A film student duped a young girl into sharing intimate pictures and then tried to “blackmail” her into having sex, or he would send the images to her social media followers, a court has heard. Stephen Seery, aged 22, also attacked a female garda with a punch and a kick in the face when she posed as the girl and went to meet him, Mullingar Circuit Criminal Court was told. Judge Keenan Johnson imposed a three-year suspended sentence after the accused pleaded guilty to an offence under the Harassment, Harmful Communications and Related Offences Act 2020 for threatening to distribute intimate images of the girl on August 23, 2022. Seery, of Vilanstown, Gaybrook, Mullingar, Co Westmeath, was also ordered to carry out 240 hours of community service instead of a sentence of two years and six months for assault causing harm to Garda Gemma Prendergast. He must also pay each victim €5,000. Judge Johnson recalled the prosecution evidence, which revealed how Seery used an Instagram account with an AI-generated name. He began communicating with the girl, “persistently” asking for nude pictures. He told her he would send her an iPhone 12 and she sent him eight to 10 photos, including two without clothes, but edited them so her face was not visible. The phone did not arrive, and when queried, “the accused threatened to send the pictures to the victim’s followers if she did not meet and have sex with him”. It was then arranged that they would meet at a bridge near the old abandoned train station in Mullingar, but the victim reported him to gardaí. Gda Prendergast went to the area and presented herself as the victim, but Seery realised “and reacted by punching her”. The officer identified herself as a garda, and “the accused proceeded to kick her in the head”. She described the blows as “exceptionally violent”. She managed to get her hand up to protect her head from the force of the kick, which sent her “spinning to the ground” and leaving her bruised. Other gardaí observing the incident arrested the accused, who admitted he was behind the Instagram account. The girl’s victim impact statement outlined the extreme upset caused, and she told gardaí “she wants to put the matter behind her and move on with her life”. In his interviews, Seery told gardaí he had no friends besides people he engaged with online. Gda Prendergast said in her victim impact statement that, in her 20-year career, she had never encountered such aggression before and it has left her shaken. Judge Johnson noted: “Instead of trying to talk or run away, his first response was to kick her straight in the head.” Judge Johnson described the offences as disgraceful and cowardly, involving a vile intrusion on the girl. Seery then adopted a sinister approach and attempted to blackmail her into having sex with her, or the pictures would be distributed to her followers. “This was an appalling and despicable act and clearly involved creative planning and premeditation,” he said, adding that this was a particularly aggravating feature of the case. Both victims were traumatised, he noted. A forensic psychological assessment put found Seery’s risk of further sexual offence in the medium range, based on his current status, but found it could increase if he began drinking heavily again. Mitigating factors were his young age, remorse, lack of previous convictions, and guilty plea, and the judge said it appeared Seery’s offending was affected by his sense of isolation and depressive symptoms. He said it was out of character for the accused and an aberration. It was clear, he stated, that Seery was from a good family, and following apprehension, he accepted the offences were malicious, furnished letters of apology to his victim, and expressed shame. The court heard he worked part-time, was on a film production course, and engaging with his doctor and counselling, which needs to continue, and he has quit binge drinking. The court noted he had been recently diagnosed with autism, and this diagnosis would assist him in getting help to reduce his risk of reoffending. The judge learned from the accused’s father that Seery had issues from childhood, suffered a mental breakdown in his teens, and “was in a dark place for years”. The accused, who had no prior convictions, will be placed on the sex offenders register, must not reoffend for six years, must never contact the victims, continue counselling, and remain in education and probation supervision for 18 months.Nigeria denies colluding with France to undermine Niger
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Cornelious Brown IV throws 5 TD passes to lead Alabama A&M past Mississippi Valley State 49-35Researchers have found how frontotemporal dementia (FTD) fundamentally alters a person’s capacity for empathy, revealing new insights into a condition that can strike people as young as 40. Symptoms typically start between the ages of 40 and 65. However, it can also occur in younger and older adults, and men and women are equally at risk. Researchers Lindberg from Karolinska Institutet and Alexander Santillo from Lund University analyzed the brain activity of 28 diagnosed FTD patients using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), a common, noninvasive type of brain imaging used to measure brain activity by detecting changes associated with blood flow, and 28 healthy controls. Their examination focused on patient reactions to images of hands being pierced by needles, a stimulus expected to activate brain regions associated with processing pain and suffering. Patients with bvFTD had reduced responses in the brain areas involved in processing empathy. Lindberg emphasized that the new insights into brain activity could enhance understanding of this complex disease. “This captures a key symptom in patients, and with a lack of empathy, it naturally becomes more difficult to act socially. So, it can affect the judgement [sic] of whether to be cared for at home, for example,” he noted in the press release.
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Q. My husband recently retired from a high-level position. He has things to do but nothing seems to rekindle his spark. I think he is going through a mid-life crisis in later life. Is there such a thing? M.N. What you are describing might be called a late-life crisis . Such a crisis is described by Richard Leider and David Shapiro in their book, “What Do You Want to Be When You Grow Old? The Path of Purposeful Aging” (2021, Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc.). Here are some signs the authors identify: experiencing dissatisfaction, a loss of identity, an expectations gap and the feeling that life has peaked. Some also may believe life is a downhill journey. It’s having a feeling of being irrelevant. And it’s not just a guy thing. Both men and women are likely to experience it equally. Several events can cause a crisis in later life. Among them is the death of a loved one, an illness, money problems or no longer being able to walk the usual number of miles or having difficulty with poses in a yoga class. It also could be just boredom, doing the same thing day after day. Then there is retirement , which also can be a cause. For many, the loss of the work role can leave a huge gap in the reason to get up in the morning. For many, work is more than just a paycheck . It can provide a sense of purpose, social connection, structure for the day and knowing someone or some entity expects something from us. In a sense, it’s knowing we are needed. But other causes can cause a crisis in addition to the loss of the work role. For example, being out of touch with current technology, feeling unemployable and invisible in social situations or the marketplace. How do individuals know if they are experiencing a late-life crisis? Here are several questions that can serve as a clue, suggested by Leider and Shapiro. One key to avoiding or managing a late-life crisis is to not go it alone. “Isolation is fatal,” write Lieder and Shapiro. This makes me want to share examples from a recent discussion, not necessarily of a crisis, but increased awareness of the question of “who am I now and who do I want to be?” This discussion took place at a meeting with a group of women who are not going it alone. The group was made up of retired career women who are part of Renewment , a small grassroots movement that supports and inspires career women from work to retirement and beyond. Most were not going through a crisis, yet raised questions that indicated there are issues that may not reach the crisis level, yet still are important. For example, a retired successful entrepreneur asked the question, “Am I doing as much as I am capable of? Do I want to have an impact on a small or large scale?” A recent widow said, “Being a widow is not where I wanted to be at this time in my life; it’s not my identity. I feel so fragmented exploring who I am.” Another added, “I continue to be so hard on myself; always feeling I should do more; I am busy but not happy.” These same women and others in the group shared tips on avoiding problems that could lead to a late-life crisis. A therapist has emerged as an artist in New York and another was deeply involved in the election. A retired professor is traveling to Cuba and a former teacher launched a foundation. They have engagements that reflect a passion and sense of purpose. That’s the topic for next week. A point to remember: No one gets through this life alone. As Leider and Shapiro warn against isolation, remember that finding friends, colleagues, counselors or family members to talk about what’s going on can help avoid a crisis. Stay well everyone and as always, be kind. Helen Dennis is a nationally recognized leader on issues of aging and the new retirement with academic, corporate and nonprofit experience. Contact Helen with your questions and comments at Helendenn@gmail.com . Visit Helen at HelenMdennis.com and follow her on facebook.com/SuccessfulAgingCommunity Related Articles
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COP29 deal clinched, what are countries saying?Whoopi Goldberg and her lefty cohorts on “The View” went to the mat Monday in defense of President Biden’s sweeping pardon of his son Hunter , writing it off as just “what presidents do” and dismissing criticism of the controversial move as “foolish” and “pearl-clutching.” Goldberg launched straight into her defense of Biden during the ABC TV show’s “Hot Topics” segment by rattling off a list of people President-elect Donald Trump pardoned during his first term, including Roger Stone and Michael Flynn. “That’s what presidents do every time. They do it every time, they pardon somebody, so I’m not sure why the pearl-clutching is happening now, except that that’s what folks want to do. But it seems kind of foolish,” Goldberg said. Nearly all of the show’s other co-hosts were in ideological lock-step with Goldberg as usual, with the panel’s lone conservative voice, Alyssa Farah Griffin — who served as press secretary of the Department of Defense during Trump’s first term — chiming in with the only dissent. “Most Americans, if they face consequences for actions that they took, they’re going to have to face them, and nobody powerful and politically connected is going to come sweep in and save them,” Griffin said, adding that Biden’s pardon “feeds the notion to a lot of this country that there’s simply a different set of rules for those in power.” She also hit out at President Biden for “lying” when he repeatedly previously claimed he would not pardon his only living son on felony gun and tax convictions in Delaware and California. But Griffin spared some sympathy for White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, who was made to fib about it from the podium for her boss on multiple occasions. “I felt bad for Karine Jean-Pierre,” she said. “This is why people don’t trust Washington, this is why they don’t trust politicians. I know a lot of us like Joe Biden, but I find it disappointing and bad for our institutions.” Co-host Sunny Hostin — a former prosecutor — offered up the lukewarm take that the younger Biden wouldn’t have been prosecuted if not for his last name and connection to the president. The show’s Ana Navarro agreed, lamenting on the “guilt” Biden “has to live with” that Hunter was being prosecuted “because he is his son.” Then, looking directly into the camera, Navarro said dramatically, “Hunter, your dad has given you a great, great gift: The gift of freedom.” Griffin resisted her co-hosts’ rosy characterization of the sweeping pardon, referring to President Biden’s oft-repeated assertion that no pardon would be forthcoming as a “lie” that sets a dangerous precedent, prompting Goldberg to again defend the lame-duck commander in chief. “I think Biden had no intentions of pardoning Hunter,” Goldberg said. “I think the more stuff went down, he said, ‘Why am I busting my behind to stay straight and do this when no one else is doing it?’ “ The liberal hosts of “The View” weren’t the only ones in the left-wing media to have strong reactions to the pardon, with anti-Trump MSNBC contributor Molly Jong-Fast rendered speechless after hearing the news live on the air. “I just heard it, I have to process it. I don’t have a take, I’m sorry,” she said — with barely restrained glee. In a statement announcing the pardon, President Biden said he felt his son was being “unfairly prosecuted” in the case. “I believe in the justice system, but as I have wrestled with this, I also believe raw politics has infected this process and it led to a miscarriage of justice,” he wrote.