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Rehtaeh Parsons Arrests: 2 Suspects Held In Deadly Canada Cyberbullying Case
08/08/13 08:03 PM ET EDT AP
Canadian police have made arrests in connection with the cyberbullying-related death of Rehtaeh Parsons.
HALIFAX, Nova Scotia — Police in Canada charged two young men on Thursday with distributing child pornography in the cyberbullying case of a 17-year-old who died after a photo of her allegedly being sexually assaulted was shared online.
The death of Rehtaeh Parsons, who was taken off life support after a suicide attempt in April, led to an outcry. Police initially concluded there were no grounds to charge anyone after a yearlong investigation.
Her mother said a boy took a photo of the alleged assault in 2011 and that her daughter was bullied for months after it went viral.
Royal Canadian Mounted Police Chief Supt. Roland Wells said one man, 18, is charged with two counts of distributing child pornography and the second man, also 18, is charged with making child pornography and distributing it. Wells said the two are not being identified because they were minors when the alleged crimes occurred.
Halifax Police Chief Jean-Michel Blais said the available evidence did not meet the threshold for sexual assault charges against the two individuals. Blais said police also consulted with prosecutors and said there wasn't sufficient evidence for sexual assault charges.
Police announced the arrests earlier Thursday and the two were brought in for questioning.
Police in April said a person provided new information in the Parsons case and was willing to verify who the suspects are.
Earlier in the day, Rehtaeh's parents said news of the arrests brought them some solace, though the girl's father expressed disappointment that his daughter never saw justice served in her short life.
"She's dead now. She's gone," Glen Canning said.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper applauded the progress in the case and said Rehtaeh's death was a terrible tragedy that touched people across Canada.
"I just want to say how pleased we are that progress has been made. I hope this will provide some measure of comfort to family members," Harper said.
Rehtaeh's death has been compared to similar cases in the United States, including 15-year-old California girl Audrie Pott, who hanged herself after her family says she was sexually assaulted by friends and a photo surfaced online. Arrests were made in that case.
Rehtaeh's death prompted the Nova Scotia government to launch reviews of the RCMP's original investigation and the school board's handling of the matter. The review of the RCMP's investigation is ongoing.
An independent review released in June concluded the Halifax Regional School Board could have done a better job, but it was hindered by the fact that Rehtaeh was often absent from class. The report also said the Parsons family faced challenges when they turned to Nova Scotia's mental health system for help.
The charges come a day after a new law took effect in the province that allows people to sue if they or their children are being cyber bullied. Victims also can seek a protection order that could place restrictions on or help identify the cyberbully.
Justice Minister Ross Landry introduced the legislation weeks after Rehtaeh's death.
Both accused are due in youth court next Thursday.
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Associated Press writer Rob Gillies contributed to this report from Toronto.
British teens in hospital after Zanzibar acid attack
AFP Updated August 10, 2013, 9:12 am
LONDON (AFP) - Two British teenage girls were being treated for burns at a London hospital on Saturday after acid was hurled in their faces in the Indian Ocean island of Zanzibar.
Doctors said Kirstie Trup and Katie Gee, both 18, were doing "well" after Wednesday's attack, and Gee took to Twitter to thank supporters for their good wishes.
The girls, close friends who were working for three weeks as volunteer teachers on Zanzibar, were attacked by two men on a motorbike as they strolled through the historic centre, Stone Town.
The island's authorities have offered a reward for the capture of those responsible, and police said on Friday that seven people had been questioned.
The girls' families released a photograph of one of the victims' injuries, showing dark burns seared across her jaw, neck and chest, without identifying her.
Trup's father, Marc Trup, told The Times newspaper that efforts to help one of the girls after the attack had actually made her injuries worse.
One was immersed in the sea, where the salt water soothed the wounds, but the other was doused with dirty water which only made things worse, he said.
Gee's father, Jeremy Gee, earlier described the burns as "horrendous", telling The Daily Telegraph: "We are absolutely devastated. The level of the burns are beyond imagination."
The girls, who are due to start university in the coming weeks, were flown to Tanzania's economic capital Dar es Salaam for treatment, and then on to London on Friday.
In a Twitter message from the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital in the British capital, which has a specialist burns unit, Gee wrote: "Thank you for all your support x".
Andy Williams, consultant burns and plastic surgeon, said on Friday that the team was still assessing the girls' injuries.
"Both girls are well and their families are with them. They will be staying at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital," he said.
"Both families would like to thank everyone that's helped to bring the girls back. The families now wish to have time with the girls."
Hospital staff in Dar es Salaam said their injuries were relatively minor and suggested the liquid thrown at them may have been diluted acid.
Zanzibar's Tourism Minister Said Ali Mbarouk offered a reward of 10 million Tanzanian shillings ($6,200, 4,600 euros) for information leading to the arrest of the suspects, describing the attack as "a shame on the people of Zanzibar".
Tourism is the lifeblood of the semi-autonomous Tanzanian island, which is famed for its pristine white-sand beaches.
"We have to work harder to make sure that Zanzibar is safe for visitors and citizens," Mbarouk said.
Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete, who visited the two girls in hospital in Dar es Salaam, said the attack had "tarnished the image" of the country.
Tanzania is predominantly Muslim, and the attack happened at the end of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan as people were beginning to celebrate the Eid al-Fitr holiday.
Some of the island's more conservative Muslims object to foreign tourists who wear revealing clothes, as well as bars selling alcohol.
One of the girls had posted on her Twitter page that she had been hit by a Muslim woman in the street earlier in the trip, apparently for singing during Ramadan.
There were also reports that the pair had argued with a local shopkeeper.
But their families insist they had been careful to dress modestly while out on the streets of Zanzibar. Both from Jewish families, they also avoided any prominent displays of their faith.
"Both families are extremely upset and distressed at this completely unprovoked attack on their lovely daughters, who had only gone to Zanzibar with good intention," a spokesman for the girls' mothers said on Thursday.
The girls had been coming to the end of a three-week placement teaching at a local school, organised through i-to-i Travel, a British company that organises gap year work.
Acid has been used in several recent attacks in Zanzibar, although this is the first assault of its kind targeting foreigners on the holiday island.
