Category Archives: Rape and sexual assault

Decision not to jail three UK boys for rape is ‘unusual’ and could be reviewed, says ex-attorney general

Posted on by

Dominic Grieve says people are ‘perfectly entitled’ to ask Richard Hermer for review of teenagers’ sentences

Appeal judges would be unlikely to criticise the attorney general, Richard Hermer, if he asked them to review “unusual” non-custodial sentences handed to three teenage boys convicted of raping two girls, one of his predecessors has suggested.

Dominic Grieve, who also served as home secretary, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that the goal of rehabilitating offenders – particularly younger ones – needed to be balanced with providing deterrence.

Continue reading...

Police say extra funds to hunt grooming gangs in England and Wales will ‘likely fall short’

Posted on by

Government announces a near tenfold increase but forces fear it will not cover anticipated cost of dedicated teams

Keir Starmer’s government has announced a near tenfold increase in funding for detectives hunting grooming gangs but has been warned by police that the amount will “likely fall short” of what is needed.

Operation Beaconport, which was set up last year to review closed group-based sexual exploitation inquiries in England and Wales, will receive nearly £38m, a Home Office statement said – up from £4m given last year.

Continue reading...

New Orleans child molester questioned on unsolved killings takes the fifth 700 times

Posted on by

Stanley Burkhardt, convicted abuser and ex-investigator of sex crimes against children, gives deposition in civil case

Convicted child molester Stanley Burkhardt – a former investigator of sex crimes against children who has been in and out of prison for decades – invoked his constitutional right against self-incrimination more than 700 times while being questioned under oath recently, including when asked whether he committed a series of unsolved murders of youths in his orbit.

Burkhardt’s decision to remain silent came when faced with questions about the killings during a deposition in a civil lawsuit by an alleged sexual abuse victim of his – a case aimed at him and the New Orleans police department (NOPD) which used to employ him.

Continue reading...

European parliament urges EU to draw up standardised consent-based definition of rape

Posted on by

Eight EU members continue to include force or violence in their definitions in national criminal codes

The European parliament has called on the EU to draw up a standardised consent-based definition of rape, in what legislators described as a crucial step towards addressing the patchwork of laws, some of them insufficient, that currently exist across the bloc.

On Tuesday, 447 of the parliament’s 720 MEPs voted to approve a report calling for a common definition of rape, centred on “only yes means yes,” prompting a loud round of applause in the chamber in Strasbourg.

Continue reading...

Men accused of raping cellmates mistakenly allowed to stay in shared cells by Queensland prison staff

Posted on by

Strict protocols violated by corrections staff who wrongly believed sexual assault cases were ‘closed’, ombudsman finds

Men charged with alleged prison rapes were allowed to stay in shared cells – against strict protocols – by Queensland corrections staff who mistakenly believed their cases were “closed” and that they posed no risk, a report by the state’s ombudsman has found.

The ombudsman’s inspection report of the Brisbane correctional centre raises a number of concerns about the facility, including extensive overcrowding, health facilities that are not fit for purpose and complaints that chicken served to detainees and staff is often undercooked.

Continue reading...

Podcast interviews of NSW couple jailed for abusing their daughter in the spotlight

Posted on by

Exclusive: Corrective Services investigates how Richard Guilliatt of The Australian was able to interview Rob and Karen Gilfillan for Shadow of Doubt

Corrective Services New South Wales is investigating how a journalist from The Australian was able to interview a man and a woman convicted of abusing their daughter for a podcast that raised questions about their guilt.

After legal restrictions were lifted last month the victim said the podcast had been highly detrimental to her mental health.

Continue reading...

Department of Justice investigating Eric Swalwell amid sexual assault allegations

Posted on by

Democratic representative from California has suspended gubernatorial campaign and resigned from Congress

The US Department of Justice (DoJ) has opened an investigation into Eric Swalwell following his resignation from Congress, according to a source familiar with the matter.

The news of a federal investigation comes days after the Democratic representative from California stepped down due to multiple allegations of sexual misconduct.

Continue reading...

Met interviews women supected of facilitating Mohamed Al Fayed’s alleged sexual abuse

Posted on by

Three women in their 40s, 50s and 60s interviewed under caution in relation to alleged abuse by late Harrods owner

Three women have been interviewed under caution on suspicion of facilitating one of Britain’s worst sexual abuse scandals, involving the former Harrods owner Mohamed Al Fayed and his alleged attacks over four decades.

Scotland Yard said 154 women may have been raped or sexually assaulted by Fayed, or been subject to human trafficking and sexual exploitation.

Continue reading...

Louisiana mayor convicted of raping 16-year-old boy at her home while still in office

Posted on by

Misty Roberts, 43, faces sentences of up to 10 and seven years in prison after July 2024 sexual assault at pool party

The former mayor of a Louisiana city has been convicted of raping a 16-year-old boy during a party at her house while she was still in office.

Misty Roberts, 43, faces sentences of up to 10 and seven years in prison after a jury in the municipality of DeRidder on Tuesday found her guilty of two felonies: carnal knowledge of a juvenile – or statutory rape – as well as indecent behavior with a minor.

Continue reading...

Police arresting 1,000 paedophile suspects a month across UK

Posted on by

National Crime Agency says rise in child sexual abuse being driven by technology and online forums

Child sexual abuse in the UK is soaring, police have said, with 1,000 paedophile suspects being arrested each month and the number of children being rescued from harm rising by 50% in the last five years.

The National Crime Agency said the growth in offending across the UK was driven by technology and linked to the radicalisation of offenders in online forums, encouraging people to view images of child sexual abuse by reassuring them it was normal.

Continue reading...

Quarter of police forces missing basic policies on sexual offences, says Sarah Everard report

Posted on by

Official report says forces in England and Wales yet to implement recommendations for investigations

A quarter of police forces in England and Wales are yet to implement “basic policies for investigating sexual offences”, an official report has found, with women still being failed despite promises of change after the murder of Sarah Everard four years ago.

The report by Dame Elish Angiolini follows an inquiry set up after Everard was murdered by a serving police officer, Wayne Couzens, in March 2021. She was abducted off a London street while walking home.

Continue reading...

Italy’s rape law stalls as Matteo Salvini claims it could be used for ‘vendettas’

Posted on by

Parliament delays debate over law defining sex without consent as rape, after comments by far-right deputy PM

Italy’s parliament has delayed a debate over a landmark law that would define sex without consent as rape amid a rift within the ruling coalition.

The measure, the result of a rare pact between the far-right prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, and her main political opponent, the centre-left leader, Elly Schlein, passed in the lower house last week and had been expected to get final approval in the senate this week.

Continue reading...

CPS to train staff on ‘spectrum of abuse’ in violence against women and girls

Posted on by

Five-year strategy aims to improve casework after analysis finds domestic abuse in more than third of rape cases

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) will train its staff to recognise the “wide spectrum of abuse” in cases of violence against women, after new data found that domestic abuse was present in more than a third of rape cases, and in more than eight out of 10 cases of stalking and image-based abuse.

Launching its five-year Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) strategy, the body said its main aims were to increase casework quality and increase trust in the CPS.

Continue reading...

Rape victims in Scotland will be protected when giving evidence, says lord advocate

Posted on by

Supreme court ruled ‘rape shield’ laws to limit intrusive cross-examination may breach men’s right to fair trial

Scotland’s most senior law officer has moved to reassure victims of sexual abuse that they will be protected after a supreme court ruling warned that Scottish laws designed to limit intrusive cross-examination could be breaching men’s right to a fair trial.

In a strongly worded statement, the lord advocate, Dorothy Bain KC, said: “I would like to make clear that I understand sexual abuse inflicted upon women and children to be the single greatest challenge our justice system faces.

Continue reading...

Missing Louisiana girl, 13, rescued from box in Pennsylvania basement

Posted on by

Police say Ki-Shawn Crumity, 26, met girl through Snapchat, and charged him with human trafficking and sexual assault

A 13-year-old Louisiana girl who went missing after meeting a man online was found alive in a box at his home several states away in Pennsylvania – along with evidence that she had been sexually assaulted, according to authorities.

Ki-Shawn Crumity, 26, faces charges of human trafficking, sexual assault, unlawful contact with a minor and corruption of a child after police in Pittsburgh said they arrested him on Thursday. He is one of at least three men who had been arrested as of Saturday amid an investigation involving law enforcement agencies in multiple states.

Continue reading...

Grooming gangs inquiry divided over the question of widening its focus

Posted on by

Splits grow over its remit as survivors angered by effort to recruit chairs from professions that failed to protect them

Deep divisions surrounding Keir Starmer’s inquiry into grooming gangs were first disclosed by the Guardian last week. But for one of the survivors now refusing to take part, splits first emerged in July, a month after the inquiry was announced.

Fiona Goddard, who was abused by a gang while a teenager in a Bradford children’s home, said she and other grooming gang survivors were told in June that the inquiry would centre on group-based child sexual exploitation of girls by grooming gangs.

Continue reading...

Last candidate to chair UK grooming gangs inquiry withdraws over ‘lack of trust’

Posted on by

Jim Gamble cites ‘vested interests’ and ‘political opportunism’, as Keir Starmer brings in Louise Casey as adviser

Keir Starmer’s grooming gangs inquiry has descended into fresh turmoil after the only remaining candidate to be its chair blamed “political opportunism” and “a lack of trust” for his withdrawal as an applicant.

As a key survivor called for a face-to-face meeting with the prime minister to save the inquiry, Jim Gamble, a former deputy chief constable, said the process to appoint a committee head was “toxic” and defined by “vested interests”.

Continue reading...

US man accused of faking own death after rape conviction gets at least five years in prison

Posted on by

Nicholas Rossi, who fled US, receives first of two sentences after being convicted of raping two women in Utah in 2008

A judge has sentenced a Rhode Island man who appeared to fake his death and flee the United States to avoid arrest of at least five years in prison for rape.

The sentence handed down Monday for Nicholas Rossi, 38, was the first of two he faces after being convicted separately in August and September of raping two women in northern Utah in 2008. He is scheduled to be sentenced in November for the second conviction.

Continue reading...

Scottish parliament scraps legal verdict of ‘not proven’

Posted on by

Third option for juries – blamed for country’s lower conviction rates for rape and sexual assault – abolished

The Scottish verdict of “not proven” – a global legal anomaly thought to be a key factor in the country’s significantly lower convictions rate for rape and sexual assault – has been abolished.

MSPs agreed to scrap the unique Scottish verdict as they voted through a series of major changes that Angela Constance, the justice secretary, said “put victims and witnesses at the heart of a modern and fair justice system”.

Continue reading...

US House committee releases more than 33,000 pages of Jeffrey Epstein files

Posted on by

Files appear to contain information already in public domain as calls grow for release of all pertinent documents

The US House of Representatives oversight committee on Tuesday released thousands of pages of records related to the disgraced financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein from the department of justice.

The release comes as the Trump administration has been embroiled in months of controversy over its decision not to release additional files in the case. Epstein died by suicide in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges and was alleged to have abused hundreds of girls.

Continue reading...