Australia - Performing arts school at centre of child abuse claims stands in disarray

[drsleuth]

Therese Cook's two daughters - Yyiani, 29, and Clarissa, 26 - have also been charged. Yyiani, who lists one of her pastimes as a burlesque dancer, is facing eight charges, including forcing two boys to have sex with her in the presence of her mother.

Therese Cook and her six co-accused intend on pleading not guilty. She has told her lawyer she "didn’t do what she is accused of doing and that there is another side to the story".

Another side?? :gaah:

https://www.9news.com.au/national/2...rder-on-accused--circus-school-child-sex-ring

 

[Oceanaire]

Therese Cook's two daughters - Yyiani, 29, and Clarissa, 26 - have also been charged. Yyiani, who lists one of her pastimes as a burlesque dancer, is facing eight charges, including forcing two boys to have sex with her in the presence of her mother.

Therese Cook and her six co-accused intend on pleading not guilty. She has told her lawyer she "didn’t do what she is accused of doing and that there is another side to the story".

Another side?? :gaah:

https://www.9news.com.au/national/2...rder-on-accused--circus-school-child-sex-ring

Anyone want to guess what the other side of the story might be? :/

 

[sosocurious]

It is alleged three victims under the age of 10 — one a preschooler — were subjected to repeated rape and assault, held against their will, and often filmed between 2014 and 2016. Police say the alleged victims were known to the accused but were not students of the circus school. All arrested have vigorously denied the charges.



https://www.theaustralian.com.au/ne...s/news-story/1cadf2e7d6d1eb6befc7c3419d99afd4
Court names circus school’s accused child abusers

 

[Bohemian]

Bohemian, that means a lot, thank you. I went to sleep feeling quite disturbed by all of this last night (and I do have three little ones under foot) x

Keep them and yourself safe online. Profile privacy is important here too. Don’t make the personal public.

 

[Oceanaire]

Keep them and yourself safe online. Profile privacy is important here too. Don’t make the personal public.

Have I done so somewhere here and not realised?

 

[HavenWood]

Latest details. The two daughters charged were home schooled. The youngest of the two daughters charged (the 23 yr old) was adopted. The 52 yr old brother of Theresa Cook was a youth worker who worked for Caretakers Cottage and Ted Noffs Foundation in the 90s and worked as a nurse at Sydney Childrens Hospital in the 80s.
The three younger members of the seven can't be named as they were minors at the time of offences. My opinion only - but I think the younger accused will also turn out to be family members ... whether biological, adopted, or fostered.
I think this is going to be one really messed up case ... where the younger abusers (including the 23 and 26 yr old) have been raised into a truly bizarre and sick lifestyle, and have probably been molested themselves)


http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5370611/Inside-alleged-Blue-Mountains-circus-rape-group.html

 

[Oceanaire]

Latest details. The two daughters charged were home schooled. The youngest of the two daughters charged (the 23 yr old) was adopted. The 52 yr old brother of Theresa Cook was a youth worker who worked for Caretakers Cottage and Ted Noffs Foundation in the 90s and worked as a nurse at Sydney Childrens Hospital in the 80s.
The three younger members of the seven can't be named as they were minors at the time of offences. My opinion only - but I think the younger accused will also turn out to be family members ... whether biological, adopted, or fostered.
I think this is going to be one really messed up case ... where the younger abusers (including the 23 and 26 yr old) have been raised into a truly bizarre and sick lifestyle, and have probably been molested themselves)


http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5370611/Inside-alleged-Blue-Mountains-circus-rape-group.html

I agree, I believe there is at least a younger son involved. The 18 year old (Imo) Not sure about the other minors but who knows, maybe they are all related?

I recognized the 23 year old daughter on Google Street View when I typed in their address earlier. Eerie.

 

[symbah]

http://www.news.com.au/news/blue-mo...t/news-story/c1ef5279f3a2e150eddcf0d9819dc1b9

A LAWYER for four of the people charged over alleged child abuse at a circus training school says the accusations may have been fabricated.

Candace Sutton

FEBRUARY 16, 2018 1:00PM

A LAWYER for four of the seven people charged over the Blue Mountains circus training school child abuse case has told a Sydney court that allegations against them may have been fabricated.
Solicitor Bryan Wrench told Penrith Local Court today there was no DNA or video evidence of the child sexual assaults allegedly committed by his clients.
He also said there was in fact video which showed that nothing had occurred.
A bail application for Therese Ann Cook, 58, her brother Paul Cook, 42, Ms Cook’s daughter Yyani Cook-Williams and Clarissa Meredith, 23, who Mr Wrench referred to as Clarissa Cook-Williams, was today adjourned to April 6 by Magistrate Stephen Corry.

 

[PrimeSuspect]

http://www.news.com.au/news/blue-mo...t/news-story/c1ef5279f3a2e150eddcf0d9819dc1b9

A LAWYER for four of the people charged over alleged child abuse at a circus training school says the accusations may have been fabricated.

Candace Sutton

FEBRUARY 16, 2018 1:00PM

A LAWYER for four of the seven people charged over the Blue Mountains circus training school child abuse case has told a Sydney court that allegations against them may have been fabricated.
Solicitor Bryan Wrench told Penrith Local Court today there was no DNA or video evidence of the child sexual assaults allegedly committed by his clients.
He also said there was in fact video which showed that nothing had occurred.
A bail application for Therese Ann Cook, 58, her brother Paul Cook, 42, Ms Cook’s daughter Yyani Cook-Williams and Clarissa Meredith, 23, who Mr Wrench referred to as Clarissa Cook-Williams, was today adjourned to April 6 by Magistrate Stephen Corry.

He also said there was in fact video which showed that nothing had occurred.

I'm a bit dubious about that statement, it sounds deceptive, imo.

Is it the video evidence the police seized from his clients OR is it a video the clients have presented to him to show the innocence of their actions OR a video supposedly recorded at the same time as the evidence held by police?

Some questions about Therese Cook. Why no curtains in the her home? Why is the bath not in a private room with a door and curtains on the window?
She's had underage children living on these premises and she's denied them privacy? Red flags already. This is not a 'circus family', it's a mish-mash theatre group teaching circus type activities.

The man was stunned the run-down house had no curtains - despite the cold winter weather in the mountains.
He was also shocked that Mrs Cook had a freestanding bathtub in her bedroom.
'Whenever I woke up there was lights on and movement,' he said.
'They had no curtains and two sheds where people (who the family knew) stayed.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...ountains-circus-rape-group.html#ixzz57G3zBULw

 

[Oceanaire]

http://www.news.com.au/news/blue-mo...t/news-story/c1ef5279f3a2e150eddcf0d9819dc1b9

A LAWYER for four of the people charged over alleged child abuse at a circus training school says the accusations may have been fabricated.

Candace Sutton

FEBRUARY 16, 2018 1:00PM

A LAWYER for four of the seven people charged over the Blue Mountains circus training school child abuse case has told a Sydney court that allegations against them may have been fabricated.
Solicitor Bryan Wrench told Penrith Local Court today there was no DNA or video evidence of the child sexual assaults allegedly committed by his clients.
He also said there was in fact video which showed that nothing had occurred.
A bail application for Therese Ann Cook, 58, her brother Paul Cook, 42, Ms Cook’s daughter Yyani Cook-Williams and Clarissa Meredith, 23, who Mr Wrench referred to as Clarissa Cook-Williams, was today adjourned to April 6 by Magistrate Stephen Corry.

Do the police need a certain amount of evidence to make arrests/press charges?

 

[symbah]

Updated May 05, 2018 10:49:23

Dozens of people packed into a Sydney court to show their support for three women linked to a performing arts school in regional New South Wales and accused of sexually abusing three young boys.
Therese Ann Cook, 58, Yyani Cook-Williams, 30, and Clarissa Meredith, 23, appeared via video link from Silverwater Women's Correctional Centre for a bail application hearing.
Many of the trio's supporters, some of whom could not fit in the courtroom, cried when they appeared in court.
The three women, along with Paul Cook, 52, and three others who cannot be named for legal reasons, are charged with a total of 127 offences relating to the abuse of the boys between 2014 and 2016.
They were refused bail.
In handing down her decision, Magistrate Susan McIntyre said "given the gravity and often bizarre nature" of the allegations, one would expect some physical evidence.
But she said it was unusual for sexual assault allegations, particularly involving young children, to be anything but word-on-word.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-05-04/trio-accused-of-child-abuse-refused-bail/9726652

 

[flourish]

This case is freaking me out. The allegations are abominable, the physical evidence apparently non-existent, but there are many people in jail right now. I know nothing about Australian law, and the whole thing has me just scratching my head.



WARNING GRAPHIC DESCRIPTION
Actions such as the few allegations we know about, like poking needles into eyes or the incredible (physically impossible imo) feat of lifting a child only by the penis, would leave evidence, yet this is apparently a "he said she said" case? And the allegations include cell phone recordings?
WARNING GRAPHIC DESCRIPTION



I don't know about this one, folks. Hoping this thread will get more action. What are y'all's thoughts?

 

[flourish]

Photos of some of the accused.

https://kenh789.com/news/article-5398003/Four-people-accused-circus-school-abuse-deny-claims.n.html

 

[flourish]

More of the accused

http://www.news.com.au/news/blue-mo...t/news-story/c1ef5279f3a2e150eddcf0d9819dc1b9

 

[flourish]

And more

There are two others, I think, who were minors so aren't named


https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.ib...rlesque-star-her-family-1659905?source=images

 

[symbah]

Bail granted in circus rape case

ONE of several family members accused of depraved acts on children as young as three including filming their alleged rapes at a circus school in the NSW Blue Mountains has been granted bail.

Former police officer Paul Cook, 52, appeared by audio visual link in Penrith District Court this afternoon as several of his relatives wiped away tears in the public gallery.

and

Mr Cook, along with his named co-accused, has been in prison since their dramatic arrest in February. The names of the other three people charged are suppressed because at the time the alleged offences were committed — between 2014 and 2016 — they were under the age of 18. Mr Cook was the only one of the accused who applied for bail today.

Defence lawyer Bryan Wrench told the court the allegations will be shown to be either one of the “worst cases” of child abuse the state has ever seen or “one of the greatest miscarriages of justice in NSW”. Magistrate Roger Clisdell said at least some of the allegations appeared “implausible”.

He said that “anyone facing a potential life imprisonment is always going to be a flight risk” but that he “couldn’t be satisfied there’s an unacceptable risk he’ll commit further offences”. As part of the bail conditions, Mr Cook must not be alone with a child aged under 16 years, not contact his co-accused or accusers, report to police daily, and surrender his passport. Because the case was heard late on Friday, Mr Cook may not be released until Monday.

 

[gpfloor]

Therese Cook's two daughters - Yyiani, 29, and Clarissa, 26 - have also been charged. Yyiani, who lists one of her pastimes as a burlesque dancer, is facing eight charges, including forcing two boys to have sex with her in the presence of her mother.

Therese Cook and her six co-accused intend on pleading not guilty. She has told her lawyer she "didn’t do what she is accused of doing and that there is another side to the story".

Another side?? :gaah:

Burlesque dancer named in 'circus school sex ring'

There is indeed another side to the story, but a suppression order is keeping it from coming out.

I do not know the accused, and do not have any stake in the outcome. I did however, do some of my own investigating when the story broke and formed the opinion that this is a case of False Memory Syndrome.

Beyond that, the police have been conducting a trial by media. They had to. They have zero evidence except statements including patently impossible allegations.

More here Cold War | Assassination | The New Disease

 

[Jennifer17]

There is indeed another side to the story, but a suppression order is keeping it from coming out.

I do not know the accused, and do not have any stake in the outcome. I did however, do some of my own investigating when the story broke and formed the opinion that this is a case of False Memory Syndrome.

Beyond that, the police have been conducting a trial by media. They had to. They have zero evidence except statements including patently impossible allegations.

More here Cold War | Assassination | The New Disease

What investigations did you do?

 

[gpfloor]

What investigations did you do?

Based on the accusations sounding a lot like Pizzagate and other cases of false accusations of pedaphile activity including among cults and religions, I searched for past stories with similar false allegations (including blood rituals) coming out of the Blue Mountains.

If you follow the link, you will see I did find a similar case in that area - which was indeed false memory syndrome - with those false memories planted by a cult operating in the area as revenge against a man trying to get his wife out of their clutches.

 

[Jennifer17]

Based on the accusations sounding a lot like Pizzagate and other cases of false accusations of pedaphile activity including among cults and religions, I searched for past stories with similar false allegations (including blood rituals) coming out of the Blue Mountains.

If you follow the link, you will see I did find a similar case in that area - which was indeed false memory syndrome - with those false memories planted by a cult operating in the area as revenge against a man trying to get his wife out of their clutches.

Did any of those cases that you studied lead to charges by the police?