Family members called 911 after discovering members of the Ramos family deceased. Concerned because they had been unable to reach anyone at the house, family members used a key to get in when no one answered a knock on the door. They discovered Gilbert Ramos, 45, his wife Sandra Thompson-Ramos, 37, and their two children Nicholas, 10, and Emma, 8, had been shot. The family members left the residence and called 911.

READ MORE HERE:

http://www.trivalleycentral.com/articles/2010/09/26/casa_grande_dispatch/news/doc4c9b822701d70452578644.txt

FLORIDA–Six people have died in an apparent murder-suicide in the coastal south Florida city of Riviera Beach, police said Monday. A police officer was investigating a suspicious car when he heard shots and saw a man walk out of a home shortly after 2 a.m. (ET), the Riviera Beach Police Department said in a statement. The man shot and killed himself when he spotted the officer, the statement said. Authorities identified him as Patrick Dell, 41.

Inside the house, police found the bodies of the man’s 36-year-old estranged wife, Natasha Whyte Dell, and four of his stepchildren, ranging in age from 10 to 14, the statement said. A fifth stepchild was hospitalized with a gunshot wound.

READ MORE HERE:

http://www.wgntv.com/news/nationworld/sns-florida-6-killed-murder-suicide,0,7877451.story

UPPER ARLINGTON, Ohio –Two young children and their father are found dead inside their Upper Arlington home Sunday evening, and authorities are calling it an apparent murder-suicide.

Upper Arlington officers were called to a home on the 1700 block of Doone Road at about 7:35 p.m. Sunday on a call for assistance. A woman called 911 for help after finding the three victims inside the home. The victims later were identified as 35-year-old Troy Geller, 8-year-old Solomon and 6-year-old Samson.

READ MORE HERE:

http://www2.nbc4i.com/news/2010/sep/26/13/upper-arlington-home-scene-three-suspicious-deaths-ar-241906/?referer=None&shorturl=http://nbc4i.com/ar/241906/

Amber Dubois, a 14-year-old was kidnapped from an Escondido street in February 2009, and Amber Dubois’ body was found earlier this year.  Arnold Schwarzenegger signed the “Dubois” bill which outlines three basic measures to bring an abducted or kidnapped child home before he or she falls prey to horrific crimes like rape or child abuse.

READ MORE HERE:

http://www.allvoices.com/contributed-news/6847212-gov-arnold-schwarzenegger-signs-dubois-bills/content/56010012-arnold-schwarzenegger

At least nine little girls have been abducted and brutally raped in a reign of terror which may be the work of a single man preying on the children of Khayelitsha in Cape Town.

The latest victim is a four-year-old found wandering bloodied and bruised near her home in Kuyasa on Tuesday. She had been snatched two days earlier as her grandmother cooked a meal. Police arrested a 30-year-old man this week. Investigators believe he may have committed the spate of harrowing crimes against girls in the area.

READ MORE HERE:

http://www.timeslive.co.za/sundaytimes/article675929.ece/Tragedy-of-nine-girls-who-fell-victim-to-Cape-sex-predator

TENNESSEE–A Kodak man was recently arrested on a child rape charge.

On Thursday Sevierville Police Department officers arrested Ivor J. Parsons, 21, with the aggravated rape of a child under three years old.  SPD Detective Kevin Bush said that police recently received a tip, leading to an investigation and subsequent arrest of Parsons in Knoxville.

READ MORE HERE:

http://seymourherald.com/news/2010/sep/27/sevier-co-man-faces-child-rape/

WAREHAM – Police say a convicted sex offender who got out of prison 18 months ago after serving a 12-year sentence for child rape has been charged with trying to abduct a woman. Lance Porter is scheduled to be arraigned Monday on charges including kidnapping, assault and battery and attempted rape.

READ MORE HERE:

http://news.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view/20100927wareham_man_charged_with_attempted_abduction/

PROVO, UT — A real estate auction is coming to the Provo Library this weekend, but you’re not likely to find anything listed as “spacious” or “roomy” — unless you’re Barbie and Ken, that is. It’s the 12th annual Dollhouse Festival, a yearly benefit to raise funds for child abuse prevention and therapy through the Utah County Children’s Justice Center. The weekend event will feature the usual dollhouse auctions, toy boutique, charity dinner and Mad Hatter Tea Party.

Early release from a 20-year sentence not rare — but is it just?

Eight-week-old Saul Castillo, wrapped in a blanket and wearing a green and white hat, died when his tiny 14-gram heart stopped beating, his emaciated body little more than skin wrapped around sunken eyes and protruding bones.

He had starved to death.

His father, charged in his part in the neglect that led to Saul’s 2004 death, absconded and has not been found.

READ MORE HERE:

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/7219161.html

The Choking Game is a misunderstood activity causing death and suffering for thousands of families worldwide. It often begins with high-achieving teens choking each other as a way to get high without the risk of getting caught with drugs or alcohol. It ends with thousands of kids dying or suffering permanent brain damage each year.

READ MORE HERE:

http://gaspinfo.com/en/home.html

Indiana continues to increase the number of children it is taking away from families — a fact that bucks the national trend and concerns both state child welfare officials and national experts.

The new federal statistics revealing that trend are especially disturbing because they suggest that either the state’s Department of Child Services is not doing enough to keep families together or that Indiana has a disproportionately high rate of bad parents. Whatever the explanation, it doesn’t bode well for Hoosier children.

READ MORE HERE:

http://www.indystar.com/article/20100927/LOCAL/9270320/Number-of-kids-taken-by-DCS-is-up-again?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|IndyStar.com

NORTH WALES, Pa. - Every now and then I see a picture of a guy attached to a crime story and I immediately think “pedophile.” That includes this story sent to us by our good friends over at Kindertrauma regarding a former vice principle who has been accused of striking up a rather inappropriate relationship with a 14-year-old boy. I would’ve bet my gaudy McMansion that 37-year-old Charles Hurst spent a lot of time in the boy’s underwear department at Target purely from this pic of him sporting a creepy smile from underneath his Justin Bieber haircut.

READ MORE HERE:

http://www.dreamindemon.com/2010/09/27/former-vice-principal-charged-with-having-inappropriate-relationship-with-former-student/

New Iberia, LA – Police say a 1-year-old boy is in critical but stable condition at the LSU Burn Center after suffering severe burns to nearly 60% of his body – burns believed to have been caused intentionally. Though authorities won’t get into specifics, citing the pending investigation, Lieutenant Ryan Turner from the Iberia Sheriff’s Department had this to say: “We’re pretty sure that the baby was scalded by hot water, and detectives have reason to believe that the incident was intentional.”

READ MORE HERE:

http://www.dreamindemon.com/2010/09/27/police-we-believe-the-intent-was-to-severely-injure-the-baby/

SIMI VALLEY, CA — A Simi Valley woman is under arrest on suspicion of abusing her 3-year-old girl niece, who authorities found with multiple injuries, including burns to her feet. Sarah Hilton, 29, faces one count of felony child abuse and one count of felony corporal injury to a child. On September 21, Simi Valley Police and Ventura County Children and Family Services launched a joint investigation into the alleged abuse of Hilton’s 3-year-old niece. Hilton is the girl’s legal guardian.

READ MORE HERE:

http://www.ktla.com/news/landing/ktla-simi-valley-child-abuse,0,710953.story

UPDATE!!!!

Police: Girl Made Up Kidnapping, Sex Assault

http://www.ktla.com/news/landing/ktla-encinitas-sex-assault,0,5288145.story

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Girl Abducted, Sexually Assaulted on Way Home from School

Police have released two suspect sketches.

ENCINITAS — Police in San Diego County have released composite sketches of two of three men accused of kidnapping and sexually assaulting a girl while she was walking home from school. The incident happened Friday around 4:10 p.m. in the 800 block of Melba Road in Encinitas. The 15-year-old girl told authorities she was walking home from San Dieguito High School, when three men in a white, four-door sedan forced her into their car.

READ MORE HERE:

http://www.ktla.com/news/landing/ktla-encinitas-sex-assault,0,5288145.s

Police in North Carolina have charged former Manassas teacher Kevin Ricks with sexually molesting a young boy there more than 30 years ago in a case that stems from evidence that Ricks has abused numerous boys while working as a camp counselor, teacher and foreign exchange host since the late 1970s.

READ MORE HERE:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/09/22/AR2010092205574.html?referrer=emailarticle

A 48-year-old Minneapolis man who used wireless Internet connections in area coffee shops to share images and videos of children engaged in explicit sexual conduct pleaded guilty Thursday to one count of distributing child pornography.

Ivan W. Tencate admitted to distributing 314 images and 94 videos of child pornography. He was arrested by FBI agents at a downtown Minneapolis Dunn Bros coffee shop after they traced his Internet activity to that location.

READ MORE HERE:

http://www.startribune.com/local/103675614.html

A Marshall man could face hundreds of felony charges after a young woman claimed he abused her for a number of years, officials say.

John Wayne Hensley, 44, of 185 Hensley Drive, was arrested Monday by Madison County deputies and charged with three felony counts of taking indecent liberties with a minor, jail records show. A detective said the initial complaint could theoretically lead to hundreds of charges if the district attorney chooses to pursue them. Madison County Sheriff Buddy Harwood said his department began investigating the case after the Department of Social Services reported that a 17-year-old girl said she was being sexually abused since she was in fourth or fifth grade. “She said she couldn’t stand it anymore,” Harwood said. “She said he had been touching her inappropriately for several years.”

READ MORE HERE:

http://www.citizen-times.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100922/SENTINEL/309220054

A 37-year-old man took the witness stand Thursday to deny charges that he had sexually abused his own son.
The boy, now 8, testified a day earlier in Baltimore County Circuit Court that his father had sought certain acts as “punishment” when the boy misbehaved. Prosecutors say the abuse took place between August 2008 and June 2009, and led to an indictment against the suspect after the boy told his mother about the allegations. The man was charged with sexual abuse of a minor, assault and two sexual-offense counts.

READ MORE HERE:

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/bs-md-father-abuse-case-20100923,0,3307872.story

LIVINGSTON PARISH, LA – Livingston Parish Deputies say a father admitted he beat and abused his daughter. The 11 year old girl told deputies she say in handcuffs chained to a desk for hours. She says she ate, slept, and at times used the bathroom while tied to the desk.

READ MORE HERE:

http://www.ksla.com/global/story.asp?s=13203838

How Many Children Die Each Year From Abuse or Neglect?

The National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System (NCANDS) reported an estimated 1,760 child fatalities in 2007. This translates to a rate of 2.35 children per 100,000 children in the general population. NCANDS defines “child fatality” as the death of a child caused by an injury resulting from abuse or neglect, or where abuse or neglect was a contributing factor.

With the exception of FFY 2005, the number and rate of fatalities have been increasing over the past 5 years. The national estimate is influenced by which States report data. For 2007, several States reported increased fatalities compared to FFY 2006, which resulted in a higher national estimate. To some degree, this can be attributed to improved data collection and reporting, but all the causes of the increase are not specifically identifiable.

READ MORE HERE:

http://www.childwelfare.gov/pubs/factsheets/fatality.cfm

What is PTSD? Although traumatic events have long been known to cause psychological problems, the disorder itself was first formally characterized in the early 1980s. Even now it is the subject of controversy, with many psychiatrists and clinical psychologists saying a diagnosis of PTSD is meaningless (see articles in recent editions of the British Medical Journal). Personally I do not subscribe to this view, rather I believe the problem is one of inaccurate diagnosis.

Generally speaking PTSD is identified by the following three symptoms: 1) re-experiencing traumatic events (ie, obsessive recollections, flashbacks, nightmares); 2) avoidant symptoms (fear of being with people); and 3) signs of hyperarousal (easily startled, irritable). Traumatized people often suffer from a combination of PTSD, depression and other anxiety disorders. Often the victims of PTSD are mis-diagnosed. For example, some patients will present more severe symptoms of hyperarousal with severe depression. The re-experiencing of events is often mis-diagnosed as “obsessiveness” within a depressive disorder. Hyperarousal symptoms may be mis-diagnosed as insomnia and anxiety within a major depressive episode. Other PTSD victims are mis-diagnosed with obsessive-compulsive disorder.

READ MUCH MORE HERE:

http://www.upliftprogram.com/article_ptsd.html