Latest news with #abusoSexual
Telegraph
08-07-2025
- Telegraph
97pc of under-18s in Spain have been victims of sexual abuse
Ninety-seven per cent of children in Spain have been the victims of some form of sexual abuse, according to a report by Save the Children. The report, based on interviews with 1,000 young people between the ages of 18 and 21, highlighted both the scale of abuse and the lack of children's awareness of online dangers. Of those questioned, 33 per cent said that during their childhood they had been contacted online by an adult with sexual intent, and 38 per cent said they had received sexual comments or images without their consent. The study also found that one in five of the respondents had experienced a situation in which AI-created 'deepfake' images depicting them naked had been shared with their peers. These 'deepfake' images were used as a form of bullying among children, and also by adult sexual predators as a way to blackmail victims, the report explained. Almost 70 per cent, however, said they did not perceive any risk from AI-generated photos or videos. Victim felt 'it was her fault' Lucía López, a Save the Children educator in Alicante, in the south-east of Spain, described a case in which a 12-year-old girl was threatened by an adult who told her that if she did not send an intimate photo of herself, he would publish naked photos of her created using AI. 'The girl claimed she had never forwarded photos of herself with that type of content, but she felt she had caused the situation and that it was her fault,' Ms López said. According to the latest official data from Spain's interior ministry, the police received 4,896 reports of cyber crimes against children and adolescents in 2023, of which 1,068 were sexual offences. 'These figures represent only the tip of the iceberg, as most cases go unreported, partly due to the lack of reporting and partly due to the difficulties in detection, which increase when these incidents occur online,' said Catalina Perazzo, a social impact director at Save the Children.
Washington Post
09-06-2025
- Washington Post
Wander Franco's attorney to ask court to exonerate his client in sexual abuse case
PUERTO LA PLATA, Dominican Republic — The attorney for Tampa Bay Rays shortstop Wander Franco said Monday he will ask the court to exonerate his client of all charges in a sexual abuse case involving a girl who was 14 years old at the time of the alleged crimes. Franco, who was charged in July 2024 and is on supervised release, could face up to 30 years in prison if found guilty. 'He didn't commit the acts he's accused of,' Teodosio Jáquez told The Associated Press at the end of the fourth hearing at the Collegiate Court of Puerto Plata, a tourist city in northern Dominican Republic where the girl is from. 'They're playing their part, because their job is to accuse. However, what they have to do is prove it,' Jáquez said of the witnesses presented by prosecutors. The prosecutors say the witnesses' testimony has been vital in proving that Franco sexually abused a minor and paid her mother money for her consent. 'Today, each of these expert witnesses' statements was vital. They established not only the fact of child sexual abuse, but also that they reinforced commercial sexual exploitation and money laundering,' prosecutor Claudio Cordero said. Documents that prosecutors presented to the judge last year and were viewed by The Associated Press alleged that Franco, through his mother Yudelka Aybar, transferred 1 million pesos ($17,000) to the mother of the minor on Jan. 5, 2023, to consent to the purported abuse. The mother of the minor has been charged with money laundering and is under house arrest. Franco also has been charged with sexual and commercial exploitation against a minor, and human trafficking. Also, on Sunday he was charged with illegal possession of a handgun, prosecutors said. Franco was arrested Nov. 10 in San Juan de la Maguana after an altercation in a parking lot . No one was injured during the fight, and the handgun, a semiautomatic Glock 19, was found in Franco's vehicle, according to a statement from the Dominican Public Prosecutor's Office. Franco's attorney says the player did not have the weapon, that it belongs to someone else. 'This is a celebrity, and some media outlets are perverse in trying to harm that young man,' Jáquez added. Franco, who turned 24 on March 1, was in his third major league season when his career was halted in August 2023. He agreed to an 11-year, $182 million contract in November 2021. He is currently on Major League Baseball's restricted list after initially being placed on administrative leave. ___ AP MLB:
Malay Mail
10-05-2025
- Malay Mail
Church dismisses claims Pope Leo failed to act on abuse cases in Peru, says he ‘respected procedures'
CHICLAYO (Peru), May 10 — Pope Leo XIV's successor as bishop of Chiclayo in northern Peru yesterday rejected allegations that the new pontiff ever covered up cases of sexual abuse within the diocese. Chiclayo bishop Edison Farfan told reporters that Leo had 'listened (to the victims) and respected the procedures' of the Church. The new pope had been 'the most sensitive of all within the Peruvian church' to the issue of sexual abuse, Farfan added. The US-born pontiff was bishop of the coastal city from 2015 to 2023, when he was made a cardinal and moved to Rome. Two victim advocacy groups questioned Leo XIV's commitment to addressing sexual violence in the church after he was announced Thursday. Victims' rights group, Bishop Accountability, has also questioned the US-born pontiff's commitment to lifting the lid on the scourge of clerical abuse. The group's co-director Anne Barrett Doyle noted that Leo had 'released no names' of abusers, whether as head of the Augustinian order, bishop of Chiclayo or most recently, as head of the powerful Dicastery for Bishops, advising his predecessor Francis on the appointment of bishops. She labelled his alleged inaction in Chiclayo, where she said two priests had been accused of sexual abuse, as 'most disturbing.' The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), also issued a statement after his election as pope calling on Leo XIV to take action to support victims of sexual violence. In 2022, a priest in the diocese was accused of having sexually assaulted at least three girls. The diocese's head of communications, Fiel Purizaca, told AFP that the priest targeted by the abuse allegations was 'immediately sent home.' Farfan said the allegations were an attempt to 'discredit' the new pontiff and were 'false.' Farfan said the church was still investigating the abuse claims. — AFP
