Note: The once 3rd most powerful man in the Vatican has been sentenced
to 6 years in prison for child sex abuse - article is here
Sheffield: 11 Men Charged in Historic
Child Sexual Abuse Inquiry
MI5 has 'deep regret' child sex abuse claims against Tory MP were not passed on to police, inquiry told
"The knowledge and understanding of child sex abuse at that time was much, much lower than it is now"
Ontario man whose murder case was stayed over excessive time in solitary, now charged with sexual assault
CBC News to 6 years in prison for child sex abuse - article is here
Sheffield: 11 Men Charged in Historic
Child Sexual Abuse Inquiry
Ten men from Sheffield have been charged with historic child sex offences including rape and trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation and another has been charged with conspiracy to pervert the course of justice.
Charges were brought on Monday against Usman Din, Tony Ejoune, Kamaran Mahmoodi, Shangar Ibrahimi, Farhad Mirzaie, Soran Ali Karim, Kawan Omar Ahmed, Saman Mohammed, Jasim Mohammed, Nzar Anwar, and Saba Mohammed. All are due to appear before Sheffield Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday.
The crimes allegedly occurred in Sheffield between 2010 and 2011 against one victim, who cannot be named for legal reasons.
South Yorkshire Police have said that the charges were part of “an ongoing multi-agency investigation.”
The list of charges as reported by the BBC are:
Kawan Omar Ahmed, 29, has been charged with one count of rape.
Nzar Anwar, 39, has been charged with one count of rape and one count of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice.
Usman Din, 34, has been charged with one count of trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation and three counts of rape.
Tony Ejoune, 60, has been charged with one count of rape.
Shangar Ibrahimi, 29, has been charged with one count of rape.
Soran Ali Karim, 43, has been charged with one count of rape.
Kamaran Mahmoodi, 39, has been charged with one count of rape.
Farhad Mirzaie, 29, has been charged with two counts of rape.
Jasim Mohammed, 36, has been charged with three counts of rape.
Saman Mohammed, 40, has been charged with one count of rape.
And Saba Mohammed, 40, has been charged with one count of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice.
Only 3 Mohammeds! Nevertheless, all but one appear to be Pakistani Muslims. Is anyone surprised?
MI5 has 'deep regret' child sex abuse claims against Tory MP were not passed on to police, inquiry told
"The knowledge and understanding of child sex abuse at that time was much, much lower than it is now"
By Aine Fox, Press Association
The security service has expressed its "deep regret" that allegations of possible child sex abuse by a Tory MP was not passed to police.
A member of MI5, giving evidence anonymously at the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA), said the report on the late Chester MP Peter Morrison was looked at from a "narrow security-related view".
A 1986 letter from MI5 to the Cabinet Office read to the Westminster strand of the inquiry, which is sitting for its second week, referred to a rumour that Mr Morrison had a "penchant for small boys".
An MI5 lawyer, who did not work for the service at the time, said such allegations would be passed to police nowadays as a matter of policy.
Brian Altman QC, lead counsel to the inquiry asked the witness: "Do you say that there is no material in MI5's corporate recording to suggest that the 1986 allegations were ever passed to the police?"
Speaking via video-link and visible only to the inquiry panel, he replied: "That's right."
He went on: "I can only take the view that with hindsight it is a matter of deep regret.
"I can't speak about what appreciations ought to have been at the time.
"I am aware, everybody will be aware, that the knowledge and understanding of child sex abuse at that time was much, much lower than it is now.
"So I am not surprised, to some extent unsurprised, that the wider consideration wasn't given in 1986.
"With hindsight it is a matter of real regret."
Asked how such allegations would be treated today, he said: "Today as a matter of formal policy MI5 would report all allegations of this sort to the police and if the same information had come to MI5 today it would be passed to the police."
The inquiry heard two memos in relation to Morrison were written by Eliza Manningham-Buller, who was later to go on to become chief of MI5 and who is now Baroness Manningham-Buller.
One written on November 13 1986 stated that then prime minister Margaret Thatcher was aware of the rumours and was supporting Morrison, and that Morrison hoped the press would publish a story so he could sue and "nail the lies" he felt were being spread about him.
Mr Altman asked the witness if he agreed that it seemed the information given by Baroness Manningham-Buller to MI5's director general at the time Sir Antony Duff "relied upon what Peter Morrison himself said to her, his word was simply taken as read and what he said was accepted rather than inquiries made?"
He said: "Looking at the bald paperwork there does seem to be a chain from Morrison through Eliza to the director general to the cabinet secretary."
He added that he felt this was probably down to the belief the prime minister was aware of the allegations and supported Morrison and that if the then cabinet secretary Sir Robert Armstrong had any doubts "he was in a very good position to check".
The inquiry also heard from former Labour MP Christine Russell who denied a deal was struck to keep quiet about a rumour that Morrison had been caught by police at a railway station with a teenage boy.
Christine Russell, a former MP for Chester, said she could not recall any such meeting about Morrison when she worked as a Labour party election agent.
But the inquiry heard from another Labour Party member who said they believed there had been a meeting which resulted in what he called "a Chester cover-up".
Trade unionist Grahame Nicholls said rumours were "rife" about Morrison's private life, that he "liked little boys".
He said: "That's the expression that was used in that period. I didn't hear the word paedophile at all."
He said the rumours were known by the "political elite" in the area.
Asked if he had any evidence to substantiate the rumour, he replied: "No, the evidence was the rumour. The rumours that were going round Chester."
Mr Nicholls said a meeting had taken place, at some point between 1988 and 1990, in which Ms Russell said Morrison, who had been the area's MP since 1974, was not going to stand in the 1992 general election.
He told the inquiry: "The reason she gave was that Peter Morrison had been caught by Cheshire Police in a toilet in a railway station."
Mr Nicholls said he had been told about the alleged railway station incident before the meeting, by a local reporter, and said he heard it involved a 15-year-old boy.
He added: "The agreement was that if he wasn't standing then we wouldn't break cover on this particular story."
He said he understood that the police had agreed not to take the matter any further.
But, contradicting this, Ms Russell said: "There was certainly no deal."
The inquiry will continue on Tuesday.
Ontario Provincial Police say the man whose murder charge was stayed in January after he spent more than four years in solitary confinement is now facing a new charge.
Adam Capay was arrested on Friday after an incident in Lac Seul. Ont., about 600 kilometres from Thunder Bay, around March 5, said sergeant Mike Golding, the OPP's media relations and community safety coordinator for the northwest region.
He is charged with sexual assault with a weapon.
Capay was originally arrested by the Lac Seul Police Service in connection with one of the Lac Seul force's investigations, Golding said. While in custody, he was rearrested the same day by OPP in connection with the sexual assault investigation.
Capay appeared in court over the weekend and was remanded in custody, Golding said. He was due to appear in court again Monday in Sioux Lookout.
Capay was charged with first-degree murder in 2012 in connection with the death of another inmate at the Thunder Bay Correctional Centre.
His case rose to prominence in 2016 when Ontario Human Rights chief commissioner Renu Mandhane toured the Thunder Bay District Jail in early October of that year. Mandhane reported that Capay had been held in solitary confinement in a windowless room for more than four years, spending 24 hours a day in artificial light.
Ontario Superior Court Justice John Fregeau stayed Capay's murder charge on Jan. 28, saying his treatment violated several of his constitutional rights — including his rights to life, liberty and security of the person; the right not to be arbitrarily detained; the right not to be subjected to cruel and unusual punishment; and the right to be equal before and under the law.
Of course, there is no mention of his victim's rights: the right to life, the right to not be raped. Canadian justice is so absurdly criminal-centric.
UK pensioner, 70, is jailed for 12 years for having more than 2 million child abuse images
Geoffrey Crossland, of Harrogate, amassed more than 2.2 million indecent images
Officers who raided Geoffrey Crossland's £750,000 farmhouse in Harrogate, North Yorkshire, found guns and ammunition hidden underneath the property.
Police had been investigating the former company director, who lived with his wife Anne, 61, after he was found to have more than two million indecent images. The vast collection was stored on SD cards, USB sticks, DVDs, SIM cards, floppy disks, laptops, tablets and mobile phones.
His wife, apparently, was devastated when she found out. (7th story on link)
The court heard how Crossland was found to have 34,612 images in the most extreme category A, as well as 2,107,873 in the least extreme category C.
Crossland was imprisoned for 12 years and eight months at York Crown Court.
The court heard he had 'painstakingly categorised' the images and had wrote lists of the best websites to access sexual pictures and videos of children.
The scale of the police response at Crossland's £750,000 farmhouse in Harrogate last October
The haul was described by the Crown Prosecution Service as one of the biggest known collections in England and Wales.
North Yorkshire Police said the seizure of the images was the biggest ever in the county, and included 6,946 in the most extreme category A.
Appearing at court today, Crossland pleaded guilty to six charges of possessing prohibited firearms, two charges of possessing firearms without the relevant certificate, two counts of possessing ammunition without the relevant certificate, and one count of possessing a shotgun without the relevant certificate.
He had previously pleaded guilty to three counts of making indecent images between January 2011 and October 2018.
Crossland lived at this farmhouse in Harrogate, which is pictured in an estate agent's photo
Geoffrey Crossland pleaded guilty to making 2,204,992 indecent photographs and videos of children between January 1, 2011 and October 22, 2018. These included:
• 28,686 images and 5,826 videos of the most extreme category A
• 46,271 images and 3,008 videos in category B
• 2,095,528 images and 12,302 videos in category C
• 12,281 images and 201 videos containing prohibited images of children
• 814 images and 30 videos containing extreme pornography
Sentencing him this afternoon, Judge Andrew Stubbs QC said the 'scale of the depravity' of the images depicted was hard for the public to understand.
'Your criminality was unearthed, almost literally, on October 18 last year, when officers searched your house for images of children,' the judge said.
'One issue which is not forgotten is that these images capture real life people, and at the same time real life sexual abuse being carried out on them.'
Prosecutor Stephen Wood explained how the vast haul of images included 34,612 in the most extreme category A, and 2,107,873 in the least extreme category C.
Mr Wood explained how the pensioner had 'painstakingly categorised' the pictures, with some being listed under terms like 'animal abuse', 'peach Asian street meat', and 'young Russian brother and sister'.
The judge heard how the former business manager, who ran a company that manufactured electronic components for vehicles, had an 'arsenal of weapons' in the bunker, as well as around 24,000 rounds of ammunition.
Geoffrey Crossland also admitted 11 charges relating to the possession of prohibited firearms, shot guns and rifles without licences, and ammunition offences, including:
• a Hi Standard pistol
• a .22 calibre revolver which used a self-contained gas cartridge system
• two .22 calibre Weihrauch revolvers which use a self-contained gas cartridge system
• a FN .22 automatic pistol which had a barrel less than 30 centimetres in length and which was less than 60 centimetres in length overall
• a Miroku double barrelled shotgun
• a Jager Armi/Moda P74 rifle
• a smooth bore ornamental pistol
• a .38 Brocock bolt action rifle which uses a self-contained gas cartridge system
• bullets designed to be used with a pistol and incorporating a missile designed or adapted to expand on impact
• bullets in quantities in excess of those authorised by a firearms certificate in force at the time
Susannah Proctor, defending, explained how the defendant had an enthusiasm for weapons dating back to him being given a firearms licence back in the 1970s. She added there was no evidence Crossland had any intention to cause harm with the weapons and ammunition.
The former company director was arrested at London Heathrow Airport days after his home was searched by officers, having been on a clay pigeon shooting holiday in Argentina.
A neighbour said eight police cars and two police vans rushed to the property around five months ago before asking to park on his drive.
The man, who has two young grandchildren, said neighbours believed he was making his own ammunition when reports of his activity first came to light. However, after reading about the full details of the court case, he described his shock at living so close to Crossland.
He said: 'It is so worrying knowing we lived so close. I have a young granddaughter who comes around here often. Knowing something could've happened is distressing.'
The work of North Yorkshire Police in investigating the case and bringing Crossland to court was praised by the judge at the end of his sentencing remarks.
Detective Chief Inspector Graeme Wright, of North Yorkshire Police, said that the investigation into the defendant's potential criminality is ongoing.
Marc Horsfall, of the National Crime Agency, said: 'A team of specially trained NCA officers spent several months working through Crossland's horrific catalogue of abuse images to grade them in order of severity.
'Crossland and men like him are fuelling the actual contact abuse of children and the sickening distribution of those images. The NCA works with partners at home and abroad to catch child sex offenders and bring them to justice.'
Ex-nursery boss sentenced for online child sex abuse in UK
A former day nursery manager has been sentenced for viewing sex abuse images of children online.
She initially pleaded not guilty but changed her plea ahead of her trial at Guildford Crown Court last month.
Whateley was sentenced to a 30-month community order and a 50-day rehabilitation order.
She was also put on the sex offenders register, given a five-year sexual harm prevention order, and barred from working with children.
She had pleaded guilty to encouraging the distribution of indecent images of children.
The National Crime Agency (NCA) said there was no evidence to suggest any material was made at nurseries she had worked at or that she had been in sexual contact with any children.
She worked for a number of nurseries including ones in Teddington and Hampton Wick, the NCA said.
After her arrest on 26 September 2017, NCA investigators found an audio recording in which Whateley was heard admitting to being a paedophile and expressing an interest in abusing very small children.
Whateley initially claimed she had been visiting the conference room for six months to entrap paedophiles. But she had made no notes, passed no offenders' details to law enforcement and had also deleted nearly all her phone's contents, the NCA said.
A reporting restriction, which banned Whateley being named, was lifted on Monday.
Swimming instructor charged with
child sexual abuse at a Sydney pool
By Rachel Clun, Canberra TimesA swimming instructor will face court on Wednesday after he allegedly sexually abused two young swimming students at a pool on Sydney's north shore.
Detectives from the child abuse and sex crimes squad began an investigation after receiving reports two girls, aged six and eight, were sexually touched on separate occasions during swimming lessons at a Mosman pool in February.
The 20-year-old will face Manly Local Court on Wednesday. CREDIT:NSW POLICE
Following inquiries, detectives arrested a 20-year-old man at a Balgowlah home just before midday on Tuesday.
The man was taken to Manly Police Station where he was charged with two counts of intentionally sexually touching a child under 10 years, and sexual intercourse with a child under the age of 10.
Refused bail, the man will appear at Manly Local Court on Wednesday.
While it's not clear how long the man had worked as a swimming instructor, police said the man's employment at the swimming school was suspended prior to his arrest.
Investigations are continuing.
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