|
Archives > Volume 7 Issue 17 - March 13, 2009 German teen kills 15 in school shooting spree...A 17-year-old wielding a Beretta 9 mm pistol burst into classrooms at his former high school in Germany and gunned down students-some of whom died with their pencils still in hand-in a rampage that ended with 15 dead before he took his own life, authorities said. Fox News story here 
There was no immediate indication of motive, but the gunman's victims were primarily female: eight of nine students killed were girls, and all three teachers were women. Three men were killed later as the suspect fled.
The gunman-dressed in all black-took students in the first classroom completely by surprise on Wednesday, evidenced by the morbid scene that awaited the first officers to arrive, said regional police director Ralf Michelfelder. "Children were sitting at their tables, with pencils still in their hands, their heads fallen over on the table," he said. "Most of them had shots in their head-it must have all happened in seconds." Police said the suspect was a German teen who was a below-average student at the school of about 1,000 pupils, but managed to graduate last year. A sister still attends the school. The psychological profile of the teen began to take shape Thursday, as investigators described a withdrawn young man from an intact family who broke off psychiatric treatment for depression. ABC News story here But investigators faced a setback as they struggled to authenticate a chat room posting that purportedly warned of a bloody rampage hours before 17-year-old Tim Kretschmer wreaked havoc on this quiet town near Stuttgart, southwest Germany. A joint statement released late Thursday by regional police and Stuttgart prosecutors said that, "in the course of the afternoon, doubts arose about the veracity of the Internet chat." For updates on this story, visit New York Times updates blog. Annual Catholic Bishops' review shows more old abuse claims... Roman Catholic dioceses and religious orders saw a rise in molestation claims against clergy last year, according to a new report from U.S. bishops. AP News story here Nearly all the 803 cases involved adults who said they had been abused as children decades ago. 
Church leaders paid less in settlements, attorney fees and other abuse-related costs. Still, the amount reached just over $436 million, bringing the total payouts for abuse to more than $2.6 billion since 1950, according to studies commissioned by the prelates.
The statistics are part of an annual review of child safety in American dioceses and religious orders that is mandated by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. The report is set to be released Friday. The Associated Press obtained a copy. As part of the review, auditors found that all but one of the dioceses they evaluated had fully implemented the bishops' child protection policies by the end of the year. The safeguards include background checks for employees and volunteers, safe environment training for children and a discipline plan for offenders that removes them from any public church work. Dioceses increased their spending on safety programs to $23 million in 2008. Two dioceses-in Lincoln, Nebraska and Baker, Oregon-refused to participate in the audit. Five eparchies, or regional districts for parishes that follow the Eastern rite, also refused. The reports from the bishops are part of the reforms they enacted in 2002, at the height of the scandal, which began with the case of one predatory priest in the Archdiocese of Boston and spread throughout the U.S. and beyond. Thousands of clergy have been accused since 1950. The number of abuse claims in 2008 increased by 16 percent over 2007, when 691 claims were made. Similar to past years, more than 80 percent of the clergy accused in 2008 are dead, missing or already out of public ministry or the priesthood altogether. However, 40 percent of the men accused last year had never been named in previous abuse cases. Following a pattern that researchers discovered in previous studies, most of the people who made claims last year were men and more than half said they were between the ages of 10 and 14 when they were molested. Only 30 percent of the new claims came through attorneys; about half of the victims came forward on their own. For more on clergy abuse see eGuide/clergy abuse. The full report is available online at USCCB annual report 2008. To continue these reforms, Child Abuse Prevention Month will be marked in parishes and dioceses around the United States in April. To assist church groups, the U.S. bishops' Secretariat of Child and Youth Protection has developed resources in English and Spanish to facilitate activities to highlight the need for prevention efforts. They include posters, liturgical guides, articles on church efforts to reach out to abuse victims and to protect children, and bulletin announcements. All materials may be downloaded for use locally. The materials are available on the USCCB's website at USCCB materials here. In other news... 
More than 2,100 registered North Carolina sex offenders were found on the social networking site MySpace, the state attorney general's office said. CNN News story here In response to a subpoena from state Attorney General Roy Cooper, "MySpace turned over the names, IP and e-mail addresses of 2,116 convicted North Carolina sex offenders found on its social networking Web site," Cooper's office said in a written statement. Cooper has requested similar information from Facebook, another popular social networking site, the statement said. MySpace has told North Carolina authorities that the sex offenders it identified have been removed from the site. North Carolina's State Bureau of Investigation is sharing the sex offenders' information with all 100 sheriffs in the state, Cooper's office said. "It's no secret that child predators are on these Web sites," Cooper said in the statement. "Turning over information about these predators to law enforcement helps, but MySpace, Facebook and other social networks need to do much more to protect kids online." North Carolina passed a law last year banning sex offenders within the state from social networking sites where children are members, making it a felony offense. Protection from sex offenders on social networking sites is not a new issue. Last month, Newsweek magazine reported that Facebook said it had removed 5,585 convicted sex offenders from its site between May 2008 and January 2009. MySpace also announced it had removed 90,000 sex offenders in a two-year period, the magazine said. For more on internet safety see eGuide/online safety and eGuide/MySpace.
The parents of a missing 5-year-old Florida girl pleaded for her return, a month after she disappeared. CNN News story here The 30th day after Haleigh Cummings disappeared was marked with tearful pleas for her return, prayers and a song. Yellow balloons were released into the sky. The reward offered for her safe return was increased to $35,000. "Please, if you have my daughter, bring her home, please," said Ronald Cummings, the girls' father. "All I want is Haleigh," he said at a news conference in Satsuma, Florida. "That's all I want." The girl's mother, Crystal Sheffield, spoke through tears. "Haleigh, if you're out there, Mommy loves you and your Daddy loves you. We miss you." She added, "Please, whoever has her bring her home, please. We need her." For more on this story see vol2_iss2, vol7_iss13, and vol7_iss15.
The Davis School District in Utah has no plans to change its policies even though a junior high school has lost two teachers in a sex scandal. KSL News story here Valynn Bowers, 39, and Linda Nef, 46, were arrested earlier this month for having sex with one of their students. Authorities say the teachers first started exchanging text messages and phone calls with the 13-year-old student. It grew erotic and led to sex. But the Davis School District says it will not ban text messaging between teachers and students. Carol Lear at the State Office of Education has said maybe these policies should be looked at again. "There is something more intimate about texting than there is about phone calls and certainly than e-mail," she said.
An ultra-orthodox rabbi who cross-examined his own daughter at his sex-abuse trial has been convicted of molesting her as a child. Fox News story here A Brooklyn federal jury convicted 59-year-old Israel Weingarten of five counts of traveling outside the country to have sex with a minor. The 27-year-old victim says she had been molested while living with her family in Hasidic communities in Belgium, and on trips to England and Israel. Jurors sided with the victim, who turned her head and wept during cross examination, but then lashed out at her father, saying from the stand: "My feeling from your molesting me was utmost fear and blackmail and years of torture ... Didn't I get hit enough?" After the verdict, the daughter said being questioned by her father was "like being molested again." She added: "I wish he wasn't my father."
Few substance abuse programs in the U.S. offer high-quality treatment designed specifically for adolescents, a new study finds. MSNBC News story here Of the more than 700 treatment programs the study surveyed, less than one-third had specialized services for teenagers-with some excluding underage patients altogether and others integrating them with adult patients. And among programs that did offer adolescent-only services, the quality was typically middling, according to findings published in the Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment. The results may help explain why most teenagers who need substance abuse treatment do not get it, said researcher Dr. Hannah Knudsen, of the University of Kentucky in Lexington. "We have known that out of 1.4 million teens needing help for substance abuse, one tenth of those get treatment," Knudsen said in a news release. "Part of this treatment gap may be driven by the limited availability of adolescent-only treatment services." See also eGuide/drugs and alcohol. 
California police arrested Gloria Grayson, 58, on murder charges after an autopsy ruled the death of her son, Kevin King, 5, was a homicide. KERO News story here Police got involved in the case Sunday night, when they responded to Mercy Southwest Hospital after King was pronounced dead, according to Sergeant Greg Terry of the Bakersfield police department. The investigation revealed Grayson called 911 after she found King unresponsive on a bathroom floor in their home. The autopsy revealed King suffered blunt force trauma to the chest and abdomen, according to the county coroner's office. Grayson was questioned and taken into custody on murder charges. She was also the legal caretaker of three foster children in the home. Those children were taken into protective custody. King was Grayson's legal son, Terry said.
*for access to member only sites like the New York Times, use the ID "JohnDoeID" and the password "whatever". On sites asking for an email address, feel free to use "info@childprotectionprogram.org" |
Survivors And Victims Empowered
1725 Oregon Pike, Suite 106
Lancaster, PA 17601
(717) 569-0550 voice
(717) 569-3039 fax
http://www.childprotectionprogram.org