Harry Nicoletti, 60, of Coraopolis, a corrections officer at the SCI-Pittsburgh facility, was arrested Tuesday morning on suspicion  of committing sexual assault on several inmates – over 20 in total.

He was taken into custody after a four-month investigation, according to the Allegheny County District Attorney’s Office.  The investigation reportedly included dozens of incidents at the prison on Pittsburgh’s North Side. According to the criminal complaint, Nicoletti worked on F Block, which is the reception unit where new inmates are taken to get linens and other supplies.  It is here that they are given their first temporary cell assignments, before they move to cells on the upper floors.  Nicoletti is accused of making repeated threats of violence and forcing himself sexually on male inmates in F Block.

District Attorney Stephen Zappala’s spokesman said “The arrest of Nicoletti does not indicate the end of this investigation and more arrests will be forthcoming,” in a written statement.

Nicoletti’ arraignment is currently set for Tuesday afternoon.  Until then, he is being held at the Dormont Police Department.

The charges against Nicoletti are truly grotesque.  He is charged with raping inmates and threatening them with other sexual acts.  He is even said to have had inmates contaminate the food and bedding of his alleged targets with urine and other bodily fluids.

According to the criminal complaint, one of Nicoletti’s victims was a transsexual male who developed female breasts due to hormone treatments. The disgraced corrections officer is accused of fondling the inmate and raping him, while shouting racial slurs.

Pennsylvania Department of Corrections staff and several inmates gave testimony to a county grand jury during the investigation, the district attorney said.

“Every citizen is entitled to his due process under the law. The legal system should be allowed to take its course. We will have no further comment on the matter,” the Pennsylvania State Corrections Officers Association said.
Primary Source: http://www.wtae.com/news/29316009/detail.html#ixzz1ZDPtltYj

A recent federal report casts another stone at the reputation of the Catholic Church.  After years of sexual abuse claims, across the U.S. and the world, it seems that there may be truly no end to the allegations.  In fact, the pope was recently protested because the Catholic Church has gained a reputation of being indifferent to the suffering of victims of sexual abuse, when that abuse has come at the hands of church fathers.  Now, another abuse and cover up claim is set to continue the string of revelations.

The most recent incident senior management with Catholic Charities being accused with attempting to mislead federal officials about a sexual assault at St. Michael’s Home for Children.  The allegations include serious charges such as doctoring incident reports, and even neglecting to immediately seek medical treatment for the victim.
Reporting, by the Houston Chronicle, cites a letter that the paper has obtained regarding the incident.  The letter, from the director of the U.S. Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR,) included the findings of a federal investigation into a July 1 sexual assault at the north Houston shelter for immigrant children.
The documents allege that authorities with Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston “deliberately misled” federal officials.  The incident is said to have involved the anal penetration of a child at the shelter, with two other youths housed there being implicated.  So, here we have a situation in which the church seems to have covered up an incident that happened on its premises, but one which was not perpetrated by a church official.

Still, the findings caused alarm at ORR.  They have begun to move children from the facility, and two others run by the same Catholic Charity in the area.
Catholic Charities has spoken released a statement regarding the incident.  They seem to suggest that the incident is isolated, and not part of a larger pattern. The statement said “when Catholic Charities learned of ORR’s concerns, the individual employee at St. Michael’s responsible for those concerns was subsequently terminated.”  The statement also asserted “Catholic Charities is working with ORR and has every expectation that it will meet ORR’s recommendations and address its concerns and reopen the St. Michael’s Program soon.”

But federal investigators are telling another story.  While conducting an unannounced site visit in August to investigate the allegations, the federal authorities reported that they found evidence that the Catholic Charities senior management had modified initial reports to omit details of the sexual assault.  The management also pressured workers to “protect the program” by not disclosing details of the incident.

Primary Source:  http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/Children-s-shelter-tried-to-cover-up-assault-2187476.php#page-1

For years, there have been allegations that the U.S. Military has a real problem with sexual assault and rape.  Both men and women have claimed to be the victims of sexual assaults at the hands of their fellow service members.  About six years ago, the U.S. Congress tried to crack down on rape in the military.

Now, the revised sexual assault laws are putting judges in “in an impossible position,” according to the top military appellate court.  The laws are being called “cumbersome and confusing,” leading to “unwarranted acquittals.”

Part of the confusion surrounding the law relates to situations involving intoxicated victims.  According to the new laws, when a defendant is accused of sexually taking advantage of an intoxicated victim, the defendant must be able to prove that the victim was able to, and did in fact, consent.  Some argue that this unlawfully shifts the burden of proof to the defendant.  The Constitution requires the prosecution to shoulder the burden of proof.

This is essentially what happened to Stephen Prather, 23, who had been accused of aggravated sexual assault by an intoxicated guest at a party thrown by him and his wife.

Prather has served 11 months of a 30 month sentence, and has since had his life upended.

“I just want Congress to know this law has messed up a lot of people’s lives.  My wife left me. I can’t get a good job. I had to register as a sex offender. My life is ruined. All for something that should have never been a crime to begin with.”

According to a recent Pentagon study, more than 4 percent of active duty women and close to one percent of active duty men reported unwanted sexual contact in 2009.

So far, the military has responded by directing military judges to essentially ignore the troublesome parts of the law, leaving the appellate judges in the situation of choosing between the laws as written by Congress and the instructions given by the military.

Primary Source: http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/fyi/sexual-manoeuvres-rewriting-sex-assault-law-for-us-military-causes-confusion-frustration-conflict-130493673.html