Sex abuse Archives

Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist arrested in Calif. on child pornography charges

January 16, 2025

A Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist has been arrested in California for allegedly possessing child pornography. Detectives say some of the images were created using artificial intelligence.

The Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office executed a search warrant at the home of 49-year-old Darrin Bell on Wednesday, Jan. 15, after authorities received a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

Initially, the tip concerned someone uploading 18 files containing child sex abuse material. Investigators said they ultimately found 134 child pornography videos linked to the same account, which they believe was controlled by Bell.

Before Jan. 1, possession of computer-generated child sex abuse material was not illegal in California. However, state lawmakers passed a bill criminalizing AI-generated child pornography in September, and Gov. Gavin Newsom signed the legislation into law.

California State Sen. Marc Berman, D-Menlo Park, co-author of the bill, said: “Some people might say, ‘Well, there’s no victim,’ because the image is not of an actual child. But I would argue that all the thousands of children whose images were used, scraped off the internet, scraped off of school websites, scraped off of public social media profiles… all of those children are abused when their images are used to create this terrible content.”

The sheriff’s office says this is the first arrest it has made in which a suspect has been charged with possessing computer-generated or AI child pornography.

It remains unclear, however, whether the California law will stand. In 2002, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down portions of the federal Child Pornography Prevention Act of 1996. They ruled that graphic manipulation of images — even if they depict children appearing to engage in sex — is protected under the First Amendment.

It is also unclear if all of the images allegedly in Bell’s possession were computer-generated or real.

Bell is currently in custody, being held on $1 million bail. He is scheduled to appear in court on Friday, Jan. 17.

‘Pizzagate’ gunman dies after being shot by police during traffic stop

January 10, 2025

The man who fired a gun inside a Washington, D.C. restaurant in 2016 allegedly motivated by a conspiracy theory called “pizzagate” is dead. Authorities said he police in North Carolina killed him on Saturday, Jan. 4.

Officials said the shooting happened in Kannapolis, North Carolina. Police said they pulled over a car in which Edgar Maddison Welch was the passenger.

One of the officers said they noticed the vehicle belonged to Welch. Officers said they’d arrested Welch in the past. He also had an outstanding warrant out for his arrest for a felony probation violation.

When officers went up to the car to arrest Welch, he pulled out a gun and pointed it at one of the officers, according to authorities.

Officers said they shouted orders for Welch to drop the handgun. However, he refused and was shot.

Welch died a couple of days later from his wounds. No other people were hurt in the shooting, according to police.

Law enforcement confirmed on Thursday, Jan. 9, that Welch is the same person sentenced to four years in prison for the “pizzagate” incident.

In 2016, Welch fired his gun inside Comet Ping Pong, a Washington D.C. pizza shop, after a slew of false internet claims accused the pizzeria of holding children as sex slaves as part of a child-sex abuse ring led by Hillary Clinton.

Police said that Welch drove six hours from North Carolina to Washington, D.C. to investigate the unfounded allegations, bringing several guns with him.

As Welch entered the restaurant armed, people fled from the scene. Welch then reportedly shot at a locked closet. After he realized no children were being held captive, he surrendered to police.

Welch pleaded guilty to gun-related charges and assault with a deadly weapon in 2017.

The judge who sentenced Welch to four years in prison at the time was now-Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson.

The shooting death of Welch is under investigation and the officers involved in the incident are on administrative leave as part of protocol, according to North Carolina officials.

OpenAI boss Sam Altman faces sex abuse lawsuit from sister

January 8, 2025

The sister of OpenAI CEO Sam Altman filed a lawsuit this week accusing her brother of repeatedly sexually abusing her when she was a minor. Ann Altman, now 31, filed the suit in Missouri, saying the abuse started when she was 3 years old.

Sam Altman shot to fame in recent years as OpenAI’s ChatGPT platform became one of the world’s most-used websites. Under Altman’s leadership, OpenAI reached a funding deal valuing the company at over $150 billion.

Ann Altman has made similar claims and accusations on social media for years.

Her lawsuit states she experienced PTSD and severe mental health issues from the alleged abuse.

The BBC reported on a court filing from the lawsuit, in which Ann Altman claimed “her brother ‘groomed and manipulated’ her and performed sex acts on her over several years, including ‘rape, sexual assault, molestation, sodomy, and battery.’”

Sam Altman posted a statement to X on behalf of himself, his mother and two younger brothers, saying, “Annie continues to demand more money from us. In this vein, Annie has made deeply hurtful and entirely untrue statements about our family, and especially Sam.”

Iran executed over 900 people in 2024, most in nearly a decade: Report

January 7, 2025

Iran reportedly executed more than 900 people last year, including dozens of women and five juveniles. It’s the most people the country has killed in nearly a decade, according to numbers compiled by the United Nations Human Rights Office.

The country hung more than 30 women. Some of those women were reportedly convicted of killing their husbands after fending off rapes or being forced into marriage.

Human rights officials said one of the executed women strangled her husband after discovering him and his friends raping her young daughter.

Government-sanctioned killings

The U.N. report revealed Iran executed around 40 people in a single week in December 2024.

Most of the government-sanctioned killings were for drug-related offenses. Still, Iran also executed activists and people connected to the 2022 protests, which were sparked by a 22-year-old woman’s death in police custody.

Iran reportedly executed nearly 90 people in August 2024 after the presidential election, which included some individuals sentenced to death for political and security-related charges.

The U.N. Human Rights chief called the numbers “deeply disturbing” and urged Iran to stop all further executions with the ultimate goal of ending the death penalty.

Violating international law

A U.N. Human Rights Office spokesperson said the office compiled the figures using data from several organizations, including Iran’s Human Rights Activists News Agency (IHRANA), Iran Human Rights (IHR) and Hengaw, a Kurdish human rights group.

IHR said this is the most women it has seen executed since it began tracking numbers 17 years ago.

IHRANA said it found Iran killed five juveniles. Capital punishment for juveniles is a violation of international law.

According to human rights organization Amnesty International, Iran accounted for nearly 75% of all executions globally in 2023.

The group said the numbers exclude China, which it believes executes thousands of people each year, but whose death penalty data is classified.

OnlyFans accused of hosting accounts featuring child sexual abuse material: Report

December 23, 2024

Adult site OnlyFans is accused of having more than two dozen accounts containing sexual content featuring underage teenage girls, according to a report by Reuters. An investigator with the Canadian Open-Source Intelligence Centre reported to authorities that 26 OnlyFans accounts contained child sexual abuse material.

The investigator described the young girls depicted in the material as appearing to lack physical maturation. Reuters reports the young girls had narrow shoulders, and the investigator estimated they were “well short of five feet tall.”

OnlyFans removed the 26 accounts from the platform within a day of the investigator submitting the findings on Dec. 16.

The investigator believes the same person or group may have controlled all the accounts. In some cases, the profile photo for these accounts showed an adult woman. However, the posts featured images of suspected underage girls along with their OnlyFans account names.

A spokesperson for OnlyFans told Reuters that the company has a “zero tolerance approach” to child sexual abuse material on the platform. The spokesperson also noted that OnlyFans has a “strict onboarding process to ensure all creators are over the age of 18.”

On its website, OnlyFans states that users and fans must be at least 18. Creators also have to upload a valid form of identification and two photos.

Paris Hilton hints at potential political bid after youth welfare bill passes

December 19, 2024

After the Stop Institutional Child Abuse Act passed in Congress, Paris Hilton said she might consider adding another title to her résumé. The heiress, socialite, reality TV star and DJ was one of the act’s biggest advocates.

After it passed in the House on Wednesday, Dec. 18, a reporter asked Hilton if she could see a future in elected office.

“After coming here [to Capitol Hill] so many times over the past couple years and just seeing that my voice really can make a difference and I can really shine a spotlight on things that are important around the world to make it a better place and safer for children, I can maybe see that happening one day,” she replied.

Today is a day I will never forget. After years of sharing my story and advocating on Capitol Hill, the Stop Institutional Child Abuse Act has officially passed the U.S Congress. This moment is proof that our voices matter, that speaking out can spark change, and that no child… pic.twitter.com/NUYLMJyDpC
— Paris Hilton (@ParisHilton) December 18, 2024

The Stop Institutional Child Abuse Act was introduced to Congress in April 2023. Not long after, Hilton released a memoir about her experience of being abused at a boarding school for troubled teens. She discussed it in depth before that in her 2020 documentary “This Is Paris.”

Now, the legislation heads to President Joe Biden’s desk to be signed into law. It pushes for more transparency and accountability in youth residential programs. It also calls for more protection for those housed within these facilities. The bill will also reform how the facilities operate to “ensure they provide a safe, supportive and nurturing environment.”

It cleared the Senate unanimously last week and passed in the House on Wednesday with only 33 “no” votes.

US to payout nearly $116M to victims of sexual abuse at Calif. prison

December 17, 2024

The U.S. Bureau of Prisons agreed on Tuesday, Dec. 17, to a historic payout of nearly $116 million to more than 100 survivors of sexual abuse at a California women’s prison. The now-shuttered prison facility, internally dubbed “the rape club,” was plagued by rampant accusations of sexual abuse of prisoners by staff.

Eight former prison employees, including the former warden, have been convicted of sex crimes. Additionally, more than 20 workers were placed on leave and under investigation.

Officials announced the permanent closure of the Federal Correctional Institution in Dublin, California, in December 2024.

Tuesday’s settlement is reportedly the largest single payout in the U.S. Bureau of Prisons history. Under the agreement, each of the 103 women will be paid around $1.1 million.

One of the sexual abuse victims told the Associated Press that she hopes the settlement will help the healing process, but warned that “money will not repair” the harm done to them “or free survivors who continue to suffer in prison.”

The payout is a breakthrough for advocates fighting to end sexual abuse across the U.S. federal prison system.

A U.S. Senate inquiry in 2022 found that sexual abuse by staff against inmates happened at two-thirds of federal prisons in the United States over the past decade.

The settlement on Tuesday follows a separate class-action lawsuit last week in which the U.S. Bureau of Prisons agreed have some of its facilities court-monitored and publicly acknowledged rampant sexual abuse at FCI Dublin.

Child sex abuse allegations emerge against Christian ‘Two by Twos’ sect

December 16, 2024

As more allegations of child sex abuse emerge publicly, the FBI is investigating a little-known Christian sect known as the “Two by Twos.” Recent allegations have emerged against more than 900 different abusers in 30 countries, all tied to the sect, known to followers as “The Truth” or “The Way.”

The Associated Press released a report this week on the abuse allegations against the sect.

The outlet found the sect’s approach of encouraging preachers to stay in followers’ homes enabled potential abuse.
Then, a culture of mercy and believing that God has already forgiven sins allowed abusers to avoid punishment.
In several cases, the AP found letters and documents showing the sect didn’t follow state laws requiring religious leaders and other authority figures to report allegations of child abuse.

The AP report said sect leaders have acknowledged issues with the abuse and tried to figure out policies they can apply. However, the report states sect leaders declined or didn’t respond to interview requests.

Because the sect doesn’t have as formal of an infrastructure as other institutions accused of facilitating abuse, like the Boy Scouts of America and the Catholic church, it may not be possible for the sect to pay settlements to survivors.

Catholic church closings in Baltimore leave some parishioners angry and upset

November 26, 2024

Thanksgiving week brings the end of an era for many Catholic churches in Baltimore. The Archdiocese of Baltimore, the oldest in the country, is downsizing. It is going from 61 parishes to 30 worship and ministry sites, with many of the changes starting with Masses this Sunday, Dec. 1.

Archbishop William Lori called the decision difficult, but with an eye toward the future. He said many churches in Baltimore were built when the Catholic church was thriving with 1 million parishioners in the 1950’s. That number has fallen by almost half to about 570,000.

In 2023, the archdiocese declared bankruptcy after hundreds of claims of priest sex abuse that spanned decades. The archbishop insists the consolidation and closing of parishes was not a result of the scandal. Instead, the archdiocese issued a statement saying, “We have known for a long time that we could not continue to ignore the decline in Mass attendance and increased resources required to keep up with building and property maintenance.”

Some parishioners are furious. Ralph Moore of St. Ann’s Catholic Church told WBAL-TV he’s angry with the archdiocese because he believes his parish is financially stable and the church, as well as the rectory, are in good condition.

Our Lady of Pompeii was founded by Italian immigrants in the 1920’s. 100 years later it’s closing. One parishioner told WBAL-TV she’s heartbroken after five generations of her family celebrated Mass there.

Other large diocese including Chicago, Pittsburgh and Buffalo, New York have also reorganized and closed churches in recent years.

Oregon school failed to report sex abuse since 2019, 2 teachers charged

November 18, 2024

Two teachers from St. Helens High School in Oregon were charged Tuesday, Nov. 12, with sexually abusing students. However, authorities said the school never reported these allegations to police even though the alleged abuse dates back to 2019.

Officials said the charges against Eric Stearns, 46, and Mark Collins, 64, involve the abuse of nine female students over four years, from 2019 to 2023.

The news has prompted protests, online petitions, and calls for the resignation of school leaders.

On Thursday, Nov. 14, Principal Katy Wagner was placed on administrative leave. School Board Chairman Ryan Scholl resigned the same day. School officials later placed Superintendent Scott Stockwell on leave the following day.

Jennifer L. Myrick, Stearns’ lawyer, has denied the charges. She claims the investigation unfairly conflated Stearns’ case with that of Collins and accusing authorities of mishandling the case. It’s unclear if Collins has legal representation.

In response to the allegations, Wagner sent an email to the school community on Sept. 14, acknowledging the concerns raised by the community. She emphasized the importance of trust between students and staff, but didn’t directly address the district’s failure to report the abuse.

Officials closed St. Helens High School after the allegations. Officials said staff are currently preparing for their return in a safer environment.

The abuse cases aren’t the first at the school. In 2019, a teacher, Kyle Wroblewski, pleaded guilty to sexual abuse, leading to a $3.5 million settlement with his victim.

St. Helens High School currently teaches nearly 1,000 students.