Stories involve people from Poland, Switzerland, Germany, Haiti, Brazil, Nigeria, Ireland, South Africa, Philippines, Canada, UK
Warning - Some stories are disturbing
Roman Polanski accused of rape by a 4th woman
By Chris Jancelewicz
Senior National Online Reporter, Global News
Former German actor Renate Langer, now 61, has reported to the Swiss police that Polish film director Roman Polanski raped her when she was 15 years old.
The alleged rape took place in Gstaad, Switzerland in February 1972, claims Langer, bringing the total number of rape accusations against Polanski to four.
Langer went to the Swiss police because it has eliminated its statute of limitations on child sex abuse cases (though the law still limits prosecution in old cases). Police told Langer that another office would be responsible for making the decision on whether she could file a criminal complaint.
She fully admitted that she had never reported the alleged rape to anybody before — not even her close friends or family — except for an old boyfriend. Like many women who’ve suffered sexual abuse, she opted to stay silent to protect her parents and her own mental sanity.
“My mother would have had a heart attack,” she said. “I felt ashamed and embarrassed and lost and solo.”
Renate Langer, pictured in 1986.
Getty Images
Langer said Polanski raped her in the bedroom of his home, despite her attempts to break free or defend herself. After a month passed, she said that he called her and offered her a small role in his upcoming movie, Che? After he convinced her that he would treat her as a professional, she accepted the offer.
After shooting began, Langer claims that he raped her once more when she was alone in the home she’d been staying in. Again, Langer said her attempts at defending herself were fruitless.
“This had an influence on all of my life,” she said.
Polanski, 84, has lived as a fugitive in Europe since pleading guilty in Los Angeles in 1977 to having sex with a minor. In April, a Los Angeles County judge denied Polanski’s latest effort to resolve the 40-year-old statutory rape case, saying that the filmmaker cannot be sentenced in absentia because he remains a fugitive from justice.
Samantha Geimer was one of Polanski’s victims; she was a 13-year-old junior high student when Polanski, then 43, took her to actor Jack Nicholson’s house for a photo shoot. He gave her champagne and part of a Quaalude pill and, according to testimony from Geimer, forced her to have sex with him.
After pleading guilty to unlawful sex with a minor, Polanski was sent to a state prison for a 90-day diagnostic evaluation. Judge Laurence Rittenband, who was presiding over the case at the time, said the evaluation would help him reach a fair sentencing decision. The director was released after 42 days, with prison officials saying he did not need additional prison time.
Rittenband, facing fierce media pressure, went against the recommendation and decided to send Polanski back to prison for an additional 48 days.
Polanski then hopped a flight to Europe and never returned.
In August, a woman identified only by her first name, Robin, accused Polanski of “sexually victimizing” her in 1973, when she was 16 years old. In 2010, British actor Charlotte Lewis said Polanski sexually abused her at the same age: 16.
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter at the Zurich Film Festival, published Monday, Polanski said he considered the Geimer case to be over and done with.
“As you know, Samantha Geimer has been asking for over 30 years for this thing to end,” he said. “But, I’m sorry the judges who dealt with it the last 40 years were corrupted, one covering for the other. So … maybe one of them will [eventually] stop doing it.”
“As far as what I did: It’s over. I pleaded guilty,” he continued. “I went to jail. I came back to the United States to do it, people forget about that, or don’t even know. I then was locked up here [in Zurich] after this festival. So in the sum, I did about four or five times more than what was promised to me.”
My heart is bleeding...
As the decades have worn on, two portraits of Polanski have emerged. Many still shun him as a criminal who fled from justice. But some in Hollywood have argued that he was treated unfairly by a judge who wanted to make an example of a powerful filmmaker.
Polanski’s lawyer, Harland Braun, declined to comment on the new accusation by Langer.
Haitian Ladies Raped by UN Peacekeepers
Tell Their Shocking Stories
Jacquendia Cangé holds the photo of the UN Nigerian police officer, who she claims to have raped her:
"I can never forgive", she says © Sputnik/ Igor Patrick
They were deployed by the UN to "restore a secure and stable environment" in Haiti, one of poorest countries in the Western Hemisphere. However, what they actually did only added to the sufferings of Haitian young women, who revealed their stories to Sputnik Brazil.
She doesn’t have stand-out hair and wears only simple clothes. And while Martine Gestimé goes unnoticed in a crowd of people in the capital of Port-au-Prince, she has a shocking story to tell. For the first time, a young Haitian woman has decided to reveal how she was sexually abused by a Brazilian serviceman. Martine told Sputnik Brazil how it all happened ten years ago, in June of 2007.
The Haitian woman studied at a school near Cité Soleil, one of the extremely impoverished and densely populated slums in the Western Hemisphere. She had been starving for days. One afternoon, she was approached by an interpreter for the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH), Franco. He translated what one of Brazilian peacekeepers wanted to tell her: he complimented her for her commitment to her studies and said that "learning was the only way to change her life."
"He had strikingly pale skin, dark hair and light-colored eyes. He praised me for my beauty," the girl told Sputnik.
The servicemen started meeting her every time she finished her classes and soon invited her to his military base, promising to give her a pack of cookies. As she had not eaten all day, she eagerly left her school books at home and went for the promised treat.
Martine recalls that the serviceman asked her to wait in a room at the entrance. He soon returned without any food, locked the door and raped her. She kept it secret out of shame until she realized that she was pregnant. Her friend suggested an abortion and they covertly saved 1,000 Haitian gourdes ($15.5) from the money they were given for food.
The sum was barely a half of what was needed for the abortion medicine illegally sold in the streets of Port-au-Prince.
"My mother saw that I was not feeling well and realized that I was pregnant. She ordered me find the father of my child, but I was unable to confess that I was raped. She always thought that studying at the school was too dangerous. She would have blamed me," she says.
Martine tried to find Franco, the interpreter, without success.
Brazilian military members from United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) stand guard on a street near the Republic of Chile School in Port-au-Prince, March 27, 2017
© AFP 2017/ HECTOR RETAMAL
"Over and over again, I went to bed in tears praying to God to kill either me or the baby as I did not have any money to bring him up," she confessed to Sputnik.
The baby boy, whom she called Ashford Gestimé, was born on April 8, 2008. Her mother had been constantly humiliating her and Martine was forced to send the boy to live with her brother in Delmas commune of Port-au-Prince. The boy is still convinced that his uncle is his real father.
Martine now lives in a three-square-meter room together with her aunt Jacqueline Louidor, her friend and her child. All of them sleep on one double bed. They have no windows and no bathroom and huge dumps at their doorstep.
"If I could find that man, I would have asked him to help my son to get an education. I would not have forgiven him, but Ashford's life would have probably been better than mine," the young woman said, adding that she would have definitely recognize the abuser.
Jacquendia rests her head under her daughter, who will not be identified at her mother's request
© SPUTNIK/ IGOR PATRICK
In its comment to Sputnik Brazil, the Brazilian Defense Ministry responded that it knows nothing about Martine's case. The website however turned to archives to find out who was in Haiti in June of 2007. It turned out that the military contingent on the base at that time swapped every week and there are no personnel records showing which servicemen stayed at any particular time.
Sputnik only managed to verify that it was servicemen of the 6th Motorized Infantry Brigade stationed at Santa Maria, Rio Grande doSul. There was no data about Franco, the interpreter.
The ministry replied to Sputnik that "according to the records of the UN Conduct and Discipline Unit, there had been no reported complaints over similar crimes of Brazil servicemen."
It also noted that it should be a "reason for pride" that there had been no reports of any misconduct by Brazilian servicemen and if there were any occurrences involving Brazilian military personnel, such as an allegation of rape, it should had been reported to investigators, who would have looked into it to verify the facts.
The UN did not comment to Sputnik on any investigations into other reported cases of rape by Brazilian servicemen.
Only One Haitian Woman Received Compensation for Rape in 10 Years
The UN has always voiced a zero tolerance policy towards the sexual abuse committed by its peacekeepers. However more and more victims are now openly reporting sex crimes.
According to the statistics of Haitian Ministry of Justice and Public Security, there have been over 500 cases of sexual abuse on the country’s territory, which were not originally reported out of fear or shame.
Out of all the cases, 34 have been verified, but out of these 34 abusers only 11 ended up in jail and only one woman received compensation of any kind.
Jacquendia Cangé was raped by a Nigerian UN police officer. She made a report to the Department of Peacekeeping Operations. Unlike other victims, she knew the name and staff number of her abuser. She left the department with the promise to thoroughly investigate the issue but was never called back.
Sputnik Brazil has contacted the press service of the department in New York and got the response that Nigeria's General Staff had been informed about the case of sexual abuse in September 2014. The case has not been investigated yet, although the department, together with the General Staff, continues to monitor the investigation.
They are monitoring the investigation which has not started yet after 3 years!!!?? It's a good thing they really want to get to the bottom of this.
"I don't want to hear anything about this man. I was not praying to God to send me a daughter, but He had sent her to me and I will care for her. I don't want the help of this man," Jacquendia told Sputnik. She is getting ready to move to Sao Paulo to live with her brother.
It should be noted that the UN has taken a very tough stance on the reported cases of child sexual abuse committed by United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA). Its resolution 2.272/2016 bans the countries which refuse to investigate such cases from further peacekeeping missions. If even one reported case is ignored, the country could be forced to fully replace its contingent.
'I have never felt so angry and physically sick... it seemed I would never get back my normal life' -
Victim impact statement reveals abuse by Tom Humphries
Shane Phelan
The young woman who was sexually exploited as a child by journalist Tom Humphries has told how she was left feeling suicidal following her ordeal. She did not address Dublin Circuit Criminal Court, but a harrowing and extremely powerful victim impact statement from her was read into the court record by prosecution barrister Shane Costelloe SC.
Tom Humphries (54), with an address in Sutton, Dublin, pleaded guilty to six sex offences at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court last March.
Earlier today, Judge Karen O'Connor adjourned sentencing to later this month as she wishes to consider documentation handed into court and evidence given in mitigation. At his own request Tom Humphries was taken into custody after the hearing ended.
In a powerful statement, the victim outlined in detail her feelings about being defiled and sexually exploited between the ages of 14 and 16. In the statement, the young woman spoke of experiencing guilt and shame.
She said she suffered psychologically as a result of the abuse and had trouble eating and sleeping, resulting in weight loss. Under the heading Shame, she wrote: “Feeling ashamed of the fact that I let somebody do this to me and that I allowed him to manipulate and have control over me.
“I went through stages of being physically sick, leading to a loss of school time and education time, thus affecting my learning capabilities. I lost my trust in men. The loss of my childhood came with the ordeal of having to deal with the police, counsellors, solicitors and social workers."
“I had to deal with sexual encounters at such a young age with a man three times my age, which made me physically, emotionally and mentally ill. “I had to make countless statements for the police. This was extremely draining mentally and emotionally."
“I had to go through counselling for a year and a half, which caused me to relive the whole ordeal all over again. Being classed as a victim has led to self doubt, a lack of confidence and hatred towards myself.”
Under the heading Life Changes, she wrote: “I was unable to continue playing camogie due to mental and physical health issues caused by this experience. This led to a loss of friends, a loss of passion and a loss of a lifestyle. I lost out on college exams, trips, holidays and experiences with family and friends."
“I had to take time off from school, college and work to accommodate all the court cases I had to attend. These court cases were dragged out over several years. This whole ordeal has left me with permanent flashbacks and severe panic attacks. It has led me to mentally block out all of the abuse, both sexual and mental. This has resulted in me blocking out my childhood memories that I had from the ages 14 to 18."
“I suffer with depression. That not only hits me in waves but sticks with me always. It is a constant battle I have to fight in order to get on with my day to day life. I have been suicidal because of all that has happened. This is something I never want to feel and something I never want to cross my mind and an action I do not believe in. This also goes against my beliefs and the morals I was brought up with.
"I have never felt as low and as small about myself until this happened to me. For years it has ruined my life. I have never felt so angry and physically sick with myself and it seemed like I was never going to get back to my normal life.”
Her statement concluded with a message for the Humphries’ family, who reported his activities to the gardaí. She wrote: “I would like to sincerely thank the family of Tom Humphries. Without them reporting this I do not know where I would be today. I will be forever grateful to them for saving me from this situation. I hope and pray that you can all get past this and somehow live a normal healthy life.”
Hugh Hartnett SC, for Humphries, said his client was "truly remorseful". He said Humphries had attempted suicide twice and was at risk of a further attempt.
Mr Harnett said his client had refused treatment for depression as he believed this would make him feel happier. He said his client did not want to feel happier and wanted to feel pain for what he did. Humphries attended court for today’s hearing.
Last March, he admitted to six charges when he was arraigned.
Two of the charges related to engaging in a sexual act with a girl under the age of 17 on or about December 5, 2010 and February 19, 2011. The sexual acts occurred at an apartment in Dublin.
The other four charges admitted by him were of sexually exploiting the same child by inviting her to engage or participate in a sexually explicit, indecent or obscene act on or about January 1, 2010 February 15, 2011 and March 4 and 18 the same year.
At that hearing Mr Humphries only spoke in court to say “guilty” after each of the six charges was put to him.
A number of other charges on the indictment are to be taken into account when he is being sentenced.
Humphries was arrested in relation to child sex allegations in September 2012 but the matters did not come to court until earlier this year.
Humphries' former employer, the Irish Times, issued a statement following today's proceedings. The company said that Tom Humphries has not written for The Irish Times since early 2011. In a statement, it said that he joined The Irish Times as a sports reporter on March 1st, 1992.
"In March 2011, the company was advised of serious allegations against the journalist and the commencement of a criminal investigation by the Garda. He has not written for The Irish Times since then.
"He was suspended from employment by The Irish Times on March 31st, 2014 when he was formally charged with criminal offences. His employment was terminated with immediate effect on March 8th, 2017 after he had pleaded guilty to charges at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.
"The company said the disclosure that Humphries was the subject of serious allegations and of a criminal investigation was a source of shock and distress to his colleagues."
It added: “This matter has been treated with the utmost seriousness throughout. The Irish Times, in its response, has been guided by the provisions of employment legislation and the requirement to allow the criminal justice system to proceed without interference. The company fully co-operated with the Garda at all times during its investigations.”
If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this letter please contact Samaritans helpline 116 123 or Aware helpline 1800 80 48 48 or Pieta House on 1800 247 247
Indigenous man sentenced for sexual assaults
on granddaughter
Lisa Schick
A Saskatchewan man is heading to federal prison for repeatedly sexually assaulting and impregnating his 13-year-old granddaughter.
According to court documents, the assaults started when the girl was 10 years old. She was with her grandfather at a powwow and she went to lie down in a truck because her back hurt. He came with her and molested her. Shortly after that, the rape began – the girl estimated she was raped between 75 and 100 times.
The girl’s identity is protected by a publication ban, and because of the man’s relationship to her, he, therefore, cannot be identified either.
Court heard the sexual assaults continued for three years until the girl gave birth to a baby boy in spring 2014 at the Wynyard hospital.
She told court the man told her to lie and say another man had forced her to have sex, but about a month later she filed a report with the Wadena RCMP, explaining who the baby’s father really was. A later DNA test confirmed the girl’s grandfather was the baby’s father – he was 50 at the time.
Police then put out a warrant for the man’s arrest, but he managed to evade police for almost a year. In 2015 he was arrested and was kept in custody as the case made its way through the court.
He eventually pleaded guilty to two counts of sexual assault.
In her victim impact statement, the girl said her childhood had been taken away from her, that she suffered from anxiety and depression and had developed an eating disorder.
The maximum sentence for this offence at the time was 10 years, according to the judge. The Crown was asking for a nine-year sentence, while the defense argued for six-and-a-half to seven-and-a-half years – citing his guilty plea and history of being the victim of sexual assault himself — as mitigating factors.
The judge recognized the offender’s history but also wrote that he saw no record of apology. The judge said in his decision that the most egregious factor in the crime was the ongoing nature of the assaults:
“The nature of child sexual abuse is so offensive because it often involves a captive victim who is subject to repeated assaults, unlike adult victims who, in most instances, find a way to distance themselves from their assailant. V.D. lived with his child victim. She had no means to leave; she was a dependent child.”
The man was sentenced to eight years in prison, less time served, which worked out to just over six years left to serve. He was also given a list of conditions to follow upon his release, like providing DNA, being added to the sex offender registry, a 10-year firearms ban, no communication with the victim, and not being able to be around kids or in places where kids are likely to be.
Firefighter to wait 1 month in solitary for bail hearing on
charges of sex assaults on girls, woman
Defence lawyer Matt Gould says his client Manuel Ruiz is being treated unfairly
CBC News
A Winnipeg firefighter and jiu-jitsu instructor accused of sexually assaulting a woman and two underage girls will spend more than 30 days in solitary confinement before he can ask for bail because of limited court availability.
Manuel Ruiz, 52, has been in custody since his arrest on Sept. 22 (3rd story on link). Ruiz is charged with multiple offences, including sexual assault of a child, forcible confinement and luring a child, stemming from accusations of sexual abuse against three people dating back to 2001.
Ruiz appeared in court on Tuesday via video link from the Remand Centre to try to schedule a date for his bail hearing.
Due to a tight court schedule, the half-day hearing won't take place until Oct. 25.
Ruiz's lawyer, Matt Gould, said his client is being treated unfairly.
Maybe. So were his victims!
"The court system is imposing on Mr. Ruiz that he will spend over a month in something the size of a medium walk-in closet," Gould said.
"I think that's important for people to understand, that someone who's innocent till proven guilty is not even given an opportunity to request release on bail to wait for trial, and they're in a room the size of a closet for approximately a month."
Provincial court Judge Fred Sandhu told court he understood Gould's concerns and would feel the same in the defence's shoes.
Judge, don't let this case be stayed on a technicality. There have been too many criminals set free because Canadian courts are back-logged and too slow in processing cases. Please don't let this guy be one of them.
Sexual assault accusations from 2001, 2005, 2006
Among other allegations, Ruiz is accused of sexually assaulting a girl at a jiu-jitsu studio in 2001.
During the investigation into that allegation, officers found another woman who reported being sexually assaulted by Ruiz at a different location in 2005 and 2006.
A third victim, who is still under 18, said Ruiz contacted her through an online advertisement for escort services and paid her for sex from 2015 until recently, police said last month.
Police told CBC News in September they've been contacted by more than a dozen people regarding Ruiz since releasing details of the investigation.
The Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service told CBC News last month that Ruiz has been removed from active duty. The 25-year veteran had been promoted to lieutenant within the last year.
South African indicted for child sexual abuse in Philippines
THE Office of the Cebu City Prosecutor has indicted a South African who allegedly sexually abused a minor girl inside his hotel room last Sept. 3.
Prosecutor Ma. Liza Jorda found evidence to charge Ashley Russell Joseph with violation of the Anti-Child Abuse Law, and the Qualified Trafficking in Person.
“Complainant, a minor, was obtained, transported, and maintained by the respondent for two days in his hotel room by means of deception, coercion, intimidation, and taking advantage of her vulnerability for sexual exploitation,” said Jorda in her resolution.
The case stemmed from the complaint filed by the victim. The 16-year-old girl said she met Joseph through Facebook on Aug. 28, 2017. They chatted and the accused lured the girl into shopping in a mall last Sept.3.
After their time at the mall, Joseph brought the victim to his hotel room and allegedly raped her twice on Sept. 3 to 4. On Sept. 4, police and social welfare personnel rescued the girl. (GMD)
British Home Secretary announces ban on carrying sulfuric acid used in attacks
Also, money for combatting child porn
By Ed Adamczyk
UPI -- British Home Secretary Amber Rudd announced a crackdown Tuesday on sulfuric acid, which gangs have used in recent attacks.
The actions will ban anyone under the age of 18 from purchasing the substance and prevent individuals from carrying sulfuric acid in public if they don't have a "good reason," she said. They are among a number of security initiatives Rudd announced Tuesday.
Rudd told a Conservative Party conference in Manchester: "Acid attacks are absolutely revolting. You have all seen the pictures of victims that never fully recover. Endless surgeries. Lives ruined. So today, I am also announcing a new offense to prevent the sale of acids to under 18s. We are going to stop people carrying acid in public if they don't have a good reason."
Sulphuric acid is also used to manufacture some types of homemade explosives, she added.
Earlier this year, the government said it sought ways to end acid attacks, in which gangs traveling on mopeds, largely in London, splash corrosive sulfuric acid into the faces of random pedestrians.
Rudd announced numerous other policy changes during her speech.
They include a ban on certain types of knives and a ban on children buying knives online, longer prison terms for those convicted of repeatedly viewing extremist material online and a $795,000 government investment in new technology to find and quickly remove indecent images of children online.
She added that British security agencies foiled seven terrorist plots thus far in 2017. Rudd also called on social media and tech companies -- including Facebook, Google, Twitter and Microsoft -- to "honor your moral obligations" to more involve themselves in combatting terrorism online.
No comments:
Post a Comment