US Olympic champion gymnast Aly Raisman reveals sexual abuse by team doctor
Rio Olympics - Artistic Gymnastics - Final - Women's Team Final - Rio Olympic Arena - Rio de Janeiro, Brazil - 09/08/2016. Alexandra Raisman (USA) competes on the beam during the women's team final. © REUTERS/Dylan Martinez / Reuters
Olympic gold medalist Aly Raisman is the second of the so-called ‘Fierce Five’ medal-winning squad to reveal that she was sexually abused by the USA Gymnastics team doctor.
Three-time gold medalist Raisman spoke out about the abuse in an interview with ‘60 Minutes’ which will air Sunday.
“I am angry. I'm really upset,” she told 60 Minutes. “I see these young girls that come up to me, and they ask for pictures or autographs, whatever it is… I just want to create change so that they never, ever have to go through this.”
The revelation comes in the wake of her 2012 London Olympics teammate McKayla Maroney’s admission that she suffered “systematic sexual abuse” at the hands of the doctor, Larry Nassar.
Maroney wrote on Twitter in October that she suffered years of sexual abuse that began when she was 13 and continued for seven years, until she retired last year.
Raisman, who was a member and medalist of the 2012 and 2016 US Olympic teams, said she was first treated by Nassar when she was 15.
"Why are we looking at why didn't the girls speak up?" Raisman said. "Why not look at what about the culture? What did USA Gymnastics do, and Larry Nassar do, to manipulate these girls so much that they are so afraid to speak up?"
Nassar, who was a USA Gymnastics physician for 20 years, is currently in prison awaiting trial for possession of over 37,000 child pornography videos and images. He also faces over 100 lawsuits from women accusing him of sexual abuse.
More than 140 women have reported being sexually abused by Nassar, the Lansing State Journal reports. Nassar also worked at Michigan State University (MSU) for decades.
Last year, women began to come forward to report sexual abuse by Nassar after two women shared their story with the Indianapolis Star. He was fired from MSU soon after the story broke.
Sydney bronze medalist Jamie Dantzscher, was one of the two women to first accuse Nassar of abuse, which she said began when she was 12.
"In the last year, Aly has become an advocate for many issues, and sharing her personal experience of abuse takes great courage," USA Gymnastics said in a statement to ‘60 Minutes.’ "We are appalled by the conduct of which Larry Nassar is accused, and we are very sorry that any athlete has been harmed during her or his gymnastics career."
George Takei, Richard Dreyfuss the latest in Hollywood to be accused of sexual misconduct
Hollywood cesspool grows by the day
The Associated Press
Star Trek actor George Takei has denied an allegation that he groped a struggling model in 1981. (Phil McCarten/Associated Press)
Star Trek actor George Takei has been accused of groping a model-actor in 1981, in another development in the barrage of sexual assault, harassment and rape allegations to rock the entertainment industry.
Takei said Saturday on Twitter that events described in an interview with Scott Brunton "simply did not occur."
Brunton told the Hollywood Reporter he was 23 and living in Hollywood when he met Takei at a bar. They exchanged numbers and kept in touch, he said. Later, after Brunton broke up with a boyfriend, Takei invited him to dinner and the theatre, then back to his condo.
At the condo, Brunton said he "must have passed out" after two drinks, awakening to Takei groping him.
Takei was not interviewed for the Hollywood Reporter story.
The Hollywood Reporter said Friday it spoke to four longtime friends of Brunton who said he had confided in them about Takei years ago.
Takei said on Twitter it's a "he said/he said situation" and that those who know him "understand that non-consensual acts are so antithetical to my values and my practices, the very idea that someone would accuse me of this is quite personally painful."
Richard Dreyfuss
Meanwhile, a writer who worked for Richard Dreyfuss on a TV comedy special in the 1980s said he sexually harassed her for years and exposed himself to her in a studio lot trailer.
Jessica Teich told the New York magazine blog Vulture.com that the actor made continual, overt and lewd comments and invitations after they met at a theatre where she worked and Dreyfuss appeared.
Dreyfuss's agent Barry McPherson on Saturday denied the actor ever exposed himself to Teich, but he acknowledged to Vulture other encounters Dreyfuss now realizes were inappropriate.
Richard Dreyfuss's agent Barry McPherson on Saturday denied the actor ever exposed himself to Jessica Teich. (Peter Kramer/Associated Press)
The revelations were among fresh developments in the sexual harassment scandal that has rolled through Hollywood and other industries.
In 1987, when Teich was working for Dreyfuss on development of an ABC show script, she said she was summoned to his trailer on the set of one of his films and he exposed his genitals to her.
Dreyfuss said he thought the two were involved in a playful "consensual seduction ritual." He told Vulture that he flirted with Teich but is now "horrified and bewildered to discover that it wasn't consensual."
Teich said she decided to speak out after Dreyfuss tweeted support for his son, Harry, after the younger Dreyfuss went public with accusations that Kevin Spacey groped his crotch when he was 18.
Massachusetts prosecutors will meet with the son of a former Boston TV news anchor who said Spacey sexually assaulted the teenage boy at a Nantucket restaurant.
Cape and Islands District Attorney Michael O'Keefe told the Boston Globe on Friday the meeting "will occur soon."
Heather Unruh told reporters Wednesday that Spacey stuck his hand down her then-18-year-old-son's pants and grabbed his genitals while the two of them were at a restaurant in July 2016. Unruh said Spacey ultimately left to use the bathroom and when he was out of sight, her son ran away.
Spacey's lawyer didn't immediately return an email seeking comment Saturday.
Ellen Page accuses Brett Ratner of sexual harassment
Actress alleges director-producer 'outed' her with no regard for her well-being
CBC News
Canadian actress Ellen Page has posted a lengthy essay on Facebook (below), sharing stories of having suffered sexual harassment and assault at work, including being outed on the set of X-Men: The Last Stand by director-producer Brett Ratner. (Vincent West/Reuters)
Canadian actress Ellen Page is sharing stories of having suffered sexual harassment and assault at work, including accusing Brett Ratner of making aggressive and inappropriate sexual comments to her and others on the set of X-Men: The Last Stand.
The actress posted a lengthy essay on Facebook Friday alleging the director-producer outed her on the set of the blockbuster 2006 film, when she was 18.
"I was a young adult who had not yet come out to myself ... He 'outed' me with no regard for my well-being," Page writes about her reaction to a lewd, sexually graphic comment Ratner allegedly directed towards her and another woman during a "meet and greet" event ahead of filming.
She received support from a co-star of the film: Canadian-born Anna Paquin, who said on Twitter that she "was there when that comment was made."
Page, who hails from Halifax, publicly came out as gay in 2014, during a speech delivered at a human rights conference.
Ratner is one of a host of powerful Hollywood figures being accused by multiple women of sexual harassment and assault since the New York Times and The New Yorker published explosive exposés about movie mogul Harvey Weinstein.
Ratner is facing several allegations of sexual harassment or misconduct, including from Canadian actress Natasha Henstridge, who accused him of forcing her to perform oral sex on him, which he has denied through an attorney.
Brett Ratner has been accused by multiple women of sexual harassment and assault. Through an attorney, he has denied the allegations. (Richard Shotwell/Associated Press)
A representative for Ratner could not be immediately reached for comment about Page's statement.
Page, a former child actor, also recounts being sexually harassed and assaulted by other, unnamed figures in the film industry while she was 16 years old.
"If I, a person with significant privilege, remain reluctant and at such risk simply by saying a person's name, what are the options for those who do not have what I have?" she asks.
In the essay, she examines her experience in the entertainment industry and discusses those she has worked with, calling her decision to take part in a Woody Allen movie "the biggest regret of my career."
Page concludes by calling the current atmosphere of people coming forward about sexual harassment and assault "a long awaited reckoning."
"It must be," she writes. "It's sad that codes of conduct have to be enforced to ensure we experience fundamental human decency and respect ... I am grateful to anyone and everyone who speaks out against abuse and trauma they have suffered. You are breaking the silence. You are revolution."
Dustin Hoffman apologizes
The allegation about Hoffman dates back 32 years and was levelled by a woman who says the Oscar-winner sexually harassed her in 1985 when she was a 17-year-old intern.
Writer Anna Graham Hunter alleges in a Wednesday column in the Hollywood Reporter that the 80-year-old actor groped her on the set of the TV movie Death of a Salesman.
"He was openly flirtatious, he grabbed my ass, he talked about sex to me and in front of me," Hunter wrote in her column.
Hoffman apologized in a statement to the magazine.
"I have the utmost respect for women and feel terrible that anything I might have done could have put her in an uncomfortable situation. I am sorry. It is not reflective of who I am," he wrote.
In recent weeks, a number of allegations of sexual harassment and assault have been made against prominent Hollywood men including producer Harvey Weinstein, and actors Kevin Spacey and Jeremy Piven.
ASU professor resigns amid Catholic Church
child sexual-abuse scandal
Jason Pohl, The Republic
A renowned professor of medieval art history at Arizona State University was forced to resign Thursday after the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn announced he had sexually abused minors decades ago while he was an East Coast priest.
Professor Jaime Lara was ordained in 1973 and was in active ministry until 1992 when he was laicized by the Vatican for sexually abusing children, the Diocese of Brooklyn confirmed Wednesday on its website.
Upon learning of his history as a priest, ASU officials on Thursday requested he resign from his role as a research professor from the university's Tempe campus, school officials confirmed to The Arizona Republic.
His resignation was tendered that same day and effective immediately.
The laicization, which prohibits Lara from carrying out priestly duties, was handed down by a decree from the Vatican office "authorized to deal with cases involving sexual abuse of minors by a cleric,'' the diocese said.
'Spin control'
Lara majored in cultural anthropology at Cathedral College in New York, according to his curricula vitae. After graduating in 1969, he went on to earn a Master of Divinity at Immaculate Conception Seminary in Huntington, New York. He then studied in Puerto Rico and Colombia before returning to New York City.
He was ordained there in 1973 and remained in the church until 1992, the Brooklyn Diocese confirmed on Wednesday, posting the names of seven other former clerics who had been defrocked after child sex-abuse allegations.
It was between 1979 to 1981 that Lara sexually abused three children ranging in age from 9 to 11 years old at St. Francis Xavier Church in Brooklyn, New York, the victims' attorney, Mitchell Garabedian, told The Republic in a Friday telephone interview.
“This is just another instance of the Catholic Church hiding a predator and therefore unnecessarily putting children in danger," he said. "The risk of reoffense is too great for the Catholic Church to continue its secrecy in these matters. Transparency is needed, and transparency is needed immediately.”
Garabedian has represented hundreds of victims of sexual abuse and was portrayed in the Academy Award-winning 2015 film Spotlight, which told the story of his effort and that of Boston Globe journalists to illuminate rampant sexual misconduct in the Catholic Church.
He called the church's announcement this week involving Lara as "spin control."
"My clients are trying to gain a degree of closure and move on with their lives,” he said, adding that ASU failed to fully vet Lara's history before bringing him aboard the institution. "Unfortunately, his stature in the community, however false, was not a surprise to me."
Attempts to reach Lara for comment on this story Friday were unsuccessful. A statement from the diocese late Friday said that providing the names of living priests who were laicized because of allegations of sexual abuse was an effort to protect children.
"It is important to note that all of the names posted on the Diocese of Brooklyn's website were passed along to the appropriate law enforcement agencies years ago," Carolyn Erstad, diocese spokeswoman, said. "So while this is the first time they are being posted publicly, they were shared with law enforcement."
Erstad said the diocese in June started an effort, called the Independent Reconciliation and Compensation Program, to provide financial compensation to abuse survivors.
From the church to academia
After being barred from the church in 1992, Lara began his career in teaching, first as a visiting professor of art and humanities in Colombia. In 1995 he began working as an adjunct professor at Yale, where he gained recognition and was published extensively before his departure in 2009.
Lara taught for years at institutions around the country before landing at ASU in 2013, records show. Administrators apparently did not know he spent nearly two decades as a priest, and Lara's time in active ministry — where he was known as Rev. James Lara — is notably absent from his 18-page CV, reviewed by The Republic.
It was unclear Friday whether the university would conduct any follow-up investigations into Lara or the process through which he was hired. There are no reports of abuse committed during his time at ASU, the university said.
His university page online indicates he taught multiple upper-division art and history classes at ASU. He also created a new course, the Afterlife of the Apocalypse in Art, Architecture and Western Culture.
University officials on Friday — part of a long holiday weekend — were unable to confirm the veracity of his CV, officials said. It was not immediately clear to what extent he taught classes on campus or whether he was exclusively serving as a researcher based at ASU.
Garabedian said the alleged victims in this case against Lara are involved in settlement discussions. He described Lara's movement from the church to academia — and his ability to fly under the radar — as institutions merely "passing the trash."
"The Catholic Church cannot hide behind the veil of religion, nor can Arizona State hide behind the veil of education, as an excuse to put children at risk with predators.”
Husband and Wife Arrested on Child Sex Abuse Charges
The two were arrested in Georgia after indictments by a Morgan Co. Grand Jury
By: Alyssa Martin
According to officials with the Morgan County Sheriff's Department, 52-year-old Michael Lesher and 39-year-old Lisa Lesher, were arrested by U.S. Marshals in Carroll County, Georgia.
The charges come after allegations brought to authorities in 2007. The Department of Human Resources, The Child Advocacy Center, The District Attorney and The Morgan County Sheriff's Special Victims Unit were involved in the case.
Michael and Lisa are husband and wife. Michael was indicted and charged with 4 counts of Sodomy in the 1st degree, by Forcible Compulsion, 1 count of Sodomy 2nd degree, 1 count of Sexual Torture and 1 count of Sexual Abuse 1st degree.
Lisa was indicted and charged with 4 counts of Sodomy in the 1st degree.
On November 7th, 2017, the two waived extradition and were transported to the Morgan County jail.
Authorities say the two victims from the case are now prepared to follow through and the case has been re-opened. There is no statute of limitations for sexual crimes against minors.
Michael William Lesher's bond has been set at $435,000 and Lisa Marie Lesher's bond was set at $437,000.
Morgan Co., AL
Lawrence County child sex abuse case continued
By Michael Wetzel
MOULTON — A day after setting a Monday jury trial date for a Lawrence child sex abuse case, Circuit Judge Mark Craig has granted the defense a continuance in the 4-year-old case.
The new trial date is 9 a.m. April 9, according to court records.
4.5 years is just way too long for a child sex abuse trial. The victims need closure not continuing stress over their heads for years and years.
Defense attorney Michael Terry made the court and district attorney’s office aware a “potentially critical expert witness for the defense” would be unavailable for trial next week, according to an order of continuance Craig filed late Friday afternoon.
Patrick Lynn Brown, 35, of Moulton, was arrested in June 2013 of two counts of first-degree rape, two counts of first-degree sodomy and two counts of first-degree sexual abuse involving sisters, ages 10 and 12 at the time of the alleged crimes. His bail was set at $359,030. Brown made bail about four months ago after serving 47 months in the Lawrence County Jail.
Christian School Teacher Faces 140 Criminal
Charges in Child Sex Abuse Scandal
BY DAVID G. MCAFEE
Curtis Van Dam, who was a teacher for 13 years at a Christian elementary school in Iowa (and is not related to martial arts superstar Jean-Claude Van Damme), has been charged with 140 criminal counts in connection with the sexual abuse of children under the age of 14.
Police haven’t said how many children Van Dam abused, but they said the number is still growing as more and more people come forward. This isn’t something that can be written off as a false report, or as children misremembering what happened. This is repeated sexual abuse of children over the course of many years.
Van Dam, a former teacher at Sioux Center Christian School, was first arrested in October on one count of lascivious conduct with a minor and one count of lascivious acts with a child. He now faces 14 counts of sexual exploitation by a teacher, 72 counts of 2nd degree sexual abuse, 12 counts of 3rd degree sexual abuse, three counts of lascivious acts with a child, 34 counts of lascivious conduct with a minor, and five counts of indecent exposure.
Sioux Center Police Chief Paul Adkins said new charges could be filed as additional victims come forward, according to KSFY.
“The entire community is shocked and also very saddened,” Adkins said. “Emotions are very high in the community.”
“I’ve been here for 44 years and we have never had anything like this at all happen,” he said.
“I’m trying to protect the victims as much as I can,” Adkins said. “I can tell you there were numerous victims and that all the victims were children.”
The earliest report of child sex abuse in this case goes back to 2013, but Van Dam has been a teacher at this school for longer than that, so there’s no telling how long this behavior was going on.
Josh Bowar, the head of the school, confirmed Van Dam was charged with 101 felonies ad 39 misdemeanors. Bowar wrote in a statement that the abuser’s employment was terminated, and that the case is “in the hands of our criminal justice system.”
He also encouraged everyone to turn to God.
Though the number of charges do not necessarily reflect the number of students, we are grieved again as we hear the extent of the charges. We’ve wept, now it’s time to weep again. We’ve prayed, now we need to continue praying. We’ve brought our anger and fears to the Lord, and now we need to lay those feelings again at His feet.
We need to remember that though the charges are many, it also means that many students are no longer carrying secrets. Kids, we want you to know that we consider you brave for telling your parents, the police, and the interviewers what happened to you. We praise God that your testimony has brought to light a dark secret that none of us adults knew was there. You have played an important role in keeping others safe.
Regardless of what you believe (or don’t believe), this is a tragedy that should never occur. And when it happens in a place of worship, where authority figures proclaim to uphold superior ethical standards, it somehow feels worse. These kids trusted their teacher, and he used God and religion to manipulate them sexually.
These victims need more than just our prayers now… they need concrete solutions to make sure this doesn’t happen again.
Oregon tae kwon do instructor arrested,
faces 15 child sex abuse charges
UPDATE: Shuddhodan Man Ranjit was found not guilty Friday on two counts of sex abuse in the first degree and two counts of sex abuse in the second degree.
The original story:
by Chris Liedle, KATU News
BEAVERTON, Ore. — A Beaverton tae kwon do instructor turned himself into the Washington County Jail Thursday after he learned a warrant was issued for his arrest relating to multiple sex abuse charges, the Washington County Sheriff's Office said.
Shuddhodan Ranjit, 51, faces 15 sexual abuse charges -- 12 in the first degree, three in the second degree.
Under Oregon law, sexual abuse in the first degree indicates the victim, or victims, was younger than 14 years old when the alleged crimes were committed. It's a Measure 11 crime, and if convicted, brings a mandatory minimum sentencing of more than six years per charge.
Washington County sheriff's deputies would not elaborate on the charges, but say the allegations are serious.
KATU learned Ranjit owns US World Class Taekwondo on Southwest Park Way in Beaverton. A sign on the front door to the business read, "There will be no class today." The studio is typically open from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. Fridays.
According to the business' brochure, placed in a slot at the entryway, Ranjit is the studio's Chief Master. He's a certified master instructor with more than 25 years of experience. Ranjit holds a 6th Degree Black Belt, is an international player, national champion and national coach.
Neighbors told KATU they were surprised to hear of the allegations. They say he is well-respected in the community.
Ranjit is currently held at the Washington County Jail on $750,000 bond. He is scheduled to appear in Washington County Circuit Court for arraignment Monday afternoon.
Daughter of polygamist sect leader accused father of innumerable sexual assaults
Rachel Jeffs, the daughter of convicted polygamist Warren Jeffs, said her father sexually molested her “way more times than I could count” when she was just 8 years old.
Rachel, now an adult, spoke with NBC News' Megyn Kelly about her experiences for an interview that aired on Dateline Friday. She talked about growing up in Jeffs' Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints sect.
"I told my mother when I was about 10, after it was getting so bad I felt like I couldn’t handle it anymore," Rachel told Kelly. "And I remember thinking, if my father is doing this and the world is wickeder, are the world’s fathers even worse than this? I remember thinking that I should be grateful that it is only this bad.”
Rachel says she was forced into an arranged polygamist marriage and left the church in 2015. She wrote a memoir, Breaking Free: How I Escaped Polygamy, The FLDS Cult, and My Father, Warren Jeffs, which Harper Collins is releasing on Nov. 14.
“I was very, very scared. I was shaken,” Rachel said of her arranged marriage. “The morning of the wedding, he [Warren Jeffs] said, ‘Rachel, come talk to me.’ And I went into his office and he said, ‘I want you to ask for a baby tonight. I want you to ask your husband for a baby tonight. I want you to get close fast.' I had a hard time, and I was like, ‘Do I have to?’ and he said, ‘Yes, I want you to do this, promise me.'”
Rachel explained how much control Jeffs had over members of the sect. She said if he decided you were "guilty of sin," you could be expelled or forced to "live alone for long periods of time." Once, she was forced to spend "up to seven months at a time" away from her children.
She told Kelly that her crime was having sex with her husband while pregnant. The banishment was her "breaking point" and she fled the cult.
“I was very angry, very angry at father and I was angry that he would do that to my kids,” Rachel told Kelly. “And I felt that he was punishing me for what he did to me. Like he was trying to break me and make me feel like I was worse than him. And I wouldn’t let myself go there. I knew he had done wrong and I didn’t want to let him break me.”
Rachel was Jeff's first daughter from his second wife. Jeffs had over 50 wives and the man Rachel was arranged to marry already had two wives before their wedding. Rachel had five children before she was banished.
The 61-year-old Jeffs was on the FBI's 10 Most Wanted List. In 2011, he was sentenced to life in prison for two counts of child sexual abuse.
Since then, others have left the sect and wrote about their experiences. In 2013, Rebecca Musser wrote about her escape in The Witness Wore Red. Rachel also told her story to A&E in 2016 and CNN in 2015.
Texas man accused of continuous sexual abuse of
5-year-old girl
By Deven Clarke
SAN ANTONIO - A 30-year-old man is accused of continuously sexually abusing a 5-year-old girl.
Police said Brandon Perritte continuously molested the girl while she was in the care of her babysitter.
An arrest affidavit states Perritte lived with the child’s babysitter for about three months, which is when the alleged abuse happened.
The allegations came to light after the girl made an outcry about the abuse. Perritte admitted to being alone with the victim and assaulting her.
Perritte on Thursday told police the graphic details that coincided with the statement the child gave to police.
The girl told police it felt really bad.
Perritte faces a continuous sexual abuse of a child charge. After he is fully processed, he will be taken to the Bexar County Jail.
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