Malka Leifer: Accused child sex abuser
denied bail by Israeli judge
By AAP
Accused child sex offender Malka Leifer has lost her bid for prison release, with the Jerusalem District Court ruling she will remain in jail for the remainder of her legal proceedings.
Leifer is wanted in Australia for more than 70 counts of alleged assault during her time as principal at a Melbourne school.
The court overnight also ruled another psychiatric assessment would be undertaken, as the defence continues to argue she is mentally unfit.
Accused child sex offender Malka Leifer (right) has lost her bid for prison release. (AAP)
Dassi Erlich, one of the students from the Melbourne Adass high school allegedly abused by Leifer, said in a statement she and her sisters Nicole Meyer and Elly Sapper are "hugely relieved that bail has been denied".
The former Victorian school principal - who would face 74 charges of sex abuse and rape if extradited to Australia - once again failed to appear in court on Monday.
Manny Waks, the CEO of Kol V'oz, a Jewish organisation preventing sexual abuse the community, told AAP ahead of the trial he didn't expect Leifer to show up to court.
Leifer has rarely appeared since she was arrested in 2014, apparently due to medical reasons.
Dassi Erlich (centre) with her sisters Elly Sapper (left) and Nicole Meyer (right) who were allegedly abused by Malka Leifer. (Facebook/Dassi Erlich; Beyond a Survivor)
Though her appearance was scheduled to be an open court, family members of Leifer were allowed to file into the courtroom while press were pushed out.
From information related from Manny Waks' live feed, the defence continued to argue Leifer's life is in danger by staying in jail for the duration of legal proceedings.
According to Mr Waks, the judge became seemingly frustrated with the circular argument of the defence, who further argued Leifer could have lifelong damage from incarceration.
"The defence were trying to prolong it as long as possible to make their case, though it was very clear from the start that the judge was not buying any of it," Mr Waks told press after the hearing.
Malka Leifer is wanted in Australia for more than 70 counts of alleged assault during her time as principal at a Melbourne school. (AAP)
In the last bail hearing, on November 21 last year, a psychiatrist had told the judge it was not life threatening for Leifer to remain in jail.
The judge asked what had changed in the last few months, in which the prosecution replied there had been no changes and there is no need for another psychiatric assessment.
The prosecution firmly believes she should stay in jail until the end of legal proceedings.
"We're very pleased about the decision, we hope this is a continuation of the wheels of justice, albeit it slowly, going forward," Mr Waks stated at the end of the proceedings.
Leifer's extradition hearing continues on March 6.
I am surprised that there was no mention of Deputy Health Minister Yaakov Litzman's apparent interference in this case (7th story on link). Apparently, Haredic Jews don't think Haredic child rapists should have to spend time in prisons with anyone other than other Haredic criminals.
Survivor speaks out about sex abuse at UK school,
by teacher
One Survivor's Story
By Joe Coshan and Rachael Woods, Kentonline
He carried out vile sex attacks in a school stationery cupboard and his 11-year-old victim still bears the emotional scars of what his teacher did.
Victim Antony Wilkinson started at Homewood School, Tenterden, in 1981 and had not been there long when a new maths teacher arrived.
Geoffrey Oborn, who is serving a seven-year prison sentence for the abuse of Antony and two girls, first singled the young boy out when he fell ill at school.
Antony Wilkinson from Tenterden tells of his abuse
Antony was sitting outside the office in the lower school when Oborn took him aside into a classroom, where instead of offering him comfort, he abused the young boy.
It was the beginning of a year-long series of attacks on Antony.
Now, at the age of 48, he has waived his right to anonymity to give a heartrending account of what he endured in the hope that it will encourage others who have suffered sexual abuse to speak out "because they will be believed".
Antony was sent on frequent errands to the stationery cupboard. "He [Oborn] would ask me to fetch something from the cupboard and then would come in behind me and rub himself up against me and run his hands up and down my arms."
The abuse intensified: "At first he would fondle me over the trousers and then his hands went inside my trousers."
Unable to tell his parents who, although loving, were emotionally reserved, Anthony kept the abuse to himself, blanking it out.
His policeman father worked long hours, returning late to the Biddenden police house that had been their family home.
Anthony left Homewood at the age of 16 to work for local butchers E C Wilkes & Sons, before the family eventually moved to Shropshire.
His trauma resurfaced one day in the early 90s when he was working as a lab technician and details of a child sexual abuse scandal started blaring out on the firm's radio.
"I was missing work, not eating and crying a lot of the time..."
- Antony Wilkinson
"As soon as I heard the story on the radio all the things that happened to me came back and began to eat away at me," said Anthony who spiralled into a deep depression. At one point he became suicidal and made preparations to hang himself.
He later grew close to Lillian who he knew through work and is now his wife. "I was missing work, not eating and crying a lot of the time," said Antony. "Lillian insisted I went to see a doctor."
It was at the surgery that the tale of the trauma he endured finally came tumbling out and Antony was referred for specialist counselling.
Lillian, 68 and Antony were married in 1996 and the pair are committed Christians. Anthony decided he would forgive his abuser, but was also encouraged by a church elder to report what happened to police to protect other children.
Geoffrey Oborn at the time of his trial.
Picture IKMPixs (7217668)
Tortured by the thought that Oborn could be inflicting sickening attacks on other youngsters, he looked his ex-teacher up on the directory enquiry service 192, on the pretext of organising a school reunion. Oborn's wife answered the phone to say her husband was out playing golf.
It was enough for Antony to confirm that he was still around.
At his trial in December 2017, Oborn of Wheatfield Drive, Cranbrook, then age 79, denied 13 offences of indecent assault and one of indecency with a child but was unanimously convicted by a jury.
Two girls who he had home tutored told the court what they had endured. One said he made her sit on his lap while he simulated sex, while the other told police Oborn would touch her breasts under her clothes and put his hand down her knickers.
"If just one person who has been sexually abused reads my story
and asks for help it will be worth it..."
Antony Wilkinson
The former teacher, who also taught at Dulwich College Preparatory School in Cranbrook, showed no emotion as he was jailed. At Maidstone Crown Court Judge Philip Statman said the abuser had not shown "an inkling of remorse".
Antony is now seeking civil justice over the ordeal with the help of lawyers at Irwin Mitchell.
Diagnosed with depression, anxiety and PTSD, Antony said that speaking out about about his abuse helped him turn a corner.
"If just one person who has been sexually abused reads my story and asks for help it will be worth it. They will be believed like I was believed and it takes the pressure off."
Ambulance called to Welsh court after man collapses in dock as jury clears him of historic child sex abuse
By Jez Hemming, North Wales Live
A man collapsed in the dock after he was cleared of abusing children in Wrexham in the 1970s.
Kevin Poole, 65, of Upton Street, St Leonards, Gloucestershire, had denied five counts of indecent assault on three complainants.
On Monday at Mold Crown Court, Judge Niclas Parry told jurors that he would accept a majority decision in the case.
They came back a short while later and, as the foreman read out not guilty verdicts on all counts, Mr Poole collapsed in the dock, hitting his head.
The court was cleared and the Welsh Ambulance Service was called as he lay on the floor of the dock. Security guards tended to the defendant and paramedics arrived around two hours after being called.
2 hours??? Did they have to come from Liverpool? Astonishing!
And why did the man pass out? It sounds like he was completely not expecting a non-guilty verdict.
The complainants, who are now men in their 50s and 60s, had alleged that the former care worker had sexually touched them and taken photographs of them when they were residents at the Bryn Alyn Community.
The case was the latest brought under Operation Pallial, which looked into allegations of historic abuse of children in care.
Mr Poole, who has been married for 38 years and is a grandfather with three grown-up children, told his barrister Mark Kelly that the allegations against him were not true and the suggestion he had taken indecent photographs of boys was "pure nonsense".
Complainants had alleged that Mr Poole had touched them sexually, and one said the defendant got him to perform a sex act in a tent in the grounds of the care home.
Another complainant alleged that he was taken to a property in Poyser Street in Wrexham to help clean up after discos and was told by Mr Poole to take his clothes off before he was photographed naked.
He also alleged that, when he refused to do it on one occasion, Mr Poole forced back and fractured his arm. The complainant said he had told his social worker what was going on and she told him to leave it with her, but nothing changed.
In a statement by his social worker, she said she had no memory of such complaints. He was also told there was no record of him breaking his arm at the time.
Mr Poole denied anything sexual happened, and said he was not responsible for taking tents down at the end of the summer and had not indulged in sexual activity with the boy in a tent.
He said discos did not take place at Poyser Street until after he had left and denied that anything sexual had happened there.
The jury of six men and six women returned their not guilty verdicts shortly before midday.
Avon and Somerset PC tried to make mum
abuse her own small children
GLOUCESTERSHIRE NEWS SERVICE
A police officer who used a dating app to try to groom a mother to sexually abuse her own young children has been jailed for a year.
Avon and Somerset PC Adam Leighton-Price, 45, previously admitted making the requests to the mother, who had a girl aged two and a six-month-old baby.
The mother was upset with what he was asking for and raised the alarm.
Sentencing Leighton-Price at Gloucester Crown Court, Judge Ian Lawrie said he "betrayed" his police constable role.
In November 2017 Leighton-Price, of Portbury, admitted arranging for an adult to engage in sexual activity with a child under the age of 13, along with three counts of possessing of extreme pornographic images involving animals.
The court heard how Leighton-Price found the woman on a dating website and they later messaged each other via the Kik messenger app.
He adopted a pseudonym, pretending he also had a young daughter and was of a similar social background to the woman, before encouraging the abuse.
Investigating officers also found the extreme pornographic images on his laptop and a sexual fantasy novel which referred to "relationships between parents and children".
'So unsettled'
In his sentencing remarks the judge added: "It is of note that you lied about being the father of a three-year-old and being abused as a child.
"Your sexual suggestions of sexually abusing her children are clear, on a sequence of occasions over two or three nights.
"The mother became so unsettled that she rightly went to the authorities."
Leighton-Price's lawyer argued his client's actions could be put down to him having leukaemia and post-traumatic stress disorder.
However, the judge rejected that, arguing Leighton-Price's cancer diagnosis was first made in 1990 and that it was "managed well".
Leighton-Price had been a serving officer since 1994 until his dismissal last month. He had no previous convictions.
He was also placed on the sex offender register for 10 years.
#ArewaMeToo: Women from Northern Nigeria
speak up on sexual abuse
MOTOLANI ALAKE Pulse.ng
On Saturday, February 16, 2019, Arewa – a collective name for Northern Nigeria – had a moment on Twitter Nigeria with a #MeToo to discuss sexual harassment, sexual violence and violent crimes against Northern women.
This comes after the advent of #MeToo, #TimesUp, Berger to Ajah, and Twitter #MeToo through 2017 and 2018.
Until Saturday, February 16, 2019, Northern women had never taken a stance on their abuse with a unified voice to protest these cultural wrongdoings.
The result of this stance was the very viral #ArewaMeToo. In a world where victims of sexual violence get shamed when they speak up against their abuse with an institutionalized aversion against these victims.
Then, there is the very prevalent issues of cultural gender inequality across all African society, which are still more entrenched and patently practiced in the north.
While the tide is slowly turning with education and information on cultural wrongs for needed evolution, wrongs are still being committed in a society where culture and religion informs nearly everything.
With a template set by the @Mayowade-led Twitter #MeToo campaign in 2018, #ArewaMeToo became a niche viral conversation that attacked everything from rape, to sexual harassment, to other forms of sexual harassment to child marriage and pedophilia. Victims spoke up and they were supported across the social media platform.
A vocal case was led by a lady named Mariam, who accused a certain Mahmud Mamman Lagos of sexual impropriety against her when she was 13 and Mahmud was in his mid-20s.
In another case, another account @ArewaMeToo, supposedly a man narrated how he was abused by other men which made him question his sexuality for a while.
There were other accusations across the hashtag;
A lot of accusations of alleged rape were also made against a certain A.S Aruwa, a digital marketer who runs the account, @MusadiqZ. Reports also claim that he was a Special Adviser to the Finance Minister and he has since been relieved of his duties in that capacity.
How far will #ArewaMeToo go in breaking the barriers of entrenched patriarchy in the North.
UK pensioner jailed for historic child sex abuse
Joseph Verney, Lincolnshire Reporter
A 77-year-old man has been jailed for 12 years for historical sexual offences on a teenage girl in the late 1970s.
 |
| Grimsby Telegraph |
Peter Chesman of Lambourne Rise in Bottesford, North Lincolnshire, was given a 12 year custodial sentence followed by a two year extended licence period.
The victim, now in her 50s, came forward to report a number of sexual offences committed in the late 1970s when she was in her early teens.
Detective Constable Katie Drapier led the investigation. She said: “The victim has shown great strength and courage in speaking out after carrying this for over 40 years.
“I hope this instills confidence in other victims who are worried about coming forward. We will believe you and we will do everything we can to support you and bring offenders to justice, even after several years have passed.
“Thanks to the hard work and dedication of our officers, Peter Chesman will now serve 12 years for his crimes followed by 2 years on extended license.”
Scout leaders allegedly ‘colluded’ to facilitate
child sex abuse
Suspicions from Scouting Ireland review that
child abuse files ‘went missing’
Jack Power, Irish Times
A review of alleged historic child abuse at Scouting Ireland has indicated that files related to some cases went missing and that some scout leaders appear to have “colluded” to facilitate abusers preying on children.
One scout leader who held a senior position is suspected of facilitating a “known abuser” in molesting children in a scouting organisation that predated the formation of Scouting Ireland.
It is suspected another senior volunteer, who is facing abuse allegations, used their access to confidential files to interfere and influence how child protection complaints were handled.
Findings from the ongoing review, including indications that crimes were covered up, were outlined in a briefing note that Scouting Ireland chief executive Dr John Lawlor sent to Minister for Children Katherine Zappone.
“There are suspicions that, in the mid-1990s, files relating to child abuse went missing,” Dr Lawlor told Ms Zappone, in a letter dated December 12th last.
>200 Paedophiles; >300 victims
The organisation’s ongoing review of historic abuse, led by safeguarding expert Ian Elliott, has identified 313 alleged victims and 237 alleged perpetrators.
Scouting Ireland was formed in 2004, following a merger of the Catholic Boy Scouts of Ireland and the Scout Association of Ireland, and the majority of allegations relate to a period between the 1960s and 1990s.
“There are indications that an adult member, against whom a number of credible allegations have been made, allegedly colluded with a known abuser of children and facilitated that abuse,” Dr Lawlor told Ms Zappone.
‘High office’
The adult member held “high office” in the organisation for several decades, and was a “close associate” of several other leaders, now also facing “credible” abuse allegations. Both the senior figure and his associates are dead.
There are also suspicions that legacy scouting organisations failed to document reports of abuse made at the time, Dr Lawlor said.
The correspondence was obtained following a request under the Freedom of Information Act.
Scouting Ireland wrote to Ms Zappone following an article in The Irish Times, which reported evidence from the internal review pointed towards child abuse being covered up.
Dr Lawlor said the “suggestions of cover-up relate to actions and cases prior to the establishment of Scouting Ireland”.
“In one particular case from the mid-1990s, there are indications that an adult member, now deceased, sought to protect a known abuser by threatening and putting pressure” on another volunteer, who was on a team responsible for child protection cases, Dr Lawlor said.
In another case a deceased leader, now facing credible abuse allegations dating from the 1970s to 1980s, was “restored” into one legacy organisation, having previously been “withdrawn”.
‘Credible allegations’
The internal review found evidence that alleged abusers moved from “one local group to another”, and in one case between the two legacy scouting associations.
“In doing so they appear to have been facilitated by adult members, against who there are now credible allegations,” Dr Lawlor wrote.
Allegations pointed to abuse “committed by adult members at all levels in both organisations,” he said.
Dr Lawlor sought to assure the Minister there was a “strong record of reporting, and appropriate maintenance of legacy files,” since the establishment of Scouting Ireland.
The review into past abuse included an audit of surviving historic case files, interviews with former volunteers and staff, and new information provided by a large number of alleged victims that have come forward in recent months.
Forty former scout leaders accused of child sex abuse are alleged to have molested multiple victims, according to a breakdown of figures from the review, recently sent to the Oireachtas Committee on Children and Youth Affairs.
The figures show there are an additional 66 alleged victims of youth-on-youth sexual abuse, not included in the headline 313 figure of alleged victims.
Good grief! Like a candy store for perverts!
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