Perverted French soldier on trial for CSA of 3-5 y/o - France
39 members of paedophile ring on WhatsApp arrested - Spain
33 y/o arrested for CSA 17-20 years ago - Plymouth, UK
22 y/o plea deals b4 second trial for rape of under 13 y/o - Gloucester, UK
560 potential victims in soccer child sex scandal, 95% boys - UK
French soldier accused of sexual abuse on
girls aged three and five goes on trial
Deployed soldier Sebastien L was serving in 2015 when he allegedly abused girls aged three and five.
By Elsa Buchanan
A French soldier from Operation Barkhane REUTERS/Joe Penney
A French soldier charged with sexually molesting two young girls while he was serving in Burkina Faso in 2015 is due to go on trial today (18 April) at a criminal court in Paris.
The alleged child abuser and one of his colleagues were part of a 220-strong contingent France deployed to Burkina Faso as part of a counter-terrorism operation codenamed Barkhane, launched in 2014 in the wake of the 2013 military intervention in Mali.
The 40-year-old soldier – named as Sebastien L – is accused of sexual touching two Franco-Burkinabe girls, aged three and five years, on 28 June 2015 in a hotel pool in the capital Ouagadougou. It is reported that he and a fellow soldier befriended a French woman who had taken the girls swimming.
The soldier is also being sued for recording pornographic images, as he allegedly filmed himself touching one of the girls underwater. The children's mother found the footage on a GoPro camera that the soldier left behind.
The two soldiers were immediately suspended and repatriated to France in the following days, with the agreement of the Burkinabe authorities.
The father of one of the victims, Ben Ouédraogo, condemned the fact that Sebastien L had been flown back to France as soon as the accusations were made in July 2015. "This means that as long as you're a French soldier abroad, you can (do) anything you want. Why are we not trying him here (in Burkina Faso)?", told AFP news agency at the time.
The serviceman, who previously admitted inappropriate contact with the little girls, faces a maximum of 10 years in prison if found convicted with the charges. The second soldier was cleared of the allegations.
These reports of paedophilia carry a heavy blow to the reputation of the French army in Africa, which has already been tarnished by similar cases in Central African Republic (CAR) – where some 14 French soldiers with peacekeeping forces are accused of engaging in child abuse.
None of whom have been charged, by the way.
Speaking of the gravity of the crimes, French President Francois Hollande vowed punishment for any child rapes committed by soldiers, but insisted no link should be drawn between the two separate cases.
Except for the notion that French soldiers can do anything they want to anyone they want with impunity. So far, that attitude has yet to change.
In March, French prosecutors called for the case against soldiers accused of child sexual abuse in the CAR to be dropped, saying the evidence was unreliable.
In one of the most degrading accounts collected by the Minusca (UN's peacekeeping mission in CAR) Human Rights Officer, three victims claim they and a fourth girl were "tied up and undressed inside a camp by a military commander from the Sangaris force (the French military intervention in CAR) and forced to have sex with a dog". Each girl was then given 5,000 Central African Francs ($8.6, £6).
How can this monster have escaped being court martialed? Is this behaviour acceptable to the French military and government?
Police break up WhatsApp network sharing
child sex abuse images
The paedophile ring used 100 different chat groups on the
online messaging service to share explicit images of children
WhatsApp users in 18 different countries were accessing the images
Police have arrested 39 people in an international operation against a major network of people sharing images of child pornography.
Spanish officials say the paedophile ring used the online messaging service WhatsApp to distribute the images.
They said files showed abusive and brutal treatment of children up to eight years old.
Hundreds of devices containing pornographic material have been seized, according to Europol.
Police said the network operated about 100 private chat groups on WhatsApp involving 135 people from 18 different countries in Europe, Central America and South America.
The majority of the arrests took place in Spain, where 17 people were detained by the police.
The other arrests took place in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Germany, Guatemala, Italy, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru and Portugal.
(Mostly Spanish speaking countries).
The operation was carried out in coordination with the international law enforcement agencies Interpol and Europol.
Plymouth man accused of child sex abuse
to face trial
By sabel plymouth herald
Pritchard allegedly abused girl over three years, Picture posed by model
A man accused of the repeated sexual abuse of a girl almost 20 years ago is to face a judge and jury.
Damian Pritchard, aged 33, is to go on trial charged with indecently assaulting the child between 1997 and 2000.
He appeared at Plymouth Crown Court to deny eight counts.
Pritchard, of Alexandra Road, Mutley, pleaded not guilty to one charge of sexual intercourse with a girl aged under 13. He denied one allegation of attempted sexual intercourse.
He must have been just 13-16 years old when the assaults occurred. I wonder how old the girl was?
Mutley, Plymouth, UK
Dwain Rogers faces long jail term for child sex abuse
By Dave_Shep
Gloucester Crown Court
A 22-year-old Gloucester man has been told to expect a long jail term after he admitted subjecting two girls to rape and one to sexual abuse over an eleven-year-period.
Dwain Rogers of Gurney Avenue, Tuffley, was due to stand jury trial today after a jury in a previous trial held in November could not reach majority verdicts - even after seven hours deliberation.
But at the last minute Rogers pleaded guilty today to the rape of a child under 13, the rape of a child under 16 and the sexual assault of a child under 13.
Rogers also pleaded guilty to inciting a child under 13 to engage in sexual activity.
Defending, Anjali Gohil had asked for a 'Goodyear' direction - an indication of the maximum sentence imposed based on her client pleading guilty to five of the 13 original sex offences on the three girls he was charged with.
Judge Jamie Tabor said there would be a maximum sentence of 11 years for all five offences.
Rogers then pleaded guilty and will be sentenced on Thursday afternoon.
Tuffley, Gloucester, UK
Police say 560 potential victims in soccer sex-abuse case
By The Associated Press
LONDON — Police say the number of potential victims in British soccer's sprawling child sex-abuse scandal has climbed to 560, with 252 suspects identified.
The National Police Chiefs' Council said Tuesday that 96 per cent of the victims are male, and the age range of the victims is from 4 to 20.
Some 311 football clubs, across amateur and professional soccer, have been referenced when potential victims supplied information.
The updated figures, which date to March 31, come five months after former professionals started to reveal historic abuse.
There have been 1,432 referrals to the national police investigation from a charity's dedicated soccer hotline and forces around the country.
The NPCC said 25 referrals relate to sports outside football, including rugby, gymnastics, martial arts, tennis, wrestling, golf, sailing, athletics, cricket, and swimming.
Where children are gathered. As they say in India, where there is honey, there will be flies. All countries need to hold formal inquiries into child sex abuse in any and all venues where children are gathered. Children are being abused (read: destroyed) in almost every sector and most people and politicians have turned a blind eye to it. We will have to answer for that neglect one day.
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