Law enforcement targets online cult communities, ‘How I Escaped My Cult’ Trailer Previews 10 Stories

 

- Law enforcement targets online cult communities dedicated to extremely violent child abuse

- ‘How I Escaped My Cult’ Trailer Previews 10 Stories of Bravery, Resilience

 

Describes violent crimes

Law enforcement targets online cult communities dedicated to extremely violent child abuse - US Homeland Security Investigations, supported by Europol and the French Police, arrested members of an online community dedicated to grooming, sexual abuse, acts of cruelty, torture and murders

Law enforcement authorities target members of prolific online communities dedicated to the sexual abuse of children and manipulation of vulnerable minors into committing violent crimes. This coercion into committing violent crime spans multiple areas, including acts of cruelty against people and animals, murder and self-harm. These extremist communities are part of a larger online network, so called “The Com”. Through this network, extremists around the world collude to groom and abuse children. These groups operate virtually in easily accessible online spaces such as social media platforms, mobile applications and online gaming platforms. International cooperation via Europol has intensified in the past year, leading to the identification of dangerous individuals and the safeguarding of victims, mostly vulnerable minors.

Two suspected leaders of online group “CVLT” arrested in the US

On 30 January, the United States Homeland Security Investigations arrested two individuals for participating in a neo-Nazi child exploitation ring that groomed and then coerced minors into produce child sexual abuse material and images of self-harm. The group allegedly abused at least 16 minors around the world. According to the investigation, the two men were members of “CVLT” (pronounced “cult”), an online group that promoted neo-Nazism, nihilism, and paedophilia as its core principles.

The investigations into these individuals (a 23- and 41-year-old males from the US), were supported by Europol, and involved the French National Police (Police Nationale), the United Kingdom’s National Crime Agency and the New Zealand Department of Internal Affairs. These arrests follow previous arrests of two other prolific members of this community, both males in their twenties. One of the previously arrested suspects has been in French custody since 2022 for several child exploitation and related offenses. The second is currently in the US, serving a 50-year sentence for child sex abuse crimes committed in 2020 and 2021.

Three of these four arrested offenders are considered to have acted as leaders and administrator of the violent online abuse community, hosting and running CVLT online servers and controlling membership for the group.
Victims trapped in an abuse cycle

Members of this violent CVLT community groomed children into producing child sexual abuse material through various means of degradation, including exposing the victims to extremist and violent content. CVLT specifically targeted vulnerable victims, including minors suffering from mental health issues or a history of sexual abuse....

CVLT members’ coercion escalated to pressuring victims to kill themselves via video livestream. They blackmailed the victims to submit and remain silent, threatening to distribute already-obtained compromising photos and videos to their family and friends. CVLT would sometimes go through with their threats against victims who tried to escape their grip. CVLT is part of a larger network of extremist and child abusers active within similar online communities, referred to as “The Com”.

Extremely violent online communities manipulate children and young people
Violent online groups are targeting and manipulating vulnerable children and young people across widely accessible online platforms. There are multiple groups, associations and evolving subgroups that make up the online network known as The Com – short for community. The Com is a virtual community of groups and individuals who conduct illicit activities that glorify serious violence, cruelty, and gore.

Elements of The Com network are known to have extreme ideological views and victimise children, coercing them to commit violent acts. Predators groom their victims through different methods – one approach is establishing friendships based on trust or romantic relationships. Another technique involves the use of power or coercive tactics with one goal – taking control over the victims, while getting them to engage in serious violence, self-harm, or other gruesome. It’s a vicious cycle - the predators in this network influence children or young people into conducting acts that increasingly shame, incriminate, or isolate them, this in turn makes them more vulnerable to further exploitation.

https://www.europol.europa.eu/media-press/newsroom/news/law-enforcement-targets-online-cult-communities-dedicated-to-extremely-violent-child-abuse

describes abuse
‘How I Escaped My Cult’ Trailer Previews 10 Stories of Bravery, Resilience

- Loree Seitz  February 6, 2025

“If I got caught, he would for sure kill me,” one survivor says in the Freeform series  Freeform’s new docuseries “How I Escaped My Cult” is gearing up to debut 10 distinct stories about ex-cult members who managed to escape their circumstances.

In the trailer for the new series, shared exclusively with TheWrap, 10 women unpack the terrifying journey to break free of the cults they were once in, with one subject saying “I was trapped … I decided that it was time to escape.”

The stakes couldn’t be higher for these women, as one recalls, “If I got caught, he would for sure kill me.” The subjects explain that by being in a cult, members are being brainwashed and soon it becomes the only reality that they know.  “He claimed he heard the voice of God,” one subject said in the trailer, while another explained “members were giving over entire paychecks — he’d grab us by the throat and slam us against the wall.”

While the women explain “the most evil things you could imagine” happened to them while in the cult, they recall their gut instinct to escape and how they pulled it off.

The docuseries, which hails from the team behind “How I Caught My Killer,” follows the survivors through their escapes to reporting the cult leaders to the FBI, with one subject saying “I really did want this horrible monster to pay for what he had done.” 

 

 https://www.thewrap.com/how-i-escaped-my-cult-trailer-freeform/ 

Catholic priest sentenced to life for sex trafficking boys, Understanding Human Trafficking

 

Catholic priest sentenced to life for sex trafficking boys, manipulating opioid addictions Eduardo Cuevas USA TODAY Nov. 19, 2023

An Ohio priest was sentenced to life in prison Friday after he was convicted of grooming three boys and taking advantage of their opioid addictions to force them into commercial sex, according to the U.S. Justice Department.

In May, a federal jury in Toledo found the Rev. Michael Zacharias, a Roman Catholic clergy member, guilty of five counts of sex trafficking in allegations that spanned 15 years, from July 2005 to August 2020. Prosecutors said he abused his role as a teacher and priest at a Toledo parish school to groom the three boys into adulthood, force them into sex and enable their addictions to pain medications and heroin later in life.
“Michael Zacharias used his position as a trusted spiritual leader and role model for young boys and their families to exploit them in the most insidious ways, coercing his victims from childhood and beyond to engage in commercial sex with him,” said Kristen Clarke, the assistant attorney general of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, in a statement.
Testimony and evidence at trial showed Zacharias developed relationships with the victims' families when they were young to gain their trust, prosecutors said. As the victims got older, he exploited their fears, their housing instability and their criminal records to force them into commercial sex....
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2023/11/18/catholic-priest-life-sentence-sex-trafficking-ohio/71639846007/

 

Understanding Human Trafficking
“Trafficking in persons,” “human trafficking,” and “modern slavery” are umbrella terms – often used interchangeably – to refer to a crime whereby traffickers exploit and profit at the expense of adults or children by compelling them to perform labor or engage in commercial sex. When a person younger than 18 is used to perform a commercial sex act, it is a crime regardless of whether there is any force, fraud, or coercion involved.

The United States recognizes two primary forms of trafficking in persons: forced labor and sex trafficking. The basic meaning of these forms of human trafficking and some unique characteristics of each are set forth below, followed by several key principles and concepts that relate to all forms of human trafficking....

International Labour Organization

The International Labour Organization (ILO) and the Walk Free Foundation, in partnership with the International Organization for Migration (IOM), released Global Estimates of Modern Slavery in September 2022. This report estimates that, at any given time in 2021, approximately 27.6 million people were in forced labor. Of these, “17.3 million are exploited in the private sector, 6.3 million in forced commercial sexual exploitation, and 3.9 million in forced labour imposed by state.” The definition of forced labor used in this report is based on ILO Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29), which states in Article 2.1 that forced labor is “all work or service which is exacted from any person under the menace of any penalty and for which the said person has not offered himself voluntarily.”

This report also estimates that 49.6 million people were in “modern slavery” at any given time in 2021, but this figure includes both the estimate for forced labor and an estimate for forced marriage. Consistent with current implementation of U.S. law, it is recommended to use only the 27.6 million estimate when referring to human trafficking. While some instances of forced marriage may meet the international or U.S. legal definition of human trafficking, not all cases do. Note further that the term “modern slavery” is not defined in international or U.S. law.
https://www.state.gov/humantrafficking-about-human-trafficking/

Ghislaine Maxwell convicted in Epstein sex abuse case, Epstein's death, Epstein's Famous Friends

 

Ghislaine Maxwell convicted in Epstein sex abuse case, Epstein's death, Epstein's Famous Friends

 

- Ghislaine Maxwell convicted in Epstein sex abuse case

- Ghislaine Maxwell Is Found Guilty of Aiding in Epstein’s Sex Abuse

 

- 60 Minutes investigates the death of Jeffrey Epstein

"So Epstein's taken off suicide watch, the day before he kills himself, his roommate is removed from the cell. The cameras on his tier are not working. The guards fell asleep. It seems almost impossible to think all of those things could happen in that way," Alfonsi said.....Dr. Michael Baden: The forensic evidence released so far, including autopsy, point much more to murder and strangulation than the suicide and suicidal hanging. I hesitate to make a final opinion, until all the evidence is in."

 

Jeffrey Epstein’s Rolodex: A Guide to His Famous Friends and Acquaintances

- "Flight logs that put Clinton on Epstein’s jet, dubbed the “Lolita Express,” 26 times between 2001 and 2003."

- “I’ve known Jeff for 15 years. Terrific guy,” Trump told New York in a 2002 profile of Epstein. “He’s a lot of fun to be with. It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side. No doubt about it — Jeffrey enjoys his social life.”

"Woody Allen  The director, whose adopted daughter Dylan Farrow alleges he sexually assaulted her when she was 7, has made several appearances with Epstein over the years. Allen attended a dinner party for Prince Andrew at Epstein’s Manhattan home in 2010, he was pictured walking around the Upper East Side with him in 2013, and his photo is displayed in Epstein’s study. Babi Christina Engelhardt, a former personal assistant to Epstein, also alleged in a Hollywood Reporter profile that she and Allen had an eight-year relationship, beginning when she was 16 and he was 41."

Prince Andrew   The Duke of York, Prince Charles’s younger brother, is a longtime personal friend of Epstein’s and has been directly accused of having sex with at least one underage girl.

 

 

Ghislaine Maxwell convicted in Epstein sex abuse case
Associated Press
TOM HAYS and LARRY NEUMEISTER
December 29, 2021

NEW YORK (AP) — The British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell was convicted Wednesday of luring teenage girls to be sexually abused by the American millionaire Jeffrey Epstein.

 

The verdict capped a month long trial featuring sordid accounts of the sexual exploitation of girls as young as 14, told by four women who described being abused as teens in the 1990s and early 2000s at Epstein’s palatial homes in Florida, New York and New Mexico.

 

Jurors deliberated for five full days before finding Maxwell guilty of five of six counts....

 

During the trial, prosecutors called 24 witnesses to give jurors a picture of life inside Epstein’s homes — a subject of public fascination and speculation ever since his 2006 arrest in Florida in a child sex case.

A housekeeper testified he was expected to be “blind, deaf and dumb” about the private lives of Epstein, a financier who cultivated friendships with influential politicians and business tycoons, and Maxwell, who had led a jet-setting lifestyle as the favorite child of a media mogul.

 

Pilots took the witness stand and dropped the names of luminaries — Britain’s Prince Andrew, Bill Clinton, Donald Trump — who flew on Epstein’s private jets.

 

Jurors saw physical evidence like a folding massage table once used by Epstein and a “black book” that listed contact information for some of the victims under the heading “massages.”

 

There were bank records showing he had transferred $30.7 million to Maxwell, his longtime companion — one-time girlfriend, later employee.

 

But the core of the prosecution was the testimony of four women who said they were victimized by Maxwell and Epstein at tender ages....

 

They said the script would darken when Maxwell coaxed them into giving massages to Epstein that turned sexual, encounters she played off as normal: After one sexual massage, Kate, then 17, said Maxwell asked her if she’d had fun and told her: “You are such a good girl.”

 

Carolyn testified that she was one of several underprivileged teens who lived near Epstein’s Florida home in the early 2000s and took up an offer to give massages in exchange for $100 bills, which prosecutors described as “a pyramid of abuse.”....

 

During their two-day presentation, they called as a witness Elizabeth Loftus, a University of California Irvine professor who has testified as a memory expert for defense lawyers at about 300 trials, including the rape trial of movie mogul Harvey Weinstein....

 

Maxwell still awaits trial on two counts of perjury.

 

Lawsuits involving the abuse allegations also continue, including one in which a woman not involved in the trial, Virginia Giuffre, says she was coerced into sexual encounters with Prince Andrew when she was 17. Andrew has denied her account and that lawsuit is not expected to come to trial for many months.

https://www.aol.com/news/ghislaine-maxwell-jury-must-years-161625990-220054892.html

 

Ghislaine Maxwell Is Found Guilty of Aiding in Epstein’s Sex Abuse

 

Dec. 29, 2021

 

Ghislaine Maxwell, the former companion to the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, was convicted on Wednesday of conspiring with him for at least a decade to recruit, groom and sexually abuse underage girls.

 

A federal jury in Manhattan found Ms. Maxwell, 60, the daughter of a British media mogul, guilty of sex trafficking and four of the five other charges against her. She was acquitted of one count of enticing a minor to travel across state lines to engage in an illegal sexual act.

 

Ms. Maxwell’s trial was widely seen as the courtroom reckoning that Mr. Epstein never had....

Ms. Maxwell’s conviction closed another chapter in the saga of Mr. Epstein, whose lurid exploits, dealings with the criminal justice system and cast of famous friends made him — and, by extension, Ms. Maxwell — the subject of intense public scrutiny for years.

 

In her trial, the government called four accusers — two used pseudonyms and one only a partial name — who testified that they had been served up to Mr. Epstein to be sexually abused. Ms. Maxwell was present for some of the abuse, according to the testimony, and played a role in enticing and grooming some of the victims....

 

“Ms. Maxwell was a sophisticated predator who knew exactly what she was doing,” a prosecutor, Alison Moe, told the jury in closing arguments last week. “She manipulated her victims and groomed them for sexual abuse.”...

 

Mr. Epstein’s name surfaced repeatedly during Ms. Maxwell’s trial, and her lawyers spent much of their time trying to distance her from the man who was once also her boyfriend and is now seen as one of the most notorious sex offenders in modern American history....

 

Jane testified how Ms. Maxwell, “a tall, thin woman” with a “cute little Yorkie,” strolled up to her, followed by Mr. Epstein, as she sat with friends at the age of 14, eating ice cream at a summer arts camp in Michigan. That chance meeting led to an invitation to Mr. Epstein’s house in Palm Beach, Fla., and what prosecutors said was years of sexual abuse.....

 

“This case is about Ghislaine Maxwell, the crimes she committed,” another prosecutor, Maurene Comey, said in a government rebuttal. “It’s about the children that she targeted, the steps that she took to serve those children up to be abused. It’s about her own participation in that abuse.”

 

Ms. Farmer, one of the accusers who testified against Ms. Maxwell, said in a statement that she was “relieved and grateful that the jury recognized the pattern of predatory behavior that Maxwell engaged in for years and found her guilty of these crimes.”

 

“She has caused hurt to many more women than the few of us who had the chance to testify in the courtroom,” Ms. Farmer said....

 

https://www.nytimes.com/live/2021/12/29/nyregion/ghislaine-maxwell-verdict

 

 

60 Minutes investigates the death of Jeffrey Epstein

January 5, 2020

 

In July 2019, Jeffrey Epstein, already a convicted sex offender, was arrested and charged with sex trafficking by federal prosecutors. On August 10, Epstein was found dead in his federal jail cell at Manhattan's Metropolitan Correctional Center (MCC).

 

The New York City Medical Examiner's Office ruled Epstein's death a suicide by hanging, but a forensic pathologist who observed the four-hour autopsy on behalf of Epstein's brother, Mark, tells 60 Minutes the evidence released so far points more to murder than suicide in his view. Dr. Michael Baden's key reason: the unusual fractures he saw in Epstein's neck....

 

Federal prosecutors say surveillance video "makes clear" that the guards "search[ed] the internet" and "appear to have been asleep" on their overnight overtime shift. One thing the video may not show, according to sources, is Epstein's cell door and the doors of the other inmates on his unit tier. Sources say the camera that should have captured those angles was corrupted the night of Epstein's death. Epstein's cell was about 15 feet away and up a set of stairs from the guards' station, with a single locked gate between them.

 

As 60 Minutes correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi told Lindsay in their interview, the circumstances surrounding Epstein's death seem almost unbelievable.

 

"So Epstein's taken off suicide watch, the day before he kills himself, his roommate is removed from the cell. The cameras on his tier are not working. The guards fell asleep. It seems almost impossible to think all of those things could happen in that way," Alfonsi said.....

 

Dr. Michael Baden: The forensic evidence released so far, including autopsy, point much more to murder and strangulation than the suicide and suicidal hanging. I hesitate to make a final opinion, until all the evidence is in....

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/did-jeffrey-epstein-kill-himself-60-minutes-investigates-2020-01-05/

 

Jeffrey Epstein’s Rolodex: A Guide to His Famous Friends and Acquaintances
By Adam K. Raymond and Matt Stieb July 10, 2019

 

After Jeffrey Epstein’s arrest on sex-trafficking charges over the weekend, the Miami Herald reporter behind the paper’s dogged investigations into the wealthy money manager said he isn’t the only prominent person this scandal is likely to ensnare.

 

“There are probably quite a few important people, powerful people, who are sweating it out right now,” Julie K. Brown said on MSNBC. “We’ll have to wait and see whether Epstein is going to name names.”

 

Over the years, Epstein has counted some of the country’s most powerful political and business leaders among his friends. They’ve visited his private island, flown on his private jet, and had him as a guest in their homes. Most of the well-known figures linked to Epstein have not been accused of any wrongdoing, but a few have been accused of participating in his sex-trafficking ring. Here are some of Epstein’s most prominent connections:

 

Bill Clinton

Clinton and Epstein grew close in the first few years after the former president left office. According to a statement from Clinton this week, he took “a total of four trips” on Epstein’s private jet in 2002 and 2003, traveling to Europe, Asia, and Africa. At the time, Clinton told New York that Epstein is a “highly successful financier and a committed philanthropist.”

 

 

 

In this week’s statement, Clinton said he knew nothing of Epstein’s “terrible crimes” and that the two hadn’t spoken in a decade. But the picture of their relationship painted by the former president doesn’t square with flight logs that put Clinton on Epstein’s jet, dubbed the “Lolita Express,” 26 times between 2001 and 2003. Or with Gawker’s 2015 report on Epstein’s little black book, which included “21 contact numbers and various email addresses for Clinton.” Alleged Epstein victim Virginia Giuffre also claimed in a 2015 affidavit that Clinton visited the financier’s private island, though Clinton denies it. The claim has never been corroborated, and there are no Epstein-related allegations of sexual misconduct involving Clinton.

Donald Trump

 

“I’ve known Jeff for 15 years. Terrific guy,” Trump told New York in a 2002 profile of Epstein. “He’s a lot of fun to be with. It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side. No doubt about it — Jeffrey enjoys his social life.”

 

Trump’s comment about Epstein’s taste in women has gotten a lot of attention in the past few days for obvious reasons. But it’s not the only thing connecting the two men. Epstein and Trump lived near each other in Palm Beach, ran in the same social circles, and records show Trump flew on the “Lolita Express.” Four years ago, Giuffre alleged that while working as a towel girl at Mar-a-Lago, she was recruited by Epstein’s longtime friend Ghislaine Maxwell to become one of his sex slaves. The year was 1999, and Giuffre was 16 years old. In court documents, Bradley Edwards, an attorney who represented several of Epstein’s alleged victims, said Epstein was banned from Mar-a-Lago because he “sexually assaulted an underage girl at the club.” The claim has not been confirmed.

 

Trump has also been accused of assaulting a woman on Epstein’s property. During the 2016 election, an anonymous California woman filed a lawsuit alleging that Trump and Epstein raped her at the latter’s New York City mansion in 1994, when she was 13. Several journalists expressed confusion or skepticism after looking into the story. Trump denied the allegations and the woman dropped her suit weeks before the election.

 

When Gawker published Epstein’s “little black book” in 2015, a Trump spokesperson told the site, “Mr. Trump only knew Mr. Epstein as Mr. Trump owns the hottest and most luxurious club in Palm Beach, [redacted], and Mr. Epstein would go there on occasion.” But media reports from the early 2000s show multiple interactions between the two in social settings. Trump also called Epstein twice in November 2004, according to message pads seized from Epstein’s Palm Beach mansion.

 

On Tuesday, the New York Times reported that Trump and Epstein were the only two guests at a 1992 “calendar girl” competition at Mar-a-Lago. Businessman George Houraney said he arranged the party at Trump’s request....

Alan Dershowitz

Two different women have said they were trafficked by Epstein and “directed” to have sex with the prominent Harvard law professor. Giuffre says that after she was recruited to be a masseuse for Epstein and coerced into having sex with him, she was told that she had to have sex with other men, including Dershowitz. Separately, Sarah Ransome, who sued Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell for alleged sex trafficking, says she was directed to have sex with Dershowitz. The attorney has denied the claims from both women....

 

Leslie Wexner

The 81-year-old CEO of L Brands, which owns Victoria’s Secret and Bath & Body Works, was once the “main client” of Epstein’s money-management firm, according to Bloomberg. The billionaire began working with Epstein in the early ’90s, and in 2003 Epstein said that people had suggested the two men shared one brain. “Each has a side,” he said....

 

Prince Andrew

The Duke of York, Prince Charles’s younger brother, is a longtime personal friend of Epstein’s and has been directly accused of having sex with at least one underage girl. In 2015 court documents, Virginia Roberts Giuffre, seen here in a photo with Prince Andrew, said she was coerced into having sex with the British royal. She also said she was forced to participate in an orgy with other underage girls and the Prince. Buckingham Palace has denied the claims.

 

Tom Barrack

In Fire and Fury, his first book on the Trump administration, Michael Wolff reported that Trump, Epstein, and private-equity manager and Trump campaign senior adviser Tom Barrack were a “set of nightlife musketeers” in the ’80s and ’90s, managing a phrase that is both ambiguous and terrifying.

 

Mort Zuckerman

Media mogul, billionaire, and former owner of the New York Daily News and the Atlantic Mort Zuckerman invested with Epstein in the gossip magazine Radar in 2004, spending around $10 million to get the first issue up and running. According to Gawker, Zuckerman promptly bailed on the project when he found out about allegations against Epstein, and the magazine shut down just 14 months after its inaugural issue in 2005.

 

Woody Allen

The director, whose adopted daughter Dylan Farrow alleges he sexually assaulted her when she was 7, has made several appearances with Epstein over the years. Allen attended a dinner party for Prince Andrew at Epstein’s Manhattan home in 2010, he was pictured walking around the Upper East Side with him in 2013, and his photo is displayed in Epstein’s study.

 

Babi Christina Engelhardt, a former personal assistant to Epstein, also alleged in a Hollywood Reporter profile that she and Allen had an eight-year relationship, beginning when she was 16 and he was 41.

 

Larry Summers

Former Harvard president and Clinton Treasury Secretary Larry Summers connected with Epstein mostly for fundraising purposes for the university....

 

Stephen Hawking

 

Steven Pinker

According to flight logs of Epstein’s plane, Harvard psychology professor Steven Pinker hitched a ride on the “Lolita Express” in 2002. Pinker was also pictured at a dinner in which Epstein was in attendance in 2014, along with Lawrence Krauss.

Roger Schank

Artificial intelligence expert Roger Schank visited Epstein in jail in July 2008 when he was a professor at Northwastern University....

 

In 2003, Primedia Inc. was looking to sell New York Magazine, and Mort Zuckerman and then-media columnist Michael Wolff rounded up some investors to purchase the property. The group included TV personality and businessman Donny Deutsch, billionaire Nelson Peltz, Jeffrey Epstein, and Harvey Weinstein. (The movie producer, who has been accused of sexual assault by multiple women, is set to be tried on five counts of sexual assault, including rape.) The group’s bid of $44 million was the second-lowest out of four, and investment banker Bruce Wasserstein scooped up the title. (The Wasserstein family still owns New York Media.)

Other Epstein Acquaintances

 

The breadth of Epstein’s social reach was staggering, but most of his famous contacts have never been linked to any of his crimes or alleged misdeeds. Epstein’s 92-page address book, which was published by Gawker, has entries for Alec Baldwin, Ralph Fiennes, Ted Kennedy, David Koch, Courtney Love, and former New Mexico governors Bill Richardson and Bruce King — though it’s unclear what, if any, connection he had to these celebrities and political figures.

 

Guest lists for dinners at his Manhattan townhouse also give a picture of his influence: In 2010, a dinner for Prince Andrew included Katie Couric, George Stephanopoulos, Chelsea Handler, and Woody Allen. Another dinner reported on by New York featured billionaire Mort Zuckerman, Google co-founder Sergey Brin, magician David Blaine, Donald Trump, Les Wexner, and a former British Cabinet member Peter Mandelson. Another cabinet member, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, also reportedly socialized with Epstein shortly after his release from prison in 2011....

 

Vicky Ward, the journalist who wrote the 2003 Vanity Fair profile of Epstein, told Slate that “You got the feeling that his friends weren’t real friends — he owned them — that he was the kind of man who collected information about people and then used it over them.” Ward has also offered a more scathing assessment, saying, “What is so amazing to me is how his entire social circle knew about this and just blithely overlooked it … all mentioned the girls, as an aside.”

https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2019/07/jeffrey-epsteins-rolodex-famous-friends-and-acquaintances.html

 

 

Judge Lets Ghislaine Maxwell (Jeffrey Epstein's associate) Call Elizabeth Loftus to testify https://ritualabuse.us/smart/elizabeth-loftus/ 

 

Judge Lets Ghislaine Maxwell Call ‘False Memory’ Expert Involved in Robert Durst, O.J. Simpson, and Harvey Weinstein Cases   Adam Klasfeld Nov 22nd, 2021

(Information on Elizabeth Loftus:  https://ritualabuse.us/smart/elizabeth-loftus/ 

– A Brief History of the False Memory Research of Elizabeth Loftus

– Ethics Complaints Filed Against FMSF Board Member Elizabeth Loftus
– “Lost in a Shopping Mall” A Breach of Professional Ethics
– Quotes: Elizabeth Loftus, Ph.D.
– The Alleged Ethical Violations of Elizabeth Loftus in the Case of Jane Doe

Information on Paul Shanley https://ritualabuse.us/research/memory-fms/shanley-recovered-memory-case/  

"Shanley was accused of sexual abuse in the 1960’s, the 1970’s, the 1980’s and the 1990’s. His church personnel records indicated he was transferred from parish to parish despite allegations of abuse. The Boston Herald (4/9/02) printed that Shanley “spoke in favor of sex between men and boys at a formative 1978 meeting in Boston of the “Man Boy Lovers of North America” and that he “admitted openly to raping and sodomizing minors when confronted by church investigators under Boston’s two past archbishops, Humberto Cardinal Medeiros and Law.”)

 

Elizabeth Loftus, an expert in false memories, testifies in Paul Shanley child abuse trial

Exactly a week before the anticipated start of her sex trafficking trial, Ghislaine Maxwell received permission to call a “false memory” expert relied upon by Harvey Weinstein, Robert Durst, O.J. Simpson and hundreds of other criminal defendants seeking to undermine the credibility of their accusers.

In the words of a New Yorker profile on the controversy surrounding her expertise, Elizabeth Loftus has “Changed the Meaning of Memory,” and her life’s work has collided with the #MeToo movement’s moment of cultural reckoning. In particular, Loftus has questioned the reliability of memory and how she believes suggestion can mold it. She also has testified about her research during the trials of Jerry Sandusky, Ted Bundy, and Paul Shanley, a now-deceased priest who served 12 years in prison following his conviction for raping a child.

In a two page order on Monday morning, U.S. District Judge Alison Nathan granted Maxwell permission to call Loftus—subject to certain limitations that are currently under seal. The threadbare order states only that the government’s motion to block her testimony is denied in part and granted in part.

A fuller explanation of the order may be released if the prosecutors and defense team propose redactions agreed upon by the judge....

 

Maxwell has been accused of grooming minor girls for Jeffrey Epstein’s sexual predation and participating in the abuse herself. Epstein’s scheme allegedly operated through what a Palm Beach detective described as a “sexual Pyramid scheme,” built upon recruiting minor girls to give him massages for money, and prosecutors claim Maxwell was a top procuress of victims. She has pleaded not guilty to charges of sex trafficking, multiple violations of the Mann Act, and other offenses. Though her latest indictment lists four minor victims, she has noted that one of them attained the age of consent during the time of the alleged conspiracy.

 

https://lawandcrime.com/live-trials/ghislaine-maxwell/judge-lets-ghislaine-maxwell-call-false-memory-expert-who-testified-as-defense-psychologist-for-robert-durst-o-j-simpson-harvey-weinstein/ 

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

 - Rotherham child sexual abuse: Gang of seven guilty

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

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

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

 

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

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

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

 

 

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

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

 

Church defectors reveal video of ritualistic violence

 

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

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

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

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

 

Report details decades of sex abuse at all-girls boarding school, Decades of sex abuse at top prep school

Report details decades of sex abuse at all-girls boarding school
By Joshua Rhett Miller  April 19, 2017
An elite all-girls boarding school in New York has released a report detailing nearly seven decades of sexual abuse and misconduct, with both male and female educators accused of engaging in improper relationships with students.

The 127-page report released Tuesday spans misconduct at the Emma Willard School in Troy from the late 1950s through the 2015-16 academic year, including instances of rape, sexual assault and harassment, as well as the “grooming” of young women for affairs.

In all, more than 75 people from the Emma Willard community participated in what the authors of the report called a candid and “sobering account of alumnae experiences.”....

The report comes just days after the results of a similar investigation was released by officials at Choate Rosemary Hall, a boarding school in Connecticut.

The report is a response, in part, to allegations made last year by former student Kat Sullivan, who said she had been raped by a male teacher, Scott Sargent, in 1998. Sargent, according to the Boston Globe, was fired after the incident but later found a job at a private school in Connecticut and did not face charges in the alleged rape.

“As a community, we collectively offer our compassion and support,” school officials said in a letter accompanying the report....
http://nypost.com/2017/04/19/report-details-decades-of-sex-abuse-at-all-girls-boarding-school/ 

Investigation uncovers decades of sex abuse at top prep school
By Associated Press  April 14, 2017
WALLINGFORD, Conn. — A new report names 12 former faculty and staff members at an elite Connecticut boarding school who allegedly engaged in sexual misconduct with students that went on for decades.

An investigator hired by Choate Rosemary Hall in Wallingford released the report Thursday that graphically recounts the alleged experiences of 24 former students.



Report details decades of sex abuse at all-girls boarding school
By Joshua Rhett Miller  April 19, 2017
An elite all-girls boarding school in New York has released a report detailing nearly seven decades of sexual abuse and misconduct, with both male and female educators accused of engaging in improper relationships with students.

The 127-page report released Tuesday spans misconduct at the Emma Willard School in Troy from the late 1950s through the 2015-16 academic year, including instances of rape, sexual assault and harassment, as well as the “grooming” of young women for affairs.

In all, more than 75 people from the Emma Willard community participated in what the authors of the report called a candid and “sobering account of alumnae experiences.”....

The report comes just days after the results of a similar investigation was released by officials at Choate Rosemary Hall, a boarding school in Connecticut.

The report is a response, in part, to allegations made last year by former student Kat Sullivan, who said she had been raped by a male teacher, Scott Sargent, in 1998. Sargent, according to the Boston Globe, was fired after the incident but later found a job at a private school in Connecticut and did not face charges in the alleged rape.

“As a community, we collectively offer our compassion and support,” school officials said in a letter accompanying the report....
http://nypost.com/2017/04/19/report-details-decades-of-sex-abuse-at-all-girls-boarding-school/ 

Investigation uncovers decades of sex abuse at top prep school
By Associated Press  April 14, 2017
WALLINGFORD, Conn. — A new report names 12 former faculty and staff members at an elite Connecticut boarding school who allegedly engaged in sexual misconduct with students that went on for decades.

An investigator hired by Choate Rosemary Hall in Wallingford released the report Thursday that graphically recounts the alleged experiences of 24 former students.

The report says the alleged sexual misconduct took place between 1963 and 2010 and included “intimate kissing,” ”sexual intercourse” and “forced or coerced intercourse.”....
http://nypost.com/2017/04/14/report-reveals-decades-of-sexual-abuse-at-elite-boarding-school/


The Survivorship Ritual Abuse and Mind Control Conference - May 19 - 21  Annual conference on May 19 - 21, 2017 - Oakland, CA  https://survivorship.org/the-survivorship-ritual-abuse-and-child-abuse-2017-conference/

Child and Ritual Abuse Research   https://ritualabuse.us

Articles by Neil Brick http://neilbrick.com
#Neil_Brick #NeilBrick
The report says the alleged sexual misconduct took place between 1963 and 2010 and included “intimate kissing,” ”sexual intercourse” and “forced or coerced intercourse.”....
http://nypost.com/2017/04/14/report-reveals-decades-of-sexual-abuse-at-elite-boarding-school/


The Survivorship Ritual Abuse and Mind Control Conference - May 19 - 21  Annual conference on May 19 - 21, 2017 - Oakland, CA  https://survivorship.org/the-survivorship-ritual-abuse-and-child-abuse-2017-conference/

Child and Ritual Abuse Research   https://ritualabuse.us

Articles by Neil Brick http://neilbrick.com
#Neil_Brick #NeilBrick

New child abuse suits filed against Catholic Church in Guam, Three men jailed over Bristol child abuse ring, Ritual Abuse Research, Neil Brick

- New child abuse suits filed against Catholic Church in Guam
- Three men jailed over Bristol child abuse ring

New child abuse suits filed against Catholic Church in Guam
November 01, 2016 

HAGATNA, Guam –  The latest on allegations of child sex abuse in Guam's Catholic Church 
A lawyer for four former altar boys has filed a new civil lawsuit against the Catholic Church in Guam, Archbishop Anthony Apuron and Father Louis Brouillard over child sexual abuse.

A statement was released by the men's attorney Tuesday afternoon in Hagatna. Three of the men, now in their 50s, were altar boys in the 1970s under Apuron, who was a pastor at the time. They allege Apuron molested them during sleepovers.

The fourth man, now in his 70s, was a student and former altar boy in the 1950s when he says Brouillard molested him. Brouillard, 95, admitted to The Associated Press in August that he may have molested 20 boys during his time in Guam.

Guam passed a law in September lifting the statute of limitations for civil lawsuits in child molestation cases.

The new leader of the Catholic Church in Guam will immediately assume all responsibilities in the archdiocese while its suspended archbishop faces a church trial for allegedly sexually abusing altar boys....
Guam had been under an apostolic administrator since June when Archbishop Anthony Apuron, 71, was relieved of his duties after several former altar boys accused him of sexual abuse. He is facing a canonical trial in the Vatican.
http://www.foxnews.com/world/2016/11/01/new-child-abuse-suits-filed-against-catholic-church-in-guam.html

Three men jailed over Bristol child abuse ring

One man sentenced to 16 years and two to eight years after girls as young as 14 were subjected to ‘degrading and violent’ abuse  Press Association  Tuesday 1 November
Three men have been jailed for their part in an inner-city sex ring involving the abuse, rape and trafficking of young girls.

Victims as young as 14 were subjected to sexual abuse that was “degrading, violent and horrible” in Bristol. Some of the girls were given drugs and alcohol and “pestered again and again” for sex by the men, who were mostly older teenagers.

Bristol crown court heard that the rapes became “routine” and the men regarded some of the victims, who cannot be named, as “cheap and easy”....

Seven men went on trial accused of 46 charges. Three were acquitted after the jury failed to reach verdicts and another man was found not guilty of the two charges against him.

The trial, which came after an investigation codenamed Operation Button, was the third in a series of prosecutions of Somali men for child sexual exploitation and drug offences.

In two earlier trials in 2014, after an investigation codenamed Operation Brooke, 14 men were jailed for more than 100 years between them....

“These defendants befriended these vulnerable young people who were still at school, grooming and sexually exploiting them,” she said. “Their systematic abuse over a number of years slowly eroded their confidence and made them think these crimes were normal behaviour.”...
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/nov/01/three-men-jailed-over-bristol-child-abuse-ring 

Neil Brick, Editor of S.M.A.R.T. Newsletter, 20 Years of Child and Ritual Abuse Research http://www.webwire.com/ViewPressRel.asp?aId=205239  


Information on Neil Brick
In 1995,  Neil Brick founded the SMART newsletter.  In 1996, SMART was on the Internet and in 1998 SMART started having ritual abuse conferences.
https://stopchildabuse.tumblr.com/post/151406886909/neil-brick 


How Cues and Programming Work in Mind Control and Propaganda by Neil Brick
https://stopchildabuse.tumblr.com/post/151646619759/how-cues-and-programming-work-in-mind-control-and

The Battle to Stop Ritual Abuse by Neil Brick
For over 25 years, survivors and their advocates have worked to stop ritual abuse by educating the general public about these crimes. Through an intense struggle this research has been made public and survivors have been helped.

A backlash continues, covering up crimes against children and protecting a hierarchical and unjust social structure that exists by propagandizing and mind controlling its members. Exposing the backlash and its true motives and how their work continues to promote social injustice will be discussed in this presentation.
https://stopchildabuse.tumblr.com/post/151646961279/the-battle-to-stop-ritual-abuse

How to Avoid Being Mind Controlled at a Conference by Neil Brick
https://stopchildabuse.tumblr.com/post/151646833224/how-to-avoid-being-mind-controlled-at-a-conference

Doing the right thing and getting stronger at the same time, a survivor's path to recovery and helping others by Neil Brick
https://stopchildabuse.tumblr.com/post/151776613334/doing-the-right-thing-and-getting-stronger-at-the

Evolving as a Movement – Taking a Step Forward by Neil Brick
The survivor movement needs to take a step forward. No longer can it avoid public education and advocacy.
https://stopchildabuse.tumblr.com/post/151776407764/evolving-as-a-movement-taking-a-step-forward

'Holy Hell': How One Man Documented 22 Years Inside a Sadistic Cult

'Holy Hell': How One Man Documented 22 Years Inside a Sadistic Cult

Former cult member's documentary details over two decades of mind games and torture inside an L.A. cult
By Jason Newman May 27, 2016

He was grooming me. I didn't see it then, but it's so obvious now. I wanted a mentor; a teacher. When I got around him more, that's when I was like, 'Oh my God, he's an asshole.'" For 22 years, Will Allen immersed himself 24/7 in Buddhafield, a Los Angeles cult with hundreds of members and a narcissistic, sociopathic leader named Michel Rostand. The group would live, work and meditate together, banishing all ties to their family in the hope of finding greater enlightenment. Their spiritual guru would, in turn,  psychologically torture and brainwash his disciples on a daily basis....

His insider document of two decades of life inside the cult, entitled Holy Hell, combines home movies and official footage from these years alongside new interviews with former members detailing the sadistic, predatory nature that lay behind their leader's ostensibly gentle, omnipotent façade. Buddhafield's service-oriented, off-the-grid approach to attaining peace and harmony — "It was our little utopia in the middle of this big giant city," says one former member in the film — disguised its leader's iniquities, ranging from total mind control and forced abortions to alleged widespread sexual abuse and rape. The carrot dangled to all adherents was "The Knowing," a ritual in which Rostand would "transfer his energy" to the participant so they would truly know God.

The resulting doc, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival last January, acts as both an extreme cautionary tale and a personal exorcism. In 2012, five years after leaving the cult, Allen, like many former Buddhafield members, was still suffering from PTSD and trying to move on....

It's easy to see how Buddhafield members got initially sucked in by Rostand's charisma; even the ones who now hate him describe him at first glance as "ethereal," "magical," "otherworldly" and "beautiful." "I was floating walking home," admits Vera Chieffo, who left the cult in 2009 after 27 years. "But he was also friggin' weird." The man known mainly as "The Teacher" would parade around the compound in speedos and Ray-Bans, demanding his disciples to be in peak physical and mental health through rigorous exercise, meditation and abstinence from sex, alcohol, drugs, caffeine and red meat.

But while he was outwardly preaching asceticism, Rostand would prey on young men like Allen, "promoting" the filmmaker to be his personal driver and masseuse before allegedly sexually abusing him and other members on multiple occasions. "Some of them are still figuring it out that it was rape because it didn't seem like that," Phillipe Coquet, who spent 24 years with Buddhafield, says. (Rostand has not been charged or arrested in connection with the abuses.) Members would often receive mixed messages, with their leader often noting, for example, the joys of sex before immediately rebuking it as "simple" and unhealthy....
http://www.rollingstone.com/movies/news/holy-hell-how-one-man-documented-22-years-inside-a-sadistic-cult-20160527

Seven members of 'terrifyingly depraved' paedophile gang jailed

Seven members of 'terrifyingly depraved' paedophile gang jailed
 
Judge tells men who abused babies and young children while hiding behind veil of respectability that their actions were ‘contrary to all humanity'
Steven Morris
Friday 11 September 2015

Seven members of a paedophile gang involved in the rape and abuse of babies and young children have been jailed for a total of 78 years.

The British gang – described as having "tentacles that go round the world" – streamed attacks on the internet which were seen on every continent. The men preyed on the families of the children they targeted, in one case grooming a mother and father before their baby was born.

Members would frequently travel long distances to carry out the attacks together, or would watch the abuse over the internet – sometimes using the dark web – if only one of them had access to a victim. Records of online conversations revealed that members of the gang, who lived across the UK, would offer advice and guidance to others on drugging their young victims.

The seven men, aged between 31 and 51 and including three convicted sex offenders, were brought to justice following an investigation led by the National Crime Agency (NCA). They were convicted of 29 child sex abuse offences, including conspiracy to rape and the multiple rape of a child aged under 13....
http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/sep/11/seven-members-paedophile-gang-jailed

Former franchisee alerted Subway about Jared Fogle, 446 child abuse arrests in South Yorkshire since Jay Report, Mistreated wild animals rescued from Mexico - witchcraft ritual

- Former franchisee alerted Subway about Jared Fogle, lawyer says
- 446 child abuse arrests in South Yorkshire since Jay Report
- Abandoned, mistreated wild animals rescued from Mexico brought to Colorado animal sanctuary (witchcraft ritual)

Former franchisee alerted Subway about Jared Fogle, lawyer says
AP August 27, 2015
NEW YORK -- A former franchisee alerted a Subway advertising executive in 2008 about her concerns about pitchman Jared Fogle, according to her lawyer.

Cindy Mills exchanged phone numbers with Fogle after they met at an event, said Robert Beasley, a lawyer in Florida who represents Mills. After Fogle began talking about paying for sex with minors, the lawyer said Mills alerted a regional Subway contact in Florida where her business was based.

Later, he said Mills alerted Jeff Moody, who was in charge of the Subway Franchisee Advertising Fund Trust, which handles the company's marketing....

Beasley said Mills became comfortable about coming forward after Fogle agreed on Aug. 19 to plead guilty to allegations that he paid for sex with girls as young as 16 and received child pornography. Mills was not immediately available for comment Thursday evening. But according to Beasley:

-Mills offered to show Moody the texts from Fogle, but Moody stopped her and said he didn't want to hear anymore.

-Moody said he had dealt with similar comments, and reassured Mills that Fogle had met a teacher who would get him grounded.

"To me, it was confirmation that they knew about it," Beasley said....

The agreement with Fogle released by prosecutors said Fogle will pay $1.4 million in restitution to 14 minor victims, who will each get $100,000. The document noted that the payments would not prevent any identified or unidentified victims from pursuing civil litigation....
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/former-franchisee-alerted-subway-about-jared-fogle-her-lawyer-says/

VIDEO: 446 child abuse arrests in South Yorkshire since Jay Report
Alex Evans Wednesday 26 August 2015

South Yorkshire Police have arrested 446 people on suspicion of child sexual offences in the 12 months since the Jay Report – with 72 arrests specifically for grooming.

The force’s district commander for Rotherham, Chief Superintendent Jason Harwin, says the figures are evidence police are making progress in tackling Child Sexual Exploitation....

At present, there are 42 current and former South Yorkshire Police officers subject to an Independent Police Complaints Commission investigation over potential misconduct over the Rotherham scandal.
http://www.thestar.co.uk/news/video-446-child-abuse-arrests-in-south-yorkshire-since-jay-report-1-7428238 

describes animal abuse


Abandoned, mistreated wild animals rescued from Mexico brought to Colorado animal sanctuary
Phil Tenser, Lindsay Watts Aug 27, 2015

KEENESBURG, Colo. - A dozen wild animals, some used in Mexican circuses, have a new home at a Colorado animal sanctuary.

Mexican naval aircraft brought eight African lions, two lynx, a mountain lion and a coyote to Denver Wednesday night. The menagerie then traveled to the Wild Animal Sanctuary in Keenesburg, joining about 400 other animals on the 720-acre property.

"They have not been treated right, whether that’s been malnourished or physically abused," said Jason Maxey, with the Wild Animal Sanctuary. "They’ve all suffered quite a bit of neglect and abuse in their life."

Maxey said the lions, most of them cubs, look malnourished and weak. One was limping. Even worse, the rescued coyote was used by its owners for witchcraft.

"They literally would tie his front limbs together and then hang him and then perform whatever witchcraft ritual," said animal care director Rebecca Miceli....
http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/front-range/weld-county/abandoned-mistreated-wild-animals-rescued-from-mexico-brought-to-colorado-animal-sanctuary

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Yorkshire MEP sent death threats over Rotherham scandal, Rotherham child-sex victim confronts her alleged abuser in the street but she is arrested

Rotherham child-sex victim confronts her alleged abuser in the street... but SHE is arrested by a van load of police
    Victim saw man she says abused her walking the town's streets
    The now 28-year-old challenged him over claims of grooming and violence
    But when police arrived, she was handcuffed and arrested by officers
    She was 'shoved into van' by two officers in 'thuggish' arrest, witness says
    Police later realised they had been hoping to interview her over claims
    She refused to speak to them after she was reportedly pushed against wall
By Richard Spillett for MailOnline
15 September 2014

....A damning report released last month detailed how 1,400 children were sexually exploited in the area over a 16-year period.

The Times reported that a woman whose case is being investigated by authorities - but has not yet been interviewed - was arrested after tackling a man she says groomed her when she was 15.

A witness accused the police of 'acting like insensitive thugs', telling the paper: 'A police van came and six male officers piled out.

....The arrest comes after an inquiry into long-running child abuse in the area revealed families who tried to step in were in some cases themselves detained by police.

The Jay report into the scandal stated: 'In two of the cases, fathers tracked down their daughters and tried to remove them from houses where they were being abused, only to be arrested themselves when police were called to the scene.'....
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2756140/Rotherham-child-abuse-victim-confronts-alleged-abuser-street-SHE-arrested-van-load-police.html


Yorkshire MEP sent death threats over Rotherham scandal
A EURO MP has had death threats for lifting the lid on the Rotherham child sex scandal.  By Scott Hesketh 14th September 2014

Jane Collins has been told to stay away from the town after she hit out at the council.

Now police have responded to a flood of menacing emails and phone calls to her house by installing a panic button. They also plan to put in a safe room.

In an exclusive interview, The Ukip MEP for Yorkshire and the Humber said: “I didn’t get death threats before.

“The more we reveal and the more we push the nastier it’s going to get.”

Meanwhile, more details emerged about controversial ex-councillor Jahangir Akhtar, who denies covering up for violent adult offender Arshid Hussain.

Hussain was named by 18 girls as their “boyfriend” when they were sent to a council organisation for the victims of paedophiles....
http://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/latest-news/399718/Yorkshire-MEP-death-threats-Rotherham-scandal  

'It was like they were prisoners of war:' Gina DeJesus cannot move her head after being chained up with Michelle Knight in basement for years, say medics

- 'It was like they were prisoners of war:' Gina DeJesus cannot move her head after being chained up with Michelle Knight in basement for years, say medics
- Horrific ordeal of 'Girl D' who was raped injected with heroin, branded and sold for sex at £600 an hour
- We the People
- Plan to stop child sex tourism

'It was like they were prisoners of war:' Gina DeJesus cannot move her head after being chained up with Michelle Knight in basement for years, say medics

The basement where the women were held had chains coming from the wall, and dog leashes attached to the ceiling, according to police sources
Description comes as lawyers for Castro announce that he will plead not guilty to kidnapping and rape charges
The women were restrained with them and duct tape in 'stress positions' for long periods that left them with bed sores and other injuries
Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight were in worse condition than Amanda Berry with the source saying: 'There is a reason why you have only seen a picture of Amanda
Abductor would duct tape the women over all parts of their faces, even their eyes, only leaving an opening so they could breathe
Former daughter-in-law Monica Stephens says Castro always gave her 'the heebie-jeebies'
The women, especially DeJesus and Knight, were now exhibiting signs of malnutrition as Ariel Castro used food as a means to torment them

By Reuters Reporter
15 May 2013

Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight, two of the women imprisoned in a Cleveland house in conditions described as similar to a prisoner of war camp, have suffered from severe malnutrition.

The women will require long-term therapy for injuries such as hearing loss and joint and muscle damage, two sources with direct knowledge said.

The harrowing details come as Castro's attorneys claim he's not the 'monster' depicted in news reports - and he will plead not guilty to kidnapping and rape charges....

Castro appeared to treat Berry - his 'favorite' - better than the other two, the sources said.

'There is a reason why you have only seen a picture of Amanda,' said one of the sources, referring to the condition of DeJesus and Knight.

Knight told investigators she fell pregnant five times, but lost the baby each time. She said that Castro starved and repeatedly punched her in the stomach to force her to miscarry.

Police sources told the National Enquirer that Castro had no interest in having children with Knight, because she was only 4-foot-7 and believed her to be 'mentally disabled.'

The magazine's source added that he was grooming his 6-year-old daughter with Amanda, Joselyn, as another sex slave because the other captives 'were getting to old for him.'....
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2324731/It-like-prisoners-war-Cleveland-women-suffer-injuries-severe-malnutrition-including-hearing-loss-muscle-damage.html



Horrific ordeal of 'Girl D' who was raped injected with heroin, branded and sold for sex at £600 an hour

Mohammed Karrar plied girl with drink and drugs and raped her
She then became his ‘property’ and a sex slave
Was loaned out to abusers around the country for up to £600 an hour

By Arthur Martin   14 May 2013

The ordeal for one of the victims began after she became desperate for love and attention because she was forced to care for her sick parents.

So when Mohammed Karrar entered her life, bought her perfume and treated her like an adult, she believed in him. But the ‘nicey-nicey honeymoon period,’ as she described it, would last barely a year.

After grooming her, Karrar made sure she was ‘out of it’ on drink and drugs before raping her on his sofa.

From that moment she became his ‘property’ and a sex slave loaned out to abusers around the country for up to £600 an hour.

Over five years she was repeatedly attacked in what she described as ‘torture sex’. Injected with heroin, she was sold to groups of Asian men who violently gang-raped her in bedsits and guesthouses around Oxford and elsewhere.

The victim identified as Girl D for legal reasons, frequently broke down in tears giving evidence via videolink as she described her horrific ordeal....
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2324621/Horrific-ordeal-Girl-D-raped-injected-heroin-branded-sold-sex-600-hour.html


We the People    James Haven  Honorary Senior Advisor on Global Issues at Harvard; Founder, CoreCause Foundation 05/10/2013

....66% percent of adults in treatment for drug abuse reported being abused as children.

80% of young adults who suffered child abuse or neglect, met criteria for at least one psychiatric disorder by age 21, including depression, anxiety, and eating disorders.

42% percent of children who are molested are suicidal by their teens.

Abused and neglected children are 11 times more likely to engage in criminal behavior as an adult.

Sentencing in crimes against children typically carries 25 percent of the sentencing if the same crime was committed against an adult.

Child abuse and neglect in America is growing at a very high rate. And the most vulnerable is 0-6 in age. Thousands are being exploited and millions are in poverty and living on our streets across the nation.

124 billion is the minimum annual cost to the U.S. directly related to child abuse... Healthcare for mental illnesses and substance abuse... Child welfare and protection... Law enforcement and court systems to handle juvenile and adult criminal cases.

Those are very sobering statistics. But they also prove the most important statistic of all. That as Fredrick Douglas once said, "It is easier to build strong children than it is to fix broken men."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/james-haven/we-the-people_4_b_3254727.html

Plan to stop child sex tourism
May 15 2013 By BARBARA COLE

Durban - South African hotels are signing up to help protect children from sex tourism and are on the lookout for suspicious guests who try to check in with underage companions.

South Africa has the right combination of factors, such as poverty and violence against women, which put children at risk of exploitation.

In a move to stop South Africa becoming a child-sex tourism or trafficking destination, there were certain factors that created an environment for the exploitation of children, said Fair Trade in Tourism South Africa, a non-profit organisation and the local representative of the Tourism Child Protection Code of Conduct. The code is based on the UN Declaration of Human Rights and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Some of these realities are explained as follows: “The inflow of tourists, the ease with which people can cross (the) borders, societal beliefs that tolerate violence against women, high levels of poverty, and growing inequality since 1994 suggest that tens of thousands of children are at risk of sexual and other forms of exploitation.
http://www.iol.co.za/news/crime-courts/plan-to-stop-child-sex-tourism-1.1516301