RSSBritish News Papers Apologize to Kate and Gerry McCann, Parents of Missing Madeleine McCann
British news papers apologize to Kate and Gerry McCann, the parents of missing Madeleine McCann who were blamed for their daughters disappearance while on vacation in Praia da Luz, Portugal. The Daily Express was obliged to print a front-page apology after publishing scores of defamatory headlines about the parents of Madeleine McCann.
LONDON – The parents of missing Madeleine McCann on Wednesday accepted an apology and more than $1 million in damages over tabloid newspaper stories suggesting they had caused their daughter’s death.
Madeleine vanished May 3 — a few days before her 4th birthday —from a hotel room during a family vacation in Praia da Luz in Portugal’s Algarve region.
Kate and Gerry McCann said Wednesday that Express Newspapers had agreed to pay the equivalent of $1.1 million. The couple’s lawyer said the money would go into a fund they have set up to help find their daughter.
Two of the group’s newspapers ran front-page apologies Wednesday for suggesting the couple were responsible for Madeleine’s death. “Kate and Gerry McCann: Sorry” read identical headlines on the front pages of The Daily Express and The Daily Star newspapers. (Yahoo News)
McCanns accept £550,000 damages
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43 Responses to “British News Papers Apologize to Kate and Gerry McCann, Parents of Missing Madeleine McCann”
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Apologize to a grieving family for false and insulting insinuations?
HEAR THAT, ARUBA?
they slandered that families name all over the place.. too busy pointing a finger at them. time that could of been spent looking for the person that took that precious child..
Richard
I have a question for you.
you seem very perceptive
do you think maddie is alive?
The sadest thing to me is that these (in the least) irresponsibe and neglectful parents have profited to wildly from their daughters disapearance. The only tears I have seen them shed have to do with themselves…it is disgusting! Julie
julie
you think maddie is still alive?
misskatie (#2) … Who can say? There have been reported sightings of her hither, thither, and yon. (As there have of Amy Bradley, by the way.)
Let us not forget Elizabeth Smart … and even more, Shawn Hornbeck, the Missouri boy who was kidnapped, remained missing for FIVE YEARS … and then, when his demented captor kidnapped another teenage boy, briefly cooperated before undergoing a change of mind.
I understand that the Hornbeck family doesn’t want their son’s ordeal to be kept in the public eye. But psychologists would stand to have a lot to gain by being able to study the course of events. So would law-enforcement people.
So this leads to the question … what about Natalee? For quite some time, I thought that the strong evidence that Amy Bradley remains alive at least gave good cause to think that Natalee, too, was abducted.
I no longer think so. But I can’t say that it is impossible. Let’s hope we find out.
And if you have the stomach to do so, read about Johnny Gosch.
Richard
who is johny Gosch. did he write a book?
I kinda had the hopes that natalee could of been one of those cases like hornbeck and smart.. but its probably not realistic to think that considering all of jorans and the kalpoes comments….maddie is such a beautiful child.. possibly she is still alive.. and safe.. not with perverts that would exploit her.I have a strong stomach.. I watch alot of crime Tv… forensic files etc etc
It’s so depressing to think of all these missing children and what kind of lives they are they living…and the grief the parents have to endure…so, so sad!!!
brie
if maddie is still alive.. I am sure she looks different. sullen sad.. crying for her parents.. sad sad
the way the media closed in on these parents reminded me some what of the ramsey case.
maddie’s parents obviously did something very stupid. they’ll pay for it the rest of their lives. only compounded by the crucifiction they received in the british ragloids.
YES i AGREE THEY DID A WRONG THING.. AND THEY WILL SADLY PAY FOR IT FOR THE REST OF THEIR LIVES.. THEY WILL BE HAUNTED.. SHE IS ADORABLE.. SOMEONE HAS HER. PERHAPS THEY COULDNT HAVE KIDS.. I HOPE ITS NOT A PERVERT IF SHE IS ALIVE.. GOD HELP THE CHILDREN..
She looks like a little sweetie….I think she is still alive but obviously missing her parents and may never see them again…You know her parents regret every living moment…someone kept a close watch and knew every minute what the family was doing…
A mistake they will regret for the rest of their lives….that’s going to be a tough one to deal with…! You can never take a chance….!!!!
what a precious child.. her parents are suffering no doubt.. a nightmare they will forever live with.
Is prison so great….. that we participate in allowing these criminals to exist…off with it !!!
joran reminds me of drew peterson they posess the same arrogance…
MissKatie (#7) … You ask who Johnny Gosch is.
Do an Internet search for The Johnny Gosch Foundation and you will learn more than you care to … I think I can say that with confidence.
You can also check Wikipedia.
His mother, who I interviewed last summer, said that her son Johnny was kidnapped in 1984, I believe at the age of 12, in Des Moines, Iowa, while he was delivering newspapers on his route.
He had a red wagon that he used for the Sunday papers, as they were too heavy to carry.
(At age 12, I too had a newspaper route … and had a red wagon that I used to pull the heavy Sunday papers with. So you can imagine how I felt when I heard this.)
His mother said that he was kidnapped “to order” by a gang who had arrived at a motel in Des Moines the night before, and only then were shown the photo of their target.
Essentially, her story went, the gang kidnapped boys of that age “to order.” They sent scouts out around the country to photograph likely boys, would send those photos back to the coordinator to be assembled in a book (this was before the Internet), the book would be sent to wealthy pederests, those interested in a particular boy would indicate their choice (and hand over God knows how much money), and then the gang would go into action.
Does this sound too horrible for belief? It did to me. However, Johnny’s mother told me that three days after he disappeared, a neighbor called her and told her that she had seen a strange man with California license plates taking photos of Johnny, with a long-range camera.
I won’t go into more details. Suffice it to say that one of the gang members later turned against the gang and testified in federal court. According to Mrs. Gosch, that person’s testimony was found to be plausible, and came from a sane mind.
She says that her son Johnny later escaped from the gang, visited her once, and apparently now remains in hiding.
She also contends that this gang of pedophiles includes people high in society, business, and the government.
There’s a lot more that I simply don’t care to go into, as it might violate confidences.
It’s hard to imagine anything so depraved. On the other hand … we’ve seen that the former governor of New York state, a powerful man, was willing to pay $5500 to disport himself for an hour with a “lady of the night.” This was a linkage with someone who obviously was a willing participant.
Imagine the money that one would have to pay to get hold of an abducted child. Now think … are there people depraved enough to take part in this sort of thing?
Take a look at our society today and make your own mind up.
Incidentally, according to Mrs. Gosch, one of the participants in the ring that seized Johnny was a former sex victim himself.
Incidentally, Miss Katie … within the last year, I believe, two federal prosecutors have been arrested for child abuse and having child porn. This is from memory, which is fallible.
One of them did us all a favor and committed suicide. The other is awaiting trial, I believe.
My fault … the year that Johnny was kidnapped was 1982, not 1984.
Madeleine’s looks may have changed significantly, but she has one feature that will not change and is very identifiable. Her eye. You have all seen the elongated pupil in her eye. Keep your own eyes open for her as you travel through this life. This may be the key to someday finding Madeleine.
In all of these countries like Portugal and Aruba the local police do not care if the tourist leave alive or not. When they can’t or don’t want to catch the real kidnapper or murder they attack the character of the victim,or next of kin. Since attacking the character of a three year old is hard to do they went after her parents. The police are just as guilty in this case as the newspapers.
I agree with Julie. The McCann’s are low-life pigs who deserve to be in prison. They are selfish irresponsibe and neglectful parents that have indeed profited to wildly from their daughters disapearance. They are self-centered scum and are disgusting and disgracful!
This item came out today:
Friday, March 21, 2008
Federal probe breaks up two child prostitution sex rings
U.S. attorney says five people have been arrested for posting ads on social networking sites.
Robert Snell and Mark Hicks / The Detroit News
DETROIT — Federal investigators have cracked two Detroit-based sex rings that advertised child prostitutes on the Internet and have charged five people, U.S. Attorney Stephen J. Murphy announced Thursday.
Two separate but related prostitution rings were headed by Robert C. Daniels, aka “Motor City Mink,” 28, of Detroit and Dennis Paige, aka “Detroit Slim,” of Novi. An FBI investigation accused them and three prostitutes of posting more than 2,800 advertisements on social networking Web sites such as Craigslist and MySpace since Jan. 10, 2006.
The rings solicited prostitutes in Houston; Chicago; Detroit; Milwaukee, Wis.; Cleveland; Washington, D.C.; New York City; and College Park, Md.
One prostitute, Stephanie Head, 22, of Detroit, worked as Daniels’ highest-ranking prostitute and was accused of soliciting and training minors to engage in prostitution, photographing them in sexually explicit conduct and posting the images on the Internet, according to Murphy. Two other women, Sarah Dutton and Hortense Canty of Novi, performed similar duties for Paige’s sex network, Murphy said.
“The United States Attorney’s Office is committed to making defendants answer for crimes that exploit and abuse young women,” Murphy said in a statement. “The offenses charged in today’s complaints are not victimless crimes and we will work tirelessly to ensure that those who use the Internet to facilitate the sexual exploitation of children will be brought to justice.”
The FBI identified nine minors and more than 80 adults who have been advertised as prostitutes. Head and Daniels rented rooms for the purpose of prostitution at a Red Roof Inn and Motel 6 in Southfield, said a news release.
Southfield City Councilman Myron Frasier said the suburbs are “not immune” to crime, but such incidents are not typical.
Craigslist CEO Jim Buckmaster said the site maintains various measures to minimize misuse.
Illegal activity is banned in its terms of use, and violators can face account suspension and other penalties, he said.
“Misuse in connection with illegal activity of any kind is absolutely unacceptable to us,” Buckmaster said. “That’s something we’re working continuously to eliminate.”
Buckmaster said he was unsure if listings by those allegedly involved in the Detroit rings had been removed Thursday, but “illegal postings brought to our attention are promptly removed.”
Head and Daniels are charged with conspiracy, sex trafficking of children, interstate transportation in aid of racketeering, sexual exploitation of children and transportation for the purposes of prostitution.
Paige, Dutton and Canty face charges of sex trafficking of children, transporting a minor for purposes of prostitution and transportation for purposes of prostitution.
All five were temporarily detained Thursday and face detention hearings Friday.
Richard
thank you. it seems like I remember that story. about him going to see his mother and left again. I thank you for the info.. I certainly will follow up.
we have sick sick predators that exploit children.. It sickens my stomach…
I am listening on headline news.. a big ring of child pornography busted.. they had tutorials on how to molest children from the age of 18 mos to 6yrs or more
one of tbe men arrested said he favored watching videos of ten year olds. sick sick sick…….. omg these are babies.. young innocence whats so sick is that.. some of these fools have children and nieces nephews.. omg I wanna puke….
There are some elements in the Johnny Gosch saga, or rather ordeal, as related by his mother (Noreen Gosch), that I find difficult to believe.
But is it so inconceivable that organized gangs exist that will serve wealthy pedophiles? Look at how big sex trafficking is around the world.
Here’s a story from our not-so-long-ago past … would YOU not have faith in a place run by the Kiwanis Club?
The Seattle Times Company
Thursday, December 21, 2000
Last big lawsuit settled in O.K. Boys Ranch
The state of Washington has settled the last major lawsuit involving sexual abuse at the O.K. Boys Ranch in Olympia, effectively closing the books on one of the most expensive legal cases in state history.
After one day of mediation, the state agreed Tuesday night to pay $7.5 million to 13 former residents who claimed they were sexually and physically abused at the group home for troubled boys.
When the check is mailed, the state will have paid out a total of $22.3 million to 51 men who said they were mistreated while living at the state-licensed facility as young boys.
That price tag is the largest ever agreed to by the state.
Earlier this year, the state was ordered to pay nearly $19 million to three developmentally disabled men who said they were molested in a state-licensed facility in Kitsap County.
And in July, the state agreed to pay $8.8 million to Linda David, the Everett woman who was allegedly held captive and beaten by her husband while living on a boat for 10 years.
The reports of physical and sexual abuse involving children at O.K. Boys Ranch spanned THREE DECADES (my emphasis – Richard), from the late 1970s until it was shut down in 1994.
The group home, founded by the Kiwanis Club of Olympia, was monitored and licensed by the state Department of Social and Health Services.
-
State officials said yesterday that the payout does not mean DSHS acknowledges any wrongdoing. But the Seattle attorney who represented the former residents believes it says quite the opposite.
“For about a quarter century, that place was harming children,” said Jack Connelly, who also handled three previous Boys Ranch lawsuits. “And when it came to the state’s attention, the state didn’t do anything about it.”
The lawsuits alleged that young boys were sexually abused and subjected to mean-spirited, even sadistic forms of punishment by employees and by older boys who lived with them.
It was a place, the lawsuits said, where the youngest would lie awake at night, expecting to be raped by their housemates.
There were initiation fights, drug and alcohol use, and bizarre disciplinary rituals. One was to make a boy pick twigs off the road while a car drove behind him, bumping up against him if he walked too slowly.
Not only was the abuse routine, the former residents claimed, it was reported to criminal investigators and state authorities. Attorney General Christine Gregoire, who investigated the situation after the ranch was closed to determine who was responsible, called it “a jungle of pervasive and physical violence and sexual abuse.”
A 1989 audit by DSHS outlined evidence of physical assaults and concerns about sexual abuse.
O.K. Boys Ranch staff members promised to fix the problems. But it took five more years before the state shut it down in 1994.
The first lawsuit was filed in 1993 and settled a year later. DSHS then began to make changes in the way it licenses and monitors group homes across the state.
The people who were supposed to be checking on group homes, for example, were no longer also in charge of granting them operating licenses. The requirements for reporting incidents were strengthened.
And DSHS was given more leeway to revoke and deny licenses based on health and safety violations.
Before those changes, “there were some difficulties in taking actions,” said DSHS spokesman Gordon Schultz.
“The bigger good (that) will come out of the O.K. Boys Ranch case is that we have changed group-home care in the state of Washington,” Connelly said. “Hopefully, this kind of thing will never repeat itself.”
The $7.5 million settlement between the state and the 13 plaintiffs was reached in mediation with a retired King County Superior Court judge.
Betty Reed, the state’s risk-management administrator, said the money will be paid in about a month from a state self-insurance program.
The Kiwanis Club also agreed Monday to have its insurance companies pay $4.2 million to settle the lawsuit. “People should keep in mind that members of the Kiwanis Club who founded this home (in 1971) were people who were trying to do something positive for their community,” Paul Cane, the Kiwanis’ attorney, said Thursday.
“The worst thing you could say about my client is that they trusted people too much. If mistakes were made, they were made by people the Kiwanis trusted.”
The Kiwanis Club itself was not accused of abuse, Cane said, and knew nothing about the allegations until June 1992. The group home was run by a separate corporation, and a handful of Kiwanis members sat on the O.K. Boys Ranch board of directors.
Cane said he hopes the negative publicity that has swirled around the Boys Ranch does not deter other non-profit volunteers from trying to help others. He said he worries that “people who are out there trying to do positive things for the community might be less likely to do so after seeing what happened to the Kiwanis Club of Olympia.”
Connelly said a total of about $50 million is being paid out by the state, the Kiwanis Club and insurers who have been named in various lawsuits involving the ranch.
The group home has been remodeled and reopened as Touchstone, a 16-bed group home for boys referred there by the courts. It is run by Second Chance, a non-profit agency, and licensed by DSHS.
Many of the individuals involved with the O.K. Boys Ranch when the problems there became known are gone now. Former employees and the then-secretary of DSHS have moved on.
But the boys who once lived in fear at O.K. Boys Ranch are still suffering, Connelly said.
Now in their late teens to early 30s, some have served time in jail and prison.
Connelly says much of the settlement money will go toward helping the former residents with therapy and job training.
“What we try to do is get them into counseling or into school. But the damage from this place makes it very difficult to do that … ,” he said.
“It takes until they’re about 26 or 32 before they start understanding it wasn’t their fault.”
Another case involving some (to put it mildly) aberrational behavior. I warn you, THIS IS NOT PLEASANT READING (unless you are mentally ill):
http://www.cnn.com/2005/LAW/05/22/louisiana.church/index.html
Police: Church sex abuse case may involve 24 children
Louisiana pastor arrested and charged with child rape
Monday, May 23, 2005
(CNN) — Police have arrested the pastor of a defunct church in Ponchatoula, Louisiana, his wife and six former congregants in a sexual abuse case involving as many as 24 children, authorities said.
Authorities said they have interviewed five possible victims in the case. Victims may range in age from toddlers to teens, authorities said.
CNN does not identify children involved in sex abuse cases and has chosen not to identify adult defendants because they may share family names with the alleged victims.
Investigators believe the abuse took place between 1999 and 2002 and involved a “select few” congregants of the now-defunct Hosanna Church, Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff’s spokeswoman Laura Covington said.
On Saturday, law enforcement authorities issued an arrest warrant for a ninth person in the case, said sheriff’s deputies in Tangipahoa Parish, where the church was located.
The church’s former pastor told deputies Tuesday in nearby Livingston Parish — where the pastor lives — that adults were sexually abusing children, parish sheriff’s Detective Stan Carpenter said.
The former pastor told deputies he had been having sex with children for many years and “also educated the children as to how to perform sexual acts with each other and with animals,” Carpenter said.
Carpenter said the pastor unwittingly implicated himself while talking to investigators. He was arrested and charged with two counts of aggravated rape of a child under age 13 and one count of crimes against humanity for alleged sexual acts involving animals, the detective said.
Among those the pastor allegedly implicated were his 45-year-old wife — also charged with aggravated rape of a juvenile under age 13, Carpenter said.
Law enforcement authorities conducting the investigation include sheriff’s deputies from Tangipahoa Parish, Livingston Parish, officers of the Ponchatoula Police Department and the FBI.
On Friday, a police search of two homes resulted in confiscation of three vehicles, computers and other items that authorities said may be connected to the case. The FBI took custody of the vehicles. Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff Daniel Edwards said some of the crimes are believed to have been committed in the vehicles.
All but one of the defendants in the case are jailed without bond. They are charged with aggravated rape of a child under 13 — a charge which, if convicted, can carry a death sentence in Louisiana, authorities said.
Also in police custody — in addition to the pastor and his wife — are a sheriff’s deputy and a woman who tipped off investigators by telephoning them from Ohio, authorities said.
About six weeks before the pastor spoke with Livingston Parish sheriff’s deputies, a former church member phoned the Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff and tipped off deputies, sheriff’s spokesperson Covington said. The 36-year-old woman was taken into custody in Ohio on a Louisiana warrant charging her with aggravated rape of a child under age 13, Covington said.
And in the island of Jersey, off the southern UK, an investigation is proceeding into an organized ring of child abuse at a children’s home that may stretch back for decades, and may involve murders.
But you get my point … whatever is possible, there certainly are sick and horrific things going on.
Incidentally, MissKatie, according to Mrs. Gosch, there is significance in the presence of what she terms the organized pedophile kidnap ring in the Omaha, Nebraska, area. (She says that her son Johnny, along with other boys, was brought to a farmhouse, or ‘safe house’ for the group, and held there for some weeks after his abduction.)
Omaha is where Father Flanagan’s Boys Town is located. And she said that a member of a group that styles itself the North American Man-Boy Love Association, or NAMBLA, at the time had gotten a member on the board of that organization.
Remember, the kids there are mostly on their own, lacking family to look after them.
Do you think that such places would draw pedophiles? I think it very possible. But the whole saga of Johnny Gosch is much more complex than this … enough for now.
Well, sorry, I have to say one thing more, though I’ll be too upset to get to sleep tonight.
Some 20 years ago, or more, I read a story in The New York Times about NAMBLA. Guess what the head of this organization was doing for work?
You got it … teaching in a junior high school.
New York state, I believe.
Doesn’t that fill you with confidence in the determination of society to protect your kids?
RICHARD
I WAS LIVING IN WA STATE ONE COUNTY OVER WHERE ALL THAT HAPPENED WITH THE BOYS RANCH. i CECALL CLEARLY THE EVENTS.. DSHS HAD A BAD REPUTATION THAN AND PROBABLY STILL DOES
ALSO RICHARD.. IN THE CASE OF THE BOY THAT CAME HOME TO VISIT HIS MOTHER THAN DISAPPEARED.. WHY WHY DIDNT HIS MOTHER HOG TIE HIM DO SOMETHING..HIT HIM OVER THE HEAD WITH A FRYING PAN SO THAT SHE COULD GET THE POLICE THERE..
RICHARD I MEANT TO SAY I RECALL
MissKatie, there are lots, lots, and lots more questions in the Johnny Gosch case. I don’t want to go into them here because I don’t know if anyone is interested … but there’s a lot of stuff that seems suspicious, even if you find some of the more bizarre elements hard to accept.
(An investigator hired by Nebraska flew up to Chicago, called back to his office, allegedly said “Now I know what happened to Johnny Gosch.”
The plane went down in an Illinois farmer’s field. It is said that a number of FBI agents, or people who identified themselves as such, showed up and confiscated photos and other information that was strewn all over the field.
One person reported seeing a big flash just before the plane went down, as though a bomb was set off. As far as I know, it never was determined what happened to the plane.)
I won’t go on about it here, because it’s not the main topic of this thread or forum, but can send you some interesting info if you want.
His mother believes that the police were part of the cover-up.
Incidentally, following up on my post #29, I looked up NAMBLA on Wikipedia. Here’s the relevant summary on the junior high school teacher; the case was in 1993. It says that while this teacher of junior high school science was editor of this group’s publication, it printed instructions on ways to seduce young boys and avoid letting law enforcement know about it.
The scum is lucky that I didn’t have a child in that school.
Peter Melzer served as a NAMBLA treasurer, Steering Committee Member, fundraiser, spokesman, and Bulletin editor. In his private life he was a tenured physics teacher at the elite Bronx High School of Science, where he had taught for over three decades. The school district knew of his membership in NAMBLA in 1985 but did not act as mere membership was not an adequate cause for discipline. In 1993 a local TV news expose revealed that he was a NAMBLA member. As a result the New York City Department of Education commissioned a report. The report states that Melzer had personally expressed a sexual interest in boys up to age 16, and that he had written about having acted on those desires. The report also asserts that, while he was editor, the NAMBLA Bulletin printed instructions for seducing young boys and avoiding law enforcement along with sensual accounts of sexual encounters between adults and minors. Further, the investigators claim not to find any significant attempts by NAMBLA to advocate for changing the age of consent laws, and claim that the self-definition of advocacy group is a misleading attempt by NAMBLA to cover itself with a political purpose. Melzer was removed as a school teacher, but no criminal charges were filed in connection with the matter. The case went as far as the federal appeals court, which affirmed the dismissal of Melzer in 2003.
richard
please do send it to me. I have always been interested in this case.. with its many twists and turns..
MissKatie … send you what? Feel free to ask moderator Klaasen to forward an e-mail to me.
richard you said you had info you could foward if I was interested;; below read…
MissKatie, there are lots, lots, and lots more questions in the Johnny Gosch case. I don’t want to go into them here because I don’t know if anyone is interested … but there’s a lot of stuff that seems suspicious, even if you find some of the more bizarre elements hard to accept.
(An investigator hired by Nebraska flew up to Chicago, called back to his office, allegedly said “Now I know what happened to Johnny Gosch.”
The plane went down in an Illinois farmer’s field. It is said that a number of FBI agents, or people who identified themselves as such, showed up and confiscated photos and other information that was strewn all over the field.
One person reported seeing a big flash just before the plane went down, as though a bomb was set off. As far as I know, it never was determined what happened to the plane.)
I won’t go on about it here, because it’s not the main topic of this thread or forum, but can send you some interesting info if you want.
you can email me .. I will tell klaasend its ok . I dont know how they do it here. since I am fairly new at this blog..
how do you email?
(klaasend)
_____________________
SM: I sent Richard your email address
thanks klaasend..
RICHARD
I CANT HELP BUT WONDER ABOUT MADDIE
IF SHE MET THE SAME FATE AS JOHNY GOSCH
God only knows. There have been reported sightings of her in several countries.
my opinion richard is.. that she is alive.. I think her beauty is what caught the eyes of someone.. and from there .. they strategized and watched and waited for the opportunity.. a beautiful girl.. those eyes…