Aly Raisman speaks out on US Gymnastic scandal
Richmond, CA police join Oakland being sued by teen street worker
LDS church facing more lawsuits from survivors of Navajo program
W. Virginia man arrested for 20 y/o sex abuses in Middle School
Foster mom in Kansas fighting to save baby from parents and system
7 men arrested in Topeka in past month on CSA charges
North Dakota man charged with child sex crimes from 2009
Gymnastics star Aly Raisman hits out over ‘monster’
ALY Raisman is ready to talk about “the elephant in the room.”
And the six-time Olympic medal-winning gymnast thinks it’s time USA Gymnastics joins in a conversation she feels is long overdue.
The 23-year-old is calling for sweeping change in the organisation in the wake of dozens of allegations of sexual abuse by former national team doctor Larry Nassar, a scandal that has left one of the U.S. Olympic movement’s marquee programs scrambling and Raisman shaken.
Nassar spent nearly 30 years as an osteopath with the USA Gymnastics program and is now in prison in Michigan after pleading guilty to possession of child pornography. He is awaiting trial on separate criminal sexual conduct charges, in addition to being sued by more than 125 women who claim he sexually assaulted them under the guise of treatment.
Nassar has pleaded not guilty to the assault charges, and the dozens of civil suits filed in Michigan are currently in mediation.
Raisman, who was around Nassar regularly at the team’s training facility in Texas and at meets around the globe, declined to talk about whether she was treated improperly by Nassar. She did agree to speak more generally, calling Nassar “a monster” and blaming USA Gymnastics for failing to stop him and spending too much of the fallout attempting to “sweep it under the rug.”
“I feel like there’s a lot of articles about it, but nobody has said, ‘This is horrible, this is what we’re doing to change,’” Raisman said in a wideranging interview Saturday shortly after she and other members of the “Final Five” that won team gold at the 2016 Olympics were inducted into the USA Gymnastics Hall of Fame.
Raisman served as a captain for both the “Final Five” and the “Fierce Five” that won gold in London in 2012. While several alleged Nassar victims have come forward, including 2000 Olympic bronze medallist Jamie Dantzscher, Raisman is the highest profile athlete yet to publicly reprimand the organisation. Raisman said she kept quiet waiting after the initial allegations surfaced last summer, waiting for USA Gymnastics to own up to its mistakes.
While it is taking steps toward creating a safer environment for its athletes, she doesn’t believe it is doing nearly enough openly enough, adding that she feels USA Gymnastics is trying to get on with business as usual.
“What people don’t realise is that this doctor was a doctor for 29 years,” Raisman. “Whether or not he did it to a gymnast, they still knew him. Even if he didn’t do it to you, it’s still the trauma and the anxiety of wondering what could have happened. I think that needs to be addressed. These girls, they should be comfortable going to USA Gymnastics and saying: ‘I need help, I want therapy. I need this.’”
USA Gymnastics launched an independent review of its policies in the wake of the allegations against Nassar and reporting by the Indianapolis Star that highlighted chronic mishandling of abuse allegations against coaches and staff at some of its more than 3,500 clubs across the country.
In June, the federation immediately adopted 70 recommendations proffered by Deborah Daniels, a former federal prosecutor who oversaw the review. The new guidelines require member gyms to go to authorities immediately, with Daniels suggesting USA Gymnastics consider withholding membership from clubs that decline to do so. The organisation also named Toby Stark, a child welfare advocate, as its director of SafeSport. Part of Stark’s mandate is educating members on rules, educational programs, reporting and adjudication services.
USA Gymnastics said in a statement late Saturday it welcomes Raisman’s passion, adding it’s “appalled” by the accusations against Nassar.
“We are taking this issue head-on, and we want to work with Aly and all interested athletes to keep athletes safe,” USA Gymnastics said.
Daniels said repeatedly when her review was published that she wasn’t hired to make judgments on past missteps, something that doesn’t fly with Raisman. She pointed to the reported $1 million severance package given to former president Steve Penny after he resigned under pressure in March as proof that the organisation just doesn’t get it.
I wonder how many of Nassar's 29 years came on Steve Penney's watch. Obviously, he wasn't 'watching' but gets a million dollar handshake and gets to abandon ship as soon as it sails into rough weather.
“I thought, ‘Wow, why couldn’t they create a program?’” Raisman said. “A million dollars is a lot of money. They could do a lot of things to create change. They could create a program. They could even contact all the families that have come forward and say. ‘Can we help your kid with therapy?’”
Lynn Raisman, Aly’s mother, said USA gymnastics needs to “get rid of the people who knew and looked the other way.”
Raisman has used her celebrity and extensive social media reach as a platform to promote positive body image and anti-bullying. She’s currently living in Needham, Massachusetts, working on an autobiography due out in November while weighing whether to take a shot at the 2020 Games. Either way, she wants USA Gymnastics to evolve and stressed there’s a difference between her criticism of USA Gymnastics and the sport as a whole.
The sport is fine. She loves gymnastics. It’s the parent organisation that needs to undergo a transformation. And she’s clear on the message she wants it to send.
“Everyone is important,” Raisman said. “It doesn’t matter if you’re the Olympic champion or you’re an 8-year-old that goes to gymnastics in Ohio, or wherever you are in the U.S. Every single kid is important and I want USA Gymnastics to do a better job with that.”
Richmond, California Sued in Police Sex Abuse Scandal
BY PETER TSEROS
SAN FRANCISCO (CN) —The woman at the heart of the police sex abuse scandal that rocked Oakland, California, last year sued the neighboring city of Richmond, its current and former police chiefs and six other officers Thursday, accusing them of sexually trafficking her in exchange for police protection and information.
Although the federal complaint identifies the plaintiff as Jane Doe, her attorney John Burris confirmed in an interview that Doe is Jasmine Abuslin aka Celeste Guap, with whom Oakland settled similar allegations in May.
In the new lawsuit, Abuslin details her relationship with the Richmond Police Department, where she says it was an open secret that she was “available to them for sexual favors and pleasure in exchange for paid monies, protection, or other forms of consideration.” Abuslin, who worked as a child prostitute, describes her role there as an “exclusively department retained sex worker.”
Abuslin says current Police Chief Allwyn Brown, former Police Chief Chris Magnus, and Internal Affairs Division head Lt. Brian Dickerson knew what was happening but refused to adequately investigate or discipline their officers. Brown, Magnus and Dickerson are defendants in the case.
Abuslin claims that Richmond police investigated the misconduct only after the Oakland allegations became public. Eleven Richmond officers were identified for discipline. Of those 11, one officer was recommended for termination, one for demotion, two for suspensions of 80 hours and 120 hours, and five to receive letters of reprimand, according to the complaint.
“This is terribly outrageous,” Burris said in the interview. “They took advantage of a vulnerable young person. Girls like this are always suffering from some psychological deficit of some kind. Instead of acknowledging that and getting her help, they took advantage of her vulnerabilities. That’s the most negative and damning aspect of this.”
Investigation sparked by suicide
Allegations that a slew of officers from departments around the Bay Area had sex with the teenager came to light in September 2015 after an Oakland officer killed himself and left a suicide note implicating several other officers.
Abuslin, who went by the name Celeste Guap, filed a claim in 2016 against Oakland, the Oakland Police Department and several of its officers, seeking $66 million in damages. The city settled in June for nearly $1 million.
Abuslin also plans to sue the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office, the Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Department, the Livermore Police Department, and possibly the San Francisco Police Department, according to Burris.
One officer named in the Richmond lawsuit, Terrance Jackson, befriended Abuslin when he was assigned to her high school as a resource officer, according to the complaint. Although he knew she was an underage sex worker and was legally obligated to help her, he neglected to do so. After Abuslin graduated, he allegedly came to her house while on duty and groped her.
Another officer, Armando Moreno, promised to help Abuslin escape prostitution after meeting her on Richmond’s 23rd Street, a sex trafficking hub, the complaint states. Instead, she says, Moreno began having sex with her in exchange for immunity from arrest and confidential police information.
On one occasion, Abuslin was detained and handcuffed while working on 23rd Street, but immediately released without being arrested or issued a citation. The incident occurred just after Moreno texted Abuslin to warn her of a prostitution sting in the area, according to the complaint.
Abuslin says she was afraid she would be arrested or prosecuted if she refused the sexual advances of the officers, who had their police badges and guns during their encounters.
She also accuses the officers of spiriting her away to Florida under the pretext of attending a drug treatment program, to prevent her from testifying against them after the Oakland allegations became public.
“It’s been very difficult for her,” Burris said of Abuslin’s life since the misconduct was revealed. “She has good days and bad days.”
Abuslin is suing Brown, Magnus and Dickerson for supervisory liability and failing to properly supervise and train their officers. She accuses the other five officers of sexually exploiting her in violation of her constitutional rights.
All eight officer defendants and the city of Richmond are accused of conspiring to obstruct justice through witness tampering, by sending Abuslin to Florida.
Richmond Mayor Tom Butt and the Richmond Police Department could not be reached for comment Thursday.
Mormon church faces new lawsuits over alleged failure to protect children from abuse
Lorraine Caballero
Mormon church leaders are now facing several lawsuits over their alleged failure to protect children from sexual abuse under a now-defunct foster program which ran from the 1940s to 2000.
(REUTERS / Jim Urquhart)The LDS Church's Mormon Temple in downtown Salt Lake City, Utah, is seen January 27, 2012.
Five lawsuits have been filed against the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 2016 on behalf of Navajo tribal members who alleged that the Mormon church failed to protect children from sexual abuse at the hands of foster families. Three other similar lawsuits were recently filed in Navajo Nation court and Washington state, The Associated Press detailed.
During a news conference in Phoenix on Aug. 15, a new Navajo plaintiff identified as A.H. said she told her local bishop that her foster father was abusing her. However, the bishop told her not to talk about it and that the matter would be addressed.
According to A.H., the abuse continued and the Church did not report it to authorities. She sought legal advice after she observed that the same thing was happening to other Navajos such as a woman identified only as J.C.
The attorneys of the plaintiffs said the Church leaders failed to report the abuse to authorities or to other church members even though they knew about what was happening. They also allege that the Mormon church did not properly monitor foster families.
Mormon church representative Eric Hawkins has not yet responded to a request for comment on the issue. However, the church has said it takes certain steps to prevent abuse from happening.
Earlier this month, the Herald Sun reported that a Mormon church high priest named Darran Scott, aka Darran Page, pleaded guilty to child sexual assaults. He now faces jail term for molesting young boys under his care.
Based on court documents, Scott threatened the boys to prevent them from talking about the abuse. He was able to post bail and is set to face court again later this month.
West Virginia man arrested on
child sexual abuse charges
By Jordan Nelson Register-Herald Reporter
A Fayette County man was arrested Friday for alleged sexual offenses, Fayette County Sheriff Mike Fridley and Prosecuting Attorney Larry Harrah reported.
In a press release, Fridley and Harrah said in early May of this year officials received a complaint concerning allegations of sexual abuse and sexual assault. It was reported the alleged crimes occurred nearly 20 years ago in the former Nuttall Middle School building in Fayette County.
Following an investigation into the allegations, officials filed a criminal complaint Friday evening in Fayette County Magistrate Court.
Victor Glen Whitt, 57, of Hico, was arrested and charged with seven felony counts of sexual abuse by a parent, guardian, custodian or person in a position of trust and six felony counts of second degree sexual assault.
Whitt was arraigned in Fayette County Magistrate Court and released on a $100,000 bond posted by Perry Bonding Company.
According to the criminal complaint, the victim was a pre-teen female child. The alleged crimes are reported to have occurred in the late 1990s.
“All individuals charged with alleged criminal offenses are presumed to be innocent until proven guilty,” Harrah said. He said Assistant Fayette County Prosecuting Attorney Elizabeth Campbell has been overseeing the investigation since its earliest stages.
“The information developed during the preliminary investigation into these allegations indicates sufficient probable cause for criminal charges to be filed at this time,” Fridley said. The incident remains under investigation by Sgt. T.N. Mooney and FCSO Detective Bureau.
Just For Kids Inc. Child and Youth Advocacy Center assisted in the investigation.
Hico, West Virginia
Kansas foster mother believes DCF, KVC downplaying risks of child sex abuse
Mandy Jones, an Ozawkie foster mother, fears the Kansas system designed to protect children has sent a girl into a dangerous situation.
Jones repeatedly raised concerns with KVC Health Systems social workers and Kansas Department for Children and Families representatives earlier this year, saying an infant girl was at risk of sexual abuse in the home of her biological parents. Despite her objections, a court in July placed the child permanently in the home of a man Jones learned was a registered sex offender, she said.
“They wouldn’t listen to our concerns and even tried to hush them,” Jones said this past week.
Her complaints add to criticism of a privatized foster system that has seen the deaths of two children, an abuse reporting backlog and ongoing staff shortages.
Jenny Kutz, director of communications for KVC, a private contractor that handles foster care in the eastern third of Kansas, confirmed the provider was aware of the concerns, but she declined to comment further.
DCF spokeswoman Theresa Freed wouldn’t comment on the case specifically but said custody with a biological parent is “statutorily the preferred placement.”
“Reintegration with the home from which children were removed (usually a parent or parents) is generally the goal, when that is a safe option,” she said in an email. “That is assessed on a case-by-case basis.”
Fears of abuse
Jones and her husband, Colby, have cared for children in protective custody for more than three years. In May 2016, they received a 6-week-old girl who had been removed from the care of a couple at birth. Case workers told her the parents had relinquished rights to other children, and the father was a registered offender with at least one sexual abuse conviction.
A man with the same name as the father, who The Topeka Capital-Journal is not naming to avoid identifying the girl, appears in the Kansas Bureau of Investigation’s registered offender database. In 2003, he was convicted of sexual abuse of a 10-year-old girl in Iowa.
And since child sex abuse tends to be progressive, there is a good chance that the pedophile has moved to younger children, even babies.
Jones became concerned when she learned the parents were feeding the child during short unsupervised visits, even if she had already been fed. Her anxiety rose when on at least two occasions she observed “inappropriate” use of diaper cream.
After a visit in January with the parents, Jones noticed diaper cream mixed with the child’s stool when she changed her diaper, but couldn’t find any sign of diaper rash. The baby was less than a year old at the time.
Jones alerted a KVC case worker who directed her to continue to check the girl after visits with the parents, she said.
Following another short visit with the parents in February, Jones discovered cream covering all of the girl’s diaper area. So much cream was used, she said, she could “smell it on her when I picked her up.”
Jones saw no diaper rash and feared the girl had suffered trauma.
KVC directed the family to take the girl to a sexual assault nurse examiner. That nurse said there was no physical evidence of sexual abuse but told the family the odd use of diaper cream was consistent with sexual grooming, Jones said.
“I was scared,” she said. “I thought I needed to do something. Better safe than sorry.”
Jones reported her concerns about abuse and neglect to KVC verbally and in written reports, she said. Repeatedly, the caseworker assured her the concerns were being taken seriously, but visitation with the family continued.
“I asked them, ‘Are you just waiting until this child gets hurt to do something?’ ” she said. “They just said they needed more evidence.”
A court had ordered the child to be placed with a different foster family, Jones said, because her family was deemed “not neutral,” but the child remained in her care until July.
Not neutral... does that mean 'disinterested'? 'Not neutral' just indicates the level of care and concern these foster parents have for their wards. It appears the court would prefer someone less interested in the welfare of the child.
“I was trying to protect her from what I know will happen,” she said.
Freed said if a parent is a verified sexual offender, “it would be a factor taken into consideration along with all relevant information,” but reintegration with child’s biological parents is ultimately the decision of a judge, not the agency or its contractors. When abuse is suspected, the “appropriate staff” addresses the concerns, she said.
If a parent is a sex offender, there should be no other considerations. All children should be removed from that home until the sex offender is removed or 'cured', if that is even possible.
While reintegrating a child with biological parents, the parents may be assessed and monitored, including psychological or other evaluations, and home-based programs may be recommended.
“DCF contractors work closely with various community-based service providers to address the specific issues related to the family and their needs, to ensure the safety and well-being of the children,” she said.
Jones, who spoke with DCF ombudsmen Randy Lind and other liaisons several times about the issue, felt like neither KVC nor DCF investigated her reports, she said. In late July, she filed a formal complaint and said she was told the child was safe with the biological parents.
“It seem like they talked to the case manager and got the answers they wanted and then didn’t go any further,” she said.
Kansas’ foster care system has endured a torrent of criticisms.
A state audit made public earlier this year found social workers were overburdened with caseloads, and a federal review last fall found DCF missed safety, stability and other benchmarks. In December, former KVC employee Sarah Coats released emails that showed the agency struggled to keep up with the volume of calls to an abuse reporting hotline because of “severe staffing shortages.”
Seven men arrested in past month in Topeka
for sex offenses against children
Braden Voss, Scott Anderson, Jason Whitaker, Anthony Satterwhite, Brandon Ewing, Mark Schumaker and Brandon Bourne were arrested in connection with sex offenses against children.
(Shawnee County Jail)
In recent weeks, several men have been arrested in Topeka in connection with sex crimes against children, an act that has long-term consequences for victims and society as a whole, according to one expert.
Katelyn Brewer, CEO of Darkness to Light, says sexual abuse is the root cause of many societal ills including substance abuse, promiscuity, mental illness and even health problems like obesity and diabetes.
An individual who’s been violated and hasn’t worked through their trauma may use drugs or alcohol to numb their pain or use food to make them appear less attractive, she said.
There’s also an economic side to the effects of sexual abuse. By the time a victim is 18 or older, $210,000 has been spent in taxpayer money for various forms of treatment, Brewer said.
I think there is also the probability that many survivors will struggle to succeed financially just as many also struggle with relationships.
It also plays a role in human trafficking — 70 percent of those who are trafficked were first victims of child sexual abuse.
The problem is widespread.
“Unfortunately we work with a statistic that says one in 10 children before the age of 18 will be a victim of sexual abuse,” Brewer said.
I have complained to D2L about the use of that statistic. It does not include peer-on-peer sex abuse among children which can be just as damaging as adult abuse. The CDC uses 1:5 as their assessment of the rate of child sex abuse in the USA. The rate, of course, is much higher for girls than for boys.
For those with an intellectual disability, that rate jumps to 50 percent.
Ninety percent of victims are violated by someone in the family or someone the family knows and likely trusts.
“It happens in your home, your neighborhood, your school district,” Brewer said. “It’s a silent epidemic and that results in stigma.”
The fear that adult victims have in reporting sexual assault to authorities is the same fear that a child victim has in confiding to a parent or trusted person — that they won’t be believed, Brewer said.
Darkness To Light works to empower adults to prevent and recognize child sexual abuse.
The South Carolina-based organization holds training in all 50 states. In Topeka, 318 people have undergone training and in Kansas, 2,303 individuals have completed it. Brewer said that with enough training, she hopes there will be a cultural change that enables more discussion and responsible action.
Most child sex abuse remains hidden
An estimated one-third of child sex abuse incidents are identified and even fewer are reported to law enforcement.
“It’s very low unfortunately,” Brewer said.
However, cases that do result in criminal charges have a relatively high rate of conviction — 80 percent.
That is very good. Many countries have conviction rates that are in the low, single digits.
Topeka police Lt. John Sturgeon said incidents are reported by people coming forward with information, referrals from the Department for Children and Families and tips received from The National Center for Missing &Exploited Children. Detectives receive specialized training for these types of crimes and are part of a multidisciplinary team who meet regularly to discuss ongoing investigations. Detectives research the incidents, evidence is processed and interviews are conducted. If probable cause exists, an arrest is made, Sturgeon said.
Shawnee County District Attorney Mike Kagay said prosecuting sex offenders is a top priority for his office especially when a child victim is involved. Kagay said it’s important for the community to be aware of these crimes and take precautions to safeguard children.
“Today’s technology offers innumerable avenues of access to our children, and sex predators are all too aware of this reality,” Kagay said. “Many of our case investigations begin with an active parent noticing inappropriate or suspect conversations on social media, and then relaying that information to the police.”
In the past month, seven men have been jailed for felony sex crimes against minors.
Those arrested include:
Anthony J. Satterwhite, 29, and Jason M. Whitaker, 37, in connection with aggravated endangering a child; criminal sodomy with a child older than 14 but younger than 16; and aggravated indecent liberties with a child-intercourse. Topeka police say the two are known to each other, but not related to the victim.
Scott Vladimir Anderson, 26, was charged with six counts of criminal sodomy with a child; aggravated trafficking; electronic solicitation and indecent solicitation of a child.
Braden Charles Voss, 24, was charged with aggravated trafficking, two counts of criminal sodomy with a child; eight counts of electronic solicitation; and indecent solicitation of a child. Topeka police say Anderson and Voss know each other and are associated with the same case.
Brandon Greshan Deangel Ewing, 28, was charged with six counts of criminal sodomy with a child; 11 counts of electronic solicitation of a child; two counts of sexual exploitation of a child; and furnishing alcohol to a minor for illicit purposes. His preliminary hearing is scheduled for Sept. 6.
Brandon Michael Bourne, 23, was charged with two counts of aggravated indecent liberties with a child and one count of indecent solicitation of a child.
Mark Allyn Schumacher, 50, was charged with three counts of sexual exploitation of a child.
More information on Darkness to Light and how to recognize the signs of abuse can be found at https://www.d21.org. Support is available by texting LIGHT to 741741.
North Dakota Man Charged For Alleged
Child Sex Crimes in 2009
TJ Nelson
GRAND FORKS, ND — A Grand Forks man has been charged for child sex crimes dating back to 2009.
Four felony counts of gross sexual imposition were filed against 36-year-old George Lyons in late June.
A preliminary hearing earlier this month was cancelled and his next court appearance is set for October.
The North Dakota BCI reopened the 2009 child sexual abuse case in January 2016 which led to the new charges.
Lyons is also awaiting trial in Minnesota on two counts of alleged child sexual assault.
No comments:
Post a Comment