Issue 106 – September 2012

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
Home page: http://ritualabuse.us/

Issue 106 – September 2012

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.

SMART wants to thank all those that have contributed resource information to the newsletter.

CD information on the 2012 ritual abuse conference information is at http://ritualabuse.us/smart-conference/

Smart-Talks Podcast Blog
This is a collection of talks given at the annual SMART conference in Connecticut. Speakers present to tell their stories of their experiences with ritual abuse and/or mind control, their experiences treating patients with such backgrounds, or to raise awareness of the various issues surrounding recovery from ritual abuse/mind control of efforts made to raise awareness with the general public of this issue.

http://smart-talkspodcastblog.blogspot.com/

This issue contains information on Josh Powell, Jerry Sandusky – Penn State Abuse Scandal, sex trafficking rings, Operation Tailspin, Miramonte Elementary School, Marc Dutroux affair, Operation Ore, Ex-Citadel camp counselor, Boy Scout files “perversion files,” Chile school child sex abuse, Sex Abuse Scandal Lackland Air Force Base, ICE crackdown, vast global child pornography network, Robert Mikelsonsn daycare provider, Etan Patz Case, The Association of Citizen Prosecutors (ACP) and The International Tribunal into Crimes of Church and State (ITCCS), Vatican, the United Church of Canada, Rev. Kevin Annett, Roman Catholic Church, Irish pedophile priest Fr Brendan Smyth, Springfield clergy abuse lawsuit, Archdiocese of Milwaukee, Philadelphia clergy sex abuse case, Brooklyn Prosecutor’s Role in Abuse Case, Avrohom Mondrowitz, Jehovah’s Witness Sex Abuse Case, George Zimmerman, North Dakota Indian Reservation, Charles Lee Bergeron, Forced sterilization, eugenics compensation plan, Twenty-Two Faces, Judy Byington, Jenny Hill, In the Stillness: A Spiritual Response to Ritual Abuse, Groomed, Laurie Matthew, Todd Moore, West Memphis Three, Dale Griffis, Dissociative Identity Disorder, Satanic Ritual Abuse, Witchcraft-based child abuse, Survivorship Webinar Transcript “From Fragmentation to Integration”, Dr. Cathy Kezelman, Anneli Auer, CIA’s MKULTRA program, antimalarial drug, The Horace Mann School Sexual Abuse, No Way Out But One, Holly Collins, Multiple Personality Disorder, Backpage.com, Twitter Child Abuse Probe, Childhood Adversity, Depression, Chronic Inflammation, recovered memory, Scientology, Children With Disabilities, repressed memory, Childhood Abuse and Age at Menarche, Dissociative Amnesia, Rep. Todd Akin, slavery inquiry

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.

Legal Information

Psychologist reveals new details about Josh Powell By 97.3 KIRO FM Staff report May 28, 2012
A new documentary on E! Network called “A Family Tragedy: The Powells”, features the first interviews with the psychologist who worked with Josh Powell. It paints an even darker picture of Powell, who died earlier this year when he set his house on fire after killing both his young sons.
Forensic psychologist Dr. James Manley, who works for the state of Washington, says in the documentary that investigators found computer-generated videos and photos that show adults having sex with children.
“And there was [sic] about fifteen images that I found the most disturbing – and they were very lifelike – computerized drawings of adults and children having sex in various ways,” Dr. Manley tells Laura Ling in the documentary. The images prompted Dr. Manley to recommend a psycho- sexual evaluation. He says the pornography wasn’t a good sign for a parenting situation….
Relatives were also fighting to keep custody of Powell’s two kids, fearing that Powell had been involved in the high-profile disappearance of his wife, Susan Cox Powell. It is unclear whether or not they were aware of the pornography. The documentary will air for the first time on “E! Investigates” May 29 at 8:00 p.m. http://mynorthwest.com/11/684531/Josh-Powell-more-sinister-than-we-thought

Sandusky – Penn State Abuse Scandal

Jerry Sandusky trial: Former coach allegedly wrote intimate letters to victims Tuesday, Jun 5, 2012 Associated Press and Sporting News staff Sporting News
Former Penn State coach Jerry Sandusky allegedly sent love letters and gifts to his victims, ABC News reported on the first day of jury selection in Sandusky’s child molestation case. Known only as Victim 4, one of Sandusky’s eight accusers said he received intimate letters from the former coach. The letters will be read into testimony during the trial, which begins on Monday. Victim 4, who is expected to be the first person to testify, will also show gifts Sandusky gave him during the course of their relationship.
The letters, said to be in Sandusky’s handwriting, are expected to corroborate the accusations of Victim 4, who met Sandusky through the former coach’s Second Mile charity. Victim 4, now 28 years old, is one of seven alleged victims who will testify against Sandusky in the three-week trial. Ben Andreozzi, Victim 4’s attorney, says the letters will play a key part in the case against Sandusky. “They have evidence to support his allegations, and there’s other evidence that has not been released to the public yet that I think will really resonate with the jury,” Andreozzi told ABC News….
Sandusky, 68, faces 52 criminal counts and potential penalties that could result in an effective life prison sentence for alleged abuse involving 10 boys. He has denied the allegations.
http://aol.sportingnews.com/ncaa-football/story/2012-06-05/jerry-sandusky-trial-jury-selection-sexual-abuse-penn-state

Sandusky Trial Begins With Disturbing Testimony By KEN BELSON June 11, 2012 BELLEFONTE, Pa. — When Jerry Sandusky, the former Penn State football assistant coach, retired from Joe Paterno’s staff in 1999, he devoted himself full time to his charity, which tried to help children from disadvantaged families and broken homes.
On Monday, prosecutors opening their sexual abuse case against Sandusky told jurors that Sandusky kept a private list of boys the charity was helping. That list, they suggested, amounted to his own sort of scouting report on potential targets for him to abuse, complete with asterisks next to some of the names and notations about their hair color, shoe size, whether they had parents and other details.
Some of those targets may ultimately have become victims, prosecutors claimed on Monday, sexually abused as a consequence of “systemized behavior by a serial abuser.” And on the opening day of Sandusky’s trial, one of his accusers stepped into public for the first time, taking the witness stand at the Centre County Courthouse and offering several hours of methodically disturbing, often graphic accounts of sexual assault at the hands of the man who for decades had been Paterno’s top lieutenant. Sandusky, 68, is charged with more than 50 criminal counts of abusing 10 boys over a number of years. That accuser, now 28, said that Sandusky repeatedly had sexual contact with him in locker rooms and showers on the Penn State campus and other locations over several years starting in 1997, when he was 13….
But Sandusky also showered regularly with the boy, during which he began having soap fights and then fondling him, the man said. Over time, Sandusky’s advances became more forceful and sexual, including wrestling the boy to the ground and forcing him to perform oral sex, he testified.

Charity’s Insurer Need Not Cover, But May Have to Pay to Defend, Sandusky By Saranac Hale Spencer The Legal Intelligencer June 6, 2012
With jury selection under way this week in the criminal child sex-abuse trial of Jerry Sandusky, the former Penn State assistant football coach suffered a setback in federal court when a judge ruled that the insurance company from which he was seeking coverage is not responsible for indemnifying him for damages that may arise from the allegations.
U.S. District Chief Judge Yvette Kane of the Middle District of Pennsylvania also discussed whether or not Federal Insurance Co. would be obligated to pay for Sandusky’s defense, but deferred answering the question until discovery provides a factual record.
On Dec. 16, Sandusky informed the company that insures the nonprofit organization that he started 35 years ago to help “at-risk” youth that he would be seeking coverage from its policy. The organization, The Second Mile, announced last month that it planned to transfer its assets and programs to a similar nonprofit, called Arrow, because after the allegations against Sandusky, “there would not be adequate support, including financial, from donors, volunteers and referring social service agencies to continue The Second Mile as its own entity.”
http://www.law.com/jsp/pa/PubArticlePA.jsp?id=1202557357820&Charitys_Insurer_Need_Not_Cover_But_May_Have_to_Pay_to_Defend_Sandusky

NBC: Former Penn State president could face charges in Sandusky case 6/11/12
Disturbing details emerged at the sexual abuse trial of former assistant Penn State football coach Jerry Sandusky. During the emotional testimony, the first witness who was identified in court documents as ‘Victim 4,’ said he was a teenager when the abuse began. NBC’s John Yang reports.
By Michael Isikoff, NBC News national investigative correspondent
Pennsylvania prosecutors are considering criminal charges against former top Penn State University officials for allegedly concealing what they knew about the conduct of former assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky, law enforcement told NBC News. As Sandusky’s trial began Monday on 52 counts alleging that he abused 10 boys over 15 years, the sources said investigators had obtained new evidence, including internal university email messages and other documents.
Prosecutors made their first public reference to the material in a court filing Monday, saying they included a file on Sandusky that was “created, maintained and possessed” by former Penn State Vice President Gary Schultz. In addition, prosecutors said, the recently discovered emails “contradict” the testimony of Schultz, former athletic director Tim Curley “and others” before a grand jury about what they knew about an allegation of possible sexual misconduct by Sandusky.
A spokeswoman for Curley and Schultz said their lawyers had not yet seen the new filing by prosecutors and couldn’t comment on it. Both men were charged with perjury for their testimony regarding Sandusky last November. Legal sources tell NBC the emails and documents were recently discovered by investigators for former FBI director Louis Freeh, whose firm has been hired by Penn State to conduct an internal investigation into the school’s handling of the Sandusky matter.
The documents, the sources say, show that former university President Graham Spanier and others discussed whether they were obligated to tell authorities about a 2001 allegation involving a late-night encounter in a Penn State shower room between Sandusky and a young boy, both of whom were naked. The documents allegedly show that university officials even did legal research on whether such conduct might be a crime. But in one email exchange, Spanier and Schultz agreed that it would be “humane” — to Sandusky — not to inform social services agencies, two sources said.
http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/06/11/12169577-nbc-former-penn-state-president-could-face-charges-in-sandusky-case

Alleged victim testifies Sandusky threatened him unless he kept quiet By Kim Kaplan, NBC News, and M. Alex Johnson, msnbc.com
describes abuse
6/13/12 Jurors heard more graphic testimony Wednesday in the trial of former Penn State University assistant coach Jerry Sandusky, including testimony from an alleged victim who said Sandusky threatened that he would be cut off from his family if he told anyone about their sexual relationship….
“He said if I told anyone, I would never see my family again,” the man said. Sandusky then apologized and said “he loved me,” the man said, adding that he remained silent about incidents until last year “because I was scared, I was ashamed (and) I was embarrassed.”….
Sandusky, 68, the former longtime defensive coordinator at Penn State, denies all 52 counts alleging that he abused 10 boys over 15 years. Two grand jury reports accused him of having used his connection to one of the nation’s premier college football programs to “groom” the boys, whom he met through his Second Mile charity for troubled children, for sexual relationships.
It was the third straight day that jurors in Bellefonte, Pa., heard disturbingly graphic descriptions of Sandusky’s alleged pedophilia. Two of the alleged victims testified Wednesday, and three more alleged victims are scheduled to testify….
Sandusky gave the boy tickets to Penn State football games for more than a dozen years, beginning in 1997, he said. The man testified that he didn’t tell his story until last year because “it was just something I didn’t want my family or anyone to know. I just figured I’ll keep it to myself and I get to to go to these games, so I’ll push that part to the back of my mind.”….
The final witness of the day was a Penn State physical plant worker who testified that one night he saw “one set of hairy legs and one set of skinny legs” in the showers. Shortly thereafter, Sandusky and a small boy emerged, and “I said, ‘Good evening, Coach,'” said the man, Ronald Petrovsky. After a long bench conference, Petrovsky was allowed to testify that he later talked to Penn State janitor who also had seen the incident and was severely shaken….
http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/06/13/12202218-alleged-victim-testifies-sandusky-threatened-him-unless-he-kept-quiet

Final alleged victim tells of rape by Sandusky Thu Jun 14, 2012 (Note: explicit sexual content)
By Ian Simpson (Reuters) – The final alleged victim to testify in the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse trial told jurors on Thursday the former Penn State University assistant football coach sodomized him as a boy in the basement of Sandusky’s home as he screamed in vain for help.
His account provided a dramatic bookend to the prosecution’s presentation of graphic testimony over 3-1/2 days in the closely watched trial in Pennsylvania from eight men who described being sexually abused as young boys by Sandusky.
The latest witness, now 18, spoke quietly with his head down as prosecutor Joseph McGettigan questioned him….Sometimes he would scream, at least once when Sandusky’s wife was in the house, but no one ever responded, the man said. “No one can hear you down there,” he said in the hushed courtroom, his head hanging….
Sandusky, 68, faces 52 counts of sexually abusing 10 boys over a 15-year period. Two of the boys have not been identified. If convicted on all counts, the former defensive coordinator for Pennsylvania State University’s successful football program faces a sentence of more than 500 years in prison. Earlier on Thursday, jurors heard from two other men who also accused Sandusky of molesting them and from a university campus detective who recalled Sandusky saying “I wish I were dead” after being confronted by an alleged victim’s mother about showering with her son. Sandusky, who retired from Penn State in 1999, is accused of meeting his alleged victims through the Second Mile charity for needy boys that he founded in 1977….
Like many of the alleged victims, the man came from a broken home. When he met Sandusky, he was living in a trailer with his mother, who was working in a bar, and the father was not around. He later spent time in a foster home. He said he never told his anyone about the abuse, including his mother, saying, “How can you tell your mom about it?”
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/06/14/us-usa-crime-sandusky-idUSBRE85B03Q20120614

Sandusky prosecution brings 8th accuser to stand ‘Who would believe kids?’ Friday, 15 Jun 2012, GENARO C. ARMAS and MARK SCOLFORO, Associated Press
BELLEFONTE, Pa. (AP) — Jurors in Jerry Sandusky’s case were told Thursday the trial would not resume until next week after prosecutors finished calling to the stand eight young men who claimed the former Penn State assistant coach sexually abused them when they were children.
Sandusky’s trial on 52 criminal counts has moved more quickly than many observers have expected, and his lawyers could begin to put on their witnesses as early as Monday. There are two alleged victims have never been identified. Testimony on Thursday included three more accusers, including a young man who claimed the 68-year-old Sandusky raped him as a teen guest in Sandusky’s basement.
That witness, now 18, told jurors his abuse began with fondling and forced oral sex and led to several instances of rape in Sandusky’s State College home, where he spent more than 100 nights and where his muffled screams went unanswered by Sandusky’s wife, Dottie, who was upstairs. He said he figured the basement must be soundproof. “He got real aggressive, and just forced me into it,” he said. “And I just went with it — there was no fighting against it.” Under cross-examination by Sandusky lawyer Joe Amendola, he said the attacks sometimes left him bleeding, but that he never sought medical attention. “I just dealt with it,” he said.
Described as Victim 9 in court records, he became known to investigators after Sandusky was first arrested in November and his mother summoned police to their home. He said he didn’t want to talk to them at first. “Who would believe kids?” he said….
Earlier in the day, an accuser called Victim 6 testified that Sandusky described himself as a “tickle monster” and embraced the then-11-year-old boy in a Penn State shower in 1998, an encounter that prompted an investigation but ended without any charges filed.
Now 25, he told jurors Sandusky embraced him in a locker room shower, lathered up his back and shoulders then lifted him chest-to-chest to a shower head to rinse out his hair.
The man said the shared shower happened after a brief workout at a campus gym, even though he hadn’t broken a sweat. His mother went to authorities when she saw her son come home with wet hair, although the inquiry spawned by her report didn’t lead to any charges.
http://www.wtnh.com/dpps/sports/football_ncaa/sandusky-prosecution-brings-8th-accuser-to-stand-sp12-tvw_4208388#

Jerry Sandusky: Jury could get sex abuse case by Thursday By Michael Muskal June 18, 2012 The jury in the Jerry Sandusky case could get the case as soon as Thursday, the judge said as the defense began its presentation Monday. Sandusky, 68, faces 51 counts of abusing 10 children over 15 years. If convicted on all of the charges, the former football coach at Penn State University could be sentenced to hundreds of years in prison. The case, being tried in Bellefonte, Pa., has been moving rapidly with the prosecution formally resting on Monday and the defense kicking off its presentation immediately after. On Monday, the defense called three witnesses who praised Sandusky as an upstanding member of the community and one who worked with at-risk youth at the Second Mile, the charity he founded.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nation/nationnow/la-na-nn-sandusky-defense-20120618,0,3998891.story

Sandusky jury may view unaired NBC interview footage POST STAFF REPORT June 18, 2012
Prosecutors are reportedly weighing whether to use unaired portions of a creepy interview given by former Penn State football coach Jerry Sandusky, in their case against the accused pedophile.
NBC’s Bob Costas repeatedly asked Sandusky in November whether the former Nittany Lions defensive guru had inappropriate contact with kids — and at least one of the coach’s weird answers that didn’t make air could be used by prosecutors, according to the network.
“Many more young people who would come forward and say that my methods and — and what I had done for them made a very positive impact on their life,” Sandusky said of kids he met through his Second Mile charity. “And I didn’t go around seeking out every young person for sexual needs that I’ve helped. There are many that I didn’t have – I hardly had any contact with who I have helped in many, many ways.” That exchange could be used against in the current trial against Sandusky, according to NBC. Sandusky’s odd response — that he didn’t seek out “every young person for sexual needs” — could make it look like he approached at least some kids, said NBC News legal analyst Wes Oliver….
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/national/sandusky_jury_may_view_unaired_nbc_fmc6Ja8lPw8I4S10cdGFHN

Sandusky’s adopted son now says he was molested, too Thursday, Jun 21, 2012
Jerry Sandusky’s adopted son, Matt Sandusky, said through his attorney today that he met with prosecutors this week to say for the first time that he is a molestation victim of his adoptive father, the Harrisburg (Pa.) Patriot-News reported.
Matt Sandusky, 33, was adopted as an adult by the former Penn State assistant football coach and his wife, Dottie, after having lived with the family as a foster child. He had denied ever being abused by his adopted father until now, according to the report….
In March, The Patriot-News reported that Matt Sandusky had a rocky relationship with his adopted father. His biological mother, Debra Long, told the newspaper that she believed Sandusky had stolen her son from her.
She testified before the grand jury in early 2011 about strange behavior she says she witnessed between her son and Sandusky, the newspaper added. Matt Sandusky testified to the grand jury, too. But Jerry Sandusky’s attorney, Joe Amendola, said at the time that he was not worried about Matt’s testimony, and that Long was making false allegations because she was angry at the Sandusky family.
During testimony at trial, Victim 4 told jurors that on one occasion when Jerry Sandusky began touching him during a shower, Matt Sandusky was present but left the shower when the assault began.
http://aol.sportingnews.com/ncaa-football/story/2012-06-21/jerry-sandusky-adopted-son-matt-sandusky-accuses-molested-first-time?icid=maing-grid10%7Chtml

Jury finds Jerry Sandusky guilty on dozens of child sex abuse charges By the CNN Wire Staff June 23, 2012 Bellefonte, Pennsylvania (CNN) — A jury convicted former assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky on 45 of 48 counts related to sexual abuse of boys over a 15-year period, ending a painful chapter for victims and the Penn State community. Jurors delivered the verdict around 10 p.m. Friday after deliberating for 21 hours.
There were convictions related to all 10 sexual abuse victims, with the three not-guilty verdicts applying to three different individuals. http://www.cnn.com/2012/06/22/justice/pennsylvania-sandusky-trial/index.html

Penn State signals it wants to settle Sandusky cases – University may have to pay millions to victims of sexual abuse by former coach By Ian Simpson 6/24/2012
BELLEFONTE, Pennsylvania — With former Penn State coach Jerry Sandusky now behind bars for child sexual abuse, the university has given an unusual signal that it wants to wrap up civil suits as fast as possible, legal observers said on Saturday.
Shortly after Sandusky, 68, was convicted late on Friday on 45 counts of sexual abuse, Pennsylvania State University invited victims to try to resolve claims against the school.
“The purpose of the program is simple – the university wants to provide a forum where the university can privately, expeditiously and fairly address the victims’ concerns and compensate them for claims relating to the university,” it said in a statement.
Sandusky’s conviction clears a hurdle for potentially big-ticket civil suits since abuse victims suing the school now can point to a crime that was committed, the observers said.
At least two civil suits have been filed already against the school, both in Philadelphia. A filing by Sandusky’s lawyers last month put the number of potential victims at almost 20….
A former assistant coach, Mike McQueary, testified he told late head coach Joe Paterno, Curley and Schultz about a 2001 incident in which Sandusky abused a boy in a Penn State locker room.
Curley and Schultz face charges of perjury and failure to report suspected abuse in an alleged cover-up of the incident. “Schultz and Curley will tell us a lot more about what Penn State knew” about Sandusky’s pedophilia, Kennerly said ((Max Kennerly, a Philadelphia lawyer who has handled sex abuse cases) http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/47935946/vp/47934464#47934464

Analysis: Number of victims persuaded Sandusky jurors in ‘he said, he said’ case By Wes Oliver, Special to msnbc.com ANALYSIS 6/23/12
Friday night was not a good night for the Penn State community but you couldn’t tell it from the atmosphere outside the courtroom. Jerry Sandusky was convicted of the overwhelming majority of the child sex abuse counts of against him. The verdict revealed that the jury believed the account of every of major witness the prosecution presented. There were only three verdicts of ‘not guilty’ in the 48 counts Sandusky faced….
The eight witnesses demonstrated a range of credibility. Ultimately the jury concluded that all of the victims were credible but carefully examined their testimony to see if it established the crimes alleged. It is entirely possible that no single victim could have prevailed in the he-said, he-said conflict in this case. But the victims reinforced one another. The odds that they were all lying were too remote for the jury to conclude anything other than they were all telling the truth.
http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/06/23/12370562-analysis-number-of-victims-persuaded-sandusky-jurors-in-he-said-he-said-case

Jerry Sandusky Juror Joshua Harper Discusses Deliberations While Victims’ Families Talk 06/25/2012 ….Victims’ families and members of the jury have come forward to talk more about the monumental verdict that — if it holds up despite an expected appeal — will likely lead to a sentence of more than 400 years for Sandusky.
….The two-week trial was emotionally wrenching for some of the jury’s five men and seven women, including one who appeared to cry Friday night. But one juror described the satisfaction that came from convicting a predator who abused disadvantaged boys for years.
“It feels good to expose something that was covered up,” said Joshua Harper, 31, a Penn State alumnus, according to the Washington Post. “It’s a statement that there needs to be accountability and change. It’s the beginning of our time to heal.” Sandusky’s lack of outward emotion as the verdict was read convinced Harper that the jury reached the right conclusion. “That was just confirmation again,” Harper told NBC’s Today show. “You know I looked at him during the reading of the verdict, and just the look on his face, no real emotion, just kind of accepting, you know, because he knew it was true.”
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/25/jerry-sandusky-juror-josh_n_1625166.html

describes abuse allegations
NBC exclusive: Matt Sandusky details alleged sex abuse by his father By Michael Isikoff, NBC News 6/26/12 Jerry Sandusky’s adopted son Matt told police he was sexually molested by his father for years — and once fled in fear from the Sandusky home — during a secret police interview that took place in the middle of his father’s trial for child sex-abuse, according to a copy of the tape obtained by NBC News….
NBC News has exclusively obtained the 29-minute audiotape, which was recorded by police detectives on June 15, four days after the Jerry Sandusky trial began. At the time, the detectives were preparing Sandusky’s son to testify as a surprise prosecution witness at his father’s trial.
For years, Matt Sandusky had publicly stood by his father and even showed up on the first day of the trial, sitting with the rest of the Sandusky family. But after listening to the first day of testimony from a young man known in court documents as “Victim 4,” Matt Sandusky contacted police and volunteered to testify on behalf of the prosecution. The prosecutors’ plan was to use Matt Sandusky as a rebuttal witness if Jerry Sandusky took the stand in his own defense.
It turned out to be a crucial turning point in the Sandusky trial. When Jerry Sandusky learned that his own adopted son was prepared to testify against him, it was a “complete shock,” and it played a big role in his decision not to take the witness stand, according to one of his lawyers, Karl Rominger….
In his interview with police, Matt Sandusky was asked directly why he decided to change his previous denials of abuse and cooperate with police. “I came forward, I mean, for different reasons,” he said. “But I mean for my family you know so that they can really have closure and see what the truth actually is. And just to right the wrong, honestly, of going to the grand jury and lying.”….
http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/06/26/12417694-nbc-exclusive-matt-sandusky-details-alleged-sex-abuse-by-his-father

What the Sandusky Verdict Means to Child Sexual Abuse Victims By Mai Fernandez Thursday, June 28, 2012 While testifying about the abuse he had experienced, one of Jerry Sandusky’s victims was asked why he had never reported the crime. “Who would believe kids?” he asked. Sandusky is an “important guy.” So like his fellow witnesses—and so many other child sexual abuse victims—he didn’t tell a soul.
Sandusky’s 45-count conviction represents a watershed for all victims of child sexual abuse.
Sandusky’s victims—whose pained, halting, and strikingly similar testimony led to the conviction—described how pedophiles prey on children who trust and look up to them. The jury believed those victims, and they can now begin healing and rebuilding their lives.
The conviction frees them from the troublesome media label “alleged victims,” which reflected the judge’s stated view that there were no victims until a conviction was achieved. As state and federal law confirm, there ARE victims prior to conviction in a particular case, and they have rights in the criminal justice system.
As victims exercised their rights in this case, their suffering was recognized and their accounts of Sandusky’s grievous crimes were validated….
The Sandusky case, as well as the Catholic Church child sex abuse scandal, has suggested the true scope of child sexual abuse. Studies show that 1 in 5 girls and 1 in 20 boys are victims of sexual abuse, and an estimated 78,188 cases of reported child sexual abuse occurred in 2003.
Yet we know that the vast majority of these crimes are not reported; the numbers don’t begin to reflect the actual prevalence of child sexual abuse.
The Sandusky case also exposed the methods by which predators establish power over children’s lives. They systematically “groom” their victims, often showering them and their families with gifts and special favors, such as football tickets, access to star players, and camping trips. Sandusky preyed on children served by Second Mile, the charity he founded to help disadvantaged youth. Like so many predators, Sandusky built a reputation as a benefactor—rather than a destroyer—of youth.
http://www.thecrimereport.org/viewpoints/2012-06-what-the-sandusky-verdict-means-to-child-sexual-abus

Disturbing e-mails could spell more trouble for Penn State officials By Susan Candiotti, CNN Mon July 2, 2012 (CNN) — With convicted serial child sex abuser Jerry Sandusky behind bars, new questions are surfacing about what Penn State officials knew about a 2001 incident involving the former assistant football coach’s encounter with a boy in the shower — and whether they covered up the incident. Sandusky sexually abused other boys in the years after the 2001 incident and before his arrest. CNN does not have the purported e-mails. However, the alleged contents were read to CNN. The messages indicate former Penn State President Graham Spanier and two other former university officials knew they had a problem with Sandusky after a 2001 shower incident, but apparently first decided to handle it using a “humane” approach before contacting outside authorities whose job it is to investigate suspected abuse.
“This is a more humane and upfront way to handle this,’ Gary Schultz, who was a university vice president at the time, allegedly wrote. Records show no authorities were ever contacted and Sandusky was eventually charged with having sexual contact with four more boys after the 2001 incident. On June 22, Sandusky was convicted of abusing 10 boys over 15 years. http://www.cnn.com/2012/06/30/justice/penn-state-emails/index.html

In the Wake of Jerry Sandusky – To prevent child abuse, something has to change. So why won’t it? BY Barry Nolan 6/25/2012
After the verdict came down in the Jerry Sandusky case, Linda Kelly, the Pennsylvania State Attorney General, stood before the assembled press and said something very important. She said: “One of the recurring themes of the witness’ testimony was … ‘Who would believe a kid?’”
Yes indeed, who would take the word of a mere child over that of a beloved coach like Jerry Sandusky about sexual abuse? Even though we know that such terrible crimes are far too common and the numbers are staggering, we can’t believe it. So, from 2005 to 2006 about 135,300 children were sexually abused.
Who would take the word of a child against a respected adult even though we know that in up to 93 percent of the time, the child knows his abuser and as many as 47 percent of the perpetrators are family members.
Who would take the word of a child even though in the vast majority of cases the only witness to child sex abuse is the child?
The ugly truth about child sexual abuse is that we really don’t want to hear about it. And far too much of it happens after an initial complaint about a perpetrator has been made and it’s not investigated thoroughly.
Take the tragic sex abuse scandal in the Catholic Church, and just imagine how things could have been different if there had been real listening and forceful action early on. There were 10,667 complaints of sexual abuse against 4,392 priests and deacons between 1950 and 2002 and yet no serious or thorough investigation took place. And so the abuse was allowed to continue. Until the Globe’s Pulitzer Prize winning series compelled self-examination and change….
The first child to make a complaint in the Sandusky case came forward 14 years ago. But who was going to believe a kid over Jerry Sandusky? So the complaint was not thoroughly investigated and, tragically, the abuse continued….
Back in 1993, most people simply didn’t want to believe the awful things a kid had to say about what Jackson did behind closed doors. After all, Michael Jackson was a lavishly talented and beloved public figure. But Dimond, and a few others, listened carefully and pursued leads and looked at the evidence. And the awful truth began to come out. The boy in that case would eventually accept a settlement from Jackson that was widely reported to be in the range of $20 million.
I asked her for her thoughts on the bigger picture, the Sandusky case, the scandal in the church, and the Jackson matter. Here is part of what she sent me in an e-mail:
“Pedophiles are really the very person you think they could never be. They are the most charming, personable, charitable, and kid-friendly people you would ever want to meet. They pay their taxes, they go to church, they cloak themselves in acts of charity and they say they just want to help you raise your child by being a positive influence in their lives … Too often detectives believe the perpetrator’s version of events and they are freed to violate again.”
http://blogs.bostonmagazine.com/boston_daily/2012/06/25/jerry-sandusky-abuse/

Sandusky Sex Abuse Report: Investigation Into Penn State University’s Role In Child Molestation Case To Be Published Thursday Reuters By Ian Simpson 07/10/2012
WASHINGTON, July 10 (Reuters) – An investigation into Penn State University’s role in the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse scandal will be published on Thursday, and the family of late football coach Joe Paterno has questioned its fairness and confidentiality.
The head of the eight-month probe, former FBI Director Louis Freeh, said on Tuesday its report would be published online at 9 a.m. EDT (1300 GMT) on Thursday. He will hold a news briefing at 10 a.m. EDT (1400 GMT) in Philadelphia.
Pennsylvania State University’s trustees hired Freeh and his law firm to investigate the school’s handling of explosive allegations involving Sandusky, a former assistant coach in the high-powered football program, and university officials.
Sandusky, 68, was convicted last month of 45 counts of child molestation involving 10 boys. Some of the sexual abuse took place at Penn State football facilities. The charges involving Sandusky prompted the firing in November of university President Graham Spanier and head coach Paterno, who won more games than any other major college football coach. Paterno died of lung cancer in January at age 85.
At the heart of the Freeh probe is how Paterno and other Penn State officials reacted to allegations by Mike McQueary, a graduate assistant. McQueary told them in 2001 he had seen Sandusky in a sexual position with a boy in a football locker room, but neither police nor children’s services were informed. Former Athletic Director Tim Curley and Gary Schultz, a former university vice president, face charges of perjury and failure to report suspected abuse stemming from the alleged cover-up.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/11/sandusky-sex-abuse-report-penn-state_n_1663691.html

Abuse Scandal Inquiry Damns Paterno and Penn State By KEN BELSON July 12, 2012
In 1998, officials at Penn State, including its president and its legendary football coach, were aware Jerry Sandusky was being investigated by the university’s police department for possibly molesting two young boys in the football building’s showers. They followed the investigation closely, updating one another along the way.
One of those officials, Gary Schultz, articulated in dire terms what the incidents might suggest: “Is this opening of Pandora’s box?” Mr. Schultz wrote in notes that he would keep secret for years. “Other children?”
The officials did nothing. No one so much as spoke to Mr. Sandusky.
Last month, Mr. Sandusky, for three decades one of Joe Paterno’s top coaching lieutenants, was convicted of sexually attacking 10 young boys, nine of them after the 1998 investigation, and several of them in the same football building showers. Louis J. Freeh, the former federal judge and director of the F.B.I. who spent the last seven months examining the Sandusky scandal at Penn State, issued a damning conclusion Thursday:
The most senior officials at Penn State had shown a “total and consistent disregard” for the welfare of children, had worked together to actively conceal Mr. Sandusky’s assaults, and had done so for one central reason: fear of bad publicity. That publicity, Mr. Freeh said Thursday, would have hurt the nationally ranked football program, Mr. Paterno’s reputation as a coach of high principles, the Penn State “brand” and the university’s ability to raise money as one of the most respected public institutions in the country….
Mr. Freeh, in a formal report to the university’s board of trustees that ran more than 250 pages, offered graphic evidence of the implications of what he termed “a pervasive fear” of bad publicity:
In 2000, a janitor at the football building saw Mr. Sandusky assaulting a boy in the showers. Horrified, he consulted with his colleagues, but decided not to do anything. They were all, Mr. Freeh said, afraid to “take on the football program.” “They said the university would circle around it,” Mr. Freeh said of the employees. “It was like going against the president of the United States. If that’s the culture on the bottom, then God help the culture at the top.”
Indeed, Mr. Freeh’s investigation makes clear it was Mr. Paterno, long regarded as the single most powerful official at the university, who persuaded the university president and others not to report Mr. Sandusky to the authorities in 2001 after he had violently assaulted another boy in the football showers…. “The facts are the facts,” Mr. Freeh said. “There’s a whole bunch of evidence here. And we’re saying that the reasonable conclusion from that evidence is he was an integral part of this active decision to conceal. I regret that based on the damage that it does, obviously, to his legacy.”….
One new and central finding of the Freeh investigation is that Mr. Paterno, who died in January, knew as far back as 1998 that there were concerns Mr. Sandusky might be behaving inappropriately with children. It was then that the campus police investigated a claim by a mother that her son had been molested by Mr. Sandusky in a shower at Penn State. Mr. Paterno, through his family, had insisted after Mr. Sandusky’s arrest that he never knew anything about the 1998 case. In fact, he had testified under oath before the grand jury hearing evidence against Mr. Sandusky that he was not aware of the 1998 investigation.
But Mr. Freeh’s report asserts that Mr. Paterno not only knew of the investigation, but followed it closely. Local prosecutors ultimately decided not to charge Mr. Sandusky, and Mr. Paterno did nothing. Mr. Paterno failed to take any action, the investigation found, “even though Sandusky had been a key member of his coaching staff for almost 30 years and had an office just steps away from Mr. Paterno’s.” “In order to avoid the consequences of bad publicity,” the most powerful leaders of Penn State, Mr. Freeh’s group said, “repeatedly concealed critical facts relating to Sandusky’s child abuse from the authorities, the board of trustees, the Penn State community and the public at large.”….
Mr. Freeh said that by allowing Mr. Sandusky to remain a visible presence at Penn State following his retirement from coaching in 1999, he was essentially granted “license to bring boys to campus for ‘grooming’ as targets for his assaults.”
The Freeh investigation also determined that Mr. Sandusky, upon his retirement shortly after the 1998 investigation, received both an unusual compensation package and a special designation of “emeritus” rank that carried special privileges, including access to the university’s recreational facilities. With respect to money, Mr. Spanier, the president, approved a lump-sum payment to Mr. Sandusky of $168,000. Mr. Freeh’s investigators interviewed two senior and longtime university officials who said they had never heard of this type of payment being made to any retiring employee….

Sandusky inquiry remains ‘very active’ By Kevin Johnson, USA TODAY 7/13/12
Pennsylvania prosecutors are developing “new information” in their continuing investigation into former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky and how the university handled the initial allegations against the now-convicted pedophile, a spokesman for the state attorney general said Friday. Nils Frederiksen, a spokesman for Attorney General Linda Kelly, described the inquiry as “very active” after Thursday’s release of a scathing internal investigation of the university headed by Louis Freeh. The former FBI director found that top Penn State officials concealed information related to Sandusky’s abuse of children dating back to 1998.
Sandusky was convicted of 45 counts of child sexual abuse last month and is in a central Pennsylvania jail awaiting formal sentencing. Some of the information being reviewed by prosecutors, according to court documents filed in a Harrisburg court last month, are e-mails and other correspondence that reference an incident in 1998 in which Sandusky was accused of sexually abusing a boy in a university shower-room. The correspondence, which references communication involving university President Graham Spanier, Athletic Director Tim Curley, now on leave, retired university vice president Gary Schultz and head football coach Joe Paterno, was only recently turned over to prosecutors, according to court papers.
Some of the information was turned over to prosecutors by investigators working for Freeh. The cache includes e-mail references to Paterno’s apparent knowledge of the incident in 1998. That information was not available to prosecutors when Paterno told a grand jury he was not aware of any allegations of misconduct involving Sandusky apart from an incident in 2001, when Paterno was told by football assistant Michael McQueary that Sandusky was involved in sexual activity with a young boy in a university shower-room….
Frederiksen declined to elaborate on the focus of the criminal inquiry, but he said Freeh’s report “reinforces our findings that there was an effort by top administrators at Penn State to conceal the truth.”….
Attorneys for Spanier, Curley and Schultz have challenged Freeh’s report, saying their clients did not conceal information about Sandusky’s activities. Paterno’s son, Jay, said Freeh’s conclusions were based on “incomplete information.” “Joe did not cover up for Jerry Sandusky or conceal information,” the son said. http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/story/2012-07-13/sandusky-inquiry-penn-state/56203642/1

Paterno Won Sweeter Deal Even as Scandal Played Out By JO BECKER July 14, 2012
In January 2011, Joe Paterno learned prosecutors were investigating his longtime assistant coach Jerry Sandusky for sexually assaulting young boys. Soon, Mr. Paterno had testified before a grand jury, and the rough outlines of what would become a giant scandal had been published in a local newspaper.
That same month, Mr. Paterno, the football coach at Penn State, began negotiating with his superiors to amend his contract, with the timing something of a surprise because the contract was not set to expire until the end of 2012, according to university documents and people with knowledge of the discussions. By August, Mr. Paterno and the university’s president, both of whom were by then embroiled in the Sandusky investigation, had reached an agreement.
Mr. Paterno was to be paid $3 million at the end of the 2011 season if he agreed it would be his last. Interest-free loans totaling $350,000 that the university had made to Mr. Paterno over the years would be forgiven as part of the retirement package. He would also have the use of the university’s private plane and a luxury box at Beaver Stadium for him and his family to use over the next 25 years.
The university’s full board of trustees was kept in the dark about the arrangement until November, when Mr. Sandusky was arrested and the contract arrangements, along with so much else at Penn State, were upended. Mr. Paterno was fired, two of the university’s top officials were indicted in connection with the scandal, and the trustees, who held Mr. Paterno’s financial fate in their hands, came under verbal assault from the coach’s angry supporters.
Board members who raised questions about whether the university ought to go forward with the payments were quickly shut down, according to two people with direct knowledge of the negotiations.
In the end, the board of trustees — bombarded with hate mail and threatened with a defamation lawsuit by Mr. Paterno’s family — gave the family virtually everything it wanted, with a package worth roughly $5.5 million….

Penn State takes first steps to recover after Sandusky scandal – Penn State trustees, taking ‘full responsibility’ for the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse scandal, announced initial steps to recover the university’s tarnished reputation. Some say much more will have to be done, especially changing a campus culture in which sports coaches are idolized.
By Brad Knickerbocker, Staff writer / July 14, 2012
It’s likely to take years for Penn State to fully recover from the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse scandal that has blotted the reputation of the university and its most senior officials, including legendary head football coach Joe Paterno.
But in its first meeting since the blistering investigation by former FBI director Louis Freeh, the university’s board of trustees has taken initial steps in that direction. The board – which itself was criticized in the Freeh report for failing to create an environment in which much of the abuse might have been prevented – has begun by accepting what board chair Karen Peetz calls “full responsibility” for its failures.
Notably, the federal Clery Act of 1990 requiring the compilation and reporting of crime statistics, including sexual offenses, had never become policy at Penn State. Under the Clery Act – named for a young woman sexually assaulted and murdered in a Lehigh University dorm room in 1986 – Penn State officials were obliged to report Sandusky’s known activities to law-enforcement officials.
“Our hearts are heavy and we are deeply ashamed,” said trustee Ken Frazier. “We failed to ask the tough questions. We failed to push the issue.” http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Justice/2012/0714/Penn-State-takes-first-steps-to-recover-after-Sandusky-scandal

Freeh Report on The Pennsylvania State University
The independent report by Louis Freeh and his law firm, Freeh Sporkin & Sullivan, LLP, into the facts and circumstances of the actions of The Pennsylvania State University surrounding the child abuse committed by a former employee, Gerald A. Sandusky, is available by clicking on the Download the Report link below. Mr. Freeh’s statement is also available by clicking on the Download the Press Release link below. The video replay of the press conference held on July 12, 2012 is available by clicking on the Watch the Announcement button below. http://thefreehreportonpsu.com/

REMARKS OF LOUIS FREEH IN CONJUNCTION WITH ANNOUNCEMENT OF PUBLICATION OF REPORT REGARDING THE PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY
Philadelphia, PA, July 12, 2012 – Louis Freeh today issued prepared remarks in conjunction with today’s publication of his report of the investigation into the facts and circumstances of the actions of The Pennsylvania State University surrounding the child abuse committed by a former employee, Gerald A. Sandusky. Mr. Freeh will summarize these remarks during his press conference at 10 a.m. today.
….Our most saddening and sobering finding is the total disregard for the safety and welfare of Sandusky’s child victims by the most senior leaders at Penn State. The most powerful men at Penn State failed to take any steps for 14 years to protect the children who Sandusky victimized. Messrs. Spanier, Schultz, Paterno and Curley never demonstrated, through actions or words, any concern for the safety and well-being of Sandusky’s victims until after Sandusky’s arrest.
In critical written correspondence that we uncovered on March 20th of this year, we see evidence of their proposed plan of action in February 2001 that included reporting allegations about Sandusky to the authorities. After Mr. Curley consulted with Mr. Paterno, however, they changed the plan and decided not to make a report to the authorities. Their failure to protect the February 9, 2001 child victim, or make attempts to identify him, created a dangerous situation for other unknown, unsuspecting young boys who were lured to the Penn State campus and football games by Sandusky and victimized repeatedly by him.
Further, they exposed this child to additional harm by alerting Sandusky, who was the only one who knew the child’s identity, about what McQueary saw in the shower on the night of February 9, 2001.
….Taking into account the available witness statements and evidence, it is more reasonable to conclude that, in order to avoid the consequences of bad publicity, the most powerful leaders at Penn State University – Messrs. Spanier, Schultz, Paterno and Curley – repeatedly concealed critical facts relating to Sandusky’s child abuse from the authorities, the Board of Trustees, Penn State community, and the public at large. Although concern to treat the child abuser humanely was expressly stated, no such sentiments were ever expressed by them for Sandusky’s victims.
….Their callous and shocking disregard for child victims was underscored by the Grand Jury, which noted in its November 4, 2011 presentment that there was no “attempt to investigate, to identify Victim 2 or to protect that child or others from similar conduct, except as related to preventing its reoccurrence on University property.”
….From 1998–2011, Penn State’s “Tone at the Top” for transparency, compliance, police reporting and child protection was completely wrong, as shown by the inaction and concealment on the part of its most senior leaders, and followed by those at the bottom of the University’s pyramid of power. This is best reflected by the janitors’ decision not to report Sandusky’s horrific 2000 sexual assault of a young boy in the Lasch Building shower. The janitors were afraid of being fired for reporting a powerful football coach. http://www.thefreehreportonpsu.com/Press_Release_07_12_12.pdf

Freeh Report PDF http://www.thefreehreportonpsu.com/REPORT_FINAL_071212.pdf

Three men say they were abused by Jerry Sandusky in ’70s or ’80s By NBC News staff 7/16/12
Three men have told police they were abused by Jerry Sandusky in the 1970s or 1980s, according to a local report Monday. Sources close the Sandusky case say they are the first people to allege abuse before the 1990s by the 68-year-old convicted pedophile, The Patriot-News reported.
In the early 1970s when one of the men said he was abused, the former Penn State assistant football coach would have been in his late 20s. Sandusky was convicted in June on 45 counts of child sex abuse against 10 victims. As the case unfolded, more alleged victims came forward – including Sandusky’s adopted son – to say they were also abused. http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/07/16/12772779-three-men-say-they-were-abused-by-jerry-sandusky-in-70s-or-80s

Jerry Sandusky Retirement Package Revoked By Penn State University, Pension Remains The Huffington Post By Tyler Kingkade 7/18/12
Jerry Sandusky has been downgraded.
Penn State University has officially revoked the retirement package of Sandusky, a convicted pedophile, according to the Daily Collegian. Sandusky, a one time assistant football coach at PSU, retired in 1999 and received a lump sum payment of $168,000. The Freeh report, released last week, noted this was a highly unusual amount. Another bizarre condition of Sandusky’s retirement included giving him “emeritus” status, which allowed him generous privileges. At the time of his retirement, Sandusky was an assistant physical education professor and assistant football coach positions, which wouldn’t qualify him eligible for the emeritus rank. He was given wide access to use facilities on campus, including the locker rooms and showers where he was found to repeatedly molest and rape young boys.
University spokesman Dave La Torre gave further details to the Collegian:
He said the following portions of Sandusky’s retirement package have been revoked: four free football season tickets for the rest of his life and the opportunity to purchase four more within the 35-yard lines; two men’s and women’s basketball season tickets for the rest of his life; lifetime use of a locker, weight rooms, fitness facilities and training room in the East Area locker room; a five-year agreement, subject to renewal, between Sandusky and Penn State to work collaboratively in community outreach programs such as The Second Mile that “provide positive visibility to the University’s Intercollegiate Athletics Program,” as well as a 10-year agreement, subject to renewal, giving him an office and telephone in the East Area locker room.
Sandusky was found guilty on June 22 of 45 criminal counts relating to the assault of 10 boys over a 15-year period. La Torre said he’s unclear about when the university officially revoked the retirement package. La Torre told The Huffington Post Sandusky’s emeritus was officially removed….
The $168,000, in addition to 71 separate payments made between 2000 and 2008 by Penn State to Sandusky for items including travel, meals and speaking engagements, will not be revoked, the Collegian reports.
However, Sandusky will still be collecting nearly $5,000 a month through his pension from taxpayers. Some lawmakers have said they want to review any possible options to cut Sandusky off from his pension, but they acknowledge that would be unlikely.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/17/jerry-sandusky-retirement-package-revoked-psu_n_1679879.html

Sandusky fallout: NCAA ‘death penalty’ possible for Penn State By Michael Muskal July 18, 2012
With Penn State University expected within days to respond to NCAA concerns about how the school handled reports involving former assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky and allegations of child sexual abuse, the real question for sports fans is whether, and how, the celebrated football program will be punished.
The NCAA, the governing body of collegiate sports, is not likely to act quickly enough for there to be any action before the football season opener scheduled for Sept. 1 against Ohio University. The Nittany Lions have the dubious pleasure of opening at home, at Beaver Stadium. That stadium has been the focus of protests about a statue of Joe Paterno, the late head football coach, who was portrayed in less-than-flattering terms in the recent university-sponsored report on the Sandusky scandal….
The NCAA, for its part, has taken nothing off the table, including the so-called death penalty, shutting down the program for at least a year, said its president Mark Emmert in a PBS interview Monday. Emmert said he’s “never seen anything as egregious as this in terms of just overall conduct and behavior inside a university.”….
The Freeh report blamed top university officials for failing — not once, but twice — to act on reports that Sandusky had sexually abused boys in the showers of the school’s football training facility. The officials acted to keep the reports in-house, despite legal requirements that they tell outside authorities, because they feared the impact of bad publicity on the school. The report also discussed a culture of fear that prevented anyone from acting against someone affiliated with the school’s powerful football program.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nation/nationnow/la-na-nn-ncaa-penn-state-death-penalty-20120718,0,4725237.story

Penn State did not fully cooperate in Sandusky probe: governor By Mark Shade HARRISBURG, Pennsylvania Thu Jul 19, 2012 (Reuters) – Pennsylvania’s governor said on Thursday that Penn State University officials may have intentionally withheld information from a grand jury looking into allegations of football coach Jerry Sandusky’s child sex abuse. Penn State’s cooperation in the Sandusky investigation, dating back to 2009, was “incomplete,” despite a subpoena from the state attorney general, Governor Tom Corbett said at a news conference. Corbett was Pennsylvania’s attorney general in 2009, before he was elected governor in 2010….
Penn State failed to turn over all the evidence sought by the grand jury looking into Sandusky, Corbett said. “It was not initially provided by Penn State University when it was subpoenaed by the attorney general’s office,” he said. “I am very disappointed in the lack of forthcoming evidence to the subpoena that was given to them by the attorney general’s office,” he added. Pennsylvania newspapers reported that Corbett said that emails implicating university officials did not come to light until after charges had been filed in the Sandusky case.
Penn State spokesman Dave La Torre said that Penn State is cooperating fully with all investigations. “Penn State has, literally, turned over millions of pages of documents to investigators and continues to cooperate with any and all requests for information,” he said.
The grand jury investigation into the case remains open, according to Attorney General spokesman Nils Frederiksen. He would not say whether Penn State might face obstruction of justice charges or if any other charges might be pending….
Penn State also faces an investigation by the U.S. Department of Education, which is weighing whether it violated the Clery Act that requires colleges to report criminal incidents on campus, and by the NCAA, which governs U.S. college sports and is weighing sanctions against the university.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/07/20/us-usa-pennstate-governor-idUSBRE86J00G20120720

Former chairman becomes first Penn State trustee to resign post-Sandusky CBSSports.com wire reports July 19, 2012 A member and former chairman of the Penn State board of trustees resigned on Thursday, becoming the first board member to do so in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse scandal. Steve Garban said in a letter his presence on the board had become “a distraction and an impediment” to its efforts to move forward.
Garban, who had stepped down as board chairman after Sandusky’s November arrest but had remained a board member, was harshly criticized over his handling of the crisis that engulfed Penn State, and he faced persistent calls from alumni and fellow board members to resign.
An internal investigation by former FBI Director Louis Freeh found that Garban was briefed twice about developments in the Sandusky case but didn’t share what he knew with the entire board, depriving trustees of a chance to prepare for the worst crisis in Penn State’s 157-year history….
In April 2011, the report said, Spanier told Garban about a grand jury investigation of Sandusky. Garban, in turn, failed to alert fellow board members. Garban told investigators that Spanier downplayed the Sandusky probe, and he recalled his former boss saying, “It was the third or fourth grand jury and nothing would come of it,” the report said.
Then, on Oct. 28, Garban learned from Penn State’s chief lawyer that two university administrators were about to be charged with failing to report suspected child abuse. Garban told investigators he was “astounded” when he saw Sandusky in the Nittany Lion Club at Penn State’s home game against Illinois on Oct. 29. Yet he informed only two other trustees — James Broadhurst and John Surma — that charges against Sandusky, Athletic Director Tim Curley and Vice President Gary Schultz were imminent. http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/story/19617513/former-chairman-becomes-first-penn-state-trustee-to-resign-postsandusky

NCAA could fine Penn State as much as $60M as part of Sandusky sanctions By Jerry Hinnen …July 22, 2012 The NCAA will fine Penn State at least $30 million and perhaps as much as $60 million for its involvement in the Jerry Sandusky scandal, industry sources told CBSSports.com’s Brett McMurphy.
The record fine will go toward an endowment for children’s causes, sources said. “This is a fine like no fine before,” an industry source told CBSSports.com.
CBSSports.com’s Dennis Dodd has reported Penn State will face “significant penalties that could severely damage the football program’s ability to compete” when the NCAA announces sanctions against the football program at a 9 a.m. news conference Monday.
To put the fine in perspective, Penn State’s athletic department had $116 million in revenue for the 2010-11 school year, the most recent data available according to figures from the U.S. Department of Education’s Equity in Athletics.
A source told CBS News correspondent Armen Keteyian that Penn State will suffer “unprecedented” punishment for its collective failure to report Sandusky, recently convicted on 45 counts of sexual abuse, to the proper authorities. “I’ve never seen anything like it,” the source told Keteyian, indicating that both the football program and the school itself would face sanctions….
Bob Williams, the NCAA’s vice president of communications, said after the Freeh report was released that Penn State needed to answer “four key questions, concerning compliance with institutional control and ethics policies.”
Likely of particular interest to the NCAA were the report’s conclusions that the school had “decentralized and uneven” oversight of compliance issues – laws, regulations, policies and procedures.
“Certain departments monitored their own compliance issues with very limited resources,” the report found. Ensuring compliance with the federal Clery Act, which requires the reporting of crimes, was handled by someone with “minimal time.”….
http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/blog/eye-on-college-football/19632027/ncaa-to-sanction-penn-state-source-says-school-may-prefer-death-penalty

Nightly News | Aired on July 22, 2012 Coach Joe Paterno statue removed
A statue of famed Penn State football coach Joe Paterno has been removed following the report that he knew Jerry Sandusky was being investigated for child sex abuse. NBC’s Michael Isikoff reports.
Http://video.msnbc.msn.com/nightly-news/48278494/

Penn State football punished by NCAA over Jerry Sandusky scandal By Steve Yanda, Monday, July 23, 2012 Under legendary coach Joe Paterno, Penn State football became one of the most recognizable and successful brand names in college athletics. But on Monday, the NCAA levied unprecedented sanctions against the program for its role in the sexual abuse scandal involving former assistant coach Jerry Sandusky, erasing part of the team’s illustrious history and making its prospects in the near future increasingly dim.
The NCAA fined the school $60 million, imposed a four-year postseason ban on Penn State football, significantly reduced the number of scholarship players the team can field over the next four years, placed the program on probation for five years and enabled any current or incoming player to transfer and play immediately without restriction.
But perhaps the most significant individual sanction in the context of college football history is that all of Penn State’s wins from 1998 to 2011 have been vacated, which means that Paterno, who oversaw the Nittany Lions’ football program for nearly 46 years, no longer is the all-time winningest coach at college football’s Division I….
Earlier this month, former FBI director Louis J. Freeh released a report that found Paterno, in concert with three other top Penn State officials, had covered up allegations of child sexual abuse made against Sandusky, a former assistant coach on the football team, for 14 years….
Penn State has signed a consent decree and will not appeal the sanctions. In an interview with the Centre Daily Times, Penn State President Rodney Erickson said it agreed to the sanctions in order to avoid an NCAA death penalty….
Erickson said in a written statement that the money to pay the fine would not come from tax money, tuition dollars or donations….
http://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/penn-state-football-punished-by-ncaa-over-sandusky-scandal/2012/07/23/gJQAGNeM4W_story.html

UPDATE 4-Penn State hit with unprecedented penalties for Sandusky scandal Tue Jul 24, 2012
* Penn State football avoids “death penalty”
* NCAA president cites “tragically unnecessary circumstances”
* No bowl games for four seasons, scholarships reduced …
By Edith Honan
July 23 (Reuters) – The governing body of U.S. college sports fined Penn State University $60 million and voided its football victories for the past 14 seasons in an unprecedented rebuke for the school’s failure to stop coach Jerry Sandusky’s sexual abuse of children. NCAA President Mark Emmert said the school had put “hero worship and winning at all costs” ahead of integrity, honesty and responsibility.
Penn State was not given the so-called “death penalty” that could have suspended its football program but it was banned from post-season bowl games for four years and had the number of scholarships available to players reduced from 25 to 15.
Penn State officials were accused of not taking action after being alerted that Sandusky, a former assistant football coach, was sexually abusing children. The scandal tainted one of college football’s leading coaches, the late Joe Paterno, and led to his firing last year along with other top school officials. The punishment, announced by the National College Athletic Association at a news conference in Indianapolis, was unprecedented for its swiftness and breadth. It was the latest blow to an institution still reeling from Sandusky’s conviction last month on child molestation charges.
The case was another blotch on the diminishing legacy of Paterno, who until Monday’s action had held the record for victories among big-time U.S. college football coaches in a career that spanned more than 40 seasons. Paterno lost that status since the NCAA’s punishment includes voiding the Nittany Lions’ victories between 1998 and 2011 – the time period covering when allegations against Sandusky were first made and Sandusky’s arrest….
Emmert said the NCAA chose not to levy the so-called “death penalty” because it would have harmed individuals with no role in the Sandusky scandal….
http://in.reuters.com/article/2012/07/23/usa-pennstate-idINL2E8INCC020120723

STATEMENT OF LEGAL TEAM FOR SANDUSKY VICTIM NUMBER 2 July 26, 2012 To protect our client’s privacy and in response to several recent media inquiries, we confirm that our legal team, which includes Joel Feller and Matt Casey of the Philadelphia law firm of Ross Feller Casey, LLP, and State College-based attorneys Justine Andronici and Andrew Shubin, represents the person identified as Victim 2. Our client suffered extensive sexual abuse over many years both before and after the 2001 incident Michael McQueary witnessed in the Penn State Lasch building shower. Penn State has now admitted and there is no longer any question that its top officials could have and should have prevented these acts. Jerry Sandusky’s abuse of Victim 2 and other children is a direct result of a conspiracy to conceal Sandusky’s conduct and the decisions by top Penn State officials that facilitated and enabled his access to victims. We intend to file a civil lawsuit against Penn State University and others and to hold them accountable for the egregious and reckless conduct that facilitated the horrific abuse our client suffered. website has voice mails believed to be from Sandusky
http://www.rossfellercasey.com/sandusky-voicemail

Feds probe possible Sandusky child porn ring August 10, 2012 (CBS/AP) U.S. Postal inspectors are leading a federal investigation into whether former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky shared child pornography with other individuals, CBS News has learned. Analyzing a computer seized from Sandusky, investigators are also looking into whether he sent “seductive letters” across state lines for sexual purposes. Some of these letters were said to be sent to some of his sexual abuse victims.
CBS News has learned that at the end of 2011, allegations were forward by the U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Pennsylvania. that Sandusky used the mails to seduce individuals to cross state lines for sexual purposes, with trips and gifts offered. Investigators are looking at 6-7 victims who might have gotten letters. Also in March of this year, U.S. Postal inspectors were tasked to investigate The Second Mile charity, which was founded by Sandusky. That investigation is on hold, awaiting for documents to be released by the State Attorney.
A source has been told that child pornography was found in at least one of Sandusky’s computers. According to the source, there is no evidence that the pornography was of his victims. There is also no mention of a ring or sharing of boys with others. CBS News investigative producer Pat Milton reports that a second source said that none of Sandusky’s victims have indicated that there was shared sex with them, Sandusky and any other individual. http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-201_162-57491185/feds-probe-possible-sandusky-child-porn-ring/

CBS: Sandusky being investigated for child pornography By Michael Winter, USA TODAY Aug 10, 2012 The Justice Department and U.S. Postal Service are investigating child pornography allegations against former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky, who was convicted in June of sexually abusing several boys, CBS News is reporting.
One source said that child pornography was found on one of Sandusky’s computers, but that there was no evidence the material involved any of Sandusky’s victims. CBS writes that authorities are also investigating whether he sent “seductive letters” across state lines to entice boys into sex, including some of his abuse victims. Sandusky’s lawyer, Joe Amendola, called the allegations “ridiculous” and said his client “continues to maintain his innocence.”….
http://content.usatoday.com/communities/ondeadline/post/2012/08/cbs-sandusky-being-investigated-for-child-pornography-/1#.UCXNNKCSk0l

Jerry Sandusky, Penn State Booster Sexually Abused Boys On Private Plane: Witness 08/13/2012
A witness interviewed by federal authorities claims convicted child molester Jerry Sandusky and a Penn State booster sexually assaulted boys on a private plane, according to an exclusive RadarOnline report….The witness, who “has a strong tie to the booster he is accusing,” claims that Sandusky and the fundraiser abused two boys on a private plane in Pennsylvania, the site reported. RadarOnline’s unidentified source doesn’t know whether the two boys are among Sandusky’s previously identified victims. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/13/jerry-sandusky-booster-sex-abuse-private-plane_n_1772564.html
other information at:
http://www.whptv.com/news/local/story/Witness-I-saw-Sandusky-and-Penn-State-booster/-6FXX-Lp0U-YoZVMRdNivA.cspx

graphic descriptions at website
Sandusky accusers describe ‘rituals’ of abuse By Richard Dool Thu June 14, 2012 Another disturbing and graphic day in court as three more alleged sexual abuse victims took the stand in the Jerry Sandusky trial. Victims 10, 7 and 5 all described what they say was years of abuse. They described “rituals” that Sandusky would allegedly perform before attacking them.
http://www.hlntv.com/video/2012/06/13/sandusky-accusers-describe-rituals-abuse

graphic descriptions at website
Penn State Scandal – Witness: Sandusky had ritual before molesting me By Graham Winch Tue June 12, 2012 The man known as Victim 1 testified Tuesday morning that Jerry Sandusky had a ritual in which Sandusky would blow on his stomach like a baby, and then the sexual abuse would begin.
Victim 1 said he was 11 years old when he met Sandusky through his charity, The Second Mile, in 2004 or 2005. Eventually, the witness said, he stayed over at Sandusky’s house, and that’s where the molestation occurred. http://www.hlntv.com/article/2012/06/12/victim-sandusky-went-through-ritual-molesting-me

Abuse victim assists new Sandusky probe By Christian Red / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS Tuesday, August 14, 2012 Philadelphia product Greg Bucceroni said he reached out to the U.S. Postal Investigative Service on Tuesday in an effort to assist the agency with its investigation of former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky. The Postal Service’s criminal investigators are reportedly looking into whether Sandusky had any ties to a pedophile ring that involved child pornography and other supporters of the Penn State football program.
Bucceroni told the Daily News last month that he was a sex abuse victim of Edward Savitz, a well-known Philly businessman and advocate for at-risk youths, who was charged with multiple counts of abuse of minors in the early 1990s. Savitz died of AIDS days before his 1993 trial was to begin, but Bucceroni said he was abused by Savitz in the late ’70s, and that Savitz introduced Bucceroni to Sandusky during a 1979 fund-raiser for The Second Mile, the charity Sandusky founded and through which he met and groomed his victims….
“(The USPS) asked me questions about Savitz, about his connection to Sandusky and about any illegal child pornography operations that I remembered hearing about or knew about,” Bucceroni, a police officer in Philadelphia’s public school system, told The News. He added that he spoke with FBI authorities last fall and again earlier this summer about Savitz. Although he does not think Savitz was a booster for Penn State, Bucceroni said Savitz was a financial supporter of The Second Mile….
http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/i-team/abuse-victim-assists-post-office-probe-jerry-sandusky-potential-ties-child-pornography-ring-article-1.1136428

Penn State accreditation in jeopardy over sex abuse scandal By Michael Pearson, CNN Wed August 15, 2012 (CNN) — The organization that grants academic accreditation to Penn State has warned the school that it is in danger of losing that crucial status in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse scandal, the university announced this week.
The move by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education is the latest blow for the beleaguered university, which has seen its reputation clobbered and its football program hobbled after investigators found school leaders did too little to stop the abuse. Were the commission to pull Penn State’s accreditation — which it has not done — the school would face the loss of eligibility for federal student aid programs, guaranteed student loans, federal research grants and could lose eligibility for state aid, commission spokesman Richard Pockrass said in July….
The commission voted August 6 to place the school on warning status. Two days later, it notified Penn State officials that the school’s accreditation was “in jeopardy” based on information contained in former FBI Director Louis Freeh’s report on Penn State’s handling of the sex-abuse allegations against Sandusky and a National Collegiate Athletic Association action against the school. Freeh found that Penn State’s leadership showed “total and consistent disregard” for youths sexually abused by Sandusky, the former assistant football coach convicted by a jury in June on 45 counts involving child sex abuse. He is scheduled to be sentenced in September. http://www.cnn.com/2012/08/14/us/penn-state-accreditation/index.html

‘Highly Incriminating’ Evidence in Jerry Sandusky Case Could Lead to New Charges By COLLEEN CURRY Aug. 16, 2012 Prosecutors in the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse case said they had a “great deal” of “highly incriminating” evidence they never brought up during Sandusky’s trial, evidence that could be related to pending criminal charges.
The statements are part of a transcript released Thursday from a closed-door meeting held in June, after Sandusky had been found guilty of 45 counts of child sex abuse. In the meeting, Frank Fina, Pennsylvania’s deputy attorney general, said that the state had investigative reports as well as testimony from unnamed victims in the case that were not brought up in trial and should remain secret because of the ongoing investigation.
“We turned over transcripts of other potential victims and transcripts relating to the Penn State University and some of the potential events involving Penn State’s connection with this case that I think would be highly sought by the media and that would not be in the best interests, again, of anybody, especially potentially ongoing matters to be disclosed,” Fina said, according to the transcript. The attorney general has not commented on who the ongoing investigation might be targeting….. http://abcnews.go.com/US/highly-incriminating-evidence-jerry-sandusky-penn-state-sealed/story?id=17019014#.UC2f_aDw80k

Penn State Officials Seek to Toss Sandusky-Related Charge Sophia Pearson, Bloomberg News Thursday, August 16, 2012 Aug. 16 (Bloomberg) — Gary Schultz and Timothy Curley, the two Pennsylvania State University officials accused of lying in the Jerry Sandusky sexual-abuse case, asked a judge to dismiss the perjury charge against them claiming it lacks specificity and can’t be corroborated.
State prosecutors have failed to establish sufficient evidence and haven’t provided details on the false statements allegedly made by the men, defense lawyers argued during a hearing today in state court in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. “We need more specificity as to what we are defending against” Caroline Roberto, an attorney for Curley, told Commonwealth Judge Todd Hoover. Schultz, a former vice president in charge of university police, and Curley, the athletics director at the time, are charged with lying to a grand jury about a 2001 sex-abuse allegation against Sandusky, a former football coach, and failing to report the incident to police. A judge ruled in December that there was enough evidence for the case to proceed to trial….
http://www.sfgate.com/business/bloomberg/article/Penn-State-Officials-Seek-to-Toss-3793788.php

Other articles:

Police bust sex traffic ring Aug 10, 2012 RIVERSIDE, Cal. (NBC) – A federal grand jury has indicted eight people on charges related to the sex trafficking of teenaged girls who were groomed and recruited to work as prostitutes across Southern California, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office.
Six of the eight were arrested Thursday; two others were already in custody. Four of the defendants are members of the Rolling 60s Crips street gang and the other four are affiliated with the gang, officials said. Street gangs are increasingly turning to prostitution and human trafficking as a source of their revenue, said Riverside Police Chief Sergio Diaz. Http://www.wcsh6.com/news/watercooler/article/210275/108/Police-bust-sex-traffic-ring

7th man arrested in Operation Tailspin is a registered sex offender By Sean P. McCrory Staff writer Tuesday, July 24, 2012
Operation Tailspin, an undercover Internet sex sting involving the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office and other area law enforcement, landed its seventh arrest Monday evening — this time involving a registered sex offender who has served two prison terms for attempted sexual battery of a child.
Raymond E. Wortham, 38, of 11631 NE 105th Ave. in Archer, was arrested just before 5:30 p.m. Monday and charged with three felonies — using a two-way communications device to facilitate a felony, traveling to meet after using a computer to lure a child and using a computer to seduce, solicit or lure a child. Wortham’s arrest follows the arrest of six other men during the undercover sting that began Wednesday and concluded Monday morning.
Wortham is alleged to have responded to an online ad posted on an e-commerce or social media site in which an adult male indicated he wanted to arrange a sexual encounter for his 14-year-old girlfriend, according to an arrest report. Wortham communicated with an undercover Alachua County law enforcement officer via phone, online messages and text messages in agreeing to a rendezvous, the report states. Wortham then traveled to the arranged location and asked for the 14-year-old to walk out and meet him after being told she was alone, according to the report. He then was arrested.
http://www.gainesville.com/article/20120724/ARTICLES/120729834

Bond amounts vary widely for Operation Tailspin suspects By Jon Silman Staff writer Wednesday, July 25, 2012 With seven men ensnared by Operation Tailspin on allegations they sought out children for sex, court records show quite a disparity in the bond amounts given to suspects with similar charges.
Two of the suspects, for instance, had bond set at $750,000 apiece — or $250,000 per charge — while two others had bond set at $3,000 apiece — or $1,000 per charge. “A bond is a monetary translation of the threat the people pose,” 8th Judicial Court Judge David A. Glant said. “It’s a way to control the threat they pose until a trial.” Seven men who authorities say were intent on having sex with children were arrested in an online undercover operation that lasted from July 18 to Monday. The Alachua County Sheriff’s Office and Gainesville and Alachua police departments assisted in the sting.
http://www.gainesville.com/article/20120724/ARTICLES/120729809

ASO: 6 arrested in Web sting, tried to meet underage girls for sex By Jon Silman Staff writer Monday, July 23, 2012 Area authorities have arrested six men over the past week in an undercover Internet sex sting dubbed Operation Tailspin. http://www.gainesville.com/article/20120723/ARTICLES/120729883

describes abuse allegations
14 moms sue LA schools in child abuse case By Jonathan Lloyd, NBCLosAngeles.com 7/11/12
Attorneys representing 14 mothers of students at Miramonte Elementary School announced Tuesday the filing of a lawsuit that alleges the school district did not protect their children from a teacher accused of lewd acts involving children. The lawsuit claims the Los Angeles Unified School District was negligent in the case of former teacher Mark Berndt, charged with lewd acts involving at least 20 children at the school. Berndt was arrested in January. The lawsuit, filed Tuesday morning, claims the children were sexually abused by Berndt between 2002 and 2011, and that the LAUSD “was negligent and did not protect their children from sexual abuses; and that the Los Angeles Unified School District completely ignored previous complaints,” according to a statement from attorney Luis A. Carrillo….
The charges against Berndt involve 23 children who were 7 to 10 years old. His arrest stemmed from an investigation that began after a film processor — mandated by state law to report child abuse — provided photos to sheriff’s deputies….
Deputies recovered more than 100 similar photos at Berndt’s home, according to investigators. The film processor later discovered more photos…. Berndt pleaded not guilty.
His arrest was followed by another Miramonte Elementary teacher and the dismissal of the entire school staff. Martin Bernard Springer is charged with three felony counts of lewd acts upon a child under the age of 14. http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/07/11/12684038-14-moms-sue-la-schools-in-child-abuse-case

Former Pacoima teacher pleads no contest to molesting 13 students
Paul Chapel III, a former third-grade teacher at Pacoima’s Telfair Elementary, faces 25 years to life in prison, the L.A. County district attorney’s office says. By Richard Winton, Los Angeles Times August 21, 2012 A former Telfair Elementary teacher pleaded no contest Monday to molesting 13 students at the Pacoima school and faces 25 years to life in prison, the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office said. As a preliminary hearing was to begin for Paul Chapel III, he pleaded no contest to 13 counts of lewd acts on a child, said Deputy Dist. Atty. Elena Abramson.
“They were all students at Telfair, aged 8 and 9…. Some of them were students in his class and others he met outside the classroom in breaks or after school,” Abramson said. The molestations of seven females and six males occurred from September 2006 to April 2011. Prosecutors last fall charged Chapel, 51, with molesting four students. Los Angeles Unified school officials waited until February to tell parents about the third-grade teacher’s arrest, however, doing so after two teachers at Miramonte Elementary School accused of molestation were arrested and reporters questioned the district about other teachers removed for similar accusations.
The school district fired Chapel in March. In May prosecutors charged him with molesting nine additional students. Some of the victims were in San Fernando Superior Court on Monday, prepared to testify. Lawsuits filed by two of the victims against the school district say Chapel kissed the children and fondled their genitals.
Court documents alleged that the district ignored repeated complaints about Chapel and allowed him to return to work despite several red flags in his history. He had previously left a private school after allegedly making inappropriate remarks during a sex education class. He was tried but not convicted in a 1997 alleged molestation. http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-0821-teacher-abuse-20120821,0,7075525.story

Teen prostitutes rescued, pimps held, in FBI sweep Lily Kuo Reuters June 25, 2012 WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Seventy-nine teenagers held against their will and forced into prostitution were rescued at hotels, truck stops and storefronts in a three-day sweep of sex-trafficking rings across the United States, law enforcement officials said on Monday.
The FBI said 104 alleged pimps were arrested during sting operations in 57 U.S. cities including Atlanta, Sacramento, and Toledo, Ohio. The operation lasted between Thursday and Saturday and involved state and local authorities as well as the FBI….
One of the minors recovered in the sweep reported being involved in prostitution from the age of 11, according to Kevin Perkins, acting executive assistant director of the FBI’s Criminal, Cyber, Response and Services Branch.
He said the cases were not “one-off” incidents, but evidence of “criminal enterprises” that lure minors in, often through social media, hold them against their will through threats to them or their families, and then traffic them through different U.S. cities.
Child prostitution is “a problem that happens in all kinds of American cities and it happens to American kids,” said Ernie Allen, president of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children….
He estimated that at least 100,000 minors were victims of child prostitution and trafficking each year but said assessments were hampered due to under-reporting and other data complications….
To date about 2,200 children have been rescued in the program, the FBI said, adding that its figures do not take into account children recovered by other state and local investigations.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/sns-rt-us-usa-prostitution-childbre85o19h-20120625,0,1822308.story

Child Pornography in France, Belgium and the Netherlands By James R. Marsh on May 29, 2012
Here is a recent documentary on child pornography in France, Belgium and the Netherlands by French journalist Karl Zéro. The report focuses on the Marc Dutroux affair which was widely reported in the international press in 2004. An excellent in-depth exposé of the European perspective on child pornography and child exploitation with a focus the seeming inability and unwillingness of France to deal with this problem. In French with English subtitles. Well worth the time and effort to watch the entire program. http://www.childlaw.us/2012/05/child-pornography-in-france-be.html

Todd Parrilla, Pediatrician, Pleads Guilty To Child Porn Charge 06/25/12 HARTFORD, Conn. — A Connecticut pediatrician has admitted that he possessed more than 100,000 images and videos of child pornography, federal authorities said Monday. The U.S. Attorney’s office said 48-year-old Todd Parrilla of Stonington pleaded guilty Monday in U.S. District Court in Hartford to receipt and distribution of child pornography. Parrilla had a pediatric practice in southeastern Connecticut.
“This defendant possessed and distributed tens of thousands of images and videos portraying the sexual abuse of children,” said U.S. Attorney David Fein. “This is a heinous crime. That it was committed by a pediatrician, whose profession is committed to the well-being of children, makes it especially disturbing.” http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/25/todd-parrilla-pediatrician-child-porn_n_1625197.html\

50 police officers arrested in child porn raids Wednesday, Aug 01 2012 Fifty police officers across the UK have been arrested as part of a crackdown on suspected paedophiles who pay to access child pornography websites, detectives revealed today.
The officers were among 1,300 people arrested on suspicion of accessing or downloading indecent images of children – some as young as five – from US-based Internet sites.
Thirty-five men were arrested in London this morning as part of the investigation – codenamed Operation Ore – following raids on 45 addresses across the capital….
Mr Gamble said the 50 officers were among 1,200 Britons who had been identified as “category one or two” suspects – those who posed the greatest potential risk to children.
In addition, 40 children nationwide – 28 of them in London – had been identified as being at risk of being abused and appropriate steps had been taken with other agencies to ensure that all the youngsters were safe.
Before today’s arrests, the Metropolitan Police had executed 75 warrants across the capital with 65 arrests and more than 130 computers seized. Although 7,000 suspected users of “pay-per-view” child pornography sites based in the US were identified in Britain, Mr Gamble said the actual number of offenders would probably be lower, partly due to duplicates….
“Behind these indecent, abusive images are real children who will have suffered immense damage and trauma.”
Operation Ore is the UK wing of a huge FBI operation which traced 250,000 paedophiles worldwide last year through credit card details used to pay for downloading child porn. The names of British suspects were passed on by US investigators. Suspects were traced through the Landslide web site – a gateway to an international collection of child pornography sites. Thomas Reedy, who ran the web site and earned millions from it, is now serving several life sentences in the US. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-151784/50-police-officers-arrested-child-porn-raids.html

Ex-Citadel camp counselor pleads guilty to sex abuse Wed Jun 13, 2012 10:30pm EDT (Editor’s Note: Please be advised that this story contains content of a sexual nature)
By Harriet McLeod (Reuters) – A former South Carolina educator and coach who once worked as a summer camp counselor at The Citadel military college was sentenced to 50 years in prison on Wednesday after pleading guilty to sexual abuse crimes involving 23 young male victims.
Louis “Skip” ReVille, 32, was arrested last fall and accused of abusing boys he had coached at schools and in community recreation programs, taught in public and private schools, and led in Bible study at his church.
Prosecutors said the crimes took place over the course of a decade, with some victims as young as 10. The charges were based on 23 cooperating victims, but ReVille named about 35 victims in all, said prosecutor Scarlett A. Wilson.
“I want to apologize to the victims. I am the only one responsible. I am sorry for what I did,” ReVille said during his plea hearing in Charleston….
In November, the school said it had investigated accusations against ReVille in 2007 but took no action.
After graduating from college, ReVille worked for the next nine years as a sports coach and teacher at several public and private schools in three South Carolina counties. He also was a youth church leader in Mount Pleasant, where he supervised overnight church youth events and formed a Bible study program….
ReVille was assistant principal of Coastal Christian Preparatory School in Mount Pleasant when he was arrested last fall. He faced charges including criminal sexual conduct with a minor in the first and second degrees; criminal solicitation of a minor; lewd acts upon a minor; and dissemination of obscene material to minors.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/06/14/us-usa-crime-citadel-idUSBRE85D03H20120614

Report: Boy Scout files reveal repeat child abuse Associated Press – Sun, Aug 5, 2012
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Internal documents from the Boy Scouts of America reveal more than 125 cases in which men suspected of molestation allegedly continued to abuse Scouts, despite a blacklist meant to protect boys from sexual predators. A Los Angeles Times review (http://lat.ms/OT9zx5) of more than 1,200 files from 1970 to 1991 found suspected abusers regularly remained in the organization after officials were first presented with sexual misconduct allegations. Predators moved from troop to troop because of clerical errors, computer glitches or the Scouts’ failure to check the blacklist, known as the “perversion files,” the newspaper said.
In at least 50 cases, the Scouts expelled suspected abusers, only to discover they had re-entered the organization and were accused of molesting again. In other cases, officials failed to document reports of abuse in the first place, letting offenders stay in the program until new allegations came to light, the Times reported.
One scoutmaster was expelled in 1970 for sexually assaulting a 14-year-old boy in Indiana. After being convicted of the crime, he went on to join two troops in Illinois between 1971 and 1988. He later admitted to molesting more than 100 boys, was convicted of the sexual assault of a Scout in 1989 and was sentenced to 100 years in prison, according to his file and court records.
In 1991, a Scout leader convicted of abusing a boy in Minnesota returned to his old troop shortly after getting out of jail. http://news.yahoo.com/report-boy-scout-files-reveal-repeat-child-abuse-181201518.html

Boy Scout files reveal repeat child abuse by sexual predators
Los Angeles Times review of Boy Scout documents shows that a blacklist meant to protect boys from sexual predators too often failed in its mission.
By Jason Felch and Kim Christensen, Los Angeles Times August 5, 2012
For nearly a century, the Boy Scouts of America has relied on a confidential blacklist known as the “perversion files” as a crucial line of defense against sexual predators.
Scouting officials say they’ve used the files to prevent hundreds of men who had been expelled for alleged sexual abuse from returning to the ranks. They’ve fought hard in court to keep the records from public view, saying confidentiality was needed to protect victims, witnesses and anyone falsely accused….
A Los Angeles Times review of more than 1,200 files dating from 1970 to 1991 found more than 125 cases across the country in which men allegedly continued to molest Scouts after the organization was first presented with detailed allegations of abusive behavior.
Predators slipped back into the program by falsifying personal information or skirting the registration process. Others were able to jump from troop to troop around the country thanks to clerical errors, computer glitches or the Scouts’ failure to check the blacklist.
In some cases, officials failed to document reports of abuse in the first place, letting offenders stay in the organization until new allegations surfaced. In others, officials documented abuse but merely suspended the accused leader or allowed him to continue working with boys while on “probation.”
In at least 50 cases, the Boy Scouts expelled suspected abusers, only to discover later that they had reentered the program and were accused of molesting again.
One scoutmaster was expelled in 1970 for sexually assaulting a 14-year-old boy in Indiana. Even after being convicted of the crime, he went on to join two troops in Illinois between 1971 and 1988. He later admitted to molesting more than 100 boys, was convicted of the sexual assault of a Scout in 1989 and was sentenced to 100 years in prison, according to his file and court records.
In 1991, a Scout leader convicted of abusing a boy in Minnesota returned to his old troop — right after getting out of jail….
Richard Stenger, the head of a unit of the Sea Scouts — part of the Boy Scouts — was charged in 1971 with tying up and fondling three boys. Police found bondage equipment and books on pedophilia in his house.
He was convicted of contributing to the delinquency of a minor, and a judge sentenced him to four years’ probation, his file shows. The Scouts decided to suspend him during that period. But when the court-ordered probation ended, a local Scout executive and several parents successfully requested that the national office lift the suspension. “I feel quite confident that no further problems will arise,” wrote the local Scout executive, whose name is blacked out in the heavily redacted file. Fourteen years later, in 1989, a parent notified the Boy Scouts that the 320-pound Stenger had padlocked her 11-year-old Scout in a harness and watched him dangle for 15 minutes during a boating trip, according to Stenger’s file. Scouts notified police, who recovered from Stenger’s home dozens of restraints and hundreds of images of children in bondage, including one of a blindfolded 6-year-old tied to a bed.
Two dozen former and current Scouts came forward to say they had been abused by Stenger as long ago as 1958. http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-boyscouts-20120805-m,0,5822319.story

Chile investigating 61 schools for child sex abuse July 20, 2012 SANTIAGO, Chile — Chile’s attorney general is investigating 61 schools in the country’s capital for possible child sex abuse….
Attorney general Sabas Chahuan said Friday that his office will look at 49 schools in eastern Santiago and 12 on the capital’s west side. Several teachers have recently been accused of sexually molesting children at day care centers and schools in affluent neighborhoods on the city’s eastern side. According to official estimates, reports of sexual abuse of children under age 14 jumped 22 percent in the first half of the year, compared to the same period in 2011.
http://www.foxnews.com/world/2012/07/20/chile-investigating-61-schools-in-country-capital-for-child-sex-abuse/

Why Won’t Congress Investigate the Sex Abuse Scandal at Lackland Air Force Base? Soumya Karlamangla The Nation July 17, 2012 Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas, has become the center of the nation’s biggest military sex abuse case in years. Over the past several months, a widespread sexual crime epidemic that began in 2009 has been uncovered at the camp, with twelve of 475 of the base’s instructors accused of either rape, sodomy and aggravated sexual assault, among other offenses, and thirty-one female trainees identified as victims. Now dozens of lawmakers are calling for a Congressional hearing to investigate the incidents at Lackland. But there’s no sign that one will happen anytime soon…..
At a hearing last month, two female former trainees told a courtroom that they were pressured to have sex with two of their male instructors. The men called them over the intercom under false pretense and asked them to leave their dorm rooms, then led them to a supply closet where one of the men had sexual intercourse with one of the women, while the other woman performed oral sex on the other male instructor….
According to the Department of Defense, one in four women who join the military will be raped or sexually assaulted. And according to a report released last year by the department, 71 percent of women and 85 percent of men who experienced unwanted sexual contact chose not to report it.
http://www.thenation.com/article/168918/why-wont-congress-investigate-sex-abuse-scandal-lackland-air-force-base

Call over the intercom led to Lackland sex tryst By Sig Christenson Saturday, June 2, 2012 Two former Air Force trainees said Friday they were lured into a sexual tryst by a pair of trainers on their last night in San Antonio. Testifying at an evidentiary hearing, the women said Staff Sgt. Kwinton Estacio called over an intercom two days after they graduated from basic training last fall and asked them to leave the dorm and meet them. http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/military/article/Call-over-the-intercom-led-to-Lackland-sex-tryst-3602350.php

2010 Workplace and Gender Relations Survey of Active Duty Members Overview Report on Sexual Assault http://www.sapr.mil/media/pdf/research/DMDC_2010_WGRA_Overview_Report_of_Sexual_Assault.pdf

Luis Walker, Air Force Staff Sgt., Sentenced To 20 Years For Rape, Assault By WILL WEISSERT 07/21/12 SAN ANTONIO — The women assaulted by their Air Force training instructor don’t sleep much these days and when they do, he sometimes haunts their dreams.
They testified Saturday about being suddenly unable to relate to husbands, boyfriends and even fathers and brothers after they were sexually assaulted. One said her fear during a tour of duty in Afghanistan was heightened by soldiers who reminded her of her instructor, and she warned her younger sister not to enlist in the Air Force. Another said she’s now afraid to be behind closed doors with any man.
Staff Sgt. Luis Walker was sentenced to 20 years in prison Saturday for crimes that included rape and sexual assault. He is among 12 instructors investigated for sexual misconduct toward at least 31 female trainees at one of the nation’s busiest military training centers. Six have been charged with crimes, and the counts against Walker were the most severe. He could have faced life in prison.
Prosecutors say he used his position as a military trainer at Lackland Air Force base in San Antonio to gain female recruits’ trust, and then he made illicit sexual advances. Walker’s court-martial included testimony from 10 women, one of whom wept as she described him luring her into his base office and sexually assaulting her on a bed, ignoring her pleas to stop.
Http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/21/luis-walker-air-force-sta_n_1691690.html

Month-long ICE crackdown nets 190 child porn suspects; 18 victims rescued 6/8/12 By Kari Huus, msnbc.com Federal agents targeting child pornography offenses say they arrested 190 people in May and rescued 18 children who were being victimized by the accused perpetrators, in a stepped-up focus on these crimes. The Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, which investigates a wide range of crimes that cross state or national borders, is one of the main federal agencies — along with the FBI — to handle child porn and exploitation investigations….
The 190 arrests in May represented a “significant number” for one month, Bennett said. ICE arrested 1,455 suspected child predators in the 2011 fiscal year, which ended on Sept. 30, 2011, she said, up from 922 a year earlier. Typically, she said, ICE is responsible for more than half of the federal cases involving child sexual exploitation. In 2011, Bennett said, agency investigations resulted in 915 convictions on child porn-related charges with sentences ranging from a few years to life in prison, depending on the severity of the offense and the age of the victim — who are sometimes as young as infants. http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/06/08/12125265-month-long-ice-crackdown-nets-190-child-porn-suspects-18-victims-rescued

describes abuse allegations
Child sex-abuse cases under-reported, often ignored Saturday, June 2, 2012 Sat Jun 2, 2012. By Bill Heltzel and Halle Stockton
….David Scott Zimmerman’s case is a cautionary tale about what happens when certain patterns of behavior are not recognized and reported. Another boy described abusive sexual conduct by Zimmerman to school officials — three years after the 1995 incident involving the first boy. Vincentian officials immediately suspended Zimmerman, notified police and the county prosecutor, and started their own investigation. Ultimately, 13 boys told police of sexual behavior by Zimmerman. This time, a public scandal engulfed the Catholic high school. Court proceedings show that the school made a deal with Zimmerman to keep quiet about his dismissal if he absolved the school of liability. He also kept his teaching license.
A proposed Pennsylvania law would make confidential deals like the one between Zimmerman and Vincentian impossible. Other states have already acted. Oregon recently passed a law that could make it easier to recognize sexual misconduct. The law, cited as a model, could stop abuse in its early stages. Recent changes in Oregon law were made because of the Sandusky case, officials said. As policymakers consider a response, teachers, parents and students can be alert to recognize classic “grooming” patterns that are precursors to the sexual abuse of children. Another effective step, experts say, is to ban the practice of “passing the trash,” a phrase that describes when a suspected school employee is allowed to resign quietly and without consequences.
“You can stop a lot of this behavior,” said Charol Shakeshaft, an education professor at Virginia Commonwealth University who studies sexual abuse. One of every 10 students becomes a target of sexual misconduct that includes such behavior as unwanted sexual comments, inappropriate touching, and even rape, Shakeshaft said. Yet only about 6 percent of child sexual-abuse cases are reported to authorities, and teachers….
Coaches or teachers suspected of abuse tend to single out students for special treatment, lavishing them with attention and rewards. They become unusually close to children, finding ways to spend time with them privately in school and on trips outside of school. Recognizing these techniques and reporting them are the keys to stopping predators from abusing children, experts say.
http://www.timesonline.com/news/local_news/child-sex-abuse-cases-under-reported-often-ignored/article_8cf83740-ac23-11e1-842e-001a4bcf6878.html

How I Came To Talk About My Abuse 07/19/2012 Carissa Phelps – Attorney, Author
When Carissa Phelps was 14 years old she found herself in a last-chance rehab facility for young people, on the verge of becoming another casualty of the streets. What had started out as frequent sleepovers at friends’ houses to escape the wrath of her stepfather and her chaotic, impoverished home, grew into full-fledged running away, until her exasperated mother finally abandoned her at Fresno’s Juvenile Hall. She was 12 years old.
From this point, Carissa pinballed between the streets and various group homes or state run facilities. She experienced trauma that no child should have to endure at the hands of a brutal pimp, who made her walk the streets. But by some miracle she survived, and the child victim grew up to be a strong, successful woman, driven by her desire to pay it forward by helping kids in need.
RUNAWAY GIRL: Escaping Life on the Streets, One Helping Hand at a Time (Viking, $26.95), by Carissa Phelps, co-authored with Larkin Warren, is her story. Here, she explains why she decided to tell her story, and how people misrepresent what she went through….
When we call sexual exploitation of youth something like “prostitution” we put all the blame where it does not belong. We focus on the youth, on the child, on their behavior. In the recent Sandusky hearing, the questions were not about the child’s “promiscuous” or “needy” behavior that led to their being easy targets for abuse. Today, the focus is not on what a child victim is wearing or that they may have admired or sought out the person that was abusing them. Thankfully for the Sandusky victims and for many other child sexual abuse victims we’ve gotten past that type of victim blaming when it comes to straight child sexual abuse. However, for the children and youth that are commercially sexually exploited we are still far off.
What I experienced was not prostitution. I was twelve. I was abused. There was nothing about it that made me feel like I was in control. It was the opposite. I belonged to someone. He controlled me. He played games with me to get me to obey him and to make sure that I knew he was the boss. Up until that point I had rebelled against all adults, so it was odd for me to follow his rules, but he made sure I knew that he was in control. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/carissa-phelps/child-abuse-runaway-girl_b_1686791.html

Largo puppeteer faces child pornography charges By ELAINE SILVESTRINI The Tampa Tribune July 24, 2012 A puppeteer who has entertained children for years around the Tampa area had a sickening secret, according to a federal complaint. Ron Brown collected pornographic images of children and fantasized about strangling, dismembering and cannibalizing children, court documents state. The 57-year-old Largo man is under arrest in the Pinellas County Jail, facing federal charges of conspiring to kidnap a child and possession of child pornography.
He was arrested as part of an international investigation conducted by federal Homeland Security agents based in Boston. Brown was listed in the Pinellas County Schools speakers’ directory as puppetry speaker for grades K-8. A school district spokesperson said his name was removed Monday because of his arrest….
Brown’s Facebook page and a newspaper profile give his employment as the Christian Television Network. A call to the station was not returned on Monday….
Investigators who searched Brown’s home found images of child pornography, children in bondage and children who appear deceased. The images were on his computer and on a CD in his sock drawer. He told agents he talks with people online about strangling children and is part of a “strangle group” in Yahoo. “Brown stated that these are his fantasies and told agents he would never really do this,” the complaint states….
Stacy Gaughan, a former president of the residents association for Brown’s mobile home park, Whispering Pines, said people have complained for years about the fact that children are always playing in his driveway and in his home. Gaughan said she always thought something was wrong. “When you have boys at your house constantly, and you let them come in and they’re playing in your driveway, I would consider that strange for an older guy,” she said. She said there would be between seven and 15 kids at the house at any given time. She estimated their age range was also from 7 to 15….
The criminal complaint affidavit contains pages of Brown’s online chats about harming children. He talks about wishing he had a child tied and gagged in a closet and wanting to eat the child for Easter. During one chat, the complaint states, Brown solicited a Kansas City man, Michael Arnett, for help in the apparent abduction and murder of a child. Arnett was arrested May 23 and charged with producing child pornography….
Officials said Brown’s arrest arises from an investigation that began with the arrest in Massachusetts of Robert Diduca, 48, who was sentenced last month to 18 years in federal prison. A photo found on Diduca’s computer led to 33 arrests – eight in the U.S., according to a June news release from the Department of Homeland Security. Diduca chatted online with another person, who is being prosecuted in Arizona. The news release says Diduca persuaded the other person to sexually abuse and take explicit photos of a 4-year-old child. http://www2.tbo.com/news/news/2012/jul/24/4/memeto1-largo-puppeteer-hit-with-child-porn-conspi-ar-439761
Ronald Brown, Puppeteer, Planned To Rape, Kill, Eat Children: Florida Police The Huffington Post By Andy Campbell 07/25/2012 A Florida puppeteer who entertains children at birthday parties, schools and churches, secretly wanted to rape, kill and eat them, cops said.
Ronald Brown, 57, of Largo, was arrested last week after federal agents found that he’d allegedly been chatting online with child pornography suspects about “extremely graphic discussions regarding kidnapping, sexually abusing, murdering and eating children,” according to a federal complaint obtained by the Tampa Bay Times….
Brown — whose Puppets Plus website promises “grins and giggles” for kids — was reportedly caught in online chat rooms with people the feds were investigating as part of a child pornography ring in Massachusetts. He allegedly fantasized about strangling, dismembering and eating his victims.During one chat session, police claim he said he wanted to tie a child up, lock him in a closet and then eat him for Easter supper. In another, he allegedly stated that his mouth watered when he looked at a female toddler.
In a search of his home on July 19, cops found a CD full of photographs showing dead children and kids posed in bondage positions, The Weekly Vice reported. Brown also told FBI agents that he wanted to eat a little boy he met at a local church. Brown lives in a neighborhood near several playgrounds and regularly invited children over to his house for pizza, according to the news site.
But it isn’t the first time he’s been eyed as suspicious. In 1998, he was investigated after police found several pairs of boys’ underwear in the front seat of his car. He maintained that they were puppet clothes.
Brown was arrested and booked on charges of conspiring to kidnap a child and possession of child pornography. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/24/ronald-brown-puppeteer-rape-kill-eat-children_n_1698949.html

Photo e-mailed from Mass. man led to vast global child pornography network By Jenifer B. McKim Globe Staff July 29, 2012
As soon as they saw the terrified boy’s photo three years ago, federal agents Peter Manning and Gregory Squire had the same thought: we have to save him. The blue-eyed child, about 18 months old, was naked from the waist down and clutching a stuffed rabbit for comfort. There was no doubt he had been sexually abused. But that doesn’t begin to describe his suffering.
“He looked like he had been crying for three days,” Squire recalled in a recent interview…..
Assigned to the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations office in Boston, their job is to track down child pornographers and victims. Over the years, they’ve become painfully familiar with some of the hundreds of thousands of child pornography pictures and videos online. Many depict almost unimaginably grotesque attacks on infants and toddlers and are traded like baseball cards by men using obscure Internet outposts to revel in their depravity.
But that single image of the distraught boy with the toy bunny became a crucial piece of evidence for Manning and Squire. It had been e-mailed to them by a Milford man who thought he was sharing it with fellow child-pornography voyeurs. His miscalculation sparked an investigation that would spread around the world, thus far leading to 42 arrests and the discovery of 140 children who were violated. The youngest was 19 days old.
Robert Diduca, who sent the first photo — which he labeled “cookie” in a reference to the boy — eventually pleaded guilty to the production, distribution, and possession of child pornography. In June, the 48-year-old father of three was sentenced in US District Court in Worcester to 18 years in prison….
After Diduca’s arrest in November 2010, Manning and Squire mined the trove of 27,000 images he’d stored on laptops, flash drives, and cellphones in his four-bedroom Colonial home and in the Sheraton hotel office in Framingham where he worked. The evidence linked him to other offenders and victims in several European countries, Mexico, Canada, and the United States. Within a few weeks, the agents had helped to uncover a massive child abuse case in the Netherlands….
Hiding behind a normal life
Robert Diduca didn’t have a criminal record. He appeared to be a decent father and faithful husband to his wife of some 25 years, and he held a job as a hotel manager. But beneath the veneer of normalcy, court records show, he sought, catalogued, and exchanged photos of sexually exploited children, fantasizing about rape and egging on predators to do more harm.
Diduca declined repeated requests for an interview….Diduca faced up to 60 years in prison but received a lesser sentence after he cooperated with prosecutors and pleaded guilty….
Like Diduca, many child-pornography viewers collect tens of thousands of images, some of which they share through e-mail chats or members-only online bulletin boards. Websites often feature sections catering to fetishes, including “super hardcore” and “homemade posts only.”….
A 2008 study by Michael Bourke, who is now chief psychologist for the US Marshals Service, found 85 percent of men arrested for possession of child pornography had also sexually exploited a child.
….Within hours, police descended on the Amsterdam home of 27-year-old Robert Mikelsons, a Latvian-born daycare provider. Mikelsons had baby-sat the boy several times — in his house and at a respected child care center favored by professional families.
By the time police arrived, Mikelsons — aware of the broadcast — had already deleted many images from his computer, prosecutors said. But there were far too many to wipe clean. He was arrested on the spot and confessed to molesting the boy. During the days of interrogation that followed, Mikelsons detailed attacks on 87 children, most under 2½ years old. He preferred to prey on those too young to talk….
Even though he confessed, Mikelsons still had to be convicted in court and sentenced by a three-judge panel. The formal charges were staggering. He stood accused of attacking 67 children — 52 boys and 15 girls — between 2007 and 2010. Many were ravaged multiple times.
http://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2012/07/28/led-innocent-into-web-evil/Sk9VoLSnM9uQqZQAggmQJL/story.html

describes graphic abuse
Vast international child-porn network uncovered By DENISE LAVOIE AP Legal Affairs Writer Aug 4, 2012 BOSTON (AP) — The men came from different walks of life on two continents: a children’s puppeteer in Florida, a hotel manager in Massachusetts, an emergency medical technician in Kansas, a day care worker in the Netherlands. In all, 43 men have been arrested over the past two years in a horrific, far-flung child porn network that unraveled like a sweater with a single loose thread….
Authorities have identified more than 140 young victims so far and say there is no end in sight as they pore through hundreds of thousands of images found on the suspects’ computers. They are also trying to determine whether the men who talked about murder and cannibalism actually committed such acts or were just sharing twisted fantasies….
Robert Mikelsons, a 27-year-old day care worker who baby-sat the boy, was arrested. On his computer were thousands and thousands of images of children being molested and raped, including the boy holding the stuffed bunny.
Photos and online chats found on computers owned by Diduca and Mikelsons led to more than three dozen other suspects in seven countries, including Canada, Britain, Germany, Sweden and Mexico. The oldest victim in the Netherlands was 4, the youngest just 19 days old….
Mikelsons also received an 18-year sentence, followed by indefinite psychiatric commitment, after confessing to sexually abusing more than 80 children….
What they found on Arnett’s computer was unlike anything some of the investigators had ever come across: long, graphic, online chats about his desire to abduct, kill and eat children. They said he had also made photos of a naked 2-year-old boy in a roasting pan inside his oven. The child and two other boys Arnett allegedly abused and photographed were later identified and found alive….
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_CHILD_PORN_NETWORK?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2012-08-04-10-44-22

Arrests in major child porn investigation Aug 4,2012 Some of the men charged in an international child porn investigation that has led to 43 arrests and the identification of more than 140 child victims….
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_CHILD_PORN_NETWORK_GLANCE?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2012-08-04-10-28-26

Etan Patz Case: NYPD Officials ‘Absolutely Certain’ Pedro Hernandez Is The Killer 08/08/2012 By Murray Weiss DNAinfo Columnist / Criminal Justice Editor
NEW YORK CITY – New details have cops “absolutely certain” Pedro Hernandez is guilty of killing six-year-old Etan Patz despite their failure to find any real proof. The most startling new detail is that Hernandez supposedly kept a photo of the missing SoHo boy, who went missing on May 25, 1979, hidden among his personal belongings for years, law enforcement sources told “On The Inside.”…. Testimony that Hernandez kept a hidden photo of Etan would add to evidence against him that includes: Hernandez’s confession to police back in May, similar admissions to others over the years and his writing “I killed him” on a picture of Etan that was shown to him by police on the day he was arrested.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/08/pedro-hernandez-absolutely-certain-etan-patz-killer-nypd_n_1755760.html

Clergy Abuse Cases

Historic Lawsuit to be Filed in Federal Court Against Church and Crown June 29, 2012
Toronto, Canada: A joint media release by The Association of Citizen Prosecutors (ACP) and The International Tribunal into Crimes of Church and State (ITCCS) is to be released on “Canada Day”, July 1, 2012. It announces the first class action lawsuit in Canadian history to name as co-defendants the Vatican, the Crown of England, Canada and its churches, and big pharmaceutical companies, all of which are accused of crimes against humanity and criminal conspiracy. The lawsuit is brought by Jason Bowman of the ACP and Rev. Kevin Annett of the ITCCS, on behalf of a group of many others. The lawsuit will be explained in detail at a press conference held on the date of filing at the Federal Court Building, on Wednesday, July 4 at 1 pm EST at 180 Queen Street West in Toronto….
Toronto, CANADA
ACP / ITCCS Joint Press Release Statement: Citizen victims’ group to commence proceedings at the Federal Court of Canada against the Vatican, the United Church of Canada, the Queen, the Harper Government & Big Pharma for their alleged involvement in wide-spread conspiracies pertaining to crimes against humanity, genocide & institutional corruption. The first ex-parte motion in the matter of Kevin Annett et al. v. The State of the Vatican Pope Benedict XVI et al., is set to be argued at the Federal Court in Toronto on Monday July 9th. A press conference has been scheduled for July 4th at the Federal Court Building on Queen St. in Toronto at 1:00 p.m.) http://itccs.org/2012/06/29/1043/

Emergency “All Nations Great Peace Gathering” – Eagle’s Nest – July 15th to the 20th, 2012 – Brantford, Ontario

Hidden from History: The Canadian Holocaust – The Untold Story of the Genocide of Aboriginal Peoples http://www.hiddenfromhistory.org/

July 3, 2012 Leaked Breaking News Release – An historical event unfolds in Canada
On July 4th, 2012, united citizens groups in Canada will file an ex-parte motion to be argued in Federal Court on July 9th, with respect to the quiet genocide of certain indiginous peoples in Canada. Learn more here: http://federalclassactions.wordpress.com
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zIbyFkWS7uM

UPDATE: Historical Application to be Filed and Served Upon the Vatican, the Queen, & Others – Court Directs Applicants in Chambers Today RE: Monday’s ex-parte Motion
ACP CANADA July 4 Toronto Federal Court of Canada
First, we thank all who showed their support today in Toronto. The day went better than I had hoped in that we have now already been able to have the Court issue direction (from chambers) with specific respect to how best to proceed with our first ex-parte hearing on Monday July 9th.
We expected to simply file a motion. Instead, this historic and remarkable undertaking was taken by senior officials immediately to the Court for direction – whilst we waited patiently in a lovely furnished filing office conference room. Staff provided us with materials and information – (we learned a few things which we had expected to need clarify next week in court). To our delight, the Court directed that we file not only the ex-parte motion materials, but also our entire Application – a full week earlier than we expected….
Kanata Day Communique: A Chance to Turn the Tables on the Oligarchy of Crown, Church and Corporation
Issued by Kevin D. Annett, ITCCS and others on July 1, 2012
The biggest criminal conspiracy in history is being confronted this week in a federal court house in Toronto.
On Wednesday July 4, our friend and ally, Jason Bowman of The Association of Citizen Prosecutors (ACP), will be filing the first class action lawsuit in history against the Vatican, the Crown of England, the government and churches of Canada, and pharmaceutical corporations for crimes against humanity and criminal conspiracy. http://federalclassactions.wordpress.com/
http://www.itccs.org

VIDEO: Rev. Kevin Annett – Public Declaration to the Vatican/The Republic of Kanata (Canada)
In this video interview with Alfred Lambremont Webre, Rev. Kevin Annett, Acting Secretary of the International Tribunal for Crimes of Church and State – www.itccs.org – discusses a public declaration to Pope Ratizinger and the Vatican stating that unless specific actions are taken by the Pope and the Vatican by September 15, 2012, “every known Roman Catholic priest or official who has harmed a child or protected those who have will be publicly named by our network, and will be publicly arrested and expelled from their churches.”
The Declaration continues, “This decision is made under the common law right of citizenship arrest of those who endanger children when established authorities refuse to protect the community.
Such direct action to protect our children will be accompanied by ongoing occupations and seizures of Roman Catholic Church property commencing globally on September 15, 2012.
These measures are being taken because of the refusal by you and your church hierarchy to do justice to your victims and abide by the law and morality; and specifically, because of your refusal to agree to these ten measures, issued to you on May 4, 2012 by our Tribunal:
1. Issue full reparations to survivors
2. Surrender the remains of those who died for a proper burial.
3. Return all land and wealth taken from church victims
4. Surrender all evidence and perpetrators of crimes against children
5. Annul Crimen Sollicitationis and all Vatican policies that protect child rapists
6. Expel and defrock all child raping priests and those who protect them, including the pope
7. Agree to the licensing of all clergy as public servants
8. Withdraw from all tax exemptions, concordats and privileges
9. Annul the status of the Vatican as a state and abolish Rome’s authority over its congregations
10. Redistribute the wealth of the Vatican Bank to church victims and the community, as Christ commands
Information: www.itccs.org
Rev Kevin Annett: Public Declaration to the Vatican & The Republic of Kanata (Canada)
http://youtu.be/ 08e30vnE6js
ARTICLE: http://bit.ly/MzKnt9

The Case against the Crown, the Vatican and other Agents….: Common Law Courts, Indictments and Juries to be Established by September 15, 2012 Posted on July 23, 2012 by itccs
The Legal Advisory Group of the ITCCS Central Office has completed a list of specifications, indictments and defendants in a global class action lawsuit to be brought against the institutions responsible for centuries of genocide, torture and human trafficking. The material will be submitted on September 15, 2012 to de jure Common Law courts which shall be officially convened on the same day to receive the application for proceedings.
These courts shall convene on traditional territories under Natural Land Law jurisdiction. An initial roster of confirmed judges for these courts has been approved….
Today, the ITCCS Council of Elders is issuing a public call for all citizens to participate in these proceedings as witnesses and jurors. Citizen Jury members will be duly sworn in and given instructions by the judges of these courts, and will be expected to serve on a free, volunteer basis for an indefinite period of time.
Witnesses to crimes against humanity are encouraged to come forward with their affidavits and testimonies, and be duly sworn as witnesses at the court proceedings. The common law courts will be initially established in Canada, the United States, Ireland, England and Australia, in some cases in conjunction with sponsoring tribal elders. http://itccs.org/2012/07/23/the-case-against-the-crown-the-vatican-and-other-agents-of-genocide-common-law-courts-indictments-and-juries-to-be-established-by-september-15-2012/

Abuse victim believes Irish pedophile priest Fr Brendan Smyth murdered an American child Helen McGonigle draws connection between Smyth’s threat and discovery of body By KERRY O’SHEA, IrishCentral Staff Writer June 8, 2012
Helen McGonigle, who was sexually abused by Irish priest Brendan Smyth when she was six years old, believes the priest also murdered a child during his time in Rhode Island. McGonigle says that Smyth warned her by saying she would “end up like the body in the woods” if she told anyone about the abuse. The Anglo-Celt reports on the connection McGonigle made between Smyth’s chilling comments and the finding of a child’s remains in the woods near her school in the 1960s. The discovery of the body, however, came about after Smyth laid down his threat on young McGonigle….
Brendan Smyth had bounced around parishes in Ireland, Wales and the US, committing unthinkable abuses on over 100 children along the way.
http://www.irishcentral.com/news/Abuse-victim-believes-Irish-pedophile-priest-Fr-Brendan-Smyth-murdered-an-American-child-158092635.html

Smyth victim rejects abbot’s apology Helen McGonigle with her brother Gerard and has described the apology to the victims of Brendan Smyth as an insult. Paul Neilan June 8, 2012
An American abuse survivor has criticised the apology of Fr Brendan Smyth’s former abbot, which The Anglo-Celt printed last week, and has launched her search for answers. Attorney Helen McGonigle, who features in our lead story this week, has sent a fax addressed to the former abbot, Fr Kevin A Smith, at Holy Trinity Abbey, Kilnacrott, Ballyjamesduff, requesting the abbey “provide[s] me with a copy of the entire file at the abbey on Fr Brendan Smyth”.
The fax, which has an accompanying letter, is dated May 31, two days after Fr Smith released a statement apologising to victims of the paedophile Brendan Smyth. Smyth started abusing McGonigle in 1967, in Rhode Island, when she was six before Kevin Smith became abbot.
http://www.anglocelt.ie/news/roundup/articles/2012/06/08/4010802-smyth-victim-rejects-abbots-apology/

422 sex abuse claims filed against Christian Brothers – Roughly 160 originate from Newfoundland and Labrador; religious order declared bankruptcy in 2011 CBC News Aug 23, 2012
The final number for claims against the Christian Brothers in North America is in, surprising even some of the lawyers handling them. Christian Brothers entities in North America declared bankruptcy last year. The deadline for filing suit against the order expired Aug. 1. The total number of claims approved is 422. About 160 are from Newfoundland and Labrador. The rest originate from the United States….
The claims are for alleged sexual abuse only. Those from this province go back as far as 1940 and continue into the early 1960s. About a third of the American claims come from Washington state where the brothers had an orphanage. Another third come from New York state. The rest originate from places as scattered as New Jersey, Illinois, Montana, California and Hawaii. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/story/2012/08/23/nl-christian-brothers-claims-823.html

$500K settlement in Springfield clergy abuse lawsuit By Associated Press Saturday, July 28, 2012
SPRINGFIELD – A Massachusetts man has reached a $500,000 settlement with two former Springfield Roman Catholic bishops he said failed to stop a known pedophile priest who molested him.
Andrew Nicastro of Williamstown and his attorneys announced the settlement Friday, ending a trial in which Nicastro and family members had testified.
Nicastro alleged in his lawsuit that Alfred Graves, then a priest, molested him in the early 1980s and that then-Bishop Joseph Maguire and his subordinate, Thomas Dupre, knew Graves had abused other boys in 1976. The suit did not name Graves as a defendant.
Graves, who has been named in other clergy abuse lawsuits, has been out of the ministry since 1994 and was defrocked by the Vatican in 2006….
The now-retired Maguire, 92, issued a statement through the Springfield Diocese that he is “truly sorry” for Nicastro’s suffering and hopes the settlement brings some measure of healing for “terrible abuse.” “I only wish that in 1976 as a new bishop, I could have foreseen the true nature of one who violated our trust with such devastating harm to his victims,” he said.
http://news.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view/20120728500k_settlement_in_springfield_clergy_abuse_lawsuit/

Cardinal Timothy Dolan Allegedly Paid Suspected Pedophile Priests To Leave Ministry While Head Of Archdiocese Of Milwaukee AP 05/31/2012 MILWAUKEE (AP) — The Archdiocese of Milwaukee confirmed Wednesday that it had a policy to pay suspected pedophile priests to leave the ministry.
The acknowledgement was prompted by a document made public by abuse victims’ advocates from the archdiocese’s bankruptcy that references a 2003 proposal to pay $20,000 to “unassignable priests” who accepted a return to the laity. The policy was crafted under then-Archbishop Timothy Dolan, who is now a cardinal and head of the archdiocese in New York.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/31/cardinal-timothy-dolan-archdiocese-milwaukee-payoff-abusive-priests_n_1559298.html

Suspected pedophile priests given ‘bonuses’ to leave church – video http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp=47635422&#47640029

Closing arguments made in Philadelphia clergy sex abuse case May 31, 2012
PHILADELPHIA – As the official in charge of investigating clergy sex abuse for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, Monsignor William J. Lynn bravely “put a spotlight” on the shame of the Catholic Church, one of his lawyers told jurors Thursday. A prosecutor called Lynn’s actions something else: just shameful.
“He and everyone else who protected pedophile priests were murdering the souls of children,” Assistant District Attorney Patrick Blessington said. The conflicting portraits emerged during a day of closing arguments in the landmark prosecution of Lynn and the Rev. James J. Brennan. The jury of six men and six women is scheduled to begin deliberations today.
The summations capped an 11-week trial in which more than 60 witnesses, including Lynn and almost two dozen alleged abuse victims, testified. Jurors also saw nearly 2,000 documents, most from secret church archives, that showed accused clerics being shuffled among parishes. Many were records Lynn drafted or reviewed during a 12-year tenure as the late Cardinal Anthony J. Bevilacqua’s adviser on clergy sex abuse….

Lynn, 61, is accused of one count of conspiracy and two of endangering children for allegedly recommending that his codefendant, Brennan, 48, and another priest, Edward Avery, be allowed to live or work in parishes despite suspecting they would abuse children. Now defrocked, Avery pleaded guilty before trial to sexually assaulting a 10-year-old altar boy in 1999, seven years after Lynn first fielded an abuse allegation about him.
http://articles.mcall.com/2012-05-31/news/mc-philly-priest-trial-closing-arguments-20120531_1_abusive-priests-abuse-case-altar-boy

Jury begins deliberations in landmark Philadelphia priest sex-abuse trial By Joseph A. Slobodzian and John P. Martin INQUIRER STAFF WRITERS Sat, Jun. 2, 2012
Jurors on Friday began deliberating charges in the landmark conspiracy and sex-abuse trial involving Archdiocese of Philadelphia priests. The seven men and five women got the case around noon, after more than an hour of instructions from Philadelphia Common Pleas Court Judge M. Teresa Sarmina. She excused six alternate jurors but cautioned two that they could be recalled during deliberations.
With the courtroom doors locked, Sarmina explained for the panel the law and the charges against Msgr. William J. Lynn and the Rev. James J. Brennan. Jurors will be asked to sift through almost 11 weeks of evidence, including nearly 2,000 records, many of which documented decades of abuse by priests….Prosecutors have argued that Lynn moved accused priests around to different parishes, enabling them to prey upon other children. Lynn, who testified in his own defense, denied the allegations and said his actions were limited by his official role; he said only Cardinal Anthony J. Bevilacqua had the power to remove or transfer priests. http://www.philly.com/philly/news/20120602_Judge_charges_jury_in_Philadelphia_priest_sex-abuse_trial.html

Jury breaks without verdict in Philadelphia church abuse case June 7, 2012 PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) – A Philadelphia jury ended its fifth day of deliberations on Thursday without reaching a verdict in the child sex abuse trial of a Roman Catholic monsignor, the highest-ranking U.S. clergyman to stand trial in the church’s wide-ranging pedophilia scandal. Monsignor William Lynn, who supervised hundreds of priests in the Philadelphia Archdiocese for 12 years as secretary of the clergy, is accused of conspiracy and child endangerment. If convicted on all charges, he faces the possibility of 21 years in prison….
Prosecutors say Lynn, 61, covered up child sex abuse allegations, often by transferring priests to unsuspecting parishes. Lynn’s motive was to avoid scandal and any potential loss of money for the church, they argued. His job was to supervise 800 priests, which included investigating sex abuse claims, from 1992 to 2004. The defense said Lynn tried to handle documented cases of pedophile priests, making a list in 1994 of 35 accused predators and writing memos to suggest treatment and suspensions. He was hampered because he could only make recommendations to the head of the archdiocese, Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua, who died in January at age 88, the defense said….
The Philadelphia jury also is deliberating the fate of the Reverend James Brennan, 48, who is charged with child endangerment and the attempted rape of a 14-year-old child in 1996.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/sns-rt-us-usa-crime-churchbre8561g8-20120607,0,7146796.story

Jurors Report Split Over Church Abuse Charges By JON HURDLE and ERIK ECKHOLM June 20, 2012
PHILADELPHIA — In its 12th day of deliberations, the jury in the landmark trial of a Roman Catholic Church official accused of covering up sexual abuses by other priests said Wednesday that it was deadlocked on four of the five charges in the trial.
“We, the jury, are at a hung jury status on all charges except for one,” jurors said in a note that was read aloud by Judge M. Teresa Sarmina of the Court of Common Pleas. The judge instructed the jury to keep trying to reach unanimous agreement on all five charges. The church official, Msgr. William J. Lynn, is accused of two counts of endangering the welfare of children and one of conspiracy. A priest, the Rev. James J. Brennan, faces charges of endangerment and attempted rape. Deliberations will resume on Friday.
Monsignor Lynn, 61, served as secretary for clergy for the 1.5 million-member Archdiocese of Philadelphia from 1992 to 2004, in charge of recommending jobs for priests and investigating charges of sexual abuse. He is the first church official in the United States to be tried on accusations of enabling the depredations of priests, rather than committing abuses himself. Prosecutors said he had repeatedly played down credible accusations of abuse, lied to inquiring parents and parish officials about predatory priests and reassigned them to unwary parishes. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/21/us/monsignor-lynn-jury-says-it-is-deadlocked.html

Philadelphia Priest Trial: Jury Reaches Split Verdict In Case Of Monsignor William Lynn By MARYCLAIRE DALE 06/22/12 PHILADELPHIA — A Roman Catholic church official was convicted of child endangerment but acquitted of conspiracy Friday in a landmark clergy-abuse trial, making him the first U.S. church official branded a felon for covering up abuse claims.
Monsignor William Lynn helped the archdiocese keep predators in ministry, and the public in the dark, by telling parishes their priests were being removed for health reasons and then sending the men to unsuspecting churches, prosecutors said. Lynn, 61, served as secretary for clergy from 1992 to 2004, mostly under Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua….
Lynn had faced about 10 to 20 years in prison if convicted of all three counts he faced – conspiracy and two counts of child endangerment. He was convicted of only a single endangerment count, which carries a possible 3 1/2- to seven-year prison term. The jury could not reach a verdict for Lynn’s co-defendant, the Rev. James Brennan, who was accused of sexually abusing a 14-year-old boy in 1999. Despite Lynn’s acquittal on the conspiracy charge, the trial exposed how deeply involved the late cardinal was in dealing with accused priests.
Bevilacqua had the final say on what to do with priests accused of abuse, transferred many of them to new parishes and dressed down anyone who complained, according to testimony. He also ordered the shredding of a 1994 list that Lynn prepared, warning that the archdiocese had three diagnosed pedophiles, a dozen confirmed predators and another 20 possible abusers in its midst.
Church lawyers turned over a surviving copy of the list days after Bevilacqua died….
With the verdict, after 13 days of deliberations, jurors concluded that prosecutors failed to show that Lynn was part of a conspiracy to move predator priests around.
The jury, however, did find that Lynn endangered the victim of defrocked priest Edward Avery, who pleaded guilty before trial to a 1999 sexual assault.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/22/philadelphia-priest-trial_n_1619355.html

Carlson sexually abused several children, victims tell state police By Nok-Noi Ricker, BDN Staff Aug. 01, 2012 BANGOR, Maine — The Rev. Robert Carlson sexually abused several children over the last four decades and groomed them to be his victims, according to people interviewed by the Maine State Police during a now concluded investigation into allegations leveled against the late community leader.
“There clearly were victims of sexual abuse that indicated that Bob Carlson was their abuser,” Lt. Christopher Coleman, commander of the Maine State Police’s Major Crimes Unit for the northern part of the state, said Wednesday. “It appears that it occurred over many years and it caused a lot of trauma to many people.”….
Carlson was a longtime religious and civic leader who committed suicide by jumping from the Penobscot Narrows Bridge on Nov. 13, 2011, shortly after learning detectives were looking into allegations of sex abuse involving him and a boy….
The state police report includes interviews with at least 18 people, including Carlson’s victims. Also interviewed were the former president of Husson University, a Penobscot County sheriff’s deputy and detective, a Bangor police officer and a therapist who treated some of Carlson’s victims. They said they had either received information about or witnessed Carlson engage in criminal or inappropriate sexual behavior over the last four decades….
Carlson helped found and was president of Penobscot Community Health Care, leading the charge to provide those less fortunate with health care and dental services. He also was a founder of Hope House, a Bangor shelter for those with drug and alcohol addiction.
He “had full access” at the therapist’s treatment center, and after Carlson took part in a staff meeting one day, “administration told Bob that he was no longer welcome at the facility,” the report said. No dates are given to indicate when this happened.
The therapist “advised that monetary control or influence was part of Bob’s control over some of the victims” and “that there was a grooming process [that] occurred with the victims.”
Carlson was a longtime church leader in Orrington who had served as chaplain for the Bangor and Brewer police and fire departments, the Penobscot County Jail and Husson College, now Husson University….
The first person to report concerns about Carlson’s behavior said he was ignored by his superiors. Former Penobscot County Sheriff Timothy Richardson has said he questioned Carlson’s actions in the 1970s after seeing Carlson in the control room at the Penobscot County Jail in the middle of the night with young boys, sometimes rubbing them all over, including their buttocks.
Richardson, who was a young part-time deputy, said he reported his concerns to two superiors, both of whom are now deceased. He said they were concerned but didn’t take it anywhere.
“They didn’t want to take it anywhere,” the former sheriff told the Bangor Daily News in November. “Back then they [religious leaders] were above suspicion of child abuse.”

Carlson sexually abused several children, victims tell state police

Brooklyn Prosecutor’s Role in Abuse Case Is Examined By RAY RIVERA June 28, 2012
For years, Avrohom Mondrowitz counseled children out of his home in the Borough Park neighborhood of Brooklyn. He was host of a call-in radio show popular among ultra-Orthodox Jewish listeners, claiming to be a rabbi and psychologist. But law enforcement officials say Mr. Mondrowitz, who fled to Israel in 1984 to avoid arrest, was also something else: “a compulsive pedophile.”
The Brooklyn district attorney, Charles J. Hynes, has repeatedly said that since taking office in 1990, he has vigorously tried to extradite Mr. Mondrowitz. Mr. Hynes has said his office was instrumental in bringing about a change in a treaty between the United States and Israel in 2007 that had thwarted early extradition efforts.
But newly disclosed documents from Mr. Hynes’s office cast doubts on his accounts of his role in the case, suggesting that for many years, the office paid little attention to it.
Michael Lesher, a writer and lawyer who represents several of Mr. Mondrowitz’s accusers, obtained 103 pages of files on the case from the district attorney’s office after a protracted court battle to secure them under the state’s Freedom of Information Law.
“There isn’t a single e-mail, a single letter, a single memo, either originating from the D.A.’s office or addressed to it, that so much as mentions any attempt by the D.A. to seek a change in the extradition treaty,” Mr. Lesher said. “It’s just inconceivable that such important negotiation on such a detailed issue could have taken place and not left a trace in the documentary record.”
Mr. Hynes has long been criticized by advocacy groups representing victims of child sexual abuse, who claimed that he was too accommodating of politically influential ultra-Orthodox Jewish rabbis, many of whom teach that such crimes should be handled by rabbinical authorities.
Scrutiny of his office intensified last month after articles in The New York Times raised questions about his handling of sexual abuse cases among the ultra-Orthodox.
Mr. Hynes has defended his record, but after the articles were published, he promised to push for legislation making it mandatory for rabbis to report abuse. He also set up a task force to crack down on witness intimidation, which has stymied many sexual abuse cases in the community. The Mondrowitz case has long been one of the most notorious child sexual abuse cases in Brooklyn.
Mr. Mondrowitz was charged with molesting five boys, but Amy Neustein, editor of the book “Tempest in the Temple: Jewish Communities and Child Sex Scandals,” which includes a history of the case, said she believed he had at least 100 victims.
Mr. Mondrowitz, now 64, has denied the charges….

Rabbi’s sentence angers victims August 03, 2012 By Wesley Lowery, Globe Correspondent
Despite tearful pleas from victims, a judge sentenced a one-time religious instructor for a prominent Brookline school to 10 years probation Thursday for sexually abusing three of his students in Boston during the 1975-1976 school year.
The sentence for Rabbi Stanley Z. Levitt, who pleaded guilty Wednesday to four counts of -indecent assault and battery on a child, stunned and angered the victims, who gathered in the -Suffolk Superior courtroom to face their abuser and witness the sentencing. Levitt was also ordered to stay away from children, register as a sex offender, and wear a GPS monitor….
“He should have served jail time,” said Michael Brecher, who along with the two other former students at the Maimonides School, an Orthodox Jewish school, said that Levitt touched him sexually when he was a sixth-grader.
Delivering a victim-impact statement before the sentencing, Brecher said Levitt groped him while Brecher was recovering at Boston Children’s Hospital after part of his finger was sliced off in a classroom door….
The Globe has reported that after leaving Massachusetts in 1980, Levitt was charged with molesting three boys in Philadelphia. In the first of those cases, Levitt was found not guilty. In the second case, he pleaded no contest to accusations that he had showered with a young boy and received five years’ probation. The third allegation was withdrawn.
http://bostonglobe.com/metro/2012/08/02/rabbi-stanley-levitt-gets-years-probation-for-abusing-three-boys/5iygfQPcpYpvPcJ8SPI0cK/story.html

Candace Conti Awarded $28M In Jehovah’s Witness Sex Abuse Case 6/16/12 AP OAKLAND, Calif. — A Northern California jury has awarded $28 million in damages to a woman who said the Jehovah’s Witnesses allowed an adult member of a Fremont church to molest her when she was a child in the mid-1990s.
Alameda County jurors awarded $7 million in compensatory damages on Wednesday and another $21 million in punitive damages on Thursday to Candace Conti, her attorney, Rick Simons said. “This is the largest jury verdict for a single victim in a religious child abuse case in the country,” Simons told The Associated Press. In her lawsuit, Conti, now 26, said from 1995-1996, when she was 9 and 10 years old and a member of the North Fremont Congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses, she was repeatedly molested by a fellow congregant, Jonathan Kendrick….
Conti also claimed in her suit that the religion’s national leaders formed a policy in 1989 that instructed the religion’s elders to keep child sex abuse accusations secret. Congregation elders followed that policy when Kendrick was convicted in 1994 of misdemeanor child molestation in Alameda County, according to Simons. Kendrick was never criminally charged in the case involving Conti, but besides the 1994 conviction, he was later convicted in 2004 of lewd or lascivious acts with a child, records show….
Jim McCabe, an attorney for the congregation, said he planned to appeal the jury’s decision.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/16/calif-jury-awards-28m-in-_n_1602997.html

Abuses At Legion Of Christ-Run High School, Immaculate Conception Academy In Rhode Island
By NICOLE WINFIELD 07/09/12 VATICAN CITY — Dozens of women who attended a high school run by the disgraced Legion of Christ religious order have urged the Vatican to close the program, saying the psychological abuse they endured trying to live like teenage nuns led to multiple cases of anorexia, stress-induced migraines, depression and even suicidal thoughts. The women sent a letter this weekend to the pope’s envoy running the Legion to denounce the manipulation, deception and disrespect they say they suffered at the hands of counselors barely older than themselves at the Rhode Island school. For some, the trauma required years of psychological therapy that cost them tens of thousands of dollars.
A copy of the letter was provided to The Associated Press by the letter’s 77 signatories, a dozen of whom agreed to be interviewed about their personal problems for the sake of warning parents against sending their children to the program’s schools in the U.S., Mexico and Spain.
“I have many defining and traumatic memories that I believe epitomize the systematic breakdown of the person” in the school, Mary told The Associated Press in an email exchange….
It’s the latest blow to the troubled, cult-like Legion, which was discredited in 2009 when it revealed that its founder was a pedophile and drug addict who fathered three children. The Legion suffered subsequent credibility problems following its recent admission that its most famous priest had fathered a child and the current Legion superior covered it up for years.
The Legion saga is all the more grave because its late founder, the Rev. Marcial Maciel, had been held up as a living saint by his followers and a model of holiness by Pope John Paul II because of his ability to recruit men and money to the priesthood, even though the Vatican knew for decades that he had sexually abused his seminarians….
The school’s current director said things have changed dramatically recently and many of the spiritual and psychological abuses corrected. But she acknowledged the harm done, apologized for the women’s suffering and asked for forgiveness.
“For any errors made by our order in the past, we do apologize,” said director Margarita Martinez. “We are sorry these young women have suffered and been harmed in any way.”
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/09/legion-of-christ-abuse-high-school_n_1658904.html

Bishops Told Pedophiles Lie, Victims Must Be Heard NICOLE WINFIELD 02/7/12
ROME – Priests who rape and molest children lie when confronted with an accusation but victims usually tell the truth, psychologists told Catholic bishops at a symposium Tuesday, advising them to listen first to the victims….
Survivors of clerical abuse have long said that once they summoned the courage to denounce their abusers to church leaders, Catholic bishops often dismissed their accusations and instead accepted the word of their priests, whom bishops consider their brothers and sons in the priesthood.
That pattern led to decades in which bishops shuffled pedophiles from parish to parish, protecting the church’s reputation at all costs, while victims were left to feel like they were to blame for the abuse.
Marie Collins, who was assaulted as a 13-year-old by a hospital chaplain in her native Ireland, told the bishops that dynamic led to multiple hospitalizations later in life for anxiety and depression. She told her story of abuse and how the church’s response to it – refusing to believe her, telling her it was her fault and taking the priest’s word over hers – made the initial trauma even worse….
Monsignor Stephen Rossetti, a psychologist who for a decade ran a U.S. treatment center for abusive priests, told the conference Tuesday that just like alcoholics or drug addicts, sexually abusive priests often lie when confronted with allegations. They manipulate, they con, they deny, he said. “There are false allegations to be sure” and it’s critical to restore a priest’s good name when he has been cleared, Rossetti said in his prepared remarks. “But decades of experience tell us that the vast majority of allegations – over 95 percent – are founded.”
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/07/bishops-told-pedophiles-l_0_n_1259416.html

Other Cases

Woman Says George Zimmerman Molested Her For More Than A Decade Trymaine Lee 07/16/2012
A woman with close ties to George Zimmerman and his family told investigators that members of Zimmerman’s family were boastfully proud racists and that for more than a decade Zimmerman sexually molested her. “It started when I was six,” the woman told investigators during an interview on the morning of March 20. “We’d all lay in front of the TV and we had pillows and blankets and he would reach under the blankets and try to do things and I would try to push him off but he was bigger and stronger and older,” the woman said, audibly weeping in the Florida State Attorney’s Office interview recording released Monday. “It was in front of everybody and I don’t know how I didn’t say anything, I just didn’t know any better.”
The woman, identified in various reports and in taped interviews with investigators as witness 9, said that from the age of six to 19 Zimmerman repeatedly fondled her….
The molestation continued for years during visits between the families, she said. The Zimmermans lived in Virginia and moved down to Florida — where the woman lived with her family — not long after George Zimmerman graduated from high school. The last incident occurred in Lake Mary, Fla., where Zimmerman had moved into a house owned by his family ahead of their arrival from Virginia. “It’s not just me that he did these things to,” she said. The witness said that she talked to another woman who she claims was also molested by Zimmerman, but would not come forward. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/16/george-zimmerman-_n_1676729.html

describes abuse allegations
Officials See Child Welfare Dangers on a North Dakota Indian Reservation By TIMOTHY WILLIAMS July 7, 2012 Federal and state officials say they have documented glaring flaws in the child welfare system at the Spirit Lake Indian Reservation in North Dakota, contending that while child abuse there is at epidemic levels, the tribe has sought to conceal it. The problems uncovered by medical and social services administrators include foster children on the reservation who have been sent to homes where registered sex offenders live and a teenage female sexual-abuse victim who was placed in a tribal home and subsequently raped. The tribe, according to federal officials, also hired a children’s case worker who had been convicted of felony child abuse….
The conditions led the State of North Dakota to take the unusual step this year of suspending financing for 31 tribal children in foster care….

Parents allege school ignored concerns in sex abuse case by JONATHAN BETZ WFAA July 9, 2012
MURPHY – The parents of several child abuse victims have filed a lawsuit against a school principal and the Plano school district accusing them of ignoring warnings about a sexual predator.
Parents of three elementary students say administrators at Hunt Elementary in Murphy repeatedly dismissed concerns about kindergarten teacher Joseph Garbarini. Garbarini, 30, is currently serving a 62-year prison sentence after he was convicted of child sexual abuse last year.
The explosive accusations involving diapers, bottles and cages horrified parents when the news broke in May 2010. In the months before his arrest however, the lawsuit said parents and teachers had unsettling suspicions about Garbarini. He was often seen tickling, hugging, photographing and encouraging young girls to sit on his lap. Yet the school’s principal, Linda Engelking, dismissed the concerns, according to the lawsuit. “She simply did not care,” lawyers wrote in the suit filed Friday in federal court in Sherman, adding that she chose “to protect the teacher and place her loyalty to him above her concerns for the minor children.”

The lawsuit claims Garbarini’s actions so bothered parents that several asked their students to be moved to a different teacher. Lawyers allege the mother of one of the victims tried at the beginning of the school year to have her daughter assigned to a different class, but that Engelking discouraged the transfer. A man who answered the door at Engelking’s Plano home refused to comment. The district said she retired this year after 33 years in Plano ISD….
Garbarini’s trial revealed the teacher played ‘mommy-baby’ games with his students, which involved him molesting young girls while putting them in diapers. The lawsuit alleges he brought bags of diapers and children’s clothes to school and made excuses to undress the young children behind a bookshelf in his classroom. He would threaten to harm the student’s family if they cried, according to court documents. http://www.wfaa.com/news/education/Parents-allege-school-district-ignored-concerns-about-teacher–161871365.html

describes abuse
Charles Lee Bergeron Molested Boys, Told Them He Needed Their Semen To Live The Huffington Post By Rebecca Ballhaus 06/22/2012
In a disgusting ploy to lure young boys in to molest them, Charles Lee Bergeron Sr. told them he “needed their semen to live,” prosecutors said. Bergeron was sentenced Wednesday to 120 years in prison for sexually abusing young boys, said prosecutor Cynthia Guillory, according to the Houston Press.
Bergeron would invite young boys into his home, drug or sedate them, and then perform oral sex on them. One victim, who is now 23, told KPLC-TV that Bergeron gave him alcohol with Somas and Xanax, heavy sedatives. Another victim, who was 13 at the time, said Bergeron gave him oral sex several times, both at his house and at a Westlake, La. cemetery.
Bergeron, 80, was charged with 12 counts of oral sexual battery, 12 counts of indecent behavior, and one count of sexual battery in December. He pleaded guilty to all charges. Bergeron was previously convicted of molestation in 2000, and he was already in prison serving a 10-year sentence for failing to register as a sex offender when further victims came forward.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/22/charles-lee-bergeron-molested-boys_n_1618842.htm

Forced sterilization takes forefront in proposed bill Diane Turbyfill May 27, 2012
Men and women involuntarily sterilized in North Carolina took one step closer this week to being financially compensated by the state. The General Assembly passed the first vote on a bill that would pay eugenics victims who were sterilized from 1929 to 1974 through a state program. Rep. Larry Womble of Forsyth County has been at the forefront of a movement to recognize and apologize to people who were forced to have the procedure, often because of race or financial status….
North Carolina had a program in place that ordered specific candidates to be sterilized, but the procedures weren’t always performed under state order, according to Charmaine Fuller Cooper, director of the N.C. Justice for Sterilization Victims Foundation. Many doctors made it their job to pick and choose people to sterilize outside of the program. Those victims are not included in the legislation that could pay the forcefully sterilized $50,000 each. http://www.gastongazette.com/news/bill-71570-sterilized-state.html

NC House committee OKs eugenics compensation plan May 29, 2012 RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — A bill to compensate people sterilized against their will through a state-sponsored program decades ago has cleared another North Carolina House committee, despite concerns from some Republicans about the plan’s ultimate price tag.
The House Appropriations Committee voted Tuesday for the measure that would set aside $11 million next year to pay remaining survivors of North Carolina’s eugenics program $50,000 each. The bill cleared two committees last week. Its next stop is the House floor. Several thousand people between 1933 and 1974 received surgeries that left them unable to reproduce. Up to 2,000 may be alive, although a state foundation so far has confirmed 118 are still living. http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/N/NC_XGR_STERILIZATION_PROGRAM_NCOL-?SITE=NCWIN&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

Forced Sterilization Update for Victims in North Carolina Thursday, May 31, 2012 Anderson uncovers the secret world of forced sterilization in this country and speaks with 82-year-old Charlie, who was forcibly sterilized at the age of 14 because his parents were alcoholics and he was in an orphanage. CNN Senior Correspondent Elizabeth Cohen spoke to Charlie about the incident that robbed him of ever having children, and revealed that California politicians are unwilling to answer questions about what happened. http://www.andersoncooper.com/2012/05/30/forced-sterilization-update-for-victims-in-north-carolina/

Feds say they have found more sex victims of Indiana man Associated Press July 10, 2012
An Indiana man was formally charged Tuesday with tricking 10 teenagers in nine different states into performing sex acts on webcam that he recorded and used to coerce them into making more sexually explicit videos.
Federal prosecutors said Richard Finkbiner, 39, told some of his online victims that he intended to amass the largest collection of amateur pornography in the world. U.S. Attorney Joe Hogsett called it a “systematic scheme to victimize hundreds of children.”
Documents filed in U.S. District Court in Terre Haute charge Finkbiner with 10 counts of child sexual exploitation, two counts of extortion and one count of possession of child pornography. Hogsett said prosecutors plan to seek an effective life sentence if Finkbiner is convicted.
The victims were nine boys and one girl, all between the ages of 12 and 16, according to the charges. Court documents said Finkbiner coerced children from Indiana, West Virginia, Iowa, Wisconsin, Ohio, New York, Michigan, Illinois and Colorado into making explicit videos for his use….
After recording the initial sexual acts, prosecutors said Finkbiner threatened to upload the images to pornographic websites unless his victims agreed to email him at one of several emails that he used as aliases. When the teens responded, he threatened to expose the chat videos to their family and friends unless they made more explicit videos for his use, according to court documents.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chi-feds-say-they-have-found-more-sex-victims-of-indiana-man-20120710,0,6562640.story

Guilty plea: Child rapist was accused of giving girls ‘special juice’ before assaults By Kelly Bayliss and Dan Stamm, NBCPhiladelphia.com 7/10/12 A Pennsylvania man pleaded guilty Tuesday to various child sex abuse charges, putting a surprising end to his trial on charges that he drugged and raped three young girls and posted images of the acts on the Internet. Barry McOwen, 67, was charged with 651 total counts including multiple rape, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, sexual abuse of children, endangering the welfare of children, aggravated indecent assault, corruption of minors, invasion of privacy and drug violation charges. He wound up taking the stand in court Tuesday — the second day of the trial — to plead guilty to some of those charges, including one count of child rape, three counts of indecent assault, four counts of creating child pornography and one count of dissemination of child porn, McOwen’s lawyer George Yacoubian Jr. said. According to investigators, McOwen took pictures and videos of the incidents and shared them with others over the Internet.
He often used Internet chats to share his horrific acts….
McOwen also referred to his “sleep assaults” in many online conversations.
Investigators say the assaults took place over the course of five years — between January 2006 and June 2011. http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/07/10/12667351-guilty-plea-child-rapist-was-accused-of-giving-girls-special-juice-before-assaults

Ritual Abuse and Mind Control Information

Twenty-Two Faces – Inside the Extraordinary Life of Jenny Hill and Her Twenty-Two Multiple Personalities Judy Byington MSW, LCSW, ret.
Saved by an angel from certain death, Jenny Hill utilizes prayer, forgiveness and her multiple personalities to triumph over a Nazi mind controller attempting to mould her into a Manchurian Candidate. Twenty-Two Faces documents how the only known survivor-intended-victim of a modern-day human sacrifice ceremony six year-old Jenny Hill, overcomes multiplicity resulting from brainwashing, her perpetrators having subjected the child to insidious mind-control techniques culled from Nazi Germany. As is the case for thousands of children across the globe unfortunate enough to be born into families still practicing these aberrant religious rites. Using a lone resource: faith in God, Jenny tries to make sense of a life where she jumps from one day to the next. Eventually with help of a psychologist: she takes charge of her divided mind by facing alter personalities and their traumatic repressed memories, overcomes family-society rejection, confronts and forgives abusers, showing an ability of the human spirit to overcome against all odds, profound emotional shock and miraculously healing from severe childhood trauma. Tate Publishing May, 2012 ISBN-13: 978-1620240328 http://22faces.com/

22 Faces revives ritual sexual abuse controversy by Stephen Dark
2012-06-25 ….A new book, Twenty Two Faces: Inside the Extraordinary Life of Jenny Hill and Her Twenty-two Multiple Personalities, by retired, Saratoga Springs-based psychiatrist Judy Byington, tells the story of Hill, who, according to Byinton, was the victim of sexual assaults by both her father and by neighborhood boys. Hill told Byington that on June 21, 1965, in Garden Grove, Calif., she was tortured on an altar and forced to watch the murder of a 6-year-old by a satanic coven, only to be saved by the intervention of an angel.
Subsequently, Hill was subjected to mind control experiments which resulted, Byington says, in Hill having 22 personalities. Hill moved to Utah County and ended up spending a year in the Utah State Hospital under the care of Weston Whatcott between 1984 and 1985. In a press release by the book’s publisher, Whatcott acknowledges that Hill’s multiple personalities were a result of childhood trauma, “namely repeated sexual assaults coupled with ritual abuse.”
Byington says Hill “really wanted her story told.” Byington drew on journals Hill and some of her other personalities kept from when she was 5 to 24. “We could all be multiple personalities if we have gone through all the trauma that these people have gone through,” Byington says.”Children under tremendous torture, their minds can separate into different personalities.”
Hill went to the FBI looking for the parents of the child she had seen killed, Byington says. While an FBI agent who looked at Hill’s medical records told Byington that there was confirmation that horrendous torture had occurred, “he wouldn’t open up a case for her.”
Byington has also investigated local satanic covens in Utah, she says, and talked to a special-investigations unit at the Utah Attorney General’s office in 2006 on ritual abuse cases. “”It’s still very much of a problem,” Byington says. “These covens are very active and it’s very difficult to prove what’s going on.” http://www.cityweekly.net/utah/blog-24-7837-22-faces-revives-ritual-sexual-abuse-controversy.html

In the Stillness: A Spiritual Response to Ritual Abuse by Cath C. follows the life of educator Barbara B. in her recovery from ritual abuse torture. Born into a family that practiced satanism, torture, and sacrificial ritual, Barbara’s story illustrates four aspects of ritual abuse: the practice of mind control in ritual families, ritual desecration, the hardship and peril of escape, and the lasting impact of sexual exploitation. Barbara’s recovery as an adult shows how each aspect of the evil was answered by and, ultimately, rendered ineffective through spirituality. Barbara shares what she did to achieve mental and physical wellness, spiritual strength, a productive career, and a satisfying personal life. In the Stillness: A Spiritual Response to Ritual Abuse offers hope to other survivors. ISBN 9781477567883

Groomed – An uncle who went too far. A mother who didn’t care. A little girl who waited for justice. By Laurie Matthew Simon & Schuster UK, June 2012 256 pages
Description
In this powerful and honest memoir, Laurie Matthew takes the reader with her as she revisits her childhood in 1950s and 1960s Dundee. Raised in a home which consisted of an emotionally neglectful and physically violent mother, a distant father, a chronically sick brother and a sister she needed to protect, the only ray of light in little Laurie’s life came from the man who would return home from the Army with pockets full of sweets and bags of toys. Uncle Andrew would shower her with attention and love, capture the hearts of everyone around him – and carefully groom her for years of abuse by not only himself, but also by a network of paedophiles. Laurie tells a harrowing story of isolation, as her abusers went to extraordinary lengths to carry out their sick acts, wearing masks to confuse and torment her and keeping her away from other children. But these evil men had no idea that the girl they systematically violated would turn into one of the country’s leading child protection experts, and that their legacy would give her the impetus to change the lives of so many innocent victims. ISBN-10: 0857208284 http://books.simonandschuster.co.uk/Groomed/Laurie-Matthew/9780857208286
Laurie was born in 1953. She is the award-winning founder of several support organisations for people affected by sexual violence and/or abuse. She is currently based in her home city of Dundee where she is the campaigning organiser and founder of the ‘Eighteen and Under’ charity organisation, which helps young people who have experienced any kind of abuse. Her work is internationally commended and she has been recognised many times for her achievements. Some of the many awards given have included Dundee Citizen of the Year, 1997, International Women’s Safety Award, 2004, and Charity Awards 2010 winner of Research, Advice and Support category. She has also written a number of books about child protection. http://authors.simonandschuster.co.uk/Laurie-Matthew/400136648/biography

Todd Moore wrote the below article in response to an editorial published in the Jonesboro Sun by Chris Wessel. Father of WM3 murder victim certain who killed 3 boys By Todd Moore
Guest Columnist
I am the father of West Memphis triple murder victim Michael Moore. I am writing this in response to your editorial in the June 6 edition of The Sun titled “Justice Unserved.” It has always been my opinion that justice was served when Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley were convicted in 1994 for the brutal murder of my son and his friends.
The three men who slaughtered my son were convicted by two juries that found them guilty in 1994. Despite this, the Arkansas Supreme Court generously granted the murderers the opportunity for a new evidentiary hearing to be held Dec, 5, 2011, to show evidence they claimed proved their innocence. They could have been granted a new trial to prove these claims of innocence. Instead of presenting their “new evidence” in open court last December, they opted to plead guilty to the murders in August 2011 in exchange for time served….
Absence of DNA evidence does not prove the West Memphis Three (WM3) are innocent. The killers washed most of the evidence away in the water- filled ditch where they drowned my son. There was plenty of other evidence to convict them in 1994 without positive DNA. Most murderers are convicted without DNA evidence….
The WM3 defense team has been well-funded by numerous celebrities who were misinformed by the biased “Paradise Lost” documentaries. These one-sided films left out nearly all of the evidence that demonstrated the guilt of the WM3. They caused thousands of people to support the release of the convicted child killers with a very limited understanding of the actual facts of the case….
Here are just a few examples of what was omitted from the documentaries:
• Jessie Misskelley confessed to the crime at least five times to police, prosecutors, even his own attorneys with his hand on a Bible. Misskelley confessed the first time after less than four hours of police questioning. That questioning was done with permission from his father. He continued to repeatedly confess in the year that followed.
• Damien Echols amassed a mental health record 500 pages long in the years immediately prior to the murders. In his own handwriting, he classified himself as a “homicidal, suicidal, schizophrenic, sociopath” just a months before he brutally murdered my son….
• The movies omit the fact that these three men had no alibis. Damien Echols’ and Jessie Misskelley’s alibis completely fell apart on the stand in the 1994 trials. Jason Baldwin’s attorneys didn’t even bother to present an alibi.
• Fibers consistent with a robe in Jason Baldwin’s home and a shirt in Damien Echols’ home were found on the victims. Blue candle wax found on Chris Byers’ shirt was consistent with candle wax found in Damien Echols bedroom.
• The crime lab found that three different knots were used to hogtie the three victims with their own shoelaces. This points toward multiple killers rather than one killer. Witnesses say that Mr. Bojangles, the disoriented man near the crime scene that night, had a cast on one arm. No one person could have subdued and hogtied three energetic young boys–not Terry Hobbs and certainly not the one-armed Mr. Bojangles….
• A car full of eyewitnesses placed Echols near the crime scene, covered with dirt, on the night of the murders.
• Numerous friends, acquaintances and cell-mates came forward with tales of confessions from all three defendants.
Throw out one or even several of those facts, and there would still be enough to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. I sat through those trials. The basic facts need to be put out there. Otherwise, it makes a mockery of my son’s short life. Todd Moore is the father of murder victim Michael Moore. Published in the Opinion Section of the Jonesboro Sun on Tuesday, June 12, 2012
http://www.terryhobbs.com/2012/06/todd-moore-sets-record-straight.html

Dale Griffis – West Memphis Three Case Information
This information is being posted with the permission of its author, Dale Griffis:
This document is to provide accurate information about my professional background and educational credentials as these have been inaccurately referenced on the Internet and in at least one documentary film in relation to the Memphis Three Case.
From 1960 to 1986, I worked in the Tiffin Ohio Police Department, I began as a Patrolman and over the course of my 26-year career, became Captain in Charge of Operations and a State Certified School Commander.
During these years, I attended over forty service school and seminars. This included three courses on intelligence work, including a three-week course as a unit commander of an intelligence unit. I was chosen to attend the Federal Alcohol, tobacco and Firearms Academy in Washington D.C. and graduated with honors. I graduated from Terra Community College with an Associates Degree in Police Science. I graduated Cum Laude from Heidelberg College in 1976 with a Bachelors degree in psychology.
I began my graduate education at Columbia Pacific University (CPU) in 1980 and graduated in January of 1984 with a Ph.D. At the Masters level, I concentrated on an independent study project (ISP) on intelligence graphics and advanced investigation charting for small agencies. My Masters ISP took a year to finish and I graduated upon completion of my approximately 90-page thesis. CPU then granted me entry into their doctoral program.
Copies of Documents in regard to Columbia Pacific University

Dale Griffis – West Memphis Three Case Documents

….Approximately a year prior to the murders of three children by convicted Damien Echols, Jessie Misskelley Jr. and Jason Baldwin, I was given data about a suspicious and criminal activity by some local youths in the West Memphis area. I provided to a West Memphis detective investigating these activities some indicators of possible problems and suggestions for thwarting the criminal activity. The detective’s concerns and my suggestions were not implemented by local authorities. The murders took place and I read about it in the media
….I have worked now with close to 2000 cases of cult and occult activity and am now retired, I still carry concern for the three eight-year-old boys who were savagely beaten and killed. I had told investigators and detectives more than a year before the arrest of the Memphis Three that children and animals would be sacrificed based on indicators sent to me of activity in the West Memphis area. I was sadly correct in my opinion. It is true still that when a person sees or hears something so bizarre as a ritually abusive sacrificial cult or occult group that it is easier to go after the messenger than to listen to the message.

Dale Griffis – West Memphis Three Case Information

The 2012 EMDRIA Conference “EMDR & Attachment: Healing Developmental Trauma” October 4th – 7th in Washington, D.C., at the Crystal Gateway Marriott.
Session 434 – Treating Dissociation, Ritual Abuse and Mind Control from an Attachment Perspective Carolyn Settle, MSW, LCSW; Soozi Bolte, LPC, LISAC
Using EMDR as an integrative therapeutic approach from an attachment and developmental trauma lens, this presentation will give practical strategies for treating clients with Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) symptoms who have experienced Ritual Abuse and Mind Control (RA/MC). Infant disorganized attachment is an important precursor to adult dissociation and perhaps even more of a predictor of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) than severe trauma alone (van der Kolk). RA/MC programming will be explained so the clinician understands the layers of complexity in treating these dissociative symptoms and ego states. (Advanced) 85% EMDR http://www.emdriaconference.com/

Dissociative Identity Disorder: The Mystery Surrounding its Etiology and its Connection to Satanic Ritual Abuse
A Research Paper Presented to The Faculty of the Adler Graduate School In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for
The Degree of Master of Arts in Adlerian Counseling and Psychotherapy….
The purpose of this project is to inform its readers of the often overlooked and sometimes avoided diagnosis of dissociative identity disorder along with its possible connections to extreme abuse such as satanic ritual abuse as well as intentional mind control….
It has also been argued that dissociative identity disorder is a “chronic, posttraumatic dissociative disorder characterized by recurrent disturbances of identity and memory” (Kluft, 1988, p. 212). Dissociative identity disorder is a complex disorder that generally finds its roots in an individual’s childhood. “The severe, sustained, and repetitive trauma that occurs during the early to middle stages of childhood (ages 2 and a half to 8) for most victims is thought to promote the development of Multiple Personality Disorder” now known as dissociative identity disorder (Wilbur, 1984, p. 5)….
The Connection of Dissociative Identity Disorder and Satanic Ritual Abuse
There is a rising belief among therapists working with those diagnosed with dissociative identity disorder that there has been a missing piece to the puzzle to better understand and work with these clients. That missing clue being that a high percentage rate of individuals diagnosed with dissociative identity disorder are also victims of satanic ritual abuse….
Over the past few decades the field of psychology has improved its effectiveness in society as it has willingly accepted the awful truths that research was revealing regarding issues of abuse. For example, in the 1960’s there was rampant denial that any form of child abuse even existed. There seemed to be a belief that maybe “one in one hundred children were abused” (Friesen, 1991, p. 206). In the 1970’s incest finally came into focus of a possibility of being more widespread than previously thought and in the 1980’s victims of abuse and incest were finally beginning to be believed as telling the truth. As a result of these individuals finally being believed diagnoses such as multiple personality disorder, now known as dissociative identity disorder, began to rise (Friesen, 1991)….
As the field of psychology and more importantly society embraced the ugly truth of rampant child abuse and the reality of wide spread incest America improved. America improved in its ability to rescue, protect, and bring some restoration to these abused individuals by lifting the widespread cloak of shame surrounding abuse. As society and the field of psychology slowly embrace and believe what individuals diagnosed with dissociative identity disorder are sharing as truth then the cloak of shame for them can be lifted as well….
One of the mainstays of working with individuals with dissociative identity disorder is to aid the client in breaking down the amnesiac, dissociative walls which have been constructed as a means of self-protection. One way to help break down these walls is to aid the individual in remembering the abuse he/she endured. As these walls begin to weaken more and more memories of trauma begin to rise. According to the research conducted by Bryant (1995) these memories are not delusions, hallucinations, or made up fantasy, in fact as research is revealing they are indeed memories of actual events that have taken place….
Extreme Abuse Survey….
The results were overwhelming in revealing a connection of satanic ritualistic abuse to the diagnosis of dissociative identity disorder as well as opening shedding light into other ritualistic forms of abuse such as mind control used through the occult rituals as well as government-sponsored mind control experiments. This research reveals the two are very often connected with one another. For example this data shows that “64% of 985 respondents reported memories of incest and 48% of 977 respondents reported memoires of ritual abuse before they sought therapy and 69% of 257 respondents who reported secret mind control experiments used on them as children also reported having been abused in a satanic cult” (Rutz et al., 2008, p. 50). http://www.alfredadler.edu/sites/default/files/Vogelsang%20MP%202010.pdf

Witchcraft-based child abuse: Action plan launched 14 August 2012 The government has launched an action plan to tackle child abuse linked to witchcraft or religion in England. High-profile cases include the murders of Kristy Bamu and Victoria Climbie but experts fear much more abuse is hidden. The key aims are to raise awareness and set out “urgent practical steps to identify and protect children at risk”. Children’s Minister Tim Loughton said: “Child abuse is appalling and unacceptable wherever it occurs and whatever form it takes. Abuse linked to faith or belief in spirits, witchcraft or possession is a horrific crime, condemned by people of all cultures, communities and faiths – but there has been a ‘wall of silence’ around its scale and extent.
There can never be a blind eye turned to violence or emotional abuse or even the smallest risk that religious beliefs will lead to young people being harmed.” The government says that cases of adults inflicting physical violence or emotional harm on children they regard as witches or possessed by evil spirits occur across the world, often in sub-sects of major religions, such as Christianity….
Scotland Yard says it has conducted 83 investigations into cases of faith-based child abuse in the past decade including those of Victoria Climbie who was eight when she was murdered in 2000 and the headless torso of “Adam”, a five or six-year-old boy, which was found in the Thames in 2001. Ministers are concerned that although the investigations number just a few dozen, other abuse is going on, “under-reported and misunderstood”. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-19248144

Survivorship Webinar Transcript “From Fragmentation to Integration” Dr. Cathy Kezelman Saturday, June 16 3 pm Pacific Time – This webinar will depict my personal psychotherapeutic journey to explore the process of recovery from an extreme dissociative state, which was characterised by a complete amnesia for 10 years of my childhood and fragmentation of my self onto integration and recovery. Despite my therapist providing a safe reliable and contained space it took me a long time to trust her or appreciate that she could keep me in mind. She was empathic, compassionate and skilled and the relationship we developed was core to my survival and my recovery. Over years she bore witness to the dissociated fragments of trauma returning to my consciousness and the intense emotions which were overwhelming me. Through a committed analytical psychotherapeutic process she guided me from terror and confusion through chaos and onto acceptance and understanding.

Survivorship Webinar “From Fragmentation to Integration” Dr. Cathy Kezelman

Stop Child Abuse Now – Radio Show by Bill Murray Tue, Aug 7, 2012
Tonight’s special guest is Neil Brick, abuse survivor who has been working on the issues of ritual abuse and mind control for nearly 20 years. Mr Brick launched the SMART newsletter (Stop Mind Control and Ritual Abuse Today) in 1995 to help stop ritual abuse and to help those who have been ritually abused. The web site is at www.ritualabuse.us….They work toward this goal by disseminating information on the connections between secretive organizations, ritual abuse, and mind control, by encouraging healing from the damage done by ritual abuse and mind control, and by encouraging survivors to network. In 1988, they held the first Annual Ritual Abuse, Secretive Organizations and Mind Control Conference, which helps unite those who have suffered from and those working to stop ritual abuse. The 15th Annual Conference (a three day event) is Aug 10 to 12, in Windsor Locks, Connecticut. http://www.blogtalkradio.com/bill-murray/2012/08/08/stop-child-abuse-now-scan

Anneli Auer sentenced to 7 years for sex crimes 29.6.2012 – Auer is to serve seven years while her former boyfriend will spend ten years behind bars for sexual and other violent crimes. Auer became a household name after being convicted of murdering her husband in 2006, though she was later acquitted on appeal.
The Southwest Finland District Court handed down a sealed ruling on Friday afternoon. The court found the duo guilty on 11 counts of assault that took place between 2007 and 2009. Charges included aggravated rape, aiding and abetting aggravated rape and aggravated sexual abuse. A statement issued by the court said the defendants were not convicted of crimes related to satanic worship, as suggested by earlier investigations. An appeal is expected in the case. http://yle.fi/uutiset/anneli_auer_sentenced_to_7_years_for_sex_crimes/6200361

pictures may be triggering
Outo piirros “vuohen päästä” Tällainen on yksi poliisin uusista todisteista
http://www.iltalehti.fi/uutiset/2012050815548470_uu.shtml
google translate version:
A strange cartoon “goat to get” Such is one of the police on the new evidence Tuesday 05.08.2012
Jukka S. Lahti killed further investigation of the accumulated material is also incorporated herein by Anneli Auer letter written from prison to their children. Another letter, from cartoons patterns is a police expert, a symbol that describes the goat’s head. The letter was also drawn in barbed wire-like image. Another letter, from cartoons patterns is a police expert, a symbol that describes the goat’s head. The letter was also drawn in barbed wire-like image.
The letter Auer jokes to their children for some reason its intention to acquire a tattoo, which he has drawn a picture of the letter also. Auer says the letter, that is inspired by browsing the images in prison tattoo magazines.
The police have been killed as part of Ulvila further investigation are interested in the letter from cartoons of charts, and pictures of the letter has been accessed devil worshiping skill in the art, an expert in the investigation of the person interviewed.
The prosecutor estimates that Jukka S. Gulf of killing a further investigation found more evidence of devil worshiping. Anneli Auer has vigorously challenged the prosecutor’s arguments.
Another Anneli Auer for their children to write a letter piirrettu pattern is a police interview with an expert of the goat’s head symbol of a significant, and the second one resembles the barbed wire. He arrived at the letter style depicted refer to both of Gothicism. The reasons as to why the letter and it contains images are accompanied by a police investigation, a court heard in more detail, if the Supreme Court agrees to the prosecutor’s petition to take the case may be referred….

“Rituaaleja verellä ja tuhkalla” Syyttäjien rajut väitteet: Auer sekaantunut saatananpalvontaan
http://www.iltalehti.fi/uutiset/2012050815544597_uu.shtml
Google translate version: “Rituals with the blood and ashes’ Prosecutors violent arguments: Auer involved in devil worshiping Tuesday 05.08.2012
Anneli Auer, where according to prosecutors, Jukka S. Gulf of murder is evidence of devil worshiping. Prosecutors theme is a certificate that is implicated in Anneli devil Auer, and it is possible that the case has been henkirikoksessa forces.
Vaasa Court of Appeal freed Auer murder charges last July, but prosecutors have applied the Supreme Court for leave to appeal. Prosecutors, the Supreme Court provided additional material on the public decision has now been completed. Additional material is more than 2000 pages. According to prosecutors, devil worshiping refer to, inter alia, Auer slain wife, Jukka S. Gulf of the upper arm near the puncture wounds formed up under the cross patterns. The cross upside-down is commonly used by the Satanist character.
The Gulf of blood and ashes have been treated according to prosecutors by referring to devil worshiping rituals. The investigation is the prosecutor’s view, was raised in the other devil worshiping suggestive of things, such as incising, animal sacrifices and other rituals.
Further investigation is Prosecutor’s Office, received concrete evidence that the Gulf of Auer and had quarreled often, and that Auer had taken against his or her family violence. This makes the prosecution of the Auer reports and credibility should give henkirikokselle motive. Additional investigation is still pending, and a defense lawyer, Juha Auer mainland yet issued its final opinion. Prosecutor’s Office, the investigation is substantially delayed the disclosed Auer and his former friend, a man of sexual and violent criminal suspicion.

Puolustus: Anneli Auer ei tunne saatananpalvontaa http://www.iltalehti.fi/uutiset/2012050815546280_uu.shtml
Google translate version:
Defense: Anneli Auer does not know satanism Tuesday 05.08.2012
Anneli Auer defense denies the allegations of devil worshiping.
Anneli Auer lawyer in the audience would like to know what the arguments are from the devil. (JOHN Palme)
The defense of Anneli Auer does not know Satan worship, even as a concept or phenomenon.
Ulvila murder case prosecutors, according to the story further investigation has revealed evidence of devil worshiping. They argue that Auer’s henkirikoksessa can be no question of devil worshiping. Auer has denied guilt in death of her husband. He was released from the court of appeal, but prosecutors are trying to get the story to the Supreme Court. A woman lawyer Juha Manner that it would be good if the audience would know what the prosecutors based their findings on devil worshiping.

A Guantanamo Connection? Documents Show CIA Stockpiled Antimalaria Drugs as “Incapacitating Agents” 06 June 2012 By Jeffrey Kaye, Truthout
A Truthout analysis of historical records concerning government research and nonmedical use of antimalarial medications has revealed that such drugs were the objects of experimental research under the CIA’s MKULTRA program. Even more, one of these drugs, cinchonine, was illegally stockpiled by the CIA as an “incapacitating agent.”
Antimalarial drugs were studied as part of the CIA’s mind control program MKULTRA. Cinchonine, an antimalarial drug derived from chichona bark, was one of the drugs used by the operational components of MKULTRA, code-named MKNAOMI and MKDELTA. The CIA worked with researchers for the Army’s Special Operations Division, a secret component of the US Army Chemical Corps based at Fort Detrick, to develop delivery systems for the drugs.
Revelations concerning CIA interest in use of antimalarial drugs would be of historical interest, as it has never been written about before. But such interest gains contemporary significance in the light of actions taken by the Department of Defense (DoD) in the “war on terror,” and the fact that a key DoD expert on antimalarial drugs was a psychiatrist involved in training personnel for Guantanamo interrogations.
In January 2002, the DoD deliberately decided that all incoming detainees at Guantanamo would be given a full treatment dose of the controversial antimalarial drug mefloquine, also known as Lariam. The purpose was supposedly to control for a possible malaria outbreak, in deference to concerns from Cuban officials.
But specialists in malaria prevention have said they have never heard of such presumptive treatment for malaria by mefloquine in this type of situation. Furthermore, a summary of antimalarial measures at Guantanamo given to Army and Center for Disease Control (CDC) medical officials at a February 19, 2002, meeting of the Armed Forces Epidemiological Board failed to describe the mefloquine procedure approved a month earlier. Was mefloquine used at Guantanamo to help produce a state of “learned helplessness” in detainees? Were experiments conducted on adverse side effects of mefloquine on the prisoners held there? http://truth-out.org/news/item/9601-a-guantanamo-connection-documents-show-cia-stockpiled-antimalaria-drugs-as-incapacitating-agents

Journal articles and child abuse and trauma information

Prep-School Predators – The Horace Mann School’s Secret History of Sexual Abuse By AMOS KAMIL June 6, 2012 ….When the Penn State scandal came out last year, I kept getting tangled in the questions everyone else was getting tangled in: How does an institutional culture arise to condone, or at least ignore, something that, individually, every member knows is wrong? Andrew’s story came back to me in a rush. The questions of Penn State, I realized, are the questions of Horace Mann and perhaps every place that has been haunted by a similar history.
….I spoke with nearly 100 people for this article, including 60 former students and 15 former or current faculty members. Some of them implored me not to pursue the subject, insisting that no good could come of opening old wounds. Others said that Horace Mann today is a very different place than it was back then — eagerly responsive to the concerns of students and parents. Some said they were unaware of these rumors. Some said nothing had happened to them but that they had heard similar stories from classmates. Many said they were surprised it took this long for these stories to come out.
The former students who chose to share their stories with me are all men, but if their classmates are to be believed, the situation was far more complex. People who haven’t set foot in the school in 30 years still rattle off the names of male teachers who were said to be sleeping with their female students. A couple of female faculty members were said to be sleeping with male students. Once I started asking around, these stories continued to bubble up — from friends I thought I knew well and from other schools, public and private, each with their own elaborate histories of which teachers you ought to steer clear of, which students seemed too old for their years. In just the past couple of years, among just the tiny fraternity of elite New York City private schools, two allegations made the news. A male math teacher at Riverdale Country School pleaded not guilty to charges that he had oral sex with a 16-year-old female student. And Poly Prep was named as a defendant in a lawsuit in which 10 former students and two day-campers say the school covered up for a football coach who was molesting boys. In New York City public schools, during the first three months of 2012, reports of sexual misconduct involving school employees were up 35 percent compared with the same period last year.
I have several friends who confided in me, back in high school, about their own sexual encounters with teachers, but who are now unwilling to talk about it. I can’t say I blame them. Victims rarely speak out, said Paul Mones, a lawyer who represents people who have been sexually abused by authority figures. “The whole goal of the grooming process is to wrap the child close,” he told me. “The affection and trust is to make the kid complicit in the act. Make them feel like it was their fault, so it won’t even occur to them to talk.” Even if they do, New York State’s statute of limitations, which says people who were victimized as minors cannot take civil action against an abuser after they turn 23, makes it unlikely that they would find justice.
….Stories like theirs point to why sexual abuse by teachers — or religious leaders or relatives, for that matter — is so especially damaging. As Mones said: “It’s counterintuitive, but sexual abuse emotionally binds the child closer to the person who has harmed him, setting him up for a life plagued by suspicion and confusion, because he will never be sure who he can really trust. And in my experience, this is by far the worst consequence of sexual abuse.” That’s one reason, he said, why those few victims who ever speak out at all tend to do so only after the abuser is dead or dying: telling the truth while the other person is still strong enough to deny it, or to blame the accuser, is just too terrifying.
….I have similarly conflicted feelings about Horace Mann. It was in many ways an amazing place filled with inspiring teachers and smart, funny students, with a sense of enthusiasm and possibility. Despite all I’ve since learned about it, I still look back on my years there with affection and gratitude, as do so many former students, even some who shared their harrowing stories with me. But that gratitude is part of what makes these stories so painful. We were at such a vulnerable moment in our lives — just beginning to make the transition from childhood into early adulthood, struggling to come to terms with the responsibilities of sexuality and trying to decide what we were willing to stand up for. We needed strong and consistent role models. In many cases we got them. But in too many other cases, we got models of how to abuse authority, how to manipulate trust, how to keep silent, how to fix your eyes forward. Amos Kamil is a screenwriter, playwright and brand strategist. He graduated from Horace Mann in 1982. Http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/10/magazine/the-horace-mann-schools-secret-history-of-sexual-abuse.html

Prep-School Predators: Report Alleges Sex Abuse at Elite New York City School – A scathing exposé alleges that decades of sexual abuse by teachers at the elite Horace Mann school went unreported and unpunished. By Catherine Traywick June 9, 2012
The world of elite New York City private schools was rocked this week by allegations in a special New York Times Magazine report alleging decades of sexual abuse at one of the most well-respected institutions in the country. For decades, a handful of teachers at the Horace Mann school, an elite prep school in the Bronx, sexually abused both their male and female students with various levels of impunity, according to the exposé by screenwriter Amos Kamil. In the article, Kamil, a Horace Mann alumnus, recalls his friends and classmates privately confiding in him the abuse that they endured at the hands of their teachers….http://newsfeed.time.com/2012/06/09/prep-school-predators-report-alleges-sex-abuse-at-elite-new-york-city-school/

‘No Way Out But One’ Wednesday, June 6, 2012 California Judge Michael Nash this year ruled to open child welfare hearings in Los Angeles County unless there’s proof that doing so will harm the child. Advocates in favor of more transparency in family courts applauded the decision, because they believe the secrecy can lead to decisions that hurt children. Gail Helms was behind the push for more transparency in California. In 1995, her 2-year-old grandson was beaten to death by his father, who had been awarded custody despite a history of drug abuse. Around that same time, Holly Collins of Minnesota was on her way to the Netherlands with her children, 11-year-old Zachary and 9-year-old Jennifer. They had been placed in their father’s custody, and she says she fled to protect them from abuse and a court system that ignored her pleas for help. http://hereandnow.wbur.org/2012/06/06/domestic-violence-out

Op-Ed Contributor – A Troubled Silence By RICHARD B. GARTNER June 7, 2012 THE revelation this week of alleged widespread child abuse at the elite Horace Mann School in New York City, most of it occurring during the 1970s and ’80s, is only the most recent instance of men coming forward, many years after the fact, with horrific stories of sexual molesting from their childhood.
Most of those accused of the abuse in the Horace Mann case are dead, but under New York State law, if alive they would most likely be safe from justice. The state’s statute of limitations on child abuse is five years from the victim’s 18th birthday. After age 23, the victim has no recourse.
Yet young adults, particularly men, who suffer the aftereffects of abuse are rarely in an emotional state to bring charges. Given what we now know about why it takes victims so long to come forward, the law needs to be changed. Many people cast a skeptical eye on those who wait so long to reveal instances of child abuse, particularly when it happened to them as teenagers. They assume that accusers are making it up, blaming what were at most minor incidents for their troubles.
But in my decades of experience working with abuse victims, I have found that men spend years putting their emotions in a deep freeze or masking post-traumatic reactions with self-defeating behaviors like compulsive gambling and substance abuse. Eventually, they are forced by internal or external events to find treatment….
Finally, since boyhood abuse was not part of the public conversation until recently, many boys and men assumed their experiences were repulsive and aberrant. And a man who has not talked about it might feel it would be humiliating to first disclose it in middle age or later. Needless to say, the decades spent trying to bury the memories rarely work….
Things may be changing, thanks, in part, to the recent spate of abuse revelations. Many older victims have gained the courage to come forward. In my own practice, I received almost as many calls from sexually abused men in December and January, soon after allegations surfaced about abuse by the former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky, as I usually get in a year. With Mr. Sandusky’s trial set to begin next week, I expect to get even more calls.
But more needs to be done. Every year since 2005, Margaret M. Markey, a New York State assemblywoman, has introduced a bill to extend the statute of limitations for five more years, a modest increase; it would also create a one-year window for adults up to age 53 to bring charges against alleged abusers. The bill has passed the Assembly four times but has consistently been blocked from coming to the floor of the Senate, largely thanks to fierce lobbying by the Roman Catholic Church….
Richard B. Gartner is a psychologist and psychoanalyst and the author of “Beyond Betrayal: Taking Charge of Your Life After Boyhood Sexual Abuse.” http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/08/opinion/in-light-of-child-abuse.html

Scientists Are Beginning to Understand What Causes Multiple Personality Disorder –
Despite the fact that dissociative identity disorder has been listed in psychiatry bible Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (currently DSM-IV) for years, the origins of the condition are not well-understood. By Makini Brice July 02, 2012
Dissociative identity disorder (DID) – or multiple personality disorder, as it is commonly known – affects one percent of the population, roughly the same amount as schizophrenia. Often sufferers from the condition have been misdiagnosed with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder before receiving their DID diagnosis. DID is usually characterized as a person who has with two or more personalities with completely different viewpoints on their environments and themselves.
Some believe that those afflicted use DID as a means of coping with extreme trauma, while others think that those affected simply have overactive imaginations. Of those who believe in the overactive imagination theory, scientists do not believe that DID is a genuine mental disorder.
Researchers at King’s College London sought to find a clearer picture of the answer to that question. They studied 29 people, 11 had dissociative identity disorder, 10 were people who were highly prone to fantasy and 8 people were not very prone to fantasy, as a control. Of those without DID, they were made to simulate the symptoms of dissociative identity disorder. The researchers measured subjects’ brain activity, cardiovascular system, and their reactions.
They found that there were strong differences, both in regional blood flow and in reactions, between the DID sufferers and the control subjects. Researchers believe that indicates that DID sufferers do not merely have overactive imaginations, and that the origins of their ailment stem more likely from trauma….
http://www.medicaldaily.com/news/20120702/10574/dissociative-identity-disorder-multiple-personality-brain-mental-trauma.htm

Fact or Factitious? A Psychobiological Study of Authentic and Simulated Dissociative Identity States (2012) A. A. T. Simone Reinders, Antoon T. M. Willemsen, Herry P. J. Vos, Johan A. den Boer, Ellert R. S. Nijenhuis PLoS ONE 7(6): e39279. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0039279
Abstract
Background
Dissociative identity disorder (DID) is a disputed psychiatric disorder. Research findings and clinical observations suggest that DID involves an authentic mental disorder related to factors such as traumatization and disrupted attachment. A competing view indicates that DID is due to fantasy proneness, suggestibility, suggestion, and role-playing. Here we examine whether dissociative identity state-dependent psychobiological features in DID can be induced in high or low fantasy prone individuals by instructed and motivated role-playing, and suggestion.
Methodology/Principal Findings
DID patients, high fantasy prone and low fantasy prone controls were studied in two different types of identity states (neutral and trauma-related) in an autobiographical memory script-driven (neutral or trauma-related) imagery paradigm. The controls were instructed to enact the two DID identity states. Twenty-nine subjects participated in the study: 11 patients with DID, 10 high fantasy prone DID simulating controls, and 8 low fantasy prone DID simulating controls. Autonomic and subjective reactions were obtained. Differences in psychophysiological and neural activation patterns were found between the DID patients and both high and low fantasy prone controls. That is, the identity states in DID were not convincingly enacted by DID simulating controls. Thus, important differences regarding regional cerebral bloodflow and psychophysiological responses for different types of identity states in patients with DID were upheld after controlling for DID simulation.
Conclusions/Significance
The findings are at odds with the idea that differences among different types of dissociative identity states in DID can be explained by high fantasy proneness, motivated role-enactment, and suggestion. They indicate that DID does not have a sociocultural (e.g., iatrogenic) origin….
“For the first time, it is shown using brain imaging that neither high nor low fantasy prone healthy women, who enacted two different types of dissociative identity states, were able to substantially simulate these identity states in psychobiological terms. These results do not support the idea of a sociogenic origin for DID.”
http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0039279

Soap opera comparison in Sandusky trial adds insult to tragedy – Alleged abuse victims weren’t characters on daytime drama — and coaches showering with kids just isn’t normal John Kass June 20, 2012
….If you don’t think something’s wrong with an adult naked in a shower with kids, then you’re not a parent. But this week, Amendola put witnesses on the stand to say that it’s not unusual for grown men to take showers with children at Penn State. The witnesses said it was normal.
So we asked some experienced coaches if it was normal here, in Illinois.
“That type of thing is not part of any culture or system I’ve been in in high school or college or as a coach,” said Brett Detering, 1st vice president of the Illinois High School Football Coaches Association. “There are separate facilities for coaches and students.”
Detering is the head coach at Anna-Jonesboro High School in southern Illinois. He played football in high school and in college, and he’s been coaching for 17 years. And he doesn’t take showers with his players. He’s never taken showers with his players.

Detering said of not showering with his players. “How anyone could be confused about that is beyond me.”
John Elder, executive director of the Illinois Coaches Association, spent 40 years as a football coach at Alexis High School in western Illinois, and retired from coaching eight years ago. He played at Alexis as a boy.
“But it was not normal, even then, for coaches to shower with the team,” Elder said. “It wouldn’t have been done back in the day, and it definitely wouldn’t be done today.”
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/columnists/ct-met-kass-0620-20120620,0,4414967.column

Protecting Children From Sexual Abuse And Helping Victims Recover Wednesday, June 13, 2012
Today is day three in the trial of former Penn State football coach Jerry Sandusky. He’s accused of sexually abusing 10 boys over a 15 year period starting in 1994. When the charges were first made public at the end of last year, a graduate of a prestigious New York city private school decided to revisit decades old alleged abuse incidents at his school. Last Sunday the New York Times published his piece. The number of responses to the article suggests that child sex abuse is much bigger problem than most acknowledge: Join us to discuss how to protecting children and teenagers from sexual abuse and how to help victims recover.
Guests
Frank Cervone – executive director, Support Center for Child Advocates.
Dr. Liza Gold – clinical professor of psychiatry, Georgetown University Medical Center
vice president, American Academy of Psychiatry & The Law
Amos Kamil – screenwriter, playwright, and brand strategist 1982 graduate, Horace Mann School
Dr Richard Gartner – a psychologist and psychoanalyst practicing in New York City,
author of ” Beyond Betrayal: Taking Charge of Your Life After Boyhood Sexual Abuse”
http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2012-06-13/protecting-children-sexual-abuse-and-helping-victims-recover

2012-06-19 The Electronic Frontier Foundation is representing the Internet Archive in a fight against a Washington state law designed to prevent the sex trafficking of minors. EFF, which bills itself as “Defending Your Rights in the Digital World, is a Washington, DC special interest group and long-time supporter of near absolute Internet “freedom.”
This article in the August National Law Journal provides a good overview of the case. What the article doesn’t tell you is that the new plaintiff in the Washington litigation (which was brought by …Backpage.com and Village Voice Media Holdings), the Internet Archive, shares a board member with EFF, Brewster Kahle….
It’s also curious that the newly minted plaintiff, Internet Archive, is funded by the American people through “institutional support” from the National Science Foundation and the Library of Congress….
http://www.childlaw.us/2012/06/eff-joins-the-child-exploitati.html

Backpage.com Sues Washington AG Over Child Prostitution Law By Sue Reisinger Corporate Counsel June 6, 2012 Update: U.S. District Judge Ricardo Martinez in Seattle on Tuesday issued a temporary restraining order against enforcement of a new Washington State law targeting child prostitution.
Martinez said Backpage.com “has shown a likelihood of success on the merits of its claim . . . as well irreparable harm, the balance of equities tipping strongly in its favor, and injury to the public interest, justifying injunctive relief.”
The restraining order takes effect immediately and continues for at least 14 days. The court set Backpage’s motion for a preliminary injunction for a hearing on June 15.
—–
The rights of children have collided head-on with the First Amendment rights of others in a suit filed by Backpage.com over a landmark law in Washington State. The online classified-ads site filed a complaint [PDF] against Washington State attorney general Rob McKenna and the state’s county prosecutors on Monday to try and stop them from enforcing a new law that would require providers like Backpage to verify the ages of people in ads offering “adult services,” which can include prostitution.
When the bipartisan bill passed the legislature in February, child protection advocates hailed it as the first of its kind in the nation. It is to take effect on Thursday, unless the U.S. District Court in Seattle grants Backpage’s motion for a temporary restraining order while the suit is heard….
http://www.law.com/jsp/cc/PubArticleCC.jsp?id=1202557433632

EFF challenges as overbroad Washington state law targeting child trafficking ads By Sheri Qualters The National Law Journal June 18, 2012 The Electronic Frontier Foundation is helping an online library fight a Washington state law that could expose third parties to criminal charges for content related to sex trafficking of minors. EFF’s intervention comes on the heels of similar measures introduced in New York and New Jersey and poised to take effect in Tennessee.
http://www.law.com/jsp/nlj/PubArticleNLJ.jsp?id=1202559922324&sl

UK: 2 Arrested After Twitter Child Abuse Probe LONDON August 12, 2012 (AP)
British police say they have arrested a man and a woman in relation to a probe into child abuse on Twitter. Metropolitan Police say the pair, both in their 40s, have been released to return in November pending further questioning. They were arrested at a London apartment Friday. Police took action after receiving information from the Sunday Mirror newspaper, which carried out a probe into sex offenders operating on the social media network. The tabloid reported that it found 200 Twitter users who openly expressed interest in sexual images of children, and that it passed on its findings to the Metropolitan Police’s unit tackling pedophiles. http://www.omaha.com/article/20120812/AP15/308129997/thehall.omaha.com

‘James X’, blazing indictment of child abuse By Jennifer Farrar Associated Press December 12, 2011 NEW YORK—Gerard Mannix Flynn’s blazing indictment of the nationwide, decades-long abuse of institutionalized schoolchildren in Ireland, titled “James X,” is remarkable and should not be missed.
Flynn’s masterful performance of his work is being presented at 45 Bleecker Street in a very limited run. In it, he lays bare the soul of a middle-aged adult, James O’Neill, who spent the bulk of his childhood being abused by every state-sponsored, often Roman Catholic-run institution to which he was sent, initially at age 6 for not attending school. From there, uncaring judges repeatedly sent him to increasingly harsh, punitive institutions without caring what happened to him.
The shocking true story, dramatized by Flynn, is produced by Gabriel Byrne (who also directed), Liam Neeson and Culture Project. It has the tragically familiar ring of current U.S. headlines about trusted school authorities charged with sexually abusing boys in their care for decades. The willful blindness of Irish officials and society at large, unwilling to confront the church that rules their lives, is even more appalling…..
As James’ life of “crime” unspools, it emerges that many of the nuns, Christian brothers and priests, psychiatrists and jailers who dealt with him over the years either neglected or abused him harshly, as they did with the other children. He was tortured physically, sexually and emotionally, even deemed “criminally insane” at one point, and beaten so badly by one Christian brother that he required surgery….
http://www.boston.com/ae/theater_arts/articles/2011/12/12/james_x_blazing_indictment_of_child_abuse/
Physical Punishment and Mental Disorders: Results From a Nationally Representative US Sample
Tracie O. Afifi, PhD, Natalie P. Mota, MA, Patricia Dasiewicz, MS, Harriet L. MacMillan, MD, FRCPC, and Jitender Sareen, MD, FRCPC…. PEDIATRICS Volume 130, Number 2, August 2012 (doi: 10.1542/peds.2011-2947)
METHODS: Data were from the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions collected between 2004 and 2005 (N = 34653)….
RESULTS: Harsh physical punishment was associated with increased odds of mood disorders, anxiety disorders, alcohol and drug abuse/dependence, and several personality disorders after adjusting for sociodemographic variables and family history of dysfunction (adjusted odds ratio: 1.36–2.46). Approximately 2% to 5% of Axis I disorders and 4% to 7% of Axis II disorders were attributable to harsh physical punishment.
CONCLUSIONS: Harsh physical punishment in the absence of child maltreatment is associated with mood disorders, anxiety disorders, substance abuse/dependence, and personality disorders in a general population sample. These findings inform the ongoing debate around the use of physical punishment and provide evidence that harsh physical punishment independent of child maltreatment is related to mental disorders. http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/early/2012/06/27/peds.2011-2947
full article
http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/early/2012/06/27/peds.2011-2947.full.pdf

Childhood Adversity Increases Risk for Depression and Chronic Inflammation
ScienceDaily (July 3, 2012) ….there is growing evidence that a similar process happens when a person experiences psychological trauma. Unfortunately, this type of inflammation can be destructive.
Previous studies have linked depression and inflammation, particularly in individuals who have experienced early childhood adversity, but overall, findings have been inconsistent. Researchers Gregory Miller and Steve Cole designed a longitudinal study in an effort to resolve these discrepancies, and their findings are now published in a study in Biological Psychiatry….
The researchers found that when individuals who suffered from early childhood adversity became depressed, their depression was accompanied by an inflammatory response. In addition, among subjects with previous adversity, high levels of interleukin-6 forecasted risk of depression six months later. In subjects without childhood adversity, there was no such coupling of depression and inflammation.
Dr. Miller commented on their findings: “What’s important about this study is that it identifies a group of people who are prone to have depression and inflammation at the same time. That group of people experienced major stress in childhood, often related to poverty, having a parent with a severe illness, or lasting separation from family. As a result, these individuals may experience depressions that are especially difficult to treat.”
Another important aspect to their findings is that the inflammatory response among the high-adversity individuals was still detectable six months later, even if their depression had abated, meaning that the inflammation is chronic rather than acute. “Because chronic inflammation is involved in other health problems, like diabetes and heart disease, it also means they have greater-than-average risk for these problems. They, along with their doctors, should keep an eye out for those problems,” added Dr. Miller.
“This study provides important additional support for the notion that inflammation is an important and often under-appreciated factor that compromises resilience after major life stresses. It provides evidence that these inflammatory states persist for long periods of time and have important functional correlates,” said Dr. John Krystal, Editor of Biological Psychiatry….
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/07/120703133721.htm

Gregory E. Miller, Steve W. Cole. Clustering of Depression and Inflammation in Adolescents Previously Exposed to Childhood Adversity. Biological Psychiatry, 2012; 72 (1): 34 DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2012.02.034….
Results
Multilevel models indicated that childhood adversity promotes clustering of depression and inflammation. Among subjects exposed to high childhood adversity, the transition to depression was accompanied by increases in both CRP and IL-6. Higher CRP remained evident 6 months later, even after depressive symptoms had abated. These lingering effects were bidirectional, such that among subjects with childhood adversity, high IL-6 forecasted depression 6 months later, even after concurrent inflammation was considered. This coupling of depression and inflammation was not apparent in subjects without childhood adversity.
Conclusions
These findings suggest that childhood adversity promotes the formation of a neuroimmune pipeline in which inflammatory signaling between the brain and periphery is amplified. Once established, this pipeline leads to a coupling of depression and inflammation, which may contribute to later affective difficulties and biomedical complications.
http://www.biologicalpsychiatryjournal.com/article/S0006-3223%2812%2900213-2/abstract

Jerry Sandusky, Msrg. William Lynn and the Horace Mann School July 7th, 2012
Child sexual abuse has recently been the focus of three high-profile stories. Most prominently, former Penn State football coach Jerry Sandusky was convicted of 45 counts of sexually assaulting 10 different boys since 1998. Most dramatically, Msrg. William Lynn became the highest ranking official in the Catholic Church to be convicted of a crime connected to covering-up the sexual abuse of children by priests. Most controversially, the New York Times published a long story about sexual abuse by teachers, none of whom had been charged in court, at the Horace Mann School….
The New York legislature needs to do what the Pennsylvania legislature did years ago: extend the statute of limitations well into adulthood. Had that not occurred in Pennsylvania, the Sandusky case would not have gone forward. Neither would the case against Mrsg. Lynn. The state would have been as powerless to act as prosecutors in New York are now that a former Horace Mann teacher has admitted to sexually abusing students, adding weight to a story that some criticized for focusing only on teachers who are deceased.
We would all do well to remember who lobbied against extending the statute of limitations in Pennsylvania. When the Senate Judiciary Committee heard testimony from victims of sexual abuse in 1994, there was one witness who testified in opposition: Pamela Freyd, Executive Director of the False Memory Syndrome Foundation. Mrs. Freyd expressed the concern that extending the statute of limitations “may create more tarnished reputations” (Testimony of Pamela Freyd, Senate Judiciary Committee, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania; May 24, 1994, p. 5). She urged the committee to amend the bill to “encourage and emphasize alternative means of resolving these matters other than courts” (Id., p. 7)….
http://blogs.brown.edu/recoveredmemory/2012/07/07/sandusky-horace-mann-and-msrg-william-lynn/

Jury affirms recovered memory, rejects FMS defense April 19th, 2012
A jury in Stockton, California unanimously found that Rev. Michael Kelly should be held liable for damages related to three counts of child molestation. The plaintiff, a former U.S. Air force major currently on medical leave from his job as a commercial pilot, testified that he was molested by Rev. Kelly in the 1980s and only recently recalled the abuse. The abuse was apparently corroborated by a second victim whose testimony was kept from the jury. The defense relied on Dr. J. Alexander Bodkin, an associate professor of psychology at Harvard, who argued, in a rather circular fashion, that the plaintiff’s recollections must be false because the recovered memory has not been broadly accepted in the field. The jury rejected this defense and the church, which defended Kelly, has since allowed that there were no grounds for appeal. The Church settled the case for $3.75 million. Kelly, as reported in the LA Times, fled the country, while the investigation of other claims is still pending. http://blogs.brown.edu/recoveredmemory/2012/04/19/jury-affirms-recovered-memory-rejects-fms-defense/

Pinching, purification and finding The Bridge to Total Freedom: Inside a very sinister induction at the Scientology HQ
Members are checked if they are ‘Clear’ – which costs £82,000 to achieve
Cameras and audio monitor Clearwater site to keep a check on followers
Newcomers must undergo ‘purification of toxins’ which involves sweating out in a sauna
By Kerry Hiatt 7 July 2012
I’d been pinched – hard – in some kind of strange lie-detector test and seen rooms where people went to be ‘purified’. I’d spent an hour subjected to a gruelling and invasive ‘personality’ test and revealed my deepest inner thoughts as if hypnotised. I’d also been invited to cross the Bridge To Total Freedom – but, in a panic, instead I found myself running away from Scientology as fast as I could – after just a day as a guest of the controversial religion.
I look back on my visit last week to Scientology’s Florida headquarters to celebrate July 4 as one of the most unsettling experiences of my life, and yet it all started so innocently…
The invitation from the Scientologists had suggested we celebrate Independence Day at ‘the Friendliest Place in the Whole World’. Why should I refuse? The event sounded fun. There would be a barbecue, pool games, live music, a petting zoo and fireworks – just like other celebrations across America.
However, there was a hint that this party would be different. The invitation also said: ‘Get briefed on Scientology’s exponential expansion across the globe, our penetrating 4th Dynamic Dissemination Campaigns and a full view to our future.’
It had been sent to a close relative of mine who had briefly worked for Scientology almost a decade ago, inviting him to the Florida town of Clearwater, Scientology’s spiritual headquarters – where Scientologists own more than 200 shops, restaurants, hotels, banks and small businesses….
Scientology symbols are everywhere in Clearwater; on plaques, in paving stones, and engraved into the architecture. Security cameras are on all Scientology properties and even hidden in the shrubbery. Every move and, no doubt conversation, can be monitored. It feels incredibly sinister.
The town is dominated by the Church’s £57 million Super Power Building which will, eventually, be a centre for learning. Construction paper covers doors and windows so I couldn’t see what was inside and no one could tell me when it would open.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2170232/Scientology-Pinching-purification-finding-The-Bridge-Total-Freedom-My-sinister-induction-Scientology-HQ–just-days-ago-July-4.html

Assault: Children With Disabilities Are More Likely to Be Victims of Violence, Analysis Shows By DONALD G. McNEIL Jr. July 16, 2012
Children with disabilities are almost four times more likely to be victims of violence than other children, according to a new report commissioned by the World Health Organization. The report, published in The Lancet on Thursday, found that disabled children were 3.6 times more likely to be physically assaulted and 2.9 times more likely to be sexually assaulted. The most common victims of sexual assault were those with mental illness or retardation, and institutionalized children were attacked more often than those living at home. Last week’s report was a meta-analysis of 17 other studies that collectively gathered evidence on 18,374 children, all of them living in wealthy countries, from the United States to Europe to Israel. About 3 percent of children in rich countries and up to 6 percent in poor ones have disabilities. “Physical violence” included threats and spanking that left marks on the skin. A study published about 10 years ago estimated that 53,000 children under age 18 are murdered each year. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/17/health/policy/children-with-disabilities-are-victimized-more-often.html

People with disabilities: the forgotten victims of violence Esme Fuller-Thomson, Sarah Brennenstuhl Three decades have passed since the UN declared 1981 as the International Year of Disabled Persons. The theme of the commemoration was “full participation and equality”. Progress towards this goal has been sadly deficient as evidence suggests that individuals with disabilities experience exceptionally high levels of violence.
http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736%2812%2960077-4/fulltext

Friday, July 13, 2012 Psychiatrist testifies on repressed memory in child molestation lawsuit By Lee Hammel TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF WORCESTER – A defense expert testified today in U.S. District Court that “there is no satisfactory scientific evidence that you could lock up a memory of a major traumatic event” and not remember it again. Harrison G. Pope, a clinical psychiatrist and professor at Harvard Medical School, testified for Richard B. Edison, a plastic surgeon who is being sued by Timothy Clark. The Charlton resident alleges that the doctor sexually abused him for several years, beginning in 1974, when the doctor was a student at University of Massachusetts Medical School, and Mr. Clark was a 10 year old in Shrewsbury.
Mr. Clark returned to the witness stand today to say that he had no memory of his sexual abuse in the 70s until he visited his mother’s grave in 2008. If so, that would reset the 3-year statute of limitations, allowing him to pursue the allegations against the doctor.
Stephen J. Gordon, Mr. Clark’s lawyer, got Dr. Pope to acknowledge that he made “possibly more than $100,000” by testifying or consulting on repressed memory cases last year, more than he got for working half-time at Harvard. Dr. Pope said he testified or consulted for the Roman Catholic Diocese in Indiana on about 10 cases and two other cases for the Diocese in Minnesota.
James Hopper, an expert for the plaintiff, gave more subtle testimony. The Harvard Medical School psychologist testified that an abuse victim can forget a traumatic event, deliberately or otherwise, and then be unable to recover it until there is a “password” such as a similar event or someone questioning the victim about the event. Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV said that after additional testimony, he expects the case to be given to the jury of 5 women and 3 men on Monday.
http://www.telegram.com/article/20120713/NEWS/120719752/1116/

Deal ends trial of surgeon By Lee Hammel TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF Tuesday, July 17, 2012
WORCESTER — The civil trial in which a doctor was accused of molesting a 10-year-old boy in Shrewsbury when he was a medical student 38 years ago ended abruptly in its sixth day yesterday when the two sides announced in U.S. District Court that they had reached a settlement.
Lawyers for Dr. Richard B. Edison, 59, of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and Timothy Clark, 48, of Charlton, said they reached an agreement Sunday night. They informed Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV as a hearing was scheduled to begin at 8 a.m. yesterday, the last scheduled day of testimony.
The settlement leaves unanswered how the jury would have voted on the allegations of years of sexual abuse, which were made by a man who said that he had repressed his memory of what happened to him over several years in the mid-1970s until he visited his mother’s grave the day before Mother’s Day in 2008. Details of the settlement were not disclosed because of a confidentiality clause.
One of the eight jurors said he was more impressed with Mr. Clark’s allegations than with Dr. Edison’s defense. The juror, Pei Liang Zhang, said, “Personally, I believe that the defendant must realize he did something to the poor” plaintiff.
Mr. Zhang, an engineer living in Shrewsbury, said he found it “pretty obvious” why the plaintiff’s mother went court to get an order for Mr. Edison to stay away from her children. There was evidence that Mr. Edison was charged in 1977 with disturbing the peace in a complaint by Diane Clark, mother of Timothy Clark, in the state’s Central District Court….
The district attorney’s office is not looking into the allegations raised in the trial, according to spokesman Paul Jarvey. The office looked into those allegations around 2008, he said, and found insufficient information to proceed.
http://www.telegram.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20120717/NEWS/107179925/

One in six sex offenders lives undetected digital double life, study finds By Bob Sullivan 7/25/12 Nearly one in six convicted sex offenders is using sophisticated techniques invented by identity thieves to avoid their legally mandated registration requirements, a new study has found. These digital absconders might be able to avoid post-incarceration restrictions by living near schools and playgrounds, and could possibly gain employment working with children.
The study, conducted by Utica College and funded by the U.S. Justice Department, estimates that roughly 92,000 of the 570,000 registered sex offenders across the country are systematically manipulating their names, birthdays, Social Security numbers and other personal identifiers so they can live as they want while appearing to satisfy court-imposed or statutory restrictions.
http://redtape.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/07/25/12935445-one-in-six-sex-offenders-lives-undetected-digital-double-life-study-finds

Researchers Find Link Between Childhood Abuse and Age at Menarche – ScienceDaily (July 27, 2012) – Researchers from Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) have found an association between childhood physical and sexual abuse and age at menarche. The findings are published online in the Journal of Adolescent Health.
Researchers led by corresponding author, Renée Boynton-Jarrett, MD, assistant professor of pediatrics at BUSM, found a 49 percent increase in risk for early onset menarche (menstrual periods prior to age 11 years) among women who reported childhood sexual abuse compared to those who were not abused. In addition, there was a 50 percent increase in risk for late onset menarche (menstrual periods after age 15 years) among women who reported severe physical abuse in childhood. The participants in the study included 68,505 women enrolled in the Nurses’ Health Study II, a prospective cohort study.
“In our study child abuse was associated with both accelerated and delayed age at menarche and importantly, these associations vary by type of abuse, which suggest that child abuse does not have a homogenous effect on health outcomes,” said Boynton-Jarrett.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/07/120727121413.htm

Renée Boynton-Jarrett, Rosalind J. Wright, Frank W. Putnam, Eileen Lividoti Hibert, Karin B. Michels, Michele R. Forman, Janet Rich-Edwards. Childhood Abuse and Age at Menarche. Journal of Adolescent Health, 2012; DOI: 10.1016/j.jadohealth.2012.06.006
….Results
Fifty-seven percent of respondents reported some form of physical or sexual abuse in childhood. We found a positive dose-response association between severity of sexual abuse in childhood and risk for early menarche. Compared with women who reported no childhood sexual abuse, the adjusted odds ratio (AOR) for early menarche in women who reported childhood sexual abuse was 1.20 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.10, 1.37) for sexual touching and 1.49 (95% CI: 1.34, 1.66) for forced sexual activity. Severe physical abuse predicted early menarche (AOR = 1.22, 95% CI: 1.10, 1.37). Childhood physical abuse had a dose-response association with late age at menarche: AOR 1.17 (95% CI: 1.04, 1.32) for mild, 1.20 (95% CI: 1.08, 1.33) for moderate, and 1.50 (95% CI: 1.27, 1.77) for severe physical abuse. Sexual abuse was not associated with late menarche.
Conclusions
Childhood abuse was prevalent in this large cohort of U.S. women. Severity of childhood sexual abuse was associated with risk for early onset of menarche, and physical abuse was associated with both early and late onset of menarche. http://www.jahonline.org/article/S1054-139X%2812%2900227-3/abstract

Harrison grabs first U.S. Olympic judo gold August 2nd, 2012
Kayla Harrison says she almost quit judo because of sexual abuse by a coach. Instead, she’s now the first American to win Olympic gold in the sport….
She started judo at roughly age 7. But to get to this point, she has said, she needed to overcome sexual abuse – starting at age 13 – by the person who was then coaching her. “When I was 16, I told a close friend of mine, who immediately told my mother, and she immediately went to the police and pressed charges. The FBI got involved, and he’s actually serving 10 years … in prison,” Harrison told CNN’s Ashleigh Banfield on July 9, weeks before the Olympics began. “Every day was a lie. Inside, I was in constant turmoil, but on the outside I was supposed to be this golden girl and so happy,” Harrison said. Harrison said she almost dropped judo because of the abuse. She said that it was not only “hard to deal with to be normal, but also to compete in the sport.” But she decided to stick with judo, going on to win gold at the 2008 Junior World Championships and the 2010 World Championships. “You get to the point where you decide that you don’t want to be a victim anymore and that you’re not going to live your life like that,” she said. http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2012/08/02/harrison-grabs-first-u-s-olympic-judo-gold/

Lawyer doesn’t remember stealing paintings Thu Aug 16, 2012
Michael Gerard Sullivan, 54, has pleaded guilty to stealing two paintings from the Katoomba Fine Art Gallery in December 2008….CCTV vision clearly shows Mr Sullivan stealing two James Willebrant paintings between courses. During his court case Mr Sullivan’s lawyers tendered two psychiatric reports which concluded he had dissociative amnesia and his actions were totally out of character. The court heard the disorder caused him to take on the identity of an art thief and not remember his actions
Judge Jennifer English accepted the diagnosis, saying Mr Sullivan had previously lived an exemplary life. She did not record a conviction.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-08-16/lawyer-does-not-remember-stealing-paintings/4202708

The Lawyer Who Forgot He Was a Thief August 16, 2012 By Joe Palazzolo Michael Gerard Sullivan, a lawyer in Sydney, Australia, was dining one night in 2008 at an art gallery restaurant when, according to the security cameras that recorded him, he excused himself between courses and stole two paintings worth $14,500.
Mr. Sullivan, who previously worked at some of the country’s top firms – including Freehills, Gadens and Mallesons (now King & Wood Mallesons after a big merger earlier this year) – pleaded guilty, with one caveat: He said he didn’t remember committing the crime….
The psychiatrists said Mr. Sullivan, who faced up to seven years in jail, was playing the character of an art thief. Australia’s ABC News reported Thursday that Judge English accepted Mr. Sullivan’s defense. Judge English dismissed the charges but placed Mr. Sullivan on a two-year good behavior bond, saying he had lived an otherwise exemplary life, according to the ABC report. The Cleveland Clinic, by the way, describes dissociative amnesia thus:
Dissociative amnesia occurs when a person blocks out certain information, usually associated with a stressful or traumatic event, leaving him or her unable to remember important personal information. With this disorder, the degree of memory loss goes beyond normal forgetfulness and includes gaps in memory for long periods of time or of memories involving the traumatic event.
http://blogs.wsj.com/law/2012/08/16/the-lawyer-who-forgot-he-was-a-thief/

Dissociative Amnesia http://my.clevelandclinic.org/disorders/dissociative_disorders/hic_dissociative_amnesia.aspx

Rep. Todd Akin: The Statement and the Reaction By LORI MOORE August 20, 2012
The sequence of events after Representative Todd Akin, Republican of Missouri, commented to a St. Louis television station on pregnancy as a result of rape.
Sunday
11:24 A.M. KTVI-TV posts to its Web site an interview with Mr. Akin in which he is asked whether he believes abortion is justified in cases of rape and replies that rape does not result in pregnancy. Twitter soon erupts with outrage and links to the interview.
“It seems to be, first of all, from what I understand from doctors, it’s really rare. If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut the whole thing down.”
4:28 P.M. Senator Claire McCaskill, the Democrat whose Senate seat Mr. Akin is seeking, releases a statement denouncing his comments.
“As a former prosecutor, Claire McCaskill has worked closely with hundreds of rape victims and intimately understands their trauma and pain. It is that experience that makes Akin’s statements so outrageous.”
4:59 P.M. Mr. Akin releases a statement saying that he misspoke in the interview.
“I believe deeply in the protection of all life, and I do not believe that harming another innocent victim is the right course of action. I also recognize that there are those who, like my opponent, support abortion, and I understand I may not have their support in this election.”

AUGUST 19, 2012 Akin Statement on “Jaco Report” Interview….”In reviewing my off-the-cuff remarks, it’s clear that I misspoke in this interview and it does not reflect the deep empathy I hold for the thousands of women who are raped and abused every year. Those who perpetrate these crimes are the lowest of the low in our society and their victims will have no stronger advocate in the Senate to help ensure they have the justice they deserve.” http://www.akin.org/updates/akin-statement-jaco-report-interview

`Legitimate rape’ comment was not a misstatement. It’s a worldview By LAURA HELMUTH Monday, 08.20.12 Rep. Todd Akin of Missouri, the Republican candidate for the Missouri Senate race, told a St. Louis news station on Sunday that “legitimate rape” rarely causes pregnancy: “If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down.”
He later took it back….In case anybody missed this dig at the “no means no” crowd, “legitimate rape” is a coded phrase meant to distinguish between a stranger attacking you in a parking garage, or, say, your date or your youth pastor doing the same. If you’re tipsy or wearing a short skirt, it’s not rape-rape, etc.
The statement was actually intended to soften Akin’s absolute opposition to abortion, even in the case of rape or incest. Why bother to have loopholes for such conditions when they’re going to be so rare, goes his thinking? As Talking Points Memo notes, the congressman has long suspected that rape and abortion laws are less likely to protect women from abuse than to allow them to be abusive:
Akin’s past includes praising a militia group linked to anti-abortion extremism in the 1990s and voting against creating a sex-offender registry in 2005. Back in 1991, as a state legislator, Akin voted for an anti-marital-rape law, but only after questioning whether it might be misused “in a real messy divorce as a tool and a legal weapon to beat up on the husband,” according to a May 1 article that year in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch….
http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/08/20/2960507/legitimate-rape-comment-was-not.html

Australia launches slavery inquiry 20 August 2012 The United Nations estimates more than two and a half million people across the globe are victims of slavery Slavery might be an ancient practice, but it’s also one with some very modern dimensions, and according police it’s alive and well in Australia. http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/international/radio/onairhighlights/australia-launches-slavery-inquiry/1001492

September 9, 2012 · Filed Under Newsletter 2012 - Issues 102 - 107

Issue 106 – September 2012

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