Bronx man indicted in sexual abuse against child

A Bronx man has been indicted in Sullivan County on charges he sexually abused a child for months. Hector Cerna, 19, faces charges of first-degree sexual conduct against a child and first-degree sexual abuse and endangering the welfare of a child. The victim was under the age of 11 and the abuse started around November 2006 and continued until March 2007, court papers said.

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Darkness to Light is a non-profit organization whose mission is to reduce the incidence of child sexual abuse by shifting the responsibility of prevention from children to adults. The mission is accomplished through an award winning media campaign that raises public awareness and directs adults to educational tools. The tools teach adults how to prevent, recognize and react responsibly to child sexual abuse and include the 7 Steps to Preventing Child Sexual Abuse and the consciousness training based Stewards of Children curriculum. For more information on how you can help prevent child sexual abuse, please visit www.darkness2light.org.

Group Aims to Prevent Child Sexual Abuse

The Virginia Department of Health says one in four girls and one in five boys in the state are victims of sexual assault. It's a topic that makes many people so uncomfortable that they choose to avoid the problem. But a group of healthcare workers, advocates, victims and former offenders are trying to educate others to help prevent child sexual abuse.

"I remember feeling like a rag doll I had no control. It was almost like I was up on the ceiling watching what was happening," recalled Keith*.

It's taken Keith years to come to terms with the abuse he suffered as a child, but he's come forward in the hopes that others can learn from his past, joining other victims, treatment providers and a former offender in an honest discussion of childhood sexual assault.

The former offender Mark* shared, "I knew what I was doing was wrong and in so doing, I didn't want to be caught even by the victim. I was very good a rationalizing and denying that what I was doing did not cause any harm."

The panel's discussion was just one part of a workshop designed to help others understand recognize and prevent sexual abuse. "What we're asking is that the adults in the community get involved and that the adults in the room start to work harder about preventing child sexual abuse," explained clinician Sarah Lewis.

Lewis helps victims deal with the ramifications of sexual assault. She says the best prevention is proactive, not just dealing with abuse after it's happened, but reaching out to potential abusers before they act on inappropriate urges.

She said, "Until now, we really have not had anything fill the niche of what do we do if someone feels that they are tempted to touch a child inappropriately or what do we do if we notice someone being inappropriate with a child?"

The Virginia Department of Health Runs "Stop It Now", a helpline to guide people who suspect child sexual abuse even if it's just a gut feeling. Potential offenders can also call to get help before they do something wrong.

If you suspect or want to prevent child sexual abuse, you can call the Stop It Now hotline at 1-888-PREVENT (773-8368).

Reported by Claire O'Brien

Ex-priest in Australia faces child sex charges

The Associated Press

Sat, Sep 6, 2008 (12:18 a.m.)

A former Roman Catholic priest already facing dozens of charges related to allegations of sexual abuse at an exclusive Australian boarding school has been charged with an additional 60 child sex offenses, police said Wednesday.

Police also arrested two other men Wednesday in connection with the investigation into alleged abuse in the 1980s at two religious schools.

The new charges and arrests come after Pope Benedict XVI visited Australia in July and publicly condemned sexual predators in the church, apologizing to their victims.

The 65-year-old ex-priest, identified by his attorney as Brian Spillane of Sydney, was arrested Tuesday night and charged with 60 counts relating to alleged sexual assaults against eight people, New South Wales state police said.

He was released on bail and is scheduled to appear in court Sept. 15, a police spokeswoman said on customary condition of anonymity. The spokeswoman declined to provide any additional information, including details of the allegations or the specific charges.

Spillane was originally charged in May with 33 child sex offenses against five people as a result of a police investigation into allegations of abuse in the 1980s at St. Stanislaus in the city of Bathurst, 125 miles (200 kilometers) west of Sydney. Spillane worked at the school on and off between the 1970s and early 1990s.

Police on Wednesday also arrested a 66-year-old Catholic brother in connection with their probe into St. Stanislaus and a 63-year-old former teacher of another religious school in Bathurst that is also under investigation.

The Catholic brother was arrested in Sydney and charged with 28 sexual offenses dating back to the 1970s and '80s. He was released on bail and ordered to appear in court Sept. 15. Police did not name the man or say whether he taught at St. Stanislaus. Many members of Catholic orders teach in religious schools.

The other suspect arrested Wednesday, a former teacher who lives on Russell Island in Queensland state, was charged with three counts of indecent assault relating to alleged offenses at the Anglican All Saints College in Bathurst in 1973. He was released on bail and ordered to appear in court Nov. 17.

Police did not release either man's name or details about the allegations against them.

Police Superintendent Michael Goodwin said that since the original allegations became public, additional people have come forward claiming to have been abused at the schools.

"Police are currently working through a significant amount of information in relation to these sexual assault matters most of which date back to the 1970s and 80s," Goodwin said in a statement.

"As a result of information from the public, (the police probe) has been expanded to investigate any instances of sexual abuse relating to any former student of any school in the Bathurst area," he said. "Inquiries are continuing, and I cannot rule out further arrests at this stage."

Spillane's lawyer, Greg Walsh, said Wednesday that his client maintained his innocence and said the case had been "highly contaminated," in part because the accusers' complaints were based on repressed memories.

"They've (the memories) been concocted," Walsh said. "There's no scientific basis on recovered memories."

Walsh declined to elaborate or say whether police or psychologists worked with the accusers to draw out the memories of alleged abuse.

"I can't go into details," he said, adding only that there were "a number of bizarre aspects" to the case.

John Edwards, principal of St. Stanislaus, said the school first learned of the allegations against the former priest five or six years ago, after a link to a Web site containing graphic descriptions of sex acts that had allegedly taken place at the school was sent to several staff members. Officials at the school forwarded the information to police, Edwards said.

"We never heard anything further of it," Edwards said.

On July 3, the school was served with a search warrant listing the names of three former staff members, including Spillane, Edwards said. But police would not tell Edwards whether the other two former staff members were also accused of molesting students, or whether they were simply potential witnesses.