Drugged and raped boy sues PornHub for all it's worth
'They're crying': Tim Tebow unveils new effort to combat child sexual abuse
WASHINGTON — Abused children are waiting to be rescued, declared retired football star Tim Tebow as he read aloud messages from sex offenders bragging about their preferences for children or having exploitative content of babies on their computers.
One sex offender asked what the others were into, and another replied that he had a preference for children ages 5 to 9. Another offender wrote that he has a daughter he would love to share with the others, while another admitted that he had 20 terabytes of baby rape videos that he was willing to sell.
The former Heisman Trophy winner read chatroom posts from sex offenders to help people understand the threat predators pose to children during a press conference on Capitol Hill this week to introduce a bill to fight exploitation.
"When I read that chat, it hurts," Tebow said. "And I mourn and grieve a little bit when I read it, but I also have hope. Because I know that we're able to bring a piece of the solution here today. And, unfortunately, many times, people with the goal to do evil work better than people with the goal to do good. I say that today with a heavy heart, but you know, I also believe here today that people with the goal to do good are working together in an incredible way."
The former NFL quarterback and professional baseball player joined a bipartisan group of lawmakers Tuesday outside the U.S. Capitol to unveil the Renewed Hope Act of 2024.
The legislation would enhance the ability of U.S. Immigration and Customs and Enforcement and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to rescue exploitation victims and identify predators. The measure aims to provide the agencies with the resources to hire and train personnel and equip them with advanced victim identification methods.
The bill was introduced by Republican Sen. John Cornyn of Texas and Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut in the Senate and Reps. Laurel Lee and Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida in the House of Representatives.
The former NFL quarterback and college football analyst founded the Tim Tebow Foundation and has dedicated his time to advocating for vulnerable children.
Tebow stressed that the issue is about people, not politics, specifically the boys and girls who are victims of sexual exploitation and abuse. Some may not understand the implications behind an explicit photograph or video, he said.
"It's not just images; it's not just videos," Tebow stated. "It's boys and girls that are in the worst moments of their life. And then people are celebrating it."
But the former NFL star said that his desire is for the Renewed Hope Act of 2024 to fill exploited children with the "faith, hope and love they deserve." He added that he loved the inclusion of the word "renewed" in the legislation, noting that the word means "to give someone the ability to flourish once more."
"Right now, as we're talking, they're crying," Tebow said. "So we better do more than talk. We better act because they're waiting."
In an interview with The Christian Post last month, Tebow said he felt called to speak on this issue because of his missionary father, Robert.
Years ago, Robert Tebow was preaching at an underground pastors' conference in a place of religious intolerance when he saw four girls for sale at an auction. He used all the money he had to buy the girls and purchase their freedom.
"And he called me afterward, and it's hard to explain," Tebow said. "I just knew that this is one of the areas that we've been called into and that I knew I was called into. And that we had to step up and stand up for those four and the rest like those sweet, poor girls."
Nova Scotia adopts bill declaring domestic violence
in the province an epidemic
Following an extraordinary reversal by Premier Tim Houston, the Nova Scotia legislature on Thursday adopted a bill declaring domestic violence an epidemic in the province.
The lightning fast passage of the bill introduced by the opposition NDP came less than an hour after the premier told reporters he didn’t think the legislation was necessary.
The bill’s passage also followed a tense conversation involving four women from the private sector union Unifor who were advocating for the bill — and who had cornered Houston near a hallway elevator outside the legislative chamber. Minutes later, the government was back in the house of assembly to pass a bill that went through all three readings with all-party support in just under 10 minutes.
“Today will change the life and the direction for many women and anyone experiencing intimate partner violence in the province of Nova Scotia,” said a visibly emotional Jennifer Murray, Unifor’s Atlantic regional director. “We are going to keep advocating and we will be pushing for more with this legislation. What we saw today was … real citizens coming together and making a huge difference.”
In introducing the bill, NDP Leader Claudia Chender said Thursday the idea was to legislate a recommendation to all levels of government from the commission of inquiry that investigated the 2020 Nova Scotia mass shooting. The commission heard that the gunman behind Canada’s worst mass shooting had a history of domestic violence and had seriously assaulted his spouse moments before he began a 13-hour rampage that left 22 people dead.
Houston initially told reporters he didn’t believe legislation was needed because the government had already made it clear in previous statements that domestic violence was an epidemic in the province.
But after he voted for the bill, Houston said he had changed his mind following his conversation with the union group and a closer look at the proposed legislation.
“Government actions matter for sure and government words matter too,” the premier said. “That was the message that was shared with me by the group that was here. This was an opportunity that meant a lot, so we took that opportunity.”
A statement from the NDP said Nova Scotia has the highest rates of intimate partner violence of any province in Canada, with over 30 per cent of women and 22.5 per cent of men who have been in a relationship reporting being physically or sexually assaulted by their partner.
“This is a very important day for women, gender diverse folks, men, anyone who has suffered intimate partner violence … they should take some solace in this legislation that has been passed,” Chender said. “We see it as Step 1 in addressing this issue and in implementing the findings of the Mass Casualty Commission.”
The New Democrats also called Thursday for the province to expand paid leave for employees or their children who experience intimate partner violence to five days, up from three, following British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick and other jurisdictions across the country.
Labour Minister Jill Balser told the legislature the government has carried out consultations and would have a response before the end of the year.
“We want to look at five paid days because those who are fleeing domestic violence deserve to have that support … I will have more to share very soon,” Balser said.
The drama around the issue of domestic violence wasn’t the first for Houston’s government. In April, then-justice minister Brad Johns resigned after disputing the public inquiry’s finding that domestic violence is an epidemic and saying that drugs and gun violence were more serious problems.
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