Children’s commissioner for England calls for ‘robust’ measures in UK’s online safety bill to protect young people
England’s children’s commissioner has called for the “most robust” online protections for under-18s after publishing research examining links between sexual abuse cases and pornography.
In the second of a series of reports exploring the impact on children, Rachel de Souza said she wanted to “turn the tide on pornography’s harms to children”.
Continue reading...Internet Watch Foundation says amount of material showing most extreme form of sexual abuse has doubled since 2020
The most extreme form of child sexual abuse material accounted for a fifth of such content found online last year, according to a report.
Category A abuse represented 20% of illegal images discovered online last year by the Internet Watch Foundation, a UK-based body that monitors distribution of child sexual abuse material (CSAM). It found more than 51,000 instances of such content, which can include the most severe imagery including rape, sadism and bestiality.
The NSPCC offers support to children on 0800 1111, and adults concerned about a child on 0808 800 5000. The National Association for People Abused in Childhood (Napac) offers support for adult survivors on 0808 801 0331.
Continue reading...Mary Sharp, Laura Hughes and Lauren Preston waived anonymity after decades-long battle to get conviction for 1980s and 90s attacks
Three women who gave evidence against their rapist and waived their right to anonymity in a Guardian article after his conviction have welcomed his 11-year prison sentence imposed by a judge in Truro crown court.
Martin Butler was convicted of rape and buggery in February 2023 after the evidence of Mary Sharp, Laura Hughes and Lauren Preston.
Information and support for anyone affected by rape or sexual abuse issues is available from the following organisations. In the UK, Rape Crisis offers support on 0808 500 2222 in England and Wales, 0808 801 0302 in Scotland, or 0800 0246 991 in Northern Ireland. In the US, Rainn offers support on 800-656-4673. In Australia, support is available at 1800Respect (1800 737 732). Other international helplines can be found at ibiblio.org/rcip/internl.html
Continue reading...Pedro Sánchez asks victims for forgiveness after change allows some offenders to reduce sentences
Spain’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, has apologised to victims for a loophole in a landmark new law that was intended to toughen penalties for sexual crimes but has allowed some convicted offenders to reduce their sentences.
The legislation, popularly known as the “only yes means yes” law, came into effect last October. It overhauled the criminal code by making sexual consent – or lack of it – key in determining assault cases, in an effort to define all non-consensual sex as rape.
Continue reading...Brian McBride says business lobby group was on firm ground in sacking director general Tony Danker
The president of Britain’s most influential business lobby organisation has apologised for a spate of sexual misconduct allegations and “toxic culture” that has left the Confederation of British Industry fighting for its future.
Speaking publicly for the first time, Brian McBride apologised to those alleging various forms of sexual misconduct, which span several years, by senior figures at the organisation, including an allegation of rape, first reported in a Guardian investigation last month.
Continue reading...Law must be strengthened, says home secretary, so professionals like teachers and carers face ‘full force of law’ if they fail in their duty to protect
The home secretary is to spell out new requirements for people working with children in England to report signs or suspicions of sexual abuse.
The government is expected to set out details of plans in the coming days to tackle grooming gangs and better protect children.
Continue reading...Mother of murdered Hull student says incidents should be treated as red flags for more serious sex offences
Just weeks before Libby Squire was raped, murdered and dumped in a river, a stranger exposed himself to her on her way home.
Her mother, Lisa Squire, said the assault left the 21-year-old University of Hull student feeling “absolutely furious”. “But I never thought to say to her, you need to report that, you need to ring the police, and she didn’t report it either,” said Squire. “We’re almost conditioned to ignore indecent exposure. I didn’t know better then, but I know better now.”
Continue reading...Exclusive: Estranged parent, 67, suggests account of neglect, drinking and abuse by stepfather probably aimed at reducing rape sentence
The mother of the rapist Metropolitan police officer David Carrick has said it is possible he overplayed his childhood trauma to reduce his sentence.
Carrick, 48, pleaded guilty to 85 serious offences including 48 rapes against 12 women. He was given 36 life sentences at Southwark crown court on Tuesday and will spend at least the next 30 years in prison for his 17-year crime spree.
Continue reading...Carrick, 48, admitted 85 serious offences during 17-year campaign of terror and attacks against women
David Carrick, who believed his position as a Metropolitan police officer made him “untouchable” as he waged a 17-year campaign of terror and attacks against women, has been jailed for life.
The 48-year-old must serve a minimum term of 32 years minus the time he has spent in custody before he can even be considered for release.
Continue reading...Cook county state attorney makes decision after two federal convictions that ensure singer will be locked up for decades
A Chicago prosecutor said Monday that she’s dropping sex-abuse charges against singer R Kelly, following federal convictions in two courts that ensure the disgraced R&B star will be locked up for decades.
Cook county state’s attorney Kim Foxx announced the decision a day ahead of a court hearing related to state charges accusing him of sexually abusing four people, three of whom were minors. Foxx said she would ask a judge to dismiss the charges at Tuesday’s hearing.
Continue reading...Female workers tell of exploitation and sexual assault at frankincense warehouse supplying US essential oils company
“I’m not speaking metaphorically – a bottle of doTERRA essential oil can change the world,” says David Stirling, a mild, clean-cut, middle-aged man. His largely female audience cheers and whistles, as if for a celebrity. Stirling, then CEO and co-founder of doTERRA, a Utah-based multi-level marketing company that sells essential oils, is making his opening remarks in September 2021 to the packed Salt Palace Convention Center in Salt Lake City.
In a setting reminiscent of a megachurch, Stirling’s soft-spoken voice echoes. He reminds the audience that the world needs healers more than ever – “and that’s you”, he says, to raucous applause. He quotes CS Lewis, speaks of miracles and says he’s seen people turn to doTERRA in their lowest moments. People cry.
Continue reading...Dawlat Khan had received a life sentence for the rape of a young deaf woman but a council of elders intervened to offer a compromise
A court in Pakistan has caused outrage after it freed a convicted rapist when he agreed to marry his victim.
Dawlat Khan, 25, had been sentenced to life imprisonment in May by the district court of Buner, in north-western Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, for the rape of a young deaf woman.
Continue reading...Exclusive: National survey of young people also finds fewer than half used a condom during their latest sexual experience
More young Australians are sexually active than in previous years and, while many of them report positive experiences, a national survey of high school students found condom use is falling and there are still high rates of unwanted sex.
The seventh federally funded national survey of Australian secondary students and sexual health on Thursday published findings of its survey of 6,841 students from years 9 to 12 in government, Catholic and independent schools throughout 2021.
Continue reading...Examination exposes failure to track repeat suspects and botched investigations by struggling forces
A damning official examination into how police forces tackle rape has exposed persistent failings in the criminal justice system, including a failure to track repeat suspects, “explicit victim-blaming” and botched investigations.
The long-awaited independent report into the first year of Operation Soteria Bluestone – launched by the government after a catastrophic fall in rape prosecutions – also paints a picture of a over-worked, traumatised and inexperienced police workforce in England and Wales, which is struggling to cope with an increase in rape reports after years of austerity.
Continue reading...Activists urge a federal investigation of the Kansas City police department after a detective allegedly preyed on Black women
It is a scandal that has shocked many beyond the borders of Kansas City, where a senior white policeman allegedly carried out a reign of terror in which he brutally abused and sexually assaulted vulnerable Black women.
An appalling set of allegations against former Kansas City, Kansas police department detective Roger Golubski has lifted the lid on a scheme where he is alleged to have protected local drug dealers in the midwestern city, who then allowed him to rape women forced to work as prostitutes.
Continue reading...A new lawsuit claims the Backstreet Boys member sexually assaulted a minor after a concert
Backstreet Boys member Nick Carter has been sued for sexual battery involving an incident with a minor in 2001.
According to the lawsuit, first reported by TMZ and later obtained by Rolling Stone, Shannon Ruth, who was 17 at the time, claims she was invited by Carter, then 21, on to the Backstreet Boys’ tour bus after a concert in Tacoma, Washington. Ruth also spoke at a press conference today.
Continue reading...Adult survivors of sexual abuse can now file lawsuits even if the statute of limitations on their claims had already run out
A trickle of high-profile sexual abuse lawsuits passing through New York’s civil courts is likely to become a flood in the coming months because of a new, one-year window for time-expired claims.
Already, some bold-faced names from the worlds of arts, finance and politics have become involved, including Donald Trump and banker Leon Black.
Continue reading...Eric Salata faced investigation over claims he assaulted two women at his clinic after incapacitating them
A doctor in Florida who was accused of drugging and raping his patients has been found dead, according to local authorities.
Investigators could not immediately determine how Eric Salata, 54, died when his body was discovered in woodland on Monday. But they said he had a gunshot wound to the head, was lying next to a pistol, and that they did not suspect he had been the victim of a crime.
Continue reading...Posthumous lawsuit brought by Jan Roeg, who worked as a talent scout, alleges a long history of harassment and assault
Jan Roeg, a talent scout who worked for Atlantic Records under label founder Ahmet Ertegun from 1984 until the mid 00s, has sued the label and the estate of Ertegun for sexual assault, alleging that Atlantic knew about Ertegun’s misconduct and took a “laissez faire” approach when dealing with it. Rolling Stone reports that Roeg alleges Ertegun sexually harrassed and assaulted her throughout her time at the label, masturbating in front of her numerous times, forcing her head to his crotch in attempts to engage in oral sex, digitally penetrating her and, during a dinner in 1990, drugging her, resulting in her getting her stomach pumped.
Roeg also alleges that Ertegun touched her and made inappropriate comments about her, would describe her as his girlfriend, and retaliated against her rejections by withholding money she was owed. Elsewhere in the lawsuit, Roeg says that Atlantic, a subsidiary of Warner Music Group, “utterly failed to engage in training or implementation of any policies or standards that would inform employees of the company’s disapproval of and how to report such conduct”. The lawsuit also states that Atlantic failed to institute any policy “that would dissuade employees from engaging in sexual misconduct” while on company premises or time.
Continue reading...Police announce arrest of suspect in pair of 40-year-old sexual assaults and slayings in Toronto
A 61-year-old Canadian man has been charged in the cold case killings of two women who were found dead in their Toronto homes within months of each other almost four decades ago.
The Toronto police chief, James Ramer, said Joseph George Sutherland, of Moosonee, Ontario, was arrested on Thursday and charged with first-degree murder in the killings of Erin Gilmour and Susan Tice in 1983.
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