The Times - UK (2022-02-23)

34 Wednesday February 23 2022 | the times

Wo r l d

The top prosecutor in Los Angeles

County has announced a review of

criminal justice policies after a trans-

gender child molester boasted about

receiving a soft sentence.

George Gascón, the district attor-

ney, was elected on a progressive

platform in November 2020 but is

facing a recall effort because of his

perceived “woke” stances, including

not trying juveniles in an adult court

and prohibiting the pursuit of life

sentences.

However, he has been forced to

abandon those policies after a back-

lash prompted by the case of Hannah

Tubbs, 26, a transgender woman con-

victed of attacking a ten-year-old girl

in a restaurant lavatory in 2014.

Tubbs, who transitioned after she

had molested the victim, was 17 at the

time of the attack and Gascón’s office

allowed her to plead guilty in a juve-

nile court last month, where she was

sentenced to two years in jail. She

could be released after six months.

Amid mounting fury over the case

Trans child abuser mocks

her lenient jail sentence

from law enforcement, politicians

and even his own staff, Gascón, 67,

admitted it had been wrong not to

prosecute Tubbs as an adult.

However, the reversal only came

after it emerged that Fox News was

due to publish prison recordings of

Tubbs gloating about her soft

sentence while making “explicit

remarks” about the victim.

Tubbs, who prosecutors said began

identifying as a woman only after

being arrested for attacking the girl, is

said to have laughed while telling her

father that she will not have to regis-

ter as a sex offender.

Prosecutors inside Gascón’s office

are said to have been furious and have

accused the district attorney of

knowing about the prison recordings

for at least a month.

“He knew Fox was going to run

with those tapes. It was damage-con-

trol time,” Eric Siddall, a deputy dis-

trict attorney and frequent critic of

Gascón, told the Los Angeles Times.

Gascón, who was elected after

George Floyd’s death as progressive

activists across America demanded a

more liberal approach to crime, has

admitted that Tubbs should have

been tried in an adult court. He ac-

cused Tubbs of manipulating the

system and of potentially identifying

as transgender in an attempt to re-

ceive more lenient treatment.

“It’s unfortunate that she gamed

the system,” Gascón told the Los

Angeles Times. “If I had to do it all

over again, she would be prosecuted

in adult court.”

Gascón has announced a new ap-

proach to juvenile cases after the

Tubbs furore. He said “extra-

ordinary” cases would now be evalu-

ated by committees to see if those ac-

cused should be prosecuted as adults.

However, he issued a broader de-

fence of his policy platform and said:

“We do not always get it right, as no

one can, but we do believe that our

fundamental beliefs are the right

ones. Kids should be treated like kids.

People should be given an opportuni-

ty to grow and change.”

A second recall attempt to remove

Gascón from office is under way and

organisers have until July 6 to rally

the required support. The first

attempt failed in September.

United States

Keiran Southern Los Angeles

California beekeepers have deployed anti-
theft technology after being stung by
criminals stealing their colonies.
Billions of valuable honeybees have
been transported to the state from across
the US to supply almond growers who
need them to pollinate their crops as they
begin to bloom.
Now thieves are capitalising
on the largest pollination
event in the world, prompt-
ing beekeepers to install
tracking devices and sur-
veillance cameras.
Over the past few
weeks 1,036 beehives
worth hundreds of thou-
sands of dollars have been
stolen across the state, ac-
cording to the authorities. The
largest theft was the 384 hives
taken from a field in Mendocino
County. The California State Beekeepers
Association offered a $10,000 reward for
information leading to their recovery.
Claire Tauzer, the beekeeper who was

The Australian prime minister has

declared his support for a bill that

would ban transgender people from

single-sex sports.

Scott Morrison, 53, was criticised

by equality advocates yesterday after

he backed the proposal from Claire

Chandler, a senator.

“It is a terrific bill,” Morrison said

during a visit to Chandler’s home

state of Tasmania. “Claire is a cham-

pion for women’s sport and I think

she’s been right to raise these issues.”

Chandler, 31, introduced a bill, Save

Women’s Sports, to the Senate this

month that would make changes to

the Sex Discrimination Act to “clari-

fy” that excluding people on the basis

of biological sex is not discriminatory.

She said women’s sport provides

separate competition because men

“have numerous physical advanta-

ges” over women in sport.

Chandler was critical of Laurel

Hubbard, 44, a transgender weight-

lifter from New Zealand, who com-

peted in the women’s super-hea-

vyweight category at the Tokyo

Olympics. Hubbard was the first

openly trans athlete to compete in

the Olympics in a different gender

category to that assigned at birth.

The debate has come under re-

newed scrutiny after the trans swim-

mer Lia Thomas broke numerous

records during an Ivy League Cham-

pionship event at Harvard University

on Thursday.

When asked if the bill would be

adopted as official policy, a spokes-

woman for Morrison indicated to The

Australian that the door was open to

the government pursuing the issue

after the May election. Anna Brown,

of the LGBTQ+ rights group Equality

Australia, described the bill as cruel.

Morrison is right to stand up for

women’s sport, Thunderer, page 26

PM in fight

over sport

gender rights

Australia

Bernard Lagan Sydney

Farmers install trackers to

make bee thieves buzz off

targeted, said: “It’s hard to articulate how it

feels to care for your hives all year only to

have them stolen from you.”

An anonymous tip a day later led police

to the stolen haul of boxes and a forklift

from Tauzer’s family business about

55 miles away at a rural property in Yolo

County. One suspect was arrested.

Police also found frames used to hold

the honeycomb, which belonged

to Helio Medina, who had 282

hives stolen a year ago.

After the thefts deva-

stated his business, Medi-

na placed GPS trackers in

his boxes, added locks

and installed cameras.

He also began patrolling

his orchards at night. “We

have [to] do what we can to

protect ourselves,” he said.

Almonds are big business in

California, the world’s largest

grower of the nut. The industry is

worth about $6 billion to the state annually.

Farmers need increasing swathes of

land to keep up with demand, which

requires more bees.

It is estimated that it will take 90 per cent

of honeybee colonies in the US to pollinate

the Californian almond orchards this year.

Keiran Southern

Walk-on role Penélope Cruz wore Chanel at the Madrid premiere of the

Spanish-Argentine comedy film Official Competition. She stars as Lola

Cuevas, a film-maker hired to create a movie for an impulsive billionaire

CURTO DE LA TORRE/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

ising

on

n

c-

The

hives

Mendocino

ate Beekeepers

the honey

to Heli

hives

A

sta

na

hi

an

H

his

hhav

pprote

Alm

CCCCalifornia

grower of the

worth about $6 bill

Bees are essential for pollinating the
almond crop when it begins to bloom