- Nieuws GOG Onderwijs
Buitenland -
Coach
arrested for sex assault – November 8, 2005 – Freemont Tribune -- A 27-year-old teacher and coach was arrested Monday on a sexual assault charge
involving a ninth-grade student at Archbishop Bergan Catholic High School.
Nathan J. Wilhelm, who was Bergan's wrestling coach
and a social science teacher, was dismissed Nov. 2 after an internal
investigation into the matter, Principal Ron Beacom
said Monday. Wilhelm, who lives in Fremont,
faces up to five years in prison if convicted of the Class III-A felony, said
Dodge County Attorney Paul Vaughan. In
an affidavit filed Thursday in Dodge
County Court, Detective Joyce Henke of the Fremont
Police Department wrote that the student, a 14-year-old girl, said Wilhelm
first began e-mailing her in October. The contents of the computer-generated
e-mails from Wilhelm “became sexual in nature,” Henke wrote in the document,
which also stated Wilhelm sent “text-messages of sexually graphic fantasies” to
the girl via her cell phone. On Oct. 29, the affidavit states, Wilhelm touched
the girl's bottom and tried to kiss her in a secluded hallway at Bergan. Henke interviewed Wilhelm Nov. 1,
and the teacher admitted to each incident. After his arrest, his bond was set
at $50,000, 10 percent cash. An official with the Dodge County
Correctional Facility said Monday that Wilhelm had posted bond and was
released. Wilhelm's first appearance in Dodge County Court is set for Nov. 29. Beacom said that when school officials heard about the
allegations, they took action. “We became aware of serious allegations
involving Mr. Wilhelm on Monday, Oct. 31,” Beacom said. “We
immediately removed him from the school premises and put him on paid leave.” Beacom said further internal investigation “made it clear
it would be for the best of the school that (Wilhelm) not continue here.” Wilhelm's
classes are being taught by a substitute, the principal said. The high school
wrestling program, scheduled to begin practice Monday, will continue as
planned. “It will be handled very well,” said Beacom.
“We will find someone to work with our students and continue the kind of
success we're used to having.” The principal said the school will continue to
look out for “the best interests and the safety” of its students. Wilhelm, a
2000 graduate of Midland Lutheran College, began working at Bergan
in 2001.
Rabbi, Teacher Lose Jobs After Taping:
'Dateline NBC' Used Hidden Camera in Internet Sex Story -- November 4,
2005 -- Washington Post, By Allan Lenge -- A rabbi for a national youth group based in
Rockville and a Prince George's County special education teacher have lost
their jobs after they were allegedly videotaped by a hidden camera as part of a
forthcoming "Dateline NBC" story about men who try to solicit sex
from minors online, officials said yesterday. Rabbi David A. Kaye, 55, vice president of programs for PANIM: the
Institute for Jewish Leaders and Values, resigned this week after disclosing
that he might be featured on a national television news program, according to a
statement released by the organization's president, Rabbi Sidney Schwarz.
Schwarz said Kaye, who lives in Potomac, "informed me of certain personal
conduct that took place outside our organization that may soon be aired as part
of a larger news story on national television. . . . We currently are
undertaking an internal inquiry to be certain there has been no similar
misconduct at PANIM in any way." The organization conducts nationwide
programs for high school students. Steven Bennof, 54,
of the District, a special education teacher at Woodridge Elementary School in
Prince George's, was fired Aug. 23, said John White, a spokesman for the school
system. White said the firing occurred after Fairfax County
police notified school officials about "information relating to
children." Neither man has been criminally charged. Kaye told a
reporter Wednesday evening that he had resigned for personal reasons, declining
to elaborate. Bennof did not return a message left on
his telephone answering machine. The "Dateline NBC" show is scheduled
to air tonight. According to video excerpts that NBC officials provided
yesterday and a summary posted on "Dateline's" Web site, a crew
conducted a sting operation with the help of an Internet watchdog group, Perverted
Justice. Adult members of the watchdog
group pretended to be 12- to 14-year-old children chatting online and waited to
see whether adults would contact them to solicit sex, NBC officials said.
According to the program excerpts and NBC officials, many men did so, and 19
men visited a house in a Washington suburb over a three-day period in
mid-August after a person posing online as a child provided the address. There,
they were confronted by "Dateline" reporter Chris Hansen. In the
video excerpts provided by "Dateline," a man whom the program
identifies as Kaye walks into the kitchen of a house and is soon met by Hansen.
Without identifying himself as a journalist, Hansen begins peppering the man
with questions about his Internet activities and his presence at the house.
After the man asks Hansen for the second time who he is, the reporter explains
that he is with "Dateline" and that the program is taping a story
about men who visit Internet chat rooms in pursuit of children. The excerpts
also show Hansen confronting a man identified in the voiceover as a special
education teacher. Hansen said in an interview yesterday that the show
identified Bennof by a phone number he provided over
the Internet and through contacting the school district. The house "Dateline"
used is in Fairfax
County, Hansen said. Fairfax police said
yesterday that they are investigating information provided by Perverted Justice
but that they would not provide further details.
Leuvense leraar
veroordeeld voor verkrachting minderjarige -- 13 september 2005 – Het Laatste Nieuws
-- De Leuvense correctionele rechtbank
heeft een leraar veroordeeld tot vijf jaar effectief voor de verkrachting van
een minderjarig meisje in de tweede helft van de jaren negentig en de
aanranding begin 2005 van een ander minderjarig meisje en bezit van
kinderporno. Hij mag ook tien jaar lang
het beroep van leraar niet meer uitoefenen. GROEPSSEKS: De 36-jarige man uit Heverlee,
die in Aarschot les gaf, had van december 2004
tot februari 2005 een relatie met een 15-jarig meisje uit Heist-op-den-Berg.
Gaandeweg organiseerde hij sekssessies waarbij andere mannen betrokken waren.
Na een groepseksgebeuren in februari in een hotel in
Lubbeek legde het meisje klacht neer. VERKRACHTING: De leraar stond ook terecht voor verkrachting van een minderjarig
meisje. In deze zaak was voorheen al 30 maanden met uitstel gevorderd gekoppeld
aan een behandeling. De rechter had nog geen uitspraak gedaan omdat het sociaal verslag over de man niet klaar was. Op vraag van de
verdediging werden beide zaken samen behandeld. Meer info
in het artikel (HLN) van 6 september 2005 op deze nieuwspagina.
Commentaar red. MdH: Het is zeer de vraag of deze leerkracht ook in Nederland
gedurende de aankomende tien jaar zijn beroep als docent niet meer zou mogen
uitoefenen. Immers, in Nederland is men buitengewoon terughoudend met het
opleggen van een tijdelijk of zelfs definitief beroepsverbod, zelfs dan wanneer
het eigenlijk de enige zekerheid is dat studenten in de toekomst geen last meer
zullen ondervinden van seksueel grensoverschrijdend gedrag (GOG) door een
docent.
Bogus
doctor sentenced to 15 years in jail -- 9 september
2005 -- Pretoria News -- A woman who
practised illegally as a medical doctor was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment
by the Mthatha High Court in the Eastern Cape on
Thursday. Bertha Lucwaba
of Butterworth pleaded guilty to practising as a medical doctor under the
name of "Dr Goosen".
She had been practising for over a year before she was arrested. The court
heard that she operated in the rural areas of Qumbu,
Butterworth and Nqamakhwe and charged her patients
R95 each for a consultation. Lucwaba was charged with
selling, dispensing and possessing scheduled medicine and failing to label
medication on display. - Sapa. This article was
originally published on page 4 of Pretoria
News.
Australische
lerares achter tralies na seksavonturen met vijf jongens – 8 september 2005 – vrouwelijke pleger
van seksueel misbruik – De Standaard -- SYDNEY - Een Australische lerares wetenschappen heeft twee jaar
gevangenisstraf gekregen nadat ze bekende seksuele
betrekkingen te hebben gehad met vijf jongens onder 17 jaar. De 25-jarige Sarah
Vercoe had een twee maanden durende verhouding
met een 15-jarige jongen die ze eind vorig jaar op schoolkamp had ontmoet. Ze
had ook groepsseks met vier jongens
tussen de 14 en 16 jaar bij haar thuis in Hobart,
de hoofdstad van Tasmanië. Buiten de rechtbank protesteerden familieleden van
de jongens en activisten tegen seksueel misbruik tegen de uitspraak, die ze te
licht vonden. Vercoe verklaarde voor de rechtbank dat ze
huwelijksproblemen had en ze zich verstoten voelde door haar collega’s.
Commentaar red. MdH: Een interessant perspectief: de echtgenoot en de collega’s zijn
eigenlijk de schuldigen in deze zaak – volgens de pleegster van het seksueel
grensoverschrijdend gedrag. Vreselijke collega’s en een afschuwelijke
echtgenoot… uiteraard… heel begrijpelijk… dergelijke problemen los je alleen
maar op door middel van groepsseks met minderjarige aan je zorg toevertrouwde
scholieren. Logisch, toch? Dat behoeft verder dan ook eigenlijk geen uitleg.
Wat zou de wereld er nog veel lelijker uitzien al iedereen met
huwelijksproblemen en problemen op het werk een hele groep kinderen seksueel
zou gaan misbruiken… . Wat zal een ‘lerares wetenschappen’ wel inhouden? Bij
wetenschap denk je o.a. aan logica… een element dat in de uitingen en in het
gedrag van de docente niet bepaald terug te vinden is. Niemand die enige kennis
van zaken betreffend de gevolgen van seksueel misbruik heeft, zal het de
activisten kwalijk nemen geprotesteerd te hebben over de aan de lerares
opgelegde strafmaat. Toch zit er iets positiefs aan deze zaak dat wij zelden
mogen zien: het gaat om een nogal jonge pleger van GOG. Alhier de kans die
schaars is op dit gebied om het wellicht toch nog voor elkaar te krijgen haar
ooit uit het vak te zetten alvorens zij met de vut gaat. Toch wel een
hoopgevend toekomstperspectief.
Vijf jaar voor leraar
wegens aanranding en bezit kinderporno -- 6 september 2005 – Het Laatste Nieuws -- Voor de correctionele rechtbank in Leuven is in besloten zitting vijf
jaar effectief gevorderd tegen een leraar wegens aanranding van de eerbaarheid
van een 15-jarig meisje uit Heist-op-den-Berg en
bezit van kinderporno. Tegen zes andere beklaagden eiste het openbaar
ministerie (OM) voor dezelfde feiten celstraffen tot zes maanden. De leraar
stond ook terecht voor de verkrachting van een ander slachtoffer in 1998. In deze zaak was
voorheen al 30 maanden voorwaardelijk gevorderd gekoppeld aan behandeling.
De rechter had echter nog geen uitspraak gedaan omdat het verslag van de
deskundige nog niet klaar was. Bijgevolg werden de twee zaken bij elkaar
gevoegd en slaat de vordering van vijf jaar dus ook op deze verkrachting.
SEKSSESSIES: De 36-jarige man uit Heverlee had van december 2004 tot februari 2005 een
relatie met het meisje uit Heist-op-den-Berg, dat hij
had leren kennen via het internet. Gaandeweg organiseerde hij sekssessies met
haar waarbij ook andere mannen betrokken waren. Na een groepseksgebeuren
in een hotel in Lubbeek diende het meisje klacht in. De leraar zit nog steeds
in voorarrest. Advocaat Geert Jaspaert, die de leraar verdedigde, stelde na afloop
aan journalisten niet gekant te zijn tegen een effectieve straf, maar tegelijk
vragende partij te zijn voor een gedeeltelijk uitstel, gekoppeld aan strenge
voorwaarden op vlak van behandeling, desnoods residentieel. "Het is niet
tussen de vier gevangenismuren dat men deze man zal helpen", aldus Jaspaert. SCHADEVERGOEDING: De advocaten van de anderen,
die onder meer terechtstonden voor deelname aan groepsseks met het meisje,
pleitten voor opschorting. Zij stelden dat hun cliënten in de overtuiging waren
dat het meisje meerderjarig was. De moeder van het meisje, die zich burgerlijke
partij had gesteld, vroeg 12.500 euro schadevergoeding voor het meisje, 6.250
euro voor zichzelf en de aanstelling van een deskundige om de juiste schade te
kunnen vaststellen. De verdediging van de beklaagden verzette zich tegen de
vergoeding voor de moeder omdat deze weet had van de relatie met de leraar.
Geert Jaspaert pleitte er zelfs voor dat de rechter
de moeder een begeleiding zou opleggen. De
rechter doet op 13 september uitspraak.
Duitser
vergreep zich tientallen keren aan kinderen -- 22 juli 2005 --
Telegraaf --
FRANKFURT
- Een 41-jarige Duitser heeft bekend
dat hij zich tientallen keren aan
kinderen tussen de een en vijf jaar heeft vergrepen. Sommige
slachtoffertjes droegen nog luiers. De Duitse justitie vervolgt de man voor 73
gevallen, meldden Duitse media vrijdag. Hij misbruikte zeker zeven jongens en
een meisje. Volgens het Openbaar Ministerie kan de man zich herinneren dat hij
zich ongeveer vierhonderd keer aan een kind vergreep. Maar niet alle gevallen
zijn nog te reconstrueren.
De aangeklaagde was zwemleraar, babysitter
en verzorger van de kinderen. Aan het begin van het proces
verklaarde hij dat hij een therapie wil volgen.
Former teacher wants
record expunged - Alleged victim, state AG oppose move -- July
15, 2005 --
Record-Eagle – Vrouw/vrouw misbruik -- CHARLEVOIX
- A former Boyne
City High
School teacher and track coach convicted in 1999 of a sex crime involving a student wants her criminal
record erased at a hearing today in Charlevoix
County circuit court. Her
alleged victim, now a teacher herself, wants to ensure that doesn't happen.
Christi Jean Brilinski,
50, of Boyne City, seeks to have her 1999 conviction on attempted
fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct set aside by Judge Richard Pajtas. Brilinski pleaded no
contest to the misdemeanor charge nearly six years
ago, and was sentenced to two years' probation, 300 hours of community service
and fines. She was required to register with the state as a sex offender.
Attempts to reach Brilinski for comment were
unsuccessful. Her attorney, Randall Karfonta of
Leland, said under state law Brilinski can ask that
her conviction be set aside, since she served her sentence and has no prior
criminal record. In his motion to the court, Karfonta
called the facts underlying Brilinski's conviction a
"situational occurrence," and said there was no evidence in the
voluminous court files of any other misconduct by Brilinski,
"nor that she presents any danger to the community." But Brilinski's
alleged victim opposes the motion. "It just scares me that she could get
her teaching certification back and people wouldn't know that she had ever
committed a crime," the victim said. The woman said she met Brilinski when she was a 14-year-old freshman at Boyne City
High School and Brilinski was her English teacher and track coach. The
woman contends Brilinski fanned the flames of family
problems she had to make it easier to abuse her, she believes. "I was
going through a period where I was rebelling against my parents, and (Brilinski) completely supported that," she said.
"In that year's time (from age 14 to 15), she helped completely alienate
myself from my family, and made it as if she was the only person I could trust
- or so I thought." The woman said Brilinski's
sexual abuse started her sophomore year, when she was 15, and continued
throughout her high school career. It allegedly included inappropriate touching
in Brilinski's office at school, in the school locker
room, and also outside of school, the victim said. It was only when she went
away to college, the victim said, that Brilinski's
hold on her began to slip. "When it was over, I tried to pretend like this
just didn't happen," the victim said. "Away at school, I could think
for myself." The victim said she repaired her relationship with her family
after moving back in with them for summers while on break from college. It was
as the victim studied to become a teacher, and took classes on educational
psychology, that she "realized what a crime it was that (Brilinski) did," she said. "When a person has
authority over an adolescent they can manipulate them without the adolescent
even knowing it," she said. "Teachers are supposed to protect
students, not destroy them," she said. "I couldn't let her keep
teaching and doing this to other students." Mary Beth Kur, the then-Charlevoix
County prosecutor who
convicted Brilinski, said she's opposed to the former
teacher's motion. "We are at a point in our society where there is very
little tolerance for those who sexually abuse kids," said Kur, now a defense attorney in
Petoskey. "I cannot even fathom the possibility that (Brilinski)
would be permitted to expunge her criminal sexual conduct conviction."
State Attorney General Mike Cox also opposes the expungement.
Assistant attorney general H. Steven Langschwager, in
a motion with the court, noted granting Brilinski's
motion would "allow her to report that she's never been convicted," a
fact, he stated, that "does not serve the public welfare." The
victim, now married and a mother of two, teaches English at a northern Michigan high school. "I teach what (Brilinski)
taught me," she said. "It's a little scary - it's very close to my
heart, every single day." The victim said she "feels bad" for Brilinski. "It's been almost six years since I broke
down and spoke to someone, and she has never said she was sorry to me, or asked
for forgiveness," she said. "I just find that very sad." Karfonta was asked if Brilinski -
who never definitively admitted to any criminal wrongdoing - feels remorse for
or takes responsibility for her past actions with the victim. "I don't
know if she'll have a chance to speak, but if you come to the hearing, you'll
get a chance to hear that," he said.
Negen
jaar cel voor Portugees die minderjarige jongens verkrachtte -- 14 juli 2005 -- Gazet van Antwerpen -- De correctionele rechtbank
van Brussel heeft donderdag een
47-jarige Portugees tot negen jaar effectieve celstraf veroordeeld wegens
verkrachting en zedenfeiten. Jorge M. randde
zes jongens aan, dit over een periode van 16 jaar. Het jongste slachtoffer was
8 jaar op het ogenblik van het eerste misbruik. De feiten speelden zich af tussen
3 september 1988 en 29 oktober 2004. De verdachte werd door de ouders van de
kinderen aangezocht om met hun lessen te helpen en hun schoolresultaten op te
volgen. Jorge M. bekende een deel van de feiten, al
trok hij sommige verklaringen later weer in. Hij stelde dat hij als kind ook
werd verkracht, maar dat hij dat als tekenen van affectie zag. Hij zei ook dat
hij nooit had gedacht dat zijn slachtoffers zijn toenaderingen als agressief
hebben ervaren. De rechter achtte de argumenten van de beschuldigde echter
ongeloofwaardig. Ook het psychiatrisch onderzoek sprak in het nadeel van Jorge M. De veroordeelde moet een provisionele
schadevergoeding van 34.000 euro betalen.
S.I. High School Coach Arrested For
Allegedly Spanking Players -- July 10,
2005 – ny1.com -- A high school
basketball coach at a school on Staten Island is under arrest for allegedly
spanking two 15-year-old male players for missing shots and could face up to
four years in prison if convicted. Police say over the course of the past year,
several incidents took place at the
Jewish Community Center in Greenridge
where the accused, Drew Sanders, is an assistant director. Sanders, 49, is also an assistant basketball coach at Tottenville
High School. Police
say the last incident happened Monday when Sanders used a paddle to spank one
of the boys and caused a minor injury. Another alleged spanking took place at Susan Wagner
High School. Sanders was arrested Tuesday night
and faces several charges, including sexual abuse, attempted assault, forcible
touching and child endangerment. A judge set his bail at $5,000 during a court
appearance on Wednesday. Sanders has been suspended by both the Department of
Education and the JCC. The JCC says it is cooperating with the police
investigation.
I
am an instrument of God, says teacher – June 7, 2005
– iol.co.za -- A Western Cape primary school teacher who
said he was fired because he refused to
stop smacking his pupils claims corporal punishment is God-ordained and has
launched a court battle that pits the Bible against the law. He is bringing an Equality Court case against the Western Cape education
department - heard in the Cape
High Court by Mr Justice Siraj Desai - for religious discrimination. But the
department argues that former FJ Conradie Primary School teacher and father-of-two Paul Rainers was "bold and misguided" in his use
of the Bible to justify his insistence on corporal punishment. "It is clear that because of his faith
in God and claim to the Christian faith, Rainers does
not believe that the laws of the country apply to him. 'He had committed an
unlawful act and violated ... the constitutional values of a learner'.
"However, the question in this case is whether the corporal punishment is
a right of a Christian teacher that must trump the right of the learners to
dignity," counsel for the department Thabani Masuku argued on Monday. Masuku
pointed out that corporal punishment contravened provisions of the Schools Act
and a Constitutional Court
ruling. "Rainers has taken the extreme view that
he is not subject to the Schools Act and the constitution but the Bible and
God's word. "The dismissal of Rainers was not
based on the religion, but on the basis that, by administering corporal
punishment and refusing to accept responsibility for it, he had committed an
unlawful act and violated... the constitutional values of a learner," Masuku stated. By refusing to recognise the department's
authority, Rainers had "authored" his
dismissal. But Grassy
Park resident Rainers countered: "The education department's defence
rests on the fact that the department is convinced that the constitution of the
RSA (and) the SA Schools Act ... is higher than the Lord God." "It
follows that the education department... has given itself the right... to
discriminate against the living-out of the Christian faith." "It
implies that the minister of education... is exalted above God and is herself
God... is the Creator or at least the co-Creator of heaven and earth," Rainers said. And he later asserted he was serving as
"an instrument for God" in his application to the Equality Court. His employment troubles
started in March 2000, when the parents of a 10-year-old girl he had hit with a
ruler laid assault charges. He was found guilty of misconduct at a school
disciplinary hearing. Less than two years later, Rainers
was suspended for refusing to hand in learner marks for maths and failing to
stick to the curriculum. The deputy director for provincial labour relations, Wernich Wandrag, alleged Rainers had refused to adhere to his suspension and
"notwithstanding attended school despite being requested to leave".
The education department laid criminal charges for trespassing for which he was
convicted and sentenced to R300 or three months jail. Papers before the court
revealed that Rainers had opted to go to jail. He was
fired from the De Doorns school in March 2002. - High
Court Reporter This article was
originally published on page 1 of Cape
Argus on June 07, 2005.
Leraar
veroordeeld voor zedenfeiten –
27 mei 2005 – Nieuwsblad – VLAANDEREN
- De correctionele rechtbank van Doornik
heeft een leraar veroordeeld tot 7 maanden cel met uitstel voor aanrandingen van de eerbaarheid, onder
geweld of bedreiging, van studentes jonger dan 16 jaar. De leraar doceert
in de afdeling bakkerij van het ITMA in
Doornik. In oktober 2003 werd hij door een 15-jarige studente beticht van
aanrakingen. Nadien volgden andere, gelijkaardige klachten voor feiten tussen
1999 en 2003. De leraar heeft bekend nog twee andere meisjes te hebben betast.
Telkens probeerde hij zijn slachtoffers klem te zetten of bij verrassing hun
borsten aan te raken. Het openbaar ministerie had 12 maanden met uitstel
gevorderd. Omdat de man spijt had betoond en nog steeds les geeft maar nu grote
afstand van zijn studenten bewaart, heeft hij zeven maanden met uitstel
gekregen.
Grandmothers
walking to Ottawa Residential School Abuse: Native women on a walk to remember /
B.C. grandmothers to ask Ottawa to create national day for residential-school
victims -- By CASSANDRA SZKLARSKI -- May 26, 2005 -- At the age of 6, Louise Hall ran
away, blindly throwing herself into a harsh Manitoba winter in a desperate bid
to escape daily beatings at a Northern residential school. Forty years later,
Ms. Hall, now a grandmother, is hitting the road again, this time with the
strength of a survivor. She is one of
eight aboriginal grandmothers embarking today on a 4,500-kilometre march from Kelowna,
B.C., to Ottawa
in an effort to convince the federal government to designate May 26 as a
national day of healing for victims of residential school abuse.
"We're all survivors and wanting to make that change in our lives,"
said Ms. Hall, a member of the Sioux Valley Dakota Nation, about 45 kilometres west of
Brandon, Man. "We're hoping that people will hear us and that the
government hears the cries of the grandmothers." The trek is expected to
take four months to complete, and the women will have little more than camping
gear and sheer will to keep them going. Ms. Hall said they are hoping a kind
volunteer will offer to provide support by following along in a car. "I'm
prepared to get blisters on my feet, I'm prepared to be really, really tired
and achy and to have water splashed on me during rain when the cars go
by," Ms. Hall said. Most of the other participants are in their 50s, she
noted. Canada
already celebrates National Aboriginal Day on June 21, but it is considered to
be a day to celebrate native culture, not to talk about the decades of abuse --
meted out in the name of "Christianizing" aboriginal children -- or
its impact on Canadian society. A national day of healing and reconciliation
would focus on mending the pain inflicted on aboriginals and educate
non-natives about Canada's history of government- and church-run residential
schools, said Percy Ballantyne of the Grand Rapids
First Nations, 400
kilometres north of Winnipeg. "It didn't only
affect our people, it affected society as a whole; we're paying for the effects
of residential schools," he said. Mr. Ballantyne
is organizing a simultaneous walk in Manitoba, where native
communities will make a 1,066-kilometre, seven-day journey from Fox Lake
Cree Nation to the provincial legislature in Winnipeg. "Hopefully it's
going to open up the eyes of Canadian society, because we are not a threat to
anybody," Mr. Ballantyne said. "We just
want to go on with life." The cause, which has attracted scant attention
in Canada,
has earned the sympathy of activists as far away as Australia, where May 26 is also a
national day of healing for Australian aboriginals, a form of atonement for
historical injustices against the country's indigenous peoples. Willow Aliento, an Australian partly of Canadian aboriginal
ancestry, plans to lead supporters in a sit-in at the Canadian High Commission
in Canberra to
press the case of Canadian aboriginals. Many
Western native communities have been celebrating May 26 as a national day of
healing and reconciliation since 2002, but it has never earned a formal
designation from the federal government. Other events planned for today
include demonstrations in Victoria,
Edmonton and Moose Jaw, Sask.
Each community has local organizers that tailor events to local issues, said
Maggie Hodgson, a member of an Edmonton
group that will include Muslims and Japanese people in events. Others say the day is also key to helping
survivors, many now over 60, open up about the physical and sexual abuse the
may have endured as children. About 100,000 children between 4 and 18 attended
residential schools, many of them against their will, in every province and
territory except New Brunswick
and Prince Edward Island.
"A lot of first nation people don't want to talk about it because it still
brings back painful memories," said Harry Ferland
of Manitoba's
Grand Rapids
First Nations. "If you keep it down, it stays inside and it wants to
come out. It comes out in ways that you don't want it to. If we can allow it to
come out in healthy ways then that's what we're looking for."
Hare
Krishna abuse cases settled for USD 9.5 million -- May 24, 2005 -- Hindustan
Times, India, S. Rajagopalan -- A US bankruptcy court
has ordered the International Society
for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) to pay $ 9.5 million (nearly Rs 42 crore) to about 450 alleged victims of sexual, physical and
emotional abuse at its boarding schools in the US and India. The abuses
relate to the 1970s and the '80s and
have been the subject of a long drawn litigation by a group of former students. Some of them have alleged rape, while
others have catalogued physical and emotional abuse. The allegations had led to
the closure of the US
'gurukulas' by the mid-1980s. The settlement, handed
down on Monday by a California federal bankruptcy court,
comes two years after 92 former students
of the Hare Krishna organisation slapped a $ 400 million lawsuit in Texas on ISKCON. An earlier
federal suit filed by them had been dismissed. Each of the 450 victims will receive compensation ranging from $2,500
to $50,000, depending on the nature of the abuse, its severity and the time
factor. Distribution of the funds will begin later this year and will be
completed by 2011. Not long after the lawsuit was filed in Texas, ISKCON filed for
bankruptcy to protect its assets and to prevent closure of its numerous temples
and other facilities across the US.
At the same time, ISKCON apologised for the abuses at its centres. Under the
settlement, a reorganisation plan allows the group's Hare Krishna temples in California and West Virginia to remain
open. The suit by the former students was directed at ISKCON's boarding schools in California,
Texas and West Virginia, and some
'gurukulas' in India. "It is heartbreaking that many of our children were abused. On
behalf of our entire society, I apologise to these young people. I pray that
someday they will be able to forgive us. And, I pray that today's agreement
will help them heal and move forward in their lives," ISKCON spokesman Anuttama Dasa said.
Ex-scholier
huwt lerares na verboden affaire –
21 mei 2005 – De Telegraaf -- SEATTLE - De 22-jarige Amerikaans Vili
Fualaau is vrijdag getrouwd met de 43-jarige Mary Kay Letourneau,
met wie hij in 1996 als jonge scholier een opzienbarende affaire had. Fualaau heeft bij de voormalige lerares reeds twee kinderen
verwekt. Letourneau heeft sinds 1997 een
gevangenisstraf van ruim zeven jaar uitgezeten wegens de affaire met haar
ex-leerling. Zij was veroordeeld voor kinderverkrachting. De lerares kwam
in augustus uit de gevangenis. Een rechter had aanvankelijk verboden dat Fualaau en Letourneau elkaar weer
zouden zien, maar het stel vocht de uitspraak met succes aan. De dochters van
het paar zijn nu acht en zeven jaar oud. Letourneau
was zwanger van de eerste toen zij in 1997 werd gearresteerd en veroordeeld.
Het tweede kind werd verwekt toen de vrouw na zes maanden cel op vrije voeten
was gesteld wegens goed gedrag. Zij moest terstond terug de bak in. De meisjes
werden verzorgd door de moeder van Fualaau. De
kinderen, Alexis en Georgia
traden op het huwelijk van hun ouders op als bruidsmeisjes. Letourneau
was bij het begin van de affaire met Fualaau
overigens getrouwd en moeder van vier kinderen.
Leraar loert via webcam naar honderden jonge meisjes – 11 mei 2005 –
Het Laatste Nieuws -- Leraar en chiroleider Robbrecht G. (27) uit
het Vlaams-Brabantse Schepdaal
is aangehouden voor zware feiten van kinderporno. Op het internet deed hij zich
voor als een jongen van vijftien. Het gerecht vermoedt dat hij honderden
minderjarige meisjes overhaalde om zich naakt te tonen via een webcam. Tot nog toe zijn een 10-tal slachtoffers
geïdentificeerd. G had het vooral gemunt op meisjes tussen 10 en 15 jaar. De raadkamer van Brussel verlengde
dinsdag zijn aanhouding.
,,Grappigste leerkracht'' zet kinderporno
op internet -- 11 mei 2005 --
Het Volk -- Leraar en chiroleider (27) maakte naaktfoto's van minderjarige meisjes.
Zijn leerlingen in de school voor misbruikte en probleemkinderen verkozen hem
vorig jaar tot hun 'Grappigste leerkracht'. Robrecht G. (27) uit Schepdaal (Dilbeek) stond ook bekend als sympathieke chiroleider. Maar op het internet ronselde hij als 15-jarige
jongen honderden minderjarige meisjes van wie hij naaktfoto's maakte. G. is
door het Brusselse parket aangehouden voor zware feiten van kinderporno.
Robrecht G. deed zich op het internet onder een fictieve naam voor als een
jongen van vijftien en benaderde op die
manier ongeveer vijfhonderd meisjes tussen
10 en 15 jaar. Volgens het gerecht vroeg hij hen om met een webcam intieme foto's te nemen. Zo'n honderd meisjes zouden
hebben ingestemd. Tot nog toe is er weet van een tiental slachtoffers. In ruil voor de foto's stuurde G. de
meisjes foto's van zijn penis en videofilmpjes van zichzelf terwijl hij
masturbeerde. Altijd paraat: De zaak kwam op 4 februari aan het licht toen de
moeder van een van de slachtoffers een klacht indiende tegen de leraar. Het
gerecht spreekt van 'zware en expliciete kinderporno' en onderzoekt alle
computers en documenten van de man. Zijn aanhouding is gisteren door de
raadkamer met een maand verlengd. G.
staat in zijn omgeving bekend als een liefdevolle en sociale man. Hij geeft de
vakken Nederlands, wiskunde en maatschappelijke vorming in Levenslust in Sint-Martens-Lennik, een school voor misbruikte en
probleemkinderen. Voorts is hij hoofdleider
van de chiro van Schepdaal,
actief in het plaatselijke jeugdhuis en maakte hij onlangs met een collega een
jeugdfilm. Er was nooit sprake van fysiek misbruik van de kinderen, alles zou
zich op het internet hebben afgespeeld. De ouders van G., die nog thuis woonde,
zijn zwaar aangeslagen door de arrestatie van hun zoon op Hemelvaartsdag. ,,Hij
is naïef en dom geweest'', reageert moeder Mia. ,,Hij
is op het internet op iets gestoten. Volgens mij is hij er door iemand
ingeluisd. Ik ben er kapot van.'' ,,De hele buurt werd ondervraagd en niemand
kan iets slechts over Robrecht vertellen'', vult vader Frederic
aan. ,,Hij staat altijd voor iedereen paraat en zou niemand kwaad doen. Hij is
al tien jaar leider bij de chiro en nog nooit was er
een klacht.'' Dat G. vaak achter zijn computer zat, geven de ouders toe. ,,Hij
doet niets anders. Dat moet ook voor zijn werk. Hij is met van alles bezig,
maar heeft nooit een vlieg kwaad gedaan. Wat hij op het internet deed, weten
wij niet. Naar porno kijken is iets wat elke gezonde man doet. Wij staan voor
de volle honderd procent achter onze zoon.'' Erfgenaam van Wacko:
Ook G.'s collega's en vrienden zijn met verstomming geslagen. ,,Ik kan het
bijna niet geloven'', reageert Johan Hemmeryckx. Hij en G. maakten vorige maand samen met de
leerlingen van het eerste jaar van Levenslust de jongerenfilm De erfgenaam van Wacko. ,,Ik ben ook ondervraagd omdat ik maanden geleden
Robrecht heb geholpen met een computerprobleem. Ik heb toen niets gemerkt of
gevonden. Ik kan niet geloven dat hij tot zoiets in staat is. Mijn kinderen
gaan ook bij hem naar de chiro. Toch maak ik me
weinig zorgen omdat ik vrij zeker ben dat het niet kan.'' Het gerecht viel ook
binnen in Levenslust. ,,Ze hebben de computer en documenten in beslag
genomen'', zegt de directie. ,,De details van deze pijnlijke zaak kennen wij
niet. Er werd ons wel bevestigd dat de feiten zich in de privé-sfeer van
Robrecht afspelen en niets met onze school te maken hebben.'' Vorig schooljaar kreeg G. twee
onderscheidingen van de leerlingen van Levenslust: die van Actiefste en
creatiefste leerkracht en Grappigste leerkracht.
57
victims of abuse take own lives in five years -- May 4, 2005
-- Irish Independent -- At least 57
survivors of residential institutions have taken their lives in the past
five years. That's according to a survivors' group which is to press for
enhanced counselling services for people dealing with the Residential Institutions Redress Board. A man who apparently
threw himself into the Liffey in Dublin last week is believed to have been the
latest survivor of the industrial school system to take their own life. Tony Tracy of Right of Place, a
state-funded organisation set up to help and support survivors of
institutional abuse, said there had been 76
suicides since 1999 and at least 57
in the past five years. Describing the figures as
"shocking", he said that the organisation would be raising the issue
during a meeting with the Redress Board on Friday. "We feel that the line
of questioning might be a bit harsh on certain people and maybe it has an
affect on them," he added. Up to 2000, the Cork-based organisation had
documented 19 suicides by adults who had been in residential care. However,
groups representing survivors say there has been a surge in the number of
deaths in the past five years and point to the "cumulative affect" of
possible childhood trauma and pressures later in life. Some working in the area
also have concerns about the personal pressures which many very vulnerable
survivors feel in relation to the compensation they receive, or hope to
receive, through the Redress Board. The
average size of awards being paid to victims is currently €78,000 and the
Redress Board anticipates it will receive between 7,500 and 8,000 claims when the
three-year period for applications to the scheme closes on December 15. Anthony 'Mousey' Delaney, a former resident
of St Joseph's Industrial School in Letterfrack, Co Galway, is believed to have taken his own life last
Tuesday by throwing himself into the Liffey. Mr
Delaney had visited a drop-in centre run by the National Office for Victims of Abuse (NOVA) that day. Legislation
prevents the Redress Board from commenting on individual cases. However, a
spokesperson for the Department of Education said counselling services were
available for survivors through the state-funded NOVA. Meer informatie over suïcidepogingen en suïcide als
gevolg van seksueel grensoverschrijdend gedrag (GOG) door hulpverleners treft u
in onze rubriek WETENSCHAPPELIJKE FEITEN aan.
Residential
School Deal to Offer Survivors Lump Sum: report – May 4, 2005 – CBC News Online -- OTTAWA - Ottawa may offer lump sum
compensation payments to victims of residential schools to clear up a backlog of
thousands of cases, according to a report.
A Lost Heritage: Canada's
Residential Heritage: The federal government and the Assembly of First
Nations are close to reaching a deal, the Canadian Press reported Wednesday.
The proposal includes offering each former student $10,000, plus $3,000 for
each year spent in a residential school, says the report. The deal also
reportedly includes creating a national truth-and-reconciliation forum to give
survivors a chance to tell their stories. More than 12,000 survivors of
residential schools have filed lawsuits, but fewer than 1,500 of them have
filed applications through Ottawa's
fast track procedure, the Alternative Dispute Resolution program. It's
estimated that under the current program, it will take 50 years and cost $2
billion to clear the backlog. Also read both of the news articles of April 22, 2005 as published
on this page.
Schoolboy
allegedly forced to drink urine -- April 25, 2005 -- iol.co.za
-- A
five-year-old boy at Zululand's eMachakwini
Primary School was allegedly forced to drink urine by
his teacher, the KwaZulu-Natal
education department said on Monday. The boy allegedly urinated in a bucket,
and his teacher told him he would either have his penis chopped off or have to
drink the urine. "The child - who suffers from asthma - chose to drink the
urine," the department's spokesperson Christi Naude
said. "The stress seemed to have brought on an asthma attack at home and
he was taken to the doctor by his family, who, after learning about the
incident, laid a charge at the Msane police
station." She said Ina Cronje, the province's
education MEC, was awaiting a final report from the circuit manager before
taking any action against the teacher. "The MEC is horrified that an
educator, who is entrusted with caring for our children, can act in such a
callous and inhumane manner," she said.
Few 'fast track' dollars getting to
residential school claimants – April
22, 2005 -- SASK.CBC.CA News -- REGINA - Figures released in Ottawa show that less
than $1 million dollars has been paid to victims
of residential school abuse under what's been called a fast-track program –
yet as much as $34 million has been spent administering the program. The
figures are found in a government
document tabled in the House of
Commons last week. Conservative MP Jim Prentice had asked the Liberal
government for a breakdown of money spent through the Alternative Dispute
Resolution program. More than 13,000
former students at Indian residential schools have filed claims against Ottawa alleging sexual and physical abuse and loss of
language and culture. To speed up settlements, the Indian Residential
Schools Resolution Department launched the ADR program in 2003. Instead of
suing the government and going through the courts, former students can submit
their claims to adjudicators. At the time ADR was introduced, Finance Minister
Ralph Goodale said 45 per cent of the money would go to
administration. But the figures provided by Deputy Prime Minister Anne McLellan suggest a much larger percentage is not being paid
to claimants. From the beginning of the program in Nov. 3, 2003 to Feb. 28, 2005, ADR claim compensation was
$934,740. Total expenses, including money for research, operational costs,
adjudicator costs, government lawyers, case manager costs, travel expenses and
compensation totalled as much as $34.7 million. However, the government says
some of the research costs were non-ADR related, so the total expenses could
theoretically be as low as $13 million. The
final result: money for claims represents three to seven per cent of the money
spent. Regina
lawyer Tony Merchant, whose firm has handled thousands of residential school
claims, says this is another example of aboriginal people being mistreated by
the government. "They carry on the pretense of
being fair and in reality, they're not fair to anyone," he said. However
the man who runs the alternative claims process disagrees. Ted Hughes says his
adjudicators have approved claims totalling $7 million, although he can't say
how much of that has actually been paid so far. Ted Hughes, the head
adjudicator for ADR says the program is succeeding and in the months to come
more and more claimants will be signing up. "The numbers are growing and I
predict...it's on the verge of a take off," he said.
Cost
of administering residential school program 'staggering' – April
22, 2005 -- According to a government document released in
April, the alternative dispute resolution program has spent less than $1
million on payments to victims, while up to $34 million has been spent on
administration. Under the program, an adjudicator would determine the
claimant's award following a closed-door hearing. Ottawa said 45 per cent of the cost would go
to administration and the rest would go to claimants. An estimated 100,000
aboriginal children lived in the once-mandatory system of residential schools
from 1930 to 1996.
In City Schools, Five Teachers Are Accused
of Sex Offenses -- April 21,
2005 -- NY TIMES -- Charges filed yesterday against a math teacher in Brooklyn
were the latest in a string of five cases said to have involved criminal or
inappropriate behavior by school employees that have
stunned parents and school officials. The
teacher, Joanna Hernandez, 27, surrendered to face misdemeanor
charges of kissing one of her students, a 15-year-old boy, in an empty
classroom at Intermediate School 55
in Brownsville
during school hours, the police said. Ms. Hernandez's arrest came a day after
Schools Chancellor Joel I. Klein issued an extraordinary warning to principals
throughout the city. "I will use all means at my disposal to see that sex
offenders are removed from our school system and prosecuted to the fullest
extent of the law," Mr. Klein said in an e-mail message. He warned faculty
members to be on the lookout for school employees who make lewd or
inappropriate remarks, and those who have sexual or romantic relations with
students. Mr. Klein also called for a tightening of state laws that he said now
make firing sexual offenders "far too cumbersome and protracted." A
spokesman for the Department of Education, Keith Kalb,
said last night that Ms. Hernandez, a teacher in the city school system since
2001, had been reassigned to administrative duties away from students. He said
each of the other school employees facing charges of sexual activities, including two other women in their 20's,
had either resigned or been reassigned away from classroom duties. Pending
formal disciplinary proceedings, he said, "We will move to fire every one
of them." The succession of charges, brought by the New York Police
Department and Richard Condon, the special schools investigator, began last
week. The police said another teacher came upon Ms. Hernandez and her student
kissing on April 12. The identity of that boy, like those of the other students
involved in the cases, have not been made public. Mr. Kalb
said the principal of I.S. 55 was immediately informed, and Ms. Hernandez was
reassigned last week to a regional operations center
in Queens. The police said she surrendered
yesterday to face charges of sexual abuse and endangering the welfare of a
minor, both misdemeanors. Two female faculty members at the High School for Health Professions
and Human Services in Manhattan were also removed from contact with
students last week after investigations by Mr. Condon's office. Mr. Kalb said that one of the women, Rhianna Ellis, 25, had given birth to a son whose father was an
18-year-old in her social studies class. The other case at the same high school
involved Samantha Solomon, a 29-year-old
guidance counselor, who had sex with a
17-year-old student, school officials said. Mr. Kalb
said last night that Ms. Ellis had indicated that she planned to resign, and
that disciplinary proceedings against Ms. Solomon were pending. Neither of the
women was charged with criminal activity. Both liaisons were with students over
16, which state law deems the age of consent, and both students had described
their relations as consensual. Two other cases last week involved male school
employees. Mr. Condon charged that Jermaine Reid, 27, a high school English
teacher, had engaged in sexual relations with two female students, 16 and
18, over a period of many months at two schools in Queens.
He had become involved with the younger girl while teaching at August Martin
High School, and the
18-year-old at Richmond Hill
High School, where he had
been transferred, Mr. Kalb said. Mr. Reid has not
reported for work since he was confronted last week with the charges against
him, and it was not clear yesterday whether he intended to resign before facing
disciplinary proceedings. Mr. Kalb said his case has
been referred to the Queens district attorney,
Richard A. Brown, but it was not known whether criminal charges would be
brought. Last Friday, Joseph Morales, 28, a teacher at I.S. 24 on Staten Island, was charged with public lewdness and
endangering the welfare of minors after witnesses told the police he exposed
himself to many people, including teenage girls, at several places since
February. In his remarks to principals on Tuesday, Chancellor Klein reiterated
his call for lawmakers in Albany
to make it a criminal offense for any school employee
to have sex with a student, even if the student has reached the age of consent.
State Senator Carl Kruger, a Brooklyn Democrat, introduced such a bill in
January.
Directeur Boy Scouts of America beschuldigd van kinderporno -- 30 maart 2005 -- De Morgen -- CHICAGO - De nationaal
directeur van de organisatie Boy Scouts of America
is beschuldigd van het bezit en de verspreiding van kinderporno. Hij zal
woensdag voor een rechtbank in Texas verschijnen. Dat
heeft een gerechtelijke bron in Chicago dinsdag
gemeld. Op de computer van Douglas Sovereign Smith zijn foto's
van kinderen in "seksueel expliciete houdingen" aangetroffen, zo
melden gerechtelijke documenten. Op de foto's zijn "genitale delen"
en "oraal-genitale en genitaal-genitale
seksuele handelingen" te zien, aldus de documenten. De organisatie Boy
Scouts of America werd in 1910 in Chicago
opgericht en telde in 2003 meer dan 3 miljoen leden. De organisatie en de
advocaat van Smith waren dinsdag niet bereikbaar voor
commentaar.
Schrijver
in cel voor misbruik -- 14 maart 2005 – Algemeen Dagblad – BRUSSEL – Voor de Vlaamse
publieke omroep regisseerde hij ‘Van kattenkwaad tot erger’, en precies zo verging
het de veelvuldig in de prijzen gevallen kinderboekenschrijver
Gie Laenen (61) zelf. De rechtbank in Mechelen
veroordeelde hem tot zes jaar cel wegens seksueel misbruik van zeker 25
jongens. Laenen, ooit docent Nederlands aan het
kleinseminarie in Hoogstraten, werd in 1973 al gestraft voor misbruik van
leerlingen. Hij zat drie maanden vast en ging daarna weer in de fout. De
succesvolle auteur was een meestermanipulator. Prille tieners bleven soms vele
weekenden slapen en moesten meedoen aan seksspelletjes. Zijn echtgenote Mieke liet het misbruik oogluikend toe. Het feit dat zij
altijd thuis was, stelde argwanende ouders gerust. “De droomvrouw voor elke
pedofiel”, aldus één van hun slachtoffers. Mieke Laenen kreeg wegens ‘schuldig verzuim’ één jaar voorwaardelijk. Volwassen mannen getuigden
voord e rechter hoe ze als tiener de schrijver of zichzelf moesten bevredigen
of met hem moesten tongzoenen. Een aantal van Laenens
slachtoffers dienden in de nadagen van de Dutroux-zaak
een aanklacht in bij de politie. Op internet braken verhitte discussies uit
over de gevolgen van het misbruik. De nu 32-jarige Sven,
misbruikt vanaf zijn 10de jaar, zei na Laenens
veroordeling ‘eindelijk te kunnen gaan werken aan zijn trauma’.
Britse
tiener: levenslang na verkrachting – 12
maart 2005 – Algemeen Dagblad – LONDEN – Een 13-jarige Britse jongen krijgt waarschijnlijk levenslang omdat hij
zijn lerares heeft verkracht. De destijds 12-jarige jongen vergreep zich
aan de vrouw toen hij met haar alleen was in een centrum voor probleemkinderen.
Volgens de rechter kan de jongen niet volledig verantwoordelijk worden gehouden
voor de problemen die hem tot zijn daad hebben gebracht. Hij vindt echter ook
dat het publiek beschermd dient te worden omdat het zeer waarschijnlijk is dat
de verdachte opnieuw in de fout zal gaan.
Lerares
aangeklaagd voor ontucht met leerlingen – 9 maart 2005 – Telegraaf -- WASHINGTON - Een 37-jarige lerares uit de Amerikaanse staat Virginia
is aangeklaagd wegens ontucht met vier
van haar leerlingen. Volgens dagblad The Charleston Gazette
staat in de aanklacht dat zij met de
minderjarigen, van wie het geslacht niet bekend is gemaakt, herhaaldelijk seks
zou hebben gehad. De vrouw verscheen, in verband met doodsbedreigingen aan
haar adres, met een kogelvrij vest in de rechtszaal. Zij is tegen een borgsom
van ongeveer 75.000 euro op vrije voeten gesteld. Als de vrouw veroordeeld
wordt, hangt haar een gevangenisstraf van vijf jaar en een boete van maximaal
7500 euro per aanklacht boven het hoofd.
Lerares sekst met leerling
in wagen terwijl 2-jarig zoontje in kinderzitje zit – 2 maart 2005 – Het Laatste Nieuws
-- Een
30-jarige Amerikaanse lerares wordt vervolgd nadat ze vorige week met een
16-jarige leerling in compromitterende houding was betrapt terwijl haar 2-jarig
zoontje in zijn kinderzitje zat. De
30-jarige getrouwde lerares Margaret De Barraicua van de Leonardo Da Vinci- middelbare school uit Sacramento
in Californië heeft vier aanklachten rond ontucht met een minderjarige aan haar been.
"Rond vijf uur in de vooravond kregen we een oproep over een verdachte
wagen voor de school. Twee agenten van ons korps gingen poolshoogte nemen en
betrapten de twee daar in volle actie. De ruiten van de wagen waren
gedeeltelijk aangedampt. De Barraicua en de leerling
hadden amper kleren aan. Haar twee-jarig kindje zat
van voor vast in zijn kinderzitje", aldus een woordvoerder van de politie
van Sacramento.
Tientallen
arrestaties om kinderporno Nieuw-Zeeland -- 21 februari 2005 -- Telegraaf -- WELLINGTON - In Nieuw-Zeeland zijn 41 mensen aangehouden wegens bezit van en handel in kinderporno. Dit
heeft de politie maandag laten weten. Het gaat op de grootste politieactie
tegen kinderporno ooit in Nieuw-Zeeland. Onder
de arrestanten zijn leraren en sporttrainers. De actie werd mogelijk door
informatie uit het buitenland. Duizenden beelden van seksueel misbruik van
kinderen zijn in beslag genomen. Veel verdachten hebben al bekend, aldus
politie-inspecteur B. Hollewand op de Nieuw-Zeelandse
nationale radio. Op het bezit van kinderporno staat in Nieuw-Zeeland een
maximum celstraf van zes maanden.
Kinderverkrachtster trouwt met slachtoffer – 14
februari 2005 – Gazet van Antwerpen -- De
Amerikaanse Mary Kay Letourneau trouwt in april eindelijk met haar oud-leerling Vili
Fualaau. De
43-jarige lerares zat 7,5 jaar in de gevangenis omdat ze Fualaau verkrachtte toen hij haar 12-jarige leerling was.
Het paar heeft twee dochters. Een vriend van het paar, Noel
Soriano, zei maandag in de krant Seattle
Post-Intelligencer blij te zijn dat het er eindelijk
van gekomen is. "Ze hebben veel doorgemaakt. Dat ze nog steeds bij elkaar
zijn, bewijst hoe sterk hun liefde is." Letourneau
kwam afgelopen augustus vrij. Ze zou al in de herfst een huwelijksaanzoek
hebben gedaan dat Fualaau accepteerde. Toen de
relatie in 1996 begon was Letourneau getrouwd en had
ze vier kinderen. Bij haar arrestatie een jaar later was ze zwanger van Fualaau. Ze werd veroordeeld tot een half jaar
gevangenisstraf. Een maand na haar vrijlating werd ze betrapt terwijl ze seks
had met Fualaau in haar auto. Ze bekende schuld aan
twee gevallen van kinderverkrachting en werd veroordeeld tot 7,5 jaar
gevangenisstraf. In de gevangenis beviel ze van haar tweede kind van Fualaau. Zijn moeder zorgt voor de twee dochters, die nu 6
en 7 jaar oud zijn.
Watch videoclip
on teacher sexual abuse: Former
Lakewood teacher accused of molesting young boy – February 11, 2005 -- Watch the video op wkyc.com -- Lakewood teacher accused
of molesting young boy
February 04, 2005
LAKEWOOD -- He was trusted with
teaching children, but now he’s accused of molesting a young boy. The former
teacher and teachers aide is behind bars facing some serious charges. Now, prosecutors
want to know whether there are more victims who just haven’t come forward. James
Overman has been a respected teacher for years.
Prosecutors say his victim was an 11-year-old boy. He’s in jail tonight
being held on $100,000 bond. Police say it happened when Overman
was babysitting. Overman was a teacher and he worked
in Lakewood for
several years backpack the 70s and 80’s. Before he was arrested Overman lived in a Lakewood
home across from a park. Neighbors say he kept to
himself. “I only seen him like four times go downstairs to his car,” one said.
“I never seen him with no little kids or nothing.” Overman
believes he’s not guilty according to his attorney. He, of course, will get a
chance to tell his side of the story to a judge - but if found guilty then -
the charges because of the child’s age could bring a life sentence.
Charges among others: 40 counts of
rape, 20 counts of kidnapping.
Cops say female
teacher was 'half naked' in car with teen
Vrouwelijke pleger / female
offender
Chicago Sun-Times
February 11, 2005
A Morgan
Park High
School teacher has been suspended after
police said they found her "half naked'' in a car with a 17-year-old
student. The teacher was identified as Mariama
Buchanan, 27, of the 9700 block of South Prospect, who was hired to teach
English at Morgan Park just last February. It was reportedly her first teaching
job. The male student is a member of the school's highly rated football team.
Chicago Police have charged both with public indecency, a misdemeanor.
"The teacher was reassigned to administrative duty off-campus as soon as
we learned of the incident," CPS spokesman Michael Vaughn said Thursday.
He said CPS is investigating the incident. "Our main concern is for the
student and the school community. We will take the appropriate disciplinary
action when the investigation has been completed," he said. Police
arrested and charged the teacher and student on Monday, after officers found
the two inside a parked car, undressed, around 7 p.m. Police said they were
called to the 600 block of West Englewood on a complaint of a "suspicious
vehicle."
Teacher charged
with having sex with 13-year-old student
Vrouwelijke pleger / female offender
February 09, 2005
wkyc.com
McMINNVILLE, Tennessee -- A Tennessee elementary teacher has been
charged with multiple counts of sexual battery and statutory rape for her alleged
involvement with a 13-year-old male student. Pamela Turner, a
27-year-old girls’ physical education teacher and basketball coach, is free
on a $50,000 bond. She’s been put on leave from her job in McMinnville. A
prosecutor says investigators believe some offenses
happened at school and some at the boy’s home, where Turner lived briefly.
Conviction on all counts could be punished by up to 100 years in prison.
Officials
Propose Felony Act For Failure To
Report Abuse
January 30, 2005
Chicago WBBM-TV (onder
bovenstaande link treft u naast het artikel ook een link aan via die u een
nieuwsvideo kunt bekijken)
BERWYN, Illinois (CBS 2) New
state legislation has been introduced that would hold anyone who doesn't report
allegations of inappropriate touching to face felony charges. The proposal
comes on the wake of sex abuse charges against a Berwyn teacher. Berwyn police say 45-year-old band teacher Robert Sperlik
confessed to touching students after duct-taping them to desks at Pershing and Irving elementary schools.
Parents are outraged that school officials never notified state authorities
about complaints against Sperlik that initially surfaced in 2001. That's why
state officials want anyone who doesn't report allegations of inappropriate
touching to face felony charges. "If they are derelict in their duties in
reporting issues,” said State Senator
Martin Sandoval, “let them lose their jobs." There's an election
coming up in Berwyn.
Michael Woodward, the City Clerk who called a news conference about the issue,
is also running for mayor. Woodward's political enemies say he's using the
incident for political gain. Meanwhile, parents are still reeling from the
school scandal. "I can't believe it,” said parent Pat Paolicchi.
Some parents support Robert Sperlik, who taught music to all of their children over his
20 year career. They believe there must be an explanation. "I was
shocked,” said Paolicchi, “I know him to be a
wonderful man and great teacher." "I've never heard anything
negative,” said another parent, Frank Mastney, “all
of the sudden he's a monster. It's impossible for me to make that switch."
State Senator Sandoval and Representative Robert Molaro
will introduce the bill Monday, calling for stricter penalties against those
who fail to report child abuse. Sperlik is still
being held without bail in county jail on charges of kidnapping and criminal
sexual abuse.
21
students accuse teacher
ABC 7 Chicago
January 26, 2005
As many as 21 students have come forward
with allegations of sexual abuse
by a suburban music teacher. Police are interviewing the students, who may
be
victims or may have witnessed the alleged crimes. Robert Sperlik, 45, is
charged in five cases involving five female students. On Wednesday, the
first civil lawsuit was filed.
Murcia sex abuse teacher
suspended
January 24, 2005
Thinkspain.com
The teacher at Murcia´s Narciso Yepes Junior School accused of sexually
abusing a four year old boy in his class has been suspended by the regional
education authority and replaced with a substitute teacher until the charges
against him have been thoroughly investigated. The boy´s
father, Manuel Correa, who along with around fifty other parents took part in a
protest at the school this morning, explained that he reported the incident to
the police last Friday after his son had come home complaining of pain in his
legs and buttocks, "the boy told us that the teacher had abused him on
several occasions, and that he had done the same with other four and five year
olds in his care." It is alleged that the teacher would lock the children
in a room with toys during break and make them take down their trousers to play
the "Lion" and other games. They were told to keep quiet about what
was going on so nobody else would know. The boy´s
mother explained that she had talked to other parents whose children have also
been abused by the same teacher. Staff at the school released a statement
expressing their "full support" for their colleague, "who did
not commit the abuses he is accused of."
Official:
School was warned
Vrouwelijke pleger / female offender
Los Angeles
Times
January 13, 2005
Orange Unified School District
officials continued Wednesday to bear down
on a local charter school, accusing school leaders of not protecting students
from an abusive teacher. In a letter to directors of Santiago Charter
Middle
School,
district Supt. Robert French contended that school administrators
had been warned about the English
teacher before her arrest this month on
charges that she had sexual
relationships with two teenage students.
Crossing
the line: a tainted record
Albuquerque Tribune
January 13, 2005
Dan Simmons will win you a
basketball game. Hire him and he produces -
just as he did with the Rio Grande High School girls program, which he molded from
a 1-23 squad in 1991-92 to a state champion by 1998. "He was the type of
coach who built rapport with his players," said Pete Pino,
now Rio Grande's
athletics director and Ravens boys basketball coach during part of
Simmons' tenure. "He was well-respected." But others say another side
to Simmons
exists one that tainted his bright coaching career and lately has spawned
increased concern in Albuquerque
over relationships between young female players and
their adult male coaches.
Coach
found guilty
Rocky Mountain
News
January 12, 2005
A former Dakota Ridge
High School student
threw her arms around the
district attorney and cried after her tennis
coach was convicted Tuesday on a
sexual assault charge. Kevin Ponis, 36, was convicted on one charge of sexual
assault on a child by a person in a position of trust as a pattern of conduct,
a
charge that carries a minimum sentence of eight years to life in prison.
"It's unfortunate that he had to cheat us all out of our wonderful
memories (of
high school)," said Ali LeCoq, a former member
of the tennis team and a friend
of the victim who testified at the trial. "He tainted everything we had.
We
can't ever feel safe going to school or being around our coaches and teachers.
It's not fair to us." LeCoq said students
"knew" school officials would do
nothing to stop Ponis. "He was accused of similar things before and nothing
happened," she said. "The school ignored many, many things. Dakota
Ridge needs a
whole turnover."
Family
settles for $1.5 million in teacher sex case
Vrouwelijke pleger / female offender
Boca Raton News
January 12, 2005
A Boynton
Beach elementary teacher may have been the one who
allegedly
engaged in a two-year sexual
relationship with her 11-year-old student, but the
boy's parents sued the woman's husband instead, claiming he should have known
about the incidents. The victim's family negotiated a $1.5 million lawsuit
against Douglas Depue
over the summer, according to court documents released
yesterday. The family said Depue shared partial
responsibility since
several of the alleged sexual acts between his wife, Carol Flannigan, 40, and the
victim, occurred at the couple's home in Boca
Raton. Flannigan,
a music
teacher at Rolling
Green Elementary
School, was arrested in January 2003
and charged with one count of sexual battery and lewd or lascivious behavior,
after the victim's stepmother stumbled upon text messages that indicated
the two had sexual contact, according to the probable cause affidavit.
Ex-teacher
sued in molesting case
Jackson Sun (Miss.)
January 10, 2005
The families
of four girls who accuse their former
fifth-grade teacher of
molesting them filed a federal lawsuit seeking damages and policy changes
for the Gibson County
Special School
District. They are suing their alleged
abuser, former Medina Middle School
teacher Phillip Navel; the Gibson
County Special School District; Medina Elementary and Middle School principals,
Chad Jackson and Calvin Bailey; Superintendent Robert Galloway; former
Superintendent John Scott; and school board members Sara Meals, Katrina
Jetton, Joey Hays, Tommy Griggs, Bruce Pate, Phil Hickerson
and Pat
Luckey, according to a press release from the
plaintiffs' attorneys. The suit
accuses the system of negligence in hiring Navel, failing to act swiftly when
problems arose and for failing to publicly announce any policy changes in light
of
the incident. The suit was filed in U.S. District Court in Jackson.
www.misbruikdoorhulpverleners.nl