Tag Archives: rape

Some of those dropped HPD cases were connected to other cases

Posted on April 11, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Shocking, I know. Of the suspended sex crime incident reports submitted by the Houston Police Department to the Houston Forensic Science Center, nearly 100 came back with links to other cases, Chief Troy Finner said Monday evening. […] In HPD’s … Continue reading →

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Here’s your committee to investigate the HPD dropped cases situation

Posted on March 17, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

I wish them luck. Mayor John Whitmire on Wednesday named the five people who will run an independent investigation into the Houston Police Department’s handling of over 264,000 suspended incident reports. The committee will be led by a former state … Continue reading →

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More on the HPD dropped cases

Posted on March 10, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Mayor Whitmire wants some answers. Houston Mayor John Whitmire on Wednesday called for an independent investigation into the Houston Police Department over how and why more than 264,000 cases were declared suspended for lack of personnel. “I trust and believe … Continue reading →

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The HPD suspended cases situation

Posted on February 28, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

I don’t know what to make of this. A review of sex crimes cases suspended with an internal code citing a lack of personnel has expanded department-wide to include more than 264,000 cases, Police Chief Troy Finner said Monday. The … Continue reading →

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The Devine connection to Woodfill and Pressler

Posted on February 18, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Birds of a feather. A very rancid feather. In 2022, the Texas Supreme Court declined to kill a high-profile sex abuse lawsuit against former Southern Baptist Convention leader Paul Pressler and his longtime law partner, Jared Woodfill. For Justice John … Continue reading →

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We’re beginning to quantify the effect of the abortion ban

Posted on January 26, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Three stories from the Chron about abortion and forced births. The first one involves rape victims. Read carefully. More than 26K rape-related pregnancies estimated after Texas outlawed abortions. Texas saw an estimated 26,313 rape-related pregnancies during the 16 months after … Continue reading →

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The Woodfill/Pressler story keeps getting uglier

Posted on January 24, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Truly gross. In 2017, a Houston college student wrote to the family of Paul Pressler, warning them that the former Texas judge and Southern Baptist leader was a pedophile. “There is a serious issue at hand,” he wrote in an … Continue reading →

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Southern Baptist Convention settles Paul Pressler sexual abuse lawsuit

Posted on December 31, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

A big deal. The Southern Baptist Convention and others have reached a confidential settlement in a high-profile lawsuit that accused a former leader of sexual assault, ending a six-year legal drama that helped prompt a broader reckoning over child sexual … Continue reading →

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Houston’s violent crime rate drops in 2023

Posted on May 17, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

I have three things to say about this. Mayor Sylvester Turner on Wednesday touted his crime initiative as the reason behind a double-digit year-to-year reduction in violent crime in the first quarter of 2023, but experts say the figures mirror wider national trends and warned … Continue reading →

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Slaton resigns

Posted on May 9, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Good riddance. Rep. Bryan Slaton resigned from the Texas House on Monday after an investigation determined that he had an inappropriate sexual relationship with a 19-year-old woman on his staff, providing her with enough alcohol before their encounter that she felt dizzy and … Continue reading →

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Jared Woodfill and Paul Pressler

Posted on March 31, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Sleazebags of a feather sleaze together. In 2016, former Harris County GOP chair Jared Woodfill received an urgent warning about Paul Pressler, his longtime law partner and a Southern Baptist leader. In an email, a 25-year-old attorney from Woodfill’s Houston … Continue reading →

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In case you needed a clear example of the moral depravity of the “right to life” movement

Posted on October 1, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

So a couple of days ago State Sen. Robert Nichols, who has a consistent anti-abortion voting record, said at the Texas Tribune Festival that he would be willing to add a rape exception to Texas’ extremely strict forced birth laws. … Continue reading →

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The limitations of Plan B

Posted on September 27, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

A helpful and timely explainer from the Associated Press. WHAT ARE EMERGENCY CONTRACEPTIVES? Emergency contraceptives are used to prevent pregnancy after unprotected sex or if a method of birth control fails. Two types of medications, sometimes referred to as “morning … Continue reading →

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Plan B

Posted on September 7, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

I have three things to say about this. On Friday, Gov. Greg Abbott told The Dallas Morning News that rape victims can take emergency contraception, like Plan B, to prevent a pregnancy. With abortion now banned in Texas, even in … Continue reading →

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People who live in crime-filled houses should not throw stones

Posted on September 1, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Local idiot megachurch pastor Ed Young recently said some typically ignorant and politically-charged things, which has people justifiably upset. Not the first time for him, either. I have better things to do than think about Ed Young, so let me … Continue reading →

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If your advocacy includes convincing children to carry their rapist’s baby to term, your advocacy is bad

Posted on August 18, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Towards the end of this overall infuriating story about “crisis pregnancy centers” in Texas, we come to a quote that stunned me so hard I had to step away from the computer for a few minutes. If they can get … Continue reading →

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Another story about the chaos that has been unleashed by banning abortion

Posted on July 27, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

There will be more to come for as long as this situation remains. A sexual assault survivor chooses sterilization so that if she is ever attacked again, she won’t be forced to give birth to a rapist’s baby. An obstetrician … Continue reading →

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How will abortion bans be enforced?

Posted on May 19, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

The good news is that anti-abortion zealots don’t yet know how they’re going to force women to give birth. The bad news is we cannot count on that to continue to be true. It took next to zero effort for … Continue reading →

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Settlement in Larry Nassar abuse case

Posted on December 16, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

Good. The legal wrangling between USA Gymnastics and the hundreds of victims of sexual abuse by former national team doctor Larry Nassar, among others, is over after a $380 million settlement was reached. The fight for substantive change within the … Continue reading →

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How the NFL handles domestic violence and sexual assault charges

Posted on June 9, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

With great inconsistency, is the short answer. Anyone interested in what may happen with Deshaun Watson should read this. Ray McDonald was playing for the San Francisco 49ers in August 2014 when he was arrested for allegedly assaulting his pregnant … Continue reading →

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“How Baylor Happened”

Posted on February 17, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

From Deadspin: There’s not much to recommend spending four years in Waco. Driving into town up Interstate 35 from the south, the endless stretch of Texas nothing fills out slowly. It’s flat in the way you think Texas is flat. … Continue reading →

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The Southern Baptist Convention’s sexual abuse problems

Posted on February 12, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Some excellent longform reporting from the Chron, with more to come. Thirty-five years later, Debbie Vasquez’s voice trembled as she described her trauma to a group of Southern Baptist leaders. She was 14, she said, when she was first molested … Continue reading →

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“Credible” abuse claims against clergy

Posted on February 3, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

I’m just going to leave this here. Every Roman Catholic Diocese in Texas released a list Thursday of “credible abuse” claims against clergy going back decades, a move that comes as dioceses across the nation have released or prepared to … Continue reading →

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SJL accused of retaliation against staffer

Posted on January 25, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Not good. Houston Democrat Sheila Jackson Lee, under fire from a former aide’s lawsuit alleging she was fired in connection with a sexual assault complaint, said Wednesday that she will step down temporarily as chairwoman of a key House Judiciary … Continue reading →

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The Karolyis and Larry Nasser

Posted on December 13, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

Ouch. A report commissioned by the U.S. Olympic Committee into the USA Gymnastics sexual abuse scandal was strongly critical of the culture created by longtime coaches Bela and Martha Karolyi, saying that the atmosphere at the couple’s Walker County ranch … Continue reading →

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USOC moves to decertify USA Gymnastics

Posted on November 11, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

About time. On Monday night, the U.S. Olympic Committee made a long-overdue announcement: It is taking steps towards decertifying USA Gymnastics by revoking its recognition as one of the USOC’s National Governing Bodies (NGBs). Now, what’s to come is not … Continue reading →

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Another Lopez brother gets banned from taekwondo

Posted on September 16, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

Steven Lopez this time. Two-time Olympic taekwondo gold medalist Steven Lopez has been banned permanently from competition by the U.S. Center for SafeSport, based on the results of the agency’s investigation into Lopez’s sexual relationship with an underage female in … Continue reading →

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Taekwondo coach Jean Lopez un-banned

Posted on August 25, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

Hard to understand this. The U.S. Center for SafeSport has lifted a permanent ban imposed earlier this year on Sugar Land taekwondo coach Jean Lopez, clearing the way for Lopez to resume coaching while he and his brother, two-time Olympic … Continue reading →

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Rape kit backlog lawsuit dismissed

Posted on August 4, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

Interesting. A federal judge has dismissed a 2017 lawsuit two rape victims filed against Houston’s current mayor and police chief and five sets of predecessors, among others, for allowing a backlog of rape kits to accumulate over decades without being … Continue reading →

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Larry Nasser indicted in Walker County

Posted on July 1, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

It’s something, but it’s not enough. A Walker County grand jury Friday indicted two former USA Gymnastics officials, disgraced physician Larry Nassar and athletic trainer Debra Van Horn, in conjunction with Nassar’s sexual abuse of gymnasts at the Karolyi Ranch … Continue reading →

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In which we try again to eliminate a rape kit backlog

Posted on June 21, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

How exactly did we get here? The city’s independent crime lab on Tuesday announced an ambitious plan to clear a backlog of hundreds of rape kits and other DNA evidence, the latest effort to rein in a recurring problem that … Continue reading →

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Add taekwondo to the list of problematic sports

Posted on May 20, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

Also a sport with local ties. Last week, four female USA Taekwondo (USAT) athletes filed a joint lawsuit against the USOC and USAT, alleging that the two organizations engaged in sex trafficking by forcing its athletes — including minor females … Continue reading →

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Will the AG get involved in the Karolyi case?

Posted on May 13, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

The gymnasts who were victimized by Larry Nasser at the Karolyi Ranch would like to see a higher level of action. The Texas Attorney General’s Office should take the steps of the Michigan attorney general in aggressively pursuing charges against … Continue reading →

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More accusers against Paul Pressler

Posted on April 17, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

So often the case when there is one accusation of abuse against a powerful person, more victims come forward with their own stories. The list of men accusing a former Texas state judge and leading figure of the Southern Baptist … Continue reading →

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