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Five on trial in Germany accused of operating paedophile ring
Boys allegedly drugged with ecstasy and knock-out drops for often lengthy abuse
Thu, Nov 12, 2020, 18:45
Derek Scally in Berlin, Irish Times
A defendant (behind book) is led into the courtroom at the start of a trial against five people suspected of having sexually abused several children, at the Regional Court in Münster. Photograph: Rolf Vennenbernd
Four German men and a woman have gone on trial accused of operating a paedophile ring from an allotment cottage.
For at least two years, a 27-year-old man, identified only as Adrian V, allegedly abused his stepson in the cottage and their nearby apartment in the western city of Münster.
At least three boys – aged five, 10 and 12 – were victims of the abuse; they were allegedly drugged with ecstasy and knock-out drops before being abused, in one case over two days and nights.
“The main defendant is accused of abusing his stepson over many years and offering him to others for abuse,” said Gregor Saremba, Münster district court spokesman. “His mother is accused of making available the allotment cottage, knowing it was being used for abuse.”
As well as serious sexual abuse in 18 cases, the 27 year old faces charges of production of child pornographic material and violation of narcotics law.
Three other men, aged between 30 and 42, are also standing trial facing charges of serious sexual abuse.
All are alleged to have brought their own young sons to the cottage to be abused by others, with video and photo material sold later online.
Children may testify
The opening day of the trial in Münster district court, in the western state of North Rhine-Westphalia, was taken up reading a 25-page charge sheet listing alleged offences from the end of 2018 to April 2020.
In addition the accused face charges of abuse in other cities, from Dortmund to Aachen.
All of the accused have remained silent on the charges against them, making it likely that the children will be required to testify in court.
The case is crucial, say investigators, because their investigation turned up 1,200 terabytes of child sexual abuse material on 2,520 storage devices. This huge collection of child sexual abuse images has led them to 31 others active in paedophile exchange rings.
This huge collection of child sexual abuse images has led them
to 31 others active in paedophile exchange rings.
Police say the material recovered from the cottage is extreme and will only be showed in a closed court.
“Even the most experienced criminal investigators have come up against the limits of what is humanly tolerable – and beyond,” said Münster police chief Rainer Further.
Previous sentences
For regional politicians in North Rhine-Westphalia, the Münster case, the third in the last two years, is a further embarrassment as more than a year passed between the first tip-off and the 27 year old’s eventual arrest. During this time the man, with two previous suspended sentences for possessing child sex-abuse material, was still living with his partner and stepson.
“Unfortunately police have to work carefully, also in this case,” said Herbert Reul, state interior minister. “It took time to translate clues into workable material for local police.”
The main defendant is an IT technician by trade and images of his apartment show metal shelves filled with computer servers and extensive cables and other technical equipment.
Police moved in on the man in May to seize his laptop. A week later, after cracking the laptop encryption and securing crucial material, the man was arrested.
Child-protection groups say the Münster case, the third such paedophile ring to be uncovered in the last two years, should be an alarm call for German authorities to force greater communication between police, courts and child protection authorities.
“I hope that politicians now finally understand, also through the Münster case, that the battle against sexual violence is a national task,” said Johannes-Wilhelm Rörig, head of Germany’s independent commission into the sexual abuse of children, “and that everything must be done so that young people are more effectively protected against abuse than in this case”.
It's very unfortunate that it took a year to make an arrest in this case. The extreme caution by the police resulted in unfathomable suffering to the children and added God only knows how many more images and videos to child sexual abuse websites.
This case needs to be examined for what they did wrong and how such investigations can be sped up dramatically.
Paedophile hunter snared cousin from Sunderland through
fake 14-year-old girl's profile
By Alex Storey, Sunderland Echo
Tuesday, 10th November 2020, 5:03 pm
Undercover group Guardians of the North had set up a fake profile of a 14-year-old girl on social media as part of their everyday operations.
But they were stunned when Cameron Stokoe contacted 'Louise', sent across an explicit photo and asked for a picture of her breasts.
Joe Jones, of GotN, said: "We knew where he lived because of the relationship so we were able to give the police his address and he was arrested. This sends the message that no-one is exempt from what we do.
"The whole family has been shocked. We had no idea whatsoever he was up to this. It came as a total surprise to us."
Newcastle Crown Court heard that the pervert had also sent sexual messages to a real 12-year-old girl before being snared by GotN.
Stokoe, who is the cousin of Joe's wife, also a member of GotN, chatted to the first girl online in April 2019, and despite later being arrested and released on bail, he went on to talk to the decoy profile set up by the paedophile hunters.
Annie Richardson, prosecuting, told Newcastle Crown Court Stokoe told the girl he was 19 and she said she was underage. The conversation progressed to Stokoe asking whether he could be provided with sexual images from her, but said he wouldn't show anyone.
After being reported to the police, the now-20-year-old was arrested despite no statement or support provided to the prosecution by the victim, and was released on bail.
However, six months later in November last year, the defendant was caught by GotN via the online sites Kik and Scout, where he began communicating with a fake underage profile named 'Louise.'
"He told her he was 19 and she told him she was 14," Ms Richardson said. "He said he was looking for fun - which he said he meant sex.”
The conversation moved to Kik and he asked to see a photo of her breasts and he took an intimate photo of himself. He also arranged to meet the girl, but later cancelled the plans stating he just wanted to be friends.
Despite there being no answer when officers arrived at Stokoe's home, he was found and arrested a short time later. CCTV footage from near his home showed Stokoe deleting content and data from his phone once police had been informed and were looking for him.
Stokoe, formally of Telford Road in Sunderland, pleaded guilty to engaging in sexual communication with a child, attempting to meet a girl under 16, and attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child.
Tony Cornberg, mitigating, told the court that a psychiatric report carried out revealed Stokoe suffered from "severe anxiety" and "severe depression".
It was also discovered that "significant learning difficulties" were recorded during the tests, which 94% of people would supposedly score higher on.
He added: "The age gap is noticeable but it's not as significant as a 40 or 50-year-old man or older, who sometimes appear for this type of offending.
"The fact that the meeting was cancelled by him suggested he didn't know what he was doing."
Or, the anxiety was just too much for him to cope with.
Mr Cornberg asked the court to consider allow Stokoe the chance to rehabilitate by carrying out the relevant work with probation.
Judge Stephen Earl sentenced him to a three-year-community order on top of 50 days rehabilitation requirements and completion of the Horizon programme.
The judge told Stokoe the best way in order for him to rehabilitate would be to work with probation, and that it would be "virtually impossible" to do that with a custodial sentence.
He said: "He is only 20 - there ought to be an opportunity for probation to work and for the defendant to show he is capable."
Stokoe was also made subject to a sexual harm prevention order for five years.
Girl, 13, forced to marry man, 48, and she’ll have to care for his kids
who are the same age in the Philippines
Imogen Braddick, The Sun
16 Nov 2020, 15:14
SHOCKING pictures show the moment a 13-year-old girl was forced to marry a 48-year-old man in the Philippines.
Asnaira Pamansag Mugaling became Abdulrzak Ampatuan's fifth wife after a day-long ceremony in the town of Mamasapano last month and will now look after his kids, who are her age.
The Philippines has 726,000 child brides - the 12th-highest total in the world. The girl wore a white traditional gown as she sat beside the groom. Credit: ViralPress
The child bride wore a white traditional gown as she sat beside the groom during the bizarre ceremony on October 22.
Asnaira claimed she is "not afraid" of Abdulrzak because he is "nice to her".
"I am learning how to cook because I’m not good at it now. I want to make my husband happy," she said.
Three weeks after getting married, Abdulzrak built a small house for the pair to live together.
He works as a farmer while Asnaira carries out household chores and helps take care of Abdulrzak's children from his other marriages, who are the same age as her.
"I am happy to have found her and spend my days with her taking care of my children,"
Abdulzrak said.
The pair said they plan to have children when Asnaira turns 20. "I will pay for her school because I want her to get an education while waiting for the right time to have children," Abdulrzak said.
The United Nations defines child marriage as any formal marriage or informal union where one or both parties are under the age of 18. It says child marriage compromises the development of girls and results in early pregnancy and social isolation.
In some parts of the Philippines, the Muslim Law on Personal Status, based on Sharia law, allows marriage at the onset of puberty for girls.
According to UNICEF data, the Philippines has 726,000 child brides - the 12th-highest total in the world.
Some 15 per cent of girls in the country are married before their 18th birthday, while two per cent are married before the age of 15, data from Girls Not Bridges shows.
The London-based charity said girls in Armm, Mimaropa and Soccsksargen marry earlier than those in other regions.
The Philippines, predominantly Roman Catholic, is also the only country in the world which does not allow divorce.
The country has committed to eliminating child, early and forced marriage by 2030 in line with the UN's Sustainable Development Goals.
This unfortunate article titled 'Forced to Marry', gives us no clue as to what force was applied. Indeed, the girl sounds like she is quite willing. However, poverty may have forced her out of her family home, and perhaps she is just trying to make the best of a bad situation. Wonder what happened to his 4 former wives?
‘Flirty’ uncle tickled feet of Louise Smith, 16, before he ‘smashed in skull & burnt body in sexually motivated murder’
Jon Lockett, The Sun
17 Nov 2020, 20:19
A "FLIRTY" brute tickled the feet of his wife's vulnerable 16-year-old niece before killing her in "a sexually motivated attack", a court heard.
Jurors were told Louise Smith's "brutally beaten" and torched body was found "unrecognisable" in woods near her home in Havant, Hants, after she went missing .
Louise Smith, 16, was found dead 14 days after going missing on May 8Credit: Hyde News & Pictures Ltd
Louise had weeks earlier sent a snapchat video to her boyfriend - shown to the jury - of Shane Mays poking his head between her legs and scratching at her socked foot.
In a message, she had said: "Sorry babe, Shane just attacked me and started tickling my foot and s***. I was crying with laughter."
Mays, 30, was said to have tickled Louise shortly after she moved in with him and his wife Chazlynn - known as CJ - at their one-bedroom flat on April 26.
Prosecutor James Newton-Price QC said: "Louise Smith was a vulnerable child. She lacked confidence and she suffered from anxiety issues that do affect some teenagers.
"In April this year, Louise quarreled with her mother and she went to live for a time with other friends and family. In late April, Louise went to live with a lady called Chazlynn Mays and her husband Shane.
Shane Mays, who is married to Louise's aunt CJ, has denied murder but admitted manslaughter
"At first the new arrangement went well. There seems to have been an incident of play-fighting and tickling with Shane Mays that took place not long after moving in.
"Certainly, initially Louise seemed to get on very well with both CJ and with Shane. The happy start did not last for very long."
Text messages from Louise to and her auntie CJ, which were shown to the jury, described the three of them as "our perfect family."
However, later messages between Louise and her friends were said to show evidence of rising tensions, as CJ barred Louise's boyfriend from staying at the home.
Mays was alleged to have warned Louise that if she did not start helping around the house, then he would start to "get stricter" with her, the jury was told.
In text messages sent to a friend just after midnight on May 7, the day before she died, Louise had said: "I cannot live here anymore...long story...they are just vile."
And while her boyfriend was round, the court heard he witnessed Mays allegedly flirting with her. Mr Newton-Price QC said: "Louise had spoke to [the boyfriend] about Mays flirting with her. "In his words he said 'like he'd put his arm around her and he'd tickle her and pin her down and things like that'.
"On May 7, he heard Mays say that he felt like Louise was flirting with him. He got the impression that they were both saying the other flirted with them, but that they were both denying flirting with each other."
Earlier the court was told Louise's jaw bone was completely detached and her body was "burned and violated" during the "violent and unlawful" killing.
Shane Mays has admitted to the manslaughter of aspiring veterinary nurse Louise but is currently on trial for murder.
Winchester Crown Court heard earlier how Mays was seen buying four Tesco pizzas just hours after Louise's "cruel and brutal" murder on May 8.
Prosecutor Newton-Price QC said: "He knows Louise is dead by this time. He knew he had killed her, he knew where the body was, but he plainly did not want to admit that or tell the police where the body was. He told a series of lies that were intended to deflect blame."
Jurors heard today how Louise's "severely decomposed" body was found on May 22.
A post-mortem showed "repeated blows from a heavy object such as a large branch or small log across her face", it was said.
While her "defiled" body suggested Mays "had a sexual interest in her", the jury was told.
A family friend said Louise was 'charming' and 'lovely'
Credit: Hyde News & Pictures Ltd
Mr Newton-Price said her central facial skeleton was "shattered". But the court was told a post-mortem was unable to determine which of her injuries caused her death because of the damage caused by the fire.
Jurors also heard how Mays may have returned to the scene the next day to burn the body.
Mr Newton-Price QC said: "A determined attempt had been made to destroy her body. It was so badly burnt and damaged by fire as to be unrecognisable.
"Her body had been subjected to extreme violence and violation. This included repeated and heavy blows to her head.
"The bones and the structure of her face had been shattered. Her jawbone was completely detached from the skull. Her body had also been penetrated in a terrible way."
He added: "There are grounds to believe that part of the motivation for her murder was sexual."
On May 8, she had been texting friends saying she had the "worst hangover going" before posting a selfie to Snapchat.
Jurors were told Mays and Louise had walked to Havant Thicket where the schoolgirl was killed after leaving home at midday.
The last message Louise sent before she died was at 12.49pm, it was said. Mays then allegedly chucked the teen's phone and case and was spotted on CCTV walking away from the scene. He later showed up at his mum's house where jurors heard he was "sweaty and thirsty".
At 3pm, CJ called police when Louise failed to meet a friend.
Mays told both his mum and wife he had walked Louise to the skatepark when he had actually taken her to Havant Thicket where she was killed. Mays said to CJ: "Louise takes the p***. She just made me walk all the way to Emsworth Skate Park."
Police visited CJ and Mays at home over the next few days in connection with "vulnerable" Louise's disappearance. While there, Mays said he would "lock" Louise in her bedroom if she returned and asked if it was "OK to restrain her", the court heard.
Mays and his wife were arrested on suspicion of kidnap, with her alleged killer telling a "series of lies". After her body was found, Mays was charged with murder and his wife was freed on bail, it was said.
Yorkshire prisoner 'killed Britain's worst paedophile
by stabbing him in the brain with a pen'
Paul Fitzgerald said the killing of Richard Huckle was 'poetic justice'
Huddersfield Examiner
A Yorkshire prisoner who killed “Britain’s worst paedophile” after attacking him in his cell said it was “poetic justice”, a court has heard.
Jurors were told that Huckle was allegedly murdered in a “prolonged attack designed to humiliate and degrade him” at HMP Full Sutton in East Yorkshire in October 2019.
Opening the case, Alistair MacDonald QC said Fitzgerald told staff after the attack that he “enjoyed” it and would have gone on to kill other inmates but he was “having too much fun”.
He said he told a psychiatrist that Huckle was “Britain’s worst paedophile” – a description that the barrister said probably came from reports about him when he was extradited and tried in the UK for a large number of child sexual assault charges.
Notorious ‘gap year’ paedophile ‘highly likely’ to have had victims in UK and 3 Asian countries (2nd story on link)
Mr MacDonald said Fitzgerald told the doctors that he had sexually assaulted Huckle, even though he did not find him sexually attractive.
Paul Fitzgerald is facing a murder trial
The barrister said: “He felt that it was poetic justice and he wanted Richard Huckle to feel what all those children had felt.
Mr MacDonald said Fitzgerald told the manager of the mental health team at the prison that he had “murdered Mr Huckle in cold blood” and would like to have cooked bits of his body.
He told the jury: “He said he enjoyed what he was doing to the body of Mr Huckle and that he would have gone on to kill two or three others.
“The reason he did not was that he was having too much fun with Mr Huckle.”
Mr MacDonald said: “Mr Huckle was notorious in the press. He was what was called a predatory paedophile."
Mr MacDonald said a psychiatrist had found that Fitzgerald was suffering from mixed personality disorder, psychopathy and gender identity disorder at the time of the attack but experts disagree whether these medical conditions caused the defendant to kill Huckle.
Isle of Wight businessman accused of paying
to watch extreme child sexual abuse
By Lori Little County Press
A prominent Isle of Wight businessman has been remanded in custody after appearing in court on child sexual abuse charges.
Peter Tomlinson, of Baring Road, Cowes, entered no plea on 12 counts at Portsmouth Magistrates' Court today (Wednesday). The case has been adjourned to December 14, at the Isle of Wight Crown Court.
Mr Tomlinson, 63, was charged as part of a National Crime Agency investigation into child sexual abuse across the world.
He is charged with five counts of paying for the sexual services of a girl under 13, two counts of causing or inciting the sexual exploitation of a child under 13, two counts of intentionally encouraging/assisting the commission of an either way offence and three counts of making indecent photographs/pseudo photographs of a child.
The offences relate to paying to watch extreme child sexual abuse, live streamed from abroad, including the Philippines.
Mr Tomlinson is former president of the Isle of Wight Chamber of Commerce and former owner of Betapak and children's play area JR Zone. The business has since changed hands and is under new ownership.
He was also chief executive of IW business Education Destination, which arranges bespoke school visits to the Isle of Wight.
Sixty-eight-year-old UK man convicted of child sex abuse offences
By Nick Frame, Wakefield Express
18th November 2020, 12:30 pm
Neal Alan Frost, age 68, of Chequerfield Avenue, Pontefract, admitted three counts of making indecent images of children, some of which were Category A - the most serious. He also admitted a charge of possessing an extreme pornographic image of a dog. He was given a community order with a 12-week electronic tag curfew, put on the sex offenders register for five years, given a five-year sexual harm prevention order to allow his internet use to be monitored and told to pay £170 costs.
Child sex charges 'a big scam', accused told NZ police in first statement
Libby Wilson, Stuff
13:48, Nov 20 2020
A woman accused of sexually exploiting young girls with her former partner initially told police it was a "big scam".
Equestrian couple Laken Maree Rose and Andrew Alan Williams were charged with a raft of child sex abuse after their arrests in May 2019.
The charges relate to seven alleged victims, aged three to 14 years old, one of them still unidentified.
Rose and Williams lived in Cambridge, and allegedly offended in Waikato, Palmerston North, Dannevirke and Bay of Plenty between 2014 and 2019.
Rose, 30, has now pleaded guilty to nine charges but faces trial on another 51– her lawyer has argued she was a “reluctant spectator” for most.
On Friday, she told a detective interviewing her on the first charges that it was "a big scam" and she felt set up.
These charges related to just one of the victims, and Rose was asked about the girl's allegations of Williams performing sexual acts on her. "I would never, ever let that happen. I've never had any suspicions that he would do something like that," she replied.
The girl had told police Rose was involved, and Detective Bryan Dudley put that to her. Rose denied it.
"None of this happened," she said. "We weren't just friends with [the girl], we were friends with her parents. We would eat with them and watch movies."
The couple first met the girl when she came up to them in the pool at a Bay of Plenty naturist park. "[She's] followed us everywhere since."
The girl would let herself into their caravan in the morning, and head straight for the bed, she said.
"We were really conscious of this and made sure that when she came into the bed, Andy [Williams] got out," Rose said in her statement.
However, the court has previously heard messages between Rose and Williams, in which they plan offending against various girls. Rose can be seen in some images and videos used as evidence, and has accepted that she filmed or took some others.
When Detective Dudley was speaking to Rose, she told him her relationship with Williams was violent, and that he had strangled her. The couple had met when she was 19 and had been together about a decade, she told police.
Later, she provided the detective with Williams’ phone and a laptop which had incriminating images of him, and gave permission for it to be searched.
Rose also gave police contact details for two other girls they had spoken to her about, and in a later interview told police about times Williams had offended against children.
"He told me that if I told anyone ... I wouldn't survive the week."
At the start of the trial, the Crown said a search warrant executed on the couple's Cambridge home uncovered “years of sexual exploitation of young people and children by both defendants”.
However, the defence says Rose was a “reluctant spectator” for most of the charges, having been compelled by Williams to film sex acts against her will.
"That was just talk ... It was trying to stop it actually happening," she told police in an interview.
For how many years did you try and stop it? Apparently, you didn't try very hard.
The charges Rose has pleaded guilty to are of inducing one of the complainants to perform sexual acts.
The trial continues before Justice Matthew Muir.
There is more on this story at SunLive
Child rape accusations against three Tasmanian government departments — what comes next?
By state political reporter Emily Baker, ABC
Posted 8 hours ago, updated 3hhours ago
Staff across three Tasmanian government departments have been accused of raping children in their care in a series of shocking allegations that date back to at least the 1970s.
The allegations, some of which were described by state government MPs as "monstrous", "abhorrent" and "reprehensible", have not yet led to a Commission of Inquiry despite calls from Labor, the Greens, lawyers and the nurses' union.
A Commission of Inquiry would provide some protections for participants similar to those allowed in the Supreme Court, and would have the power to compel witnesses, apply for warrants in relation to evidence, order the Crown to pay legal costs and hold public hearings.
Instead, the Government has announced three separate inquiries: one apiece into the Education and Health Departments, and another into allegations of misconduct at the Ashley Youth Detention Centre.
The inquiries into the departments have been criticised as narrow in scope and there is no guarantee the findings will be released in full. There is also no way to compel people to give evidence.
There is no information on the investigation into Ashley.
The Tasmanian government's Child and Youth Wellbeing Framework defines child wellbeing as being loved and safe, being healthy, having material basics, learning, having a positive sense of culture and identity, and being healthy and participating.
There are serious questions about whether Tasmania is meeting the needs of its most vulnerable young people.
Education and health allegations
The state's Education Department was recently found to have knowingly moved jailed paedophile Darrel George Harington — accused of shocking crimes across much of his 30-year career — between Hobart schools.
The same agency shifted former priest Anthony LeClerc between north-west Tasmanian schools amid growing complaints about his conduct, including that he took a class to the pool for "nude swimming" and photographed his students in the shower.
Only this year, News Corp's Hobart masthead The Mercury also revealed an Education Department employee had impregnated a Year Nine student while teaching in the 1980s.
In August, Education Minister Jeremy Rockliff announced an inquiry into the policies and procedures of his department. "I want to make sure we are doing absolutely everything possible to protect children and to provide some comfort and, if possible, closure to survivors of child sexual abuse," Mr Rockliff said.
James Griffin was a paediatric nurse at the Launceston General Hospital.(ABC News: Chook Brooks)
The issues were later revealed to extend to the state's public health system.
Australian Community Media newspaper The Examiner was first to report that a Launceston General Hospital paediatric nurse was facing charges of child sexual abuse late last year.
James Geoffrey Griffin took his life soon (5th story on link) after the allegations surfaced. His alleged crimes are now the subject of freelance journalist Camille Bianchi's podcast, The Nurse.
The coronial findings into Griffin's death reveal he stood accused of sexually abusing five girls in allegations dating back to the 1980s and that he was in possession of "a significant amount" of child exploitation material, including some he had generated.
He had also allegedly bragged online about drugging young girls to sedate and sexually abuse them.
The registered nurse lost his registration to work with children in July last year. Health Minister Sarah Courtney told parliament she was alerted to the situation on the same day. An independent investigation into the allegations was not announced until October — more than a year later — apparently after more detail was made public.
"I categorically refute any assertion that I would sit on this type of information," Ms Courtney told parliament on November 12, amid jeers from Labor.
"This information, and what has become apparent, is appalling."
Youth detention centre claims
Ashley is Tasmania's only juvenile detention centre.(ABC News)
The latest revelations fall under the department of Communities Tasmania.
Greens leader Cassy O'Connor told Parliament that staff at Ashley Youth Detention Centre been stood down while under investigation for serious allegations, including rape.
Human Services Minister Roger Jaensch later confirmed via media release that three staff had been stood down after facing historical allegations.
Neither Mr Jaensch nor Communities Tasmania responded to questions from the ABC about when they were alerted to the allegations, but lawyer Sebastian Buscemi said he had referred allegations relating to five staff members to the department and the state's Children's Commissioner about three months ago.
"There's one member of staff who I'm aware raped a child that was known to management in the late 90s who remained at the centre up until potentially recently," he said.
He said the alleged incidents had a "catastrophic" impact on his clients' lives.
"A lot of the people who ended up in Ashley and were subjected to these abuses were in there for extremely minor offending, often on remand, never got sentenced afterwards," Mr Buscemi said.
"As you can imagine, it's led to a terrible life, substance abuse and in and out of Risdon (prison) afterwards."
Deputy Premier Jeremy Rockliff said the Government would "do all we can" to address the issues, but the Government has not committed to a Commission of Inquiry — Tasmania's version of a Royal Commission.
Separately, survivors of alleged abuse are involved in two separate class actions: one against the Education Department, and another related to the Ashley Youth Detention Centre.
Questions outstanding
It is, by any metric, a shocking series of allegations across decades, departments and governments.
At this point, many questions remain outstanding:
Who knew what, and when?
Why weren't these incidents proactively reported by the Government to ensure any other victims felt safe to come forward?
Are decisions being made in the best interests of Tasmania's children?
Why is the Government investing more than $7 million in upgrades to the Ashley Youth Detention Centre, when a review it commissioned in 2016 recommended a new model of rehabilitation?
How many children hurt by these incidents were subject to care and protection orders?
Is the state of Tasmania failing as a parent?
Three separate inquiries — narrow in scope — seem unlikely to get to the bottom of these issues.
Every country needs an inquiry into institutionalized child sex abuse and child abuse. Where there are children, there will be paedophiles. Because it's the 21st century, is no reason to believe that it isn't going full bore today.
I wonder why Tasmania was not included in the Australian Royal Commission. Tasmania is an Australian state.
Dublin father who sexually abused his young daughter is jailed for 18 months
Woman says the abuse continues to affect every aspect of her life:
‘It is cancer I am fighting every day’
about 10 hours ago
Fiona Ferguson
A father who sexually abused his young daughter over 25 years ago has been jailed for 18 months.
Raymond McElwaine (68) of Silverwood Road, Rathfarnham, Dublin, pleaded guilty to eight sample counts of indecent assault and sexual assault of his daughter at the former family home in Balrothery Estate on dates between June 1988 and December 1994.
Ms Lydon McElwaine, who was aged between six and 11 years old when she was abused, waived her right to anonymity so her father could be named.
In her victim impact statement she outlined how the sexual abuse perpetrated by her father continued to affect every aspect of her life: “It is a cancer I am fighting every day.”
She outlined how after she had first spoken up as a six-year-old about what was happening, her mother had been very upset and her father had cried and pleaded that it was a mistake and a misunderstanding. She described the fear and shame and how lonely and scared she had felt.
She said the detrimental effect of not being heard and validated as a small child was enormous.
She described how her father controlled everything in the house and she now understood how her late mother had been controlled and manipulated by her father as she had been.
Ms Lydon McElwaine told Dublin Circuit Criminal Court that when she later came forward as an adult to disclose the abuse to her family due to her concerns about children, her father had implied she was making it up.
“My father cried and manipulated his way out of it,” she said and outlined her devastation at how relationships within the family had suffered as a result.
She said her father had shown no remorse and taken no ownership for his actions. “I never wanted this, all I wanted was my father to acknowledge what he had done,” she said.
Ms Lydon McElwaine said her father had been meant to protect her but instead used her for his own sexual gratification. “The only person my father ever protected was himself.”
“The crime is not mine but I have been left with a cross to bear for the rest of my life,” she told Judge Karen O’Connor, “child sexual abuse is a life sentence.”
Ms Lydon McElwaine extended her thanks to prosecuting Garda Sgt Gearoid O’Brien.
Judge O’Connor told her the strength and courage of her six-year-old self in speaking out had been a sign of great inner strength and courage that she had clearly retained throughout her life.
She said that despite going through the bereavement of her mother she still had the strength to speak out in an effort to protect other children which showed great courage and concern for others.
Judge O’Connor told her she deserved “to feel proud that you have the strength to do what you have done”. She said she hoped the relationships within the family could be repaired.
In sentencing Judge O’Connor said the aggravating factors included the breach of trust expected between a father and daughter and the breach of a dominant position. She noted Ms Lydon McElwaine had been very young and the formative years were very important in the life of a child.
She took into account the accused man was of previous good character, was a good worker and provider for his family and had a number of health issues. She said the nature of the offending was at the lower end of the scale for this court. She noted he was at low risk of any type of re-offending.
She imposed consecutive sentences totalling two and half years and suspended the final year.
At the original sentence hearing last July the court heard McElwaine made admissions to the abuse during a garda interview and said he was sorry for calling his daughter a liar.
Michael O’Higgins SC, defending, said his client apologised for his actions. He said this was a “very dark day” for McElwaine who had to sit and listen to the deep and long-lasting effects of the abuse on his daughter.
Now he has 18 months to think about it some more.
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