58 m. ago Pope Francis had a troubled course on dealing with clergy sexual abuse

Pope Francis had a learning curve on clergy sexual abuse, with the turning point coming in 2018

Events

6 h. ago AI images of child sexual abuse getting ‘significantly more realistic’, says watchdog

Internet Watch Foundation report shows 380% increase in illegal AI-generated imagery in 2024, most of it ‘category A’Images of child sexual abuse created by artificial intelligence are becoming “significantly more realistic”, according to an online safety watchdog.The Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) said advances in AI are being reflected in illegal content created and consumed by paedophiles, saying: “In 2024, the quality of AI-generated videos improved exponentially, and all types of AI imagery assessed appeared significantly more realistic as the technology developed.” Continue reading...

Events

6 h. ago ‘Record levels of web pages hosting child sex abuse imagery discovered in 2024’

The Internet Watch Foundation has announced it will offer a new safety tool to smaller sites for free to help fight online harms.

Events

14 h. ago Church of England vicar admits possessing child sex abuse and extreme porn images

The vicar admitted child sex offences following a raid on his cottage

Events

17 h. ago Child sexual abuse scandal cast long shadow over Pope Francis’s papacy

Issue threatened to derail Francis’s papacy and dominated his trips abroadPope Francis: cardinals to meet in Rome to set date for funeral – liveIn 2002, the Boston Globe published a series of articles exposing the scale of child sexual abuse in the local Catholic church. It shone a spotlight – the title of a later movie based on the investigation – on the church’s dark shameful secrets.Eleven years later, Francis became pope. Wave after wave of abuse revelations continued to crash at the Vatican’s doors amid mounting anger and revulsion among the faithful and beyond. The issue threatened to derail Francis’s papacy and dominate his trips abroad. He was slow to grasp the scale and systemic nature of the issue and apparently reluctant to take firm action to deal with abusers and those who covered up abuse. Continue reading...

Events

17 h. ago Child sexual abuse scandal cast long shadow over Francis’s papacy

Issue dogged Francis throughout his time as head of Catholic church, with abuse survivors saying he failed to do enoughPope Francis: cardinals to meet in Rome to set date for funeral – liveIn 2002, the Boston Globe published a series of articles exposing the scale of child sexual abuse in the local Catholic church. It shone a spotlight – the title of a later movie based on the investigation – on the church’s dark shameful secrets.Eleven years later, Francis became pope. Wave after wave of abuse revelations continued to crash at the Vatican’s doors amid mounting anger and revulsion among the faithful and beyond. The issue threatened to derail Francis’s papacy and dominate his trips abroad. He was slow to grasp the scale and systemic nature of the issue and apparently reluctant to take firm action to deal with abusers and those who covered up abuse. Continue reading...

Events

3 d. ago Primary school teacher banned from classroom after online chats with undercover cop

Julian Barker, 50, sent images of a child and took part in 'sexualised' conversations while working as a supply teacher in Bolton

Events

3 d. ago The New Pornographers drummer charged over child sex abuse pictures as band speak out

The New Pornographers drummer, Joseph Seiders, has been charged with possessing child sex abuse images with the band saying they are 'absolutely shocked' by the news

Events

3 d. ago ‘Don’t ask what AI can do for us, ask what it is doing to us’: are ChatGPT and co harming human intelligence?

Recent research suggests our brain power is in decline. Is offloading our cognitive work to AI driving this trend?Imagine for a moment you are a child in 1941, sitting the common entrance exam for public schools with nothing but a pencil and paper. You read the following: “Write, for no more than a quarter of an hour, about a British author.”Today, most of us wouldn’t need 15 minutes to ponder such a question. We’d get the answer instantly by turning to AI tools such as Google Gemini, ChatGPT or Siri. Offloading cognitive effort to artificial intelligence has become second nature, but with mounting evidence that human intelligence is declining, some experts fear this impulse is driving the trend. Continue reading...

Technology

3 d. ago Terrifying influence of Andrew Tate as teachers face rape threats by brainwashed boys

Warning: sensitive content on sexual abuse. As teachers sound the alarm on Andrew Tate's dangerous influence in classrooms, we speak to experts and educators to delve into the dark underbelly of the influencer's stardom

Events

3 d. ago ‘Marriage feels like a hostage situation, and motherhood a curse’: Japanese author Sayaka Murata

The Convenience Store Woman author is renowned for challenging social norms in darkly weird near-future fiction. She discusses sex, feminism and her struggles to be an ‘ordinary earthling’“I have had relationships with humans, but I’ve also loved a lot of people in stories,” Sayaka Murata, the Japanese author of the bestseller Convenience Store Woman, confides a few minutes into our interview. “I’ve been told by my doctor not to talk about this too much, but ever since I was a child, I’ve had 30 or 40 imaginary friends who live on a different star or planet with whom I have shared love and sexual experiences.”It is 7pm in Tokyo, mid-morning in London. Sitting upright at a desk in an empty publisher’s office, the 45-year-old author – wearing a cream silk blouse and with a neatly curled bob – might be reading the news rather than discussing imaginary friends. For context, her latest novel to be translated into English, Vanishing World, depi...

Events

4 d. ago Top police officer is sacked and banned for life after having sex on duty and 'preying' on junior colleagues

Tom Simons, of Essex Police, abused his senior position for a sexual purpose with two women, including by touching a colleague inappropriately.

Events

4 d. ago New Pornographers drummer arrested over child sexual abuse images

Musician Joe Seiders is in custody after reports of a man behaving suspiciously around underage boys at a restaurant in Palm Desert, California

Events

4 d. ago Drummer for indie rockers the New Pornographers arrested over child sexual abuse images

Joe Seiders in custody following search of home, vehicle and phone, after allegedly attempting to film child in California restaurant restroomJoe Seiders, the American drummer with Canadian indie rockers the New Pornographers, has been arrested for possession of child sexual abuse imagery.A statement made by the sheriff’s office of Riverside county, California, alleged that evidence has implicated Seiders in two incidents. On Monday 7 April, an 11-year-old boy reported that a man attempted to film him in a restroom of a fast food restaurant, and on Wednesday 9 April, police officers received another report from the restaurant, that a man was “entering and exiting the restroom with juvenile males at the business”. Continue reading...

Events

6 d. ago Schoolgirl 'was drugged and repeatedly raped by three men who used promise of cigarette to lure her into their car after spotting her alone outside Asda'

Ivan Turtak (pictured), 38, Kevin Horvath, 25, and Ernest Gunar, 27, allegedly passed the child around 'like a receptacle' as they subjected her to vile sexual abuse.

Events

6 d. ago Calls grow in Japan to scrap time limit on civil suits over childhood sexual abuse

Survivors and lawyers seek legal reform as thousands sign petition against statute of limitations

Events

7 d. ago LA county facing financial turmoil after wildfires and $4bn abuse settlement

County to cut budget by almost $90m as it tackles nearly $2bn in fire-related costs and cuts to federal fundingLos Angeles county is experiencing unprecedented financial challenges amid growing costs from the historic wildfires that ravaged the region earlier this year and a $4bn sex abuse case settlement, the county CEO said this week.The region faces roughly $2bn in expenses related to January’s fires, which killed 30 people and destroyed nearly 17,000 structures. Earlier this month the county announced it had a $4bn agreement to settle thousands of claims of sexual abuse in juvenile facilities dating back 1959 – the largest such settlement in US history. Continue reading...

Events

7 d. ago How to keep kids safe as worrying report highlights sinister side to dating apps

Sexual exploitation and abuse of children has become a "pandemic," a new report from the University of Edinburgh has warned

Politics

8 d. ago The problem with this ‘incredibly harmful’ White Lotus scene

As researchers of sibling sexual abuse, we were particularly perturbed by the show’s take on this issue, Sophie King-Hill and Kieran McCartan write

Events

8 d. ago Albanian lesbian couple win asylum claim to stay in Britain after arguing people in their home country are homophobic

The women had trafficked after being 'abducted by masked men, sexually assaulted by multiple men and subjected to physical and verbal abuse on account of their sexual orientation', a court heard.

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