'Abuse on Abuse': Parents' Anguish over School's Handling of Sex Abuse & Female Abusers

By Angus Thompson

Parents at a prestigious NSW private school have accused the school of heaping “abuse on abuse” over its handling of a sexual affair involving a female staff member and five male students.

The 25-year-old woman pleaded guilty in April this year to months of having sex with students as young as 15 while working at the school.

This follows the jailing in February of a former Sydney Grammar School female teacher (4th story on link) for having sex with a male student.

A father caught up in the scandal at the other NSW private school told The Herald  he and his wife held fears their son would harm himself during the fallout from the incident.

"All of these boys were victims under their (the school's) duty of care, an institution supposedly providing a safe place for the boys during their education," the father said.

His wife said that her son believed he was to blame for the abuse. "When [the staff member] pleaded guilty, he was like, 'it's not my fault?'" the mother said. "All the time, he felt that it was his fault." Her son was 15 at the time the offences took place.

The details of the case have been largely concealed by suppression orders prohibiting publication of the name, location and type of the school, as well as the name of the woman and her role within the school.

But in an extraordinary revolt, parents of affected students now want the school to be named, claiming educators need to be held accountable for their failure to properly care for the teenagers.

"Stating the school's name makes the situation real, makes parents aware that this school does exist and that, as parents, they should not be ignorant of the fact that it too could happen in their child's school," one mother said in an email to Department of Public Prosecutions solicitors seen by The Herald.

Why protect one school when Sydney Grammar School was not protected. Why protect schools at all. You should be protecting children, not schools.

It's understood NSW District Court judge Christopher Armitage will hear an application to lift the orders when the case returns for sentencing in September.

Some parents allege their sons received inadequate support, in the form of counselling, from the school, and that they weren't communicated to properly about developments in the matter.

These claims formed part of a detailed list of questions the The Herald put to the school, including whether the school believed it had breached its duty of care to the students. A spokesman for the school said: “As the matter is still before the courts, [we] will not be making any comment at this time.”

A court previously heard the staff member exchanged text and social media messages with the students, understood to be aged between 15 and 17 at the time, and arranged to meet them for sex. She had asked them to change her name in their mobile phones and to delete messages of their conversations.

It's understood the offences took place between late 2014 and September 2015, when the behaviour was reported by a third party. In an October 2017 letter sent to the school, a mother said she had been "alarmed" by several examples of inaction by those in senior school positions.

"It is unfortunate and alarming that a family could feel as though the school did not care about what had happened to their son," the mother wrote.

In a letter of reply, the chairman of the school board apologised to the family and said the headmaster admitted his communication had been "unsatisfactory". "It is clearly not what any of us would have wanted for your son and it is deeply regretted by all of us," the chairman wrote, adding the school intended to conduct a "full and formal review" of its procedures after legal proceedings had finished.

The scandal will also form part of the mountain of material before the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sex Abuse following one mother's submission.

"The school let the boys down. We feel this has been abuse upon abuse," she alleged.

In his response, Commissioner Robert Fitzgerald AM said the woman's contribution "would help make a difference. I note with deep concern your detailed account of the school's responses and the actions of senior staff," he wrote.

The woman will be sentenced in September after pleading guilty to six counts of sexual intercourse with a person under her care and three counts of aggravated sexual intercourse.

It comes after Bronwen Williams, a former teacher at Sydney Grammar School, was in February sentenced to at least seven months behind bars after the 34-year-old pleaded guilty to five counts of sexual intercourse with a person under her care over three months in 2016.

Court papers reveal that Williams, pregnant when she was sentenced, gave birth to a baby daughter by her husband on May 9. She was told two days earlier that she would not be able to keep her baby at the mother and children's program at the correctional facility.

Williams met up with the victim at her home, a classroom and a school storage cupboard, previously told the court she thought at the time they were involved in a “very mutual love ­affair”. She has since said she was “deeply sorry”.

According to District Court judge Paul Lakatos, the teenage boy said in his victim impact statement that Williams' domineering insistence made him feel he had few rights or personal choice in what was happening.

Judge Lakatos said she had placed her own needs above those of the victim.

I'm not sure 'needs' is the correct term here.

What the criminologist says

Adult women who pursue teenage boys in cases of sexual abuse are often trying to substitute failed relationships with older men, a criminologist says.

Dr Xanthe Mallett, Senior Lecturer in Criminology at the University of Newcastle, said that in cases of abuse involving female offenders, the motivation was not necessarily sexual, but due to being able to exert control in situations where they previously hadn't.

"It's not necessarily about the sex with these offenders," Dr Mallett told The Sun-Herald.

"They have more emotional control over them (the victim) because of their age."

The Herald does not suggest these comments account for the motivations of the offenders in the adjoining article.

"It's an emotional need with these women rather than a sexual predation on younger males," she said.

Dr Mallett said there was little statistical evidence on such behaviours as reporting of incidents was rare.

"Reporting in this area of females offending against children is really low. Often the teenage boys feel they are in a meaningful relationship with these women," she said.

Between the ages of 13 and 16 boys become sexually aware but are still emotionally immature, making them vulnerable to older, more emotionally mature people, she said.

Dr Mallett said there was a stigma attached to males reporting situations of abuse by older women.

26 Caught in Sting and 5 More Stories on Today's USA P&P List

US Gymnastics Olympic Committee sued for CSA - California

Upstate dance teacher pleads guilty to CSA - New York

Child sex sting operation nails 26 from southeast state - Washington

Man with life sentence get new trial on technicality - Texas

19 y/o arrested on 12 CSA charges on 14 y/o girl - Oregon

Male babysitter (I hate that) gets 15 years for CSA - New York

Gymnastics Abuse Scandal: Elite Athlete’s Family

Sue Olympic Committee

by TRACY CONNOR

The sex-abuse scandal roiling the gymnastics world has taken a new turn with the parents of an elite athlete filing a lawsuit against the U.S. Olympic Committee.

The unnamed gymnast's family is being represented by famed attorney Gloria Allred, who is making her first foray into the ever-expanding case, and by John Manly, who has more than 100 clients who say they were molested by former team doctor Larry Nassar.

Nassar is scheduled to plead guilty Tuesday to federal child pornography charges, but he has denied sexually assaulting patients under the guise of pelvic treatments, saying his invasive techniques were medically sound.

He still faces two state trials on sexual assault charges, but his plea agreement says he will not face federal charges for molesting gymnasts — which angered Manly.

"It's important to send a message: When you go the Olympic games and you molest a child, you're going to get prosecuted," Manly told NBC News.

The new lawsuit, which was first reported by the Wall Street Journal, concerns a gymnast who competed in national and international competitions and trained at the Texas ranch used as a training facility by USA Gymnastics, which oversees the national and Olympic teams.

Nassar sexually abused the gymnast numerous times between 2009 and 2013 at the ranch and other locations, the lawsuit filed June 30 in Los Angeles alleges. It says the U.S. Olympic Committee and USA Gymnastics failed to protect her and other young athletes in their charge.

The U.S. Olympic Committee said it had not been served with the lawsuit and could not comment on the specific allegations. It called the accusations against Nassar "astounding and heartbreaking" and said did not learn of any alleged abuse until it was reported to law enforcement.

"We will support any and all efforts to shine a light on the facts and to identify and address any systemic failures that contributed to the abuse that was suffered by these young women," it said in a statement.

USA Gymnastics said it had just learned of the suit and had no comment. Last month, it adopted a raft of new policies after an internal investigation found a "complete culture change" was needed to make the protection of kids a priority over winning medals.

The scandal broke last summer after an investigation by the Indianapolis Star into USA Gymnastics' handling of sexual abuse complaints over the years. Two of Nassar's accusers came forward, and that opened the floodgates.

He has been jailed in Michigan — he had his practice at Michigan State University — since investigators discovered tens of thousands of pieces of child pornography on his hard drives, including GoPro video that allegedly showed him fondling children in a pool.

He has agreed to plead guilty to three counts: downloading the pornography, possessing it and destroying evidence, according to a copy of the agreement obtained by NBC News. Each count carries up to 20 years in prison, but prosecutors agreed to a reduced, unspecified sentence, according to the document.

Manly said prosecutors and FBI agents met with several of his clients in the last two weeks and told them Nassar would not be charged in federal court with traveling across state or international lines to abuse gymnasts.

He questioned the wisdom of the plea bargain, arguing that the feds had a very solid child-pornography case against Nassar and didn't need to cut a deal with him.

"To get to the Olympic games, you literally give up your childhood and adolescence to compete for your country. And we all owe them a debt," he said. "This is a breach of faith."

Nassar's attorneys had no comment and the U.S. Attorney's office for the Western District of Michigan did not respond to inquiries.

Former Norwich dance teacher pleads guilty in

child sex abuse case

By David Hermanovitch

NORWICH (WBNG) -- Prosecutors say a former dance teacher in the Norwich area could spend a decade behind bars.

The Chenango County District Attorney's office says Travis St. Denny, 28, of Norwich accepted a plea deal Monday in Chenango County Court.

As part of the deal, St. Denny pleaded guilty to two counts of criminal sex act in the second degree and one count of producing obscene materials to a minor.

Chenango County District Attorney Joseph McBride says St. Denny agreed to serve five years for each criminal sex act charge, or ten years total.

According to McBride, the producing obscene material charge carries a sentence of between one and three years, to be served concurrently during his ten-year sentence.

He will also serve 10 years of post-release supervision, McBride says.

St. Denny was arrested in March following an investigation by Norwich Police Department, which began with an alert from the Statewide Central Register of Child Abuse and Maltreatment Hotline.

He will be sentenced in September. That's when McBride says St. Denny will be able to ask for a lesser sentence.

Child sex sting in Tri-Cities nets 26 arrests over four days

BY KRISTIN M. KRAEMER

Twenty-six men have been arrested over the past four days for allegedly showing up at a Richland apartment intending to have sex with young girls and boys.

The suspects nabbed in the multi-agency effort range in age from 20 to 70, with 22 of them living in Kennewick, Pasco and Richland.

Officials conduct a news conference Monday afternoon to talk about the child sex sting arrests over the past four days. Bob Brawdy Tri-City Herald

The child sex sting, dubbed “Tri-Cities Net Nanny Operation,” involved undercover detectives using various websites to chat with people interested in having sex with children. 

The postings on sites like Craigslist and Backpage.com reportedly generated hundreds of responses. But it was the would-be perpetrators who actually traveled to the apartment who were arrested, according to a Washington State Patrol news release.

The operation was led by the state patrol’s Missing and Exploited Children Task Force, with 45 local, state and federal law enforcement officers and prosecutors participating.

“We realize that this is just a tip of the iceberg,” Trooper Chris Thorson told the Herald. “We collaborated with multiple agencies to capture as many of these sex predators as possible.”

Thorson said officers had been working on the operation for some time, setting up the online ads and communicating with those who responded to see if they were interested in meeting up.

The arrests were made Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday night. The suspects’ cars were either seized or impounded as part of the investigation, Thorson said.

The crimes investigated include attempted rape, commercial sex abuse of a minor, possessing and dealing child pornography, and communication with a minor for immoral purposes.

Investigators also identified five people who have access to children at risk of being abused, the state patrol release said. Now they’re working to identify those kids and get them appropriate assistance.

“Children are becoming increasingly vulnerable to sexual predators due to the growth of the internet,” WSP Chief John R. Batiste said in the news release. “Thanks to the hard work by our law enforcement and prosecutor partners, we are able to make Washington communities safer for our families.”

This is the eighth Net Nanny Operation in Washington state since August 2015, which have led to 115 arrests and 21 victims rescued.

The men locked up in the Tri-City operation have investigative holds for both felonies and misdemeanors. A few also have Immigration and Customs Enforcement holds.

Prosecutors will review the cases this week and file charges.

Those arrested in the operation are:

▪  Ryan D. Harris, 32, Pendleton

▪  Douglas Arbogast, 70, Pasco

▪  Marco A. Celis-Hernandez, 21, Richland

▪  Andrew L. Sanders, 33, Pasco

▪  John M. Scheline, 40, Pasco

▪  Gabriel Saenz, 41, Kennewick

▪  William J. Barrett, 47, Kennewick

▪  Darren J. Kerbyson, 50, West Richland

▪  James C. Doty, 34, Richland

▪  Yasir M. Majeed, 35, Kennewick

▪  Gregory B. Taber, 65, Pasco

▪  John N. Schouviller, 31, Pasco

▪  Antonio C. Garcia, 21, Richland

▪  Lucas F. Beach, 38, Pasco

▪  Stephen C. Perez, 45, Pasco

▪  Ali Almafoodh, 35, Kennewick

▪  Kyle R. Sickels, 25, Kennewick

▪  Jesus G. Contreras Salgado, 29, Tieton

▪  Dewayne L. Hetrick, 42, Kennewick

▪  Thomas A. Swarers, 69, Kennewick

▪  Jerome G. Williams, 24, Kennewick

▪  James C. Escobedo, 20, Kennewick

▪  Yuriy L. Gulchuk, 35, Kennewick

▪  Jairo Lopez, 20, Yakima

▪  Aaron D. Hagerty, 42, Kennewick

▪  Daniel A. Medina, 20, Pendleton

New Boston man sentenced to life for

child sex abuse to get new trial

By Field Walsh

A New Boston, Texas, man sentenced to two life sentences plus 20 years by a Bowie County jury last August will get a new trial.

Donald Harrell, 61, was sentenced to life on two counts of aggravated sexual assault of a child and to 20 years for indecency with a child by a Bowie County jury. The 6th District Court of Appeals in Texarkana reversed Harrell’s convictions and sentences and sent the case back to the trial court in an opinion released Thursday.

Harrell was found guilty of misconduct with a 9-year-old relative. During Harrell’s trial, the jury also heard testimony from a young neighbor who claimed she was sexually abused by Harrell also. The court of appeals opinion states that 5th District Judge Bill Miller should not have allowed the jury to hear the second girl’s testimony.

At trial Harrell testified under direct questioning by his lawyer that he is impotent, likely from medications he takes for a variety of physical conditions. Under cross examination by the state during his August 2016 jury trial, Harrell testified that he doesn’t currently experience sexual desire.

The state argued at trial that the second girl should be allowed to testify to rebut the testimony concerning impotence and sexual desire. Miller allowed the testimony and the state referred to it during its closing remarks as indicative of Harrell having a pattern of preying on girls of a certain age.

Harrell’s appellate attorney argued that the testimony from the second girl shouldn’t have been allowed because the defense did not put forth a theory which would have made the sexual abuse impossible. The court of appeals agreed, noting that an impotent person can still commit aggravated sexual assault as the offense is defined by law and thus the testimony to rebut the impotence testimony shouldn’t have been allowed.

The court of appeals found as well that the state elicited testimony from Harrell concerning sexual desire, not Harrell’s defense attorney. The opinion refers to case law which establishes that the state can’t call a rebuttal witness to refute testimony the state elicited from a defendant. The opinion also notes that Harrell didn’t claim he lacked sexual desire in 2013 when the sexual assaults were alleged to have occurred.

Salem man arrested on sex abuse, luring a minor a minor, child porn charges

Whitney M. Woodworth , Statesman Journal 

A Salem man was arrested on 12 charges involving the sexual abuse, luring and attempting to use a child in a sexually explicit photo or video. 

Patrick Finegan, 19, is accused of kissing a girl under the age of 14, attempting to sexually abuse her and attempting to induce her into sexually explicit conduct in June 2015. 

According to court records, he also allegedly possessed or viewed child pornography multiple times.

A warrant was issued for Finegan's arrest on May 26, and he was arrested Sunday on five counts of first-degree encouraging child sexual abuse, luring a minor, three counts of attempted first-degree sexual abuse, first-degree sexual abuse and two counts of attempted using a child in a display of sexually explicit conduct. 

He was taken to Marion County jail and held without bail. 

First-degree sexual abuse is a Measure 11 offense and carries a six year and three month mandatory minimum prison sentence. A conviction would also require Finegan to register as a sex offender. 

Guilderland Man Sentenced for

Sexual Abuse of Children

By Jaclyn Cangro

ALBANY, N.Y. -- A Guilderland man learned how long he'll spend in prison for having sexual contact with a child Monday. 

James Hockenbury, who pleaded guilty to having sexual contact with a child last year, took a new plea deal Monday morning during his scheduled sentencing.

However, it wasn't the plea deal he expected. Judge Peter Lynch denied the original 10-year deal and increased it, giving Hockenbury the option to spend 15 years in prison or take the case to trial. Hockenbury chose the 15-year deal.

The court also heard from two families impacted by Hockenbury's actions. The first said the law does not allow for what she thinks he deserves. The second commented that "no sentence can undo the harm."

According to the impact statements in court, Hockenbury used his role as a babysitter to groom children before touching them inappropriately.

Male babysitters - Arrrrrrgh! People don't leave your children with men!

Hockenbury's prison sentence with be followed by 20 years of supervised release.

"This is one of those cases where you see a predator basically avail himself to every opportunity where he can be around children,” said Albany County District Attorney David Soares.

Hockenbury did briefly speak to the court, saying he was sorry for what happened.

A Teen, a Nurse, and an HIV+ School-Aide on Today's USA P&P List

Teen faces multiple charges in two sex-abuse cases

A Downsville, NY, teen was arrested twice last month for crimes involving sex following two separate investigations, Delaware County Deputies said.

On June 8, 18-year-old Joshua Davis was charged with two counts of endangering the welfare of a child, six counts of sexual misconduct, and seven counts of rape in the second degree, a class D felony, deputies said.

The charges stem from a six-month investigation into a report of multiple sex crimes involving numerous victims, deputies said.

Deputies said Davis is accused of sexual intercourse with a child incapable of giving consent seven different times; sexual contact with the same child six times, and endangering the welfare of two additional children by making sexual advances toward the children in person and by social media.

Davis was arraigned at Walton Village Court with his attorney present, and was released on his own recognizance, deputies said.

Say what? 'His own recognizance?" Because he is such a fine, upstanding, young man? 

In addition, deputies said, Davis surrendered himself on June 29 on five additional counts of sexual misconduct.

These charges stem from a separate investigation into a report of a sexual abuse, deputies said. They allege that Davis engaged in sexual intercourse three times, as well as sexual conduct two times with a child less than seventeen years of age.

The defendant was arraigned in Walton Village Court with his attorney present, to reappear at a later date, according to the media release.

Woman arrested in Tucson faces multiple child sex abuse charges in California doctor & nurses case

By Caitlin Schmidt Arizona Daily Star 

When Pima County sheriff’s deputies arrested Emily Joy Stephens on a warrant for child sex abuse charges, she was living here with her five children, all of whom are younger than 13, records show.

Stephens, 29, is being held in the Pima County jail without bond while awaiting extradition to Santa Cruz, California, where she is facing the charges.

Also accused in the case is California neurosurgeon James Kohut, 57, who is facing multiple counts of sexually abusing children younger than 14, according to an investigative report by the Pima County Sheriff’s Department.

According to the Santa Cruz Sentinel, Stephens is facing six felony child-abuse charges involving three children under the age of 10 and three children under the age of 14.

On May 11, a Pima County deputy received a call from a Watsonville, California, police detective who had recovered a video camera that showed Stephens and another woman having sex with three minors under the age of 15, the report said.

The other woman, Rashel Brandon, is a 42-year-old nurse who worked with Kohut in a Santa Cruz hospital. She’s also facing multiple charges of child sexual abuse in connection with the case, according to the Santa Cruz Sentinel.

Police in Watsonville were unaware of Stephens’ whereabouts, but believing she was in Tucson, asked the local Sheriff’s Department for help in locating her, the records show.

Detectives obtained a search warrant and arrested Stephens at her home the next day. Her children — ages 12, 10, 7, 5 and 2 — were taken into custody by the Arizona Department of Child Safety.

In addition to her children, Stephens was living with her longtime friend and business partner, who told detectives that she and Stephens operated a hat company together. She and Stephens sold hats at stores, fairs and festivals in Tucson and Santa Cruz, where they would visit as often as one to two times a month, according to the records.

The business partner told detectives that when they visited Santa Cruz, Kohut would come to the hotel room to meet with Stephens and the children, who often accompanied her on their trips.

The woman said Kohut “mentally tortured Emily by making promises to her about leaving his wife and being with her and having a family,” the report says.

She told detectives that Stephens is pregnant with Kohut’s baby.

The Santa Cruz District Attorney’s Office has said Kohut talked about “impregnating women to give birth to children he could sexually abuse in a so-called taboo family lifestyle,” but no evidence has been found that he was able to create such a family, according to reports by The Associated Press.

The business partner told police Stephens’ children seemed to like Kohut, with one of the girls even calling him “Dr. Daddy,” the report shows.

In mid-March, Stephens and the business partner made a trip to Santa Cruz while the kids were on spring break, but Kohut never met the group as planned, the report says.

“That appeared to be when the relationship between James and Emily went downhill,” the woman told detectives. “He would threaten to call the police and DCS if (Stephens) did not bring the kids out to visit again. He specifically wanted the 10-year-old to come out and visit him alone.”

The woman told police Kohut had been threatening to take away the new baby as soon as it was born.

Police also interviewed the father of Stephens’ three oldest children, who said that in early May Stephens started receiving harassing text messages from Kohut and Brandon, the report said.

He told police he didn’t know why they were harassing her.

Interviewers with the Southern Arizona Children’s Advocacy Center spoke to all five of Stephens’ children, but none of them made any disclosures of physical abuse by Stephens or Kohut.

When asked if she’d ever seen an adult without clothes on, Stephens’ 5-year-old daughter told interviewers that she sees her mom naked, as the woman regularly took baths with her and two of the other children.

When asked about “Dr. Daddy,” the child said that at one time he used to live with the family, but not anymore.

During an interview with Stephens’ 10-year-old daughter, one detective noted she “appeared to be guarded about the information provided and appeared to cry through most of the interview.”

Police seized several items from the house, including video-game systems, iPads, two computers, a phone, handwritten letters to Stephens, a handwritten receipt from Kohut and a VHS tape labeled “Emily’s tape.”

Davenport man charged with sex abuse of two children

Times staff  

 A Davenport man was arrested Monday night after police say he sexually abused two children earlier this year.

Jacob Curtiss Ricketts, 33, faces two counts of second-degree sexual abuse, a Class B felony punishable by up to 25 years in prison.

Bond was set Tuesday at $25,000 cash-only. A preliminary hearing is slated for July 13. 

Davenport police began an investigation into the alleged sexual abuse of a child that occurred on April 15, according to an arrest affidavit filed Tuesday in support of the criminal complaint.

According to the affidavits, police determined that Ricketts engaged in a sex act with the child. He also admitted to touching a second child, according to the affidavits. 

HIV-positive ex-school aide accused of child sex abuse, producing child porn

WALDORF, Md. (AP) – A former teachers aide and track coach in Maryland who authorities say is HIV-positive faces allegations that he sexually abused young boys and produced child pornography.

Authorities in Charles County said at a news conference Monday that 30-year-old Carlos Deangelo Bell of Waldorf molested at least seven boys on school property, at his home and possibly at other locations. Sheriff Troy Berry said the evidence included images of Bell assaulting the victims.

Authorities say none of the victims has tested positive for HIV but testing is ongoing.

Bell was arrested Friday after a grand jury indicted him on charges including second-degree assault. Authorities say more charges are forthcoming.

The Washington Post reports Bell appeared in court Monday and was ordered held without bail. Court records don’t list an attorney, and a relative reached by The Post declined comment.

Underage Refugee Suspect in Rape & Murder of EU Official's Daughter

    The old town is seen from the cathedral tower in Freiburg, Germany © Kai Pfaffenbach / Reuters

German Police have arrested a suspect, an Afghan teenage refugee, in a high profile sexual assault and murder case that has kept the residents of Freiburg, Germany in suspense for months.

A medical student officially identified only as Maria L., 19, was raped and allegedly drowned on the night of October 16, when she was returning to her residence hall from a student party by bicycle. Her body was found the next morning by locals on the bank of the Dreisam River in Freiburg, home of one of Germany’s elite universities.

The case sparked massive public outcry, prompting police to form a special group consisting of about 40 investigative officers and forensic specialists. After an investigation that lasted for more than a month, police finally arrested the alleged murderer and rapist on Friday.

“The suspect is a minor, 17, from Afghanistan, who came to Germany in 2015,” Dieter Inhofer, the regional chief prosecutor, said at a press conference following the arrest.

A single strand of black hair partially dyed blonde, a scarf found on the riverbed, and several DNA samples found on the victim’s body and at the crime scene led investigators to the suspect, police revealed during the press conference.

“We were able to speak to the foster family,” David Mueller, head of the special investigative group, told journalists, but refused to reveal the nature of the conversation. “The suspect still refuses to testify,” he added.

    Maria between friends

The suspect was charged with sexual assault and murder, police said during the press conference, adding that it is yet unknown whether he deliberately drowned the victim or threw the woman in the water while she was unconscious.

“The death occurred due to drowning,” Mueller said, stressing that it is the only fact confirmed so far regarding the victim’s death.

It was also confirmed that the suspect entered Germany illegally and later filed an asylum request as an unaccompanied minor. He then lived with a foster family in Freiburg. He had been charged once before with inflicting bodily harm, but the case was later dropped, police told journalists during the press conference without giving further details.

It is yet unclear if the suspect and the victim had known each other before the incident, or if the attack was planned in advance.

Police also mentioned a similar incident in the nearby town of Endigen, just 30 kilometers from Freiburg, where a woman, 27, was also raped and murdered weeks after Maria L.’s death. No links between the two cases have been found, though a connection might still be investigated, Inhofer said.

    Maria Ladenburger; inset is the 27 y/o woman who was raped and murdered in Endigen

“We will have no rest. We will thoroughly examine every lead and will look under every rock – many times, if needed,” Bernhard Rotzinger, head of the Freiburg Police Department, said on Friday.

Meanwhile, the news has provoked outrage on social media, where people once again blamed German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s open-door policy for what happened in Freiburg.

“Angela Merkel, look here! Blood of this person is on your hands!” a Twitter user wrote in a post featuring a photo of the victim.

Some Twitter users expressed outrage over the situation and mocked the slogans used by advocates of the open-door policy.

“This is just nonsense: [we] provide for the murderers of our daughters. That is apparently a Stockholm syndrome,” another Twitter user wrote.

Many others criticized the German media for their reluctance to cover the story, dismissing it as “an incident of regional significance.”

Following the outrage, Freiburg Mayor Dieter Salomon called for discretion and urged Germans “not to draw generalized conclusions from the suspect’s origin and regard [the incident] as an isolated one instead,” Die Welt reported.

Or maybe an isolated two! It is disturbing how the media has come to decide what news is good to report and what isn't. As a Christian, I am tempted to play down child sex abuse involving priests and pastors, etc., but rather, I make sure they are posted on my blog. You cannot contribute to fixing a problem by ignoring it; it must be exposed in all its ugliness. The German news media is losing the trust and respect of its viewers by choosing what news they should not hear, especially when it puts our daughters at risk of rape and murder.

Victim a ‘refugee activist, daughter of EU official’

Journalist and author Oliver Janich said he discovered that the murder victim was Maria Ladenburger, daughter of Clemens Ladenburger, who has been an assistant to the Director-General of the European Commission's Legal Service since 2008.

Janich also established that the victim had worked as a volunteer in one of the local refugee shelters in her spare time.

Ladenburger and his wife Friederike have since placed a memorial notice for their daughter in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.

Echoing some of the tweets, Germany's anti-migrant AfD party blamed the "uncontrolled" influx of foreign undocumented migrants, with the local police union reminding of the "dangers that go along with massive immigration," according to AFP.

But some politicians wished to dispel the atmosphere of fear. Vice Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel told Bild the murder should not serve as basis for anti-refugee hatred, especially given that "Such horrible murders already happened before the first Afghan or Syrian refugee arrived here."

"We will not allow incitement after such violent crimes, no matter who commits them."

No apology; no admittance of the insanity of allowing nearly a million refugees into the country in one year without any screening whatsoever. No apology for not having adequate housing or policing in place, nor having cultural training as to what is acceptable behaviour and what isn't. They just let them loose like a pack of wolves in a hen-house. 

Murder might be a rare outcome but the extraordinary number of sexual assaults on Germany's girls and young women are well documented. The government should be admitting their mistakes not chastising the people for being angry when their daughters are brutally raped and murdered. German voters will remember that next year.

Germany sustained a massive influx of approximately 900,000 refugees last year, with up to 300,000 expected to arrive this year, according to Frank-Jurgen Weise, head of the country’s migration agency BAMF.

A total of 21,000 rejected asylum-seekers were repatriated in 2015, and an additional 35,000 in the first seven months of 2016, German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere said at a cabinet meeting in August.

In late November, Merkel announced that up to 100,000 rejected asylum-seekers would be returned from Germany to their home countries by the end of the year.

India Court Refuses Abortion for Teen Rape Victims

Agence France-Presse, Ahmedabad, India
Jakarta Post

An Indian court has denied a 14-year-old girl a late-term abortion after she was allegedly raped by a doctor in the western state of Gujarat, the victim's lawyer said Friday.

The Gujarat High Court on Thursday rejected the petition filed by the father of the girl, saying India's abortion law does not allow termination of pregnancy after 20 weeks, or five months.

The girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, is more than five months pregnant.

"The father of the victim is a laborer and does not have enough resources to take care of the child to be born... The parents are yet to decide if they want to approach higher forum," the teenager's lawyer, Pradip Bhate, told AFP.

Judge Abhilasha Kumari said it was a "difficult" decision, but added that "whatever be the circumstances in which the child was conceived, whatever the trauma of the young mother, the fact remains that the child is also not to blame for being conceived".

"It did not ask to be born... The child is innocent, just like the victim, its mother," Kumari said.

The father's petition said his daughter became pregnant after she visited a doctor who injected her with sedatives and then raped her in February.

The police subsequently arrested the doctor and he is currently in custody.

In April, the same court denied an abortion to a 24-year-old gang rape victim, who was more than six months pregnant.

The woman later refused to keep the baby, giving custody to the state government of her newborn.

No reason was given as to why the family didn't seek an abortion earlier. Perhaps she didn't know she was pregnant which would be easy enough if she were still a virgin. That, however, would be rare in India.