Egypt Toughens Law Banning Female Genital Mutilation, Again

..

Perpetrators could be jailed for up to 20 years under amendments aimed at

stamping out the practice

By Menna A. Farouk

CAIRO, Jan 21 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) — Egypt's cabinet has toughened a law banning female genital mutilation (FGM), imposing jail terms of up to 20 years as part of efforts to stamp out the ancient practice.

Nearly 90% of Egyptian women and girls aged between 15 and 49 have undergone FGM, according to a 2016 survey by the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), and the ritual is practiced widely by both Muslims and Christians despite the 2008 ban.

Amendments to the FGM law approved by the cabinet on Wednesday include hiking the maximum sentence from the current seven years and banning doctors and other medical staff involved in FGM from practicing their profession for up to five years.

Under the changes, prison terms of between five and 20 years will be recommended depending on who performed the surgery and whether it caused permanent damage or death, a government statement said.

The person requesting FGM will also face imprisonment, according to the amendments, which must still be approved by parliament and the president.

FGM typically involves the partial or total removal of the external genitalia and can cause long-lasting mental and physical health problems including chronic infections, infertility, and childbirth complications.

It is the second time that Egypt's government has approved amendments to the legislation banning FGM. The law was tightened five years ago to make it a criminal offense to request or carry out the widely condemned practice.

But highlighting the difficulty of eliminating FGM in Egypt, where there is widespread acceptance of it, no one has been successfully prosecuted under the 2016 law and women's rights groups say the ban has not been well enforced.

"It's a good step, but we don't want only laws on paper with no implementation," Entessar El-Saeed, director of the Cairo Foundation for Development and Law, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

El-Saeed said imposing strict prison terms on doctors and other perpetrators of the crime could prove difficult because there is an entrenched belief in Egyptian society that FGM is not a crime.

While Somalia has the world's highest FGM prevalence, with 98% of women having been cut, Egypt has the greatest number of women who have undergone it, according to UNICEF.

Reda El Danbouki, executive director of the Women's Center for Guidance and Legal Awareness, said the amendments would not help eliminate the practice unless judges, policemen, and other law-enforcement officials started to take the issue seriously.

"Most of them do not take cases seriously because they believe it is for the benefit of the girl to undergo female circumcision for the protection of her chastity," he said.

Is the protection of a girl's chastity for the girl's sake, or for the sake of her future husband, or for the sake of her family which will get a higher price for her? I think 'for the girl's sake' is the least likely conclusion.

This Week's Catholic Pervs and Paedos List > Guam Priest Defrocked; Bishop and Priest CSA Charges Not Credible; BSA Chaplain Gets 40 Years; Calif Bishops Try to Overturn Bill 218

..

Guam priest, Cristobal, defrocked following sexual abuse allegations

Steve Limtiaco

Pacific Daily News USA TODAY NETWORK

In this 2014 photo, Father Adrian Cristobal gives an opening prayer at All Souls' Day Mass

at Guam Memorial Park in Barrigada.

Adrian Cristobal is no longer is a priest, according to the Archdiocese of Agana, which stated Cristobal was laicized by Archbishop Michael Byrnes "for violations against the Sixth Commandment with minors."

The Sixth Commandment prohibits adultery.

Cristobal is among nearly two dozen priests named in clergy sex abuse lawsuits filed on Guam since 2016. He is also among the few accused priests still alive. 

The Archdiocese in 2018 sanctioned Cristobal, who is off-island, after he failed to return to Guam after being named as a defendant in several child sexual abuse lawsuits. He has been accused in four different sex abuse lawsuits.

The archdiocese held a Vatican-authorized administrative penal process, or investigation, after four men alleged that Cristobal sexually abused them when they were minors.

According to the archdiocese, the investigation, which started in 2018, concluded in December 2020, and Cristobal no longer can wear ecclesiastical clothing or be addressed by titles used by ordained priests, such as father or reverend.

“He is deprived of clerical offices, functions, and any designated power granted to him as a cleric. He has no right to financial support from the Archdiocese of Agana,” the archdiocese stated.

The archdiocese stated it will not comment further on the matter because of ongoing litigation. The church is a defendant in dozens of child sex abuse civil lawsuits naming Guam priests.

The archdiocese in September 2016 reassigned Cristobal from the Barrigada church, which was the location of much of the alleged abuse, to Umatac. Cristobal at the time sent an open letter to parishioners, stating he was denied due process before being transferred.

Cristobal later was sent to Canada to study canon law and to a mission in Phoenix, Arizona, but did not return to Guam by a June 2018 deadline set by the Archdiocese, news files state.

Here are the allegations against Cristobal, according to lawsuits. The accusers are identified in court documents only by their initials:

J.E.: Said Cristobal sexually molested and abused him when he served as an altar boy at San Vicente Ferrer/San Roke Catholic Church in Barrigada from about 1995 to 1997. He was about 10 to 12 years old at the time.

J.C.C.: "Over a period of more than 15 years, from approximately 1995 thru 2013, starting at the age of 11, and ending at the age of about 25, J.C.C. was repeatedly sexually molested and abused by Fr. Adrian," the lawsuit states. "The sexual abuse included fondling, groping, masturbation, oral copulation, digital penetration and penetration." The abuse, according to the lawsuit, happened at several places, including San Vicente School, Barrigada parish, Maina parish, Cristobal's residence and in his vehicle, as well as at his private beach in Ipan.

D.D.D.: Alleges Cristobal sexually abused him from about early 2008 to 2010, when he was about 12 to 14 years old. D.D.D. was a volunteer for the San Vicente Ferrer/San Roke Catholic Church in Barrigada, where Cristobal was the parish priest. "During the entire two-year period when he served as a volunteer, plaintiff was sexually molested and abused every Saturday, without fail, by Adrian," the lawsuit states.

L.J.C: Alleges Cristobal sexually molested and abused L.J.C. when the boy was about 12 through 14 years old, from 1995 to 1997. The lawsuit states L.J.C. was an altar boy at San Vicente Ferrer/San Roke Catholic Church when Cristobal was a priest there. The alleged abuse happened in the Barrigada parish's office after Mass, at a private beach in Ipan during a retreat, and after a funeral Mass, the lawsuit states.

Vatican clears retired U.S. bishop of abuse claims

..

New bishop very disappointed

By Nicole Winfield

The Associated Press

ROME (AP) — The Vatican has cleared a retired U.S. bishop of multiple allegations he sexually abused minors and teenagers, rejecting lay experts' determination that a half-dozen claims were credible and instead slapping him on the wrist for what it called “flagrant" imprudent behavior.

I wonder if Bishops and Cardinals believe that paedophile priests actually tell the truth?

In this 1988 file photo Rev. Joseph Hart dispenses communion during an outdoor Mass celebrated for participants of the Basque Festival in Buffalo, Wyo. On Tuesday, the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith cleared Hart of seven accusations of abuse, determined that five others couldn't be proven 'with moral certitude' and that two cases involving boys, who were 16 and 17, couldn't be prosecuted given the Catholic Church didn't consider them minors at the time of the alleged abuse, the diocese said. (AP Photo/Dean Wariner, File)

The Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith exonerated retired Cheyenne, Wyoming Bishop Joseph Hart of seven accusations abuse and determined that five others couldn’t be proven “with moral certitude.” Two other cases involving boys, who were 16 and 17, couldn’t be prosecuted given the Catholic Church didn’t consider them minors at the time of the alleged abuse, the diocese reported Monday. A 13th allegation wasn’t addressed in the decree.

Hart was a priest in Kansas City, Missouri, for 21 years before moving to Wyoming, where he served as auxiliary and then full bishop from 1976 until his retirement in 2001. The first known allegations against Hart dated to the early 1960s and were made in the late 1980s. At least six men came forward in the past few years to say Hart abused them in Wyoming.

Hart, 89, had long maintained his innocence and denied all allegations of misconduct.

The Vatican decision clearly disappointed Hart’s successor, Bishop Steven Biegler, who stressed that the Vatican’s findings didn’t mean Hart was innocent, just that the Holy See determined that the high burden of proof hadn’t been met.

Biegler has previously stood by the findings of his review board, which determined a half-dozen claims were credible. And a diocesan statement noted the qualifications of its members: “law enforcement; school administration; a doctor of psychology; a pediatrician; a psychotherapist, who treats sexually abused children; and a judge, who was a criminal prosecutor for 13 years involving crimes against children, primarily child sexual abuse.”

On the other hand, the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, or CDF, relies on the judgment of priests and bishop canon lawyers, and ultimately the pope. The Vatican for decades has been blasted by victims’ groups for giving bishops a pass when they have been accused of sexual abuse themselves or of covering it up.

A few exceptions have been made in recent years, most famously in the case of ex-Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, who was defrocked after the CDF determined he had abused minors as well as adults, including during confession — essentially the same allegations against Hart.

As a result, the sentence showed the arbitrary nature of Vatican’s canonical sex abuse deliberations and judgments, which aren't public. Hart’s previous diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph reached court settlements years ago with at least 10 victims. But Wyoming criminal prosecutors also decided last year not to proceed with charging Hart.

Anne Barrett Doyle, of the online resource BishopAccountability.org, said the Vatican ruling was “heartbreaking and disgraceful" and showed that church law is biased in favor of priests and bishops.

“Defenders of canon law might point to the punishment of ex-cardinal McCarrick as evidence that the system works. But for every McCarrick, there are five Harts: bishops who retain their titles and pensions in the face of multiple allegations," she said in an email, adding that the ruling calls into question Pope Francis' vow to hold bishops accountable.

In its decree, the CDF rebuked Hart “for his flagrant lack of prudence as a priest and bishop for being alone with minors in his private residence and on various trips which could have been potential occasions endangering the ‘obligation to observe continence’ and that would ‘give rise to scandal among the faithful,'” the diocese said.

Hart was also rebuked for failing to observe previous Vatican restrictions prohibiting him from having contact with minors and seminarians and from participating in public engagements, the diocese said, adding that those restrictions remain in place.

“Today, I want the survivors to know that I support and believe you” Biegler said in a statement. “I understand that this announcement will not bring closure to the survivors, their family members, Bishop Hart and all those affected.”

Richmond Diocese deems child sex abuse claims against priest

'not credible'

By: WTVR CBS 6 Web Staff

Posted at 1:43 PM, Jan 28, 2021

RICHMOND, Va. -- Bishop Barry Knestout of the Catholic Diocese of Richmond reported Thursday that allegations of child sexual abuse made against one former priest were not credible.

The report came after a lengthy investigation by the Diocesan Review Board into the claims made against former priest Thomas Long.

A report of the allegations against Long was received by the Catholic Diocese of Richmond in June 2020. Those allegations were then reported to authorities.

The diocese launched an internal investigation of the allegations and the information they found was presented to the Diocesan Review Board, who then reported their findings to Knestout.

The diocese said his name will not be added to the list of clergy that have credible and substantiated allegations against them.

"Just as the diocese strives to remain transparent when child sexual abuse allegations are brought forward, the diocese will also publicly clear the accused of any wrongdoing when an accused is subjected to unsupported allegations," a spokesperson for the Catholic Diocese of Richmond wrote in an email.

In February 2019, the Catholic Diocese of Richmond released the names of 42 priests with credible allegations of child sexual abuse after an internal investigation.

The investigation was prompted by Attorney General Mark Herring, who had announced he was looking into reports of priest abuse in the state the previous year.

Long voluntarily left active ministry in 1988.

Former Boy Scouts Chaplain Gets 40 Years for Sex Abuse of Child with Developmental Disabilities, 5 Others 

By Jeff Truesdell

January 29, 2021 04:11 PM

A former volunteer camp chaplain for the Boy Scouts of America who sexually abused multiple victims, including a developmentally disabled teen, has been sentenced to 40 years in a Rhode Island prison after pleading no contest to his crimes.

James Glawson, 76, faced 11 counts of first-degree sexual assault against six young men, five in the 1980s during his time as a Scout leader, Rhode Island Attorney General Peter F. Neronha announced Thursday.

The most recent victim, in 2019, was a resident of a group home with developmental disabilities.

Rhode Island State Police began investigating Glawson in January 2019 after staff at the group home reported inappropriate contact between him and an 18-year-old resident, according to the attorney general's office. The resident later told investigators he'd been assaulted by Glawson multiple times over several years.

Glawson admitted to those assaults and, while being questioned, said he'd victimized several other young men during the 1980s while with the Boy Scouts organization, said the attorney general's office. The five additional victims came forward during further investigation.

His sentence comes amid a reckoning for the Boy Scouts of America (BSA), which has been hit with more than 92,000 claims of alleged sexual abuse after declaring bankruptcy in 2019 "in order to restructure its nonprofit organization and pay sexual abuse survivors," according to a court-appointed claims agent.

"It makes me sick to think of what I have done," Glawson told Judge Melanie Wilk Thunberg on Thursday during his plea hearing, reports The Providence Journal.

The judge issued a sentence of 60 years, but only 40 to be served in prison, with the balance suspended with probation.

OK, but he's 76, there isn't going to be a balance after 40 years!

Glawson said he prayed for forgiveness and thanked "the grace of God," while adding that he takes medication to "relieve me of some of my evil urges."

"I pray each day for God's help to help heal those that I hurt so badly and to give them comfort for the shame that I have caused," he said.

Good response! 

According to police, Glawson, of Exeter, served as an assistant Catholic chaplain at a Scouts camp in Hopkinton while volunteering for the organization from 1980 to 2018.

"Every day, parents and guardians entrust the well-being of their children to others, to provide care and/or recreational opportunities," Neronha said in a written statement. "When a person abuses that trust, and sexually assaults a child whose safety has been entrusted to them, we know the consequences — they are severe and long-lasting."

"The defendant's criminal conduct here, over a long period of time and involving multiple sexual assaults against multiple victims, warrants the long sentence imposed by the court," he said.

In a statement issued after the sentencing, the BSA, which said it permanently banned Glawson in 2019, added that his behavior "is reprehensible and runs counter to everything for which the Boy Scouts of America stands," reports The New York Times.

Sexual abuse survivors were given until Nov. 16, 2020, to file claims against the BSA in the organization's bankruptcy case.

In a statement last November to PEOPLE addressing those claims, the BSA said, "We are devastated by the number of lives impacted by past abuse in Scouting and moved by the bravery of those who came forward. We are heartbroken that we cannot undo their pain."

"We intentionally developed an open, accessible process to reach survivors and help them take an essential step toward receiving compensation," the organization continued. "The response we have seen from survivors has been gut-wrenching. We are deeply sorry."

The statement added, "Now that all claims have been filed, the next step will be for third-party advisors to review the claims in order to uphold the integrity of the process, while the national organization works to develop a plan of reorganization to fund the proposed Trust. We are committed to working as expeditiously as possible to provide survivors of abuse with equitable compensation."

California Bishops Asking Judge To Throw Out

2019 Clergy Sex Abuse Law

January 28, 2021 at 9:23 pm

LOS ANGELES (AP/CBS13) — Most California Roman Catholic bishops are asking a judge to throw out a 2019 law that allowed accusers of clergy sexual abuse to sue even if they were molested decades ago.

Motions filed this month in southern and northern superior courts ask judges to rule Assembly Bill 218 unconstitutional. Among the arguments was the assertion that the amount of time that had passed could make it harder for the defense to gather evidence.

California is one of at least 15 states that have extended the window for people to sue institutions over long-ago abuse, leading to thousands of new cases.

In 2019, California provided a three-year period that began on Jan. 1 of last year permitting suits in cases that exceeded the statute of limitations.

The law also extended the age of people who could sue for childhood sexual abuse from 26 to 40 after the extension expires and allowed triple damages in cases where abuse resulted from a “cover-up” of previous assaults by an employee or volunteer.

About 100 cases have been or are expected to be filed since then but attorney John Manly, who has handled some of them, said there eventually could be 500 to 1,500 cases filed involving the church and thousands more involving other institutions such as school districts.

The motions challenging AB2018 were filed on behalf of the archbishop of Los Angeles — which heads the nation’s largest archdiocese with some 5 million parishioners in several counties — as well as the archbishop of San Francisco and the bishops of Orange, Fresno, Monterey, Oakland, Sacramento, San Jose and Santa Rosa.

The motion filed in Alameda County argues that the law revives “long-expired claims” that already had been revived under a 2003 extension, “making it inevitable that witnesses will have died, memories faded, and documents may have been lost. This reality absolutely impairs the defendants’ ability to defend themselves.”

The motion filed in Los Angeles argued that the law “seeks to correct an injustice that does not exist with regard to the church defendants,” adding that “the Legislature had no evidence of widespread abuse after 2003 and no evidence of cover-up.”

The bishops have “’great remorse for crimes committed against victims” and have made reforms, the motion said.

But Manly called the motions “morally reprehensible and hypocritical. The church was well aware that they had a massive molestation problem by priests,” Manly said. “They systematically violated reporting laws … lied to the families, lied to the media, lied to the faithful. Now what they are saying is, ‘Don’t allow our victims to hold us accountable.’”

Priests who molested children committed “emotional murder,” Manly argued. “There’s no statute of limitations on murder … on kidnapping. There shouldn’t be a statue of limitations for child molestation.”

Exactly. And the church, if they had any real faith and sense, would want to suffer for their sins in this life rather than waiting before the stand before Jesus Christ.

The California church already paid more than $1.2 billion to hundreds of victims to settle claims made during the 2003 extension.

In 2019, The Associated Press estimated that a wave of new laws in 15 states allowing people to make claims of sexual abuse going back decades could lead to thousands of new cases and more than $4 billion in payouts.

Last June, U.S. Roman Catholic bishops said the church had tallied more than 4,400 sex abuse allegations against clergy in the 2018-19 audit year — triple the number from the previous year.

Today's USA Pervs and Pedos List > SuperMom; Male Babysitters; Children's Homes; Teachers; Accomplished Professor

..

Maryland mom fighting to create tougher laws against child sex predators

AA

by Scott Taylor

Thursday, January 28th 2021

A Maryland mom is back at it in Annapolis at the State House next week working to create tougher penalties for child sex abusers.

Annie Kenny is fighting to pass the Sex Offender - Lifetime Supervision bill.

The 2021 versions are HB531 and SB333.

We first told you about Kenny in 2019.

Mom wants Maryland sex offender laws changed to better protect children.

The bill would mandate that anyone convicted of sexually abusing a minor in the State of Maryland, which makes them a Tier III Registered Sex Offender for life, would also place them on probation for life, instead of just the current 5-year probationary period.

“This is my third year trying to get this bill passed, and I am really hopeful that this year will be one. Every year this doesn't get passed, we miss out on so many more offenders that this won't be able to apply too,” says Kenny.

Two years ago Kenny began her crusade with a change.org petition that people can still sign to support her efforts at #Savethechildren Better Sex Offender Laws to Protect our Children

"Our kids deserve better than this. I will be here fighting until we get this bill passed. And next year another bill. And then another after that. Until we can't find any new child sexual abuse cases where legislative negligence was a contributing factor,” says Kenny.

The petition describes what happened to her family after an ex-husband was convicted of attempted sex abuse of a minor, a misdemeanor with five years of probation, and a lifetime of registering as a tier-three sex offender.

“We assumed incorrectly that kept some boundaries up for the other children that he was having visitation with,” Kenny said.

ABC7 did reach out to Kenny’s ex-husband in 2019 for comment but did not receive a response.

Right now the petition has more than 48,000 signatures.

After the conviction, Kenny was told her ex-husband might be sleeping in the same bed with her minor children during custodial visits. When she went to the Charles County Sheriff's Office, she was told in Maryland it isn't a crime for a convicted child sex offender to sleep in the same bed with a minor. Only a judge could add that type of restriction during a parole hearing.

"I was really horrified to find out that it wasn't already a law. It doesn't make any sense to me,” Kenny said.

She also discovered child sex offenders finished with probation can legally contact kids through electronic devices with no parental supervision.

"Criminally there's nothing happening,” Kenny said.

Last year Kenny noticed major issues with the Maryland Sex Offender Registry.

Maryland mom discovers vital info vanishes from Sex Offender Registry

It’s where anyone can find the details of men and women who have preyed on children. In 2020, Kenny noticed something very odd when she landed on this website.

“Recently when I checked the website what I found was that although there was a space for scars and tattoos the information was listed as unavailable and there was no spot at all anymore for work addresses or vehicle information,” says Kenny.

Vital information that helps people identify sex offenders missing for weeks. Kenny did some research and discovered Maryland was in violation of state and federal guidelines.

“It’s really disturbing to think that an entire state's sex offender registry could be non-compliant with the U.S Department of Justice requirements. To me that’s pretty concerning,” says Kenny.

7 On Your Side did some digging and found out in April 2020, Maryland joined 21 other states and switched its sex offender website to the Offender Watch. It allows law enforcement and public safety agencies to share and manage information in real-time.

The Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services admitted it was this Maryland mom who discovered the issues.

It says: "The data was, in fact, present on the site however the vendor had a security rights issue and some information wasn’t visible to the public."

The vendor corrected the issue.

"Anyone who is convicted of sexually abusing a minor should be subject to probation for the rest of their life. Assuming they are "safe" after 5 years is preventing law enforcement from establishing additional restrictions and treatments to help limit their future access with children," adds Kenny.

East Montpelier, Vt man gets two years in child sex abuse case

By Eric Blaisdell Staff Writer 5 hrs ago

BARRE — An East Montpelier man previously convicted for sexually assaulting a minor has been sentenced to 2 years in prison for more sexual contact with children.

Randall J. Lavin, 55, was sentenced Wednesday in Washington County criminal court in Barre on two felony counts of lewd and lascivious conduct. Lavin was placed on probation and will remain on probation until a judge says otherwise. He pleaded guilty to the charges in December.

The state argued for a prison sentence of 5 years, while his attorney, Andrew M. Pappone, argued for a lesser sentence.

Detective James Pontbriand, of the Barre City Police, said in his affidavit that in July 2019 he met with a woman who reported inappropriate sexual contact Lavin had with the child of a family friend. Pontbriand said the woman was concerned because her 16-year-old son was in contact often with Lavin.

The woman told Pontbriand her son admitted to her that Lavin had touched him when he was 12 years old. She said her son told her it happened when he was staying at Lavin’s home.

Pontbriand said he looked into the incident with the family friend that sparked the woman’s concern, and discovered a family from North Carolina was visiting Lavin when he groped a 13-year-old boy over the boy’s clothes during the visit.

Pontbriand said the 16-year-old victim reported in August 2019 that he was staying at Lavin’s home one night and was asleep when Lavin came into the room and groped him under his clothes for a few moments. He said it happened again a few weeks later.

The victim told Pontbriand he didn’t tell anyone what happened until he heard about the victim from North Carolina.

Pontbriand said the second victim was interviewed in North Carolina in September 2019. He told investigators Lavin sexually abused him twice while the victim was visiting Vermont that June. Pontbriand said the second victim didn’t say anything about the abuse until Lavin came to North Carolina to see family and he was supposed to sleep on an air mattress with the victim.

Court records show Lavin was convicted of sexual assault on a minor in 1989. He was sentenced to three to 10 years, all suspended except for 30 days to serve.

Prior to handing down the sentence Wednesday, Judge Mary L. Morrissey said Lavin’s conduct was “highly egregious.”

“He offended against two different children with whom he had a trusting relationship ... not only the children but with their families,” Morrissey said.

The judge said the two families were not aware of Lavin’s prior criminal history.

She said Lavin is a self-admitted pedophile who is attracted to boys ranging in age from 10 to 15 years old. Morrissey said Lavin had been engaged in treatment until 2014 when his treatment provider retired. She said Lavin started abusing one of the victims in 2016.

“As his support systems diminished, he allowed himself to engage in risky association with two families and eventually reoffended,” the judge said.

Morrissey said without treatment and appropriate supervision, “the community is clearly at risk of future harm” by Lavin.

But, he is on parole and is only sentenced to two years? Does that make sense to you?

Man gets 15 years in prison after pleading guilty to child sex crimes

Jan 28, 2021 / 04:22 PM EST

SPARTANBURG COUNTY, SC (WSPA) – A man was sentenced to 15 years in prison Thursday after pleading guilty to charges related to the sexual abuse of two boys.

According to a news release, Daniel Walker, 53, of Spartanburg, pleaded guilty to second-degree criminal sexual conduct and third-degree criminal sexual conduct with a minor. 

As part of his sentence, Walker will have to register as a sex offender, will be on lifetime GPS monitoring, as well as a no-contact provision with the victims.

According to the release, Walker admitted to inappropriately touching two boys, who were left with him to babysit.

He was obviously in the wrong state. In Maryland or Vermont he would have gotten off so much easier. (See above).

Also, Moms, Dads, please don't let men babysit your children. You are putting them at exceptional and completely unnecessary risk. There are dozens of stories on this blog testifying to that fact.

The mother of the victims filed a complaint with the Spartanburg Police Department on Dec. 17, 2019, and the victims described what took place during a forensic examination at the Children’s Advocacy Center.

Walker’s previous criminal history includes convictions for fraudulent checks, assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature and forgery. Sound like a good babysitter to you?

Live Oak, Ca Man Arrested In Child Molestation Investigation

By CBS13 Staff

January 29, 2021 at 3:28 pm

LIVE OAK (CBS13) – A child molestation investigation has landed an arrest of a Live Oak resident, the Sutter County Sheriff’s Office announced on Friday.

Heriberto “Eddie” Ramirez, 46, is being held on $500,000 bail and faces charges several charges related to child sex abuse., authorities said.

The sheriff’s office said it first received reports of the alleged child molestation back on December 12, 2020. Detectives discovered evidence that yielded probable cause for the arrest of Ramirez.

Ramirez is scheduled to appear in court on February 1.

Goshen, Ind: Bashor Children's Home staffer among accused

charged in sex abuse cases

THE GOSHEN NEWS 5 hrs ago 

Elkhart County courthouse

    

A Bashor Children’s Home employee is among three local men charged in separate child sex abuse cases.

Jeffery Stoll and Zachary Pontius, both of Goshen, and Floyd Schrock, of Middlebury, were named in cases filed Thursday.

Stoll, 22, is charged with a Level 5 felony count of child seduction after he allegedly used his position at Bashor to touch a youth inappropriately last June.

According to the accusations, Stoll walked with the teen victim to a structure where he allegedly made sexual remarks and grabbed the teen’s chin. The teen resisted, and, according to statements made to police, Stoll’s response was quoted as, “I’m the staff and you’re supposed to listen to me and do what I say,” the probable cause affidavit in the case shows.

Stoll allegedly struggled with the teen, then while the youth was restrained, he allegedly threatened to fill out an incident report. When the victim asked what he wanted, Stoll allegedly touched the victim inappropriately, according to the affidavit.

Police reviewed Bashor’s security camera video recordings from the incident date and confirmed Stoll walked with the youth out of a door at the facility, and then they returned about 25 minutes later. Stoll was also interviewed by police in July, where police said he first denied the accusations, and then later admitted to the inappropriate contact.

After the case was filed, a warrant was issued for Stoll’s arrest, court information shows.

Meanwhile, Pontius, 35, faces three Level 1 felony counts of child molesting after accusations were made to Elkhart County police last June. He allegedly touched a child inappropriately three different times, according to information in the probable cause affidavit in that case.

In the third case, Schrock, 39, faces two Level 4 felony counts of child molesting and two Level 5 felony counts of sexual misconduct with a minor. He’s accused of inappropriately touching the victim multiple times over the past few years.

While following up on details, Elkhart County police confirmed last September that Schrock had confessed the molestation to his wife and pastor, according to information in the probable cause affidavit in the case.

All three cases were filed in Elkhart County Superior Court 3.

Sex abuse charges against former Idaho high school employee

involve special needs student

Kalama Hines, EastIdahoNews.com

Published at 2:23 pm, January 29, 2021

POCATELLO — A local man charged with sexual abuse of a minor taught special needs students at Highland High School, according to newly released court documents.

Eric Steven Popely, 47, was arrested Wednesday after Pocatello Police Department detectives uncovered evidence the man allegedly groped a 15-year-old non-verbal, special needs student under her clothing.

Popely was the head of Highland High School’s developmental learning program and was working with the teenager, according to an affidavit of probable cause.

Police were contacted by school administrators at 2:30 p.m. Jan. 21 and were told there was a witness, as well as video surveillance, of the alleged abuse. Officers were unable to interview Popely on-site as he had already been placed on administrative leave and removed from the campus by Pocatello/Chubbuck School District 25 administrators.

The surveillance video was viewed by officers but parts of the incident were unclear, according to court documents. What could be seen from the video, according to the investigating officers, was Popely entering the classroom with the victim before closing the door at 11:13 a.m. School technicians arrived at the classroom five minutes later to find the door locked. The techs told police that when they entered the room, Popely was standing at the far corner of the classroom, with the victim on the opposite side of the room from him.

Popely directed the techs to another room to hook up a TV and returned to the room at 11:33 a.m., once again locking it. He would later tell police that he customarily locked his door as part of active-shooter preparedness.

During the incident, an adult witness told police she was headed to the restroom when she looked through a door window and observed Popely appear to inappropriately touch the student. The witness described Popely touching the child under her clothing.

Due to the angle of the camera, the surveillance video does not directly show the alleged sexual act. Popely can be seen standing behind the victim, nearly in contact with her with his arm “slightly forward,” the affidavit says. It does show him reach around the victim. The entire interaction took about 55 seconds.

PPD went to the room and stood where the witness, who was visible in the surveillance video, had been. School administrators mimicked the motions described by the witness and the officer noted the administrator’s arm was plainly visible through the classroom door window.

“I could see where his hand was without a doubt while he moved [it],” an officer noted in the report.

A school administrator told PPD that when they went to the classroom to inform Popely he was going to be placed on administrative leave, he was found in a darkened closet in the room, with a different special needs student, also described as non-verbal.

The 15-year-old’s family was contacted regarding the incident and they said they would monitor the girl for any emotional changes that could result from abuse. The family declined a sexual assault examination, saying that it would only further traumatize the young girl.

In an interview with detectives, Highland administrators described Popely as appearing “defeated” when he was brought to the office following the alleged incident. They said that he did not defend himself and only apologized, they told the police.

Popely explained to detectives in a subsequent interview that he normally would not have students alone in his classroom, but had been working through the day in question differently due to school buses running late. When asked directly if something bad had happened with the student, Popely responded “yes.”

He initially admitted to police that he accidentally brushed the victim’s breast. Reports then note that Popley became “withdrawn” and “shaken” and took long pauses and drinks of water, according to the affidavit. He then said he had accidentally reached up under the victim’s sweater, but readjusted when he realized what had happened.

When officers told him his claim did not match what was seen on surveillance, Popely admitted he grabbed the victim’s breast out of sexual frustration stemming from a recent romantic separation. He added that it was an “error in judgment.”

Popely told police that this had not happened before, asking to take a polygraph examination to prove that to be true.

He was arrested, charged and transferred to Bannock County Jail where he is being held on a $70,000 bail.

Popely has been scheduled for a preliminary hearing on Feb. 4.

Lewis Co., NY man charged with raping child younger than 11

A Lewis County man has been charged with felony first-degree sexual conduct against a child, New York State Police reported Friday.

Bryan Ely, 29, of Constableville, is charged with at least twice having sexual contact and intercourse with a child younger than 11 over a period of five years in West Turin, troopers said.

Ely was arraigned in Lewis County Court and sent to Lewis County jail on $50,000 cash bail or $100,000 bond, police said.

U-Michigan Professor Facing Child Sex Abuse Charge Is Put On Leave

January 29, 2021, 11:22 AM 

by  Alan Stamm

A University of Michigan faculty member is out of the classroom and heading back to court on a charge of first-degree criminal sexual conduct.

Peter Chen, professor of computer science and engineering, is on administrative leave after being arraigned this week for alleged off-campus abuse of a child younger than 13.

Peter Chen faces the most serious sex offense in Michigan's Penal Code.

(Photos: University of Michigan)

"I realize this information will be shocking to many of you," Dean Alec Gallimore tells colleagues and students in a five-paragraph email, which also says: "There is no information that this criminal charge is connected to his teaching or research at the University of Michigan.

Chen, a 53-year-old Wixom resident, returns to district court next Thursday for a probable cause hearing. The alleged felony happened in April 2017 at an undisclosed location, according to The Michigan Daily student paper. The alleged victim's gender isn't publicly known.

"His teaching and other duties are being reassigned," says the dean. Chen taught Introduction to Operating Systems and Computer Vision courses this winter term, which began Jan. 19.

The accused molester, hired in 1993, was a rising star who earned awards, student salutes and was on a leadership track. He served six months as interim chair of computer science last year before resigning abruptly in July for "personal reasons." 

Chen also had been the college's chief undergraduate program advisor and was faculty advisor to a student group. He's a five-time winner of a student honor society's Professor of the Year award. At a Rate My Professors site, he earns a ranking of 4.6 on a 5-point scale, based on 56 reviews.

Now he faces the most serious sex offense in Michigan's Penal Code, with a mandatory minimum prison sentence of 25 years if convicted. First-degree criminal sexual conduct is known more commonly as rape or sexual assault.

The professor's career highlights include a National Science Foundation award in 1996 and a series of honors at the Ann Arbor campus -- including an Undergraduate Teaching Award, an Engineering Teaching Excellence Award, a Departmental Teaching Excellence Award and an Outstanding Achievement Award, a 2019 university news release says.

Astonishing!

The Perverted Lives of the Rich and Famous > Greek Olympic Sailing Coach; Patriots Owner; Westminster Paedo Ring; Arsenal Ace

..

Greek Olympic Gold Medalist Testifies against sailing coach arrested for allegedly raping 11yo girl

25 Jan 2021 16:25

Straits Times

Olympic sailing champion Sofia Bekatorou leaves the prosecutor's office © REUTERS / Alkis Konstantinidis

A Greek sailing coach, whose name hasn’t been revealed, was arrested on Sunday on accusations of raping an 11-year-old girl more than nine years ago, the latest development in a sex abuse scandal that has rocked the country.

The 38-year-old was detained on the island of Samos as police opened an investigation into allegations of rape brought by Olympic champion Sofia Bekatorou, who gave evidence to prosecutors after speaking to the alleged victim, who is now 20 years old.

She and her parents also gave statements to the police regarding the Greek official’s alleged crime. 

The coach reportedly denied the allegations, claiming that he had been in a relationship with her and that wanted to marry her.

So, she was 11 and he was 29, and he was in a 'relationship' with her!!!???

Bekatorou, a famed Greek sailor who scooped an Olympic gold in 2004 and a bronze four years later, came forward last week to make the shocking revelation that she had been sexually assaulted when she was a national team member.

Appearing on an online event dedicated to the protection of children, Bekatorou said she was the victim of sexual assault and that the incident took place ahead of the 2000 Sydney Olympics when she was 21.

“I said no, I repeated that I didn't want to go on and he used fake sweet talk and said it is nothing,” Bekatorou said.

“He said he would stop if I didn't want it but he didn't, no matter what I said to him,” she added.

The retired athlete, 43, has inspired others to speak up about their own experience of sexual abuse, uncovering scandals that were hidden for decades.

Aristeidis Adamopoulos stepped down as vice president of the Hellenic Sailing Federation (HSF) last week in the wake of the scandal that undermined the body’s credibility.

The Hellenic Olympic Committee and the Greek government have urged other sex abuse victims to speak out.

Really, every organization in the world where children are involved needs to do an in-depth study on the degree of child sexual abuse. It's not a question of 'if' there was child sex abuse, only a question of how much and how bad it was, and who were the perverts.

Few politicians have the courage to open that can of worms, so children will continue to be sexually assaulted in all venues.

Patriots owner gets happy ending in massage parlor sting case

as judge orders video evidence be destroyed

26 Jan 2021 18:51

Thumbs up: New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft. © USA Today Sport

Robert Kraft, owner of the NFL's New England Patriots, won't be the star of the internet's latest sex tape after a judge ordered that video evidence against him allegedly engaging in illicit acts in a massage parlor be destroyed.

A Federal judge in Florida ruled that video footage featuring Kraft and several others must be wiped from existence after police surveillance of a massage parlor which was allegedly participating in prostitution and human trafficking was deemed unlawful. 

A misdemeanor charge of solicitation against Kraft, who is the chairman and chief executive officer of the Kraft Group, was dropped last year after it was ruled in an appeals court that video evidence featuring Kraft was inadmissible. Legal representatives for Kraft had argued that they were fearful that footage would be leaked to the internet in what would be a highly embarrassing issue for their client. 

When reality is embarrassing, someone deserves the embarrassment.

"Considering that the videos never should have been created according to judicial rulings that are binding and conclusive, the videos should be destroyed so that they can never be subject to any misuse, intentional or otherwise," his attorneys stated.

Kraft, 79, was among several people charged in February 2019 in a wide-ranging investigation of massage parlors which were suspected of being engaged in illegal acts with their customers. 

Police conducted surveillance of several sites which included installing hidden camera in lobbies and massage rooms, with authorities naming Kraft as being suspected of paying for sex acts with massage parlor workers.

The incidents are alleged to have occurred on consecutive days in January 2019 at the Orchids of Asia spa in Jupiter, Florida. 

Kraft pleaded not guilty to the charges but subsequently issued a public apology in relation to them. 

The hypocrisy is astounding!

"I am truly sorry. I know I have hurt and disappointed my family, my close friends, my co-workers, our fans and many others who rightfully hold me to a higher standard," he said.

The Florida court also ruled that a "neutral third party" will oversee the destruction of the offending evidence.

Westminster paedophile ring: Jailed Charles Napier

will be told to name VIP abusers

..

The former treasurer of the Paedophile Information Exchange and half-brother

of a Tory MP will be questioned again by detectives after being jailed last week

By Keir Mudie

08:42, 28 DEC 2014

Caged child abuser Charles Napier faces a grilling by detectives who believe he could help expose a network of VIP paedophiles with links to Westminster.

Officers probing claims that span decades think the former teacher – jailed last week for abusing 23 boys – can name Establishment figures including peers, Government ministers, ­civil servants and police.

Napier, 67, was treasurer of the twisted Paedophile Information Exchange, which ­campaigned on behalf of ­paedophiles in the 1970s and 1980s and ­argued that the age of consent should be lowered to FOUR.

Dossiers compiled by ­campaigning MP Geoffrey Dickens and handed to former Home Secretary Leon Brittan in the 1980s were said to contain damning ­evidence about the group.

The allegations now form a key part of the large-scale Scotland Yard probe, which includes claims three young boys were murdered by a powerful VIP network.

A source close to the ­investigation said: “Now that he has been jailed police are going to want to talk to him again. He was treasurer of the PIE. That means he would know the names of a lot of the people ­involved. He must have more to tell the police.”

Napier was sentenced to 13 years for sex attacks on 23 boys between 1967 and 1983. The pervert ­admitted 30 indecent assault ­charges and one offence of ­indecency against a child.

Abuser: Charles Napier was treasurer of the Paedophile Information Exchange

Several high-profile abusers are thought have been members of PIE, including Peter Righton and former spy Geoffrey Prime.

The late Labour politician Barbara Castle is said to have named members of the group in a dossier seized by Special Branch in the 1980s amid allegations of a cover-up.

The Met Police are now trying to find the missing files and those compiled by Mr Dickens.

Officers recently revealed there are now 18 separate operations probing ­historic ­allegations in the 70s and 80s – and campaigners believe Napier would have had a full list of those ­involved with PIE.

Whistleblower Peter McKelvie, a former local authority child protection chief who has been fighting to bring abusers to ­justice, said: “Napier is an evil, calculating, ­manipulative paedophile.

"The charges he was found guilty on were the tip of the iceberg.

“In 1993 I spoke to three victims who refused to give evidence.

“One told me very convincingly that Napier took him to parties where he was introduced to the rich and famous and that Righton was involved in all these activities.”

On the trail: The People has led the way in investigating the Westminster VIP paedophile network

Mr McKelvie believes Napier – who has said he regrets his actions – should now come clean about everything he knows.

He added: “I don’t believe he has shown one iota of remorse in an adulthood dedicated to the ruthless pursuit of vulnerable children purely to abuse sexually.

“As a test of his newfound ­‘remorse’, he can share all the names of the rich and ­famous who ­attended the parties that his victims ­referred to.

“As PIE treasurer in its peak period of membership in the mid-1970s, Napier holds the key to the identity of hundreds of dangerous abusers who continued to abuse thousands of children over many decades.

“He can now pass all this ­to ­police as testament to his newfound regret and remorse.”

The Sunday People was the first newspaper to track down Napier, who is the half-brother of Conservative MP John Whittingdale. He was found in picturesque Sherborne, Dorset.

After we passed our ­information to police, Napier was arrested as part of Operation Cayacos – an offshoot of Fairbank, which was set up to investigate allegations of ­historical child abuse.

Fellow pervert: Former child care expert and secret PIE member Peter Righton

At the time of our probe we spoke to respected author and journalist Francis Wheen, a former pupil at the boarding school Napier taught at.

The 57-year-old said: “He ­recruited a few of us, saying ‘Spend more time in the gym’ and appointed himself gym ­master.

"There was a room off the gym and that ­became his haunt. Four or five of us started going down there, vaulting over horses and things like that, in our gym shorts in all our innocence.

“At the end of it he would take us into his room off the gym and give us beer and cigarettes – ­bottles of Mackeson’s and Senior Service untipped.

“We thought this was ­all ­terrifically exciting. Here we were, 11 years old, being given beer and fags. We were thinking that he was on our side, not like any of the other masters.

“Of course, this was for an ulterior purpose, which very soon became clear when he stuck his hand down my gym shorts and I had to sort of fight him off.”

Exposed: The People found Napier in 2012

Sick Napier then revealed his ­technique for grooming the youngsters by trying to humiliate him.

Mr Wheen said: “He said ‘Don’t be such a baby’ and said I wasn’t grown-up enough for that sort of thing.

“He would point to a couple of other boys, saying ‘They let me do it, you just won’t let me because you’re so babyish’.

“I think he was hoping I’d say ‘No, I’m as grown up as them’ and let him get on with it but I didn’t.

“It meant I was excluded from his ‘charmed circle’ but by then I knew where he kept his beer and cigarettes. I used to break into his room, steal them and then go and sit in the woods.”

Mr Wheen visited Southwark Crown Court last week to see Napier sentenced.

He described the jail term as “a signal the judge was giving – these things will be pursued now, even if it’s 46 years later don’t think you’ve got away with it”.

Victim: Journalist and former pupil Francis Wheen (Image: Nick Cunard/Writer Pictures)

Mr Wheen admitted there had been times before the sentence when he almost felt pity for the pervert – but those feelings quickly evaporated.

He said: “I am glad that it’s been done. I’m glad that it’s happened after all these years.

“I thought in the last year or two, ‘Well, he’s getting quite old, maybe it wasn’t that serious,’ feeling a tiny bit of pity occasionally.

“But I don’t feel that now, hearing as we’ve heard about the sheer extent of what he was doing right under our noses while I was at school with all these other boys.

“We just had no idea of the scale of what he was doing and how damaged some of them were by what he did. Any element of pity ­disappeared fairly quickly.”

Former Arsenal ace jailed for sexual activity with 14-yo girl

27 Jan 2021 16:30

Tyrell Robinson © Global Look Press / Thomas Gadd

Ex-Bradford City winger Tyrell Robinson, who was also a member Arsenal's academy, has been jailed for three-and-a-half years after admitting to sexual activity with an underage girl.

His friend Korie Berman received six years in jail after being found guilty of five charges of engaging in penetrative sexual activity with a girl aged 14.

Robinson invited three underage girls to his flat in Bradford in August 2018 with Berman also joining the party.

The ex-player, who was subsequently sacked by Bradford, knew about the girls’ age, as he discussed with Berman that they were underage, joking on Snapchat about feeling like pedophiles.

"Bro, I feel like a paedo," Berman messaged Robinson.

The three girls, who had been drinking, came to the players' flat where Berman and Robinson gave them more alcohol.

Robinson took his victim to his bedroom and had sex with her, while Berman had sex with the other two girls who said they had little or no recollection of what he had done to them.

Robinson also took a photograph of his flatmate, Berman, lying in bed with the two naked victims before sending the photo to him on Snapchat.

Judge Richard Mansell, who delivered the verdict at Bradford Crown Court, said that the harm the two men caused was "considerable."

"The harm you have caused to the three young girls and their families is considerable. It is perfectly clear that you were sexually attracted to one or more of these girls,” he said.

Making him a paedophile, or, at least, a pederast.