Positive Stories in the War on Child Sex Abuse Episode XV

Finally, Justice for Cyntoia Brown - Released from Prison

Not sure why it took 8 months from the time they announced clemency until she was released today, but, the survivor of child sex trafficking is finally free.

Woman who received clemency for 2006 Tennessee murder conviction
has been released

The Associated Press 

Cyntoia Brown, a Tennessee inmate who had been serving time for murder but was recently granted clemency, was released Wednesday from prison. She now says she wants to help women and girls suffering from abuse and exploitation. 

A Tennessee woman who said she was a 16-year-old sex-trafficking victim when she killed a man in 2004 has been released from prison Wednesday after she was granted clemency, according to the Tennessee Department of Correction.

Kim Kardashian West, Rihanna and other celebrities had lobbied for Cyntoia Brown's release, and then Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam agreed in January.

Brown, now 31, will remain on parole supervision for 10 years on the condition she does not violate any state or federal laws, holds a job and participates in regular counselling sessions, Haslam's commutation says.

In a statement released Monday, Brown said she wants to help other women and girls suffering abuse and exploitation.

"I thank governor and first lady Haslam for their vote of confidence in me, and with the Lord's help I will make them as well as the rest of my supporters proud," she wrote.

Her lawyers said she's requesting privacy and transition time before she makes herself available to the public.

Shot real estate agent in the head

Brown was convicted in 2006 of murdering Nashville real estate agent Johnny Allen, 43. Police said she shot Allen in the back of the head at close range with a gun she brought to rob him after he picked her up at a drive-in restaurant in Nashville to have sex with her.

The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled against life-without-parole sentences for juveniles. But the state of Tennessee argued successfully in lower courts that Brown's sentence was not in violation of federal law because she would be eligible for parole after serving at least 51 years.

Haslam said that was too harsh a condition for a crime Brown admitted to committing as a teen, especially given the steps she has taken to rebuild her life. She earned her GED (certification she has high school-level skills) and completed studies with Lipscomb University as an inmate.

Brown met with prison counsellors to design a plan for her release, which will include time in a transition centre and continuing coursework with the Lipscomb University program, the state Department of Correction said in a news release.

Brown plans to have a book published in mid-October and a documentary about her is set to be released this year, the non-profit documentary film group Odyssey Impact and Daniel H. Birman Productions Inc. said in a news release earlier this year.

Brown ran away from her adoptive family in Nashville in 2004 and began living in a hotel with a man known as Cut Throat, who forced her to become a prostitute, and verbally, physically and sexually assaulted her, according to court documents. 

Brown's lawyers contended she was a victim of sex trafficking who feared for her life and lacked the mental capacity to be culpable in the slaying because she was impaired by her mother's alcohol use while she was in the womb.

Indian Cabinet approves amendments to POCSO Act by including death penalty for aggravated sexual assault
on children

India Press Trust of India

New Delhi: To combat rising cases of child sex abuse, the Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved amendments to strengthen the POCSO Act by including death penalty for aggravated sexual assault on children, besides providing stringent punishments for other crimes against minors, officials said.

The proposed changes in the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act also provide for fines and imprisonment to curb child pornography.

The modification in the law will address the need for stringent measures against rising trend of child sex abuse in the country and combat the menace of relatively new kind of crimes, the government said, stressing that the strong penal provisions will act as a deterrent.

"It intends to protect the interests of vulnerable children in times of distress and ensures their safety and dignity. The amendment is aimed at establishing clarity regarding the aspects of child abuse and punishment thereof," it said.

The government, in a statement, said the amendments in Section-2, 4, 5, 6, 9, 14, 15, 34,42 and 45 of the POCSO Act, 2012 are being made to address the aspects of child sexual abuse in an appropriate manner.

"Section-4, 5 and 6 are proposed to be amended to provide option of stringent punishment, including death penalty, for committing sexual assault and aggravated penetrative sexual assault crime on a child to protect the children from sexual abuse," it said.

The amendments are also proposed in Section-9 to protect children from sexual offences in times of natural calamities and other similar situations and in cases where children are administered, in any way, any hormone or any chemical substance, to attain early sexual maturity for the purpose of penetrative sexual assault, the statement said.

"Section-14 and Section-15 of the POCSO Act, 2012 are also proposed to be amended to address the menace of child pornography. It is proposed to levy fine for not destroying or deleting or reporting the pornographic material involving a child with an intention to share or transmit it," the government said.

It's progress! I doubt that it will be enough to overcome hundreds, if not thousands of years of culture, but it could help some.

Movie Halls to Screen Awareness Clips on Child Sexual Abuse: Supreme Court of India

A short video clip with helpline numbers should be screened in movie halls across the country to create awareness about sexual assault cases against children, a lawyer suggested on Thursday, 25 July, and it was accepted by the Supreme Court.

The top court, which on 12 July had on its own taken note of the "alarming rise" in the number of rape incidents against children, directed the Centre on Thursday to set up a centrally-funded exclusive court in all districts where 100 or more cases have been registered under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

Senior advocate V Giri, who is assisting the court as an amicus curiae, gave a slew of suggestions to effectively deal with child rape cases in the country to a bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi.

The bench accepted many of these including the need to show video clips in cinema halls to make people aware of plight of kids and legal and other remedies.

The clips should be played not just in move halls but also at various other prominent places, in schools and other public places, Giri suggested. The amicus curiae also said it must be ensured that sex education was included in the school's curriculum along with information about offences under the POCSO Act.

Giri said the cases should be registered immediately whenever an incident was reported and irrespective of further steps being taken during the investigation, immediate medical care must be given to the child.

“In fact, the priority must be for affording the child physical and mental care. The mental healthcare of the child is of utmost importance. The services of professionals who are definitely available in this regard should be called upon.”

Probes and subsequent trials in cases lodged under POCSO Act incurred considerable delay due to various reasons including that forensic laboratories not providing the forensic report to the police and the courts for months. "Collection of samples and preservation of the same are also of utmost importance. Forensic samples would become crucial in cases where the identity of the accused is seriously challenged. In many cases, the FSL Report takes between six to nine months from the time of registration of the crime," he said.

Giri suggested establishment of special juvenile police unit under section 19 of the POCSO Act. He said, "It does not seem as if such units have been established so far. The investigating agency, preferably the Special Juvenile Police Unit, must necessarily be sensitised to the different skills that are required for a proper and effective investigation of the crimes under the POCSO Act. In this regard, the states should be called upon to ensure that there is a Special Juvenile Police Unit, at least one in every taluk in the district. Of course, the concerned Superintendent of Police of the district or the Commissioner, as the case may be in metropolitan areas, could be made the head of every such Special Juvenile Police Unit coming under his/her division."

The contents of the FIR/complaint must be explained to the child in the language that he or she understands and this should be done at the earliest point of time. "It would be appropriate that a support person, preferably the one attached to the school where the child is studying, should be made aware of the process right from the beginning," he said.

A vulnerable witness courtroom must necessarily be made part of the designated Special Court for trial of such cases and the presiding officer should be in a position to convey the statements made by the child through the support person during her examination, both chief and cross examination.

Since realistically the examination of the child may not be over on any one given day, the child and his/her parents or relatives must be in a position to access the court premises independently.

There are very few dedicated POCSO courts exclusively for the trial of such offences and it may ensured that there was a dedicated special court, at least one in every district in the country, which should not be burdened with any other matter.

The child victim and his/her family should be made familiar with the surroundings of the special court, if necessary, more than once, before the trial commences.

Western Trust refers 60 cases of child sexual abuse

per year in N. Ireland

By Jessica Campbell
The Impartial Reporter

On average, the Western Health and Social Care Trust refers 60 child sexual abuse cases to the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) per year.

“That’s not saying there are only 60 cases of sexual abuse of children but that’s the Trust making a decision about who they refer on to us for that kind of intensive one to one work,” said Neil Anderson, Head of the NSPCC in Northern Ireland.

“The children that they refer are the children who would be regarded as having suffered the most serious sexual abuse who are going to need long term one to one work with the likes of a social worker,” he added.

Explaining that the biggest group of people that the NSPCC employ are qualified social workers who work directly with children on a one to one basis, Neil added: “That’s us working at the end where the sexual abuse has already happened and of course it’s really important to be offering treatment and recovery services to children but more and more we are trying to put our efforts into prevention in the first place.”

To help prevent child sexual abuse in the first instance, the NSPCC have been working with 48 primary schools across the Western Board, bringing their ‘Speak Out Stay Safe’ campaign to 9,150 children in the area.

The campaign tells children about what the signs of abuse are and who they can go to for help if they are worried.

Neil commented: “That can sound a bit scary when you’re introducing the ideas of abuse into a primary school but it’s done in a very sensitive, age appropriate way.

“Largely what we do is talk about appropriate and inappropriate touch.”

He continued: “We use what we call the underwear rule, and it’s just trying to get across to children in the eight to 11 age range that if someone is touching you anywhere that would normally be under your underwear and it makes you feel uncomfortable, that’s the kind of language that’s being used, that they should tell someone about that.”

“It’s just trying to help them understand and be aware of when perhaps something has happened to them that they are not comfortable with and encouraging them to take the action of speaking to a trusted adult,” added Neil.

The NSPCC also have a ‘Young Witness Service’ which is unique to Northern Ireland. The service provides support and assistance to children and young people aged under 18 who have to attend court as witnesses.

Specially-trained NSPCC Northern Ireland staff and volunteers provide information and advice to children – as well as their family, friends and supporters – before, during and after the trial to help minimise the trauma of appearing in court and giving evidence.

It should never be a trauma for children to testify. That's a blatant discrimination against children. There are ways to reduce such trauma drastically, only there doesn't seem to be any will.

“It’s about giving the support to young witness to enable them to stand on their own two feet and give the evidence against people who they may know and it can be very difficult for them to give that evidence,” shared Neil.

He added: “It’s relatively small numbers in terms of those who come to court but last year in Enniskillen court we supported 11 young witnesses with their cases.”

Commenting on the recent reports by this newspaper on the historical child sex abuse claims in Fermanagh, Neil added: “Any time that sexual abuse is reported in the media, even when it is historical child sexual abuse, it does give rise to people coming forward about something else that has happened historically but it also gives rise to people coming forward with concerns that they have currently and I suppose the message from us really is, do come forward and do talk about your concerns and do report things. It’s never too late to do that, there are services and people there available to help and support.”

And healing begins when you first start talking about it. It may get rough for awhile, but it is easily worth it.

Highlighting the NSPCC helpline for adults, Neil said: “It could be that they have concern for a child that they know and if they talk to us they’ll be talking to trained staff here who will come to some assessment with them about whether there needs to be further action on the concern that they’ve raised, if it needs to be referred on to police or social services.”

“I suppose the saddest thing about all of this and I see it as a theme when I read the sexual abuse stories in The Impartial Reporter is it’s just terribly sad how long people have held on to things without speaking up about it,” concluded Neil.

The NSPCC free adult helpline provides all adults with a place they can get advice and support, share their concerns about a child or get general information about child protection.

Adults can contact the helpline on 0808 800 5000.

Supreme Court of Canada convicts man barred from cross-examining victim by rape shield law

Law aims to protect sexual-assault complainants

from unfair scrutiny of sex lives

The Canadian Press

In June of 2018, the Ontario Court of Appeal ruled that the rape-shield law unfairly applied to a case involving a pregnant teenager. Today, the Supreme Court restored the conviction. (Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press)

Canada's top court has restored the conviction of a man who argued the rape shield law had prevented him from defending himself properly.

While the court found errors in previous rulings leading to his conviction, it said no miscarriage of justice had occurred.

The man known as R.V. was convicted of sexually interfering with a 15-year-old girl.

To bolster its case, the Crown introduced evidence she became pregnant at the time of the alleged assault.

Lower courts refused to allow R.V. to cross-examine her on other sexual activity that might have accounted for her pregnancy.


Ontario's Appeal Court ordered a new trial, but the Supreme Court said that was a mistake and convicted R.V.

Canada spending $22M to combat 'absolute evil'
of online child pornography

Funds will expand national strategy that works with

industry, police and global partners

Kathleen Harris · CBC News 

Canada's government is spending more than $22 million to prevent the online sexual abuse of children, through an expanded strategy that partners with police, digital industry and international allies.

Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale announced details of the investment, earmarked in this year's budget, in Ottawa Tuesday. It expands on a strategy aimed at raising awareness, reducing the stigma around reporting and enhancing Canada's ability to pursue and prosecute offenders.


The investment includes:

$2.1 million to intensify engagement with digital industry to develop new tools online and support effective operating principles.
$4.9 million for research, public engagement, awareness and collaboration with non-governmental organizations.
$15.25 million to internet child exploitation units in provincial and municipal police forces across the country. 

Notoriously under-reported

Goodale said police-reported incidents of child pornography in Canada increased by 288 per cent between 2010 and 2017, and said this type of crime is notoriously under-reported.

Tuesday's announcement follows a meeting last week with Canada's so-called Five Eyes intelligence partners in London: the U.K., the U.S., Australia and New Zealand, where the sexual exploitation of children topped the agenda.

"Very young girls are the principal victims, and their victimization can last a very long time. The consequences are painful and devastating," Goodale said.

Unfortunately, the term 'child pornography' doesn't reflect the horror that is implicit in the making of it. 'Child Sex Abuse Images, or Videos', more accurately reflects the evil of this nightmare that is growing at a spectacular rate.

"In the Five Eyes countries, we are totally united in our determination to combat the absolute evil of child sexual exploitation."

Goodale said the national strategy recognizes technology is "increasingly facilitating the easy, borderless access to vast volumes of abhorrent images."