Libertad Latina News Index - English - 2006

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News and Events - English

Feb. 1-15, 2006

Feb. 16-28, 2006

Other Available News Archives: 2001 - 2002 - 2003 - 2004 - 2005

Latest News

Added Feb. 15, 2006

Belize

Alleged Rapist Turns Self In

The prime suspect in the alleged rape of three English girls in Belize has given himself up to police.

Tour guide Aaron Juan, 24, is due before magistrates on February 27.

He was named last August after the schoolgirls - aged 15, 16 and 17 - claimed he raped them on a school trip to the Central American country.

- Mirror.co.uk

Feb. 15, 2006

Added Feb. 15, 2006

California

Man Rapes 15-Year-Old 9th Grader On Her Way To School, Then Drags Her Along A Public Street

Marin County - Jorge Alberto Ek-Luna, age 26, has been charged with raping a 15-year-old, ninth-grade girl. San Rafael police said he recently arrived from Mexico.

Police said Ek-Luna approached the girl from behind around 8 a.m. as she was walking to school alone. He allegedly held a broken bottle to her throat, forced her into some bushes and raped her, police said.

Police spokes-woman Margo Rohrbacher said Ek-Luna then forced the girl to go with him, possibly toward a motel, but a passer-by who saw an older man dragging a girl with his arm around her neck called police.

Ek-Luna was arrested.

- CBS5

San Francisco Bay Area

Feb. 14, 2006

Added Feb. 15, 2006

Mexico

U.S. Child Sex Tourism In Tijuana

Photo: NBC/ Telemundo

Penetramos a los más oscuros barrios de Tijuana para denunciar los que cruzan la frontera desde Estados Unidos en busca de sexo barato con niños.

Al Rojo Vivo conducts an undercover investigation to denounce U.S. men who cross the border to have cheap sex with children in Tijuana.

NBC/Telemundo Network

Feb. 15, 2006

Feb. 13, 2006

Texas, USA

Man Accused Of Killing Woman, Sexually Assaulting Victim’s Daughter

San Antonio - A man arrested on charges of sexually assaulting a teen-ager in his care also faces allegations of killing her mother.

Police said Enrique Velazquez, 39, is the father figure in the life of the 13-year-old girl.

Police said it was Velazquez' girlfriend who initially called police after the teenage girl confided in her that she had been sexually abused since she was 8 years old.

The relationship between Velazquez and the girl is not clear. Police believe he may be the girl's stepfather.

He's accused of sexually assaulting her since bringing her and her sister to the U.S. from Mexico two years ago.

She also told police Velazquez killed her mother while they were all living in Mexico. Officer Joe Rios, San Antonio Police Department Spokesman.

- KSAT
Feb. 13, 2006

Added Feb. 13, 2006

Chile

Lay Preacher Is Arrested For Child Rape

Alto Hospicio: Predicador es detenido por violación

Iquique, Chile - A man who preached every Sunday at an Evangelical church in Alto Hospicio has been arrested for the repeated rape of the 12-year-old daughter of his live-in lover.

According to police, Juan Guillermo Garcia had sexually abused the girl since she was 5-years-old.

In 1997 the accused completed a 10 year prison sentence for several crimes. After that he received a 541 day sentence for another crime. After finishing his second sentence, Garcia met his girlfriend and moved in with her. Garcia became an Evangelical. After his conversion, Garcia constantly participated in his church, and began preaching on public streets.

At the same time he converted, Garcia was sentenced to an additional 61 days in jail for previous crimes.

Upon returning home from jail, Garcia continued to abuse his lover’s daughter. The daughter decided to tell her mother about the abuse. Doctors and a psychologist examined the girl, and supported an arrest warrant for Garcia. He is being held without bond, and is being investigated in the rape of another young girl.

- ElClarin.com

Feb. 9, 2006

Added Feb. 13, 2006

Florida, USA

Police Arrest Child Rapist

Detienen por violación en EE.UU. a un comerciante argentino.

Police from Hollywood, Florida have arrested a 36-year-old Argentine businessman for the sexual assault of an underage Florida girl in 1999.

The suspect was arrested shortly after arriving at a local airport, and after agents from the sex crimes division of the Hollywood Police had recorded a phone call arranged by them between the victim and the accused. The victim, who is now 16, was 10-years-old at the time of the rape.

The accused was a business partner and friend of the victim’s father.

During a business trip to the U.S. in September, 1999, the accused stayed at the victim’s home, where he raped her. He threatened to kill her and her family if she told her parents about the assault.

After the rape, the accused continued to travel to Florida & stay at the victim’s home, although he did not abuse the child again.

In 2005 the victim’s father found a poem written by the victim, describing the rape. After reporting the crime to police, a plan was developed to get the accused to confess during his next trip to Florida.

- ElClarin.com

Feb. 9, 2006

Added Feb. 13, 2006

Massachusetts, USA

Boston Area Police Raid Latin Brothels

In East Boston, a police sting called Operation Dial-a-Date has closed-down five brothels and netted 21 arrests, while an ongoing push in Brighton has brought in 67 accused prostitutes, pimps and johns. The number of bordellos is greater than cops expected to find.

In separate brothels all run by Colombian men, police seized time clocks, spiral-bound notebooks, envelopes stuffed with cash, marbles or poker chips used as payment tokens, and plastic business cards that had been distributed as ads.

Three of the recently arrested women were from Mexico, the Dominican Republic and Colombia.

Carol Gomez, director of the Boston-based Trafficking Victims Outreach Services Network/Mathahari-Eye of the Day, said [sex trafficking] operations are capable of rapidly shuttling women across the country from brothel to brothel. In East Boston, with its large, poor immigrant population, brothel owners are able to keep a low profile.

Gomez said since the women are kept locked away and their legal status in the United States is often questionable, they rarely run to police or service organizations that can help them escape their captors.

- Boston Herald

Feb. 3 2006

Added Feb. 13, 2006

Mexico

Unresolved Murders of Women Rankle in Mexican Border City

...For years, the mysterious deaths and disappearances of [377 girls and] women have frustrated officials and terrified families in Juarez, a transient city where 1000s of women live in shantytowns and work in maquila-doras, the factories on the U.S. border that produce electronic circuit boards & auto parts.

About a fourth of the victims were kidnapped, raped and strangled in a similar way, leading victims' families to believe that a sexual serial killer remains on the loose. The whereabouts of almost 40 other women who have disappeared since 1993 are still unknown. And this year, the number of homicides with female victims has surged to 30, although authorities attribute 80 percent of them to domestic or family violence.

More than 100 of the murder cases remain unsolved because of bungling by inept or corrupt officials, according to investigations by the United Nations, Amnesty Inter-national, the Inter-American Human Rights Commission and other groups. Mexican federal officials have conceded negligence due to lack of resources and investigative or technical skills.

- Sylvia Moreno

Washington Post

Dec. 16, 2005

See Also:

LibertadLatina

Juarez Femicide

Added Feb. 12, 2006

Mexico

Legislators Insist That President Fox Stop Using Sexist Language In Public Speaking

President Vincente Fox Quesada of Mexico

Exige Cámara de Diputados a Fox evitar lenguaje sexista.

The Chamber of Deputies of the Republic (the lower house of the Mexican Congress) has voted 195 to 7, with 15 abstentions, to send a letter to President Vincente Fox insist-ing that he stop using sexist language in his public speaking.

President Fox, during a recent speech in Mazatlán, Sinaloa state, declared that, [today] “sevety five percent of households have a dishwasher, not one with two feet or two legs, but a metallic one,” which caused a wave of criticism from legislators and members of society.

During the debate legislators repeatedly called Fox’s comments sexist and macho-ist (machista)...

Deputy Diva Hadamira Gastélum

Diva Hadamira Gastélum, chair of the Commission on Gender Equality of the Chamber of Deputies, stated that she would not join the debate, because it was quite common for Fox to ignore gender issues. She said that we have to look at Fox’s record on the issues.

Deputy Diva Hadamira Gastélum…

“The record shows that Vicente Fox Quesada has not fulfilled his promised initiatives for women. Where are the $96 million for women’s institutions? Where did that money go? Who stopped that initiative? Why didn’t those funds actually get into women’s hands? We want actions, not just phrases that offend us.”

- CIMAC Noticias

News for Women

Mexico City

Feb. 9 2006

Added Feb. 12, 2006

Texas, USA

Awareness Day Brings A Message Of The Rising Rate Of HIV/AIDS Among Young African-American Women

Today, the rate of HIV, human immunodeficiency virus, and AIDS, acquired immune deficiency syndrome, among young black females between 14 to 24 is rising at an alarming rate, leading the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston to sponsor its third annual Black AIDS Awareness Day.

Februay 7th was National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day.

Shenequa Flucas, who works for a federally funded program in the Beaumont-Port Arthur area that is geared toward HIV/AIDS awareness among Black women, was a featured speaker.

Shenequa Flucas…

"I may not change everybody, but if the words that come out of my mouth, if I can help anybody just to open up their eyes, that's my main concern," the mother of three said. "I didn't put a stamp on my face and say, 'Hey come give me HIV.' HIV came to me. It didn't discrim-inate. I didn't put on a shorter skirt to get it or shoot a needle in my arm. It's just something that happened."

- Houston Chronicle

Feb. 7 2006

Added Feb. 12, 2006

Ecuador

Advocates Demand Stiff Penalties For Child Abusers

Fuerte acciones penales contra el abuso a la niñez.

National advocacy organizations are asking for harsh penalties in the cases of sexual abuse and child pornography.

Daisy Velasco, director of the non-profit group Adolescence and Childhood indicated that the full weight of the law must be applied in these types of cases.

Children’s advocate Daisy Velasco…

"We now have a reformed Penal Code that provides for prison senten-ces of up to 16 years in cases of the sexual abuse of children under 12 or of any disabled child. The abuse of youth up to 17 years, 11 months is also punish-able with prison.

"The bodies of children cannot be touched by anybody, and they cannot be commercialized. This is against the law."

Specialists recommend that family relationships be strengthened to prevent child abuse and to make children aware of their rights.

According to a report of the Provincial division of the special police agency to protect children and adolescents, (DINAPEN), during January, 2006, their cases totaled 6 cases of rape, 19 cases of sexual abuse and 2 cases of child pornography.

- El Universo

Quito, Ecuador

Feb. 8, 2006

Added Feb. 11, 2006

Guatemala

Women Face Violence With Impunity In Jalapa

Denuncian violencia y discriminación contra mujeres de Jalapa.

Jalapa province - Magdalena Lima Estrada, of the local advocacy group Women’s Coord-ination recently announced that in Jalapa, women are subjected to violent gender crimes and discrimination with impunity, even in front of their children.

Lima referred specifically to the recent murder of a neighbor at the hands of her live-in lover, Víctor Hugo Yool, who ran her down with his vehicle right in front of own her children.

According to Lima Estrada, government agencies have shown themselves to be impotent to stop the systematic murders of women across Guatemala.

Magdalena Lima Estrada...

"Our law enforcement agencies are run by incompetent people."

Lima Estrada stated that local women continue to be dominated by the [traditional] system of machismo [male supremacy], which is enforced even by women in public office, who only think about their own wellbeing and who try to weaken the organizing efforts of rural women.

In Lima Estrada’s experience, when a woman leader tries to fight for the good of her sisters and her community, other women lay traps in her path, or they place incompetent people in our organizations to manipulate and weaken women’s efforts to progress.

- CERIGUA

Guatemalan

Human Rights News

Feb. 10, 2006

Added Feb. 11, 2006

Guatemala

Anti-Violence Awareness Campaign Begins To Have An Effect

Movimiento de mujeres ha incidido en el aumento de las denuncias por violencia sexual.

Thanks to the educational efforts of feminist activists across Guatemala, the sex crimes section of the National Civil Police has been receiving increasing numbers of complaints about sexual abuse and domestic violence, according to Anabella Noriega, a women’s rights advocate.

According to a statement from the Office to Defend Women of the Human Rights Prosecutor, humanitarian and community organizations have raised awareness of women’s rights, leading to the increase in formal complaints.

The Office to Defend Women believes that Guatemala must implement supportive and stable legal processes to assist women victims. In many cases, women file a complaint but then withdraw it due to fear of “what would people think” or because of threats by their abuser.

Noriega emphasized that the campaign should continue, because in many places machismo's stereotypes, and fear among women continues to exist.

During January, 2006, 26 cases were reported to police, 11 more than for January, 2005.

During all of 2005, 382 cases of sexual abuse were documented and 172 suspects were arrested. Most of those cases involved fathers abusing daughters and teachers abusing their female students.

- CERIGUA

Guatemalan

Human Rights News

Feb. 10, 2006

Added Feb. 11, 2006

United States

Recently Passed House Legislation Would Criminalize Charitable Aid to Undocumented Migrants

In December, 2005, the U.S. House of Representatives passed HR 4437, known as the Border Protection, Antiterrorism, and Illegal Immigration Control Act of 2005, which focuses on erecting 700 miles of fence and making undocumented presence a felony.

Less well-known is the fact that the bill would also criminalize the humanitarian work of religious and secular groups or individuals who help undocumented immigrants, making assistance providers felons subject to prison time.

The federal government is already prosecuting humanitarian workers.

Daniel Strauss and Shanti Sellz, volunteers with the non-profit group No More Deaths, face charges of illegally transporting undocumented immigrants in Arivaca, Arizona last July. The volunteers contend they were driving three sick, undocumented immigrants to Tucson for medical care. Each faces up to 15 years in prison and $500,000 in fines.

During February, 2006, The U.S. Senate is due to draft its version of immigration reform, which likely will include some provisions of the House bill.

- Arizona Daily Star

Jan. 26 2006

LibertadLatina Commentary:

We note that the U.S. Government has responded to increased public calls to secure the nation's border with Mexico in part by stepping up the enforcement of laws against those who transport migrants (coyotes), and by insisting that Mexico & Central American nations do the same.

Such an approach can have an impact on the problem without offending blocks of Latino voters by engaging in a crackdown on undocumented migrants.

This strategy often involves identifying all who aid migrants in crossing the border illegally as being legally and morally the same as human traffickers.

We point out they that are indeed not at all the same.

While many coyotes are in fact traffickers, who rape and kidnap with impunity the women and children who pay them to be taken across the U.S. border, others, who aid the voluntary intention of migrants to cross into the U.S. are not traffickers.

Recently, several U.S. citizens have been arrested for helping migrants at the border. They include the two humanitarian workers from the group No More Deaths mentioned in the above story. All of them face severe charges carrying long-term prison sentences for aiding migrants who wanted their help.

While this policy creates short-term and highly visible results to show the U.S. public that action is being taken in regard to the border crisis, federal efforts would be much better spent in stopping the coyotes who double as sex traffickers, and who beat and rape the women and children they transport.

These gangsters often kidnap the child migrants into sexual slavery, and then tell the parents by phone that their child had died while crossing the desert.

Parents cannot easily go to the police with that information.

Those who volunteer to aid economic refugees and women and children seeking an escape from gender hostile environments should not be the targets of enforce-ment actions. Those who traffic 18,000 slaves into the U.S. each year, and those who traffic in terror plots, illicit drugs, and weapons should be the top priority for arrest and prosecution.

Child rape camps still exist & operate with impunity in San Diego and along the U.S. border while humanitarians are being arrested for saving lives.

That is not right!

- Chuck Goolsby

Feb. 11, 2006

The San Diego, California Child Rape Camps Crisis

Added Feb. 10, 2006

New York, USA

Rapist Brags About His Crime

A shameless pervert who police say snatched a medical student off an East Village street and repeatedly attacked her falsely bragged that he knew his victim, a source said yesterday.

"Could you believe this? They're charging me with rape," convicted sex offender Richard Padilla said, according to the source, who asked not to be named.

After his arrest Monday, Padilla also said he'd socialized with the 24-year-old married woman in the days before the attack.

A police source dismissed the man's account, saying, "That's not what the evidence shows."

Cops say the attack was random.

Padilla, 41, was charged with kidnapping and four counts each of first-degree sex abuse & criminal sex acts.

- New York Newsday

Feb. 09, 2006

Added Feb. 10, 2006

Mexico

Congressional Commission Insists That Yucatan State Punish Civil Service Sexual Harassment

'Quejas' (Complaints)

Photo: CIMAC

Debe gobernador yucateco castigar a funcionarios hostigadores.

The Commission on Gender Equality of the Chamber of Deputies of the Republic (lower house of the Mexican Congress) today called on the governor of the state of Yucatan, Patricio Patrón Laviada, and the legislature of Yucatan, to bring about justice for women civil service employees who have been subjected to sexual harass-ment and retaliation.

Congressional deputies want Yucatan to bring their local legislation into line with internation-al treaties that address sexual harassment.

The formal declaration exhorts the governor of Yucatan and the chief of the local office of the Federal Electricity Commis-sion, Alfredo Elías Ayub, “as the top authorities in the institutions where aggression has taken place,” to expedite fair and impartial investig-ations into these improprieties.

- CIMAC Noticias

News for Women

Mexico City

Feb. 9 2006

Added Feb. 10, 2006

Canada

Newfoundland Investigates Child Porn Operation

St. John's, Newfoundland Province - An investigation into a porn and prostitution ring that allegedly involved 40 young girls in Newfound-land has prompted the police chief in St. John's to suggest that the province has lost its innocence.

Richard Deering, chief of the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary...

"It involves allegations that young people in our community were being put in a situation that involved sexual exploitation or other crimes of a sexual nature."

"I don't think it will be a lot of time between now and when arrests are made."

- Canadian Press (CP)

Feb. 8, 2006

Added Feb. 09, 2006

Texas, USA

Latest Convictions In Deadliest Migrant Smuggling Case

Houston - U.S. citizens Victor Sanchez Rodriguez, his wife, Emma Sapata Rodriguez, and her half-sister, Rosa Sarrata Gonzalez have been convicted of conspiracy to harbor and transport undocumented immigrants. Each could get up to 20 years in prison on the charge when sentenced in May.

Prosecutors said the defendants and others loaded 70 migrants into an airtight tractor-trailer for transport to Houston in 2003.

Seventeen people were dead by the time the trailer was discovered, and two died later. All died from dehydration, overheating and suffocation.

- Associated Press

Feb. 9, 2006

Added Feb. 09, 2006

Nicaragua

¡Victima de Trata! - Trafficked!

Alerta - Missing Person Alert

Nicaraguan Mother Travels Long Distances In Search Of Her Daughter

Jacqueline Maria Jirón Silva, now age 12, has been kidnapped and sold to a network of brothels in Central America.

Roban niña víctima de “trata."

People told Maria that Jacqueline had been taken to a group of a place called “Los Cedazos” (the brothels). The girl was soon moved, because she cried so much.

Jacqueline was then seen in the border region between El Salvador and Guatemala, in a group of brothels that apparently specialize in sexually exploiting children.

In one of those places, called “Chongallo” a woman told Maria that her daughter had been there. Maria searched for Jacqueline in many of these brothels without making contact with her.

Maria recently arrived in Costa Rica, and was received by the advocacy group Alliance for Your Rights. Alliance for Your Rights helped Maria by placing Jacqueline’s picture on the missing persons web site Disappeared Latin Americans. The Alliance also contacted authorities who deal with missing children’s cases across Central America.

- Prensa Libre

Costa Rica

February 9, 2006

Added Feb. 09, 2006

Jacqueline, kidnapped at age 11, trafficked 13 months ago.

Jacqueline, una niña de 11 años de edad ha sido robada en Nicaragua por una mujer que en apariencia la ha vendido a algun prostibulo de las zonas fronterizas. Esta niña es victima de trata.

Por favor colaboren en su ubicacion.
Cualquier informacion favor enviarla a:

denuncias@

alianzaportus

derechos.org

Jacqueline, an 11-year-old girl from Nicaragua, has been kidnapped by a woman suspected to be a sex trafficker. Police sources presume that Jac-queline has been sold to a network of brothels in Central America.

Jaqueline may currently be located in Nicaragua's border region. She has previously been trafficked to brothels in El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala.

If sighted, please contact the below organizations:

denuncias@

alianzaportus

derechos.org

(Alliance for your Rights)

- LatinoAmericanos Desaparecidos

"Missing Latin Americans" Web Site

Feb. 8, 2006

See Also:

Hace más de dos años 2 personas iniciaron el proceso de crear una Red que permitiera mejorar los niveles de atención ante la problemática de las personas desapar-ecidas. Hoy son 8 países integrados, más de 145 instituciones y varios cientos de personas trabajando directa o indirectamente en este proyecto.

More than two years ago, two people started the "Disappeared Latin Americans" project to improve responses to the crisis in disappear-ed persons. The web based network now operates in 8 nations, and collaborates with 145 institutions and hundreds of direct and indirect individual collaborators.

Recent article on the newest LD web site, in Bolivia (In Spanish).

LibertadLatina

More on the work of Disappeared Latin Americans.

LibertadLatina

Thank you Antonio Querol Lipcovich, Gonzalo Saramiento and the collabor-ators and staff of the Disappeared Latin Americans project for your effective work for victims in Latin America!

- Chuck Goolsby

February 9, 2006

Added Feb. 09, 2006

Nicaragua, El Salvador

Salvadorans Repatriate 9 Trafficked Teens

Repatrian a niñas prostituidas.

Nicaraguan national police authorities, in coordination with the government of El Salvador, have repatriated 9 girls, between the ages of 13 and 17, who had been trafficked from western Nicaragua into El Salvador. The teens were rescued from the Salvadoran city of San Miguel.

The victims were forced into prostit-ution and their photos were distributed on a web site run by the criminal gang [to advertise its brothel].

Gabriela Zúñiga, director of the Nicaragua’s Interior Ministry’s anti-trafficking unit, indicated her desire to strengthen ties with El Salvador in regard to trafficking. Zúñiga expressed frustration that the Salvadoran police raid lead to the arrests of three suspects, but they were all released.

According to Salvadoran psychologists who interviewed the victims, they were all tricked into coming to El Salvador by a female friend, who told them that work opportunities existed there. They had told their families about their travel plans.

On October 2, 2005, the Salvadoran newspaper El Diario Hoy identified the traffickers as Oscar Ernesto Rodríguez Pérez, Jorge Armando Santo Rodríguez and José Miguel Clara Iriarte.

The Salvadoran Interior Ministry has announced its intention to request that the criminal investigation against the trafficking suspects be re-opened.

- La Prensa

Nicaragua

February 9, 2006

Added Feb. 09, 2006

United States

Feminist Movement Co-Founder Betty Friedan Dies

Betty Friedan, one of the founders of the National Organiz-ation for Women (NOW) and the modern women's movement, passed away on Feb. 4.

NOW President Kim Gandy...

"Betty recognized a longing in the women of her generation, a longing for...a chance to live their own dreams beyond the narrow definition of 'womanhood' that had limited their lives."

- National Organization for Women

Feb. 8, 2006

LibertadLatina

Thank you, Betty Friedan, for your service to humanity!

- Chuck Goolsby

February 9, 2006

Added Feb. 09, 2006

Argentina

Psychiatric Hospital Forced Patients Into Prostitution

Photo: CIMAC

Argentina: Crónica de abusos a internas en psiquiátrico,

Buenos Aires -

A journalistic investigation by reporter Andrés Klipphan has brought to light a prostitution scandal based in the Moyano Psychiatric Hospital in the nation’s capitol. Female patients with mental illnesses were systematically forced to engage in prostitution under the watchful eyes of doctors and nurses.

The Buenos Aires city government has taken direct control of the hospital for 180 days to attempt to end the abuses of women patients.

Victims of this scheme testified that they had been raped with impunity for years by staff at the hospital. Nobody in authority had ever done anything to stop the rapes.

The rape victims were slowly forced into prostitution. Women patients were let out of the hospital to search for ‘clients,’ and used the hospital itself as a brothel, to the disbelief of the institution’s neighbors.

Reporter Andrés Klipphan…

“Unending atrocities occured at this hospital.”

Doctor Néstor F. Marchant, the hospital's director, refused to speak with the press.

Reporter Klipphan collaborated with the Argentine branch of the Coalition Against Trafficking in Women (CATW) to expose this crisis.

Klipphan concluded by stating that women, children and mental patients are all vulnerable groups in our society. They should be protected by the government.

- CIMAC Noticias

News for Women

Mexico City

Feb. 8, 2006

Added Feb. 09, 2006

United States

Nursing Home Rape Extends Family's Agony

Cheryl Hale-Crom

Photo - Chicago Sun-Times

In late 2004, Cheryl Hale-Crom’s profoundly mentally and physically disabled daughter Amy Jo, 24, was raped in her Bloomingdale nursing home, where she shared a room with her twin. The victim gave birth to a baby girl.

Now, Hale-Crom watches helplessly as her tiny grand-daughter's muscles stiffen and spasm. Hale-Crom knew all too well what was happening. The baby was in the throes of a seizure. Hale-Crom had seen it before, shortly after the birth of her own twin daughters, Amy Jo and Amanda.

Hale-Crom's biggest fear is that many of the same problems that plague her twin daughters - the seizure disorder, the severe mental retardation and an inability to walk or care for themselves - also lurk in her grandchild.

Nurse's aide Reynaldo Brucal Jr., age 18, has been charged with aggravated criminal sexual assault after tests matched his DNA to the baby. The Schaumburg teen has pleaded not guilty and is being held in the DuPage County Jail.

- Chicago Sun-Times

Feb 5, 2006

Added Feb. 08, 2006

Ecuador

Police Break Up School-Based Child Pornography Ring

Pichincha Volcano overlooks city of Quito.

Banda de pornografía infantil

Quito - On February 2^nd and 3^rd, 2006 child pornographers who had operated within a private school called ‘Master’ were discov-ered by police, who arrested three men in the case.

Those accused are school principal Martín Baldeón Herrera, and teachers Ursula Endara Flores and Segundo Ñacato.

The investigation started after a former student denounced the teachers to Pichincha County prosecutors. The student told investigators that girls between 12 and 18 were being used to film pornographic videos at the school.

The criminal gang targeted girls with low grades. They tricked other girls by asking them to appear nude as a requirement for entering a modeling competition.

The director general of Ecuador’s child protection police agency, DINAPEN, stated that Baldeón and Flores were in charge of filming, while Nacato recruited victims.

- El Mercurio

Quito, Ecuador

Feb. 8, 2006

See Also:

Repudio a la pornografía en Quito

School principal Martín Baldeón Herrera, leader of a group of child porno-graphers at the Master School in Quito, told school officials that he was using the video film equipment involved in the crimes to make 'educational videos.'

- El Universal

Quito, Ecuador

Feb. 8, 2006

U.S. State Dept Trafficking in Persons Report, June 2005 -
Ecuador Country Narrative.

LibertadLatina

Crisis-Ecuador

Added Feb. 07, 2006

Dominican Republic

Prosecutors Aggressively Pursuing Child Rape Cases

Prosecutor Jose Manuel Hernandez Peguero

Someten a seis personas por violación sexual a menores.

Public prosecutor Jose Manuel Hernandez Peguero announced yesterday that during the month of January six people were convicted by courts of the Palace of Justice of Ciudad Nueva, and were handed sentences of between 1 and 20 years for the rape of underage victims.

Prosecutor Jose Manuel Hernandez…

“We call upon parents and guardians who know of acts of this nature to come forward, because this type of violation leaves incurable wounds.”

Hernandez indicated that the Public Ministry is taking drastic action against rapists.

Those convicted during January include: Pedro Rivera, age 46, who was sentenced to 15 years prison and a 10,000 peso fine in the rape of two children, ages 7 and 9; Eduardo Garcia, 28, sentenced to 20 years and a 50,000 peso fine for raping a 12-year-old boy; and Jeison Juan García, sentenced to 18 years in prison and a 10,000 peso fine for raping a 16-year-old girl.

- El Nuevo Diario

The Dominican Republic
Feb. 7, 2006

Despite the existence of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, the rule of law has meant little for children and adolescents in the Dominican Republic, as physical, sexual and workplace violence continues to have a serious impact on their lives.

- Hoy.com.do
Feb. 7, 2006

At least 25,000 of the [females] in prostitution throughout the Dominican Republic are reportedly underage, with the total number of women in prostitution in the country estimated by some to be 100,000. It is common to see men [tourists] from developed countries accompanied by Dominican girls.

As a Word Document

- Protection Project

Dominican Republic Country Report

Added Feb. 07, 2006

Texas, USA

Fourth Member Of Sex-Trafficking Ring Pleads Guilty

A member of an organization that lured Mexican women to Houston and forced them into prostitution faces as much as five years in prison after pleading guilty in federal court Monday.

Angel Moreno Salazar, 24, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Vanessa Gilmore to one count of sex trafficking. In addition to the prison sentence, he could be ordered to pay a fine of up to $250,000 when he is sentenced April 14.

Salazar is the fourth member of the human-trafficking ring to plead guilty. Authorities say all are from Mexico.

- Houston Chronicle
Feb. 7, 2006

- U.S. ICE
Sep. 16, 2005

Added Feb. 07, 2006

Mexico

Three Million Children, Mostly Indigenous, Work Under Abusive Conditions

An Indigenous boy from the Huichol Nation harvests tobacco in Nayarit.

Photo: Romano / Stolen Childhoods

Trabajan tres millones de niños, principalmente indígenas: diputados.

Members of the Chamber of Deputies of the Republic (the lower house of Congress) have denounced the fact that across Mexico, 3 million mostly indigenous children work, often under conditions of extreme exploitation.

The commission’s report, “Child Labor in Mexico, 1995-2002” notes that 15.7 children per 100 work, 54.7% of working children work in domestic settings, and 45.3% are engaged in some type of production.

Bernardino Ramos, member of the Indigenous Affairs Commission of the Chamber of Deput-ies, commented that labor reforms to date have not focused on child labor, which sometimes involves prostitution and pornography.

Francisco Moor, member of the Special Commis-sion to Protect Children and Youth, stated that in recent years Mexican agricultural work has been invaded by minors and women, as more adult males migrate to the U.S.

An estimated 9 out of every 10 indigenous children who work receive no form of pay whatsoever.

- Alianza Por Tus Derechos
Feb. 07, 2006

Added Feb. 07, 2006

Mexico

Femicide: Nine Women Are Murdered In Veracruz In The First 5 Weeks Of The New Year.

Veracruz: nueve asesinatos de mujeres en 5 semanas.

The Mexican gulf coast city of Veracruz has reported its ninth homicide of a woman during the first 5 weeks of 2006. Eva de la Trinidad Lorenzo, age 53, died from 20 facial stabs wounds.

Investigators presume that the murder was a crime of passion. The victim was known to be romantically involved with Florindo Romero, owner of the home where her body was found. The murder weapon, an onion knife, was found in the home. Romero and his wife apparently fled the scene, taking refuge in the mountains. The victim’s husband was detained by police, but denies any responsibility for the murder.

- CIMAC Noticias

News for Women

Mexico City

Feb. 7, 2006

Added Feb. 07, 2006

Colombia, United States

Fugitive U.S. Priest Is Captured In Colombia

Reverend Jhon Steven Rabideau

Fue capturado un sacerdote misionero estadounidense sindicado de abuso sexual.

Jhon Steven Rabideau, a missionary priest and fugitive from justice, has been captured in Colombia.

Rabideau previously received a sentence of life in prison from a Michigan court for the sexual abuse of 2 minors, ages 9 and 13, in 1985 and 1987. His arrest took place at a border crossing in Rumichaca, where his name came up on an international red alert from Interpol.

The priest has been turned over to U.S. authorities for extradition to Michigan.

- RCN Noticias

Colombia
Feb. 07, 2006

Added Feb. 07, 2006

Florida, USA

Accused Rapist Hangs Himself

Tampa - 26-year-old Gustavo Rivera was arrested and charged with rape on September 20, 2005. K-9 officers had tracked him down less than an hour after a Valrico jogger reported a man pulled her into a park & raped her.

On Wednesday, prosecutors added a second sexual battery charge that stemmed from another rape that took place about the same time as the Sept. 20 attack, Callaway said.

Between 3:30 and 3:45 a.m., Rivera tied his bed sheets to a ventilation grille in his cell and hanged himself, sheriff's spokesman J.D. Callaway said. Deputies discovered him during a fire drill.

- TBO.com News
Feb. 5, 2006

Added Feb. 07, 2006

North Carolina, USA

Federal Immigration Agencies To Train Local Sheriffs In Criminal Immigrant Removal Process

Charlotte - U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforce-ment (ICE) Special Agent-in-Charge Kenneth A. Smith, Mecklenburg County (NC) Sheriff Jim Pendergraph, and U.S. Representative Sue Myrick today announced an agreement between Mecklenburg County Sheriffs Office (MCSO) and U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to train and certify selected MCSO personnel to perform certain federal immigration enforcement functions.

The training course will cover immig-ration law, civil rights, and inter-cultural relations. Afterwards, ICE special agents will supervise the MCSO personnel assigned to prepare the immigration paperwork that paves the way for a criminal immigrants’ removal from the United States.

- U.S. ICE
Feb. 6, 2006

Added Feb. 06, 2006

Florida, USA

State Drops Case Against Gang Rape Suspects

Naples - The state has dropped its case against three Immokalee men arrested for an alleged gang rape in in October, 2005.

Cesar Perez-Lopez, Augusto Perez-Lopez and Napoleon Perez-Lopez were all scheduled to be arraigned today.

State officials say there wasn't enough evidence to build a case against the men. Initially, there were 14 men arrested in connection to the rape.

Renee Perez Garcia, Mario Lopez Luis and Alvaredo Perez Luis still face charges in connection with the alleged rape.

- NBC2 News
Feb. 6, 2006

See Also:

Woman allegedly gang raped by 14 men.

- NBC2 News
Oct. 3, 2005

Added Feb. 05, 2006

California, USA, Costa Rica

U.S. Peace Corps Volunteer Is Convicted Of Child Sexual Exploitation Committed In Costa Rica

San Jose, California - A Santa Cruz, CA man pleaded guilty today to sexually abusing a minor in Costa Rica while serving there as a Peace Corps volunteer.

Timothy Ronald Obert, 38, admitted that in September of 2001, he traveled to Costa Rica to work as a volunteer for the Peace Corps, where he was assigned to work with “PANI,” Costa Rica’s child welfare agency. Obert admitted that in July 2003, while he was in Costa Rica, he engaged in illicit sexual conduct with a 14-year-old Costa Rican minor at his apartment.

U.S. Attorney Kevin V. Ryan…

“This defendant committed a serious sexual assault while serving as a Peace Corp volunteer in a program dedicated to helping the underprivileged.” “Because the PATRIOT Act expanded our jurisdiction to include U.S. missions abroad, this defendant could not evade justice.”

Charles DeMore, special agent-in-charge for ICE investigations in San Francisco…

“Some people mistakenly believe they can escape detection and prosecution by committing child sex crimes overseas.” “This case shows the lengths to which ICE will go to use its powerful authorities to protect children worldwide.”

Obert’s sentencing is scheduled for May 15, 2006. The maximum statutory penalty for sexually abusing a minor within the special and maritime jurisdiction of the United States is 15 years and a $250,000 fine. He will also be required to register as a sex offender.

- U.S. ICE

Feb. 3, 2006

Added Feb. 05, 2006

Texas, USA

People Smugglers Given 57 Month Sentences In Death Of Migrant On Train

Midland - U.S. District Judge Robert Junell recently sentenced Jose Luis Landa-Perez,33, and Mariano Valdez-Muñoz, 25, both undocumented immigrants from Torreon, Mexico, to 57 months in prison each. They had been charged with conspiracy to smuggle and transport undocum-ented immigrants, which resulted in the death of 23-year-old Hector Abel Duarte from Honduras.

This case was investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforce-ment (ICE).

Duarte was killed when the smugglers tried to load him into a shipping container on a moving freight train Aug. 30. During the attempt, Duarte fell and was run over by the train.

- U.S. ICE

Feb. 3, 2006

Added Feb. 05, 2006

Peru

Center Assists Teen Mothers Abandoned By Their Own Mothers

Photo: Chuka Chuka center for teen mothers

In Peru it is not uncommon for women to raise 5 or more children, each with a different biological father.

What is also common is for the mother’s latest companion to rape the eldest daughters, often resulting in pregnancy. One expects a reaction from the mother, but not the sort of reaction that is so evident here in Peru.

As a result of the rape the mother feels shamed and jealous and abandons her own daughter who is often without the comfort of additional family members for support and understanding.

These abandoned, pregnant, adoles-cent rape victims, often only 13 or 14-years-old face a dull future. They are without money; support; homes and job prospects. Most worrying of all, they are carrying an unborn baby, who will enter a world where education will not be available to them and their options for a self-sustainable life will be non-existent.

It is not uncommon for such desperate girls to drift into prostitution and drugs; further blighting their lives and potential to contribute to society

Our mission: To save as many of these girls and their unborn children as we can, to prepare them for and steer them into a richer more productive life than they could have known without this project.

The hard part is making contact with the girls who need our help, and the problem is that the culprit usually lives in the same house, and for obvious reasons does not want the girl to go public. We have developed strategies to get around that obstacle. Chuka Chuka now helps 25 teens, with more joining every week.

- Chuka Chuka

Peru

LibertadLatina Note:

Dr. Laura Bozzo, Latin America's leading women and children's rights activist and an international TV talk show star on the NBC/Telemundo Network, has presented literally hundreds of TV interviews with young girls in Peru who face imminent rape, or who have been raped by their 'stepfather' or by mom's boyfriend.

The Laura in the Americas program allows these step-fathers, and the (complicit or unaware) mothers to defend their actions, typically with excuses. The men often express their ' right' to act with impunity, expressing no shame or remorse whatsoever.

The Laura in the Americas program routinely presents video evidence from hidden cameras placed in the homes of the victims to validate the account of the abused person.

Watching girls and boys as young as six facing imminent rape, and girls as young as 10 being punched in the face as the stepfather or mom's boyfriend attempts to rape them, is disgusting.

A woman Lima City Prosecutor typically takes men filmed in illegal activity from the show's set straight to jail.

Dr. Bozzo also runs a program called Family Solidarity, which, like Chuka Chuka, provides social services, medical care, education, job training and legal services for victims.

In addition, Laura Bozzo assists girls and women trapped by sex trafficking and prostitution. Her show is the only TV forum in the Spanish or English language media that regularly interviews both child and adult rape victims and also sex trafficking victims.

Laura's programs openly show the harsh conditions of 'negative machismo' which aggressively oppress women and children's human rights.

Studies have shown that 80% or more of child prostitutes across Latin America escaped to a life on the streets to avoid sexual abuse by men in their own homes.

This social problem contributes to the estimated 40 million street children who live in Latin America, almost all of whom exchange 'survival sex' for their basic necessities.

Latin American immigrant children across the U.S. also experience this problem, in silence.

- Chuck Goolsby

Feb. 05, 2006