Perverted Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous Episode IX

Virginia power crisis escalates with 2nd woman accusing Democrat Lt. Governor of rape

A second woman has accused embattled Virginia Lt. Governor Justin Fairfax of sexual assault, with his office still reeling from last week’s claims he’d assaulted a female professor at the 2004 Democratic National Convention.

Meredith Watson claims she was raped by Fairfax in a “premeditated and aggressive assault” while both were students at Duke University back in 2000. Watson told multiple friends and classmates about the assault after it happened – both verbally and in Facebook messages and emails, she has revealed through her attorney. At least one of those friends has publicly corroborated her account, while others have reportedly provided statements.

The two undergrads were “friends” at Duke but did not date or see each other romantically, according to Watson’s lawyer, Nancy Erika Smith.

“At this time, Ms. Watson is reluctantly coming forward out of a strong sense of civic duty and her belief that those seeking or serving in public office should be of the highest character,” said Smith, who claims the details of the attack on Watson are similar to the details shared by Vanessa Tyson, the professor who accused Fairfax last week.

I have that same ridiculous trait - a belief that those seeking or serving in public office should be of the highest character. How utterly naive!

Fairfax has denied Watson’s allegations, claiming there is a “smear campaign” targeting him. “I will not resign,” he said in a statement, calling for a full investigation and noting he has already passed FBI background checks.

The Lieutenant Governor also insisted there was nothing non-consensual about his encounter with Tyson, who released a statement claiming she initially suppressed memories of the assault - in which the Democratic politician allegedly forced her to perform oral sex - out of shame until the news he was running for office “hit [her] like a ton of bricks.”

As the reports of Fairfax’s second accuser filtered through Congress, multiple Democratic lawmakers called for his resignation. Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Rep. Jennifer Wexton (D-Virginia), Sen. Cory Booker (D-New Jersey), and former Virginia governor Terry McAuliffe were among the first.

Fairfax isn’t the only VA Democrat in hot water, as the entire state leadership is crumbling under allegations of racism and sexual assault. After first admitting, then denying he had appeared in a photo from his high school yearbook depicting a man in blackface next to a man in a KKK costume, Governor Ralph Northam has refused to step down despite calls for his resignation. Meanwhile, Attorney General Mark Herring has admitted that he too wore blackface at a college party.

National Enquirer publisher to investigate
Bezos extortion claims

Tabloid said it 'acted lawfully' while reporting story on Amazon CEO

The Associated Press 

The publisher of the National Enquirer said Friday it will look into claims of extortion and blackmail made by Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, who said the tabloid threatened to publish intimate photos of him unless he stopped investigating how the Enquirer obtained his private communication with his mistress.

American Media Inc. said it "acted lawfully" while reporting the story.

The company's statement is the latest twist in a high-profile clash between the world's richest man and the leader of America's best-known tabloid, who is a strong backer of U.S. President Donald Trump. Bezos's investigators have suggested the Enquirer's coverage of his extramarital affair — which included the release of explicit text messages — was driven by dirty politics.

Bezos, who is also owner of the Washington Post, detailed his interactions with American Media Inc., or AMI, in an extraordinary blog post Thursday on Medium.com. The billionaire did not say the tabloid was seeking money — instead, he said, the Enquirer wanted him to make a public statement that its coverage was not politically motivated.

The company has admitted in the past that it engaged in what's known as "catch-and-kill" practices to help suppress negative stories that could have hurt Trump's candidacy for president. Trump has been highly critical of Bezos and the Post's coverage of the White House.

"Of course, I don't want personal photos published, but I also won't participate in their well-known practice of blackmail, political favours, political attacks, and corruption," Bezos wrote of AMI, in explaining his decision to go public.

"I prefer to stand up, roll this log over, and see what crawls out."

Bezos's phone not hacked

The Bezos affair became public when the Enquirer published a Jan. 9 story about his relationship with Lauren Sanchez, a former TV anchor who is married. Bezos then hired a team of private investigators to find out how the tabloid got the texts and photos the two exchanged.

Bezos's personal investigators, led by his longtime security consultant, Gavin de Becker, concluded that Bezos's phone wasn't hacked. Instead, they've been focusing on Sanchez's brother, according to a person familiar with the matter.

De Becker and his team suspect Michael Sanchez, a talent manager who touts his support of Trump and is an acquaintance of Trump allies Roger Stone and Carter Page, may have provided the information to the Enquirer, the person said. The person wasn't authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

Sanchez, who is also his sister's manager, has declined to speak with The Associated Press on the record and did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment Thursday. In a tweet, he said de Becker "spreads fake, unhinged conservative conspiracy theories" and "'dog whistle' smears."

Several days ago, someone at AMI told Bezos's team that the company's CEO, David Pecker, was "apoplectic" about the investigation, Bezos said. AMI later approached Bezos's representatives with an offer.

Pecker is a personal friend of Donald Trump.

"They said they had more of my text messages and photos that they would publish if we didn't stop our investigation," Bezos wrote.

'Below the belt' selfie obtained

Bezos wrote that this week, the tabloid's editor, Dylan Howard, emailed an attorney for de Becker to describe photos the Enquirer "obtained during our newsgathering." The photos include a "below the belt selfie" of Bezos, photos of him in tight boxer briefs and wearing only a towel, and several revealing photos of Sanchez, according to the emails Bezos released.

According to the emails, an attorney for AMI offered a formal deal Wednesday: The tabloid wouldn't post the photos if Bezos and his investigators would release a public statement "affirming that they have no knowledge or basis" to suggest the Enquirer's coverage was "politically motivated or influenced by political forces."

Bezos said he decided to publish the emails sent to his team "rather than capitulate to extortion and blackmail" despite the "personal cost and embarrassment they threaten."

In its Jan. 9 story, the Enquirer said reporters followed Bezos and Sanchez "across five states and 40,000 miles" and "tailed them in private jets, swanky limos, helicopter rides, romantic hikes, five-star hotel hideaways, intimate dinner dates and 'quality time' in hidden love nests."

It reported that Bezos sent "sleazy text messages and gushing love notes" to Sanchez, months before Bezos announced he was splitting up with his wife, MacKenzie. The story carries the bylines of Howard and two reporters.

Bezos usually stays out of the public eye, frequently delegating announcements and public Amazon business updates to his executives. He doesn't even speak on the company's quarterly financial earnings call with analysts.

AMI's relationship with Trump has gotten the company into hot water in the past. It admitted to "catch-and-kill" practices as part of a deal with federal prosecutors, who agreed not to pursue charges against the company.

AMI acknowledged secretly assisting Trump's campaign by paying $150,000 to a Playboy model for the rights to her story about an alleged affair with the then-candidate. The company then intentionally suppressed the story until after the 2016 election.

In September, the Justice Department agreed to a non-prosecution agreement with AMI, which requires the company and some top executives, including Pecker and Howard, to co-operate with authorities.

De Becker is now trying to find a way that federal prosecutors in Manhattan — where the non-prosecution agreement was signed — could investigate the text message scandal, the person familiar with the matter said, though it wasn't immediately clear what, if any, crime the prosecutors would be asked to look into.

It is a federal crime to threaten to injure someone's reputation in exchange for money or a "thing of value," though federal courts haven't made it directly clear whether a public statement, like the one demanded by AMI, could be considered something of value.

If it had no intrinsic value, there would be no issue here. Nevertheless, it's amazing to me how someone as brilliant as Jeff Bezos could do such stupid things as to get himself in this situation in the first place.

Dave Brubaker, ex-Canadian gymnastics coach,
acquitted of sex-related charges

Is it just me, or do the rich and famous have their own judicial system?

CBC Sports

Former Canadian gymnastics coach Dave Brubaker leaves a courthouse on Wednesday after being

found not guilty of sexual assault and sexual exploitation levelled by a former athlete.

(Mark Spowart/Canadian Press)

Former Canadian Olympic women's gymnastics coach Dave Brubaker was found not guilty today of two sex-related charges levelled by a former athlete.

Brubaker had pleaded not guilty to sexual assault and sexual exploitation relating to the alleged incidents between 2000 and 2007.

Justice Deborah Austin, in delivering her decision inside a Sarnia, Ont., courtroom, gave a scathing critique of how the lead officer handled the investigation, saying the Crown's case was damaged by the relationship between the complainant and the officer, who she said abandoned both his oath of impartiality and his oath of secrecy

"I don't criticize him for being a good friend … I do criticize the decision to also at the same time take on the role of sole investigating officer in the case resulting in some questions about the handling of the case," she said. "These things do affect the reliability of the Crown's case. These issues cannot be ignored."

Unlike sincere truth and genuine suffering, they can be ignored, apparently, in the name of justice.

Judge says complainant's testimony 'sincere, genuine'
The trial heard the sole investigating officer made the complainant the godmother of his child during the course of the probe. Court also heard the officer shared details of Brubaker's police interview with the woman, who cannot be identified under a publication ban.

Austin said none of her critique of the officer should be interpreted as an indictment of the complainant. "She was forthright and appeared to be doing her best, generally," the judge said. "It was sincere and genuine."​

Brubaker hugged his wife, Elizabeth, after the judge's decision while his supporters applauded in court.

Gymnastics Canada launching internal probe
In a statement, Gymnastics Canada announced it would conduct an internal investigation in accordance with its Code of Ethics and Conduct and Discipline policies.

"Gymnastics Canada acknowledges, understands, and remains committed to our responsibility in creating and preserving gymnastics environments that ensure positive, healthy, and fulfilling experiences for all of our participants," read the statement. "Together with our provincial and territorial partners and member clubs, we are continuing to implement a safe sport framework for gymnastics across the country.

"This framework includes tools to assist parents and other responsible adults to identify potentially unsafe situations and take proactive steps to ensure the safety of the athletes; providing confidential channels for athletes to communicate concerns with respect to their safety and well-being without risk of reprisals; and utilizing the appropriate enforcement mechanisms for addressing individuals who breach safe sport policies."

Gymnastics Canada CEO Ian Moss told CBC Sports' Devin Heroux that the investigation would follow proper protocol and he hoped that it would move swiftly.

"He [Brubaker] is unable to become a member again until we determine the outcome of the investigation. We've said in our other cases that we hope that the investigations can be completed within a month. We hope that that's the case. Certainly we're not going to drag it out," Moss said.

"These are very difficult times. These are very difficult stories and conversations. We know we want to maintain the sanctity and the beauty of the sport. We know that we've got work to do. Every sport has work to do there. And we are vigilant in ensuring that."

At the time of Brubaker's arrest in December 2017, he was interviewed by the lone officer on the case — a procedure the judge found was conducted in a particularly concerning way. He was also put on administrative leave by Gymnastics Canada and will remain suspended during its investigation.

Police officer should be investigated, says defence lawyer
"The statement contains unusually long commentary and monologue by the investigating officer and the questions were broad and wide-ranging," Austin told the court, suggesting the officer acted as a "conduit" for the complainant.

The most damning part of the statement, she said, was that Brubaker said he was "guilty of crossing a line." The officer, however, did not ask Brubaker to clarify what "line" he crossed or in what ways he crossed it, Austin said.

Outside court, Brubaker's defence lawyer argued the officer should be investigated for the way the probe was carried out.

"He owes [Brubaker] more than [an apology]. He turned his life upside down," Patrick Ducharme said. "This is not over … We'll try to clear [Brubaker's] name in every respect."

Sarnia police did not respond to request for comment on the judge's criticism of the investigating officer or Ducharme's call for a probe into his conduct.

Complainant initiated kisses, Brubaker said
In the case involving Brubaker, the complainant told the court that from the time she was 12, he would commonly greet her with a kiss on the lips.

Brubaker didn't deny this.

"I think it was just out of habit … that she started to kiss me," Brubaker said, insisting the kisses were innocent. "I don't come from a kissy family, so to me it's just part of the gymnast culture. It's not something I need as a man."

Brubaker, who coached the national women's team at the 2012 and 2016 Olympics, told the court the complainant initiated the kisses after a competition in Europe.

Brubaker's wife, who worked alongside her husband, testified she found nothing odd about the kisses, but acknowledged her husband kissed other students only on the cheek.

Brubaker's wife suspended
Last month, Gymnastics Canada suspended Elizabeth Brubaker, who isn't facing criminal charges, from her coaching job with the Bluewater Gymnastics Club in Sarnia.

In a statement, Gymnastics Canada said it suspended her after receiving "a number of written formal complaints … that outlined alleged violations of Gymnastics Canada's ethics and code of conduct policies over an extended period of time a number of years ago."

The complainant in her husband's case is now in her 30s. She also alleged Dave Brubaker touched her inappropriately while treating her for persistent pain and soreness.

Brubaker, the women's national team director at last year's world championships in Montreal, also vehemently denied this. But at the same time, an expert witness told the court that treatment, often in sensitive areas, is an integral and necessary part of maintaining the body of an elite gymnast.

Complainant alleged Brubaker would 'spoon' her
During their lengthy time as coach and student, the complainant also lived with the Brubakers. The court heard that David Brubaker took special care of her, picking her up almost daily at school before driving her home and then to practice.

On a number of occasions, it's alleged, Brubaker invited the complainant into his bedroom to join him for a nap. She alleges Brubaker would "spoon" her and tickle her belly.

He denied this ever happened.

Ducharme argued the young woman was bitter because she didn't make it to the Olympics, unlike some others Brubaker coached.

Brubaker's trial came at a time when the sport of gymnastics is in a seismic flux. In the U.S., Larry Nassar, the former U.S. gymnastics national team doctor who was convicted of assaulting hundreds of young gymnasts under the guise of treatment, has brought the sport to its knees.

Nassar was sentenced to 40 to 125 years in jail for his crimes. And just this week, U.S. Gymnastics declared bankruptcy as it desperately tries to make a fresh start.

'Clean-up' work halts at boy band's South Korea night club embroiled in rape allegations

By Elizabeth Shim

Seungri (L), a former member of South Korean boy band Big Bang, has apologized for sex assault allegations at a nightclub he owns in southern Seoul. File Photo by Yonhap/EPA-EFE

(UPI) -- South Korean police have ordered clean-up work be stopped at a nightclub in southern Seoul where drugging and rapes may have occurred, according to multiple allegations.

Club Burning Sun, owned by K-pop celebrity Seungri, a former member of boy band Big Bang, is at the center of controversy over a local nightclub culture that caters to wealthy patrons and encourages police to mind their own business.

The club's dismantlement began on Sunday amid allegations from victims and anonymous male clients that the club staff routinely used date rape drugs on women and literally dragged them to hotel rooms meant for male VIP guests.

The Seoul metropolitan police ordered club dismantlement to stop late Wednesday, according to News 1. The report came after local newspaper Chosun Ilbo reported the club was being cleaned before evidence could be collected, as Gangnam district police, suspected of taking a laissez-faire approach to club incidents, told the paper they "didn't know" anything about the demolition.

Burning Sun opened less than a year ago. According to photographs posted to Instagram or to its proprietary website, Burning Sun regularly attracts K-pop celebrities. Seungri, whose legal name is Lee Seung-hyun, has denied knowledge of the use of date rape drugs at his establishment. Local police could bring Lee in for questioning, according to reports.

A photo of Seungri with a suspected drug trafficker has surfaced online.

The suspect, identified as a Chinese woman, was recently investigated after police found "suspicious" liquids and white powders at her residence, according to local network KBS.

The woman, a staff member at the club, has been connected to securing drug purchases, according to multiple reports.

The club has been under public scrutiny since late 2018, when an anonymous YouTube account holder posted surveillance footage of a "secret VIP tunnel" that Burning Sun staff use to drag drugged women to undisclosed locations.

The shocking footage shows a woman struggling to escape staff, and hold onto a nearby laptop, before they pull her by the hair and take her away.

Local network MBC has reported staff drugged women regularly then would text VIP clients with images of the unconscious victims.

Seungri has recently apologized for the incidents.

Weird to Be on Set: Kriti Sanon on ‘Housefull 4’,

#MeToo & Sajid Khan

BOLLYWOOD

Actor Kriti Sanon says when the #MeToo allegations surfaced against Housefull 4's former director Sajid Khan and her co-star Nana Patekar, the team took swift actions as they were focused about not letting it affect the final product. Sajid Khan stepped down from the project following multiple accusations of sexual misconduct against him. He was replaced by writer Farhad Samji as the director. Nana Patekar too, distanced himself from the comedy after being accused of harassment by actor Tanushree Dutta. He was replaced by actor Rana Daggubati.

“It was weird to be on set with all that going on. Someone else directing us suddenly in the middle of the film. But I give it to producer Sajid Nadiadwala sir. He took certain decisions and handled it very well. We didn’t stop shooting for more than two days,” Kriti told PTI.

The actor says the team, including actors Akshay Kumar, Kriti Kharbanda, Bobby Deol, Riteish Deshmukh and Pooja Hegde, were focused on the film and in delivering a good final product. "We finished our schedule a day before we were supposed to finish. That way, we all just wanted to make the film in a good manner and make sure all of this doesn't affect the final product. A film once made is out forever. We were together in it."

The Bareilly Ki Barfi star says some of the highlight sequences of the film were shot after the #MeToo allegations surfaced and were handled very well. "We shot some major sequences including the interval and the climax after that. These sequences are usually crazy because the entire star cast is together. Our producer took the call of spending that extra money to reshoot scenes with no fault of his," she added.

Kriti will be next seen in Luka Chuppi co-starring Kartik Aaryan. The film, directed by Laxman Utekar and written by Rohan Shankar, is scheduled to release on 1 March.

Sorrowful and Sickening Stories Among 11 on Today's USA PnP List

Church worker, music teacher, married couple, liar, woman rapist, Catholic Church, DoJ, Rose McGowan & Hollywood cesspool

Texas jury sentences child abuser

to life in prison

Midland Reporter-Telegram 

A Midland County jury convicted Mark Odin Chambers, 42, to life in prison after finding the man guilty of continuous sexual abuse of a child in count I and aggravated sexual assault of a child count IV.

Midland County District Attorney Laura A. Nodolf reports that victims testified about sexual abuse that “began in Midland in 2008 and continued once the victims moved to the Dallas area in 2012.” 

After finding Chambers guilty, the jury then assessed his punishment at life in prison in both counts. 

The offense of continuous sexual abuse of a child does not allow for the defendant to be considered for parole, according to the press release.

Nodolf and Assistant District Attorney Bonita Tribble prosecuted the case before District Judge Rodney W. Satterwhite. Nodolf reports Chambers’ last residence was Granbury. 

Former Prattville church employee charged

with child sex crimes

By WSFA 12 News Staff

PRATTVILLE, AL (WSFA) -

A former Prattville church employee has been arrested on two sex charges, according to the Prattville Police Department.

Investigators, along with the U.S. Marshals Service, took 40-year-old John Edgar Harris into custody Friday around noon at his Cooper Avenue home.

Harris is charged with one count of first-degree sexual abuse and one count of facilitating the travel of a child for an unlawful sex act. He's being held on bonds totaling $150,000.

Harris' personal website indicates he is involved in ministry work at Glynwood Baptist Church in Prattville where he lists himself as being the church's student minister and director of communications for more than eight years.

When contacted for reaction, officials with Glynwood Baptist Church would confirm Harris was at one time employed there but is no longer affiliated with the church after he voluntarily resigned on Sept. 3. The church has not confirmed the exact position he held.

The investigation is ongoing.

Florida Couple charged in Child Molestation Case

Blountstown, Fla. - A Blountstown couple is facing 40 felonies after they were arrested in connection to the sexual abuse of two young girls.

Abel Miranda, 43, is charged with 34 felonies including lewd or lascivious conduct, lewd or lascivious exhibition, lewd and lascivious molestation and sexual battery.

His wife Anabel Redondo-Miranda, 42, was also arrested and charged with six felonies following an investigation by the Blountstown Police Department and the Department of Children and Families. 

East Syracuse music teacher indicted for sexually abusing child for 1 1/2 years

By Douglass Dowty

Syracuse, NY -- An East Syracuse private music teacher was indicted today on a charge accusing him of repeated child sexual abuse from January 2010 to July 2011.

Michael Waite, 42, of Mattydale, was owner of Mike Waite's Music Studio, 100 East Manlius St.,  East Syracuse. The studio taught drums, guitar, vocals and piano, according to its Facebook page.

The victim, who was under 13 years old, was not a student at the music studio, state police have said.

Waite was indicted on a charge of "course of sexual conduct against a child," which means he's accused of at least two acts of sex abuse over the 19 months covered in the indictment.

That's a Class D felony, punishable by up to seven years in prison. He's also facing a misdemeanor endangering the welfare of a child.

Waite is currently free on bail. He was originally arrested in July of this year.

Diary Leads To Child Molestation Arrest In Georgia

By Doug Gross (Patch Staff) 

DALLAS, GA — A Paulding County man has been transported to North Dakota to face child molestation charges filed after authorities say his old diary recounting the crimes was discovered.

Timothy Sprenger, 31, is charged with one count of gross sexual imposition and one count of continuous sexual abuse of a child in North Dakota. He was transported there from Paulding County Jail last week.

In June, the sheriff's office says, Paulding County detective Sgt. Lenny Carr met with someone who showed him what appeared to be a diary written by Sprenger — who was living in Paulding County after moving from North Dakota.

Victims aged 6 months - 2 years

The diary, which had been torn into pieces and taped back together, appeared to contain passages in which Sprenger documented multiple instances of child molestation against children from ages 6 months to two years old, the sheriff's office said.

Investigators determined the incidents apparently happened years ago and were able to identify one of the alleged victims, now 12 years old, and locate the child's mother in North Dakota. They then notified the Minot Police Department in North Dakota.

Paulding Detective Krista Cousins identified and located the other alleged victim, also 12 years old now, who also lives in North Dakota. Carr then interviewed Sprenger and, according to the sheriff's office, Sprenger confessed to the crimes, as well as others not mentioned in the diary.

Investigators did not learn of any incidents that happened in Georgia, the sheriff's office said.

On Sept. 22, North Dakota issued criminal warrants for Sprenger's arrest. Paulding County deputies arrested him that day and, on Oct. 5, he was transported back to North Dakota.

He is currently being held on a $1 million bond in North Dakota.

El Paso woman arrested after falsely reporting

child abuse

by Lorena Sanchez Jamel Valencia

EL PASO, Texas (KFOX14) — 

An El Paso woman was arrested and charged Wednesday for falsely reporting child abuse.

The charges resulted from a July 2017 investigation, said police.

Vanessa Macias, 33, persuaded a child “to participate in the false report of child abuse/sexual abuse” against another person, said police.

Macias reported to investigators that a child had been sexually abused.

Macias was booked into the El Paso County Jail on Wednesday on a $20,000 bond.

Iowa woman faces sex abuse charge

Lee Hermiston The Gazette 

MARION — A Marion woman is accused of sexually abusing a 15-year-old boy in her home.

According to the Linn County Attorney’s Office, the victim said during a forensic interview at Unity Point-St. Luke’s Child Protection Center that Marcy A. Westphal, 60, of 9-F Chapelridge Circle, engaged in a sex act with the teen at her residence on Aug. 17. Authorities said the act was witnessed by another person.

Westphal was arrested this week and has been charged with third-degree sex abuse, a Class C felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison.

Upstate NY man admits sexual abuse of child

By Freeman staff

KINGSTON, N.Y. >> A Kingston man has pleaded guilty in Ulster County Court to the sexual abuse of a person under the age of 11, the Ulster County District Attorney’s Office said Friday.

David Vega-Soto, 38, formerly of 82 Henry St., pleaded guilty Thursday before Judge Donald A. Williams to the felony of sexual abuse. He admitted that on June 25, “he subjected another person to sexual contact who was less than 11 years old,” according to the District Attorney’s Office.

Vega-Soto was arrested June 30 after an investigation by the Ulster County Family and Child Advocacy Center, which comprises members of the District Attorney’s Office, the state police, the Ulster County Sheriff’s Office and Ulster County Child Protective Services.

He initially was charged with the felonies of sexual abuse and criminal sex act and the misdemeanors of sexual abuse and endangering the welfare of a child. At the time, the District Attorney’s Office said Vega-Sota sexually assaulted two girls, ages 6 and 12.

Vega-Sota was indicted in July by an Ulster County grand jury on one felony count of sexual abuse.

Authorities did not say whether Vega-Soto knew the girls prior to the assaults.

The Catholic Church knew he was an abuser, but helped him get a job in public schools

Melanie Sakoda holds a sign as she participates in a demonstration with SNAP, the Survivors Network

of those Abused by Priests, outside of the offices of the San Francisco Archdiocese in 2010.

(Justin Sullivan / Getty Images)

Rick Anderson

Time and again, the record shows, Brother Edward “Chris” Courtney was accused of child sexual abuse in the Roman Catholic schools where he taught, and the church responded by moving him to another jurisdiction.

That makes his case similar to those of hundreds of other priests and brothers who committed sexual abuse before the problem exploded into national consciousness more than 15 years ago.

What sets Courtney apart is this: According to a lawsuit settled last week in Seattle’s King County Superior Court, he was ultimately shuffled off to a public school, where he continued to commit sexual assault.

Edward Courtney in an undated photo (Archdiocese of Seattle)

Courtney, now 82 and retired in Hawaii, was a member of the Christian Brothers religious order who has been accused of assaulting at least 55 boys during his three decades as a Catholic school educator in a variety of jurisdictions from New York to Seattle.

It was in Seattle, where he served as principal of a parochial school, St. Alphonsus, that his Catholic school career came to an end after allegations of groping. Catholic and Christian Brothers officials then wrote letters of recommendation to the state school system and, ignoring a legal requirement, never reported his history of sexual assaults. That omission allowed Courtney to obtain his license to teach in public schools, where the assaults continued, according to the lawsuit and criminal court records.

The Seattle Archdiocese agreed to pay $1.3 million to one of Courtney’s public school victims — an unidentified male who was sexually assaulted in the early 1980s at a now-closed Tacoma-area school. Archbishop J. Peter Sartain also issued an apology.

The church and the Christian Brothers’ congregation have now paid out an estimated $30 million in court settlements to Courtney's nationwide victims, 52 of them in one settlement alone that caused the congregation to declare bankruptcy in 2011.

In a news release, the Seattle Archdiocese pointed to changes it had made in the wake of the church scandal that began unfolding in 2001 with a Boston Globe investigation of abuse by priests. Now, criminal background checks are required for all archdiocese employees and volunteers who have unsupervised contact with children.

Courtney, however, did not have a criminal record until after he began teaching in the public school system and was convicted of assaulting a student at an Othello, Wash., elementary school.

Jason Amala, one of the latest victim’s Seattle attorneys, said in a statement this week that he was unaware of “another case where the defendant [the archdiocese] removed a known abuser from their private school system and then actively helped them get a job in the public school system.”

Mary Dispenza, leader of Seattle SNAP (Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests) praised the settlement and noted that a second, similar lawsuit accusing Courtney of molesting another public school student is currently moving through the courts.

Last year, the Seattle Archdiocese issued a list of 77 priests, brothers (including Courtney), deacons and a nun identified as sexual predators. The archdiocese has not provided any details of the alleged offenses.

Court files, though, lay out Courtney’s story.

Problems surfaced nearly immediately after the Seattle-born brother took his first permanent assignment in 1960, at age 22, at New York City's Sacred Heart School. Christian Brothers records state that he began to prey on grade school students and was transferred to Brother Rice High School in Chicago, where more problems soon arose.

He was moved to St. Laurence High School in Burbank, Ill., where he was also accused of abuse. The allegations continued after his transfer in 1968 to Brother Rice High in Birmingham, Mich. Two years later, he was sent to St. Leo High in Chicago, where — following more abuse allegations — he was transferred back to St. Laurence.

He was asked to leave St. Laurence following an allegation involving a freshman boy. This time, the church and congregation sent him far afield — to the West Coast, where he wound up at O'Dea High School in Seattle in the mid-1970s, records show.

Within two months, he was coaching intramural basketball at O'Dea and the complaints started again. One student said he was attacked by Courtney in a locked classroom. The boy's father later confronted school officials, who asked Courtney to make a public apology.

Courtney refused and was sent to a retreat in Canada for sexual deviancy treatment. When he returned to O'Dea, new abuse reports surfaced. He was moved to a Catholic elementary school and then to St. Alphonsus, where he was named principal.

It wasn't long before complaints surfaced from St. Alphonsus students, including two boys who said Courtney had groped them.

Courtney admitted to the youths' charges and agreed to resign. But with the archdiocese’s help, he ended up as a public school teacher in Seattle, Tacoma and central Washington. The Christian Brothers even paid Courtney’s way at Seattle University to earn accreditation so he could become a school principal.

When molestation accusations once again surfaced, Courtney took flight — aware this time that public school officials had alerted police.

Three years later, he was arrested in Nevada and returned to Washington. But with his past unknown to the court, he pleaded guilty in 1989 to one count of indecent liberties and was given a suspended sentence of 24 months and ordered to register as a sex offender — for one year.

The extent of his serial attacks began to come to light about four years ago following a $16.5-million agreement with the bankrupt Christian Brothers, when 52 of 400 U.S. abuse claimants named Courtney as their attacker, records show.

Courtney, who did not respond to phone messages at his home in Oahu this week, denied in a 2009 court deposition he committed any serious offenses over the years. He “improperly touched” some students, he said, but he was young and “I guess that’s maybe why I didn’t realize that these things bothered others as much. I don’t know.”

The DOJ Has Nearly Doubled Its Prosecutions

For Child Sex Crimes

Anders Hagstrom

Justice Reporter

Federal investigators nearly doubled the number of  investigated sex crimes involving children between 2004 and 2013, the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) announced Thursday.

Child sex crime cases include possession or production of child pornography and child sex trafficking, the BJS reported. Federal investigators took up 1,405 of these cases in 2004, compared to 2,776 cases in 2013. More than 70 percent of the prosecutions each year were for possessing child pornography, followed by those suspected of sex trafficking at 18 percent and those who produced child pornography at 10 percent.

The Department of Justice prosecuted a total of 36,080 child sexual exploitation cases between 2004 and 2013. Nearly 100 percent of the offenders were male; 97 percent were U.S. citizens; 82 percent were white; 79 percent had no prior felony convictions; and 70 percent were unmarried. 

Those convicted of child sex crimes received prison sentences more reliably than any other major federal crime, with 98 percent of convicts going to prison. Prison sentences for these convicts also got more severe over the years, with the average prison sentence nearly doubling from 70 months to 139 months.

Of the 36,080 suspects, 60 percent faced prosecutors in trial, and 36 percent were never prosecuted. Of those who went to trial, 90 percent submitted a guilty plea. 

Only four percent of those who didn’t plead guilty were convicted in trial.

What!!!??? 4%? That is abysmal!

Rose McGowan implores Jeff Bezos to

'stop funding rapists.' 

Meanwhile, Amazon suspends studio head amid harassment claim

Meg James and Gus Garcia-Roberts Contact Reporters

The scandal enveloping Hollywood grew wider Thursday when actress Rose McGowan accused movie producer Harvey Weinstein of raping her, and then pleaded with one of America’s most powerful business titans — Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos — to end his company’s alleged involvement in a culture of exploitation and abuse.

“@jeffbezos I am calling on you to stop funding rapists, alleged pedo[philes] and sexual harassers,” McGowan said in a Twitter message directed to the Amazon billionaire.

“I love @amazon but there is rot in Hollywood,” McGowan wrote, just hours after Twitter lifted a 12-hour suspension that temporarily blocked the actress from posting.

In a separate development on Thursday, Amazon suspended Roy Price, the head of its studios, after “The Man in the High Castle” producer Isa Hackett told the Hollywood Reporter that he had repeatedly propositioned her and made lewd comments.

From fledgling actresses to Hollywood royalty, here's a full list of Harvey Weinstein's accusers and their allegations

“Roy Price is on leave of absence effective immediately,” an Amazon spokesperson said. “We are reviewing our options for the projects we have with The Weinstein Co.”

McGowan is one of a number of Hollywood stars, including Gwyneth Paltrow, Angelina Jolie and Ashley Judd, who have said they were victimized by Weinstein. Last week, the New York Times reported that McGowan reached a $100,000 settlement with Weinstein in 1997 after an incident at the Sundance Film Festival. As part of the settlement, McGowan was not supposed to discuss the incident but she has become increasingly vocal as more women have announced that they also were victims of the co-founder of Miramax and Weinstein Co.

“We are just seeing the tip of the iceberg,” said Caroline Heldman, a college professor who has worked with sexual assault victims. “This is going to touch every major studio in Hollywood.”

McGowan, 44, previously has suggested on Twitter that she had been victimized and has used the social media platform to call out men, including Weinstein’s brother, Bob Weinstein, and actors Ben Affleck, his brother Casey Affleck, and Matt Damon for enabling the misconduct.

Harvey Weinstein gave Ben Affleck and Damon their big break, acquiring their breakout movie “Good Will Hunting,” which won the Oscar in 1998 for best original screenplay.

Best original screenplay... he just had to write the f... word 5000 times and fill in a few more. It's a pity the Academy supports such disgusting productions.

McGowan is best known for starring in the now-defunct WB network hit “Charmed,” but also appeared in Wes Craven’s 1996 slasher “Scream” — distributed by Dimension Films, the film label owned by the Weinstein Co.

In 1998 she starred opposite Ben Affleck in the horror film “Phantoms,” produced by Dimension and distributed by Miramax. She played dual roles in 2007’s “Grindhouse,” starring in both of the film’s two segments for Quentin Tarantino (“Death Proof”) and Robert Rodriguez (“Planet Terror”). The film was also distributed by Dimension.

Last year, using the hashtag #WhyWomenDontReport, she vented on Twitter, saying: “My ex sold our movie to my rapist for distribution.” She did not spell out who she meant as her “rapist,” but some Hollywood insiders speculated that it was Weinstein.

Weinstein’s spokesperson, Sallie Hofmeister, said in a statement: “Any allegations of non-consensual sex are unequivocally denied by Mr. Weinstein.”

Then, last September at an IFP Film Week event in New York, McGowan announced that she had sold a show she had written to Amazon Studios. Some speculated that the project may have been inspired by McGowan's own childhood spent in the Children of God cult, which she fled with her family at the age of 9 after her father feared she might be subjected to child sexual abuse by cult members.

But a formal announcement from Amazon never materialized. On Thursday, McGowan shed more light on the project, tweeting: “I called my attorney & said I want to get my script back, but before I could #2 @amazonstudios called to say my show was dead.”

Her Twitter barrage included her — now very public claim — that Weinstein had raped her.

“@jeffbezos I told the head of your studio that HW raped me. Over & Over I said it. He said it hadn’t been proven. I said I was the proof,” she wrote.

“@jeffbezos I forcefully begged studio head to do the right thing. I was ignored. Deal was done. Amazon won a dirty Oscar,” she wrote, an apparent reference to Amazon’s movie, “Manchester by the Sea,” and its star Casey Affleck, who was accused of sexually assaulting a woman. Casey Affleck has denied the allegation.

Heldman, the women’s advocate, praised McGowan’s courage.

“Once again, Rose has been taking a lead in taking this to the next level — and holding to account other powerful men who have been complicit in covering up sexual violence,” Heldman said.

McGowan’s new accusations add another dimension to the controversy because it suggests that she took her allegations to other powerful players in Hollywood.

Ann Fromholz, a Pasadena attorney who has handled sexual harassment cases, said she believes McGowan’s latest salvo is part of a growing storm that will make it easier for sexual harassment victims in Hollywood and other industries to speak out.

“I expect that because of the publicity this is getting, because of the support the victims are getting, people likely will be more willing to complain when something like this happens in the future, with Weinstein or anybody else,” Fromholz said.

In addition to McGowan’s challenge to Bezos, Amazon is also facing other allegations.

Hackett, a producer for “The Man in the High Castle,” told the Hollywood Reporter that Price repeatedly propositioned her. She reported the incident to Amazon executives, who hired an outside investigator to look into her allegations.

Hackett’s legal representative, Christopher Tricarico, on Thursday confirmed that the statements attributed to Hackett in the Hollywood Reporter were accurate.

However, Hackett, he said, did not wish to comment further.

Tricarico said Hackett participated in the internal investigation at Amazon Studios but was never told if it was concluded or how it was resolved. She followed up with Amazon’s Human Resources department, but was told the findings were confidential, the attorney said.

“It was basically the company line, that they were doing what they needed to do internally but were not at liberty to give any details,” Tricarico said.

Amazon said in a statement to the Hollywood Reporter that they “looked closely at this specific concern and addressed it directly with those involved.”