French prosecutors drop abuse investigation into political scientist
at center of incest scandal
14 Jun, 2021 15:25
FILE PHOTO. Paris, France.© Getty Images / Chesnot.
French prosecutors have announced that no charges will be filed against political scientist Olivier Duhamel over reports he sexually abused his stepson (3rd story on link), as the allegations came outside the statute of limitations.
In a statement published on Monday, Remy Heitz, the Paris prosecutor, announced the investigation had been dropped “because of the prescription of public action.”
Duhamel, a former president of the Paris Institute of Political Studies, was accused in a book published by his stepdaughter Camille Kouchner, who claimed that the abuse took place against her twin brother while they were teenagers in the 1980s.
Prior to a 2018 change in the law, people who were sexually abused in France had to file a police complaint within 20 years of their 18th birthday. Legislation passed three years ago by the country’s parliament increased the statute of limitations to 30 years.
According to French media reports, Duhamel allegedly confessed during a police interview in April, though he has not publicly responded to the accusation levelled against him.
The term ‘incest’ is used in France to refer to the sexual abuse of relatives, even if the individual affected is not a direct blood relative. The claims against Duhamel sparked a national conversation about the treatment of minors within France and forced action by President Emmanuel Macron’s government to introduce stronger legal protections for kids. In April, the French legislature set the age of consent at 15 (3rd story on link), and classed sex with children younger than that as rape, with a sentence of up to 20 years in prison on conviction.
Ghislaine Maxwell wins whopping $13.70 in legal fees
& a break from RAT FECES after accuser drops suit
17 Jun, 2021 19:52
Alleged sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell may still be in what she describes as a filthy jail fit for Hannibal Lecter while she awaits trial, but the British socialite has won a very small victory – receiving $13.70 in court costs.
When an anonymous ‘Jane Doe’ who claimed Maxwell had groomed her to be abused and raped by deceased pedophile Jeffrey Epstein dropped a suit she had filed against Maxwell, the 59-year-old’s lawyer demanded Doe reimburse her court fees, which amounted to $5 for court docketing fees and $8.70 for “other costs,” charges apparently run up while reading documents online, according to Bloomberg.
Doe was 13 when she first met Maxwell according to her lawsuit, which claims the woman gained her trust by acting like an “older sister” to her, taking her shopping and to the cinema. Only gradually was Doe groomed to be sexually abused by Epstein, who allegedly raped her at age 17.
However, rather than try to see her case through alone, Doe ultimately joined a settlement alongside several other Epstein accusers, who were reportedly paid out over $50 million from a Victims Compensation Fund set up to deal with making restitutions to the convicted sex offender’s prey. The fund’s managers declined to reveal how many women had received the money, though they did pause payments from the fund in February, complaining of empty pockets.
Still attempting to secure bail for their wealthy client, Maxwell’s lawyers also filed papers this week complaining “vermin droppings fell from air vents” and that her entire cell smelled like raw sewage. After spending a week in those conditions, she was reportedly moved to another cell, where she and her lawyers continued to complain.
The jet-setter has repeatedly appealed to the judge to allow her out on bail until her trial comes in November. In February, she even promised to renounce her UK and French citizenships – and in December offered a whopping $28.5 million bail offer.
Judge Alison Nathan was not moved by the gestures, arguing that the socialite still posed a flight risk, due to her huge network of highly-placed ‘friends’, meaning she would potentially find a way to escape the country before her trial date.
While Maxwell was supposed to begin her trial in July, the addition of two new charges against her convinced Nathan to push the trial date up to November 29. If convicted, she faces 80 years in prison, though she has maintained her innocence despite dozens of allegations – just a few of which she will be tried upon in November.
Maxwell did win a small victory in March, when Judge Nathan agreed to redact certain parts of her criminal case owing to their “sensational and impure” nature. Given that she has been charged with eight counts related to sex trafficking of minors, the redacted material had to be especially grisly to be left out.
British Tory MP Imran Ahmad Khan charged with
sexual assault of 15-year-old boy
18 Jun, 2021 16:49
An MP for Britain’s Conservative Party has been charged with the sexual assault of a 15-year-old boy in 2008, it was revealed on Friday after reporting restrictions surrounding the case were lifted.
Tory MP for Wakefield, West Yorkshire, Imran Ahmad Khan appeared at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Thursday, where he pleaded “not guilty” to the charge. The 47-year-old, who was elected in 2019, is accused of groping the teenager in the county of Staffordshire in the West Midlands.
In a statement on Friday the MP confirmed that a historic sexual assault allegation had been made against him and denied the accusation.
“May I make it clear from the outset that the allegation, which is from over 13 years ago, is denied in the strongest terms,” he said.
“This matter is deeply distressing to me and I, of course, take it extremely seriously.”
The alleged victim cannot be identified for legal reasons.
Khan is now due to appear at the Central Criminal Court at London’s Old Bailey on July 15 after the magistrate judge referred the case for trial.
As we have reported so many times, Pakistani ex-pats have ended up in prison, on their way to prison, or should be, for raping young British girls. But when they rape young British boys, they get sent to Parliament.
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