Category Archives: Rape and sexual assault

Public’s understanding of paedophiles has not improved, says charity boss

Posted on by

Rev Harry Nigh, who set up Circles in 1994 to support sex offenders, says it is easy for politicians to say ‘lock them up’

Public understanding of paedophiles has not improved over the past 30 years, according to the founder of the pioneering charity Circles, which offers support to some of society’s most reviled offenders.

While the Rev Harry Nigh says child protection must always be paramount, he stresses the importance of breaking the isolation and shame that often leads people who commit child sexual abuse to reoffend, arguing that “anything that drives people underground even further endangers the community itself”.

Continue reading...

Gisèle Pelicot rape trial: children tell of ‘devastation’ caused by their father

Posted on by

Couple’s two sons and daughter beg Dominique Pelicot to reveal if other family members were abused

Gisèle Pelicot’s children have described their “devastation” to learn that their father had drugged their mother and invited dozens of men to rape her, begging him in court to tell the truth about whether he had abused other members of the family.

David Pelicot, 50, the couple’s oldest son, told the court in Avignon on Monday that he believed his sister Caroline Darian, 45, when she said she felt certain that she too had been drugged and abused by Dominique Pelicot, after photos were found on his computer of her asleep in bed in underwear that she did not recognise as her own.

Continue reading...

Church of England ‘directly responsible’ for John Smyth abuse in Zimbabwe, victim says

Posted on by

Rocky Leanders, then 15, was beaten with wooden paddle by Smyth at camp where boys were made to swim naked

When John Smyth gave a presentation at their school about his Christian holiday camps in 1993, Rocky Leanders and his school friends were “blown away”.

“This is Zimbabwe in the early 90s; the technology wasn’t great. These guys set up a projector with colour videos of speed boats … abseiling, golf, tennis, paddle boarding, swimming pools, diving boards,” recalled Leanders, who was 15 at the time. “We insisted we needed to go.”

Continue reading...

Pelicot trial: young vineyard worker proposed drugging and raping his own mother

Posted on by

Video showed Charly A, one of 51 men accused of raping Gisèle Pelicot, discussing plan with Dominique Pelicot

A young vineyard worker accused of raping Gisèle Pelicot on six occasions over four years when she had been drugged by her husband also proposed drugging and raping his own mother, a court has heard.

Charly A, 30, is one of 51 men on trial over the rape of Gisèle Pelicot, whose then husband, Dominique Pelicot, crushed sleeping tablets and anti-anxiety medication into her food and invited dozens of men to rape her while she was unconscious over a nine-year period from 2011 to 2020 in the village of Mazan in Provence. Dominique Pelicot has admitted the charges, telling the court: “I am a rapist.”

Continue reading...

New Orleans priest accused of child abuse competent to proceed with trial

Posted on by

Lawrence Hecker, 93, self-admitted serial child molester, grapples with Alzheimer’s dementia and had trial delayed

With less than a month to go before his latest scheduled trial date, a self-admitted serial child molester and retired Roman Catholic priest from New Orleans remains competent to proceed with his oft-delayed rape and kidnapping case – albeit marginally as the 93-year-old grapples with Alzheimer’s dementia, according to his most recent medical evaluation.

A pair of doctors who evaluated Lawrence Hecker on 6 November made it a point to note that his illness is “a chronic and progressive disease”, suggesting additional delays beyond several already seen in the case create a risk that the clergyman declines into a state of legal incompetence preventing him from ever standing trial given his advanced age.

Continue reading...

Mystery surrounds John Smyth after leaving UK and Zimbabwe for South Africa

Posted on by

Smyth enjoyed ‘opulent lifestyle’ in Cape Town after he was barred from Zimbabwe, where he abused boys at summer camps

The evangelical Christian barrister John Smyth abused as many as 130 boys and young men in the UK, Zimbabwe and possibly other African countries but an independent review has said there remains little concrete information on his time in South Africa.

The review into the Anglican church’s handling of Smyth’s abuses said he might have been brought to justice had Justin Welby, who on Tuesday announced he would step down as archbishop of Canterbury, formally reported him to the police when he found out in 2013.

Continue reading...

Starmer refuses to back Justin Welby after clamor for archbishop to resign

Posted on by

Prime minister says victims of serial abuser John Smyth ‘failed very, very badly’

Keir Starmer has refused to back the archbishop of Canterbury, who has faced growing demands to resign over his handling of an abuse scandal.

Pressure on Justin Welby has been intensifying since the publication last week of a damning report on the church’s cover-up of John Smyth’s abuse in the UK in the late 1970s and early 1980s, and later in Zimbabwe and South Africa. About 130 boys are believed to have been victims.

Continue reading...

Head of New Orleans’ embattled Catholic archdiocese offers to resign

Posted on by

Gregory Aymond’s offer, required because he turns 75, says he wants to stay for resolution of institution’s bankruptcy but adds it is up to Pope Francis

New Orleans’ Roman Catholic archbishop Gregory Aymond is submitting his resignation Tuesday, on his 75th birthday, fulfilling a church requirement – though it is unclear if Vatican officials would immediately accept it with his scandal-plagued organization’s expensive, highly contentious bankruptcy case still unresolved.

In a letter issued on Friday to priests and deacons under his command, Aymond cited canon – or church – law that required him to offer to retire because of his age. But he said he also offered to remain in office until the resolution of the bankruptcy.

Continue reading...

UK asylum system retraumatises women fleeing sexual abuse, says report

Posted on by

Women have had to share bedrooms with unrelated men and some have faced further sexual violence, charities say

The UK asylum system is retraumatising women and girls who have fled rape and sexual abuse and putting them at risk of further harm, leading charities have said.

Sexual violence and abuse is often a major driver for women to leave their country of origin, as well as a common experience on their journey to the UK, but when they get here they are failed, according to Rape Crisis England and Wales (RCEW) and Imkaan.

Continue reading...

Gisèle Pelicot lawyers: trial exposes ‘profound problem’ in attitudes to sexual violence

Posted on by

Dozens of accused deny rape, despite video evidence showing unconscious Gisèle Pelicot snoring loudly

Taking the stand in France’s biggest ever rape trial, Patrice N, 55, an electrician from the southern town of Carpentras, said he was a “jovial” guy and a fun dad who once trained youth football teams and had a “great respect for women”.

He denied the charges of rape, claiming rape had never been his intention. “To my mind, it was a game,” he told the court.

Continue reading...

Man found guilty of rape and manslaughter of woman on London park bench

Posted on by

Mohamed Iidow attacked Natalie Shotter after she apparently passed out in park in Southall after night out

A man has been convicted of the rape and manslaughter of a woman while she lay unconscious on a park bench in west London after a night out.

Natalie Shotter, 37, an NHS worker, was attacked after apparently passing out in Southall in July 2021. Mohamed Iidow orally raped her “until she died”, his trial heard.

Continue reading...

Hundreds join silent march in France in support of Gisèle Pelicot

Posted on by

Women and men march in village where Pelicot’s husband is accused of drugging her and inviting men to assault her

A silent march took place in support of Gisèle Pelicot and other female victims of sexual violence on Saturday in Mazan, the village where Pelicot’s husband is accused of drugging her and inviting more than 80 men to assault her at their home.

Hundreds of women and men turned out in solidarity with the woman at the centre of a case that has shocked the world. Members of the Pelicot family did not attend but said they appreciated the public support.

Continue reading...

Country music star Garth Brooks accused of sexual assault in civil lawsuit

Posted on by

Brooks, who previously filed lawsuit against hair and makeup artist, calls allegations false and intended to extort

A hair and makeup artist has accused the country singer Garth Brooks of sexual assault and battery in a civil lawsuit filed in Los Angeles, claims the musician has strongly denied.

The anonymous accuser, referred to in the complaint as “Jane Roe”, alleges that Brooks raped her during a work trip to Los Angeles in 2019, and that he repeatedly groped her and made sexually explicit comments while she was doing his hair or makeup throughout 2019.

Continue reading...

British army to investigate conduct of troops in Kenya amid rape and murder claims

Posted on by

Defence secretary to meet family of woman allegedly killed by soldier, as ITV airs documentary alleging fresh abuses

The army is to launch an inquiry into the behaviour of British troops posted to a military base in Kenya, after multiple allegations of serious abuses committed by soldiers, including rape and murder.

The inquiry is to examine the conduct of military personnel posted to the British Army Training Unit Kenya (BATUK). It is where the soldier alleged to have murdered a Kenyan woman, Agnes Wanjiru, was posted at the time of her death in 2012.

Continue reading...

Harrods chief apologises for failing colleagues over Fayed allegations

Posted on by

Michael Ward says former Harrods owner ‘presided over a toxic culture’, describing it as ‘shameful period’

The managing director of Harrods has apologised and said the business “failed our colleagues” following sexual misconduct allegations against the department store’s former owner, Mohamed Al Fayed.

In a statement, Michael Ward said it is clear Fayed “presided over a toxic culture of secrecy, intimidation, fear of repercussion and sexual misconduct”.

Continue reading...

Harrods investigating if any current staff were involved in Fayed’s alleged abuse

Posted on by

Exclusive: store issues new statement as lawyers describe redress scheme it has set up as attempted ‘whitewash’

Harrods is investigating whether any of its current staff were “directly or indirectly involved” in the alleged sexual abuse of women by its former owner Mohamed Al Fayed.

With more than 100 women having come forward to allege being raped or assaulted by the Egyptian tycoon, the luxury store said it had launched a review and was in direct contact with Scotland Yard.

Continue reading...

‘Not all men, but a lot of them’: will Gisele Pelicot rape trial finally change France’s attitude to sexual abuse?

Posted on by

The horrifying details of the case that shook the country, and the local mayor’s reaction, show a refusal to confront abuse

As the horror of how Dominique Pelicot drugged his wife, Gisèle, and allowed at least 83 men to rape her continued to unfold in a French courtroom last week, it was hard to see how the case “could have been worse” as one local official suggested.

Louis Bonnet, mayor of Mazan, the southern French town of 6,000 ­people where the Pelicots and a ­number of the alleged rapists lived, who added that “no one was killed”, later apologised and admitted his words were not “entirely appropriate”.

Continue reading...

US opens civil rights investigation into Mississippi sheriff’s office after torture of Black men

Posted on by

Six Rankin county officers known as ‘Goon Squad’ were convicted for hours-long attack involving racial slurs

The US Department of Justice has opened a civil rights investigation into a Mississippi sheriff’s department whose officers tortured two Black men in a racist attack that included beatings, repeated use of stun guns and assaults with a sex toy before one of the victims was shot in the mouth, officials said Thursday.

The justice department will investigate whether the Rankin county sheriff’s department has engaged in a pattern or practice of excessive force and unlawful stops, searches and arrests, and whether it has used racially discriminatory policing practices, according to assistant attorney general Kristen Clarke.

Continue reading...

Domestic abuse specialists to be embedded in 999 control rooms

Posted on by

The measure – part of ‘Raneem’s Law’ – will speed up referral of domestic and sexual abuse victims to support services

Domestic abuse specialists will be embedded in 999 control rooms from early next year in the first step towards the government’s goal of halving violence against women and girls in a decade, the home secretary has said.

The advisers will make risk assessments on cases involving rape, domestic and sexual abuse claims to ensure that victims are referred to support services as quickly as possible, as part of an initiative to be announced by Yvette Cooper on Friday.

Continue reading...

Former CIA officer sentenced to 30 years for sexually assaulting scores of women

Posted on by

Brian Jeffrey Raymond of California was found guilty of drugging and raping women in his government apartments

A former CIA officer who drugged and sexually assaulted dozens of women was sentenced to 30 years in prison on Wednesday, the Department of Justice announced.

Brian Jeffrey Raymond, 48, of La Mesa, California, drugged more than two dozen women and performed nonconsensual sexual acts or made sexual contact with at least 10 women, the justice department said in a press release.

Continue reading...