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Jacob Wetterling: Remains of missing Minnesota boy found, authorities say

by Ralph Ellis and Ray Sanchez

The remains of Jacob Wetterling, a Minnesota boy abducted from a rural road 27 years ago, have been found, the Stearns County Sheriff's Office said Saturday in a news release.

"The Ramsey County Medical Examiner and a forensic odontologist identified the remains as Wetterling's earlier today," the release said.

The release didn't say if anybody has been charged. The sheriff's office said investigators will evaluate new evidence and "expect to be in a position to provide more detailed information early next week."

The abduction of the 11-year-old boy led to the 1994 Jacob Wetterling Crimes Against Children and Sexually Violent Offender Registration Act, which requires states to maintain sex offender registries and guidelines.

Unnamed sources told CNN affiliate WCCO and the Minneapolis Star Tribune newspaper that a suspect in Wetterling's disappearance led the FBI to remains that are now being tested for DNA.

Patty Wetterling, Jacob's mother who became an advocate for families of missing children, told CNN in a text, "Our hearts are broken. There are no words." She declined further comment.

Abductor wore stocking mask

Jacob disappeared on a dark road in central Minnesota on the night of October 22, 1989.

Jacob had been at home with his two younger siblings, Trevor, 10, and Carmen, 8, and Jacob's friend Aaron Larsen, 11, while Patty and Jerry Wetterling attended a dinner party about 20 minutes away.

Wetterling, who lived in rural St. Joseph, his brother and a friend were coming home from a convenience store on bikes and a scooter when a man wearing a stocking mask and holding a gun approached.

The man asked the boys their ages, grabbed Jacob and told the others to run into the woods or else he'd shoot, Jacob's father has said, recounting what his other son told police.

The case garnered worldwide attention and was recently featured on the CNN series "The Hunt with John Walsh."

Widespread search

As news of the disappearance spread, FBI agents and National Guard troops descended on St. Joseph to aid in the search.

Tens of thousands of tips surfaced in the weeks that followed, but none led to an arrest or, until now, discovery of the boy's remains.

In October 2015, authorities announced a development: Child pornography suspect Danny James Heinrich, 52, was questioned in the abduction.

Investigators interviewed Heinrich about Jacob's disappearance, according to Andrew M. Luger, the U.S. attorney for Minnesota. Heinrich denied any involvement in the disappearance, authorities said.

At that time, no charges were filed in the Wetterling case.

Mother becomes advocate

Since her son's kidnapping, Patty Wetterling helped create the sex offender registry for Minnesota and subsequently for the nation.

She also helped build Team HOPE -- Help Offering Parents Empowerment -- a parent-to-parent mentoring program for mothers and fathers in similar situations.

"Most parents know nothing about child abduction, so when it happens you just scramble for what's out there," Wetterling said in 2014.

Jacob would have turned 38 in February.

"Jacob was a fun, active, athletic, kind, 11-year-old boy who loved peanut butter and football," his mother wrote in 2014. "He was most known for his sense of fairness."

Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton issued a statement saying, "Today, we continue to offer our love and support, as the Wetterling family finally brings their son home to rest."

The Jacob Wetterling Resource Center, a foundation that provides education on the exploitation of children, said Saturday: "We are in deep grief. We didn't want Jacob's story to end this way."

http://www.cnn.com/2016/09/03/us/jacob-wetterling-remains-found/

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South Carolina

Reports of clowns in SC woods put citizens on edge

Police held a press conference today to address the growing reports of people dressed up as clowns and standing in the woods

by The Associated Press

GREENVILLE, S.C. — Deputies in South Carolina have increased patrols after getting new reports of people dressed as clowns trying to lure children into the woods.

News outlets report that Greenville County sheriff's deputies were called to an apartment complex about 8:20 p.m. Monday that is about 20 minutes from a complex where people reporting seeing clowns last week.

Deputies responding to the report last week said they found no evidence of anyone in the woods behind Fleetwood Manor Apartments.

A family who called Monday night from Emerald Commons apartments said a child saw a man wearing a clown mask in woods near the complex.

Deputies said there was a third report of someone dressed as a clown about 10 p.m. at Shemwood Apartments.

A 12-year-old told deputies that two clowns were in the backyard area.

http://www.policeone.com/bizarre/articles/217773006-Reports-of-clowns-in-SC-woods-put-citizens-on-edge/

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Australia

Sexual assault among young people is on the rise. But why?

by Antoinette Lattouf

Parents across the country felt a familiar wave of nausea this week after news broke of an alleged sexual assault of a child at a Sydney school.

In this case, two 12-year-old boys were charged with sexually assaulting a six-year-old girl in a toilet block.

Pre-teen boys allegedly raping children in what is meant to be a safe environment is indisputably alarming, but how widespread is the problem?

Australian Bureau of Statistics data showed the number of young people under 20 who had committed sexual assaults had increased by more than 20 per cent from 2008/09 to 2013/14.

In 2014, a quarter of sexual offenders under the age of 20 were 10 to 14 years old.

Over the past decade in New South Wales, the rate of juvenile offenders of sexual assault as well as young victims has risen.

Put simply, this means more young people are being sexually assaulted at the hands of other children.

"It doesn't surprise me that if child/juvenile victims are increasing, that child/juvenile offenders are too," director of NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research Don Weatherburn said.

"The media stereotype of a child sex assault offender is of an adult assaulting a child, but there are plenty of cases where victim and offender are not that different in age."

What is driving aggressive sexual behaviour in children?

Catharine Lumby, a professor of media studies at Macquarie University, said: "We do know that consensual sexual play among children of the same age is not new and is part of development."

But she stressed that consent and respect was pivotal.

Earlier this year, instances of inappropriate sexualised behaviour among Year 1 students at Sydney's Trinity Grammar School were investigated by the NSW Department of Family and Community Services.

While pornography is not a new phenomenon, the ease of access a young person has to it has changed with nine out of 10 teenagers owning a mobile phone.

Child welfare experts said pornography was inextricably linked to the growing number of young sexual offenders in Australia.

"We run programs for young people who have engaged in problematic sexual behaviours and have done so for 15 years," said Joe Tucci, head of the Childhood Foundation.

Mr Tucci said most kids had watched pornography before becoming a teenager.

"Sex can be really confusing for a young person," he said.

"A lot of pornography often positions women in less powerful positions, things like aggression and rough sex is commonly shown in porn.

"Those messages are sexualising violence."

Professor Lumby said the tendency to focus immediately and solely on the proliferation of pornography was too simplistic.

"We know that children who are inclined to be abusive are often from dysfunctional homes, they are likely to have been exposed to abuse themselves, either physical or sexual, and could be in an environment of drug and alcohol abuse," she said.

The media and judicial attention on sexual abuse is also thought to be contributing to increasing crime statistics.

"A significant factor is growing willingness to disclose child sexual assault and growing determination on the part of government agencies to uncover it," Mr Weatherburn said

"The royal commission has probably given further impetus to reporting."

Schools not doing enough, but the conversation starts at home

Mr Tucci believes parents do not want to believe how much porn their kids see from a young age.

"We want to put our heads in the sand instead of doing something about it," he said.

Jenny Ackland is the co-founder of Sex Education Australia and has been running programs in Melbourne schools for eight years and said parents needed to equip their children with tools to manage the messages porn sends.

"And they need to know that they won't get in trouble for asking those sorts of questions."

Ms Ackland, whose team runs programs in 60 primary and secondary schools across Melbourne, said young people had become increasingly sexually aware in the past couple of years.

"We used to be asked questions like 'what is a condom?' and now we get asked by children who are 10 years old, 'what is rimming?' and 'how do you have anal sex?'," she said.

"So it's more about how you do something rather than what it is."

In Australia, students are expected to start formally learning about sex, relationships and sexuality from Year 3.

But Professor Lumby said Australian schools had an "Anglo approach" which coats the body and sex in shame and denial.

"The focus of sex education in Australia is about plumbing and diseases in upper primary," she said.

"It's about mechanics and how babies are made. The conservative and religious lobby ensure that it's just about biology."

Sexual education in the Netherlands begins when students are four years old. The system allows for flexibility in how it is taught, but it must address certain core principles, including sexual diversity and sexual assertiveness.

For example, in educating kindergarten students, fiction books are often used. Picture books show animals hugging and a teacher explains the animals are hugging "because they want to" and "because it feels good".

This paves the way for an educator to explain what an animal can say to his friend if the hugging makes them feel uncomfortable.

Pornography is also discussed in sex education in Denmark and there is even a push to have it shown and deconstructed in classrooms.

Societies which are open about sex and start education young, like the Netherlands and Denmark, have well documented results including lower rates of STIs and unwanted teen pregnancies.

Professor Lumby has called for the Federal Government to coordinate a national sex education program that is centred on respect and consent and deals with uncomfortable topics like pornography.

She said waiting until Year 3 was too late.

"We need age-appropriate education teaching kids to say no," Professor Lumby said.

"This is about children feeling they have a right to say no, but at the same time not to feel ashamed about their sexual curiosity."

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-09-03/sexual-assault-among-young-people-is-on-the-rise.-but-why/7810866

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Ohio

Clark County mom fights for stricter child abuse laws

Ten years after her daughter was rushed to the hospital with shaken baby syndrome, Clark County resident Randi Shepherd continues to fight for harsher sentences for child abusers.

Her daughter Destiny, 11-years-old now, suffered permanent brain damage from an incident in 2006 when Shepherd's then-boyfriend, Terrance King, shook the then-16-month-old and threw her against a wall. King was convicted of felonious assault and child endangering and sentenced to eight years in prison.

“He took a life,” Shepherd said. “Even though she's still here, her heart is still beating — she is forever changed.”

Shepherd believes King should have spent more time in prison for the crime so she's been fighting to pass “Destiny's Law” since 2007.

“For the rest of her life she will have brain damage and seizures,” she said.

The law would increase the penalty for people convicted of assaulting a child, Shepherd said. A previous draft of the bill that would have increased the penalty to 18 years was passed in the Ohio House of Representatives last session, Shepherd said, but wasn't voted on by the Senate before the session expired.

State Rep. Kyle Koehler, R-Springfield, said the bill may have failed because its language couldn't be agreed on.

“It's possible that it's going to come up in the (next) General Assembly,” Koehler said.

He believes the bill should pass, he said, if the wording is the most effective.

“We need to make sure it's a good law that prosecutors can get convictions on,” he said, “and it will help people and not hurt other people that it didn't intend to hurt.”

Shepherd will begin a new effort to get a similar bill passed when the state session begins later this year.

“It means everything to me,” she said.

http://www.whio.com/news/crime--law/clark-county-mom-fights-for-stricter-child-abuse-laws/kKqYAe8vIyO18iuXTHH1KM/

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New Mexico

Therapist authors children's book on sexual abuse

by James Fenton

FARMINGTON — When Alisha Hawthorne-Martinez went looking for child- and family-friendly literature to help her clients find solutions to sexual abuse, the 32-year-old clinical social worker said she became frustrated with the lack of quality titles available.

So Hawthorne-Martinez began writing one herself. The result is "This Is My Body and It Belongs To Me," a 32-page book she self-published last month. It is available in paperback from Lulu.com ($15.99) and as an e-book at Amazon.com ($3.99). In three weeks, it will be available in paperback from Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble retailers, she said.

Although the subtitle is "An introduction to sexual abuse prevention and response for children ages 3 and up," the book is also for other age groups and for parents, guardians, teachers, doctors and other therapists like herself, she said.

Hawthorne-Martinez said the book is part of her effort to turn the tide on the rate of sexual abuse in San Juan Count and to orient the community's focus on prevention, rather than merely treating the problem.

She currently juggles a caseload of more than 60 children she treats each month, she said.

In 2015, Hawthorne-Martinez established her private practice, Second Chance Counseling, which is now located on Apache Street.

Many of the families she sees lack the basics — the money or the confidence, most often — to address sexual abuse, she said.

"I was searching, trying to find literature on sexual abuse on kids, age-appropriate stuff. There were only a couple of things out there, and it's not like they were bad, but they skirted around the idea," she said. "Nobody went right for the throat. And we have to. Our caseload is incredibly high."

Hawthorne-Martinez is one of the only therapists in San Juan County who treats people 18 and younger who commit sexual harm to others as well as victims of abuse. She said the book is a needed resource to help her clients and their families tackle an uncomfortable issue that is loaded with stigma and misinformation.

One is "stranger danger," the popular concept that harm to children comes from people the minor doesn't know personally. Hawthorne-Martinez said the majority of sexual abuse cases she sees involve victims whose abusers are the opposite — often trusted relatives, many who live in the same home as the victim.

On Friday, she pitched the book over lunch to a group of pediatricians at San Juan Health Partners Pediatrics on Schwartz Avenue.

"I think this fills a void we might have not known we had," Dr. Brad Scoggins said after her pitch.

Dr. N. Vivian Nnebe said she would like to purchase copies of the book but suggested it be available in gender-specific covers. Though the story features both a boy and girl, the current cover only features an illustration of a girl, which Hawthorne-Martinez said she would change.

Erin Hourihan, CEO for Childhaven, said she would like to secure enough money to purchase at least 300 copies of the book to provide one for each of the nonprofit's clients. Because of the economic downturn, Hourihan said she would only be able to earmark enough money in the organization's waning budget to purchase 10 copies.

For 20 years, Hourihan has worked at the organization, which cares for children caught in difficult situations, often abuse or neglect.

Between July 2014 and June 2015, Childhaven handled 254 cases of child abuse, including 104 cases of sexual abuse, in San Juan County.

Within the last year, the rate of cases the nonprofit have taken were stubbornly similar. Between July 2015 and this July, Childhaven treated 104 sexual abuse cases out of a total of 263 child abuse cases that received forensic interviews.

The cases begin with forensic interviews at Childhaven's Child Advocacy Center on Airport Drive. They are led by advocates and involve multiple specialists and law enforcement listening in remotely from a separate room.

Those interviews sometimes occur at a rate of four or five a day, Hourihan said.

Hawthorne-Martinez said the book is another way to raise awareness of the problem of child sexual abuse, which she said can often be "extremely traumatizing for really for every member of the family."

"Sex abuse can really harm, destroy, families. ... Some cases, the kids have held onto it for so many years," she said.

http://www.daily-times.com/story/news/local/farmington/2016/09/03/therapist-authors-childrens-book-sexual-abuse/89766622/

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Massachusetts

Sexual misconduct in schools is troubling, but not epidemic, say experts

by Caitlin Walsh

ANDOVER – Phillips Academy announced in a letter to the community last week that an independent investigation, which began in the spring, found five cases of sexual misconduct involving faculty members and students in the 1970s and '80s.

Three ex-faculty members were named: H. Schuyler Royce (now deceased), Stephen Wicks and Alexander Theroux.

It was just one in a string of private school sexual misconduct cases in the past few years. St. Paul's School in Concord, New Hampshire, Deerfield Academy in Deerfield, Massachusetts, and most recently St. George's School in Middletown, Rhode Island, have had sexual misconduct cases emerge.

Even Phillips Academy itself is no stranger to trouble: In 2014, Richard Keller, the former school medical director, was sentenced to six and a half years in prison for child pornography.

In their 2004 study "Educator Sexual Misconduct: A Synthesis of Existing Literature," the Department of Education cited data collected by the American Association of University Women (AAUW) in 2000.

"Based on the assumption that the AAUW surveys accurately represent the experiences of all K-12 students, more than 4.5 million students are subject to sexual misconduct by an employee of a school sometime between kindergarten and 12th grade," the study reported.

Furthermore, according to the Department of Education report, the AAUW also concluded that "nearly 9.6 percent of students are targets of educator sexual misconduct sometime during their school career."

Of those offenses, the AAUW broke down the percentage of student targets by job titles of the offenders. It found 18 percent were by teachers, the highest number by job title, followed by 15 percent by coaches. Among victims, 57.2 percent were male students and 42.8 percent females.

'Not a high rate'

But sexual misconduct at private schools is not necessarily an epidemic, say those who study the problem.

David Finkelhor, professor of sociology, director of the Crimes against Children Research Center and co-director of the Family Research Laboratory at the University of New Hampshire, says that, while troubling, there is no evidence that crimes like these are more common at private boarding schools than they are at public schools.

"If you look back at a 40-year period, in any environment where thousands of young people have had contact with a variety of adults and older youth, you will find cases of sexual abuse. It's just that common," he said. "These are long periods of time that we are aggregating over in these investigations, when these schools have asked all the alumni to report on possible examples of abuse. There are undoubtedly many cases that they're not hearing about as well, but five, 10 or a dozen cases over a period of 40 or 50 years is not a high rate."

In the grand scheme of sexual abuse cases, Finklehor went on to explain that while concerning, abuse at the hands of school teachers and staff are less common than other offenders.

"Teachers are not the highest risk offenders," he said. "You have the highest risk for teenagers at the hands of other students and peers. There's just an enormous amount of peer sexual assault that occurs in this dating environment. Also, a great deal is in the family, in the neighborhood, and a recent study that we did suggested that at least in recent years, sexual abuse at schools is quite small in comparison to other kinds of abuse."

Another note made by Finklehor was the timing of many of the crimes. The recent Phillips allegations occurred during the 1970s and 1980s. The recent revelations from St. George's School spanned four decades, reaching back to alumni in their 40s, 50s and even 60s now.

The difference, Finklehor said, was not just about the schools -- it was about society then and now.

"I think that there was a clarification of the norms and standards," he explained. "I think that there was a little bit of a romanticization of these teacher-student sexual relationships which had occurred in the 1960s and '70s, and people did not really understand the damaging nature of it and the fact that it was a breach of responsibility. I think schools and other institutions became more alert to this and began to educate both students and their staff about these issues."

Looking ahead

To truly address the problem, Finklehor could think of a number of solutions.

"I do think we haven't done enough in a couple of ways," he said. "I don't think we've educated everybody enough about what's wrong with these relationships, with what's wrong between teachers and students. Some occur as a result of abuse or coercion, some of them don't. We need to educate people why someone who is in that position really has a responsibility not to let those relationships develop, because they are exploiting the special authority and status that they have and these relationships are not really healthy."

The solution, he said, would be to perhaps train educators more than they are now, and to make that education occur early on in graduate programs, as well as every so often throughout their careers.

"A lot more attention needs to go into teaching teachers to anticipate that these kinds of situations, of what will occur, where they will need to exert some self control, be able to set boundaries," he said.

Phillips Academy, going forward, is trying to do just that, with efforts to educate and inform both students and staff on healthy relationships, boundaries, and consent, school officials said.

Head of School John Palfrey and Dean of Students Jenny Elliott just last year produced a short video outlining the school's affirmative consent policy, something that Elliott says was discussed at length with students in the year prior.

"The affirmative consent policy strengthens our policy by adding more language to student relationships and intimacy," she said. "We had clear expectations around harassment policies, but this was changed by students who wanted Andover to be progressive what, at the time, colleges and universities were doing."

The major change, Elliott said, was a clear "yes means yes, instead of the absence of a no" policy among students in intimate situations with their peers. It went into the school's handbook -- The Blue Book -- in the fall of 2015.

Furthermore, Elliott said, the school addresses consent and healthy relationships at their All School assemblies, in small group conversations, in health counseling groups in dormitories and in advising groups.

As far as the staff and faculty go, Elliott said, "We have trainings every year for faculty and staff in terms of boundaries and our specific policies. Faculty and staff are both trained in how they would respond to a situation, we are very clear about our rules. We work with all our new faculty in our new faculty orientation on physical and emotional boundaries."

http://www.eagletribune.com/news/sexual-misconduct-in-schools-is-troubling-but-not-epidemic-say/article_8160604d-a0ae-54d4-a2d2-38c9f8f37570.html

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Iowa

7 Iowa teachers guilty of sex abuse get no prison time

by Jason Clayworth

Some Iowa teachers convicted of sexually abusing students have been placed on probation rather than sentenced to prison, despite a state law requiring they spend time behind bars, a Des Moines Register investigation has found.

The law, passed in 1997, specifically prohibits anyone who is a "mandatory reporter" of child abuse — such as a teacher, social worker or psychologist — from eligibility for probation.

It was passed to hold educators and others in positions of power and influence over children to higher standards of accountability.

But the Register's review of such cases over the past five years revealed at least seven instances in which teachers served no prison time after being convicted of sex crimes involving children attending their schools. Some judges, prosecutors and defense attorneys acknowledged the mistakes, which they said resulted from misunderstandings involving the sentencing requirements for such cases.

Legal experts said discovery of the mistakes could prompt courts to set aside the sentencing agreements or retry the cases.

The most recent cases:

•  Cherokee physical education teacher Chad Osler was accused of having sex with a student over a three-year period before his arrest in 2015. In July, a judge waived his 10-year prison term for third-degree sex abuse and instead ordered him to serve five years of probation. The victim was no more than 15 years old in 2013 when the conduct began, according to court documents.

•  A Floyd County judge waived 10 years of prison and sentenced Pella band instructor Ben Thompson to five years of probation in April. Thompson was accused of sexually abusing a student 14 or 15 years old, court records show.

•  Remsen-Union teacher Samantha Kohls in April was sentenced to one year of probation after pleading guilty to lascivious conduct with a minor. The case involved sex with a 17-year-old student. After probation, her conviction could be expunged.

State Court Administrator David Boyd recently alerted county attorneys and chief judges in all eight Iowa judicial districts about the sentencing errors the Register identified and reminded them of the requirements.

Mandatory reporters are generally licensed professionals in education or health care who have frequent contact with children or dependent adults in the course of their work. The law requires they notify the Iowa Department of Human Services within 24 hours after learning of potential abuse.

All of the cases examined during the review involved victims under 18 years old and educators convicted under Chapter 709, the state's sex abuse law. That statute, passed in 1997, states that mandatory reporters who are themselves convicted of sex abuse are not eligible for so-called “deferred” or “suspended” sentences.

“How they get by that, I have no idea,” said Nancy Wells, director of the Iowa Chapter of Children's Advocacy Centers, a group associated with Iowa health providers that helps provide training and advocacy against abuse.

Confusion and oversight

The Register attempted to reach prosecutors, judges and defense attorneys involved in each case it reviewed.

During Kohls' sentencing in April, District Court Judge Jeffrey Neary said, “ There's not much more that I can do as far as a penalty,” a court transcript shows.

Neary told the Register in August that he wasn't aware of the nuances of the law as it pertains to mandatory reporters. He said he largely relies on the recommendations of prosecutors and discussed sentencing options for Kohls with Plymouth County Attorney Darin Raymond in a parking lot.

“Legitimately, I have not studied or looked at that specific statute as to that mandatory versus discretionary reporter,” Neary said. “Frankly, I don't think I was probably aware of that distinction or that nuance until probably after that.”

In a separate interview, Raymond told the Register he didn't believe Kohls should be considered a mandatory reporter because the victim was not her direct student.

“She was a middle school teacher, and he was a high school honors student. He never had her as teacher,” Raymond said.

However, Scott Brown, an assistant Iowa attorney general, said the sentencing requirement for mandatory reporters is not predicated on whether the victim is directly under the educator's supervision.

Raymond also said the male victim asked that Kohls receive the lightest possible sentence, and that, too, factored into the sentencing recommendation.

Des Moines defense attorney F. Montgomery Brown represented two former teachers whose cases were among those the Register reviewed. He acknowledged the sentencing errors.

“I think there was a mistake on all three parts: the attorney general's office, me and the judge. None of us knew about it, frankly,” Brown said when discussing Drew Lipovac, a former Winterset teacher convicted in 2012 of sexual exploitation by a school employee and sentenced to two years of probation.

After probation, public records erased

The Register's review also revealed multiple instances in which educators accused of sexually assaulting students were granted deferred judgments, something that's also prohibited under Chapter 709.

Offenders receiving such sentences are placed on probation. Those who complete probation without further violations can then petition the courts to have the charges dismissed and the records sealed from public view.

Carlisle High School band teacher Alex Dyer, for example, is eligible to ask the court to remove from his criminal record any mention that he sexually assaulted a 17-year-old student. Dyer was sentenced to five years of probation and a deferred judgment after pleading guilty in September 2011.

Doug Eichholz, an assistant Warren County attorney, said his lack of awareness of Chapter 709 sentencing requirements contributed to the error. But he also said a sentencing chart published by the state's judicial branch suggested that offenders such as Dyer were eligible for no prison time.

The chart's footnotes, however, warn prosecutors to check Chapter 709 for exceptions to the guide.

Eichholz also noted that statutes pertaining to sexual assaults are in a different chapter than the one that discusses sentencing restrictions for mandatory reporters.

"That doesn't excuse me," he said. "I'm not trying to throw anyone under the bus. But that's some of the confusion of what I relied on.”

Law's author: Intent is clear

Wayne Ford, a former state representative from Des Moines, sponsored the 1997 legislation after a female teacher avoided prison despite being convicted of having sex with a male student.

He believes the Legislature should consider whether there are ways to simplify — but not weaken — the mandatory reporter law to avoid mistakes such as those uncovered by the Register.

“This is emotional,” Ford said during a recent interview. “That was my first bill, and it was a good bill. It means that if you're a teacher, you can't have sex with children or you're going to prison. Period. And that's not being enforced? Give me a break!”

The Iowa Attorney General's Office declined to discuss specific cases, but said if the victim was a juvenile when the act took place, those convicted of such crimes must face prison time and are ineligible for deferred judgments allowing the charges to be dismissed after serving probation.

Brown, the assistant attorney general, made that point publicly in 2013 when Ashley Nicole Anderson, a teacher at Aplington-Parkersburg High School, was sentenced to five years in prison for having sex with three students. There is no way a school employee convicted of sexually exploiting a student can avoid prison under Iowa law, he said.

Brown reiterated that position during an interview last month. He said the cases reviewed by the Register are likely the result of errors by prosecutors or judges.

“It's not like you sit down and memorize a code book,” he said. “I think there are some prosecutors who don't know it and that may be why you're seeing some of these sentences.”

Sentences could be vacated

The legal implications behind the state's failure to follow the law are murky.

Brown said anyone with “standing” in the case can ask the court to correct what is believed to be an illegal sentence. That could include a judge, the Iowa Department of Corrections, prosecutors or the defense.

If that were to happen, it's likely that the defendant's plea would be rescinded, and the case could essentially be prosecuted anew, Brown said.

But Brown said he believes the issue falls under the so-called “law of the case” principle. That's where a court's actions — even if wrong — would stand.

Bob Rigg, criminal law professor at Drake University, said several things could factor into what might happen next in the seven cases identified by the Register and any others that prosecutors might later determine were the result of similar sentencing errors.

Defendants must be informed about the possible consequences of agreeing to a plea deal, which likely didn't occur in all or some of those cases. That could mean the original pleas would be vacated and could result in new trials, he said.

“I've been looking at case law, and I just don't think this specific issue has been raised,” Rigg said.

No prison, but no teaching license, either

None of the teachers benefiting from sentencing errors that allowed them to avoid prison sentences after being convicted of sexually abusing students is back in an Iowa classroom, records show.

State rules mandate a teacher's license must be permanently revoked if he or she is convicted of sex abuse. The license generally remains on hold until the conclusion of a criminal case. The board's final action can lag months after a conviction, noted Ann Lebo, director of the Iowa Board of Educational Examiners.

All but two of the teachers' licenses have been revoked.

Teachers are technically allowed to continue teaching while an ethics complaint associated with a criminal charge is pending. However, once convicted of sex abuse, the teachers are generally added to the Iowa Sex Offender Registry. That means they are legally prohibited from teaching immediately following conviction regardless of the board's final action, Lebo noted.

The license of Ben Thompson, the former Pella band instructor who was sentenced in April, is good until August 2018. And the license of former Cherokee physical education teacher Chad Osler expired in March. Both are on the sex offender registry, which would preclude them from teaching again.

Sentencing errors in other teacher cases

At least two other Iowa teachers were placed on probation after being convicted of sex crimes involving students in recent years, records show, despite an Iowa law requiring prison sentences for teachers and other mandatory reporters convicted of such offenses.

Waterloo West High School teacher Brett Messenger was convicted in 2012 of sexual exploitation by a school employee after he was accused of having sex with a student. District Court Judge Andrea Dryer waived his five-year prison term and instead sentenced him to five years of probation. The victim was described in court records as being between the ages of 14 and 17. Dryer did not return phone calls seeking comment.

William Foulkes, a teacher at C.A.M. High School, pleaded guilty in 2012 to two counts of sexual exploitation by a school employee. The school is part of a unified school district serving the Cass County communities of Cumberland, Anita and Messina in southwest Iowa. District Court Judge Greg Steensland dismissed 48 of 50 sex abuse charges against Foulkes, waived two years of prison time and ordered two years of probation on each of the two counts, which were to run consecutively. The victim was 13 or younger, records show. Steensland said he is not certain what the mandatory reporter law required in such cases and would need to review the issue further.

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/investigations/2016/09/03/7-iowa-teachers-guilty-sex-abuse-get-no-prison-time/89099598/

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Georgia

Combating the bullying problem

by Judy Gilreath

Parents have the right to expect their children will be safe at school.

In recent years, we have installed cameras, locked outside doors, employed school resource officers and practiced what to do in case an intruder intends to harm our students and teachers. As educators, we take keeping our students safe very seriously! However, there is one threat to students in our schools we may not even realize is there.

This dangerous threat is bullying. It is difficult to catch the offender in the act, and teachers often have to rely on conflicting information from two students. These "he said, she said" situations make it hard for teachers to get the facts. Bullying is especially dangerous because all children involved may have lasting and serious problems.

Bullies are not always stronger or bigger than their victims. They are not always the student who misbehaves. In fact, they may be so well behaved the teacher doesn't realize they are even capable of bullying. Most bullies do not practice their craft when adults are present, choosing instead to wait until there are no witnesses.

Some forms of bullying such as pushing and shoving are easy to detect and correct, while other types are notoriously difficult to catch.

Emotional bullying is more common than physical bullying today, mostly in the form of threats, spreading rumors or deliberately excluding a student from a group of his peers. Cyber-bullying, which is using the computer to say hurtful things or post threats or rumors online through outlets such as Facebook or Twitter, may happen outside of school hours but still have a dramatic impact on children at school.

You may think bullying would diminish as a child matures, but research studies show there is noticeably more bullying in middle school than in elementary or high school. The bully may believe that bullying other students will boost his own social status and make him popular. Research indicates bullies may continue the trend of abuse and violence as adults. By the age of 30, approximately 40 percent of boys identified as bullies in middle school have been arrested three times or more.

Parents are usually the first to notice signs their child is being bullied at school. Symptoms may include changes in appetite, complaints of being too sick to go to school, declining grades and inability to sleep at night. If your child is skipping classes, missing the bus on purpose or asking to change schools, there may be an issue with bullying.

Listen to your children. If you think they're being bullied, schedule a conference with the teacher, your best ally to ensure the bullying is stopped. Support your children, but do not tell them to solve the problem themselves or just to walk away. They often don't know why they are being bullied, and if they could handle it themselves, they would have already done so. Tell your children it is important and safe to let the teacher know when it happens. Some students hesitate because they don't want to be accused of tattling, but bullying cannot be stopped by ignoring it.

We begin teaching students in elementary school about the effects of bullying and how they can make a difference and stop bullying in their schools. Twelve Whitfield County Schools have implemented Olweus, a research-based approach proven to be effective in combating bullying. Children learn why bullying is wrong and how to effectively speak up against it.

We also use a state promoted program called PBIS (Positive Behavior Intervention Strategies), which emphasizes the need for respecting others and their differences.

In spite of the school's best efforts, bullying can take place.

Schools need parents to report suspicions of bullying whether it be physical, emotional or cyber-bullying. Discuss bullying with your children and ask if they have ever experienced it or have seen it happen to another student. Also, remember that children are children and at times, any child can act as a bully under the right circumstances, even yours.

Judy Gilreath is superintendent of Whitfield County Schools.

Appointed to the bench in 2005 by then-Governor Jeb Bush, the Florida County Judge Jerri Collins found herself in front of the Florida Supreme Court on Wednesday, being publicly reprimanded—live on TV. This was Judge Collins' penalty for her repugnant treatment of a domestic abuse victim who failed to show up to her abuser's trial. Josie Duffy with Daily Kos reported on this story in October of 2015: 

The woman [domestic violence victim] called for help in April 2015, stating that the father of her child choked her and threatened her with a knife. After he was arrested, the woman began having serious anxiety about the incident. According to recently uncovered video evidence obtained by WFTV, "she told the state's victim's advocate that she wanted to drop the charges and move on with her life rather than testify, but she was still called in to court."

Duffy notes many domestic violence victims are often afraid and anxious about attending the trial of their abusers. The victim in this case said it was anxiety that caused her not to show up. In response, Judge Jerri Collins told the victim:

"You think you're going to have anxiety now? You haven't even seen anxiety." 

The victim replied: 

"I'm just not in a good place right now."

“I'm homeless now. I'm living at my parents' house,” the woman said as she sobbed. “Everything has been shut off. I just sold everything I own.”

Collins responded with veracious scorn:

"And violating your court order did not do anything for you. I find you in contempt of court. I hereby sentence you to three days in the county jail," said the judge.

?While being taken into custody the victim cried out:

“Judge, I'll do anything. Please, please!” the woman begged. “I have a 1-year-old son and I'm trying to take care of him by myself. I'm begging you, please, please!”

Collins was unmoved. The victim was sentenced to three days in jail. Her abuser got 16 days. 

The Washington post reports a plea deal was reached earlier this year with a state agency that “polices” judges and Collins agreed to a public reprimand, but in July, the state Supreme Court issued an order stating a public reprimand was not a sufficient punishment. Collins was ordered to complete a courses in anger management and a course in domestic violence, even though as a judge, she had legal authority to jail the domestic violence.

Collins was told her behavior was “intolerable.” Some excerpts from the public reprimand include: 

• "You found the victim in contempt of court and send her to spend three days in jail even though the victim pleaded with you that she needed to take care of a one-year-old child.”
  
• "The victim apologized for failing to appear, citing anxiety, depression and a desire to move on from contact with her abuser as reasons why she did not appear for trial. Meanwhile, Judge Collins, you raised your voice, used sarcasm, spoke harshly and interrupted the victim.”
  
• "We order you to complete and anger management course and attend a domestic violence course provided by the Florida Judicial College. We further ordered you appear hear today to be publicly reprimanded, on live television, so that the people of Florida know and understand that conduct such as yours will not be tolerated."
  
• "Judge Collins, this is indeed a sad day for you, a sad day for the people of Florida and a sad day for the judiciary upon which our people depend for justice. I cannot emphasize enough how intolerable your behavior was in this case.”

Good. More of this, please. It's too bad former Florida District Attorney Angela Corey wan't publicly reprimanded for her treatment of single mother and domestic violence victim Marissa Alexander, who fired a shot into the air to keep her serial abuser husband from attacking her and was sentenced to 20 years in prison. Florida has a long way to go. This is hopefully the start of new direction. No victim of domestic violence should ever be treated so cruel and disrespectfully. Ever.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Please see the original article for the video of Judge Jerri Collins being publicly reprimanded for berating a domestic violence victim.

If you are being abused, or know someone who is, there is help. Please contact: National

Elizabeth Smart Is Standing Up for Rape Victims—And Tearing Down Purity Culture

Fourteen years after she was kidnapped, sexually abused, and held in captivity for nine months, Elizabeth Smart is fighting to change the way we talk about sex, rape, and abstinence. We visited her in her Utah home to learn more about her advocacy.

"I didn't talk about being raped; I didn't talk about being sexually abused," says Elizabeth Smart, nestled into a large outdoor sofa on the sun-soaked patio of her spacious home in Park City, Utah. "It's hard to come forward. That's probably one of the hardest things that I've ever had to do: to say, 'I was raped.'"

It's been 14 years since Elizabeth Smart, then 14 years old, was kidnapped from the bedroom she shared with her younger sister in their childhood home, in the posh Federal Heights neighborhood of Salt Lake City. Fourteen years since she was awakened by a familiar-seeming stranger, with cold metal pressed to her neck and the following words: "I have a knife at your neck. Don't say a word. Get out of bed and come with me." Fourteen years since she was led away into the night, forced to hike miles up into the mountains behind her home, not to be seen again until just over nine months later, when an alert citizen recognized the face of her captor, Brian David Mitchell, from a recently aired segment of the television show America ' s Most Wanted and made the 911 call that would end her "nine months of hell."

The particulars of Elizabeth's captivity have been the subject of much media fascination since the moment that her safe return was announced on breaking news: the metal cable bolted around her ankle that kept her chained to a tree in the hills behind her house for months before Mitchell began allowing her to accompany him down into the city; the white linen robes and head coverings she was forced to wear as a disguise; the polygamous marriage ceremony Mitchell performed, sealing Elizabeth to him as a wife for all eternity; the biblical name he insisted on calling her—Shear-Jashub, meaning the remnant who will return.

In the infrequent interviews she gave during those initial years back home—years when she was still just a teenager trying to make it through high school—Elizabeth did not discuss the specifics of what she'd endured, focusing instead on her early work advocating for other missing children. In perhaps her most notorious television appearance from those early years, Elizabeth appeared on Headline News with Nancy Grace in 2006 to speak about a national sex offender registry bill that she was championing, and instead was ambushed by Grace's inane and invasive questions about the burqa Elizabeth's captors made her wear in public and whether she ever wanted to scream for help.

In 2013, seven years after the Nancy Grace interview and two years after her captor was sentenced to life in prison, Elizabeth published her first book, a memoir called My Story, which was co-written with Chris Stewart, a Republican congressman from her home state. In the book, Elizabeth reveals in her own words, for the first time, every painful detail of her abduction and captivity: extended periods of starvation and thirst, threats of death for herself and her family, and daily rape.

The trauma of the sexual violence that Elizabeth endured was made even worse, she says, by the fact that she was raised in a deeply religious household that prioritized abstinence.

"I was raised that way," says Elizabeth, who will be 29 this November, referring to her Mormon upbringing. "I did make that promise to myself that I was going to wait until marriage before I had sex... Well, then I was kidnapped and I was raped, and one of the first thoughts I had was, No one is ever going to want to marry me now: I'm worthless, I'm filthy, I'm dirty. I think every rape survivor feels those same feelings, but having that with the pressure of faith compounded on top—it was almost crippling."

Elizabeth regularly travels across the country, speaking at universities and lecture series, to share the story of her kidnapping, sexual abuse, and survival. It is fascinating to watch past interviews and speeches––many of them have been uploaded to YouTube––because as Elizabeth has matured, so, too, has her message.

"Sometimes when I tell [my story], and I'm thinking about it, it just feels like a different life... Almost like faraway dream," she tells me. "I know it happened to me, but part of me is like, Did that really happen to me? Just because I think I've come so far since then, and I've just done so much. Sometimes it feels like it's a completely different life."

Most surprising for those who have come to see her as the poster girl for Mormon modesty is that she is taking the church to task on some of its more sexist teachings. "I think the power of faith is amazing, the hope and the healing that it can bring to people," says Elizabeth, who credits her everlasting faith for the strength she had to survive Mitchell's abuse. "But I also think there's another side of it that can be potentially very harmful, especially when a lot of religions teach that sexual relations are meant for marriage... It's so stressed that girls in particular tie their worth to their virginity, or, for lack of a better word, purity."

She often shares, as an example of what not to teach young girls, an analogy that she learned as a young child in Sunday school: "You're like this stick of gum, and if you have sex before you're married, it's like someone chews up that piece of gum, and then when you're done, who wants a piece of gum that's already chewed up? No one." That was the first thing she thought of after Mitchell raped her on the night of her kidnapping.

Unbelievably, ever after Elizabeth was rescued, she was still made to sit through these lessons a few times a year, as a high-schooler in religious seminary classes. "You're like this beautiful fence," she remembers being told in class after she'd returned home. "And you hammer these nails in, and then every time you have sex with someone else, it's like you're hammering in another nail. And you can take them out, you can repent of them, but the holes are still there."

Elizabeth shakes her head. "I just remember thinking, This is terrible. Do they not realize I'm sitting in class? Do they not realize that I'm listening to what they're saying? Those are terrible analogies. No one should use them, period," she says. "Especially for someone who's been raped, they've already felt these feelings of worthlessness, of filth, of just—" she lets out an exasperated sigh "—of just being so crushed, and then to hear a teacher come back and say, 'Nobody wants you now'... You just think, I should just die right now. "

She says she knows that her teachers never meant any of this with malice, but "statistically speaking, I'm not the only girl that's ever been raped. And those kinds of analogies, they stick with people." At that time, though, she still wasn't speaking up about her own rape—and wouldn't for several more years, until she testified at the trial of her kidnappers.

"The way we talk about [sex and abstinence] needs to change," she continues. "People need to realize there is nothing that can detract from your worth. When it comes to rape and sexual violence and abuse, that can never detract from who you are."

In writing and talking about sexual violence, people must make a linguistic choice in describing someone who has endured an assault: victim or survivor. Elizabeth uses both terms seemingly interchangeably, as in "rape victim" or "survivor of sexual assault." Though she uses both words, Elizabeth maintains that they're not synonymous. "I don't think they're the same thing; I think they are different stages, actually," she says. "A victim is someone who is still going through the abuse, and a survivor is someone who survived it. I'm not saying that they don't have hard moments still, or things to work through, but it's more about making that choice: that they want to survive, that they no longer want to remain the victim and they're taking the steps to move on in their life."

"I'm not saying it's easy," she adds, careful not to minimize anyone's path to recovery.

It should be noted that Elizabeth's Instagram bio is, rather poignantly, "Survivor. Mother. Wife." She met a Mormon Scotsman, Matthew Gilmour, while serving an 18-month LDS Mission in Paris; the two later married. Their February 2012 wedding, at the BYU-Hawaii Mormon temple, made the cover of People magazine. Three years later, their daughter Chloe Rose was born.

In 2013, when My Story came out, the New Yorker published a profile of Elizabeth by Margaret Talbot, then the most thorough update on her life. Buried down several thousand words in was one of the most surprising elements in this piece about a champion of women; it's a quote from a women named Kristine Haglund, who is the editor of a journal on Mormonism. She says of Elizabeth, "She's entirely faithful. And while she's not part of the feminist ferment in Mormonism, and I doubt she'd call herself a feminist, she is strong in a way that feminists can admire."

Anyone who is familiar with the Mormon church knows that it has an interesting relationship with the concept of feminism. As Kate Kelly, a feminist activist who was excommunicated from the faith in 2014 for advocating for the ordination of women into the LDS priesthood, puts it, "The primary reason that Mormon women are very reluctant to identify as feminist is that it is explicitly taboo in the culture. The church explicitly considers feminists to be enemies."

This puts Elizabeth Smart in a very strange position. She is a champion of victims of sexual violence, a hero for so many survivors, and an outspoken critic of religious purity culture. By all accounts, she is a feminist in the truest sense of the term.

"What I see in feminism is people like Elizabeth, who stand up for women and women's rights," says Bre Lasley, 27, a Mormon woman who survived a brutal attack in her own home and founded the organization Fight Like Girls to empower girls and women to fight back, physically and emotionally, against any struggle they're faced with. Bre says she thought of Elizabeth and her kidnapping during the six-minute attack, which left her with five separate four-inch deep stab wounds to her lower abdomen and leg. The two women have recently teamed up and begun to work together. "For a long time I thought feminism was a negative thing, and I don't know why," Bre tells me over Skype.

Later, I ask Elizabeth whether she identifies with the term or rejects it, as the New Yorker piece would suggest. At first, she equivocates. "I think there are so many different kinds of feminism—some good, some maybe too extreme—it's a wonderful thing for women to come together, to be strong, to be independent, to have equal rights as human beings... There shouldn't be a glass ceiling," she says, sort of talking around the question. "At the same time, I like it when a man holds the door open for me, and I like it when I'm treated like a lady. I mean... I'm married, I have a husband, I have a family."

Given the Mormon church's antagonistic view of the movement, her discomfort with the label makes sense; still, believing in—and actively campaigning for—equality between men and women is pretty much the definition of feminism. When I tell her this, Elizabeth seems to casually change her position. "I've never thought of myself as a feminist before... Sure, call me a feminist," she says.

Although she may not have previously aligned herself with the feminist movement, Elizabeth has devoted a great deal of time to speaking out about how women suffer under hardline religious rules. In her first episode since being named a correspondent on the syndicated TV news program Crime Watch Daily , Elizabeth sat down with two of the women who reported being raped at Brigham Young University—where Elizabeth studied harp performance before being called away on the Paris mission—and were punished for violating an honor code that prohibits students from having sex.

"I don't have a problem with [the honor code]," Elizabeth tells me, reasoning that if you decide to go to a particular school, you are agreeing to abide by their rules, and there's nothing wrong with electing to live by a certain level of standards. "But I do think there are situations that happen that are outside of a person's control. And because of the honor code, [these rape victims] are scared to come forward because it can jeopardize their status at school... Plus, then it goes back to the religious stigma, because BYU is a church-owned school." These situations should be handled gently, she believes, and on a case-by-case basis.

The Crime Watch episode, and her interviews with the women who came forward, received a considerable amount of attention, as is often the case when Elizabeth speaks out against, well, just about anything. As Margaret Talbot suggested in her New Yorker profile, Elizabeth really is universally admired. When she speaks, people listen, Mormon or not.

As Elizabeth pauses to eat her lunch (a Smucker's Uncrustables peanut butter and grape jelly sandwich) we talk about how it isn't just BYU that has a campus rape problem. "It makes me so mad," she says of all of the stories that have been in the news lately, like at Stanford and the University of Colorado. "It just makes me so angry. I guess it's a good thing I'm not a judge, because I don't think any of them would ever see the light of day." She tells me she read the now famous letter that the Stanford rape victim wrote to her rapist, Brock Turner: "It broke my heart, made me angry, made me sick."

When I meet Elizabeth for lunch the next day, at a Park City barbecue restaurant, she is accompanied by her 18-month-old daughter and looks every bit the casual young mother, in a teal V-neck tee shirt, knee-length grey shorts, black slip-on sneakers, and a backpack full of baby things. There are blue and red crayons on the table, and Elizabeth draws a flower on a paper napkin, hoping to entice Chloe with a kid-friendly distraction so that we can pick up where we left off the day before. It works a little bit, but Chloe, who is "just full of wiggles," is more interested in the other booths, so we both keep one eye on the toddler while we talk.

"I'm not going to hide anything from her," says Elizabeth. "Of course, I want to maintain and protect her innocence as long as possible, but with that being said, I think it's a disservice to not talk to children [about sex]."

Elizabeth wants to ensure that Chloe never struggles with the sense of shame she did. "I don't want her to be scared; I want her to be prepared, and to know that she has options, and if she wants to talk about what happened to me, that's fine," she affirms. "I'll be happy to talk about it with her."

After lunch we go to a nearby park, so that Chloe can play while we talk some more. It's the most public place that we've visited together (the restaurant was fairly empty, and we sat inside on a sunny day, avoiding pedestrian traffic). I wonder aloud whether Elizabeth still gets recognized, and how often.

"All the time," she says. "A lot of times people won't know where they recognize me from—like, they'll recognize me, but they can't always place me. And then there are people who know immediately, right away, who I am... They come up and they'll say something like, 'I'm not going to bother you, but I appreciate what you're doing,' or 'I appreciate all that you talk about.'"

She has moved on, it would seem, from being recognized for what happened to her to being recognized for the advocacy work that she does. "I've become so much more than just my kidnapping and what happened," she says. Victim, survivor.

"It's nice to hear that you're appreciated," she tells me. "That's certainly not why I do it, but it is nice."

The park is full of children and adults, and Chloe runs off often, to various play structures, to the slides, to a set of steps which lead her to a bridge that is fairly high for someone who is only about two feet tall. Elizabeth keeps her eye on Chloe and grabs her when she goes too far out of sight, but less frequently than you might imagine for someone who survived a childhood kidnapping. On one of these retrieval missions, she is stopped by a group of young mothers and stands talking to them for a few minutes at the edge of the park. "Well, speak of the devil," she says to me, as she walks back with Chloe in tow: These women had recognized her and wanted to express their admiration.

"A lot of victims or survivors, they want to go back to being normal," she says, pushing her daughter gently in a swing. Chloe is calm, almost trancelike as she flies up, up, up, tilting her head skyward each time she swings back toward her mother, so that Elizabeth is able to quickly cup her chubby pink cheeks and plant a big kiss on her daughter's mouth. "I just wanted to be treated normal. I didn't want special exceptions. I didn't want people to be scared to be my friend... to avoid me because they don't know how I'm going to react."

"I always felt, like, Jeez, I survived nine months of hell, I hardly think that something you're going to say to me is going to break me. "

https://broadly.vice.com/en_us/article/elizabeth-smart-is-standing-up-for-rape-victimsand-tearing-down-purity-culture?ncid=fcbklnkushpmg00000046

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Rhode Island

St. George's sex-abuse scandal: Report excoriates school for decades of unchecked abuse

"Many of these students remember St. George's as a place where their abusers created a kind of private hell for them — a place where they suffered trauma and emotional wounds that for many, remain unhealed."

by Karen Lee Ziner

Systematic sexual abuse at the elite St. George's School created a "private hell" for at least 61 students and marked a "betrayal of trust" for those students and their parents, an independent investigator concluded in a much-anticipated report released Thursday morning.

The exhaustive report — 196 pages plus more than 120 pages of exhibits — from independent investigator Martin F. Murphy excoriates the private Episcopal boarding school in Middletown for allowing unchecked abuse in the past, primarily in the 1970s and 1980s.

The systemic abuse first came to light in December.

Though "some concrete steps" were taken to protect students, "in the 1970s and 1980s, St. George's leaders did little, and certainly not enough," Murphy's report states. "Fortunately, the school "is certainly a very different place now," one that promotes a culture of respect," and reports abuse to authorities.

"Many of these students remember St. George's as a place where their abusers created a kind of private hell for them — a place where they suffered trauma and emotional wounds that for many, remain unhealed," Murphy wrote.

"The abuse they experienced involved not only physical acts of sexual assault (as horrible as those were), but something that, for many, was even worse: betrayal at the hands of an adult entrusted with their care, at a school where they saw few, if any places to turn for help."

Murphy, partner at the law firm of Foley Hoag in Boston, was hired jointly in late January by St. George's and SGS for Healing, an alumni survivors group.

They hired him after SGS for Healing contested the independence of Will Hannum, whom the school hired to conduct its own investigation in 2015: Hannum was married to a lawyer who was simultaneously "advising the school about how to respond to demands relating to past sexual abuse."

Murphy noted that "under those circumstances, calling Hannum's investigation 'independent' without further explanation was seriously misleading."

Murphy and a team of lawyers interviewed more than 150 witnesses, including 128 former students, and reviewed "thousands of pages of documents." They covered a time frame from 1960 to the present.

It said most of the abuse took place under three administrators who served during the period 1961-1989: Archer Harman Jr., Anthony ("Tony") Zane and the Rev. George Andrews II.

The report credits outgoing headmaster Eric F. Peterson with trying to push an investigation in 2011 that met with push-back by board members and legal counsel.

It also exonerated Robert Weston, the school's director of external affairs, who was put on leave in January based on allegations of inappropriate conduct.

Murphy wrote: "We have found no evidence suggesting Weston engaged in any inappropriate physical conduct with students." He added, "We see no reason why Robert Weston should not be returned to St. George's as a faculty member in good standing," but noted that ultimately, the question of Weston's future "is a decision for the school."

The abusers

Based on multiple first-hand accounts and corroborated single-hand accounts, the report identifies six faculty or staff members who committed sexual abuse on students between 1970 and 1989. Investigators received "nine credible first-hand accounts of student-on-student sexual assault" during that time frame.

The six staff and faculty are: William Anthony Lydgate Jr. and Timothy H. Tefft, both former English teachers; the Rev. Howard "Howdy" White Jr., former associate chaplain, teacher, dorm parent and coach; former athletic trainer Alphonse "Al" Gibbs, now deceased; former choir director Franklin Coleman, and Susan Goddard, a part-time nurse. (Three were previously identified).

One in five female students who attended the school between 1972 and 1979 — 31 altogether — reported abuse by Gibbs alone.

It tells of the “bullying” of Anne Scott, co-founder of SGS for Healing, after Gibbs raped her in the 1970s, and she brought charges against the school.

It reveals that after former Headmaster Tony Zane discovered that Gibbs had been molesting girls and terminated him, Zane and the St. George's Board gave Gibbs a favorable letter of recommendation and a distinguished service $1,200 annual award that continued until Gibbs' death 16 years later.

Zane terminated White in 1974 after he said White admitted "sexually abusing a sophomore boy and attempting to sexually abuse at least two and likely three others." (White remains under criminal investigation in North Carolina based on allegations from two people against him).

Coleman, like Gibbs, "sexually abused at least one student in each year of his tenure at the school," between 1980-1988, Murphy's report states.

Goddard "engaged in sexual misconduct with a male St. George's student when the boy was a junior and a senior."

Tefft was dismissed after only four months in 1971, "evidently for supplying alcohol to the hockey team over winter break," and sexually abusing a sophomore boy. He is in prison in New Jersey on child pornography charges.

Lydgate "sexually assaulted and orally raped at least one student and likely at least one other."

'Private hell'

The report details each victim's experience with their abusers. Some victims were identified by name, others by their "Witness" number. Student perpetrators were unnamed.

Many reported "victim-shaming" by school authorities.

Some of Gibbs' victims recounted times where the athletic trainer, dressed in a lab coat with the embroidery “Doc Gibbs,” taught them how to “properly dry their breasts” and performed exams, sometimes sticking fingers in their vaginas.

Others reported that White forced students to share a bed with him and warned that he would "make ... life here miserable" if they told; that Coleman took a student out of state on college visits and rubbed the child's genitals while he slept in the car's passenger seat.

Around 2004, multiple students reported that Charles Thompson, an English teacher, displayed a fetish for boys' knees. Thompson often stroked and commented on what he referred to as the boys' "sailor's knees."

(The report suggests that "it would have been more prudent" for then-headmaster Peterson to fire Thompson instead of putting him on suspension because his conduct "was sufficiently far enough outside the bounds of acceptable conduct as to call into question his fitness to serve as a teacher or staff member at a school where he would regularly interact with adolescent boys").

Peterson also neglected to look at Thompson's personnel file, which revealed he'd been reprimanded previously for wrestling with boys at the school, Murphy's report found. Nor did he ask to see Thompson's computer to see whether it “contained images, taken from a webcam, of the Wheeler dorm boys."

Student-on-student hazing assaults included the experience of "Witness 78, Class of 1976."

Witness 78 described how she was walking through the boy's dormitory on her way home, when a boy shouted "Hey there, Little Red Riding Hood. I'm the Big Bad Wolf, and I'm going to eat you up." She ignored him, then later that night, he climbed through her window, smelling of alcohol, pulled off her pajamas and then raped her. He then bragged about it to girls in her dorm, her boyfriend and best friends.

Another student-on-student victim, one of a small group of female students of color, was attacked twice by other girls as she came out of the shower, including once when they wrote profanities on her body in permanent marker.

The following year, "she was attacked by a group of approximately six girls, who pulled off her towel and attempted to insert the hose of a vacuum cleaner between her legs."

The report notes that one of the perpetrators "took a photograph of the incident" that she shared with the student, who in turn shared it with investigators. "It contains a graphic depiction of [her] humiliation."

Reaction

“When one considers the ripple effects of sexual abuse — the corollary damage to parents, siblings, friends and other family members close to the victim — the amount of trauma inflicted on human beings is measured in the hundreds of years,” Scott said.

Eric MacLeish, co-counsel with Carmen L. Durso for the victims, called the report "the most comprehensive account of sexual abuse in an American boarding school to date. It describes a trail of human carnage perpetrated by monsters posing as teachers and staff and, in some cases, by upper level students."

MacLeish, who is a St. George's alumnus, said the school "is a very different place than the way that it was in the 1970s and '80s, or even the way that it was in December before the [Boston] Globe's first story."

He noted that trustees "could have buried their heads in the sand," but instead came together, listened to survivors, offered them therapy "and included them in critical discussions about the school's future."

Board of Trustees Chair Leslie B. Heaney said Murphy's report was a “vital step for the community” but acknowledged there is still much work and reflecting to do in the coming months and years.

Zane, and his wife, Eusie, requested their names be removed from the girl's dormitory.

“My wife, Eusie, and I are deeply sorry to have learned that so many of our former students were put in harm's way on my watch, and I personally apologize for the harms inflicted during my tenure as Headmaster at St. George's," Zane wrote in a statement he issued Thursday.

Murphy's report followed an undisclosed financial settlement, announced Aug. 3, that St. George's reached with at least 30 alumni whose abuse claims reach back to the 1970s.

And in June, Rhode Island State Police announced that their criminal investigation found "no prosecutable criminal misconduct," largely owing to statutes of limitations.

Shortly thereafter, Peterson announced he would not renew his contract next year.

To read the full report, go to: sgsinvestigation.com

http://www.providencejournal.com/news/20160901/st-georges-sex-abuse-scandal-report-excoriates-school-for-decades-of-unchecked-abuse

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Alaska

Letter to the Editor

In response to 'It takes a village to abuse a child'

by Sheri Williams

The letters written by various community members in support of Thomas Jack Jr. and Mary Chessica Hauge shocked and dismayed me. The Juneau Empire Editorial “It takes a village to abuse a child” compelled me, a victim of child sexual abuse, to share my thoughts on this matter.

The prison sentence of 50 years (40 to be served) for Thomas Jack Jr. is a long jail sentence. But, consider the fact that Thomas promoted himself to the Office of Children Services as a safe foster placement for the children and then proceeded to abuse the older child. And consider that since Jack is not repentant for his crime, he needs a long time to contemplate his wrongdoing. Unless Jack admits to his crime and seeks treatment, he would likely re-offend if released to society. I applaud the judge for wanting to protect children from Jack for a very long time.

I want to recognize the courage of Mrs. Thomas Jack Jr. for calling the authorities and reporting this abuse. Sadly, sometimes the spouse in these circumstances fears the breakup of their home, public scrutiny (and sometimes scorn) and doesn't report the abuse. Mrs. Jack's instinct was to protect these children at great cost to herself. She's my hero in this case.

The prison sentence of 30 months in the case of Mary Chessica Hauge seems very short in comparison to the felony that she committed by leaving her children in the care of her husband, a known sex offender, who abused and filmed the children. Her conviction of eight felony counts of child endangerment surely should include a longer sentence on each count. This woman knew the children would be abused. It sounds more like she was an accessory to the crime.

Children who are sexually abused get a life sentence. They spend their entire lives with the knowledge of their abuse.

Children have a great need for security and they look to the adults in their lives to provide that. When they are abused by an adult, the child often feels shame and wonders why it is happening to them. Their need to make sense of it causes them to create compensatory explanations for the abuse: “I must have done something wrong for that to happen,” “I brought it on myself,” “I was bad.” With that narrative the child takes on the guilt for the abuse. And until and unless they get help to understand their vulnerability, they carry that guilt with them for years and sometimes to their graves. The guilt has toxic effects on their psyche and their self-esteem. They are much more likely to make poor choices in life, such as drug and alcohol addiction, teen pregnancy, homelessness, depression, suicide, and often, further victimization as adults by their partners.

I volunteered as a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) for 12 years representing the interests of children in state of Alaska custody. Often these children were removed from their homes due to neglect and abuse and placed in foster care until a final resolution of their future safety and well-being was ensured. I found that in many of my cases the mother of the abused children was the victim of sexual (and other) abuse as a child, as well. These mothers were experiencing the trauma of the unresolved grief from their abuse and carrying it forward with their children.

With all the horror sexual abuse wreaks on a victim, I ask you, “What kind of society do we want?” Do we support shorter sentences for unrepentant perpetrators? Or do we support a no-tolerance policy for sexually abusing children. And instead, do we as a society throw our collective arms around these innocent young victims and get them all the help they need to recover from this heinous crime?

In closing, I applaud the Juneau Empire for its reporting on this issue. In the mid-1980s, you published a series of articles about sexual abuse survivors. As I read them, I realized that my depression in adulthood was linked to my childhood experience of sexual assault. I finally sought help to heal from the deep wounds it caused. The articles changed my life for the better.

Thank you,

Sheri Williams

http://juneauempire.com/letters/2016-09-02/letter-response-it-takes-village-abuse-child

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Ohio

Hero or Murderer? 15-Year-Old Bresha Meadows Faces Life in Prison for Killing Abusive Father

by Amy Goodman

On July 28, 14-year-old Bresha Meadows allegedly killed her father, Jonathan Meadows, with a bullet to his head as he slept. Only two months earlier, Bresha had run away from home, telling relatives that she was scared for her life ”because her father was beating her mother and threatening to kill the whole family." Bresha's father reportedly made life for his family a living hell, routinely attacking his wife—Bresha's mother—breaking her ribs, puncturing her blood vessels, blackening her eyes and slashing her body. Jonathan Meadows' siblings have denied allegations of domestic violence. His brother told Fox 8 News, "This has nothing to do with abuse," and his sister Lena Cooper called his death "cold and calculated." For more, we speak with freelance journalist Victoria Law, whose recent article for Rewire is "What Bresha Meadows, Arrested for Shooting Her Father After Reported Abuse, Faces Next." And we speak with Bresha Meadows's aunt, Martina Latessa, and Bresha's lawyer Ian Friedman.

This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.

AMY GOODMAN: A young girl who shot dead her abusive father now may face life in prison, sparking national outcry over the treatment of domestic violence survivors. On July 28th, 14-year-old Bresha Meadows allegedly killed her father, Jonathan Meadows, with a bullet to his head as he slept. Only two months earlier, Bresha had run away from home, telling relatives she was scared for her life, quote, "because her father was beating her mother and threatening to kill the whole family," unquote. This is Bresha's aunt, Sheri Latessa, speaking to WKBN in Cleveland.

SHERI LATESSA: He controlled her, and it was like she was in jail. They've all been through it. And nobody in that county that we called would do anything for those kids. She told on him. You tell the kids to tell. And then, what happened? Nobody did anything. She told. She did what she was supposed to do. That this was wrong—she even knew it was going wrong, what was going on her whole life, and nobody helped her. DAVE SESS: There is a murder charge against the child.

SHERI LATESSA: Yeah, and that's ridiculous. She, if anything, did it for her mother. She definitely did it for her mother. She said, "Now, mom, you're free."

AMY GOODMAN: Bresha's father, John Meadows, reportedly made life for his family a living hell, routinely attacking his wife, Bresha's mother, by breaking her ribs, puncturing her blood vessels, blackening her eyes and slashing her body. Meadows reportedly once punched his wife so hard that she heard her teeth crack. Later, she had to have those teeth removed. He also apparently slammed her head into the wall, stomped on her and kicked her in the face. Jonathan Meadows' siblings have denied allegations of domestic violence. His brother told Fox 8 News, "This has nothing to do with abuse," and his sister Lena Cooper called his death "cold and calculated." JAMES BLOUNT: He drank a little bit. He had the ways he did things. But my brother would—I'll literally say, he would have given his life.

LENA COOPER: This was cold and calculated. My brother was murdered. It was cold and calculated. He was murdered in his sleep. There was no signs of abuse.

AMY GOODMAN: On Tuesday morning, supporters and family members gathered for Bresha's first pretrial hearing. Over 6,000 people have signed a petition calling on Trumbull County prosecutors to drop charges against the child. Bresha is being held in a juvenile detention center in Warren, Ohio, where she faces aggravated murder charges—a charge that could carry a life sentence if she's tried and convicted in adult court. Bresha just spent her 15th birthday behind bars. Well, for more, we're joined right now by three guests. In Cleveland, Ohio, we're joined by Martina Latessa, Bresha Meadows' aunt and a Cleveland police officer in the Domestic Violence Unit. We're also joined by Ian Friedman, a criminal defense attorney representing Bresha Meadows. He's an adjunct law professor at Cleveland-Marshall College of Law. And here in New York City we're joined by Victoria Law, freelance journalist, author of Resistance Behind Bars: The Struggles of Incarcerated Women. Her recent article for Rewire is headlined "What Bresha Meadows, Arrested for Shooting Her Father After Reported Abuse, Faces Next." We welcome you all to Democracy Now! Victoria, just lay out this story for us. When did this happen? How old was Bresha? And talk about what's happened since.

VICTORIA LAW: So, on July 28th, Bresha Meadows, who was then 14 years old, so a child, was arrested for allegedly shooting her abusive father in the head with a gun that he had used to threaten his family numerous times. So, she had endured years and years of abuse. According to Bresha's mother, the abuse had started when she was pregnant with her first child, who is now 21 years old, so she had endured decades of abuse. And this was a—violence and threats and belittlement and ridicule were a constant in Bresha's house. She had run away twice. Her aunt had reported the abuse to child services. Nothing ever came of that. Her mother had tried to leave once before, and had even filed for an order of protection. As many of your viewers may know, in situations involving domestic violence, it often takes somebody seven to 10 times to leave before they are able to successfully leave their abuser. And as we've seen in many cases, leaving is often the most dangerous time, for a survivor and her family to leave an abuser.

AMY GOODMAN: And so, then explain the night that Bresha killed her father.

VICTORIA LAW: So, Bresha's father was sleeping. He had come home earlier that day. She had gone into her room to avoid the abuse, from what I understand. And he—when he went to sleep—nobody is sure, and I don't know if her lawyer can give more details or wants to give more details at this time, since she is still pretrial—he was sleeping, and she shot him with the gun that he used to threaten his family. And again, this is—if you put yourself in the eyes—in the shoes of a 14-year-old, she saw this as a last resort. Nobody else was helping her. The police weren't helping her. Child Protective Services weren't helping her. None of the adults in her life seemed to be able to help her and her family.

AMY GOODMAN: Ian Friedman, you're her criminal defense attorney. Can you talk about what happened in Tuesday's pretrial hearing? And how long has Bresha now been held in prison, in jail?

IAN FRIEDMAN: Good morning, Amy, and thank you for having me on. But more than that—excuse me—thank you for finding this issue to be so important. As we talk about it, it really is just such a tragedy. And what I have learned, even just in the short time I've been involved, is just how widespread this sort of violence is out there. So, I'm really glad we're talking about it this morning. Yesterday at the pretrial, what we did was we just exchanged evidence—the defense, the prosecution. We talk about where we're going with the case, potential resolutions. We set future dates. And we really are just discussing kind of the beginning of the procedure. So, Bresha has been in the juvenile detention center since that night, the night of the incident. She will remain in there at least until the next pretrial, which will be October 6th. And at that time, we'll revisit whether or not there is cause to have her released while the rest of the case remains pending.

AMY GOODMAN: So how long has she been jailed at this point?

IAN FRIEDMAN: She's been jailed now over a month; since the night of the incident, she's been in there.

AMY GOODMAN: Martina Latessa, you are Bresha's aunt. Can you talk about what you understood before that night?

MARTINA LATESSA: I understand that there were mental abuse, physical abuse, psychological abuse, emotional abuse. The kids didn't get, you know, hit—that was my sister Brandi who got that—but those kids had to watch that, including Bresha. They had to sit there, and he did cuss at them and call them names. From my understanding, Bresha wasn't even allowed to be in the same room as her father, once she ran away the second time. He would tell her, "Get out of here. Go up in your room. Get out of my face. You know, you disgust me." My sister Brandi was abused, pushed around and punched and smacked and kicked, while all of her children watched. And it did take a toll on her. She did run away. And she, you know, told me about it, and she expressed great fear for herself and her family.

AMY GOODMAN: I want to turn to your sister for a moment, to Brandi Meadows, Bresha's mother, who spoke to Fox 8 Cleveland. She called Bresha her hero.

BRANDI MEADOWS: I'm sorry, Bresha. I love her. You're my hero. She helped us all. And she's my hero, our hero. And now we need to move forward and have us a better life.

AMY GOODMAN: So, that's Brandi Meadows, who was beaten for a long time. Latessa, did you know about—Martina, did you know about your sister, the abuse of your sister?

MARTINA LATESSA: I found out about it in 2011, so around five years ago. She did go back, and that is normal for victims of domestic violence, to go back. You know, she loved him, and she wanted her family to be together. And she's told me in conversations he has told her, "I'm not going to hit you anymore. We're going to be better." And she went back. And, you know, like, that's normal for domestic violence victims to do and experience. And it's hard for people who don't understand domestic violence, who don't live in it, who's never grown up in it, that that is where she's going to—she's going to do that. And I'd explain that even to my own mom and my family, that, you know, it's normal. Even though it's hard for us to understand, it is normal in domestic violence.

AMY GOODMAN: So, you're an expert in this. You're a police detective who deals with domestic violence?

MARTINA LATESSA: I'm not an expert, but I do—I am a detective in our Cleveland Police Domestic Violence Unit. I handle cases every day. I deal with victims every day, and advocates and, you know, prosecutors and judges every day.

AMY GOODMAN: Have you seen a case like this before?

MARTINA LATESSA: No. Even in almost 17 years of being a police officer, I have never seen anything like this.

AMY GOODMAN: Can you tell us a little about Bresha? M

ARTINA LATESSA: You know, I don't—they were so isolated that I barely know them. I barely know my sister and her family. So, in 2011, when she ran away, we see them. And probably seven years before that, you know, we've seen them around Christmas time, when I went down there. But they were so isolated that I don't know them. But I do know, you know, the two times that Bresha ran away, and she came to me. She was a little girl. She was scared. She was asking me for help. You know, I took her things—she came with no coat. I even remember I got her a little North Face jacket that she wanted. And then, when she got home, her father took it from her, told her he can't have anything that came from me. When she ran away the second time, I, you know, took her again. She didn't have anything. And we bought her stuff. And when she was told she had to go back, she was terrified. And she wouldn't even take hair conditioner back with her that I bought her, because she was afraid her dad—what he would do if he found out she had something like that.

AMY GOODMAN: Did you know that at the time? Were you concerned?

MARTINA LATESSA: Oh, I was very concerned. I didn't know that, like the jacket incident and how he felt, until she ran away again in May of—the end of May of 2016, this year, just a couple months ago. And that's when I got a little bit more light, you know, on the situation. And she told me, you know, he's hitting her again. He just put her up against the wall. He, you know, they say choked, but he strangled her. He threatened to kill them. She said he's, you know, bashed her head into a wall, and, you know, "I just can't take it anymore." You know, "Please help me. I'm afraid." You know? And I do believe her. I said, like, you know, Johnny Meadows kept that family in a box. And I believe and I still say it. If this didn't happen, my sister would have been in a box, which is a casket being put in the ground, if this incident didn't happen.

AMY GOODMAN: Is there anything you could do, not just as her aunt, but as a Cleveland police detective specializing in domestic violence, when you learned what was happening to the family?

MARTINA LATESSA: Yeah, you know, I went down there the very first time she ran away in 2015. You know, I got the phone calls from the police, like, "Bring her back." And I went and got her, and I took her back. And I talked to an officer there and a female sergeant, and I let them know, you know, what's going on. And I understand, like as a policeman, if the victim's going to not cooperate, you know, there's almost like nothing we can do. As a human, as her aunt, as my sister's sister, even as a police officer, there's no way I can knock on that door, go in that house and do that. And people don't understand. "Oh, she's a policeman." I can't. I might as well went in that backyard and dug my sister's grave, if I ever got involved like that. Like, I knew, especially me, he did not like me. He didn't like me because I was a policeman. He did not like police officers. I just truly believe if—I couldn't go in there. I would make it worse, if not deadly, for her.

AMY GOODMAN: Victoria, you wrote a long piece about this, Victoria Law. How did the system fail Bresha?

VICTORIA LAW: The system failed Bresha in so many different ways. When her—when her mother filed for an order of protection, I mean, there are no resources for domestic violence survivors and their families. I mean, there are battered women shelters, there are abuse hotlines, but there are no safe places to go, there's no counseling. You need things like affordable housing and ways for people to be able to get out and stay out. When her aunt called child services the second time that Bresha ran away, they didn't—they didn't do anything to make sure that she was safe, that her family life was safe. According to her aunt, when they interviewed Bresha's parents, they interviewed them together, which means that her mother is not going to say that there is abuse in the house.

AMY GOODMAN: They interviewed her mother and her abuser together.

VICTORIA LAW: Yes, from what I understand, they were interviewed together. They didn't separate them so that they could find out what was going on. And they returned Bresha to the house. So, there are so many different ways in which the system could have intervened and done something, before Bresha, as a 14-year-old, as a very scared 14-year-old, felt that she had to do what she did to protect her family.

AMY GOODMAN: Ian Friedman, can you talk about the outpouring of support, but also the fact that the father's family, Jonathan Meadows' family, denies that there was domestic violence?

IAN FRIEDMAN: I'll speak to the family first. It's not unusual, even for—when I stand before judges and I'm representing someone who really did murder someone, there's always family behind them saying, "But he's a good person, and please go easy on him." So, this doesn't surprise me at all. And they're mourning. And they may not know the full story, in all fairness to them. But I think that the evidence is going to be impossible to refute. And at some point, they're going to have to face it and accept it. Now, as far as the outpouring of support, it has been coming literally from across the globe. My office has just been flooded with mail and emails and calls from people, you know, that want her to know that she's being supported and prayed for. Gifts are being sent. Even a group of women sent a big box of painted rocks to my office, which was very nice, you know, with little sayings of encouragement. Of course, I can't bring that to the jail, but she can certainly see a photo of it. The petition that we received yesterday, now over 7,000 people who are calling for Bresha's release. So, it really is incredible. But the one area that has surprised me in the mail that I've received is that I have received no less than probably a half-dozen letters from other people who were in similar sorts of situations, and some of them had to take the same sort of action against their spouses—or, I'm sorry, against their parents. And so, it really—when I first read the first one, I was really shocked by it. And I've just gotten more and more. This is really touching people and having them kind of come out and to let her know—they're asking to let her know that, hey, you're not alone, I had to go to this also. So, as we started your program, that's why I felt this was so important to really, not just with Bresha, but to also bring attention to kind of the widerspread problem across this country.

http://www.alternet.org/civil-liberties/hero-or-murderer-15-year-old-bresha-meadows-faces-life-prison-killing-abusive-father

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Australia

Muslim refugee, 20, who raped a boy, 10, in his Sydney home says what he did 'is not a crime because it is acceptable in his homeland'

by Belinda Cleary and Belinda Grant Geary

A refugee who raped a ten-year-old boy has claimed he did not know sexually assaulting the child was wrong as it was 'culturally acceptable' in his homeland.

Mufiz Rahaman told Sydney's Downing Centre Court raping children was not seen as morally wrong in his native Myanmar when he pleaded guilty to the aggravated sexual assault of a 10-year-old refugee on Wednesday, the Daily Telegraph reported.

The 20-year-old and his young victim are both stateless Rohingya Muslims - a group of people considered illegal immigrants from Bangladesh by the Buddhist-majority in Myanmar - who came to Australia to flee religious persecution.

The court heard Rahaman preyed on the young boy while he was living with a group of refugees, including his father, at a vacant RSL club in Lakemba, a suburb in Sydney's south west, on January 8, 2015.

According to documents tendered to the court, he crept into the child's bedroom - which he shared with his father - as he slept and took off the boy's underpants.

He then raped the boy, who arrived in Australia in 2013, while his father was in another room preparing lunch.

When the boy's father returned he noticed the door had been shut and overheard Rahaman tell the boy: 'I'll give you money for this.'

'My father will hit me,' the boy responded.

The boy's dad stormed into the room and found Rahaman lying on top of his son who was face down on the bed with his pants around his knees.

He asked: 'What are you doing to this little boy? You're an adult.'

The paedophile denied doing anything to his son but the young boy told his father he had been raped.

Rahaman, who came to Australia in 2012, was arrested two days later after another family member reported the incident to police.

He submitted to a DNA test which was matched with semen found on the victim.

According to the Daily Telegraph, Rahaman told the court he had been a victim of sexual abuse as a child before he moved to Australia.

Judge Andrew Scotting said Rahaman failed to understand his actions would 'physically' and 'psychologically damage' his young victim.

He also said Rahaman, who insisted he thought sexual assault was not seen as morally wrong in his homeland, had not accepted responsibility for his actions and demonstrated a 'lack of morality', according to the Daily Telegraph.

'There is a need for specific deterrence ... The offence appears to have been (viewed) as being culturally acceptable conduct in the offender's childhood,' Judge Scotting said.

Judge Scotting sentenced Rahaman to five years jail with a non-parole period of three years.

The 20-year-old will be eligible for parole in March 2018 - but the judge noted he had a moderate to high risk of re offending.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3767301/Muslim-refugee-20-raped-10-year-old-boy-bedroom-claimed-culturally-acceptable-sexually-assault-children-homeland.html

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India

Offenders in 99% sexual abuse cases are known to survivors

by Wilson Thomas

KOCHI: The latest data on Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act by National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) shows that persons booked under section 4 and 6 of the Act in Kerala are known to the survivors in 99 per cent of cases. The percentage share of known cases, 99 per cent, is higher than the national average of 94.8 per cent.

As per the NCRB data, the state had recorded 102 cases registered under section 4 and 6 of POCSO Act.

In 19 each cases, the offenders were employerco-worker and neighbours of the victim. While the offenders were family members in 12 cases, relatives and close family members were the perpetrators in 13 and five cases respectively .

Of the total 102 cases reported in 2015, the offender was not known to the victim in only one case. In 30 cases those who abused the children were known to them but not kins or neighbours. According to State Child Rights Commission member Sandhya J, the Kerala scenario is not different from the national scenario. "It is a concern. In the case of strangers, children can be given self-defence training and the state can also take other control measures. Rehabilitation of the children also becomes a fruitless exercise as they would have to be sent back to same unsafe environments. Unfortunately, the state does not have an effective mechanism to take care of the child till he or she becomes an adult," said Sandhya.

The state lacks child care homes where effective rehabilitation and counselling can be done. "Such incidents indicate erosion of values wherein people seek immediate gratification of sexual urge. The state has to put in more effort in rehabilitating victims by identifying existing children's care homes and imparting training. There are around 200 such homes in the state and some of them can be converted into specialised institutions to take care of child victims," said M P Antony, president of State Council for Social Welfare.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kochi/Offenders-in-99-sexual-abuse-cases-are-known-to-survivors/articleshow/53957399.cms

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New York

Suspected Child Abuse Complaint Filed in Anthony Weiner 'Sexting' Scandal

by Michael W. Chapman

Because former Congressman Anthony Weiner (D-N.Y.) reportedly "sexted" a picture of his crotch while his four-year-old son was sleeping next to him, the president of the Catholic League, Bill Donohue, has filed a Report of Suspected Child Abuse or Maltreatment with the New York State Office of Children and Family Services.

"As president of the nation's largest Catholic civil rights organization, I am well aware of the plague of child sexual abuse that marks virtually every sector of society, including, regrettably, the Catholic Church," said Donohue in an Aug. 31 press release. "I am writing to express my concerns about the emotional and physical well being of Jordan Weiner, son of Anthony Weiner and Huma Abedin."

"The New York City Administration for Children's Services defines child sexual abuse to include 'incest, rape, obscene sexual performance, fondling a child's genitals, intercourse, sodomy, and any other contact such as exposing a child to sexual activity, or commercial sexual exploitation such as prostitution of a minor or production of pornographic materials involving a minor,'" reads the press release.

Because former Congressman Anthony Weiner (D-N.Y.) reportedly "sexted" a picture of his crotch while his four-year-old son was sleeping next to him, the president of the Catholic League, Bill Donohue, has filed a Report of Suspected Child Abuse or Maltreatment with the New York State Office of Children and Family Services.

"As president of the nation's largest Catholic civil rights organization, I am well aware of the plague of child sexual abuse that marks virtually every sector of society, including, regrettably, the Catholic Church," said Donohue in an Aug. 31 press release. "I am writing to express my concerns about the emotional and physical well being of Jordan Weiner, son of Anthony Weiner and Huma Abedin."

"The New York City Administration for Children's Services defines child sexual abuse to include 'incest, rape, obscene sexual performance, fondling a child's genitals, intercourse, sodomy, and any other contact such as exposing a child to sexual activity, or commercial sexual exploitation such as prostitution of a minor or production of pornographic materials involving a minor,'" reads the press release.

Because former Congressman Anthony Weiner (D-N.Y.) reportedly "sexted" a picture of his crotch while his four-year-old son was sleeping next to him, the president of the Catholic League, Bill Donohue, has filed a Report of Suspected Child Abuse or Maltreatment with the New York State Office of Children and Family Services.

"As president of the nation's largest Catholic civil rights organization, I am well aware of the plague of child sexual abuse that marks virtually every sector of society, including, regrettably, the Catholic Church," said Donohue in an Aug. 31 press release. "I am writing to express my concerns about the emotional and physical well being of Jordan Weiner, son of Anthony Weiner and Huma Abedin."

"The New York City Administration for Children's Services defines child sexual abuse to include 'incest, rape, obscene sexual performance, fondling a child's genitals, intercourse, sodomy, and any other contact such as exposing a child to sexual activity, or commercial sexual exploitation such as prostitution of a minor or production of pornographic materials involving a minor,'" reads the press release.

"On August 29," he continued, "we learned that Mr. Weiner took crotch shots of himself sporting an erection with his son lying next to him in bed. That was disturbing enough, but now we know that he used his child as a 'chick magnet' to allure sexual relationships."

In conclusion, the release states, "It would appear that Mr. Weiner's sexual exploitation of his child meets the definition of child sexual abuse as defined by the Administration for Children's Services. Please investigate this matter."

In the complaint, Jordan Weiner, age 4, is named as the child in the household of Anthony Weiner, 51, and Huma Abedin, 40. "Sexual Abuse" is marked for the Basis of Suspicions. The document was signed by William Donohue on Aug. 31, 2016. (See Complaint: child_abuse_complaint.pdf )

Anthony Weiner served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from January 1999 to June 21, 2011. His wife, Huma Abedin, is a long-time senior adviser to Hillary Clinton. After this latest sexting scandal surfaced, Abedin announced that she was separating from her husband.

http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/michael-w-chapman/suspected-child-sexual-abuse-complain-filed-anthony-weiner-scandal

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Maryland

MCPS Volunteers Required To Take Online Training in Spotting Child Abuse

School system still needs more transparency, advocate says

by Douglas Tallman

People who volunteer regularly in Montgomery County Public Schools this year will be required to take online training designed to teach them to spot child abuse and neglect.

“The more people we have who know what the signs are, the better off the community is as a whole,” MCPS spokesman Derek Turner said Monday. More than 1,400 volunteers have already completed the training, he said.

But a mother, who has worked on child abuse issues within MCPS, said the school system has a ways to go.

“MCPS came a very long way from where it was two years ago,” said Jennifer Alvaro, a licensed clinical social worker and a certified sex offender treatment provider. “But there's no transparency in what is going on.” Gaps still exist in how the school system protects children from abusers, and because those gaps exist, kids are still at risk, Alvaro said.

For example, the school system isn't as transparent as it should be. “If people can't readily find information about what's been done, then people are limited in how they can keep kids safe,” she said.

Also, a child safety education program for students is available only in a select few elementary school classes; it hasn't been rolled out at all in the middle and high school grades, Alvaro said.

The school board passed a policy in June 2015 for reporting and preventing child abuse and neglect, Turner said. The move followed several highly publicized cases of students being molested and abused by teachers and other staff. The training is part of the procedures that are putting the policy in place.

Turner said all volunteers who regularly support schools, and those who attend field trips need to complete the training. This training requirement also applies to volunteers who regularly support school-sponsored activities.

Individuals who help out at large or one-time events do not need to complete the training, but they are encouraged to take it, Turner said. These people include guest speakers, volunteers at job and college fairs, and parents or relatives who help out at a celebration or class party.

A similar system was put in place last year for volunteers who took part in the MCPS overnight “Outdoor Education” program, Turner said. In the program, sixth-graders spend three days and two nights receiving environmental lessons at the Lathrop E. Smith Center in Rockville.

The self-paced training, which is available on the school system's website, could be completed in about an hour, Turner said. MCPS records and tracks progress, so the school system will know who has been trained, he said.

Alvaro said she took the training and thought it was a step in the right direction. But she said the only reason MCPS has addressed the issue is because parents demanded it.

The school system needs to be more transparent on the topic, she said. For example, an employee code of conduct, which is included in the training module, is not where the average person would find it, she said.

As it is early in the process, Turner said the school system hasn't received any feedback from parents on how the training could inhibit volunteering.

“But we know parents want to make sure their kids are safe,” he said. “Training only gives us additional support and volunteers who are thinking on the issue.”

http://www.bethesdamagazine.com/Bethesda-Beat/Web-2016/MCPS-Volunteers-Required-To-Take-Online-Training-in-Spotting-Child-Abuse/

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Oklahoma

Five In Custody In Tulsa Child Sexual Abuse Investigation

by Katiera Winfrey

MUSKOGEE, Oklahoma -- Muskogee Police arrested a man wanted on suspicion of sexually abusing children in Tulsa County. Brian Paul Campbell was taken into custody Tuesday night after a tip.

Court records show Campbell is charged with two counts of sexually abusing children under the age of 12. A woman named Christina Renea Mathews was arrested with Campbell, booked on complaints of permitting abuse and abusing another child.

Police say they molested her 8-year-old relative, showed the children pornographic movies, took nude photographs of the kids and made them watch the adults have sex.

They say Campbell told them he has thoughts of killing people every day and he has a gun.

Muskogee Police said they were arrested near a Sonic on York.

Police said Campbell was dating women to get access to their children. They say he didn't care how old the kids were or if they were a boy or a girl, he sexually abused them all.

“This case is horrific,” said Child Crisis Detective Aubrie Thompson.

Four women in all are charged in the criminal investigation.

Three of the women are in Tulsa County Jail for permitting possible abuse. They are Beverly Ann Vaughan, Dawn Jane Cox and Crystal Lynn Toney.

Vaughan is being held for permitting child sexual abuse and child neglect, allowing children to live in a home with "extreme filth including horrible odor, cockroaches and nests of cockroaches, piles of clothing and/or piles of trash," court records show.

Police say Vaughn's kids had been taken away twice before when she failed to protect them from Campbell after he molested them before.

Cox was arrested on a charge permitting child sexual abuse, records show.

Police say after she found out about the abuse of her children, Cox told detectives she'd still allow Campbell around her kids and wanted to know how to pay for his defense.

Toney is also charged with letting Campbell have access to children and letting them live in a filthy home. She was taken into custody around 3:30 Wednesday afternoon.

Thompson said, "These mothers have not only failed to protect but have victimized their child over and over again."

Police say people had filed complaints of sexual abuse against Campbell going back to when he was a teenager, but, somehow the cases fell through the cracks.

"They say all the right things to the mom and try to come in like a knight in shining armor," Thompson said. "Really what he's doing, these suspects are often just courting the children they victimize."

Even though the detectives work hundreds of child abuse cases, they say this one will haunt them.

http://www.newson6.com/story/32938560/muskogee-police-arrest-tulsa-man-wanted-for-child-sexual-abuse

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Pennsylvania

Nationally recognized expert in child sexual abuse prevention Joan Tabachnick receives national honor for prevention and bridging work

by Econotimes

ENOLA, Pa., Sept. 1, 2016 -- The National Sexual Violence Resource Center (NSVRC) and the Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers (ATSA) are pleased to honor Joan Tabachnick with the Gail Burns-Smith Award. Tabachnick, a nationally recognized expert in child sexual abuse prevention, celebrated author of award-winning educational materials, and DOJ Fellow, will be presented with the award during the 2016 National Sexual Assault Conference held in Washington, DC August 31 through September 2.

This award, jointly sponsored by ATSA and NSVRC, is named in honor of Gail Burns-Smith, an advocate who devoted her life to strengthening partnerships between victim advocates and those working in the area of sex offender management and treatment in order to prevent sexual violence.

Within the field, Tabachnick's name has become synonymous with the term "prevention," and her passion is evident through the publications, public service announcements and expert advice she has contributed to the field. Recently, her Fellowship with the Department of Justice's Office of Sex Offender Sentencing, Monitoring, Apprehending, Registering, and Tracking (SMART Office) has contributed to significant resources being committed to building evidence and capacity to prevent sexual assault on college campuses; as well as strengthening partnerships among federal agencies and with private partners.

Tabachnick's extensive work with ATSA to involve victim advocates and to establish a strong prevention committee, as well as her work with NSVRC to create prevention and reunification resources, is innovative, actionable and inspirational. Tabachnick has also worked the last 10 years with NEARI Press in Holyoke, MA providing webinars, books, monthly newsletters and other resources to professionals working with adult sex offenders and adolescents who have sexually abused or children with sexual behavior problems. She has been able to bring the work of NEARI Press to an international audience, reaching over 14,000 people with their important resources.

"Joan's body of work perfectly captures the spirit of this award," said NSVRC Director Karen Baker. "She has helped to connect victim advocates, treatment professionals working with people who have sexually offended and faith, education and other influential communities around our shared values. Her work provides all of us with valuable, practical resources to advance our common goals of preventing sexual violence and making communities safer."

"Joan's work throughout her nearly 30 years of experience has made a tremendous impact on the field," said ATSA Executive Director Maia Christopher. "Her focus on prevention helps bring us closer to a world free of sexual violence."

ABOUT ATSA
The Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers (ATSA) is an international, multidisciplinary organization dedicated to preventing sexual abuse. ATSA sponsors an annual conference for researchers, clinicians, and prevention advocates; has member chapters throughout the world; publishes practice guidelines; and informs evidence-based public policy and prevention initiatives. Visit www.atsa.com for more information on the treatment and management of individuals who have sexually abused or are at risk to abuse.

ABOUT NSVRC
The National Sexual Violence Resource Center (NSVRC) is the leading nonprofit in providing information and tools to prevent and respond to sexual violence. NSVRC translates research and trends into best practices that help individuals, communities and service providers achieve lasting change. The center works with the media to promote informed reporting; and leads the national Sexual Assault Awareness Month (SAAM) campaign each April to educate and engage the public in preventing sexual violence. For more information visit www.nsvrc.org .

CONTACT: Laura Palumbo, Communications Director
National Sexual Violence Resource Center (NSVRC)
877-739-3895, ext. 128; lpalumbo@nsvrc.org

http://www.econotimes.com/Nationally-recognized-expert-in-child-sexual-abuse-prevention-Joan-Tabachnick-receives-national-honor-for-prevention-and-bridging-work-271947

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Jewish Community

300 Orthodox Rabbis Unite to Combat Child Sexual Abuse

by JLNL Staff

In an unprecedented and positive step forward, 300 Orthodox rabbis signed a proclamation regarding child safety in the Orthodox Jewish community. Synagogues and schools are called upon to adopt certain preventative measures outlined in the document to deter child abuse and child sexual abuse. The Rabbinic signatories consist of member Rabbis of the Orthodox Union (OU), Rabbinical Council of America (RCA) and Yeshiva University (YU).

The proclamation and the complete list of signatories can be viewed here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0Bz4A_l7qN61RX1l-Wa3p2RUk2TXc/view?usp=sharing

Some of the proclamation's prominent signers include: Rabbi Gedalia Dov Schwartz, Av Beth Din, Beth Din of America; Rabbi Mark Dratch, Executive Vice President, RCA; Rabbi Shalom Baum, President, RCA; Rabbi Menachem Genack, CEO, OU Kosher; Rabbi Dr. Tzvi Hersh Weinreb, Executive VP Emeritus, OU; Rabbi Marc Penner, Dean, RIETS, YU; Rabbi Zevulun Charlop, Dean Emeritus, RIETS, YU; Rabbi Yehuda Kelemer, Rabbi, Young Israel of West Hempstead, NY; Rabbi Haskel Lookstein, Rabbi, Congregation Kehilath Jeshurun and Rabbi Emanuel Feldman, Rabbi Emeritus, Congregation Beth Jacob of Atlanta, GA.

Rabbi Mark Dratch, who assisted in spearheading this initiative, applauds the “overwhelming support” of the signers and appeals to all communities “to implement the policies advocated in this statement.” Rabbi Dr. Leonard Matanky, prior President, RCA, agrees that in addition to creating policies, it is our responsibility to “work to assure that our schools, synagogues and institutions offer safe environments for our children and our families. We must stand up and support all who fight abuse and those who defend the abused.” Underscoring the gravity of the need for reform, he warns, “Our Torah and our future depend on our strength and conviction to place our children first, and to heed the calls of our rabbinic leadership to report abuse to the authorities.

”The proclamation commences by honoring the memories of individuals in the Orthodox Jewish community who tragically committed suicide as a result of enduring child sexual abuse. The gravity of this issue is linked in the proclamation to a passage in the Torah, “Do not stand by while your fellow's blood is being spilled” (Leviticus 19:16). Prominent signer Rabbi Hershel Billet, Rabbi, Young Israel of Woodmere, succinctly expresses the gravity of the effects of child sexual abuse, stating, “Every sexual abuser is a potential murderer. They destroy the souls of their victims and at times cause the death of their victims.

”The Rabbinic signatories are united in their agreement that sex offenders should face the consequences deemed appropriate by secular authorities, rather than be taken care of internally by community leaders. The proclamation stresses, “We condemn attempts to ignore allegations of child sexual abuse. These efforts are harmful, contrary to Jewish law, and immoral. The reporting of reasonable suspicions of all forms of child abuse and neglect directly and promptly to the civil authorities is a requirement of Jewish law.” Exclusive to this proclamation is the clear assertion that, “there is no need for people acting responsibly to seek rabbinic approval prior to reporting.” This declaration is clearly backed by Torah law as clarified by Rabbi Billet. He notes that, “Since abuse of children is a life threatening crime, we must report immediately. We must trust responsible civil authorities in a just country to be able to separate fact from fiction.

”This proclamation follows a similar Kol Koreh (public proclamation) signed by Rabbinical Judge Rabbi Shmuel Fuerst along with over 100 haredi Rabbis in August 2015 affirming “that any individual with reasonable basis to suspect child abuse has a religious obligation to promptly notify the secular law enforcement of that information.” Senior haredi halachic authority, Rabbi Dovid Cohen concurred on the Head-lines radio program that one should report abuse allegations “directly” to the civil authorities and that it is unnecessary to receive a rabbi's prior authorization.

Michael Salamon, PhD, a clinical psychologist and noted expert in this field, asserts, “The longer it takes to report the more time the abuser has to keep abusing and creating alibis. Only trained investigators with proper professional team support (e.g., police, medical, etc.) can investigate. Asking anyone else about reporting just delays or confounds or completely derails a proper investigation. That is why so many abusers have been able to move to different communities and continue to abuse.” Signer Rabbi Yosef Blau, Senior Mashgiach Ruchani, RIETS/YU, emphasizes, “Requiring a victim of sexual abuse to first gain approval from a rabbi or therapist before reporting the abuse to the authorities is damaging to the victim, whose credibility has been questioned, and hampers the investigation by possibly affecting the description of what occurred.” Rabbi Dr. Tzvi Hersh Weinreb explains, “Perpetrators of abuse must be made aware that their heinous deeds will result in swift, certain and severe legal consequences. Only such awareness will deter them from those deeds.”

Rabbi Yosef Blau clarifies the reason why some rabbis urge victims to first consult with them. “Rabbis who have been consulted have often used concerns for the image of the community to discourage the victim and his or her family from speaking to the police.” The concept of asking a rabbi first has no basis in halacha (Jewish law) but rather can be a method of silencing the victims. Furthermore, Dr. Salamon asserts that “Therapists can lose their license if they attempt to ‘investigate.' Be aware that the overwhelming majority of reports—in the vicinity of 95%, or more—are accurate. It takes a lot for someone to finally come forward and tell someone that they have been abused.” The fear that without rabbis sifting through allegations there would be a high percentage of false allegations is similarly incorrect. James A. Cohen, associate professor of law at Fordham University School of Law, warns, “Encouraging delay in reporting a crime, particularly a crime against a child, is obstructing justice.”

The rabbis uniting in signing this document also clarify misconceptions that the laws of lashon hara (derogatory speech about another individual) apply when it comes to exposing molesters' identities. One of the policies the proclamation asks all institutions to adopt is that “members of the community must be made aware when a sex offender moves in to a community.” Rabbi Shmuel Goldin, Senior Rabbi, Ahavath Torah, Englewood, NJ, explains this halachic calculation by saying that, “given the overarching concern for the continued safety of potential victims, such reporting does not fall under the rubric of halachically prohibited speech and tale-bearing.” Rabbi Billet adds, “It is a mitzvah to expose abusers and a sin to remain silent.” Rabbi Yosef Blau states, “Misuse of halachic concepts such as lashon hara and mesira have protected the abusers and increased the trauma of the victims.”

Another issue that this proclamation confronts typically comes about even after a victim actually reports the abuse to the authorities. The abused and his/her family are often ostracized in their communities in multiple ways. The proclamation unambiguously prohibits such behavior, stating, “Regardless of the standing of the abuser, accusers and their family members must be treated in an accepting, nonjudgmental manner so that they feel safe and can therefore speak frankly and fully… Shunning or encouraging social ostracism of victims, their families, or reporters is forbidden.” Rabbi Goldin urges the community to provide strong support to victims, saying, “Too often, those who report such crimes are ostracized by their neighbors. Victims, their families and their supporters who are courageous enough to come forward should be treated with dignity and respect. The bravery they show in sharing the pain of their personal experiences is deserving of honor.”

This proclamation was appropriately released in anticipation of the High Holidays, a time of introspection and communal repentance. Rabbinic signers remorsefully admit, “We recognize in light of past experiences that our community could have responded in more responsible and sensitive ways to help victims and to hold perpetrators accountable.” The proclamation culminates with the final step of repentance: committing oneself to improvement. “Ultimately, it is the halachic and moral obligation of the entire Jewish community, individually and collectively, to do all in our power to safeguard our children by preventing abuse and responding appropriately once instances of abuse have occurred.”

This proclamation, as well as the Kol Koreh regarding child sexual abuse in the haredi community that was led by Agudath Israel of Chicago Rabbi Shmuel Fuerst and signed by over 100 haredi rabbis in August 2015, was organized by activist David Nyer, LCSW of Highland Park, NJ. To add your name along with the current signers, please email djn415@aol.com.

http://www.jewishlinknj.com/community-news/bergen/14404-300-orthodox-rabbis-unite-to-combat-child-sexual-abuse

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Tennessee

Predators turn to social media to lure teenagers into sex trafficking

by Joseph Pleasant

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) – Predators are turning to social media as a way to lure teenagers into human trafficking. The danger is literally lurking in the palm of your children's hands.

This August, 41 people were arrested in a three-day operation aimed at combating sex and human trafficking in Nashville. It was all part of a Tennessee Bureau of Investigation sting called “Operation Someone Like Me.”

Some of the men arrested include a Davidson County teacher, a Vanderbilt University student and former football player, and dozens of others.

Those accused thought they were meeting up with underage girls for sex but instead found themselves face-to-face with undercover TBI agents.

But every day, thousands of people are talking to real teens — not undercover agents — and those teens are being trafficked out and sold for sex.

“I think we are just now getting a good sense of just how widespread this issue is,” said TBI spokesman Josh DeVine.

The TBI is on the forefront of fighting human trafficking with an “It Has to Stop” campaign, just one of the ways the bureau is combating the problem right here in Tennessee.

“These folks have realized that unfortunately there is a lot of money to be made in human trafficking,” explained DeVine.

Trafficking can start easily as a message to a young girl on a social media app like Instagram, Snapchat or Kik.

“On the surface, this can look innocent. It can look like kids being kids. You don't know that the stranger you are talking on the other end is telling you the truth about who they are or what they intend to do,” DeVine told WAVY sister station WKRN News 2.

The average age for girls being brought into sex trafficking is just 13; for boys, it is even younger.

In Tennessee, if someone is under that age of 16, they are not charged with the crime of prostitution. They are considered victims by the court system.

Even more alarming, the organization End Slavery Tennessee told News 2 victims of sex trafficking are sold anywhere from 10 to 15 times a day.

The TBI reminds parents that knowledge is power. Netsmartz411.org is a good website to learn about social media and your children.

“Parents need to start having conversations with their young kids about technology and the internet really as young as 4, 5, 6-years-old,” DeVine noted.

It's a conversation you can have now that could save your kids from being lured by sexual predators later.

http://wavy.com/2016/09/02/predators-turn-to-social-media-to-lure-teenagers-into-sex-trafficking/

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Minnesota

Officials launch awareness blitz on human trafficking ahead of 2018 Super Bowl

More than 50 digital billboards across Minnesota will aim to counter a surge in human-trafficking cases this year.

by Ricardo Lopez

More than 50 digital billboards across Minnesota will aim to counter a surge in human-trafficking cases this year, part of a campaign to provide victims with resources to escape what officials on Thursday called “modern-day slavery.”

The National Human Trafficking Resource Center has reported that Minnesota has seen nearly 40 cases of human trafficking this year, representing a 12 percent increase over 2015.

The billboards were launched Thursday and will run for three weeks. The campaign is led by anti-human trafficking nonprofit Polaris and Clear Channel Outdoor Americas, and it follows the expansion of “safe harbor” laws in 2015 by Congress. The law encourages states to treat trafficked minors as victims, not as criminals.

“The sad truth, trafficking is a gigantic problem in Minnesota,” said U.S. Rep. Erik Paulsen, a Republican who joined Democratic U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar in sponsoring the federal legislation. “But this billboard campaign will make a big difference in helping victims reach out to a hot line.”

Law enforcement officials, who were on hand Thursday at the State Fair for a news conference announcing the campaign, worry that the 2018 Super Bowl will bring a spike in the number of sex-trafficking victims in the Twin Cities. County prosecutors and law enforcement agencies predict that hundreds of women and girls will be sold on the sex market during Super Bowl, mostly at organized parties and through provocative online ads and social media connections.

Ramsey County District Attorney John Choi said Minnesota has seen a growing number of sex-trafficking cases in recent years, adding that raising awareness of the problem is a key, first step in combating it.

“At one point in time, there were only about 10 of these cases throughout the state of Minnesota. Today we have about 70 or 80 of these cases,” Choi said.

The top cities in Minnesota with reported cases include Minneapolis, St. Paul, Rochester, St. Cloud, Blaine and Moorhead, according to the center. Earlier this summer, a Woodbury woman was charged with five felonies for allegedly beating, starving and forcing a servant she brought from China to work for 18 hours a day for almost no pay.

Officials on Thursday said that victims of trafficking are usually sold for sex, while others are forced to work for little to no pay. Recognizing victims of trafficking can be difficult, but some red flags include people who are not free to come and go as they wish, who appear malnourished or physically abused, who do not possess identification documents or who have others speaking for them.

The new campaign makes the 20th such effort, and officials said it has been effective. The hot line number is 1-888-373-7888.

http://www.startribune.com/officials-launch-awareness-blitz-on-human-trafficking-ahead-of-super-bowl-2018/392102771/

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Missouri

Missouri Adds Advertising of Victims to Sex Trafficking Crime Bill

by CBSlocal

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMOX) – Missouri is adding new measures to its sex trafficking crime bill.

House bill 1562 will now include the advertising of a human trafficking victim for sex or pornography production to the state's definition of the crime. It will also allow victims to participate in an address confidentiality program run by the Secretary of State's Office.

Emily van Schenkhof, a member of Missouri KidsFirst task force, hopes this will lead to more prosecutions in the state. “We have a lot of work to do with trafficking in Missouri because there have only been seven state prosecutions of trafficking offenses in the history of Missouri,” she says.

The bill is sponsored by Springfield Republican Elijah Haahr. The task force met on Wednesday in Mehlville to discuss more ways to help prevent sex trafficking.

Supporters of bill 1562 hope that new measures will encourage more victims to come forward.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Oklahoma

Five In Custody In Tulsa Child Sexual Abuse Investigation

by KATIERA WINFREY

MUSKOGEE, Oklahoma - Muskogee Police arrested a man wanted on suspicion of sexually abusing children in Tulsa County. Brian Paul Campbell was taken into custody Tuesday night after a tip.

Court records show Campbell is charged with two counts of sexually abusing children under the age of 12. A woman named Christina Renea Mathews was arrested with Campbell, booked on complaints of permitting abuse and abusing another child.

Police say they molested her 8-year-old relative, showed the children pornographic movies, took nude photographs of the kids and made them watch the adults have sex.

They say Campbell told them he has thoughts of killing people every day and he has a gun.

Muskogee Police said they were arrested near a Sonic on York.

Police said Campbell was dating women to get access to their children. They say he didn't care how old the kids were or if they were a boy or a girl, he sexually abused them all.

“This case is horrific,” said Child Crisis Detective Aubrie Thompson.

Four women in all are charged in the criminal investigation.

Three of the women are in Tulsa County Jail for permitting possible abuse. They are Beverly Ann Vaughan, Dawn Jane Cox and Crystal Lynn Toney.

Vaughan is being held for permitting child sexual abuse and child neglect, allowing children to live in a home with "extreme filth including horrible odor, cockroaches and nests of cockroaches, piles of clothing and/or piles of trash," court records show.

Police say Vaughn's kids had been taken away twice before when she failed to protect them from Campbell after he molested them before.

Cox was arrested on a charge permitting child sexual abuse, records show.

Police say after she found out about the abuse of her children, Cox told detectives she'd still allow Campbell around her kids and wanted to know how to pay for his defense.

Toney is also charged with letting Campbell have access to children and letting them live in a filthy home. She was taken into custody around 3:30 Wednesday afternoon.

Thompson said, "These mothers have not only failed to protect but have victimized their child over and over again."

Police say people had filed complaints of sexual abuse against Campbell going back to when he was a teenager, but, somehow the cases fell through the cracks.

"They say all the right things to the mom and try to come in like a knight in shining armor," Thompson said. "Really what he's doing, these suspects are often just courting the children they victimize."

Even though the detectives work hundreds of child abuse cases, they say this one will haunt them.

http://www.newson6.com/story/32938560/muskogee-police-arrest-tulsa-man-wanted-for-child-sexual-abuse

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Turkey / Sweeden

Turkey and Sweden in Twitter spat over child sexual abuse law

by Sheena McKenzie

(CNN) Turkey has held meetings with officials from both Sweden and Austria after a diplomatic row over child sexual abuse laws.

It follows a Twitter spat between Swedish Foreign Affairs Minister Margot Wallstrom and Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Mehmet Simsek, with the former accusing Turkey of legalizing sex with children.

"Turkish decision to allow sex with children under 15 must be reversed," Wallstrom tweeted Sunday. "Children need more protection, not less, against violence, sex abuse."

Margot Wallström: Turkish decision to allow sex with children under 15 must be reversed. Children need more protection, not less, against violence, sex abuse.

The comments prompted a furious reply from Simsek. "You are clearly misinformed," he tweeted. "There is no such stupid thing in Turkey. Please get your facts right."

Mehmet Simsek: You are clearly misinformed. There is no such stupid thing in Turkey. Please get your facts right.

The Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs has since held a meeting with a Swedish Embassy official in Ankara, Hedvig Klara Erika Hogg Lohm, a senior Turkish official who cannot be named due to government protocol told CNN. The Swedish Foreign Ministry didn't comment immediately to CNN on Tuesday.

Austria embroiled in spat

What is the law?

Tensions with Europe

CNN's Gul Tuysuz and Isil Sariyuce contributed to this report.

DUBAI // People convicted of sexual assault or child pornography cannot be employed in jobs that place them in contact with children or involved in any activity involving kids up to the age of 18 years, as part of wide-ranging child protection measures detailed in Wadeema's Law.

In a detailed Child Protection Measures section, federal authorities and local authorities have been asked to set "necessary controls and procedures in relation to child safety in public and entertainment spaces as well as public transport."

As a consequence of the law effective from June, employers will need to conduct thorough background checks on staff, legal experts said.

The Ministry of Social Affairs will keep a confidential register of people involved in child mistreatment cases that can only be accessed with consent from the court or public prosecutors.

As a consequence of the new law, employers need to conduct thorough background checks on their staff, according to legal experts.

"They will be liable and will have the liability of a higher sentence if they do not report any offence against children," said Hassan Elhais, a lawyer at Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultancy. He urged companies to hold regular educational and awareness sessions for employees.

"A good record is a good sign but it does not mean that the person will not commit a crime. They will need to check backgrounds of their members, monitor and watch them doing the work. The real guarantee for any corporate would be by watching their members, teaching them how to deal with children and educating them in case there is any breach of the Child Protection Law."

Relatives, caregivers, health workers, teachers or officials who do not offer assistance to a child and fail to notify authorities about child abuse cases can be fined up to Dh50,000.

The law also states that a person convicted of child sexual assault may not live within a five-kilometre radius of the victim's residence.

A person convicted of sexual assault against a child can only be released after a psychological test ascertains they are not a social risk.

If safety cannot be guaranteed, the law asks the court to order their placement in an asylum after they complete their sentence, said Jassim Al Hosni, the first judge of appeal in Dubai Courts.

School bus companies welcomed the new law. "This sort of stringent law is very important when we look at staff members who manage a large number of students," said ML Augustine, managing director of the School Transport Services, Dubai's largest operator of school buses, which serves about 45,000 pupils.

The company conducts background checks on job applicants by contacting their former employers and the police in their home country.

The Roads and Transport Authority or the Department of Transport then initiates a criminal background check before issuing a school bus driving license.

"Once we register the person's information with the RTA or DOT, it takes a month to get approval for anyone involved in school transport whether a bus driver or attendant.

Only then can the person be provided training or given a license for a school bus. We welcome strict checks to ensure the safety of children."

Clear definitions of abuse, what constitutes child pornography and a child's rights will aid the judiciary to resolve cases.

"By contemplating these definitions, we notice their key role in helping the judge as they delimit every term for a sound implementation of the law," Judge Al Hosni said.

Among the main objectives outlined by the law for federal and local governments to achieve is to safeguarding a child's interests by protecting his right to live and develop safely away from neglect, abuse, maltreatment or physical and psychological violence.

"By contemplating these objectives, we notice that the law seeks to create an environment where the child's interests are prioritised in protecting the future of the family and community as the responsibility of a child falls upon individuals and governments alike," he said.

http://www.thenational.ae/uae/no-jobs-with-children-for-child-abuse-and-pornography-offenders-uae-law

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Indiana

Woman uses Indiana religious objections law in defense against child abuse charges

Associated Press

The attorney for a woman charged with child abuse for allegedly beating her son with a coat hanger says Indiana's religious objections law gives her the right to discipline her children according to her evangelical Christian beliefs.

Kihn Par Thaing, 30, of Indianapolis was arrested in February on felony abuse and neglect charges after a teacher discovered her 7-year-old son's injuries. Thaing is accused of beating her son with a coat hanger, leaving him with 36 bruises and red welts.

Her attorney, Greg Bowes, argues in court documents filed July 29 that the state shouldn't interfere with Thaing's right to raise her children as she deems appropriate. He cited Indiana's Religious Freedom Restoration Act as part of her defense, saying it gives her the right to discipline her children according to her beliefs.

Court documents cite biblical Scripture and state that a parent who "spares the rod, spoils the child."

Marion County Deputy Prosecutor Matt Savage said in an Aug. 5 response that the boy's beating went "beyond these religious instructions" and said Indiana's compelling interest in preventing child abuse outweighs religious protections in state law.

Indiana's religious objections law, signed by Republican Gov. Mike Pence last year, prohibits government entities from substantially burdening religious liberties, unless by the least restrictive means to further a compelling government interest.

But nothing in the law specifically mentions parenting and the statute hasn't yet been substantially tested in the courts.

Bowes also cites in his client's defense a 2008 Indiana Supreme Court decision that affirmed the parental right to discipline children in ways parents consider appropriate, even when others could deem that behavior as excessive.

According to court documents, Thaing said she stopped her son from dangerous behavior on Feb. 3 that would have seriously harmed his 3-year-old sister and hit both children with a plastic coat hanger before telling them to pray for forgiveness.

Child welfare officials took the children into their care in February, but it's unclear where they are now. Bowes' attorney and a spokeswoman for Marion County's prosecutor said they could not comment on the children's whereabouts.

Thaing, who faces an Oct. 19 trial, is a refugee from Myanmar, a Southeast Asian nation also known as Burma, and was granted political asylum in the U.S. She cited cultural differences between the two countries as part of her defense.

Elaisa Vahnie, the executive director of the Burmese American Community Institute in Indianapolis, said what might be seen as a crime in Indiana may be considered typical parenting in Myanmar.

"Sometimes you use a stick to correct them (in Myanmar). That's very normal," she said.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/ct-woman-uses-indiana-religious-objections-law-in-defense-against-child-abuse-charges-20160831-story.html

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Iowa

Rockwell man's child sexual abuse convictions upheld

by Mary Pieper

ROCKWELL | The Iowa Court of Appeals Wednesday upheld a Rockwell man's child sexual abuse convictions.

Michael J. Lowe Jr., 46, was sentenced to up to 35 years in prison in September 2015 after pleading guilty to felony charges of second-degree sexual abuse and lascivious acts with a child in Cerro Gordo County District Court.

Lowe claimed his guilty pleas were entered unknowingly and involuntarily because he was experiencing symptoms of prescription drug withdrawal at the time. He also claimed his attorney was ineffective due to failure to present evidence to support this claim in district court.

The appeals court ruling states the district court acted within its discretion in denying Lowe's claim because he failed to show his guilty pleas were unknowingly and involuntarily made.

However, Lowe can go back to district court to make a claim of ineffective legal counsel, according to the ruling.

http://globegazette.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/rockwell-man-s-child-sexual-abuse-convictions-upheld/article_910112f2-2e44-5a36-8225-355844bbe3bc.html

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New York

Suspected Child Abuse Complaint Filed in Anthony Weiner 'Sexting' Scandal

by Michael W. Chapman

(CNSNews.com) -- Because former Congressman Anthony Weiner (D-N.Y.) reportedly "sexted" a picture of his crotch while his four-year-old son was sleeping next to him, the president of the Catholic League, Bill Donohue, has filed a Report of Suspected Child Abuse or Maltreatment with the New York State Office of Children and Family Services.

"As president of the nation's largest Catholic civil rights organization, I am well aware of the plague of child sexual abuse that marks virtually every sector of society, including, regrettably, the Catholic Church," said Donohue in an Aug. 31 press release.  "I am writing to express my concerns about the emotional and physical well being of Jordan Weiner, son of Anthony Weiner and Huma Abedin."

"The New York City Administration for Children's Services defines child sexual abuse to include 'incest, rape, obscene sexual performance, fondling a child's genitals, intercourse, sodomy, and any other contact such as exposing a child to sexual activity, or commercial sexual exploitation such as prostitution of a minor or production of pornographic materials involving a minor,'" reads the press release. 

"On August 29," he continued, "we learned that Mr. Weiner took crotch shots of himself sporting an erection with his son lying next to him in bed. That was disturbing enough, but now we know that he used his child as a 'chick magnet' to allure sexual relationships."

In conclusion, the release states, "It would appear that Mr. Weiner's sexual exploitation of his child meets the definition of child sexual abuse as defined by the Administration for Children's Services. Please investigate this matter."

In the complaint, Jordan Weiner, age 4, is named as the child in the household of Anthony Weiner, 51, and Huma Abedin, 40. "Sexual Abuse" is marked for the Basis of Suspicions. The document was signed by William Donohue on Aug. 31, 2016.  (See Complaint: child_abuse_complaint.pdf)

Anthony Weiner served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from January 1999 to June 21, 2011. His wife, Huma Abedin, is a long-time senior adviser to Hillary Clinton.  After this latest sexting scandal surfaced, Abedin announced that she was separating from her husband.  

http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/michael-w-chapman/suspected-child-sexual-abuse-complain-filed-anthony-weiner-scandal

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Minnesota

(video on site)

Deceased South St. Paul teacher, spouse investigated for child sexual abuse

SOUTH ST. PAUL, Minn. (KMSP) - South St. Paul police are investigating a grade school teacher and his husband for what appears to be child sexual abuse.

The victim in the case just sixteen years old --- and knew the suspect as his former teacher and trusted mentor.  But, the suspects in the case can't be questioned; they were found dead in another state last Thursday.

The victim says he knew one of the suspects since grade school -- and when the teen told his family he was gay.... That former teacher – 40-year-old Aric Babbitt - agreed to mentor the teen.  But that trust was clearly destroyed when the victim says the abuse began.

Babbitt has been a teacher in the South St. Paul school district since 2002. He had most recently been teaching 4th grade at Lincoln Center Elementary School. Now, there are allegations that Babbitt and his husband, Matthew Deyo, sexually abused a 16-year-old boy who was a former student of Babbitt's.

The teen took his case to police. But -- one day after South St. Paul police executed a search warrant on the couple's home ---- the two were found dead on Lopez Island, north of Seattle, Wash. It was an apparent murder-suicide – with a note left behind.

All of this has been a lot to take in by neighbors in South St. Paul, who say the couple was very friendly.

“They would be in their backyard playing with their dogs or whatever; I'd be in the backyard grilling. You know I'd wave to them, say hi how you doing and sometimes we'd talk more from that, you know, and ask about each other's families,” Gerren Bond, one of Babbit and Deyo's neighbors, said.

The search warrant shows the 16-year-old and his parents went to the police station to report the abuse earlier this month and also turned over nude photos the couple took of the teen. The alleged victim reports numerous occasions where Babbitt and Deyo gave him and a friend marijuana and alcohol to the point where they passed out, only to wake up with one or both of them having sex with them.

The South St. Paul school district put Babbitt on paid leave on Aug. 17, when they learned of the allegations.  The district is also conducting its own investigation, while at the same time dealing with the grief.

“We welcomed new staff back, as well as veteran staff as well, and we brought in grief counselors to start that day yesterday, and spent the day here with us. We'll be doing the same as students return the day after Labor Day,” South St. Paul Public Schools superintendent Dave Webb said.

The application for the search warrant shows police were also looking for child pornography. Several computers, tablets and hard drives were confiscated, as well as a clock radio with a hidden camera that was taken from the bathroom of the home.

Despite the fact the couple is deceased, both police and the school district say their investigations into the child sexual abuse will continue. 

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Colorado

Toddler left in cast after dad tries to kill him

by Anastasiya Bolton

ARAPAHOE COUNTY, CO - Isaiah, 2-and-a-half, can't move very well because half of his little body is in a cast. He survived a crash, orchestrated by his father, who put him in a car, left him intentionally unbuckled, and drove into several cars at 75 miles per hour.

Isaiah's dad told Arapahoe County investigators, “the reason he wanted to kill Isaiah was because being a father was a big responsibility and he did not think he was man enough to raise a child.”

Nathan Weitzel, 29, is in the Arapahoe County Jail and charged with attempted first-degree murder, child abuse, assault, criminal mischief, possession of a controlled substance and vehicular assault.

"He's in the place that he should be," Isaiah's mom, Nancy Lopez, said. "He needs to be in jail for a long time."

The crash happened Aug. 21 at 11 a.m. According to court records obtained by 9Wants To Know, Weitzel put his seat belt on, but told deputies he didn't put his son in a child seat and didn't restrain him on purpose.

“I was trying to kill my son,” Weitzel told investigators.

Court records say Weitzel told the detectives he took his son to the park to play.

“While he was at the park letting Isaiah play he sat in the park and thought of a way to kill his son,” a statement said. “Nathan said he left the park [and] he drove around looking for a good place to crash the car and kill his son.”

Weitzel told police he used cocaine that day.

According to court records, investigators saw witnesses holding Isaiah after the crash. When a sheriff's deputy took over holding Isaiah's head, to make sure his neck was still, Isaiah was crying and “appeared to be fading in and out of consciousness.”

One of those witnesses was Sam Schulte, who lives down the street and heard the crash.

"I pulled the window off, and I pulled the door open, my neighbor got him out of the car and put him on the ground," Schulte said.

He says he then tried to comfort the boy by rubbing his back.

The crash happened in Cindy Rosa's next door neighbor's yard. While she was calling 911, she says she saw Weitzel "hitting the child ... it looked like an elbow. It was horrifying."

Isaiah was taken to Children's Hospital Colorado, where he was treated and went home after several days.

Lopez says she takes care of Isaiah full-time, but the toddler spends weekends with his dad. He was supposed to be brought back to his mom Sunday afternoon, before the crash. Despite Weitzel's statements that he didn't want to be a father, Lopez says Isaiah was planned.

“He used to be a really good climber,” Lopez said. “He loves to play and run around. He can't walk now; he's not going to be walking for another two months.”

Isaiah loves stuffed animals and Spiderman, his favorite color is green. He loves “Finding Nemo,” cars and dinosaurs.

“He's a really caring boy,” Lopez told 9NEWS, “He's really compassionate with other kids.”

Isaiah does have a very long recovery ahead of him. He has a cast on half his body and stitches on his head.

“I don't understand why or how he could do something like this, but I'm hoping Isaiah recovers soon people pray for us and for my son to get better," Lopez said.

A GoFundMe account was started to pay for his recovery: https://www.gofundme.com/2a6aqv3g

http://www.kare11.com/news/nation-now/toddler-left-in-cast-after-dad-tries-to-kill-him/311201499

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Massachusetts

Fugitive Apprehended

Alleged Child Abuser Was on the Run for 23 Years

In 1993, Boston-area resident John Hartin was 23 years old when he befriended two young boys—ages 6 and 9—and allegedly raped them.

One of the victims eventually told a family member about the abuse, which led to an investigation and Hartin being charged in Massachusetts with five counts of rape of a child. Rather than face the charges, Hartin fled, and was later charged federally with unlawful flight to avoid prosecution.

He was at large for more than two decades, and investigators followed numerous leads without success. “But the case never stopped being actively investigated,” said Special Agent Brooks Broadus, a member of the FBI's Boston Division Child Exploitation Task Force. “We were always looking.”

At the time of his disappearance, Hartin, a lifelong resident of Dorchester, Massachusetts, was working as a security guard. He had also studied graphics and computer arts in college. His first alleged victim was related to an acquaintance of Hartin's. The young boy's close friend was Hartin's second alleged victim.

In 2012, the FBI launched a multi-state media campaign and announced a reward of up to $25,000 for information leading to Hartin's arrest. The campaign generated thousands of tips—and many tantalizing leads—but no arrest.

More recently, explained Boston Police Department Det. Mike Sullivan, a member of the Child Exploitation Task Force, “we started looking at the case again with fresh eyes and went back to Day One. We sought out Hartin's family and friends and began to conduct new interviews.”

In the end, Sullivan said, “it was old-fashioned detective work that led to Hartin's capture.” Sullivan sought the assistance of various law enforcement agencies to assist in the search, including the U.S. Marshals Service and the U.S. Department of State. Through these partnerships, investigators learned that Hartin was using the alias Jay Carter. The fugitive had a driver's license in Carter's name, and other fraudulent documents.

Leads were initially sent to the FBI Miami Division, FBI Long Beach Resident Agency and the FBI Greensboro Resident Agency. The fugitive was traced to Walkertown, North Carolina, and the FBI put his residence under surveillance. Intelligence revealed that he had weapons in the house. “We had information that he was armed and potentially dangerous,” Sullivan said. Although Hartin was taken into custody without incident at his home on June 15, 2016, he initially denied his true identify.

“We are still piecing together where he was for all the years he was on the run,” Broadus said. “He lived in Florida for a long period of time before he went to North Carolina. We also had information he may have lived in California. He apparently did freelance computer work to earn money and worked in a bar in Miami.” Broadus added that Hartin had roommates and “significant others who might have helped him financially. They all deny they knew his real identity.”

Hartin, now 46 years old, was on the run for 23 years. He waived extradition, and U.S. Marshals recently returned him to Massachusetts, where he will now have to answer for his actions in court.

Broadus commended the Boston Police Department and federal law enforcement partners for their efforts on the case. After Hartin's arrest, Sullivan and Suffolk County Assistant District Attorney Alissa Goldhaber contacted the victims to let them know Hartin had finally been captured. After learning the news, one victim said, “This is the best day of my life.”

https://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/alleged-child-abuser-apprehended-after-23-years-on-the-run

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Could You Tell a Stranger About Your Last Sexual Encounter?

Telling Takes Courage

by Jayneen Sanders

Could you tell a stranger about your last sexual encounter? Well, this is exactly what we expect children who have been sexually abused to do. Once (and if) they find the enormous amount of courage to tell a trusted adult such as a parent or teacher), they will then be expected to relate the sexual abuse to the police. Could you do that,and would a child even have the vocabulary to do this?

Many people uneducated in Body Safety Education often ask me, ‘Why don't children just tell if they are being sexually abused?' In Australia, a very prominent radio shock jock, John Laws, insensitively brought to tears a brave 80-year-old survivor who phoned in to tell his story of sexual abuse as a child. The poor man was bullied by Laws and basically told to just get over it. This kind of uneducated and insensitive reaction certainly does not help survivors to come forward.

Let's take a closer look at why children don't and often can't tell. There are a multiple of complex reasons why not but here is what I know.

•  As stated previously, most children don't have the actual vocabulary to tell what has happened to them. If uneducated in Body Safety, they won't know the correct names for their body parts and will not be able to express exactly what happened to them.

•  The perpetrator has told them no-one will believe them. End of story. And the child is so unempowered he or she believes the abuser without question.

•  The perpetrator has threatened the child with horrific consequences if they tell, such as killing their pet, killing their parents, abusing their sibling, that they will be responsible for breaking up the family, etc. The list of terrifying threats is cruel and endless.

•  Most adults will not believe a child's disclosure. A child has to tell three adults before they are believed. ( Aust. Childhood Foundation, 2010 )

•  The child is embarrassed because they think they are willing participant in the abuse and the perpetrator will only be encouraging this perspective, especially if the child's body reacted to the sexual touch. The child, sadly, believes the abuse to be their fault. (Note: tragically, many adult survivors still believe this.)

•  And if the child is brave enough to tell an adult that they are being sexually abused, and that adult does not believe them, than chances are the child will never tell again.

•  The abuser has told the child that the sexual touch is loved-based and that this is what you do when you love someone. They may even show their victim child exploitation material to prove that this kind of sexual touch is normal between children and adults. A child, uneducated in Body Safety, has no idea that the sexual abuse is wrong.

•  What we're asking a child to do is to tell a stranger about their last sexual encounter. Could you do that? It takes an incredible amount of bravery to disclose. Adults find it difficult. How would it be for a child?

The bottom line is there are many complex reasons why a child or adult may never disclose sexual abuse. My advice to educators, parents and carers is to educate your child in Body Safety Education from a very young age. An educated child will know from the first inappropriate touch that it is wrong, tell a trusted adult straight away, and keep on telling until they are believed. By educating yourself and your community, the path of a child's life may literally depend upon it.

https://www.socialworkhelper.com/2016/08/29/tell-stranger-last-sexual-encounter/

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New Zealand

An Apology? Surely NZ needs a Royal Commission of Inquiry

Labour's Justice spokesperson, Jacinda Ardern, recently called on the NZ Government to issue an apology for historic abuse in state institutions. Previously Social Development Minister, Anne Tolley had said that she would apologise to any child who was abused in state care.

Ms Ardern spoke last week after the launch of Elizabeth Stanley's new book “The Road to Hell; State Violence against Children in Post-War New Zealand”. The book is a moving account of the experiences of those placed into state care from the 1950s to the 1980s and the harrowing tales it contains are indeed a persuasive argument for redress and change.

During these years the NZ government removed more than 100,000 children from their families or carers and subjected them to multiple, unsettling transfers. They often came from situations of intense abuse, neglect and poverty and they were placed under state ‘care' in residential facilities. This included foster homes, orphanages, psychiatric hospitals, health camps, child welfare homes and special education homes. They were often placed with abusive or harmful carers in shabby, overcrowded institutions.

The state may have intended to provide protection and care for these children, but it failed miserably. The truth is that the abuse, violence and neglect that they often experienced while in state ‘care', was often worse than where they had come from, and only made things worse for the children.

Studies confirm that the harmful legacy of intense trauma related to institutional child abuse often leads to physical and/or mental health problems in adults.

Accordingly countless New Zealander's lives have been destroyed and ruined by the state's institutional abuse; many of whom suffer long-term issues such as PTSD, imprisonment, alcohol and drug abuse, unemployment, under-employment, welfare dependency, poverty, broken relationships, homelessness, depression, anger, fear of authority and low-self-esteem.

So how can a mere state apology possibly change the day-to-day reality of this kind of nightmare for an adult care-leaver? Let's face it - it can't. So what do survivors want?

Netta Christian, author, former foster child and spokesperson for the NZ branch of Care Leavers Australasia Network (CLAN NZ) says, “Sorry is just a meaningless word unless it is backed up with actions. So unless New Zealand has a Royal Commission of Inquiry - how will Anne Tolley even know how many she is apologising to and why? Empty rhetoric, otherwise!”

“Many victims feel the state has never fully acknowledged what has happened to them. The present complaint system is unworkable and merely re-victimises the victims. So far the official response has been to hide our testimonies of state violence from the public eye. The New Zealand public needs to hear our stories. Most New Zealanders are completely unaware of the facts and know almost nothing about what was allowed to happen during their lifetimes in our institutions.”

“We need to be respectfully listened to, to get public recognition, to seek prosecutions, to receive compensation, to receive counselling or health services etc – and not just be handed an empty apology. We are not going away until we get a Royal Commission in New Zealand!”

It was last year that Labour first called for a Government apology, after a report from the ‘Confidential Listening and Assistance Service' (CLAS), which revealed the brutal circumstances that NZ children had been subjected to in foster homes, institutions, asylums, health camps and borstals from the 1940s to 1992. This was essentially a closed-door inquiry where information was hidden from public view. Even the head of CLAS, Judge Carolyn Henwood, is quoted as saying, “One part of there not being an inquiry is that the public don't know about any of this. Findings are kept under the radar”.

So obviously we must learn from this that, above all, any inquiry would require full transparency and accountability. For New Zealand this would also plainly mean an independent public inquiry, with no cover-ups. Most New Zealanders would be surprised to learn that New Zealand is now the only Commonwealth country to never have held a Royal Commission of Inquiry into Historic Institutional Child Abuse. An obvious question for us to ask is ‘why not'? We believe that the answer to this reveals that there is clearly a lot for New Zealand to hide. Our reasoning is that, unlike countries like Australia, where a large percentage of institutions were run by churches or charities, most of the institutional child abuse that occurred in New Zealand, occurred in state-run institutions. Therefore, calling on the New Zealand Government for a Royal Commission of Inquiry can only be equated to asking the guilty to investigate themselves.

What most adult survivors in New Zealand are currently calling for is a Royal Commission closely based on the Australian model. However, CLAN NZ is calling for all forms of abuse and neglect to be recognised, not just sexual abuse, as in the Australian model. There is more than one way to harm a child and many children suffered cruel and brutal physical, emotional and mental abuse, trauma and neglect while living in state care. We believe that a Royal Commission would need to have full statutory powers to compel witnesses and demand evidence.

“A Royal Commission would create a safe platform for many people to come forward and testify,” said Ms Christian. “With what we are currently seeing in Australia, what we have seen in Ireland and what is about to start in the UK, it would be quite absurd to assume that New Zealand did not have the same problems.”

Grant West, a New Zealand-born care leaver, currently residing in Australia, is now touring New Zealand with a petition to be presented to Parliament mid-September. He was barred from telling his own story of institutional abuse to the Australian Royal Commission (as it all happened in New Zealand), so he is determined that New Zealand will hold its own Royal Commission, to give him and others like him an opportunity to publicly testify.

Wellington lawyer Sonja Cooper has recently renewed calls for a public inquiry.

Ken Clearwater, from Male Survivors of Sexual Abuse, says he's been fighting for an independent inquiry ever since the Boston Globe first uncovered clerical abuse within the Catholic Church.

In November 2012, the President of the NZ Catholic Bishops Conference, John Dew, publicly supported the Australian Royal Commission into Institutionalised Child Abuse and said the NZCBC would support any similar investigation in New Zealand.

Bill Kilgallon, who handles the NZ Catholic Church's sex abuse claims, says they would support and cooperate with an inquiry and feels it should be similar to the one currently being held in Australia.

Garth McVicar, founder of the Sensible Sentencing Trust, considers a NZ inquiry into child sexual abuse is crucial, as the rampant abuse of children in New Zealand mirrors what prompted the UK inquiry.

Author Elizabeth Stanley has also called for a public inquiry in her newly published book. She suggests a ‘tri-partite' commission, with the three parts covering ‘recognition', ‘repair' and ‘prevention'. Stanley considers the commission findings would be a crucial first step in building the necessary state and public knowledge about what a potential apology would actually be for - if an apology is forthcoming at all.

http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO1608/S00338/an-apology-surely-nz-needs-a-royal-commission-of-inquiry.htm

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New Mexico

Panel seeks remedies to growing child abuse issue

by Dan McKay

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Sgt. Amy Dudewicz offered a chilling response Tuesday when asked about the volume of child-abuse and neglect referrals sent to her office.

“We get more than we can respond to,” Dudewicz told a panel of Albuquerque city councilors and Bernalillo County commissioners.

Dudewicz, who works in the special victims unit of the sheriff's office, was among about two dozen speakers who testified during a special city-county meeting called in response to the killing of 10-year-old Victoria Martens – a crime that's shocked the community.

Some testimony was tearful, some sobering. Councilors and commissioners heard from foster parents, educators, neighborhood leaders, pediatricians and others.

The ultimate goal, City Councilor Klarissa Peña said, is to honor Martens' memory by launching new efforts to address child abuse and related problems, such as drug addiction and mental illnesses. Tuesday's meeting, she said, was the first of what she hopes will become an ongoing community conversation.

Peña is chairwoman of the Albuquerque/Bernalillo County Government Commission. She and County Commissioner Debbie O'Malley, vice chairwoman, called Tuesday's special meeting.

They heard plenty of ideas, some of which would take more money to carry out, such as adding social workers and police officers to more schools.

Others wouldn't cost much at all, such as raising awareness about how to report child abuse.

Kristine Meurer, executive director of student, family and community supports at Albuquerque Public Schools, said New Mexico is a mandatory reporting state, meaning that everyone – not just teachers – is required to report child abuse if they suspect it.

Maltreatment of children can be reported to the state 24 hours a day by calling 1-855-333-SAFE, or #SAFE (#7233) from a cellphone.

Meurer told city councilors and county commissioners that the basic state funding provided to APS focuses on education, not the hiring of social workers needed to help children facing trouble at home. The district has just 13 social workers on staff to work with students who aren't part of special-education programs.

“We have more and more students coming to our schools in crisis,” Meurer said. “They are living in trauma when they come to our schools.”

The hiring of social workers and counselors, she said, “is where our need really lies.”

As for finding money to pay for new programs, Bernalillo County imposed a new tax last summer to pay for new behavioral health services. It raises about $17 million a year, though officials are still debating how best to use the money.

U.S. Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham, D-N.M., said she would do everything she can to secure federal funding to help keep children safe.

“There's a reality here: We have a responsibility to do better,” she said.

Two pediatricians from the University of New Mexico said they need more resources – that there are hundreds of children harmed for every one who makes the news.

“What we need is to have more conversations about the value of a child's life than we do conversations about the value of a barrel of oil,” said Leslie Strickler, medical director of the Child Abuse Response Team at UNM.

Shalon Nienow, a child-abuse pediatrician at UNM, described the problem this way: “I don't even know where to begin, it's so enormous. What we're doing right now isn't working.”

Tuesday's three-hour meeting came after two gruesome crimes in Albuquerque.

Police say Victoria Martens was drugged, raped and killed before her body was partially dismembered and set on fire last week. Three adults, including her mom, have been charged in her death.

Then on Sunday, police found 11-year-old Nhi Nguyen and her mother, Cam Thi To, shot dead. Police say they believe To's husband, 45-year-old Trinh Tran Van, shot and killed them before killing himself.

https://www.abqjournal.com/836291/city-county-hear-sobering-calls-for-help-fighting-child-abuse.html

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Illinois

The Red Flag In Identifying Child Abuse Perpetrators

by Em Nguyen

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (WCCU) — The Champaign County Children's Advocacy Center said it's a huge relief seeing more child abusers being put behind bars.

However, they said there are still many more perpetrators out there and parents need to know how to keep their kids safe.

Every year the center sees a stunning number of sexually abused children come through their doors and ask for help.

Nearly 200 local Champaign county minors come there every year to seek counseling and resources.

Executive Director, Adelaide Aime said the best way to keep children from experiencing child abuse from others is to keep "open and positive" communication with them every day.

Aime said children need to grow up feeling empowered.

"Lots of times they feel like they are violating a secret, but they also feel like a weight is off their shoulders. Finally, this horrible thing is going to stop."

A big red flag is when an adult singles out one child for more special treatment than they do for others.

Aide said most targeted children and teens have low self-esteem and low self-worth.

Should anything happen, Aide wants all parents to know they need to tell children it's never their fault.

She said to bring them in for counseling as soon as the child is willing.

At the Children's Advocacy Center, Aime says their motto is to listen, believe, and protect every child that comes in.

http://foxillinois.com/news/local/the-red-flag-in-identifying-child-abuse-perpetrators

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Pennsylvania

Editorial

Editorial | Diocese still closing ranks on child sexual abuse

by Thomas Slusser

Victims advocate Robert Hoatson said he sees a “dome” of secrecy over the region of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown – a phenomenon that allowed priests to sexually abuse children for decades without fear of legal retribution.

The diocese's ongoing actions show that it remains intent on controlling the message surrounding the mistreatment of children – despite a March 1 report from the state attorney general's office that accused 50 priests and other clergy members of abusing children in their care, protected by bishops who moved the offenders from parish to parish rather than exposing them to criminal charges.

In a story Sunday in The Tribune-Democrat and at www.tribdem.com, diocese spokesman Tony DeGol said the church organization was reaching out “through our Diocesan media – our Proclaim! television ministry, The Catholic Register, and our website” concerning the issue of child sexual abuse.

He said messages were developed in “collaboration with the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Rape and agencies throughout our eight-county Diocese that offer support to survivors of sexual abuse.”

Despite what might appear to be best intentions, the mechanism of communication – “Diocesan media” – allows the organization to both control the message and the manner and scope of its expression.

This is a message that should be communicated to individuals inside and outside the church – and especially those who have left the church due to their victimization or feelings of anger and disillusionment with the institution over this criminal case.

More broadly, we are troubled that the lessons of this tragic situation remain unheeded.

The abuse in the church reached unimaginable levels exactly because the scourge of pedophilia was kept hidden. Whether the motivation was adherence to canon law or institutional preservation, the result was that generations of young people fell victim to predators through the very places – churches and schools – where they should have felt most safe.

Authorities say Brother Stephen Baker was responsible for the abuse of more than 100 students at the former Bishop McCort High School in Johnstown. The diocese has sold off property to pay settlements with Baker's victims.

Three priests – Revs. Giles A. Schinelli, Robert J. D'Aversa and Anthony M. Criscitelli – face trial, charged with conspiracy and endangering the welfare of children by placing Baker in the vicinity of potential victims despite their knowledge that he was a child predator. The priests oversaw Baker's assignments as ministers provincial of the Third Order Regular, Province of the Immaculate Conception.

The church's continued opposition to legislation that would eliminate the statute of limitations on child sexual abuse further illustrates its determination to both control the process and limit its own culpability for the crimes of its clergy.

The Tribune-Democrat reached out to Bishop Mark Bartchak after allegations were leveled against the diocese and former bishops Joseph Adamec and James Hogan. The attorney general's investigators accused the diocese of covering up abuse, maintaining confidential records of the crimes and operating a secret fund to pay off victims' families to keep the numerous incidents quiet.

To date, we have not been granted an opportunity to sit across from Bartchak to hear directly his thoughts on the case and the diocese's response.

DeGol, in an email statement to reporter Dave Sutor, called the diocese's messaging plan “a good way to educate everyone in our community about sexual abuse, which is an enormous problem in society and by no means limited to the Catholic Church.”

Yes, the sexual abuse of children occurs across our society.

That is a strong argument for taking this critical message outside the walls of the church.

Speaking through “Diocesan media” will not educate the entire community – only those sitting in the pews, and paying attention, or reading the institution's website regularly.

We urge the diocese to become part of a broader effort to eradicate child sexual abuse from our culture, and to stop its strategy of circling the wagons to avoid scrutiny and accountability.

Hoatson's “dome” of faith may have allowed the crisis of abuse to flourish out of sight.

A dome of secrecy is keeping us from making real change in this critical area.

http://www.tribdem.com/news/editorials/editorial-diocese-still-closing-ranks-on-child-sexual-abuse/article_88e806c9-e072-5238-8e84-6b8f470fd32f.html

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Australia

Child sex abuse royal commission: Hunter paedophile priest 'was like Jekyll and Hyde'

by David Marchese

A child sexual abuse survivor has broken down while recounting to a royal commission how he was repeatedly molested by a New South Wales priest who "was like Jekyll and Hyde" and warned him "nobody will believe you because I am a priest".

The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse this morning shifted its focus to the Hunter region's Catholic church, after spending weeks probing Newcastle's Anglican diocese.

The first witness to give evidence at the hearing was child abuse survivor Gerard McDonald, who detailed his abuse at the hands of convicted paedophile priest Vincent Ryan.

Ryan was released from jail in 2010 after serving a 14-year prison sentence for a string of sexual assaults on dozens of boys between 1972 and 1991 and is currently awaiting sentencing on separate offences.

Mr McDonald told the commission he was abused by Ryan twice a week for a year, while he was an altar boy in Newcastle in 1975.

He said Ryan would perform oral sex on him and force him to reciprocate, before asking "does that feel good?"

Now 52, Mr McDonald said Ryan tried to anally rape him in front of a group of boys, after telling the boys to penetrate each other.

Mr McDonald described how Ryan would take his glasses off before abusing him in his car out the front of Mr McDonald's house.

"He became intense, focused and very, very scary. It was like Jekyll and Hyde."

"I came to dread him taking his glasses off," he said.

Mr McDonald said Ryan told him not to tell anyone about the abuse, warning him "they won't believe you because I am a priest".

Priest admitted guilt decades before being charged

The commission heard evidence from Sister Evelyn Woodward, who was behind a push to get Ryan "away from the children" in the 1970s and have him sent to Melbourne to be "cured" by a psychologist.

Sister Evelyn said a former senior Hunter Catholic figure, Monsignor Patrick Cotter, later told her that Ryan had admitted he had molested children at the time.

"Father Ryan knelt at his feet and told him he was guilty," she said.

Police were not made aware of the 1975 assaults until 1995.

Another St Joseph's Sister, Margaret-Ann Geatches, said she was made aware of Ryan sexually abusing children but did not believe child molestation was a crime.

She was pursued by the commission chair, Justice Peter McClellan:

Justice McClellan: If a man sexually assaulted a young girl in a school, would you see that as a crime back then?

Sister Margaret-Ann: Yes I would

Justice McClellan: Why didn't you see a man sexually assaulting a boy as a crime?

Sister Margaret-Ann: I just think that we weren't informed enough.

Catholic church paid out millions to abuse survivors

Earlier today, the royal commission heard more than 150 complaints of child sexual abuse have been substantiated in the Maitland-Newcastle Catholic diocese to date.

In his opening address, counsel assisting the commission, Stephen Free, said 158 claims of child sexual abuse with the Maitland-Newcastle diocese have been substantiated, involving 31 perpetrators.

"There is a long and disturbing history of suffering by children in the diocese of Maitland-Newcastle, inflicted by diocesan priests and members of religious orders."

Mr Free said the diocese had paid out $25.7 million in compensation to complainants.

Almost $6 million has been paid to victims of Vince Ryan, including one claim which resulted in a payment of $2.9 million.

"I expect there will be evidence in this case study which exposes striking similarities between the events that unfolded within the Catholic church in different geographical regions, across similar historical periods," Mr Free said.

Ahead of the hearing, the current Bishop of the Maitland-Newcastle diocese, Bill Wright, released a video statement.

Bishop Wright said the diocese was likely to be "seriously criticised" about its handling of abuse, warning some evidence would "disturbing" and "confronting".

The hearing is expected to continue for two weeks.

The 30-year-old mother admitted to performing oral sex with the 4-year-old relative and recording the graphic incidents on her cellphone. Dziminski also confessed to sharing the sexual assault videos with three adults who paid her cash for the footage, the Daily Mail reports.

Mercer County law enforcement investigators also told the court Dziminski took nude photos of herself with the young child.

Before Mercer County Superior Court Judge Anthony Massi handed down the prison sentence for the sexual assault of the 4-year-old child, he allowed Pamela Dziminski's parents to read a statement before the court.

“The child was very young. He had no control over the situation,” Judge Massi said.

The parents of Dziminski said they are still in a “state of shock” and maintain they had absolutely no idea about the “double life” their daughter was leading, NJ.com reports. The parents also maintained Pamela was “depressed” before the sexual assault occurred and the images were sold.

According to the parents of the convicted sexual predator, the child has no memory of the sexual assault due to the victim's young age at the time.

Mercer County prosecutors argued the child suffered “severe emotional trauma,” the Trentonian reports. The now 5-year-old child was placed under the care of the New Jersey Division of Child Protection and Permanency.

The New Jersey mom was “coerced” into taking the child sexual assault video, according to the parents. Mercer County child protective services officials reportedly discovered the child molestation videos circulating around the internet. The staffers who unearthed the video immediately contacted law enforcement authorities.

An investigation was launched into the child molestation video and ultimately led police officers to question Pamela Dziminski. She eventually identified herself as the nude woman in the images.

Pamela Dziminski's defense attorney, Nicole Carlo, attempted to convince the court a lesser sentence was warranted, but the judge dismissed such arguments. Carlo pointed out her client had no criminal history prior to the child sexual assault and claimed there were extenuating services which may have impacted Dziminski's behavior when she sexually abused the 4-year-old child.

A $300,000 bail was set in the case after prosecutors successfully argued the defendant might be a flight risk. Because the New Jersey mom had never before been in trouble with the law, the county prosecutor felt she would be too afraid of jail to show up for the child sexual abuse trial.

The New Jersey mom must serve a total of 20 years in prison before she is eligible for parole.

According to the National Center for Victims of Crime, 9.2 percent of abused children are sexual assault victims. One in five girls and one in 20 boys are reportedly child sexual abuse victims. The center also notes that its statistics may not reflect the severity of child molestation attacks because many such criminal acts may go unreported.

A study noted by the National Center for Victims of Crime indicated 20 percent of adult females and between five to 10 percent of adult males, “recall” being sexually abused as a child. Children are reportedly most vulnerable to sexual abuse attacks when they are between the ages of seven and 13 years old. During just a single year in the United States approximately 16 percent of American youth between the ages of 14 to 17, report sexual abuse attacks.

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India

E-box for child sexual abuse plaints

NEW DELHI -- An online complaint management system — e-box —for reporting child sexual abuse was launched by Women and Child Development (WCD) Minister Maneka Gandhi here today.  “The idea of an e-box came from a police initiative in which physical complaint boxes were placed in schools.

The e-box will make it possible to implement it on a large scale throughout the country,” said Maneka. It will help maintain the confidentiality of the complainant. (Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)

“All efforts should be made to generate awareness about the e-box so that more and more children can come out with their sufferings,” said Krishna Raj, Minister of State, WCD. 

The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) e-box enables direct reporting of sexual offences against children and timely action against the offenders under the POCSO Act.

The e-box is visible on the home page of National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) website http://ncpcr.gov.in/

http://www.tribuneindia.com/news/nation/e-box-for-child-sexual-abuse-plaints/286118.html

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United Kingdon

'Like a spider that keeps building its web': family of sexual abuse survivor speaks out

Little attention has been paid to the impact of sexual abuse on those close to the primary victim. One family has decided it's time to break the silence

by Melissa Davey

When Meg was 12, her mother, Annie, found herself unable to look at her. Seeing her daughter made Annie feel unsettled, at times almost angry. At first, she couldn't figure out why.

“And then, Meg turned 13 and suddenly, everything slid into place for me,” Annie says.

“I found myself thinking, ‘She's so tiny. She is so little.' And I realised I was actually talking about myself, not her.

“It felt like something just broke. It was something big and ugly, and it just broke.”

Annie was 13 in 1987 when an Anglican priest began sexually abusing her, over a period of eight to 10 months. Seeing her daughter turn the same age was a trigger that not only bring back memories of the abuse, but that also helped her to comprehend just how small and innocent she would have been.

He was in his mid 30s, and used Annie's vulnerability after the acrimonious divorce of her parents and his knowledge that she had been sexually abused by a family member to his advantage.

Annie's experience of cover-ups, betrayal and being failed by those who should have protected her has become all too familiar in such cases. But it is the experience of her family members she wants to highlight. They are the secondary victims, whose stories are often lost.

Annie and her family believe abuse pervades the lives of secondary victims but support for them is haphazard and scarce. They hope that by sharing their experiences, religious and other institutions will do more to recognise and address the impact of abuse beyond the primary victim.

Meg said at first she was unsure why her mother had begun to treat her differently. She did not know the extent of her mother's abuse at the time.

“I guess it was always obvious that something had happened to Mum, because sometimes she would cry or blank out but I didn't know exactly what she was upset about,” Meg, now 14, says.

“But when I first turned 13 that's kind of when I knew something more was going on. For a while though, I thought I'd just done something wrong, I thought I'd upset Mum in some way and that's why she couldn't really talk to me any more.”

Robbed of a childhood

Annie was first raped when the priest lured her alone into the church where he preached. Knowing that Annie was devastated about the death of her dog, the priest told her that if she looked toward the altar and prayed to God, she would see her beloved pet again. He made her lean towards the pew and, as she did, he pulled down her underwear and sexually abused her.

Annie's police statement was made last year, when she was 42.

“After I got home there was a lot of blood there and it hurt for a while,” it said. “For around two weeks, I remember I had a lot of trouble going to the toilet.”

Annie recalls the priest raping her five times. She is unsure why the abuse eventually stopped. But it she says it robbed her of her childhood and left her without an identity, unable to accept love, her victim impact statement said.

By the time she was in year 12, Annie had a nervous breakdown. Her former high marks at school crashed. Her mother threw her out of home for several weeks, forcing Annie to steal food from garbage bins to survive.

When her mother accepted her back home, Annie was terrified of starving again, and began to eat as much as she could and to hide food in her bedroom. Between 1991 and 1992, Annie gained 30kg.

In 1994 Annie's mother made her talk about her withdrawn and surly behaviour to a bishop her mother was friends with.

Annie brought up the name of her perpetrator to the bishop. He told her: “I'm going to stop you here.”

“I want you to think very carefully about coming forward with this,” Annie recalls him telling her. “Think of the lives that could be ruined by this.”

The bishop questioned Annie's memory of what happened and told her that if she told anyone else, people would think she wanted it, that she was partly responsible.

Letters written by church officials at the time and seen by Guardian Australia reveal that senior members of the church knew of the priest's abusing but did nothing.

Annie's mother called her a slut and a whore. She accused her daughter of breaking up the family by causing trouble. Though she was awarded a scholarship to attend a prestigious college in 1994, Annie dropped out after less than a year. That same year, when she was 21, she tried to take her life.

She has since worked in low-level jobs where people half her age serve as her boss. She cannot go near churches, even for funerals or weddings. She dreads sleep because of the nightmares she knows will come. She has considered and attempted suicide more than once.

Annie's husband, Mark, and her three children, Robert,Meg,and Ella, do not know the full extent of her abuse, though they know most of the crucial details. As the years go by, they learn more, sometimes accidentally, such as when Annie talks in her sleep. Or sometimes, by necessity, as the calls from detectives and from the church require an explanation.

‘If you hide something like this … it's wrong'

Dr Judy Courtin, a lawyer representing victims of institutional sex abuse at Angela Sdrinis Legal, published research last year into justice outcomes for sexual assault victims abused within the Catholic church.

She interviewed 18 secondary victims – defined as immediate family members – and found an admission of guilt by the perpetrator was important to them.

“But an even bigger concern I found from them was their anger at the ongoing way the church concealed the crimes, and a need for those people to also be held to account,” Courtin says.

“They felt that those who knew about paedophiles and yet kept quiet fundamentally enabled the activities of paedophiles. They protected them, they covered up their crimes, and they were often not held to account, and that's something that really upsets secondary victims. That maybe their family member wouldn't have been abused if those who knew had spoken up.”

The finding resonates with Annie's son, Robert. He learned about the abuse of his mother just before Christmas, after he had finished his year 10 exams. Annie and Mark had been talking to detectives and representatives from the Anglican church and they felt it was time Robert knew what was going on. He is angered most by the fact that no one had helped his mother.

“It's almost worse, not helping when you can see something is wrong,” Robert says. “I'm a firm believer that if you see or know about something wrong you have to do something. If you hide something like this happening to someone it's wrong.”

“They [the church] should also know that the effect isn't just on that one person.

“It's like a web. Like a spider that keeps on building its web, things like this just keep building. I'm not the only one who has been affected, my friends have, too, even if they don't know it, because they see how I am affected. They don't know what the cause is, and they won't for a while. But they see something is wrong.”

Robert says he feels angry that he cannot always talk about the problem with friends or adults who “think the world is safe and simple”.

“But it's not. Because sometimes I come home and I've got Mum going through this. I've got Ella, who doesn't really know what's going on, but who is asking questions every day. She's always confused and always wants to know more. And I've got Meg, who is lashing out because of it. And it's painful at times.”

There is no support group, no place to go outside his family, Robert says, for other teenagers like him. He thinks a safe environment for other children of survivors to meet and talk in would help. “It's something I would like to be involved in,” he says.

Annie has looked into it. But she says there are significant gaps in accessing support and even counselling for survivors and their families. Survivors often have to bear substantial costs of private counselling, while civil claims against the church may also be draining their funds.

‘There's stuff I still don't know'

Annie's husband, Mark, says he learned about Annie's abuse shortly after they started dating in 1996, though she wasn't necessarily upfront about it. He would hear her call out in her sleep, and ask her the next morning about some of the things she had said.

Over the years, Annie has gradually told Mark more. Since Annie first told her story to police last year, Mark has learned about the extent her perpetrator went to to harm her. But there were times while giving her statement that Annie would not allow Mark to stay in the room.

“I was very stressed by that,” he says. “There were just two cops and a video camera, and she's telling them things she doesn't want me to hear.

“I'm thinking, ‘These are the points where she's at her most vulnerable and that's the moment she really needs someone she trusts and knows loves her to be there with her.'

“And there's stuff I still don't know,” Mark says.

It took Annie 19 years of Mark gently encouraging her before she went to police in January last year. Mark had to walk a delicate line between supporting Annie in whatever choice she made, while also navigating his own anger towards the perpetrator and the church.

She was fearful that if she went to police, Mark would learn the full extent of her abuse, and that knowing the details might prove too much for him to bear. “Mark's the best thing that's ever happened to me,” Annie says. “You don't muck around with that.”

He replies: “This is what it's like to be someone who supports a survivor.

“I know what I can't handle. Of course there are things that will break a human. But this isn't that. The things that I'm vulnerable to aren't these things. But despite 20 years of trying, Annie can't trust me when I say that.

“And that's my struggle. I've got to live with the fact that Annie can't completely trust me the way I'd like her to, the way I trust her. And I just have to accept that. That's part of the package. She can't completely trust me. She can't completely trust anyone.

“She's still convinced that there are things, when I hear about them, that will be it. “That I'll never be able to look at her again.”

Mark says he feels a certain sense of relief now that Annie's attacker has been charged with 16 offences. He will face court next month. He had been jailed before, in 1996, for child sexual abuse offences unrelated to Annie.

“I found it's easier for me since Annie came forward than it was before, because now it's out in the open. While I'm not telling everyone I know, I feel I can talk about my feelings about how angry I am with the church and the people who covered this up more safely.”

‘Everything suddenly makes sense'

Shireen Gunn is the manager of the Centre Against Sexual Assault in Ballarat, a town that has been deeply affected by child sexual abuse within religious institutions.

As well as primary victims, the centre works with the family members of those who were abused.

Disclosure often comes as a relief to them, she says.

“For many family members of survivors, especially the children of parents who have been abused, everything suddenly makes sense to them once the victim discloses that abuse,” Gunn says.

“Suddenly certain aspects of their childhood or behaviours from their parent start to make sense, it helps them to make sense of their experience.

“The other response from secondary victims is, of course, anger. They want to do something to hold their family member's perpetrator to account. But it's very important that the victim or survivor have control over what happens, and if and when they take action or go to police.”

There is little research on the impact of sexual assault on secondary victims, the Australian Institute of Family Studies says.

“To the extent that secondary victims are considered in the literature, the focus is usually on the manner in which their response to the victim/survivor's experiences helps or hinders the primary victim's recovery,” the institute says.

“This is an important concern. Higher levels of unsupportive behaviour by family members has been found to be more likely for sexual assault victims than for victims of non-sexual assaults.” But few studies had examined the trauma experienced by someone finding out a family member had been sexually abused, the institute says.

The royal commission into institutional responses into child sexual abuse acknowledges the lack of research.

A commission spokeswoman told Guardian Australia a comprehensive research program is under way looking at survivors and their families. But the commission does not yet have statistics about how many secondary victims of abuse survivors there might be.

“The research projects under way are exploring a number of questions: what are the impacts of child sexual abuse on families of minors? What are the impacts of child sexual abuse on the intimate partners and children of child sexual abuse survivors? And what are the support needs of the families of child and adult child sexual abuse survivors?” she says.

Annie says there is not enough acknowledgement of the quiet role secondary victims play in trying to be supportive while grappling with their anger and sadness. While telling her family about the extent of her abuse has been difficult, especially while also repeating her story to members of the church, the royal commission and police, Annie says the experience has ultimately proved worthwhile.

“There is a certain kind of freedom that comes with coming forward,” she says. “The process is flawed, it's not right, it's not OK, and survivors and their families deserve better. Supporters need to know the way you say things has the potential to horribly damage a survivor who is already struggling under the weight of coming forward.

“But you can also help amplify a silent voice. I am a person coming forward and coming forward means that you are saying you are a person. You're not a thing.

“Nobody has the right to use you.

“You're real. You exist. Your survival means you have the right to peace in your life.

“You have the right to be able to look at your own kids.”

The names of Meg, Annie and the names of all the family members are pseudonyms.

The reporter, Melissa Davey, can be contacted at melissa.davey@theguardian.com

For a list of child sexual abuse support services in Australia click here. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is on 13 11 14. In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Hotline is 1-800-273-8255. In the UK, the Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123. Hotlines in other countries can be found here.

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2016/aug/29/family-of-child-sexual-abuse-survivor-speaks-out-secondary-victims

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China

Sexual abuse of children - A horror confronted

China has millions of sexually abused children. It is beginning to acknowledge their suffering

Her abusers bribed her to keep quiet, giving her about 10 yuan (about $1.50) each time they raped her, threatening that “if this gets out, it will be you who loses face, not us.” They were right. When Xiao Yu finally confided to her grandmother and went to the police, the villagers called her a prostitute and drove her out of town.

Xiao Yu's story came to national attention after it was reported by state media. At the end of May it formed part of a study released by the Girls' Protection Foundation, a charity in Beijing founded to increase awareness of child sexual abuse, a crime officials preferred not to discuss openly until recently. The study said there had been 968 cases of sexual abuse of children reported in the media between 2013 and 2015, involving 1,790 victims. Wang Dawei of the People's Public Security University said that, for every case that was reported, at least seven were not. That would imply China had 12,000 victims of child sexual abuse during that period. “I have never seen this many child sexual-assault cases, ever,” ran one online reaction. “Why is it such things were hardly heard of five years ago,” asked another, “and now seem all over the media?”

China is no exception

The answer is that social attitudes are changing; it is no longer taboo to discuss the problem. In 2015 Fang Xiangming of China Agricultural University, in a report for the World Health Organisation (WHO), estimated, using local studies, that 9.5% of Chinese girls and 8% of boys had suffered some form of sexual abuse by adults, ranging from unwanted contact to rape. For boys the rate is as high as the global norm, for girls it is slightly less so. Because of the country's size, however, the absolute numbers are staggering. Perhaps 25m people under 18 are victims of abuse.

Chinese pride themselves on the protectiveness of their families. That children suffer even an average level of abuse is a surprise to many. But, as everywhere, children hide their experience. In 2014 Lijia Zhang, a journalist, wrote a first-hand account in the New York Times of sexual abuse at her school in the city of Nanjing in the 1970s. She said it never occurred to her and other victims to report the teacher. “We didn't even know the term sexual abuse.” Even in Hong Kong, where sex is more openly discussed, a study of university students found that 60% of male victims and 68% of female ones surveyed since 2002 had not told anyone about their abuse. These rates of non-disclosure are considerably higher than in the West. Mr Fang, the author of the study for the WHO, says that if Chinese girls were more open, then the true rate of female sexual abuse might turn out to be as high as elsewhere, just as it is for boys.

In any country, child sexual abuse is hard to measure. China has never conducted a nationwide survey, though it is talking about holding one in the next couple of years. There are many provincial or citywide studies. But as in other countries, researchers use different measures and standards. And there are no studies of abuse over time, so it is hard to detect trends. Even so, there are reasons to believe that children are at growing risk.

First, China has huge numbers of “left-behind” children, like Xiao Yu. According to the All-China Women's Federation, an official body, and UNICEF, the UN agency for children, 61m people below the age of 17 have been left in rural areas while one or both parents migrate for work. Over 30m boys and girls, some as young as four, live in state boarding schools in villages, far from parents and often away from grandparents or guardians. (A growing number of rural children whose parents are still at home have to board, because of the closure of many small schools in the countryside as village populations shrink.) Another 36m children have migrated with their families to cities, but their parents are often too busy to look after them properly.

About 10m left-behind children see their parents only once a year and otherwise rely on the occasional phone call. “Every time my mother called, she would tell me to study hard and listen to my teachers,” said one victim of sexual assault by a mathematics teacher at a school in You county, in the central province of Hunan. “I could not bring myself to tell her over the phone what was happening.”

How much abuse is inflicted on left-behind children is not known. Researchers complain that schools with large numbers of them often refuse to allow sexual-abuse surveys. But given their vulnerability, left-behind children are likely to be victims of such abuse more frequently—possibly much more so—than average.

Another risk factor is a mixture of ignorance, shame and legal uncertainty that makes it very difficult for children to defend themselves. Fei Yunxia works for the Girls' Protection Foundation, the NGO that released the recent study of abuse cases. She travels to schools, giving sex-education classes. “No one tells these students about their bodies or how to protect themselves from harm,” she told Xinhua, a government news agency. Sex education in China is rare and never touches on abuse. The NGO says that 40% of 4,700 secondary-school pupils polled in 2015, when asked what was meant by their “private parts”, said they did not know. When cases are reported to the authorities, little is done, either because of legal loopholes, or because officials refuse to recognise the problem, or because they cover up for colleagues.

It does not help that China's statute of limitations is only two years. Wang Yi of Renmin University says this is too short for cases involving child sexual abuse: victims often remain silent for years. There is no national register of sex offenders, though Cixi, a city in Zhejiang province, aroused controversy in June when it said it would publish “personal information” about major sex criminals after their release to let the public monitor them (some commentators worried about an invasion of privacy).

The lack of well-developed sex-crime laws means victims are often failed by the justice system. In Liaoning province eight school girls aged between 12 and 17 were kidnapped, stripped, beaten, and forced to watch and wait their turn while men who had paid $270 per visit raped them repeatedly in hotel rooms. The men were charged with having “sex with under-aged prostitutes”, a charge that shamed the victims into silence. The law that allowed child-rape victims to be classified as prostitutes was scrapped in 2015. But a women's legal-counselling centre in Beijing, which had led a campaign against it, was itself closed earlier this year as part of a crackdown on civil society launched by China's president, Xi Jinping. No wonder that, as a lawyer in the You county case put it, “silence is the preferred solution.”

A shift in moral assumptions about sex presents another challenge. China is in the middle of a sexual revolution. Sex before marriage is more common. The age of first sexual experience is dropping. Most researchers into child abuse think there may be a link between such changes and sexual violence against children, if only because the revolution in mores seems to go hand in hand with changes to the traditional child-rearing system that, through intense surveillance, may limit abuse.

When a country confronts the problem of child abuse it typically goes through three stages, argues David Finkelhor of the University of New Hampshire. First the public and media become alert to the problem. This is happening. With the help of social media, and thanks to a greater willingness to speak out on social matters, campaigners have begun to organise. Ye Haiyan (pictured), known online as “Hooligan Sparrow”, helped arouse public awareness with her protests in 2013 against the rape of six girls aged between 11 and 14 by their school principal. In the next stage the government becomes concerned and starts to tighten laws. Then the police, social workers and public prosecutors begin to deal with problems on the ground. China is moving into this third stage.

Make them safer

Since early this decade, prosecutors and police have been spelling out how cases of abuse should be handled, from the collection of evidence to support for victims and procedures for separating a child from his or her parents. At the end of 2015 China adopted its first domestic-violence law. It says that preventing this is the “joint responsibility of the state, society and every family”. All this, says Ron Pouwels, UNICEF's head of child protection in China, means that “China gets it and is determined to do something about it.”

But much more work is needed. For example, there are very few social workers. The government has set a target of 250,000 properly qualified ones by the end of 2020. But only 30,000 take up such jobs each year. Crucially, Mr Xi needs to reverse his campaign against civil society and his efforts to stifle media debate. Further improving public awareness of the problem will need the help of NGOs and a freer press (free, for example, to point out that abusers are often people in authority—Ms Ye, the activist, was harassed by officials for trying to do so). Over the past 30 years, China has enhanced the life prospects of millions of children by providing them with better education and health care. Now it is time to protect them from sexual violence, too.

http://www.economist.com/news/china/21705848-china-has-millions-sexually-abused-children-it-beginning-acknowledge-their-suffering

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Malaysia

Parents who abuse children need help

by Amanda Yeap

CHILD abuse is universally abhorred, and whenever news of child abuse appears in local newspapers and social media, the incidents are loudly and roundly condemned.

Yet, reports still crop up, with the most recent being the shocking find of a two-year-old boy who was left to die in a box by the roadside in Ampang Baru.

While an expert interviewed by MetroPerak attributes the maltreatment of children largely to parental stress and the lack of parenting skills, he says there are other factors that could drive a person to assault the young.

Consultant Paediatrician and Paediatric Neurologist Dr Alex Khoo said while it is true that child abuse is multifactorial, the root cause usually starts at home.

“It's all to do with one's family upbringing, because it has the power to affect parenting skills.

“How a person treats a child today can often be connected to their own childhood experiences.

“If you're the kind of person who hasn't been physically disciplined before, you would think twice about doing it to your own children, while if you were often given corporal punishment for misbehaving, that's the only way you'd know how to treat a child,” he told MetroPerak .

On Aug 18, The Star reported that a two-year-old toddler, who was later diagnosed with a brain haemorrhage, had been left in a box on Jalan Ampang Baru 6 on July 30 at about 1.30pm.

A passer-by who found the boy sent him to the Raja Permaisuri Bainun Hospital, where he has now regained consciousness and is able to breathe on his own.

Police suspect the boy could be a victim of child abuse and are urging witnesses to come forward with information.

Speaking about the incident, Dr Khoo said the people who did this to the boy and later dumped him by the roadside probably thought that he would not make it.

“It is clear that the child is not independent, and the fact that he was abandoned in that state shows a serious lack of compassion and love.

“But, he was left in a place where he was easily found. This seems to me like a desperate situation, where the people responsible knew that they had done something wrong and that the child needed attention and care,” he said.

Dr Khoo said a brain haemorrhage can occur when parents who aren't able to handle the cries of their baby end up shaking the child violently.

“Stress is also another big factor in child abuse. Nobody would openly abuse a child, and this denotes a lack of control from the adult.

“People who end up hurting children do it due to the stress they face in their jobs and other situations, and then say they never meant to do it in the first place.

“I think child abuse is increasing today because our culture doesn't promote asking for help too, especially among people struggling with difficult kids.

“If they don't ask for help, they end up losing control once they've reached their limits,” he said.

Dr Khoo also noted that society's acceptance of discipline is problematic as well, because there is a fine line between discipline and abuse.

“While it is in the Asian culture to cane and smack children when they misbehave, it is different in other countries.

“For example, it is illegal to smack a child in the name of discipline in Sweden, and parents could get charged in court for that.

“So, parents must be more aware on the way they treat their kids when it comes to punishing them for misbehaviour,” he said.

Dr Khoo believes that parents need to know that they are entirely responsible for their own children, and they owe it to themselves to stay informed on issues to do with parenting and child abuse.

“This is so that they can make the right decision when the situation gets tough.

“If they're stressed, they've got to get help,” he said, adding that he believes child abuse will drop once parents and other segments of society collectively do their part to support one another.

Homemaker R. Manickam, 49, said, in her opinion, child abuse happens often because of poor education and a traditional mindsets among parents, especially those who are not ready to look after children.

“I find that it is often these people who think that their child must be disciplined, and they think they can simply treat their child any way they want because the child is theirs.

“For example, beating their kids, or disallowing their kids to eat because they have done something wrong.

“They are ignorant of how to bring up children the correct way,” she said.

The mother of two said parents today should be more mindful about the way they care for their children.

“I have seen parents to talk on their handphones while feeding their baby.

“They should pay attention and focus on their baby 100%, because whatever happens to the baby is entirely their responsibility,” she said.

Technician Mohd Fauzi Rukup, 36, said people are living in a more stressful society today and this causes people to lose control sometimes, including abusing a child.

“Our society is sick now, and families are often plagued with stress and financial problems.

“As a parent, if you are stressed out, you should go exercise and find ways to relax and de-stress.

“Go watch a movie, talk to friends. Don't keep your problems to yourself because there's only so much someone can take before they ‘explode',” he said.

Mohd Fauzi also said religious teachings and having a good sense of morality play an important role in the issue.

“No matter what, when your upbringing and your sense of faith are right, you know that abusing a child who is dependent and defenceless is wrong,” he said.

Media practitioner Soo Khong Chin, 29, said, while there are many factors for child abuse, he believes one of the main causes is when people have unprotected sex and end up bearing a child out of wedlock.

“I think there are many who are not fully prepared to look after a kid. They end up having no choice as a result of a moment's pleasure and recklessness.

“And because they aren't fully prepared, the child that is born ends up being deemed an unwanted kid, making the kid more vulnerable to abuse,” he said.

Soo said, in this situation, the parents most likely feel that the child is an unnecessary burden.

“Added with the fact that many of us are leading stressful lives in today's hectic society, this could cause parents to lash out and end up abusing the child, whether on purpose or accidentally.

“I've also read that in many child abuse cases that end up leading to death, it is mostly done by the mother's boyfriend.

“This is also another consequence of one's sexual choices,” he said, adding that there is a need to educate the public on safe sex and the importance of giving birth only when one is financially stable.

Ipoh City Councillor Low Leong Sin shares the same sentiments as Soo, saying that couples who are not ready for marriage and starting a family could be one of the main reasons behind child abuse.

“Children are active and in need of attention all the time. This could be difficult to handle and particularly stressful to those who aren't ready to be parents.

“This is especially when it concerns families who aren't getting the moral support they require, like having grandparents look after the children while the parents are busy with work,” he said.

http://www.thestar.com.my/metro/focus/2016/08/27/parents-who-abuse-children-need-help-expert-says-there-are-many-reasons-that-can-trigger-their-actio/

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Illinois

Labrador ready to help victims of child abuse

by Paul Swiech

BLOOMINGTON — The newest resource to comfort stressed child abuse victims in McLean County has dark, soulful eyes, a soft coat and a patient disposition.

Joch (pronounced "Jock"), a 2-year-old Labrador retriever, was introduced Aug. 15 as the first support dog in McLean County for child victims of sexual or serious physical abuse, human trafficking or witnesses to major crimes.

"If it can help to ease any of the stress that the children are experiencing, that's the main benefit," said McLean County State's Attorney Jason Chambers.

"Joch has the ability to help a lot of kids during a stressful time for them," added Judy Brucker, executive director of the McLean County Children's Advocacy Center and Court Appointment Special Advocate program.

Joch was introduced to the media at the CAC by his daytime handler — Stephanie Jewett, a CAC child family advocate — and nighttime handler, Jacob Harlow, an assistant state's attorney who handles child-exploitation cases.

Joch is the first CAC support dog in central and southern Illinois, Brucker said. Lake and Will counties in northern Illinois also have support dogs.

Research has proven that just petting a dog can reduce stress and the heart rate of some people, so some CACs nationwide are adding support dogs, Harlow said.

The center investigates allegations of abuse against children. In a multi-disciplinary approach, children are interviewed in a friendly environment that focuses on reducing trauma. When a case moves through the judicial process, therapists provide counseling to victims.

Joch is meeting with children before and after their interviews. Joch demonstrated how, on command, he can place his head or his head and front paws onto a child's lap and how he can retrieve fallen stuffed animals.

Eventually, Joch may join children during their interviews and during their testimony in court, Jewett and Harlow said. In court, Joch may sit at the child's feet in the witness box to comfort the child without distracting jurors, Harlow said.

Jewett and Harlow spent two weeks getting trained on how to handle Joch at Support Dogs Inc. in St. Louis.

The Children Protection Network — which is supported by donations — spent $11,000 for the training and initial expenses and has committed to $1,500 a year for food and other bills, said network board president Terry Lindberg.

Dr. Kimberly Burks of Highland Pet Hospital and Wellness Center is providing complimentary veterinary care.

Children's Advocacy Center served 356 children in McLean, Livingston and DeWitt counties last year, with 276 from McLean County, Brucker said.

Already, three children have been comforted by Joch, said Jewett, who anticipates that most of the children served by the center will want to see Joch.

"When kids come here, they have been humiliated," Harlow said. "Anything we can do to relieve the stress is good for the kids."

http://www.sj-r.com/news/20160828/labrador-ready-to-help-victims-of-child-abuse

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North Carolina

Parenting grant aims to prevent child abuse, neglect in Durham County

by Elisabeth Arriero

DURHAM -- The parents were at their wits' end. Whenever they tried to tell their 9-year-old twins to do anything, it usually led to yelling, fighting and defiance.

“They sort of had gotten to the point where they felt that there was nothing that worked,” said Rachel Galanter, executive director of The Exchange Family Center.

But after weeks of work with Galanter's agency, the children are following directions the first time they're given and the parents feel more positive about their relationship with their kids, Galanter said.

Now, a partnership between the Exchange Family Center and Durham County Department of Social Services will enable more families to get that kind of help.

The county recently was awarded a state grant of nearly $100,000 over three years to provide in-home coaching as well as case managers to connect parents with community programs.

Galanter and others says making such services more available will enhance parent-child interactions before they deteriorate to child-abuse or neglect levels.

Durham County received 1,496 reports of child abuse or neglect in 2014. About a third of those cases were verified, or found to be actual abuse or neglect. But even in some of the cases that did not rise to those levels, the investigator recommended that families get further services.

With the new funding, county staff say they will be able to help at least 25 parents better manage their children's difficult behavior.

For instance, staff might teach parents how to recognize and acknowledge positive behavior and also how to deliver fair and consistent consequences, Galanter said.

Additionally, the case management will allow families to address other stresses, such as lack of child care, housing issues and financial difficulties.

“We know it can be overwhelming to be a parent,” Galanter said. “And when parents are overwhelmed and can't be that responsive, nurturing person, that's where the child's behavior tends to escalate. But with support, we can help decrease parental stress and improve behavior so that the whole family is functioning better.”

The county plans to collect data over the next three years in the hopes the state might extend funding, said Danielle Bonner, the in-home and prevention services program manager for Durham County DSS.

Existing data already suggests that such interventions are needed, said Galanter.

“Sometimes people are very uncomfortable when you talk about preventing child abuse and they think you're saying there's something wrong or bad about the family,” she said. “But we would like people to realize that preventing child abuse means making sure that the family is getting its needs met so you can meet the needs of your children.”

http://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/community/durham-news/article97374117.html

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Jamaica

Child abuse, rape a big problem – Portland Police chief

Supt Oberlene Smith-Whyte insists that the Police are doing proper investigations

by Kimone Francis

SUPERINTENDENT of Police in charge of the Portland Division, Oberlene Smith-Whyte is raising concerns over what she says is the low conviction rate of rapists in the eastern parish.

Smith-Whyte, who made the disclosure in an interview with the Jamaica Observer North and East, emphatically stated that the low conviction rate is particularly troublesome when it is considered that two of the biggest problems plaguing the parish are child abuse and rape.

“One of biggest problems I have in Portland is the abuse of our children, especially rape.

“We get a lot of those offences; people having sex with children under age 16 and men raping children. And what I find here is that there are no convictions,” Smith-Whyte said.

She explained that jurors believe that they are not presented with enough evidence and so the case is oftentimes thrown out.

“…Obviously, they don't think that they should convict them even when the presiding judge directs the jurors in that direction; they come up with a verdict of not guilty,” she added.

Smith-Whyte insisted that the investigations are properly done and that in most cases there is sufficient evidence for a [conviction] but the perpetrators, mostly men, walk free.

“The investigators who do the rape cases do a very good job.

“What we have to start doing more is relying on forensic science and that is the area we are looking into now,” she said.

Smith-Whyte added: “I want to wake up people's consciousness to the fact that when a young girl is abused, that victim more than likely will never ever have confidence around men. It is going to be very difficult because she was abused. And when that young girl becomes an adult and has a partner, she still may not like men which may result in constant conflicts which end up at police stations. Or, she may abuse her son because of her experience which may cause that son to become an abuser. It's a chain reaction and we don't really think about these things.”

The superintendent said to combat this problem and effect change, a series of workshops are being planned to sensitise Portlanders on the worrisome issue.

Statistics from the Jamaica Constabulary Force's Corporate Communications Unit show that 20 rapes were recorded last year in Portland, with Port Antonio accounting for 19 and Buff Bay one. Hope Bay recorded none. For this year, up to August 20, it showed 15 recorded rapes, with Port Antonio accounting for 14, Hope Bay one and Buff Bay none.

As to other crimes in the parish, Superintendent Smith-Whyte informed that there has been a 35 per cent reduction in overall crimes when compared with last year.

Smith-Whyte said 170 major crimes were recorded at the end of last year while 128 have so far been recorded this year. She also disclosed that seven murders were recorded last year and that five have so far been recorded this year.

http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/Child-abuse--rape-a-big-problem---Portland-Police-chief-_72244

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New Mexico

Debate over increased child abuse penalties will come

by Thomas J. Cole

Increasing penalties for child abuse was a political issue before the death of Victoria Martens, the Albuquerque girl who police say was raped and killed on the day she planned to celebrate her 10th birthday. And, says state Senate Republican leader Stuart Ingle of Portales, “It's going to be raised a hell of a lot more now.”

But out of respect for Victoria Martens and her family, and while acknowledging the political danger of being seen as trying to take advantage of the girl's death, both Republican and Democratic leaders are putting the partisan debate over increasing penalties for child abuse on hold – temporarily.

“We need to have a full discussion, but not at this point,” Ingle says.

Full discussion will come eventually in races for the state Legislature and in the House and Senate when they convene. All seats in the Legislature are up for election in November, meaning party control of each chamber also is at stake. Republicans are now the majority in the House and Democrats in the Senate.

At issue in the elections and in the Legislature will be increasing the penalties for some crimes against children, as well as reinstituting the death penalty for at least killers of children and police.

Pollster Brian Sanderoff said it isn't yet the time “to bring partisan politics into the mix” following the death of Victoria Martens. “You shouldn't convert everything into political immediately,” he said.

The political danger of doing so was on display Friday on Twitter.

Rep. Javier Martinez, D-Albuquerque, came under fire for a Twitter posting that read, “How many more kids must die b4 we act? Early intervention imperative. Shame on those who oppose fully funded ECE. LGPF $15 billion & growing.”

Martinez's posting referred to a proposal to tap the state's Land Grant Permanent Fund for more money for early childhood education programs.

In response to the posting, Tourism Secretary Rebecca Latham, an appointee of Republican Gov. Susana Martinez, tweeted, “This is no time for pushing politics to get your way. Disgraceful on the part of those who stoop so low.”

Bailey Griffith, public policy director for the New Mexico Association of Commerce and Industry, and a former Gov. Martinez staffer, also tweeted, “A grisly, horrific murder is no one's fault but the 3 who committed the act. Shame on anyone who would politicize.” Griffith said the tweet was on a personal account and not on behalf of ACI.

Gov. Martinez opposes the proposal to tap the Land Grant Permanent Fund; many leading Democrats support it.

Rep. Martinez said he wasn't politicizing Victoria Martens' death. “I think I'm speaking truth to power. … I'm offering solutions. They are the ones playing politics.”

Victoria Martens was found slain early Wednesday, and her mother, her mother's boyfriend and a cousin of the boyfriend have been charged in her death.

Bills on abuse rejected

Last January, the state House of Representatives voted 61-1 to approve legislation to make intentional abuse of a child that does not result in death or great bodily harm a second-degree felony, punishable by up to nine years in prison, rather than a third-degree felony, punishable by up to three years.

The House also voted 63-0 to approve a bill to make intentional abuse of a child that results in death punishable by life in prison regardless of the child's age. Currently, the crime is punishable by life in prison only if the child is below the age of 12. However, a person who kills any child now regardless of age faces life in prison if convicted of first-degree murder.

The House bills were part of a larger anti-crime package backed by the Republican majority, and both died in committee in the Democratic-controlled Senate. The Senate did agree to other GOP-supported proposals, including increased penalties for child pornography and repeat drunken driving.

Senate Majority Leader Michael Sanchez, D-Belen, said at the time that Senate Democrats “addressed the issue of crime in a thoughtful way to avoid unintended consequences and protect civil liberties.” He also said the House had failed to properly vet crime bills, including their implementation costs, such as increased prison funding.

Campaign issue

House Majority Leader Nate Gentry, D-Albuquerque, said, “It's only fair” that Republicans force Senate Democrats to explain their votes on the crime bills during the election campaign. But he added, “This is not an appropriate time. It would be terrible to use this (the death of Victoria Martens) as a political football.”

Gentry also said, “More importantly, we need to have the facts … exactly where the system went wrong” in the girl's death.

Democrats argue the state's economic problems are at the root of its crime problems, and they say Gov. Martinez needs to focus more on job creation and less on anti-crime measures.

Martinez supported the House bills to increase child abuse penalties and she recently announced she supports reimposition of the death penalty at least for killers of children and law enforcement officers.

House Minority Leader Brian Egolf, D-Santa Fe, said he hopes the political restraint following Victoria Martens' death continues, but the restraint may be short lived.

The Legislature is scheduled to meet in special session in September to address budget shortfalls, and Ingle, the Senate Republican leader, said he supports adding increased child abuse penalties to the agenda, a move that would put the issue before voters just weeks before the November election.

https://www.abqjournal.com/834699/the-debate-will-come.html

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Pennsylvania

Whistleblower Hoatson: Local child abuse 'secret' protected by culture, 'dome' of faith

by David Sutor

The Catholic Church is deeply ingrained in the Johnstown region's identity.

Worshipers have celebrated and mourned together, lived lives of virtue, served their communities, and raised their children in the faith – all within the framework of the institution. But, that same structure allowed countless acts of alleged child sexual abuse to take place – and be covered up – in the opinion of Robert Hoatson, founder of Road to Recovery, a New Jersey-based advocacy group.

Earlier this year, the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General released a report that accused the Roman Catholic Diocese of Altoona–Johnstown of perpetrating a decades-long conspiracy to shield priests and other religious leaders who preyed upon children.

The investigation started after the office learned Brother Stephen Baker allegedly abused students when he served at what was then Bishop McCort High School in the 1990s.

Hoatson is a former Irish Christian Brother and Roman Catholic priest who was laicized – had his privileges withdrawn – in 2011 after challenging the church for allowing abuse and coverups to occur.

“In 40 years of being inside the church, and then obviously now five years outside the organization of the church, I have never seen a phenomenon quite like Stephen Baker and the affect he's had on a geographic section or area of our country,” Hoatson said in a meeting with The Tribune-Democrat. “Having been here so long now on different occasions, it's almost as if these beautiful hills around here – or mountains, whatever you call them – a dome was put over it, and the secret was kept in here for so many decades that, even today, it's the hardest place I've experienced to get people to talk about it.”

He added: “The Catholic Church must have had such a stranglehold on this region that you just paid, prayed and obeyed.”

'Culture of clericalism'

The attorney general's office issued a report in which it accused at least 50 religious figures of sexually assaulting children, while alleging that former Bishop Joseph Adamec and the late Bishop James Hogan helped conceal the abuse over several decades.

Adamec, through an attorney, defended his actions, saying he took the proper steps when – between 1987 and 2002 – he learned about allegations made against 14 living diocesan priests and one living member of a religious order.

Since the AG's report was released, three priests – Revs. Giles A. Schinelli, Robert J. D'Aversa, and Anthony M. Criscitelli – have been charged with conspiracy and endangering the welfare of children. They are accused of – in their roles as ministers provincial of the Third Order Regular, Province of the Immaculate Conception – giving Baker assignments where he had access to children, even though, the prosecution asserts, they should have known he was a dangerous predator.

It is a claim their attorneys deny.

Hoatson, who has attended several of the priests' court appearances, said he believes Baker was able to carry out his alleged heinous acts because of being protected by the province and church.

“It's a culture that said, 'Whatever I do I can do and not be held accountable for,' basically,” Hoatson said. “ 'I can say and pretty well do whatever I want because the people think I'm the greatest thing since sliced bread. Whenever I walk down the street people step aside so I can walk on the sidewalk and they get on the grass because I'm wearing a brown robe.' It's the whole culture of clericalism that then becomes something that's really dangerous.”

Baker – a man Hoatson described as “one of the most prolific pedophiles I've experienced or have come across” – died in 2013 by reportedly stabbing himself in the heart at St. Bernardine Monastery in Blair County.

“It's very symbolic to me that he would cut his heart because religious people are supposed to be giving their hearts away to people,” Hoatson said. “Their heart is full of love and their heart is full of service. And here, he put a knife in his heart.”

An attorney for the monastery did not respond to a request for an interview.

Outreach to victims

The diocese recently posted names online of clergy members who had credible allegations of child sexual abuse made against them. Bishop Mark Bartchak also presided over three prayer services for victims in May.

“Bishop Bartchak has repeatedly apologized to all those who have been harmed in the Church. Our hearts ache for them, and we pray that they find peace,” Tony DeGol, the diocese's secretary for communications, said in an email statement. “The Bishop is working to make sure that all survivors of sexual abuse receive the support they need.

"In recent weeks, the Diocese launched a collaboration with the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Rape and agencies throughout our eight-county Diocese that offer support to survivors of sexual abuse. Representatives from those groups are sharing important information through our Diocesan media – our Proclaim! television ministry, The Catholic Register, and our website – about the valuable services they offer.

"No survivor of sexual abuse should suffer alone, and we hope this collaboration will encourage survivors to reach out for support, hope, and healing. It is also a good way to educate everyone in our community about sexual abuse, which is an enormous problem in society and by no means limited to the Catholic Church.”

Hoatson said no prayer service should have been held until the diocese, in his opinion, did much more to help the victims.

“This is one of the reasons why survivors and the church may never, ever come to a tête-à-tête is because the thinking is so radically different,” Hoatson said. “The bishop thinks that he was doing a good thing by bringing – and inviting – victims, their families, parishioners, members of diocesan clergy, whomever, to churches to pray for victims.”

Speaking about what he thinks the diocese and entire Catholic Church should do, Hoatson said, “I keep saying if the church would only listen to me once – just once – if I had a meeting with them, I would say this: Get all of the victims together and give them whatever resources they need to recover, no limits. If you do that, you will be seen as the most caring, altruistic organization in history.”

'Murder of the soul'

Hoatson, who has worked with more than 4,000 victims in numerous communities since 2003, the The Tribune-Democrat he was abused by multiple people himself, starting with family members when he was about 3 years old.

Then, shortly after joining the Irish Catholic Brothers, a superior called him a “cold person” who needed to be warmed up. In retrospect, Hoatson now understands he was being groomed. Hoatson said he was then abused when serving in the brotherhood, which led to depression and anxiety.

After a few years, when working at a school in New York City, Hoatson confided in a superior, who then met with his family to assure them their son would be OK.

“They invited him to spend the night that night because he would have had to go back to New York City,” Hoatson said. “And, halfway through that night, I feel somebody crawling into my bed. It's the same guy I had just told my story to several hours before that. So, this trusted superior, I thought, turned out to be an abuser.”

Hoatson has been working through his issues in therapy for more than three decades.

He said: “When people first call me and say, 'Listen, I'm a victim of sexual abuse. What do I need to do?' I say, 'Well, there are three things: therapy, therapy and more therapy.' That's the way we recover. The only reason I can tell you that is because I'm a living example.”

However, Hoatson was not able to disclose publicly his abuse experiences until he was almost 50, which is why he thinks statutes of limitations should be eliminated in child sexual abuse cases.

Currently in Pennsylvania, victims who were under the age of 18 when the abuse occurred can file civil charges until age 30. Criminal charges can be brought until age 30 for individuals born before Aug. 27, 2002 with the limit moving to age 50 for alleged victims born after Aug. 27, 2002.

Legislation that would remove the statute of limitations has been before the General Assembly. The measure passed the House in April and is now with the Senate.

“To me, it's very simple,” Hoatson said. “There are no statutes of limitations on murder of the body. If you murder somebody – in most jurisdictions – that case never closes.

"Why would we have a statute of limitations on murder of the soul when we know that most people can't even begin to deal with the issue until they're well into their adulthood, if ever?”

http://www.tribdem.com/news/local_news/whistleblower-hoatson-local-child-abuse-secret-protected-by-culture-dome/article_c88a5eb0-dd0c-56a3-97d2-6126b2de4c01.html

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300 Orthodox Rabbis Unite To Combat Child Sexual Abuse Epidemic

by The Jewish Press Staff

In an unprecedented step, 300 Orthodox rabbis signed a proclamation regarding child safety in the Orthodox Jewish community. In it, the rabbis call upon synagogues and schools are called upon to adopt certain preventative measures outlined in the document in order to deter child abuse and child sexual abuse. The signatories invited to sign this proclamation consisted of member rabbis of the Orthodox Union (OU), Rabbinical Council of America (RCA) and Yeshiva University (YU).

Some of the proclamation's prominent signers include: Rabbi Gedalia Dov Schwartz, Av Beth Din, Beth Din of America; Rabbi Mark Dratch, Executive Vice President, RCA; Rabbi Menachem Genack, CEO, OU Kosher; Rabbi Dr. Tzvi Hersh Weinreb, Executive Vice President Emeritus, OU; Rabbi Zevulun Charlop, Dean Emeritus, RIETS, YU; Rabbi Haskel Lookstein, Rabbi, Congregation Kehilath Jeshurun and Principal at Ramaz School; and Rabbi Emanuel Feldman, Rabbi Emeritus, Congregation Beth Jacob of Atlanta. Rabbi Mark Dratch, who assisted in spearheading this initiative, applauded the “overwhelming support” of the signers and appeals to all communities “to implement the policies advocated in this statement.”

The proclamation commences by honoring the memories of the individuals in the Orthodox Jewish community who tragically have committed suicide as a result of enduring child sexual abuse. The gravity of this issue is linked in the proclamation to a passage in the Torah, “Do not stand by while your fellow's blood is being spilled” (Leviticus). Prominent signer Rabbi Hershel Billet, Rabbi, Young Israel of Woodmere, succinctly expressed the gravity of the effects of child sexual abuse: “Every sexual abuser is a potential murderer. They destroy the souls of their victims and at times cause the death of their victims.”

The proclamation stresses, “We condemn attempts to ignore allegations of child sexual abuse. These efforts are harmful, contrary to Jewish law, and immoral. The reporting of reasonable suspicions of all forms of child abuse and neglect directly and promptly to the civil authorities is a requirement of Jewish law.” Exclusive to this proclamation is the clear assertion that, “there is no need for people acting responsibly to seek rabbinic approval prior to reporting.”

“Since abuse of children is a life threatening crime, we must report immediately,” Rabbi Billet said. “We must trust responsible civil authorities in a just country to be able to separate fact from fiction.” Claims that “snitching” to secular authorities about a Jewish sex offender is prohibited clearly has no basis in Jewish law. Michael Salamon, PhD, clinical psychologist and noted expert in this field, said, “The longer it takes to report the more time the abuser has to keep abusing and creating alibis. Only trained investigators with proper professional team support (e.g. police, medical, etc.) can investigate. Asking anyone else about reporting just delays or confounds or completely derails a proper investigation. That is why so many abusers have been able to move to different communities and continue to abuse.” Signer Rabbi Yosef Blau, Senior Mashgiach Ruchani, RIETS/YU, said, “Requiring a victim of sexual abuse to first gain approval from a rabbi or therapist before reporting the abuse to the authorities is damaging to the victim, whose credibility has been questioned, and hampers the investigation by possibly affecting the description of what occurred.

“Rabbis who have been consulted have often used concerns for the image of the community to discourage the victim and his or her family from speaking to the police.” Dr. Salamon said that “Therapists can lose their license if they attempt to investigate. Be aware that the overwhelming majority of reports – in the vicinity of 95%, or more – are accurate. It takes a lot for someone to finally come forward and tell someone that they have been abused.” The fear that without rabbis sifting through allegations there would be a high percentage of false allegations is similarly incorrect.

The proclamation also clarifies misconceptions that the laws of lashon hara apply when it comes to exposing molesters' identities. One of the policies the proclamation asks all institutions to adopt is that “members of the community must be made aware when a sex offender moves in to a community.” Rabbi Shmuel Goldin, explained this halachic calculation, saying that, “given the overarching concern for the continued safety of potential victims, such reporting does not fall under the rubric of halachically prohibited speech and tale-bearing.” Rabbi Yosef Blau added, “Misuse of halachic concepts such as lashon hara and mesira have protected the abusers and increased the trauma of the victims.”

Another issue that this proclamation tackles transpires even after a victim actually reports to the authorities. The abused and his/her family are often ostracized in their communities in multiple ways. The proclamation unambiguously prohibits such behavior, stating, “We decry the use of Jewish law or the invocation of communal interests as a tool to silence victims or witnesses from reporting abuse. Regardless of the standing of the abuser, accusers and their family members must be treated in an accepting, nonjudgmental manner so that they feel safe and can therefore speak frankly and fully. This is necessary for them to receive suitable therapeutic support, and in order to facilitate proper investigation and pursuit of justice. Shunning or encouraging social ostracism of victims, their families, or reporters is forbidden.” Rabbi Goldin urged the community to provide strong support to victims, saying, “Too often, those who report such crimes are ostracized by their neighbors. Victims, their families and their supporters who are courageous enough to come forward should be treated with dignity and respect. The bravery they show in sharing the pain of their personal experiences is deserving of honor.”

This proclamation, as well as the kol koreh regarding child sexual abuse in the charedi community that was led by Agudath Israel of Chicago Rabbi Shmuel Fuerst and signed by over 100 charedi rabbis last August 2015, was organized by activist David Nyer, To add your name along with the current signors, please e-mail djn415@aol.com.

To see proclamation with signers, click here.

http://www.jewishpress.com/news/breaking-news/300-orthodox-rabbis-unite-to-combat-child-sexual-abuse-epidemic/2016/08/29/

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Australia

'Like a spider that keeps building its web': family of sexual abuse survivor speaks out

by Melissa Davey

When Meg was 12, her mother, Annie, found herself unable to look at her. Seeing her daughter made Annie feel unsettled, at times almost angry. At first, she couldn't figure out why.

“And then, Meg turned 13 and suddenly, everything slid into place for me,” Annie says.

“I found myself thinking, ‘She's so tiny. She is so little.' And I realised I was actually talking about myself, not her.

“It felt like something just broke. It was something big and ugly, and it just broke.”

Annie was 13 in 1987 when an Anglican priest began sexually abusing her, over a period of eight to 10 months. Seeing her daughter turn the same age was a trigger that not only bring back memories of the abuse, but that also helped her to comprehend just how small and innocent she would have been.

He was in his mid 30s, and used Annie's vulnerability after the acrimonious divorce of her parents and his knowledge that she had been sexually abused by a family member to his advantage.

Annie's experience of cover-ups, betrayal and being failed by those who should have protected her has become all too familiar in such cases. But it is the experience of her family members she wants to highlight. They are the secondary victims, whose stories are often lost.

Annie and her family believe abuse pervades the lives of secondary victims but support for them is haphazard and scarce. They hope that by sharing their experiences, religious and other institutions will do more to recognise and address the impact of abuse beyond the primary victim.

Meg said at first she was unsure why her mother had begun to treat her differently. She did not know the extent of her mother's abuse at the time.

“I guess it was always obvious that something had happened to Mum, because sometimes she would cry or blank out but I didn't know exactly what she was upset about,” Meg, now 14, says.

“But when I first turned 13 that's kind of when I knew something more was going on. For a while though, I thought I'd just done something wrong, I thought I'd upset Mum in some way and that's why she couldn't really talk to me any more.”

Robbed of a childhood

Annie was first raped when the priest lured her alone into the church where he preached. Knowing that Annie was devastated about the death of her dog, the priest told her that if she looked toward the altar and prayed to God, she would see her beloved pet again. He made her lean towards the pew and, as she did, he pulled down her underwear and sexually abused her.

Annie's police statement was made last year, when she was 42.

“After I got home there was a lot of blood there and it hurt for a while,” it said. “For around two weeks, I remember I had a lot of trouble going to the toilet.”

Annie recalls the priest raping her five times. She is unsure why the abuse eventually stopped. But it she says it robbed her of her childhood and left her without an identity, unable to accept love, her victim impact statement said.

By the time she was in year 12, Annie had a nervous breakdown. Her former high marks at school crashed. Her mother threw her out of home for several weeks, forcing Annie to steal food from garbage bins to survive.

When her mother accepted her back home, Annie was terrified of starving again, and began to eat as much as she could and to hide food in her bedroom. Between 1991 and 1992, Annie gained 30kg.

In 1994 Annie's mother made her talk about her withdrawn and surly behaviour to a bishop her mother was friends with.

Annie brought up the name of her perpetrator to the bishop. He told her: “I'm going to stop you here.”

“I want you to think very carefully about coming forward with this,” Annie recalls him telling her. “Think of the lives that could be ruined by this.”

The bishop questioned Annie's memory of what happened and told her that if she told anyone else, people would think she wanted it, that she was partly responsible.

Letters written by church officials at the time and seen by Guardian Australia reveal that senior members of the church knew of the priest's abusing but did nothing.

Annie's mother called her a slut and a whore. She accused her daughter of breaking up the family by causing trouble. Though she was awarded a scholarship to attend a prestigious college in 1994, Annie dropped out after less than a year. That same year, when she was 21, she tried to take her life.

She has since worked in low-level jobs where people half her age serve as her boss. She cannot go near churches, even for funerals or weddings. She dreads sleep because of the nightmares she knows will come. She has considered and attempted suicide more than once.

Annie's husband, Mark, and her three children, Robert,Meg,and Ella, do not know the full extent of her abuse, though they know most of the crucial details. As the years go by, they learn more, sometimes accidentally, such as when Annie talks in her sleep. Or sometimes, by necessity, as the calls from detectives and from the church require an explanation.

‘If you hide something like this … it's wrong'

Dr Judy Courtin, a lawyer representing victims of institutional sex abuse at Angela Sdrinis Legal, published research last year into justice outcomes for sexual assault victims abused within the Catholic church.

She interviewed 18 secondary victims – defined as immediate family members – and found an admission of guilt by the perpetrator was important to them.

“But an even bigger concern I found from them was their anger at the ongoing way the church concealed the crimes, and a need for those people to also be held to account,” Courtin says.

“They felt that those who knew about paedophiles and yet kept quiet fundamentally enabled the activities of paedophiles. They protected them, they covered up their crimes, and they were often not held to account, and that's something that really upsets secondary victims. That maybe their family member wouldn't have been abused if those who knew had spoken up.”

The finding resonates with Annie's son, Robert. He learned about the abuse of his mother just before Christmas, after he had finished his year 10 exams. Annie and Mark had been talking to detectives and representatives from the Anglican church and they felt it was time Robert knew what was going on. He is angered most by the fact that no one had helped his mother.

“It's almost worse, not helping when you can see something is wrong,” Robert says. “I'm a firm believer that if you see or know about something wrong you have to do something. If you hide something like this happening to someone it's wrong.”

“They [the church] should also know that the effect isn't just on that one person.

“It's like a web. Like a spider that keeps on building its web, things like this just keep building. I'm not the only one who has been affected, my friends have, too, even if they don't know it, because they see how I am affected. They don't know what the cause is, and they won't for a while. But they see something is wrong.”

Robert says he feels angry that he cannot always talk about the problem with friends or adults who “think the world is safe and simple”.

“But it's not. Because sometimes I come home and I've got Mum going through this. I've got Ella, who doesn't really know what's going on, but who is asking questions every day. She's always confused and always wants to know more. And I've got Meg, who is lashing out because of it. And it's painful at times.”

There is no support group, no place to go outside his family, Robert says, for other teenagers like him. He thinks a safe environment for other children of survivors to meet and talk in would help. “It's something I would like to be involved in,” he says.

Annie has looked into it. But she says there are significant gaps in accessing support and even counselling for survivors and their families. Survivors often have to bear substantial costs of private counselling, while civil claims against the church may also be draining their funds.

‘There's stuff I still don't know'

Annie's husband, Mark, says he learned about Annie's abuse shortly after they started dating in 1996, though she wasn't necessarily upfront about it. He would hear her call out in her sleep, and ask her the next morning about some of the things she had said.

Over the years, Annie has gradually told Mark more. Since Annie first told her story to police last year, Mark has learned about the extent her perpetrator went to to harm her. But there were times while giving her statement that Annie would not allow Mark to stay in the room.

“I was very stressed by that,” he says. “There were just two cops and a video camera, and she's telling them things she doesn't want me to hear.

Annie has looked into it. But she says there are significant gaps in accessing support and even counselling for survivors and their families. Survivors often have to bear substantial costs of private counselling, while civil claims against the church may also be draining their funds.

‘There's stuff I still don't know'

Annie's husband, Mark, says he learned about Annie's abuse shortly after they started dating in 1996, though she wasn't necessarily upfront about it. He would hear her call out in her sleep, and ask her the next morning about some of the things she had said.

Over the years, Annie has gradually told Mark more. Since Annie first told her story to police last year, Mark has learned about the extent her perpetrator went to to harm her. But there were times while giving her statement that Annie would not allow Mark to stay in the room.

“I was very stressed by that,” he says. “There were just two cops and a video camera, and she's telling them things she doesn't want me to hear.

“I'm thinking, ‘These are the points where she's at her most vulnerable and that's the moment she really needs someone she trusts and knows loves her to be there with her.'

“And there's stuff I still don't know,” Mark says.

It took Annie 19 years of Mark gently encouraging her before she went to police in January last year. Mark had to walk a delicate line between supporting Annie in whatever choice she made, while also navigating his own anger towards the perpetrator and the church.

She was fearful that if she went to police, Mark would learn the full extent of her abuse, and that knowing the details might prove too much for him to bear. “Mark's the best thing that's ever happened to me,” Annie says. “You don't muck around with that.”

He replies: “This is what it's like to be someone who supports a survivor.

“I know what I can't handle. Of course there are things that will break a human. But this isn't that. The things that I'm vulnerable to aren't these things. But despite 20 years of trying, Annie can't trust me when I say that.

“And that's my struggle. I've got to live with the fact that Annie can't completely trust me the way I'd like her to, the way I trust her. And I just have to accept that. That's part of the package. She can't completely trust me. She can't completely trust anyone.

“She's still convinced that there are things, when I hear about them, that will be it. “That I'll never be able to look at her again.”

Mark says he feels a certain sense of relief now that Annie's attacker has been charged with 16 offences. He will face court next month. He had been jailed before, in 1996, for child sexual abuse offences unrelated to Annie.

“I found it's easier for me since Annie came forward than it was before, because now it's out in the open. While I'm not telling everyone I know, I feel I can talk about my feelings about how angry I am with the church and the people who covered this up more safely.”

‘Everything suddenly makes sense'

Shireen Gunn is the manager of the Centre Against Sexual Assault in Ballarat, a town that has been deeply affected by child sexual abuse within religious institutions.

As well as primary victims, the centre works with the family members of those who were abused.

Disclosure often comes as a relief to them, she says.

“For many family members of survivors, especially the children of parents who have been abused, everything suddenly makes sense to them once the victim discloses that abuse,” Gunn says.

“Suddenly certain aspects of their childhood or behaviours from their parent start to make sense, it helps them to make sense of their experience.

“The other response from secondary victims is, of course, anger. They want to do something to hold their family member's perpetrator to account. But it's very important that the victim or survivor have control over what happens, and if and when they take action or go to police.”

There is little research on the impact of sexual assault on secondary victims, the Australian Institute of Family Studies says.

“To the extent that secondary victims are considered in the literature, the focus is usually on the manner in which their response to the victim/survivor's experiences helps or hinders the primary victim's recovery,” the institute says.

“This is an important concern. Higher levels of unsupportive behaviour by family members has been found to be more likely for sexual assault victims than for victims of non-sexual assaults.” But few studies had examined the trauma experienced by someone finding out a family member had been sexually abused, the institute says.

The royal commission into institutional responses into child sexual abuse acknowledges the lack of research.

A commission spokeswoman told Guardian Australia a comprehensive research program is under way looking at survivors and their families. But the commission does not yet have statistics about how many secondary victims of abuse survivors there might be.

“The research projects under way are exploring a number of questions: what are the impacts of child sexual abuse on families of minors? What are the impacts of child sexual abuse on the intimate partners and children of child sexual abuse survivors? And what are the support needs of the families of child and adult child sexual abuse survivors?” she says.

Annie says there is not enough acknowledgement of the quiet role secondary victims play in trying to be supportive while grappling with their anger and sadness. While telling her family about the extent of her abuse has been difficult, especially while also repeating her story to members of the church, the royal commission and police, Annie says the experience has ultimately proved worthwhile.

“There is a certain kind of freedom that comes with coming forward,” she says. “The process is flawed, it's not right, it's not OK, and survivors and their families deserve better. Supporters need to know the way you say things has the potential to horribly damage a survivor who is already struggling under the weight of coming forward.

“But you can also help amplify a silent voice. I am a person coming forward and coming forward means that you are saying you are a person. You're not a thing.

“Nobody has the right to use you.

“You're real. You exist. Your survival means you have the right to peace in your life.

“You have the right to be able to look at your own kids.”

• The names of Meg, Annie and the names of all the family members are pseudonyms.

• For a list of child sexual abuse support services in Australia click here. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is on 13 11 14. In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Hotline is 1-800-273-8255. In the UK, the Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123. Hotlines in other countries can be found here