Issue 62 – May 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 62 – May 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.
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
Legal Information
Ex-pastor pleads guilty to possessing child porn – Prosecutors won’t request jail time By J. Harry Jones Union-tribune Staff Writer 2/11/05 “The former pastor of a Point Loma Roman Catholic church pleaded guilty yesterday to 10 misdemeanor counts of possession of child pornography. The Rev. Gary Holtey, 59, will be sentenced at a hearing scheduled for March 10 by Superior Court Commissioner Sandra L. Berry. Prosecutors said they will not ask that Holtey be sentenced to jail.” Http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/20050211-9999-7m11priest.html
Convicted pedophile priest James Porter dies at 70 2/11/05 By Ken Maguire – Boston (AP) “Former priest James Porter, whose widespread molestation of dozens of children foreshadowed the clergy sex abuse scandal that swept the Roman Catholic church, died Friday….Porter pleaded guilty in 1993 to molesting 28 children, but once told a television reporter he molested as many as 100 children during his time as a priest in the 1960s and early 1970s in the Fall River Diocese.” http://wbz1030.com/
Sins of the father: James Porter claims that his life as a pedophile ended when he left the priesthood Chuck Haga and Paul McEnroe 2/15/05 – Originally published 7/19/92 “…the other James Porter. The man who had molested children, raped them in school, at their homes, in campgrounds, in church. In his church, where he was a priest. On the altar, in the rectory, beneath a statue of the Virgin Mary. More than 80 boys and girls, at least, in Minnesota and on the East Coast. With several suits filed and more likely, it could become the most damaging case of priest pedophilia in the United States….I realized that I had been molested as a child. I had repressed the memory all those years.” Fitzpatrick entered therapy. Over the course of weeks, his recollections became more detailed. He saw himself at 12, an altar boy at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in North Attleboro, Mass. He remembered a man who had offered to take him and other boys to a Boston Celtics basketball game but instead took them to his home in Revere, Mass. He remembered rum-flavored mincemeat pie. He remembered being raped. He remembered Father Porter.” http://www.startribune.com/stories/462/5240618.html
Ex-Priest Is Sentenced to 12 to 15 Years for Sex Abuse in Massachusetts By AP 2/15/05 “Boston (AP) Defrocked priest Paul Shanley, whose crimes shook the Roman Catholic Church, was sentenced to 12 to 15 years in prison on child rape charges….Shanley became a central figure in the sex scandal in Boston after plaintiffs’ attorneys forced the church to release his personnel records. The documents indicated he was transferred from parish to parish despite allegations of abuse.”” http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/national/AP-Church-Abuse-Shanley.html
Diocese, insurance company to settle – Firm will cover part of $85m abuse cost By Michael Paulson 3/8/05 Boston Globe “The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston has reached a settlement with one of its two major insurance carriers to cover a portion of the cost of the $85 million settlement with 541 victims of clergy sexual abuse, the archdiocese said yesterday. The archdiocese declined to describe the size of its settlement with the Lumbermen’s Mutual Casualty Co., but two people familiar with the terms of the deal put it at $20 million.” http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2005/03/08/diocese_insurance_company_to_settle/
List of Accused Priests Who Worked in New Hampshire Parishes and Schools http://www.bishop-accountability.org/NH-Manchester/#priests#priests
Trusted Priest Inflicted ‘Horrific’ Sex Abuse on Boy By Jan Colley, PA 3/15/05 “A man whose psychiatric illness was caused by prolonged and horrific sexual abuse by his trusted parish priest launched a High Court damages action today. The 34-year-old, one of seven children from a devout and successful Catholic family, suffers from both schizophrenia and post traumatic stress disorder and is unable to work. Only identified as A for legal reasons, he is one of a number of individuals who allegedly suffered at the hands of Father Christopher Clonan, who served at Christ the King Roman Catholic Church in Coundon, Coventry for 20 years.”http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=4258741
Psychiatric report in ’02 advised restriction from kids Gary Craig 3/15/05 “Counselors at a Maryland psychiatric center for priests recommended in a 2002 report to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Rochester that the Rev. Michael Volino should be restricted from ministry involving children. The counselors also cautioned against allowing Volino, a Greece-based priest, to work in schools and recommended that he have no unsupervised contact with children. These recommendations, also included in the report by St. Luke’s Institute, a church-run facility outside Washington in Silver Spring, Md., apparently did not deter the diocese from permitting Volino to continue as a practicing priest within the Monroe County community. But now, with Volino’s recent arrest on child pornography charges…” http://www.democratandchronicle.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050315/NEWS01/503150323/1003
Priest nabbed in porn inquiry – FBI says cleric had hundreds of pictures of children on computer Gary Craig 3/11/05 “Federal prosecutors charged the Rev. Michael Volino, 41, with interstate transport of child pornography and possession of child pornography. They allege that he had hundreds of images of child pornography on a computer.” http://www.democratandchronicle.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050311/NEWS01/503110347/1002/NEWS
February 18 – 24, 2005 Ex Cathedra: Loftus’ Luster Lost Controversial professor is latest UCI employee associated with pedo-priests by Gustavo Arellano “For years, attorneys for the damned have called upon UC Irvine Professor Elizabeth Loftus to save their clients’ asses. And save asses she did–Loftus signed on with numerous defense teams and earned a reputation as an academic get-out-of-jail-free card. Her job: share with jurors her controversial research that argues memory can be manipulated, that sexual abuse isn’t something that the human mind can merely seal into some dark crevasse, that repressed memories are–as her most-famous book states–a “myth.” More often than not, individuals who hired Loftus successfully fought off criminal and civil cases. A short list includes the McMartin Preschool folks, professors accused of bio-terrorism and scads of dads suspected of raping their daughters. But her tenure as a star defense witness may be over. On Feb. 7, a jury in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, found Loftus’ most-recent client, former priest Paul Shanley, guilty on two counts of child rape and two counts of indecent assault and battery on a child under 14. Last week, Shanley received his sentence: 10 to 15 years in prison….According to Middlesex County District Attorney Martha Coakley, lead prosecutor Lynn Rooney combed through hours of previous Loftus testimony for other cases, looking for discrepancies. Rooney also pored over Loftus’ studies and experiments on the inconsistencies of memory, experiments that Coakley dismissed as “fairly trivial kinds of manipulation with memories.”….”But she wasn’t at the [Shanley] trial to talk about the victim; she was there to talk as an expert,” Coakley continued. “And her studies just weren’t applicable to these facts [in the case].” During cross-examination, Rooney devastated the work of Loftus. Rooney asked the professor why, in prior depositions, she admitted that people could repress memories yet was now insisting otherwise. Loftus then admitted to the jury that her celebrated experiments have never used memories involving deep trauma due to ethics concerns.” http://www.ocweekly.com/printme.php?&eid=61269
Shreddin’! Other Catholic diocese have destroyed incriminating priest personnel files. Why not Orange? by Gustavo Arellano Vol. 10 No. 29 March 25 – 31, 2005 http://www.ocweekly.com/ink/05/29/ex-arellano.php
Former Indiana priest questioned in Haiti AP 2/25/05 Indianapolis “A former Roman Catholic priest once accused of child sexual abuse in Indiana was detained and questioned this week by police in Haiti amid allegations his residence was used to plan a massive prison break there. Ron Voss…” http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/
Activists failed to disclose ex-priest’s past, U.S. lawmaker says by Brooks Egerton the Dallas Morning News 2/25/05 Dallas – (KRT) “Catholic peace activists failed to disclose the sexually abusive past of one of their key allies in strife-torn Haiti, a prominent U.S. congresswoman said Friday. Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., spoke after she had urged the U.S. ambassador in Haiti to safeguard defrocked American priest Ron Voss, who has been detained twice this week for questioning about a massive jailbreak there. Waters said she learned only later, from a Dallas Morning News report Friday, that Voss had admitted abusing many adolescent boys.” http://www.macon.com/mld/macon/news/nation/10995483.htm
Too much tolerance? Even as U.S. Catholic leaders tout their tougher child abuse policy, some have allowed fallen priests to start over abroad, and some haven’t asked the Vatican to expel them 3/15/05 By Brendan M. Case, Brooks Egerton and Reese Dunklin…”U.S. Catholic leaders say they’ve been doing everything possible to protect children since adopting a “one-strike-and-you’re-out-of-ministry” abuse policy in 2002. Yet some are helping their fallen priests start over abroad. And some aren’t asking the Vatican to defrock these men – the only thing that would prevent foreign bishops from employing them.” http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/religion/stories/031605dnpropriestpage.75451.html
Police search for child porn at rectory 2/13/05 Tobyhanna, Pa. “Police say they have recovered child pornography from at least two computers at a church rectory in Tobyhanna. Investigators say a priest visiting the rectory at Saint Ann’s Roman Catholic Church has admitted to downloading and viewing the images, but has not been charged.” Http://www.wnep.com/Global/story.asp?S=2937799
Settlement in alleged N.J. priest abuse AP 2/15/05 Morristown, N.J. “Over two dozen men who claimed they were molested as boys by Roman Catholic priests have reached a $5 million settlement with the Diocese of Paterson, their lawyer announced…” http://www.newsday.com/
from LMS As trials near, talks pick up in church sex scandal – Don Lattin 3/3/05 “a pedophilia scandal that could soon cost the Catholic Church in the Bay Area more than $100 million. O’Shea, now 72, has been jailed, released, defrocked, convicted of embezzling church funds, jailed again, released again and repeatedly sued over the past decade. Dozens more Northern California priests have been accused of child sexual abuse and removed from public ministry.” http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2005/03/03/MNGC9BJM311.DTL
from LMS Oakland Seminary Housing Sex Offender Priests 11/28/04 “The head of the Dominican’s Western Province confirms that seven priests who admit sexually abusing children now live at St. Albert’s and in a house nearby. Their victims include young children and teens, boys and girls. The incidents happened as long as 30 years ago, and as recently as 1999.” http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/news/iteam/print_112804_iteam_seminary.html
Trial begins in case of boys who accuse priest of molestation By Terence Chea, 3/28/05 Hayward, Calif. (AP) “The Roman Catholic Diocese of Oakland practiced a policy of secrecy, negligence and disregard for children’s safety that led to the sexual abuse of two altar boys more than 20 years ago, a plaintiffs’ attorney argued Monday at the start of a civil trial that could influence hundreds of similar cases throughout California.” http://www.fresnobee.com/
S.F. Archdiocese Admits Negligence in Abuse Cases 3/29/05 By Jean Guccione, LA Times Staff Writer – San Francisco “The San Francisco Archdiocese acknowledged in court Monday that it had failed to thoroughly investigate a sex-abuse complaint against a priest in 1977, an unusual admission that comes as it and the Oakland Diocese face trials this week brought by alleged victims. Both cases are receiving statewide attention because they are among the first to come to trial since the Catholic Church was hit by the abuse scandal three years ago. Legal experts said the amount of the settlements probably would influence the outcomes of more than 700 cases statewide, 544 of which involve the Los Angeles Archdiocese. The San Francisco case involves Father Joseph T. Pritchard, now deceased, who is accused of molesting at least 22 children throughout the 1970s. In a statement read by a judge Monday to prospective jurors, the archdiocese admitted that it did not investigate “thoroughly enough or do enough at that time to protect the children. The statement also acknowledged that three fellow priests “sometimes walked into the room where sexual molestation had been taking place and should have seen enough circumstances to make them suspicious of Father Pritchard’s behavior” and reported it to his superiors.”
Jury awards victim $437,000 from San Jose priest’s sex abuse Lisa Leff Ap 3/25/05 “San Francisco – The Archdiocese of San Francisco was ordered by a jury to pay $437,000 to a California man who says he was repeatedly fondled by a San Jose priest during the 1970s in a ruling that could influence hundreds of potential settlements statewide. The San Francisco County Superior Court jury deliberated on damages for less than five hours Thursday before putting a price on Dennis Kavanaugh’s emotional suffering, troubled personal life and lost wages. The same jurors decided last Friday that the archdiocese was liable for the 47-year-old Kavanaugh’s problems because church officials knew or should have known the late Rev. Joseph Pritchard was abusing young boys.” http://www.sanluisobispo.com/mld/sanluisobispo/news/politics/11222765.htm
also see http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2005/03/25/CLERGY.TMP
San Francisco – Jury awards man $437,000 in molest case He had sued archdiocese over actions of Catholic priest in 1970s Steve Rubenstein and Don Lattin 3/25/05
Jury says SF archdiocese liable for sex abuse Stacy Finz and Don Lattin,3/18/05 “A jury concluded today that the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Francisco knew or should have known that a priest at one of its churches was molesting boys in his parish in the early 1970s. The decision and a jury verdict on damages, which the panel will consider next week, could influence what Catholic dioceses will have to pay to settle 150 to 200 clergy sex-abuse coverup cases that plaintiffs have filed across Northern California. The plaintiff in the case decided today, 47-year-old Dennis Kavanaugh of Palo Alto, was the first person to take one of these lawsuits to trial against the Catholic Church in California since a 2002 state law temporarily lifted the statute of limitations on damage claims against organizations that gave known pedophiles access to more victims.” http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/03/18/churchsuit18.TMP
Church is accused of ‘betrayal of trust – East Bay trial starts in case of alleged abuse of 2 brothers – Don Lattin 3/29/05 “Roman Catholic Church leaders in the East Bay showed “knowing disregard” for the safety of children by transferring a known pedophile priest from parish to parish in the 1970s, a plaintiffs attorney said Monday at the start of a trial in Hayward that could influence the outcomes of hundreds of similar cases throughout California. The Diocese of Oakland’s failure to control the “compulsive sexual rituals” of the Rev. Robert Ponciroli severely damaged the lives of two former Antioch altar boys, Bob and Tom Thatcher, attorney Rick Simons said in his opening statement.” http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2005/03/29/BAG3MBVSEI1.DTL
Northern California – Jury selection begins in East Bay abuse case – Judge restricts grounds on which brothers can sue – Don Lattin,3/15/05 “Jury selection began Monday in a closely watched trial to determine what the Catholic Church should pay for transferring a known pedophile priest from parish to parish in the East Bay. Oakland Bishop Allen Vigneron, the spiritual leader of Roman Catholics in Alameda and Contra Costa counties….Vigneron’s diocese has been sued by two brothers who allege that two previous Oakland prelates — Bishop Emeritus John Cummins and the late Bishop Floyd Begin — negligently exposed them to a known pedophile priest, the Rev. Robert Ponciroli, in the late 1970s and early 1980s.” http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2005/03/15/BAG73BPE821.DTL
Hayward – Church loses on key points, witnesses – Judge in sex-abuse trial rejects bids to limit negative information, testimony by Don Lattin,3/10/05 “Attempts by the Catholic Church to limit evidence and witnesses in a key sexual abuse coverup trial were rejected Wednesday by an East Bay judge. The rulings by Alameda County Superior Court Judge Harry Sheppard put new pressure on the Diocese of Oakland to settle a damages suit by two former altar boys who say church leaders allowed a known pedophile priest to molest them in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Church lawyers have already admitted the diocese was negligent in its 1979 promotion of the Rev. Robert Ponciroli to pastor of St. Ignatius Catholic Church in Antioch. Now the issue is whether the church is guilty of “intentional infliction of emotional distress.” http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2005/03/10/BAG84BN6FN1.DTL
HAYWARD – Church leaders testify in brothers’ abuse trial – Bishop emeritus says allegations weren’t fully investigated by Henry K. Lee, 4/5/05 “Former top officials of the Roman Catholic Oakland Diocese testified Monday that they hadn’t realized the extent of a priest’s sexual abuse and acknowledged that they had reassigned him to a new church without determining whether he had victimized other children. John Cummins, bishop emeritus of the East Bay diocese, acknowledged to a Hayward jury that church officials hadn’t fully investigated allegations involving the Rev. Robert Ponciroli, whom Bob and Tom Thatcher accuse of abusing them in the early 1980s when they were altar boys at St. Ignatius Catholic Church in Antioch.” http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/04/05/BAGMSC35S41.DTL
Mahony, in legal battle, insists church has right to secrecy By Jason Berry, Los Angeles 3/18/05 “Since June 2002, when the scandal-plagued Catholic bishops met in Dallas to adopt a youth protection charter, Cardinal Roger Mahony has cast himself as a reformer, an image that is jarring to many people immersed in the legal saga here in which the archdiocese has waged a fierce battle to keep sensitive documents secret.” http://ncronline.org/NCR_Online/archives2/2005a/031805/031805a.php
Officials: 7 priests’ names sent to Vatican – The Archdiocese of Dubuque says that the men are accused of sexual abuse by AP 3/3/05 “The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Dubuque disclosed Wednesday that it had sent the names of seven Catholic priests accused of sexual abuse to the Vatican for possible punishment….Over the past two years, 34 individuals in the diocese have reported incidents of child sexual abuse by priests, the diocese reported last month. That’s in addition to 67 victims that had previously reported abuse involving 26 priests between 1950 and 2002.” http://www.thonline.com/story_news_iowa.cfm?ID=70001&Email=Yes
Cardinal did not ask Rice to intervene in lawsuit, official says By Carol Glatz, Catholic News Service 3/4/05 Vatican City (CNS) “The Vatican’s secretary of state, Cardinal Angelo Sodano, did not ask U.S. Secretary of State Condeleezza Rice to intervene in a lawsuit against the Vatican, an informed Vatican official told Catholic News Service March 3. The official said that during a Feb. 8 meeting at the Vatican, Cardinal Sodano simply expressed “surprise” over a class-action lawsuit naming the Holy See as the responsible party for the sexual abuse of minors by U.S. clergy.” http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0501286.htm
Vatican asks Condoleezza Rice to help stop a sex abuse lawsuit “A US Catholic newspaper has revealed that Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Angelo Sodano asked his US counterpart Condoleezza Rice to intervene in a sex abuse law suit, during her visit to the Vatican last month. The National Catholic Reporter (NCR) says Cardinal Sodano asked Dr Rice to intervene in a Kentucky law suit that is seeking to hold the Vatican financially responsible for the sexual abuse of minors.” http://www.cathnews.com/news/503/29.php
Vatican asks Condoleezza Rice to help stop a sex abuse lawsuit By John L. Allen Jr. NCR Rome Correspondent 3/3/05 “Alongside predictable exchanges on Iraq, the Middle East and religious liberty, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice in her Feb. 8 visit to the Vatican also received an unexpected request — to intervene in a U.S. lawsuit naming the Holy See as the defendant in a sex abuse case. Church sources told NCR that Rice was asked by Cardinal Angelo Sodano, the Vatican’s Secretary of State, whether the United States government could stop a class-action lawsuit currently before a United States District Court in Louisville, Ky., that seeks to hold the Vatican financially responsible for the sexual abuse of minors…” http://nationalcatholicreporter.org/update/bn030305.htm
18 more report abuse to archdiocese Warren Wolfe, 3/4/05 “Since late 2003, 18 people have told the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis that they were sexually abused as children by priests, nuns and other Catholic church workers, officials said Thursday. Ten of those cases involved priests from the archdiocese who no longer are in active ministry. The most recent case stems from 1980. The others were filed by local people against priests, nuns or monks from elsewhere in the country.” http://www.startribune.com/
Bishops say sex abuse claims top 1,000 By Rachel Zoll, 2/19/05 Washington (AP) “Roman Catholic leaders said Friday they received 1,092 new abuse claims against American priests and deacons last year, even after they had already paid more than $800 million in settlements during the long-running crisis over predatory clergy. Bishops said, however, that the flood of fresh allegations was not a sign abuse was rampant in parishes today. Most of the alleged incidents occurred decades ago and nearly three-quarters of the 756 accused clerics had died, been defrocked or been removed from public ministry before the claims were made in 2004, church leaders said. Still, the financial fallout continues. Kathleen McChesney, head of the bishops’ Office of Child and Youth Protection, said the total payout to victims has now climbed to at least $840 million since 1950.” http://24hour.startribune.com/
Prosecutors looking to beef up sex-abuse case against priest – Victims of alleged assaults asked to come forward By Andy Nelesen anelesen@greenbaypressgazette.com 2/22/05 “Prosecutors Monday filed a motion asking to use evidence of other molestations and crimes against a priest accused of fondling a 10-year-old boy in the 1980s.And police want to hear from anyone who might have had an encounter with Donald Buzanowski….Prosecutors also want jurors to hear that Buzanowski admitted in a letter to a friend that he molested 14 boys, ages 14 to 17, from 1969 to 1988.” http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/news/archive/local_19937492.shtml
Reilly backs ending statute of limitations for child sex abuse AP 3/8/05 Boston “Attorney General Tom Reilly said he will support legislation to eliminate the 15-year statute of limitations for sex-abuse crimes against children. “A predator of a child should never be out of the reach of the law,” Reilly said Saturday in an interview. “If a prosecutor can make a case, and there are victims who are willing and able to make that case, the law should not stand in their way.” http://www.heraldtribune.com/
Statute of Limitations Targeted in Abuse Cases By Jonathan Finer 2/17/05 Boston “The day after the sentencing of one of the most notorious figures in this region’s three-year-old clergy abuse crisis, lawmakers and victims advocates said Wednesday they are building momentum to repeal statutes of limitations that have prevented other abusers from facing lawsuits and prosecution. Under Massachusetts law, rape cases must be brought within 15 years of the incident being reported to law enforcement or, in the case of a child, 15 years of the accuser’s 16th birthday, whichever comes first. Other sex crimes have shorter statutes of limitations. As a result, few priests implicated in the ongoing scandal in the Roman Catholic Church have faced charges, leading to widespread frustration among abuse victims.” http://www.washingtonpost.com/
Violations of church trust Theft cases underscore congregations’ vulnerability 2/13/05 By Chris Meehan cmeehan@kalamazoogazette.com “When the Rev. Brian Lisowski, pastor of St. Bede the Venerable Catholic Church, resigned in July 2004, the Archdiocese of Chicago said it discovered Lisowski had systematically skimmed more than $1 million from the parish in his five years as pastor. The theft was discovered when collections went up dramatically after Lisowski left. The priest has not been charged, but he has agreed to make arrangements to pay back what he stole. In New York, the Rev. Charles Betts of Morning Star Missionary Baptist Church has been accused by prosecutors, along with the bookkeeper and her husband, of stealing $494,000.” http://www.mlive.com/news/kzgazette/index.ssf?/base/news-12/1108293690193110.xml
Sex and fraud woe for Greek church Embattled Orthodox archbishop calls emergency meeting and asks for forgiveness over lurid claims Helena Smith in Athens 2/19/05 The Guardian “Greece’s Orthodox church, buffeted by sex and corruption scandals, met in emergency session yesterday amid lurid claims that have included one newspaper publishing photographs of a 91-year-old bishop naked in bed with a nubile young woman.” http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,1417874,00.html
Deaf victims end 40-year silence on child sex abuse – They were the easiest prey for a paedophile. For the first time, they tell of their harrowing life at a special school – a living hell that many may still be suffering today Antony Barnet 3/20/05 http://observer.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,6903,1441790,00.html
Judge declines to dismiss lawsuit alleging abuse by nuns Boston “A judge declined to throw out a lawsuit by nine former students at a now-defunct school for the deaf who claim they were beaten, sexually molested and emotionally tormented decades ago by the nuns who ran the school. Attorneys for the defendants sought to dismiss the complaint on grounds that the statute of limitations for bringing such civil complaints had expired by the time the lawsuit was filed last May….The plaintiffs argued that the statute of limitations did not apply because of the former students’ mental and physical disabilities, said Mitchell Garabedian, an attorney for the plaintiffs. The former students at the Boston School for the Deaf argued the alleged abuse as well as the nuns’ alleged punishment and failure to teach sign language left the students functionally retarded, and unable until recently to understand they had been harmed and to communicate with others about it. The plaintiffs are suing at least 14 nuns at the school, along with two priests, an athletic instructor and a former top official in the Boston archdiocese. The three women and six men were between the ages of 7 and 16 when they allege they were sexually and physically abused between 1944 and 1977. The nuns are all members of the Congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Boston. Their order served as the faculty and administration of the Boston School for the Deaf, which was operated by an independent, nonprofit corporation.” http://news.bostonherald.com/localRegional/view.bg?articleid=72465&format=text#related
Eight men arrested in SoCal child sex case Los Angeles (AP) 2/05 “Seven members of the North American Man/Boy Love Association have been arrested in Southern California and charged with allegedly planning to travel to Mexico to have sex with boys.” http://www.kget.com/news/state/story.aspx?content_id=EDC6288C-BFD1-4881-BB91-6357CA818DB4
FBI Reveals Details About Internet Child-Sex Ring – Feds Say Trip To Mexico Was Well Planned 2/15/05 San Diego “FBI agents revealed more details on Tuesday about how they think an Internet child sex ring with ties to San Diego operates. Three men were arrested on Harbor Island over the week as part of the investigation. The feds also picked up four other men in Los Angeles. The men were allegedly on their way to meet boys between the ages of 8 and 13 in Mexico. Officials told NBC 7/39 that it was a well-planned road trip infiltrated by an undercover agent. The FBI said that the suspects were headed for a marina on Harbor Island, where the plan was to board vessels sailing to Mexico for sexual relations with boys solicited via the Internet. The suspects include a youth minister, a special-education teacher and a man from Dallas known as the Singing Dentist. According to investigators, the men are all associated with a group known as NAMBLA, which stands for North American Man/Boy Love Association. The group is believed to have 300 to 400 active members who promote a pedophile lifestyle both on the Web and through regular mail.” http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/4201638/detail.html
also see Child-sex sting by FBI results in 8 arrests http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/20050214-2148-childsex-daily.html
FBI targets pedophilia advocates – Little-known group promotes ‘benevolent’ sex By Onell R. Soto 2/18/05 “On its Web site and newsletters, the North American Man/Boy Love Association advocates sex between men and boys and cites ancient Greece to justify the practice. It goes by the acronym NAMBLA, and the FBI has been following it for years, linking it to pedophilia and recently infiltrating it with an agent successful enough to be asked to join the group’s steering committee. Law enforcement officials and mental health professionals say that while NAMBLA’s membership numbers are small, the group has a dangerous ripple effect through the Internet by sanctioning the behavior of those who would abuse children.” http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20050218/news_1n18manboy.html
Sexual slavery abounds in Jerusalem – survey 3/24/05 Jerusalem “Thousands of foreign women have been smuggled into Israel and sold into prostitution, earning the criminal underworld millions of dollars a year, a parliamentary investigation has found. For the last four years, between 3 000 and 5 000 women have been sold as sex slaves for $8 000 to $10 000 and forced to work up to 18 hours a day, said the head of the inquiry, Zehava Gal-On, of the left-wing opposition Yahad party.” http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?click_id=3&art_id=qw1111671181881B226&set_id
also see http://www.news24.com/News24/World/News/0,,2-10-1462_1681087,00.html
Sex slavery rife in Israel 3/24/05 “Jerusalem – Thousands of foreign women have been smuggled into Israel and sold into prostitution, earning the criminal underworld millions of dollars a year, a parliamentary investigation has found.”
Defense Dept. Surveys Academy Sex Assaults 1 Woman in 7 Reports Being Attacked By Daniel de Vise 3/19/05 “One female student in seven attending the nation’s military academies last spring said she had been sexually assaulted since becoming a cadet or midshipman, according to a report on the first survey of sexual misconduct on the three campuses released yesterday by the Defense Department. More than half the women studying at the Naval, Air Force and Army academies reported experiencing some form of sexual harassment on campus, according to survey responses.” http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A48335-2005Mar18?language=printer
One woman in seven suffers sexual assault in US military academies 3/19/05 Washington (AFP) “Of more than 1,900 women questioned, 262 admitted they had been subjected to sexual assault of some kind. More than 50 percent said they had been the victims of sexual harrassment, including jokes, inappropriate gestures, or promises of better treatment in exchange for sexual favors. Very few of those women who said they were sexually assaulted lodged complaints.” http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=afp/usmilitarywomen
US soldiers accused of sex assaults Suzanne Goldenberg in Washington 3/8/05 “Soldiers from the 3rd Infantry Brigade – the same military unit whose troops fired on the car carrying the freed Italian hostage Giuliana Sgrena – were under investigation last year for raping Iraqi women, US army documents reveal. Four soldiers were alleged to have raped the two women while on guard duty in a Baghdad shopping precinct. A US army investigator interviewed several soldiers from the military unit, the 1-15th battalion of the 3rd Infantry Brigade – but did not locate or interview the Iraqi women involved – before shutting down the inquiry for lack of evidence.” http://www.guardian.co.uk/
Sexual combat By Pamela Martineau and Steve Wiegand 3/7/05 “”Defense Department numbers show that from August 2002 through October 2004, 118 cases of sexual assault on military personnel were reported in Iraq, Kuwait and Afghanistan. But the Miles Foundation, a nonprofit organization that helps victims of military domestic violence and sexual assault, reports that it was contacted by 258 military assault victims in the combat theater during that same time span. That number rose to 307 through mid-February, according to the foundation.” http://www.sacbee.com/content/news/projects/women_at_war/story/12523663p-13379149c.html
More than 300 sex assaults in Mideast: [World News]: Washington, 2/17/05 “A private foundation said Thursday 307 U.S. service members have been sexually assaulted while deployed in Iraq, Kuwait, Afghanistan and Bahrain. The victims are predominantly female active-duty service members, according to the Miles Foundation, which tracks the data and advocates for victims of sexual violence.” http://news.newkerala.com/
describes abuse Diggers in Timor ‘sex’ clash Mark Dodd 3/21/05 “”The board of inquiry found in its report that Jordanian troops regularly offered food and money in exchange for sexual favours from women and boys, including the procuring of prostitutes from across the border in West Timor. It found it was highly probable that widespread sexual misconduct had occurred after the Jordanians took over from the highly regarded Australian paratroop battalion in early 2000.” http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/printpage/0,5942,12607859,00.html
Report Calls for Punishing Peacekeepers in Sex Abuse by Warren Hoge 3/25/05 “United Nations, March 24 – A report on sexual abuse by peacekeepers recommended Thursday that offending soldiers and their commanders be punished by their home countries, that payments made to them be recovered and put into a fund for victims and that the United Nations make compliance with these measures a condition for taking part in its missions.” http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/25/politics/25nations.html?th&emc=th
UN fires one and suspends six in Congo abuse probe 3/19/05 “United Nations: The United Nations has fired one employee and suspended six without pay among 17 civilian staff being investigated on allegations of sexual abuse in the Congo, a UN spokesman says. Over the past year, the United Nations has probed 150 allegations of sexual exploitation of women and girls, including gang rapes by peacekeepers in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.” http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/dominionpost/0,2106,3221769a6031,00.html
How the UN was forced to tackle stain on its integrity – ‘The Independent’ was first to reveal the scandal. Kate Holt defied threats to tell the story 2/11/05 “In March 1998 I was having dinner with staff from the UN in Sarajevo. The topic of conversation turned to the increasing number of bars in Bosnia, housing prostitutes from countries in eastern Europe, mainly Romania and Moldova. Someone said that in the infamous Arizona Market, near Brcko in north-eastern Bosnia, young girls from these countries were paraded weekly for sale and purchased by bar owners who put them to work as sex slaves.” http://news.independent.co.uk/world/politics/story.jsp?story=609903
U.N. Faces More Accusations of Sexual Misconduct Officials Acknowledge ‘Swamp’ of Problems and Pledge Fixes Amid New Allegations in Africa, Haiti By Colum Lynch 3/13/05 “United Nations – The United Nations is facing new allegations of sexual misconduct by U.N. personnel in Burundi, Haiti, Liberia and elsewhere, which is complicating the organization’s efforts to contain a sexual abuse scandal that has tarnished its Nobel Prize-winning peacekeepers in Congo. The allegations indicate that a series of measures the United Nations has taken in recent years have failed to eliminate a culture of sexual permissiveness that has plagued its far-flung peacekeeping operations over the last 12 years. But senior U.N. officials say they have signaled their seriousness by imposing new reforms and forcing senior U.N. military commanders and officials to step down if they do not curb such practices.” http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A30286-2005Mar12?language=printer
UN soldiers arrested in DR Congo 2/13/05 “Six Moroccan soldiers serving as UN peacekeepers in the Democratic Republic of Congo have been arrested over sex abuse claims, Moroccan officials say.” http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4262743.stm
Tens of Thousands Said Raped in East Congo Tens of Thousands of Women and Young Girls Raped by Militants in Eastern Congo, Group Says By Bryan Mealer AP Kinshasa, Congo 3/7/05 “Militiamen and renegade soldiers have raped and beaten tens of thousands of women and young girls in eastern Congo, and nearly all the crimes have gone unpunished by the country’s broken judicial system, an international human rights group said Monday. Hundreds of new rapes are reported every week, but only 10 soldiers and militants have been convicted of rape in relatively lawless eastern Congo since the end of the country’s devastating war in 2002, New York-based Human Rights Watch said in a report.” http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=558074
D.R. Congo: Tens of Thousands Raped, Few Prosecuted Judicial Reforms Needed to Ensure Justice for Victims of Sexual Violence (Kinshasa, 3/7/05) “In eastern Congo’s conflict, government troops and rebel fighters have raped tens of thousands of women and girls, but fewer than a dozen perpetrators have been prosecuted by a judicial system in dire need of reform, Human Rights Watch said in a report released on the eve of International Women’s Day.” http://www.hrw.org/english/docs/2005/03/07/congo10258.htm
Sexual abuse of kids by clerics rampant in Pak [World News] Islamabad, 3/14/05 “A non-governmental organization has in a report stated that as many as 44 schoolteachers and 25 clerics in Pakistan sexually abused their pupils last year. According to the Daily Times, the report published by the NGO Sahil has revealed startling figures of as many as 1,567 cases of child sexual abuse, against 1,194 girls and 373 boys in Pakistan in 2004.” http://www.newkerala.com/news-daily/news/features.php?action=fullnews&id=85369
18 on trial for sexual abuse AP Lisbon, Portugal 3/15/05 “Eighteen men accused of sexually abusing more than 20 minors went on trial yesterday in Portugal’s mid-Atlantic Azores Islands. The 143 charges include sexual abuse of children under 14, accusations of sexual and homosexual acts with minors aged 14 to 18, and one charge of rape, the national news agency Lusa reported.” http://www.canoe.ca/NewsStand/EdmontonSun/News/2005/03/15/961284-sun.html
Suits allege sexual abuse of children in Cornwall Canadian Press 2/18/05 “Three civil suits alleging sexual abuse by high-profile residents of Cornwall, Ont., will be announced Tuesday in the eastern Ontario city. “We will be announcing three fresh civil cases against two major organizations in the Cornwall community and the perpetrators who committed these acts,” John Swales, a representative of London, Ont., law firm Ledroit Beckett said today in an interview. “They will both be recognizable, high-profile names.” ….Cornwall has long been linked with accusations of sexual abuse at the hands of high-profile local officials, professionals and clergy who allegedly tormented the city’s children for decades. A provincial police investigation called Project Truth resulted in 114 charges against 15 men, including doctors, lawyers and Roman Catholic priests, but only one person was convicted. The investigation began in the 1990s and the final case was dismissed last October after a judge ruled it had taken too long to come to trial.” “The Coalition for Action estimates there are more than 1,000 men between the ages of 30 and 60 living in Cornwall who were sexually abused as children.” http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1108768210469&call_pageid=968332188492&col=968705899037&DPL=IvsNDS%2f7ChAX&tacodalogin=yes
from LMS Lawyer finds more sex-abuse victims By Kevin Lajoie 3/11/05 “More than 20 alleged victims of sexual abuse have come forward to discuss their situations this week with a client support worker from a law firm based in London, Ont. “I’ve lost track of how many,” said John Swales of the Ledroit Beckett law firm on Thursday. “There’s no shortage (of people coming forward).” Swales has been in Cornwall since Tuesday meeting with alleged victims of sexual abuse to discuss possible issues of concern involving their situations.” http://www.standard-freeholder.com/webapp/sitepages/printable.asp?paper=www.standard-freeholder.com&contentID=101307&annewspapername=Cornwall+Standard+Freeholder
also see ‘High-profile names’ in Cornwall sex-abuse suits http://www.canoe.ca/NewsStand/EdmontonSun/News/2005/02/19/pf-935964.html
from LMS $3.1 million civil suits allege abuse by priest – Cornwall diocese, bishops also named – Sex abuse charges previously dropped – Mark Bellis 2/22/05 Cornwall, Ont. “Two civil lawsuits filed in London, Ont., allege sexual improprieties at the hands of a former Cornwall priest who was cleared of sex abuse charges more than two years ago. In two separate statements of claim filed Friday, the two victims allege sexual abuse by Rev. Charles MacDonald when they were 11 and 20 years old and are each suing for $3.1 million.” http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1109027412209&call_pageid=968256289824&col=968342212737&DPL=IvsNDS%2f7ChAX&tacodalogin=yes
from LMS Lawyer, ex-priest sued over sex-abuse claims By Nelly Elayoubi, Ottawa Sun “The Roman Catholic Diocese of Alexandria-Cornwall is facing two $3.1-million lawsuits alleging sexual abuse by a former priest. A Cornwall-area lawyer has also been slapped with a $3.1-million lawsuit alleging sexual abuse.” http://www.canoe.ca/NewsStand/OttawaSun/News/2005/02/23/939422-sun.html
from LMS Ruling offers new basis for suits against churches By Michael Kunzelman, AP 2/23/05 “A Superior Court judge has ruled that a Jehovah’s Witness church in Boston can be sued for breaking its trust and legal duty to a girl who said she was sexually abused by one of the church’s ministerial servants. Suffolk Superior Court Judge Herman Smith Jr.’s ruling is believed to be the first time a Massachusetts court has determined that church officials have a “fiduciary duty” to members of their congregation, a relationship akin to the one lawyers and doctors share with clients and patients. Smith’s ruling, made earlier this month, also is expected to open another legal channel for lawyers to bring civil suits against churches for clergy abuse cases, according to Lisa Bruno, news editor for Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly.” http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2005/02/23/ruling_offers_new_basis_for_suits_against_churches?mode=PF
The town that sold its children – France is in shock as 66 residents go on trial for gruesome paedophilia Alex Duval Smith in Angers 3/13/05 “Sixty-six residents are facing charges that include child sex abuse, incest and pimping their own children for not much more than the price of a carton of cigarettes. The 45 alleged victims are children aged from six months to 12 years old. The accused are their mothers, fathers, grandfathers, aunts and uncles. Last week at Angers assizes court, it took three days for four clerks to read out the 430-page charge sheet against the 39 men and 27 women. The charges include abusing 26 girls and 19 boys during at least 100 orgies, some of which included sado-masochistic sex games.” http://observer.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,6903,1436494,00.html
from LMS 66 face child sex ring trial – “Angers, France – Sixty-six men and women are standing trial in western France in a harrowing and massive pedophilia case. The criminal trial, one of the largest ever in modern French history, opened Thursday in the small, historic village of Angers. The defendants — 39 men and 27 women — were brought before the court….Dozens of the defendants are accused of prostituting children and babies in exchange for food packets and small amounts of money”. http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/europe/03/03/france.trial/index.html
Mass Pedophilia Trial Begins in France 3/3/05 By Verena Von Derschau, Angers, France (AP) “Sixty-six people were accused of participating in a pedophilia ring in which children and babies were prostituted for food and small sums of money Thursday as one of France’s biggest-ever trials got under way. Prosecutors contend that dozens of children – ages 6 months to 14 years – were raped by their parents or offered to other adults for sex from 1999 to 2002. Some of the 45 victims…” http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-4838504,00.html
France Tries 66 People Over Child Prostitution Ring 3/3/05 By Pierre-Henri Allain, Angers, France (Reuters) “Sixty-six men and women went on trial in western France on Thursday accused of taking part in a vast child prostitution ring in which parents offered their children for sex, often for food or small sums of money. The accused filed into a specially built courtroom in the town of Angers one by one, accompanied by police, but said nothing other than identifying themselves at the start of what is billed as the biggest criminal trial in French history. Thirty-nine men and 27 women are accused of involvement in the prostitution ring in which 45 children, aged from six months to 15 years, were raped or sexually assaulted between January 1999 and February 2002.” Http://www.reuters.com/
“Jackson Trial Blog. On this page, experts on child abuse offer commentary on issues raised by the criminal trial of Michael Jackson –the pop star charged with molesting a young boy….We would like to begin this blog by encouraging the public to shed their stereotypes about child sexual abuse and about sex offenders.” “There are more than 85 studies in the literature, conducted using multiple research paradigms, that verify the phenomenon of fragmentary or total traumatic amnesia. No study that has asked survivors the question has failed to find a robust number of persons reporting the phenomenon. (Philip J. Kinsler, PhD) ” http://www.leadershipcouncil.org/Justice/BLOG-MJ/blog-mj.html
from LMS No bail for ex-officer accused in child sex case By Mark Morris “….Brian Stone, an FBI agent on the bureau’s cybercrime task force. Stone testified that authorities had recovered about 3,000 pictures and videos of children engaged in sexual activities from Enss’ computers. Investigators recovered about 100 text files that Stone described as “incest stories.” Stone also said he recovered a copy of “The Pedophile’s Handbook” — promoted on the Web as “a guide on how to safely seduce children” — from a locked office at Enss’ home.” http://www.kansascity.com
from LMS Police Say Man Abused 7 Children at Former Home By Jennifer Lee 3/19/05 “An unemployed mechanic who moved last month to Long Island with his family was arrested yesterday and charged with raping and sodomizing seven children in his former neighborhood in College Point, Queens, the authorities said. Queens prosecutors said the suspect, Michael Flory, 48, of West Hempstead, N.Y., was charged with the sexual assaults of five girls and two boys, ages 7 to 11.” http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/19/nyregion/19serial.html
Police smash child porn ring with raids across 12 countries By Elizabeth Nash in Madrid 3/17/05 “Hundreds of people across two continents have been arrested in a Spanish-led operation to break a child pornography ring operating via the internet. Police mounted raids in France, Italy, Sweden and the Netherlands, as well as in seven Latin American countries, taking a total of 500 people into custody. In Spain, 19 people were arrested, accused of exchanging pornographic material.” http://news.independent.co.uk/europe/story.jsp?story=620879
from LMS Ex-Scouts official pleads guilty Colleyville man led anti-molestation group 3/30/05 by Michael Grabell and Tanya Eiserer – Fort Worth “A top Boy Scouts of America official who once led a task force to prevent child molestation pleaded guilty Wednesday to one count of receiving and distributing child pornography. Douglas Sovereign Smith Jr., 61, the former national director of programs for the Boy Scouts, was accused of trading several computer images of minors engaging in sexual acts and exposing themselves.” http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/stories/033005dnmetscouts.187522a17.html
from LMS Molested boys’ lawyer says Scouts didn’t follow policy – In response: Scouting officials maintain that adequate policies are already in place to protect children from abusers AP 3/3/05 “Idaho Falls, Idaho – An attorney for victims of a Boy Scout leader who has admitted to molesting two dozen children says the organization failed to follow procedures that could have prevented the abuse. Laurie Gaffney, the lawyer, said the Boy Scouts have good policies to prevent such behavior, according to a copyright story in the Idaho Falls Post Register that appeared in Wednesday’s editions. She said policies weren’t followed…..Officials maintain that adequate policies are already in place to protect kids from abusers such as Stowell. The policies are good and Scout leaders obeyed them, said Kim Hansen, executive director of the Grand Teton Council, which oversees Scouting in the region.” http://www.sltrib.com/utah/ci_2594335
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. 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
SPECIAL REPORT Dark allegations arise amid probe of nun’s slaying – Authorities expand investigation to claims of ritualistic sex abuse 2/20/05 by Michael D. Sallah and Mitch Weiss Blade Staff Writers “For Toledo police, it was a rare assignment: Search an abandoned house on the edge of a cornfield in western Lucas County where people reportedly took part in ritual abuse ceremonies. The Rev. Gerald Robinson was charged last year in the 1980 killing of Sister Margaret Ann Pahl….The search of the decrepit, wood structure last year was a sign the investigation of the Rev. Gerald Robinson was moving beyond a murder case. No longer was the probe focusing solely on the man accused of killing Sister Margaret Ann Pahl, but was expanding into a new direction: accusations that children were molested and raped by priests in ritual services. For the past year, police have embarked on one of the most unusual investigations in the department’s history, spurred by leads emerging after the priest’s arrest in April for the killing in the Mercy Hospital chapel more than 24 years ago. They have looked for evidence in church attics and basements and have consulted with religious experts on subversive groups and church history. They have even interviewed the founder of a secret fraternity whose members dressed in nuns’ clothing. “The police are going into areas they’ve never gone before,” said David Davidson, one of the first police officers to respond to the slaying in 1980. “They don’t have a choice.” The investigation started with the details of the crime scene: an aging nun found strangled and repeatedly stabbed in the sacristy of the hospital chapel, her body posed to look like she was sexually assaulted. But now, deeper issues have surfaced over accusations of sexual abuse of children in churches and schools by priests and lay members beginning in the late 1960s….Investigators have talked to numerous priests and former students at local Catholic grade schools to determine if they knew anything about children being molested in bizarre ceremonies involving a small ring of clerics, according to several people interviewed by police. Four women told detectives about being abused between the late 1960s and 1986 during cult-like ceremonies involving altars and men dressed in robes, the accusers told The Blade. “I’ve had nightmares about this since I was a child,” said one woman, who asked not to be named. “I didn’t think anyone would believe me.” Diocese examines ritual abuse claims The reopening of the Sister Pahl homicide investigation didn’t start with DNA findings or even a tip. It began with a secret hearing in the downtown headquarters of the Toledo Catholic diocese unrelated to the nun’s death. A 41-year-old woman appeared before a church review board in June, 2003, with a simple request: She wanted the diocese to pay for more than $50,000 in counseling costs she incurred as an alleged victim of clerical sex abuse. But her story wasn’t like dozens of others exploding in the diocese over the last decade. She said she had been a victim of ritualistic sexual abuse by a group of priests. She claimed they gathered in church basements and rectories in “cult-like ceremonies” where children were molested and ordered to watch other youngsters being abused. She named four clerics, including Chet Warren, a former Oblates of St. Francis de Sales priest ousted from his order in 1993 after five other women accused him of sexual misconduct. She claimed Father Warren had orchestrated her repeated abuse, including arranging one encounter with the man now facing murder charges: Father Robinson. The diocese hired two retired police officers, John Connors, 65, and Lawrence Knannlein, 63, to look into the woman’s accusations in an unprecedented church investigation. Over the course of nine months, they interviewed more than 45 people, including priests, nuns, and lay members. They spent more than 17 hours with the woman, who described her allegations in detail, claiming the sexual assaults began during her preschool years in the 1960s, usually at night with altars, candles, and chanting. Her most persistent abuser, she said, was Father Warren, a family friend who was counseling her mother for depression. Mr. Warren did not respond to requests for an interview, and his lawyer, Martin Mohler, declined to comment.” Contact Michael D. Sallah at: msallah@theblade.com or 419-724-6272. http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050220/NEWS08/502200352/-1/NEWS
from LMS Nun death probe data to be released – Group urges scrutiny of diocese files by Robin Erb “Documents supporting two police searches of the Toledo Catholic Diocese in the murder investigation of Sister Margaret Ann Pahl most likely will be released Monday. The Lucas County Prosecutor’s Office yesterday decided not to fight a decision by Common Pleas Judge Thomas Osowik Thursday to release the records, said Dean Mandross, a senior assistant prosecutor. That means search warrant affidavits, possibly outlining why police felt they needed a court order to search the downtown church office on Sept. 15 and 17, may be released at 9 a.m. Monday. Prosecutors were looking for any church records about the Rev. Gerald Robinson, who was charged in the slaying of the nun in the Mercy Hospital chapel 24 years ago.” http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050226/NEWS03/502260349
Priest accused of killing nun failed polygraph 2/28/05 “Father Gerald Robinson, accused of strangling and stabbing to death an elderly nun in 1980, “failed” a first of two polygraph tests in the weeks after Sister Margaret Ann Pahl’s body was found, according to documents released this morning. A second test was administered later, and police said results were inconclusive or “of marginal utility for diagnostic purposes,” according to the documents released today in Lucas County Common Pleas Court. Asked about the polygraph results, Father Robinson’s attorney, Alan Konop, said only “that’s not true.”” http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050228/DEVELOPINGNEWS/50228011
Priest failed 1st lie detector test, documents say; other test was inconclusive by Robin Erb – Blade Staff Writer “Homicide detectives believed that officials at the Toledo Catholic Diocese intentionally misled them during their investigation into the slaying of Sister Margaret Ann Pahl last year, according to court documents unsealed yesterday. The records show that during unprecedented police searches of the downtown church headquarters, investigators said they were looking for evidence of “obstructing justice,” in their search for “secret files” that might lead to information about murder suspect and longtime cleric Father Gerald Robinson. Police said they obtained 148 documents when they searched the diocese on Sept. 15 armed with a judge’s order – documents the diocese had failed to turn over to them on an earlier request.” http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050301/NEWS03/503010354
nun’s slaying Polygraph didn’t lie, officials say – Defense lawyers dispute report priest failed exam By Robin Erb 3/2/05 “Under attack for stating that murder suspect Father Gerald Robinson “failed” the first of two polygraphs, investigators yesterday stood by the results of the tests administered 24 years ago that indicated the cleric was being untruthful. In a news conference earlier in the day, Father Robinson’s defense lawyers questioned the validity of a lie detector exam Father Robinson took on April 18, 1980 – 13 days after Sister Margaret Ann Pahl was stabbed and strangled in the Mercy Hospital chapel.” http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050302/NEWS08/503020348/-1/NEWS
Court overturns time limitations for sex-abuse trial; appellate judges reinstate lawsuit By David Yonke – “Lima, Ohio – In a decision that could affect clerical sexual abuse cases statewide, Ohio’s 3rd District Court of Appeals has ruled that a civil suit filed against the Archdiocese of Cincinnati can proceed even though the statute of limitations has expired. The ruling reverses a Shelby County Common Pleas Court decision to throw out the lawsuit by the alleged victim, claiming that he was abused as a minor by the Rev. Thomas Hopp, because he did not file it within two years after turning 18.” http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050309/NEWS02/503090354
Bishop offers abuse apology – Blair cites victims’ suffering from acts of ex-priest By Robin Erb 3/14/05 “In a long-awaited apology to victims of clergy sexual abuse, Bishop Leonard Blair yesterday addressed more than 200 parishioners, victims, and their supporters at St. Pius X Church – acknowledging the suffering of victims, inviting others to step forward, and declaring that Chet Warren, a former priest, had committed “grievously sinful and criminal” acts.” http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050314/NEWS10/503140343/-1/NEWS
Mention of “Masons” creates a stir By M. Alkhazashvili 3/15/05 “Recent reports that the Ministry of Economic Development had agreed to legalize the activities of Masonic lodges in the country led to a good deal of controversy in local media. This is particularly the case because many Georgians believe their country, as many Russians also believe theirs, to be the victim of Masonic plots. Thus the possibility of Masonic lodges coming into existence was met with immediate criticism, forcing the minister of economic development to state that Masons have not in fact been given the opportunity of legal activity in the country.” http://www.messenger.com.ge/issues/0820_march_15_2005/economy_0820_2.htm
describes crimes – Witness in Murder Case Describes Sex Abuse – Witness Describes Years of Sexual Abuse in House of Father Charged With Murder By Juliana Barbassa AP Fresno, Calif. 3/8/05 “The niece of a man charged with killing nine of his children gave graphic testimony Tuesday about the sexual abuse she suffered in his household, describing years of strict discipline, repeated rape and discussions about “having babies for the Lord.” Sofina Solorio testified that Marcus Wesson began sexually abusing her when she was 12. He called the acts he performed with his nieces and daughters “loving” and told them he was preparing them for marriage.” http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=563098
Has descriptions of abuse – The Gentle People – Impressed by their piety, courts have permitted the Amish to live outside the law. But in some places, the group’s ethic of forgive and forget has produced a plague of incest-and let many perpetrators go unpunished. By Nadya Labi http://www.legalaffairs.org/issues/January-February-2005/feature_labi_janfeb05.html
describes crimes – Mom Says Boyfriend Sacrificed 13-Month-Old Daughter – Woman Gets 10 Years In Connection With Daughter’s Death 3/2/05 “Akron, Ohio — A Springfield Township mother broke down in tears as she was sentenced to 10 years in prison in connection with the death of her 13-month-old daughter. Vanessa McGlumphy, 25, and the baby’s father made statements to the court Wednesday, NewsChannel5 reported. McGlumphy, pleaded guilty last month to involuntary manslaughter and child endangering for not protecting her daughter….McGlumphy said that she thought her boyfriend, Daniel Duffield, 32, sacrificed her child because he is a different religion than she is and that they performed a ritual on the girl as a result of his belief. McGlumphy characterized Duffield as a “black pagan,” the prosecutor said. Duffield was found guilty Tuesday of involuntary manslaughter and murder in the death of the toddler. He will be sentenced March 9. He faces 15 years to life in prison.” http://www.newsnet5.com/news/4246141/detail.html
Serial Killers Among Us 3/3/05 By Liza Porteus “””Doubling” is a term psychologists and criminal profilers use for killers and other criminals who can take part in such vicious activities while carrying on a normal life. It allows them to fly under the radar as a “normal” person while police are looking for an unidentified killer.” http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,149256,00.html
from LMS An Early Wartime Profile Depicts a Tormented Hitler By Benedict Carey 3/31/05 “Dr. Murray himself was a controversial figure. Having returned to Harvard after the war, he was involved in psychological experiments in 1959-62 in which a stress test similar to one the O.S.S. had used to assess recruits was administered to student volunteers. Among them was the young Theodore J. Kaczynski, a precocious student at Harvard who later became known as the Unabomber. Lawyers for Mr. Kaczynski, who pleaded guilty in 1998 to letter bomb attacks that killed 3 people and wounded 28 others, traced some of his emotional instability and fear of mind control to those tests.” http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/31/science/31hitler.html
from LMS A Mormon Daughter’s Book Stirs a Storm By Edward Wyatt 2/24/05 “”Correction Appended – The daughter of one of Mormonism’s most prominent religious scholars has accused her father of sexually abusing her as a child in a forthcoming memoir that is shining an unwelcome spotlight on the practices and beliefs of the much-scrutinized but protectively private Mormon religious community. “Leaving the Saints: How I Lost the Mormons and Found My Faith” details how the author, Dr. Martha Beck, a sociologist and therapist, recovered memories in 1990 of her ritual sexual abuse more than 20 years earlier by her father, Dr. Hugh Nibley, professor emeritus of ancient scripture at Brigham Young University and arguably the leading living authority on Mormon teaching. The book, being published next month by Crown, an imprint of Random House, has attracted significant criticism both for its depiction of sacred Mormon ceremonies and for the author’s effort to tie her sexual abuse to what she says were mental disturbances suffered by her father because of his role as the Mormon Church’s “chief apologist.” Dr. Nibley, who is 95, is ailing and is physically unable to respond to questions, Alex Nibley, one of eight Nibley children, said in a statement. Dr. Nibley has been aware of Dr. Beck’s accusations for several years, Alex Nibley said, and maintains that they are false.” http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/24/books/24morm.html?pagewanted=print&position=&oref=login
Have polygamists found their Eldorado? West Texas compound may be a haven from scrutiny, but neighbors worry By Thomas Korosec 3/6/05 “”The 10,000-member sect has lived throughout its 70-year history in Colorado City, Ariz., and Hilldale, Utah, twin towns north of the Grand Canyon, and in a small outpost just across the Canadian border in Bountiful, British Columbia. Scorned by the Mormon Church, which renounced polygamy in 1890 under pressure from the federal government, FLDS members consider themselves God’s chosen people. They believe to reach the “celestial kingdom” one must have at least three wives, or be one of at least three wives. Warren Jeffs, 47, a former high school principal who began taking over the sect in the late 1990s, became the undisputed leader after his father’s death in 2002. He arranges his followers’ marriages through revelation, sometimes ordering sisters or mothers and daughters to wed the same man, former members say.” http://www.chron.com/
Kingston girl speaks of threats to judge – Visitation terminated: The teen testified of hearing relatives plan to abduct her siblings from foster care 2/9/05 Secret plots: Daughter, 16, testifies of hearing relatives plan to abduct her siblings in foster care and make death threats against the judge By Brooke Adams “In an extraordinary hearing Tuesday amid heightened courthouse security, 3rd District Juvenile Court Judge Andrew Valdez terminated Heidi Mattingly Foster’s visits with her children by polygamist John Daniel Kingston after learning some relatives had concocted plans to abduct them and had made numerous death threats.” http://www.sltrib.com/search/ci_2559572
from LMS Child sex abuse charges dropped – Too much time: Prosecutors insist crimes were committed, but pursuing them is difficult By Elizabeth Neff “Prosecutors said they had no choice but to drop charges against a former Mormon bishop and state Corrections official accused of sexually abusing young boys some 15 years ago. Deputy Salt Lake County District Attorney Paul Parker said Monday he doesn’t doubt David James Gomez, 58, committed the abuse. But Parker explained his prosecution was frustrated by the state’s definition of sexual abuse of a “child,” someone younger than 14 years of age; the time limits on prosecuting sex crime cases; and by Gomez’s day planner records. “It’s not about whether or not it occurred. . . . It’s the time frame,” Parker told 3rd District Judge Judith Atherton during a hearing Monday. Gomez, who was charged with three counts of sodomy on a child and three counts of child sexual abuse, was accused of abusing a boy on many occasions in 1989 and 1990 after the boy sought counseling from him at the age of 13. The alleged victim did not report the abuse until 2004. By that time, a four-year legal deadline to prosecute Gomez for adult sex crimes had already passed.” http://www.sltrib.com/utah/ci_2627642
from LMS Accused child molester freed on $100,000 bond By Stephen Hunt The Salt Lake Tribune, Layton “A Mormon children’s teacher accused of molesting nine young girls was released from jail Friday, despite concerns from parents that he may flee or molest other children….The judge was told that Montoya’s movements will be constantly monitored, and that police will be notified if he tampers with the ankle bracelet device or makes unauthorized movements. Montoya – who works as a bailiff at the Matheson Courthouse in Salt Lake City – is charged with 10 first-degree felony counts of aggravated sexual abuse of a child. Montoya allegedly abused the girls – ages 3 to 11 – in a Syracuse church, where he taught a Primary children’s gospel class, in his home and on an outing at Pineview Reservoir.” http://www.sltrib.com/utah/ci_2587338
Schaefer Had Hotline to Chile’s Pinochet-era Secret Police – New Evidence Further Links Pedophile To Dictatorship 3/23/05 “A Chilean judge is studying evidence given to him Tuesday by Sen. Nelson Avila that suggests there was a hotline telephone link between the Pinochet-era secret police (National Intelligence Center, CNI) and the German cult known as Colonia Dignidad, located near the southern city of Parral, Region VII. Avila alleges that the network was set up in 1985 with technical support from the National Telecommunication Company (now the privatized Entel), which confirms the strong links between the German colony and Chile’s military, which took power in 1973. Colonia Dignidad, now known as Villa Baviera, and its charismatic cult leader Paul Schaefer, recently apprehended in Buenos Aires (ST, March 11), face a growing number of criminal charges. Schaefer allegedly abused as many as 10,000 young children during the 40 years he led the German enclave and had a hand in numerous human rights violations, including torture and forced disappearances.” http://www.tcgnews.com/santiagotimes/index.php?nav=story&story_id=8634&topic_id=1
German Pedophile and Sect Leader Nabbed in Argentina 3/14/05 “After years on the lamb, Paul Schaefer is finally behind bars in Chile. A former Nazi, he stands accused of child molestation and of helping Chilean dictator Pinochet murder opponents. The arrest ended an almost decade-long manhunt for the sex criminal.” http://service.spiegel.de/cache/international/0,1518,346352,00.html
The latest issue of Paranoia (Issue 38 – Spring 2005) had articles on “From Mk-ultra to Psyops” by Phillip Fairbanks and “Programmed to Kill – David McGowan on the Politics of Serial Murder” Interviewed by Al Hidell. Paranoia, P O Box 1041, Prov, RI 02901-1041, www.paranoiamagazine.com Graphics may be heavy for survivors.
describes abuse – from LMS Growing up in a Cult – A Young ‘Prophet’ Cannot Defeat the Demons of His Past – Raised in a sex-driven yet tightly controlled group, Ricky Rodriguez found one way out: murder and suicide. By Nita Lelyveld, Paul Pringle and Larry B. Stammer 3/13/05 “”Berg began preaching a new and potentially lucrative gospel of sex, which was proving an excellent way to recruit converts – and their cash. He urged his female followers to employ “flirty fishing,” to troll for lonely men. He likened it to what Jesus did when he called on his disciples to be “fishers of men.”” “Sexual “sharing” was at the center of Berg’s ministry by that time. Nowhere was it practiced more fervently than at Berg’s house. People had sex in front of Rodriguez. The nannies had sex with their boyfriends. Berg had sex with anyone he fancied. Everyone had sex at an orgy that Berg organized. At the time, the boy was 3. He wandered from group to group, taking it in. Rodriguez — nicknamed Davidito (“little David”) — was raised by a bevy of young group members, who served as his nannies. They didn’t just change his diapers. They lay naked in bed with the naked child, fondling him and urging him to fondle them.” http://www.latimes.com/
all accusations are alleged – Unnecessary Brain Surgery Leaves Local Man Lacking Faith in Ontario Medical System “”Between 1964 and 1998, Dr. Harold Hoffman had over 15,000 children under his care and Parker can only begin to estimate how many of these poor, defenseless children were used as guinea pigs in Hoffman’s mad quest for neurological fame and fortune. “I think it would be fair to estimate that 10% of those 15,741 patients had been tricked into having surgery preformed on them,” says Parker from his west end residence. Parker says that it is no coincidence that at the same time he was being promised a life without seizures; the US government had invested an estimated six-billion-dollars in research grants towards the examination of healthy brain tissue. And there are no documents that prove that Parker or his mother ever gave consent for psychosurgery. Parker’s mother insists, to the Special, that if she knew what Hoffman had in mind she would have never let him touch Terry.” http://www.freewriters.ca/thespecial/unnecessary_brain_surgery.htm
Meet the mind readers – Paralysed people can now control artificial limbs by thought alone. Ian Sample reports 3/31/05 http://www.guardian.co.uk/life/feature/story/0,13026,1448140,00.html
Chip plugs brain into computer 3/20/05 by Jim Ritter “A new technology, soon to be tested in Chicago, plugs the human brain right into a desktop computer. Its remarkable goal: to enable quadriplegics to use it just by thinking, allowing them to do things like surf the Web, write e-mails, play video games and operate TV remotes and telephones, all without moving a muscle.” http://www.suntimes.com/output/health/cst-nws-brain20.html
Brain Implants: a new interface for communication http://www.cis.upenn.edu/~bracy/brain/
Sutter County – Students kept under surveillance at school – Some parents angry over radio device Greg Lucas, Chronicle Staff Writer 2/10/05 – Sutter, Sutter County “Angry parents, saying their children’s privacy rights are being violated, have asked the board of the tiny Brittan School District to rescind a requirement that all students wear badges that monitor their whereabouts on campus using radio signals.” http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/02/10/BAGG0B8I4D1.DTL
Sony aims to beam sights, sounds into brain London, England (Reuters) “If you think video games are engrossing now, just wait: PlayStation maker Sony Corp. has been granted a patent for beaming sensory information directly into the brain. The technique could one day be used to create video games in which you can smell, taste, and touch, or to help people who are blind or deaf. The U.S. patent, granted to Sony researcher Thomas Dawson, describes a technique for aiming ultrasonic pulses at specific areas of the brain to induce “sensory experiences” such as smells, sounds and images. “The pulsed ultrasonic signal alters the neural timing in the cortex,” the patent states. “No invasive surgery is needed to assist a person, such as a blind person, to view live and/or recorded images or hear sounds.” According to New Scientist magazine, the first to report on the patent, Sony’s technique could be an improvement over an existing non-surgical method known as transcranial magnetic stimulation. This activates nerves using rapidly changing magnetic fields, but cannot be focused on small groups of brain cells.” http://edition.cnn.com/2005/TECH/fun.games/04/07/sony.brain.reut/
Cops Could Shoot Lasers by Elisa Batista 12/4/00 “HSV Technologies of San Diego, a developer of weapons for police officers and military personnel, just introduced a prototype of a weapon that shoots laser beams to stop criminals in their tracks. Known either as the “Anti-Personnel Beam Weapon” or “Non-Lethal Tetanizing Beam Weapon,” it releases two ultraviolet laser beams with a wavelength of 193 to 248 nanometers that paralyzes the skeletal muscles of people and animals up to 2 kilometers away. The laser beams, which sends currents at 10 milliampere and are effective within a few milliseconds after they charge, are strong enough to penetrate clothing but too weak to damage the skin or to be lethal, according to Eric Herr, vice president of HSV Technologies.” http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,40494,00.html
Maximum pain is aim of new US weapon 3/5/05 From New Scientist Print Edition. – David Hambling – “The US military is funding development of a weapon that delivers a bout of excruciating pain from up to 2 kilometres away. Intended for use against rioters, it is meant to leave victims unharmed. But pain researchers are furious that work aimed at controlling pain has been used to develop a weapon. And they fear that the technology will be used for torture.” (From issue 2489 of New Scientist magazine, 05 March 2005, page 8) http://www.newscientist.com/channel/mech-tech/mg18524894.500
Parents claim psychiatrist tried to turn son into killer 2/15/00 AP Tacoma “Dudley began treating Drummond for a seizure disorder in 1989 and, in October 1990, injected him with sodium amytal, a powerful sedative. The doctor’s files indicate he intended to erase part of Drummond’s brain and implant new behavioral characteristics.” http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/dudl15ww.shtml
A building of ‘secret encoded clues’ Manitoba Legislature built as talisman to ward off evil, researcher says By Katherine Harding 2/18/05 “Four years ago, Frank Albo was driving past the Manitoba Legislature building when he looked up on its roof and spotted a pair of stone sphinxes that stuck out in the bright blue Prairie sky. “They are a noted Egyptian motif,” recalled the 33-year-old Winnipeg native, who was studying Eastern religions. “I thought: ‘What on Earth are Egyptian sphinxes doing flanking a building where laws are enacted in Manitoba?’ ” http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20050218/SATAN18/TPNational/TopStories
Techniques to work with flashbacks are at : http://www.ra-info.org./creative/tips/index.shtml
This web site has articles on Hypnosis http://www.atozhypnosis.com/hypnosis
from LMS It took a rocket scientist – Research pioneer also delved into the occult – Reviewed by Christina Eng 2/20/05 Strange Angel – The Otherworldly Life of Rocket Scientist – John Whiteside Parsons By George Pendle “…Unlike contemporaries who believed science and magic were inherently contradictory, John Whiteside Parsons considered the two endeavors complementary, “different sides of the same coin.” An early pioneer in the field of rocket science and one of the founders of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, he helped to create engines that improved the performance of military aircrafts. At 25, he and colleagues Ed Forman and Frank Malina, both 27, became the country’s first government- sanctioned rocket group. But he also experimented with the supernatural, becoming a key figure in the occult community that thrived in Los Angeles in the 1930s. A follower of English mystic Aleister Crowley and the occult society the Ordo Templi Orientis, he often presided over a world of chants and prayers, of black magic and sexual excess.” http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2005/02/20/RVGTVB8SBI1.DTL
describes violence – Italian Rocker Sentenced in Satanic Slayings 2/23/05 “The guitarist of an amateur Italian metal band was sentenced to 30 years in prison for his role in a trio of sacrificial killings. Andrea Volpe was found guilty of his role in the killings of a his band’s singer, the singer’s girlfriend and a fan.” http://www.aversion.com/news/news_article.cfm?news_id=3852
from LMS Seeing a cult through a child’s eyes – Robert Fulford – National Post 2/12/05 “Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, a bearded, twinkling-eyed advocate of spontaneous giggling as a path to enlightenment, told jokes he cribbed from Playboy and rewarded faithful followers by sending them his toenail clippings in nice little boxes. He was a charismatic charlatan from India and a huge success in the West. Thousands of North American and European devotees provided him with so much money that at his height, in the 1980s, he owned 93 Rolls-Royce limousines. Rajneesh beat his competitors in the spirituality business by providing a unique one-stop cult, ready to service all needs. Long before university presidents and politicians made a fetish of inclusiveness, he concocted a mishmash theology that encompassed Buddhism, astrology, meditation, free sex, Tarot cards, primal scream, the I-Ching and encounter therapy. He taught that getting pickled on champagne enhanced wisdom. His ashrams even had Christmas trees.” http://www.canada.com/
Cover Story: Death of a Conspiracy – Johnny Gosch, Jeff Gannon, Hunter Thompson and the unraveling of a troubling tale. By Tim Schmitt http://www.pointblank-dm.com/cover.shtml
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
Survivors of Child Sexual Abuse – Web Page Forum and Resources http://www.sssalas.com/EmotionalHealing.html
(as always, please check out any resources listed carefully)
The British Journal of Psychiatry (2005) 186: 121-125 Impact of childhood abuse on the clinical course of bipolar disorder Jessica L. Garno, Phd Department of Clinical Psychology, Long Island University, Brooklyn, New York Joseph F. Goldberg, Md Bipolar Disorders Research Program, Department of Psychiatry Research, the Zucker Hillside Hospital, Glen Oaks, New York Paul Michael Ramirez, Phd and Barry A. Ritzler, PhD Department of Clinical Psychology, Long Island University, Brooklyn, New York, USA Correspondence: Dr Joseph F. Goldberg, The Zucker Hillside Hospital, 75-79 263rd Street, Glen Oaks, New York 11004, USA. Tel: 718 470 4134; fax: 718 343 1659; e-mail: Jgoldber@lij.edu “Background Few investigations have examined the impact of childhood trauma, and domains of childhood abuse, on outcome in bipolar disorder. 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. Conclusions Severe childhood trauma appears to have occurred in about half of patients with bipolar disorder, and may lead to more complex psychopathological manifestations.” Http://bjp.rcpsych.org/cgi/content/abstract/186/2/121
Website with information on child trafficking http://www.childtrafficking.com/Content/Library/
A Conversation With Richard Gartner – Beyond the Bounds of Betrayal: Men Cope With Being the Victims by Claudia Dreifus 3/1/05 “For the past 25 years, Dr. Richard B. Gartner, a faculty member at the William Alanson White Institute in Manhattan, has been developing therapies and treating men who suffered sexual abuse during childhood. With a new book about to be released by John Wiley & Sons, “Beyond Betrayal: Taking Charge of Your Life After Boyhood Sexual Abuse,” Dr. Gartner, 58, sat in a Chelsea kitchen on a recent Saturday morning and spoke about the experiences that drew him to this work. Dr. Gartner is a past president of MaleSurvivor: The National Organization Against Male Sexual Victimization, a support network devoted to “overcoming sexual victimization of boys and men.” “If you read the professional literature, the research supports the idea that somewhere between 1 in 6 or 1 in 10 males have, by the age of 16, experienced some explicit unwanted sexual contact from an adult or an older child….For females, the literature says 1 in 3 admit to unwanted childhood sexual contact. Girls tend to be more frequently victimized by family members, often by their fathers. But plenty of boys are molested by fathers and stepfathers.” http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/01/health/psychology/01conv.html?oref=login
from BO Characteristics of women undergoing repeat induced abortion. Fisher WA, Singh SS, Shuper PA, Carey M, Otchet F, Maclean-Brine D, Dal Bello D, Gunter J. CMAJ 2005 Mar 1; 172(5):637-41. “Among other factors, a history of physical or sexual abuse was associated with repeat induced abortion. Presentation for repeat abortion may be an important indication to screen for a current or past history of relationship violence and sexual abuse.” Departments of Psychology and of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Social Sciences Centre, University of Western Ontario, London, Ont.
Epidemiologic features of the physical and sexual maltreatment of children in the Carolinas. Theodore AD, Chang JJ, Runyan DK, Hunter WM, Bangdiwala SI, Agans R.Pediatrics 2005 Mar; 115(3):e331-7. “Use of harsh physical discipline, equivalent to physical abuse, occurred with an incidence of 4.3%. Shaking of very young children as a means of discipline occurred among 2.6% of children <2 years of age. Mothers reported more frequent physical discipline of their children, including shaking, for themselves than for fathers or father figures. Nearly 11 of 1000 children were reported by their mothers as having been sexually victimized within the past year. The incidence of physical abuse determined with maternal self-reports was 40 times greater than that of official child physical abuse reports, and the sexual abuse incidence was 15 times greater. For every 1 child who sustains a serious injury as a result of shaking, an estimated 150 children may be shaken and go undetected. There was no statistically significant difference in the overall rates of physical or sexual maltreatment between the 2 states. CONCLUSIONS: Official statistics underestimate the burden of child maltreatment.” Department of Pediatrics, University of North Carolina, CB 7220, 5th Floor, Bioinformatics Building, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA. adrea_theodore@med.unc.edu
J.J. Freyd’s Trauma, Memory and Betrayal Trauma Research – Articles, Chapters, Papers Articles on this site are all authored or co-authored by Jennifer J. Freyd. http://dynamic.uoregon.edu/~jjf/traumapapers.html
The Abuse of Power Exposes the Power of Abuse – This article addresses the widespread impact of abuse that is perpetrated by someone in a position of authority – e.g., a teacher, judge, police officer, prison guard, priest, etc. http://endingtheviolence.info/abuseofpower.html
from BO The body’s story: A case report of hypnosis and physiological narration of trauma. Pantesco VF. Am J Clin Hypn. 2005 Jan; 47(3):149-59. “A single case illustrates that hypnotically utilizing the body-emotion register of encrypted sexual abuse trauma may not only afford more naturalistic retrieval and purgation of the experience, but may also provide the very medium for the healing narrative required for recovery. The patient’s original and continuing therapist was also present as support and observer for all but 1 of 25 hypnosis sessions. Treatment gains were robust at 3-year follow up. This case suggests that effective treatment for sexual abuse PTSD may in some instances reside in more nonverbally sensitive interventions not aiming to prove, probe, or process linguistic reconstructions of memory.” Antioch New England Graduate School, 40 Avon Street, Keene, NH 03431, USA. Victor_Pantesco@antiochne.edu
from BO Prevalence of physical and sexual abuse among substance abuse patients and impact on treatment outcomes. Pirard S, Sharon E, Kang SK, Angarita GA, Gastfriend DR. Drug Alcohol Depend. 2005 Apr 4; 78(1):57-64. “More than half of substance abusers entering addiction treatment report a history of physical or sexual abuse….Abused subjects reported more prior medical and psychiatric treatments. Abuse history was not a predictor of no-show for treatment. Over the 1-year follow-up, lifetime physical and/or sexual abuse was significantly associated with worse psychiatric status and more psychiatric hospitalizations and outpatient treatment despite receiving similar intensive addiction treatment.” Addiction Research Program, Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School, 388 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, MA 02115, USA; Department of Psychiatry, University of Liege, 4000 Liege, Belgium.
From BO Childhood maltreatment in extremely obese male and female bariatric surgery candidates. Grilo CM, Masheb RM, Brody M, Toth C, Burke-Martindale CH, Rothschild BS. Obes Res. 2005 Jan; 13(1):123-30. “Three hundred forty (58 men and 282 women) extremely obese consecutive candidates for gastric bypass surgery completed a questionnaire battery. The Childhood Trauma Questionnaire was given to assess childhood maltreatment. RESULTS: Overall, 69% of patients self-reported childhood maltreatment: 46% reported emotional abuse, 29% reported physical abuse, 32% reported sexual abuse, 49% reported emotional neglect, and 32% reported physical neglect. ” Yale Psychiatric Research, Yale University School of Medicine, P.O. Box 208098, 301 Cedar Street, New Haven, CT 06520. carlos.grilo@yale.edu.
From BO A history of drug use and childhood sexual abuse among incarcerated males in a county jail. Johnson RJ, Ross MW, Taylor WC, Williams ML, Carvajal RI, Peters RJ. Subst Use Misuse. 2005; 40(2):211-29. “…a random sample of 100 men who were incarcerated in a county jail. The survey included questions about childhood sexual experiences before and after puberty, drug history and use, and sexual risk-taking behaviors. Overall, 59% of this sample of male inmates reported some form of childhood sexual abuse, and all such instances occurred before or at the age of 13. Statistically significant relationships were found between drug use and childhood sexual abuse, with those who experienced childhood sexual abuse reporting drug use at percentages as much as 30% higher than those denying histories of childhood sexual abuse.” University of Texas at Austin, School of Nursing, Austin, Texas 78701-1499, USA. rjohnson@mail.nur.utexas.edu
Alarm at acceptance of abuse by teenage girls John Carvel and Steven Morris 3/21/05 “Many teenage girls are caught up in a cycle of violence, experiencing abuse at home before becoming victims of attacks from aggressive boyfriends, a survey reveals today. One in three girls and young women who had been hit by their parents went on to be abused by their boyfriends, according to the survey, which is backed by the children’s charity the NSPCC.” http://www.guardian.co.uk/child/story/0,7369,1442371,00.html
Psychologist Testifies False Claims Rare – Psychologist Who Told Authorities Jackson Molested Boy Says Children Rarely Make False Claims by Linda Deutsch AP Santa Maria, Calif. 3/30/05 “The psychologist who was the first to tell authorities about claims that Michael Jackson molested a 13-year-old boy testified Wednesday that it would be “extremely rare” for a child that age to make a false allegation. Stan Katz, one of the prosecution’s key witnesses, was prohibited by Judge Rodney Melville from testifying directly about the credibility of Jackson’s accuser or whether he believes the molestation occurred. However, Katz said that children over 5 rarely fabricate claims of molestation.” http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wireStory?id=627688
“The legacy of these 1981 laws is devastating. Over 40,000 convicted child molesters have been given preferential treatment under the law, allowed to walk free with no state prison time whatsoever. Many have returned home to control their victims again. And just as with domestic violence in the 1950’s, the message to society is clear. If you really want to protect children, this is where to start. Support Senator Jim Battin’s Circle of Trust bill (S.B. 33). Protect thousands of vulnerable children in California.” Http://www.protect.org/california/caCampaign.shtml
Violence exposure and traumatic stress reactions can lead to poor health in children “The link between health problems and children in low income, single-mother families is not surprising; these children are also more apt to be exposed to violence and maltreatment within the community and their families. A study in the March issue of The Journal of Pediatrics examines whether traumatic stress reactions in children due to these adverse childhood experiences also play a role in predicting their health. Sandra Graham-Bermann, Ph.D. and Julia Seng, Ph.D., CNM, from the University of Michigan interviewed the mothers and teachers of 160 children, ages four through six, recruited from Head Start programs in two Michigan counties. They found that 65% of the children were exposed to at least one incident of violence in their communities, which ranged from less severe (beatings and chasings) to severe (shootings, stabbings, and rapes). 47% were exposed to at least one incident of violence in their families, such as child maltreatment and domestic violence. 90% of those exposed to some form of violence had reactions characterized as traumatic stress (i.e. having nightmares, thumb-sucking, or bed-wetting), and 20% were at high risk for developing post traumatic stress disorder.” ” “Violence exposure and traumatic stress symptoms as additional predictors of health problems in high-risk children” by Sandra A. Graham-Bermann, PhD and Julia Seng, PhD, CNM. The article appears in The Journal of Pediatrics, Volume 147, Number 3 (March 2005), published by Elsevier.” http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2005-03/ajom-vea030205.php
from BO Childhood sexual abuse and age at initiation of injection drug use. Ompad DC, Ikeda RM, Shah N, Fuller CM, Bailey S, Morse E, Kerndt P, Maslow C, Wu Y, Vlahov D, Garfein R, Strathdee SA. Am J Public Health. 2005 Apr; 95(4):703-9. “Childhood sexual abuse was associated with earlier initiation of injection drug use.” New York Academy of Medicine, Center for Urban Epidemiologic Studies, 1216 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10029. dompad@nyam.org.
Books About Child Molesters, Predators and Prevention http://www.oprah.com/tows/pastshows/tows_2002/tows_past_20020426_g.jhtml
Violence exposure and traumatic stress reactions can lead to poor health in children 3/9/05 – The link between health problems and children in low income, single-mother families is not surprising; these children are also more apt to be exposed to violence and maltreatment within the community and their families. A study in the March issue of The Journal of Pediatrics examines whether traumatic stress reactions in children due to these adverse childhood experiences also play a role in predicting their health…. “Violence exposure and traumatic stress symptoms as additional predictors of health problems in high-risk children” by Sandra A. Graham-Bermann, PhD and Julia Seng, PhD, CNM. The article appears in The Journal of Pediatrics, Volume 147, Number 3 (March 2005), published by Elsevier.” http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2005-03/ajom-vea030205.php
J Am Optom Assoc. 1996 Jun;67(6):327-34. Visual function in multiple personality disorder. Birnbaum MH, Thomann K. State College of Optometry, State University of New York, NY 10010, USA. “The possibility of MPDs should be considered in patients who demonstrate unusual variability in ocular and visual findings, particularly with a positive psychiatric history. The existence of visual and other physiologic differences across alter personalities in MPD offers a unique potential for the study of mind-body relationships.”
Clin Electroencephalogr. 1990 Oct;21(4):200-9. Brain mapping in a case of multiple personality. Hughes JR, Kuhlman DT, Fichtner CG, Gruenfeld MJ. Department of Neurology, University of Illinois, Chicago 60612. “Findings that were replicated in the second session showed differences from 4 personalities, especially in theta and beta 2 frequencies on the left temporal and right posterior regions. A rank ordering of the differences in the brain maps of the alternate personalities from S were similar to the rank ordering of the differences in personality characteristics, as judged by the psychiatrist dealing with this patient. Maps from S acting like some of her personalities or from a professional actress portraying the different personalities did not reveal significant differences.”
J Nerv Ment Dis. 1988 Sep;176(9):519-27. Multiple personality disorder. A clinical investigation of 50 cases. Coons PM, Bowman ES, Milstein V. Carter Memorial Hospital, Indianapolis, IN 46202. To study the clinical phenomenology of multiple personality, 50 consecutive patients with DSM-III multiple personality disorder were assessed using clinical history, psychiatric interview, neurological examination, electroencephalogram, MMPI, intelligence testing, and a variety of psychiatric rating scales. Results revealed that patients with multiple personality are usually women who present with depression, suicide attempts, repeated amnesic episodes, and a history of childhood trauma, particularly sexual abuse. Also common were headaches, hysterical conversion, and sexual dysfunction. Intellectual level varied from borderline to superior. The MMPI reflected underlying character pathology in addition to depression and dissociation. Significant neurological or electroencephalographical abnormalities were infrequent. These data suggest that the etiology of multiple personality is strongly related to childhood trauma rather than to an underlying electrophysiological dysfunction. PMID: 3418321
Arch Gen Psychiatry. 1982 Jul;39(7):823-5. EEG studies of two multiple personalities and a control. Coons PM, Milstein V, Marley C. “These data suggest that EEG differences among personalities in a person with multiple personalities involve intensity of concentration, mood changes, degree of muscle tension, and duration of recording, rather than some inherent difference between the brains of persons with multiple personalities and those of normal persons.”
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