Tag: child abuse

Parents Sue Character.AI for Allegedly Leading Kids to Sexual Abuse, Suicidal Behavior

Parents filed three separate lawsuits on Sept. 16, alleging that Character.AI, which features characters or chatbots for users to interact with, sexually abused their children and led them into suicidal behavior.

At least one of the children, 13-year-old Juliana Peralta, ended her life in 2023 after alleged harmful interactions with an AI character named Hero. Another attempted suicide but survived after a severe overdose, according to a filing.

Each of the lawsuits, which were filed in New York and Colorado, came from the Social Media Victims Law Center. The group has represented the mother of Sewell Setzer, who ended his life in 2024 after interacting with a romantic AI companion.

According to the center, the chatbots are allegedly programmed to be deceptive, isolate children from families, and expose them to sexually abusive content.

“Each of these stories demonstrates a horrifying truth … that Character.AI and its developers knowingly designed chatbots to mimic human relationships, manipulate vulnerable children, and inflict psychological harm,” Matthew Bergman, who founded the law center, said in a press release.

According to the lawsuit over Peralta’s suicide, both she and Setzer reiterated the concept of “shift[ing],” which authorities identified as a reference to shifting consciousness from one reality to another. Handwritten journal entries within the filing show both Peralta and Setzer writing “I will shift” more than a dozen consecutive times on a sheet of paper—something the lawsuit described as “eerily similar.”

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Man claimed to shoot Charlie Kirk to ‘draw attention from the real shooter,’ police say

Police say that a Salt Lake City man — who was no stranger to the state’s political scene — claimed responsibility moments after the shooting death of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, in an attempt to “draw attention from the real shooter.”

The arrest also sparked a child pornography investigation.

George Hodgson Zinn, 71, was booked into Utah County Jail for investigation of obstruction of justice and sexual exploitation of a minor on Monday, following a few days at a hospital. Newly released police documents also detail more of what happened that led to his arrest at Utah Valley University, which sparked a firestorm on social media.

After the lone shot was fired shortly after 12:20 p.m. last Wednesday, and as Kirk’s security team rushed him to a hospital, officers at the scene reported that they saw an older man lying on the ground surrounded by people who appeared to be tending to him.

The man, later identified as Zinn, told the officer, “I shot him, now shoot me” twice, according to a jail report compiled by UVU police. The officer reported that he could not see a weapon, but he placed Zinn in handcuffs while others at the scene cleared the area.

Once in custody, Zinn continued to say he was the shooter, the report continued. Officers asked Zinn where the gun was, but they say he refused to tell them. He reportedly asked for his attorney when he was brought back to the university police headquarters for questioning, even after police said they didn’t believe he was the shooter.

He later said he “did it to draw attention from the real shooter,” police wrote in the report. He was first taken to a nearby hospital for an undisclosed medical condition. While at the hospital, Zinn told an officer that “he was glad he said he shot the individual so the real suspect could get away,” the affidavit adds.

Zinn was released from the hospital on Monday and then booked into Utah County Jail.

Photos and video of his arrest quickly spread on social media, leading to erroneous reports that he was the shooter. Utah Department of Public Safety Commissioner Beau Mason announced that Zinn was taken into custody but had been cleared as the shooter within hours of his arrest.

Authorities ultimately determined that the single shot came from the roof of the nearby Losee Center, located about 175 to 200 yards from where Kirk was speaking underneath a tent. The single shot struck him in the neck, causing significant blood loss.

Kirk, 31, was later pronounced dead at the hospital. He was at UVU as part of the “American Comeback Tour” hosted by Turning Point USA, the organization that he founded.

Tyler Robinson, 22, of Washington, Washington County, was taken into custody late Thursday and booked into Utah County Jail on Friday for investigation of aggravated murder, felony discharge of a firearm causing injury and obstruction of justice. Authorities say charges in the case could be filed against Robinson as early as Tuesday. He’s also scheduled to make his first court appearance.

Meanwhile, a motion was filed on Monday to hold Zinn without bail in relation to his arrest. It wasn’t immediately clear if he had obtained any legal representation in the case. There is nothing in the police document to suggest that Zinn and Robinson were connected in any way.

Utah County sheriff’s deputies also launched another investigation into Zinn while he was hospitalized.

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Scarborough teacher accused of showing Charlie Kirk murder video to kids

Can anybody imagine a teacher showing students as young as 10 the video of Charlie Kirk being murdered by a gunshot to the neck?

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The Toronto District School Board is investigating an allegation of this happening at a Scarborough elementary school.

First, a University of Toronto professor was sent home for an X post that appeared after the shooting suggesting shooting is “too good” for fascists, and now the TDSB has done the same with a teacher who allegedly showed a Grade 5 and 6 class Kirk’s assassination in Utah.

The Corvette Junior Public School teacher was not in class Friday while the TDSB investigates the complaint from parents that a class of 10 and 11 year olds was shown a graphic video of the slaying.

“Several students from his class went home and complained to their parents, traumatized at witnessing the on-camera death, which they were forced to witness numerous times over,” a source close to the situation alleged. “Parents subsequently reached out to school administrators, who will be putting him on leave at the start of the school day September 12th 2025.”

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“While playing this video repeatedly, he gave a speech to his students regarding anti-fascism, anti-trans, and how Charlie Kirk deserved for this to occur,” the source claimed.

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Man admits to raping girl thousands of times and impregnating her — he has agreed to unbelievable plea deal

AConnecticut man who raped and impregnated a girl in his care agreed to take a plea deal and could only serve five years in prison.

Roger Barriault, 65, of Bristol raped the girl thousands of times beginning when she was 9 years old and impregnated her when she was 12 years old, according to police records. A DNA test of the girl’s daughter proved that he was the father.

Despite the horrific nature of the accusations, Barriault was given a plea deal for first-degree sexual assault. The charge carries a sentence of 25 years that can be suspended after 10 years. He must serve a minimum mandatory sentence of 5 years in prison with 20 years of probation.

Barriault was arrested after the victim, who is now an adult, went to police in 2023. She said that the Connecticut Department of Children and Families had put her in the care of a person who introduced her to Barriault. She ended up in his care and faced daily sexual assault.

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In Police Youth Program, Abuse Often Starts When Officers Are Alone With Teens in Cars

In May, prosecutors in Seattle charged a sheriff’s deputy with raping a 17-year-old girl. The deputy met the teenager while he was an adviser in his department’s youth mentorship program known as Explorers.

The victim, now 24, came forward in May to report the abuse, which she alleges took place in 2017 and 2018. The assaults allegedly began after King County Sheriff’s Deputy Ricardo Arturo Cueva told her she was cute and that he liked her while they were alone on a ride-along in his police SUV. Cueva — who is 15 years her senior — later kissed the teenager while they were on a separate ride-along at night. Prosecutors contend that Cueva’s abuse escalated, according to court records, to include sexual assaults in his sheriff’s vehicle and his home. The age of consent in Washington state is typically 16, but rises to 18 if the other person is in a position of authority.

This story was published in partnership with The Guardian.

Law enforcement departments across the country have Explorer programs — overseen by Scouting America, formerly known as Boy Scouts of America — and they have a history of sexual abuse and misconduct, as The Marshall Project reported last year. Ride-alongs, in which young people accompany officers on their patrol shifts, are a key perk of the Explorers program.

They are also a gateway to abuse.

The Marshall Project examined hundreds of abuse allegations in law enforcement Explorer programs and found that about a quarter of them involved officers on ride-alongs with teens — some as young as 14 years old.

“Mr. Cueva staunchly maintains his innocence, and we intend to thoroughly investigate his case and defend him vigorously,” Cueva’s attorneys, Amy Muth and Jennifer Atwood, wrote in a statement. Cueva pleaded not guilty to the charges.

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Hawley pushes legal action against Meta after whistleblowers detail child abuse in VR

Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., called to “open the courtroom doors” so parents can sue Meta, accusing founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg of misleading Congress after whistleblowers detailed child safety failures on the company’s virtual reality (VR) platforms.

Two former Meta researchers told a Senate panel Tuesday that the company buried child harm evidence in VR, killed age-verification studies and let AI chatbots flirt with kids, prompting a bipartisan push to pass measures protecting minors online.

“The claims at the heart of this hearing are nonsense; they’re based on selectively leaked internal documents that were picked specifically to craft a false narrative,” a Meta spokesperson said. 

“The truth is there was never any blanket prohibition on conducting research with young people and, since the start of 2022, Meta approved nearly 180 Reality Labs-related studies on issues including youth safety and well-being.”

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HORROR: Career Criminal with Six Violent Arrests Released From Jail Rapes 4-Year-Old Child, Gives Her STD

Another monster released from jail has committed a heinous crime.

A career criminal with six violent arrests was released from jail, and weeks later, he raped a 4-year-old child and gave her a sexually transmitted disease.

Anthony Jelks, 25, was “well known” to Baton Rouge police because he has a history of violent arrests going back several years.

Just weeks after being released from prison after his most recent arrest, Anthony Jelks is accused of raping a little girl and giving her an STD.

“We’ve arrested him six times over the last 6 or 7 years,” Baton Rouge Police Chief T.J. Morse told WAFB. “Everything from firearms charges to domestic abuse battery, violation of protective orders. He’s currently on probation.”

WAFB obtained court documents revealing Jelks was previously arrested for punching a woman in the face, domestic abuse battery with serious bodily injury, child endangerment, and other firearms charges.

According to police, Jelks raped a child on August 1, just weeks after he was released from jail, and gave her Chlamydia.

Jelks finally turned himself in to the authorities on Monday morning.

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Critics say ‘woke’ Liberal approach to crime led to alleged child assault

Critics lambaste the Carney government’s “show about nothing” on crime, arguing their policies worsen the issue and create a “horror show” in communities, citing cases of child assault, and a father’s death defending his children. 

Panellists highlight the “catch and release” justice system, which even liberal mayors condemn, saying their streets are overrun by criminals. They also criticize Carney’s minister for attacking self-defense. 

Rebel News reporter David Menzies emphasizes that after 10 years of liberal laws, Canada is like the “Wild West,” with citizens fearful and drug deaths at a record high.

Panellists criticized Canada’s handling of alleged child rapist Daniel Senecal, who identifies as female and is treated accordingly in custody, including strip searches by female officers. They labeled this a “farce,” arguing that Canada is no longer a “serious country” if it accepts such claims without question, especially given past prison rapes by men claiming to be women. 

Sue Ann Levy critiques “gender identification nonsense,” citing statistics that over 80% of “transgender women” are imprisoned for sex assault, likening it to “the fox in the chicken coop.” She attributes this to a decade of “woke policies” under Trudeau and Carney, “woke judges,” and DEI, leading to an “oppression Olympics.” 

She suggests many men claiming to be women have a fetish.

Another panellist argued that while peaceful coexistence with trans people is acceptable, issues arise when “transgender women” enter female-only spaces (changing rooms, bathrooms, sports, shelters, prisons), negatively impacting biological women. He doubted Carney’s policies would resolve this “trans sanity,” given Carney’s daughter identifies as male. 

They denounced the imposition of gender identity on Canadians as “despicable” and an example of “wokeism” overriding common sense.

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DOJ Proposes Legislation to Stop Chemical, Surgical Mutilation of Confused Kids

The Justice Department has transmitted proposed legislation to Congress to stop the chemical and genital mutilation of mentally disturbed kids who falsely believe they are the “wrong sex.”

Pursuant to President Donald Trump’s executive order to stop the barbarism, the bill would forbid so-called gender-affirming but life-altering treatment of “trans” children.

Ending the mutilations was one of Trump’s key campaign promises.

Trump signed his executive order on January 28, a week after he took office. He wrote that the victims of the fake science

soon regret that they have been mutilated and begin to grasp the horrifying tragedy that they will never be able to conceive children of their own or nurture their children through breastfeeding.

As well, the victims are stuck with “lifelong medical complications” and the bills to pay for treatment. 

The order defines “chemical and surgical mutilation” as

the use of puberty blockers, including GnRH agonists and other interventions, to delay the onset or progression of normally timed puberty in an individual who does not identify as his or her sex; the use of sex hormones, such as androgen blockers, estrogen, progesterone, or testosterone, to align an individual’s physical appearance with an identity that differs from his or her sex; and surgical procedures that attempt to transform an individual’s physical appearance to align with an identity that differs from his or her sex or that attempt to alter or remove an individual’s sexual organs to minimize or destroy their natural biological functions. This phrase sometimes is referred to as “gender affirming care.”

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Utah, FTC target adult websites over alleged child sex abuse material distribution

The State of Utah and Federal Trade Commission targeted the owner and operator of some of the world’s most popular adult content websites over alleged distribution of child sex abuse material (CSAM) and non-consensual material (NSM).

In proposed consent order, state and federal officials allege the company, Aylo, knew it had “hundreds of thousands” of CSAM and NSM videos on its websites. FTC Commissioner Melissa Holyoak and Utah Attorney General Derek Brown both noted that one of Aylo’s employees described one of their own sites as a “gold mine for rape content.”

“Utah stands ready to protect our children from exploitation wherever that exploitation takes place. The rise of the internet has unfortunately led to an increasing amount of instances of child exploitation,” said Brown. “It’s no longer limited to the dark web. Predators can find it more and more on regular sites.”

Despite knowing the alleged content on its site, the complaint alleges Aylo ignored “hundreds of red flags” and deceived consumers about the removal of the videos, allowing for consumers to unknowingly engage with illegal content.

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