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CRIMINAL

Prison for dad who made girl fake mental illness

A 46-year-old father who forced his young daughter to pretend she had a mental illness in order to cash in on assistance benefits was sentenced to four years in prison by a court in western Sweden on Thursday.

Published: 15 December 2011 11:43 CET

The man was convicted of aggravated fraud and aggravated benefits crimes after having received around 2.4 million kronor ($343,000) in personal care and medical assistance benefits meant to reimburse him for taking caring for his supposedly ill daughter.

Between 2003 and 2010, the man provided false information to both the National Social Insurance Agency (Försäkringskassan) and local authorities in Malmö about his daughter’s mental health resulting in weekly payouts of roughly 25,000 kronor.

The now 18-year-old girl has been held in isolation since the age of seven with the father claiming that she was infantile and unable to express herself in any other way than sounds and body language, leading to a diagnosis of autism and severe development disabilities.

But last autumn the girl ran away from home with her boyfriend and reported her father for unlawful threats, bringing his scam to the attention of the authorities.

She was then placed in a youth home, where the social services carried out an investigation which revealed that, contrary to all previous diagnoses, she had a high-level of mental functionality.

The father, who was arrested last summer, has continually denied committing any crime and still maintains his daughter is mentally ill.

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CHILD ABUSE

Vatican suspends Chilean deacon accused of child abuse

The Vatican dismissed a Chilean deacon over sexual abuse accusations in central Chile, the archdiocese of the city of Rancagua said Friday, amid a widespread abuse scandal gripping the country's Catholic Church.

Published: 21 July 2018 12:19 CEST
Vatican suspends Chilean deacon accused of child abuse
Pope Francis (pictured) in May accepted the resignation of five Chilean bishops amid accusations of abuse. Photo: AFP
Luis Rubio was arrested for improper conduct and sexual abuse of minors when he was in charge of a Las Cabras school in 2013.
 
A year later, the archdiocese of Rancagua dismissed him from his duties while an investigation was underway, with the results sent to the Vatican, which has now expelled him.
 
Rubio's case was brought to the forefront in May when a television report revealed an alleged network of sexual abuse carried out by a group of religious figures collectively known as “The Family.”
 
Rubio was interviewed in the report, during which he admitted he had “made a mistake, but not committed a crime.”
 
A total of 14 priests and other religious figures were suspended as the Church investigated the network, while Rancagua prosecutors also opened their own investigation.
 
 
Pope Francis in May accepted the resignation of five Chilean bishops amid accusations of abuse and related cover-ups. Meanwhile last week, prominent priest Oscar Munoz was arrested over allegations of sexual abuse and rape of at least seven children.
 
The pontiff also accepted the resignation of auxillary bishop Juan Jose Pineda in Honduras, who has faced allegations by former seminarians of sexual misconduct, the Vatican announced.
 
Pineda has given up his post as auxiliary bishop of the Catholic Church's archdiocese of Tegucigalpa, the Honduran capital, the Vatican said in a brief statement.
 
In March, former seminarians had accused the 57-year-old cleric of “serious sexual misconduct,” according to the US weekly National Catholic Register.
 
The alleged incidents happened earlier this decade when Pineda was teaching at the archdiocese's seminary for those studying for the priesthood.
 
Pineda was considered the righthand man of Honduran Cardinal Oscar Maradiaga, one of the closest advisors to Pope Francis and head of the “C9”, a council of cardinals who assist the pontiff in reforming the Vatican.