Hundreds of child slavery, CSA victims refused right to remain in UK – report
Campaigners call on the Prime Minister to reconsider the decision to close the ‘Dubs’ scheme to take refugee children into the UK © AFP / Justin Tallis
The UK Home Office rejected claims made by hundreds of child victims of modern slavery between April 2017 and the end of 2018, according to BuzzFeed News, which made a freedom of information (FOI) request on the matter.
Figures obtained by the news media outlet reveal that Britain rejected a total of 310 applications for discretionary leave to remain, and 65 asylum claims, during the same period the Windrush scandal broke. The episode led to a series of embarrassing reversals for the UK government on their “hostile environment” policies.
Windrush was the first of many ships that brought mostly Caribbean immigrants to Britain after WWII. Many were treated very harshly and many were returned. Amber Rudd resigned the Home Secretary office, although some commentators linked the scandal to the "hostile environment policy" instituted by Theresa May during her time as Home Secretary.
The FOI disclosure by the Home Office reveals that Theresa May’s government only approved 16 out of 326 applications to remain in Britain made by children officially recognized as modern slavery victims. The immigration status afforded to those on ‘discretionary leave to remain’ gives people a right to a temporary stay in the UK if they have been the victim of extreme hardship.
The case of a Vietnamese child who, according to her foster father, had been the victim of gang-rape by her traffickers, is highlighted in BuzzFeed’s report. The girl had her asylum claims rejected, having fled Vietnam as a 16-year old, and was told she would be sent back to the country of her traffickers, just days after her 18th birthday.
For Theresa May, who has been at pains to say that the issue of tackling modern slavery is of paramount importance to her securing a meaningful “legacy” once she leaves office, the revelations ostensibly undermine such sentiments.
Earlier this month, official data obtained by charity After Exploitation showed that more than 500 suspected slaves had been detained in immigration centers by UK authorities during 2018.
Prince George, BC, man charged in
child pornography investigation
by: Jessica FediganPrince George Matters
A Prince George man has been charged after an investigation into a report of child pornography.
RCMP say they received a report earlier this month (July 5) of child pornography that had been located at a home in the city.
Front Line Officers and the Serious Crime Unit opened an investigation which found the female child victim and a male offender.
Police also found the man was making and distributing child pornography of the child.
The following charges have been laid against Shawn Robert Dick.
Sexual assault
Sexual interference
Making child pornography
Possession of child pornography
Distributing child pornography
Administer a stupifying drug
Voyeurism
“This is a disturbing case of child sexual abuse," Cpl. Carmen Kiener of the Prince George RCMP says in a release. "Our front line members did a great job in gathering evidence and ensuring this child was saved from the situation and further harm wasn’t brought to this child."
No other information will be released due to a court-ordered publication ban.
Police add that the 52-year-old Prince George resident is a travelling salesman who travels throughout B.C.
As a result, police have not ruled out a possibility of more victims and are reaching out to the public.
Kiener says if anyone has any information about these offences or someone you know might be a victim, to contact Prince George RCMP at 250-561-3300.
It might help if we had a photo of the creep!
Jury convicts 'VIP paedophile ring' source 'Nick' over lies that led to failed £2m police operation
Sentenced to 18 years
Sentenced to 18 years
By PA Mediapoint and Press Gazette
A source who lied about being abused by a murderous VIP Westminster paedophile ring is facing a lengthy jail sentence after he was convicted of perverting the course of justice and fraud.
Proctor blasted the force, calling the episode “a truly disgraceful chapter in the history of British policing”.
Their £2m Operation Midland into the lurid allegations by the man they named only as “Nick” ended without making a single arrest.
Nor a single corroboration of his accusations.
Beech told detectives over hours of tearful interviews that his late stepfather, an Army major, raped him, then passed him on to generals to be tortured at military bases and sadistically sexually abused by other establishment figures in the 1970s and 1980s.
He named former Prime Minister Sir Edward Heath, his sworn enemy Proctor, disgraced TV star Jimmy Savile and security chiefs Sir Michael Hanley, the head of MI5, and MI6 boss Sir Maurice Oldfield among the gang after meeting a journalist from the defunct news agency Exaro.
Beech claimed a schoolboy named Scott was deliberately knocked down and killed, that another boy who might have been the missing teenager Martin Allen was raped and strangled in front of him, and said another youth was battered to death by the gang.
A senior detective wrongly called the allegations “credible and true” before the force had completed their inquiries.
A jury at Newcastle Crown Court rejected Beech’s unfounded allegations and today convicted him of 12 counts of perverting the course of justice and one of fraud, relating to a £22,000 criminal injuries payout he falsely claimed for being raped by Savile.
Mark Watts, who was editor of Exaro at the time and published a number of Beech’s claims, said in a statement today that he believed Beech did not have a “fair trial” and that his convictions today were “wholly unsafe”.
He said the trial “underlines the urgent need for a public inquiry” into Operation Midland “to ensure the right lessons are learnt from it”. He made no comment on his own reporting of the claims.
Jurors were unconvinced by Beech’s claims that Army generals, at the height of the IRA terror threat, could sneak off unguarded to join horrific child abuse sessions.
They saw video of a police interview with Lord Bramall where the war hero, now too ill to give evidence, thumped the table in front of him and denied having any sexual interest in children.
Another falsely accused general, 96-year-old Sir Hugh Beach, told the jury via video-link that the allegations against him were “beyond grotesque”.
With what Tony Badenoch QC, prosecuting, described as “breathtaking hypocrisy”, Beech himself was exposed as a paedophile with an interest in pre-teen boys.
The school governor and NSPCC volunteer was due to be tried on indecent images and voyeurism charges last summer but went on the run to Sweden, where he bought two remote properties and tried to evade justice using false identities.
After the trial, Proctor said he was still to settle a claim against the Metropolitan Police, saying their raid cost his home and the job he loved, working for the Duke and Duchess of Rutland.
Justice Goss said he will sentence on these matters, as well as indecent images offences and breach of bail, at a later date.
The jury deliberated for around four-and-a-half hours. Beech did not visibly react when the 13 guilty verdicts were returned.
Watson under fire
In 2012 Labour deputy leader Tom Watson stood up in Parliament and called on then-Prime Minister David Cameron to ensure the Met Police “investigate clear intelligence suggesting a powerful paedophile network linked to Parliament and Number Ten”.
In a statement following Beech’s conviction, the MP said it was not his role to judge whether Beech had been telling the truth and that he had only met Beech, under the pseudonym “Nick”, once in 2014.
Watson also declined to apologise to former Tory MP Proctor, one of Beech’s victims, but appreciated he was “hurt and angry”.
Watson said in a statement: “I met the man I knew as ‘Nick’ once, on 8 July 2014, two years after I had raised my question in Parliament. During that meeting Nick said very little and did not name any of his alleged abusers.
“I reassured Nick that the police had made clear that all allegations of historic sex abuse would be taken seriously and treated sensitively. That is what the police had asked me to do, and it was the process I followed with all those who claimed to be survivors of historic child sex abuse.
“It was not my role to judge whether victims’ stories were true. I encouraged every person that came to me to take their story to the police and that is what I did with Nick.
“I hope this trial, and the case of one person, does not prevent survivors of child sexual abuse coming forward and reporting their experiences to the police.”
In an emotional statement, Proctor called on the Labour deputy leader to apologise and said Watson had said in a Guardian interview that Beech “was not delusional”.
Watson said: “Harvey Proctor makes an understandably emotional attack today. I appreciate that he is hurt and angry but in justifying his attack he has disingenuously used a selective quotation from an interview I did…
“What I actually said in that interview was: ‘What I’m certain of is that he’s not delusional. He is either telling the truth, or he’s made up a meticulous and elaborate story. It’s not for me to judge.’
“My actual quotation made clear that I did not know if ‘Nick’ was telling the truth, or lying, but that it was for the police, rather than me, to make a judgment about that.”
Watson said “Nick” never alleged to him that Proctor had abused him.
He said he was justified in speaking out in Parliament about a paedophile ring, as his pressure had led to lost police files being recovered, and three men being convicted for child sexual abuse.
He said: “As a public figure of responsibility I felt it was my duty to respond to the claims that had been made to me. To stand aside when there was a possibility that children were at risk of sexual abuse was not an option.”
Today - July 26th, Beech was sentenced to serve 18 years in prison.
Dunstable, UK paedophile who abused girl 11
found guilty of 'heinous' crimes
HAYLEY O'KEEFFEDunstable Today
A paedophile who dragged his brave victim through courts twice after denying historic sex abuse crimes has been told he faces jail.
Patrick Ryan, 76, of Poynters Road, Dunstable, was found guilty today (Monday) of three counts of indecent assault of a girl under the age of 14.
The abuse started when the girl was between the ages of 11 and 12 - 20 years ago.
Ryan would consistently touch her in a sexual manner, which happened regularly over a year.
She reported it to the police in 2017. When Ryan was arrested and questioned, he denied all allegations and went on to plead not guilty at an earlier court hearing.
Detective Steve Francis, from the force’s Public Protection Unit said: “We are pleased that Ryan was found guilty of sexually assaulting such a young girl. It was very brave of the victim to come forward and disclose what had happened to her after all this time.
“Child abuse is one of the most heinous crimes and it won’t be tolerated in our county. This is a good example of how it is never too late to report sexual abuse, no matter how long ago it took place. I hope that this case shows to others that if you come forward, your voice will be heard and justice will be done.”
Ryan will be sentenced on 12 September.
Appeal panel rules trial judge 'erred,' issues convictions for Ontario violin teacher
The appeal panel has remitted the matter back to Superior Court
CBC News
Last year, Claude Trachy was acquitted of 51 sexual assault-related charges, shocking former students. The decision was then appealed in May. Some of those acquittals have been set aside.
The appeal decision, released Tuesday, said the trial judge "erred in law" by acquitting Trachy on the sexual assault and indecent assault charges, ruling that they had been proven beyond a reasonable doubt.
During the trial, female students testified that in the 1970s and 80s, Trachy had touched their breasts, had them remove their blouses and bras and play with their breasts left exposed. In some instances, the former students testified plastic moulds had been taken of their breasts.
According to Trachy, his actions were to measure students to fit them for violin shoulder rests and were not for a sexual purpose. Justice Thomas Carey at the time accepted Trachy's explanation, ruling in his favour.
Crown attorney John Patton, on appeal, argued that Carey's decision "brushed over" major evidence and did not consider the suffering of the complainants.
As a result, the acquittals on some charges have been set aside. Stays have been entered on two counts, due to the age of the claimants at the time. Acquittals on sexual exploitation and sexual interference charges will stand.
"There was a quite a bit of joy," said one of Trachy's victims. "A whole pile of emotions at once. It's been a long four years since the investigation began."
The victim, who can't be named due to a publication ban, spoke to CBC News from her home in Chatham.
"Being heard was just what we needed," she said. "We've all become stronger women because of it."
The woman said she'd like to see more instruction given to judges on how to deal with sexual assault victims.
No kidding! Especially Judge Carey.
"In the end, if there had been a new trial, we would have all had to tell our stories again. Nothing would have been new, we were all credible witnesses," she said. "That would have been a difficult thing for us to do. We need closure and we need it quickly."
The three-judge appeal panel included Justice Mary Lou Benotto, Justice Grant Huscroft and Justice David Doherty, who issued convictions on 25 charges related to 18 complainants.
The appeal panel has remitted the matter back to Superior Court and requested a different trial court judge determine sentencing.
"The end is in sight," said the victim. "All along I have gone through some healing. I look forward to being able to put it behind me, and move on."
Gardaí seize 'childlike sex doll' as 14 addresses raided around Ireland
A ‘childlike sex doll’ was seized at one of the locations.
The searches, conducted between Monday and today, were carried out as part of Operation Ketch, which aims to target people suspected of possessing, importing and distributing online child abuse material.
It also aims to identify child protection concerns at suspect addresses and engage with Tusla the Child and Family Agency.
During this phase of the operation, warrants were obtained from district courts pursuant to the Child Trafficking and Pornography Act 1998. Searches were conducted at 14 addresses across the country by local Divisional Protection Service units and detective units.
Seven searches were carried out in Dublin, two were carried out in Cork and Waterford respectively, and one was carried out in Meath, Monaghan and Galway respectively.
At each location, gardaí seized digital material for forensic examination. A ‘childlike sex doll’ was also seized at one of the locations.
There were no arrests planned during this phase of the investigation and follow up searches will be carried out over the coming days. Arrests are expected as individual investigations progress.
Gardaí said they are maintaining liaison with Tusla in relation to child protection concerns that have arisen.
In a statement, gardaí said: “An Garda Síochána wishes to reassure the community, through operations such as this and other ongoing work by the Online Child Exploitation unit, that we will relentlessly pursue those involved in the possession, importation and distribution of child abuse material.”
Anyone with information is asked to come forward and contact their local garda station or the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111.
Operation Ketch commenced in February 2018.
In 2019 to date, a total of 72 addresses have been searched as part of the operation. In 2018, a total 137 addresses were searched.
And how many perverts were charged?
Kingston, ON, police looking for potential victims of man facing child sexual assault charges
By Alexandra MazurGlobal News
Kingston police are asking for potential victims of a man recently charged with two historic sexual assaults to come forward.
The alleged incidents involved two young male victims.
Police say Lockwood was affiliated with various youth groups and teen events in Kingston back in the early 1980s.
He then moved from the Kingston area to the greater Toronto area in the late 1980s, remaining there into the 1990s.
Following a recent investigation, and with the help from Halifax police, Kingston Police were able to locate Lockwood in Nova Scotia.
Lockwood was arrested on a Canada-wide arrest warrant in Halifax, police say.
He was transported back to Kingston for a bail hearing, where he was held in custody.
Local police are asking anyone who may have dealt with Lockwood in the past 35 years or those who may have been a victim of a sexual assault to call Det. Darren Lund at 613-549-4660 ext. 6159, or email him at dlund@kpf.ca.
Irish murderer revealed sexual abuse as child to prison psychology service
Sonya McLeanA father-of-three has been jailed for five years for sexually abusing a 12-year-old boy more than 25 years ago after he made the child believe he wanted a relationship with him.
Alan Lyons (38) first revealed that he had been abused by Dirk Jager (57) while attending psychological services in prison, where he is serving a life sentence for murder. He waived his anonymity so Jager’s identity could be published.
Jager, of Sandybanks, Manor Kilbride, Blessington, Co Wicklow, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to three charges of sexual assault and three charges of gross indecency on dates between December 1992 and December 1997.
Lyons was aged between 12 and 17 at the time, while Jager was 31 when the abuse started. Jager has a previous conviction for sexual assault from 1997 which involved the abuse of a child in the mid 1990s.
Sgt Ken Holohan told Fionnuala O’Sullivan BL, prosecuting, that Lyons was jailed for life in 2000 after being convicted of murder following a fatal stabbing two years earlier. He began attending psychological services in prison and revealed that he had been abused as a child.
When gardaí visited him in Wheatfield Prison to take a statement, Lyons told them “I was a kid and I never told him to stop. He just made me believe this was what I wanted to do”.
The court heard that the victim and his friends began visiting Jager’s business in Dublin city and Jager would take photographs of them in their swimming togs. He later began sexually assaulting Lyons and this escalated to acts of full penetrative sex.
Low opinion
Reading his victim impact statement in court Lyons said he had a low opinion of himself around the time of the abuse.
“My family knew something was wrong but I couldn’t tell them.”
He said he started to mix with people involved drugs and criminality and said he felt safer with these peers “than my secret being exposed”.
Lyons described feeling “dirty and vulnerable” and said Jager took away his innocence, hopes and ambitions.
He said he “was just something to use and abuse” but has since decided he is never going to be a victim again.
“I struggled with my sexual identity. I was lonely and scared but all I could do was rage. My view of the world and people became so skewed. If anyone tried to help, I looked on them with suspicion,” Lyons told the court.
Jager expressed regret to Lyons in a letter read by his lawyer James Dwyer SC.
“I cannot ask for forgiveness as I cannot forgive myself,” the letter stated.
He said he hoped that Lyons could “find peace”.
Judge Melanie Greally imposed a total sentence of six years but suspended the final year for five years on condition that Jager engage with the Probation Service on the issue of risk management. She said she was taking all of Jager’s assertions of remorse and insight with a grain of salt.
Scottish man jailed for watching livestream of
child sex abuse from the Philippines
REBECCA SPEARE-COLEEvening Standard
A man who paid to watch children being sexually abused in the Philippines via livestreaming has been jailed for nine years.
The 51-year-old used adults in the Philippines to prey on children and livestreamed the abuse to his home in Irvine, Ayrshire, over the internet.
Sentencing Bell at the High Court in Glasgow on Thursday, Lord Arthurson said he had plumbed new depths of depravity and that he would sentence him as though he had carried out the abuse himself.
Excellent! that is exactly what you have to do!
He gave Bell an extended sentence, jailing him for nine years and ordering him to serve six years on licence after his release, which means that he will be monitored in the community after release.
In a statement later published on the Judiciary of Scotland website, Lord Arthurson said: "Matthew Brown King Bell, on July 2 2019 at a preliminary hearing at Glasgow High Court you were convicted on your own plea of extremely grave sexual offending in which your victims were an adult female and several pre-pubescent children, all unknown to you, whose abuse in the Philippines you orchestrated and livestreamed to your home in Irvine by way of an internet connection.
"You used third party adults in the Philippines to act as your proxy in this appalling criminal conduct, and in respect of at least some of these charges, on the information before me, you did so apparently on a commercial basis."
He added: "Those working in these courts require in large part to endure a daily diet of depravity, but on occasion an indictment comes before the court in which new depths of such depravity are plumbed.
Lord Arthurson said Bell presents a "high risk of serious harm" which led him to impose the extended sentence.
He added: "Let me be crystal clear: I propose to sentence you on no different a basis than had you yourself undertaken the sexual abuse libelled in these charges in person."
Police Scotland welcomed the sentence.
Detective Inspector Susan Milloy, of Ayrshire Public Protection Unit, said: "It is unimaginable what impact Bell will have had on his victims in this case, many of whom were not even within the same country as their abuser.
"We hope that this conviction and sentencing send a clear message. You may think that by sitting in your home livestreaming abuse that you will not be caught, but you will.
"We are continuously gathering information and intelligence with a wide range of partners. Make no mistake, we will come after anyone who is committing these heinous crimes, no matter how long it takes."
An NSPCC spokesman said: "The sentence handed to Bell reflects the gravity of his offending. Behind every sickening video viewed by Bell were real children suffering the most appalling sexual abuse.
"It is vital he receives effective treatment behind bars to reduce any threat he poses to children in the future.
"The production of child abuse images is a global criminal industry and the war to stop it is only just beginning."
And we are still losing that war as the industry is thriving.
London childminder dubbed 'Peter Pan nanny'
jailed for sexually abusing children
jailed for sexually abusing children
Today [Thursday, 25 July] he was sentenced to a 14-year extended sentence, comprising a 12-year custodial sentence with an extended period of two years, at the same court.
Philo-Steele advertised his childminding services on a number of websites. One advert read: “I am a fully trained and experienced male nanny. I specialise in early years care, education and development.”
He added: “I excel at providing high standards of attentive care. I am described as nurturing, reassuring and supportive.”
In September 2017, Philo-Steele befriended a single mother of two young boys. To gain her trust, he had informed her that he had been studying for a master’s degree in childhood anthropology at Brunel University.
Philo-Steele went on to groom and sexually assault the two young boys.
After this had been reported to police, Philo-Steele was reinvestigated over an alleged historic sexual offence committed in 2003, against a boy who was six at the time.
Following a seven week trial, a jury found Philo-Steele guilty of sexually abusing all three victims.
Kunal Davé, from the CPS, said: “Alexander Philo-Steele held a sexual interest in young boys and acted upon his desires over a number of years. He preyed upon a single mother, gaining her trust by calling himself 'the Peter Pan nanny' and he aimed to sell himself as ‘attentive’ and ‘nurturing’ to prospective employers.
"Philo-Steele carried out a calculated campaign where he groomed and manipulated these young boys in order to fulfil his sexual appetite. He denied carrying out the sexual assaults, and subjected his young victims and their families to a trial where they had to give evidence and re-live the abuse.
“A sexual predator has now been taken off the streets where he can no longer harm young children. I hope this prosecution provides some comfort to the victims and their families.”
NEVER! NEVER! NEVER! Hire a male babysitter. There is something wrong with a male who wants to babysit someone else's children.
Nepal searches for more child abuse victims
of arrested Australian
AGENCE FRANCE PRESSE
Kathmandu
Nepal Police is searching for more child victims of an Australian arrested for allegedly abusing two boys, the latest foreigner to be accused of paedophilia in the country.
The 62-year-old paragliding pilot was arrested on Tuesday after police raided his rented house in the tourist town of Pokhara following a tip-off.
Police said the pilot, who had been working in Nepal for three years, was caught “red-handed” with two boys aged 12 and 14.
“He has been living here so we need to investigate if there are other victims or if he is connected with a network of paedophiles,” local police official Dan Bahadur Karki told AFP.
Haven for paedophiles?
Weak law enforcement has made Nepal notorious for sexual predators, with several arrests and convictions in recent years.
The suspects often target children from poor families, luring them with gifts or with promises to support their education. Last year at least four foreigners were arrested in child sexual abuse cases, while a British man was arrested in January.
Earlier this month, former United Nations official Peter Dalglish was sentenced to nine years in jail for sexually abusing two boys.
In 2015, 71-year-old Canadian orphanage volunteer Ernest MacIntosh was sent to prison for seven years for sexually abusing a disabled 15-year-old boy.
And in 2010, French charity worker Jean-Jacques Haye was convicted of raping 10 children at a Kathmandu orphanage.
IRA leader facing child sex abuse charges ‘vanished’
The suspect being sought by Garda is reportedly a senior
ex-IRA figure originally from Belfast.
PHILIP BRADFIELDSinn Fein has remained silent after being pressed to call on a senior ex-IRA man to give himself up to face child sex abuse charges in Dublin.
The Belfast native, now 68, was reportedly a senior IRA figure in the south who fled to Spain in 1996. However he was extradited to Dublin in 2016 to face charges that he had sexually abused a girl four times in the early 1990s.
Despite garda objections he was granted bail but disappeared a year later, two days before his trial in June 2017.
The suspect cannot be named in order to protect the alleged victim’s identity.
Belfast woman Mairia Cahill was one of three women who told the PSNI they had been sexually abused by an IRA man. The PSNI and Sinn Fein later apologised over how they responded to the women’s claims.
Yesterday she pressed Sinn Fein to publicly call for the latest suspect to give himself up.
“It is highly unusual that a person who skips bail cannot be found by Gardai, and that no trace of them exists,” she said. “Three possibilities have to be examined. Either he has been helped by republicans, by the state, or something sinister has happened to him.”
She added: “It is vitally important that the leaders of Sinn Fein explicitly call on this man to give himself up. They have so far remained silent.
“The Republican movement has a network like no other... they have a duty to pass on every scrap of information they have to ensure that no stone is left unturned in finding this man.”
Sinn Fein failed to offer any response to her request.
The Garda said: “A court order is in existence issued by the Circuit Court on the 26th June 2019, which is a matter of public record.
“This matter remains before the courts and An Garda Síochána is not going to comment further on the conduct of any individual investigation.”
Irish state broadcaster RTÉ reported that Gardai had been unable to publicise the disappearance of the sex abuse suspect in 2017 due to the nature of the case, and that despite an alert through Interpol, his location remains unknown.
The broadcaster reported that the case is separate to a wider investigation, which has been ongoing, into allegations of sexual abuse against a number of IRA members.
The BBC reported that the case only came to light two years after his disappearance due to media enquiries, and that he has fled abroad.
The case is the latest in a growing number of allegations that some IRA members were involved in serious sexual abuse during the years of the Troubles or subsequently.
In 2014 southern terror victims demanded an Irish government statement after claims by former Irish justice minister Michael McDowell that a blind eye was turned to IRA fugitives.
At that time Austin Stack said he would vigorously pursue the matter. His father Brian Stack was a senior Irish prison officer murdered by the IRA in 1983.
Mr Stack had said gardai had been annoyed when a long-standing arrest warrant for the alleged former head of the IRA in the south was cancelled, after an application by the Director of Public Prosecutions to the Special Criminal Court in 2006.
The Stack family told the News Letter yesterday that they later pressed a range of senior government and justice figures on the matter, but that they had all said either that they were not aware of such an instruction or that such an instruction did not exist. However the family said yesterday that it nonetheless believes “unwritten guarantees” have been given.
The Irish Department of Justice yesterday declined to offer any comment.
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