Story here. Excerpt:

'A 42-year-old female special-ed teacher in Queens yesterday pleaded guilty in Queens Supreme Court to the third-degree rape of a 15-year-old boy. As punishment, in addition to surrendering her teaching license and registering as a sex offender, the teacher, Christine Williams, is expected to be sentenced to 90 days in jail and ten years probation in July. Williams had sex with the boy (who was not her student) at least twice last year in her Jamaica, Queens, home.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'Ask any married couple which spouse remembers family birthdays, when the car is due for an oil change and the name of that great restaurant they went to last week, and chances are both will say it's the wife who serves as the pair's memory.

While many a wife may chalk this up to their husband's laziness, remembering detailed information may just be one of the many things that women are naturally better at than men, at least according to a new book called "Man Down: Proof Beyond a Reasonable Doubt that Women are Better Cops, Drivers, Gamblers, Spies, World Leaders, Beer Tasters, Hedge Fund Managers, and Just About Everything Else," by Dan (yep, he's a guy) Abrams, a legal analyst for NBC News and columnist for Men's Health magazine.

Article here. Excerpt:

'Whether her husband and three children would agree with her is doubtful. But then, Erica’s not alone. In fact, she’s just one among a growing band of women who’ve been dubbed the Alpha Adultresses.

These high-earning, successful women are every bit as willing as men to use their power to attract younger lovers for quick flings.

Newspapers are crammed with sex scandals involving powerful men. This past week alone, Dominique Strauss-Kahn — of late the world’s most powerful banker — has been accused of rape, megastar Arnold Schwarzenegger has admitted having a love-child with his housekeeper and the scandal surrounding MP Chris Huhne’s past indiscretions continues to rumble on.

However, a new academic study suggests women are inherently no more virtuous than men. It’s just that, in the past, they have lacked the confidence or opportunity to stray.

Article here. This isn't an uncommon defense for women accused of a crime. Somehow there must be a man to blame while the accused is portrayed as a victim. Excerpt:

'Sexual assault. An accidental drowning. A cover up. That is the explosive defense strategy declared before the jury in opening statements in the sensational Casey Anthony first-degree murder trial.

Anthony, now 25, is accused of killing her daughter Caylee in June 2008, and not reporting her child allegedly missing for 31 days, eventually telling Orlando, Fla., investigators that Caylee had been kidnapped by her baby sitter.
...
Prosecutors then called George Anthony onto the witness stand, the state’s first witness in this death penalty trial. Immediately, prosecutors had to address for the jury the equally stunning revelation -- according to the defense -- that Casey Anthony was a victim of sexual abuse by her father beginning when she was 8 years old. And, in another bombshell, that Casey’s brother Lee also sexually fondled his sister.

Article here. Excerpt:

'If a new mother hopes to keep the father out of her child's life by leaving his name off the birth certificate, will she succeed?
...
But, she cannot expect to receive court-ordered child support unless she identifies the father.

Link to article here. Excerpt:

'An appeals court in Poland is sending a Catholic nun to prison after she was convicted of beating children at a home for troubled youths and allowing one resident to be sexually abused by other children.

A lower court had given the nun a suspended two-year sentence, but the three-judge appeals court on Tuesday increased that to two years in prison at the request of prosecutors.
...
The appeals court also upheld an eight-month suspended prison term the lower court had given another nun, identified only as Bogumila L, who was convicted of verbally insulting children at the centre.'

Action alert here. Excerpt:

'Hundreds of supporters of family court reform packed the Joint Committee on the Judiciary hearings last Wednesday. Numerous determined supporters of Fathers and Families’ Shared Parenting bill (H02684) testified–some waiting all day up to 10 PM at night to do so–and their words were powerful and engendered much agreement and sympathy.

Now we need you to:

1) Call your state representative and ask him or her to call House Chair Eugene L. O’Flaherty and Speaker of the House Robert A. DeLeo and ask them to pass the bill. The phone numbers and email addresses of all House members can be found here.

Story here. Caption:

'Texas mother Julianne McCrery is scheduled to be arraigned Thursday in connection with the murder of her 6-year-old son Camden Pierce Hughes in New Hampshire. Her attorney said Thursday that McCrery is suicidal and wants to "be in heaven with her son." McCrery, 42, of Irving, Texas, was arrested in Massachusetts Wednesday night on a fugitive of justice charge. That charge stems from a warrant New Hampshire police issued charging McCrery with second-degree murder in the death of Camden on May 14.'

From a SAVE email:

June is False Allegations Awareness Month. So here are some ideas on how to get involved, and turn the corner on a major legal problem:

1. Learn the facts: http://www.saveservices.org/false-allegations-awareness-month/false-accusations-of-domestic-violence-by-the-numbers/

2. Pass out copies of the FAAM flyer: http://www.saveservices.org/downloads/False-Allegations-Shortchange-True-Victims

3. Order a FAAM poster, T-shirt, or baseball cap: http://www.zazzle.com/savemerchandise

4. Ask your local newspaper, radio station, or blogger to cover the issue

5. Set up a table during a local event, pass out FAAM flyers

6. Register to attend the False Allegations Summit, June 2 in Washington, DC: tstoddard-at-saveservices.org

Another very sad story about a mother who killed her children. It's a choice that perplexes me: why a parent, mom or dad, would choose to kill their kids--and, alas, we know dads do the same thing. In a related story, some commenters are already trying to blame Dad, claiming he was abusive. It seems to be part of our culture--women are never to blame for their choices, but some man is. Women are full adults when it comes to their rights, minors when it comes to moral culpability. Or at least it seems, especially as the media did its best to blame the father for the mother who drowned her own kids in the Hudson. In the end, however, it's just plain sad. And I don't know how to prevent these things. Does anyone? Excerpt:

'CASTLE ROCK — The mother arrested Monday for the murder of her two children called police at 7:48 a.m. to report that she was trying to commit suicide.

When asked by a police dispatcher whether there were any children in the home, the mother replied: "They are in heaven."

Link to article here. Excerpt:

'A good Samaritan bashed when he tried to help a woman involved in an argument after an AFL game in Melbourne says he'd do it again.

David, who did not want his surname used, was leaving the Carlton-Geelong game on Friday night when he saw a couple arguing on the walkway between Etihad Stadium and Southern Cross railway station.

The 41-year-old from Ocean Grove intervened when he saw the man push the woman, but was punched in the face a number of times and kicked by the man.

He was helped up from the ground by a friend but the man attacked him a second time.

Constable Hannah Smith said the woman was hysterical and kept screaming for the attack to stop but also tried to hold David's friend back.

Nursing a badly-bruised eye and bruised ribs, David described his attacker as "a gutless wonder" but said he had no regrets about helping.

"It's what you do," he told reporters on Tuesday.'

Link to article here. Excerpt:

'A US woman has been charged with offering her 11-year-old daughter's virginity to a man in exchange for $US10,000 ($A9,517).

The woman was charged on Monday in Utah's 3rd District Court with two counts of aggravated sex abuse and two counts of sexual exploitation of a minor. KTVX Channel 4 reports that court documents claim she made the offer after the man asked about oral sex with the girl.

Police say the woman and the daughter would model lingerie for the man. The offer was discovered by the woman's boyfriend, who found multiple text messages discussing the proposal.'

Article here. Excerpt:

A Newsweek article from April, which I only just saw. Men have the right to be free from assaults of all kinds, whether it be from men or women, and the governments under which they live (for good or bad) have a duty to ensure this. Article here. Excerpt:

Article here. Excerpt:

"As a serving policeman, there are several things I am not allowed to talk about.

There are plenty of operational secrets we cannot discuss, but I’m not referring to those. I’m talking about the taboo subjects. The ‘detection’ rate for rape is one of these.

It’s very frustrating to sit and listen to pundits talking about the low number of rape convictions in Court, when as police officers we all know what lies behind these poor numbers.

For example, I couldn’t possibly tell you that out of every ten rapes which are reported in Ruraltown, at least eight turn out to be nonsense. To be fair, eight out of ten of everything reported at Ruraltown police station is nonsense, why should rape be any different?
...
So who suffers when Charlene drops by the nick to accuse Wayne of raping her because she is hacked off that he used her child benefit money for drugs? ...