Three men say they were abused by Jerry Sandusky in ’70s or ’80s, Assault: Children With Disabilities Are More Likely to Be Victims of Violence, Analysis Shows

Three men say they were abused by Jerry Sandusky in ’70s or ’80s
By NBC News staff 7/16/12

Three men have told police they were abused by Jerry Sandusky in the 1970s or 1980s, according to a local report Monday.

Sources close the Sandusky case say they are the first people to allege abuse before the 1990s by the 68-year-old convicted pedophile, The Patriot-News reported.

In the early 1970s when one of the men said he was abused, the former Penn State assistant football coach would have been in his late 20s.

Sandusky was convicted in June on 45 counts of child sex abuse against 10 victims. As the case unfolded, more alleged victims came forward – including Sandusky’s adopted son – to say they were also abused.
http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/07/16/12772779-three-men-say-they-were-abused-by-jerry-sandusky-in-70s-or-80s

Assault: Children With Disabilities Are More Likely to Be Victims of Violence, Analysis Shows
By DONALD G. McNEIL Jr.  July 16, 2012

Children with disabilities are almost four times more likely to be victims of violence than other children, according to a new report commissioned by the World Health Organization.

The report, published in The Lancet on Thursday, found that disabled children were 3.6 times more likely to be physically assaulted and 2.9 times more likely to be sexually assaulted.

The most common victims of sexual assault were those with mental illness or retardation, and institutionalized children were attacked more often than those living at home.

Last week’s report was a meta-analysis of 17 other studies that collectively gathered evidence on 18,374 children, all of them living in wealthy countries, from the United States to Europe to Israel. About 3 percent of children in rich countries and up to 6 percent in poor ones have disabilities.

“Physical violence” included threats and spanking that left marks on the skin. A study published about 10 years ago estimated that 53,000 children under age 18 are murdered each year. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/17/health/policy/children-with-disabilities-are-victimized-more-often.html

People with disabilities: the forgotten victims of violence

Esme Fuller-Thomson, Sarah Brennenstuhl
Three decades have passed since the UN declared 1981 as the International Year of Disabled Persons. The theme of the commemoration was “full participation and equality”. Progress towards this goal has been sadly deficient as evidence suggests that individuals with disabilities experience exceptionally high levels of violence. http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736%2812%2960077-4/fulltext

Texas Town Braces For Polygamist Leader Warren Jeffs’ Trial

Texas Town Braces For Polygamist Leader Warren Jeffs’ Trial

(WATCH)  WILL WEISSERT   07/25/11 SAN ANGELO, Texas

The first hint of polygamist sect leader Warren Jeffs’ defense strategy came Monday when his attorney said his right to freedom of religion was trampled by Texas prosecutors, who claim he sexually assaulted two underage girls after manipulating them into “spiritual marriages.”

Jury selection began Monday in the case of the 55-year-old ecclesiastical head of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, an offshoot of mainstream Mormonism that believes polygamy brings exaltation in heaven. The church’s 10,000 members see Jeffs as a prophet who speaks for God on Earth….

Jeffs is accused of sexual assaulting two girls, one younger than 17 and one younger than 14. The charges against him include aggravated sexual assault of a child, which is punishable by up to 99 years to life in prison.

He faces a separate trial for bigamy in October.

The charges stem from an April 2008 police raid on a church compound known as Yearning For Zion outside the town of Eldorado, about 45 miles south of the West Texas oil and gas town of San Angelo. Authorities who believed girls were being forced into polygamous marriages removed more than 400 children living at the compound, and TV images of women wearing frontier-style dresses and 19th century hairdos were shown across the country.

The original call to a Texas domestic abuse hotline that sparked the raid turned out to be a hoax. Most of the children seized from the compound have since been returned to their families, but the evidence collected proved enough to charge Jeffs and 11 other church men with crimes including sexual assault and bigamy.

Seven church members have been convicted and received prison sentences of between 6 and 75 years.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/07/25/warren-jeffs-polygamist-trial_n_908442.html

Scott Brown Tells ’60 Minutes’ He Was Molested as a Child

“Looking back, he explains, “It was certainly, back then, very traumatic.”

Scott Brown Tells ’60 Minutes’ He Was Molested as Child  Feb 16, 2011 Steven Hoffer  Contributor

Massachusetts Sen. Scott Brown has decided the time is right to publicly reveal a secret he has kept inside for many years.

In an interview scheduled to air on CBS’s “60 Minutes” on Sunday, the Republican congressman reflects openly for the first time on his childhood hardships, including episodes of abuse from his stepfather and being sexually assaulted by a camp counselor when he was 10 years old….

Brown also mentioned that he has never discussed the incident. “When people find people like me at that young vulnerable age, who are basically lost, the thing that they have over you is, they make you believe that no one will believe you,” he said.
“My mom will read about it for the first time. I haven’t told anybody.” http://www.aolnews.com/2011/02/16/scott-brown-tells-60-minutes-he-was-molested-as-child-video

Scott Brown Recalls Childhood Sexual Abuse In 60 Minutes Interview (VIDEO) 02/16/11 Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.) reveals that he was sexually abused as a child multiple times in an interview scheduled to air on CBS’ “60 Minutes” on Sunday evening….

Looking back, he explains, “It was certainly, back then, very traumatic.”
“As predators do… He said ‘If you tell anybody…I’ll kill you. I will make sure that nobody believes you,” recalls Brown of being threatened by the counselor.  The interview with Brown comes just before the release of memoir Against All Odds. The Senator details the traumatic experiences he endured in the book.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/02/16/scott-brown-sexual-abuse_n_824159.html

Sen. Scott Brown Recalls Childhood Abuse
February 16, 2011
Massachusetts Sen. Scott Brown tells Lesley Stahl he was the victim of physical, psychological and sexual abuse when he was a child. Stahl profiles the senator Sunday, Feb. 20, 7 p.m. ET/PT.
http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7355810n