Child sexual abuse lawsuit filed against school board - Newssun

SEBRING -- A federal lawsuit was filed against The School Board of Highlands County and school employee Maria Gonzalez Wednesday morning in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida.

The lawsuit was filed by the Miami based firm of Herman, Mermelstein, Horowitz, P.A. on behalf of the family of a teenager who was sexually abused at an after-school daycare program

In 2011, then 10 years old, the victim, called Jane Doe in the lawsuit, attended the after-care program at Lake Country Elementary School in Lake Placid.

According to a press release issued by the attorneys, the lawsuit claims that the girl was sexually abused multiple times between 2008 and 2010 by Orestes Gonzalez, the husband of school nurse and after-care supervisor Maria Gonzalez. Orestes Gonzalez was not a school employee and was not authorized to be with school children.

» Please click here to read the full article....

Florida
New Florida Law “Protection of Vulnerable Persons

Today’s Wall Street Journal had an excellent and exciting post. It read in part: “In the wake of the child abuse cover-up scandals at Penn State and Syracuse that rocked the nation last year, Florida has enacted the most expansive abuse reporting law and the nation’s toughest penalties for failing to report abuse. Florida Gov. Rick Scott today signed into law Florida HB 1355, “Protection of Vulnerable Persons,” which imposes a fine of up to $1 million on any public or private college or university whose administration or law enforcement agency willfully and knowingly fails to report child abuse that occurs on its campus, in any of its facilities, or at/during college or university-sponsored events and functions.”

The shock of Penn State last year galvanized a nation to produce new and better legislation, with stronger penalties. People who have never experienced child sexual abuse and/or do not know anyone who has, is becoming a rarity. One out of four girls and one out of six boys is the current figure. This is the most dreaded of our social diseases is occurring in pandemic proportions. It is estimated that there are 60 to 80 million survivors of childhood sexual abuse in America today.

We need an army! We must all stand together so that none must stand alone. Learn the signs of child sexual abuse. The Internet is abound with non-profit organizations that are fighting back.

Texas, San Antonio
Sex abuse survivor shares tale of despair -
She helped get law to protect young victims.

Jenna Quinn is a sex abuse survivor who turned her painful experience into triumph in the form of Jenna's Law - a 2009 Texas statute that requires school districts to educate students, teachers and parents on the signs of child sexual abuse.

On Thursday, Quinn, 25, addressed some 300 attendees at a luncheon during an annual conference put on by ChildSafe, a local nonprofit that helps more than 1,700 victims of child abuse each year.

Quinn, who lives in Dallas, told the crowd her dark tale of despair that ends with a message of redemption.

“I felt trapped,” she said, talking of her pain while the abuse was going on. “I felt isolated, confused, fearful but most of all shameful. Every victim feels a false sense of shame, but they don't do anything to bring the abuse on.”

Her pain started when she was 12 and the child molester — her basketball coach and a longtime friend of her family — began “grooming” her.  “He was like a father to me,” Quinn said. “Our families went on vacations and holidays together.”

The man — a pillar of the community and regular church member — disclosed sexual things to her, warning she had to keep their talks secret or it would destroy both families. Two years later, he began physically sexually abusing her, torment that would go on for two more years.

Over four years, the once-popular teen withdrew from life, growing distant from family and friends, overeating in hopes of making herself unattractive, cutting her ankles with a knife, hardly sleeping. Her grades dropped. Eventually Quinn made preparations to commit suicide.

Baffled, her parents took her from doctor to doctor. Not one brought up the possibility of sexual abuse.  Finally, in 2003, Quinn told an insistent older sister what was going on. Her family closed ranks around her.  “I'm lucky,” she said. “Many victims don't get any support within the family.”

Found guilty, the perpetrator was sentenced to 20 years in prison.

Quinn and her family thought life would resume normally after that, but her depression and post-traumatic stress disorder increased as suppressed feelings about the abuse surfaced.

While she was doing an internship for a degree in psychology, Quinn learned the statistics: One in four girls and one in six boys will be molested before age 18.

“Thirty percent of victims never disclose to anyone,” she said. “I thought: Where are children all day? They're in school.”

Quinn decided to act.

The result was Jenna's Law. Besides mandating awareness programs in schools, the law requires districts to have a plan to report abuse and offer counseling options to victims.

OH, Jefferson County
Alarming Amount of Child Abuse Cases in Jefferson County

Staggering statistics have come in on the number of children who are being sexually abused in Jefferson County.

Sheriff Fred Abdalla has compiled the numbers and he said hundreds of cases have been reported since he became sheriff and that hundreds more are behind bars for the crime.

Sheriff Abdalla said since he became sheriff they have had 755 complaints of children being sexually abused.  He also said they have arrested close to 300 for sexually abusing a child.

Sheriff Abdalla said every case of abuse involved someone the child knew rather than a stranger.

Former Miss America discusses her experience with childhood sexual abuse

Marilyn Van Derbur described experiencing life as Miss America by day and as a terrified child of secret abuse by night at a luncheon given by the Child Advocacy Center on Wednesday.

The 1958 Miss America pageant winner chose public speaking as her profession, and established herself as a fixture at corporate events, conventions and other venues. But at age 24, nine years of talking with her church's youth pastor culminated in Van Derbur's realization that she had long repressed awareness of her nighttime life: 13 years of sexual abuse at the hands of her father.

"I was 53 years old before I was able to say the ugliest six-letter word in the English language: incest," she said. "The trauma was so severe that I did what many children do in order to survive; I split, or in the psychiatric term 'dissociated,' into what I called 'the day child' and 'the night child.' Until that day when I was 24-years-old, the day child was unaware of the night child. Our youth minister sensed my pain, and for nine years this brilliant man poked and prodded gently for the source of the pain that only he sensed behind the successes of the day child."

The youth minister helped Van Derbur make this confession to the love of her life, who met it with understanding and acceptance. Two years later the couple married.

Read more: Former Miss America discusses her experience with childhood sexual abuse | Aiken Standard

New Jersey New Jersey child porn sweep brings 27 arrests, authorities say

More than two dozen people, including a township official, were arrested in a sweeping child porn investigation in New Jersey, officials said Tuesday.

The 27 arrested include a public works director in Morristown. Most of the suspects were charged with possession of child pornography; two were charged with distribution.

"These people who create the demand for these images allow this industry to exist," State Attorney General Jeffrey Chiesa said.

Officials say one of the men arrested lived in a home connected to a child-care facility.     

Authorities say the investigation began in January. The first suspect was arrested March 1. Authorities say the 23-year-old man lived next to a child daycare center.

Another suspect allegedly took pornographic photos while sexually assaulting a child, officials said. Yet another was downloading pornographic images when detectives got a search warrant.

Detectives say they traced digital fingerprints from the images as they passed through cyberspace.

The arrests took place in 20 New Jersey towns. It wasn't known if any of the suspects had lawyers.

India, Delhi

One in five domestic workers in the Capital's 'maid shops' report sexual abuse

They come to Delhi from the boondocks with dreams of a job, and most often with the hope of not going to bed on an empty stomach.

Instead, they encounter an ugly reality - backbreaking work with no pay, little to eat, sexual abuse and physical assault.

Women and child rights activists claimed that one in every five domestic worker rescued in Delhi complains of sexual abuse,

either by the employer or people in the 'placement agency' that helps her get the job.

» Please click here to read the full article....

CA, Sacramento
Calif. lawmakers pass bill inspired by Penn State

California's first legislative response to the Penn State sex abuse scandal, the state Assembly passed a bill Thursday that would require all higher education employees to report suspected instances of child sexual abuse.

Assemblyman Mike Feuer, D-Los Angeles, who authored the bill, said child sex abuse charges against former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky showed the need for the legislation. AB1434 passed 69-0 and now moves to the Senate.

"The bill is a pretty basic response to Sandusky and how important it is for us not to merely rely on moral obligation, but rather put in some laws—statutory obligation to university and college employees," Feuer said.

Under California law, professionals classified as mandated reporters—including public school teachers, teacher's aides, doctors and others whose duties require supervision of children—must contact law enforcement when they believe that a child has been the victim of abuse or neglect. Failure to do so is punishable by up to six months of jail time and a fine of to $1,000.

Feuer's bill would add as mandated reporters all employees of a public or private higher education institution, requiring them to report child abuse or neglect that occurs on the institution's premises or at an official program or activity conducted by the institution.

Assemblywoman Linda Halderman, R-Fresno, said while she supported the bill, she noted there's a need to train new mandated reporters.

"I do have a concern that as we increase the number of mandated reporters we recognize that there are skills necessary to recognize more subtle cases of child neglect, and that we consider those in our education," Halderman said.

The Assembly is also expected to vote on a bill that would require athletic coaches at schools and youth groups to report suspected child abuse. States are debating similar laws across the country.

At least 30 states are considering mandatory reporting legislation this year, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.  Nine states have already enacted such laws.

Robert Finn, Kansas City Bishop, Charged For Not Telling Police About Child Pornography Images - HuffingtonPost

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Kansas City's Catholic bishop has become the highest-ranking U.S. Catholic official indicted on a charge of failing to protect children after he and his diocese waited five months to tell police about hundreds of images of child pornography discovered on a priest's computer, officials said Friday.

Bishop Robert Finn, the first U.S. bishop criminally charged with sheltering an abusive clergyman, and the Kansas City-St. Joseph Catholic Diocese have pleaded not guilty on one count each of failing to report suspected child abuse.

Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker said Finn and the diocese were required under state law to report the discovery to police because the images gave them reason to believe a child had been abused.

"Now that the grand jury investigation has resulted in this indictment, my office will pursue this case vigorously," Baker said. "I want to ensure there are no future failures to report resulting in other unsuspecting victims."

» Please click here to read the full article....

Washington, D.C.
Former Teacher Eric Justin Toth, Alleged Child Pornographer, Added To FBI's Most Wanted List

The FBI named Eric Justin Toth, an alleged child pornographer, to its Ten Most Wanted list.

Eric Justin Toth was 26 and a third-grade teacher in a Washington, D.C. private school in 2008 when authorities accused him of possession of kiddie porn.

Another teacher at Beauvoir, an elite school, discovered graphic photos and videos of students on a school camera issued to Toth. The school put Toth on administrative leave and contacted police. But he immediately went on the run, an FBI spokesperson told The Huffington Post. He's also wanted in Maryland where he's accused of child porn production.

The Federal Bureau of Investigations is offering a $100,000 reward for information leading to Toth's capture. He traveled across the country after warrants were issued for his arrest nearly four years ago.

First, Toth drove to Indianapolis where he visited his parents, according to the FBI. They were unaware that he was suspected of any crime.

The FBI traced his movements to the Twin Cities where in August 2008 his car was found parked at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. Agents allegedly found additional pornographic images of children in the car. Evidence also suggests that he visited Wisconsin and Illinois.

A tipster claimed he saw Toth living in a Phoenix homeless shelter in 2009, but the fugitive took off again before law enforcement could catch him. That was the last reported sighting of Toth.

Toth is 6’3”, weighs about 155 pounds and has brown hair and green eyes. He's worked as a camp counselor and tutor.

Toth is "well educated, charismatic and likable," an FBI spokesperson told Huff Post. He's a computer expert and may have advertised his services as a nanny or tutor. It's possible he used his deceptive personality to trick parents and get close to children again, the spokesperson said.

Toth, who's used the alias "David Bussone," takes a spot on the notorious most wanted list that became empty after Osama bin Laden was killed in Pakistan last May. The capture of alleged mobster James "Whitey" Bulger last June created another opening on the list that bureau officials said they would fill soon.

Indianapolis, IN
“Sextortion” case in Indiana could be the largest ever in the U.S.

Richard Leon Finkbiner, 39, was arrested Friday at his home in the Clay County community of Brazil.

Federal prosecutors say Finkbiner may have coerced teenage boys across the country into sexual activity that he recorded online. Court documents say that FBI investigators found sexually explicit videos showing hundreds of teenagers on Finkbiner's computer.

Investigators are trying to identify hundreds of potential victims whose images were found on Finkbinder’s computer. He is charged with coercing two teenage boys into recording sexually explicit videos by threatening to post clips of their previous online indiscretions on gay porn websites.

Finkbiner estimated to FBI agents that he had coerced at least 100 young people into making explicit videos, according to documents filed in U.S. District Court in Terre Haute.

U.S. Attorney Joe Hogsett said “We are fearful that it could involve hundreds of individuals not just here in Indiana but across the country”.

“Mr. Finkbiner has focused his attention on what appear to be young men between the ages of 14 to 16,” Hogsett said.

The preliminary charges pertain to Finkbiner’s alleged extortion of two 14-year-old boys, one in Maryland and the other in Michigan. Prosecutors say he surreptitiously recorded videos of the boys exposing themselves on webcam chat sites and threatened to post them and the boys’ identities on gay porn sites unless the boys performed sexual acts for him via webcam.

The boys complied with Finkbiner’s demands at first before reporting the crime to relatives, officials said. Investigators then tracked the communications to Clay County Internet in Brazil, a company Finkbiner owns that provides website hosting and other computer-related services, the complaint said.

Officials did not say whether they suspect Finkbiner shared the images with anyone else. They did say that there are websites that offer advice on how to sexually extort others and where images can be posted.

Sextortion is a growing crime in which Internet predators catch victims in embarrassing situations online and threaten to expose them unless they create sexually explicit photos or videos.

“This is not the normal extortion,” said Indiana State Police Lt. Chuck Cohen, who specializes in online crime. “This is extortion for sexual satisfaction.”

A Maryland man who pleaded guilty to charges he extorted an Indiana teen and girls across the country into sexual favors online was sentenced in January to 33 years in federal prison.

Cohen urged any young people who have been targeted by online predators to tell their parents, a teacher or another responsible adult. “The only way to stop the embarrassment is to get others involved,” he said.

UK, Leicestershire
Almost 450 abuse cases came to light last year

Almost 450 children – some of them infants – were sexually abused in Leicestershire last year, according to the NSPCC.

The charity obtained the total number of recorded sexual offences against children in the city and county under the Freedom of Information Act.

The figure is only those offences which came to police attention – an unknown number are still suffering in silence.

The charity said children were subjected to crimes including rape, incest and abuse through being forced into prostitution or pornography.

The charity said 103 of those victims had not reached secondary school age and 23 were five or under. The majority of the offences – 342 – were committed against children aged 11 to 17.

Fiona Richards of the NSCC said "We are pioneering new programs in the region to tackle sexual abuse of children, including our schools service which aims to visit every primary school in the county over two years.”

"But we can't tackle this problem by ourselves. It requires a major effort from Government and the public to give children the protection they need."

Detective Inspector Jonny Starbuck said: "Investigations into the abuse of children are undertaken by specialist officers and the welfare and support for the child is always a priority.

"Equally important is the vital educational and preventative work that we undertake with organizations such as the NSPCC to try to identify victims, or better still stop the abuse from ever taking place."

The Office of the Children's Registry (OCR) is reporting that 7,245 children have been sexually abused between 2007 and last year. Of that amount 6,789 are female children.

The OCR along with the Office of the Children's Advocate (OCA), the Child Development Agency (CDA) and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) issued a joint press release today calling on members of the public to break the silence on this dastardly act.

"All Jamaicans including professionals working with children, parents, caregivers, the media and the public, must assume the responsibility to protect the nation's children. Breaking the silence is critical," the release stated.

The groups also commended Dr Sandra Knight who revealed details of horrific sexual crimes against children and who was quoted in an exclusive Sunday Jamaica Observer story headlined Horrific!

"Sexual abuse is one of the most heinous forms of violence against children, which no child should ever have to endure. Anyone who knows or suspects that a child is being or is likely to be abused has a legal obligation to to make a report to the OCR by calling 1-888-776-8328 (PROTECT)," the release said.

Parents and guardians of LAUSD students will now be informed within 72 hours of sexual misconduct allegations against school employees, according to a news release from the school district.

The new policy, set to be completed by the start of the 2012-13 school year, mandates parents be told if a "certified employee" at their child’s school has been removed from the classroom amid allegations of sexual misconduct against students.

The alterations come in light of a spate of teacher abuse scandals, during which parents and school employees expressed outrage that some cases took months to come to light.

Paul Chapel, of Chatsworth, was accused of sexually abusing four kids under 14-years-old, including one student, over the span of 30 weeks between Sept. 13, 2010, and April 5, 2011.

Parents at the Telfair Elementary were only informed that Chapel was removed from the classroom, but not why.

LAUSD officials said they delayed notification, which was largely accomplished by a slew of news reports, because they "could not comprise the police investigation." Police said they would not ask the school district to withhold notifying parents of the allegations, according to a February statement.

That circumstance, however, is the only caveat in the district’s new mandate, according to the release. Parents would not be notified if law enforcement specifically asked the school to withhold that information.

Austrailia, Sydney
Australian police smash child porn ring

Australian police have smashed a child porn ring and arrested 14 men, including fathers, after hundreds of thousands of images and videos were seized, some depicting toddlers, they said Friday.

Australian Federal Police raided more than a dozen properties across the country over the past week after a tip-off by Interpol, which linked the men to a child exploitation network in Germany.

"These men were allegedly accessing child sexual exploitation material via a peer-to-peer file-sharing network, with images depicting children including infants, being sexually abused," police said in a statement.

Computers, hard drives, laptop computers, portable storage devices and mobile phones allegedly containing hundreds of thousands of child abuse images and videos were seized, they added.

He added that the arrested men were aged between 21 and 64, and some were fathers.

"We did have children at the premises at the time of the execution of search warrants and the police have engaged the locally-based welfare agencies, and assessments have been undertaken," he said.

Home Affairs Minister Jason Clare called it "a really important breakthrough".

According to police, 850 people have been arrested in Australia over the past seven years on charges relating to online child sexual exploitation.

Microsoft PhotoDNA Will Help Cops Fight Child Porn Helps remove illegal content, collate evidence, and expedite cases.

Microsoft announced today that it has partnered with Swedish company NetClean to make its patented PhotoDNA technology available free to law enforcement agencies investigating child sexual abuse cases. The technology will help agencies cull through the overwhelmingly large amount of sexually abusive content that is being shared across the Web.

“Since 2002, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children has reviewed more than 65 million images and videos of child sexual exploitation reported by law enforcement,” writes Bill Harmon, Associate General Counsel to the Microsoft Digital Crimes Unit. Those images include pictures and videos of infants and toddlers who are unable to seek help or tell anyone about their abuse, and not only are these children often repeat victims of direct abuse, they are victimized again every time an image of their abuse is shared.

» Please click here to read the full article....

S.C., Columbus
SC House Bill Would Prevent Judges From Giving Custody to Abusers

A bill passed by a South Carolina House committee, and now on the full House schedule for debate, would prohibit judges from granting custody of a child to a parent, guardian or anyone else who's been found guilty of criminal sexual conduct with a minor in the first degree.

Rep. Chip Limehouse, R-Charleston, sponsored the bill after a recent Lowcountry case, in which a judge gave custody of a child to the child's biological father in another state, even though the father had a previous conviction for abuse.

"I don't know if it happens very often, but if it ever happens one time only, that is too many times. So we're going to err on the side of child safety. We're going to keep children away from pedophiles," Limehouse says.

The bill originally would have prohibited anyone on the sex offender registry from being given custody, but the House Judiciary Committee changed the bill to apply only to those convicted of first degree criminal sexual conduct with a minor.

The state already prohibits anyone on the sex offender registry, or who's been guilty of abuse or neglect, from becoming a foster parent.

Carl Brown, director of the South Carolina Foster Parent Association and a foster dad to more than 150 children, says, "Before you can even be pre-trained to become a foster parent, you have to have a background check, SLED check, fingerprint, three references. So there are a lot of things you have to do before you can even begin. And of course then you have 14 hours of pre-service training."

The state Department of Social Services says in fiscal year 2010-11, it investigated 368 cases of child sexual abuse. It didn't have a breakdown of how many of those involved a parent or guardian.

But don't judges already look at parents' or guardians' backgrounds before granting custody Rep. Limehouse says, "Well, I think that's probably happening right now, but when there's a state law in effect, that leaves no wiggle room, no latitude and the law is the law."

PA, Philadelphia
Philadelphia priest says late cardinal ordered abuse list shredded
- Update of 3/8 & 7/9/2011 articles

Monsignor William Lynn, 61, the highest ranking cleric charged in a Philadelphia child abuse scandal, asked a judge on Friday to dismiss his case because his boss - the late Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua - ordered the shredding of a list he made of predator priests.

The real criminals, his lawyers argued in court documents, were Bevilacqua, who died last month, and his closest advisors. These included Lynn's former supervisor Monsignor James Molloy, who died in 2006, now retired Bishop Edward Cullen of Allentown and Bishop Joseph Cistone, now head of the diocese in Saginaw, Michigan, none of whom were charged in the case.

Lynn, who served the Philadelphia Catholic Archdiocese as secretary of the clergy during Bevilacqua's time as archbishop from 1987 to 1998, would be the first church official to stand trial in a child sex abuse case if opening arguments begin as scheduled on March 26.

As clergy secretary, Lynn on his own initiative reviewed secret church archives and created a list of 35 priests who had been involved in abusive conduct or were classified with a sexual disorder, Lynn's lawyers said in court documents. He culled the names from a list of 323 priests in the church's "secret archives," the court documents said.

Lynn handed the list over to Bevilacqua in 1994 and it was discussed at a meeting in March of that year between Bevilacqua, Molloy, Cullen and Cistone. Bevilacqua at the time ordered Molloy to destroy the list, and Molloy recorded the directive in a handwritten memorandum, the court documents said.

"I shredded... four copies of these lists from the secret archives," Molloy said in the 1994 memorandum, according to the court documents filed on Friday.

Bevilacqua, 88, who was to have been a witness in the trial, died on January 31 after suffering from dementia and cancer. His death came a day after a judge ruled he was competent to testify in the upcoming trial.

After Bevilacqua's death last month, a locksmith was called in to open a safe at the archdiocese headquarters and inside were copies of both the list of 35 predator priests and the memorandum that it had been destroyed.

"Unbeknownst to anyone else and in violation of the cardinal's directive, Monsignor Molloy preserved a copy of this list in a different place - a safe to which no one else had a combination," the court documents said.

"As this newfound memorandum proves, the District Attorney's Office is entirely correct in its belief and assertion that an overarching Archdiocesan conspiracy existed in Philadelphia in the 1990s," said the court documents filed by Lynn's lawyers, who are paid by the Philadelphia Archdiocese.

"Its participants were Cardinal Bevilacqua, Bishop Cullen, Bishop Cistone and Monsignor Molloy," the court papers said. "Appallingly, none of these individuals is on trial."

The jury that indicted Lynn for covering up the abuse also indicted two priests, a former priest, and a former archdiocese school teacher on charges of sexually abusing children between 1996 and 1999.

All parties in the case are under a court-issued gag order which restricts them from commenting on the matter.

UK, Southampton
Social services say sorry to pedophile's victims

Social services bosses admitted to failing to intervene and stop young girls being abused by a pedophile foster carer they employed.

Southampton City Council today admitted their “mistakes of the past” had led to “tragic outcomes” for the girls forced to endure horrific sexual abuse by evil Rex Case – as he was jailed for 21 years for his “abhorrent” crimes.

As exclusively revealed by the Daily Echo, Case, 68, subjected five young girls in his care to repeated abuse to satisfy his own depraved ways.

They included a girl who was staying with him at his home in Holly Hill, Bassett, Southampton, between the ages of three and five, who he raped – but when she revealed what happened both social services and police failed to act.

Yesterday at Southampton Crown Court Judge Peter Henry told Case he had been entrusted with the care of some of the most damaged and vulnerable children – many of whom had been sexually abused before – but he betrayed them.

Judge Henry went on to question why the authorities never stepped in to stop Case, despite the alarm being raised by a desperate fiveyear- old girl, who revealed the extent of his sickening abuse of her in 1997.

He said: “For reasons that still escape me there was no prosecution at that stage. Social services did not prevent you from being involved with young children thereafter.

The city council said “Earlier investigations were not pursued fully and we recognise that in one case, in 1999, the investigation carried out jointly between police and social services was not as thorough or robust as it could have been.”

Case was told he would have to serve at least half of his jail term before he can even be considered for release. He will be on the sex offenders register for the rest of his life.

WI, Milwaukee
550 Sexual Abuse Claims Filed against Milwaukee Archdiocese

About 550 people are asking for restitution for alleged sexual abuse by clergy in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee - more than in any of the other U.S. dioceses that have filed for bankruptcy protection, according to a lawyer involved int eh Milwaukee case. One priest alone is accused of abusing some 200 boys at a suburban school for deaf students from 1950 to 1974.

John Stang, a bankruptcy lawyer who represents creditors in the Wisconsin case, estimated that about 550 claims had been filed by the Wednesday afternoon deadline set by the bankruptcy court.

A victim’s advocacy group call the number of filings “extraordinarily tragic”, but said that represented only a small portion of people abused by clergy.

The other seven Catholic dioceses in the U.S. that have filed for bankruptcy since the clergy abuse scandal erupted in 2002 in Boston are in Davenport, Iowa; Fairbanks, Alaska; Portland, Ore; San Diego, CA; Spokane, Wash.; Tucson, Ariz; and Wilmington, Del. Two other religious order have also filed for bankruptcy.

Delaware
Delaware’s Bradley Bills: Effective in raising voices to stop child sexual abuse?

In December 2009, Delawareans were coming to grips with the arrest of former pediatrician Earl Bradley for sexually molesting scores of young patients at his Lewes office. Delaware’s response was quick. In 2010, legislators prepared a package of bills—known collectively as the “Bradley bills”— designed to strengthen patient protection and improve oversight of the medical profession, passed those bills unanimously, and Governor Jack Markell signed them into law in June of that year. But in the year and a half since, how much of a difference have the new laws made?

Two reviews were ordered following Bradley’s arrest—one by the Attorney General’s office and another by Linda L. Ammons, dean of Widener Law School. Both revealed systemic failures that allowed Bradley to continue practicing despite numerous red flags of misconduct raised by colleagues and family members.

The “Bradley bills” were designed to tighten regulations on doctors and clarify the legal obligations of the medical and law enforcement communities to report and share information about suspected physician misconduct and child sexual abuse.

“These are sensitive cases and you need to approach them in a way that offers opportunities for victims to come forward and to feel they’re not going to run the risk of being re-victimized,” said Mike Barlow, chief legal counsel in the Office of the Governor.

The new laws contain the following major provisions:

• A requirement that there be another adult present when the physician examines a disrobed patient aged 15 years or younger;
• A requirement that doctors, police and prosecutors receive additional training in recognizing and reporting child abuse;
• A requirement that physicians undergo the same background checks as teachers and other professionals who work with youth;
• A more robust reporting process enhanced by strengthening the Board of Medical Licensure and Discipline’s ability to police unprofessional conduct and clarifying and simplifying its administrative procedures to improve efficiency and its ability to work with law enforcement.

Last year, the threat of license revocation for misconduct or failure to report child sexual abuse was extended to include mental health and chemical dependency professionals, nurses, dentists, social workers, psychologists, dentists and dental hygienists, and physician’s assistants. “One of the main impacts of this package of legislation is to make sure that the community, the state, caregivers, providers, doctors and citizens know that they have a mandatory duty to report child abuse and neglect when they see it to the state,” said Attorney General Beau Biden.

Dean Ammons, who made 68 recommendations in her Bradley case review, most of which were included in the legislation, agrees. “You can’t legislate morals,” she said. “But what the state can do is remove or attempt to remove barriers that make it complicated or difficult for people to do the right thing.”

Indeed, experts commend Delaware for its ability to act swiftly and decisively where other states have failed. “Pennsylvania is a good example,” said Stephen J. Neuberger, attorney and partner in The Neuberger Firm in Wilmington. “They had the grand jury report (on the Archdiocese of Philadelphia) which just boggles the mind and that didn’t get the legislature to do anything.”

Better educating the public about child sexual abuse will help break the silence and taboo that surrounds child sexual abuse and bolster the efforts made in the legislative arena. In September, Biden announced a coordinated initiative to educate adults about recognizing the signs of child abuse and their legal obligation to report suspected crimes. The partnership, which includes Prevent Child Abuse Delaware, the YMCA of Delaware as well as the Attorney General’s office, aims to train 35,000 Delawareans or about 5 percent of the population, in the “Steward of Children” sexual abuse program.

“[Nationally], one out of four girls is sexually assaulted before they’re 18,” said Biden. “One out of six boys is sexually assaulted before they’re 18. Only one out of ten of these victims is ever able to muster the courage to report because nine out of ten of the perpetrators know or say they love or had the child entrusted to them. So it should come as no surprise that children who don’t have voices have a tough time raising their voice to report someone who has raped or abused them. It’s not a child’s responsibility. It’s our responsibility.”

MO, St. Louis
When federal investigators busted Jeffrey Greenwell outside St. Louis, they hit the kiddie-porn jackpot

The child-pornography probe in Missouri that led to the arrest of Jeffrey Greenwell began with a lead forwarded to St. Louis from Los Angeles, where a state and federal task force was in the process of dismantling Lost Boy, an online network of pedophiles who traded photos and videos via the Internet. Ultimately, the Greenwell investigation spun off into four additional cases in four different states.

In early 2010, Captain John Foster, a detective with the Yell County Sheriff's Department in northwest Arkansas, received a package of photos prepared by Brian Mize, a forensic investigator with the St. Louis Division of the FBI.

The images, which Mize had culled from the thousands he'd found stored on hard drives and other media seized from Greenwell's house, depicted various shots of four boys. Mize believed each of the boys had been sexually molested by a man named Evan Batton, a youth pastor at a Baptist church near the city of Dardanelle.

Foster immediately recognized the face of one of the children: "a cute little redheaded kid, wearing an army helmet," he recalls.

Later that same day, Foster drove to Batton's house armed with a search warrant and accompanied by a team that included an agent from the FBI's Little Rock Division. When Batton answered the door, the lawmen could see that the pastor wasn't alone. There was a little boy in the house — another face Foster had seen in Mize's dossier.

Rather than face a jury trial, Batton agreed to plead guilty to one felony count for the rape of a seven-year-old boy. Now 29, he is serving a 30-year sentence in state prison. He did not respond to two letters from Riverfront Times requesting comment for this story.

Yell County Prosecuting Attorney Tom Tatum II says he has chat-room transcripts in which Batton boasts to Greenwell about setting up a webcam in his bedroom in order to record himself having sex with boys.

"To have this guy in our back yard and not know it was shocking," says Tatum. "We were glad to get the tip and get rid of him."

During an interrogation session on the day he was arrested in 2009, Greenwell revealed the name of a child pornographer whose handiwork was widely shared on Lost Boy. Investigators in LA and St. Louis knew of the man only by his online alias, "SpongeBob."

In late 2009 a federal grand jury in Utah reviewed evidence that proved sufficient to indict Antonio Cardenas, a.k.a. SpongeBob, who is in jail awaiting trial, having entered a plea of not-guilty to seven counts of production and distribution of child pornography and aggravated sexual abuse of a child.

Mize was able to identify two other child pornographers whose images were part of Greenwell's massive stash. One remains at large in a Midwestern state, according to the FBI. Investigators tracked down the other man, an insurance manager in New Hampshire, only to learn that he had committed suicide in 2008.

New York, Albany
New York Lawmakers Could Reform Child Abuse Laws Similar to California Legislation

New York state lawmakers said the announcement on Wednesday that a former Syracuse University coach will not face sex abuse charges because the statute of limitations had run out could boost efforts to reform state child abuse laws.

One proposal would provide for the five-year statute of limitations to begin when victims turn 23, instead of age 18 as it now stands, said New York State Assemblywoman Margaret Markey. She introduced the proposal seven years ago after a constituent said he had long ago been abused by a priest but nothing could be done because of the statute of limitations. Her bill also would create a one-year window, beginning when the law takes effect, for victims to bring civil claims against alleged abusers for whom the statute of limitations has passed. Civil suits allow alleged victims to seek monetary damages but not prison time.

Since the Syracuse University scandal broke, Markey said her colleagues have been asking more about her proposal, which she said was modeled on similar legislation in California. Former Syracuse University basketball coach Bernie Fine has been accused by two men of fondling them as juveniles beginning as far back as the 1980s.

Investigators believe the accusations are true but Fine cannot be prosecuted under state law due to the statute of limitations, District Attorney William Fitzpatrick said. Fine has said the accusations are "patently false."

"We will be drawing attention to this because I see it as the only way to help the victims of Syracuse and Brooklyn Poly Prep," Markey said, referring to claims that a football coach at the Brooklyn private school molested dozens of boys over 25 years. In 2005, a Poly Prep alumnus sued the school, but the case was thrown out because of the statute of limitations. The coach accused of molesting the boys, Philip Foglietta, died in 1998. Last year, seven alumni filed a federal suit accusing the school of covering up the abuse for years.

"People should be up in arms about this, but I don't feel the rage," Markey said. "These victims deserve to be compensated."

Legislators said there has been some opposition to the civil window because it would allow anyone to bring a claim even if they were abused many decades previously. A related issue is the rights of the accused because, some argue, extending the statute of limitations too far would make it impossible to present an adequate defense.

The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that criminal statutes of limitations cannot be changed retroactively but civil statutes can be altered, which her bill would do, Markey said.

Reforms adopted in Delaware in 2007 eliminated the civil statute of limitations on sexual abuse and allowed a two-year window for civil suits by victims for whom the statute of limitations had passed. Under the Delaware law, 14 men who said they were sexually assaulted as children in the 1970s and 1980s announced last week they reached a $7 million settlement with three Catholic Church institutions that employed and supervised their predators.

In Pennsylvania, lawmakers said this week that in the wake of the sexual abuse scandal at Penn State University they would propose reforms to give victims more time to press civil claims. At Penn State, former assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky, 67, faces 52 counts of sexually abusing ten young boys over a 15-year period. He has denied he abused the boys.

In New York, another bill in the Assembly would change the law so the five-year period begins when a crime is first reported to law enforcement. Another bill would extend the statute of limitations for sex offenses against minors for 30 years. Assemblyman J. Gary Pretlow, who sponsored the 30-year proposal, said recently that the Syracuse case would reinvigorate his push to get the bill passed next year.

"Many times, people are too embarrassed to come forward," he said. "If people do come forward later in life, the person who did it should be punished."

New York state prosecutors said they would turn over the evidence in the Syracuse case to federal authorities. There is no federal statute of limitations on abuse of minors during the life of the victim. But Steven Statsinger, assistant federal defender at Federal Defenders of New York, said that federal prosecutors would have to establish jurisdiction to bring a case. If the alleged abuse occurred only in New York, for example, prosecutors may find it hard to establish federal jurisdiction.

"In order for it to be a federal offense, there would have to be something inter-state about it," said Statsinger.

PA, State College - 12/7/2011
Ex-Penn State Coach Arrested On New Abuse Charges
- UPDATE of 11/10/2011 article

Ex-Penn State coach Jerry Sandusky was arrested and arraigned Wednesday on new sex abuse charges brought by two new accusers, the state attorney general's office said. The charges were brought after new accusers were questioned by a grand jury following Sandusky's arrest last month. One alleged victim claims he was assaulted after meeting Sandusky in 1997 and the other claims he was assaulted in 2004.

Sandusky was already charged with 40 counts of child sex abuse involving eight young boys over a 15-year span. He has denied being a pedophile and has vowed to fight the case. In interviews with NBC and The New York Times, he has said he showered and horsed around with boys but never sexually abused them.

Like some of the other victims, the two new ones, dubbed Victims 9 and 10 by prosecutors, allegedly met Sandusky through The Second Mile charity, which he founded in 1977.

"As in many of the other cases identified to date, the contact with Sandusky allegedly fit a pattern of 'grooming' victims," Attorney General Linda Kelly said in a statement. "Beginning with outings to football games and gifts; they later included physical contact that escalated to sexual assaults."

One of the new alleged victims, dubbed Victim 9 by prosecutors, claims he was first assaulted in 2004, and the other, called Victim 10, told the grand jury he was assaulted after being referred to Second Mile in 1997. The ninth accuser, currently 18, was 11 or 12 when he first met Sandusky in 2004. Sandusky took him to Penn State football games and gave him gifts and money, and later sexually assaulted him during overnight stays in a basement bedroom in Sandusky's home, the grand jury said.

The accuser said that Sandusky forced the boy to perform oral sex and attempted on at least 16 occasions to anally penetrate him, sometimes successfully. "The victim testified that on at least one occasion he screamed for help, knowing that Sandusky's wife was upstairs, but no one ever came to help him," the grand jury report said.

The 10th accuser told the grand jury he was referred to The Second Mile in 1997, when he was 10 and experiencing problems at home. He also attended Penn State games, spent time at Sandusky's house, and was subjected to "wrestling sessions" in the basement of the home that led to Sandusky performing oral sex on the boy, authorities said. The accuser also detailed incidents at a pool on the Penn State campus, and a time when Sandusky allegedly exposed himself in a car and requested oral sex from the boy.

He was arrested by state police and agents of the Attorney General's Office, and had a preliminary arraignment before Senior Magisterial District Judge Robert E. Scott of Westmoreland County. A preliminary hearing on the charges is set for Tuesday, the same day his previous case is set for a hearing.

Sandusky had been charged with 40 counts of child sex abuse involving eight young boys over a 15-year span.

New York, Syracuse
Assistant Coach Bernie Fine Under investigation for Child Sexual Abuse

Longtime Syracuse University assistant coach Bernie Fine is the subject of a police investigation into allegations that he molested a team ball boy for more than a dozen years, starting in the mid-1980s, according to an ESPN report. The alleged victim, Bobby Davis, told ESPN that Fine began molesting him in 1983 just before Davis entered seventh grade. According to the report, Davis says the abuse happened at Fine’s home, Syracuse basketball facilities and on road trips, including the 1987 Final Four. Davis spent six years as Syracuse’s ball boy. Fine is in his 35th season as a Syracuse assistant to Jim Boeheim. He has been placed on administrative leave.

Davis, now 39, says the abuse continued until he was 27 and reported the abuse to Syracuse police in 2003, but detectives told him the statute of limitations had expired and they would not investigate. ESPN investigated the story in 2003, but decided not to run the story because Davis was the only person willing to talk. The Syracuse Post-Standard also investigated the allegations in 2003. The news is emerging now because another alleged victim says he was sexually abused by Fine and is coming forward now because of news coverage of the Jerry Sandusky sexual-abuse scandal at Penn State, according to ESPN’s story.

According to the New York Penal Code, there is no statute of limitations “for prosecuting first-degree rape, first-degree criminal sexual act, or first-degree course of sexual conduct against a child,” but the statute of limitations “for other sexual offenses committed against a child under age 18 is five years after the victim reaches age 18, or the offense is reported to a law enforcement agency or statewide central register of child abuse and maltreatment, whichever is earlier.”

Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim released a statement in support of Fine: ''This matter was fully investigated by the University in 2005 and it was determined that the allegations were unfounded. I have known Bernie Fine for more than 40 years. I have never seen or witnessed anything to suggest that he would [have] been involved in any of the activities alleged. Had I seen or suspected anything, I would have taken action. Bernie has my full support.''

In a statement by Syracuse University: “We understand that the Syracuse City Police has now reopened the case, and Syracuse University will cooperate fully. We are steadfastly committed to ensuring that SU remains a safe place for every student”.

PA, Harrisburg
Paterno and President Fired in Penn State Child Sexual Abuse Scandal
- UPDATE of 11/9/2011 article

Famed U.S. college football coach Joe Paterno and Grahm Spanier, the president of Penn State University, were fired on Wed. in fallout from a child-abuse scandal and cover-up involving a former assistant coach and school officials. The move by the university’s board of trustees thwarted an attempt by Paterno, 84 and one of the most iconic names in American sports, to leave the team on his own terms. It triggered protests on campus from students.

Penn State, its football program and Paterno were thrown into turmoil on Saturday when charges were filed against long-time assistant coach Jerry Sandusky. Sandusky, 67, is accused of sexually abusing at least eight boys over more than a decade. Assistant Coach, Mike McQueary, had reported to Paterno seeing Sandusky sexually assaulting a young boy in the Penn State showers. Paterno notified the athletic director, Tim Curley, and a vice-president, Gary Schultz, who in turn notified Spanier.

Curley and Schultz have been charged with failing to report the incident to authorities. Pennsylvania Attorney General Linda Kelly has not ruled out charges against Spanier. Paterno is not a target of the criminal investigation, but the state police commissioner called his failure to contact police himself a lapse in “moral responsibility”.

Effective immediately, Doctor (Graham) Spanier is no longer president of the university," John Surma, vice chairman of trustees, told a news conference. "Joe Paterno is no longer the head football coach, effective immediately. These decisions were made after careful deliberations," said Surma. "We don't yet know all the facts and there are many details that are yet to be worked out." The trustees will appoint a committee to investigate the “circumstances” that resulted in the indictment of Sandusky and of Curley and Schultz. The committee will be appointed Friday at the board’s regular meeting, which Gov. Tom Corbett said he plans to attend, and will examine “what failures occurred and who is responsible and what measures are necessary to ensure that similar mistakes aren’t made in the future”.

In Washington, the U.S. Department of Education said it has launched an investigation into the conduct at Penn State, which must disclose criminal offenses committed on campus each year. "If these allegations of sexual abuse are true then this is a horrible tragedy for those young boys," Education Secretary Arne Duncan said in a statement. "If it turns out that some people at the school knew of the abuse and did nothing or covered it up, that makes it even worse."

Pennsylvania, Harrisburg
Penn State Coach Paterno to Retire Amid Scandal
- UPDATE of 11/7/2011 article

Legendary Penn State football coach Joe Paterno says he’s retiring at the end of this season, this in the wake of a child abuse scandal involving his longtime assistant coach Jerry Sandusky.

Paterno has been questioned about how he acted when a graduate assistant, Mike McQueary, reported the incident to him in 2002. Paterno notified Penn State athletic director Tim Curley and vice president Gary Schultz. Curley and Schultz have since been charged with failing to report the incident to the authorities.

Paterno hasn't been accused of legal wrongdoing. But he has been assailed, in what the state police commissioner called a lapse of "moral responsibility," for not doing more to stop Sandusky, whose lawyer says he is innocent.

The coach defended his decision to take the news to the athletic director. Paterno said it was obvious that the graduate student, since identified as McQueary, was "distraught," but said he was not told about the "very specific actions" in the grand jury report.

After Paterno reported the incident to Curley, Sandusky was told to stay away from the school, but critics say the coach should have done more - try to identify and help the victim, for example, or alert authorities.

"Here we are again," John Salveson, former president of the Pennsylvania chapter of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, said earlier this week. "When an institution discovers abuse of a kid, their first reaction was to protect the reputation of the institution and the perpetrator."

PA, Harrisburg
Sex Abuse Scandal at Penn State Widens

Two Penn State officials surrendered Monday on charges that they failed to report suspected child-sexual abuse by a former coach and committed perjury in their related grand jury testimony. Senior Vice President Gary Schultz and Athletic Director Tim Curley both stepped down from their posts late Sunday, one day after the charges were announced. The pair are accused of failing to alert police to complaints that former assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky had sexually abused eight boys over a 15-year period. They are also charged with lying to a state grand jury investigating the former defensive coordinator.

“Schultz, 62, and Curley, 57, are innocent and will seek to have the charges dismissed”, their lawyers said. Curley's lawyer called the case weak, while Schultz's lawyer said the men did what they were supposed to do by informing their superiors of the accusations.

Earlier Monday, investigators encouraged anyone who would accuse Sandusky of sexual assault to step forward and talk to police. A graduate assistant coach, Mike McQuery, had reported witnessing an assault by Sandusky on a young boy, in 2002. Pennsylvania Attorney General Linda Kelly specifically asked that the child reportedly assaulted by Sandusky call detectives about the 2002 encounter.

When asked if it was possible that there were more victims, she said: "When you look at the totality of the circumstances and the number of victims that we have, I don't think it would be beyond the realm of possibility that there are other victims that exist here."

Kelly also said the university's longtime football coach, Joe Paterno, is not a target of the investigation into how the school handled the accusations. "But somebody has to question about what I would consider the moral requirements for a human being that knows of sexual things that are taking place with a child," Noonan said. "I think you have the moral responsibility, anyone. Not whether you're a football coach or a university president or the guy sweeping the building. I think you have a moral responsibility to call us."

Paterno has called the criminal charges shocking and troubling. "If this is true we were all fooled, along with scores of professionals trained in such things, and we grieve for the victims and their families," he said in a statement Sunday.

California, Los Angeles
State says 1,000 foster homes match sex-offender addresses

The addresses for more than 1,000 foster homes and group homes in California matched addresses on the state sex offender registry, according to a newly released audit.

State Auditor Elaine M. Howle said child welfare officials failed to check the sex offender registry even after her office advised them to do so in 2008. The auditor informed state regulators and local child welfare agencies of the 1,000 sex offender hits in July. According to the Sacramento Bee, about 600 of the highlighted offenders were considered high risk. The matching addresses involved both foster care facilities and homes, according to the Sacramento Bee. So far, eight licenses have been revoked or suspended and regulators issued 36 orders barring individuals from licensed facilities.

According to the Fresno Bee, the investigation was spurred by the killing of a young boy in the foster care system. The audit was ordered earlier this year at the request of state Assemblyman Henry Perea (D-Fresno). The audit was also intended to compile data on deaths of children who were under the oversight of child protective services.

According to SacBee, the locations of the sex offenders have not been disclosed, but Sacramento, Fresno and Alameda counties were all targeted for the audit.

Los Angeles County was also selected for investigation, according to the LA Times, but the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors balked at subpoenas for information and hired outside lawyers to fight the inquiry. The auditor's office has vowed to continue to press the county for records and to issue a second report in the coming months.

By: Kat De Maria

Oregon, Portland
Boy Scouts face more sex abuse claims in court Cases in Oregon and Montana
- UPDATE of 9/1/2010 article

Four Oregon men plan to sue the Boy Scouts of America on Tuesday over childhood sexual abuse they say they suffered at the hands of a pedophile knowingly appointed as their scoutmaster in the 1970s, their lawyer said. The lawsuits, to be filed in Multnomah County Circuit Court in Portland, accuse the national Boy Scouts of negligence and fraud in connection with the repeated molestation of the men, then aged 12 to 15, their lawyer, Kelly Clark, told Reuters. The suits are the latest in a barrage of such claims facing the Boy Scouts, headquartered in Texas, since the organization was found liable and ordered to pay nearly $20 million in damages last year for a pedophile case from the 1980s.

Clark and his co-counsel, Paul Mones, brought a separate case against the Boy Scouts last week on behalf of five women who claim they were sexually abused as girls by the leader of a coed Scouting program in Montana during the 1970s. The Montana suit and the impending cases in Oregon bring to at least 35 the number of individuals who have lodged child sexual abuse claims against the Boy Scouts of America in 11 states since 2007, Clark said.

The group cites new safeguards instituted during the past decade, including tighter screening of its volunteers, though it acknowledges that criminal background checks for existing volunteers only became mandatory in 2008. Clark said publicity from last year's trial in Portland prompted hundreds of former Scouts to contact his law firm. He likened the "domino effect" of that case to the tide of allegations against Roman Catholic priests in the United States triggered more than a decade ago by reports of clergy abuse that surfaced in the Boston Archdiocese. "What these institutions have in common is the sense that their mission is important and that they can't afford to have their good works sullied by what they consider isolated incidents," Clark said.

Last year's trial shed light on records the BSA kept on suspected or confirmed sexual abuse by leaders and volunteers. The jury was permitted to review 20,000 pages from what were termed the "perversion files" or "ineligible volunteer files," dating from 1965 to 1985 before rendering a verdict. The lawsuit claims the BSA was aware since the 1960's that “scouting posed a danger to adolescent boys because historically noticeable numbers of adult volunteers...were discovered to be child molesters.” Those files show that during the 20-year period, an average of nearly 60 leaders or volunteers a year were discovered molesting children, Clark said. The Boy Scouts dispute that figure, and the organization is fighting to keep those documents from being made public in a case awaiting a ruling by the Oregon Supreme Court.

All four bringing suit in the new case claim they were abused in the 1970s by then-scoutmaster Steven Terry Hill, who was put in charge of their troop even though the Boy Scouts learned he had been accused of molesting three other boys while serving as a Scout leader in California, Clark said. The plaintiffs also allege that the Boy Scouts organization became aware that Hill was molesting boys in Portland's Troop 76 but did nothing to stop it, according to Clark. Hill was acquitted in the late 1970s of sex abuse charges related to the Boy Scouts in Portland. But he was convicted in 1991 on four counts of sodomy and furnishing drugs and alcohol to a minor stemming from an unrelated sex-abuse case involving a 17-year-old boy. He was released from prison in 2011 after serving 20 years, Clark said. A deposition Hill gave while incarcerated, and other corroborating evidence, suggests that the California Scouts council arranged for him to be transferred to Portland where, in 1976, he founded Troop 76, an elite group of 76 scouts whose mission was “high adventure” activities like river rafting and mountain climbing, Clark said.

James Hopper, a clinical psychology instructor at Harvard Medical School, said it is not unusual for adults to wait many years to reveal sexual abuse from their childhood, especially for males, who may feel greater shame from their ordeals. "You have stories of abuse emerging from the Catholic Church and other institutions; now it's the Boy Scouts' turn," he said. Clark said “You don’t have to be trained or anything. You just show up and raise your hand and swear and you’re a volunteer.” “So while the percent of volunteers in the Boy Scouts who were abusers is, we believe, much smaller, the numbers are relatively large, and the number of victims could be the same or worse (than in the Catholic church)”.

Justice, Homeland Security announce biggest online child-porn sting to date

The Departments of Justice and Homeland Security announced the prosecution of 72 individuals for participating in an online forum that encouraged pedophilia and the exchange of child pornography on Wednesday. Attorney General Eric Holder and Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano announced that 52 of the 72 have been arrested as part of Operation Delego, which began in December 2009. The sting targeted almost 600 users of the online pedophile site Dreamboard.

“The members of this criminal network shared a demented dream to create the preeminent online community for the promotion of child sexual exploitation," Holder said. "But for the children they victimized, this was nothing short of a nightmare." "The rules of Dreamboard were clear – and they encouraged, and incentivized, the creation of child pornography."According to the Justice Department, Dreamboard members exchanged graphic images and videos of adults molesting children, often violently, and compiled a massive private library of images of child sexual abuse. Justice officials detailed a number of measures designed to reward particularly depraved content. The group allegedly also encouraged the creation of new images and videos of child sexual abuse by its members; numerous Dreamboard members abused children and then posted documentation on the board. Those users were afforded the highest rank of "Super VIP."

“As alleged in court documents, Dreamboard was a selfdescribed global ‘community’ of pedophiles dedicated to the relentless victimization and exploitation of children 12 and under,” said assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer. “Using sophisticated methods to evade detection by law enforcement, Dreamboard members allegedly used the power and anonymity of the Internet to motivate each other to commit their horrific acts of sexual abuse of minors and trading in child pornography." Operation Delgo involved cooperation between Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, DOJ and dozens of law enforcement agencies in countries including France, Germany, Ecuador, Kenya, and Qatar. Thirteen of the 52 arrested have pleaded guilty while 20 remain at large and known only by their online identities.

PA, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia Archbishop Steps Down Amid Scandal

Archdiocese has been under fire over accusations it concealed sexual abuse of children. Cardinal Justin Rigali, whose leadership of the Philadelphia Roman Catholic archdiocese has been tainted by a continuing scandal over sexual misconduct by priests, is set to retire Tuesday. The archdiocese, the sixth largest in the United States with 1.5 million Catholics, has been under fire over accusations it concealed the sexual abuse of children by priests to avoid a costly scandal. The archdiocese website announced that Rigali, 76, is to be replaced by Archbishop Charles Chaput, 66, who has been archbishop in Denver since 1997.

The Catholic Church has been rocked by a series of sexual abuse cover-up scandals in both Europe and the United States in recent years. Rigali, archbishop in Philadelphia since 2003, has been struggling to contain the pedophilia scandal in the wake of a Philadelphia grand jury report issued at the beginning of this year. Three priests, a monsignor and a church teacher were indicted as a result of the report.

"We would have assumed," said the grand jury in a report, "by the year 2011, after all the revelations both here and around the world, that the church would not risk its youth by leaving them in the presence of priests subject to substantial evidence of abuse. That is not the case." The grand jury said that it found 37 such priests who have been kept in assignments that exposed them to children. Of that number, 21 were suspended after the report, and three more were placed on administrative leave.

Online Child Porn Bill being Presented

A bill that seeks to clamp down on online child pornography is raising some alarms in the tech and privacy communities because of a provision that would require Internet service providers to store users' IP addresses for 18 months. The legislation, H.R. 1981, spearheaded by House Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar Smith (R-Texas) and Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.), would require Internet providers and possibly other entities to retain that information to aid law enforcement investigations of child exploitation. The bill already has some notable support, namely from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

However, it also faces tough criticism from tech companies and public interest groups, which believe the section on data retention is too broad, threatens Web users' privacy and may not accomplish its stated goal of cracking down on child pornography. Those two sides may clash over the bill Tuesday, when Smith's committee holds its first legislative hearing since the legislation was introduced. Ahead of the hearing, Smith said the proposal already has bipartisan support, as it seeks to "address what may be the fastest growing crime in America."

Georgia, Atlanta
Georgia Sex Trafficking Law Goes into Effect

One of the nation's toughest crackdowns on human trafficking has taken effect in Georgia, striking a delicate balance between tougher penalties for criminals and more treatment for victims that advocates said could be a model for other states seeking to fight the sex trade.

The legislation took effect this month after a four-year legislative fight, overhauling the way Georgia treats people forced into prostitution. It bars prosecutors from charging people with sex crimes if the offense occurred while the person was a victim of trafficking. It also tacks on tough new criminal penalties for human traffickers.

The dual approach helped appease both religious conservatives, who argued the changes could effectively legalize prostitution, and children's advocates, who said a safety valve was needed for victims who were forced into the sex trade.

"This is America's dirty little secret, these are crimes the public doesn't see, that the public doesn't want to believe exist; these are hidden victims," said Ernie Allen of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, who praised Georgia's new crackdown.

"Historically, what law enforcement has tended to do is to arrest the kid," he said. "We are trying to ensure that they focus on the pimp and the customer."

The legislation calls for a 25-year minimum sentence for those convicted of using coercion to traffic someone under the age of 18, and slaps a minimum sentence of five years on those who pay for sex with a 16-year-old. People trying to have sex with someone even younger face at least 10 years behind bars.

The measure includes protections that allow a prostituted child or adult to avoid criminal charges if they can prove they were coerced into it. Under the measure, coercion doesn't mean just physical abuse but also financial harm, destruction of immigration documents and drug use.

California, San Diego
Countywide Sex Offender Sweep

Sixty-one people were under investigation Thursday following a sweep in which hundreds of law enforcement officers fanned across San Diego County and contacted more than 800 registered sex offenders to determine if they were in compliance with the terms of their release, authorities said. The sweep was carried out early Wed. morning by 300 members of the San Diego Sexual Assault Felony Enforcement Task Force. David Collazo, Task Force Commander, said “We want sex offenders in San Diego to know they are being actively watched”. Our goal was to verify they are complying with registration laws, and to identify any illegal activity they might be engaged in.” He said the vast majority of the sex offenders visited this week were in compliance with the law and living at their registered addresses. “That’s a good indicator that offenders in this community know we take the registration laws very seriously”, Collazo said. Besides the 61 individuals now under investigation, an additional 14 were arrested for various probation and parole violations, and one was taken into custody for a suspected homicide. The searches also turned up pornography, marijuana and drug paraphernalia, along with normally legal items many sex offenders aren’t allowed to possess, like laptop computers, digital media, smart phones, alcohol and children’s clothing and toys.

There are about 4,000 registered sex offenders living in San Diego County.

Australia
Australian Police Make Arrests After Online

Child Abuse Network Busted Australian police have carried out a world-first bust on a sophisticated online child abuse network, arresting 11 men in four states and rescuing two abused children. Covert police operatives spent four months infiltrating the network, secretly taking the place of those they arrested to allow them to delve deeper into the group of men aged between 26 and 67 who were sharing images and videos of the sexual abuse of children as young as four. The organization, which used complex "peer-to-peer" software rather than a traditional central server to make it harder for law enforcement agencies to uncover the material, is the first of its kind closed down by the multinational Virtual Global Task force, chaired by the Australian Federal Police.

The men, many of whom had direct access to children on a daily basis, included a teacher, IT specialist, security worker and a convicted sex offender, as well as a farmer. Two young children were removed from the custody of a 26-year-old NSW man, whose identity was suppressed, and he was charged with having sexual intercourse with a child under 10. Parents and students at the exclusive King's School were in shock after it was revealed long-term preparatory school teacher Gregory John Coupland, 40, from Forestville in Sydney's northern beaches, was among the men. Coupland, who had taught at the school for 12 years and was master in charge of snow sports, taking groups of primary-aged children on regular multi-day skiing trips, was also running a scout troop until he was charged last month with using a carriage service to access child pornography, using a carriage service to transmit child pornography and possessing child abuse material.

King's Preparatory School head Keith Dallywater said that the news had come "as a significant shock" but confirmed that no students had been harmed in any way. Six of the men were from NSW, three from Victoria, and one each from Queensland and South Australia. AFP manager of hi-tech investigations Commander Grant Edwards said, while Operation Danton had been a success, police were aware of other child abuse networks using the same file sharing service and forensic searches were ongoing.

"The images accessed are of real children being abused and it's a shocking thing," Commander Edwards said.

New York, Manhattan
Arrest of 26 in Network that traded child rape videos, images

Manhattan district attorney, Cyrus Vance, Jr., announced Tues. that his office had filed charges against 26 individuals related to the possession of images or videos showing the sexual abuse of children. “These images...are babies, toddlers, and children being brutally raped, sexually assaulted and exploited by adults on camera.”

The New York Times reports that “the charges were a result of a five-month investigation conducted by the district attorney’s office and the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement office. According to the New York Daily News, the defendants, ages ranging from 18 to 63, included Steven Roman, who worked in a children’s shoe store, Miguel Caraballo, who was once a dishwasher at Manhattan’s Alice’s Tea Cup (a Lewis Carroll-themed teahouse catering to kids), substitute teacher Joshua Ruiz, and Moshe Gerstein, a corporate attorney.

“The 26 defendants in these cases traded videos and still images of child sexual assault the way others traded baseball cards,” Vance stated, “using peer to peer technology, they acted as curators of their collection.”

According to the Times, officials from the DA’s office said they would hand over the images collected as part of the investigation to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, an organization in Virginia that keeps a database of seized material as part of its Child Victim Identification Program.

California, San Diego
San Diego County takes steps to fight sex trafficking

The San Diego County Board of Supervisors voted 5-0 Tuesday to establish a committee of local law enforcement agencies to battle human trafficking and the sexual exploitation of youth. The San Diego Regional Human Trafficking and Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children Advisory Council will operate similarly to other regional groups that combat auto theft, gangs and drugs. Area law enforcement officials have said recently that while crime is going down in the region, sexual exploitation of teenagers is increasing, and frequently involves gang members impressing girls into prostitution in areas like Spring Valley.

“I can tell you this is a very real problem, not just in East County, but around the state”, said Hank Turner of the Deputy Sheriff’s Association. The issue is ignored at the state level, and San Diego is one of the few counties to address the problem, Turner said.

Massachusetts, Milford
Mass. Man Charged in Amsterdam Sex Case

A Massachusetts man whose case led to the discovery of a massive child sex abuse case in the Netherlands has been charged with distributing child pornography, according to court documents.

Robert Diduca, 47, was a member of an online forum for those with a sexual interest in children. He came to the attention of law enforcement last year when he sent a pornographic image of a child via e-mail to investigators of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), who alerted Massachusetts State Police.

Diduca was arrested at his home in Milford, a town in Worcester County of Massachusetts, in early November 2010. During a search of his computer storage devices, investigators discovered some 10,000 images and videos of young children engaged in sexual acts. One of the images recovered from his computer showed an adult man sexually abusing a two-year-old boy. Investigators determined that the photos and videos did not appear to have been made in the United States and shared an edited image on Interpol's secure system for international law enforcement officials in order to help identify the victim.

As a result, Dutch police soon recognized the material was of Dutch origin and requested additional photos to help in the investigation. An edited photo of the victim was eventually shown on Dutch television on December 7 after which someone recognized the child and called police.

Hours later, police in the Netherlands arrested 27-year-old Robert Mikelsons who confessed to sexually abusing dozens of young children while being employed at two Amsterdam nurseries between February 2007 and January 2010. He also offered his services through several websites. Mikelsons is believed to have abused at least 85 young children.

Diduca, who remains in custody, previously pled not guilty to similar charges. If found guilty, he faces at least 5 years and up to 20 years in prison, followed by up to lifetime supervised release and a $250,000 fine.

Canada, New Brunswick
New Brunswick Record Child Porn Bust

Douglas Hugh Stewart, 51, from Moncton, pleaded guilty to possessing millions of images seized in March. Const. Jean-Marc Pare, of the RCMP Internet Child Exploitation Unit in Fredericton, said police in Canada have never seen anything quite like it. Other arrests are expected. The ongoing investigation into peer-to-peer computer file sharing of child sexual abuse images in the province– known as Operation J Treasures– began in November 2010.

“There have been a few out west that numbered over 3 million. We don’t know the exact number of ours yet, but we know we’ll be well over five million.” Pare said they’re dealing with a subculture of people who collect these images like other collect hockey cards. He said the images have been sent to the national RCMP unit in Ottawa, which could lead to the identification of more victims and possibly more offenders. “But those offenders are becoming more sophisticated, he said, both in methods of storing the images and luring victims”.

Utah
Utah authorities arrest dozens in child porn investigation

After 114 sex crime investigations, 124 computer seizures, more than 36 million images, thousands of overtime hours and 39 arrests, Utah’s Internet crime investigators on Thurs. offered a flat proclamation for their month-long, statewide child pornography bust. Farnsworth said some of the 114 suspects are accused of filming or photographing their own illegal sex acts with children as young as toddlers. Investigators will not know how many Utah children were victims in the cases until they review the images seized – the total number is estimated in excess of 36 million, according to figures provided by the attorney general’s office.

Thailand, Pattaya
The Pattaya Link to Worldwide Child Sexual Abuse

Foreign child sex abusers in Pattaya, some of whom were repeatedly released by the police or courts, were targeted in “Operation Rescue” which centered on a website called “Boy Lover”. The website has 70,000 members, dozens of whom were in Thailand or frequent visitors to the country. More arrests are expected in the operation in which 670 pedophile suspects have been targeted worldwide. Those arrested include scout leaders, football coaches, and in Britain, even a police officer, was among the 100 arrested. In The Hague, Holland, where the “Boy Lover” website is based, police say they had arrested 184 people and taken 230 children out of danger. Of the total, 240 suspects aged between 17 and 82 were in Britain where 121 arrests were made and 60 children rescued from abusers.

The Operation Rescue was led by investigators at the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP). Boy Lover operated in several languages across 11 sub-domains worldwide.

United Kingdom
World’s Largest Pedophile Ring Uncovered

An internet pedophile ring with up to 70,000 members- thought to be the largest yet discovered, has been uncovered by police. Rob Wainright, Director of Europol, The European police agency, said it's "probably the largest pedophile network in the world". Europol said in a statement that "Operation Rescue" had identified 670 suspects and that 230 abused children in 30 countries had been taken to safety. More children are expected to be found. Europol said that so far 184 people had been arrested, which include teachers, police officers, scout leaders, and a youth camp worker suspected of abusing some 100 children over five years.

The website was shut down after a 3-year investigation. It had operated from a server based in the Netherlands, and had had up to 70,000 members worldwide. Law enforcement authorities from 13 countries, including the U.S., were involved in the case. Europol analysts had cracked the security features of a key computer server at the center of the network which uncovered the identities of suspected child sex offenders. There will be more arrests as investigations continue.

Florida, St. Petersburg
Author of Pedophilia How-to Book Arrested

Florida Sheriff arrested a Colorado man, Phillip Ray Greaves II, who wrote a guide for pedophiles, on obscenity charges. Polk Sheriff Grady Judd says his office was able to arrest Greaves on Florida Obscenity charges because he sold and mailed his book, "The Pedophile's Guide to Love and Pleasure: a Child Lover's Code of Conduct", to Polk deputies. The self-published book was briefly for sale on Amazon, but probably due to public outcry, it was later removed from the website.

Basically, the main issue in question is if he committed a crime. It's not a crime in Colorado, but it is a crime in Florida. Another question being raised is the right to free speech. But Sheriff Judd, known in Florida as a crusader against child predators, said "What's wrong with a society that has gotten to the point that we can't arrest child pornographers and child molesters who write a book about how to rape a child? If we can get jurisdiction... we're coming after you. There's nothing in the world more important than our children."

Canada, Toronto
Project Sanctuary Rescues 25 Children from Child Sexual Abuse

Dubbed Project Sanctuary, the investigation began in Nov. 2009, bringing together the U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), 13 Canadian police services, and international police services and officers from the Child Exploitation Section of the Toronto Police Services Sex Crimes Unit.

For a year undercover officers went deep into the worldwide network of men who were allegedly trading child sexual abuse images and videos and, in some cases, creating these images by abusing children. That undercover operation has netted the arrest of 57 men world-wide with 25 of them from Canada. Twelve of the 25 children rescued as a result of Project Sanctuary are from Canada.

“This operation is an excellent example of what can be accomplished through cooperative police work between the U.S. and Canada. Nothing is more important than our combined efforts to prevent the exploitation of our children,” said Tom Blanchard, ICE HSI Attache in Canada.

San Diego
Surprise Visits to Registered Sex Offenders

Hundreds of convicted sex offenders have been arrested after a four day sweep across California including dozens in San Diego County, according to state parole agents.

Operation Safe Playgrounds began on Monday. State parole agents, along with local law enforcement, conducted compliance checks on registered sex offenders. "The short message is, if you're a sex offender and you are not in compliance in any way, we are going to track you down and get you back in compliance", said parole agent Sean Torphy of the California Parolee Apprehension Team.

On Friday, state parole officials will hold a press conference to release the finale number of arrests for California.

Washington
FBI Shuts Down U.S. Child Slavery Ring

More than five dozen child prostitutes have been found in the last three days as part of a nationwide crackdown on the sexual exploitation of children. An FBI spokesman said 69 children were removed from prostitution and 99 suspected pimps were arrested in 40 cities across 30 states and the District of Columbia. All the children found in the last three days have been placed into protective custody or returned to their families.

The children were found during Operation Cross Country V, a three-day roundup targeting child traffickers and pimps. The largest group of child prostitutes, 24, was found in and around Seattle, according to the FBI. An FBI director said the children found ranged in age from 12 to 17. Authorities are working with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children to confirm their identities. Since 2003, when the FBI and the Justice Dept. launched the Innocence Lost National Initiative, about 1,250 child prostitutes have been located and removed from prostitution.

California, San Diego
San Diego Diocese Sex Abuse Cases: Lawyers Release 10,000 Unsealed Documents

After a three-year legal battle, nearly 10,000 pages of previously sealed Catholic church documents have been made public and showed that the Diocese of San Diego long knew about abusive priests, some of whom were shuffled from parish to parish despite credible complaints against them. Attorneys for 144 people claiming sex abuse made the papers public Oct. 24. The records are from the personnel files of 48 priests, who were either credibly accused or convicted of sexual abuse, or were named in a civil lawsuit. They include a decades-old case in which a priest under police investigation was allowed to leave the U.S. after the diocese intervened.

The plaintiffs settled with the diocese in 2007 for nearly $200 million, but the agreement stipulated that an independent judge would review the priest’s sealed personnel records and determine what could be made public.

At least one of the priests, Gustavo Benson, is still in active ministry in Ensenada, Mexico.

The release of records is the biggest so far in a U.S. church case, said Terry McKierman, founder of the website Bishop Accountability.org Lawyers for plaintiffs have been trying to get similar internal church documents from the Archdiocese of Los Angeles for years, but have not had success. That diocese settled with more than 500 plaintiffs in 2007 for a record-breaking $660 million in a settlement agreement that also called for the disclosure of priests files. The only other release of church files in California came after a 2005 settlement between plaintiffs and the Diocese of Orange. About 4,000 pages were made public.

Convicted child molesters in California now face life in prison after Gov. Schwarzenegger signed "Chelsea's Law" Thursday. The measure, named for slain Poway High School senior Chelsea King, calls for mandatory life sentences without parole for violent sex crimes against children. It also tightens sex offense parole guidelines and requires lifelong tracking of certain sex offenders. The state Senate passed the law in a unanimous vote.

Chelsea’s Law unanimously passed the Assembly on Monday. Overcoming unexpected delays, Chelsea’s Law now goes to Gov. Schwarznegger, who has committed to signing the bill. Assembly Bill 1844 is designed to crackdown on sex offenders, including longer sentences and tougher parole conditions as well as improved testing and treatment to prevent future crimes.

The legislation is named after Poway teenager Chelsea King. She was raped and murdered in February by John Gardner. Gardner pleaded guilty to the crime, and also confessed to raping and killing 14-year-old Amber Dubois of Escondido in 2009. He is serving two life sentences with out the possibility of parole.

2/24/07:

Donalda Shepardson, the Founder and President of CSH was interviewed on KRTM radio.

9/15/06: