"Any numbers that we see, it's the tip of the iceberg," said Melissa Stroebel, vice president of research and strategic insights at Thorn, a nonprofit that builds technology to combat online child sexual exploitation. "That is about what has been either detected or proactively reported."
Both women described a pattern of grooming that began when they were as young as 8 or 9 years old. Ana Murguia claimed the abuse started when she was just 13, while Debra Rojas said she was first assaulted at 12 and later raped at 15. Their claims are supported by interviews, documents, and people they confided in over the years, according to the Times investigation.
The victim initially spoke with the suspect through Snapchat, police said, adding that the suspect then arranged to meet the victim and picked her up from her home. Investigators identified the suspect as a resident of Freedom, a small community next to Watsonville.
He said not to tell anybody," one of Johnson's victims testified. Both children later testified that they were too afraid to tell any adults about what they had endured, according to trial records obtained by NPR. "We were scared," Johnson's other victim testified. "Like, we didn't realize that this stuff was not okay because we were 12 years old."
Christopher Jacobs, for the foundation, told the court that 17 of the 20 recommendations made by the IICSA had not been implemented as of 8 July 2025. The three recommendations at the centre of the claim relate to recording the age, ethnicity, religion and occupation of perpetrators of child sexual abuse, ending the use of pain-inducing restraint on children in custody and ensuring those in care have greater access to justice.
Words such as 'relationship,' 'affair,' 'involvement,' or 'seeing each other' imply mutuality and consent. In the context of child sexual abuse, these implications are false. A child cannot legally or developmentally consent to sexual activity with an adult. Describing abuse using relational language risks distorting the inherent power imbalance and shifting perceived responsibility away from the adult perpetrator.
Not until now has there been a comprehensive review of this painful chapter in our state's history, with a view toward offering transparency, accountability, and systemic reforms that will, I hope, lessen the likelihood of future child sexual abuse, not just within the Diocese of Providence, but in our community as a whole.
A man who sexually abused five of his children, who were locked in a room for days at a time without food and were forced to drink urine, has been jailed for 20 years.
Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez pledges to end impunity' of platforms X, Meta and TikTok in promoting harmful content. The Spanish government has ordered prosecutors to investigate social media platforms X, Meta and TikTok for allegedly spreading AI-generated child sexual abuse material, the prime minister has said. These platforms are undermining the mental health, dignity, and rights of our children, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez posted on his X account on Tuesday. The state cannot allow this. The impunity of these giants must end.
He said that Jones then blackmailed Johnson into continuing the abuse, which involved her performing sex acts on herself and on the young victims which included the use of sex toys. He said that the victims described being in obvious pain and distress, with one saying that the abuse, which happened on a weekly basis for six to 12 months, had broken them.
Screenshot via MS NOW NPR investigative reporter Tom Dreisbach broke the news this week that a January 6th rioter pardoned by President Donald Trump had been convicted by a Florida jury of sexually abusing children, including an 11-year-old. Dreisbach posted the news on social media, which sparked a bevy of replies from many of his fellow journalists and other media commentators who felt the story was not getting nearly the attention it deserved.
According to the Brooklyn District Attorney's Office, Brown, who taught at The Learning Factory on Evergreen Avenue, was accused of abusing four young girls - ages 5, 6 and 9 - multiple times over the course of about a year and a half. The defendant allegedly touched the victims' "intimate body parts" both under and over their clothing while they were inside the childcare center. On at least one occasion, the DA said, he abused a child while they were at Brooklyn Bridge Park.
The Solomon Schechter Day School in Newton has placed a teacher on leave after a young child who tested positive for a sexually transmitted infection reported being touched inappropriately by the instructor, school officials said. The teacher was placed on leave Oct. 31, the same day the student's family shared additional information with the school, including a report of inappropriate touching, according to a statement the school released Wednesday.
Jon Ruben, who was labelled by his wife as a "sadistic, monstrous paedophile", used the "cloak of Christianity" to carry out his sex attacks on vulnerable children, Leicester Crown Court heard. Sentencing judge Timothy Spencer KC told the 76-year-old he would serve a further period on licence, bringing his total sentence to 31 years and eight months. Ruben laced sweets with tranquilising drugs and attacked two children last year
Ruben, who sobbed in the dock at Leicester Crown Court during his plea hearing on Wednesday, admitted administering a poison or noxious substance, Temazapam, to Susan Ruben between 26 and 29 July last year so she would not wake up while he sexually assaulted the children. The 76-year-old defendant, who ran a holiday camp for at least 27 years, said I'm so sorry after entering his guilty plea.
In it, Whisman acknowledged causing pain to the girl, whose name is being withheld because she is a minor and a victim of sex abuse, and resolved to redeem herself while incarcerated. 'All I can do is ask for forgiveness from Jane Doe,' Balaram said as he finished reading Whisman's statement to the court. Hein wished her luck before concluding the sentencing hearing, which lasted a matter of minutes before Whisman was removed from the courtroom by a Sonoma County sheriff's deputy.
"The off-duty Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent who killed Keith Porter, Jr. has a history of racism, child abuse, and explosive tempers. Despite murdering Porter in cold blood, Brian Palacios remains free without charge and employed by ICE," the groups' website states, invoking the name of Porter, a Black 43-year-old father of two who was fatally shot by an ICE officer on New Year's Eve outside his apartment complex
'According to his booky-wook, he was b******* by some dirty old men before he left New Zealand,' Mr Dunstan wrote. 'Maybe he secretly enjoyed it? A little bit. And so what if he did?'
Ronald Joseph Cole was a 19-year-old with a shy smile and a buzz cut in 1965, the year he moved from San Diego to Fillmore, a town about 25 miles from Santa Clarita. He was just starting out in life and, hoping to find a job, moved in with his older half-brother David LaFever. By May 1965, Cole had stopped contacting relatives. He had disappeared.
Concord police began their investigation Sept. 7, 2025 when they spoke with a woman who reported concerns about Colbath, whom she said she had hired to babysit her children. The woman told officers that her children had relayed "concerning information" about him, according to police. The children were interviewed at the Merrimack County Child Advocacy Center, where they "disclosed further information of concern," police said.
A former South Carolina Republican lawmaker and member of the ultra-Conservative Freedom Caucus, who supported drag and trans healthcare bans "to protect childhood innocence", has been handed a nearly two decade prison sentence for distributing vile child sexual abuse material.
