Dec
25
See you in the new year!
Filed Under Uncategorized | By Melissa Heald | Leave a Comment
The blog will be on hiatus until January 7, 2008. TAASA wishes you all a happy new year!
Dec
21
Sexual Assault News
Filed Under Uncategorized | By Melissa Heald | 1 Comment
KVUE Austin- by the Associated Press
Three San Antonio officers charged with sexual assault
KXAN- Austin NBC affiliate
Fennell Fired For Not Cooperating
The Georgetown Police Department has fired Sgt. Jimmy Fennell for refusing to cooperate with an internal affairs investigation. Fennell faces aggravated sexual assault and aggravated kidnapping charges.
KBMT 12 News Southeast Texas
Registered Sex Offender traveled to Beaumont, nabbed in Online Undercover Operation
Dallas Morning News
Vickie McKillip of Carrollton: Passion and persistence can make a difference
Fort Worth Star Telegram – by Darren Barbee
Diocese reaches settlement with priest’s accusers
Pegasus News
Copper Canyon sex offender told to move
Fort Worth Star Telegram – by John Moritz
State judge declines to stop Legislature’s new ‘topless tax’
Austin American Statesman – by Rebecca Carr
Lawmakers criticize Justice for not taking part in Iraq rape hearing
Lawmakers criticized the Justice Department on Wednesday, accusing it of failing to promptly investigate allegations that several Halliburton/KBR workers gang-raped a fellow employee in Iraq.
Washington Post – by Shaya Tayefe Mohajer
Sharpton Seeks Hate Charge in W.Va. Case
Dec
19
Temporary injunction against Adult Entertainment Fee refused
Filed Under Uncategorized | By Melissa Heald | Leave a Comment
KVUE Austin – by Shelton Green
Judge refuses temporary injunction against ’sin tax’
Dallas Morning News - by Emily Ramshaw
Judge: State can slap $5 surcharge on strip club patrons
Dec
19
Sexual Assault News
Filed Under Uncategorized | By Melissa Heald | Leave a Comment
ABC 13 Houston – by Mark Garay
Ex-KBR worker who alleges rape testifies today
Dallas Morning News - by Ryan Lenz
Soldier charged as ringleader in Iraqi rape caught in legal fray
Mineral Wells Index - by Lacie Morrison
Sex offender’s failure to notify results in prison term
KLBJ News Radio Austin
Georgetown Police Officer Indicted for Sexual Assault Released from Jail
My Fox Houston
Reward Offered for Information on Sexual Assault, Kidnapping Suspect
Dec
18
Sexual Assault News
Filed Under Uncategorized | By Melissa Heald | Leave a Comment
Washington Post – by Abdullah Shihri
Saudi King Pardons Rape Victim
ABC 13 Houston – by Brian Ross
KBR head responds to rape allegations
Austin American Statesman – by Claire Osborn
Juvenile experts puzzled by assault on 60-year-old woman
Amarillo.com – by Gaye A. Bennett
Logic behind sex offender bans often based on myth
Fort Worth Star Telegram – by Robert Cadwallader
Mansfield council nixes petition for sex-offender limits
Dec
12
Sexual Assault News
Filed Under Uncategorized | By Melissa Heald | Leave a Comment
KGBT- Rio Grande Valley CBS affiliate – by The Associated Press
Congressmen want answers on alleged rape of woman in Iraq
KLBJ News Radio Austin
DNA Links Man to 2001 Austin Rape Case
NBC 6- Corpus Christi
Guy Watts Accused of Sexually Assaulting Wife
Well-known local attorney and Del Mar College Board of Regents member, Guy Watts, has been arrested and charged with sexual assault.
Waco Tribune – by Emily Ingram
Man, 31, arrested in kidnapping, assault
Fox 4- Dallas/Fort Worth
Mayor May Face Recall Over Sex Offender Battle
Mayor Barton Scott has been on a crusade to get tough on sex offenders, and now some citizens are looking to recall him for doing just that.
Dallas Morning News – by Michael Grabell
Victim’s parents sue MySpace after suicide, assault by Celina man
Dec
11
Sexual Assault News
Filed Under Uncategorized | By Melissa Heald | Leave a Comment
Austin American Statesman – by Claire Osborn
2 juveniles charged in attack on Austin woman
Police have arrested two boys, ages 14 and 11, who broke into a 60-year-old woman’s house in North Austin in July, intending to rape her, a detective said Monday.
KLBJ News Radio Austin
Police Records Released in Georgetown Officer Sexual Assault Case
Pegasus News
Mansfield City Council to vote on sex offender regulations
USinfo.state.gov – by Jane Morse
State Department Links Violence Against Women, Human Rights
New York Times – by Tim Johnston
Australia Shocked by Case of Raped Indigenous Girl
Australia has been rocked by the case of a 10-year-old indigenous girl who was gang raped in her home community, and the revelation that her nine rapists had not been given prison sentences, in part because the judge found that the victim “probably agreed” to have sex.
ABC News – by Brian Ross, Maddy Sauer & Justin Rood
Victim: Gang-Rape Cover-Up by U.S., Halliburton/KBR
A Houston, Texas woman says she was gang-raped by Halliburton/KBR coworkers in Baghdad, and the company and the U.S. government are covering up the incident.
Dec
10
Sexual Assault News
Filed Under Uncategorized | By Melissa Heald | Leave a Comment
Austin American Statesman – by the Associated Press
Guard indicted, accused of assault
Austin American Statesman
Six Belton men arrested in sexual assault of 15-year-old
Austin American Statesman – by Isadora Vail
Leander man first to be indicted in Texas under new sex offender law
Alfredo Soto Enriquez, 35, was indicted by a Williamson County grand jury Tuesday on a charge of continuous sexual abuse of a child, a capital felony that carries a minimum punishment of 25 years in prison. Repeat offenders could get the death penalty.
Amarillo.com
Letter: Why aren’t local child molesters doing time?
New York Times – by Sewell Chan
Catholic Church’s Coloring and Comic Books Take Aim at Sexual Abuse
A program by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York to distribute educational materials — a coloring book and a comic book — to children to help them avoid becoming victims of sexual abuse has drawn attention in Newsweek and The New York Post. An independent expert said that the books could send the wrong message if not accompanied by proper context and guidance from adults.
Austin American Statesman
Pentagon report deals with sex crimes at military academies
The U.S. Naval Academy needs to find out why four students who reported being raped didn’t cooperate with investigators or withdrew their help, according to a Pentagon report on sexual assault and harassment released Friday.
Fort Worth Star-Telegram – by Celean Jacobson
Angolan soldiers accused of mass rape
El Paso Times – by Maggie Michael
Saudi rape lawyer’s hearing adjourned
The disciplinary hearing for the Saudi lawyer who protested a sentence of 200 lashes for a gang-rape victim was adjourned to an unspecified date, his lawyer said Wednesday.
Abdul-Rahman al-Lahem has been accused of “insulting the Supreme Judicial Council and disobeying the rules and regulations” for publicly criticizing the sentencing of his client to be flogged while her attackers received comparatively light penalties.
Dec
7
Sexual Assault News
Filed Under Uncategorized | By Melissa Heald | Leave a Comment
Dallas Morning News – by Emily Ramshaw
Topless bars ask judge to block state fee
KCEN- NBC Waco
6 men arrested in connection with a sexual assault
Fort Worth Star-Telegram – by Max B. Baker
Ex-minister sued in sex assault case
The Bay City Tribune – by Judy Triplett
Castellano gets life for murder of niece
Francisco Castellano, 22, pleaded guilty and received two concurrent life sentences for capital murder and aggravated sexual assault, said Matagorda District Attorney Steven Reis.
Dallas Morning News – by Holly Becka
7 sue firm, cite abuse by guard at TYC facility
WOAI- NBC San Antonio – by Demond Fernandez
Bexar County’s Child Abuse Crisis
Dec
6
Sex Assault Prevention Funding Challenged by Adult Entertainment Industry
Filed Under Uncategorized | By Karen Amacker | Leave a Comment
The Texas Entertainment Association and others filed suit in Travis County Wednesday to prevent the collection of the Adult Entertainment Fee, passed into law by the 80th Legislature (HB1751). The fee would be assessed to live nude entertainment venues at a rate equal to $5 per patron. The funds generated by the fee (an estimated $80 million) will support programming to respond to and prevent sexual violence and to help finance health care for the uninsured. This measure passed both the Texas House and Senate with substantial bipartisan support.
The bill’s author, Rep. Ellen Cohen (D-Houston), sponsor Sen. Royce West (D-Dallas), the Texas Association Against Sexual Assault (TAASA) and our members worked diligently during the legislative session to secure this funding, and believe strongly in the merits of our case. The case is scheduled to be heard in Austin during the week of December 17.
If you are a member of the media or a blogger and choose to cover this story, please do not hesitate to contact TAASA for comment.