Local authorities in Oregon ask the public to assist in finding victims of the Quran teacher. He was arrested on sex abuse charges.

Many parents turn to private tutors to fill in the gaps left from public schools. This may mean taking extra courses in the basics like math or even classes to cover things that are not taught in the regular classroom like religion. Several families in Tigard, Oregon turned to a local teacher to give their daughters an extended education. While they hired the local businessman to teach their teenagers about the Quran, they were shocked to find out he was doing far more than teaching the holy book.

A pair of teens shared horrific details about being sexually abused at the hands of their Muslim teacher. He was not there to guide them to explore their religion of choice, but instead to make inappropriate gestures to the girls that included kissing and caressing them. Muhammad L. Hasan was arrested on seven counts of sex abuse after a grand jury found there was enough to indict him.

Hasan is 50-years-old and runs a store-front educational shop. He operates the American Islamic Center of the Holy Quran (AICQ). This is where he tutored youth in the teachings of the Quran. He was often alone with the students he taught, and local officials fear the first two victims may only be the tip of the iceberg.

Both of the victims are under the age of 14, and it is believed that the abuse dates back to 2016. The girls were allowed to attend private tutoring seasons with Hasan, and they reported recently that these seasons often went far beyond learning about the Quran. They were subjected to Hasan touching their breasts, kissing them, and other forced sexual contact.

It appears that Hasan had a successful business in Tigard and was a well-known member of the local Muslim community. He was able to carve out a living teaching about the Quran and had a wide range of students. The local authorities fear because he had access to so many students, there could be many more victims out there.

Tigard police and the court system of Washington County in Oregon have asked for the public’s help to find more victims. Anyone that either has information about more victims or suspects their student may have been involved is asked to contact the local police immediately. This can be done by calling 503-718-COPS or emailing the office at tips@tigard-or.gov.

Hasan is now being held in the Washington County jail. He appeared briefly in court to enter his initial plea, and this was done via an interpreter. Hasan does not seem to be a native English speaker, and there may be questions about his citizenship. This is especially unsettling as Oregon prides itself on offering safety for all immigrants.

As shocking as it is to hear about a case of a teacher using his job to access young victims, sadly this seems to be well within the realm of a sex abuser. Men who seek out younger victims to sexually abuse often work hard to put them selfs into a position that allows them free access to teens or young children alone. The storefront educational center seemed to fit his needs as it provided a reason to work solely with other people’s children.

The fact that Hasan not only posed as a teacher but someone working within the religious community was also not all that shocking. A major part of gaining access to victims to abuse is gaining trust and credibility of the parents around them. One might assume someone that teaches a Bible class or from the Quran is held to a higher standard of behavior.

This false sense of security as far as being a member of the religious community lead to heartache for the teens and families. The fact that the police are also concerned that Hasan has victimized others does not help the case. In many cases the police caution parents to avoid allowing any adults free access to their children alone as it is possible to take advantage of them.

The process of preparing a child to be a victim of sex abuse usually starts with them being groomed by their abuser. This can include steps that Hasan took as he created a space where he was seen as an expert teacher, and it made logical sense to trust him alone with children. Because the parents of his students thought so highly of him, it can be even harder for victims to get the help they need to get away from the abuse.

(conservativedailypost.com)

There were no toys and no bicycles on the front lawn — only weeds that sometimes reached six feet tall.

Neighbors rarely saw the 13 siblings who lived inside the home in a quiet neighborhood in Southern California, because they never went outside to play. Instead, authorities said, they were held captive in a dirty and foul-smelling house, some shackled to the furniture with chains and padlocks.

Minutes before sunrise Sunday, a 17-year-old girl escaped from the home in Perris, not far from Los Angeles, slipping through a window and dialing 911 on a deactivated cellphone, Capt. Greg Fellows of the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department said Tuesday at a news conference. Under federal law, cellphones — even those that are no longer operational — must be able to call emergency services.

Deputies met the teenager, who reported that she and her siblings were being held against their will.

Fellows said she showed them photos that convinced them to believe her and conducted a welfare check at the home. There, he said, deputies found a dozen other siblings, age 2 to 29, malnourished and living in what authorities called “horrific” conditions.

“We do need to acknowledge the courage of the young girl who escaped from that residence to bring attention so they could get the help that they so needed,” he said during the news conference.

Fellows said he could not provide details about the scene, but told reporters, “If you can imagine being 17 years old and appearing to be a 10-year-old, being chained to a bed, being malnourished and the injuries associated with that — I would call that torture.” He said there was no evidence to indicate sexual abuse but noted that authorities are still investigating the circumstances.

The biological parents, David Allen Turpin, 57, and Louise Anna Turpin, 49, have been arrested on charges of torture and child endangerment, authorities said.

The Riverside County Sheriff’s Department said in an earlier news release that the 13 siblings all appeared to be children, so deputies were “shocked” to discover that seven of them are adults.

They appeared malnourished and dirty and told authorities that they were starving.

Authorities gave them food and beverages, then the six minors were taken to Riverside University Hospital System Medical Center for treatment, according to the sheriff’s department. The seven older siblings were taken to a different hospital.

Kimberly Trone, a spokeswoman for the Riverside County Regional Medical Center in Moreno Valley, said Tuesday that the minors were admitted into the pediatrics unit for treatment Sunday but that she could not comment on their conditions. However, she noted that the patients, who range in age from 2 to 17, were taken to the sheriff’s department before being transported to the hospital.

Corona Regional Medical Center spokeswoman Linda Pearson confirmed Tuesday that the seven adult siblings were being treated at the hospital, but did not elaborate.

Susan von Zabern, with the Riverside County Department of Public Social Services, said during the news conference that social services officials are seeking court authorization to provide care for the siblings, including the adults, if necessary.

Authorities said that David and Louise Turpin were “unable to immediately provide a logical reason” why their children were shackled and chained and that Louise Turpin seemed “perplexed” by the investigators’ questions. After an interview with police, the two were arrested. Bail is set at $9 million each.

A public information officer for the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office said no criminal case has yet been filed, so no court documents are available. The couple is expected to be arraigned Thursday, so prosecutors have until then make a decision, he said.

Perris Mayor Michael Vargas said he was “devastated by this act of cruelty.”

“I can’t begin to imagine the pain and suffering they have endured,” he said.

David Turpin’s parents, James and Betty Turpin of West Virginia, told ABC News that they were “surprised and shocked” by the allegations. They said their son and daughter-in-law, whom they have not seen for several years, are religious and kept having children because “God called on them.”

The grandparents said that the children are home-schooled, made to memorize long scriptures in the Bible. Some of the children, the grandparents told ABC News, have tried to memorize the entire book.

Louise Turpin’s sister, Teresa Robinette, told NBC News Tuesday that the discovery of the childrens’ living conditions felt “like a bad dream.”

“I’m seriously so heartbroken for my nieces and nephews,” she said. “I can’t even say the words to you that I would like to say to [Louise Turpin]. I’m so angry inside. I’m mad. I’m hurt.”

David Turpin is listed in a state Department of Education directory as the principal of Sandcastle Day School, a private K-12 school that he ran from the couple’s home. The school opened in 2011, according to the directory. In the 2016-2017 year, the school enrolled six students — one in each the fifth, sixth, eighth, ninth, 10th and 12th grades.

Fellows, with the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department, said Tuesday that there is no indication that other students were involved in the school. He also said that authorities have no information about any involvement with any religious organization.

Fellows said the Turpins have lived in the city since 2014 and that authorities had never been called to the residence in that time.

But according to public records, the couple own the home and have lived there since 2010. They previously lived in Texas for many years and have twice declared bankruptcy.

The scene after 13 siblings held captive were rescued from a Southern California house

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Police arrested a couple after finding the malnourished siblings in their home, some shackled in the dark to their beds with chains and padlocks, officials said.

The Turpins most recently filed for bankruptcy in California in 2011. According to court documents, David Turpin made about $140,000 per year as an engineer at Northrop Grumman. The couple listed about $150,000 in assets, including $87,000 in 401(k) plans from Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin. Louise Turpin’s occupation was listed as a “homemaker.” The couple owed debt between $100,000 and $500,000, according to bankruptcy documents.

One of their bankruptcy lawyers, Nancy Trahan, said in a phone interview with The Washington Post on Monday evening that she met with the couple about four or five times in 2011 but hasn’t seen them since then. She described them as “just very normal.”

“They seemed like very nice people,” Trahan said. “They spoke often and fondly of their children.”

She did not recall hearing about a school run from their home.

“I just hope those kids are okay,” Trahan said. “I wouldn’t have seen it coming.”

Photos on a Facebook page that appeared to be created by David and Louise Turpin show the couple at Disneyland with the children, wearing matching shirts. Several photos appeared to be taken at a wedding ceremony. The parents posed in bride and groom attire, surrounded by 10 female children smiling for the camera in matching purple plaid dresses and white shoes. Three male children stood behind them wearing suits.

The couple’s middle-class neighborhood is a new tract housing development of ranch-style homes located about 70 miles east of Los Angeles. The homes were all built close together, with only about five feet between the houses.

Andria Valdez, a neighbor, told the Press-Enterprise that she had teased in the past that the Turpins reminded her of the Cullen family from the fictional series “Twilight.”

“They only came out at night,” she told the newspaper. “They were really, really pale.”

Shortly after Kimberly Milligan, 50, moved to the neighborhood in June 2015, a contractor for the development told her the Turpins had about a dozen children, she said in an interview with The Post.

But in the years that followed, Milligan rarely heard the children and only occasionally saw three or four of the children briefly leave or enter the home. Milligan found this particularly odd, because their houses are only about 50 feet apart from each other.

“I thought they were very young — 11, 12, 13 at the most — because of the way they carried themselves,” Milligan said. “When they walked they would skip.” They all looked very thin, their skin as white as paper, said Robert Perkins, Milligan’s son.

And their yard would “always look in disarray,” Milligan said. Code enforcement officials “cracked down” on the overgrown weeds in the front yard, several neighbors told media outlets.

Milligan recounted speaking to the children once, around Christmas 2015. Three of the children were setting up a Nativity display while she was out for a walk. When she complimented the children on the decorations, “they actually froze,” she said. Milligan apologized, telling them that there was no need to be afraid.

“They still did not say a word,” Milligan said. “They were like children whose only defense was to be invisible.”

Milligan said she started seeing less and less of the family in the last year or so. She said she feels a bit guilty for not saying something about the family’s oddities earlier.

“You knew something was off. It didn’t make a lot of sense,” Milligan said. “But this is something else entirely.”

Law enforcement officers could be seen at the family’s home from about 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday, Perkins said. He managed to briefly glance inside the open door of the home and noticed a messy array of boxes and chairs all over the place, he said.

One neighbor, Josh Tiedeman, told the Associated Press that the children were “super skinny — not like athletic skinny, like malnourished skinny.”

“They’d all have to mow the lawns together, and then they’d all go in,” Tiedeman said.

Mark Uffer, chief executive of Corona Regional Medical Center, said during the news conference Tuesday that the adult siblings have been “friendly” and “cooperative.”

Although medical experts acknowledged that the siblings will likely require long-term psychological support to aid in their recovery, Uffer said, “I believe that they’re hopeful life will get better for them.”

Marwa Eltagouri contributed to this report.

(The Washington Post)

“I do not apologize for any aspect of this investigation, the FBI has made no mistakes,” Mueller insists.

Every day, more controversy swirls around Special Counsel Robert Mueller, as he chases after the ever-receding mirage of Trump-Russia collusion. The deeper the inquisition digs, the more dirt gets shoveled up, connecting Hillary Clinton with Russian “nogoodniks” and a penchant for rigging elections. She also seems to have unduly heavy influence over both the FBI and the Department of Justice. After nearly a year of investigating President Trump, “no one has any idea what specific crimes are even alleged.”

While Mueller carries a reputation for “professional dedication,” not everyone agrees. Others call Mueller a “political hack.” It turns out that Mr. Mueller has a history of “prolonged, abusive” attacks that trample over the rights of American citizens. This isn’t the first time he diligently shepherded a long and expensive investigation in the opposite direction from where the evidence was pointing. The second most important case of his career lasted over ten years before being closed, using wrong “science and conclusions.”

A week after September 11, 2001 our nation was still reeling from the world trade center attack and somebody sent live anthrax through the U.S. mail. Five were killed and others hospitalized as Senator Tom Daschle’s office and NBC were targeted. Mueller was director of the FBI at the time and was fully in charge of what would become a ten-year investigation. “Hundreds of thousands of investigator hours” were expended.

Intelligence officials knew that al-Qaeda had been weaponizing anthrax at the same time they were planning to hijack the planes used in the 9/11 attacks. The pilots involved lived in the same house as one of the scientists running the anthrax lab. Terrorist Ahmed al Haznawa was treated at an American ER “with a skin lesion which a team of bio-terrorism experts from Johns Hopkins confirmed was probably due to anthrax.” The same terrorists trained to pilot the commercial jets used in the attacks, “were also trying to obtain crop-dusting airplanes.”

The deeper the inquisition digs, the more dirt gets shoveled up, connecting Hillary Clinton with Russian “nogoodniks” and a penchant for rigging elections.

While anthrax victims lay dying, Robert Mueller released a statement announcing that the bureau had found “no direct link to organized terrorism.” According to Mueller, “the Johns Hopkins team of experts was mistaken.” The crop-dusting planes were “for a separate and unrelated anthrax attack.”

A few weeks later, Mueller again stunned the world. When FBI experts analyzed the letters, they ignored the words “Death to America, Death to Israel, Allah is Great” written in upper-case block letters. Instead, they focused on “a linguistic analysis” that concluded “the letter’s author was not comfortable or practiced in writing in lower-case lettering,” so it had to be written by “an American.” It seems that Mueller thinks Americans aren’t capable of using the lower-case alphabet but towel-headed terrorists, who normally speak Arabic, are.

Based on the letters, Mueller’s team profiled the attacker as “a lonely American who had wanted to kill people with anthrax for some undefined time period but then became ‘mission-oriented’ following 9/11 and immediately prepared and mailed the deadly spores while pretending to be Muslim.” They soon zoomed in on Steven Hatfill.

Americans aren’t capable of using the lower-case alphabet but towel-headed terrorists, who normally speak Arabic, are.

The staffer dedicated to “protecting America from bioterrorist threats” worked at the United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases and was described as a “flag-waving” American who had served in the Army.” After spying, following, and harassing Hatfill for years, the Department of Justice publicly declared him a “possible terrorist” but they never pressed a single charge. The FBI admits, “there was no direct link from Hatfill to the attacks.” Hatfill won his suit against the government for $6 million dollars.

The next lead to show up on FBI radar was Bruce Ivins. He, too, was an Army bioterrorism researcher. Ivins was himself part of Mueller’s squad, “after having gone out of his way to contact the FBI to volunteer his expertise.” Five years after the anthrax was mailed, Ivins found himself the prime suspect. Again, the case was totally circumstantial.

The allegations were based on an anthrax spore sample that the FBI considered, “misleading.” PBS documentary producer Frontline “documented that this was a lie.” The Feds pointed their finger at Ivins because he was “familiar” with the neighborhood the letters were mailed from, despite the hard physical evidence “showing that it was impossible for Ivins to make the trip to mail the letters.”

This isn’t the first time he diligently shepherded a long and expensive investigation in the opposite direction from where the evidence was pointing.

The clincher for the FBI was “the spores used in the attacks were a similar type to the laboratory spores where Ivins worked.” The only problem is that they ignored “the fact that the anthrax letters had a unique additive.” According to one scientist, the additive was so “sophisticated and dangerous” that it could only be produced by either a country or al-Qaeda. “This is not your mother’s anthrax,” he warned.

Just like Hatfill, Ivins was never indicted. After his house was raided and he was “put under relentless pressure of accusation and innuendo,” he committed suicide, his attorney explains. A week later, he was declared by U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Taylor, “guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.” The DOJ was convinced “Dr. Ivins was the only person responsible for these attacks.” The case was conveniently closed.

A year later, Mueller ordered the National Academy of Science to conduct an independent audit of the FBI case but quietly closed it back down before any conclusions were reported. The results NAS reached confirmed that “the FBI’s science and conclusions were wrong.” Despite the independent questioning of his conclusions, Mueller still insists, “I do not apologize for any aspect of this investigation, the FBI has made no mistakes.”

(conservativedailypost.com)

In what would be a major symbolic moment, the governments of North Korea and South Korea have agreed to march together to open the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang,according to a new AP report.

South Korean officials said that the two nations will march under a unified flag under the terms of an agreement reached Wednesday in the border village of Panmunjom. The measure requires the approval of the International Olympic Committee, and the countries will present the plan to the IOC later this week.

The two nations will also form a shared women’s ice hockey team, and North Korea will send a 230-person “cheering squad” to the Olympics.

Although the discussions, the first in two years, are a positive step in warming relations between the two countries, Japan in particular has warned against falling for North Korea’s “charm offensive.” North Korea has refused to halt development of new nuclear missiles, and has fired missiles over Japan, despite increasingly severe U.N. sanctions.

“It is not the time to ease pressure, or to reward North Korea,” Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono said. “The fact that North Korea is engaging in dialogue could be interpreted as proof that the sanctions are working.”

Jay Busbee is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Contact him at jay.busbee@yahoo.com or find him on Twitter or on Facebook.

(Yahoo sports)