Headline

Meet Two Women Who Uncovered Clergy Sex Abuse In Colombia

Published

2 years ago

February 3, 2022

They were working for a Catholic bishop and had clear-cut orders from Pope Francis himself — probe reports of pedophile priests in a city in Colombia.

What these two investigators — two Catholic women with experience conducting criminal probes — found was an utter bombshell: a network of predatory clergymen that sexually abused at least 20 people, reportedly taking turns with one of them.

The abuse was committed in Villavicencio, a central Colombian city of half a million people with a cathedral in the town square, and parts of the surrounding area that fall under one archdiocese.

The pope says fighting clergy sex abuse is one of his priorities, and in 2019, he told the bishop of Villavicencio, Oscar Urbina, to investigate alleged abuses by priests.

The bishop turned to Olga Cristancho, 68, a seasoned former prosecutor, and Socorro Martinez, 59, who used to work in the attorney general’s office and has experience probing massacres in Colombia, a country that endured decades of conflict involving government forces, leftist rebels, right-wing paramilitaries, and drug traffickers.

But shortly after the church probe began, these two women distanced themselves from Urbina, suspecting a cover-up and launching an investigation of their own.

Cristancho said she was shocked by what she learned.

“I never dreamed of such a thing,” she told AFP. The women sleuths gathered evidence despite what they called interference from the bishop.

Among their finds: one man told them priests started abusing him at age 15 and took turns doing so.

Priests also used code words to communicate with each other, Cristancho said.

“One would say to the other, ‘I am sending you a CD,’ but that meant, ‘I am sending you that boy’,” Cristancho said.

The two investigators sent the conclusions of their effort to the Vatican in 2019 — and are still awaiting a response.

A book published last year by journalist Juan Pablo Barrientos is based on their work and goes further, with testimony implicating 38 priests in sexual abuse. The church tried in vain to censor it.

– ‘I felt dirty’ -The church has quietly sent away 20 of the priests accused of abuse. So far, two others are in prison after being convicted of abusing a 13-year-old choir boy.

“It will be up to the courts, both judicial and canon, to render a verdict,” said William Prieto, a priest and spokesman for the archdiocese, in the church’s only public comment on this scandal.

Colombian prosecutors opened their own investigation, and in late January, Cristancho and Martinez gave testimony. The attorney general’s office declined an AFP request for comment.

Urbina’s office also declined AFP requests for comment.

One of the victims is a man who for this story is being identified as Miguel.

As a child, his family used to vacation in Villavicencio, and his parents would send him to a rectory to see an uncle who was a priest.

There, a seminarian abused Miguel, forcing him into oral sex.

“He knew how to manipulate my uncle’s trust, my family’s trust, so that I would go to bed with him,” Miguel said in an interview during which he hid his face.

As an adult, he said he suffered from suicidal thoughts and depression.

Headline

Meet 17-year-old Nigerian Who Won $3.5m Worth Of Scholarships From Harvard, 13 Other Foreign Universities

Published

9 hours ago

April 24, 2024

Editor

A 17-year-old Nigerian boy, Oluwafemi Ositade, has secured full scholarships to multiple Ivy League universities in the United States, Canada and Qatar.

The teenager, a member of the Class of 2023 of The Ambassadors College, Ota, won scholarships over $3.5 million.

Ositade’s astounding success stems from his exceptional performance in the SAT where he achieved a perfect score in Maths (800/800) and a near-perfect score of 760 out of 800 in reading and writing and his CGPA of 4.04/4.0 from college.

Nigerian boy Femi Ositade wins $3.5 million worth of scholarships from Harvard and 13 foreign universities

Ositade received 14 scholarships from renowned institutions nine of which are full ride scholarships (covering tuition, accommodation, allowance and all other student’s expenses).

The universities that have given scholarship offers to Ositade are Harvard University, Brown University, Duke University, University of Toronto Lester B Pearson Scholarship, Wesleyan University, Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar, University of Miami, Howard University, Stetson University, Fisk University, University of Toronto, Mississauga Campus, University of Toronto St. George Campus, University of Toronto, Scarborough Campus and Drexel University.

In the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), he got a score of 358, and was ranked as the second best in Nigeria for the year 2023.

Also, in the 2023 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE), Ositade got eight A’s and one B2.

He wants to pursue a degree in Computational Physics, due to his passion for Quantum Computing and Mathematics.

Headline

Drama As Women Fight Dirty, Breasts Fall Out During Spring Break Outing In US [PHOTOS/VIDEO]

Published

11 hours ago

April 23, 2024

Editor

Shocking videos captured during Spring Break shows topless women fighting on a popular US beach.

The Orange Crush is a college spring break party on Tybee Island in Savannah, Georgia.

The party has been hosted annually in April for almost 30 years since Savannah State University opened.

This year’s event was chaotic. Videos have been shared on social media showing the carnage unfolding.

One video showed several bikini-clad women fighting on the beach’s boardwalk. They were filmed punching and scratching each other so violently that some of their tops flew off.

During the two-and-half minutes of chaotic footage, several women experienced their tops being forcibly lowered or displaced.

Some stopped fighting momentarily to adjust their clothing, while one individual, clad in a green swimsuit, persisted in the altercation even after her breasts were exposed.

Watch videos from the scene below.

No Peace at Savannah’s Orange Crush as Women Brawl Breakout Over The Weekend At Spring Break Event pic.twitter.com/cmfIZS7KQC
— SHO’NUFF (@IAMSHO_NUFF) April 22, 2024

Headline

Video Of Girl Being Bullied, Slapped At Lead British School Sparks Outrage Online [PHOTOS/VIDEO]

Published

11 hours ago

April 23, 2024

Editor

Videos of female students bullying a lone female student at Lead British School, Abuja, has sparked outrage online.

In videos shared online, female students, dressed in school uniform, are seen slapping one female student identified as Namtira.

“What’s the boy’s name?” they asked as they confronted her and slapped her across both cheeks.

Heartbreaking video shows girl being bullied and slapped by other students at Lead British School (videos)

Another video shows one of the bullies, identified as Maryam, asking, “Who broke my heart?” repeatedly as she slapped Namtira.

She then warned “don’t touch my hand” as Namtira tried to protect herself from the slaps.

Afterwards, Namtira stopped trying to prevent the slaps and calmly took them.

Students in the background are heard claiming Namtira “snatched” someone as they confronted her.

Namtira Bwala, said to be the daughter of author Daniel Bwala, did not retaliate as they hit her.

Heartbreaking video shows girl being bullied and slapped by other students at Lead British School (videos)

The video has sparked outrage and led to the hashtag #JusticeForNamtira.

This video is very triggering and painful to watch.
Apparently the bullied student at Lead British School Abuja is Namtira Bwala not Maryam.#JusticeForNamtira #LeadBritishSchool pic.twitter.com/RD63uTS3kz
— IHUOMA (@officialIhuoma) April 23, 2024