuaded the women to get identical tattoos and find youngsters for three-in-a-bed sex. He raped boys and girls, forced children to have sex with each other and ordered the women to join in, it was claimed.
Batley, 48, preached from a text known as The Book of The Law - while living off the earnings of women he forced into prostitution in Bristol, Swansea Crown Court was told.
Prosecutor Peter Murphy described Batley as a sexual predator who corrupted others to do his bidding through coercion and control. He added: "He is the principal.
"The four families became closely intertwined. It became much more than that - a cult. The usual restraints went out of the window." http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/3387753/Court-hears-of-child-sex-cult-in-cul-de-sac-led-by-Colin-Batley.html
10 Mar 2011 THE self-styled "Lord" of a black magic sex cult was facing jail last night - after being convicted of sexually abusing young children. Colin Batley, 48, ran a group whose members wore hooded robes for group sex and paedophile crimes over 15 years.
The scruffy Svengali surrounded himself with four "disciples" - wife Elaine, 47, and three other women - who helped him abuse youngsters.
All four women were tattooed on Batley's orders with an Egyptian symbol, the Eye of Horus. At meetings, Batley read from an occult "bible" and told youngsters they would go to Hell if they did not agree to his sexual demands. Their "temple" was the Batleys' semi-detached home on a sleepy cul-de-sac in Kidwelly, west Wales.
Jobless Batley, who charged members a quarter of their income, was exposed when a woman groomed for sex from age six went to cops. http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/3457120/Guilty-Paedophile-black-magic-cults-demon-Lord.html
My ‘cult sex’ at 15 By JOHN COLES 09 Feb 2011
A WOMAN yesterday told a court she was forced to have sex with the leader of a cult when she was just 15. The alleged victim said "evil" Colin Batley told her she would be killed if she didn't take part in the sickening initiation ceremony.
She claimed she was then ordered to perform sex acts on Batley's wife Elaine - and was taken to meetings where she had to have sex with men and women. The alleged victim, now an adult, said: "I was told I'd be killed if I didn't become part of the cult. Colin Batley had a gun and took it to meetings. I was so scared I just did what I was told. I was in the living room at his home and he told me there would be an initiation. http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/3400359/My-cult-sex-at-15.html
‘Tattooed child sex cult in cul-de-sac’ By JOHN COLES
03 Feb 2011 THREE couples and a woman pal moved from London to a cul-de-sac in rural Wales to set up a sick sex cult, a jury heard yesterday. They relocated over four years and were led by "evil and manipulative" Colin Batley, it was said. He allegedly persuaded the women to get identical tattoos and find youngsters for three-in-a-bed sex. He raped boys and girls, forced children to have sex with each other and ordered the women to join in, it was claimed.
Batley, 48, preached from a text known as The Book of The Law - while living off the earnings of women he forced into prostitution in Bristol, Swansea Crown Court was told.
Prosecutor Peter Murphy described Batley as a sexual predator who corrupted others to do his bidding through coercion and control. He added: "He is the principal.
"The four families became closely intertwined. It became much more than that - a cult. The usual restraints went out of the window." http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/3387753/Court-hears-of-child-sex-cult-in-cul-de-sac-led-by-Colin-Batley.html
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Five found guilty in sex cult trial - accused of using black magic
Five found guilty in sex cult trial By Robin Turner, WalesOnline Mar 9 2011 The jury in the trial of five people accused of using a black magic influenced cult to sexually abuse children and young adults in Carmarthenshire has found five defendents guilty of 39 serious sex offences. At Swansea Crown Court, alleged cult leader Colin Batley, 48, was found guilty of 27 offences - including rape, buggery, indecency with children and causing prostitution. His wife, Elaine Batley, 47, was convicted of 5 offences, incuding indececy with a child and indecent assault. Shelly Millar, 35, was convicted of two counts of indecency with children. Jackie Marling, Batley's lover, was convicted of five offences - including aiding and abeiting rape and indecency with a child. Peter Murphy QC, prosecuting, has alleged the four established their own religion - which preached free sex and was influenced by notorious English occultist Aleister Crowley.
The prosecution case is that the sex was established in members' homes in the tranquil Cararthenshire town of Kidwelly and children and young adults brought there were abused. http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/2011/03/09/five-found-guilty-in-sex-cult-trial-91466-28307889/
Kidwelly sex cult: Town unaware of 'evil paedophile' 9 March 2011
....As residents went about their daily life, they could not have imagined that Colin Batley, described as an "evil paedophile", was running a satanic sex cult from his home. The self-styled high priest of the group, headed a paedophile ring run like a "quasi-religion".
One victim, who was repeatedly abused by Batley, told how he treated women like slaves. Batley would wear a hood to abuse his victims.
Once in their grasp, he would call the children to his service by clicking his fingers...."It boils down to two words, shock and dismay," says Geraint Thomas, Kidwelly Town Council town clerk.
"We didn't realise anything untoward was happening in Kidwelly at the time. "It wasn't until we read it in the paper that this unfortunate incident was occurring and the publicity we're getting isn't helping Kidwelly at the moment."
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-south-west-wales-12677043
Paedophile cult leader convicted for 'satanic' rape campaign
Colin Batley was self-styled high priest of group that handed children around for sex in Kidwelly, west Wales 9 March 2011
describes crimes
A man has been found guilty of leading a "satanic" sex cult from his home in a small Welsh town. Colin Batley, 48, of Kidwelly, west Wales, presided over a group that preyed on young children and held occult rites. He was found guilty at Swansea crown court of rape and carrying out perverted sexual acts on children and adults. Batley was the self-styled high priest of the group, which operated from a series of homes in a cul-de-sac in the seaside town. He and five other alleged members insisted throughout the five-week trial that no cult had ever existed.
But the jury dismissed that, finding him guilty of more than two dozen acts of sexual perversion linked to his activities in the cult. They included 11 separate rapes, three indecent assaults, causing prostitution for personal gain, causing a child to have sex and inciting a child to have sex. The jury also found him guilty of six counts of buggery and four counts of possessing indecent images of a child.
His wife, Elaine Batley, 47, was convicted of sex-related charges after the trial, as were Jacqueline Marling, 42, and Shelly Millar, 35. All lived in Kidwelly. ...Colin Batley is said to have forced a number of his victims into prostitution and claimed 25% of their earnings. In one instance, the trial heard, Batley tried to force a pregnant schoolgirl to give birth. The girl, who had been raped by a cult member, was told all children conceived within the cult belonged to it.
New cult members, often deeply troubled children, were forced to go through an elaborate initiation ceremony. At its heart would be sex with an adult, with anyone unwilling to take part warned they risked being killed by a cult assassin.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/mar/09/paedophile-satanic-cult-batley-kidwelly
describes crimes
A man has been found guilty of leading a "satanic" sex cult from his home in a small Welsh town. Colin Batley, 48, of Kidwelly, west Wales, presided over a group that preyed on young children and held occult rites. He was found guilty at Swansea crown court of rape and carrying out perverted sexual acts on children and adults. Batley was the self-styled high priest of the group, which operated from a series of homes in a cul-de-sac in the seaside town. He and five other alleged members insisted throughout the five-week trial that no cult had ever existed.
But the jury dismissed that, finding him guilty of more than two dozen acts of sexual perversion linked to his activities in the cult. They included 11 separate rapes, three indecent assaults, causing prostitution for personal gain, causing a child to have sex and inciting a child to have sex. The jury also found him guilty of six counts of buggery and four counts of possessing indecent images of a child.
His wife, Elaine Batley, 47, was convicted of sex-related charges after the trial, as were Jacqueline Marling, 42, and Shelly Millar, 35. All lived in Kidwelly. ...Colin Batley is said to have forced a number of his victims into prostitution and claimed 25% of their earnings. In one instance, the trial heard, Batley tried to force a pregnant schoolgirl to give birth. The girl, who had been raped by a cult member, was told all children conceived within the cult belonged to it.
New cult members, often deeply troubled children, were forced to go through an elaborate initiation ceremony. At its heart would be sex with an adult, with anyone unwilling to take part warned they risked being killed by a cult assassin.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/mar/09/paedophile-satanic-cult-batley-kidwelly
Douglas Misicko alias Douglas Mesner update 2
copied with permission from
http://ritualabuse.us/ritualabuse/douglas-misicko-alias-douglas-mesner-update-2/
We recommend you read these pages before reading this page:
http://ritualabuse.us/ritualabuse/douglas-misicko-alias-douglas-mesner-update/
http://ritualabuse.us/ritualabuse/douglas-misicko-alias-douglas-mesner/
http://ritualabuse.us/ritualabuse/harassment-by-false-memory-proponents/
http://ritualabuse.us/ritualabuse/rebuttal-to-the-report-from-the-smart-2009-conference/
These pages will give readers the full background on this subject as well as a rebuttal to Mesner’s comments about ritual abuse and our conference. These pages list many of the comments posted by Douglas Mesner as well as other aliases. These pages will show connections between Mesner and websites like process, radiofreesatan.com and the book “Might is Right.”
Douglas Mesner has continued using personal insults and attacks against survivors of ritual abuse and the professionals that work with them.
In the technique of false analogy, two things are compared that may or may not really be similar are presented as being similar. In most false analogies, there isn’t enough evidence available to support the comparison.
Mesner compares ritual abuse survivors to alien abductees. In this false comparison, he lists what he considers certain parallels between the two. Yet, this does not prove that either are the same. One can take any item or concept and then list hundreds of qualities and then take another item and do the same thing. Then one could make a short list of the similar qualities on these lists. This does not make either item similar, nor does it prove that ritual abuse memories are not real. Ritual abuse occurrences have been well documented, with scientific studies, corroboration and legal cases.
See http://childabusewiki.org/index.php?title=Ritual_Abuse for information on ritual abuse.
He also lists a couple of physiological similarities between alien abductees and trauma survivors. Of course, anyone under stress may report greater psychophysiological reactivity and this would not in any way prove a lack of veracity of the accounts of trauma survivors or ritual abuse survivors. All it shows is that people under stress show greater psychophysiological reactivity.
In the technique of name calling, one attaches a negative label to a person or concept. The use of this technique creates fear and arouses prejudice in the reader by using negative words or bad names to create an unfavorable opinion or hatred against a group, beliefs or ideas that the user would want the reader to disbelieve. The use of this method encourages the reader to make a conclusion without examining the actual evidence. Name calling can also used as a substitute for arguing the actual merits of an idea, belief or proposal.
Mesner uses this techniques often, calling those he disagrees with in certain topic areas “delusional” or “paranoid.” He calls theories he disagrees with “conspiracies theories” and organizations that expose ritual abuse and cult crimes a “danger” to people. The exposing of ritual abuse and child abuse crimes helps build the social awareness of these crimes, which can help with the prevention of future crimes against children.
See http://ritualabuse.us/research/did/ for more information on DID-MPD.
Mesner calls the idea of recovered memory validity “debunked.” Yet, there is ample evidence that many studies that show fairly high corroboration rates for recovered memories with many corroborated cases of recovered memory.
See http://ritualabuse.us/research/memory-fms/recovered-memory-data/ for more information on recovered memory veracity.
He takes extreme cases of ritual abuse and cult crimes out of context, ignoring evidence showing that these crimes may have or actually did occur. He uses this technique to attempt to discredit the large volume of work and research others and S.M.A.R.T. have presented. S.M.A.R.T. presents a large amount of information on its website, mainly from mainstream newspapers, journal articles and scientific websites. S.M.A.R.T. may not necessarily agree with all of the views presented at our conferences, on our webpage and in our newsletters. S.M.A.R.T. does however try to give voice to survivors of ritual abuse and child abuse crimes whenever possible.
http://ritualabuse.us/ritualabuse/douglas-misicko-alias-douglas-mesner-update-2/
We recommend you read these pages before reading this page:
http://ritualabuse.us/ritualabuse/douglas-misicko-alias-douglas-mesner-update/
http://ritualabuse.us/ritualabuse/douglas-misicko-alias-douglas-mesner/
http://ritualabuse.us/ritualabuse/harassment-by-false-memory-proponents/
http://ritualabuse.us/ritualabuse/rebuttal-to-the-report-from-the-smart-2009-conference/
These pages will give readers the full background on this subject as well as a rebuttal to Mesner’s comments about ritual abuse and our conference. These pages list many of the comments posted by Douglas Mesner as well as other aliases. These pages will show connections between Mesner and websites like process, radiofreesatan.com and the book “Might is Right.”
Douglas Mesner has continued using personal insults and attacks against survivors of ritual abuse and the professionals that work with them.
Propaganda Techniques
In his attack on child abuse and ritual abuse survivors, he uses the propaganda techniques of false analogies and name calling.In the technique of false analogy, two things are compared that may or may not really be similar are presented as being similar. In most false analogies, there isn’t enough evidence available to support the comparison.
Mesner compares ritual abuse survivors to alien abductees. In this false comparison, he lists what he considers certain parallels between the two. Yet, this does not prove that either are the same. One can take any item or concept and then list hundreds of qualities and then take another item and do the same thing. Then one could make a short list of the similar qualities on these lists. This does not make either item similar, nor does it prove that ritual abuse memories are not real. Ritual abuse occurrences have been well documented, with scientific studies, corroboration and legal cases.
See http://childabusewiki.org/index.php?title=Ritual_Abuse for information on ritual abuse.
He also lists a couple of physiological similarities between alien abductees and trauma survivors. Of course, anyone under stress may report greater psychophysiological reactivity and this would not in any way prove a lack of veracity of the accounts of trauma survivors or ritual abuse survivors. All it shows is that people under stress show greater psychophysiological reactivity.
In the technique of name calling, one attaches a negative label to a person or concept. The use of this technique creates fear and arouses prejudice in the reader by using negative words or bad names to create an unfavorable opinion or hatred against a group, beliefs or ideas that the user would want the reader to disbelieve. The use of this method encourages the reader to make a conclusion without examining the actual evidence. Name calling can also used as a substitute for arguing the actual merits of an idea, belief or proposal.
Mesner uses this techniques often, calling those he disagrees with in certain topic areas “delusional” or “paranoid.” He calls theories he disagrees with “conspiracies theories” and organizations that expose ritual abuse and cult crimes a “danger” to people. The exposing of ritual abuse and child abuse crimes helps build the social awareness of these crimes, which can help with the prevention of future crimes against children.
MPD and Recovered Memory
Mesner continues to attack the reality of MPD – multiple personality disorder (now called DID – dissociative identity disorder) calling it mythical. The concept of DID/MPD has been well proven in the scientific literature and it is even in the DSM-IV-TR.See http://ritualabuse.us/research/did/ for more information on DID-MPD.
Mesner calls the idea of recovered memory validity “debunked.” Yet, there is ample evidence that many studies that show fairly high corroboration rates for recovered memories with many corroborated cases of recovered memory.
See http://ritualabuse.us/research/memory-fms/recovered-memory-data/ for more information on recovered memory veracity.
Attacks on S.M.A.R.T.
Mesner continues his attacks on S.M.A.R.T. He apparently concludes that there is an “overlap” between S.M.A.R.T. and the “UFO community” just because S.M.A.R.T. had two press releases in our newsletter over ten years ago, one about a group and another about a person working on several issues (only one of which was alien abduction issues). He also critiques S.M.A.R.T. for having listed one person in our newsletter that S.M.A.R.T. listed for information on secret societies. This person in other places has also talked about aliens. This is similar to stating that a mainstream newspaper has an overlap with the UFO community, because they had articles about UFOs.He takes extreme cases of ritual abuse and cult crimes out of context, ignoring evidence showing that these crimes may have or actually did occur. He uses this technique to attempt to discredit the large volume of work and research others and S.M.A.R.T. have presented. S.M.A.R.T. presents a large amount of information on its website, mainly from mainstream newspapers, journal articles and scientific websites. S.M.A.R.T. may not necessarily agree with all of the views presented at our conferences, on our webpage and in our newsletters. S.M.A.R.T. does however try to give voice to survivors of ritual abuse and child abuse crimes whenever possible.
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
21 Priests Named in Sex Report are Suspended
KTLA News March 8, 2011
PHILADELPHIA, PA -- The Philadelphia archdiocese has suspended 21 priests who were named in a long-awaited grand jury report into sex abuse by the clergy. The Archdiocese, the sixth largest in the United States with 1.5 million Catholics, is under fire over accusations it concealed the sexual abuse of children by priests in an effort to avoid a costly scandal. The grand jury report said as many as 37 priests remain in active ministry despite credible allegations of sexual abuse, and Bevilacqua was named in an earlier suit that accused him and Cardinal Justin Rigali, Archbishop of Philadelphia, of concealing the identity of predatory priests. http://www.ktla.com/news/landing/ktla-pa-sex-priests-suspended,0,5123798.story
PHILADELPHIA, PA -- The Philadelphia archdiocese has suspended 21 priests who were named in a long-awaited grand jury report into sex abuse by the clergy. The Archdiocese, the sixth largest in the United States with 1.5 million Catholics, is under fire over accusations it concealed the sexual abuse of children by priests in an effort to avoid a costly scandal. The grand jury report said as many as 37 priests remain in active ministry despite credible allegations of sexual abuse, and Bevilacqua was named in an earlier suit that accused him and Cardinal Justin Rigali, Archbishop of Philadelphia, of concealing the identity of predatory priests. http://www.ktla.com/news/landing/ktla-pa-sex-priests-suspended,0,5123798.story
Monday, March 7, 2011
Abusive priests live unmonitored
Abusive priests live unmonitored By GILLIAN FLACCUS and JOHN MONE - ASSOCIATED PRESS March 7, 2011
VENTURA — Carl Sutphin was a problem priest who left ministry in the Roman Catholic church just before being charged nearly a decade ago with 14 counts of molestation for sexually abusing six children.
He was never convicted of the charges, and he now lives in a doublewide mobile home in a quiet neighborhood within two miles of a youth sports complex, a library, two day care centers and at least two elementary schools. Sutphin admits he molested children as a priest, but his name doesn't show up in a sex offender database because the charges were dismissed because too much time had elapsed....
Plaintiffs' attorneys have worked with private investigators since October to compile a list of the priests' addresses, the most comprehensive accounting of the whereabouts of the 233 clergy accused of abuse in civil lawsuits in the Los Angeles archdiocese. They hope to use it Thursday to persuade a judge to recommend the release of all church files for every priest or religious brother ever accused of sexual abuse in the sweeping litigation.
Those confidential files are at the center of a heated dispute between the church and plaintiffs' lawyers since the nation's largest archdiocese reached a record-breaking $660 million settlement nearly four years ago. Plaintiffs want the files — which could include internal correspondence, previous complaints and therapy records — released, saying it's a matter of public safety. The church is pushing for a more limited release of information.
The list of addresses, obtained by The Associated Press, contains nearly 50 former priests who live unmonitored in California, and another 15 in cities and towns from Maryland to Texas to Montana. More than 80 more cannot be located despite an exhaustive search by plaintiffs' attorneys. Four are believed to have fled to Mexico or South America. About 80 are dead.
Lead plaintiff lawyer Raymond Boucher says it's the only time anyone has put together a list of priest addresses in any other diocese or archdiocese nationwide. Lawyers hope to eventually make the names and locations of abusive priests available to the public, similar to Megan's Law databases that exist nationwide....
The church is willing to release a significant number of documents from priest files and has already made public the names of priests who were credibly accused or whose names were listed in civil lawsuits, Hennigan said. The archdiocese believes, however, that many of the priests whose addresses appear on the list were wrongfully accused. The archdiocese included those clergy in the $660 million payout without admitting wrongdoing, simply to settle the claims, Hennigan said.
http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20110307/wire/110309624
VENTURA — Carl Sutphin was a problem priest who left ministry in the Roman Catholic church just before being charged nearly a decade ago with 14 counts of molestation for sexually abusing six children.
He was never convicted of the charges, and he now lives in a doublewide mobile home in a quiet neighborhood within two miles of a youth sports complex, a library, two day care centers and at least two elementary schools. Sutphin admits he molested children as a priest, but his name doesn't show up in a sex offender database because the charges were dismissed because too much time had elapsed....
Plaintiffs' attorneys have worked with private investigators since October to compile a list of the priests' addresses, the most comprehensive accounting of the whereabouts of the 233 clergy accused of abuse in civil lawsuits in the Los Angeles archdiocese. They hope to use it Thursday to persuade a judge to recommend the release of all church files for every priest or religious brother ever accused of sexual abuse in the sweeping litigation.
Those confidential files are at the center of a heated dispute between the church and plaintiffs' lawyers since the nation's largest archdiocese reached a record-breaking $660 million settlement nearly four years ago. Plaintiffs want the files — which could include internal correspondence, previous complaints and therapy records — released, saying it's a matter of public safety. The church is pushing for a more limited release of information.
The list of addresses, obtained by The Associated Press, contains nearly 50 former priests who live unmonitored in California, and another 15 in cities and towns from Maryland to Texas to Montana. More than 80 more cannot be located despite an exhaustive search by plaintiffs' attorneys. Four are believed to have fled to Mexico or South America. About 80 are dead.
Lead plaintiff lawyer Raymond Boucher says it's the only time anyone has put together a list of priest addresses in any other diocese or archdiocese nationwide. Lawyers hope to eventually make the names and locations of abusive priests available to the public, similar to Megan's Law databases that exist nationwide....
The church is willing to release a significant number of documents from priest files and has already made public the names of priests who were credibly accused or whose names were listed in civil lawsuits, Hennigan said. The archdiocese believes, however, that many of the priests whose addresses appear on the list were wrongfully accused. The archdiocese included those clergy in the $660 million payout without admitting wrongdoing, simply to settle the claims, Hennigan said.
http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20110307/wire/110309624
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Philadelphia Cases in Priest Scandal, Phillips slams family for ignoring incest
Philadelphia Cases in Priest Scandal, Phillips slams family for ignoring incest
also: 'Illegal Psyop’ Neither Illegal Nor Psyop, General’s Lawyer Ruled
In Philadelphia, New Cases Loom in Priest Scandal
By KATHARINE Q. SEELYE March 4, 2011
PHILADELPHIA — Three weeks after a scathing grand jury report said the Archdiocese of Philadelphia had provided safe haven to as many as 37 priests who were credibly accused of sexual abuse or inappropriate behavior toward minors, most of those priests remain active in the ministry. The possibility that even one predatory priest, not to mention three dozen, might still be serving in parishes — “on duty in the archdiocese today, with open access to new young prey,” as the grand jury put it — has unnerved many Roman Catholics here and sent the church reeling in the latest and one of the most damning episodes in the American church since it became engulfed in the sexual abuse scandal nearly a decade ago. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/05/us/05church.html
REPORT OF THE GRAND JURY - R. SETH WILLIAMS - District Attorney of Philadelphia http://www.phila.gov/districtattorney/PDFs/clergyAbuse2-finalReport.pdf
Phillips slams family for ignoring incest Feb. 22: Actress Mackenzie Phillips tells TODAY’s Kathie Lee Gifford and Hoda Kotb that ... knew of the abuse she suffered at the hands of her father, but chose to ignore it to protect the image of the band. http://video.app.msn.com/watch/video/phillips-slams-family-for-ignoring-incest/6vcbk4f
'Illegal Psyop’ Neither Illegal Nor Psyop, General’s Lawyer Ruled
By Noah Shachtman and Spencer Ackerman February 27, 2011 The accusation was explosive and unambiguous: A top general in Afghanistan used illegal “information operations” to influence visiting U.S. Senators. But military documents obtained by Danger Room show that at least one Army lawyer deemed the work legal. What’s more, the alleged information operator’s bosses repeatedly told him that he was just another communications staffer, not some bender of minds. At the very least, this new information complicates the charges, first leveled by Lt. Col. Michael Holmes in Rolling Stone magazine. At most, it could neuter Holmes’ allegations, just as an investigation by the office of Afghan war commander Gen. David Petraeus gets underway....
According to Holmes, Lt. Gen. William Caldwell — the general in charge of training Afghanistan security forces — had him “playing with people’s heads.” And not just any people; Holmes was allegedly ordered to use his information operations, or IO, skills on senators and congressmen visiting Afghanistan. So in March, Holmes contacted a military lawyer in the United States who told him “IO doesn’t do that.” American law forbids the government from targeting propaganda at American citizens.
A second legal review came to the opposite conclusion, however. On March 30, 2010, a lawyer within Caldwell’s chain of command, Maj. Tami Miller, wrote that Holmes had been given “a lawful order,” according to a copy of her assessment acquired by Danger Room. After all, Holmes was simply told “to collect, analyze and share ‘publicly available’ information” about the VIPs. No brainwashing was requested....Over the last decade, the once-bright lines between the military disciplines of strategic communications and information operations have dimmed. Calling out an enemy’s atrocities could be considered IO — if the audience is foreign. But the same information could be used to inform Americans, too. And that’s strategic communications.
But Sylvia says the training command had strict prohibitions against IO, which they viewed as “an offensive operation” — not kosher for a training unit. http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2011/02/lawyer-told-general-his-spin-wasnt-illegal-psyop/
also: 'Illegal Psyop’ Neither Illegal Nor Psyop, General’s Lawyer Ruled
In Philadelphia, New Cases Loom in Priest Scandal
By KATHARINE Q. SEELYE March 4, 2011
PHILADELPHIA — Three weeks after a scathing grand jury report said the Archdiocese of Philadelphia had provided safe haven to as many as 37 priests who were credibly accused of sexual abuse or inappropriate behavior toward minors, most of those priests remain active in the ministry. The possibility that even one predatory priest, not to mention three dozen, might still be serving in parishes — “on duty in the archdiocese today, with open access to new young prey,” as the grand jury put it — has unnerved many Roman Catholics here and sent the church reeling in the latest and one of the most damning episodes in the American church since it became engulfed in the sexual abuse scandal nearly a decade ago. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/05/us/05church.html
REPORT OF THE GRAND JURY - R. SETH WILLIAMS - District Attorney of Philadelphia http://www.phila.gov/districtattorney/PDFs/clergyAbuse2-finalReport.pdf
Phillips slams family for ignoring incest Feb. 22: Actress Mackenzie Phillips tells TODAY’s Kathie Lee Gifford and Hoda Kotb that ... knew of the abuse she suffered at the hands of her father, but chose to ignore it to protect the image of the band. http://video.app.msn.com/watch/video/phillips-slams-family-for-ignoring-incest/6vcbk4f
'Illegal Psyop’ Neither Illegal Nor Psyop, General’s Lawyer Ruled
By Noah Shachtman and Spencer Ackerman February 27, 2011 The accusation was explosive and unambiguous: A top general in Afghanistan used illegal “information operations” to influence visiting U.S. Senators. But military documents obtained by Danger Room show that at least one Army lawyer deemed the work legal. What’s more, the alleged information operator’s bosses repeatedly told him that he was just another communications staffer, not some bender of minds. At the very least, this new information complicates the charges, first leveled by Lt. Col. Michael Holmes in Rolling Stone magazine. At most, it could neuter Holmes’ allegations, just as an investigation by the office of Afghan war commander Gen. David Petraeus gets underway....
According to Holmes, Lt. Gen. William Caldwell — the general in charge of training Afghanistan security forces — had him “playing with people’s heads.” And not just any people; Holmes was allegedly ordered to use his information operations, or IO, skills on senators and congressmen visiting Afghanistan. So in March, Holmes contacted a military lawyer in the United States who told him “IO doesn’t do that.” American law forbids the government from targeting propaganda at American citizens.
A second legal review came to the opposite conclusion, however. On March 30, 2010, a lawyer within Caldwell’s chain of command, Maj. Tami Miller, wrote that Holmes had been given “a lawful order,” according to a copy of her assessment acquired by Danger Room. After all, Holmes was simply told “to collect, analyze and share ‘publicly available’ information” about the VIPs. No brainwashing was requested....Over the last decade, the once-bright lines between the military disciplines of strategic communications and information operations have dimmed. Calling out an enemy’s atrocities could be considered IO — if the audience is foreign. But the same information could be used to inform Americans, too. And that’s strategic communications.
But Sylvia says the training command had strict prohibitions against IO, which they viewed as “an offensive operation” — not kosher for a training unit. http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2011/02/lawyer-told-general-his-spin-wasnt-illegal-psyop/
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
California Family Courts Helping Pedophiles, Batterers Get Child Custody
California Family Courts Helping Pedophiles, Batterers Get Child Custody
By Peter Jamison Wednesday, Mar 2 2011
....advocates of reform say a few widespread problems lead to poor court decisions, such as inadequate procedures for investigating abuse; the use of controversial and potentially dangerous psychological theories about child welfare; and a prejudice toward joint parental custody, even when one parent is clearly violent. Compounding these issues, critics say, is a lack of accountability for judges, attorneys, custody evaluators, and other court personnel, who enjoy immunity from lawsuits even in cases where they make decisions that do obvious harm to children and parents.
"The family court system is supposed to work in the best interests of the child, but very infrequently does that happen," says Susan Wilde, a Berkeley psychologist and expert on child abuse intervention. "Families find themselves in the grip of a system that has no responsibility to them or to the children, that just kind of runs amok."....
PAS was coined by Richard Gardner, a child psychiatrist affiliated with Columbia University, to describe what he believed was a form of brainwashing that took place in the context of divorce proceedings. According to Gardner, the condition arises when a parent — usually, but not always, the mother — "programs" a child to hold delusions of sexual abuse by the father. Armed with this theory, Gardner hired himself out as an expert witness in family courts across the country, appearing on behalf of men seeking to discredit sex-abuse allegations.
Yet many questioned the scientific basis of his work. Gardner's research consisted for the most part on his personal observations as a clinician, rather than systematic, peer-reviewed studies. PAS has never been accepted into the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, the psychiatrist's bible of known conditions. The syndrome has also been denounced by professional groups including the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges and the American Psychological Association Presidential Task Force on Violence and the Family, which view it as a ploy for obscuring a court's inquiries into allegations of child abuse.
"Alienation is being used in almost every case where a child is taken from a safe parent and placed with a dangerous parent," says Kathleen Russell, executive director of the Mill Valley–based Center for Judicial Excellence, a family-court reform group. "It's a legal tactic."
Gardner's ideas are also controversial in light of provocative statements he made criticizing society's condemnation of pedophiles, and seeking to portray adult-child sexual contact as normal. "Pedophilia has been considered the norm by the vast majority of individuals in the history of the world," he wrote in the 1992 book True and False Accusations of Child Sex Abuse. In the same book, he suggested wives of pedophiles masturbate in order to increase their own sex appeal, reasoning that "increased sexuality may lessen the need for her husband to return to their daughter for sexual gratification."
http://www.sfweekly.com/2011-03-02/news/family-court-parental-alienation-syndrome-richard-gardner-pedophilia-domestic-violence-child-abuse-judges-divorce/
CA Family Courts Helping Pedophiles Get Child Custody
By James R. Marsh on March 2, 2011
According to this article in SF Weekly,
Looking out for the children who find themselves in the middle of bitter divorces is the most important function of the state's family courts, and arguably one of the most significant duties of the judiciary as a whole. Yet evidence has mounted in recent years that it is a responsibility in which family court officials are sometimes failing dramatically.
Interviews with dozens of parents, activists, lawyers, judges, children, and former family court employees, as well as a review of hundreds of pages of family and criminal court documents, indicate that the system's methods for assessing whether child sexual abuse or spousal battery has taken place — findings that are critical to deciding whether a parent should retain custody of or visitation rights with a child — fall short of the standards accepted by domestic-violence experts and the criminal-justice community.
http://www.childlaw.us/2011/03/ca-family-courts-helping-pedop.html
By Peter Jamison Wednesday, Mar 2 2011
....advocates of reform say a few widespread problems lead to poor court decisions, such as inadequate procedures for investigating abuse; the use of controversial and potentially dangerous psychological theories about child welfare; and a prejudice toward joint parental custody, even when one parent is clearly violent. Compounding these issues, critics say, is a lack of accountability for judges, attorneys, custody evaluators, and other court personnel, who enjoy immunity from lawsuits even in cases where they make decisions that do obvious harm to children and parents.
"The family court system is supposed to work in the best interests of the child, but very infrequently does that happen," says Susan Wilde, a Berkeley psychologist and expert on child abuse intervention. "Families find themselves in the grip of a system that has no responsibility to them or to the children, that just kind of runs amok."....
PAS was coined by Richard Gardner, a child psychiatrist affiliated with Columbia University, to describe what he believed was a form of brainwashing that took place in the context of divorce proceedings. According to Gardner, the condition arises when a parent — usually, but not always, the mother — "programs" a child to hold delusions of sexual abuse by the father. Armed with this theory, Gardner hired himself out as an expert witness in family courts across the country, appearing on behalf of men seeking to discredit sex-abuse allegations.
Yet many questioned the scientific basis of his work. Gardner's research consisted for the most part on his personal observations as a clinician, rather than systematic, peer-reviewed studies. PAS has never been accepted into the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, the psychiatrist's bible of known conditions. The syndrome has also been denounced by professional groups including the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges and the American Psychological Association Presidential Task Force on Violence and the Family, which view it as a ploy for obscuring a court's inquiries into allegations of child abuse.
"Alienation is being used in almost every case where a child is taken from a safe parent and placed with a dangerous parent," says Kathleen Russell, executive director of the Mill Valley–based Center for Judicial Excellence, a family-court reform group. "It's a legal tactic."
Gardner's ideas are also controversial in light of provocative statements he made criticizing society's condemnation of pedophiles, and seeking to portray adult-child sexual contact as normal. "Pedophilia has been considered the norm by the vast majority of individuals in the history of the world," he wrote in the 1992 book True and False Accusations of Child Sex Abuse. In the same book, he suggested wives of pedophiles masturbate in order to increase their own sex appeal, reasoning that "increased sexuality may lessen the need for her husband to return to their daughter for sexual gratification."
http://www.sfweekly.com/2011-03-02/news/family-court-parental-alienation-syndrome-richard-gardner-pedophilia-domestic-violence-child-abuse-judges-divorce/
CA Family Courts Helping Pedophiles Get Child Custody
By James R. Marsh on March 2, 2011
According to this article in SF Weekly,
Looking out for the children who find themselves in the middle of bitter divorces is the most important function of the state's family courts, and arguably one of the most significant duties of the judiciary as a whole. Yet evidence has mounted in recent years that it is a responsibility in which family court officials are sometimes failing dramatically.
Interviews with dozens of parents, activists, lawyers, judges, children, and former family court employees, as well as a review of hundreds of pages of family and criminal court documents, indicate that the system's methods for assessing whether child sexual abuse or spousal battery has taken place — findings that are critical to deciding whether a parent should retain custody of or visitation rights with a child — fall short of the standards accepted by domestic-violence experts and the criminal-justice community.
http://www.childlaw.us/2011/03/ca-family-courts-helping-pedop.html
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Sirhan Sirhan 'hypno-programmed', Human rights law in clergy sex abuse suit
articles
1) 'He does not remember it': RFK killer seeks parole - Sirhan Sirhan's attorney suggests assassin was 'hypno-programmed'
2) Human rights law can be used in clergy sex abuse suit, judge rules - St. Paul lawyer's attacks on church show increasingly international reach
3) Strong Link Found Between Victimization, Substance Abuse
4) Missing Link, Newsletter of The Linkup (The Newsletter of the Survivors of Clergy Abuse)
'He does not remember it': RFK killer seeks parole - Sirhan Sirhan's attorney suggests assassin was
'hypno-programmed' 2/28/2011 LOS ANGELES AP
More than four decades after Sen. Robert F. Kennedy was assassinated, his convicted murderer wants to go free for a crime he says he can't remember.
It is not old age or some memory-snatching disease that has erased an act Sirhan Bishara Sirhan once said he committed "with 20 years of malice aforethought." It's been this way almost from the beginning. Hypnotists and psychologists, lawyers and investigators have tried to jog his memory with no useful result.
Now a new lawyer is on the case and he says his efforts have also failed. "There is no doubt he does not remember the critical events," said William F. Pepper, the attorney who will argue for Sirhan's parole Wednesday. "He is not feigning it. It's not an act. He does not remember it."....
Pepper also suggests Sirhan was "hypno-programmed," turning him into a virtual "Manchurian Candidate," acting robot-like at the behest of evil forces who then wiped his memory clean. It's the stuff of science fiction and Hollywood movies, but some believe it is the key.....
Pepper said in an interview with The Associated Press that he has had Sirhan examined several times by psychologist Daniel Brown of Harvard University, an expert in hypnosis of trauma victims. He will not disclose exactly what was accomplished in the sessions but said, "There have been substantial breakthroughs." http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/41822218/ns/us_news-crime_and_courts/
also http://nhjournal.com/2011/02/28/assassin-maintains-he-can%E2%80%99t-remember-shooting-rfk/
Human rights law can be used in clergy sex abuse suit, judge rules - St. Paul lawyer's attacks on church show increasingly international reach By Annysa Johnson of the Journal Sentinel Feb. 28, 2011
A federal law that allows U.S. courts to hear lawsuits involving human rights violations in other nations can be used in a case involving Catholic clergy sex abuse, a federal judge in Los Angeles ruled on Monday.
The decision by U.S. District Judge Josephine S. Tucker appears to be the first time the 200-year-old Alien Tort Statute has been used to pursue a sex abuse claim against the Catholic Church. And it illustrates the increasing international reach of victims attorney Jeffrey Anderson of St. Paul, Minn., who is suing the Vatican and has opened a practice in London to pursue cases in the United Kingdom. Anderson represents a number of victims in civil fraud cases against the Archdiocese of Milwaukee.
"This is huge, very significant," said Anderson, who filed the case on behalf of a Mexican boy after seeing the law used to bring cases involving Japanese women conscripted as sex slaves in World War II. http://www.jsonline.com/features/religion/117108133.html
Strong Link Found Between Victimization, Substance Abuse
ScienceDaily (Feb. 28, 2011) — A strong link between victimization experiences and substance abuse has been discovered by researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago....Researchers compared victimization experiences of unwanted sexual activity, neglect, physical violence, and assault with a weapon, across four sexual-identity subgroups -- heterosexual, gay or lesbian, bisexual, or "not sure." The study used data collected nationally from 34,635 adults from the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions.
Hughes and her research team wondered if sexual-minority women and men are at a heightened risk for victimization. The results, Hughes said, showed that they are.
Lesbian and bisexual women were more than twice as likely as heterosexual women to report any victimization over their lifetime. Lesbians, gay men and bisexual women also reported a greater number of victimization experiences than did heterosexuals. Three times as many lesbians as heterosexual women reported childhood sexual abuse....
Gay men also had high rates of victimization, with about half of them reporting any lifetime victimization. They reported significantly higher rates of childhood sexual abuse, childhood neglect, partner violence and assault with a weapon than heterosexual men.
Not only are there higher rates of violence and victimization among sexual minorities, but there is also a higher rate of substance abuse, Hughes said.
Regardless of sexual identity, women who reported two or more victimization experiences had two to four times the prevalence of alcohol dependence, drug abuse or drug dependence as women who reported no victimization, she said.
The research also concluded that gay, lesbian and bisexual youth may use substances to cope with adverse psychological and interpersonal effects of victimization, increasing the risk for further victimization from others, she said.
The study was funded through grants from the National Institute on Drug Abuse and the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, two of the National Institutes of Health. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/02/110224161516.htm
Missing Link, Newsletter of The Linkup (The Newsletter of the Survivors of Clergy Abuse) The collection of 22 newsletters is at http://cityofangels8.blogspot.com
1) 'He does not remember it': RFK killer seeks parole - Sirhan Sirhan's attorney suggests assassin was 'hypno-programmed'
2) Human rights law can be used in clergy sex abuse suit, judge rules - St. Paul lawyer's attacks on church show increasingly international reach
3) Strong Link Found Between Victimization, Substance Abuse
4) Missing Link, Newsletter of The Linkup (The Newsletter of the Survivors of Clergy Abuse)
'He does not remember it': RFK killer seeks parole - Sirhan Sirhan's attorney suggests assassin was
'hypno-programmed' 2/28/2011 LOS ANGELES AP
More than four decades after Sen. Robert F. Kennedy was assassinated, his convicted murderer wants to go free for a crime he says he can't remember.
It is not old age or some memory-snatching disease that has erased an act Sirhan Bishara Sirhan once said he committed "with 20 years of malice aforethought." It's been this way almost from the beginning. Hypnotists and psychologists, lawyers and investigators have tried to jog his memory with no useful result.
Now a new lawyer is on the case and he says his efforts have also failed. "There is no doubt he does not remember the critical events," said William F. Pepper, the attorney who will argue for Sirhan's parole Wednesday. "He is not feigning it. It's not an act. He does not remember it."....
Pepper also suggests Sirhan was "hypno-programmed," turning him into a virtual "Manchurian Candidate," acting robot-like at the behest of evil forces who then wiped his memory clean. It's the stuff of science fiction and Hollywood movies, but some believe it is the key.....
Pepper said in an interview with The Associated Press that he has had Sirhan examined several times by psychologist Daniel Brown of Harvard University, an expert in hypnosis of trauma victims. He will not disclose exactly what was accomplished in the sessions but said, "There have been substantial breakthroughs." http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/41822218/ns/us_news-crime_and_courts/
also http://nhjournal.com/2011/02/28/assassin-maintains-he-can%E2%80%99t-remember-shooting-rfk/
Human rights law can be used in clergy sex abuse suit, judge rules - St. Paul lawyer's attacks on church show increasingly international reach By Annysa Johnson of the Journal Sentinel Feb. 28, 2011
A federal law that allows U.S. courts to hear lawsuits involving human rights violations in other nations can be used in a case involving Catholic clergy sex abuse, a federal judge in Los Angeles ruled on Monday.
The decision by U.S. District Judge Josephine S. Tucker appears to be the first time the 200-year-old Alien Tort Statute has been used to pursue a sex abuse claim against the Catholic Church. And it illustrates the increasing international reach of victims attorney Jeffrey Anderson of St. Paul, Minn., who is suing the Vatican and has opened a practice in London to pursue cases in the United Kingdom. Anderson represents a number of victims in civil fraud cases against the Archdiocese of Milwaukee.
"This is huge, very significant," said Anderson, who filed the case on behalf of a Mexican boy after seeing the law used to bring cases involving Japanese women conscripted as sex slaves in World War II. http://www.jsonline.com/features/religion/117108133.html
Strong Link Found Between Victimization, Substance Abuse
ScienceDaily (Feb. 28, 2011) — A strong link between victimization experiences and substance abuse has been discovered by researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago....Researchers compared victimization experiences of unwanted sexual activity, neglect, physical violence, and assault with a weapon, across four sexual-identity subgroups -- heterosexual, gay or lesbian, bisexual, or "not sure." The study used data collected nationally from 34,635 adults from the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions.
Hughes and her research team wondered if sexual-minority women and men are at a heightened risk for victimization. The results, Hughes said, showed that they are.
Lesbian and bisexual women were more than twice as likely as heterosexual women to report any victimization over their lifetime. Lesbians, gay men and bisexual women also reported a greater number of victimization experiences than did heterosexuals. Three times as many lesbians as heterosexual women reported childhood sexual abuse....
Gay men also had high rates of victimization, with about half of them reporting any lifetime victimization. They reported significantly higher rates of childhood sexual abuse, childhood neglect, partner violence and assault with a weapon than heterosexual men.
Not only are there higher rates of violence and victimization among sexual minorities, but there is also a higher rate of substance abuse, Hughes said.
Regardless of sexual identity, women who reported two or more victimization experiences had two to four times the prevalence of alcohol dependence, drug abuse or drug dependence as women who reported no victimization, she said.
The research also concluded that gay, lesbian and bisexual youth may use substances to cope with adverse psychological and interpersonal effects of victimization, increasing the risk for further victimization from others, she said.
The study was funded through grants from the National Institute on Drug Abuse and the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, two of the National Institutes of Health. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/02/110224161516.htm
Missing Link, Newsletter of The Linkup (The Newsletter of the Survivors of Clergy Abuse) The collection of 22 newsletters is at http://cityofangels8.blogspot.com
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