Newfie jokes abound in Canada, probably more than any other subject for jokes. My Newfie friends over the years have been divided on whether they laugh or get downright upset at hearing them. It's odd, but perhaps the Newfie most indignant at Newfie jokes hails from one of the communities mentioned below and shares the family name of one of the law officials mentioned. Weird, huh?
Newfoundland has officially had its name changed to Newfoundland & Labrador recently. All the locations mentioned below are in Newfoundland itself.
Tears flowed in a Grand Falls-Windsor courtroom during a sentencing hearing for Heber Junior Butt, who has admitted to sexual assaults against two sisters that spanned nearly decade.
Butt, 61, who has pleaded guilty to sexual assaults that started in 2000, used blackmail to keep the older of the complainants quiet.
When that failed, Butt turned on her younger sister. The assaults continued until 2010.
The young women were visibly shaking as the statement of facts in the case was read to the court. At one point, their mother had to leave the room.
The older sister read her own victim impact statement. She said she was 20 at the time, but due to a disability doctors say she had the mental capacity of a 12-year-old girl.
She said Butt stole her childhood with the constant abuse. She told the court she is still afraid to leave her home, and fears running into Butt.
She said she has suffered mental and physical illness, and attempted suicide.
The younger sister told the court that her life is also ruined.
The Crown is asking for the maximum on both accounts, adding up to four years in jail and 20 years on the sexual offenders list. Are you kidding me? 4 years is the maximum sentence for 10 years of sexual abuse on 2 children? How pathetic! Even if he gets the maximum sentence he will be out and terrorizing these women again within 2 years.
The defence is asking for a conditional sentence of two years less a day.
A decision is expected on June 26.
***********************************************************************
Three people from Newfoundland and Labrador are facing charges of possessing child pornography and making it available.
The arrests were part of a nation-wide police dragnet called Operation Snapshot III, an investigation that targeted online sexual predators.
The operation, which began in February 2014, involved more than 40 police agencies and was coordinated by the RCMP's National Child Exploitation Coordination Centre.
In this province, 11 people were investigated.
James Isaacs of Fortune, Dane Miller of Baie Verte and Bradley Park of Comfort Cove were arrested.
The forces seized hundreds of computers containing two million images and videos.
"Each of these online images and videos contain real victims, real children," said Supt. Bill Malone at a news conference in St. John's on Thursday.
Police have seized computers, smartphones and other equipment in towns all over the island.
Search warrants were executed in St. John's, Fortune, Baie Verte, Comfort Cove, Goulds, Placentia, Botwood, Bonavista and Glovertown.
Unlike predators that approach children on the street, the people this investigation targeted are those lurking online.
Staff Sgt. Joe Gullage said the number of investigations of this kind in the province has doubled over the past year.
"Last year, for the full year, we had 49 active investigations. So far this year, in six months, we have 50 active investigations."
One message at Thursday's news conference was clear for parents: be vigilant about what your children are doing online.
"The individuals that are involved in child exploitation are trolling the internet all the time," said Malone.
Police said more charges are likely.
************************************************************************
A court in Harbour Grace has heard disturbing details about a father accused of sexual abuse and forcible confinement.
The father, who cannot be named because of a publication ban that protects his children, faces 11 charges in all, including invitation to sexual touching and corrupting a child.
Crown attorney Lisa Stead said that the father had sex with his wife in front of their children, and asked one of them to touch his penis.
Stead, in closing arguments to the bench, said one child said "they teached us" by allegedly exposing them to their parents' sexual activity.
His wife, who also cannot be named, has already been convicted on numerous charges related to the abuse of their children. See the story below on this post.
The father is accused of barring the children in their rooms by tying their doors shut.
But defence lawyer Jason Edwards said the man should be acquitted of three of the charges against him.
Although Edwards conceded in court that the man was an accessory to the confinement of his own children, he argued that the case rests entirely on the differing accounts of the children and their father.
Edwards said that the accounts of the children are inconsistent, and that they admitted under cross-examination that some of the events they said they saw were actually related to them by a sibling.
Edwards also said that there is no third-party corroboration of their evidence, including from doctors and social workers. "This is not a thorough investigation," he said.
The accused is due to appear again in court on Aug. 1, when Judge Jacqueline Brazil is expected to deliver her decision.
*************************************************************************
This is the account of the wife of the man in the above story.
A woman in Conception Bay North was found guilty of 20 charges related to child abuse in a Harbour Grace courtroom Wednesday afternoon.
The mother, who can't be identified under a publication ban to protect the identities of the children, was facing more than 40 counts when the trial began.
Judge James Walsh found the mother, 32, guilty of charges including assault, forcible confinement, negligence and child corruption.
Some charges of assault were dismissed.
Walsh said one of the children was "systematically tortured by her mother."
The court heard the children were routinely slapped, punched and kicked by the woman over a period of years.
During the trial, some of the children testified their mother would become angry and frustrated when she couldn't have sex, and took it out on the children.
Some of the children also said their parents would force them to watch from the floor as the couple had sex on their bed.
The woman is expected back in court in July, when the defence and Crown will present their sentencing recommendations.
Newfoundland has officially had its name changed to Newfoundland & Labrador recently. All the locations mentioned below are in Newfoundland itself.
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| Map of Canada - Newfoundland & Labrador are in red Newfoundland is the island with Labrador the mainland section |
Butt, 61, who has pleaded guilty to sexual assaults that started in 2000, used blackmail to keep the older of the complainants quiet.
When that failed, Butt turned on her younger sister. The assaults continued until 2010.
The young women were visibly shaking as the statement of facts in the case was read to the court. At one point, their mother had to leave the room.
The older sister read her own victim impact statement. She said she was 20 at the time, but due to a disability doctors say she had the mental capacity of a 12-year-old girl.
She said Butt stole her childhood with the constant abuse. She told the court she is still afraid to leave her home, and fears running into Butt.
She said she has suffered mental and physical illness, and attempted suicide.
The younger sister told the court that her life is also ruined.
The Crown is asking for the maximum on both accounts, adding up to four years in jail and 20 years on the sexual offenders list. Are you kidding me? 4 years is the maximum sentence for 10 years of sexual abuse on 2 children? How pathetic! Even if he gets the maximum sentence he will be out and terrorizing these women again within 2 years.
The defence is asking for a conditional sentence of two years less a day.
A decision is expected on June 26.
***********************************************************************
Three people from Newfoundland and Labrador are facing charges of possessing child pornography and making it available.
The arrests were part of a nation-wide police dragnet called Operation Snapshot III, an investigation that targeted online sexual predators.
The operation, which began in February 2014, involved more than 40 police agencies and was coordinated by the RCMP's National Child Exploitation Coordination Centre.
In this province, 11 people were investigated.
James Isaacs of Fortune, Dane Miller of Baie Verte and Bradley Park of Comfort Cove were arrested.
The forces seized hundreds of computers containing two million images and videos.
"Each of these online images and videos contain real victims, real children," said Supt. Bill Malone at a news conference in St. John's on Thursday.
Police have seized computers, smartphones and other equipment in towns all over the island.
Search warrants were executed in St. John's, Fortune, Baie Verte, Comfort Cove, Goulds, Placentia, Botwood, Bonavista and Glovertown.
Unlike predators that approach children on the street, the people this investigation targeted are those lurking online.
Staff Sgt. Joe Gullage said the number of investigations of this kind in the province has doubled over the past year.
"Last year, for the full year, we had 49 active investigations. So far this year, in six months, we have 50 active investigations."
One message at Thursday's news conference was clear for parents: be vigilant about what your children are doing online.
"The individuals that are involved in child exploitation are trolling the internet all the time," said Malone.
Police said more charges are likely.
************************************************************************
A court in Harbour Grace has heard disturbing details about a father accused of sexual abuse and forcible confinement.
The father, who cannot be named because of a publication ban that protects his children, faces 11 charges in all, including invitation to sexual touching and corrupting a child.
Crown attorney Lisa Stead said that the father had sex with his wife in front of their children, and asked one of them to touch his penis.
Stead, in closing arguments to the bench, said one child said "they teached us" by allegedly exposing them to their parents' sexual activity.
His wife, who also cannot be named, has already been convicted on numerous charges related to the abuse of their children. See the story below on this post.
The father is accused of barring the children in their rooms by tying their doors shut.
But defence lawyer Jason Edwards said the man should be acquitted of three of the charges against him.
Although Edwards conceded in court that the man was an accessory to the confinement of his own children, he argued that the case rests entirely on the differing accounts of the children and their father.
Edwards said that the accounts of the children are inconsistent, and that they admitted under cross-examination that some of the events they said they saw were actually related to them by a sibling.
Edwards also said that there is no third-party corroboration of their evidence, including from doctors and social workers. "This is not a thorough investigation," he said.
The accused is due to appear again in court on Aug. 1, when Judge Jacqueline Brazil is expected to deliver her decision.
*************************************************************************
This is the account of the wife of the man in the above story.
A woman in Conception Bay North was found guilty of 20 charges related to child abuse in a Harbour Grace courtroom Wednesday afternoon.
The mother, who can't be identified under a publication ban to protect the identities of the children, was facing more than 40 counts when the trial began.
Judge James Walsh found the mother, 32, guilty of charges including assault, forcible confinement, negligence and child corruption.
Some charges of assault were dismissed.
Walsh said one of the children was "systematically tortured by her mother."
The court heard the children were routinely slapped, punched and kicked by the woman over a period of years.
During the trial, some of the children testified their mother would become angry and frustrated when she couldn't have sex, and took it out on the children.
Some of the children also said their parents would force them to watch from the floor as the couple had sex on their bed.
The woman is expected back in court in July, when the defence and Crown will present their sentencing recommendations.
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