Monday, September 11, 2023
Danny Masterson sentenced to 30 years to life for two rapes - Scientology, ritualistic child sex abuse investigation
The jury heard testimony that he had given them drugs before he assaulted them. He was found guilty of rape against two of his three accusers. The charges brought by the third accuser were declared a mistrial and prosecutors said they do not plan to retry the case. Alison Anderson, a lawyer representing two of the victims, said in a statement sent to BBC News that the women “have displayed tremendous strength and bravery, by coming forward to law enforcement and participating directly in two gruelling criminal trials”.
Scientology officials told one survivor she would lose her membership of the community unless she signed a non-disclosure agreement and accepted a payment of $400,000 (£320,000), according to prosecutors. During the trial, Judge Olmedo allowed both sides to discuss the dogma and practices of Scientology, angering the organisation….
Ritualistic Child Sex Abuse Investigation
SPANISH FORK, Utah — The Utah County Sheriff’s Office announced a suspect has been arrested in connection with a ritualistic child sex abuse investigation.
Three counts of sodomy of a child, a first-degree felony
At the time the press release was issued, a judge had not yet set bail and the probable cause court document had not yet been approved for release. The Utah County Sheriff’s Office announced its investigation on June 1. Detectives with the UCSO Special Victims Unit say the alleged crimes and sex trafficking took place between 1990 and 2010 in Utah, Juab and Sanpete counties. Their investigation began in April 2021 and “discovered that other victims had previously reported similar forms of ritualistic sexual abuse and trafficking.” No suspects had previously been named by authorities. Utah County Attorney David Leavitt, who was vying for re-election at the time, was the one to confirm he’s named in a victim statement contained in hundreds of pages of police investigative reports he said are tied to the investigation….
Roselle “Rosie” Stevenson Arrested For Sodomy on a Child Charge
Disturbing Details Emerge as Former Psychologist Charged with ‘Ritualistic Sexual Abuse’ of Children Jerry Lambe Sep 30th, 2022 A 68-year-old former psychologist in Utah is behind bars this week after being accused of “ritualistic sexual abuse and child sex trafficking” that is alleged to have gone on for decades.
The victim told police that the first assault she could remember occurred when she and two other children were in the basement of Hamblin’s home, documents say….
Wednesday, August 23, 2023
2023 Conference Video Presentations and PowerPoints
The 2023 Online Annual Ritual Abuse, Secretive Organizations and Mind Control Conference August 19 – 20, 2023
If you are interested in participating in our conference next year or getting on a mailing list, please write: smartnews@aol.com
Internet conference information: http://ritualabuse.us/smart-conference/
Proof That Ritual Abuse Exists https://ritualabuse.us/ritualabuse/
Large List of Ritual Abuse and Child Abuse References https://ritualabuse.us/ritualabuse/studies/satanic-ritual-abuse-evidence-with-information-on-the-mcmartin-preschool-case/
Grey Faction, Satanic Temple and Lucien Greaves Fact Sheet https://ritualabuse.us/ritualabuse/grey-faction-satanic-temple-and-lucien-greaves-fact-sheet/
Research and Information on Dissociative Identity Disorder (formerly called Multiple Personality Disorder) https://ritualabuse.us/research/did/
Sybil – Proof Sybil had MPD and it was caused by severe trauma https://ritualabuse.us/research/did/sybil-proof-sybil-had-mpd-and-it-was-caused-by-severe-trauma/
Judith Herman: “In order to escape accountability for his crimes, the perpetrator does everything in his power to promote forgetting. If secrecy fails, the perpetrator attacks the credibility of his victim. If he cannot silence her absolutely, he tries to make sure no one listens.” Trauma and Recovery: The Aftermath of Violence – From Domestic Abuse to Political Terror
Videos and PowerPoints from our 2022 conference https://ritualabuse.us/smart-conference/2022-conference/2022-conference-video-presentations-and-powerpoints/
These presentations may be difficult for survivors to view and listen to. Survivors may want to have a support person present while viewing. All accusations are alleged.
Conference Speakers
Survivors may want to use caution reading this material or read it with a safe support person.
Artificially Rooted in the Natural - Wendy Hoffman
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sHwkWt2qpFg
Many of us wonder why recovery from criminal mind control takes so long and is so painful and consuming. This workshop explores one aspect of the difficulties we experience. Perpetrators don’t pull mind control programs out of the blue. They have studied and continue to study what is natural to human emotions, behaviors and motivations. Their mind control tactics stem from those observations. Perpetrators artificially root their commands in the natural tendencies of the human brain, personality and soul, such as dissociation, the need for love and many others. The purpose of this workshop is to help survivors understand some of the unwanted potency of programming and relieve some of the shame and suffering they may feel as they go through their recovery, or even decide whether to start their investigation of themselves, their brains and hearts.
Wendy Hoffman has published three memoirs, The Enslaved Queen (Karnac Books, 2014, new edition by Aeon Books, 2019), White Witch in a Black Robe (Karnac Books, 2016, new edition by Aeon Books, 2019) and A Brain of My Own (Aeon Books, 2020). The Enslaved Queen has been translated and published in Germany (Asanger-Verlag, 2021). Her book of poetry, Forceps, was also published (Karnac books, 2016) along with a book of essays, From the Trenches, written with Dr. Alison Miller (Karnac Books, 2018, re-issued Routledge Books, 2019). Her fourth memoir, After Amnesia, is published on the SmartNews and Survivorship websites (2022). It also has been translated into German. https://ritualabuse.us/smart/wendy-hoffman/
False Memories – The Deception That Silenced Millions – Lynn Crook https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z35sA9kixb4
Lynn Crook explains why accused child molesters needed a defense, why they selected false memories and how they sold it to the media. She’ll explain how the media then sold false memories to the public with rhetoric and false, false memory research results. Prevalence rates were forgotten. As the media coverage slowed, FMSF recruited therapy patients for lawsuits against therapists. Today, psychology students learn about false memories in their textbooks. Although false memory claims are no longer making headlines except when celebrities are on trial, they have become a “given” as reporters paraphrase memory researcher Elizabeth Loftus.
Lynn Crook received an M. Ed. from the University of Washington. She worked at a sexual assault agency in eastern Washington as a community educator and treated clients in crisis. She admired the courage of her clients and soon discovered that she, too, was molested as a child. She sued her parents for damages in 1991. The judge declared in her favor in 1994, as false memories were making headlines. She discovered an oddity in the deposition of her parents’ expert, Elizabeth Loftus. That investigation led to her recent book, “FALSE MEMORIES – The Deception That Silenced Millions LLC.” http://www.lynncrook.com
The Identification and Use of Trauma Triggers in the Treatment of Extreme Abuse Survivors – Dr. Randall Noblitt https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WrVB9a8GWrg
The Identification and Use of Trauma Triggers in the Treatment of Extreme Abuse Survivors – Dr. Randall Noblitt – PowerPoint
Extreme abuse survivors sometimes seek psychotherapy services because of the overwhelming consequences of previous or ongoing incidents of abuse. Repeated severe circumscribed abuse often leaves survivors with trigger-responsive dissociation of identity and traumagenic amnesia, including initially impaired awareness of the abuse and its effects. This workshop will discuss methods for safely exploring, identifying, and desensitizing triggers where the goal is to assist clients in reclaiming effective self-regulation, autonomy, and quality of life.
Randy Noblitt is a professor of Clinical Psychology at Alliant International University, Los Angeles and a licensed psychologist in Texas. He has evaluated and treated extreme abuse survivors clinically since 1979. He has authored three editions of the book Cult and Ritual Abuse with Pam Noblitt (1995, 2000, 2014). Together they also edited Ritual Abuse in the 21st Century (2008) and they have authored a recent book, Navigating Social Security Disability Programs: A Handbook for Clinicians and Advocates (2020). https://ritualabuse.us/smart/randy-noblitt/
Ongoing Work by Survivor Led Non-profit Organisations in Scotland – Dr. Laurie Matthew OBE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FddGxBR0ioo
Ongoing Work by Survivor Led Non-profit Organisations in Scotland – Dr. Laurie Matthew OBE – PowerPoint
Ongoing Work by Survivor Led Non-profit Organisations in Scotland – Dr. Laurie Matthew OBE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FddGxBR0ioo
This presentation will explore the ongoing work carried out by survivor led non-profit organisations based in Scotland. Ritual Abuse Network Scotland (RANS) has provided support and information to adult survivors of ritual abuse for the past 20 years and Eighteen And Under has provided support services for young abuse survivors for the past 30 years. Both organisations have been at the frontier of raising awareness about ritual abuse in the UK and beyond. She will also share findings from recent survivor led participatory research highlighting the importance of involving survivors as researchers with lived experience in all aspects of research from deciding the research question, to agreeing methodology, gathering data, analysing results and dissemination of the findings..
Dr. Laurie Matthew OBE is founder and Manager of
Eighteen And Under an award winning charity providing confidential
support services to young people who have been sexually abused. She is
also a founder member and advisor to Ritual Abuse Network Scotland the
UK’s leading charity for survivors of organised and ritual abuse. She is
the author of several books about ritual abuse and the
multi-award-winning Violence Is Preventable abuse prevention programmes
for children and young people. She has over 40 year’s experience of
directly supporting abuse survivors. Her published research includes
participatory research with adult ritual abuse survivors and
participatory research with young survivors of sexual abuse.
http://www.18u.org.uk http://www.rans.org.uk
Child Trafficking through Family Court Proceedings: A UK Case Study – Dr. Rainer Hermann Kurz https://youtu.be/JYF1hUQFcsQ
Child Trafficking through Family Court Proceedings: A UK Case Study – Dr. Rainer Hermann Kurz PowerPoint
This presentation builds on a decade-long investigation into two index incidents that led to the transfer of parental responsibility for a toddler from a mother to a Local Authority, and eventually adoption by the foster carer in suspicious circumstances marred by procedural irregularities. Index Incident 1, dismissed as untrue by a Family Court Judge, concerned the mother’s claim that she gave birth to a baby as a young teenager that succeeded from incestuous rape by her father and ‘disappeared’. Index Incident 2, that was also dismissed in the same judicial process, concerned a daytime sexual assault on the toddler in broad daylight. The presentation draws on a 60-minute audio recording describing the two index incidents and information submitted to a document review by complex trauma specialists in the process of preparing an appeal application. The content of the presentation is potentially triggering but provides rare insights into the workings of an Organized Ritual Crime Abuse Network (ORCAN) in the midst of society.
Rainer Kurz is a Chartered Psychologist based in London. Since 1990 Rainer has worked in Research & Development roles for leading test publishers. His PhD dissertation was on enhancing the validity and utility of ability testing. Rainer developed 50+ psychometric tests and authored more than 100 publications. He is a Consultant Editor for Test Reviews at the Psychometric Testing Centre (PTC) of the BPS. Rainer has been investigating complex trauma assessment problems since 2012. He presented 30+ posters on trauma, dissociation and healing at international peer-reviewed conferences that are available here: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Rainer_Kurz2
The Effects of Social Movements on Survivor Support Systems and Survivor Recovery – Neil Brick https://youtu.be/ORtHBsA2wbU
The Effects of Social Movements on Survivor Support Systems and Survivor Recovery – Neil Brick PowerPoint
The Effects of Social Movements on Survivor Support Systems and Survivor Recovery – Neil Brick – PowerPoint Transcript https://ritualabuse.us/ritualabuse/articles/the-effects-of-social-movements-on-survivor-support-systems-and-survivor-recovery-neil-brick/
Neil Brick will speak about the history of ritualistic abuse and the effects of social movements on survivors. He will present historical information regarding the literature of clinicians and researchers. He will describe the effects of social and historical movements on survivor support systems and survivor recovery.
Neil Brick is a survivor of ritualistic abuse. His work continues to educate the public about child abuse, trauma and ritualistic abuse crimes. His child abuse and ritualistic abuse newsletter S.M.A.R.T. https://ritualabuse.us has been published for over 28 years. http://neilbrick.com
Please note: None of the material on these pages or at the conference is meant as therapy, or to take the place of therapy.
Monday, August 7, 2023
Ritual Abuse Online Conference August 19-20 - Special Prices - as low as $50 - Only a few days left to register.
Ritual Abuse Online Conference August 19-20 - Special Prices - as low as $50 - Only a few days left to register.
Speakers include: Lynn Crook, Wendy Hoffman, Randy Noblitt, Neil Brick, Laurie Matthew and Rainer Kurz
The 2023 Online Annual Ritual Abuse, Secretive Organizations and Mind Control Conference August 19 – 20, 2023
If you are interested in participating in our conference or getting on a mailing list, please write: smartnews@aol.com
Internet conference information: http://ritualabuse.us/smart-conference/\
Conference Speakers
These descriptions may be heavy for survivors to read. You may want to read them with a support person.
Artificially Rooted in the Natural
Wendy Hoffman
Many of us wonder why recovery from criminal mind control takes so long and is so painful and consuming. This workshop explores one aspect of the difficulties we experience. Perpetrators don’t pull mind control programs out of the blue. They have studied and continue to study what is natural to human emotions, behaviors and motivations. Their mind control tactics stem from those observations. Perpetrators artificially root their commands in the natural tendencies of the human brain, personality and soul, such as dissociation, the need for love and many others. The purpose of this workshop is to help survivors understand some of the unwanted potency of programming and relieve some of the shame and suffering they may feel as they go through their recovery, or even decide whether to start their investigation of themselves, their brains and hearts.
Wendy Hoffman has published three memoirs, The Enslaved Queen (Karnac Books, 2014, new edition by Aeon Books, 2019), White Witch in a Black Robe (Karnac Books, 2016, new edition by Aeon Books, 2019) and A Brain of My Own (Aeon Books, 2020). The Enslaved Queen has been translated and published in Germany (Asanger-Verlag, 2021). Her book of poetry, Forceps, was also published (Karnac books, 2016) along with a book of essays, From the Trenches, written with Dr. Alison Miller (Karnac Books, 2018, re-issued Routledge Books, 2019). Her fourth memoir, After Amnesia, is published on the SmartNews and Survivorship websites (2022). It also has been translated into German. https://ritualabuse.us/smart/wendy-hoffman/
Child Trafficking through Family Court Proceedings: A UK Case Study – Dr. Rainer Hermann Kurz
This presentation builds on a decade-long investigation into two index incidents that led to the transfer of parental responsibility for a toddler from a mother to a Local Authority, and eventually adoption by the foster carer in suspicious circumstances marred by procedural irregularities. Index Incident 1, dismissed as untrue by a Family Court Judge, concerned the mother’s claim that she gave birth to a baby as a young teenager that succeeded from incestuous rape by her father and ‘disappeared’. Index Incident 2, that was also dismissed in the same judicial process, concerned a daytime sexual assault on the toddler in broad daylight. The presentation draws on a 60-minute audio recording describing the two index incidents and information submitted to a document review by complex trauma specialists in the process of preparing an appeal application. The content of the presentation is potentially triggering but provides rare insights into the workings of an Organized Ritual Crime Abuse Network (ORCAN) in the midst of society.
Rainer Kurz is a Chartered Psychologist based in London. Since 1990 Rainer has worked in Research & Development roles for leading test publishers. His PhD dissertation was on enhancing the validity and utility of ability testing. Rainer developed 50+ psychometric tests and authored more than 100 publications. He is a Consultant Editor for Test Reviews at the Psychometric Testing Centre (PTC) of the BPS. Rainer has been investigating complex trauma assessment problems since 2012. He presented 30+ posters on trauma, dissociation and healing at international peer-reviewed conferences that are available here: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Rainer_Kurz2
The Effects of Social Movements on Survivor Support Systems and Survivor Recovery – Neil Brick
Neil Brick will speak about the history of ritualistic abuse and the effects of social movements on survivors. He will present historical information regarding the literature of clinicians and researchers. He will describe the effects of social and historical movements on survivor support systems and survivor recovery.
Neil Brick is a survivor of ritualistic abuse. His work continues to educate the public about child abuse, trauma and ritualistic abuse crimes. His child abuse and ritualistic abuse newsletter S.M.A.R.T. https://ritualabuse.us has been published for over 28 years. http://neilbrick.com
Ongoing Work by Survivor Led Non-profit Organisations in Scotland – Dr. Laurie Matthew OBE
This presentation will explore the ongoing work carried out by survivor led non-profit organisations based in Scotland. Ritual Abuse Network Scotland (RANS) has provided support and information to adult survivors of ritual abuse for the past 20 years and Eighteen And Under has provided support services for young abuse survivors for the past 30 years. Both organisations have been at the frontier of raising awareness about ritual abuse in the UK and beyond. She will also share findings from recent survivor led participatory research highlighting the importance of involving survivors as researchers with lived experience in all aspects of research from deciding the research question, to agreeing methodology, gathering data, analysing results and dissemination of the findings..
Dr. Laurie Matthew OBE is founder and Manager of Eighteen And Under an award winning charity providing confidential support services to young people who have been sexually abused. She is also a founder member and advisor to Ritual Abuse Network Scotland the UK’s leading charity for survivors of organised and ritual abuse. She is the author of several books about ritual abuse and the multi-award-winning Violence Is Preventable abuse prevention programmes for children and young people. She has over 40 year’s experience of directly supporting abuse survivors. Her published research includes participatory research with adult ritual abuse survivors and participatory research with young survivors of sexual abuse.
http://www.18u.org.uk http://www.rans.org.uk
The Identification and Use of Trauma Triggers in the Treatment of Extreme Abuse Survivors – Dr. Randall Noblitt
Extreme abuse survivors sometimes seek psychotherapy services because of the overwhelming consequences of previous or ongoing incidents of abuse. Repeated severe circumscribed abuse often leaves survivors with trigger-responsive dissociation of identity and traumagenic amnesia, including initially impaired awareness of the abuse and its effects. This workshop will discuss methods for safely exploring, identifying, and desensitizing triggers where the goal is to assist clients in reclaiming effective self-regulation, autonomy, and quality of life.
Randy Noblitt is a professor of Clinical Psychology at Alliant International University, Los Angeles and a licensed psychologist in Texas. He has evaluated and treated extreme abuse survivors clinically since 1979. He has authored three editions of the book Cult and Ritual Abuse with Pam Noblitt (1995, 2000, 2014). Together they also edited Ritual Abuse in the 21st Century (2008) and they have authored a recent book, Navigating Social Security Disability Programs: A Handbook for Clinicians and Advocates (2020). https://ritualabuse.us/smart/randy-noblitt/
False Memories – The Deception That Silenced Millions – Lynn Crook
Lynn Crook explains why accused child molesters needed a defense, why they selected false memories and how they sold it to the media. She’ll explain how the media then sold false memories to the public with rhetoric and false, false memory research results. Prevalence rates were forgotten. As the media coverage slowed, FMSF recruited therapy patients for lawsuits against therapists. Today, psychology students learn about false memories in their textbooks. Although false memory claims are no longer making headlines except when celebrities are on trial, they have become a “given” as reporters paraphrase memory researcher Elizabeth Loftus.
Lynn Crook received an M. Ed. from the University of Washington. She worked at a sexual assault agency in eastern Washington as a community educator and treated clients in crisis. She admired the courage of her clients and soon discovered that she, too, was molested as a child. She sued her parents for damages in 1991. The judge declared in her favor in 1994, as false memories were making headlines. She discovered an oddity in the deposition of her parents’ expert, Elizabeth Loftus. That investigation led to her recent book, “FALSE MEMORIES – The Deception That Silenced Millions LLC.” http://www.lynncrook.com
The conference is sponsored by S.M.A.R.T., a newsletter that examines the possible connections between ritual abuse and secretive organizations. SMARTNEWS@aol.com http://ritualabuse.us/
The conference is co-sponsored by Survivorship. Survivorship is one of the oldest and most respected organizations supporting survivors of extreme child abuse, including sadistic sexual abuse, ritualistic abuse, mind control, and torture. Survivorship provides resources, healing, and community for survivors; training and education for professionals who may serve survivors; and support for survivors’ partners. https://survivorship.org
Please note: None of the material on these pages or at the conference is meant as therapy, or to take the place of therapy.
Invisible predators: the shifting behaviour of paedophiles has Australian police playing catch-up
Invisible predators: the shifting behaviour of paedophiles has Australian police playing catch-up
As a former childcare worker stands accused of more than 1,600 charges, experts say changing technology habits are making offenders harder to detect
Andrew Messenger, Ben Smee and Jordyn Beazley Fri 4 Aug 2023
In the Brisbane office of the taskforce Argos, scrawled on a whiteboard was a “most-wanted” list containing the online identities of dozens of global members of a dark web paedophile forum.
The man now accused of being the country’s worst-known serial child sexual abuse offender was not on that list.
Police this week revealed the former childcare worker stands accused of 1,623 child abuse offences against 91 young girls at a dozen centres over a period of 15 years.
Unlike many of the prolific online posters Argos helped put away, the accused man – who cannot be named for legal reasons – is alleged to have shared only a very small number of images and videos online, relating to two girls at a suburban Brisbane childcare centre. Police were reportedly stunned when they raided his home and found cameras and phones containing almost 4,000 child abuse images and videos dating back to 2007.
The man remains in custody and his case is scheduled for a mention in Brisbane magistrates court on 21 August.
An internet arms race
For serial child abusers, the internet has proven the biggest resource and the biggest threat.
The dark web can be a source of money, illegal images, prestige – and community. But it also brings danger.
The illegal chat boards and forums have always been designed to be hard to access, but police have repeatedly cracked in, with often devastating results. In the case of Argos, police succeeded in taking the forum over completely.
In recent years researchers and law enforcement agencies have noticed a shift in language from the sorts of men who visited those wretched forums. Criminals aren’t stupid – they don’t need the media to tell them the cops are watching. Online offender communities have become “very aware” and cautious of law enforcement surveillance, says Michael Salter, an associate professor of criminology at the University of New South Wales and an expert in child sexual exploitation.
“Offenders know that law enforcement are crawling offender forums across the dark web and they’re responding accordingly,” Salter says.
“We see on the dark web a lot of complaints about what offenders call ‘hoarding’; that producers are producing CSAM (child sexual abuse material) that they’re not sharing … with the offender community, or they’re creating locked-down online groups where there’s far less accessibility....
Wednesday, July 26, 2023
The 2023 Online Annual Ritual Abuse, Secretive Organizations and Mind Control Conference August 19 – 20, 2023
The 2023 Online Annual Ritual Abuse, Secretive Organizations and Mind Control Conference August 19 – 20, 2023
If you are interested in participating in our conference or getting on a mailing list, please write: smartnews@aol.com
Internet conference information: http://ritualabuse.us/smart-conference/
Proof That Ritual Abuse Exists https://ritualabuse.us/ritualabuse/
Large List of Ritual Abuse and Child Abuse References https://ritualabuse.us/ritualabuse/studies/satanic-ritual-abuse-evidence-with-information-on-the-mcmartin-preschool-case/
Grey Faction, Satanic Temple and Lucien Greaves Fact Sheet https://ritualabuse.us/ritualabuse/grey-faction-satanic-temple-and-lucien-greaves-fact-sheet/
Research and Information on Dissociative Identity Disorder (formerly called Multiple Personality Disorder) https://ritualabuse.us/research/did/
Sybil – Proof Sybil had MPD and it was caused by severe trauma https://ritualabuse.us/research/did/sybil-proof-sybil-had-mpd-and-it-was-caused-by-severe-trauma/
Judith Herman: “In order to escape accountability for his crimes, the perpetrator does everything in his power to promote forgetting. If secrecy fails, the perpetrator attacks the credibility of his victim. If he cannot silence her absolutely, he tries to make sure no one listens.” Trauma and Recovery: The Aftermath of Violence – From Domestic Abuse to Political Terror
Videos and PowerPoints from our 2022 conference https://ritualabuse.us/smart-conference/2022-conference/2022-conference-video-presentations-and-powerpoints/
Conference Goals
– To help stop future occurrences of ritual abuse
– To help survivors of ritual abuse
– To name the groups that have participated in alleged illegal activities
– To unite those working to stop ritual abuse
Please note: S.M.A.R.T. has no paid employees and all money paid to S.M.A.R.T. goes toward efforts to educate survivors and the general public about survivor issues and research.
Conference Information
Conference Participants
The conference will include those either recovering from ritual abuse and/or helping those recovering from ritual abuse. This includes survivors, co-survivors and therapists working with ritual abuse survivors. Members of secret organizations, acting out perpetrators, and/or members of unsympathetic organizations are excluded from the conference. This is for the protection and safety of those in attendance. S.M.A.R.T. recommends that you try to bring a support person that is familiar with mind control techniques.
S.M.A.R.T. 2023 Conference Schedule – August 19 – 20
(Please note : this schedule may be subject to change. Please write us for the latest schedule.)
Saturday
9:00 am – 4:00 pm
Sunday
9:00 am – 3:30 pm
Conference Speakers
These descriptions may be heavy for survivors to read. You may want to read them with a support person.
Artificially Rooted in the Natural
Wendy Hoffman
Many of us wonder why recovery from criminal mind control takes so long and is so painful and consuming. This workshop explores one aspect of the difficulties we experience. Perpetrators don’t pull mind control programs out of the blue. They have studied and continue to study what is natural to human emotions, behaviors and motivations. Their mind control tactics stem from those observations. Perpetrators artificially root their commands in the natural tendencies of the human brain, personality and soul, such as dissociation, the need for love and many others. The purpose of this workshop is to help survivors understand some of the unwanted potency of programming and relieve some of the shame and suffering they may feel as they go through their recovery, or even decide whether to start their investigation of themselves, their brains and hearts.
Wendy Hoffman has published three memoirs, The Enslaved Queen (Karnac Books, 2014, new edition by Aeon Books, 2019), White Witch in a Black Robe (Karnac Books, 2016, new edition by Aeon Books, 2019) and A Brain of My Own (Aeon Books, 2020). The Enslaved Queen has been translated and published in Germany (Asanger-Verlag, 2021). Her book of poetry, Forceps, was also published (Karnac books, 2016) along with a book of essays, From the Trenches, written with Dr. Alison Miller (Karnac Books, 2018, re-issued Routledge Books, 2019). Her fourth memoir, After Amnesia, is published on the SmartNews and Survivorship websites (2022). It also has been translated into German. https://ritualabuse.us/smart/wendy-hoffman/
Child Trafficking through Family Court Proceedings: A UK Case Study – Dr. Rainer Hermann Kurz
This presentation builds on a decade-long investigation into two index incidents that led to the transfer of parental responsibility for a toddler from a mother to a Local Authority, and eventually adoption by the foster carer in suspicious circumstances marred by procedural irregularities. Index Incident 1, dismissed as untrue by a Family Court Judge, concerned the mother’s claim that she gave birth to a baby as a young teenager that succeeded from incestuous rape by her father and ‘disappeared’. Index Incident 2, that was also dismissed in the same judicial process, concerned a daytime sexual assault on the toddler in broad daylight. The presentation draws on a 60-minute audio recording describing the two index incidents and information submitted to a document review by complex trauma specialists in the process of preparing an appeal application. The content of the presentation is potentially triggering but provides rare insights into the workings of an Organized Ritual Crime Abuse Network (ORCAN) in the midst of society.
Rainer Kurz is a Chartered Psychologist based in London. Since 1990 Rainer has worked in Research & Development roles for leading test publishers. His PhD dissertation was on enhancing the validity and utility of ability testing. Rainer developed 50+ psychometric tests and authored more than 100 publications. He is a Consultant Editor for Test Reviews at the Psychometric Testing Centre (PTC) of the BPS. Rainer has been investigating complex trauma assessment problems since 2012. He presented 30+ posters on trauma, dissociation and healing at international peer-reviewed conferences that are available here: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Rainer_Kurz2
The Effects of Social Movements on Survivor Support Systems and Survivor Recovery – Neil Brick
Neil Brick will speak about the history of ritualistic abuse and the effects of social movements on survivors. He will present historical information regarding the literature of clinicians and researchers. He will describe the effects of social and historical movements on survivor support systems and survivor recovery.
Neil Brick is a survivor of ritualistic abuse. His work continues to educate the public about child abuse, trauma and ritualistic abuse crimes. His child abuse and ritualistic abuse newsletter S.M.A.R.T. https://ritualabuse.us has been published for over 28 years. http://neilbrick.com
Ongoing Work by Survivor Led Non-profit Organisations in Scotland – Dr. Laurie Matthew OBE
This presentation will explore the ongoing work carried out by survivor led non-profit organisations based in Scotland. Ritual Abuse Network Scotland (RANS) has provided support and information to adult survivors of ritual abuse for the past 20 years and Eighteen And Under has provided support services for young abuse survivors for the past 30 years. Both organisations have been at the frontier of raising awareness about ritual abuse in the UK and beyond. She will also share findings from recent survivor led participatory research highlighting the importance of involving survivors as researchers with lived experience in all aspects of research from deciding the research question, to agreeing methodology, gathering data, analysing results and dissemination of the findings..
Dr. Laurie Matthew OBE is founder and Manager of
Eighteen And Under an award winning charity providing confidential
support services to young people who have been sexually abused. She is
also a founder member and advisor to Ritual Abuse Network Scotland the
UK’s leading charity for survivors of organised and ritual abuse. She is
the author of several books about ritual abuse and the
multi-award-winning Violence Is Preventable abuse prevention programmes
for children and young people. She has over 40 year’s experience of
directly supporting abuse survivors. Her published research includes
participatory research with adult ritual abuse survivors and
participatory research with young survivors of sexual abuse.
http://www.18u.org.uk http://www.rans.org.uk
The Identification and Use of Trauma Triggers in the Treatment of Extreme Abuse Survivors – Dr. Randall Noblitt
Extreme abuse survivors sometimes seek psychotherapy services because of the overwhelming consequences of previous or ongoing incidents of abuse. Repeated severe circumscribed abuse often leaves survivors with trigger-responsive dissociation of identity and traumagenic amnesia, including initially impaired awareness of the abuse and its effects. This workshop will discuss methods for safely exploring, identifying, and desensitizing triggers where the goal is to assist clients in reclaiming effective self-regulation, autonomy, and quality of life.
Randy Noblitt is a professor of Clinical Psychology at Alliant International University, Los Angeles and a licensed psychologist in Texas. He has evaluated and treated extreme abuse survivors clinically since 1979. He has authored three editions of the book Cult and Ritual Abuse with Pam Noblitt (1995, 2000, 2014). Together they also edited Ritual Abuse in the 21st Century (2008) and they have authored a recent book, Navigating Social Security Disability Programs: A Handbook for Clinicians and Advocates (2020). https://ritualabuse.us/smart/randy-noblitt/
False Memories – The Deception That Silenced Millions – Lynn Crook
Lynn Crook explains why accused child molesters needed a defense, why they selected false memories and how they sold it to the media. She’ll explain how the media then sold false memories to the public with rhetoric and false, false memory research results. Prevalence rates were forgotten. As the media coverage slowed, FMSF recruited therapy patients for lawsuits against therapists. Today, psychology students learn about false memories in their textbooks. Although false memory claims are no longer making headlines except when celebrities are on trial, they have become a “given” as reporters paraphrase memory researcher Elizabeth Loftus.
Lynn Crook received an M. Ed. from the University of Washington. She worked at a sexual assault agency in eastern Washington as a community educator and treated clients in crisis. She admired the courage of her clients and soon discovered that she, too, was molested as a child. She sued her parents for damages in 1991. The judge declared in her favor in 1994, as false memories were making headlines. She discovered an oddity in the deposition of her parents’ expert, Elizabeth Loftus. That investigation led to her recent book, “FALSE MEMORIES – The Deception That Silenced Millions LLC.” http://www.lynncrook.com
The conference is sponsored by S.M.A.R.T., a newsletter that examines the possible connections between ritual abuse and secretive organizations. SMARTNEWS@aol.com http://ritualabuse.us/
The conference is co-sponsored by Survivorship. Survivorship is one of the oldest and most respected organizations supporting survivors of extreme child abuse, including sadistic sexual abuse, ritualistic abuse, mind control, and torture. Survivorship provides resources, healing, and community for survivors; training and education for professionals who may serve survivors; and support for survivors’ partners. https://survivorship.org
Please note: None of the material on these pages or at the conference is meant as therapy, or to take the place of therapy.
Irish singer Sinead O'Connor has died at 56, sexual and physical abuse in the Irish Catholic school system
Irish singer Sinead O'Connor has died at 56, sexual and physical abuse in the Irish Catholic school system
- Irish singer Sinead O'Connor has died at 56
- The Redemption of Sinead O’Connor
- Sinead O’Connor claims ‘possessed’ mother ‘delighted’ in sexually abusing her and forced singer to repeat ‘I am nothing’
- Sinead O’Connor Details Years of Physical and Sexual Abuse at the Hands of Her Mother: ‘She Ran a Torture Chamber’
Sexual abuse in several industrial schools was described as a “chronic problem.” Clergy whose behavior drew complaints from parents of day-school students were transferred to industrial schools where their abuses drew less attention. Some schools seem, on the evidence, to have been more labor camps than institutions of learning. At one notorious industrial school in Dublin, each child was required to string 60 rosaries each weekday and 90 on Saturdays. Students who did not reach their quotas were beaten…."
Sinéad O'Connor, the Irish singer known for her intense and beautiful voice, her political convictions and the personal tumult that overtook her later years, has died. She was 56 years old.
O'Connor's recording of "Nothing Compares 2 U" was one of the biggest hits of the early 1990s. Her death was announced by her family. The cause and date of her death were not made public. The statement said: "It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of our beloved Sinéad. Her family and friends are devastated and have requested privacy at this very difficult time." ....
"I grew up in a severely abusive situation, my mother being the perpetrator," O'Connor told NPR in 2014. "So much of child abuse is about being voiceless, and it's a wonderfully healing thing to just make sounds."
O'Connor started making sounds in a home for juvenile delinquents, after a childhood spent getting booted out of Catholic schools and busted, repeatedly, for shoplifting. But a nun gave her a guitar and she began to sing, on the streets of Dublin and then with a popular Irish band called In Tua Nua.
O'Connor came to the attention of U2's guitarist The Edge, and she got herself signed to the Ensign/Chrysalis label. Her second studio album, I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got, went double platinum in 1990, partly because of a hit love song written by Prince: "Nothing Compares 2 U."
I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got was a distillation of O'Connor's prayerful sense of music and her fury over social injustice. She rejected its four Grammy nominations as being too commercial — and, in her words, "for destroying the human race." She was banned from a New Jersey arena when she refused to sing "The Star-Spangled Banner," for its lyrics glorifying bombs bursting in air.
In 1992, at the height of her fame, Sinéad O'Connor appeared on Saturday Night Live. In her performance, she raised her voice against racism and child abuse. There was dead silence when she ended the song, a version of Bob Marley's "War," by ripping up a picture of then-Pope John Paul II.
What followed in the media was a collective howl of outrage. It drowned out a prescient protest against abuse in the Catholic church. Years later, in 2010, O'Connor told NPR she'd known exactly what to expect.
"It was grand, to be honest," she said. "I mean, I knew how people would react. I knew there would be trouble. I was quite prepared to accept that. To me, it was more important that I recognized what I will call the Holy Spirit."....
Also inexplicably ignored were O’Connor’s own words, in an interview published in Time a month after her SNL appearance:
It’s not the man, obviously—it’s the office and the symbol of the organization that he represents… In Ireland we see our people are manifesting the highest incidence in Europe of child abuse. This is a direct result of the fact that they’re not in contact with their history as Irish people and the fact that in the schools, the priests have been beating the shit out of the children for years and sexually abusing them. This is the example that’s been set for the people of Ireland. They have been controlled by the church, the very people who authorized what was done to them, who gave permission for what was done to them.
Her interviewer seemed confused by the connection O’Connor was making between the Catholic Church and child abuse, so O’Connor opened up about her own history of abuse:
Sexual and physical. Psychological. Spiritual. Emotional. Verbal. I went to school every day covered in bruises, boils, sties and face welts, you name it. Nobody ever said a bloody word or did a thing. Naturally I was very angered by the whole thing, and I had to find out why it happened… The thing that helped me most was the 12-step group, the Adult Children of Alcoholics/Dysfunctional Families. My mother was a Valium addict. What happened to me is a direct result of what happened to my mother and what happened to her in her house and in school.
The interviewer remained skeptical of O’Connor’s characterization of Irish schools as playgrounds and training grounds for child abusers, and the interview moved on to different topics.
By now, the history of sexual and physical abuse in the Irish Catholic school system is familiar. As late as 2007, the Church controlled 93% of the schools in Ireland, giving most children no hope of escaping the often-sadistic system. As in America, serial child molesters like Brendan Smyth were shuttled from parish to parish and school to school to keep a step ahead of police and complaining parents. The culture of permissiveness towards abuse affected all communities, but probably the worst off were poor, orphaned, and troublemaking children sent to residential reformatory and industrial schools. To read the 2009 Ryan Report covering crimes carried out against children in these settings is to court a special sort of nausea—the kind that comes from bearing witness to an organized effort to deny the dignity of individual life and make the bodies of the powerless available to service the needs of the powerful. In this case, the powerless were disadvantaged minor teenagers and children.
Sexual abuse in several industrial schools was described as a “chronic problem.” Clergy whose behavior drew complaints from parents of day-school students were transferred to industrial schools where their abuses drew less attention. Some schools seem, on the evidence, to have been more labor camps than institutions of learning. At one notorious industrial school in Dublin, each child was required to string 60 rosaries each weekday and 90 on Saturdays. Students who did not reach their quotas were beaten….
http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2012/10/the-redemption-of-sinead-oconnor/263020/
Sinead O’Connor claims ‘possessed’ mother ‘delighted’ in sexually abusing her and forced singer to repeat ‘I am nothing’ as she speaks to Dr Phil in first interview since recent breakdown
Sinead O’Connor speaks with Dr. Phil on Tuesday in her first interview since she was hospitalized following a mental breakdown in August
The singer details the alleged sexual and physical abuse she suffered as a child at the hands of her mother, who she claims was ‘possessed’
‘She ran a torture chamber, it was a torture chamber. She was a person who would smile and delight when she was hurting you,’ says O’Connor
‘She used to make me say over and over again “I am nothing. I am nothing” while she was beating me., claims O’Connor, who says she ran away at 13
O’Connor, 50, can be seen giving more detail about her difficult past on Tuesday’s episode…. By Chris Spargo 11 September 2017 http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4873530/Sinead-O-Connor-says-possessed-mother-sexually-abused-her.html
"By now, the history of sexual and physical abuse in the Irish Catholic school system is familiar. As late as 2007, the Church controlled 93% of the schools in Ireland, giving most children no hope of escaping the often-sadistic system. As in America, serial child molesters like Brendan Smyth were shuttled from parish to parish and school to school to keep a step ahead of police and complaining parents. The culture of permissiveness towards abuse affected all communities, but probably the worst off were poor, orphaned, and troublemaking children sent to residential reformatory and industrial schools. To read the 2009 Ryan Report covering crimes carried out against children in these settings is to court a special sort of nausea—the kind that comes from bearing witness to an organized effort to deny the dignity of individual life and make the bodies of the powerless available to service the needs of the powerful. In this case, the powerless were disadvantaged minor teenagers and children."
Sexual abuse in several industrial schools was described as a “chronic problem.” Clergy whose behavior drew complaints from parents of day-school students were transferred to industrial schools where their abuses drew less attention. Some schools seem, on the evidence, to have been more labor camps than institutions of learning. At one notorious industrial school in Dublin, each child was required to string 60 rosaries each weekday and 90 on Saturdays. Students who did not reach their quotas were beaten…."
Irish singer Sinead O'Connor has died at 56 Updated July 26, 2023 Heard on All Things Considered By Neda Ulaby, Anastasia Tsioulcas
Sinéad O'Connor, the Irish singer known for her intense and beautiful voice, her political convictions and the personal tumult that overtook her later years, has died. She was 56 years old.
O'Connor's recording of "Nothing Compares 2 U" was one of the biggest hits of the early 1990s. Her death was announced by her family. The cause and date of her death were not made public. The statement said: "It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of our beloved Sinéad. Her family and friends are devastated and have requested privacy at this very difficult time." ....
"I grew up in a severely abusive situation, my mother being the perpetrator," O'Connor told NPR in 2014. "So much of child abuse is about being voiceless, and it's a wonderfully healing thing to just make sounds."
O'Connor started making sounds in a home for juvenile delinquents, after a childhood spent getting booted out of Catholic schools and busted, repeatedly, for shoplifting. But a nun gave her a guitar and she began to sing, on the streets of Dublin and then with a popular Irish band called In Tua Nua.
O'Connor came to the attention of U2's guitarist The Edge, and she got herself signed to the Ensign/Chrysalis label. Her second studio album, I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got, went double platinum in 1990, partly because of a hit love song written by Prince: "Nothing Compares 2 U."
I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got was a distillation of O'Connor's prayerful sense of music and her fury over social injustice. She rejected its four Grammy nominations as being too commercial — and, in her words, "for destroying the human race." She was banned from a New Jersey arena when she refused to sing "The Star-Spangled Banner," for its lyrics glorifying bombs bursting in air.
In 1992, at the height of her fame, Sinéad O'Connor appeared on Saturday Night Live. In her performance, she raised her voice against racism and child abuse. There was dead silence when she ended the song, a version of Bob Marley's "War," by ripping up a picture of then-Pope John Paul II.
What followed in the media was a collective howl of outrage. It drowned out a prescient protest against abuse in the Catholic church. Years later, in 2010, O'Connor told NPR she'd known exactly what to expect.
"It was grand, to be honest," she said. "I mean, I knew how people would react. I knew there would be trouble. I was quite prepared to accept that. To me, it was more important that I recognized what I will call the Holy Spirit."....
The Redemption of Sinead O’Connor By Michael Agresta Oct 3 2012
Twenty years ago today, Sinead O’Connor tore up a picture of the pope on Saturday Night Live—and the media largely misunderstood why. Is America finally ready to hear her out?
In the weeks and months after Sinead O’Connor tore up a picture of Pope John Paul II on live television, commentators in the media sought to explain the motives of her protest. Very few, however, made use of the traditional tools of journalism: interviews, research, and textual analysis. Instead, most commentators seem to have consulted their own imaginations….
Twenty years ago today, Sinead O’Connor tore up a picture of the pope on Saturday Night Live—and the media largely misunderstood why. Is America finally ready to hear her out?
In the weeks and months after Sinead O’Connor tore up a picture of Pope John Paul II on live television, commentators in the media sought to explain the motives of her protest. Very few, however, made use of the traditional tools of journalism: interviews, research, and textual analysis. Instead, most commentators seem to have consulted their own imaginations….
Also inexplicably ignored were O’Connor’s own words, in an interview published in Time a month after her SNL appearance:
It’s not the man, obviously—it’s the office and the symbol of the organization that he represents… In Ireland we see our people are manifesting the highest incidence in Europe of child abuse. This is a direct result of the fact that they’re not in contact with their history as Irish people and the fact that in the schools, the priests have been beating the shit out of the children for years and sexually abusing them. This is the example that’s been set for the people of Ireland. They have been controlled by the church, the very people who authorized what was done to them, who gave permission for what was done to them.
Her interviewer seemed confused by the connection O’Connor was making between the Catholic Church and child abuse, so O’Connor opened up about her own history of abuse:
Sexual and physical. Psychological. Spiritual. Emotional. Verbal. I went to school every day covered in bruises, boils, sties and face welts, you name it. Nobody ever said a bloody word or did a thing. Naturally I was very angered by the whole thing, and I had to find out why it happened… The thing that helped me most was the 12-step group, the Adult Children of Alcoholics/Dysfunctional Families. My mother was a Valium addict. What happened to me is a direct result of what happened to my mother and what happened to her in her house and in school.
The interviewer remained skeptical of O’Connor’s characterization of Irish schools as playgrounds and training grounds for child abusers, and the interview moved on to different topics.
By now, the history of sexual and physical abuse in the Irish Catholic school system is familiar. As late as 2007, the Church controlled 93% of the schools in Ireland, giving most children no hope of escaping the often-sadistic system. As in America, serial child molesters like Brendan Smyth were shuttled from parish to parish and school to school to keep a step ahead of police and complaining parents. The culture of permissiveness towards abuse affected all communities, but probably the worst off were poor, orphaned, and troublemaking children sent to residential reformatory and industrial schools. To read the 2009 Ryan Report covering crimes carried out against children in these settings is to court a special sort of nausea—the kind that comes from bearing witness to an organized effort to deny the dignity of individual life and make the bodies of the powerless available to service the needs of the powerful. In this case, the powerless were disadvantaged minor teenagers and children.
Sexual abuse in several industrial schools was described as a “chronic problem.” Clergy whose behavior drew complaints from parents of day-school students were transferred to industrial schools where their abuses drew less attention. Some schools seem, on the evidence, to have been more labor camps than institutions of learning. At one notorious industrial school in Dublin, each child was required to string 60 rosaries each weekday and 90 on Saturdays. Students who did not reach their quotas were beaten….
http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2012/10/the-redemption-of-sinead-oconnor/263020/
Sinead O’Connor claims ‘possessed’ mother ‘delighted’ in sexually abusing her and forced singer to repeat ‘I am nothing’ as she speaks to Dr Phil in first interview since recent breakdown
Sinead O’Connor speaks with Dr. Phil on Tuesday in her first interview since she was hospitalized following a mental breakdown in August
The singer details the alleged sexual and physical abuse she suffered as a child at the hands of her mother, who she claims was ‘possessed’
‘She ran a torture chamber, it was a torture chamber. She was a person who would smile and delight when she was hurting you,’ says O’Connor
‘She used to make me say over and over again “I am nothing. I am nothing” while she was beating me., claims O’Connor, who says she ran away at 13
O’Connor, 50, can be seen giving more detail about her difficult past on Tuesday’s episode…. By Chris Spargo 11 September 2017 http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4873530/Sinead-O-Connor-says-possessed-mother-sexually-abused-her.html
Sinead O’Connor Details Years of Physical and Sexual Abuse at the Hands of Her Mother: ‘She Ran a Torture Chamber’
"By now, the history of sexual and physical abuse in the Irish Catholic school system is familiar. As late as 2007, the Church controlled 93% of the schools in Ireland, giving most children no hope of escaping the often-sadistic system. As in America, serial child molesters like Brendan Smyth were shuttled from parish to parish and school to school to keep a step ahead of police and complaining parents. The culture of permissiveness towards abuse affected all communities, but probably the worst off were poor, orphaned, and troublemaking children sent to residential reformatory and industrial schools. To read the 2009 Ryan Report covering crimes carried out against children in these settings is to court a special sort of nausea—the kind that comes from bearing witness to an organized effort to deny the dignity of individual life and make the bodies of the powerless available to service the needs of the powerful. In this case, the powerless were disadvantaged minor teenagers and children.
Sexual abuse in several industrial schools was described as a “chronic problem.” Clergy whose behavior drew complaints from parents of day-school students were transferred to industrial schools where their abuses drew less attention. Some schools seem, on the evidence, to have been more labor camps than institutions of learning. At one notorious industrial school in Dublin, each child was required to string 60 rosaries each weekday and 90 on Saturdays. Students who did not reach their quotas were beaten…."
Sexual abuse in several industrial schools was described as a “chronic problem.” Clergy whose behavior drew complaints from parents of day-school students were transferred to industrial schools where their abuses drew less attention. Some schools seem, on the evidence, to have been more labor camps than institutions of learning. At one notorious industrial school in Dublin, each child was required to string 60 rosaries each weekday and 90 on Saturdays. Students who did not reach their quotas were beaten…."
Irish singer Sinead O'Connor has died at 56 Updated July 26, 2023 Heard on All Things Considered By Neda Ulaby, Anastasia Tsioulcas
Sinéad O'Connor, the Irish singer known for her intense and beautiful voice, her political convictions and the personal tumult that overtook her later years, has died. She was 56 years old.
O'Connor's recording of "Nothing Compares 2 U" was one of the biggest hits of the early 1990s. Her death was announced by her family. The cause and date of her death were not made public. The statement said: "It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of our beloved Sinéad. Her family and friends are devastated and have requested privacy at this very difficult time." ....
"I grew up in a severely abusive situation, my mother being the perpetrator," O'Connor told NPR in 2014. "So much of child abuse is about being voiceless, and it's a wonderfully healing thing to just make sounds."
O'Connor started making sounds in a home for juvenile delinquents, after a childhood spent getting booted out of Catholic schools and busted, repeatedly, for shoplifting. But a nun gave her a guitar and she began to sing, on the streets of Dublin and then with a popular Irish band called In Tua Nua.
O'Connor came to the attention of U2's guitarist The Edge, and she got herself signed to the Ensign/Chrysalis label. Her second studio album, I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got, went double platinum in 1990, partly because of a hit love song written by Prince: "Nothing Compares 2 U."
I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got was a distillation of O'Connor's prayerful sense of music and her fury over social injustice. She rejected its four Grammy nominations as being too commercial — and, in her words, "for destroying the human race." She was banned from a New Jersey arena when she refused to sing "The Star-Spangled Banner," for its lyrics glorifying bombs bursting in air.
In 1992, at the height of her fame, Sinéad O'Connor appeared on Saturday Night Live. In her performance, she raised her voice against racism and child abuse. There was dead silence when she ended the song, a version of Bob Marley's "War," by ripping up a picture of then-Pope John Paul II.
What followed in the media was a collective howl of outrage. It drowned out a prescient protest against abuse in the Catholic church. Years later, in 2010, O'Connor told NPR she'd known exactly what to expect.
"It was grand, to be honest," she said. "I mean, I knew how people would react. I knew there would be trouble. I was quite prepared to accept that. To me, it was more important that I recognized what I will call the Holy Spirit."....
The Redemption of Sinead O’Connor By Michael Agresta Oct 3 2012
Twenty years ago today, Sinead O’Connor tore up a picture of the pope on Saturday Night Live—and the media largely misunderstood why. Is America finally ready to hear her out?
In the weeks and months after Sinead O’Connor tore up a picture of Pope John Paul II on live television, commentators in the media sought to explain the motives of her protest. Very few, however, made use of the traditional tools of journalism: interviews, research, and textual analysis. Instead, most commentators seem to have consulted their own imaginations….
Twenty years ago today, Sinead O’Connor tore up a picture of the pope on Saturday Night Live—and the media largely misunderstood why. Is America finally ready to hear her out?
In the weeks and months after Sinead O’Connor tore up a picture of Pope John Paul II on live television, commentators in the media sought to explain the motives of her protest. Very few, however, made use of the traditional tools of journalism: interviews, research, and textual analysis. Instead, most commentators seem to have consulted their own imaginations….
Also inexplicably ignored were O’Connor’s own words, in an interview published in Time a month after her SNL appearance:
It’s not the man, obviously—it’s the office and the symbol of the organization that he represents… In Ireland we see our people are manifesting the highest incidence in Europe of child abuse. This is a direct result of the fact that they’re not in contact with their history as Irish people and the fact that in the schools, the priests have been beating the shit out of the children for years and sexually abusing them. This is the example that’s been set for the people of Ireland. They have been controlled by the church, the very people who authorized what was done to them, who gave permission for what was done to them.
Her interviewer seemed confused by the connection O’Connor was making between the Catholic Church and child abuse, so O’Connor opened up about her own history of abuse:
Sexual and physical. Psychological. Spiritual. Emotional. Verbal. I went to school every day covered in bruises, boils, sties and face welts, you name it. Nobody ever said a bloody word or did a thing. Naturally I was very angered by the whole thing, and I had to find out why it happened… The thing that helped me most was the 12-step group, the Adult Children of Alcoholics/Dysfunctional Families. My mother was a Valium addict. What happened to me is a direct result of what happened to my mother and what happened to her in her house and in school.
The interviewer remained skeptical of O’Connor’s characterization of Irish schools as playgrounds and training grounds for child abusers, and the interview moved on to different topics.
By now, the history of sexual and physical abuse in the Irish Catholic school system is familiar. As late as 2007, the Church controlled 93% of the schools in Ireland, giving most children no hope of escaping the often-sadistic system. As in America, serial child molesters like Brendan Smyth were shuttled from parish to parish and school to school to keep a step ahead of police and complaining parents. The culture of permissiveness towards abuse affected all communities, but probably the worst off were poor, orphaned, and troublemaking children sent to residential reformatory and industrial schools. To read the 2009 Ryan Report covering crimes carried out against children in these settings is to court a special sort of nausea—the kind that comes from bearing witness to an organized effort to deny the dignity of individual life and make the bodies of the powerless available to service the needs of the powerful. In this case, the powerless were disadvantaged minor teenagers and children.
Sexual abuse in several industrial schools was described as a “chronic problem.” Clergy whose behavior drew complaints from parents of day-school students were transferred to industrial schools where their abuses drew less attention. Some schools seem, on the evidence, to have been more labor camps than institutions of learning. At one notorious industrial school in Dublin, each child was required to string 60 rosaries each weekday and 90 on Saturdays. Students who did not reach their quotas were beaten….
http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2012/10/the-redemption-of-sinead-oconnor/263020/
Sinead O’Connor claims ‘possessed’ mother ‘delighted’ in sexually abusing her and forced singer to repeat ‘I am nothing’ as she speaks to Dr Phil in first interview since recent breakdown
Sinead O’Connor speaks with Dr. Phil on Tuesday in her first interview since she was hospitalized following a mental breakdown in August
The singer details the alleged sexual and physical abuse she suffered as a child at the hands of her mother, who she claims was ‘possessed’
‘She ran a torture chamber, it was a torture chamber. She was a person who would smile and delight when she was hurting you,’ says O’Connor
‘She used to make me say over and over again “I am nothing. I am nothing” while she was beating me., claims O’Connor, who says she ran away at 13
O’Connor, 50, can be seen giving more detail about her difficult past on Tuesday’s episode…. By Chris Spargo 11 September 2017 http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4873530/Sinead-O-Connor-says-possessed-mother-sexually-abused-her.html
Sinead O’Connor Details Years of Physical and Sexual Abuse at the Hands of Her Mother: ‘She Ran a Torture Chamber’
By Maria Pasquini September 11, 2017
By Maria Pasquini September 11, 2017
Sinead O’Connor is opening up about the horrifying sexual abuse she suffered at the hands of her mother in an emotional interview on Dr. Phil.
The “Nothing Compares 2 U” singer, speaking with Dr. Phil McGraw, detailed how her mother Marie O’Connor “ran a torture chamber” and tormented her until she ran away from home at 13….
“She ran a torture chamber. It was a torture chamber. She was a person who took delight and smile in hurting you.”….
https://people.com/music/sinead-oconnor-emotional-sexual-abuse-mother
Monday, July 10, 2023
Convicted abuser Larry Nassar stabbed in prison, Sue FBI $1 billion over Nassar investigation, Clergy sexual abuse crisis at forty with 100 bishops out of office
- Convicted abuser and ex-gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar stabbed in prison
- Simone Biles and others to sue FBI for $1bn over Larry Nassar investigation
- The clergy sexual abuse crisis at forty with 100 bishops out of office
Convicted abuser and ex-gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar stabbed in prison – report by Edwin Rios July 10, 2023
Larry Nassar, the former Michigan State University and USA Gymnastics doctor who was convicted of decades of abuse of women and girls under the guise of medical treatment, was reportedly stabbed at a federal prison in Florida on Sunday....
In 2018, in an end to the biggest sexual abuse scandals in US sports history, hundreds of women and girls gave victim impact statements against Nassar, detailing allegations of abuse as far back as the 1990s.
Several athletes, including the Olympians Jordyn Wieber, Aly Raisman and McKayla Maroney, testified that they relayed allegations to coaches, trainers and others which were not reported to authorities.
More than 100 women, including the Olympian Simone Biles, sued the US government for more than $1bn over the FBI’s failure to take action after learning of allegations against Nassar in 2015. That inaction allowed Nassar to continue to abuse women and girls for more than a year before he pleaded guilty in 2017.
Michigan State University, whose president, Lou Anna Simon, and athletic director, Mark Hollis, resigned amid fallout from the scandal, agreed a $500m settlement with more than 300 women and girls, a sum far larger than the $60m Penn State University paid to victims of the former assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky.
MSU had been accused of ignoring and failing to act to stop Nassar during his decades of abuse.
USA Gymnastics and the US Olympic and Paralympic Committee agreed a $380m settlement with more than 500 women and girls.
In 2018, a judge in Michigan sentenced Nassar to more than 175 years in prison..... https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/other/convicted-abuser-and-ex-gymnastics-doctor-larry-nassar-stabbed-in-prison-report/ar-AA1dFU1a
Simone Biles and others to sue FBI for $1bn over Larry Nassar investigation
Published 8 June 2022 By Holly Honderich BBC News, Washington
Published 8 June 2022 By Holly Honderich BBC News, Washington
Women who say they were sexually assaulted by a disgraced US national gymnastics team doctor plan to sue the FBI for $1bn (£800m).
Claimants say the FBI mishandled credible complaints of sexual assaults by Larry Nassar.
They include Olympic gymnastics gold medallists Simone Biles, Aly Raisman and McKayla Maroney.
Nassar is serving up to 175 years in prison for molesting gymnasts.
The agency's own watchdog found the FBI disregarded allegations about Nassar and made early errors in its investigation.
Last year, a long-awaited report from the US justice department's Office of the Inspector General gave a scathing assessment of the federal agency's investigation into Nassar.
Various missteps and cover-ups by FBI agents allowed Nassar's abuse to continue for more than a year after the case was first opened in 2015, the report found.
The majority of claimants in these suits say Nassar assaulted them after his abuse was reported to the FBI in 2015. Most were athletes with the USA Gymnastics programme or with Michigan State University, where Nassar maintained a clinic. The FBI field office Nassar's abuse was reported to took limited action and did not document any investigation or alert other authorities.
"My fellow survivors and I were betrayed by every institution that was supposed to protect us - the US Olympic Committee, USA Gymnastics, the FBI and now the Department of Justice," McKayla Maroney, an Olympic gold medallist, said in a statement.
"It is clear that the only path to justice and healing is through the legal process."
Two weeks ago, the US Justice Department decided not to prosecute the two FBI agents accused of mishandling the investigation. The plaintiffs are seeking different amounts in damages but their total claims are expected to exceed $1bn.
The Collective Administrative Claims are being filed under the Federal Tort Claims Act, which allows people who have been harmed by negligent or wrongful actions of the federal government to seek compensation.
Under federal law, the FBI has six months to respond to the claims. Lawsuits may follow, depending on the FBI's response. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-61735319
The clergy sexual abuse crisis at forty with 100 bishops out of office
Gilbert Gauthe’s case, back in July 1983, marks the beginning of the sexual abuse crisis; we reach its 40th anniversary with no end on sight
English Edition Rodolfo Soriano-Núñez Sábado, 01 Julio, 2023
English Edition Rodolfo Soriano-Núñez Sábado, 01 Julio, 2023
On the 40th anniversary of the sexual abuse crisis, Bishop Richard Stika of Knoxville, Tennessee, is the 100th bishop forced to resign.
Religion and public life: Jason Berry and Richard Sipe provided two key elements to understan the clergy sexual abuse crisis an accountability-centered-narrative and the so-called scarlet bond.
Sometime in July of 1983, then priest Gilbert Gauthe was relieved from his duties at the St. John parish in the Lafayette diocese in Louisiana. His dismissal, accurately depicted by Jason Berry in a series of stories published in 1985 started what we now see as the 40-year long crisis of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church.
For the last four decades a deluge of news about sexual predator priests has been inundating news outlets all over the world. In all its misery, the crisis has helped make the global public opinion aware of the crisis in the Catholic Church, in other religious organizations, and in many other institutions and settings....
If Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward proved how “the most powerful man in the world” could be forced out of office by the media, Jason Berry and his colleagues in news outlets all over the world have played a role in forcing out of office at least 100 Catholic bishops and countless priests, because of their role in the sexual abuse crisis.
Thanks to Berry and those who followed him, like the journalists at The Boston Globe’s Spotlight team, a narrative on the need to make clergy accountable of their behavior took hold.
Https://losangelespress.org/noticias/the-clergy-sexual-abuse-crisis-at-forty-with-100-bishops-out-of-office-20230629-5731.html
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