450 Years for Nothing, JWs, Victim Abuse on Today's USA PnP List

In second trial, Decatur man found guilty on the same teenage rape charges

TONY REID tony.reid@lee.net  

DECATUR — Garold Holloway, the Decatur man found guilty of raping a 13-year-old girl in front of her teenage friend four years ago, was found guilty all over again in a bench trial that concluded Wednesday.

Holloway was convicted by Macon County Circuit Court Judge Phoebe Bowers on the same two counts of criminal sexual assault he had first been found guilty of in a two-day jury trial in 2014. The case was sent back to the court for retrial by the appellate court.

Holloway, 58, was sentenced to 30 years in prison at his first trial and Bowers set his re-sentencing date for Jan. 28. He could be sentenced to the same amount of time again, or a lesser amount, but legal rules stipulate he cannot be sentenced to more than his original sentence of 30 years.

First Assistant State’s Attorney Nichole Kroncke said the appellate court had ordered the retrial because it said a prosecutor’s instruction to the jury, saying the victim could not consent to sex because of her age, was in error given the nature of the charges as filed.

During the two-day bench trial, Holloway was represented by defense attorney Steve Jones, who filed several motions for a directed verdict of not guilty and to declare a mistrial, all rejected by Bowers.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant State’s Attorney Kate Kurtz, who didn't prosecute the case in 2014. Among the witnesses she had to call was Holloway’s teenage victim, who again described being raped in a bedroom of Holloway’s home while he restrained her and her teenage female friend could only look on, not realizing what he was doing to her under the bedspread.

“It was very difficult that the victim had to relive that experience again and speak about it in public,” said Kroncke. “It was very traumatizing for her.”

At his trial in 2014, Holloway had claimed the girl had seduced him, and the assault wasn’t his fault. The judge in that case, James Coryell, had called the claim “totally absurd” and had described the state’s sentencing recommendation of 15 years for each rape offense, to be served consecutively, as “conservative” given the nature of the crimes and Holloway’s lack of remorse.

Child Sex Predator gets 25-year prison sentence after emotional victim statements

TONY REID tony.reid@lee.net  

DECATUR — A convicted Decatur sexual predator who prosecutors said used his status as a “father figure” to prey on two girls under the age of 13 was sentenced to a total of 25 years in prison Thursday.

Wesley A. Tyson, 41, appeared in custody in Macon County Circuit Court and pleaded guilty to one count of predatory criminal sexual assault, a Class X felony. Judge Thomas Griffith sentenced him to 22 years on that offense and added on a three-year sentence, to be served consecutively, after Tyson also pleaded guilty to one count of aggravated criminal sexual abuse to a girl under 13, a Class 2 felony.

The sentencing was part of a plea deal negotiated by Tyson’s former public defender, Timothy Tighe, that saw Griffith dismiss 12 additional charges of predatory criminal sexual assault and 10 charges of aggravated criminal sexual abuse. One count of child pornography was also dismissed.

Tyson pleaded guilty at a hearing Sept. 25 when Assistant State’s Attorney Kate Kurtz had described how Tyson had come into contact with his victims through his relationship with an adult woman. The original total of 25 charges had covered a time span between November 2010 and January this year.

Before the sentence was announced, Griffith heard victim impact statements describing the emotional trauma the sexual assaults had inflicted on the families involved. A mother of the victims told the court: “I don’t understand why he would want to hurt the kids ... I feel so devastated he could do such a horrible thing to the kids.”

Victim Advocate Todd Tuggle read several statements on behalf of the girl victims. One child described how she struggled with bad dreams after the abuse and how her behavior had changed. “I am mean to my mom and my sisters; I cuss them out and I like to tear up my neighbor’s mail because it makes me feel better. I like to get into fights.”

Another girl said she lost trust in Tyson, whom she had seen as a father figure. “I feel like I have no dad because my real dad don’t come around; it makes me sad.”

In addition to the prison sentences, Tyson was ordered to register as a sexual predator for life. Tyson was represented at Thursday’s hearing by Chief Public Defender David Ellison, who took over for Tighe, who is no longer with the public defender’s office.

In 2001, two boys helped send a man to prison

in Maryland for 450 years for sexual abuse

They now say it never happened

By Cameron Dodd cdodd@newspost.com  

Ricky Malee is patient.

He fills his days drawing pictures, braiding necklaces from threads of discarded clothing, writing letters and rereading old documents.

Seventeen years ago he was an athletic, handsome 40-year-old man. When he’d go to bars, women offered to buy him drinks. Now his brown hair is balding, and his beard is patched with gray. His face wrinkles up when he smiles. He was a gifted basketball player, but some days his knee pain has him walking with a cane.

His peers like him. Good at sewing, he mends clothing for them. They don’t often subject him to the violence they once did.

Malee calls his mother often. She’s his main lifeline to the outside world. But when she visits, they have to almost shout to hear each other through holes in a plexiglass divider. They’re allowed to hug only once when their hour together is over.

That’s all the physical contact you’re allowed when you’ve been sentenced to 450 years in prison.

“An innocent person is in prison right now.

No one in the family believes it truly happened

— because it really didn’t.”

In 2001, a Frederick County jury convicted Malee of more than two dozen sex offenses and several counts of child abuse. Although the allegations were disturbing, there was no conclusive physical evidence. The boys’ mother and grandmother denied the allegations. The case was based largely on the testimony of two boys, the alleged victims, the sons of his then-wife.

The jury found the case believable and pronounced Malee guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. 

Both boys — now men — today say the allegations were never true.

This is quite an extensive story, you can read the details at the Frederick News-Post.

Women say they were sexually abused by

Jehovah’s Witnesses members in California

Romy Maple, who founded nonprofit SAFE707 to help victims of child sexual abuse, was brought to the national spotlight after appearing in an A&E documentary series in May. (Shaun Walker — The Times-Standard file)

By SHOMIK MUKHERJEE | smukherjee@times-standard.com |

Two different women came forward in 2018 with stories of repeated sexual abuse during their childhood by adult members of Jehovah’s Witnesses.

One woman, Romy Maple, said she was repeatedly drugged and sexually abused by the same man starting when she was 4 years old. She said other members of the Jehovah’s Witnesses ignored her efforts to alert them to the abuse.

Years later, Maple appeared prominently in the A&E documentary series, “Cults and Extreme Belief,” which brought her story to national attention. Maple has since launched a nonprofit, 707SAFE — which stands for Sexual Assault Fighters Elite — offering “coaching, transitional and transformational support” to fellow survivors of child sexual abuse, according to Maple’s GoFundMe page.

Another woman, who gave her name as Sister Star, said she was drugged, filmed and sexually abused at a Eureka hotel by a family friend and fellow member of Jehovah’s Witnesses. She said her grandfather and other men did the same to her months before, and further said her stepfather sexually abused her throughout her childhood years.

Sister Star came forward with her story of sexual abuse in August. (Jose Quezada — The Times-Standard file)

As in Maple’s case, Sister Star said elders of the Jehovah’s Witnesses took no action to help her.

Jehovah’s Witnesses World Headquarters offered the Times-Standard the following comment earlier this year:

“Jehovah’s Witnesses abhor child abuse and view it as a crime. (Romans 12:9)” the document states. “We recognize that the authorities are responsible for addressing such crimes. (Romans 13:1-4) The elders do not shield any perpetrator of child abuse from the authorities.”

No criminal action has been taken in either Maple or Sister Star’s cases due to existing statute-of-limitations laws. In 2016, Gov. Jerry Brown signed into law a bill dismissing the statute of limitations for crimes of rape, sexual assault and other sexual offenses committed in 2017 and onward.

PA man charged with sexual abuse of a child

by CBS 21 News

Steelton Borough Police have arrested Damian Fresse for crimes involving child sexual abuse.

Police started their investigation into sexual crimes involving a juvenile victim in September.

Fresse is charged with involuntary deviate sexual intercourse with a victim less than 16 years old, unlawful contact with a minor, sexual abuse of a child, statutory sexual assault, among other offenses.

Online court documents show that Fresse is free from prison on $30,000 unsecured bail.

Steelton, PA

South Carolina man, 82, charged with

child sex crime from early 1970s

By Chris Lavender 

An 82-year-old Duncan man has been accused of committing child sex crimes nearly a half-century ago.

Gussie Ballenger, of 145 Rosewood Circle, was arrested Friday and charged with two counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct with a minor under 11. He was booked into the Spartanburg County jail.

The Spartanburg County Sheriff’s Office launched an investigation Dec. 13 when the victim, who is now 54, contacted the Sheriff’s Office and told deputies the incidents occurred between 1970 and 1972, Lt. Kevin Bobo said in an email.

The alleged incidents occurred at different points in the woman’s life, with one occurring when she was between 6 and 7, and another when she was between 9 and 10, according to Bobo. An incident report indicates the crimes took place in Wellford and Lyman.

Investigators referred the victim’s case to the Children’s Advocacy Center, where she gave a detailed account of what happened, Bobo stated. After consulting with the Solicitor’s Office, investigators presented their findings to a magistrate judge, and two warrants were issued for Ballenger’s arrest.

Not uncommon

Suzy Cole, Children’s Advocacy Center executive director, declined to comment about this specific case. But she said, generally, it’s not uncommon for minors to keep sexual abuse committed against them a secret.

“A vast majority of children who are abused never report it to authorities,” Cole said. “Sexual predators are very savvy in finding children that are the most vulnerable and who are least likely to tell.”

Cole said a report from Darkness to Light, a nonprofit committed to empowering adults to prevent child abuse, showed that 90 percent of child abuse victims know their abuser, and 1 in 10 children are sexually abused before 18.

1 in 10 - that's not counting peer on peer child sex abuse, unfortunately, otherwise the ratio would be much worse.

The report also showed that only 38 percent of children who have been sexually abused report it to someone. Cole said children who are abused are often reluctant to say anything because most of the time the abuse is committed by someone they know.

And, in spite of the abuse, it may be someone they love. Many times the reluctance comes from a sense of guilt which predators often create in their victims - convincing them that it was their fault, or that they somehow agreed to go along with it.

Keeping sexual abuse hidden can create complications in adulthood, she said. Cole said children who are sexually abused often carry emotional scars throughout their lives if left untreated.

Today, Cole said, more professionals, like teachers and law enforcement, are trained to help detect when a child may have been sexually abused by noticing a change in their behavior.

2018 is outpacing last year in the number of children referred to the Children Advocacy Center for services. In 2017, 735 children were referred to the organization, which provides services to children who have been sexually and or physically abused. Cole said there’s been a 10 percent increase this year in the number of referrals.

The Sheriff’s Office believes there could be other victims in the Ballenger case, Bobo stated. The Sheriff’s Office is asking anyone with information to call investigator Megan Bennett at 864-503-4598.

It Took 20 Years, But The Feds Have Charged Montana Man In A Child Sex Abuse Case

Tyler Kingkade

BuzzFeed News Reporter

More than 20 years after the alleged crimes, federal prosecutors have charged a former high school athletic trainer with sexual abuse of a minor in connection with accusations he molested dozens of teenagers under the guise of making them better athletes.

BuzzFeed News published a detailed account this month of the allegations against James E. Jensen of Miles City, Montana, after talking to more than a dozen men who said they were victimized when they were minors. At the time, the men expressed anger that the state’s statute of limitations meant Jensen likely would not face criminal charges in the case. But three days later, a federal grand jury indicted the former Custer County District High School athletic trainer.

According to an indictment unveiled by the US attorney for Montana on Friday during Jensen’s first federal court appearance, Jensen used materials from the Internet to try to persuade boys to participate in what he called his “Program,” which allegedly involved molestation of dozens of boys. He’s charged with violating a law against using interstate commerce to “to entice and coerce” a minor to engage in sexual activity.

The three-page indictment did not go into detail about Jensen’s alleged internet use to lure boys, and a spokesperson for the US attorney’s office said they were not available to answer questions about the case due to the government shutdown.

The federal charges are the latest legal move against Jensen, now 78, who was known as “Doc” during his years as an athletic trainer. More than 30 men who say they were abused by Jensen when they were high school athletes have joined in a lawsuit filed against him in September.(10th story on link). That lawsuit says Jensen molested kids as far back as the ’80s and may have abused as many as 200 boys. Separately, Jensen faces state criminal charges involving child pornography that prosecutors say was found on his computer.

After the lawsuit was filed, Jensen admitted to local news outlets that he had masturbated boys, but he denied some of their allegations of anally penetrating them. Local police investigated Jensen last fall but said the state’s statute of limitations for charging him with sex abuse had passed. The statute of limitations does not apply to federal charges involving child sex abuse.

Jensen has pleaded not guilty to both the state and federal charges, according to the Billings Gazette. He faces up to 15 years in prison on the federal charge alone.

The federal indictment echoes the lawsuit and states that Jensen practiced his Program on school property. The school has denied any of its employees knew of alleged abuse by Jensen during his time there, but some of the men told BuzzFeed News that they’d complained about Jensen’s behavior to athletic department employees. In addition, a 1997 memo signed by top school administrators, including one who is now a state lawmaker, directed Jensen to end his “Mentorship Program,” and said he could no longer give students full-body massages unsupervised.

Jensen's victims have all remained anonymous so far. They came together to file the lawsuit after Jensen began sending friend requests to several of them on Facebook, and after he asked for forgiveness in a cryptic message posted in an alumni group for the high school.

According to the Gazette, some of Jensen’s accusers were in court Friday. “I wanted to look him in the eye. I wanted to let him know I’m still here, I’m not backing down,” one of them told the newspaper.

New Jersey swim instructor had years-long sexual relationship with 13-year-old

By Eyewitness News

TENAFLY, New Jersey (WABC) -- A swim instructor in New Jersey was charged with having sexual relations with a 13-year-old child.

Police said 23-year-old Kevin Guo, of Tenafly, was arrested on Thursday.

He's accused of repeatedly engaging in sexual acts with the 13-year-old over the course of two years.

He was charged with sexual assault and endangering the welfare of a child.

Shouldn't it be aggravated sexual assault since he was twice her age and her instructor?

Utah judge sides with child rapist's rights

over child victim's welfare

Utah group fights orders requiring child victims

to testify at preliminary hearings

By Annie Knox

A Utah girl told investigators she was 12 years old when a man she knew gave her alcohol and raped her in April. The Utah Court of Appeals now is weighing whether she can be compelled to take the stand against him at a preliminary hearing.

SALT LAKE CITY — A Utah girl told investigators she was 12 years old when a man she knew gave her alcohol and raped her in April.

The Utah Court of Appeals now is weighing whether she can be compelled to take the stand against him at a preliminary hearing to determine if there's enough evidence for the case to advance to a trial.

Attorneys for the girl say evidence of the man's crimes is already strong. Being forced to testify, they argue, would compound her trauma and would not change the facts. But lawyers for 28-year-old Ivan Michael Lopez contend it's his right to have his legal team cross-examine the girl, who is now 13.

The issue "is of great public significance and has a tendency to evade review," 3rd District Judge James Blanch wrote in an October decision. He sided with Lopez's attorneys, declining to block a subpoena ordering the girl's testimony.

The judge indicated there is probable cause for Lopez to stand trial, with evidence including video of the girl's interview with investigators, plus statements in court from the responding officer and a detective. Still, calling her to testify is "not unreasonable," he wrote, due to her mature demeanor and age.

OMG Judge. Give your head a shake. She will have to face cross-examination by a lawyer, twice. She's 13 years old, not 30. You could end up setting child sex abuse trials back a decade. This would be victim abuse. Somebody has to listen to the children.

Lawyers for the accused man contend no Utah law bars his legal team from questioning the girl. “Crime victims do not have a right under Utah law to refuse to testify at court hearings when they have been lawfully served with a subpoena,” his attorney, Jessica Jacobs, wrote in court filings.

But perpetrators do have a right to refuse to take the stand! How fair is that?

Lawyers for the girl say otherwise.

Cross-examining her “is the very type of traumatic and intimidating ordeal the Legislature was attempting to curb” in a list of crime victims' rights spelled out in the Utah Constitution, the girl's attorney, Bethany Warr, wrote in court documents. Those who come forward as victims in Utah are entitled to be "treated with fairness, respect and dignity, and to be free from harassment and abuse throughout the criminal justice process," Warr noted.

The Utah Crime Victims Legal Clinic in November petitioned the Utah Supreme Court for permission to appeal the case, and the review now is pending in the Court of Appeals.

The issue has often surfaced in Utah's courtrooms, Blanch wrote in his order allowing the subpoena to go forward. But he said victims in many cases have already testified by that point, and defendants often don't want to draw out the case by filing an appeal if they are denied the opportunity to question young victims.

The Supreme Court considered the question earlier this year, in the case of a different 12-year-old girl who prosecutors say was sexually abused by her mother's live-in boyfriend in Utah County in 2014. The girl also gave a statement recorded on video at the Children's Justice Center, and the judge in the case agreed with prosecutors that forcing the girl to testify would violate her right to be treated fairly as a victim.

The man appealed in an effort to secure her testimony, but the Utah Supreme Court in August declined to take a side. It wrote that the man did not appeal the judge's broader decision ordering him to stand trial, so the issue of the child testifying was moot.

Justice John Pearce wrote in the opinion that "we must dismiss this appeal and await another opportunity to answer the question."

Lopez faces charges of raping a child and aggravated sex abuse of a child, both first-degree felonies, plus selling, offering or furnishing alcohol to a minor, a class A misdemeanor. He has not entered pleas to the crimes alleged to have taken place on April 30.

The judge in his order directed the courtroom to be closed to people unrelated to the case and directed Lopez to wait in a holding cell at the time of the teen's testimony. A date for the remainder of the preliminary hearing has not yet been set.

Similar debates have arisen nationally. A 2018 bill introduced in Congress sought to prevent defendants acting as their own attorneys from questioning minor victims, but it did not get a hearing.

The proposal from U.S. Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., followed the Arizona child sexual abuse case of Chris Simcox, the leader of a border militia group who represented himself and sought to cross-examine two girls under age 10, a plan he dropped after victims' rights attorneys sought for the U.S. Supreme Court to block him from doing so. In 2016, he was convicted of abusing one of the children and acquitted of abusing the other.

B.C. Children’s Hospital Claims They Don’t Need Parental Consent for Girl's Testosterone Injections

by Jenn Smith 
Post Millennial

In a technocratic totalitarian country, one of the first and most important tasks is to gain control over the nation’s children.

Of all the foundations upon which free societies are built, the most commonly overlooked and yet one of the most critically important in terms of protecting a diversity of belief is the protection of parental rights.

We have entered a stage in history when this important bulwark against the rise of totalitarianism is under direct assault.

In a previous Op-Ed I wrote for the Post Millennial I pointed out the dangers of child transitioning and how my research and personal experiences as a transgender person has led me to believe that child transitioning is a very bad idea.

That op-ed was written in response to Tanya Granic Allen’s struggles trying to keep gender ideology out of Ontario schools. This highly dangerous ideology is now being promoted in schools all across this nation and in many cases in direct opposition to parental wishes.

Recent developments in British Columbia suggest that SOGI (sexual orientation and gender identity) politics are now actually helping to move our society closer towards becoming a totalitarian state, in which the hearts, minds, and even the bodies of children are being taken from parents and handed over to the technocratic agents of the government.

The “Infants Act” allows children to get

sex-reassignment without parental approval

Almost six months ago I revealed on Facebook and Twitter, that children expressing as transgender could now begin medical transition not only without parental knowledge, but even directly against parental wishes.

While researching another subject, I stumbled across references to something called the “Infants Act,” which was originally designed to give underage youths the legal authority to receive immunization shots without parental approval, but was expanded to include prescriptions for birth control, STDs, abortion, and more.

It essentially emancipated what they called “capable” children to make their own health decisions—with “capable” being loosely defined as being able to understand the nature and implications of the treatment.

Rest assured, they do not tell these kids that more than 40% of them will attempt suicide if they go through with transitioning.

Most of the leading opponents of gender ideology I knew, however, were unaware that it applied to transgender treatment. The idea that it would be used for something as controversial as so-called “sex reassignment” seemed unfathomable.

I was unaware that its use in this regard had already been discussed by gender “experts” in B.C. until I discovered a peer-reviewed document entitled, Caring for Transgender Adolescents in BC: Suggested Guidelines (CTABC). This document was published in 2006 (updated and renamed in 2015) and was coordinated by Joshua Goldberg as part of a joint project between Vancouver Coastal Health and other organizations.

A tool to undermine parental rights

The fact the Infants Act can be used to undermine parental authority in regard to gender transition has not been discussed either by the government or the media.

There was, for instance, a case in Prince George where a father had been ordered to facilitate his daughter’s transitioning, but media reports did not mention that the Infants Act was used to help justify the ruling—a fact I did not confirm myself until I acquired court documents while writing this article.

While the general public is largely unaware, gender specialists in BC have known for some time that this could be used as a weapon to undermine parental objections to “sex reassignment.”

The CTABC document clarified the issue for “care” providers by noting, “in BC, as with any other type of non-emergency medical treatment, sex reassignment of adolescents is governed by the Infants Act.” When I first read this statement, I was quite shocked.

I highly doubted those who drafted the original Act even considered the rare and highly dubious “sex reassignment” procedures.

The fact these “experts” were now advising it be used to override parental objections to “sex reassignment” was alarming, and I immediately went public with the information.

I had extensive debates at that time with pro-child transition advocates who claimed that I was being alarmist and that even though the law existed there was no evidence doctors would actually use it to undermine parental rights.

While I did not possess such evidence at the time, that has now changed.

Child prescribed testosterone injections without father’s consent

About a week prior to writing this article, Angelina Ireland, who is seeking the candidacy for the Conservative Party in Delta, B.C., came to me with a story that essentially underscored and validated all of my concerns about the potentially lethal combination of gender ideology and the Infants Act.

She told me about a father (whom I shall call Michael) in her riding whose young teen daughter (whom I shall call Crystal) had been going through a classic identity crisis.

Knowing that I have been heavily involved in this transgender debate, Angelina arranged for us to meet with Michael and discuss his case.

Crystal’s story was one I have heard many times.

She is just one of countless millions of young girls over the last several decades that has felt uncomfortable with the changes taking place in her body and the psychological pressures associated with not feeling like she fits in with her peers.

After years of troubles with peers, she began engaging in self-harm, cutting, and consuming small amounts of poison, which led to her being taken to the hospital by her parents.

The hospital examined her and released her the same day. While Crystal was never tested for autism, it should be noted that many of these behaviors are common in people with autism.

Crystal became immersed in online chat groups, including ones dedicated to gender transition. One day she cut off her long hair and began suggesting that she felt like a boy.

Her parents (divorced) actually worked with her in this regard and allowed her to socially transition, which included the adoption of a male name for school.

Michael’s ex-wife Debbie arranged for Crystal to get psychological counseling with one of B.C.’s leading transgender focused psychologists (who also helped create the CTABC).

While Michael was convinced his daughter was just going through depression, the doctor dismissed that and said Crystal was transgender.

Then, with Crystal in the room, he suggested testosterone treatment might help. Crystal immediately became fixated on this idea and the doctor referred her to the Gender Clinic at the B.C. Children’s Hospital (BCCH).

Debbie took Crystal to the hospital appointment, and Michael assumed there would be multiple visits before any decisions were made.

While Crystal’s mother supported her desire to transition, Michael and Debbie had a divorce settlement that stipulated health decisions had to be jointly agreed upon, thus Michael was not worried anything drastic would be done without his consent.

It was with some surprise that on Crystal’s very first visit to the BCCH Michael received a call from Debbie saying “they want to start giving her testosterone today.”

Shocked that they would immediately rush to giving a 13 year-old girl testosterone injections, Michael said, “No way, this is too fast.”

Medical transitioning has serious and irreversible side effects

The sudden move towards medically transitioning his daughter inspired Michael to research some of the long term and irreversible side effects of testosterone therapy.

What he discovered was that these drugs come with serious and irreversible side effects, including permanent facial and body hair, an irreversible deepening of the voice, and other potential problems including the possibility of sterilization—although consent forms are very careful to note that the long term consequences of cross sex hormones are not yet fully understood.

For those females that do go through with testosterone “therapy” and later regret it, they can find themselves trapped in a kind of nightmare where they have all of the physical appearances of a male but are actually still female with no functional male parts.

The idea that his daughter might be making emotional decisions today and find herself trapped in a permanently disabled body later severely concerned Michael, as such he informed Debbie, Crystal, and the doctors that he would not support such a drastic action.

B.C. Children’s Hospital claims parental consent

is not required for testosterone treatment

Michael resisted and delayed the testosterone treatments, despite several attempts by BCCH staff to (in his words) “bully” him into accepting the decision.

When it became clear he was not going to acquiesce, the BCCH informed him that he could not refuse and they were going ahead with treatments.

As he had a court order stipulating he had to consent to medical treatments, Michael threatened legal action against the hospital.

Early in December, Michael received a joint letter from a doctor and a social worker in the B.C. Children’s Hospital acknowledging his concerns, but they cited S.17 of the Infants Act and noted that Crystal was evaluated and it was determined that she possessed “sufficient maturity and intelligence to be capable of consenting” to testosterone therapy.

As Crystal was deemed “capable” of making the decision, the “right to consent to treatment belongs to the child alone… the parent cannot veto that decision.” They made it quite clear that consent from either parent was not required.

The doctor and social worker further informed Michael that his request to be kept up to date on his daughter’s medical treatment could not be honored without express approval from Crystal.

Michael informed the hospital that he would seek legal recourse to stop them from administering the injections, to which the hospital replied saying they would delay the treatments by two weeks allowing him time to get a lawyer.

Treatments were scheduled to begin on December 15, but privacy provisions mean that there is no way of knowing if the first injection was administered.

So what we have here essentially, is a social worker tasked with the responsibility of protecting vulnerable children, and a pediatric endocrinologist and professor at UBC, an institution heavily funded by numerous pharmaceutical companies, jointly concluding that a young girl who had been engaging in self harm, cutting herself, and consuming small amounts of poison, was somehow mature enough and responsible enough to make a decision with permanent irreversible consequences for her life.

When her father protested, he was told he had no say in the matter and not even the right to be kept informed.

Parents have thus been rendered as little more than propaganda pawns at best (if they agree) or problems to be silenced if they disagree.

The totalitarian implications of the B.C. “Infants Act”

In his now classic novel 1984, George Orwell conjured up a vision of a nightmarish dystopian state in which all “links between child and parent” were severed; a technocratic state in which children were “taken from their mothers at birth, as one takes eggs from a hen.”

The case of Michael and his daughter strongly suggests that we are now not very far from this dystopian hell, and it should serve as an alarm bell for all those that believe in the sanctity of parental rights, because this could happen to any parent.

B.C.’s Infants Act and its application to gender identity issues in children must be regarded as one of the most heinous assaults we have ever seen not only on parental rights, but upon freedom itself, because parental rights are an important bulwark that protects society against the rise of totalitarianism.

Furthermore, I am going to suggest to the reader, that any state that has seized for itself the power to trample a parent’s rights in order to artificially, medically, and permanently transform a child from one gender into another is a state that has run totally amok and must be brought to heel forthwith.

It is incumbent upon we the people, to finally stand up and demand that they return the natural right of parents to control their own households and look after the well being of their own children without having to worry about the intrusive power of an increasingly totalitarian state.

And for those who would argue the government line that the state has only seized these powers for the “good of children” and for the “good of society,” I will leave you with the timeless warning of C.S. Lewis: “Of all the tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive."

It may be better to live under robber barons than under the omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber barons cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end, for they do so with the approval of their own conscience.”

Russia, India-3, Norway, Sweden, Iran, Turkey, Cambodia All on Today's Global PnP List

Russian woman busted for trying to sell

underage girl’s virginity 

© Interior Ministry

A venturous lady from Saint Petersburg attempted to cash in on the virginity of a 15-year-old girl she met online. She managed to find a generous buyer in Moscow for the unusual article…but he turned out to be an undercover cop.

A hotel room with a large bed, white sheets and dimmed lighting was rented for the night. The rich client was also there and the final details were being agreed.

The female pimp asked the man not to hold back the girl for too long after the deal is done because she had “strict parents” and had to be home in time.

And then the moment she was so eagerly waiting for had arrived. He passed her the cash. The whole 650,000 rubles (almost $9,700) she demanded for the teen’s maidenhood.

The woman’s face brightened when she felt the sweet banknotes in her hands from the police officer, who posed as a client. But her joy was cut short as she was detained on the spot. Being caught red-handed, the shocked perpetrator had nothing to do, but confess.

The 22-year-old told the operatives that she found the girl on social media and persuaded her to part with her virginity by promising her easy money. She then traveled to from Saint Petersburg to Moscow and arranged everything for the transaction to take place there.

However, the woman insisted that she never planned to keep the cash for herself and only wanted to help the girl find a good man. But police believe otherwise, saying that she apparently planned to flee after getting the money and already purchases a ticket out of Moscow.

The wannabe female pimp had been put in custody and now faces criminal charges over involving an underage person in prostitution.

Bengaluru man gets 14 years for impregnating teen

Four years after a harrowing case of child rape was reported in Bengaluru, a sessions court in the city convicted a cab driver for repeatedly raping a 12-year-old girl for months.

The 71st CCH Court convicted Santosh Kumar (29) under section 376 (rape) of the IPC under Sections 3 (penetrative sexual assault) 4 (punishment for penetrative sexual assault), 6 (aggravated penetrative sexual assault) and 7 (sexual assault) of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act.

Santosh Kumar was given a 14-year life sentence and a fine of Rs 20,000 was imposed on him by the court.

In August 2014, 12-year-old Anu*, a resident of Bengaluru, experienced severe abdominal pain. Anu had lost her father when she was 6 years old and was living with her mother and younger brother in a small apartment in north-west Bengaluru.

When her mother, an employee at a garment factory, returned home, she was shocked to see her daughter in such pain. Anu was taken to the hospital immediately and the doctors declared that she was pregnant.

That’s when Anu told her mother about the abuse she had been facing at the hands of Santosh Kumar. According to the Peenya police, Santosh Kumar, a tourist taxi cab driver, was Anu’s neighbour.

Ever since her father died, Anu’s mother had taken up multiple jobs to make ends meet. “She couldn’t be at home a lot because of the work. Anu and her brother studied in a nearby government school. Her brother was poor at studies and Santosh used this bit of detail to abuse the girl,” the police said.

Santosh would walk into Anu’s home and scare her younger brother. “He would tell the boy to go into the room and study. He would lock the room door from outside and rape the girl,” the police added.

Santosh threatened to kill Anu’s brother and mother if she ever revealed the truth. After Anu became pregnant, her mother filed a complaint at the Peenya police station. The ACP of Yeshwanthpur began probing the case.

In 2015, Anu gave birth to a baby boy and the investigating officers sent Santosh’s blood samples for a DNA test, which came back positive. The baby, however, died four months later. A charge sheet was filed in December 2015 along with the DNA test results, the preliminary medical report and 15 witnesses.

Norway's biggest child abuse case:

Man held over sexual assaults on 300 boys

A 26-year-old man has been charged in a case described by police as Norway's biggest ever sexual abuse case.

The man, reportedly a football referee, has been under investigation for several years and now faces charges involving more than 300 teenage boys.

The victims were mainly targeted over the internet in Norway, Sweden and Denmark, according to prosecutors. But several of the boys are thought to have met the man in person.

According to Norwegian reports, the man pretended to be a girl named Sandra or Henriette on chat forums in order to win the boys' trust, persuading them to send him naked pictures and videos of themselves.

A local newspaper said he would tempt them with offers of money, naked pictures purportedly of Sandra or tobacco snuff, and once they had sent material he would allegedly threaten them with blackmail if they failed to send more.

Norwegian public broadcaster NRK said he had received more than 16,000 videos.

The rape charges are believed to be related to an alleged threat to post photos and videos online, although several charges involve physical abuse of victims the man met in person.

State prosecutor Guro Hansson Bull said it was "the biggest case of sexual abuse in Norway so far". The alleged victims varied in age from 9 to 21 and all but one had felt unable to reveal what had happened to their parents, police told Norwegian media.

A lawyer acting for the alleged victims said virtually all of them were struggling to deal with the case because they had a strong sense of guilt.

Paedophiles success depends in no small way on creating that sense of guilt in their victims. 

A team of 15 investigators worked on the case, sifting through photos, video and chat files.

The suspect was initially arrested in 2016 but then released, before being detained a second time. He is now reportedly being held in Ila jail near Oslo.

His lawyer, Gunhild Laerum, told Norwegian media that he had co-operated with police from the start and had been receiving therapy, although he was yet to respond to each individual charge.

She said her client had led a double life, with an addiction to an illegal existence online.

The case will go to court in 2019.

Sweden may become latest country to annul
child marriages

Child marriage increases the chances of girls' dropping out of education, living in poverty and becoming victims of domestic violence.

Girls in Flen, Sweden. The town has welcomed so many asylum-seekers in recent years that they now make up about a quarter of its population. Michael Probst / AP file

By Saphora Smith

Swedish lawmakers are set to vote on a proposed crackdown on child marriage next week — a move echoing measures taken by a host of countries in the wake of Europe's refugee crisis.

A current ban on marriages for people under 18 would be extended, if the bill is approved, to invalidate such unions of foreigners carried out abroad. Couples who wish to stay together will have to wait until 18 to remarry.

The potential law and others are widely seen as a reflection of the challenges involved in integrating the more than one million migrants who have arrived in Europe since 2015.

"We need to let children be children no matter if they are from Sweden or another country," said My Hellberg, from TRIS, or the Young Women's Rights Society, which runs shelters and campaigns against domestic abuse perpetrated in the name of “honor” for bringing shame on families.

Child marriage disproportionately affects girls, and increases their chances of dropping out of education, living in poverty and becoming victims of domestic violence.

The number of underage married asylum-seekers and refugees across Europe is not known, however, and rights groups estimate that many unions go unrecorded.

Iranian Parliament Rejects Motion To Ban

Marriage Of Girls Under Thirteen

Radio Farda

A young actress plays the role of Giorgia, 10, forced to marry Paolo, 47, during a happening organized by Amnesty International to denounce child marriage, on October 27, 2016 in Rome.

A parliamentary motion banning child marriage in Iran has been rejected by Majles (parliament), an MP reported.

A member of women's faction in the Islamic Republic's parliament, Tayyebeh Seyavoshi says, "The Legal and Judicial Commission of Majles has rejected a parliamentary motion that proposed a ban on allowing under thirteen-year-old girls to marry."

Following the rejection, Ms. Seyavoshi says, "We are waiting for the Commission's official report, and then, decide on our next step."

According to a member of the Legal and Judicial commission, Yahya Kamalpour, the motion was rejected after Grand Ayatollahs and "sources of emulation" vehemently opposed it.

Without referring to a time frame, Ms. Seyavoshi announced that more than 300 girls under nine, and between 30,000 to 40,000 girls under 13-14 years old marry in Iran.

Earlier on December 4, a prominent member of the Islamic Republic's Cultural and Social Council for Women had defended child marriage, arguing it protects girls from a life of prostitution and illegal abortions.

Is child marriage that much different from prostitution, from the girl's perspective?

Fereshteh Rouhafza had told the state-run Iran Labor News Agency (ILNA) on December 4, that in light of the rapidly growing number of increasingly young girls undergoing illegal abortions and joining the sex trade, “opposition to child marriage is wrong.”

Rouhafza, who is in charge of planning and policy for the council, declined to provide evidence of her claims about Iran’s young women, saying the statistics are available, but it would be irresponsible to make them public.

"Publishing the statistics will encourage other underage girls to follow suit. I believe revealing such statistics is harmful to society,” Rouhafza said.

Rohafza’s comments reflect the position of the conservative clerical establishment toward child marriage. Insisting that Prophet Muhammad is the perfect example for all Muslims, they note that he married a six-year-old bride, Aisha, with whom he consummated the marriage when she was only nine years old.

Mohammed, the perfect example! Good grief! Should every Muslim be a paedophile?

According to Iran’s Association of Children’s Rights, the number of girls married in Iran under the age of 15 climbed from 33,383 in 2006 to 43,459 in 2009, a 30 percent increase in three years. Experts say the increase is due to deepening poverty and parents’ desire to control their daughter’s sexuality.

The Islamic Republic’s civil code stipulates that the legal age of marriage in Iran is thirteen for girls and fifteen for boys. However, the civil code allows girls as young as nine to marry with the consent of their father or the permission of a judge.

Child sex abuse in Turkey

RUSTAM ISAMAILBEYLI, SAMIRA AHMEDBEYLI JAM News

Approximately 50 children are sexually abused or

given away to child marriage per day in Turkey

From 2010 to 2017, 134,960 criminal cases of child sex abuse was investigated in Turkey.

This equals to about 50 children per day that are sexually abused. The number also includes young girls given away in marriage before the legal age of 18.

Moreover, this is only official statistics and cases that have been investigated (based on data published by the Ministry of Justice).

In 2018 the public demanded that action be taken to curb the abuse, and the government began to tackle the problem. Parliament is currently looking into a bill to toughen the punishment for the sexual abuse of children and women.

An epidemic of violence? 

Turkey is currently awaiting a court verdict on another investigation related to child murder.

The body of 9-year-old Sedanur Guzel was found after seven days of searching. The child disappeared in September in the Kagızman area, Kars province.

It turned out that her three neighbors first raped, then killed her.

On 21 December, the state prosecutor demanded life imprisonment for premeditated murder with aggravating circumstances, as well as imprisonment for 24 years for the rape of a minor.

Meanwhile, the fate of 3-year-old Evrim Atish, who went missing in the Rurkhal area, Tokat province, is still unknown. She has been missing since July 2018, with officials still searching for her. The girl is believed to have been killed by her parents.

Although her father is already in jail, her mother is a suspect. According to preliminary reports, her parents abused her and killed her, then hid the body in the hope of avoiding punishment.

A month before Evrim disappeared, three other children were killed in June 2018 in three parts of the country: three-year-old Leyla Aydemir from Ağrı, 8-year-old Eylul Yaglikara from Ankara, and 6-year-old Ufuk Tatar from Hatay province.

These children were not sexually abused: they were killed because of hostilities between their relatives.

Children almost always pay the price for adults stupidity and insanity.

Are the Turkish authorities unable to protect children? 

Local NGOs believe this to be the case. Sociologist Emrah Kirimsoy says that, in addition to the statistics on child murder, over 100,000 children have gone missing in Turkey over the past 8 years.

“This is an incredible number,” he says, “and it is time for the state to make this problem a priority.”

A plan including preventative measures for Turkey were drawn up for 2014-2019. However, the chairman of the online platform Let’s Stop Femicide, Dr. Gulsum Kav, said that this document exists only formally.

Over 100,000 children have gone missing in Turkey

over the past 8 years

“This document is not mentioned by the state or by society. I think that if the state structures simply worked in accordance with this instruction, half of the problems would resolve by themselves.”

The death penalty, or more child protection measures?

In 2014, the number of sexual violence and child murder cases peaked in Turkey. The Prime Minister of Turkey, Rejeb Tayyib Erdogan, invited the public to discuss whether or not the death penalty should be reinstated.

Although the death penalty has not been reinstated, the legislation has been made significantly harsher. The murder of a minor is now punishable by life imprisonment in a high-security prison. For sexual and domestic violence against children, one can be sentenced to 20 years in prison.

But many lawyers in Turkey believe that, instead of toughening up punishments, the government should make more of an effort to protect children from violence.

“In Turkey, the punishments for crimes against juveniles are already more severe than in other states. But the situation has not changed. The main thing that needs to be done is to ensure that existing laws work,” says a member of the Juvenile Bar Association, attorney Gazal Bayram.

27,000 underage girls given away in marriage every year

Relying on registered cases alone, at least 27,000 underage children are forced into marriage on a yearly basis.

A total of 45 per cent of all investigations into cases of sexual violence against minors are not brought to punishment.

According to a recent report by the Istanbul branch of the Society for the Protection of Human Rights, Turkey ranks third in the world in terms of pedophilia.

Religious society and pedophilia

There are also cases of sexual abuse against children in the dormitories of educational institutions.

In just four months, from the end of 2017 to the beginning of 2018, three criminal cases were launched into sexual abuse against children, looking into religious organisations engaged in educational work. Among the victims was a 9-year-old boy.

Most of the dormitories in which these cases were recorded belong to the religious Suleymanchi society.

For many years now, the opposition has come out against this organisation, but no measures have been taken. All cases end with the punishment of only a single Suleymanchi individual. 

Suleymanchis are Sufi-oriented Sunnis. There appear to be migratory movements between Turkey and the Turkish-speaking Republics of the Caucasus and Central Asia.

The most high-profile case in recent years in Turkey occurred in the dormitory of the religious Ansar Vakfi organisation, where juveniles were molested.

Ansar Vakfi - from their website - Ensar Foundation Dormitory Psychological Counseling and Guidance Unit gave `Body Language Training 'within the scope of workshops.

In 2012-2015, a teacher named Muharrem Buyukturk sexual assaulted 45 boys. He was sentenced to 508 years and three months in prison.

One of the most notable events in the sensational case was the statement made by the then Minister for Family and Social Policy, Sema Ramazanoglu:

“We cannot blacken the whole organisation because of one case,” she said. The statement has long remained on the agenda of the news media and has caused an uproar from the political opposition.

Despite protests, the Ensar Vakfi foundation is still operating.

What is the government doing? 

On 20 November 2008, the Ministry of Justice issued a circular on crimes against the sexual integrity of children and women. The seven-point document requires prosecutors to immediately initiate an investigation after receiving a statement.

Instead of ignoring them like they usually did.

Amendments to the criminal code are expected in the near future. According to draft amendments which have already been submitted to the Turkish parliament, the punishment for charges of sexual violence against children will be made more severe and the term of imprisonment will increase from the current 20 years to 40 years.

In addition, the accused will be subjected to chemical castration.

Hmmm. That might help!

Cambodian children still vulnerable to sex abuse by foreigners: NGO

Khy Sovuthy / Khmer Times   

More than 200 convicted foreign paedophiles have abused nearly 900 children since 2003. KT/Chor Sokunthea

Action Pour Les Enfants yesterday expressed concern that Cambodian children are still the target of foreign paedophiles.

Samleang Seila, executive director of APLE, yesterday during a workshop said that developing countries do not yet have concrete means to discourage and prevent the sexual abuse of children.

“Suspects will always look to take advantage of poor communities and weak law enforcement,” Mr Seila said. “Children are vulnerable, especially those living on the streets.”

“The exploitation of children in Cambodia continues to threaten their safety,” he added.

According to APLE, foreign tourists suspected of paedophilia continue to visit the Kingdom in order to exploit weak law enforcement.

APLE investigated 102 cases in 2017 and 89 cases in 2018, he noted. It said that suspected paedophiles have also changed their tactics from looking for potential victims in the cities to looking for victims in rural areas.

Though one thing remains the same; paedophiles look to persuade potential victims and their family by giving financial compensation.

“More than 200 convicted foreign paedophiles committed abuse on nearly 900 victims in Cambodia from 2003 until now,” Mr Seila said. “Most of the victims were children from poor communities that lacked knowledge of what sexual abuse is.”

He added that most of the victims were boys and that it took long-term investigations in order to find sufficient evidence to arrest suspects.

Chou Bun Eng, a secretary of state with the Interior Ministry and vice chairwoman of the National Authority against Human Trafficking, yesterday said child abuse and exploitation are still major concerns.

“Abuse and exploitation still occur, so we are concerned about this because the rate has not decreased,” Ms Bun Eng said. “If we don’t work hard, Cambodian children will continue to be at risk.”

She added that in response, the authorities have disseminated information by distributing leaflets about sexual abuse to poor communities.

Ms Bun Eng said that a network of local authorities in the country has been created to share information. “We will continue to prevent and crack down on crimes and arrest suspects and we will continue to implement laws,” she said. “The figure of this year did not decrease when compared to last year.”

Then it would be obvious that 'continuance' is not working and more is needed.

She noted that alcohol, drugs and pornography all play a role in influencing victims to comply with the wants of paedophiles.

“Anyone suspected of committing crimes against children must be put on trial,” Ms Bun Eng said. “And if they’re found guilty, they must be given a harsh sentence.”

Take action against foster parents involved in sexual abuse of girl in their care, Maneka to Sonowal

New Delhi, (PTI): Union Women and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi has asked Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal to immediately take action against foster parents involved in the alleged sexual abuse of a girl under their care.

A 13-year-old girl was given for foster care to a couple in Silchar in Cachar district of Assam on May 9 by child care institution Nivedita Nari Sangstha (NNS). During the follow-up visit of the NNS officials, the girl complained of not being comfortable with her foster parents, Gandhi said.

After three months, the child was surrendered back into the child care institution and when medical examination on the girl was conducted it was found that she was sexually abused over a period of three months by the male parent, she said.

The NNS lodged a police complaint in September but no action has been taken so far, Gandhi said in a letter to Sonowal.

“Under the provisions of the Juvenile Justice Act, the POSCO Act as well as the IPC, the foster parents, the members of the child welfare committee and the officers of the district child protection unit, who have handled this case, are criminally liable,” she said.

Gandhi urged Sonowal to ensure that necessary action is taken against the persons responsible for sexual abuse of the child and they are brought to justice.

“In the WCD Ministry, we follow the principle of zero tolerance to cases of child abuse and expect strictest possible action against the perpetrators,” she added.

Perhaps an investigation into why the police did not act on the FIR would be helpful in discouraging police from ignoring such cases in the future.

Kamla Bhasin Speaks up About Sexual Abuse in India

VISHNU GOPINATH

In the third episode of ‘Me, the Change’ podcast, gender activist, author and poet Kamla Bhasin speaks up about being sexually abused as a child, the loss of her daughter and her work in the field of women empowerment.

At the age of four, Bhasin says, a male domestic helper made her sit on his lap and sexually abused her.

“After that, over the next four years,

12 or 13 men, all connected to the family

– teacher, tailor, father’s friend,

older brother’s friend – did the same.”

Kamla Bhasin

She says, "So when people ask now why women are speaking ten years later, I say it took me forty years to speak up. It’s because of the women’s movement that this is possible. Soon, this 10 will reduce to two, and one, and eventually young women will speak up on the same day and say, ‘Stop.’"

Growing up, Bhasin says she never conformed to gender norms – she climbed trees, played with boys, and dressed in ‘boys’ clothes’.

‘Still Don’t Know What I’d do to Those Men’

Bhasin describes that she used to imagine what she would do to the men who had abused her. She says:

“I wrote a book later, called, If only someone broke the silence. In it, I asked – I was an extrovert. I lived with my family with six brothers and sisters… How come I didn’t tell anybody about it? And I made a list of these thirteen fellows, and thought about what I’d do to them all the time. When I grew up and became strong, (I thought about) what I’d do to these fellows, and I still do not know the answer.”