Counter Pedophilia Investigate Unit

Prosecutors attack bid by ex-Penn State assistant coach to have his case dismissed.

Judge John M. Cleland pushed back Jerry Sandusky’s trial date three weeks to June 5, as prosecutors filed papers Thursday contesting the former Penn State assistant coach’s bid to have his case dismissed. (more…)

Opening statements are scheduled for Monday in Philadelphia in the first case in which an official of a Roman Catholic archdiocese has been accused of protecting abusive priests by moving them from parish to parish.

Monsignor William Lynn has pleaded not guilty to conspiracy and endangering the welfare of a child. Lynn served as the vicar of clergy in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia from 1992 to 2004, a position in which he was responsible for investigating reports that priests had sexually abused children. (more…)

Paedophiles are hiding images of child sex abuse on websites that look like ordinary web shops, reveals a report.

The tactic is being used more and more often, said the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) in its annual report.

Outwardly the sites look legitimate, but abusers can reach the images via a route that takes them to a specific section of the site, said the IWF.

(more…)

A former Sydney police officer who sexually abused young girls will spend up to 10 years in jail. Gregory Urch was charged in 2010 after an investigation by the New South Wales Professional Standards Command.

He pleaded guilty to six counts of sex abuse involving two girls in the 1990s. His youngest victim was eight. (more…)

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. – Penn State is offering free child-abuse counselling services to the alleged victims of former university assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky.

The university Wednesday described the arrangement with Praesidium Inc., an abuse risk management company, as a way to fulfil a commitment made by school officials after Sandusky was charged in November. (more…)

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa – An improving economy may be to thank for a reduction in child abuse last year, according to the Department of Human Services.

“We’re real confident that’s one of the major factors,” said DHS spokesman Roger Munns. Economic conditions are a leading cause of family stress, which can lead to abuse or neglect. (more…)

The Vatican has called for the training of priests in Ireland to be overhauled and for child protection practices to be reformed in a report on sexual abuse by clerics.

Details were published on Tuesday by the Catholic Church in Ireland, which is struggling amid a decline in public support, financial pressures and tensions with the Dublin government over how it has mishandled sex abuse inquiries. (more…)

Authorities from Italy to the United States arrested 10 people Thursday for allegedly capturing, viewing and disseminating images through an expansive international online pedophile network.

In addition to those 10 taken into custody in Italy, the United States, France and Portugal, 112 have been reported to law enforcement in those and other countries for “association with crime organizations (that were) producing and distributing pedophile material,” the prosecutor’s office in Florence, Italy, said in a news release. (more…)

“Happily Divorced” star Fran Drescher’s commentary is typically heavy on humor, but her recent visit to the Sirius XM radio show “Sway In The Morning” took a serious turn when she opened up about being raped at gunpoint by a black man.

Drescher’s revelation came in response to a caller who described being molested as a child by his mother’s husband, an experience that he cautioned could have stemmed from his abuser’s sexual orientation. (more…)

Sergeant John Skilling, who ran Gloucestershire force’s schools unit, found in garage after carbon monoxide poisoning

A former police sergeant who ran his force’s schools unit killed himself after detectives found images and stories containing child abuse at his home, an inquest has heard.

Sergeant John Skilling, who resigned from the police following the discovery of the photographs, films and stories on his personal computers, had admitted downloading the material and faced prosecution. (more…)