Buddhist Priest, 2 Teachers, Soldier Lead Today's Global P&P List

Nova Scotia teacher charged with child-luring - Canada
Buddhist priest admits molesting little boys for 10 years - Germany
Midlands grounds-keeper charged with 144 child sex offences - Ireland
Teacher jailed for life for awful live-stream CSA from Philippines - UK
French soldier sentenced for CSA in Africa, but no jail time - Burkina Faso

Cape Breton, N.S. teacher accused of
3 counts of child luring

Jason David Pentecost, 40, teaches math at

Sydney Academy high school

By Yvonne LeBlanc-Smith, CBC News 

A 40-year-old math teacher at Sydney Academy high school in Cape Breton has been charged with three counts of child luring.

Jason David Pentecost is alleged to have committed the offences between Feb. 28 and June 10 of this year. He was charged Wednesday.

As part of his conditions of release he is forbidden from contacting the two alleged victims, and he is not to go within 150 metres of any high school in Nova Scotia.

The complainants are both females, aged 16 and 17.

Pentecost will return to Sydney provincial court to enter pleas to the charges on Aug. 14.

His status as a teacher is unclear. The Cape Breton-Victoria Regional School Board declined to comment on the case, citing the police investigation.

Buddhist priest in Augsburg trial admits to

child sex abuse

A man has admitted in court to sexually abusing seven boys while heading a Buddhist community in southern Germany. The abuse, which took place over a period of 10 years, involved boys aged 4 to 13.

Augsburg Prozessbeginn Zen-Priester Missbrauch (picture-alliance/dpa/S. Puchner)

At the start of his trial in the southern German city of Augsburg on Friday, a Zen Buddhist priest fully admitted to sexually abusing a total of seven boys over the course of a decade.

The 62-year-old man is accused of 22 cases of sexual abuse, several of which have been deemed as "severe abuse" by prosecutors. He could face up to 15 years in prison.

The defendant's lawyer, Hermann Christoph Kühn, read off an explanation of the crimes at the beginning of the trial, which the man later confirmed to be true.

"He is very ashamed of his behavior and wants to take full responsibility for it. He also wants to try and reach a settlement with the victims," Bavarian public broadcaster Bayerischer Rundfunk quoted Kühn as saying.

The abuse, which spanned a period of 10 years, involved victims aged between 4 and 13.

"It hurts me greatly, that I caused so much pain," the defendant told the court, according to news agency dpa.

Years of abuse

Prior to heading a Buddhist community near Augsburg, the defendant was a police officer.

Among other acts, he is accused of sexually abusing a woman's two sons after she sought out the priest for grief counseling following the death of her husband. He later started a relationship with the woman and used the familial ties to abuse her sons.

The man also sexually abused a child refugee who had declared church asylum, and in another case, he sexually abused a young drug addict.

Authorities uncovered some 2,800 files of child pornography while searching the man's house. According to court documents, he also occasionally took pornographic photos of his victims.

Presiding Judge Lenart Hoesch had rejected the defendant's initial, previous confession as unsatisfactory, saying that the priest had effectively portrayed himself as a victim whose mistake was that he never said "stop." The judge had said that such a confession would not have been sufficient to spare the victims from testifying in court about their childhood experiences. 

Over 40 witnesses had been asked to testify in the case, a statement from the court reads, but the defendant's comprehensive confession means that many are now less likely to be called to the stand. The trial is scheduled to run through early August, but may now come to an end earlier.

Former caretaker at GAA ground charged with

144 child sexual abuse offences

The man appeared before Longford District Court this morning

A FORMER CARETAKER at a Midlands GAA grounds has been charged with over 140 offences relating to child sexual abuse.

GAA - Gaelic Athletic Association

The 62 year-old man who cannot be named for legal reasons appeared before Longford District Court this morning.

Ireland Midlands

The court heard the man, who is unemployed, was charged with a total of 144 offences which are alleged to have taken place between the year 2000 and 2013.

The offences against four victims include those of sexual assault, production and possession of child pornography and the sexual exploitation of a child.

The man was released on bail subject to his own bond of €500 and an independent surety of €500.

Judge Seamus Hughes ordered that he surrender any travel documents, have no contact with the injured parties or witnesses, reside at his current address and notify gardai of any change.

The case has been put back to 12 September for the preparation of the book of evidence.

Retired teacher who arranged child sex abuse in Philippines jailed for life

By rod malcolm 

A 57-year-old retired teacher has been jailed for life arranging the sexual abuse of children in Philippines over internet.

Paul O'Neill, of Wroxham Drive, Wollaton Vale, pleaded guilty to 30 charges of procuring children as young as four for sex acts, including rape, and will serve 12 years before he can apply for parole.

He was a teacher at The Becket School in West Bridgford. He retired last August after 25 years working at the school. The offences do not relate to The Becket School.

He appeared at Nottingham Crown Court today (Friday, June 16) and followed the proceedings using a hearing aid.

James Varley, prosecuting, said O'Neill had never been in trouble before and is a retired teacher, "bastion of the local church, and Sunday school teacher who appears to be a wholesome, married father-of-two.

"We now know this was clearly not the case. There was a very dark side to him which he kept concealed."

The sentence was imposed by Judge Gregory Dickinson QC who told him: "In plain English, you are a danger to children. Given the chance, you will offend again. You are obsessed with and addicted to this most vile and horrific abuse."

It took 15 minutes to read out the 30 charges, each one outlining a sex act, procuring very young children, or recording the abuse on his computer.

The judge was shown some of the footage and told O'Neill of Wroxham Drive, Wollaton Vale: "It should reduce any compassionate human being to tears.

"You demanded that these little children should suffer pain and degradation. You wanted to see children - very young girls. You paid for the most extensive sexual abuse."

Court reporter Rod Malcolm outlines the case:

Mr Varley said that sex shows were organised by O'Neill who spoke on the internet to women, often telling them that he wanted performances to involve particularly young girls.

Police found that he sent at least £6,000 to the Philippines. My Varley said: "That is a large sum of money in this country and a huge sum of money in the Philippines. An absolutely phenomenal amount."

He said there was no direct evidence to say that O'Neill had sex with any girls, although he spoke to women about arranging this.

Mr Varley said: "He researched child sex tourism. He went ostensibly as a teacher for a charity."

When O'Neill was arrested last November, he was released on bail. But Mr Varley said he went out and bought a laptop and began researching young girls.

Sean Smith, mitigating, said that O'Neill had shown no signs of an unhealthy interest in children before 2008 and described the offences as "horrific and disgusting".

He said that O'Neill was like a drug addict who could not stop and sunk into "depravity".

But he also said that O'Neill had shown signs that he would respond well to treatment aimed at solving his problems.

Mr Smith added: "He has fallen from a height greater than many people fall and this is his own fault."

An NSPCC spokesman said: "O'Neill's victims endured unimaginably harrowing experiences and unspeakable abuse, all for his sexual gratification.

"The production, consumption and circulation of this appalling material are abhorrent and dangerous crimes that cause untold damage to the victims involved.

"It is vital O'Neill now receives treatment in prison to lessen any further risk he poses to children.

"Anyone concerned about a child's welfare can contact the NSPCC Helpline, 0808 800 5000, in confidence 24/7, while young people can contact Childline on 0800 1111."

Wollaton Vale, UK

French soldier given no jail time for

Burkina sex abuse of small children

By RFI 

French military helicopters take part in the Sahel operation

AFP

A French soldier found guilty of child sex abuse in Burkina Faso has been sentenced to a year in prison with another year suspended. As is usual in France with jail sentences of less than a year, he will not serve time unless he violates conditions set by the law.

A French court on Monday passed the sentence on special forces soldier Sébastien L, 40, and banned him exercising an occupation that would bring him in contact with children.

The offence took place in 2015 when he was in Burkina Faso as part of France's operation in the Sahel.

While staying in a Ouagadougou hotel, a French-Burkinabé woman found video of the man abusing her daughter and another girl, one aged three, the other five, in the swimming pool and complained to the French embassy.

The soldier at first denied the charge but later confessed, blaming the effects of alcohol and the stress of his work.

The court also ordered him to pay compensation - 6,000 euros to one girl and 3,000 to her mother, 4,000 to the other and 2,000 to each of her parents and 1,000 euros to each of the grandparents.

Investigators found no case against another soldier who was with Sébastien L at the time.

The case became public two months after allegations of sex abuse of minors by French soldiers in the Central African Republic (CAR) were published in the British press.