Sometimes a trailblazer attempts to level criticism at someone or something within the Orthodox Jewish community. That hero is too often scorned. “He has an agenda.” (Of course he does! His agenda is to make Orthodox Judaism better!) “Who is she to criticize?!” (A very brave person!) “But there’s so much good in the community! Why can’t we focus on the positive?” (Sure, but let’s keep what’s good, good!) In the end, the critic is silenced or completely marginalized.
That is how a community encompassing many people who criticized the “questionable” behavior of the incredibly talented and successful Rabbi Jonathan Rosenblatt — whose trips to the sauna with young Jews were recently chronicled by the New York Times — could allow decades to pass without significant change.
This is not a criticism of Rabbi Rosenblatt. By his estimation, taking his students for mentorship trips to the schvitz, sans clothing, was harmless and helpful. He was, clearly, wrong. Though some people will not feel uncomfortable stripping naked at 12 years old or 22 years old in front of their naked middle-aged rabbi, many people will feel extremely uncomfortable. Imposing this kind of exposure on unwilling participants has a significant traumatizing effect.
Since the Times story was published, I’ve spoken with more than one “victim.” They are scarred and the incident was harmful to them. This, despite the self-proclaimed best intentions of Rabbi Rosenblatt. He is a great man — but a great man with a blind spot. We all have them. The problem here is that the community decided to silence criticism, defend the indefensible, and put others in harm’s way. I believe this was an unconscious choice that reflects an anachronistic survival mode mentality.
In 1964, Look magazine predicted that American Jewry would disappear completely by the 21st century. Three years later, Israel defeated its enemies in the Six-Day War. Jews around the world were inspired by their unlikely victory with monumental consequences, like the Kotel being liberated. In the four decades that followed, Orthodox Judaism grew by leaps and bounds. It was a war for the soul of the American Jew.
When we are in cultural survival mode, the focus must be on the attractive nature of our lifestyle. Our communal body was sick, wracked with disease, and our only chance for survival was to allow our wounds to heal in the background while we showcased our healthy limbs to the admiring public. It would have been too dangerous to be self-critical. We would have risked losing it all.
In 2013, the Pew Report confirmed that Orthodox Judaism has risen from the dead and is now a behemoth. Self-congratulations are in order. The late 20th-century’s iteration of American Judaism, the cultural reaction to the hippie revolution, and a great historical event all contributed to the success of Orthodox Judaism, which is now on solid ground. The demographics and growth are staggering, inspiring. There is nothing to fear from the outside these days. The threats to Orthodox Judaism are now internal threats.
And the key to fixing internal existential threats is self-criticism. Our only hope is to work on our communities and destroy the disease that wracks us inside. But like an unused muscle, our self-criticism mechanism has atrophied. We have not used it for so long that we can’t remember how it works, if we remember it works at all.
Yet now we are strong enough to be ruthlessly self-critical. To engage in tough conversations in private and even in public. To confront our best-kept secrets. “Sunlight is said to be the best of disinfectants” — and it’s time to disinfect. In a case like Rabbi Rosenblatt’s, I believe that a more robust communal conversation without fear of reprisal or marginalization could have yielded a better result.
The combination of a great rabbinic leader and strong, self-critical lay leadership should have been working on this issue together by debating its impropriety or utility. It would have been somewhat embarrassing and uncomfortable, but working through that struggle would have likely made it possible for the rabbi to do what he does best and the community to feel comfortable about his mentorship methods. The story never had to end with the end of the rabbi’s tenure or his censure. The power of self-criticism would have helped develop a happy and healthy compromise.
So let’s face our fears and our flaws. The way forward is to learn from this incident. We cannot silence critics. We cannot force the critics to yield to authority. We need to be confident enough in our Orthodox Judaism that the outside won’t harm us. Instead, the unimpeded metastasis will destroy us if we don’t start a course of treatment with a full dose of self-criticism.
Full article: http://forward.com/opinion/309487/dont-blame-the-sauna-rabbi-blame-orthodox-mentality/
Sponsors Call for Assembly Vote on Child Victims Act
With NY Ranked Among Worst States in America for Victims,
62 Sponsors Call for a Vote Now on Their Bill to Completely
Eliminate Statute of Limitaitons for Child Sex Abuse Crimes
Letter: Predators Get Better Treatment in New York than Abuse Victims Do
ALBANY, NEW YORK, June 2, 2015 — Backers of the Child Victims Act want the leadership of the New York State Assembly to bring their Child Victims Act to a vote in the final weeks of the 2015 legislative session in Albany.
Assemblywoman Margaret Markey has 61 other members of the Assembly as co-sponsors of her legislation (A2862/S63) to reform New York State’s archaic statutes of limitations for child sexual abuse crimes.
In a letter they are sending today to Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, the sponsors pointed out that New York is ranked among the very worst states in America for how it treats victims of these crimes, according to an analysis of statute of limitations codes of all 50 states.
“Rape or molestation of a child is among the very worst offenses in our society, but New York State’s outdated statutes of limitations now permits pedophiles and those who hide them to evade accountability for their crimes,” said Assemblywoman Markey.
The Child Victims Act will completely eliminate the criminal and civil statute of limitations for these offenses and it also provides a one-year civil “window” that will expose abusers who have been hidden and evaded justice.
“There is no limit on what is a life-time of suffering and anguish for so many victims of child sexual abuse,” said Assemblywoman Markey. “That is why there should be no limit on the ability of victims and society to prosecute abusers and no limit on holding accountable those institutions and organizations that have deliberately protected and hidden pedophiles.”
In their letter to the Assembly Speaker, Markey and the sponsor group said: “Over recent years there has been a growing awareness across the nation of the need to act to expose this scourge. We have seen many widely publicized reports of incidents of abuse by high-profile individuals, and of cover-up by institutions and organizations in amateur and elite sports, schools, youth programs, universities, religious and other organizations. Scientific advancement in DNA testing also makes it more possible than ever to hold perpetrators accountable.”
Assemblywoman Markey said; “Emerging awareness, new research data and changing national trends have seen states as diverse as California, Delaware, Minnesota, Massachusetts, Hawaii, Connecticut, Illinois and Florida reform their statutes of limitations.
In their letter, the Assemblymembers said: “Many other states over recent years have reformed their statute of limitations for child sexual abuse, but not New York. Right now, New York is among the four states where predators and abusers get better treatment than victims. It is time to change that by adopting the Child Victims Act and we respectfully ask your help to bring A2872 to the Assembly floor for a vote.”
The Child Victims Act has already been overwhelmingly adopted by the Assembly four different times. This 2015 bill has the highest number of co-sponsors since the Child Victims Act was first introduced in 2006. Under current New York law a victim of childhood sexual abuse must report the offense within five years after turning 18.
FOLLOWING IS THE TEXT OF THE LETTER TO THE ASSEMBLY SPEAKER:
Hon. Carl E. Heastie, Speaker, New York State Assembly
Room 932, Legislative Office Building, Albany, New York 12248
Dear Mr. Speaker:
We the undersigned sponsors of A2872, the Child Victims Act of New York, respectfully request that the bill be presented for a floor vote by the New York State Assembly within the coming weeks.
Rape or molestation of a child is among the very worst offenses in our society, but New York State’s outdated statutes of limitations now permits pedophiles and those who hide them to evade accountability for their crimes. The A2872 legislation seeks to eliminate the criminal and civil statute of limitations for these offenses and it also provides a one-year civil “window” that will expose abusers who have been hidden and evaded justice.
We ask the Assembly to act now because this is a subject that affects a large number of our citizens. Creditable research shows that one in five youngsters in America suffer from sexual abuse, many of them at the hands of people they know or trust.
Over recent years there has been a growing awareness across the nation of the need to act to expose this scourge. We have seen many widely publicized reports of incidents of abuse by high-profile individuals, and of cover-up by institutions and organizations in amateur and elite sports, schools, youth programs, universities, religious and other organizations. Scientific advancement in DNA testing also makes it more possible than ever to hold perpetrators accountable.
While other states have moved to reform their statute of limitations for child sexual abuse, we have not. New York is ranked among the very worst states in America for how it treats victims of these crimes, according to an analysis of statute of limitations codes of all 50 states. New York survivors of abuse deserve better and this legislation will change that.
The Child Victims Act has already been overwhelmingly adopted by the Assembly four different times in various forms. This current bill, which has the highest number of co-sponsors since the Child Victims Act was first introduced in 2006, reflects the changing research and national trends that have seen states as diverse as California, Delaware, Minnesota, Massachusetts, Hawaii, Connecticut, Illinois and Florida reform their statutes of limitations.
Right now, New York is among the four states where predators and abusers get better treatment than victims. It is time to change that by adopting the Child Victims Act and we respectfully ask your help to bring A2872 to the Assembly floor for a vote.
Assemblymembers who are co- and multi-sponsors of A2872, The Child Victims Act of New York, include:Margaret Markey, Luis Sepulveda, Michael Miller, Steve Englebright, Aileen Gunther, Anthony Brindisi, Samuel Roberts, Steven Otis, Ellen Jaffee, Annette Robinson, Al Stripe, Jeff Aubry, Michael Kearns, Aravella Simotas, Barbara Clark, Sandra Galef, Earlene Hooper, Walter Mosley, Linda Rosenthal, Barbara Lifton, Didi Barrett, Bill Nojay, Amy Paulin, N. Nick Perry, James Skoufis, Alec Brook-Krasny, Vivian Cook, Jeffrey Dinowitz, Joseph Saladino, Alfred Graf, Kieran Lalor, Victor Pichardo, Karl Brabenec, Carmen Arroyo, Anthony Palumbo, Latrice Walker, Todd Kaminsky, Guillermo Linares, Brian Curran, Dean Murray, David Weprin, Mark Johns, Rodneyse Bichotte, Kenneth Blankenbush, Jim Brennan, John Ceretto, Clifford Crouch, Patricia Fahy, Deborah Glick, Phillip Goldfeder, Steve Hawlay, Andrew Hevesi, Steve Katz, Peter Lopez, Bill Magee, Feliz Ortiz, Gary Pretlow, Jose Rivera, Addie Russell, Jo Ann Simon, Claudia Tenney, Angela Wozniak
THE Vatican has defended its finance chief, Australian Cardinal George Pell, after he was accused by one of Pope Francis’ commissioners for child protection of being almost sociopathic.
Spokesman Federico Lombardi says Peter Saunders, who called for Pell to be dismissed over allegations he covered up abuse and denigrated victims, was expressing his personal views and not speaking on behalf of the commission.
Lombardi told journalists Pell, formerly the top Catholic cleric in Australia, has replied to all questions posed by the authorities and his defence must be considered reliable and worthy of attention and respect.
Australia’s Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse yesterday requested Pell give evidence when the inquiry next meets at a date to be determined.
Pell says he will be present at the hearing.
Mr Saunders, an abuse survivor, made headlines earlier this week when he called on the Pope to sack Cardinal Pell as the Vatican’s financial chief over allegations he helped cover up pedophile activity in Australia.
Now Mr Saunders has revealed the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors may not be able to do its job properly due to a lack of resources.
“George Pell is in the Pope’s cabinet, the inner sanctum, and is in charge of Vatican finances,” he said.
“And the commission will largely be dictated to some extent by the resources that are made available to it … and my understanding is that there is some financial pressure already in this particular area and I’m pretty appalled at that.”
Mr Saunders said it was to the Pope’s “great credit” that he was looking to lay people — including some in Australia — to advise him.
But the British advocate noted the commission was only scheduled to meet twice yearly, which was inadequate.
“If the financial constraints on our work are imposed then that will hinder the ability of us to do that work,” he said.
“But that’s down to funding and resources, and who’s in charge of funding and resources in the Vatican? You know the answer to that.”
The 58-year-old said the church had to invest in child protection given its dreadful past. Despite having concerns, Mr Saunders remains confident Francis will ultimately do whatever’s necessary to ensure the commission is a success.
It was entirely possible the Pope — the head of a church comprising more than a billion people and hundreds of thousands of clergy — didn’t fully understand the history in Australia when he appointed Cardinal Pell, Mr Saunders said.
“There will be times when he doesn’t know the intricacies of everything that’s gone on in the background to issues around various clergy, possibly including George Pell,” he said.
“I think Pope Francis needs to read a little bit more and understand a little bit more about the anger that’s been expressed by victims all across Australia at the way in which George Pell has behaved.”
Mr Saunders, the founder of Britain’s National Association for People Abused in Childhood, is one of two victims of priest abuse on the Pope’s multinational commission.
He’s sure Francis is the man to right the wrongs of the past.
“I’m right behind him as I know all my fellow commission members are too,” Mr Saunders said, stressing his comments were made as a survivor and advocate, not in his role as a commissioner.
Cardinal Pell, who denies the cover-up allegations, said he was consulting his legal advisers after Mr Saunders said the Australian’s lack of care for victims was “almost sociopathic”.
Mr Saunders responded by stating the threat of legal action wasn’t surprising and he wouldn’t shut up for anyone.
http://sol-reform.com/News/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Hamilton-Logo.jpg00SOL Reformhttp://sol-reform.com/News/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Hamilton-Logo.jpgSOL Reform2015-06-04 02:22:452015-06-04 02:22:45Vatican defends Cardinal George Pell in child sex abuse scandal, News.com
Altoona attorney Daniel Kiss released a statement Wednesday that claimed his client was sexually abused by Sandusky while attending a football camp at Penn State in 1988. The victim sought criminal charges against Sandusky but was turned down by Attorney General Kathleen Kane’s office last week.
“The attorney reviewed the applicable statutes and found that the case couldn’t be filed because it had surpassed the statute of limitations,” said Chuck Ardo, Kane’s press secretary. “They just didn’t feel that the case could be filed under the statutes as written.”
State statutes, in most child sexual abuse cases occurring before August 2002, require criminal charges to be brought within 12 years of the victim’s 18th birthday. There can be some variations to that rule, however, if certain fact patterns apply.
Since the attorney general’s office decided not to prosecute the private criminal complaint against Sandusky, Kiss said he will file an appeal in Centre County Court next week to receive a court order that would force Kane’s office to prosecute the complaint.
“The opportunity to stare down their accuser is one of the biggest things in the healing process,” Kiss said.
Sandusky, the longtime defensive coordinator to legendary Penn State head football coach Joe Paterno, was convicted in June 2012 of molesting 10 boys whom he had met through his Second Mile youth charity activities.
Kiss, a former child assault prosecutor in Blair County, said the attorney general’s office was not surprised by his decision to file an appeal.
“This is not a shock to them,” Kiss said. “I told them way back at the very, very beginning when we spoke to them ‘No matter what occurs, if you deny, we’re, of course, going to appeal because the reality is this kid needs justice.'”
Once the appeal is filed in Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Kiss said a judge will have carte blanche to decide how to proceed. The judge could decide to have a hearing, make a decision from the appeal motion or allow for full presentation of the evidence.
“It’s up to the court, how the court wants to rule,” Kiss said.
Kiss, who is only handling the victim’s criminal complaint, said he believes the victim has sought a civil settlement.
“It’s all confidential, I can’t respond,” Feinberg said. “When we do these mediations, they are done under an absolute confidentiality agreement so that even the filing of a civil mediation would remain sealed.”
A 2014 CNN story, which Kiss indicates is about his client, says the victim had refused to settle with Penn State.
“He and his family said they didn’t feel Penn State’s settlement offer was fair, given the fact that three university officials have been charged with knowing about abuse in 1998 and in 2001, and not doing enough to stop it,” the CNN story says.
Kiss said the criminal and civil cases are completely separate. The outcome of one, he said, should not affect the other.
“Everybody’s opinion is ‘Oh, he just wants more money,'” Kiss said. “The reality is they should not have any affect on one another whatsoever.”
Full article: http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2015/05/ags_office_turns_down_sandusky.html
http://sol-reform.com/News/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Hamilton-Logo.jpg00SOL Reformhttp://sol-reform.com/News/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Hamilton-Logo.jpgSOL Reform2015-06-01 23:54:182015-06-01 23:54:18Christian Alexanderson, AG's Office turns down Sandusky sexual abuse complaint due to statute of limitations, Penn Live
Beau Biden, son of the vice president, died tragically at the age of 46 from brain cancer on Saturday, but some may not realize that a cause Biden devoted himself to was trying to raise awareness about child sexual abuse.
While Biden served as attorney general in Delaware, a position to which he was elected in 2006, he brought a successful indictment against Dr. Earl Bradley in 2010. The pediatrician was charged with 471 felony counts of child abuse involving 102 girls and one boy. Bradley was convicted in 2011, but sought appeal of his case on the grounds of ineffective counsel last year.
“I cannot say certain things that I am feeling, and I am feeling a great deal. I am determined to see that this defendant will never, ever be in a position again to hurt another child,” Biden said in a statement following the indictment.
Biden became something of a national spokesman on the issue, even speaking about the crimes of Penn State’s former assistant coach Jerry Sandusky. (His father, Joe Biden, was an early supporter of the Violence Against Women Act, which targeted domestic violence.)
“It’s adults’ responsibility to protect kids. It’s not the kids’ responsibility to protect themselves from these predators…. There need to be consequences for violating the law,” he said when interviewed by ABC News.
According to the foundation, nearly one in ten children suffers from childhood sexual abuse, with about one in seven girls and one in 25 boys experiencing such abuse before they turn 18. For reasons that are unclear, the identified incidents of child sexual abuse have declined about 47 percent from 1993 to 2005-2006. The Department of Justice has found similar statistics.
One of the reasons that childhood sexual abuse is so difficult to tackle is that an estimated 90 precent of victims know their abuser and 30 percent are abused by family members. Sometimes children are abused by older children. Yet just 38 percent of victims disclose the fact that they have been sexually abused — and far fewer incidents are reported to authorities. Darkness to Light further points out that not all abusers are pedophiles, and there are “situational” abusers who often begin abusing children later in life. LGBT youth are at far greater risk of experiencing childhood sexual abuse, perhaps because abusers target a vulnerable population. Biden also supportedDelaware’s protections for gender identity non-discrimination, which can protect transgender youth from stigma they face.
There has been a recent movement to address the issue of childhood sexual abuse and pedophilia in a more complex way, with Canadian researcher James Cantor calling for more mental health treatment of those experiencing pedophilia, but who haven’t abused anyone, to seek counseling without fear of counselors reporting them to the police.
“As adults, we have a legal and moral obligation to stand up and speak out for children who are being abused – they cannot speak for themselves,” Biden wrote in his op-ed
http://sol-reform.com/News/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Hamilton-Logo.jpg00SOL Reformhttp://sol-reform.com/News/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Hamilton-Logo.jpgSOL Reform2015-06-01 02:11:262015-06-01 02:11:26Kay Steiger, What Beau Biden Wanted Everyone To Know About The Issue That Defined His Career, Think Progress
J. Dennis Hastert, who served for eight years as speaker of the House of Representatives, was paying a former student hundreds of thousands of dollars to not say publicly that Mr. Hastert had sexually abused him decades ago, according to two people briefed on the evidence uncovered in an F.B.I. investigation.
Federal prosecutors on Thursday announced the indictment of Mr. Hastert, 73, on allegations that he made cash withdrawals, totaling $1.7 million, to evade detection by banks. The federal authorities also charged him with lying to them about the purpose of the withdrawals.
The former student — who was not identified in court papers — told the F.B.I. that he had been inappropriately touched by Mr. Hastert when the former speaker was a high school teacher and wrestling coach, the two people said Friday. The people briefed on the investigation spoke on the condition of anonymity because they did not want to be identified discussing a federal investigation.
It was not clear when the suspected behavior, which was first reported by The Los Angeles Times, occurred. Mr. Hastert was a high school teacher and coach in Yorkville, Ill., from 1965 to 1981, and the indictment said the recipient of the payments was from Yorkville and had known Mr. Hastert for decades.
Mr. Hastert in the 1968 yearbook for Yorkville Community High School in Illinois, where he was a teacher and wrestling coach.
It was also unclear whether the authorities considered pursuing charges against the man on suspicion of extorting payments from Mr. Hastert in exchange for keeping silent. Such a prosecution would probably have required Mr. Hastert to allege that he was the victim of an extortion. But the indictment said Mr. Hastert denied to the F.B.I. that he was making payments to the individual, saying he withdrew the cash because he no longer trusted the banking system.
Mr. Hastert, a Republican who had a highly lucrative career as a lobbyist since leaving Congress in 2007, could not be reached for comment at his office in Washington. A spokeswoman for the United States attorney for the Northern District of Illinois said Friday that there was no lawyer of record on file for Mr. Hastert.
The allegations against a man who was once one of the most powerful people in Washington have stunned lobbyists, lawmakers and veteran Capitol Hill staff members who worked alongside him as he rose to become second in line to the presidency in 1999.
“The Denny I served with worked hard on behalf of his constituents and the country,” House Speaker John A. Boehner said in a statement late Friday evening. “I’m shocked and saddened to learn of these reports.”
Document | Indictment of John Dennis Hastert Federal authorities accused the former House speaker of structuring withdrawals from various accounts in order to avoid bank reporting requirements.
The indictment also surprised Mr. Hastert’s former students and high school teachers back home in Illinois. Several of them said Friday that they were struggling to make sense of the federal charges against him.
“They are all stunned at the news,” said George Dyche of Aurora, Ill., a coach who competed against Mr. Hastert’s team for years, and worked closely with him to develop the Illinois state wrestling association. “They all say, ‘Are they talking about our Denny?’ ”
In Yorkville, about 50 miles southwest of Chicago, Mr. Hastert is a larger-than-life figure, not just because he rose to be speaker of the House, but because the wrestling team he coached at tiny Yorkville High School won the state championship in 1976 — a triumph still listed as a historical event on the town’s official website.
A statement released Friday by the Yorkville Community Unit School District said it had “no knowledge of Mr. Hastert’s alleged misconduct, nor has any individual contacted the district to report any such misconduct. If requested to do so, the district plans to cooperate fully with the U.S. attorney’s investigation into this matter.”
Mr. Hastert in 1971.
In the lobby of Yorkville High School, where final exams were underway on Friday, Ron Kiesewetter, the principal, referred all questions to the office of the school district superintendent.
In his years at Yorkville High School, Mr. Hastert taught a range of topics — history, economics, sociology and speech — but he seemed best known at the school for his efforts to build the wrestling team, the Yorkville Foxes, over more than 15 years.
In Mr. Hastert’s 2004 memoir, “Speaker: Lessons From Forty Years in Coaching and Politics,” Mr. Hastert acknowledged the wrestling squad of 1976, a championship team, on a dedications page.
“While many of our teams did well, you were the very best,” he wrote, addressing the Yorkville Foxes of 1976. “For me, winning the state championship was among the finest moments of my life. So many of the fine athletes I had the good fortune to coach are today raising and coaching boys and girls of their own. They’re mentoring the next generation. For me, it doesn’t get any better than that.”
Mr. Hastert also worked with the Boy Scouts for 16 years, according to an address he gave in 2008 to a Boy Scouts group at Pikes Peak in Colorado.
“We did a lot of neat things,” he said to the group, including taking high-school-aged boys on trips to the Bahamas, the Grand Canyon and float trips on the Green River in Utah. “I saw those kids develop and meet challenges and change,” he said.
Yearbooks from Mr. Hastert’s tenure at the high school said he also was an adviser to the Yorkville Explorer Post 540, and had traveled in the late 1960s with the Explorers to the Bahamas for a week, as well as on a canoe trip to Canada.
“He is now planning a trip for the future around the world,” the Mi-Y-Hi of 1970, the school’s yearbook, said.
In 1979, the yearbook noted the wrestling team’s successful season — a record of 16-6 — and Mr. Hastert’s having finished his 14th year as coach, ending up “one meet short of 200 varsity wins.”
Mr. Dyche said Mr. Hastert helped build the sport in his home state, was president of the wrestling association and started a state wrestling newspaper called The Word in the 1970s. Mr. Hastert still regularly attends Big 10 Conference collegiate wrestling championships, said Mr. Dyche, who said he saw him there this year.
“He was a quiet guy in the corner, not a yelling, screaming coach, very pragmatic, cool under fire,” Mr. Dyche said. “I would go up after losing to him and say: ‘Damn it, you did it again. I know what your kids are going to do, but my kids still couldn’t stop them.’ ”
Mr. Dyche said Mr. Hastert “ruled his program with a calm but firm hand. He was extremely successful and respected.” And he said he was stunned by the allegations.
“Of all the people in the world, it’s not the Denny Hastert I know,” Mr. Dyche said. “He was a man of character, a pillar in the community.”
Mr. Hastert was already an affluent man during his service in the House, largely from land holding, according to financial disclosure forms.
He owned land in Kendall County, Ill., a farm in Wisconsin, and a home and property in Plano, Ill., worth between $3 million and $15 million, along with savings and investment accounts worth as much as $310,000. His cash income while in office consisted of a congressional salary of $212,100 and an Illinois pension of $34,000.
His pay soared after he left Congress and opened his own lobbying firm. He also worked for Dickstein Shapiro, where he lobbied for Lorillard Tobacco, Peabody Energy, Bridgepoint Education and an Illinois real estate developer.
The indictment said that in 2010, after several meetings, Mr. Hastert agreed to pay the unidentified man $3.5 million “in order to compensate for and conceal his prior misconduct against” him. The authorities alleged that Mr. Hastert structured the cash withdrawals, totaling $1.7 million so far, in increments designed to avoid bank reporting requirements.
Kim Nerheim, a spokeswoman for the United States attorney’s office, said Friday that Mr. Hastert’s case had been assigned to Judge Thomas M. Durkin of Federal District Court, who will schedule an arraignment for the former speaker, perhaps as early as next week.
Preliminary bail in Mr. Hastert’s case was set at $4,500, according to court documents.
Reporting was contributed by Monica Davey from Yorkville, Ill., Dave Philipps from New York, and Carl Hulse and Jonathan Weisman from Washington.
http://sol-reform.com/News/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Hamilton-Logo.jpg00SOL Reformhttp://sol-reform.com/News/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Hamilton-Logo.jpgSOL Reform2015-06-01 01:53:242015-06-01 01:53:24Michael D. Schmidt & Michael D. Shear, Hastert Case Is Said to Be Linked to Decades-Old Sexual Abuse, NY Times
Eliyahu Fink, Don’t Blame the Sauna Rabbi — Blame Orthodox Mentality, Forward.com
/in New York /by SOL ReformSponsors Call for Assembly Vote on Child Victims Act
/in New York /by SOL ReformSponsors Call for Assembly Vote on Child Victims Act
With NY Ranked Among Worst States in America for Victims,
62 Sponsors Call for a Vote Now on Their Bill to Completely
Eliminate Statute of Limitaitons for Child Sex Abuse Crimes
Letter: Predators Get Better Treatment in New York than Abuse Victims Do
ALBANY, NEW YORK, June 2, 2015 — Backers of the Child Victims Act want the leadership of the New York State Assembly to bring their Child Victims Act to a vote in the final weeks of the 2015 legislative session in Albany.
Assemblywoman Margaret Markey has 61 other members of the Assembly as co-sponsors of her legislation (A2862/S63) to reform New York State’s archaic statutes of limitations for child sexual abuse crimes.
In a letter they are sending today to Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, the sponsors pointed out that New York is ranked among the very worst states in America for how it treats victims of these crimes, according to an analysis of statute of limitations codes of all 50 states.
“Rape or molestation of a child is among the very worst offenses in our society, but New York State’s outdated statutes of limitations now permits pedophiles and those who hide them to evade accountability for their crimes,” said Assemblywoman Markey.
The Child Victims Act will completely eliminate the criminal and civil statute of limitations for these offenses and it also provides a one-year civil “window” that will expose abusers who have been hidden and evaded justice.
“There is no limit on what is a life-time of suffering and anguish for so many victims of child sexual abuse,” said Assemblywoman Markey. “That is why there should be no limit on the ability of victims and society to prosecute abusers and no limit on holding accountable those institutions and organizations that have deliberately protected and hidden pedophiles.”
In their letter to the Assembly Speaker, Markey and the sponsor group said: “Over recent years there has been a growing awareness across the nation of the need to act to expose this scourge. We have seen many widely publicized reports of incidents of abuse by high-profile individuals, and of cover-up by institutions and organizations in amateur and elite sports, schools, youth programs, universities, religious and other organizations. Scientific advancement in DNA testing also makes it more possible than ever to hold perpetrators accountable.”
Assemblywoman Markey said; “Emerging awareness, new research data and changing national trends have seen states as diverse as California, Delaware, Minnesota, Massachusetts, Hawaii, Connecticut, Illinois and Florida reform their statutes of limitations.
In their letter, the Assemblymembers said: “Many other states over recent years have reformed their statute of limitations for child sexual abuse, but not New York. Right now, New York is among the four states where predators and abusers get better treatment than victims. It is time to change that by adopting the Child Victims Act and we respectfully ask your help to bring A2872 to the Assembly floor for a vote.”
The Child Victims Act has already been overwhelmingly adopted by the Assembly four different times. This 2015 bill has the highest number of co-sponsors since the Child Victims Act was first introduced in 2006. Under current New York law a victim of childhood sexual abuse must report the offense within five years after turning 18.
FOR MEDIA INFORMATON CONTACT MICHAEL ARMSTRONG, 718-651-3185, armmic@earthlink.net
FOLLOWING IS THE TEXT OF THE LETTER TO THE ASSEMBLY SPEAKER:
Hon. Carl E. Heastie, Speaker, New York State Assembly
Room 932, Legislative Office Building, Albany, New York 12248
Dear Mr. Speaker:
We the undersigned sponsors of A2872, the Child Victims Act of New York, respectfully request that the bill be presented for a floor vote by the New York State Assembly within the coming weeks.
Rape or molestation of a child is among the very worst offenses in our society, but New York State’s outdated statutes of limitations now permits pedophiles and those who hide them to evade accountability for their crimes. The A2872 legislation seeks to eliminate the criminal and civil statute of limitations for these offenses and it also provides a one-year civil “window” that will expose abusers who have been hidden and evaded justice.
We ask the Assembly to act now because this is a subject that affects a large number of our citizens. Creditable research shows that one in five youngsters in America suffer from sexual abuse, many of them at the hands of people they know or trust.
Over recent years there has been a growing awareness across the nation of the need to act to expose this scourge. We have seen many widely publicized reports of incidents of abuse by high-profile individuals, and of cover-up by institutions and organizations in amateur and elite sports, schools, youth programs, universities, religious and other organizations. Scientific advancement in DNA testing also makes it more possible than ever to hold perpetrators accountable.
While other states have moved to reform their statute of limitations for child sexual abuse, we have not. New York is ranked among the very worst states in America for how it treats victims of these crimes, according to an analysis of statute of limitations codes of all 50 states. New York survivors of abuse deserve better and this legislation will change that.
The Child Victims Act has already been overwhelmingly adopted by the Assembly four different times in various forms. This current bill, which has the highest number of co-sponsors since the Child Victims Act was first introduced in 2006, reflects the changing research and national trends that have seen states as diverse as California, Delaware, Minnesota, Massachusetts, Hawaii, Connecticut, Illinois and Florida reform their statutes of limitations.
Right now, New York is among the four states where predators and abusers get better treatment than victims. It is time to change that by adopting the Child Victims Act and we respectfully ask your help to bring A2872 to the Assembly floor for a vote.
Assemblymembers who are co- and multi-sponsors of A2872, The Child Victims Act of New York, include:Margaret Markey, Luis Sepulveda, Michael Miller, Steve Englebright, Aileen Gunther, Anthony Brindisi, Samuel Roberts, Steven Otis, Ellen Jaffee, Annette Robinson, Al Stripe, Jeff Aubry, Michael Kearns, Aravella Simotas, Barbara Clark, Sandra Galef, Earlene Hooper, Walter Mosley, Linda Rosenthal, Barbara Lifton, Didi Barrett, Bill Nojay, Amy Paulin, N. Nick Perry, James Skoufis, Alec Brook-Krasny, Vivian Cook, Jeffrey Dinowitz, Joseph Saladino, Alfred Graf, Kieran Lalor, Victor Pichardo, Karl Brabenec, Carmen Arroyo, Anthony Palumbo, Latrice Walker, Todd Kaminsky, Guillermo Linares, Brian Curran, Dean Murray, David Weprin, Mark Johns, Rodneyse Bichotte, Kenneth Blankenbush, Jim Brennan, John Ceretto, Clifford Crouch, Patricia Fahy, Deborah Glick, Phillip Goldfeder, Steve Hawlay, Andrew Hevesi, Steve Katz, Peter Lopez, Bill Magee, Feliz Ortiz, Gary Pretlow, Jose Rivera, Addie Russell, Jo Ann Simon, Claudia Tenney, Angela Wozniak
6-2-15 PR Sponsors Want Assembly Vote on CVA
Vatican defends Cardinal George Pell in child sex abuse scandal, News.com
/in International /by SOL ReformTHE Vatican has defended its finance chief, Australian Cardinal George Pell, after he was accused by one of Pope Francis’ commissioners for child protection of being almost sociopathic.
Spokesman Federico Lombardi says Peter Saunders, who called for Pell to be dismissed over allegations he covered up abuse and denigrated victims, was expressing his personal views and not speaking on behalf of the commission.
Lombardi told journalists Pell, formerly the top Catholic cleric in Australia, has replied to all questions posed by the authorities and his defence must be considered reliable and worthy of attention and respect.
Australia’s Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse yesterday requested Pell give evidence when the inquiry next meets at a date to be determined.
Pell says he will be present at the hearing.
Mr Saunders, an abuse survivor, made headlines earlier this week when he called on the Pope to sack Cardinal Pell as the Vatican’s financial chief over allegations he helped cover up pedophile activity in Australia.
Now Mr Saunders has revealed the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors may not be able to do its job properly due to a lack of resources.
“George Pell is in the Pope’s cabinet, the inner sanctum, and is in charge of Vatican finances,” he said.
“And the commission will largely be dictated to some extent by the resources that are made available to it … and my understanding is that there is some financial pressure already in this particular area and I’m pretty appalled at that.”
Mr Saunders said it was to the Pope’s “great credit” that he was looking to lay people — including some in Australia — to advise him.
But the British advocate noted the commission was only scheduled to meet twice yearly, which was inadequate.
“If the financial constraints on our work are imposed then that will hinder the ability of us to do that work,” he said.
“But that’s down to funding and resources, and who’s in charge of funding and resources in the Vatican? You know the answer to that.”
The 58-year-old said the church had to invest in child protection given its dreadful past. Despite having concerns, Mr Saunders remains confident Francis will ultimately do whatever’s necessary to ensure the commission is a success.
It was entirely possible the Pope — the head of a church comprising more than a billion people and hundreds of thousands of clergy — didn’t fully understand the history in Australia when he appointed Cardinal Pell, Mr Saunders said.
“There will be times when he doesn’t know the intricacies of everything that’s gone on in the background to issues around various clergy, possibly including George Pell,” he said.
“I think Pope Francis needs to read a little bit more and understand a little bit more about the anger that’s been expressed by victims all across Australia at the way in which George Pell has behaved.”
Mr Saunders, the founder of Britain’s National Association for People Abused in Childhood, is one of two victims of priest abuse on the Pope’s multinational commission.
He’s sure Francis is the man to right the wrongs of the past.
“I’m right behind him as I know all my fellow commission members are too,” Mr Saunders said, stressing his comments were made as a survivor and advocate, not in his role as a commissioner.
Cardinal Pell, who denies the cover-up allegations, said he was consulting his legal advisers after Mr Saunders said the Australian’s lack of care for victims was “almost sociopathic”.
Mr Saunders responded by stating the threat of legal action wasn’t surprising and he wouldn’t shut up for anyone.
Vatican defends Cardinal George Pell in child abuse scandal
Christian Alexanderson, AG’s Office turns down Sandusky sexual abuse complaint due to statute of limitations, Penn Live
/in Pennsylvania /by SOL ReformThe Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General says it decided not to approve a criminal sexual abuse complaint against Jerry Sandusky because the statute of limitations ran out.
Altoona attorney Daniel Kiss released a statement Wednesday that claimed his client was sexually abused by Sandusky while attending a football camp at Penn State in 1988. The victim sought criminal charges against Sandusky but was turned down by Attorney General Kathleen Kane’s office last week.
“The attorney reviewed the applicable statutes and found that the case couldn’t be filed because it had surpassed the statute of limitations,” said Chuck Ardo, Kane’s press secretary. “They just didn’t feel that the case could be filed under the statutes as written.”
State statutes, in most child sexual abuse cases occurring before August 2002, require criminal charges to be brought within 12 years of the victim’s 18th birthday. There can be some variations to that rule, however, if certain fact patterns apply.
Since the attorney general’s office decided not to prosecute the private criminal complaint against Sandusky, Kiss said he will file an appeal in Centre County Court next week to receive a court order that would force Kane’s office to prosecute the complaint.
“The opportunity to stare down their accuser is one of the biggest things in the healing process,” Kiss said.
Sandusky, the longtime defensive coordinator to legendary Penn State head football coach Joe Paterno, was convicted in June 2012 of molesting 10 boys whom he had met through his Second Mile youth charity activities.
He is currently serving a minimum 30-year state prison sentence for those crimes.
Kiss, a former child assault prosecutor in Blair County, said the attorney general’s office was not surprised by his decision to file an appeal.
“This is not a shock to them,” Kiss said. “I told them way back at the very, very beginning when we spoke to them ‘No matter what occurs, if you deny, we’re, of course, going to appeal because the reality is this kid needs justice.'”
Once the appeal is filed in Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Kiss said a judge will have carte blanche to decide how to proceed. The judge could decide to have a hearing, make a decision from the appeal motion or allow for full presentation of the evidence.
“It’s up to the court, how the court wants to rule,” Kiss said.
Kiss, who is only handling the victim’s criminal complaint, said he believes the victim has sought a civil settlement.
Kenneth Feinberg, whose law firm Feinberg & Rozen was hired by Penn State to mediate the Sandusky claims, said he neither confirm nor deny if the victim’s case was reviewed for a civil settlement.
“It’s all confidential, I can’t respond,” Feinberg said. “When we do these mediations, they are done under an absolute confidentiality agreement so that even the filing of a civil mediation would remain sealed.”
A 2014 CNN story, which Kiss indicates is about his client, says the victim had refused to settle with Penn State.
“He and his family said they didn’t feel Penn State’s settlement offer was fair, given the fact that three university officials have been charged with knowing about abuse in 1998 and in 2001, and not doing enough to stop it,” the CNN story says.
Kiss said the criminal and civil cases are completely separate. The outcome of one, he said, should not affect the other.
“Everybody’s opinion is ‘Oh, he just wants more money,'” Kiss said. “The reality is they should not have any affect on one another whatsoever.”
Full article: http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2015/05/ags_office_turns_down_sandusky.html
Kay Steiger, What Beau Biden Wanted Everyone To Know About The Issue That Defined His Career, Think Progress
/in Delaware, Federal /by SOL ReformBeau Biden, son of the vice president, died tragically at the age of 46 from brain cancer on Saturday, but some may not realize that a cause Biden devoted himself to was trying to raise awareness about child sexual abuse.
While Biden served as attorney general in Delaware, a position to which he was elected in 2006, he brought a successful indictment against Dr. Earl Bradley in 2010. The pediatrician was charged with 471 felony counts of child abuse involving 102 girls and one boy. Bradley was convicted in 2011, but sought appeal of his case on the grounds of ineffective counsel last year.
“I cannot say certain things that I am feeling, and I am feeling a great deal. I am determined to see that this defendant will never, ever be in a position again to hurt another child,” Biden said in a statement following the indictment.
Biden became something of a national spokesman on the issue, even speaking about the crimes of Penn State’s former assistant coach Jerry Sandusky. (His father, Joe Biden, was an early supporter of the Violence Against Women Act, which targeted domestic violence.)
“It’s adults’ responsibility to protect kids. It’s not the kids’ responsibility to protect themselves from these predators…. There need to be consequences for violating the law,” he said when interviewed by ABC News.
He also penned an op-ed for the News-Journal, highlighting his work withDarkness to Light Foundation’s “Stewards of Children” program and its partnership with the state of Delaware. The program teaches “adults how to spot the signs of child abuse and the importance of immediately reporting the abuse to authorities.”
According to the foundation, nearly one in ten children suffers from childhood sexual abuse, with about one in seven girls and one in 25 boys experiencing such abuse before they turn 18. For reasons that are unclear, the identified incidents of child sexual abuse have declined about 47 percent from 1993 to 2005-2006. The Department of Justice has found similar statistics.
One of the reasons that childhood sexual abuse is so difficult to tackle is that an estimated 90 precent of victims know their abuser and 30 percent are abused by family members. Sometimes children are abused by older children. Yet just 38 percent of victims disclose the fact that they have been sexually abused — and far fewer incidents are reported to authorities. Darkness to Light further points out that not all abusers are pedophiles, and there are “situational” abusers who often begin abusing children later in life. LGBT youth are at far greater risk of experiencing childhood sexual abuse, perhaps because abusers target a vulnerable population. Biden also supportedDelaware’s protections for gender identity non-discrimination, which can protect transgender youth from stigma they face.
There has been a recent movement to address the issue of childhood sexual abuse and pedophilia in a more complex way, with Canadian researcher James Cantor calling for more mental health treatment of those experiencing pedophilia, but who haven’t abused anyone, to seek counseling without fear of counselors reporting them to the police.
“As adults, we have a legal and moral obligation to stand up and speak out for children who are being abused – they cannot speak for themselves,” Biden wrote in his op-ed
What Beau Biden Wanted Everyone To Know About The Issue That Defined His Career _ ThinkProgress
Michael D. Schmidt & Michael D. Shear, Hastert Case Is Said to Be Linked to Decades-Old Sexual Abuse, NY Times
/in Illinois /by SOL ReformHastert Case Is Said to Be Linked to Decades-Old Sexual Abuse – NYTimes