Showing posts with label child abuse scandal. Show all posts
Showing posts with label child abuse scandal. Show all posts
Wednesday, March 16, 2016
Child abuse scandal casts ‘spotlight’ on France’s top Catholic, French education minister says 27 school staff fired for child sex abuse
Child abuse scandal casts ‘spotlight’ on France’s top Catholic
2016-03-16
Allegations of a cover-up in the highest reaches of French Catholicism have revived the spectre of clerical child sex abuse and cast a pall over France’s most prominent cardinal
....the allegations have the potential to profoundly rattle the Church in a country where half the population continues to consider itself Catholic. In particular, they threaten to derail the career of France’s most prominent clergyman, Cardinal Philippe Barbarin, the archbishop of Lyon, a man long touted as a possible candidate for the papacy.
The 65-year-old prelate has fiercely denied charges that he covered up paedophilia crimes by failing to remove a priest in his diocese known to have abused boy scouts decades before he took up his post in 2002. Barbarin is also accused of failing to act against another Lyon priest when it emerged in 2009 he had abused a boy in the past.
"I have never, never, never covered up acts of paedophilia," Barbarin said at a press conference on Tuesday, noting that the cases had passed the legal statute of limitations when they were reported. He added an unfortunate "thank God" – and later apologised for his choice of words.
The cardinal spoke just hours after French Prime Minister Manuel Valls urged him to “take his responsibility and act” upon the allegations of cover-up – a rare step for France, which has a strict separation of church and state.
Pandora’s box
Barbarin is among six church officials targeted in a preliminary judicial investigation that grew out of allegations that a priest had molested boy scouts in the 1980s. Barbarin wasn't a cardinal at the time and says he was convinced the priest had been reformed by the time he found out about the abuse in 2007.
The priest, Bernard Preynat, was charged on January 27 of this year with sexual aggression and rape of a minor by a person in authority. The charges are based on complaints filed by members of an association of alleged victims of the priest, known as Parole libérée (Freed word).
Several of the alleged victims have spoken to Euronews journalist Valérie Gauriat about the abuse....
The association says it has received dozens of testimonies from alleged victims, who had previously kept quiet about their story, or were simply not listened to. “Since our establishment, barely two months ago, we have been submerged by messages from victims seeking psychological support or advice,” says Dominique Murillot, the wife of a former child abuse victim and a psychologist at Parole libérée....
Adding to Barbarin’s woes, Le Parisien reported that the Lyon cardinal had in 2013 promoted a convicted sex offender, whose suspended jail term in 2007 was well known to the archdiocese....
France was shocked last year by the disclosure that a school headmaster who had been appointed despite a previous conviction for possessing child pornography was charged with aggravated rape of several pupils.
On Wednesday, the Education Ministry said it had struck off twenty-seven members of staff in French schools and high schools in 2015 because of paedophilia-related offenses, adding that it would tighten cooperation with the justice ministry to scrutinize the criminal records of all teachers it employs....
http://www.france24.com/en/20160316-child-abuse-spotlight-france-catholic-cardinal-barbarin-paedophilia
French education minister says 27 school staff fired for child sex abuse
016-03-16
Twenty-seven members of staff in French schools and high schools were struck off in 2015 because of pedophilia-related offenses, Education Minister Najat Vallaud-Belkacem said Wednesday.
Vallaud-Belkacem said most of those fired where male staffers. She did not say whether they were teachers or administrative personnel, nor when the offenses happened.
France was shocked last year by the disclosure that a school headmaster who had been appointed despite a previous conviction for possessing child pornography was charged with aggravated rape of several pupils. Earlier this year, a high school teacher who had been convicted in Britain 10 years ago was given preliminary charges of sexual assault after police found pornographic images and video in his mobile phone.
According to a report aiming at improving communication between the ministries of education and justice published Wednesday, 19 members of staff in schools and high schools were fired in 2014 in cases related to child pornography or pedophilia. There were 26 staff at French schools laid off in 2013 for the same reason, and 15 in 2012.
"We believe that a teacher, or an adult, or an administrative agent in contact with children can't work with children as soon as he has been sentenced for offenses as serious as pedophilia or child pornography," Vallaud-Belkacem told RTL radio....
http://www.france24.com/en/20160316-france-27-school-staff-fired-child-sex-abuse-paedophilia
Wednesday, August 12, 2015
Pakistan police officers, spy fired over child abuse scandal, Three More Women Come Forward to Accuse Bill Cosby of Sexual Assault, study shows link between trauma exposure and physical health
- Pakistan police officers, spy fired over child abuse case
- Inside the Pakistani village torn apart by child sex abuse scandal
- Three More Women Come Forward to Accuse Bill Cosby of Sexual Assault
- UCT PhD study shows link between trauma exposure and physical health
Pakistan police officers, spy fired over child abuse case
Associated Press August 12, 2015
(AP) — A top government official in eastern Pakistan says he has fired a provincial intelligence chief and three senior police officers for failing to act against a gang that blackmailed the families of children it sexually abused.
Shahbaz Sharif, the chief minister of Punjab province, made the announcement late Tuesday on social media. It comes amid widening outrage over the child sex abuse scandal, which locals say involves more than 270 children.
Sharif said he had dispatched the province's police chief to ensure that "investigation is carried out without discrimination and local influence."
Sharif is the brother of Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. A lawyer for victims has accused local politicians and police of allowing the gang to operate for years, something authorities have denied.
http://news.yahoo.com/pakistan-police-officers-spy-fired-over-child-abuse-095041967.html
Inside the Pakistani village torn apart by child sex abuse scandal
By Sophia Saifi Wed August 12, 2015
Child sexual abuse ring busted in Pakistan
....Punjab province, Hussain Khan Wala is at the center of a child abuse scandal that has rocked the country.
Villagers accuse police officials of covering up a pedophile ring, after videos emerged of their children being molested by members of a prominent and influential local family.
They say the abuse had been going on since at least 2009, and that the children were blackmailed to steal from their homes to prevent the videos from going public.
"My child stopped going to school; whenever they saw him, they took him into the fields, in the house," the 35-year-old mother of one victim told CNN. "They raped him for five hours and now it's finally coming into the open."....
Lawyer and children's rights activist Latif Sera says more than 270 children were victims of the pedophile ring, whose members abused children in the fields and in their homestead, outside which, the words "No Entry" are painted in Urdu.
Sera said it was here that the children were drugged, abused and hung upside down naked from ropes.
Sexual abuse and blackmail
A deep well sits ominously in the house's entrance; villagers tell CNN the family would threaten to drown the children if they complained to their parents.
A 15-year-old boy filmed in one of the videos told CNN he was first raped at the age of nine, after he was approached by a man with a gun while collecting water for his grandfather.
"As soon as I went inside he locked the door. He called out and five more men came in. I started screaming and they covered my mouth. Each of them had a weapon - one had an axe. They said they would cut me into tiny pieces if I made a single sound. Then they raped me."
He said the abuse continued for another four years, during which time he stole to keep his attackers quiet.
"I stole jewelry and money for them, otherwise they said they would kill me and hyenas and dogs would eat my body," he explained. "I found $1,300 for them to leave me alone. I stole from my own home, my own family."
Punjab police say 14 suspects have been arrested in connection with the case. A gang of 20 to 25 people is believed to have been involved in the abuse....
On Tuesday, Punjab province's chief of police announced that the suspects wold be tried in a terrorism court to expedite the process. He said 3 police officials have been suspended pending an investigation....
http://www.cnn.com/2015/08/12/asia/pakistan-child-sex-abuse-scandal-village/
Three More Women Come Forward to Accuse Bill Cosby of Sexual Assault
By Christine Pelisek 08/12/2015
Three more women have publicly come forward with accusations that Bill Cosby sexually assaulted them in the 1970s and '80s. The three women, including an actress who appeared on The Cosby Show and the former wife of a vice president at the William Morris Agency, joined the more than 40 women who allege they were drugged, sexually assaulted or sexually harassed by the comedian.
At a press conference Wednesday, civil rights attorney Gloria Allred, who is now representing more than 21 accusers, said the three women are speaking out now to show their support for other accusers who have been criticized by Cosby's attorneys.
"There is no statute of limitations on free speech," says Allred. "A person who alleges that she or he is a victim can speak out at any time."
Cosby has consistently denied the allegations of sexual assault....
http://www.people.com/article/bill-cosby-new-accusers-sexual-assault-claims
UCT PhD study shows link between trauma exposure and physical health
RDM News Wire 11 August, 2015
A study by a University of Cape Town (UCT) doctoral graduate has demonstrated a clear link between trauma exposure‚ chronic physical conditions and other mental disorders - the first time that a scientific study has established this link.
These findings could be useful in designing interventions aimed at reducing the burden of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)‚ chronic physical conditions and other mental disorders‚ UCT said in a statement on Tuesday.
Using the data collected in the South African stress and health study‚ associate professor Lukoye Atwoli found that there was an association between trauma exposure and chronic physical conditions such as arthritis‚ cardiovascular disease‚ respiratory disease and chronic pain.
He also found a link between trauma exposure and other mental disorders‚ such as mood and anxiety disorder. Trauma exposure also increased the risk of chronic physical conditions such as chronic pain‚ cardiovascular and respiratory disease and arthritis....
http://www.timeslive.co.za/lifestyle/2015/08/11/UCT-PhD-study-shows-link-between-trauma-exposure-and-physical-health
- Inside the Pakistani village torn apart by child sex abuse scandal
- Three More Women Come Forward to Accuse Bill Cosby of Sexual Assault
- UCT PhD study shows link between trauma exposure and physical health
Pakistan police officers, spy fired over child abuse case
Associated Press August 12, 2015
(AP) — A top government official in eastern Pakistan says he has fired a provincial intelligence chief and three senior police officers for failing to act against a gang that blackmailed the families of children it sexually abused.
Shahbaz Sharif, the chief minister of Punjab province, made the announcement late Tuesday on social media. It comes amid widening outrage over the child sex abuse scandal, which locals say involves more than 270 children.
Sharif said he had dispatched the province's police chief to ensure that "investigation is carried out without discrimination and local influence."
Sharif is the brother of Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. A lawyer for victims has accused local politicians and police of allowing the gang to operate for years, something authorities have denied.
http://news.yahoo.com/pakistan-police-officers-spy-fired-over-child-abuse-095041967.html
Inside the Pakistani village torn apart by child sex abuse scandal
By Sophia Saifi Wed August 12, 2015
Child sexual abuse ring busted in Pakistan
....Punjab province, Hussain Khan Wala is at the center of a child abuse scandal that has rocked the country.
Villagers accuse police officials of covering up a pedophile ring, after videos emerged of their children being molested by members of a prominent and influential local family.
They say the abuse had been going on since at least 2009, and that the children were blackmailed to steal from their homes to prevent the videos from going public.
"My child stopped going to school; whenever they saw him, they took him into the fields, in the house," the 35-year-old mother of one victim told CNN. "They raped him for five hours and now it's finally coming into the open."....
Lawyer and children's rights activist Latif Sera says more than 270 children were victims of the pedophile ring, whose members abused children in the fields and in their homestead, outside which, the words "No Entry" are painted in Urdu.
Sera said it was here that the children were drugged, abused and hung upside down naked from ropes.
Sexual abuse and blackmail
A deep well sits ominously in the house's entrance; villagers tell CNN the family would threaten to drown the children if they complained to their parents.
A 15-year-old boy filmed in one of the videos told CNN he was first raped at the age of nine, after he was approached by a man with a gun while collecting water for his grandfather.
"As soon as I went inside he locked the door. He called out and five more men came in. I started screaming and they covered my mouth. Each of them had a weapon - one had an axe. They said they would cut me into tiny pieces if I made a single sound. Then they raped me."
He said the abuse continued for another four years, during which time he stole to keep his attackers quiet.
"I stole jewelry and money for them, otherwise they said they would kill me and hyenas and dogs would eat my body," he explained. "I found $1,300 for them to leave me alone. I stole from my own home, my own family."
Punjab police say 14 suspects have been arrested in connection with the case. A gang of 20 to 25 people is believed to have been involved in the abuse....
On Tuesday, Punjab province's chief of police announced that the suspects wold be tried in a terrorism court to expedite the process. He said 3 police officials have been suspended pending an investigation....
http://www.cnn.com/2015/08/12/asia/pakistan-child-sex-abuse-scandal-village/
Three More Women Come Forward to Accuse Bill Cosby of Sexual Assault
By Christine Pelisek 08/12/2015
Three more women have publicly come forward with accusations that Bill Cosby sexually assaulted them in the 1970s and '80s. The three women, including an actress who appeared on The Cosby Show and the former wife of a vice president at the William Morris Agency, joined the more than 40 women who allege they were drugged, sexually assaulted or sexually harassed by the comedian.
At a press conference Wednesday, civil rights attorney Gloria Allred, who is now representing more than 21 accusers, said the three women are speaking out now to show their support for other accusers who have been criticized by Cosby's attorneys.
"There is no statute of limitations on free speech," says Allred. "A person who alleges that she or he is a victim can speak out at any time."
Cosby has consistently denied the allegations of sexual assault....
http://www.people.com/article/bill-cosby-new-accusers-sexual-assault-claims
UCT PhD study shows link between trauma exposure and physical health
RDM News Wire 11 August, 2015
A study by a University of Cape Town (UCT) doctoral graduate has demonstrated a clear link between trauma exposure‚ chronic physical conditions and other mental disorders - the first time that a scientific study has established this link.
These findings could be useful in designing interventions aimed at reducing the burden of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)‚ chronic physical conditions and other mental disorders‚ UCT said in a statement on Tuesday.
Using the data collected in the South African stress and health study‚ associate professor Lukoye Atwoli found that there was an association between trauma exposure and chronic physical conditions such as arthritis‚ cardiovascular disease‚ respiratory disease and chronic pain.
He also found a link between trauma exposure and other mental disorders‚ such as mood and anxiety disorder. Trauma exposure also increased the risk of chronic physical conditions such as chronic pain‚ cardiovascular and respiratory disease and arthritis....
http://www.timeslive.co.za/lifestyle/2015/08/11/UCT-PhD-study-shows-link-between-trauma-exposure-and-physical-health
Monday, August 10, 2015
Expert on Ritual Murders About the Triple Homicide in the Florida Panhandle, Santeria priest claims sexual assault was part of healing ritual, Child abuse scandal in Pakistan
- We Asked an Expert on Ritual Murders About the Triple Homicide in the Florida
- Santeria priest claims sexual assault was part of healing ritual, police say
- Child abuse scandal shocks Pakistan, families angry at police
We Asked an Expert on Ritual Murders About the Triple Homicide in the Florida Panhandle August 6, 2015 By Allie Conti Staff Writer
This week, people across the country have been freaking out about a crime story that sounds like it came straight out of the good season of True Detective. A sheriff in Florida's Panhandle, which is also known as the Redneck Riviera and characterized by conservatism and religiosity, announced at a press conference that a ritualistic triple-murder took place in Pensacola last week....
But is it possible that we should be taking the allegedly ritualistic part of this tragedy more seriously? Dawn Perlmutter, an expert on ritual killings and former director of the Institute for the Research of Organized and Ritual Violence, says her phone has been blowing up since the news of the murders broke. (I managed to catch her 20 minutes before she took the stage at the International Association for Identification Crime Scene Conference, where she was giving a lecture on—you guessed it—ritual murders.) Apparently, these kinds of crimes are more prevalent than people might think. "I've worked on cases in Ohio, and Florida, and New York," Perlmutter said. "They're international, and not specific to either rural places or cities. They can happen everywhere."....
VICE: Hey Dawn. First off, what makes something a ritual murder?
Dawn Perlmutter: What distinguishes a ritualistic killing from a standard homicide is that it goes beyond what's necessary just to kill someone. There's overkill or mutilation. But even more than that, it's usually some kind of symbolic evidence. For example, symbols carved into the body, there can be symbols painted on the floor, it can be the positioning of the body, the staging. These are your pretty standard signs. They tend to be multiple homicides also. And then you get into other types of things, like significance of dates, or significance of holidays specific to different ideologies....
People seem very riled up by this—understandably. But how common is ritual murder?
I've worked on dozens of ritual murders and testified on them. In terms of statistics, I don't think they're as common as bank robberies, but they're certainly more common than serial killing. They occur. They definitely occur. A lot of people don't believe that they happen, but I just testified in two cases in LA, one last month, that was a ritual killing by a couple. And one was by a young Satanist in LA who murdered his mother. In both of those cases, there was severe mutilation and positioning of the bodies, so there was no doubt they were ritual murders.
What's the most interesting case you've worked on?
I don't know if interesting is the right term. One of the cases that was very disturbing to me was one in Toledo, Ohio, that involved a priest who ritually killed a nun in the sacristy of the chapel on Easter Saturday. It was a 25-year-old cold case, so it was nice that we could still solve it, and he was convicted. But that was disturbing because so many victims came out saying that had been done, and it was actually horrifying in a number of ways that it had gone on for so long....
http://www.vice.com/read/we-asked-an-expert-in-ritual-murders-about-the-triple-homicide-in-the-florida-panhandle-806
Santeria priest claims sexual assault was part of healing ritual, police say
By Veronica Rocha August 6, 2015
A Santeria priest has been accused of sexually assaulting a girl during what he claimed were healing rituals, Montebello police said Thursday.
Police are trying to find Pablo Pinto Mata, 46 — known as a “Santero,” or priest — who often performed healing rituals at his business, Los Angeles Import, in the 2400 block of Whittier Boulevard in Montebello, police said.
But police said his so-called healing rituals were a ploy used to assault a teenager....
In 2013, Mata performed three healing rituals on a 16-year-old girl, police said. During those incidents, the girl had to disrobe. The third time, Mata forced the girl to disrobe and he sexually assaulted her, police said.
Mata told her the assault was part of a ritual common in Santeria, a faith of the Caribbean.
Police think there may be other victims who were sexually assaulted....
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-santeria-sex-assault-20150806-story.html
Priest of Caribbean Santeria religion 'used HEALING ritual as cover to sexually abuse 16-year-old girl'
Pablo Pinto Mata, 46, is accused of sex attack against girl in 2013
Allegedly used three-part ritual to dupe her into undressing for attack
Mata has business linked to Santeria in Montebello, California
The faith has roots in Africa and incorporates elements of Catholicism
By Kieran Corcoran For Dailymail.com 7 August 2015
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3189944/Priest-Caribbean-Santeria-religion-used-HEALING-ritual-cover-sexually-abuse-16-year-old-girl.html
describes abuse
Child abuse scandal shocks Pakistan, families angry at police
HUSAIN KHAN WALA, Pakistan By Mehreen Zahra-Malik and Mubasher Bukhari Mon Aug 10, 2015
Parents at the center of a growing child abuse scandal in Pakistan accused police on Monday of failing to do enough to break up a pedophile ring in Punjab province, the prime minister's political heartland.
Villagers in the central Punjabi village of Husain Khan Wala told Reuters that a prominent family there has for years forced children to perform sex acts on video. The footage was sold or used to blackmail their impoverished families.
Rubina Bibi says her 13-year-old son was a victim, but when she tried to file a report at the Ganda Singh Wala police station a month and a half ago, "the police station clerk told me to get lost and I was thrown out".
"My son is in the videos, he is a victim," she said. "Our children were forced into this. They were humiliated. But the police are treating them like criminals."
Another mother, Shakila Bibi, said: "I went to the police station to file a complaint, but instead of registering a (report), they took my son into custody."
Her 15-year-old son is still in jail, she said....
Lawyer Latif Sra, representing some of the victims, said: "I have personally met hundreds of parents who have not yet come forward to file official complaints, either out of fear or shame."
Police have arrested seven suspects, but downplayed the scale of the abuse, suggesting a land dispute may have sparked accusations.
"It's a very murky situation," said Babar. He added that seven cases involving 11 children had been registered.
Activist Mobeen Ghaznavi said he had 130 video clips containing abuse.
"People are afraid. They are being threatened and intimidated," he said.
Suraiya Bibi said the abusers threatened her family when she complained to police....
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/08/10/us-pakistan-child-abuse-idUSKCN0QF0K120150810
Thursday, June 11, 2015
New child abuse scandal hits Mike Huckabee: Republican White House hopeful's co-author molested girl, 11, and escaped charges because of statute of limitations
New child abuse scandal hits Mike Huckabee: Republican White House hopeful's co-author molested girl, 11, and escaped charges because of statute of limitations
John Perry co-authored Huckabee's 2008 campaign memoirs and is now revealed to have molested girl between ages of 11 and 14
Police concluded abuse had taken place but they were alerted to it after statute of limitations had kicked in
Perry tells Daily Mail Online 'the parties involved were reconciled and restored years ago' and abuse emerged because of vendetta
No suggestion Huckabee knew Perry was an abuser but comes after Duggar family revealed to have covered up son Josh's molestation of sisters
By Francesca Chambers, White House Correspondent For Dailymail.com
11 June 2015
Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee is facing fresh controversy over links to a child abuser today.
The evangelical Christian politician's co-author was revealed to have been found by police to have molested a girl when she was just 11, and continued the abuse for three years.
John Perry, a prolific author who helped co-write hit movie The Vow, was not prosecuted because the statute of limitations had passed by the time police became involved,Buzzfeed News reported as it revealed the abuse.
Perry is the second associate of Huckabee to have been revealed as an abuser, after Josh Duggar's abuse of his sisters was disclosed.
Perry today told Daily Mail Online that 'the parties involved were reconciled and restored years ago' and that the investigation had been prompted by an individual who had a 'vendetta' against his former church.....
Minutes of meetings from Covenant Presbyterian Church - part of the national Presbyterian church - given to Buzzfeed by a parishioner show that Perry resigned from its deaconate in 2008.
At a separate meeting in 2010, Perry was reportedly excommunicated after 'he confessed to committing heinous and repetitive sin […] and has not shown evidence of repentance'.
Those same minutes were used as evidence in a 2012 lawsuit brought against the church by Mrs. Davis and her husband Austin Davis, who are no longer parishioners there.
The Nashville Police department told Buzzfeed, 'The alleged sexual battery was reported to have occurred when the victim was between the ages of 11 and 14.'
As a result of its 2012 investigation, 'the allegations of sexual battery were sustained, but it was determined that the statute of limitations had tolled, barring prosecution,' spokesman Don Aaron told Buzzfeed.
'The victim was age 18 when she first disclosed the allegations to non-law enforcement and said at that time she did not want the matter reported to the Tennessee Department of Children’s Services or the police.'
Perry's divorce proceedings are not a matter of public record. But Buzzfeed reports that, according to documents filed, Perry's ex-wife claims he 'admitted sexual abuse' of child.
His response to her claim, based on the documents, was that 'there was never any testimony or other evidence of any kind presented' nor were there 'any orders or findings of fact […] regarding any alleged sexual abuse of any minor child relative to the parties’ divorce or any other legal proceeding.'....
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3120240/New-child-abuse-scandal-hits-Mike-Huckabee-Republican-White-House-hopeful-s-author-molested-girl-11-escaped-charges-statute-limitations.html
John Perry co-authored Huckabee's 2008 campaign memoirs and is now revealed to have molested girl between ages of 11 and 14
Police concluded abuse had taken place but they were alerted to it after statute of limitations had kicked in
Perry tells Daily Mail Online 'the parties involved were reconciled and restored years ago' and abuse emerged because of vendetta
No suggestion Huckabee knew Perry was an abuser but comes after Duggar family revealed to have covered up son Josh's molestation of sisters
By Francesca Chambers, White House Correspondent For Dailymail.com
11 June 2015
Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee is facing fresh controversy over links to a child abuser today.
The evangelical Christian politician's co-author was revealed to have been found by police to have molested a girl when she was just 11, and continued the abuse for three years.
John Perry, a prolific author who helped co-write hit movie The Vow, was not prosecuted because the statute of limitations had passed by the time police became involved,Buzzfeed News reported as it revealed the abuse.
Perry is the second associate of Huckabee to have been revealed as an abuser, after Josh Duggar's abuse of his sisters was disclosed.
Perry today told Daily Mail Online that 'the parties involved were reconciled and restored years ago' and that the investigation had been prompted by an individual who had a 'vendetta' against his former church.....
Minutes of meetings from Covenant Presbyterian Church - part of the national Presbyterian church - given to Buzzfeed by a parishioner show that Perry resigned from its deaconate in 2008.
At a separate meeting in 2010, Perry was reportedly excommunicated after 'he confessed to committing heinous and repetitive sin […] and has not shown evidence of repentance'.
Those same minutes were used as evidence in a 2012 lawsuit brought against the church by Mrs. Davis and her husband Austin Davis, who are no longer parishioners there.
The Nashville Police department told Buzzfeed, 'The alleged sexual battery was reported to have occurred when the victim was between the ages of 11 and 14.'
As a result of its 2012 investigation, 'the allegations of sexual battery were sustained, but it was determined that the statute of limitations had tolled, barring prosecution,' spokesman Don Aaron told Buzzfeed.
'The victim was age 18 when she first disclosed the allegations to non-law enforcement and said at that time she did not want the matter reported to the Tennessee Department of Children’s Services or the police.'
Perry's divorce proceedings are not a matter of public record. But Buzzfeed reports that, according to documents filed, Perry's ex-wife claims he 'admitted sexual abuse' of child.
His response to her claim, based on the documents, was that 'there was never any testimony or other evidence of any kind presented' nor were there 'any orders or findings of fact […] regarding any alleged sexual abuse of any minor child relative to the parties’ divorce or any other legal proceeding.'....
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3120240/New-child-abuse-scandal-hits-Mike-Huckabee-Republican-White-House-hopeful-s-author-molested-girl-11-escaped-charges-statute-limitations.html
Thursday, June 4, 2015
Police set to question celebrities, politicians and sports stars in investigation into child abuse on island of Jersey, Top Vatican Cardinal Pell trailed by old child abuse scandal from Australia
Top Vatican cardinal trailed by old child abuse scandal from Australia
"a notorious pedophilia ring just down the road from where Pell once served as parish priest"
"abuse victims and fellow priests have given testimony under oath that Pell knew about the dozens of children who were mistreated there"
"Other priests gave testimony that Pell was probably part of high-level meetings about Ridsdale’s offenses by 1977, an allegation Pell has denied"
Police set to question thirteen 'celebrities, politicians and sports stars' in investigation into historic child abuse on island of Jersey
States of Jersey Police say they are to imminently quiz 13 famous figures
They are among the 45 suspects identified as part of Operation Whistle
The investigation is looking into allegations of child sex abuse on Jersey
By Jennifer Newton for MailOnline 4 June 2015
Police investigating child abuse claims on the island of Jersey say they are set to question 13 celebrities, politicians and sports stars.
Detectives have revealed that the prominent figures, who are 'well known' will be quizzed 'imminently' into allegations of institutionalised sex offences on the Channel island.
Their identities have not been revealed but police have said that 13 of the 45 suspects are public figures, including media personalities, politicians and sports people and they will be questioned as part of Operation Whistle.
The alleged abuse is said to have occurred between the late 1930s until the mid 2000s across four institutions, including the Haut de la Garenne children's home.
The other institutions, which have not been named, are no longer functioning....
An investigation was launched into allegations of historic child abuse in Jersey in 2007 with former children's home Haut de la Garenne becoming the focus.
By February 2008, the investigating team had received some claims about possible murders at Haut de la Garenne, a children's home for 86 years until it closed in 1986....
the investigation did show numerous instances of abuse against past residents, with one former staff member being convicted of abuse.
Gordon Wateridge, was found guilty of eight indecent assaults on teenage girls and jailed for two years in August.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3111224/Police-set-question-thirteen-celebrities-politicians-sports-stars-investigation-historic-child-abuse-island-Jersey.html
Top Vatican cardinal trailed by old child abuse scandal from Australia
By Sarah Kaplan June 3
Cardinal George Pell left Sydney two years ago to great fanfare. The longtime archbishop of Sydney and lauded “defender of the faith down under” had just been appointed chief of the Vatican’s finances — sometimes described as the second most powerful position in Rome. It is the highest an Australian has ever ascended in the church.
But Pell couldn’t leave behind the child sex abuse scandal that had rocked his hometown or the hushed accusations that he had a part in it. Those accusations have grown louder and much more public since last month, when an Australian commission began hearings into a notorious pedophilia ring just down the road from where Pell once served as parish priest.
Amid fervent coverage in the Australian news media, an accusation that his handling of the issue was “sociopathic” and testimony that Pell ignored warnings about his abusive colleagues and attempted to bribe one victim to stop him from speaking out, Pell has now hired lawyers to fight off attacks from the decades-old scandal he can’t quite shake....
Ten thousand miles from Rome, in Pell’s hometown of Ballarat, abuse victims and fellow priests have given testimony under oath that Pell knew about the dozens of children who were mistreated there....
Pell was ordained in Rome in 1966 and moved to Oxford for his PhD. But when he returned to Australia in 1971, he moved back to his home state of Victoria, and two years after that he was back in Ballarat. There he served as a parish priest and vicar. Just down the road, St. Alipius Primary School had become the site of one of Australia’s most notorious pedophilia rings....
One of the worst abusers was Gerald Ridsdale, a now-defrocked priest convicted of sexual offenses against more than 50 children. Ridsdale lived with Pell in Ballarat for two years.
Ridsdale, who told his family he had “hundreds” of victims, according to the Australian newspaper the Age, was moved to nine different parishes over the course of his career — something the church is often accused of doing when faced with allegations of abuse.
Pell said he knew nothing about his colleague’s treatment of children until the 1990s, when Ridsdale was arrested and charged with dozens of counts of sexual assault over the course of two decades.
When Ridsdale appeared in a Melbourne court in 1993, Pell stood alongside him, dressed in a priest’s garb....
In 1994, Ridsdale pleaded guilty to 46 counts of sexual abuse and was sentenced to 15 years in prison. He was sentenced to an additional four years in 2006 after pleading guilty to 35 more charges, and eight more years in 2013, after additional offenses came to light during the Australian inquiry into the Church’s handling of abuse allegations. All told, he is convicted of abusing 54 children. The youngest was 4 years old....
Meanwhile, Pell’s star continued to rise. He was named archbishop of Melbourne in 1996 and then Archbishop of Sydney in 2001. A 2003 article on his appointment as cardinal called his ascent to the upper echelons of the Church “inexorable,” noting Pell’s moral fervor and reputation as a “staunch and public upholder of Catholic purity.”....
Last August, when Pell appeared before the commission for a broader inquiry on the Church’s handling of abuse cases, he said that the Church should not be held legally responsible for the actions of its priests, comparing it to a hypothetical trucking company that hired a driver who molested women....
Other priests gave testimony that Pell was probably part of high-level meetings about Ridsdale’s offenses by 1977, an allegation Pell has denied....
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/06/03/top-vatican-cardinal-trailed-by-old-child-abuse-scandal-from-australia/
Wednesday, February 4, 2015
Britain Condemns Leaders in Town of Rotherham for Ignoring Reports of Child Abuse
Britain Condemns Leaders in Town of Rotherham for Ignoring Reports of Child Abuse
By STEVEN ERLANGER FEB. 4, 2015
LONDON — The British government on Wednesday severely criticized legislators in the northern English town of Rotherham for a culture of “complete denial” that led to a long-running ring involving the sexual abuse of up to 1,400 children from 1997 to 2013.
A report into the scandal by a senior official at Britain’s Department for Communities and Local Government found a deep-rooted culture of cover-ups and bullying, and grounds for possible criminal indictments.
The Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council leader, Paul Lakin, has resigned, and the council’s cabinet is also set to resign. Earlier, Shaun Wright, the police and crime commissioner of South Yorkshire, stepped down over the scandal.
The work of the council will be given to five commissioners appointed by the British government, which will call early elections in Rotherham next year to choose a new council.
“This inspection revealed past and present failures to accept, understand and combat the issue of child sexual exploitation, resulting in a lack of support for victims and insufficient action against known perpetrators,” the report said.....
To address another child abuse scandal, Home Secretary Theresa May appointed a New Zealand High Court judge on Wednesday to lead an inquiry into allegations of sexual abuse of children by powerful figures in British society that date from the 1970s....
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/05/world/europe/britain-child-abuse-scandal-rotherham-city-council.html
Spoken-Word Artist Captures Pain and Fear of Child Abuse Kelsey Timmerman Co-authored by J.R. Jamison
02/04/2015
Taking a story someone has lived and translating it into a story you write -- as if you were them -- is not for the faint of heart, especially when that story is about child abuse, prostitution, and sex trafficking....
Yewande was the artistic director for Facing Sex Trafficking: Atlanta's Dirty Little Secret. She wrote and performed this first-person story of Kasey McClure who suffered years of sexual abuse from her father before she left home and fell into the trap of the sex industry....
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kelsey-timmerman/spokenword-artist-capture_b_6607344.html
By STEVEN ERLANGER FEB. 4, 2015
LONDON — The British government on Wednesday severely criticized legislators in the northern English town of Rotherham for a culture of “complete denial” that led to a long-running ring involving the sexual abuse of up to 1,400 children from 1997 to 2013.
A report into the scandal by a senior official at Britain’s Department for Communities and Local Government found a deep-rooted culture of cover-ups and bullying, and grounds for possible criminal indictments.
The Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council leader, Paul Lakin, has resigned, and the council’s cabinet is also set to resign. Earlier, Shaun Wright, the police and crime commissioner of South Yorkshire, stepped down over the scandal.
The work of the council will be given to five commissioners appointed by the British government, which will call early elections in Rotherham next year to choose a new council.
“This inspection revealed past and present failures to accept, understand and combat the issue of child sexual exploitation, resulting in a lack of support for victims and insufficient action against known perpetrators,” the report said.....
To address another child abuse scandal, Home Secretary Theresa May appointed a New Zealand High Court judge on Wednesday to lead an inquiry into allegations of sexual abuse of children by powerful figures in British society that date from the 1970s....
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/05/world/europe/britain-child-abuse-scandal-rotherham-city-council.html
Spoken-Word Artist Captures Pain and Fear of Child Abuse Kelsey Timmerman Co-authored by J.R. Jamison
02/04/2015
Taking a story someone has lived and translating it into a story you write -- as if you were them -- is not for the faint of heart, especially when that story is about child abuse, prostitution, and sex trafficking....
Yewande was the artistic director for Facing Sex Trafficking: Atlanta's Dirty Little Secret. She wrote and performed this first-person story of Kasey McClure who suffered years of sexual abuse from her father before she left home and fell into the trap of the sex industry....
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kelsey-timmerman/spokenword-artist-capture_b_6607344.html
Saturday, January 4, 2014
Neighbor of Ariel Castro pleads guilty to murders, rapes, kidnappings; Priest Released, Monsignor William Lynn, Priest Formerly Convicted In Child Abuse Scandal, Released
Neighbor of Ariel Castro pleads guilty to murders, rapes, kidnappings
By Elisha Fieldstadt, NBC News 12/30/13
A man nabbed by Cleveland police because of the proximity of his house to the late serial rapist and kidnapper Ariel Castro pleaded guilty to murder and rape charges on Monday in connection with the killings of two women.
Elias Acevedo Sr. was sentenced to 445 years in prison without parole for the murders of the women and multiple counts rape that date back as far as two decades, according to NBC affiliate, WKYC....
Acevedo, who lived doors away from Castro, pleaded not guilty in October to 293 counts, including 173 counts of rape and 115 counts of kidnapping.
On Monday, in a plea deal, Acevedo pleaded guilty to strangling Pemberton in 1994 and killing a pregnant Adkins the following year. Adkins' body was discovered in October....
http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/12/30/22112946-neighbor-of-ariel-castro-pleads-guilty-to-murders-rapes-kidnappings
Monsignor William Lynn, Priest Formerly Convicted In Child Abuse Scandal, Released
01/03/14
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A church official who recently won an appeal of his landmark conviction in the priest-abuse scandal was released from custody Friday, and the city's Roman Catholic archbishop defended the decision to use church funds to help with bail.
Monsignor William Lynn was staying at an undisclosed location in Philadelphia after being processed at a city jail and being fitted with an electronic monitoring device Friday morning, defense attorney Thomas Bergstrom said. He was due in court Monday for a bail hearing.
Lynn, who left a state prison on Thursday after 18 months behind bars, is the first U.S. church official to have been charged for hiding complaints that priests were molesting children.
City prosecutors had charged him with felony child endangerment, but the state Superior Court ruled that the law that existed at the time did not cover people who did not directly supervise children.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/01/04/monsignor-william-lynn-released-priest-abuse_n_4540861.html
By Elisha Fieldstadt, NBC News 12/30/13
A man nabbed by Cleveland police because of the proximity of his house to the late serial rapist and kidnapper Ariel Castro pleaded guilty to murder and rape charges on Monday in connection with the killings of two women.
Elias Acevedo Sr. was sentenced to 445 years in prison without parole for the murders of the women and multiple counts rape that date back as far as two decades, according to NBC affiliate, WKYC....
Acevedo, who lived doors away from Castro, pleaded not guilty in October to 293 counts, including 173 counts of rape and 115 counts of kidnapping.
On Monday, in a plea deal, Acevedo pleaded guilty to strangling Pemberton in 1994 and killing a pregnant Adkins the following year. Adkins' body was discovered in October....
http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/12/30/22112946-neighbor-of-ariel-castro-pleads-guilty-to-murders-rapes-kidnappings
Monsignor William Lynn, Priest Formerly Convicted In Child Abuse Scandal, Released
01/03/14
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A church official who recently won an appeal of his landmark conviction in the priest-abuse scandal was released from custody Friday, and the city's Roman Catholic archbishop defended the decision to use church funds to help with bail.
Monsignor William Lynn was staying at an undisclosed location in Philadelphia after being processed at a city jail and being fitted with an electronic monitoring device Friday morning, defense attorney Thomas Bergstrom said. He was due in court Monday for a bail hearing.
Lynn, who left a state prison on Thursday after 18 months behind bars, is the first U.S. church official to have been charged for hiding complaints that priests were molesting children.
City prosecutors had charged him with felony child endangerment, but the state Superior Court ruled that the law that existed at the time did not cover people who did not directly supervise children.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/01/04/monsignor-william-lynn-released-priest-abuse_n_4540861.html
Monday, December 24, 2012
BBC cleared of coverup in Savile case, But a report faults the British broadcaster's decision to drop a news investigation
BBC cleared of coverup in Jimmy Savile case
But a report faults the British broadcaster's decision to drop a news investigation of pedophilia allegations against the late TV host, as well as ensuing ineptitude.
December 19, 2012 By Henry Chu, Los Angeles Times
LONDON — The BBC did not deliberately cover up sex abuse allegations against one of its most famous hosts in order to go ahead with tribute shows to him after his death, but its decision to drop a news investigation into the accusations was "seriously flawed," a highly anticipated report released Wednesday says....
Pollard, a prominent former television news executive, was commissioned by the BBC to conduct an independent inquiry into why the corporation chose to kill an investigation of Savile by its program "Newsnight" that was on track to be aired in late 2011.
Savile, an eccentric figure who wore tracksuits and long hair, had died a few months earlier after many years as a children's television host at the BBC. Other divisions of the broadcasting corporation were planning lavish holiday tributes to him.
Those tributes went ahead, and the "Newsnight" program was shelved. But this year, a rival network broadcast its own investigation of Savile, who is now suspected by police of having been a predatory pedophile responsible for molesting or raping dozens of young girls, some of them on BBC premises.
Pollard's report, based on interviews and a review of more than 10,000 emails and other documents, concludes that there had not been any undue pressure from senior management to pull the "Newsnight" investigation in order to protect the BBC's reputation or to continue with the tribute shows. "Newsnight" editor Peter Rippon made an honest but wrong assessment that the evidence in the investigation was not strong enough, the report says.
"The 'Newsnight' investigators got the story right," Pollard said. "The decision by their editor to drop the investigation was clearly flawed and the way it was taken was wrong, but I believe it was done in good faith. It was not done to protect the Savile tribute programs."
However, once the accusations surfaced on rival network ITV and questions began to be raised about the aborted "Newsnight" program, the BBC responded with breathtaking incompetence, the report says in a particularly damning finding.
http://articles.latimes.com/2012/dec/19/world/la-fg-britain-bbc-report-20121220
The Jimmy Savile child abuse scandal breaks
28 September: the scandal of Jimmy Savile's child abuse allegations goes public – and the BBC investigates itself
Shelley Jofre, Panorama reporter
The Observer, Saturday 22 December 2012
When the story broke that Exposure was going to be doing a story on Jimmy Savile, and that Newsnight had somehow suppressed it, I suggested to my editor, Tom Giles, that we should do something about it. Like any journalist I just wanted to know what on earth had gone on.
The story was moving so quickly we made the film in a week – it normally takes a month. We were unravelling the whole thing on the hoof and managed to gather a huge amount of information about what happened with Savile at the BBC over four decades. From the testimonies, some of the stories seem jawdropping. Our archive producer did an amazing job of unearthing powerful footage of Savile so we saw how overtly sexual he was, groping and leering at women on the programmes we all watched as children.
The most poignant was the group of cub scouts who appeared on Jim'll Fix It. The archive producer located footage of the boy I interviewed anonymously as a grown man. You could see the joy and happiness on his face as a nine-year-old during what should have been one of the biggest moments of his childhood, then he was molested shortly afterwards in Savile's dressing room. He was so ashamed he didn't tell anyone for 40 years....
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2012/dec/23/jimmy-savile-child-abuse-scandal
But a report faults the British broadcaster's decision to drop a news investigation of pedophilia allegations against the late TV host, as well as ensuing ineptitude.
December 19, 2012 By Henry Chu, Los Angeles Times
LONDON — The BBC did not deliberately cover up sex abuse allegations against one of its most famous hosts in order to go ahead with tribute shows to him after his death, but its decision to drop a news investigation into the accusations was "seriously flawed," a highly anticipated report released Wednesday says....
Pollard, a prominent former television news executive, was commissioned by the BBC to conduct an independent inquiry into why the corporation chose to kill an investigation of Savile by its program "Newsnight" that was on track to be aired in late 2011.
Savile, an eccentric figure who wore tracksuits and long hair, had died a few months earlier after many years as a children's television host at the BBC. Other divisions of the broadcasting corporation were planning lavish holiday tributes to him.
Those tributes went ahead, and the "Newsnight" program was shelved. But this year, a rival network broadcast its own investigation of Savile, who is now suspected by police of having been a predatory pedophile responsible for molesting or raping dozens of young girls, some of them on BBC premises.
Pollard's report, based on interviews and a review of more than 10,000 emails and other documents, concludes that there had not been any undue pressure from senior management to pull the "Newsnight" investigation in order to protect the BBC's reputation or to continue with the tribute shows. "Newsnight" editor Peter Rippon made an honest but wrong assessment that the evidence in the investigation was not strong enough, the report says.
"The 'Newsnight' investigators got the story right," Pollard said. "The decision by their editor to drop the investigation was clearly flawed and the way it was taken was wrong, but I believe it was done in good faith. It was not done to protect the Savile tribute programs."
However, once the accusations surfaced on rival network ITV and questions began to be raised about the aborted "Newsnight" program, the BBC responded with breathtaking incompetence, the report says in a particularly damning finding.
http://articles.latimes.com/2012/dec/19/world/la-fg-britain-bbc-report-20121220
The Jimmy Savile child abuse scandal breaks
28 September: the scandal of Jimmy Savile's child abuse allegations goes public – and the BBC investigates itself
Shelley Jofre, Panorama reporter
The Observer, Saturday 22 December 2012
When the story broke that Exposure was going to be doing a story on Jimmy Savile, and that Newsnight had somehow suppressed it, I suggested to my editor, Tom Giles, that we should do something about it. Like any journalist I just wanted to know what on earth had gone on.
The story was moving so quickly we made the film in a week – it normally takes a month. We were unravelling the whole thing on the hoof and managed to gather a huge amount of information about what happened with Savile at the BBC over four decades. From the testimonies, some of the stories seem jawdropping. Our archive producer did an amazing job of unearthing powerful footage of Savile so we saw how overtly sexual he was, groping and leering at women on the programmes we all watched as children.
The most poignant was the group of cub scouts who appeared on Jim'll Fix It. The archive producer located footage of the boy I interviewed anonymously as a grown man. You could see the joy and happiness on his face as a nine-year-old during what should have been one of the biggest moments of his childhood, then he was molested shortly afterwards in Savile's dressing room. He was so ashamed he didn't tell anyone for 40 years....
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2012/dec/23/jimmy-savile-child-abuse-scandal
Thursday, October 25, 2012
New York Times Dragged Into BBC Sex Abuse Scandal Through New CEO Mark Thompson
New York Times Dragged Into BBC Sex Abuse Scandal Through New CEO Mark Thompson
AP By RAPHAEL SATTER 10/24/2012
LONDON (AP) — The child abuse scandal that has enveloped one of Britain's most respected news organizations is now hitting one of America's, as the incoming president of The New York Times is on the defensive about his final days as head of the BBC.
Mark Thompson was in charge of the BBC in late 2011 when the broadcaster shelved what would have been a bombshell investigation alleging that the late Jimmy Savile, one of its biggest stars, was a serial sex offender.
The BBC scandal has horrified Britain with revelations that Savile, a popular children's television presenter, cajoled and coerced vulnerable teens into having sex with him in his car, in his camper van, and even in dingy dressing rooms on BBC premises. He is also alleged to have sexually assaulted disabled children at hospitals that he helped by raising charity funds.
Police say there could be more than 200 victims, leading one child protection charity to say that Savile could rank among Britain's most prolific child sex predators.
In a sign of how the scandal may spread, the BBC said Tuesday it was looking into claims of sexual abuse and harassment against nine other current and former employees and contributors....
The controversy over Saville was compounded when it emerged that an investigation into his misdeeds by the BBC's own "Newsnight" program was shelved last year only weeks before the broadcaster aired a glowing holiday tribute show to Savile.
Now journalists and lawmakers are asking whether BBC bosses canned the "Newsnight" show to protect their star, a prodigious charity fundraiser who was widely eulogized following his death last year at age 84.
The corporation denies a cover-up, although "Newsnight" editor Peter Rippon recently stepped down as the BBC's internal investigation got under way. After weeks of standing by Rippon, the BBC has said his explanation about why the Savile show was not broadcast was incomplete and inaccurate....
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/24/new-york-times-mark-thompson-jimmy-savile_n_2007906.html
Saturday, February 11, 2012
Miramonte teacher paid to drop charges, Gacy had accomplices - lawyers say, West Memphis 3 judge speaks, Healing from Trauma
articles:
- Miramonte teacher was paid $40,000 to drop dismissal challenge
- Serial killer John Wayne Gacy had accomplices, lawyers say
- West Memphis 3 judge speaks after 18 years
- Wellspring of Compassion- Self-Care for Sensitive People Healing from Trauma
Miramonte teacher was paid $40,000 to drop dismissal challenge
LAUSD says it paid Mark Berndt to settle his challenge because it was blocked from investigating and defending its firing of the Miramonte Elementary teacher accused of sexually abusing students.
By Howard Blume, Angel Jennings and Richard Winton, Los Angeles Times
February 10, 2012
The Los Angeles Unified School District paid Mark Berndt, the teacher at the center of the Miramonte Elementary child abuse scandal, $40,000 to drop the challenge to his dismissal last year.
The payout consisted of four months of back salary plus reimbursement for the cost of health benefits. Berndt was fired by the Board of Education in February 2011 after officials learned that the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department was investigating him for alleged lewd acts against students. He was arrested last week.
The firing took Berndt off the district payroll. But he fought to keep his job through an appeal process that lasted until he settled with the school system and resigned in June.
The settlement with Berndt came in the face of a dilemma, said L.A. Unified general counsel David Holmquist. A hearing on the dismissal was pending and the district didn't have evidence to justify the firing because the Sheriff's Department investigation was ongoing....
Berndt was charged last week with 23 counts of lewd conduct against children; another teacher, Martin Springer, was charged this week with three counts of lewd conduct. Berndt is alleged to have taken photographs of blindfolded children being spoon-fed his semen. Springer is accused of fondling a girl in his class. The Berndt and Springer cases are believed to be unrelated. http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-miramonte-20120210,0,91877.story
Serial killer John Wayne Gacy had accomplices, lawyers say
By James Eng, msnbc.com 2/10/12
Nearly two decades after Chicago serial killer John Wayne Gacy was executed for torturing, raping and murdering 33 men and boys in the 1970s, two lawyers say they’ve unearthed evidence that indicates he didn’t act alone in some of the slayings.
Criminal defense attorneys Robert Stephenson and Steven Becker, who are partners in a Chicago law practice, said they re-examined the circumstances surrounding the disappearances of some of the victims. Their conclusion: the so-called “Killer Clown” had at least three accomplices.
advertisement
The Chicago Sun-Times and WGN-TV first reported on the lawyers’ claims on Thursday and Friday.
“There is significant evidence out there that suggests that not only did John Wayne Gacy not operate alone, he may not have been involved in some of the murders, and the fact that he was largely a copycat killer,” Stephenson told WGN....
The sheriff said investigators will follow up on the information and, if it proves solid, will try to locate the potential accomplices -- two of whom are believed to be still alive. The case has had so many twists and loose ends – seven Gacy victims remain unidentified, for example – that Dart is keeping an open mind....
Gacy, a building contractor who performed as an amateur clown at fundraising events and children’s parties, was tried in Chicago in 1980 and convicted of 33 murders. He was executed in 1994
http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/02/10/10374067-serial-killer-john-wayne-gacy-had-accomplices-lawyers-say
West Memphis 3 judge speaks after 18 years
Feb 10, 2012 By Janice Broach
MEMPHIS, TN - (WMC-TV) – For 18 years the West Memphis Three appealed their case and every time Judge David Burnett denied those appeals and he refused to speak about the case or the men. outside of the courtroom. "Frankly, everything I did was affirmed by the Arkansas Supreme Court," Burnett said.
http://www.wmctv.com/story/16912053/west-memphis-3-judge-speaks-after-18-years
Wellspring of Compassion- Self-Care for Sensitive People Healing from Trauma by Sonia Connolly - Whether you are new to healing or an old hand, whether your trauma is long past or ongoing, this book offers validation, support, and tools for healing. With this guide, uncover your wellspring of compassion, understand your reactions to trauma, rebuild self-trust, and respond to your inner voices with kindness. Reconnect with your body and respect your internal NO and YES. Nourished by compassion, grow into a shape defined by your history and desires, like a tree becoming more intricately itself every year. Sundown Healing Arts ISBN: 9780983903802 2012
Sonia Connolly, LMT helps sensitive trauma survivors regain self-trust and peace through intuitive, compassionate bodywork in Portland, Oregon. Her writing about trauma is inspired by twelve years of client sessions and twenty years of self-observation while healing from abuse.
http://www.wellspringofcompassion.com/
- Miramonte teacher was paid $40,000 to drop dismissal challenge
- Serial killer John Wayne Gacy had accomplices, lawyers say
- West Memphis 3 judge speaks after 18 years
- Wellspring of Compassion- Self-Care for Sensitive People Healing from Trauma
Miramonte teacher was paid $40,000 to drop dismissal challenge
LAUSD says it paid Mark Berndt to settle his challenge because it was blocked from investigating and defending its firing of the Miramonte Elementary teacher accused of sexually abusing students.
By Howard Blume, Angel Jennings and Richard Winton, Los Angeles Times
February 10, 2012
The Los Angeles Unified School District paid Mark Berndt, the teacher at the center of the Miramonte Elementary child abuse scandal, $40,000 to drop the challenge to his dismissal last year.
The payout consisted of four months of back salary plus reimbursement for the cost of health benefits. Berndt was fired by the Board of Education in February 2011 after officials learned that the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department was investigating him for alleged lewd acts against students. He was arrested last week.
The firing took Berndt off the district payroll. But he fought to keep his job through an appeal process that lasted until he settled with the school system and resigned in June.
The settlement with Berndt came in the face of a dilemma, said L.A. Unified general counsel David Holmquist. A hearing on the dismissal was pending and the district didn't have evidence to justify the firing because the Sheriff's Department investigation was ongoing....
Berndt was charged last week with 23 counts of lewd conduct against children; another teacher, Martin Springer, was charged this week with three counts of lewd conduct. Berndt is alleged to have taken photographs of blindfolded children being spoon-fed his semen. Springer is accused of fondling a girl in his class. The Berndt and Springer cases are believed to be unrelated. http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-miramonte-20120210,0,91877.story
Serial killer John Wayne Gacy had accomplices, lawyers say
By James Eng, msnbc.com 2/10/12
Nearly two decades after Chicago serial killer John Wayne Gacy was executed for torturing, raping and murdering 33 men and boys in the 1970s, two lawyers say they’ve unearthed evidence that indicates he didn’t act alone in some of the slayings.
Criminal defense attorneys Robert Stephenson and Steven Becker, who are partners in a Chicago law practice, said they re-examined the circumstances surrounding the disappearances of some of the victims. Their conclusion: the so-called “Killer Clown” had at least three accomplices.
advertisement
The Chicago Sun-Times and WGN-TV first reported on the lawyers’ claims on Thursday and Friday.
“There is significant evidence out there that suggests that not only did John Wayne Gacy not operate alone, he may not have been involved in some of the murders, and the fact that he was largely a copycat killer,” Stephenson told WGN....
The sheriff said investigators will follow up on the information and, if it proves solid, will try to locate the potential accomplices -- two of whom are believed to be still alive. The case has had so many twists and loose ends – seven Gacy victims remain unidentified, for example – that Dart is keeping an open mind....
Gacy, a building contractor who performed as an amateur clown at fundraising events and children’s parties, was tried in Chicago in 1980 and convicted of 33 murders. He was executed in 1994
http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/02/10/10374067-serial-killer-john-wayne-gacy-had-accomplices-lawyers-say
West Memphis 3 judge speaks after 18 years
Feb 10, 2012 By Janice Broach
MEMPHIS, TN - (WMC-TV) – For 18 years the West Memphis Three appealed their case and every time Judge David Burnett denied those appeals and he refused to speak about the case or the men. outside of the courtroom. "Frankly, everything I did was affirmed by the Arkansas Supreme Court," Burnett said.
http://www.wmctv.com/story/16912053/west-memphis-3-judge-speaks-after-18-years
Wellspring of Compassion- Self-Care for Sensitive People Healing from Trauma by Sonia Connolly - Whether you are new to healing or an old hand, whether your trauma is long past or ongoing, this book offers validation, support, and tools for healing. With this guide, uncover your wellspring of compassion, understand your reactions to trauma, rebuild self-trust, and respond to your inner voices with kindness. Reconnect with your body and respect your internal NO and YES. Nourished by compassion, grow into a shape defined by your history and desires, like a tree becoming more intricately itself every year. Sundown Healing Arts ISBN: 9780983903802 2012
Sonia Connolly, LMT helps sensitive trauma survivors regain self-trust and peace through intuitive, compassionate bodywork in Portland, Oregon. Her writing about trauma is inspired by twelve years of client sessions and twenty years of self-observation while healing from abuse.
http://www.wellspringofcompassion.com/
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Penn State is Tip of Iceberg, Sandusky/Costas, Sandusky lawyer got girl pregnant
articles:
- Penn State is the Tip of the Iceberg
- Jerry Sandusky: 'I didn't go around seeking out every young person for sexual needs that I've helped'
- Jerry Sandusky’s lawyer, Joe Amendola, got a 16-year-old client pregnant and later married her
- Judge in child abuse scandal donated to charity - A judge who granted unsecured bail to former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky also donated money to the charity he founded.
- The Citadel Faces Abuse Scandal Similar To Penn State's
Boston Magazines's Boston Daily
Penn State is the Tip of the Iceberg
We’ve started a conversation now. It won't be easy, but we should keep it going. BY Barry Nolan 11/14/2011
....PROTECT works with some high-tech wizards and law enforcement agencies to go after those who abuse children and traffic in online child pornography. As the good folks at PROTECT put it:
Child pornography images are crime scene photos, and the thriving black market for them can only be supplied one way: through the rape and torture of more children.
Among their most important victories, PROTECT has managed to close the “incest loophole” in some states. You may find it hard to believe, as I did, but the law in many states gives “special immunity to sex offenders who grow their own victims.” Incest loopholes can provide that:
An uncle who raped his niece was guilty of a misdemeanor, punishable by 45 days of community service. Or one that said a father who sexually assaulted his own child had committed a minor felony, punishable by probation.
Because of such laws, parents who raped and sodomized their own children could avoid decades in prison, and instead, be paroled back into the very homes that had served as the crime scene. And their children and spouses could be required to attend “reunification therapy” sessions. Such loopholes have been closed in North Carolina and California and New York. But they still exist all over the country....
More than 90 percent of juvenile sexual abuse victims know their perpetrator in some way.
• Most (70 percent) of the sexual assaults reported to law enforcement occurred in the residence of the victim.
• One of every seven victims reported to law enforcement agencies were under age 6.
• Assaults against the youngest victims were the least likely of juvenile victimizations to result in arrest
http://blogs.bostonmagazine.com/boston_daily/2011/11/14/deadly-silence/
Jerry Sandusky: 'I didn't go around seeking out every young person for sexual needs that I've helped' More from Ex-Penn State coach interview revealed on ‘Today’
BY Teri Thompson NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Tuesday, November 15 2011
....BOB COSTAS:
19:00:28:00: "But isn't what you're just describing the classic MO of many pedophiles? And that is that they gain the trust of young people, they don't necessarily abuse every young person. There were hundreds, if not thousands of young boys you came into contact with, but there are allegations that at least eight of them were victimized. Many people believe there are more to come. So it's entirely possible that you could've helped young boy A in some way that was not objectionable while horribly taking advantage of young boy B, C, D, and E. Isn't that possible?"
JERRY SANDUSKY:
19:01:01:00: "Well -- you might think that. I don't know. (LAUGHS) In terms of -- my relationship with so many, many young people. I would-- I would guess that there are many young people who would come forward. Many more young people who would come forward and say that my methods and-- and what I had done for them made a very positive impact on their life. And I didn't go around seeking out every young person for sexual needs that I've helped. There are many that I didn't have-- I hardly had any contact with who I have helped in many, many ways."
Costas then asks Sandusky if he is sexually attracted to young boys, the portion of the interview that was shown on "Rock Center."
BOB COSTAS:
19:01:47:00: "Are you sexually attracted to young boys, to underage boys?"
"Am I sexually attracted to underage boys?" Sandusky repeats.
"Yes," Costas answers.
"Sexually attracted, you know, I -- I enjoy young people," Sandusky says. "I -- I love to be around them. I -- I -- but no I'm not sexually attracted to young boys."
http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/college/jerry-sandusky-i-seeking-young-person-sexual-helped-article-1.977730
--
Judge in child abuse scandal donated to charity - A judge who granted unsecured bail to former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky also donated money to the charity he founded.
The Associated Press
11/14/11
PITTSBURGH — A judge who granted unsecured bail to former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky also donated money to the charity he founded.
The charity is at the center of child sex-abuse charges against Sandusky.
District Judge Leslie Dutchcot gave money to The Second Mile in 2009 and volunteered for the group, according to annual reports and her web page.
The charity's 2009 annual report says Dutchcot and her husband donated between $500 and $999 to The Second Mile.
Dutchcot didn't immediately respond to a question about whether she'll recuse herself from the case because of those past ties.
The judge set bail for Sandusky at $100,000 but he did not have to post collateral.
http://www.thenewstribune.com/2011/11/14/1905997/judge-in-child-abuse-scandal-donated.html
Jerry Sandusky’s lawyer, Joe Amendola, got a 16-year-old client pregnant and later married her - Girl was seeking emancipation from her parents in 1996 BY Teri Thompson , Michael O'keeffe & Kevin Armstrong
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
November 15 2011
Joe Amendola, the State College, Pa., attorney representing accused child molester Jerry Sandusky, has an interesting back story himself: He got a teen-age client pregnant during the mid-1990s.
Amendola, 63, married the girl several years after the birth of their child, The Daily reported Monday night, citing documents filed at the Centre County, Pa., courthouse.
Amendola represented a 16-year-old girl then known as Mary Iavasile when she filed an emancipation petition in September 1996. The emancipation petition said the girl had graduated from high school in two years with a 3.69 GPA and held a fulltime job at Amendola's law office.
The girl gave birth to Amendola's child when she was 17 years old, her mother, Janet Iavasile, said. Amendola would have been about 49 years old at the time. The age of consent in Pennsylvania is 16....
http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/college/jerry-sandusky-s-lawyer-joe-amendola-a-16-year-old-client-pregnant-married-article-1.977873
The Citadel Faces Abuse Scandal Similar To Penn State's
November 15, 2011
by Mark Memmott
There's a story unfolding in Charleston, S.C., that sounds depressingly similar to the scandal that has rocked Penn State University.
Officials at The Citadel, "the military college of South Carolina," are admitting they did not do enough after learning that a man in custody in Mount Pleasant, S.C., who has been accused of sexually abusing at least five boys in recent years, was brought to the school's attention in 2007. Then, school officials were told, he had engaged in inappropriate sexual activities with boys during a summer camp at the college in 2002. An internal investigation was done, but police were never informed.....
Louis "Skip" ReVille, 32, a Citadel alum, is accused of sexually abusing boys he coached in Mount Pleasant. In 2007, as Charleston's Post and Courier reports, Citadel officials were told by a suspected victim that five years earlier ReVille had invited him and other boys to a dorm room on campus. ReVille, the boy said, showed them pornography and encouraged them to masturbate. The boy was 14 years old at the time.
ReVille went on to become a school principal and coach in Mount Pleasant. Local WCSC-TV reports that investigators say he now has "confessed to charges he sexually molested teen boys, aged 13 to 15."
http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2011/11/15/142349930/the-citadel-faces-abuse-scandal-similar-to-penn-states
- Penn State is the Tip of the Iceberg
- Jerry Sandusky: 'I didn't go around seeking out every young person for sexual needs that I've helped'
- Jerry Sandusky’s lawyer, Joe Amendola, got a 16-year-old client pregnant and later married her
- Judge in child abuse scandal donated to charity - A judge who granted unsecured bail to former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky also donated money to the charity he founded.
- The Citadel Faces Abuse Scandal Similar To Penn State's
Boston Magazines's Boston Daily
Penn State is the Tip of the Iceberg
We’ve started a conversation now. It won't be easy, but we should keep it going. BY Barry Nolan 11/14/2011
....PROTECT works with some high-tech wizards and law enforcement agencies to go after those who abuse children and traffic in online child pornography. As the good folks at PROTECT put it:
Child pornography images are crime scene photos, and the thriving black market for them can only be supplied one way: through the rape and torture of more children.
Among their most important victories, PROTECT has managed to close the “incest loophole” in some states. You may find it hard to believe, as I did, but the law in many states gives “special immunity to sex offenders who grow their own victims.” Incest loopholes can provide that:
An uncle who raped his niece was guilty of a misdemeanor, punishable by 45 days of community service. Or one that said a father who sexually assaulted his own child had committed a minor felony, punishable by probation.
Because of such laws, parents who raped and sodomized their own children could avoid decades in prison, and instead, be paroled back into the very homes that had served as the crime scene. And their children and spouses could be required to attend “reunification therapy” sessions. Such loopholes have been closed in North Carolina and California and New York. But they still exist all over the country....
More than 90 percent of juvenile sexual abuse victims know their perpetrator in some way.
• Most (70 percent) of the sexual assaults reported to law enforcement occurred in the residence of the victim.
• One of every seven victims reported to law enforcement agencies were under age 6.
• Assaults against the youngest victims were the least likely of juvenile victimizations to result in arrest
http://blogs.bostonmagazine.com/boston_daily/2011/11/14/deadly-silence/
Jerry Sandusky: 'I didn't go around seeking out every young person for sexual needs that I've helped' More from Ex-Penn State coach interview revealed on ‘Today’
BY Teri Thompson NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Tuesday, November 15 2011
....BOB COSTAS:
19:00:28:00: "But isn't what you're just describing the classic MO of many pedophiles? And that is that they gain the trust of young people, they don't necessarily abuse every young person. There were hundreds, if not thousands of young boys you came into contact with, but there are allegations that at least eight of them were victimized. Many people believe there are more to come. So it's entirely possible that you could've helped young boy A in some way that was not objectionable while horribly taking advantage of young boy B, C, D, and E. Isn't that possible?"
JERRY SANDUSKY:
19:01:01:00: "Well -- you might think that. I don't know. (LAUGHS) In terms of -- my relationship with so many, many young people. I would-- I would guess that there are many young people who would come forward. Many more young people who would come forward and say that my methods and-- and what I had done for them made a very positive impact on their life. And I didn't go around seeking out every young person for sexual needs that I've helped. There are many that I didn't have-- I hardly had any contact with who I have helped in many, many ways."
Costas then asks Sandusky if he is sexually attracted to young boys, the portion of the interview that was shown on "Rock Center."
BOB COSTAS:
19:01:47:00: "Are you sexually attracted to young boys, to underage boys?"
"Am I sexually attracted to underage boys?" Sandusky repeats.
"Yes," Costas answers.
"Sexually attracted, you know, I -- I enjoy young people," Sandusky says. "I -- I love to be around them. I -- I -- but no I'm not sexually attracted to young boys."
http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/college/jerry-sandusky-i-seeking-young-person-sexual-helped-article-1.977730
--
Judge in child abuse scandal donated to charity - A judge who granted unsecured bail to former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky also donated money to the charity he founded.
The Associated Press
11/14/11
PITTSBURGH — A judge who granted unsecured bail to former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky also donated money to the charity he founded.
The charity is at the center of child sex-abuse charges against Sandusky.
District Judge Leslie Dutchcot gave money to The Second Mile in 2009 and volunteered for the group, according to annual reports and her web page.
The charity's 2009 annual report says Dutchcot and her husband donated between $500 and $999 to The Second Mile.
Dutchcot didn't immediately respond to a question about whether she'll recuse herself from the case because of those past ties.
The judge set bail for Sandusky at $100,000 but he did not have to post collateral.
http://www.thenewstribune.com/2011/11/14/1905997/judge-in-child-abuse-scandal-donated.html
Jerry Sandusky’s lawyer, Joe Amendola, got a 16-year-old client pregnant and later married her - Girl was seeking emancipation from her parents in 1996 BY Teri Thompson , Michael O'keeffe & Kevin Armstrong
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
November 15 2011
Joe Amendola, the State College, Pa., attorney representing accused child molester Jerry Sandusky, has an interesting back story himself: He got a teen-age client pregnant during the mid-1990s.
Amendola, 63, married the girl several years after the birth of their child, The Daily reported Monday night, citing documents filed at the Centre County, Pa., courthouse.
Amendola represented a 16-year-old girl then known as Mary Iavasile when she filed an emancipation petition in September 1996. The emancipation petition said the girl had graduated from high school in two years with a 3.69 GPA and held a fulltime job at Amendola's law office.
The girl gave birth to Amendola's child when she was 17 years old, her mother, Janet Iavasile, said. Amendola would have been about 49 years old at the time. The age of consent in Pennsylvania is 16....
http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/college/jerry-sandusky-s-lawyer-joe-amendola-a-16-year-old-client-pregnant-married-article-1.977873
The Citadel Faces Abuse Scandal Similar To Penn State's
November 15, 2011
by Mark Memmott
There's a story unfolding in Charleston, S.C., that sounds depressingly similar to the scandal that has rocked Penn State University.
Officials at The Citadel, "the military college of South Carolina," are admitting they did not do enough after learning that a man in custody in Mount Pleasant, S.C., who has been accused of sexually abusing at least five boys in recent years, was brought to the school's attention in 2007. Then, school officials were told, he had engaged in inappropriate sexual activities with boys during a summer camp at the college in 2002. An internal investigation was done, but police were never informed.....
Louis "Skip" ReVille, 32, a Citadel alum, is accused of sexually abusing boys he coached in Mount Pleasant. In 2007, as Charleston's Post and Courier reports, Citadel officials were told by a suspected victim that five years earlier ReVille had invited him and other boys to a dorm room on campus. ReVille, the boy said, showed them pornography and encouraged them to masturbate. The boy was 14 years old at the time.
ReVille went on to become a school principal and coach in Mount Pleasant. Local WCSC-TV reports that investigators say he now has "confessed to charges he sexually molested teen boys, aged 13 to 15."
http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2011/11/15/142349930/the-citadel-faces-abuse-scandal-similar-to-penn-states
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Protest the Pope rally, Palmdale Cult-like group, East Congo rapes
Protest the Pope rally sees 10,000 march through London's streets - Crowd carries messages condemning papal stance on condoms, homosexuality, women's rights and child abuse scandal
Tracy Mcveigh guardian.co.uk 18 September 2010 Day three of Pope Benedict XVI's visit to Britain and it was a day for protests and anti-papists under bright blue skies in central London. Around 10,000 people took to the capital's streets for a Protest the Pope rally and march against what the organisers called "papal intolerance" and to condemn the state funding of the visit.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/sep/18/pope-benedict-xvi-protest
Abuse victims call pope's apology 'PR, not penitence' - Faith & Reason Sep 18, 2010
http://content.usatoday.com/communities/Religion/post/2010/09/pope-sexual-abuse-scandal-apology/1
Victim's message to pope: Our souls were 'murdered'
Americans travel to U.K. to demonstrate against abuse 'cover-up' Video By Ian Johnston msnbc.com 9/16/2010 Barbara Dorris, outreach director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) victims' group, told msnbc.com that they wanted to see a publicly accessible, worldwide register of priests who were "credibly accused predators," so parents could find out if their children were at risk. They also want the pope to hand over internal church documents about sex-abuse accusations to local police for investigation and bishops who were complicit in the "cover-up" of sexual abuse to be disciplined.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39207699/ns/world_news-europe
Eight Children & Four Adults Missing with Palmdale Cult Leader
9/18/2010
Reyna Marisol Chicas (LACSD)
PALMDALE - Five adults and eight children from Palmdale, including one whom authorities described as a "cult-like leader,'' are missing under "questionable circumstances,'' but there's no evidence they are planning to commit group suicide, a Los Angeles sheriff's captain said.
However, an all-out search was in progress Saturday night in the Antelope Valley area to check on their welfare, said sheriff's Capt. Mike Parker.
All are El Salvadoran immigrants, and left behind evidence they are waiting for the Rapture, or end of the world, he said.
The situation began at 1:45 p.m. when two husbands went to the Lancaster sheriff's station to report that their wives were missing, he said.
The husbands said they believe their wives had joined a cult-like group that broke off from an unidentified Palmdale church, he said.
One of them said he had been told by the leader, Reyna Marisol Chicas, 32, to pray over a purse that was in a Palmdale residence.
After several hours, the man became curious and opened the purse. Inside, he found five cell phones, cash, beads, titles to vehicles and property, identification cards and numerous letters written in Spanish and English.
Parker stressed there was no indication of a crime, but that authorities "do believe vulnerable people have been led to an unknown area in the Antelope Valley,'' and that based on the letters, they are ``possibly awaiting the Rapture or some catastrophic event.''
http://www.sandiego6.com/news/local/story/Eight-Children-Four-Adults-Missing-with-Palmdale/9Xef5KdsEUaf_mfwxtFGlg.cspx
Authorities search for missing members of cult-like Palmdale group
Five adults and at least eight children are sought in what a CHP alert describes as a potential suicide plot. A sheriff's captain points out, however, that documents left behind don't mention suicide and the group has no history of harming themselves.
By Patrick J. McDonnell, Richard Winton and Robert Faturechi
September 19, 2010
http://www.latimes.com/la-me-0919-suicide-20100919,0,7901802.story
describes crimes
Violence spirals out of control in east Congo By MICHELLE FAUL (AP) 9/18/10 WALIKALE, Congo — First the rebel soldiers told residents of the villages in the mineral-rich eastern Congo not to worry. They were just there for a rest and would do no harm. But as dusk fell, the fighters encircled five villages simultaneously, and the gang rapes began. Six or seven men lined up to take their turn. The victims ranged from a month-old baby boy to a 110-year-old great-great-grandmother. They forced husbands and children to watch as they gang-raped the villagers for four days....News of the most brutal gang rapes in eastern Congo came in August, bringing international outrage. The U.N. said more than 500 women were raped in that period, and Buna Altunbas, a regional director for Doctors Without Borders, said some Congolese women have been raped repeatedly. http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iYkMnixep9EBya04kIxKO2bqet9QD9I9TT300
Tracy Mcveigh guardian.co.uk 18 September 2010 Day three of Pope Benedict XVI's visit to Britain and it was a day for protests and anti-papists under bright blue skies in central London. Around 10,000 people took to the capital's streets for a Protest the Pope rally and march against what the organisers called "papal intolerance" and to condemn the state funding of the visit.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/sep/18/pope-benedict-xvi-protest
Abuse victims call pope's apology 'PR, not penitence' - Faith & Reason Sep 18, 2010
http://content.usatoday.com/communities/Religion/post/2010/09/pope-sexual-abuse-scandal-apology/1
Victim's message to pope: Our souls were 'murdered'
Americans travel to U.K. to demonstrate against abuse 'cover-up' Video By Ian Johnston msnbc.com 9/16/2010 Barbara Dorris, outreach director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) victims' group, told msnbc.com that they wanted to see a publicly accessible, worldwide register of priests who were "credibly accused predators," so parents could find out if their children were at risk. They also want the pope to hand over internal church documents about sex-abuse accusations to local police for investigation and bishops who were complicit in the "cover-up" of sexual abuse to be disciplined.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39207699/ns/world_news-europe
Eight Children & Four Adults Missing with Palmdale Cult Leader
9/18/2010
Reyna Marisol Chicas (LACSD)
PALMDALE - Five adults and eight children from Palmdale, including one whom authorities described as a "cult-like leader,'' are missing under "questionable circumstances,'' but there's no evidence they are planning to commit group suicide, a Los Angeles sheriff's captain said.
However, an all-out search was in progress Saturday night in the Antelope Valley area to check on their welfare, said sheriff's Capt. Mike Parker.
All are El Salvadoran immigrants, and left behind evidence they are waiting for the Rapture, or end of the world, he said.
The situation began at 1:45 p.m. when two husbands went to the Lancaster sheriff's station to report that their wives were missing, he said.
The husbands said they believe their wives had joined a cult-like group that broke off from an unidentified Palmdale church, he said.
One of them said he had been told by the leader, Reyna Marisol Chicas, 32, to pray over a purse that was in a Palmdale residence.
After several hours, the man became curious and opened the purse. Inside, he found five cell phones, cash, beads, titles to vehicles and property, identification cards and numerous letters written in Spanish and English.
Parker stressed there was no indication of a crime, but that authorities "do believe vulnerable people have been led to an unknown area in the Antelope Valley,'' and that based on the letters, they are ``possibly awaiting the Rapture or some catastrophic event.''
http://www.sandiego6.com/news/local/story/Eight-Children-Four-Adults-Missing-with-Palmdale/9Xef5KdsEUaf_mfwxtFGlg.cspx
Authorities search for missing members of cult-like Palmdale group
Five adults and at least eight children are sought in what a CHP alert describes as a potential suicide plot. A sheriff's captain points out, however, that documents left behind don't mention suicide and the group has no history of harming themselves.
By Patrick J. McDonnell, Richard Winton and Robert Faturechi
September 19, 2010
http://www.latimes.com/la-me-0919-suicide-20100919,0,7901802.story
describes crimes
Violence spirals out of control in east Congo By MICHELLE FAUL (AP) 9/18/10 WALIKALE, Congo — First the rebel soldiers told residents of the villages in the mineral-rich eastern Congo not to worry. They were just there for a rest and would do no harm. But as dusk fell, the fighters encircled five villages simultaneously, and the gang rapes began. Six or seven men lined up to take their turn. The victims ranged from a month-old baby boy to a 110-year-old great-great-grandmother. They forced husbands and children to watch as they gang-raped the villagers for four days....News of the most brutal gang rapes in eastern Congo came in August, bringing international outrage. The U.N. said more than 500 women were raped in that period, and Buna Altunbas, a regional director for Doctors Without Borders, said some Congolese women have been raped repeatedly. http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iYkMnixep9EBya04kIxKO2bqet9QD9I9TT300
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