Resource Center

Stories

The IRE Resource Center is a major research library containing more than 23,250 investigative stories — both print and broadcast.

These stories are searchable online or by contacting the Resource Center directly (573-882-3364 or rescntr@ire.org) where a researcher can help you pinpoint what you need.

Browse or search the tipsheet section of our library below. Stories are not available for download but can be easily ordered by contacting the Resource Center:



Search results for "sex" ...

  • The Secret Service Scandal

    As President Obama was dressing to attend a formal gala of 430 world leaders in Cartagena, Colombia, last April, a story broke over a U.S. Secret Service agent not paying an agreed upon $800 fee for sex with a prostitute, leading to the dismissal of 11 secret service agents for their debauchery at Colombia’s Hotel Caribe. It was the largest scandal in the 147-year-old history of the Secret Service, exposing a pervasive macho culture of hard-working, hard-partying agents in an agency whose common image is one of stoned-faced, buttoned-down agents focused solely on protecting the President.

    Tags: Secret Service; prostitution; President Obama

    By Sarah Fitzpatrick, Associate Producer

    CBS News

    2012

  • Led by an innocent into a web of evil

    The investigation chronicles the tireless efforts of Boston federal agents who followed the trail of a single photo of a distraught toddler erroneously sent to them by a Boston-area man obsessed with child pornography. It ended with the arrests of more than 42 men from California to Mexico and the discovery of more than 140 exploited children, one of them only days old. In the telling, staff writer Jenifer B. McKim deftly details the exploding worldwide problem of child pornography, the new and innovative efforts made by investigators to rescue children and track down criminals, and the devastating toll that child porn takes on victims and families.

    Tags: child porn; pornography; sex abuse; children

    By Jenifer McKim

    Boston Globe

    2013

  • FACT CHECK: Daniel Acker Report Ignored

    Through our investigation we found that a teacher, that was convicted of sexually molesting a student, was accused of a similar offense years before, but the report was not acted upon. We confronted former board members about the issue to find out why they did not remove the teacher from his position. Their answers were startling and exposed a process that is now in question.

    Tags: broadcast; teacher; students; sexual abuse; sex offense

    By Tom Allen

    WVTM-TV (Birmingham, Ala.)

    2012

  • Voter Patrol

    The NEWS4 I-Team dug through more than 600 phone and email tips to break three major election stories before, during and immediately after the presidential election. About two weeks before the election, we asked viewers to tell us when they saw problems when they voted. The response was immediate. Our two-man team went through every tip and beat out the AP, the Washington Post, the Baltimore Sun, the Richmond Times-Dispatch and other local stations on the biggest election stories in our area. Our first story revealed absentee ballots sent out in Maryland were missing their second page, which contained the most contested ballot initiatives including legalized gambling, same-sex marriage and the DREAM Act. This story was picked up across the nation and led to statements made by the Maryland Governor and the various interest groups involved in the ballot issues.

    Tags: Elections; presidential elections; votes; presidential reporting; ballot issues

    By Tisha Thompson; Rick Yarborough

    WRC-TV (Washington, D.C.)

    2012

  • Secret Service Strip Club: El Salvador

    Seattle-based investigative reporter Chris Halsne tracks down a reluctant source in El Salvador to expose allegations that getting drunk, partying with strippers, and paying for sex with third-world prostitutes is part of the U.S. Secret Service culture. This investigative series is aired just weeks after agents were caught in Columbia with hookers – and just days after Homeland Security Director announced to Congress that Columbia was an isolated incident.

    Tags: corruption; U.S. Secret Service; El Salvador; Seattle

    By Chris Halsne, David Weed

    KIRO-TV (Seattle)

    2012

  • Catch and Release

    California, using the term "realignment", chose to lessen the overcrowded prison population by paroling what corrections officials said were the least violent offenders on parole. Yet parole officers told KCRA that even sex offenders were now breaking the law - living with kids, near schools, even cutting off their GPS anklets - and facing no time in prison. Our investigation reviewed more than 8,000 parolees and their re-offenses over the last year. We also used internal sources to find that the state was preparing to review nearly ten thousand absconders in order to wipe them off the prison books.

    Tags: Prison realignment; parole; sex offenders; parolees

    By Dave Manoucheri, Mike Luery

    KCRA-TV (Sacramento, Calif.)

    2012

  • Decades of Dishonor

    When the Boy Scout "perversion files" were released in October, we began reporting on a local sex offender accused of abuse in the 1980s. But it was just the tip of the iceberg, as we learned the man was a former teacher who had been dogged by abuse allegations for decades.

    Tags: Boy Scout; sex offender; sexual abuse; teacher

    By Shaun Hittle; Mike Yoder; Alex Parker

    Lawerence Journal-World

    2012

  • The Price of Protection

    The first in-depth report about a troubled and secretive civil-commitment program for dangerous sex offenders in Washington state. It revealed waste of taxpayer money, unconstrained legal costs, profiteering by expert witnesses, and chronic problems with staff at the high-security facility for the offenders.

    Tags: Sex offenders; taxes; taxpayers; facility staff

    By Christine Willmsen

    The Seattle Times

    2012

  • The Accidental Sex Offender

    "The Accidental Sex Offender" sheds crucial light on how America's sex-offender laws can ensnare underage high-school sweethearts, labeling young lovers as felons for life- and placing them on public sex offender registries, alongside violent predators and pedophiles.

    Tags: Sex offenders; laws; felons; pedophiles; predators;

    By Abigail Pesta

    Marie Claire

    2011

  • Scout's Honor

    An investigation of the issue of sexual abuse inside Boy Scouts organizations both in Canada and the United States. CBC News and The LA Times uncovered that nearly 80 Boy Scout leaders have been convicted of sex related crimes since the 1950s.

    Tags: Sexual Abuse; Boy Scouts; CBC News; The Los Angeles Times; 1950s

    By Diana Swain; Curt Petrovich; Amber Hildebrant; Timothy Sawa; Angela Gilbert; Stacy Cardigan Smith, Jason Felch; Kim Christensen

    CBC News

    2011