Tag: child abuse

Court Orders Meta to Pay $567 Million Over Child Harm

A court on Thursday ordered Meta to pay $567 million into a fund over child harm.

New Mexico Judge Bryan Biedscheid compared Meta to air pollution and called it a “public nuisance.”

“Although Meta is not alone in this regard, its social media platforms are a significant contributing factor to the current mental health crisis among New Mexico’s youth established by the substantial evidence in this case,” Judge Bryan Biedscheid wrote in the ruling on Thursday, CNBC reported.

KCRA reported:

A New Mexico court has ordered Instagram and Facebook parent company Meta to pay $567 million to address harms to young people from its platforms in the second phase of a landmark trial the social media giant lost in March.

In a ruling late Thursday, Judge Bryan Biedcheid said the bulk of the money — $420 million — will be used for treatment services for young people. The rest will go toward awareness and prevention, screening services and other costs over the next five years.

In the first phase, jurors had ordered $375 million in civil penalties against Meta, determining that it knowingly harmed children’s mental health and concealed what it knew about child sexual exploitation on its platforms.

In the second phase, prosecutors had asked the judge to impose fundamental changes at Meta aimed at reining in addictive features, improving age verification and preventing child sexual exploitation through default privacy settings and closer oversight.

In March, a Los Angeles, California, jury found that Meta and YouTube were liable for a teen’s mental health and awarded her $3 million in damages.

The plaintiff, a 20-year-old woman identified as KGM or “Kaley,” said she became addicted to Meta’s app Instagram and Google’s YouTube as a child.

KGM said she developed body dysmorphia and had suicidal ideations because of her addiction to the social media platforms.

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Apple Pulled Telegram From the App Store Worldwide Over a Single User Post

Apple removed Telegram from the App Store worldwide on Monday night, then restored it roughly 40 minutes later.

“We briefly removed Telegram from the App Store after our review found content that violates our strict guidelines prohibiting child sexual abuse material,” Apple said in a statement sent to several outlets. “The app was subsequently restored after the developer promptly removed the content and banned the user who posted it.”

A Telegram spokesperson said that Apple had reported one user sharing the material, and that the user was immediately banned, meaning the trigger was a single user on a platform that Telegram says has more than a billion monthly active users.

“The app was ​subsequently restored after the developer promptly removed the content and banned the user ⁠who posted it,” the spokesperson wrote.

Pulling an app from the App Store only blocks new downloads and updates. Anyone who already had Telegram installed kept messaging straight through the episode – which ran, by Reclaim The Net’s timings, from about 9:30 to about 10:10 that night, Eastern time.

The takedown was patchy while it lasted and it stayed available on the Mac App Store and on Google Play throughout.

But the brevity measures how fast Telegram moved, not the limit of what Apple can do. A removal that stood would have blocked new installs first, then reached anyone who reset or replaced a phone, and, once updates stopped coming, eventually everyone was still using the app.

Apple’s hold over what reaches an iPhone is already in federal court. The Justice Department and 16 state and district attorneys general sued the company in March 2024 for monopolizing smartphone markets. The complaint says that Apple maintains its dominance through restrictions on third-party developers, among them limits on “super apps” and the favoring of its own Messages app over third-party messaging.

A federal judge in New Jersey denied Apple’s motion to dismiss in June last year, and no trial has been scheduled. Bloomberg reported in July that Apple has made offers and entered early settlement talks with the government, and that there is no guarantee an agreement will be reached.

What happens to a developer who takes a week to remove the content, instead of 40 minutes?

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Father Shoots His Daughter’s Alleged R*pist After Posing as Her on TikTok – Then He is Charged By Authorities and Given a Higher Bond than the P*dophile

A loving Ohio father who was furious over a monster sexually assaulting his daughter took a unique approach to put a stop to the abuse, but is now paying a price.

As WBNS reported on Tuesday, Diego Montoya Gonzalez was shot by a 11-year-old girl’s father last month at their Grove City home after the child’s mother discovered video footage of her being r*ped.

The day after the footage was found, the child’s father posed as his daughter on TikTok to lure Montoya Gonzalez back to their home. Then, he shot him twice.

The dad said he acted in self-defense, claiming he only wanted to ‘beat up’ Montoya Gonzalez but saw him reach for a gun first.

But the dad’s daring act to save his innocent girl comes at a legal cost: WBNS reveals that he is being charged with felonious assault. His bond was set at $100,000.

Many Americans would certainly consider this decision by the authorities outrageous, especially since he was trying to protect his child.

Like WBNS, The Gateway Pundit will not identify the father to safeguard the little girl’s privacy.

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Transgender TV star arrested on child molestation and sodomy charges, mom ‘blindsided’

Reality TV star Sidney Starr, a transgender whose real name is Sidney Favors, was arrested Sunday in Georgia on felony charges of sodomy, sexual battery against a child under 16 and aggravated child molestation.

Favors is a man pretending to be a woman, and IMDB calls him an “actress” who has appeared “Star” and “Empire.” TMZ says Sidney is best known for “Love & Hip Hop: New York” and “Wild ‘n Out.”

Fox 5 Atlanta reports Favors “was taken into custody following an incident at the Embassy Suites in the 3400 block of International Boulevard” in Hapeville, Georgia.

“Booking records accuse her of performing oral sex on a minor at a hotel in Hapeville and confessing to the act,” according to TMZ.

“Because this case involves a juvenile, no additional information will be released from our agency,” the Hapeville Police Department told the station.

The probe has been turned over to the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office for prosecution.

Libs of TikTok noted: “The thing they say never happens, happened again.”

Meanwhile, TMZ reports Stephanie Favors, the mother of Sidney Favors, says she was blindsided by the child sex allegations against her child, and fully stands behind Sidney.

“Stephanie Favors tells us the allegations are completely out of character for Sidney,” she told TMZ, “and she does not believe her [biological son] would engage in sexual activity with a minor.”

Sidney Favors posted a video on TikTok dancing with mother Stephanie.

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Idaho: Previously deported Mexican national charged with repeated sexual assault of young child

A previously deported Mexican national is facing multiple felony charges in Idaho following allegations of repeated sexual abuse involving a young child over a span of five years, state and federal law enforcement authorities confirmed.

The suspect, identified as 48-year-old Jose Oliver Mendoza-Colindres, was taken into custody after an investigation led by local law enforcement revealed a pattern of abuse that began when the victim was just 3-years-old.

The exact relationship between Mendoza-Colindres and the victim has not been publicly disclosed by law enforcement or in charging documents.

The investigation unfolded after deputies from the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office attended a forensic interview at a child care center in Pocatello. During the disclosure interview, the underage victim detailed multiple instances of sexual abuse purportedly committed by Mendoza-Colindres between the ages of 3 and 8.

“I’m showing you my love,” Mendoza-Colindres reportedly told the young child during the abuse.

According to Border Hawk, in 2020, the victim’s father even caught him sexually abusing his child during a party. “A physical altercation involving the child’s mother ensued,” the outlet noted.

“Court documents state the victim’s parents did not report the incident because they were unsure if the victim would remember the incident at her age and did not want to traumatize her. In addition, documents state the victim’s parents were concerned about the victim’s father’s immigration status,” as reported by East Idaho News.

Following the victim’s account and subsequent preliminary findings, law enforcement moved swiftly to arrest the suspect. Mendoza-Colindres has since been formally charged in Idaho state court with one count of sexual abuse of a minor under the age of 16 and two counts of lewd conduct with a minor under the age of 16.

According to records released by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Mendoza-Colindres has a history of illegal entries into the United States.

Federal records suggest that he first entered the U.S. illegally through Texas in 2002 and was formally deported back to Mexico. However, Mendoza-Colindres later re-entered the country unlawfully near California in 2007 and remained in the U.S. undetected until his recent arrest in Idaho.

On July 26th, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) lodged an immigration detainer with Idaho detention authorities, formally requesting that state officials hold Mendoza-Colindres and notify federal agents prior to any potential release.

DHS officials emphasized that since local jurisdictions in Idaho actively cooperate with federal immigration detainers, ICE intends to assume custody of the suspect to pursue deportation proceedings once state criminal charges and any resulting judicial sentences are fully resolved.

Mendoza-Colindres remains in custody awaiting further court proceedings on his state felony charges.

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UK Puberty Blocker Trial to Begin Recruiting Children as Young as 11

A controversial impending clinical trial on puberty blocking drugs in Britain will begin on Saturday to recruit hundreds of children as young as 11-years-old.

The so-called “Pathways” trial being run by King’s College London (KCL) will start recruiting some 226 children between the ages of 11 and 16 on August 1st as it seeks to determine the benefits or risks of puberty blockers on supposedly transgender children, the BBC reported.

In 2024, a review from paediatrician Dr Hilary Cass found that previous justification for the use of such hormone-altering therapies in children was “built on shaky foundations” and thus the National Health Service (NHS) should not proscribe them.

Yet, Dr Cass said there should be an exception for clinical trials, despite the potential of permanently damaging participating children. Cass said last month that the study was “essential” to determine “whether these drugs are helpful or not”.

The clinical trial was originally set to commence in January but was delayed following legal action taken by Bayswater Support Group, which represents hundreds of concerned parents.

However, this challenge was thrown out by the High Court on Friday after Mr Justice Chamberlain ruled that the child participants would be assessed for months by doctors who will have “formed the opinion that a child has a reasonable prospect of receiving a clinical benefit from the treatment”.

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Meet the Woke Judge Who Sentenced Minnesota Mother Shiloh Hendrix for Speech ‘Crimes’ and Learn About Her Sordid Judicial History

The far-left judge at the center of the alarming verdict in the Shiloh Hendrix case is going viral, and much has come about her judicial past. And it is not pretty.

As The Gateway Pundit’s Cassandra MacDonald reported, a Minnesota jury on Thursday night delivered a split verdict in the disorderly conduct trial of Shiloh Hendrix.

The jury found the 37-year-old mother not guilty on the count related to her words directed at the eight-year-old Somali boy who was stealing from her, but guilty on the count stemming from her comments to the man who filmed and confronted her at a Rochester playground.

Last April, Hendrix was at the park with her toddler when the boy reached into her diaper bag and took an applesauce pouch. She confronted the child and allegedly used the N-word.

A Somali man named Sharmake Beyle Omar, who was not the child’s father, began recording the scene, became extremely confrontational with Hendrix as she was holding her toddler, and continued filming as he demanded and provoked her to repeat the slur.

Following the verdict, Judge Christa M. Daily sentenced Hendrix to a $1,000 fine, 200 hours of community service, supervised probation, and a stayed 90-day jail term.

While racism is horrible and no one should condone racial slurs, punishing someone for uncouth speech is precisely what our Founders fought against. Yet, Hendrix will pay a legal price unless the sentence is overturned.

This outrageous travesty of justice becomes even more glaring when one learns of Judge Daily’s past cases.

Back in January 2023, Daily sentenced a pervert named Thomas Lee Meyer to NO JAIL TIME even though he was convicted of four felony charges of possessing pornographic work.

The victims were reportedly 6 to 8 years old.

Back in August 2024, a 22-year-old Mississippi man named Trashun Haywood was convicted of first and second-degree assault and sentenced to 5 years in prison.

Haywood had repeatedly stabbed a 26-year-old Rochester man with a pocket knife after the two men got into an argument at an apartment complex in northwest Rochester on Christmas Eve of 2021.

The victim suffered stab wounds to his neck, abdomen, and arm. The injuries were so severe that medical personnel at the St. Mary’s Hospital Emergency Department had to perform “life-saving measures.”

But Daily decided to waive 4-1/2 years of the sentence. She said she did so because Haywood eventually admitted to the stabbing and expressed remorse.

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Meta worker who developed ‘digital experiences for kids’ admits to trying to sext child in undercover NYC sting

A New York City engineer who said he created “digital experiences for kids” at social media giant Meta was busted after he admitted to trying to sext a 13-year-old during an undercover sting.

Josh Felker, 44, who’s now on leave from the Facebook parent company, admitted he had been grooming and sexting someone he thought was a teen girl during a sting by Predator Poachers Long Island, a vigilante group that seeks to catch would-be pervs.

“Even though inappropriate things had already gone on, I just almost wish I could be her dad,” Felker, who is married and has a small child, shockingly told a member of the group posing as his would-be victim’s grandmother on the phone, according to video of the encounter set to be released Monday.

Felker, who listed his job on a now-deleted LinkedIn account as an Engineering Manager who built “digital experiences for kids” for Meta reached out to the group’s 13-year-old “decoy account” in May and has been messaging them regularly since, the group said. 

It didn’t take long before Felker allegedly started making a slew of sick remarks — including trying to teach the girl how to masturbate — while sending multiple photos and videos of himself doing the same and even trying to set up days to meet her in person, Mike Villani, one of the predator catchers who led the poach, told The Post. 

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Canada’s Supreme Court restores mandatory jail time for child sex predators

Canada’s Supreme Court again restored a mandatory minimum sentence for those who have been convicted of trying to engage in sex acts with minors under age 18.

The restoration of a mandatory six-month jail sentence came after a 7-2 decision by the Supreme Court on July 10.

The new ruling means that a May 2024 decision by the Quebec Court of Appeal, which ruled that a mandatory minimum sentence for trying to engage in sex with a minor was unconstitutional, is now null.

The appeal of the mandatory minimum sentence came from a case involving then-61-year-old Mario Denis, who was convicted of communicating online with a minor for trying to obtain sexual services. Denis had clicked on an ad offering underage escorts that was a police sting operation and was arrested when he went to a room he thought the underage girl was in.

While Denis was found guilty and given a six-month sentence, he appealed that his sentence violated his Charter rights because it was cruel and unusual punishment. As a result, the Quebec Court of Appeal agreed with Denis that a six-month sentence was indeed unconstitutional, but his sentence was not reduced.

The recent court ruling is at odds with a 2025 Supreme Court ruling that found a mandatory one-year sentence for possessing or accessing child pornography is “unconstitutional.”

This ruling was blasted by both Conservative and even non-Conservative politicians alike, with Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew saying anyone caught with child pornography should be “buried under the prison.”

Despite the outrage from left and right provincial leaders, the Canadian government under Prime Minister Mark Carney said it would not be looking to overturn via a constitutional tool the recent Canadian Supreme Court ruling that a mandatory one-year sentence for possessing or accessing child pornography is “unconstitutional.”

Child pornography and the sex trafficking of minors is a growing problem in Canada and the world.

As LifeSiteNews columnist Jonathon Van Maren noted in a recent blog, Canada is one of the world’s largest exporters of pornography.

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Remains of 22 more babies increases total to 99 found at Ireland site: authorities

The remains of 22 more babies were recovered from the site of a former institution for unmarried mothers and their children in Ireland, bringing the total number of bodies found during an ongoing excavation to 99, authorities announced.

The Office of the Director of Authorized Intervention at Tuam (ODAIT) on Wednesday said the discoveries were made at the site known as the former Mother and Baby Institution, which was operated by the Bon Secours Sisters, an order of Catholic nuns, from 1925 to 1961.

The remains were found in coffins in an area identified in historical records as a burial ground, but later covered with asphalt and gravel and used as a driveway.

“As detailed in previous updates, the evidence ODAIT has recovered is consistent with this area being part of a burial ground from the time of the operation of the Mother and Baby Institution and it falls within an area identified in historical documents as a ‘burial ground,'” ODAIT noted in a news release.

“This location was previously covered with bitumen and gravel and used for vehicular access, according to ODAIT. There were no surface markers to indicate the presence of burials.”

ODAIT said the remains of 77 babies were previous recovered from the area “and earlier historic burials were identified beneath these.”

The recovery effort began in 2025 after years of investigations into the institution. People reported that historian Catherine Corless uncovered records showing 796 infants and young children died while the home was in operation, with many of the children having no recorded burial sites.

A previous excavation confirmed human remains beneath the property, prompting the Irish government to authorize a full forensic excavation.

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