Monday, October 5, 2015

Royal Commission into Child Abuse to examine Salvation Army homes, Jehovah's Witnesses child abuse victims 'may never see justice' , may be occult ritual slaying, Ex-priest later admitted he abused at least 14 boys

- Royal Commission into Child Abuse begins hearings in Adelaide to examine Salvation Army homes
"years of abuse they suffered at the hands of Salvation Army members"

- Jehovah's Witnesses child abuse victims 'may never see justice'
"she expected there to be hundreds of "silent" victims within the church in the UK due to the two-witness rule"

- High court refuses appeal from killer in slaying of boy, 12
"may have been an occult ritual slaying"

- Ex-priest jailed in abuse scandal has been set free - Ronald Paquin
"later admitted to medical evaluators that he abused at least 14 boys"

Royal Commission into Child Abuse begins hearings in Adelaide to examine Salvation Army homes

The Advertiser  October 06, 2015

CHILD sex abuse victims at Salvation Army homes were physically beaten or further sexually abused if they reported crimes against them, the Royal Commission into Institutional Child Sexual Abuse has heard.

Opening the 33rd public hearing of the national commission in Adelaide, counsel assisting Sophie David SC, said the hearing would examine abuse at four Salvation Army homes in South Australia, Victoria and Western Australia between 1940 and 1980.

Three former residents of Eden Park Boys’ Home in the Adelaide Hills will tell the commission of years of abuse they suffered at the hands of Salvation Army members including Sergeant William John Keith Ellis.

Ms David said Eden Park employees were reported as far back as 1940, when a staff member was jailed for indecent conduct against three boys.

Despite subsequent allegations in the 1950s and 1960s, Eden Park was allowed to continue to house wards of the state, mainly young boys.

“We expect the survivor evidence and documentary evidence to show that child sexual abuse was widespread, unchecked and flourished over a long period of time at the Salvation Army institutions,” Ms David said....

The royal commission into child sexual abuse in Adelaide has heard over 20 perpetrators have been identified at Salvation Army run homes....
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/royal-commission-into-child-abuse-begins-hearings-in-adelaide-to-examine-salvation-army-homes/story-e6frg6n6-1227558598417


Jehovah's Witnesses child abuse victims 'may never see justice' STV  5 October 2015
Victims of child abuse by the Jehovah's Witnesses may never see the perpetrators brought to justice unless the government closes a loophole allowing criminals to evade justice, campaigners have warned.

The UK Government has been asked to introduce mandatory reporting to police whenever an allegation of child sex abuse is made within the faith group.

Currently, the organisation’s "two-witness rule" means it deals with allegations of abuse internally and only investigates if the claims are corroborated by a second testimony - something lawyers say is unlikely given that many victims are abused in private.

Concern over the number of "hidden" victims has prompted campaigners to hand a letter to Downing Street calling on the government to take action....

The call comes after a landmark case in which a woman abused as a child by a Jehovah's Witness minister won £275,000 damages at the high court.

Kathleen Hallisey, senior solicitor with London-based AO Advocates, who represented the woman in court, said the Royal Commission investigation into institutional child sexual abuse in Australia revealed thousands of victims and said she expected there to be hundreds of "silent" victims within the church in the UK due to the two-witness rule....
http://news.stv.tv/scotland/1330094-jehovahs-witnesses-child-abuse-victims-may-never-see-justice/


High court refuses appeal from killer in slaying of boy, 12

Monday, October 5, 2015 Associated Press 

HOUSTON (AP) — The U.S. Supreme Court has refused an appeal from a 38-year-old man on Texas death row for the 1998 fatal beating and robbery of a 12-year-old Rio Grande Valley boy in what authorities said may have been an occult ritual slaying.

The high court on Monday rejected the case of Pablo Vasquez, who was convicted and condemned for the slaying of David Cardenas.

Cardenas went missing after attending a party attended by Vasquez and a 15-year-cousin. When his body was found in a field in Donna, authorities said the boy had been scalped and mutilated.

Evidence at Vasquez's trial showed he acknowledged killing the boy and drinking his blood.

Vasquez's cousin, Andy Chapa, is serving a 35-year prison term for his involvement.

Vasquez doesn't yet have an execution date.
http://www.theeagle.com/news/texas/high-court-refuses-appeal-from-killer-in-slaying-of-boy/article_a3d5143e-9cb4-5653-8a9a-5632514af588.html



Ex-priest jailed in abuse scandal has been set free
By Travis Andersen and John R. Ellement Globe Staff  October 02, 2015

A former Catholic priest in Haverhill and Methuen who was a prominent figure in the clergy sex abuse scandal and who psychologists say admitted to molesting at least 14 boys was released Friday from state custody, officials said.

Ronald H. Paquin, 72, was freed after the two medical specialists determined he does not currently meet the legal criteria for sexual dangerousness, despite his history, the officials said....

Paquin pleaded guilty in Essex Superior Court in 2002 to charges that he repeatedly raped a Haverhill altar boy between 1989 and 1992, beginning when the victim was 12. Paquin was defrocked in 2004 and removed from his active ministry years earlier....

Paquin was a key figure in the Boston Globe Spotlight Team investigative series that exposed the clergy sex-abuse scandal. The newspaper reported in 2002 that the Boston Archdiocese moved Paquin from a Methuen parish to a Haverhill church in 1981, apparently after learning about molestation allegations that were made against him.

In 2002, Paquin told the Globe that he “fooled around” with boys, but “never raped anyone and I never felt gratified myself.”

He later admitted to medical evaluators that he abused at least 14 boys and said he was also abused as a child, first by other youths and later by a priest, according to legal filings. He was convicted criminally only in the Haverhill altar boy case....

One Haverhill teenager who was an alleged victim, James M. Francis, was killed in 1981 when he was riding in a car Paquin was driving that rolled over in New Hampshire.

Paquin was accused in a lawsuit of driving impaired during the accident and molesting Francis hours earlier, charges he denied....
https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2015/10/02/ronald-paquin-former-catholic-priest-center-abuse-scandal-boston-archdiocese-freed/TOBVQCjIHLHGeFL60Yj26J/story.html 

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