Sunday, November 25, 2007

Listen to the voice of my cry, my King, and my God; for to you I will pray.































































































Government Dependency And The Sacrifice Of Torah Ideals



By:Sara Lehmann

I recently called a friend in Israel and we exchanged news about our families. My friend’s nineteen-year-old daughter is currently involved in shidduchim and is looking exclusively for a husband who will be a full-time learner. My friend’s description of the process provided revealing insights into the Israeli counterpart of a world I know well in chutz l’aretz.
Her daughter’s wish to marry someone who does not plan on working is quite the ordre du jour these days. But in light of current and past circumstances in Israel and their effects on the Jewish people as a whole, it seems to me that this wish involves ramifications that should transcend a personal choice.
My friend’s daughter never lacked for anything and seems quite unprepared to live a life of Torah under privation, despite her protests to the contrary. Her parents plan to pick up the tab, as many parents in such a situation do. So many of these girls’ idealistic pursuits are buttressed by the pocketbooks of those who enable them.
But there are limits, especially with younger siblings in the household. My friend’s daughter will not even consider someone who may have a long-term plan to support his family, and my friend’s dismay at this extreme attitude is not unlike that of many other families in Israel and in America. I have attended countless shidduch meetings in New York where mothers bemoan this stance their children have adopted yet seem powerless to do anything about it.
Of course Torah is the bedrock of Judaism, and of course Torah learning is what sustains this foundation. Without it we Jews would simply not survive as Jews, as evidenced by those who have thrown off the yoke of Torah and vanished through assimilation.
And yes, the concept of koveiah itim, setting aside time for Torah learning, is obligatory on all Jewish men. It is imperative that we have among us those who devote their lives to such a course so that we have talmidei chachamim to serve as rabbanim, dayanim and mechanchim in our communities.
Torah scholars are not mass produced, however, and not everyone has the potential to become one. The single-minded drive to pursue a kollel life at almost all cost is a relatively new phenomenon. One does not need to go back to the days of the Tannaim to ascertain how the greatest of our sages worked for a living. My mother grew up in a rabbinic (chassidic) home in Transylvania during World War II and clearly remembers the role of the father as the breadwinner of every household. She recalls how shameful it was for a husband to have to rely on his wife’s earnings.
My friend in Israel attributes much of her daughter’s leanings to her teachers. She told me that teachers in her daughter’s school in Petach Tikvah will not even use the word “work” when referring to an eligible young man’s plans for the future. They have come up with a euphemism to replace the dirty word, and they admonish their students not to even consider dating someone who plans “la tzeit” – “to go out.”
I wonder if these young men recognize the irony of their having achieved a similar status to that of the ideal bat Yisrael, who is extolled by King David for not going out (“kol kevodah bat melech pnimah– Tehillim 45).
Opting for such a lifestyle places an enormous burden on the wife. She usually becomes the sole earner of the family and no longer serves as the akeret habayit to her children at home. Invaluable opportunities to teach children basic lessons in manners and rules of social interaction based on Torah values are frequently squandered without the proper mentors.
While no one denies our obligation to support talmidei chachamim in kollel, a carte blanche invitation to all has engendered dependency as a matter of course.
In Israel the situation is particularly acute. Unlike my friend, many parents are not in a position to support their children. The stipends of the typical kollel do not go a long way, nor does whatever government assistance is available. Further, restrictions on attending college have limited the options of those who are forced to reconsider a kollel life and provide sustenance for their family.
And then there’s the larger picture: It is by no means a stretch to make the connection between the poverty afflicting this sector and ill-fated Israeli government decisions. Many of these citizens have grown accustomed to handouts in some form or another, and there is no shortage of willing politicians eager to fill the demand at any cost.
No wonder the Torah insists that the judges of Israel be independently wealthy (as were many of the leaders) and thus impervious to bribes. Needy leaders who represent needy followers are easy bait for corruption and coercion. And the leaders of political parties in Israel that represent the vast majority of this segment of society have supported policies whose consequences have been horrendous for their fellow Jews.
Shas’s endorsement of Oslo enabled the accords to pass in the Knesset – a debacle that spiraled downward into tragic consequences. How can a party steeped in Torah knowledge have agreed to give up parts of the land Hashem promised His children?
Even if one were to excuse Shas’s judgment as a mixture of naivete and a deep desire for peace, how can one forgive subsequent decisions? After thousands of Jews were slaughtered and maimed as a result of Oslo, how can Shas now sit in the government of Prime Minister Olmert, who reportedly plans to give the Palestinian Authority a state in Judea, Samaria, Gaza and much of Jerusalem?
How did UTJ (United Torah Judaism-Agudah) justify joining the government coalition that approved the Gaza Disengagement? For that matter, why were so many of their American counterparts silent at the time? If ever a time of pikuach nefesh warranted action, that was it.
And what can one make of the endorsement of Shimon Peres for Israel’s presidency by Rav Ovadia Yosef, spiritual leader of Shas? Peres, who has made a career of castigating the Jewish religion at every opportunity, won approbation from the likes of Rabbi Menachem Porush of Agudah and won the presidency through the enabling of Shas.
The moral compass of a state that should be directed by Judaic values is increasingly off-kilter. The religious right could have been at the forefront of combating this sickness and taking stands that would have made for a tremendous kiddush Hashem. As attested by their success at halting the gay parade last summer in Jerusalem, the potential strength of Torah Jewry should not be undervalued. Just imagine the results that could be achieved if dedication to Torah study were linked with Torah action in the political realm.
The personal dilemma my friend in Israel is grappling with has national consequences. Her daughter’s decision to subscribe to a system of living that does not promote working impacts more Jews than just those who adhere to it. The rumblings against Israeli government cutbacks that affect kollel families underscore just how intertwined the lives of those families have become with government largess – and highlight the necessity of financial independence in order to avoid conflicts of interest and outright corruption.
The Annapolis conference looms ahead and forebodes disaster. To relinquish any part of Eretz Yisrael – especially Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria – is to relinquish the heartland of the Jewish people and create an immediate and irrevocable threat to Jewish lives. At this juncture we cannot afford to witness more tacit support in or out of the Knesset for such perfidy.

Where are the rabbinical leaders in Israel and America who will stand up and make a Kiddush Hashem worthy of the imprimatur of Torah scholarship?

Sara Lehmann, formerly an editor at Bantam Doubleday Dell, is currently a mother and freelance editor residing in Brooklyn.

http://www.jewishpress.com/displayContent_new.cfm?mode=a&contentid=26129&%20contentName=Government%20Dependency%20And%20The%20Sacrifice%20Of%20Torah%20Ideals

==========================================================


http://www.stuff.co.nz/4286947a10.html


Saturday, 24 November 2007

School covered up sex abuse claims

A Manawatu school investigating a sexual abuse complaint against its principal appears to have attempted to cover up accusations made by a second boy involved.

Child, Youth and Family (CYF) has confirmed Hato Paora College's Board of Trustees reported allegations against Tihirau Shepherd from only one boy, in a letter dated July 30.

CYF had no knowledge of the second alleged victim until its own investigation uncovered his identity, more than a week later.

But on July 31, a Hato Paora staff member sent an email to the Manawatu Standard asserting the deputy principal was investigating complaints from two boys who had come forward at least a week earlier.

Shepherd was stood down as a result.

Education Minister Chris Carter is on record as saying the allegations were raised on July 23.

The staff member has since confirmed senior school management interviewed both boys individually, without a counsellor or their parents present, well before the letter to CYF was sent.

Their names were reportedly called out over the school intercom, effectively identifying them among their peers.

Both were then sent home.

In a written response to questions levelled at the school, Hato Paora spokeswoman Debi Marshall-Lobb said the board would not "discuss the confidential and in committee processes" of its investigation.

She did not deny any of the allegations raised.

The Ministry of Education refused to comment as to whether they were aware a second boy had laid allegations with the school, saying the case was before the courts.

The revelations are particularly damning for Mr Carter, who has repeatedly backed the school's protocols and emphasised in Parliament that its internal investigation was "transparent and thorough".

"New evidence - not available to the board at the time - was brought forward in October, and that enabled the police to reach a different conclusion," he said this week.

A CYF spokesperson said it took two months to locate and formally interview the second boy, as his family were initially wary of counsellors' efforts to speak with him.

The interview finally took place on October 15, nearly three months after the allegations were first raised at the school.

The spokesperson said the board also delayed the investigation by posting the letter, which outlined the allegations, to the CYF office in the first boy's home town.

It took two days to arrive, and only then could the rural branch alert the Palmerston North office to the issue.

Police formally became involved on Friday, August 3, though the Standard asked both police and the ministry about the allegations earlier that week.

Neither said they knew about the school's internal investigation when contacted.

Inter-agency protocols signed in 1996 by Police, CYF and the ministry offer guidelines to schools on how to handle sex abuse allegations made against staff.

These include alerting either police or CYF as early as possible.

Hato Paora sat on the allegations for at least nine days before its official notification reached the appropriate authorities.

During this time, the school's internal inquiry cleared Shepherd of any wrong-doing, only for police to arrest and charge him on six sex offences - dating back to 1990 - three months later.

Three further historic charges have since been laid.

WHAT THE MINISTER SAID
In Chris Carter's parliamentary words...

Nov 14 - [To National's Katherine Rich] "Frankly, I think it is a disgrace that a member of Parliament would attempt to get a cheap political headline out of these serious sexual abuse allegations.

"The ministry took every appropriate step it needed to in this situation to ensure that the students were safe, and to give the board of trustees as much support as possible."

Nov 20 - "I repeat that the board could not have made any other decision, based on the allegations that it had before it.

"New evidence not available to the board at that time was brought forward in October, and that enabled the police to reach a different conclusion.''

Nov 21 - "The ministry checks that boards have those protocols in place.At Hato Paora College they were checked and they were in place.

"The board did all the right things that it was supposed to do.''Nov 22 "I remind this House that a protocol has been in place since 1996, and the school followed it in a speedy and appropriate way. At all times the interests of the students have been paramount.''

OUR QUESTIONS FENDED OFF
Questions to the Ministry

* Has the Ministry of Education at any time before today been aware that Hato Paora College reported allegations of sexual abuse to CYF from only one of the boys who laid complaints?
* Is the ministry aware a second boy who came forward was sent home by the school and CYF only uncovered him as a result of its own investigation?
* If the ministry has not been informed by any means of these actions, will it officially investigate whether the school attempted to influence the Police and CYF inquiries by not disclosing all the information at its disposal?

The ministry answered:

* "The questions you have raised involve one of the complainants in a trial currently before the court. Accordingly the Ministry of Education cannot respond."

Questions to Hato Paora College

* Why did the school only report allegations of sexual abuse against Tihirau Shepherd from one boy to CYF, when two complainants came forward?
* Did the school or anyone associated with the school speak with the family of the boy, whose allegations were not reported, before CYF found him through their own investigations?
* On what day in July was the first complaint laid against Mr Shepherd?
* How was it laid?
* How soon after that complaint was Mr Shepherd stood down as per protocol?
* Who was present with the two complainants when the school taped formal interviews with them as part of the internal inquiry, and when did that take place?
* Who represented the school in the interviews?

Hato Paora answered:

* "The Board of Trustees and Trust Board of Hato Paora College view the complaints/investigation process as a confidential one, and any such investigations are 'in committee' and are therefore 'in confidence'.
* "We will not discuss the confidential and in committee processes of the Board in the public media because that is likely to breach the privacy of individuals and present evidence which may be relevant to a criminal trial.

* "There is no intention to cover up any aspect of the process, which will be reviewed in due course by the Board or an independent person."

THE STORY SO FAR
July 23:
* Allegations of sexual abuse laid with Hato Paora College against principal Tihirau Shepherd [according to Education Minister Chris Carter].

July 30:
* School Board of Trustees sends letter outlining allegations of one complainant to CYF by post

July 31:
* Manawatu Standard receives email from staff member detailing concerns.

August 1:
* Rural CYF branch receives letter, logs notification for Palmerston North office.

The Standard makes inquiries with police and Ministry of Education.

August 3:
* CYF involves police
* Hato Paora inform Ministry

August 7:
* CYF interviews first youth, investigation leads to identifying second youth.

October 15:
* CYF formally interviews second youth.

November 7:
* Police arrest and charge Shepherd with six sex offences

November 20:
* Three further historic charges laid.

====================================================================

http://www.boston.com/news/local/vermont/articles/2007/11/23/clergy_abuse_suit_back_on_vt_docket/

Clergy abuse suit back on Vt. docket

Mistrial halted case vs. diocese

BURLINGTON, Vt. - A man suing the Roman Catholic Diocese of Burlington over alleged sexual abuse by a priest returns to court Monday, five months after a judge abruptly declared a mistrial in his case.

The civil suit brought by James Turner, 46, a former Derby man who now resides in Virginia Beach, Va., will be tried again in Chittenden County Superior Court. It still will involve the same lawyers, some of the same witnesses, and the same issue - but with a new judge presiding.

Opening statements to the 10-woman, four-man jury, including two alternates, are set for next week.

"We look forward to bringing this case in front of the jury, and taking it through to completion," said Turner's lawyer, Jerome O'Neill.

The diocese and its lawyers did not comment.

The statewide diocese, which represents about 118,000 Roman Catholics in Vermont, has about 25 lawsuits pending that allege sexual abuse by priests. It has paid out more than $1 million in settlements in other cases, but Turner's was the first to go to trial.

Turner says that Alfred Willis, who was then a priest, performed a sex act on him in a Latham, N.Y., hotel room after attending a June 1977 ordination for Turner's brother. Turner, who was 16 at the time, did not sue the diocese until 2004 - more than 26 years later.

Willis, who denies the allegations, settled out of court with Turner and was removed from the case against the diocese that alleges church officials are liable for his behavior.

The church contends that it had no prior knowledge of sexual misconduct with minors by Willis and cannot be held liable in the case.

The first trial ended unexpectedly June 25 when Judge Ben Joseph ruled that David Cleary, a lawyer for the diocese, had overstepped the limits of a pretrial order restricting what could be asked of Turner about an alleged sexual relationship between Turner's brother and Willis.

Joseph later ordered the diocese to pay Turner's legal fees and expenses - more than $112,000 - for causing the mistrial. And, in an Oct. 5 order, Joseph imposed the trial costs on the diocese, saying the mistrial delayed the progress of other sex abuse claims against the diocese and gave the church an advantage in preparing for the retrial.

=======================================================================

http://news.cincypost.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071123/NEWS02/711230357


Diocese sex abuse payments approved

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- The final payments are going out to victims of sexual abuse in the $85 million class-action settlement with the Roman Catholic Diocese of Covington.

Each of the more than 350 victims in the case will receive 100 percent of what two special masters determined they should get.

While the money helps, it doesn't heal old wounds caused by sexual abuse and doesn't absolve the church from its responsibility to victims, say two abuse victims who now work as advocates for others.

"Sadly, settlement alone does not equal recovery," said Barbara Dorris of St. Louis, who works as outreach coordinator for the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests.

The settlement is between the Covington Diocese and more than 350 people abused by priests and diocese employees since the 1950s in 57 counties across a large swath of Kentucky.

It calls for victims to receive from $5,000 to $1 million based on the severity and duration of the abuse they suffered. Some money has also been set aside to pay for counseling for abuse victims.

The settlement master in the case approved the final payments last week, said attorney Stan Chesley, who represents the victims in the case. The payments should be in the hands of the plaintiffs by the end of the month, Chesley said.

David Clohessy, national director of SNAP, said the payments do compensate victims, but are also a business decision by the church to "prevent embarrassing trials." Without the lawsuit, it is unlikely the church would have acknowledged or compensated the victims, Clohessy said.

"Few, if any, of these brave victims would have achieved a scintilla of closure and justice had they not found the courage to speak up and the wisdom to get legal help," Clohessy said.

Clohessy and Dorris said victims should continue to come forward and report priests and church officials who have sexually abused them in the past and the church should deal with those people.

"The bishop's responsibility doesn't end here," Clohessy said.

Calls and e-mails sent to a Diocese of Covington spokesman and an attorney on Tuesday and Wednesday were not returned.

The Covington diocese now spans 14 counties and has 89,000 parishioners. The lawsuit also covers some Kentucky counties that were part of the diocese until 1988, when a new diocese in Lexington formed.


=======================================================================

http://www.argusobserver.com/articles/2007/11/23/news/us/doc47472b60ca1d9642777655.txt


Sunday NOVEMBER 25, 2007 Last modified: Friday, November 23, 2007 11:38 AM PST


$50 million sex-abuse settlement with Alaska Natives

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — A Roman Catholic religious order has agreed to pay $50 million to more than 100 Alaska Natives who allege sexual abuse by Jesuit priests, a lawyer for the accusers said Sunday.

The settlement with the Oregon Province of the Society of Jesus is the largest one yet against a Catholic religious order, said Anchorage lawyer Ken Roosa, who called it ‘‘a great day’’ for the 110 victims.

‘‘These are people who were altar boys and altar servers and altar girls,’’ Roosa said. ‘‘These are people who tried to tell their story and in many instances were beaten or told to shut up and told, ’How can you say such things about a man of God?’’’

The settlement does not require the order to admit fault, Roosa said. None of the priests were ever criminally charged.

The settlement announcement is premature because some issues need to be finalized, said the Very Rev. John Whitney, provincial superior of the Society of Jesus, Oregon Province, which covers Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana and Alaska.

‘‘When those issues are resolved we will be available for a more complete discussion of the matter,’’ Whitney said in a prepared statement. He described the settlement announcement as ‘‘premature and detrimental.’’

Roosa said issues involving the plaintiffs had been resolved.

Roosa provided The Associated Press with an e-mail sent Friday from Dick Hansen, the lawyer representing the religious order. In the e-mail, Hansen says he’s glad to ‘‘put this matter to rest.’’ Hansen did not immediately return a call from the AP seeking comment.

The sexual abuse allegations involved 13 or 14 clerics and spanned nearly 30 years, from 1961 to 1987, Roosa said. The children’s ages ranged from 5 years to teenage.

‘‘Despite all this, no Catholic religious leader has yet to admit that problem priests were dumped in Alaska. For our clients, this settlement represents a long overdue acknowledgment of the truth of their stories of abuse, stories that until today were largely denied and belittled by apologists for the abusers,’’ Roosa said.

The Catholic Church first was notified of the Alaska cases of abuse in 2002.Those 135 lawsuits have been reduced to 10. Those cases are expected to be mediated in December.

======================================================================

http://www.independent.ie/unsorted/features/with-online-child-porn-the-abuse-lasts-forever-1229501.html

Independent.ie

With online child porn, the abuse lasts forever

By Medb Ruane
Saturday November 24 2007

The actor Chris Langham gently stooped to feed his hens this week, watched by Sky News cameras and a rather quiet Anna Botting. Poor Chris, nurturing his chicks, staging the performance of his life as a man brought down by misunderstanding after he'd downloaded child porn in the interest of "research".

Chris spoke to Botting about his personal suffering, caused by a trial on 27 charges, including indecent assault, buggery of a female minor and 15 child porn downloads. The BAFTA-award winning star of The Thick of It and Help was acquitted of assault and buggery but spent months in prison, for downloading images, where people were very mean to him. Now a free man, his reputation was in ruins, he was broke and he wanted to set the record straight.

"There is an assumption that if you look at images like this, therefore you must have a sexual interest in children and it's an odd logic because one of the reasons was I wanted to write about it," Langham told Botting, insisting he was not a paedophile. What he did was wrong, but not motivated by sexual prurience, he claimed.

Langham fleshed out his self-portrait, as an artist and intellectual dedicated to higher purposes than ordinary mortals, with details of the abuse he'd allegedly suffered as a child and how it had been filmed. He was dangerously persuasive.

Calling ordinary thinking "odd logic" is fairly typical of child abusers and porn users encountering hostile laws. There's always a rationale, as the plethora of explanations after Operation Amethyst shows.

In Galway this week, Judge Raymond Groark named downloading child porn as a "most heinous crime" when he sentenced former Garda Jarlath Heverin for a similar offence. Heverin's rationale was also of the man-with-a-higher-purpose kind, claiming that he wanted to infect child porn sites with viruses and take them out. That was technically unlikely.

So why would you look at child porn other than for kicks? Actual kicks because you get off on seeing children assaulted / abused / corrupted/ sexualised, or the hope of kicks on the reasoning that if so many are downloading porn images, there must be something worthwhile.

The harsh facts are that internet child porn is the fastest-growing porn market in decades and, because it is, societies need to be very clear about where lines must be drawn and why. If not, the real risk is that viewing child porn may be presented as a lifestyle choice, one of 57 varieties for people who are a bit jaded with the usual porn on offer.

Child porn and child sexual abuse have long been presented as a lifestyle choice by the minority who get off on them, and see no reason why society should put obstacles in their way. It's always been around -- and condemned -- but it's become more openly regarded as "heinous", to borrow from Judge Groarke, the more society raises the status of the child and recognises its wholly damaging lifelong effects.

If you read Sophia's Story, written by Sophia McColgan with Susan McKay, you're left in no doubt about the consequences of sexual abuse and the break in faith with humanity it represents. Big hurts ruin you for years when you're a child -- sometimes forever, as the stories of clerical sex abuse victims so unequivocally testify.

Is there room for ambivalence when an act of child sex abuse is downloaded to be witnessed, rather than done in person? Does distance make it more acceptable?

Users and abusers justify their actions in all sorts of ways -- the aesthetic appeal of a child, the claim to be introducing the child to sexual pleasure, or whatever version of doing the child a favour they perversely fancy. But the bottom line is that a child is abused and objectified, and the effects will endure long after the viewing session ends.

Ian O'Donnell and Claire Milner's book Crime Computers and Society, also published this week, points to how laws lag behind this new crime, even though the legislation is only nine years old. Although Gardai found more than 200 suspects in Ireland in a (brief) four-year period, the Director of Public Prosecutions directed no prosecution be taken in over a third, due to lack of evidence that could stand up in court.

They also point out the radical difference of internet child porn from so-called traditional fare. Digital images last forever, potentially, so the victim is abused in virtual time again and again. It is never over. The suffering never stops.

Whether a viewer is turned on by children or so tuned out ethically they indulge their sexual curiosity, the market grows. The more it does, the bigger the opportunity of turning greater numbers of children into objects whose distress can be justified commercially. And the more likely that people with no special interest in child sex will see it as an opportunity to make money, like any other entrepreneur.

Most viewers aren't paedophiles: they can have sexual relations with adults, unlike outright perverts.

That's the really worrying aspect of internet child porn -- sheer curiosity can create an appetite in the most "normal" folk.

- Medb Ruane

========================================================================

http://wjz.com/local/Michael.Salerno.St.2.595088.html


St. Leo's Has First Week Without Accused Priest

BALTIMORE (WJZ) ―

It is the first week without their priest for parishioners at a Catholic church in Little Italy. Reverend Michael Salerno has been removed from his post after allegations of child sex abuse going back more than 30 years. Some members at St. Leo's Church tell Tim Williams it will not be the same.

Parishioners walking to Saint Leo's Catholic Church passed signs of support for Father Michael Salerno.

A member of St. Leo's Catholic Church hands out window signs door to door in Little Italy. They say "We Support Father Mike" and, in Italian, "Come Back Soon."

"A bunch of us thought we have to support this man somehow. I mean, he has been so supportive of everyone down here. For good or for bad," said parishioner Givanna Blattermann.

Father Mike Salerno, age 61, has been accused of sexual child abuse by a man who says it took place in Brooklyn, New York, in the 70s. The accuser says he was a young teen then and Salerno was a lay brother, not yet a priest.

This is the first Sunday since Father Mike's removal.

Father Salerno is a member of the Pallatine Fathers.

In a statement, they say he agreed to cooperate fully with their procedures on investigating allegations of child sex abuse and agreed to get counseling.

"We all love him and it happened, what, over 30 years ago. I'm sure he's paid for his sins if he's guilty. Let's get on with it. Really, he's done so much for St. Leo's. He's brought more people into the church," said Anne Rinaldi.

Father Mike had a high profile in Little Italy, promoting events in the community and the church. A victim of priest abuse says a single allegation must be well investigated, but a victim coming forward long after abuse isn't unusual.

SOT FRANCIS BACON SURVIVORS OF PRIEST ABUSE 1626 6
"Because the same we carry, we think it's our fault. We think we're the only ones and think we're going to be chastised for it," said Francis Bacon.

At church on Sunday, parishioners were told why Father Mike had not been at St. Leo's all week and the order of priests asked other possible victims to come forward.

No criminal charges have been brought in the case and experts say New York's statute of limitations would prevent it.

No word on how long the diocese investigation will take.

=====================================================================

http://www.hindu.com/2007/11/20/stories/2007112051090200.htm

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Empowering the community against child sexual abuse

Staff Reporter

Community urged to unite to fight the menace

“Much of the violence against children was due to ignorance”


CHENNAI: Elements of street theatre and mime were woven together by members of the Karunalaya Social Service Society to convey the violence of child sexual abuse here on Sunday.

Distraught children and parents are often shrugged aside by an insensitive police force, leading to denial of justice, according to ‘Creative Expressions’ – the show aimed at empowering the community against child sexual abuse.

N. Paul Sunder Singh, director of the Karunalaya Social Service Society, recalled that a survey undertaken by the organisation in north Chennai sometime ago had revealed that about 70 per cent of children were abused by those in the immediate neighbourhood, roughly 37 per cent at their schools and about the same percentage at home. Several hundred children and their mothers from north Chennai participated in the event, held to mark the International Day for the Prevention of Child Abuse that falls on Monday.

Opinions shared

After watching the performance, in which incidents of child abuse by perpetrators across age and gender were narrated, the participants shared their opinions. Teenagers Asha, Srilekha and Shyamala told the gathering to put fear behind them when dealing with cases of child abuse. The lack of awareness among parents and children was exacerbating the problem. Members of the community, including children, must unite to fight the menace of together, they said.

Educationist S.S. Rajagopalan said much of the violence against children was due to ignorance. In this context, sex education becomes imperative. Police apathy and insensitivity and the lack of interest in formulating legislation to protect children were other reasons for child abuse going unpunished.

Children’s Code

The Children’s Code, compiling legislation for children, was drafted by a committee headed by V.R. Krishna Iyer, former judge of Supreme Court in 2000. It is yet to be taken up for discussion. Don Bosco Youth Centre Rector Sundar Raj spoke.

=====================================================================

http://www.thetimes-tribune.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=19049335&BRD=2185&PAG=461&dept_id=415898&rfi=6

11/22/2007
Diocese using insurance to pay $3 million sex-abuse settlement
BY ERIN L. NISSLEY
STAFF WRITER

The Diocese of Scranton has released new information about how it plans to pay a $3 million settlement to a man who was sexually abused by a priest and filed a federal lawsuit claiming church leaders did nothing about it.


The diocese will use money from a self-insurance fund and insurance carriers, according to spokesman Dan Gallagher.

The $3 million settlement came after three days of testimony at a trial earlier this month. The plaintiff, identified as “John Doe” in court filings, claims former priest Albert M. Liberatore Jr. sexually abused him from 1999 to 2002, beginning when the plaintiff was 14.

The suit also named the diocese, Sacred Heart, retired Bishop James C. Timlin and the Rev. Joseph R. Kopacz, the diocesan vicar of priests when the abuse occurred, for allegedly failing to heed warnings about the abuse.

When the settlement was reached, diocesan officials said the $3 million would not come from parish funds. In a statement due to be released today, the diocese says some of the money will come from a reserve fund dedicated to the payment of insurance claims. The diocese has developed the fund over the past 33 years.

The diocese must pay the first $250,000 for any liability claim, but will recover $750,000 from the National Catholic Risk Retention Group, one of its insurance carriers. The diocese believes another $2 million will be recovered from other insurance carriers. If not, the funds will come from the diocesan insurance fund reserves, according to the statement.

The victim, now 22 and living in New York, said the abuse led to his addiction to drugs and alcohol.

Mr. Liberatore, now 42, was pastor at Sacred Heart of Jesus Church in Duryea when the abuse occurred. He pleaded guilty in 2005 in Luzerne County and New York to sexually abusing the victim and was sentenced to 10 years probation and was defrocked.

Contact the writer: enissley@timesshamrock.com
=======================================================================

http://www.thejc.com/home.aspx?ParentId=m11s18&SecId=18&AId=56743&ATypeId=1

Violence at home ruins young lives

22 November 2007

By By Dana Gloger

THREE to five children in each Jewish classroom on average are exposed to domestic violence at home, a new report claims.

The survey, commissioned by Jewish Women’s Aid (JWA), follows a Metropolitan police report suggesting that similarly large numbers of children had experienced such violence in the general population. The charity wanted to find out whether the statistic also applied to Jewish children, and found that it did.

Its research was based on questionnaires given to children and on

information gathered from those using its services.

Abigail Morris, chief executive of JWA, said: “This new research gives all of us cause for concern.

“Children are, sadly, more exposed to domestic violence than we had previously thought, and Jewish children are no exception.”

This is often a hidden problem, she said, particularly within the Jewish community, which places great emphasis on family and the home.

“This means that many of the women affected feel they are the only ones and will suffer a lot more abuse before they come forward,” Ms Morris said.

“The effect on the children is awful. A common problem is that it affects their self-esteem. Often, they can’t sleep and it begins to affect their schoolwork.”

Seeing domestic violence at home also means that children do not see a positive model of a relationship, she added. Children in these situations see their parents locked in a cycle of victim and perpetrator.

“Many children also start acting like parents, trying to look after and protect their mothers.

“And it’s difficult, because they love their fathers too.”

Some of the children are also physically abused themselves.

Ms Morris added that the number of Jewish women using JWA’s services is “growing exponentially”.

“The Jewish community mirrors the wider population in this problem,” she said.

She suggested that in fact there might be a higher proportion of Jewish children affected by domestic violence than children in wider society, because some members of the Jewish community have more children than the national average.

JWA was established in 1992. It is run by and for Jewish women and their children who have experienced domestic abuse. It runs a refuge in London which houses up to eight women and their children.
========================================================================

Add Video to QuickList
google.com/videoplay?docid=-2858431796056068698...rabbi molest molestation jewish trailer movie film narrow bridge izzycomm israel moskovits assault clergy sexual abuse (more)
Time: 03:25
========================================================================

Add Video to QuickList
TV (Palestinian Authority) - 4/13/2007 MEMRI More Hamas Child Abuse. UPDATE: Hamas TV refuses to axe contested kids cartoon May 10, (more)

From: lookhearsee
Views: 82,863
Added: 6 months ago
Time: 02:04
========================================================================

Add Video to QuickList
into Israel that wants to contribute to its destruction. Moshe Feiglin's Manhigut Yehudit/Jewish Leadership website: http://jewishisrael.org Produced by http: (more)

From: TorahJudaismIsrael
Views: 105
Added: 3 days ago
Time: 08:48
======================================================================

Add Video to QuickList
August 2005 Next week 8000 Jewish settlers will be evicted from the Gush Katif settlement. Israeli journalist Nurit Kedar has spent the past eight months living with them. (more)

From: journeymanpictures
Views: 107
Added: 5 days ago
Time: 10:38
=======================================================================

Add Video to QuickList
signs of child physical, emotional, and sexual abuse as well as the after-effects on a child's life. Two websites for the support and healing of (more)

From: sketchartist
Views: 1,481
Added: 5 months ago
Time: 04:01
======================================================================

Add Video to QuickList
encouraging video for sexual abuse survivors...abuse survivor encourage heal support kelly clarkson sober angela shelton ophelia onetruemedia

From: kathyhotze
Views: 130
Added: 1 month ago
Time: 04:54
====================================================================

Add Video to QuickList
Her hardships and struggles to become a Survivor of Incest Abuse. Everybody's house wasn'ta home...incest abuse molestation molested rape raped survivor sexual

From: incestsurvivor
Views: 2,394
Added: 2 months ago
Time: 05:54
=====================================================================

Add Video to QuickList
raise awareness for child abuse. song: concrete angel by Lora Merriman. please help and join the fight againt child abuse....Child Abuse Childabuse

From: lovinbillyelliot
Views: 124,200
Added: 9 months ago
Time: 04:00
=====================================================================

Add Video to QuickList
WARNING! GRAPHIC VIDEO OF CHILD ABUSE! Eleven year old boy burned with cigarettes by DCF foster parents, beaten unmercifully by other kids in the foster home, (more)

From: freekids
Views: 40,558
Added: 1 year ago
Time: 09:40
====================================================================

Add Video to QuickList
special video to help support child abuse awareness month. Some intense photos of child abuse so please be warned....child abuse awareness sexual 2007 spanking burns

From: Angela5085
Views: 28,521
Added: 8 months ago
Time: 05:07
=======================================================================

Add Video to QuickList
Translated words of the rabbi speaking about why in today's world it is impossible to NOT believe the Torah is true. Short but beautiful words from a holy,

From: mac1105bookman
Views: 1,155
Added: 5 months ago
Time: 08:03
======================================================================

Add Video to QuickList
In 2006 followers of the greatest of modern Jewish leaders Rabbi Meir Kahane gathered in New York to commemorate the Rav, and express ways to continue his Holy path

From: kahaneloyalist
Views: 428
Added: 11 months ago
Time: 09:35

======================================================================

Add Video to QuickList
For more info jasse@dmjdigital.com www.dmjdigital.com...Creation Jewish education Children apples Rabbi Avigdor Miller creator of the universe miracles (more)

From: DavidJasse
Views: 3,263
Added: 4 months ago
Time: 01:38
=======================================================================

Add Video to QuickList
Rabbi Shmuley's Talk "Secrets of a Sinful Relationship"...Rabbi Shmuley's Talk "Secrets of a Sinful Relationship"

From: RabbiShmuley
Views: 151
Added: 1 month ago
Time: 09:29
======================================================================

Add Video to QuickList
During an interview with Ted Koppel, Rabbi Steinsaltz shares his experiences talking to children about the infinity of God....god jewish judaism kids koppel steinsaltz interview

From: shaidavis
Views: 672
Added: 8 months ago
Time: 04:00
=====================================================================

Add Video to QuickList
Jews on YT like to mock other people as paedophile. Look who's the paedophile now....islam aisha jihad child afghanistan afgan 911 muhammad pedophile terrorist sex

From: PamelaStits
Views: 3,323
Added: 6 months ago
Time: 02:41
========================================================================

Add Video to QuickList
Rabbi Meir Kahane takes a question on Religion and State Separation...Rabbi Meir Kahane JDL JTF Israel Zionism

From: judeanoncapta
Views: 222
Added: 3 weeks ago
Time: 04:59
========================================================================

Add Video to QuickList
A short inspirational idea relating to the weekly Parsha, festival or current events....Rabbi Gad Krebs Parsha Kehillat Masada
From: gadkrebs
Views: 540
Added: 4 months ago
Time: 04:03
========================================================================

Add Video to QuickList
SATMAR RABBI IN ISREAL...SATMAR RABBI ISREAL

From: 1FACT
Views: 3,843
Added: 3 months ago
Time: 05:53
=======================================================================

Add Video to QuickList
A former director of campus life at the American Hebrew Academy is accused of having sex with a student. WXII 12's Bill O'Neil has the story.

From: wxiitv
Views: 1,023
Added: 1 month ago
Time: 01:12
========================================================================

Add Video to QuickList
British Mullah Mr. Anjum Chaudri describes the "Killing of Innocent" Non-Muslims civilians in the suicide bombing as "Legitimate". http:// (more)

From: umer123khan
Views: 112,110
Added: 1 year ago
Time: 03:40
=======================================================================

Add Video to QuickList
main1893879.shtml STOP THE INCITING OF MODERATE MUSLIMS - OR SUFFER THE OUTCOME STOP RADICAL ISLAM TODAY...Terror England muslim arab bomb Hizbullah Israel Lebanon weapons Palestine (more)

From: Godadamnit
Views: 76,068
Added: 1 year ago
Time: 06:38
========================================================================

Add Video to QuickList
She spent two months researching undercover among radical Muslims in Brussels. Among her shocking findings was the revelation that younger Muslims in particular are increasingly prone to violence, (more)

From: vlcmediaplayer
Views: 130,210
Added: 11 months ago
Time: 05:00
=======================================================================

Add Video to QuickList
I'm Sick and Tired of Muslims attacking Christianity: Glenn Beck -- Downloaded From americasnewstoday.Com -- Rush Limbaugh on Radio, Bill O' (more)
From: techvids052006
Views: 42,656
Added: 1 year ago
Time: 04:34
======================================================================

Add Video to QuickList
Channel 4 Dispatches: Muslims and Free Speech. Program featuring a Debate on whether Muslims are a threat to freedom of speech in the West. Debate is follwed (more)

From: neocarvi
Views: 17,301
Added: 1 year ago
Time: 48:20
=======================================================================

Add Video to QuickList
young terror victims in Israel with a mentor who can give them the care and attention they need....onefamily Fund Terrorism Israel Terrorist Attacks Suicide Bombing Jerusalem

From: OneFamilyFundIsrael
Views: 252
Added: 3 months ago
Time: 07:22
======================================================================

Add Video to QuickList
I made this video three years ago in 2003, when we were fighting against suicide bombings and shootings and lynches. This video shows faces of two years worth (more)

From: yishaiyosef
Views: 1,017
Added: 1 year ago
Time: 03:59
=======================================================================

Add Video to QuickList
In a hospital in Tel Aviv, Israeli doctors battle to save the lives of Palestinian patients. But as the victims of suicide bombings rise, some question if (more)

From: journeymanpictures
Views: 110
Added: 3 weeks ago
Time: 21:27
======================================================================

Add Video to QuickList
his latest film, "Suicide Killers," Pierre Rehov examines the psychopathology of suicide bombers, including never before seen footage of a suicide bomber as he prepares (more)

From: citylightsmedia
Views: 8,833
Added: 1 year ago
Time: 03:56




========================================================================

Add Video to QuickList
Memorial tribute to the victims of the Dolphinarium Disco terror attack in Tel Aviv. This horrific attack devastated hundreds of lives in Israel killed 21 young people and wounding (more)

From: Ilanushkah
Views: 347
Added: 1 month ago
Time: 05:13
======================================================================

Add Video to QuickList





========================================================================
Add Video to QuickList
duty and seek Shahada through suicide terrorism, the ramifications will be cataclysmic. The targets of the future Palestinian terror wave will be Israel, and in all likelihood (more)

From: sshender
Views: 87
Added: 3 months ago
Time: 09:45
=======================================================================

Add Video to QuickList
duty and seek Shahada through suicide terrorism, the ramifications will be cataclysmic. The targets of the future Palestinian terror wave will be Israel, and in all likelihood (more)

From: sshender
Views: 124
Added: 3 months ago
Time: 04:26
=======================================================================

Add Video to QuickList
Inflicts Heavy Israeli Casualties NBN TV, Lebanon Hezbollah's Capabilities Are Eroding IBA TV, Israel Excerpts from Nassrallah's Speech Abu Dhabi TV, UAE Red Cross Transports Victims by (more)

From: linktv
Views: 527
Added: 7 months ago
Time: 30:00
=======================================================================

Add Video to QuickList
Children of Palestinian Suicide Bomber Rim Al-Riyashi Al-Aqsa TV (Palestinian Authority) (March 8th, 2007) HAMAS: http://video (more)
From: MediaMayhem
Views: 167,398
Added: 8 months ago
Time: 03:05
========================================================================

Add Video to QuickList
palestinian child prisoners...palestinian child prisoners israel

From: kemalus1
Views: 8,592
Added: 7 months ago
Time: 04:31
=======================================================================

Add Video to QuickList
TV Al-Aqsa TV (Palestinian Authority) - 6/29/2007 - 00:04:43 MEMRI...Palestinian Childrens Abuse TV Mouse Hamas (more)

From: lookhearsee
Views: 22,682
Added: 4 months ago
Time: 04:36
=======================================================================

Add Video to QuickList
to the conditions isolating Palestinians within their communities. It is filmed next to the separation barrier that Israel continues to build in the occupied Palestinian territories. Terry Boulatta (more)

From: AlternateFocus
Views: 9,905
Added: 9 months ago
Time: 28:25
====================================================================

Add Video to QuickList
. At the Village of Fandaqoumiah in Jenin Palestine July 2006. The lead singer was Musa al Hafiz....Dabkah palestine palestinian dabki dabke dabka

From: thameen
Views: 90,170
Added: 8 months ago
Time: 07:45
====================================================================

Add Video to QuickList
Palestinian Media Watch (pmw.org.il) September 10, 2004. "The Jew will hide behind the rock and tree, and the rock and (more)

From: seethetruth
Views: 13,669
Added: 1 year ago
Time: 01:05
=====================================================================

Add Video to QuickList
This is a video that shows Haj Amin Al Husseini, uncle of the criminal bloodthirsty Yasser Arafat, and his connection to Nazi's. What was the reason that (more)

From: FuckMullahs
Views: 3,586
Added: 1 year ago
=====================================================================

Add Video to QuickList
#669 - Palestinian Friday Sermon by Sheik Ibrahim Mudeiris: Muslims Will Rule America and Britain, Jews Are a Virus Resembling AIDS Palestinian Authority TV - 5/ (more)

From: taximax
Views: 14,701
Added: 10 months ago
Time: 04:56
=====================================================================

Add Video to QuickList
"Palestinians" are hiding bombs inside the Ambulance. I write "Palestinians" in double quotation marks because "Palestine" and "Palestinians" don't (more)

From: boni123
Views: 23,855
Added: 1 year ago
Time: 01:34
=======================================================================

Add Video to QuickList
In the lead up to the Palestinian parliamentary elections in January 2006, terrorist group Hamas announced that one of its candidates would be Um Nidal, whose only claim (more)

From: pfict
Views: 21,717
Added: 1 year ago
Time: 01:42
======================================================================

Add Video to QuickList
#463 - Palestinian-Kuwaiti Sheik Ahmad Qattan on Allah's Rewards to a Martyr Iqra TV (Saudi Arabia) - 1/3/2005 - 00: (more)

From: taximax
Views: 6,190
Added: 10 months ago
Time: 01:38
======================================================================

Add Video to QuickList
20060817 Newsnight Pt1 - Brainwashing of Palestinian Children Part 1...BBC Newsnight Brainwashing Palestinian Children Suicide Bombers

From: grimer1
Views: 5,787
Added: 1 year ago
Time: 06:19
======================================================================

Add Video to QuickList
For the first time armed members of Palestinian factional groups are attending training camps run by the Red Cross - learning about International Humanitarian Law and First Aid. Al (more)

From: AlJazeeraEnglish
Views: 3,556
Added: 1 week ago
Time: 03:07
======================================================================

Add Video to QuickList
Children in Gaza perform a monstrous "play," dressed as suicide bombers and terrorists, waving knives and guns, in front of a crowd of doting parents

From: TheHadithPolice
Views: 4,621
Added: 5 months ago
Time: 07:25
=======================================================================

Add Video to QuickList
Palestinian children are the young assassins groomed from birth to hate and murder Jews....palestinian children

From: 00000000palestinian0
Views: 2,203
Added: 11 months ago
Time: 04:09
=======================================================================

Add Video to QuickList
tags: hezbollywood pallywood children islam muslim palestine israel lebanon hamas hezbollah terror terrorism victimhood...hezbollywood pallywood children islam muslim palestine israel lebanon hamas hezbollah terror terrorism victimhood

From: pfict
Views: 9,491
Added: 1 year ago
Time: 01:33
=====================================================================

Add Video to QuickList
Young children convinced of death as a shahid as ideal. Two 11-year-old girls articulate their personal goal to become shahid [martyrs for Allah] (more)

From: pmwvideos
Views: 3,433
Added: 6 months ago
Time: 02:09
======================================================================

Add Video to QuickList
A clip about a Hamas Terrorist preparing to "quench his thrist for Jewish blood" These are the people that Palestinians chose as their government....mohammed

From: IslamExposed
Views: 30,577
Added: 1 year ago
Time: 02:07
=======================================================================

Add Video to QuickList
Jihad against Israel and the non-Muslim world...esperantista jihad west islam israel

From: esperantista
Views: 2,659
Added: 1 year ago
Time: 10:43
========================================================================

פרק א
א אַֽשְֽׁרֵי־הָאִישׁ אֲשֶׁר לֹא הָלַךְ בַּֽעֲצַת רְשָׁעִים וּבְדֶרֶךְ חַטָּאִים לֹא עָמָד וּבְמוֹשַׁב לֵצִים לֹא יָשָֽׁב

:ב כִּי אִם־בְּתוֹרַת יְהֹוָה חֶפְצוֹ וּֽבְתוֹרָתוֹ יֶהְגֶּה יוֹמָם וָלָֽיְלָה

:ג וְֽהָיָה כְּעֵץ שָׁתוּל עַֽל־פַּלְגֵי מָיִם אֲשֶׁר פִּרְיוֹ | יִתֵּן בְּעִתּוֹ וְעָלֵהוּ לֹֽא יִבּוֹל וְכֹל אֲשֶׁר־יַֽעֲשֶׂה יַצְלִֽיחַ

:ד לֹא־כֵן הָרְשָׁעִים כִּי אִם־כַּמֹּץ אֲֽשֶׁר־תִּדְּפֶנּוּ רֽוּחַ

:ה עַל־כֵּן | לֹא־יָקֻמוּ רְשָׁעִים בַּמִּשְׁפָּט וְחַטָּאִים בַּֽעֲדַת צַדִּיקִֽים

:ו כִּֽי־יוֹדֵעַ יְהֹוָה דֶּרֶךְ צַדִּיקִים וְדֶרֶךְ רְשָׁעִים תֹּאבֵֽד
:

Dovid Hamelech Speaks:

Condemn them, O God; let them fall by their own counsels; cast them out in the multitude of their transgressions; for they have rebelled against you.

And those who know your name will put their trust in you; for you, Lord, have not forsaken those who seek you.

Break the arm of the wicked and the evil man; seek out his wickedness till you find none left.

Upon the wicked he shall rain coals, fire and brimstone, and a scorching wind shall be the portion of their cup.

How long shall I take counsel in my soul, having sorrow in my heart daily? How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?

But I have trusted in your loving kindness; my heart shall rejoice in your salvation. I will sing to the Lord, because he has dealt bountifully with me.

They have all gone astray, they have all become corrupted; there is none that does good, no, not one.

Do all the evil doers have no knowledge? Who eat up my people like they eat bread, and call not on the Lord.

Psalms Chapter 15

1. A Psalm of David. Lord, who shall abide in your tent? Who shall dwell in your holy mountain?
2. He who walks uprightly, and does what is right, and speaks the truth in his heart.
3. He who does not slander with his tongue, nor does evil to his neighbor, nor takes up a reproach against his neighbor.
4. In whose eyes a vile person is despised; but he honors those who fear the Lord. He who swears to his own hurt, and does not change.
5. He who does not put out his money at interest, nor takes a bribe against the innocent. He who does these things shall never be moved.

About Me

My photo
It is unfortunate that it has come to this. It is a big darn shame it has come to this. It is very hurtful that it has come to this. But yet, IT HAS COME TO THIS. It has come at the price of a GREAT CHILUL HASHEM. It has come to Hashem having to allow his holy name to be DESECRATED so that his CHILDREN remain SAFE. Shame on all those responsible for enabling and permitting Hashem's name to be desecrated! When you save children you save the future. You save the future you save generations. You save generations you save lives. You save lives you have saved the world!!!!!!!