Beijing court finds Chinese-born singer raped three women in November and December 2020
A Beijing court has sentenced the Chinese-born Canadian pop star Kris Wu to 13 years in jail after finding him guilty of crimes including rape, just over a year after his arrest in China, where he was born and built a lucrative career.
The court in Chaoyang district said investigations showed that from November to December 2020, Wu, also known as Wu Yifan, raped three women.
Continue reading...Guardia Civil first to be convicted after alleging video showed a Moroccan migrant raping a woman
A police officer who deliberately posted a misleading video clip of a sexual assault to try to stir up hatred against migrant children has become the first person in Spain to be handed a jail sentence for using social media to publish and spread fake news.
A court in Barcelona on Tuesday convicted the Guardia Civil officer of an offence against fundamental rights and public freedoms and sentenced him to 15 months in prison and a fine of €1,620 (£1,410).
Continue reading...Ricard released a statement confessing to sexually abusing the child during his early days in the Catholic Church
One of France’s highest-ranking prelates of the Catholic Church has admitted abusing a 14-year-old girl 35 years ago and announced his withdrawal from his religious duties.
Cardinal Jean-Pierre Ricard issued a written statement on Monday after a report issued last year revealed a “massive phenomenon” of sexual abusers of children operating for decades within the French Catholic Church.
Continue reading...Audit details potential irregularities in which nearly $400,000 of church congregants’ funds were allegedly misused
A Catholic priest who led one of New Orleans’ best-known inner-city churches until being accused of sexually molesting a child has been reported to federal authorities for possible financial crimes after an audit found he spent nearly $400,000 of his congregants’ money in questionable ways.
John Asare-Dankwah ran the St Peter Claver church in New Orleans’ historic Treme neighborhood from 2014 until early 2021, when a lawsuit alleging that he raped a boy on an out-of-state overnight trip years earlier prompted church officials to indefinitely suspend him from his role.
Continue reading...The deposition allowed the writer’s lawyers to interrogate the ex-president, though details weren’t immediately disclosed
Donald Trump answered questions under oath Wednesday in a lawsuit filed by E Jean Carroll, a magazine columnist who says the Republican former president raped her in the mid-1990s in a department store dressing room.
The deposition gave Carroll’s lawyers a chance to interrogate Trump about the assault allegations as well as statements he made in 2019 when she told her story publicly for the first time.
Continue reading...Scrubs and Californication producer accused of using ‘his Hollywood credentials’ to sexually assault women during photo shoots
Eric Weinberg, a veteran television producer and writer who worked on shows including Scrubs and Californication, has been arrested and charged with 18 counts including rape, sexual battery and false imprisonment by violence.
The 61-year-old was initially arrested at his Los Angeles home in July and released on $3.2m bond. On Tuesday, he was arrested again and later released on $5m bond.
Continue reading...Shannon Fentiman says she will meet with Karen Iles after raising the matter with the police minister
Queensland’s attorney general says she was “shocked and saddened” by revelations that police failed to investigate a series of alleged sexual assaults against a 14-year-old girl, and has raised the matter with the state’s police minister.
Guardian Australia revealed on Tuesday that police failed to investigate the case, lost key documents, and later wrongly told the complainant that her 2004 statement had been destroyed.
Sign up to receive an email with the top stories from Guardian Australia every morning
Information and support for anyone affected by rape or sexual abuse issues is available from the following organisations. In Australia, support is available at 1800Respect (1800 737 732). In the UK, Rape Crisis offers support on 0808 802 9999. In the US, Rainn offers support on 800-656-4673. Other international helplines can be found at ibiblio.org/rcip/internl.html
Continue reading...Six men charged over deadly attack on girls, aged 15 and 17, of Dalit caste
Two sisters in Uttar Pradesh have been found raped, murdered and hanging from a tree in the latest incident of sexual violence to shock India.
The bodies of the girls, aged 15 and 17, were found suspended from a tree by their shawls near their home in Lakhimpur district on Wednesday afternoon. They belonged to the Dalit caste, the lowest in India’s hierarchical and discriminatory Hindu caste system, which used to deem Dalits as “untouchables”.
Continue reading...Consent can include a nod, or reciprocating a move such as removing clothes, as well as verbal cues
Victoria has adopted an affirmative consent model, shifting scrutiny off victims and back on to perpetrators of sexual violence.
Under new laws, which passed Victorian parliament late on Tuesday, a person must have a clear and enthusiastic go-ahead for their belief in consent to be reasonable.
Continue reading...Demonstrators demand Gujarat government revoke decision on men convicted over rape of Muslim woman Bilkis Bano in 2002
Hundreds of people have held demonstrations in several parts of India to protest against a recent government decision to free 11 men who had been jailed for life for gang raping a Muslim woman during India’s 2002 religious riots.
The protesters in the country’s capital, New Delhi, chanted slogans on Saturday and demanded the government in the western state of Gujarat rescind the decision. They also sang songs in solidarity with the victim.
Continue reading...Magistrate says teenager ‘has shown no contrition’ but accepts his prospects for rehabilitation are ‘strong’
An unremorseful teenage boy who attacked and raped a fellow high school pupil at a house party in the Blue Mountains will be held in youth detention for at least two months.
The boy was initially involved in consensual activity with his victim before pushing further, sexually assaulting her six times and intentionally choking her over a two-hour period in the living room of a home west of Sydney.
Continue reading...Gujarat frees men serving life sentences for rape, and for murder of three-year-old daughter and other relatives
A Muslim woman who was gang-raped by a Hindu mob, which also murdered her three-year-old daughter and 13 other members of her family, has spoken of her incredulity at the release of the 11 men jailed for the crimes.
The men were released on Monday by the Gujarat government after serving 14 years of their life sentences. Under Indian law, after 14 years some prisoners can be released on remission provided they fulfil certain criteria relating to their age and conduct.
Continue reading...Dozens of zama-zamas – illegal miners from other countries – now being held in crime crackdown following music video shoot attack
Dozens of men detained after the alleged gang-rape of eight women on a music video shoot in South Africa are expected back in court on Wednesday as police made more arrests of artisanal miners blamed by local people for widespread violence.
The arrests on Tuesday near Krugersdorp, a city north-west of Johannesburg, bring the total number of people detained since the attack to more than 120.
Continue reading...Judge in Lecce rules no grounds to pursue investigation against Canadian director, 69, who spent 16 days under house arrest
Oscar-winning director Paul Haggis has had a sexual assault charge dropped by an Italian court six weeks after he was accused by a 28-year-old British woman of forcing her to have “non-consensual” sex with him.
A judge in the southern Italian city of Lecce ruled on Friday that there were no grounds to further pursue an investigation.
Continue reading...Bailey’s book on Philip Roth was pulled after former students said he abused them
The author of a Philip Roth biography that was taken out of print by its original publisher last year after allegations that he raped multiple women and groomed his former middle school students for sexual encounters when they were older is gearing up to publish a book billing itself as a warning tale of so-called cancel culture.
Blake Bailey’s latest work is scheduled to be printed by the controversial Skyhorse Publishing, which picked up his Roth book and an earlier memoir after WW Norton took it out of print and pledged to donate money to sexual abuse organizations equaling the advance it had paid to the biographer.
Continue reading...Boris Johnson’s ‘appalling’ attitude to women to blame for lack of progress on gender-based violence, suggests Keir Starmer
Rape and domestic violence cases will be fast-tracked through the courts under a Labour government so that no victim has to wait more than a year for justice, Keir Starmer has pledged.
In an interview with the Guardian, the Labour leader said Boris Johnson had made no progress tackling gender-based violence during his premiership because of his “appalling” attitude towards women.
Continue reading...Police say Ohio man confessed to raping a girl who went to Indiana for abortion, following the right’s attempts to discredit story
In a case that has become a flashpoint in the abortion debate after being highlighted by Joe Biden and baselessly disputed by some rightwing media and politicians, an Ohio man has been charged with raping a 10-year-old girl who later traveled to neighboring Indiana for an abortion.
Gerson Fuentes, 27, who was arrested on Tuesday, appeared in Franklin county, Ohio, municipal court for an arraignment on Wednesday. A police investigator testified at the hearing that Fuentes had confessed to raping the girl at least twice.
Continue reading...Officer gives evidence of colleagues describing rapes in intimate relationships as ‘surprise sex’, and saying they ‘deserved to be raped’
A Queensland police officer broke into tears as he told a commission of inquiry that he witnessed domestic violence victims being turned away and colleagues claiming some victims “deserved to be raped”.
The officer, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, gave evidence that he had heard colleagues make offensive remarks about victims who were raped in intimate relationships, claiming it was “surprise sex” or they “deserved to be raped”.
Continue reading...Announcement follows Guardian Australia report on calls to end practice, victim’s $800 bill
Queensland Health has pledged not to charge sexual assault victims without access to Medicare for rape kits and will review its policies for other medical costs, after the findings of a comprehensive review.
The announcement comes after Guardian Australia reported on Thursday that one woman who was ineligible for Medicare was billed $800 for pathology testing this year after a sexual assault.
Sign up to receive an email with the top stories from Guardian Australia every morning
Continue reading...The British socialite was sentenced to 20 years in prison last month
The British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell has officially appealed against her conviction and sentence in the United States for sex trafficking.
The 60-year-old was found guilty by a jury of luring young girls to massage rooms for the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein to molest between 1994 and 2004.
Continue reading...