for more information on day care cases, see http://ritualabuse.us/ritualabuse/articles/day-care-and-child-abuse-cases/
describes abuse - New Charges Added in Daycare Sexual Abuse Case 10/6/09 SAN DIEGO - Prosecutors on Tuesday added multiple-victim and substantial sexual conduct allegations against a woman charged with her husband with molesting and sexually assaulting four children at the daycare facility they ran out of their Mission Valley apartment....According to evidence presented at a preliminary hearing in April, an investigation started in September 2007 when one of the alleged victims -- who ranged in age from a few months to just over 2 years old -- suffered vaginal injuries....Kennedy told a judge that the four alleged victims were all in good health and uninjured until they went to the couple's daycare.
The alleged victims had "unique and very troubling injuries," Kennedy told Judge Polly Shamoon.
"With each of them, it's their genitals that are damaged," Kennedy said.
http://www.sandiego6.com/news/local/story/New-Charges-Added-in-Daycare-Sexual-Abuse-Case/kY6yZb8GlkqZvf_9nLVBhg.cspx
describes abuse - Tyler Perry recounts childhood abuse on Web site 10/6/09 ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- Tyler Perry has, for the first time, revealed graphic details about the sexual, physical and emotional abuse he says he suffered as a child.... Perry is an executive producer of the movie, which tells the tale of Claireece "Precious" Jones, an illiterate, obese 16-year-old girl from Harlem who is emotionally and physically abused. The 40-year-old producer says he can identify with the character, and he recalls a number of incidents from his childhood. http://www.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/Movies/10/06/tyler.perry.abuse.precious/index.html?iref=mpstoryview
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
extreme abuse, traumatic childhood effects, forced trafficking
describes crimes
Survivors of Extreme Abuse - The Awful Rowing Toward Social Emancipation
For survivors of extreme abuse, the disclosure of the crimes they experienced and the public identification of the perpetrators of those crimes can be monumentally daunting tasks. Among the impediments they may face in their pursuit of personal and social justice are their own psychological challenges, due to the complex, and sometimes debilitating effects of having experienced severe trauma, the dangers inherent in exposing criminals or criminal networks, and social denial of their plight on almost every level....
IMAGINE
Survivors have an invaluable gift to share with society: intimate knowledge of crimes perpetrated in their midst, and the criminals who committed them. Their knowledge and insight could theoretically lift the great rock of our cultural denial and officially sanctioned version of reality, and expose the dark and dangerous world of child, drug and arms traffickers, rapists, child pornographers, serial killers, cults, secret societies and government corruption. And that exposure would surely mark the beginning of the end of the widespread abuses that plague our society now. But that doesn't happen.
http://akaunk.wordpress.com/2009/10/06/survivors-of-extreme-abuse-the-awful-rowing-toward-social-emancipation/
Traumatic Childhood Might Take Years Off Adult Life - ScienceDaily (Oct. 7, 2009) - Many U.S. children face a terrible burden of stressors that can harm the development of their brains and nervous systems. These stressors can lead to health problems and diseases throughout their lives, ultimately causing some to die prematurely, according to the lead author of a new study. David W. Brown., D.Sc., an epidemiologist at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and colleagues found that children who were exposed to six or more "adverse childhood experiences" or ACEs were at double the risk of premature death compared to children who had not suffered these experiences. On average, the children at highest risk eventually died at age 60, compared to low-risk children who lived to age 79. The study appears in the November issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine. Conducted by Kaiser Permanente in San Diego and the CDC, the study looked at the long-term effects of these childhood experiences: undergoing verbal or physical abuse, having a battered mother and witnessing domestic violence, living in a household with substance abuse or mental illness, having an incarcerated household member or having parents who separated or divorced. Data came from 17,337 adults who visited Kaiser Permanente from 1995 to 1997 and completed a standardized medical questionnaire that included questions about their childhood. Researchers followed participants through the end of 2006, using the National Death Index to discover who had died. "Overall, 1,539 people died during follow-up," Brown said. "People with six or more ACEs died nearly 20 years earlier on average than those without ACEs. It is also disturbing that two-thirds of study participants - persons who were relatively well off - had at least one of the ACEs." Brown DW, et al. Adverse childhood experiences and the risk of premature mortality. Am J Prev Med, 37(5), 2009 http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091006115140.htm
High Rates Of Childhood Exposure To Violence And Abuse In United States, New Study Finds
ScienceDaily (Oct. 7, 2009) - A new study from the University of New Hampshire finds that U.S. children are routinely exposed to even more violence and abuse than has been previously recognized, with nearly half experiencing a physical assault in the study year.
"Children experience far more violence, abuse and crime than do adults," said David Finkelhor, director of the UNH Crimes against Children Research Center and the study director. "If life were this dangerous for ordinary grown-ups, we'd never tolerate it."The research was sponsored by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) and supported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The research results are presented in the journal Pediatrics and an Office of Justice Programs/OJJDP bulletin titled "Children's Exposure to Violence: A Comprehensive National Survey."UNH researchers asked a national sample of U.S. children and their caregivers about a far broader range of exposures than has been done in the past. According to the research, three out of five children were exposed to violence, abuse or a criminal victimization in the last year, including 46 percent who had been physically assaulted, 10 percent who had been maltreated by a caregiver, 6 percent who had been sexually victimized, and 10 percent who had witnessed an assault within their family....The study found that more than a third of the children had had two or more different kinds of exposures in the past year and 11 percent had five or more....The study was conducted in 2008 and involved interviews with caregivers and youth about the experiences of a nationally representative sample of 4,549 children ages 0-17. In addition to Finkelhor, the authors include Heather Turner, professor of sociology at UNH, Richard Ormrod, research professor of geography at UNH, and Sherry Hamby, research associate professor of psychology at Sewanee, the University of the South. Study information is at Crimes Against Children Research Center http://www.unh.edu/ccrc/index.html
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091007081351.htm
describes crimes
Teens become prey in Charlotte sex trade - Human trafficking case shows the desperate plight of girls forced into prostitution by Franco Ordoñez 10/4/09 The FBI estimates that some 18,000 people are trafficked into the United States for sex or forced labor. About a fourth end up in the Southeast; thousands come to the Carolinas. Most victims of the sex rings are from Latin America, others from Asia and Eastern Europe. http://www.charlotteobserver.com/topstories/story/983851.html
Survivors of Extreme Abuse - The Awful Rowing Toward Social Emancipation
For survivors of extreme abuse, the disclosure of the crimes they experienced and the public identification of the perpetrators of those crimes can be monumentally daunting tasks. Among the impediments they may face in their pursuit of personal and social justice are their own psychological challenges, due to the complex, and sometimes debilitating effects of having experienced severe trauma, the dangers inherent in exposing criminals or criminal networks, and social denial of their plight on almost every level....
IMAGINE
Survivors have an invaluable gift to share with society: intimate knowledge of crimes perpetrated in their midst, and the criminals who committed them. Their knowledge and insight could theoretically lift the great rock of our cultural denial and officially sanctioned version of reality, and expose the dark and dangerous world of child, drug and arms traffickers, rapists, child pornographers, serial killers, cults, secret societies and government corruption. And that exposure would surely mark the beginning of the end of the widespread abuses that plague our society now. But that doesn't happen.
http://akaunk.wordpress.com/2009/10/06/survivors-of-extreme-abuse-the-awful-rowing-toward-social-emancipation/
Traumatic Childhood Might Take Years Off Adult Life - ScienceDaily (Oct. 7, 2009) - Many U.S. children face a terrible burden of stressors that can harm the development of their brains and nervous systems. These stressors can lead to health problems and diseases throughout their lives, ultimately causing some to die prematurely, according to the lead author of a new study. David W. Brown., D.Sc., an epidemiologist at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and colleagues found that children who were exposed to six or more "adverse childhood experiences" or ACEs were at double the risk of premature death compared to children who had not suffered these experiences. On average, the children at highest risk eventually died at age 60, compared to low-risk children who lived to age 79. The study appears in the November issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine. Conducted by Kaiser Permanente in San Diego and the CDC, the study looked at the long-term effects of these childhood experiences: undergoing verbal or physical abuse, having a battered mother and witnessing domestic violence, living in a household with substance abuse or mental illness, having an incarcerated household member or having parents who separated or divorced. Data came from 17,337 adults who visited Kaiser Permanente from 1995 to 1997 and completed a standardized medical questionnaire that included questions about their childhood. Researchers followed participants through the end of 2006, using the National Death Index to discover who had died. "Overall, 1,539 people died during follow-up," Brown said. "People with six or more ACEs died nearly 20 years earlier on average than those without ACEs. It is also disturbing that two-thirds of study participants - persons who were relatively well off - had at least one of the ACEs." Brown DW, et al. Adverse childhood experiences and the risk of premature mortality. Am J Prev Med, 37(5), 2009 http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091006115140.htm
High Rates Of Childhood Exposure To Violence And Abuse In United States, New Study Finds
ScienceDaily (Oct. 7, 2009) - A new study from the University of New Hampshire finds that U.S. children are routinely exposed to even more violence and abuse than has been previously recognized, with nearly half experiencing a physical assault in the study year.
"Children experience far more violence, abuse and crime than do adults," said David Finkelhor, director of the UNH Crimes against Children Research Center and the study director. "If life were this dangerous for ordinary grown-ups, we'd never tolerate it."The research was sponsored by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) and supported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The research results are presented in the journal Pediatrics and an Office of Justice Programs/OJJDP bulletin titled "Children's Exposure to Violence: A Comprehensive National Survey."UNH researchers asked a national sample of U.S. children and their caregivers about a far broader range of exposures than has been done in the past. According to the research, three out of five children were exposed to violence, abuse or a criminal victimization in the last year, including 46 percent who had been physically assaulted, 10 percent who had been maltreated by a caregiver, 6 percent who had been sexually victimized, and 10 percent who had witnessed an assault within their family....The study found that more than a third of the children had had two or more different kinds of exposures in the past year and 11 percent had five or more....The study was conducted in 2008 and involved interviews with caregivers and youth about the experiences of a nationally representative sample of 4,549 children ages 0-17. In addition to Finkelhor, the authors include Heather Turner, professor of sociology at UNH, Richard Ormrod, research professor of geography at UNH, and Sherry Hamby, research associate professor of psychology at Sewanee, the University of the South. Study information is at Crimes Against Children Research Center http://www.unh.edu/ccrc/index.html
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091007081351.htm
describes crimes
Teens become prey in Charlotte sex trade - Human trafficking case shows the desperate plight of girls forced into prostitution by Franco Ordoñez 10/4/09 The FBI estimates that some 18,000 people are trafficked into the United States for sex or forced labor. About a fourth end up in the Southeast; thousands come to the Carolinas. Most victims of the sex rings are from Latin America, others from Asia and Eastern Europe. http://www.charlotteobserver.com/topstories/story/983851.html
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
SURVIVORSHIP WEBINAR, SATURDAY OCT 10
Our next Webinar
Saturday, October 10, noon to 1:30 Pacific time
"Forgiving the Unforgivable: One Survivor's Journey to Peace"
Bonnie Bazill-Davis.
"Forgive" is an emotionally loaded word for survivors. Many of us have been told to forgive our abusers and get on with life, as if we could just push a button, totally forgive everybody, and act like nothing happened. It doesn't work that way, of course. Forgiveness, like grief and anger, is part of the process of coming to terms with what happened to us. It entails acceptance of our past and acceptance of ourselves.
Bonnie, a survivor of ritual abuse, will tell us about the steps on her path to forgiveness. She will share how her feelings changed toward her perpetrator and how forgiveness opened the door to peace and joy throughout her life. This Webinar will provide space for us to examine our understanding of forgiveness and the place it holds in our lives.
Bonnie teaches child care providers and youth counselors how to recognize and prevent child abuse. She is a certified trainer for the Ohio Child Welfare Training Program and an award-winning public speaker.
Past Webinars
Members can now read the transcript of "Sensory and Emotional Flashbacks" (Jeannie Riseman) and hear the recordings of "The Intersection between Ritual Abuse and Disability" (Lara) and "How Survivors Can Help Their Own Cases for Disability Application and Appeal," (Pam Perskin Noblitt). Slides and related material are also posted. Go to http://www.survivorship.org/member/webinar.html and you will find everything you are looking for.
If you can't get into the members' section, you will need to become a member or renew your membership. Membership information is at http://www.survivorship.org/about/membership.html Write Eva at survivorshipstaff@yahoo.com and tell her what you need. (Remember we have gift memberships.)
Registration:
The cost of each Webinar is $20.00, plus the cost of your telephone call to the East Coast. There are a limited number of full and partial scholarships available. To reserve a space in the Webinar, e-mail Jeannie at jeannie@survivorship.org and give her this information:
1.Your name
2. The Webinar you wish to attend: "Forgiving the Unforgivable: One Survivor's Journey to Peace" on October 10 from noon to 1:30 P.M. Pacific time and/or one of the Webinars listed below
3. Whether you need a full or partial scholarship
4. Method of payment
5. Your preferred e-mail address (so we can send you instructions and an invitation containing the password)
6. Your time zone (The conference software automatically adjusts the time for us)
7. The name you will be using for the Webinar. (This does not have to be your real name or your message board screen name.)
Future Webinars:
Saturday November 7
"Empowerment and Managing the Effects of Programming."
Randy Noblitt, Ph.D
Saturday December 5
"The Benefits of Developing Co-Consciousness Early in the Healing Process."
Julaine
And, in January, one on Nazi groups and abuse
Complete details on all our Webinars are at http://www.survivorship.org/webinars.html
Saturday, October 10, noon to 1:30 Pacific time
"Forgiving the Unforgivable: One Survivor's Journey to Peace"
Bonnie Bazill-Davis.
"Forgive" is an emotionally loaded word for survivors. Many of us have been told to forgive our abusers and get on with life, as if we could just push a button, totally forgive everybody, and act like nothing happened. It doesn't work that way, of course. Forgiveness, like grief and anger, is part of the process of coming to terms with what happened to us. It entails acceptance of our past and acceptance of ourselves.
Bonnie, a survivor of ritual abuse, will tell us about the steps on her path to forgiveness. She will share how her feelings changed toward her perpetrator and how forgiveness opened the door to peace and joy throughout her life. This Webinar will provide space for us to examine our understanding of forgiveness and the place it holds in our lives.
Bonnie teaches child care providers and youth counselors how to recognize and prevent child abuse. She is a certified trainer for the Ohio Child Welfare Training Program and an award-winning public speaker.
Past Webinars
Members can now read the transcript of "Sensory and Emotional Flashbacks" (Jeannie Riseman) and hear the recordings of "The Intersection between Ritual Abuse and Disability" (Lara) and "How Survivors Can Help Their Own Cases for Disability Application and Appeal," (Pam Perskin Noblitt). Slides and related material are also posted. Go to http://www.survivorship.org/member/webinar.html and you will find everything you are looking for.
If you can't get into the members' section, you will need to become a member or renew your membership. Membership information is at http://www.survivorship.org/about/membership.html Write Eva at survivorshipstaff@yahoo.com and tell her what you need. (Remember we have gift memberships.)
Registration:
The cost of each Webinar is $20.00, plus the cost of your telephone call to the East Coast. There are a limited number of full and partial scholarships available. To reserve a space in the Webinar, e-mail Jeannie at jeannie@survivorship.org and give her this information:
1.Your name
2. The Webinar you wish to attend: "Forgiving the Unforgivable: One Survivor's Journey to Peace" on October 10 from noon to 1:30 P.M. Pacific time and/or one of the Webinars listed below
3. Whether you need a full or partial scholarship
4. Method of payment
5. Your preferred e-mail address (so we can send you instructions and an invitation containing the password)
6. Your time zone (The conference software automatically adjusts the time for us)
7. The name you will be using for the Webinar. (This does not have to be your real name or your message board screen name.)
Future Webinars:
Saturday November 7
"Empowerment and Managing the Effects of Programming."
Randy Noblitt, Ph.D
Saturday December 5
"The Benefits of Developing Co-Consciousness Early in the Healing Process."
Julaine
And, in January, one on Nazi groups and abuse
Complete details on all our Webinars are at http://www.survivorship.org/webinars.html
Sunday, October 4, 2009
child sex offenders, ritual abuse newsletter
Up to 64,000 women in UK 'are child-sex offenders' After Plymouth case shocked the nation, police say number of women abusing children is rising Mark Townsend and Rajeev Syal The Observer, 10/4/09
....Child sex abuse by women is significantly more widespread than previously realised, with experts estimating that there could be up to 64,000 female offenders in Britain. Researchers from the Lucy Faithfull Foundation (LFF), a child protection charity that deals with British female sex offenders, said its studies confirmed that a "fair proportion" of child abusers were women. Donald Findlater, director of research and development, said results indicated that up to 20% of a conservative estimate of 320,000 suspected UK paedophiles were women....
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2009/oct/04/uk-female-child-sex-offenders
The latest newsletter with information on child abuse, ritual abuse, Shanley case, fighting child pornography, trauma, dissociation, repressed memory and incest effects.
http://ritualabuse.us/2009/10/issue-89-november-2009/
....Child sex abuse by women is significantly more widespread than previously realised, with experts estimating that there could be up to 64,000 female offenders in Britain. Researchers from the Lucy Faithfull Foundation (LFF), a child protection charity that deals with British female sex offenders, said its studies confirmed that a "fair proportion" of child abusers were women. Donald Findlater, director of research and development, said results indicated that up to 20% of a conservative estimate of 320,000 suspected UK paedophiles were women....
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2009/oct/04/uk-female-child-sex-offenders
The latest newsletter with information on child abuse, ritual abuse, Shanley case, fighting child pornography, trauma, dissociation, repressed memory and incest effects.
http://ritualabuse.us/2009/10/issue-89-november-2009/
Saturday, October 3, 2009
Diagnosis: ADHD-or Is It Trauma?
Diagnosis: ADHD-or Is It Trauma? Hyperactive, yes. Attention problems, check. But it's not ADHD.
By Maia Szalavitz for MSN Health & Fitness Medically Reviewed By: George T. Grossberg, M.D.
...In Chemtob's 9/11 study, even children who saw people jump from the towers tended not to have lasting problems. But preschoolers who had experienced multiple traumatic events were 16 times more likely to have attention problems-and 21 times more likely to be overly emotionally reactive and/or to show symptoms of depression and anxiety-than children who had not had such experiences.
But, if other studies of similar children are a guide, many of these severely affected children would probably not meet criteria for post-traumatic stress disorder. Studies following children with known trauma exposure find that they are much more likely to suffer other anxiety disorders or depression than classic PTSD.
Indeed, despite the high prevalence of potentially traumatizing experiences, less than half a percent of the children followed in the North Carolina study could be diagnosed with PTSD. However, 40 percent of those who had had such experiences qualified for at least one diagnosis, often depression or anxiety disorders.
As a result, many traumatized children whose behavior has clearly been affected by their experiences aren't diagnosed with PTSD-or diagnosed at all. Chemtob notes that "virtually none" of the children in his study were getting any kind of treatment, despite symptoms severe enough to warrant it.
page 2
...Trauma can also produce what's known as a "dissociative" reaction. When a threat is physically inescapable, the body prepares for injury by slowing heart rate and breathing. The brain is flooded with endogenous opioids-the brain's own painkillers-which cause numbness. In extreme cases, the person feels like he has "left his body" and is watching events from outside.
A sight, sound, smell or memory can trigger a return to this state. "Children may space out and appear to be daydreaming," Putnam says. "They lose contact with reality and become involved in an internal world. Teachers see a child who is never paying attention. They still have their math book out when the teacher has moved on to history."
Many children who are diagnosed with ADHD, Putnam believes, may actually be suffering from trauma. "There is probably a significant group of kids with traumatic hypervigilance or dissociation that interferes with attention and increases arousal and activity levels," who are misdiagnosed, he says.
What's worse, children suffering trauma symptoms actually have higher than normal levels of neurotransmitters like adrenaline and noradrenaline (norepinephrine), according to Putnam. These same transmitters are raised even further by stimulants like Ritalin that are commonly prescribed for ADHD.
http://health.msn.com/health-topics/adhd/articlepage.aspx?cp-documentid=100191637
Friday, October 2, 2009
nursery school abuse
for further background on these types of crimes, see
http://ritualabuse.us/ritualabuse/articles/day-care-and-child-abuse-cases/
describes crimes
Vanessa George and Angela Allen abused toddlers for Facebook 'friend' they never met From The Times 10/2/09 Sitting alongside the nursery worker from Plymouth were Angela Allen, a single mother from Nottingham, and Colin Blanchard, a businessman from Smallbridge, Greater Manchester. The three had exchanged photographs of themselves abusing children as well as thousands of text messages detailing their obscene sexual fantasies. None of them had met before they were led into the dock at Bristol Crown Court, and they did did even glance at each other. In total, they admitted 38 charges of child abuse. George, 39, a married mother of two teenage daughters, admitted taking hundreds of photographs of herself abusing infants in her care.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/crime/article6857687.ece
Spotlight on trio of child abusers By Sarah White and Dan Bell BBC News 10/1/09
A nursery worker and two others have pleaded guilty to a catalogue of child sex abuse.
Vanessa George, who worked at a nursery in Plymouth, admitted sexual abuse of children and then sharing pictures of her crimes with Colin Blanchard and Angela Allen, who she met on Facebook.
Blanchard and Allen also pleaded guilty to multiple sexual assaults on children and to taking and sharing pictures of the attacks. Here are profiles of the three people....The 39-year-old from Plymouth has now pleaded guilty to 13 charges including sexual abuse of children and making and distributing indecent images of children....Colin Blanchard was arrested in June after his business partner accidentally found indecent images of very young children on his laptop....Abusive images were found both on his laptop and iphone and Blanchard has admitted 19 counts of sexual assault and distributing indecent images of children.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/8282764.stm
http://ritualabuse.us/ritualabuse/articles/day-care-and-child-abuse-cases/
describes crimes
Vanessa George and Angela Allen abused toddlers for Facebook 'friend' they never met From The Times 10/2/09 Sitting alongside the nursery worker from Plymouth were Angela Allen, a single mother from Nottingham, and Colin Blanchard, a businessman from Smallbridge, Greater Manchester. The three had exchanged photographs of themselves abusing children as well as thousands of text messages detailing their obscene sexual fantasies. None of them had met before they were led into the dock at Bristol Crown Court, and they did did even glance at each other. In total, they admitted 38 charges of child abuse. George, 39, a married mother of two teenage daughters, admitted taking hundreds of photographs of herself abusing infants in her care.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/crime/article6857687.ece
Spotlight on trio of child abusers By Sarah White and Dan Bell BBC News 10/1/09
A nursery worker and two others have pleaded guilty to a catalogue of child sex abuse.
Vanessa George, who worked at a nursery in Plymouth, admitted sexual abuse of children and then sharing pictures of her crimes with Colin Blanchard and Angela Allen, who she met on Facebook.
Blanchard and Allen also pleaded guilty to multiple sexual assaults on children and to taking and sharing pictures of the attacks. Here are profiles of the three people....The 39-year-old from Plymouth has now pleaded guilty to 13 charges including sexual abuse of children and making and distributing indecent images of children....Colin Blanchard was arrested in June after his business partner accidentally found indecent images of very young children on his laptop....Abusive images were found both on his laptop and iphone and Blanchard has admitted 19 counts of sexual assault and distributing indecent images of children.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/8282764.stm
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Polanski's defenders lose sight of the true victim, Victim's Op-ed
from http://ritualabuse.us
Polanski's defenders lose sight of the true victim By Steve Lopez September 30, 2009
The grand jury transcripts of the sex abuse case paint a far more damaging picture of the events that allegedly unfolded between the director and a 13-year-old girl at Jack Nicholson's home in 1977. http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-lopez30-2009sep30,0,1671827,full.column
(Victim's Op-ed) Judge the Movie, Not the Man By Samantha Geimer February 23, 2003 I met Roman Polanski in 1977, when I was 13 years old. I was in ninth grade that year, when he told my mother that he wanted to shoot pictures of me for a French magazine. That's what he said, but instead, after shooting pictures of me at Jack Nicholson's house on Mulholland Drive, he did something quite different. He gave me champagne and a piece of a Quaalude. And then he took advantage of me. It was not consensual sex by any means. I said no, repeatedly, but he wouldn't take no for an answer. I was alone and I didn't know what to do. It was scary and, looking back, very creepy....We pressed charges, and he pleaded guilty. A plea bargain was agreed to by his lawyer, my lawyer and the district attorney, and it was approved by the judge. But to our amazement, at the last minute the judge went back on his word and refused to honor the deal.
Worried that he was going to have to spend 50 years in prison -- rather than just time already served -- Mr. Polanski fled the country. He's never been back, and I haven't seen him or spoken to him since. Looking back, there can be no question that he did something awful. http://articles.latimes.com/2003/feb/23/opinion/oe-geimer23
Polanski's defenders lose sight of the true victim By Steve Lopez September 30, 2009
The grand jury transcripts of the sex abuse case paint a far more damaging picture of the events that allegedly unfolded between the director and a 13-year-old girl at Jack Nicholson's home in 1977. http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-lopez30-2009sep30,0,1671827,full.column
(Victim's Op-ed) Judge the Movie, Not the Man By Samantha Geimer February 23, 2003 I met Roman Polanski in 1977, when I was 13 years old. I was in ninth grade that year, when he told my mother that he wanted to shoot pictures of me for a French magazine. That's what he said, but instead, after shooting pictures of me at Jack Nicholson's house on Mulholland Drive, he did something quite different. He gave me champagne and a piece of a Quaalude. And then he took advantage of me. It was not consensual sex by any means. I said no, repeatedly, but he wouldn't take no for an answer. I was alone and I didn't know what to do. It was scary and, looking back, very creepy....We pressed charges, and he pleaded guilty. A plea bargain was agreed to by his lawyer, my lawyer and the district attorney, and it was approved by the judge. But to our amazement, at the last minute the judge went back on his word and refused to honor the deal.
Worried that he was going to have to spend 50 years in prison -- rather than just time already served -- Mr. Polanski fled the country. He's never been back, and I haven't seen him or spoken to him since. Looking back, there can be no question that he did something awful. http://articles.latimes.com/2003/feb/23/opinion/oe-geimer23
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