Category Archives: Rape and sexual assault

Man who raped his wife tried to convince court he was victim of domestic abuse

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Claim of parental alienation made to ‘distress and frighten’, English court told

A man who raped his wife and was controlling and threatening towards her and their two children attempted to manipulate the family court into believing he was a victim of domestic abuse, a judge has ruled.

In a damning judgment Judge Middleton-Roy found the man’s conduct – which included frequently filming of his family using a body-worn camera – had been “reprehensible and unreasonable” after he pursued false claims against the mother and contested her allegations against him over a prolonged period.

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Train driver who upskirted female passenger avoids jail sentence

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Paolo Barone found guilty of voyeurism after taking photos of sleeping woman on train to St Albans in 2022

A Thameslink train driver who took photos up a woman’s skirt while she was asleep on a train has avoided jail, despite being found guilty of voyeurism.

The driver, Paolo Barone, was on his way home from a shift in September 2022 when he saw that the woman, 51, had fallen asleep on a train travelling from London Blackfriars to St Albans in Hertfordshire.

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Mental competency hearing delayed for US priest charged with raping teen

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Lawrence Hecker is charged with raping teenager after strangling him in 1975 in a New Orleans church

A mental competency hearing has been delayed again for a 92-year-old retired Catholic priest faced with charges of raping a teenager after strangling him unconscious in 1975 in a New Orleans church.

Lawrence Hecker’s trial on state charges of aggravated rape, aggravated kidnapping, aggravated crime against nature and theft has been delayed several times since January.

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US federal women’s prison plagued by rampant staff sexual abuse to close

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Since 2021, eight employees of Federal Correctional Institution in Dublin, California, charged with assaulting female prisoners

The US Bureau of Prisons (BoP) is closing a federal women’s prison in California that has been plagued by rampant staff sexual abuse of incarcerated residents.

Colette Peters, the BoP director, said in a statement to the Associated Press on Monday that Federal Correctional Institution (FCI) Dublin was “not meeting expected standards and that the best course of action is to close the facility”.

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Dismay as Louisiana lookback law for child sexual abuse victims struck down

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Court rules 4-3 to overturn law that had allowed victims to file civil suits over sexual abuse that took place decades ago

In a split ruling that has major implications for hundreds of child sexual abuse victims, the Louisiana state supreme court has struck down a law that had allowed victims to file civil lawsuits over molestation that happened decades ago.

Child molestation victims and their advocates were devastated by the 4-3 ruling from a court whose members are elected.

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Home Office breaks pledge to fund sex-crime research after Everard murder

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Government was to look at whether offenders tend to commit increasingly serious crimes after outcry over warning signs with police officer Wayne Couzens

The government has failed to fund research into the escalation of sex crimes, despite promising to do so in the wake of the kidnapping, rape and murder of Sarah Everard.

In 2021, the Home Office pledged to “take forward work looking at the escalation of sexual offending” as part of its plan to tackle violence against women and girls. The plan, which had the tagline “the safety of women and girls across the country is our priority”, was informed by 180,000 public submissions after Everard was killed by serving police officer Wayne Couzens.

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NSW premier backs top prosecutor who says criticism of sexual assault cases is ‘preposterous’

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Sally Dowling announced audit of all sexual assault cases after judicial concern over ‘secret policies’

The New South Wales premier has backed the state’s top prosecutor after she said it was “preposterous” to suggest sexual assault cases were being run that were doomed to fail.

The director of public prosecutions (DPP), Sally Dowling SC, on Wednesday revealed all sexual assault matters currently committed for trial would be audited by senior prosecutors.

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Liberty University fined $14m over ‘culture of silence’ around sexual assault

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Christian evangelical institution punished victims ‘for violating the student code of conduct’ as ‘assailants were left unpunished’

Liberty University has been hit with a $14m Department of Education federal fine for creating “a culture of silence” around sexual assault, failing to support victims of violence and then failing to properly report them correctly under the law.

Announcing the fine on Tuesday, the department said in a statement that the Christian evangelical institution had punished sexual assault victims “for violating the student code of conduct”, while “their assailants were left unpunished” – a violation of federal law.

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‘No joy’ but inquiry brings ‘healing’ for victim-survivors of alleged child sexual abuse in Victorian schools

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Board of inquiry’s report identified 109 alleged victims of four paedophile teachers at 24 schools dating back to the 1960s

Glen Fearnett says he doesn’t have the words to express how he feels about an inquiry’s report into the alleged historic child sexual abuse that occurred at his primary school five decades ago.

“There’s no joy. There’s no happiness. There’s no celebration,” he tells Guardian Australia.

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Sarah Everard report sparks demand for urgent action to restore trust in police

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Inquiry chair says there is ‘nothing to stop another Couzens operating in plain sight’ and radical overhaul is needed

Sarah Everard’s “devastating” murder was “entirely preventable”, campaigners have said, as they called for urgent reform of policing to restore women’s trust.

The Angiolini inquiry found that Wayne Couzens should never have been given a job as a police officer and that chances to stop him were repeatedly ignored and missed.

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Police ‘could and should have’ stopped him: key points from Wayne Couzens report

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Former firearms officer’s history of alleged sexual offending dated back to 1995, 347-page report finds

Wayne Couzens should never have been a police officer and three separate forces “could and should have” stopped him, a damning report by Lady Elish Angiolini has found.

The 51-year-old former firearms officer’s history of alleged sexual offending and predilection for violent and extreme pornography dated back to 1995, it said. Couzens allegedly sexually assaulted a child and attempted to kidnap a woman at knife-point in the years before he abducted, raped and murdered Sarah Everard on 3 March 2021.

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Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs accused of sexual assault by male music producer

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Allegations, which rapper and mogul denies, is the latest in a series of lawsuits accusing him of sexual assault

Sean Combs, the rapper and mogul known as Diddy, was sued Monday by a music producer who accused the hip-hop mogul of sexually assaulting him and forcing him to have sex with prostitutes.

The suit, filed in federal court in New York, accuses Combs of repeated instances of unsolicited groping and sexual touching. It also says the man had to work in a bathroom while Combs showered and walked around naked.

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Claims of Israeli sexual assault of Palestinian women are credible, UN panel says

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Experts report evidence of rape, sexual humiliation and threats of rape against girls and women

UN experts say they have seen “credible allegations” that Palestinian women and girls have been subjected to sexual assaults, including rape, while in Israeli detention, and are calling for a full investigation.

The panel of experts said there was evidence of a least two cases of rape, alongside other cases of sexual humiliation and threats of rape. Reem Alsalem, the UN special rapporteur on violence against women and girls, said the true extent of sexual violence could be significantly higher.

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Israeli report finds evidence of ‘systematic’ rape and abuse during 7 October attack

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Research is based on interviews with officials and first responders, media reports and ‘confidential sources’

The Association of Rape Crisis Centers in Israel has said it has found evidence of “systematic and intentional” rape and sexual abuse during the Hamas attack on 7 October that ignited the war in Gaza.

The report said the attacks were more widespread than earlier thought, taking place at a series of locations across southern Israel. “In some cases, rape was conducted in front of an audience, such as partners, family or friends, to increase the pain and humiliation for all present.”

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Teachers in England could face ban for failing to report evidence of sexual abuse of children

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Home secretary’s mandatory reporting legislation plan already covered by statutory duties, say school leaders

Teachers in England face being banned if they fail to report evidence of children being subjected to sexual abuse under plans for new legislation announced by the home secretary, James Cleverly.

The new law would make it a legal requirement for healthcare professionals, teachers and others who work with children and young people to identify and pass on cases of possible sexual abuse.

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Taunts, bullying… then groping: how sexual assaults are increasing in schools

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Billy (not real name) is now being home-schooled after bullying turned into physical violence

Starting secondary school had not been easy for Billy (not his real name). What started as verbal taunts from one boy soon saw him become the target of a group of four boys. Bullying became physical violence. Yet the abuse got even worse, escalating to sexual assault. The group would corner him in the toilets and grope and touch his genitals. Unsurprisingly, Billy’s mental health quickly deteriorated. He is now being home-schooled and he struggles to leave the house because of anxiety.

Billy is receiving support from Embrace, a charity that works with children who have been the victims of crime. He says that he is starting to feel stronger, while his parents say his panic attacks and nightmares are receding thanks to the support he is getting. However, what he experienced was part of an increase in “peer-on-peer abuse” that is worrying schools, police and professionals who work with young people.

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‘Toxic’ online culture fuelling rise in sexual assaults on children by other children, police warn

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Observer investigation in England and Wales reveals 40% increase in reports of sexual assaults and rapes where both victim and perpetrator were under 18

An alarming rise in sexual assaults on children by other children is being fuelled by access to a “toxic” online culture, Britain’s most senior child protection officer has warned, as an Observer investigation revealed a sharp increase in abuse by under-18s reported to police.

Police records of rape, sexual assaults and incidents of abuse carried out by young children in England and Wales have all seen a significant increase since the Covid pandemic. The Observer has also uncovered an 81% rise in reported incidents that took place on school property. One leading expert said the problem had reached “alarming levels”.

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‘Deeply alarming’: sevenfold increase in sexual attacks at Darién Gap, says Médecins Sans Frontières

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More than half a million people made treacherous, weeklong trek in 2023, facing horrors including mass rapes by armed bandits

A sevenfold increase in sexual attacks against people crossing the Darién Gap is compounding the misery for people trekking one of the world’s most dangerous and underreported border crossings, said Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF).

Complete impunity for armed gangs in the lawless stretch of jungle that links South and Central America meant one person became a victim of sexual violence every three and a half hours in December, the overstretched medical organisation said.

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Former Barcelona footballer Dani Alves’s rape trial to begin on Monday

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Brazilian, 40, has been charged with the rape of a 23-year-old woman in a nightclub

The former Barcelona and Brazil footballer Dani Alves will appear in court on Monday charged with the rape of a 23-year-old woman in a Barcelona nightclub.

Alves, 40, faces damning scientific and video evidence, as well as witness accounts.

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Crime victims die while waiting for justice as England and Wales legal system ‘on its knees’

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‘Shameful’ backlogs in cases are causing severe mental health problems, says victims commissioner

Victims of crime are dying waiting for justice as they face delays of up to six years for their cases to be dealt with in court, the victims’ commissioner for England and Wales has said.

As a new law to enshrine victims’ rights is scrutinised in the House of Lords, Baroness Helen Newlove warned that the wider justice system was “on its knees”, with “shameful” backlogs leaving victims suffering acute mental health problems.

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