New York attorney general files suit against Weinstein Co.
By Zulekha Nathoo, CBC News
New York's attorney general filed a suit Sunday against the Weinstein Company, Harvey Weinstein and his brother Robert Weinstein for "egregious violations" of the state's civil rights, human rights and business laws.
In a press release, Eric Schneiderman alleges executives from the company and its board consistently failed to protect employees from Harvey Weinstein, who was CEO at the time.
The suit, which is the result of a four-month investigation, includes "new and extensive allegations" about Harvey Weinstein's "vicious and exploitative mistreatment of company employees."
Groups of women allegedly facilitated sexual activity
Numerous accounts of sexual harassment, intimidation, and other misconduct have been gathered.
Among them are claims that Weinstein used threatening language such as "I will kill your family" and "you don't know what I can do," telling employees he had connections in high positions to take care of problems.
The suit also states that Weinstein had three separate groups of predominantly female employees: one to "facilitate" his "sexual conquests," and another made up of assistants to maintain space on his calendar for "regular sexual activity.
A third group of women, mainly female executives, was required "to meet with prospective sexual conquests" and to follow through on Weinstein's "promise of employment opportunities to women" who met with his favour.
"This compelled service demeaned and humiliated them, contributing to the hostile work environment," the law suit says.
And yet, it appears, they did it!
'Hostile' environment could continue under new name
The complaint, filed in New York's Supreme Court, seeks to "remedy a years-long gender-based hostile work environment, a pattern of quid pro quo sexual harassment, and routine misuse of corporate resources for unlawful ends" between 2005 and October 2017.
The attorney general says the investigation is ongoing, however the suit was introduced because of the imminent sale of the company, which could "leave victims without adequate redress, including a lack of a sufficient victims compensation fund."
Any sale of the Weinstein Company must ensure that employees are protected going forward, the attorney general said. A potential sale could allow top officials who were allegedly aware of the misconduct to continue occupying key positions under a newly formed entity.
Harvey Weinstein has been accused by dozens of women, including several high-profile actresses, of sexual harassment and sexual assault. The disgraced media mogul initially apologized for his behaviour but has denied accusations of rape.
The allegations, first reported by the New York Times in October of 2017, led to mass movements supporting women including #MeToo and Time's Up.
Olympic swimmer says she wants to save
others from sex abuse
Associated Pressothers from sex abuse
Olympic swimmer Ariana Kukors said in an emotional interview Monday that her former coach “stole so much” from her in the decade she alleges he sexually abused her starting when she was a minor.
“If I save one person who’s currently being groomed. If I have a dialogue with one parent about something that they think is alarming with their child and their coach. If I could do that, this is worth it — as painful as it is,” Kukors said through tears in New York.
Kukors alleges Sean Hutchison, who began coaching her at a swim club near Seattle, groomed her for sexual abuse when she was 13, started touching and kissing her when she was 16 and engaging in sexual activity when she was 17. The Seattle-area native also told authorities that he took thousands of sexually explicit photos of her as a minor.
An email to Hutchison’s Seattle attorney seeking comment Monday wasn’t immediately returned.
“At no time did I ever abuse Ariana Kukors or do anything with her that was not consensual,” he said in a statement last week. “I absolutely deny having any sexual or romantic relationship with her before she was old enough to legally make those decisions for herself. Prior to that time, I did nothing to ‘groom’ her.”
Hutchison said the two were in a relationship after the 2012 Olympics, when she was 23 and he was 41.
Kukors, the 2009 world champion in the 200-meter individual medley who placed fifth in that event at the 2012 Games, said Monday that someone who began forming a relationship with her when she was 13 could not possibly say it was consensual.
She has described “an extensive, abusive and incredibly manipulative relationship” that spanned a decade. “Somebody manipulating and taking control and power and ownership of you is wrong,” she said.
In a roughly 20-minute interview, Kukors described her long process of healing, the overwhelming support she has received since she went public last week and her desire to help educate others about potential abuse.
She declined to say what USA Swimming officials or others should have done differently and what policy changes she hoped to see, saying she doesn’t have the emotional capacity for that yet.
USA Swimming, the national governing body for swimming, hired a private investigator to look into rumors of a relationship between her and Hutchison in 2010. The organization said it closed the investigation without finding any misconduct after the two and others denied the relationship.
Some have criticized the investigation as insufficient. It followed other sex abuse scandals in the sport that led to lifetime bans.
Kukors said she lied when a private investigator called her to ask about her interaction with Hutchinson because she was scared. “When I think back on it now, the truth wasn’t an option,” she said.
USA Swimming said last week that Kukors’ public statement was the first time it learned of the underage abuse allegations and that “our hearts go out to Ariana and the difficulty she has gone through to reach this point of disclosure.”
Kukors, who is now married and credits her husband for helping her through the ordeal, said she hoped to underscore the way predators gain the trust of victims who don’t know what’s happening to them. Through that process, Hutchison also gained the trust of her parents so they looked at him as a figure of authority they trusted, she said.“Everyone in our community praised him for the work that he was doing,” Kukors said.
She said she hopes in time to have a dialogue so people understand that “it’s not appropriate for a coach to be alone in a hotel room behind closed doors with their athlete, no matter how good they are, no matter what path they’re on. It’s completely inappropriate. And I hope that because of that we’re just more aware.”
It's been obvious for a couple years now that Congress needs to hold an official and comprehensive inquiry into child sex abuse in every organization where children are involved. I can just about guarantee, pedophiles and pederasts are everywhere children are gathered.
Orlando pre-K teacher arrested for alleged
sexual abuse of child
An Orlando pre-K teacher has been arrested for the alleged sexual abuse of child, police said.
A south Florida attorney representing the child in this case, said the allegations happened when Hamilton was employed at Bright Horizons at Baldwin Park in Orlando.
The Department of Children and Families responded last May to allegations that another child was sexually assaulted. At that time, Hamilton was fired and an administrator was placed on leave.
DCF officials said in August that the business didn't fully vet Hamilton and if they had, they would've uncovered a history of abuse in Virginia.
2 Alabama men sentenced in separate child sex crimes
By Carol Robinson crobinson@al.comTwo Blount County men have been convicted in child sex crimes in unrelated cases.
James Elliott, 31, pleaded guilty to three counts of disseminating child pornography. Jason Horton, 24, pleaded guilty to sex abuse of a child under 12 and first-degree sodomy, Blount County District Attorney Pamela Casey announced Tuesday.
Elliott was arrested in January 2015 following an investigation by the State Bureau of Investigation, along with the Cyber Crime Unit, Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force and the Electronic Crimes Task Force.
Casey said an undercover law enforcement operation revealed that Elliott's IP address had child pornography depicting children under the age of 12 available for download. Investigators then carried out a search warrant at his home in Horton, and on his electronics devices.
According to the indictment against him, the devices contained images of children engaged in sado-masochistic abuse, sexual intercourse, sexual excitement, masturbation, breast nudity or other sexual conduct.
Elliott was sentenced to 12 1/2 years in prison on each count. Disseminating Child Pornography is a Class B felony. Elliott will also have to register as a sex offender when he is released from prison.
Horton, of Warrior, also was arrested in 2015. Details about his crimes weren't available, but he was sentenced to 20 years in prison on the sodomy conviction and 10 years on the child sex abuse charge. Horton also will have to register as a sex offender when he is released from prison.
The case against him was investigated by the Blount County Sheriff's Office, with assistance from the Blount County Children's Center and Children's of Alabama's Intervention and Prevention Service.
Blount Co., AL
Oregon man pleads guilty to child sex abuse, sentenced
A St. Helens man pleaded guilty and was sentenced for child rape and sexual abuse.
Mace was sentenced to 100 months, a little over eight years, in prison. He also had to register as a sex offender and will be on parole for 160 months after his release.
Mace was indicted by the grand jury of Columbia County on 20 counts on Jan. 5, 2017 (6th story on link). Seven counts of first-degree unlawful sexual penetration, two counts of second-degree unlawful sexual penetration, six counts of first-degree rape, two counts of first-degree sodomy, one count of first- degree sexual abuse and one count of second-degree sexual abuse.
And for that he gets 8 years. Are you kidding me?
Columbia County Sheriff’s Office deputies arrested Mace on Jan. 10, 2017, after developing a case of child sex abuse. The victim, who investigators said suffered abuse for ten years, came forward in 2016. The investigation took several months to be completed. The victim told investigators the suspect sexually abused her from the time she was five years old. His bail was set at $1,485,000.
NJ BOE bookkeeper and volleyball coach arrested
for child sex abuse
By Trentonian Staff
A bookkeeper for the Millburn Board of Education, who also happens to be head volleyball coach for Millburn High School, was arrested Tuesday for alleged sexual contact with a 14-year-old girl.Peter Nguyen, 50, of Edison, is charged with sexual contact with a minor, aggravated criminal sexual contact, providing alcohol to a minor and two counts of endangering the welfare of a child.
Officials say the investigation began after the child’s parents contacted police regarding the alleged activities. Police say the investigation revealed that Nguyen supplied the minor with alcohol and inappropriately touched the victim in a sexual manner after taking the girl to his home on two separate occasions.
Officials say Nguyen has worked as a bookkeeper in the business department at the Millburn Board of Education for approximately five years and has also been the head volleyball coach for Millburn High School for approximately three years.
Nguyen is being held at the Middlesex County Adult Correction Center pending a detention hearing scheduled for February 16.
NY daycare worker charged with sex abuse
Painted Post, N.Y. (WHAM) - State Police arrested a man from Steuben County on Tuesday for sexually abusing a child at a daycare.
Troopers said they launched a three-month investigation after receiving information about sexual abuse at the daycare.
The CEO of the daycare confirmed that McGannon was terminated from his job in November.
McGannon was arrested and charged with two counts of first-degree sexual abuse and endangering the welfare of a child. He was arraigned and released from jail.
He is expected to return on March 7 for further court proceedings.
The NYS Office of Children and Family Services and the Steuben County Child Protective Services helped police with the investigation.
PA child sex abuse suspect wanted victim to recant
By Myles Snyder, ABC27 NewsHARRISBURG, Pa. (WHTM) – A man arrested for child sexual abuse last year faces additional charges he tried to get his accuser to recant her story, police said.
Susquehanna Township police said that after Brough was placed in Dauphin County Prison on $200,000 bail, he made several phone calls from a prison phone and asked a third party to talk the girl into saying she lied.
He was charged with criminal solicitation for intimidation of a witness and criminal use of a communication facility, and given an additional $100,000 bail.
WVa man learns sentence in his second
child sex abuse case
by Kate Siefert HANCOCK COUNTY, W.Va. — Kevin Halstead, a man who is already serving a prison sentence on a charge of sexual abuse that stems from July 2014, learned his punishment on Monday for the sexual abuse of another victim.
Unsuccessful, Halstead took off his own pants, and according to the victim, tried to rub his genitals on the victim. After hearing the victim's statements that day, Halstead changed his plea to guilty. (5th story on link)
"In this case, the victim was a tough little guy,” Hancock County Assistant Prosecutor Allison Cowden said.
He came in with very little preparation to get him ready for a trial, and he did a great job. He played a huge role in getting the conviction.”
Judge Jason Cuomo handed down the sentence.
"I wish I could give you more time, but I can't, the most I can give is 5 to 25 (years) and that is what you are going to get," Cuomo said.
Halstead will serve this time on top of the 4-to-20 years of incarceration he is serving for his prior conviction.
Cuomo urged that the parole board does not release Halstead any earlier than that maximum sentence.
Hancock Co., WVA
Another Alabama man arrested on
child sex abuse charge
The News Courier An Athens man was arrested this week on one count of sexual abuse of a child less than 12, records show.
Limestone County Sheriff's Office Spokesman Stephen Young said the case dates back two years and that the victim was 8 years old at the time of the alleged abuse. He added the victim was someone known to Remington, and that it wasn't a random occurrence.
Remington remained in the Limestone County Jail Tuesday. His bond was set at $25,000.
Queens man who claimed clergy sex abuse gets
$500,000 award
The money comes from a program set up in October by the Diocese of Rockville Centre to give victims compensation if they agree not to sue the diocese.
By Bart Jones bart.jones@newsday.com
A Queens man who said he was sexually abused by a priest in the Diocese of Rockville Centre decades ago said Tuesday he was awarded $500,000 through a compensation fund set up by the diocese.
The program, established in October, provides victims with financial compensation if they agree not to take legal action against the diocese. It was modeled after programs launched in the Archdiocese of New York and the Diocese of Brooklyn.
McGarvey said the settlement was bittersweet for him. “Whatever settlement they gave me is not going to wipe out the pain that I went through,” he said. But he added that he hopes it will at least give him some closure to the events that have haunted him for decades, and help him move on with his life.
McGarvey alleges he was sexually abused for several years by the Rev. Robert L. Brown starting at St. Catherine of Sienna parish in Franklin Square in the 1980s.
Sean Dolan, a diocese spokesman, told the New York Times in October that said it received an allegation from McGarvey in 2014, which was immediately forwarded to the Nassau County District Attorney. Brown died in the mid-1990s.
Robert Hoatson, an advocate for clergy sex abuse victims who has helped McGarvey, said he was “satisfied” with the compensation, though “it’s really not about the money. It’s about justice. It’s about acknowledgment.”
Mitchell Garabedian, a Boston-based lawyer representing McGarvey, said he believes $500,000 is the highest settlement granted by any of the three compensation programs in New York. Michael Dowd, a Manhattan-based attorney who has represented scores of alleged victims of clergy sexual abuse in New York, said the figures have ranged from $100,000 to $500,000.
Dowd said damages likely would be larger after trial but few cases have gone to court because of New York’s statute of limitations, he said.
Asked about the settlement, Dolan released a statement that said in part: “We recognize that no amount of monetary compensation could ever erase or undo the grave harm suffered by survivors of child abuse.”
However, he added,“We are deeply inspired by the courage of survivors of child sexual abuse who have already come forward through the IRCP, who have shared their very painful stories and entered into a process that we believe is both fair and prompt.”
McGarvey is among 137 people who have filed claims as part of the program’s Phase One covering those who had previously filed complaints of clergy sex abuse, said Camille Biros, a program administrator. A total of 181 were eligible for that phase.
Phase Two, which started Feb. 1, involves alleged victims who have not previously filed complaints.
Administrators have reviewed 59 cases in Phase One, and 47 of the victims have accepted settlements — with administrators waiting for a decision by the others, Biros said. She said she could not comment on any individual case or award.
Garabedian, who was portrayed in the film “Spotlight,” which focused on the church sex abuse scandal in Boston, said it was up to each victim to decide whether to participate in the program.
“There isn’t one victim I’ve ever represented, including Mr. McGarvey, who wouldn’t give all the money back in the world to not have been sexually abused,” Garabedian said. “Money is only a symbol of validation. It does not provide closure to the victim.”
Queens, NY
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