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SOCIETY FOR PROMOTION OF COMMUNITY STANDARDS INC.

Child Youth & Family (CYF) apology after teen placed with rapist – Stuff.co.nz

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A Taranaki woman who was put in the care of a convicted rapist during her teens has had an apology from Child Youth and Family.

At 16, the woman whose real name has not been released, was taken from her family and placed with an uncle who had spent six years in prison for taking part in a gang rape and who subsequently sexually abused her.

The woman said a friend of her uncle’s who has since died from AIDS also abused her and she and her first born son are HIV positive.

In a statement reported by Marae Investigates, the Ministry of Social Development said it was a gap in CYF policy that had let the woman down.

“In 2001 it wasn’t mandatory for CYF staff to do criminal checks around family placement decisions made at youth justice Family Group Conferences.”

Ministry of Social Development deputy chief executive David Shanks said that staff at the time still had to check the suitability of caregivers and the Ministry does not condone the placement of any child or young person with a convicted sex offender.

The woman was removed from her uncle’s care after reporting the abuse.

Criminal checks for CYF placements became compulsory early this year.

“I can assure the public that our assessment process has been strengthened in more recent years, with staff expected to do police checks if there were any concerns around family/whanau placements,” Mr Shanks said.

Source: Stuff.co.nz  Fairfax NZ News. 24 June 2012

See: http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/7161890/CYF-apology-after-teen-placed-with-rapist

Former sex expo firm – Eden Digital Ltd – owes $350,000 – NZ Herald 16 June 2012

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The company that held the licence for a sex expo allegedly still owes creditors more than $350,000, according to its liquidator’s latest report.

In 2008 Auckland-based Eden Digital was given the licence to run the Erotica Lifestyle Expo – an event “targeted at adult consumers” which has been held in Auckland and some other North Island centres for more than a decade.

The event was often preceded by the Boobs on Bikes parade, which featured topless women riding on motorcycles.

But in November last year Eden Digital was placed into liquidation after its licence for the expo was cancelled by its shareholder CVC Group.

CVC is also the sole shareholder of Esprit Events, the new licence-holder for the expo.

After the cancellation, Eden Digital’s income was “decimated”, liquidator Grant Reynolds said.

According to a report Reynolds filed with the Companies Office this week, Eden Digital allegedly still owes creditors more than $350,000.

One preferential creditor had filed a claim for $171,792 and seven non-preferential unsecured creditors had filed claims totalling $183,901, the report said.

At the time of liquidation it was estimated the company owed $434,000.

A list of creditors when the company was first liquidated included Inland Revenue, ACC, ASB Showgrounds and Marquis Condoms.

According to Reynolds, Eden Digital was sold to a related party shortly before he was appointed and he is investigating this sale, as well as any possible voidable preferences.

A voidable preference is a payment of debt made before liquidation which a liquidator can apply to call back on the grounds it unfairly privileged some creditors over others.

Reynolds is also investigating any possible Companies Act breaches.

Pornography industry heavyweight Steve Crow is a former director of Eden Digital, according to Companies Office records. In 2010, Crow was banned from acting as a director for four years after the collapse of companies linked to him.

Source. Story by Hamish Fletcher. 16 June 2012

See: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10813330

Eden Digital Ltd – update on liquidation and Erotica Lifestyles Expo licence transfer

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Update on Inquiry into Funding of NZ Porn Industry: On 13th June 2012 the second Liquidator’s Report on Eden Digital Limited (In Liq) was issued (It was put into liquidation on 22/11/11 and was directed by American businessman John M Carr CPA from 23/04/08 to 13/09/11). [ Photo of John M Carr http://www.carr.co.nz/images/jmc.jpg ]

The Report revealed that one preferential creditor – (the IRD) has filed a claim in liquidation for $171,792 [for unpaid GST & PAYE].  Based on the first (earlier) Liquidation Report, the company’s employees, who constitute another class of preferential creditors, are owed $20,000 in wages. The latest report shows that seven non-preferential (unsecured) creditors, have filed claims in liquidation for $183,901. This brings the total owed by Eden Digital Ltd to these creditors, to $355,693. An additional several thousands of dollars will probably be claimed by Grant Bruce Reynolds, the Liquidator, of Reynolds & Associates Ltd, (Insolvency Practitioners), for his fees and expenses, and these costs must be paid in advance of all other payments to preferential creditors.

It is unlikely that any of the unsecured creditors will receive anything after all the secured creditors are finally paid out. The latter include the shareholder CVC Group Ltd, directed by John M Carr CPA and holder of all 150,000 company shares in Eden Digital Ltd; Vision Rentals Ltd, Solutions Group Receivables, Konica Minolta Business Solutions and Harper Collins Publishers.

Eden Digital Ltd, which was incorporated on 23rd April 2008, held the licence for Erotica Lifestyles Expo until 16 September 2011 (as reported in the Waikato Times) – the day John M Carr CPA resigned as director of Eden Digital Ltd and appointed Raymond Sydney Corben Simpson of Mt Eden, Auckland, as its sole director. On that same day the Expo licence owner, CVC Group Ltd, directed by John M Carr, withdrew the licence from the licencee Eden Digital Ltd, also directed by John M Carr. (CVC Group Ltd owns Eden Digital Ltd and both have John M Carr as sole director).

Although Eden Digital Ltd was technically put into liquidation on “by special resolution of the shareholders”, under ‘the watch’ of Mr Raymond Simpson on 22nd November 2011; this action was necessitated as a result of a financial collapse that occurred under the sole ‘watch’/directorship of John M Carr.

It would appear that Eden Digital Ltd must have been trading whilst insolvent and had not been paying tax for many months – prior to Mr Simpson being appointed as director – a state of affairs that occurred under the directorship of John M Carr – [ Note again!: he was director from 23 April 2008  to 16 September 2011. More importantly he was sole director from 15 May 2010 to 13 September 2010].

Having abandoned the directorship of Eden Digital Ltd on 16 September 2011, Mr John M Carr’s next move was to incorporate the company Esprit Events Ltd, of which he is sole director, a company also owned by CVC Group Ltd. Esprit Events Ltd purchased the Erotica Lifestyles Expo licence from CVC Group Ltd, a company of which he (Carr) is also sole director. CVC Group Ltd wholly owns both Eden Digital Ltd and Esprit Events Ltd.

Eden Digital Ltd was the licensee of Erotica Expo Expo and the transfer of the licence to a related party, Esprit Events Ltd, could hardly be seen as a significant or complex financial transaction. Director John M Carr merely obtained the licence from himself and then gave it to back himself, then returned it to himself, to put it crudely. Such a ‘transaction’ did not require a large contingent of lawyers from Checketts McKay Law firm in Cromwell or a consignment of Adult Services handmaidens to effect the ‘complex’ financial ownership transmutation. It was not exactly the ‘sale of the century’.

Having now obtained the financial records of Eden Digital Ltd, Grant Bruce Reynolds, the Liquidator, has indicated that he will be focusing his investigation into Mr John M Carr’s activities as director: specifically on “any potential breaches under the Companies Act,” and on any possible voidable preferences”. He will also be “Reviewing the sale of the business [Erotica Lifestyles Expo/Eden Digital Ltd] to a related party [Esprit Events Ltd] pre liquidation including obtaining advice on the validity of the sale and whether or not adequate consideration was given by the Purchaser for the business.”

Among the 22 unsecured creditors of Eden Digital Ltd listed in the First Liquidation Report filed on 23 November 2011, are PJ Digital Ltd and the US-registered corporation Better Business Services, Inc.  [see note below] both owned and directed by John M Carr; NZX Media Ltd and Ezisoft Computer Systems Ltd, both directed by David Bruce Crow; ASB Showgrounds which has provided the venue for a number of successive Erotica Lifestyle Expos; IRD (penalties and interest for unpaid tax), and ACC (unpaid ACC levies).

Note: Better Business Services, Inc., also referred to as BBS Inc, was incorporated in San Antonio, Texas, on November 11th, 1983, and was authorised under Texas Charter number 67876000 to carry out defined business activities in Texas, including those carried out in a certified public accountancy practice (tax returns, bookkeeping, payroll etc). John M Carr CPA is director, president and registered agent of Better Business Services, Inc. an unsecured creditor of the NZ-registered company Eden Digital Ltd (In Liq). On 6th September 1984 under charter number P03291 BBS, Inc. was authorised to do similar business in Florida.

References:

Expo claim ‘bollocks’  By Daniel Adams. 29 November 2011

http://www.stuff.co.nz/waikato-times/news/6053216/Expo-claim-bollocks

Companies Office website: www.companies.govt.nz

Porn Kingdom asset sale to be questioned. National Business Review. 8 July 2009. By Lucy Craymer.

http://www.nbr.co.nz/article/porn-kingdom-asset-sale-be-questioned-105061

Josh McDowell’s new website spells dangers of on-line porn

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Christian apologist and author Josh McDowell has launched Just1ClickAway.org – a new website to raise awareness about the dangers of online pornography which he says has the potential to lead to the disintegration of families.

See YouTube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xlnYrsZ7r-8

“Today we have, by and large, lost control of the controls. With just one keystroke on a smartphone, iPad, or laptop, a child can open up some of the worst pornography and sexually graphic content you can imagine. There’s never been such access in history,” he says.

McDowell, who has written or co-authored 120 books since 1960, backs his claims with shocking statistics about the destructive impact of pornography on families. More than 1 billion pornographic websites are one click away, and the average age of first-time pornography exposure is just eleven.

About 80 per cent of 15 to 17 year-olds have been exposed to hardcore porn, and the adult pornography industry reports that 20 to 30 per cent of its traffic comes from children.

The newly produced video on the Just1ClickAway.org website shows that pornography aggressively preys on and attacks its victims. The video has a warning label for its mature-content. Offering hope and help, McDowell has made available resources about the pervasiveness of pornography viewing and offers solutions.

The Bare Facts, McDowell’s “biblically based, medically sound and culturally relevant campaign”, provides youth and those who influence them with an understanding of love, sexuality and relationships.

Source: UK (The Christian Post)

as reported in Challenge Weekly June 4, 2012, p. P4. Story by Anugrah Kumar

The website www.Just1Clickaway.org reports that Sex online is an “epidemic” problem

1. As many as 1 out of 4 online searches are for porn.

2. Every second 30,000 people are viewing porn. The average age of first exposure is just 11.

3. Pornography use increases the marital infidelity rate by more than 300%

4.In 56% of all divorce cases, one party had an obsessive interest in porn sites.

 

Debate needed to understand purpose of marriage – says registered charity Family First NZ

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“Gays and lesbians have a right to form meaningful relationships – they just don’t have a right to redefine marriage. The state – which did not invent marriage – has no authority to re-invent it.” Bob McCoskrie – National Director Family First NZ

In its Media Release dated 6 June 2012, Family First NZ, a charity (CC10094) registered with the Charities Commission, on 21 March 2007, says:

“The variation in recent results of same-sex marriage polls, and the influence of the question asked, simply highlights the need for a robust debate on the issue.

“In the US, polls have also shown support for same-sex marriage increasing, yet in 32 states where the issue has been on the ballet, voters have rejected it. Experts have said that the phrasing of the question can determine the outcome of the poll,” says Bob McCoskrie, National Director of Family First NZ.

“A Research NZ poll last year of 500 people found that 60% of those polled supported the right of same-sex couples to marry – similar to tonight’s Close Up poll. However, earlier polling of 1,000 NZ’ers through independent research company Curia Market Research found greater support for maintaining the definition of marriage as a man and a woman. All this suggests that there is debate to be had on this issue.”

“At the end of the day, same sex couples have the option of civil unions to recognise their relationship so there is no need for redefining marriage. Equality does not mean we must redefine marriage for everyone. If the law was redefined to allow same-sex marriage, and only same-sex marriage, we would then be discriminating against those seeking, for example, polygamous, polyamorous (group), or adult incest unions,” says Mr McCoskrie. “If we are going to have a debate about same-sex marriage and liberalising adoption laws, it is essential that the politicians acknowledge just how far this is going to go.”

“Almost every culture in every time and place has had some institution that resembles what we know as marriage, and it has always been associated with procreation. Every society needs natural marriage. Nature also discriminates against same-sex couples. Same-sex couples cannot have children. Only a man and a woman can produce children. This discloses something of the purposes and providence of nature, and the necessity of the two sexes,” says Mr McCoskrie.

“Gays and lesbians have a right to form meaningful relationships – they just don’t have a right to redefine marriage. The state – which did not invent marriage – has no authority to re-invent it.”

ENDS

Media release: 6 June 20122

Posted by Bob McCoskrie, Director Family First NZ

http://familyfirst.org.nz/2012/06/debate-needed-to-understand-purpose-of-marriage/