for breaking the latest fallout from a scandal involving sexual harassment and other misconduct around the National Parks Service: Disciplinary action would be taken against 10 people at Yellowstone National Park. http://bit.ly/2wsYfzX http://wapo.st/2ffQPwF
for accompanying Filipino police on a raid that exposed the relatively new and rapidly spreading crime of Webcam child sex abuse. https://apnews.com/74b81f79e9024124a1cfe43a0ce9eec...
It was a #MeToo moment from the Vatican with a seemingly unlikely accuser â a nun.
Vatican correspondent Nicole Winfieldâs interview with a nun, who broke a 20-year-silence about being physically assaulted by an Italian priest, and reporting by Uganda correspondent Rodney Muhumuza about the scope of abuse in Africa, resulted in the AP being the first news organization to chronicle the global impact on nuns of the #MeToo movement.
Their story, which included expert analysis and exclusive Vatican comment urging nuns to report and bishops to sanction abusive priests, earns the Beat of the Week.
for her harrowing investigation revealing widespread sexual abuses and torture in United Arab Emirates-run prisons in Yemen. https://bit.ly/2tDE0jY
for gaining unprecedented access to a meeting at Washington stateâs troubled Western State Hospital where staff expressed safety concerns as nurses and others are assaulted by patients and inmates with severe mental issues. https://bit.ly/2CqIOjE
for revealing that Michigan State University, already reeling from the Larry Nassar gymnastics scandal, had maintained ties to a prominent volleyball coach long after he was publicly accused in 1995 of sexually abusing and raping six underage girls. https://bit.ly/2HOFgWL
spent months digging into the secretive world of teen dance competitions, combing through court records and interviewing dozens of dancers to reveal a culture of sexual abuse and silence.In collaboration with The Toronto Star, the investigative reporters focused on one of the worldâs largest dance companies, Break the Floor, documenting sexual misconduct and assault claims against some of the most famous and influential dancers in the United States, including the companyâs founder and CEO, who sold the company as he came under the joint teamâs scrutiny.Read more
reported exclusively about a civilian U.S. Army employee who led a child sex in which he victimized his own adopted son and put national security at risk, all while the State of Arizona and the Department of Defense missed or ignored signs of his criminal behavior.Rezendes was investigating a separate story in Arizona when a source told him about the case. His reporting revealed that complaints had been filed against David Frodsham, the man at the center of the abuse ring, for years, but Arizona still allowed him to foster and adopt children, while the military kept him in sensitive management jobs, even though his behavior made him a national security risk.Read more
for an AP Exclusive revealing a particularly egregious case of sexual harassment in New Yorkâs state government, complete with an interview with the accused in which the man asked incredulously, âI tell her to âshut her whore mouthâ and Iâm the big villain?â Klepper also interviewed three women who say that supervisors did not act over the course of two years despite their claims that the man groped them and exposed himself. https://bit.ly/2ETadtX
for obtaining a 2,000-plus page forensic study commissioned by Pope Francis of the legal case against Argentinaâs most notorious convicted predator priest that concluded he was innocent, that his victims were lying and that the case never should have gone to trial. https://bit.ly/2xJNGen
showcased APâs global reach with a package marking the 20th anniversary of the Netherlands becoming the first country with legal same-sex marriages. Far more sweeping than a routine anniversary story, the coverage coordinated by New York-based national writer Crary and Netherlands chief correspondent Corder included an interview with one of the first couples married 20 years ago in the Netherlands. And with the help of multiple AP bureaus, it also detailed the uneven progress of same-sex marriage worldwide â now legal in 28 countries.In Amsterdam, the package was 20 years in the making â since April 1, 2001, when photographer Dejong documented the historic weddings. He re-edited those photos, then tracked down one of the couples he photographed in 2001; he and freelance video journalist Furtula persuaded the couple to grant an on-camera interview at their home.Back in the U.S., Goodman, photo editor for the Top Stories Hub, spent hours searching AP photo archives for images of milestone same-sex marriages around the world, producing a striking 24-photo package that included Dejongâs then-and-now photos. And top stories artist Francois Duckett created an interactive map showing the countries that have legalized same-sex marriage. APâs impressive body of work won plaudits on social media and extensive play.https://bit.ly/3fRHFDLhttps://bit.ly/3sSZ3fi
for looking into Jeffrey Epsteinâs charitable giving since his 2008 plea deal that required him to register as a sex offender, finding that he sought to underwrite all manner of causes for children, including an all-girls school near his Manhattan town house. https://bit.ly/2SkoaWG
for interviews with six more women who charge that maestro Charles Dutoit sexually abused them, including one who alleged rape. http://bit.ly/2Dbc9KM
for reporting accounts from three opera singers and a classical musician that renowned conductor Charles Dutoit sexually assaulted them, immediately causing widespread tumult and outrage in the classical music world. http://bit.ly/2COFJcQ
for a series of APNewsBreaks over four days in a decade-old university sex harassment case â a precursor to the #MeToo movement. One of the stories led to the reversal of court costs assessed against the accusers in the case. https://6abc.cm/2n7Nallhttps://bit.ly/2O3Nlta
for tallying more than 100 state lawmakers across the U.S. who had been credibly accused of harassment in the #MeToo era in the past three years â and what actions, if any, states have taken to address the problem. After a Michigan state lawmaker was accused by a young reporter and a fellow lawmaker of sexual harassment, AP moved quickly to provide a completely distinctive story â as well as an exclusive data set that members could mine for their own use. https://bit.ly/2GBJLFb
Police in New York City and New Jersey had already charged Dr. Ricardo Cruciani with rape and other serious sex offenses that could put him away for decades.
But in Philadelphia, where the allegations first surfaced? Some officials wouldnât even return phone calls, according to the women who say they were victimized by the prominent neurologist.
Alarm bells went off for northeastern Pennsylvania correspondent Michael Rubinkam when police in Philadelphia did not pursue a felony case, even though some of the accusers in New York and New Jersey cases said they had been assaulted in Philadelphia, too. He interviewed six women who described what they viewed as a shocking lack of care and concern on the part of city police and prosecutors. The women said they felt like theyâd been victimized twice â first by the doctor, then by law enforcement.
Rubinkamâs artfully written Only on AP story was widely used, and was displayed prominently on the homepage of Philadelphia's two major newspapers.
For enterprising work on a story of intense regional interest, Rubinkam wins this weekâs Best of the States award.
Jocelyn Geckerâs bombshell investigation of sexual harassment allegations against opera superstar Placido Domingo started with a song.
San Francisco-based Gecker was at a party about 18 months ago when she noticed the beautiful voice of the woman next to her singing âHappy Birthday,â and complimented her. The woman was a former opera singer who confided that the industry had a dark underbelly, offering her assessment that âPlacido Domingo is the Bill Cosby of the opera world.â
The discussion sparked months of work by Gecker to publicly reveal what many said had been an open secret in the opera world. In all, Gecker would find nine women who accused Domingo of sexual harassment and a half-dozen more who said the star made them uncomfortable. Getting people to go on the record proved challenging, but a breakthrough came when one of Domingoâs accusers agreed to tell her story on camera. The resulting 5,200-word story â and Domingoâs response â commanded instant attention and heavy engagement in global media.
For finding a major international story in an unlikely setting, and her care in dealing with sources while reporting tenaciously on a sensitive topic, Gecker earns APâs Best of the Week honors.
for using public records to report exclusively that the California Legislature spent more than $1.8 million on legal bills related to sexual harassment investigations during the period when at least nine lawmakers faced misconduct allegations. https://bit.ly/2u6tEt2
In the weeks after Jocelyn Geckerâs bombshell investigation detailing multiple sexual harassment allegations against Placido Domingo, competitors were out in full force, trying to produce their own stories about women who had encounters with the opera superstar.
But only the AP was able to advance the story, offering the accounts of an additional 11 women who said the legend had behaved inappropriately, including one who said on the record that Domingo insisted on kissing her and later forcefully grabbed her bare breast under her robe. In addition, backstage staff told the Jocelyns â APâs Gecker and Noveck â how they strove to keep young women from ever being alone with Domingo.
No one could match the pairâs reporting, which produced one of the most-read stories on APâs platform and formed the basis of stories by many other media outlets. Meanwhile, more opera companies announced they were canceling or reassessing their relationship with Domingo.
For remarkable source building and reporting that continued to give AP ownership of this highly competitive story, Gecker and Noveck earn this weekâs Best of the States award.
