Rotherham child sexual abuse: Gang of seven guilty, Church defectors reveal video of ritualistic violence

 - Rotherham child sexual abuse: Gang of seven guilty

"Seven men have been found guilty of grooming and exploiting young girls, including one who was sexually abused by "at least 100 Asian men" before the age of 16."

 

- Defectors say former church pastor is a 'cult leader,' but her son fights back  "Church defectors reveal video of ritualistic violence"  Grace Road Church

 

Rotherham child sexual abuse: Gang of seven guilty
29 October 2018

 

Seven men have been found guilty of grooming and exploiting young girls, including one who was sexually abused by "at least 100 Asian men" before the age of 16.

 

Sheffield Crown Court heard how the men targeted and exploited the teenagers before subjecting them to acts of a "degrading and violent nature".

 

They abused five young girls over a seven year period in Rotherham.

The gang were convicted of offences including rape and indecent assault.

One girl described being bitten and raped by two of the men in Sherwood Forest while "high as a kite" on drugs....

 

The convictions are the latest to come out of Operation Stovewood, the National Crime Agency's (NCA) investigation into child sexual exploitation in Rotherham, which has identified more than 1,500 victims....

 

During a trial lasting more than eight weeks the jury heard the men, who are all of British Pakistani heritage, preyed on the girls' vulnerability before they were sexually assaulted and passed on to other men.

 

Prosecutor Michelle Colborne QC said the girls had been "lured by the excitement of friendship with older Asian youths" but were then "targeted, sexualised and in some instances subjected to acts of a degrading and violent nature".

 

She said: "None of them had the maturity to understand that they were being groomed and exploited, often believing that sex of some kind was a necessary price for friendship."....

 

Operation Stovewood is the largest law enforcement investigation into non-familial child sexual exploitation in the UK.

 

It began in 2014 after a report found at least 1,400 children in Rotherham were the victims of abuse between 1997 and 2013.

 

It is run by the NCA, which is working with 296 alleged victims, has identified 151 suspects and is running 22 ongoing investigations.

 

More than 150 officers work on the operation and there are plans to recruit another 100....

 

 

It has led to 14 convictions so far, and 24 more people have been charged with offences.

The court head the men used alcohol, drugs, threats and violence to control the girls....

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-south-yorkshire-45980210

 

 

Defectors say former church pastor is a 'cult leader,' but her son fights back

By Joshua Berlinger and Yoonjung Seo, CNN Mon October 29, 2018

 

Church defectors reveal video of ritualistic violence

 

Seoul, South Korea (CNN)Standing in front of her parish in a bright yellow jacket, Shin Ok-joo holds back tears. Her voice takes on a tone of both anger and sadness.

"How could you behave like this?" she asks her congregation in a video purportedly filmed in South Korea in April last year at the Grace Road Church, where Shin serves as pastor. Soft weeping from people seated in pews intensifies into a chorus of sobs. "Am I your toy? Did I tell you I was your toy? You crazy one!"

Shin leaves her pulpit but remains on the raised platform above her congregation as she approaches a group of people with their heads bowed. With her left hand, she grabs a worshiper in a brown coat by her hair and, with her free hand, slaps the person across the face. The slaps continue, and the crying from the audience grows louder. Shin's emotion is apparent on her face.
After four slaps, the congregant falls to the floor. Shin picks up the woman by the hair and shakes her head violently. By this point, the audience's screams are loud, raw and visceral. Shin yells at her, but what she says is inaudible due to the sobbing.

 

According to Grace Road, this is an example of what the church calls "threshing," a ritual involving church members being slapped and hit as a form of repentance in accordance with Shin's interpretation of the Bible. It symbolizes separating sin from the human body in the same way that grains are removed from crops by threshing.

The woman at the receiving end of Shin's blows had just returned from Fiji, where about 400 members of the church have moved to set up shop. Shin preaches that Fiji is the land chosen by God to be the center of the world and the ideal place to survive an impending great famine, and the church has made significant investments in the country.

Video of this incident was supplied to CNN by Daniel Kim, Shin's son, in an attempt to counter allegations from former congregants of violence against its members.

The footage from Kim was sent a day after three former members of the church revealed 20 minutes worth of footage of particularly violent threshing incidents at a news conference in Seoul Wednesday.

"Shin is a cult leader and the Grace Road Church is a cult," Lee Soon-deok, one of the former members, told the media Wednesday.

"She tells people that she is the only one to rely on, that people can only be saved by her. Shin is an evil woman."

Former church members contend that the threshing ritual is assault -- and South Korean prosecutors have moved to punish Shin for it. She was arrested in July and remains behind bars awaiting trial, charged with forced confinement and physical assault. At the time of Shin's arrest, South Korean authorities said many of congregants in Fiji appeared to have been stripped of their passports upon arrival by senior members of the church....

https://www.cnn.com/2018/10/28/asia/fiji-grace-road-church-intl/index.html

 

 

What's going to happen at first Bill Cosby criminal hearing?, UK: Cult Leader Sentenced to 23 Years for Abuse, Rape

What's going to happen at first Bill Cosby criminal hearing?
Maria Puente, USA TODAY   February 1, 2016
Will the criminal sexual-assault charges against Bill Cosby ever go to trial?  A hint may come Tuesday in a courthouse in Montgomery County, Pa., outside Philadelphia.

Assuming no delay, Cosby faces his first hearing on criminal charges that he hopes to persuade a judge to dismiss.

And some legal analysts say Cosby may succeed.

"I feel that, unfortunately, the current prosecutor has overstepped his bounds," says New York lawyer Jerry Reisman, who's been following the case. "A former prosecutor made a representation on behalf of his office ... that he would not prosecute (Cosby), so unless they can find some new circumstance, such as fraud, I feel that the case should be dismissed."

If that happens, he says, the likelihood of Cosby being tried in this case is probably nil....
http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/people/2016/02/01/whats-going-happen-first-bill-cosby-criminal-hearing/79526974/ 

UK: Cult Leader Sentenced to 23 Years for Abuse, Rape
By The Associated Press LONDON Jan 29, 2016

A cult leader was sentenced to 23 years in prison Friday for raping and sexually assaulting his female followers and keeping his daughter imprisoned in a secretive Maoist commune in London for three decades.

Prosecutors said 75-year-old Aravindan Balakrishnan, known as "Comrade Bala," abused and brainwashed his followers into believing he had God-like powers, ensuring they were too scared to leave the tiny radical communist group he ran in south London.

His victims included two women and his daughter, 33-year-old Katy Morgan-Davies, who was born into the commune and was almost never allowed to go out in 30 years. Describing Balakrishnan as a "narcissist and a psychopath," Morgan-Davies told British media he emulated people including Mao Zedong, Joseph Stalin and Saddam Hussein.

Sentencing Balakrishnan, Judge Deborah Taylor said his treatment of his daughter from her birth to the age of 26 "was a catalog of mental and physical abuse."

"These are grave and serious crimes conducted over a long period of time and you have shown no remorse whatsoever," she said.

Balakrishnan was convicted in December of rape, indecent assault, false imprisonment and cruelty to a child....
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/uk-cult-leader-sentenced-23-years-abuse-rape-36596744 

Rotherham victim's sex abuse claims 'dismissed by police officer', Rotherham sex abuse trial: Arshid Hussain 'had sex with child 100 times'

Rotherham victim's sex abuse claims 'dismissed by police officer'
Court hears that complainant, then aged 12, was accused of lying after telling officer about the abuse

Lisa O'Carroll Tuesday 15 December 2015

A police officer in Rotherham dismissed claims of child sexual abuse by a 12-year-old girl and told her she was lying, Sheffield crown court heard.

The complainant, who is now 31, reported the abuse she suffered to an officer after telling a staff member at the care home where she lived about being assaulted.

In an interview taped by police ahead of the trial and shown to the jury, she said the officer took her out of the home in a car to discuss the matter. He drove her down a country lane and told her she was making up the stories. The complainant said: “He ripped loads of paperwork up and said I was lying.”

He did not take a statement from her and she did not hear from any other police officers afterwards, the court heard. She said she did not know the officer’s name, but he was known by girls at the home as “Kimble the thimble”.

A second complainant in the trial said she had a baby after being raped by two of the defendants at a pub. The woman, now 36, claimed she started being abused, aged 11, at the hands of “Mad Ash”, a man the prosecution say is defendant Arshid Hussain....

Hussain denies having met the woman in person. The 39-year-old, of no fixed abode, denies one rape, five indecent assaults, one count of procuring a girl under 21 to have unlawful sexual intercourse with another, false imprisonment, three counts of indecency with a child, one count of procuring a woman under 21 to become a common prostitute, two assaults occasioning actual bodily harm, and one count of making threats to kill.

All seven defendants in the case deny all 52 counts including rape, indecent assault, conspiracy to rape, false imprisonment and procuring a woman for prostitution or sex with another....
http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/dec/15/rotherham-victims-sex-abuse-claims-dismissed-police-officer

Rotherham sex abuse trial: Arshid Hussain 'had sex with child 100 times'
From the section Sheffield & South Yorkshire   Wednesday 16 December 2015

An alleged victim of child sexual exploitation has said she was forced to have sex with Asian men against her will in houses, a park and churchyard.

The woman, who cannot be named, told Sheffield Crown Court she was given heroin in exchange for sex and beaten up when she tried to leave a house.

The woman said Arshid Hussain, one of seven defendants, had sex with her about 100 times from the age of 11.

All seven defendants deny the range of charges they face in court.

The woman said she was introduced by Mr Hussain to 10 or 11 other men for her to have sex with.
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-south-yorkshire-35115874

Catholic Church saves $62 million on sexual abuse claims, Priest warned police officer to drop investigation or lose job, child abuse hearing told, Lord Janner: Judge rules dementia sufferer is unfit to plead in child sex abuse trial

Catholic Church saves $62 million on sexual abuse claims
The Catholic Church avoided paying up to $62 million in compensation to sexual abuse victims by creating the controversial Melbourne Response program, which capped payments at $50,000 for each victim.
Internal documents also show church leaders ordered written records about sex abuse be "kept to a minimum" to avoid losing lawsuits, and hired one of the country's best spin doctors in a bid to prepare for the scandal in the early 1990s....

In August 1996, Archbishop Pell discussed the idea of creating a special trust to "avoid an open-ended call on funding for counselling fees" for abuse victims, to only days later canvass suggestions of how the church could financially support three paedophile priests set to be released from prison.

Meetings also describe plans for multimillion-dollar property deals and commissioning a new painting of the archbishop, while senior leaders were also expressing concern about "being seen to apply the maximum penalty" against paedophile priests, the protection of church assets and their own exposure to liability in sexual abuse lawsuits.... http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/catholic-church-saves-62-million-on-sexual-abuse-claims-20151205-glgavf.html  

Priest warned police officer to drop investigation or lose job, child abuse hearing told

Father Peter Taffe ‘told officer Denis Ryan he would be out of a job’ if he pursued an investigation into the Mildura parish priest Monsignor John Day

Australian Associated Press  Sunday 6 December 2015 

A Victorian priest warned a police officer to drop his investigation into a colleague over child abuse allegations, an inquiry has heard.

Father Peter Taffe told the police officer he would be out of a job if he pursued an investigation into the Mildura parish priest Monsignor John Day, the child abuse royal commission was told.

Senior counsel assisting the commission, Gail Furness SC, said 140 people had made child sex abuse claims against priests and others in religious orders in the diocese of Ballarat since 1980. Ninety per cent of the claims were against seven priests, including 78 against Gerald Francis Ridsdale and 15 against Day.

Furness said a man had told Mildura assistant priest Taffe in January 1972 his son had been abused by Day. She said Taffe’s first words had been: “I thought he was over all this.”

A former Mildura police officer, Denis Ryan, had already been investigating complaints against Day, she said, and would tell the commission Taffe had warned him in December 1971: “Drop the inquiry into Monsignor Day or you’ll be out of a job.”

Ryan wrote to then Ballarat bishop Ronald Mulkearns setting out allegations from seven complainants. The inquiry was told Mulkearns had said he had been assured police were satisfied there was no substance to the charges, and it was impossible to move Day out of Mildura.

“Any such move would be tantamount to a public declaration that I consider him guilty,” he said....

Furness said Mulkearns had told another Mortlake victim’s mother: “How am I to take the word of a child over one of my priests?” http://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2015/dec/07/priest-warned-police-officer-to-drop-investigation-or-lose-job-child-abuse-hearing-told


Lord Janner: Judge rules dementia sufferer is unfit to plead in child sex abuse trial
Court hearing on 87-year-old peer's mental health is told former Labour grandee is suffering from 'advanced and disabling' dementia

By David Barrett, Home Affairs Correspondent
07 Dec 2015
Lord Janner has been declared unfit to plead in a criminal trial over a range of sex abuse charges dating back 50 years, a senior judge has ruled.

In a hearing at the Old Bailey on the 87-year-old's mental health, Mr Justice Openshaw said the peer was suffering from "advanced and disabling" dementia.

He detailed reports from four leading psychiatrists and psychologists which had been commissioned by both prosecution and defence - all of which agreed the peer's mental health was very poor. Janner did not attend the latest court hearing....

Janner is accused of 15 counts of indecent assault and seven counts of a separate sexual offence against a total of nine alleged victims in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s.

Twenty-one of the offences relate to complainants who were aged 16 or under at the time.... http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/law-and-order/12036837/Lord-Janner-Judge-rules-dementia-sufferer-is-unfit-to-plead-in-child-sex-abuse-trial.html

Former school principal jailed for sexually abusing 14 children, Emotional Child Abuse

Former school principal jailed for sexually abusing 14 children
5 Oct 2015 

A former school principal in Tasmania has been sentenced to six years in prison for sexually abusing 14 children.
The man pleaded guilty earlier this year to 17 counts of indecently assaulting 11 primary school boys during the 1970s and 1980s.

He also pleaded guilty to maintaining a sexual relationship with his step daughter, starting when she was aged 10, and with her brother who was 12.
He also indecently assaulted their younger sister....
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-10-05/former-school-principal-who-sexually-abused-14-children-jailed/6829174


Emotional child abuse may be just as bad as physical harm
By Lisa Rapaport  Mon Oct 19, 2015 

(Reuters Health) - When it comes to psychological and behavioral health, both physical and emotional abuse can be equally damaging to children, a new study suggests.

Even though doctors and parents often believe physical or sexual abuse is more harmful than emotional mistreatment or neglect, the study found children suffered similar problems regardless of the type of maltreatment endured, researchers report in the journal JAMA Psychiatry.

“The abused children had all types of problems, from anxiety and depression to rule-breaking and aggression,” lead study author David Vachon, of McGill University in Montreal, said by email.

His team was surprised, he said, that “different types of abuse had similar consequences; physically abused children and emotionally abused children had very similar problems.”....

Overall, children with a history of abuse and neglect had much higher rates of depression, withdrawal, anxiety, and neuroticism than campers who hadn’t been mistreated.

This difference held true for kids who were victims of all types of abuse, including neglect as well as physical, sexual or emotional mistreatment.

The effect was most profound for children who suffered from all four types of abuse, or from the most severe forms of maltreatment.

Results were similar for boys and girls and across racial groups....
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/10/19/us-health-childabuse-emotional-idUSKCN0SD2C720151019 


Assessment of the Harmful Psychiatric and Behavioral Effects of Different Forms of Child Maltreatment  October 14, 2015  David D. Vachon, PhD; Robert F. Krueger, PhD; Fred A. Rogosch, PhD3; Dante Cicchetti, PhD  
JAMA Psychiatry. Published online October 14, 2015. doi:10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2015.1792

....Taken together with high worldwide prevalence and evidence that emotional and physical pain share a common somatosensory representation in the brain it is clear that emotional abuse is widespread, painful, and destructive.
http://archpsyc.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=2461738

Margaret Thatcher knew about paedophile MP Cyril Smith, awarded a knighthood to him

- Cabinet office in child abuse cover-up: MoS beats attempt by No10 to gag VIP file that shows Thatcher knew about paedophile MP Cyril Smith
- British MP slams ex PM Thatcher for pedophile cover-up
- Cyril Smith: Cabinet Office denies cover-up over files showing Margaret Thatcher knew of sex abuse claims against late MP

Cabinet office in child abuse cover-up: MoS beats attempt by No10 to gag VIP file that shows Thatcher knew about paedophile MP Cyril Smith

    Downing Street tried to block release of files exposing scale of cover-up
    Cabinet Office only caved in after being threatened with High Court Action
    Papers expose how much Establishment knew about Cyril Smith's abuse
    Margaret Thatcher was told police had probed claims he abused teenagers
    She was warned that handing him knighthood risked damaging 'integrity of the honours system' - but went ahead anyway

By Chris Hastings and Martin Beckford for The Mail on Sunday
8 March 2015

Downing Street cynically tried to prevent the release of damaging files exposing the scale of the cover-up over paedophile MP Cyril Smith.

The Cabinet Office repeatedly blocked The Mail on Sunday’s attempts to see the bombshell documents – and caved in only after being threatened with High Court action.

After the shocking year-long fight, we can reveal the content of the papers, which expose just how much the Establishment knew about the late politician’s sexual and physical abuse of young boys.

Nick Clegg and David Cameron, both Ministers in the Cabinet Office, have been accused of ‘colluding’ in the latest cover-up of evidence that could expose VIP paedophile rings.

The secrecy row will also focus attention on Cabinet Secretary Sir Jeremy Heywood, who has become known as ‘Sir Cover-Up’ after blocking the release of dozens of messages exchanged by Tony Blair and George W Bush ahead of the Iraq war.
Following The Mail on Sunday’s victory, it can be revealed for the first time that:

- Margaret Thatcher was personally told that police had investigated claims that Smith indecently assaulted teenage boys in the 1960s.

- Thatcher was explicitly warned that awarding a knighthood to the 29-stone Liberal MP risked damaging the ‘integrity of the honours system’, but went ahead anyway.

- A senior Whitehall mandarin took the ‘exceptional’ step of contacting the country’s top prosecutor and police to find out why Smith was never charged with abusing boys at a hostel he helped run....

Smith was knighted in 1988 as recognition of his service as a councillor, mayor and MP in Rochdale, Lancashire.

After his death at the age of 82 in 2010, Clegg said he was ‘deeply saddened’ by the loss and said everyone in Rochdale knew him ‘as a friend’.

But two years later claims emerged that he repeatedly spanked and sexually abused boys in care homes and hostels, but the authorities saw to it that he was never brought to justice....
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2984529/Cabinet-office-child-abuse-cover-MoS-beats-attempt-No10-gag-VIP-file-shows-Thatcher-knew-paedophile-MP-Cyril-Smith.html

British MP slams ex PM Thatcher for pedophile cover-up
March 08, 2015
Former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher was aware a Liberal MP was suspected of sexually abusing boys but “turned a blind eye” to it. She awarded a knighthood to Cyril Smith, secret documents, released after a yearlong fight for disclosure, reveal.

"There is no doubt about it now, from what we know, that she [Thatcher] turned a blind eye to people who were quite clearly pedophiles. That is absolutely clear,” said Labour MP Simon Danczuk, who exposed Cyril Smith’s abuse in Parliament.

Smith was investigated in 1970, 1988 and in 1999 on suspicion of "indecent assault against teenage boys" in the 1960s.

At the time, the authorities decided there was no reasonable prospect of conviction.

Later, Greater Manchester Police also admitted there had been “overwhelming evidence” Smith abused boys both physically and sexually.

This didn’t change Thatcher’s decision to knight Smith for his services as a counselor, mayor and MP in Rochdale, Lancashire....
http://rt.com/uk/238825-thatcher-ignored-mp-pedophile/

Cyril Smith: Cabinet Office denies cover-up over files showing Margaret Thatcher knew of sex abuse claims against late MP

Dossier on Smith’s knighthood shows the then-PM was aware of paedophile allegations against him – but he went before the Queen regardless    

Adam Withnall   Sunday 08 March 2015

The Government has been accused of trying to suppress a dossier of secret files which reveal that Margaret Thatcher knew about child sex abuse allegations against the MP Cyril Smith – before he was knighted.

The documents, only made public this week after an intervention from the Information Commissioner, include an undated letter marked “secret” warning Ms Thatcher that there was “the risk that such an award could give rise to adverse criticism”.

Smith, who died in 2010, served as the Liberal and later Liberal Democrat MP for Rochdale between 1972 and 1992. He was accused of abusing eight boys in the late 1960s and, though he was not prosecuted at the time, police say procedural changes mean he would be today.

The Cabinet Office last night denied a “cover-up” after releasing the 19-page file following repeated demands from the Mail on Sunday, and said the case was “sensitive and complex”.

Among the letters relating to the decision to knight Smith in 1988, the warning letter from Political Honours Scrutiny Committee member Lord Shackleton spelled out to Ms Thatcher that police had investigated Smith in 1970 for “indecent assault against teenage boys”.

It said that that the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) had decided “there was no reasonable prospect of conviction”....
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/cyril-smith-cabinet-office-denies-coverup-over-files-showing-margaret-thatcher-knew-about-sex-abuse-claims-against-late-mp-10093829.html

Day Care and Child Abuse Cases 
http://ritualabuse.us/ritualabuse/articles/day-care-and-child-abuse-cases/

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

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 

Former British Home Secretary Leon Brittan Death and Child Abuse Allegations, Gary Glitter trial, child abuse images

New Allegations Of Child Abuse Emerge After Former British Home Secretary Leon Brittan's Death  Dina Spector Jan. 26, 2015

Leon Brittan's death last week has reignited claims that the former home secretary was involved in the cover-up of a secret Westminster paedophile ring that operated in the 1970s and 1980s.

Days after Brittan's death, Labour MP Tom Watson said he spoke to several people who allege they were raped by the late politician. One male victim was a child when he was allegedly raped by Brittan.

"Many have urged me over the past two years to reveal allegations against Brittan using parliamentary privilege," Watson told the Mirror. "This allows MPs to say things that are not subject to libel laws. Some will ask why I’ve waited until his death to speak out. The reason is simple. I didn't want to prejudice any jury trial he might one day face."

Brittan's death also underlines how slowly and ineffectually the British police are moving in their investigation of the Westminster child-abuse ring. The prime suspects are literally dying. Former MP Cyril Smith — another accused child abuser — died in 2010. Peter Hayman, the former deputy director of MI6 who was convicted of gross indecency, died in 1992....

Brittan remains the subject of an investigation into the disappearance of a 40-page dossier naming eight senior civil servants and politicians who were allegedly involved in a secret paedophile ring.

In 1983, Brittan was handed a dossier written by conservative MP Geoffrey Dickens while serving as home secretary in Margaret Thatcher's government. Dickens died in 1995. In July last year, Brittan was surrounded by allegations that he failed to properly investigate the claims. Brittan maintained that he handled the documents correctly.

Last year, he told the Daily Mail that he gave the names to the Director of Public Prosecutions.... http://www.businessinsider.com/leon-brittan-death-and-child-abuse-allegations-2015-1

Gary Glitter breaks down in tears over child abuse images  28 January 2015 

Gary Glitter broke down in tears as he explained to jurors why he had been in possession of child abuse images.

Sobbing uncontrollably, the 70-year-old said he had been in a bad place in his life, and was struggling financially, with alcohol and with drugs.

He issued a tearful apology to his fans, saying: "I lost my own dignity, and I am so sorry. I am very sorry."

Glitter, on trial under his real name Paul Gadd, denies 10 charges relating to three girls between 1975 and 1980.

In November 1997, when he went to pick up a Toshiba laptop he had handed to a PC World branch in Bristol, he was arrested, Southwark Crown Court in London heard.

The engineer who examined the machine had discovered images on it related to child abuse.

Mr Gadd subsequently admitted responsibility for a "large number" of images - depicting a full range of sexual activity taking place between men and very young children - being on his computer.

He was jailed for four months in 1999 for the collection of 4,000 images....

I did not try to rape her or any other child."....

He is also charged with four counts of indecent assault on a fan in 1977 at hotels in Leicester and Birmingham when she was aged 12 and 13; plying the same girl with alcohol, and having unlawful sexual intercourse with her.

Two further charges allege he indecently assaulted a girl of 13 on a date between October 1979 and December 1980, in his dressing room at a venue in Watford where he was performing. http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-31015347

Couple accused of abusing a child in 'black magic' case are found guilty of all counts

Couple accused of abusing a child in 'black magic' case are found guilty of all counts  Dec 22, 2014 By David Deans

Carolee Hickman, 64, indecently assaulted a schoolgirl and held her down while her husband Albert John Hickman, 65, raped her

A woman accused of using black magic to abuse a child, and her husband, who raped the child as she held her down, have been found guilty of all charges by a jury at Cardiff Crown Court.
Carolee Hickman, 64, was on trial for indecently assaulting a schoolgirl and holding the victim down while her husband Albert John Hickman, 65, raped her during the 1970s.

She had been accused of grooming and abusing the young schoolgirl when they lived in South Wales at the time, after petrifying her with black magic threats.
The couple, both of the Wheatlands, Baschurch, Shrewsbury, were found guilty on all counts....

“Carolee said she was a witch and would come and get me and would make my mother ill,” the victim said.
“She even said she could kill my mother if she wanted to.
“She had a knife with a jewelled handle kept in a wooden box with carvings on the top.
“She cut my hand and sucked the blood out of it.
“There were tarot cards, she used to tell our fortunes and she even had a black cape.”....

A large number of books on spells and the occult were found when officers arrested the grandmother and her husband at their home in Shropshire.....

Carolee Hickman told police they separated while he was serving 10 years (reduced to eight on appeal), and she five years for child sex offences, which they had been convicted of in 1982 in Northampton....
Mr Hickman was sentenced for five sex offences and Mrs Hickman for indecent assault and for aiding and abetting another man to rape a 14 year old girl as part of a devil worship ritual.
http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/couple-accused-abusing-child-black-8331997

Woman tells court of black magic fears that led to abuse and rape

Woman tells court of black magic fears that led to abuse and rape                             

"The court heard the couple were jailed at Northampton Crown Court in November 1982. Mr Hickman was sentenced to five sex offences and she for indecent assault and for aiding and abetting another man to rape a 14-year-old girl as part of a devil worship ritual."

'She cut my hand and sucked the blood out of it,' woman tells court of black magic fears that led to abuse and rape    
Dec 16, 2014   By Liz Keen

Albert Hickman, 65 and his wife Carolee Hickman have pleaded not guilty to historic charges of rape and sexual abuse dating back 40 years....

A schoolgirl terrified by threats of black magic, made by a woman claiming to be a witch has told a jury how she was sexually abused and raped over and over again.

The alleged victim, now in her 50s, said the horror of what she believes happened to her while at comprehensive school had been buried for 40 years before memories resurfaced.

She told Cardiff Crown Court she went to Carolee Hickman’s Bridgend home while mitching school with friends, aged 11, but was soon being terrified into submission.

“Carolee said she was a witch and would come and get me and would make my mother ill - she even said she could kill my mother if she wanted to,” the alleged victim said.

“She had a knife with a jewelled handle kept in a wooden box with carvings on the top....

“There were tarot cards she used to tell our fortunes and she even had a black cape.”....

Former RAF man Albert Hickman, 65, pleads not guilty to rape....

She said the abuse came back to her bit by bit when she started having counselling following a series of family tragedies, including close bereavements and cancer.

Her counsellor said alarm bells rang for her when the woman talked of a dark cloud hanging over her, not just since the illnesses and deaths as you would expect, but for 40 years.

“I asked about her childhood but she could remember very little”, the counsellor said

“I would ask her to try to think back - it was her choice - but she was so frightened she didn’t want to look there.

“She knew she lived under a black cloud but was petrified of finding out why.”

Eventually she did think back, it was said and the first returning memories were of black magic, pornography and a woman.

“She remembered darkness and suffocating because a man was top of her and a woman was holding her down....
http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/threats-black-magic-led-daily-8299644

Woman accused of using black magic to abuse a child laughed out loud when police asked if she was a witch, court hears Dec 17, 2014  By Liz Keen

Carolee Hickman, 64, denies indecently assaulting a schoolgirl in the 1970s and said she has never seen the girl before....

Carolee Hickman, 64, denies indecently assaulting a schoolgirl and of holding the girl down while her husband Albert John Hickman, 65, raped her in the 1970s....

The court heard she told investigators: “I’ve got books on spells but I wouldn’t know how to do them - I wouldn’t know where to start.

“I had tarot cards too but I didn’t understand them either and a cloak ......and a wand which I bought on eBay. It was just a bit of stick -a right rip off.”

Detective Constable Joanne Lewis told the jury she had found a large number of books on spells and the occult when she arrested the grandmother and her husband, who denies the rape allegation, at home in Shropshire....

She accepted she has an interest in witchcraft but said that had not developed until she left Bridgend and was married for the second time following her divorce from Hickman in 1985.

The court heard the couple were jailed at Northampton Crown Court in November 1982. Mr Hickman was sentenced to five sex offences and she for indecent assault and for aiding and abetting another man to rape a 14-year-old girl as part of a devil worship ritual.

Pornographic material and items used in black magic were seized from that other man’s home....
http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/woman-accused-using-black-magic-8306843

Briton Simon Harris guilty of child sex abuse in Kenya, Is This German Scouting Ritual Child Abuse?

Briton Simon Harris guilty of child sex abuse in Kenya  16 December 2014

The BBC's Phil Mackie: "Harris would drive into the town of Gilgil and offer street children food and money to go home with him"

A British charity boss who preyed on vulnerable Kenyan street children has been found guilty of sexual abuse.

Simon Harris was convicted of eight charges of indecent and sexual assault on youngsters in Gilgil, and four of possessing indecent images of children.

Birmingham Crown Court heard he would lure boys to his house in Kenya by offering them food, shelter and money.

Harris, 55, of Pudleston, near Leominster, Herefordshire was cleared of 10 further charges, including rape....

Before the trial, Harris also admitted six offences of indecent assault against three boys aged between 13 and 14, when he was a teacher at Shebbear College, Devon in the 1980s....

Harris had faced 23 charges in total, including 18 allegations relating to assaults....

The offences in Kenya were committed while Harris was running a gap year charity he set up in the East African country, in the 1990s....

Harris was head of the gap-year charity VAE, which placed British volunteers in Kenyan schools....

It also emerged during the trial Harris had spent 15 months in a British jail for possession of indecent images of children following a 2009 conviction.... http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-30495511

Is This German Scouting Ritual Child Abuse?
Though the country's major scouting associations say the practice of "Pflocken," in which children are tied down, isn't acceptable, the timeworn practice continues.
Markus C. Schulte von Drach (2014-12-16)

MUNICH — It's spring 2014 at a boy scout camp in southern Germany. Younger boys and adolescents are cavorting about, practicing, learning and generally having fun. Then word spreads that a boy named Mark is about to be targeted for "Pflocken," so the boys gather to watch what's about to happen. Mark, who's about 11, has done something wrong, "something bad," and he's going to be punished.

Group leaders set him down on a table and bind his arms and legs, which are spread out. Gummy snake candy is then stuffed into his mouth. "Almost everybody thought it was funny," say some of the kids who were there. But some boys didn't find it funny at all. They may have worried they would face similar treatment one day.

The practice of so-called "Pflocken" usually happens outdoors. Online descriptions and photos confirm that. Four tent pegs are hammered into the ground, and the boy is tied to them with rope. The bound child doesn't know what awaits him, so uncertainty and fear are part of the equation. He's then tickled, body-marked with felt-tip pens and sometimes doused with water. There are stories on the Internet of kids being smeared with honey or leftover food.

How often this goes on is unclear. The Cologne-based Zartbitter association, whose mission is to protect boys and girls from abuse, reported in 2011 that groups used Pflocken either as punishment or as part of an induction ritual....

The three largest scout associations in Germany tell us that the practice is very well-known. In fact, according to Kerstin Fuchs, federal chair of the Catholic Saint George German Scout Association (DPSG), it used to be a timeworn tradition. But the associations all express surprise that the ritual is still happening.... http://www.worldcrunch.com/culture-society/is-this-german-scouting-ritual-child-abuse-/pflocken-bullying-torture-scouts-punishment-violence-controversy/c3s17675/#.VJEHRy7A3uA 

Sandusky’s Son Speaks About Abusive Childhood, Jimmy Savile's former chauffeur 'Ugli' Ray Teret found guilty of seven rapes and 11 indecent assaults

Sandusky’s Son Speaks About Abusive Childhood
December 5, 2014 By Jim Melwert

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — One of the most prominent victims from one of the most prominent sexual abuse cases in recent memory was a keynote speaker today at a conference on investigating child sex abuse.

Matt Sandusky, the adopted son of Jerry Sandusky, and also one his many victims, shared his story with a group of hundreds — prosecutors, investigators, social workers, and therapists....

He also talked about how hard it was for him to coming forward, knowing he’d lose his adoptive family, and the anger directed at him and his children.
http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2014/12/05/sanduskys-son-speaks-on-abusive-childhood/


Sandusky's adopted son speaks out on abusive childhood
AP DEC 05, 2014

PHILADELPHIA -- Jerry Sandusky's adopted son Matt spoke out Friday about his two abusive fathers and called sexual abuse the ''single worst health epidemic that children face.''

Matt Sandusky, speaking to about 200 people at a conference in Philadelphia on child abuse intervention, said the public must work harder to end child sexual abuse.

''I will work my butt off to create a society that is safe and caring for survivors of child sexual abuse,'' he said. '' ... This is the single worst health epidemic that children face.''

Sandusky, who founded a nonprofit to raise awareness about child sexual abuse, spoke of his introduction to abuse at a young age....

Matt Sandusky met Jerry Sandusky through the former Penn State assistant football coach's youth charity. He said perpetrators ''groom'' their family and victims....
http://www.foxsports.com/college-football/story/jerry-sandusky-abuse-scandal-adopted-son-speaks-out-on-childhood-abuse-120514


Jimmy Savile's former chauffeur 'Ugli' Ray Teret found guilty of seven rapes and 11 indecent assaults on star-struck girls as young as 13

    Ex-Radio Caroline DJ was mentored by Savile in early days of his career
    Court heard he followed paedophile TV star around 'like a shadow'
    He denied 18 counts of rape, two sexual assaults and 12 indecent assaults
    Jury convict him of 7 rapes and 11 indecent assaults after deliberations
    11 victims aged 13 to 15 and offences took place between 1962 and 1978
    Teret played down links to Savile who he once described as 'a genius'
    But prosecutors said the pair preyed on young girl they met at disco
    Police officer in case said Teret was a 'devious, manipulative predator'
    His lawyer urges judge not to sentence him for the rest of his life

By Richard Spillett 5 December 2014
A DJ friend of Jimmy Savile has been convicted of a catalogue of historical sex offences against 'star-struck' girls as young as 13.

Ex-Radio Caroline DJ Ray Teret, 73, used his celebrity status in the Manchester club scene in the 1960s and 1970s to prey on many of his victims.

Teret - known as 'Ugli Ray' - was mentored by Savile in the early days of his career and was described as following him around 'like a shadow', Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court heard.

Teret, of Altrincham, Greater Manchester, told the jury he had no interest in underage girls, despite a previous conviction for sexual intercourse with a 15-year-old girl in 1999, an offence he continues to deny.

He denied 18 rapes, two other serious sexual assaults, one attempted rape, 12 indecent assaults and one count of indecency with a child.

After more 60 hours of deliberations, he was convicted of seven rapes and 11 indecent assaults. He was cleared of the other charges....
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2862279/Jimmy-Savile-s-former-chauffeur-Ray-Teret-guilty-string-rapes-sex-attacks-children-1960s-70s.html

Ex-DJ Ray Teret 'raped girl with Jimmy Savile' , Council sent abused girl back home to rapist father

Ex-DJ Ray Teret 'raped girl with Jimmy Savile'  7 October 2014
Ray Teret was a friend of Jimmy Savile

A former radio DJ raped a 15-year-old girl "acting together" with Jimmy Savile, a court has been told.

Ray Teret, 72, from Altrincham, Greater Manchester, was a flatmate of Savile's and worked for him as his chauffeur.

Mr Teret is facing more than 30 charges of sex abuse dating to the 1960s, including 18 counts of rape, all of which he denies.

He is on trial with two other men, William Harper and Alan Ledger, who also deny the charges against them.

The two defendants were described at Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court as "friends and associates" of Mr Teret.

'Used celebrity'

Mr Teret had worked as a DJ for pirate station Radio Caroline and Piccadilly Radio in Manchester.

The charges against him include rape, attempted rape and indecent assault....
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-29523976

Council sent abused girl back home to rapist father
2 October 2014

Bradford Metropolitan Council has paid £160,000 to a woman who was sent from a care home back to live with the father who had already raped her.

Sarah* gave evidence against her father in court about the rapes, which took place from the age of ten, but he was acquitted.

She was then sent back to live with him, where she was repeatedly raped, fell pregnant and gave birth to his child.

He was eventually imprisoned, but Sarah, now 25, said her torment would "never end" because her baby was fathered by the man who made her life "miserable".

Bradford Metropolitan Council said they were "deeply sorry for not doing enough" to keep Sarah safe, and agreed a settlement of £160,000 for her "terrible ordeal"....
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-29462525 

Rolf: A life well lived... until the end

Rolf: A life well lived... until the end                                                                
CHARLES MIRANDA   The Daily Telegraph  July 05, 2014

“I’ve lived a magical life,” an emotional Rolf Harris mused as he stared down at the royal crown-topped gold disc starring up at him from his palm and hanging around his neck.

It was late 2012 and having just been appointed a Member of the Order of Australia in recognition of his decades of entertaining, he was in a reflective mood....

In that respect he was yesterday virtually handed a death sentence as he prepared to be jailed after being convicted of 12 counts of indecent assault.

No more big concerts, no more art shows, no more TV hosting, no more feted by the royal family and no more molesting children.

What a difference 18 months can make.

At the time he was bestowed his OA, he had just sung for the Queen at that year’s Diamond Jubilee, had another hit TV show on British television with Animal Hospital, a BAFTA British film industry lifetime achievement award and 50 years of memories of topping the music, art and television industries.

Within days of getting his Order of Australia, he would also be getting a telephone call from the Australia Day Foundation asking him whether he would accept being the 2013 Australian of the Year in the UK at the following year’s Australia Day gala in central London....

his long-held sexual desire for little girls in bikinis and finally his ritual penchant for giving one girl bear hugs before spitting on his fingers and digitally assaulting her.

And most of these admissions made by the man himself as he apparently made the conscious decision to give a blow-by-blow account of his years of sordid liaisons and infidelity albeit of women rather than girls in a bid to detract from what he was really there accused of — being what the court heard was a manipulative, perverted deviant child abuser who groomed at least one girl like a pet dog to respond without questions to his sexual advances....

His hit tune Sun Arise was only pipped to the Number 1 chart spot by Elvis Presley in 1962 but then there was Two Little Boys, a worldwide hit in 1969 which in the UK alone was the last song to top the charts for the 1960s and the first to top the charts in the 1970s.

Then there was his painting of the Queen’s portrait, his OBE, his MBE, his CBE and his OA received just days before police started to look at his background....

When he was first arrested “Rolf Harris is Innocent” Facebook page attracted hundreds of “likes” and comments calling for people to get behind the star, branding the allegations and charges a witch hunt, some calling on him to take the “scum” trying to persecute him down.

The page attracted 727 likes but that was mostly in 2013 and by June 2014 the messages had well and truly dried up....
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw/rolf-a-life-well-lived-until-the-end/story-fni0cx12-1226976734754

Minister in Tony Blair’s government suspected of abusing children at home, Max Clifford Found Guilty Of Sex Charges The celebrity publicist

Minister in Tony Blair’s government among group of men suspected of abusing children at home run by paedophile
Apr 27, 2014 By Tom Pettifor

A probe was halted soon after an ex-social services boss told police of his alleged evening visits in the early 1980s

One of Tony Blair’s ministers was among a group of men suspected of sexually abusing children at a home run by a convicted paedophile.

But the probe was halted soon after an ex-social services boss told police of his alleged evening visits in the early 1980s.

Official documents seen by the Daily Mirror during a 16-month investigation reveal former residents told detectives that a group of paedophiles attacked children in a private flat in the home.

But two former Lambeth social services employees involved in the case suspect a cover-up because experienced detective Clive Driscoll was removed from the investigation and given other duties.

One, a former manager who alerted police in 1998, said: “One wonders why Scotland Yard would be so desperate to stop it being investigated.

"I believe it was stopped because somebody in power was trying to prevent any further investigation into the politician.”

And Dr Nigel Goldie, a council boss in charge of child protection in 1998, said: “There were some allegations that ­children were being abused by one or two prominent persons.She said she told top Lambeth­ officials at the time she suspected Carroll was at the centre of a paedophile ring at the home.

Bosses learned in 1986 that he was convicted of sexually assaulting a boy of 12 in the Wirral in 1966.

But the pervert was allowed to continue running the home until 1991.

Carroll was finally arrested in the summer of 1998 and convicted of a string of child sex attacks dating back three decades including assaults on youngsters in Angell Road.
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/tony-blair-minister-former-pms-3468050
 
Max Clifford Found Guilty Of Sex Charges
The celebrity publicist walks in silence from court and refuses to comment as he is found guilty of eight indecent assaults.
Monday 28 April 2014

PR guru Max Clifford has been found guilty of a string of sex attacks on teenage girls.

The 71-year-old became the first person to be convicted under the high profile Operation Yewtree sex crime investigation at Southwark Crown Court.

He was found guilty of eight indecent assaults, cleared of two and the jury was unable to reach a verdict on one other.

The guilty verdicts relate to four women, aged between 15 and 19 at the time of the offences, between 1978 and 1984....

Clifford was released on bail until his sentencing on Friday, but Judge Anthony Leonard QC warned him this was no reflection on the sentence that will be passed.

He said: "You must realise that the fact I have given you bail is no indication of what the final sentence will be."

Clifford repeatedly denied the claims, calling his arrest and prosecution "a nightmare" and protesting his innocence....
http://news.sky.com/story/1250859/max-clifford-found-guilty-of-sex-charges 

Coronation Street's Bill Roache 'Raped' 14-Year-Old Twice, Court Hears, Dave Lee Travis 'Was Snogging My Face Off.. I Thought I Was Going To Be Raped', Woman Tells Court

Dave Lee Travis 'Was Snogging My Face Off.. I Thought I Was Going To Be Raped', Woman Tells Court

The Huffington Post UK/PA 16/01/2014

A "petrified" woman has told how she thought she was going to be raped by DJ Dave Lee Travis when she was 15 at a Showaddywaddy concert, a court heard.

The alleged victim, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said the former Radio 1 DJ became "frisky" with her after she was invited into his caravan at the gig on a farm in the late 1970s.

In a videoed police interview played to the court, the woman said she was talking about music with Travis inside the caravan when he offered to sign her poster....

Travis, whose real name is David Patrick Griffin, is charged with 13 counts of indecent assault dating back to between 1976 and 2003, and one count of sexual assault in 2008.

The 68-year-old, from Buckinghamshire, is accused of assaulting 11 women, one of whom was 15 at the time of the alleged crime.

He denies all the charges....
http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2014/01/16/dave-lee-travis-all-over-my-boobs-court-hears_n_4610177.html

Coronation Street's Bill Roache 'Raped' 14-Year-Old Twice, Court Hears
The Huffington Post UK  16/01/2014
A woman allegedly raped by Coronation Street star William Roache kept quiet for decades because she blamed herself, a court has heard.

She described how she was a "gullible" teenager - "a kid" - who was raped on two different occasions in 1967 at the actor's then-home in Lancashire.

A jury at Preston Crown Court has been told the woman finally came forward to police last year in the wake of a number of celebrity sex scandals.

In her police interview played to the court, the woman told a female officer: "All these years I have never brought it to anyone's attention. I chose not to say anything.

"I thought I was to blame, especially the second time.

"I was gullible ... I was a kid. I would never have repeated it to anyone."

But by last year she said "it has started to bother me because there might be other people that this has happened to".

She continued: "It started where I can't sleep, it is there at the back of my mind all the time."

The woman detailed how in the first alleged assault Roache - who knew her, she said - had sex with her with "no warning" in the bedroom of his bungalow....

Roache, 81, of Wilmslow, Cheshire - who has played Ken Barlow in the ITV soap for more than 50 years - denies the rapes.

He has also pleaded not guilty to five counts of indecent assault involving four other complainants aged 16 and under.

The alleged offences are said to have occurred between 1965 and 1971....
http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2014/01/16/bill-roache-sex-abuse_n_4608894.html

Judy Byington Exposes Government Torture of Children, Former Stoke Mandeville doctor charged by Operation Yewtree cops praised by Princess Diana for working with disabled children

New Utube Video by Child Abuse Recovery:
Judy Byington Exposes Government Torture of Children
Author, therapist and activist Judy Byington, who is trying to raise awareness of SRA, discusses her work with SRA survivors and researchers.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chDFxYriryA
http://www.22faces.com
http://www.childabuserecovery.com

Former Stoke Mandeville doctor charged by Operation Yewtree cops praised by Princess Diana for working with disabled children  By Euan Stretch, Martin Bagot   21 Nov 2013

Retired consultant paediatrician Michael Salmon was charged with rape and four indecent assaults on girls aged under 18

The doctor arrested by police probing Jimmy Savile’s sordid past was once praised by Princess Diana for his work with sick children.

Retired consultant paediatrician Michael Salmon was yesterday charged with rape and four indecent assaults on girls aged under 18.

The 78-year-old is alleged to have abused youngsters in hospitals around Aylesbury, Bucks, including Stoke Mandeville where serial pervert Savile targeted patients for sex attacks during his time as a fundraiser there.

Dr Salmon worked at Stoke ­Mandeville in the 80s. He was hailed by Diana for organising a 1987 trip to Disney World in Florida for 300 disabled kids.

The sex attacks he is accused of are said to have happened between 1972 and 1985.

Police stressed none of the allegations involve Savile....
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/michael-salmon-operation-yewtree-arrest-2813547

Child abuse report reveals a betrayal of trust 'beyond comprehension', Jimmy Savile's ex-flatmate and driver will deny sex offences, court hears

Child abuse report reveals a betrayal of trust 'beyond comprehension'
'Children were betrayed by trusted figures in organisations of high standing and suffered unimaginable harm,' says report

        David Marr
        theguardian.com, Tuesday 12 November 2013

“We have called our report Betrayal of Trust,” said Victorian MP Georgie Crozier as she presented the findings of the parliamentary inquiry into the handling of child abuse by religious and other non-government organisations.

“Children were betrayed by trusted figures in organisations of high standing and suffered unimaginable harm,” she said.

“Parents of these children experienced a betrayal beyond comprehension. And the community was betrayed by the failure of organisations to protect children in their care.”

The report’s criticism of the Catholic church is unsparing. Its recommendations are radical. If adopted they would strip the Catholic church of its virtual immunity in the courts and compel religious leaders of all faiths to report child abuse to the police.

The Victorian premier, Denis Napthine, has fallen short of accepting the committee’s recommendations but describes them as “a strong basis for reforms that will make a real difference for the future”....

“The Catholic church,” she said, “minimised and trivialised the problem; contributed to abuse not being disclosed, or not being responded to at all prior to 1990; ensured that the Victorian community remained uninformed of the abuse; and ensured that perpetrators were not held accountable with the tragic result being that children continued to be abused....
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/nov/13/child-abuse-report-reveals-a-betrayal-of-trust-beyond-comprehension
 
Jimmy Savile's ex-flatmate and driver will deny sex offences, court hears
Ray Teret is accused of 32 offences, including rape, against young girls and is bailed until next April
    theguardian.com, Friday 15 November 2013

Jimmy Savile's ex-flatmate and chauffeur will deny he committed a string of sexual offences against a number of girls, a court has heard.

Ray Teret, 72, is accused of 32 offences involving 14 minors and a 17-year-old.

The former pirate radio DJ is charged with 15 counts of rape of a female under 16, one count of rape, one count of attempted rape of a female under 16, six counts of indecent assault of a female under 16, three counts of indecent assault of a female under 14 and one count of gross indecency with a child under 13.

Teret, of Woodlands Road, Altrincham, also faces two counts of conspiracy to rape a girl under 16, one count of possession of extreme pornography, one count of possession of prohibited images and one count of possession of an indecent image of a child....
http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2013/nov/15/jimmy-savile-driver-deny-sex-offences

ITCCS Finney released from jail, ex-Radio 1 DJ Dave Lee Travis charged, Trauma and child abuse effects

- He's Out! International intervention frees Canadian Prisoner of Conscience Steve Finney
- Political Persecution of Canadian activist Steve Finney in Ontario court to be investigated by International Human Rights Observers
- Dave Lee Travis Charged With Two More Offences
- Traumatic events do not occur at random
- Effects of child abuse can last a lifetime


He's Out! International intervention frees Canadian Prisoner of Conscience Steve Finney

"Early morning call" to Ontario's Attorney General spurred ITCCS leader's release Posted on October 02, 2013 by itccs

Kitchener, Ontario: The courage and resolve of Steve Finney himself, and phone calls from the ITCCS and a United Nations non-governmental body to the Ontario government, stopped cold an attempt by local judges and police to silence Finney and his campaign to confront child trafficking in Kitchener, Ontario.

Finney was released this afternoon in a sudden about-face by local authorities less than two hours after Ontario Attorney General John Gerretsen spoke with two human rights officials who have monitored Finney's unlawful arrest and imprisonment.

According to one of these officials, who is a legal advisor to the ITCCS in Brussels,
"We can't disclose the conversation we had with the Attorney General, out of mutual agreement with Mr. Gerretsen. But I can tell you that we informed him that we were preparing a motion at the United Nations to censure his government for its treatment of Mr. Finney. We were also going to name Finney as a prisoner of conscience if he wasn't released, since he was clearly incarcerated because of his political beliefs."

Kitchener Judge Michael Cuthbertson had just yesterday told Steve Finney that he would not be released on bail unless he formally renounced his involvement with the ITCCS, and denied anyone connected to ITCCS the right to offer sureties for Finney. The Crown Counsel had also attacked ITCCS in the bail hearing and suggested that Finney's wife Amy Smart could be arrested for posting ITCCS videos on youtube. "I feel fantastic" said Steve Finney in a brief telephone interview soon after his release.
http://itccs.org/2013/10/02/hes-out-international-intervention-frees-canadian-prisoner-of-conscience-steve-finney-early-morning-call-to-ontarios-attorney-general-spurred-itccs-leaders-release/


itccs.org
Political Persecution of Canadian activist Steve Finney in Ontario court to be investigated by International Human Rights Observers

Finney may be named as a Prisoner of Conscience and Political Prisoner Posted on October 02, 2013 by itccs

Brussels: Steve Finney, the unlawfully jailed Canadian leader of the International Tribunal into Crimes of Church and State (ITCCS), was told yesterday by a Kitchener, Ontario court judge that he won't be released on bail unless he disassociates himself from the Tribunal.

Ontario Court of Justice magistrate Michael Cuthbertson informed Finney through Duty Counsel Dave Woodbeck that no-one associated with the ITCCS would be allowed to post bail for him, and neither should Finney himself remain active with the ITCCS if he wished to "avoid another thirty days in jail".

Steve Finney still faces no charges after his sudden arrest Sunday morning, the day after he spoke on international radio about his work to expose child trafficking in Kitchener involving government and police officials. Finney has been severely beaten by Kitchener police, assaulted and denied any contact or communication with anyone while in prison.
In response to such flagrant political persecution, the ITCCS and its United Nations affiliates have dispatched two accredited human rights observers to Kitchener to attend the Wednesday, October 2 bail hearing of Steve Finney.
http://itccs.org/2013/10/02/political-persecution-of-canadian-activist-steve-finney-in-ontario-court-to-be-investigated-by-international-human-rights-observers-finney-may-be-named-as-a-prisoner-of-conscience-and-political-pris/

Dave Lee Travis Charged With Two More Offences The Huffington Post UK   01/10/2013

DJ Dave Lee Travis has been further charged with two offences of indecent assault on a woman aged over 16 between January 1 1992 and December 31 1993.
The 68-year-old, whose real name is David Patrick Griffin, has been accused of assaulting a woman aged over 16 between January 1 1992 and December 31 1993, Scotland Yard said.

Travis, of Mentmore, in Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire, has already appeared in court to face 12 counts, including indecent assault and sexual assault.

The ex-Radio 1 DJ was first charged on August 15 as part of Operation Yewtree, the police investigation prompted by the Jimmy Savile abuse scandal, but the accusations against Travis have no connection to the disgraced television presenter.
http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2013/10/01/dave-lee-travis-charged-indecent-assault_n_4022792.html 


Traumatic events do not occur at random
30 September 2013

Dr. Katie McLaughlin is a clinical psychologist and Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Washington.  She received her doctorate in Clinical Psychology and in Epidemiology and Public Health from Yale University in 2008.  Her research seeks to identify psychological and neurobiological mechanisms linking child trauma exposure to the onset of psychopathology in children and adolescents. Today, Katie writes about what population-based data can tell us about trauma in U.S. children and adolescents....

We sought to understand how common traumatic experiences are in the lives of U.S. youths by conducting a study examining trauma exposure and PTSD in the National Comorbidity Survey Replication Adolescent Supplement (NCS-A), a nationally-representative sample of 6,483 adolescents aged 13-17. This study is the largest population-based study examining trauma exposure and PTSD in U.S. youths, and the findings reveal trauma and PTSD are significant public health problems in this population....

Trauma Exposure is Pervasive among U.S. Youths
A majority of U.S. youths have experienced a traumatic event by the time they reach adolescence.  Sixty-two percent of teenagers have experienced at least one traumatic event in their lifetime, including interpersonal violence, serious injuries, natural disasters and death of a loved one, and 19 percent have experienced three or more such events.  The prevalence of trauma exposure among children and adolescents is nearly as high as the prevalence in adults based on similar population-based studies.

Traumatic Events do not Occur at Random
Some types of trauma occur more frequently to younger children, including physical abuse by a caregiver, witnessing domestic violence, and kidnapping. Approximately half of all children who will experience these types of trauma in their lifetime have been exposed before the age of 8.
http://trauma-recovery.net/2013/09/30/traumatic-events-do-not-occur-at-random 

Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry Volume 52, Issue 8 , Pages 815-830.e14, August 2013 Trauma Exposure and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in a National Sample of Adolescents Katie A. McLaughlin, Ph.D., Karestan C. Koenen, Ph.D. ,Eric D. Hill, M.S.P.H., Maria Petukhova, Ph.D., Nancy A. Sampson, B.A., Alan M. Zaslavsky, Ph.D., Ronald C. Kessler, Ph.D.

Objective
Although exposure to potentially traumatic experiences (PTEs) is common among youths in the United States, information on posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) risk associated with PTEs is limited. We estimate lifetime prevalence of exposure to PTEs and PTSD, PTE-specific risk of PTSD, and associations of sociodemographics and temporally prior DSM-IV disorders with PTE exposure, PTSD given exposure, and PTSD recovery among U.S. adolescents.

Method
Data were drawn from 6,483 adolescent–parent pairs in the National Comorbidity Survey Replication Adolescent Supplement (NCS-A), a national survey of adolescents aged 13 through 17 years. Lifetime exposure to interpersonal violence, accidents/injuries, network/witnessing, and other PTEs was assessed along with DSM-IV PTSD and other distress, fear, behavior, and substance disorders.

Results
A majority (61.8%) of adolescents experienced a lifetime PTE. Lifetime prevalence of DSM-IV PTSD was 4.7% and was significantly higher among females (7.3%) than among males (2.2%). Exposure to PTEs, particularly interpersonal violence, was highest among adolescents not living with both biological parents and with pre-existing behavior disorders. Conditional probability of PTSD was highest for PTEs involving interpersonal violence. Predictors of PTSD among PTE-exposed adolescents included female gender, prior PTE exposure, and pre-existing fear and distress disorders. One-third (33.0%) of adolescents with lifetime PTSD continued to meet criteria within 30 days of interview. Poverty, U.S. nativity, bipolar disorder, and PTE exposure occurring after the focal trauma predicted nonrecovery....
http://www.jaacap.com/article/S0890-8567%2813%2900338-9/abstract

Effects of child abuse can last a lifetime: Watch the ‘still face' experiment to see why
By Brigid Schulte, Published: September 16, 2013

In one of the most sobering findings, the report highlighted that advances in brain research now show that child abuse and neglect damages not only in the way a developing child's brain functions, but changes the actual structure of the brain itself, in such a way that makes clear thinking, controlling emotions and impulses and forming healthy social relationships more difficult.....

Some infants, however, become so distressed that that they're unable to console themselves. Tronick and other researchers have found that neglect leads to increases in the heart rate, a flush of the stress hormone cortisol and to cell death in key regions of the brain.

In recent studies, Tronick and colleagues in Milan, have found that four-month-old infants exposed to the still face will remember it two weeks later, rapidly showing physiological changes to negative responses that infants exposed to it for the first time do not....

In studies of infants at orphanages who are fed and clothed, but not held, talked to or played with have found that some neglected children, literally, fail to grow. "Some of them actually died," he said....

The report found that one of the biggest risk factors for child abuse and neglect is if the parent him or herself was abused or neglected. So Tronick and others are working to train professionals and educate and treat parents in an effort to break the cycle. And, one hopes, put an end to the wrenching effects of The Still Face.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/she-the-people/wp/2013/09/16/affects-of-child-abuse-can-last-a-lifetime-watch-the-still-face-experiment-to-see-why/