Ontario mayor alarmed after convicted, trans, sex offender 'dumped' into his city
CBC News 
Madilyn Harks, formerly known as Matthew Harks, was convicted three times for sexual assault against girls under eight. (Peel Regional Police)
Brampton, Ont., residents are "livid" over a decision by the federal government to move a woman with three convictions for sexual assaults against young girls to their city, Mayor Patrick Brown said.
Peel Regional Police issued a community safety advisory on Friday about Madilyn Harks, formerly Matthew Harks, alerting residents that she now resides in the Brampton area.
We are very alarmed why the federal government would dump a convicted pedophile into the City of Brampton
- Mayor Patrick Brown
Harks, 36, was convicted three times for sexual assaults against girls under the age of eight, police said, adding that the young victims have included neighbours and a fellow member of a church congregation.
"We're very alarmed why the federal government would dump a convicted pedophile into the City of Brampton despite the fact this is a high risk offender from western Canada," Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown told CBC News on Saturday.
"The fact that [Harks] would just be dumped in Brampton has our community livid."
Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown says Public Safety Mister Ralph Goodale owes the people of his city an explanation. (Evan Mitsui/CBC)
Harks is subject to a Long Term Supervision Order with numerous conditions, including not to attend public swimming areas, daycares, school grounds, playgrounds or community centres.
Harks is also prohibited from being in the presence of children under the age of 14, unless accompanied by a responsible adult who has been approved by her parole supervisor, police said.
"Harks is at an elevated risk to re-offend," police said, adding they will work with Correctional Service of Canada to monitor her activities within the community.
Public Safety Minister must explain
Brown said Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale owes the people of Brampton an explanation, and he has written to him to ask that he provides one.
"The fact that [Harks] is in a halfway house with four hours of unsupervised time in our downtown is an illustration of how the justice system is broken," Brown told CBC News.
"It's unacceptable and ... we want an explanation how a person with no ties to Brampton, from the other side of the country, would simply be dropped in here. We happen to be the youngest community in Canada with a disproportionate amount of children. It's completely unacceptable."
Brown's letter was also sent to several Brampton-area MPs, and the chair of the Parole Board of Canada, Jennifer Oades.
"We hope that the minister will find a more appropriate location for this individual, away from young people and children in our downtown," Brown said.
"This person committed horrific acts in a different part of the country. The notion that [Harks] would just be transported to Brampton, there's no logic to that and we hope that the minister will answer."
How Celtic Boys Club paedophile was nailed by a victim from beyond the grave
Two Survivor's Stories
By Geraldine McKelvie
The Mirror
Celtics Boys coach Jim Torbett, left, and one of the boys he abused, Kenny Campbell, front row 3rd from left
(Image: Daily Record)
The victim of a paedophile Celtic Boys Club football coach mouthed “get him” to his sister before dying.
Andrew Gray, 41, paralysed from a swimming pool accident, slipped into a coma and never recovered.
His death bed wish was that cunning, predatory pervert Jim Torbett would finally face justice.
As a boy Andrew was abused dozens of times by trusted Torbett. Yet for nearly 30 years he suffered in silence as his life was ruined by a gambling addiction and attempted suicide.
He was not alone. Fellow youth star Kenny Campbell had also been a victim of monster Torbett, 71.
Jim Torbett was jailed for six years in November 2018 (Image: Daily Record)
In life, the two victims barely knew each other but they were united by a terrible bond.
In November, Torbett was jailed for six years and Kenny, 46, and Andrew’s sister Michelle and mum Helene hugged each other in tears.
Andrew had been able to convict Torbett from beyond the grave, having given so much evidence to cops which backed up Kenny’s account.
Kenny now has an “unbreakable” bond with Michelle, 43, and Helene, 71, and they speak daily.
Michelle said: “No one will ever replace Andrew but I have gained a new brother in Kenny.”
Andrew Gray was silent about the abuse he suffered for 30 years (Image: Sunday Mirror)
Kenny, of Uddingston, South Lanarkshire, said: “Michelle and Helene understand what I am going through more than anyone else.”
Kenny and Andrew only met briefly while playing under Torbett at Celtic Boys Club in the 80s.
They were reunited briefly at a police station near Andrew’s Glasgow home in December 2016 and cried in each other’s arms after telling cops what they had bottled-up inside for years.
Both had battled addiction under the pressure of their secret hell.
Kenny said: “When he saw me, he was just overwhelmed. I was a few years older than him, I’d always been with Torbett when we were teenagers. I’d been so close to him, no one could believe I’d gone against him.”
Both had been desperate to be professional footballers and were scouted by Torbett as boys, who abused both of them dozens of times.
He tricked both families into letting him take their sons abroad for football tournaments — some of which did not even exist.
Once, he even gave Andrew a fake player of the tournament trophy to take home to his parents — which he made at the trophy shop he owned.
Helene said: “We later discovered he didn’t kick a ball at that tournament. He’d spent all the time being abused.”
Andrew started playing for Torbett at 12 and his behaviour soon changed. Helene said: “He was always angry. One minute, he’d punch a hole in the door, the next, he’d be crying.
“His dad once said to me: ‘Isn’t it strange a man that age wants to keep young boys out so late?’ But we didn’t put the jigsaw together.
“Every night, I kiss his photo and tell him I’m sorry I didn’t see the signs.”
Andrew, who met Scotland legend Ally McCoist, quit football at 16 and his life became chaotic, he got hooked on gambling and struggled to keep jobs and maintain relationships.
The demons surfaced in 1991 for Kenny, who had been released from a contract with Celtic’s reserve side, aged 19.
He said: “I was addicted to cocaine and alcohol. I tried to kill myself four times — and I really wanted to die, it wasn’t a cry for help.
“But the relationship was so confusing. I’d still sometimes see Torbett, or go round to watch the Celtic game with him. He’d manipulated me so well.”
Both men said nothing about their ordeals for nearly three decades — even when Torbett was caged in 1998 for two years for abusing three former Celtic Boys Club players, including ex Scotland international Alan Brazil.
But Andrew and Kenny could not stay silent when the 2016 football abuse scandal erupted and ex Sheffield United star Andy Woodward spoke of his years of hell at the hands of coach Barry Bennell.
Kenny said: “I felt like I was going to burst, so I blurted it out to my sister. One of my grandsons had started playing football and I thought: ‘What if someone abuses him like Torbett abused me?’”
Andrew broke down and confided in Helene, before telling Michelle. Helene said: “I hugged him and we cried together. I said, ‘I’m so sorry you’ve had to go through this alone’.”
Michelle said: “It was like someone had taken the missing piece of the jigsaw and just dropped it right there. Everything fell into place.”
She added that Andrew’s mental health nosedived as he prepared for court.
She said: “He tried to kill himself three times and he was sectioned. He really struggled.
“He gave six statements to the police, which was really tough as they were so detailed. It must have been like living it all over again.”
Michelle paid for Andrew to visit a childhood friend in Australia, hoping a holiday would ease his pain. But tragedy struck when he jumped into a swimming pool and hit his head.
Helene said: “The phone went. It was Andrew. He could still speak, but he was panicking as he couldn’t feel anything.”
Michelle flew to Andrew’s bedside but he developed a brain infection and a blood clot on the lung.
He was put on life support but before losing consciousness he pleaded with Michelle to bring predator Torbett to justice for him.
She said: “He could barely speak, but he mouthed the words, ‘get him’. When he’d slipped into a coma, I kept telling him we’d do it for him because the nurses told me there was a chance he could hear me.”
He died in October 2017.
Helene and Michelle had to give evidence in the case, at the High Court in Glasgow.
Michelle said: “We took a small tear drop-shaped urn, with some of Andrew’s ashes, and a lock of his hair.
Kenny Campbell, Andrew's mother Helen Gray and Andrew's sister Michelle (Image: Sunday Mirror)
“The hardest part was when we went to the toilets and we could hear some of Torbett’s friends laughing and calling Andrew a liar. That was devastating.”
Kenny, on the stand for two days, said: “I almost pulled out but I told myself, ‘I can do this’. I knew I had to do it for Andrew and the other victims.”
Torbett was found guilty of three indecent assaults and two counts of lewd and libidinous behaviour in relation to Kenny, Andrew and a boy who can’t be named for legal reasons.
Judge Lord Beckett told Torbett, whose appeal has been refused: “You groomed boys and contrived situations when you could abuse them. Yours is some of the most corrupting behaviour I have ever heard of in these courts.”
Kenny and the Gray family are now taking legal action against Celtic. The Glasgow club have always denied any official links with the boys club.
Michelle said: “It’s not about money. It’s about the promise we made to Andrew as he was dying. That we’d fight to make sure no other child suffered like he and Kenny did.”
FBI probes couple over child sex abuse claims in Kenya
By CHRIS WAMALWA
LANCASTER, PENSYLVANNIA,
The Federal Bureau of Investigations has launched a probe into reports that an American couple running a charity in Kenya abused children.
The investigations are to establish if Gregory Dow and his wife Mary Rose — residents of Lancaster — molested those in their care at a children’s home in Boito, Bomet County.
A warrant of arrest has been issued against the two who left Kenya in 2017.
According to court records and personal accounts, Mr Dow engaged in sex with girls at the home. One worker said he saw him and a girl in the shower.
According to a source familiar with the matter, the FBI has already sent its agents to Boito, Dallas and Lancaster.
A Kenyan-American based in Lancaster told the Nation that investigations were at an advanced stage.
“I know the FBI and local authorities started investigations soon after this issue was published in the Lancaster newspaper and the Sunday Nation. I have been interviewed several times,” the source, who requested anonymity, told the Nation. In a phone interview with the Nation from Texas, Mr Dow’s former wife Janice Jenkins could not say if FBI detectives had visited her.
BIRTH CONTROL
However, she added that Mr Dow abused their daughter for more than two decades when they lived in Ohio.
“The law is finally catching up with them. We expect indictments soon,” Ms Jenkins said.
Mary Rose was arrested as she attempted to flee Kenya, and was found by a Sotik court guilty of cruelty to children.
She paid the Sh50,000 (about 13.50 USD, yes - thirteen dollars and fifty cents; they value children very highly in Kenya) fine imposed on her and left the country.
The court was told that she had the girls under her care implanted with birth-control devices. Ms Maggie Ruto, a Kenyan in Lancaster who blew the whistle on the Dows, could not hide her disappointment with the ruling.
“It was absurd that she received VIP treatment during the court proceedings. Her mitigation, apparently, was that she was unwell. Who was thinking about the victims of sexual abuse?” Mr Ruto said.
The Dows maintain their innocence. Pastor Donald Lamb of Life-Gate Church in Elizabethtown claims the Dows’ Kenyan neighbours turned against them.
Gosh! I wonder why?
Boito, Kenya
A 14-year-old girl is a ‘sexually mature young woman,’
not a child, Ontario children’s aid society lawyer argues
in sex abuse suit
by Jacques Gallant Toronto Starnot a child, Ontario children’s aid society lawyer argues
in sex abuse suit
Downtown Kenora, Ont., seen here in a Sept. 2015 file photo. A lawyer for the small Northern Ontario town’s children’s aid society has argued in court that a 14- or 15-year-old child is “sexually mature.” - Richard J. Brennan/Toronto Star
A 14- or 15-year-old girl is not a child, but rather a "sexually mature young woman," according to a lawyer for a Northern Ontario children's aid society.
The statement by Toronto lawyer Gary McCallum is contained in a July 2018 affidavit in an ongoing civil court case, in which a woman is suing Kenora-Rainy River Districts Child and Family Services, claiming she was sexually abused as a child by her foster father in the 1980s while under the care of the agency's predecessor organization.
It was again referenced in a January 2019 ruling from the lengthy case, which is playing out in a Toronto court.
The statement has been described to the Star by other lawyers and a professor of social work as "offensive," "shocking," and "appalling" — doubly so because it was made by the lawyer for the very agency charged with protecting the most vulnerable children.
"This is outrageous," said Melissa Redmond, assistant professor of social work at Carleton University. "You represent the organization that is responsible for protecting children in this community, protecting children from exactly the sorts of horrific circumstances that this child found herself in."
Redmond, whose research interests include child protection policy, said she can't understand why there have not been consequences for the statement. "I don't understand how this is in the public record and (Kenora CFS) have not been seen to distance themselves as quickly as possible and to talk about how they value the children in the community and the children they have served in the past."
Ontario's Child and Family Services Act, which governs children's aid societies, is also clear. "'Child' means a person under the age of eighteen years," it reads.
Kenora CFS refused to say when it became aware its lawyer had made the statement, but told the Star this week it disagrees with McCallum and called his position "inaccurate."
The agency also refused to say whether it plans to rectify the statement in court.
McCallum declined to comment to the Star, saying in an email that "I will not be making any statements on matters that are currently being litigated and I will not be making any statements inconsistent with those of my client."
The statement is part of a voluminous court record that stretches back years. It appears in a July 2018 affidavit in which McCallum states he is responding to the affidavit of the plaintiff's lawyer, Simona Jellinek, which McCallum said is "rife with errors, imprecisions, and misrepresentations." (Jellinek declined to comment to the Star.)
"She states that the alleged assaults took place while the plaintiff was 'in childhood,'" McCallum states before noting that the plaintiff's year of birth indicates she would have been about 14 or 15 in the early 1980s.
"A fourteen or fifteen (sic) girl is a sexually mature young woman, not a 'child,' as the term is conventionally understood," McCallum states.
A 14 or 15 year old may be physically mature in a sexual context, but, in Canada, few 14 or 15 year olds are mentally or emotionally mature enough to handle an intimate relationship, especially with a father figure. Psychological, if not spiritual damage is almost certain.
The statement is again referenced in a January 2019 decision by Superior Court Justice Jessica Kimmel, who ruled that the plaintiff's action could proceed. In her decision, Kimmel makes no comment on the statement itself, other than to say it was identified as a "live" issue by McCallum surrounding the allegation of sexual assault.
As other lawyers have pointed out, McCallum's position — which has now been in the public record for about eight months since the affidavit was sworn in July 2018 — is effectively the agency's position, as he is acting for it in court.
"He's speaking on behalf of a children's aid society, so it's deeply concerning that there's a children's aid society out there that takes the view that youngsters of 14 or 15 are sexually mature," said lawyer Loretta Merritt, whose practice is almost exclusively focused on representing plaintiffs in civil cases involving sexual abuse.
"If that's their view, the view of an organization charged with responsibility for caring for vulnerable children, then that's deeply concerning to me."
Kenora CFS executive director Bill Leonard told the Star in an email exchange this week that he can't really comment as the court case is ongoing.
"Mr. McCallum's statement is before the court and as you point out, it has been before the court for some time," he said. "But to be clear my agency does, and always has, considered 14 and 15 year old young persons to be children as defined by legislation and as such are deserving of our full protection from any form of abuse."
It's "disappointing" if Kenora CFS didn't know at the time that their lawyer had made such a statement in court, said Allen Wynperle, president-elect of the Ontario Trial Lawyers Association, which represents lawyers acting for plaintiffs.
"I would have hoped that they would be aware of the comments that their lawyer is making, and certainly if they weren't, that's a problem and a concern," he said. "But certainly now that they are made aware of it, what are they going to do about it?"
Legislative loophole exposed by alleged child sex abuse
at Sydney pool
at Sydney pool
By Sally Rawsthorne
Sydney Morning Herald
A legislative loophole requiring councils to report suspicions of child abuse, but not the contractors operating their facilities, meant the Mosman Swim Centre did not have to report a complaint of an “inappropriate hold” nine months before a swimming teacher was arrested on multiple charges of child sex abuse.
Since his arrest, six more girls - all under 10 - have come forward with allegations of abuse against him. Manly Local Court heard last week all of these alleged incidents took place after a complaint was made by a parent against Mr Daniels in August last year for what was described in a staff feedback form as “inappropriate holds”.
Unlike child care workers and teachers, swimming teachers are not mandatory reporters of concerns for the safety or welfare of children - meaning that swim school management are not required to report suspicions of child abuse or neglect.
The NSW Ombudsman Act requires “public authorities” - including councils - to tell the Ombudsman’s office of “reportable allegations” involving staff.
However, this requirement does not apply when a contractor is operating a pool on behalf of a council or similar.
"Often there is a gap when a private operator is running a swim program in a council pool. Councils have very controlled policies, and from our experience a lot of policies from local government are drafted with early childhood centres in mind - those policies don't necessarily address the specific risks in an aquatic environment."
Mr Daniels’ barrister Todd Alexis told Manly Local Court the “inappropriate holds” complaint didn’t necessarily relate to the alleged sexual assault of eight of the students he was supposed to be teaching to swim.
Yeah! Right!
“It’s pretty obvious that what we’re dealing with here is alleged inappropriate touching,” Magistrate Daniel Reiss replied.
Mr Daniels strenuously denies the allegations.
Parents say the swim school’s decision to retain the casual teacher after the first complaint led to them withdrawing their children from lessons.
“Finding out that concerns had been reported to the school months ago and they kept him on, that’s why we left,” said one mother, whose three children had previously been enrolled at Mosman Swim Centre.
Staff accused of gang-raping sedated woman
in Indian hospital
A protest against rape in India. © Reuters/Amit Dave
The woman had presented at the hospital in Meerut, in the state of Uttar Pradesh, because she was suffering from a breathing problem.
After being admitted to the Intensive Care Unit the victim’s husband alleged that she was given an injection and sedated, before being raped by three male staff members, according to the New Indian Express.
A police officer said that the hospital’s CCTV cameras were switched off at the time of the alleged attack, the ANI news agency reports.
Senior police officer Harimohan Singh told ANI: “The woman was admitted to the hospital with a breathing problem. She has alleged that she was gang-raped by hospital staffers on Sunday.”
Four men and a woman have been arrested and are being questioned by investigators.
Last year the alleged rape of a teenager by a politician in Uttar Pradesh was one in a series of high profile sexual crimes against women that sparked a wave of enormous protests across India.
Jehovah's Witnesses 'kept a secret database of
tens of thousands of child molesters for two decades
and hid it from the authorities'
By DAILYMAIL.COM The governing body of the Jehovah's Witness Christian denomination has been accused of maintaining a secret database of child molesters within the group and failing to share that information with law enforcement agencies.
The Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, which serves as the head of the Jehovah's Witness organization, has reportedly paid millions of dollars in court fines and settlements over the years rather than unseal its files containing the names and addresses of the accused.
Like many pseudo-Christian organizations they are very good at protecting their paedophiles, but not so good at protecting their children.
According to the organization's official website, there are more than 8.57 million people who identify themselves as Jehovah's Witnesses around the world, including approximately 1.5 million in the US.
The allegations against the religious group were first outlined in a bombshell report published in The Atlantic on Friday.
According to the magazine, the Watchtower in 1997 sent a survey to its 10,883 US Kingdom Halls seeking information about members of the community accused of sexual abuse.
The survey was composed of a dozen questions, including how the Jehovah's Witness community viewed the alleged abusers, whether the abuse was a one-time occurrence or part of a pattern, and how widely known the abuse was?
The responses were mailed back to the Watchtower in special blue envelopes and scanned into Microsoft SharePoint, but never shared with the police, The Atlantic reported.
In 2014, an attorney defending the Watchtower against a lawsuit filed by an alleged victim on child sex abuse said that the organization received 775 blue envelopes between 1997 and 2001.
According to some estimates, the number of alleged Jehovah's Witness child molesters listed in the secret database could range from 18,000 to 23,000.
A representative of The Watchtower, however, told The Atlantic that number was considerably lower' than the 23,000 figure.
The article in The Atlantic explains that the Watchtower has a 'two-witness rule' derived from the Bible, which dictates that no Jehovah's Witness can be accused of committing a sin., including child molestation, without two credible witnesses who could corroborate the accusation, unless the alleged perpetrator makes a confession.
But as critics of the Christian sect point out, child abuse is seldom committed in front of witnesses.
This is not the first time that the Jehovah's Witness community has been accused of covering up child sexual abuse.
Last year, a jury ruled that the sect must pay $35 million to a 21-year-old woman who claimed that the church's national organization, the Watchtower, ordered Montana clergy members not to report her sexual abuse as a child at the hands of a congregation member.
The Office of Public Information at the World Headquarters of Jehovah’s Witnesses responded to the verdict by stating: 'Jehovah’s Witnesses abhor child abuse and strive to protect children from such acts. Watchtower is pursuing appellate review.'
The plaintiff in the case and her older relative claimed that another family member sexually abused them in the 1990s and 2000s.
The women said they reported the abuse to church elders, who handled the matter internally after consulting the Watchtower.
Astonishing!
The elders expelled the abuser from the congregation in 2004 then reinstated him the next year, the lawsuit states, and the abuse of the girl who is now 21 continued.
The lawsuit claimed the local and national Jehovah’s Witnesses organizations were negligent and violated a Montana law that requires them to report abuse to outside authorities.
Attorneys for the Jehovah’s Witnesses said in court filings that Montana law exempts elders from reporting 'internal ecclesiastical proceedings on a congregation member’s serious sin.'
In 2012, former Jehovah's Witness Candace Conti was awarded $28 million at trial after claiming that a man she was teamed up with to proselytize door-to-door beginning when she was nine years old sexually abused her for about two years.
Conti, now 33 years old, said when she reported the abuse to the elders in her community in California, they dismissed her because she did not have a witness to back up her claims.
No! OMG!
During the lawsuit, the elders admitted that they knew the accused man had a history of molestation before they paired him up with Conti.
The Watchtower later appealed the jury verdict and the judge reduced the record-setting judgement to less than $3 million.
Around the time Conti received the jury verdict, another former Jehovah's Witness Jose Lopez filed his own lawsuit against the Watchtower, accusing the organization of covering up his sexual abuse at the hands of his mentor, Gonzalo Campos, in 1986 when the plaintiff was seven years old.
Lopez claimed in his complaint that when his mother reported the molestation to the elders, they promised to handle it internally and told them not to report it to the police.
Campos was allowed to remain in the church and later became an elder. In 2010, however, he fled to Mexico and confessed to molesting Lopez and other boys.
It was during the Lopez trial that the Watchtower attorney revealed that 775 envelopes containing the filled-out surveys about molestation allegations were mailed back to the organization.
The Watchtower, however refused to turn over the list of accused molesters, and the the trial ended with a $13.5 million jury verdict in Lopez's favor.
The verdict, however, was overturned on appeal and Lopez ultimately accepted an undisclosed settlement.
In 2016, Lopez's former attorney, now representing another person accusing Gonzalo Campos of sexual abuse, again demanded that the church hand over the list of names.
The Watchtower once again refused to comply and was slapped with $2 million worth of court fines before settling with the new plaintiff out of court.
In the US, the Watchtower's handling of allegations of sexual abuse so far has faced no scrutiny by law enforcement officials.
However, in Australia, where the Jehovah's Witness community boasts 1.2 million members, a royal commission in 2016 found that the sect failed to report more than 1,000 accused molesters since the 1950s.
This needs to be investigated in every country where JWs are present. They obviously have a policy of covering up and even enabling child sex abuse that must be brought into the light.
UK woman tricked granddad into making sex abuse confession on Facebook
Lucy Middleton, MetroA woman has revealed how she caught her sexually abusive granddad by getting him to confess on Facebook Messenger.
Jade Edwards, now 23, was just 13 when Joseph Edwards, now 69, first touched her inappropriately while they watched TV together.
He then embarked on a campaign of abuse that would last until his granddaughter, who has bravely waived her right to anonymity, was 16.
Jade Edwards got her granddad to confess on Facebook (Picture: HotSpot Media) ‘Growing up, I was always my granddad’s favourite girl.
He was my best friend in the world, and I loved being around him,’ Jade, from Liverpool, said.
But in June 2009 Edwards started to grope her bottom as they watched TV at his house.
‘I was so confused, I didn’t understand what had just happened. He then flicked the TV channels and acted like nothing happened, so I ignored it,’ she said.
Nine months later, he took Jade on a car trip to Southport beach after school, stopped on a quiet road and began groping her again.
‘Granddad then stuck his tongue in my mouth and I felt like I was going to be sick,’ she said.
Joseph Edwards was given a 15 month sentence (Picture: HotSpot Media)
Afterwards, Edwards warned her not to tell anyone and took her home – but the next day he called again to tell her he was parked outside her auntie’s house.
‘I nervously walked over to his car, and saw him smiling.
He asked if I was hungry and if I wanted to get a pizza,’ Jade remembered.
‘I looked back at the house, wanting to run away, but I felt so trapped.’ Once again he drove her to the beach and after the pair shared a pizza he put her hands up her skirt and started kissing her.
‘For a moment, it felt like everything was normal, but then Granddad leered at me, and began sliding his hands up my skirt and kissing me.
I began to cry again, it was humiliating and scary,’ she said.
The abuse then continued, with Jade too terrified to tell anyone about what was happening.
He told her she was ‘just so good looking’ (Picture: HotSpot Media)
‘He began telling me he was in love with me, it was horrible.
When I reached 16, I had had enough.
The messages were used as evidence (Picture: HotSpot Media)I threatened to tell someone, so he listened, and the abuse finally stopped.’ In July 2012, then 17-year-old Jade made the brave decision to report her granddad and attempted to get evidence by speaking to him on Facebook first.
During the conversation, Edwards wrote ‘you just do it for me’, ‘I want you’ and told his granddaughter ‘sorry for loving you so much you are just so good looking’.
But while Jade was ‘so relieved’ he had admitted what happened, she was left ‘heartbroken’ when her parents still chose not to believe her.
Jade’s family didn’t believe her (Picture: HotSpot Media)
As a result, she didn’t report the abuse until November 2016.
‘I told them everything Granddad had done to me, and I showed them all the Facebook messages,’ she said.
He was arrested the next day, and the messages were used as evidence.
"Sickeningly, Granddad called me a liar and denied all charges against him.
‘To make matters worse, my family took his side in court.
I was betrayed by everyone I loved.’
In October 2018, Edwards, of Simon’s Croft, Netherton, Bootle, was jailed for 15 months after being found guilty of six counts of sexual activity with a child at Liverpool Crown Court.
Stay-at-home mum Jade is now determined to move on with her life, despite Edwards’ unexpectedly short sentence.
‘Every day I wish I was abused by a stranger, not my granddad.
I’ve been trying to move on with my life by being a mum to my two kids,’ she said.
‘I may have lost my family and the closest man to me, but I spoke out and that is what matters.’
I'm proud of you Jade. You protected your children, and probably others too. It's truly a shame when families side with a paedophile rather than believe an abused child. They are angry because you broke the bubble of normalcy they had lived in for years, even though it was all a lie. It seems they would rather have the lie than the truth.
Vietnam in urgent need of legislation to
prevent child sex abuse: experts
VietNamNet Bridge – Vietnam still lacks mechanisms to prevent the abuse of children in various forms and support children victims, participants said at the second meeting of the National Committee for Children in Hanoi on Friday.
The nine-year-old victim is comforted by her parents. — Photo thanhnien.vn
Attendees said the abuse of children is still dealt with on a case-by-case basis, and efforts to revise legal documents to correct out-of-date regulations and close loopholes have not received due attention.
The Viet Nam Association for Protection of Children’s Rights Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Thanh Hoa noted that families need to make children aware of their rights. They must also prevent and handle violence and sexual abuse of children.
Hoa recommended providing books on children’s rights and measures to protect children to school libraries and tightening supervision at a grassroots level. She also urged building child-friendly procedures to encourage families and children to report incidents to authorities.
Deputy Prime Minister and Chairman of the National Committee for Children Vu Duc Dam assigned MoLISA and the medical and education sectors to work with youth and women’s organisations to build local child protection networks as instructed by the National Committee for Children.
Child sexual harassment cases needed special legislation, experts said following the case of a nine-year-old girl who was sexually assaulted in Hanoi’s outlying district of Chuong My recently.
Chuong My District police arrested a man in connection with the case and initially charged him with molesting a minor. He was released under supervision pending prosecution, but was re-arrested on Tuesday by Ha Noi Police who are charging him with rape.
The case has highlighted conflicting interpretations of the law by different agencies.
“This leads to disparity in the investigation, prosecution and judgement processes. A detailed decree or joint circular needs to be released to work on similar cases,” said Vu Thi Xuan Nhue, head of District 3’s People’s Procuracy in HCM City.
According to Vietnam’s current Criminal Code, any person convicted of raping a person under 16 faces 7-15 years in jail. A person who molests someone under 16 for purposes other than sexual intercourse or other sexual activities faces a penalty of 6-36 months behind bars.
Dang Hoa Nam, director of the Childcare and Protection Department under the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs (MoLISA), told Thanh Niên (Young people) newspaper that Vietnam’s criminal code lacked specific regulations on child sexual assault, especially rape.
The Justice Council of Viet Nam’s Supreme People’s Court has called for a resolution to be released to instruct local courts how to handle child sexual harassment cases.
It was difficult for law enforcement agencies to collect evidence and victims’ testimonies in child abuse cases, Lieutenant Colonel Khong Ngoc Oanh, head of the Child Abuse Prevention Department under the Ministry of Public Security (MPS), said.
“In most child abuse cases, the incidents occur in isolated areas so there are no witnesses. Law enforcement agencies have to search for evidence from other sources such as victims’ testimonies or the crime scene,” he explained.
Lawyer Tran Thi Ngoc Nu from HCM City’s Children Protection Association urged victims’ parents to report abuse. She added that female police and social workers tended to be more effective in these cases.
“Physical examinations in child sex abuse cases should both serve the investigation and ensure the victims’ mental wellbeing,” said Nam.
Besides the Law on Children and the Criminal Procedure Code, which have some regulations regarding such cases, other legal documents fail to provide the adequate procedures to deal with child abuse cases.
“The legal system needs to provide a separate process for cases related to children and minors,” he added.
According to the MPS’s Lieutenant-General Tran Van Ve, a joint circular released on February 5, 2019 by the MPS, MoLISA, the Supreme People’s Court and the Supreme People’s Procuracy contained special requirements related to cases involving victims under 18 years old.
According to the circular, inspectors, prosecutors and judges must first be trained in psychology and education to work with minors.
The participation of representatives, schools and other related organisations was also required to protect the rights of victims.
It's a start, but there's really a long way to go here.
See also: Child sexual abuse preventions desperately needed in Viet Nam
7 arrested after Hindu sisters ‘kidnapped, converted to Islam & married off’ in Pakistan
This happens in Nigeria all the time - Boko Haram, the Fulani Herdsmen
- they prefer young Christian girls in the Sahel
Isn't Islam wonderful?
Seven people have been arrested in Pakistan in connection with an alleged abduction and forced conversion to Islam of two teenage Hindu sisters, which has sparked a war of words between India and Pakistan.
The girls, Raveena (16) and Reena (14), were allegedly abducted by a group of men from Pakistan's Sindh Province and forced into marriage, after converting to Islam against their will. A video which seemed to show a cleric performing the marriage later went viral online.
Video footage has also emerged of the girls’ father protesting outside a police station, saying he would not leave and that police were changing their statements.
The high-level verbal sparring began on Sunday with the intervention of India's Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj, who tweeted that she had asked India’s high commissioner in Islamabad for clarification on media reports about the girls’ kidnapping.
The tweet prompted a response from Pakistan’s Information and Broadcasting Minister Fawad Chaudhry, who said the case was an “internal issue” and added that he hopes Swaraj will act “with same diligence when it comes to rights of Indian Minorities.”
The happy newlyweds?
The back and forth continued, with Swaraj accusing Chaudhry of feeling “jittery” and harboring a “guilty conscience.” During a press conference later, Chaudhry brought up religious riots which occurred in the Indian state of Gujarat in 2002, resulting in the deaths of more than 1,000 people, mostly Muslims. Pakistan has accused India of human rights abuses in Jammu and Kashmir, India's only Muslim-majority state.
Police were accused online of being dismissive of the girls' case after they sought protection, although they later investigated and made arrests. So far, police have not named the seven people arrested for their roles in the kidnapping, however.
A source at the Indian foreign ministry cited three other instances of Hindu or Sikh girls in Pakistan being forced to marry and convert to Islam during the past two years and said that India has, on more than one occasion, raised the issue of “intimidation” of Hindus and Sikhs at their places of worship.
Pakistan-based activist M. Jibran Nasir tweeted a video of the two girls claiming that they accepted Islam, but said police could not ignore that they were underage, illegally married and could both be "under immense pressure.”
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