An electronic publication of Survivors And Victims Empowered                              May 7, 2013

Ft. Hood sexual assault prevention coordinator accused of “abusive sexual conduct”… 

A soldier assigned to coordinate a sexual assault prevention program in Texas is under investigation for “abusive sexual contact” and other alleged misconduct and has been suspended from his duties, the Army announced Tuesday.  CBS News story here

Just last week an Air Force officer who headed a sexual assault prevention office was himself arrested on charges of groping a woman in a parking lot.

The Army said a sergeant first class, whose name was not released, is accused of pandering, abusive sexual contact, assault and maltreatment of subordinates. He is being investigated by the Army Criminal Investigation Command. No charges have been filed.

He had been assigned as an equal opportunity adviser and coordinator of a sexual harassment-assault prevention program at the Army’s 3rd Corps headquarters at Fort Hood, Texas, when the allegation arose, the Army said.

“To protect the integrity of the investigative process and the rights of all persons involved, no more information will be released at this time,” an Army statement said.

The back-to-back Army and Air Force cases highlight a problem that is drawing increased scrutiny in Congress and expressions of frustration from top Pentagon leaders. Pentagon press secretary George Little said after Tuesday’s announcement that Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel is angry and disappointed at “these troubling allegations and the breakdown in discipline and standards they imply.”

Ariel Castro calls himself “coldblooded”, admits abductions…  

During interrogation with police, Ariel Castro, the man charged with kidnapping and raping three women over roughly 10 years, referred to himself as “coldblooded,” addicted to sex and unable to control his impulses, WKYC Channel 3 News has learned.  USA Today story here

With exacting detail, Castro recalled the abductions of Michelle Knight, Amanda Berry and Gina DeJesus, explaining how he met each victim and even what he was wearing that day, according to sources.

Berry, 27, and DeJesus, 23, were abducted in separate incidents almost a decade ago. Michelle Knight was 22 when she was snatched from the streets in 2002.

The 6-year-old girl born in captivity to kidnapping victim Amanda Berry is the daughter of kidnapping and rape suspect Ariel Castro, Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine said Friday.

Preliminary DNA test results confirm Castro’s paternity, DeWine said in a press release.

The state’s Bureau of Criminal Investigation worked through the night to process a sample of Castro’s DNA received late Thursday afternoon, DeWine said. The DNA was compared to other profile’s in the state’s database, but did not match any other Ohio cases. The FBI will now run the sample through its database to determine whether it matches any national cases, DeWine said.

In other news… 

According to the FBI, one of every four women in the United States will experience some sort of assault by a boyfriend or husband during her life. Although domestic violence is often a silent crime, some victims bear permanent reminders – tattoos – that demonstrate how their abusers regarded them as little more than property. FindLaw story here  Domestic violence is now known to have a wide scope. It broadly includes anything done against a person’s will in the confines of a relationship between a victim and an assailant. It includes a wide variety of criminal acts other than physical assault. Anyone can be a victim: spouses, sexual or intimate partners, family members, children and co-habitants.  Increasingly common has been forced tattooing, usually by men against women. One New York teenager experienced this form of domestic violence when she was 14-years-old. With the help of her own boyfriend, four men raped her and tattooed her boyfriend’s name on her neck using a needle and pencil lead.

The Vatican says the Scottish cardinal who resigned as archbishop after admitting to sexual misconduct will leave Scotland for several months of prayer and atonement.  FoxNews story here Cardinal Keith O’Brien recused himself from the March conclave that elected Pope Francis pontiff after a newspaper reported unnamed priests’ allegations that he acted inappropriately toward them.  O’Brien subsequently acknowledged he had engaged in unspecified sexual misbehavior. He resigned as archbishop of St. Andrews and Edinburgh, apologized and promised to stay out of the church’s public life.  On Wednesday, the Vatican said O’Brien, once Britain’s highest-ranking Catholic leader, had decided in agreement with Francis to leave Scotland for several months of “prayer, penance and spiritual renewal.” A statement says his future arrangements would be decided on in agreement with the Holy See.

David Finkelhor, Director of the Crimes Against Children Research Center at the University of New Hampshire and a researcher for the National Incidence Studies of Missing, Abducted, Runaway, and Thrownaway Children, has an oped in the Washington Post on the five biggest myths about missing children.  Washington Post story here In order, they are:

• Most missing children have been abducted by strangers.
• More and more children are going missing.
• The Internet has made kidnapping easier.
• Prevention lies in teaching children to avoid strangers.
• The main goal should be to reunite children with their families.

An electronic publication of Survivors And Victims Empowered                           May 7, 2013

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Three Cleveland Teens abducted a decade ago found alive with six year old…

911 call — ‘I’ve been kidnapped!’ — cops find 3 women missing for years. CNN story here

Amanda Berry was last seen after finishing her shift at a Burger King in Cleveland in 2003. It was the eve of her 17th birthday.

Georgina “Gina” DeJesus disappeared nearly a year later, in April 2004. She was 14.

Michele Knight vanished in 2002, at age 19, according to the Cleveland Plain Dealer newspaper.

But all three were found alive in a home in a Cleveland neighborhood Monday night, police announced in a development hailed as a miracle by their families.

“Help me, I am Amanda Berry,” the young woman told police in a frantic 911 call from a neighbor’s house. “I’ve been kidnapped, and I’ve been missing for 10 years. And I’m here, I’m free now.”

Police swiftly moved in on the house where the three women said they had been held and later arrested a 52-year-old man, identified as a former school bus driver. Two others, identified as his brothers, ages 50 and 54, also have been arrested, Deputy Police Chief Ed Tomba told reporters late Monday. Police believe only the middle brother lived at the home, he said.

The men are being held in the city jail awaiting charges. An FBI team is collecting evidence in the house.

“This is a great, great outcome that we have them still with us,” Tomba said. “It’s just truly, truly amazing and it’s a blessing to the community and to the members of the police department and their families that they’re alive. I can’t tell you how happy we are.”

Those feelings were echoed at Cleveland’s Metro Health Medical Center where the three women and a fourth person were treated before being released Tuesday morning.

“This isn’t the ending we usually hear to these stories, so we’re very happy,” said Dr. Gerald Maloney, an emergency room physician there. “We’re very happy for them.”

A fourth person had been treated at the hospital. Maloney would not identify that person, but witnesses said Berry, who escaped from the house with the help of a neighbor, had a young child with her.

An electronic publication of Survivors And Victims Empowered                              May 6, 2013

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14 year old Texas girl abducted from church by 23 year old “ex-boyfriend”… 

A teenage girl who was allegedly abducted at knifepoint from a Texas church by her “obsessed” former boyfriend might be in grave danger, police said today. 

ABC News story here

Authorities said they believe Jesus Ramirez, 23, was upset with his ex-girlfriend, 14-year-old Ruby Zavala, spurring him to kidnap the teen, her mother and her sister Sunday from Saint Michael’s Catholic Church in Mount Pleasant, Texas.

“Based on some evidence we have uncovered, he was upset with her and we believe this was planned,” Mount Pleasant Police Chief Wayne Isbell said.

Isbell declined to elaborate on what evidence was found, but said the couple had a “volatile” relationship. Zavala’s parents recently contacted authorities, he said, who initiated an offense report for sexual assault against Ramirez.

“We believe he is still unstable,” Isbell said. “He may be delusional. He’s obsessed with the girl.”

Ramirez left the church, driving his three hostages in Zavala’s mother’s truck, Isbell said. The teen’s mother and sister were released Sunday afternoon.

A short time later, Isbell said, authorities located the wrecked and abandoned truck in a wooded area eight miles west of the city.

A search of the surrounding area turned up empty, he said, and the truck was towed to collect evidence.

Ruby Zavala is described as 5 feet tall and 120 pounds. She has black hair, brown eyes and was last seen wearing a white top, jeans and tan shoes.

Jesus Ramirez is described as 5 feet 9 inches tall and 165 pounds. He has black hair, brown eyes and was last seen wearing a baseball cap.

Isbell said authorities consider Ramirez armed and dangerous, and possibly suicidal. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Mount Pleasant Police Department at (903) 575-4004.

Isbell says police do not believe the teen is willingly with the 23-year-old Ramirez, though they have reportedly dated in the past without her parents’ knowledge.  NBC News story here

Isbell says Ramirez is apparently obsessed with the teen and has a criminal record involving children.

“The suspect has already previously been charged with sexual assault of a child before,” Isbell says. “We have reason to believe he may be mentally unstable and suicidal.”

Ramirez pleaded guilty to aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, a second-degree felony, in 2007. He was given deferred adjudication and spent five years on probation.

For more on teens in abusive relationships see http://childprotectionguide.org/child-protection-eguide-subjects/teens-in-abusive-relationships/. 

For more statutory rape, see http://childprotectionguide.org/child-protection-eguide-subjects/statutory-rape/  

An electronic publication of Survivors And Victims Empowered                              May 2, 2013

Released N.Y. Giants linebacker pled guilty to felony child abuse… 

The New York Giants abruptly cut linebacker Michael Boley in February. Three days later, Boley was arrested for felony child abuse in Alabama.  NBC Sports story here

TMZ has the details, and the report suggests that the arrest came as part of a plea deal between Boley and prosecutors. Apparently, Boley pleaded guilty to the felony charge as a grand jury was preparing to convene to take up the case.

The booking information mentions Section 26-15-3 of the Alabama Code, which makes it a felony for any adult to “torture, willfully abuse, cruelly beat or otherwise willfully maltreat any child under the age of 18 years” in the adult’s care.

As part of the plea, Boley entered a pre-trial diversion program. If he complies with all terms of the program, the charge eventually will be dropped.

Boley apparently was dropped by the Giants because they were aware of the situation. It’s possible that Boley has remained unsigned in part because other teams are aware of it, too.

Boley spent four seasons with the Giants. He appeared in all 16 games last season, with 11 starts.

In other news…  

Roller-coasters, carnivals and kiddie rides may be a staple of summer fun, but a massive study of hospital injury records shows there’s a downside to the thrill: 4,400 kids a year who get hurt.  NBC News story here  Most of the injuries are not serious — just bumps and bruises, but about 67 kids a year, or 1.5 percent, are injured badly enough to be hospitalized, according to an analysis of data from the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System, which includes reports from about 100 nationally representative hospitals. It’s the most in-depth study to date, tracking 20 years of injuries which occurred at fixed-site amusement parks, mobile carnivals and fairs and coin-operated rides at places like malls, stores and restaurants.  About 20 kids a day are hurt on rides in the peak season between May and September. “That’s one every two hours,” said Dr. Gary A. Smith, who conducted the research for Center for Injury Research and Policy at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio.

An Army major and his wife disciplined their three foster children over a span of several years by withholding food and water and assaulting them severely enough to cause broken bones, a federal indictment released Tuesday charged.  AP story here  John and Carolyn Jackson of Mount Holly made an initial court appearance and were detained Tuesday pending a bail hearing Thursday. They face 17 counts including endangerment, assault and conspiracy. John Jackson surrendered after his wife was arrested at their home, federal officials said.

An elderly British television and radio personality has admitted to 14 counts of sexually abusing girls age 9 to 17 decades ago, it emerged on Thursday. The broadcaster, Stuart Hall, 83, pleaded guilty to the charges last month, but the news media was barred from reporting the plea until now.  N.Y. Times story here  Mr. Hall, a familiar figure on radio and television in a career spanning five decades, was first arrested in December and questioned as part of Operation Yewtree, a far-reaching criminal investigation into allegations of sexual abuse from as long as 50 years ago. He initially denied the charges, calling them “pernicious, callous, cruel and, above all, spurious.”

A report issue by a Human Rights Watch, a liberal advocacy group argues that including teens on sex offender registries does more harm than good.  CNN story here

A lawsuit against Harvard provides rare detail on the issues involving a diagnosis of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder from a student-health department.  N.Y. Times story here  Johnny Edwards, who had just finished his freshman year, received his diagnosis in June 2007 and was prescribed Adderall after a single examination at Harvard University Health Services. Mr. Edwards killed himself six months later after he was also prescribed antidepressant medications at the clinic.  The diagnosis of A.D.H.D. has no hard and fast rules and relies solely on a clinician’s appraisal. Although some experts require that neuropsychological testing and conversations with family members supplement the patient’s reports of problems, the diagnosis can be, and occasionally is, made in five minutes.  While some colleges are tightening their regulations for how or whether their student-health personnel can handle A.D.H.D., Harvard Student Health Services does not have a specific policy, a university spokesman said.

An electronic publication of Survivors And Victims Empowered                                      April 23, 2013

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Nicaragua Nabs US Most-Wanted Child Porn Suspect…

Police in Nicaragua have detained a former U.S. school teacher who was on the FBI’s 10 most-wanted fugitives as a suspect in a child pornography investigation, authorities confirmed Monday.

AP story from ABC News here

Eric Justin Toth was detained Saturday in Esteli, a city near Nicaragua’s border with Honduras, and will be immediately deported to the United States, said National Police chief Aminta Granera.

“Toth will be deported immediately because he was in our country illegally,” Granera said at a news conference in Managua, the capital.

She said Toth entered Nicaragua with a false passport and also had a fake driver’s license and credit cards.

Toth was being handed over to FBI agents present at the news conference and they planned to take him to the U.S. in a special plane, Granera said.

A thin and nervous-looking Toth dressed in cream-colored shirt and pants was briefly presented to journalists and photographers who took his picture, but he wasn’t allowed to talk and was quickly taken away.

Granera said Toth first entered Nicaragua on Oct. 24, 2012, and left on Jan. 27. He returned on Feb. 12 and that’s when Nicaraguan police began keeping a close watch, she said.

“He was captured in a house in the Panama Soberana neighborhood in Esteli, even though he resisted,” Granera said.

In a statement, the school commended the work of U.S. authorities.

“We commend the work of the Office of the U.S. Attorney and the FBI for their ongoing efforts to apprehend Mr. Toth. They have been tenacious and resolute in their quest to bring this case to justice,” it said.

Toth was added to the FBI’s most-wanted list in April 2012 for allegedly possessing and producing child pornography, giving him notoriety normally reserved for people sought in connection with violent crimes or terrorism.

Osama bin Laden and purported Boston mobster James “Whitey” Bulger have both been featured on that list, but the FBI said it put Toth on because there were no reliable clues as to his whereabouts and because his Internet skills and alleged penchant for grooming children made him especially dangerous.

Authorities found Toth’s car at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport in August 2008 with a note suggesting he’d committed suicide in a nearby lake. But no body was found.

The FBI, which had been offering a $100,000 reward for information leading to Toth’s arrest, said he was believed to have traveled to Virginia, Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin and Minnesota. It said Toth is originally from Hammond, Indiana, and is a graduate of Purdue University.

Toth is thought to have lived in Arizona in 2009.

The bureau had said that Toth might have been advertising as a tutor or a male nanny and using the alias of David Bussone.