The Weinstein effect: TIME honors sexual misconduct whistleblowers
© TIME / AFP
The TIME ‘Person of the Year’ award went to those women who have accused their male colleagues of sexual misconduct, a movement that unleashed ‘one of the highest-velocity shifts’ in US culture since the 1960s, the magazine says.
It’s the story that just won’t stop giving, and the US media can’t stop dishing it up. Now the movement, immortalized on social media as the #MeToo campaign, has garnered worldwide attention.
Passing over a number of other famous contenders, including Donald Trump, Xi Jinping, and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, TIME endorsed the #MeToo campaign, which some say has forever altered relations between the sexes – for better or for worse.
The magazine’s cover features actress Ashley Judd, singer Taylor Swift, and former Uber engineer Susan Fowler, (and what happened to Rose McGowan?) who have all gone public over their sexual misconduct experiences. Sharing the spotlight with the high and mighty are Isabel Pascual, a Mexican woman who works picking strawberries, and Adama Iwu, a corporate lobbyist in Sacramento.
Revealing the ‘Silence Breakers’ on the Today show, TIME editor-in-chief Edward Felsenthal explained the idea behind the selection.
“The idea that influential, inspirational individuals shape the world could not be more apt this year,” Felsenthal said. “For giving voice to open secrets, for moving whisper networks onto social networks, for pushing us all to stop accepting the unacceptable, The Silence Breakers are the 2017 Person of the Year.”
The Weinstein effect
The avalanche of sexual harassment claims began with the epic downfall of Harvey Weinstein, 65. The Hollywood mogul co-founded Miramax, the entertainment powerhouse that catapulted a number of young stars to fame and fortune, including Matt Damon and Ben Affleck. Weinstein’s empire came crashing down practically overnight when The New York Times released a report alleging numerous allegations of sexual misconduct against Weinstein from dozens of women.
Following a social media campaign, numerous other women took the cue, coming out of the shadows to demand justice. Every day, it seems, a new name is added to a growing list of American men – many of them household names in their own right – who are being accused of sexual misconduct from their female colleagues. The actor Kevin Spacey, comedian Louis C.K., journalist Charlie Rose, and NBC host Matt Lauer are just a few of the prominent males from the world of entertainment that have seen their careers ended overnight.
In one case that deserves special mention, it has been reported that over 300 women accused filmmaker James Toback of sexual harassment.
James Toback is an American screenwriter and film director. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay in 1991 for Bugsy. He has directed films including The Pick-up Artist, Two Girls and a Guy and Black and White. Wikipedia
The world of politics, however, was also not spared. Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore, Congressman John Conyers (D-Michigan) and Senator Al Franken (D- Minnesota) are all struggling to save their political careers, if not their reputations, following accusations of sexual misconduct brought against them.
The question now, after the dust is finally starting to settle on the salacious scandals, is: what does this mean for the future of sexual relations in the US?
Good choice by Time. The #MeToo campaign is bringing about at least a partial change in attitudes of powerful men toward women that is long overdue. Treating women with respect, we hope, is here to stay. You can't tell by this article, but it is happening all over the western world.
I have two concerns about the longevity of the campaign as there is pushback already. For instance, President Trump endorses Roy Moore for the US Senate in spite of a habit of dating teenage girls when he was in his 30s. You could argue that he has repented and God has forgiven him, but that's not his argument. Although I haven't actually heard him deny it, he blames it all on his political enemies citing the timing. Well, the timing has to do with the #MeToo campaign, and the realization that children were (are) groomed by adults and taken advantage of. So it's a question of political expediency for Trump and he's willing to overlook serious character flaws for that. At least you can't call him a hypocrite.
The other concern is the proliferation of pornography and its easy availability to adolescent boys. This is not the way to develop respect for girls in the coming generation and the exploding culture of rape in our education institutions bears that out. Pornography must be driven deep underground from whence it came. Pedophiles use it to teach children how to be sexually abused. It is the very opposite of generating respect for women in society.
Gymnast McKayla Maroney plunged into
‘emotional abyss’ by abuse
by TRACY CONNOR
Olympic gymnast McKayla Maroney's mother says the gold medalist's sexual abuse at the hands of a team doctor plunged her into an "emotional abyss" so deep the family feared she would kill herself.
Erin Maroney and her daughter bared their anguish in letters to the federal judge who will sentence Larry Nassar on Thursday for possession of child pornography. The Maroneys are asking the court to give him the maximum punishment.
Artistic Gymnastics World Championships Belgium 2013 - Day Three;
McKayla Maroney prepares to compete at the Artistic Gymnastics World Championships in Belgium in 2013.
Dean Mouhtaropoulos / Getty Images
"This experience has been shattering to McKayla," Erin Maroney wrote to the judge. "She has transformed from a bubbly, positive, loving, world class athlete into a young adult who was deeply depressed, at times suicidal and essentially descended into an emotional abyss.
"At times I was unsure whether I would open her bedroom door and find her dead. Her father and I have been living this nightmare for years and until recently we felt hopeless."
"The revelation of McKayla’s abuse has devastated our family. It has devastated McKayla’s siblings and worst of all it has destroyed her emotionally and nearly snuffed out the inner light of this beautiful loving human being."
McKayla said in her letter that she may never fully recover from the trauma.
"Dr. Nassar was not a doctor," she wrote. "He in fact is, was, and forever shall be, a child molester, and a monster of a human being. End of story! He abused my trust, he abused my body and he left scars on my psyche that may never go away."
McKayla, a member of the 2012 "Fierce Five" Olympic squad that competed in London, said on Twitter in October that she was repeatedly molested by Nassar starting when she was 13. She is one of three members of that team and about 140 women total to lodge accusations that Nassar abused them under the guise of medical treatments.
Nassar, 54, has pleaded guilty to sexual assault charges in connection with 10 former patients, none of them Olympians, in state court in Michigan and agreed to a sentence range of 20 to 40 years.
Under his plea agreement with the feds, Nassar said he would accept a sentence of between 22 and 27 years in the child pornography case, but prosecutors are urging the judge to consider a sentence up to 60 years, which is the maximum.
Erin Maroney said she wonders if Nassar had pornographic images of McKayla that he managed to erase before investigators seized his computer equipment.
"These are questions that keep my husband and I up at night. I know this also haunts my daughter. Will she wake up one day to find an image of her 13-year-old self being assaulted on the internet?" she wrote. "This is what our family must live with and it will never go away."
She said that two years after McKayla first told her story to an investigator for USA Gymnastics, she is still learning gut-wrenching details of the encounters with Nassar.
"I also learned a few weeks ago from my daughter that at the world championships in Tokyo the Defendant drugged her, made her lay nude on a treatment table, straddled her and digitally penetrated her while rubbing his erect penis against her," she wrote. "She was only 15 years old.
"She said to me, 'Mom I thought I was going to die.'" I cannot tell you the anguish her Dad and I feel over this, and the responsibility we feel for not being aware of this, or being able to stop it."
Even worse, the Maroneys said, is their feeling that the U.S. Olympic Committee, USA Gymnastics, which appointed Nassar as team doctor, and Michigan State University, where he had his sports-medicine practice, could have stopped the abuse years earlier.
"A question that has been asked over and over is: How could have Larry Nassar been allowed to assault so many women and girls for more than two decades?" McKayla wrote. "The answer to that question lies in the failure of not one, but three major institutions to stop him."
All three institutions say they have beefed up their efforts to protect young athletes.
Nassar, who long claimed that his "treatments" were medically sound and not sexually motivated, said last month that he was pleading guilty because he believed it was time for the community "to heal."
"While Mr. Nassar wishes he could rewind the hands of time and make different choices, he realizes that this is not possible," his lawyers wrote in a presentencing memo. "Nevertheless, Mr. Nassar has already done much soul searching about his life, and he is using this time to engage in continued growth."
Who cares? The creep is going to rot, as he deserves, whether it is in prison or Hell. I have no doubt that he is sorry, sorry that he was caught.
of young family friend
By Carol Robinson crobinson@al.com
A 33-year-old Birmingham man has been arrested and charged with sexual abuse of a child.
The Jefferson County Sheriff's Office announced charges Monday against Armando Torres Escobar. Chief Deputy Randy Christian said deputies were called on Aug. 4 to a Pinson Valley home to investigate the reported sex abuse.
The girl had gone to her mother and told her that a family friend had been engaging in inappropriate sexual contact with her, Christian said. Sheriff's detectives immediately launched their investigation.
On Nov. 29, Escobar contacted investigators through his attorney and agreed to turn himself in. He did so the following day, and was booked into the Jefferson County Jail to await formal charges.
On Friday, the Jefferson County District Attorney's Office issued warrants formally charging Escobar with two counts of sexual abuse of a child under 12, and one count of sexual abuse by force.
He remains in the jail with bonds totaling $150,000.
Iowa man arrested for sexual abuse of toddler
A rural Mahaska County man was recently arrested on sexual abuse warrant.
On November 8th, 2017, the Mahaska County Sheriff’s Office received the complaint of a possible sexual abuse and a three and a half-year-old female at a rural address in Mahaska County.
Following an investigation in the complaint, the Sheriff’s Offices filed the charge of Second Degree Sexual Abuse, a class B felony, against 30-year-old Justin Douglas Schaefer.
A warrant was issued for Schaefer’s arrest.
Schaefer was taken into custody, pursuant to this warrant, on Friday, December 1. He was arrested on Taintor and transported to the Mahaska County Jail where he remains on a $50,000 bond.
The Sheriff’s Office was assisted in this investigation by the Department of Human Services and the St. Luke’s Child Protection center located in Hiawatha, Iowa.
Mahashka Co., IA
Met Opera Suspends Conductor James Levine After More Sexual Abuse Allegations
Stars are Falling - Metropolitan Opera Conductor
Two additional men have accused the famous conductor of
molesting them as teenagers
molesting them as teenagers
Nina Golgowski Trends reporter, HuffPost
The Metropolitan Opera in New York suspended its famed conductor James Levine on Sunday after two additional men came forward to accuse him of sexually molesting them as teenagers years ago.
The Met said in a statement that day that it had hired Robert J. Cleary, a former U.S. attorney who leads the investigations practice at the law firm Proskauer Rose, to investigate the allegations by three men.
“While we await the results of the investigation, based on these new news reports, the Met has made the decision to act now,” Met general manager Peter Gelb tweeted on Sunday night. “This is a tragedy for anyone whose life has been affected.”
News of Levine’s suspension came one day after a 2016 police report surfaced, accusing him of sexually abusing a teenager beginning in 1986. That man, Ashok Pai, has since spoken to The New York Times about the alleged abuse, as have the two other accusers, whose allegations date back to 1968.
Gelb told the Times on Saturday that the Met first learned about Pai’s abuse allegations last year, but didn’t do anything then as Levine denied the allegations and police in Illinois, where the report was filed, did not advance the case. The statute of limitations had already expired for a possible sex crime in Illinois, according to the New York Post, which was the first to publish news of Pai’s police report.
So, it appears the Met was happy to continue with the pederast at the helm as long as it didn't make the news. Kind of shows where their real heart lies.
Chris Brown, who played principal bass in the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra for more than 30 years, told the Times that Levine had inappropriately touched him and instructed him to touch Levine back when he was 17. The abuse allegedly occurred at the Meadow Brook School of Music in Michigan, where Levine was on the summer program faculty and Brown was performing.
The third accuser, James Lestock, described similar sexual experiences with Levine beginning when he was 17 years old and studying cello, also at Meadow Brook.
In his report filed with the Lake Forest Police Department in October 2016, Pai said he first met Levine as a child at the Ravinia summer music festival in Illinois with his parents. They met again when Pai was 15, and he said Levine became a kind of mentor to him. He said Levine showered him with gifts like conductor batons and encouraged him to come to New York to audition as a conductor, the New York Post wrote citing the police report.
Eventually, Pai said, some uncomfortable hand-holding in Levine’s car turned into Levine masturbating in front of him and, as he got older, the conductor inappropriately touching and fondling him. The alleged abuse continued after he turned 18, Pai said in the police report.
A spokesperson for the Ravinia festival, reached by HuffPost on Monday, said they had not been aware of the allegations against Levine until they were contacted by a reporter on Friday.
“Ravinia finds these allegations very disturbing and contrary to its zero-tolerance policies and culture,” the spokesperson said in an email. “Ravinia will take any actions that it deems appropriate following the results of these investigations. Ravinia has no other information to share at this time.”
As of Monday, Levine was still listed on Ravina’s website for a 2018 summer residency, during which he will conduct the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and lead master classes.
Requests for comment left with Levine’s manager and with the Lake Forest Police Department were not immediately returned.
Michigan Congressman Conyers retires
under pressure over sexual harassment
under pressure over sexual harassment
Stars are Falling - Senior Congressman
Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas) read a letter from Conyers to his colleagues on the House floor, saying he notified Speaker of the House Paul Ryan (R-Wisconsin) and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-California) that he was vacating his seat.
"Given the totality of the circumstance of not being afforded the right of due process in conjunction with current health conditions and to preserve my legacy and good name, I am retiring," the letter said, according to AFP.
Arnold Reed, a lawyer for Conyers, told AFP the departure was effective immediately.
Conyers said he was “in the process of putting together my retirement plans.” He reportedly endorsed his son, John Conyers III, to run for his seat in 2018.
“My legacy can’t be compromised or diminished in any way by what we’re going through now,” Conyers said, according to AP. “This too shall pass. My legacy will continue through my children.”
“I’m absolutely going to file for his seat. The work of our congressional district, where I come out of, has to continue,” the younger Conyers said, according to the New York Times. “We have got to have someone who has depth and experience but also historical understanding of what it takes to fight this type of evil in Washington.”
Ian Conyers, a grandson of Conyers’ brother and currently a Michigan state senator, told the New York Times that he also plans to run. The 13th District congressional seat will most likely be filled via special election in the coming months.
Conyers checked into a Detroit hospital last week amid calls from top Democrats to step down, after a report published by BuzzFeed in late November revealed that he had reached a financial settlement with a former staffer who had accused him of sexual misconduct.
The staffer said she was fired for refusing his sexual advances and “blackballed” into accepting a settlement of $27,000 in 2015.
An icon of the civil rights movement, Conyers was first elected to Congress in 1964. His was the sixth-longest congressional tenure in US history.
Upstate NY man arraigned on sex abuse charges
LITTLE VALLEY — An East Otto man was arraigned Monday in Cattaraugus County Court on felony sex charges.
Jeffrey H. Horn, 53, of East Otto but presently incarcerated in Cattaraugus County Jail, was arraigned on and pleaded not guilty to two counts of first-degree attempted criminal sexual act, class C felonies; two counts of first-degree sexual abuse, class D felonies; and endangering the welfare of a child, a class A misdemeanor.
According to District Attorney Lori Rieman, whose office reported the case among others heard Monday, Horn attempted to engage in sexual conduct with another person by forcible compulsion this past March in East Otto. Horn was arrested on the charges Friday afternoon by the Cattaraugus County Sheriff’s Office.
The case has been adjourned for motions.
Child sexual predator from Nevada convicted
By Staff/WCDA Release RENO, Nev. (KOLO) - A Washoe Valley man has been convicted of multiple counts of sexual assault on a child. He will be sentenced January 30, and he faces life in prison.
Goepner was arrested in October 2016 after an investigation by the Washoe County Sheriff’s Office Crimes Against Persons Unit.
The case began when patrol deputies responded to a report of a sexual assault and met with a 16-year-old victim and several of her family members and friends. The girl reported she had been sexually abused by Goepner since age 8 and that she had recently disclosed that abuse to others.
Based on interviews with the victim and witnesses, as well as evidence collected from Goepner's home, investigators determined Goepner had been sexually assaulting the victim for more than eight years. The Washoe County District Attorney's Office says Goepner forced the girl to perform sexual acts on multiple occasions and threatened her so she wouldn't tell.
Goepner was also convicted of having groped a second female victim. The investigation also revealed Goepner was reported to have repeatedly sexually assaulted another child in the late 1980s, but he was unable to be prosecuted because the crimes were reported after the statute of limitations.
The prosecution was coordinated through the Washoe County Child Advocacy Center (CAC) multi-disciplinary team including authorities from the Washoe County Sheriff’s Office, the Washoe County Child Abuse Response and Evaluation team, Washoe County Social Services, and the Washoe County District Attorney’s Office.
The DA's office says the CAC's mission is to safeguard the health and safety of children in our community who are victims of abuse through a neutral, child-centered environment. To date, more than 1200 forensic interviews of children have been conducted. Since opening, more than 90 life sentences have been imposed on sexual and physical abusers of children.
And that's just one county! Good grief!
Illinois man arrested in connection with a
child sexual abuse case
By WIFR NewsroomFREEPORT, Ill. (WIFR) - A 44-year-old man is arrested in connection with a sexual abuse case in Freeport.
Investigators say an arrest warrant was issued for Fisher and he was arrested at home without incident.
Fisher was arrested on four counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse, two counts of distribution of harmful material and one count of unlawful grooming. His bond has been set at $600,000.
Fisher is innocent until proven guilty.
Trial ordered for Michigan married couple in
child sexual abuse case
By Michael Kransz mkransz@mlive.comSAGINAW, MI -- A trial was ordered for the married couple accused of sexually abusing a minor and forcing the girl to eat half a pack of cigarettes and smoke the rest.
According to court documents, the sexual and physical abuse took place from November 2014 until October 2016 at a home in Thomas Township.
Kyle Roy also allegedly "made (the girl) strip naked and hit her with a belt, punched her with a fist and choked her," the complaint states.
Both Roys are charged with first-degree criminal sexual conduct, second-degree criminal sexual conduct and third-degree child abuse in that case.
First-degree criminal sexual conduct is punishable by up to life in prison.
In a second case, Kyle Roy is accused of engaging in sexual contact with another minor. That abuse allegedly took place from May through December 2014 in Thomas Township.
He is charged with two counts of second-degree criminal sexual conduct in that case.
Iowa Christian school teacher accused of sexual abuse
bonds out of jail
NICK HYTREK nhytrek@siouxcityjournal.com ORANGE CITY, Iowa | A former teacher charged (6th story on link) with having sexual contact with more than a dozen children has been released from custody.
Van Dam, 36, of Sioux Center, Iowa, has pleaded not guilty in Sioux County District Court to 146 charges related to sexual contact with at least 13 children between August 2014 and this past October. He is scheduled to stand trial March 6.
As part of his bond release, Van Dam promises to appear for future court hearings.
District Judge Patrick Tott on Monday had continued Van Dam's bond at $150,000. As part of the order, Tott said that if Van Dam bonded out of jail he must wear an electronic monitoring device on his ankle and be supervised by the Department of Correctional Services.
Other conditions of release include:
-- He must not go within 100 yards of a child care or educational facility.
-- He may have no contact with any child under age 15 except for his own children or the children of family members if supervised by another adult.
-- He may not leave Iowa without permission of his pretrial supervision officer. He may travel to Spirit Lake, Iowa, to meet with his attorney, Edward Bjornstad.
Van Dam was arrested Oct. 23 after a complaint was filed against him for inappropriate contact with a student. Administrators at Sioux Center Christian School removed Van Dam, who taught fifth grade, from the school after the complaint was filed. As Sioux Center police investigated the complaint, they filed additional charges related to incidents with other children, and Van Dam was fired.
Police have said the incidents took place at various locations, including the school, where Van Dam taught for nine years. Court documents and police have not revealed the gender of the alleged victims.
Some or all of the children were under age 12 or 13. Van Dam is accused of sexually abusing or having inappropriate contact with some of the children on at least 24 separate occasions over several months.
Van Dam is accused of having children fully or partially undress in front of him, permitting children to touch his genitals and exposing himself to some of the children.
Tennessee man arrested on child sex abuse charges
TBI began an investigation into Byrd's activities Aug. 10. Their findings showed that Byrd was engaging in inappropriate sexual relations with a child.
Byrd was arrested without incident Tuesday and was booked into Haywood County jail on a $500,000 bond.
Wyoming man faces prison for sex abuse of a child
Roney Lee McClintock, 49, has pleaded guilty to two counts of first-degree sexual abuse of a minor. The plea comes amid a bargaining process with prosecutors.
McClintock allegedly admitted to performing, and receiving, oral sex with a 9-year-old girl throughout 2011. If convicted on all charges, McClintock is facing 50 to 100 years in prison.
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