TROY – A 20-year-old woman and her unidentified boyfriend were arrested today in Holyoke, Mass. on child abuse allegations involving the woman’s two children, ages 2 and 4.

One child had reportedly been burned with cigarettes and the other’s eyes were swollen from the abuse, according to police spokesman Sgt. Terry Buchanan.

Maria Diaz was arrested and charged with one count of filing a false police report and two counts of child endangerment after she allegedly misled police about where the child abuse took place and the location of her boyfriend, who will be charged with assault against the children.

The man was arrested by Holyoke Police officers on unrelated charges and was held there. Diaz is currently being held in Rensselaer County Jail on $10,000 bail.

Diaz brought her children to St. Mary’s Hospital early last week for their injuries, but it took police time to determine the location of her boyfriend after Diaz reportedly misled police into believing the abuse took place in Holyoke and her boyfriend was currently in Troy.

READ MORE:

http://www.troyrecord.com/articles/2010/04/10/news/doc4bbfea8931595186981682.txt

The Vatican has confirmed Cardinal Ratzinger’s signature

The Pope is facing allegations he was responsible for delaying Church action against a paedophile priest – the first time he has been accused so directly.

The allegations stem from a letter signed by Benedict XVI in 1985, when he was a senior Vatican official.

Associated Press said it had obtained the letter, signed by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, resisting the defrocking of offending US priest Stephen Kiesle.

The Vatican says he was exercising due caution before sacking the priest.

Cardinal Ratzinger – who was at the time the head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith – said the “good of the universal Church” needed to be considered in any defrocking, AP reported.

Vatican officials say the letter was part of a long correspondence and should not be taken out of context.

Vatican spokesman Rev Federico Lombardi said: “The press office doesn’t believe it is necessary to respond to every single document taken out of context regarding particular legal situations.”

The allegations come as the Vatican says the Pope is willing to meet more victims of clerical abuse, and as the Vatican prepares to publish a guide on the internet about how bishops should deal with accusations of sexual abuse.

The Catholic Church has been hit by a series of child abuse scandals, including in Ireland, the US, Germany and Norway, and has faced criticism for failing to deal adequately with the problem.

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http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8612457.stm

LOWELL (FOX 25 / MyFoxBoston.com) – A Lowell school bus driver is facing child rape charges after admitting to police he had sex with an eighth-grade student.

Police say 22-year-old Gian Carlos Mirabal, of Lawrence, used his position of power to force the girl into having sex.

Prosecutors said Mirabal would ask the girl to stay on the bus after all the other students had been dropped off and then allegedly drove her to another location where he assaulted her.

READ MORE:

http://www.myfoxboston.com/dpp/news/local/lowell-bus-driver-faces-rape-charges-20100409

Read more:

http://www.newsobserver.com/2010/04/09/429685/apex-mother-charged-with-child.html#ixzz0kcutnZsS

A Charleston County jury needed less than an hour to convict Jeremiah Turner on four counts of criminal sexual conduct with a minor and a charge of a lewd act upon a minor, the 9th Circuit Solicitor’s Office said.

Circuit Judge J.C. Nicholson ended the four-day trial Thursday by sentencing Turner to 30 years in prison.

Turner, 26, was arrested Sept. 8, 2008, and confessed to the abuse. His victim, now 8, testified Monday afternoon about several sexual assaults between February and September of 2008.

Assistant Solicitor Rutledge DuRant said the abuse was discovered simply because someone asked the child a question.

The Department of Social Services began investigating a report of child abuse on a 6-year-old child, and it subsequently sent the matter to the North Charleston Police Department.

READ MORE:

http://www.postandcourier.com/news/2010/apr/09/man-convicted-of-child-sexual-abuse/

Andromeda Ann Sosa

A 27-year-old Longmont woman who called police in February to report that her 10-month-old nephew had drowned in a bathtub was formally charged Thursday with child abuse resulting in death, child abuse and possession of a schedule II substance.

Andromeda Ann Sosa had been caring for Jeremiah Sosa since a few days after his birth because his parents are serving prison sentences, according to an arrest warrant. Jeremiah’s mother, Georgina Alaniz, 25, gave birth to him while she was in prison for robbery, forgery and escape, according to police and court records.

When police arrived at Sosa’s home at 432 1/2 Collyer St. on Feb. 25, they found Jeremiah lying motionless on the floor, and another toddler walking around in the home, according to the warrant. Both children were wet, and Sosa was crying uncontrollably, police reported.

Sosa told investigators that she had put Jeremiah and the toddler in the bath, when her cell phone rang, according to police. The phone was plugged into its charger in the kitchen, and she went to answer it, the warrant said.

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Brent Wojahn/The OregonianKerry Lewis is suing the Boy Scouts, claiming he turned to drugs and has had life-long problems after an assistant Scoutmaster molested him in 1983 and 1984. He began to tear up during closing arguments Thursday as his attorney described what his life could have been like if he hadn’t been abused.

A Portland attorney compared the Boy Scouts of America to the Roman Catholic Church on Thursday, arguing that the organization reacted in much the same way to cover up decades of child abuse instead of taking steps to protect children.

Attorneys for the Boy Scouts vigorously rejected any comparison with the Catholic Church in closing arguments in a four-week trial over a $29 million suit that has drawn national attention. They argued that the organization did its best to ban suspected pedophiles and was ahead of its time in recognizing the problem.

Kelly Clark, who also represented many abuse victims against the Catholic Church, asked a Multnomah County jury to hold the Boy Scouts responsible for failing to protect one child in particular: a Southeast Portland boy molested by an assistant Scout leader in the early 1980s. Clark said the Scouting organization has known it had a problem with pedophiles as far back as 1925, when it reportedly started compiling secret files on suspected child molesters, yet the Scouts kept the information from parents.

“You need to speak to them in the language that they will understand,” Clark told jurors. “You take those secrets, and you shout them from the rooftop of this courthouse.”

Chuck Smith, an attorney for the Boy Scouts of America, said it’s unfair to compare the Boy Scouts to the Catholic Church, which for decades transferred priests accused of abuse into new parishes. Smith said the Boy Scouts kept files on suspected child molesters solely to ban them from the organization. It’s just that the system didn’t always work flawlessly, Smith said.

“Some mistakes were made,” Smith said. “There’s no question about it. We’re not perfect. There’s some questionable judgments.”

READ MUCH MORE:

http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2010/04/a_29_million_sex_abuse_suit_ag_1.html

Dennis Lewis

The Dearborn County Prosecutors is accusing an Aurora City Police officer of soliciting sex from a child online.

Prosecutor Aaron Negangard says 52 year old Dennis Lewis, the city’s former assistant police chief, is under arrest and behind bars at the Switzerland County Jail.

Lewis faces one count of child solicitation, which is a felony.  Lewis allegedly tried to solicit sex from an undercover officer, who was posing as a 13 year old girl on a website chat room.

The incident allegedly happened on December 23rd of last year in his home. Lewis is accused of sending the undercover officer a video of his penis.

READ MORE:

http://www.local12.com/news/local/story/Aurora-Officer-Arrested-For-Child-Sex-Charges/HvB_fFQwbUu2I4J4-JQBRg.cspx

MARION, Ill. — A murder trial is under way in southern Illinois for a woman accused of killing her 3-year-old daughter.

Jury selection began Tuesday in the Williamson County trial of 20-year-old Karrae Starr of Herrin. She’s charged with first-degree murder in the September 2008 death of Bianca Starr.

Prosecutors argue that Starr covered her daughter’s mouth and nose with the intent to kill her. Herrin police later found an unresponsive Bianca while responding to a 911 call from an apartment, and the girl was later pronounced dead at a hospital.

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http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/illinoisnews/story/ED4092971FAEC05C862576FE004B0EBC?OpenDocument

CHICAGO — Susana Reteguin heard a noise shortly after midnight and thought her husband was getting home from work.

But then she saw a stranger approaching her bed and she remembers calling out, “Who are you?”

The man said nothing as he jumped on her and hit her and cut her with a knife.

“I felt him hit me and saw blood everywhere,” Reteguin said.

That’s when her 11-year-old son Luis came to the rescue.

Luis ran into the bedroom and jumped on the man’s back. “Let go of my mom! Let go of my mom!” he screamed as the man turned and began cutting him.

Luis said he ran to the kitchen for a knife to defend himself and his mother.

READ MORE:

http://www.ktla.com/news/landing/ktla-son-attacker,0,1028054.story

Washington, April 06(ANI):  According to a new study, parents are not doing enough to help their children recognize, avert and disclose sexual abuse.

Deblinger said: “At least 85 percent of the child sexual abuse is perpetrated by relatives, or by individuals who are known – but not related – to the child. But more than 90 percent of parents in our survey identified strangers as the biggest danger when talking to their children about sexual abuse.
“More than a third of parents failed to identify adults the child knows, while more than 55 percent did not mention relatives as potential abusers. These are essentially the same mistakes parents were making 25 years ago.”

READ MORE:

http://news.oneindia.in/2010/04/06/mostparents-child-sexual-abuse-education-effortsinadequat.html

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A Mandarin babysitter accused of abusing a child in her care pleaded not guilty in court Tuesday morning.Jeannine Campbell, 53, is charged with four counts of child abuse stemming from hidden nannycam video. Prosecutors said there are four separate counts because there was a length of time between each instance of abuse.The boy’s father said he set up the camera after noticing his son had a black eye.

The child’s father says “video doesn’t lie.” VIDEO: Video Lands Baby Sitter In Jail Husband Of Arrested Sitter Reacts RAW: Nannycam Video (viewer discretion advised)

Police said the nannycam video shows disturbing scenes of an 11-month-old boy being slapped, kicked and knocked over with a ball last Tuesday morning.When questioned after her arrest, Campbell admitted her actions “looked bad,” police said. She admitted slapping, hitting and throwing things at the boy.Campbell has been in the Duval County Jail since her arrest last month. Her bond was set at $75,000.Prosecutors said each charge carries up to five years in prison for a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.