The investigations mark the first known Vatican action against Legion priests for alleged sexual assault following the scandal of the Legion's founder, who was long held up as a model by the Vatican despite credible accusations — later proven — that he raped and molested his seminarians.

The Legion, which is now under Vatican receivership, has insisted that the crimes of its late founder, the Rev. Marciel Maciel, were his alone.

But the Vatican investigation of other Legion priests indicates that the same culture of secrecy that Maciel created within the order to cover his crimes enabled other priests to abuse children — just as clergy of other religious orders and dioceses have done around the world.

In a statement Friday to the AP, the Legion confirmed it had referred seven cases of alleged abuse to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the Vatican office that investigates sex crimes. All but one involves alleged abuse dating from decades ago; one case involves recent events, the Legion said.

"Over the past few years, in several countries, the major superiors of the Legion of Christ have received some allegations of gravely immoral acts and more serious offenses ... committed by some Legionaries," the statement said.

It said it was committed to examining the accusations and reaching out to victims while safeguarding the rights of all involved.

The Legion issued the statement to the AP after the news organization approached it with the allegations; the Legion simultaneously sent the statement out to all Legionary priests in the order.

In addition to referring the cases to the Vatican as required by church law, the Legion said it had also referred cases to police where civil reporting laws require it. It's not clear, however, if any law enforcement action was taken given the statute of limitations may have expired for such old cases.

The Legion said two other priests are also under investigation by the Congregation for alleged sacramental violations, believed to involve using spiritual direction to have inappropriate relations with women.

A preliminary investigation cleared two other priests accused of abuse, the Legion said.

The scandal of Maciel and the Legion ranks as one of the worst of the 20th-century Catholic Church, since he was held up as a model for the faithful by Pope John Paul II. The orthodox order, which has about 900 priests around the world, was praised for attracting both money and vocations to the priesthood.

Documentation from Vatican archives, however, has shown that as early as the 1950s, the Vatican had evidence that he was a drug addict and pedophile.

Only in 2006 did the Vatican sanction Maciel to a lifetime of penance and prayer for his crimes. He died in 2008 and a year later the Legion admitted he had fathered three children with two different women and had abused his seminarians.

The Vatican took over the Legion in 2010 and is pushing through a process of reform.

Aaron Loughrey, 35, was a 17- or 18-year-old Legion seminarian in Ireland in the spring of 1995 when he says he was forced by a superior to masturbate him in bed. Loughrey, who left the Legion before being ordained, says he has been in counseling almost ever since as he seeks justice from the order.

He said that the vow he took as a seminarian never to criticize the actions or deeds of a superior made him unable to question what the priest had told him to do. In a parallel to the way Maciel abused his seminarians, Loughrey says his superior had told him that an unnamed illness gave him terrible cramps in his lower abdomen that could only be eased with massage.

"In my heart and in my conscience I believed that I had acted that night like a true Legionary — putting my superior's needs before my own — and I stuffed the unsavory thoughts and feelings to the back of my mind," Loughrey has written.

The priest has since left the priesthood. Pope Benedict XVI in 2007 ordered the Legion to remove the so-called fourth vow never to criticize a superior — precisely because of the abuse of authority that it had created in the order.

Source: AP

The man was brought to Montevideo to testify in a closed hearing as part of an investigation into the allegations.

He says he was raped last September by Uruguayan marines serving with the UN peacekeeping force in Haiti.

The case caused public outrage in Haiti, fuelling resentment and protests against the UN mission.

The marines have already spent several months in custody after a Uruguayan military investigation found they had broken regulations.

The civil judge investigating the case will now decide whether they should face a criminal prosecution.

Uruguayan media reports said the Haitian man would be asked to identify his alleged attackers.

The marines are also being questioned by the judge.

Controversy

The alleged assault came to light after a video of the incident filmed on a mobile phone appeared on the internet.

Haitian President Michel Martelly condemned the alleged abuse and there were protests against the UN mission.

Uruguay is one of the main contributors to the 12,000-strong UN force (Minustah), which first arrived in Haiti in 2004.

The peacekeepers were brought in to restore order following the overthrow of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, and its mandate was extended after the devastating earthquake in January 2010.

But Minustah has also drawn controversy, including allegations of excessive use of force.

In 2010 there were widespread protests after Nepalese peacekeepers were accused of being the source of a cholera epidemic which has killed more than 6,000 Haitians.

Source: BBC News

Women detainees and rights groups have accused Egyptian troops and prison authorities of sexual assault in the latest crackdown on demonstrations.

More than a dozen women were detained among some 300 protesters following a demonstration outside the Defense Ministry in Cairo last week.

Rights activist Aida Seif al-Dawla said Wednesday that female prison guards sexually assaulted some women by inspecting their vaginas under the pretext of searching for drugs.

A recently released female detainee told a parliamentary committee that soldiers groped her, knocked her unconscious and threatened her with sexual assault.

The was no immediate comment from the ruling military.

There was outrage last year against "virginity tests" by a military doctor on female detainees.

Source: AP

orth Wales Police, working with South Yorkshire Police, arrested four men in Sheffield on Tuesday, taking the total number of people arrested to 16.

The arrests follow comments allegedly made after Wales and Sheffield United striker Ched Evans was jailed for raping a 19-year-old woman near Rhyl.

The men were released on bail and North Wales Police expect more arrests.

One man was arrested on Tuesday on suspicion of malicious communication, another on suspicion of malicious communication and under Section 5 of the Sexual Offences Amendments Act.

Two others were arrested on suspicion of attempting to pervert the course of justice.

The men, aged between 19 and 30, were questioned in Sheffield before being bailed to return to a police station in north Wales in July.

By law, rape victims are entitled to lifelong anonymity.

Gareth Pritchard, North Wales Police assistant chief constable, said the force would seek to ensure that the legal anonymity of victims in rape cases was protected.

"We wish to reassure victims of serious sexual offences of our continuing determination to support them."

The investigation has so far seen 17 arrests, although it is understood one person has been arrested twice.

Ched Evans was convicted of rape and jailed for five years at Caernarfon Crown Court on 20 April.

The 23-year-old footballer claimed the woman had consented to sex at a hotel in May 2011.

His lawyers have said he will appeal.

Source: BBC News

The sanctions come as the archdiocese nears the end of its investigation into 27 priests who were put on leave when a January 2011 grand jury report raised questions about their possible involvement in abusing children.

Chaput said five of the cases were substantiated in the investigation, and those priests would be barred from public ministry, meaning they can no longer perform duties such as saying Mass. They can appeal to Rome, and later could be defrocked.

Another three priests under investigation were cleared. One priest named in the grand jury report has since died.

Chaput, who said he has spoken with those priests whose cases have been resolved, apologized for a scandal that has rocked the church.

"I have in the past and will here today share my deep sadness and offer my heartfelt apology on behalf of the Archdiocese to all victims of clergy sexual abuse," he said at a news conference.

"The process of reviewing these cases was designed to ensure that the decisions announced today reflect our commitment to protect children, assist victims, restore the integrity of the priesthood and provide evidence to the broader community that they can have confidence in these outcomes," he said.

Among those caught up in the broader scandal is Monsignor William Lynn. He is standing trial on charges of child endangerment and conspiracy over accusations he covered up abuse allegations against priests, many of whom were simply transferred to unsuspecting parishes.

His trial is in its sixth week and testimony is continuing. He faces 28 years in prison if convicted of all counts.

Chaput said the investigation into the remaining cases brought up by the grand jury should be concluded within weeks.

Chaput's predecessor, Cardinal Justin Rigali, put all 27 clerics on administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation.

Source: Reuters

The comments were allegedly made after Sheffield United and Wales striker Ched Evans was jailed for raping a 19-year-old woman near Rhyl, Denbighshire.

Rape victims are legally entitled to anonymity for life.

Five men and four women were arrested at various locations across north Wales. Three men arrested in Sheffield last week have been released on bail.

North Wales Police confirmed that three men and three women from the Rhyl, Prestatyn and Llanddulas areas were arrested in early morning raids on Tuesday and were being held at St Asaph police station.

They later arrested a woman in Broughton, Flintshire, and two men, in Colwyn Bay and Abergele.

Det Sgt Bob Halford said: "We continue to be proactive in this investigation and anticipate that further arrests will be made in the near future."

Three men arrested in Sheffield last week, two under Section 5 of the Sexual Offences Amendments Act and a third on suspicion of malicious communication, have been released on bail.

Ched Evans was convicted of rape and jailed for five years at Caernarfon Crown Court on 20 April.

The 23-year-old footballer claimed the woman had consented to sex at a hotel near Rhyl in May 2011.

His lawyers say he intends to appeal.

Source: BBC News

Brighton players Anton Rodgers, 19, Lewis Dunk, 20, and George Barker, 20, and former player Steve Cook, 21, were charged on Monday.

The charges relate to an incident alleged to have taken place in Brighton on 17 July last year.

All four have been bailed to appear before Brighton magistrates on 11 May.

They were among six players arrested in January by Sussex Police.

Fellow Brighton player Ben Sampayo, 19, has been informed that no further action will be taken against him.

Brighton defender Tommy Elphick, 24, was eliminated from the investigation in January.

Source: BBC News

Footage shows an officer squeezing the breast of Ingrid Turinawe of the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) during her arrest ahead of a rally last week.

Deputy police chief Andrew Kaweesa has apologised, saying the incident will be investigated.

Uganda's opposition says police regularly harass them during protests.

Since President Yoweri Museveni's controversial 2011 re-election, there has been a wave of opposition demonstrations - many of which have ended in violence and arrests.

But correspondents say Ugandans are outraged by the arrest on Friday of Ms Turinawe, who is the head of the Women's League of the FDC led by Kizza Besigye.

Ugandan television footage clearly shows that, as several officers tried to pull her out of her vehicle, another grabbed and squeezed her breast - and she is heard shouting out in pain.

The BBC's Siraj Kalyango in the capital, Kampala, says a group of about 15 women marched through the town to the main police station waving placards, including one that read "How would you feel if we squeezed your balls?"

Six protesters were arrested after they refused to put their tops back on - but they were released two hours later without charge.

"We wanted to ask the police if they are there to do their jobs or there to pinch breasts," event organiser Barbara Allimadi told the AFP news agency.

Source: BBC News

Sixty-nine percent  of Transgender Latina Women reported having been verbally harassed, physically assaulted or sexually assaulted by a law enforcement personnel, a new report conducted by the Williams Institute reveals. Of these, only 31 percent admitted to having lodged a report or complaint. The report, “Interactions of Latina Transgender Women with Law Enforcement ,” interviewed 220 Latina male-to-female transgender individuals, 18 years and older, and discovered that police officers accounted for the majority of negative reactions reported, representing 56 percent of all verbal harassment cases, and 16 and 15 percent of all reported physical and sexual assaults respectively. When asked whether they had ever been solicited for sex by a police officer or other law enforcement personnel, 42 percent responded in the affirmative.

Source: Think Progress

Peter Fincken, 46, of Queen Street in Lazenby on Teesside, will serve a minimum of nine-and-a-half years before being considered for parole.

He was found guilty of six charges of raping the 11-year-old, three of sexual activity with the 13-year-old girl and two charges of abducting her.

He was also ordered to register as a sex offender for life.

The offences against the girls happened between 2003 and July 2011.

On Thursday Fincken denied 16 offences of possessing indecent images of children and not guilty verdicts were entered after the Crown said it was not worth the public expense of having a trial.

'Warped and perverted'

Fincken had denied all of the offences.

Judge Tony Briggs said: "It's clear you have a warped and perverted interest in young girls, you have accessed internet sites, and it is perfectly plain that you are a manipulative and deviant personality with an urge to dominate.

"It is perfectly obvious that you were really quite an overpowering personality and a personality that youngsters would find difficult to resist.

"I have come to the conclusion that you are and will remain to be a danger to young girls, you continue to deny your guilt, and it is clear from a psychiatric report that there is no disposal of your case by a hospital order.

"You are an intelligent adult and I have no doubt at all that you were fully appreciative of what you were doing.

"I am satisfied that there is a significant risk to others of you committing further offences of this type."

The judge told Fincken, who previously lived in Hartlepool, that his eventual release would be considered by the Parole Board.

German-born Fincken's barrister Paul Reid said: "Mr Fincken knows that a sentence for public protection means that very few people who receive one are ever released."

Source: BBC News