Sexual abuse

By a Biometrica staffer In July, Biometrica wrote about how human traffickers adapted to the "new normal" after Covid-19 and appeared to be increasingly targeting children online, even as the pool of vulnerable persons who could be recruited by these criminals grew,...

By a Biometrica staffer U.S. prosecutors recently announced that they have filed sex trafficking charges against Apollo Carreon Quiboloy, the Philippine national who founded a church called Kingdom of Jesus Christ, as well as two U.S.-based administrators of that church. The superseding...

By a Biometrica staffer October is National Domestic Violence Awareness Month and the Department of Justice (DOJ) is kicking that off by announcing more than $476 million in Office on Violence Against Women (OVW) grants, it said in a statement on Tuesday,...

By a Biometrica staffer U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced its first Continued Presence (CP) resource guide on Friday, July 30, targeted at assisting federal, state, local, tribal, and territorial law enforcement agencies nationwide with their human trafficking investigations and prosecutions. The CP...

By a Biometrica staffer In a move likely may have a far-reaching ripple effect, on Friday, June 25, the Texas Supreme Court ruled that Facebook can be held responsible for its users engaging in illegal sex trafficking activities on the site, regardless...

By Aara Ramesh A landmark law intended to radically alter the landscape of sex trafficking online has had a limited impact in the three years since it was enacted, according to a recent report released by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO)....

By a Biometrica staffer On Tuesday, June 1, Pope Francis made a long-awaited change to the criminal section of the Code of Canon Law, or Catholic Church law: The changes explicitly criminalize the sexual abuse of adults by priests who misuse their...

By a Biometrica Staffer If you talk to any investigator working in child protection, he or she would tell you it is a mentally, emotionally and physically exhausting job, because of the nature of often horrifying crimes they are constantly investigating, the...

By a Biometrica staffer On April 19, Gov. Phil Murphy of New Jersey signed a package of bills into law, with an aim of bettering the criminal justice system to make it more respectful and responsive to victims of sexual assault crimes....

By a Biometrica staffer On Monday, April 12, erstwhile and disgraced Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein made his appearance via video conference along with his attorneys at an extradition hearing. He was secretly indicted by a grand jury in Los Angeles a couple...

By Anand Vasu The Arizona House passed Bill HB 2889 that will ensure convicted child offenders would not have the option of probation, parole or work release. This means that an individual serving a 10-20 year sentence, would not have the chance...

By a Biometrica staffer January 27, 2021 Groping a child through clothing does not constitute sexual assault, the Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court ruled last week, drawing outrage across the country. On Wednesday, India’s top court suspended that ruling and...

Two of the 'ISIS Beatles' are expected to arrive in the US today to face federal charges over jailing, torturing and beheading American hostages. By a Biometrica staffer Two notorious Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) militant detainees from Britain are...

By a Biometrica staffer Ten men from around the US have been sentenced for taking part in a child pornography enterprise and conspiracy, the US Department of Justice said in a statement. Of the ten, three are based in New York, two...

By a Biometrica staffer A middle school teacher from Fontana, California, was arrested on child pornography charges by special agents with US Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). Josue Gamaliel Vidal Quintanilla, 28, who teaches mathematics at Shandin Hills...

By a Biometrica staffer A man was sentenced to 35 years in federal prison for repeatedly sexually assaulting a child, producing images of the sexual abuse, and possessing hundreds of images and videos of the sexual assaults. Andres Rafael Viola, an Argentine...

By a Biometrica staffer An American man was indicted for exploiting teenage boys in Laos, where he taught English, the US Department of Justice said in a statement. Michael Sebastian, 52, was indicted on three counts of engaging in illicit sexual conduct...

With the covid-19 pandemic keeping many schools shut, children are spending a lot more time online to learn | © Pavalache Stelian - Dreamstime.com By a Biometrica staffer Operation Covid Chatdown led to the arrest of 34 men in Fresno, California, for...

The number of crisis trafficking situations in the US increased by over 40% this April, when several states had already enacted a shelter-in-place order due to the Covid-19 pandemic | © Joshua Resnick - Dreamstime.com By a Biometrica staffer The number of...

By a Biometrica staffer Harvey Weinstein was sentenced to 23 years in prison in a New York courtroom on March 11, marking the culmination of a case that fueled the global #MeToo movement. The ex-Hollywood producer had faced between five and 29...

By a Biometrica staffer A prominent Connecticut eye doctor has been charged with sexually assaulting a woman repeatedly over a lengthy period of time, according to an AP report. Some of the assaults by the man, 35-year old Dr Ian Gorovoy, allegedly...

Two female passengers alleged in a federal lawsuit that they were sexually assaulted on Frontier Airlines flights in separate incidents in 2018 | © Joezachs - Dreamstime.com By a Biometrica staffer Two female passengers alleged in a federal lawsuit that they were...