Big Bang, Freddie Starr, Baseball MVP, Figure Skaters, Pediatrician, Ellen on Perverted Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous Episode XVIII

South Korea Shaken by Rising Drug Use,

Celebrity Scandals

By Kelly Kasulis

Big Bang singer Lee Seung-hyun -- popularly known as Seungri -- has been linked  to a Gangnam-area nightclub called Burning Sun, where several women were allegedly drugged, sexually assaulted and filmed without their consent. Photo by Yonhap

SEOUL, May 10 (UPI) -- Take a look at the news in South Korea lately and it may seem like the nation is in the middle of a celebrity purge -- or even a drug crisis.

K-pop star and actor Park Yoo-chun dominated headlines after he was accused of using methamphetamine with his ex-girlfriend, Hwang Ha-na, the wealthy granddaughter of a major dairy mogul. At first, Park denied the allegations, but he has since confessed -- adding to a long list of other celebrities facing public shame for drug charges in recent months.

"I'm willing to take punishment for what I did, and I will live my life in regret," Park told reporters on Friday, outside Nambu Police Station.

Earlier in April, renown lawyer and TV personality Robert Holley was arrested for allegedly purchasing and using methamphetamine online -- a case that shook millions of South Koreans who watched him for years. That same month, the grandson of one of South Korea's largest conglomerates -- SK Group -- was apprehended for his alleged use of liquefied marijuana.

"My initial reaction was shock, because of the number of cases pouring out at one time. It all came out so suddenly," said Diane Park, 26, who works at the Korea Tourism Organization. "Lately, it seems like that's pretty much all you see on the news."

"Robert Holley's case in particular shocked me. It came out nowhere," said Soon Nim-jun, 55, of Seoul. "The incident went against his perceived character ... Robert Holley was seen as a intelligent, approachable and family-oriented person."

National flashpoint

The most high-profile case involves the Burning Sun nightclub scandal and one of South Korea's most famous K-pop stars.

Big Bang singer Lee Seung-hyun -- popularly known as Seungri -- was accused of having managerial ties to a Gangnam-area nightclub called Burning Sun, where several women were allegedly drugged, sexually assaulted and filmed without their consent. Seungri was also implicated for participating in a chatroom where these videos were shared, as well as soliciting prostitutes for foreign investors interested in his companies.

An official investigation has so far revealed that several police officers were bribed to overlook crimes at Burning Sun.

"That's what shocks and scares me the most," Park said. "I remember thinking, 'If the police are in on this, who can we trust?'"

"[The case of] using drugs to rape women was the most shocking," said Lee So-hee, a 26-year-old South Korean university student. "This whole drug scandal is ludicrous. I thought that Korea was safer than other countries because of the strong drug screenings and regulations. But, I guess if you're rich, you can [use] smuggled drugs."

A rising problem

South Korea takes drugs very seriously. While much of the United States has decriminalized or even legalized marijuana use, those who partake in South Korea can face up to five years in prison and a fine up to 50 million won ($42,730).

"Korean society does not approach drug addicts with the goal of healing them," said Kim Hyeong-gun, head of the Seoul Addiction Institute of Psychotherapy. "If one uses drugs, society immediately views them as criminals."

Arrests are also on the rise. There were nearly 6,800 cases involving a violation of the Act on The Control of Narcotics in 2017, according to the latest numbers from the Korean Statistical Information Service. That's a 126 percent increase since 2003.

"The drug problem has indeed increased," Kim said. "It is well-known that drugs are available and are being used in a lot of nightclubs in Gangnam."

However, South Korea's uptick in drug-related arrests hardly indicates a true crisis -- especially when it's compared to the United States, where a drug arrest is estimated to happen every 20 seconds. Many South Koreans still view drug use as a high-society problem limited to the wealthy.

"Celebrities tend to be very stressed out. They feel constant pressure to maintain their popularity, and so they may seek out drugs for 'self care,'" Kim said. "There is also the aspect of celebrities feeling like they're part of a privileged class by using drugs."

Even so, "ordinary Kims and Lees" are also getting caught up in drugs -- particularly meth amphetamines. And the recent wave of celebrity cases has some worried.

"It does concern me. The fact that people are turning to drugs tells me that there's something wrong," Park said. "I think the increasing popularity of drugs hints at a growing state of detachment, isolation and emptiness in our society."

And maybe Godlessness?

Freddie Starr died in Spain, penniless, disgraced
after child sex abuse law suit

The UK singer/comedian was a household name from the '70s - '90s

Freddie Starr's body is being left in limbo after his carer admitted she could not afford to bury him in Spain and his family have not yet requested he be repatriated back to Britain.  

Nelly Georgieva, 47, says the late comic, who died at his Costa Del Sol apartment on Thursday, is still in a hospital mortuary in Malaga and revealed none of his family have been in touch to talk through funeral arrangements nor request his body.   

The live-in carer and close friend of Starr said she has now been left to settle thousands of Euros worth in unpaid medical bills. 

The former I'm A Celebrity star sold up and left the UK after losing a £1 million libel case against Karin Ward, then 57.

She claimed he had put his hand up her skirt when she was a teenager, before callously dismissing her as a 'a###less wonder.'

He sued her for libel after she gave interviews saying she was 'horribly, horribly humiliated' by the fallen comic.

A High Court judge ruled Miss Ward was telling the truth and dismissed the case in July 2015. 

Starr was 76 years old.

Costa Del Sol, Spain

Ex-Yankees, Expos reliever John Wetteland
arraigned on child sex charges 

‘He was completely shocked’

By Mike Rosenstein | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

The attorney for John Wetteland maintained the pitcher’s innocence Monday as the former New York Yankees reliever appeared in Denton County (Texas) for his first court date since being arrested in January (3rd story on link), the Dallas Morning News reports.

According to the report, Wetteland, the 1996 World Series MVP, was indicted in March on three counts of aggravated sexual assault of a child.

Wetteland’s attorney, Derek Adame, spoke Monday after the arraignment hearing. Per the Dallas Morning News:

“What they’ve accused him of, the only thing worse is murder. He was completely shocked [by the allegations].” Neither Wetteland nor his wife, Rebecca Wetteland, spoke to reporters as they left Judge Brody Shanklin’s courtroom ... “Think about someone you think the world of, who you trust,” Adame said. “That’s John Wetteland, for a lot of people.”

According to the report, Wetteland, now 52, allegedly forced a relative to have sex with him three times, starting in 2004. At the time of the alleged assault, the relative was 4 years old. Wetteland assaulted the relative at his home in Texas twice more in the next two years, the accuser told police, according to the report.

Wetteland pitched 12 seasons in the majors. He was a three-time All-Star — once with the Yankees in 1996, who beat the Braves in the World Series; and twice with the Texas Rangers in 1998 and 1999. He had a 2.93 ERA and 330 career saves.

‘Nobody innocent hangs themself’: US figure skater accuses deceased partner of sexual abuse

US pairs skater Bridget Namiotka has accused her former partner John Coughlin of sexual assault, making her statement four months after the man took his own life in the wake of sexual misconduct allegations.

In a series of Facebook posts Namiotka claimed to have been continuously assaulted by her ex-partner, alleging that he had killed himself after his sexual crimes began to surface.

“I’m sorry but John hurt at least 10 people including me. He sexually abused me for 2 years. Nobody innocent hangs themselves,” she wrote on her Facebook page.

“Think about the victims when you’re speaking up for what he did to at least 10 girls,” the skater added.

Namiotka teamed up with Coughlin in 2004 when she was 14, spending three full seasons with the skater before splitting up in 2007. In 2006, the couple won silver medals at the junior national championship.

Last December, the US sport which was steadily recovering from the outrageous Nassar sexual-abuse scandal, was hit again after allegations of sexual misconduct were brought against Coughlin, a skater who represented the country at major international figure skating events.

SafeSport, an independent nonprofit organization which describes its goals as battling against “all forms of abuse in sport,” suspended Coughlin from figure skating after it launched investigations into sexual abuse allegations brought against him.

A day after his interim suspension and one week before the US Championships, Coughlin died by suicide (4th story on link) at the age of 33.

 Rockefeller University Hospital knew about
alleged sex abuse as early as 1960s

Frank Esposito, Rockland/Westchester Journal News

An investigation at Rockefeller University Hospital by its own attorneys concluded that one of their prominent physicians abused children during his tenure there, and officials were aware of his behavior possibly as early as 1961.

Dr. Reginald Archibald, formerly of Pelham, allegedly abused hundreds and possibly thousands of children during his tenure at Rockefeller University Hospital.

"It is clear that Dr. Reginald Archibald engaged in acts of sexual misconduct and sexual abuse toward many of his pediatric patients while employed by Rockefeller University Hospital," read the report by Debevoise & Plimpton LLP, conducted at the hospital's request.

The report details new findings and confirms many of the allegations about how Archibald used his status to find victims. One stunning development revealed was that Archibald kept a cabin on a remote island in Canada where he invited patients, according to the report.

Archibald would invite the children there under the pretext given to the parents of a special summer opportunity for them. Several people have claimed that Archibald abused them at the cabin, according to the Debevoise report.

Archibald had numerous reports made against him.

In 1961 the New York County District Attorney's office presented information to a grand jury, which didn't charge Archibald with an offense. There is also no publicly available record of this proceeding, and no way to know what information was put before the grand jury or why the grand jury decided what it did. 

Debevoise found that searches of public databases for law enforcement action against Archibald failed to uncover any instances, but the hospital discovered a reference to this grand jury proceeding in early 2019.

The grand jury came after subpoenas were issued in late 1960 for medical records for two of Archibald’s patients. Debevoise believes those were prompted by complaints.

The exterior grounds and buildings of Rockefeller University on York Avenue in New York, March 14, 2019.  (Photo: Mark Vergari/The Journal News)

The Physician-in-Chief from 1960 to 1974 also received multiple complaints against Archibald and also had reservations about his methods.

"The physician-in-chief himself also thought Archibald’s approach to examinations, in taking genital measurements, was questionable," wrote Debevoise.

The physician-in-chief died in 2005.

Archibald writes back to alleged victim

In 1996, a former patient wrote a letter complaining that Archibald engaged in inappropriate sexual conduct during examinations in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

At the suggestion of hospital management, Archibald wrote a letter back to the former patient, the report said. Archibald stopped working for Rockefeller in the 1980s.

The former patient also sent a letter to the New York State Office of Professional Medical Conduct. Debevoise found no record of the state office following up with Rockefeller.

Debevoise also found that complaints to the NYPD and the FBI were made around 1989-1990 and that complaints to the Pelham Police and Westchester County District Attorney’s Office were made in approximately 1999.

The report concludes that more could have been done. "There were warning signs that could have been seen, appreciated or further pursued earlier," wrote Debevoise.

Confirmed allegations

The report claims Archibald would sexually stimulate his patients and take nude photos of them in various states of arousal. The whereabouts of those pictures still remains a mystery.

"To date, neither Debevoise nor Rockefeller has located any repository of these photographs. While it cannot be concluded with certainty, there is reason to believe that nearly all of the photographs were destroyed," wrote Debevoise.

Several people previously accused Archibald of using his volunteerism at Boys Club swimming pools as a way to hunt for victims. 

"Patients were often referred to Archibald, who had a reputation as a prominent physician at the time, by their schools, by other physicians, or by youth organizations where Archibald served as a volunteer," wrote Debevoise.

Jennifer Freeman, at Marsh Law Firm PLLC, which represents more than 200 alleged victims, provided this statement.

"While this report is far from a complete picture of the atrocities committed by Dr. Archibald, it offers a shocking confirmation that Rockefeller University Hospital knowingly employed a child sexual abuser for decades," Wrote Freeman.

Ellen de Generes gives emotional interview

recalling sexual abuse

REBECCA O'KEEFFE, HER

She spoke candidly.

Ellen DeGeneres has opened up about being sexually assaulted as a child.

The TV personality was a guest on My Next Guest Needs No Introduction With David Letterman when she opened up.

Ellen opened up about being abused by her mother's former partner while she was young.

She said:

"He told me when she was out of town that he'd felt a lump in her breast and needed to feel my breasts because he didn't want to upset her, but he needed to feel mine."

Ellen's story continued, as she explained the assault.

"Again, 'cause I didn't know about bodies, I don't know that breasts are all different and... Anyway, he convinced me that he needs to feel my breasts and then he tries to do it again another time, and then another time."

Ellen DeGeneres went on to explain that she didn't tell her mum about the assault, because she didn't want to "ruin her happiness".

However, when she turned 18 she admitted everything to her mother, and told her what he partner had done. But Ellen's mother did not believe her, and stayed with the man for 18 years.

However, she eventually left him because he "changed his story so many times".

So incredibly brave of Ellen to open up about this.

One of my pet theories is that many girls who become lesbians do so as a reaction to having been sexually abused by a man as a child or young woman. This, of course, doesn't confirm that theory, but it does support it. De Generes is probably the world's best known lesbian. Kudos for sharing!

Teacher, Pediatrician, Eamonn's Lover, SK Prof., NL Schools, Barbados on Today's Global PnP List

Brazil police conduct 266 searches in child porn crackdown; Arrest >100

By Renzo Pipoli

Brazilian police arrested more than 100 people in 133 cities as part of the crackdown.

File Photo by Kevin Dietsch/UPI | License Photo

(UPI) -- Brazilian police conducted 266 search orders in 133 cities in a national crackdown on computer-related sex crimes against children, authorities said.

The orders allow police to search suspects' offices and homes if officials believe they've received, stored or shared illegal pornographic files. Officers arrested more than 100 people by Thursday, G1 reported.

Storing child pornography in Brazil is punishable by as many as four years in prison, six years for those who share them and eight years for those who produce them.

It should be 80 years for those who produce them. 

Authorities said about 237,000 files were examined by police preparing for the third phase of the operation, G1's report said.

Nearly 100 searches were carried out in the Sao Paulo area, which was the largest part of what Brazilian authorities considered phase 3 of the Light During Infancy program. Last May, police arrested several hundred people in phase 2.

Police started the program in late 2017.

'The shame, the guilt, the pain': victims of Sydney high school teacher speak out

2 Survivors Stories

By Pallavi Singhal, Sydney Morning Herald

The first time Clint Churchyard, a GP and former detective, told anyone that he was sexually assaulted from the age of 12 by a Sydney high school teacher was 27 years after the assaults began.

Mr Churchyard had just turned 39. After giving up a career in the NSW Police Force to grapple with a decades-long alcohol addiction, he was ready to turn his life around and had started a degree in medicine.

Former Cromer High School students Clint Churchyard and Geoff McGuiness say they were sexually abused by convicted former teacher Peter Wayne Scott. CREDIT:LOUISE KENNERLEY

"I was sitting in a lecture in Darlinghurst reading The Sydney Morning Herald when I saw a story on one of [the teacher's] trials and saw that he had been charged [for abusing other students]," Mr Churchyard, now 45, says.

"I made contact with police in 2012 and it was the first time I'd told someone."

The teacher was Peter Wayne Scott, an art teacher at Cromer High School in Sydney's northern beaches, who has been convicted of 14 child sex offences in the 1980s at the school that has come under scrutiny for teacher-student relations.

Cromer High has received the most attention over the case of former physical education teacher Chris Dawson, who was charged last year over the disappearance of his wife Lynette Dawson. Lynette was last seen days before Chris Dawson's former student, Joanne Curtis, moved into his house.

A number of teachers who were at the school in the 1980s said in the popular The Teacher's Pet podcast they knew about relationships between multiple teachers and students.

Mr Churchyard began year 7 at Cromer High School in 1986, after Mr Dawson had left the school, but says there was still an acceptance of teacher-student relationships.

Mr Churchyard met Scott, his roll call teacher, on the first day of school. "Throughout the year, he took a particular interest in me, he recognised that I had an interest in music and he was teaching me how to play the guitar," says Mr Churchyard, who testified at three of Scott's trials. "He was engaging in what I recognise now as grooming behaviour."

Scott, or "Scotty" as he let students call him, directed rock videos for popular '80s bands including the Divinyls, Mental as Anything and the Choirboys and was one of the most popular teachers at Cromer High.

Scott would drive male students to the beach in his blue panel van, invite them to parties at his house and give them alcohol and drugs, including cocaine and heroin, before sexually assaulting them.

Another student, Geoff McGuinness, who started at Cromer High three years earlier in 1983, says he was first sexually assaulted by Scott in year 7.

McGuinness says a number of the assaults occurred on school grounds, in the back of Scott's panel van and, on one occassion, in the shower at Scott's Bilgola home.

"One of the assaults occurred at the school talent quest and I ended up upstairs with [Scott], it was the drama control room, and he pulled out a bag of speed and chopped up two lines and I had a line and then went and sat down and went 'What's just happened?' And that was the start of it," Mr McGuinness, now 48, says.

Peter Wayne Scott leaves Downing Centre Local Court in 2013. He has been convicted of multiple child sex offences. CREDIT:DALLAS KILPONEN

"After that, [Scott] was everywhere you'd turn, he'd drive some of us to sport, sometimes you'd be walking to school and he'd drive past and pick you up."

"When I look back I can see his patterns. He'd have a couple of us in his car and I knew it was happening to [another student] because he'd either drop him home first and I'd be trapped or he'd drop me off first and [the other student] would be alone with him.

"But it was never spoken about, it was like it was too embarrassing I guess, to talk to each other about it."

For Mr Churchyard, the first assault happened when he was in year 7.

Mr Churchyard remained in Scott's roll call class until Scott left Cromer High.  Scott continued to work as a teacher at Mullumbimby High School and Kingscliffe TAFE and, after the first abuse allegations emerged in 1999, as an administrative assistant at Byron Bay High School.

A spokesman for the NSW Department of Education said Scott was removed as a teacher in 2010. "An investigation occurred in 1999 in relation to allegations to events in 1980 and Mr Scott was removed from teaching duties,"  the spokesman said. "He returned to duty as a teacher when those allegations were not sustained. Mr Scott was removed from duty in 2010 when further allegations were received. These matters became the subject of criminal proceedings. Mr Scott did not return from duty and ceased employment with the department."

In 2014, Scott was found guilty of child sex offences, and sentenced to a maximum of 14 years in jail, with a non-parole period of seven-and-a-half years. Scott denied all allegations against him and denied knowing some of the victims.

"These acts were carried out by a teacher who adults trusted and who students thought was 'cool and nice'," Judge Sarah Hugett said during sentencing. "He is appropriately described as a sexual predator."

Mr Churchyard says his experience led to alcoholism and drug addiction that lasted until his early 40s. "Almost immediately after the assaults started I began experimenting with alcohol and drugs, and that continued throughout high school," Mr Churchyard says. "The problem escalated over a period of time until my relationships were floundering, I had three young children under the age of 5 and I stopped drinking in [about 2006].

"I had a period of abstinence up until 2012 when the trials started and that's when I started drinking again. Then in 2013 I had a drug overdose and it was near fatal."

Mr Churchyard joined NSW Police after finishing the HSC and held various positions as a plain-clothes officer, a member of the counter-terrorist command and a detective in the homicide squad. He resigned when his alcoholism and drug abuse were getting out of hand.

"The reason I got to that point of having an overdose is the shame, the guilt, the pain. You want to be anywhere but sitting in that," Mr Churchyard says. "I resigned at the peak of my illness, I was very sick and a detective in the NSW Police Force wasn't a position I deserved to occupy at the time."

He has now finished his medical degree and recently started working as a general practitioner in Taree, and says he has been sober for several years.

"I think it's my obligation to tell my story so someone else might come into a healing space," Mr Churchyard says. "I just want to emphasise that if you're a victim, remember you did nothing wrong, seek help and get the support to get into a better space."

In Australia, nearly one in 10 girls and one in 22 boys have experienced sexual abuse before the age of 15. Two-thirds of sexual offence victims in NSW last year were children.

Many survivors of child sexual abuse have similar experiences, according to Daryl Higgins, director of the Institute of Child Protection Studies at the Australian Catholic University.

"Common themes are issues with substance misuse, problems with relationships, identity, difficulties with sexual relationships. Issues with mood and wellbeing, depression and anxiety are very common," Professor Higgins says.

"Often perpetrators will use their position of power and authority to reinforce that the event was shameful and had something to do with the young person themself, that they brought it upon themselves, and that stays in the mind of the victim."

Mr McGuinness says at least some of the teachers "had to have known that something was going on", including Scott's partner at the time, a part-time art teacher at Cromer High.

"I'd been surfing one day and there were a few of us there in [Scott's] house afterwards, and I was in his shower and he came in and sexually assaulted me. [Scott's partner] was pregnant at the time and when he walked out I heard them having a really big screaming match; it was in her face as well," Mr McGuinness says.

Professor Higgins says many of the institutions where there were recurring cases of sexual assault had structures where adults had plenty of chances to develop relationships with children away from other adults.

"So how does it happen? I think very easily. I don't think any organisation is doing enough and no organisation will arrive at a place where they're safe and there's nothing more they can do, it's a constant journey and about being constantly aware of risks."

The Department of Education spokesman said its sexual abuse reporting policies and investigative powers have changed significantly since the 1980s. While schools always had an obligation to report allegations of criminal conduct, the guidelines were much more detailed today.

Mr McGuinness says his mother suspected something was wrong, but he brushed aside her concerns. "What was I going to say? It was like you were ashamed of yourself for what had happened, like it was your fault."

The first time Mr McGuinness spoke about the assaults was to police in 2009 . He says Scott put him on the path to becoming a drug addict.

"He was the first one that gave me drugs, it's where it all started," Mr McGuinness says. "We'd smoke pot with him all the time and snort coke and snort speed on occasions, and then I think it was around my 15th birthday or just before that, he took me down to Jamieson Park in Narrabeen and rolled a joint and said he was putting cocaine in it, but I passed out after it, and the first time I had heroin after that I was like 'so that's what he put in there'.

"That certainly started me on the path to becoming a drug addict, that's where it all began, with him back in school. I'd been using heroin for nearly half my life when I stopped, since I was 18 years old."

Mr McGuinness says he didn't work for more than a decade but has recently opened a construction company and is working with his father and son.

Since the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse delivered its final report in 2017, the NSW government has changed the way it handles such cases, including bringing in maximum life sentences for persistent child abusers. It has also joined the National Redress Scheme, which aims to "ensure that institutions take responsibility for the abuse that occurred on their watch". This has included reforms to civil litigation to make it easier for survivors to sue these institutions.

Mr McGuinness is glad that anyone found guilty of similar offences now would likely receive much more jail time than Scott.

"I've lived with it now for 35 years and I've got to live with it for the rest of my life, and he gets 11 years and seven-and-a-half on the bottom, it doesn't seem right," he says.

Alberta pediatrician charged with

sexual assault of child

Janice Johnston · CBC News 

A St. Albert pediatrician has been charged with sexually assaulting an eight-year-old girl.

Dr. Ramneek Mohinder Kumar, 48, is accused of sexually assaulting the child in August 2015, according to court documents.

The complainant was not a patient of Kumar's, and the alleged assault and sexual contact took place while the doctor was on a family holiday in Waterton Lakes National Park in southern Alberta.

Kumar also faces two charges of sexual interference with a person under the age of 16.

RCMP issued a warrant for his arrest on March 22. Kumar was taken into custody in the Edmonton area on March 27, an RCMP spokesman said.

A source told CBC News that Kumar was arrested at the Edmonton International Airport. It was not clear whether he was arriving at the airport or trying to leave.

Kumar practices at the Rivercrest Medical Clinic in St. Albert. He was not working at the clinic Friday. 

The doctor was granted bail by a Pincher Creek justice of the peace on Wednesday. One condition of his bail is that he not be in the presence of anyone under the age of 16, RCMP said.

That will make it hard to practice!

On Friday afternoon, a spokesperson said the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Alberta was aware of the charges and had asked Kumar to withdraw from practice on March 28. Kumar's status was listed as active on the college website on Friday.

"Should he not voluntarily withdraw, the CPSA will consider which practice restrictions under the Health Professions Act are required to ensure patient safety," said communications director Jessica McPhee.

"Generally, the criminal process takes precedent over any regulatory investigation; any CPSA investigation will be held in abeyance until the criminal process is complete."

 Kumar is scheduled to make his next court appearance on April 16 in Pincher Creek.

Barbados School Board alarmed with

sexual activity among minors

Article by Emmanuel Joseph

Barbados Today

Child protection agency authorities here are scratching their heads over what they see as a disturbing trend of minors having sex with minors at school.

Coordinator of the Child Abuse Programme at the state-owned Child Care Board (CCB) Roxanne Sanderson-Weekes told Barbados TODAY this worrying development was particularly prevalent at certain schools outside of the St Michael catchment area. She did not name these schools.

Sanderson-Weekes said what was of even more concern is that the majority of children engaged in this activity at school and targeted by adults outside of these learning institutions, are under age ten.

“There was an increase in sexual abuse of young children under the age of 10 [2017-2018], both by adults and other minors. Minor on minor sex is a growing concern, especially at young ages. This is especially prevalent in the school environment,” the Child Care Board official said while providing overall child abuse statistics for the 2016-2017 and 2017-2018 periods.

She revealed that the officers of the protection agency are also reporting a high rate of fondling of younger children, not only by adults, but also by older children.

Sanderson-Weekes identified primary schools as the place where much of this sexual deviancy was happening.

“What we are finding though is a lot of cases where there is minor on minor inter-sexual acts; and you are seeing a lot of them coming out of the primary schools. It is sexual abuse in a sense because they are either seeing it or hearing it or are exposed to it in some way. And you coming to school and you are now performing this act on somebody else…another child. So we see a lot of that, where you have to do a lot of counseling…and this is where you need to continue to reinforce this kind of discussion on proper sexual behavior within the school system,” she suggested.

Sanderson-Weekes went further to illustrate the ages at which minors are being sexually abused. The senior officer revealed that last year, one child between ages five and 11 was raped while the same thing happened to 20 children ranging in ages 12 to 16.

The Child Care Board official noted that seven children in the 5-11 age group reported being fondled and another was reportedly abused by the insertion of someone’s finger. Additionally, six children were subjected to inappropriate sexual exposure and two were the targets of sexual advances. She also lamented that one minor between ages five and 11 had oral sex performed on her while two – ages 12 – 16 – were on the receiving end of a similar act.

“The majority of perpetrators of sexual abuse cases continues to be persons known to the victims. These are usually family members, peers from school, neighbours or the girls’ boyfriend.  In the case of a family member being the alleged perpetrator, this may necessitate the child being removed from that environment.  There were also cases of children contracting various sexually transmitted diseases as a result of being sexually abused,” she added.

But while the authorities work to get a grip on the rising incidence of minor on minor sex acts in schools, they are reporting a gradual decline in the overall number of child abuse cases in the island.

“For 2017-2018, the statistics show that we had 716 child abuse cases which affected 947 children. Of that, we had a total of 526 new cases which impacted 669 new children,” the child abuse programme coordinator told Barbados TODAY.

She said that 2017-2018 figures showed a decrease over those for the 2016-2017 period. In the previous year, there were 206 cases more cases involving 265 more minors.

The Child Care Board official disclosed that girls constituted the more frequently abused gender across most categories. For example, she cited the latest data for 2018 which showed that 101 girls were physically abused compared to 96 boys; 114 girls were victims of sexual abuse as against 28 boys; and 52 females experienced emotional abuse, two more than the males.  She stated that the males, however, were the ones more neglected by their parents (279/222) or abandoned (4/1).

In expressing concern over the “very” young ages at which children are being abused these days, Sanderson-Weekes reported that up to age four, there were 43 cases of physical abuse of minors recorded and 28 sexual abuse; 179 cases of neglect; 26 of emotional trauma and two cases of abandonment.

For those five years and under 12, some 84 were the victims of physical abuse; 40 sexual abuse; 176 were neglected; 34 emotionally abused and four abandoned while in the 12-16 age group there were 42 children who were physically abused; 71 sexually abused; 70 were neglected; 43 were subjected to emotional abuse and one was abandoned.   

The spokesperson also said that despite a slight decrease in the reported cases of physical abuse, this still remains of major concern. She pinpointed the number of teenagers who are injured due to conflict between them and a parent contending that  poor parenting, particularly by younger parents, was also contributing to physical abuse.

However, Sanderson-Weekes told Barbados TODAY that the Board had not gone asleep, when it came to reports of child abuse. She said the CCB continued to work with Royal Barbados Police Force (RBPF) and its Sex Crime Unit to bring perpetrators before the law courts.

According to her, in 2017, some 15 accused child sexual abusers were arrested and charged, while the number was eight last year. Two were placed before the courts for physical abuse in 2016, but none for last year.

The figures supplied by the Child Care Board also showed that 20 of the 31 cases of sexual abuse reported to police were under investigation in 2018 along with one of the 17 cases of physical abuse turned over to the lawmen.

And what about the 11 cases that are not being investigated?

South Korea students call for dismissal of another professor accused of sexual harassment

By Elizabeth Shim

SEOUL, (UPI) -- Students at South Korea's top-ranked Seoul National University declared a hunger strike in a bid to have a professor, who has been accused of making sexual advances toward students, expelled.

The professor, who taught in the Spanish department, has been brought before the university's disciplinary committee for sexual misconduct, Yonhap reported Tuesday.

The professor may have been admonished after a former student came forward with sexual harassment allegations earlier this year.

In a written statement released in English, Spanish and Korean in February, the student said she had over the course of four years become a victim of "various forms of sexual violence and all kinds of human rights violations."

The student said that during a trip overseas, the professor "raised her skirt to feel her legs." She added he touched her hair and massaged her shoulders and arms without her permission when she fell asleep on a bus.

The professor was suspended, but students at the university are calling for an expulsion.

Lee Su-bin, a liberal arts student and chair of a student-led council, said the hunger strike would begin at noon Wednesday and continue until the professor is permanently dismissed.

Earlier, students voted unanimously in favor of the professor's expulsion.

The students also said there have been repeated cases of sexual abuse between professors and students. Previous professors received a three-month suspension but were allowed to return to teach, they said.

#MeToo movement in South Korea spreads to academic sector

The women-led #MeToo movement in South Korea has led to a surge of sexual assault accusations against powerful men by women.

The Korea Times recently reported Starbucks Coffee Korea is in the spotlight for mishandling sexual harassment complaints from women workers.

The plaintiff had reported incidents of inappropriate touching, but management ignored her complaints, according to the report.

Starbucks has yet to terminate the defendant and may have transferred him to another location.

South Korea not doing enough to protect women: Human Rights Watch (3rd story on link)

South Korean police looking into 55 people accused of sexual crimes in #MeToo movement (3rd story on link)

Sex abuse reports in Netherlands schools

highest in 15 years

By Janene Pieters

The number of reports of sexual abuse and discrimination at Dutch schools increased last year. The Education Inspectorate received 134 reports of sexual abuse in the school year 2017/2018, the highest number in 15 years, NU.nl reports.

In nearly half of the reports about pupils being sexually abused, the accused perpetrator is someone who works at the school, such as a teacher or a member of the non-teaching staff, according to the Inspectorate. The number of reports about sexual harassment decreased, the Inspectorate said.

The number of reports about discrimination especially increased at primary schools. The number of incidents in which pupils were discriminated against due to their immigration background nearly doubled, from 25 percent in 2017 to 42 percent last year. 

Like in previous years, the confidential inspectors noted that the reports made to the Inspectorate are increasingly complex, intense and urgent. 

Earlier this week the Netherlands' child pornography hotline also reported an alarming increase in the number of reports it received last year.

Bishop Eamonn Casey's former lover Annie Murphy urges his child sex abuse victims to come forward

By Irishmirror.Ie

She broke her silence for the first time since child sex abuse allegations were made against the Bishop, who passed away in 2017.

Bishop Eamonn Casey (Image: Eamonn Farrell // Photocall Ireland)

Annie, the mother of Casey's son Peter, said that people "have to come forward", and added that she would be wrong to "discredit" someone else's experiences. 

Murphy told the Irish Daily Star: "I would never cross over them. Ever. It would be so wrong of me to do that."

Bishop Eamonn Casey's lover Annie Murphy pictured at the Eagle's Nest Mountain, Killarney in 1993. (Image: Don MacMonagle)

Annie continued: "I didn't know that man but I can't discredit someone else's experience. That would be wrong. Very wrong.

"Listen I would never say anything about their experiences, my God in heaven I wouldn't dare."

The love affair between Eamonn Casey and Annie Murphy – and the revelation he had a secret love child with her – rocked the country in 1992.

Former Bishop of the Diocese of Galway and Kilmacduagh, Casey passed away two years ago at the age of 89.

Indian Reservation Pediatrician; Child Care Worker Lead Today's USA PnP List

Pine Ridge Res. pediatrician faces two more charges for sexually abusing minors

Arielle Zionts Journal 

A former pediatrician with Indian Health Service on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation was indicted Oct. 23 in federal court on two additional counts related to the sexual abuse of minors. 

Stanley Patrick Weber, a 69-year-old from Spearfish, now faces a total of 12 charges for allegedly sexually assaulting Native American children under 16 years old in Pine Ridge for more than 15 years between July 1995 and August 2011, court records show. 

One of the new counts is for aggravated sexual assault against someone under 12 years old between 1995 and 1998. The other is for sexually abusing a minor between 12 and 16 years old between 1998 and 2001.

He was initially charged in February 2017 with 10 counts: five counts of aggravated sexual abuse, one count of sexual abuse and four counts of sexual abuse of a minor. The new charges say the abuse began in 1995, three years earlier than what was alleged in the original indictment. 

Aggravated sexual abuse carries a prison sentence of between 30 years to life, sexual abuse carries penalties up to life imprisonment, and sexual abuse of a minor can lead to a term of up to 15 years.

Weber's two new charges in South Dakota come after a federal jury in Montana ruled in September 2018 that he was guilty of sexually abusing two Native American boys between July 1993 and June 1995 on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation. 

The jury found him guilty of attempted aggravated sexual abuse of a child, abusive sexual contact of a minor and two counts of aggravated sexual abuse of a child against two boys. Jurors found him not guilty of attempted sexual abuse of a minor. 

The Montana judge ordered Weber to be jailed until his sentencing on Dec. 13, according to a Sept. 6 article from the Great Falls Tribune. 

The original deadline for Weber and his attorneys to reach a plea deal with the prosecution in the South Dakota case was today. If no deal had been reached, his trial was scheduled to begin on Nov. 13, court records show. 

However Judge Jeffrey Viken agreed Thursday with the request of Weber's lawyer to delay all court deadlines until he is sentenced in Montana. The plea deal in the South Dakota case is now due Dec. 21, and if none is reached, Weber will go to trial on Jan. 8, 2019. 

Weber's lawyers are "intending to seek to negotiate a possible resolution of this case," they wrote in their motion to extend the deadlines.  

Child sex abuse investigation leads to charges

in 15-year-old Montana case

Traci Rosenbaum, Great Falls Tribune 

A Great Falls man was arrested on a warrant Thursday after a report of sexual abuse of a child also led to charges for events that allegedly occurred more than 15 years ago.

Seth Marlo Phelps, 31, faces three felony charges, two of which are alleged to have occurred when he was 14 or 15 years old and the victim was 7 or 8.

According to charging documents, in December 2017 the Missoula County Sheriff’s Office attended forensic interviews with a child after a referral was made by a child protection specialist in Great Falls. No age is listed for the child, but the affidavit refers to her as being in 4th grade.

The child described a history of sexual abuse involving Phelps, who threatened her with violence if she told anyone what happened.

She also reported that she did tell three people, including her mother, after which the first report of child sexual abuse was called in and investigated by the Cascade County Sheriff’s Office.

During the course of the investigation, the child revealed that a family member of hers may also have been abused by Phelps.

In an interview with that woman, who is now in her 20s, she told officers that Phelps had sexually abused her when she was 7 or 8 years old, but she didn’t tell anyone because she thought the time period to report it had passed.

According to Montana law, prosecution in this situation may be commenced within 20 years after the victim turns 18 if the victim was less than 18 years of age at the time that the offense occurred.

The woman claims Phelps forced her to watch pornography and would often choke her while abusing her sexually. He also allegedly threatened to hurt her if she didn’t cooperate and hurt her family members if she told anyone.

Sexual abuse is horrible enough on it's own, but combined with life-threatening physical and emotional abuse, it is exponentially worse.

Poor response from Mother and counselor

At one point, charging documents state the woman told her mother and after that, she was no longer left alone with Phelps. She also claims to have told a counselor, but the counselor could not recall having the woman as a client and said any records from that time would be destroyed by now.

In addition, the woman alleged that Phelps sexually abused a boy in 1998 or 1999 when he was 12 or 13 years old.

Phelps is being held at the Cascade County Detention Center on $75,000 bond.

Sex offender from NY State gets 32 years in prison for enticing teenage girl

Jonathan Bandler, Rockland/Westchester Journal News 

In court documents, Assistant U.S. Attorney Marcia Cohen called Ohnmacht "a dangerous serial child predator" who was likely to re-offend.

A registered sex offender from Katonah who used Instagram to get naked photos of a teenage girl after his ban from using the internet ended was sentenced Thursday to 32 years in federal  prison, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.

David Ohnmacht, 37, had previously served nine years in state prison for sexually molesting five girls in northern Westchester. When he was released in 2011, he was on post-release supervision that barred him from using the internet.

But in November 2016, once off parole, Ohnmacht set up Instagram accounts, including one posing as a 19-year-old man who worked on cars. He enticed a North Carolina 14-year-old to send him naked pictures, including a video of her using a sex toy he sent her. 

When the girl resisted sending more videos, Ohnmacht threatened to share the earlier images with her friends on Instagram.

Ohnmacht was caught after a detective with the New Hanover County Sheriff's Office posed online as the 14-year-old girl. He was arrested in March 2017. A search warrant executed on his Instagram accounts revealed sexually explicit communication between Ohnmacht and other children, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.

And Instagram couldn't care less!

Convicted Oregon sex offender get 56 years

SAPHARA HARRELL The News-Review  

The Roseburg man convicted of sexually abusing three different children in the last decade was sentenced to 56 years in prison Thursday.

Leo Keith Barton, 78, was convicted of first-degree unlawful sexual penetration, first-degree sodomy and five counts of first-degree sex abuse on Oct. 5.

During sentencing, Douglas County Circuit Court Judge William Marshall chose to give Barton consecutive sentences for each victim.

Barton and his attorney Charles Lee maintained his innocence in court Thursday. Barton stood in front of the judge and said: “I would like you to know I’m not guilty of anything.”

He began to cry, looked at the victim’s family and said that the children he helped babysit loved him a lot.

Then, he said one of the victims — one he was charged with touching an intimate part of between 2000 and 2008 — was actually the one who touched him and that’s why they stopped babysitting him.

Barton said the jury didn’t hear his side of the story, because he and his wife weren’t called as witnesses. He said that if he was on the jury, he would’ve come to the same guilty verdict had he not heard from the defendant.

Barton’s crimes fall under Jessica’s Law, the informal name given to mandatory sentencing for sex crimes in which the victim is under 12. Those offenders are given the same 300-month mandatory prison sentence that is handed down to defendants convicted of murder.

Lee said sentencing Barton under Jessica’s Law was inappropriate, because Barton had no prior convictions and there was no physical injury alleged.

The defense attorney said Barton was fervent in his denial. “Our position is that this didn’t happen,” Lee said.

Jackson County Deputy District Attorney Terry Smith-Norton said a different victim came forward in 2010, prompting the Department of Human Services to ask the Barton’s to stop running a daycare in their home. Smith-Norton said the Bartons waited approximately three years before starting the daycare back up.

Barton was charged with engaging in sexual intercourse with one child under 12 years old and engaging in sexual contact with another child under 12 from September 2014 to May 2015.

Marshall asked Smith-Norton if there were additional victims that chose not to come forward. She said there were.

In a written statement to the court, one of the victims wrote that Barton “should be locked away for life.” Upon hearing that, Barton (swore) while putting his head in his hand.

A family member of one of the victims described their child’s fear upon seeing Barton, or the “bad man,” while walking around town.

Barton had been granted conditional release and remained out of custody until he was convicted earlier this month. 

Another family member asked that Barton be sentenced for a minimum of 15 years— Barton got more than three times that.

He is also required to register as a sex offender. 

NY State Man Arrested for Appalling Sexual

Abuse of Child Over Several Years

By Spectrum News Staff  

In Albany County, a Rensselaerville man has been arrested for alleged sexual abuse and strangulation.

Justin Parker, 43, is accused of sexually abusing a child over several years at a home in Westerlo.

The Sheriff's Office first learned of the allegations late last year, when Child Protective Service in North Carolina called about the victim.

During one instance, Parker is accused of strangling the victim and abusing her while she unconscious. 

He was arraigned and sent to Albany county jail in lieu of $50,000 bail.

Iowa man charged with child sexual abuse

dating back to 2008

Luke Nozicka, Des Moines Register 

An Urbandale man was arrested this week on charges he sexually abused an 11-year-old girl a decade earlier.

Christopher Martin Austin Pauli, 30, was charged with two counts of second-degree sexual abuse on accusations he abused the girl in 2008 when he was 19.

Pauli admitted to the sexual acts, and to knowing the girl's age and using force in some instances, authorities said in charging documents. 

The abuse reportedly occurred between March and October 2008 at a home in the 9600 block of Dennis Drive in Urbandale, where police said Pauli lives. Authorities said he also abused the girl in areas near 73rd Street and Hickman Road in Windsor Heights.

When the girl tried to escape, the criminal complaint states that Pauli used force to restrain her.

Pauli was booked Tuesday afternoon at Polk County Jail, where jail records show he remained Thursday on a $50,000 bond.

In court documents, Pauli said he planned to hire his own attorney. He did not have representation listed in records who could be reached for comment.

Pauli was ordered to stay away from all juveniles and areas where they could presumably be found, such as schools, libraries and playgrounds. His preliminary hearing was set for Nov. 2.