Arnhem elementary school teacher arrested
on suspicion of child sex offenses
A 35-year-old man from Arnhem, who works as a teacher at an elementary school in the city, was arrested on October 7 on suspicion of a sex offense, the Public Prosecution Service (OM) confirmed Friday.
The alleged incident did not take place at the school, the OM stated. The man remains in custody, with his pretrial detention extended by 90 days on October 24. The OM has not disclosed details of the case due to privacy concerns, but sources told De Gelderlander that the teacher is suspected of engaging in sexual acts with a child and possessing child pornography. These alleged offenses reportedly occurred in his private life.
A letter sent to parents by the director of the school in Arnhem’s De Paasberg neighborhood confirmed the teacher’s arrest. A copy of the letter was obtained by Omroep Gelderland.
One parent, whose child previously attended the teacher’s class, said their daughter has been taught by a substitute since October 7. The parent, who requested anonymity, said the teacher's absence had initially been attributed to personal reasons. “He always looked well put-together and was friendly,” the parent said. “My daughter, who doesn’t know anything about this, always spoke positively about him. He was a nice man. Like you often hear in these cases, we never saw this coming.”
The OM stated that the investigation is still underway but declined to provide additional information. According to De Gelderlander, no children from the elementary school were involved in the alleged offenses.
Man jailed for decade of sex abuse against child
A Jersey man has been jailed for 16 years and six months for sexually abusing a child and possessing indecent images of children.
Richard Louis Romeril, 49, was found guilty at Jersey's Royal Court in June of 10 sexual offences, including abusing a girl over a 10-year period, starting when she was four.
He also pleaded guilty to another four counts relating to making indecent and prohibited images of children.
Defence advocate Mike Preston said Romeril had suffered from depression and was addicted to pornography, and was trying to get treatment for those issues.
When the police originally questioned him, he denied abusing the girl, or having indecent images, the court heard.
Crown advocate Emma Hollywood described his crimes as a prolonged campaign of sexual assault.
The court also heard he had thousands of images and videos of child sexual abuse, some of them of the most serious nature.
Det Con Sian Dupre from States of Jersey Police said after sentencing: "The sentence handed to Richard Romeril today reflects the gravity of his crimes and their profound impact.
"We want to recognise the extraordinary bravery of the survivor, who courageously came forward to make the complaint.
"Their remarkable strength and resilience have been pivotal in bringing Romeril to justice.
"It is our sincere hope that this sentence will provide them with a sense of justice and contribute to their healing journey."
Good sentence. The girl will be an adult before he gets out. Jersey is a small enough island that if both are living there when he gets out, there will be no avoiding each other.
Childcare worker who abused more than
60 girls jailed for life
A former childcare worker dubbed "one of Australia's worst paedophiles" has been sentenced to life in prison for raping and sexually abusing almost 70 girls.
Ashley Paul Griffith, 47, confessed to 307 offences committed at childcare centres in the Australian state of Queensland and overseas between 2003 and 2022. His victims were aged between one and seven.
Judge Paul Smith called the scale and nature of the crimes "depraved" and "horrendous", saying "there was a significant breach of trust".
In addition to this case, the BBC understands Griffith is separately accused of abusing at least two dozen children in the Australian state of New South Wales and in Italy.
In the Brisbane District Court on Friday, Judge Smith said Griffith - who the court heard had a "paedophilic disorder" - had a high risk of reoffending, ordering a non-parole period of at least 27 years.
Griffith was first arrested in August 2022 by the Australian Federal Police, and a year later charged with more than 1,600 child sex offences. Most of these were eventually dropped.
Warning: This story contains details readers might find distressing
Investigators found thousands of photographs and videos of his abuse, which he had filmed and uploaded onto the dark web.
Although faces were cropped out of the footage, they managed to trace them to Griffith because of a unique set of bedsheets seen in the background of some of the videos, which had been sold to childcare centres across Queensland.
He pleaded guilty to 28 counts of rape, almost 200 charges relating to indecent treatment of a child, and several related to making and sharing child exploitation material.
Four of the girls who featured in his videos were from a childcare centre in Pisa, Italy. His other 65 victims were from 11 locations across Brisbane.
Ahead of his sentence behind handed down, the court heard a string of emotional statements from some of those victims and their parents - who cannot be identified for legal reasons.
Among them were two sisters who were abused in kindergarten, one of whom recalled Griffith being her favourite teacher.
"To find out what he was really doing was devastating... I don’t seem to be able to process it even now, because there’s a disconnect between what I remember and the reality," she said, according to The Courier Mail.
Another woman told how his actions had robbed her of a normal childhood, recounting her struggles with mental illness in the years since.
"I will never know what my life could have been like," she is quoted as saying, in an article by The Guardian Australia.
"I can never know what it would have been to grow up unafraid of people."
Parents meanwhile told the court of their horror upon discovering the crimes inflicted upon their children, with several saying they struggled to forgive themselves for trusting Griffith.
"(My daughter) loved you like an uncle and you used her like a toy," one said, according to News Corp Australia.
Another explained how she was trying to keep the burden of knowledge of the abuse from her daughter.
"I cannot undo what you did to her body but will do everything I can to limit the damage to her mind," she said, according to the Courier Mail.
Outside court, the families called for an investigation into the childcare centres - and broader system - in which Griffith was able to go undetected for so long.
"Parents are walking their children into these centres today with a false sense of security," one father told reporters.
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Arizona man indicted on dozens of child sexual
exploitation charges
PHOENIX — An Arizona man accused of dozens of child sexual exploitation offenses is facing the possibility of a long time behind bars, authorities said.
David Berry Garmarnik, 46, of Tucson is accused of using Skype to livestream shows of child sexual abuse from the Philippines, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Arizona.
Prosecutors said Garmarnik allegedly wired money to (child) sex traffickers who would conduct the shows with him. He is accused of participating in dozens of the shows since 2017.
Garmarnik was indicted on a total of 45 counts last week: 20 counts of attempted production of child pornography, 20 counts of attempted enticement and coercion of a minor, and five counts of receipt of child pornography.
Based on the sentencing requirements for the crimes he’s accused of, Garmarnik could spend the rest of his life behind bars if convicted.
Each count of attempted production of child pornography carries a sentence of 15 to 30 years in prison.
The penalty for an attempted enticement and coercion of a minor conviction is 10 years to life in prison.
The sentencing range for receipt of child pornography is five to 20 years per count.
In addition, each of the offenses carries a fine of up to $250,000 along with a supervised release period ranging from five years to life.
The investigation into Garmarnik was conducted by Homeland Security Investigations as part of Project Safe Childhood, a Department of Justice initiative to combat child sexual exploitation.
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