Showing posts with label Fernando Manuel Alves. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Fernando Manuel Alves. Show all posts

Wednesday, 9 March 2011

Grievous bodily harm.

What do Robert Pickton, Fernando Manuel Alves, Daniel Katsnelson, Justin Fuminori Onzuka and Russell Williams as well as, allegedly Amitabh Chauhan and Suganthan Kayilasanathan, have in common?

They are predators and takers. They drugged women, they sexually assaulted them when they were unconscious, they preyed upon them by isolating them from other people and they exploited their vulnerabilities.

Consent is not a concept they understand or choose to negotiate with a potential sexual partner. These assailants select and use women who are unable to stop them or they take whatever means necessary to ensure they get what they want.

Three of the men mentioned are also physicians though Onzuka lost his license to practice medicine in Ontario.

Amitabh Chauhan and Suganthan Kayilasanathan have taken impressive means to dodge criminal charges laid against them. Nonetheless, the Toronto police suspect these alleged predators have done this before; this case has been publicized widely to encourage other women to report similar assaults.

Robert Pickton believed the women he drugged, sexually assaulted and in many instances also murdered and dismembered were "immoral, impure or greedy". He took what he wanted from them and he justified his crimes with selected passages from the Bible.

Though the men named may be sociopaths, their shared proclivity for sexual torture and terrorism is reinforced by a prevalent rape culture - which includes misogynist p0rn0graphy that dehumanizes women and children.


From here:

Fortunately, not all men are prone to abuse, violate, brutalize, and/or murder female family members, intimate partners, spouses, neighbours, work colleagues, parishioners, clients or acquaintances. Unfortunately, the minority of men who engage in these actions are recidivists and their level of violence tends to escalate if they're not stopped by their peers or the criminal justice system.

Unless systemic efforts are made to identify the reasons why violent misogyny rules some men and concerted strategies are taken to prevent its development in boys, incidents like this will increase.

The affidavit said the assault started after a 19-year-old boy invited the [11-year-old] victim to ride around in his car. He took her to a house [...] where one of the other men charged, also 19, lived. There the girl was ordered to disrobe and was sexually assaulted by several boys in the bedroom and bathroom. She was told she would be beaten if she did not comply, the affidavit said.

A relative of one of the suspects arrived, and the group fled through a back window. They then went to the abandoned mobile home, where the assaults continued. Some of those present recorded the sexual acts on their telephones, and these later were shown among students.

Residents in the neighborhood where the abandoned trailer stands [...] said the victim had been visiting various friends there for months. They said she dressed older than her age, wearing makeup and fashions more appropriate to a woman in her 20s. She would hang out with teenage boys at a playground, some said.

“Where was her mother? What was her mother thinking?” said Ms. Harrison, one of a handful of neighbors who would speak on the record.

More relevant would be to question the parents of those boys who allegedly detained and repeatedly sexually violated this girl. Sadly, were the victim an 11-year old boy, it's unlikely members of the community would so easily absolve the assailants of responsibility for their actions.

As with pedophile priests, rape culture facilitates a knee-jerk response that shames / blames girls and women for the violence done to them.

Thursday, 13 May 2010

Why Toews might want changes to the Criminal Code.

Adulterer Vic Toews - who impregnated a woman decades younger than him (she was at the time a junior staff member working for a Conservative deputy in the House of Commons) - is thinking the Criminal Code should be changed.

Canada should consider reinstating the word "rape" in its criminal code, a senior Canadian cabinet minister says.

Public Safety Minister Vic Toews called current use of the term term sexual assault a "very misleading and deceiving concept" that fails to capture important distinctions [...] It can basically be from a very minor sexual touching to a rape," Toews told a news conference Tuesday.
Changes to the Criminal Code sections that addressed a range of aggressive acts - sexual assault and abuse as well as significant indicators of their gravity and degree of violence - were the result of many years of work, involving all levels of expertise in the justice system. and collaboration between parliamentarians, Crown prosecutors and defense lawyers as well as advocates for witnesses/complainants.

These changes framed the prosecution of sexual assault in a manner that limited the attacks the lawyer for the accused could direct towards the witness/complainant. It was intended to facilitate the gathering of evidence, and to subject those procedures to the same rigour used when building a case for other forms of criminal assault; police officers and lawyers were to shift their focus from the victim's credibility (and judgments based on she said/he said) to the merits of all evidence collected, including the complainant's testimony.

A national examination of the efficiency of the Criminal Code is certainly in order; the recent case involving Fernando Manuel Alves raises questions about the efficacy of the criminal justice system when serial sexual assault charges can be so easily brushed off.

So why did the deputy representing the riding known as Bible Belt/Provencher choose to hold a press conference, where little information of substance was presented? He
is NOT the minister of Justice.

Changing the Criminal Code sex assault provisions would fall under the auspices of the justice minister [...] Justice Minister Rob Nicholson's press secretary, Pamela Stephens, said Nicholson is "always open to hearing suggestions on ways to improve the justice system." But she noted that the government already has an ambitious justice agenda.

The Con government exploits a number of tactics, among them the trick of sending out decoys to test the waters - public reception to one of their schemes. Is this one of them?

There could be another reason Toews seems hell-bent on changing the current provisions in the Criminal Code, with respect to sexual assault. This:
273.1 (1) Subject to subsection (2) and subsection 265(3), "consent" means, for the purposes of sections 271, 272 and 273, the voluntary agreement of the complainant to engage in the sexual activity in question. (2) No consent is obtained, for the purposes of sections 271, 272 and 273, where the accused induces the complainant to engage in the activity by abusing a position of trust, power or authority, ...
What is Toews trying to bury? It would certainly be inconvenient, if not actually a problem if someone in his position had coerced a subordinate to have sex with him. A fundamentalist christian patriarch like Toews would do everything in his power to ensure such provisions were removed under the guise of "improving" the Criminal Code.
Toews suggested the word “sexual assault”—the legal term since 1983 for sexual activity without voluntary consent—is a “very misleading and deceiving concept” and fails to capture important distinctions.

“It can basically be from a very minor sexual touching to a rape. Unfortunately the Criminal Code was changed in that respect,” said Toews.

Is it any surprise that Stevie Spiteful and his ReformaTory theocratic bullies are trying to change the Code and a number of laws to reflect their values? Stupid on Crime is a good way of describing their willful and obdurate plans. Nonetheless, in light of Marci McDonald's excellent, well-researched book "The Armageddon Factor", Canadian citizens should also look beyond the official agenda to scrutinize private motives for everything the Cons do.

The personal is still political.



Grand merci to Vanessa Long who brought this our attention.

Tuesday, 30 March 2010

Another sociopath rapist in the news.


Like Fernando Manuel Alves, Daniel Katsnelson - now known as Daniel Kaye - is a convicted rapist who has no remorse or understanding that the actions he undertook were crimes. As far as he was concerned, he was just having a good time during Frosh Week on the campus of York University, when he and a friend snuck into a residence, entered the rooms of female students and sexually assaulted them. His partner in crime pleaded guilty in a separate court appearance in 2008, a year after both were charged.

From this account, it appears that Kaye originally did not admit culpability until the victims testified and forensic evidence was entered into the record.

The Crown is asking for 10 years prison for Kaye, registration in the National Sex Offender Registry, and a DNA sample. His defense lawyer countered with only 3-5 years.

Here's hoping he doesn't get a slap on the wrist like Alves did. Unfortunately for Kaye, CCTV footage as well as his own "trophy" photographs were also entered as evidence against him.

And, as in the case of Alves, it does raise questions regarding prior incidents of Kaye having "a good time". Criminologists have studied the behaviours of men who are finally arrested, charged, found guilty of sexual assault causing bodily harm and sentenced to serve a prison sentence. In most cases, they are habitual offenders who have manipulated the system to evade criminal prosecution.

Sunday, 29 November 2009

Who reads DAMMIT JANET?

This post from C. C. - Who reads the "Christian Science Monitor?" gave me an idea for the hook upon which to hang a couple of thoughts I've had recently about certain types of criminality.

fern hill and I often check our sitemeter because we are curious about how people get to our site and what they read once here.

A few times a week, DJ! gets hits from people who google Fernando Manuel Alves. Most of them originate in BC, which makes us wonder ...

Women are, as demonstrated by statistics and anecdotal evidence, more likely to be the target of violence at the hands of men who know them. Women are vulnerable to alleged serial rapists like Alves who exploit the 'opportunities' provided by his employment and social network.

Fortunately, not all men are prone to abuse, violate, brutalize, and/or murder female family members, intimate partners, spouses, neighbours, work colleagues, parishioners, clients or acquaintances. Unfortunately, the minority of men who engage in these actions are recidivists and their level of violence tends to escalate if they're not stopped by their peers or the criminal justice system.

Of course, the usual apologists like Mark Steyn and Michael Coren, Barbara Kay and Naomi Lakritz, will blame women subjected to violence for the actions of their abusers and killers.

Information about the 12 day campaign to raise awareness to bring an end to violence against women is available here in French and in English, here.

Tuesday, 6 October 2009

It Ain't Over



Antonia Zerbisias calls him dogged. He certainly is.

In an update to his post about failing to meet 'appropriate criteria' for wanting the judge's reasons for convicted rapist Fernando Manuel Alves's no-jail sentence, Dr. Dawg writes:
UPDATE: (October 6) Reader and lawyer "truewest" suggests that I press on. Accordingly, I have this morning written back to Judge Rideout to ask what the "appropriate criteria" are for access to his Reasons for Sentence. Stay tuned.

Secret justice is outrageous. The public must know why, especially in the current CONservative atmosphere of 'tough on crime', a rapist serves NO time in prison for a brutal crime.

This needs to get political and media attention. Please, if you are a BC resident, contact your MPP to alert her or him to the situation and to ask what can be done.

Meanwhile, go read an update from the victim at meanoldmommy. Heart-wrenching testimony from a very brave broad.

PS. Where are the Conservatives on this?

Thursday, 24 September 2009

Liar, Liar - Penis on Fire!

LuLu over at Canadian Cynic has a pithy post about the competition that Blob Blogging Wingnut seems to be cranking up with Lily White Rose.

On a
video over at unrepentant old hippie, Lily White goes full metal Ms Hyde as she suggests that women who seek legal abortions should be provided with them in public view, much like Robespierre's political opponents were beheaded in front of mobs during La Terreur.

SUZY ALL-CAPS tries to outdo her in the gynophobia and religious zealotry arena with her gleeful little jig over the plight of women who are impregnated by their rapists. Force them to stay pregnant SHE declares.

Well, isn't that all too Authoritarian and Punitive. One might also wonder if Lily White and BBW aren't getting a little too big in their britches, acting all Gawd-like the way they are.


And sitting in Judgement! Much like that Sergeant, formerly head of the Sexual Offenses Squad of a metropolitan Police Department in BC, whose deliberate negligence and unprofessional conduct likely caused the loss and/or contamination of evidence that would have strengthened the crown attorney's case against Fernando Manuel Alves. His case, or a number of cases that involved women who were allegedly drugged then sexually assaulted.

Isn't it interesting how the misogynist cop and Blob Blogging Wingnut share the same value system?

Which brings us to folks who don't believe that it's women who should be blamed and publicly shamed.
This Good Guy gets it.
When 20 year old Stuart Feltham tried to assault a 26 year old local girl on the Greek island of Crete, she first politely asked him to stop. Like most people, she was not impressed by a drunk British tourist dropping his pants and waving his genitals around. Her requests went unanswered, so she poured a glass of Sambuca on him. Even that wasn't enough for this guy to get the message, and when he continued harassing her, she set fire to the alcohol (and his genitals) - causing severe second degree burns.
If Alves doesn't stop his campaign of sexual terrorism against women, aka serial rape, it would certainly be a shame if in the course of his committing yet another "crime of opportunity" one of his victims accidentally - because of her drugged state - set his penis on fire.

Wednesday, 9 September 2009

Something Stinks


Yesterday, I got the very same reply to my letter to the BC Crown as Dr Dawg did.

The no-jail sentence for convicted rapist Fernando Manuel Alves will not be appealed.

To recap: he was convicted, he has been put on the sex offenders registry, but, for reasons that the Crown is 'not at liberty to disclose', the judge, Gregory Rideout, decided Alves should walk.

Why is the public -- and most vitally, the victim -- denied the facts, arguments, and precedents that Mr Rideout based his decision on?

Commenters at Dr Dawg's have suggested that records can be obtained by ordering and paying for them. If so, why didn't the letter(s) from the Crown inform us of that possibility?

There's something fishy here. I have sent out an inquiry to a knowledgeable acquaintance to see what we might do to obtain the facts in the matter.

Tuesday, 1 September 2009

The Gratifications of Blogging

With only two mainstream media reports on the no-jail sentence for convicted rapist Fernando Manuel Alves (one at CBC and one at Burnaby Now), people who have heard something about the case are turning to the Internetz.

And look what they find.

DAMMIT JANET! is dammed proud of the number of visitors we've had coming in on such a Google search. And the other good bloggers who've been on the case should be too.

Add your voice: Alves's sentence needs to be appealed

Mr. Grant Wong should be back in his office today. Mr. Wong is the person to contact in the matter of the no-jail sentence for convicted rapist Fernando Manuel Alves.

If you haven't yet written to urge the Crown to consider the message a no-jail sentence sends to future victims and perpetrators of sexual assault, please take a few minutes and do it. Now.

Letters only, by mail and/or fax. Be polite. Stick to the facts and the social policy implications.

In particular, if you are in BC or have friends and family there, your voices are needed.

The contact info again is:
Mr. Grant B. Wong
Deputy Regional Crown Counsel
222 Main Street
Vancouver, B.C.
V6A 2S8

FAX: 604.660.4347

While I was googling around looking for any more recent stories on this case, I found a CBC report from September 21, 2007 on the original bail conditions.
The 44-year-old pub owner and vice-president of the Western Ball Hockey Association appeared in B.C. provincial court on Thursday, where he was released under strict bail conditions that include:

* Posting a $350,000 bond.
* Reporting to the Vancouver police high-risk offender unit.
* Not attending any bar or nightclub except for employment at the Station Square pub in Burnaby, as approved by his bail supervisor.

Nice, eh? Alves barred from bars, except for employment and the opportunity to drug other victims. How much sense does that make?

Background here and here.

Sunday, 23 August 2009

Saturday, 22 August 2009

Rideout: 'You are sentenced to shame'

Here Dr. Dawg reveals that the judge in the Fernando Manuel Alves rape case, the guy who called it a 'crime of opportunity' not warranting any jail time is Gregory Rideout.

Ain't Google a marvel?

At that link the Vancouver Sun reports on the sentencing in August last year of a man named Jeves who pled guilty to cocaine trafficking charges.
In a B.C. Provincial Court judgment, Judge Gregory Rideout wrote that the wrongdoings were "out of character" for Jeves, a former volunteer firefighter and self-defence instructor.

His crime is painted in the judgment as a familial fall from grace, as Rideout noted that his grandfather was an ambulance driver during the Second World War and his father is a retired chief with the Salmon Arm Fire Department.

"He has brought shame upon himself and his family. This perhaps is best exemplified in a letter filed by his father and mother who indicate that they were 'very upset, disappointed and ashamed,' " Rideout wrote.

Jeves's sentence? 18 months months conditional, no jail. Shame is enough, I guess. And having public-spirited relatives helps too.

We're not done with Judge Rideout.

BC More Lenient on Sexual Assault?

The case of rapist Fernando Manuel Alves's conditional -- no jail -- sentence got me wondering about sentencing for sexual assault in Canada in general, and BC in particular.

At the Sexual Assault Centre of Edmonton, I found this:
According to Statistics Canada, the median sentences for sexual assault and for other sexual offenses are both 360 days. To compare, the median sentence for robbery is 540 days. This seems deeply flawed—to violently steal property is given more weight in sentencing than to violate the sexual integrity of another human being.

I went to the StatsCan link and found sentencing data by province for 2006/2007. Here, for example, is the table for BC.

Now, if I haven't goofed up the math, it appears that BC has a significantly higher rate of conditional sentencing for sexual assault than either Canada overall or Ontario.

In BC, there were 187 convictions for sexual assault: 68 of those resulted in prison time, 48 in conditional sentences, and 102 in probation.

For Canada overall, the numbers are: 1519 convictions, 753 prison sentences, 244 conditional sentences, and 999 probation.

For Ontario, 535 convictions, 236 prison sentences, 85 conditional, and 427 probation.

(The sentences don't add up to the total convictions, I'm guessing, because probation might go with a lot of other sentences. I am not a lawyer and sit to be corrected.)

In Canada overall, 49% of convictions for sexual assault result in jail time; in Ontario, 44%; and in BC, 36%.

For conditional sentencing, Canada has 16%, Ontario has 15.8%, BC has 25.6%.

OK, this is just one time period. There may be anomalies in the types and numbers of crimes.

But, it's odd, doncha think, that Ontario and Canada line up pretty well, while BC seems quite a bit more lenient?

Just asking. . .

Friday, 21 August 2009

Action Time: Alves's Sentence Needs to be Appealed

Dr Dawg has the goods on the person we can contact to urge that the no-jail sentence for convicted rapist Fernando Manuel Alves be appealed by the Crown.

The decision maker is:
Mr. Grant B. Wong
Deputy Regional Crown Counsel
222 Main Street
Vancouver, B.C.
V6A 2S8

FAX: 604.660.4347

Dr Dawg says that Mr Wong will not be back in his office until September. But that's no reason to delay writing.

It should be a letter, mailed or faxed (lawyers seem to like faxes). A nice, polite letter from a concerned citizen worried about policy implications. Letters from British Columbians would be double-plus good.

Alves needs more than a slap on the wrist. Would-be Alveses need to get the message -- rape = jail.

Let's get this done.

Background here and here.

Wednesday, 19 August 2009

Alves was investigated in Whistler in 2005 for alleged sexual assault.

We're not done with Fernando Manuel Alves because we suspect that Alves is not done with his campaign of sexual terrorism against women.

Louisa Russell believes at least four sexual assaults in Vancouver could have been prevented if Whistler police had adequately handled an earlier complaint involving the alleged rapist.

Russell, of Vancouver Rape Relief and Women's Shelter, said Fernando Manuel Alves of Burnaby, a pub owner and former vice-president of the B.C. Ball Hockey Association, was accused by a woman in Whistler in 2005 of raping her. But according to Russell the RCMP bungled the investigation and no charges were laid. She said the police interviewed the alleged victim while she was drunk, didn't get a sexual assault examiner to collect forensic evidence and didn't allow a woman's advocate to sit with the alleged victim when she gave police her testimony.

An investigation by the Vancouver Police Department into assaults against women in Vancouver led to four charges of sexual assault and one count of administering a noxious substance.

Alves has a history of being charged with drugging women and sexually assaulting them. Yet he was allowed to cop a plea because such trials are difficult to prosecute, given that the victim and witness was incapacitated when the crime occured. Defense lawyers use that fact to cast doubt upon their testimony. Then of course, there are the police officers who act as judge and jury and determine in advance that a victim is unworthy or unreliable.

From here:

Hi all,I have some news - as some of you may recall, the pretrial in the sexual assault case of Fernando Manuel Alves occurred last August. He was committed to trial on only 2 of the 5 counts (2 victims could not testify, and there was no "proof" that it was him who drugged me). The trial was scheduled for June 8-26, 2009.I have just heard from the Crown Counsel, who told me that he has pleaded guilty.

He accepted a plea bargain, in which he pleads guilty to my assault, but the other remaining assault charge has been dropped. The Crown is asking for 12-18 months in jail. We won't know what he gets until sentencing, which I am told will happen some time in June or July. He will be registered with the Sexual Offenders Database, and is required to provide a DNA sample for forensic records.So there will be no trial, I will not have to testify again, (though in some sick way I was looking forward to obliterating the defense laywer again :)

While this episode is by no means over for me or my family, there is finally some closure, and we are all happy about that. Some more good news on that front, the investigation into Sergeant Asshat, head of the Sexual Offenses Squad of the XXXXXX Police Department has, after significant delays, concluded that Sergeant Asshat was indeed guilty of a disciplinary default in his treatment of me, and he has been removed permanently from that department. We are very pleased about this, as future victims will not have to deal with the "re-traumatizing" I faced in dealing with this individual. ...


The judge rejected the Crown Counsel's request for a 12-18 month sentence, yet he nonetheless allowed that the convicted rapist be on the sex-offender registry for the next 20 years.

Why? It's a legal recognition that Fernando Manuel Alves is a sexual predator. Does this mean that he won't be allowed to work in any situation that could provide him opportunities to continue to prey upon women?

By the way, there are a number of predators like Alves at liberty because police officers investigating complaints of sexual assault are disinclined to take the victim - and the crime - seriously. For example this case in London, England. And of course, "Sergeant Asshat, head of the Sexual Offenses Squad of the XXXXXX Police Department" in British Columbia, Canada.

Tuesday, 18 August 2009

Remember this face

Further to de BeauxOs's post about no jail time for a convicted rapist, Antonia Z also blogs about the story.

She has a picture of the guy, which I think everyone who blogs about this should post.

Fernando Manuel Alves works as a bartender. Nice, eh? Do not let him pour you a drink.