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Foto: Belinda Hernández

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Indigenous & Latina Women & Children's Human Rights News from the Americas 


 

 
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News and Events - English
Other News Archives: 2001 - 2002 - 2003 - 2004 - 2005 - 2006 - 2007

March 2008 News



Added March 31, 2008

Maryland, USA

Baltimore - Police Commissioner Frederick H. Bealefeld III [has] accused Mark Castillo, 41, of killing [his 3 young] children by submerging them "one at a time" in the bathtub of a top-floor room at the Baltimore Marriott Inner Harbor...

Castillo... according to court records[,] suffers from bipolar disorder...

On Christmas Day 2006, Amy Castillo sought a restraining order against her estranged husband, expressing concern for the children's safety. In a court petition, she wrote that he "has never actually hurt them but did tell me that the worst thing he could do to me would be to kill the children and not me so I could live without them..."

A temporary order was granted by a district court judge, and the case was transferred to circuit court, where the couple's custody battle was underway. After a hearing Jan. 10, Judge Joseph A. Dugan Jr. denied Amy Castillo's request to issue a permanent restraining order...

At least twice last year, motions that would have withheld visitation rights were denied. At one point, according to the records, Amy Castillo was fined for refusing visitation rights.

- Daniel de Vise, Raymond McCaffrey, Elissa Silverman

The Washington Post

March 31, 2008


Added March 28, 2008

United States

...More than 100 local law enforcement agencies — including Los Angeles and Orange counties in California and Maricopa County in Arizona, which includes Phoenix — have begun or are waiting for training to help the Department of Homeland Security root out illegal immigrants and hand them over for deportation...

Advocates say the training beefs up the power of the overworked Immigrations and Customs Enforcement agency. Detractors say it will discourage millions of immigrants from reporting crime or cooperating with police investigations...

"People are very, very fearful of interaction with law enforcement, said Susan Shah, with the New York-based Vera Institute of Justice, a nonprofit. "Even people with legal status, whose families may have mixed immigration status, now have a fear of opening the door..."

In Falls Church, Va., staffers at the Tarirhu Justice Center, which works with immigrant victims of domestic abuse, say they are fielding calls from women who have been assaulted, yet refuse to go to police.

"When there's confusion about what policy applies to you and when it does, the safe course of action is to avoid authorities altogether," said Jeanne Smoot, the center's director of public policy...

- Monica Rohr

Associated Press

Mar 29, 2008

LibertadLatina Commentary

Undocumented Women and Girls Who Are Caught Between Increasing Immigration Law Enforcement And Recession Face Sexual Exploitation

Prostitution, quid-pro-quo work arrangements and non-reporting of rape result from a bad economy and tougher federal, state and local immigration enforcement.

...Ms. undocumented Latina finds herself with no relief from comprehensive immigration reform, no green card, no work permit, no job, little understanding of the details of federal, state and local laws, no protection from crime, protection that should be provided by police forces that today may arrest and deport her, no way to feed herself and her children, and no access to the social services that could help to alleviate those desperate circumstances.

In that situation, Ms. Latina will not report rape to police.  She will not say "no!" to a potential or current employer who says (in violation of the law) that sex is the price she must pay for employment, and she may not say "no!" to a pimp or sex trafficker who offers her 'la vida facil' (the easy life) as a prostitute.  If she goes home to Bolivia, Peru, Nicaragua, Colombia, Mexico or the Dominican Republic, she will face exactly the same conditions of life, except for the fact that she will not be able to support her  family...

Read the full essay

- Chuck Goolsby

LibertadLatina

Mar 29, 2008


Added March 27, 2008

Washington State, USA

Jury deliberates serial rape case

[Anthony Casper] Dias, 28, is charged with 20 crimes in Pierce County – including multiple counts of first-degree rape, kidnapping and robbery – and faces more than 100 years in prison if convicted as charged.

He’s also charged with 19 crimes in King County, where authorities believe he committed several rapes and home-invasion robberies. He’s to go on trial in King County Superior Court in August.

Police arrested Dias in Federal Way in November 2005 after cornering him at an apartment where he is accused of kidnapping and sexually assaulting two girls...

“They all know Anthony Casper Dias,” [Pierce County deputy prosecutor Lori] Kooiman said of the victims. “They know him because they lived a nightmare while he lived out his fantasy. He did whatever the heck he needed to do to get what he wanted, which was rape, rape and rape some more.”

- Adam Lynn

The News Tribune

March 27, 2008


Added March 26, 2008

Massachusetts, USA

Pittsfield — The case of a local man accused of sexually assaulting three minors in 2005 has made it to trial in Berkshire Superior Court, following a tumultuous pretrial phase in which motions were filed to suppress information and to gain access to prosecutors' records...

[Cristian A.] Aragon, [a native of El Salvador,] who will use a Spanish interpreter during the trial, is accused of assaulting three white girls. One of the girls was 12 and two were 14 at the time of the alleged incidents, which occurred in Pittsfield and Lanesborough between Jan. 1 and June 30, 2005, according to the Berkshire District Attorney's Office.

Aragon was 18 when he was arrested on July 17, 2005...

- Conor Berry

Berkshire Eagle

March 26, 2008


Added March 26, 2008

New York, USA

[Queens] A U.S. immigration screening officer faces felony charges for allegedly demanding and receiving oral sex from a [Colombian] woman seeking a green card, according to authorities and court documents...

The two met in December in the man's car, and during that meeting, the man told her that "in return for assisting her in her green card application, the complainant must have sex with him at least two times," according to the documents. The woman said she tried to leave the car, but, documents said, Baichu grabbed her and forced her to perform oral sex on him...

Isaac Baichu, 46 [an immigrant from Guyana], was arrested last week...

Immigrant advocate Michelle Brane said such conduct is not unusual. Immigrants, she said, are vulnerable and at the mercy and disposal of immigration officials...

- Ashley Broughton

CNN

March 21, 2008

 


Added March 23, 2008

Mexico

ONU: Corrupción y desidia policiaca alientan la explotación sexual infantil en México

The United Nations' Special Rapporteur on the Sale of Children, Child prostitution and Child pornography, Juan Miguel Petit has warned in his recent report on conditions in Mexico that "the testimonies of minors who are sexually exploited in Mexico's large cities is profoundly coincidental in regard to the fact that corruption and apathy on the part of police forces is one of the primary reasons why exploitation and human trafficking continues to develop."

Petit stated that sexual exploitation and trafficking in children, especially on Mexico's national borders [with Guatemala and the United States], in tourist areas [such as Acapulco and Cancun], and in the nation's large cities, is a situation that could evolve into an "out-of-control pandemic" if Mexico does not engage in a profound and intensive exercise to reverse its social politics.

Petit: "The inefficiency, poor equipping of police, in addition to corruption" and a lack of monitoring and enforcement protocols exist in a wide range of municipal and police entities who are charged with assuring that children are not exploited in the "sexual marketplace." These conditions favor the exploiters [trafficking networks and pimps].

Petit also noted that in the year 2000, an estimated 25,000 minors lived abandoned on the streets of Mexico. Petit stated that the great majority are victims of sexual abuse.

Víctor Ballinas

La Jornada

March 11, 2008

See also:

UN Human Rights Council: Report on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography : addendum / submitted by the Special Rapporteur, Juan Miguel Petit : mission to Mexico [PDF]

Visita a Mexico - Informe del Relator Especial sobre la venta de niños, la prostitución infantil y la utilización de niños en la pornografía, Juan Miguel Petit [PDF]


Added March 23, 2008

Dominican Republic

Campesinas dominicanas rechazan impunidad de quienes violaron a dos niñas y mataron a su madre

In a case that has caused widespread protests, a judge in Haitian border region of the Dominican Republic has freed 8 men accused of gang-raping and murdering a women with mental illness, and then proceeding to gang-rape her 12-year-old daughter and her 8-year-old daughter.  The attack occurred in Mella, in the province of Independencia.

One of the seven accused, Ernesto Pérez was put on trial, but was later acquitted but the trial judge.

Although the federal Attorney General's office and the Supreme Court are investigating whether complicity [in corruption] existed in the court in question, the message of impunity has left many Dominican women and men outraged.

Sergia Galván, executive director of Mujer y Salud [Women and Health], a non-profit organization with 20 years fighting for gender equality, was indignant about the course of judicial action in this case.

Galván: "During the sentencing hearing that freed Ernesto Pérez, [the judge] tried to justify the impunity of the proceedings, stating that the accused rapist's rights trumped those of the victims. We are going to file an appeal. We are asking for the case to be re-opened. We are going to demand that all of the accused face justice."

Galván went on to state that, if justice is not served, the case will be presented in international legal forums such as the Inter-American Court.

- Mirta Rodríguez Calderón)

www.glocalia.com

March 10, 2008


Added March 23, 2008

Nicaragua

Monstruosidad con hija de cinco años

Las Minas - RAAN [Atlantic Autonomous Region] - A 25-year-old man has been arrested for raping and sodomizing his 5-year-old daughter, leaving her bleeding and unconscious.

The accused fled his home the evening of the incident when, after his wife had returned home, he fled the house. Upon discovering the rape, the mother of the victim reported the crime to police. Her daughter was taken to the city of Siuna for medical treatment and a forensic examination. The girl will require reconstructive surgery, according to her mother.  Police report that they have not yet found and arrested the father.

Family violence in Las Minas has increased dramatically, with 301 cases, including 96 reports of sexual abuse. The rise in such cases is creating alarm among local, regional and national authorities, but there is no evidence of a major initiative to combat this evil.

- El Nuevo Diario

March 12, 2008


Added March 23, 2008

United States - Iraq

Female veterans report more sexual, mental trauma

...Women have made up about 11 percent of the military force in Iraq and Afghanistan in the past six years, according to the Department of Defense; that's an estimated 180,000 women in the war zone...

...The [US Veterans Administration has] diagnosed 60,000 veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder. Of those, 22 percent of women suffered from "military sexual trauma," which includes sexual harassment or assault, compared with 1 percent of men...

...Many women have trouble reporting the trauma to their superiors out of fear of retribution.

"When you are in a war zone, your survival depends on people watching your back and on unit cohesion," Westrup said. "The same individuals who attacked you are those who will be protecting you, or you'll be fighting alongside the next day..."

- Randi Kaye and Ismael Estrada

CNN

March 19, 2008


Added March 23, 2008

New York, USA

New Rochelle - A suburban police sergeant who is married to a New York City anchorwoman was charged Wednesday with raping a 17-year-old girl hours after he helped arrest her boyfriend at her house.

Sgt. David Rodriguez pleaded not guilty to charges of raping a 17-year-old girl.

New Rochelle Sgt. David Rodriguez pleaded not guilty to forcible rape, agreed to an order of protection keeping him away from the teenager and posted $25,000 bail. If convicted, he could be sentenced to up to 25 years in prison...

The sergeant's wife, Darlene Rodriguez, anchorwoman of WNBC-TV's "Today in New York," was in tears outside the courtroom before the arraignment. She left the courthouse dry-eyed with her husband and said, "I'm here to support my husband. I believe in him. I love him. He's innocent 100 percent..."

- The Associated Press

March 20, 2008


Added March 23, 2008

Colorado, USA

Denver police are looking for a man who allegedly exposed himself to a 6-year-old girl in restroom and then ran away.

Police said the girl and her family were dining at Johnny Rockets around midnight on March 1. The girl went to the restroom by herself.

Ernesto Navarrette followed the girl and exposed himself to the child, said police spokesman John White.

The girl ran to her parents and Navarrette fled the restaurant, White said. The girl's father tried to chase Navarrette but lost him...

- TheDenverChannel.com

March 16/17, 2008


Added March 23, 2008

Connecticut, USA

Police investigate a possible indecent exposure incident involving three teenage girls in Greenwich.

The girls were walking on Sound Beach Avenue in Old Greenwich on Saturday around 2 PM. A Hispanic male, approximately 20-30 years in age, lured the girls by asking for directions and then asking them to look at his little kitten. At this point, the girls noticed the male's pants were pulled down and he was massaging his genitals...

- WTNH

New Haven, Connecticut

March 16, 2008


Added March 23, 2008

Florida, USA

[Fort Meyers] - Twenty-four men -- including two from Punta Gorda -- came to Fort Myers this weekend bringing tools of seduction, coercion and rape. They thought they would meet a child home alone. Instead, they found the police and a national news correspondent lying in wait...

The scenes, all caught on tape by NBC's "Dateline" as part of its "To Catch a Predator" feature, shocked even veteran law enforcement agents.

Few men arrived empty-handed. Daniels said several brought their laptop computers and alcohol. At least one had male enhancement pills. One had rope and duct tape.

- Anne marie Apollo

Naples Daily News

April 24, 2008


Added March 23, 2008

Ohio, USA

A man from Mason, Ohio, is arrested, accused of sending sexually explicit messages and pornographic videos of himself to a police officer posing as a 15-year-old girl.

The Internet sex sting was an operation that involved three different law enforcement agencies, the Belmont County Sheriff's Department and a U.S. marshall.

David Tirado, 24, was arrested at Kings Island Resort on Friday.

Bethesda police police arrested him while he was on the job, after they said Tirado sent sexual messages and nine pornographic videos to a decoy...

- WTOV 9

March, 2008


Added March 15, 2008

Michigan, USA

Lansing - A local man was sentenced on Monday to 120 years in prison for sexually exploiting a minor, and distributing and possessing child pornography. The case was investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Michael Hinojosa, 33, of Lansing... was sentenced... before Judge Paul L. Maloney...

A computer forensic analysis of the seized items resulted in discovering more than 600 images of children, primarily prepubescent girls, engaged in sexually explicit conduct. Also discovered were images of Hinojosa engaging in sex acts with an 8-year old girl, which he photo-graphed and/ or videotaped. He later distributed some of these images via the Internet.

"All children have an absolute right to grow up free from the fear of being sexually exploited," said Brian M. Moskowitz, special agent in charge of the ICE Office of Investigations in Detroit. "Children should never have to fear those who are supposed to protect them. ICE will relentlessly pursue anyone who sexually exploits our kids."

- U.S. ICE

March 11, 2008


Added March 15, 2008

New Jersey, USA

Alberto Solano-Cardenas

 

Newark - U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers over the weekend removed Alberto Solano-Cardenas, a Costa Rican national who is wanted for sexual assault on a juvenile in his home country. Solano-Cardenas is wanted in Puntarenas and he was returned to Costa Rica Saturday afternoon to face the charges.

Members of the ICE Newark Fugitive Operations Team arrested Solano-Cardenas on February 20 due to information provided to ICE by INTERPOL...

- U.S. ICE

March 03, 2008


Added March 14, 2008

Texas, USA

*

Suspect David

Salazar

- Houston Chronicle

Girl says she was kidnapped, used as sex slave

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A 16-year-old Mexican girl knew to use a cell phone to call 911 to report she was being held against her will and used as a sex slave. What she didn't know was where she was.

- Ruth Rendon

The Houston Chronicle

March 13, 2008

Retenida como esclava sexual

- The Associated Press

March 13, 2008

Freed Girl tells police she was a sex slave

Jacinto City - A recently rescued Mexican teen told police she was held as a sex slave in a Texas house since being smuggled into the country two months ago.

Police said the 16-year-old girl was found Friday at a Jacinto City residence after using her captor's cellular phone to call 911...

She allegedly was held in a padlocked room with bars on the windows, and sexually abused repeatedly by different people at the home and at different locations.

Gregoria Salgado Vazquez and her son, David Salazar, are each charged with aggravated sexual assault of a child and aggravated kidnapping, the newspaper said.

They are being held in the Harris County Jail in lieu of $400,000 bond.

- United Press International

March 12, 2008


Added March 14, 2008

Mexico

El Gobierno apoya la pedophilia

Mexico's government aids and abets child sexual exploitation

The recent [February, 2008] four-day visit to Mexico of Louise Arbour, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, resulted in inspired comments about human rights conditions in the nation.

Among High Commissioner Arbour's statements:

1 - Arbour asked the government of Mexico to apply the same level of resources to dismantling child sex trafficking networks, and protecting women's rights in 'femicide' plagued Ciudad Juarez, as it now applies to its war against organized crime.

2 - During meetings with families of women and girls murdered in Ciudad Juarez, Arbour heard that none of them have access to the criminal justice system...

[The article's author:]

This (the above list) is our international image today.

Mexico protects the operations of the cruelest international pedophile [child sex trafficking] networks on earth. This occurs despite the clearest proof that this activity is occurring, such as in the case of Puebla governor Mario Marin's involvement in the abuse of journalist Lydia Cacho. And in a shame of shames, the Supreme court of Justice of the Nation (SCJN) itself acted in a sinister manner to justify these acts...

We say to President Felipe Calderon... that a great scandal would follow if the Mexican government ignored High Commissioner Arbour's recommend-ations.

It is undeniable that today, both federal institutions and big business provide assistance to child sex trafficking networks.

If such a denial of the facts by the Calderon government lead to a slowing of international investment in Mexico, then that would cause [Calderon and big business leaders] to tremble [but not the outrage of allowing uncontested pedophile sex trafficking and femicide to continue].

- Manú Dornbierer

El Siglo de Durango

Durango, Mexico

Feb. 19, 2008

See also:

LibertadLatina

Journalist / Activist

   Lydia Cacho is

   Railroaded by the

   Legal Process for

   Exposing Child Sex

   Networks In Mexico