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parentingguide8-blog · 6 years ago

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Parents Of Slain DNC Staffer Sue Fox News Over Fake News Story

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Parents Of Slain DNC Staffer Sue Fox News Over Fake News Story

The parents of Seth Rich, a Democratic National Committee staffer who was killed in 2016, filed a lawsuit on Tuesday against Fox News, one of its reporters and a network guest over a retracted story that connected their son’s death to a “baseless” conspiracy theory.

“No parent should ever have to live through what we have been forced to endure,” Joel and Mary Rich said in a statement following the suit’s filing in the Southern District of New York. “The pain and anguish that comes from seeing your murdered son’s life and legacy treated as a mere political football is beyond comprehension.”

The suit, first reported by ABC News, claims Fox News, investigative reporter Malia Zimmerman and network regular Ed Butowsky “intentionally exploited” Rich’s death “through lies, misrepresentations and half-truths.”

The suit also accuses Fox News of contacting Rich’s parents “under false pretenses” for the purposes of developing their “sham story.”

Reacting to the suit, Butowsky told ABC News that it was “one of the dumbest” things he’d ever seen.

“Nobody’s benefited from anything,” Butowsky said. “To file a lawsuit to say that anybody has benefited just smells weird.”

Fox News declined to comment, citing pending litigation.

Rich, 27, was killed in his Washington, D.C., neighborhood in July 2016 in what police said was a botched robbery. The crime remains unsolved.

In the weeks after the killing, a conspiracy theory began spreading on social media and far-right websites that Rich had leaked thousands of DNC emails to WikiLeaks.

In May 2017, Fox News published an article, written by Zimmerman, that repeated this false theory. The story, which suggested that Rich’s murder was somehow linked to the “leak,” was robustly promoted on the network by Sean Hannity and “Fox & Friends” co-host Steve Doocy.

After public backlash, Fox News retracted the story about a week later, and said the article “was not initially subjected to the high degree of editorial scrutiny.” The network neither apologized for the bogus story nor explained how it came to be published.

In their lawsuit, Rich’s parents describe the turmoil and “severe emotional harm” the story caused them. Both now struggle with post-traumatic stress disorder and obsessive-compulsive disorder, the suit says, noting that for Rich’s mother, the experience of dealing with the false article was akin to “burying her son all over again.”

“Joel and Mary Rich have brought this case to hold [the defendants] accountable for their reprehensible actions,” the couple’s attorney Leonard Gail said in a statement. “Whether motivated by party politics, ratings, corporate profit or personal gain, we hope to help prevent this kind of malicious and reckless behavior in the future so that others can be spared the hell the Riches have had to endure.”

Rod Wheeler, a private investigator and Fox News contributor, sued Fox News in August, accusing the network of fabricating quotes attributed to him in the false leak story. Wheeler, who was approached by Butowsky and later hired by Rich’s parents to investigate their son’s slaying, also claimed that President Donald Trump had pressed for the article’s publication — a claim the White House denied.

Fox News filed a motion in September to move the suit to arbitration or have it dismissed.

RELATED…

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When It Comes To The Seth Rich Conspiracies, Enough Is Enough

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Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/

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parentingguide8-blog · 6 years ago

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LGBT row teacher 'threatened by parents'

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LGBT row teacher 'threatened by parents'

Image caption Andrew Moffat said the No Outsiders project was about community cohesion and learning to live in modern Britain

A primary school teacher says he has received threats from parents amid protests over teachings about LGBT rights and homophobia.

Demonstrations against the classes have been held outside Parkfield Community School in Alum Rock, Birmingham.

Assistant head Andrew Moffat, who is gay, said he had received “nasty emails” and threats, including one which warned he “wouldn’t last long”.

Protesters have accused him of promoting “personal beliefs”.

Chants of “say no to Moffat” were heard when about 100 people gathered outside the school for the latest protest.

About 741 pupils attend the school, rated “outstanding” by Ofsted, in the predominantly Muslim area.

Some parents at Parkfield are unhappy young children are being taught about same sex couples and the “gender identity” elements of the programme.

A petition against the teachings has now amassed more than 400 signatures.

Image caption About 100 people gathered outside the school gates for the latest demonstration

“I’ve had some nasty emails, I’ve had some comments on messenger,” said Mr Moffat, who was made an MBE for services to equality and diversity in education in 2017.

“I have felt very threatened… it’s been a challenging couple of weeks.

“However, what keeps me going is the support from the school which is absolutely brilliant, the DfE, Ofsted, the city council.

“There are lots of people recognising that this work is important and that’s what you have to hold on to.”

Image caption Parents tied signs to iron railings outside the primary school

The No Outsiders project was first created and piloted by Mr Moffat at the school in 2014 and aims to educate children to accept differences in society.

Dozens of schools across England now teach the same programme, he said.

Mr Moffat resigned from a previous teaching post after a row with Christian parents over teachings about challenging homophobia.

Protesters, who have held a number of demonstrations outside the school gates, claim he is “promoting… personal beliefs and convictions about universal acceptability of homosexuality as being normal and morally correct”.

Parents protest over LGBT rights teaching

‘Gay conversion therapy’ to be banned

Read more: http://thoughtcatalog.com/

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parentingguide8-blog · 6 years ago

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Son Planned Fake Robbery at Parents HomeAll Three Wound Up Dead

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Son Planned Fake Robbery at Parents HomeAll Three Wound Up Dead

It was so simple.

Matthew Lindquist, a 21-year-old Connecticut man, wanted to exchange his dads guns for drugs, so he came up with a plan to fake a robbery at his parents house, intending to blame it on two black guys, according to an arrest affidavit unsealed Tuesday. But the plot went horribly awryand Lindquist and his parents ended up dead.

It all began days before Christmas, when Lindquist made a deal with another man, Sergio Correa, promising to give him his dad's guns in exchange for drugs, according to the 17-page arrest affidavit. Together, the pair would fake the robbery, with Correa tying up Matthew to make it look real, the affidavit says.

If u pull up street from my house and give me a stack Ill show you right where safe is, Matthew Lindquist told Correa in a text on December 19, according to court records.

But moments before executing the plan, Lindquist got panicky and fidgety and tried to run away, Correas non-biological sister Ruth, who was with the two men that night and ultimately charged in the killings, told police.Thats when Sergio Correa hit Lindquist on the back of the head with a machetethen gave his knife to Ruth Correa, who told cops she stabbed Lindquist about 10 times, according to the affidavit. The duo went on to kill Kenneth and Janet Lindquist, steal their belongings, and burn their Griswold home to the ground, Ruth Correa told investigators in May.

Correa was arrested on May 12 and charged with murder, first-degree arson, home invasion, and first-degree robbery in a New London Superior Court, The Washington Post reported. The 23-year-old claimed that Sergio Correa, who has not been charged in the case, is to blame for most of the violence. Hes currently in prison for an unrelated probation violation, and his lawyer, William Gerace, maintains his 26-year-old client was not involved in the scheme, according to the Hartford Courant.

Ruth Correa told police that after stabbing Lindquist and leaving him for dead, they made their way into the house but were surprised by the presence of his 56-year-old father, Kenneth Lindquist. Sergio Correa quickly hit him with a baseball bat, Ruth Correa claimed in the affidavit. Janet, who was 61 years old, later approached them, but Ruth Correa took her to a bedroom, saying she did not have to see this, according to the affidavit.

Correa told investigators she began to loot the homewith her brother grabbing the gunsand took the items to the getaway car. During one of her trips back into the home, she witnessed Sergio Correa choking Janet Lindquist with a string or a rope until she stopped moving, the affidavit says. When Ruth Correa went back into the home a little later, Sergio was strangling the woman again with his foot pressed into her backand said he saw Lindquist trying to reach for her phone, the Post reported.

Before leaving, Sergio Correa lit an exercise ball on fire after directing his sister to pour flammable liquid throughout the home, according to the affidavit.

Ruth Correa told investigators she did not know Kenneth Lindquist was killed but saw his body in the hallway. Lindquist died of homicidal violence including multiple skull fractures and traumatic brain injuries, while Janet Lindquist died of homicidal violence including blunt impact injuries to the head, along with smoke injuries, according to the Courant.

Ruth is scheduled to appear in court on June 6, the Courant reported.

Friends and family of Matthew Lindquist said hed recently lost his job before his death and his dependency on drugs had caused conflict with his father. Two months earlier, Lindquist had a stint in rehab, his sister, Danielle T. Nichols, told authorities.

Sergio Correa has a history of arson and robbery: In 2008, he was arrested twice for "first-degree attempted robbery with a deadly weapon, first-degree assault, first-degree larceny, second-degree arson and criminal use of a weapon," according to the Courant.

According to the affidavit, Ruth Correa once confessed the details of a robbery-turned-arson to a security guard, telling him she has a thing of putting stuff in a guys drink, roofies them, gets them high, then takes their money and whatever she can get of value.

Read more: https://www.thedailybeast.com

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parentingguide8-blog · 6 years ago

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Children and parents reported sex abuse for years in central Germany. Why did no one believe them?

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Children and parents reported sex abuse for years in central Germany. Why did no one believe them?

(CNN)Rumors had swirled around Andreas V. for years; locals whispered about his behavior with children, to whom he offered pony rides and quad bike tours.

Police in nearby Lippe say they believe Andreas V. abused dozens of children over decades, even using his six-year-old foster daughter as “bait” to lure in his young victims. In December, German police arrested Andreas V—German privacy law does not allow police to give the full names of suspects—and he remains in police custody, while the list of his alleged victims continues to grow.

His lawyer declined to comment on the allegations.

The story of Michaela

One alleged victim, who we’ll identify only as “Michaela” to protect her and her family’s privacy, said she first met Andreas V. 30 years ago when he was 16 and she was 9.

“My father had a camper with my grandparents at the camping site, adjacent to Andreas’ family van. We were there a lot. It was a real camping community. Like a big family,” she told CNN in a phone interview.

“My father allowed him to stay at our house and, for some reason, Andreas always slept in my room. That’s when he touched me for the first time.”

She says she was 11 when the abuse began.

“I told my father: ‘I don’t want Andreas to sleep with me because he touches me.’ But my dad said: ‘No, that’s not true. He would not do that.’ He just ignored me,” she told CNN, her voice breaking. “And if you are not believed as a child, you give up hope at that age of 16 or 17. So, I kept silent for all those years. I did not tell anyone.”

Michaela says her father has since been questioned by the police. Prosecutors have confirmed that the father of one victim had been questioned, but would not confirm if it was Michaela��s father. CNN’s attempts to contact him have not been successful.

German police believe Andreas V. went on to become the ringleader of a pedophile gang that used his family’s camper van as its base of operations for decades, abusing dozens of children and recording their crimes for profit on the dark web.

Authorities say they collected ten computers, nine mobile phones, more than 40 hard drives and more than 400 additional data carriers as evidence from Andreas V and two other men.

The case has scandalized the nation, especially after police recently admitted that some of the data confiscated as evidence has been “lost” while in police hands.

Germans are left wondering how both law enforcement and social services failed to stop the abuse, despite numerous red flags.

Hiding in plain sight

In November of last year, police received a report that Andreas V. had sexually abused a six-year old child who had gone to his home for a play-date with his foster-daughter; he was arrested several weeks later.

When investigators broke the lock on the camper van where he lived, they found a jumble of furniture and clothing, along with 15 terabytes of data stashed in various hiding places, including a USB stick embedded in the joint of a chair, police said in a press statement following the arrest.

Two other men, a 48-year old and a 33-year old, were arrested on suspicion of exchanging child pornography with Andreas V.

“The investigations so far give reason to fear that the perpetrators have committed more than 1,000 acts of abuse, going back to the year 2008,” police said in an initial statement.

“In addition to investigating allegations of serious sexual abuse, more lines of investigation have emerged including child pornography, extending to the internet. Furthermore, the offices responsible for child care in the district of Lippe are being investigated for possible criminal acts,” said the statement.

But that was only the beginning.

More cases come to light

Parents had tried to raise the alarm about Andreas V. before.

In 2016, a local father, Jens Ruzsitska, said he had seen Andreas V. groping children at a birthday party. Ruzsitska punched him and accused him of “feeling up” the children before storming out.

Police confirmed to CNN that Ruzsitska filed a police report of the incident at the time but say no further action was taken.

Asked why no action was taken back then, the local prosecutor told CNN: “All evidence is being pursed and taken seriously.”

Despite this allegation against him, Andreas V. was granted permission to become the guardian of a six-year-old foster daughter that same year.

The local Youth Welfare Office has now launched an investigation into how Andreas V. was allowed to become a foster parent.

When contacted by CNN, the Youth Welfare Office confirmed Andreas V. had been reported twice in 2016 for “possible child endangerment,” even as Andreas V was regularly being assessed by youth welfare officers. In October of that year, however, the youth welfare office found no evidence of child endangerment and granted him guardianship of the foster child.

However, District Administrator Tjark Bartels, who has responsibility for overseeing the Youth Welfare Office, told CNN there is now evidence that Andreas V.’s application to become a foster parent had been manipulated and “beautified.”

“An employee has admitted that he subsequently manipulated the files of the Youth Welfare Office, adding a note to complete the file,” Bartels said in a statement sent to CNN. Bartels would not clarify how the file had been manipulated, citing the ongoing investigation.

The employee has been suspended and is currently under investigation by the state prosecutor to find out what links, if any, he has to Andreas V.

Police now believe that Andreas V. not only abused the foster child he was supposed to look after, but that he also used her to lure other child victims.

According to investigators, there are at least 40 victims, aged four to 13 at the time of the abuse, including his foster daughter. Police have warned that the number of victims will likely rise as they continue to sift through his cache of recordings.

“This foster child was used as bait, to lure and attract other children,” said Roman von Alvenleben, a lawyer who represents the family of one 10-year old girl allegedly abused by Andreas V. “They got to know each other at birthday parties and play dates. That’s what my client’s mother did. She was not aware of what was really going on.”

Police lose evidence

As if failing to act on reports of child abuse wasn’t bad enough, now police have admitted that evidence — at least 155 CDs and DVDs confiscated from Andreas V.’s home — has been lost while in police custody. The material was kept in an aluminum suitcase and a black folder that was supposed to have been sealed as evidence. It was reported as missing weeks later.

The state prosecutor launched an investigation which he said “assumes the evidence cannot be found due to careless handling and that it was not stolen, although, such a possibility cannot be excluded.”

In a statement to the press, Lippe Police Chief Axel Lehman said the lost data amounted to only a small fraction of the evidence against Andreas V. and would not affect the prosecution case.

Still, he admitted, “These are blatant mistakes that have been made by police in Lippe. This stuns me and clearly it should not have happened. I express my apologies to all those who were affected.”

Parents lose trust in police

For Michaela, the lost evidence is only the latest breach of trust by police.

“I have had enough about the lies. The police. The youth welfare office. The evidence that suddenly goes missing.” She told CNN. “So many children suffered sexual abuse here — children who are now psychologically scarred, for the rest of their lives. I know because that’s what happened to me. That’s why I’m speaking up now.”

Her own painful experience seems to be part of a traumatic pattern that has unwittingly been repeated in her own family.

Last summer, she allowed her 16-year-old daughter to spend the weekend with other teenagers at the Luegde campsite, the community’s main summer retreat, on the condition that she stay well away from Andreas V.’s camper van.

Weeks later, her daughter broke down in tears and told her she had blacked out after drinking alcohol and woke up to find an adult man on top of her while another man watched.

Michaela says she immediately filed a police report and informed the Youth Welfare office but the case was dismissed for lack of evidence. In a letter seen by CNN, the local prosecutor informed Michaela and her daughter last year that “there is no evidence of rape by the accused,” adding that there was no evidence the teenager had either verbally or physically resisted the alleged assault.

“But does a girl fight back when she’s incapacitated?” asked Michaela. “When there are two men in the room? How is she supposed to fight back?”

It was only after Andreas V.’s arrest weeks later that Michaela discovered that the two men her daughter had identified had also been arrested and linked to Andreas V.’s alleged pedophile network.

Police have now reopened the case, but it has only fueled her anger and distrust of the police.

“We don’t know if the evidence police have — or whatever they lost — contains any pictures of my daughter,” Michaela told CNN. “Or even myself. It is a nerve-wracking situation. It could well be that they discovered evidence from all those years ago.”

Abuse on the dark web

Police are now investigating whether Andreas V. operated a business recording the abuse and selling videos of it on the dark web.

German prosecutors have just concluded the trial of several administrators of Elysium, one of the largest chat forums in the world for child abuse and pornography. Based in Germany, the site had racked up more than 110,000 users before it was shut down in 2017. Four men were convicted on various charges of child pornography and operating an illegal site, with each sentenced approximately to 10 years in prison.

For families of the Luegde victims, there are too many troubling questions that have not yet been answered, including whether their abuse was recorded on the videos and photographs now held by police.

“Why are CDs disappearing? Who was on those CDs? Is someone being protected? We have to ask these questions,” said lawyer Roman von Alvensleben.

“Fifteen terabytes of data were found, reportedly videos were sent out and possibly a business was operated. It must become clear who had access to that data and who else was involved. I suspect there are still many other connections,” von Alvensleben added.

A trial date for Andreas V. has not yet been set; the investigation continues to expand as new victims come forward, and investigators have warned that the number of victims is likely to rise.