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    A $4 Billion Sex Abuse Settlement in L.A., After Childhoods of ‘Pure Hell’

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    MaryAlice Ashbrook remembers the rain on the night the Los Angeles police retrieved her, the 8-year-old child of a pill-addicted mother, and took her to the MacLaren Children’s Center, the county-run foster home where she was preyed upon. Shirley Bodkin remembers the smell of the staff member there who would put her on his lap and make her hold a Raggedy Ann doll while he hurt her. J.C. Wright remembers the social workers who accused him, at age 7, of “fabricating” when he tried telling them what a doctor there had done to him. Those memories are decades old. Ms. Ashbrook is 65 now, a retired bookkeeper in Yuma, Ariz. Ms. Bodkin is 58, the mother of two grown sons in the Southern California beach town of Dana Point. Mr. Wright is 42, a truck driver and father of four in suburban Los Angeles.Whole chapters of their lives have gone by — marriages, children, careers — yet the memories have never ceased to torment them. Ms. Ashbrook tried electroshock therapy. Ms. Bodkin attempted suicide. Mr. Wright lived on the streets for years, ending up in prison. There was no escaping the nightmares, they said in interviews on Sunday. So they turned to the courts for some measure of relief.Last week, it arrived, for them and nearly 7,000 other plaintiffs who say they were sexually abused as children in Los Angeles County’s juvenile detention and foster care systems, in cases dating to the late 1950s. In a settlement that lawyers say is the largest of its kind in the nation, the county publicly apologized and agreed to pay a record $4 billion, dwarfing previous settlements in child sex abuse cases brought against the Boy Scouts of America and the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. The wave of claims — so immense that officials had warned before the deal that Los Angeles County, the nation’s most populous, could be bankrupted by it — came after California gave childhood victims a new window to sue, even though the statute of limitations had expired. The county’s Board of Supervisors is expected to formally approve the payout on April 29.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Russell Brand Is Charged With Rape and Sexual Assault in U.K.

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      British prosecutors said that they had charged the comedian and actor with offenses between 1999 and 2005, involving four women.Prosecutors in Britain have charged Russell Brand, the comedian and actor, with multiple counts of sexual assault, including two counts of rape.The country’s Crown Prosecution Service announced the charges on Friday.Jaswant Narwal, a prosecutor, said in the statement that Mr. Brand, 50, would appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court in London for a first hearing on May 2.Ms. Narwal added that the charges “relate to reported non-recent offenses between 1999 and 2005, involving four women.”The British police began investigating Mr. Brand’s past behavior in September 2023, after The Sunday Times, The Times of London and the TV network Channel 4 published a joint investigation into allegations against him.Representatives for Mr. Brand did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday, but he has repeatedly denied ever having committed sexual assault.After the 2023 news investigation was published, Mr. Brand released a video on social media in which he said the British media was subjecting him to “a litany of extremely egregious and aggressive attacks.” Mr. Brand said that he had once been sexually promiscuous but that his sexual encounters were “always consensual.”The Metropolitan Police in London outlined further details of the charges in a news release on Friday. Mr. Brand is accused of raping a woman in the Bournemouth area, in southern England, in 1999; of indecently assaulting a woman in London in 2001; of orally raping and sexually assaulting a woman in London in 2004; and, between 2004 and 2005, of sexually assaulting a fourth woman in London.The police statement added: “The Met’s investigation remains open and detectives ask anyone who has been affected by this case, or anyone who has any information, to come forward and speak with police.”Under British law, it is an offense for news outlets to identify people who make sexual assault allegations unless they choose to waive their right to anonymity.Mr. Brand became a star in Britain in the 2000s thanks to acclaimed stand-up shows that often focused on drugs and sex, and that saw him selling out arena dates. He also became known as a TV and radio host for broadcasters including MTV and the BBC. He achieved fame in the United States after starring in movies such as “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” and “Get Him to the Greek,” and through a brief marriage to the singer Katy Perry.More recently, Mr. Brand has become well known as a politically charged YouTuber. Over six million users subscribe to his channel where he posts videos that regularly include discussion of conspiracy theories and feature conservative figures like Tucker Carlson.On Thursday, Mr. Brand posted a clip about Donald Trump and the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.In Britain, strict rules prevent the reporting of anything that could prejudice a jury at trial after charges have been filed. More

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      Gérard Depardieu Appears in Court Over Sexual Assault Allegations

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      The French actor faces charges in a case involving two women working on the set of a movie in which he starred.The French actor Gérard Depardieu on Monday appeared before a Paris court where he faces two charges of sexually assaulting two women working on the set of a film in which he was starring.The trial will be the first time Mr. Depardieu has been forced to answer in court to accusations of groping, sexual assault and harassment, and rape that have piled up against him for years, and which he has denied.The charges in this trial came after two women on the set of “Les Volets Verts,” a movie by the French director Jean Becker that was released in 2022, filed police complaints that he had groped their genitals, buttocks and breasts. If found guilty, Mr. Depardieu faces up to five years in prison and a fine of 75,000 euros, or about $81,000.Mr. Depardieu has denied all accusations in the case being brought to trial Monday. His lawyer, Jérémie Assous, called them “totally false and unrealistic.”The trial was scheduled for last October, but was postponed after Mr. Depardieu did not appear for health reasons. Mr. Assous presented medical assessments that showed Mr. Depardieu suffered from long-term diabetes and heart problems after undergoing a quadruple bypass, and that anxiety from the trial had worsened his conditions.For many, the case represents a breakthrough for the #MeToo movement in France, which was stalled for years, particularly in the film industry.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      What Is Tren de Aragua?

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      A gang with roots in a Venezuelan prison, the criminal group was at the center of President Trump’s order invoking the Alien Enemies Act of 1798.President Trump’s executive order on Saturday invoking the Alien Enemies Act targeted Venezuelan citizens 14 years and older with ties to the transnational gang Tren de Aragua, saying they “are liable to be apprehended, restrained, secured, and removed as Alien Enemies.”Mr. Trump’s order was quickly challenged in court, but the gang has been a growing source of concern for U.S. officials over the last year. The Biden administration labeled Tren de Aragua a transnational criminal organization in 2024, the New York Police Department has highlighted its activity on the East Coast, and the Trump White House began the process of designating it a foreign terrorist organization in January.Here is what we know about the gang:A rising force out of VenezuelaTren de Aragua (Train of Aragua, or Aragua Train) has roots in Tocorón prison in Venezuela’s northern Aragua state, which the group’s leaders had transformed into a mini-city with a pool, restaurants and a zoo. They reportedly recorded executions and torture there to maintain control over other prisoners.As Venezuela’s economy collapsed and its government under President Nicolás Maduro became more repressive, the group began exploiting vulnerable migrants. Tren de Aragua’s influence soon stretched into other parts of Latin America, and it developed into one of the region’s most violent and notorious criminal organizations, focusing on sex trafficking, human smuggling and drugs.Colombian officials in 2022 accused the gang of at least 23 murders after the police began to find body parts in bags. Alleged members have also been apprehended in Chile and in Brazil, where the gang aligned itself with Primeiro Comando da Capital, one of that country’s biggest organized crime rings.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Former Texas Megachurch Pastor Is Indicted on Child Sex Abuse Charges

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      Robert Morris, the former senior pastor of the Dallas-based Gateway Church, abused a girl over several years in the 1980s, the Oklahoma Attorney General’s Office said.Robert Morris, the founder of a Texas megachurch and a former faith adviser to the Trump White House, was indicted Wednesday on charges that he molested a girl over several years in the 1980s, the Oklahoma Attorney General’s Office said.Last summer, days after Cindy Clemishire publicly accused Mr. Morris, 63, of having abused her when she was a girl, Mr. Morris resigned as the senior pastor of the Dallas-based Gateway Church.On Wednesday, a grand jury indicted Mr. Morris on five felony counts of lewd or indecent acts to a child after concluding that he had used his hands and body to touch the girl’s private parts from when she was 12 until she was 14, according to the indictment. The indictment refers to the girl only as C.C.Ms. Clemishire, 55, of Oklahoma, told The Dallas Morning News last year that the abuse had begun when her family invited Mr. Morris — then a young, traveling preacher — to stay at their home in Oklahoma on Christmas Day in 1982. It took her decades to realize that what had happened to her was abuse and a crime, Ms. Clemishire told the newspaper.In a statement on Wednesday, Ms. Clemishire said, “After almost 43 years, the law has finally caught up with Robert Morris for the horrific crimes he committed against me.” She added, “My family and I are deeply grateful to the authorities who have worked tirelessly to make this day possible and remain hopeful that justice will ultimately prevail.”Lawyers who had represented Mr. Morris did not immediately respond to phone calls and emails seeking comment.In a statement to The Christian Post last year after Ms. Clemishire made her allegations, Mr. Morris, who founded Gateway Church in 2000, confessed that he had engaged in “inappropriate sexual behavior with a young lady.” Gateway Church, one of the largest churches in the United States, claimed to have more than 100,000 attendees.In a statement on Wednesday night, Gateway Church said: “We are aware of the actions being taken by the legal authorities in Oklahoma and are grateful for the work of the justice system in holding abusers accountable for their actions. We continue to pray for Cindy Clemishire and her family, for the members and staff of Gateway Church, and for all of those impacted by this terrible situation.”Mr. Morris had served on a faith advisory council during President Trump’s first term. He hosted Mr. Trump at Gateway Church in June 2020. In 2024, a spokesman for Mr. Trump said that Mr. Morris had not played a role in his 2024 presidential campaign.Specifics about the criminal investigation into Ms. Clemishire’s claims were not immediately available. The charges that Mr. Morris faces each carry a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.Sheelagh McNeill More

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      More Women File Lawsuits Against Brothers Accused of Sex Crimes

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      Tal Alexander and his brothers, Oren Alexander and Alon Alexander, who are twins, now face at least 24 civil lawsuits, as they await trial on federal sex-trafficking charges.Seven lawsuits were filed this week against one or more of the Alexander brothers, who are facing multiple accusations of sexual assault in both civil and criminal court. The newest allegations against Tal Alexander and his brothers, Oren Alexander and Alon Alexander, who are twins, came this week in a flurry of last-minute claims all brought against the men as a legal window for decades-old allegations is closing. Two of the lawsuits were filed on Friday night to meet a midnight deadline.The Alexanders are collectively now facing at least 24 lawsuits, deepening the legal troubles for the brothers once known for their jet-setting lifestyles fueled by the work of Tal Alexander and Oren Alexander in the luxury residential real estate. In the latest batch of lawsuits, the net of allegations has widened to include their parents; Douglas Elliman, the real estate brokerage where Tal Alexander and Oren Alexander once worked; the Alexander family business; and the owner of an estate in the Hamptons who frequently hosted parties that the brothers attended.The claims add new twists to the maze of sexual assault allegations against the brothers who were arrested in December in Miami Beach on federal sex-trafficking charges. Currently jailed in New York, they are scheduled to go to trial early next year. All three have pleaded not guilty.Just a few years ago, the brothers were fixtures of a social circuit in Miami and Manhattan, making their nightlife adventures part of their brand. Tal Alexander and Oren Alexander were among the country’s most prominent real estate agents, while Alon Alexander, who ran the family business Kent Security Services and did not work in real estate, accompanied them on the circuit.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      ‘Epstein Files’ Release, Hyped by Pam Bondi, Falls Short of Expectations

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      The release of flight logs and Jeffrey Epstein’s contact list by the attorney general was met with criticism from those who had expected the documents to reveal new information.For days, Attorney General Pam Bondi had talked about releasing the “Epstein files,” supposedly secret documents the federal government has on some of the powerful men who were in the orbit of the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.But the roughly 200 pages of documents that Ms. Bondi released on Thursday contained little new information pointing to wrongdoing by anyone other than Mr. Epstein, a registered sex offender who died in jail. The document dump largely consisted of flight logs for Mr. Epstein’s planes — long ago made public — and contact information for hundreds of associates, along with brief descriptions of items found at his residences.The release was billed as a gesture ushering in a new era of transparency at the Justice Department. But the hyped first release of documents (which Ms. Bondi teased as “breaking news” in a Fox News appearance on Wednesday night) appeared to be mostly political theater. Its confusing daylong rollout even spun off a few new conspiracy theories among some Trump supporters, who view the Epstein investigation as a fountainhead for other conspiracies.On Thursday afternoon, Ms. Bondi and Kash Patel, the director of the F.B.I., offered a sneak preview of the documents to several conservative influencers, some of whom emerged from the West Wing waving chunky white binders with the label “The Epstein Files: Phase I.” One of them later called it an “interesting souvenir.”But by midafternoon, the Justice Department had not posted the contents. And Ms. Bondi was drawing criticism on social media from those who had taken her at her word the night before. The conservative personality Glenn Beck posted on X: “The Epstein files are a total joke,” and asked, “Who is subverting POTUS?”Ms. Bondi responded by promising more documents to come. Later, she said that a “source” in the F.B.I. field office in New York City had told her the bureau withheld “thousands” of previously unknown pages of Epstein-related documents and that she was determined to get them, according to a letter her spokesman provided to reporters.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Trial of Former Surgeon Accused of Abusing Nearly 300 Opens in France

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      A former surgeon is accused of raping or sexually assaulting 299 people, mostly children, over 25 years. It is considered to be France’s largest-ever pedophilia case.A former surgeon went on trial in western France on Monday on charges that he raped or sexually assaulted hundreds of people, most of them former pediatric patients, in what is widely considered the biggest pedophilia case in French history.The former surgeon, Joël Le Scouarnec, 74, is accused of raping or sexually assaulting 299 people over 25 years, from 1989 to 2014. Almost all of the victims are his former patients, and almost all of them were children at the time of the alleged abuse. The average age of the patients he is accused of sexually assaulting was 11.The trial opened in the coastal town of Vannes, in Brittany, where Mr. Le Scouarnec was led in by police officers at the start of proceedings.Wearing a black vest, with a bald head and a ring of white hair on the back and sides, he spoke in a clear, slightly hoarse voice as the court confirmed his name, date of birth, and other biographical information.“Your profession before you were incarcerated?” asked Aude Buresi, the presiding judge.“Surgeon,” Mr. Le Scouarnec answered calmly.He faces a maximum of 20 years in prison if convicted, because there are no consecutive sentences in France. He has denied some charges of rape but admitted to touching some patients’ genitals during medical examinations. The rape charges are mostly related to penetration with fingers, which reflects the definition of rape in France.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Alexander Brothers Face More Lawsuits Accusing Them of Sexual Assault

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      Tal Alexander and Oren Alexander, once top real estate brokers, and their brother Alon Alexander are currently in jail awaiting trial on federal sex-trafficking charges.Eleven more women have filed lawsuits against one or more of the Alexander brothers, the once high-flying trio who are facing multiple accusations of sexual assault in both civil and criminal court.Tal Alexander and his brothers, Oren Alexander and Alon Alexander, who are twins, are now facing at least 17 lawsuits from women who say they were sexually assaulted by one or more of them and, in some instances, drugged. The latest lawsuits, filed in a bundle in New York on Tuesday, include accusations of assault in Miami, Manhattan and even Moscow.The women’s claims are now part of a growing maze of sexual assault allegations against the brothers who were arrested in December in Miami Beach on federal sex-trafficking charges. Currently jailed in New York, they are scheduled to go to trial early next year.All three men have pleaded not guilty.Jenny Wilson and Richard Klugh, lawyers for Oren Alexander, said in an emailed statement that their client “has never raped anyone and he has never drugged anyone.”“These belated allegations should be seen for what they are — a last-ditch money grab barred by state law. Oren will establish his innocence of this concerted attack driven in every instance by financial objectives,” they said.Lawyers for Tal Alexander and Alon Alexander did not immediately respond to requests to comment on Tuesday’s legal filings.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More