Urgent Review Needed into Release of Rapist Police Officer After just Seven Years of Double-Life Sentence
Rape Crisis England and Wales says 'deeply disturbing' case highlights 'urgent need for greater clarity around Parole Board decision making'
Yvette Cooper has demanded an urgent review into the “disturbing and incomprehensible” decision to release a former police officer jailed for raping and sexually assaulting vulnerable women just seven years into a double life sentence.
The chair of the Home Affairs Select Committee made the call after it emerged over the weekend that Stephen Mitchell, who was warned he posed such a danger to women he may well spend the rest of his natural life behind bars, had in fact been allowed out following a decision by the Parole Board.
Mr Justice Wilkie said the Northumbria Police constable was a “ruthless sexual predator” when jailing him at Newcastle Crown Court in January 2011. Mitchell, who was 42 when he was jailed, preyed on women he met while on duty from his base at Pilgrim Street police station in Newcastle.
Originally from Glasgow, he raped and sexually abused heroin addicts, shoplifters and a disabled teenager by offering them help while in custody, then demanding sexual favours afterwards. He told one of his victims that if she complained, “no one would believe a junkie”.
Sentencing him at Newcastle Crown Court, the judge said: “So cowed and downtrodden by their experiences of life and by your influence were those seven women that they did not report what you had done until they were given the opportunity to do so by the police investigation into your activities years later.”
He ordered Mitchell should serve at least seven-and-a-half years in jail before being considered for parole, adding: “Thereafter, you will only be released, if at all, if the parole board has concluded it is safe and in the public interest for you to be released on public licence. That may not be for many years, if for ever.”
Nevertheless, the Parole Board released him on his very first opportunity. Incredible!
Ms Cooper called for an update from the justice secretary, David Gauke, on the order to grant Mitchell parole. “This case is disturbing and incomprehensible,” she said.
“For someone who has committed such appalling crimes and been told that they may not be released for many years, if ever, to then be subject to release on parole after only seven-and-a-half years is just impossible to understand. We urgently need to know what the Parole Board’s reasons were because to most people this really does not look like justice for victims.”
The Labour MP also pointed to the recent controversy surrounding the release of another serial sex offender, John Worboys.
Ms Cooper said: “The justice secretary also needs to tell us urgently what progress he has made since the decision on John Worboys to stop the same things happening all over again. It shouldn’t be left to victims to take legal action to get answers about why someone is being released or to stop serious and dangerous criminals being released early.”
Rape Crisis England and Wales described the case as “deeply disturbing” and said it highlights “the urgent need for greater clarity around Parole Board decision making”.
Discussing victims’ experiences of the criminal justice system in a statement, the organisation added: “The criminal justice process takes too long, can be re-traumatising, and sometimes, as this case highlights, even when a dangerous, serial offender is convicted, measures taken to minimise the potential harm they can cause seem severely inadequate.”
The former soldier, who resigned from Northumbria Police, was nicknamed “PC Cucumber” by investigating officers for his cold, callous demeanour.
After the case, Northumbria Police apologised for Mitchell’s “evil” actions. The force admitted serious failings had allowed him to attack drug addicts and shoplifters after arresting them.
German couple jailed for prostituting their 9yo son
to pedophiles online
A couple in Germany has been convicted and sentenced to 12 years behind bars for running an underage rape ring over a two-year period and for repeatedly pimping out their young son on the Darknet.
The victim’s mother, 39-year-old Berrin T, who agreed to have her son repeatedly raped and filmed between May 2015 and August 2017, was sentenced to 12 years and six months in prison. Her partner, 48-year-old Christian L., also convicted of rape, aggravated sexual assault of children, forced prostitution and distribution of child pornography, was sentenced to 12 years with preventive detention.
At the conclusion of the trial in Freiburg, Judge Stefan Bürgelin also ordered the couple to pay €42,500 ($49,100) to the boy and a six-year-old girl who was also a victim of a pedophile network, which, along with the jailed couple, included six other men.
video 1:05 German narrative
Another pathetic mother
Freiburg Regional Court had already sentenced four men who had abused the boy. A 41-year-old man from the Breisgau, identified as Markus K., was sentenced to ten years behind bars and preventive detention while a 50-year-old Bundeswehr soldier, Knut S., received eight years. Swiss national, Jürgen W., 37, was handed nine years and preventive detention, while a 33-year-old telecommunications technician, Javier GD from Barcelona, was given a 10-year sentence. Both the Swiss and the Spaniard defendants admitted paying the couple €10,000 ($11,560) to rape the boy multiple times.
These people should not be in jail for 10-12 years; they should be flushed straight to hell.
A trial in Karlsruhe had previously sentenced a 44-year-old man from Schleswig-Holstein to eight years and preventive detention for participating in the ring’s activity. The seventh man, from Neumünster, connected to the pedophile network, was handed seven years and three months for abusing his own underage daughter. The three-year-old girl, mentally and physically underdeveloped at the time, was also raped by Berrin T. and Christian L. in a particularly severe way, the judge noted on Tuesday, adding that the victims had been treated like goods, constantly insulted, humiliated, injured and frightened.
“The child screamed in pain, it was the most violent act,”said Bürgelin after reviewing the abuse videos widely circulated and sold on the Darkweb. “We have not seen any other video on which the child has suffered such pain.”
The case, which has sent shockwaves across the world, has raised serious concerns about the authorities' failure to protect the boy, who is now 10. The stepfather had a previous conviction for child abuse and was prohibited from having contact with children, let alone live with them in the same apartment. The 10-year-old now lives with a foster family.
South Korean filmmaker, actor accused of sexual assaults
ByWooyoung Lee
Filmmaker Kim Ki-duk appears at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office on June 12, over allegations that he sexually abused women. Photo by Yonhap
The report by MBC's PD Notebook detailed decades of sexual harassment and assault allegations against the two influential figures in the South Korean movie scene. New accusations emerged in the TV program, in addition to a slew of sexual abuse allegations made a couple of months ago.
Actresses and female film staff accused director Kim, winner of the Golden Lion of the Venice Film Festival in 2012, of inappropriate behavior and harassment.
"Women staff members used to say you have to show up at his filming sites like a filthy bum or be ready to deal with his harassment," she said in an interview with PD Notebook.
An actress also accused Kim of putting his hand into her shorts while she was sitting on a bench awaiting a taxi.
"That's how he harassed women," she said in the TV program.
Another former staffer alleged that the 58-year-old director put his hands under a rookie actress' skirt, rubbed her belly and kissed her forcefully.
"When the actress ran out of the studio, he gave me an address to find her," the former staff member said.
PD Notebook requested to interview Kim regarding the sexual harassment and assault allegations, but he denied.
Actor Cho Jae-hyun was also accused of sexually assaulting an actress and a woman in bathrooms. Cho, dubbed director Kim's other "persona," has appeared in many movies directed by Kim.
An actress revealed that Cho pushed her into a bathroom, saying he would teach her acting, and locked the door and kissed her forcefully.
Another woman said she was threatened by Cho when he met her at a karaoke bar in Seoul. "Cho followed me when I went to a bathroom and told me to shut my mouth," she said.
Cho released a statement through his lawyer saying the allegations are not true.
28 y/o Indonesian woman held captive for 15 years by Shaman & Jins
By Sommer Brokaw
Police in Indonesia say they found a woman who had been held captive in a cave for 15 years on the island of Sulawesi. Photo courtesy Jiri Flogel/Shutterstock
(UPI) -- Police have rescued a 28-year-old Indonesian woman who was held captive in a cave for 15 years.
"We found the victim in a gap between rocks," Tolitoli Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. M. Iqbal Alqudusy told The Jakarta Post on Sunday.
Police said they found the woman, identified as HS, in a crevice behind several large rocks near Galumpang village, Tolitoli regency, Central Sulawesi, after they received a report that an 83-year-old village shaman, or healer, named Jago was hiding her.
Authorities found the woman in a cave that measured around 3 by 5 feet.
Police are investigating further, but suspect the woman was held as a sex slave.
Since the woman was only 13 when she was captured in 2003, suspect Jago faces charges of threatening, forcing or deceiving children to participate in fornication, which carries a 15-year prison sentence.
Police allege the victim was forced to stay in the cave during the day and brought to the shaman's house at night.
"The victim seems to have been brainwashed, making her afraid to run away and afraid to meet other people because she was being watched by a jin," a local resident named Sugeng told the Post.
'Jins' are what we call in the west, 'demons'. Whether they are real or not matters little as paedophiles from India to Indonesia use them to frighten little children into submission.
Top conductor jailed again for child sex abuse
A GRAMMY award-winning, conductor who abused a boy who saw him as a “surrogate father” is back behind bars. Joseph Cullen, who has worked at Westminster Cathedral and with the London Symphony Chorus, called the child his “special friend” and told him not to tell anyone their secret.
By DAVID SCOTT
The offence involves the sexual abuse of a young boy between
nine and 12 at the time, when he was particularly vulnerable.
You were in a position of trust. You took advantage of that position.
Sheriff Martin Jones QC
The father-of-three was, at one time, the choirmaster and organist at St Andrew’s Cathedral in Glasgow and choirmaster at the city’s St Aloysius Church.
Sheriff Martin Jones QC jailed Cullen, 58, for 10 months and ordered him to sign on the Sex Offenders’ Register for 10 years.
He said: “The offence involves the sexual abuse of a young boy between nine and 12 at the time, when he was particularly vulnerable. You were in a position of trust. You took advantage of that position.
“The crime which you committed all those years ago remains serious – that’s not diluted by the passage of time.”
Not for the victim it is not diluted, but a 10 month sentence - that seems hopelessly diluted!
In July 2015, Cullen was jailed for 12 months for two other charges of using lewd and libidinous conduct at both cathedrals against two other boys.
The court earlier heard the child, who had experienced family problems, joined the St Andrews’ choir at the age of nine and was a keen singer.
Procurator fiscal depute Niall Macdonald said: “Cullen became more involved in the complainer’s life, taking him out on trips, driving him home from choir practice and spending time with him.
St Andrew’s Cathedral in Glasgow (Image: Google)
Mr Macdonald added: “The complainer did not disclose what happened to anyone at the time as he thinks Cullen told him not to say anything.” The court heard of “several other occasions” when Cullen abused the boy in the organ room.
On one occasion, Cullen, from Leeds, drove the boy home and when he discovered that nobody was in, asked to see his bedroom, where he carried out another sex attack. He then took the child to another relative’s house but told him not to tell anyone because it was wrong, and their “special secret”.
In June 2015, the victim’s mother saw information online about Cullen’s earlier conviction relating to historical offences against children. She told her son who contacted the police to report what Cullen had done to him.
Defence counsel Thomas Ross QC said Cullen had a “very successful career as a freelance musician”. Mr Ross added: “He had a wonderful reputation in that field and as soon as he was arrested on the charges in relation to these matters, all of that was lost.”
Cullen was most famous as a director of the London Symphony Chorus, winning two Grammy awards. He has also been a conductor in America, France, Italy, Ireland and across the UK, including at Westminster Cathedral.
Yorkshire vicar Terence Grigg guilty of
child sex abuse
The Reverend Canon Terence Grigg, 84, of Norton, North Yorkshire, was a minister at St Mary's Church in Cottingham, East Yorkshire.
He denied 15 sex offences including indecent assault and two serious sexual assaults, but was convicted of 14 charges at Hull Crown Court. However Grigg was cleared of one indecent assault charge.
During the three-week trial, jurors heard the ex-clergyman had "identified" the victims who were all vulnerable "in some way" and had used "that vulnerability for his own sexual gratification".
The court heard he stayed in a hotel room with one boy while on a trip to London and had taken him to visit a gay bar, with Grigg claiming he did not realise what it was at the time.
Some of the alleged assaults, which took place in a variety of locations, were carried out when one of the victims was 10 years old, the jury heard.
Another victim kept a coded diary that recorded the alleged abuse he suffered from the age of 14, the prosecution claimed.
'Abuse of trust'
In a statement, the Diocese of York and The Bishop of Hull, the Rt Revd Alison White, apologised to the victims and offered support.
They said: "Our first concern today is for the damage done through the actions of Terence Grigg to his victims and survivors and those they love. We offer to all of them an unreserved apology for the harm he did and for his abuse of the trust they placed in him. It's taken many years of suffering and great courage for those who have come forward to help to secure his convictions. "
The diocese said the church was "committed to improving its policies and procedures", adding that new safeguarding measures had been put in place and were "under constant review".
Grigg is due to be sentenced on Thursday.
Norton, North Yorkshire
Cop raped toddler and government lawyer made
vile child sex abuse videos
vile child sex abuse videos
John Ryan-Guess and Dean Roberts met in an online chat room
Welsh Government lawyer John Ryan-Guess was handed 20 years for 37 charges, including sexual assault and making indecent images. Cardiff Crown Court heard Ryan-Guess, 43, also admitted aiding and abetting Roberts to commit sexual assault. The pair had met on an online chat forum called Kik.
After police found videos on Ryan-Guess’s phone of him carrying out sexual assaults on children, he told officers he had been interested in young girls all his life and found them arousing.
The men appeared at Cardiff Crown Court on Monday August 6.
In April this year the South Wales Police Paedophile Online Investigation Team (POLIT) launched an investigation into the activities of Ryan-Guess after intelligence was received concerning predatory activity by an adult male in an online chat room.
A warrant was issued and Ryan-Guess was subsequently arrested. Upon further investigation, evidence was also uncovered concerning the behaviour of Dean Roberts. He too was arrested.
Both men were charged with multiple offences of sexual activity with children.
Roberts was formally dismissed from South Wales Police following a Special Case Hearing held by the Chief Constable on June 14 having previously resigned from the force on May 29.
The investigation has led to further arrests across England as well as overseas.
Such was the strength of evidence that both Ryan-Guess and Roberts entered guilty pleas.
Detective Superintendent Wendy Gunney said: “Today’s sentences reflect the gravity of the crimes that have been committed. The two people responsible for the appalling abuse of a number of very young children have now been brought to justice.
“The investigation uncovered extremely disturbing child abuse evidence and the guilty pleas have ensured that the jury were spared from viewing evidence that would have been extremely traumatic.
“The safeguarding of children has been an absolute priority for the investigation team. Today’s sentence does not mark the end of our investigations and we will work tirelessly to identify any other victims or witnesses and seek the justice they deserve.
“There are also investigations being conducted by other police forces in the UK and around the world. “Above all this investigation has been focused on the protection of children and my thoughts today remain with those victims.”
Man jailed after being found with
child sex abuse images at work
Christchurch's Justice and Emergency Services Precinct Christchurch's Justice and Emergency Services Precinct Photo: Supplied / Minister of Justice
He pleaded guilty to two representative charges covering the possession of 29,380 objectionable images and videos showing children being sexually abused and exploited.
Challis' employer found the image files and reported the matter to the Department of Internal Affairs.
The department's censorship manager, Stephen Waugh, said the agency was proactive in investigating this kind of material, but they also appreciate support from employers and the community.
"It is of particular concern to us when offenders download and view child sexual exploitation and abuse images while at work.
"This can potentially widen the victimisation circle for the children in these images, as well as expose unsuspecting colleagues to these abuse images," Mr Waugh said.
‘I thought she was 15’: Accused pedophile priest says
‘the devil’ made him molest a child
Echos of Flip Wilson here!
Father Paolo Glaentzer, 70, was arrested last month for allegedly molesting an 11-year-old girl in a car. The court did not jail the priest, but he is currently being held on house arrest as an investigation continues.
The disgraced priest told an Italian newspaper that he is “very sorry” about what happened, but argued that “the devil tripped me” into abusing the girl.
Glaentzer said that the encounter was “an exchange of affection” that got out of control, and added that the victim seemed “much more mature than she was.”
“I found out she was 11 years old...I thought she was at least 15,” he told the newspaper. Even if Glaentzer’s victim was 15, the priest would still have broken the law. Italy’s age of consent is 16 when one partner holds some kind of power and influence over the other, like a priest or teacher does.
The priest, who the interviewer noted seemed totally unbothered by the ongoing criminal case, said that he has “entrusted myself to Jesus and Mary.”
You perhaps should have done that before you molested the little girl? Was she the first, or one in a series? Did you make a vow of celibacy to God? Of course you did; so why do you think Jesus and Mary are going to have mercy on you after profaning their Names?
The Catholic church has been rocked by a series of scandals recently. Last year it was revealed that almost 550 children in a choir led by the brother of former Pope Benedict XVI were abused, with 47 of them raped.
Last month, Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, the former archbishop of Washington DC, resigned, facing a litany of sex abuse allegations, including sexual abuse of an altar boy and rape of two young trainee priests.
NZ man who filmed women in shower using cameras hidden in shampoo granted bail
The 36-year-old man, from Hawke’s Bay in the east coast of New Zealand’s scenic North Island, was convicted by a Hastings District Court for making 219 recording of 34 women in less than three months.
Most of the victims were aged under 30 and showered in a guesthouse at times arranged by the man. The shampoo bottle cameras would record footage of women from shoulder to knee, but often faces were shown if they bent down. The footage was posted online with race and age descriptions along with personality traits and occupation of his victims.
The man was exposed in February after a victim found footage of herself online. On Thursday he pleaded guilty to 51 charges of making, distributing and publishing intimate visual recordings of his female guests.
Homestay is an affordable accomodation alternative for travellers who wish to stay with a local in the area they are visiting.
Judge Geoff Rea reluctantly granted the man temporary anonymity until his October sentencing to protect his wife - who the defense said suffers from a condition that may worsen if he was identified. Judge Rea noted the irony of the man recording and uploading footage of women to pornographic websites, while wanting to protect his wife from the repercussions of his actions.
The man has since removed the videos from display and deleted his account. When arrested he told police there was no sexual element to the crime and that he had "done it for the thrill and risk of being caught".
How does it feel now?
He has been released on bail pending sentencing, the most serious charges carry a prison sentence of up to 14 years.
Please pray for this idiot's wife. Her only sin is being a bad judge of character.
Napier is located on Hawkes Bay
UN gender equality official accused of being a ‘predator’ amid hushed internal harassment probe
Ravi Karkara speaking at the United Nations. © UN
A prominent UN adviser has been exposed by Newsweek as the man at the center of a 14-month-long investigation into sexual abuse. The report accuses him of making repeated unwanted advances towards younger men.
Last December, UN Women, the agency responsible for women’s empowerment and equality, published a low-key statement mentioning that an investigation had been opened into an unnamed official. The Newsweek report now claims that the man is India-born Ravi Karkara, who worked as senior adviser to the former deputy executive director of UN Women, Lakshmi Puri, until recently.
Karkara remains on leave while collecting full pay. Meanwhile, several officials have been putting pressure on the organization to complete the probe and reform its internal practices.
According to Newsweek, which spoke to several lawyers and activists familiar with the case, as well as to one of the alleged victims, “the sexual misconduct accusations against Karkara include touching or grabbing a subordinate’s genitals in a hotel room, using work devices to send pornography and follow-up questions to male subordinates, creating a climate of sexual innuendo and obscene gestures in the workplace, and using his position and access as leverage to initiate sexual encounters.” They concern “at least seven or eight men” who have admitted being subject of unsolicited attention.
‘Do you look at porn? What kind?’
An alleged victim, Steven Lee, said that Karkara, who describes himself as “a trained social worker with commitment to advance human rights, participation, inclusion and gender equality, accountability and social justice” in his work bio, first met him in 2009, when Lee was 16.
He says the older man then appeared to groom him, lavishing him with attention and advice and inviting him to exclusive work events, while also making increasingly insistent moves.
“Do you look at porn. What kind? What do you think of it? Are you sexually active? Do you masturbate? Have you been practicing?” Karkara purportedly asked, on another occasion suggesting Lee send his own porn-viewing material to him.
At one point, Karkara appeared to half-jokingly suggest that after “all the UN had done for him” Lee owed him oral sex.
The most upsetting incident for Lee came when Karkara allegedly grabbed his genitals through his trousers while in a hotel room during a conference, before asking him “Am I your first?”
Aashish Khullar had worked alongside Karkara at the UN Major Group for Children and Youth, an area in which the Indian official specialized, having also worked as a youth consultant for UNICEF and Save the Children.
“There was a prevailing sense among all who had worked with him that misconduct was his modus operandi. No one was surprised when this was formally raised,” Khullar said.
Mandy Sanghera, another UN-affiliated activist, who spoke to several of the men making allegations, called Karkara a “predator” exhibiting a “long pattern of inappropriate sexual behavior.”
Diplomatic immunity means charges unlikely
UN Women has not answered follow-up questions from RT over the investigation, but published an updated statement about the investigation on Wednesday night.
“UN Women continues to ensure that the case is investigated thoroughly and [is] receiving the priority it deserves. We recognize the gravity with which such cases should be treated and have taken the allegations very seriously at every stage,” it asserted, pointing out that a different agency is responsible for the investigation itself.
It added that it “cannot comment on any further specifics of the case” – including officially revealing Karkara’s name – “as that could undermine the accountability process.”
The UN also said that the subject of the process could face punishment, from job termination to having the details of the case passed to the national authorities where the alleged crimes were committed.
Even if Karkara is definitively found guilty of sexual crimes during the internal investigation, he is unlikely to face anything but internal justice. He is protected by diplomatic immunity as a UN official, and unless it is waived by the body itself, the strictest punishment he’d likely face is expulsion to his home country.
Yes, well, they need another gay predator in India!
Downside and Ampleforth Catholic schools,
what are monks accused of?
SEXUAL abuse spanning four decades at two top Catholic schools in England has been revealed in a shocking report
Here’s what we know about the allegations dogging Ampleforth College and Downside School.
Ambleforth Abbey
Ampleforth College is a coeducational independent day and boarding school in the village of Ampleforth, North Yorkshire.
It opened in 1802 as a boys only school, and is run by Benedictine monks and lay staff of the adjoining Ampleforth Abbey.
The school is considered to be one of the Britain’s top leading Catholic private schools.
Ampleforth College lies in a picturesque valley with sports pitches, wooded areas and lakes.
Downside school
Downside School is also a co-ed Catholic private school for children aged 11 to 18.
It is located in Stratton-on-the-Fosse, between Westfield and Shepton Mallet in Somerset, and is attached to Downside Abbey.
Like Ampleforth is considered one of the UK's leading Catholic independent schools and is run by Benedictine monks.
What are the Benedictine monks accused of?
Monks at Ampleforth in North Yorkshire and Downside in Somerset hid allegations of "appalling sexual abuse" against pupils as young as seven to protect the church's reputation, it has been claimed.
Allegations stretching back to the 1960s encompassed "a wide spectrum of physical abuse, much of which had sadistic and sexual overtones", according to the report.
Ten individuals linked to the schools, mainly monks, have been cautioned or convicted over sexual activity or pornography offences involving a "large number of children". They are accused of being at times "secretive, evasive and suspicious" church officials who avoided reporting misconduct to police and social services.
One victim, whose life was "destroyed" by the abuse they experienced, said in a statement issued through law firm Slater and Gordon: "The church must cease to be its own judge and jury."
The investigation, led by Professor Alexis Jay, concluded: 'The true scale of the abuse however is likely to be considerably higher.'
Today, both Ampleforth and Downside published apologies to the victims of abuse.
Victims were as young as 11 at Downside and seven at Ampleforth.
One alleged offender at Ampleforth abused at least 11 children aged between eight and 12 over a "sustained period of time", but died before police could investigate.
Others convicted include Richard White, a Downside monk jailed for five years in 2012 for five indecent assaults against two boys, and Father Piers Grant-Ferris, a Benedictine monk at Ampleforth who was jailed for two years in 2006 for 20 indecent assault on boys between 1966 and 1975.
What has the report found?
The investigation, led by Professor Alexis Jay, concluded: "The true scale of the abuse however is likely to be considerably higher."
The chairwoman added: "Safeguarding children was less important than the reputation of the Church and the wellbeing of the abusive monks. Even after new procedures were introduced in 2001, when monks gave the appearance of co-operation and trust, their approach could be summarised as a 'tell them nothing' attitude."
The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) made the claims in a withering report on the English Benedictine Congregation, which has 10 monasteries in England and Wales.
The findings renewed calls for the introduction of a "mandatory reporting law", requiring anyone who believes that a child is being abused to report it to police or child protection services.
The report followed several weeks of evidence hearings at the inquiry last year, which included personal accounts from victims. "Many perpetrators did not hide their sexual interests from the children," the report found, allowing abusers at Ampleforth to prey on entire groups of pupils both outdoors and indoors.
"The blatant openness of these activities demonstrates there was a culture of acceptance of abusive behaviour," the report said. This was a culture fostered by the abbot leading the schools, it was claimed.
In 2001, the Nolan Report recommended all sexual abuse allegations within the church must be referred to police, a position which many felt was "neither obligatory nor desirable".
The report said: "For much of the time under consideration by the inquiry, the overriding concern in both Ampleforth and Downside was to avoid contact with the local authority or the police at all costs, regardless of the seriousness of the alleged abuse or actual knowledge of its occurrence.
"Rather than refer a suspected perpetrator to the police, in several instances the abbots in both places would confine the individual to the abbey or transfer him and the known risk to a parish or other locations."
But details of the monks' predatory pasts were not always passed on to the abbeys to which they were moved.
‘Insufficient evidence’ Michael Gove intervened in sexual abuse investigation
Someone purporting to be Michael Gove rang Somerset County Council in 2010 (Nick Ansell/PA)
Claims Michael Gove intervened in a sexual abuse investigation at scandal-hit Downside School were found to have “insufficient evidence” by an inquiry.
The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) was told a local authority worker received a call from someone purporting to be the then-education secretary in around 2010. The person was asking for information about disciplinary proceedings against a former senior figure at the Somerset school, who was accused of a sexual encounter with a 16-year-old pupil.
It was claimed that the man, named only as RC-F65, had performed oral sex on the boy in 1996 – and was allowed to remain at the school for years afterwards. He had been in a “senior leadership position” at the time, later going on to become a school governor in East Anglia.
But when the authorities caught wind of the allegations, it was decided in November 2010 that RC-F65 should be suspended from public ministry.
Around this time, Claire Winter, child safeguarding officer at Somerset County Council, received two calls claiming to be from the Secretary of State for Education’s office asking for information about when a decision was expected.
The IICSA said in its report into sexual abuse at Downside and Ampleforth: “Ms Winter replied by explaining that it was a child protection matter, and she was not prepared to discuss it. “She then received a further telephone call from someone who described himself as the Secretary of State for Education and pressed her for the same information. She declined to give it.”
Mr Gove, currently the environment secretary, provided a statement to the inquiry saying neither he nor his department made such a call.
And, of course, we all know a government minister would never lie.
The report continued: “He has said that there is no record of any such calls being made from his offices, and that he would have no reason to make such calls as he did not know RC-F65 and would have had no interest in the matter.
“Claire Winter has now provided a further statement making it clear that her evidence reflected her recollection of the events and telephone calls. We take the view that there is insufficient evidence on this point from which to draw any conclusions.”
Being a skeptic, I can't help but think that 'insufficient evidence' is very often related to 'insufficient investigation'!
Police interviewed RC-F65 and his alleged victim in 2011 but concluded that, at the time of the incident, it would not have been an offence as the pupil was over the legal age and the encounter was consensual.
Downside accepted it was “plainly wrong” for RC-F65 to have remained in his post, however, as he could have potentially posed a risk to young people.
Dying victim takes alleged historic child sex abuse at the hands of the Christian Brothers to court
Tim Clarke, Legal Affairs Editor The West Australian
Paul Bradshaw at home with his dog Blackie. Picture: Ross Swanborough
A dying man will next week become the first under WA’s new laws to go to court to claim damages for alleged historic child sexual abuse at the hands of the Christian Brothers.
Paul Bradshaw, 74, has only weeks to live and will spend some of that time describing in court how he was the victim of horrific treatment as a boy at Castledare Junior Orphanage and then St Vincent’s Orphanage at Clontarf.
His case against the Trustees of the Christian Brothers will be the first to be heard since WA lifted the time restriction on claims for damages against child abuse perpetrators. It has been fast-tracked because Mr Bradshaw’s prostate cancer is killing him.
Before he dies, he is determined to finally get justice for the treatment allegedly meted out by three Christian Brothers — brothers Lawrence Murphy, Bruno Doyle and Christopher Angus — in the 1950s and 60s.
Mr Bradshaw has been a long-time campaigner for children abused at church-run institutions, even confronting former premier Colin Barnett in 2009 over his government’s decision to halve the maximum amount payable to victims through Redress WA.
Now, he will confront long-held demons from his school days by telling his story before a judge in the District Court.
“I have been trying since I was 16 for justice and every time I think I am going to get it, it dies on me,” Mr Bradshaw said.
“If I can get justice before I die, I will be happy. I don’t mind being first — because the sexual abuse has been in my head all my life.”
Lawyer Michael Magazanik, from Rightside Legal in Melbourne, has fought to bring the case on quickly because of Mr Bradshaw’s ailing health.
“This was a crime on a massive scale,” Mr Magazanik said. “The Brothers have never faced up to that. Instead they made it worse with years of legal bullying, technical defences and pitiful compensation.
“Now it is reckoning time for the Brothers. The children whose lives they damaged may be elderly men but they’re angry and determined and they’re coming for justice.”
And even if they don't get it now, they will get justice when these 'Brothers', who are anything but Christian, stand before God.
Member of horrific Coventry child abuse family
still to find out sentence
The Potts family committed crimes including rape, sexual assault
and child cruelty against 11 children
The sixth member of a sick Coventry family who abused children over a 30-year period has had his sentencing delayed.
The Potts family were either convicted of, or pleaded guilty to, charges including rape, sexual assault, neglect and child cruelty following a harrowing eight-week trial.
Their crimes spanned over three decades and was described by the leading officer in the case as “one of the worst cases of systematic and horrifying child sex abuse” they had ever seen.
Among those convicted was Nathan Potts who was found guilty of two counts of rape of a child, four counts of sexual assault, inciting a child to engage in sexual activity and sex with another adult.
Nathan Potts
The 26-year-old, from Holbrooks, was due to be sentenced today at Birmingham Crown Court, but that has was taken off the court list late on Wednesday.
A provisional date for sentencing has now been made for August 28.
Potts' crimes
Five other members of the Potts family have already learned their fate and are now serving time behind bars.
Nathan's brother Joshua Potts was sentenced to 16 years in prison with an extended licence to run for eight years after pleading guilty to multiple counts of rape and sexual assault against children.
Meanwhile, their half-brother Antony Potts, who was subject to an original report of abuse back in 1989 that never made it to court, was finally brought to justice for his crimes after a jury found him guilty of 13 counts of rape, three counts of sexual assault and nine counts of inciting a child to perform a sexual act and cruelty - all against children.
The 49-year-old, from Milverton Road, Wood End, was ordered to serve a minimum of 16 years behind bars and, if ever released, will remain on licence for life.
Their father Keith Potts, 67, and his wife Julie Potts, 60, of Burnaby Road, were sentenced to eight and seven years custody respectively after being convicted of two counts of child cruelty.
And Antony's wife Elaine Potts, 50, of Milverton Road, and 42-year-old family friend Joanne Hoye both pleaded guilty to neglect last year.
They were sentenced to four years' custody each.
Victims first came forward in 1989
When West Midlands Police revealed the full horror of the Potts' crimes following an eight-week trial at Birmingham Crown Court, they stated that officers were first approached by one of the victims back in 1989 but the case was never brought to trial.
In May 2015 three more individuals, all under the age of 14, disclosed that they had been abused by Antony Potts and others to a third party, who reported the allegations to police, but in July of that year it was deemed there was insufficient evidence to bring charges against the perpetrators.
Following exploration of facts and the testimony of a fifth person, the case was re-opened in January 2016 and the full extent of the abuse began to unfold, resulting in three further cases being identified.
Good grief! 27 years of horrific child sex abuse could have been prevented had police been more diligent. There needs to be an investigation into why they weren't, and there was!
Keith and Julie Potts
After months of careful investigation and support from partner organisations including Coventry Children’s Services, the Coventry Rape and Sexul Abuse Centre (Crasac) and the independent intermediaries appointed to support the child survivors, the defendants were brought to trial.
The force stated that the original investigation was referred to the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) in 2016.
The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) - the new name for the IPCC - released a statement on the case.
What did the watchdog say?
A spokesman for the IOPC said: "Following a referral from West Midlands Police in June 2016 we began an investigation into the force’s handling of allegations of sexual abuse which were made against members of the Potts family in 1989.
"Our investigation was completed in June 2017 when we concluded from the evidence available that the police did not have enough to substantiate the allegations at that time, and that the investigative actions taken by police were reasonable and proportionate under the circumstances.
"In our view there was no indication that anyone serving with the police had behaved in a manner that would justify disciplinary proceedings."
Police reaction
Speaking in the aftermath of the other abusers being sentenced, Det Sgt Rachel Gregory, one of the leading investigators in the case, spoke to CoventryLive about her admiration for the 11 victims who bravely stepped forward.
She said: "They've been amazing - they've been the stars of the show. They've been amazingly brave. There were special measures (in court) for some victims such as giving evidence by video link, but that doesn't take away from it being a very, very harrowing experience."
She also urged any victims of any sort of abuse to come forward to police no matter when the offences took place.
Det Sgt Gregory said: "If this is happening to you, now or previously, we would implore anyone to come forward.
"It's never too late. One victim [in the Potts case] first reported 30 years ago, but we now have a successful conviction for her 30 years on."
Serious case review
A Serious Case Review is being undertaken in to the Potts case by the Coventry Safeguarding Children Board.
It will look at how authorities dealt with those involved from 1980 onwards and decide whether any "lessons can be learned".
The panel heading up the review are expected to give its conclusions later this year.
55 y/o Scot found guilty of historic child sex abuse
A KELSO man has been found guilty of historical sex crimes against two young girls following a jury trial at Selkirk Sheriff Court.
Fifty five year old Raymond Hay of Roxburgh Street, had denied using lewd, indecent and libidonous practices on one occasion towards a girl when she was aged between seven and 11 in the 1980s at a house in Greenlaw.
He was also accused of lewd, indecent and libidonous practices towards a second girl on various occasions when she was aged between four and nine .
Following a three-day trial Hay was found guilty by the jury and sentence was deferred until next month for the production of background reports.
Victim of child abuse stages protest in St Lucia
A one man protest against child abuse was staged Thursday by the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Feed the Poor Ministry, Gaspar Henry.
Henry announced plans to protest outside various media and other establishments and was seen outside the offices of MBC Television Thursday morning.
Declaring that he himself was physically abused as a child by his stepfather, he asserted that of late there seems to be a proliferation of child abuse.
“I find that teachers are interfering with students, fathers having sex with their daughters and I find abuse on all fronts – physical, emotional,” the CEO of Feed the Poor Ministry explained.
He recalled having seen a video which he said really touched him and reminded him of how his stepfather used to abuse him. Henry disclosed that the recording showed a woman cruelly beating a child with what appeared to be a broomstick.
“She asked the child to kneel and the child knelt and she told the child ‘Do not put your hands up for licks’”, he stated.
“Come on man, you are a mother. Have you sold your soul?”
Henry made clear that he has no problem with parents disciplining their children, but asserted that he is against the abuse of children.
“We have to stand up and denounce that and I am calling on the relevant authorities, the media, human services, the police and all those in authority to ensure that that woman and anybody else who is involved in abusing a child feel the full force of the law.”
Henry expressed the view that his protest would grow because there are Saint Lucians who think like him and will join the demonstration.
“At the end of the day, I want when I stand before God and he asks me what did I do when I saw these acts of injustice, I can tell him that I did something.”
And bless you for that!
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