Tag: rape

Anti-Migrant Riots Erupt in Northern Ireland After “Romanian Teenagers” Charged With Sexual Assault

Anti-migrant riots have erupted in Northern Ireland, leading to 15 police officers being injured and four houses being set alight, after two teenagers, thought to be Romanian, were charged with the sexual assault of a girl. The Telegraph has more.

Two 14- ear-old boys appeared at a local court by videolink on Monday charged with attempted rape. The charges were read to them by a Romanian interpreter.

Violence erupted in Ballymena in County Antrim on Monday night after a peaceful vigil of hundreds of people was held in the town centre.

North Antrim MP Jim Allister said Ballymena had been “overburdened” by “unchecked migration”, which was a source of “past and future tensions”.

The victim’s family condemned the riots, which were reminiscent of the disorder sparked in England and Northern Ireland after the murder of three girls at a dance class in Southport.

Asking that justice be served “in the correct manner”, the family said that they were in “no way involved or condone any trouble that happened” after the peaceful protest.

Keep reading

Maui police chief named in Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs lawsuit as alleged co-conspirator

Maui Police Chief John Pelletier is fiercely denying allegations that he was involved in a cover-up linked to Sean “Diddy” Combs.

In a nearly 90-page civil lawsuit filed by Ashley Parham and two unnamed individuals, Pelletier is accused of being hired as security for Combs in 2018.

The suit claims that Pelletier, who at the time was a Las Vegas police captain, posed as a sheriff deputy in California and responded to an alleged gang rape involving Combs.

The alleged victim claims that Pelletier instructed her to go home and offered no help or medical care.

The woman claims Pelletier gave an envelope to a neighbor, which she believed to be full of cash.

She claims Pelletier later took her and another plaintiff at gunpoint to his home, restrained them, refused to let them call an attorney, and made various moves to cover up the kidnapping.

In a statement, Maui County Mayor Richard Bissen requested that the Maui County Police Commission put Pelletier on administrative leave while the investigation remains ongoing.

The statement reads as follows:

“On March 7, 2025, and was filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California in the case of Ashley Parham v. Sean Combs (Case No. 3:24-cv-07191-RFL).

This amendment includes multiple new defendants, one of whom is Maui Police Chief John Pelletier.

The original complaint, filed on October 15, 2024, did not name Chief Pelletier.

While the allegations in the amended complaint remain unproven, they are serious in nature and involve claims of alleged criminal conduct.

As with any such legal matter, due process must be observed, but the existence of these allegations alone presents concerns regarding public trust and the effective functioning of the department.

There is precedent within the County of Maui government for placing appointed officials on leave while allegations against them are investigated.

This approach does not constitute a presumption of guilt but ensures that the individual in question is not in a position that may compromise the integrity of the office while the matter is under review.

The County of Maui Charter requires appointed officers to uphold the highest ethical standards to maintain public confidence in local government.

Given the gravity of the allegations, I recommend that the Maui Police Commission place Chief Pelletier on administrative leave pending further investigation.

Additionally, I urge the Commission to conduct its own independent review rather than waiting for the resolution of the federal case.

Taking proactive steps will demonstrate the County’s commitment to transparency, accountability, and ethical governance.”Mayor Richard Bissen

Keep reading

Former Dodgers pitcher Trevor Bauer awarded $310,000 after being falsely accused of sexual assault

Former Dodgers pitcher Trevor Bauer has been granted nearly $310,000 in a default judgment against Lindsey Hill, the San Diego woman who falsely accused him of sexual assault in 2021. The ruling stems from Hill violating the terms of a 2023 settlement agreement meant to resolve lawsuits they filed against each other.

According to the Los Angeles Times, Bauer filed a complaint in Los Angeles Superior Court claiming Hill breached the deal by falsely claiming online and in 22 other separate instances that she had received a financial payout from him as part of the settlement after she was indicted on charges of On Monday, Judge Daniel Crowley ruled in Bauer’s favor, ordering Hill to pay him $309,830.

With the two lawsuits from 2021, Bauer suing Hill for defamation and Hill suing him for sexual assault and battery, they both agreed not to pay each other. Despite not being paid by Bauer, Hill sent an email to Bauer’s attorneys saying that she would get a payout of $300,000 from an insurance policy.

She subsequently claimed on social media after the settlement that Bauer “handed back an insurance sum to me that was meant for him in order for me to drop my countersuit.” Bauer sued her in October for the claim, as well as the other instances of her claiming that Bauer had to send her a payout.

As part of the 2021 settlement, Hill as well as those representing her were barred from saying Bauer or any representative “paid her any money as consideration for the settlement,” and each violation would be $10,000.

“Because Hill has a long history of making false and defamatory claims against me on social media, I was concerned that Hill would falsely claim that I paid her to resolve the lawsuit,” Bauer said of the settlement.

Keep reading

Ex-Police Chief Serving Time for Rape and Murder Escapes Arkansas Prison Wearing Homemade Police Uniform

Former Gateway, Arkansas police chief Grant Hardin escaped from prison Saturday while serving a 50 and 30-year sentences for rape and first degree murder. According to authorities, Hardin wore a homemade police uniform to escape, wheeling supplies though the yard to fool guards.

Excerpt from the New York Post:

A disgraced ex-Arkansas police chief who was serving 80 years in prison for rape and a shotgun-to-the-head execution escaped from a high-security prison disguised as a cop.

Grant Hardin, 56, the former police chief of Gateway near the Arkansas-Missouri border, was seen on security cameras walking out of the North Central Unit prison, in Calico Rock, dressed in what appears to be a homemade law enforcement uniform on Sunday afternoon.

Hardin, who is considered extremely dangerous, used the outfit to sneak through the controlled gate while inconspicuously pushing a cart full of utility materials, according to the Stone County Sheriff’s Office.

…In 2017, Hardin pleaded guilty to the murder of James Appleton, 59, a Gateway water department employee who was shot in the head at point-blank range with a shotgun while on the phone with his brother-in-law, who was at the time the mayor.

…While incarcerated, Hardin’s DNA was tested and linked to a 1997 rape case that saw an elementary school teacher sexually assaulted at gunpoint inside a school bathroom while a community church service occured down the hall.

Hardin pleaded guilty to rape and kidnapping in 2018, with a judge sentencing him to an additional 50 years in jail.

Statement and updates by the Arkansas Department of Corrections, “FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – CALICO ROCK – On Sunday, May 25, at approximately 3:40 p.m., inmate Grant Hardin, ADC #168541, escaped from the North Central Unit. Anyone with information about inmate Hardin’s whereabouts should contact local law enforcement immediately.”

Keep reading

Labour set to free killers and rapists earlier under new soft-justice masterplan branded ‘recipe for a crimewave’ by the Tories

Labour is set to free killers and rapists from jail earlier under a new soft-justice masterplan.

The Government’s sentencing review was last night savaged by victims and senior police officers, while the Tories dubbed it a ‘recipe for a crimewave’.

The plan contains a raft of measures to slash sentences served by prisoners – from shoplifters to killers – by up to a third. 

Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood, who commissioned the review to free up space in overcrowded prisons, is poised to become the weakest law and order minister in history by allowing thousands more criminals a year to dodge jail completely.

Most of the plan has already been adopted in principle by Labour. Tory frontbencher Robert Jenrick blasted the measures as ‘a get-out-of-jail-free card for dangerous criminals’.

‘It’s a recipe for a crime wave,’ the Shadow Justice Secretary told MPs in the Commons. ‘The Labour Party are clearly ideologically opposed to prison.

‘The radical, terrible changes today may be cloaked in necessity, but the root of them is their ideology. And it’s the public who will pay the price for their weakness.’

The review said criminals convicted of serious violence or sex offences could win their freedom after serving half their jail term, rather than at the current three-quarters point – a one-third reduction.

This lower automatic release date would apply to offenders convicted of ‘rape, manslaughter, soliciting murder, attempted murder and wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm’, the document said, providing they behaved well in jail.

Most other offenders would be released after serving just a third of their sentence if they demonstrated good behaviour.

Keep reading

AOC’s district sees 70% crime surge — more than double NYC average: ‘She doesn’t care’

What these neighborhoods really need is a “Squad” car.

Major crime rose by an eye-popping 70% in Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s Bronx and Queens district since the ‘defund the police’ socialist lawmaker took office in 2019 — more than double the citywide increase of 30% over that same span, a Post analysis of NYPD data shows.

The 110th Precinct in Queens, which covers part of the infamous “Market of Sweethearts” human-trafficking and prostitution mecca on Roosevelt Avenue, saw a 105% surge, the highest increase of any NYC precinct in that period.

Major crimes consist of murder, rape, robbery, felony assault, burglary, grand larceny and auto theft.

The 115th Precinct, which also serves part of Roosevelt Avenue in addition to Jackson Heights, East Elmhurst, and north Corona, saw major offenses rise by 85%.

The other four precincts in her Queens-Bronx congressional district similarly saw major-crime increases higher than the citywide average.

Some residents blamed the increasingly lawlessness squarely on the no-show lawmaker.

“She’s not doing s–t. She doesn’t live in the neighborhood, she doesn’t care,” vented Elmhurst resident Guadelupe Alvarez, who has lived in the 110th Precinct her whole life and is one of several constituents who ripped the jet-setting absentee “Squad” member for letting the district turn to “trash” while she focuses on elevating herself on the national stage.

Alvarez, 34, a former AOC supporter, has had to endure a brothel setting up across the street from her childhood home, and the drunken men she says constantly swarm in and out of the place. She said she also regularly witnesses gang activity, car thefts and assaults, but nothing gets done.

She used to dream of building a life in the neighborhood, but not anymore.

Keep reading

NATO general fired over rape gaffe – Spiegel

NATO’s deputy commander for Ukraine support has been dismissed over a rape-related remark he made during a high-level meeting, Der Spiegel reported on Tuesday.

Major General Hartmut Renk told a gathering in February “If rape is inevitable, relax and enjoy.”

Following a formal complaint from a female British officer, Renk admitted to making the comment but reportedly used it sarcastically to motivate his team, according to the outlet.

German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius and General Carsten Breuer, the head of the German armed forces, oversaw an investigation, after which, the minister removed Renk from his NATO post, canceled his planned promotion to a role in the US, and initiated disciplinary proceedings.

The two-star general now reportedly faces early retirement.

Keep reading

Sexual abuse of nuns: one of the Catholic Church’s last taboos

Nuns sexually assaulted by priests are one of the last Catholic taboos, but with reports of abuse rising, it is a scandal that will be difficult for the future pope to ignore.

“In the past, the nuns suffered a lot and couldn’t talk about it to anyone; it was like a secret,” Sister Cristina Schorck told AFP, walking through St Peter’s Square with her parents.

The 41-year-old Brazilian, who works with the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians in Rome, said Pope Francis, who died last month, opened “a first door” for women to speak out.

After an unprecedented summit at the Vatican on clerical sexual violence in 2019, a series of measures were taken, including lifting the pontifical secret on abuse and an obligation for people to report cases to their superiors.

“It’s both still a taboo and something that has progressed” because “it’s never been talked about as much as it is today,” Sister Veronique Margron, President of the Conference of Religious of France, told AFP.

The slow shift in attitudes is exemplified by the case of the influential Slovenian priest and mosaics artist Marko Rupnik, accused by nuns of sexual and psychological violence against them in the early 1990s.

It was only under pressure that Francis lifted the statute of limitations in 2023 to open proceedings against him.

Laura Sgro, the Italian lawyer for five of his accusers, told AFP that nuns should be better protected “both by states and by canon law”, notably by extending the statute of limitations, and said the next pope must act “immediately”.

Victims’ associations say the Vatican has not done enough, particularly by refusing to remove confessional secrecy.

“Things are moving forward step by step,” a senior ecclesiastical official told AFP on condition of anonymity, pointing out that Francis “has denounced all forms of abuse”.

Nuns in black, grey, white, beige or brown habits, in Rome to study, work or accompany pilgrims, come and go every day in St Peter’s Square, far from the media hype surrounding the cardinals.

Among them, Sister Marthe, a nun from Cameroon in her forties, said she wanted the Church to “know how” to respond to “sexual (or) power abuse”.

Keep reading

REVEALED: How the People’s Pope shielded sexual predators in the clergy – including one priest accused of violently raping nuns

When the world’s cardinals met in Rome last Monday for the first of their crucial pre-conclave discussions, they raised ‘the issue of clerical abuse’, according to a Vatican spokesman. 

The cardinals are forbidden to reveal anything that was said. 

But behind closed doors, the preparations for the conclave – which starts on Wednesday – are already mired in scandal.

Aside from doubts about the true age of Philippe Ouedraogo, a cardinal from Burkina Faso whom some claim is 80, meaning he’s too old to vote, and concerns about the presence of the Peruvian cardinal Juan Luis Cipriani, who faces sexual abuse allegations (which he denies), several cardinals have torn into the legacy of the late Pope Francis.

‘We have listened to many complaints against Francis’s papacy in these days’, one unnamed cardinal told America Magazine, a Jesuit publication.

In any case, we can be certain that Monday’s debate was haunted by a series of jaw-dropping scandals whose details are unknown to the vast majority of the 400,000 Catholics who attended Pope Francis’s funeral a week ago.

If they had known, the crowds would have been much smaller. 

For the common denominator of these scandals – whose victims included 20 Slovenian nuns who claim to have been raped, Argentinian seminarians grotesquely assaulted by their bishop and a Belgian teenager subjected to incestuous assault by his uncle, a bishop – is that Francis went to bizarre lengths either to conceal or excuse these crimes.

The ‘people’s Pope’ was elected in 2013 on a promise to hold the Church accountable for clerical sex abuse. 

And it’s true that he did establish new rules designed to punish bishops found guilty.

But the first Argentinian pontiff did not practise what he preached. 

The darkest mystery of Francis’s 12-year reign was his persistent habit of shielding credibly accused and even convicted sexual predators from justice. 

The Pope enjoys supreme authority over the Catholic Church. 

He can twist or ignore canon law, which is supposed to punish sex offenders, and the Vatican state’s criminal law, without being challenged.

That is precisely what he did, again and again. 

Indeed, his sinister modus operandi predated his election: as Archbishop of Buenos Aires, he tried to keep a priest who abused homeless boys out of jail.

Keep reading

Call to charge gamers who carry out virtual rapes in online metaverse as real-life sex attackers

Gamers who carry out virtual rapes in the ‘metaverse‘ should be charged as real-life sex attackers, a legal expert insists.

Assaults are rife on the digital ‘avatars’ used by women and children in the online world, which, it is claimed, can leave them with trauma similar to real ordeals.

Players wearing virtual reality headsets often use interactive gloves and bodysuits to experience physical touch in the 3D games, meaning they will feel an assault on their avatar.

Professor Clare McGlynn, a law expert at Durham University, branded the metaverse a ‘ticking time bomb’ and warned that the number of sex attacks is set to ‘explode’ in the next few years.

Her paper, published in the Oxford Journal of Legal Studies, found that a rising toll of ‘meta-rapes’ are going unpunished in the unregulated digital spaces. 

It cites a police investigation after a teenager was ‘gang-raped’, with officers concluding that she suffered the same psychological trauma as a real-life victim.

The case last year, revealed by the Mail, was thought to have been the first time in the UK that police had investigated a virtual sex offence.

Professor McGlynn’s study, with Carlotta Rigotti of Leiden University in the Netherlands, proposes that existing laws should be applied to ‘appropriate cases of meta-rape’.

She said the law covers touching with any part of the body, ‘with anything else and through anything’, adding that it could be interpreted to include touching through an avatar.

‘The metaverse is growing rapidly and we see abuse, sexual violence and hate speech,’ she added. 

Keep reading