Everyday thousands of children are being sexually abused. You can stop the abuse of at least one child by simply praying. You can possibly stop the abuse of thousands of children by forwarding the link in First Time Visitor? by email, Twitter or Facebook to every Christian you know. Save a child or lots of children!!!! Do Something, please!

3:15 PM prayer in brief:
Pray for God to stop 1 child from being molested today.
Pray for God to stop 1 child molestation happening now.
Pray for God to rescue 1 child from sexual slavery.
Pray for God to save 1 girl from genital circumcision.
Pray for God to stop 1 girl from becoming a child-bride.
If you have the faith pray for 100 children rather than one.
Give Thanks. There is more to this prayer here

Please note: All my writings and comments appear in bold italics in this colour

Monday 29 February 2016

B.C. Court of Appeal Grants Extraordinary Time for Accused Sexual Abuser Appeal Attempt

The expert 'relied on a debunked, inadmissable scientific theory,' says judge
By Yvette Brend, CBC News

Claire Reeves testified in a major B.C. child abuse case in 2012
B.C. Court of Appeal decision

The B.C. Court of Appeal has allowed an "extraordinary" time extension to enable a man accused of sexually abusing his children to appeal a family case "more than three years out of time."

The decision comes after the court learned that the credentials of a so-called expert witness who testified in the major child abuse case were called into question by the accused father's legal team.

In launching his bid for appeal, B.G.'s lawyer, Morgan Camley, labelled Reeves "a fraudulent expert" who was "utterly unqualified."

Camley told the B.C. Court of Appeal that Reeves got her degrees from unaccredited companies posing as universities online, offering diplomas for a fee.

A release on the B.C. Court of Appeal website today said the decision to grant an application was granted.

"Although granting an extension of time in the face of a three-year delay is extraordinary, this case is extraordinary and the interests of justice overwhelmingly favour it. There is evidence that an expert tendered by the mother at trial to prove the abuse was a fraud. The "expert" not only may have lacked bona fide credentials and experience, but her opinion relied on a debunked and inadmissible scientific theory. This evidence permeates the judgment, including the sexual abuse findings," wrote Madam Justice Elizabeth Bennett.

Today's ruling means the legal team for the man — known only as B.G.— can now prepare an appeal of the original family case which heard evidence from experts that led to him being labelled a child abuser.

CBC News learned that the case involved a woman whose professional views have been labelled "bizarre."

Claire R. Reeves, 74, who calls herself a doctor of psychology, holds controversial views on the Catholic church, mind control and transgender individuals.

The case revolved around the mother's claims that the province's Ministry of Children and Family Development had ignored her suspicions that her husband, B.G., was sexually abusing their children.

Ministry workers had labelled the mother -- known as J.P.-- mentally unstable, and awarded unsupervised access to the father.

Stop 'keeping secrets for Daddy'

The factum paints an ugly picture of the mother referred to only as J.P., citing an incident when she pepper-sprayed her ex-husband, brother and sister-in-law in the home where the children were staying.

As a result the children were moved to a foster home.

Social workers were also concerned about her repeated attempts to interview the children about their father's abuse.

The document says during a supervised visit she "forcibly held (her daughter) in her lap while telling her that (she) needed to tell the truth and cannot keep secrets. J.P. stated that (her daughter) was 'keeping secrets for daddy,' and that her actions were 'ruining our lives.'"

The family court judge reviewing the case, Justice Paul Walker, ultimately ruled B.G. had indeed molested the children, based on months of evidence and the testimony of several expert witnesses — including Claire R. Reeves.

B.G. — the father — was never charged criminally. 

Microchips and mind control

CBC News conducted its own independent investigation of Claire R. Reeves's views.

Online, she claims to have been instrumental in bringing in chemical castration for child molesters in California in 1996.

Her Facebook page as of Feb. 9 takes that even further, posing the question, "Why test on animals when we have prisons full of pedophiles?"

On a recent online talk show, Reeves alleged the Catholic church might have murdered a pedophile priest to stop him from talking.

She also suggested many transgender people will go on to commit suicide.

Reeves told the show moderator, "They're going to realize they're not gay. They're not transgender; they've already had the surgery. We're going to see suicides up the wazoo."

This is already a fact and documented

She also believes many people have had controlling microchips implanted in their brains — and have been given trigger words that could turn them into saboteurs.


"I believe people have been chipped, targeted individuals, and more of them than we can imagine," said Reeves, calling it, "Mind control. Because it really is mind control."

What about her - is it a case of 'mind out of control'?

Cardinal Pell Testimony Brings Sex Abuse to Vatican's Doorstep

Pell finally admits having heard rumours of pedophilia in Catholic schools

Decision not to return to Australia has had consequence of bringing uncomfortable questions to Rome

Cardinal George Pell gives evidence to the royal commission. Photograph: Lukas Coch/EPA
Stephanie Kirchgaessner in Rome for the Guardian

The Vatican used to be impermeable to horrific stories of child sexual abuse by priests – and complicit in attempts to whitewash the perpetrators’ reputations. It was a place where men such as Cardinal Bernard Law, who became a pariah within the US Catholic church after it became clear that decades of sexual abuse had been covered up within his archdiocese, could go for a comfortable retirement and to escape glaring media attention or, even worse, possible investigation.

But an unexpected confluence of extraordinary events has changed all that this week. The film Spotlight, the tale of the Boston Globe’s dogged investigation into clerical sexual abuse, won Hollywood’s most coveted prize of the Oscar for best picture.

More importantly, hours before the Oscar win was announced, one of the most senior officials within the Vatican hierarchy, Cardinal George Pell of Australia, admitted under oath for the first time that he had heard that an Australian Catholic schoolteacher may have engaged in “paedophilia activity”, but never followed up on the “one or two fleeting references” he heard about the “misbehaviour”. The teacher in question, Edward Dowlan, a Christian Brother, was later convicted of abusing 20 boys and is serving a six-year prison sentence.

Pell, in an appearance by videolink before the Australian royal commission into institutional responses to sexual child abuse that began at 10pm in Rome and ended at 2am, sounded contrite as he testified, often using short sentences. He called the church’s response to clerical sexual abuse of children by one serial offender, Gerald Ridsdale, “a catastrophe” for his victims but also for the church.

It was a topic that may have come up in an exchange Pell had with Pope Francis, hours before his second night of questioning was due to begin. The Vatican did not respond to requests about what the two discussed.

The testimony via videolink was arranged by the royal commission after Pell had said he could not travel to Australia because of a heart condition.

A Vatican official acknowledged that Pell had probably not foreseen that he would still have to testify in a public forum even though he remained in Rome: a banqueting hall in the Hotel Quirinale that included nearly 70 journalists, and 15 survivors of sexual abuse who made the journey from Australia.

The decision by Pell not to go to Australia and face intense media scrutiny there had an unintended consequence: uncomfortable questions about criminal sexual acts that do not often get a hearing in Italy – about priests kissing boys, swimming together naked, taking showers together – have been heard on the Vatican’s doorstep.

Robert Mickens, a veteran Vatican journalist, said: “This is in the pope’s yard right now, and that has never happened. Historically, yes, this is something really big.

“It was clear Pell was going to be very sullen; he had short answers and sounded repentant and ‘Gosh, I didn’t understand’. But there was an admission, finally, that he heard the rumours. Before, he was saying this was all brand new to him.”

Mickens said he believed that Pell was purposely “playing the kind of almost sorry old man who was beaten up a little bit”.

“That is a difficult act for George,” Mickens said. “Whether the commission buys it or not ... certainly here in Rome he looks like the object of a witch hunt.”

Is a witch hunt a bad thing if there really is a witch?

One of the unusual results of Pell staying in Rome to testify is that it meant that a host of vaticanisti (expert Vatican reporters) were compelled to observe and report on the hearing, although most – especially Italian journalists – have not usually covered specific stories about clerical sexual abuse.

In one of the most revealing moments of Pell’s testimony, he acknowledged that it was unusual at the time that Ridsdale, a paedophile priest whom Pell knew and lived with for about 10 months and was later revealed to be a serial rapist of children, took big groups of boys with him away on camping trips.

“To the extent I thought about it, I thought with a big group of 45 boys that would prevent wrongdoing, or it was a useful precaution,” Pell said.

When Gail Furness SC, the barrister assisting the royal commission, pressed him on that point, and asked whether “wrongdoing” was on his mind, he said: “Not particularly. I just thought it would have been imprudent to do otherwise.”

When asked again, whether it was “imprudent” because a boy who was alone on a camping trip with a priest could be abused, Pell responded: “That is certainly correct, and it was also capable of provoking gossip that might or might not be justified.”

The big question now is not only how Pell will fare under the next few days of questioning, but whether renewed focus on clerical abuse and the church’s handling of the problem will also receive more attention from the pope.

The Vatican has faced recent criticism on a number of sex abuse-related issues, including questions about its policy on reporting suspected cases – the church said it followed local laws but not all laws required such reports – and it does not appear to have made progress in establishing a special tribunal that it announced it would set up last year to investigate senior clergy who are accused of covering up abuse.

“I’m not here to defend the indefensible,” Pell said. “The church has made enormous mistakes, but is working to remedy them.”

Just how hard it is working to that end is a question Pope Francis will find it hard to ignore, observers say.

6 Cases of Child 'Good Luck' Sacrifice Reported in Run-up to Uganda Elections

The dark continent still in the dark ages

© James Akena / Reuters

Several children were murdered and mutilated as ‘good luck’ sacrifices in the run-up to the recent Ugandan elections, a charity has announced. It stated that many locals believe such acts bring wealth and power.

Six cases of mutilation and murder were reported in the lead-up to the elections, Shelin Kasozi of Kyampisi Childcare Ministries (KCM), a charity that cares for survivors of attempted child sacrifice, told Reuters.

"Child sacrifice cases are common during election time as some people believe blood sacrifices will bring wealth and power," Kasozi said.

She said the cases were reported from October to February in the districts of Ssembabule, Mukono, Buikwe and Mubende, all located in central Uganda.

Moses Binoga, coordinator of the anti-trafficking task force at the Ugandan Interior Ministry, acknowledged that children had been reported missing during the election period, but could not confirm KCM's reports. He said investigations are ongoing.

He did, however, acknowledge that seven child and six adult sacrifice cases were reported in Uganda in 2015, compared to nine child and four adult cases in 2014.

Referring to the past cases, Binoga said the mutilated bodies of children and adults had been found, some of whom had their hearts or livers ripped out. In two cases reported last year, the victims' heads were missing, he said.

In 2012, 82-year-old grandmother Hanifa Namuyanja was sentenced to 15 years in jail for taking part in the sacrifice of her granddaughter Shamim Nalwoga. The child was found with her tongue and eyes cut out and genitals mutilated.

The United Nations said last year that attacks on albino people in Africa were on the rise, linked to a growing demand from political hopefuls seeking body parts retrieved in black magic.

The February 18 election saw President Yoweri Museveni extend his 30-year rule, in a vote slammed by the US and the European Union. Ugandans also took part in municipal and parliamentary elections.

Referred to as Uganda's 'President for Life’, Museveni was described in a 2001 UN report as one of the “godfathers of the illegal exploitation of natural resources and the continuation of the conflict in the DRC (Democratic Republic of the Congo).”

Isn't that normal operating procedure for central African states?

Sunday 28 February 2016

Violence as Thousands Turn Out for ‘Family Values’ Rally in Stuttgart, Germany

Virtually all violence was initiated by left wing anti-protesters

Gender diversity minuscule problem compared to child sex abuse

© Postboteify / YouTube

Thousands of people took to the streets of Stuttgart, Germany to protest a new curriculum set to emphasize sexual diversity. Several groups clashed with police resulting in at least 18 people sustaining injuries.

A mass rally called “Demo für alle” (Demonstration for everyone) was held on Stuttgart’s central Schillerplatz square on Sunday. According to police, about 4,500 people took part in the demonstration, which was organized by the conservative civic association “For Marriage and Family,” whose motto is “Stop gender ideology and sexualization of our children,” local media report.

Demonstrators were protesting the upcoming adoption of a new school curriculum that is expected to be approved by the regional government just before elections. A statement posted on the official site of the rally organizers says that the regional Culture and Education Minister intends to “surreptitiously” sign the document, which has provoked heated public discussion for the past two and a half years.


Meanwhile, the regional Culture and Education Ministry has argued that the public has taken part in the curriculum reform, and its signing is a mere formality, Die Welt reports.

The group that arranged the rally, which “stands for marriage and family… as well as against reeducation [of children] by organized lobby groups,” were protesting a new curriculum that puts special emphasis on “accepting” sexual diversity and sexual minorities.

If they put special emphasis on identifying and reporting child sex abuse they might have something worthwhile. Child sex abuse is ten thousand times the problem of gender discrimination. It is very clear that this is LGBTI lobby driven, or they would address the real problem.

“The people ‘Demo für alle’ protest against sexualization of children in schools… People from [LGBT] movements try to introduce their ideology and their idea… of acceptance of different sexual behavior into the curriculum. And a lot of parents are against this,” Dr. Norbert Neuhaus from the Foundation for Family Values told RT.

“It is a question of the parents’ right to decide on the education of their children,” he added.


During the rally, the organizers called on demonstrators not to vote for the Green and Left parties that make up the acting government in the forthcoming elections.

On the same day, a number of left-wing organizations staged several counter-rallies in Stuttgart, which were attended by “hundreds” of people, local media reported, citing police sources that would not reveal the exact number present. The counter-protesters shouted slogans such as “Our children will be like us,” and carried placards and banners reading, “Back to the Middle Ages? No, thank you!”

A regional women’s association, which accused “Demo für alle” of having a sexist ideology, had called on people to come out to protest the rally, stressing that everyone has the right to sexual self-determination.

That's the stupidest idea anyone has ever come up with. You can't just decide that you are going to be the opposite sex to what you were born. This is a mental disorder that needs to be addressed by psychiatrists, not a 'modern' idea to confuse our kids with.

Additionally, actors from the regional state theater and other artists staged a cultural festival in front of Stuttgart’s opera house to call for tolerance and openness. A huge rainbow banner bearing the word “diversity” was hung on the opera building for the event.



‘Heavy clashes with lefties’
However, not all of the demonstrations were peaceful. Some left-wing counter protesters tried to break police cordons, forcing officers to use pepper spray.

An attempt to set up a blockade to block the Demo für alle march also ended up in clashes with police, who were again forced to use pepper spray and batons.

Three police officers and fifteen left-wing protesters were injured in the clash, local media report, citing police sources.

Earlier in the day, left-wing counter-protesters showered stones on three buses carrying opponents of the new curriculum to Stuttgart. Police detained suspects after the incident.

In the meantime, Rolf Steiner, an RT contributor at the scene, reported “heavy clashes” between police and left-wing protesters resulting in “many arrests.” Police first tried to disperse the leftist crowd, which attacked police officers in response. Clashes between the left- and the right-wingers also took place, he added. Several people were reportedly hospitalized.

The new “sexual diversity oriented” curriculum is part of the regional government’s action plan aimed at supporting diversity and tolerance, as well as at preventing discrimination based on sexual orientation.

Cardinal Pell's First Day of Testimony to Child Sex Commission

 Senior counsel assisting Gail Furness stands in front of a screen while Cardinal George Pell swears on a bible while appearing via video link from a hotel in Rome. Photo provided by the royal commission into institutional responses to child sexual abuse.
Photograph: Jeremy Piper/AP

Cardinal George Pell has completed his first day of testimony to the Royal Commission on the Response to Institutional Child Sex Abuse. He will appear several more times this week.

Today, counsel Gail Furness kept her questions pretty general. It's possible that she was getting him to make statements that she may challenge later. We will have to wait and see. 

Observers found that Pell had an excellent memory for many things, but when it came to knowledge of pedophile priests it suddenly became very poor.


Melissa Davey

I’ve spoken to abuse survivor and head of the Care Leavers Australia Network [CLAN], Leonie Sheedy, who drove from Geelong to Sydney to sit-in on the hearing.

Sheedy and her group of survivors, who she affectionately refers to as “clannies,” have travelled to almost every hearing of the royal commission since it first began investigating institutional abuse in 2013.

“I think that it’s very interesting that Pell could describe in detail the rooms where he lived in Ballarat, and the buildings, and he could remind Furness about exactly how far Swan Hill was from Mildura, but when it came to pedophile priests suddenly he just didn’t know anything,” Sheedy says.

“I also found it unbelievable that Pell said boys swimming in the nude with their superiors did not register as a problem to him.”

Sheedy says she hopes that in the next few days, Furness presses Pell about what action he took when he finally did become aware of the child sexual abuse that had occurred within the Diocese of Ballarat, even if he did not know about it while he worked there.

Eight CLAN members attended the Sydney end of the hearings, she said. It was an emotional day for them, because one of their members, a 71 year-old abuse survivor, had died overnight.

“We tied a black ribbon outside the court and held hands and remembered all those who died in care, after they left care, and those who took their own lives,” Sheedy said.

Vatican CFO, Cardinal Pell, to be Grilled by Royal Commission

The piece of paper 'everyone is hoping for': As survivors of church's child sex abuse prepare for Cardinal George Pell's royal commission hearing...
is there a 'silver bullet' we don't yet know about?

By MARTHA AZZI FOR DAILY MAIL AUSTRALIA and AAP

Cardinal George Pell faces 'the moment of truth' about his knowledge of paedophile priests, a victims' advocacy group says.

If any 'silver bullet' exists it will come out during cross-examination of Cardinal Pell in the child abuse royal commission next week, Broken Rites spokesman Wayne Chamley said.

Cardinal Pell has already given evidence to the commission twice but Dr Chamley noted that was largely about process - the Melbourne Response complaints handling scheme he set up as Melbourne archbishop in 1996 and the 'Ellis defence' case as Sydney archbishop.

Cardinal George Pell will face the royal commission next week for a cross-examination into the cover-up of abuse by clergy



Cardinal Pell's evidence about any knowledge of paedophile priests during his time in Victoria's Ballarat diocese and as a Melbourne bishop has a much sharper edge on it, Dr Chamley said.

'This is the moment of truth,' he told AAP. 'It's beyond belief that he didn't (know). It's just beyond belief.'

Dr Chamley said the hearing will be the time for any new documents involving Cardinal Pell to come out.

'There's always been the possibility that some barrister representing someone has got a piece of paper which wasn't captured in the legal discovery process of the commission, and they get him up there and they say `well what about this, isn't this your signature?'.

'That's the silver bullet everybody's hoping for. Whether it exists or not we have to wait and see.

'If that exists then it's open slather in the courts. There's no comeback.'

One of the victims, Peter Blenkiron, arrived in Rome wearing a T-shirt with an image of himself as a child
with the words  'no more silence'. At the age of 11, Mr Blenkiron was sexually abused by a
Christian Brother at St Patrick's College in Ballarat.

Cardinal Pell has maintained he was never involved in the cover-up of abuse by clergy.

The commission has heard former Ballarat bishop Ronald Mulkearns knew about paedophile priest Gerald Francis Ridsdale from 1975 and moved him between parishes.

But Cardinal Pell, who was one of the bishop's advisers, has said he did not know about the child abuse allegations against Ridsdale.

Commission chairman Justice Peter McClellan on Thursday suggested to Bishop Mulkearns that his advisers 'knew what was going on' with paedophile priests, but the bishop said he could not recall who knew what at that stage.

A group of abuse victims will be in the Rome hotel conference room when Cardinal Pell testifies via videolink to the commission in Sydney from Monday.

Ballarat survivor Peter Belmiro said they were not attempting to bring the Catholic Church down nor was it a personal attack on Cardinal Pell.

'It's not a witch-hunt. It's a quest for truth, to protect our children and to support those ones that have been affected,' he said.


All the victims and their supporters have arrived in Rome to witness Cardinal Pell be questioned about a number of claims

Helen Last, CEO of clergy victims' advocacy group In Good Faith Foundation, does not expect to hear anything new although Cardinal Pell will be questioned about a number of claims from victims about what they told him.

She said Cardinal Pell had been in key positions in the church hierarchy.

'He certainly had the opportunity to be totally aware of what was going on because of the committees that he was sitting on and the curia and the consultors' bodies,' she said.

'He has claimed that nothing was ever talked about, about sexual offending, and that he would not have been involved in moving anyone on. Well that becomes impossible to accept as an answer.

'It's impossible to believe there was never any discussion or naming of paedophilia at all in any of those meetings.'

A two-page medical report was handed up to support the application that a flight to Australia from Rome,
where Cardinal Pell oversees the Vatican's finances, could pose a serious risk to his health

The 15 Australian child sex abuse victims have travelled to Rome after Cardinal George Pell claimed he was too ill to fly to Australia to front the commission.

As the victims began arriving on Saturday afternoon some admitted being so close to the Vatican will be confronting, reported the ABC.

'Growing up Catholic we're going to walk there, see all these sites and we'll be in awe,' Mr Collins said,' said Andrew Collins, who was abused by for different men from the age of seven.

'Then we'll see all the crucifixes and collars
and we'll be triggered. So we'll have the
highs and the lows, and that's before
we've even seen Cardinal Pell'

Comedian Tim Minchin penned a scathing piece directed at Cardinal George Pell after he released a charity-song urging the most senior member of the Catholic Church in Australia to come home and 'face the music'

The victims were able to travel with the support British-Australian comedian Tim Minchin who helped raise money raise over $200,000 for the victims and their supporters.

Way to go Tim; you're my hero today. God bless you.

Minchin penned a scathing piece directed at Cardinal George Pell as he was unhappy with Cardinal Pell's inability to return to Australia,

This came after he Minchin released a charity-song urging the most senior member of the Catholic Church in Australia to come home from Rome and 'face the music', or all proceeds from the song would fund the Ballarat survivor's travel costs to the Italian capital city.

In a letter published by The West Australian, Minchin praised the generosity of the Australian public who helped fund fifteen Australian child sex abuse survivors to fly to Rome to listen to Cardinal Pell give evidence at the Royal Commission into Institutional Child Sexual Abuse.

'These incredibly brave men and women will sit in a room with George Pell while he gives evidence via video-link to the Royal Commission. We hope that he will look them in the eye and tell them everything he knew.

Saturday 27 February 2016

Ottawa Lawyer has Licence to Practice Revoked After Child Sex Charges

BY ANDREW SEYMOUR

John David Coon
Ottawa lawyer John David Coon has had his license to practise law revoked. He is wanted by Ottawa police for allegedly sexually assaulting a child.

An Ottawa lawyer who left Canada after being accused of molesting a little girl was allowed to practise law in this province despite a past criminal conviction for sexually assaulting another child.

Now, the Law Society of Upper Canada has revoked the licence of John David Coon.

The 49-year-old left this country in December 2013, just weeks before Ottawa police moved to arrest him on charges of sexual assault, sexual interference and invitation to sexual touching a child — a four-year-old daughter of one of his clients.

Ottawa police believe Coon may have fled to Cambodia or Thailand and have expressed fear there may be other victims.

Coon had run a practice specializing in child protection. Good grief!

Ottawa
The newly announced revocation of his licence comes two years after it was first suspended after a complaint by the Ottawa Children’s Aid Society.

Law Society documents related to that suspension say Coon revealed in 2004 to the law society that he had been convicted of sexually assaulting a friend’s 12-year-old daughter in 1991.

Coon was given a conditional discharge and 15 months probation, meaning he wouldn’t have a criminal record if he followed his court-ordered conditions and stayed out of trouble.

Coon also told the law society that in the late 1980s he was attending a 12-step group program to address the “inordinate amount of time and money he spent cruising red light districts and hiring prostitutes.”

But the law society determined there was insufficient evidence to justify what is known as a “good character” hearing after Coon produced a “favourable” report from a psychologist who had treated him from 1990 to 1994, two favourable reference letters from past employers and another from his probation officer.

Susan Tonkin, a spokeswoman for the Law Society, said a past criminal record doesn’t preclude someone from receiving a license to practice law.

“The Law Society recognizes that people can rehabilitate themselves. A licensing hearing panel is concerned with the ‘present’ and a licensing applicant’s ability to establish that he/she is of good character at the time of the hearing,” she said.

The law society closed its file in 2005. Coon was given his license to practise law the next year, according to the decision.

Ottawa, Ontario is the Capital of Canada

Indonesia to Chemically Castrate Child Sex Offenders

Jakarta - Indonesia will chemically castrate child sex offenders, the country's National Commission on Child Protection announced on Thursday.


President Joko Widodo is set to issue a regulation in lieu of law which stipulates a harsher sanction for anyone who commits sexual violence against children, which will involve injecting a hormone to reduce libido and sexual activity, in an attempt to minimise the chances of re-offending, Xinhua news agency reported.

"The president has agreed to include imposing chemical castration in the regulation in lieu of law which also stipulates sexual abuse against children as an extraordinary crime," said Aris Merdeka Sirait, the commission's head.

Extraordinary crimes in Indonesia include drug abuse, corruption and terrorism.

Indonesia has witnessed a string of headline-grabbing cases of child sex assault in recent years with many of them involving serial pedophiles.

One of them is a travesty of justice resulting in a Canadian teacher being jailed for 11 years with absolutely no evidence against him. Is Neil Bantleman in danger of being treated with these chemicals? Nothing seems below the dignity of the Indonesian courts. It would be an absolute travesty for Indonesia to start castrating child sex offenders when its justice system is such an abysmal failure. 

Malaysia and India recently announced that they also considered similar measures against repeat sexual offenders and convicted rapists, but South Korea was the first Asian country to permit the punishment in 2011.

Russia, Poland and some states in the US have long allowed such treatment.

Christian Brothers Seem To Be Anything But Christian

Hundreds of child sex abuse complaints made against 
Christian Brothers, Australia's Royal Commission hears

Commission told 281 Christian Brothers in Australia are subject to one or more claims or substantiated complaints of child sexual abuse

So my rather harsh title is supported by the number 281. I don't know if that includes deceased brothers or not. Nevertheless the number of pedophiles and perverts in the 'Christian Brothers' of Australia is well into the hundreds, and the number of brothers who knew about the child sex abuse and did nothing has to number in the thousands. 

Also, there are, no doubt, several, if not dozens of headmasters, Bishops and Archbishops who knew and did little or nothing, or much worse - transferred the perverts to different schools or dioceses enabling them to assault new victims. These guys should be held accountable. They certainly will be when they stand before God, but it would be nice to see some justice now.

 The counsel assisting the royal commission, Gail Furness. The commission is examining cases involving the Christian Brothers, who worked in educational facilities for children in Ballarat.
@MelissaLDavey

In Australia, 853 people have made a claim or substantiated complaint of child sexual abuse against one or more Christian Brothers, with 75% of victims under the age of 13 at the time, a royal commission has heard.

The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse has turned its attention to the Christian Brothers as the third round of its hearings into the diocese of Ballarat began on Monday. A religious community within the Catholic church, the Christian Brothers primarily worked in educational facilities for children.

In all, 281 individual members of the Christian Brothers in Australia have been subject to one or more claims or substantiated complaints of child sexual abuse, the commission heard, with 45% of that abuse occurring in Tasmania or Victoria.

The commission’s data showed that the highest number of claims of child sexual abuse were against a brother identified only as Brother CCK, who had 46 complaints made against him about incidents in Victoria and Tasmania. The average age of his victims was 11 years old and the abuse occurred between 1963 and 1987, including in Ballarat.

Another Brother, Stephen Farrell, a Christian Brother at St Alpius Boys’ School in Ballarat East, had allegations of sexual abuse made against him from six people, with the abuse allegedly occurring between 1971 and 1974. In 1997, Farrell was convicted of nine counts of indecent assault against two boys aged nine and 10 at the school but his two-year prison sentence was wholly suspended. He was convicted of a further charge of indecent assault against a 10-year-old boy, with his sentence suspended on appeal.

I can't help but wonder if his judges were Catholic, or somehow sympathetic to pedophiles.

The commission heard another Brother, Gerald Leo Fitzgerald, was forced to retire from teaching at St Alpius Boys’ School, with a report saying he had “reached that stage of life when, for some men, control of emotional impulses becomes lessened”.

He was allowed to continue to live within the St Patrick’s religious community, the commission heard. A separate report stated he went into the junior dormitory to “play with boys”. He died in 1987 and was never charged.

Reading the opening address, the counsel assisting the royal commission, Gail Furness, described a number of other Brothers who had abused or who were alleged to have abused while working within religious schools and within Ballarat’s Catholic community.

Ballarat, Victoria, Australia

Timothy Barlow, a former student of St Patrick’s College, also gave evidence to the commission on Monday morning, saying: “There were rumours among students at the school that the Brothers were sexually abusing some of the kids.

“I would describe it as common knowledge, because it was a topic of routine conversation among kids that this was going on.”

One, Brother Edward Dowlan, “made little attempt to conceal his behaviour”, Barlow said, frequently placing his hands down boys’ pants while they walked around. In a previous commission hearing about Ballarat held last year, the commission heard from a witness that he was raped by Dowlan.

It was a survival of the fittest environment, Barlow said, describing how the Brothers beat him, including bashing him on the head, when he was 15 years old.

He said he tried to stick up for the younger children who he knew who were being abused by the Brothers but was not taken seriously, even when he called his mother from the school and told her what was happening.

“Looking back at my time at St Patrick’s we were in a dysfunctional and closed environment where the abnormal was normal,” Barlow said.

“As 15 to 16 year olds, we had no idea really of the outside codes of ethics, morality and justice, so it was not a notable thing for us to see that these things were happening.”

Another witness, Martinus Claassen, said he was a pupil at St Patrick’s from 1974 and that Dowlan was his housemaster.

One weekend he left his homework in the classroom and, after he confessed to Dowlan that he had subsequently not done this homework, Dowlan became angered, Claassen said.

“He started stroking my thigh, his hand then moved so he was stroking and squeezing my genitals,” he said.

When he said to stop, Dowlan “struck me on the back of my head”, Claassen said.

Dowlan then made him stand facing the wall at the back of the room and began gyrating against him, which continued until lunch time. Claassen said that, after Dowlan let him go, he went to the toilet and vomited.

He told his mother and a meeting was arranged with the headmaster of the school, Brother Paul Nangle, who accused him of making it up, Claassen said. Nangle is due to give evidence before the commission this week, when he will answer questions about how he responded to allegations of child sexual abuse.

“Brother Nangle then terminated the meeting, saying, ‘Thank you for coming.’”

Ballarat
The experience left him demoralised and he worried he would be expelled, Claassen said. Claassen, who was also a victim of Brother CCK, told the commission he felt Nangle had failed to act on allegations of abuse or take action to protect children and hold Dowlan to account.

In 2015, Dowlan was convicted of 16 counts of indecent assault against 11 boys at four different Christian Brothers’ schools and was sentenced to six years and six months in prison, with a four-year non-parole period.

I like this judge. Can we clone him or her?

Over the next fortnight, the commission will hear from a number of former Christian Brothers staff and victims about historical abuse that occurred within their Ballarat institutions. Australia’s most senior Catholic and financial head of the Vatican, Cardinal George Pell, will give evidence on 29 February relating to his time serving as an assistant priest at Ballarat East.

The hearings continue.

Six Female Prisoners Sue New York Corrections Dept. Over Sexual Abuse

Also, Investigation into hiring Corrections Officers
for Rikers finds troubling practices
© Shannon Stapleton / Reuters

Multiple cases of male corrections officers sexually abusing female prisoners were brought to light in a class action suit filed against the New York Department of Corrections, which alleges a “culture of indifference” has allowed sexual abuse to flourish.

“Staff sexual abuse is a serious problem in New York’s women’s prisons,” said Veronica Vela, staff attorney with The Legal Aid Society’s Prisoners’ Rights Project, in a released statement.

The lawsuit describes cases of alleged sexual intercourse, harassment, and abuse in the three all-women’s prisons operated by the department: the Bedford Hills, Taconic and Albion correctional facilities.

One plaintiff, Jane Jones 1, a 24-year old woman who has been incarcerated at the Bedford Hills Correctional Facility since 2011, alleges she had been abused for nearly three years. The abuse involved kissing, oral sex, repeated touching, and repeated sexual intercourse. The corrections officer gave her drugs, alcohol, and herpes. The plaintiff described how the officer chose places away from surveillance cameras, and how “officers call ahead to alert the officer on duty at the post that a supervisor is on his or her way.”

The plaintiff reported the sexual abuse in writing to the DOCCS Commissioner, who began an investigation. The officer involved had previously been accused of sexually and physically abusing other female prisoners and bringing them prohibited contraband.

The complaint alleges that a culture of indifference exists within the DOCCS women’s facilities that allow sexual abuse by staff against prisoners to flourish. It also accuses the department of failing to protect the women in custody, investigate complaints, and discipline officers, despite being aware of the pervasive problem.

The Legal Aid Society and Debevoise & Plimpton LLP law firm filed the suit against the New York Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS) on behalf of the unnamed plaintiffs in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York on Friday.

The defendants include Anthony Annucci, acting commissioner of the Department of Corrections, Steven Maher, chief of investigation for the department, as well as other high-ranking corrections officials.

The agency “takes all allegations of sexual abuse seriously,” said Thomas Mailey, a spokesperson for the prison system, in a statement issued to USA Today.

“While we do not comment on pending litigation, it is important to note that DOCCS thoroughly investigates each claim expeditiously to ensure that appropriate action is taken against any perpetrator in violation of the law or agency rules,” he said.

The six female plaintiffs in Jones v. Annucci represent the estimated 2,300 women prisoners in DOCCS custody, all of whom, the lawsuit alleges, face a substantial risk falling victim to sexual abuse while in custody. Most of the women had either a history of child abuse or been victims of domestic violence, or both.

One plaintiff, Jane Jones 4, who was molested as child and gang raped by the age of 16, was subjected to sexual abuse at the Albion Correctional Facility before being released on parole. She later ended up in the Bedford Hills facility, however, where she was subjected to sexual abuse including voyeurism, propositioning, and touching by one officer, and kissing and fondling by another.

In a separate case, another plaintiff was sexually and physical abused and harassed by an officer for over a year. Jane Jones 3, a 28-year old woman described how an officer had made sexual comments, exposed himself, demanded oral sex, and forced her to have sexual intercourse, grabbing her, choking her, and leaving her bruised around her neck.

“DOCCS claims to have a zero tolerance policy to sexual abuse in its prisons, but as we allege in the Complaint, that policy is zero tolerance in name only,” said Vela in a statement.

“The Department has long known of ways to reduce the risk women face in its prisons but fails to take needed measures to protect the women in its custody. We hope that our case can accomplish what years of individual litigation, arrests of officers and legislative efforts have not,” she added.

The suit does not seek damages, but asks a judge to oversee the development of remedies to end what it calls a “pattern of sexual misconduct” at the women’s prisons. It also demands changes in how the department investigates complaints and disciplines officers.

The Legal Aid Society said that the last time female prisoners were included in Department of Justice Statistics on sexual victimization in prisons, New York state prisoners self-reported the highest rate of sexual abuse by staff in the nation.

The suit comes amid growing evidence of widespread abuse and corruption within the state prison system. In June, two murderers escaped from the maximum security Clinton Correctional Facility, setting off a three-week manhunt that cost millions of dollars and terrorized the local population.

Following the jailbreak, the New York Times reported that other inmates alleged that guards had severely beaten them and choked them with plastic bags while questioning them about the escapees.


Investigation into the hiring of Corrections Officers for 
Rikers find troubling practices

A report into the recruiting and hiring practices of the New York Correction Department found that more than one-third of the people hired had problems – criminal histories, mental issues – that should have disqualified them from the job.

Conducted by New York City’s Department of Investigation (DOI), the review is the latest in a number of critical revelations about city jails including death, brutality, and drug smuggling. (But not sexual abuse!!!)


The year-long review by city investigators evaluated department hiring and recruiting practices by looking at the applications of 153 people who were hired. 

54 had significant red flags, 
      -  including 10 correction officers (CO) that had been arrested more than once. 

Another 12 had been rejected by the New York Police Department
      - six for psychological reasons 

others had gang affiliations, 
criminal histories, 
and psychological problems. 

Seventy-nine hires had relatives or friends who were current or former inmates.

Friday 26 February 2016

360 Year Sentences in Landmark Guatemala Rape Trial

Justice in Guatemala;
who would have thought that possible?

Victims of sexual violence hide their faces during the trial against a former military officer and a former paramilitary fighter accused of sexual violence against indigenous women during Guatemala"s civil war, in Guatemala City, Thu, Feb. 25, 2016 Image copyright AP

The victims who attended the trial had covered their faces because of the discrimination and stigmatization they say they still experience

A court in Guatemala has sentenced two former members of the military to 360 years in jail for human rights abuses.

Francisco Reyes Giron, was the former commander of the Sepur Zarco military base and Heriberto Valdez Asij, a military commissioner.

They were charged with sexual enslavement, rape and murder of a group of indigenous women.

It is the first successful prosecution for sexual violence during Guatemala's armed conflict.

There were jubilant scenes in court with people cheering and applauding the victims when the judge finished reading out the sentence.

"This is historic, it is a great step for women and above all for the victims," said Nobel Peace Prize winner Rigoberta Menchu, who attended the hearing.

The retired officer, Francisco Reyes Giron, was found guilty of holding 15 women in sexual and domestic slavery and for killing one woman and her two daughters.

Heriberto Valdez Asij, a paramilitary who carried out commissions for the army, was convicted for the same enslavement, as well as the forced disappearance of seven men.

The court had heard harrowing details about what went on at the former Sepur Zarco military base in the eastern highlands during the 1980s.

According to the prosecution, in 1982 armed forces repeatedly attacked the village of Sepur Zarco and killed or took away Mayan Quiche leaders who had been applying for land titles and had angered local landowners.

The men were accused of being associated with left-wing guerrillas.

Agustin Chen, one of the men who survived said the soldiers took him to a cell and beat him every day.

"They killed seven people, throwing two grenades into the pit where they had put them."

Former army officer Esteelmer Francisco Reyes Giron, right, listens to his lawyer Moises Galindo, Guatemala City, 25 Feb 2016 Image copyright AP

Former base commander, Esteelmer Francisco Reyes Giron (R) was sentened to 120 years in prison.

The court heard how military commanders considered Quiche women to be "available" without their men and had then taken them into sexual and domestic slavery.

They were required to report every third day to the base for "shifts" during which they were raped, sexually abused, and forced to cook and clean for the soldiers.

In a report to the court, anthropologist, Irma Alicia Velasquez Nimatuj said "The military outposts were installed in the region to give security to the landowner's farms and to take possession of the lands. "

Former military commissioner Heriberto Valdez Asij listens to a Lawyer during the trial against him and a former army officer, accused of sexual violence against indigenous women Image copyright EPA

Heriberto Valdez Asij, a military commissioner, received a sentence of 240 years.

For women in the communities she said, "Racism and sexual violence had come hand in hand in the subduing and controlling of indigenous populations."

For some of the victims their ordeal lasted as long as six years until the base was closed in 1988.

The victims have been demanding accountability for the crimes at Sepur Zarco for decades.

"We were raped, all of this happened, if it wasn't like this, where are our husbands? We don't know where they are," said Demesia Yac, 70 years old, who acted as a representative for the women.


Ringleader of Rotherham Child Sexual Abuse Gang Jailed for 35 Years

Judge praises ‘immeasurable courage’ of victims
as three brothers are jailed for between 
19 and 35 years for leading exploitation of girls

Glimpses of the nightmarish life of the victims

Clockwise from top left: Arshid Hussain, Basharat Hussain, Bannaras Hussain, Shelley Davies, Karen MacGregor and Qurban Ali. Photograph: South Yorkshire police
Lisa O'Carroll

The three brothers at the head of the Rotherham grooming ring have been sentenced respectively to 35 years, 25 years and 19 years in prison for crimes that caused “unimaginable harm” to vulnerable young girls.

Yes!

There were gasps of “yes” from the public gallery when the ringleader, Arshid Hussain, 40, was told he was going to be jailed for 35 years for 23 serious child sexual exploitation crimes from 1987 to 2003.

His brother Basharat, 39, was jailed for 25 years and the third brother, Bannaras, 36, who pleaded guilty to 10 offences, was sentenced to 19 years.

The Hussains and three others sentenced at Sheffield crown court for their part in targeting, brutalising and sexually abusing 15 young girls over the 16-year period had caused “unimaginable harm” to their victims, to their families and the Rotherham community, said the judge Sarah Wright.

Qurban Ali, the Hussains’ 53-year-old uncle, was sentenced to 10 years in jail and Karen MacGregor, 59, who lured girls to her home and then pimped them out, got 13 years.

Shelley Davies, 40, who stayed at MacGregor’s house, becoming one of her associates, was given an 18-month suspended sentence after her barrister successfully argued that she too had been a victim, having been trafficked as a 15-year-old.

Stolen childhoods

Victims sat in dignified silence during the three-hour hearing, occasionally wiping tears from their eyes as the judge addressed each of the defendants explaining how they had “stolen the childhoods” of their victims.

Wright told the four men and two women that their crimes had had a devastating impact. “[The victims’] childhood and adolescence can never be reclaimed,” she said. “Each has suffered immense psychological harm. They continue, and will continue to suffer throughout their lives as a result of your actions.”

Wright told them how one victim now undressed only in the dark; how another hated her own body, and that others had eating disorders, depression and were unable to form stable adult relationships.

She told them no one could forget the evidence of how “children changed from being happy, active normal teenagers to withdrawn and secretive young people out of parental control, often becoming involved in criminal behaviour themselves whilst under an abuser’s influence”.

Wright said the 15 victims – 12 of whom were in court for the sentencing – had shown “immeasurable courage” in giving evidence. She paid particular tribute to the woman known as “Jessica” who exposed the abuse in an interview with the Times three years ago.

So proud of you Jessica and the other 14 girls who testified. You are my heroes this week. God bless you and heal you from all your pain and suffering.

She sat calm and composed in the public gallery as Arshid Hussain’s barrister, in a lengthy mitigation statement, claimed the abuse was a “consensual” relationship.

Wright told Hussain: “This was not a ‘relationship’ as has been suggested by the defence. She was a child and you were an adult. She lost her education, her friends and her family as result of your actions. She too has self-harmed and suffered from eating disorders. She vividly describes her life as being shattered into a million pieces and she feels she is just held together by sticky tape.

“Despite the substantial hurdles she has encountered, your victim has shown considerable courage, tenacity and a steely determination in bringing these horrific crimes to the attention of the public.”

DCI Martin Tate, the senior police officer who led the investigation into the Hussains, said it was probably the most emotional day he had had in court. “The sentences imposed are huge. We are pleased for the victims. One of them said to me in court, she never thought she would see this day.”

The judge Wright remarked on the past failures of police and social services to bring the Hussains and their associates to justice between 1987 and 2003, when their crimes were committed.

“It seems to me that there has been a delay in bringing you to justice because in many cases, as a result of your behaviour towards them, your victims felt unable to speak up out of fear; some out of a sense of shame and some out of a fear of not being believed, or a fear of being blamed themselves for what was happening to them,” she told the defendants.

Turning to the Hussains, she said: “You, Arshid Hussain, in particular played a key role. You and your brothers, Bannaras Hussain and Basharat Hussain, were well known in the area – you drove distinctive cars and had a reputation for violence. There was a perception by some of your victims that you appeared, in their words, to ‘rule Rotherham’. You exploited that to the full.”


The nightmarish life of the survivors

Earlier, Michelle Colborne QC, prosecuting, read a selection of victim statements, describing how the brothers acted like “a pack of animals” – in one case urinating on a victim.

“In the main, the girls were made to feel dirty, ashamed, guilty,” Colborne said. “Between them [they suffered] a plethora of eating disorders, self-harm, self-loathing; [there were] terminations for many of them – some at the age of 14 – events they have never been able to put behind them.”

The court heard previously that five of the victims had been made pregnant over the period.

Colborne said she had visited one victim before she gave evidence. “She was shaking involuntarily, as she had done in the video, and was almost physically sick at the prospect of giving evidence. She suffered periods of severe depression, leaving her incapable of functioning at times.”

The jury heard that this woman had been taken as a girl to Blackpool, where she was locked up for weeks and told she had to “pay her way”. On returning to Rotherham she had chlamydia, gonorrhoea and nits from the ordeal.

The court also heard on Friday of a missed opportunity to bring the gang to justice earlier. Colborne said a police officer drove off when he discovered one of the the men abusing a young girl in his car.

Opening the case against Bannaras Hussain, who pleaded guilty to 10 offences including multiple rapes and indecent assault against seven girls, the prosecution recounted how he was able to carry out his criminal activities in plain view of the police.

Colborne said Bannaras, known locally as Bono, had taken the girl, who was 12 or 13, to a car park near Rotherham police station. He made the girl perform a sexual act on him in the front of the car while her sister sat in the back.

“When shortly afterwards, a police car pulled up alongside them and asked what they were doing, Bannaras shouted: ‘She’s just s---ing my c--k, mate.’ The police car drove off,” Colborne said.

Eton Student Paedophile Spared Jail Despite Britain’s ‘Crackdown’

Eton student who sent child porn to
undercover cop spared jail time

Caution: disturbing description of child (infant) sex abuse below



A former Eton College student who made and shared graphic child pornography images has avoided jail time, despite Britain's promise to crack down on pedophiles.

In January and February 2015, then-17-year-old Andrew Picard sent a message to an undercover officer via Skype which read: “Do you want to see pics of boys and girls your age nude?” The Daily Mail reports.

Police traced Picard’s IP address to his computer at the prestigious boarding school which contained more than 2,000 pornographic images and videos of children, some involving rape and beastality.

Particularly disturbing images featured children as young as two 
being raped and forced to have sex with dogs.

On Thursday, the now-18 year old was sentenced to 10 months in prison, with 18 months suspended, and ordered to seek mental health treatment, the Telegraph reports. Judge Peter Ross said prison would “undo” the extensive counseling Picard has undergone since his arrest.

Some have questioned whether Piccard, the son of a lawyer, would have received such a light sentence if he had not come from a privileged background.


Pedophile crackdown - 'not realistic'?

The conviction of entertainer Rolf Harris, the report into former presenter Jimmy Savile, claims of a Westminster child abuse cover up in Margaret Thatcher’s cabinet, and an investigation into 1980s pedophile rings have led to British authorities promising to introduce harsher crackdowns on sexual abusers.

Speaking in March 2015 about the pedophile ring inquiry, Home Secretary Theresa May warned that people did not fully appreciate “the scale of that abuse” and suggested the problem of pedophilia is “woven, covertly, into the fabric of our society”.

NCA deputy director Phil Gormly signalled that pedophilia needs to be targeted by both police and legislators.

“This is a challenge for law enforcement and a challenge for policy makers,” Gormly was quoted by the Express in July 2014. “We are not going to be able to arrest our way out of this problem.

According to a police estimate released in October 2014, 50,000 men view and share images of child sex abuse in Britain.

National Crime Agency (NCA) general director Keith Bristow said it’s “not realistic” to expect that everyone who accesses a child porn image will be brought through the justice system.

“I don’t think I can be more candid than say, if there are 50,000 people involved in this particularly horrible type of criminality, I don’t believe that all 50,000 will end up in the criminal justice system being brought to justice,” Bristow said. “Our responsibility is to focus on the greatest risk and tackle those people.”

Thursday 25 February 2016

School Teacher, Coach, & Volunteer Among Today's Perverts & Pedophiles

Utah Man Charged With Felony Child Sex Abuse
Teen Allegedly Abused For Once A Week For Years
By Hailey Higgins | hhiggins@good4utah.com

ST. GEORGE, Utah - A Washington County man is accused of sexually abusing a teenage girl regularly for several years. 

Jose Antonio Paredes is being held at the Purgatory Correctional Facility after being arrested on ten counts of felony child sex abuse. 

Thirty-six-year-old Paredes is accused of inappropriately touching the teen at least once a week for the past four years, starting when the victim was a child.

St. George police made the arrest Wednesday afternoon at an apartment complex in Washington County.

Investigators have been building a case against Paredes after the victim came forward to police in November.

The alleged sex abuse happened in two Washington County cities. Court records show that some of the alleged sex abuse took place while Paredes was driving.

Paredes is charged with five counts of aggravated sex abuse of a child and five counts of sex abuse of a minor.

"Too often we see these cases where children and juveniles fall victim to sex crimes and it's sad. That is why these are nice arrests to make and hopefully hold these people accountable for their actions and know that it's not right," Sgt. Sam Despain said.

If convicted, Paredes could spend his life behind bars.



Child Sex Abuse Charges Dropped Against
Ex-Chicago Priest 
The victim stopped cooperating with prosecutors
By Associated Press

CHICAGO — Cook County prosecutors have dropped an aggravated criminal sexual abuse charge against a former Chicago priest because the alleged victim stopped cooperating.


They dismissed the charge Wednesday against Daniel McCormack, who pleaded guilty to multiple child sex abuse charges in 2007 and was sentenced to five years in prison. He was removed from the priesthood.

McCormack also was arrested in 2014 in a 2005 case involving a 10-year-old alleged victim at a West Side parish, but prosecutors say as the case progressed in the courts, the victim stopped cooperating with them.

The Chicago Sun-Times reports prosecutors called out in court Wednesday to see if anyone representing the victim was there and when no one responded, they told a judge they were moving to dismiss the charge. McCormack wasn’t present.




Illinois teacher gets 35 years for child sex abuse

By The Associated Press

EDWARDSVILLE -- A former southwestern Illinois teacher has been sentenced to 35 years in prison after pleading guilty to child sexual abuse involving eight victims.

Twenty-eight-year-old Jason E. Ehlers of Bethalto was sentenced Wednesday in Madison County Circuit Court.

Ehlers was a teacher in the Triad School District when he was charged in April 2014 with 10 felony counts and four misdemeanors involving assaults that took place at his home from 2011 to 2014.

He pleaded guilty in December to five felonies and three misdemeanors as part of a plea bargain.

Police and prosecutors say that no current or former students were among his victims.

Ehlers resigned his teaching job after his arrest. He had previously taught at the Bethalto School District, also in Madison County.



Delaware high school coach to plead guilty in child sex abuse case
By RANDALL CHASE - Associated Press 

DOVER, Delaware (AP) - A former high school teacher and wrestling coach who is facing child sex abuse charges has agreed to enter a guilty plea.

A Kent County judge scheduled a plea hearing Friday for Richard “Dickie” Howell II.

Howell was arrested in January 2015 after a female student at Caesar Rodney High School reported that he had sex with her over several months in 2014 that included encounters at school and his home.

Howell was later indicted on 50 felony counts of sexual abuse of a child by a person in a position of trust and sexual solicitation of a child. He had initially been charged with fourth-degree rape and continuous sexual abuse of a child.

Howell’s trial, which has been repeatedly postponed, was scheduled to begin March 8.

Dover, Delaware


Prosecutors: Maryland school volunteer charged with child sex abuse
BEN NUCKOLS, Associated Press

GREENBELT, Maryland (AP) — The 22-year-old volunteer school aide with the blond streak in his Afro told students at a suburban Maryland elementary school that they were part of a special club. According to prosecutors, Deonte Carraway pulled kids out of classrooms in the middle of the day and made smartphone videos of them having sex with him and each other on school property.

Carraway is facing child pornography charges that could put him in prison for the rest of his life, Maryland U.S. Attorney Rod Rosenstein said at a news conference Tuesday. The charges mark the latest development in a sex-abuse scandal that has shaken parents' faith in Prince George's County school administrators.

According to police, Carraway is known to have victimized at least 17 children, ranging in age from 9 to 13. In addition to Judge Sylvania Woods Elementary School in Glenarden, where he stocked shelves in the library and directed an unofficial school choir, he also abused children at a church, a pool, a community center and several homes, Prince George's County police have said.

Two lawsuits, including a class-action complaint, have already been filed against the school system. According to the complaints, the school's principal, Michelle Williams — who was placed on leave after Carraway's arrest earlier this month — didn't follow up on reports by parents and teachers of predatory behavior by Carraway. When a relative showed an explicit video to Williams, she didn't call police, instead telling the relative to return to the school the next day, the lawsuits say.

The relative called police on his own, and Carraway was quickly arrested. Williams hung up when a reporter from The Associated Press reached her by phone on Tuesday.

Carraway, whose public defender declined to comment on Tuesday, admitted to investigators that he made the videos and told the kids they were part of a club he called "AKA," according to court documents.

"I know it was wrong. I'm a bad person. I'm no child of God for doing this," Carraway told investigators. "… I know I'm older and I knew it was wrong because kids don't know better and I just lost it and now it don't look good on my part."

Prosecutors said Carraway communicated with his victims and shared the videos on Kik, a messaging app that allows users to hide their identities, and gave the victims usernames for the app. One of Carraway's cellphones was found at the home of a victim, the documents said.

In one instance, Carraway asked a 9-year-old boy to take off his pants, and when the boy refused, Carraway threatened to contact the principal and police, prosecutors said. He then ordered another child to have sex with the boy and recorded the act on his phone, prosecutors said.

"I think that illustrates the evil, really, that we see in these sort of cases," Rosenstein said.

Carraway was charged with eight counts of producing child pornography, each of which carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in prison if a defendant is convicted. He was also indicted Tuesday in state court on child-sex-abuse charges.

Although prosecutors believe Carraway acted alone in making the videos, they did not rule out the possibility that other adults could be charged as collaborators.

Prince George's County, a suburb of Washington, is the nation's wealthiest majority-black jurisdiction. The school where Carraway volunteered is 56 percent black and 39 percent Latino. Less than 20 percent of students were deemed proficient in reading and math on standardized tests last year.

Prince George Co, Maryland