Former first minister of Scotland Alex Salmond
cleared of sex assault charges
Ex-Tallahassee mayor, almost Governor, denies using crystal meth after he was found in hotel room with overdosed male escort
cleared of sex assault charges
Former First Minister of Scotland Alex Salmond arrives at the High Court in Edinburgh, Scotland
© REUTERS/Russell Cheyne
Alex Salmond, former Scottish National Party leader and first minister of Scotland, has been acquitted of sexual assault charges by a jury at Edinburgh's High Court.
After about six hours of deliberation, the jury found Salmond not guilty on 12 charges of attempted rape, sexual assault and indecent assault. A further charge, sexual assault with attempt to rape, was "not proven by majority.”
Salmond had denied all of the charges, which were made by nine women who are all either former Scottish government officials or SNP politicians, as "deliberate fabrications" for political purposes.
The allegations against the former first minister, who presents a show on RT UK, spanned a period of six years between 2008 and 2014.
The verdicts were read out on Monday after an 11-day trial. His defense team had argued that the charges had come from the same "political bubble" with no direct witnesses, and noted there had been inconsistencies in the testimonies of the women.
Speaking to reporters outside the court, Salmond said he had been through a "nightmare." He then said that was nothing compared to the nightmare the world is going through with the Covid-19 pandemic and advised reporters to go home and "take care of your families, and god help us all."
Two members of the jury were dismissed on Monday morning, apparently in relation to concerns over the Covid-19 outbreak, some reports said. The trial was also moved to a large courtroom due to fears around transmission of the virus.
I'm sure Salmond is innocent as the jury has declared, but for one count as 'unproven'. But it's hard to have faith in a court system and jurors who are, in my humble opinion, about mid-20th century in their attitudes with regard to sexual abuse.
Ex-Tallahassee mayor, almost Governor, denies using crystal meth after he was found in hotel room with overdosed male escort
Florida Democrat Andrew Gillum is taking a break from public life after police walked in on what has been described as a crystal meth-fueled orgy - but which he insists was just a wedding celebration where he drank too much.
Gillum was “unable to communicate with officers due to his inebriated state” when police chanced upon him in a hotel room at Miami’s South Beach Mondrian on Thursday night, responding to another man’s “possible drug overdose,” revealed the police report, leaked via Twitter on Friday.
The police were concerned enough to request a second “welfare check” on Gillum, while they took his stricken companion to the hospital.
But while Gillum eventually sobered up enough to “return to his residence without incident,” the cops found and confiscated “three small baggies” of “suspected crystal meth” that were apparently lying in plain sight in the hotel room.
The former mayor of Tallahassee and would-be governor released a statement flatly denying any involvement with the drugs, though he admitted he had “had too much to drink” by the time “first responders were called to assist one of my friends.”
Gillum claimed he was in Miami for a “wedding celebration” and requested “privacy” while he spent the next few weeks with his family.
I want to be clear that I have never used methamphetamines. I apologize to the people of Florida for the distraction this has caused our movement.
It’s not clear whether the police allowed Gillum to walk despite the contraband because of his political position, or whether he left before the drugs were noticed. The situation was “not being investigated as a criminal matter,” Miami Beach PD spokesman Ernesto Rodriguez said in a statement.
That did not stop social media from seizing on Gillum’s extracurricular activities, perhaps as a distraction from the coronavirus craze, with some wondering whether Gillum was seeking to assume the position of legendary "Florida Man," having missed out on the governor’s seat by a mere 34,000 votes back in 2018.
K!LLA CAM 🌺
@killa_cam214
Andrew Gillum overdosing on Meth at an orgy during the #coronapocalypse is peak Florida Man. https://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics-government/article241165641.html …
Andrew Gillum found in Miami Beach hotel room with suspected drugs, police report says
Andrew Gillum, who in 2018 came within tens of thousands of votes of becoming Florida governor, was discovered by police at a South Beach hotel early Friday morning in a room with bags of possible...
Sean Spicier
@sean_spicier
Which Wuhan Virus preparedness plan includes orgies and meth pipes?
Conservatives had a field day, using the incident to tar the Democratic Party as a whole… and CNN, where Gillum became a contributor after losing the governor’s race.
Andrew Pollack✔
@AndrewPollackFL
Let me guess…
This increases Andrew Gillum’s chances as being Joe Biden’s pick for Vice President.
Florida dodged a bullet and America will in November! https://www.local10.com/news/local/2020/03/13/andrew-gillum-involved-in-suspected-crystal-meth-incident-in-miami-beach-police-say/ …
Andrew Gillum involved in suspected crystal meth incident in Miami Beach, police say
Former Democratic candidate for Florida governor, Andrew Gillum, was involved in a suspected crystal meth incident Friday morning in Miami Beach, authorities confirmed.
John Cardillo✔
@johncardillo
Yikes @CNNPR!
I just remembered that Andrew Gillum who was involved in a South Beach hotel room orgy and meth overdose is one of your contributors.
Others suggested that Gillum’s denials were only proof of his guilt…
john r stanton✔
@dcbigjohn
If you find yourself having to put out a statement about a hotel party that includes the phrase “I’ve never done crystal meth” ... you have definitely done crystal meth.
Robby Starbuck✔
@robbystarbuck
There will be a lot of dunking on Andrew Gillum and CNN today but I also want to say addiction sucks and I hope Andrew gets the help he clearly needs. You don’t end up in a hotel room with crystal meth and men OD’ing unless you’re in a really bad mental state.
Mental state? How about a really bad moral state?
…a theory that was bolstered by Gillum’s companion, now recovered from his wild night, telling the Miami New Times he knew nothing about this supposed “wedding celebration.”
Jessica Lipscomb✔
@jessicalipscomb
Just spoke with Travis Dyson, a friend of @AndrewGillum who was in the hotel room last night. He says Gillum did not mention anything about a wedding. https://twitter.com/newsbysmiley/status/1238494979397468161 …
David Smiley✔
@NewsbySmiley
Gillum statement: "I was in Miami last night for a wedding celebration when first responders were called to assist one of my friends. While I had too much to drink, I want to be clear that I have never used methamphetamines."
Candace Owens✔
@RealCandaceO
Unfortunately for @AndrewGillum, his “friend” Travis Dyson, has come forth to reveal that he is no friend, but an open male escort. He also claims that he has never heard of the wedding of which Andrew Gillum speaks of.
Gillum needs a new alibi. https://heavy.com/news/2020/03/travis-dyson/ …
Travis Dyson: Andrew Gillum Found in Hotel Room With Male Escort & Crystal Meth, Cops Say
Travis Dyson is the 30-year-old Florida man who was found in a hotel room with Democratic politician Andrew Gillum on March 13.
Candace Owens✔
@RealCandaceO
This is the alleged friend that @AndrewGillum claims he was “helping” after a wedding.
He is an openly gay man, whose public profile has very few photos of him clothed.
His sexuality is only relevant bc as I said earlier—police suspected they had disrupted a drug/sex party.
Nick Adams✔
@NickAdamsinUSA
WOW!
Democrat FL Gubernatorial Candidate, Andrew Gillum, was found NAKED and passed out with a group of people overdosing on METH in a Miami Hotel.
You can't make this stuff up!
Great judgement from the Democratic Party of Florida...
UFC boss Dana White named as victim in SEX TAPE extortion case involving Las Vegas stripper
© USA TODAY Sports / Mark J. Rebilas
UFC chief Dana White has been named as the alleged victim in a $200,000 sex-tape extortion case dating back five years and involving a Las Vegas strip club dancer.
White, 50, was named as the victim in a civil lawsuit filed against him in a Nevada district court on Friday by Ernesto Joshua Ramos, who is suing the UFC boss for alleged breach of contract.
Las Vegas resident Ramos claims that White reneged on a deal which would have seen him pocket $450,000 for not disclosing White’s name following a 2015 extortion case, which involved an alleged sex video featuring White and Ramos’ then-girlfriend, a Las Vegas dancer.
White is alleged to have unknowingly been filmed having sex with the woman in 2014 in Brazil, with Ramos then attempting to extort the UFC chief – whose net worth is estimated to be around $500 million – to the tune of $200,000.
Ramos was arrested and sentenced in 2015 after pleading guilty, although the extortion victim was not initially named in the case.
Ramos served 366 days in a federal prison. In his case filed against White at Clark County District Court on Friday, he claims that UFC businessman White broke a non-disclosure agreement following his guilty plea.
White has dismissed the claims against him as “bullsh*t.”
"This guy went to federal prison for trying to extort me over five years ago,” White said in a statement sent to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
“Now he's hired a lawyer who is also a convicted felon, and he's trying to extort me again for $10 million. He got no money from me last time and he won't be getting any money from me this time. I look forward to the court dismissing this quickly so I can get rid of these scumbags forever."
South Korea seeks 3-year sentence for police chief
in Seungri nightclub scandal
By Elizabeth Shim
South Korean singer Seungri has receded from public life since 2019. File Photo by Yonhap
(UPI) -- South Korean prosecutors are seeking a three-year prison sentence for a senior police officer who was arrested and charged with attempting to cover up illegal activities at nightclub Burning Sun, where wealthy clientele regularly raped and drugged women.
The police officer, a senior superintendent of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, has been identified only by his surname Yoon in local media. Prosecutors are seeking a three-year prison sentence and a fine of about $5,750 for Yoon's violation of laws, Yonhap reported Wednesday.
Last fall, Yoon was arrested on charges of violating criminal law, including bribery, obstruction, insider trading and destruction of evidence.
Drugging and rapes at Burning Sun, owned by K-pop superstar Seungri, went on despite pleas from victims to police. South Korean investigations later found calls for help went ignored from city police who had knowledge of crimes.
Yoon may have received bribes in return for the favor. He also may have been the person referred to as the "police chief" by Seungri, and other accomplices, in online chat rooms on social media platform KakaoTalk.
Yoon was not transferred to prosecution in 2019 for charges he faced related to Burning Sun. Police instead used evidence that Yoon warned a drinking establishment, Monkey Museum, of pending police action for food sanitation violations. Monkey Museum at the time was under the ownership of Seungri, and Yoo In-seok, the chief executive of Yuri Holdings. Yoo was later found to have taken part in chat room messages with Seungri.
Seungri has stepped back from public life since the scandal. In March he began his term of mandatory military service. His case will be transferred to a military court.
Seungri leveraged his fame to start different lines of business, including Aori Ramen, a chain.
The restaurant filed for bankruptcy in March, according to local paper Herald Business.
Los Angeles adds new sexual battery count
against Weinstein
By The Associated Pressagainst Weinstein
LOS ANGELES — Los Angeles prosecutors have charged imprisoned former film producer Harvey Weinstein with an additional count of felony sexual battery by restraint.
The charge has been added to a Los Angeles case that alleges Weinstein sexually assaulted two women in separate incidents in 2013.
Weinstein, 68, was convicted in February of rape and sexual assault in New York and is serving a 23-year prison sentence. He recently overcame a bout with coronavirus. It is unknown when he will be transported to face the charges in Los Angeles.
Los Angeles prosecutors on Friday said they are declining to prosecute two other cases involving Weinstein because the women did not want to testify against him. Both alleged victims are described in a document as actresses, and one testified against Weinstein at his New York trial.
Hmmm. Backlash from the Hollywood establishment?
Los Angeles County District Attorney Jackie Lacey said investigators continue to work to strengthen their case against Weinstein. “As we gather corroborating evidence, we have reached out to other possible sexual assault victims,” she said in a statement. “If we find new evidence of a previously unreported crime, as we did here, we will investigate and determine whether additional criminal charges should be filed.”
A spokesman for Weinstein had no immediate comment on the new charge.
Weinstein, the Oscar-winning producer of “Shakespeare in Love,” was convicted of raping an aspiring actress in 2013 and forcibly performing oral sex on a TV and film production assistant in 2006. His lawyers have said they’ll appeal his prison sentence.
Australian celebrity paedophile ring revealed
by Candace SuttonQueensland Times
STUNNING revelations of an Australian paedophile ring involving celebrity arts figures have been laid bare by the daughters of a prominent playwright.
Rozanna and Kate Lilley, the daughters of playwright and poet Dorothy Hewett, say they were forced into sex aged 15 by men including the late Bob Ellis and Martin Sharp, The Australian reports.
Sharp, Australia's foremost pop artist, designed record covers and posters for Bob Dylan, Donovan and Eric Clapton and wrote songs for Clapton's band, Cream.
Ellis was a political commentator, writer and film maker who penned 22 television and screenplays.
The Lilley sisters, who each have written new books, say their mother encouraged underage sex between her daughters and famous men she entertained at her Sydney house.
The sisters say the men enjoyed having young girls around and their mother, considered a left wing radical and admired feminist, encouraged their joining in the libertine sex scene of the times.
"We were these nubile girls … jailbait," Kate Lilley said, describing her mother's house as "a brothel without payment".
Rozanna and Kate Lilley (left, as teenagers) claim they were molested by author Bob Ellis (top right), and (bottom right) painter Martin Sharp and photographer David Hamilton.
Dorothy Hewett’s Sydney house was like an ‘unpaid brothel’ for the underage sisters who were ‘jailbait’ for prominent arts figures.
Other men included a local film producer who is still alive and a poet who raped Kate Lilley when she was underage, plus renowned British erotic photographer (pornographer?), David Hamilton.
Known for his soft-lit images of prepubescent young girls, 83-year-old Hamilton took his own life in 2016 after a former model accused him of raping her in 1987 when she was 13 years old.
In the Woollahra terrace Hewett shared with her husband, writer Merv Lilley, a queue of famous men attended parties in the salon-like atmosphere where the sisters spent their early teens.
Sex was facilitated by Hewett who also slept with some of the men, while her husband had sex with other women.
Writer Bob Ellis would have sex with Kate ‘whenever he turned up’ and with her younger sister.
When she turned 16 years old, Kate Lilley had already slept with six men and her younger sister Rozanna had slept with a dozen men by the time she reached the age of consent.
The men were older artists and writers, including Bob Ellis and Martin Sharp, and Hamilton who photographed pornographic images of Rozanna.
Rozanna said she had sex once, when she was 15, with Martin Sharp, who decades later apologised to her.
Kate (left) and Rozanna Lilley who say their famous mother failed to protect them from sexual predators on the arts scene. Picture: John Feder.
David Hamilton took close photographs of her genitals after showing her pornographic images of girls to prove others had consented.
"It was unbearable at home," Kate Lilley said, "I used to have sex with men to prevent them having sex with Rosie.
"But then I would find out they did have sex with Rosie."
Kate Lilley's teenage years are referred to in poems in her new book, Tilt, which the 57-year-old pet and university English professor has published.
Rozanna, 55, an anthropologist and autism researcher also writes poems about sexual abuse by (unnamed) older men in her book, Do Oysters Get Bored? A Curious Life.
Kate Lilley told The Australian she had sex four times with Bob Ellis when she was aged 15 and 16, "whenever he turned up".
Rozanna has written a poem about her sexual encounter with Ellis as a child.
At the age of 13, Rozanna Lilley was cast in the lesbian-themed film Journey Among Women about female convicts living in the bush.
Her mother, Dorothy Hewett, wrote the script.
The film is still available on DVD.
The Lilley sisters’ parents Merv Lilley and Dorothy Hewett at their Blue Mountains home shortly before Hewett’s death.
17 Canadians among 46 accusers in
Peter Nygard rape lawsuits
Timothy Sawa · CBC News 
Thirty-six women, including 17 Canadians, have newly come forward accusing Canadian fashion mogul Peter Nygard, pictured in 2016, of sexual assault in an amended lawsuit filed in New York on Monday. (Gustavo Caballero/Churchill Downs/Getty Images)
Seventeen Canadian women have come forward accusing fashion mogul Peter Nygard of rape and sexual assault, adding their allegations to an international rape lawsuit involving 46 women in total.
Three of the Canadian women say they were 16 years old or younger when the alleged assaults took place. One says she was 14. Nine of the assaults are alleged to have taken place in Canada.
The allegations are contained in an updated class-action legal complaint filed in New York on Monday by civil lawyers acting for a group of women who say they were raped by Nygard.
The complaint also names several Canadian Nygard executives, claiming they "conspired," "concealed" and "enabled" their boss's alleged criminal behaviour.
None of the allegations have been proven in court.
"Nygard used his considerable influence in the fashion industry, his wealth, his power through corruption of officials, and a network of company employees under his direction, to kidnap, groom and entice children and women," the complaint says.
"The Nygard Companies, through Nygard and a close ring of upper-level executives and employees, knowingly and continuously conspired with Nygard to enable, act as a front, and conceal Nygard's criminal activity."
Nygard denies allegations
Nygard, through his spokesperson Ken Frydman, says the allegations are all untrue.
"Mr. Nygard vehemently denies these baseless allegations and looks forward to clearing his name and the names of others who have been so recklessly and falsely accused," Frydman said in a written statement.
The amended class-action complaint is a continuation of a civil class-action lawsuit launched in New York against Nygard in February.
The Nygard company's Toronto headquarters. (Paul Smith/CBC)
The new lawsuit involves women who came forward after the original claim, alleging rapes in different locales around the world, including Winnipeg, Montreal and Toronto.
"Canada is a huge factor in our lawsuit now," said Lisa Haba, one of the lawyers acting for the complainants. "More than a third of our victims are from Canada."
Canadian complainants
The Canadian allegations include a woman, referred to as Jane Doe No. 15, who says she was flown to Winnipeg for a modelling job. The complaint says she was held "captive" for three days by Nygard and repeatedly raped.
"After three days, Jane Doe No. 15 was able to escape," the complaint says. "She was told by Nygard's nephew not to report Nygard's crimes to the Winnipeg police because Nygard 'owns them.'"
Another says she attended a party at Nygard's office in Toronto when she was 16 years old. She claims Nygard drugged and raped her.
A third says she was 15 when Nygard pushed her into a bathroom at a Winnipeg restaurant and raped her. She says Nygard knew her father, who was in the fur business at the time.
Another, referred to as Jane Doe No. 18, met Nygard at the airport in Montreal. The claim says she was offered a ride to her "dormitory." On the way she says Nygard stopped to drop his bags off at his apartment.
"Nygard invited Jane Doe No. 18 up to his apartment to wait for him," the complaint says. "While at the apartment, Nygard forcibly raped Jane Doe No. 18." She was 19 years old at the time.
The youngest complainant says she was just 14 when she met Nygard in Winnipeg, where she grew up.
Brandon G. Stranzl, left, then-chairman of Sears Canada Inc., with Nygard, pictured in 2015 at a Sears store in Winnipeg. (Sears Canada via The Canadian Press)
"Nygard promised Jane Doe No. 44 that he would fly her to California, where he could take her to parties with drugs and alcohol. Nygard drove Jane Doe No. 44 to the Nygard Companies property in Winnipeg on several occasions and paid her for oral sex. Nygard would then drive Jane Doe No. 44 back to where he picked her up."
Lawsuit says employees knew
The complaint says several of Nygard's senior employees were aware of and helped cover up his alleged crimes in order to profit from his brand and company.
"Until recently, Nygard has largely been able to silence his victims, with the help of the Nygard Companies and their upper-level executives and employees, through various tactics including intimidation, threats of retribution, bribery, payoffs and forced non-disclosure agreements," the complaint says.
"We have corroborating evidence that each one of [the named senior employees] definitely knew what was going on and in some capacity enabled him to continue," said Haba.
In February, the FBI raided Nygard's offices in New York and California. Following that, Nygard said he would step down as chairman of his company and divest his ownership stake.
In March, a Manitoba judge ordered the company into receivership. The Nygard chain, headquartered in Winnipeg, operated 169 retail stores in North America and had 1,450 employees worldwide.
Nygard, through his spokespeople, has repeatedly blamed the allegations on an ongoing feud with his neighbour in the Bahamas, retired billionaire hedge fund manager Louis Bacon.
"These claims ... are the product of a well-funded and well-documented scheme by Louis Bacon to pay women to fabricate stories about him," Nygard spokesperson Frydman said in his statement.
"Peter Nygard looks forward to exposing the details of the billionaire-backed conspiracy Louis Bacon has orchestrated for years, which sadly now counts as its victims the more than 1,400 people who worked for the Nygard companies and relied upon those jobs to support themselves and their families."
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