COPYRIGHT OWNED, EMAIL IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO USE THE MATERIAL!
Holly's Fight for Justice: Part of my personally experience featured in Reader's Digest written by Rick Mofina.
Rick currently writing his own crime novels. Check out his website at http://www.rickmofina.com/
My life changed the day I was violated/raped. If I had not taken the steps to speak out, SERIAL RAPIST Ali Rasai would still be at large today. I did speak out! Many survivor's remember know your path and journey will be different!
I have made reference to speaking out, the price I paid. I did lose everything. My family including friends. Many ways a part of me just died when I was raped!
Personally, going public was important in seeking justice, finding Ali Rasai serial rapist who was featured on America's Most Wanted as an International Fugitive always one step above the law!
This violent crime changed everyone who knew me also in many ways that words can not express even to this day.....HONESTLY No one truly knows...really that is the truth! How to talk to me about being raped? That is simply just ask....
Below is part of my story is Reader's Digest
Victim of a serial rapist, the young woman from Red Deer, Alta., determined to bring her attacker to trial
HOLLY JILL DESIMONE will never silence the sound of the rapist's zipper opening behind her. "Count backward from ten!" he ordered, forcing her onto her hands and knees against a chair in her apartment in Red Deer, Alta.
Photographs of her seven-year-old son and five-year-old daughter smiled from across the room as the man assaulted her.
Holly's Fight for Justice BY RICK MOFINA
WE HAVE TO STOP THE VIOLENCE
WE MUST FIGHT TO PREVENT VIOLENCE!
We need to educate and work together as a society to prevent violence.
IF YOU KNOW SOMEONE WHO HAS BEEN ABUSED, ASSAULTED, AND IS IN NEED OF HELP, PLEASE HELP - YOU MAY BE SAVING SOMEONE'S LIFE!
Sincerely Holly Desimone (blogging also at Holly's Fight For Justice)
Holly's Fight to Stop Violence?
Holly Desimone Speaking Out, video done by QuantumShift.tv
Holly's fight for Justice
A tragedy can turn out to be to our greatest good, if it is approached and dealt with in a way that we can learn and grow. The story of Holly Desimone illustrates just that as she reclaims her spirit and life as a survivor of sexual violence.
This is a personal message from Holly Desimone, Holly's Fight to Stop Violence,
Thank you to everyone who watches this video, made posts/comments at Quantumshift.tv, the website. Many individuals who have emailed me personally your in my thoughts each day. It truly has been a blessing and very thoughtful.
Sincerely Holly Desimone Sphere: Related Content
Peacha Atkinson Nina's Mom said "Nina's going to have a good Christmas and justice is served."
Top court ups manslaughter conviction to murder in Edmonton girl's sex slaying
December 18, 2009, By Bob Weber, THE CANADIAN PRESS
EDMONTON - A legal decision from the Supreme Court of Canada is a strange kind of Christmas present, but the mother of the victim in a notorious Edmonton sex killing will take it.
"We're going to have a good Christmas," said Peacha Atkinson after the top court boosted the conviction against Stephanie Rosa Bird for the killing of her daughter Nina Courtepatte to first-degree murder from manslaughter.
"I've been kind of low for Christmas, but I got good news today so that kind of brings me up a bit."
Bird was one of five young self-described "mall rats" who lured Nina from the fast food outlets and video games of West Edmonton Mall with the promise of a bush party in the early hours of April 3, 2005. Instead, Nina - just 13 at the time - was taken to a muddy fairway on a golf course west of the city, raped twice and beaten to death with a sledgehammer.
The crime, seemingly motivated by thrill-seeking and boredom, horrified Edmonton and drew national headlines.
During the trials faced by the night's five participants, court heard details of a crime plotted two days in advance amidst an aimless teen subculture of hanging out, dining-and-dashing and mall-crawling.
Nina's assailants chose her from among the youths regularly found at one of the mall's food courts and convinced her and a friend to leave with them.
In court, all of the accused tried to lay blame on each other. But testimony suggested that Bird, who was 17 at the time of the killing, delivered the first blow, striking Nina on the head with a wrench. Bird also held Nina down while the first man raped her.
Bird left the scene before the fatal beating began, taking Nina's friend back to the car they had arrived in. Her lawyer, Colleen Connolly, argued that leaving the scene proved her client didn't want to be part of the killing, absolving her of first-degree murder.
In a unanimous judgment, however, the Supreme Court concluded there wasn't enough evidence that Bird had had a change of heart.
"As the facts found by the trial judge clearly establish that the murder was planned and deliberate, and involved the unlawful confinement of the victim at the time of the killing, a conviction for first-degree murder is entered," the ruling reads.
Prosecutor Susan Hughson said the court's decision was a vindication of the argument that the Crown had used all along.
"We were certainly pleased with the decision," she said. "We thought we had presented a really strong case at the trial, the Court of Appeal level and at the Supreme Court of Canada. Given the reasons they provided, they felt it was as strong as we felt it was."
Bird's case will go back to the original trial judge for sentencing. Although she was convicted as a young offender, she was sentenced as an adult on the manslaughter charge.
A second hearing may be held on whether Bird will face an adult sentence for first-degree murder. However, it is considered extremely unlikely that she would now be sentenced as a youth after having been convicted of a more serious crime. If sentenced again as an adult, Bird would face a mandatory sentence of life in prison without parole eligibility for 10 years.
But Bird's sentencing won't be the end of the legal actions stemming from Nina's murder.
The Crown is appealing the decision of the Alberta Court of Appeal that Joseph Laboucan should get a new trial on his conviction for first-degree murder. Stephen Briscoe, originally acquitted in a 2007 trial, is trying to reverse an Alberta Appeal Court ruling that ordered his retrial.
The Supreme Court has already heard arguments in those appeals.
A third participant, who can't be named because of her age, is involved with three appeals at the provincial level. The Crown is appealing both her conviction and sentence for second-degree murder. The young woman is appealing her conviction.
The fifth participant in the killing pleaded guilty to first-degree murder.
Atkinson, who sat through almost every day of all five trials stemming from her daughter's murder, may be spending yet more time in court.
But on Friday, she was content to focus on what she called happy news.
"My kids left (this morning) and they said, 'Now you can have a better Christmas and be happy now,' " said Atkinson. "Nina's going to have a good Christmas and justice is served."
Chronology of events surrounding the Cornwall Public Inquiry
By The Canadian Press
CORNWALL, Ont. - A chronology of key events leading up to and including the Cornwall Public Inquiry:
1992: A 35-year-old former altar boy alleges he was sexually abused by probation officer Ken Seguin and Rev. Charles MacDonald when he was younger.
1993: The man reaches a settlement with the diocese for $32,000 and doesn't pursue charges against either man. Seguin commits suicide.
Sept. 1993: Police officer Perry Dunlop picks up the case, more people come forward to him with allegations of sexual abuse spanning decades. He becomes convinced it was the work of high-profile local officials operating a clandestine pedophile ring. By early 1994 he is on sick leave.
1996: Charles MacDonald charged with sexually abusing young people. Additional charges laid in 1998. But charges are stayed in 2002 after judge rules his right to a trial within a reasonable amount of time was violated.
1997: Provincial police launch Project Truth investigation and eventually lay 114 charges against 15 people, but find no evidence of a pedophile ring. The investigation lasts until 2001.
April 2005: Ontario government establishes Cornwall Public Inquiry, with a mandate to probe the responses of the justice system and public institutions to allegations of sexual abuse of young people in Cornwall.
February 2006: Inquiry begins hearing from witnesses
June 28, 2007: Ron Leroux tells inquiry he fabricated tale of clan of pedophiles who wore robes, burned candles and sexually abused young boys during weekend meetings in the 1950s and early 1960s.
November 2007: Perry Dunlop convicted of civil contempt of court for refusing to give evidence at inquiry.
Feb. 17, 2008: Perry Dunlop arrested for again failing to show up at inquiry. He is sentenced in March to six months in jail.
Sept. 3, 2008: Perry Dunlop sentenced to additional 30 days in jail for criminal contempt of court for refusing judge's order to appear at inquiry. He is freed from jail one month later.
Oct. 23, 2008: Ontario government steps in to set end date for inquiry. All evidence ordered heard by Jan. 31, 2009, report ordered due by July 31.
Feb. 23-27, 2009: Inquiry ends with closing submissions after four years and some 180 witnesses.
July 31, 2009: First report deadline passes, inquiry granted extension.
Oct. 15, 2009: Second report deadline passes, inquiry granted second extension.
Dec. 15, 2009: Commissioner G. Normand Glaude's report, a culmination of the four-year, $50-million process.
Root of high incarceration rate complicated
Calgary Herald December 12, 2009
There are many reasons why the rate of imprisonment in Alberta is 12 times Canada's average, and remedies need to be applied where they can be. They are, however, not applicable for every factor. Alberta has a youthful population -- and a transient youthful one, to boot, due to the nature of the province's economy. The demographic most likely to be in trouble with the law is young males, so an overdose of testosterone channelled impetuously into anti-social activities could be a major reason for the higher numbers in Alberta jails.
The rate was revealed in a Statistics Canada report which blames the increase on a larger remand population awaiting trial.
The ripple effect from longer wait times for court hearings means more people will be granted credit -- sometimes double and triple -- for time served, thus inflaming the anger of a public which sees this credit as a get-out-of-jail free card.
Alberta Justice spokesman David Dear suggested a combination of factors potentially being responsible for the rise in incarceration, including the population boom, an increase in crimes of violence and a tougher stance on crime, but admitted the answer is not a simple one.
Meanwhile, John Howard Society executive director Chris Hay spoke, predictably, of a failure to deal with crime's root causes.
The fact is that root causes will never be eradicated because no matter how many programs are put in place to deal with issues of social justice, such as family violence, alcoholism, substance abuse and poverty, the choice to take advantage of those programs and the choice not to commit crimes, always comes down to the individual.
And while treating root problems is a laudable approach -- for too long, the public has been outraged at the lenient sentences handed down which offer little or no consequences to the offender and do not deter recidivism -- it should always be remembered that incarceration is a three-pronged solution.
It offers the punishment society demands for transgressors, it ensures public safety and it provides programs for rehabilitating offenders, the overwhelming majority of whom will be released back into society.
Long waits in remand, however, are unacceptable.
The reason judges give credit for time spent in remand is that it is a brutal place -- offenders awaiting trial on lesser crimes may be thrown into a crowded cell with a sex offender, and people who are eventually found innocent of any crime spend long periods behind bars.
The justice department should be looking at ways to clear up court backlogs that keep these people languishing in remand so long.
Justice needs to be seen to be done, but it should not be watched in slow motion.
Pattern of behaviour; Unique dangerous-offender status hearing
Friday, November 20th, 2009 Canwest News Service
During a five-day period in February 2007, Jean Guy Tremblay pretended he wanted to buy a car.
He would continually follow a Toronto saleswoman in and out of her office. He would stand next to her as she spoke to other customers, call to see if she would be working that day and on one occasion he removed snow from cars and cleared a pathway to her office.
Alarmed, the woman used Google to find out more about the man. The first thing that came up were his attempts in 1988 to get the Supreme Court of Canada to prevent his girlfriend, Chantal Daigle, from having an abortion.
In the past two decades, he has repeatedly continued a pattern of possessive behaviour toward women. He has been convicted of assaults, threats, harassment and unlawful confinement. The victims have ranged from girlfriends, female roommates and even a landlady, who was pushed down the stairs in a dispute over rent.
Today, as a result of a criminal harassment conviction that stems from the events at that Toronto car dealership, the 45-year-old man will attend a hearing that will determine whether he spends the rest of his life in prison.
Final arguments will be heard in Ontario Superior Court in a dangerous offender hearing initiated by the Crow. Tremblay's long history, though, raises unusual questions for this type of hearing.
His behaviour has followed a pattern. He would routinely befriend women with false stories such as being down on his luck after formerly playing in the NHL. He had a "repertoire of tragic and grandiose stories," stated one pre-sentence court document.
His record is replete with acts of violence and threats against women. At the same time, he has never been accused of a sexual offence and there are no convictions for crimes that normally lead to a dangerous-offender label.
The Ontario proceeding, before Superior Court Justice Andromache Karakatsanis, is the second time the Crown has asked for Tremblay to be designated a dangerous offender. Alberta Court of Queen's Bench Justice Scott Brooker ruled against the Crown in 2000. The judge imposed a 66-month prison sentence for violent and controlling acts against a former girlfriend and female roommate.
Tremblay was also found to be a "long-term offender" and subjected to a 10-year supervision order, which is a form of probation. It was a breach of the terms of that order that landed him back in jail in 2007.
A dangerous offender designation "subjects an offender to the most severe consequences known to our law, save for the life sentences for murder," Judge Brooker said. While he was "a high risk to commit the same type of offences, there is no evidence the severity of his conduct will increase," the judge said.
At the hearing in Alberta nearly a decade ago, the court heard from Tremblay's mother. She said her son was a problem child and prescribed anti-depressants at age four. The son of a heavy drinker, Tremblay quit school at age 16 and was often supported as an adult by girlfriends and other women, the court heard.
Since the Alberta hearing, the criminal harassment charge is the only addition to his criminal record. Crown attorneys Rita Zaied and Joanne Stuart urge Judge Karakatsanis to look at the life-long "pattern" of behaviour by Tremblay, in the prosecution's arguments.
"Any suggestion that Mr. Tremblay can be treated is speculative. Any suggestion that Mr. Tremblay will 'burn out' is speculative," writes the Crown.
Defence lawyer Bob Richardson argued this fall during the dangerous offender proceeding that the Crown's position is too broad and his client's crimes do not merit this label.
"The Crown's position is basically that Mr. Tremblay is a danger to all women and therefore we have to lock him up," Mr. Richardson said. "Does this mean he should potentially be incarcerated for the rest of his life?"
JEAN GUY TREMBLAY CRIMINAL RECORD
1981 Extortion, put on probation.
1985 Theft Under $5,000, put on probation.
1988 Obstruct peace officer, 90 days in jail.
1989 Assault, $200 fine.
1991 Assault( two times), six-month sentence.
1995 Assault, 12-month sentence.
1996 Assault (two times), 15-month sentence.
1997 Threats/assault, 18-month sentence.
2000 Unlawful confinement (three times), harassment, utter threat, assault bodily harm, 66-month sentence, 10-year long-term supervision order.
2007 Criminal harassment, Crown seeking dangerous offender designation.
———
DANGEROUS OFFENDERS – The first legislation to deal with "dangerous" offenders was called the Habitual Offenders Act, introduced back in 1947. It was followed a year later by the Sexual Psychopath Act, which included provisions for indeterminate sentences with parole hearings every three years. – The modern version of the Dangerous Offenders Act was enacted in 1997, which created a second category known as a Long Term Offender, with a requirement for supervision after an offender wgot out of prison. – Someone designated a dangerous offender would receive an indeterminate sentence and could not apply for parole until serving at least seven years in prison. An amendment in 2008 permitted the Crown to seek a specific length of sentence in a dangerous offender hearing. – The designation is supposed to be reserved for the worst offenders, when it is considered the only option to ensure public safety. The policy guidelines for Alberta prosecutors for example, state that it should not be sought in "marginal" cases. "There must always be compelling reasons," for the Crown to ask a court to impose the dangerous offender label, says the policy book. – As of 2006, there were more than 330 "dangerous offenders" in Canadian prisons. In contrast, 18 people previously designated as dangerous offenders had been released on supervised parole.
Shannon Kari, National Post
National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women.... December 6th
On December 6th, 1989, armed with a semi-automatic rifle, ammunition and knives, Marc Lepine walked through l’École Polytechnique in Montreal, separated the men from the women, and then proceeded to shoot and kill 14 women while making anti-woman statements.
Thirteen others were wounded. Lepine, who eventually shot and killed himself, had applied for admission to the school and was rejected. In the suicide note he left behind, Lepine indicated that he saw feminists as being responsible for everything that had gone wrong in his life.
December 6, 2009, marks the 20th anniversary of what came to be known as the Montreal Massacre.
Events are held throughout the country to remember the 14 women who were killed at l'École Polytechnique:
Geneviève Bergeron, 21
Hélène Colgan, 23
Nathalie Croteau, 23
Barbara Daigneault, 22
Anne-Marie Edward, 21
Maud Haviernick, 29
Barbara Klucznik Widajewicz, 31
Maryse Laganière, 25
Maryse Leclair, 23
Anne-Marie Lemay, 27
Sonia Pelletier, 23
Michèle Richard, 21
Annie St-Arneault, 23
Annie Turcotte, 21
In 1991, the Parliament of Canada declared December 6th to be the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women. The day represents a time to reflect on the phenomenon of violence against women in our society. bIt is also a day for communities and individuals to think about the concrete actions that each of us can take to prevent and eliminate all forms of violence against women.
New trial for Craig Bartholomew Legare....
Supreme Court orders new trial for man acquitted in online sex chats with 12-year-old December 3, 2009, By THE CANADIAN PRESS
OTTAWA - An Alberta man who admitted to sexual online chats with a 12-year-old girl, but was acquitted of Internet luring, must face a new trial.
The Supreme Court of Canada on Thursday upheld an appeal court ruling that ordered a new trial for Craig Bartholomew Legare. The high court said the trial judge was unduly constrictive in interpreting the law, which it said is an effort to close the Internet door to predators hunting children.
At a 2006 trial on two sexual luring counts, the judge called Legare'ss actions "despicable and repugnant," but said that since he had no intention of ever meeting the child, there was no crime.
The Alberta Court of Appeal overturned one of the two acquittals, saying Parliament had enacted an offence of communication, not of physical contact, in its Internet luring law.
The Supreme Court, in its 7-0 ruling, agreed with the appeal judges.
Legare admitted to posing as a 17-year-old in his chats with the girl in 2003. He was 32 at the time. She claimed to be 14, although she was actually 12.
Legare admitted to the sexual chats and to phoning the girl at home after she gave him her number. However, he said he had no intention of meeting nor did any sexual activity take place.
But Justice Morris Fish, writing for the Supreme Court, said there's more to the law than physical contact.
He said the law "makes it a crime to communicate by computer with underage children or adolescents for the purpose of facilitating the commission of the offences mentioned in its constituent paragraphs.
"In this context, 'facilitating' includes helping to bring about and making easier or more probable - for example, by 'luring' or 'grooming' young persons to commit or participate in the prohibited conduct; by reducing their inhibitions; or by prurient discourse that exploits a young person's curiosity, immaturity or precocious sexuality."
Fish said criminal chats need not be sexually explicit.
"Those who use their computers to lure children for sexual purposes often groom them online by first gaining their trust through conversations about their home life, their personal interests or other innocuous topics."
He said the Internet luring law creates what he called a "preparatory crime."
"It criminalizes conduct that precedes the commission of the sexual offences to which it refers, and even an attempt to commit them. Nor, indeed, must the offender meet or intend to meet the victim with a view to committing any of the specified secondary offences.
"This is in keeping with Parliament's objective to close the cyberspace door before the predator gets in to prey."
Iranian government to be in Quebec court in case of slain photojournalist Kazemi
November 29, 2009, By Sidhartha Banerjee, THE CANADIAN PRESS
MONTREAL - A legal showdown is set to take place in a Quebec courtroom this week pitting the government of Iran against the estate of slain photojournalist Zahra Kazemi.
The Iranian government will be trying to argue its way out of a $17-million civil suit filed by the family of the Iranian-Canadian photographer.
Lawyers for both the Iranian and Canadian governments will argue that Iran cannot be sued under Canada's State Immunity Act, which essentially limits the conditions under which a foreign government can be brought before a Canadian court.
Five days have been set aside for a legal showdown before a Quebec Superior Court judge, starting Wednesday.
Lawyers for the Kazemi estate and her son Stephan Hashemi will also present their own arguments in favour of the suit, and the Canadian Centre for International Justice and Amnesty International's French branch have applied for intervener status.
Hashemi is seeking compensation for the arrest, detention, torture and death of his mother, but both he and his lawyers contend it's not the dollar figure that's important.
"It's a great chance to make an exception to this law (the State Immunity Act) that is really limited and is not protecting the rights of citizens," Hashemi said in an interview.
"That is the only recourse left to me after all these years. . . This is really the last opportunity. We have to demonstrate that we can't treat citizens in that way."
Kazemi, 54, was an Iranian-Canadian citizen who was arrested on June 23, 2003, as she photographed relatives of detainees outside Evin prison in Tehran.
She was never formally charged with any crime, but while in custody she was beaten and died of her injuries on July 10, 2003. Her body was hastily buried in Iran, according to religious custom.
Since then, Hashemi has tried unsuccessfully to have his mother's body repatriated.
Hashemi said he filed the suit in 2006 after it was clear Canada wouldn't push his mother's case any further.
The suit names as defendants Iran, Grand Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Tehran prosecutor Saeed Mortazavi and prison official Mohammad Bakhshi.
In the past, Canadian courts have refused to allow civil suits against countries because of the State Immunity Act - which says that a country can only be sued for commercial purposes.
Observers will be keeping a close watch as to how the case plays out. They say protection and justice for Canadian citizens, whenever they travel abroad, is at stake in this case.
"If there is immunity assessed in these sorts of cases, basically the signal it is sending is any Canadian who happens to be abroad and who is tortured or killed may not be able to seek justice anywhere for those incidents," said Matt Eisenbrandt, legal co-ordinator at the Canadian Centre for International Justice.
"I think that would just be a horrible situation and a horrible message to send to Canadians."
One of the lawyers representing the Kazemi family and the estate says he's ready to make some compelling arguments as to why the case should go forward here and why it would be impossible to get a fair hearing in Iran.
"Iran should not be entitled to raise state immunity to immune itself from the jurisdiction of Canadian courts in connection with (these) civil claims," said lawyer Kurt Johnson.
Hashemi said he's prepared to continue the fight right up to the Supreme Court of Canada if need be. Johnson said a refusal by the Quebec Superior Court to hear the case would be problematic.
"It would have the effect of having Mr. Hashemi and the estate (prevented) from pursuing this as a civil case anywhere in the world," Johnson said.
Two well-known attempts by Canadians to sue foreign states have failed because courts in this country ruled they had immunity.
Maher Arar, a Syrian-Canadian engineer, was tortured in a Syrian prison for a year over false allegations of terrorist involvement. A Canadian inquiry ruled he had been tortured and the government awarded Arar a $10.5-million settlement.
But he was not successful in suing the Syrian and Jordanian governments in Canada.
Houshang Bouzari, an Iranian-Canadian man who attempted to sue the Iranian government for torture he endured there, was also unsuccessful.
"What we are interested in as an organization is seeing that governments and officials do not enjoy immunity for severe human rights abuses," Eisenbrandt said.
"In this case we're talking about a Canadian citizen who was tortured and murdered and it's a perfect example for why there shouldn't be immunity in this kind of case."
A Liberal MP from Montreal, Irwin Cotler, is sponsoring a private member's bill that would amend the State Immunity Act and make it easier to sue foreign governments.
Banff woman shares life-changing story...By Dave Whitfield - Rocky Mountain Outlook
With her attacker’s sentence now over and changes being proposed to the National Sex Offender Registry and DNA data bank, a Banff woman feels it is time to tell her story.
The victim of a 2004 rape incident herself, Trish Gayton has dedicated much of her time over the years since to righting the wrong against her.
Gayton was attacked in Sherwood Park, near Edmonton, in an incident reminiscent of the Banff attack of Julie Courneya by Albert Muckle. Like Courneya, Gayton was attacked, strangled to the point of unconsciousness several times and threatened with death.
Unlike many victims of sexual assault, though, Gayton reported the incident and since then attended plea and parole hearings. Besides the actual incident, though, which she survived thanks to the support of family, friends and assistance from RCMP and counsellors, Gayton’s regret is that, through an error in the system, she was not able to read her victim impact statement in court herself.
In 2007, with the aid of then-MP Myron Thompson, Gayton worked on the proposal of a bill that would see longer sentences handed to sex crime offenders.
“I figure if others hear about this, there’s a slight chance another victim would come forward,” said Gayton.
During justice system proceedings, said Gayton, her attacker, Bruce Buckley, who pleaded guilty to unlawful confinement, sexual assault causing bodily harm, choking and uttering death threats, also said he’d victimized 100 women in Alberta and New Brunswick.
In going public with her story, including interviews in the Edmonton Sun and on CTV, Gayton would like to remind other sexual assault victims that there is no statute of limitations; an attacker can be charged at any time.
After spending time in prison in Bowden, after February 2008, Buckley was out on his own under a conditional release, with the end of his sentence coinciding, ironically, with Gayton’s birthday on Thanksgiving.
Gayton says she has studied her attacker’s life over the past few years and is convinced he could re-offend. “I tried to get him on attempted murder; he choked me to unconsciousness several times, it’s called slow killing.
“I know his background, he’s well spoken, manipulative and he draws people in and plays them. He can make people think he’s normal, he acts and looks average. But he admitted keeping articles of my clothing as some sadistic, sick souvenir.
“He’s an oil industry worker with a large amount of money which I think gives him the means to get around and do what he wants.”
Beyond the initial traumatic incident, Gayton says there have been disappointments along the way as well. Having attended plea hearings, she was disappointed to not be told when sentencing was to take place, as she wanted to read her victim impact statement and after alerting St. John, NB police about a trip he made there, she said Corrections Canada warned her that calls such as that one to police were obstructing her attacker’s release.
As a result, she said, the federal institution told her a registry of decision, which outlines a convict’s travels, changes in job status, etc., could be revoked.
“I feel most of the parole people have done a lot for me and the RCMP have done everything it’s supposed to have done. But Corrections Canada has messed up.”
Last summer, she said, Buckley was scheduled to go to Jasper for a holiday – at a time when she was also going to travel there. “I found it interesting he could go where he wanted on a vacation and Corrections Canada said his parole officer didn’t know I lived in the mountains too.
“We could have run into each other in Jasper; I thought that was completely outrageous.”
While issues arising from the sexual assault are still with her, Gayton, originally from New Brunswick, has found solace living in Banff over the past three years.
After the incident, her family wanted her to return to the maritime province, “but I thought that was weakness,” she said. “And I wanted to be in Alberta so I could go to parole hearings. I want that control, to show him I’ll be at every meeting, doing everything in my power to do anything so it won’t happen again.”
At one point, she said, a crown prosecutor asked RCMP to tell her not to attend hearings. “That’s ridiculous, it’s part of the closure for me.”
Again, the biggest hurdle, emotionally, was Gayton’s inability to read her victim impact statement at her attacker’s sentencing.
“That’s an issue. I believe if I would have been there, he would have got a longer sentence. It still bothers me. I think maybe the judge would have understood more if I had been there to read it. I read everything at a parole hearing, but that’s afterward. And I had made it clear to everybody that I wanted to read it. It really pissed me off. It was powerful, I think, riveting.
“I think in court they hear ‘sexual assault’, they don’t hear that he almost killed me.”
In the end, she said, the message she wants to get out is, “that a sexual assault can happen to an average person. Many victims, I hate that term, do nothing and think it will go away, but it doesn’t. I want to make a positive out of a negative.
“It takes a lot of time, energy, work and stress and I think if others would do something, they’d have closure. Everybody complains about the system, but if no one comes forward, how will it change?
“It helps to have support from family and friends and the most important thing that happened out of the whole incident is that I’m good friends with the RCMP investigator. He helped me so much with everything.
“And in the future, I want to see a bill for longer sentences for sexual assault. If I have to go to Ottawa to make that happen, I will.
“I know there will be a day when he does it again and I’ll get a phone call to be there; no matter what, when or where, I’ll be there.”
After Gayton’s CTV interview, she received word from Edmonton’s Sexual Assault Centre that several possible victims had contacted the organization after the segment aired.
Her name is Julianne Courneya and her mother wants Banff to be the first community to see her face and her name in print.
Publication ban lifted on attack victim, By Aaron Paton
Her name is Julianne Courneya and her mother wants Banff to be the first community to see her face and her name in print.
A publication ban protecting the identity of the Central Park attack victim was recently lifted at the request of the family.
Now Valerie Courneya said she wants to send a special ‘thank you’ to Banff citizens for helping to send her daughter to a specialized treatment centre in Florida.
“We were trying to protect her all this time and right now we’re trying to remain on the positive,” Valerie said. “There has been a lot written that has disturbed us and that has disturbed...her grandmother and her sister.”
The ban was lifted in January but Valerie said the family wasn’t ready to have Julianne’s identity printed until now.
“It’s an opportunity for us to say thank you to all the sponsors and all the fundraisers,” Valerie said. “We wouldn’t have been able to bring her down to Florida if it weren’t for fundraising efforts, especially from Banff.”
She added that she would keep Banff updated as Julianne continues her recovery and battles to come out of a persistent vegetative state.
Julianne, a 21-year-old Banff hotel worker who grew up in Ottawa, was attacked and left for dead by Albert Muckle on July 11, 2005. The family wants her name and photograph released to appeal for further financial support to pay for specialized treatment in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Valerie hopes the hyperbaric oxygen treatment Julianne is receiving there will help her regain some consciousness.
The treatment is expected to cost between $200,000 and $350,000 and the family received about $31,000 from fundraisers held this November in Banff.
“I didn’t always want to think of Banff in a negative way and I had to go out there and see what Julie saw and it is a beautiful place,” Valerie said. “It is unfortunate for her that this has happened, but we continue one day at a time and that’s all we can do.”
Valerie flew down with Julianne on Jan. 19 and her treatment began shortly after.
Julianne is moved into a hyperbaric oxygen tank by stretcher each day. The tank is filled with oxygen and Valerie sits outside with a microphone and talks to her daughter.
“It’s like she’s lying there thinking of Snow White,” Valerie said.
She sleeps during the session and then works with an occupational therapist for about an hour to try and loosen up her arms.
“It’s a very busy place and it was very hard for me ,” Valerie said.
She added that elderly people who have had strokes and children with neurological disorders receive the same treatment as Julianne.
“We did have her going for one session in the morning and another in the afternoon but we found that was too hard on her,” Valerie said.
The family lives with Julianne at a house in Florida and nurses look after her personal care. Valerie has since returned to Canada and is going back to Florida today.
“As her mother I probably know her better than anybody and so I’m going to monitor the situation,” Valerie said “I will be able to see the changes (more clearly) than the therapists.”
Julianne’s father, Ron Courneya, is with Julianne at Ocean Hyperbaric Neurologic Centre in Florida. Valerie said her husband has seen Julianne improve since the treatment began.
“She seems to be more aware, more observant her eyes seem more focused and she’ll turn her head when you come in the room,” Valerie said. “Ron says she’s a little more vocal so making more vocal sounds… she was usually very quiet.”
She added that its too early in the treatment to know what effect, if any, the oxygen therapy might have. She’s anxious to return to Florida to help with Julianne’s treatment and to see the improvements for herself.
“We are taking it one day at a time, but each day is baby steps and they’re big days,” Valerie said.“ Right now she’s stable and that’s all we care about. She seems to be adjusting well.”
Crime ombudsman marks Child Day with plea for national child sex abuse strategy
November 19, 2009, By Tobi Cohen, THE CANADIAN PRESS
MONTREAL - Canada should take a page from the Americans and expand its network of kid-friendly, one-stop shops for treating sexually abused children, says the federal watchdog for crime victims.
As the country marks National Child Day on Friday and the 20th anniversary of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, Steve Sullivan is asking Ottawa and its provincial and municipal counterparts to make child advocacy centres a priority.
The centres sprang up in the United States during the 1980s and bring police, prosecutors, doctors and social workers together under one roof.
The federal ombudsman for victims of crime says such centres make it less stressful for young victims to tell their stories, and they also lead to more charges and better conviction rates.
"It's really about bringing all the services to the child and doing so in a way that they are the centre of the investigation," he said during a recent tour of a Montreal centre.
"You meet all their needs in one place so they don't have to go to a number of different places and tell their story a number of different times."
While there are already more than 900 such centres across the U.S. less than a handful exist in Canada, where getting funding and co-ordinating services remain huge challenges.
Edmonton, Niagara and Montreal all have centres that offer a multidisciplinary approach to child-abuse services, and efforts are underway to erect centres in Toronto, Victoria and Winnipeg.
Sullivan said funding is currently piecemeal - with dribs and drabs coming in from federal and provincial governments and the bulk coming from private donors through fundraising.
"We need I think a national approach where the federal government is involved in working with the provincial and municipal partners to develop these," he said.
Karyn Kennedy, director of the Boost in Toronto - a charity that provides help for abuse victims involved in the court system - said the country's largest city has been trying for 20 years to create an advocacy centre.
Finding the money to build a 20,000-square-foot facility equipped with closed-circuit television, investigative equipment, a medical exam room and other modern tools is a major problem.
Getting all the partners to agree to work together has been another.
"Initially one of the things we struggled with was police and children's aid working out of the same location together," Kennedy said.
"Both are big institutions in Toronto with set practices and protocols they have to follow."
While she suggests everyone has gotten beyond the philosophical issues, Canada's oldest advocacy centre says co-ordination between service providers remains an ongoing headache.
"Police have a certain way of doing business, children's services have a certain way of doing business, the Crown prosecutors have a certain way of doing business as does the mental and medical health community," said Barbara Spencer, executive director of Edmonton's Zebra Centre, which opened in 2002.
"It's that constant figuring out how you play effectively and efficiently in the sandbox and truly work in the best interest of the kids."
Two Canadian centres have probably been most successful at figuring that out.
The Zebra Centre now supports 480 families and boasts an 85 per cent conviction rate in child sex-abuse cases where charges are laid.
Montreal's Marie Vincent facility has assisted about 700 victims since it first opened in 2005. The facility is also the only one conducting research into child sexual-abuse services, said Lucie Joyal, the centre's executive director.
Toys, murals and brightly-painted walls covered in portraits of smiling children make the centre far more kid-friendly than a drab police station where child sex-abuse victims might rub shoulders with scary men in handcuffs.
Experts say the traditional approach to child abuse victims can be more traumatic than the abuse itself and some children have said they regretted coming forward.
That's precisely what led to changes in the U.S. so many years ago, said Chris Newlin, executive director of the National Children's Advocacy Center in Huntsville, Ala., where advocacy centres got their start.
The centres now exists in every state and their umbrella organization has helped export the idea to some 20 different countries including Iceland, Sweden, Norway, Lithuania, South Africa and Cuba.
Newlin said studies also show advocacy centres are more cost-effective because they eliminate duplication of services.
"The average cost of a case in a community that didn't have a child advocacy centre was about US$3,900," he said.
"In our community where we had a child advocacy centre, the average cost was US$2,900. We saved a full US$1,000 per case."
Women's advocates lobby for voice
Human-rights museum panel seeks advice on issues to highlight, BY ANDREA SANDS, EDMONTON JOURNAL, NOVEMBER 16, 2009
When officials from the Canadian Museum for Human Rights visit Edmonton this week, an Edmonton mother will push for an exhibit to highlight women's rights.
Kathy King, whose daughter, Caralyn, was found dead 12 years ago in a Sherwood Park canola field, has been eagerly awaiting a chance to speak to museum representatives about the human rights of women. She will get that chance on Tuesday when the museum's content advisory committee stops here on its cross-country tour to gather opinions on what the museum should ultimately look like.
"It's so incredibly ambitious, all the things that they're planning, so this is exciting," King said Sunday. "I'm pleased that they're finally coming here. It's something we've been looking forward to for a couple of years."
King will join Kate Quinn, executive director of the Prostitution Awareness and Action Foundation of Edmonton, in urging the museum to permanently display an art exhibition called A Roomful of Missing Women, a multimedia show that features paintings of 50 women from Vancouver's downtown eastside who are missing or have been murdered.
"We have talked about this for a couple of years, ever since I heard they were doing a museum for human rights," King said. "I thought, OK, whose human rights have been violated across history and across the world more than the rights of women? I thought, isn't this a good opportunity to create that awareness at a national level."
The meetings and roundtable talks Tuesday at Grant MacEwan University are part of an effort to gather personal stories to guide the design of the $310-million museum, slated to open in Winnipeg in 2012.
Longtime human-rights activist and educator, Lewis Cardinal, has also been invited to meet with museum officials. Cardinal has won the Alberta Centennial Medal for his work in human rights and diversity. He is on the board of directors for the John Humphrey Centre for Peace and Human Rights and does work with The Global Youth Assembly. Cardinal also works with numerous advocacy groups and is co-chairman of the Aboriginal Commission on Human Rights and Justice and a founder of Racism-Free Edmonton, a city project to end racism and discrimination.
Cardinal said he wants the museum to include exhibits on aboriginal and treaty rights within Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the United States. It should also address immigrants' rights, such as the rights of temporary foreign workers, many of whom have made their way to Alberta, Cardinal said.
"The museum itself has to be a showcase of our rights and history and the violation of those rights, but also, what is the future of Canada in human rights," he said, noting that designers will bring theatre and art into the space. "It's not a dusty museum of remembrance, but it's a living, dynamic reality, and that's what I want to see in this museum." He described the beautiful spire--the tower of hope--that will crown the building and give a wide view of Winnipeg. "It should inspire, and we should aspire to the values of human rights," Cardinal said. "That's what I like about it."
Angela Cassie, the museum's director of communications and public engagement, said the museum's physical design is meant to empower people to see beyond human rights failures and educate them on how to advance human rights in their communities. "We hope to also be able to inspire them with examples of people who have survived, people who have succeeded, people who have achieved and made a difference," Cassie said.
The museum's content advisory committee --made up of human rights scholars, specialists and leaders--started the public consultation sessions in May, and will visit 18 communities before the tour ends in February.
In Edmonton, approximately 50 people and groups so far have registered to participate, Cassie said. Museum officials will also hold public roundtables from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.
"Whether it be issues of religion, whether it be issues of gender or orientation or language or economic and poverty issues--those are all topics that fall under the umbrella of human rights," Cassie said.
The 47,000 square-foot museum is the first national museum established in more than 40 years, and the first to be located outside the National Capital Region. The project will include exhibits related to Indian residential schools, Japanese internment camps and the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, Cassie said. Migration, as well as challenges for people with disabilities are other human-rights topics that have been raised across the country, she said.
Framed for child porn -- by a PC virus
By Jordan Robertson, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Of all the sinister things that Internet viruses do, this might be the worst: They can make you an unsuspecting collector of child pornography.
Heinous pictures and videos can be deposited on computers by viruses - the malicious programs better known for swiping your credit card numbers. In this twist, it's your reputation that's stolen.
Pedophiles can exploit virus-infected PCs to remotely store and view their stash without fear they'll get caught. Pranksters or someone trying to frame you can tap viruses to make it appear that you surf illegal Web sites.
Whatever the motivation, you get child porn on your computer - and might not realize it until police knock at your door.
An Associated Press investigation found cases in which innocent people have been branded as pedophiles after their co-workers or loved ones stumbled upon child porn placed on a PC through a virus. It can cost victims hundreds of thousands of dollars to prove their innocence.
Their situations are complicated by the fact that actual pedophiles often blame viruses - a defence rightfully viewed with skepticism by law enforcement.
"It's an example of the old 'dog ate my homework' excuse," says Phil Malone, director of the Cyberlaw Clinic at Harvard's Berkman Center for Internet & Society. "The problem is, sometimes the dog does eat your homework."
The AP's investigation included interviewing people who had been found with child porn on their computers. The AP reviewed court records and spoke to prosecutors, police and computer examiners.
One case involved Michael Fiola, a former investigator with the Massachusetts agency that oversees workers' compensation.
In 2007, Fiola's bosses became suspicious after the Internet bill for his state-issued laptop showed that he used 4 1/2 times more data than his colleagues. A technician found child porn in the PC folder that stores images viewed online.
Fiola was fired and charged with possession of child pornography, which carries up to five years in prison. He endured death threats, his car tires were slashed and he was shunned by friends.
Fiola and his wife fought the case, spending $250,000 on legal fees. They liquidated their savings, took a second mortgage and sold their car.
An inspection for his defense revealed the laptop was severely infected. It was programmed to visit as many as 40 child porn sites per minute - an inhuman feat. While Fiola and his wife were out to dinner one night, someone logged on to the computer and porn flowed in for an hour and a half.
Prosecutors performed another test and confirmed the defense findings. The charge was dropped - 11 months after it was filed.
The Fiolas say they have health problems from the stress of the case. They say they've talked to dozens of lawyers but can't get one to sue the state, because of a cap on the amount they can recover.
"It ruined my life, my wife's life and my family's life," he says.
The Massachusetts attorney general's office, which charged Fiola, declined interview requests.
At any moment, about 20 million of the estimated 1 billion Internet-connected PCs worldwide are infected with viruses that could give hackers full control, according to security software maker F-Secure Corp. Computers often get infected when people open e-mail attachments from unknown sources or visit a malicious Web page.
Pedophiles can tap viruses in several ways. The simplest is to force someone else's computer to surf child porn sites, collecting images along the way. Or a computer can be made into a warehouse for pictures and videos that can be viewed remotely when the PC is online.
"They're kind of like locusts that descend on a cornfield: They eat up everything in sight and they move on to the next cornfield," says Eric Goldman, academic director of the High Tech Law Institute at Santa Clara University. Goldman has represented Web companies that discovered child pornographers were abusing their legitimate services.
But pedophiles need not be involved: Child porn can land on a computer in a sick prank or an attempt to frame the PC's owner.
In the first publicly known cases of individuals being victimized, two men in the United Kingdom were cleared in 2003 after viruses were shown to have been responsible for the child porn on their PCs.
In one case, an infected e-mail or pop-up ad poisoned a defense contractor's PC and downloaded the offensive pictures.
In the other, a virus changed the home page on a man's Web browser to display child porn, a discovery made by his 7-year-old daughter. The man spent more than a week in jail and three months in a halfway house, and lost custody of his daughter.
Chris Watts, a computer examiner in Britain, says he helped clear a hotel manager whose co-workers found child porn on the PC they shared with him.
Watts found that while surfing the Internet for ways to play computer games without paying for them, the manager had visited a site for pirated software. It redirected visitors to child porn sites if they were inactive for a certain period.
In all these cases, the central evidence wasn't in dispute: Pornography was on a computer. But proving how it got there was difficult.
Tami Loehrs, who inspected Fiola's computer, recalls a case in Arizona in which a computer was so "extensively infected" that it would be "virtually impossible" to prove what an indictment alleged: that a 16-year-old who used the PC had uploaded child pornography to a Yahoo group.
Prosecutors dropped the charge and let the boy plead guilty to a separate crime that kept him out of jail, though they say they did it only because of his age and lack of a criminal record.
Many prosecutors say blaming a computer virus for child porn is a new version of an old ploy.
"We call it the SODDI defense: Some Other Dude Did It," says James Anderson, a federal prosecutor in Wyoming.
However, forensic examiners say it would be hard for a pedophile to get away with his crime by using a bogus virus defense.
"I personally would feel more comfortable investing my retirement in the lottery before trying to defend myself with that," says forensics specialist Jeff Fischbach.
Even careful child porn collectors tend to leave incriminating e-mails, DVDs or other clues. Virus defenses are no match for such evidence, says Damon King, trial attorney for the U.S. Justice Department's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section.
But while the virus defense does not appear to be letting real pedophiles out of trouble, there have been cases in which forensic examiners insist that legitimate claims did not get completely aired.
Loehrs points to Ned Solon of Casper, Wyo., who is serving six years for child porn found in a folder used by a file-sharing program on his computer.
Solon admits he used the program to download video games and adult porn - but not child porn. So what could explain that material?
Loehrs testified that Solon's antivirus software wasn't working properly and appeared to have shut off for long stretches, a sign of an infection. She found no evidence the five child porn videos on Solon's computer had been viewed or downloaded fully. The porn was in a folder the file-sharing program labeled as "incomplete" because the downloads were canceled or generated an error.
This defense was curtailed, however, when Loehrs ended her investigation in a dispute with the judge over her fees. Computer exams can cost tens of thousands of dollars. Defendants can ask the courts to pay, but sometimes judges balk at the price. Although Loehrs stopped working for Solon, she argues he is innocent.
"I don't think it was him, I really don't," Loehrs says. "There was too much evidence that it wasn't him."
The prosecution's forensics expert, Randy Huff, maintains that Solon's antivirus software was working properly. And he says he ran other antivirus programs on the computer and didn't find an infection - although security experts say antivirus scans frequently miss things.
"He actually had a very clean computer compared to some of the other cases I do," Huff says.
The jury took two hours to convict Solon.
"Everybody feels they're innocent in prison. Nobody believes me because that's what everybody says," says Solon, whose case is being appealed. "All I know is I did not do it. I never put the stuff on there. I never saw the stuff on there. I can only hope that someday the truth will come out."
But can it? It can be impossible to tell with certainty how a file got onto a PC.
"Computers are not to be trusted," says Jeremiah Grossman, founder of WhiteHat Security Inc. He describes it as "painfully simple" to get a computer to download something the owner doesn't want - whether it's a program that displays ads or one that stores illegal pictures.
It's possible, Grossman says, that more illicit material is waiting to be discovered.
"Just because it's there doesn't mean the person intended for it to be there - whatever it is, child porn included."
Rape and Sexual Assault
RAPE AND SEXUAL ASSAULT Rape Protective Measures
Rape is a violent crime, an invasion, a frightening experience.
Rape affects all women, no matter what their age, race or economic
status. All women are potential victims of sexual assault.
By being aware, a woman can reduce the likelihood of becoming a
rape victim. This does not mean all rapes can be prevented.
Rapists commit rape -- NOT VICTIMS.
Psychological Preparedness
---------------------------
1. Accept the fact that you are a potential rape victim. Many women operate under the illusion "it will never happen to me. It may.
2. Educate yourself concerning rape prevention tactics.
3. Become familiar with community rape prevention and counseling.
4. Become aware of locations and situations where rape is more likely to occur and avoid them, or take precautions.
In a Dating/Friend Situation
----------------------------
1. The majority of rapes that occur are termed "acquaintance rapes" - the rapist and victim know one another. Trust your feelings. If you become
uncomfortable in a situation, assertively ask the person to leave. Don't worry about hurt feelings.
2. If possible, let a friend or roommate know who you are with and where you will be. Leave an address and phone number when possible.
In Your Car
-----------
1. Keep windows and doors locked.
2. If you should be followed into your driveway, stay in your car with the doors locked. Sound horn to get the attention of neighbors or scare the other driver off.
3. When parking at night, select a place that will be well-lit when returning to the car.
4. Always make sure the car is locked, and have the keys ready when returning to the car.
5. Check interior of car before getting in.
On the Street
-------------
1. Be observant of things around you. If someone is following you, go to the nearest house or store.
2. Walk near the curb and avoid passing close to shrubbery, dark doorways and other places of concealment.
3. DO NOT HITCHHIKE.
4. Avoid short cuts through parking lots and alleys.
5. Walk with a friend if at all possible. Don't walk alone.
6. If a car approaches you and you feel threatened, scream and run in the direction opposite of the one the car is going.
7. When arriving home by taxi or private auto, ask the driver to wait until you are inside.
8. Don't jog in secluded areas.
9. Know the location of the special emergency phones campus.
In Your Home
-------------
1. The best lock cannot function if you fail to lock it. Be sure to keep your doors locked.
2. All windows should have secure locks and frames.
3. All entrances and garages should be well-lit.
4. Never open the door after a knock. Require the person to give their name. In the case of service persons ask for proper I.D. and refuse entrance if you feel uneasy.
If You Are Sexually Assaulted
------------------------------
The best resistance you can use against an attacker is your common sense. Think! Don't panic. The most important element to remember is that you are not trying to fight the attacker, but are attempting to divert the
person long enough to get away. Always look for a way to escape.
If the attacker has a weapon, use your common sense. Fighting against it could be dangerous.
---------------------------------------------------
1. Stay calm. Do not do anything that may upset the attacker.
2. Try to convince the person to put the weapon down.
3. Talk to your attacker, show sympathy and understanding.
4. Make the attacker see you as an individual, not as an object.
If the attacker is unarmed, you may be able to scare, distract or injure the person enough to make your escape.
---------------------------------------------------------
1. Scream "FIRE," "POLICE," or create a disturbance that will attract attention.
2. Assert yourself and fight back if you can do so safely.
3. Break away and run toward areas with people.
4. Be observant so that you will be able to remember and identify the assailant.
5. Report the incident to the police as soon as possible.
This pamphlet was prepared by
------------------------------
Dean of Students Office for Women's Resources and Services
McKinley Health Education Dept.
University Police
University of Illinois
Hi Olivia...
I do not see a problem with your request!.. if you could please send me a email that would be great. Thank you for dropping by the blog!
You need to go to the blogger profile, you should see the way to email me!
If you need more information just leave me a comment! Take care Holly
Swedish model could inspire Turkey to combat trafficking
Interesting Article by FULYA ÖZERKAN STOCKHOLM – Hürriyet Daily News
Sunday, November 1, 2009
The Swedish model focuses on demand as the key to ending trafficking and prostitution and makes the purchase of sexual services illegal while decriminalizing selling sex. Officials say the controversial legislation, in force since 1999, has dealt a severe blow to the modern slave trade
The Swedish model of zero tolerance for buying sexual services could become a source of inspiration for Turkey, which is both a transit and destination country for trafficked women.
Most of the trafficked women in Turkey are brought from Moldova and Ukraine on false promises and end up in prostitution at the hands of organized crime rings.
The Swedish government has been lobbying at the international level to promote its unique model focused on demand rather than supply as an instrument to fight prostitution and human trafficking for sexual purposes. Swedish officials say the controversial legislation, in force since 1999, has dealt a severe blow to the modern slave trade.
“Fewer Swedish men buy sex than 10 years ago, according to last year’s research. Other Nordic countries are more affected than Sweden, which is a bad market for trafficking because prostitution is not legal here,” detective inspector Kajsa Wahlberg of the Swedish National Police Board told a small group of journalists in Stockholm.
Wahlberg is national rapporteur to the Swedish government on trafficking as recommended by the European Union.
Since 1999, buying sex in Sweden has been a criminal offense and is forbidden on penalty of a fine or up to six months’ imprisonment. Selling sexual services, on the other hand, is not a crime.
Foreigners in prostitution
The victims of human trafficking for sexual purposes are primarily women and girls, and studies show it is mostly men who purchase sexual services. According to Wahlberg, women in prostitution in Sweden are mostly foreigners from Eastern European countries.
“An estimated 1,000 native Swedish women are currently in prostitution; that figure stood at 2,500 in 1998, before the law was enacted,” she said. “Today we are mostly connected with foreign women as traffickers benefit from visa abolitions and easy travel in the Shengen area after the EU enlargement.”
In cases that resulted in convictions in 2006, the perpetrators mainly recruited girls and women from Estonia, Russia, Slovakia, Romania, Bulgaria and Albania. Others were from Thailand, Poland, Nigeria, Kenya and the Czech Republic.
After the law passed in Sweden, in defiance of the opposition, Norway and Iceland adopted similar measures to curb prostitution and trafficking for sexual purposes. Lithuania follows a half-Swedish model where it is illegal to both buy and sell sexual services.
“I think more countries will change their legislation. There are ongoing discussions in Baltic countries,” said Jenny Sonesson, the foreign policy advisor for the Liberal Party, which is part of the governing coalition in Sweden. “If you fight organized crime, you must fight prostitution and the law is a barrier against the establishment of organized cross-border prostitution rings.”
Even an attempt is illegal
Sonesson said the Swedish police, who were against the legislation 10 years ago, now support it after having seen the results. Her Liberal Party, which voted down the law at the time, today supports it, as does 70 percent of the population plus all seven political parties in the 249-member Riksdag, or parliament.
“Even an attempt to buy sex is a reason for prosecution under the Swedish law. Civilian and female police are on watch,” said Patrik Cederlöf, national coordinator against prostitution and trafficking.
In 2008, the Swedish government adopted an action plan for combating prostitution and human trafficking for sexual purposes, calling for increased national and international cooperation.
“We don’t have enough tools due to open borders. We are seeing a surge in the number of trafficking cases. Today a lot of people move in the Shengen area and we need cooperation at an international level,” said Cederlöf, describing the action plan as a road map outlining how Sweden wants to work against this international phenomenon.
The plan also calls for protection of the victims, who are provided with ad hoc permits to stay in Sweden while the investigation continues. The cost is covered by state funds.
The Swedish government will be investing 213 million Swedish Krona until December 2010. The government will decide whether to continue implementing the program after it is submitted to the parliament in 2011.
What about Turkey?
According to the Swedish model, focusing on demand is the key to ending trafficking and prostitution. This is different from the Turkish system, in which prostitution is legal and regulated. Prostitutes must register and acquire an ID card stating the dates of their health checks, but most sex workers are unregistered, working in violation of the law.
The country straddling East and West is cited a top destination for mostly female victims of human trafficking in international reports. Turkey established a toll-free “157” hotline in cooperation with the International Organization for Migration, or IOM, a Geneva-based organization, to help rescue the victims, especially foreigners from such countries as Moldova and Russia.
URL: www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=swedish-model-could-inspire-turkey-to-combat-prostitution-2009-11-01
Bodies found in Anthony Sowell home!
Cops find up to 6 bodies at Ohio rapist's home, By THOMAS J. SHEERAN, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
CLEVELAND - A convicted rapist who fled before police arrived to arrest him on new rape charges was arrested Saturday in his inner-city neighborhood after police found as many as six bodies at his home.
Police spokesman Lt. Thomas Stacho said Anthony Sowell was walking down the street in the east side of Cleveland when authorities spotted him and took him into custody.
Sowell initially denied he was the man authorities were looking for but admitted his identity as officers began checking his fingerprints, Stacho said.
Officers have found three bodies and believe they have discovered three more but are awaiting confirmation from the coroner, Stacho said.
The first two bodies were found Thursday night when police went to Sowell’s home to arrest him on charges of felonious assault and rape. Police say he had spent 15 years in prison for a 1989 rape.
Cuyahoga County Coroner Frank Miller identified two bodies as black females and said one had died of a violent death ruled a homicide. No race or gender was determined for the third.
The identities and matter of death for the three had not yet been determined. The decomposition of the bodies meant it would take awhile to determine how they died.
Police established a command post in the neighborhood to take missing-person reports and additional information on outstanding missing persons in the neighborhood.
Minutes before the arrest was made, police Chief Michael McGrath tried to reassure parents that it was safe for their children to go trick-or-treating in the neighborhood if they followed standard precautions like avoiding strangers and staying in a group.
Detectives with a search warrant found two bodies Thursday on the third floor of a duplex and began checking a fresh grave dug in the basement. The bodies were in an advanced state of decomposition, suggesting they’d been in the home a long time.
Police were checking missing-person reports back to June 2005, when Sowell was released from prison.
"Life will mean life' under proposed murder law: Justice minister
We must protect our children: federal ombudsman
This from Holly's Fight for Justice/Holly's Fight to Stop Violence,
Posted By MAGGIE RIOPELLE , TRIBUNE STAFF
Sullivan doesn't use the word child pornography because if an adult had been sexually assaulted and those images were to be posted online it would be called what it is -- rape. Sphere: Related Content
Tories move to toughen parole rules for non-violent criminals
By Sidhartha Banerjee, THE CANADIAN PRESS
MONTREAL - The Conservative government is moving to end automatic early parole for non-violent offenders in a move aimed at financial fraudsters following a spate of highly publicized scams.
With allegations of Ponzi schemes grabbing headlines in several provinces, the government wants to toughen rules that allow non-violent offenders apply for early parole after serving just one-sixth of their sentence, following a first conviction.
Public Safety Minister Peter Van Loan said legislation would be tabled Monday that would make it harder for them to get out of jail so quickly.
"As Canadians have been made painfully aware over the last few months, not all criminals carry guns," Van Loan said.
"Their weapons of choice may be phoney balance sheets or glitzy portfolios designed to deceive honest Canadians into handing over their hard-earned money, often their entire life savings."
Currently, first-time criminals can get parole after serving one-sixth of their sentence under a provision known as accelerated parole review - unless they're considered a threat to commit a violent crime.
Full parole generally comes after serving just one-third of their sentence, virtually automatic as the parole board currently has little leeway when it comes to non-violent offenders.
The government had been hinting at this policy change for months, as hundreds of investors were swindled in a variety of high-profile scams.
Van Loan said the change would also apply to other criminals, like low-level drug dealers.
"This would build on the government's measures to ensure the punishment fits the crime," Van Loan said.
Van Loan says the policy change would cost $60 million for the extended prison stays - which he defended as a bargain, given all the money that fraudsters steal from innocent victims.
The announcement came at ground zero for financial fraud - Quebec - where thousands of people were swindled by disgraced financier Vincent Lacroix , and where an alleged Ponzi scheme by Earl Jones has prompted calls for tougher laws.
In response, federal Justice Minister Rob Nicholson also announced legislative changes that would oblige white-collar criminals who bilk their victims of more than $1 million to serve at least two years in jail.
The new legislation would also bar them for life from handling people's money and possibly force them to pay their victims back.
Jean-Guy Houle, who lost $195,000 to Lacroix, welcomed the government's announcement on the one-sixth issue, which has drawn the ire of fraud victims.
"I'm happy to hear the announcement by the federal government when it comes to white-collar crimes," Houle said.
"These guys shouldn't be allowed to be free and to do whatever they want from the point of view of the society from who they stole millions of dollars."
The Conservatives have introduced a series of crime measures over their time in office.
Last week, legislation received royal assent that will limit the amount of credit prisoners can get for time spent in custody before and during their trial.
Judges have normally reduced prison sentences by two days for every day a person spends in jail awaiting trial and sentencing. In some cases, that ratio has been 3-to-1.
Parliament's budget office, Kevin Page, is working to tabulate the cost to taxpayers of the Tories' crime agenda.
NON-VIOLENT CRIME CRACKDOWN
200 MILLION DOLLARS A YEAR!
POOR LEGISLATION, IT WILL NOT MAKE YOU SAFE!
WHITE COLLAR CRIME.....
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2009/10/26/parole-early-law-non-violent-van-loan.html
3,000 sex spas plague T.O.
October 25, 2009 By TOM GODFREY, SUN MEDIA
TORONTO - A city councillor says there are 3,000 illegal massage parlours serving sex day and night in Toronto and he wants them out.
Giorgio Mammoliti claims crime syndicates are involved in smuggling girls into Canada, obtaining club space, paying for advertising and offering protection.
"This is a well-organized and well-orchestrated concept that just didn't happen overnight," he said. "This is organized crime alive and well in the City of Toronto."
Some of the women may have been smuggled into the country and forced into the sex trade, Mammoliti said.
Mammoliti said there are about 90 illegal massage parlours in his York West riding and about 3,000 in the city, where he claims red light districts already exist since sex can be purchased day and night.
He called on the RCMP and OPP to investigate clubs to determine if prostitution, trafficking in women, immigration or other laws are being broken.
Mammoliti said there are not enough bylaw officers to target the illicit spas across the city. "There are already red light districts in the city," Mammoliti said. "Most of these places provide sexual activity 24/7."
Accompanied by two security officers, Mammoliti yesterday visited the Golden Touch Spa on Milvan Dr. and slapped a notice on the front door directing them to leave North York.
"I am requesting that you pack up your business and leave York West," Mammoliti wrote on a City of Toronto letter he taped to the door.
"Your type of establishment is not wanted in Ward 7 ..."
A scantily clad woman refused to open a glass door for Mammoliti or the Sunday Sun.
He vowed to continue his visits to spas with city and provincial agencies.
Spa owner Yihong Zhan, to whom the letter was addressed, is before the courts facing about 15 offences ranging from performing services not listed, obstructing an inspection and operating a bawdy house.
So far, eight businesses have been forced to leave the ward due to criminal behaviour.
The parking lot outside the spa was the scene of the city's first murder of the year on Jan. 3, when Johnny Youkhana, 36, was shot to death. His alleged killer is before the courts.
Mammoliti worries clubs could become legal depending on the outcome of an appeal by dominatrix Terri-Jean Bedford and prostitutes Valerie Scott and Amy Lebovitch. The case involves three provisions of the Criminal Code dealing with prostitution.
Child Porn
NEW GLASGOW – Twin brothers, twin offences, twin sentences.
David Scott Hammond and James Corey Hammond, both 20, were each ordered to serve a three-month intermittent sentence and 18 months of probation for downloading Japanese anime images and live images of child pornography.
The brothers were charged last November after their sister-in-law saw some “distressing” images of children “as young as two years of age” on two computers in the New Glasgow home where the twins resided, special Crown attorney Craig Botterill told New Glasgow provincial court Wednesday.
Both men admitted to downloading images.
“It’s impossible to tell which young man did what from a forensic perspective,” Botterill said. “Both acknowledge they had been accessing and downloading these images.”
The images included “videos depicting sexual assaults of barely pubescent boys, around 12 years old, some pictures and cartoon drawings,” Botterill said.
Approximately 90 per cent of the images were of cartoon drawings called Japanese Anime, while the remainder were of actual children. An examination of the computer showed that one or both of the Hammond twins had done Google queries to see if anime was legal, Botterill said. While it is legal in the United States, Canada has taken a firm stance that the representations constitute child pornography.
Both Corey and David had been sent for a risk assessment through the provincial sex offender treatment program. David’s report was fairly positive and indicated he had a low risk to re-offend, prompting the Crown to reduce his charges to a summary offence, which lowers the mandatory minimum sentence that comes with a guilty plea. Corey’s report, however, was not as bright. The report’s author said that Corey admitted that he was attracted to 12-year-old boys and sometimes, while walking down the street, “thought of using toys to approach boys of that age in the community, which is of some concern to the Crown,” Botterill said.
An examination of the computer showed that one twin had visited an American site that assists people with approaching young teen boys and advocates relationships with young boys. Further, psycho-somatic testing showed that when Corey was presented with visual stimuli, he indicated strong physiological preferences to pre-pubescent boys between the ages of 12 and 15 and had strong responses to sexual abuse of children as young as eight years old. Corey was placed at just below a moderate risk to re-offend. During the course of the testing, he needed help, a sentiment he echoed during his court appearance Wednesday.
David’s report indicating he had less of a predatory bent, but he also expressed a desire for help.
The Crown recommended both twins receive the same sentence, although the mode of trial was different for both boys.
A mandatory minimum sentence of 14 days in jail is required for a summary conviction of this crime – which David is subject to – while the mandatory minimum sentence for an indictable conviction, like Corey’s, is 45 days.
The Crown pressed for four months in jail, saying the sentence has to serve as a deterrent for others and denounce the crime publicly as well as punishment for the brothers, but both defence attorneys argued against the sentence. Both defence attorneys pushed for a lighter sentence. Corey’s lawyer, Steve Robertson, expressed concerns about how the twins would handle jail.
Judge Theodore Tax said that imposing a minimum sentence would not make clear that anime child pornography was illegal in Canada.
“The images creates a market, whether anime or live images, and victimizes the people that are most vulnerable,” said Tax.
Court orders CSIS to hand over secret file
October 20, 2009, By Jim Bronskill, THE CANADIAN PRESS
OTTAWA - A federal judge says Canada's spy service "has seriously damaged confidence" in the court process and must help restore trust by handing over a secret file in the case of terror suspect Mohamed Harkat.
In a decision made public Tuesday, Federal Court Justice Simon Noel ordered the Canadian Security Intelligence Service to give him details of a confidential source the spy agency is using to support allegations against Harkat.
The government is trying to deport the Algerian-born Harkat using a national security certificate, a rarely employed immigration provision.
CSIS alleges Harkat, arrested almost seven years ago, is involved with the al-Qaida terror network - a claim he denies.
In his ruling, Noel said CSIS "undermined the integrity" of the court's work by failing to disclose relevant details of a polygraph examination of another source in the Harkat affair.
CSIS neglected to tell him a secret informant in the case failed portions of the lie-detector test - a lapse the service itself has called "inexcusable."
Further, Noel said he was unimpressed with evidence about the polygraph matter - which first made headlines last spring - from three CSIS witnesses, whose names are confidential.
On the contrary, the CSIS explanations led Noel to conclude information the government filed in support of the certificate against Harkat has been "filtered" and that promises to the court have been broken.
"Filtering evidence, even with the best of intentions, is unacceptable," Noel wrote.
The judge said while it doesn't appear the witnesses deliberately tried to mislead him, CSIS failed to give them "proper advice or support," amounting to an institutional failure by the spy service.
"The rule of law cannot be set aside because of a lack of time, resources or institutional resistance to the evolving context of security certificate proceedings."
Noel gave CSIS five days to turn over copies of the file on the second covert source to the court and to two special advocates, appointees who have clearance to see secret evidence and serve as watchdogs for Harkat.
Neither Harkat, his counsel, nor the public will be allowed to see the classified source file.
In a statement Tuesday, CSIS stressed that the court determined the shortcoming in disclosure was not an intentional effort to hide information.
"The service reacted promptly to this incident by informing the court, and quickly implemented new processes, including enhanced training, to improve the accuracy and completeness of information that CSIS provides to the court relating to the reliability of human sources," CSIS added.
