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B.C. diver charged in connection with U of Utah dorm room rape
American prosecutors have charged Ben Smyth, a diver in his 2nd year
at the University of Utah
The Associated Press · Posted: May 12, 2023 2:10 PM PDT |
has been charged with multiple sex crimes. (Bing Guan/Reuters)
WARNING: This story contains graphic content and may affect those who have experienced sexual violence or know someone affected by it.
A University of Utah diver from British Columbia has been arrested and charged with allegedly raping a young woman in her dorm room during the first week of the school year last fall.
Prosecutors have charged Ben Smyth, a diver in his second year at Utah, with sodomy, sexual abuse and rape.
In an indictment filed this week, detectives said Smyth went to a woman's dorm room after confirming she was alone last August. He asked her to play "truth or dare" and then allegedly raped her while she resisted physically, said she "did not want to do that," shook her head no and told him she was in pain.
When detectives interviewed him, he initially denied knowing the woman but later acknowledged having sex with her and that she was in pain.
The indictment, which does not name the woman, also said that when detectives went to serve Smyth with a protective order to keep him away from the woman, a roommate said he had moved out. A private investigator later told detectives that Smyth had returned to Canada upon learning he was under investigation for rape.
The indictment listed Smyth's address as being in Saanichton, a small community north of Victoria on Vancouver Island.
In court documents, detectives also wrote that Smyth's friends described him as bragging "about the number of women he has sex with," which he compiled into a list to show others.
Someone should let the water out of the pool next time he goes diving!
The University of Utah athletic department said in a statement that Smyth was suspended from the men's swimming and diving team when the school was made aware of the allegations in February, before the Pac-12 Championships. Smyth did not compete this year but, as a freshman, took second in platform diving.
"We were made aware of a serious allegation involving a member of our men's swimming and diving program. Upon being notified by the University's Office of Equal Opportunity of a pending investigation, Ben Smyth was immediately suspended," the department said.
Smyth returns to U.S.
Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill said earlier this week, after a warrant for Smyth's arrest was issued, that his office was pursuing any means to return him to Utah. His office said Friday that Smyth had returned to the U.S. and is in custody in Seattle.
The diver's arrest is at least the second time Pac-12 swimming and diving has confronted rape allegations in recent years. In 2016, Stanford University swimmer Brock Turner was found guilty of raping a woman after two graduate students caught him on top of an unconscious woman behind a dumpster on campus.
Brock Turner was convicted of sexually assaulting an unconscious woman, but served only three months of the six-month sentence that sparked international outrage and calls for reform in how universities and the justice system handle campus sexual assault cases.
Father Calls for Justice in Shocking Case of Child Sexual Abuse in Morocco
Moroccan authorities have yet to release an official statement regarding the incident,
and it is not clear if any arrests have been made.
Mariya Sahnouni, May 12, 2023 6:51 p.m.
Morocco World News
Rabat - A shocking case of child sexual abuse has been brought to light in Morocco by a father who is now demanding justice. The father, who has chosen to remain anonymous, has said that his two underage children were repeatedly raped by multiple perpetrators in the presence of their mother in a disturbing environment of drugs and orgies.
Another case where drugs are involved and children pay the consequences.
Speaking to French writer and filmmaker Karl Zero, the father said that he initially filed a complaint on August 24, 2020, after his eight-year-old and six-year-old children confided in him that they were afraid to speak up because they were threatened with a weapon.
Distraught and concerned for his children's well-being, the father said he sought professional help and took them to see a psychologist. The psychologist confirmed that the children were suffering from anxiety and needed psychological treatment, the father added.
After two months of treatment, the children disclosed to their father that they had been raped by a man. The father then took them to a child psychiatrist, who confirmed that the children had been subjected to sexual abuse for several months and had been threatened.
Moroccan news outlet le 360 reported that the children were raped by several people in the family home, either in the presence or absence of their mother.
The father left his two children with their mother while he went to work in Nador, not knowing what had been happening to his children in his absence until they insisted on returning with him rather than staying in Tangier.
The father is now calling for justice for his children and he is demanding that the perpetrators be brought to account for their heinous crimes.
The Moroccan NGO “Touche pas à mon enfant” (Don't touch my child) is disseminating the video of the father's testimony, in an effort to bring attention to the case and urge the government and law enforcement agencies to take adequate action.
While Moroccan authorities have yet to release an official statement regarding the incident, and it is not clear if any arrests have been made, many still hope that swift action will be taken to bring the perpetrators to justice and provide support to the victims and their families.
A wave of anger and protest erupted in Morocco last month following a court ruling that handed out a lenient prison sentence to three child rapists who had impregnated an 11-year-old girl in the northwestern Moroccan town of Tiflet.
The verdict, which many have deemed unjust, triggered outrage among activists and ordinary Moroccans alike, prompting many to take to social media and launch the hashtag “#What kind of justice is this?” to voice their discontent.
In response to the public backlash, the Rabat Appeal Court increased the prison sentences against the three men who had been found guilty of gang-raping and impregnating Sanae to 10 to 20 years in prison.
Sheffield child rapist jailed over years of "horrific sexual abuse"
A man who subjected a child to years of “horrific sexual abuse” is jailed for 20 years.
By Claire Lewis
Published 12th May 2023, 12:49 BST
Updated 12th May 2023, 13:16 BST
Roger Allen, aged 60, was locked up after admitting a litany of child sexual offences including numerous counts of sexual activity with a child, multiple counts of rape, as well as making indecent images of children and possessing an extreme pornographic image.
Allen’s victim, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, came forward to police to report years of horrific sexual offending, triggering an investigation which landed their attacker behind bars after the case was heard at Sheffield Crown Court.
Allen was arrested and when his property was searched, a number of devices containing indecent images and videos of children were found.
Roger Allen was sentenced to two decades behind bars, after admitting a litany of child sexual offences including numerous counts of sexual activity with a child, multiple counts of rape, as well as making indecent images of children and possessing an extreme pornographic image
Detective Constable Jason Earl, from Sheffield’s Protecting Vulnerable People team, said: “I wish to take this opportunity, at the conclusion of legal proceedings, to commend the bravery of the victim in this case. They have shown immense courage in coming forward to report years of horrific sexual abuse, then demonstrated enormous strength throughout the investigation. It is my belief that had they not come forward when they did, Allen’s serious sexual abuse would likely have continued.
“It cannot be underestimated the significant toll that child sexual abuse has on victims – it irreparably changes a child’s life and in this case, Allen took full advantage for his own disgraceful sexual criminality.
“While he has pleaded guilty to numerous sexual offences and now faces a lengthy period of time in prison, he has shown little-to-no remorse or acknowledgement for the pain and suffering he has caused to his victim. I truly hope now Allen has been sentenced and is behind bars for his awful crimes, the victim feels able to take a step forward in their journey towards recovery and healing.”
In addition to a 20-year prison sentence, Allen was handed a Sexual Harm Prevention Order and placed on the Sex Offenders Register.
Allen, formerly of Abbey Brook Gardens, Meadowhead, Sheffield, pleaded guilty to 16 offences in total.
> Four counts of sexual activity with a child;
> Two counts of rape;
> Three counts of making indecent photographs of a child;
> One count of engaging in sexual activity in the presence of a child;
> One count of causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity;
> One count of causing a child to watch a sexual act;
> One count of attempted rape; one count of assault by penetration;
> One count of causing a person to engage in sexual activity without consent;
> One count of possessing an extreme pornographic image.
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