Category Archives: Abuse of Power

February 25, 2024 · 1:00 am

Sisterhood and Sexual Violence by Hamas

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Graffiti by Grafitiyul and Guy Morad critical of women’s organizations which ignored testimony by Israeli women regarding rape and sexual violence during Hamas terrorist attacks 10/7/23, Author Nizzan Cohen (Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International).

WARNING:  Graphic Images

The BBC in December 2023 confirmed that it had seen and heard credible evidence of the rape and mutilation of women by Hamas during the October 7 attack on Israel [1].

The overwhelming evidence of savagery included cuts, bruises, broken pelvises, and vaginal tears.  Victims ranged in age from children and teens to retirees.  The majority did not survive.

“[Many victims’ bodies were] found mutilated and bound, with sexual organs brutally attacked, and in some cases, weapons were inserted into them [2A]”.

The Association of Rape Crisis Centers in Israel has now gathered evidence that there were identical patterns of sexual violence at multiple locations [2B].  Some rapes were committed in front of family and friends, to increase the pain and humiliation of victims and their loved ones.  Gang rape followed by murder was not uncommon. Continue reading →

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February 11, 2024 · 1:00 am

Vulnerable

Backbone Mountain Youth Center

Backbone Mountain Youth Center, Garrett County, MD, Source https://djs.maryland.gov/Pages/facilities/Backbone-Mountain-Youth-Center.aspx

According to the Children’s Defense Fund, nearly 2000 children and teens are arrested everyday in the United States.  In 2018 alone, there were over 700,000 minors under the age of 18 arrested [1].

Tragically, young people are extremely vulnerable to mental, physical, and sexual abuse and neglect during incarceration [2][3][4].  The Dept. of Justice indicates over 36% of the youth in custody at one Maryland juvenile detention center (Backbone Mountain Youth Center) reported having been sexually abused there — fully three times the national average [5].

A total of two hundred victims of physical and sexual abuse have now sued Maryland’s Dept. of Juvenile Services [6A][7A].  Allegations are that abuse was systemic between 1969 and 2017 [8].  Fifteen facilities (three of which have since been closed) are involved in these suits. Continue reading →

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January 7, 2024 · 1:00 am

Rape and Sexual Assault at the US Coast Guard Academy

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US Coast Guard Seal with motto Semper Paratus (“Always Ready”), Source Navy Reservist (March 2008), (PD)

It is a shame that we must begin the New Year with a focus on misogyny in the military. 

Four courageous women have testified before Congress to the rape, sexual assault, and sexual harassment they were forced to endure at the US Coast Guard Academy with no consequences to the perpetrators [1A]. 

Legally, rape is non-consensual sexual intercourse by physical force, threats, or drugs [2A].  Sexual assault involves any non-consensual sexual contact [2B].  Sexual harassment involves unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, verbal or physical intimidation either in the workplace or in an educational setting [3].

  • One woman had to continue living and studying beside the student who had sexually assaulted her [1B].
  • Another attempted suicide after being raped and sexually assaulted by two different classmates [1C].
  • A third woman was groped in front of dozens of laughing onlookers [1D].
  • The fourth woman was actually penalized for the damage which resulted when two students broke down her dorm room door to attack her and her roommate in their beds [1E].

The demeanor of these women was professional, their testimony compelling.  As CNN reports, their stories are not unique. Continue reading →

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December 17, 2023 · 1:00 am

Radicalization

File:US Secretary of Health and Human Services flag.svg

Flag of US Secretary of Health and Human Services, Author Dept. of Health and Human Services (PD)

A proposed regulation by the US Dept. of Health and Human Services (HHS) would prohibit foster families from any attempt to “undermine, suppress, or change” the gender identification of children in their care [1].

Biblical Values Mischaracterized

Couched as “protection” for children suffering from gender dysphoria, i.e. gender identification at variance with their biological sex, the proposed regulation effectively equates the expression of biblical values vis a vis sexuality with child abuse [2].

It should be emphasized that there is no evidence to suggest that foster children in Christian homes have in any way been harmed.

Foster Parents Disqualified

Apart from interfering with religious freedom, the new regulation is likely to deprive the foster care system of thousands of willing foster parents who do not believe children should be chemically or surgically mutilated before they are old enough to purchase alcohol or vote. Continue reading →

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November 26, 2023 · 1:00 am

Reckless Disregard

File:The Children of Odin The Book of Northern Myths 18.jpg

“The Children of Odin” from The Book of Northern Myths (1917), Author Padraic Colum, Illustrator Willy Pogany (PD)

WARNING:  Graphic Images

  • In New York, a 1 y.o. boy, two 2 y.o. boys, and a 7 month old girl are believed to have consumed or been exposed to fentanyl at a daycare center [1].   The youngest boy, Nicholas Dominici, died as a result.  The others had to be hospitalized.  A trap door and hidden drugs were subsequently discovered [2].  The daycare provider Grei Mendez, 36 y.o., her husband Felix Herrera Garcia, 34 y.o., and his cousin Carlisto Brito, 41 y.o., have been indicted for second degree murder and manslaughter.
  • In South Carolina, daycare workers, Serena Caldwell, 56 y.o., and Ericka Jones, 27 y.o, have been charged with contributing to the delinquency of a minor for urging the 3 y.o. and 4 y.o. youngsters in their care to fight one another [1].  Some fourteen children were involved.  Thankfully, none sustained serious injury.  The two women were terminated after security footage was reviewed.

This is depravity of the highest order, and reckless disregard for human life.  There is no other way to describe it.  Even wolves do not treat their young like this.

“The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it?” (Jer. 17: 9).

—

[1]  Fox News, “New York City daycare children possibly consume fentanyl, 1 dead,  3 hospitalized:  Report” by Sarah Rumpf-Whitten, 9/16/23, https://www.foxnews.com/us/new-york-city-daycare-children-possibly-consumer-fentanyl-1-dead-3-hospitalized-report.

[2]  CNN, “Bronx day care provider and two others indicted on murder charges in 1 year old’s death.  The boy’s father gives a gut wrenching statement” by Rob Frehse, Jason Hanna, and Holly Yan, 10/6/23, https://www.cnn.com/2023/10/05/us/bronx-day-care-fentanyl-state-charges/index.html.

[3]  Fox News, “‘Rogue’ daycare workers busted for allegedly running child fight ring” by Christina Coulter, 10/11/23, https://www.foxnews.com/us/rogue-daycare-workers-busted-allegedly-running-child-fight-ring.

FOR MORE OF MY ARTICLES ON POVERTY, POLITICS, AND MATTERS OF CONSCIENCE CHECK OUT MY BLOG A LAWYER’S PRAYERS AT: https://alawyersprayers.com

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September 24, 2023 · 1:00 am

Communism, Homosexuality, and the Catholic Church Sex Scandal

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John Jay College (CUNY), Author Roger Rowlett (CC BY-SA 2.5 Generic)

In 2011, a landmark study by the John Jay College of Criminal Justice at the City University of New York identified no single cause or predictor for the sexual abuse of minors by Catholic priests between 1950 and 2010 [1A][2A].

Celibacy, Homosexuality, and Predation

Principal investigator on the study, Karen Terry PhD, stated that neither celibacy nor homosexuality were causes of the abuse.  Terry concluded that “The increased frequency of abuse in the 1960s and 1970s was consistent with the patterns of increased deviance of society during that time [2B].”

It is not politically correct to criticize homosexual behavior today.  However, more than 80% of victims in this study were pre-teen and teenage boys [1B].  In other words, the problem was primarily one of male-on-male predation by Catholic priests on underage boys.

The Sexual Revolution

Alfred Kinsey — the bisexual author of the Sexual Revolution — is known to have had great animosity toward the Catholic Church [3A][4].  It is now believed that he discarded research data which did not support his intended goal of normalizing homosexuality [3B]. Continue reading →

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July 30, 2023 · 1:00 am

Gilgo Beach

File:SCPD Gilgo Death Investigation.jpg

Map indicating location of bodies discovered at Gilgo Beach, Author Atiru
(CC BY-SA 4.0 International)

WARNING:  Graphic Images

Gilgo Beach is a quiet stretch of sandy coastline on Long Island, NY, made infamous by the serial killings which have been uncovered there [1].

Shockingly, the remains of up to 18 victims, murdered between 1996 and 2011, have been found in the general area.  For the most part, these victims — the majority of them women — are believed to have been sex workers.

Serial Predator

Rex Heuermann — a 59 y.o. married architect and father of two — has been charged in the murders of three such victims (Melissa Barthelemy, Amber Costello, and Megan Waterman) [2].  He is the prime suspect in the murder of a fourth (Maureen Brainard-Barnes).  There is speculation that he may be responsible for many more.

Investigative Delay

The identification of victims was necessarily a lengthy and complex process.

However, the FBI did not become officially involved in this investigation until 5 years after the first remains were located by Suffolk County Police [3].  For reasons of his own, former Police Chief James Burke is said actually to have blocked that involvement [4].

There is, also, widespread suspicion among family members of the victims that Suffolk Police did not prioritize the investigation because these women were prostitutes, rather than “upstanding” members of the community.

Child Abuse and Prostitution
A. Sexual Abuse

What is particularly tragic about this story is that there is every likelihood the women had already been the victims of childhood sexual abuse. Continue reading →

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May 28, 2023 · 1:00 am

Continuing FLDS Tragedy

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/15/Ira_Eldredge_and_his_three_wives_circa_1864_%28restored%29.png

Retouched portrait of Mormon Bishop Ira Eldredge with his three wives (Nancy, Hannah, and Helvig), (c. 1864)

Public Domain as published before January 1, 1928

An offshoot of the infamous Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (FLDS) is carrying on the heinous practices of Warren Jeffs, though Jeffs has now been incarcerated for over a decade [1].

Samuel Bateman, 47 y.o., the leader of this polygamous Mormon sect, claims to be Warren’s legitimate successor and a “prophet” in his own right [2A].

Bateman is alleged to have taken 20 or more wives, some as young as 8 or 9 y.o.  He is said to have traveled through Utah, Arizona, Colorado, and Nebraska in order to have sex with underage girls.  As a result, Bateman is facing state and federal charges which include kidnapping and child abuse.

A total of eleven members of Bateman’s splinter group have now been charged with transporting children across state lines for purposes of sexual activity, recording that activity, destroying evidence, and witness tampering.

Mormon Polygamy Historically

Though it is today prohibited by the mainstream LDS, polygamy was among the original teachings of Mormonism, and practiced till 1890 [2B][3].  Doctrinally, polygamy was actually viewed by Mormons as being essential to Salvation, and more significant than baptism.

Downsides of Polygamy for Women

Polygamy — most recently pitched to the public under the seductive guise of polyamory — necessarily creates tensions and inequities, whether practiced by Mormons, Muslims, or others [4].  Women in such an arrangement do not have equal rights with their male partner.

Some “wives” will be favored over or replaced by others, causing harmful friction not only among these women, but their children.  Emotional abuse, depression, severe financial restrictions (even outright destitution), and ultimate abandonment are not uncommon [5A].

Polygamous relationships are, also, prone to domestic violence and/or sexual abuse, not to mention the negative impact they have on children [5B].

Continue reading →

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November 13, 2022 · 1:00 am

Cover Up

New Bill Goes After Institutions That Cover Up Child Sexual Abuse, Giving Survivors Chance For Justice - Colorado Coalition Against Sexual Assault

Image courtesy of CBS News.

The following is excerpted from a post by Gabrielle Guthrie.  Gabrielle discusses the cover up of child sexual abuse by religious and other institutions, most particularly the Church of England [1].

The full post can be found at her blog See, there’s this thing called biology… https://insanitybytes2.wordpress.com/2022/11/06/he-fell-where/.

Colorado is among the states that have passed legislation extending the Statute of Limitations on sexual abuse, while targeting those individuals and institutions who knew (or should have known) about the abuse but did not stop it [2][3].

“…it’s the cover up that is so evil, it’s circling the wagons and protecting the power structure, that really rankles.  That’s what lurks behind those deep rooted feelings of powerlessness and injustice.  Sometimes that is even more emotionally painful then the initial assault.

Sexual abuse is evidence that you have no human value, no worth in someone’s eyes.  Those who look at the crime with apathy or complacency, and ignore it, validate that lie and amplify it.  It’s still a lie, but lies are a lot harder to dig out when they are deeply rooted due to other people’s complicity.” Continue reading →

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June 5, 2022 · 1:00 am

Mea Culpa

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cc/Southern_Baptist_Convention_logo.png

Guidepost Solutions has issued a scathing report accusing leaders of the Southern Baptist Convention, America’s largest Protestant denomination, of routinely stonewalling claims of clergy abuse for the past two decades [1].

Convicted child molesters were allowed to continue in ministry without warning to their current congregations across multiple states.

This revelation is akin to the Catholic Church sex scandal in severity.  It confirms that pride and sexual sin are not limited to a single denomination (or linked to a vow of chastity). Continue reading →

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