Thursday, Apr. 28, 2011
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Girls Like Us: The Hidden Story of Human Sex Trafficking in America
(Photo: HarperCollins).Teenage girls forced to work as prostitutes under the thumb of violent pimps and traffickers. That something that only happens in faraway places like Cambodia and the Philipp...
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Sunday, Apr. 24, 2011
HEADLINE
Anger of health experts over weightlifting kit for children as young as four
By Mail On Sunday Reporter Last updated at 10:03 PM on 23rd April 2011 A weightlifting kit for four-year-olds has been criticised by health experts who say that the equipment could cause physical d...
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Original: http://www.starnewsonline.com/article/20110127/articles/110129693
Finally, a judge that got it right! Hooray!
By Matt Tomsic
Matt.Tomsic@StarNewsOnline.com
Published: Thursday, January 27, 2011 at 12:25 p.m.
Last Modified: Thursday, January 27, 2011 at 12:25 p.m.
The victim of a sexual assault was awarded property in Pender County after a judge found her attacker transferred property to his sister to avoid fallout from a lawsuit filed by the victim.
The Pender County civil lawsuit stemmed from a conviction of first-degree aggravated sexual assault in New Jersey, according to court records.
George S. Conklin, 52, sexually assaulted a minor in 2004 and 2005. A year after the assaults, the victim's family filed a civil lawsuit against Conklin to recover damages. In 2009, a New Jersey superior court ruled in favor for the victim, awarding her about $1.5 million for medical costs, punitive damages and compensatory damages. But the victim's family discovered Conklin gave property in Pender County to his sister, Connie Ruth Huffman, six weeks after the family filed the lawsuit in New Jersey.
Conklin deeded the property to Huffman to protect it from any judgment his victim might receive from a lawsuit, according to an affidavit filed during the case.
In 2009, the family filed another lawsuit in Pender County against Conklin and Huffman to recover the property so they could receive their award from the civil lawsuit.
On Jan. 18, a Pender County judge ordered the defendants to give the three lots to the victim's family. The judge also awarded the family a 1990 Oakwood mobile home owned by Huffman. The value of the property and mobile home is more than $74,000.
Matt Tomsic: 343-2070
On Twitter.com: @MattToms
Shit like this pisses me off! Why was this registered sex offender anywhere near a 5yr old girl? I don’t care if the other rape of a little girl happened when he was under 18 or not. It doesn’t sound like it was a situation where he and a girl a small age difference were in a dating relationship and she yelled rape or her parents did or whatever like that. And, I don’t care if the little girls story has changed...she is 5 for crying out loud and rape is a foreign concept for her, or well I’d hope! Although, who knows with her mom saying that his visits were strictly overseen by her parents. So ok, hhhmmm, you knew he was a sex offender yet still let him visit your home...ok sounds strange to me, but that’s just me. I’d never knowingly allow a sex offender anywhere near my child, even with me there. Too many times I read of repeat offenders!!!! And, even though this is the second time for this...he was released on such a small bail; only $100,000...UGH
By Brian Fraga
bfraga@s-t.com
June 15, 2010 12:00 AM
NEW BEDFORD — A registered sex offender is charged with raping a 5-year-old girl in the city.
Matthew J. Meneses, 19, of 523 N. Front St. was held on $100,000 bail after being arraigned Monday in New Bedford District Court on charges that include rape of a child with force, indecent assault and battery on a child under 14, and witness intimidation.
Meneses, a registered Level 2 sex offender with a prior conviction for rape of a child, is alleged to have sexually assaulted the 5-year-old girl within the last few weeks. Prosecutors said he also threatened to harm the girl if she told anyone.
The alleged victim's parents attended Monday's arraignment and were visibly emotional as Assistant District Attorney Erin Aiello summarized the allegations against Meneses. They left the courthouse immediately after the arraignment.
Authorities said Meneses knew the child's parents. The child came forward June 5 and told a relative that "Matt" had inappropriately touched her while in her family's residence. It is believed the girl's parents were home when the incident is said to have occurred, prosecutors said.
Detectives are not sure of the exact date of the alleged incident.
During Monday's bail arguments, defense attorney Andrea DeBries said the girl's story of how she was assaulted by Meneses has differed as more people, including investigators, subsequently questioned her.
"This is a story that's grown over time each time it's told," said Debries, describing how the alleged victim included additional allegations against Meneses in each retelling.
"There are very, very significant differences in her stories," said Debries, adding that Meneses adamantly denies the allegations against him.
DeBries said Meneses is willing to undergo a polygraph test and submit a DNA sample. DeBries also said the alleged victim's mother told police that Meneses had very limited contact with the girl and that any visits were strictly overseen by her parents.
DeBries requested a $2,500 cash bail for Meneses, citing that he has no adult criminal convictions.
Information on Meneses' prior rape conviction was not available because he was a juvenile at the time of the offense, which occurred in New Bedford, authorities said.
Meneses' juvenile record also consists of an arrest for assault and battery and two arrests for failing to register as a sex offender, which were later dismissed.
Police logs show Meneses was arrested in February 2009 on charges of disturbing the peace and unlawful possession of a Class C substance.
Aiello requested $250,000, citing Meneses' prior rape conviction and juvenile record.
District Court Judge Robert A. Welsh III noted the serious nature of the alleged offense and set bail at $100,000. He ordered Meneses to return to court July 1 for a probable cause hearing. View original article here: Registered sex offender charged with rape of 5-year-old New Bedford girl | SouthCoastToday.com
Sexual abuse survivors wait 5yrs before disclosing trauma
ANI, 20 January 2010, 03:23pm ISTA study has revealed that half of the survivors of sexual abuse wait up to five years before disclosing they were victimized, and end up suffering more because of it.
The collaborative study from the Université de Montréal, the Université du Québec à Montréal
and the Université de Sherbrooke, explored the consequences of not reporting abuse. "The number of victims who never reveal their secret or who wait many years to do so is very high," co-author Mireille Cyr, a psychology professor of the Université de Montréal, said. "This is regrettable because the longer they wait to reveal the abuse, the harder and more enduring the consequences will be," Cyr stated.
The research team surveyed 800 Quebec men and women and found 25 percent of respondents never divulged being sexually abused as children. The scientists also found a sharp contrast between genders, 16 percent of women remain quiet about abuse, while 34 percent of men never share their secret.The investigation found that 22 percent of women and 10 percent of men reported beings survivors of abuse, which ranged from molestation to rape, which is comparable to the findings of previous studies on the topic.
The psychological distress of victims includes anxiety, depression, troubles concentrating and irritability. While certain victims suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder, some relive the abuse psychologically while others have dulled emotions or become hyper-vigilant. The data suggests that victims are more likely to denounce their abuser when he or she is a stranger.
Unfortunately, in most cases, friends or family members commit serious abuse such as rape. This is true in 85 percent of cases for female victims and 89 percent for male victims. Professor Isabelle Daigneault, of the Université de Montréal Department of Psychology, conducted a separate study correlating the likelihood of young victims to become adult victims of sexual or physical abuse. Her sample examined 9,170 women and 7,823 men throughout Canada.
Her conclusions are startling, female survivors of childhood sexual abuse are three to four times likely to be victims of physical or sexual abuse as adults. "It's the first time that we combine data on sexual abuse during childhood and eventual relationship problems," Daigneault said. Male survivors of childhood sexual abuse are three times more likely to be victims of physical abuse as men. However, too few men reported sexual abuse as adults to establish a statistically significant correlation.
Oh what the FUCK!!! How does one not know that they are performing an indecent act on a four yr old???? And, ok, supposing you are so drunk you are not aware of what you are doing....how can you then call it an accident? No matter how drunk you are you can tell the difference between a 4 yr old and an adult....but even then you shouldn’t be performing an indecent act on ANYONE regardless of age!! OMG...what is this world coming to.....
Comedian says incident was drunken accident
By JONATHAN MARSHALL - Sunday Star TimesLast updated 05:00 20/12/2009
Share Print Text Size Related Links: Comics' fury at sex case taint
A prominent entertainer charged with sexually abusing a young girl after leaving a media Christmas party says he did so by accident.
The man, who has appeared on TV comedy shows, and whose name is suppressed, appeared in Auckland District Court on Tuesday to face a single charge of unlawful sexual connection against a child under 12. The alleged offending occurred earlier this month.
The Sunday Star-Times has learnt the man has engaged top criminal barrister Marie Dyhrberg and will defend the charge on the grounds he "did not know" he was performing an indecent act on the four-year-old girl.
The man has told friends he was drunk when he left the Christmas party.
After the alleged incident, a woman complained to police and the comedian was arrested the next day.
The man has been bailed to live at the home of another media personality, who told the Star-Times his friend was "scared" but "trying to keep his spirits up".
"He's trying to remain calm and confident that he will clear his name. All of his friends know he is innocent and would not be capable of this," the personality said. Another friend said that even if the comedian were to get off the charge, his career "is over".
"His career has been ruined by this, there is no doubt about it. How could he possibly come back when people know about this?
"The allegations have spread like wildfire; everybody knows who he is, even though his name is suppressed."
At this early stage of the case, it is normal for an accused on such charges to get name suppression.
Comedian Mike King said he had been inundated with text messages and telephone calls from people asking if he was the entertainer charged.
King said he knew the comedian well. "I have always thought he was a nice guy, always very friendly."
The comedian will reappear in court on January 5. His bail conditions meant he had to hand over his passport and he was not to associate with any person under the age of 16 unless he is supervised by an adult who is not a Crown witness.
A spokesman for the network on which the entertainer has appeared yesterday refused to comment on the company's response to the charge, or whether it would take any action in relation to the allegations.
The personality last night wanted to speak to the Star-Times about the alleged offending, but his lawyer advised him against it.
Gee, when I read this, I thought WOW, great they caught jackass pedophile! This man is 21, as an adult he KNOWS that he should not be texting with 12,13, & 14 year olds; much less convincing them to meet with him for sex.
Please be sure to read the comments by readers that I have picked out and placed below the article along with my comments to them....
Cedar City man arrested on child rape, sodomy charges
BY NUR KAUSAR • nkausar@thespectrum.com • November 25, 2009
CEDAR CITY-Police arrested a Cedar City man Monday on multiple sex-related charges related to reports made by two female middle school students in September.
Cedar City police booked Andrew Wayne Jensen, 21, 293 N. 1500 West, into Iron County Jail on three counts of sodomy on a child, one count of rape of a child and one count of forcible sexual abuse after interviews and a confession from Jensen that the incidents occurred, according to a CCPD report.
Invest-igators became aware of the alleged incidents in September when officials at Canyon View Middle School noted two girls were not in their scheduled classes, according to the report.
Later that day, the two students returned and were questioned as to their whereabouts, according to the report.
During questioning, police learned of an alleged meeting between Jensen and the two girls, ages 13 and 14 years old.
Canyon View Middle School Principal Conrad Aitken said Tuesday that teachers take roll every hour during school, and if a student is missing during the day, an attendance secretary notifies administrators and a resource officer is called for a search.
CCPD Sgt. J.R. Robinson said he could not confirm who initially questioned the two students, but that both told officers about their involvement with Jensen, leading to his interview.
Jensen confirmed the original information given to officers by the girls, and confessed to an additional unreported incident of sexual abuse involving another 12-year-old girl, Robinson said.
Robinson could not confirm if the third girl also attends Canyon View Middle School, but noted that the incident between her and Jensen occurred just days before the reported incidents with the other two students.
Police also interviewed the third girl to corroborate information before making the arrest, Robinson said.
Robinson noted that Jensen is not involved with Canyon View Middle and does not live near the school, but CCPD has information that the girls knew Jensen from social gatherings and through text messaging.
"They had been text messaging back and forth prior to this - it wasn't just happenstance that he picked these girls," Robinson said. "Clearly, he was in place he shouldn't have been with people he shouldn't have been with."
Jensen has no prior sex offenses and could face 15 years to life for the first-degree felony rape and sodomy charges and one to 15 years for sexual abuse if found guilty.
Cedar City man arrested on child rape, sodomy charges | thespectrum.com | The Spectrum
The comments from readers of this article are what I am referring to in the title of this post. Here are a couple examples:
Deist wrote:
This is so very, very sad, on every side of the issue.
11/25/2009 9:48:38 A
How is this sad on every side? This is only sad for the victims!!
And, then later the same person writes:
Deist wrote:
If parents aren't educating them about sex and the consequences who will? Did any of these kids know the seriousness of their actions? Did they have any clue this is a federal offense and punishable by a whole lifetime? I'm trying to imagine who I would rather be the parent of. The victims or the perpatrator?
11/25/2009 12:14:42 PM
How would these children know this was a federal offense? Or, better yet why should they have to know this? A grown man spent time grooming them through texting and then took advantage of their ages and their innocence! It was HIS responsibility to know this was wrong!! I think most pedophiles do actually know what they are doing is wrong...they just don’t care and think that they will never get caught because their victims are too young to know the complete ‘wrongness’ of what is going on...or in some cases they are threatened so that they won’t tell anyone.
Oh and this one just made me laugh:
christtempleministry081210031212 wrote:
This is what the Satanic hard rock groups music is promoting, “Do what you will.”
11/25/2009 10:16:56 AM
Are you still in the 80’s? Rock music, nor any other kind of music, makes a pedophile be a pedophile! Plain and simple!
My comments and thought below in red...emphasis is mine as well.
Police are less likely to believe a rape victim if she lives in a deprived area, according to a report.
So, we don’t believe poor women....WHY not??
The report, "Rape: The Victim Experience Review", used interviews and focus groups with victims, police officers and prosecutors.
Read the report “Rape: The Victim Experience Review”
Campaigner and report author Sara Payne found victims who had been drinking, had criminal histories or previously made allegations could face scepticism.
She concluded that "effective" policies are "not being universally adhered to".
The review of how the criminal justice system deals with rape complaints identified a number of inconsistencies.
It found victims were often made to feel "ashamed and responsible" when they came into contact with official agencies and called for a campaign to change attitudes and educate the public about rape.
I think we see this attitude towards rape in the US also. The victims of rape and sexual assault are generally shunned by friends and family. People need to be educated on the fact that it is not the victims fault! Only rapists can stop rape!!
Victims of any crime need to feel that they are taken seriously and that they are supported to overcome the impact a crime has had on them . ~Sara Payne
It also said women who do not appear visibly upset by their ordeal may also have their rape allegations questioned.
For a good explanation of how victims of sexual assault process in their minds what has just happened to them read: “How the brain regulates emotion after experiencing violent assault”. Some are in such shock they may not display any emotion right afterwards and some may have experienced similar traumas and become numb to it to protect themselves from further mental anguish.
Some serving police officers said some of their colleagues did not deal with allegations in the way they should.
The report stated: "Officers... can be sceptical of victims for numerous reasons, such as when the victim had been drinking, had made previous allegations, were from a certain area, had an offending history themselves, or simply because they did not behave in the way they would expect a victim to behave."
This just re-victimizes the victim in a whole new way and is akin to victim blaming.
Mrs Payne urged senior officers and prosecutors to crack down on "poor attitudes", and said there was a need for adequate training on how to deal with victims.
More training may help some; however making officers personally responsible for their individual decisions would go a long way in preventing this type of behavior from the officers.
Victim support
The report's author called for funding for rape help centres and for schools to encourage "healthy relationships".
Mrs Payne said: "There is inconsistent treatment of victims of rape by criminal justice agencies.
"Everyone who contributed to the review broadly agreed that effective policy and procedures were in place but that they are not being universally adhered to.
"Victims of any crime need to feel that they are taken seriously and that they are supported to overcome the impact a crime has had on them."
In January Mrs Payne was appointed to the one-year post of Victims' Champion to provide an independent voice to the more than 1.5 million victims and witnesses of crime each year.
Mrs Payne's daughter Sarah, eight, was murdered by a paedophile.
BBC News - Police 'sceptical of rape victims from poor areas'
What in the world is wrong with people????
McDonald's liable in employee's sexual assault case: Court
Posted On: Nov. 24, 2009 2:25 PM CENTRAL
FRANKFORT, Ky.—McDonald’s Corp. is liable in the sexual assault case of an employee detained by supervisors who were following the instructions of a prank caller pretending to be a police officer, a Kentucky appeals court has ruled.
Friday’s ruling in McDonald’s Corp. vs. Louise Ogborn upholds a jury award of $1.1 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages for the plaintiff’s sexual harassment, false imprisonment, premise liability and negligence claims.
The ruling stems from a 2004 incident in which an unknown individual telephoned the Mount Washington, Ky., restaurant where Ms. Ogborn worked. He claimed to be a police officer investigating a purse or wallet theft.
During the three-hour ordeal, the caller convinced an assistant manager to take Ms. Ogborn’s clothes while she was held in a back office. The caller also convinced the assistant manager to recruit her fiancé to watch over Ms. Ogborn.
While the assistant manager left the room, the fiancé sexually assaulted Ms. Ogborn, court records state.
McDonald’s appealed the jury award. It argued, among other factors, that the exclusive remedy under workers compensation barred Ms. Ogborn’s lawsuit.
The appeals court disagreed. It found that McDonald’s knew of 30 hoax telephone calls placed to its restaurants between 1994 and 2004, including several calls to Kentucky restaurants, in which the caller convinced managers and employees to conduct strip searches and sexual assaults.
The evidence supports a reasonable conclusion that McDonald’s corporate management consciously decided not to warn and train store managers and employees about the calls, the appeals court found.
Original found here: McDonald's liable in employee's sexual assault case: Court | Business Insurance
I will limit my comments on this to two points I’d like to make...
The first being, this guy is the prime example why we need stronger laws and longer prison terms for sex offenders.
The second being, the police response to reports from the past victims and their families is a prime example why police need more training and to be held responsible for their negligence.
CLEVELAND — Suspected serial killer Anthony Sowell seemed like a "civilized person" on the April evening that Tanja Doss went up to his third-floor bedroom for a beer — until, she said, he leapt up and began choking her and threatening to kill her.
The 43-year-old woman told The Associated Press on Thursday that she survived a night of terror through a combination of calm and cajoling, prayer and trickery. But when she escaped the next morning, she didn't tell police. Her past conviction on a drug charge, she said, made it unlikely they'd take her seriously.
"Now, I feel bad about it," she said, "because my best friend might be one of the bodies."
Police and a cadaver dog re-entered the home Thursday where Sowell apparently lived among the reeking, rotting corpses of 10 women and the paper-wrapped skull of another in a basement bucket. The ex-Marine, who served 15 years in prison for attempted rape, is being held without bail on five aggravated murder charges.
Just days after her own escape, Doss was helping search for her friend Nancy Cobbs. Now Cobbs is among about two dozen missing women whose friends and family fear fell victim to Sowell.
Only two victims have been identified so far — Tonia Carmichael, 52, of Warrensville Heights and Telacia Fortson, 31, of Cleveland.
Doss believes she only narrowly escaped the fate of those dug up from Sowell's yard.
She had met Sowell in 2005, after his prison release, but didn't know the real reason for his sentence. She found him to be "a civilized person, sitting outside drinking beer, a nice person." So she didn't hesitate to join him for a drink.
"And then he just clicked. I'm sitting on the corner of the bed and he just leaped up and came over and started choking me," she said. Shocked, Doss said she lay back and tried not to struggle. "He said, 'If you want to live, knock three times on the floor.' And I knocked on the floor."
Still holding her throat, he told her using several profanities that she could be "dead in the street" and no one would care.
Sowell made her strip and lay on the bed, she said, but did not attempt to rape her. Doss said she curled up in a ball and tried to talk him down, saying things like, "Why you gotta act like that?"
Then she prayed to herself, and eventually, both fell asleep. She awoke in the morning with Sowell acting as if nothing had happened, she said, asking whether she wanted something from the store.
She picked up her cell phone and pretended to call her daughter, then claimed her granddaughter had the flu. When Sowell left for the store, she went in the other direction.
She didn't report the confrontation because "my background ain't squeaky clean," she said.
Now, it's all she can think about.
"It goes through my mind all the time," she said. "Every time I think about it, I start shaking."
When Cobbs disappeared — four days after her 44th birthday on April 20 — Doss didn't think about Sowell as she helped search abandoned buildings and post fliers.
It wasn't until Monday, three days after bodies had begun turning up, that Doss finally went to police.
Sowell also faces charges of rape, felonious assault and kidnapping after a Sept. 22 attack on a woman at his home. A message left with the county public defender's office was not returned Thursday.
Near Sowell's home, a plywood memorial hangs from a chain link fence, the word MISSING stenciled in black. Five stuffed animals and an artificial rose adorn the sign, which holds fliers showing 13 missing women and three men.
The fliers reflects not just fears that their bodies might be on Sowell's property, but also community members' frustrations with how they say police treat missing-persons reports from their downtrodden neighborhood.
Some of the missing are women who lived on society's fringe. Some were active or recovering drug users. Some had gone to jail, producing criminal records their families believe are the reason police didn't take their disappearances seriously.
Cleveland City Councilman Zach Reed, at a rally with two dozen clergy members, said people should stop stereotyping those who might have ended up in Sowell's house of horrors.
"I want us to stop this conversation that they were crackheads, they were this and that," he said. "They were people."
Michelle Mason lived near Sowell's neighborhood and rarely went longer than two days without talking to her family. After a few days of silence in October 2008, the family went to police.
"Because my sister had a prior arrest history, they kind of didn't take it seriously," Mary Mason said.
But Michelle Mason had stopped collecting and cashing her Social Security checks. Before her disappearance, she had just paid her rent and her cell phone bill. Her apartment was left as if she intended to return.
"We tried to convince them with everything in us that this was not normal, and they tried to convince with everything they had that it was," Mary Mason said.
On a second visit to police, Michelle Mason's sons were told there are "thousands of Michelles in the city," and that officers didn't have the time or the manpower to hunt for them all.
"It was taken almost as a joke, that she was just this kind of person. Her drug use was years behind her. But they pull her up on that computer, and they say, 'She's a nobody,'" Mary Mason said. "She's not a nobody."
Associated Press writers John Seewer and Tom Sheeran contributed to this report.
Related articles
- Ohio murder suspect denied bail
BBC News - 1 day ago- Anthony Sowell case: 2 more victims of suspected Cleveland serial killer ...
Examiner.com - 16 hours ago- First Victim Identified: Family Mourns -->
Cleveland News - Fox 8 - 1 day ago- More coverage (4931) »
The Associated Press: Ohio woman: I got away from serial killing suspect
This one guy, Strachan, has already served time in jail for abusing a boy AND he is HIV positive AND he attempted to rape an 18 month old AND he sexually assaulted a six year old.....he gets a minimum of 16 years in prison....WTF?!?!? He should get life, ya know....just in case the HIV doesn’t kill him!
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/edinburgh_and_east/8331388.stm
Rennie (left) and Strachan had denied being involved in the abuse network
The two men at the centre of Scotland's largest known child abuse network have been jailed for life.
Neil Strachan, 41, attempted to rape an 18-month-old boy while 38-year-old James Rennie sexually assaulted a three-month-old.
Strachan was sentenced to a minimum of 16 years in prison, while Rennie was ordered to serve at least 13 years.
Six other men had already been sentenced for their involvement in the network.
Strachan and Rennie, both from Edinburgh, were also found guilty after a 10-week trial of conspiring to get access to children in order to abuse them, while Strachan was convicted of a further charge of sexually assaulting a six-year-old boy.
Strachan, who is HIV positive, has already served a three-year prison sentence in 1997 for abusing a boy. Rennie was the chief executive of LGBT Youth Scotland, which offered advice to young gay and lesbian people.
Passing sentence on the pair, judge Lord Bannatyne referred to Strachan's abuse of the 18-month-old boy, which was captured in a photograph known as the "Hogmanay image".
The judge told Strachan: "By its very nature, what is shown in that photograph is utterly appalling and would shock to the core any right-minded person who has had to see it.
"Over and above that, this offence involves the most gross level of breach of trust. You were invited into a house, treated as a friend of the family, and then entrusted with their child.
"You then breached that trust in the way shown in the 'Hogmanay image' in order to satisfy your base sexual interests. This, in my judgment, can be properly described as a dreadful crime."
Lord Bannatyne said Rennie had also betrayed the trust of the parents of his victim to a "truly appalling" extent.
More suspects
The judge said Rennie was at the heart of the conspiracy to abuse youngsters and likened him to a spider weaving an electronic web to bring about his crime.
Co-accused Colin Slaven, 23, from Edinburgh; Neil Campbell, 46, John Milligan, 40, and John Murphy, 44, all from Glasgow; Ross Webber, 27, from North Berwick in East Lothian; and Craig Boath, 24, from Dundee, were also convicted of various offences.
They were given prison sentences of between two and 17 years.
The men had been arrested during the Operation Algebra police investigation, which uncovered nearly 125,000 indecent images of children.
Operation Algebra also uncovered dozens more suspects around the country and worldwide, many of whom have already been charged.
The investigation was sparked by a single indecent image of a naked 11-year-old which was found on paint company engineer Strachan's computer when it was sent for repair.
Detectives discovered that Strachan and Rennie had filmed themselves sexually abusing children before distributing the images over the internet.
The two paedophiles had been trusted by the children's parents to look after the children.
Lothian and Borders Police said their inquiry had led to more than 200 suspected paedophiles being identified internationally, and at least 70 in the UK.
Detectives have said there were further suspects in Scotland as well as Avon and Somerset; Devon and Cornwall; Merseyside; South Wales; West Midlands; Sussex; Essex; London; Thames Valley; and Hampshire.
Speaking after the sentencing, Morag McLaughlin, procurator fiscal for Lothian and Borders, said recent advances in technology were making it easier for the police to bring child abusers to justice.
She added: "It is clear from the evidence in this case that the accused saw no limits on how far they would share, exploit and abuse children in order to satisfy their own horrific sexual gratification.
"However, our specialist prosecutors will use the constantly improving technology available to the police to stop and bring to court those who think they are hidden by the anonymity of the internet.
"The conspiracy charge in this case showed the extent of the accused's common intent, and ensured that they could be punished not only for what they did, but what they planned to do."
BBC NEWS | UK | Scotland | Edinburgh, East and Fife | Abuse network ringleaders jailed
I am glad that the little boy doesn’t have to testify and relive that nightmare! I agree too with the father, it is nice to know the judge cared enough to ask how the little was doing; and yes let’s hope the judge keeps this little boy in mind when handing down sentencing!
By CBC News
Pierre Defoy, accused of snatching an eight-year-old boy from a Quebec City suburb, pleaded guilty Friday to kidnapping, forcible confinement and sexual assault.
The parents of a boy who was kidnapped in broad daylight last year say they are relieved their son won't have to testify in a trial.
The man accused of taking the boy, Pierre Defoy, pleaded guilty on Friday in Superior Court in Quebec City to kidnapping, forcible confinement and sexual assault.
The boy's mother, who cannot be named in order to protect the identity of her son, said she relives the trauma of what happened last year every time she sees Defoy.
She sat at the front of the courtroom Friday as Defoy entered guilty pleas on three of the six charges he was facing. The other three charges included a child pornography possession charge that the Crown agreed to drop.
In July 2008, Defoy grabbed the eight-year-old boy in broad daylight near the family's home in Lévis, south of Quebec City, and put him in the trunk of his car. Defoy then drove to Quebec City.
Less than 30 minutes later, a witness, Ryan Murphy, was sitting in traffic when he saw the trunk of the car stopped ahead of him pop open. Murphy caught a glimpse of a boy in the trunk before the car sped off. He followed the car to an apartment building, where the driver took the boy inside.
Murphy called police, who found the boy bound, gagged and locked inside a nearly-empty heating oil tank in the basement.
The boy's father said he's relieved details of the attack won't have to go before a judge and said he is grateful the judge asked how his son was doing. The father added he hopes the judge will remain that concerned about his son when the judge decides on Defoy's sentencing.
Crown prosecutor Valérie Lahaie said it's too early to say what kind of sentence she'll request. The maximum penalty for kidnapping is life imprisonment.
Since I just posted about rape and child sexual abuse....I thought this an appropriate follow up to that. I applaud PM Tusk for his stance on this! Please note that the highlighted sections below are what I am highlighting in this...
WARSAW (Reuters) – Poland on Friday approved a law making chemical castration mandatory for pedophiles in some cases, sparking criticism from human rights groups.
Under the law, sponsored by Poland's center-right government, pedophiles convicted of raping children under the age of 15 years or a close relative would have to undergo chemical therapy on their release from prison.
"The purpose of this action is to improve the mental health of the convict, to lower his libido and thereby to reduce the risk of another crime being committed by the same person," the government said in a statement.
Prime Minister Donald Tusk said late last year he wanted obligatory castration for pedophiles, whom he branded 'degenerates'. Tusk said he did not believe "one can use the term 'human' for such individuals, such creatures."
"Therefore I don't think protection of human rights should refer to these kind of events," Tusk also said.
His remarks drew criticism from human rights groups but he never retracted them.
"Introducing any mandatory treatment raises doubts as such a requirement is never reasonable and life can always produce cases that lawmakers could never have even dreamt of," said Piotr Kladoczny from the Helsinki Foundation of Human Rights.
"If somebody is of sound mind, we punish him. If he is sick, we try to cure him -- that's how it works in Polish law. This bill introduces both approaches. As far as I know, this makes our law the strictest in Europe on this issue," Kladoczny said.
The bill, which also increases prison sentences for rape and incest, must still be approved by the upper chamber of parliament. This is seen as a formality as Tusk's Civic Platform party holds a majority of its 100 seats.
(Reporting by Gabriela Baczynska; Editing by Louise Ireland)
Poland okays forcible castration for pedophiles - Yahoo! News
I have been thinking on this....you know those adult women whose fathers locked up when they were kids and have raped them ever since....no media outlet has referred to any of those as consensual....but, how are they any different than this with MacKenzie? Their fathers kept them locked up in rooms and her's kept her locked up in a drug induced stupor...what's the difference....I can't even begin to think I know enough about how any of them feel to analyze which scenario is worse....but dammit it was all rape and rape can not be fucking consensual...
I am appalled at our society and how it has taken on this “blame the victim” stance on EVERYTHING! I am not just talking about incest and rape, DV or child abuse...I am talking about everything! Why are we never asking the perpetrators why they did what they did? Rather than always asking the ‘why’ question of the victim, we should be gathering up the perps and making THEM accountable for their reasons. I know in this situation we can’t make this man responsible for his actions.
Because I can tell you this...there is no defense on this planet that is a good enough excuse for raping your own daughter! Period. I don’t care how you look at it, this is a horrible crime and so many of these so called ‘dads’ (term used so loosely, please read sperm donor) get by with this daily!! Kids should not have to wait until they are adults to report their fathers raping them. Or worse yet, in the case of the grown women that have been held captive for years by their fathers, they should not have had to wait all those years to be rescued.
When adult children do speak out about what happened to them as children, they are mostly met with much disbelief and blaming. Why? Because, raping our own children has become such a great past time in the world and the people with the power to put an end to this don’t want to give up the gig! Here I am referring to the men who are raping their own kids!
Anyway...that was my little rant...read this from The Sexist
Sexist Beatdown: “Consensual Incest” And John Phillips Fanboys Edition
Posted by Amanda Hess on Sep. 25, 2009, at 9:27 am
“Ill tell you what the backlash is: You were old enough to know better.”MacKenzie Phillips, daughter of Mamas & the Papas scribe John Phillips, star of One Day at a Time, daughter of Alexandria, Va., appeared on Oprah this week to tell the world that her father raped her for a decade.
Let’s see how Wikipedia treats such a revelation, on MacKenzie Phillips’ page: “According to an article in People magazine, she alleges in the book that at the age of 19, on the night before her first wedding, she ‘woke up that night from a blackout to find [herself] having sex with [her] own father’; both reportedly were under the influence of drugs at the time. Afterwards an incestuous relationship developed, lasting ten years.”
And in
John Phillips’ Wikipedia page: “In September 2009, John’s daughter Mackenzie Phillips alleged in a new memoir, High on Arrival, that she and her father had a consentual ten-year incestuous relationship. She stated that the relationship began when she was 19 years old in 1979, after Philips raped her while they were both under the influence of heavy narcotics on the eve of her first marriage.”Woah woah woah! Did you see how they just dropped that “consensual” in there?
Whoever is editing MacKenzie’s page decided to leave consent issues out of it—the relationship “developed.” But editors of John Phillips’ Wikipedia page want to make sure that readers know the father-daughter incestuous relationship was totally mutual. The most recent contributor to the page decided to remove some scare quotes around the world “consensual.” Others have tried to scrub the whole incest thing out of his profile. One announced that they both “had planned to go burn in Hell together,” as blame should be distributed equally between a horrifically abusive father and his child. (Note: It’s not all rape apologists over at John’s page. Another contributor keeps editing Phillips’ “Occupation” to read “Musician, Rapist”).
So! Join me and Sady of Tiger Beatdown as we attempt to edit the Wikipedia pages of OUR MINDS to stop blaming the victim and start
SADY: oh, say, have you heard of any fairly famous stories of abuse and sexual assault that people are spinning in a totally alarmingly rape-culturey way lately? because I HAVE!
AMANDA: wait … you mean the consensual incest?
SADY: ha ha, YEAH. i played a little game, the day that story broke. it was called, How Many Headlines Are Not Totally Fucked Up?
AMANDA: how many!
SADY: here is your answer: i found two that were not! one was on MTV news and it read: “Mackenzie Phillips Claims Her Father Raped, Drugged Her.” one was on E! and it read, “Mackenzie Phillips: I Was Raped By My Father.” now! you could find some problems with these headlines! BUT, every other source was like “Mackenzie Phillips Confesses Sex Affair With Dad.” leaving out the part where it became “consensual” after several rapes.[Note: Huffington Post has done pretty well on this too
AMANDA: and the part where it never becomes “consensual”! because it never can be! i was interested the differences in the media coverage of this incident and the Phillip Garrido incident. there’s a whole lot we don’t know about that situation, but whenever “sex” is mentioned between Garrido and his kidnapee, it’s usually at least referred to as rape. because you can’t kidnap a person and rape them and then raise them as your child/wife and have that slowly blossom into a consensual relationship. and this is the same thing, except—you can’t rate tragedies, but i’m gonna—worse? because he is the man with the responsibility to raise his child and he kidnapped her from her childhood and drugged her and raped her for decades.
SADY: yeah. i mean, here’s the thing. this reminded me a lot of anais nin, who started having “consensual” sex with her father as an adult. BUT: she also struggled to figure out whether these memories of him molesting her as a child were real or distorted or what (a PRETTY common thing for kids, who have trouble making sense of memories of molestation) and there’s no doubt that he was abusive to her in other ways. and, like, these are different cases. phillips’ started out, unambiguously, as sexual assault, and she named it as such. but then – here’s a thing i think is tricky to articulate so IF I FUCK UP TELL ME – it became “consensual,” to HER, but arose out of this context of abuse and drugs where she basically didn’t have the option of NOT being victimized in this way. like, i think that the whole “compliance is not consent” thing is important to articulate, because sometimes people tell themselves that what is happening is consensual just to deal with the fact that they don’t have an option of it NOT happening.
AMANDA: definitely. because even if you leave that relationship, that means severing one of the most important relationships in your life, your relationship with your father. and that’s not a real choice. especially when your father has been emotionally and physically—so many drugs!—prepping you to consent to this shit since age 10
SADY: right. exactly. it’s a thing a lot of people struggle with, whether it’s abusive family relationships or (HEY!) rape culture: when you’re receiving constant information to the effect that how you are treated is normal and OK and excusable, you – you, yourself! – may have trouble articulating that what was done to you was not OK.
AMANDA: i didn’t watch the oprah interview, but i was dismayed to hear how it went down. Oprah, as many know, was raped as a child as well. she’s interviewed a lot of victims of sexual assault on her show, and I think that’s great. but there’s still this very obvious manipulation of the interview for the general public – silently judging for Phillips continuing to GET RAPED after she turned 18, etc.
SADY: right. but her take can be sort of sensationalistic. and i have a problem with the Oprah Face – it’s something she does a lot in interviews, this thing of Making The Face You Imagine Your Audience To Be Making – so she looks “scandalized” when what is said is “scandalous” or etc.
AMANDA: yeah. and it’s so weird in a situation like this, because the news of this years-long abuse just hangs there. where do you go with it? it’s just objectively awful and terrible, but interviewers have tried to spice it up a little bit by judging which parts were most awful, and which parts were maybe her fault
SADY: actually, can i tell you my FAVORITE reactions? they were really special! and did not come from oprah!
AMANDA: sure!
SADY: my FAVORITE reactions have been those that are like, “this is so horrible! for my ENJOYMENT OF THE MUSIC OF JOHN PHILIPS!” which is closely tied to the Should She Have Said Anything At All? Maybe Not! debate, but that is fairly predictable and pedestrian silencing, whereas this – THIS! – demonstrates a bold and innovative approach to making the issues secondary to your own personal comfort.
AMANDA: i know. how is that even related? i’m reading a story about surviving rape, why the fuck do i care if someone does or does not like the mamas and the papas?
SADY: but that’s the thing! and this happens so often in cases of celebrity abuse. like, i believe that, when you and i discussed the chris brown and rihanna thing, you pointed out that a lot of people who covered it were just coming off a post where they drew jizz on a star’s face or whatever to express disapproval.
AMANDA: yeah.
SADY: when something like this is treated as a “celebrity story” (which it is, to some extent) rather than a story about sexual violence (which it is, to a larger extent, I would argue) there’s going to be lazy or uneducated or insensitive coverage. which isn’t to say that everyone in the whole wide world who writes about celebrities is lazy or uneducated or insensitive, because that’s blatantly untrue, but that people who don’t know shit are going to write their piece too.
AMANDA: and on that note: with this story in particular, i find the “Think of the Children” defense extremely bizarre. I mean, what kid is going to be reading and/or caring about news about John and Mackenzie Phillips? I barely knew who she was before I heard about this. If a parent had to explain incest or rape to a child because of this news (and ooooh, talking to your kid about abuse is such a baaad thing), they’re first going to have to explain who the fuck these people are, right?
SADY: yeah. totally true! but, i mean, speaking of talking about abuse… the reactions that have been like, “why did she tell us ewww” or “but what of my record collection?” have been rare(ish) and call-out-able.
AMANDA: Except from her own family! Bonus reaction of her step-mother, who was married to John at the time: “John was a good man who had the disease of alcoholism and drug addiction,” the statement read. “He was incapable, no matter how drunk or drugged he was, of having such a relationship with his own child.”
SADY: “Mackenzie has a lot of mental illness. She’s had a needle stuck up her arm for 35 years.”
AMANDA: I mean, the statement isn’t even like, “i had no awareness of this happening,” but rather, “he couldn’t have done this, he was too good!”
SADY: right! the drug abuse and mental health issues have NOTHING to do with potential trauma! she’s just a freakshow! also, john was cool!
AMANDA: yeah. SHE did a lot of drugs, so she can’t be trusted. HE did even more drugs, so he can’t be a rapist. it all makes sense!
SADY: i mean… on some level? because my heart is full of twinkly stars and daisies and unicorn dust? i want to see how this HUGE story, which is playing out in public and is right in front of everyone’s face, can actually illuminate for people how victim-blaming and misunderstandings of consent can work. like, with the family turning on her. and the accusations that she just wants attention. and the minimizing of the word “rape” and widespread use of the word “sex.” these things are so common in MUCH SMALLER STORIES and i want to believe that seeing them, and seeing a conversation around them, is going to show people how fucked-up they are.
AMANDA: i’ll believe it when i see it
SADY: yeah. i mean, what’s typically going to happen is that voices who call shit out are going to be called fringe and unreasonable and mean and blah de blee blah bloo. but, you know. people are talking about incest now. and what with how little we all seem to get about it, given how it’s been covered? i hope to God at least some of us are going to REALIZE how little we get it, and move in the getting-it direction.
AMANDA: i agree that that much will probably happen. i hope.
Note: Cross posted from (blogger angelzfury) Anonymoms (we are everywhere).
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Posted September 23, 2009
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Note: Cross posted from (blogger angelzfury) Anonymoms (we are everywhere).
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Filed under: Child Custody Issues Battered Women
Some 750,000 paedophiles prowling Internet: UN
Published: Wednesday September 16, 2009
Some 750,000 sexual predators are constantly prowling the Internet in a bid to gain contact with children, a United Nations report warned on Wednesday.
"The number of sites devoted to child pornography worldwide is growing. The number of predators connected to the Internet at any one time is estimated to be 750,000," said Najat Maala, Special Rapporteur on the child prostitution and child pornography issue.
Unicef also estimates there are more than four million websites featuring minors, including those of children aged under two years.
More than 200 new images are also circulated daily, according to Maala, who pointed out the production and distribution of child pornographic images rakes in between 3 and 20 billion dollars (2.04 and 13.62 billion euros) a year.
"Images of sexually exploited children are not only growing in number but are also increasingly shocking," added Maala, who estimates that between 10,000 and 100,000 minors are victims of the child pornography network.
She noted that the age of sexual consent should not be used as an excuse for child pornographic peddlers -- as it is used in places where this age limit is lower than the definition of who constitutes a minor.
This is because a "child under 18 cannot be considered to be able to consent to sexual exploitation, including child pornography," she added.
The Raw Story | Some 750,000 paedophiles prowling Internet: UN
From The Sunday Times
August 30, 2009
Bojan Pancevski
HOW did he manage to get away with it for so long? The people of Antioch, California, will be asking themselves this as details emerge of the horrific alleged crimes of Phillip Garrido that have been unfolding in their midst.
It is the same question still being asked in Amstetten in Austria more than a year after it emerged that Josef Fritzl had raped and incarcerated his daughter and fathered seven children with her, all in the cellar of his home on a busy road in the town centre. And perhaps in Gloucester, where Fred and Rosemary West murdered at least 12 young women at their house in the 1970s and 1980s.
In Garrido’s case, some commentators have attempted to put the community’s lack of suspicion down to a modern sense of alienation from society or, alternatively, to California’s traditional tolerance of unorthodox behaviour. In a culture whose perception is satiated by the excesses of reality television, goes the argument, the reality of one’s own backyard blurs into insignificance.
The phenomenon is not rooted in any one culture: crimes ranging from those of the Wests in the UK to those of the paedophile Marc Dutroux in Belgium and similar cases in Japan, Russia and Brazil testify to that.
What many of these cases have in common is the apparent failure of law enforcement agencies to exercise basic scrutiny. The California police — who are calling Garrido’s pathetic makeshift prison a “compo... More click here: How evil goes undetected in our midst - Times Online
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