1. “Meet my abuser and my new neighbour.” Woman molested as child by uncle calls for law change.
A 21-year-old woman is petitioning to change state law after the family member convicted of abusing her as a child has moved next door to the family home.
Danyelle Dyer was just seven years old when her uncle, Harold English, molested her in 2003. Two years later, he was convicted of lewd or indecent acts to a child, serving prison time before moving next door to his survivor’s family home in Bristol, Oklahoma.
“It was something terrible, something that should never have to happen to someone ever,” Danyelle told Inside Edition.
Under Oklahoma state law, Danyelle’s family aren’t able to have the man removed, something Danyelle says is an “obvious flaw” in victim safety.
“Warning! You never know who is living next door to you,” Danyelle wrote in a Facebook post, sharing her uncle’s profile on the sex offender registry.
“Meet my abuser and my new neighbor (sic). He has been asked to leave but in Oklahoma he can legally reside there.
“Surely Oklahoma can do better than this. My parents and I are out to change Oklahoma law because surely he can find somewhere else to live.”
Danyelle is urging other survivors of sexual assault to be vigilant in checking their region’s sex registry in order to protect themselves from further trauma.
“Victims have to live with it for the rest of their life while the abuser gets to live almost anywhere they want including next door to their victim,” she wrote.
“I wish to save other women and children from the pain that this man has put me through and is continuing to put my family through.”
2. Mystery surrounds death of 21-year-old Central Coast man who was found on the road side.
Police are investigating the mysterious circumstances surrounding the death of a 21-year-old man who was found badly injured and unconscious on the NSW Central Coast.
Jayden Mason was lying on the road with severe head injuries when a passing motorist spotted him in Lake Haven about 10.30pm on Saturday, AAP reports.
He was treated at the scene by paramedics and taken to John Hunter Hospital.
On Sunday, his family made the heart-rending decision to switch off his life support after they discovered the extent of his brain damage.
Police say they are investigating “all lines of inquiry” into what caused the death, including whether Jayden was bashed or hit by a car.
The young man’s family is struggling to come to terms with the tragic death.
Jayden’s friends paid tribute to him as “one of the greatest people” they knew.
“I love you forever Maso, thank you for all the memories growing up,” a friend wrote on Facebook.
“You will never be forgotten. You will live forever in our hearts.”
Police are appealing for information, and would like to speak with a woman who stopped to help the injured 21-year-old.
She is described as being in her 50s, and was driving a dark blue Ford Falcon sedan towing a box trailer.
3. Liberal MP Christopher Pyne suggests gay marriage could happen “sooner than everyone thinks”.
One of the Turnbull Government’s most senior ministers says legalising same-sex marriage in Australia could happen “sooner than everyone thinks”, AAP reports.
Defence Industry Minister Christopher Pyne made the comment to a gathering of moderate Liberals before the party’s federal council meeting in Sydney last Friday night, News Corp columnist Andrew Bolt reported on Monday.
“Friends, we are in the winner’s circle but we have to deliver a couple of things and one of those we’ve got to deliver before too long is marriage equality in this country,” Mr Pyne said, according to a recording obtained by Bolt.
“And your friends in Canberra are working on that outcome.
“It might even be sooner than everyone thinks.”
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull went to last year’s election with Tony Abbott’s plan for a plebiscite on same-sex marriage.
But the Senate in November rejected legislation that would have allowed the national vote to take place. Gay marriage has been off the government’s agenda since.
Deputy Prime Minister and Nationals leader Barnaby Joyce, who is London, said he was focused on other issues, such as the trade mission he is about to undertake.
“I’m going to make sure that I’m concentrating on the issues that people who elected me want, which is to get the best return back through the farm gate,” he told reporters after laying a wreath for London Bridge terror victims.
“What happens at dinners and other parts of Sydney is of no real consequence to me.”
4. Prince Philip is back in action, three days after being discharged from hospital.
The Duke of Edinburgh has accompanied the Queen to a Guards Polo Club event, three days after being discharged from hospital for treatment for an infection.
Prince Philip cut a relaxed and smiling figure as he watched a British Driving Society parade at Windsor Great Park in Berkshire, AAP reports.
After waving to well-wishers as he arrived at the event, the 96-year-old royal presented prizes to the winners of a carriage driving competition.
The Queen wore a mint green coat and matching hat at the event, which marked Prince Philip’s first public appearance since he was admitted to a private London hospital on Tuesday evening as a precautionary measure.
During his two-night hospital stay, Buckingham Palace officials said the Duke had cancelled an engagement at London Zoo as he continued to recuperate.
The Duke was due to visit the attraction next Wednesday, in his role as an honorary fellow of the Zoological Society of London, to present the Prince Philip Award for Contributions to Zoology.
Buckingham Palace says there are no current plans for Philip to miss other royal engagements.
5. 18-year-old Cole Miller’s one-punch killer is set to be sentenced today.
Armstrong Renata will find out on Monday how long he’ll spend behind bars for killing Brisbane teenager Cole Miller with a single punch.
The 22-year-old punched Mr Miller in the back of the head while out in Brisbane’s Fortitude Valley on January 3 last year.
The 18-year-old suffered massive brain trauma, with his family making the heartbreaking decision to turn off his life support in hospital the following day.
New Zealand national Renata pleaded guilty to unlawful striking causing death, an offence created in 2014 designed to combat alcohol-fuelled violence.
He’ll be sentenced in the Supreme Court on Monday, where he faces a maximum sentence of life imprisonment, AAP reports.
Due to the nature of his offence, he will have to serve 80 per cent, or at least 15 years, of any jail sentence he receives.
6. “Too big to fail.” The Great Barrier Reef is worth $56 billion, new research shows.
The Great Barrier Reef is valued at $56 billion, contributes $6.4 billion to the Australian economy each and underpins 64,000 jobs, new research shows.
Deloitte Access Economics also warns of vast economic consequences unless more is done to protect the World Heritage listed site, AAP reports.
“The reef is critical to supporting economic activity and jobs in Australia,” it said in a report prepared for the Great Barrier Reef Foundation charity.
“The livelihoods and businesses it supports across Australia far exceeds the numbers supported by many industries we would consider too big to fail.”
The reef’s value to Australia is the equivalent of 12 Sydney Opera Houses.
Governments must ramp up efforts to protect it, following back-to-back mass coral bleaching events and ongoing threats posed by climate change and poor water quality.
The report, to be officially launched on Hamilton Island on Monday, comes amid a sustained campaign by environmental groups against Adani’s new mega coal mine in Queensland which they say will destroy the reef.