Children are being exploited on a multi-leveled, multi-dimensional, multi-faceted, trans-criminal, cross-cultural and trans-national manner. It is systematically organised. – Christine Dolan
Help save Kids?
A lawsuit was filed in 2003 August 8th in San Mateo, California, against The International Humanitarian Campaign Against the Exploitation of Children (IHCAEC), a Massachusetts non-profit corporation led by former CNN Political editor Christine Dolan 1 and George W Stone, a travel writer and assistant editor for National Geographic’s Traveler section.
As of writing Dolan’s flash heavy helpsavekids.org website still remains, though without updates since 2002. We read:
In the summer of 2000, the International Centre for Missing and Exploited Children commissioned me to do an investigation of the exploitation of children emanating from the Balkan crises. I was so moved by the horror that these children have endured that I decided that the investigation was not enough. A war needs to be waged against those who traffic and abuse children. As a result, I launched the International Humanitarian Campaign Against the Exploitation of Children on May 4, 2001. The overall purpose of the campaign is to eradicate this insane and gruesome horror and protect the children. Our fundamental belief is that every adult has the responsibility and duty to protect every child on the planet. 2
Reading most of Dolan’s site one can only come away thinking that this is a person in touch with reality and doing an admirable job of raising awareness of human trafficking and government apathy. However, according to a widely reported press release Dolan: “…stood accused of failing to provide an accounting of donations amid suspicions of misappropriation and financial improprieties involving more than $282,000 in donations.”3 From lawsuit files we read a “complaint for accounting, wrongful breach of oral contracts, civil conspiracy, and intentional misrepresentation.”4
The lawsuit was filed by the Kronzer Foundation headed by Philip J. Kronzer, a so-called Californian philanthropist, devout catholic and a self-styled, anti-fraud crusader. He contributed substantial amounts to IHCAEC and for accounting information which the group refused to provide, Kronzer was forced to file a judgement against them, which later included files for deformation and slander. He won the case receiving $285,000 in damages. Dolan continued her mission by setting up another charity called Global Campaign to End Human Trafficking NOW (endtraffickingnow.org/) in 2004. The full case details on Kronzer’s website makes interesting reading, if rather frustrating, not least for the children Dolan claimed to speak for. The Statements of facts is a sorry tale of deception that includes a litany of accusations that appear to have held up. This does not necessarily provide the truth in the Kronzer Vs Dolan case. The reverse may be true.
It began in November 2001 when Dolan began soliciting donations by telephone in Washington, DC, from the Kronzer Foundation based in California. The lawsuit files claimed that she intentionally deceived the foundation by exaggerating her connections and affiliations to a list of high flyers in politics, corporate business, intelligence communities, and the entertainment world. In fact, it reads like a veritable “who’s who” of the rich and powerful. Kronzer called IHCAEC Dolan’s “alter ego” where, by 2002, with the help of Patrick Roddy, former Executive Producer of ABC News vouching safe for her “good works,” thousands of dollars of his donations were spent on “yacht charters, hotels, phone-calls, alcohol, restaurants and luxury items.”5 The deception continued by pandering to Kronzer’s Catholicism with promises of high level meetings with Vatican officials and even the Pope himself, neither of which materialized. Apparently, more promises and more lies continued.
It is alleged that In order to fund her “lavish lifestyle” and to keep the money rolling in, the Balkans became the primary focus for her investigative reports most particularly the Franciscans of Bosnia and Medjugorje as the agents of Balkan child trafficking. This was no coincidence. Dolan allegedly used most of the donations to go on a fact finding mission across most of Europe culminating in Bosnia-Herzegovina, where Dolan believed Franciscan priests were both abusing children and harbouring paedophiles. It is worth mentioning at this point, that Philip Kronzer believed his wife to be a brainwashed member of Medjugorje which has long since had accusations of cult-status levelled at it, with good reason it seems. It is then that things become more complex.
Notes
1 Christine Dolan might also be remembered for being part of the hounding of CBS Evening News anchor Dan Rather and his now famous January 25 interview of Vice President George Bush. Dolan was quoted in USAToday regarding Rather’s tough grilling of Bush on the contra affair: “You don't ask the Vice President a question and not give him a chance to answer...Rather looked like an aging journalist having a mid-life crisis on national TV.” He was then put out to pasture rather rapidly. He was to be among many traditional news journalists who did not tow the line that were “retired” in more ways than one.
2 International Humanitarian Campaign Against the Exploitation of Children www.helpsavekids.org/
3 ‘Child Advocacy group in financial fraud suit’ August 10 2003, PRWeb Press Release News Wire, prweb.com/
4 The Phillip J. Kronzer Foundation http://www.kronzer.org/dolan.pdf.
5 Ibid
No comments:
Post a Comment