NY – 8-year-old boy charged with sexual assualt

Article

The Associated Press

BUFFALO, N.Y. Authorities say that an 8-year-old boy who was charged with sexually abusing a 6-year-old boy told police he got the idea after watching an R-rated movie.

According to Buffalo police, the movie contained scenes of prison rape. A woman contacted police Friday after discovering the boys in her son’s room.The 6-year-old was treated in Women and Children’s Hospital.The Buffalo News reports that the 8-year-old, who was released to his mother, faces charges of criminal sexual act and aggravated sexual abuse, both felonies. He also faces charges of misdemeanor forcible touching and sexual misconduct.

IL – Law may deter sex offenders

Article

By KATE THAYER 

Law-enforcement officials hope that a new law will help solve cold cases while deterring repeat sex offenders.

The law, which takes Monday, requires convicted sex offenders to provide DNA samples as part of their sex-offender registration process. Officials say people convicted of misdemeanor sex offenses are those affected by the change.

Although treatment professionals support efforts to find repeat offenders, some say the new law won’t necessarily deter sex offenders.

The new law joins others addressing sex offenders in 2007. Other initiatives include revamping the state’s sex-offender registry so the public can look up offenders by a specific address; a global positioning system for paroled sexual predators; and stricter requirements on where offenders may live in relation to child-care facilities.

Sex offenders now will have to renew their driver’s licenses every year, as opposed to every four years. Another law prohibits custody or visitation by a father who was convicted of a sexual crime that resulted in the child’s conception.

In the new DNA law, samples will be kept by the Illinois State Police for analysis and comparison. State law already requires those convicted of sex offenses to provide their address, employer and other information to police.

Australia – Pedophile left alone with girl

Article

Carly Crawford

December 31, 2006 12:00am

A CONVICTED pedophile has been sleeping in the same bedroom as a nine-year-old girl.

And horrified friends of the girl say he has tried to befriend her with gifts of cash.The Department of Human Services launched an investigation into the scandal and wants a formal ban on contact between the child and the tradesman, 28, who cannot be named for legal reasons.

The man served eight months’ jail after a jury convicted him of six counts of sexual penetration of a child under 16.

He and a friend abused two 14-year-old girls in 2003 after plying them with alcohol and marijuana.

The judge presiding over the case said the man’s history of lying to police, theft and driving offences indicated he disregarded the law when it suited.

The man was freed from prison in August and has lived in Melbourne’s outer suburbs with his sister, who has three children – a boy, 4, a girl, 3, and the girl aged nine who is in the permanent care of a family friend.

A concerned friend of the carer told the Sunday Herald Sun of the situation.

The friend said the man had given $50 notes to the girl, who stayed at the home every second weekend.

“He’s been sleeping in her room and showering her with gifts and he has no respect for the law,” the friend said.

“How can a mother put her children in that sort of danger?” The girl’s mother repeatedly hung up on the Sunday Herald Sun yesterday.

Department of Human Services officials investigated the arrangement in early December after the girl told her carer.

The girl also told worried department workers the pedophile slept on a mattress on the floor of her room while she slept on the bed.

The department has asked the Children’s Court to change her access orders so that contact between the man and the girl is explicitly banned. The matter is before the court.

The man is on the sex offenders’ register and Victoria Police said he was complying with the monitoring conditions.

A department spokesperson said it was “satisfied” the man no longer resided at the home.

 

 

PA – Sexual abuse of 2 girls nets woman time in jail

Article

By Joe Pinchot
Herald Staff Writer

GROVE CITY AREA— Laura M. Shaffer probably should not have been associating with 13-year-old girls, but she probably didn’t have any other friends, said her defense attorney Randall T. Hetrick.
Hetrick laid out a grim picture of his client, who admitted indecently assaulting and corrupting the morals of two 13-year-old girls.
Ms. Shaffer, 20, of 111 Dale St., Grove City, who will spend at least 8 months in Mercer County Jail, has a lengthy juvenile criminal record and mental health problems, Hetrick said. She has only a ninth-grade education, and a low IQ and self-esteem, he said.
“We would just ask the court for whatever leniency is possible,” Hetrick said Friday.
According to state police, Ms. Shaffer inappropriately touched a 13-year-old girl Sept. 15, 2005, at a home in Springfield Township. The girl told police the touching occurred more than 10 times over a year’s time at the home and a nearby park.
A second victim, also 13, told a similar story of multiple contacts over a month’s time. Ms. Shaffer was charged with more than 100 counts of corruption of minors, indecent assault and harassment.
In a second case also involving the first victim, Ms. Shaffer broke into the girl’s home Aug. 15, 2005, and awoke the girl by assaulting her, police said. She was charged with burglary, aggravated indecent assault, corruption of minors, harassment and indecent assault, a total of nine counts.
Ms. Shaffer pleaded guilty Oct. 10 in each case to six counts of indecent assault and one count of corruption of minors.
Assistant Mercer County District Attorney Timothy Bonner called Ms. Shaffer’s conduct “reprehensible” and said it was “damaging to the victims.”
Common Pleas Judge Thomas R. Dobson agreed.
“They move on,” he said. “Do they recover? Not really. They are changed. You have changed them for the worse.”
Dobson said that, in cases when juveniles are involved, you have to inquire if there is a level of horseplay involved.
“This seemed to be far more than horseplay,” he said. “An incident of bullying, perhaps.”
Both victims told police Ms. Shaffer ignored their pleas to stop.
“She is much bigger than me,” one victim said of her inability to thwart Ms. Shaffer.
Dobson sentenced Ms. Shafer to 8 to 18 months in jail, followed by a term of parole when she is released for the remainder of the 18 months, and then a year of probation.
He also ordered her to pay costs, be evaluated by Mercer County Behavioral Health Commission and obtain her general equivalency diploma.
While Ms. Shaffer was not deemed a sexually violent offender by a state review board or Dobson, she will have to report her whereabouts annually to state police or, if she moves out of state, to the local police department. She also will have to report when she moves or changes jobs.
Dobson also forbade her from associating with anyone younger thaan 18.
“You cannot be around young children again,” he said.

Herald Staff Writer Matthew Snyder contributed to this report.

 

IL – Sex offender held on $2.5 million bond

Article 

By George Houde
Special to the Tribune
Published December 30, 2006

A Wheeling man charged with molesting an 8-year old boy at a suburban Wal-Mart store was ordered held on $2.5 million bond Saturday.

Kenneth J. Vernon, 38, of the 1600 block of Hadley Court, appeared before Judge James Etchingham in the Rolling Meadows branch of the Cook County Circuit Court. Vernon is charged with aggravated criminal sexual abuse and battery stemming from a Dec. 9 incident at a Mt. Prospect Wal-Mart.

Authorities identified Vernon, a registered sex offender, from the store’s video surveillance tapes and tried to question him at his home after the incident too place, authorities said. But, he managed to escape.

Shortly thereafter, he fled and was found in Oklahoma where state police arrested him Dec. 15, authorities said. Prosecutors asked Etchingham to set bail at $2 million but the judge raised it to $2.5 million, citing concerns about Vernon being a flight risk.

In Saturday’s hearing, prosecutors alleged that Vernon stalked the boy in the store for about 30 minutes and led him to an area where he fondled the child. The man allegedly told the boy “it’s our secret” before letting him go.

The boy told his mother of the incident and she notified authorities, police said.

Following his capture, Vernon waived extradition from Oklahoma and was returned to Illinois by Mt. Prospect police on Friday.

Prosecutors said Vernon made a video tape statement to police. In that statement, he claims to have been motivated to carry out the crime by something he heard while attending sex-offender counseling. 

CA – Fearing conflict, attorney quits molestation defense

Article

By Kelly Pakula

MediaNews

The attorney for a Daly City man accused of keeping a teenage girl captive in his parents’ home for more than a year stepped down Friday because of a conflict of interest.

Jeffrey Neubarth has decided he can no longer represent John Paule France Gonzales because he earlier provided some legal assistance to Gonzales’ alleged victim.

Gonzales, 22, has pleaded not guilty to 142 felonies, including 68 counts of lewd and lascivious acts on a child, forcible penetration and domestic violence.

Neubarth became Gonzales’ attorney immediately after his arrest Nov. 18, having previously handled immigration-based cases for Gonzales’ parents. However, he now worries that his involvement with the criminal case could compromise Gonzales’ future court proceedings.

More than a year ago, Neubarth said, he helped the girl obtain a financial settlement stemming from a car accident. He said he decided to bow out of the case after consulting with fellow attorneys about the apparent conflict.

“I wasn’t looking to get out, but I had no choice but to leave,” Neubarth said Friday. “I recognized the potential conflict.”

As a result of Neubarth’s departure, Gonzales’ preliminary hearing, scheduled for Friday, was postponed. He will return to court on Jan. 4, at which time a new preliminary hearing date will be set.

Gonzales, a pharmacy technician, met the alleged victim in 2000, when she was 10 and living in San Bruno with her aunt, whom Gonzales was dating. Gonzales, who has a 5-year-old son, allegedly molested the girl for the first time in 2002 when she was 12, according to the San Mateo County District Attorney’s Office.

Gonzales maintained his relationship with the girl for several years. According to prosecutor Melissa McKowan, the victim told authorities she and Gonzales had sexual relations more than 500 times in five Bay Area counties.

Prosecutors say the girl continued to see Gonzales because he threatened to hurt her if she broke it off. Neubarth said Gonzales denies harming the girl.

In August 2005, Gonzales allegedly took the girl from her grandmother’s home in Healdsburg and told her she could not return. Prosecutors say he eventually moved her into a bedroom at his parents’ Daly City home, where she remained from October 2005 until this past October, when his parents’ house was foreclosed on. Gonzales then returned the girl to a family member’s home in La Honda.

Several weeks later, she told a family member about her ordeal, and Gonzales was arrested. He remains in custody in lieu of $1 million bail.

MO – Man loses appeal in molestation

Article

A man convicted of first-degree statutory rape and statutory sodomy has lost an appeal in a Lawrence County case.

Daniel P. Skipper was accused of molesting a child younger than age 12 in early 2000.

A public defender argued on appeal that Skipper’s trial attorney was ineffective for not objecting to a jury instruction.

Appellate judges determined in an opinion released this week that if the attorney had objected, there was no “reasonable probability” of a different outcome.

FL – Man charged with child molestation

Article

By CAROLYN QUINN

PUNTA GORDA — When police asked Richard A. Jackson whether he had engaged in inappropriate sexual contact with three boys during a sleepover at his house, he confessed that he had, according to a report.

“The defendant admitted to having a problem and that he needed help,” a Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office report said.

Jackson, 63, a retired man who lives at 6908 Bernadean Blvd. in Punta Gorda, was charged with two counts of lewd or lascivious molestation and three counts of lewd or lascivious exhibition Wednesday.

According to the report, Jackson had arranged for three boys, ages 11, 8 and 7, to stay with him at his home. The 8- and 7-year-olds were brothers. Jackson picked them up at their homes in Tampa and drove them to Punta Gorda. He had permission from the boys’ parents to take them for the night.

“Apparently, this man befriended them,” said CCSO spokesman Bob Carpenter. “They’re not related.”

During the drive, Jackson made the three boys masturbate and urinate into a bottle, the report said. The 11-year-old asked Jackson to take him back to his home in Tampa, which Jackson did. After Jackson left, the boy told his mother what had occurred. She called the other boys’ mother, who contacted the Tampa Police Department. Tampa police asked the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office to check on the children.

The boys were asleep when deputies arrived, the report said. Deputies took custody of them and returned them to their mother. They told police that Jackson had touched their genitals and spanked them.

Cpl. Sean Griffin interviewed Jackson, who said he had watched the boys masturbate, the report said. He also admitted to touching the younger boys’ genitals.

Jackson has no arrest record in Charlotte County and is not one of the county’s 169 registered sex offenders. He was held at Charlotte County Jail on $250,000 bond.

GA – Indiana man arrested for attempted child molestation

Article

By CAMERON JOHNSON

After having lengthy, explicit Internet conversations with a person he believed to be a 13-year-old female, an Indiana man who was in Coweta County for the holidays was taken into custody Wednesday while allegedly attempting to make contact with the 13-year-old.

Justin Adam Reimer, 23, of Columbia City, Indiana, was charged by Coweta County Sheriff’s Office investigators with criminal attempt to commit child molestation, obscene Internet contact with a child, and child molestation, Capt. Tony Grant said Thursday.

“That Internet will get you every time,” Reimer allegedly said while being interviewed after his arrest. “You just can’t trust nobody on the Internet.”

Reimer, a volunteer firefighter and student, is being held in the Coweta County Jail without bond. He was taken into custody at approximately 2 p.m. at a Newnan Crossing Bypass cafe.

The case began, said Grant, when Reimer began chatting with a school resource officer who had put a profile online identifying herself as a 13-year-old female.

CA – Youth coach arrested, accused of molestation

Article

SOFTBALL FIELD: Witnesses reported the incident but didn’t know the child’s name.

10:00 PM PST on Friday, December 29, 2006

By PAUL LAROCCO
The Press-Enterprise

YUCAIPA – A girls softball coach with years of involvement in youth sports throughout the East Valley was arrested Friday on suspicion of molesting a 12-year-old player, raising detectives’ concerns that there could be other victims.

Andrew John Likins, 44, of Yucaipa, was booked on one count of lewd and lascivious acts with a minor, stemming from an incident that authorities say took place in November 2005 at a softball field in eastern San Bernardino.

Witnesses reported seeing a coach inappropriately touch a young girl, said Sgt. Brooke Wagner, who oversees the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department’s Crimes Against Children Detail.

Likins was immediately identified as the coach, but it took a lengthy investigation to determine the girl’s identity because no one came forward, sheriff’s officials said.

“They had to do dozens of interviews to find this girl,” said Sgt. Richard Ells, a Sheriff’s Department spokesman. “They had to seek her out.”

Detectives finally interviewed a girl who said she was the one touched by Likins. After further investigation, Likins was brought into sheriff’s headquarters for a statement and was arrested.

He was transported to West Valley Detention Center. Bail has been set at $100,000.

Likins has coached youth baseball and softball in Yucaipa, Redlands and Highland, and he was active up until his arrest, Wagner said. Sheriff’s officials suspect there are more victims.

“It’s kind of a hunch on our part,” Wagner said. “He coached in all these places, and certainly, there is the likelihood that there may be more things going on.”

The leagues in which Likins is known to have coached include the San Bernardino Girls Fast Pitch Softball Association and Redlands Baseball/Softball for Youth. In the latter, Likins coached 12-year-old girls softball for one season about two years ago, and he was not asked back, said Jeff Ohs, the league’s safety coordinator.

Likins was disciplined for on-field behavior, Ohs said. The league screens all its coaches through the Megan’s Law database of registered sex offenders, he said.

No criminal record could be found for Likins in either Riverside County or San Bernardino County. State prison records were not available Friday.

The arrest surprised Likins’ father, who was reached at his Elsinore, Utah, home late Friday. Roy Likins said his son, a U.S. Army veteran who is married and has a grown daughter, is passionate about the local sports leagues where he volunteers.

“If you said he got mad and busted somebody in the mouth, I would have said, ‘That’s my boy,’ ” Likins said. “But this I find hard to believe.”

Anyone with information is asked to contact the sheriff’s Crimes Against Children Detail at 909-387-3615.

Reach Paul LaRocco at 909-806-3064 or plarocco@PE.com

I needed a break

I have lots of e-mails to answer. I have lots of articles to post. I have lots of apologies to make.

I started this semester in school, and needed to focus on it. I am taking 3 classes out of my comfort zone; I love the challenge. And another 3 that I absolutely adore. It’s paying off though. I’m on the straight A track, again.

And I needed to let go of this for a while.

I don’t know that I’ll be able to spend much time here still, but I did want to let everyone know I’m alive and well, just re-focused for the time being.

I do have a few offers for help, and I am going to try and take at least one of them up on it. She already knows how to do this, so I won’t have to train her, which is a huge issue at the moment.

On the bright side (for me, but not necessarily the blog), I’ve been accepted to one of the finest four-year colleges in the area, and depending on what I am offered for financial aid, I will be starting in January. It has the best communication department locally, and I am very excited. On the down side, it means at least two more years of school, if I can continue to manage full time.

Thank you all for the concern.

Love,
Lisa

Canada – More sex: Abuser; Victims want no contact with you, says judge

Article

By DEAN PRITCHARD, SUN MEDIA

A Winnipeg man who sexually abused his stepdaughter for more than a decade and molested two of her friends clings to the hope of resuming a sexual relationship with his stepdaughter, a court heard Wednesday.

“It is important and must be stressed to the accused that the parties want absolutely no contact with you,” said Judge Kelly Moar before sentencing the man to seven years in prison.

“They aren’t interested in your treatment plan and just want to somehow erase you from their memories.”

The 45-year-old man, who cannot be identified to protect the identity of his stepdaughter, pleaded guilty earlier this year to one count each of sexual assault and assault causing bodily harm in connection with the now 20-year-old victim. He also pleaded guilty to two counts of sexual interference for molesting two of her friends.

“His only goal was to satisfy his own sexual deviance,” Moar said. “He looked at (his stepdaughter) as his own possession to use as he felt fit … The actions of (the accused) are repulsive and demand a significant period of incarceration.”

THREATENED

Blog Carnival Against Child Abuse

I want to apologize for the major delay on this month’s edition of the blog carnival. Something came up and I have been unable to spend much time on the computer. I will have the carnival up by tomorrow afternoon.

Please please forgive me!!

And thank you all for your patience!

Apparently… I’m a "real asshole".

And if I’m a real asshole, than any news reporter who ever wrote a news story about somebody being arrested or being arraigned in court or reporting any other factual information made available to the public in police reports or court documents are real assholes too.

Apparently, the First Amendment is only appropriate if the actions allowed by the First Amendment leave everybody in a favorable light.

Apparently, we should not be allowed to share arrest information about people who are accused of and investigated for child sexual abuse or child rape.

Yes, readers, I am an asshole. And a proud one at that.

I received an email allegedly from Jeanne M. Dollaway. She and her fiance were arrested in MA back in Dec. Leverone, the fiance, was arrested on charges of raping a child, and other things. Dollaway was arrested for accessory after the fact.  The news story was delivered to my mail box, as 100’s of stories are each day, and I posted the report on my site.

Apparently, the story about their arrest and arraignment is untrue. ? The reporter seems to have completely fabricated court docs and police reports. According to Ms. Dollaway, anyway.

Yesterday (eight months later), I received an email with the subject line, WRONG!!!!

Dear Lisa,

You ought to be ashamed of yourself!!!  For your information this story is untrue.  This story is about a sadlyabnormal child who is suicidal, has an eating disorder and has been physically and emotionally abused her whole life.  Sadly her whole family doesn’t want anything to do with her.  She lives with fake Grandparents and is longing for attention.  My daughter was her friend since kindergarten and we (my fiancee, myself and my daughter) were always there for her. 

So if you think you are such a good person because you go broadcasting anything and everything in the newspaper then you’d better think again.  Because everything you read in the newspaper isn’t true.

I think you should put your efforts into something more substantial and important in life instead of just being naive and cruel as to not know what’s true and what’s not and putting it out there anyway.  

Why don’t you put yourself in our position, how would you like it if you were wrongly accused of raping or killing someone and didn’t but it was put in the paper anyway???  

That’s so sad and unfair.

no need to sign my name 

Now from this email, she assumes that 1) I know what story she is referring to, and 2) that I know who she is. I never considered the fact that she would actually be a part of one of the 1000s of stories on SadlyNormal, and therefore, didn’t bother trying to search anything. But me, being me, and always willing to listen, replied to her email, and asked for clarification. My inquiry begat the following response from the alleged Ms. Dollaway:

It doesn’t matter because it’s not like your going to change it…  we’re talking about rape where it says supposedly my fiancee raped my daughters friend…….   as I said the girl is very disturbed and always has been…   my daughter was right there!!!  and she is the type that if something like that was ever going on she wouldn’t just sit there and keep her mouth shut.

the only reason why they arrested my fiancee and me was because the detective in Ashland forced me to make a statement saying it was true or i would go to jail right then and there for 15 years and my daughter was going to be taken away from me.  He wasn’t letting me out of the room until I did what he wanted me to do.  

anyway it’s so sad that things go into the newspaper just because someone says it true.  it’s cruel and not fair.  So because of this me and my fiancees names (mind you we do have family with same last names as us) and are names are all slandered.  Our families and we are good people.

Hey I agree with the average persons feelings about these types of sick crimes but no one has the right to broadcast something that they really don’t know what the real truth is.  I just think you people should think twice about broadcasting things if you really dont’ know.  

Again, seriously, how would you feel??? 

And by the way all you had to do was look at my name on the e-mail to figure out which ad???  come on now.

My psychic abilities failed me at first, but now I know. I know she is somehow part of the story. Although, her name was abbreviated to JeannieD in her email address, I searched. After a few attempts, I found it.

(again, Jeannie, there are 1000’s of “Ads” on my site, and your name just didn’t stand out in my memory. My sincerest apologies.)

I emailed Jeannie immediately, and told her I understood. She was/is (who knows) the fiance of the accused child rapist. Got it. She replied:

you’re a a real asshole

We all know those who stand by the accused… well.. this was my reply:

News is news… and the first amendment ensures our freedom of speech. I don’t know the story, I only know what the news reports. The news reported that you and your fiance were arrested, and what you were arrested for. It doesn’t say whether you are innocent or guilty. I feel no shame. I’m not the one who was arrested…

It has been 8 months since you and James were arrested. What has happened? Anything? Tell me what the courts have said, what the outcomes have been, and I’ll post those. I will need proof… news clips or something will do…

You ask how I would feel… honestly, I don’t know. I know that if my fiance or husband or brother or uncle were accused of sexual abuse or rape of a child, I wouldn’t be so quick to doubt it. I know all too well how the loved ones of the accused react… they don’t want to believe someone they think they know so well can be capable of committing such an atrocity. But let me tell you… they are masters of manipulation, and can wield lies that you couldn’t imagine. And they threaten their victims. Perhaps your own daughter is in some sense a victim. I was a victim of sexual abuse… a survivor… now a warrior. I know too often children don’t tell and live with the pain and suffering for the rest of their lives. You wouldn’t think I was the type to keep my mouth shut about something like that either… but I did. I had to. I was in fear for MY life…

Anyway, Jeannie, I hope your daughter is safe. I hope if your fiance is innocent, he is proven as such. On the flip side, if he is guilty, I hope he rots in hell. And if you are guilty of aiding him in anyway, I hope you join him.

If this makes me an asshole, so be it. I will stand proud as an asshole.

The moral of this story…

Don’t tell me I should be ashamed for repeating news. Don’t tell me I should be ashamed for utilizing the rights granted to me, to us all, by the First Amendment. Don’t tell me I should be ashamed for exposing child rapists for being the monsters they are. Don’t tell me I should keep silent. Silence is no longer an option… it is silence that got us into this mess…

P.S. Did anyone else notice that Ms. Dollaway used the old standby of victim blaming?

CA – Self-Proclaimed Pedophile Goes Free

Article

By GREG RISLING, AP
Posted: 2007-08-22 08:09:33

LOS ANGELES (Aug. 22) – A self-described pedophile was released from jail Tuesday after prosecutors dropped a criminal case accusing him of violating a judge’s order prohibiting him from being within 30 feet of children anywhere in California for three years.

Prosecutors could not pursue the case against Jack McClellan, 45, after they determined the order was invalid because the judge failed to schedule and give McClellan proper notice of a hearing required to argue the merits of imposing such a long-lasting order before it is issued.

McClellan was arrested Aug. 13 for investigation of violating the order when he was found near a child care center at the University of California, Los Angeles. He had a camera with him at the time, but he told a local TV station that there wasn’t any film in it.

McClellan was arrested again – several hours later – this time for trespassing after he did an interview with the TV station on university grounds. He had been told not to return to the campus after his first arrest. Prosecutors did not pursue the trespassing charges.

Superior Court Judge Melvin Sandvig issued the order Aug. 3 requiring McClellan to stay at least 30 feet away from every person under age 18 in California for a three-year period, said Nick Velasquez, a spokesman for the Los Angeles city attorney’s office.

A three-year order amounts to what is termed a preliminary injunction, and cannot be issued without the statutory hearing and notice requirements, according to the city attorney’s office.

Superior Court spokeswoman Pat Kelly said Sandvig could not comment because the case is pending. A call to his chambers went unanswered late Tuesday.

A cell phone message left for McClellan was not returned.

McClellan is unemployed and has been living out of his car. He stirred controversy in Southern California when he arrived this summer from Washington state, where he had lived with his parents.

McClellan maintained a Web site in Washington where he posted photos of children he had taken in public places. He also discussed how he liked to stake out parks, public libraries, fast-food restaurants and other areas where little girls, or “LGs,” congregated.

His server took his Web site down more than a month ago. McClellan, who said he lives on supplemental security income and suffers from depression, has maintained that he launched the site as a form of therapy and wouldn’t do anything illegal.

McClellen also has a hearing set for Friday on a temporary restraining order preventing him from coming within 10 yards of children in the city of Santa Clarita in northern Los Angeles County, authorities said.

Blog Carnival – Sadly Normal Style

I am honored to be hosting the August edition of the next Blog Carnival Against Child Abuse, started by Marj over at Survivors Can Thrive. We will call it the Back To School Edition… and for this edition, I would like to include a theme called

BEYOND HEALING: WHAT WE ARE DOING TO GET BACK TO LIFE

 

Deadline for submissions is August 22nd, and I will have the carnival posted August 24th!

Please use this link to submit your post!!

CA – Ban corrals self-described pedophile (McClellan)

Article

LOS ANGELES, California (AP) — A self-described pedophile who says he is attracted to young girls but doesn’t molest them was ordered Friday to stay at least 30 feet away from every person under age 18 in California.

The temporary restraining order was issued against Jack McClellan by Superior Court Judge Melvin Sandvig, who also scheduled an August 24 hearing to discuss the matter further.

McClellan, who was not in court, told The Associated Press he didn’t learn of Friday’s hearing in time to attend.

“That was granted? Oh man, I didn’t think it would be,” McClellan said, adding he believed such an order would be an unconstitutional restriction of his rights.

The order was obtained by attorneys Anthony Zinnanti and Richard Patterson, both parents of young children. As soon as Sandvig issued it, Zinnanti raced to Los Angeles International Airport to serve it on McClellan, who had boarded a flight to Chicago for a TV appearance.

Philippines – Oledan: Chain

Article

By Radzini Oledan
Spices of Life

INCEST remains to be one of the most under-reported and least discussed crimes in our community. Considered as a taboo, incest often remains concealed by the victim because of guilt, shame, fear, social and familial pressure, as well as coercion by the abuser.
It is defined as “…the sexual abuse of a child by a relative or other person in a position of trust and authority over the child. It is a violation of the child where he or she lives — literally and metaphorically. A child molested by a stranger can run home for help and comfort. A victim of incest cannot.” (Vanderbilt).
It may also include sexual contact or interaction between family members, sexually staring at the victim by the perpetrator, accidental or disguised touching of the victim’s body by the perpetrator, verbal invitations to engage in sexual activity, verbal ridiculing of body parts, pornographic photography, reading of sexually explicit material to children, and exposure to inappropriate sexual activity.
Incest does not discriminate.
It happens in families that are financially-privileged, as well as those of low socio-economic status. However, there may be discrepancies in the estimates of the number of incest victims. All too often, pressure from family members, in addition to threats or pressure from the abuser, results in extreme reluctance to reveal abuse and to subsequently obtain help.

A Recovery Bill of Rights for Trauma Survivors By Thomas V. Maguire, Ph.D.

Copyright 1995-97 Thomas V. Maguire, Ph.D. Ver. 3.0 (04/97)
All rights reserved, except that permission is hereby granted to freely reproduce and distribute this document, provided the text is reproduced unaltered and entire (including this notice) and is distributed free of charge.

By Virtue of Your Personal Authority You Have the Right to . . .

Manage your life according to your own values and judgment.
Direct your recovery, answerable to no one for your goals or progress.
Gather information to make intelligent decisions about your recovery.
Seek help from many sources, unhindered by demands for exclusivity.
Decline help from anyone without having to justify the decision.
Believe in your ability to heal and seek allies who share your faith.
Trust allies in healing so far as one human can trust another.
Be afraid and avoid what frightens you.
Decide for yourself whether, when, and where to confront fear.
Learn by experimenting, that is, make mistakes. 

To Guard Your Personal Boundaries You Have the Right to . . .

Be touched only with, and within the limits of, your consent.
Speak or remain silent, about any topic and at any time, as you wish.
Choose to accept or decline feedback, suggestions, or interpretations.
Ask for help in healing, without having to accept help with everything.
Challenge any crossing of your boundaries.
Take action to stop a trespass that does not cease when challenged. 

For the Integrity of Your Personal Communication You Have the Right to . . .

Ask for explanation of communications you do not understand.
Express a contrary view when you do understand and you disagree.
Acknowledge your feelings, without having to justify them.
Ask for changes when your needs are not being met.
Speak of your experience, without apology for your uncertainties.
Resolve doubt without deferring to the views or wishes of anyone. 

For Safety in Your Personal Dependency in Therapy You Have the Right to . . .

Hire a therapist or counselor as coach, not boss, of your recovery.
Receive expert and faithful assistance in healing from your therapist.
Know that your therapist will never have any other relationship with you— business, social, or sexual.
Be secure against any disclosure by your therapist, except with your consent or under court order.
Hold your therapist’s undivided loyalty in relation to all abusers.
Obtain informative answers to questions about your condition, your therapist’s qualifications, and any proposed treatment.
Have your safety given priority by your therapist, to the point of readiness to use all lawful means to neutralize an imminent threat to your life or that of someone else.
Receive a commitment from your therapist that is not conditional on your “good behavior” (habitual crime and endangerment excepted).
Make clear and reliable agreements about the times of sessions and of your therapist’s availability.
Telephone your therapist between scheduled sessions, in urgent need, and receive a return call within a reasonable time.
Be taught skills that lessen the risk of re-traumatization:
containment (boundaries for recovery work);
control of attention and mental imagery;
systematic relaxation.
Enjoy reasonable physical comfort during sessions.

Dental Tips for Survivors

Article

This information is made possible by a grant from the N.H. Charitable Fund. The research on which these Dental Tips was based is detailed in Hays, K. F., & Stanley, S. F. (1996). The impact of childhood sexual abuse on women’s dental experiences. Journal of Child Sexual Abuse 5, 65–74.

Is it extremely difficult for you to call for a dental appointment for yourself?
Do you put off making dental appointments even though you’ve got dental problems?
Do you space out or become excessively fearful while in the dental chair?
Were you sexually abused as a child or adolescent?

By the age of 18, 1 in 3 girls and 1 in 7 boys will be sexually abused. Not only is the abuse traumatic at the time it occurs, it often has long-term disruptive consequences for the adult survivor. For example, medical procedures can be difficult to tolerate.
For many survivors, going to the dentist is traumatic. They avoid visiting the dentist, have trouble making or keeping appointments, are more likely to have stress-related dental problems, and have severe distress symptoms while at the dentist.
What is the connection between these symptoms of dental anxiety and childhood sexual abuse? There are a number of symbolic parallels: being alone with a person (often male) more powerful than oneself; being placed in a horizontal position; being touched; having objects put into one’s mouth; being unable to swallow; and anticipating or experiencing pain.
If you have some of these concerns, please know there are a number of ways to help alleviate your fears. Also, dentists are becoming more sensitive to dental anxiety triggered by early trauma.
What You Can Do for Yourself . . .