US Senate candidate, reporter accuse Israeli PM’s foreign media spokesman of sexual assault
New York State Senate candidate Julia Salazar © Andy Katz / Global Look Press
Two women, a New York State Senate candidate and a Wall Street Journal reporter, have accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s foreign media spokesman, David Keyes, of sexual assault.
Julia Salazar is a Democratic candidate for the New York State Senate and member of the Democratic Socialists of America. She faces off against incumbent Martin Dilan on Thursday. With just days to go, Salazar tweeted that she was sexually assaulted by Keyes in 2013, before he took up his post as Netanyahu’s spokesman.
While Salazar had made and deleted a Facebook post detailing her alleged experience in 2016, her tweet on Tuesday came in response to a planned story by the conservative Daily Caller “outing” her as the assault victim. The Times of Israel had originally reported on accusations against Keyes in 2016, but had concealed Salazar’s identity.
Julia Salazar for State Senate
@SalazarSenate18
I’m about to be outed as a survivor of sexual assault. Here is what I have to say about that:
Speaking to feminist blog Jezebel on Tuesday, Salazar described her alleged encounter with Keyes. Salazar was a 22-year-old student at Columbia University in 2013, and was involved in pro-Israel activism on campus. Keyes reached out to her on Twitter and suggested they meet up for tea and to discuss Middle Eastern politics.
Locked into a discussion on Israel and Palestine, the pair went back to Keyes’ apartment when the cafe closed. There, she alleges, Keyes became “pushy.”
He “physically powered over me, put his arm around me and started forcibly kissing me,” Salazar claimed. Keyes supposedly forced Salazar to perform oral sex on him, and would not let her leave until he had finished. After their encounter, Salazar told Keyes she didn’t want to see him again, and cut off contact with him. She did not report Keyes to the police.
Keyes denied the allegations in 2016, and said that “there was absolutely no coercion in our encounter.” According to the Daily Caller, reporters from The Intercept and The Atlantic contacted Salazar at the time to investigate the accusation, but dropped the story when Salazar would not cooperate.
However, Wall Street Journal reporter Shayndi Raice lent her support to Salazar on Tuesday, saying that she too had “a terrible encounter with David Keyes once and 100% believe her.”
“The man had absolutely no conception of the word ‘no,” Raice tweeted. “No matter how often I said no, he would not stop pushing himself on me. I was able to extricate myself quickly and it was a very brief and uncomfortable moment but I knew as I walked away I had encountered a predator.”
Raice added that in subsequent conversations, she “discovered his mistreatment of women was an open secret.”
Shayndi Raice✔
@Shayndi
I also had a terrible encounter with David Keyes once and 100% believe her. I knew this would come out about him at some point. https://twitter.com/salazarsenate18/status/1039542597411373056 …
Shayndi Raice✔
@Shayndi
The man had absolutely no conception of the word “no.” No matter how often I said no, he would not stop pushing himself on me. I was able to extricate myself quickly and it was a very brief and uncomfortable moment but I knew as I walked away I had encountered a predator.
Keyes once again addressed Salazar’s accusation on Tuesday. “This false accusation is made by someone who has proven to be repeatedly dishonest about her own life,” he said. “This is yet another example of her dishonesty.”
Dishonesty has plagued Salazar’s Senate campaign. The 27-year-old was caught lying about her Jewish identity last month, and confessed that her Jewishness was limited to “family lore,” after old university classmates came forward and claimed she reinvented herself as a left-wing Jewish Democrat for her own political gain.
Salazar also claimed to have been born in Colombia, and to come from a working class background, when in reality she was born in Miami, Florida and grew up comfortably well off, inheriting a $685,000 trust fund upon her father’s death in 2009.
Details of Salazar’s trust fund emerged during a bizarre legal case in which Salazar was accused in 2011 of attempting to impersonate the ex-wife of baseball player Keith Hernandez to access her bank accounts. The ex-wife, Kai Hernandez, alleged that Salazar and her husband had been having an affair, but both denied the charge. Salazar sued Hernandez’s ex-wife for defamation, and ultimately won.
Voters in Salazar’s Brooklyn district go to the polls on Thursday, in a small-time, down-ballot state senate primary that has raised more eyebrows and generated more headlines than any the district has seen before.
WAR concerned over increasing cases of
child sexual abuse in Pakistan
While hailing a recent legal victory in the case of the rape of a minor girl in which the accused has been sentenced, non-profit War Against Rape (WAR) has also expressed concerns about the increasing number of cases of child sexual abuse.
According to a press release issued by WAR, Additional Sessions Judge East Mushtari Khanum had recently sentenced Ghulam Kabeer to 10 years rigorous imprisonment and Rs20,000 fine. Kabeer was convicted of raping a six-year-old girl.
The statement added that a few months ago, WAR also won a similar case in which Judge Shahbana Waheed of District East had sentenced Muhammad Ali to 10 years rigorous imprisonment and Rs20,000 fine.
“WAR commends the untiring efforts, dedication and commitment of its advocate, Asiya Munir, who along with Deputy District Public Prosecutors Muhammad Arif Sitai and Muhammad Younis, ensured that the perpetrators of the heinous crime of child sexual abuse (CSA) should not go unpunished,” it added.
Expressing concern about the growing severity and increasing number of CSA cases, WAR recommends the state to address the frontline stakeholders i.e. police, prosecutors and judges, medico-legal officers (MLOs), media, academicians and community members who need to be sensitised and re-sensitised through refresher courses to identify, prevent and effectively respond to ensure the safety and protection of vulnerable segments of society.
Indeed. You are trying to change from a rape-culture society into a more just and moral society. It will not be easy.
WAR also requests the concerned authority for fast trials to ensure speedy justice so that cases of sexual violence are decided at least within six months to a year, the press release read.
It added that WAR has been providing rights-based holistic services including free legal aid and psycho-social counselling to 35 victims of sexual and gender-based violence whose cases are under trial in relevant courts.
Sweden charges Spanish doctor with
sexually abusing 52 children
Swedish prosecutors on Wednesday charged a Spanish doctor with sexually abusing 52 child patients, including several counts of aggravated rape between 2015 and 2017.
The 29-year-old is accused of having assaulted a total of 70 patients, including 18 adults, while working in several hospitals and health facilities in Sweden.
Prosecutors claim the doctor, who has been held in custody since December 2017, had examined child patients’ genitals in cases when it was “medically irrelevant”.
The children were aged between two and 12. In four of the cases, “the crime should be deemed aggravated by (the doctor’s) recklessness against the child’s young age and abuse of his position,” prosecutors said in the charge sheet.
The man, who denies the charges, is also accused of filming some of the assaults, and of possessing child pornography.
The doctor, who also worked for an online health care service allowing clients to consult him via video chats, had allegedly asked parents to show their children’s genitals.
“The abuse of the trust generally enjoyed by doctors, and the use of a new technology to commit sexual abuse, is unique and worrying,” Fredric Wikman, a lawyer representing several victims, told TT news agency.
The doctor, whose trial starts on September 20, faces up to 14 years in prison if convicted.
Toronto piano teacher faces decade-old
child sexual assault charges
By JOHN CUDMORE Markham Economist & Sun
A Markham piano teacher is facing sexual assault charges for incidents that occurred more than a decade ago.
The victim was a student of the suspect and said the assaults occurred between 2005 and 2007 during lessons in her Richmond Hill home. She was younger than 16 at the time of the incidents.
Edward Luka, 79, is charged with two counts each of sexual assault and sexual interference.
(YORK REGIONAL POLICE)
She spoke with police about the allegations on Aug. 22.
Investigators believe there may be additional victims and encourage them to come forward.
York Regional Police charged Edward Luka, 79, of Markham, with two counts each of sexual assault and sexual interference.
The accused has been released on bail and has an Oct. 16 date court date in Newmarket.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the York Regional Police Sexual Assault Section at 1-866-876-5423, ext. 7071, or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS, or by leaving an anonymous tip online at www.1800222tips.com.
Alberta man arrested in child sexual abuse case
Alex Antoneshyn, CTV Edmonton
A 43-year-old Red Deer man has been arrested following allegations he sexually abused three children in his care.
Police say the three victims were under the man’s care between 2012 and 2018. All were under the age of 10 at the time of the alleged offences.
An investigation was launched by Innisfail RCMP September 6 after a complaint was made involving disclosures from the female child. Red Deer City RCMP, the Central Alberta Child Advocacy Centre and Alberta Children’s Services assisted in the investigation.
The accused was arrested September 6 and faces 10 criminal code charges related to sexual assault, sexual interference, sexual exploitation of a young person, and invitation to sexual touching.
The youth are now being looked after by the Central Alberta Child Advocacy Centre.
The accused’s name is not being released in an effort to protect the identities of the children.
He has been released on conditions and is scheduled to appear in Red Deer’s provincial court on October 4. The investigation remains ongoing.
Syrian immigrant arrested, charged with first-degree murder of 13 y/o girl in Vancouver area
By Amy Judd and Caley Ramsay Global News
The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team (IHIT) says a man has been charged with first-degree murder in the death of 13-year-old Marrisa Shen.
Ibrahim Ali, 28, has been charged in connection with Shen’s murder in July of 2017. He was arrested on Sept. 7 in Burnaby and will appear in court next on Friday.
IHIT Supt. Donna Richardson said Ali has no criminal record. “Prior to us having contact with this individual, he was not known to us, the police environment.”
Of course, he has only been in Canada a little over a year and in Burnaby just 3 months, so odds are pretty good he wasn't known to police.
IHIT said this is believed to be a random homicide. “We still believe that this crime was a random act, meaning that Marrisa did not know the suspect and vice versa,” Richardson said.
“Beyond that, as far as motive is concerned and some of the details surrounding our operational techniques in identifying persons of interest or confirming suspects, I am not able to discuss these matters in order to protect our future judicial proceedings.”
Police refuse to say whether Shen was sexually assaulted before being murdered.
IHIT said Ali arrived in Canada as a refugee and has lived in Burnaby for 17 months.
Other sources say he lived elsewhere in Canada until moving to Burnaby 3 months ago.
“He was a Syrian national,” Richardson said. “It’s our understanding that he is a permanent resident.”
The Immigrant Services Society (ISS) of B.C. said Ali could have come to the province through several routes, privately sponsored by family or church or as a refugee claimant through the government.
“We’re not aware of him yet; I can’t confirm how he came to Canada,” ISS director of settlement services Chris Friesen told CKNW.
He acknowledged Ali’s Syrian background will raise questions around Canada’s vetting process.
UK teacher who incited parents to abuse
their children - jailed for 12 years
A teacher who incited parents to abuse their own children for his sexual gratification has been jailed for 12 years.
Richard Clark, 29, who was described by a judge as a 'malign puppet master' used fake digital accounts and contacted strangers on Skype in the UK, the United States and Nepal and incited them to take sexual images or abuse their siblings, children or grandchildren and record it for his own gratification.
In one case he contacted a 15-year-old boy and encouraged him to carry out sexual acts on his cousins, aged one and two.
Clark, of Topcliffe Road, Sowerby, near Thirsk, North Yorkshire, pleaded guilty to 26 offences, including 10 offences of arranging or facilitating child sex offences and 12 counts of inciting or causing indecent images of children, and asked for 54 others to be taken into consideration when he appeared at York Crown Court.
He also tricked boys at a school into taking indecent images or video of themselves, whilst using fake social media accounts in which he posed as a teenage girl.
The teacher also kept a record of his victims, categorising them based on their appearance, the size of their genitalia and comments about the ways that he had abused them.
A witness statement was read out in court from a mother of one of the boys in which she said he had "robbed them of their youth" and left them unable to trust male teachers.
A witness statement from the headteacher of the school where pupils were targeted said the school had employed school nurses, psychologists and counsellors to deal with the impact of Clark's actions on students and teachers, but he feared some students would never recover from their ordeal. Others were likely to miss out on opportunities to go to high-ranking universities because of the emotional and mental ordeal they experienced prior to their exams.
Clark also pleaded guilty to three charges of possession of indecent photographs of a child and one of possession of an extreme pornographic image.
Judge Andrew Stubbs QC told Clark: "These offences reveal you to be manipulating others to abuse children like some kind of malign puppet master. You incited offences of familial or incestuous abuse against children. These activities have been traced worldwide."
Judge Stubbs said his crimes revealed him to be a "persistent predator", whose victims felt trapped by fear of exposure.
He added: "The victim statements which have been referred to in court show how you have robbed your victims of confidence, character and potential life chances."
He handed him a sentence of 12 years, to spend a further eight years on licence. He was also given a Sexual Harm Prevention Order, which he will remain on for the rest of his life.
In a statement released after the court case, Detective Chief Inspector Jim Glass, the senior investigating officer in the case, said: "This has been an extremely complex and challenging case, throughout which the identification and safeguarding of Richard Clark's victims has been a priority.
"Working with a number of partners including the Children's Safeguarding Board, North Yorkshire County Council, Health and Social Care and the Crown Prosecution Service, we have ensured the best possible support for all those affected throughout this case.
"Clark abused his position of trust as a teacher, committing offences against pupils at the school he taught at as well as instigating offences nationally and internationally against children by use of the internet to hide his true identity.
"The inquiry continues to send out intelligence to other police forces and law enforcement agencies around the world in relation to additional victims and offenders' details which have been identified.
"I would like to remind parents and carers of the need to ensure children are safe online. Please talk to them about the dangers and the importance of only talking to those they absolutely know are genuine, and to not do anything online that could threaten their safety, specifically as in this case, not to send sexual images of themselves."
An NSPCC spokesperson said: "Clark's despicable actions have devastated the lives of children across the world. This case, once again, highlights how imperative it is for the Government to force social networks to tackle online child abuse.
"The NSPCC's Wild West Web campaign is calling for an independent regulator with the power to investigate and fine platforms which don't do enough to catch groomers."
Nigerian priest removed by Archdiocese of Boston after claims of child sex abuse
WCVB
BOSTON —
A priest from Nigeria has been removed of his faculties to minister after the Archdiocese of Boston received an allegation that he sexually abused a child, the archdiocese said Tuesday.
The archdiocese received an allegation Aug. 31 against Rev. Christian Ohazulume, an extern priest from Nnewi, Nigeria. The incident allegedly happened in Randolph in 2007, while Ohazulume was living with a family after he arrived in the United States, according to the archdiocese.
Ohazulume pleaded not guilty to three counts of aggravated assault and battery on a child under age 14 in Quincy District Court. He is expected to post the $5,000 cash bail set by the judge. If he does, he must wear a GPS bracelet and forfeit his passports.
Ohazulume had been a chaplain at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center since 2010. He has resided at St. Mary of the Assumption Parish in Brookline since 2010, where he assisted in celebrating Mass and heard confessions, the archdiocese said.
The archdiocese notified law enforcement about the allegations. Ohazulume was also removed from his work at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.
“When the Archdiocese informed us about the allegation and its decision to revoke Rev. Ohazulume’s ministry faculties, we immediately placed him on unpaid leave and terminated him shortly thereafter. He is no longer employed by BIDMC," the hospital said.
The church announced Tuesday that Cardinal Sean O'Malley and other top U.S. church officials will be meeting with Pope Francis on Thursday to discuss the the sex abuse and cover-up scandal roiling the Catholic Church.
Scottish hospital worker caught with more than 5000 child sex abuse images & bestiality
By Irvine Herald
A former hospital worker is behind bars after being caught with a haul of child sex abuse and bestiality images.
Christopher Anderson, 29, who worked in the records department at Crosshouse Hospital, Irvine, had over 5000 images of children as young as two-years-old being abused.
He was also caught with images of adults engaged in bestiality after police raided his home in Irvine and seized his laptop.
Twisted Anderson also kept thousands of images on his phone – and even carried two USB drives around with him that were crammed full of abuse files.
He was arrested at his work and taken to the police station to be questioned – where officers discovered the files were just the tip of the iceberg due to his mobile phone and his memory sticks.
The details emerged on Monday when Anderson appeared in the dock at Kilmarnock Sheriff Court to plead guilty.
He pleaded guilty to three charges – making child abuse images, possessing the illicit files, and being in possession of “extreme pornographic material” by having bestiality files, between March 2012 and September last year.
He admitted his guilt after the date he began making and possessing the files was changed from being March 2004.
Procurator fiscal depute Peter Moyes said officers found a total of 4957 still images and 195 films across the four devices, many of which were at the most extreme level, and he was also found to have four still images featuring adults involved in bestiality.
Sheriff Alistair Watson blasted Anderson for his actions and told him he is facing a lengthy jail term, before remanding him in custody ahead of sentencing and placing him on the Sex Offenders’ Register.
As he adjourned the case until next month and called for background reports, Sheriff Watson said: “The number and nature of images in this case renders this to be a disgusting and debase course of conduct. It is highly likely you will receive a custodial sentence and highly likely that is of a significant length. I wish a full risk assessment to be carried out in relation to you.”
Patricia Leiser, human resources director for NHS Ayrshire and Arran, said: “NHS Ayrshire and Arran takes all matters to do with staff and patient safety and confidentiality extremely seriously.
“On being alerted to this issue, we can confirm we took immediate action and this individual no longer works for NHS Ayrshire and Arran.”
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