Bulletin Board v290

Analysis: Court reverses 40 years of law on rape sentences — Even the Mississippi Supreme Court gets to change its mind. And it did so in April, ruling that judges can sentence people convicted of rape to life in prison, even if the jury didn’t recommend a life sentence. In that 5-3 ruling, the court overturned 40 years of its own decisions that had previously found only a jury could sentence a rape defendant to life in prison.

Frats Accused of Abusing ‘Male Privilege’ for Raising Awareness of Sexual Assault — In an op-ed for The Daily Northwestern, author Jessica Schwalb chastised the fraternities because their signs might “trigger” some students. The author claimed support for the campaign was “just a cruel reminder” for sexual assault survivors and that the efforts were “purely symbolic” of the problem. The signs, which included statements such as “[Sexual assault] is everyone’s problem,” “We stand against sexual violence,” and “We support survivors,” were intended as a show of solidarity for sexual assault awareness week.

Israel snubs UN concerns about prisoner abuse in Israeli jails — Michal Sarig-Kaduri, the deputy director of the human rights department at Israel’s Foreign Ministry, told United Nations’ Committee Against Torture on Wednesday that punitive measures such as solitary confinements and separation were “extremely restricted and used for short and limited periods of time, for a maximum of 14 days only.” Solitary confinement is the practice of isolating inmates in closed cells, depriving them of any human contact.

Kelsey admits to abuse, apologizes on recorded call — A Boy Scout testified on Wednesday that Michael Kelsey tried to touch his genitals on two separate occasions, after the jury for the sexual abuse trial listened to a recorded phone call in which the ex-Dutchess County legislator admitted to attempting to touch the teenager’s groin. Kelsey, a 38-year-old former assistant scoutmaster in Fishkill, is standing trial in St. Lawrence County Court accused of abusing two teenage Boy Scouts while on an August 2014 camping trip.

New support service for male victims of sexual assault — A new free counselling service is now available in Sheffield for men who have been victims of sexual assault. The service is part of Sheffield City Council’s new contract with the Sheffield Rape and Sexual Abuse Centre to provide support to victims. Police figures show an increase in the number of sexual offences carried out to males with seven assaults and five rapes carried out on men in Sheffield in 2015 –16, compared to no recorded offences three years ago.

Rainsbrook private youth prison sees rise in use of force and restraint — There is an increasing use of force and restraint to control children at a privately run youth jail, a snap inspection carried out in the wake of exposure of serious allegations of abuse at Medway secure training centre in Kent has revealed. The inspection report into Rainsbrook secure training centre, near Rugby, published on Friday reveals that 24 “child safeguarding” allegations have been made in the first three months of this year. Six have led to external investigations and one member of staff has been disciplined.

‘There was no love in this kid’s life’: Parents fed hot-dog smoothies to starving 6-year-old — In pictures, the 6-year-old boy seemed tall — but way too thin — donning a bulky orange T-shirt that read, “Halloween,” no doubt a costume for the day. It was October 2013, prosecutors said, when the boy’s father, Christopher Sefton, and Sefton’s fiancee, Lori Lloyd, began to abuse and starve him, according to Seattlepi.com.

Woman pleads guilty to sexual abuse of child — A woman who sexually abused a male relative of her husband, who is also facing child sex abuse charges, was sentenced Tuesday to a seven-year term of probation in Miller County. Sarah Walker, 29, pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree sexual assault and a single count of sexual indecency with a child with the help of Managing Public Defender Jason Mitchell at a hearing before Circuit Judge Carlton Jones in a courtroom in the Miller County jail complex.