Counter Pedophilia Investigate Unit

Albany wants more mandated reporters

In the wake of charges against a Penn State football assistant coach, Albany legislators are calling to expand the list of those who are required by law to report suspected child abuse in New York.

The current state law requires immediate reporting of suspected child abuse, followed by written documentation within 48 hours for a long list of professionals who deal with children. The penalty for failure to report is a Class A misdemeanor and civil liability for subsequent damages. (more…)

For years David Prescott sat face to face with pedophiles, trying to evaluate if the people before him were making progress in treatment.

Prescott is a licensed therapist who worked in Minnesota, one of the 20 states that have passed civil commitment laws. Courts in these states have the power to confine child molesters, rapists and other sex offenders who have finished their prison sentences but are deemed too dangerous to re-enter the community. The former inmates can stay there indefinitely, or until they prove therapy has made them safe to leave. (more…)

Although offering more opportunities for education and information than at any time in history, the Internet has also amplified the scale and potential of threats to children, says a new report from UNICEF’s Innocenti Research Centre.

Child Safety online: Global challenges and strategies aims to provide a better understanding of the risks faced by young people online, and presents a framework for protecting them from the triple-headed dangers of child abuse images, online grooming and cyberbullying. (more…)

A former Canadian hockey player addressed U.S. lawmakers on Capitol Hill on Tuesday with a message they would do well to heed.
In fact, Sheldon Kennedy’s message should be taken to heart by legislators everywhere.

Kennedy, the former NHL player who was one of the sexual abuse victims of former hockey coach Graham James, told the U.S. Senate subcommittee on children and families it’s important to “empower the bystanders” – those who have suspicions that children are being sexually abused. (more…)

Animals performing in movies have better safeguards, says advocate.

First, it was the Catholic Church. Then Penn State. Now, a new child-abuse scandal in Hollywood is raising questions over the safety of minors in the entertainment business and sparking calls for new child-labour regulations.

Martin Weiss, a longtime man-ager of young talent, was recently arrested on suspicion of child molestation after an 18-year-old former client told police he had been abused by Weiss 30 to 40 times from 2005 to 2008. (more…)

NEW BRUNSWICK – Prevent Child Abuse-New Jersey and the NJ Partnership to Prevent Child Sexual Abuse formally announced the selection of three local coalitions to replicate the “Enough Abuse” campaign throughout the state on Thursday, Dec. 8, on the steps of the State House in Trenton:

Project Self-Sufficiency (Warren and Sussex Counties)
PEI Kids (Mercer County)
Wynona’s House (Newark) (more…)

WINDSOR, Ont. — Two sexual assault victims of a convicted Ontario priest launched separate $3-million lawsuits Thursday against the man, known in the 1950s as “Happy Hands” for his tendency to touch students.

The civil suit by Patrick McMahon, 43, against pedophile Rev. William Hodgson Marshall, also names the Basilian Fathers of Toronto and Catholic Bishop Ronald Fabbro. It alleges neither did anything to prevent Marshall from abusing children. (more…)

It will inevitably be called a dark moment for hockey, as if Graham James’ serial sexual abuse of children was a perverse anomaly.

It’s worse than that. It’s a dark moment for everyone, though we are learning that this sort of shadow finds too many corners in locker rooms.

Once again, former junior coach James stood in front of a judge on Wednesday and was convicted of sex crimes. The court sat in Winnipeg. James blandly delivered his lines via video link from Montreal, where he is free on bail. (more…)

If a spate of recent allegations proves true, Hollywood may have a hideous epidemic on its hands. The past two weeks have brought three separate reports of alleged child sexual abuse in the entertainment industry.

Martin Weiss, a 47-year-old Hollywood manager who represented child actors, was charged in Los Angeles on Dec. 1 with sexually abusing a former client. His accuser, who was under 12 years old during the time of the alleged abuse, reported to authorities that Weiss told him “what they were doing was common practice in the entertainment industry.” Weiss has pleaded not guilty. (more…)

FRANKFORT, Ky. – Eighteen children died in Kentucky from abuse or neglect during the past fiscal year, down from 33 in the previous year.

State officials report the number for the year ending June 30 was also down from 2009, when there were 29, and 2008, when the number was 31.

The Cabinet for Health and Family Services released the annual child fatality and near-fatality report Thursday. It has supplied the reports to the legislature since 2004. (more…)