Issue 61 – March 2005

S M A R T
(Stop Mind control And Ritual abuse Today)
P. O Box 1295, Easthampton, MA 01027-1295 USA E-mail: SMARTNEWS@aol.com

Issue 61 – March 2005

The purpose of this newsletter is to help stop secretive organizations and groups from abusing others and to help those who allege they have been abused by such organizations and groups. This newsletter is not a substitute for other ways of recovering from ritual abuse. Readers should use caution while reading this newsletter. If necessary, make sure other support systems are available during and after reading this newsletter.

Important: The resources mentioned in this newsletter are for educational value only. Reading the books cited may or may not help your recovery process, so use caution when reading any book or contacting any resource mentioned in this newsletter. Some may have a religious or other agenda that may be separate from your own recovery process. Others may have valuable information on the Masons and other organizations, but have triggers or be somewhat sympathetic to those organizations. Unless explicitly stated otherwise, the views expressed in this newsletter constitute expressions of opinion, and readers are cautioned to form their own opinions and draw their own conclusions by consulting a variety of sources, including this newsletter. Resources listed, quoted and individual articles, etc. and their writers do not necessarily support all or any of the views mentioned in this newsletter. Also, the views, facts and opinions mentioned in this newsletter are solely the opinions of the authors and are not necessarily the opinions of this newsletter or its editor.

Copyright 2005 – All rights reserved. No reproduction of any material without written permission from the editor and individual authors.

SMART wants to thank all those that have contributed resource information to the newsletter. Next year’s conference information is available at http://members.aol.com/smartnews/smart-2005-conference.htm or by requesting it at the address above by regular mail.

Survivors (and their advocates) of the Cold War mind control/medical experiments on children are currently mounting a campaign to develop public awareness of these atrocities. If you are interested in helping out with this important mission, we urge you to write/contact your representatives, senators, media persons, etc. asking for their cooperation and assistance in the further declassification of all documentation relating to any unethical mind control/medical experimentation involving children that has been carried out under the auspices of the U.S. government. With your letter/contact, you may include a copy of “Government-Funded Mind Control/Medical Experimentation Quotes to Ponder)” which can be printed out from http://www.morningcomequickly.com/MC%20Advocacy%20Packet.htm as well as a copy of the following letter by MC survivor, advocate, and author Carol Rutz:

Dear Representative,

I am writing to ask for your cooperation and assistance in the further declassification of all government held files, documents, documents, tapes or records relating to any experimentation involving children, prisoners or the mentally incapacitated, particularly those that relate to covertly or privately funded mind control, radiation, chemical or biological programs, both past and present.

Currently the MKULTRA, Bluebird and Artichoke files that a respondent receives through a Freedom of Information request are heavily redacted and do not contain the information on experiments performed on children. Continued denial on the part of those few remaining living participants does not negate the fact that thousands of children were unwilling participants in these experiments. Continuing to shroud these facts in secrecy leaves those who were experimented on with a sense of violation, frustration, and hopelessness.

I am a survivor of these experiments from the fifties and sixties and also an advocate. Since the writing of my book, “A Nation Betrayed: Secret Cold War Experiments Performed on Our Children and Other Innocent People,” I have heard from hundreds of survivors and many of their doctors. Through my networking with other survivors and the more than 18,000 pages of declassified documents, I have pieced together a picture of the most heinous secret experiments on unwilling and unsuspecting American children by doctors, scientists and government officials under the guise of “National Security.”

Please take the time to read the enclosed pamphlet and book before you dismiss this as frivolous. Thousands of people remembering the same things cannot be a coincidence. That we were blessed to be able to find one another and validate our experiences is most certainly divine intervention. Thank you for your time and cooperation.

Resources and Information

Please note: Listing of these resources does not necessarily constitute our endorsement of them. They are for educational value only and some may be heavy for survivors to read. Some of the conferences listed may not necessarily be safe for all survivors. S.M.A.R.T. recommends always bringing a support person to all conferences. If you are a survivor of mind control and/or ritual abuse, S.M.A.R.T. recommends that you try to bring a support person that is familiar with mind control techniques. LMS: article from ACHES-MC (Advocacy Committee for Human Experimentation Survivors – Mind Control) for unconsentually federally funded mind control as children or adults Canada contact Lynne Moss-Sharman, 230 Miles St. E. #3, Thunder Bay, Ont. P7C 1J6, lsharman@shaw.ca

all accusations are alleged

Mindfield – The CIA and Its Secret Experiments with MKULTRA & Germ Warfare by Gordon Thomas Gordon Thomas knew some of the key players in the MKULTRA scandal. His in depth knowledge is an invaluable contribution to anyone interested in the truth of these dark days in U.S. history. For survivors the description of Ewen Cameron’s creation of an interrogation center (called the Grid Room) in the basement of the Allen Memorial Institute in Montreal is riveting and validating. His other creation the Isolator Chamber is described as looking like a prison cell with its heavy door and padded walls. Thomas documents the international scope of those participating in human experimentation on unwilling and unwitting participants. His knowledge of Sidney Gottliebs’ use of Vietnam as a test bed for MKULTRA is horrifying and staggering for its pure evil. He says, “Gottlieb knew there would be no shortage of ‘expendables’ for his latest experiments.” He goes on to explain how prisoners were subjected to brain surgery where electrodes were implanted in the hopes that they could stimulate anger in the men to the point they would use their bayonets to attack one another. “Gottlieb said if he could achieve that, he would have created assassins to order.” This book is more than worth the $20 price tag and can be downloaded at http://www.gordonthomas.ie/mindfield.htm Reviewed by Carol Rutz, author of “A Nation Betrayed: Secret Cold War Experiments Performed on Our Children and Other Innocent People” http://my.dmci.net/~casey/

Legal Information

from LMS Northern California – Catholic dioceses told to hand over records on priests Don Lattin 12/18/04 “Roman Catholic dioceses across Northern California have 10 days to produce hundreds of documents that could be used as evidence in sexual abuse trials scheduled to start in early March. At a hearing in Oakland on Friday, Alameda County Superior Court Judge Ronald Sabraw set a Dec. 28 deadline for church lawyers to hand over relevant documents from priest personnel files and other church archives….Sabraw is coordinating pretrial action in 150 lawsuits filed under the provisions of a 2002 law that temporarily lifted the statute of limitations on negligence claims against the church for decades-old cases of child abuse by priests and other church employees.” http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2004/12/18/BAG92ADPFL1.DTL

Church withheld evidence, insurer says By Gillian Flaccus AP Los Angeles “The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles withheld “critical evidence” that could help insurance carriers assess the validity and worth of more than 500 sexual abuse claims, the insurers allege. In a federal lawsuit filed Wednesday, three members of American International Group Inc. allege the church and Cardinal Roger Mahony have tried to force insurers into a settlement, but have not provided key documents – including plaintiffs’ medical and work records. “The archbishop’s failure to investigate and to initiate formal discovery has resulted in the loss of critical evidence,” according to the lawsuit. “Despite the fact that memories are fading and witnesses are dying, the archbishop has consistently resisted the taking of any depositions or recorded statements in the … proceedings or otherwise.” Nearly 700 clergy abuse lawsuits are pending against dioceses in Southern California.” http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/

Sex abuse claims could cost diocese $1.6 billion If negotiations with Ventura County plaintiffs fail, Catholic Church could be put on trial, attorney says By Tom Kisken, tkisken@VenturaCountyStar.com 1/9/05 “More than 540 child molestation claims against the Catholic diocese that includes Ventura County could be settled before summer at a cost as high as $1.6 billion. If negotiations fail, the church could be put on trial in a civil court marathon that takes three decades to complete. The contrasting extremes only increase Ann Sargent’s desire for what alleged molestation victims in Orange County received Monday when a judge announced details of a record-setting $100 million settlement with the Diocese of Orange….Three years after a trickle of child molestation allegations against priests in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles swelled into a flood that includes at least 11 former Ventura County priests accused of abusing 136 people, the scandal’s path to a final chapter is obstructed by caveats and contradictions.”

Psychologist Sues Catholic Church and Midwest Attorney Generals to Enforce Child Sex Abuse Laws and Strike Down Statute of Limitations for Child Abuse. Asks Court to Equate Abuse with “Emotional Murder” An Illinois psychologist sues the Catholic Church in America and state attorney generals for failure to comply with child sex abuse laws. Asks to redefine abuse as “emotional murder”, moving statute of limitations based on assault. Also asks that HHS seek return of federal funds from all USCCB entities given for the last 52 years. (PRWEB) 2/4/05 “The Catholic church’s sex abuse scandal takes center stage Wednesday, February 16th at 10:30 before the Chicago federal courtroom of 7th Circuit District Court Senior Judge George Marovich, when Illinois psychologist Dr. Theophilus Green takes on Chicago’s Cardinal Joseph Cardinal George and asks the court to remove state and federal statute of limitations on child sexual abuse. At this hearing, both are expected to be present. Dr. Green sued Cardinal George and the Washington-based United States Conference of Catholic Bishops on behalf on his clients, using a rarely used and little understood legal strategy called jus terii. Simply put, it allows a third party stakeholder to sue on behalf of another, for himself and the second party, when both are damaged and the latter is unable to sue the first.” http://www.prweb.com/releases/2005/2/prweb204564.htm

Catholic hero now faces Vatican inquiry – Mexican founder of secret order at centre of child abuse allegations – Jo Tuckman in Mexico City 2/6/05…”Along with seven other former seminarians – all now in their sixties – this mild-mannered university lecturer has been trying to get the Vatican to investigate Maciel for years. Several of the eight plaintiffs approached bishops as early as the 1960s, only to be told to leave it all in God’s hands. One of the group, Juan José Vaca, sent several complaints to the Vatican and got no response. The group lodged formal charges at the Vatican in 1998. A year later they were informed the case had been shelved with the extra-official justification that their suffering could not compare to the risk of disillusioning thousands of Catholics.” http://observer.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,6903,1406844,00.html

Pope Defrocks 2 Convicted Irish Priests 12/16/04 By Shawn Pogatchnik, AP Dublin, Ireland “Pope John Paul II has defrocked two priests convicted of sexually abusing children in Ireland, an unprecedented move in this predominantly Catholic nation, church officials confirmed Thursday….The Residential Institutions Redress Board, which is investigating claims of physical and sexual abuse from the 1940s to 1980s, said last month it has paid nearly 2,000 claimants an average of $105,000 each. The board estimated it could eventually face up to 7,000 claims and pay out $870 million.” http://news.yahoo.com/

Greek Church Suspends Bishop Amid Scandals By Derek Gatopoulos AP 2/5/05 Athens, Greece – “Greece’s Orthodox Church suspended a senior bishop Friday as it struggled to deal with growing corruption scandals that have brought deep embarrassment to the institution. Metropolitan bishop Panteleimon of Attica was suspended for six months pending a church probe into alleged embezzlement of parish funds and “ethical” misconduct.” http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/89-02042005-444797.html

Judicial probe to widen as Church is further mired Sixth judge faces charges, 30 being investigated 2/8/05 “The wave of scandals engulfing the Church of Greece and the justice system intensified yesterday as it was revealed that yet another judge is to face disciplinary procedures, this time after claims of involvement in a sex-trafficking ring, while the Holy Synod is looking into the publication of an indecent picture of a bishop. A sixth judge, as yet unnamed, is to be hauled before the Supreme Court to face questioning and the possibility of expulsion from the judiciary, sources told Kathimerini, after allegations surfaced linking him to gangs which prostituted women. One court of first instance judge already facing corruption charges, Antonia Ilia, yesterday claimed that she was a victim of an operation to blacken her name. Ilia has already been linked with the priest who is alleged to be at the center of the trial-fixing ring, Archimandrite Iakovos Yiossakis, after claims that she favored him in two cases.” http://www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/_w_articles_politics_100002_08/02/2005_52716

Priest in sex case told to continue duties – Five-figure sum settles incident out of court By Brian Hutton newsdesk@belfasttelegraph.co.uk 1/21/05 “A Catholic priest accused of sexual assault is to be allowed to continue his parish duties by the Bishop of Derry Most Rev Dr Seamus Hegarty, it was revealed today. The priest at the centre of the claims last month handed over a cheque for a five-figure sum to the alleged victim following an out of court settlement. The incident is alleged to have taken place at a parochial house, in October of 1992, where a young man was attending counselling for sexual abuse for nine months. The man, who was 18-years-old at the time, claimed he was subjected to a sexual advance by a priest.” http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/story.jsp?story=603290

Calif. Order to Pay $6.3M to Settle Suits 12/25/04 Concord, Calif. “A Roman Catholic religious order has agreed to pay $6.3 million to settle lawsuits brought by three former students who were sexually abused by counselors and teachers at an elite private school in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The largest of the three settlements, at $4 million, would be one of the biggest in California for a plaintiff in a clergy sexual abuse case, attorneys and victims advocates said Friday. The abuse occurred when the plaintiffs, now in their 30s and 40s, attended the Concord school operated by the Christian Brothers religious order.” http://story.news.yahoo.com/

Orphans – CTV.ca News Staff… “Solitary confinement, beatings and sexual abuse. These stories are compelling, but, after all these years, why should anyone believe them? That doubt hasn’t stopped MacDonald and the Genges from joining more than 50 former residents of Mount Herbert in a multi million-dollar lawsuit against the P.E.I. government and the Protestant Trust, a charity that manages the money left over from the orphanage. The main problem for the former residents of Mount Herbert is proving their allegations. The orphanage itself is gone, virtually all of the staff are dead and some of the residents are not willing to come forward; they simply don’t want to relive the past. MacDonald insists the abuse was real and can’t be ignored. And although not everyone who was at the orphanage is willing to speak out, Macdonald stands her ground. “I’m a witness here too. You can’t put me away. I’m going to stand up and tell you: this did happen.”….”The stories that we’re hearing from the claimants, we think, should result in compensation,” said Docken. His firm represents MacDonald, The Genges and more than 50 other former residents of Mount Herbert. They all allege abuse. Many of the orphans are 40, 50, and 60 years old, but Docken assured W-FIVE that they are credible and that their stories are not exaggerated. “We are getting very similar stories coming from individuals who have not had contact with each other since they left the orphanage,” said Docken. “They would not have any opportunity to share stories and that tells us that these stories ring true.” http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/1105681437551_25/?hub=WFive#

Indians File Lawsuit Claiming Church Abuse http://www.rapidcityjournal.com 4/12/03 By Chet Brokaw, AP “Pierre “Six members of Sioux tribes have filed a lawsuit seeking $25 billion in damages from the federal government for the alleged mental, physical and sexual abuse of students at Indian boarding schools nationwide. The class-action suit, filed in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims in Washington, D.C., seeks damages on behalf of all students who were allegedly abused in the past century at the schools, most of which were run by churches or other religious groups.” http://www.dlncoalition.org/dln_issues/2003march12.htm

Catholic church says priest may have abused at least a dozen boys 2/05 David A. Lieb AP Jefferson City, Mo. “The Roman Catholic Church acknowledged Tuesday that a former priest may have sexually abused at least a dozen boys over a couple decades in several mid-Missouri parishes. The Jefferson City Diocese said the Rev. John Degnan had been accused in 2001 – about the time he retired from parish ministry – of sexually abusing a boy in the 1960s.”

Priest Pleads Guilty in Philly Abuse Case 2/8/05 by Maryclaire Dale, AP Philadelphia “A priest who taught at a Roman Catholic high school for boys pleaded guilty Tuesday to sexually abusing a student in the late 1970s. The Rev. James J. Behan, 61, an Oblate priest…Behan is the only priest charged in Philadelphia since a grand jury began investigating clergy abuse in 2002. The archdiocese has said that its records show 44 priests have been “credibly” accused of molesting minors since the 1950s. Statutes of limitations have prevented prosecutors from pursuing complaints against dozens of accused priests in Pennsylvania. In Behan’s case, prosecutors successfully argued that the clock stopped running in 1980 when he left the state to take a parish job in North Carolina. Authorities in Boston used the same argument to prosecute Paul Shanley, the defrocked priest convicted by a jury Monday of repeatedly raping a young boy in the 1980s.” http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=519&ncid=720&e=5&u=/ap/20050209/ap_on_re_us/church_abuse_philadelphia

Montreal man tells court his marriage to 10-year-old girl is legal 1/19/05 Nelson Wyatt – Montreal (CP) “A man who married a girl when she was 10 said Wednesday he did nothing illegal because, he argues, Canadian law allows people of any age to wed. The law has been kept secret from the public, the man told his preliminary hearing on five sex-abuse charges. Quebec court has ordered the man’s name cannot be published to protect the identity of the girl, who is now 15. A court order has kept him away from his bride, stating their relationship compromised her safety….the accused, who is a pastor in a Christian sect.” http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/cpress/20050119/ca_pr_on_na/crime_child_bride_1

Wis. priest questioned in slayings dies AP 12/21/04 Hurley, Wis. “A 31-year-old Roman Catholic priest who had been questioned by police in two gunshot slayings has killed himself, church officials said Monday. The Rev. Ryan Erickson….” http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/

Four second sentence By Viva Goldner 1/26/05 “A Catholic priest who pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting a parishioner was yesterday sentenced to jail – for four seconds. Father Terence Norman Goodall was convicted for twice assaulting the man, a member of his parish at Gymea in southern Sydney.” http://dailytelegraph.news.com.au/

Vatican Revisits Abuse Charges – Accused Priest Is Close To The Pope 1/3/05 by Gerald Renner, Special to the Courant “The Vatican has reopened an investigation into charges first reported nearly eight years ago that a powerful Mexican priest close to the pope sexually abused seminarians. The allegations focus on the actions of the Rev. Marcial Maciel Degollado, now 84 and based in Rome. He leads a religious order known as the Legionaries of Christ, which claims 600 priests in 18 countries. Its U.S. headquarters is in Orange and it has a seminary in Cheshire. The allegations surfaced in a Courant report in February 1997. Nine former members of the Legion said Maciel first abused them years ago when they were young boys or teenagers, ages 10 to 16, in seminaries in Spain and Italy.”

Lawyer says Vatican may review complaints against Legionaries’ head By Jerry Filteau Catholic News Service 1/7/05 Washington (CNS) “A previously dormant case against Legionaries of Christ founder Father Marcial Maciel Degollado could be reopened at the Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, a Vatican lawyer said in a letter to three former Legionaries who accuse the priest of molesting them when they were minors.” http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0500118.htm

describes abuse – New allegations surface against Jesuit priests 12/30/04 Anchorage, Alaska “This week, a man accused two Jesuit priests of sexually abusing him some 40 years ago. As a defendant in the lawsuit, the Diocese of Fairbanks says it is having a hard time finding any evidence…This week, Doe filed a lawsuit in Bethel Superior Court, claiming Llorente sexually abused him at least four times, performing oral sex on Doe. But the accusations don’t end there….In the complaint, Doe alleges that Nawn performed oral sex on him and attempted to have anal intercourse with him. The lawsuit claims the leaders of the Diocese of Fairbanks and the Society of Jesus knew what was going on but did nothing about it. It’s something Roosa…says happened frequently in rural Alaska during that time. He says he now represents almost 60 victims of sexual abuse by several priests.” http://www.ktuu.com/CMS/anmviewer.asp?a=10041&z=4

Church’s $100 million abuse settlement made public By Chris Knap, Ann Pepper, Rachanee Srisavasdi and Andrew Galvin 1/5/05 Orange County Register (Santa Ana, Calif.) Los Angeles “Bishop Tod D. Brown walked down a long hallway at the Los Angeles Superior Court Monday to apologize to victims of clerical sexual abuse and authorize the release of thousands of pages of personnel files that victims say will show that the church protected accused priests. The 23-page, $100 million settlement made public Monday with 90 victims alleging abuse by Catholic priests, nuns and lay teachers in Orange County is the largest payout of its kind in history.” http://www.tallahassee.com/mld/tallahassee/news/nation/10559536.htm

Jury Weighs Case of Alleged Church Bilking 2/4/05 Rome, Ga. (AP) “A federal jury began deliberating Friday in the case of a preacher charged with bilking nearly $9 million from 1,600 churches in 41 states in just over a year. The Rev. Abraham Kennard stood trial for three weeks on 132 criminal counts, including money laundering and mail fraud. The jury in the case deliberated for four hours on Friday, then adjourned until Monday.” http://www.guardian.co.uk/uslatest/story/0,1282,-4779242,00.html

from LMS 1980 Slaying of Nun – Accused priest has new judge, trial date by Mark Reiter “A Toledo priest accused in the slaying of a nun nearly 25 years ago has a new judge and a new trial date. Newly elected Lucas County Common Pleas Court Judge Thomas Osowik yesterday pushed back the trial of the Rev. Gerald Robinson to Oct. 17. It was set to begin Feb. 22. Father Robinson, 66, who did not appear with his attorneys at the hearing, is charged with aggravated murder in the 1980 stabbing and strangulation death of Sister Margaret Ann Pahl in the sacristy of a chapel in the former Mercy Hospital.” http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050129/NEWS02/501290345/-1/NEWS

Boston Documents: A Selection has pdf files with information about the Boston area priests http://www.bishop-accountability.org/ma-boston/archives/PatternAndPractice/doc-list-1.html?#burns

Alleging abuse, former Baptist Mission students sue 12/31/04 “Whitehorse – Former students of a Whitehorse Indian residential school are joining forces to sue the government and the people they say abused them. A class-action suit is being brought by former students of the Whitehorse Baptist Mission school. The class-action suit was filed in Yukon Supreme Court on Christmas Eve, just days after federal authorities revealed they were rejecting claims by Baptist Mission School students. Whitehorse lawyer Dan Shier says Ottawa’s denial of responsibility for the Baptist institution has left him little choice but to sue….The suit lists the initials and enrollment years of 23 former students. All say they were physically abused. Five of those individuals claim they were also sexually abused – by a male supervisor and a nightwatchman. Three other individuals say they were sexually abused by classmates or student perpetrators. The Baptist Indian Mission School operated in downtown Whitehorse from 1946 until it closed in 1962.” http://north.cbc.ca/

Jesuit Priests Accused of Indecent Assault on Pupils Blackburn, England (AP) 1/24/99 “Three Jesuit priests were charged Thursday with indecent assault on former pupils at a leading Roman Catholic school, police reported. The charges brought to eight the number of former staff at Stonyhurst College and its elementary school, St. Mary’s Hall, accused of assaults on boys during the 1970s and ’80s. The schools are in the north England county of Lancashire.” http://www.nospank.net/n-e84.htm

Church pays biggest single abuse settlement 1/7/05 by Cathy Grossman “The Catholic Diocese of Orange in California is to pay out $100 million (€76m) in the largest single settlement in the Church’s child sexual-abuse scandal. The diocese said Monday that it had agreed to a $100m civil settlement with 90 victims of abuse. The largest previous settlement, $85m (€65m), was made in Boston in 2003. The latest settlement pushes the total cost of abuse, including care and counselling for victims and priests, to nearly $900m (€700m) nationwide.” http://www.examiner.ie/pport/web/world/Full_Story/did-sg6c9LgHAzNTEsgHuTLc4nqWo2.asp

Church abuse focus of database Dallas lawyer completes national list of 2,600 ‘priest perpetrators’ 10/30/04 by Doug J. Swanson / The Dallas Morning News “For 11 years, Dallas lawyer Sylvia Demarest and her staff have collected and cataloged information on thousands of Catholic priests accused of sexual misconduct. Last week, surrounded by stacks of boxes, Ms. Demarest began taking her research public….Her database – and about 90 accompanying boxes of paper files – will be shipped to a Web site operator in Boston. BishopAccountability.org expects to post the database online by early next year.” http://www.bishop-accountability.org/ http://www.dallasnews.com/

Cardinal Egan called to testify on priest sex abuse by Carol Eisenberg 1/12/05 “Cardinal Edward Egan will become the third prince of the church forced to testify under oath about his handling of priest sex abuse — specifically about whether he ignored a psychologist’s warnings about a priest later accused of molesting an altar boy. Egan will testify Jan. 27 in a Manhattan law office in response to a subpoena in a civil lawsuit brought by a Bridgeport man accusing a priest of molesting him as a boy, said a spokesman for the Archdiocese of New York.” http://www.nynewsday.com/news/local/manhattan/nyc-egan0113,0,1495936.story?coll=nyc-manheadlines-manhattan

Settlement Reached In Priest Abuse Case 1/18/05 Stamford, Conn. (AP) “A former altar boy who claimed he was molested by a priest reached a financial settlement of his civil lawsuit against the Roman Catholic Diocese of Bridgeport, his attorneys said Tuesday. The plaintiff, known in court documents as John Doe, said he was molested at age 14 by the Rev. John Castaldo in the early 1990s when Castaldo was a priest at St. Teresa Church in Trumbull….The settlement means New York Cardinal Edward Egan will not have to testify next week, the attorneys said. Egan, who was the Bridgeport bishop when the alleged assaults occurred, had received a subpoena which required him to provide sworn videotaped testimony about his knowledge of the case.” http://www.ctnow.com/

Plaintiff in abuse case speaks out “Now 48, former altar boy says priest molested him in Calistoga. A former Calistoga altar boy said he lived with a painful secret for years before acknowledging his past and filing a sex abuse lawsuit against his alleged molester….Sloan’s lawsuit, filed more than two years ago, is the first of 11 claims against the Santa Rosa Diocese heading for trial, after a judge this week issued a final ruling refusing the Catholic Church’s request to throw out the case.” http://www1.pressdemocrat.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050113/NEWS/501130326/1033/NEWS01&template=printart

from LMS `Victory,’ vindication: Former priest convicted in landmark abuse case By Brian Ballou and J.M. Lawrence 2/8/05 “Defrocked Roman Catholic priest Paul Shanley became a convicted child rapist yesterday, bringing an end to a case that came to embody the church abuse crisis that shook the Boston archdiocese. “This is a victory for the many, many people victimized by Paul Shanley,” said attorney Carmen Durso, representing seven people who claim they were sexually abused by Shanley between 1963 and 1994. At trial, Shanley’s accuser testified he was groped and raped by Shanley in the early 1980s at St. Jean’s Catholic Church in Newton. The victim, a member of the parish’s CCD class when Shanley was assigned there, said Shanley carried out the assaults beginning when he was 6 in the bathroom, the rectory, the pews and the confessional. The jury deliberated for 14 hours before finding Shanley guilty of two counts of child rape and two counts of indecent assault and battery on a child.” http://news.bostonherald.com/localRegional/view.bg?articleid=67460&format=text

Ex-Priest Convicted in 1980’s Rape of Boy in Boston-Area Church By Pam Belluck – Boston Globe – Cambridge, Mass. 2/8/05 “Paul R. Shanley, a defrocked priest who became a lightning rod for the sexual abuse scandal in the Roman Catholic Church, was convicted on Monday of raping and assaulting a boy when he was a parish priest in suburban Boston in the 1980’s. Mr. Shanley, 74, was one of the few priests to face criminal charges in the scandal, and his conviction came in a case in which prosecutors relied almost solely on one accuser, who said he had repressed the memory of the abuse until reading a newspaper article about Mr. Shanley three years ago. After deliberating for nearly 15 hours beginning last Thursday, the jury of seven men and five women pronounced Mr. Shanley guilty of two counts of rape and two counts of indecent assault on a child. Judge Stephen A. Neel of Middlesex Superior Court revoked Mr. Shanley’s bail and scheduled him to be sentenced on Feb. 15. He could face up to life in prison. “It was very difficult,” said one juror, Victoria Blier, 53, of Lexington. “There was no DNA, there was no direct corroboration, and that made it very difficult.” Ms. Blier, who owns a window treatment business, said the jury was persuaded by the prosecutor’s argument that the accuser was credible because he had no selfish reason to pursue the criminal case since he had already received $500,000 in the settlement of a civil lawsuit against the church.”

Shanley Convicted of Child Rape in Mass. By Denise Lavoie, AP 2/7/05 Cambridge, MA (AP) “Defrocked priest Paul Shanley, the most notorious figure in the sex scandal that rocked the Boston Archdiocese, was convicted Monday of repeatedly raping and fondling a boy at his Roman Catholic church during the 1980s. The conviction on all four charges gives prosecutors an important victory in their effort to bring pedophile priests to justice for decades of abuse at parishes around the country. Shanley, 74, could get life in prison for two counts each of child rape and indecent assault and battery on a child when he is sentenced Feb. 15….The victim, now 27, put his head down and sobbed as the verdicts were announced after a trial that turned on the reliability of what the man claimed were recovered memories of the long-ago abuse…..During the trial, the accuser broke down on the stand as he testified in graphic detail that Shanley pulled him out of Sunday morning catechism classes and molested him in the bathroom, the rectory, the confessional and the pews starting when he was 6 and continuing for six years. “He told me nobody would ever believe me if I told anybody,” he testified. The accuser said that he repressed his memories of the abuse but that they came flooding back three years ago, triggered by news coverage of the scandal that began in Boston and soon engulfed the church worldwide.” http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/n/a/2005/02/07/national/a132539S39.DTL and http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=519&ncid=519&e=5&u=/ap/20050207/ap_on_re_us/church_abuse_shanley_9

Supporters, Accusers Turn Out for Shanley By Denise Lavoie Cambridge, Mass. (AP) …””Shanley became a focal point of the scandal after plaintiffs’ attorneys forced the church to release internal records about him. Among the records were documents indicating that he was transferred from parish to parish after allegations surfaced, and that he had attended a forum with other people who later went on to form the North American Man-Boy Love Association, or NAMBLA. Shanley’s trial has also attracted lawyers who represent people accusing Shanley and other priests of sexually abusing children.”

From LMS Shanley case goes to the jury – Closing arguments spotlight accuser By Joanna Weiss, Globe Staff  2/4/05 Cambridge – “The alleged victim, a 27-year-old firefighter, accuses Shanley of molesting him during Sunday school hours from ages 6 to 11, in the pews, rectory, confessional, and boys’ room of St. Jean Church in Newton. The accuser says he forgot about the abuse, but remembered it in 2002, when he learned of Boston Globe stories about Shanley and a Sunday school classmate. Last year, he was awarded $500,000 in a civil settlement with the Catholic Archdiocese of Boston. The pain the man endured by testifying, prosecutor Lynn Rooney suggested yesterday, proved that his memories were genuine. “He has the money. He got that money over nine months ago, no strings attached,” she told the jury. “What did he get for coming in here?”…”The defense earlier called Elizabeth Loftus, a professor at the University of California at Irvine, to challenge the alleged victim’s so-called repressed memories. Loftus said scientific experiments have proven that people can be manipulated into remembering things that never happened. “I don’t believe there is any credible scientific evidence for the idea that years of brutalization can be massively repressed,” she said. But under cross-examination, Loftus said she agrees that people can forget traumatic events and remember them later.” http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2005/02/04/shanley_case_goes_to_the_jury?mode=PF

from LMS Shanley defense to call just one witness By Joanna Weiss, Globe Staff 2/3/05 “Cambridge – When the child rape trial of defrocked priest Paul R. Shanley resumes today, the defense will call only one witness: a California professor who has built a long and prominent career out of debunking repressed memories….But advocates of child abuse victims have long criticized Loftus’s methods and her willingness to help certain defendants. David Clohessy, national director of the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests, calls her “a hired gun for the defenders of child molesters.” And some mental-health specialists question whether her research, often done within the confines of a lab, bears weight in a highly charged case of child trauma.”She’s not a clinical psychologist,” said Dr. Stuart Grassian, a Newton psychiatrist who has treated abuse victims of former priest James R. Porter. “She’s never studied strong emotions. She’s never studied the effect of emotion on memory.” The alleged victim in this case, now 27, says Shanley repeatedly raped and fondled him at St. Jean’s Church in Newton in the early 1980s, abusing him in the boys’ room, rectory, pews, and confessional.” http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2005/02/03/shanley_defense_to_call_just_one_witness?mode=PF

Paul Shanley Trial Blog “On this page, experts on trauma and memory will offer commentary on issues that are being raised by the criminal trial of Paul Shanley –the former Boston priest who has been charged with child rape.” Has info on Loftus, Chu and Porter  http://leadershipcouncil.org/Justice/BLOG/blog.html

from LMS Prosecutors rest case vs. Shanley – 1 of 3 child rape charges dropped By Joanna Weiss, Globe Staff 2/1/05 Cambridge “The former Sunday School classmates agree on this much: Their class was rowdy, the teachers were overwhelmed, and the three most raucous boys sometimes left the classroom, including one who accuses defrocked priest Paul R. Shanley of raping him during those hours. But when they testified at Shanley’s child rape trial in Middlesex Superior Court yesterday, the four classmates offered strikingly different memories of St. Jean Church in the early 1980s. They disagreed about where the classes were held in the Newton church and whether Shanley himself pulled the boys out of class. Several couldn’t name their teachers and could only recall a few classmates. One said she hadn’t seen Shanley’s alleged victim since confirmation, but the man testified last week that he was never confirmed….Yesterday, the prosecution called Dr. James A. Chu, chief of hospital clinical services at McLean Hospital in Belmont and a specialist in the field of dissociative amnesia, a less charged term, he said, for what are commonly known as repressed memories. Chu described typical symptoms that were, in many ways, consistent with what Shanley’s alleged victim described having. Memories can be triggered by something read, observed, or experienced, Chu said, and can manifest themselves in a flood of returning images and physical symptoms, such as anxiety and sleeplessness, all of which the alleged victim said he experienced three years ago. “It’s really more of a reliving than an actual memory,” Chu said. “It’s almost as if it’s happening again.” The memories are more likely to surface in someone who has been abused repeatedly than in someone who was traumatized once, Chu said. While peripheral details can be fuzzy, he said, “in general, the central themes of memories are relatively well preserved.” But under cross-examination from Shanley’s lawyer, Frank Mondano, Chu acknowledged that dissociative amnesia is a highly controversial subject among psychiatrists; some believe it has been underdiagnosed for years, but others think it is overreported.” http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2005/02/01/prosecutors_rest_case_vs_shanley?mode=PF

Wife of Ex-Priest’s Accuser Takes Stand by Denise Lavoie AP Cambridge, Mass. “The wife of the man who has accused defrocked priest Paul Shanley of raping him as a child testified Friday that he had night sweats and curled up in the fetal position on the floor after recovering memories of the alleged abuse. The woman took the witness stand shortly after her husband finished more than 10 hours of testimony over three days, much of it under grueling and graphic cross-examination by Shanley’s attorney.”

State wraps up case against defrocked priest By Denise Lavoie AP 1/31/05 “Prosecutors rested their child rape case against Paul Shanley on Monday after a former classmate of his accuser testified that the former priest and the boy left Sunday school classes together on several occasions. Prosecutors have said Shanley, one of the most notorious figures in the clergy sex abuse scandal, would pull the boy from catechism classes at St. Jean’s parish in Newton in order to rape him in the church confessional, pews, rectory and bathroom. Brendan Moriarty, who attended CCD classes with Shanley’s accuser in the 1980s, said several boys were frequently sent out of the classroom when they became rowdy, including Shanley’s accuser. He said he recalled seeing Shanley and his accuser leaving the classroom together.” http://www.telegram.com/

from LMS article describes abuse – Accuser Testifies at Trial of Ex-Priest in Abuse Case By Pam Belluck, Cambridge, Mass. 1/27/05 http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/27/national/27shanley.html?oref=login&oref=login&pagewanted=print&position

Child Rape Trial of Ex-Priest Opens in Massachusetts 1/25/05 By Greg Frost Cambridge, Mass. (Reuters) http://olympics.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=domesticNews&storyID=7426799

Storm forces delay of trial for former priest 1/23/05 Boston (AP)… “Shanley, 73, is accused of child rape and indecent assault and battery on a child under 14. Allegations against him were among the hundreds of clergy sex abuse lawsuits settled by the Archdiocese of Boston.” …”Shanley resigned from parish work in 1989 for medical reasons and moved to California. Cardinal Bernard Law, who resigned as archbishop in December 2002 at the height of the scandal, granted Shanley a one-year medical leave, and in a letter, praised his “impressive record.” Weeks later, the Rev. Robert J. Banks of the Boston Archdiocese wrote to the Diocese of San Bernardino, saying Shanley was a priest in “good standing” and recommending he be given a position in the diocese.”http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/news/archive/2005/01/23/state1751EST0053.DTL

Priests face judgment – Actions against LI clerics accused of abuse are detailed in a letter to parishioners from the bishop of the Diocese of Rockville Centre 1/24/05 by Rita Ciolli “The Vatican has defrocked eight Long Island priests accused of sexually abusing minors, ordered three priests to face church trials and cleared two others, Bishop William Murphy discloses in a report on the abuse crisis to be published later this week. Three years after the scandal broke in Boston and reverberated in dioceses across the nation, Catholics here will be given a tally on the status of clerics who have been accused. In a three-page letter, Murphy said 23 priests had credible abuse allegations made against them. The accusations against nine of the priests were disposed of by the Diocese of Rockville Centre, while the cases against 14 others were sent to the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith for review.” http://www.newsday.com/

from LMS 17 Priests Reported Disciplined in Long Island Sex Abuse Cases By Bruce Lambert 1/25/05 “The child sex abuse scandal in the Roman Catholic diocese on Long Island has resulted in the defrocking of eight priests and the permanent suspension of nine, while three await canonical trials, the bishop of the diocese said. Two other priests were cleared after inquiries, and proceedings against a third have been deferred, the bishop said.” http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/25/nyregion/25priests.html?oref=login&pagewanted=print&position

Twist of Faith a Feature Documentary by Kirby Dick “The powerful story of a man who confronts the trauma of past sexual abuse as a boy by a Catholic priest, only to find his decision shatters his relationships with his family, community, and his faith.” http://www.chaincamera.com/twistoffaith/

Girl says she told school of teacher’s sex abuse 1/27/05 By Shamus Toomey “The school district received the letter at least four years ago but watered down its allegations and left out the sexual abuse claims when contacting the girl’s parents, according to a federal lawsuit filed Wednesday by the unidentified girl and her “horrified” parents. Lawyers for the girl, now 15, said the school “buried” the letter and let Robert Sperlik remain in a position to molest girls, doing little but reprimanding him and telling him to leave his classroom door open when instructing students…..Sperlik, 45, remained on the job until earlier this month. He was arrested Jan. 17 after the girl’s parents learned of her previous abuse claims and called police, Loevy said. He was arrested and charged with molesting the girl and four other students….With 24 more students, all girls, stepping forward with charges that they, too, were attacked, the total number of possible victims is now at 29, said Berwyn Public Safety Director Frank Marzullo. He said more charges could be filed against Sperlik by the end of the week. The lawsuit names Sperlik, the school district and the principal. It says the girl was traumatized by the abuse, and says her parents were injured because they were kept in the dark about their daughter’s claims and thus never given a chance to console her. The school district never told police or the state Department of Children and Family Services about the allegations against Sperlik. Cook County prosecutors are reviewing whether the district erred in not contacting authorities, a source said.” http://www.suntimes.com/

Police connect teacher’s videos with alleged abuse – Grand jury subpoenas school district’s records By Brett McNeil 2/3/05 “Sex bondage videos found at a band teacher’s home depicted the same acts he allegedly committed against 16 young girls at six elementary schools in west suburban Berwyn, police said today. Investigators seized 30 to 40 bondage videotapes, all store-bought and involving adult actors, from the North Riverside home of Robert Sperlik Jr., Berwyn Public Safety Director Frank Marzullo said. Bondage images also allegedly were found on the suspect’s home computer. Previously arrested and charged with abusing five girls, Sperlik, 45, was charged Wednesday with nine new counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse, six counts of kidnapping and one count of unlawful restraint involving 11 other female pupils between 1998 and 2003. When the initial charges against Sperlik were announced, authorities said he had confessed in writing to touching five female pupils after duct-taping and tying them to desks in Pershing and Irving Elementary Schools between 1999 and 2001.” http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-050203sperlik,1,3761936.story?coll=chi-news-hed

describes crimes – Couple Accused of Torturing Kids Caught 2/5/05 Inverness, Fla.”A Florida couple accused of torturing and starving five adopted children — including pulling out their toenails and subjecting them to electric shocks — were captured Friday in southeastern Utah after police tracked them through their cell phones, officials said. John and Linda Dollar were jailed in San Juan County, Utah, on Florida warrants of felony aggravated child abuse. The family included seven adopted children between the ages of 12 and 17.” http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,146490,00.html

Hidden crimes – Child molestation: A special report – A four-day series “Children are victims of 70 percent of sexual offenses in Tucson: Unless a priest is involved or a child is stolen from her bed, child molestation is rarely the focus of screaming headlines. But it is anything but rare. Someone is sexually assaulted every two minutes in the United States – and two out of three times, at least in the cases that get reported …Society slow to believe it’s happening: In Pima County and nationally, 2 out of 3 victims of sex crimes reported to the authorities are children. Experts offer two explanations: Either the crimes against children are reported more often than crimes against adults or children are assaulted more often than adults.” http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/projects/molest/

Report: U.N. Troops Exploited Congo Girls 1/7/05 by Leyla Linton, AP United Nations “United Nations peacekeepers in Congo sexually exploited women and girls, some as young as 13, a U.N. watchdog office said Friday in a new confirmation that efforts to curb abuses by U.N. troops are not working. Peacekeepers regularly had sex with Congolese women and girls, usually in exchange for food or small sums of money, investigators from the world body’s Office of Internal Oversight Services found.” http://story.news.yahoo.com/

DR Congo warlord generals accused 1/14/05 “A human rights lobby group has accused the Democratic Republic of Congo of appointing warlords implicated in murder and rape as army generals. The four warlords were appointed last week, as part of a peace deal to end a brutal conflict in the north-east. But Human Rights Watch said it raised questions about the government’s commitment to justice and human rights. A government spokesman said that if there was any evidence against the men, they would be prosecuted. Germain Katanga, Jerome Kakwavu, Floribert Kisembo Bahemuka and Bosco Taganda led rival ethnic militias, accused of carrying out massacres, torture and rape in the Ituri district, where some 60,000 people have been killed since 1999. “The government needs to take these warlords to court, not give them responsible positions in the army,” said Alison Des Forges, senior adviser to Human Rights Watch.” http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4174811.stm

Cambodia, Where Sex Traffickers Are King By Nicholas D. Kristof 1/15/05 Phnom Penh, Cambodia “Sex trafficking at its worst is the slavery of the 21st century, yet it has become one of the world’s growth industries. To understand how brazen it is, step up to the second floor of the Chai Hour II Hotel here in the Cambodian capital. It’s like an aquarium: beyond a glass wall are dozens of teenage girls in skimpy white outfits, each with a number. The customer orders a girl by number, and the manager delivers her a moment later to a private room.” “The U.S. State Department estimates that 600,000 to 800,000 people a year are trafficked across international borders, mostly girls and most of them for the sex industry. Many more, like the girls in the Chai Hour II, are trafficked within a country.” http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/15/opinion/15kristof.html?oref=login

from LMS Sex abuse fears as traffickers target orphans David Orr in Colombo – “A leading international aid agency has warned that children orphaned by last Sunday’s tsunami are being bought and sold by ruthless traffickers in Sri Lanka. It is also being reported that children are at risk from sexual abuse in camps for displaced people set up by the government. Save the Children Fund (SCF) Sri Lanka says its staff at a camp on the east coast of the island have come across evidence of children being bought for as little as 4,000 rupees or £21.” http://news.scotsman.com/international.cfm?id=3742005

from LMS Indonesia, UN fear child trafficking Indonesia slaps restrictions on children leaving country amid worries gangs may prey on tsunami victims; hunt is on for missing Swedish boy AP Jakarta 1/4/05 “Fearing that child-trafficking gangs will exploit the chaos of the tsunami disaster, Indonesia has slapped restrictions on youngsters leaving the country, ordered police commanders to be on the lookout for trafficking and posted special guards in refugee camps. The moves this week come amid concerns by child welfare groups such as UNICEF that the gangs — who are well-established in Indonesia — are whisking orphaned children into trafficking networks, selling them into forced labour or even sexual slavery in wealthier neighbouring countries such as Malaysia and Singapore.” http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1104836575056&call_pageid=968332188492&col=968793972154&DPL=IvsNDS%2f7ChAX&tacodalogin=yes

Rapists, kidnappers prey on tsunami survivors Reuters 1/5/05 “Stockholm: Thieves, rapists, kidnappers and hoaxers are preying on tsunami survivors and families of victims in Asian refugee camps and hospitals and in the home countries of European tourists hit by the wave. Reports and warnings came in from as far apart as Britain, Sweden, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Hong Kong on Monday of criminals taking advantage of the chaos to rape survivors in Sri Lanka or plunder the homes of European tourists reported missing. In stark contrast to a worldwide outpouring of humanitarian aid in response to the December 26 tsunami, whose death toll stood at nearly 145,000 people by Monday, a women’s group in Sri Lanka said rapists were preying on homeless survivors.” http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com//articleshow/979949.cms?

Report Finds Strong Link Between Child Abuse, Neglect and Crime in Maine 11/17/2004 “One Year of Child Abuse and Neglect Produces Over 150 Future Violent Criminals in Maine – Maine Law Enforcement Group Says Most Abuse and Neglect Can Be Prevented, Calls on Federal Government to Invest in State Programs” Portland, ME – A bipartisan organization of Maine law enforcement leaders and crime victims today released a report documenting a strong link between child abuse and neglect and crime in Maine. The new report, produced by Fight Crime: Invest in Kids Maine, calculates that of the 3,746 children in Maine who were victims of abuse and neglect in 2002, as many as 150 will grow up to become violent criminals because of the abuse and neglect they endured. The National Incidence Study of Child Abuse and Neglect claims the number of children abused or neglected each year is three times the officially recognized number. Applying these standards, Fight Crime: Invest in Kids Maine estimates as many as 11,000 children in Maine are abused or neglected each year.” “Child abuse and neglect costs America in excess of $80 billion a year, most of which are crime related costs.” http://www.jointogether.org/gv/news/alerts/reader/0,2061,575196,00.html

‘RAF Women Suffer Abuse’ 1/23/05 “Almost half of women serving in the Royal Air Force have been sexually harassed, it has been claimed. Military research carried out last year revealed more than 1,000 women have endured such abuse over the past 12 months. Most of them were said to have been groped or subjected to sexually explicit remarks or gestures, – although only half made a complaint.” http://www.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30100-1168285,00.html

‘I reported the rape within 30 minutes – then watched my career implode’ Suzanne Goldenberg reports on the scandal of unpunished sexual assault within the US army 10/25/04 The Guardian “”As of September this year, the Miles Foundation had received credible reports of rape or sexual assault (in the period August 2002 to August 2003) from 243 women serving in the US military in Iraq, Kuwait, Bahrain and Afghanistan. An additional 431 instances of assault were reported elsewhere.” “”…the US military has become notorious as an institution reluctant to confront a culture of abuse. Since 1991, when 83 women were assaulted at the annual Tailhook pilots’ convention, the Pentagon has had ample evidence of the abuse of women within the ranks. In 2002, a civilian rape-crisis centre near Sheppard air base in Texas saw two dozen new recruits who were victims of assaults. Last year, the national air force academy was shaken by reports from women cadets of rape and humiliation that went unpunished by their superiors. During the last Gulf war, 8% of women sent overseas were sexually assaulted or raped, according to a study by researchers for the Department of Veterans’ Affairs. Other surveys of women soldiers have confirmed the trend; sexual assault is widespread, and there are rarely consequences for the assailant. According to the Miles Foundation, fewer than 3% of reported assaults result in courts martial, let alone punishment.” http://www.guardian.co.uk/g2/story/0,3604,1335105,00.html

Two Belarussian Men Face U.S. Child Porn Charges 1/11/05 Washington (Reuters) “Two men from Belarus have been extradited to the United States to face charges in a child pornography case spanning the globe, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Bureau said on Tuesday. Yahor Zalatarou, 26, and Alexei Buchnev, 27, both of Minsk, provided Internet billing services to 50 child pornography Web sites and ran similar Web sites on their own, Customs said. Billing records of their company, Regpay Co., have led to the child pornography arrests of 1,000 people around the world including nearly 200 in the United States, Customs said.” http://story.news.yahoo.com/

from LMS Ottawa police make child porn arrests 1/18/05 “Ottawa – Eight men face charges in what police in Ottawa are calling the largest child pornography seizure in the city’s history. Fourteen computers were seized, along with thousands of pieces of storage media in the form of CDs and DVDs, which in turn contained tens of thousands of child pornography images and movies.” http://www.cbc.ca/story/canada/national/2005/01/17/porn050117.html?print

Rights of Victims of Crime by State http://crime.about.com/od/victimsrightsbystate/

Conferences

Survivorship announces the Third Annual East Coast Conference on Ritualistic Abuse. It will be held on Saturday, June 4, 2005 at the Friends Meeting House in Northampton, MA. Speakers include Dana Raphael, who organizes the presentations on ritualistic torture/abuse at the United Nations, and Father Paul Desmarais, who works with teenaged satanists. Survivors will speak on aspects of their healing and there will be facilitated small discussion groups. Mary Angeles will share Celtic and Russian songs of hope and healing. For more information, contact jeannie@survivorship.org or see http://www.survivorship.org/westconf.html

Mind Control and Experimentation

Pro-Masonic Information on a Masonic Lodge is available at http://www.aw22.org/ Graphics may be heavy for survivors

describes abuse – Satanic Murders ‘Tip Of Iceberg’ – Catholic Church By Nicholas Rigillo The Age – Australia 1-5-05 (DPA) “The Beasts of Satan, a gang of misguided youths from Milan, dance in a forest, their feet treading heavily on the makeshift grave of two friends they have just brutally murdered. In the nearby town of Chiavenna, three teenage girls decide to stab and beat a nun to death as part of a macabre Satanic rite. “We were bored and wanted to do something different,” one of the girls later tells police. These recent episodes have shocked an entire Italian nation, not least the experienced magistrates called in to investigate. But as far as the Roman Catholic Church is concerned, they are merely the most visible tip of a profane pyramid which sees at its base millions of superstitious, gullible and ultimately desperate people who seek to put themselves out of their miseries by resorting to Satanism, witchcraft and the world of the occult.” http://www.theage.com.au/

Italy’s ‘Beasts of Satan’ Face Murder Trial – Eight members of a group allegedly involved in devil worship and drugs are charged in three killings. The Vatican takes notice. By Tracy Wilkinson 1/30/05 (from the L.A. Times)Milan, Italy “The remains were unearthed northwest of here, from a 6-foot pit of dirt and bones. The accused killers called themselves the Beasts of Satan. A 27-year-old named Andrea Volpe led investigators to the wooded site where police say he and his accomplices beat and stabbed two teenagers, then buried their bodies in what officials describe as a ritualistic human sacrifice. The deeds attributed to Volpe and those accused with him have shocked and riveted Italians, increasingly terrified about the purported growth of satanic cults in this Roman Catholic country.” http://www.newsday.com/

Rebel Mormon’s memoir ignites a furor – Accusations: Author Martha Nibley Beck claims her father, a respected LDS intellectual, abused her By Peggy Fletcher Stack The Salt Lake Tribune 2/5/05 “A daughter of famed Mormon intellectual Hugh Nibley has accused him of ritually abusing her as a 5-year-old, possibly wearing some kind of Egyptian garb and imitating the sacrifice of the biblical Abraham. Martha Nibley Beck makes this and a host of other allegations against her aged father, mother, siblings, Brigham Young University, Mormons in general as well as leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in an explosive new book, Leaving the Saints: How I Lost the Mormons and Found My Faith.” http://www.sltrib.com/search/ci_2555256

article describes abuse – From The Canadian Panel on Violence Against Women (1993), Changing the Landscape : Ending Violence – Achieving Equality (pp 45 – 47) (Ottawa Ministry of Supply and Service – Canada) (ISBN 0-660-1514BB) Has information on ritual abuse in Canada http://www.ritualabusetorture.org/nationalpanel.zip

CIA agrees to release records detailing ties to former Nazis Douglas Jehl, New York Times 2/7/05 “Washington — Under pressure from Congress, the Central Intelligence Agency has formally agreed to a broad new interpretation of a 1998 law that requires disclosure of classified records related to Nazi war criminals, a CIA document shows.” http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/02/07/MNGU8B72US1.DTL
Documents reveal CIA recruited five of Eichmann’s associates by Yossi Melman, Haaretz Correspondent “Five of Adolph Eichmann’s Nazi assistants were recruited and employed by the Central Intelligence Agency after World War II, according to recently declassified intelligence documents. The information came to light after a lengthy battle waged by the non-profit group, The National Security Archive, whose goal is to expose government documents under the framework of the Freedom of Information Act. The newly-revealed documents are based on internal investigations in the CIA’s history department. The agency has steadfastly refused to make the documents public for fear they would cause embarrassment.” http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/536364.html

C.I.A. Said to Rebuff Congress on Nazi Files by Douglas Jehl – The New York Times 1/30/05 Washington “The Central Intelligence Agency is refusing to provide hundreds of thousands of pages of documents sought by a government working group under a 1998 law that requires full disclosure of classified records related to Nazi war criminals, say Congressional officials from both parties. Under the law, the C.I.A. has already provided more than 1.2 million pages of documents, the vast majority of them from the archives of its World War II predecessor, the Office of Strategic Services. Many documents have been declassified, and some made public last year showed a closer relationship between the United States government and Nazi war criminals than had previously been understood, including the C.I.A.’s recruitment of war criminal suspects or Nazi collaborators. For nearly three years, the C.I.A. has interpreted the 1998 law narrowly and rebuffed requests for additional records, say Congressional officials and some members of the working group, who also contend that that stance seems to violate the law.” http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/013005B.shtml

CIA urged to release Nazi records 2/1/05 “The CIA has been urged to release documents about Nazi war criminals hired by US intelligence officials during the Cold War era. The call comes from members of Congress who drew up the 1998 public disclosure law, which requires declassification of all documents about the Holocaust. They say the CIA is withholding details of people it recruited after World War II for their expertise. Released documents show links between US intelligence and Nazi war criminals. The CIA has contributed 1.25 million pages of documents, of more than eight million, released under the 1998 law. One former Nazi known to have been employed by Western intelligence was Klaus Barbie, the infamous “Butcher of Lyon”. He was eventually convicted of crimes against humanity by a French court. The law’s authors – Senator Mike DeWine and Representative Carolyn Maloney – believe the CIA is withholding further details on the Nazi war criminals, suspects or collaborators that were hired.” http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4225629.stm

The CIA and Nazi War Criminals National Security Archive Posts Secret CIA History Released Under Nazi War Crimes Disclosure Act National Security Archive Electronic Briefing Book No. 146 Edited by Tamara Feinstein 2/4/05 “Washington D.C. – Today the National Security Archive posted the CIA’s secret documentary history of the U.S government’s relationship with General Reinhard Gehlen, the German army’s intelligence chief for the Eastern Front during World War II. At the end of the war, Gehlen established a close relationship with the U.S. and successfully maintained his intelligence network (it ultimately became the West German BND) even though he employed numerous former Nazis and known war criminals. The use of Gehlen’s group, according to the CIA history, Forging an Intelligence Partnership: CIA and the Origins of the BND, 1945-49…” http://www2.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB146/index.htm

In the Matter of Josef Mengele – A Report to the Attorney General of the United States http://www.usdoj.gov/criminal/publicdocs/11-1prior/crm12.pdf

Information on the OSS is available at : http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/oss/art03.htm

Murder and Suicide Reviving Claims of Child Abuse in Cult By Laurie Goodstein 1/15/05 “But Mr. Rodriguez’s murder-suicide is reviving accusations by former members about routine physical, emotional and sexual abuse that they say they experienced as children. There is evidence of the practices in documents that the cult’s leaders consider so damaging that they acknowledge they twice sent out “purge notices” to their followers with explicit directions about which pages to burn, which photographs to white-out….Mr. Rodriguez recorded a videotape the night before he killed Ms. Smith and committed suicide. The video, which was provided to The New York Times by Mr. Rodriguez’s wife, was taped in his apartment in Tucson and shows him loading a gun and showing off other weapons. He said he saw himself as a vigilante avenging children like him and his sisters who had been subject to rapes and beatings. “There’s this need that I have,” he said. “It’s not a want. It’s a need for revenge. It’s a need for justice, because I can’t go on like this.” Mr. Rodriguez is not the only suicide among people reared in the Children of God. Some former members who keep in touch with one another through a Web site, movingon.org, say that in the last 13 years at least 25 young people reared in the cult have committed suicide. In response to questions, the Family strongly insisted in an e-mail message from Ms. Borowik that the formers members were intentionally inflating the count by including accidents, overdoses and people who are alive. For the Family International, the latest murder-suicide threatens to revive a past that Ms. Borowik said she thought the organization had put behind it. The Family announced in 1986 that it had changed its guidelines and would excommunicate anyone who had sexual contact with children, she said.” http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/15/national/15cult.html?ex=1106793118&ei=1&en=be46e7ca030f2580

IRS documents show ties between charity, sex cult – Tax-exempt foundation that raises money for projects around world denies links to sect Don Lattin 2/6/05 Dulzura, San Diego County “Internal Revenue Service documents filed by the Family Care Foundation, a not-for-profit charity in Southern California, show deep, ongoing ties between the organization and the Family, the evangelical sex cult rocked by a recent murder-suicide. But officials with the Family Care Foundation deny any connection to the controversial cult.” http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2005/02/06/MNGJ4B6UE31.DTL

Website for the Children of the Children of God – with information on the group http://movingon.org/

article describes violence – Deaths in the Family – Common thread of sexual, spiritual abuse among cult defectors who killed themselves Don Lattin, 1/27/05 “New attention has been focused on the suicide rate among children of the Children of God since a Jan. 8 murder-suicide of two leading members. Leaders of the sect founded in the late 1960s by Oakland native David “Moses” Berg and now known as the Family International acknowledge that there have been at least 10 suicides over the past 13 years by those in that group who have left the Family, but defectors say the number is much higher.” http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2005/01/27/MNG8MB16Q51.DTL

Fringe Group at Center of Deaths – Murder-suicide by a former member brings unwanted attention to a Christian ministry known as the Family by Larry B. Stammer “Almost 20 years after a fringe religious group renounced practices that included child sexual abuse and incest, a murder-suicide carried out in two states has brought the group’s sordid past back to the fore. Last week, Richard P. Rodriguez, 29, the disaffected son of Karen Zerby, current leader of the communal Christian ministry known as the Family, allegedly killed longtime group member Angela M. Smith, 51, in his Tucson, Ariz., apartment. Then, after driving to Blythe, he apparently took his own life. In a videotape recorded a day before the deaths, Rodriguez described his desire to exact revenge for an isolated childhood in which he was routinely sexually abused.” “Roselle and other former Family members were quick to say they didn’t condone murder. All said they mourned the death of Rodriguez and Smith.” http://www.latimes.com/

California Murder-suicide case in desert evangelical sex cult – Sect heir apparent, woman who reared him are found dead Don Lattin 1/11/05 “Police in Arizona and California said they are investigating an apparent murder-suicide involving the son of Maria David, the prophet and spiritual leader of the Family, an international evangelical sex cult previously known as the Children of God. Early Sunday morning, the body of Richard P. Rodriguez, 29, was found behind the wheel of a car in an industrial area in Blythe, a Riverside County town in the Mojave Desert on the Arizona border. Rodriguez, known as “Davidito” when he was growing up in the Children of God, had been groomed as a child to be the heir apparent of the sect, founded in the late 1960s by the late David “Moses” Berg.” http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/01/11/BAGNFAO7MI1.DTL

San Jose Mercury News, 7/24/88 Child Abuse at the Presidio – the Parents’ Agony, the Army’s Coverup, the Prosecution’s Failure. Were children really being sexually abused at the Presidio? The Army didn’t want to believe it. The prosecution didn’t think they could make a jury believe it. But the parents believe it. Army of the Night By Linda Goldston “Even before Joyce Tobin arrived at the Day Care Center on Nov. 14, 1986, she suspected that something was wrong. Her neighbor Karen Thomas had just called to say that Joyce’s 3 year old son had begged to go home with her when she picked up her own youngster at the Child Development Center that morning. Joyce’s son had said he didn’t want to stay for day care after his preschool class ended.” http://www.outpost-of-freedom.com/aquino01.htm

A Dark Chapter In Medical History 2/9/05 – Sonoma State Hospital, which housed 3,500 students, was the largest institution for children in California. (CBS) Karen Alves was just 10 when she lost her baby brother, Mark Dal Molin, in 1961. “Karen found a study funded by the federal government involving 1,100 Sonoma State cerebral palsy patients from 1955-1960. One document she also found showed that her brother had been part of the study, assigned Specimen #8732. Karen wasn’t able to find out what tests, if any, Mark was subjected to. But some of the patients in the Sonoma State study were put through painful procedures like the pneumoencelphalogram, in which air is injected into the brain before a series of X-rays.” http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/02/09/60II/main672701.shtml

The future of lying By Chris Summers BBC News “As the British government unveils plans to make lie detector tests mandatory for convicted paedophiles, some scientists in the US are working on more advanced technology which might be better equipped at detecting deception. ..The US Department of Defense has given Dr Jennifer Vendemia a $5m grant to work on her theory that by monitoring brainwaves she can detect whether someone is lying. She claims the system has an accuracy of between 94% and 100% and is an improvement on the existing polygraph tests, which rely on heart rate and blood pressure, respiratory rate and sweatiness.” http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/4169313.stm

Sound technology turns the way you hear on its ear By Kevin Maney, San Diego “….American Technology Corp. (ATC) here for a demonstration of its invention called HyperSonic Sound (HSS). Essentially, HSS for the first time does for sound what the laser did for light — intensely focuses and channels it so it can travel great distances without dispersing. In the demo, a technician points a speaker the size of a cereal box at someone standing 100 yards away. Amid the din of the nearby freeway, the technician plays a recording of ice cubes clinking into a glass. To the listener, the sound comes across as if it were through headphones, totally unlike a sound blaring from a distant speaker over oppressive car noise. Take two steps to the side, out of the sound beam, and you hear nothing at all. Step back in, and there it is again.” http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/techinnovations/2003-05-19-hss_x.htm

Journal Articles

Many of the journal abstract excerpts and quotes in this section of the newsletter came from the backlash_ology@yahoogroups.com listed as BO For info. write backlash_ology-owner@yahoogroups.com

Got Parts? An insider’s guide to managing life successfully with Dissociative Identity Disorder is now available from Loving Healing Press, 5145 Pontiac Trail, Ann Arbor, MI 48105 info@Lovinghealing.com ISBN 1-932690-03-4

Eating disorders often follow childhood anxiety disorders 12/17/04 “A history of childhood-onset anxiety disorders appears to be common among people with eating disorders, report researchers who suggest that they may be a risk factor for anorexia and bulimia nervosa. It has previously been indicated that eating disorders often co-exist with other psychological problems, such as anxiety and depression, observe Walter Kaye (University of Pittsburgh Medical Center in Pennsylvania, USA) and colleagues.” http://www.psychiatrysource.com/psychsource/News/article1120.htm

Sundance Film Festival – Sadness, Rage: ‘Twist of Faith’ Evokes Strong Emotions by Christopher Borrelli 1/26/05 Park City, Utah “Tony Comes, a Toledo firefighter who filed a lawsuit against the Toledo Catholic Diocese in 2002 alleging that former Toledo priest Dennis Gray sexually molested him when Mr. Comes was a teenager. And that scene, one of a number of harrowing moments of blunt force, plays out in Twist of Faith, the Oscar-nominated documentary about the Toledo Catholic Diocese sex-abuse scandal that debuted here at the Sundance Film Festival last weekend.” http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050126/ART09/501260321/-1/ART

Am J Psychiatry 161:2271-2276, December 2004 Childhood Trauma, Dissociation, and Psychiatric Comorbidity in Patients With Conversion Disorder Vedat Sar, M.D., Gamze Akyüz, M.D., Turgut Kundakçi, M.D., Emre Kiziltan, M.D., and Orhan Dogan, M.D. OBJECTIVE: “The aim of this study was to evaluate dissociative disorder and overall psychiatric comorbidity in patients with conversion disorder….At least one psychiatric diagnosis was found in 89.5% of the patients during the follow-up evaluation. Undifferentiated somatoform disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, dysthymic disorder, simple phobia, obsessive-compulsive disorder, major depression, and dissociative disorder not otherwise specified were the most prevalent psychiatric disorders. A dissociative disorder was seen in 47.4% of the patients. These patients had dysthymic disorder, major depression, somatization disorder, and borderline personality disorder more frequently than the remaining subjects. They also reported childhood emotional and sexual abuse, physical neglect, self-mutilative behavior, and suicide attempts more frequently.” http://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/content/abstract/161/12/2271?maxtoshow=&HITS=10&hits=10&RESULTFORMAT=&searchid=1104275991304_4554&stored_search=&FIRSTINDEX=0&minscore=5000&journalcode=ajp

from BO Transfer of newly acquired stimulus valence between identities in dissociative identity disorder (DID). Huntjens RJ, Peters ML, Postma A, Woertman L, Effting M, van der Hart O. Behav Res Ther 2005 Feb; 43(2):243-55. “Patients with Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) frequently report episodes of interidentity amnesia, that is amnesia for events experienced by other identities. The goal of the present experiment was to test the implicit transfer of trauma-related information between identities in DID. We hypothesized that whereas declarative information may transfer from one identity to another, the emotional connotation of the memory may be dissociated, especially in the case of negative, trauma-related emotional valence. An evaluative conditioning procedure was combined with an affective priming procedure, both performed by different identities. In the evaluative conditioning procedure, previously neutral stimuli come to refer to a negative or positive connotation. The affective priming procedure was used to test the transfer of this acquired valence to an identity reporting interidentity amnesia. Results indicated activation of stimulus valence in the affective priming task, that is transfer of emotional material between identities.” Department of Clinical Psychology, Faculty of Social Sciences, Utrecht University, P.O. Box 80.140, Utrecht 3508 TC, The Netherlands.

Ban on smacking comes into force 1/15/05 “Parents in England and Wales who smack children so hard it leaves a mark will face up to five years in jail under new laws in force from Saturday. Mild smacking is allowed under a “reasonable chastisement” defence against common assault. But any punishment which causes visible bruising, grazes, scratches, minor swellings or cuts can face action.” http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4175905.stm

Psychiatric News January 21, 2005 Volume 40 Number 2 © 2005 American Psychiatric Association p. 53 Clinical & Research News Short-Term Psychodynamic Therapy Found Effective in Several Disorders by Mark Moran “Effect sizes were significant for a wide range of psychiatric conditions including depression, substance abuse, eating disorders, and personality disorders, among others. A meta-analysis of more than 30 years of randomized controlled trials of short-term psychodynamic psychotherapy (STPP) found it effective for treatment of psychiatric disorders.” http://pn.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/content/full/40/2/53-a?etoc

Abused women less likely to be in stable relationships 1/21/05 Plebius Press “A new study of more than 2,500 women shows that poor women who have been abused sexually or physically are less likely to maintain stable relationships. The study, conducted by sociologists at Johns Hopkins University and Penn State found that the women want fair treatment and companionship from their partners. Many who were abused as adults have decided to avoid marriage and cohabitation. Those sexually abused as children were less likely to completely avoid relationships; they tended to engage in numerous short-term abusive relationships. Although there is no indication of increased abuse rates, more women may be postponing intimate relationships….The researchers surveyed 2,402 hispanic, black and white women in Boston, Chicago and San Antonio. An addition 256 women were studied in-depth for several years. All of the women studied were the primary caregivers of at least one child. Fifty-two percent of women reported being physically or sexually abused at some point during their lives. Twenty-four percent said they were sexually abused during childhood or adolescence. Forty-two percent of women who had never been abused were married at the time of the survey, compared to 22 percent of women who had ever been abused. Of the 256 women studied in depth, one-sixth — many of whom had been physically abused as adults — said they were taking a timeout from intimate relationships with men….The study was published in the January 21 issue of American Sociological Review.” http://www.plebius.org/article.php?article=730

PEDIATRICS Vol. 111 No. 3 March 2003, pp. 564-572 Childhood Abuse, Neglect, and Household Dysfunction and the Risk of Illicit Drug Use: The Adverse Childhood Experiences Study – Shanta R. Dube, MPH, Vincent J. Felitti, MD, Maxia Dong, MD, PhD, Daniel P. Chapman, PhD, Wayne H. Giles, MD and Robert F. Anda, MD ….”Methods. We examined the relationship between illicit drug use and 10 categories of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and total number of ACEs (ACE score). A retrospective cohort study of 8613 adults who attended a primary care clinic in California completed a survey about childhood abuse, neglect, and household dysfunction; illicit drug use; and other health-related issues…..Results. Each ACE increased the likelihood for early initiation 2- to 4-fold. The ACE score had a strong graded relationship to initiation of drug use in all 3 age categories as well as to drug use problems, drug addiction, and parenteral drug use. Compared with people with 0 ACEs, people with 5 ACEs were 7- to 10-fold more likely to report illicit drug use problems, addiction to illicit drugs, and parenteral drug use. The attributable risk fractions as a result of ACEs for each of these illicit drug use problems were 56%, 64%, and 67%, respectively. For each of the 4 birth cohorts examined, the ACE score also had a strong graded relationship to lifetime drug use.” http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/content/abstract/111/3/564

Children face same social problems as they did 100 years ago Zosia Kmietowicz London (BMJ  2005;330:163 (22 January), doi:10.1136/bmj.330.7484.163-a) “Too many children in the United Kingdom continue to face many of the same problems today that they did 100 years ago, says a report from UK children’s charity Barnardo’s. These include poverty, neglect, abuse, and discrimination. Vulnerability to sexual exploitation is just one of the many problems that were around in 1905, when Dr Thomas Barnardo died, says the report, compiled to mark the centenary of the founder’s death. But modern society has produced new ways in which children can be exploited–for example, via new technologies, such as the internet and mobile phones. According to the report, Then and Now, child poverty rates last year were 54% in inner London and 17% across the United Kingdom as a whole. When children are poor, they are more vulnerable to abuse and discrimination as well as marginalisation by society in general, it says.” http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/full/330/7484/163-a?ecoll

Corroboration and Accuracy of Recovered Memories – An Annotated Bibliography is at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/psnews/message/1558

from BO Traumatic impact predicts long-term memory for documented child sexual abuse. Alexander KW, Quas JA, Goodman GS, Ghetti S, Edelstein RS, Redlich AD, Cordon IM, Jones DP. Psychol Sci. 2005 Jan; 16(1):33-40. “Prospective studies of adults’ memories of documented child sexual abuse (CSA) reveal that the majority of individuals remember their victimization. However, the accuracy of these memories has rarely been investigated scientifically. The present study examined predictors of memory accuracy and errors 12 to 21 years after abuse ended for individuals with legal experiences resulting from documented CSA. Severity of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptomatology was positively associated with memory accuracy. However, individuals nominating CSA as their most traumatic life event exhibited relatively accurate memory regardless of indicators of PTSD. Predictors of memory errors were also identified (e.g., less maternal support). These results indicate that, in addition to understanding the role of traditional cognitive factors, understanding an event’s traumatic impact is important for predicting the accuracy of long-term memory for reported CSA.” California State University, Sacramento.

two from BO Etiology of borderline personality disorder: Disentangling the contributions of intercorrelated antecedents. Bradley R, Jenei J, Westen D. J Nerv Ment Dis. 2005 Jan; 193(1):24-31 “A national sample of randomly selected psychologists and psychiatrists described 524 adult patients with personality disorders. Family environment, parental psychopathology, and history of abuse all independently predicted BPD symptoms in multiple regression analyses. Sexual abuse contributed to the prediction of BPD symptoms over and above family environment, although family environmental factors such as instability partially mediated the effect.” Department of Psychology and Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia.

Comparing dissociation and PTSD in sexually abused school-aged girls. Collin-Vezina D, Hebert M. J Nerv Ment Dis. 2005 Jan; 193(1):47-52. “The aim of this study was to assess and contrast dissociation and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms in a group of sexually abused school-aged girls compared with a matched group….On the basis of a multivariate design, abuse severity indicators, namely, penetration, relationship to perpetrator (intrafamilial versus extrafamilial abuse), and chronicity, did not prove predictive of dissociation symptoms. The least and the most severe forms of childhood sexual abuse both increase dissociative symptoms. The data indicate also that intrafamilial abuse and chronicity do not predict PTSD. However, abuse involving intrusive acts (penetration) does predict PTSD symptoms. Implications for intervention and further research are discussed.” Universite du Quebec a Montreal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

From BO Hysterical amnesia treated by hypnosis Izner SM, Goldman J, Leiser R Dis Nerv System 14: 313-15, 1953 “The presence of recent trauma as a precipitating factor in the development of the amnesic state was suggested by the results of the psychological evaluation. This trauma was brought to light with some abreaction during the hypnotic treatment. The patient was treated for the relief of his amnesic symptoms by one deep hypnotic session and supportively thereafter by manipulation of environmental factors. The diagnosis and management of this case illustrates the effectiveness of the interdisciplinary approach and clarifies the value of this type of integration in the treatment of emotional disturbance.”

Impact of childhood abuse on the clinical course of bipolar disorder – JL Garno, JF Goldberg, PM Ramirez, BA Ritzler From the Department of Clinical Psychology, Long Island University, Brooklyn, New York (Garno, Ramirez, Ritzler); and the Bipolar Disorders Research Program, Department of Psychiatry Research, The Zucker Hillside Hospital, Glen Oaks, New York (Goldberg)….Aims: To evaluate the prevalence and subtypes of childhood abuse reported by adult patients with bipolar disorder and relationship to clinical outcome. Method: Prevalence rates of childhood abuse were retrospectively assessed and examined relative to illness complexity in a sample of 100 patients at an academic specialty centre for the treatment of bipolar disorder. Results: Histories of severe childhood abuse were identified in about half of the sample and were associated with early age at illness onset. Abuse subcategories were strongly inter-related. Severe emotional abuse was significantly associated with lifetime substance misuse comorbidity and past-year rapid cycling. Logistic regression indicated a significant association between lifetime suicide attempts and severe childhood sexual abuse. Multiple forms of abuse showed a graded increase in risk for both suicide attempts and rapid cycling. Conclusion: Severe childhood trauma appears to have occurred in about half of patients with bipolar disorder, and may lead to more complex psychopathological manifestations. Source: Br J Psychiatry 2005; 186 (2): 121-125 http://www.bipolarnews.org/

J Child Sex Abus. 2004;13(1):17-38 Childhood sexual and physical abuse and adult vulnerability to PTSD: the mediating effects of attachment and dissociation. Twaite JA, Rodriguez-Srednicki O. Neurodynamics, Inc., Tenafly, New Jersey, USA. JIMTWAITE@AOL.COM Two hundred and eighty-four adults from the metropolitan New York area reported on their history of childhood sexual abuse (CSA), childhood physical abuse (CPA), and on the nature of their exposure to the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center. The respondents also completed the Impact of Events Scale-Revised (IES-R), the Attachment Style Questionnaire (ASQ) and the Dissociative Experiences Scale (DES). Those reporting histories of CSA and/or CPA were found to endorse more serious symptoms of PTSD, as did those who witnessed the terrorist attack live. The presence of secure attachments and dissociative symptoms were related significantly to both CSA and CPA, and to scores on the IES-R. Adult attachment and dissociation were found to mediate the relationship between childhood abuse and severity of PTSD.

Competent Testimony Requires Competent Interviewers – Children Can Provide Accurate Details of Abuse When Asked Properly by Brian L. Weaver APS Director of Communications “In cases of abuse, children are often the only source of evidence. Police officers, judges, juries, and lawyers frequently doubt the reliability of information provided by children. But the accuracy and credibility of a child’s testimony may actually hinge on the competence of the adult interviewer.” http://www.psychologicalscience.org/observer/getArticle.cfm?id=1688

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