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I was sexually abused by paedo ring for 7 years – they killed my friend
& I only got out by attempting suicide at 12
Dan Hall
14:48, 31 Aug 2021
"THE first time I was trafficked, I was given drugs and alcohol, handcuffed in a truck stop bathroom and molested by a procession of men and a woman," says Jerome Elam.
At the time, Jerome was five years old – it was the beginning of an abusive ordeal which didn't stop until he was 12.
Jerome Elam was just five years old when his stepfather started sexually abusing him. Credit: Jerome Elam
Now 58, Jerome now shares his horrific experiences to train law enforcement and others about male victims of human trafficking.
We have been shining a light on historic sexual abuse and the support available to victims, regardless of how long ago it happened, through our It Still Matters series.
Jerome now raises awareness about trafficked boys through the Trafficking In America Task Force. Credit: Jerome Elam
Jerome now tries to speak up for these often overlooked victims by talking about the years of trauma he suffered at the hands of a paedophile ring.
"I hate to say it, but I was requested and popular among the more high-end of the community. It was probably what saved my life – that I was in such demand," Jerome says.
"That was probably what saved my life. I was making them so much money."
Raped and beaten by gang of 10
Jerome says that many elements of his trafficking story are all too common – including his home life in Florida. His mother was an alcoholic who was pregnant at the age of 17.
"One day she came home with a man we thought was the answer to our prayers," Jerome says, referring to his stepfather, Neale.
"He was very nice – he took me to sporting events, bought us gifts. We thought he was going to turn our lives around. "After about six months, he began to molest me."
Jerome says Neale threatened his mother's life as a way to keep him quiet about the abuse.
And it wasn't long before Neale began to film himself abusing Jerome to make child sexual abuse material (CSAM).
Then around six months on from when the assaults began, Jerome was taken to the members of Neale's paedophile ring – where he was handcuffed in the truck stop bathroom.
"My initiation was being raped and beaten by all ten members,"
Jerome says.
"So at the age of five, which is actually pretty common and even younger these days, I began to be trafficked ten or 12 times a day."
The facade of an ordinary life was maintained as Jerome was taken to different locations to be abused, sometimes even being taken out of school to be trafficked. Sometimes he'd be forced to go to hotel rooms, but others could be as brazen as an RV parked outside a sporting event.
They tend to shell out a lot of money to be able to get access to boys
Jerome says the people in Neale's network were well-connected and had respectable jobs in law and medicine.
And it was the affluence of this group which Jerome thinks may have saved his life – he was "in demand" to be abused by wealthy paedophiles.
"I think it was like $500 an hour," Jerome says. "They tend to shell out a lot of money to be able to get access to boys."
One study of children in New York being used for commercial sexual exploitation found around half were boys born in the US.
And of the 4,946 children identified as potential victims of all types of trafficking in the UK last year, 78 per cent were boys.
But it's not just men who prey on young boys.
"Typically, when you talk to a male victim of sex trafficking, 40 per cent of the clientele are women," Jerome says. "And I can vouch for that."
'Fight for every child'
After seven nightmarish years of abuse, Jerome didn't want to live anymore.
"At 12, I just felt like it was all hopeless," he says. "So I went to my mother’s medicine cabinet and I got a bottle of sleeping pills.
"Then I went to the liquor cabinet and got a bottle of vodka. I went to my mother’s favourite rose garden and I took the sleeping pills and drank the vodka.
"I drifted off to sleep."
While unconscious, Jerome says he saw a light and heard a voice telling him his time on Earth wasn't done, and that he needed to "fight for every child who is suffering as you have".
At 12, I just felt like it was all hopeless
Jerome Elam
"Thinking about it, I recognised it was my friend Steve," Jerome says.
Jerome says Steve was a friend who had also been abused by the same paedophile ring. But unlike Jerome, eight-year-old Steve didn't survive his ordeal.
"One day, Steve unfortunately happened to make a crack about the paedophile ring leader getting his latest divorce. The guy flew off the hinge and started choking him.
"I tried to help Steve, but they just beat me almost unconscious. There was nothing I could do about it."
Jerome says this killing was "covered up by the powerful people" involved in the ring.
'Hope and light in all of us'
When Jerome came to in an emergency room, doctors battling to save his life thought they'd lost him mere minutes earlier.
He now attributes the end of his cycle of abuse to someone he luckily met that day.
"There was a nurse there who was arguing with the doctors to get me help," Jerome says. "This is the mid-70s – there wasn’t a lot of awareness.
"This nurse dug her heels in and said: ‘No, we’re going to help this boy’. She was the one who saved me.
"It was that day that finally there was enough awareness that they noticed something was happening to me, and I was able to come to the attention of social services and get out of being trafficked."
I was what you’d call a chaos junkie
Jerome Elam
Neale was eventually arrested for child endangerment in the late 1970s, with Jerome adding: "Eventually, it all caught up with them."
After spending years in care, Jerome marked a new chapter in his life by joining the United States Marine Corps when he was 17, where he served for eight years.
He then pursued a career in biotechnology – but the aftershocks of what happened in Jerome's childhood continued to be felt in his adult years.
"When you look at victims of trauma in terms of relationships, it can be very difficult," Jerome says.
"I was what you’d call a chaos junkie which means I would always choose relationships that were going to crash and burn.
"I went through this cycle of dating people who were the wrong people for me. At a point, I was like: 'This has got to stop.'"
Jerome went into therapy to help deal with his trauma.
He's now been married to his wife for 20 years and they have two kids.
But while Jerome was able to resolve his inner demons, he decided in 2011 that he had to speak out about boys who are trafficked.
"In 2011, when [US college football coach] Jerry Sandusky was arrested for molesting young boys, something inside me said: 'You’ve got to speak out.'
His campaigning work began by publishing his story in the American press, but he's since gone on to become CEO of the Trafficking In America Task Force, an organisation through which Jerome raises awareness about boys who are trafficked.
It’s about giving men permission to break that silence
Jerome Elam
And he hopes that by sharing his story, other male survivors won't be afraid to speak out about their own experiences.
"It’s about shattering that male stereotype imposed by Western society that really says that men aren’t supposed to emote or be vulnerable," Jerome says.
"I did a conference in Africa earlier this year. I had a 35-year-old man there tell me for the first time he’d been molested as a 10-year-old.
"That’s exactly why I do this work. It’s about giving men permission to break that silence.
"I stand here today not only as a survivor, but as a testament that there’s a hope and a light in all of us that no one can extinguish."
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Scandal erupts as US softball coaching staff face investigation after
member is accused of hushing up student she had affair with
3 Sep, 2021 00:16
Softball coach Katie Rietkovich Browder has allegedly been involved in a scandal © Instagram / olemisssoftball
An assistant softball coach has been accused of paying hush money to a student she had an affair with behind another player's back, allegedly leading to screenshots being printed and taped to her computer.
Working with a team known as 'Hotty Toddy', Katie Rietkovich Browder is a coach at the Ole Miss set-up who started a romance with a senior student-athlete behind the back of another senior teammate the player was dating, according to a report.
After discovering text messages that alerted them to the tryst, the scorned lover printed screenshots and taped them to the coach's computer, podcast Running Poles' blog has claimed.
Browder is said to have been married in December 2019, shortly before joining the institution.
The head coach of the team, Jamie Trachsel, is alleged to have been informed of the situation before bribing the students to keep quiet with 'scholarship money'.
A Title IX investigation – which relates to sexual harassment and sexual violence violations of university policy – has been launched against several members of the coaching team, according to widespread reports.
Running Poles said that 13 people connected to the program have confirmed that the investigation is underway.
Complaints are said to have been formally made to the institution's equal opportunity and regulation body and regional and national bosses.
The outlet also claims to have obtained a letter sent to the Athletic Director on July 29 reporting that Trachsel "created and embraced a mentally toxic culture."
So, is everyone on the team a lesbian?
The complaint is also said to have accused Browder and Trachsel of making remarks about conservative-minded' players, with Browder allegedly telling a Zoom call with team officials: “If my wife or other people in my family voted for [Donald] Trump, then all they would be doing is hurting me."
I'm sure that's why anyone would vote for Donald Trump!
Trachsel reportedly told the group that she had switched from Republican to Democrat allegiances, adding in a conclusion that allegedly made some of her audience feel like they were being pressured: “So you really want to make sure that you don’t go with the wrong party.”
Browder appears to have been a popular appointment when she rejoined the team last year.
One admirer wrote: "This makes my heart happy. Can’t wait to see what the future brings."
How's your heart today?
Mount Pleasant, Texas daycare worker injured 3 children
By Stephanie Frazier and Lexi Vennetti
Published: Sep. 2, 2021 at 1:31 PM PDT
MOUNT PLEASANT, Texas (KLTV) - A woman who was formerly employed at a daycare center has been arrested for allegations of abusing children in her care.
Police Chief Mark Buhman said that on Aug. 31 a report was made that possible abuse had occurred at KidzKare Academy in Mount Pleasant. The mother of a boy said she had taken him to the emergency room and that he had a CT scan and x-rays on his head due to his injury received at daycare. She reported this to Child Protective Services, who reported it to Mount Pleasant Police Department.
Detectives began investigating that evening, Buhman said. According to the arrest affidavit, police were provided with video footage from the daycare that showed a woman striking a boy, as well as two other children.
When Wilson was shown the video by police on Sept. 1, she admitted it was her who was shown in the footage. She said that she had become frustrated at work and that she was lashing out at the children, the affidavit says. Because of that statement, she was placed in custody for injury to a child causing serious bodily injury, as well as two counts of injury to a child causing bodily injury.
Mount Pleasant Police Chief Mark Buhman said that none of the children are currently hospitalized. He also confirmed that she no longer works at the daycare.
She is being held in the Titus County Jail on a $500,000 bond.
Border Patrol arrests multiple gang members, child sex offender
by: Victoria Lopez
Posted: Sep 3, 2021 / 04:51 PM CDT
EDINBURG, Texas (ValleyCentral) — Rio Grande Valley Border Patrol agents arrested three gang members and a convicted child sex offender.
Monday afternoon, McAllen Border Patrol Station (MCS) agents discovered a group of 25 migrants in Mission, Texas. While processing, records revealed one of the men to be part of the 18th street gang.
Hours later, MCS agents working near Hidalgo arrested a group of 74 migrants. Among the group was a man whose record check revealed him as part of the Mara-Salvatrucha gang member.
Wednesday night, MCS agents discovered a group of 13 migrants south of Penitas. Record checks identified one of the men as a member of the Gulf Cartel.
Today, Kingsville Border Patrol Station agents working at the Javier Vega Jr. Border Patrol Checkpoint arrested a previously convicted child sex offender, Gilberto Magana-Chavarria.
Record checks revealed, he was convicted by an Oklahoma County District Court on two counts of indecent or lewd acts with a child under 18 years of age and child abuse of a child less than 16. He was sentenced to 5 years of incarceration and 20 years’ probation for each of the charges in 2017.
All subjects were processed accordingly.
For more information on the United States Customs and Border Protection click here.
Nelson Co., Va man sentenced to 17 years for child sex abuse charges
Bryson Gordon 5 hrs ago
LOVINGSTON — After being found guilty in May of sexually abusing an underage girl, a Shipman man was sentenced Friday to 17 years in prison.
A jury returned its verdict after about four hours of deliberation and recommended a 17-year sentence.
The case was tried over a two-day period and relied mostly on the testimonies of those involved and officials associated with the case. The victim, 14 at the time of the trial in May, testified to three separate incidents of sexual abuse that took place across two years from May 2018 to April 2020.
On Friday, Bryan Jones, Ramsey’s defense attorney, argued in favor of suspending 12 years of the sentence, reducing the total active years to five.
Judge Michael Doucette upheld the jury's recommendation of 17 years and also added a three-year probation period to follow the sentence.
"I've spent 35 years as a prosecutor and a judge and I have only come close to crying two times. And this case was one of them," Doucette said prior to sentencing Ramsey.
The victim did not speak at the sentencing hearing.
Deputy Commonwealth’s Attorney Erik Laub said in his arguments the jury "absolutely got it right" with the sentencing guidelines applied to the case.
Laub said at trial what began as relatively innocent interactions escalated to a “waking nightmare” in which the victim was unable to stop the defendant from sexually assaulting her. Ramsey maintained his innocence and denied any inappropriate contact.
Before handing down the sentence Friday, Doucette told Ramsey, "I hope the victim can overcome the trauma caused by the situation, I really do."
A Midfield, Ala man has been arrested on multiple charges of
child sex abuse involving a young girl
Published: 3:14 p.m.
By Carol Robinson | crobinson@al.com
John Dewey Lewis, 61, is charged with first-degree sex abuse, facilitating the travel of a child for an unlawful sex act, enticing a child for immoral purposes and rape by force. The charges against Lewis were made public in court records on Friday.
Midfield police Sgt. Michael Jeffries said the alleged abuse began when the victim was 10 and last four years. The victim is now 14.
Court records show Lewis was arrested on similar charges in 1992, but those charges were dismissed.
Lewis was booked into the Jefferson County Jail on Aug. 27 and released the following day after posting $150,000 bond.
A court date has not yet been set.
Midfield, Ala
Concord Man Indicted On 8 Child Sex Abuse Image Charges: Court
Tony Schinella, Patch StaffVerified Patch Staff Badge
Posted Fri, Sep 3, 2021 at 1:45 pm ET
|
CONCORD, NH — The following people were indicted recently in Merrimack County Superior Court.
Marc Pulsifer, 43, of Alton Woods Drive in Concord on eight felony counts of child sexual abuse images in his Concord apartment on June 3. Read more about this case here: Concord Man Arrested On Child Sexual Abuse Images Charges
Registered N.C. Sex Offender Sentenced for Possessing Child Pornography
WILMINGTON, N.C. – A Washington, North Carolina man was sentenced to 210 months in prison for possession of child pornography followed by a lifetime of supervised release. On April 8, 2021, Nathanael Thomas Jackson pled guilty to the charges.
According to court documents and other information presented in court, Jackson, 28, possessed over 10,000 images of child pornography. The investigation began in 2018 with a cybertip that Jackson had uploaded two videos depicting sexual abuse of children to an online account. Agents were able to trace the uploads back to Jackson. Using search warrants, agents found Jackson in possession of 10,715 images, including videos, of child sexual abuse and child exploitation. The investigation uncovered that Jackson had used a pseudo identity and email account to coerce and threaten minors to send him explicit images of themselves.
Jackson is a registered sex offender from previous convictions in 2015 for incest in Perquimans County, North Carolina.
SC man sentenced in 'incredibly disturbing' child sex abuse case
Author: Blair Shiff (WCNC)
Published: 12:07 PM EDT September 3, 2021
CHESTER, S.C. — A 33-year-old South Carolina man was sentenced to life in prison plus 30 years after being found guilty on multiple child sex charges.
Chester Police began their investigation on Aug. 22, 2019, when then-34-year-old Sara Lacy reported she had been assaulted by then-31-year-old Corlew. Further investigation uncovered nine juvenile victims.
The children are not being identified due to their age, but the police said they are relatives of Lacy and Corlew. The victims testified at Corlew's trial, which resulted in multiple guilty verdicts on charges such as first-degree criminal sexual conduct with a minor, second-degree criminal sexual conduct.
The incidents spanned between December 2018 and August 2019.
Lacy was also arrested at the time, but the charges of unlawful neglect of child or helpless person by a legal custodian are still pending. Her most recent court date was in September 2020.
Chester Police Chief Eric Williams called the case "disturbing" because of the number of incidents involved.
"Out of 26 years in law enforcement, I've not yet come across a case that was as disturbing as this one," he said. "Incredibly disturbing."
Michelle Blue lived near the home where police said the abuse happened. She recalled seeing kids playing out on the street.
"It just makes me feel like I should've ran up there and got those babies," Blue said. "If I'd had a clue, they'd have been down here. They'd have been down here, and the police would've been here."
Corlew was a registered sex offender for a crime he committed in Pender County, North Carolina, which is just north of Wilmington, back in 2008.
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