Egypt: Woman arrested for killing 2-week-old baby girl to please husband
Published: July 16, 2021 07:19
Khitam Al Amir, Chief News Editor
Dubai: An Egyptian woman was arrested on charges of killing her two-week-old baby girl by throwing her alive into a water tank on the roof of their house to please her husband who did not like to have girls, local media reported.
The crime happened in Abu Al Matamir town in El Beheira Governorate in the northern part of the country in the Nile Delta in Egypt.
The El Beheira Security Department received a report from Abu Al Matamir police station where a health inspector had a criminal suspicion of the death of the infant, who was already buried after her mother claimed that she died due to natural causes.
The Abu Al Matamir prosecutor ordered the exhumation of the toddler’s body three days after her burial to conduct an autopsy and investigate the authenticity and causes of her death.
A team of detectives led by Maj. Gen. Mohamed Shaarawy, Director of the Criminal Investigation Department, concluded that there was a criminal suspicion of the toddler’s death.
The newly married woman, Sara, confessed to having thrown her infant daughter alive into the water tank until she died because her husband did not want to have girls.
Egyptian dentist jailed 16 years for molesting men
Published: July 16, 2021 14:09
Ramadan Al Sherbini, Correspondent
Cairo: An Egyptian criminal court had sentenced a famous male dentist to 16 years in prison on charges of sexually harassing men in a high-profile case.
The dentist, identified by Al Watan newspaper as Bassem Samir, was dubbed in the Egyptian media as the “harassing doctor”.
He was convicted of sexually assaulting four men, including a junior dentist who had worked in his clinic, Al Watan reported, citing the court. The ruling can be appealed.
The case came to public attention last September when legal complaints were lodged with public prosecution against him from several men including some celebrities. The claimants included Egyptian actor Abbas Abul Hassan, who accused the dentist of sexually harassing him and many others over years in his clinic and other places, and inciting them to practise homosexuality.
Abul Hassan, 56, was quoted in the media as saying that exposing the dentist and suing him were important. “Protecting Egypt’s youth from harassment will not take place by withholding victims, but by deterrence, disgracing offenders and enforcing the law,” he said at the time.
The claimants against the dentist said they were encouraged to come forward and report his acts after an online campaign was launched by several women in Egypt last summer, unmasking sexual offences they had purportedly experienced.
Paedophile went on holiday with children
Got his wrists slapped
13 Jul 2021
A Peterborough paedophile flouted a strict court order by going on holiday with a woman and her young children.
As a registered sex offender, Ross Liddie, 40, was required to notify police of where he was living and if he was staying anywhere else for more than 12 hours.
Officers from the force’s Public Protection Unit (PPU) carried out an unannounced visit on his home in Stanground on 21 November 2019.
However, after searching the property and speaking to the occupants it became clear his bedroom was not lived in. Officers quickly discovered he was staying with a woman and her two children at her home.
Liddie was arrested and further investigations revealed he lived at the woman’s home a majority of the time and had been away on holiday with them.
In addition, his phone was seized and found to contain three indecent images, one of which contained an unknown child.
So, the question is, who were the other two children? Were they from an earlier case, or were they the woman's children? If that's the case then this guy got off way too easy?
Liddie admitted two counts of failing to comply with the Sex Offenders Register, making an indecent image of a child, possessing a prohibited image of a child and possessing an extreme image.
Last Thursday (8 July) at Peterborough Crown Court, he was sentenced to six months in prison, suspended for two years, given a 20-day rehabilitation activity requirement and placed on the Sex Offenders Register for a further seven years.
DC Rob Hutchings said: “Liddie was well aware of the requirements he had to follow but disregarded them. It shows the value of the PPU’s work in bringing people who flout serious court orders back before the courts”.
It would be more valuable if the judge slapped him upside the head instead of on the wrists.
Those concerned someone may have been convicted of a sex offence, and could be posing a risk to a child, can apply for disclosure information through Sarah’s Law: https://bit.ly/3dUWC6z.
Anyone who looks out for the welfare of a child can make an enquiry. This can include parents, carers, guardians, extended family, friends and neighbours.
The Monster's abuse and a prosecution caught in the memory wars
Steve Kilgallon, Stuff
05:00, Jul 18 2021
Gloria Masters is a well-dressed, well-spoken woman in her late 50s with a CV that includes corporate training, dispute resolution and mediation work for local government and major corporates.
She’s also the author of a self-published memoir, On Angels’ Wings, in which she alleges a dreadful childhood in suburban Auckland of the 1960s, featuring the most horrific, sadistic sexual abuse, suffered at the hands of a father she calls only The Monster. It’s a painful read; one I could consume only in small chunks, skim reading over the very worst of it.
The details are too graphic and harrowing to be repeated here. But Masters says that, from the age of three until she was 16, her paedophile father orchestrated almost continual abuse, perpetrated both by him and others. She says he sold her to a paedophile ring, a gang, and a K Rd sex club. She alleges another relative facilitated the abuse (including procuring a series of illegal abortions), while others simply ignored it. Deprived of any human protector, the titular angels are the ones she thought she saw when her father nailed her into an apple crate as a small child for some imagined infraction.
“I am just so lucky to be alive, there were many times I didn’t think I was going to make it,” she tells Stuff.
Yet, nobody has ever been prosecuted for the offences she details. And while Masters hopes publication of a book that took several years and seven drafts to write might prompt some offenders to confess, she accepts it’s most likely nobody will ever go before the courts over what happened to her.
Gloria Masters is a well-spoken, well-educated corporate businesswoman.
LAWRENCE SMITH/STUFF
It would undoubtedly be one of the worst cases of childhood sexual abuse ever documented in this country. Are Masters’ extraordinary allegations credible? How significant is it that they rely on recovered memories? And why will her abusers almost certainly evade justice?
Sexual offences are much harder to prosecute than many other crimes, explains a serving sexual offences detective, who asked not to be identified because police cannot talk to the media without permission. “Most people don’t talk about abuse. Only 15 per cent of people even tell anyone about it in the first place, let alone come forward to the police, and then the cases we are able to prosecute are whittled down from that as well,” the detective says.
Police weigh the prospect of a conviction against the continued trauma for the victim of giving evidence. The detective says under the Solicitor-General’s guidelines, police need a “reasonable prospect of gaining a conviction” before proceeding. “So it has to be at least 50-50 – we can’t just prosecute someone and take it through on a wing and a prayer. Personally, I don’t think it’s fair to put a victim through that. I had one who spent two and a half days on the stand. It’s really not fair to have someone put through that if it is never going to get home anyway.”
Prosecuting historical sexual offending comes with even bigger hurdles. Sometimes, says the detective, such cases are easier to prosecute, because people’s loyalties have shifted over time, but many are much harder – witnesses have died, documents destroyed, memories faded.
Instead, the abuse was then limited to weekend visits to her father, and stopped entirely at 16 when she was able to refuse to see her father any more.
Masters describes life from 16 to 32 as a “f…... nightmare”. She had suppressed the suffering, but was deeply damaged and “attracted to terrible situations and people”.
But she says it wasn’t till the age of 32 that she recalled the abuse, went into therapy, and reported it to police. Before then, she says, she had “complete amnesia – I didn’t remember it at all.”
Cases such as Masters’ are even harder for investigators. The recollection of previously forgotten childhood abuse has been hotly debated by academics since the 1980s – a dispute often called the ‘memory wars’. Opinion cleaves into two fiercely opposed camps: those who say it is entirely unproven, and the construct of therapists, and those who say such recovered memory could be better called dissociative amnesia, and is a proven condition dating back to soldiers who blocked out their war experiences.
Being a survivor who had only brief glimpses of my abuse at ages 3 and 4, it came back very clear and strong after an event that involved neighbourhood children and sexual abuse. The memories completely fit the pattern of the abuser who attempted to abuse me again later in my childhood.
There is a lot more on this story and particularly the subject of recovered memory on Stuff, NZ.
Paedophile blames alter ego who 'takes over his mind'
By Neil Docking Crown Court Reporter, Echo
19:00, 17 JUL 2021
A screengrab from a cautionary film promoted by Stop it Now! a helpline aimed at stopping offenders viewing child abuse images (Image: Stop it Now!)
A paedophile caught with child rape photos blamed his perversion on an alter ego.
Matthew Prescott, 26, has been collecting child sex abuse images since he was a teenager.
In 2016 he was spared jail for amassing a sickening stash of more than 4,000 indecent images.
He was caught again last year, when officers discovered nearly 2,000 twisted videos and pictures.
But he now claims this was the work of one of five other personalities - "Alex" - who takes over him.
Liverpool Crown Court heard police acting on intelligence raided Prescott's home in Cotham Street, St Helens on June 10, 2020.
Paul Blasbery, prosecuting, said they seized two laptops and two mobile phones, containing 1,829 indecent videos and photos.
He said there were 240 Category A files - the most serious category showing child rape - and gave the example of one involving "a male newborn baby".
There were 259 Category B images, of boys as young as five to seven, and 1,330 Category C files, of boys as young as three to five.
On a Samsung mobile phone, police discovered the social media app Whisper, which Prescott had used to share 29 Category C images.
Prescott was arrested, gave a no comment interview to police and was released under investigation.
However, officers received more information about his online activity and raided his home again on April 15.
Mr Blasbery said this time they seized a laptop containing 26 Category C images, before once again Prescott gave a no comment interview.
Prescott later admitted four counts of downloading, two counts of possessing and one count of distributing indecent images of children.
His only previous conviction is for three counts of downloading and one count of possessing indecent images of children in 2016.
Then aged 21, he was handed a three-year community order and told to comply with a five-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order.
Michael Hagerty, defending, said Prescott realised he was facing a prison sentence and his client wanted the judge to know this would "allow him time to atone for his actions, for which he is remorseful".
He said it was clear from the "pattern of offending" that Prescott had a "significant problem" and referred to a psychiatric report.
Forensic psychiatrist Dr Lucy Bacon diagnosed Prescott with emotionally unstable personality disorder (EUPD), but Mr Hagerty said this wasn't a defence to the charges he had admitted.
He said: "There were significant problems he had as a child, particularly with his father, though that relationship is now good, and there were confusing issues with regard to his relationship with his mother."
Mr Hagerty said his client set out claims about having "multiple personalities", but Dr Bacon said this "disassociation" was a common symptom of EUPD.
He said: "Mr Prescott does not look for sympathy in relation to his actions but now he has a diagnosis, rather hopes he will be able to obtain help for his condition, either in a custodial setting, or once he's released."
The judge, Recorder Ian Unsworth, QC, said it was "clearly a very troubling case". He said in the psychiatric report Prescott described having five personalities "that take over him at times", including one called "Alex".
The judge said Prescott told Dr Bacon: "Alex was just there for himself. I've tried to get rid of him so many times." Recorder Unsworth said Prescott claimed he could now talk about "Alex" because "the cat is out of the bag".
The judge read from Dr Bacon's report, in which the doctor explained: "He said Alex was responsible for sexual offending... Mr Prescott had no control over what Alex was doing at the time. He only became aware of it afterwards."
The judge also said Dr Bacon noted a theme of "avoidance of responsibility and disassociation".
Recorder Unsworth said he required a pre-sentence report so he had more information about Prescott, to help him consider whether he was a "dangerous" offender, as defined in law.
He said: "On the face of it, in the psychiatric report he's simply not taking any responsibility for his own actions - he's attributing blame to the person he says is Alex."
The judge adjourned sentencing until August 20 and remanded Prescott in custody.
Some people, like me, believe that multiple personalities are in fact multiple demonic spirits. Nothing in this story causes me to doubt that belief.
Essex sex offender jailed for child sex offences
Saturday, 17 July 2021
by Times Reporter
editor@leightimes.co.uk
A MAN has been jailed for seven years for child sex offences and must serve a further seven years on an extended licence.
David Bennett was arrested at his home address on 1 April, following an investigation by officers from the Essex Police Online Abuse and Exploitation Team and Yorkshire and Humber Regional Crime Unit (YHROCU).
The 34-year-old, of Albion Road, Westcliff, was sentenced at Basildon Crown Court on July 7 after previously admitting three counts of attempting to incite a child to engage in sexual activity.
He had also admitted three counts of failure to comply with notification requirements of the Sex Offenders’ Register.
As a registered sex offender, Bennett must notify police of all names and nicknames he uses, including on online forums, social media, and gaming sites, which he had failed to do.
The court heard how he had been using a pseudonym on a chat room site and pretended to be a teenage boy to chat to someone he thought was a 12-year-old girl in March this year. He engaged in a sexualised conversation and encouraged her to send him photos of herself naked.
During the investigation, there was never a real-life victim and no children were ever in any danger.
Investigating officer PC Matthew Wright, of the Essex Online Abuse and Exploitation Team, said: “David Bennett is a predatory individual who attempted to target and groom someone he thought was a young girl for his own sexual gratification.
“He poses a very real danger to children and I am glad we’ve been able to put him behind bars. We work every day to identify those who put your children’s safety at risk online, disrupt their activities, and bring them to justice.”
“This was a successful operation where the strong collaboration between Essex Police’s Online Abuse and Exploitation Team and Yorkshire and Humber Regional Crime Unit (YHROCU), ensured Bennett was brought to justice.”
Detective Inspector Marie Bulmer, of YHROCU, said: “This forms part of our continued priority to protect children from sexual exploitation from those who seek to do them harm.
“Law enforcement operates across the internet, and we will relentlessly seek to bring to justice individuals who use the web to facilitate the abuse of children. If anyone has been a victim of child sexual abuse, I would urge you to report it to police via 101.
“We will always follow up allegations of abuse, no matter when they occurred. Victims can talk in confidence to experienced investigators and we can also help them get access to a range of other support services.”
“If you have concerns about your use of the internet or inappropriate thoughts or behaviour about children or if you are worried about how someone you know behaves around children or are worried about their use of the internet then the Lucy Faithfull Foundation provide a free, anonymous and confidential Stop It Now! helpline on 0808 1000 900 for advice, support and information.”
‘He raped me. And I told no one.’ Stories of sexual assault
Jennifer O'Connell
Jul 17, 2021
The Irish Times
AFTER MINISTER JOSEPHA MADIGAN SHARED HER EXPERIENCE OF SURVIVING SEXUAL ASSAULT, IRISH TIMES READERS CAME FORWARD WITH THEIR OWN STORIES: OF ASSAULT ON THE STREET, IN BARS, IN HOMES, IN TAXIS, AT PARTIES, IN HOTEL ROOMS, IN THEIR OWN BEDS, ON A GP’S EXAMINATION TABLE
“I am old enough to know that there are very few women my age that have not been subjected to some form of sexual assault, and I know this because I am one of them.”
With these words Minister of State for Special Education Josepha Madigan shared her experience in the Dáil recently of surviving sexual assault.
In the days that followed, Irish Times readers came forward to tell their own stories, some putting into words for the first time something that happened years or decades ago.
The stories came and kept coming, more than 40 in all: stories of assault on the street, in bars, in homes, in taxis, at parties, in hotel rooms, in their own beds, on a GP’s examination table.
There were stories of one-off assaults on darkened streets, but these were rarer than the stories of abuse at the hands of someone trusted. Many people carried the shame of their assault for years, despite understanding on an intellectual level it was never theirs to carry. Rape myths run deep in our psyches.
The women and men who wrote spoke of anger, distress, survival and hope. “You can choose to be a victim or you can choose to be a survivor. I choose to be a survivor,” said one woman, raped as a 14-year-old.
As we publish some of those stories, Madigan and Noeline Blackwell, chief executive of the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre, suggest how we move on from stories to action.
Though the pace of change sometimes seems frustratingly slow, progress is being made, says Blackwell. We’re four years on from #MeToo and still listening to women’s stories, “but we’re 4,000 years from a place where women couldn’t tell their stories. When you say why isn’t more happening – the fact that anything is happening is miraculous.”
The root causes of sexual violence need to tackled, including violent porn which is “hugely damaging to us as women” and should not be normalised, she believes. The sex education curriculum “should reinforce the importance of consent” and a culture of respect for women needs to be fostered from a young age.
For Blackwell there are three top priorities. “The absolute top would be that those who experience sexual violence of any sort have access to all of the services that they need.
“Item number two would be that for those who carry it out, there are there are adverse consequences for them.
“The third is that there is an extensive programme of awareness, learning about healthy relationships and consensual sexual activity, at school, in society, in workplaces, wherever it is. You can’t just do one of the three.”
Madigan believes the biggest shift of all has to occur in society.
“Why are too many victims not coming forward? Why are they not reporting their cases to gardaí? What does that say about how we are bringing up our children?... Stories are the most powerful tools to change minds on social issues.”
One of the reasons is because too few reported cases are being prosecuted. Ireland's history reveals a dreadful lack of prosecution for rape and child-rape.
Finally, it is worth saying that though many of the accounts below are distressing and difficult reading, help is available. If you are in a position to report your assault, you should report it.
You can contact the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre National 24-Hour Helpline at 1800 77 8888 for a free and confidential listening and support service. A full list of support services around Ireland is available at rapecrisishelp.ie.
All of the stories below are republished with permission, and each individual was contacted directly. Some preferred to remain anonymous, and some chose to be identified by their first name only. All identities are known to the journalist.
Please go to The Irish Times for the stories...
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