Thursday, February 26, 2015
Jimmy Savile: Hospital staff knew of abuse, report finds, Savile received a knighthood, Posed for the cameras with Prince Charles and Princess Diana
- Jeremy Hunt to apologise to Savile victims as 'horrific' scale of abuse emerges
An official report will reveal that Jimmy Savile allegedly assaulted and raped at least 44 victims at a single hospital
- In 1978, five years before he (Savile) had posed for the cameras with Prince Charles and Princess Diana at the opening of the new National Spinal Injury Centre
- Savile was so famous in Britain that he had met British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and received a knighthood.
Jimmy Savile: Hospital staff knew of abuse, report finds
Report finds that NHS hospital staff knew about Jimmy Savile abuse, hospital staff apologise for failings
By Charlotte Krol, and AP, video source Sky
26 Feb 2015
Two new reports into widespread sex abuse by the late BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) entertainer Jimmy Savile have found that victims' complaints about his activities were ignored.
The reports released on Thursday showed an extensive pattern of abuse by Savile at numerous National Health Service (NHS) hospitals where the celebrity broadcaster was given wide access to patients, even though he was known by some staff to be a sexual predator.
Savile was so famous in Britain that he had met British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and received a knighthood.
The reports detailed numerous cases of abuse of patients who were helpless to protect themselves.
One report concluded he had abused roughly 60 patients at the Stoke Mandeville Hospital where he was an active fundraiser.
The victims included an eight-year-old boy who had tonsil surgery, an 11-year-old girl being treated for cancer, a pregnant mother and a 19-year-old paralyzed woman.
The report suggests his crimes were known to some hospital staff as early as 1973, but no action was taken, allowing his attacks to continue for 20 years....
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/jimmy-savile/11438623/Jimmy-Savile-Hospital-staff-knew-of-abuse-report-finds.html
Jeremy Hunt to apologise to Savile victims as 'horrific' scale of abuse emerges
An official report will reveal that Jimmy Savile allegedly assaulted and raped at least 44 victims at a single hospital
By Steven Swinford, Deputy Political Editor 25 Feb 2015
Jeremy Hunt, the Health Secretary, will apologise to dozens of hospital patients who were abused by Jimmy Savile amid new allegations about the "horrific" scale of abuse.
An official report, published by barrister Kate Lampard on Thursday, will disclose allegations that Savile assaulted and raped at least 44 victims at Stoke Mandeville hospital.
The victims, some of whom were as young as eight, say that their complaints about Savile's behaviour were ignored by the authorities.
A former children's doctor has also been convicted of sexually assaulting young girls at the hospital in the 1970s and 1980s, raising fears that there may have been a paedophile ring operating at the hospital.
The victims are calling on the government to make it a criminal offence not to report child abuse, an approach known as "mandatory reporting". David Cameron has previously suggested that he is supportive of new legislation.
The report will also examine allegations about Savile's activity at a further 43 hospitals across the country.
One woman told the inquiry that she was abused when she was eight-years-old and recovering from cancer surgery. At the time she had 144 stitches across the lower part of her body as a result of an operation.
She says that when she raised her complaint with a ward sister, she was met with the response: "Be quiet, you silly girl. Do you realise how much he has done for the hospital."....
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/jimmy-savile/11434635/Jeremy-Hunt-to-apologise-to-Savile-victims-as-horrific-scale-of-abuse-emerges.html
The great dictator: Inside the mind of Jimmy Savile
"I’ve got a great aptitude for dead people": the grotesque details in the latest Savile report confirm the star's pyschopathy, says the man who spent a decade getting to know him
By Dan Davies 26 Feb 2015
There was a framed picture in the bathroom of Jimmy Savile’s flat overlooking Roundhay Park in Leeds. It contained pictures of the most fearsome dictators of the 20th century and there, among the images of Hitler and Stalin and Mao Tse-tung, was Savile’s business card from Stoke Mandeville. I know because I spent many days at the flat. In fact, in all I spent six years interviewing him before his death - part of a decade long quest to find the real Jimmy Savile....
In 1978, five years before he had posed for the cameras with Prince Charles and Princess Diana at the opening of the new National Spinal Injury Centre, the moment when his fame and status within Britain were at their peak, Jimmy Savile described what he got out of the association with the Buckinghamshire hospital. “There are forty wards at Stoke Mandeville… and they are all filled with people; I will be able to do exactly what I feel like doing. If I feel like going on the ladies’ ward and pulling their legs, I can do that. If I want to go the kids’ ward and have a bit of a knock about, I can do that.”
Some might say that this would have seemed innocent at the time. Not true. In the same period a detective constable with the Thames Valley Police was contacted by a nurse at the hospital because staff were said to be worried that Savile was touching girls inappropriately during hospital visits. When the police officer reported the matter to a senior colleague, he was told: “Jimmy Savile is a high-profile man. He must be OK. He could not be doing anything irregular. Don’t worry about it.” It was, tragically, just one of many missed opportunities....
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/jimmy-savile/11437966/The-great-dictator-Inside-the-mind-of-Jimmy-Savile.html
Jimmy Savile scandal: DJ's brother abused patients, visitors and staff at psychiatric hospital
Report uncovers complaints, from at least five patients, one visitor and one member of staff against Jimmy Savile's brother Johnny
By Martin Evans, Crime Correspondent 26 Feb 2015
Jimmy Savile's older brother, Johnny, abused at least seven patients, visitors and staff at a psychiatric hospital in south London, a report has found.
Johnny, who died in 1998 worked as a recreation officer at the Springfield Hospital in Tooting between 1978 and 1980.
But an investigation into his activities at the unit revealed how he traded on his association with his famous older brother to sexually abuse people at the hospital.
Allegations relating to five patients, one visitor and one member of staff have now been uncovered.
The report stated that "on the balance of probabilities” Johnny Savile raped at least one of the victims.
He was eventually dismissed for gross misconduct, relating to a sexual matter, in 1980....
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/jimmy-savile/11436419/Jimmy-Savile-scandal-DJs-brother-abused-patients-visitors-and-staff-at-psychiatric-hospital.html
Wednesday, February 25, 2015
Jersey care inquiry: Sexual abuse 'was common', Savile Abuse, 'Beast of Jersey', Former Haut de la Garenne resident tells of abuse, Three arrested over child abuse in Rotherham and Sheffield
Jersey care inquiry: Sexual abuse 'was common'
10 February 2015
Consensual sex and sexual abuse were both common at the Haut de la Garenne children's home in the 1980s, a care inquiry has heard.
Witness D, now in his 40s, told the Independent Jersey Care Inquiry he was too scared to report the abuse he suffered to the authorities.
He was in the home from 1981 until he left care in 1984.
His testimony suggested there was widespread abuse of residents by other residents....
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-jersey-31375308
'Beast of Jersey' claims heard by abuse inquiry 18 February 2015
The Jersey Care Inquiry is examining historical abuse in the care system
A notorious sex offender dubbed the "Beast of Jersey" would sit girls on his knees and abuse them, the island's care inquiry has heard.
In a statement, Witness 205, a female former resident of La Preference children's home in St Martin, said Edward Paisnel was a regular visitor.
She said he encouraged young female residents to call him "Uncle Ted".
The Independent Jersey Care Inquiry is investigating child abuse in Jersey's care system dating back to 1945....
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-jersey-31521864
Former Haut de la Garenne resident tells of abuse 16 January 2015
A former resident of the Haut de la Garenne children's home was abused by a member of staff and residents in the 1960s and '70s, an inquiry heard.
A witness known as Mr K, aged 50, gave evidence to the Independent Jersey Care Inquiry (ICJI) by video link from the UK.
Mr K said he was at the home for 13 years, and described the time as "horrific".
He told the inquiry he felt he missed out on his childhood completely....
Mr K said corporal punishment at the home was excessive, that he had been given three or six lashes with a cane for misbehaving, and then put in a detention cell.
"Staff went overboard and I actually think some of them enjoyed it; one time I was hit so much that the cane broke on me," he said....
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-jersey-30842891
Jersey care inquiry: Police told of Savile abuse 15 January 2015
A Jersey care home resident told police in 2009 that he had been abused by Jimmy Savile, an inquiry has heard.
Savile, who died in 2011, was never prosecuted over the allegations, the Independent Jersey Care Inquiry (IJCI) has already been told.
The abuse happened at Haut de la Garenne in 1976, the victim told police as part of their investigation into alleged offences at the home.
Police have said there was insufficient evidence for investigating Savile.
The victim's interview with police investigating abuse at the care home was read to the inquiry in Jersey.
Savile, a Radio 1 DJ who also presented the BBC's Top Of The Pops and Jim'll Fix It, died aged 84 - a year before allegations that he had sexually abused children were broadcast in an ITV documentary.
He is now believed to be one of Britain's most prolific sex abusers and is thought to have assaulted hundreds of people between the ages of five and 75.
But was never charged with any offence.
The DJ was a regular visitor to Jersey and was Mr Battle of Flowers at the island's annual parade three times, the last time in 2002....
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-jersey-30834994
Three arrested over child abuse in Rotherham and Sheffield 25 February 2015
...The trio, aged 21, 23 and 28, were held on suspicion of committing child sexual exploitation offences against underage girls between 2005 and 2009.
At least 1,400 children were subjected to appalling sexual exploitation in Rotherham between 1997 and 2013, a report published in August found.
Children as young as 11 were raped by multiple perpetrators, abducted, trafficked to other English cities, beaten and intimidated, the Jay report said.
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-south-yorkshire-31631785
10 February 2015
Consensual sex and sexual abuse were both common at the Haut de la Garenne children's home in the 1980s, a care inquiry has heard.
Witness D, now in his 40s, told the Independent Jersey Care Inquiry he was too scared to report the abuse he suffered to the authorities.
He was in the home from 1981 until he left care in 1984.
His testimony suggested there was widespread abuse of residents by other residents....
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-jersey-31375308
'Beast of Jersey' claims heard by abuse inquiry 18 February 2015
The Jersey Care Inquiry is examining historical abuse in the care system
A notorious sex offender dubbed the "Beast of Jersey" would sit girls on his knees and abuse them, the island's care inquiry has heard.
In a statement, Witness 205, a female former resident of La Preference children's home in St Martin, said Edward Paisnel was a regular visitor.
She said he encouraged young female residents to call him "Uncle Ted".
The Independent Jersey Care Inquiry is investigating child abuse in Jersey's care system dating back to 1945....
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-jersey-31521864
Former Haut de la Garenne resident tells of abuse 16 January 2015
A former resident of the Haut de la Garenne children's home was abused by a member of staff and residents in the 1960s and '70s, an inquiry heard.
A witness known as Mr K, aged 50, gave evidence to the Independent Jersey Care Inquiry (ICJI) by video link from the UK.
Mr K said he was at the home for 13 years, and described the time as "horrific".
He told the inquiry he felt he missed out on his childhood completely....
Mr K said corporal punishment at the home was excessive, that he had been given three or six lashes with a cane for misbehaving, and then put in a detention cell.
"Staff went overboard and I actually think some of them enjoyed it; one time I was hit so much that the cane broke on me," he said....
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-jersey-30842891
Jersey care inquiry: Police told of Savile abuse 15 January 2015
A Jersey care home resident told police in 2009 that he had been abused by Jimmy Savile, an inquiry has heard.
Savile, who died in 2011, was never prosecuted over the allegations, the Independent Jersey Care Inquiry (IJCI) has already been told.
The abuse happened at Haut de la Garenne in 1976, the victim told police as part of their investigation into alleged offences at the home.
Police have said there was insufficient evidence for investigating Savile.
The victim's interview with police investigating abuse at the care home was read to the inquiry in Jersey.
Savile, a Radio 1 DJ who also presented the BBC's Top Of The Pops and Jim'll Fix It, died aged 84 - a year before allegations that he had sexually abused children were broadcast in an ITV documentary.
He is now believed to be one of Britain's most prolific sex abusers and is thought to have assaulted hundreds of people between the ages of five and 75.
But was never charged with any offence.
The DJ was a regular visitor to Jersey and was Mr Battle of Flowers at the island's annual parade three times, the last time in 2002....
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-jersey-30834994
Three arrested over child abuse in Rotherham and Sheffield 25 February 2015
...The trio, aged 21, 23 and 28, were held on suspicion of committing child sexual exploitation offences against underage girls between 2005 and 2009.
At least 1,400 children were subjected to appalling sexual exploitation in Rotherham between 1997 and 2013, a report published in August found.
Children as young as 11 were raped by multiple perpetrators, abducted, trafficked to other English cities, beaten and intimidated, the Jay report said.
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-south-yorkshire-31631785
Tuesday, February 24, 2015
Online child abuse moving to Skype, Bitcoin: Europol, Gov't drafts plan to fight child sacrifice
Online child abuse moving to Skype, Bitcoin: Europol
February 24, 2015
Like using legitimate, mainstream chat sites to broadcast the abuse, payment using virtual currencies such as Bitcoin also makes the criminals harder to trace than if they were taking credit card payments
Hi-tech criminals are increasingly selling live streams of child sex over legitimate chat sites and apps such as Skype for hard-to-trace virtual currencies like Bitcoin, Europe's policing agency warned on Tuesday.
"Criminals that sexually exploit children online are becoming more entrepreneurial with technological developments and are profiting financially," Europol said in a special report on commercial sexual exploitation of children online.
Compiled by Europol's EC3 cybercrime centre, together with Eurojust, NGOs, credit card and online giants such as Google and Microsoft, the report paints a disturbing picture of rising online child abuse.
The sale of child abuse live streams over legitimate chat sites or video chat apps is much harder to trace than when the abuse is sold from a website.
"The research shows that the live streaming of abuse for payment is no longer an emerging trend but an established reality," the report said.
Criminal gangs recruit disadvantaged children or their own children for the abuse.
"These persons offer homeless children or children from their own family for the sexual abuse by individuals, live in front of a camera, in the European Union or developing countries, for financial gain," the report said.
Filippino police recently busted a paedophile ring that streamed live sex involving children as young as six, the report said....
http://phys.org/news/2015-02-online-child-abuse-skype-bitcoin.html
Gov't drafts plan to fight child sacrifice
Publish Date: Feb 24, 2015
By Jacquiline Emodek
THE ministry of Gender, labour and social development with support from UNICEF, Makerere University, World Vision, Plan Uganda and ANPPCAN Ugandan Chapter have drafted the National Action Plan to end child sacrifice and child mutilation.
The plan complements the Trafficking in Persons Act (2009) and the Children Act 59 (2000) which promote the protection of rights of children in Uganda.
Speaking during the symposium towards eliminating child sacrifice and the mutilation of children in Uganda on Monday at Hotel Africana, Sulaiman Madada the state minister for the elderly and disabled said that the plan is a step towards curbing the vice that is compromising the protection of children.
Police records and media reports indicate that cases of child sacrifice and the mutilation of children linked to ritual murders have increased since 2006.... http://www.newvision.co.ug/news/665213-gov-t-drafts-plan-to-fight-child-sacrifice.html
February 24, 2015
Like using legitimate, mainstream chat sites to broadcast the abuse, payment using virtual currencies such as Bitcoin also makes the criminals harder to trace than if they were taking credit card payments
Hi-tech criminals are increasingly selling live streams of child sex over legitimate chat sites and apps such as Skype for hard-to-trace virtual currencies like Bitcoin, Europe's policing agency warned on Tuesday.
"Criminals that sexually exploit children online are becoming more entrepreneurial with technological developments and are profiting financially," Europol said in a special report on commercial sexual exploitation of children online.
Compiled by Europol's EC3 cybercrime centre, together with Eurojust, NGOs, credit card and online giants such as Google and Microsoft, the report paints a disturbing picture of rising online child abuse.
The sale of child abuse live streams over legitimate chat sites or video chat apps is much harder to trace than when the abuse is sold from a website.
"The research shows that the live streaming of abuse for payment is no longer an emerging trend but an established reality," the report said.
Criminal gangs recruit disadvantaged children or their own children for the abuse.
"These persons offer homeless children or children from their own family for the sexual abuse by individuals, live in front of a camera, in the European Union or developing countries, for financial gain," the report said.
Filippino police recently busted a paedophile ring that streamed live sex involving children as young as six, the report said....
http://phys.org/news/2015-02-online-child-abuse-skype-bitcoin.html
Gov't drafts plan to fight child sacrifice
Publish Date: Feb 24, 2015
By Jacquiline Emodek
THE ministry of Gender, labour and social development with support from UNICEF, Makerere University, World Vision, Plan Uganda and ANPPCAN Ugandan Chapter have drafted the National Action Plan to end child sacrifice and child mutilation.
The plan complements the Trafficking in Persons Act (2009) and the Children Act 59 (2000) which promote the protection of rights of children in Uganda.
Speaking during the symposium towards eliminating child sacrifice and the mutilation of children in Uganda on Monday at Hotel Africana, Sulaiman Madada the state minister for the elderly and disabled said that the plan is a step towards curbing the vice that is compromising the protection of children.
Police records and media reports indicate that cases of child sacrifice and the mutilation of children linked to ritual murders have increased since 2006.... http://www.newvision.co.ug/news/665213-gov-t-drafts-plan-to-fight-child-sacrifice.html
Monday, February 23, 2015
Insurers accused of hampering child abuse inquiries, Essex child abuse: Increase in case probes 'not surprising', Child abuse civil claims: Victorian Government to remove time limit for legal action, Knox Grammar School was home to 'large paedophile cohort', victim tells inquiry
- Insurers accused of hampering child abuse inquiries
- Essex child abuse: Increase in case probes 'not surprising'
- Child abuse civil claims: Victorian Government to remove time limit for legal action
- Knox Grammar School was home to 'large paedophile cohort', victim tells inquiry
Insurers accused of hampering child abuse inquiries
By Tim Whewell 23 February 2015
A BBC investigation has found evidence that some local authorities in England and Wales may have allowed fear of losing insurance cover to alter their approach to child abuse inquiries.
File on 4 has also been told of cases where insurers attempted to suppress information about abuse allegations.
An ex social services chief called the behaviour of one company "disgusting".
The Association of British Insurers said the investigation "raised a number of serious matters".
When Colin Lambert, then leader of Rochdale Council, proposed an investigation last year into a possible cover-up of child abuse in the town, he was shocked by a response from council officers.
Former pupils at the Knowl View special school for boys have alleged they were victims of sexual assaults by Rochdale's former MP, the late Cyril Smith and others, in the 1970s, '80s, and early '90s.
Mr Lambert says he was told an inquiry could lead to problems with the council's insurers.
"I can recall a conversation with officers that this could lead to the insurers withdrawing cover," he says. "Holding an actual open inquiry would expose exactly who did know what - and therefore the council probably would have been liable. And that then opens up the insurers to claims."....
The File on 4 investigation has found other cases across Britain, over many years, in which councils have expressed concern over the danger of losing insurance cover - and some in which insurers have attempted to suppress information about abuse allegations.
Tim Hulbert, former director of social services in Bedfordshire, says insurers "instructed" him on what to do when he was helping set up an inquiry into alleged child abuse at a children's home in the early 1990s.
He said: "I had a phone call from the insurers who were anxious to influence the terms of reference of the inquiry, so they didn't actually produce circumstances which would increase the likelihood of claims....
n North Wales in 1996, Clwyd County Council refused to publish the report of an inquiry it had set up into abuse in its children's homes following legal advice that it would risk losing its insurance cover.
The government-appointed Waterhouse Tribunal on North Wales abuse later said the insurers had "acted throughout with the honourable intention" of preventing the council acting in such a way that they would be forced to repudiate liability for claims.
But when the Clwyd report by John Jillings was eventually published on a BBC Freedom of Information request in 2013, it revealed that the insurers had objected to the panel's proposal for notices in the press appealing for information about abuse....
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-31594120
Insurance and Child Abuse File on 4
With a growing number of compensation claims arising from cases of historic sexual abuse and more recent high profile cases of sexual grooming, Tim Whewell investigates the key role which insurance companies play. In representing the local authorities where scandals occurred, insurers naturally seek to limit liability but are they doing so at a cost to victims? Lawyers say they have to battle to get access to files and other information - causing further distress and delaying help for those damaged by abuse. Some say the fight is getting harder as insurance companies have toughened their approach in recent years. And, with a national inquiry into historic cases of child sex abuse, how much influence did insurance companies have on the way some past investigations were carried out? File on 4 talks to senior local authority insiders who say they were told to alter their approach to abuse investigations to protect the insurers' interests. But was that at the expense of children at risk?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0537662
Essex child abuse: Increase in case probes 'not surprising' 23 February 2015
Concerns over the handling of child abuse cases by an Essex Police team are "not surprising", the county's police and crime commissioner (PCC) has said.
Eight extra cases have been referred to the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) on top of 30 already being looked into.
The investigations relate to a team covering north Essex.
Essex PCC Nick Alston said the increase was "distressing". The force has been asked to comment but has yet to do so.
"As the review into the quality of child abuse investigations instigated by Essex Police progresses, regrettably I do not find it surprising that it has identified further cases of concern and fresh referrals to the IPCC," he said....
Some cases are said to involve a "lack of honesty or integrity" by officers, and are based on allegations of historical abuse dating to the 1960s and 1970s....
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-essex-31588234
Child abuse civil claims: Victorian Government to remove time limit for legal action
2-24-2015
The Victorian Government is set to abolish a major legal hurdle for child abuse victims who want to sue their attackers.
Legislation will be introduced into the Victorian Parliament to remove the time limit imposed on child abuse victims who want to launch civil claims.
Currently under the law there is a 12-year time limit to take action over alleged abuse.
Changes will mean people who suffered abuse as a child decades ago will be able to seek civil damages.
Attorney-General Martin Pakula said victims should not be penalised for not acting immediately....
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-02-24/legal-hurdle-for-sex-abuse-victims-set-to-be-abolished/6243576
Knox Grammar School was home to 'large paedophile cohort', victim tells inquiry
By Ashleigh Raper
A former student of a Sydney private school says students were sexually abused so often, he was not sure it was wrong when he was assaulted by a teacher in the playground.
Former Knox Grammar student Scott Ashton told the royal commission into child sexual abuse of the shock, shame and confusion he suffered after being abused at the school in the 1980s.
He said it was clear the school harboured "a large paedophile cohort" and the abuse led to him becoming a sex worker as teenager.
Students were abused at the exclusive boys school, on Sydney's north shore, over a 33-year period from the 1970s until 2003....
Mr Ashton said, in 1986, an acquaintance invited him to a sex party where he was paid for sex work, and which was attended by about 10 Knox Grammar teachers and some students.
He said a few of the teachers in attendance were later convicted of child sex offences.
Five former teachers were convicted, but the commission has been told the problem was worse than first thought.
Allegations that three other Knox staff members abused students were heard on Monday.
The commission also heard there was evidence the school knew about abuse but never told police, and the alleged perpetrators have not faced criminal proceedings....
Knox Grammar School's lawyer, Geoffrey Watson SC, asked to speak before any of the witnesses on Monday.
He said that the school conceded what happened was disturbing and damaging.
"There is no excuse," Geoffrey Watson SC said.
"The school owed a primary responsibility to those students, and to those parents, to keep them safe from this sort of thing.
"The school humbly and sincerely apologises for its failure."....
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-02-24/knox-grammar-royal-commission-hears-child-abuse-rife-at-school/6247698
- Essex child abuse: Increase in case probes 'not surprising'
- Child abuse civil claims: Victorian Government to remove time limit for legal action
- Knox Grammar School was home to 'large paedophile cohort', victim tells inquiry
Insurers accused of hampering child abuse inquiries
By Tim Whewell 23 February 2015
A BBC investigation has found evidence that some local authorities in England and Wales may have allowed fear of losing insurance cover to alter their approach to child abuse inquiries.
File on 4 has also been told of cases where insurers attempted to suppress information about abuse allegations.
An ex social services chief called the behaviour of one company "disgusting".
The Association of British Insurers said the investigation "raised a number of serious matters".
When Colin Lambert, then leader of Rochdale Council, proposed an investigation last year into a possible cover-up of child abuse in the town, he was shocked by a response from council officers.
Former pupils at the Knowl View special school for boys have alleged they were victims of sexual assaults by Rochdale's former MP, the late Cyril Smith and others, in the 1970s, '80s, and early '90s.
Mr Lambert says he was told an inquiry could lead to problems with the council's insurers.
"I can recall a conversation with officers that this could lead to the insurers withdrawing cover," he says. "Holding an actual open inquiry would expose exactly who did know what - and therefore the council probably would have been liable. And that then opens up the insurers to claims."....
The File on 4 investigation has found other cases across Britain, over many years, in which councils have expressed concern over the danger of losing insurance cover - and some in which insurers have attempted to suppress information about abuse allegations.
Tim Hulbert, former director of social services in Bedfordshire, says insurers "instructed" him on what to do when he was helping set up an inquiry into alleged child abuse at a children's home in the early 1990s.
He said: "I had a phone call from the insurers who were anxious to influence the terms of reference of the inquiry, so they didn't actually produce circumstances which would increase the likelihood of claims....
n North Wales in 1996, Clwyd County Council refused to publish the report of an inquiry it had set up into abuse in its children's homes following legal advice that it would risk losing its insurance cover.
The government-appointed Waterhouse Tribunal on North Wales abuse later said the insurers had "acted throughout with the honourable intention" of preventing the council acting in such a way that they would be forced to repudiate liability for claims.
But when the Clwyd report by John Jillings was eventually published on a BBC Freedom of Information request in 2013, it revealed that the insurers had objected to the panel's proposal for notices in the press appealing for information about abuse....
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-31594120
Insurance and Child Abuse File on 4
With a growing number of compensation claims arising from cases of historic sexual abuse and more recent high profile cases of sexual grooming, Tim Whewell investigates the key role which insurance companies play. In representing the local authorities where scandals occurred, insurers naturally seek to limit liability but are they doing so at a cost to victims? Lawyers say they have to battle to get access to files and other information - causing further distress and delaying help for those damaged by abuse. Some say the fight is getting harder as insurance companies have toughened their approach in recent years. And, with a national inquiry into historic cases of child sex abuse, how much influence did insurance companies have on the way some past investigations were carried out? File on 4 talks to senior local authority insiders who say they were told to alter their approach to abuse investigations to protect the insurers' interests. But was that at the expense of children at risk?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0537662
Essex child abuse: Increase in case probes 'not surprising' 23 February 2015
Concerns over the handling of child abuse cases by an Essex Police team are "not surprising", the county's police and crime commissioner (PCC) has said.
Eight extra cases have been referred to the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) on top of 30 already being looked into.
The investigations relate to a team covering north Essex.
Essex PCC Nick Alston said the increase was "distressing". The force has been asked to comment but has yet to do so.
"As the review into the quality of child abuse investigations instigated by Essex Police progresses, regrettably I do not find it surprising that it has identified further cases of concern and fresh referrals to the IPCC," he said....
Some cases are said to involve a "lack of honesty or integrity" by officers, and are based on allegations of historical abuse dating to the 1960s and 1970s....
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-essex-31588234
Child abuse civil claims: Victorian Government to remove time limit for legal action
2-24-2015
The Victorian Government is set to abolish a major legal hurdle for child abuse victims who want to sue their attackers.
Legislation will be introduced into the Victorian Parliament to remove the time limit imposed on child abuse victims who want to launch civil claims.
Currently under the law there is a 12-year time limit to take action over alleged abuse.
Changes will mean people who suffered abuse as a child decades ago will be able to seek civil damages.
Attorney-General Martin Pakula said victims should not be penalised for not acting immediately....
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-02-24/legal-hurdle-for-sex-abuse-victims-set-to-be-abolished/6243576
Knox Grammar School was home to 'large paedophile cohort', victim tells inquiry
By Ashleigh Raper
A former student of a Sydney private school says students were sexually abused so often, he was not sure it was wrong when he was assaulted by a teacher in the playground.
Former Knox Grammar student Scott Ashton told the royal commission into child sexual abuse of the shock, shame and confusion he suffered after being abused at the school in the 1980s.
He said it was clear the school harboured "a large paedophile cohort" and the abuse led to him becoming a sex worker as teenager.
Students were abused at the exclusive boys school, on Sydney's north shore, over a 33-year period from the 1970s until 2003....
Mr Ashton said, in 1986, an acquaintance invited him to a sex party where he was paid for sex work, and which was attended by about 10 Knox Grammar teachers and some students.
He said a few of the teachers in attendance were later convicted of child sex offences.
Five former teachers were convicted, but the commission has been told the problem was worse than first thought.
Allegations that three other Knox staff members abused students were heard on Monday.
The commission also heard there was evidence the school knew about abuse but never told police, and the alleged perpetrators have not faced criminal proceedings....
Knox Grammar School's lawyer, Geoffrey Watson SC, asked to speak before any of the witnesses on Monday.
He said that the school conceded what happened was disturbing and damaging.
"There is no excuse," Geoffrey Watson SC said.
"The school owed a primary responsibility to those students, and to those parents, to keep them safe from this sort of thing.
"The school humbly and sincerely apologises for its failure."....
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-02-24/knox-grammar-royal-commission-hears-child-abuse-rife-at-school/6247698
Thursday, February 19, 2015
Investigation Claims Jehovah Witnesses' Watchtower Is Hiding Child Sexual Abuse Claims, Yeshivah abuse victim says scholarship was removed after he reported rape, Royal commission into institutional responses to child sexual abuse, Rabbi pleads guilty to taping nude women at ritual bath
Investigation Claims Jehovah Witnesses' Watchtower Is Hiding Child Sexual Abuse Claims
The Huffington Post By Kira Brekke 02/18/2015
Evelyn Selimaj, 30, left, of East Haven and her sister Sybelle Almodovar, 35, of North Guilford hold a photograph of themselves together with their brother Ferdinand Almodovar that was taken about the time that the three siblings say they began to be sexually abused by a ministerial servant who acted as a church leader in their congregation. They were child members of the New Haven East Spanish Jehovah's Witnesses congregation. In October 2014 in New Haven, Connecticut, their attorneys filed ch
A new report out of the Center for Investigative Reporting claims that the Jehovah's Witnesses' parent organization in the United States has systematically hidden child sexual abuse cases for more than 25 years.
Trey Bundy, the Reveal journalist behind the report, explained to HuffPost Live on Tuesday that the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York has issued detailed memos since 1989 mandating spiritual leaders to immediately report any allegations of child abuse to the Watchtower's legal department before the police.
"Essentially what they say is, 'You don’t need to call police unless state law requires you to, and we’ll determine if that’s the case.' They say not to warn other members of the congregation if you have a child abuser in your congregation, that’s confidential information," Bundy told host Alyona Minkovski. "And they also ... lay out a very sort of convoluted process for determining whether or not you’re even going to take child abuse seriously."
But in the "many times" Jehovah's Witnesses have been sued in civil court by alleged victims of abuse, Bundy explained, the freedom of religion has been invoked to protect them....
In a statement to Bundy in his article, Watchtower representatives defended the organization's practices regarding abuse.
Watchtower officials say they instruct their members to obey state laws. Their policy memos direct elders who hear of alleged child abuse to “contact the Society’s Legal Department immediately” to learn whether the laws in their states require them to notify police....
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/02/18/jehovahs-witness-child-sex-abuse_n_6705852.html
Yeshivah abuse victim says scholarship was removed after he reported rape
Victim of jailed abuser David Cyprys says principal Rabbi Abraham Glick cancelled the award after telling him of incidents, royal commission hears
Yeshiva college
Rabbi Pinchus Feldman did not alert police when the alleged abuser said he might leave the country.
Melissa Davey Monday 9 February 2015
A child sex abuse victim who was repeatedly raped by a staff member of an Orthodox Jewish school said he was stripped of his scholarship when he told the principal what happened.
The victim, identified only as AVR, said a security guard at the Yeshivah centre and college in Melbourne, David Cyprys, raped him multiple times.
Cyprys was convicted of those offences in 2013, and is in jail....
His mother immediately flew to Melbourne see him, and together they reported the abuse to the principal of the school, Rabbi Abraham Glick, and the director, Rabbi David Groner, who is now dead.
“Rabbi Glick said my scholarship had been cancelled from that time,” AVR said. “I feel Rabbi Glick and Yeshivah did not want me there any more. They did not offer help or counselling. No one at Yeshivah would speak to us or help us. Even our own family members would not help us, and we had a lot of trouble getting back to the airport.”....
Cyprys was “a serial abuser of children”, the commission heard last Monday. AVR said his mother had stopped treatment for her cancer when she came to Melbourne to rescue him from Cyprys, and that she passed away a few years later, in 1995....
Last week, other victims told the commission how they were ignored by senior religious leaders within the orthodox Yeshivah community after reporting their abuse, and of being verbally abused and ostracised....
http://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2015/feb/09/yeshivah-abuse-victim-says-scholarship-was-removed-after-he-reported
Royal commission into institutional responses to child sexual abuse
Latest news on Australia's royal commission into institutional responses to child sexual abuse
February 2015
http://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/royal-commission-into-institutional-responses-to-child-sexual-abuse
Rabbi pleads guilty to taping nude women at ritual bath
February 19, 2015 By JESSICA GRESKO
WASHINGTON (AP) — A prominent Orthodox rabbi acknowledged Thursday that for years he videotaped women in a changing room of a Jewish ritual bath, ultimately recording approximately 150 nude women.
Barry Freundel pleaded guilty to 52 counts of voyeurism during a hearing at D.C. Superior Court. Each count is a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail.
Freundel's attorney, Jeffrey Harris, acknowledged after the hearing that it was unlikely that his client would get a 52-year sentence but declined to say what sentence he would seek at a hearing set for May 15. Harris said his client was taking responsibility for his actions and was looking to move on with his life....
Freundel, 63, was a rabbi at the Kesher Israel synagogue in Washington for more than 25 years before his arrest in October on voyeurism charges. As part of the plea agreement Freundel entered into Thursday, he acknowledged that starting in 2009 he set up hidden recording devices in a changing and showering area of The National Capital Mikvah, a ritual cleansing bath affiliated with Kesher Israel. He acknowledged he secretly videotaped women who were partially or totally undressed before or after they showered.
http://helenair.com/news/national/rabbi-pleads-guilty-to-taping-nude-women-at-ritual-bath/article_0e282e91-f2cf-5966-9ccc-183bde2797f6.html
Wednesday, February 18, 2015
Rabbis' absolute power: how sex abuse tore apart Australia's Orthodox Jewish community, Brutal slaying leads to protests over violence against women in Turkey
Rabbis' absolute power: how sex abuse tore apart Australia's Orthodox Jewish community
Yeshivah leaders in Sydney and Melbourne chose to preserve the prestige of their faith over the safety of children. A national inquiry that reverberated around the world painted a devastating picture of how individuals were abandoned and ostracised as they fought to end the code of silence
David Marr Wednesday 18 February 2015
Orthodox Judaism has never been exposed to such scrutiny. From a Melbourne courtroom, the torment of the Chabad rabbis was streamed live to the world as the royal commission into institutional responses to child sexual abuse probed the city’s secretive and powerful Yeshivah community.
Sharp divisions in the Jewish world have been exposed. Two rabbis, including one of the nation’s most prominent, have been forced from their posts. Whistleblowers, humiliated and ostracised for years by Yeshivah, have been dramatically vindicated. More victims have come forward. More criminal charges may follow. Yeshivah schools face a nightmare of civil litigation.
The cast is Jewish, yet the bones of this story are familiar to anyone who has followed the scandal of child abuse in Christian schools and parishes. Rabbis and bishops have shown over the years much the same failings when faced with a choice between guarding the prestige of their faiths and the safety of children. This story is about the dangers in any cult of blind obedience to holy men....
http://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2015/feb/19/rabbis-absolute-power-how-sex-abuse-tore-apart-australias-orthodox-jewish-community
Manny Waks: I'm the 'troublemaker' who blew the whistle on Jewish abuse scandal
Manny Waks is still living with the impact of years of abuse inside Australia’s Yeshivah centres. Before he can reclaim his life, he says, more people must resign in the wake of the child sex abuse royal commission
Melissa Davey Sunday 15 February 2015
When he was 18 years old, Manny Waks turned his back on life within the Orthodox sect of Judaism known as Chabad. But the effects on his life remain profound.
Now 38, Waks is still unable to read a novel, so dictated was his childhood by religious texts. Until the age of about 29, he believed rubbing his eyes with his fingers after waking up in the morning would cause him to go blind unless he carried out a religious washing ceremony first.
But the most damage has been caused by the repeated sexual abuse he suffered within the umbrella organisation for the movement in Australia, known as Yeshivah....
Since Waks first spoke publicly in 2011 about the abuse he suffered, he has helped to expose the centres, and the schools, synagogues and activities attached to them, as communities within which child sex abuse was covered-up, denied or ignored.
The rabbinic law of mesirah – the prohibition of a Jew informing on a fellow Jew to secular authorities – was used by leaders to keep victims silent, the commission heard. When victims did go to police, they were labelled mosers, or “informers”, a charge so serious they were threatened with exclusion so severe it was akin to being excommunication, which would mean being ripped away from a culture, identity, religion and community. It meant everything from marriage prospects to opportunities for religious honours would be forever taken away....
It does not matter that peak Jewish bodies have publicly said the concept of mesirah does not, and should never, apply to cases of child sexual abuse. Even today, Waks says, victims remain fearful of being shunned.
“The fact that to this day I am the only victim who has been willing to be named should say plenty,” Waks says.
“It is easier for me than for other victims, because I am no longer in that world. Most child sex abuse victims prefer anonymity because of a range of taboos and stigmas attached to them. It’s very sensitive.
“But within the Yeshivah community, those issues and barriers are multiplied tenfold, and by speaking out against them, your life will potentially be over. You will feel the consequences, you will be damaged goods.”
In 1988, when he was 11 years old, Waks was abused by a member of the Yeshivah centre known only to the commission as AVP because he left the country before he could be charged.
The man abused Waks multiple times....
Waks confided in a classmate at the Yeshivah college, who told other children. Soon, Waks felt like everyone knew about what was happening to him, and he faced daily taunts and bullying – including being called “gay” because he had been abused by a man....
Waks says Chabad has “all the hallmarks” of a cult – “every waking moment was dictated for us”, he said. He still has difficulty reading books or watching movies for pleasure, so heavily was his studying of religious texts and documentaries. He did not know what his secular birthday was until he was 15. His relationship with his father, who used a disciplinary approach to ensure his children adhered to Yeshivah values, is fractured....
Manny Waks believes the past two weeks of evidence means resignations now need to happen. Some of the rabbis were involved in malicious attacks against him and his family, it was revealed. They were so brutal that Waks relocated his wife and three children to Europe.
“Where was anyone at the time we were being abused, when we were going to the police?” he asks. Waks is now establishing a global organisation to investigate child sex abuse within the Jewish community.
“These leaders, these people, are the ones who are the biggest miscarriages of justice. They will do anything to protect themselves, their reputation and their institution, and that’s what’s so astounding and so offensive to the core....
http://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2015/feb/16/manny-waks-i-was-the-yeshivah-troublemaker-i-hope-now-everyone-can-see-why
Brutal slaying leads to protests over violence against women in Turkey
By Glen Johnson February 14, 2015 Reporting from Ankara, Turkey
The slaying of a young Turkish woman during an alleged attempted rape has prompted angry street protests across Turkey and demands that the government do more to combat violence against women.
Police on Friday discovered the charred corpse of Ozgecan Aslan, a 20-year-old psychology student, in a riverbed in southern Mersin province. She was killed while fighting back a sexual assault by the driver of a minibus she took to go home, authorities say.
Three people have been arrested in connection with the slaying, including the driver, authorities told local media. Protesters took to streets of major cities in Turkey on Saturday, as the victim was buried in her hometown.
Women’s rights activists argue that the Islamist ruling party, the Justice and Development Party, or AKP, is not doing enough to halt such violence—or to ensure those guilty of crimes against women receive adequate punishment. Many argue that Turkey’s judicial system is sympathetic to perpetrators of such crimes.
The number of gender-related homicides of Turkish women has soared in recent years. Authorities reported fewer than 100 in 2002, compared to almost 300 in 2014....
http://www.latimes.com/world/europe/la-fg-slaying-of-turkish-woman-leads-to-street-protests-over-womens-rights-20150214-story.html
Yeshivah leaders in Sydney and Melbourne chose to preserve the prestige of their faith over the safety of children. A national inquiry that reverberated around the world painted a devastating picture of how individuals were abandoned and ostracised as they fought to end the code of silence
David Marr Wednesday 18 February 2015
Orthodox Judaism has never been exposed to such scrutiny. From a Melbourne courtroom, the torment of the Chabad rabbis was streamed live to the world as the royal commission into institutional responses to child sexual abuse probed the city’s secretive and powerful Yeshivah community.
Sharp divisions in the Jewish world have been exposed. Two rabbis, including one of the nation’s most prominent, have been forced from their posts. Whistleblowers, humiliated and ostracised for years by Yeshivah, have been dramatically vindicated. More victims have come forward. More criminal charges may follow. Yeshivah schools face a nightmare of civil litigation.
The cast is Jewish, yet the bones of this story are familiar to anyone who has followed the scandal of child abuse in Christian schools and parishes. Rabbis and bishops have shown over the years much the same failings when faced with a choice between guarding the prestige of their faiths and the safety of children. This story is about the dangers in any cult of blind obedience to holy men....
http://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2015/feb/19/rabbis-absolute-power-how-sex-abuse-tore-apart-australias-orthodox-jewish-community
Manny Waks: I'm the 'troublemaker' who blew the whistle on Jewish abuse scandal
Manny Waks is still living with the impact of years of abuse inside Australia’s Yeshivah centres. Before he can reclaim his life, he says, more people must resign in the wake of the child sex abuse royal commission
Melissa Davey Sunday 15 February 2015
When he was 18 years old, Manny Waks turned his back on life within the Orthodox sect of Judaism known as Chabad. But the effects on his life remain profound.
Now 38, Waks is still unable to read a novel, so dictated was his childhood by religious texts. Until the age of about 29, he believed rubbing his eyes with his fingers after waking up in the morning would cause him to go blind unless he carried out a religious washing ceremony first.
But the most damage has been caused by the repeated sexual abuse he suffered within the umbrella organisation for the movement in Australia, known as Yeshivah....
Since Waks first spoke publicly in 2011 about the abuse he suffered, he has helped to expose the centres, and the schools, synagogues and activities attached to them, as communities within which child sex abuse was covered-up, denied or ignored.
The rabbinic law of mesirah – the prohibition of a Jew informing on a fellow Jew to secular authorities – was used by leaders to keep victims silent, the commission heard. When victims did go to police, they were labelled mosers, or “informers”, a charge so serious they were threatened with exclusion so severe it was akin to being excommunication, which would mean being ripped away from a culture, identity, religion and community. It meant everything from marriage prospects to opportunities for religious honours would be forever taken away....
It does not matter that peak Jewish bodies have publicly said the concept of mesirah does not, and should never, apply to cases of child sexual abuse. Even today, Waks says, victims remain fearful of being shunned.
“The fact that to this day I am the only victim who has been willing to be named should say plenty,” Waks says.
“It is easier for me than for other victims, because I am no longer in that world. Most child sex abuse victims prefer anonymity because of a range of taboos and stigmas attached to them. It’s very sensitive.
“But within the Yeshivah community, those issues and barriers are multiplied tenfold, and by speaking out against them, your life will potentially be over. You will feel the consequences, you will be damaged goods.”
In 1988, when he was 11 years old, Waks was abused by a member of the Yeshivah centre known only to the commission as AVP because he left the country before he could be charged.
The man abused Waks multiple times....
Waks confided in a classmate at the Yeshivah college, who told other children. Soon, Waks felt like everyone knew about what was happening to him, and he faced daily taunts and bullying – including being called “gay” because he had been abused by a man....
Waks says Chabad has “all the hallmarks” of a cult – “every waking moment was dictated for us”, he said. He still has difficulty reading books or watching movies for pleasure, so heavily was his studying of religious texts and documentaries. He did not know what his secular birthday was until he was 15. His relationship with his father, who used a disciplinary approach to ensure his children adhered to Yeshivah values, is fractured....
Manny Waks believes the past two weeks of evidence means resignations now need to happen. Some of the rabbis were involved in malicious attacks against him and his family, it was revealed. They were so brutal that Waks relocated his wife and three children to Europe.
“Where was anyone at the time we were being abused, when we were going to the police?” he asks. Waks is now establishing a global organisation to investigate child sex abuse within the Jewish community.
“These leaders, these people, are the ones who are the biggest miscarriages of justice. They will do anything to protect themselves, their reputation and their institution, and that’s what’s so astounding and so offensive to the core....
http://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2015/feb/16/manny-waks-i-was-the-yeshivah-troublemaker-i-hope-now-everyone-can-see-why
Brutal slaying leads to protests over violence against women in Turkey
By Glen Johnson February 14, 2015 Reporting from Ankara, Turkey
The slaying of a young Turkish woman during an alleged attempted rape has prompted angry street protests across Turkey and demands that the government do more to combat violence against women.
Police on Friday discovered the charred corpse of Ozgecan Aslan, a 20-year-old psychology student, in a riverbed in southern Mersin province. She was killed while fighting back a sexual assault by the driver of a minibus she took to go home, authorities say.
Three people have been arrested in connection with the slaying, including the driver, authorities told local media. Protesters took to streets of major cities in Turkey on Saturday, as the victim was buried in her hometown.
Women’s rights activists argue that the Islamist ruling party, the Justice and Development Party, or AKP, is not doing enough to halt such violence—or to ensure those guilty of crimes against women receive adequate punishment. Many argue that Turkey’s judicial system is sympathetic to perpetrators of such crimes.
The number of gender-related homicides of Turkish women has soared in recent years. Authorities reported fewer than 100 in 2002, compared to almost 300 in 2014....
http://www.latimes.com/world/europe/la-fg-slaying-of-turkish-woman-leads-to-street-protests-over-womens-rights-20150214-story.html
Tuesday, February 17, 2015
MI5 accused of covering up sexual abuse at boys’ home, Did leaders of Jehovah's Witnesses cover up child sex abuse
MI5 accused of covering up sexual abuse at boys’ home
Court case to address alleged cover-up of British state involvement at the Kincora children’s home in Northern Ireland
Vikram Dodd and Richard Norton-Taylor
Sunday 15 February 2015
MI5 is facing allegations it was complicit in the sexual abuse of children, the high court in Northern Ireland will hear on Tuesday.
Victims of the abuse are taking legal action to force a full independent inquiry with the power to compel witnesses to testify and the security service to hand over documents.
The case, in Belfast, is the first in court over the alleged cover-up of British state involvement at the Kincora children’s home in Northern Ireland in the 1970s. It is also the first of the recent sex abuse cases allegedly tying in the British state directly. Victims allege that the cover-up over Kincora has lasted decades....
Amnesty International branded Kincora “one of the biggest scandals of our age” and backed the victims’ calls for an inquiry with full powers: “There are longstanding claims that MI5 blocked one or more police investigations into Kincora in the 1970s in order to protect its own intelligence-gathering operation, a terrible indictment which raises the spectre of countless vulnerable boys having faced further years of brutal abuse....
Children are alleged to have suffered sustained sexual abuse after being taken from the east Belfast children’s home, run by a member of a Protestant paramilitary organisation, to be offered to men.
Lawyers for the victims will argue in court that “there is credible evidence (and it is therefore arguable) that the security forces and security services were aware of the abuse, permitted it to continue and colluded in protecting the individuals involved from investigation or prosecution”, according to papers lodged with the Belfast high court....
Three men were jailed for their part in abuse at Kincora in 1981, but attempts to establish the truth about British state involvement have been blocked. It has persistently been alleged that William McGrath, Kincora’s housemaster and the leader of an extreme evangelical Protestant group called Tara, was an informant for British intelligence. McGrath was jailed for sexual offences in 1981 and is now dead.
There have been limited inquiries into Kincora, but officers of the former Royal Ulster Constabulary, army intelligence officers, a former Northern Ireland ombudsman, and the judges conducting those earlier inquiries all said the truth about what went on there – and why it was allowed to continue for so many years – had been suppressed.
RUC officers were repeatedly refused permission in the 1980s to interview a senior MI5 official about the affair....
http://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/feb/15/mi5-kincora-childrens-home-northwen-ireland-sexual-abuse
Did leaders of Jehovah's Witnesses cover up child sex abuse
February 16, 2015
In San Francisco, a woman is suing the Jehovah's Witnesses for failing to protect her from a known child abuser when she was a child. The Center for Investigative Reporting has shed light on accusations that religious leaders led a cover-up of child sex abuse. Special correspondent Trey Bundy of the CIR’s Reveal reports on how the organization is using the first amendment to fight these charges.
GWEN IFILL: Next: an investigation into child sexual abuse among Jehovah’s Witness and accusations that religious leaders led a cover-up within inside some of the group’s 14,000 U.S. congregations....
TREY BUNDY: The case hinges on letters from Jehovah’s Witness leaders to the heads of local congregations. For almost 20 years, they have ordered them to send reports like this one for every known child abuser, to hide these cases from their congregations, and not to cooperate with law enforcement or the courts, unless instructed to.
They have refused judges’ orders to turn over these abuse reports, so no one knows how many cases like Conti’s are out there.
JAMES MCCABE, Jehovah’s Witnesses lawyer: Jehovah’s Witnesses abhor child abuse of any form.
TREY BUNDY: The Jehovah’s Witnesses insist that they comply with the law. And their lawyers argue that the First Amendment gives them the right to set child abuse policies as they see fit....
TREY BUNDY: Clarke never called the police. He followed Watchtower protocol. He wrote to New York headquarters, asking how to deal with Kendrick’s confession. They told him not to investigate the matter further.
Instead they said, “Provide him with strong scriptural counsel to avoid a repetition of such a serious offense.”
MICHAEL CLARKE: We don’t make that public to the congregation. It’s confidential.
TREY BUNDY: The elders didn’t warn other members that one of their own was a child abuser.
MAN: And that’s the policy and the practice of Jehovah’s Witnesses that you learned as an elder, correct?
MICHAEL CLARKE: Yes.
TREY BUNDY: Clarke says the elders told Kendrick not to be alone with children. But he was still allowed to join in congregation activities that included minors. A year later, one of those minors was Candace Conti....
TREY BUNDY: When Kendrick moved to the Oakley congregation, no one was told he was a child molester, not even Roger Bentley, who served as an elder there for 30 years. He reviewed this letter of introduction from Kendrick’s old congregation.
ROGER BENTLEY, Former Elder, Oakley Congregation: There’s no indication at all that he’s guilty of child abuse.
TREY BUNDY: So no mention of child abuse, but any mention of children?
ROGER BENTLEY: Well, if you read it, it very specifically says he’s a very interesting individual who has taken the lead with some young ones in the congregation and helped them from veering off course....
TREY BUNDY: The courts continue to grapple with the question: Should freedom of religion outweigh the responsibility to protect children?
In Candace Conti’s case, the jury overrode the First Amendment claims and decided the Watchtower and the North Fremont congregation were negligent and didn’t adequately protect her from abuse.
Kendrick maintains he never molested her. Pending appeal, she was awarded more than $15 million in compensation and damages. It’s the first time a jury has ordered the Watchtower to pay for its child abuse policies.
But for Kendrick’s other victim, her case against the Watchtower was thrown out. Even though Kendrick confessed to the abuse in this deposition and served about eight months in jail, the judge affirmed that the Watchtower’s policies were protected by the First Amendment. It wasn’t liable because the abuse occurred at home and not in the course of religious activity. The Watchtower had no obligation to warn the family about Kendrick’s past.
Kendrick is now free and still an active member of the Oakley congregation....
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/leaders-jehovahs-witnesses-cover-child-sex-abuse/
Court case to address alleged cover-up of British state involvement at the Kincora children’s home in Northern Ireland
Vikram Dodd and Richard Norton-Taylor
Sunday 15 February 2015
MI5 is facing allegations it was complicit in the sexual abuse of children, the high court in Northern Ireland will hear on Tuesday.
Victims of the abuse are taking legal action to force a full independent inquiry with the power to compel witnesses to testify and the security service to hand over documents.
The case, in Belfast, is the first in court over the alleged cover-up of British state involvement at the Kincora children’s home in Northern Ireland in the 1970s. It is also the first of the recent sex abuse cases allegedly tying in the British state directly. Victims allege that the cover-up over Kincora has lasted decades....
Amnesty International branded Kincora “one of the biggest scandals of our age” and backed the victims’ calls for an inquiry with full powers: “There are longstanding claims that MI5 blocked one or more police investigations into Kincora in the 1970s in order to protect its own intelligence-gathering operation, a terrible indictment which raises the spectre of countless vulnerable boys having faced further years of brutal abuse....
Children are alleged to have suffered sustained sexual abuse after being taken from the east Belfast children’s home, run by a member of a Protestant paramilitary organisation, to be offered to men.
Lawyers for the victims will argue in court that “there is credible evidence (and it is therefore arguable) that the security forces and security services were aware of the abuse, permitted it to continue and colluded in protecting the individuals involved from investigation or prosecution”, according to papers lodged with the Belfast high court....
Three men were jailed for their part in abuse at Kincora in 1981, but attempts to establish the truth about British state involvement have been blocked. It has persistently been alleged that William McGrath, Kincora’s housemaster and the leader of an extreme evangelical Protestant group called Tara, was an informant for British intelligence. McGrath was jailed for sexual offences in 1981 and is now dead.
There have been limited inquiries into Kincora, but officers of the former Royal Ulster Constabulary, army intelligence officers, a former Northern Ireland ombudsman, and the judges conducting those earlier inquiries all said the truth about what went on there – and why it was allowed to continue for so many years – had been suppressed.
RUC officers were repeatedly refused permission in the 1980s to interview a senior MI5 official about the affair....
http://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/feb/15/mi5-kincora-childrens-home-northwen-ireland-sexual-abuse
Did leaders of Jehovah's Witnesses cover up child sex abuse
February 16, 2015
In San Francisco, a woman is suing the Jehovah's Witnesses for failing to protect her from a known child abuser when she was a child. The Center for Investigative Reporting has shed light on accusations that religious leaders led a cover-up of child sex abuse. Special correspondent Trey Bundy of the CIR’s Reveal reports on how the organization is using the first amendment to fight these charges.
GWEN IFILL: Next: an investigation into child sexual abuse among Jehovah’s Witness and accusations that religious leaders led a cover-up within inside some of the group’s 14,000 U.S. congregations....
TREY BUNDY: The case hinges on letters from Jehovah’s Witness leaders to the heads of local congregations. For almost 20 years, they have ordered them to send reports like this one for every known child abuser, to hide these cases from their congregations, and not to cooperate with law enforcement or the courts, unless instructed to.
They have refused judges’ orders to turn over these abuse reports, so no one knows how many cases like Conti’s are out there.
JAMES MCCABE, Jehovah’s Witnesses lawyer: Jehovah’s Witnesses abhor child abuse of any form.
TREY BUNDY: The Jehovah’s Witnesses insist that they comply with the law. And their lawyers argue that the First Amendment gives them the right to set child abuse policies as they see fit....
TREY BUNDY: Clarke never called the police. He followed Watchtower protocol. He wrote to New York headquarters, asking how to deal with Kendrick’s confession. They told him not to investigate the matter further.
Instead they said, “Provide him with strong scriptural counsel to avoid a repetition of such a serious offense.”
MICHAEL CLARKE: We don’t make that public to the congregation. It’s confidential.
TREY BUNDY: The elders didn’t warn other members that one of their own was a child abuser.
MAN: And that’s the policy and the practice of Jehovah’s Witnesses that you learned as an elder, correct?
MICHAEL CLARKE: Yes.
TREY BUNDY: Clarke says the elders told Kendrick not to be alone with children. But he was still allowed to join in congregation activities that included minors. A year later, one of those minors was Candace Conti....
TREY BUNDY: When Kendrick moved to the Oakley congregation, no one was told he was a child molester, not even Roger Bentley, who served as an elder there for 30 years. He reviewed this letter of introduction from Kendrick’s old congregation.
ROGER BENTLEY, Former Elder, Oakley Congregation: There’s no indication at all that he’s guilty of child abuse.
TREY BUNDY: So no mention of child abuse, but any mention of children?
ROGER BENTLEY: Well, if you read it, it very specifically says he’s a very interesting individual who has taken the lead with some young ones in the congregation and helped them from veering off course....
TREY BUNDY: The courts continue to grapple with the question: Should freedom of religion outweigh the responsibility to protect children?
In Candace Conti’s case, the jury overrode the First Amendment claims and decided the Watchtower and the North Fremont congregation were negligent and didn’t adequately protect her from abuse.
Kendrick maintains he never molested her. Pending appeal, she was awarded more than $15 million in compensation and damages. It’s the first time a jury has ordered the Watchtower to pay for its child abuse policies.
But for Kendrick’s other victim, her case against the Watchtower was thrown out. Even though Kendrick confessed to the abuse in this deposition and served about eight months in jail, the judge affirmed that the Watchtower’s policies were protected by the First Amendment. It wasn’t liable because the abuse occurred at home and not in the course of religious activity. The Watchtower had no obligation to warn the family about Kendrick’s past.
Kendrick is now free and still an active member of the Oakley congregation....
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/leaders-jehovahs-witnesses-cover-child-sex-abuse/
Friday, February 13, 2015
Silent no more, aboriginal women in Canada, 1,200 missing and murdered, 54% more likely to suffer assault, abuse, threats of violence, The Forgotten Children: National Inquiry into Children in Immigration Detention, Fred Talbot: TV weatherman hid history of child abuse
Silent no more
How do you tell the story of aboriginal women in Canada today? You can do it with horror stories and grim statistics: 1,200 missing and murdered; 54% more likely to suffer assault, abuse, threats of violence. You can do it with politics: national outrage, political roundtables, calls for a formal inquiry.
Or you can reach out to the people most directly affected and give them the tools to tell their stories. This unique project put cameras in the hands of 12 aboriginal girls from Maples Collegiate in Winnipeg and taught them how to document the reality of their lives. We took the conversation to the frontlines.
Here’s what the girls had to say. We all need to listen....
At least half say someone in their family has been sexually abused. Some talk about what their own mothers endured. Every single girl says her grandparents suffered abuse at residential schools....
what it’s like for young aboriginal women to just go on, day-to-day, in the shadow of the headlines. What it’s like to face grim statistics about your future: 54% of girls like you will be sexually assaulted, beaten, choked or threatened with a gun or a knife; you are four times more likely to be victims of a homicide....
The RCMP report on murdered and missing aboriginal women released last May showed how close the majority of victims are to perpetrators; 40% of aboriginal women die at the hands of spouses or boyfriends, 23% are killed by family....
1,181 documented cases of missing and murdered aboriginal women....
http://news.nationalpost.com/silent-no-more/
Kids In Detention Have Spoken Their Minds About Australia In The New “Forgotten Children” Report
By Justin Pen 12/2/2015
The Report’s findings are shocking, including that “prolonged detention of children leads to serious negative impacts on their mental and emotional health and development.” Within the last 24 months, 167 babies have been born in detention. The average length of detention for children and their families is one year and two months. There have been hundreds of incidents of actual or threatened self-harm....
According to the detainees, water is a rare and precious resource. Several used their submissions to discuss its scarcity and, consequently, the minute-long showers they have to take. Last January, Guardian Australia reported water pumps at Manus Island had broken down, forcing a thousand men in detention to shower with bottled water.
Medical care is also reportedly sporadic. In 2013, a group of doctors wrote a 92-page “letter of concern” that alleged “numerous unsafe practices and gross departures from generally accepted medical standards” were a regular occurrence at the Christmas Island detention facility....
http://junkee.com/kids-in-detention-have-spoken-their-minds-about-australia-in-the-human-rights-commissions-new-forgotten-children-report/50970
The Forgotten Children: National Inquiry into Children in Immigration Detention (2014)
Australia currently holds about 800 children in mandatory closed immigration detention for indefinite periods, with no pathway to protection or settlement. This includes 186 children detained on Nauru. Children and their families have been held on the mainland and on Christmas Island for, on average, one year and two months. Over 167 babies have been born in detention within the last 24 months. This Report gives a voice to these children.
https://www.humanrights.gov.au/publications/forgotten-children-national-inquiry-children-immigration-detention-2014
https://www.humanrights.gov.au/sites/default/files/document/publication/forgotten_children_2014.pdf
Fred Talbot: TV weatherman hid history of child abuse
By Tom Mullen BBC News 13 February 2015
Former television presenter Fred Talbot found fame aboard a floating weather map in Liverpool's Albert Dock, but behind his quirky on-screen persona a history of child abuse lay hidden.
The 65-year-old, who has been found guilty of indecently assaulting two teenage boys, trained as a biology teacher in the 1960s.
During his trial Talbot claimed he left teaching to pursue a media career, eventually becoming the light-hearted weatherman seen on ITV's This Morning programme.
But the real reason was more sinister. Manchester's Minshull Street Crown Court heard he had resigned from his job at Altrincham Grammar School after propositioning two schoolboys during an astronomy session at his home....
After a three-week trial, the jury convicted Talbot of indecently assaulting two former Altrincham Grammar schoolboys during school trips between 1975 and 1976. Both boys are thought to have been 14 at the time.
He was cleared of eight other charges of indecent assault.
During one school trip in the 1970s, Talbot was said to have staged a naked orgy involving 10 drunken schoolboys on a canal barge, before sexually abusing one of them on board....
He was also spoken to by police in 1992 in connection with the allegations, although no further action was taken at the time....
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-manchester-31323793
Thursday, February 12, 2015
'Australia is ashamed,’ Human Rights Report Records Hundreds Child Abuse Cases In Detention
'Australia is ashamed,’ Human Rights Report Records Hundreds Child Abuse Cases In Detention By Sounak Mukhopadhyay February 13 2015
The Australian Human Rights Commission submitted an inquiry report late on Wednesday night. The report comes with the recommendation of a royal commission.
The royal commission has to examine the impact on hundreds of children being detained for long periods in immigration detention centres. The report, called “The Forgotten Children,” also asked for the release of all the children from mainland detention and from the detention centre on Nauru. The commission examined hundreds of incidents of child abuse that included more than 30 cases of sexual assault as well. The report was then submitted to the Australian government on Nov. 11.
The report happens to be the largest survey ever conducted in the world involving children in detention. There were 1129 children whom the inquiry staff interviewed in a period of more than 15 months. The interview period spanned both the Labor and Coalition governments and went on from January 2013 to March 2014.
According to reports, there were 233 recorded cases of child abuse and 33 cases of reported sexual assault, the Sydney Morning Herald reports. The royal commission is going to examine "the use of force by the Commonwealth against children in detention and allegations of sexual assault against these children."
The report has asked 119 children on Nauru to be removed into the Australian community. The report notes that children who are detained indefinitely on Naaru have been “suffering from extreme levels of physical, emotional, psychological and developmental distress."....
http://au.ibtimes.com/australia-ashamed-human-rights-report-records-hundreds-child-abuse-cases-detention-1420904
The Australian Human Rights Commission submitted an inquiry report late on Wednesday night. The report comes with the recommendation of a royal commission.
The royal commission has to examine the impact on hundreds of children being detained for long periods in immigration detention centres. The report, called “The Forgotten Children,” also asked for the release of all the children from mainland detention and from the detention centre on Nauru. The commission examined hundreds of incidents of child abuse that included more than 30 cases of sexual assault as well. The report was then submitted to the Australian government on Nov. 11.
The report happens to be the largest survey ever conducted in the world involving children in detention. There were 1129 children whom the inquiry staff interviewed in a period of more than 15 months. The interview period spanned both the Labor and Coalition governments and went on from January 2013 to March 2014.
According to reports, there were 233 recorded cases of child abuse and 33 cases of reported sexual assault, the Sydney Morning Herald reports. The royal commission is going to examine "the use of force by the Commonwealth against children in detention and allegations of sexual assault against these children."
The report has asked 119 children on Nauru to be removed into the Australian community. The report notes that children who are detained indefinitely on Naaru have been “suffering from extreme levels of physical, emotional, psychological and developmental distress."....
http://au.ibtimes.com/australia-ashamed-human-rights-report-records-hundreds-child-abuse-cases-detention-1420904
Wednesday, February 11, 2015
Rotherham abuse lawyer: More evidence will link perpetrators to police, Essex Police under investigation over 'failings' by child abuse unit
Rotherham abuse lawyer: More evidence will link perpetrators to police
Complaints have been made about the late Pc Hassan Ali alleging he was unwilling to pursue claims of exploitation
By Telegraph reporter 09 Feb 2015
A child abuse lawyer has revealed more damning evidence could emerge in the Rotherham scandal that shows a link between police and perpetrators.
David Greenwood, of Switalskis Solicitors, represents 38 of the 1,400 children found to have been sexually exploited in the South Yorkshire town.
He revealed that two of them asked him to make official complaints about Pc Hassan Ali - who died in hospital this week following a collision with a car - alleging he was unwilling to pursue their claims of exploitation.
Mr Greenwood said the officer's death would not be the end of the matter, and the wider scandal "is not going away".
He said: "I'm pretty certain it will be bigger than it is even now.
"I think that evidence will emerge of links between perpetrators and police. It may be there was, as I have said, an unofficial policy of not pursuing these complaints....
The National Crime Agency is leading the investigation into child sexual exploitation in Rotherham.
Earlier this month, a police officer and two councillors in the town were accused of having sex with underage girls.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/11399556/Rotherham-abuse-lawyer-More-evidence-will-link-perpetrators-to-police.html
Essex Police under investigation over 'failings' by child abuse unit
Essex Police apologise to alleged victims of child abuse after 'uncovering problems' with 30 investigations over a three year period
By Martin Evans, Crime Correspondent 11 Feb 2015
A police force has apologised to alleged child abuse victims after uncovering “concerns” with 30 investigations dating back to the 1960s.
Cases involving 59 victims that were investigated by Essex Police are now being re-examined after various allegations were made against detectives working in one of the force’s child abuse units.
Some detectives have been accused of failing to arrest suspects or carry out thorough investigations, while others have allegedly been dishonest or have lacked integrity while carrying out their duties.
One officer has been suspended and 11 others placed on restricted duties after a decision was made to refer 30 investigations to the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC)....
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/11405598/Essex-Police-apologises-to-child-abuse-victims-after-its-revealed-30-investigations-were-flawed.html
Complaints have been made about the late Pc Hassan Ali alleging he was unwilling to pursue claims of exploitation
By Telegraph reporter 09 Feb 2015
A child abuse lawyer has revealed more damning evidence could emerge in the Rotherham scandal that shows a link between police and perpetrators.
David Greenwood, of Switalskis Solicitors, represents 38 of the 1,400 children found to have been sexually exploited in the South Yorkshire town.
He revealed that two of them asked him to make official complaints about Pc Hassan Ali - who died in hospital this week following a collision with a car - alleging he was unwilling to pursue their claims of exploitation.
Mr Greenwood said the officer's death would not be the end of the matter, and the wider scandal "is not going away".
He said: "I'm pretty certain it will be bigger than it is even now.
"I think that evidence will emerge of links between perpetrators and police. It may be there was, as I have said, an unofficial policy of not pursuing these complaints....
The National Crime Agency is leading the investigation into child sexual exploitation in Rotherham.
Earlier this month, a police officer and two councillors in the town were accused of having sex with underage girls.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/11399556/Rotherham-abuse-lawyer-More-evidence-will-link-perpetrators-to-police.html
Essex Police under investigation over 'failings' by child abuse unit
Essex Police apologise to alleged victims of child abuse after 'uncovering problems' with 30 investigations over a three year period
By Martin Evans, Crime Correspondent 11 Feb 2015
A police force has apologised to alleged child abuse victims after uncovering “concerns” with 30 investigations dating back to the 1960s.
Cases involving 59 victims that were investigated by Essex Police are now being re-examined after various allegations were made against detectives working in one of the force’s child abuse units.
Some detectives have been accused of failing to arrest suspects or carry out thorough investigations, while others have allegedly been dishonest or have lacked integrity while carrying out their duties.
One officer has been suspended and 11 others placed on restricted duties after a decision was made to refer 30 investigations to the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC)....
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/11405598/Essex-Police-apologises-to-child-abuse-victims-after-its-revealed-30-investigations-were-flawed.html
Tuesday, February 10, 2015
Rotherham abuse: Researcher's warning 'ignored in 2002', Child abuse royal commission: Rabbi Yosef Feldman resigns as director of Yeshiva centre
Rotherham abuse: Researcher's warning 'ignored in 2002'
By Alison Holt Social Affairs Correspondent, BBC News 9 February 2015
A former Home Office researcher says a bullying culture at Rotherham Council led to her warnings of child sexual exploitation being suppressed in 2002, years before action was finally taken.
A report this month by government official Louise Casey concluded the council was not "fit for purpose".
The way many in the authority denied a 2014 finding children were exploited between 1997 and 2013 was criticised.
The council says it is investigating researcher Adele Gladman's claims.
At the time of the claims, Ms Gladman was undertaking research for a Home Office pilot. But she found her findings about the scale of sexual exploitation in Rotherham were also met with denial....
Ms Gladman was based at Rotherham Council when she carried out the work for the Home Office.
She describes being subjected to bullying and intimidation after her research found a small number of men, mainly of Pakistani heritage, were sexually exploiting a significant number of young people.
She says the council sent her on race awareness training and effectively suppressed her report.
"I had every aspect of my professionalism questioned," she said.
"I had every aspect of my work questioned. I had data removed over a weekend so that I couldn't substantiate my findings. Fortunately I had made copies."
She says the bullying she faced went beyond the local authority and remembers a police officer approaching her outside her office.
"He and a colleague said words along the lines of 'Wouldn't it be a shame if these perpetrators found out where you and your family lived'.
"And I took that as a direct threat to my personal safety. The message was very clear."....
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-31327781
Child abuse royal commission: Rabbi Yosef Feldman resigns as director of Yeshiva centre
Tue 10 Feb 2015
Rabbi Feldman called for leniency for paedophiles who had been treated and had not offended for decades during his testimony. (ABC News)
The director of the ultra-orthodox Jewish Yeshiva centre in Sydney has resigned after last week telling a royal commission hearing he did not know it was a crime for an adult to touch a child's genitals.
Rabbi Yosef Feldman's evidence at a Melbourne hearing of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse was widely criticised by Australia's broader Jewish community.
In a statement, Rabbi Feldman apologised for the comments he made to the royal commission and said he would step down from all responsibilities as the director on the board of management at Yeshiva....
During the royal commission hearing, Rabbi Feldman said not all abuse cases should be referred to police and that paedophiles should be granted leniency.
"I would be asking for more leniency on people who have shown that they haven't offended in the last 20 years or decades ago, and have psychological analyses that this is the case," he said on Monday....
Vic Alhadeff from the New South Wales Jewish Board of Deputies said Rabbi Feldman was unfit to be a leader in the Jewish community.
"The remarks which have come to light are repugnant to Jewish values. They are not representative of the Jewish community," he said....
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-02-11/rabbi-yosef-feldman-resigns-after-royal-commission-evidence/6085654
By Alison Holt Social Affairs Correspondent, BBC News 9 February 2015
A former Home Office researcher says a bullying culture at Rotherham Council led to her warnings of child sexual exploitation being suppressed in 2002, years before action was finally taken.
A report this month by government official Louise Casey concluded the council was not "fit for purpose".
The way many in the authority denied a 2014 finding children were exploited between 1997 and 2013 was criticised.
The council says it is investigating researcher Adele Gladman's claims.
At the time of the claims, Ms Gladman was undertaking research for a Home Office pilot. But she found her findings about the scale of sexual exploitation in Rotherham were also met with denial....
Ms Gladman was based at Rotherham Council when she carried out the work for the Home Office.
She describes being subjected to bullying and intimidation after her research found a small number of men, mainly of Pakistani heritage, were sexually exploiting a significant number of young people.
She says the council sent her on race awareness training and effectively suppressed her report.
"I had every aspect of my professionalism questioned," she said.
"I had every aspect of my work questioned. I had data removed over a weekend so that I couldn't substantiate my findings. Fortunately I had made copies."
She says the bullying she faced went beyond the local authority and remembers a police officer approaching her outside her office.
"He and a colleague said words along the lines of 'Wouldn't it be a shame if these perpetrators found out where you and your family lived'.
"And I took that as a direct threat to my personal safety. The message was very clear."....
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-31327781
Child abuse royal commission: Rabbi Yosef Feldman resigns as director of Yeshiva centre
Tue 10 Feb 2015
Rabbi Feldman called for leniency for paedophiles who had been treated and had not offended for decades during his testimony. (ABC News)
The director of the ultra-orthodox Jewish Yeshiva centre in Sydney has resigned after last week telling a royal commission hearing he did not know it was a crime for an adult to touch a child's genitals.
Rabbi Yosef Feldman's evidence at a Melbourne hearing of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse was widely criticised by Australia's broader Jewish community.
In a statement, Rabbi Feldman apologised for the comments he made to the royal commission and said he would step down from all responsibilities as the director on the board of management at Yeshiva....
During the royal commission hearing, Rabbi Feldman said not all abuse cases should be referred to police and that paedophiles should be granted leniency.
"I would be asking for more leniency on people who have shown that they haven't offended in the last 20 years or decades ago, and have psychological analyses that this is the case," he said on Monday....
Vic Alhadeff from the New South Wales Jewish Board of Deputies said Rabbi Feldman was unfit to be a leader in the Jewish community.
"The remarks which have come to light are repugnant to Jewish values. They are not representative of the Jewish community," he said....
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-02-11/rabbi-yosef-feldman-resigns-after-royal-commission-evidence/6085654
Virginia Roberts claims FBI has videos of her having underage sex with Jeffrey Epstein and 'powerful friends'
Virginia Roberts claims FBI has videos of her having underage sex with Jeffrey Epstein and 'powerful friends'
Ms Roberts also claims she feared for her life during the allegedly abusive 'sexual activities I was forced to endure' Adam Withnall Sunday 08 February 2015
The woman at the centre of the underage sex allegations against Prince Andrew has said she believes the FBI holds video evidence of her having sex with Jeffrey Epstein and “some of his powerful friends”.
In a sworn statement in the US courts, Virginia Roberts revealed this week that she believes Epstein “maintained videos in some rooms where I had sex with other powerful people” – and that “some kind of major cover-up is going on to protect” the billionaire financier.
Now 31 years old, Ms Roberts has claimed that when she was 17 she was forced to have sex with Epstein and a number of his friends while she was his “sex slave”. The age of consent is 18 in Florida, where two unnamed women are petitioning for Epstein to be prosecuted.
Among the friends and associates she claims to have had sex with is Prince Andrew. She said she had sex three times with the prince while she was aged 17.
Prince Andrew and Buckingham Palace have stridently and repeatedly denied the claims....
Epstein’s lawyers have repeatedly denied Ms Roberts’ claims, and did so again in a recent filing....
The financier was convicted in 2008 of one count of soliciting sex from an underage girl and sentenced to 18 months in jail.
Mr Epstein only served 13 months in jail before before being released and forced to register as a sex offender. It has been alleged that Mr Epstein received special treatment from US prosecutor after lobbying from Prince Andrew, something Buckingham Palace has also denied. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/prince-andrew-sex-allegations-virginia-roberts-claims-fbi-has-videos-of-her-underage-sex-with-jeffrey-epstein-and-powerful-friends-10031803.html
Ms Roberts also claims she feared for her life during the allegedly abusive 'sexual activities I was forced to endure' Adam Withnall Sunday 08 February 2015
The woman at the centre of the underage sex allegations against Prince Andrew has said she believes the FBI holds video evidence of her having sex with Jeffrey Epstein and “some of his powerful friends”.
In a sworn statement in the US courts, Virginia Roberts revealed this week that she believes Epstein “maintained videos in some rooms where I had sex with other powerful people” – and that “some kind of major cover-up is going on to protect” the billionaire financier.
Now 31 years old, Ms Roberts has claimed that when she was 17 she was forced to have sex with Epstein and a number of his friends while she was his “sex slave”. The age of consent is 18 in Florida, where two unnamed women are petitioning for Epstein to be prosecuted.
Among the friends and associates she claims to have had sex with is Prince Andrew. She said she had sex three times with the prince while she was aged 17.
Prince Andrew and Buckingham Palace have stridently and repeatedly denied the claims....
Epstein’s lawyers have repeatedly denied Ms Roberts’ claims, and did so again in a recent filing....
The financier was convicted in 2008 of one count of soliciting sex from an underage girl and sentenced to 18 months in jail.
Mr Epstein only served 13 months in jail before before being released and forced to register as a sex offender. It has been alleged that Mr Epstein received special treatment from US prosecutor after lobbying from Prince Andrew, something Buckingham Palace has also denied. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/prince-andrew-sex-allegations-virginia-roberts-claims-fbi-has-videos-of-her-underage-sex-with-jeffrey-epstein-and-powerful-friends-10031803.html
Sunday, February 8, 2015
New accuser emerges as Cosby cancels shows in Boston
New accuser emerges as Cosby cancels shows in Boston
Feb 8th 2015
BOSTON (AP) - A former fashion model and actress who appeared on one episode of "The Cosby Show" in 1987 is the latest of several women to accuse Bill Cosby of making unwanted sexual advances toward them.
Helen Gumpel, formerly known as Helen Selby, said Sunday that Cosby made sexual advances and lewd gestures toward her while she was on the set of the show.
She said she was called to the show's set for what she thought was another audition shortly after filming the one episode....
"I never thought of myself as a victim because I refused his advances," Gumpel said. "But my career was a victim."
A Cosby spokesman did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment. The 77-year-old entertainer faces sexual assault accusations from at least 15 women. He denies the allegations and has never been charged with a crime....
http://www.aol.com/article/2015/02/08/new-accuser-emerges-bill-cosby-cancels-shows-in-boston/21140358/
Feb 8th 2015
BOSTON (AP) - A former fashion model and actress who appeared on one episode of "The Cosby Show" in 1987 is the latest of several women to accuse Bill Cosby of making unwanted sexual advances toward them.
Helen Gumpel, formerly known as Helen Selby, said Sunday that Cosby made sexual advances and lewd gestures toward her while she was on the set of the show.
She said she was called to the show's set for what she thought was another audition shortly after filming the one episode....
"I never thought of myself as a victim because I refused his advances," Gumpel said. "But my career was a victim."
A Cosby spokesman did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment. The 77-year-old entertainer faces sexual assault accusations from at least 15 women. He denies the allegations and has never been charged with a crime....
http://www.aol.com/article/2015/02/08/new-accuser-emerges-bill-cosby-cancels-shows-in-boston/21140358/
Thursday, February 5, 2015
Gary Glitter, former British pop star, convicted of child sex abuse, Rape and prostitution probe: 20 Tyneside men charged
Gary Glitter, former British pop star, convicted of child sex abuse
Gary Glitter — who is now 70 years old — could spend the rest of his life in prison. A London jury found him guilty of six crimes: one count of attempted rape, four counts of indecent assault and one count of unlawful sex with a girl under the age of 13, which carries a life sentence.
BY Meg Wagner NEW YORK DAILY NEWS Thursday, February 5, 2015
Former British glam rocker Gary Glitter was found guilty of sexually abusing against three young girls between 1975 and 1980.
The "Do You Wanna Touch Me?" singer — who is now 70 years old — could spend the rest of his life in prison, the Guardian reported....
The singer was first arrested in October 2012, the first in a series of arrests under Operation Yewtree, a national child abuse scandal investigation.
The one-time pop star was charged in June following a 20-month investigation. One of his victims was 8 years old when he tried to rape her in 1975. Two more were girls were 12 and 14 when he attacked. Some of the girls were his fans.
Glitter was cleared of three charges: two counts of indecent assault and one count of administering a drug to facilitate sexual intercourse. Still, the six other convictions could carry hefty prison time. The unlawful sex charge carries a life sentence....
The crimes sat unpunished for 40 years because of the "immunity of fame", prosecutors said....
His career peaked in the early 1970s. He is best known for "Rock & Roll (Part 2)," a hit in both the United States and Britain. He fell into disgrace after being convicted and imprisoned on child abuse charges in Vietnam.
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/gary-glitter-pop-star-convicted-child-sex-abuse-article-1.2104387
Gary Glitter found guilty of child sex offences
Singer convicted of string of offences in 1970s and 1980s, including attempted rape of an eight-year-old child
Karen McVeigh Thursday 5 February 2015
Former Glam rock star Gary Glitter faces spending the remainder of his life in prison after being found guilty of a series of child sex offences on three young girls, aged between 8 and 13.
A jury of five men and seven women took two days to convict the flamboyant star, now 70, of six offences, committed in the 1970’s and 1980’s, including the attempted rape of an eight-year-old child and having unlawful sex with a 12-year-old girl, a charge which carries a life sentence.
Judge Alistair McCreath told him: “In light of verdicts, I am remanding him in custody.”
Glitter was cleared of two counts of indecent assault and one count of administering a drug or other thing in order to facilitate sexual intercourse. He will be sentenced on 27 February....
His predatory sexual offences against his child victims, including fans that helped propel him to stardom, went unpunished for 40 years because of the “immunity of fame”, the prosecution said during the trial.
However, that vanished after the singer’s fall from grace when he was found to have a “voracious” appetite for child abuse images. He was convicted in 1999 of building up a library of 4,000 such images, some involving children as young as two....
The jury did not hear about Gadd’s 2006 conviction and three-year prison sentence for molesting two girls aged 11 and 12, because it occurred in a Vietnam court, outside the jurisdiction of the UK....
His first victim, who first went to police in 1998, has faced a long wait for justice. A court decided that it was not at that time possible to try him for on charges related to her allegations.
Gadd was also tried in 1999 over the alleged sexual assault of a fourth teenage fan, a former girlfriend who said they began a sexual relationship when she was 14. He was acquitted after a controversial summing up, which drew complaints from children’s groups, in which the judge told the jury: “Some 14-year-olds look like sophisticated young ladies, a nightmare for many publicans.”....
http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/feb/05/gary-glitter-guilty-child-sex-offences
Rape and prostitution probe: 20 Tyneside men charged
5 February 2015
A huge investigation into sexual crimes against women and girls as young as 13 has resulted in 20 men being charged.
More than 100 potential victims have been interviewed as part of Northumbria Police's Operation Sanctuary.
Nineteen men appeared at Mid and South East Northumberland Magistrates' Court.
The charges brought include rape, arranging child prostitution, sex trafficking, sexual assault, supplying class A drugs and false imprisonment, relating to 12 women and girls....
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tyne-31151445
Northumbria Police have charged 20 people with sexual offences as part of Operation Sanctuary
5 February 2015 By Adam Luke
Northumbria Police Deputy Chief Constable Steve Ashman says it's the largest number of charges that they have placed before a court
Twenty more people have been charged with sexual offences as part of police’s Operation Sanctuary probe.
The charges follow the 13-month investigation into allegations of offences committed against vulnerable women and girls across the North East.
So far, 31 people have been charged as part of the operation and the latest charges relate to 12 victims, aged between 13 and 25....
“To date, this part of the investigation has involved speaking to over 100 potential complainants, a dozen of whom have been identified as victims in relation to today’s charges....
http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-east-news/northumbria-police-charged-20-people-8587632
Wednesday, February 4, 2015
Britain Condemns Leaders in Town of Rotherham for Ignoring Reports of Child Abuse
Britain Condemns Leaders in Town of Rotherham for Ignoring Reports of Child Abuse
By STEVEN ERLANGER FEB. 4, 2015
LONDON — The British government on Wednesday severely criticized legislators in the northern English town of Rotherham for a culture of “complete denial” that led to a long-running ring involving the sexual abuse of up to 1,400 children from 1997 to 2013.
A report into the scandal by a senior official at Britain’s Department for Communities and Local Government found a deep-rooted culture of cover-ups and bullying, and grounds for possible criminal indictments.
The Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council leader, Paul Lakin, has resigned, and the council’s cabinet is also set to resign. Earlier, Shaun Wright, the police and crime commissioner of South Yorkshire, stepped down over the scandal.
The work of the council will be given to five commissioners appointed by the British government, which will call early elections in Rotherham next year to choose a new council.
“This inspection revealed past and present failures to accept, understand and combat the issue of child sexual exploitation, resulting in a lack of support for victims and insufficient action against known perpetrators,” the report said.....
To address another child abuse scandal, Home Secretary Theresa May appointed a New Zealand High Court judge on Wednesday to lead an inquiry into allegations of sexual abuse of children by powerful figures in British society that date from the 1970s....
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/05/world/europe/britain-child-abuse-scandal-rotherham-city-council.html
Spoken-Word Artist Captures Pain and Fear of Child Abuse Kelsey Timmerman Co-authored by J.R. Jamison
02/04/2015
Taking a story someone has lived and translating it into a story you write -- as if you were them -- is not for the faint of heart, especially when that story is about child abuse, prostitution, and sex trafficking....
Yewande was the artistic director for Facing Sex Trafficking: Atlanta's Dirty Little Secret. She wrote and performed this first-person story of Kasey McClure who suffered years of sexual abuse from her father before she left home and fell into the trap of the sex industry....
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kelsey-timmerman/spokenword-artist-capture_b_6607344.html
By STEVEN ERLANGER FEB. 4, 2015
LONDON — The British government on Wednesday severely criticized legislators in the northern English town of Rotherham for a culture of “complete denial” that led to a long-running ring involving the sexual abuse of up to 1,400 children from 1997 to 2013.
A report into the scandal by a senior official at Britain’s Department for Communities and Local Government found a deep-rooted culture of cover-ups and bullying, and grounds for possible criminal indictments.
The Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council leader, Paul Lakin, has resigned, and the council’s cabinet is also set to resign. Earlier, Shaun Wright, the police and crime commissioner of South Yorkshire, stepped down over the scandal.
The work of the council will be given to five commissioners appointed by the British government, which will call early elections in Rotherham next year to choose a new council.
“This inspection revealed past and present failures to accept, understand and combat the issue of child sexual exploitation, resulting in a lack of support for victims and insufficient action against known perpetrators,” the report said.....
To address another child abuse scandal, Home Secretary Theresa May appointed a New Zealand High Court judge on Wednesday to lead an inquiry into allegations of sexual abuse of children by powerful figures in British society that date from the 1970s....
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/05/world/europe/britain-child-abuse-scandal-rotherham-city-council.html
Spoken-Word Artist Captures Pain and Fear of Child Abuse Kelsey Timmerman Co-authored by J.R. Jamison
02/04/2015
Taking a story someone has lived and translating it into a story you write -- as if you were them -- is not for the faint of heart, especially when that story is about child abuse, prostitution, and sex trafficking....
Yewande was the artistic director for Facing Sex Trafficking: Atlanta's Dirty Little Secret. She wrote and performed this first-person story of Kasey McClure who suffered years of sexual abuse from her father before she left home and fell into the trap of the sex industry....
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kelsey-timmerman/spokenword-artist-capture_b_6607344.html
Monday, February 2, 2015
US Government trying to block Prince Andrew's alleged 'sex slave' from Jeffrey Epstein case, Images of child abuse found in Vatican City
US Government trying to block Prince Andrew's alleged 'sex slave' from Jeffrey Epstein case Monday, 2 February 2015 - Washington ANI
US Government is trying to bar Prince Andrew's alleged 'sex slave' Virginia Roberts from Jeffrey Epstein lawsuit case with a new filing.
On January 30, the government filed the declaration of FBI Special Agent Timothy R Slater, who joined the investigation of Epstein in 2006, Radaronline.com reported. It was noted in the declaration that sometime during January – February 2007 Slater called Roberts and told about the investigation of Epstein but she quickly became uncomfortable and expressed her desire to let everything in the past and demanded to not be bothered about this again.
So now the government has been trying to prevent her from having any say in the ongoing civil suit. Sources have revealed that they are filling this evidence in order to do everything they could do to prevent the release of documents about what really went on relating to Epstein's plea deal....
http://www.dnaindia.com/world/report-us-government-trying-to-block-prince-andrew-s-alleged-sex-slave-from-jeffrey-epstein-case-2057560
Woman's Claims About Prince Andrew, Others Reignite Sex Case
MIAMI — Feb 2, 2015 By CURT ANDERSON AP Legal Affairs Writer
First came the allegations late last year that Britain's Prince Andrew and a prominent American lawyer took part in a wealthy sex offender's abuse of teenage girls aboard private jets, in luxury homes and on the financier's Caribbean island.
The story, part of a long-running U.S. legal fight focused on the rights of the women, gained steam when Buckingham Palace took the unusual step of issuing a carefully worded denial of the kind of salacious claims that royal officials rarely acknowledge. Defense attorney Alan Dershowitz, who represented the highly connected Jeffrey Epstein and was himself named in the latest court filings, then called the most outspoken of the four women a serial liar and practically dared her to prove her accounts.
Instead of letting the case play out from there, the woman known as Jane Doe No. 3 hit back with a 23-page affidavit detailing dates, locations and more about the powerful men she says Epstein forced her and the others to satisfy.
More than six years after Epstein pleaded guilty to Florida charges involving sex with underage girls, the case has erupted anew....
Dershowitz has accused Jane Doe No. 3 of making up most or all of her claims, including a story about seeing Clinton on Epstein's island years ago.
Jane Doe No. 3 and three others who say Epstein victimized them want a federal judge to make public and throw out the part of Epstein's plea deal that guaranteed that neither he nor any co-conspirators would face federal charges. Federal prosecutors oppose the request, contending they did their best to confer with the victims but that the women aren't entitled to details of the plea negotiations....
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/womans-claims-prince-andrew-reignite-sex-case-28657678
Images of child abuse found in Vatican City
Holy See’s prosecutor general says two cases involving indecent material came to light last year, along with other crimes Rosie Scammell in Rome Sunday 1 February 2015
Two cases of child pornography possession were uncovered within the walls of the Vatican last year, along with numerous other crimes in the city state, the Holy See’s prosecutor general has announced.
Following worldwide allegations of sex abuse by priests, Gian Piero Milano, the Holy See’s Promoter of Justice, said the Vatican was now taking action against paedophilia in the heart of the Catholic church.
Unveiling the Vatican’s justice report, Milano stopped short of naming those accused of possessing child pornography. Holy See spokesman Federico Lombardi however identified Josef Wesolowski, a disgraced former ambassador, as one of the people facing charges.
Wesolowski was stripped of his diplomatic immunity last year following accusations that he abused young boys during his time as envoy to the Dominican Republic. The Polish former archbishop is currently awaiting trial at the Vatican, in what will be the first sex abuse trial ever held at the Holy See....
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/feb/01/images-child-abuse-found-vatican
US Government is trying to bar Prince Andrew's alleged 'sex slave' Virginia Roberts from Jeffrey Epstein lawsuit case with a new filing.
On January 30, the government filed the declaration of FBI Special Agent Timothy R Slater, who joined the investigation of Epstein in 2006, Radaronline.com reported. It was noted in the declaration that sometime during January – February 2007 Slater called Roberts and told about the investigation of Epstein but she quickly became uncomfortable and expressed her desire to let everything in the past and demanded to not be bothered about this again.
So now the government has been trying to prevent her from having any say in the ongoing civil suit. Sources have revealed that they are filling this evidence in order to do everything they could do to prevent the release of documents about what really went on relating to Epstein's plea deal....
http://www.dnaindia.com/world/report-us-government-trying-to-block-prince-andrew-s-alleged-sex-slave-from-jeffrey-epstein-case-2057560
Woman's Claims About Prince Andrew, Others Reignite Sex Case
MIAMI — Feb 2, 2015 By CURT ANDERSON AP Legal Affairs Writer
First came the allegations late last year that Britain's Prince Andrew and a prominent American lawyer took part in a wealthy sex offender's abuse of teenage girls aboard private jets, in luxury homes and on the financier's Caribbean island.
The story, part of a long-running U.S. legal fight focused on the rights of the women, gained steam when Buckingham Palace took the unusual step of issuing a carefully worded denial of the kind of salacious claims that royal officials rarely acknowledge. Defense attorney Alan Dershowitz, who represented the highly connected Jeffrey Epstein and was himself named in the latest court filings, then called the most outspoken of the four women a serial liar and practically dared her to prove her accounts.
Instead of letting the case play out from there, the woman known as Jane Doe No. 3 hit back with a 23-page affidavit detailing dates, locations and more about the powerful men she says Epstein forced her and the others to satisfy.
More than six years after Epstein pleaded guilty to Florida charges involving sex with underage girls, the case has erupted anew....
Dershowitz has accused Jane Doe No. 3 of making up most or all of her claims, including a story about seeing Clinton on Epstein's island years ago.
Jane Doe No. 3 and three others who say Epstein victimized them want a federal judge to make public and throw out the part of Epstein's plea deal that guaranteed that neither he nor any co-conspirators would face federal charges. Federal prosecutors oppose the request, contending they did their best to confer with the victims but that the women aren't entitled to details of the plea negotiations....
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/womans-claims-prince-andrew-reignite-sex-case-28657678
Images of child abuse found in Vatican City
Holy See’s prosecutor general says two cases involving indecent material came to light last year, along with other crimes Rosie Scammell in Rome Sunday 1 February 2015
Two cases of child pornography possession were uncovered within the walls of the Vatican last year, along with numerous other crimes in the city state, the Holy See’s prosecutor general has announced.
Following worldwide allegations of sex abuse by priests, Gian Piero Milano, the Holy See’s Promoter of Justice, said the Vatican was now taking action against paedophilia in the heart of the Catholic church.
Unveiling the Vatican’s justice report, Milano stopped short of naming those accused of possessing child pornography. Holy See spokesman Federico Lombardi however identified Josef Wesolowski, a disgraced former ambassador, as one of the people facing charges.
Wesolowski was stripped of his diplomatic immunity last year following accusations that he abused young boys during his time as envoy to the Dominican Republic. The Polish former archbishop is currently awaiting trial at the Vatican, in what will be the first sex abuse trial ever held at the Holy See....
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/feb/01/images-child-abuse-found-vatican
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