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Texas
Good mothers provide foundations for future
Parenting skills and relationship bonds help our kids develop
by Deborah Jacobvitz
This Sunday is a celebration of all things motherhood, and rightfully so because research is showing just how important mothers truly are.
As the chair of the Department of Human Development and Family Sciences at The University of Texas at Austin, I - along with my colleagues - have followed parents as they have raised their children. We observed family functioning as children matured from infancy through adolescence.
Decades of research have pointed to one important conclusion: The quality of parenting a child receives from his or her mother affects how well he or she is prepared to be a parent.
Spending time interacting with, diapering and feeding the baby is important, but in order for infants to develop a sense of security - a secure attachment - it is essential for a parent to be there to provide comfort.
Although it is in the best interest of the child to have many, many caregivers within a family group, our research over many decades reveals that there is, really, just one person who carries the extra burden of a special attachment. That person, the one who bears ultimate responsibility for the health and well-being of an infant, is typically the mother.
A young child is biologically wired to choose just one person as the primary attachment figure. We believe this ensures that one person is ultimately responsible for meeting an infant's needs.
This does not mean that all mothers are good mothers. It doesn't mean that the most caring and engaged mothers don't sometimes make mistakes. It also doesn't mean that fathers' and adoptive parents' roles in raising children are less important.
From the data we have collected over the decades, following children from infancy through adolescence, we have found that there is a hierarchy of caregiving, with the mother as the "go to" caregiver.
When mom is not around, the child will pick the adult (usually the father) who takes on the next most responsibility for the child care.
Our research also indicates that the role of mother is one that changes throughout life but remains important as children grow to adulthood.
We observed new mothers talking with their own mothers.
In mother-daughter relationships, when mom is still mom, then adult daughters have someone they can still turn to, and this helps them to be better parents with their own children.
That is, stronger mother-daughter relationships predicted better mother-infant relationships for the new mothers we observed.
The mom who is still the "go to" caregiver for her adult child gives a tremendous gift to her grandchild.
When those who have been exposed to neglect or abuse in early childhood become parents, we would naturally be concerned that the mechanisms of good parenting would be absent or malfunctioning. Our data point to something different.
As long as there is one parent or another caring adult (such a grandma, grandpa, teacher or neighbor) who can stand in as a solid alternative attachment figure, the negative effects of trauma and abuse are less likely to be transmitted to the next generation.
We have looked at how parents support their children.
Fathers and other caregivers typically provide instrumental care. Fathers pick up children from soccer practice, demonstrate how to tie shoes, and make sure dinner is on the table.
Mothers, we find, more often provide emotional care. Mothers soothe hurt knees and hurt feelings. Mothers forge an emotional bond with children. That emotional bond is critically important in adulthood. And the quality of that bond is what is transmitted to the next generation.
So on this Mother's Day, honor all of the caregivers who nurture and teach young children.
Better parenting is reinforced by stronger relationships with our parents as we become adults.
It is never too late to have a good relationship with your mom, and, if you are a mom, don't forget that our children are the parents of the future.
Jacobvitz is a professor and chair of the Department of Human Development and Family Sciences at The University of Texas at Austin. Her research focuses on parent-child interactions and their transmission from one generation to the next.
http://www.houstonchronicle.com/opinion/outlook/article/Jacobvitz-Good-mothers-provide-foundations-for-5466530.php
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California
How GPS monitoring fails in critical public-safety ways
Experts say law-enforcement agencies have a poor track record of sharing GPS data for proactive purposes. They work well in investigating crimes; less so in detecting them.
by KEEGAN KYLE
New details in the high-profile case of two accused Orange County serial killers have revived concerns that federal supervision of California sex offenders is deeply flawed.
Anaheim police acknowledge that Steven Gordon routinely violated the terms of his federal probation by spending time with longtime friend Franc Cano.
And yet, despite ample anecdotal and physical evidence of these encounters, Gordon never faced serious consequences. His supervisors either missed or ignored the behavior.
Gordon and Cano were charged last month with raping and murdering four women, all of them sex workers. Both men were wearing GPS tracking devices at the time of their arrest. Gordon was being tracked by federal probation officers. Cano was being tracked by state parole officers.
Gordon was swept into the federal probation system last year because he failed to register as a sex offender after crossing state lines. He became part of a growing population of sex offenders under federal supervision. Federal probation officers in California now supervise more than twice the number of sex offenders than they did six years ago, including roughly 240 in the Los Angeles region, records show.
Federal probation officials who supervised Gordon did not respond to numerous phone calls and emails seeking comment. Their growing caseload is clouded in secrecy.
But the fact that Gordon and Cano were being tracked by different agencies could partially explain how Gordon was able to flaunt the terms of his probation without scrutiny.
Experts say law enforcement agencies have a poor track record of sharing GPS data for proactive purposes. They work well together when it comes to investigating crimes – combining data to exonerate or indict a suspect – but not when it comes to detecting them.
“That was exactly the problem,” said Susan Turner, a UC Irvine professor who reviewed GPS monitoring by state parole authorities in 2010. “They had talked about data sharing but they couldn't do it.”
Gordon isn't the first sex offender to raise questions about federal supervision in the state. In 2011, an internal federal report outlined how Antioch sex offender Phillip Garrido was monitored so poorly that a judge felt compelled to publish the document online.
Though authorities flagged Garrido as a high-risk offender, the report says, his federal supervisors rarely contacted him at home, never contacted his neighbors and never checked his compliance with sex offender registration laws.
Like Gordon, the holes in Garrido's supervision came to light only because local authorities intervened. They discovered Garrido had kidnapped an 11-year-old girl in 1991 and held her captive in his Antioch home for 18 years. He was under federal supervision at the time of Jaycee Dugard's kidnapping.
“Had Mr. Garrido's federal supervision been conducted properly from the onset, it is possible that he may have been deterred from some of the acts now attributed to him,” wrote then-Chief Judge James Ware, who oversaw federal probation in the San Francisco region.
Ware explained why he published the otherwise confidential report: “We are using its candid criticism and the public scrutiny that comes from it as tools to improve the administration of justice in our District.”
Relatives of the four women were shocked when told about Gordon's apparent violations. For some, the news added to frustrations about law enforcement. Three of the women had been missing for months before authorities concluded that Gordon and Cano had killed them.
“I would like to take whoever was in charge of their supervision to court and slap it to them,” said Kathy Menzies, mother of Kianna Rae Jackson. “Somebody obviously wasn't doing their job.”
Martha Anaya's mother, Herlinda Salcedo, said the men should have been monitored more closely. She's baffled authorities “wouldn't know these two people were spending a lot of time together.”
INTO THE FEDERAL SYSTEM
Gordon and Cano were tracked by state parole officers only until 2012, when they removed GPS bracelets from their ankles and jumped on a bus bound for Las Vegas. Authorities caught up with them at the Circus Circus Hotel & Casino and arrested them for violating parole and failing to register under federal sex offender laws.
Prosecutors charged the latter offense in federal court and both men pleaded guilty. A judge sentenced Cano to eight months in jail and five years' federal probation. Gordon got 10 months in jail and lifetime probation.
In January 2013, Gordon was released from jail. At that point he was on state parole, which included wearing a GPS tracking device, and federal probation. Court records show his federal probation included a number of conditions: He had to attend sex offender counseling sessions, allow warrantless searches by police, notify officials of residence changes, avoid children and couldn't possess guns.
Gordon's federal court hearing
During a Nov. 12, 2013, hearing in federal court, Steven Dean Gordon urged a judge not to place him on a GPS monitor. Here are excerpts of what he told the judge:
"I was shocked at sleeping on the street when I got out of prison after eight and a half years. I was shocked. I didn't ask for that. They did that to me."
Gordon became a registered sex offender after pleading guilty to molesting a nephew in 1992. He served 15 months in state prison and went back in 2002 for kidnapping his estranged wife and child.
"People think – they look bad on you when you do something like this, especially when they don't have the original date of your crime. It's a lot different when you're 21 and someone reads this as opposed to 44, even though it's still bad no matter how you look at it."
Gordon said he was invited to live with his brother and 15-year-old niece but worried it would bring unwarranted attention to their home. He also said he couldn't find housing more than 2,000 feet away from parks and schools, a restriction placed on sex offenders by the 2006 ballot initiative known as Jessica's Law.
"I can't afford to live anywhere that's outside the 2,000-foot restriction, Your Honor. I make $8 an hour. It's very, very hard."
http://www.ocregister.com/articles/gordon-613695-federal-probation.html
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Australia
There's nothing domestic about violence
by Naomi Cartledge
I have recently celebrated my 69th birthday. I have three adult sons, six grand children and one great grandchild, all of whom I love dearly. Last December marked 51 years since I was married and next month will be 30 years since I finally left the marriage.
Despite the research I have done, together with almost five years of counselling, I still suffer from the impact of 20 years of domestic violence. I have been diagnosed as suffering from a form of post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
I am aware of the triggers that cause me anxiety, sadness, insecurity and vulnerability. I find myself crying during news items and documentaries about violence to women and children.
Recent murders of five women reduced me to tears, particularly the one that occurred in front of one woman's child. I make angry retorts when I hear judges make stupid and ill informed comments from the Bench; I cringe at angry voices and jump at crimes of violence on TV.
My hands still shake when I'm being treated with disrespect or angry outbursts, and not a day goes by when I'm not forced to recall some event in my past. I'm reminded at these times how destructive and permanent the acts of violence and denigration can be to the human psyche. Bruises heal in time; the impact of denigration and demeaning language and verbal abuse take much longer and may never really recede.
Sometimes I think that having your car stolen outside your home brings forth more sympathy than being violated inside by the father of your children who had always purported to love you.
He was a sane, rational, logical person outside the home, but a cruel dictator inside it. Thankfully, my counsellor believed me from the outset and has validated my insights and feelings.
COURAGE TO SPEAK OUT
So what changed to lift the “veil of silence” about this man? A couple of months ago a man with an alleged mental illness brutally murdered his son, Luke Batty, in front of his mother in Victoria. This boy was only 11 years old — just a couple of years younger than my much-loved youngest grandson.
Like most people I was outraged, horrified and saddened by the death of this young boy. What also got to me was the courage of his bereaved mother. In the midst of her enormous shock, pain and grief, she spoke out on behalf of all brutalised women. I thought, “If she can do that, why am I still silent?”
Her courage was empowering. I'm only too aware of the possible negative outcomes of my speaking out by some who know me and also from strangers. I do know that for every one who criticises me there'll be many women who'll applaud my speaking out at last, and hopefully others who'll feel enabled to leave their abuser and fight for the future we all deserve — free from violence. I realise that the only way to “stop the violence” is to “end the silence”.
I want my grand children, indeed all young people to know that abuse in any relationship is not to be tolerated; that people who really love you don't use their power to be cruel, vicious and demeaning. I want them to know that speaking out is a human right; that it's not “airing my dirty linen”; that survivors are not the people who should feel shame and blame.
By speaking out I hand back the responsibility for his behaviour to him — because that's where it belongs.
The years of denigration and verbal abuse are often more dangerous and disabling than the physical violence. You end up believing that your life is meaningless; you're a “non person” and voiceless.
If, in spite of this, you seek help only to be ridiculed or ignored, it can take many years before you have the courage to risk telling someone again. Every attempt to silence you, every doubtful glance, and every negative word adds another layer to the pain and anguish you already feel.
In the early 1960s, a Chamber Magistrate's “concern” for me and my then two toddlers was to tell me to “go home, be a good wife and cook his favourite meal”. There was no concern for my welfare and not one word about any damage to my children. This only reinforced what my then husband had been saying for years, that I was a useless, worthless person who deserved all his abuse. There was nowhere else to go. I just had to get on with it.
My husband always physically assaulted me in private. He usually whacked me around the head and upper part of my body, so there'd be no bruises or scars for others to see. After all, he had to protect his standing in his community?
I could fit under his arm. Even when pregnant he was at least 20 kilograms heavier than me.
It is ludicrous to even hint that the blame should be equally shared. I recall one occasion when I knew I was going to be hit around the head again. I lifted my foot to get him first; he grabbed my foot and flipped me onto the floor on my back. It hurt like hell and almost winded me.
An x-ray many years later (for a different condition) showed an old fracture of my spine. My left knee will probably have to be repaired or replaced eventually, again due to his violence. I learnt that self-defence was not a sensible option.
PSYCHOLOGICAL TERROR
During the latter years of the marriage he tried other forms of psychological terror. He hid my keys and I did not notice until I was ready to walk out the door to work. The three children had already gone to school by this time. Finally I rang him just to ask if he'd seen them, and after hearing that particular laugh I knew what he'd done.
He kept on goading, tormenting and abusing me for some time for not being smart enough to know they'd gone. He enjoyed the fear and anxiety I'd feel, as well as the knowledge that I'd have to rely on his “good side” to put an end to it. He'd only relent after I'd break down, crying and insistent that I'd be late for work. By this time he knew that I'd have had to ring work and tell them I'd be late — again.
He tried several other methods of this type of harassment. First he removed the rotor button out of my car; then on at least three occasions he took my car out of the garage and hid it one or two streets over on the opposite side of the street without my knowledge. I had to walk to the beginning of those streets before I could see it. Again, I'd be reduced to tears, with body shaking and not knowing what to expect next.
After these types of occurrences I'd be waiting for the next event. Would he tamper with my car and make it unsafe? Who could I tell? Who'd believe me? The logical answer is to call the police, but after past experiences I had no faith in them. Also, every event just adds another layer to your lack of self worth.
If the police weren't interested in my being assaulted, they'd hardly care about these “harmless” events? It might even amuse them. What if they laughed too?
He took great delight in locking me out of the house. On occasions my children would have been aware of me being locked out, but at other times he did it quietly without any witnesses. This was a consistent form of punishment over most of our marriage. I felt impotent and alone — too ashamed and embarrassed to tell anyone. What would they think of me?
I even recall thinking that the people I worked with respected my abilities; would they still have that view once they learned that I was being abused? People need to realise the power that this type of abuse holds over you. His violence, his acts of bastardry, his pleasure in my pain made me feel guilty and ashamed.
Your self worth is ground down each day. Each day brings reinforcement of your lack of importance almost to the point of not being acknowledged as a person.
He constantly told me I was useless, an emotional wreck who needed to see a psychiatrist and a bad mother. It is just awful to realise that the man you love, the father of your children has such a low opinion of you, that abusive language is all you deserve.
I'd almost physically shrink, but the hurtful impact is still with me now, and probably always will be. When this happens day in and day out for 20 years, it's layer upon layer of abuse — and this is what causes the destruction of self worth resulting in future trauma — and why it's a recognised form of PTSD. Even after 50 years.
LOOKING AFTER THE CHILDREN
I was the primary care giver for almost all of the children's needs; which also included their illnesses or life's situations that made them unhappy or distressed. His comment was usually, “Well you can sit up all night, but I have to go to work in the morning?”
Well for the last 10 years of our marriage — so did I. Caring for children was obviously not considered work, even when I suffered from lack of sleep, which was often. But I couldn't leave a sad or sick child alone.
After almost 10 years of constant arguing over money — usually for the needs of the children not mine, from clothes to school needs, even groceries. I started to look for work outside the home.
I had to constantly justify the need, or explain what I spent and why. Even though I made clothes for the boys and myself, made curtains and other essentials for the home, the constant conflict was wearing.
I was ecstatic when I got a job, and I know that over the years it did help restore some self respect and self awareness. Being acknowledged for my contributions was something new for me, and it caused me much pleasure and fulfilment. He was alright while I only worked part time, but when full time work was offered his comment was "well, you'll just have to work twice as hard at home".
Throughout my sons' development I was determined that they would not be sexist and abusive to women or other loved ones. I challenged news items to promote discussions about work values, sexist attitudes, homophobia, the great evil of racism and other areas of injustice and hate.
I did not want them to cause misery to the beloved people in their lives, and just as important I strove to instil an attitude of respect and inclusiveness in all areas of life. I was most passionate about injustices, human rights, anti-war and the threat of nuclear weapons and got involved against the hideous slaughter of whales and other creatures.
In short, I wanted them to be compassionate and just human beings with a sense of their own worth and ideas; to follow their own dreams but never at the expense of “leaving footprints in other peoples' shoulders”. I'm very proud to say that I achieved those goals.
It's ironic that during this time I did not promote my right to be treated with dignity and respect from their father. Parenting is often difficult, a huge responsibility, but parenting under oppressive conditions is frequently lonely and tiring too.
DECIDING TO LEAVE
So what made me decide to leave? I'd been to see a doctor who'd advised me to leave. She warned me of the danger I was in. In her view my life was in danger.
She said that if the types of violence escalated or changed in some way, it would be a warning, that he'd stepped up to a more dangerous level, and I should not hesitate to leave.
When he assaulted me for the first time in front of my kids — he poured a bottle of cold beer over my head while I had my hands in the sink washing the dishes — I remembered her words, and knew I had to leave for my safety, and I had to do it now. I left the next morning.
The trauma of leaving my kids, my home and all my hopes and dreams for the future overwhelmed me. I was suffering grief, sadness, anxiety and loss of faith in my own abilities.
I'm still amazed to recall how making simple decisions, like what road to take to drive to work was almost impossible to do. For many months I chose the longest route as there were traffic lights to make decisions for me, rather than have to cross a busy intersection without lights and take the shortest route.
Sometimes I would not remember where I lived and would be on the wrong road home. Early in the separation and living alone, I'd find myself shopping for five people with a full trolley which I'd then leave in the middle of the supermarket and tearfully run out of the store.
A friend made me realise that I had to do my shopping in a different place as the memories were too traumatic for me — just constant reminders that my family were fragmented. Mixed with this trauma was guilt and shame. I felt like a failure.
It is a very scary thing to not remember how to get somewhere you have been to many times before. To know you're a competent and capable person who has been calm and rational when others are experiencing trauma only to have no faith in or memory of your past capabilities.
I went back to him in early 1984. For the first time in our marriage, my leaving was my decision. He was not in control and I believe that he wanted to change that, so he led me to believe that he'd realised the errors of his past behaviours, that he really loved me and wanted me back.
I realised very early that it was a lie. I left permanently in May 1985. Another indication of his nastiness, pettiness and lack of respect was the fact that I was not offered anything from the home. So much for my input of over 20 years. To add to this, women my age did not have the opportunity of superannuation like men did.
WOMEN LIVING IN POVERTY
There have been recent investigations into the poverty levels in Australia, and women of my age were found to be among the highest category of Australian poor — in fact, single female pensioners are the largest group in receipt of a total aged pension. That means we rely totally on the aged pension for all of life's essentials.
If my ex-husband had consistently assaulted women on the street, the workplace or indeed anywhere else but our home, he would have almost certainly gone to jail, lost his home and his job. He'd be thought of as a criminal and a bully, preying on people who could not fight back.
The attitude to the role of women in marriage was most oppressive in those days. Sadly, too many people today still believe that it's acceptable for men to commit crimes of violence against the women they purport to love. While there are many programs and policies to assist victims of these horrific abuses, more work has to be done to educate men that such behaviour is not OK. The best people to do this are other men.
Organisations such as White Ribbon have made inroads into changing community attitudes which now include courses conducted in schools about positive non violent relationships.
A program called “Love Bites” teaches school students about non-violent relationships and how to treat each other, particularly girls and young women. This is a great step forward.
At best it's an act of cowardice for a man to raise his hand to a woman in anger. There is no equality in that; there is no contest. Very few women can defend themselves from the physicality of an angry man.
What is happening in Australian homes that make boys and men believe that they have any right to use their physical size to bash, violate, insult and demean any other human being?
What makes men use their fists and loud abusive language to intimate and violate those they purport to love? This sort of destruction covers all ages, professions, incomes and cultures — from the very rich to the very poor and in all countries of the world.
INTERNATIONAL CAMPAIGN
One in three women is either physically or verbally abused and one in four will experience sexual assault or violence in their lives. The United Nations has set aside 16 days each year worldwide — from White Ribbon Day on November 25 until Humans Rights Day on December 10 Human Rights Day — to focus on this issue.
I constantly hear people blaming women who are victims of domestic violence by asking, “If it was so bad, why didn't she leave?”
The fact is that most women are murdered after they inform their husband or partner of their intention to leave, or after they've actually left.
The recent murders of five women in one week only reinforced this reality. While emotions can inhibit women taking action earlier in the relationship it should be noted that a major emotion is fear — fear about the lives of their children, their pets and themselves.
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Also, by the time a woman realises how damaging the relationship is, she is probably isolated, financially dependent and traumatised. Also she may have no family or close friends in this country.
Another common response is to point out that men are also victims of abuse. This is true, and people in same-sex relationships are also victims. But, over 80% of victims of domestic violence are women in heterosexual relationships.
Also, the physical injuries experienced by women are usually far more serious than those of men. National crime statistics show that men are more likely to be murdered by men outside the home, for example in clubs and pubs or on the street. The greatest threat to the health and safety of women aged 18-45 is from their husbands or partners.
I hope that this has given some insight into the complexities and damage inflicted by daily abuse.
If by revealing my personal experiences I can help just one woman find that extra bit of strength and energy to remove herself and her children from an abusive environment, then I'll feel invigorated by that knowledge.
I implore everyone who reads this to research just some of the factual information about domestic violence. Arm yourself with knowledge and then take a stand. We can put an end to this together.
[The author can be contacted by emailing cartledgenaomi@gmail.com . The National Sexual Assault, Family and Domestic Violence helpline is 1800 737 732.] |
https://www.greenleft.org.au/node/56414
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United Kingdom
Campaign urges boarding schools to stop taking young children
After an article in last week's Observer Magazine about abuse claims, campaigners call for end to children being 'sent away'
by Tracy McVeigh
A group of campaigners, clinicians and academics are calling for boarding schools to stop accepting young children, claiming that boarding is mentally damaging and the product of an outdated class system.
In a letter to Sunday's Observer, more than 25 signatories – including psychoanalyst Dr Susie Orbach, Labour MP Barry Sheerman, writer AL Kennedy and film-maker Don Boyd – say boarding is detrimental to children's wellbeing and a "British habit" that can lead to emotional deprivation.
Boarding schools are proving increasingly popular with UK parents and the number of boarders has been slowly rising year on year, even throughout the recession, while other independent schools have seen their numbers fall slightly. Some 69,000 pupils currently have boarding places at independent schools, which on average cost £25,000 a year. There are also 5,000 children at England's state boarding schools.
A number of psychiatrists and former boarders believe the practice is institutionalising children and leaving them damaged by being denied a loving home.
"I'm completely horrified at the idea of sending children to these places," said Sally Fraser of Boarding School Action, who helped organise the letter. "My husband is a boarding school survivor and when you see the impact of this world on people like him, it's horrendous. I knew he had issues and I started to look into it and found out that there was something called boarding school syndrome.
"Especially now that we have young children, it really strikes a chord. It's this attitude that children have to be rushed through to adulthood. The parents think they are doing the right thing and think the children are coping, when in fact the kids are just kept incredibly busy so they don't feel sad.
"It's an adapt-and-survive environment. It's seen as awful that we have to have kids in care, but we are happily allowing this to go on, just to a different socioeconomic group."
The letter comes after an article in last week's Observer Magazine by journalist Alex Renton about abuse and neglect and the "no-hugs" culture in boarding schools, which provoked a large response. Ray McGovern, chairman of the Boarding Schools Association – which is holding its annual conference in Glasgow on Monday – said that he had enormous sympathy with any adult who had had a dreadful experience as a boarder, but that today's schools were very different to those of the past.
"Children are not being 'sent away'; they are going to enjoy an education, opportunities and facilities second to none" because their parents want the best for them, said McGovern, who is also headmaster of St George's in Harpenden, Hertfordshire, one of only 37 state boarding schools in England.
"Even a seven-year-old going into a boarding environment can be enriched by it," he said.
"Nowadays children are part of the decision-making to go to a boarding school, and schools will make sure the child's wishes are being taken into account before they admit them, as well as making sure they have the resilience to cope with the boarding environment. Any parent who comes in saying their child needs a bit of 'toughening up' will have it explained to them that that is not what boarding is all about."
McGovern admitted some parents were criticised for sending their children to boarding schools. "I wouldn't say it's a taboo, but certainly some people will be cautious about who and when they might engage in a conversation with about it. But then a lot of parents are quite proud of it; it's seen as status-enhancing that they can afford it.
"The numbers of international boarders, from Chinese or Russian families, is going down a little; it's mainly the British sector going up. The biggest restraining factor is cost, and if more parents could afford it they would.
"There is a big growth in flexi-boarding: very few children at a young age are sent to boarding school and don't go home from the start of one end of term to the end. Many will have weekends with mum and dad – and of course [they have] mobile phones. Communications between parent and child are far better than they ever were."
But to many psychologists and psychiatrists, concerns remain. They point to "attachment theory" – pioneered by British child psychiatrist John Bowlby, who was opposed to early boarding – and to the experiences of some clinicians and neuroscientists, which suggest that children can be permanently hurt by a lack of warmth and a secure home.
Dr Andrew Samuels, a psychotherapist at Essex University, said: "It's not just a historical experience. Boarding schools are disruptive to family relationships. Children learn that sense of having to pull themselves together and be happy boarders; otherwise, of course, there would be outbreaks of hysteria.
"They can't understand despair or empathise with others as adults because that just wasn't on the menu for them as children."
http://www.theguardian.com/education/2014/may/10/campaign-boarding-schools-young-children
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Korea
Gov't to penalize failure to report child abuse
SEOUL -- The justice ministry said Sunday it will propose a law that would fine people up to 5 million won (US$4,873) for failing to report child abuse.
The law would also give a prosecutor the authority to keep track of a case through a committee made up of police, doctors, lawyers and welfare workers, the ministry said.
The law, to be formally proposed on Monday, will fine people who know of but neglect to report suspected child abuse.
"This is intended for not just closing the case by punishing the abuser but for actively protecting victimized children from continued abuse," the ministry said.
The law would also enable the ministry to levy a 5 million won fine on suspected abusers who violate court order restricting contact with or proximity to victims.
A prosecutor will be given the authority to convene a meeting of a team of specialists comprising police officers, child protection agents, doctors and lawyers to determine the appropriate assistance for victims, separation from abusive parents and other protective measures.
The ministry said it is aiming for the law's enactment by September.
http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/yonhap-news-agency/140511/govt-penalize-failure-report-child-abuse
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Texas
Working to prevent child abuse
Children's Advocacy Center offers training classes for parents, students
by Bill Conrad
Child abuse is a crime with no stereotypical victim or perpetrator.
Males and females are preyed upon by predators who may or may not know their victim, making it difficult, if not impossible, for law enforcement officers to prevent abuse. That is, unless officers have assistance from friends and family of the victims.
To help educate the public on what they can do to end the cycle of child abuse, the Children's Advocacy Center of Collin County offers several free training classes. One, titled “Darkness to Light's Stewards of Children,” focuses on signs to look for in detecting abuse, as well as what to do if abuse is suspected.
“This is not sad, distressing or traumatizing, but it speaks about the long-term ramifications of a child that has been sexually abused,” said Vicki Duggan, education coordinator for the center. “There are long-term effects of child abuse that cost the United States billions of dollars per year.”
Duggan said there are dozens of ways signs of child abuse present themselves, but victims often act in one of two ways: by becoming over-sexualized or by regressing back into childlike behavior.
“They either want to be touched and want to touch you, or they don't want an adult near them,” she said. “They are often depressed and act out in school with a lot of aggression. The physical signs can include infections and trauma around their genitalia.”
Many teachers and other professionals who work with children on a regular basis already receive similar training, but Duggan said the “Darkness to Light” training is something from which everyone can benefit.
“It is geared at all adults in Collin County who know or love a child and want to ensure that child is safe when they are outside the parent's control,” she said. “We think that 10 children will be made safer for every adult that attends the training.”
As society becomes more connected to the Internet, it is becoming much easier for child predators to find victims online, said Jeff Rich, a cybercrimes detective with the Plano Police Department based out of the advocacy center. To help combat this, Rich and Sgt. Chris Meehan from the Collin County Sheriff's Office have developed a training class to educate parents on the online dangers their children face.
“In all honesty, most adults are not as technologically advanced as their kids, so they kind of put blinders on and hope for the best,” Rich said. “The Internet has brought our society closer together and we can communicate instantaneously across the planet, but unfortunately, it has also brought the people who seek to exploit children into the homes of our children without us being aware of it.”
Rich said social networking sites allow predators to find background information on their potential victim, such as names of their teachers and friends. Using this information, they can approach the child online posing as one of their peers, a move that helps gain the child's trust.
“As a patrol officer, I used to drive by parks and schools and watch for suspicious people,” Rich said. “Now I can't do that anymore because these guys seek out the children online. I believe it is an underreported offense, and I think our children are sought out on a regular basis. Statistics show that at any time, there are 50,000 predators online, but my guess is that the number is actually much greater than that since you have an entire planet of people who can communicate with our children.”
The key for parents, he said, is being proactive rather than reactive: Instead of waiting for abuse to happen and then taking the child to the advocacy center, parents should educate themselves and prevent the abuse from occurring. To date, about 7,300 parents and students have taken the Internet safety training class, which is offered by school resource officers throughout the county.
“You can stop a lot of things from happening just by keeping your eyes open,” Rich said. “Our society is very mobile, and we have a lot of working parents whose kids spend a lot of time by themselves and are babysat by the Internet. If we can get people to be proactive by giving them some resources and tools to prevent abuse, we can save a lot of heartache.”
FYI
Darkness to Light's Stewards of Children training will be held 5:30-7 p.m. Thursday at the Children's Advocacy Center of Collin County, 2205 Los Rios Blvd. in Plano. The training is free to attend, but donations are appreciated to help cover the cost of materials. To make a reservation, contact Vickie Duggan at vduggan@caccollincounty.org or 972-633-6743.
For information about the Internet child safety training classes, call the advocacy center at 972-633-6600 and ask to speak with Duggan, Detective Jeff Rich or Sgt. Chris Meehan.
http://starlocalmedia.com/allenamerican/news/working-to-prevent-child-abuse/article_36aa59b8-d7d2-11e3-88e6-001a4bcf887a.html
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Jamaica
Painful silence: Too many adults hiding their faces when they see child abuse
by Ryon Jones
Averted eyeS, uncomfortable silence replace childhood laughter. Their tear-soaked eyes betray an existence they are powerless to change as they lose their innocence. Cowering in the shadows are the adults, whose voices should be raised in their defence.
It appears that very few adults are willing to speak up for abused children, and a 2013 study conducted by the Office of the Children's Registry (OCR), in collaboration with the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), has underscored that worrying trend.
The study revealed that despite 82 per cent of the almost 1,600 persons interviewed knowing of at least one incident of child abuse, the vast majority never reported the matter. In fact, seven out of every 10 persons who witnessed a case of child abuse said nothing.
"It was very necessary for the study to be done, because it confirmed and quantified for us facts which we were aware of because of the reports which have been coming to us from social workers in the field," Janet Cupidon-Quallo, UNICEF child protection specialist, told The Sunday Gleaner .
"We knew of the reluctance [to report abuse]. We just couldn't put a figure to it, in terms of the percentages. So what the study has done is give us the evidence base to do proper planning and so on," added Cupidon-Quallo.
The study, dubbed Baseline Survey: Knowledge, Attitude & Practices Regarding Child Maltreatment in Jamaica , focused on three groups: children between 10 and 17 years old attending school; institutional workers, including health-care professionals, social workers, teachers and guidance counsellors; and general adults.
With the exception of workers in institutions, the majority of respondents in the other groups said they have never reported cases of child abuse. This is despite the fact that most of them claimed to have either experienced abuse or know of a child who has experienced it.
Of the children interviewed in the study, 30 per cent say they have filed a report about a case of child abuse, so, too, said 76 per cent of the institutional workers. However, only 11 per cent of adult Jamaicans said they reported the cases.
While it was evident that some respondents were not clear on what constituted child abuse, others said they did not make a report because it was not their business, while some claimed that they kept quiet because they did not want to get hurt in any reprisal for talking.
NEED TO BREAK SILENCE
Cupidon-Quallo recognises that the 'informa fi dead' culture in Jamaica causes persons to remain silent for fear of losing their lives, but argues that there is a need to break the silence, or Jamaica will go to ruins.
"Very often, people point to the Government, but the Government alone cannot do it. People must understand that communities have to be responsible," argued Cupidon-Quallo.
"Persons will say, 'This is Jamaica. People lose their lives all the time because they open their mouths', but if we continue to give in to that and be afraid, our country is going to fall apart. We have to be bold and stand up and speak on behalf of the children who cannot defend themselves," urged Cupidon-Quallo.
She was supported by the registrar of the Office of the Children's Registry, Greig Smith, who is desperate to see more persons reporting child abuse.
"One issue is a matter of trust. Persons' experiences in making reports previously - not to the registry, but to other organisations before the registry came - might not have been comfortable," Smith expressed.
"Persons also fear that once they make a report, persons will know that it is they who made the report. The OCR is working on that, in terms of confidentiality, to prove to the public that when you make a report to the OCR, it is confidential.
INCREASE IN REPORTS
"The registrar can only disclose the existence of a report or its contents if he or she is subpoenaed by a resident magistrate, at least a deputy commissioner of police, or the DPP (director of public prosecutions)," added Smith, who said there is a steady increase in the number of persons reporting child-abuse cases to the OCR.
More than 9,000 reports were made to the OCR last year, up from 455 in 2007, when the registry was first established.
But the level of reporting is little comfort to Smith, who argues that there is one other factor preventing persons from coming forward.
"People also think that once you make a report to the OCR, the Government is going to remove the children from the home, [and] people fear children's homes. So we have to now educate them that it is the last resort," he said.
Children's Advocate Diahann Gordon-Harrison also urged more Jamaicans to report cases of child abuse.
"This see-and-blind, hear-and-deaf culture that we have in Jamaica needs to stop. We need to start taking a stand and hold people accountable for their actions," declared Gordon-Harrison on the eve of the start of May, which is observed as Child Month.
More reasons why child abuse is not reported
Was told to see and blind and hear and deaf
Lack of proof
It was unimportant
Did not want to embarrass the child
Did not remember to do so
Reporting would have caused a problem
The abuse stopped
Family of child is aware of the problem; it is their responsibility to tell
Gleaner-UNICEF Collaboration for Child Month
Throughout Child Month, The Gleaner and UNICEF are taking you inside the lives and challenges of children who are struggling with abuse and exploitation. The facts and their stories are hard to forget. They demand our attention and action as a nation. They call on us to learn more and do more - to better understand the realities and to unite around the solutions. All children, everywhere across our island, deserve that.
http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20140511/lead/lead12.html
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Nigeria
Social media keeping heat on terrorists
by Jordan Graham
As global pressure mounts to rescue nearly 300 Nigerian schoolgirls abducted by ruthless Islamic terrorists, social media has helped keep the issue in the forefront in what experts say is the new normal for activism.
“This is probably page one in the new ‘Dummies' Guide' to activism,” said David Gerzof Richard, a marketing professor at Emerson College. “Something like this, once it reaches a critical mass on Twitter, tends to have a much longer lifespan.”
The girls were kidnapped from a school April 15 by Islamic extremist group Boko Haram and while at first it received little attention, a social media campaign quickly put the crisis on the global agenda.
Use of the #BringBackOurGirls hashtag on Twitter has skyrocketed in recent days, fueled in large part by celebrities including first lady Michelle Obama and Pope Francis tweeting their support.
According to social analytics company Topsy, #BringBackOurGirls has been tweeted 2 million times in the past seven days, and 500,000 times in the 24-hour stretch from 5 p.m. Friday to 5 p.m. yesterday.
While a hashtag will not bring a resolution on its own, Gerzof Richard said social media can play a role in increasing and maintaining awareness.
“Certainly it helps keep the conversation going, long enough for the conversation to develop a critical mass offline,” he said. “That's the nature of Twitter, it truly is information by democracy.”
International efforts to rescue the girls got underway yesterday, with French security experts joining British, American and Nigerian forces in the African country. And outrage at the prolonged failure of the Nigerian military to rescue the girls continued to grow, with Michelle Obama using the president's weekly radio address to say she and the president are “outraged and heartbroken” over the mass abduction.
But it wasn't just Western nations and leaders condemning the group — the International Union for Muslim Scholars yesterday called on Boko Haram to immediately release the girls, saying the actions of the homegrown terrorist network “are very far from Islamic teachings.”
The 56-country Organization of Islamic Cooperation, the world's largest bloc of Islamic countries, said it is planning a meeting to focus on groups like Boko Haram that are part of “the growing phenomenon of dangerous extremist groups who hijacked Islam and are committing crimes in the name of religion.”
http://bostonherald.com/news_opinion/international/africa/2014/05/social_media_keeping_heat_on_terrorists
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California
Human trafficking gains ground: How one new criminal element has fostered growth in sex crimes
by Rachel Stine
REGION — A new element to the age old crime has made sex trafficking carried out in San Diego County more sophisticated, more widespread, and more mobile.
The involvement of gangs in human trafficking is changing how the crime is being committed and the faces of victims, according to law enforcement and prosecution officials.
In recent years, gangs, including those in North County, have realized how lucrative prostitution can be, and have concentrated more of their criminal operations on selling sex.
Where once sex trafficking was the third most profitable criminal business in the county, it is now the second most lucrative illegal undertaking, above arms dealing and after drug selling, according to a report from the district attorney's office.
The underground commercial sex economy in the city of San Diego brought in about $96.6 million in 2007, according to a March 2014 study by the Urban Institute, “Estimating the Size and Structure of the Underground Commercial Sex Economy in Eight Major US Cities.”
“(Gangs) make big bucks on this,” explained San Diego County's District Attorney, Bonnie Dumanis.
She and other experts spoke on the rise of human trafficking in the county at North County Lifeline's second annual human trafficking conference on May 3.
To increase the scope and profits of their pimping operations in a certain area, gangs are teaming up with rivals gangs factions.
Sgt. Joe Mata of the Sheriff's Department explained that even local gangs with intense, historical rivalries including the Bloods and the Crips will join forces.
“They will basically come together and forget about their wars and battles to get in together on human trafficking because it makes so much money,” he said.
“We're seeing the emergence of a hybrid type of gang,” said Gretchen Means, a former deputy district attorney for the county who specializes in sex crimes.
Though gangs still utilize established tracks, or city blocks where pimping and prostituting is commonplace, they are also selling their victims for sex using the Internet.
Law enforcement officials have realized that websites, including BackPage.com and MyRedBook.com, are rife with human trafficking advertisements.
Gangs are also working together to create what's called a circuit or pipeline, a series of cities across the country that pimps travel to transport people for sex trafficking.
Traveling to different counties and different states allows pimps to avoid being tracked by law enforcement and, if they are caught, makes prosecutions across multiple jurisdictions more challenging.
Local gangs frequently pay certain hotels, most along major transit ways, for rooms secluded from other guests to carry out human trafficking.
“If you basically see a hotel from the freeway, there is a victim being prostituted out of there,” said Dustin Nelson of the North County Human Trafficking Task Force.
Via the exploitation by gangs, the amount of human trafficking carried out in San Diego County is rising.
Over the past dozen years, violent gang crime in Oceanside has dropped while human trafficking has risen in the city, according to Detective Jack Reed from the Oceanside Police Department.
“The department is setting records every year for (the number of) human trafficking defendants that are charged and cases that are tried,” said the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of California, Laura Duffy.
And with the increase of the commercial sex trade, gangs are recruiting victims from all corners of the community, tempting their targets with promises of love and money.
“These young people are getting plucked out of schools, malls, from all over our communities, (and) from the Internet,” Duffy said.
While many human trafficking victims have certain risk factors, including coming from unstable, impoverished families and having a history of trauma, the prevalence of recruiting as resulted in victims coming from all types of economic, family, and educational backgrounds.
“Those girls are looking less and less like the girls in the shadows, and more and more like my 13-year-old daughter,” Means said. “They come from intact homes, they come from good schools, (and) they come from high socio-economic areas.”
“These are victims who are in plain sight,” stated Duffy.
Law enforcement officials, prosecutors, and service providers are working to catch up to the changing landscape of domestic human trafficking by supporting new laws, developing victim services, collaborating with other agencies, and spreading awareness.
Officials said it is encouraging to see how far San Diego County has come already with the prevention and prosecution of human trafficking.
“The only way to fight (human trafficking) is working together,” Dumanis said.
Pointing to the expansion of North County Lifeline's conference as a demonstration of the community's growing commitment to fighting human trafficking, Means said, “I am shocked by how far this community has come.”
https://thecoastnews.com/2014/05/human-trafficking-gains-ground-how-one-new-criminal-element-has-fostered-growth-in-sex-crimes/
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Georgia
Mercer Students Educate Teens About Sex Trafficking Through Unique Shopping Experience
by Leah Fleming
MACON, Ga. — Atlanta has the largest underground sex economy of any city in America. That's according to a report released in March by the Urban Institute.That economy grossed $290 million in 2007.
As major highways like I-75 flow through Atlanta, so does the city's sex trafficking. According to the FBI, connected cities like Augusta, Savannah and Macon are part of the route that pimps travel with their victims.
A group of Mercer University students decided to address the problem of underage sex trafficking through peer leadership.
Earlier in April, a group of seniors in a marketing class created what they called a “shock and awe” type exercise to be conducted in some after school programs in Macon.
During one hot and busy afternoon at a program in Macon's Davis Homes public housing community, seven college seniors turned the lunchroom into a “pop up” school store.
As groups of teens between the ages of 13 and 17 wandered into the store, expecting to shop for things like pencils and notebooks or snacks from the vending machine, they were instead greeted by the Mercer students, each one holding a “for sale” sign in their hands. Confused and curious, they became silent as “Shannon” told her story:
“My name is Shannon. When I was 14 I was really shy and had a hard time making friends. I spent a lot of time on the internet because it provided a way for me to fit in. One day in a chat room I met a boy named Lenny who said he was 14 too. We hit it off instantly. We liked each other so much and I was happy to find he lived close. One night without my parent's permission I walked over to meet him and when I go there he was not the Lenny I knew. He was older. He threw me in a room with other men who wanted to have sex with me and paid him money. That was my first day in the sex trade.”
Shannon is actually Eleanor Griffin. Griffin is not a sex trafficking victim, but she's telling the true story of someone who was.
After the workshop concluded, Griffin said the reaction she saw from students was exactly what she hoped for.
“I hate to say it, even though it's a good thing, they were very scared,” said Griffin. “One girl got emotional. I hate to put that on her, but that was something that we really wanted to drive home, that this is for real, and it is scary and it needs to be prevented.”
David Cooke, District Attorney for the Macon Judicial Circuit, has made it a priority to break up sex trafficking rings in Middle Georgia. Last December, Arthur Gerald Reid of Macon pled guilty to federal charges of sex trafficking of children.
In his plea agreement, Reid, known as “Boopy” on the street, admitted that he prostituted 3 juveniles from various motel rooms in Macon and Tybee Island, through Backpage.com, an erotic services website.
Cooke says trafficking in Macon has recently shifted from massage parlors to the internet.
“It's a recurrent problem and something we are beginning to see as organized crime,” said Cooke. “We know that several gang members are participating in sex trafficking and we have several cases that we're working right now.”
Mercer student Kelsey Jones says they've surveyed over 83 students in Macon during these school store exercises, and learned something disturbing.
“One in 10 students knew someone who was selling themselves for sex. That shocked me.”
District Attorney Cooke says the average age a person goes into the sex trade is 12 to 14. Once they are in it, the average life expectancy is another seven years. The most common cause of death, he says, is homicide.
If you suspect someone is a victim of human trafficking, you can call the National Human Trafficking Hotline at 888-373-7888. It is confidential, anonymous and operates 24 hours a day. They will then contact the proper authorities for your area.
http://www.gpb.org/news/2014/05/07/mercer-students-educate-teens-about-sex-trafficking-through-unique-shopping-experien
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From the FBI
Investigating Child Abductions -- FBI CARD Team Plays a Vital Role
When a child goes missing, it impacts the whole community. And while local law enforcement and investigators from our regional FBI offices respond and begin looking into the disappearance, the Bureau has an additional investigative asset that can be called upon for these time-sensitive cases—our national Child Abduction Response Deployment (CARD) team, which works to recover victims as quickly as possible and helps apprehend those responsible for taking them.
The CARD team, created in 2006, has been deployed more than 100 times for approximately 108 victims, both domestically and—when requested—abroad. Numerous children have been located and safely returned to their loved ones. Tragically, the remains of victims have also been found—though this can at least provide some sort of closure for their families.
The 60 or so agents who make up the CARD team are stationed at field offices around the country. Each is assigned to one of five regional teams that cover the Northeast, Southeast, North Central, South Central, and Western United States and are deployed at the request of a field office. Deployment size depends on the case and the particular needs of local responders.
CARD team investigators are seasoned veterans of crimes against children cases—especially child abductions—and have received extensive training. While some local law enforcement agencies may only work one or two child abduction cases a year, CARD team agents work these kinds of cases all the time, keeping their unique skill set honed.
They often deploy to the abduction site with FBI behavioral analysis experts and technical specialists in tow. CARD team agents also work closely with National Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime coordinators, members of the regional FBI-led Child Exploitation Task Forces, and representatives from our Violent Crimes Against Children Section at FBI Headquarters.
What exactly does the CARD team bring to the table? In addition to being on the scene within an hour or two to augment local resources, these agents can quickly establish on-site command posts to centralize investigative efforts. They also help map registered sex offenders in the area, handle national and international leads, guide investigative efforts using the protocols from the FBI's child abduction response plan, coordinate forensic resources as needed, and incorporate the Bureau's technical assets—which play an increasingly larger role in investigations where every minute counts.
But the true measure of the CARD team's impact is how often these kids are found safe. Here are a few recent examples where that's happened:
• A newborn kidnapped from his Wisconsin home in February 2014 was found by law enforcement the following day—alive—in a plastic storage crate outside a gas station in Iowa. The alleged kidnapper has been charged. More
• In August 2013, a San Diego County teenager abducted by a family friend was located and rescued by law enforcement a week later in the Idaho wilderness. Her kidnapper, killed during the rescue, was believed to have been responsible for the deaths of her mother and 8-year-old brother. More
• A 6-year-old girl, abducted from her Mississippi school in April 2013, was released the following day. The mastermind of the kidnapping received a 25-year prison term, while five other co-conspirators have also been sentenced. More
While the FBI necessarily focuses on terrorism and other national security issues and major criminal threats, we will always place a premium on the safety and well being of our nation's children.
FBI Jurisdiction in Child Kidnappings
In the public eye—and even in some state and local law enforcement circles—there are common misconceptions about when the FBI can get involved in child kidnappings. That there has to be evidence a victim has been taken across state lines. Or that a ransom demand has to be made. Or that 24 hours must pass.
All are false.
Whether the case ends up being investigated and prosecuted at the local level or at the federal level, the Bureau will always leverage our investigative resources and technical assets to work hand in hand with state and local law enforcement agencies on cases involving the mysterious disappearance of a child. Our role is to help investigate the disappearance, recover the child, and apprehend the person or persons responsible.
And that role begins as soon as we're notified.
In Their Own Words: CARD Team Members Reflect
Members of the CARD team—seasoned investigators with experience in crimes against children cases that are often multi-jurisdictional and multi-agency—have purposely chosen this line of work because they care deeply about the welfare of all children. Here are personal reflections from four particular CARD team agents on what they do and why they do it.
Q: What made you want to become a CARD team member?
“There's nothing more important than protecting our children.”
- Special agent, New Orleans
“I had just finished working two child abductions. The cases were physically and mentally exhausting, but the nature and innocence of the victims was such that I wanted to help in future cases as well.”
- Special agent, Jacksonville
“After inheriting a high-profile cold case involving a missing 6-year-old girl, I learned how important initial documentation is to someone coming in many years later with only the case file for review. I hoped that this unique perspective could add a layer of experience to an already very experienced group of agents on the CARD team.”
- Special agent, Little Rock
“The team was everything I've trained for in my career. It was a chance to be involved in something good, and I wanted to be a part of it.”
- Special agent, San Diego
- More questions and answers
http://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/2014/may/investigating-child-abductions/investigating-child-abductions
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Pedophile priest victims send pope a video message
Asking for 'justice and compensation' for adult survivors
Rome - An organization of survivors of child sexual abuse at the hands of Catholic priests has sent Pope Francis a videotaped appeal for justice and compensation, La Repubblica newspaper reported Friday. The organization called Rete l'Abuso (Abuse Network) made the video featuring dozens of adult survivors of child sexual abuse in religious institutions.
Among them are eight deaf-mute people who were enrolled at the Antonio Provolo religious institute for disabled children in the northern city of Verona, where some 25 priests abused at least 100 victims from the mid-1950s to the mid-1990s. In a 2011 letter, an association of adult survivors of the abuse at Provolo wrote to then-pope Benedict XVI, asking him to deconsecrate three churches they said they were sexually assaulted in as children.
In their video message, the victims call on Francis for compensation, because the crimes committed against them have long since timed out under Italian law. In a Wednesday hearing in Geneva, Vatican UN Ambassador Silvano Tomasi told the UN Committee on the Convention against Torture that since 1950, the Holy See has paid sex-abuse victims a total of $2.5 billion in damages and $78 million to pay for therapy.
The Abuse Network in February called on the Vatican to declassify its archives on pedophile priests so they can be turned over to public prosecutors. On its website, it has published a list of 148 convicted child-molesting priests, as well as a map of Italy detailing all the parishes where child abuse allegations have surfaced.
"We believe the list to be useful to all parents who want to protect their children from these priests, but there is still a lot of work to do", Network organizers said. "We're still here, and we're asking the pope to hear our call".
Pope Francis in April issued his strongest apology yet for the sexual abuse of minors by Catholic priests. "I feel compelled to personally take on all the evil wrought by some priests... and to personally ask for forgiveness for the damage they have done for having sexually abused children," said the pontiff.
Francis promised members of the International Catholic Child Bureau (BICE) that there would be no "step backwards" in punishing sex-abuse culprits and fighting such abuse, one of his priorities amid a sweeping reform drive.
http://www.gazzettadelsud.it/news/english/91377/Pedophile-priest-victims-send-pope-a-video-message.html
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We can do it! Practical steps to protecting children
by Boz Tchividjian
During the past few weeks, I have received a number of inquiries from readers, asking what they can do to help protect children from abuse within their particular faith community. The protection of little ones is not solely the responsibility of leadership. In my experience, the protection of the vulnerable has often been prompted by the concerns of those who simply care for the least of these and want to do something about it. Though there are many things we can do to help prevent abuse, I want to suggest five practical steps anyone can take that will make a significant difference in the lives of little ones in our churches and other faith communities.
1. Recognize the indescribable value of children: There is a story about the late American evangelist D. L. Moody, who arrived home late one evening from preaching a revival service. As the tired Moody climbed into bed, his wife rolled over and asked, “So how did it go tonight?” Moody replied, “Pretty well. Two and a half converts.” His wife smiled and said, “That's sweet. How old was the child?” “No, no, no,” Moody answered. “It was two children and one adult! The children have their whole lives in front of them. The adult's life is already half gone.”
Too often, our churches view children in the same manner as Moody's wife. Instead of treasuring little ones as God does, we too often consider their value as secondary to that of adults. This devaluing of children often leaves them exposed to indescribable harms that have physical, emotional, and spiritual consequences. Wess Stafford, President of Compassion International, perhaps puts it most accurately when he writes, “Small, weak, helpless, innocent, vulnerable, and trusting, they are waiting victims for our simple neglect and most evil abuse. No matter what goes wrong, the little ones pay the greatest price.” Children will never be protected until we value them as God does.
2. Seek out like-minded souls: Find others who are passionate about protecting children and want to do something about it. We may be amazed at the number of people who have this interest, but have remained silent, believing that they don't know enough or that they can't make a difference. We will be far more successful in protecting children when we are not going about it alone. Also, remember there is strength in numbers.
3. Become educated: It is so important that those who want to protect children become educated on the variety of issues related to the abuse of children. This doesn't require us to become child abuse “experts.” It doesn't even require attendance at a fancy (and expensive) conference. It does require that we invest some time reading some good books on the subject. One idea is to encourage others who have expressed an interest in taking these steps to read a few books on the subject and meet to discuss each. Yes, a child-protection bookclub! Though there are dozens of books on this subject, I want to recommend three books, and one Minibook that I believe will provide a good overview and will begin to help you understand the horrific consequences of failing to protect children. It is important to learn how sexual offenders think and act as they seek to access and victimize children. The best (and most disturbing) book on that subject is Predators by Anna Salter, who has spent the past 25 years researching and interviewing offenders. Dr. Salter does an excellent job in communicating some very difficult facts in a language that anyone can understand. This is a heavy book and is not recommended for survivors. However, I am a big believer that every pastor in the United States should read this book.
If we are going to take steps to minimize abuse, it is critical that we begin to understand the deep personal toll abuse takes on the human soul, and the lifelong harm inflicted when a faith community doesn't protect children and fails to respond well when told of abuse. In my opinion, the most honest and sobering book on this subject is Christa Brown's This Little Light.
It is important that people of faith understand what their faith tradition has to say about abuse and those who have been victimized. For Christians, the best book I know of on this subject is On the Threshold of Hope , written by Dr. Diane Langberg. This book provides a refreshing perspective on how the Gospel can bring hope and healing to men and women who have been traumatized by sexual abuse.
Lastly, I want to recommend a Minibook I recently authored, entitled Protecting Children from Abuse in the Church. This is a short 30-page book that explains ways to cultivate an attitude and environment in our churches that provide safety and protection for young ones.
With the exception of Predators, consider passing along these books to others in your congregation. The more people who understand this dark issue, the more likely our churches will become a safer place for children.
4. Be a Resource: Yes, we can become an invaluable resource to our church community as we seek to protect children! As we become more knowledgeable about this subject, we can be a conduit for providing child-protection resources. Don't worry, you don't need to be an expert or have all the answers. Knowing where to find the right resources and assistance is itself a vital resource. Here are just a few areas where you can help:
• Child-protection policy: Find out if your church has a child-protection policy. If it does, ask for a copy and inform the pastor that you want it reviewed by a child-protection expert. Organizations such as GRACE, the Jacob Wetterling Resource Center, and the National Child Protection Training Center are all equipped to assist in reviewing child-protection policies and making suggested improvements. If your church doesn't have a child-protection policy, offer to convene a committee that will develop such a policy. This will place you in a position to seek expert assistance in developing an exceptional policy. The organizations mentioned above are a good starting place to find such expertise.
• Volunteer to organize annual church-wide child-protection trainings. This training can be provided on site through organizations such as Safe Church, Darkness to Light, and GRACE. Recommend that such training be mandatory for all church employees and any volunteers who serve children or youth. Finally, strongly suggest that all congregation members be encouraged to attend this critical training.
• Ask the pastor to preach on issues related to the value and protection of children (perhaps every April during National Child Abuse Prevention Month ) and then offer to provide the pastor with resources as he/she is preparing the sermon–this may even be the perfect opportunity to encourage the pastor to read one of the books mentioned above! In my 20+ years of addressing this issue within the faith community, I have learned that a church is much more likely to make child protection a priority if it is a priority of those in leadership. Sermons are a clear way to demonstrate to the congregation that the pastor values the proactive protection of children.
5. Speak out: As we become more acquainted with the dynamics of sexual abuse, we will be in the best position to identify questionable behaviors that need to be addressed. Whether it is the troubling behavior of an adult with a child or an older child with a younger child, we cannot hesitate to speak out and make sure that our concern is promptly and properly addressed. As our churches develop comprehensive child-protection policies and receive ongoing child-protection training, more and more members will become equipped to identify such concerns and respond to them in a manner that protects and values children.
If at least one person in every church committed to taking these practical steps for protection, I am convinced that our churches would eventually become safe places for our little ones and dangerous places for those who want to hurt them.
http://boz.religionnews.com/2014/05/09/can-practical-steps-protection/
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Maine
It's no surprise that child abuse is growing along with Maine's drug problem
by Renee Ordway
Stories about dead and injured babies and children always get our attention.
Men and women alike, parents or not, most of us recognize the difference and feel the tragedy more deeply when an infant or a child is hurt or killed.
Especially when at the hands of an adult — a caregiver, a mother or a father.
Fortunately those stories are rare, still rare enough to warrant the biggest headlines.
In March there were two stories about deaths of babies, one in Danforth, where an infant died in the home that his parents allegedly were using as a methamphetamine lab.
Just two weeks earlier, 25-year-old Samuel Moore allegedly killed a 5-month-old baby boy that he was caring for in Bangor. Police say it appears Korbyn Antworth was shaken to death.
Most recently Anthony Carpinell, 21, of Sanford was arrested after allegedly assaulting his infant twins. Authorities have said one of the babies suffered internal head trauma and the other external head injuries.
The parents in the Danforth case have not been charged in their baby's death. They have been charged with operating a meth lab and the investigation into the death of the baby continues.
All three cases are different, of course, but troubling enough for us to ask if the number of reported child abuse cases is rising.
A call to the Department of Health and Human Services this week indicates they are.
After a long period of stagnant confirmed cases of physical abuse of children, the numbers are growing rapidly, according to Therese Cahill-Low, director of the office of Children and Family Services.
There were 563 substantiated claims of physical child abuse in Maine in 2011. The number jumped drastically to 807 in 2012 and rose to 891 in 2013, according to figures from the department.
Those figures don't include cases of sexual abuse or neglect, Cahill-Low said.
The biggest increase in substantiated abuse cases involves victims who are newborns to 4-year-olds. In addition, the level of physical abuse is worsening, she said.
“I talk to some of my veteran caseworkers, some who have been here for 30 years or so, and they are saying they have never seen children beaten so badly,” said Cahill-Low. “In many cases we're talking horrific abuse that is life-changing.”
I wondered whether there was a connection between the rise in physical abuse of children and the ever-increasing drug abuse plaguing every region of the state.
“Substance abuse is often a factor. Not always, but often, and the age of the parent is also an issue. Substance abuse and young and inexperienced parents are both major risk factors,” she said.
In 2011, 40 percent of the abuse cases that resulted in children being removed from the home involved the misuse of drugs by a parent. That figure rose to 44 percent in 2012 and to 46 percent in 2013, according to DHHS figures.
Parenting is hard. It is hard to do for well-adjusted, economically stable parents with a healthy baby.
Last year about 950 babies were born drug-affected in this state, and those babies, through no fault of their own, can have a range of difficulties that can make caring for them even more frustrating and difficult.
It may be difficult to draw an official conclusion as to how and to what level drug use and addiction is affecting the well-being of this generation of children.
But there is some reason those child abuse numbers have grown so rapidly in the past three years.
Perhaps it's not just an increase in thefts and robberies we should be concerned about. There are babies and children involved and I'm afraid more of them are going to be making the front page.
http://bangordailynews.com/2014/05/09/living/blogs-and-columns-living/its-no-surprise-that-child-abuse-is-growing-along-with-maines-drug-problem/
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California
Long Beach Police Dept. Strives to Calm Nerves Over its Response to Child Abuse
by Daniel Heimpel
On May 8, The Chronicle of Social Change published a story concerning wide variations in how Los Angeles' 46 law enforcement agencies respond to reports of suspected child abuse.
The figures cited were derived from a review conducted by the Los Angeles County District Attorney's office as part of its obligation to monitor the county's Electronic Suspected Child Abuse Reporting system, known as ESCARS.
The Department of Children and Family Services (DFCS) enters cases of suspected child abuse (SCARs) into a computer program that then notifies appropriate law enforcement agencies of suspected child abuse.
Aside from the Los Angeles Police Department and the Sheriff's Department, the review provided information on the response rate of LA County's 44 law enforcement agencies.
Those 44 agencies fielded a total 16,967 reports in 2013, according to letters sent to each and every police chief in Los Angeles County. On average: 18 percent were labeled as “no investigation”; 21 percent were labeled “crime suspected”; and 60 percent were labeled “no crime suspected.”
Because of the relative volume of child abuse reports received and the remarkable disparity in response compared to the overall average, The Chronicle focused on the Long Beach Police Department (LBPD). LBPD opted not to send officers to investigate reports of suspected child abuse 46 percent of the time, well above the 18 percent of all 44 agencies taken as a whole.
Long Beach was not alone.
The Inglewood Police Department chose not to send officers to investigate 332 reports of child abuse, or 36 percent of the total reports it received. At the Manhattan Beach Police Department, 23 reports (30 percent) were not investigated. And in West Covina, 125 reports (24 percent) did not warrant investigation.
As potentially vexing as these other instances may be, Long Beach, which chose not to send out an investigating officer on 1,456 SCARs, stands out.
Mike Gargiulo, a deputy district attorney overseeing the ESCARS program for District Attorney Jackie Lacey's office, came to LBPD's defense saying that it is a “matter of semantics on some level.”
“It wouldn't be appropriate to say that they are not investigating a large number of cases,” Gargiulo said. “They are investigating cases as they see fit.”
Lacey has endorsed Long Beach Police Chief Jim McDonnell in his bid for county Sheriff.
On May 8, LBPD offered an explanation of these disparate numbers in a lengthy phone interview with Deputy Chief David Hendricks, and through a written statement sent on letterhead from the office of Police Chief Jim McDonnell to The Chronicle .
In addition, LBPD sent a scanned copy of the protocols agency staff must follow on all SCARs. Hendricks and Chief McDonnell also spoke with Christina Villacorte of The Los Angeles Daily News .
What emerges is a law enforcement agency intent on placating concerns of complacency, larger questions about inter-agency uniformity in responding to SCARs and how the resources available in Long Beach, and quite possibly many other agencies, affect law enforcement's role in protecting children.
“We are doing ten to fifteen or more [SCARS] a day,” Hendricks said. “With limited capacity we have to triage these.” But, “staffing challenges be what they may, we are not going to put a child at risk.”
Gargiulo echoed Hendrick's statement.
“We look at enough statistics of SCARs to see who is compliant,” Garguilo said. “LBPD has a high volume of SCARs. They are doing the job.”
Part of triaging this high volume of reports with a limited number of patrol officers involves determining which cases warrant on-the-ground investigation and which do not. The process starts at LBPD's communications center, where each SCAR comes in as a fax.
“SCAR's that meet the criteria shall be forwarded to a dispatcher who shall immediately enter a call for service on any allegation indicating suspected physical abuse, sexual abuse or neglect of a child,” reads the Suspected Child Abuse Report section of the Manual of the Long Beach Police Department .
Whether or not the communications center supervisor determines that the report meets the criteria of child abuse or neglect, all SCARs are transmitted to the Child Abuse Detail where five officers and a supervisor then have apparent discretion to contact various other county and city services or not.
“All 3,195 E-SCAR reports received by the Long Beach Police Department have been thoroughly reviewed by the Department's Child Abuse Detail,” read the statement issued by Police Chief McDonnell's office. “This review may include contacting DCFS, LB Unified School District, involved parties, therapists, or other law enforcement agencies.”
Indeed, the police manual guidelines for suspected child abuse direct the Child Abuse Detail supervisor to contact appropriate agencies “when necessary.”
“The Long Beach Police Department understands the importance of taking appropriate action on each and every report of suspected child abuse regardless of the source,” the statement from McDonnell's office read. “We are confident that 100 percent of our E- SCARS reports are thoroughly reviewed and we are in compliance with the DCFS reporting definitions.”
While in compliance with reporting definitions, there is still the nagging question about whether or not it is appropriate to have such a divergent response to suspected child abuse.
Gargiulo and Vanessa Rizzo, who audits ESCARS compliance for the DA, said they did not review internal policies across agencies.
When asked what remedies the DA's office uses when agencies are not compliant, Gargiulo said, “we make a field trip.”
“We bombard them with emails,” Rizzo added.
While Gargiuolo said that the attendance at bi-annual ESCARS steering committee meetings “waxed and waned,” law enforcement agencies are improving in their capacity to respond to suspected child abuse.
“Really and truly things have gotten better than two or three years ago in terms of compliance,” Gargiulo said. “Overall things are looking up.”
https://chronicleofsocialchange.org/news/long-beach-police-dept-strives-to-calm-nerves-over-its-response-to-child-abuse/6541
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Florida
School staffers failed to report alleged sexual abuse
by Michelle Quesada
LAKE CITY, Fla. -- Some teachers and administrators at a Columbia County Elementary school are under fire for not responding as required in an alleged case of sexual abuse.
A Columbia County Sheriff's Office police report says at least six staff members including the assistant principal and principal at Pinemount Elementary were aware of the alleged off-campus sexual abuse involving a student. Disciplinary action has been taken against personnel after the school district says staff members failed to comply with district policies requiring sex abuse allegations be reported.
The Columbia County Sheriff's Office and the Department of Children and Families are investigating.
"Both the child and a sibling are in protective custody. We have concerns that we were not immediately notified regarding these allegations," said John Harrell, spokesperson for DCF.
According to the Sheriff's Office report, on April 11 staff members of the school were notified that a student told other children on the bus that she was raped by a relative. Florida law requires anyone who suspects abuse to contact the Florida Abuse Hotline. Instead, the report says the Assistant Principal Marilyn Gassett arranged for a parent-teacher conference.
"Even before the law was strengthened, even before 2012, you had a mandatory reporting law which required schools, hospitals, doctors to report suspected abuse anyway," added Harrell.
Law enforcement got involved the next day because the child's mother took the child to the hospital to be examined. After investigating, the Sheriff's Office arrested Arnold Dean Lyles on sexual assault charge for sexual battery on a victim under 12 years of age. The sheriff's office is still investigating.
"It is a third degree felony. Ultimately it's law enforcement's decision as far as what they want to do, but its something that we're very concerned about," said Harrell as he explained what the charge could be for someone who does not report abuse.
A Lake City Reporter article dated August 2013 reports Gassett used to be a principal at Niblack Elementary and was demoted and moved to Pinemount Elementary in 2013.
First Coast News tried to speak with Gassett at her home, but a woman told us through the window that she was not interested in commenting.
District will not release information about the disciplinary action taken against personnel until ten days after the staff was notified. The Assistant Superintendent said no one will comment on the case until then. We also reached out to the mother of the child. She chose not to go on camera.
Anyone who suspects child abuse or neglect is required by law to contact the Florida Abuse Hotline. You can call 1-800-962-2873.
http://www.firstcoastnews.com/story/news/local/2014/05/09/pinemount-elementary-school-staff-under-fire/8926047/
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Ohio
Editorial
Combating sex trafficking
Combining efforts of many can curb exploitation of the young
Combating a problem as complex as sex trafficking requires a multi-faceted effort. Many people and groups need to be enlisted to raise awareness and effect change.
A documentary film being produced on the topic in Ohio is aimed at youngsters, the most common target for traffickers. With the participation of Gov. John Kasich and other state leaders, retired minister Rev. Steve Feazel is raising money in the hope of getting his film, Shadow on the Heartland, into every public and private school and before every youth group in the state, free of charge.
Feazel held a fundraiser featuring the film's trailer on Thursday at a local church, and continues to seek support for the project; his goal is to raise $200,000. More information can be found at www.shadowontheheartland.com
Kasich's involvement will help raise the profile of the documentary, which might reach young people in a way that other initiatives do not. The data are shocking and argue for urgent action: Officials estimate that 1,100 children are forced into the sex trade each year in Ohio; the most common age for children to become victims is 13. Most prostitutes enter the profession before their 18th birthday.
Also important in reaching young people are those who have had firsthand experience with the subject. Marlene Carson, who appears in the film, was 15 when she was separated from her family and forced into prostitution by a neighbor. Today, she has founded the Rahab's Hideaway homes in Columbus and Mansfield for youth and adult victims of sex trafficking. She says lack of awareness leads to the misconception that children who run away from home choose to get involved with the sex trade, rather than being forced into it.
“The more the general public understands and recognizes the signs of human trafficking, the more likely we are to identify victims, get them the assistance they need and prevent the crime of trafficking from ever happening in the first place,” said Elizabeth Ranade Janis, who is the anti-trafficking coordinator for the state of Ohio. She said efforts that, like the documentary, are generated by the community are an important part of response efforts.
Shadow will join other efforts aimed at preventing trafficking and aiding victims. In 2012, Kasich created the Ohio Human Trafficking Task Force with a vow to “break the backbone” of the modern-day slave trade in Ohio. It is working alongside the Human Trafficking Commission reconvened by Attorney General Mike DeWine in 2011.
In central Ohio, Franklin County Municipal Court Judge Paul Herbert has been a leader in developing innovative ways to combat trafficking. In 2009, he established CATCH Court — for Changing Actions to Change Habits — which aimed to reduce recidivism by treating prostitutes as victims of human trafficking in need of counseling and other assistance to escape the trade. The full two-year program is intense and demanding, but those who make it through at least six months have a much lower recidivism rate, less than 30 percent.
A fundraising event with Herbert on May 16 at Muirfield Village country club will benefit CATCH Court and the Salvation Army's Central Ohio Rescue and Restore Coalition. Information and tickets for the Free to Live Gala, put on by Cypress Church Dublin, can be obtained at: http://cypresschurch.tv/#/events/free-to-live-gala.
http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/editorials/2014/05/10/combating-sex-trafficking.html
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Connecticut
Sex trafficking fight needs to address demand side
by Rachel Chinapen
NEW HAVEN >> A teenage girl stole her aunt's debit card and was taking money out of the account to meet a quota for her pimp, recalled Tammy Sneed of the state Department of Children and Families.
“If she didn't pull in $1,000 at night, she was gonna be beaten, so she would go to the ATM, pull out the difference and pay,” Sneed said.
Sneed said while law enforcement in Connecticut doesn't often arrest 16-year-olds for prostitution, trafficking victims are charged with other “related” crimes.
U.S. Rep. Rosa L. DeLauro, D-3, gathered with DCF and Love146 Monday to discuss ongoing efforts to fight human trafficking in the United States. As a member of the congressional caucus on human trafficking, DeLauro said she is fighting, along with her colleagues, to strengthen “our response to this criminal industry.”
“It is slavery, pure and simple,” DeLauro said.
DeLauro said slavery is “abhorrent to our basic democratic ideas and to our way of life,” and yet, human trafficking is the fastest growing criminal enterprise worldwide. Trafficking generates $32 billion a year, third only to the drug and arm trades, she added.
Along with U.S. Reps. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y, and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Fla., DeLauro introduced a resolution committing members to getting more involved in the fight against human trafficking. The resolution declaring “Our Daughters Are Not For Sale” has 84 cosponsors, DeLauro said.
“This is not — it cannot be — a partisan issue,” DeLauro said.
DeLauro said she also is circulating a letter demanding that the Justice Department “implement the demand side of provisions against human trafficking.” She said the focus often is on the supply, not the demand, allowing the social stigma to fall on the victims. DeLauro advocated for more collaboration between law enforcement, juvenile authorities and other agencies.
“We need to go after the criminals and we need to go after the abusers,” she said.
In 2013, Congress passed the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act, which included the reauthorization of the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act and the enhancement of law enforcement's capacity to combat trafficking, DeLauro said. Also last year, President Barack Obama included $5 million in his budget to “address sex trafficking in the child welfare and homeless and runaway youth populations.”
DCF Commissioner Joette Katz said Connecticut has made “enormous strides” but there is work still to be done around “identifying and training.” She said part of identifying is getting victimized children to self-identify.
DeLauro called the Department of Children and Families' response “strong” and said now Connecticut is training other states on “best practices and on the best policies.” One of DCF's responses includes the statewide training of all first responders to recognize signs of human trafficking.
“Connecticut is really ahead of the curve,” Katz said. “This supply and demand piece that Rosa talked about, money talks, and until we really start focusing on the demand side, things will not change as dramatically as we need them to change.”
Love 146 Executive Program Director Stephanie Goins said the agency has been working to combat trafficking for a decade and “cannot do this alone.” Love 146, which has an office in New Haven, is an international organization dedicated to the abolition of child exploitation and trafficking.
Goins spoke to the importance of legislation. She said in Connecticut the Safe Harbor Law allows victims to disclose their situation without being charged with prostitution. However, in Texas, when Love146 works with students they have to warn them that they may be “charged and further victimized” because the Safe Harbor Law is not in effect.
“We have to take a page from what is working right here in Connecticut, make it the law of the land make it nationwide,” DeLauro said.
http://www.westhartfordnews.com/articles/2014/05/09/news/doc5368eb0293cf2200110924.txt
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Minnesota
Privacy vs. public safety argued in clergy abuse case
by JEAN HOPFENSPERGER
A priest's right to privacy vs. the public's right to know about sexual misconduct claims was the subject of a court hearing Thursday pitting the Twin Cities archdiocese against attorneys for an alleged abuse victim.
Creating a “good cause standard” for releasing the names of priests accused of abuse was the first order of business before Special Master Judge Robert Schumacher, recently appointed to handle disputes over the release of documents and depositions in a lawsuit that has rocked the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.
The archdiocese argued that priests' names should be made public only when there is a “preponderance of evidence” that the priest violated sexual misconduct laws, or that the accusation “was not false.”
“What we're trying to do is balance the risk of harm to victims against the allegations of misconduct that have no foundation or are false,” said archdiocese attorney Tom Weiser.
But Jeff Anderson, the plaintiff's attorney, argued that the names of all priests accused of criminal sexual misconduct, or suspected of criminal misconduct, should be public — unless the allegation is clearly false or fabricated.
“The safety of children must come first,” Anderson said.
Determining a legal standard for publicly identifying accused priests has taken on urgency because the court has ordered the archdiocese to send thousands of pages of documents related to clergy sexual misconduct to Anderson's office. The names of priests in those documents are currently sealed. Anderson must make a “good cause” argument to the court over which names should be made public.
The lawsuit driving the document flood was filed last May on behalf of “John Doe 1,” a man who claimed he was abused by the Rev. Thomas Adamson even after the priest's sexual misconduct was known to the church.
Thursday's hearing was the first before Schumacher, a retired Minnesota Court of Appeals judge appointed by Ramsey County District Court Judge John Van de North to address disputes over the release of documents and depositions.
Schumacher also heard arguments on two other motions in the case. The archdiocese asked the court for permission to interview family members of John Doe 1, who said he was abused by Adamson in the 1970s at a church in St. Paul Park.
Archdiocese Attorney Daniel Haws said it was important to learn whether the problems Doe suffered in life were the result of the abuse, or whether other family members who haven't suffered abuse “have similar issues.”
But John Doe 1 has never told anyone in his family about the abuse, said Anderson, and it could create deep fractures among siblings — which in turn could aggravate Doe's problems.
“This would be a horror to inflict upon this family,” said Anderson, “and they might even blame themselves.”
The archdiocese also asked Schumacher to permit John Doe 1 to be evaluated by Dr. Harrison Pope, a psychiatry professor at Harvard Medical School. Pope is known nationally for his challenges to the “repressed memory” syndrome, in which individuals repress painful memories until they are somehow triggered and recovered. Pope has testified in other clergy abuse lawsuits.
Schumacher said he did not expect to hand down decisions on the motions for several weeks. Under law, he has 20 days to make a decision on each motion.
The John Doe lawsuit is the first filed since the 2013 Minnesota Legislature created a three-year window for older cases of abuse to be heard by the courts.
http://www.startribune.com/local/stpaul/258469761.html
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Pennsylvania
Number of alleged victims in North Catholic abuse case up to 12
PITTSBURGH — What started with one former student accusing one cleric at the former North Catholic High School of sexual abuse has mushroomed into one of the biggest scandals in the Pittsburgh diocese's history, involving five members of a religious order and 12 possible victims.
Former male and female students allege abuse by brothers of the Marianist order from the school during the 1950s and '60s. A spokeswoman for the Marianists in St. Louis did not return calls.
“We've heard from more people (Wednesday) to whom we will want to reach out and help with counseling if needed,” said the Rev. Ronald Lengwin, a spokesman for the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh. Bishop David Zubik was unavailable for comment.
Lengwin said the accusations put the North Catholic case first in the number of clergy involved and second in the number of victims. He said 15 to 20 people starting in 1986 accused defrocked priest Jack Hoehl, the former headmaster at Quigley High School in Baden, of sexual abuse.
He said one alleged victim at North Catholic was a woman calling about what happened when she was a girl, and the others were men talking about what happened when they were boys. One of the men said his brother may have been abused, too.
The diocese views the latest allegations “with a great deal of sadness for those who have been victimized,” Lengwin said.
On March 20, the diocese learned that Marianist Brother Bernard Hartman, 74, a former science teacher at North Catholic, is awaiting trial in Australia on charges he molested four students at a Catholic school there in the 1970s and '80s.
The diocese sent a letter March 28 to North Catholic alumni alerting them of the allegations. Then the diocese received an accusation of abuse by Hartman here. It also received complaints about three more brothers from the same religious order who worked at the school.
So on April 24 the diocese sent a letter alerting 9,000 alumni of North Catholic High School about all four brothers.
Lengwin identified the other three as William Charles Hildenbrand, who was at the school from 1951 to 1961; Francis Meder, who was there from 1952 to 1967 and 1970 to 1976; and Ralph August Mravintz, who was at the school from 1960 to 1964. Hildenbrand died in 1979, Meder in 1976 and Mravintz in 2006.
Lengwin said the diocese received a letter on Monday alleging abuse by a fifth Marianist, Brother John Keegan, who left the religious community in 1962. Lengwin said he did not know if Keegan is still alive.
By the diocese's records, Hartman and Mravintz accounted for one allegation each; Hildebrand and Meder, four each; and Keegan, two.
Diocesan officials notified the Allegheny County District Attorney's Office of the allegations, though the only brother known to be alive lives outside the country.
Mike Manko, a spokesman for DA Stephen A. Zappala Jr., said his office received information about the potential victims of the three confirmed deceased brothers, but nothing on Keegan. “So there is nothing we could pursue at this point.”
Carmen DiGiacomo, a 1959 graduate of North Catholic, said he was not surprised by the allegations.
“All I ever heard was rumors when I was there. Back then, you had a tendency not to believe it,” said DiGiacomo, 72, of Mt. Lebanon.
He publishes a monthly class newsletter and organizes class reunions.
After sending out letters for a reunion 20 years ago, he received a response from a classmate that made him suspect sexual abuse.
After receiving the diocese's April letter, he contacted the classmate, who said he was abused. DiGiacomo declined to say who his classmate said molested him.
“It obviously created some rancor. I'm sure he harbors ill feelings,” DiGiacomo said.
David Clohessy, director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, called on the diocese to post on its website the names of dozens of proven, admitted and credibly accused child-molesting clerics, especially those who are still alive.
“Before we raised concerns and contacted journalists, the bishop and the diocese apparently said and did nothing about Brother Hartman,” Clohessy said in a prepared statement. “We hope every single person who saw, suspected or suffered clergy sex crimes and cover-ups in Pittsburgh — whether in a school or parish — will come forward, get help, call police, expose wrongdoers and start healing.”
Lengwin said the diocese reacted promptly, sending out the first letter eight days after it learned of Hartman's prosecution in Australia.
He said the diocese has started programs over the decades to ensure the safety of children. In 1995, the diocese encouraged parents to teach children the difference between an appropriate and inappropriate touch. In 2002, the diocese trained adults to better understand sexual abuse and to recognize danger signs.
North Catholic was renamed Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic High School in 2013. The Troy Hill building will close at the end of the school year, and the school will move to a new campus in Cranberry in the fall.
http://www.wpxi.com/news/news/local/number-alleged-victims-north-catholic-abuse-case-1/nfrXY/
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Ohio
After Thirty-Two Years, Rape Victim Speaks Out
by Andrew Logsdon
After thirty-two years of silence, a Paulding, Ohio man is speaking out.
He says he was raped by a teacher back when he was a student.
That teacher died ten years ago, and today, a memorial sits in front of Paulding Middle School in his honor.
On Tuesday, the man asked school board members to remove that memorial.
The allegations made by Barry Vance are shocking.
He also says he wasn't the only victim.
But he hopes that by speaking tonight he can inspire others to tell their stories.
Barry Vance is telling his story- thirty-two years later.
"This teacher came in, closed the door, had a pair of scissors in his hand and threatened me with them... Attacked me, threw me to the floor, had his hand over my mouth, pulling on my neck, slammed my face, the left side of my face, which there's still a mark on my face where it went into the left of the table, and he raped me,” says Vance.
That teacher Vance claims was Don Schnepp, and Vance says Schnepp raped in inside a room at Paulding Middle School during school hours.
In 2004, Vance says he wrote Schnepp a letter explaining how it impacted him.
A week later, Schnepp was found dead- which Vance says the police report listed the cause of death as 'suicide.'
Shortly after, staff placed a memorial rock in front of the middle school in Schnepp's honor.
Recently, Vance says he's heard talk about putting a second memorial inside of the middle school.
That pushed Vance to speak out and go public with his allegations.
"In thirty-two years of this, in some way, I feel my childhood was taken from me, my last thirty-two years was taken from me, but more than anything, I've given this school and this community thirty-two years of my life by keeping this inside,” Vance says.
Tuesday night, he asked the Paulding school board to scrap the rock memorial, and also asked for a written protocol in place regarding teacher, coach and student relations.
He also believes he wasn't Schnepp's only victim.
He says teachers who have worked with Schnepp confirm that belief.
"they would all believe that there is at least one student, for each class, for every year that he taught in that school,” Vance says.
Vance says it has affected everything in his life.
And by publicly telling his story, he can begin to find closure.
Paulding school board members were not available before the meeting for comment.
Superintendent William Hanak told me he would let me know what they decide to do.
He said the meeting should be wrapping up sometime after 10 this evening.
We'll keep following this story for you and let you know what the Paulding school board decides.
Update- WFFT spoke with Paulding Exempt Village Schools Superintendent William Hanak late Tuesday.
He says the school board plans to discuss the possible removal of the rock memorial.
Hanak says the memorial was paid for and put in place by teachers, but the school board does have the authority to move and or remove it if necessary.
http://www.fortwaynehomepage.net/story/d/story/after-thirty-two-years-rape-victim-speaks-out/27161/2QeAp2W6Ekiy5rxyple_CQ
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Ohio
Update to Paulding School's Rock Memorial
by Andrew Logsdon
We've been following a story for you out of Paulding, Ohio.
Last week, a man asked the Paulding school board to remove a rock honoring former teacher Don Schnepp because he alleges Schnepp raped him over thirty years ago at the school.
It's been a week since Vance brought those allegations to the school board, and the rock is still in place.
We spoke to the superintendent to ask what it'll take to get the rock removed.
"What I can tell you is that everything that Barry had brought to me, I investigated and I could not find any definitive facts to support it,” Paudling Exempt Village Schools Superintendent Bill Hanak says.
Barry Vance met with Hanak in February with the rape allegations against former Paulding Middle School teacher Don Schnepp.
Vance says he got this letter from Hanak a week later calling the investigation closed.
Hanak says after thirty-two years, evidence is scarce.
He says hard evidence would be for another victim to come forward.
And so far, he says, no one else has.
"We need somebody else to come forward. They don't have to be afraid anymore, and they don't have to be ashamed anymore. And not only coming forward for them self... But also all the kids in the future,” Vance says.
His sister has started an online petition asking for the removal of the memorial rock.
So far, it is up to 263 signatures.
Another person who wants the rock removed is Cristelda Dunakin.
Her son, Aaron Holland, committed suicide in 2005.
"When the students after my son's death, wanted to put stuff on their lockers in his memory, they were told that they were not allowed to do so because of the way he died,” Dunakin says.
She says because of Schnepp's suicide, the rock needs to go.
The school board meets again on Tuesday, May 20th.
The rock is not on the agenda currently, but we'll keep you updated to its progress.
You can read the petition to remove the rock here: http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/support-barry-vance-remove-the-rock.html
http://www.fortwaynehomepage.net/story/d/story/update-to-paulding-schools-rock-memorial/25586/S3DPJk7RvUKsw29SCSQRxQ
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Ohio
Another Victim Comes Forward
by Andrew Logsdon
Another victim has come forward who says that he was also molested by a former Paulding Middle School teacher over thirty years ago.
We've been following the story since last week when Paulding resident Barry Vance says the teacher raped him as a teenager.
The teacher, Don Schnepp, committed suicide in 2004, and middle school teachers set up a memorial rock in his honor.
Vance asked the school board to remove the rock last week.
Today, Defiance resident Dave Kinkade says Schnepp molested him in 1981.
He says Schnepp would invite groups of boys over to his house for football games, movies and pizza, before getting them alone and attacking them.
He also says Schnepp would threaten them if they ever spoke out.
"And then you know the crowd always thins out, and over time, as he builds up the trust, he kind of makes a move, and you know, you've been molested. And as a teenage kid, you just sit here and wonder, did that really happen, who do I tell, and if you do tell, you know the names are going to start at school, teenage kids, they aren't nice. You would tell him you wanted to tell someone, and he'd say well, that's up to you, but you want to graduate, don't you? Another time, you're going to tell, and he'd say, go ahead, everyone will think you're gay... He puts that feat in you, and all he does is take advantage of you... That rock should have never gone down,” Kinkade says.
Kinkade says he told a teacher's aide once, who approached Schnepp about the accusations.
Kinkade tells WFFT that Schnepp told teacher's aide that Kincade came from a broken home, had a big imagination, shouldn't be believed, and nothing was ever investigated back then.
We reached out to Paulding Exempt Village Schools Superintendent William Hanak for his reaction, to this latest allegation.
He says no one has come forward to him yet.
"Well, I've been thinking about that all this time for what's best for the school and what's best for the kids that are currently here and the teachers and the community. And like I said, there's people on both sides of this, don't understand why people wait so long, and why now, and all these kinds of questions which I can't answer... Like I said before, it's under investigation, and I'm working on coming up with a resolution,” Hanak says.
Kinkade says he also wants other victims to come forward, and also to call Superintendent Hanak to say they want the rock removed.
Barry Vance's sister has an online petition running to remove the rock.
As of right now, nearly three hundred fifty people have signed it.
We will continue to bring you updates on this story as more people come forward.
http://www.fortwaynehomepage.net/story/d/story/another-victim-comes-forward/30726/BDVC2xLzC0GjCjoGPvLlhw
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Michigan
Every Woman's Place/Webster House Youth Services says national accreditation to improve services, future initiatives
by Michelle D. Anderson
MUSKEGON, MI – An area agency dedicated to helping some of the Lakeshore's most vulnerable women and children said its staff, clients and donors can expect improved operations and services this year and in the future.
Lori Rasmussen, the executive director of Every Woman's Place/Webster House Youth Services, said the advancement is the result of the national accreditation the organization earned in March.
“We're on the cutting edge and doing the best practices,” Rasmussen said. “We've reached a higher standard in terms of performance.”
The Council on Accreditation, a nonprofit, international organization based in New York City, issued the certification after two years of investigation.
COA debuted in 1977 and accredits 50 service areas and more than 125 programs, according to its official website. Other local agencies that boast its accreditation include Bethany Christian Services and Catholic Charities West Michigan.
Rasmussen said the accreditation process included staff interviews, site visits and a review of internal documents and files.
“It was a pretty thorough look into how we were doing things,” she said.
Every Woman's Place debuted in 1975 after a group of women from various backgrounds saw a need for a women-centered resource in the Muskegon community. In 1980, the grassroots nonprofit merged with the Webster House.
Today, the organization maintains a 24-Hour Crisis Line and a safe shelter for women and children who are survivors of stalking, domestic abuse, homelessness and other unfortunate circumstances.
Rasmussen said a staff of about 80 people, along with volunteers, work year-round to provide advocacy, foster care services, counseling, legal assistance and support groups to the community.
Rasmussen said her predecessor, Susan Johnson, approached Every Woman's Place's board of directors about pursuing COA accreditation in 2012. Human service agencies worldwide pursue the endorsement to show and implement the best practices in the field.
“When we wrapped up COA, we knew we were at our best and now we know we have an opportunity to do better,” Rasmussen said. “A lot of agencies function assuming that they're doing well, but we wanted to know for sure if we were doing well. They only way to know is to get that feedback directly.”
As a result of the accreditation process, Rasmussen said Every Woman's Place conducts more surveys and has increased its documentation efforts to better help clients and staff. It also maintains a new quality improvement team, which reviews the organization's programs on a weekly basis.
Looking forward
Amanda Robertson, campaign manager at Every Women's Place, said that the COA approval is a stamp of excellence and proof that the agency is fiscally responsible — a key trait many entities look for when awarding grants.
And securing grants is even more important than ever in light of state and federal funding cuts, she said.
During the fiscal year spanning from October 2010 to September 2011, federal grants made up more than half of the Every Woman's Place income, or 54.3 percent.
During that period, the organization served more than 4,000 Lakeshore residents, answered 1,500 calls to its 24-Hour Crisis Line and housed more than 200 people, according to the 2010-11 annual report.
The report also indicated that women between the ages of 20 and 29 represented the most common age group seeking help.
In response to child abuse and homelessness in the Muskegon-area community, Robertson and Rasmussen said Every Woman's Place is working harder to promote its foster care services, which they said many people don't know about.
Last year, it assisted children who were staying in Child Haven, the state and county-ran children's shelter that closed last winter after water pipes burst .
“We picked up the foster-care piece because the need was so high and continues to be,” Rasmussen said.
In late April, DHS spokesman Dave Akerly said there were 421 children in foster care or under DHS supervision in Muskegon County.
Rasmussen said Every Woman's Place is always recruiting for foster care homes and specializes helping in homeless teens, who can be harder to place.
Last May, the youth services arm of the organization launched a new program to support and house pregnant and parenting teens with the help of a federal grant. The maternity house serves young adults between the ages of 16 and 22 and their dependent children for up to 21 months, or until the mother turns 18 years old.
Rasmussen said the initiative includes a transitional living component and works with Muskegon Community Health Project's Pathways to Pregnancy program.
The initiative teaches life, interpersonal and parenting skills and helps connect young women to career and educational opportunities and healthcare services, she said.
Ongoing initiatives ran or supported by Every Woman's Place include its Cheers and Chocolate fundraiser and Girls on the Run.
Last month, it hosted its first “Denim Day,” a fundraiser and awareness effort designed to educate the public about sexual assault in the community and across the globe.
http://www.mlive.com/news/muskegon/index.ssf/2014/05/every_womans_placewebster_hous_1.html
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The Power of Mothers to End Violence
by Ariel Zwang -- CEO, Safe Horizon
Like moms everywhere, I'm reflecting this Mother's Day on my blessings. I have two teenage girls, and it is a delight to help them grow. But even as I enjoy a card or breakfast in bed, I know that the normal things we do for our children -- care for them when they are sick, help them navigate a complex world, provide the daily necessities, support them in doing well in school -- are comparatively easy, even for the hardest-working mom. This Mother's Day, I'm reflecting on some of the hardest things moms do for their children.
The decision to leave an abusive relationship is more complex than many people imagine, and if you've never experienced domestic violence, it may be hard to understand how any mother could stay. But consider for a moment that the abuser may be the family's sole source of financial support, so the choice may be between staying or homelessness. Or that the victim may well believe an abuser's threats -- that if she ends the relationship, her children will be taken from her. She may hear messages from relatives and friends that it is wrong to break up a family, no matter what. She probably feels ashamed. And she viscerally knows what is statistically true: that the likelihood of violence is greatest when a woman moves to leave. Yet -- in spite of these terrifying realities -- mothers do reach out for help every day.
It takes strength and courage to make the decision to ask for help, and very often, mothers find that strength for their children. I've learned this time and again speaking with survivors of domestic violence in our shelters or other support programs: moms who say, I just couldn't let my kids grow up that way. In finding this courage, they are changing the world by disrupting the cycle of abuse, and they are a major force in building a society free of family and community violence.
Let me share the story of Maya, a real domestic violence survivor whose name has been changed for confidentiality reasons...
Maya met and married her husband while still in her teens. They were raising three children together by the time he became physically abusive. One night he attacked her with particular brutality, and she knew her life was in danger. But she had survived that fear before, she even thought it was normal. What affected her the most was seeing her eldest daughter distraught over calling 911 to save her mom, because she also feared that she would be the one responsible for jailing her dad. After she survived that episode, Maya realized the profound emotional harm the violence was causing her children.
Children who witness domestic violence are more likely to continue the cycle. Without help, girls are more likely to suffer abuse as adults while boys are more likely to become abusers.
Two generations ago, there were no domestic violence shelters, no hotlines, no police officers trained in domestic violence. Society's response, if the violence got bad enough for someone to call the cops, was for the officer to tell the abuser to take a walk around the block to cool off. Today, there are laws, hotlines, shelters, mental health treatment, legal services, and so many other ways for victims to get the help that they need. But the shame and fear persist, and it's still so frightening to reach out for help. That's why the countless mothers like Maya, in New York City and around the world, are heroes for taking steps to end the violence.
Consider that last year, our domestic violence hotline in New York City received 123,000 calls from individuals, mostly women, reaching out for guidance and resources to navigate or leave abusive relationships. The choices can seem impossible. Advocates listen to each client and provide resources and information that allow them to make the best decision for their safety. For 3,000 families last year that decision was coming to shelter.
Maya and her family have bounced back.
She won custody of her children with the help of Safe Horizon's Domestic Violence Law Project and she recently obtained a stable and rewarding job. Her journey with Safe Horizon continues as we work to finalize her divorce. The woman who was once so withdrawn now fills our offices with her smiling laughter. And, most of all, her children are now growing up in a home free of violence and abuse.
At Safe Horizon, we strive for a society free of family and community violence. Mothers like Maya are bringing all of us one step closer to achieving that goal. This Mother's Day, let's honor the power of mothers -- inside shelters and beyond -- for taking the steps to break cycles of violence for themselves and for their children. Our world is being transformed for the better by millions of women like Maya who are taking action to end violence.
Please join me by sending a card to a mother in your life by making a donation in her honor to Safe Horizon's shelters .
Together we can build a world without violence and give our children the future that they deserve.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ariel-zwang/the-power-of-mothers-to-e_b_5287727.html?utm_hp_ref=impact&ir=Impact
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Can exposure therapy help rape victims?
by Lori Jane Gliha & Sameen Amin
With her eyes closed and a nervous smile, Tyhira Stovall wiggled uncomfortably in the swivel chair at her therapist's office in Philadelphia.
As part of her treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) five years ago, the then-17-year-old had been asked to revisit a terrifying experience that she had tried hard to forget.
In the video recording made by her therapist for research purposes, she tugged on the fashion beads hanging from her neck with one hand, while she rubbed her face and eyes with the other. Slowly, she began to recount what happened to her more than a year before on the afternoon she skipped high school.
“He's kissing the inside of my leg,” she recalled of the man who raped her that day. “It feels so weird. It sucks because I don't want him touching me. Oh my God.”
As details started pouring out, the teen – with her eyes still shut – squirmed in the office chair, covered her face with her hands and rested her head against the wall, shaking with sobs.
“Great job, Tyhira. You can do this,” said her therapist Dr. Sandy Capaldi. “I know it's hard.”
Stovall was an outgoing teenager before her rape. Afterwards, she described herself as a “walking zombie.” She couldn't hug anybody, or look at her father, who she said had a similar look to her rapist. Her mother started homeschooling her, because she was too anxious to go to school. And she stopped dancing.
“She lost her dance, she lost her joy. She just became like a shell,” said her mother Juanita Sojourner. “I remember I used to tell her, I wanted to see her dance, because I knew somehow that was how she had to fight back.”
Stovall tried various types of treatment, from group therapy to medication. And then she tried something unorthodox.
Prolonged exposure therapy requires rape victims who suffer from PTSD to repeatedly recount intimate details of their attack during a series of therapy sessions. For years, Virginia hospitals have used the therapy to treat veterans with PTSD. And a new study has now revealed it's effective on another group with even higher rates of PTSD than war veterans: adolescent rape victims like Stovall.
How it works
The therapy isn't easy.
The patients are asked to relive their rapes in as much detail as possible, over and over and over again in a single 30 or 45-minute session. According to Capaldi, a clinical psychologist at the University of Pennsylvania, it often takes 14 to 17 sessions before a patient finds success.
“What we know is that by engaging with the memory, really feeling the way that they felt when it happened is really part of what helps [them] to habituate or get used to it,” Capaldi explained.
But it's also important that the patients, while gripped in the emotions of their memories, know that they're in an office, and completely safe.
“The idea is that we want them to keep one foot in the past and one foot in the present," Capaldi said.
The patients must also carry out various anxiety-evoking tasks associated with their rapes, on a gradual basis. Capaldi instructed Stovall to keep her bedroom door open at night, because she only felt safe when it was closed. Stovall also went on walks to the house where she was raped, not far from her own home.
New hope
Developed in 1980 by Dr. Edna Foa, a professor of Clinical Psychology and Psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania, prolonged exposure therapy has been used by the Department of Veterans Affairs for more than a decade to aid adult service members in their battles with PTSD. Multiple studies have found the therapy successful in helping veterans and civilians alike.
“About 85 percent [of patients] are being helped, but there are about between 10 and 15 percent that are not helped,” she told America Tonight. “But we also know from studies that we've done that nobody got worse.”
In 2007, Pennsylvania researchers, including Foa and Capaldi embarked on a five-year study of adolescent girls who had been raped and suffered from PTSD, like Stovall, to see if the results would be similar.
Doctors compared prolonged exposure therapy with a more traditional counseling approach in which patients are not pushed to remember traumatic incidents.
“I thought we were going to see at the end of the study that everybody got better and there was no difference [between the two types],” Foa said.
But that wasn't what they found. The study, published by the Journal of the American Medical Association in December 2013, concluded that 83 percent of the adolescents who received prolonged exposure therapy no longer had PTSD at clinically significant levels, compared with 54 percent of patients who received traditional, supportive counseling.
Doctors assessed patients multiple times throughout the project, including halfway through the therapy sessions and at the end of treatment. Capaldi said researchers also conducted assessments at three months, six months and 12 months after treatment.
“If we can disseminate…prolonged exposure into community centers, clinics, centers for child sexual abuse, rape crisis centers," Capaldi said, "we're going to help these people [be] cured.”
Despite the research showing the treatment's success, many doctors don't currently use the therapy. A lot of them aren't trained in the technique. Some have said the treatment is so repetitive that it becomes monotonous, while others are hesitant to witness their patients enduring such a stressful treatment.
A success story
Stovall, now 22, said of all the treatments she received, prolonged exposure therapy helped her the most. At first, she didn't want to relive the rape, and said that closing her eyes made it “all too real.”
“I would have moments where I'd cry, and I would have moments where I was like, ‘You know what? I don't want to talk about this anymore,' and I'd stop," she said. "But at the end of the day, the more I talk about it, the more I'd get used to it and the more I'm comfortable with sharing what happened."
Now, Stovall is preparing to graduate college and expecting her first child. She also started dancing again.
“This move right here, that's like washing the shame off, washing the fear off, washing everything I felt off,” she said, watching a video of her performing.
On stage, Stovall spins, wraps her arms around herself and then extends her leg high into the air.
“In this moment, I claim myself as not being a victim,” she said. “But I am a rape survivor.”
http://america.aljazeera.com/watch/shows/america-tonight/articles/2014/5/7/can-exposure-therapyhelprapevictims.html
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California
Media Yawn at Hollywood Child Abuse
by Brent Bozell
In August of 2011, the former child actor Corey Feldman made a stunning assertion to ABC News: "I can tell you that the No. 1 problem in Hollywood was and is and always will be pedophilia. That's the biggest problem for children in this industry ... It's the big secret." The rest of the media said nothing.
Almost three years later, it's happening again. The Los Angeles Times reported on April 18 that "X-Men" director Bryan Singer "has been accused in a federal lawsuit of drugging and sexually assaulting an aspiring teenage actor in the 1990s."
Michael Egan III claims that he was forced into a "sordid sex ring" in the entertainment industry in which underage boys were supplied alcohol and drugs. Egan alleges that the assaults took place at wild parties in California and Hawaii when he was 17.
"The claims made against Bryan Singer are completely without merit," said Singer's attorney Marty Singer (no relation). "We are very confident that Bryan will be vindicated in this absurd and defamatory lawsuit."
Days later, Egan's lawyer Jeffrey Herman sued three more entertainment industry figures alleging sexual abuse: former NBC Entertainment president Garth Ancier, former Disney executive David Neuman and theater producer Gary Goddard.
"Hollywood has a problem with the sexual exploitation of children," Herman declared. "This is the first of many cases I will be filing to give these victims a voice and to expose the issue."
Trial lawyers making sexual abuse allegations against Catholic priests can count on explosive national media coverage. This lawyer cannot. There is virtual silence. None of the broadcast or cable news networks are reporting on this lawsuit. The Los Angeles Times and New York Times reports have been brief. USA Today and the Washington Post haven't located the story at all.
For his part, Singer is accusing Egan of trying to ruin the publicity for his latest "X-Men" film. For the media's part, this should make the story more newsworthy.
Days after these lawsuits came to light, the networks used the canonization festivities for Pope John Paul II to slam him again, condemning him for inaction during his tenure on lawsuits alleging sexual abuse by priests. The "victims rights advocates" lined up to get their licks in. NBC's Anne Thompson summarized: "John Paul II has many critics who say he did not do enough -- or did very little -- to stop the sex abuse crisis."
The TV networks never tire of long-form journalism attacking the Catholic hierarchy on sex abuse lawsuits. Last year, HBO ran an anti-Catholic screed titled "Mea Maxima Culpa" by Alex Gibney, who called Pope Benedict a "criminal."
In February, the leftist PBS documentary series "Frontline" aired "Secrets of the Vatican." Producer Antony Thomas piled up anonymous sources claiming sex parties among the clergy. "There was a lot that came to light, including a man who was, as it were, providing choirboys as rent boys," Thomas said. "There are a lot of people in the Vatican who are gay who are leading celibate lives, and this is difficult for them. And there are others who are promiscuous."
All of the secularists at the news networks and HBO don't need a guilty verdict in a courtroom to pass judgment on Catholics for allegedly tolerating the sexual abuse of children or clergy sex parties in Vatican City. Any accusation from anybody is all it takes.
But Hollywood has the media's get-out-of-jail-free card, even when children are abused.
http://townhall.com/columnists/brentbozell/2014/05/09/media-yawn-at-hollywood-child-abuse-n1835645
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Massachusetts
Mass. child welfare agency hamstrung by old technology
Specialists now looking beyond the fax
by Michael B. Farrell and Eric Moskowitz
Usually when a child goes missing, an emergency broadcast system called the Amber Alert uses sophisticated technology to blast text messages telling thousands of strangers to be on the lookout.
But in cases involving endangered children needing state supervision, Massachusetts is stuck in the fax age.
Massachusetts is far from unique in being hamstrung by dated technologies; many other state welfare agencies also still rely on fax machines to communicate important alerts about child safety. But some are slowly experimenting with modern electronic systems that are prevalent in corporate America and even other government agencies.
“If FedEx knows where every package is, why can't we know where every kid is?” said Daniel Stein, cofounder of Stewards of Change, a New York consulting firm that works with government health and social service agencies. “Why are we not applying that same level of rigor and quality control to kids and families?”
Stein's organization is developing tools for child welfare workers to conduct Google-like searches that quickly collect the different information available on a case — from family histories to police reports, health records to support groups — and organize it on one screen.
Meanwhile, Florida is adopting big data tools of the kind used by retailers and marketers to better predict when a child is in imminent danger. California has an electronic reporting system intended to eliminate delays in notifying social workers and police departments of a new case or urgent situation.
Even Massachusetts is now giving social workers mobile tablets for use in the field, while agencies in Indiana, New York, and Pennsylvania are also exploring mobile technologies.
“The challenge across the country is how do child welfare agencies take advantage of modern technology,” said Charles Simon, policy director for Case Commons, a nonprofit that has developed case management software that child welfare systems can use to cull more information about families using techniques common to social media sites such as Facebook.
“The tools are there. The tools exist,” Simon said. “The challenge is bringing those tools to bear.”
Old technology figured in the most recent lapse in oversight by the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families, as state officials acknowledged the agency misplaced for six days a report Grafton police faxed in early April about 1-month-old Aliana Lavigne. The child later died before a DCF caseworker could visit her home.
The child welfare system in Florida is reeling from similar tragedies and leadership turmoil as Massachusetts. There, though, the state is deploying sophisticated data analysis software for caseworkers to gauge the potential danger to children in suspected abuse situations. The technology is designed to share that information in real time with law enforcement and child welfare social workers.
“When we find high-risk scenarios, we send out alerts to all the stake holders,” said Greg Povolny, chief executive of Mindshare Technology, a Tampa company that designed the software. “We have text messages that go out and a mobile app that will alert caseworkers.”
Initial reports of suspected child abuse can be filed directly online at the Florida agency's website and by traditional means such as phone and fax. Once a report is filed, the software system acts as a constant reminder, broadcasting alerts of meaningful changes in cases until a social worker confirms receiving the report.
“We are trying to make it very hard for a caseworker to screw up,” said Povolny. “One of the things we are doing is creating an accountability chain.”
Povolny said his company has had several discussions in recent months with Massachusetts DCF officials about the state using Mindshare's technology.
In Massachusetts, the new mobile tablets would allow social workers to access case files remotely, improve record keeping, and, importantly, enhance communications with police and other law enforcement agencies.
In March the agency assigned 54 iPads to on-call supervisors, and another 2,000 mobile devices will go to social workers this summer.
Meanwhile the Amber Alert has been successful in helping to locate missing children, and one of the companies behind the technology said it could be equally useful in the analogous situation of child abuse reports. The Amber Alert was updated last year to include text messages as another way to quickly notify people of a missing child; since then, officials said the additional technology has led to the rescue and safe return of nine children.
In each state a local agency — the State Police in Massachusetts — serves as a central contact point for reports of missing children. That agency issues urgent notifications that are broadcast over local TV and radio, on nearby highway signs, and texted to cellphone users in a given location.
A similar system could be designed to quickly notify social workers, for example, of new child abuse allegations, said Julia Howard, vice president of operations for Amber Alert GPS, the Utah company that administers the missing child system for nine states.
“It would take a little bit of engineering, but it could be modified,” said Howard. “There would be a way, people just have to open the dialog about it.”
Even so, child welfare specialists contend that a simple phone call remains the most effective way to report a case of suspected abuse.
Molly Jenkins, a research analyst with the American Humane Association, said a direct conversation is often the only way to convey detailed and nuanced information that child welfare officials need to know, especially when determining whether a child needs to be rescued from a situation and how soon.
“So much of it depends on the story, and what you noticed,” said Jenkins.
But as specialists in child welfare caution, no one technology, however new and sophisticated, can completely compensate for human error or sloppy work.
Indeed, even the electronic reporting system in California hasn't solved the persistent challenge of urgently fielding new reports of suspected child abuse.
Again, the culprit is human nature. In Los Angeles County, many child protection and law enforcement agencies don't use the electronic system, according to a recent review by the commission charged with fixing the region's ongoing child abuse problems. Instead those agencies prefer their existing systems, even if they risk repeating the same oversights.
For example, most law enforcement agencies in LA still use fax machines to receive child abuse reports, yet many often don't check the machines for new submissions for hours at a time, sometimes days, the commission said in a recent report.
Of course, other electronic messaging systems, including e-mail and texts, can be just as easily overlooked by harried or forgetful social workers, child welfare specialists point out. In their view, no matter what technology is deployed, the onus remains on the people working in the protection services to use it correctly.
“Whether it's a fax machine, a phone call, a tweet, or a text,” said Theresa Pardo, director of the Center for Technology in Government at the University at Albany, if the information isn't handled properly, “the technology is irrelevant.”
http://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2014/05/07/why-fax-machine-persists-child-abuse-cases/OikPnPkzaIgU87x3LfEGXL/story.html
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Washington D.C.
Child Abuse Bill In Memory of Union County Girl Passes Senate
by Tasnim Shamma
The Kilah Davenport Child Protection Act passed the U.S. Senate unanimously on Wednesday night. It's a bill that asks Attorney General Eric Holder to issue a state-by-state report on child abuse prevention laws within 6 months.The goal is to get states to increase punishment for child abuse offenders.
The bill is named after Kilah Davenport of Union County. Her grandfather, Brian Davenport, remembers how his granddaughter used to be:
"She loved to be outside," he says. "She loved to dance. She loved music. She loved singing. She's just a loving child all the way around."
And then in May of 2012, the three-year old's stepfather threw her against the wall.
"She couldn't communicate anymore – you know verbally," he says. "She couldn't walk, talk, she had to be fed by us, changed. She had to go back into diapers again. The incident stole her innocence and her childhood."
A jury found Joshua Houser guilty of felony child abuse in late February. He was sentenced to a maximum of ten years. Just a few weeks later, Kilah died from brain injuries.
Union County District Attorney Trey Robison says that wasn't enough punishment for her abuser.
" In this particular case, I'd argue that it was not enough time," Robison says. "I mean, I've never been around a child, in all my years, I've never been around a child as grievously injured as Kilah was – short of actually – you know – being murdered."
He says that what passed on Wednesday night – might not have much of an impact – at least in North Carolina. It calls for Attorney General Eric Holder to review state child abuse laws and make recommendations.
Last year, the Davenport family helped pass a law in the state General Assembly that increased penalties for child abuse offenders – in some cases doubling the minimum sentence for the worst offenders.
Brian Davenport says he knows the federal version of Kilah's Law is not as strong – but he likes knowing she didn't die in vain.
"It's a tremendous honor that our granddaughter's name is on a piece of federal legislation," Davenport says. "It's a true honor to know that she's going to go to save other children's lives."
http://wfae.org/post/child-abuse-bill-memory-union-county-girl-passes-senate
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California
New “Explosive” Figures on Law Enforcement Response to Child Abuse in LA County
by Daniel Heimpel
In 2013 the Long Beach Police Department (LBPD) fielded 3,195 reports of suspected child abuse. The agency chose not to investigate 1,456 cases, nearly half of all the reports it received that year.
The numbers come from an April 2014 letter sent from Los Angeles County District Attorney Jackie Lacey to Long Beach Police Chief Jim McDonnell, who is also a candidate for Los Angeles Sheriff.
“When you have agencies not even responding to suspected child abuse reports and closing them without an investigation, it is mind boggling,” said Dan Scott, a former sergeant in the Sheriff's Department and commissioner on the county's Blue Ribbon Commission on Child Protection. “Long Beach is a prime example and it ought to be exposed. Not only because McDonell is running, but because this is Long Beach PD, it is not just some Podunk department.”
Among the county's 46 law enforcement agencies, including the Los Angeles Police Department and the Sheriff's Department, Long Beach stood out for the sheer proportion of child abuse reports it chose not to investigate, according to letters sent to every agency chief from the DA's office and shared with The Chronicle of Social Change.
McDonnell's opponents for Sheriff reacted with words like “explosive” and “shameful” when told of the wide discrepancies in responses between LBPD and other agencies, while McDonnell and his department offered no explanation.
And, the release of the data renews focus on the most concrete result of the recently sunsetted commission on child protection: the DA's request from the Board of Supervisors for more money to better regulate the Electronic Suspected Child Abuse Reporting System (ESCARS).
Glaring Discrepancies
The form letter sent to McDonnell from DA Lacey in April provides figures on action taken by agencies in respect to reports of child abuse that are generated through the Department of Children and Family Services' child abuse hotline. The ESCARS computer software program, launched in 2009, then pushes out the reports to law enforcement agencies throughout the county. As part of its “obligation to audit cross-reporting compliance,” the DA's office provides law enforcement agencies with figures on whether they investigated a report and whether or not they suspected a crime had been committed.
The discrepancies from agency to agency are significant. The Sheriff's Department investigated 97 percent of all reports and LAPD investigated 74 percent, while LBPD responded to only 54 percent.
“That is pretty explosive information,” said Todd Rogers, a candidate for Sheriff. Rogers, who currently serves as assistant Sheriff and said he had years of experience in responding to reports of suspected child abuse. While he said LBPD's glaring inaction could be an anomaly, he added that “the numbers are alarming and we need to go out on all of them [child abuse reports].”
Bob Olmsted, another candidate, who worked to expose deputy abuse and corruption in the county's jails after years in the department, was less forgiving.
“If they are not looking into child abuse cases shame on them,” Olmsted said.
Beyond the rate of investigation, the types of responses differed wildly from agency to agency across the county. In Long Beach, roughly a quarter of the reports wound up being suspected of a crime, while the Sheriff's Department had detectives conduct follow-up investigations on one third of the reports they received.
Compared to an average response rate of 18 percent for all the county's law enforcement agencies excluding the Sherriff's Department and LAPD, Long Beach's 46 percent is glaring.
Requests for comment on these discrepancies to both the Long Beach Police Department and Jim McDonnell's campaign were not immediately responded to.
“We need time for our Department to review and evaluate the information you are asking about,” wrote Nancy Pratt, a public information officer with LBPD, in an email to The Chronicle.
Three Paralegals and a Deputy DA
On April 3, two days after sending out her letter to the county's law enforcement agencies, DA Lacey sent a letter to the Board of Supervisors requesting funding to pay for three paralegals and a deputy district attorney to bolster the agency's oversight of ESCARS. The request had been prompted by a slate of recommendations on improving child welfare submitted by the Blue Ribbon Commission in December of 2013.
County CEO William Fujioka's proposed budget issued on April 15 did not include a line item for the DA's request, setting up a funding fight that could stretch over the summer. That said, among the commission's many recommendations, improving law enforcement response to reports of suspected child abuse is the only one that has an agency making a budget play thus far.
Slow to Act
On April 22, nine of the 10 Blue Ribbon commissioners presented their final recommendations to the Board of Supervisors. The Board directed the CEO to consult with the key agencies involved in child welfare and submit fiscal and legal analyses by May 20.
“In reviewing the Blue Ribbon Commission recommendations, we need to fully evaluate each recommendation and determine whether it adds, detracts or duplicates the County's child protection efforts,” read a motion made by Supervisors Don Knabe and Zev Yarolsvsky that day, who both voted against the creation of the commission in the first place.
Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas, the commission's most vocal advocate on the Board, made a motion of his own, striking an outwardly decisive tone:
“The Commission having fulfilled its mission, the Board now must fulfill its duty to protect the children under its care and supervision by moving forward with system-wide reform to improve the County's child welfare system.”
Despite the call for action, on May 6, the Board of Supervisors sent an email to commission members, saying that the follow up meeting was pushed to June 10.
“Since the Interim Report was issued four months ago,” the commissioners wrote in their final recommendations submitted in April, “another 5,000 referrals of child abuse have been investigated without systemic reform. Each day we wait for reform, 40 more infants are reported as possible victims of child abuse or neglect.”
Nobody can predict where those reports will come from. But if they are sent to a police station in Long Beach, we can assume that the department will respond about half the time.
“Basically what they are doing is rolling the dice on the child's life and hoping it doesn't come up craps,” Scott said.
https://chronicleofsocialchange.org/analysis/rolling-the-dice-on-child-abuse-in-long-beach-la-county/6517
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Vatican - Catholic Church
Torture the Little Children? The Catholic Church Says It's Not Responsible
At a United Nations hearing the Vatican tries to turn the moral question of whether child abuse is torture into a legal debate about jurisdictions.
This may come as a huge surprise to many Catholics, but the Holy See is claiming it doesn't really bear legal responsibility for how they or even their priests behave. Too good to be true? Actually, too horrible to be believed. What the Vatican is claiming this week before a United Nations panel is that, really, the question of priests sexually abusing little kids is a matter for local law enforcement. And, no, the physical pain and mental anguish inflicted on children by pedophile prelates should not be called “torture,” at least as defined by the U.N.
When the Vatican's U.N. ambassador appeared in front of the U.N.'s Convention Against Torture in Geneva on Monday, the issues were about jurisdiction, not spiritual guidance and the Roman Catholic Church's moral responsibility for errant clerics. “It should be stressed, particularly in light of much confusion, that the Holy See has no jurisdiction over every member of the Catholic Church,” said Archbishop Silvano Tomasi, who represented the Vatican as a signatory of the convention on torture.
In his opening remarks, released in advance to the press, Tomasi went on to say, “The Holy See wishes to reiterate that the persons who live in a particular country are under the jurisdiction of the legitimate authorities of that country and are thus subject to the domestic law and the consequences contained therein. State authorities are obligated to protect, and when necessary, prosecute persons under their jurisdiction.”
“Not our problem” and “they don't work for us” may have become the boilerplate answers on the issue of who is ultimately responsible for priestly child abuse. But, curiously, when it comes to nearly every other subject, from doctrinal issues like preaching against birth control and for sexual abstinence, to how those spreading the Catholic message behave, including nuns “pushing feminist themes,” the Catholic Church at least seems to want total jurisdiction over its flocks and its shepherds.
As for those state authorities the Vatican says are “obligated to protect,” the Vatican hierarchy has, for years, done everything it can to prohibit them from doing just that by refusing to turn over documents on pedophile priests, or, in some cases, threatening the victims who dare to speak.
In an open letter ahead of Monday's meeting in Geneva, Barbara Blaine, head of the Survivors Network of Those Abused By Priests, known as SNAP, asked the U.N. committee members to remember that the Vatican is still covering up sex abuse.
“First, we humbly ask that you keep in mind that we are convinced that hundreds of innocent children and vulnerable adults are being sexually violated, tortured and assaulted—right now, today—by Catholic clerics,” Blaine wrote. “Second, we ask that you keep in mind that torture and violence can be subtle and manipulative. Or it can be blatant and brutal. Either way, it's horribly destructive to the human spirit, especially when inflicted on the young by the powerful, on the truly devout by the allegedly holy.”
The Vatican's required appearance in front of the Convention on Torture is the second time this year it has been called on the carpet for how Rome guides the Church's many dioceses across the world. In January, Vatican officials also sat in front of the United Nations' Convention for the Rights of the Child to defend their inexcusable record on child abuse. Then, the U.N. group scolded the Vatican:
“The Committee is gravely concerned that the Holy See has not acknowledged the extent of the crimes committed, has not taken the necessary measures to address cases of child sexual abuse and protect children, and has adopted policies and practices which have led to the continuation of the abuse by and the impunity of the perpetrators,” that U.N. panel concluded.
Back then, as on Monday, Tomasi toed the party line, pleading that the Church in Rome could not possibly take responsibility for what its priests do in the field. “Priests are not functionaries of the Vatican,” Tomasi told the committee in January. “Priests are citizens of their own states, and they fall under the jurisdiction of their own country.”
This time, the Vatican envoy went one step further, arguing that since the Convention on Torture document only applies in a juridical sense to the confines of the tiny Vatican city-state, the members of the convention might consider what a great job the Vatican actually does getting the anti-torture message out around the world.
“It might be said that the measures employed by the Holy See to take effective legislative, administrative, judicial or other measures to prevent and to prohibit torture and to address its root causes to avoid future acts in this area are abundant,” Tomasi said. “This manifests the Holy See's desire to lend its moral support and collaboration to the international community, so as to contribute to the elimination of recourse to torture, which is inadmissible and inhuman.”
In Rome, the pope's spokesman, Father Federico Lombardi, shrugged off the meeting entirely, telling reporters that the topic of child abuse has no place in a discussion of torture.
“A contributory factor is often the pressure exercised over the [U.N.] committees and public opinion by [nongovernmental organizations] with a strong ideological character and orientation, to bring the issue of the sexual abuse of minors into the discussion on torture, a matter which relates instead to the Convention on the rights of the child,” Father Lombardi said. “The extent to which this is instrumental and forced is clear to any unbiased observer.”
Monday's meeting follows the first official meeting of Pope Francis's special commission on child abuse, whose members gathered over the weekend in Rome. They set out their initial plan for drawing up statutes and arranged to meet again soon to help define just what they will do.
“In time, we will propose initiatives to encourage local responsibility around the world and the mutual sharing of ‘best practices' for the protection of all minors, including programs for training, education, formation, and responses to abuse,” they said in a statement after the inaugural meeting.
On Tuesday, Tomasi faces further questioning on the Vatican's stance on abuse. If the committee does rule that pedophiliac child abuse is torture, and that the Vatican is responsible, one might expect a rush of lawsuits citing the United Nations' ruling, or even sanctions or expulsion from the committee.
For the victims of priestly abuse, even that won't be enough. “For most of us, enduring the torture, rape and sexual violence was almost unbearable,” Blaine said ahead of Monday's meeting. “But the betrayal by Church officials was just as damaging and, for many, even worse than that of the sexual violence. Those in positions of trust—who we were taught were closest to God and revered above anyone else, including respected teachers, community leaders, politicians, physicians and even our parents—treat us as enemies when we muster enough courage to report the rape and sexual violence we have endured.
“Rather than being embraced, appreciated and acknowledged, we are ostracized, ignored and blamed,” said Blaine. “This adds additional torture to far too many.”
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/05/06/torture-the-little-children-the-catholic-church-says-it-s-not-responsible.html
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Vatican - Catholic Church
The Vatican Defrocked 848 Priests For Child Abuse in the Past 10 Years
by Abby Ohlheiser
For the first time, the Vatican has revealed a statistical picture of the internal fallout from the church's sex abuse epidemic. According to the Vatican's U.N. Ambassador Archbishop Silvano Tomasi, the Pope defrocked 848 priests over the past 10 years, and doled out lesser punishments to another 2,572 accused of raping and molesting children. That includes punishments handed down by John Paul II, Benedict XVI, and Francis.
The Vatican has been notoriously quiet on how it handled the abuse scandal internally. But a U.N. committee is now investigating the Vatican to determine whether it broke the international body's treaty banning torture. The worldwide problem child abuse within the Church could, the U.N. believes, meet the definition of torture as laid out in the treaty. The Vatican has pushed back on that point, arguing that it is only responsible for enforcing the treaty within the boundaries of the Vatican City, and not in the Catholic church's global presence.
Here are some more details from the Vatican's new release of numbers, first reported by the Associated Press.
• In 2001, the Vatican began to require bishops to report cases of abuse to Rome. In 2010, the church finally told bishops to also report those cases to the police.
• Since 2004, the Vatican received 3,400 credible cases of abuse.
• In total, 848 priests were defrocked, and 2,572 were sanctioned. The Vatican explained that the lesser punishments were often the end result of abuse investigations going back decades, mainly because the abusive priests were elderly or infirm. Tomasi said that the lesser punishments still meant that the priests were"put in a place where he doesn't have any contact with the children."
• There was a huge spike in the sanctions, starting in 2010. Before that, about 100 priests per year were sanctioned in this way.
The AP notes that there are fluctuations in the number of reported cases and disciplined priests year-to year, which "roughly parallel the years in which abuse scandals were in the news." Although the Vatican has long faced criticism for the existence of the widespread abuse itself, it faced even sharper questioning over its institutional efforts to keep the scandal under wraps for as long as possible.
Until 2002, it was commonplace for bishops to quietly reassign priests accused of child abuse, without reporting them to police. That all changed following a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigation by the Boston Globe detailing the clergy abuse. The Vatican statistics reported by the AP didn't contain one crucial figure that many would like to know: whether the defrocked priests also faced investigations from law enforcement.
Pope Francis was relatively quiet on the issue of child abuse by clergy for most of his first year as Pope. This April, the Pontiff " personally ask[ed] for forgiveness for the damage they have done for having sexually abused children" during what were apparently off-script remarks at a speech to a Catholic children's NGO.
Earlier this year, the Vatican provided documents to the U.N. during a previous round of questioning by a different panel that indicated it had defrocked 384 priests in just two years — 2011 and 2012 — in connection with the scandal. While the Holy See eventually admitted that the figure was accurat e, they noted that it was "incomplete." Well, now we know the bigger picture.
http://www.thewire.com/global/2014/05/the-vatican-defrocked-848-priests-for-child-abuse-in-the-past-10-years/361821/
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California
LAUSD quietly disbands Miramonte child-abuse investigative panel
by Howard Blume
The Los Angeles school district has quietly shut down a high-profile special investigative panel intended to review the Miramonte Elementary child-abuse case, citing its cost.
The school system had pledged to form the commission in 2012 as a measure of its commitment to protect students after the arrest of veteran elementary teacher Mark Berndt, who was charged with lewd conduct.
Civil rights attorney Connie Rice, who was asked to lead the commission, said she believes that L.A. Unified feared increasing its liability if the panel found fault with the school system. The district has paid about $30 million to 63 students and their families to settle civil lawsuits, along with millions more in legal fees and other costs. Other litigation is proceeding to trial.
"Their legal counsel didn't want me or the commission anywhere near this," Rice said. "But I don't care about the lawsuits. I care about the kids."
Supt. John Deasy had announced a series of efforts two years ago aimed at rebuilding the confidence of parents and others. These included the investigative commission to be headed by Rice and retired state Supreme Court Justice Carlos R. Moreno. Deasy also ordered the entire Miramonte staff to be replaced and directed administrators to scour old records to turn up potential problem employees. Deasy also formed an internal investigative team and strengthened record keeping.
As recently as November 2013, the district touted the commission. But the panel had been shelved a year earlier, as indicated in an email obtained by The Times.
"As you will recall, in a July 24 e-mail, I confirmed the Superintendent's commitment to fund the work of the commission," said Greg McNair, a senior L.A. Unified attorney, in the Nov. 5, 2012, message. "Since then, however, the financial outlook for the District weakened. The Superintendent now finds himself in the unfortunate position of being unable to finance the commission's work unless either Proposition 30 or Proposition 38 passes."
Prop. 30 passed — raising new tax revenue for schools across the state. But there was no additional communication with Rice.
McNair said Tuesday that the superintendent has made efforts behind the scenes to seek outside funding, but without success. He did not provide evidence of this outreach; nor was there any public acknowledgment.
"We haven't yet found anyone who is willing to fund the commission and it would be awkward to mention the names of the people who said no," McNair said.
The district has undergone one outside review from state auditors that resulted in changes in the way the system handles allegations of misconduct, he said. In addition, the district has provided counseling and other services to Miramonte families at its own expense, he said.
McNair added that he has apologized to Rice for "poor communication."
"We're not concerned about the liability impact," McNair said. "We're interested in the truth, in hearing all of it."
Lawyers representing Miramonte families in civil cases challenged this account.
"Mr. Deasy made a solemn promise to Miramonte parents to get to the bottom of what went wrong with the appointment of this commission," said attorney John Manly.
District officials "were afraid that the final report would lay the blame where it belongs" — with L.A. Unified, said attorney Luis Carrillo.
In the civil cases, the district is liable for harm caused to students if it knew or should have known about possible problems with Berndt.
Rice, who first disclosed the fate of the commission in a report on KPCC-FM (89.3), said she had assembled an "A-team," both for fact-finding and to develop the best protective measures. The group included prosecutors, former FBI agents, experts on pedophiles and former L.A. police Chief Bill Bratton, who currently heads the New York City police force.
The panel would have required financial resources, but would have been worth it, said Rice, who served without compensation.
"This district is not the picture of competence. They really do need an outside evaluation and they really need experts," she said.
The Berndt case was the largest misconduct episode in L.A. Unified history. The teacher pleaded no contest in November 2013 to 23 counts of lewd conduct and received a sentence of 25 years.
Investigators accused Berndt of spoon-feeding his semen to blind-folded students as part of what he is said to have called a tasting game, among other allegations. The evidence included photos of students apparently engaged in those acts.
A two-year Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department investigation, summarized in a court ruling last week, indicated that there could have been more than 100 victims and that the abuse was more extensive, including claims that Berndt touched students' genitalia and exposed himself.
http://www.latimes.com/local/la-me-miramonte-panel-20140507-story.html
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Kansas
Options available to prevent child abuse
by Brian Miller
Wichita, Kan.– A baby left alone inside a closet gives us a glimpse into how widespread abuse really is. Advocates say last year 1600 kids were abused in Sedgwick County.
This case brings attention to the growing need for family services, including child abuse prevention and how to help abused and neglected kids move on from traumatic experiences.
Services are available and child abuse advocates say the hardest part for parents is admitting they are overwhelmed and reaching out for help.
Melanie Miller Garrett with the Wichita Children's Home says about 2,000 kids get services here each year.
“It's OK to feel overwhelmed, it's OK to struggle all parents do that, there are people out there to help,” Miller Garrett said.
One of the options available to help prevent child abuse is right here at the Kansas Children's Service. This room is used as a classroom to host parenting classes throughout the year and the classes are offered to parents of kids of all ages.
Vicky Roper is the director of Prevent Childhood Abuse Kansas. “A lot of parents especially in this down economy– community services and resources are going away and they are struggling to access services and find out how to navigate the community resources,” Roper said.
Services include the help line 1-800-CHILDREN. There is also the United Way and others. But experts say sometimes the easiest way to get help is by reaching out to relatives, friends and neighbors.
Abuse advocates say a majority of the children taken from their homes are ultimately reunited with their parents because of a large demand for foster homes and thousands of kids in the system. The goal in most cases is to keep the families together.
http://ksn.com/2014/05/06/options-available-to-prevent-child-abuse/
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Pennsylvania
Pa. lawmakers send Corbett child abuse bill
by The Associated Press
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Pennsylvania lawmakers are sending the governor a bill designed to improve reporting by school employees of suspected child abuse.
The House voted unanimously on Tuesday in favor of the measure that the prime sponsor says puts school workers under the same reporting requirements as people employed in other types of work environments.
Gov. Tom Corbett's office says he plans to sign it.
The sponsor, Berks County Republican Rep. David Maloney, says he became aware that the standards were different while serving as a school board member.
The bill requires school workers to immediately notify the person in charge of their institution and to call the ChildLine abuse hotline.
It's among a set of measures being enacted in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky child molestation scandal.
http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2014/05/pa_lawmakers_send_corbett_chil.html
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Pennsylvania
Penn State child abuse conference looks at effects on families
by Lori Falce
UNIVERSITY PARK — Jessica was abused as a child. She self-medicated the pain with alcohol and illegal drugs. She was a young mother of three when emergency personnel came to her home to try to save her 10-month-old son, who drowned in the bathtub.
“And now the whole thing is spiraling to my children. When will the nightmare end?”
Penn State professor Jennie Noll has performed research looking at how the abuse of women such as Jessica, and their mothers and grandmothers, trickles down to affect their children in ways big and small, from premature birth to premature death. She shared Jessica's story as part of the Network on Child Protection and Well-Being's third annual conference, “Families at Risk: The Role of Parenting and Family Processes in Child Maltreatment and Intervention.”
The two-day conference, which began Monday, is “targeted to academics, researchers, clinicians,” said conference chairman Doug Teti, a professor of human development, psychology and pediatrics at Penn State. The analytical look at the subject matter was important.
“We have some of the best people in the field here,” said Teti, adding that the focus was deliberately placed on “the science, the treatment and the science of treatment.”
That also is why many in the audience at the Nittany Lion Inn were not those who study children, but those who work with them every day.
“I am very thrilled to see so many community partners here,” said Noll, pointing to service agencies, law enforcement and other groups that help children and families in need. “It is vitally important to have you here. We don't have good theories without you.”
Just as important, she said, is that the results of the research don't get implemented by researchers, but by those in-the-trenches advocates.
The goal for three years has been to help kids, said network Director Margaret Gray, but the tone of each conference has been different, reflecting different needs and goals. The first, in 2012, was large and had a more public face, with speakers such as Elizabeth Smart and Sugar Ray Leonard. Now, the focus is more on the work, but organizers say each one has been exactly what was needed at the time.
“Each has had a unique focus,” said Gray, who wants to make sure people know this year's topic is just as important as it was two years ago. “I think it shows that Penn State is committed to this for the long haul.”
For that long haul, Teti would like to see a time when the issues are less about treatment than about prevention. Some of the information shared about maltreatment of children in America was startling in its scope and its savagery, and sometimes in how it could be reduced to its most basic dollars-and-cents components.
Conference presenter Laura McCloskey, of Indiana University, said that about 900,000 children are abused or neglected in the U.S. each year. Most are infants, live in poverty and come from a home with a single mother living with a partner. Most of the maltreatment is neglect rather than physical or sexual abuse. The cost, boiled down in money expended through the criminal justice system, state services and health care costs, is $210,012 per child.
“The greatest cost is the loss of human potential,” said McCloskey.
Jessica learned that when she lost her son.
Researchers hope no one learns that way again. They know that research shows otherwise. Jessica's surviving children, according to Noll's research, are much more likely than kids from a non-maltreated home to lose their own children to the cycle of abuse and neglect.
http://www.centredaily.com/2014/05/05/4165478/penn-state-child-abuse-conference.html
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Indiana
Opinion
Van Derbur speech was inspiring
Commentary by Toby Stark
When we invited former Miss America, author and incest survivor Marilyn Van Derbur to be the keynote speaker at our 2014 Friends of Chaucie's Place Breakfast that was presented by NextGear Capital, we knew she would be outstanding.
But we didn't realize she would be OUTSTANDING.
Marilyn shared her story of sexual abuse at the hands of her father and her journey of healing. She offered a message of empowerment and hope. Her words educated the uneducated and unaware, and they validated those who are far too aware of this epidemic.
During her 50 minute speech to the crowd of nearly 300 people, Marilyn invited survivors of child sexual abuse to stand. She does this because she believes this action helps a survivor shed their shame and their fear; that it empowers them to continue their journey of healing. Or begin that journey.
She asked the audience, how can we expect our children to tell when we as adults don't tell? She told that crowd that we need to stand to show children and adult survivors that they are not alone, and that they have nothing to be ashamed of. She also told everyone in the packed room that there was no right or wrong response. It was OK if a survivor chose not to stand or didn't feel strong enough to stand. It was a powerful invitation.
And people stood.
Some people had heard Marilyn before and at that time couldn't stand. They came to the Friends of Chaucie's Place Breakfast to stand. Many stood for the first time. Many stood with co-workers and friends. Many stood before they had even told their families about their abuse.
Lives were changed that day. Conversations were started that day. Conversations between co-workers, friends and family members. Lives were changed that day.
“I am now going to start on my journey to healing from my abuse as a child and young adult.”
“I'm ready to get on with my life…”
“…I had never publicly announced that I was a victim of child abuse. …After listening to Marilyn Van Derbur, the one thing I didn't feel was alone. When she asked survivors to stand, I knew it was OK. I hope now that I can share this with my family. …Every journey starts with a single step.”
“I stood proud with no shame for myself and all the children who suffer sexual abuse. We need to help them be able to tell so they know they are not alone and have done nothing wrong and didn't deserve any abuse.”
We thank everyone who joined us that very special morning. We thank you for supporting Chaucie's Place and our prevention programs and for supporting our community as it took a collective step forward.
Toby Stark is Executive Director of Chaucie's Place , a nonprofit child advocacy organization that prevents child sexual abuse and youth suicide with prevention programs
http://currentincarmel.com/opinion-van-derbur-speech-was-inspiring
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Maryland
Phelan House is a project to build a new safehouse for SARC
SARC, Harford County's resource for victims of domestic violence, sexual violence, child abuse and stalking is undertaking a campaign to design and build a model facility based on research that dignifies survivors and provides them with a welcoming, secure environment that will replace SARC's century-old facility.
The new facility will allow them the ability to regain their independence with self-determination. The project will apply new and compelling research into the design of the safehouse and will help victims heal and recover their lives.
The project will include:
Abundant daylight and views to the outdoors to promote wellness.
Clear sightlines which will allow parents to supervise their children without being in the same physical space.
Spaces so families can eat together. Reclaiming family meal time – preparing food and sitting down to a meal together with one's child(ren) can be an important part of healing from abuse for adults and children. The reconnection at the end of the day can strengthen parent-child bonds.
A fully fenced backyard, generously sized parking garage, and security system which will make the house feel safe.
Outside play areas that allow for exercise, which helps alleviate stress and provides opportunities for children to appreciate nature.
The current safehouse provides a safe place for victims of domestic violence, sexual violence and stalking to make the journey from victim to survivor with 24-hour shelter, support, advocacy, crisis intervention and case management . The current safehouse facility, however, is in a converted building, which is more than 100 years old, that was not designed with clients in mind.
Although victims are grateful to have a safe place to go, it is not able to provide the space or features required to empower clients and their families to heal and successfully re-build their lives.
The current location only provides for female victims and children. Male victims must be housed off site without 24/7 support. There are 28 clients in 7 bedrooms with 3 shared bathrooms and one kitchen table that must be shared by all. Shades must be drawn at all times and there is no play area either inside or out for the children.
SARC's safehouse hosts more than 200 clients a year and last year, 107 of them were children.
Research suggests crowded communal living conditions cause: reduced graduation rates for youth; delays in children's cognitive development –particularly in children ages 1-5; increased blood pressure; increased feelings of hopelessness; impaired parent-child relationships; and increased psychological distress. (Center for Housing Policy Study, July 2007)
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/harford/belair/ph-ag-bus-sarc-phelan-house-20140505,0,6691450.story
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Michigan
Five reasons why the child abuse crisis needs to be a continuing conversation
by Sarah Schuch
(video on site)
GENESEE COUNTY, MI -- An MLive-Flint Journal series looking at the child abuse crisis in Genesee County has come to an end, but local officials say the conversation needs to continue.
By no fault of their own, nearly 3,000 children in the county have been abused in just the past five years. Over the past three years, 21 children have died from abuse – seven confirmed cases and two suspected cases in the last year alone.
Local experts have urged the community to call in any suspected child abuse to 855-444-3911.
MLive-Flint Journal hosted a live chat Monday on the "little victims" project and the child abuse problem in Genesee County.
Check out the complete coverage of the project here.
Conversation needs to continue to make a different and the community as a whole needs to start taking action, local experts have said.
Here are five discussions from the live chat about why the community has to keep talking about child abuse.
1. Sarah Schuch | sschuch@mlive.com: This is not a small problem. How do we, as a community, even start to tackle the issue?
Randy Rauch | DHS: The community has to start thinking more about the children than their parents. People do not want to get the parents in trouble. However, they are not thinking about the children. Severe abuse has long lasting damaging effects on children later in their lives.
Katrina Khouri | Whaley Children's Center: You're right, it's not small. First, as a community we need to make sure that our friends, family, colleagues and acquaintances are aware of what's happening to our community's children. We all need to know how and be ready to report if we suspect any wrong-doing within a family, at school, or anywhere.
Secondly, if you know of parents who are struggling ( they haven't hurt their child) but they are stressed out because of financial issues or simply because they are exhausted- offer to help, offer advise, or just let them know that you're there if they need you. As a community, we need to help each other out for the well-being of everyone.
Third, there are several programs offered by non-profits in our community that provide resources that can help families prevent child abuse. Become familiar with these resources and get involved with these non-profits. Whaley Children's Center has hosted a round table discussion on this issue and we plan to again this month in May. Our goal is to develop more resources, through the development of a task force. If you're interested in getting involved in the round table and the task force, visit PaintOurTownBlue.org and send us a message to get involved.
2. Sarah Schuch | sschuch@mlive.com: What is the most challenging part of trying to decrease the problem of child abuse in the community?
Randy Rauch | DHS: I feel the most challenging question is that families, neighbors and friends usually know when a child is being abused or neglected and they don't make that call to CPS to help the child. The public needs to know that DHS is truly there to help families. Sometimes just providing the right services can help a family and keep their children safe.
3. Concerned Citizen: Hi Katrina and Randy! I have been following the articles on the child abuse and awareness topic in recent months. All of the stories have just been so heartbreaking about this epidemic. I know many people seem to think that calling CPS wouldn't matter, as CPS is overworked, or the DHS caseloads are too heavy, or the person feels that it just wouldn't make a difference. I know that the State cannot make the home perfect, and I know that the government would prefer to keep the children in the home. Can you and Randy Rauch speak about what happens when that call is made, the call to DHS/CPS to be the voice for that child? I think the community needs to understand the importance of that first step to get help into the home.
Randy Rauch | DHS: Number one, CPS is never too busy to respond. Every referral is just an allegation. CPS would go out and first talk with the child to see if there is truth in the referral. If there is abuse or neglect CPS will do a safety assessment and determine our course of action. If it is severe CPS may contact the court and ask for removal. If it is deemed not as severe CPS can offer services.
4. Sarah Schuch | sschuch@mlive.com: Marjory (editor of The Flint Journal), what is something that you learned through the process of the project that was shocking to you?
Marjory Raymer | mraymer@mlive.com: There were so many things that were the result of this project. I think one thing that I am taking away is the realization that there are so many people in this community who are really willing to step up and do something about the issue.
We all know awareness only goes so far. The dedication of folks (like Randy Rauch, Genesee County child welfare director for the Department of Human Services; Dr. Nolan at Hurley; Judge Barkey, police and lots of advocacy groups -- including Whaley, which really set the stage for raising awareness with its Paint Our Town Blue campaign) really is remarkable and awe-inspiring.
It feels like we as a community are on the brink of really coming together to address this issue in a really meaningful way and that is an awesome thing.
5. Nic Parton: Katrina you say that this problem has no demographic boundaries, and I wonder if you can expound on that a little. I say this because I feel that many of us have such a hard time thinking about this difficult issue, that it's easier to think that this only happens in other people's communities. For example, mostly just in poor families, or in rich families, etc.
Katrina Khouri | Whaley Children's Center: I know what you mean, Nic. Before working at Whaley, I have to say, I didn't realize that it was happening so close home. The more I learned about this, the more I understood that child abuse happens because of the mental health and stress levels of parents, and in other cases the resources that parents have available to them. I think that more brutal cases have more to do with mental health which doesn't have any boundaries socially or economically.
Randy Rauch | DHS: Unfortunately this is a true belief in the community that abuse and neglect only happen in other communities, especially in poverty areas. Poverty for one is throughout our community. Abuse and neglect happens in all socioeconomic areas of our community. It is not just a poverty issue. It does happen in rich families as well.
Sarah Schuch | sschuch@mlive.com: Also I got some data from the Michigan State Police that showed how many child abuse cases were reported by each community in 2012. Every police department in the county reported some sort of child abuse to the Michigan State Police in 2012, with 625 cases ranging anywhere from one case reported to Mott Community College police to 231 cases reported to Flint police.
Some communities in the middle included Burton with 102 cases, Davison Township with 22 and Genesee Township with 41.
http://www.mlive.com/news/flint/index.ssf/2014/05/five_reasons_why_the_child_abu.html
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Florida
Jacksonville caretaker charged with child abuse
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- A man from Jacksonville has been charged with child abuse from an incident in January.
According to the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office, 47-year-old Ralph Hritz kicked more than one victim with his boots on.
According to a police report, the children's mother told police this isn't the first time he abused the victims.
The mother is fighting for custody, according to the police report.
Hritz is facing charges of child abuse.
http://www.actionnewsjax.com/mostpopular/story/Jacksonville-caretaker-charged-with-child-abuse/UHjsC3LsmES8-zoQ6IKFCg.cspx
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Catholic Church
Torture the Little Children? The Catholic Church Says It's Not Responsible
by Barbie Latza Nadeau
At a United Nations hearing the Vatican tries to turn the moral question of whether child abuse is torture into a legal debate about jurisdictions.
This may come as a huge surprise to many Catholics, but the Holy See is claiming it doesn't really bear legal responsibility for how they or even their priests behave. Too good to be true? Actually, too horrible to be believed. What the Vatican is claiming this week before a United Nations panel is that, really, the question of priests sexually abusing little kids is a matter for local law enforcement. And, no, the physical pain and mental anguish inflicted on children by pedophile prelates should not be called “torture,” at least as defined by the U.N.
When the Vatican's U.N. ambassador appeared in front of the U.N.'s Convention Against Torture in Geneva on Monday, the issues were about jurisdiction, not spiritual guidance and the Roman Catholic Church's moral responsibility for errant clerics. “It should be stressed, particularly in light of much confusion, that the Holy See has no jurisdiction over every member of the Catholic Church,” said Archbishop Silvano Tomasi, who represented the Vatican as a signatory of the convention on torture.
In his opening remarks, released in advance to the press, Tomasi went on to say, “The Holy See wishes to reiterate that the persons who live in a particular country are under the jurisdiction of the legitimate authorities of that country and are thus subject to the domestic law and the consequences contained therein. State authorities are obligated to protect, and when necessary, prosecute persons under their jurisdiction.”
“Not our problem” and “they don't work for us” may have become the boilerplate answers on the issue of who is ultimately responsible for priestly child abuse. But, curiously, when it comes to nearly every other subject, from doctrinal issues like preaching against birth control and for sexual abstinence, to how those spreading the Catholic message behave, including nuns “pushing feminist themes,” the Catholic Church at least seems to want total jurisdiction over its flocks and its shepherds.
As for those state authorities the Vatican says are “obligated to protect,” the Vatican hierarchy has, for years, done everything it can to prohibit them from doing just that by refusing to turn over documents on pedophile priests, or, in some cases, threatening the victims who dare to speak.
In an open letter ahead of Monday's meeting in Geneva, Barbara Blaine, head of the Survivors Network of Those Abused By Priests, known as SNAP, asked the U.N. committee members to remember that the Vatican is still covering up sex abuse.
“First, we humbly ask that you keep in mind that we are convinced that hundreds of innocent children and vulnerable adults are being sexually violated, tortured and assaulted—right now, today—by Catholic clerics,” Blaine wrote. “Second, we ask that you keep in mind that torture and violence can be subtle and manipulative. Or it can be blatant and brutal. Either way, it's horribly destructive to the human spirit, especially when inflicted on the young by the powerful, on the truly devout by the allegedly holy.”
The Vatican's required appearance in front of the Convention on Torture is the second time this year it has been called on the carpet for how Rome guides the Church's many dioceses across the world. In January, Vatican officials also sat in front of the United Nations' Convention for the Rights of the Child to defend their inexcusable record on child abuse. Then, the U.N. group scolded the Vatican:
“The Committee is gravely concerned that the Holy See has not acknowledged the extent of the crimes committed, has not taken the necessary measures to address cases of child sexual abuse and protect children, and has adopted policies and practices which have led to the continuation of the abuse by and the impunity of the perpetrators,” that U.N. panel concluded.
Back then, as on Monday, Tomasi toed the party line, pleading that the Church in Rome could not possibly take responsibility for what its priests do in the field. “Priests are not functionaries of the Vatican,” Tomasi told the committee in January. “Priests are citizens of their own states, and they fall under the jurisdiction of their own country.”
This time, the Vatican envoy went one step further, arguing that since the Convention on Torture document only applies in a juridical sense to the confines of the tiny Vatican city-state, the members of the convention might consider what a great job the Vatican actually does getting the anti-torture message out around the world.
“It might be said that the measures employed by the Holy See to take effective legislative, administrative, judicial or other measures to prevent and to prohibit torture and to address its root causes to avoid future acts in this area are abundant,” Tomasi said. “This manifests the Holy See's desire to lend its moral support and collaboration to the international community, so as to contribute to the elimination of recourse to torture, which is inadmissible and inhuman.”
In Rome, the pope's spokesman, Father Federico Lombardi, shrugged off the meeting entirely, telling reporters that the topic of child abuse has no place in a discussion of torture.
“A contributory factor is often the pressure exercised over the [U.N.] committees and public opinion by [nongovernmental organizations] with a strong ideological character and orientation, to bring the issue of the sexual abuse of minors into the discussion on torture, a matter which relates instead to the Convention on the rights of the child,” Father Lombardi said. “The extent to which this is instrumental and forced is clear to any unbiased observer.”
Monday's meeting follows the first official meeting of Pope Francis's special commission on child abuse, whose members gathered over the weekend in Rome. They set out their initial plan for drawing up statutes and arranged to meet again soon to help define just what they will do.
“In time, we will propose initiatives to encourage local responsibility around the world and the mutual sharing of ‘best practices' for the protection of all minors, including programs for training, education, formation, and responses to abuse,” they said in a statement after the inaugural meeting.
On Tuesday, Tomasi faces further questioning on the Vatican's stance on abuse. If the committee does rule that pedophiliac child abuse is torture, and that the Vatican is responsible, one might expect a rush of lawsuits citing the United Nations' ruling, or even sanctions or expulsion from the committee.
For the victims of priestly abuse, even that won't be enough. “For most of us, enduring the torture, rape and sexual violence was almost unbearable,” Blaine said ahead of Monday's meeting. “But the betrayal by Church officials was just as damaging and, for many, even worse than that of the sexual violence. Those in positions of trust—who we were taught were closest to God and revered above anyone else, including respected teachers, community leaders, politicians, physicians and even our parents—treat us as enemies when we muster enough courage to report the rape and sexual violence we have endured.
“Rather than being embraced, appreciated and acknowledged, we are ostracized, ignored and blamed,” said Blaine. “This adds additional torture to far too many.”
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/05/06/torture-the-little-children-the-catholic-church-says-it-s-not-responsible.html
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NBA
With Child Abuse Allegation, Sterling Is Now Accused of Crimes vs. Humanity
by Mark Heisler
Donald T. Sterling isn't just an embarrassment the NBA hopes to put behind it any more, but the center of a long-running descent into the heart of darkness.
With the press diving headlong into his life, the story just went beyond the racist comments taped by V. Stiviano into crimes against humanity. Eyewitnesses allege that Donald abused his son, Scott, who died at 32 of what was ruled an accidental drug overdose, after a troubled life that included his arrest for wounding a friend with a shotgun.
Meanwhile, hopes of a speedy termination of Sterling's ownership of the Clippers ebbed. “I don't believe that he thinks the league will impose the sort penalties that they've said that they will,” Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti told “Face the Nation,” after talking to Donald. “He thinks that he's going to be the owner for a long time.”
Garcetti also suggested he would consider organizing a fan boycott (“I would certainly keep that arrow in my quiver”)
Breaking new, disturbing ground, the New York Daily News ran eyewitness accounts of Sterling beating his son, Scott, as a child.
“Donald was whipping him and beating him,” said Phillip Scheid, a childhood friend. “He'd come over with slashes on his back, my mom would cry and we'd hide him in the closet if his father came looking for him.
“One time, Donald came banging on the door and pulled him out by his hair and dragged him into the car.”
Dovetailing that account was a story once told by Danny Manning's agent, the late Ron Grinker, of a 1988 visit to Sterling's home in which Donald spanked his son in front of him. An unidentified writer who covered the Clippers just told Deadspin: “As Grinker recounted, Sterling told the kid to ‘get naked' in front of the guest. Sterling then spanked the poor kid's bare ass in front of Grinker….”
Scott Sterling was found dead in 2013 in his Malibu apartment. It was ruled an accidental drug overdose.
At 19, he was arrested for shooting Scheid in the back of the legs with a shotgun in an argument outside the Sterling home in Beverly Hills. Scott was arrested but never charged amid speculation that his father exerted his influence.
Deadspin just reprinted a 2000 story by the Los Angeles Times' Fred Dickey that included a tape made by Beverly Hills police of a telephone conversation in which Donald seems to do just that.
“You know Baca [Lee Baca, sheriff of Los Angeles County]?” Sterling asks Det. Mike Hopkins. “I went with Baca to dinner the other night and I'm close to Parks [Los Angeles Police Chief Bernard Parks]. I'm just very involved with the Police Department…. I wish that you'd give me a little advice. One day in life you're gonna be passing through and you may need a lawyer to give you good, honest advice.”
Hopkins: “Yeah, well….”
Sterling: “And I'm that lawyer. Donald Sterling, on the corner of Wilshire and Beverly Drive.”
Desite the furor around him, Sterling is still out and around. TMZ caught him at the Polo Lounge having dinner with five friends, posing for a picture with an African-American woman identified only as Jasmine who introduced herself to him.
Monday night the Clippers stunned the favored Thunder, 122-105, in Game 1 of their second-round series in Oklahoma City, but the longer Sterling's story lasts, the less it has to do with basketball.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/markheisler/2014/05/05/what-was-dark-is-now-pitch-black-allegations-of-child-abuse-vs-sterling/
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Pennsylvania
Penn State child abuse conference looks at effects on families
by LORI FALCE
UNIVERSITY PARK — Jessica was abused as a child. She self-medicated the pain with alcohol and illegal drugs. She was a young mother of three when emergency personnel came to her home to try to save her 10-month-old son, who drowned in the bathtub.
“And now the whole thing is spiraling to my children. When will the nightmare end?”
Penn State professor Jennie Noll has performed research looking at how the abuse of women such as Jessica, and their mothers and grandmothers, trickles down to affect their children in ways big and small, from premature birth to premature death. She shared Jessica's story as part of the Network on Child Protection and Well-Being's third annual conference, “Families at Risk: The Role of Parenting and Family Processes in Child Maltreatment and Intervention.”
The two-day conference, which began Monday, is “targeted to academics, researchers, clinicians,” said conference chairman Doug Teti, a professor of human development, psychology and pediatrics at Penn State. The analytical look at the subject matter was important.
“We have some of the best people in the field here,” said Teti, adding that the focus was deliberately placed on “the science, the treatment and the science of treatment.”
That also is why many in the audience at the Nittany Lion Inn were not those who study children, but those who work with them every day.
“I am very thrilled to see so many community partners here,” said Noll, pointing to service agencies, law enforcement and other groups that help children and families in need. “It is vitally important to have you here. We don't have good theories without you.”
Just as important, she said, is that the results of the research don't get implemented by researchers, but by those in-the-trenches advocates.
The goal for three years has been to help kids, said network Director Margaret Gray, but the tone of each conference has been different, reflecting different needs and goals. The first, in 2012, was large and had a more public face, with speakers such as Elizabeth Smart and Sugar Ray Leonard. Now, the focus is more on the work, but organizers say each one has been exactly what was needed at the time.
“Each has had a unique focus,” said Gray, who wants to make sure people know this year's topic is just as important as it was two years ago. “I think it shows that Penn State is committed to this for the long haul.”
For that long haul, Teti would like to see a time when the issues are less about treatment than about prevention. Some of the information shared about maltreatment of children in America was startling in its scope and its savagery, and sometimes in how it could be reduced to its most basic dollars-and-cents components.
Conference presenter Laura McCloskey, of Indiana University, said that about 900,000 children are abused or neglected in the U.S. each year. Most are infants, live in poverty and come from a home with a single mother living with a partner. Most of the maltreatment is neglect rather than physical or sexual abuse. The cost, boiled down in money expended through the criminal justice system, state services and health care costs, is $210,012 per child.
“The greatest cost is the loss of human potential,” said McCloskey.
Jessica learned that when she lost her son.
Researchers hope no one learns that way again. They know that research shows otherwise. Jessica's surviving children, according to Noll's research, are much more likely than kids from a non-maltreated home to lose their own children to the cycle of abuse and neglect.
http://www.centredaily.com/2014/05/05/4165478/penn-state-child-abuse-conference.html
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Pennsylvania
Researchers: Child Abuse is Intergenerational, Female Victims Face More Obstacles
by Jennifer Miller
Child abuse researchers say child abuse is intergenerational and female victims of child abuse face more obstacles as they get older and have their own children.
Researchers say parents with a history of child abuse are more likely to demonstrate poor parenting practices and abuse their children. Their children are at risk for disturbances in insecure attachment, self-development, moral development and emotion recognition.
Of parents who were abused as children, females face more obstacles, according to Laura Ann McCloskey, director of Indiana University's Center for Research on Health Disparities. McCloskey spoke Monday afternoon at Penn State's third annual conference on child protection and well-being held at the Nittany Lion Inn.
Married couples have the lowest rates of child neglect and the highest rate is among single women who have their partner living with them, McCloskey says.
One obstacle for women who suffered from child abuse is the growing income disparity between men and women with 14 to 15 percent of women living in poverty compared to 10 to 11 percent of men, McCloskey says.
"It is showing that there are fundamental disparities, that women are shouldering the burden of family formation and they're not getting much support in their society," says McCloskey.
Additionally, girls who are sexually abused are at great risk of running away and therefore becoming involved in prostitution. Female victims of abuse are also more likely to abuse drugs and alcohol. Both factors increase the risk of teen pregnancy, says McCloskey, meaning the girl is likely unequipped to properly raise the child and lacks a solid support system to assist her with parenting.
"There's something unique about some of the forms of abuse that girls experience and how it influences and affects their lives," says McCloskey.
Furthermore, if a woman is in a violent relationship it was very likely that she was sexually abused in her past and that her own mother was battered. And girls who are sexually abused are more likely to be rejected by their mothers in their teenage years, eliminating a key tie to support.
"There seems to be a pretty strong root of transmission," McCloskey says.
Jennie Noll, a researcher with Penn State, says those who are abused do not necessarily become abusers, but they are more likely to fail to protect children and intervene to stop abuse.
Additionally, she says research shows mother's who suffered from child abuse are more likely to have a baby prematurely, which impacts their child's development. Women who suffered from child abuse and had a baby as a teenager are more likely to see that child go to protective services.
Noll says the knowledge that child abuse often results in teen pregnancy indicates part of the solution in preventing child abuse is preventing teen pregnancy. By addressing teen pregnancy, Noll says that can help stop the intergenerational transition of child abuse.
"It turns prevention on its ear a little bit," Noll says.
http://www.statecollege.com/news/local-news/researchers-child-abuse-is-intergenerational-female-victims-face-more-obstacles,1459054/
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Turkey
Turkey to Increase Child Abuse Penalties
(please notice picture used in article)
ANKARA — Turkey's ruling AK Party will introduce a series of draft legislations targeting child sexual abuse, Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Arinç said on Monday.
He said the planned laws would have people who had got aggravated life imprisonment for crimes against children serve more prison time.
"There will be new regulations over crimes against children. The conditional release time on people who received imprisonment for sexual abuse on children will be increased," he said in a press conference after a weekly cabinet meeting.
Child abuse issue made headlines in Turkey after the dead body of a 6-year-old missing girl, Gizem Akdeniz, was found stabbed and tied on last Tuesday.
http://www.dailysabah.com/nation/2014/05/06/turkey-to-increase-child-abuse-penalties
