‘I’m a naughty Tory’: Giggling Ex-MP Charlie Elphicke chased woman around kitchen after sexual assault
Charlie Elphicke arrives at Southwark Crown Court with his wife, Natalie Elphicke.
©Global Look Press/Keystone Press Agency
An absurd yet horrifying scene has been described at the trial of former Conservative MP Charlie Elphicke. It is alleged that, after trying to force himself on a woman, he chased her “like a sketch from ‘The Benny Hill Show’.”
Elphicke, who represented Dover between 2010 and 2019, is accused of three counts of sexual assault against two different women. One of the alleged episodes happened at his family home in 2007, the prosecution told Southwark Crown Court on Monday.
The victim, who was in her 30s at the time, was invited by Elphicke to share a bottle of wine. The MP enquired about his guest’s sexual interests and implied he was into “bondage and whips” before leaning over her, groping her breast and trying to kiss her, jurors were told.
The woman rejected his advances, so he chased her around the kitchen, the prosecutor said.
“He was chanting in a sing-song way: 'I'm a naughty Tory, I'm a naughty Tory,' as though it was the school playground,” the description went. “He was very animated, excitable, and clearly enjoying himself, chanting towards her and slapping her bottom.”
The victim relayed the details of the incident to her brother and a friend, the court was told. She described the former MP’s behavior as being “ridiculous, like a sketch from [British comedy series] ‘The Benny Hill Show’.”
However, the woman did not come forward with any accusations against Elphicke until after his name appeared on a list of alleged sexual offenders published by parliament in 2017.
The two other charges come from the testimony of a parliament worker in her 20s, who told investigators that the MP assaulted her on two occasions in 2016. Elphicke groped her in a parliamentary office and “giggled,” the prosecution said, adding that the staffer described her assailant as “a disgusting slobbery mess.”
Elphicke pleaded not guilty to all charges. His wife Natalie Elphicke, who succeeded him as Dover MP, was accompanying him during the hearing. The trial is expected to continue for at least four weeks.
Actress Alicia Arden reveals Jeffrey Epstein sexually assaulted her in 1997 but no action was taken when she filed a police report as she demands investigation into why claims weren't pursued
By MAXINE SHEN FOR DAILYMAIL.COMModel and actress Alicia Arden claims Jeffrey Epstein sexually assaulted her during a meeting in 1997 - and has demanded that authorities investigate why police never followed up with her after she filed a report to the cops.
Arden, 51, spoke out about her claims during a press conference in Los Angeles on Monday - the one year anniversary of Epstein's arrest.
Arden said that the alleged sexual assault occurred at the Shutters on the Beach hotel in Santa Monica, California, in 1997.
Alicia Arden is pictured at the press conference she held Monday in Los Angeles, revealing authorities did not follow up on her claim that Jeffrey Epstein sexually assaulted her in 1997
During the press conference, Arden said that she had gone to the Santa Monica hotel to meet Epstein under the belief that she was going to 'a legitimate audition for Victoria's Secret.'
She said the supposed audition had been arranged, in part, by an unnamed friend, People reported. Arden said she was carrying her modeling portfolio when she entered Epstein's room.
She claimed that Epstein said, 'Let me manhandle you for a second.' He then allegedly groped her and pulled her shirt up over her head and her skirt down.
Arden said that while this was happening, Epstein had touched her hips and buttocks.
'I started to feel scared and I began to cry,' Arden recalled.
Arden was 26 years old when the alleged assault occurred in 1997. She said she had gone to see Epstein thinking she was going to a 'legitimate' Victoria's Secret audition. Arden is pictured in 2002
She said that Epstein got distracted by a phone call, giving her the opportunity to redress. As she headed for the door, she said, Epstein offered her $100.
She said: 'I told him, "Jeffrey, I'm not a prostitute. I want to be in the Victoria's Secrets catalog".'
According to Arden, Epstein responded: "Let me see what I can do."
She said that she 'left the money in the hotel room and walked out,' according to USA Today.
'I felt violated and mistreated,' she said, adding that Epstein 'took advantage of me.'
Arden said that a few days after the alleged incident, she filed a police report with the Santa Monica Police Department, but that she never received a call about the report from either detectives or a prosecutor.
Arden's lawyer, Gloria Allred, who arranged the press conference, said that 'Alicia deserves answers.'
Allred said that letters had been written to Los Angeles District Attorney Jackie Lacey and Santa Monica Police Chief Cynthia Renaud, seeking information about whether local authorities had looked into Arden's allegations against Epstein.
'We'd like to know, first, what happened. Was there an investigation? Was there not an investigation,' Allred said Monday. 'I don't think Alicia should have to live with the unanswered question. ... Why was it apparently disregarded? Did they interview Mr. Epstein? Did he decline to be interviewed? Did they take his words against hers? Or did they not do anything?'
Arden had previously come forward about Epstein's alleged abuse in the summer of 2019, following Epstein's arrest on federal charges involving allegations that he paid teenage girls hundreds of dollars in cash for massages and then sexually abused them.
In August 2019, the Santa Monica Police Department told the Associated Press that Epstein was questioned in the wake of Arden’s complaint, but that his statement conflicted with Arden's claims.
According to the unnamed detective who supposedly invested Arden's report, Arden said that she didn't want to press charges against Epstein, asking instead that he be warned about his behavior.
A police spokesperson then told the AP in a statement that, 'If the victim tells the detective they do not wish to prosecute, then the detective will close the case.' The spokesperson also stated that, 'In this case, the victim advised the detective she did not wish to prosecute so there was no point in presenting it to the City Attorney for review.'
Arden has denied telling police that she didn't want to press charges against Epstein.
In a December 2019 interview with DailyMail.com, Arden provided additional detail about her alleged encounter with Epstein.
She said that she prior to her meeting with Epstein, she had been asked to do a test shoot and send the photos to Epstein's New York office.
She said that she was so excited about the prospect of being able to model for Victoria's Secret, that she purchased lingerie from the brand to use during the shoot.
Epstein then supposedly invited Arden to the Santa Monica hotel for an in-person meeting. 'He was very nice in the beginning and looked at my portfolio. When you go on an audition for something like this, they want to see your body,' Arden told DailyMail.com.
'I was in very little clothing — like a swimsuit-type bra with a top over it and underwear and a short little skirt so he could see my legs. He said he liked the photos and said he'd love to get a picture in the Victoria's Secret catalogue.
'He said: "You know, you look really good, your body looks really good. I think I just need to see it better." ' Doing as requested, she moved closer — only for Epstein to start 'manhandling' her.
'He started to take off my top, then he moved down to my skirt and was trying to take that off, and was touching my hips and buttocks,' she said. 'I was pushing his hands off me, I was pushing them down and pushing them away, but he was bigger than me.'
She said that she went to the police to file her report 'because I thought he was doing it to other girls, and touching other girls, and I could have been raped myself. 'He told me he worked for Victoria's Secret, and he was misrepresenting the brand — I wanted to file that.'
Arden's Monday press conference comes hot on the heels of Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell's arrest on July 2.
She has been charged with helping to procure victims for Epstein's child sex trafficking operation that began more than 25 years ago.
Epstein died in jail in New York City in August 2019, after pleading not guilty to the charges against him. The coroner ruled his death a suicide, confirming that he hanged himself in his cell.
He didn't commit suicide, he was suicided, as Ghislaine will most likely be before she talks. There are way too many high profile people to allow her to talk.
Former UK lawmaker Eric Joyce pleads guilty to making ‘indecent image’ of children as young as 12 months
FILE PHOTO. Eric Joyce. © Global Look Press / ZUMAPRESS.com / Stephen Lock
Eric Joyce, a former shadow minister for the UK Labour Party, has pleaded guilty to a making an indecent image of children. The disgraced politician was ordered to sign the Sex Offenders Register and now faces prison time.
The former MP appeared in court on Tuesday and admitted making an indecent photograph in the form of a 51-second video. The clip “depicts a number of children,” Judge Emma Peters revealed.
“Some are quite young, one is said to be 12 months old – clearly a Category A movie,” she said.
Category A is the most severe class of indecent imagery, and can include penetrative sex, sadism, and sex with animals. Producing such material is punishable with imprisonment. The court stressed that it “takes such incidents very seriously” since they “fuel the abuse of children.”
According to the judge, the video was made at some point between 2013 and 2018, and Joyce claims that “he accessed it via an email which he says was a spam email.”
“At the time he was drinking heavily and he has now undergone work with the Lucy Faithfull Foundation and a psychotherapist,” the judge added.
The case against Joyce has been running since late 2018, when he was charged under the Protection of Children Act. It's the latest scandal in the turbulent career of the former army major turned politician.
Joyce served as MP for Falkirk in Scotland from 2000 to 2015. For the first 12 years, he was with Labour, before switching to being an independent for his final three. During his time in parliament, Joyce was involved in several incidents, including a pub brawl with four fellow politicians in Westminster. He was also convicted of drunk driving and abusing airport workers on several occasions.
Deutsche Bank hit with $150 million penalty for relationship to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein
Dan Mangan, Jim Forkin, CNBC
KEY POINTS
New York state financial regulators said that Deutsche Bank has agreed to a $150 million penalty related to the bank’s lack of oversight in dealings with accused child sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, a now-dead investor, as well as with two client banks.
A consent order agreed to with the New York State Department of Financial Services covers Deutsche Bank’s relationship with Epstein, and correspondent banking relationships with Danske Bank Estonia and FBME Bank.
Epstein, who died in what has been ruled a suicide while in jail, was a former friend of Presidents Donald Trump and Bill Clinton, as well as Prince Andrew.
His alleged procurer and former girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell, was arrested on federal charges in New Hampshire in early July.
The rest of this story can be found at CNBC
Top Durban comedian Anasia Govender opens up about childhood sexual abuse
By Daily News Durban - Popular local comedian and singer, Anasia Govender, who shot to stardom with her alter ego Annalakshmi has opened up about why she has hardly been on social media over the past two years, revealing that she has been battling depression linked to the trauma of being a victim of sexual abuse and molestation.
Taking to her Facebook account Govender, who owns an Indian restaurant and shot to national fame after she posted a video advertising her restaurant with a parody of Ed Sheeran’s Thinking Out Loud, said she wanted to use her voice and talent to bring awareness to child and sexual abuse.
She said that her social media absence was due to her battling depression that was brought on by her sexual abuse as a child.
"Four different perpetrators, three of which were once off cases and a family member that abused me on recurring occasions from the age of five and I put a stop to it when I was 12," she said.
"I am pretty proud that I took my power back at the age of 12 and that was in my control. The one thing that was not and that I was not really aware of was how these negative incidents would shape how I saw myself and how I would feel about myself. The guilt and the shame around the incidences has made me see myself in such a negative light. The healing started a long time ago but the popularity of Annalakshmi and me being inundated with people wanting to take photos and talk and people violating your personal space and touching you when they shouldn't be and saying inappropriate things kind of regurgitated all of this mess," she said.
She said she battled two autoimmune diseases which made her lose her will to perform and make people laugh.
However, she said she was on her way to healing thanks to the support of her family and husband who have been amazing.
"I want to use my gifts and my voice to bring awareness to child and sexual abuse... Sadly in South Africa, women abuse and child abuse is on the rise and its time we shed more light on it and its time more people spoke up and break the silence...The reason for sharing my trauma, is that light needs to be shed on this ugly darkness, the silence needs to be broken, the cycles need to be broken. Say what's right, do what's right, give the next generation hope that they will be born into a world (where) they can be free to express themselves and free to be who they are," she said.
‘Hero of our times’: Human rights activist Ayaan Hirsi Ali
facing backlash for defending JK Rowling in
transgender controversy
© Getty Images North America via AFP / Jemal countess, (R) © Reuters / Neil HallVeteran human rights activist Ayaan Hirsi Ali has opened herself up to some major online backlash after daring to defend author JK Rowling for “standing her ground” and sticking to her position on transgender issues.
“She is not transphobic and neither am I,” Hirsi Ali insisted in a Wednesday tweet, calling Rowling a “hero of our times” who is fighting to “protect the hard-won rights of women.”
Rowling has been the subject of fierce criticism in recent weeks for expressing the view that trans-identifying children are “being shunted towards” taking hormones and having life-altering surgeries when it may not be necessary. She has also come under fire for suggesting trans activists are “erasing the concept of sex.”
The Somali-born Hirsi Ali had expanded on her thoughts on the issue in an article published in the Washington Examiner at the end of June. In the piece, she defended the controversial Harry Potter author for “engaging in an act of heterodox thinking” and “refusing to be intimidated by the Twitter mob.”
She praised Rowling for “fighting against the erosion of women’s rights” and “warning of the real-life consequences when women’s rights are subordinated to transgender rights.”
Hirsi Ali’s latest declaration of support for Rowling sparked outrage online, with many commenters immediately branding her ‘transphobic’. One accused the activist, who suffered female genital mutilation as a child and fled to the Netherlands years later, of having a “ludicrous sense of entitlement.” Another questioned her bravery because she was praising a “rich white lady.”
While my respect and admiration for JK Rowling is a very recent development, I have greatly admired and respected Aayan Hirsi Ali for several years now for her honesty, candidness, brilliance, and remarkable courage.
While the backlash was swift, there were a few other commenters who thanked Hirsi Ali for publicly backing Rowing.
In her own tweet on Wednesday, Rowling also thanked the activist for speaking up, claiming that many people with public platforms privately say they agree with her, “but are too scared to stand up.”
Rowling appears to be on a roll in terms of attracting controversies of late. On Tuesday, she made headlines again after signing an open letter condemning “cancel culture” alongside Noam Chomsky and other activists. The move was lauded largely by conservative crowds online and mocked by many on the left.
It should be lauded by anyone with a brain! Here are some more signatories to that letter, courtesy of CBC:
J.K. Rowling, Salman Rushdie and Margaret Atwood are among dozens of writers, artists and academics to argue against ideological conformity in an open letter in Harper's Magazine.
The names hail from a host of different sectors, from cognitive scientist Noam Chomsky to activist Gloria Steinem, jazz great Wynton Marsalis to chess grandmaster Garry Kasparov to Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers.
Academics on the list of more than 150 signatories hail from American universities such as Princeton, Yale, Harvard Law, Brown, Rutgers and more.
In addition to Atwood, other Canadian signatories include political pundit David Frum, longtime New Yorker writer Malcolm Gladwell, former federal Liberal Party leader Michael Ignatieff and literary critic and writer Jeet Heer.
The most urgent crisis in 'untruth and consequences' is the pushing of children into considering transgenderism. From being taught in school as though it is normal rather than a mental illness, to being prescribed by doctors with no moral compass, cross-gendering is a physical, emotional, and psychological experiment with horrific consequences. 20-51% of transgenders attempt suicide. Many are reverting back to their original gender and suffering terrible consequences to their health. It is #PCMadnes!
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