After two-year court fight, Boy Scouts’ ‘perversion’ files set to be released

 

 

 

Confidential files kept by the Boy Scouts of America on men they suspected of child sex abuse are set to be released after a two-year-long court battle.

The anticipated release of the files on Thursday by Portland attorney Kelly Clark will reveal 20,000 pages of documents the Scouts kept on men inside — and in some cases outside — the organization believed to have committed acts of abuse.

'The stories in those files are real little boys and real stories of abuse'

- Kelly Clark, Portland attorney

"The stories in those files are real little boys and real stories of abuse," Clark told the Seattle Times. "And when the public sees these stories in black and white, I think the level of understanding and frustration about sexual abuse in Scouting is going to be significantly elevated."

The court-ordered release of the so-called perversion files from 1965 to 1985 has prompted the organization to pledge that they will go back into the files and report any offenders who may have not been reported to the police when alleged abuse took place.

That could prompt a new round of criminal prosecutions for offenders who have so far escaped justice.

The Scouts have, until now, argued they did all they could to prevent sex abuse within their ranks by spending a century tracking pedophiles and using those records to keep known sex offenders out of their organization.

The Scouts began keeping the files shortly after their creation in 1910, when pedophilia was largely a crime dealt with privately. 

The organization argues that the files helped them track offenders and protect children. But some of the files released in 1991, detailing cases from 1971 to 1991, showed repeated instances of Scouts leaders failing to disclose sex abuse to authorities, even when they had a confession.

A lawsuit culminated in April 2010 with the jury ruling the BSA had failed to protect the plaintiff from a pedophile assistant Scoutmaster in the 1980s, even though that man had previously admitted molesting Scouts. The jury awarded $20 million to the plaintiff.

Files kept before 1971 remained secret, until a judge ruled — and the Oregon Supreme Court agreed — that they should be released

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/10/18/perversion-files-maintained-by-boy-scouts-for-decades-set-to-be-released-after/#ixzz29gOr8o6t

U.K. Police Arrest 76 Suspected Pedophiles

LONDON -- Police raided homes and properties of dozens of suspected pedophiles, arresting 76 people – including a retired teacher and a scout leader.

Officers from 40 forces working under the direction of the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Center executed 141 warrants. The warrants included offenses relating to the possession and distribution of indecent images of children.

Kate Fisher, an analyst at the center, says the images being downloaded by pedophiles are increasingly becoming more extreme, sadistic and violent. They are also featuring increasingly younger children.

Among those arrested by police were a referee, a pathologist, a firefighter, and a computer programmer.

30 suspected pedophiles arrested in massive sting

Police pose as 10-year-olds in chat rooms to get to suspects; senior officers: We're startled by scope of threat.

PHOTO: YAAKOV LAPPIN

Some 30 suspected pedophiles were arrested in early-morning raids across the country on Tuesday, in the largest police operation against alleged sex offenders to date.

The arrests came after officers from the computer crimes unit of the Central Police District posed as a young girl and a young boy on popular chat forums, attracting the attention of suspects who lurked on the sites and preyed on minors.

After getting their targets to enter personal one-to-one chats, the suspects made phone contact, and the calls were answered by an undercover female officer pretending to be a child.

Police were shocked at the ease with which innocent online conversations quickly became perversely sexual. In some cases, suspects carried out lewd acts on web cameras, and encouraged sexual acts on the part of the children they believed they were talking to.

In other cases, suspects sought to arrange a meeting for the purpose of holding intercourse with minors, and were filmed by police waiting at meeting points and speaking on the phone with the undercover officer. One suspect allegedly arrived with condoms.

Meeting spots included a bus stop and a forest in central Israel.

The suspects hail from all walks of life in mainstream society. Some are married with young children of their own. They include employees of security companies, media communications firms and drivers. Some are highly educated.

The investigation began when a man caught with pedophilic material on his computer agreed to teach police how to enter the online networks and lure other pedophiles into chats.

Police have stressed that the suspects loitered on mainstream ordinary chat rooms that had no connection to sexual content, and urged vigilance on the part of parents, saying that the online activities of children must be monitored.

“We were exposed to very difficult comments,” said Dep.-Cmdr. Moti Aderi, head of the Central District’s Investigations Branch.

The next stage of the investigation is to determine just how many children were contacted by the suspects. To that end, detectives will sift through the computers of suspects to search for evidence of communications with minors.

At 3:30 a.m., Central District chief Cmdr. Bentsi Sao addressed officers who were about to head out to addresses and make arrests.

Speaking at Central District headquarters in Ramle, Sao said police had three goals in the investigation.

“We want to distance sex offenders from the kids, increase our deterrence against them and raise the alertness of parents to the dangers inherent in home computers,” he said. “In the coming hours, dozens of suspects will be arrested. I am sure this will expand even further and more arrests will be made,” he added. “We know crime is drifting from the streets to computers.”

Sao urged the officers to “conquer your anger and emotions despite the disturbing offenses. Our professionalism is part of the operation’s success.”

Sao later admitted to being “very shocked by the severity of the offenses. I’m concerned for the welfare of the children.”

He said that just as parents accompany their children when they cross a busy street, so too they must accompany their children “in the virtual world and all of its dangers.”

The investigation did not follow any police complaint or intelligence, but rather, was the result of police initiative, the district chief said.

“The suspects are not known criminals. They live among us, and on the surface, look totally normal,” he added. “We are amazed and worried that within 10 minutes of being on an online chat, obscene sexual content surfaced,” Sao said.

Three suspects aged 35 to 56 who came to pre-arranged meetings have already been arrested in recent days.

The undercover female officer who spoke on the phone to the suspects said she was most stunned by her first encounter.

“I knew about pedophiles, but I didn’t realize how dangerous they are,” she said.

“As soon as they see a 12-year-old online, they jump on them. They insisted on meetings, and tried to lure me with perfume and money,” the officer, who cannot be identified, added.

“I would say that I was shy and a minor, but they told me not to be embarrassed, that they weren’t shy,” she said. “Young innocent girls are not aware of the dangers.

It is up to the parents to make sure that the web usage is safe.”

The Knesset Committee on the Rights of the Child called an emergency meeting following the arrests on Tuesday.

“Arrests of dozens of suspects from all parts of society shows the how complicated this phenomenon is. Until now, sufficient resources were not allocated towards reducing it,” committee chairwoman Orly Levy-Abecassis (Yisrael Beytenu) said.

“Only an interministerial effort and a change in legislation, as well as budgetary allowances and good planning, will stop this phenomenon that threatens every child.”

Lahav Harkov contributed to this repor

Children's entertainer arrested after he told pedophile that he wanted to 'kidnap, rape, kill and EAT' young children

A children's entertainer is alleged to have confessed to wanting to rape, kill and then eat a child. Ronald Brown made the horrific confession to a pedophile as they talked about what they would like to do with young children. The 57-year-old, who worked as a puppeteer, lusted after young children and spoke about his fantasy of killing and cooking the body parts of a young boy in an online chat room.

 According to an arrest affidavit Brown said he would like to tie the child up, store him in a closet and then eat him at Easter. He describes in graphic detail what he would do to the boy, how he would cut him up and says: ‘He would make a fine Easter feast.’

In another chat, Brown allegedly remarked how great summer time is because the children in his Florida neighborhood are ‘almost naked.’ In another thread, Brown remarked about how his ‘mouth watered’ while looking at a female toddler. Local station WTSP reports that Brown also allegedly asked a Kansas City man to assist him in abducting and then murdering a child.

The man, identified as Michael Arnett, was arrested and charged with producing child pornography. According to documents, Brown was targeting a little boy at a local church near where he lived in a mobile home part in Largo, Florida. He allegedly told FBI agents, he wanted to ‘eat’ the child. Brown also admitted in the documents that he wanted to strangle children, that he was in a group on Yahoo where he discussed his fantasies online. According to the arrest affidavit Brown works as a puppeteer, performing at elementary schools, malls, church groups and private birthday parties.

 SCROLL DOWN FOR VIDEO Access to children: Brown works as a puppeteer, performing at elementary schools, malls, church groups and private birthday parties He also lives in a neighborhood surrounded by playgrounds, and routinely invited neighborhood children to his residence for pizza, according to an arrest affidavit. Brown started his puppeteer company in 1992, Puppet Plus. On Facebook, he describes about performing in schools and malls, even for the Tampa Bay Rays baseball team.

 Divorce lawyer took 150 explicit photos of his wife performing sex acts and in bondage gear (and she now faces losing her job as a judge) Doctors who EXPERIMENTED on dying brain cancer patients without permission banned from research He also has a picture of a child who he mentors weekly, saying ‘we visit parks and go many places’. Police and FBI agents became aware of Brown's alleged plans during a child pornography investigation that originated in Massachusetts and resulted in the arrest and conviction of 48-year-old Robert Diduca.



While monitoring chat rooms they came across Brown discussing his fantasy where he discussed in graphic detail what he would like to do with the dead bodies. Passionate about work: Brown started his puppeteer company 'Puppet Plus' in 1992 When police raided his home they found child pornography images on his computer and a CD that had been stashed in his sock drawer. The images allegedly showed images of dead children and children that had been posed in bondage positions.

Brown is being held by U.S. Marshalls in Pinellas County jail and due in court today(Tues). Neighbors at the mobile home park told Tampa 10 News they were shocked. Robin Fuchs, was both terrified and disgusted when she heard the details of the case. She said her children and others play in the area all the time. ‘They're all passing his house every morning and afternoon. Some parents aren't home and sending their kids on. They don't know at all,’ she said.

70,000 busted in Pedophile Ring

An Internet pedophile ring with up to 70,000 members — thought to be the world's largest —has been uncovered by police, a security official said Wednesday. The European police agency Europol said in a statement that "Operation Rescue" had identified 670 suspects and that 230 abused children in 30 countries had been taken to safety. More children are expected to be found, Europol said. It said that so far 184 people had been arrested and investigations in some countries were continuing. Most of those detained are suspected of direct involvement in sexually abusing children. They include teachers, police officers and scout leaders, AP reported. One Spaniard who worked at summer youth camps is suspected of abusing some 100 children over five years. Europol director Rob Wainwright said Wednesday the ring, which communicated using an Internet forum, was "probably the largest online pedophile network in the world." More world news Pakistan: 3 held over teen activist shooting Three suspects in the shooting of 14-year old Pakistani peace campaigner Malala Yousafzai have been arrested, police in claimed Friday. Madonna strips in tribute to girl shot by Taliban European Union wins Nobel Peace Prize Nobel win celebrated -- and panned -- in China Opposition: Syria rebels capture air base Cori Bassett, a public affairs officer for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said in an email that there had been five arrests and four convictions in connection with Operation Rescue in the U.S. "Arrests so far have been made in Georgia and Connecticut. ICE continues to pursue the leads provided by Europol," she added. The website was shut down following the three-year investigation, Europol said. "The website operated from a server based in the Netherlands and, at its height, boasted up to 70,000 members worldwide," it added. "It attempted to operate as a 'discussion–only' forum where people could share their sexual interest in young boys without committing any specific offences, thus operating 'below the radar' of police attention," Europol said. "Having made contact on the site, some members would move to more private channels, such as email, to exchange and share illegal images and films of children being abused. Computers seized from those arrested have harvested huge quantities of child abuse images and videos," it added. Police infiltrated site The Europol statement said U.K. and Australian police infiltrated the site to identify the members who posed the greatest danger to children. Police also sometimes posed as children online as part of the investigation. Law enforcement authorities from 13 countries, including the United States, Australia, Canada, Italy, Spain and the U.K., were involved in the case, Europol said. The statement said Europol analysts had cracked the security features of a key computer server at the center of the network which uncovered the identities of suspected child sex offenders. And, after his arrest, the forum's Dutch administrator helped police break encryption measures that shielded users' identities, allowing police to begin their covert investigations. "Europol subsequently issued over 4,000 intelligence reports to police authorities in over 30 countries in Europe and elsewhere, which has led to the arrests of suspects and the safeguarding of children," Europol said. Wainwright said he was proud of the "exceptional work of our experts in helping police authorities around the world to record these groundbreaking results." "The safeguarding of so many vulnerable children is particularly rewarding and demonstrates the commitment of our agency to make Europe a safer place for its citizens," he added. The investigation was led by Britain's Child Exploitation and Online Protection Center. Peter Davies, of the center, said there would be more arrests as the investigations continue. "Those who have been members of the site can expect a knock on the door in the very near future," he said. In Britain, police said, the children involved were aged between 7 and 14. Australian Federal Police commander Grant Edwards said suspects arrested in Australia ranged in age from 19 to 84 and used the Internet to "prey on children with anonymity, with subterfuge and with camouflage." Children, Edwards said, "should be able to use the Internet safely, without fear of being approached or groomed by these online predators."