Corey Feldman gave updated interviews to the media at the beginning of the British reality show Dancing on Ice. Since the article for The Sun may go behind a paywall at a later date, the Daily Mail’s version is here.
- CBG
The Times published a report about the ongoing issue of natural parents circumventing the official channels by using Facebook to contact children that had been adopted. Since The Times sits behind a paywall, the Daily Telegraph’s take on the story, with collected stories in the centre of the page, is here.
- CBG
After changing his name at least once and moving countries for the second time, paedophile hockey coach Graham James pleaded guilty to the abuse of Theoren Fleury as described in the player’s dictated autobiography Playing With Fire. Sentencing will take place in two months’ time. Two more players disclosed to Winnepeg police after Fleury made his formal charges at the start of this year.
The previously unnamed third player Greg Gilhooly disclosed as well but the charges in his case were stayed in acknowlegement with prosecutors to speed up the the judgement without a trial. The coach’s 2007 pardon was also revoked the Canadian Federal Government changed the system, although Fleury naturally believes that his government hasn’t gone far enough to protect children from abuse.
The article is here and Yahoo! Sports licensed the same article and that alternative link, with a video of Fleury’s statement is here. Also, the Calgary Herald’s summary of an argument over Twitter regarding events at Penn State has collected other related articles in its centre-right column, which you can read here.
- CBG
Last night UK newspaper The Guardian filed an article about Rape and Abuse in the US Military, including two survivors talking in the newspaper’s online-only filmed video reports. 25 women and three men are suing the US Army in a lawsuit, which seems to be the general way to bring about change whenever the abuse takes place in an enclosed or institutional environment like the Military.
The main article is here and the video report links are in the grey column at the centre-right of the page.
- CBG
Whilst ESPN’s role in the Syracuse case is less than stellar, the follow-up piece is good enough not to let them fall off the tweet log. This is the article covering stories by some male survivors at a treatment centre near to Syracuse University, New York.
ESPN has portalised much of its content on the subject in the right hand column next to the article. You will also find the official reply from an ESPN Executive about their handling of the allegations, the tape and the aftermath in the BBC-style vertical news crawl. Or you can skip to it here.
- CBG
Former students of Penn State have set up proudtobeapennstater.com , an independent fundraising site with proceeds going to RAINN. The goal is USD 557,000 and in less than a week supporters have reached quarter of a million dollars of their intended target.
The site also has a news crawl combining much of the recent coverage of events at the college which follows the list of donation options. RAINN also reported an increase in calls by over 50%, so this grass roots campaign is a great idea to get survivors of any CSA situation to start work on healing. Extra information regarding the site can be found at RAINN’s Programs and Events section.
- CBG
Overnight, London’s Evening Standard broke the story for UK readers that Syracuse University in New York fired assistant Basketball coach Bernie Fine. Fine was already suspended when the very first allegation was disclosed. The sacking happened when a second and third allegation was made in the present day. The Daily Mail filed a follow-up today discussing the fact that a recorded telephone conversation was filed with ESPN rather than the police and the sports broadcaster didn’t make it public for a further eight years, until its broadcast last Sunday 27th November. That report is here. His wife has denied the recording’s authenticity and labelled the first accuser Bobby Davis, a liar.
Unlike Penn State which has moved further on in the legal process, there are three allegations at the present time at Syracuse. The first of which from Mr Davis was examined six years ago by the college, and there was a short conversation with police rather than a formal disclosure on the record or a formal dismissal by the cops of the alleged victim’s word against Fine’s, and evidence “saved up” as ammunition for the right moment. This “right moment” has been judged to be after the Penn State case exploded. Fine hasn’t been arrested or charged (yet), so his termination, whilst a concrete move by the college, isn’t the end of the story by a long way. His superior Jim Boheim supported him when the allegations first broke but his agreement with Mrs Fine that the accusers were lying was retracted in a later statement. If everyone else hadn’t either jumped the gun or kept a long silence in this case, then the criticism levelled at Boeheim would be fully justified.
In short, male abuse victims haven’t been helped in any way by this circus. Even if Fine is guilty, First Amendment Justice through the media is wrong and will always be questioned as opposed to a legal case. Penn State’s handling is barely better, but with 40 legal charges there’s a greater chance of justice than for just three, none of which are on any police record and one of which is an allegation made by someone accused of child abuse in another state. It remains to be seen whether Fine will receive any further punishment than being fired.
If it turns out that Bobby Davis was actually told to get his own evidence in 2002, perhaps due to new laws passed that year about a longer-term statute of limitations, then that represents a failure of the police department as well, so it’s a good sign that Fine’s case has risen to Federal level with the Secret Service searching his home. We’ll bring you any further updates but right now, the start of this case should be a textbook study in how not to proceed when reporting legacy child sexual abuse.
- CBG
The Mail on Sunday reported how the Catholic Monk on the run, accused of abusing children at St Benedict’s in Ealing, West London, visited Rome at least once whilst remaining at large. The story can be read here.
- CBG
Seven weeks after the 100th episode, Criminal Minds looked like it had peaked with its realistic depictions of the effects of child abuse. The 16th episode of the season, “Mosley Lane”, is the one that topped second season classic “P911″ whilst retaining part of the earlier episode’s format; of stolen children helping each other, with varying results. It’s one of a few in the fifth season where the story is past the middle when the episode actually begins, and a new child kidnap is part of that beginning.
Normally the pace of Criminal Minds rattles along like an express train, but they pack a lot into this episode’s 40 minutes. A parent who lost a child eight years before, ends up assisting both the team and the new kidnap victim’s parents; the creepy kidnappers evoke the Hansel and Gretel modern fairytale angle that the writers were looking for through their first-choice casting of Bud Cort and Beth Grant as the serial kidnap and murder team. Their detached performances display the banality of evil approach which has proven to be realistic in real-life cases of this time such as those of Steven Stayner, Jaycee Dugard and Shawn Hornbeck, as well as the parents tearing themselves apart.
The ending is also realistic enough, updating P911′s open ending for just the two kids, to one that is bittersweet for the three in this episode and the eldest survivor played by Evan Peters, best known in the UK for the movie Kick-Ass and an episode of the Mentalist, both shown last year. It’s the new benchmark for a show that has already set a high standard and the writers Simon Mirren, teamed with Erica Messer this time, will have to work hard to top this episode either for fans or for realistic depictions of the aftermath of CSA-related kidnap cases. It’s expertly directed by Matthew Gray Gubler which explains his character’s fade into the background on this episode compared to normal, but the episode didn’t suffer thanks to the general ensemble quality.
There are other good series 5 episodes and we’ll bring you those retrospectives at a later date, and we’re sure that the show is repeated in the US frequently. Meanwhile, season six of the show is released on DVD in the UK on Monday 28th November to update people watching without satellite connections, so if the writers have leapt over the high bar within the following season, we’ll bring you those reviews in the future as well.
- CBG
Sources: IMDB.com, TV.com, “Case File: Grim” and “Gubler Direct” Featurettes on Season 5 Box Set
