Reporting from Washington - Federal officials rescued 52 children and arrested nearly 700 people over the last three days in a nationwide crackdown on child prostitution.
Almost 1,600 agents and officers took part in the raids, which followed investigations in 36 cities, according to the FBI, local law enforcement agencies and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Included in the arrests were 60 suspected pimps, according to the FBI and local police officials.
Authorities say the youngest victim was 10.
In Southern California, two children were rescued in Riverside, and four adults were arrested, said Laura Eimiller, an FBI spokeswoman. Four suspected customers of child prostitutes were arrested in Orange County.
"It is repugnant that children in these times could be subjected to the great pain, suffering and indignity of being forced into sexual slavery for someone else's profit," Assistant Atty. Gen. Lanny A. Breuer said in a statement. He added that the latest raids show that "the scourge of child prostitution still exists on the streets of our cities."
The sweep, dubbed Operation Cross Country, is part of the Innocence Lost National Initiative, started in 2003 to address child sex trafficking in the U.S.
The initiative has rescued nearly 900 children; led to the conviction of 510 pimps, madams and their associates; and seized $3.1 million in assets, according to the FBI.
"We're having an enormous impact on this business," said Ernie Allen, president of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
Most of the recovered children have been girls, who usually become victims of traffickers around age 12, Allen said.
He estimated that 100,000 children are still involved in sex trafficking in the U.S., adding that the problem is growing partly because of the recession.
Richmond, California (CNN) -- Investigators say as many as 20 people were involved in or stood and watched the gang rape of a 15-year-old girl outside a California high school homecoming dance Saturday night.
Police posted a $20,000 reward Tuesday for anyone who comes to them with information that helps arrest and convict those involved in what authorities describe as a 2½-hour assault on the Richmond High School campus in suburban San Francisco.
Two teenage suspects have been jailed, but more arrests, as many as 20 total, are expected, according to a police detective.
"We will be making arrests continually as we develop probable cause," said Richmond Police Lt. Mark Gagan. "With this number of people implicated in the incident we're going to be making arrests on an ongoing basis."
As many as 10 people were involved in the assault in a dimly lighted back alley at the school, while another 10 people watched without calling 911 to report it, police said.
A 1999 California law makes it illegal not to report a witnessed crime against a child, but the law applies only to children 14 and under.
"We do not have the ability to arrest people who witnessed the crime and did nothing," Gagan said. "The law can be very rigid. We don't have the authority to make an arrest."
Charles Ramsey, a member of the Richmond school board, said the school district bears some responsibility for the attack. School administrators and police apparently weren't watching the area as they should have, Ramsey said.
The school said it would hold a safety meeting for parents and students Wednesday evening to address the assault.
The victim was found unconscious under a bench shortly before midnight Saturday, after police received a call from someone in the area who had overheard people at the assault scene "reminiscing about the incident," Richmond Police Lt. Mark Gagan said.
The girl was flown by helicopter to a hospital where she was admitted in critical condition. She was in stable condition Tuesday, police said.
Investigators canvassed the community with fliers, which included the reward offer, hoping to identify more suspects Tuesday.
"There is one individual in custody who has made some spontaneous statements that have led me to believe that he is culpable for what happened," Richmond police Lt. Johan Simon said.
Nineteen-year-old Manuel Ortega, described as a former student at the school, was arrested soon after he fled the scene and will face charges of rape, robbery and kidnapping, police said.
A 15-year-old was later arrested and charged with one count of felony sexual assault. A third teenager was being interviewed, Gagan said.
"Based on witness statements and suspect statements, and also physical evidence, we know that she was raped by at least four suspects committing multiple sex acts," Gagan said.
"As people announced over time that this was going on, more people came to see, and some actually participated," Gagan said.
The attack occurred on school grounds as the annual homecoming dance was under way inside the school Saturday night, authorities said.
Here's some extra fucked up news, this time from my side of the world. This website is actually a collection of Chinese news and forum postings, translated into English, so I'm just going to post some of the important stuff. Check the link for everything.
Fishing boat boss, only fish up bodies after receiving money
October 24, 2:10, suddenly someone yelled, “someone is drowning”.
Soon after came cries for help. Within 100 meters of Jiang Menglin (a university student participating in the rescue) at the riverside, two youngsters were in the middle of the water at the riverside struggling to survive. Because it was the weekend, there were many sightseeing tourists at the Pagoda Bay riverside, and over 100 people quickly crowded around but no one went into the water to offer assistance.
Yet parked no more than 5 meters away from the drowning youngsters was a mechanical fishing boat, and 20 meters away was a fishing boat converted into a floating restaurant called “Lan Se Jia Yuan [Blue Home?]“
“Us schoolmates all got on our knees for the fishing boat boss, begging them to see if they could help rescue Fang Zhao and the three people [the three university student who were lost], and the boss said, “When isn’t there someone dying on the Changjiang [Yangzte River]? If a few people don’t die, what do we depend on to earn money, hm?” One of the students that was part of the human rescue chain that day said, “The boss said at the time, [that they] will not rescue living people, [only] fish out/recover bodies, 12,000 yuan per person during the day, 18,000 yuan per person during the night. Give money first, then we’ll fish up the people.”
“After our schoolmates encountered misfortune in the water, had someone thrown us a few life preservers/buoys, then no one would have been sacrificed.” Jiang Menglin said.
“At first, we called the police, 110, 119, and 120 all called.” Jiang Menglin said, and after the firefighter arrived, they said they too are not a specialized search and rescue team, [so] they couldn’t rescue.
Jingzhou City winter swimming team’s captain Wang Jue confirmed to journalists the incident of the university students begging on their knees being met with refusal by the fishing boat boss that day. Han Deyuan, a participant of the rescue, said, “If that fishing boat had helped rescue, then no one would have died.”
“There are a lot of drowning victims around the Pagoda Bay area, and as a result there are often fishing boats parked nearby, ” Han Deyuan said, “The price [for fishing out bodies] is very high, so normally the fishing boats do not rescue people who are still alive, and only fish out/recover the dead bodies, [because] the price is over 10,000, and even higher at night” “Nowadays, just getting a word of thanks is already pretty good after rescuing them, and most of those in trouble in the water are youngsters, all of whom do not dare tell their parents after they are rescued, so who dares to ask the family for money. Now there is already a “folk” profiteering salvage/recovery team that has formed, specifically depending on this [fishing out people] to make money.” Han Deyuan explained.
Right there! There's the boat that could have saved them. BUT THEY FUCKING WATCHED THEM DROWN.
On Sunday, 60 Minutes aired a report by Lara Logan on the puzzling liver transplants received by Japan's top crime bosses at UCLA Medical Center. Between 2000 and 2004, four members of Japan's Yakuza, a "powerful organized crime syndicate," received liver transplants.
Despite a long list of patients in need, Tadamasa Goto, a man described as Japan's John Gotti, received a liver in just six weeks after cutting a deal with the FBI. Logan explains how a man who shouldn't have been allowed into the US received top-notch medical care--perhaps at the expense of innocent Americans.
I saw this on 60 minutes. Matt and I have a friend who's been waiting for a liver for six years, and these criminals just waltz into the country and magically end up on the top of the list! I also think it's important to note that the reporter who broke this story was offered $500,000 by the Yakuza to keep his mouth shut and he turned them down.
Yeah, and all these nonrich people will be abusing our health care system. Seriously, it's not my fault they don't know how to properly diversify their savings through a wide portfolio of stocks, bonds, government securities and small and stable mixes of high risk ventures to provide enough passive income to cover health expenses when they arise.
I may not agree with religion in most areas, but I've always thought that organized religion was a good thing because of all the good work they do in the world. I hope this is just another example of extremists attracting more attention than the more level headed people of the organization.
The D.C. city council is weeks away from possibly passing a law that would legalize gay marriage in the city. Though controversial with some religious groups in the city, council sources and gay rights advocates say the law is destined for passage in the nation's capital, and supporters here expect to see the first legally recognized same-sex weddings in D.C. by spring. But today, the Washington-area Catholic Archdiocese told the city that legalizing gay marriage will cost D.C. the social services and charity work the church offers to help the city's homeless and other low-income populations.
Some are calling the threat the strongest stand against same-sex marriage taken by the Catholic church anywhere in the country.
From the Washington Post:
Fearful that they could be forced, among other things, to extend employee benefits to same-sex married couples, church officials said they would have no choice but to abandon their contracts with the city.
"If the city requires this, we can't do it," Susan Gibbs, spokeswoman for the archdiocese, said Wednesday. "The city is saying in order to provide social services, you need to be secular. For us, that's really a problem."
The proposed D.C. law, expected to go before the council for a vote in the first week of December, would not require churches to perform same-sex weddings. But it would place churches and religious institutions under the auspices of the city's existing equality laws, which forbids employer discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation.
According to the Post, the charity arm of the D.C. archdiocese serves around 68,000 people in the city with services ranging from homeless shelters to health clinics to adoption services. The church spends around $10 million a year on D.C. charity work, and provides a third of the city's homeless shelter beds.
All that could end if D.C. passes the gay marriage law, the church says.
From the Post:
The standoff appears to be among the harshest between a government and a faith-based group over the rights of same-sex couples. Advocates for same-sex couples said they could not immediately think of other places where a same-sex marriage law had set off a break with a major faith-based provider of social services.
So far, the threat has had little effect on the council's resolve to legalize gay marriage. The city already recognizes same-sex marriages performed in other states, and the law is seen by most on the council as an extension of the city's existing welcoming stance to same-sex couples.
More from today's Post:
The church's influence seems limited. In separate interviews Wednesday, council member Mary M. Cheh (D-Ward 3) referred to the church as "somewhat childish." Another council member, David A. Catania (I-At Large), said he would rather end the city's relationship with the church than give in to its demands.
"They don't represent, in my mind, an indispensable component of our social services infrastructure," said Catania, the sponsor of the same-sex marriage bill and the chairman of the Health Committee.
Late Update: D.C. Clergy United For Marriage Equality, a group of pro-gay marriage religious leaders in the District, released a statement condemning the archdiocese for its threats today. From the statement:
"The Catholic Church hierarchy is at a crossroads: they must decide whether they are in the charity business for charity¹s sake, or if imposing their will on the D.C. City Council and the citizens of the District is their primary interest."
Later Update: More D.C. church groups have been sending us their condemnation of the Catholic position on the city's proposed same-sex marriage law. Bishop John Bryson Chane, head of the District's Episcopal church, emphasized that the charity arm of his church will continue to provide relief to D.C.'s less fortunate.
"Episcopalians understand that none of us has the right to violate the human rights of another individual," he said. "That's the law of the District of Columbia. More important, it's at the core of the Gospel."
Well, I've always thought the Catholic church was a bit more backward than some (obviously not all) of the other sects. Here's another shining example. I know it says "no gays" in the Bible. And apparently it says it in the New Testament, so it doesn't stand up to the "no shellfish, stone people who wear multi-type fabric" argument.
I don't care. It's a basic human rights issue. Homosexuality hurts NO ONE. Sometimes I hate that book, or at least people's interpretations of it, for causing so much hatred in the world.
Fearful that they could be forced, among other things, to extend employee benefits to same-sex married couples, church officials said they would have no choice but to abandon their contracts with the city.
For me, that's the whole gist of it.
Sure, they are threatening to cut their charity services, but it really is more than a threat; it's logical. The Church has its stance on gay marriage: they oppose it. They also have all the right in the world to feel that way, regardless of how wrong they might be. If a law is passed that forces them against their will to acknowledge and accept gay marriage actively, by for example extending benefits to gay married couples as the article suggests, then in order to stay true to their beliefs it is only logical that they stop doing whatever it is that will lead to them having to make that acknowledgment. In this case, they have to reduce the sphere of their activities in order to not get involved with gay marriage.
I doubt they will actually go ahead with it, though.
Comments
52 children rescued in nationwide sex-trafficking raids
Nearby fishing boat refused to save drowning students
Right there! There's the boat that could have saved them. BUT THEY FUCKING WATCHED THEM DROWN.
NAKED BEARS
I saw this on 60 minutes. Matt and I have a friend who's been waiting for a liver for six years, and these criminals just waltz into the country and magically end up on the top of the list! I also think it's important to note that the reporter who broke this story was offered $500,000 by the Yakuza to keep his mouth shut and he turned them down.
Catolic Church Says It Will Stop Charity Work If D.C. Passes Gay Marriage Law
I don't care. It's a basic human rights issue. Homosexuality hurts NO ONE. Sometimes I hate that book, or at least people's interpretations of it, for causing so much hatred in the world.
For me, that's the whole gist of it.
Sure, they are threatening to cut their charity services, but it really is more than a threat; it's logical. The Church has its stance on gay marriage: they oppose it. They also have all the right in the world to feel that way, regardless of how wrong they might be. If a law is passed that forces them against their will to acknowledge and accept gay marriage actively, by for example extending benefits to gay married couples as the article suggests, then in order to stay true to their beliefs it is only logical that they stop doing whatever it is that will lead to them having to make that acknowledgment. In this case, they have to reduce the sphere of their activities in order to not get involved with gay marriage.
I doubt they will actually go ahead with it, though.