USA Gymnastics leaders resign amid sex abuse scandal
Former doctor Larry Nassar faces another 40 to 125 years in prison
The Associated Press
Three key leaders at USA Gymnastics resigned Monday as more women and girls told a judge about being sexually assaulted at the hands of a sports doctor who spent years with Olympic gymnasts and other female athletes.
The resignations of chairman Paul Parilla, vice chairman Jay Binder and treasurer Bitsy Kelley were announced in Indianapolis while a judge in Lansing, Mich., heard a fifth day of statements from women and girls who said they were molested by Larry Nassar.
Later Monday, USA Gymnastics suspended the coach of the 2012 Olympics team, John Geddert, who worked with Nassar at his gyms in Michigan.
"We support their decisions to resign at this time," said Kerry Perry, president and CEO of USA Gymnastics, which is the national governing body for gymnastics. "We believe this step will allow us to more effectively move forward in implementing change within our organization."
The board positions are volunteer and unpaid, but the resignations add to the months of turmoil. Steve Penny quit as president last March after critics said USA Gymnastics failed to protect gymnasts from abusive coaches and Nassar.
The group last week said it was ending its long relationship with the Karolyi Ranch, the Huntsville, Tex., home of former national team coordinator Martha Karolyi and her husband, Bela. Some Olympians said they were assaulted there by Nassar.
'Shame on you'
Meanwhile, in Michigan, Nassar's sentencing hearing continued Monday, raising the number of girls and women who have spoken to nearly 100 since last week.
"I want to you know that your face and the face of all of the sister survivor warriors — the whole army of you — I've heard your words," Ingham County Circuit Judge Rosemarie Aquilina said after a woman spoke in her Michigan courtroom. "Your sister survivors and you are going through incomprehensible lengths, emotions and soul-searching to put your words together, to publicly stop [the] defendant, to publicly stop predators, to make people listen."
Nassar, 54, has admitted molesting athletes during medical treatment when he was employed by Michigan State University and USA Gymnastics. He has already been sentenced to 60 years in prison for child pornography crimes.
Under a plea deal, he faces a minimum prison sentence of 25 to 40 years in the molestation case. The maximum term could be much higher.
"Larry, how many of us are there? Do you even know?" asked Clasina Syrboby, as she fought back tears while speaking for more than 20 minutes Monday. "You preyed on me, on us. You saw a way to take advantage of your position — the almighty and trusted gymnastics doctor. Shame on you Larry. Shame on you."
She and other victims also continued their criticism of Michigan State, USA Gymnastics and the U.S. Olympic Committee for not doing enough to stop Nassar when initial complaints were made.
Pentagon and watchdog at odds over efforts to prevent sexual abuse of children by Afghan troops
Afghan Army soldiers collect Soviet-era tanks from a junkyard in Herat on Dec. 27 2017. (Rezayee/Epa-Efe/Rex/Shutterstock/Rezayee/Epa-Efe/Rex/Shutterstock)
By Dan Lamothe
A government watchdog suggested that Congress might want to prohibit the Defense Department from spending money on Afghan military units whose members sexually abuse children or commit other human rights violations. But the Pentagon disagreed with that idea, saying such incidents must be weighed against U.S. national security interests.
The suggestion was made by the office of the U.S. Special Inspector General for Afghan Reconstruction (SIGAR) in a previously classified report released Tuesday. It highlights the challenges the U.S. military faces in partnering with forces abroad that do not always adhere to the same codes of conduct. U.S. troops have long complained that some Afghan commanders sexually abuse boys.
Ninety-three members of Congress requested that SIGAR investigate the issue after a 2015 New York Times report alleged that sexual abuse of children was “rampant” in Afghan units, putting U.S. troops in emotionally charged and challenging situations. The review focused on the implementation of the Leahy law, which restricts the U.S. government from assisting a foreign security unit found to be in gross violation of human rights.
The law allows for exceptions when the defense secretary determines that continuing support to a problematic unit meets a national security concern. SIGAR suggested that Congress might want to eliminate that exception, and the Pentagon balked when it viewed a draft of SIGAR’s report.
“The draft report does not fully convey the unique and difficult challenges of implementing the Leahy law in Afghanistan consistent with both the U.S. commitment to human rights and U.S. national security objectives in Afghanistan,” Jedidiah Royal, a Pentagon official, wrote in a May 2017 response included in the report. “In particular, the draft report does not reflect an understanding of the challenges faced by U.S. forces in Afghanistan in developing and sustaining the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces.”
No but it does address the difficulty in US Forces in Afghanistan maintaining some form of sanity while listening to the screams of boys being raped by gay monsters. Perhaps a number of those men now suffering from PTSD, might have been spared that diagnosis if the Pentagon had acted with even a little bit of integrity and concern for human rights. As it stands, the Pentagon is complicit in the brutal rapes of Afghan boys.
The Pentagon resisted when lawmakers asked SIGAR to launch the investigation, an aide to Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.), the namesake of the Leahy law, told The Washington Post in November. The Defense Department argued that SIGAR did not have the jurisdiction to examine the issue, even though SIGAR has routinely dissected U.S. work in Afghanistan, said the aide, Tim Rieser.
A Defense Department inspector general report released in November concluded that U.S. troops have been inadequately trained to report sexual abuse in Afghanistan for years. The Pentagon watchdog made several recommendations, including building a central database of gross violations of human rights, and noted that the Defense Department has historically decided to withhold funding over human rights violations in Afghanistan about once a year.
However, the Pentagon report did not suggest that Congress consider eliminating the defense secretary’s ability to make exceptions to the Leahy law on the basis of U.S. national security.
The SIGAR report states that data provided by the Pentagon showed that as of Aug. 12, 2016, the Defense Department was tracking 75 gross human rights violation allegations. Seven involved child sexual assault, 46 involved other human rights violations and 22 were classified secret and weren’t discussed in the report. U.S. officials found one child-sex allegation to be credible, with five others under review, and one was determined not credible.
Although the Defense and State departments have taken steps to identify and investigate child-sex abuse in Afghanistan, the full extent of the problem may never be known, SIGAR found.
The Defense Department called the SIGAR report “speculative and not well-substantiated,” pointing out that investigators “only interviewed 16 service members during this review.”
Herat
California airline pilot convicted of child sex trafficking
SACRAMENTO, CA – An airline pilot convicted of multiple child sex abuse charges after trying to purchase Filipino children from a computer in his parents’ home will be sentenced Tuesday.
“I want to be able to get my photos and arrange sex with the underage girls,” Clemans wrote to the woman in an online chat. “I do not want you or me to get into trouble, so we have to be very, very careful.”
Clemans and the woman exchanged many other disturbing online chats in 2014 and 2015, according to the FBI.
“That is the reason I mentioned orphanages or runaways or abandoned girls from the typhoons,” Clemans wrote. “I am looking for girls that are homeless that will not argue and will have no obligation but to have sex.”
Clemans also paid $6,000 to the woman to take nude photos of girls so he could decide which ones he would travel to the Philippines to rape, the Justice Department said.
Clemans has since been convicted of traveling to the Philippines to try to have sex with girls as young as seven, and of conspiring to buy children and produce child pornography.
The criminal complaint said the computer Clemans used to carry out the crimes was at his parents’ Sacramento home, where the FBI issued a search warrant for evidence. The court was also told that seized digital devices from his family home contained 27,469 images of child pornography.
Investigators found three of the children who posed for pornographic photos at Clemans’ direction, including one called “Angel.” At the time they were seven, nine and 10 years old. Prosecutors brought the three from the Philippines to Sacramento to testify at the trial.
Clemans now faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 30 years in prison on charges of “buying children” and a maximum statutory penalty of life in prison and a $250,000 fine.
The two Filipino women, Tandeg and Atad, were also arrested in November 2015. They were convicted and sentenced to 15-year prison terms.
Testimony begins in Texas child sexual abuse trial
Patrick Johnston, Times Record News It isn't a question of whether the victim was sexually assaulted by Juan Antonio Rodriguez, as she alleged in an outcry in 2014 at the age of 21.
The victim, who is about 11 years younger than Rodriguez, reportedly conceived a baby during one of the alleged incidents, according to opening statements made by Wichita County District Attorney Maureen Shelton and testimony by Detective Betty Dean of the Wichita Falls Police Department.
It is the two first-degree felony counts, Cannedy said, that he believe the evidence is insufficient to prove beyond a reasonable doubt.
Testimony began Tuesday in the trial of Rodriguez, 35, who is facing two counts of aggravated sexual assault of a child and one count of sexual assault of a child – a second-degree felony.
If found guilty by the jury, he faces 5 to 99 years, or life, in prison on each of the first-degree felonies, and 2 to 20 years in prison for the lesser charge.
He is indicted on the two different offenses due to the victim's age at the time of the alleged incidents. The victim was believed to be around 7 or 8 years old when the reported abuse began and 15 when she got pregnant.
Rodriguez pleaded not guilty to all three counts as the indictment was read for the jury by Shelton Tuesday morning.
In her opening statements, Shelton said the alleged abuse started when the victim was in the second or third grade and living with several relatives and Rodriguez. Shelton said she believed testimony would show that Rodriguez took the victim out of her bedroom one night, covered her mouth with his hand and "he makes her his."
The abuse allegedly continued for several years until the victim became pregnant at 15. She gave birth to a daughter in July of 2009, at the age of 16. The victim would remain silent about the alleged abuse to most people until she finally made an outcry at the age of 21.
Since the victim was already an adult, Dean said she interviewed the victim personally at the vicitm’s residence rather than having her forensically interviewed at Patsy’s House Child Advocacy Center, which is preferred for victims under the age of 18.
While talking with Dean, the victim “fought back her tears” and found the allegations difficult to talk about, Dean said. “She was pretty upset for various reasons,” Dean testified. The victim was emotional that she was reporting it, that it had happened and because she was afraid she would lose her family for talking about the reported abuse, Dean said.
Dean testified that the family members she spoke to during her investigation seemed to already know about the reported abuse and that Rodriguez was the father of the victim’s baby.
“Despite the abuse, she said she loved [Rodriguez] and didn’t want to get him in trouble,” Dean said.
Dean told the jurors of the process she went through to get an evidentiary search warrant to collect DNA from Rodriguez, the girl and the child and how the evidence is gathered, stored and submitted for testing.
When the paternity test results came back from the lab in Dallas, Dean said she reviewed the report, which showed he was the father of the child, and prepared an arrest warrant affidavit for Rodriguez’s arrest for sexual assault of a child.
Testimony is scheduled to resume in the 89th District Court at 12:30 p.m.
'Twisted old man' marries sex abuse victim
By: Brent Weisberg HILLSBORO, Ore. (KOIN) – A man who married an 18-year-old Oregon woman in Vermont after he spent years sexually grooming her as a minor and then sexually abused her for 2 years will spend the next 12 years in prison.
In March 2017, a Washington County grand jury handed down a 7-count indictment charging Hart with one count of luring a minor, four counts of using a child in a display of sexually explicit conduct and two counts of second-degree sexual abuse.
Hart took a plea deal on December 22, 2017 and pled guilty to one count each of luring a minor and second-degree sexual abuse. He also pled guilty to two counts of using a child in a display of sexually explicit conduct.
As part of his plea agreement with the Washington County District Attorney’s Office, Hart will spend the next 12 years in prison and be ordered to register as a sex offender once he is released. The plea agreement also guarantees Hart that federal prosecutors in Oregon will not pursue a case against him, something that had been widely discussed.
The investigation started in March 2016 when the victim was interviewed by law enforcement in Vermont assigned to a multi-agency task force that investigates sexual assault, other serious sexual offenses and serious child abuse and neglect.
According to a federal search warrant prepared by Seth Fiore, a special agent with Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the victim told investigators that she met Hart while playing an online video game.
Washington County Chief Deputy District Attorney Kevin Barton called Hart’s behavior “every parent’s worst nightmare.” The victim in the case was 15-year-old at the time and was living in Oregon. Hart was 49-years-old at the time when he first met the victim.
Investigators learned that Hart and the girl communicated online. Eventually, that progressed and Hart gave the girl a “secret phone,” according to Barton.
After the girl turned 16 years old, Hart flew from Vermont to Oregon every few months to see the girl, until she turned 18. She told investigators that she would skip school to see Hart and they would have sex on numerous occasions.
Hart recorded some of the sexual encounters on video without the girl’s knowledge or consent.
Investigators learned that Hart and the victim shared a computer. When she started to look for a job, she asked him for some materials off the computer. Hart gave her a thumb drive. When the victim looked at the content, she discovered that there were videos of her and Hart having sex in Oregon when she was a minor. The victim turned the thumb drive over to law enforcement in Vermont who launched a criminal investigation.
The video was reviewed by forensic investigators who determined some of the videos showed the victim performing sex acts when she was 16 years old. Law enforcement used Hart’s Vermont DMV photo to confirm that it was him depicted in the sex videos.
In March 2016, investigators were listening into a phone call between Hart and the victim. During the conversation that lasted about 40 minutes, Hart made potentially incriminating statements.
The victim was a former Aloha High School student. According to court records, when Hart flew into Oregon, he would rent a car and pick the victim up from either the high school or a nearby bus stop. Sometimes, Hart would bring the teen a gift. He would then bring her to his hotel room where he had spread flower petals on the hotel bed or floor.
Investigators learned that Hart had been a longtime employee with the University of Vermont. During the search of Hart’s home, investigators found eight computer towers, two hard drives, two cell phones, six photos of a nude child, one 8mm VHS tape, eight .308 caliber rounds of ammunition, an En Bloc Clip, two micro SD cars, two thumb drives, a high school ID car, one person photo, five notebooks and one letter.
Hart reportedly called the victim his “kid wife” when she was a minor and before they were married. Hart also had the victim call him “daddy.” In Hart’s journal, he wrote about taking the girl out from school and not having school staff call with concern about her absence.
The victim, speaking to the court by phone, told the court that “this whole experience has been earth shattering as a person and as a woman and now a mother. I don’t want anybody else to ever go through anything like this,” she said. “I’m trying to piece myself back together from all of this.”
She told the court that “for a long time I blamed myself and even throughout the whole investigation, it’s taken me a long time to come to understand that it’s not me. It’s a twisted old man and I should not fine myself for that.”
Hart told the court that he was “deeply wrong” for what he did and called his actions “inexcusable. I understand that I’ve hurt her and I wish I could take it back,” Hart said. “It was a breach of trust. I hope my plea, which I feel is fair,…brings a sense of healing.”
Hart told the court that while in jail he has become sober. His criminal defense attorney told the court that Hart was raised by two alcoholic parents and that Hart was an alcoholic for 30 years.
Oregon man sentenced after child sex abuse conviction
Geoff Pursinger Hillsboro, Ore. - A Washington County judge has sentenced a Hillsboro man to 81 years in prison after he was convicted of sexually assaulting a 6-year-old child and 2-year-old toddler.
According to prosecutors, Randolph abused two children within his family between 2006 and 2011. The abuse began when one of the victims was 6 years old and continued until the victim was 11.
That victim, now a teenager, reported the abuse to the Washington County Sheriff's Office in 2016 after learning that Randolph had begun caring for two other family members. The victim gave authorities a detailed account of the abuse, and told Sheriff's deputies they had walked in on Randolph abusing a second victim, a toddler, in 2006. According to court documents, the second victim did not have any memories of the abuse.
In November 2017, Randolph was convicted of three counts of first-degree sodomy, three counts of incest, three counts of first-degree sexual abuse and using a child in a display of sexually explicit conduct.
At his sentencing, Jan. 12, Randolph's family provided the court with a written statement calling for the maximum sentence, according to the Washington County District Attorney's Office.
The statement "explained the effects of years of the defendant's abuse and the fear he instilled in his victims," and commended the first victim for stepping forward to talk about what happened.
"This case is another reminder that the victims of child sex crimes often wait to report past abuse," district attorney's office spokesman Andrew Freeman said in a news release. "Child sex abuse occurs at a time and place of the abuser's choosing, frequently when there are no other witnesses and physical evidence can be hidden or destroyed. Oregon law recognizes that often the only evidence of abuse is the testimony of the victim."
People wishing to report child sex abuse are asked to contact the Washington County Department of Human Services child abuse reporting hotline at 503-681-6917, or to call 911.
Man found guilty of kidnapping, sexual abuse of child
NICK HYTREK nhytrek@siouxcityjournal.com NEWTON, Iowa | An Ankeny, Iowa, man accused of trying to lure a child into his vehicle in Onawa, Iowa, has been found guilty of numerous crimes against children in Jasper County.
Altmayer is charged with three counts of enticing a minor and single counts of impersonating a public official, possession of a controlled substance and possession of a prescription drug without a prescription in Monona County, where he is accused of offering a 6-year-old girl $100 to get into his car on Nov. 16, 2016. Another child screamed and neighbors ran to confront Altmayer, who told them he was a police officer before speeding away.
Altmayer was arrested a short time later, and while being booked into the Monona County Jail, officers found a bottle containing Xanax and Viagra pills.
Altmayer waived his right to a speedy trial in September and no trial date is currently set.
He also faces charges of enticing a minor in Grundy County, where he is scheduled to stand trial on March 14.
Alabama man indicted on child sex abuse charges
By Rachel Davis, The North Jefferson News
Wendell Guy Hogan, 48, of Pinson, was indicted recently on charges of sex abuse of a child less than 12 and first-degree sex abuse-sex contact compulsion.
According to court records, the charges stem from an alleged incident in early 2015 and was investigated by the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office. Because of the nature of the charges and the age of the alleged victim, no other information was available.
Jefferson County Jail records show that Hogan was arrested last year on a third-degree domestic violence charge and at least two violations of the protection order issued in the case.
The jail website also shows that Hogan had a $15,000 bond, but does not indicate which case that is related to.
He is currently listed as a pretrial inmate with no bond.
Rabbi accused of sexual abuse fired from Maryland school
Siobhan GarrettA rabbi has been fired from a Pikesville school after a Jewish Week report raised sexual abuse allegations him.
The school released a statement on its website:
I wish to inform you that as a result of the allegations detailed in yesterday’s Jewish Week article, Beth Tfiloh has terminated Rabbi Shmuel Krawatsky’s employment. Rabbi Krawatsky will not be on our premises, and will not have any contact with our students. This decision is in keeping with our school’s commitment to the safety and well-being of our students, which we consider to be paramount.
Initially, Zipora Schorr, Director of Education, released a statement in response to the article affirming the schools commitment to children and did not mention firing Rabbi Krawatsky. Days later he was terminated.
Schorr addressed this in her most recent statement:
After carefully considering the information that had just come to light, we then determined that this was the appropriate and responsible action to take.
Prior to yesterday’s article, Beth Tfiloh was not privy to the scope of the allegations due to the fact that the case involved another organization, and the details were not shared with us by the investigating agencies. Given the specific details alleged in the article, the need for immediate and decisive action became clear.
If you have concerns that your child may have been a victim of abuse call Baltimore County Child Protective Services at 410-853-3000 or Baltimore County Police at 911.
Upstate NY man (18) charged with sex abuse,
child endangerment
By Evan Anstey, News 4 Digital Producer
Byron resident Anthony Miraglia, 18, was accused of unlawful imprisonment, forcible touching, endangering the welfare of a child and sexual abuse.
State Police believe there could be other victims. Anyone with relevant information can call Troopers at (585) 344-6200.
Upstate NY man (61) accused of sexually abusing child
By Observer-DispatchWHITESTOWN – A Whitestown man is facing a felony charge after he allegedly had sexual contact with a child, according to Oneida County Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy Joseph A. Lisi, director of the Oneida County Child Advocacy Center.
True was charged with first-degree sexual abuse and was sent to Oneida County jail where he was subsequently released on bond, deputies said.
An order of protection was issued on behalf of the victim, deputies said, and is being offered counseling services through the child advocacy center.
Whitestown, NY
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