Latest news with #sexualabuse
Yahoo
5 hours ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Zion Williamson Accused of Sexual Assault in Civil Lawsuit
New Orleans Pelicans forward Zion Williamson is accused in a lawsuit of engaging in sexual abuse and other misconduct by a woman with whom he allegedly had a sexual relationship from 2018 to 2023. Attorneys for Williamson called the woman's claims an 'extortion attempt.' Advertisement More from The civil complaint, according to ESPN, was filed by a plaintiff using the pseudonym Jane Doe in Los Angeles Superior Court on Thursday. The complaint asserts Williamson, a former No. 1 overall NBA Draft choice, engaged in 'physical, emotional, and financial' abuse in addition to sexual misconduct. The alleged acts occurred in Louisiana and California. The allegations include claims that Williamson threatened to 'have his paid security guard shoot Plaintiff while the security guard was present and carrying a loaded firearm,' and made threats to kill the plaintiff's parents as well. Allegations of Williamson monitoring the woman's whereabouts are also included in the suit. Accusations raised in a civil complaint are not necessarily true, and whether a plaintiff can support the accusations with evidence and testimony are key factors that will take time to play out. Advertisement Attorneys for Williamson at Barrasso Usdin Kupperman Freeman & Sarver issued a statement Friday denying the allegations. They claim that Williamson 'reported the plaintiff's extortion attempt to law enforcement.' The statement does not indicate the jurisdiction of the law enforcement entity. The extortion accusation, Williamson's attorneys state, led to the issuance of an arrest warrant, though details of that alleged issuance are not clarified. Williamson's attorneys also state their client and the plaintiff 'never dated' but did 'maintain a consensual, casual relationship' that began when Williamson was a freshman at Duke in 2019. Williamson will countersue the plaintiff, his attorneys said. It's worth noting that the filing of a complaint in court is ordinarily preceded by a would-be plaintiffs' demand letter sent to the would-be defendant. The letter requests a settlement, which typically contemplates financial payment to the plaintiff in exchange for dropping potential claims and agreeing to a nondisclosure provision—a provision that would be of great value to a high-profile figure like Williamson. Advertisement In other words, Williamson likely knew he was going to be sued in a public court filing that would attract media attention unless he agreed to Doe's demands. His attorneys said 'only after the friendship ended did she begin demanding millions of dollars.' Williamson's answer to the complaint and motion to dismiss will be important steps going forward to assessing the truthfulness of the woman's and Williamson's conflicting accounts. The legal process would also impact how the NBA and Pelicans address the matter. The league and the NBPA have bargained a domestic violence, sexual assault and child abuse policy that contemplates the league's ability to investigate related claims. Best of Sign up for Sportico's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Irish Times
6 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Irish Times
Air by John Boyne: Superb, at-times harrowing, still questioning
Air Author : John Boyne ISBN-13 : 978-0857529855 Publisher : Doubleday Guideline Price : £12.99 In The Irish Times in 2023, Dubliner John Boyne , a multimillion selling author thanks to 2006's The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas, wrote about how he was sexually assaulted while in school . Facing up to this trauma, and reporting it, inspired him to write a quartet of novellas to, in his own words, 'focus on sexual abuse from four different perspectives'. Consequently, Water, Earth and Fire, all published over the past two years, made for uneasy reading. That's not to say they weren't well written, they certainly were, but Fire was particularly harrowing and Boyne said he found that book, narrated by a female paedophile, 'the most difficult and emotionally draining to write'. No one who has been following along with Boyne's elemental suite will, then, be expecting Air to be a light read. As before, he takes characters from previous books and moves them centre stage. Aaron Umber, one of the victims in Fire , is flying from Sydney to Ireland with his teenaged son Emmet. Aaron has split from Emmet's mother Rebecca, a daughter of the Vanessa who in Water temporarily moved to an island off the west coast to grasp at some kind of recovery after her first husband's crimes were revealed. READ MORE Aaron and Rebecca's marriage was a sexless one as both parties were understandably 'completely broken' when they met. Aaron dislikes being touched and recalls a random sexual encounter that shows how damaged he is. He naturally fears that the sins perpetrated on the father might be repeating themselves on the son when he finds semi-naked photos on Emmet's phone. Rebecca is so scarred that her own mother warned Aaron off her the night before their wedding, and has seemingly abandoned her only child. [ John Boyne: How I wrote The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas Opens in new window ] Boyne's main characters are masterfully realised ordinary people trying to move beyond the weight of the past ('It's not fair, is it? Life. You'd wonder whether it's all worth the bother.'). That past continually elbows its way back into the present, such as when Vanessa's second husband Ron, who seems like a perfectly decent fellow, well and truly puts his foot in it. The question Boyne appears to be asking in this superb series is whether anyone, and he might even be including himself in that number, can ever fully escape from such horrific history.
Irish Times
7 hours ago
- General
- Irish Times
Kincora: Britain's Shame by Chris Moore - Strong and unnerving, some accounts linger like a bad taste
Kincora: Britain's Shame Author : Chris Moore ISBN-13 : 9781785375545 Publisher : Merrion Press Guideline Price : €19.99 When Chris Moore started working as a journalist with the BBC in 1979, one of his first assignments was to report on sexual abuse of boys at the Kincora Boys' Home on the Newtownards Road in Belfast . That home was being run by three men, Joseph Mains, Raymond Semple and William McGrath, who were convicted of raping boys in their care. But from an early stage there were indications that the story was much wider than the predations of these three horrors. McGrath was the leader of an eccentric loyalist paramilitary group called Tara, which was interested in reviving Irish identity among Protestants with a view to uniting Ireland inside the UK . He was an evangelical preacher with a theology which endorsed his homosexual interests. Hadn't there been loving relationships between men in the Bible? Think Jesus and John. READ MORE McGrath's political connections raised suspicion that men in his wider circle were abusing children at Kincora too and, further, that the security services had an interest in suppressing the story and curtailing Moore's investigations. Moore is now in his 70s and an independent researcher and writer, free of some of the constraints he believes the BBC imposed on him. And remarkably, he has stayed with this story and travelled the world to meet the men whose lives were tarnished by McGrath and others. Much of Moore's approach is to extrapolate from evidence and in cases his extrapolations are strong and unnerving. There was interference from MI5. McGrath was an agent. MI5's interest was in exploring the connections between unionist politicians and loyalist paramilitaries. There are compelling witness accounts here of boys being taken from the home to servicemen with secret lives, most notably Lord Louis Mountbatten , identified retrospectively by boys as their abuser from his picture on television after he was blown up in his boat by the IRA at Mullaghmore in 1979. The book also reminds us of a time when McGrath's homosexuality was treated as criminal and sinful. The account of him being subjected on police orders to the discredited anal dilation test is one that, once read, lingers like a bad taste. But a word to his publisher: a book like this should have end notes and an index.
The Independent
14 hours ago
- Health
- The Independent
Convicted former Catholic priest exposed by Spotlight investigation dies at 87
James Talbot, a former Catholic priest convicted of sexually assaulting boys in Maine and Massachusetts who was exposed by the investigation that led to the movie ' Spotlight,' has died. He was 87. Talbot, a former Jesuit, appeared on a list provided by the religious order of northeastern Jesuits who faced credible allegations of sexual abuse of a minor. Talbot died on Feb. 28 at a hospice center in St. Louis, said Mike Gabriele, a spokesperson for Jesuits USA East. Talbot was one of the subjects of an investigation into priest sex abuse by The Boston Globe that was later adapted into the 2015 movie 'Spotlight.' The investigation revealed widespread sexual abuse, and coverup of that abuse, within the Catholic Church. Jesuits USA East did not offer a comment about Talbot's death. He pleaded guilty in 2018 to gross sexual assault and unlawful sexual contact after charges that he sexually abused a 9-year-old boy at a Maine church in the 1990s. He was ordered to serve three years in prison for that conviction. Prior to the Maine conviction, Talbot spent six years in prison after pleading guilty to raping and sexually assaulting two students in Boston. He has settled lawsuits with more than a dozen victims in addition to the convictions. Talbot was a former teacher and athletic coach at Boston College High School from 1972 to 1980 who then transferred to Maine. He was at Cheverus High School in Portland, Maine, until 1998. Former Boston College High School student Jim Scanlan, 63, reported Talbot's abuse in Massachusetts. The Associated Press does not typically use the names of sexual assault victims without their consent, which Scanlan provided. His reports led to criminal charges against Talbot. Scanlan said he has reached out to other survivors of Talbot's abuse. He said he holds people in positions of power within the church accountable for allowing Talbot to continue committing abuse over many years. Scanlan said he has tried to move on from his own anger at Talbot, but it's a long process. 'The opposite of love isn't hate, it's indifference,' Scanlan said. 'Maybe I just parked him away a long time ago, resolved I couldn't change what happened.' Jesuits USA East said Talbot had been residing at the Vianney Renewal Center in Dittmer, Missouri, prior to entering hospice care. The center cares for sexually abusive priests as well as providing other health care services.
Associated Press
14 hours ago
- Health
- Associated Press
Convicted former Catholic priest exposed by Spotlight investigation dies at 87
PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — James Talbot, a former Catholic priest convicted of sexually assaulting boys in Maine and Massachusetts who was exposed by the investigation that led to the movie 'Spotlight,' has died. He was 87. Talbot, a former Jesuit, appeared on a list provided by the religious order of northeastern Jesuits who faced credible allegations of sexual abuse of a minor. Talbot died on Feb. 28 at a hospice center in St. Louis, said Mike Gabriele, a spokesperson for Jesuits USA East. Talbot was one of the subjects of an investigation into priest sex abuse by The Boston Globe that was later adapted into the 2015 movie 'Spotlight.' The investigation revealed widespread sexual abuse, and coverup of that abuse, within the Catholic Church. Jesuits USA East did not offer a comment about Talbot's death. He pleaded guilty in 2018 to gross sexual assault and unlawful sexual contact after charges that he sexually abused a 9-year-old boy at a Maine church in the 1990s. He was ordered to serve three years in prison for that conviction. Prior to the Maine conviction, Talbot spent six years in prison after pleading guilty to raping and sexually assaulting two students in Boston. He has settled lawsuits with more than a dozen victims in addition to the convictions. Talbot was a former teacher and athletic coach at Boston College High School from 1972 to 1980 who then transferred to Maine. He was at Cheverus High School in Portland, Maine, until 1998. Former Boston College High School student Jim Scanlan, 63, reported Talbot's abuse in Massachusetts. The Associated Press does not typically use the names of sexual assault victims without their consent, which Scanlan provided. His reports led to criminal charges against Talbot. Scanlan said he has reached out to other survivors of Talbot's abuse. He said he holds people in positions of power within the church accountable for allowing Talbot to continue committing abuse over many years. Scanlan said he has tried to move on from his own anger at Talbot, but it's a long process. 'The opposite of love isn't hate, it's indifference,' Scanlan said. 'Maybe I just parked him away a long time ago, resolved I couldn't change what happened.' Jesuits USA East said Talbot had been residing at the Vianney Renewal Center in Dittmer, Missouri, prior to entering hospice care. The center cares for sexually abusive priests as well as providing other health care services.
