Source: News One

35-year-old Mario L. Hunt, a special-needs teaching assistant has been arrested following accusations that he molested and infected a male student with HIV, News One reports.

Hunt, who is said to be fully aware of his HIV status, is also being investigated in a similar case involving another student. On Monday, Hunt was charged with felony counts of criminal sexual assault, aggravated criminal sexual abuse and “transmitting” HIV through intimate contact. The incident occurred back in 2011 when the student was 17 years old. As of right now, authorities are unsure if the student was infected with the virus, but because Hunt exposed him to it, he is being charged with “transmitting” HIV.

Lt. Dennis Plew of the Cahokia Police Department says he’s unsure if the now 19-year-old student has been tested for the virus at all. 

“This is horrible. I’m sure some kids come to school and put a lot of trust in a teacher, and for anyone to take advantage of that is a terrible thing,” Plew expressed to an AP reporter.

To make matters worse, Hunt is actually an alumnus of the Cahokia School District.

“You always think something like this isn’t going to happen here and we’d be able to see something, but it’s just so tough to know. Realistically, what can you do? It’s hard to tell what’s going on in people’s hearts and minds,” said the district’s Superintendent Art Ryan.

Ryan also added that Hunt was very popular among students and that he frequently helped out with homecoming and prom events.

“All of the kids certainly seemed to like him,” he said.

This is a very unfortunate situation. It’s very sad that our young people are being taken advantage of by the people they trust, especially in a school of all places.

Source: NBC

Esther Stokes, a 61 year old teacher from Humble, Texas, has been accused of molesting a first grader. Instead of claiming that she didn’t molest the student because she’s not a , she said that she couldn’t have possibly molested the 7 year old girl because she wouldn’t feel comfortable touching a black child.

Stokes was charged with indecency back in March for allegedly sending the other students out of the room and touching the African American girl’s private parts outside of her clothes.

Stokes denied the allegations saying her prejudice against black students would prevent her from fondling this student.

When the student asked Stokes to stop touching her, Stokes allegedly made her stand outside of the classroom, in the hallway and refused to let her eat lunch and take a test.

While the fondling is still just suspected, the school principal was able to confirm that the student did not eat lunch that day.

Stokes denied ever even being alone with the girl.

A police Detective J. Blanchard said that the woman claimed “she doesn’t like to even touch the black children on their hand, she shies away when they try to hug her-she admitted to being prejudice.”

The school where Stokes has worked, Northwest Preparatory Academy, is almost 90 percent black.

Stokes’ defense attorney gave a more plausible defense saying that she’s never been accused of such a thing before.

The 7 year old’s mother, Shawntel Reace, told the media that she would be removing all four of her children from the school. The school said that any other parents with concerns should contact the school.

Check out the video of footage from Stokes’ trial on the next page.

They began preying on me when I was about 10 or 11; men who were old enough to father me and of course those a little younger. Either way, they were too old to be approaching me. I was a pretty quiet kid for the most part. I wasn’t one of those grown little girls who was up in a man’s face every opportunity I got. My mother was a firm believer in dressing children age appropriately so attire wasn’t the issue. I used to blame it on the fact that I was more developed than most of the girls my age. “They probably just think I’m older than what I actually am,” I’d always think to myself, inwardly hating the fact that I had such a womanly shape at such a young age. Now that I reflect on those days, all I can say is, “Ain’t no way.” There’s no way that these men didn’t know how young I was. Since transitioning into adulthood my common sense tells me differently. I don’t care how much her breasts protrude or how curvy her hips are, a child is easily spotted and those who can’t tell simply by looking at her, can tell once she opens her mouth. The truth is they don’t care.

Back then I never took them up on their advances. I’d quickly make my way home from school with my head held down, eyes glued to the pavement trying to block out the derogatory cat calls that were being hurled my way by grown men. I was disgusted by their advances, they made me feel tainted. I couldn’t understand why anyone would be flattered or consider their words compliments.

By the time I hit 16, I thought I was grown. I had a car and my junior license, you couldn’t tell me nothing. At that age having a “boo” was the thing to do so I followed suit. His name was Rodney*. It was my summer job that allowed us to cross paths. My company and his rented office space in the same building. He approached me in the lobby one afternoon. We exchanged small talk. I told him I was 16, he told me he was 20. I looked at him strangely. He seemed a little mature for 20, but I was young and gullible enough to believe just about anything. He eventually asked for my phone number, I obliged.

As time progressed we graduated from phone conversations and late night texting to hanging out in his uncle’s basement. He’d always “try” me and I would decline his advances. One day I guess he decided that “playtime” was over because this was the day he tried to force himself on me. With the exception of my best friend, I never told anyone about that experience. That night when I got home, I couldn’t stop thinking about what happened. I don’t know what prompted me to do it, but I took to the web and did a search on him. I was able to locate him on a social network, which is where I found out that he had actually lied about his age. He was 30, not 20.

The company that he worked for happened to relocate shortly after the incident. I never saw him again. What bothers me the most is to see that the cycle still continues. Grown men are still out there going after little girls. They know these girls are underage and still pursue them anyway. Why? Because they’re young, naive and easily manipulated.

We all know that predators are out there, but what can we do to protect our children? The first thing I always encourage parents to do is keep the lines of communication open. You’ll be surprised how much your kids will talk if they feel that they can come to you.  Secondly, know where your children are. If you need to confirm, do it. Safe is always better than sorry. One of the most important things that can’t be stressed enough is to know who your kids are talking to as well. And don’t take, “Oh, I’m just talking to my friend,” as an answer. Get all up in their business, especially those teens. Check those cell phones and social networks occasionally.

I was always a pretty good kid. My parents trusted me, but my one lapse in judgement could’ve cost me so much more than being shaken up and having hurt feelings. Protecting your daughter from men such as the one I encountered begins simply with opening the lines of communication.

Jazmine Denise is freelance writer living in New York. Follow her on Twitter @jazminedenise

Source: Caller.com

The celebration is definitely over for sprinter Tianna Madison who won gold at the London Olympics this summer as part of the 4×100 meter relay team. The ladies actually set a new world record after the race, but unfortunately for Tianna she now has to turn her attention to legal matters — like the lawsuit her parents have filed against her.

According to the Chronicle-Telegram:

This week, Jo Ann and Robert Madison filed a libel, slander and defamation lawsuit against their athlete daughter, accusing her of defaming them with false statements and allegations.

The complaint, naming Tianna Madison and her husband, John Bartoletta, as defendants, states that since March of this year, the couple has repeatedly made or had published false and defamatory statements about the Madisons to various third parties, including media outlets in Ohio and Florida.

The lawsuit details allegations that Tianna Madison wrongly alleged that her parents mismanaged her finances, and that they knowingly allowed a boy who had molested her in the past to enter their home in her presence.

Tiana and her husband are refusing to comment on the suit publicly because according to Brian Butler, a spokesman for the couple:

“This should be a time for not just Tianna, but her family to celebrate all she has gone through and her winning a gold medal,” he said. “That is what she is going to focus on at this time and, I think, she is trying to take some time to enjoy the fact that she won an Olympic gold medal.”

Despite “boilerplate language” in the civil suit asking for compensatory damages in excess of $25,000 and punitive damages in excess of $25,000 plus court costs and fees, Tianna’s parents insist they didn’t file the action for financial gain. Their attorney, Scott Schooler, said the lawsuit is a means to get their daughter’s attention and hopefully one day reconcile with her.

“It was a wake-up call for Tianna to really look at the entire situation and look at what exactly is going on,” he said. “Hopefully, she will realize there is some importance in having a relationship with her parents.”

“[The Madison's] are not seeking any financial gain. At the end of the day, they would like to restore their relationship with their daughter. Beyond that, I am not going to comment on the parameters of any possible resolution.”

Tianna’s parents no doubt also seek to clear their name by taking such a bold legal action against their own daughter, otherwise this is a matter that could have been handled privately. They maintain, however, that they had no knowledge of their daughter ever being molested, until they got word that she and her husband were shopping a pre-written article about her upbringing to several media outlets. It was around that time they also found out their daughter was planning to sue them for mismanaging finances, which actually never happened. Tianna also allegedly sent a text message to her parents Aug. 11 telling  them that after the Olympic games,  “she would ‘break the story’ of the Madisons’ ‘selfish, controlling and utterly abusive ways and treatment’ of her, and that ‘it was going to be brutal.’ ’’ The Madison’s countered those accusations with this statement about their daughter’s upbringing in the lawsuit:

“Throughout her childhood, and into adulthood, Robert Madison and Jo Ann Madison have provided Tianna Madison with a loving, supportive and generous environment, that has enabled her to achieve success as a sprinter, including her obtaining a gold medal in the 2012 Olympic Games, as well as achieving success in other athletic endeavors.”

I can’t say who’s telling the truth here, but some things definitely don’t appear to be adding up in this case. What do you think about this situation and the Madison’s suing their daughter?

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by Danni

Before the barrage of Tyler Perry movies that uncovered family secrets and before the Oscar nods for Monique’s depiction in “Precious” of the horrors of child abuse, I was 5. He was strong. There were no camera crews to capture my anguish, no protests in honor of my tears, and no advocates to collect my screams. I’d begin to learn that the law does little to protect you if your molester is in your immediate family.

Incest is not punishable in the state of New Jersey if both the perpetrator and the victim are over the age of 18. In fact, it’s perfectly legal.  The law which fiercely penalizes rape and sexual assault coughs and turns its head when the perpetrator lives under your roof. The problem with New Jersey’s law is that many children are too scared and/or confused to prosecute or testify against someone so close. It’s a hurdle most us are terrified of attempting so we wait. We wait normally until adulthood when we can finally formulate the words to confront our captors and by then it’s too late to seek retribution because in New Jersey (and several other states) it’s legal. Some would say there are laws against molestation and abuse but proving them is difficult. In an article by Janice Friedman she sums up how I felt, “Imagine, if you aren’t marked up or if you’ve been drugged, you won’t be a victim, you’ll be an accuser.”

So I lived with him day after day caught in a suburban prison.  I cooked breakfast every morning− scrambled eggs, fried potatoes with onions and cheddar cheese and poured him orange juice in an burgundy mug that ironically had a scripture about forgiveness on the front. If the butter happened to turn brown in the pan and tint his sunny scrambled eggs I could be sure that it would warrant punishment. Yet, the love of a child is unconditional and I grew to love him and justify his sordid ways as a coping mechanism. A child’s mind will justify heinous things the best way it knows how because a child cannot fathom that a person so close to them would ever intentionally hurt them. So sex is justified by statements like “he loves me the way he loves Mommy.” However, as I grew older the love I once felt turned into resentment and resentment turned to hate.

What price can be put on a stolen childhood? When people ask me why I look so young, I respond that I’d like to think God gave me the gift of youth because my childhood was taken from me. I never prosecuted the man who hurt me. I was 24 when I came forward and he was forced to confess. Some people ask “why did you wait so long?” “Why are you airing the dirty laundry now?” Fear crippled me. I knew a secret like that would tear our family apart. I knew it would make things difficult. There would be pain. There would be tears. So, I waited. Even now that he is no longer a part of my life; learning to forgive has been a difficult road for me. However, my pastor said that as long as I chose to hold onto anger, his power over me would remain just as strong as it was all of those years ago.  I. Forgive. Him.

All of us carry pieces of our past into our future. Some of us are blessed enough to recover from tragic moments in our lives. However, there are those who cannot drown out the nightmares called memories.  This…what I’m writing… is for them. It was in realizing that I am not a ‘victim’ but a survivor that I was able to overcome the past and forgive. Some of us have survived trauma that others would commit suicide over. This is the harsh reality of the disparity in our penal system. America obsesses over the trivial details of their lives and somewhere a little girl decides between cooking “him” breakfast and kingdom come.

If you have a story you’d like to share or a question you want to ask, feel free to comment below to communicate with Danni. 

Source: Necolebitchie.com

Earlier this week, news about Raz B’s tell-all with some very salacious homosexual and molestation accusations about the members of B2K, their former manager Chris Stokes, Bow Wow, Immature, and a host of other men in the entertainment industry hit the web. This wasn’t the first time Raz B started calling everybody gay or dredging up unnecessary details about their possible sexually abusive pasts, but over the years Chris Brown has been the only one to flip out at dude, which was a little curious in itself.

During an appearance on Hot 97 to promote his new movie (something along the lines of Stomp The Yard 2.0), the hosts of the radio show got Marques Houston to address the accusations in Raz B’s upcoming book and the side comments he’s made over the years. Here’s what he had to say:

How reacted to the molestation claims
It was a big joke to me. If you think about the time frames [of] when this guy starts up its always around my album coming out, my album release and now my movie release is coming out so he is talking more. He is lying but its all lies! It’s all BS. He is an attention w*ore. He wants that attention because B2K was huge and everybody knows how big B2K was and when something like that is stripped from you, and you can’t get any fame you go to the extreme measures and the dude is psycho.

You have to think about who he is mentioning. For one, I don’t even think Raz has ever met Chris Brown. Chris Brown and Raz B have no connection. I know Omarion and Chris Brown are really cool but then he starts mentioning Bow Wow. It’s like, who hasn’t he mentioned? Is he going to mention that God did something to him next?

Whether Raz B is on drugs
Yeah

What would happen if the two were in the same room together
Honestly, if we were in the same room together, he is so crazy he would probably try to say whats up to me,  like ‘whats up man? Congratulations on the new movie!’ That’s the kind of person he is. This is all, literally a publicity stunt for him. He has a book he is trying to sell.

Its sad because people don’t understand that, and like I said earlier, it’s like the Eddie Cane situation. Eddie Cane went on drugs and he was the only one that just fell and he tried to come back and I think his whole thing was trying to get the group together and that wasn’t going to happen. So he felt like maybe if I get attention this way…. He was trying to extort Chris [Stokes] for money, he asked for money a couple of times because they are cousins. He was like ‘I need some money’ […] ‘I’m on the streets right now, I need some money’ and its like when that help is cut off, people feel like ‘well this is what I’m going to say to get money’, and it didn’t work.

On the restraining order he has against Raz B and his brother
I sued him and his brother and got restraining orders against them and I won so…

What’s up with Chris Stokes
Chris is actually in the process of doing that right now.

Why he hasn’t addressed these rumors before
I really haven’t spoken on it because I didn’t feel the need to but now that you’ve brought it up. Its not true. Nothing that he has ever said has been true. It’s all lies and it’s all rumors and it’s all false, but to the people out there who bought into it shame on you.

Marques Houston makes it so hard to ride for him. It’s not cool he’s all up in this mess, but the Eddie Cane references and the idea that Raz B would try to ride his success and not some artist who actually has a career going for him right now like, I don’t know, Chris Brown, is comical to say the least. I do think he might have a point about Raz B being slightly off his rocker though, but it could be possibly be because he has been abused in some way.

Check out the clip of the interview here. Do you think Marques Houston is telling the truth or is he covering something?

Brande Victorian is a blogger and culture writer in New York City. Follower her on Twitter at @be_vic.

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Source: Eurweb.com

From Eurweb.com

One of the incredible things about being in this line of work is finding out things about people that you otherwise would have never known. Sheila told us about her charitable endeavor, which is no big surprise really. Many artists have charities. It’s a widely recognized tax shelter. But this one goes much deeper than that. Way deep!

“People can go online to my foundation,” she explained. “It’s called elevatehope.org. We raise money and use that to bring music to children in foster care. It’s to give them tools and give them hope to be creative and express themselves. One reason that’s important to me is because my Dad, for a couple years, he was left in an orphanage. Early on he put all our instruments in the car and said ‘As bad as we have it, even though we’re on welfare there’s always someone who is worse off than we are. So, let’s just go to these facilities and play for the kids and give them something. I know how it feels.’ My manager and I did Elevate Hope together. We found that the more people we talked to, more than half were molested or raped. I was raped at the age of 5 by a babysitter, and she was molested as well. Music was one of the healing parts of my life. It’s not like a book that we just read. We understand because we went through the same things. We know how music helped us to heal. Some of them have been so abused that they don’t know how to communicate and they don’t know how to express themselves. Music is a speaking piece for them to allow them to break down those barriers and those walls.”

Find out about the rest of Sheila’s influences and her upcoming performances at Eurweb.com.

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Source: cwphilly.cbslocal.com

Chris Brown and Raz B have already shared some nasty twitter exchanges in the past but Breezy is threatening legal action now that the former B2K singer isn’t just talking ish anymore, he wrote it down in a book.

In what can only be described as a money making ploy—because no one cares enough about him otherwise—Raz B is releasing a memoir titled, This Boy’s Life, but he’s doing a lot more than talking about himself and the past molestation claims at the hands of B2K manager Chris Stokes. He’s outing several male celebrities like Omarion and the rest of his band; Lil Bow Wow, who he says was involved in sexual relationships with other B2K members; and he also says Marques Houston molested him.

His claims against Breezy go just a tad bit further, though. In one section of the book he wrote:

“I’ve never had issues with substances; even when I was at my lowest. I always thank God I never had a serious addiction like the Weezy’s [Lil Wayne] and the Breezy’s [Chris Brown].”

Then he adds:

“What type of man hits a woman? A man that does not honor womanhood or the fragility of it. I also read that most men who beat women have latent homosexual tendencies. So there you go.”

Really Raz? Breezy had about the equivalent of his “Good Morning America” flip out on Twitter when he heard about the accusations.

“Lying about somebody in a book is called defamation of character,” he tweeted. “Keep feeding people bulls**t and ima end up owning you and that book! RAZ B! God bless… My lawyers are handling it! Lol ima chill!”

Interesting no one else has spoken up about the book, although for Lil Wayne there would be no point. We all know he loves his purple drank. Raz B’s book comes out in September so there will likely be another media firestorm around that time, if anyone still cares at that point. I get wanting to share your molestation experience—somewhat—but outing other people, whether it’s true or not, is not cool.

What do you think about this book and what Raz B is claiming?

Brande Victorian is a blogger and culture writer in New York City. Follower her on Twitter at @be_vic.

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thebeautyriot.com

Unfortunately, enduring sexual abuse as a child has become a far too common experience for many women but it’s not often that victims reveal their abuser was a woman. Vanessa Williams has opened up about just that in the latest issue of People magazine, and the details of the abuse she endured at the age of 10 are described in her upcoming memoir, You Have No Idea.

Vanessa wrote that she was visiting family friends in California at the time when their 18-year-old daughter, Susan, walked in on her while she was sleeping.

“Susan pulled down the bloomers of my cotton baby-doll pajamas. ‘What are you doing?’ I asked. ‘Don’t worry — it’ll feel good.’ I lay there paralyzed. What was I going to do?”

Vanessa said she kept the incident to herself for several years and it wasn’t until she was in college that she realized she was molested. And although she told People the incident “didn’t paralyze me, and I don’t dwell,” the situation did have a significant effect on her.

“After that trip I felt something change in me,” she wrote. “I had always been defiant but I became a bit more rebellious. I began to pull away from my parents.”

Making sure the same thing didn’t happen to her children, Vanessa said she told them what happened to her so that they knew what signs to look for.

“When my kids have asked about Miss America, those photos, or any other part of my life, I told them what I always tell them — the truth,” she wrote. “After all, it was part of my journey that led me to them and to where I am today.”

Do you think sexual abuse by women often goes unnoticed?

Brande Victorian is a blogger and culture writer in New York City. Follower her on Twitter at @be_vic.

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Even the seemingly perfect relationships have their own distinct set of challenges. What can make any relationship even more difficult, is growing to care deeply for someone who is in a dangerous relationship with demons from their past.  Being in a relationship with a man who’s been sexually abused can make you feel helpless and confused, but what you may not realize is that your partner may be battling many of those same feelings.

Ever since the 1997 imprisonment of Mary Kay Letorneau, a school teacher in her mid-thirties who admitted to engaging in sexual intercourse with 13 year-old student Vili Fualaau,  sexual abuse involving male victims doesn’t seem to be taken nearly as seriously in society as cases in which the victim is female.  Unfortunately this often results in many men believing that if society doesn’t take their situation seriously, then they themselves shouldn’t either.  When a woman is involved sexually with a male who is significantly older than her she’s “violated,” but when a male has the opportunity to have sex with an older woman he’s often “congratulated.”

The truth is that when sex is used to manipulate and take advantage of anyone without the full capacity to consent and understand the situation, it’s a violation.  It doesn’t matter if it’s a blonde bombshell teaching in a classroom or your stereotypical “To Catch a Predator” assailant.

According to the online-support group BSAS (Black Sexual Abuse Survivors), 1 in 6 males have been sexually abused as children and 1.9 million African-American men have been sexually abused.  Many black males are struggling with their masculinity, sexuality and even their very identities because they are burdened with the shame, self-blame and an inability to trust in relationships.  This is especially true when the abuse occurs at the hands of another male.  Heterosexual men often question their sexuality when they are raped or molested by another man and homosexual men may even feel that this violation is a punishment or that the situation is to blame for their sexual preference.

The Rape Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN) states that some of the common stereotypes that surround sexual abuse of males include:

• “Men are immune to victimization”

• “Men enjoy all sex, so they must’ve enjoyed the assault”

• “Male survivors are more likely to be sexual predators”.

With little education or resources, when the man you’ve grown to look at as strong and powerful reveals to you that he was once in fact a victim, you may find yourself questioning many of those stereotypes.  While there are many men who actively seek support to help deal with post-traumatic stress and other feelings that have created barriers in their personal relationships, there are some men who experience anxiety even thinking about the situation, let alone revealing it and risking being harshly judged by others.  This can create problems in a romantic relationship, because although the partner is willing to be an active source of support, the victim to may not yet be ready to deal with his feelings.

After you’ve stripped yourself of assumptions and preconceived notions, one of the best things you can do when dating a man who is a victim of sexual assault is to educate yourself on the common effects that men can have as a result of being sexually abused.  According to an article titled “Sexual Abuse” on AskMen.com, one of the most common effects of sexual abuse is emotional unavailability.  Men who experience sexual abuse may experience feelings of mistrust towards anyone, especially those whom they are involved with romantically.  They may also experience performance anxiety in the bedroom due to their internal turmoil surrounding confusion about their sexuality.  Self-blame may also negatively affect self-esteem which can cause conflict within the relationship.  More severe effects may include insomnia, poor anger management and paranoia. An inability to confront the issue may manifest into substance abuse and self-harm.

While you can’t erase the past, you can be a strong source of support in the present and help your partner navigate a brighter future.  Don’t be intimidated by what you learn about the past.  The very fact that he chose to reveal this information to you shows that on some level he trusts you and the last thing you want to do is shut him down.  Sometimes just listening is a great way to show support. Just being there for moral support can make the experience of seeking professional help less scary.  It’s also important to understand that many of the issues that are causing conflict in the relationship could be due to not dealing with the past.  You might also be his best chance at understanding what a healthy sexual and romantic relationship truly is.

Take his hand and try making the first step to healing by visiting sites like MaleSurvivor.org or  Adult Survivors of Child Abuse or calling toll-free hot lines where trained professionals are available 24 hours a day for help like 1-800-799-SAFE.  With a bit of patience and empathy you can help your partner transition from being a victim to being a survivor.