Tag: Abuse

Posted on by

‘Drag Queen Story Hour’ Floods UK with 70 Events, Parents Push Back Calling It a Form of Child ‘Abuse’

'Drag Queen Story Hour' Floods UK with 70 Events, Parents Push Back Calling It a Form of Child 'Abuse'

More and more men are dressing up like women in provocative clothing to read books to young children, and it’s provoking fresh fury from parents and others who disagree with the idea.

Drag Queen Story Hour has been a serious concern in the U.S. for many years, and now those same concerns are growing in the U.K. as well.

The storytime events have taken place in libraries, schools, and bookstores over the past few years, as those involved try to convince impressionable kids that the LGBTQ lifestyle is normal and exciting.

In the U.K., many opposing Drag Queen Story Hour are speaking out by urging local councils and libraries to reject the events as distasteful and inappropriate. 

Family Education Trust is encouraging parents to get involved and find out if their local library is allowing a Drag Queen Story Hour. The group even provided a letter template for them to fill out, outlining their opposition to the events. 

According to the group’s website, the drag queens have nearly 70 activities planned in 20 different areas across the U.K. this summer.

Safe Schools Alliance UK (SSAUK) is another group that opposes drag queen-related events. Teachers and parents are joining forces to speak out against the men who wear gobs of makeup, huge wigs, and vulgar outfits.

“Drag queens entering children’s environments is already an abuse of power,” the group said, adding that it’s being “pushed as the new, inclusive thing to do” so children will develop a deeper love for reading. 

SSAUK continues, “Boundaries are imposed by schools to keep children safe from themselves, from each other and from exploitative adults. Drag is a form of adult entertainment, and as such can never be appropriate for the age, developmental stage, or background of pupils.”  

In a statement, Drag Queen Story Hour UK said every performer is checked for a criminal record and receives safety training, according to GBN News.

“Performances are very similar to pantomimes, except they are explicitly literacy-focused and support inclusivity in communities and an interest in reading,” said a spokesperson for the drag queen group.

But CBN News previously reported that some drag queens in the U.S. have been exposed for having criminal records that involve sexually assaulting young children.

Some have also worked as transgender prostitutes and porn actors. 

***Please sign up for CBN Newsletters and download the CBN News app to ensure you keep receiving the latest news from a distinctly Christian perspective.***

Posted on by

Jeffrey Epstein, Ghislaine Maxwell Child Abuse Scandal: A Timeline Of Events

Jeffrey Epstein, Ghislaine Maxwell Child Abuse Scandal: A Timeline Of Events

From the moment he first faced criminal charges, in 2006, Jeffrey Epstein has been the object of public fascination, conspiracy theories and outrage — especially after his lawyers got prosecutors to agree to a lenient plea deal that spared him from serious prison time.

Epstein was eventually arrested again, but died by suicide while awaiting trial in 2019. Here is a timeline of the case against him and his former girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell, who was sentenced Tuesday to 20 years in prison for helping him abuse teenage girls.

  1. March 2005: Police in Palm Beach, Florida, begin investigating Epstein after the family of a 14-year-old girl reports she was molested at his mansion. Multiple underage girls, many of them high school students, would later tell police that Epstein hired them to give sexual massages.
  2. May 2006: Palm Beach police officials sign paperwork to charge Epstein with multiple counts of unlawful sex with a minor, but the county’s top prosecutor, State Attorney Barry Krischer, takes the unusual step of sending the case to a grand jury.
  3. July 2006: Epstein is arrested after a grand jury indicts him on a single count of soliciting prostitution. The relatively minor charge draws almost immediate attention from critics, including Palm Beach police leaders, who assail Krischer publicly and accuse him of giving Epstein special treatment. The FBI begins an investigation.
  4. 2007: Federal prosecutors prepare an indictment against Epstein. But for a year, the money manager’s lawyers engage in talks with the U.S. attorney in Miami, Alexander Acosta, about a plea bargain that would allow Epstein to avoid a federal prosecution. Epstein’s lawyers decry his accusers as unreliable witnesses.
  5. June 2008: Epstein pleads guilty to state charges: one count of solicitating prostitution and one count of soliciting prostitution from someone under the age of 18. He is sentenced to 18 months in jail. Under a secret arrangement, the U.S. attorney’s office agrees not to prosecute Epstein for federal crimes. Epstein serves most of his sentence in a work-release program that allows him to leave jail during the day to go to his office, then return at night.
  6. July 2009: Epstein is released from jail. For the next decade, multiple women who say they are Epstein’s victims wage a legal fight to get his federal non-prosecution agreement voided, and hold him and others liable for the abuse. One of Epstein’s accusers, Virginia Giuffre, says in her lawsuits that, starting when she was 17, Epstein and his girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell, set up sexual encounters with royalty, politicians, academicians, businessmen and other rich and powerful men, including Britain’s Prince Andrew. All of those men deny the allegations.
  7. November 2018: The Miami Herald revisits the handling of Epstein’s case in a series of stories focusing partly on the role of Acosta — who by this point is President Donald Trump’s labor secretary — in arranging his unusual plea deal. The coverage renews public interest in the case.
  8. July 6, 2019: Epstein is arrested on federal sex trafficking charges after federal prosecutors in New York conclude that they weren’t bound by the terms of the earlier non-prosecution deal. Days later, Acosta resigns as labor secretary amid public outrage over his role in the initial investigation.
  9. Aug. 10, 2019: Guards find Epstein dead in his cell at a federal jail in New York City. Investigators conclude he killed himself.
  10. July 2, 2020: Federal prosecutors in New York charge Ghislaine Maxwell with sex crimes, saying she helped recruit the underage girls that Epstein sexually abused and sometimes participated in the abuse herself.
  11. Dec. 30, 2021: After a monthlong trial, a jury convicts Maxwell of multiple charges, including sex trafficking, conspiracy and transportation of a minor for illegal sexual activity.
  12. June 28, 2022: Maxwell is sentenced to 20 years in prison.

Read all the Latest News , Breaking News , watch Top Videos and Live TV here.

Posted on by

Children’s Trust Fund observes Child Abuse Prevention Month, Activities, events around the state culminate in April 26 gathering at State Capitol

Children’s Trust Fund observes Child Abuse Prevention Month

Activities, events around the state culminate in April 26 gathering at State Capitol

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 18, 2022

CONTACT: Bob Wheaton, 517-241-2112

LANSING, Mich. – Michigan’s Children’s Trust Fund is recognizing the importance of preventing child abuse and neglect with a month of activities that will culminate with an April 26 ceremony on the lawn of the State Capitol.

Activities and initiatives through Michigan this month will center on the symbolic blue and silver pinwheel of Prevent Child Abuse America, which serves as a visual representation that everyone plays a role in providing children with a bright future.

The mission of the Children’s Trust Fund to keep children safe and strengthen families across the state takes special significance each April for Child Abuse Prevention Month.

As the only statewide organization dedicated to the prevention of child abuse and neglect, the work of the Children’s Trust Fund – which is within the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) – supports local programs and services that touch all 83 Michigan counties.

“Prevent Child Abuse America introduced the Pinwheels for Prevention campaign in 2008,” said Suzanne Greenberg, executive director of the Children’s Trust Fund. “The pinwheels are a representation of child-like whimsy and lightheartedness as well as a vision for a world where all children grow up happy, healthy, and prepared to succeed in supportive families and communities.”

The Power of the Pinwheel is the theme of this year’s pinwheel campaign. Through the 100-plus prevention partners of the Children’s Trust Fund and this year’s statewide partnership with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, supporters of preventing child abuse are planting 50,000 pinwheels in hundreds of gardens throughout the state.

The 14th annual Child Abuse Prevention Awareness Day rally is 11 a.m. April 26 on the steps of the Michigan Capitol. Featured speakers this year include MDHHS Director Elizabeth Hertel. The inaugural Inspire Award winner for volunteer service and commitment to preventing child abuse and neglect in Michigan will be presented to Sharon Barry of Barry County.

“We are thrilled that our new partnership with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan is giving us farther reach to expand and amplify our message for Child Abuse Prevention Month,” Greenberg said. “When we recognize that child abuse and neglect affect each of us and can unite under a common cause, we are giving hope to every child in our state and ensuring Michigan secures a stronger future.”

For information on the Children’s Trust Fund and Child Abuse Prevention Month, visit michigan.gov/ctf.

# # #

About the Children’s Trust Fund

Created by the Michigan Legislature in 1982, the Children’s Trust Fund is Michigan’s only statewide nonprofit organization solely dedicated to the prevention of child abuse and neglect. The Children’s Trust Fund serves as a voice for Michigan’s children and families and promotes their health, safety and welfare by funding effective local programs and services that prevent child abuse and neglect.