Evil sex abuse pair jailed after luring underage girls to hotels and exploiting them
A man and woman have been jailed for a total of 19 years for luring teenage girls to hotels where they were sexually abused.
Daniel Pusey, 21, of Money Lane, West Drayton, London, and Diane Chilcott, 40, of Rutherwyk Road, Chertsey, Surrey, were sentenced at Portsmouth Crown Court after being found guilty of facilitating travel to exploit.
A Surrey Police spokesman said: "The pair worked together to lure and then sexually exploit girls at hotels across north Surrey and west London between January and February 2016.
"The victims, aged between 13 and 15 at the time, were plied with alcohol and cigarettes at Chilcott's house and then driven by her and Pusey to hotels in Staines, Twickenham, Tolworth and Heathrow."
"There they would continue to be given alcohol and cigarettes and some would then be subjected to sexual abuse by Pusey."
The spokesman said that Pusey, who was sentenced to 13 years' imprisonment, was found guilty at an earlier trial of seven offences of sexual activity with a child in connection with this case.
He added that Chilcott was sentenced to six years in prison .
Detective Inspector Richard Haycock said: "This was calculated exploitation of young teenage girls. "These individuals clearly knew what they were doing, supplying the victims with alcohol to make them even more vulnerable to sexual abuse.
"The offenders knew how old the girls were but continued to exploit them on a number of occasions and I commend the victims for their bravery in speaking to authorities and seeing the legal process through to the end, this has been a long and difficult journey for them."
'Dangerous' paedophile went on to attack a 2 y/o girl after receiving only a caution for 1995 offence
An 'extremely dangerous' paedophile who escaped with just a caution after abusing a four-year-old girl went on to film himself abusing a two-year-old girl in the Philippines.
Timothy Smith, 42, was jailed for ten years after police found hundreds of videos - adding up to more than two days in length - of vile child abuse on his computer.
The sick stash included a 12-minute clip of Smith abusing the child in the Philippines, which he admitted was one of several attacks on the child.
He pleaded guilty at Maidstone Crown Court to 16 charges linked to various sex offences.
Smith, from Tunbridge Wells in Kent, had been given a caution for three counts of sexually assaulting a four-year-old girl in 1995.
Jailing him for ten years, Judge Martin Joy said it was shocking that he only received a caution for the 1995 attacks.
He said: "It is remarkable any defendant is cautioned for such offences."
The judge added: "This is not an easy sentencing exercise. It seems to me quite clear that for many years you have been a danger of committing sexual offences in relation to very young children.
"When arrested for these offences you said you had been committing offences for 10 years."
"You admitted, and even boasted, of sexual interest in children as young as two-years-old."
"It is of significance you told police you don't regard yourself as a law breaker.
"You described yourself as a paedophile interested in children of two and above."
"The impact of these offences you have committed cannot be ignored."
Kent Police discovered the extent of Smith's crimes after an investigation into suspicious online activity traced to his house.
He admitted visiting the Philippines and repeatedly abusing a victim under the age of five and told officers they would find videos of the abuse on his computers.
Smith also confessed to searching and saving indecent images of children, referred to himself as being a paedophile and said he shared masses of illegal videos and images. He told police that on one occasion he met another paedophile and gave him material which he had copied onto 45 DVDs.
Forensic checks of Smith's two laptops and a USB hard drive revealed he had child abuse videos containing totalling more than two days and nine hours in length. He also had at least 37,000 still indecent images of children, many classed in the most serious category.
Smith was convicted of three counts of sexual assault of a child between August 2015 and November 2015 and one count of sexual activity with a child in August 2013.
He was also convicted of three counts of distributing indecent images of children, six counts of making indecent images of children and three counts of taking indecent images of children.
Smith was sentenced to ten years imprisonment with an extended licence period of four years.
He will serve at least two thirds of his sentence before he can be considered for release and has been added to the sex offenders' register for life.
Judge Joy added: "Each offence, I have no doubt, deserves severe punishment and all of the offences are of repugnant behaviour - perverted behaviour which can properly be described as abhorrent."
Detective Constable Mark Bennett, from Kent Police's Paedophile Online Investigation Team, said: "Timothy Smith is an extremely dangerous individual who is now facing justice for his appalling actions.
"Smith filmed himself sexually abusing a very young child and downloaded and shared vast numbers of other indecent images and videos. He also actively discussed his desires and actions with other paedophiles and has demonstrated little, if any, regard for the suffering of victims of these sickening crimes.
"I am delighted that again, an investigation into someone accessing indecent images has uncovered the truth of these offences - that they are real victims, suffering real abuse."
An NSPCC spokesperson added: "This is a deeply disturbing case in which Smith not only fuelled the vile online trade in child abuse images but also physically abused a child in the real world.
"Thankfully justice has finally caught up with him but it is also important that he receives treatment to prevent him from harming more children upon his release.
"The NSPCC is calling on government, law enforcement and internet providers to do more to prevent child abuse images from being published and circulated online."
A sexual harm prevention order against Smith was also made.
Gympie Joe's all smiles after Royal Commission
by Arthur Gorrie
GYMPIE victim of institutionalised child abuse, Joe Kiernan, has never looked so happy.
The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse has done its job, impeccably according to some, and the world can see the truth.
Recalling the horror story of his childhood in the notorious St Joseph's orphanage at Neerkol, near Rockhampton, is not pleasant.
But knowing that no-one can now call him a liar or a madman is one of the great things about the royal commission's work, he said recently.
And he is pleased the community accepts that the job is not over yet.
There is still the question of redress and the real task - to bring about real social change so the helpless in society are helpless no more.
St Joseph's orphanage at Neerkol, near Rockhampton
But Mr Kiernan is already grinning from ear to ear.
"The main thing for me is that no-one can say it didn't happen. They can't say that anymore,” he said.
Mr Kiernan was stolen from his un-married mother at birth, "because that's what they did then.”
He was taken to the infamous orphanage where his life became a real life horror.
The orphanage was an institution so evil its grounds include a memorial to the abused children who died there.
Mr Kiernan told his story to the royal commission and felt that, at last, someone in authority was listening.
He is one of thousands of people who survived the care of church and state and who have had the chance to tell their story - and to get something done about it.
The commission investigated schools, churches, sports clubs and government organisations across Australia, including how they responded to "allegations and instances of child sexual abuse.”
Now it has reported to the parliament, documenting on the public record what happened while Australia turned a blind eye to the extreme abuse and bullying suffered by defenceless children across the continent.
Legal commentators have said the inquiry has now created the conditions for change, giving society's leaders a choice between making progress or failing in their responsibilities to all of us.
Duterte recalls drug addicts used to rape ‘beautiful
women,’ now degraded to targeting toddlers
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte © Global Look Press
Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte has shared his insights on the destructive effect of drugs, providing a contentious example of addicts raping infants in “modern times” instead of “beautiful women” as they used to.
Duterte’s controversial comments were delivered at his presidential palace, addressing senior government officials and legislators. The Philippines strongman shared his thoughts on the differences between drug addicts then and now. He emphasized the importance to fight modern drugs as they lead to a degradation he “cannot imagine.”
“And you know what? May I be forgiven by Maggie dela Riva (Filipina movie actress). During our time, the rape victims were beautiful,” the president said in a mix of English and Filipino, as quoted by the Rappler news outlet.
Duterte was referring to the case of Riva who was abducted and gang-raped by four men in 1967. While one of the perpetrators died in prison from a drug overdose, the three others were executed by electric chair. In his time, Duterte said, drug-abusers targeted “beautiful women,” who were “worth dying for.”
In “modern times,” however, the moral degradation of the addicts has reached a new low, “even one-month-old infants are being raped,” the Philippines leader said, adding, that he “cannot imagine” such a heinous crime. Following the emotive example, Duterte underlined the importance of eradicating shabu – South East Asia slang term for methamphetamine.
“If you make three million of my country as slaves to a chemical called shabu, you will really make me feel bad. And shabu, one of the immediate and long-term use, shrinks the brain of a person,” the president said, as quoted by the PhilStar newspaper.
Duterte has long been under fire for alleged extrajudicial killings and human-rights violations in his no-holds-barred war on drugs. Over 7,000 suspected drug dealers and users have been killed by law enforcement and “unidentified gunmen” in the country-wide crackdown on drugs since July 2016.
The Philippines president has repeatedly woven in a rape theme in his speeches, delivering controversial comments and crude ‘jokes’ on the matter. Addressing soldiers fighting against Islamic State linked militants on the southern island of Mindanao in May, Duterte expressed his full support in a clear example of his perceived vulgarity.
“I will go to jail for you. If you happen to have raped three women, I will own up to it,” the president told his troops. The remarks were denounced as a really bad joke and caused worldwide consternation. Duterte stood by it, however, insisting it was not a joke, but sarcasm.
While Duterte is clearly not all that sympathetic to adult victims of rape, it is apparent that he draws the line a infant rape. Perhaps this is an indication that he will turn his attention toward this rampant crime in the Philippines and crack down on another evil.
A former Hunter priest has angered a small congregation
by selling their church
Joanne McCarthy
Parishioners were locked out of their church by a bishop who said the building must be sold to pay compensation to child sex survivors.
The Christians were told they can’t call themselves Anglicans if they gather and pray outside the church grounds.
But more than 20 regular parishioners at historic St Aidan’s church at Black Springs, near Oberon, are not taking the decision lying down, after accusing former Hunter priest and Bathurst Anglican Bishop Ian Palmer of “dishonouring the important process set up by the royal commission to support survivors”.
“The diocese is trying to raise $2 million, but selling this church is not going to solve that problem,” said Black Springs parishioner Anne Wilson, who said the 127-year-old tin-clad church on a small block of land was only likely to raise a few tens of thousands of dollars.
A church rectory in Oberon has avoided the property sale, despite being valued at considerably more, Mrs Wilson said.
“It’s very important that the diocese provide redress for child sexual abuse survivors. But if the bishop is serious about it he would sell off the rectory in Oberon because they have no minister there now,” Mrs Wilson said.
In appeals to Oberon Shire Council on Tuesday night and Australian Anglican Primate Philip Freier, the St Aidan’s congregation argues it’s being sold up for challenging the bishop.
In a letter on November 29 Bishop Palmer said St Aidan’s was one of a number of Bathurst diocese parish churches to be closed and sold in order to meet claims for redress from child sex survivors.
The letter made no mention of forced property sales to help meet the diocese’s $25 million debt after it lost a court case over $40 million in outstanding Commonwealth Bank loans.
Bishop Palmer accused some St Aidan’s parish members of “breaking fellowship” and fostering “disunity and division” within the parish by “speaking badly” of people, including him.
Breaking fellowship? - Selling the church is breaking fellowship!
The church locks were changed on November 30, parishioners were warned that entering the property would be an offence, and the monthly service due on December 3 was held in the rain on the church boundary instead.
“We had a small service. We gave thanks for the church and what it had been to us and we prayed for the future,” Mrs Wilson said.
The prayer groups outside the church prompted Bishop Palmer to advise that “using the name ‘Anglican’ to describe a gathering that has not been agreed by the parish priest is contrary to the Canons of the Anglican Church of Australia. They have no authority to do this”.
Sydney Anglican priest Andrew Sempell, a former Bathurst priest who challenged Sydney archdiocese over a $1 million contribution to the same sex marriage “No” campaign, supported the St Aidan’s parishioners and said the St Aidan’s church sale “just doesn’t add up”.
The parish was bucking the trend of diminishing Anglican congregations and made a significant contribution to the remote rural community, Mrs Wilson and Father Sempell said.
“I’ve described the demise of the diocese of Bathurst as death by 1000 cuts, by its own hands,” Father Sempell said.
Bishop Palmer, who was at Hunter parishes including New Lambton, Belmont North and Muswellbrook between 1988 and 2005, declined to respond to questions.
“I spent over 15 very happy years in Newcastle and the Hunter Valley. Regarding Black Springs, I have no idea why a local matter in Bathurst should be of any interest to people in Newcastle,” Bishop Palmer said.
“The diocese of Bathurst, like other dioceses, has sold and plans to sell a number of properties in order to meet claims for redress from survivors of sexual abuse.”
POCSO conviction rates are pathetic at best;
India still has much to do
Nine in 27 child sexual abuse cases ended in conviction this year in Chennai
Chennai: At least one child was sexually abused in Chennai every 48 hours in 2016, shows the national crime records bureau (NCRB) data. If conviction rate in the city's court this year is anything to go by, most of the offenders in these cases could have gone scot-free.
Not could have - DID go Scott-free. And it is more likely that one child is abused in Chennai every 48 minutes, or worse, not 48 hours. Most child sex assaults are not reported and this pathetic conviction rate is one reason why.
Data from the mahila court in Chennai reveals that of the 27 Pocso (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences) cases disposed of from January 1 to December 15 this year, only nine ended in conviction. One was quashed by the Madras high court owing to lack of evidence, while the rest were acquitted after the victims "turned hostile". The conviction rate in the city, at 33%, is less than the national average of 35.3%.
'Victims turned hostile' means they were threatened into keeping their mouths shut. This should never be allowed to happen.
7 / 10 CSA's are rape!
According to the NCRB data, incidents of rape of children in 2016 in India increased by over 82% compared to 2015. Tamil Nadu, with 1,169 such cases, was the fifth highest in the country. In Chennai, seven out of every 10 cases of child sexual abuse reported involved penetrative sex.
Child rights activists say these figures merely reflect the number of crimes registered by the police, they do not reveal the actual situation on the ground.
So, factoring in the conviction rate, does justice elude those who muster the courage to report? If yes, why? Opinions are divided.
Special public prosecutor Gowri Asokan said conviction rates are generally lower in cases where the victim and the accused were involved in a relationship. "At least 30% of the Pocso cases we see relate to elopement, especially in the 15-18 years age group," she said, adding that the cases are initially filed under parental pressure. If the child, Gowri said, is 12 years and below, it is automatically treated as rape even if the girl has given consent. "But in other cases, we can't do anything if the child does not want to go ahead with the trial. The person is acquitted," she said.
Victims, lawyers say, usually "turn hostile" when they are asked to depose before the court and narrate what happened. In at least 5 of the 27 cases, the victim appeared before the court but did not testify. "This is either because the victim and the accused reached a compromise outside court or the victim was married to someone else," said advocate V Kannadasan, citing a similar instance with his client who was a victim. The case had been pending for three years. Lawyers say families also back out as they are worried about people knowing about it and their daughters' marital prospects also getting affected. Till December 15, 75 Pocso cases were pending before the mahila court in Chennai.
Even those who brave these fears find themselves facing other traumatic challenges that force them to take the exit route. Although there are separate entrances to the court complex that houses the mahila court, the victims end up facing the perpetrator in the sole corridor leading to the court and the child deposition rooms. The accused, lawyers say, are also acquitted when the children are not coherent and evidence is insufficient to prosecute.
Vidya Reddy of Chennai-based Tulir - Centre for Prevention and Healing Child Sexual Abuse pointed out that the mahila court doesn't exclusively cater to children but also sees other cases related to, among others, dowry and sexual harassment of women. A conviction rate of 30%, she said, may be higher compared to other cases. "But the victims here are children and it is unfair to draw a comparison," she said.
