It was recently pointed out to me that the spiraling down in the quality of reporting can at least partially be laid at the feet of the introduction of the GST (Goods and Services Tax) in 2000. From that time on, the sole measure of success has been revenue as most major media outlets were taken over by bean counters, with quality investigative reporting being the first and biggest casualty.
The growth of the internet and the nature of the news cycle has only quickened our rush to Salem. The Shouting of "witch" is all the evidence anyone needs. Post-truth meets the Inquisition. The balance between protecting alleged victims and protecting the rights of the accused is one that must be set at the right level. We are in danger of going from too far one way to going too far the other.
Early this year, an alarming story broke that highlights the issue.
It was widely reported, and picked up internationally, that a circus training school in the Blue Mountains had been involved in kidnaps, rapes, tortures, exploitation and ritual abuse of 3 boys aged from 3 to 7. This all allegedly happened between 2014 and 2016 and involved 4 members of the one family and 3 others who at the time of the alleged offenses, were still under 18.
The mass media lapped it up and printed anything and everything it could get on the story. By and large, reports seemed to be based on the assumption of guilt, even when using the essential qualifiers. Social media lapped it up, with whole groups ready to grab pitch forks to mete out justice on the by now named adults who had been arrested (and who are still behind bars awaiting bail hearings). It was simply click-worthy, and that means dollars! And the more bizarre, evil and depraved the allegations, the better. Come and get yer daily does of righteous anger!
Here is just one sample of what was being published in early February.
Police said the seven alleged offenders were involved in a New South Wales circus training school called The Arcade Circus that catered to children with and without disabilities.
The charges include rape, kidnapping and assault occasioning actual bodily harm. It is alleged that members of the group also used the young boys to produce child pornography material.
Some trainers are accused of performing sadistic "blood rituals" on the young boys, the Daily Telegraph reported.
The circus school owner and carer, Therese Ann Cook, 58, is listed to appear in Penrith Local Court on Tuesday.
Cook has been charged with 43 offences, including aggravated sexual assault of a child under 10, sexual intercourse with a child under 10 and aggravated kidnapping
More at https://www.stuff.co.nz/world/australia/101199910/blood-rituals-child-pornography-aussie-circus-school-allegedly-tortured-young-kids
The allegations had a familiar ring - think Pizzagate and the VIP pedophile ring in England. Neither true - both stories filled with horror and depravity.
But it was also reminiscent of something more local - in fact a 2012 story from the very same Blue Mountains.
It involved an adult female in 2012 who was taken in by a religious cult which specialized in bringing out alleged suppressed childhood memories. Or put another way, they used typical cult techniques to induce what is known as False Memory Syndrome.
Written by a variety of people, the papers are at once bizarre, comic and sinister. Some appear to document Kylie's "treatment" - regression sessions, mainly, where she would relive childhood traumas and write in an infantile scrawl details of unimaginable abuse, including being showered in a purée of human body parts, being sexually assaulted and forced to drink blood.
The documents also indicate that the group believed themselves to be engaged in spiritual warfare with witches - both in the Blue Mountains and in Sydney - some of whom are identified by their name, age, employment and "coven status". "One of them is my aunt, who lives in Harbord," says Nathan.
The documents also confirm the group's involvement with a man named John Darnell, who is the pastor of a church in Canberra called Shepherd's Heart. Darnell is the author of Satanic Strategies in the 21st Century, which explains how Satanic cults have infiltrated the "highest echelons" of government and mainstream churches. On a US Christian radio station last year, Darnell said he believed it was possible that the British royal family were actually shape-shifting reptiles.
More at https://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/spirited-away-20120312-1utb6.html
The stories do have certain similarities, for example, in the above, the "victim" is forced to drink blood. In this latest case, the kids were allegedly forced to drink their own blood in hints of the Satanic practices the cult claimed to be at war with. Here, we have a free-living circus family. Perfect if you are looking to point and shout "witch" and "find" the work of Satan.
If this family is innocent, then the media has sacrificed them in search of revenue by providing the trial by media the police seemed eager to produce by leaking the case to reporters like a sieve - including the now denied (and at this stage, seemingly false) allegation that some of this abuse was filmed for child porn. In fact, the evidence may be nothing more than the statements of the alleged victims. Police do not encourage trial by media unless the case they have is not strong.
If these people turn out to be guilty, even of a single one of the over 100 charges laid, they deserve everything the criminal justice system can throw at them. But if they are innocent, heads should roll for those involved in the police investigation and their media assets. No amount of money could possibly compensate them, so any payout should be huge.
There are as yet some unanswered questions, such as why, if these very young boys were kidnapped 2 to 4 years ago, there was no media coverage at the time? Child kidnap cases are always big stories. That it was not in the media suggests there is something about this particular allegation that is being withheld. I also await some news on the background of these very young boys. Were they by any chance, children of members a certain secretive religious group looking for witches to burn? If so, maybe they will claim the shape-shifting alien lizards told them to do it.
I see there was another twist at the latest hearing that is heading the case in the right direction. Nothing though will ever cover up how incredibly sad and destructive it has been for all concerned since it first exploded into the tabloids. I truly hope everyone is holding up. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6785601/Alleged-victim-Blue-Mountains-sex-ring-wrote-note-saying-lied.html
Am nominating for the senate in both state and federal elections. Being for the senate, I need votes and support from around the state. I hope some of you will look at the policies proposed and if you like what you see, get behind my run. https://www.thenewdisease.space/forum/society-politics/running-for-the-senate I would also be interested in any state and federal policy issues you feel strongly should be addressed.
If that is what is happening, it absolutely is, but that would just be piling on what they have already been subjected to in "aiding" their memories.
Adjourned until February because three of the alleged victims have been reinterviewed and it will take until then to transcribe all of this new "evidence"? Is this a desperate attempt to salvage a case where charges should never have been laid to begin with?
A case history from the files of the National Center for Reason and Justice in the US:
There was another crucial piece of evidence that Elsie’s lawyers failed to introduce or discuss during the trial. On September 1, 1995, Vermont policewoman Linda Carey conducted a tape-recorded interview with four-year-old Joey Oscarson, in the presence of Jennifer Dawson, his foster mother. It is apparently the only direct evidence that exists of what either of the children actually said in the days soon after the allegations arose. (The police tried to record an interview with Jesse, but the microphone battery was dead.) This interview transcript is revealing and appalling. Joey clearly wanted only to play with toys and did not at first respond to the many leading questions asked him. By this time, Joey had been repeatedly interviewed in a leading manner by at least five people. Yet he had not been forthcoming, and he was not very cooperative in this interview, either, beginning with the attempt to verify that he understood the difference between the truth and a lie. Carey asked him to identify a toy automobile, but he insisted that it was an airplane, that it did not drive down the street, and that it traveled in the water. “Do you have blonde hair?” she asked him. [He apparently did have blonde hair.] No, he said. He claimed it was black, then said he was kidding. “Where is Jennifer?” she asked, and he said that she was at home, when in fact she was sitting in the room with them. So it was pretty clear that whatever Joey said was not going to be very trustworthy. But that didn’t bother Carey. She forged on.
“You told Jen Jen that Mom did some other stuff, didn’t you?” Joey: “Nah.” Carey persisted: “What did you tell Jen Jen?” Joey said that Jen Jen told his mother not to break the light. Carey persisted: “What other things did you tell Jen Jen?” Joey: “Nothing.” So that is the pattern of this interview. Joey wasn’t saying what Carey wanted, but she would not take No for an answer. This is all too familiar to those who deal with cases in which children are led into making false allegations.
Carey became more explicit: “When I talked to Jesse, Jesse was telling me about some stuff that happened at your old house with Mom. Did you ever see anything happen with Jesse at your old house?” Joey: “No.” Carey, obviously unhappy with this answer: “No? Did you ever see Mom that made… wasn’t right, was a bad touch?” Joey: “No.” Carey persisted. “But Jesse told me something else too…about Mom touching him some place…. Did you see that? No? What happened to Jesse?” Joey: “Don’t know.”
Finally, on page 24 of the interview transcript, Carey had worn Joey down and he said, “She licks it,” referring to his pee-pee. But Joey was clearly not the least bit interested in this. Carey asked about how she licked his pee pee with her lips, and Joey responded, “You don’t have no more,” about the checkers they were playing with. Carey asked, “How does that make you feel, Joey?” but he ignored her and played with the checkers.
Carey wrote up her report of this interview. “He understands the difference between truth and lie, although at times he can be observed to have a smirking facial expression, answers incorrectly, and states ‘kidding.’ “ Out of the lengthy interview, she extracted and quoted only those statements that Joey was finally pressured into making about “Mom touches my peepee” etc.
In summary — Elsie Oscarson obviously struggled as a mother. Before she was incarcerated, she had eight children by three different men. She held only infrequent jobs and lived primarily on welfare. But all that is not relevant to why she is serving a life sentence for a crime she did not commit. The full story and other case studies here: https://ncrj.org/cases/
Indeed,
Yes, my impression was that she only brought it up because she thought that was the reason for seeking bail. And I did not hear her say that that she didn't think bizarre allegations must be weak. I heard her say that just because they are bizzare does not mean that they are not true. But then we all know hearing and memory can be deceptive. The press only focused on this part. But it was still scary to hear it because it bodes ill for any future trial. No idea of trial date. We are all in limbo. But hopefully can have a bit of respite. And at least they are out, can see friends and some family, eat decent food and be surrounded by those who love them, and it is obvious they were not considered a risk to the community. I still worry though that it will be a trial by media when it happens.
To be fair to the judge she was only there to look at the bail application. The file she had was about 2 inches thick! It was only for her to decide on bail not on the charges, and once she understood the reasons she had no hesitation in granting it. Also the prosecution did not oppose and she did take into consideration the amount of time they had already been incarcerated. None of this was mentioned, of course, by the media. It was obvious she did not consider them a risk and there are strict bail conditions. Interesting enough in the case just before this she was concerned about the safety of the victim if bail were granted but she also noted that there should be a psychiatric assessment on the accused and was concerned this had not been done and that the person then could not receive appropriate treatment. She seemed like a moderate and very polite woman- unlike some magistrates I have come across closer to home!
More stories have appeared since I looked earlier today. Oddly, channel 7 and channel 9 have posted the exact same story word for word. https://au.news.yahoo.com/bail-alleged-nsw-arts-school-abusers-052257492--spt.html https://www.9news.com.au/national/2018/08/23/15/24/bail-for-alleged-nsw-arts-school-abusers At least the shared story does hint at the support that was there... but otherwise, the same old same old...
I only found the one report - in the Australian. I did wonder why there was no mention of any support - which I knew would have been there. No there will be no attention given to the terrible, biased reporting - not by the mainstream media. That would entail self-examination and also may be an admission that they are liable for damages.
All out. Hope they continue to cope outside as they have inside. I imagine there are a whole new set of horrors to deal with from public recognition and judgment. My very best to them, fwiw.
Looking through some of the stories again over the last few days, it dawned on me that none have allowed comments. So police have really had total control of everything printed about this story without any rebuttal or contrary information being allowed to be seen.
I think I am at the point of really wanting to address that one way traffic, but will hold fire until we see how the next bail hearing goes. This situation of readers being fed fantastical lies without the other side of the story being told is prejudicial, unjust, absurd and the sort of thing expected only in dictatorships.
JW sent to trial on child molestation charges. Defence claims false memory syndrome.
https://patch.com/california/fountainvalley/jehovahs-witness-accused-child-molestation-claims-false-allegations
Didn't work. He was found guilty.
https://www.ocregister.com/2017/04/28/santa-ana-man-guilty-of-molesting-girls-he-met-through-church-congregation/
In case anyone is collecting links to stories on this...
http://www.watching-movies.com/yyani-cook-williams.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Day-care_sex-abuse_hysteria
More historical cases with uncanny similarities:
An 11 yo girl's parents take civil action against grandmother over alleged sexual assault by her and deceased grandfather in "secret caves", Also claims to have been drugged and forced to drink blood.
http://articles.latimes.com/1991-03-22/local/me-751_1_satanic-ritual
The McMartin Day Care case:
In The Devil in The Nursery, Margaret Talbot for The New York Times summarized the case:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McMartin_preschool_trial
The McMartin case opened the flood gates to the Great Satanic Abuse scare
In one of those cases, for example, seven people were convicted and imprisoned for sexually molesting children as part of a satanic cult. The only direct evidence against them came from the testimony of children, who claimed that they had been injected with drugs and forced to drink urine and to engage in bizarre sexual acts with adults, as well as with other children, while the activities were being filmed. The children also accused the defendants of murdering at least 20 babies, using their blood in rituals, and engaging in cannibalism. Some of the children later recanted their stories (Washington Post, May 31, 1989). Then, in 1990, the convictions were overturned after being appealed.
The Role of the Mass Media
Another reason for the persistence of allegations of ritual abuse is that they provide sensational "atrocity stories" for the mass media to attract readers and audiences. Small town newspapers are particularly likely to simply report the stories of bizarre "satanic" activities, without much skepticism or critical analysis. The McMartin Preschool case offers an excellent example of the social dynamics of media sensationalism. The case began with proliferating allegations of hundreds of children being subjected over years to rape, anal, oral and group sexual activity, pornography sessions, naked games, animal mutilations, baby killings, cannibalism, secret tunnels, and transportation to distant places, sometimes by airplane, all done in a context of satanic rituals. The Los Angeles Times published a detailed analysis of the media's coverage of the case, including its own reporting (Shaw, Jan.19, 1990; Shaw, Jan.20, 1990; Shaw, Jan.22, 1990). Its conclusions apply equally well to similar cases, which arise continually in other locations and which do not receive national attention.
http://www.ipt-forensics.com/journal/volume3/j3_3_1.htm
What all the cases looked at in this discussion point to, is that such false allegations are not a geographic phenomenon, but psychosocial where the pathogen is spread by injections of data - both true and false) from police to mass media and the made viral via social media. The other lesson is that innocence is no protection from persecution, let alone prosecution.
there is a pattern to the accusations and there is a pattern to the police response. That the police here have done precisely what police forces have done here and in the US in the past, for example by making false claims of ritual abuse being filmed, is extremely concerning.
Just my opinion, but these historical cases need to be made part of the defence because they create reasonable doubt about both the accusations and police conduct.
That's how it appears to me, Peter, unless I'm misunderstanding the legislation - which is possible.
Hi all , good point about the supression order Greg , i would have thought that in the interest and well-being of these children the Child Protection Agency assigned to this case would have made sure it wasn't lifted or is it more important to trash these INNOCENT people,s names
A very telling quote from this story:
Police leaked the (false) information to the tabloids that pornographic videos and books about Satanic rites had been seized during the raid; the prosecution claimed (but produced no evidence) that they had “dressed in white robes and certain occult things happened”; and a rent-a-crowd of women unconnected with the case mobbed the Derens outside the court, screaming”dirty, disgusting scum”.
Are we seeing a pattern yet?
Here is the legislation regarding the use of suppression orders to protect the identity of alleged child sexual assault victims.
https://www.judcom.nsw.gov.au/publications/benchbks/local/Non-publication_and_suppression_orders.html
As I understand it, the alleged victims and the accused, knew each other. If so, then the lifting of the suppression order may lead some to work out the identities of the kids.
If all of the above is correct, the lifting of the suppression order on this family is difficult to understand. The suppression was for the safety and well-being of the kids, Why was it lifted?
Anyone remember this case?
http://benhills.com/articles/scams-scoundrels/tony-derens-nightmare-there-goes-mr-bubbles/
I have rewritten my resume to read "Can I please have a job" so as not to cause anyone to think I am boastful.
Therese was also described as "boasting" of her credentials in other "news".
I have joined websleuths forum as the case is being discussed there.
https://www.websleuths.com/forums/threads/australia-performing-arts-school-at-centre-of-child-abuse-claims-stands-in-disarray.364907/
Yeah, the WaPo is generally pretty good.
Here is a quote by a defense lawyer is a Las Vegas case that seems very appropriate here:
"A common defense in sexual assault cases is false accusations," commented Las Vegas criminal defense attorney Michael Becker about this case. "Sometimes an innocent person is wrongly accused out of anger or revenge. As long as the prosecution has insufficient evidence to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt...which is a very high standard...the charge should be dropped."
I just looked at the case this was referring to. Oh Gawd, the irony. The guy was charged after a complaint was placed with police by a young teenage girl.
Both she, and the accused belonged to the same church.
I just came across this Washington Post article from February. Whilst the article leaves much to be desired, I did find some of the comments heartening
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2018/02/12/australian-circus-school-tied-to-sex-abuse-and-blood-rituals-police-say/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.9498abb700e3
Most of you have probably already seen it, but if not, here is the story of the bail hearing by the Blue Mountains Gazette https://www.bluemountainsgazette.com.au/story/5446987/bail-in-circus-case/
I believe it is reasonably balanced, and uses none of the less than flattering images of dwellings and individuals in question. Understand I use the term "less than flattering" only through the eyes of the publishers who seem to believe no make-up and long hair on middle-aged women makes them look "evil" or witch-like, while costumed young women are like-wise, "evil". And that's not even going into the photos of various buildings... which I am sure the publishers believe could only be inhabited by an inbred family of cannibals.
We're not in the Blue Mountains anymore, Dorothy. We've been blown over to the Appalachians.
Contrast the Gazette with the Daily Mail http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5794597/Former-cop-accused-member-circus-school-child-abuse-ring-abused-boys-granted-bail.html
I'm still reeling from this:
"In the past he had boasted of helping 'at risk' and 'vulnerable' children as a youth worker for Caretakers College and the Ted Noffs Foundation in the 1990s."
Boasted??? How loaded a word is that? Unbelievably biased. Unbelievably stupid.
The only - and I do mean ONLY saving grace in the story is that they published some positive comments from parents of kids who had attended the school.
Peter, have sent an email to the address you used to join here.
Hey Greg just wondering if i could discuss something with you but not on an open forum
Sandy, I was talking about my suspicions prior to finding out which "church" you refer to here. It (the "church" involved here) is a group I have always been polite to when when encountering them at the front door. Not too sure how polite I will be in future...
The cult I suspect to be involved is a global one; one that has a very damaged reputation that they desperately hope to salvage. When cults shun family and disfellowship their own on supposition and gossip, whilst protecting insider pedophiles under a 2 Witness Rule, I don't believe this is an organisation that has the true wellbeing of its membership at heart. They are dangerous, dishonest and the followers are as brainwashed as any other cult follower. (Nuff sed? ;) )
Sandy, gold.
This actually shows why I asked you if the cult you refer to in this case was a splinter group. Kenja is a splinter from Scientology -- there were at least two other splinters in the 60s and 70s that may have been responsible for a hell of a lot of mayhem and murder in the US. One of them was known as The Process Church of the Final Judgement. One of the leaders in the US was actually an Australian named... Ken... (see the book "Ultimate Evil" by Terry Mauro). I don't recall Ken's name ever being revealed so at this stage, I couldn't say it's not the same guy. His commencing of Kenja kind of fits the timeline of when the US group started to break up.
Peter, deleted? Nothing is ever really deleted. There are people who specialise in retrieving deleted files. There are also numerous software packages that allow you to do it yourself. His "deleted" comment is absurd. That leaves "pretending to video these scenes". Wow? How can you defend against that????
If that is brought up at trial, I would be demanding to see the pretend evidence of any pretend videoing.
I agree - the truth will come out. What worries me is how long it will take. Hopefully at trial, but if this is being driven by anything other than the normal turning of the wheels of justice, it may take a bit longer - and more than a bit or persistence and commitment.
Here's a link to another Australian case that is not dissimilar to the circumstances surrounding the Innocent 7
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/fighting-dirty-against-a-cultbuster-20100226-p958.html
Good evening ,
I would like to comment on a few of the questions raised , why were they charged ? I believe its to do with my sister being so vocal about how evil and sickening a particular cult is ,the allegations are just sickening and then to put a whole family through this is just so evil , these people are very dangerous as we now see and people in high places are pushing this case.
The video evidence , this one is a cracker ,the prosecutor said perhaps it was deleted or maybe he was pretending to video these scenes , some really strong evidence there what an absolute joke.
I also believe most people would laugh this out of court if they knew all the facts of this tragic story.
The Truth Will Come Out .
Thanks for the Update Sandy.
I think the tabloids have dropped off since the release of more sensational details has dried up - and worse still for them - the penny has probably dropped that there is zero substance to them anyway. But that just brings me back to why they were ever charged to start with. The lack of physical evidence THAT SHOULD BE THERE to support the bizarre stories of torture and sex might just lead a cautious person to conclude that the worst of the allegations appear to have been made up, and therefore so too might everything else be.
Whatever happened to the allegations of kidnapping for example?
I could almost believe that the kids bear medical evidence of having been abused, but that does not tell us by whom. In any case, physical evidence (no matter how non-specific) of abuse, combined with the statements of the kids and their adult carers, may have been enough for the charges. The allegations alone, surely could not have been sufficient for the reasons you state.
This is different to the historical cases before the royal commission now, where witness/victim statements are all that survive. And those allegations are not tarnished by physically impossible stories of abuse straight from Grimm's Fairy Tales for Sick Adults.
Curious eh, that the ABC was virtually the only news source to report on the successful supreme court bail hearing. Even from the adult bail hearing earlier in May, Magistrate Susan McIntyre said "given the gravity and often bizarre nature" of the allegations, one would expect some physical evidence". Allegations that the accused had stuck needles in the eyes of the boys, bitten their tongues, whipped them and cut them had NO medical evidence backing them up. The allegation that one of the accused lifted a boy up by his penis was deemed to be impossible in one of the expert reports.
"The crown accepts these cases of course are word on word, but nearly all allegations of sexual abuse are word on word," said the prosecutor. I concur entirely,that sexual abuse is most often word-on-word, however allegations of severe physical abuse, the kind that would leave a child with blatant physical injuries, surely those sort of crimes would have concrete physical evidence? Didn't the parents notice these injuries? Wouldn't any parent immediately respond and seek medical help & legal help for their children, if they had needles stuck in their eyeballs or been whipped?
I have noticed that the "trial by media circus" has been significantly reduced since the February atrocities. Whatever happened to this supposed video evidence of the kids being abused? It's like it never existed :/
.http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-05-23/performing-arts-school-alleged-sexual-abuse-bail/9790616
Not sure how I missed it until now, but I see bail was finally granted, albeit under strict conditions, about a week ago.
Does anyone have any more details? Did the police again oppose it?
Hope they are all bearing up okay.
A grab from one of the FB lynch mobs I encountered back in Feb
Thank-you for investigating The Truth and assisting in the pursuit of true justice. No child molester should be allowed to roam the streets. No innocent human should be behind bars. I truly hope this is the beginning of "The End of False Religion".
Thankyou for any help you can give the truth desperately needs to come out
Hi Peter,
I can understand your anger and frustration. The problem is that without allowing cases to proceed just on the say-so of a child or a parent, then none of the allegations uncovered by the Royal Commission could be pursued. Unfortunately some will abuse such a system to cause havoc for those they don't like or want revenge against.
When the truth is out, let's hope that justice finds and deals severely with those behind this. It is the only way to deter false allegations ruining the lives of others.
I have been doing some digging on religions, cults and quasi-religions in the mountains. Scary stuff. At least 2 have kids in their sights as core to their business and religious models.
I will continue to follow the case and comment where I think I can add anything.
2018 and this is what is called our Justice System , 7 INNOCENT
people i will repeat that 7 INNOCENT people are in jail waiting for our Justice System to take its course , but of course their ve already had their trail by the media with an outcome that was wanted by a particular department and an organization needless to say the public sucked it all up and there's a public outcry. What the ilinformed public dont realise is, that those people who made those sickening and horrid allegations are still roaming our streets free to mingle with anyone they choose.
Something to think about, if any one of those allegations have occurred lets just hope these children are safe and not still in the hands of the perpetrator/s.
Welcome to the Australian Justice System 2018
Hi Bea,
Thanks for the comments.
There is evidence. Witness and victim statements are evidence. What has been admitted to is a lack of physical evidence. Because of the nature of child sexual abuse and the sometimes lengthy delay in victims coming forward, victim and witness statement are indeed often the only evidence to go forward with. If this was not the case, there could be few, if any prosecutions against "men of the cloth". I think we can all agree that not being able to try those people would be adding more cruelty onto the victims.
But that is where the similarities to those cases ends. The media coverage has been markedly different. Back in February, it was a feeding frenzy with certain tabloids trying to outdo each other in publishing salacious allegations. By contrast, the reporting on priests under investigation has been almost respectful.
The real issues here are:
the actual source of the allegations (the kids certainly did go to the police on their own)
the actual motivations of those who went to the police
why the police ran a trial by media which included discussion of non-existent evidence (e.g porn films)
why there was no media coverage of any child abductions during the time period in question
why the police decided to press charges in a situation where some of the allegations are obviously physically impossible
who on the force made the decision to press charges
who in the prosecutor's office decided to proceed to court
Those last two points may go a long way to answering why such a farcical case has gotten this far through the system.
The bail situation is another issue altogether. The bail regime I laid out in my previous post has reversed the long-standing principle of the burden of proof resting with the accuser. For the charges laid, that burden here rests with the accused. Since we now know that the court considers the case "strong", other issues such as not being flight risks etc carry less weight than they normally might. It almost seems like the only way they will get bail is by proving the case is not strong. How do you do that when statements alone are considered "strong", and it is just word against word? Moreover, how do you prove your innocence in a bail hearing? You can't.
Despite my pessimism on the bail situation, I will be glad to be wrong if bail is granted via the appeal.
So the magistrate herself said `THERE IS NO EVIDENCE` at all. The DPP says "We have videos showing the accused where at the locations on the alleged dates". This is circumstantial not evidential! (These videos where willingly supplied and freely given). Forensic clinical reports clearly state there is no evidence suggestive or indicative of injury. Where is the clear indication that suggests a flight risk or threat to public safety that requires the accused to be detained in custody? (Unlawful detention compromises mental state and increases the risk to individuals). The magistrate said,in cases of this kind it is often on `word only` that a case proceeds.Where is the evidence to support the claims of the accusers? This is a GROSS miscarriage of justice and reprehensible abuse of legal process. The damage to a family and community is beyond comprehension. Individual and community support is vital and respected.
The ABC yesterday reported that bail applications had been refused by magistrate Susan McIntyre. This refusal somewhat surprised me given the paucity (or perhaps non-existence) of physical evidence for the alleged offences.
A quick look at the background of the magistrate seemed to indicate she is determined to single-handedly turn around the oft-heard political cry of magistrates being soft.
But was it a wrong decision here?
She was put on the bench by John Hatzistergos who had been a Labor Attorney General. Hatzistergos himself would in 2014, make recommendations for changes to the way bail is granted due to media and political outcries over certain cases. His recommendations were all accepted. One of those recommendations was that "for serious offences, the onus will be on the accused to 'show cause' that their detention in custody is not justified. A serious offence will be defined as including the sexual assault of a child."
These changes were heavily criticized at the time by the legal fraternity - and for good reason; the original purposes of bail have been twisted and contorted mainly because of the confected outrage of politicians and radio shock jocks and their friends in the Murdoch empire.
It seems to be the case here that the defence team tried to "show cause" through demonstrating community ties and through the poor quality of the case. It appears that the magistrate did not agree on the latter point - something that does not bode well, though at this stage of the game her review of evidence would not exactly qualify as deep.
As for the police, what can be said? Their case and their actions are a delicate dance between illusion and delusion - as amply demonstrated yesterday, by on the one hand, claiming to have a strong case, while on the other, stating without a hint of coyness, that their case in entirely based on word-on-word.
For good measure, the prosecution also claimed that exculpatory evidence presented in the form of video showing the alleged victims in an entirely innocent and caring relationship with the accused, was actually evidence in the prosecution's favor!
Kafka couldn't have written a better script.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-05-04/trio-accused-of-child-abuse-refused-bail/9726652