..
Pop star Kris Wu detained by Beijing police on suspicion
of sexual assault
Police cite 'relevant information reported on the internet' about the
Chinese-Canadian musician
The Associated Press ·
Posted: Jul 31, 2021 2:11 PM ET
Chinese-Canadian pop star Kris Wu has been detained by Beijing police on suspicion of rape, police announced Saturday, following an accusation the former member of the Korean boy band EXO lured young women into sexual relationships.
Wu, 30, earlier was accused by a teenager of having sex with her while she was drunk. Wu denied the accusation.
The teenager said seven other women contacted her to say Wu seduced them with promises of jobs and other opportunities. She said some were under 18 but gave no indication whether they were younger than China's age of consent of 14.
Wu has been "criminally detained" on suspicion of rape "in response to relevant information reported on the internet" including that he "repeatedly lured young women to have sexual relations," the police statement said. It gave no other details.
Wu has denied accusations
The pop star had previously denied the accusations. "There was no 'groupie sex'! There was no 'underage'!" Wu wrote last month on his social media account. "If there were this kind of thing, please everyone relax, I would put myself in jail!"
The news was trending as the no. 1 most searched topic on Weibo on Saturday night, and some users online started commenting on Wu's social media account, telling him to "Get out of China!"
Wu is a Canadian citizen, according to the police statement.
The official paper of the Communist Party, the People's Daily, weighed in on the case, saying in a short opinion post online that "Having a foreign nationality is not a protective talisman, and no matter how big the name is, there is no immunity."
Teen's interview published on website
The teenager publicized her accusations on social media and later in an interview with the internet portal NetEase. A day after that interview appeared, at least 10 brands including Porsche and Louis Vuitton broke off endorsement and other deals with Wu.
According to the interview, she thought she was meeting Wu for a career opportunity. Instead, his staff who was present forced her to drink. As someone who did not go to bars, she said her tolerance was low and she was drunk after two drinks. The next day, she woke up in Wu's bed. That morning, he was kind to her and promised to take care of her, she said.
The teenager said that was the beginning of what she had thought was their relationship. This was the case until March, when he stopped returning her messages.
At first, she said she felt sorry for herself. But after she learned that there were other women who had been treated similarly, she said she felt there were others who were worse off.
Police urged to investigate
"I don't believe this is just my own personal matter. You can even say that this is a problem with the atmosphere in China's entertainment circle," she said in the NetEase interview.
Wu said that he had met the young woman on Dec. 5, 2020, but "I didn't force her to drink," and "there was not this sort of 'details' she describes."
"I didn't expect my silence to encourage these rumours, and I couldn't stand it!" Wu previously wrote. "There were a lot of people there that day who can bear witness."
The teenager and Wu both said they had asked authorities to investigate.
Saturday's statement didn't mention that case and gave no information about the status of that investigation.
Former England footballer Adam Johnson, who was jailed for
sexual activity with a child, pictured on family day out with ex-lover
2 Aug, 2021 15:38
Disgraced football star Adam Johnson, who was imprisoned in 2016 for engaging in sexual activity with a minor, has been photographed taking a stroll with his ex-girlfriend and the mother of his newborn child, Stacey Flounders.
The 12-cap England international, who played for clubs including Manchester City and Sunderland, was said to have split from Flounders at around the same time as he was jailed for six years.
During lockdown, though, they were reportedly reunited and spent time together looking after their daughter.
In one snap from the weekend shared by numerous UK tabloids, 31-year-old Flounders pushed a pram which carried their newborn son Arley, while Johnson donned a black t-shirt and grey tracksuit bottoms with white trainers.
Their six-year-old daughter was also at the rendezvous in Hardwick County Park, County Durham, north-east England, where one photo appeared to show Flounders putting her arm around Johnson's waist to embrace him.
The family currently live in a $695,000 detached home in the area but are said to be considering a move abroad.
A friend recently told The Sun that Johnson and Flounders had "been through a lot" as a couple, but said she is now "happier now than ever".
Other sources claimed that Flounders had never hated Johnson or seen him as a pedophile despite his conviction.
Johnson served half of his sentence before being released in 2019. The couple were said to have finished their romance around the time of the verdict being passed down, when Johnson was earning around $83,000-a-week.
A former air hostess, Flounders met Johnson in 2011. The couple moved into a $2.8 million County Durham mansion together in 2012, when he signed for Sunderland, his most recent club. The winger reportedly sold the property during his imprisonment.
Let's hope and pray that he got rid of his sexual tendencies while in prison also, for the sake of Stacey and the kids.
Cuomo Sexually Harassed Multiple Women, Retaliated
Against Employee: NY Attorney General
BY JACK PHILLIPS
August 3, 2021
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo sexually harassed several women and retaliated against a former employee, said New York Attorney General Letitia James, accusing the Democrat governor of violating laws.
“Governor Andrew Cuomo sexually harassed multiple women and in doing so violated federal and state law,” James said in a news conference on Tuesday, adding that Cuomo fostered a “hostile” and “unsafe” work environment. The governor engaged in “unwanted groping, kissing, and hugging,” as well as making inappropriate remarks, she said.
James’ office concurrently released a 165-page report (pdf) following an investigation, which started in March when several women publicly accused the governor of misconduct. The report, which doesn’t have any criminal consequences, included interviews of 179 witnesses and a review of thousands of documents.
Cuomo, a Democrat, harassed his own staff members, members of the public, and even a state trooper, the report claimed.
The attorney general’s report punctuates the governor’s stunning fall-from-grace after he was largely lauded by the national media—including awards and a book deal—for how he dealt with the COVID-19 epidemic. Cuomo is also accused of misconduct in how his office handled nursing homes amid the pandemic, which may have led to thousands of excess deaths from the virus.
When women began making accusations against the governor, a number of New York Democrat officials urged him to resign. Cuomo has denied the allegations and has refused to step down. Even President Joe Biden said the governor should step down if the allegations against him are confirmed in James’ investigation.
The governor, also according to James’ report, denied the most serious allegations and made blanket statements or had a lack of recollection into certain details when asked.
“I never harassed anyone, I never assaulted anyone, I never abused anyone,” Cuomo said in March. “I’m not going to resign.” He apologized for making some women feel uncomfortable, however.
Somehow, in his mind, making women feel uncomfortable is not harassment or abuse.
Cuomo at the time said that he “never, ever meant to offend anyone or hurt anyone or cause anyone pain” and feels “terrible that these people felt uncomfortable, felt hurt, felt pain from the interactions, and I’m embarrassed by it, and I feel bad from it.”
Former U.S. Attorney Joon Kim and Anne Clark were selected by James to head the investigation. Cuomo, in statements to the press, accused the two officials of being biased against him.
But investigators found that Cuomo’s recollections during interviews “stood in stark contrast to the strength, specificity, and corroboration of the complainants’ recollections, as well as the reports of many other individuals who offered observations and experiences of the governor’s conduct,” the report stated.
“This is a sad day for New York because independent investigators have concluded that Governor Cuomo sexually harassed multiple women and, in doing so, broke the law,” James, also a Democrat, added in a statement. “I am grateful to all the women who came forward to tell their stories in painstaking detail, enabling investigators to get to the truth. No man—no matter how powerful—can be allowed to harass women or violate our human rights laws, period.”
=====================================================================================
New York Governor Cuomo faces potential criminal charges as local prosecutors make inquiries on sexual-harassment claims
4 Aug, 2021 20:40
FILE PHOTO: New York Governor Andrew Cuomo is shown during a May 2021 event in Manhattan.
© Reuters / Eduardo Munoz
Already struggling for political survival after a state investigation found that he sexually harassed 11 women, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo now faces criminal probes by district attorneys in at least four local jurisdictions.
Prosecutors in Manhattan, Westchester County and Nassau County issued statements on Wednesday indicating that they had requested materials from a state investigation into the allegations against Cuomo so they can determine whether he committed any crimes in their areas. Albany County District Attorney David Soares, whose jurisdiction includes the state’s capital city, said late Tuesday that his office is conducting its own investigation of Cuomo and welcomes any alleged victim to contact his office.
The latest requests came one day after New York Attorney General Letitia James announced that a probe by her office had concluded that the sexual-harassment claims against the governor were true. Alleged victims include current and former state employees, as well as private citizens.
“We are reviewing the deeply disturbing findings of the attorney general’s report regarding the governor’s alleged conduct,” Nassau County Acting District Attorney Joyce Smith said.
We have requested the attorney general’s records related to any incidents that occurred in Nassau County and will thoroughly and expeditiously investigate any potential crimes.
Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance and Westchester County District Attorney Mimi Rocah made similar statements.
Even a female state trooper was targeted by Cuomo, the state investigation found. The governor kissed the trooper on the cheek in front of a co-worker and asked on another occasion to kiss her again, according to the attorney general’s office. Other alleged incidents with the trooper included running his hand across her stomach, from her navel to her hip, while she held a door open for him and running his finger from the top of her neck down to the middle of her back in an elevator.
Cuomo, who also was found to have retaliated against at least one of his alleged victims, has denied any wrongdoing, saying he “never touched anyone inappropriately or made inappropriate sexual advances.”
It would appear that Cuomo doesn't know what is appropriate and what is inappropriate.
The attorney general’s probe was civil in nature, and James made no determination as to whether Cuomo had committed any crimes. Anne Clark, one of the lead investigators, told reporters that local and federal prosecutors are free to review all of the allegations included in the state report.
President Joe Biden and other Democratic Party leaders have called on Cuomo to resign. Democrat governors in four nearby states – New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Connecticut and Rhode Island – issued a joint statement Tuesday night saying they were appalled by the investigative findings and that Cuomo should step down.
A majority of New York state lawmakers support launching impeachment proceedings against the governor if he doesn’t resign, the Associated Press reported. At least 82 members of the 150-seat New York Assembly favor impeachment if Cuomo continues refusing to quit.
Cuomo said in March, when such party leaders as New York Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins called for his resignation, that stepping down because of unproven allegations would be “anti-democratic.” At the time, he told reporters “let’s get the findings” of the attorney general’s investigation and “go from there.”
Ironically, when then-Attorney General Eric Schneiderman had been accused of sexual harassment and assault in 2018, Cuomo said the state’s chief prosecutor should resign, “for the good of the office.”
No comments:
Post a Comment