Conclave of Fallible Cardinals, Ending the Sexual Exploitation of Children, Taking Women Seriously in Abuse Cases, Jimmy Savile Scandal

- Now Gathering in Rome, a Conclave of Fallible Cardinals
- Ending the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children in California
- Taking women seriously in abuse cases
- Incoming BBC Boss Discusses Jimmy Savile Scandal, Crisis

Now Gathering in Rome, a Conclave of Fallible Cardinals
By LAURIE GOODSTEIN February 26, 2013

The sudden resignation of the most senior Roman Catholic cardinal in Britain, who stepped aside on Monday in the face of accusations that he made unwanted sexual advances toward priests years ago, showed that the taint of scandal could force a cardinal from participating in the selection of a new pope.

His exit came as at least a dozen other cardinals tarnished with accusations that they had failed to remove priests accused of sexually abusing minors were among those gathering in Rome to prepare for the conclave to select a successor to Pope Benedict XVI. There was no sign that the church’s promise to confront the sexual abuse scandal had led to direct pressure on those cardinals to exempt themselves from the conclave….
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/27/world/europe/now-gathering-in-rome-a-conclave-of-fallible-cardinals.html

Ending the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children in California
By James R. Marsh on February 28, 2013

Today the National Center for Youth Law released a new report, Ending Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children: A Call for Multi-System Collaboration in California.
CA Report Cover Page

Report author Kate Walker, an Equal Justice Works Fellow and Attorney at the Center, commented that “Every day, the unthinkable happens: thousands of America’s children are coerced into performing sex for hire. Exploitation can start as young as age ten. Some exploited children are brutally beaten and raped. Others are isolated, drugged, and starved until they become “willing” participants. Yet, these children are regularly arrested and held in juvenile detention facilities even though they are victims of crime.”

Worldwide, human trafficking is a $32 billion industry, involving 100,000 children in the U.S. The FBI has determined that three of the nation’s thirteen High Intensity Child Prostitution areas are located in California.

Studies estimate that between 50 and 80 percent of commercially sexually exploited children (CSEC) are or were formally involved with the child welfare system….
http://www.childlaw.us/2013/02/ending-the-commercial-sexual-e.html
http://www.scribd.com/doc/127864957/Ending-the-Commerical-Sexual-Expolitation-of-Children-A-Call-for-Multi-System-Collaboration-in-California

Taking women seriously in abuse cases

By Editorial Board

WE HAVE reported about the case of a 15-month-old boy allegedly murdered by his father for insurance money after the father obtained unsupervised visits over the objections of the child’s mother. The tragic death of Prince McLeod Rams has raised questions about the family court system in Montgomery County and whether there are differences in how it listens to men and women….
http://goo.gl/LsE2X
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/taking-women-seriously-in-abuse-cases/2013/01/31/c4f360cc-6b5c-11e2-95b3-272d604a10a3_story.html

Incoming BBC Boss Discusses Jimmy Savile Scandal, Crisis
3/1/2013 by Stuart Kemp
LONDON – Incoming BBC director-general Tony Hall has said a reckless approach to creative risk-taking led the BBC into crisis amid the fallout of the Jimmy Savile sex abuse scandal last year in an interview with The Guardian newspaper….

And Hall identified a rift between BBC executives and journalists as one of the underlying reasons for the failure to get the Newsnight investigation into Savile to air in December 2011.

The fallout from the Savile sexual abuse scandal rocked the broadcaster to the core and contributed in a large part to the resignation of the previous director general George Entwistle.
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/incoming-bbc-boss-discusses-jimmy-425541

 

Nearly 50 unidentified kids buried in reform school’s cemetery, No Way Out

Nearly 50 unidentified kids buried in Florida reform school’s century-old secret graveyard

Reform school cemetery that dates back to 1900s may hold unnamed victims of abusive school administrators, say family members. By Anthony Bartkewicz / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS   Sunday, October 14, 2012

A secret graveyard tucked behind a Florida reform school is home to 31 cross-shaped grave markers, but nearly 50 unidentified bodies.

The small cemetery dates back to the early 1900s. Some former students at the Florida Industrial School for Boys in Marianna now say victims of abusive school administrators are buried there, CNN reported.

When the Florida Department of Law Enforcement investigated in 2009, it found that 31 boys buried in the woods behind the school died either from the flu or in a fire.

But University of South Florida anthropologist Dr. Erin Kimmerle found 18 more bodies buried without markers.

“We found burials within the current marked cemetery, and then we found burials that extend beyond that,” she said. “These are children who came here and died, for one reason or another, and have just been lost in the woods.”….

A group of men came forward in 2008 and said the “White House” — a small concrete building on school grounds — was the site of brutal beatings and whippings in the 1960s.

Former administrator Troy Tidwell downplayed their claims, saying only that “spankings” took place.

Another former student said a boy named Owen Smith was killed by rifle fire as they tried to run away from the school.
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/50-unidentified-kids-buried-florida-reform-school-secret-graveyard-article-1.1183090

‘No Way Out’ October 15, 2012
By Cara Tabachnick

In 1996, Holly Collins and her children became the first Americans to be granted asylum by the government of the Netherlands due to domestic violence. She fled the United States after losing custody of her children in Family Court to her ex-husband, who abused Holly and their two young children. Her remarkable story was featured in the 87- minute documentary “No Way Out But One,” by the Boston- based journalist/filmmaking team of Garland Waller and Barry Nolan. The film will be shown on the Documentary Channel at the end of October, which is national Domestic Violence Awareness month.

Filmmaker Garland Waller spoke with The Crime Report’s Managing Editor Cara Tabachnick about Parental Alienation Syndrome (PAS), bringing attention to abuse in contested custody cases, and the “Alice in Wonderland” state of the U.S. Family Court System.

The Crime Report: Why did you decide to make this film?

Garland Waller: There is little justice in American family court. The issues of domestic violence and sexual abuse that take place inside the courtroom get little to no recognition. It is hard to get enough traction with these issues. (We hoped) to get some acknowledgement or recognition in a bigger way.

Holly Collins had tons of creditable medical evidence and legal documents to support what she said. And her children were old enough, and had faith enough, to testify or to speak to us on camera about their experience. This took it out of the space of ‘he said, she said’ that normally happens when people think of a custody or divorce case….

TCR: Explain the issues facing abused women and children in family court.

GW: We know from research and statistics that a batterer is more likely than a non- batterer to get custody in family court today. That should be most shocking to people. What most people don’t understand is that most divorces and custody cases never end up in a family court. Even if the couple hates each other, they figure out what to for the (kids’ best interests).  (But) when domestic violence is involved, everything changes. It’s Alice in Wonderland. Family courts are kingdoms; they are not like civil courts or criminal courts, and t judges could do anything they want.

When a battered person goes to court, usually she doesn’t look good. She’s nervous, she’s shaky, she’s scared, and maybe she’s been living in a shelter. She is certainly stressed when she goes to court and says ‘my husband beat me, my husband beats the children’ or ‘my husband is sexually abusing the children.’ One would think the court would help. But what usually happens is the woman is either not believed, or the court believes she is exaggerating.

The batterers are usually more charming. The whole family court system is really set up to challenge people who bring up sexual abuse and physical abuse of children. It is not a place where protected parents can go to court and expect support….

The film is going to be shown on the Documentary Channel October 29 at 8:00pm-11:00pm ET.
http://www.thecrimereport.org/news/inside-criminal-justice/2012-10-no-way-out

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE, ABUSE, and CHILD CUSTODY: Legal Strategies and Policy Issues

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE, ABUSE, and CHILD CUSTODY: Legal Strategies and Policy Issues
Co-edited by Mo Therese Hannah and Barry Goldstein 2010

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE, ABUSE and CHILD CUSTODY brings together experts from the US and Canada for a multi-disciplinary review of the most up-to-date research and recommendations for handling, domestic violence custody cases. The book’s 25 chapters are written by those in the know:  judges, lawyers, psychiatrists, psychologists, sociologists, journalists, domestic violence advocates, and others intimately familiar with the details of these cases.

These diverse experts approach the issue through the lens of different disciplines and professional experiences.  Although they may not agree on every point, they do agree on at least one thing: that the family court system in this country is broken.

For more than two decades, protective mothers from every state in the country (as well as overseas) have been ordered to turn their children over into the care, and even the custody, of the children’s abusive fathers.  This occurs even when there is adequate evidence of child abuse, domestic violence, and other harmful behaviors on the part of the father.
http://www.domesticviolenceabuseandchildcustody.com/