One Canadian Province Addresses Canada's Worst Atrocity

 This may disappoint my 1st Nations friends but Missing and Murdered Women is not Canada's worst atrocity. It is certainly a horrible atrocity, but there is one that is worse and by a long shot. It's child sexual abuse and it is destroying about 25% of an entire generation of girls. In fact, it is working on the second generation of girls in the 21st century. 

The government of British Columbia has pledged a considerable amount of money to address some of the issues that emerge from CSA, although it doesn't address the fact that the vast majority of child sexual abuse is never reported to the police.

$22M core funding for programs helping sexual assault survivors

is a 'huge deal,' service director says

B.C. government announced funding over next 3 years in budget

Courtney Dickson · 

CBC News · 

Posted: Feb 26, 2022 9:00 AM PT

Sexual assault is one of the most under-reported crimes in the country, - Statistics Canada.

(Ken stocker/Shutterstock)

Sexual assault support programs have welcomed the announcement in B.C.'s budget of $22 million in core funding for up to 50 such services across the province over the next three years.

The province hasn't said how it plans to distribute the money allocated in Tuesday's budget, but the Ministry of Finance said the solicitor general will come up with a plan in the months ahead.

"Work to support survivors of sexual assault means we must recognize the needs of experienced and compassionate community-based service providers who deserve stable annual funding to do their work," the ministry said.

sexual assault is one of the most under-reported crimes in the country

Prince George Sexual Assault Centre executive director Lynnell Halikowski said government investment in these services throughout the province is a "huge deal."

"This is just critical to being able to provide consistent services in our community," she said. 

According to 2019 data from Statistics Canada, sexual assault is one of the most under-reported crimes in the country — only about five per cent of sexual assaults experienced by women are reported to police.

Only about five per cent of sexual assaults experienced by women

are reported to police

I would venture to say that even fewer sexual assaults on children

are reported to police

An estimated 4.7 million Canadian women have been sexually assaulted at least once since the age of 15, and young people, sexual minorites, people with disabilities and Indigenous people are more likely to be the victims of these crimes. 

In 2002, the government of then-premier Gordon Campbell cut core funding for sexual assault centres. 

What's with Liberals? Campbell was a Liberal. Trudeau is a Liberal Prime Minister who has done absolutely nothing to address the child sexual abuse epidemic in Canada. The last government to do anything to address this atrocity was the Conservative Harper government which was outed in 2015.

More than one million girls have been sexually abused in the 21st century in Canada, most of them more than once, and Trudeau doesn't see a problem. Maybe he should try making some new friends.

The new money is meant specifically for ongoing core funding, which is what keeps organizations like Halikowski's afloat. Sexual assault response programs are often funded instead by grants, which Halikowski said are usually meant for specific projects.

"This will allow us to ... offer more counselling and wraparound support and advocacy," Halikowski said, adding that the need for support for survivors has increased since the COVID-19 pandemic began in March 2020.

The Ending Violence Association of B.C. has been advocating for more funding for community-based sexual assault response programs for 20 years.

"We're thrilled that at this point in history supporting survivors and victims of sexual assault is being taken seriously," executive director Ninu Kang said.

"It's a big statement."

The organization has helped distribute $20 million in provincial grants starting in 2021 to assist with sexual assault response services in B.C.

The Kamloops Sexual Assault Counselling Centre is one of the centres that's benefited from that program, but it is due to run out in 2023, so the new funding was a relief.

"We were just so worried that we would have to return to that place of not being able to provide those services," agency co-ordinator Alix Dolson said.

This Week's USA Pervs and Pedos List > Woman, 38, bribed teen boys for sex; Vermont mental health worker arrested; NCIS Seattle catch predator; Ga. Deputy indicted; Va Doctor charged

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Tennessee mom traded vape pens for sex with minors ​​– police

The woman is charged with the statutory rape of at least nine boys,

and allegedly plied them with gifts in exchange for sex

Stock photo © Getty Images / Nick Ansell

Melissa Blair, 38, was arrested on Tuesday and charged with the statutory rape of nine boys at McMinn Central High School in Englewood, Tennessee. The mom allegedly gave the boys – aged between 14 and 17 – gifts, including vape pens, in exchange for sexual favors.

Blair has been charged with 18 counts of statutory rape, four counts of human trafficking by patronizing prostitution, solicitation of a minor, and forfeiture of personal property, News Channel 9 reported.

Speaking at a press conference reported by the local outlet, McMinn County Sheriff Joe Guy said that the alleged encounters happened between spring 2020 and late 2021. His deputies began investigating the case when they received a tip from the Tennessee Department of Children's Services in December. A search was carried out on Blair’s house that month, and she turned herself in on Tuesday after she was indicted.

Blair was released on a $100,000 bond later that night, on the condition that she stay away from her alleged victims and from school property. During the time of her alleged offenses, Blair was active in the school’s booster club, and had a child in the school system who has since been transferred.

“We are devastated at this point,” a mother of one of the victims told News Channel 9. “I cannot in words describe what it feels like to be going through what we’re going through right now. It is every emotion that you can imagine. And none of them happy.”

Englewood is a small town of just over 1,500 people, located in rural southern Tennessee. However, the salacious allegations against Blair have garnered national attention. Speaking at Tuesday’s press conference, District Attorney Steve Crump said that despite the media attention, “a case like this … is not about a headline, it's not about a trial. It's about trying to make as much as possible, our victims whole.”

NEKHS caseworker embedded with VSP in St. Johnsbury

charged with sexual abuse of a child

February 25, 2022

 

CONCORD — A Concord resident who worked with Northeast Kingdom Human Services and Vermont State Police in St. Johnsbury, was arrested today as a fugitive from justice.

Investigators say 43-year-old Kevin Godfrey was picked up on a warrant from the state of Texas that charges him with sexual assault of a child, and sexual abuse of a child.

Godfrey previously worked for Northeast Kingdom Human Services as a mental health caseworker and was embedded with the Vermont State Police at the St. Johnsbury Barracks.

On Dec. 3, 2021, the San Angelo Texas Police Department requested assistance in interviewing Godfrey, as he was a suspect in a child sex abuse case they were investigating.

The San Angelo Police Department had learned that Godfrey resided in Concord, Vermont, although they were unaware that he worked in partnership with the Vermont State Police. The Vermont State Police partners with local mental health agencies to select mental health caseworkers for assignment to VSP barracks. Caseworkers are employees of these individual agencies, and then in collaboration with VSP are assigned to work with troopers from a particular barracks.

In this case, Godfrey was hired by Northeast Kingdom Human Services and began work at the St. Johnsbury Barracks in early December 2020.

When VSP became aware of the Texas allegations upon notification from San Angelo police, VSP notified Northeast Kingdom Human Services of the complaint. Detectives from outside the St. Johnsbury Barracks were assigned to interview Godfrey in efforts to assist Texas authorities.

 

Police say he was interviewed Dec. 3, 2021, and his access to state facilities was immediately revoked. The information gathered during the interview was shared with Texas authorities, who obtained a grand jury indictment earlier this month that resulted in the issuance of an arrest warrant.

Today, at approximately 2 p.m., Godfrey was located at his home in Concord and taken into custody without incident. He was jailed at the Northeast Regional Correctional Facility and is scheduled to be arraigned on Monday.

31-year-old male sentenced to 29 years for child sex abuse

by Mollie Smith

Saturday, February 26th 2022

Klamath County, Ore. — A 31-year old male was sentenced to 350 months in the care, custody, and control of the Oregon Department of Corrections after pleading guilty to several counts of child sex abuse.

On Feb. 24, the Honorable Judge Marci Adkisson charged Kenneth Charles Juttner with one count of Sodomy in the First Degree and four counts of Sex Abuse in the First Degree, according to a press release from the Klamath County Distrcy Attorney's office.

"In 2020, Juttner was being investigated by Naval Criminal Investigation Services (NCIS) in Seattle, on an unrelated case involving juveniles," the press release reads. "During this investigation, Juttner disclosed his abuse of several victims in Klamath County. Juttner consented to an interview with NCIS investigators and disclosed that he had sexually abused at least five different children between March 2007 and January 2011. The children ranged in age from 3 through 9 years during the time of their abuse."

Juttner was charged based on his own admissions and the statements of three separate victims. Judge Adkisson acknowledged the victims for their strength in their willingness to come forward and hold Juttner accountable for his actions.

"Sergeant Kaber, of the Klamath County Sheriff’s Office, conducted the local investigation and was able to confirm the identities of the victims in Klamath County," the press release states. "During the sergeant’s subsequent investigation three victims were willing to proceed with prosecution."

While none of the victims had previously disclosed their abuse, they all indicated they had struggled emotionally and psychologically throughout their lives and continue dealing with the trauma.

"The victims in this matter were courageous. The trauma remains their struggle. We hope the conclusion of the criminal matter provides a degree of closure."

After federal indictment, ex-Cobb deputy indicted

on state sex abuse charges

By Alexis Stevens, 

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Feb 25, 2022

The Cobb County grand jury has indicted a former sheriff’s deputy on five counts of sexual exploitation of children, according to the District Attorney’s Office.

The indictment comes about two weeks after Peter Bilardello was indicted on federal charges for allegedly distributing child pornography while working in the sex offender unit, the U.S. Attorney’s Office previously said.

In August, Cobb police arrested Bilardello at his Marietta home and booked him into the county jail. He is accused of chatting about performing sexual acts with children on a social media website, according to investigators.

Bilardello is facing both state and federal charges and has two defense attorneys. In a statement released earlier this month, he said he is eager to confront the allegations.

“I have spent 17 years as a public servant with the Cobb County Sheriff’s Office with a commendation for bravery and my response without hesitation in an active shooter incident at the Kennesaw FedEx facility in 2014,” Bilardello said in a statement through an attorney. “I feel the brunt of both the state and federal government leveling charges at me.

“I voluntarily resigned as a result of the allegations so that I can concentrate on my family and defense. I await a full opportunity to confront these allegations in a court of law,” the statement said. “I appreciate the support of my family and friends during this time.”

According to prosecutors, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) received a report in November 2019 that a MeWe social media user had allegedly uploaded and shared approximately 12 images depicting children under 12 years old in sexually explicit conduct. The NCMEC gave that information to the GBI, which determined that the account user was likely located in Marietta.

The GBI then contacted the Cobb County Police Department, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.

On Aug. 10, Cobb police said it identified the account user as Bilardello. The phone number associated with the social media account was linked to Bilardello, according to police.

He had been employed by Cobb County for more than 15 years, including a role in the sex offender unit of the sheriff’s office, according to investigators.

ND Child sex offender given 293 months for sexual abuse of a child

by: Hannah Woosley-Collins

Posted: Feb 25, 2022 / 09:02 PM CST

A judge sentenced a Turtle Mountain man to over 24 years in prison on Friday after an investigation revealed sexual abuse of a minor.

The investigation, which began in September 2020, showed Jimmie Moore inappropriately touched a 10-year-old while she was sleeping on a couch at a family member’s home, according to a press release. Moore was interviewed and admitted to attempting to inappropriately photograph the child as well.

The 58-year-old was previously convicted of sexual abuse, including of children, in Alabama and was sentenced to 10 years. He was a registered sex offender at the time of the 2020 incident.

Moore received an exactly 293-month sentence and a lifetime of supervised release.

Retired doctor charged with child sexual assault in Spotsylvania

Keith Epps 

21 hrs ago  

A retired local doctor was arrested and charged with an alleged child sexual assault that took place more than 34 years ago, police said.

Michael B. O’Brien, 66, who worked for many years as an orthopedic surgery specialist, was arrested by Virginia State Police on Friday at his home in Spotsylvania County. He was charged with forcible sodomy of a child under the age of 13 and placed in the Rappahannock Regional Jail, where he is being held without bond.

The charge carries the possibility of life in prison.

Jail records list the offense date as Oct. 1, 1987, and police said it occurred as part of O’Brien’s practice in the Fredericksburg area. State police Sgt. Brent Coffey said more charges are pending and that the investigation is ongoing.

Coffey said state police and the FBI began an investigation in January and took O’Brien into custody without incident. No further details were released regarding the allegations against O’Brien.

This Week's Global Pervs and Paedos List > DUP councillor arrested for grooming; Met cop cleared of rape charge; "Sex for Aid" Scandal continues; Rape Victims revictimized by courts

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DUP councillor arrested over claims of child sexual grooming

by 'paedophile hunter' group

He was arrested on suspicion of attempting to meet a child following sexual grooming

By Brendan Hughes Political reporter

21:04, 23 FEB 2022

A DUP councillor has been arrested on suspicion of child sexual grooming following claims made by a so-called "paedophile hunter" group.

William Walker is a representative for Newry, Mourne and Down District Council and works in DUP Strangford MP Jim Shannon's constituency office.

The 59-year-old councillor was arrested on Tuesday on suspicion of attempting to meet a child following sexual grooming. He has been released on bail pending further enquiries.

The DUP said the allegations will be "expeditiously" examined by party officers. 

It follows claims made to the PSNI by an online paedophile hunter group based in England. The self-styled group uses what they call "decoys" to pose as underage children and wait to be contacted by adults. They converse privately online with adults and seek to identify those attempting to groom young people.

It is understood the PSNI probe centres on claims that a Facebook account was used to sexually groom two decoys posing as underage girls. A series of screengrabs appearing to show messages sent on both Facebook and WhatsApp have been shared with detectives.

In a statement, a PSNI spokeswoman said: "A 59-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of attempting to meet a child following sexual grooming, yesterday (Tuesday 22nd February) in the Co Down area. He has since been released on police bail pending further enquiries."

A DUP spokesman said: "The party has only become aware of these allegations. These matters will be referred to the party officers who will expeditiously examine the issues."

Mr Walker, from Killyleagh, is a long-standing councillor who represents the Rowallane area of Newry, Mourne and Down council. He was previously chairman of the old Down District Council before the number of councils in Northern Ireland was reduced in 2015 under local government reforms.

Last year Mr Walker said he was "seriously considering" his future in the DUP amid party turmoil in the wake of Arlene Foster being ousted as leader. However, he stayed in the party after expressing confidence in its direction under new DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson.

British police officer cleared of rape charge

By Simon Druker

A member of Britain's Metropolitan Police was cleared of a rape charge Thursday, after the case was dismissed when prosecutors did not enter any evidence against the man who was accused of meeting a woman in a nightclub last year and later attacking her in a hotel. File Photo by Andy Rain/EPA

Feb. 24 (UPI) -- A British police officer was cleared of a rape accusation Thursday, after prosecutors dropped the case after failing to produce any evidence.

Metropolitan Police officer Adam Zaman had been accused of raping a woman in October after first meeting her in a nightclub.

Zaman, 28, has been a member of the Metropolitan Police since 2016 and has denied the allegation. He has been suspended from duty since he was charged but has been free on bail since December.

Britain's Crown Prosecution Service did not enter any evidence against Zaman on Thursday during a hearing. "The prosecution have taken a decision to offer no further evidence in this case," prosecution attorney Alison Hunter told the East London Advertiser.

"As part of our continuous review of this case, we have carefully considered material submitted to us by the police and have concluded that our legal test is no longer met," a spokesperson for the Crown Prosecution Service told Sky News.

A spokesperson for the Metropolitan Police said the department will carry out a misconduct review of the case and that Zaman remains on suspension, according to Sky News.

UK ignored ‘sex for aid’ scandal victims – watchdog

Abuse cases in the humanitarian sector remain underreported, despite efforts

to tackle sexual exploitation, a watchdog has said

General view of crates of Humanitarian Aid. © Andrew Matthews / PA Images / Getty Images

The UK government has failed to listen to victims of “sex for aid” scandals despite its efforts to address abuse in the humanitarian sector, an independent watchdog has said.

The report, released on Thursday by the Independent Commission for Aid Impact (ICAI), claims that the “top-down” approach taken by government officials falls short of what is required, because recipients of aid are not listened to and might remain reluctant to report abusive behavior.

ICAI said the UK “has played an important role in galvanising international action on protecting people from sexual exploitation and abuse in humanitarian crises,” but its commissioner Sir Hugh Bayley criticized officials for the system used.

“Its top-down approach requires those delivering UK aid to spend more time reporting back to the FCDO [Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office] than listening to the people they are seeking to protect and addressing their needs,” Bayley said.

The UK launched its efforts to combat sexual exploitation within the aid sector in 2018 after claims that Oxfam employees had sexually exploited victims of the 2010 Haiti earthquake, with Britain later holding an international safeguarding summit.

Abuse cases are still being underreported, according to the ICAI’s findings, which cited a survey in Uganda where recipients remained hesitant to report cases over concerns about the length of the investigative process and fears over corruption.

Stephanie Draper, chief executive of Bond, a network of UK charities and NGOs, praised “important steps” taken by the FCDO but said that efforts had been hampered by the lack of information “around incidents of sexual exploitation and abuse and what works where, and how to address and prevent it.”

Responding to the claims, a spokesperson for the FCDO claimed the UK is a “world leader” in addressing abusive behavior within the aid sector. “We continue to prioritise this work, protecting the most vulnerable and making sure money does not go to organisations that fall short of high safeguarding standards,” the Guardian quoted the representative as saying.

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Rape victims ‘systematically failed’ by UK criminal justice system – report

Delays meant victims faced an average 706-day wait

between reporting an offense and a trial

Rape survivors in England and Wales are being failed by the criminal justice system, leaving them facing an average wait of nearly two years for a trial, a new report found.

The damning findings were released on Friday by HM Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS) and HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate (HMCPSI), and accuse the system of a lack of collaboration between authorities, as well as poor communication with accusers.

"Rape victims are continually and systematically failed by the criminal justice system,” the report stated, criticizing its “deep divisions between the police and prosecutors.”

Divisions between the police and prosecutors should cost the police and prosecutors, not the victim.

The official report claimed that “the process is worse than the offence” for some victims, as they have to “wait years for a court date” and “experience multiple adjournments” in their quest for justice.

Part of the reason for the failures identified in the report was that authorities were still often listing rape cases as “floaters” or “backers,” which meant they could be moved and rescheduled, even at the last minute on the day of the trial.

This has to stop. The cruelty of this practice is way beyond reason.

One of the victims spoken-to had “21 court delays, most at 24-hours’ notice,” the report detailed, describing the situation as “almost unendurable.”

The investigation by HMICFRS and HMCPSI examined 556 files from the police and Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), and also spoke with rape survivors and victim support services.

The director of public prosecutions, Max Hill, accepted the report’s findings, stating that “strong collaboration between prosecutors and police is vital,” while also outlining the “extensive work” being undertaken to improve support services and communication.

Responding to the report, Dominic Raab, the deputy prime minister and justice secretary, described it as a “sobering and considered analysis,” and pledged that the government will work “to give victims greater support and swifter justice.”

This Week's Catholic Pervs and Paedos List > Benedict Responds to accusations; Another Catholic country rebukes God; Legion of Christ disgrace

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Former Pope responds to accusations of mishandling child abuse

Benedict XVI’s legal advisors insist that he was unaware of the priests’ behavior

© Getty Images / Franco Origlia / Stringer

Former Pope Benedict XVI on Tuesday issued a “heartfelt request for forgiveness” over any errors made in failing to prevent child sexual abuse by clerics during his tenure as Archbishop of Munich and Freising. Benedict’s legal advisors insist that he was unaware of the abuse.

At the end of January, the Munich public prosecutor’s office announced the launch of investigations into 42 cases of alleged misconduct by senior Catholic clergymen, including Benedict, previously known as Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger.

In his response to the Catholic church-commissioned report, which directly linked him to four cases of mishandling abuse, the Pope Emeritus described his “pain for the abuses and the errors that occurred in those different places” during his tenure between 1977 and 1982.

He admitted that, during many meetings with victims of sexual abuse, he had come to understand that “we ourselves are drawn into this grievous fault whenever we neglect it or fail to confront it with the necessary decisiveness and responsibility, as too often happened and continues to happen.”

“I can only express to all the victims of sexual abuse my profound shame, my deep sorrow and my heartfelt request for forgiveness,” he wrote.

The 94-year-old former pontiff confessed he had “great reason for fear and trembling” ahead of meeting his “final judge” — a meeting which he said would happen “quite soon.” Nonetheless, he said he remained “of good cheer” thanks to his belief that “the Lord is not only the just judge, but also the friend and brother.”

Is He a Friend and Brother to paedophiles and those who enable them? I think not. Keep trembling!

The former Pope’s letter was accompanied by a legal analysis of the German investigators’ report. Signed by Benedict’s four advisers, it refutes several claims made by the German investigators.  

It claims that in “none of the cases analyzed” was Joseph Ratzinger “aware of sexual abuse committed or suspicion of sexual abuse committed by priests.”

The legal experts’ analysis mentions that an earlier statement by Benedict that he had been absent from a crucial meeting was an error — an “oversight” Benedict himself mentioned in his letter.

The long-anticipated report on sexual abuse in the archdiocese of Munich and Freising identified at least 497 victims and 235 alleged perpetrators during the 74-year period between 1946 and 2019.

Benedict was accused of mishandling four cases involving allegedly abusive priests during his five-years tenure as archbishop.

Is it possible that he could have been in charge of the diocese and not known of the paedophile priests. Perhaps one or two, but four? It hardly seems likely. And how could someone so completely unaware of such abuse in his diocese be selected as Pope? Or, is that why he was selected?

Latin American country makes landmark abortion ruling

Colombia’s Constitutional Court has decriminalized abortion up to 24 weeks of pregnancy

Pro-Choice demonstrators celebrate outside the Constitutional Court in Colombia.

© Guillermo Legaria Schweizer / Getty Images

Colombia has decriminalized abortion up to 24 weeks of pregnancy, the country’s Constitutional Court ruled on Monday. Previously, termination was only allowed in cases of rape, if the health of the mother was in danger, or if the fetus had a fatal condition.

“The performance of an abortion will only be punishable when it is carried out after the 24th week of gestation,” the court said in the ruling. After the established time frame, the procedure is only allowed under the three conditions mentioned, as per a 2006 judicial decision.

If an abortion is performed after 24 weeks and for a reason other than the three circumstances permitted, the woman and doctors who conducted the procedure could face a prison sentence of between 16 and 54 months.

Ahead of the ruling, both pro- and anti-abortion campaigners gathered outside the court in the country’s capital of Bogota. Scenes of celebration were visible among the pro-abortion activists when the ruling was announced, while anti-abortion demonstrators knelt in prayer on the ground.

“After the right to vote, this is the most important historical achievement for the life, autonomy and full and equal fulfillment of women,” Bogota Mayor Claudia Lopez Hernandes said in response to the court’s judgment.

Explain that to Jesus when you are standing before Him on That Day. I'm sure He would like to know why you made it so easy for women to refuse the most precious gifts God has ever bestowed.

The decision is a landmark ruling in the majority-Catholic country, with Colombia becoming the fifth Latin American country to decriminalize abortion, after Argentina, Cuba, Guyana and Uruguay.

Causa Justa, an organization that sued Colombia over the unconstitutional criminalization of abortion, claims that around 5,500 investigations have been conducted into alleged abortions since 1998.

According to the group, 250 women were arrested as a result of those investigations. 24 women are currently in prison for having an abortion, the country’s prison authority records show.

25 years later, Legion of Christ victims seek reparations

By NICOLE WINFIELD

Jose Barba, one of many victims in the Legion of Christ sex scandal, poses for a portrait in Mexico City, Tuesday, Feb. 22, 2022. Barba was one of the first persons to come forward, accusing the disgraced founder of the Legion Father Marcial Maciel of sexual abuse before the Vatican. It has been 25 years since a Connecticut newspaper exposed one of the Catholic Church’s biggest sexual abuse scandals. And still some of the whistleblowers are seeking reparations from the Legion of Christ after reporting that the revered founder of the Legion of Christ religious order had raped and molested them when they were boys. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte)

VATICAN CITY (AP) — A Connecticut newspaper exposed one of the Catholic Church’s biggest sexual abuse scandals by reporting 25 years ago Wednesday that eight men had accused the revered founder of the Legion of Christ religious order of raping and molesting them when they were boys preparing for the priesthood.

It took a decade for the Vatican to sanction the founder, the Rev. Marcial Maciel, and another decade for the Legion to admit he was a serial pedophile who had violated at least 60 boys. In the meantime, the original whistleblowers suffered a defamation campaign by the Legion, which branded them liars bent on creating a conspiracy to hurt a man considered a living saint.

As they marked the quarter-century anniversary of revelations that tarnished the legacy of St. John Paul II, three of Maciel’s victims are still seeking reparations from the Legion to compensate for the abuse they suffered and the “moral” harm done to their reputations by the order.

They had refused earlier compensation offers that their fellow survivors accepted, and a mediation process begun in 2019 has stalled, according to emails and documents provided to The Associated Press.

The Vatican in 2010 took over the Mexico-based Legion and imposed a process of reform after an investigation showed that Maciel had sexually abused seminarians and fathered at least three children with two women. The Vatican found he had created a system of power built on silence, deceit and obedience that enabled him lead a double life.

The findings were by no means news to the Holy See: Documents from Vatican archives show how a succession of popes, cardinals and bishops starting in the 1950s simply turned a blind eye to credible reports that Maciel was a con artist, drug addict, pedophile and religious fraud. The Vatican and especially John Paul, however, appreciated his ability to bring in vocations and donations.

The reality of Maciel’s depravity burst into the public domain Feb. 23, 1997, when The Hartford Courant published a lengthy expose by investigative journalists Jason Berry and the late Gerald Renner about Maciel and the order, whose U.S. headquarters were based in Connecticut.

The story, which formed the basis of a 2004 book “Vows of Silence,” quoted several victims by name who independently reported that Maciel would bring them into his bedroom at night, and under the pretense of abdominal pain, induce them to masterbate him.

“When The Courant ran the long investigative piece Renner and I did on Maciel, we thought Pope John Paul II would see the light and punish Maciel,” Berry told the AP in an email. He noted that other mainstream media only began reporting on clergy sexual abuse after the Boston Globe’s “Spotlight” revelations in 2002. “By then, John Paul’s blind faith in Maciel was a cover-up by any other term, and lasted till his death.”

A year after the original Courant story, in 1998, the victims filed a formal canonical complaint against Maciel with the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, where the case languished until after John Paul died. Maciel was sentenced in 2006 to a lifetime of “penance and prayer,” and he died in 2008, still considered a saint by the Legion.

Following the Vatican-mandated reform process, the Legion apologized and tried to make amends, even as it has been forced to confront revelations of a new generation of abusers within its ranks — some of them Maciel’s original victims — and the superiors who covered up for the crimes, some of whom remain in power.

In 2020, the Legion publicly retracted the “negative institutional and personal judgments about the character and motivations of the people who made legitimate and necessary accusations” in the original Courant expose. Naming the original victims, it said “Today we recognize as prophetic their accusations in favor of truth and justice.”

But Jose Barba, one of the most vocal of the original eight survivors, wants the Legion to formally retract what he calls the “lies” the order provided to the Courant to discredit him and the other victims. They include what he says were a falsified letter from a Chilean bishop who had investigated Maciel in the 1950s, and false statements from four Mexicans who claimed the victims had tried to enlist them in a conspiracy against Maciel.

Barba, who says he represents fellow survivors Arturo Jurado and Jose Antonio Perez Olvera, drafted a proposed letter to the Courant and the Vatican newspaper that he wanted the Legion to submit to retract the claims. But then Legion superior, the Rev. Eduardo Robles-Gil, refused during a December 2019 mediation meeting in Mexico City, Barba said.

In a Jan. 4, 2020 summary of that meeting, Barba said the Legion’s initial calculus of a low five-figure settlement offer for each of the three remaining victims was a “humiliation,” and he proposed a team of five arbitration experts to determine a more “just” reparation.

Robles-Gil signed the summary but wrote: “I receive this without accepting the process that is asked for and it remains at our consideration to accept it or not.”

The Legion’s new superior, the Rev. John Connor, tried unsuccessfully to engage with Barba after his February 2020 election, sending two letters that went unanswered until Barba emailed him on Jan. 5, 2021, seeking to restart negotiations.

Connor assured him he wanted to “find ways to contribute to heal and close the painful events of the history of our congregation.” But in an email, Connor said Barba’s proposal for five arbitration experts wouldn’t help “in finding a shared resolution.”

Barba never replied. “I don’t trust them because it’s not in good faith,” he told the AP.

In a statement to the AP, Legion spokesman the Rev. Aaron Smith noted that the order had reached settlements with most of the historic victims and hoped for a resolution with the remaining ones.

“We are sad that meeting still has not happened, especially considering the positive experience of the encounters with other victims of Fr. Maciel,” Smith said in a statement. “We continue to remain hopeful it will take place in the near future permitting open dialogue with him.”

Barba, meanwhile, says he is getting old and his two confreres are ailing. While they are hailed by ex-Legionaries as “los 8 Magnificos” (the Magnificent Eight) for having stood up to Maciel and the order, Barba recalls a Nov. 8, 1997 letter he and the others wrote to John Paul, translated into Polish, asking for the pope to hear their pain and do something.

“It appears inconceivable to us, Holy Father, that our grave revelations and complaints mattered absolutely nothing to you,” they wrote, according to a copy of the letter provided to the AP. “We want the church and society to understand that all we want is justice: not only for legitimate personal vindication, but for the good of the church and society.”

That's "Saint Jean Paul II", in case you are wondering. Says a lot about the Catholic Church.

Approaching Sodom > Xgender swimmers win Ivy League; Women win in Scotland's Court of Sessions; Children lose to Gov't; Trans dismemberer released from jail

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Transgender swimmer breaks record as women ‘race for second’

The controversial college athlete achieved unspectacular results

when she previously competed in male competition

Lia Thomas © Kathryn Riley / Getty Images

University of Pennsylvania transgender swimmer Lia Thomas set a new pool record to win the women’s 500-yard freestyle event at the Ivy League Championships – beating her nearest rival by more than seven seconds.

In a result that is certain to ignite the fierce debate in the US over whether transgender athletes should be allowed to compete against participants born as women, Thomas built a huge lead during the second half of the race as she broke Olympian Kate Ziegler's record.

Thomas has been at the center of controversy since she initially beat college records and earned a series of comfortable wins to qualify for the national championships.

Numerous bills in US states have sought to legally stop transgender athletes from competing against rivals born as women, achieving varying degrees of success amid passionate arguments and protests on both sides of the row.

Supporters of the bills believe that athletes born as men – particularly those who pass through puberty before transitioning, as Thomas has – have an unfair advantage and risk denying female-born prospects the chance to realize their full potential.

Their opponents say that outlawing trans athletes from taking part is discriminatory.

22-year-old Thomas is said to have been the top seed in the 200-yard, 500-yard and 1,650-yard freestyle events.

Another transgender wins 

Yale University’s Iszac Henig, who is competing as a woman while transitioning from female to male, beat his own record to win the 50-yard freestyle on Thursday.

Henig beat Thomas in a race in January, although that heralded accusations that Thomas had not put in maximum effort on her way to an unusually slow sixth-place finish.

Former college swimmer Emily Kreps, of the Pennsylvania Family Institute, said that Thomas had posted the 17th fastest in history for women's swimming.

"My heart breaks for the destruction of women's sports," she added. "The governing sports bodies have let women down.

"ESPN commentators couldn't help themselves but admire Thomas' athletic prowess and commanding lead over the female swimmers. Never once did they comment that Thomas may have this advantage because Thomas is a biological male.

"They said more than once that it was 'racing for second' in a women's competition. We need bills... to pass to protect women and women's sports."

Thomas was not made available for media duties afterwards. She is said to have met eligibility rules by receiving hormone therapy for more than two years.

Governing body USA Swimming recently ruled that a three-member panel will now decide whether women who have transitioned possess an unfair advantage during female competition against biologically-born women.

The National Collegiate Athletic Association has also issued a new policy allowing each sport to set its own rules. Leaders remain under pressure to take further measures.

Lia's supporters will cause you to shake your head...

Penn senior Andie Myers reportedly wore a facemask with a transgender flag to show backing for Thomas. "I want everyone at this meet to know that I support her,” she told ESPN.

“She’s worked for all of this and she’s given up so much to transition and to be authentically herself. I think it’s really important and I think it’s really brave what she’s doing today.”

A Thomas supporter on social media told Kreps: "It wasn't a 'race for second place' for all the women. A woman named Lia Thomas won – through her skill and her perseverance.

"I'm a man who's been swimming since I was five but I couldn't have beaten any of these women. Lia Thomas is awesome. We should all be cheering her on."

Another brilliant comment - "Cool, good for her. Maybe they should have tried harder."

Good grief!

A wee bit of common sense, for a change...

Court rules ‘women’ can’t be redefined

Edinburgh court rejects 2018 law that attempted to include trans women

under the legal definition for women

FILE PHOTO: Court rules against SNP government law that let transwomen avail gender quotas

for biological women. June 28, 2019. © AFP / Angela Weiss

The Scottish government has lost a legal battle over a gender representation law that “expanded the definition of women” to include transgender people. Women’s rights activists had argued that the legislation violated “protected characteristics” related to sex in the UK’s 2010 Equality Act.

The Court of Session in Edinburgh ruled on Friday that the Scottish National Party (SNP) government had overstepped its authority when drafting the Gender Representation on Public Boards Scotland Act in 2018, which implemented 50% quotas for women on public sector boards.

Under the law, an individual “living as a woman” who plans to undergo (or has undergone) a “process for the purpose of becoming female” should be considered on par with biological women when filling these quotas. It invoked the “protected characteristic” of gender reassignment.

But the court stated that by “incorporating those transsexuals living as women into the definition of woman,” the legislation “conflates and confuses” two different protected characteristics. The three judges hearing the case said the ruling was not about the “rights and wrongs” of the trans rights debate, but whether the legislation fell under Holyrood’s devolved powers.

The definition of ‘woman’ adopted in the 2018 act “impinges on the nature of protected characteristics which is a reserved matter,” the ruling states, adding that “changing the definitions” of what constituted a protected characteristic is “not permitted” since it would negate laws passed by Westminster. The court said that the government should have instituted separate quotas for transgender people instead.

The 2018 law put the 'protected characteristics' of transgenders above those of women. What madness! It's so good to see the Scottish court stop that.

The judges noted that the definition used in the legislation would, in theory, make it possible for public boards to achieve their gender quota without adding a single board member who is a biological woman.

The law was challenged by campaign group For Women Scotland (FWS), which had appealed to the court after losing a judicial review last year. FWS director Trina Budge told The Telegraph that the act would have “allowed men who had not had to deal with pregnancy or workplace motherhood penalties to take advantage simply by taking on a woman's name and adopting female pronouns.”

“We are delighted that this has been corrected in law and that the judges have restated that the protected characteristic of sex refers to either a male or a female and that provisions in favour of women must, by definition, exclude those who are biologically male,” Budge added.

Meanwhile, an unnamed spokeswoman told the paper that the SNP government was “disappointed by the outcome and are considering its terms.” It will either have to strike out the definition of women from the legislation, or take the case to the UK Supreme Court, the paper reported.

What happens when you have far-left people in government responsible for children...

Government accused of ‘effectively’ lowering age of consent to 13

Scottish guidance says don’t tell parents about underage sex

Family advocates are up in arms against a new guideline issued by the Scottish government which they say promotes – or at least condones – underage sex among children as young as 13, local media reported on Sunday. 

The policy states that if a young person is in a “safe and mutually respectful” relationship, police, teachers and social workers should maintain “confidentiality” – i.e. no telling Mom and Dad. However, the age of consent in Scotland is 16, meaning that no matter how safe and respectful a child’s relationship may be, it technically could be outside the law.

Family campaigners, the Catholic church and others concerned with increased meddling into families’ personal lives by the state have excoriated the new protocol, with the Family Education Trust declaring the rule “effectively” lowers the age of consent to 13.

The policy is “effectively a charter for underage sex,” the Trust’s Piers Shepherd told the Mail on Sunday, declaring that the “emphasis on confidentiality shows scant respect for parents who are principal legal guardians” and “raises serious health and safety concerns” regarding the child. Parents, he argued, are “best placed to shield children from the harmful effects of underage sexual activity.”

The new policy specifies that cases where the child is clearly at risk – where there is a “power imbalance,” grooming, bribing, coercion, or alcohol and drug use – can be reported to parents. However “If sexual activity is taken place/has taken place within safe and mutually respectful relationship, the confidentiality should generally be maintained.”

It’s not clear how police, teachers, and social workers are supposed to gauge the health of an underage relationship. A government spokesman insisted that the “non-statutory guidance” provided in the 276-page National Guidance for Child Protection in Scotland 2021 “does not conflict in any way” with the 2009 law that affirmed Scotland’s age of consent at 16. Indeed, he claimed, the law makes clear that “society does not encourage sexual intercourse in young people under 16.”

As Shepard of the Family Education Trust pointed out, Scottish children under 16 can’t even get a free bus travel card without a parent to fill out the application. Nor can they vote until that age. Signing up for military service at age 16 requires parental permission, and children who want to change their official gender must wait until age 18.

The new child protection policy is just one of several recent steps by Edinburgh that child advocates worry constitutes an unwholesome compulsion to peer into children’s sex lives. Last month, many parents on both ends of the political spectrum denounced the SNP-led government’s health and well-being census, which among other controversial questions asked 14-year-old respondents about their experience with anal sex. Worse, while the survey reassured students its results would be kept confidential, children were asked to fill in their unique Scottish candidate number, while parents were informed such identifying information would be used to identify a child “in exceptional circumstances.” The government defended its survey, arguing that children who felt uncomfortable about the questions could skip them or opt out of the census entirely.

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Trans woman’s killer released after breast implants

help identify mutilated corpse

The woman’s dismembered body was found by a schoolboy in a river six months later

By Layla Guest

Tamara Khatamzhonov © Social media

A Russian man who brutally killed and dismembered a transgender sex worker from Central Asia has been allowed to walk free on time already served by a St. Petersburg court despite having been found guilty of the crime, media outlets have reported.

On Wednesday, the press secretary of the city’s courts told news agency Lenta that judges in the Vasileostrovsky District had released Yury Yanovsky from custody, crediting his time spent in pre-detention.

The actor had been charged with killing Tamara Khatamzhonov, a 24-year-old transgender sex worker, said to be a native of the former Soviet republic Tajikistan. However, he was later convicted of homicide committed while exceeding the limits of self-defense, and judges ruled that he was to serve one year and ten months behind bars.

On January 13, 2020, Yanovsky, who was intoxicated, argued with Khatamzhonov. The man claimed that the sex worker wanted to give him sleeping pills and steal from him. He stabbed her twice in the neck and once in the stomach. She died on the spot.

Yanovsky dismembered the victim’s body and threw it into the Mga River, in northern Russia’s Leningrad Region. Her severely mutilated, decapitated corpse was only found six months later by a schoolboy as he swam in the water.

Police in the region traced the serial number of her breast implants, manufactured by a Dublin-based company, to a hospital in Russia that had carried out the surgery.

So, the only reason for releasing Yanovsky early had to be that the victim was a transgender and was trying to rob the perpetrator. The incredible dismemberment of the body might suggest far more emotion than self-protection. This should frighten transgenders in Russia, especially those in the sex trades.

Vasileostrovsky District, St. Petersburg

Perverted Lives of the Rich and Famous > Andrew Cuomo being sued; Brigitte Macron a transgender? Jean-Luc Brunel Suicided, apparently

..

Former governor sued for sexual harassment

Andrew Cuomo faces a civil suit over allegations made by a former member

of his security detail

FILE PHOTO: Andrew Cuomo holds a press briefing about the Covid-19 Delta variant in New York,

 August 2, 2021 © Getty Images / Lev Radin

A US state trooper is suing former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo for sexual harassment, according to a lawsuit filed on Thursday. The plaintiff is the first of 11 women alleging misconduct by the governor to bring a civil case against him, after prosecutors declined to press criminal charges last year.

Identified in the lawsuit as ‘Trooper 1’, the woman was plucked from her job as a New York State Trooper in 2017 to serve on Cuomo’s security detail. Once onboard, she claims she was repeatedly harassed and inappropriately touched by the Democrat.

“He commented on her appearance (‘why don’t you wear a dress?’); wanted to kiss her ('[c]an I kiss you?’); asked her to find him a girlfriend who could ‘handle pain;' and steered their conversations towards sex ('[w]hy would you want to get married? . . . your sex drive goes down,’” reads an excerpt from the suit published by Politico.

The suit also accuses Cuomo of inappropriate contact, and claims that the then-governor pressed the trooper into accepting an unwanted kiss, while acknowledging that such behavior was against the rules.

The allegations in the suit are not new. They were first laid out in a report by New York Attorney General Letitia James last August. James’ report found “credible” evidence that Cuomo sexually harassed 11 women, including ‘Trooper 1’, but multiple county prosecutors declined to file charges due to what they said was a lack of evidence of criminal wrongdoing.

‘Trooper 1’ is seeking an undisclosed sum of money from the former governor in the civil suit. Melissa DeRosa, a former aide to Cuomo, and the New York State Police are also accused in the lawsuit of covering up Cuomo’s alleged misdeeds.

Although Cuomo resigned shortly after James’ report was released, he denied any misconduct, and his team accused the AG of orchestrating a political hit. Indeed, James announced a run for governor that October, but withdrew her candidacy several weeks later, and said that she will instead run for reelection as attorney general.

Cuomo’s spokesman, Rich Azzopardi, said on Thursday that the lawsuit is based on James’ “proven fraud of a report,” and said that the trooper’s legal team have been “widely known to use the press to extort settlements on behalf of anonymous claimants.”

Paul Schectman, an attorney for DeRosa, said that the only interactions his client had with the trooper amounted to saying “hello and goodbye,” adding “It is not a viable case anywhere in America and is beyond frivolous.”

French first lady sues over transgender claims

Brigitte Macron is dragging two women to court for publishing

scandalous claims about her online

Brigitte Macron arrives for the inauguration of an exhibition at the Louvre Museum in Paris, France,

September 27, 2021 © Getty Images / Chesnot

Brigitte Macron, wife of French President Emmanuel Macron, has sued two women who spread rumors that she underwent a sex change, according to an AFP report on Friday. The case comes as her husband gears up for a tough reelection campaign.

A first hearing in the case has been set for June 15 in Paris, a legal source told AFP.  Macron's three children from her previous marriage as well as her brother have also signed on to the suit, the news agency added.

The rumors in question were started early last year by an independent journalist and a self-proclaimed spiritual ‘medium’. A series of posts on Facebook and a video interview between the two women posted to YouTube gained traction, and by December the hashtag #JeanMichelTrogneux was getting national attention. The hashtag is a reference to what the conspiracy theorists believe to be Brigitte Macron’s real maiden name – Jean Michel Trogneux.

According to her biography, Mrs. Macron was born Brigitte Marie-Claude Trogneux.

The journalist in question purportedly told the ‘medium’ that evidence of the first lady’s gender transition is in “a sealed envelope deposited with a lawyer whose name is well known,” and would be made public if France made Covid-19 vaccination compulsory. 

Emmanuel Macron has faced questions about his relationship with his wife – who is 24 years his senior and taught at the French president’s high school – before, but the rumors referenced in the lawsuit bear a striking similarity to accusations once leveled against former US First Lady Michelle Obama.

Comedian Joan Rivers stated in 2014 that Mrs. Obama is "a transgender. We all know it,” and some right-wingers still insist that the former first lady was born a man named Michael. Right-wing polemicist Alex Jones claimed in 2017 to have “photos and videos” to prove it.

Jones’ claims were never substantiated, nor were they ever publicly acknowledged by the Obamas.

Mrs. Macron has chosen to confront her accusers in court, a decision that could draw negative publicity to her family ahead of France’s presidential election in April. Emmanuel Macron has not yet officially entered the race, and his approval rating has hovered around 40% for the last year. However, despite opposition on the right from Valerie Pecresse, Marine Le Pen, and anti-establishment firebrand Eric Zemmour, Macron is currently slated to win reelection.

Jean-Luc Brunel, held on suspicion of supplying girls to Epstein,

found hanged in cell

Former model agency boss accused of rape and suspected of trafficking minors

has died in prison

Undated image shows Jean-Luc Brunel (right) with Jeffrey Epstein (centre) and girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell,

on Epstein's private jet the ‘Lolita Express’. Photograph: Shutterstock

Kim Willsher in Paris

Sat 19 Feb 2022 15.14 GMT

The former boss of a French model agency accused of rape and under investigation on suspicion of supplying underage girls to the late American financier Jeffrey Epstein has been found dead in prison.

The body of Jean-Luc Brunel, 75, was reportedly found hanging in his cell in the early hours of Saturday. The French prosecutors’ office confirmed the report and said an inquiry had been opened into the exact cause of death, but early indications pointed to suicide.

Brunel was arrested in December 2020 at Charles de Gaulle airport before boarding a plane for Dakar in Senegal where he told police he was going on holiday.

He was officially put under investigation on allegations of the alleged rape of a minor and sexual harassment shortly after his arrest, and was put under a second investigation for the rape of a minor in June last year.

Investigators had also questioned Brunel on suspicion of the human trafficking of underage girls for sexual exploitation. He was being held on remand in La Santé prison in Paris.

Several top models had come forward to accuse him of sexual assault and rape, and French police had reportedly interviewed hundreds of potential witnesses. Brunel had denied any wrongdoing or any involvement in illegal activities. He disappeared from public life shortly after Epstein’s death in August 2019. Epstein also hanged himself in his prison cell while awaiting trial.

In the 1990s, Paris-born Brunel was a model talent scout and boss of the prestigious agency Karin Models. After he was banned from the agency in European 1999 following a BBC undercover report on abuse in the fashion industry, he moved to the US and founded MC2 Model Management with funding from Epstein. He is credited with discovering a number of supermodels including Christy Turlington and Milla Jovovich.

He met Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s partner, in the 1980s and she had introduced him to Epstein.

Brunel had been released on bail last November but had been ordered to return to prison after a few days to await trial.

His legal team said in a statement: “His distress was that of a man of 75 years old caught up in a media-legal system that we should be questioning. Jean-Luc Brunel never stopped claiming his innocence and had made many efforts to prove it. His decision [to end his life] was not driven by guilt but by a deep sense of injustice.”

Yes! I believe that! And if you believe it, you might be interested in the tropical island I have for sale off the coast of Labrador.

In 2015, Virginia Roberts Giuffre, who recently accepted an undisclosed sum from Prince Andrew – another Epstein friend – after bringing a civil case against the royal, accused Brunel of supplying girls to Epstein. She said the American financier had bragged to her that he had slept with more than 1,000 “of Brunel’s girls”.

Giuffre, who was abused by Epstein, had claimed she had sex with Prince Andrew on three occasions, the first of which when she was 17 years old. The prince had denied her claims.

Maxwell, 59, is currently in prison in the US, having been convicted of sex trafficking.

French prosecutors said Brunel’s death would put an end to the legal case unless other suspects were put under investigation.

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