A 24-year-old man, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, attended a bail hearing yesterday accused of possessing 466 images of child abuse, about 70 per cent of them Japanese animation.

Under the NT Criminal Code, any offensive material that “depicts, describes or represents” children engaged in sex, being subjected to torture or in a demeaning context is outlawed.Magistrate John Lowndes said it seemed to him the act was broad enough to cover cartoons of child abuse, or even written material.

“Some of the classics could even be considered abusive material,” Dr Lowndes said.

Prosecutor Sally Nicholas, told the bail hearing 72 of the images found on the man’s computers were level five child abuse images, showing torture of children.

Source: The Australian

Outraged by the dehydration death of an eight-year-old Aboriginal girl in a West Australian desert on Tuesday, Hannah McGlade, West Australian Aboriginal Family Law Services chief executive, told The Australian we were spending too much time as a nation debating rights and constitutional change instead of Aboriginal children’s safety.“The case raises serious issues about Aboriginal children’s safety, but we probably won’t have a public debate on that because the rights focus typically tends to neglect children,” she said.

“We have had significant and lengthy national consultations and debate about the Constitution. This case highlights the very severe human rights issues facing Aboriginal children, and it should be regarded as just as important or more so than the debate over the Constitution.

“We need to be talking more about the human rights of Aboriginal children, including children’s right to life and security of the person.”

Former federal intervention chairwoman and retired Children’s Court magistrate Sue Gordon said the Tjirrkarli community near Warburton was a good one and she was surprised the tragedy had occurred there.

She said WA was meant to have multifunctional police stations, which meant police and child protection officers were co-located.

“There is supposed to be a Department of Child Protection officer based in Warburton full-time,” she said. “Was the position filled? If that position wasn’t filled, that means there was a gap in the services. If there isn’t an officer there, that’s something the department should really be worried about.”

Dr McGlade, who has long campaigned for the rights of indigenous children, said Aboriginal children in WA made up more than 50 per cent of children in state care and comprise about one-third of the children in the criminal justice system as victims.

“There is a great deal that could be done, and it is our children who are suffering,” she said.

She called on the Gillard government to enact a commission for children’s rights and ensure Aboriginal children’s issues were fully represented.

“The Gordon inquiry recommended a deputy commissioner for Aboriginal children — this was ignored by successive state governments. The state children’s commission legislation is currently being reviewed,” she said.

“The constitutional debate should not overshadow the reality of human rights for children. This debate needs to be increased at the national level.”

NSW indigenous leader Warren Mundine said that after the focus on child abuse in Aboriginal communities, it was outrageous these sorts of tragedies were continuing. “I don’t understand how these things happen,” he said.

“It’s a totally tragic story from start to finish. Why there were no proper checks in this day and age is unbelievable.”

While we must wait to see the outcome of the investigation, Mr Mundine said, “reform in the child protection area is well overdue, and we’ve got to stop listening to do-gooders and act in the best interest of the child’s safety”.

Source: The Australian

Police described the case as one of the most horrific incidents of child abuse they have ever investigated, with the network of paedophiles extending as far as Australia.

The ringleader pressurised his girlfriend into joining in with the abuse, according to the judge, taking advantage of her ‘low intelligence and weak character’.The pair were visited by another paedophile to celebrate his 40th birthday, during which they forced children to play the game Twister naked.

Partners Melissa Noon, 30, and Robert Hathaway, 37, sexually abused two young children under the age of 13.

Ringleader Hathaway admitted 45 offences including raping and sexually assaulting children as well as encouraging a child to engage in sexual activity, and was given an indeterminate sentence of at least 12 years.

Unemployed Noon was jailed for four years at Portsmouth Crown Court after being convicted of 16 abuse charges.

Photographer Stephen Fraser, 42, electrical engineer Lee Parson, 38, and IT consultant Simon Hilton, 29, were also given jail sentences.

After Noon and Hathaway started a relationship in 2008, the couple set up a fake online nudist group to contact like-minded people and distribute photos and videos around the world.

Hathaway, as ‘administrator of the site’, used it to distribute pictures and videos of two children whom he made undress in order to satisfy his sexual fantasies, the court heard.

The couple discussed the abuse of children with some of the other defendants and arranged to meet them to carry out further sexual assaults on their young victims.

This included a visit from Fraser on his 40th birthday, when they held a naked ‘party’ at their Portsmouth home, which included wrestling between adults and children.

Hampshire police launched an investigation into the perverted group after being tipped off by the authorities in Australia.

Officers had uncovered a ‘mirror image’ paedophile ring there, members of which also abused a young child.

Police uncovered 2,000 pages of web chat logs as well as 14,000 indecent images of children and 300 videos of the youngsters being abused.

Jailing the ring, Judge Roger Hetherington described the case as ‘systematic and continued sexual abuse of the worst sort.’

He said: ‘In essence, this is a case about cruelty to two children.

‘Physical cruelty in the sense each was subjected to physical acts that had no place in normal child development.

‘But almost importantly was the mental cruelty. Each was subjected to a regime in which natural morality was jettisoned and in its place was substituted an immorality.

‘The only thing that mattered was the sexual gratification of adults and a normal childhood was mercilessly denied.’

He told Hathaway: ‘You will, by far and away, bear chief responsibility for what happened.

‘You took advantage of Melissa Noon and cajoled her into adopting the lifestyle.’

Addressing Noon, the judge said: ‘You are of low intelligence and of weak character and that made you vulnerable.’

Four other men, including a serving soldier, have also been convicted for their part in the ring and will be sentenced next month.

After the sentencing, Detective Inspector Victoria Dennis said: ‘This case is a warning to anyone who thinks that they can get away with taking, viewing, downloading and distributing indecent images of children or otherwise sexually abusing children or encouraging others to do so.’

Source: Daily Mail

Ronald William Hopkins, 75, was today sentenced for sexually abusing two male students while he was a teacher in the 1980s.

Hopkins, who has incurable cancer, is currently serving a 10-year sentence for abusing five other male students around the same period.The latest offences came to the attention of police last year.

Today Judge Steven Millsteed extended his sentence by two years and added a further 15 months to his non-parole period.

In sentencing he described Hopkin’s actions as “despicable’.

“Your offending was serious and despicable and involves a grave breach of trust,” he said.

Judge Millsteed said Hopkin’s selfish actions came at the expensive of his victims – both of who attended the same school as four of his five previous victims.

Hopkins had pleaded guilty to two charges of indecent assault, one count of unlawful sexual intercourse act and inciting a child to commit an indecent act.

In 2006, Hopkins was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment – with a seven-year non-parole period – for five counts of unlawful sexual intercourse, five counts of indecent assault and one count of gross indecency.

Had he committed no further offences, the earliest he could be released was May next year.

He now faces release in August 2013.

Hopkins has been diagnosed with prostate cancer and told his illness is incurable.

Previously the court had heard his lawyers ask the court that he spend his last years with his family.

That was rejected today by his extended sentence.

Source: Adelaide Now

Mr Barnett has met with Public Sector Commissioner Mal Wauchope to discuss an official inquiry into allegations that complaints against Dennis John McKenna were dismissed by police and senior public servants in the 1970s and 80s.

McKenna was jailed for six years last month after pleading guilty to sexually abusing six boys, aged 13 to 15, in his care. He had previously been jailed for six years in 1991 for similar offences and may face more charges as other victims come forth.All the offences happened at St Andrew’s Hostel in Katanning, a boys’ home in WA’s Great Southern region, where McKenna was head warden from 1975 to 1990.

McKenna was considered a pillar of the Katanning community at the time and had received numerous awards for his work with children.

Two former government employees have since publicly stated their superiors, police and a Katanning Shire councillor all ignored claims by one of the victims in 1985 that he had been sexually abused by McKenna, who remained in charge of the hostel for another five years until his arrest.

One of the former government employees is Maggie Dawkins, the wife of former federal treasurer John Dawkins.

Mrs Dawkins, who was involved with a youth training and employment program that used the hostel for accommodation, has called for a royal commission into the abuse.

A newspaper report today said the WA Department of Education first received a child sex complaint about McKenna in 1980 – a decade before his first arrest.

Mr Barnett told parliament today he was awaiting advice from Mr Wauchope before deciding what action to take.

“I will await that advice of the Public Sector Commission and then cabinet will consider it, and if we make a decision on an inquiry and what form it should be, I will inform the house immediately,” he said.

Mr Barnett said an independent inquiry was “one of the options being considered”, along with a royal commission.

Source: Perth Now

The Brisbane District Court was told Craig Anthony Ellis broke into the family’s Aspley home on Brisbane’s northside and sexually assaulted the toddler on January 21, 2009.

Ellis, then aged 29, tried to flee when the girl’s parents were awoken by their daughter’s muffled cries – resulting in the toddler’s father crash tackling the naked intruder while the mother struck the pedophile with an ornamental samurai sword.Judge Michael Rackemann said Ellis’ behaviour and abuse of the girl was “very disturbing” and warranted an eight-year term.

During today’s hearing Ellis threatened to kill the judge, the prosecutor, his child victim and her mother

However, the judge said because Ellis had already been behind bars on remand for two years and nine months, a sentence of five years and three-months was appropriate under the circumstances.

Ellis will be eligible for release on parole on January 21, 2013 – after having spent a total of four years in jail – but it would up to parole authorities to consider if he would be suitable for release at that time.

Judge Rackemann also ordered a transcript of today’s hearing, complete with Ellis’s explicit menacing threats, be referred to Queensland’s Director of Public Prosecutions Tony Moynihan, SC, to consider whether Ellis should face further criminal charges.

Ellis, who was placed in the purpose-built enclosed glass dock of Court 7 due to previous court outbursts, unleashed a tirade of expletive-riddled abuse shortly after proceedings started after 10am.

At various times Ellis threatened prosecutor Vicki Loury, before then turning on Judge Rackemann and then the victim’s family – telling them “you’re going to end up dead.”

Ellis even went so far to call various people either “corrupt”, a “whore”, “pedophiles’ or “a sick piece of s***t” before describing himself as “the f***ing victim.”

In September last year Ellis, then aged 31, pleaded not guilty to charges of burglary and rape.

Judge Rackemann said on the third day of a District Court jury trial that Ellis changed his plea to guilty to burglary and two counts of indecent treatment of a child aged under 12 years after the Crown’s overwhelming case against Ellis became even stronger

Ellis, the court was told, broke into the girl’s home and removed the toddler’s pyjama pants before sexually assaulting her and taking indecent photographs of her.

The young girl’s parents, who had earlier in the day celebrated their son’s birthday, awoke to find a naked Ellis walking from their daughter’s bedroom.

The parents noticed their daughter was awake, huddled on her bed and that her pyjama pants had been removed, but she was still wearing her Dora the Explorer top.

The girl’s mother testified she was awoken by her daughter’s muffled cries and found the toddler with “her knees up to her chest and she was crying.”

The toddler’s father testified: “I tackled him to the ground in our hallway. I was going to do whatever it took to stop him getting away.”

In the 13 months since the trial, Ellis has been refused an application to change his guilty plea and sacked several sets of lawyers.

Judge Rackemann today gave Ellis several opportunities to make submissions on sentence, but was forced to order the pedophile’s removal from the court on several occasions as his behaviour deteriorated into often unintelligible rants and threats.

Source: News

The Brisbane District Court was told Craig Anthony Ellis broke into the family’s Aspley home on Brisbane’s northside and sexually assaulted the three-year-old girl on January 21, 2009.

Ellis, then aged 29, tried to flee when the girl’s parents were awoken by their daughter’s muffled cries – resulting in the toddler’s father crash-tackling the naked intruder while the mother struck the pedophile with an ornamental samurai sword.Judge Michael Rackemann said Ellis’ behaviour and abuse of the girl was “very disturbing” and warranted an eight-year term. During today’s hearing, Ellis threatened to kill the judge, the prosecutor, his child victim and her mother.

However, the judge said because Ellis had already been behind bars on remand for two years and nine months, a sentence of five years and three-months was appropriate under the circumstances.

Ellis will be eligible for release on parole on January 21, 2013 – after having spent a total of four years in jail – but it would up to parole authorities to consider if he would be suitable for release at that time.

Judge Rackemann also ordered a transcript of today’s hearing, complete with Ellis’s explicit menacing threats, be referred to Queensland’s Director of Public Prosecutions Tony Moynihan, SC, to consider whether Ellis should face further criminal charges.

Ellis, who was placed in the purpose-built enclosed glass dock of Court 7 due to previous court outbursts, unleashed a tirade of expletive-riddled abuse shortly after proceedings started after 10am.

At various times Ellis threatened prosecutor Vicki Loury, before then turning on Judge Rackemann and then the victim’s family – telling them “you’re going to end up dead.”

Ellis even went so far to call various people either “corrupt”, a “whore”, “pedophiles’ or “a sick piece of s***t” before describing himself as “the f***ing victim.”

In September last year Ellis, then aged 31, pleaded not guilty to charges of burglary and rape.

Judge Rackemann said on the third day of a District Court jury trial that Ellis changed his plea to guilty to burglary and two counts of indecent treatment of a child aged under 12 years after the Crown’s overwhelming case against Ellis became even stronger.

Ellis, the court was told, broke into the girl’s home and removed the toddler’s pyjama pants before sexually assaulting her and taking indecent photographs of her.

The young girl’s parents, who had earlier in the day celebrated their son’s birthday, awoke to find a naked Ellis walking from their daughter’s bedroom.

The parents noticed their daughter was awake, huddled on her bed and that her pyjama pants had been removed, but she was still wearing her Dora the Explorer top.

The girl’s mother testified she was awoken by her daughter’s muffled cries and found the toddler with “her knees up to her chest and she was crying.”

The toddler’s father testified: “I tackled him to the ground in our hallway. I was going to do whatever it took to stop him getting away.”

In the 13 months since the trial, Ellis has been refused an application to change his guilty plea and sacked several sets of lawyers.

Judge Rackemann today gave Ellis several opportunities to make submissions on sentence, but was forced to order the pedophile’s removal from the court on several occasions as his behaviour deteriorated into often unintelligible rants and threats.

Source: Adelaide Now

A total of 67 individuals living in transitional housing at Wacol will be fitted with the new devices.

The introduction of GPS trackers followed a community campaign in which more than 10,000 Queenslanders signed a Courier-Mail petition calling for the State Government to roll out the technology as soon as possible.Corrective Services Minister Neil Roberts announced the State Government would spend $13.7 million over four years to introduce the new GPS systems.

The Courier-Mail revealed in May there were 152 breaches of monitoring conditions by 53 pedophiles released from custody, including one who tried to abduct a boy from a skate park.

It also revealed electronic monitoring under-performed when it came to supervising sex offenders and their physical movements away from home or after hours.

Mr Roberts said the GPS technology would enhance existing radio-based monitoring systems but would not replace the vigilance of staff in the field.

Abakus Elmotech won the contract to supply the trackers earlier this month, following a successful trial of the devices by 30 staff from the Department of Corrective Services in August.

Tagged volunteers went to the beach, the gym, up mountain ranges and through tunnels as part of the week-long trial of the technology.

Under the scheme, a total of 67 “high-risk” offenders convicted under the Dangerous Prisoners (Sexual Offenders) Act will be fitted-out with GPS trackers.

One will be serial pedophile Raymond Yeo, 66, who was released in July, and has a criminal history dating back to when he was 13.

Douglas Brian Jackway, 32, who was jailed for raping a nine-year-old girl in 1995 and is due to be released from the Brisbane Correctional Centre at Wacol in February, is also expected to be fitted with a GPS tracker upon his release into transitional accommodation.

Mr Roberts said he expected all 67 serious sex offenders would be fitted with the GPS trackers by early 2012.

“All sex offenders fitted with GPS will be tracked on a 24/7 basis, with a specialist surveillance team working around the clock to monitor their movements,” he said.

Several high-profile Queenslanders, such as Olympian Susie O’Neill, hairdressing icon Stefan Ackerie, rugby league legend Darren Lockyer and child rape victim Sharon Tomlinson, added weight to The Courier-Mail campaign.

Source: Courier Mail

City Police cyber crime division head Sr. Comr. Winston Tommy said on Monday the suspect was in custody after Australian authorities agreed to extradition.

“We have him here in Indonesia. The man is now being detained by the police’s crime division detention center,” he said, as quoted by kompas.com.The suspect was a principal at an international junior high school in Jakarta when he allegedly molested three children identified as A.A., M.A., and H.E. The suspect allegedly told his victims not to tell anyone and gave them lunch money in return.

The three victims filed reports with the City Police in 2007. The Attorney General’s Office finalized its prosecution in January 2010 and sent an extradition request to the Australian government in September 2010.

Police accused P.D.W. of violating the 2001 Child Protection Law and an article in the Criminal Code against the abuse of minors.

Winston denied allegations that the extradition of P.D.W. was related to the release of M.S.N., a 14-year-old Australian in Bali Police custody for illegal drug use.

Source: The Jakarta Post

The report – the latest in a series of scathing exposes of the state’s child protection system – also reveals that cases have been prematurely closed with insufficient assurances that the children involved were safe.

Acting Ombudsman John Taylor found 59 cases that should be reconsidered, and expressed dismay at being ”compelled” to again report on the failure of the Department of Human Services to ensure the safety of children.”A practice has developed where the drive to meet numerical targets has overshadowed the interest of children,” Mr Taylor found in his report into the Loddon Mallee region, in Victoria’s north-west.

The report follows last week’s finding on a toddler who was fatally bashed at her father’s house in St Arnaud in 2009. Coroner John Olle cited the department and police for ”serious deficiencies” in investigations.

The Ombudsman found:

■The failure to investigate 59 child protection reports was an intentional policy decision in Loddon Mallee to cut investigations. The number of investigations in 2010-11 was more than 25 per cent down on the year before, despite more reports.

■Investigation witnesses had described concerted efforts to close a large number of cases, to reduce the number of children on waiting lists. Ninety cases were closed on June 28 alone.

■The misrepresentation of data, with 14 cases remaining allocated to a protection worker who was on extended leave.

The report, triggered by a whistleblower’s tip-off in June, slammed the department for superficial assessments and ”minimum possible intervention” to reduce the number of children not allocated a protection worker. ”This could be seen as an exercise in keeping the numbers down, to the detriment of the children involved,” the Ombudsman wrote.

He acknowledged that managers in the region denied the report’s allegations but said the evidence ”speaks for itself”.

The department head and Loddon Mallee managers ”strongly disagreed” that case allocation was about numerical targets and manipulating data.
”The staff and managers within my region work tirelessly and with dedication to protect vulnerable children,” one manager was quoted saying. ”I fundamentally deny the existence of a culture of compromising child safety and well-being.”

Mr Taylor also criticised the handling of an infant whose death will not be reported in annual statistics despite the department referring the mother, while she was pregnant, to a welfare organisation.

The infant was found in ”appalling circumstances”, with the report showing a police photo of the bed where the baby died surrounded by soiled nappies, cigarette butts and chicken bones. ”Even after police reported these conditions to the department, no action was taken until I referred the matter to the [department] secretary,” the Ombudsman reported.

Other cases that were not investigated included reports of parents assaulting each other while holding young children, severe drug use by parents and children telling teachers they had been physically assaulted.

The report made six recommendations – all accepted by the Baillieu government – including that the department monitor and report the number of cases that have not been investigated.

Community Services Minister Mary Wooldridge said the child protection system was being overhauled, and that staff should focus on children’s best interests. No disciplinary action would result from the report.

Opposition child protection spokesman Luke Donnellan said the Ms Wooldridge needed to explain how what was described in the report had occurred on her watch. Child Safety Commissioner Bernie Geary said the report should be used to enhance the system.

Mildura-based Mallee Family Care said the report showed that in some ways child protection problems were intractable.
”Almost without fail, every report has identified our ability to fail to detect the numbers of children at risk. What we need … is responses that make sure that the kids at risk do not become the next group of damaging parents,” chief executive Vernon Knight said.

Source: The Age