Paedophile child psychiatrist revelations - Amnesty demands investigation by UK child abuse inquiry
“It’s too late to save the children abused by Fraser. It’s not too late for the truth to come out.” – Patrick Corrigan
Amnesty International has called again for allegations of involvement by UK security services in child abuse at Kincora Boys’ Home in Northern Ireland to be investigated by the Westminster child abuse inquiry.
The latest Amnesty call comes as a new report reveals that Dr Morris Fraser, a child psychiatrist who has been linked to Kincora, and who was convicted of sexually assaulting a child while working for a Belfast hospital in 1972, was allowed to remain on the British medical register for 24 more years during which he was convicted on abuse charges on two further occasions.
Report author Dr Niall Meehan cites a number of sources linking Dr Fraser to abuse at Kincora Boys’ Home. Allegations have persisted for decades that a paedophile ring at Kincora Boys’ Home in Belfast was linked to the British intelligence services....
Three senior staff at Kincora – William McGrath, Raymond Semple and Joseph Mains – were jailed in 1981 for child abuse, but there have been suggestions of a mass cover-up by MI5, which was rumoured to be protecting high-ranking paedophiles in the military, Civil Service and politics.
One of the child sex abuse victims from Kincora is challenging the home's exclusion from the inquiry in a judicial review being considered in Belfast High Court. Gary Hoy, who was abused by two of the men who were subsequently convicted, is taking legal action to force a full independent inquiry with the power to compel witnesses and the security services to hand over documents.
The judicial review case has heard allegations that MI5 was involved in covering up the sexual abuse of children in order to protect an intelligence-gathering operation it ran in the 1970s. A decision in the judicial review case is due to be delivered on April 8th.
Government papers disclosed last year revealed that the Belfast boys’ home was at the heart of correspondence involving the security services.
The papers also named former government figures alleged to have been involved in paedophile rings. These include the late Sir William van Straubenzee, who was a government minister in Northern Ireland between 1972-74 when the allegations of a paedophile ring at Kincora were first made; and Sir Peter Hayman, former deputy director of MI6.
https://www.amnesty.org.uk/press-releases/paedophile-child-psychiatrist-revelations-amnesty-demands-investigation-uk-child
Massachusetts priest defrocked for sexually abusing minor: archdiocese
BOSTON By Scott Malone Thu Mar 31, 2016
A suburban Boston priest has been defrocked by the Vatican after an investigation by the Roman Catholic church found him guilty of child sexual abuse, the Boston Archdiocese said on Thursday.
The priest, Thomas H. Maguire, was serving as pastor of Saint Helen Mother of the Emperor Constantine church in Norwell, Massachusetts, about 25 miles (40 km) southeast of Boston, when he was accused in 2012 of inappropriate sexual activity with minors. Maguire was suspended from priestly duties at that time.
Police investigated that allegation but did not find evidence of a crime.
However, following the news of Maguire's suspension, other people came forward to accuse him of sexual abuse dating to the mid-1990s and earlier, the Boston Archdiocese said in a statement.
A probe by church officials into those earlier allegations concluded that Maguire was guilty of abuse of a minor, the archdiocese said.
It was unclear if there was one or more victims, and the earlier incidents were too old to be criminally prosecuted....
The 2015 film "Spotlight," which chronicled the Globe's reporting of the clergy sex abuse scandal, earlier this year won the Academy Award for Best Picture.
The Vatican unveiled in 2014 that it had defrocked more than 800 priests since the start of the crisis.
Insurance experts told a Vatican conference in 2012 that as many as 100,000 U.S. children may have been the victims of clerical sex abuse. Some 12 U.S. dioceses have filed for bankruptcy since the scandal broke, in part due to more than $3 billion in settlements paid to victims.
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-massachusetts-priest-idUSKCN0WX2GS
Thursday, March 31, 2016
Wednesday, March 30, 2016
Yeshiva University High School students whose sexual abuse was covered up by administration want changes to statute of limitations law
Yeshiva University High School students whose sexual abuse was covered up by administration want changes to statute of limitations law
by Michael O’keeffe NEW YORK DAILY NEWS Wednesday, March 30, 2016
They got an apology, but they never got justice.
Thirty-four former students at the prestigious Yeshiva University High School claimed in a bombshell $680 million lawsuit that administrators had covered up abuse for decades.....
A federal judge tossed the lawsuit in 2014 — not because the plaintiffs’ claims against the school in Washington Heights were without merit, but because of a persistent obstacle to justice for child victims of sexual abuse in New York State. The statute of limitations had expired.
“We lost for one reason, and one reason only,” said Barry Singer, one of the plaintiffs in the case. “(The school) disputed none of our allegations and we still lost. The only thing to do now is to change the statute of limitations. The statute of limitations protects institutions; it does not protect children.”
New York’s statute of limitations bars child victims from pursuing criminal charges or civil litigation after their 23rd birthday.
Some of the accusers said administrator Rabbi George Finkelstein targeted them because they were children of Holocaust survivors. He begged the victims not to add to their parents’ suffering by reporting his abuse of students.
In a shocking December 2012 story by The Forward reporter Paul Berger, former Yeshiva University President Norman Lamm acknowledged he failed to notify authorities after students told him they had been sexually abused at the school. School officials quickly offered what they called a “profound apology.”.... http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/nyc-crime/abused-yeshiva-university-h-s-students-change-law-article-1.2583374
by Michael O’keeffe NEW YORK DAILY NEWS Wednesday, March 30, 2016
They got an apology, but they never got justice.
Thirty-four former students at the prestigious Yeshiva University High School claimed in a bombshell $680 million lawsuit that administrators had covered up abuse for decades.....
A federal judge tossed the lawsuit in 2014 — not because the plaintiffs’ claims against the school in Washington Heights were without merit, but because of a persistent obstacle to justice for child victims of sexual abuse in New York State. The statute of limitations had expired.
“We lost for one reason, and one reason only,” said Barry Singer, one of the plaintiffs in the case. “(The school) disputed none of our allegations and we still lost. The only thing to do now is to change the statute of limitations. The statute of limitations protects institutions; it does not protect children.”
New York’s statute of limitations bars child victims from pursuing criminal charges or civil litigation after their 23rd birthday.
Some of the accusers said administrator Rabbi George Finkelstein targeted them because they were children of Holocaust survivors. He begged the victims not to add to their parents’ suffering by reporting his abuse of students.
In a shocking December 2012 story by The Forward reporter Paul Berger, former Yeshiva University President Norman Lamm acknowledged he failed to notify authorities after students told him they had been sexually abused at the school. School officials quickly offered what they called a “profound apology.”.... http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/nyc-crime/abused-yeshiva-university-h-s-students-change-law-article-1.2583374
Tuesday, March 29, 2016
Boston Archdiocese settles with 7 alleged victims of clergy abuse, Globe’s Spotlight team on clergy sex abuse, “Kots Kaal Pato” ritual of animal murdering is banned
Boston Archdiocese settles with 7 alleged victims of clergy abuse
By Brian MacQuarrie Globe Staff March 28, 2016
The Archdiocese of Boston has agreed to settlements involving cash and counseling with seven people who say they were sexually abused by priests, including one case that stretches back to the 1930s, according to the attorney for the alleged victims.
Two other settlements with religious orders have been reached in cases involving priests who allegedly abused victims while they worked in the archdiocese, according to the attorney, Mitchell Garabedian.
Another, separate settlement with the Carmelite Order involved a brother who had been accused of abuse in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles before being assigned to a chapel at the Northshore Mall in Peabody.
In all, the 10 settlements paid $778,500 and involved allegations of sexual abuse in every decade from the 1930s through the 1980s, Garabedian said. The attorney said he also reached agreements in six other cases across the country, including four in New Jersey.
The agreements carried no admission of liability.
Recent priest abuse settlements
The settlements are the latest reminders of the breadth of the crisis that rocked the archdiocese after the Globe reported in 2002 that abuse had occurred over decades, and that church officials transferred abusive priests to other parishes and routinely hid cases from the public and parishioners.
The Globe’s investigation into the abuse was chronicled in the movie “Spotlight” and earned the newspaper a Pulitzer Prize in 2003.....
https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2016/03/28/boston-archdiocese-settles-with-victims-clergy-abuse-attorney-says/wlGixSXHESrNKuznIEwHkI/story.html
Key reports from Globe’s Spotlight team on clergy sex abuse
March 11, 2016
The Boston Globe’s 2001-2002 investigation into sexual abuses by clergy in the Catholic Church resulted in more than 600 stories, with eight Globe reporters playing key roles. The first history-changing report was the work of Spotlight editor Walter V. Robinson, and reporters Sacha Pfeiffer, Michael Rezendes, and Matt Carroll. As the scope of the story widened, four other reporters joined the effort: Stephen Kurkjian, Thomas Farragher, Michael Paulson, and Kevin Cullen.
Here is a sampling of their work:
1. This Globe column by Eileen McNamara got the investigation rolling when new Globe editor Martin Baron read it in July 2001 and asked the Spotlight Team to pursue a wider look at abusive priests and what the church leadership knew.
2. The story that changed everything: The Spotlight Team’s first major report, published Jan. 6, 2002.
3. A few weeks later, the Spotlight Team widened the horrifying picture to include scores of priests.
2002: Church allowed abuse by priest for years
Why did it take a succession of three cardinals and many bishops 34 years to place children out of John J. Geoghan’s reach?
2002: Scores of priests involved in sex abuse cases
More on the story behind the ‘Spotlight’ movie
https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2016/03/11/key-reports-from-globe-spotlight-team-clergy-sex-abuse/s7qc7M3W2nmLs5ULN8ILHJ/story.html
“Kots Kaal Pato” ritual of animal murdering is finally banned
By Yucatan Times
Wed, Mar 23rd, 2016
Almost one year after the online magazine Vice published an article about an unknown tradition practiced in a small town in Yucatan: “Kots Kaal Pato”, this barbaric practice has been finally prohibited by the local and state authorities.
This ritual that takes place in the town of Citilcum involved filling up piñatas with small animals, like iguanas, birds, kittens and possums, and beating them to dead....
Local animal shelters and pro animal defense groups took notice immediately and began to collect signatures through the Change.org website in order to ban this barbaric tradition. The online petition reached more than 750,000 signatures from around the world and even Mexican celebrities, like Eugenio Derbez and Sasha Sokol, helped gathered signatures through twitter. However, the government kept silent and it seemed there was no finding a solution.
Finally, with the help of the Humane Society International (HSI), local church members, pro animal defense groups, animal shelters, and the Municipality of Izamal, Kots Kaal Pato will be officially banned on April 23, almost a year after the article was published in Vice (May, 2015). As part of the agreement with HIS, authorities will only promote the organization of traditions in which no animals will be injured or killed....
http://www.theyucatantimes.com/2016/03/kots-kaal-pato-ritual-of-animal-murdering-is-finally-banned/
By Brian MacQuarrie Globe Staff March 28, 2016
The Archdiocese of Boston has agreed to settlements involving cash and counseling with seven people who say they were sexually abused by priests, including one case that stretches back to the 1930s, according to the attorney for the alleged victims.
Two other settlements with religious orders have been reached in cases involving priests who allegedly abused victims while they worked in the archdiocese, according to the attorney, Mitchell Garabedian.
Another, separate settlement with the Carmelite Order involved a brother who had been accused of abuse in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles before being assigned to a chapel at the Northshore Mall in Peabody.
In all, the 10 settlements paid $778,500 and involved allegations of sexual abuse in every decade from the 1930s through the 1980s, Garabedian said. The attorney said he also reached agreements in six other cases across the country, including four in New Jersey.
The agreements carried no admission of liability.
Recent priest abuse settlements
The settlements are the latest reminders of the breadth of the crisis that rocked the archdiocese after the Globe reported in 2002 that abuse had occurred over decades, and that church officials transferred abusive priests to other parishes and routinely hid cases from the public and parishioners.
The Globe’s investigation into the abuse was chronicled in the movie “Spotlight” and earned the newspaper a Pulitzer Prize in 2003.....
https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2016/03/28/boston-archdiocese-settles-with-victims-clergy-abuse-attorney-says/wlGixSXHESrNKuznIEwHkI/story.html
Key reports from Globe’s Spotlight team on clergy sex abuse
March 11, 2016
The Boston Globe’s 2001-2002 investigation into sexual abuses by clergy in the Catholic Church resulted in more than 600 stories, with eight Globe reporters playing key roles. The first history-changing report was the work of Spotlight editor Walter V. Robinson, and reporters Sacha Pfeiffer, Michael Rezendes, and Matt Carroll. As the scope of the story widened, four other reporters joined the effort: Stephen Kurkjian, Thomas Farragher, Michael Paulson, and Kevin Cullen.
Here is a sampling of their work:
1. This Globe column by Eileen McNamara got the investigation rolling when new Globe editor Martin Baron read it in July 2001 and asked the Spotlight Team to pursue a wider look at abusive priests and what the church leadership knew.
2. The story that changed everything: The Spotlight Team’s first major report, published Jan. 6, 2002.
3. A few weeks later, the Spotlight Team widened the horrifying picture to include scores of priests.
2002: Church allowed abuse by priest for years
Why did it take a succession of three cardinals and many bishops 34 years to place children out of John J. Geoghan’s reach?
2002: Scores of priests involved in sex abuse cases
More on the story behind the ‘Spotlight’ movie
https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2016/03/11/key-reports-from-globe-spotlight-team-clergy-sex-abuse/s7qc7M3W2nmLs5ULN8ILHJ/story.html
“Kots Kaal Pato” ritual of animal murdering is finally banned
By Yucatan Times
Wed, Mar 23rd, 2016
Almost one year after the online magazine Vice published an article about an unknown tradition practiced in a small town in Yucatan: “Kots Kaal Pato”, this barbaric practice has been finally prohibited by the local and state authorities.
This ritual that takes place in the town of Citilcum involved filling up piñatas with small animals, like iguanas, birds, kittens and possums, and beating them to dead....
Local animal shelters and pro animal defense groups took notice immediately and began to collect signatures through the Change.org website in order to ban this barbaric tradition. The online petition reached more than 750,000 signatures from around the world and even Mexican celebrities, like Eugenio Derbez and Sasha Sokol, helped gathered signatures through twitter. However, the government kept silent and it seemed there was no finding a solution.
Finally, with the help of the Humane Society International (HSI), local church members, pro animal defense groups, animal shelters, and the Municipality of Izamal, Kots Kaal Pato will be officially banned on April 23, almost a year after the article was published in Vice (May, 2015). As part of the agreement with HIS, authorities will only promote the organization of traditions in which no animals will be injured or killed....
http://www.theyucatantimes.com/2016/03/kots-kaal-pato-ritual-of-animal-murdering-is-finally-banned/
Monday, March 28, 2016
British girls as young as 10 face harm from breast ironing with stones heated on hot coals in ritual imported from west Africa
British girls as young as 10 face harm from breast ironing with stones heated on hot coals in ritual imported from west Africa
The process uses stones, a hammer or a spatula heated over hot coals to mutilate the breast tissue and make the adolescent look less 'womanly'
Belief is it discourages unwanted male attention and premarital pregnancy
Breast ironing originated in Cameroon, where one in four are affected
Tory MP Jake Berry said he was shocked to learn girls in west African communities in Birmingham and London were victims as well
By Thomas Burrows for MailOnline
26 March 2016
Around 1,000 British girls face harm from the 'abhorrent' practice of breast ironing, ministers have warned.
In the brutal procedure, hot objects [stones, a hammer or a spatula] are used to pound and beat girls' breasts to stop them growing in the belief it makes them less desirable and discourages premarital pregnancy.
Breast ironing originated in Cameroon, where it affects as many as one in four.
It also takes place in Nigeria, Benin and Chad. This week Jake Berry, the Conservative MP for Rossendale & Darwen, said he was shocked to learn girls in west African communities in Birmingham and London were victims too.
It is very difficult to spot as most of the perpetrators were the victims' own mothers. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3510492/British-girls-young-10-face-harm-breast-ironing-stones-heated-hot-coals-ritual-imported-west-Africa.html
The process uses stones, a hammer or a spatula heated over hot coals to mutilate the breast tissue and make the adolescent look less 'womanly'
Belief is it discourages unwanted male attention and premarital pregnancy
Breast ironing originated in Cameroon, where one in four are affected
Tory MP Jake Berry said he was shocked to learn girls in west African communities in Birmingham and London were victims as well
By Thomas Burrows for MailOnline
26 March 2016
Around 1,000 British girls face harm from the 'abhorrent' practice of breast ironing, ministers have warned.
In the brutal procedure, hot objects [stones, a hammer or a spatula] are used to pound and beat girls' breasts to stop them growing in the belief it makes them less desirable and discourages premarital pregnancy.
Breast ironing originated in Cameroon, where it affects as many as one in four.
It also takes place in Nigeria, Benin and Chad. This week Jake Berry, the Conservative MP for Rossendale & Darwen, said he was shocked to learn girls in west African communities in Birmingham and London were victims too.
It is very difficult to spot as most of the perpetrators were the victims' own mothers. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3510492/British-girls-young-10-face-harm-breast-ironing-stones-heated-hot-coals-ritual-imported-west-Africa.html
Wednesday, March 23, 2016
Rotherham Child Sexual Exploitation, Operation Midland Inquiry Ends, Australia Sexual Abuse and Domestic Violence Against Women with Disabilities
-Police chief to step down after force's handling of child abuse cases criticised
"at least 1,400 children had been raped, trafficked and abused in Rotherham between 1997 and 2013"
- Operation Midland: Child abuse inquiry ends with no charges brought
- Australia’s most shocking statistic: Sexual abuse and domestic violence against women with disabilities
"90 per cent of intellectually disabled women in Australia have been sexually abused"
- Committee Inquiry into Violence, Abuse and Neglect against People with Disability in Institutional and Residential Settings
Police chief to step down after force's handling of child abuse cases criticised 24/03/2016
The chief constable of South Yorkshire has announced plans to step down just hours after another report criticised his force's past failures to tackle child sexual exploitation (CSE) in Rotherham.
David Crompton, 52, will leave his post in November, according to a one-line statement on the force website and on Twitter.
Mr Crompton's four year tenure as chief constable has been plagued by a series of high profile problems, many of which began well before he joined the force in 2012.
As well as the Rotherham scandal, he has also had to deal with renewed controversy over the 1989 Hillsborough disaster, following the publication of the Hillsborough Independent Panel report in 2012, which led to new inquests.
And he has also faced a fresh campaign for an inquiry into police actions at the "Battle of Orgreave" during the 1984 Miner's Strike.
But, as well as these historical matters, Mr Crompton also found himself in the headlines when Sir Cliff Richard's home was searched in connection with an inquiry into alleged child abuse....
The inquiry led by Professor John Drew repeated many of the criticisms levelled at South Yorkshire Police in the 2014 report by Professor Alexis Jay, which sparked a national scandal when it said at least 1,400 children had been raped, trafficked and abused in Rotherham between 1997 and 2013.
The Jay Report outlined how police and social workers knew what was happening but failed to act.
Prof Drew found that, by today's standards, the scale of response to child sexual exploitation 15 years ago was inadequate across the whole of South Yorkshire, with mistakes and missed opportunities until 2011 due to the low priority given to the crime.
But t he professor said the force had made "determined progress" since 2013 and that the police response to safeguarding children and young people from CSE was now adequate and, in some cases, of high quality.
Last month, the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) announced it was now looking at more than 194 allegations about the conduct of police relating to child sexual exploitation in Rotherham....
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/uk/police-chief-to-step-down-after-forces-handling-of-child-abuse-cases-criticised-34568628.html
Operation Midland: Child abuse inquiry ends with no charges brought
21 March 2016 UK
A Met Police inquiry into claims a VIP Westminster paedophile ring abused children in the 1970s and 1980s has closed without charges being brought, Scotland Yard has announced.
The controversial Operation Midland ended as ex-MP Harvey Proctor was told he faces no further action over claims against him of child abuse and murder.
He called on four Met chiefs to resign, but the force said it had been right to look into the single source claims....
The investigation, which began in November 2014, was triggered by allegations made by a man in his 40s known as "Nick", who claimed he was abused for nine years from 1975, when he was seven, to 1984.
More people came forward to provide information but there was not enough evidence to charge anyone - although there was nothing to prove police had been knowingly misled by a complainant, the Met said in a detailed statement....
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-35863580
Australia’s most shocking statistic: Sexual abuse and domestic violence against women with disabilities
March 20, 2016
Jane Rosengrave, 53, is a proud indigenous women who grew up in institutional care and suffered years of sexual abuse and domestic violence. Ginger Gorman
Jane has an intellectual disability, and over her lifetime she’s suffered unrelenting sexual and physical abuse by six different male perpetrators.
She is far from alone. On the contrary, 90 per cent of intellectually disabled women in Australia have been sexually abused....
It’s a shocking statistic made worse by the fact that most of the abuse happens when the victims are children.
For Jane, the sexual abuse started when she was just six years old. At the time, Jane was a ward of the state living at Pleasant Creek Training Centre in the Victorian town of Stawell. The facility operated from 1937 until 1999 and housed children and young adults with intellectual disabilities....
http://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/real-life/news-life/australias-most-shocking-statistic-sexual-abuse-and-domestic-violence-against-women-with-disabilities/news-story/21246ae889850b1d958088fd80b880ae
AUSTRALIAN CROSS DISABILITY ALLIANCE
Senate Community Affairs References Committee Inquiry into Violence, Abuse and Neglect against People with Disability in Institutional and Residential Settings August 2015
http://wwda.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/ACDA_Sub_Sen_Inquiry_Violence_Institutions.pdf
"at least 1,400 children had been raped, trafficked and abused in Rotherham between 1997 and 2013"
- Operation Midland: Child abuse inquiry ends with no charges brought
- Australia’s most shocking statistic: Sexual abuse and domestic violence against women with disabilities
"90 per cent of intellectually disabled women in Australia have been sexually abused"
- Committee Inquiry into Violence, Abuse and Neglect against People with Disability in Institutional and Residential Settings
Police chief to step down after force's handling of child abuse cases criticised 24/03/2016
The chief constable of South Yorkshire has announced plans to step down just hours after another report criticised his force's past failures to tackle child sexual exploitation (CSE) in Rotherham.
David Crompton, 52, will leave his post in November, according to a one-line statement on the force website and on Twitter.
Mr Crompton's four year tenure as chief constable has been plagued by a series of high profile problems, many of which began well before he joined the force in 2012.
As well as the Rotherham scandal, he has also had to deal with renewed controversy over the 1989 Hillsborough disaster, following the publication of the Hillsborough Independent Panel report in 2012, which led to new inquests.
And he has also faced a fresh campaign for an inquiry into police actions at the "Battle of Orgreave" during the 1984 Miner's Strike.
But, as well as these historical matters, Mr Crompton also found himself in the headlines when Sir Cliff Richard's home was searched in connection with an inquiry into alleged child abuse....
The inquiry led by Professor John Drew repeated many of the criticisms levelled at South Yorkshire Police in the 2014 report by Professor Alexis Jay, which sparked a national scandal when it said at least 1,400 children had been raped, trafficked and abused in Rotherham between 1997 and 2013.
The Jay Report outlined how police and social workers knew what was happening but failed to act.
Prof Drew found that, by today's standards, the scale of response to child sexual exploitation 15 years ago was inadequate across the whole of South Yorkshire, with mistakes and missed opportunities until 2011 due to the low priority given to the crime.
But t he professor said the force had made "determined progress" since 2013 and that the police response to safeguarding children and young people from CSE was now adequate and, in some cases, of high quality.
Last month, the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) announced it was now looking at more than 194 allegations about the conduct of police relating to child sexual exploitation in Rotherham....
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/uk/police-chief-to-step-down-after-forces-handling-of-child-abuse-cases-criticised-34568628.html
Operation Midland: Child abuse inquiry ends with no charges brought
21 March 2016 UK
A Met Police inquiry into claims a VIP Westminster paedophile ring abused children in the 1970s and 1980s has closed without charges being brought, Scotland Yard has announced.
The controversial Operation Midland ended as ex-MP Harvey Proctor was told he faces no further action over claims against him of child abuse and murder.
He called on four Met chiefs to resign, but the force said it had been right to look into the single source claims....
The investigation, which began in November 2014, was triggered by allegations made by a man in his 40s known as "Nick", who claimed he was abused for nine years from 1975, when he was seven, to 1984.
More people came forward to provide information but there was not enough evidence to charge anyone - although there was nothing to prove police had been knowingly misled by a complainant, the Met said in a detailed statement....
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-35863580
Australia’s most shocking statistic: Sexual abuse and domestic violence against women with disabilities
March 20, 2016
Jane Rosengrave, 53, is a proud indigenous women who grew up in institutional care and suffered years of sexual abuse and domestic violence. Ginger Gorman
Jane has an intellectual disability, and over her lifetime she’s suffered unrelenting sexual and physical abuse by six different male perpetrators.
She is far from alone. On the contrary, 90 per cent of intellectually disabled women in Australia have been sexually abused....
It’s a shocking statistic made worse by the fact that most of the abuse happens when the victims are children.
For Jane, the sexual abuse started when she was just six years old. At the time, Jane was a ward of the state living at Pleasant Creek Training Centre in the Victorian town of Stawell. The facility operated from 1937 until 1999 and housed children and young adults with intellectual disabilities....
http://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/real-life/news-life/australias-most-shocking-statistic-sexual-abuse-and-domestic-violence-against-women-with-disabilities/news-story/21246ae889850b1d958088fd80b880ae
AUSTRALIAN CROSS DISABILITY ALLIANCE
Senate Community Affairs References Committee Inquiry into Violence, Abuse and Neglect against People with Disability in Institutional and Residential Settings August 2015
http://wwda.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/ACDA_Sub_Sen_Inquiry_Violence_Institutions.pdf
Tuesday, March 22, 2016
Newsweek Article on Alleged Hasidic Child Abuse Sparks Brooklyn Yeshiva Protest
Newsweek Article on Alleged Hasidic Child Abuse Sparks Brooklyn Yeshiva Protest
By Lucy Westcott On 3/18/16
About 40 protesters holding signs and chanting gathered outside the Ohlei Torah yeshiva in Brooklyn on a snowy Sunday evening in response to a Newsweek exposé on the alleged sexual and physical abuse of students by rabbis at the school.
Chaim Levin, the protest organizer whose story of abuse at Oholei Torah was chronicled in the Newsweek article, on Sunday spoke about the physical and sexual abuse he says he and other students at Ohlei were forced to suffer, saying: "It's unfathomable to me that the people who did this kind of violence are teaching."....
A statement on the Facebook page for the protest read: “For too long, teachers and principals in this school have ignored children being abused physically and sexually. There is evidence to suggest that in most of these cases the school knew about these crimes and chose not to act."
“Furthermore, three of the people mentioned in the Newsweek article, people who either abused children themselves or oversaw it, are still employed by the school,” the statement said.
The protesters were demaing an end to child abuse, the replacement of abusive staff and apologies to victims of childhood sexual abuse. Organizers also want victims to be paid compensation “for the damage caused by abuse,” they said in a press release....
http://www.newsweek.com/yeshiva-child-abuse-newsweek-protest-438482
By Lucy Westcott On 3/18/16
About 40 protesters holding signs and chanting gathered outside the Ohlei Torah yeshiva in Brooklyn on a snowy Sunday evening in response to a Newsweek exposé on the alleged sexual and physical abuse of students by rabbis at the school.
Chaim Levin, the protest organizer whose story of abuse at Oholei Torah was chronicled in the Newsweek article, on Sunday spoke about the physical and sexual abuse he says he and other students at Ohlei were forced to suffer, saying: "It's unfathomable to me that the people who did this kind of violence are teaching."....
A statement on the Facebook page for the protest read: “For too long, teachers and principals in this school have ignored children being abused physically and sexually. There is evidence to suggest that in most of these cases the school knew about these crimes and chose not to act."
“Furthermore, three of the people mentioned in the Newsweek article, people who either abused children themselves or oversaw it, are still employed by the school,” the statement said.
The protesters were demaing an end to child abuse, the replacement of abusive staff and apologies to victims of childhood sexual abuse. Organizers also want victims to be paid compensation “for the damage caused by abuse,” they said in a press release....
http://www.newsweek.com/yeshiva-child-abuse-newsweek-protest-438482
Thursday, March 17, 2016
Commission: US Lacks Strategies to Lower Child Abuse Deaths
Commission: US Lacks Strategies to Lower Child Abuse Deaths
By David Crary, AP National Writer NEW YORK Mar 17, 2016
The United States lacks coherent, effective strategies for reducing the stubbornly high number of children who die each year from abuse and neglect, a commission created by Congress reported Thursday after two years of sometimes divisive deliberations.
According to federal data, the number of such deaths has hovered at around 1,500 to 1,600 annually in recent years. But citing gaps in how this data is compiled, the report suggests the actual number may be as high as 3,000 a year.
Commission chairman David Sanders said a goal of zero maltreatment deaths was realistic.
"We looked at the airline industry — no one accepts a plane crash anymore. We can get that way with child fatalities," said Sanders, executive vice president of Casey Family Programs.
The report made dozens of recommendations, including expanding safe-haven programs for abandoned infants and enlisting a broader range of community organizations to help often-overburdened child protection service workers.
"We need a system that does not rely on CPS agencies alone to keep all children safe," the report said. "Other systems become key partners, including the courts, law enforcement, the medical community, mental health, public health, and education. Even neighbors who come into regular contact with young children and families are part of a public health approach."....
At the state level, the report decried high caseloads and stressful working conditions for child protection workers.
"Shortages of workers, funds and training may mean that inexperienced workers are tasked with making life-or-death decisions with insufficient preparation or support," said the report....
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/commission-us-lacks-strategies-lower-child-abuse-deaths-37714322
By David Crary, AP National Writer NEW YORK Mar 17, 2016
The United States lacks coherent, effective strategies for reducing the stubbornly high number of children who die each year from abuse and neglect, a commission created by Congress reported Thursday after two years of sometimes divisive deliberations.
According to federal data, the number of such deaths has hovered at around 1,500 to 1,600 annually in recent years. But citing gaps in how this data is compiled, the report suggests the actual number may be as high as 3,000 a year.
Commission chairman David Sanders said a goal of zero maltreatment deaths was realistic.
"We looked at the airline industry — no one accepts a plane crash anymore. We can get that way with child fatalities," said Sanders, executive vice president of Casey Family Programs.
The report made dozens of recommendations, including expanding safe-haven programs for abandoned infants and enlisting a broader range of community organizations to help often-overburdened child protection service workers.
"We need a system that does not rely on CPS agencies alone to keep all children safe," the report said. "Other systems become key partners, including the courts, law enforcement, the medical community, mental health, public health, and education. Even neighbors who come into regular contact with young children and families are part of a public health approach."....
At the state level, the report decried high caseloads and stressful working conditions for child protection workers.
"Shortages of workers, funds and training may mean that inexperienced workers are tasked with making life-or-death decisions with insufficient preparation or support," said the report....
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/commission-us-lacks-strategies-lower-child-abuse-deaths-37714322
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