Cadet praised for rape prevention - charged
with sex assault on man
© U.S. Air Force / Reuters
An Air Force Academy cadet, praised for his work with rape prevention programs, could be court martialled and jailed for up to 20 years if convicted of sexually assaulting another man.
Prosecutors told the court Wednesday that senior cadet Steven Fox sexually assaulted another man he took as a date to an academy dance in 2015. It’s alleged that Fox penetrated the Colorado Springs man with his finger before rubbing against him for sexual gratification, The Gazette reports.
Fox’s defense say that the cadet’s actions were consensual and that he and the alleged victim, a student at the University of Colorado, were dating at the time.
This is the first case of its kind for the academy since the military lifted its ban on gay people serving in the armed forces in 2011. Until then any homosexual acts involving a serving member could have resulted in a court martial.
Fox was known for his work trying to get male victims of sexual assault to report their experiences of abuse. The Department of Defense has said that thousands of male service members are assaulted every year but only a small percentage come forward.
“[About] 10,800 men are sexually assaulted every year in the military,” Russell Strand, a retired Criminal Investigative Service special agent, said in 2015. “[Roughly] 8,000 women are assaulted.”
However only a fraction of those assaulted report their ordeal, roughly 13 percent, according to Strand, pointing out that the fear of being ostracized, misunderstood or not being believed contribute to this low percentage.
Psychologist and researcher Jim Hopper echoed these sentiments. “There’s fear of those memories, there’s fear of being violated, there’s fear that someone might know what happened to them.”
He added that many victims feel that if they report assaults they feel as though their military career would be finished as a result.
There is a genuine fear of being labelled a victim, unable to stand up for yourself.
Diocese names board to oversee clergy
child sex abuse allegations
By The Associated Press
PITTSBURGH -- The Roman Catholic Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown has appointed a five-member board to oversee its handling of child sex abuse allegations against clergy as part of an agreement with the federal prosecutor who oversees western Pennsylvania.
Acting U.S. Attorney Soo Song announced the agreement in March with Altoona-Johnstown Bishop Mark Bartchak after a state grand jury alleged a decades-long abuse cover-up. Song's predecessor had threatened to sue the eight-county central Pennsylvania diocese under a federal racketeering statute if reforms weren't enacted.
Song and Bartchak on Thursday announced the names of the board members.
The board will be chaired by James W. Brown, former chief of staff to Democratic Sen. Bob Casey and his father, Democratic former Gov. Bob Casey. The other members are Walter "Pete" Carson, a former state police investigator; Eileen Dombo, a professor and assistant dean at The Catholic University of America; Mary Herwig, an abuse victim turned advocate; and J. Alan Johnson, a former U.S. attorney who is perhaps best known for his prosecution of cocaine trafficking in Major League Baseball in an investigation that centered on the Pittsburgh Pirates clubhouse in the 1980s.
The reform agreement also required the church to hire an outside expert to develop a new sex abuse prevention program for its priests, which it already has done.
Sex abuse prevention for existing priests is good although, for some, it will be like shadow-boxing. Some have entered the priesthood, I believe, just for easy access to children. These people will be hard, if not impossible, to change. It is also likely that the program does not address the issue of hiring pedophiles in the first place.
Song has said Bartchak and the diocese worked with her office on the reforms. The collaboration is similar to those undertaken in other U.S. dioceses, though that was usually in partnership with state prosecutors.
A year ago, Pennsylvania's attorney general issued a scathing grand jury report detailing abuse by more than 50 priests and other clergy against hundreds of children going back decades while the Altoona-Johnstown Diocese was under different leadership. The grand jury did not accuse Bartchak of wrongdoing but found "the purge of predators is taking too long."
Allegations of rape, abuse and cover ups are nothing new for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown.
The diocese seated in Altoona, about 90 miles (145 kilometers) east of Pittsburgh, is home to nearly 100,000 Catholics.
Under the Song-Bartchak agreement, the diocese must report credible abuse allegations to law enforcement within 12 hours, immediately take accused priests out of positions where they have contact with minors and place them on leave within 24 hours.
The diocese is also publishing the names, photos and assignments of diocesan priests who are subject to credible allegations, so the public knows who they are.
Tennessee man found guilty on
38 counts of sex offenses against a child
BY ERYN TAYLOR
US Department of Justice
LAUDERDALE COUNTY, Tenn. — A Lauderdale County jury has returned guilty verdicts on all 38 counts against a defendant accused of raping a young child.
Kennedy D. Williams was charged with eight counts of child rape, three counts of rape, eight counts of aggravated sexual battery, 11 counts of incest, three counts of statutory rape, three counts of aggravated statutory rape and two counts of violating the Sex Offender Registry Act.
During the three-day trial, prosecutors stated the abuse began in 2013 and continued for the next three years.
But that wasn’t the only time Williams has been in trouble with the law. He was convicted for first-degree sexual assault of a child in 1991 and second-degree sexual assault in 1989. Both convictions were from Dane County, Wisconsin.
Sentencing for the most recent case is scheduled for October 5.
The minimum sentence for only one count of child rape is 25 years. Williams was convicted of eight.
And, Judge, I don't want to see any of this 'concurrent' sentencing! Lock this pervert up and throw away the key. He doesn't deserve another chance and his victims don't deserve to ever have to fear seeing him again for the rest of their lives.
Lauderdale Co., TN
Pennsylvania man arrested for child sexual abuse
By Myles Snyder, ABC27 News
LANCASTER, Pa. (WHTM) – A Lancaster man is accused of sexually abusing a child for several months.
Derek Lee Parrett, 33, is charged with felony counts of aggravated indecent assault of a child, unlawful contact with a minor, indecent assault of a child, corruption of minors, and endangering the welfare of children.
Manheim Township police said Parrett had ongoing sexual contact with a child from February to April. They said the abuse was discovered after the child told their mother about the abuse.
Parrett was arrested and sent to Lancaster County Prison on $200,000 cash bail.
Plea Deal in Iowa Child Sexual Abuse Case
BY KELLY MARICLE
ADEL, Iowa — A West Des Moines man has changed his plea to guilty in a sexual abuse case involving a child.
Twenty-two-year-old Jesse Taggart entered a guilty plea last week to one count of lascivious acts with a child, a Class C felony. He had originally been charged with second degree sexual abuse, indecent exposure, and dissemination and exhibition of obscene material to a minor.
Prosecutors say in May, Taggart committed a sex act on a female victim under the age of 12, exposed himself, and showed her pornographic videos while at a residence in Perry.
Taggart is scheduled to be sentenced on October 27th. He is being held in the Dallas County Jail.
Fugitive wanted in Tenn. on child sex abuse charges captured in Kentucky
WBIR
A New Tazewell fugitive with an active warrant is behind bars again months after fleeing Tennessee.
Kentucky authorities have been searching for 53-year-old Rick James Brock since June 2017 after he disappeared from Tennessee before his trial for multiple child sex abuse charges. Troopers said Tennessee authorities notified them to be on the look-out for Brock for multiple counts of continuous sexual abuse of a child.
Kentucky troopers captured him Wednesday evening in Harlan County after receiving a tip from a local business.
After his original arrest in 2016, Brock was charged with six counts of child rape and four counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon in a case in Claiborne County. Three months after he was extradited back to Tennessee to answer to the charges, Brock posted a half-million dollar bond and hadn't been heard from since.
In January 2016, TBI added Brock to their Top Ten Most Wanted List before U.S. Marshals captured him in Laurel County, Kentucky at his brother's home in London.
Brock is being held at the Harlan County Detention Center.
Minn. Bishop Settles Civil Lawsuit Alleging Coverup of Child Sexual Abuse
by Anita Carey • ChurchMilitant.com
CROOKSTON, Minn. - A Minnesota bishop has settled a civil lawsuit against him for allegedly covering up a claim of sexual abuse from 1971.
Ron Vasek filed a first of its kind personal injury lawsuit against Bp. Michael J. Hoeppner of the diocese of Crookston on May 9, claiming that Hoeppner pressured Vasek to sign a letter recanting his story of sexual abuse in the diocese by refusing to ordain him a deacon and hurting his son's priestly career.
In a statement released Wednesday, the diocese of Crookston explains the settlement "avoids costly attorney fees and a drawn-out legal process." They also assert that diocesan funds were not used to pay the settlement nor does it mean the Bp. Hoeppner has admitted to any illegal activity or wrongdoing.
No, of course not! He just paid him out of the goodness of his heart. He may not legally acknowledge any wrongdoing, but he will one day stand in a higher court where the truth cannot be hidden.
Bishop Hoeppner has consistently denied the allegations of Vasek. In a statement from May, Bp. Hoeppner states, "I, your bishop, deny that I'm in any way forced, coerced or encouraged Mr. Vasek to not pursue making allegations against [his abuser]."
Vasek claims he was molested at age 16 by Msgr. Roger Grundhaus, a priest of the diocese, in 1971 during a trip to Cincinnati, Ohio. Jeff Anderson, Vasek's lawyer, said at a press conference in May, Vasek did not speak of his abuse until he was in the process of becoming a permanent deacon in 2009 or 2010. Anderson says Vasek told another priest, who reported the incident to his vicar general who then contacted Bp. Hoeppner.
Anderson alleges Bp. Hoeppner contacted Vasek during that time, urging him to keep the accusations against Msgr. Grundhaus quiet. Anderson also alleges that Vasek claims to have been blackmailed by Hoeppner in 2015.
Vasek said, "I was told, 'If news of this scandal came out about Grundhaus, how could I ever ordain you? Where could I put you? Who would take you?'" Vasek then alleges Hoeppner said, "It could be difficult for your son who is a priest in our diocese."
While these statements could be construed as either a concerned warning or a threat, Vasek reports, "I knew then I was being blackmailed," explaining he signed a letter, recanting the accusations "to protect my son because I knew how evil a man the bishop could be if he wanted to be."
The diocese statement after the lawsuit "categorically denies" the claims and notes, "Mr. Vasek's allegations of abuse regarding Msgr. Grundhaus were reported to law enforcement in 2011." It also notes that Msgr. Grundhaus has been retired since 2010 and is "currently suspended from active ministry."
Vasek is represented by Jeff Anderson and Associates. Their website says they have represented thousands of victims of childhood sexual abuse and claim, "As pioneers of child protection through civil litigation, we are aggressively committed to this cause."
Jeff Anderson and Associates won a lawsuit against the diocese of Crookston in 2014 that forces it to publicly name any priest who has had credible accusations of abuse. They are also currently pursuing litigation against St. John's Abbey in Minnesota, recently settling 17 cases and naming three additional priests to the list of sexual abusers.
In a separate hearing on Wednesday, Vasek will ask the court to sanction the diocese for failing to produce Msgr. Grunhaus' file in 2015. Bishop Hoeppner and the diocese will ask for Vasek's charges of public nuisance and negligence to be dismissed.
Bishop Hoeppner asks for continued prayers for a "fair, just and timely" resolution, adding that Catholics of his diocese join him "in making each Friday a day of fasting and abstinence from eating meat as a sign that we know our most important sustenance comes from our loving God."
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