Issue 147 – July 2019

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: https://ritualabuse.us/

Issue 147 – July 2019

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 secretive organizations, but have triggers or be somewhat sympathetic to those organizations. Unless explicitly stated otherwise, the views expressed in this newsletter constitute expressions of opinion, and readers are cautioned to form their own opinions and draw their own conclusions by consulting a variety of sources, including this newsletter. Resources listed, quoted and individual articles, etc. and their writers do not necessarily support all or any of the views mentioned in this newsletter. Also, the views, facts and opinions mentioned in this newsletter are solely the opinions of the authors and are not necessarily the opinions of this newsletter or its editor.

Copyright 2019 – All rights reserved. No reproduction of any material without written permission from the editor and individual authors.

The East Coast conference organized by S.M.A.R.T. (Stop Mind Control and Ritual Abuse) The 2019 Annual Ritual Abuse, Secretive Organizations and Mind Control Conference is August 17 – 18, 2019 at the DoubleTree near Bradley International Airport in Windsor Locks, CT

Internet conference information: https://ritualabuse.us/smart-conference/
Speakers include Dr. Alison Miller, Neil Brick and the well known movie maker Daniel Roemer. SMART will have special conference prices until July 20th with prices as low as $50 and low income prices for those that need them.

Speaker List
These descriptions may be heavy for survivors.

Deception by Organized Abuser Groups: Helping Your Front People and Your Insiders Recognize the Lies and Tricks Which Keep You Enslaved by Alison Miller

If you are a survivor of abuse by a mind-controlling abuser group, you have parts who have been trained to obey abusers because they believe lies your abusers told you. The abusers deceived you in childhood, using drugs, acted-out scenarios, stage magic, stories and films to control your child parts and prevent you from speaking out about the abuse. Their power over you depends on your young parts believing the abusers’ lies. If you learn to recognize when your emotions and behavior are influenced by these deceptions, and to discover the ways in which you were deceived, you can increase your freedom from the abuser group. (Skype presention)

Alison Miller, Ph.D. is a retired clinical psychologist who practised in Victoria, B.C., Canada and worked with survivors of organized abuse, including ritual abuse and mind control from 1990 to 2017. She has twice chaired the RAMCOA (ritual abuse/mind control/organized abuse) special interest group of the International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation. She is the author of Healing the Unimaginable: Treating Ritual Abuse and Mind Control (for therapists), Becoming Yourself: Overcoming Mind Control and Ritual Abuse (for survivors), and co-author with survivor Wendy Hoffman of From the Trenches: A Victim and Therapist Talk about Mind Control and Ritual Abuse. She has published several other book chapters and articles, as well as being the originator of the LIFE Seminars parent education programs. https://ritualabuse.us/smart/alison-miller

A Survivor’s View of Recovery from Ritual Abuse by Neil Brick
Recovery from ritual abuse can take many years. Recovery may include working through memories, building functionality and developing more effective ways of interacting and integrating emotions. Every individual has different experiences that lead them through the recovery path. Neil Brick will discuss his long journey healing from severe abuse. This will include ways he has learned more about himself, ways he has learned to develop healthier interactions with others and ways he has helped others along the recovery path.

Neil Brick is a survivor of ritual abuse and mind control. His work continues to educate the public about child abuse, trauma and ritual abuse crimes. His child abuse and ritual abuse newsletter S.M.A.R.T. https://ritualabuse.us has been published for over 24 years. http://neilbrick.com

Daniel Roemer – Film Maker
Bio: Daniel Roemer’s unique and powerful style of directing has lead him to receive such attention as USA Film’s Top 10 Emerging Director’s list at the age of 20, two-time Project Greenlight Best Director Finalist (Ben Affleck/Matt Damon), and student Academy Award State finalist by age 22. He has been characterized as “a filmmaker with his finger on the pulse of the world’s youth,” as his short films have been distributed theatrically in over 75 countries. Partnering with Inspirational Films in Europe, colleges have packed out auditoriums with over three thousand students, as well as standing room only theaters in major European cities.

He’s screened in festivals including Sundance, AFI Fest, LA Shorts Fest, and a special senator screening in Washington DC (for selected congressmen). Daniel was also among the few who finalized for the LA Shorts Fest “DNA Award,” the festival’s top honor of a million dollar feature deal with Universal Pictures (500 contestants).

Recently Daniel was a top 50 Director Finalist (of 10,000 entrants) for Fox’s reality show “On the Lot”, produced by Steven Spielberg and Mark Burnett, showcasing filmmakers “bound for stardom”. His shooting and editing have aired on Good Morning America, Dr. Phil and Arsenio Hall’s TV series “The World’s Funniest Moments”. His behind the scenes work includes Sony Picture’s exclusive (I Love Your Work) starring Giovanni Ribisi, Jason Lee, Vince Vaughn, Christina Ricci and Elvis Costello.

His nonprofit work includes interviews and promos with John Travolta, Kelly Preston, Meryl Streep, Olivia Newton-John, John Ritter, Pierce Brosnan and Selma Blair, as well as an extensive interview with Ben Stiller for The Huckleberry Fund (nonprofit for Homeless Children). Editing credits include 15-week TV series “Beyond the Felt,” showcasing world’s top poker players, A&E reality TV show “Dumpster Diving,” feature-length documentary on Breast Cancer, starring Christina Applegate, Melissa Etheridge and Sheryl Crow (distrib. Lionsgate).

He’s filmed and edited for A&E E!, ET, Access Hollywood, TV News, and screened at national conventions for 20th Century Fox Producer, Ralph Winter (X-Men 1&2, X-Men: The Last Stand, Fantastic 4). Most recently Daniel directed a TV pilot for CW Network (Atlanta) and is in post production, as well as finishing his feature-length documentary “Red White and Blowhard” shot across the US 2012-2013. https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1281008/

Part One: Daniel Roemer will share his own story using PowerPoint, visuals and clips from his docudrama “Gray”, which digs deep into uncovering my abuse history, actual news articles from the time of the abuse, and includes interviews with prominent locals and family members, and his personal search for what went on.

Part Two: Daniel Roemer will conduct a film-making 101 class (designed for self-taping and interviewing others) – to share the story, both technical and directorial how-to’s. Clinicians would also benefit in having these skills to share their methods of work.

Everyone has a unique story, whether you are a clinician, a survivor or both. Stories, since the beginning of time, united tribes and cultures and passed along their ideals by framing LIFE as a narrative. Stories helped the listener to feel less alone in the world, feel inspired, and helped them to become all the wiser on their own journey.

As survivors, our ‘through-lines’ can get messed up, become discombobulated; our brains try to put memories back together, our emotions can flood us— it is hard. TELLING OUR STORIES can not only help “put the beads back on the string,” but it can be incredibly cathartic for both the storyteller and (if interviewing a source) the interviewee. It can also educate viewers not aware of survivor struggles, empowering them with knowledge and heightening their sensitivities, along with raising awareness. Helping others can be the most healing elixir of all. It gives meaning to suffering. Through many forms of media, we now have the ability to share our stories in ways we never could before.

A survivor or clinician wielding FILMMAKING SKILLS has the ability to ignite a long-lasting, pervasive force of influence, exposing, and becoming a voice to be reckoned with in the survivor community; as we shall not be silenced. We are a YouTube generation, and there are specific ways to utilize simple tools to share stories even as novice media-makers.

Research and Informational Pages
Video Presentations from The Survivorship Ritual Abuse and Mind Control 2017 Conference https://survivorship.org/presentations-from-the-survivorship-ritual-abuse-and-mind-control-2017-conference
Ritual Abuse Evidence https://survivorship.org/ritual-abuse-evidence
Child Abuse Wiki – Ritual Abuse
http://childabusewiki.org/index.php?title=Ritual_Abuse
The Corsini Encyclopedia of Psychology and Behavioral Science – Sadistic Ritual Abuse http://books.google.com/books?id=JQMRmyOfpJ8C&pg=PA1436&lpg=PA1436#v=onepage&
Proof That Ritual Abuse Exists https://ritualabuse.us/ritualabuse/
Large List of Ritual Abuse and Child Abuse References https://ritualabuse.us/ritualabuse/studies/satanic-ritual-abuse-evidence-with-information-on-the-mcmartin-preschool-case/
Research and Information on Dissociative Identity Disorder (formerly called Multiple Personality Disorder) https://ritualabuse.us/research/did/

Information in this issues includes: Alison Miller, Neil Brick, Daniel Roemer, SMART, ritual abuse, mind control, organized abuse, Wendy Hoffman, Survivorship Ritual Abuse and Mind Control Conference, Lords of Chaos, devil worship, black metal bands, Venom, Satan, pedophile ring, Operation Blackwrist, Snapchat, NXIVM ‘Sex Slaves’, sex cult, Clare Bronfman, Keith Raniere, Allison Mack, Scientology, David Miscavage, child abuse, human trafficking, child sex ring, Naasón Joaquín García, La Luz Del Mundo, R. Kelly, different personalities, Jeni Haynes, multiple personalities, Dissociative Identity Disorder, Child Sex Predators, online child sex offenders, Broken Heart, Lost-in-the-mall, False memory False Memory Syndrome, FMS, Parental Alienation Syndrome, PAS, Elizabeth Loftus, Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry, ‘satanic parties’, raped by priests, St Ninian’s in Falkland, Christian Brothers, Nazareth House orphanages, serial sex offender, Jeffrey Epstein, Perversion of Justice, Alexander Acosta, Donald Trump, secretary of labor, Prince Andrew, Bill Clinton, Lolita Express, sex trafficking, Mar-a-Lago, Border Patrol Warehouse, psychological trauma

News Articles:

Lords of Chaos: The grisly film that has caused outrage
A new movie tells the appalling true story of Norway’s ‘black metal murders’. Nicholas Barber explores the dark tale behind the film.
By Nicholas Barber 18 February 2019

Jonas Åkerlund’s new film, Lords of Chaos, is a rock’n’roll biopic, with all the wigs and gigs that that implies. But it is also a grisly, stranger-than-fiction comedy drama about murder, suicide, self-harm, devil worship, and a spate of arson attacks that scandalised a nation. Chronicling the outrageous crimes committed by a few Norwegian black metal bands and their hangers-on in the early 1990s…
The story behind it begins not in Norway but in Newcastle-upon-Tyne in England, where a heavy-metal trio called Venom recorded its second album, Black Metal, in 1982….

“Satan appeared on the album covers and was namechecked in pretty much all the songs. This was blatant pledging allegiance to the dark lord. I remember looking at the burning crucifix in the gatefold sleeve of their 1984 album, At War With Satan, and wondering if this really was a step too far.”….
Venom aside, the bands that forged black metal were Scandinavian. From Sweden, there was Bathory, whose drummer happened to be Jonas Åkerlund, the director of Lords of Chaos. From Denmark, there was Mercyful Fate. And in Norway, a younger generation of metal enthusiasts was listening and learning….

If Aarseth’s gloomy guitar playing was the archetypal sound of Norwegian black metal, it was Ohlin who developed its own brand of showmanship. He wore black-and-white ‘corpse paint’ make-up so that his face resembled a skull, and at Mayhem’s concerts, he would self-harm. But his preoccupation with death wasn’t confined to morbid theatrics. In April 1991, Aarseth returned to their house to find that Ohlin had killed himself…..

set up his own record label, Deathlike Silence Productions, and opened a record shop in Oslo named Helvete (the Norwegian for ‘Hell’). His closest associates, he decreed, would be ‘the black circle’, and they alone would be allowed into black metal’s inner sanctum, ie a damp basement room beneath the shop. A key member of the black circle was Kristian ‘Varg’ Vikernes, a teenager from Bergen who preferred to be known as Count Grishnackh. He soon built a reputation for doing the things that Aarseth only talked about. While Aarseth was still struggling to finish Mayhem’s debut album, Vikernes recorded several solo albums under the Tolkienesque name of Burzum. And while Aarseth gave interviews about spreading hate and fear, Vikernes started setting fire to Norway’s historic wooden ‘stave churches’. On 6 June 1992, Fantoft Stave Church burnt down. Vikernes called his next EP Aske (Norwegian for ‘ashes’), and put a photograph of the church’s charred shell on the sleeve. Each copy came with a free cigarette lighter. Scandinavia’s black metal fans took the hint, and dozens of other churches went up in smoke. Some had inverted crucifixes and the number 666 spray-painted onto the ruins….

As for Vikernes, he claimed that the arson was a protest against religions from the Middle East that had replaced his forefathers’ pagan Norse gods. It seems his belief system was closer to fascism than Satanism. And he wasn’t alone. In Aaron Aites and Audrey Ewell’s documentary about Norwegian black metal, Until the Light Takes Us, it’s striking how often the interviewees resort to racist and homophobic rhetoric.
Nor was their homophobia confined to hate speech. In August 1992, another of Aarseth’s friends, Bård Eithun (or ‘Faust’), murdered Magne Andreassen, a gay man who approached him in a park in Lillehammer. Vikernes was so pleased that he boasted to journalists from the Bergens Tidende newspaper that he knew who was responsible for the arson attacks and the murder. A front-page article, We Lit The Fires, ran in January 1993…..

Britain’s leading heavy-rock magazine, Kerrang!….feature ensured that rock fans everywhere would seek out Norwegian black metal, as Ruskell remembers. “I read about them when I was about 12,” he says, “and a music scene where people burnt churches and killed people and wanted to be in league with Satan was genuinely scary. Growing up in a Church of England household, I really wanted to know what these bands sounded like.”….

Vikernes’ and Aarseth’s infamy leapt to a horrifying new level in August 1993. Having convinced himself that Aarseth was planning to kill him, Vikernes drove to Aarseth’s Oslo flat in the middle of the night, and murdered him. In May 1994, he was sentenced to 21 years in prison, both for Aarseth’s murder and for multiple church burnings. He was 21. That same month, Mayhem’s debut album was finally released. It included lyrics by Ohlin, guitar-playing by Aarseth, and bass-playing by Vikernes, which made it a grotesque rarity: an album on which one contributor had killed himself, another had been murdered, and another was the murderer….
http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20190213-lords-of-chaos-the-grisly-film-that-has-caused-outrage

Children saved as Interpol exposes pedophile ring sharing child abuse images
By Julia Hollingsworth and Stella Ko CNN May 24, 2019
nterpol has saved 50 children and prosecuted nine sex offenders after uncovering an international pedophile ring that was sharing child abuse images on the dark web.
Police believe there are still 100 children yet to be located, Interpol said in a press release Thursday, adding that it expected to make more arrests and rescues.
Offenders have already been prosecuted in Thailand, Australia and the United States, Interpol said, and police in nearly 60 countries are involved in the investigation.

In the report, Interpol said it launched “Operation Blackwrist” in 2017 after discovering material depicting the abuse of 11 boys all under 13 on the dark web, a part of the internet that cannot be found by mainstream search engines. The images were on a subscription-based website that published new images weekly to almost 63,000 users worldwide.
In June 2017, Thailand’s Department of Special Investigations (DSI) took on the case, working closely with Interpol’s Liaison Bureau in Bangkok and investigators around the world including in the United States, Bulgaria, New Zealand and Australia..,..
In June 2018, the website’s main administrator, Thailand-based Montri Salangam, was sentenced to 146 years in prison on charges of child rape and human trafficking. He had abused 11 boys — including his nephew — and had lured children to his home with meals, internet access and sporting events.
A nursery school teacher who was close to Tokputza was sentenced to 36 years in prison on the same charges.

In May 2019, Ruecha Tokputza, an Australia-based website administrator, received 40 years and three months in prison, the longest sentence ever imposed in the country for child sex offenses. Police found thousands of images taken in Thailand and Australia on his devices, some of which featured Tokputza as the main abuser. The youngest victim depicted was only 15 months old….
https://www.kcra.com/article/50-children-saved-as-interpol-exposes-pedophile-ring-sharing-child-abuse-images/27584636

Snapchat Has Become A ‘Haven For Child Abuse’ With Its ‘Self-Destructing Messages’
Zak Doffman May 26, 2019
Not a good week for Snapchat. On Thursday, Motherboard reported that “several departments inside social media giant Snap have dedicated tools for accessing user data, and multiple employees have abused their privileged access to spy on Snapchat users.” And now the Sunday Times has published an investigation into allegations that predators are “flocking” to the social media platform, which has become a “haven for child abuse.”

Motherboard’s article cited two former employees who claimed that “multiple Snap employees abused their access to Snapchat user data several years ago.” This included the use of “internal tools that allowed Snap employees to access user data, including in some cases location information, their own saved Snaps and personal information such as phone numbers and email addresses.”….
Ironically, it is this limited user data that is central to the Sunday Times investigation. The newspaper’s investigation has uncovered “thousands of reported cases that have involved Snapchat since 2014,” including “pedophiles using the app to elicit indecent images from children and to groom teenagers,” as well as “under-18s spreading child pornography themselves.” This has now resulted in U.K. police “investigating three cases of child exploitation a day linked to the app, [with] messages that self-destruct allowing groomers to avoid detection.”….
A similar investigation in March focused on Instagram, with the NSPCC claiming that Facebook’s photo-sharing app has become the leading platform for child grooming in the country. During an 18-month period to September last year, there were more than 5,000 recorded crimes “of sexual communication with a child,” and “a 200% rise in recorded instances in the use of Instagram to target and abuse children.” The charity’s CEO described the figures as “overwhelming evidence that keeping children safe cannot be left to social networks. We cannot wait for the next tragedy before tech companies are made to act.”

This latest investigation makes the same point and comes a little over a month after the U.K. Government published proposals for “tough new measures to ensure the U.K. is the safest place in the world to be online,” claiming these to be the world’s “first online safety laws.” The proposals include an independent regulator with the “powers to take effective enforcement action against companies that have breached their statutory duty of care.” Such enforcement will include “substantial fines” as well as, potentially, the powers “to disrupt the business activities of a non-compliant company… to impose liability on individual members of senior management… and to block non-compliant services.”
https://www.forbes.com/sites/zakdoffman/2019/05/26/snapchats-self-destructing-messages-have-created-a-haven-for-child-abuse/

The Most Harrowing Testimonies From NXIVM ‘Sex Slaves’ By Amanda Arnold May 30, 2019 In March 2018, NXIVM founder Keith Raniere was arrested and charged with sex trafficking. Months earlier, several news outlets had published shocking reports detailing the inner workings of the purported “self-help” organization he founded, which prosecutors say was a front for a sex cult.

In October 2017, the New York Times ran a lengthy story alleging that the group had branded some female members, referred to as “sex slaves,” with Raniere’s initials. In the year-plus since Raniere’s arrest, the image of the organization has only grown increasingly disturbing: Various women who pleaded guilty to charges stemming from their involvement in NXIVM have admitted to everything from recruiting women into the alleged cult to blackmailing them with damaging photographs and letters.
Today Raniere is finally standing trial. Since the proceedings against NXIVM began in mid-March, several women involved in its DOS subgroup have taken the stand. The group was allegedly a hierarchical network of “masters” and “slaves” with Raniere at the top. According to the women’s testimonies, he had eight “first-line” slaves who reported to him, and each of these eight women had their own slaves….

Below, here’s what we’ve learned about the secretive sorority since the start of Raniere’s trial in early May.
Slaves allegedly had to wear dog collars and make “life commitments” to their master….
Women say they were subjected to whippings, cold showers, and other forms of sexual torture…..
Raniere allegedly told his slaves to get abortions after he impregnated them….
https://www.thecut.com/2019/05/the-most-harrowing-testimonies-from-nxivm-sex-slaves.html

From Heiress To Felon: How Clare Bronfman Wound Up In ‘Cult-Like’ Group Nxivm
Will Yakowicz, Forbes staff May 31, 2019
Dark Capital is a series that explores the intersection of business, wealth and crime. It’s featured on Sundays.

It’s 4 p.m. on Good Friday and Clare Bronfman stands before a judge in a federal courtroom in Brooklyn already knowing her fate. She has copped a deal with prosecutors and will plead guilty to felony charges related to her role as an executive board member of Nxivm, a cult-like group that federal prosecutors describe as a deeply manipulative pyramid scheme that forced slave-like conditions onto some members. Some were allegedly even coerced to have sex with Nxivm’s founder, Keith Raniere.
But the rail-thin Bronfman, who turned 40 a few days earlier, frequently appears bewildered during the proceedings, wearing a white-and-blue scarf as she steals glances at the journalists and other onlookers who have filed into the courtroom. It’s as though she has the same question as most watching the sordid proceedings: How did an heiress to the multibillion-dollar Seagram’s fortune become central to what’s been called a notorious sex cult….

Then in 2003, Forbes published the first critical article about Raniere and the group, explaining that while it seemed to tap into the “high-profit fad of executive coaching,” critics also saw a “darker and more manipulative side” to Raniere. And the cover story included a whopping charge from Edgar Sr.: “I think it’s a cult.”
The article had immediate repercussions. Raniere, according to Bouchey, blamed Clare for the article, telling her she should have never told her father about the loan. Raniere became convinced that the senior Bronfman had hired a “double agent,” Bouchey says, to infiltrate Nxivm and gather negative information.

From that point forward, Raniere would claim that Clare had committed an “ethical breach”—a cardinal sin in the Nxivm universe, another former member explains. Her father’s scathing criticism, and the unwanted attention the article created, would be used as leverage against her for years to come, former members say….
Both sisters, according to former members, saw their financial support of Nxivm as a way to cleanse their fortune and leave their own philanthropic legacy. “The girls stepped into a role feeling they could make a difference in the world, and this became a very purposeful career path for them,” Bouchey says.

Over time, it was Clare who became more deeply involved with the organization. In court filings, prosecutors say Clare supported Raniere financially over the years by “providing him with millions of dollars and paying for private air travel costing up to approximately $65,000 a flight.”
A major chunk of their money—estimated at about $50 million, says Peter Skolnik, an attorney who battled Nxivm for years—also went toward suing Nxivm’s enemies—both real and perceived—to smithereens. After she quit show jumping, Clare described (on her now-defunct website) her role at Nxivm as focused on “areas of law” and “corporate ethics.” Over 15 years, it is estimated she hired 50 to 60 lawyers from about 30 law firms to pursue cases against nearly a dozen Nxivm critics, Skolnik says. Clare also funded two frivolous cases against AT&T and Microsoft, which alleged the companies infringed on Raniere’s intellectual property. (He lost and was ordered to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars to cover the company’s legal fees.)….

Branding, Sexual Assault And Confinement
Beyond funding projects, the Bronfman wealth and social status played a crucial role in building Nxivm’s credibility, like when the sisters reportedly spent $2 million in order to persuade the Dalai Lama to visit Albany in 2009 and meet Raniere.
For years, it worked. But negative press began to leak out in local outlets, and it turned into a deluge that couldn’t be ignored by October 2017, when the New York Times published a story detailing the alleged horrors of a small, elite inner circle within Nxivm called DOS, which stands for dominus obsequious sororium, or imperfect Latin for “master over submissive women.”

Described as a female empowerment group within Nxivm, DOS allegedly mandated that its recruits, referred to as “slaves,” give their “master” nude photographs and other potentially damaging information as collateral, according to the Times story and later alleged by federal prosecutors and corroborated by witnesses in open court. Some women in DOS were branded, using a cauterizing pen, with Raniere’s initials. (Allison Mack, the Smallville actress and a longtime member of Nxivm and DOS, would later tell the New York Times Magazine that the branding was her idea.)
Some of the “slaves” were often ordered to have sex with Raniere to show their commitment to the group and were expected to follow their “master’s” orders and recruit others, prosecutors allege. The slaves were allegedly kept on strict, low-calorie diets and told to keep their pubic hair long in order to meet Vanguard’s preferred taste in women. The Times described a branding ceremony in which six members were asked to strip naked and lay on a massage table while chanting “Master, please brand me, it would be an honor,” as they were restrained. As a Nxivm member burned the initials into their skin, right below their pelvic bone, the smell of burning flesh was so overwhelming that some women wore surgical masks….
https://www.forbes.com/sites/willyakowicz/2019/05/31/from-heiress-to-felon-how-clare-bronfman-wound-up-in-cult-like-group-nxivm/

He told women he could help them. A jury just found him guilty of leading a lurid sex cult. The verdict ended a six-week trial that revealed haunting details about Keith Raniere and his group NXIVM, where followers were coerced into sex, blackmailed, and branded with Raniere’s initials. By Reis Thebault, The Washington Post June 19, 2019

The man who claimed to be a self-help guru, but actually ran what authorities called a cult-like secret society of “sex slaves,” was found guilty of racketeering and sex trafficking on Wednesday.
The verdict ended a six-week trial that revealed haunting details about Keith Raniere and his Albany, New York-area group NXIVM, where followers were coerced into sex, blackmailed and branded with Raniere’s initials. Jurors in Brooklyn’s Federal District Court convicted him on all federal charges and he could now face life in prison. Raniere’s sentencing is set for Sept. 25.
The 58-year-old founded the group in the early 2000s and billed it as a sorority of empowerment. Instead, prosecutors said, Raniere – sometimes called “The Vanguard” – and his organization – also known as “The Vow” – sought to ensnare women, some of whom were celebrity devotees.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Moira Penza said in closing arguments that NXIVM was created “to satisfy the defendant’s desire for sex, power and control,” the Associated Press reported.
Raniere has maintained his innocence and plans to appeal, said his lawyer, Marc Agnifilo….
Along with racketeering and sex trafficking, Raniere was indicted on crimes included forced labor, money laundering, wire fraud, identity theft and possession of child pornography, according to the Times.

He was alleged to have started a sexual relationship with a 15-year-old, and prosecutors said he kept a collection of nude photographs of the teenage follower as “a trophy.”
“Smallville” actress Allison Mack, 36, was indicted alongside Raniere in 2018, and pleaded guilty in April on charges that she schemed to convert women into sex slaves for Raniere. Prosecutors allege that Mack recruited women, forced them to have sex with Raniere and then used explicit photos and damaging information to ensure their compliance…. https://www.boston.com/news/crime/2019/06/19/he-told-women-he-could-help-them-a-jury-just-found-him-guilty-of-leading-a-lurid-sex-cult

Keith Raniere Nxivm trial: Why it’s so hard to stop a cult
By Alexandra Stein South Bank University
20 June 2019
Sex cult leader Keith Raniere, has been convicted in New York of charges including racketeering and sex trafficking.
For 20 years, Raniere was the leader of Nxivm (pronounced nexium), which claimed to be a self-help group and to have thousands of followers.
But during his trial, former members gave an insight into the reality of how the group was run.
They described being forced to break off previous relationships and of suffering physical and sexual abuse. Some were forced to have abortions. A “slave and master” system saw women forced to hand over “collateral” – often humiliating photographs – to show their commitment.
The revelations have shocked many people and made headlines around the world. But, in reality, Nxivm reveals a great deal about how cults work….

Cults are structured like the layers of an onion, with the most acceptable elements closest to the outside, followed by increasing layers of secrecy and abuse as recruits move closer to the centre.
In the case of Nxivm, the outer layers saw seemingly harmless self-improvement programmes used to recruit members’ friends, family and colleagues. But at its core, Raniere exerted extreme levels of control, allegedly culminating in sexual abuse, violence and the branding of his initials on female followers.
Bringing leaders to justice
The authorities were alerted to Nxivm’s activities as far back as 2003, according to Forbes. But the New York Times reported early attempts to follow up complaints were rebuffed by officials, who said the women were acting consensually, or that technicalities prevented legal action.

This illustrates a key problem in prosecuting the leaders of cults: members often say they are acting under their own free will.
Even if current or former members want to press charges, many feel too afraid because of possible repercussions, or the stigma attached to having been a member.
In many countries, a lack of robust laws against psychological manipulation, or a concrete legal definition of a cult, means it can be difficult to bring cases to court.
In France, the About-Picard law forbids individuals or groups from engaging in activities designed to create physical or psychological subjection. Similar laws have been enforced in Luxembourg and Belgium, but these countries are the exception.

In 2015, the UK brought in a new law around coercive control, which criminalised the psychological abuse of a person for the benefit of the perpetrator. This applies even in the absence of physical violence, or if the victim refuses to testify.
At present, this law only applies to intimate, or family relationships. But many survivors say the coercive behaviours like isolation, control of relationships, monitoring and humiliation also occurs in cults….

The traits of cults
Run by a charismatic, authoritarian leader, or leadership group, who seeks extreme levels of control over followers
Uses a hierarchical pyramid structure with layers of secrecy surrounding the leader. Followers are socially, psychologically and sometimes physically isolated
Leader’s behaviour is justified by a totalitarian belief system that claims to have all the answers
A brainwashing process takes place. Total immersion in the group leaves no time or space for self-generated relationships or activities
The group alternates an apparently loving or attentive approach with escalating levels of stress or fear. This could be implemented through sleep or food deprivation, apocalyptic predictions, or threats of violence or sexual abuse
This process of coercive control creates followers who are controlled by or for the leader without regard for their own needs…
Greater awareness of how coercive control works could give people the tools to recognise, and therefore avoid, this type of manipulation.
One way of doing this could be through prevention education in schools and universities, to help protect people from these predatory groups….
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-48635278

Lawsuit accuses Scientology, David Miscavage of child abuse, human trafficking, libel. Lawyers say more lawsuits will follow.The first, filed in Los Angeles for an unnamed Jane Doe, outlines her life of alleged abuse in the church, including at the international spiritual headquarters in Clearwater By Tracey McManus June 19, 2019

A team of eight victims’ rights attorneys on Tuesday filed the first of what they promise will be a series of lawsuits against the Church of Scientology and its leader, David Miscavige, on behalf of defectors who say they suffered a range of exploitation from child abuse, human trafficking and forced labor to revenge tactics related to the church’s Fair Game policy.
The lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles Superior Court on behalf of an unnamed Jane Doe born in 1979, outlines her lifetime of alleged suffering in Scientology where she was subjected as a child at the Clearwater headquarters to abuse inherent to auditing, Scientology’s spiritual counseling that can more resemble interrogation. It states she joined the church’s clergy-like Sea Org in California at 15, where people worked 100 hours a week for $46. She was at times held against her will. When she officially left Scientology in 2017, Doe was followed by private investigators and terrorized by the church as it published “a hate website” falsely stating she was an alcoholic dismissed from the sect for promiscuity, according to the complaint.

“This isn’t going to be the last of the lawsuits being filed,” Philadelphia-based attorney Brian Kent told the Tampa Bay Times, declining to say how many more are forthcoming. “We’ve seen what can happen when there is truth exposed in terms of child abuse within organizations. You’ve seen it with the Catholic Church, you’re seeing it with the Southern Baptist Convention now. We’re hoping for meaningful change.”
The legal team is made up of lawyers from Laffey, Bucci & Kent LLP and Soloff & Zervanos PC of Philadelphia; Thompson Law Offices in California; and Child USA, a Philadelphia-based nonprofit dedicated to preventing child abuse. Scientology spokespeople Ben Shaw and Karin Pouw did not respond to an email or phone calls for comment….

“The Church of Scientology presents a façade to the outside world to disguise what in reality is nothing more than a cult built on mind control and destruction of the independence and self-control of those drawn into its sphere,” the lawsuit states. “Members are isolated from the outside world, their access to information is heavily monitored and controlled, and they are subject to physical, verbal, psychological, emotional and/or sexual abuse and/or assault.”…. https://www.tampabay.com/scientology/lawsuit-accuses-scientology-david-miscavage-of-child-abuse-human-trafficking-libel-20190619/

Book detailing ‘satanic pledge’ found in room of Ana Kriégel murder accused
Boy B told gardaí he set up club and called it a ‘satanic cult’ as he did not want some people to join Wed, May 29, 2019 A copybook detailing a “satanic pledge” and containing the names of the two teenagers accused of murdering Ana Kriégel was found in the bedroom of one of the boys, the Central Criminal Court has heard.

The jury in the trial of the two 14-year-olds trial was given copies of the document, which was recovered from the house of Boy B.
Det Garda Donal Daly agreed with prosecuting counsel Brendan Grehan SC that a number of shapes were drawn in the copybook, including what looked like a five-pointed star comprised of two triangles. Counsel said this “might be called a pentagram.”
The words “Satanic Pledge” were written on one page….

The book also contained a set of rules including “Don’t talk about it” and “only pledge hosts can give pledges”. The other rules were “act normal like nothing happened” and “no talking about Jesus or God, only Satan”.
The copybook was mentioned by Boy B during his garda interview. He said it contained details of a club he had set up. He called it a “satanic cult” because he did not want certain people to join, he said. “Since I called it the satanist cult there were cult rules.” He said the rules were just for fun and were not meant to be serious….

The prosecution allege Boy B lured Ana (14) from her home at 5pm on May 14th, 2018 on the pretence of meeting Boy A, who Ana was “interested” in. Boy A then allegedly violently sexually assaulted and murdered her in the derelict farmhouse as Boy B watched….
https://www.irishtimes.com/news/crime-and-law/courts/criminal-court/book-detailing-satanic-pledge-found-in-room-of-ana-kri%C3%A9gel-murder-accused-1.3908177

Mexican church leader charged in horrific child sex ring
By Natalie Musumeci June 5, 2019
The leader of a Mexican fundamentalist Christian church that boasts more than 1 million worldwide followers was busted in Los Angeles on charges of human trafficking, child rape, child pornography and other crimes, officials said.

Naasón Joaquín García, the head of La Luz Del Mundo, was charged Tuesday along with a group of other affiliates of the international religious organization for disturbing crimes against three girls and a woman, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra announced
García, 50, and three co-defendants — Alondra Ocampo, Azalea Rangel Melendez and Susana Medina Oaxaca — allegedly committed 26 felonies in Los Angeles County between 2015 and 2018 while leading La Luz Del Mundo, officials said.
Prosecutors charge that García and his co-defendants allegedly coerced minors into performing sexual acts by telling them that if they went against any of García’s desires or wishes as “the Apostle,” they were defying God.

According to the 19-page criminal complaint filed with the Los Angeles County Superior Court, the victims were forced to perform “flirty dances” for García wearing “as little clothing as possible.”
After they finished the dances, García “gave them a speech about a king having mistresses and stated that an apostle of God can never be judged for his actions,” the complaint says.
The complaint, which states that a child and woman were raped, also charges that Ocampo directed the victims to take off their clothes and touch each other sexually while Ocampo took photos to send to García….
https://nypost.com/2019/06/05/mexican-church-leader-charged-in-horrific-child-sex-ring/

Singer R. Kelly charged with 11 new counts of sexual abuse
Jayme Deerwester, USA TODAY May 30, 2019
The Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office has charged singer R. Kelly with 11 new counts of criminal sexual abuse, The Chicago Tribune and The Chicago Sun-Times reported Thursday, bringing the total number of charges against him in Illinois up to 21.
The new charges, which come months after Kelly was arrested three months ago and charged with 10 counts of aggravated assault, resulted from offenses that allegedly took place in 2010….

According to The Sun-Times, which published the new court documents, the counts are as follows: four counts of aggravated criminal sexual assault, two counts of criminal sexual assault by force, two counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse and three counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse against a victim who was between the ages of 13 and 17 at the time of her assault. Three of the four women from the original indictment were minors at the time.
Prosecutors allege that Kelly used force or threatened to do so in order coerce the accuser into sex or to perform oral sex on him. Because she was underage at the time, they say the statute of limitations is extended to 20 years from her 18th birthday….

Over the past two decades, Robert Sylvester Kelly, 52, has faced multiple allegations of sexual abuse of women and girls, including sex with underage girls and accusations that he trapped female fans in a “sex cult” that cut them off from their families and subjected them to degrading abuse.
He has been tried for a sex crime only once, in Chicago, and was acquitted in 2008.
Then, in January of this year, “Surviving R. Kelly,” a series began airing on Lifetime. Over the course of six episodes, scores of women came forward on camera to accuse Kelly of shocking abuse….
https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/people/2019/05/30/r-kelly-charged-11-new-counts-sex-abuse/1289868001/

Woman with 2500 different personalities brings her abusive father to justice
Her childhood was so traumatic she developed 2500 different personalities to deal with the horrific abuse she suffered. Now Jeni Haynes has found justice. news.com.au May 27, 2019
A woman with 2500 different personalities has brought her abuser to justice after taking the stand using the voice of six of her “alters”.
Jeni Haynes, 49, developed multiple personality disorder, also known as dissociative identity disorder, after being subjected to sickening sexual abuse by her father Richard Haynes from the age of four.

“My dad inflicted, chose to inflict, severe, sadistic, violent abuse. That was completely unavoidable. Inescapable. And life-threatening. And he chose to do this every day of my entire childhood,” Ms Haynes told 60 Minutes.
The abuse was so bad it left her with serious injuries and she’s had to endure major surgeries to repair her bowel, coccyx and anus.
Ms Haynes coped by developing many different personalities.

Psychiatrist Dr George Blair-West explains that multiple personality disorder can be a sophisticated tactic developed by children who experience significant trauma prior to the age of eight.
“And the thing that seems to push the mind to do this more than anything else is realising you have no way out, that nobody is going to come and get you, nobody’s there to save you, you’re on your own, and you have to come up with a solution that is entirely of your own,” he said….

Footage aired on 60 Minutes shows Jeni Haynes speaking with the voice of some of her different alters, which can include a four-year-old girl named “Symphony”, a 11-year-old boy “Judas” and a rugged and strong teenage boy “Muscles”.
Dr Blair-West has been treating Jeni for over 20 years and said if a functional EEG was being done on Ms Haynes “you’d see different brainwaves” when she changes between personalities as well as differences in her voice….

On February 21, Ms Haynes appeared before the NSW District Court to face her 74-year-old father. Authorities had to extradite him from the United Kingdom before charging him with multiple counts of rape, buggery and indecent assault.
After being faced with the testimony of Ms Haynes’s many different personalities, her father crumbled and plead guilty within hours of her taking the stand.
Although Ms Haynes is able to remain anonymous, she has chosen not to because this would also have protected her father’s identity.
“I want him to walk into prison with everybody knowing what he did,” she said.
Next week Ms Haynes’s father will be sentenced and she is finally looking forward to leaving the past behind….
https://www.news.com.au/entertainment/tv/woman-with-2500-different-personalities-brings-her-abusive-father-to-justice/news-story/88b44c29184273d0878a0c731c885f91

Woman with multiple personalities to read impact statement in different ‘alters’
By Tim Barlass May 31, 2019
A woman who developed multiple personality disorder after being sexually abused by her father, is to read out her 17-page victim-impact statement on Friday in court using the voices of several of the different “alter” characters.
Jeni Haynes wants her father, Richard Haynes, who is in the dock, to hear directly from them about the impact of what he did to her between the ages of four and 11.
The relentless assaults resulted in her assuming some 2500 or so “alters” in what is now called dissociative identity disorder.
“Alters” expected to speak could include Symphony, a four-year-old girl; Judas, an 11-year-old boy; Muscles, an 18-year-old motorcycle-loving lout; and Linda, who was cheated out of a political career….

Haynes, who was extradited from Britain in February 2017, decided at the last minute to plead guilty to the charges of rape, buggery and indecent assault against his daughter in Sydney in the 1970s and 1980s….
“My dad forced me to develop multiple personalities as the only way I could cope with his abuse. Dad’s abuse was extreme, violent, sadistic, unescapable, unavoidable, constant and life-threatening, not to mention overwhelming.
“Jeni would not have survived the abuse and the day-to-day consequences of the abuse without Symphony and her highly creative strategy. But Symphony is deeply traumatised, hurt, damaged and devastated as a result. As are all the other alter personalities who have done their jobs so well and kept Jeni alive. Without MPD I would be dead. This may sound melodramatic, but it is quite simply the truth.”

She states the abuse destroyed her childhood, ruined her educational prospects and devastated her employability with immense economic cost as she was forced to live on a government benefit….
https://www.smh.com.au/national/woman-with-multiple-personalities-to-read-impact-statement-in-different-alters-20190530-p51sqi.html

Dissociative Identity Disorder
Dissociative identity disorder (formerly called Multiple Personality Disorder or MPD) is defined in the DSM-IV-TR as the presence of two or more personality states or distinct identities that repeatedly take control of one’s behavior. The patient has an inability to recall personal information. The extent of this lack of recall is too great to be explained by normal forgetfulness. The disorder cannot be due to the direct physical effects of a general medical condition or substance.[1]
DID entails a failure to integrate certain aspects of memory, consciousness and identity. Patients experience frequent gaps in their memory for their personal history, past and present. Patients with DID report having severe physical and sexual abuse, especially during childhood. The reports of patients with DID are often validated by objective evidence.[1]

Physical evidence may include variations in physiological functions in different identity states, including differences in vision, levels of pain tolerance, symptoms of asthma, the response of blood glucose to insulin and sensitivity to allergens. Other physical findings may include scars from physical abuse or self-inflicted injuries, headaches or migraines, asthma and irritable bowel syndrome.[1]
DID is found in a variety of cultures around the world. It is diagnosed three to nine times more often in adult females than males. Females average 15 or more identities, males eight identities. The sharp rise in the reported cases of DID in the U.S. may be due the greater awareness of DID’s diagnosis, which has caused an increased identification of those that were previously undiagnosed.[1]…

Causes
The causes of dissociative identity disorder are theoretically linked with the interaction of overwhelming stress, traumatic antecedents,[3] insufficient childhood nurturing, and an innate ability to dissociate memories or experiences from consciousness.[2] Prolonged child abuse is frequently a factor, with a very high percentage of patients reporting documented abuse[4] often confirmed by objective evidence.[1] The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders states that patients with DID often report having a history of severe physical and sexual abuse. The reports of patients suffering from DID are “often confirmed by objective evidence,” and the DSM notes that the abusers in those situations may be inclined to “deny or distort” these acts.[1] Research has consistently shown that DID is characterized by reports of extensive childhood trauma, usually child abuse.[5][6][7] Dissociation is recognized as a symptomatic presentation in response to psychological trauma, extreme emotional stress, and in association with emotional dysregulation and borderline personality disorder.[8] A study of 12 murderers established the connection between early severe abuse and DID[9]. A recent psychobiological study shows that dissociative identity disorder (DID) sufferers’ “origins of their ailment stem more likely from trauma” than sociogenic or iatrogenic origins…
http://childabusewiki.org/index.php?title=Dissociative_Identity_Disorder

Nearly 1,700 Suspected Child Sex Predators Arrested During Operation “Broken Heart” The Department of Justice today announced the arrest of almost 1,700 suspected online child sex offenders during a two-month, nationwide operation conducted by Internet Crimes Against Children task forces. The task forces identified 308 offenders who either produced child pornography or committed child sexual abuse, and 357 children who suffered recent, ongoing or historical sexual abuse or were exploited in the production of child pornography.The 61 ICAC task forces, located in all 50 states and comprised of more than 4,500 federal, state, local and tribal law enforcement agencies, led the coordinated operation known as “Broken Heart” during the months of April and May 2019. During the course of the operation, the task forces investigated more than 18,500 complaints of technology-facilitated crimes targeting children and delivered more than 2,150 presentations on internet safety to over 201,000 youth and adults.https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/nearly-1700-suspected-child-sex-predators-arrested-during-operation-broken-heart

Lost-in-the-mall: False memory or false defense? Ruth A. Blizard & Morgan Shaw
Published online: 26 Apr 2019 https://doi.org/10.1080/15379418.2019.1590285
Abstract
False Memory Syndrome (FMS) and Parental Alienation Syndrome (PAS) were developed as defenses for parents accused of child abuse as part of a larger movement to undermine prosecution of child abuse. The lost-in-the-mall study by Dr. Elizabeth Loftus concludes that an entire false memory can be implanted by suggestion. It has since been used to discredit abuse survivors’ testimony by inferring that false memories for childhood abuse can be implanted by psychotherapists. Examination of the research methods and findings of the study shows that no full false memories were actually formed. Similarly, PAS, coined by Richard Gardner, is frequently used in custody cases to discredit children’s testimony by alleging that the protective parent coached them to have false memories of abuse. There is no scientific research demonstrating the existence of PAS, and, in fact, studies on the suggestibility of children show that they cannot easily be persuaded to provide detailed disclosures of abuse.

Nearly 1,700 Suspected Child Sex Predators Arrested During Operation “Broken Heart”The Department of Justice today announced the arrest of almost 1,700 suspected online child sex offenders during a two-month, nationwide operation conducted by Internet Crimes Against Children task forces. The task forces identified 308 offenders who either produced child pornography or committed child sexual abuse, and 357 children who suffered recent, ongoing or historical sexual abuse or were exploited in the production of child pornography.The 61 ICAC task forces, located in all 50 states and comprised of more than 4,500 federal, state, local and tribal law enforcement agencies, led the coordinated operation known as “Broken Heart” during the months of April and May 2019. During the course of the operation, the task forces investigated more than 18,500 complaints of technology-facilitated crimes targeting children and delivered more than 2,150 presentations on internet safety to over 201,000 youth and adults. https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/nearly-1700-suspected-child-sex-predators-arrested-during-operation-broken-heart

Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry: Boys raped by priests at ‘satanic parties’
7 June 2019 A child abuse inquiry witness has told how he was raped by priests during “satanic” drink-fuelled sex parties.

Dave Sharp also described a catalogue of sexual, physical and emotional violence at St Ninian’s in Falkland, Fife, between 1971 and 1975.
Mr Sharp, from Glasgow, said the abuse had left him with “lifelong trauma”.
The independent Scottish Child Abuse inquiry is looking in detail at historical abuse of children in residential care.
Mr Sharp urged inquiry chairwoman Lady Smith, to piece together the “jigsaw” of victims’ accounts and called for a “national discussion” on the subject.
The 60-year-old, who has waived his right to anonymity, was put into care after his mother died when he was aged one.
Tied up
He stayed in several institutions before going to the Catholic-run care home in Fife.
He told how he was groomed by one of the religious brothers, who would tell him he loved him, which “no-one had ever done” before.
The inquiry heard the then-12-year-old was later raped.

Most of the abuse was said to have taken place in the shower rooms, where the witness would be made to stand in the dark through the night as a punishment….
The inquiry heard “two or three” boys were trafficked around Scotland and Ireland at a time to be used in drink-fuelled sex parties, which he described as “satanic”.
One occasion in Ireland was said to have involved 10 men taking turns to rape the boys.
It was heard priests were among those involved and incidents took place over the duration of his time at St Ninian’s, which was run by religious order the Christian Brothers….
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-48559590

Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry: Nazareth Houses were ‘places of fear’   30 May 2019
Some children at the Nazareth House orphanages in Scotland were subjected to sexual abuse of the “utmost depravity”, the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry has found.
Chairwoman Lady Smith said the children’s homes were places of fear, hostility and confusion.
Youngsters were physically abused and emotionally degraded “with impunity”.
The Sisters of Nazareth charity said it had apologised for any abuse that took place in its institutions.
Over 27 days last year, the inquiry heard evidence from former residents of four institutions in Aberdeen, Glasgow, Midlothian and Ayrshire….
It says children were targeted by staff, volunteers, visitors, priests and nuns, and adults who were aware of the abuse took no action….

Lady Smith said: “The Nazareth Houses in Scotland were, for many children, places of fear, hostility and confusion, places where children were physically abused and emotionally degraded with impunity.
“There was sexual abuse of children which, in some instances, reached levels of the utmost depravity. Children in need of kind, warm, loving care and comfort did not find it. Children were deprived of compassion, dignity, care and comfort.”….
Children were hit with belts, canes, sticks, broom handles, hairbrushes, shoes and wooden crucifixes. Carbolic soap was forced into their mouths, their heads banged together and they were made to kneel in corridors for long periods. For many children, this was part of daily life
Runways were beaten when they returned. Those who reported their abuse to police were not believed….
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-48458480

More than a decade after receiving one of the most lenient sentences for a serial sex offender in U.S history, multimillionaire Jeffrey Epstein has been arrested outside of New York, sources confirmed to the Miami Herald Saturday night.
By Julie K. Brown July 08, 2019

The girls who were abused by Jeffrey Epstein and the cops who championed their cause remain angry over what they regard as a gross injustice, while Epstein’s employees and those who engineered his non-prosecution agreement have prospered. By Marta Oliver Craviotto | Emily Michot | Julie K. Brown

More than a decade after receiving one of the most lenient sentences for a serial sex offender in U.S history, multimillionaire Jeffrey Epstein has been arrested outside of New York, sources confirmed to the Miami Herald Saturday night.

Epstein was arrested at Teterboro Airport in New Jersey, according to one of the sources
Epstein, 66, is expected to be arraigned in federal court in New York on Monday on charges that he molested dozens of underage girls in New York and in Florida, the sources said. His arrest, first reported by the Daily Beast, comes nearly two weeks after the Justice Department announced that it would not throw out his 2008 non-prosecution agreement, even though a federal judge ruled it was illegal.

Rumors had been circulating for months that Epstein was under investigation on sex charges in the Southern District of New York. It’s not clear what instances those investigations involved, and the Herald had not been able to confirm the status of the New York probe….

Last November, the Miami Herald published a series of stories, titled Perversion of Justice, that described the ways in which the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Alexander Acosta, worked in conjunction with Epstein’s lawyers to engineer the non-prosecution agreement — and keep it secret from Epstein’s victims, so they could not object. Acosta is now President Donald Trump’s secretary of labor.

Sources told the Herald that the indictment includes new victims and witnesses who spoke to authorities in New York over the past several months.Epstein, who has homes in Manhattan, Palm Beach, New Mexico, Paris and in the U.S. Virgin Islands, sexually abused nearly three dozen girls, mostly 13-16 years old, at his Palm Beach mansion from 1999 to 2006, according to investigators. He used the girls to help recruit other young girls as part of an operation that ran similar to a pyramid scheme. He also had recruiters who helped with his appointments, scheduling as many as three or four girls a day, the FBI probe found.

Acosta met one-on-one with Epstein’s lawyer, Jay Lefkowitz, in October 2007, at a West Palm Beach Marriott. Records reviewed by the Herald showed that it was at that meeting that Acosta agreed to a non-prosecution agreement that gave Epstein and others involved in his operation federal immunity.

As part of the deal, Epstein was allowed to plead guilty to two state prostitution charges involving a 17-year-old girl, and he served 13 months in the Palm Beach County jail. The deal was sealed, however, so that no one — not even his victims — knew the details about the agreement until nearly a year later. By that time, Epstein had already been released from jail and had returned to his jet-setting life.

On Wednesday, a federal appeals court in New York ordered the unsealing of up to 2,000 pages of documents that are expected to show evidence relating to whether Epstein and his partner, Ghislaine Maxwell, were recruiting underage girls and young women as part of an international sex trafficking operation. Maxwell, 57, has never been charged….

As part of its investigation, the Herald was able to identify nearly 80 girls who were molested by Epstein. Four of the victims, now in their late 20s and early 30s, spoke on video about how they were traumatized first by Epstein, then by his lawyers and private investigators, and finally by the prosecutors themselves, who disposed of the case without telling them.
One of the victims, Virginia Roberts Giuffre, said that she was forced by Epstein and Maxwell to have sex with a number of wealthy and powerful politicians, academics and government leaders, including Dershowitz and Prince Andrew. She has never named the other men, largely because she has been afraid, her lawyers said….

This widely published photo of Virginia Roberts Giuffre with Prince Andrew bolstered her claim that she was loaned out for sexual purposes to famous men by Jeffrey Epstein….
His plane records show that during the time he was abusing young girls, he was flying former President Bill Clinton, Harvard professors and administrators, Nobel-prize winning scientists, actresses, actors, philanthropists and a who’s who of wealthy and powerful people to his island….

His plane, nicknamed “the Lolita Express,’’ was also allegedly used to traffic women and girls from overseas, Giuffre told the Herald.
https://www.miamiherald.com/news/state/florida/article232374872.html

From the penthouse to the jailhouse: Jeffrey Epstein pleads not guilty to sex trafficking
By Julie K. Brown July 08, 2019

….The 66-year-old multimillionaire — who once rubbed elbows with former presidents, royalty and Nobel-Prize-winning scientists — was worlds away from the luxurious protection of his island enclave in the Caribbean, his vast mansion on the Upper East Side, his ranch in New Mexico or his penthouse in Paris.

His appearance marked the first time that two of Epstein’s alleged victims — who were 14 at the time they were sexually abused — were able to face him in a courtroom after a decades-long quest for justice.

Courtney Wild and Michelle Licata, seated in the rear of the courtroom with their attorneys, were stoic as federal magistrate Henry Pitman read Epstein’s indictment and asked him how he intended to plead to the charges.
“Not guilty, your honor,’’ Epstein replied.

Eleven years after receiving federal immunity as part of a strikingly lenient plea agreement, Epstein stands charged with one count of sex trafficking and one count of conspiracy to commit sex trafficking. If convicted, he could face up to 45 years in prison….

Monday’s New York indictment mirrors the case that Palm Beach police put together against Epstein in 2006 and 2007. According to the police, Epstein employed recruiters to lure middle school and high school girls as young as 13 to his Palm Beach mansion to give him massages that turned into sex acts. The girls were paid $200-$300 and could earn additional money if they recruited other girls, which they did, from malls and teenage parties around West Palm Beach.
Then-Palm Beach State Attorney Barry Krischer wanted to charge Epstein only with a misdemeanor, but Palm Beach police referred the case to the FBI, believing that Epstein’s crimes were more serious.

Although federal prosecutors had gathered enough evidence to fill a 53-page federal indictment on sex trafficking charges, Acosta elected to sign off on a non-prosecution agreement that gave Epstein and his co-conspirators (some of whom have never been identified) immunity from federal charges.

Epstein’s arrest on Saturday came eight months after the Miami Herald published a re-examination of the 2008 deal, revealing that Acosta, now President Donald Trump’s secretary of labor, met secretly with one of Epstein’s lawyers, Jay Lefkowitz, in October of 2007, at a West Palm Beach Marriott, 70 miles from Acosta’s Miami office.

As part of the deal at that time, Epstein pleaded guilty to minor state prostitution charges involving a 17-year-old girl. He served 13 months in the Palm Beach County jail but was allowed to leave the facility nearly every day to spend 10 or more hours in his office in downtown West Palm Beach….

The Jeffrey Epstein case also has gained notoriety in part because of Epstein’s wide circle of rich and influential friends, including Donald Trump, former President Clinton and Prince Andrew.
The Miami Herald’s coverage of Epstein has brought a rising chorus of calls for Acosta to resign or be fired from the president’s Cabinet.

Three days before Epstein’s arrest, a federal appeals court in New York ordered the unsealing of up to 2,000 pages of documents that are expected to show evidence relating to whether Epstein and his partner, Ghislaine Maxwell, were recruiting underage girls and young women as part of an international sex trafficking operation. Maxwell, 57, has never been charged….
https://www.miamiherald.com/news/state/florida/article232398247.html

With Jeffrey Epstein locked up, these are nervous times for his friends, enablers
By Julie K. Brown July 07, 2019

His Saturday arrest capped months of investigating, led by federal agents and prosecutors with the Southern District of New York’s Public Corruption Unit, assisted by investigators with the sex trafficking division. Although details of the case remain undisclosed, there are indications that others involved in his crimes could be charged or named as cooperating witnesses.

Among those potentially on the list: Ghislaine Maxwell, a 57-year-old British socialite and publishing heir who has been accused of working as Epstein’s madam; and Jean-Luc Brunel, who, according to court records, was partners with Epstein in an international modeling company…..

For her part, Maxwell, whose social circle included such friends as Bill and Hillary Clinton and members of the British Royal family, has been described as using recruiters positioned throughout the world to lure women by promising them modeling assignments, educational opportunities and fashion careers. The pitch was really a ruse to groom them into sex trafficking, it is alleged in court records.

At least one woman, Sarah Ransome, claimed in a lawsuit that Maxwell and Epstein threatened to physically harm her or destroy any chance she would have of a fashion career if she didn’t have sex with them and others.

Maxwell has denied the claim and has never been charged.
Another woman, Virginia Roberts Giuffre, alleges she was recruited by Maxwell in 2000 when she was 16 years old. Giuffre was working as a spa attendant at Mar-a-Lago, President Donald Trump’s winter home and resort in Palm Beach at the time, court records show.

Trump, who lived less than a mile from Epstein’s waterfront mansion in Palm Beach, had also been friends with Epstein. Records show that he flew on Epstein’s private jet on occasion and attended parties and social events where he was photographed with Epstein.
Giuffre brought a civil defamation suit against Maxwell in 2015, after the Epstein associate called her a liar. It was settled two years later. But 2,000 pages of the previously sealed case file are expected to be made public in a few weeks, the result of litigation by the Miami Herald, and those records could prove damaging to Maxwell and others involved in Epstein’s alleged scheme….

Giuffre claims that Epstein used the modeling agency, Mc2, to lure underage girls and in court papers said Epstein “deliberately engaged in a pattern of racketeering that involved luring minor children through Mc2, mostly girls under the age of 17, to engage in sexual play for money.”

Brunel has denied these claims, and says that Epstein was not a business partner or investor in his modeling company.
But Epstein’s arrest could open a window to expose other influential people who knew about or participated in his crimes. The question is what evidence or information does Epstein have against them and how might he use it?….

https://www.miamiherald.com/news/state/florida/article232385422.html

What a Pediatrician Saw Inside a Border Patrol Warehouse
Dolly Lucio Sevier evaluated dozens of sick children at a facility in South Texas. She found evidence of infection, malnutrition, and psychological trauma.

MCALLEN, Texas—Inside the Border Patrol warehouse on Ursula Avenue, Dolly Lucio Sevier saw a baby who’d been fed from the same unwashed bottle for days; children showing signs of malnutrition and dehydration; and several kids who, in her medical opinion, were exhibiting clear evidence of psychological trauma. More than 1,000 migrant children sat in the detention facility here, and Sevier, a local pediatrician, had been examining as many as she could, one at a time. But she wasn’t permitted to enter the area where they were being held, many of them in cages, and find the sickest kids to examine. Instead, in a nearby room, she manually reviewed a 50-page printout of that day’s detainees, and highlighted the names of children with a 2019 birth date—the babies—before moving on to the toddlers…..

As agents brought in the children she requested, Sevier said, the smell of sweat and soiled clothing filled the room. They had not been allowed to bathe or change since crossing the Rio Grande and turning themselves over to officials. Sevier found that about two-thirds of the kids she examined had symptoms of respiratory infection. The guards wore surgical masks, but the detainees breathed the air unfiltered. As the children filed in, Sevier said she found evidence of sleep deprivation, dehydration, and malnutrition too….

And the children’s physical ailments, Sevier also began to worry about their mental health. She asked to see a 2-year-old from Honduras along with his teenage brother, who she hoped could provide the baby’s medical history. The older boy was excited because officials had kept them separate for more than two weeks. But when the guards brought the toddler over from the “day care” where the littlest detainees are held, he stared with wide eyes, Sevier recalled, and began panting heavily, hoarsely, and persistently for the rest of the encounter.

During the exam, she noticed that the toddler behaved differently from the kids his age she sees every day. In an exam room at her clinic decorated with a Lion King mural, I watched her do a routine checkup on a slightly younger boy. This toddler pulled back when Sevier touched him, but was easily soothed by his mother. The reaction was normal—“a small oscillation between worried and okay,” Sevier explained. A little shyness is typical, she said, but toddlers “shouldn’t be fearful of a stranger.” When they are afraid—when the memory of their last shots is fresh in their mind, for instance—they resist Sevier by crying, clinging to their caregiver, or squirming beneath her stethoscope.

At Ursula, however, the children Sevier examined—like the panting 2-year-old—were “totally fearful, but then entirely subdued,” she told me. She could read the fear in their faces, but they were perfectly submissive to her authority. “I can only explain it by trauma, because that is such an unusual behavior,” she said. Sevier had brought along Mickey Mouse toys to break the ice, and the kids seem to enjoy playing with them. Yet none resisted, she said, when she took them away at the end of the exam. “At some point,” Sevier mused, “you’re broken and you stop fighting.”

Sevier made her way down the list of names. A 15-month-old baby with a fever had been in detention for three weeks. His uncle had fed him from the same dirty formula bottle for days on end, until a guard replaced it with a new one. Because “all parents want the best health for their infant,” Sevier later wrote in the medical declaration, denying them “the ability to wash their infant’s bottles is unconscionable and could be considered intentional mental and emotional abuse.” Before her visit, the uncle had asked for medical attention because the baby was wheezing. In response, a guard had touched the baby’s head with his hand and concluded, “He’s not hot,” the uncle told Sevier…..
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2019/07/border-patrols-oversight-sick-migrant-children/593224/

July 10, 2019 · Filed Under Newsletter 2019 - Issues 144 - 149