A case of child abuse in Worcester County…It happened on Booth Street, where a Sheriff’s deputy learned that the child and his father, Christopher Burrell, became involved in a heated argument when according to the kid, his father punched him in the face injuring him. The father is in custody on charges of child abuse and second degree assault.

Date of Incident: 1 April 2010

Location: 900 block of Booth Street, Salisbury, MD

Suspect: Christopher D. Burrell, 46, Salisbury, MD

Narrative: On 1 April 2010 at 9:30 AM, a deputy from the Wicomico County Sheriff’s Office responded to a reported altercation in the 900 block of Booth Street. Upon arrival, the deputy met with a male juvenile who was visibly upset and suffering from a recent contusion to the face. The deputy learned that the juvenile and his father, Christopher Burrell, became involved in a heated argument when the juvenile stated that his father punched him in the face causing the injury.

READ MORE:

http://www.wgmd.com/?p=2244

With the Roman Catholic Church facing a series of paedophilia scandals, some observers have begun to ask whether the tradition of celibacy in the priesthood has contributed to child abuse. The BBC’s Paul Henley raises the question with Catholics in Cologne.

Child sex abuse allegations have caused anger in Germany

In Pope Benedict XVI’s home country, Germany, the Catholic Church could have hoped for a better Easter in terms of public relations.

While the media deal, nearly daily, with fresh allegations of priests sexually abusing children, opinion polls published by Stern magazine suggest almost a fifth of German Catholics have considered leaving the Church because of the abuse scandal and only 17% of Germans now trust the Church as an institution.

Typical of the kind of comment Catholic leaders would have preferred not to have faced,was a contribution to a recent ZDF television discussion programme by Professor Klaus Beier, head of the Institute of Sexology and Sexual Medicine at Berlin’s Charite Hospital.

“If you are already struggling with a conflicted sexuality, including paedophile tendencies, then it is attractive to become part of an institution that obliges you to be celibate,” he said.

“I have seen many of these cases… and it is something the Catholic Church should be made aware of.”

‘Abnormal sexuality’

More surprising has been the contribution to the debate of senior figures from inside the Church, including Hamburg Auxiliary Bishop Hans-Jochen Jaschke, who seemed to add fuel to the fire of those making a connection between priestly celibacy and paedophilia.

The offenders always say ‘we are not the guilty ones; society is guilty, the church is guilty, celibacy is the problem, not us'” Manfred Luetz Psychiatrist

He was quoted as saying that the “celibate lifestyle can attract people who have an abnormal sexuality and cannot integrate sexuality into their lives.”

But even those outspoken Catholic rebels who have long called for a discussion about the future of celibacy – including Father Hans Kung, a contemporary of the Pope and well-known thorn in the side of the Vatican – have distanced themselves from any attempt to link paedophile offences and priestly vows of chastity.

Now another theologian, Manfred Luetz, psychiatrist, author and organiser of a 2003 Vatican congress about the abuse of children, has been defending the Church’s stance, resisting any link between celibacy and paedophilia.

“I do not think that the Vatican is trying to prevent any debate about celibacy,” he said, speaking in his office at Cologne’s Alexianer Hospital, where he is director.

“Catholics are free to talk about it. Celibacy is no dogma. But I think when we have a discussion about abuse, then this is not the moment to discuss celibacy, because then we make the same strategies as the offenders do.

“The offenders always say ‘we are not the guilty ones; society is guilty, the church is guilty, celibacy is the problem, not us’. And I do not want to be an accomplice to such escape strategies”.

READ MUCH MORE:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8604800.stm

Filed under: Abandonment, Alcohol-related stupidity, Child Endangerment, Crime

Detroit – Police were called to the Summit Lanes bowling alley around 12:30 a.m.Sunda on a report of two young children abandoned in a car located in the parking lot. When police arrived they found a 4-year-old and 6-year-old boy inside a locked car.

The boys told officers that they had been in the car for the last two days while their father and thier uncle drove around drinking. They had not eaten in all this time. The responding officers bought the boys some food and arrested the the children’s 28-year-old father and 27-year-old uncle inside of the bowling alley – they were both drunk.

Both men now face face child abandonment charges and the Department of Human Services has gotten involved.

READ MORE:

http://www.dreamindemon.com/2010/04/05/kids-left-in-car-for-two-days-with-no-food-while-their-father-and-uncle-partied/

Who’s the baby daddy?

Fargo, ND – Thirty-three year old Dawn Marie Kirby has found herself in a spot of trouble. She was recently arrested for having sex with the sixteen year old son of a friend. The victim’s mother had contacted the police when she suspected a relationship between the two. No doubt the boy was starting to freak out.

Kirby admits to having sex with the boy “quite a few times over a couple of months”. She is heavily pregnant and about to pop. She stated to police that she had sex with victim’s uncle as well, and has no idea who the baby daddy is. The baby is due April 16th.

READ MORE:

http://deadkidsofmyspace.com/

CORPUS CHRISTI — It’s a message child advocates work to spread every day: Reporting child abuse and neglect is everyone’s responsibility.

Advocates’ efforts will get a boost in April, which is National Child Abuse Prevention Month.

For many abused children, help comes too late or not at all.

Last year, 280 children in Texas died because of abuse or neglect, 20 of which were from South Texas. There also were more than 68,000 victims of abuse or neglect.

That’s why reporting the first sign of suspected abuse is vital, said John Lennan, spokesman for the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services.

“Our most vulnerable are many times the youngest victims,” Lennan said. “They don’t have the ability to make an outcry.”

Lennan said everyone has not only a moral duty but a legal one to report any suspected cases of child abuse or neglect.

“Our investigators never want to hear, ‘We suspected that,’ or ‘We knew that was going on for years and thought someone else reported it,’” Lennan said. “Everybody has that obligation.”

Preventing child sexual abuse also starts with knowing that in most cases the abuser is someone the child knows, said Ricardo Jimenez, the program director and lead forensic interviewer for the Children’s Advocacy Center of the Coastal Bend.

“Stranger danger almost doesn’t exist,” he said.

The local nonprofit works with children who have been sexually and physically abused. It offers services such as adult and teen support groups and other victim assistance.

READ MORE:

http://www.caller.com/news/2010/apr/03/advocates-report-all-suspected-child-abuse/

Easter should be a time of renewal and hope. Yet this weekend found the Roman Catholic church mired in its deepest crisis in recent times over its handling of child abuse by paedophile priests.

Opinions regarding the scale of this crisis have become dangerously polarised. At one extreme the Vatican public relations machine has continued to maintain that this is a case of “a few bad apples” and that paedohpilia is no more common in their ranks than the public at large. (In St Peter’s Square yesterday, Cardinal Angelo Sodano dismissed the crisis as the “petty gossip of the moment” and Pope Benedict made no reference to it.)

Conversely, there are those who maintain the Catholic church offered a unique environment for paedophilia, which became institutionalised through a culture of suppression and denial. This was especially the case in Ireland, where the response to a rising tide of serious allegations was particularly sluggish. Archbishop Rowan Williams unwittingly fuelled the cynical response many have about Roman Catholicism in particular and organised religion in general by suggesting the Church in Ireland had “lost all credibility”. This was deeply hurtful to all those who work tirelessly to live out their Christian vocation. He should have chosen his words more carefully. Despite recent friction in Anglican-Catholic relations, he should recognise that all churches are fighting the same battle against secularism and the erosion of Christian influence.

READ MORE:

http://www.heraldscotland.com/comment/herald-view/child-abuse-can-no-longer-be-treated-as-taboo-by-churches-1.1018339

By Jennifer Schwartz

How much does child abuse hurt?

A five part video series astutely titled The Bomb in the Brain helps to answer this question by sharing just how damaging the effects of childhood abuse can be on people throughout their lifespan. The first two videos are based on a continuous study conducted by Kaiser Permanente along with The Center for Disease Control and Prevention. The videos are hosted by Stefan Molyneux, the current anchor of Freedomain Radio.  I will dedicate this first blog to the information presented in the first two videos as it is unnerving as well as fascinating. My next blog will cover the last three videos in the series.

During the first video,  Molyneux cites Kaiser Permanente’s Adverse Childhood Experiences study involving over 17,000 participants. Adverse childhood experiences include emotional, physical, verbal and sexual abuse as well as negligence. The study has found a positive correlation between these adverse childhood experiences and the likelihood of smoking, using antidepressant medications, hallucinating, teenage physical intimacy and pregnancy, suicide, and domestic abuse among others. (A positive correlation is a relationship that occurs when one factor increases and the other comparable factor increases as well. This means that as adverse childhood experiences increase, the likelihood of issues listed above increase too.) A positive correlation has also been found between the number of incidents of adverse childhood experiences and the risk of developing physical ailments including heart disease, lung disease, and cancer. A negative correlation has been found between the number of adverse childhood experiences and one’s lifespan expectancy. This means that as the number of incidents of childhood abuse decrease, one’s lifespan expectancy increases. What is even more unnerving is that fact that many of the data presented here are underrepresented, because participants in the Kaiser’s study are middle class people with health insurance.

The second video in the series featured an interview between Molyneux and Dr. Vincent Felitti M.D., Head of Preventative Medicine at Kaiser Permanente in San Diego as well as a chief officer in the adverse childhood experiences study. Molyneux conducts the interview brilliantly as he discusses both the adverse experience study as well as an obesity study that Dr. Felitti was involved in as well. Dr. Felitti presents provocative insights into the link between obesity and child abuse. He suggests that obesity is a kind of protective armor against the outside world or even what can be seen as “a cure” for depressed people who want to shorten their lives. Dr. Felitti suggests that support systems are a crucial aspect of people’s lives.

READ MUCH MORE:

http://cchronicle.com/2010/04/groundbreaking-research-finds-how-childhood-abuse-hurts-for-a-lifetime/

It can happen in your congregation, too.

The crisis in the Roman Catholic Church is a stark reminder that people we love and admire may turn out to be sex offenders, capable of causing irreparable damage to young lives. Various studies indicate that a not-insignificant minority of adults (perhaps 3 to 20%) may experience some sexual arousal toward children or teenagers. Most do not act on their attractions, but some do — and they could well be some of the “nicest” people you know.

Despite the media myth that children are abused by strangers, in 90% of child sexual abuse cases, children know their abusers well. They are family members, teachers, scout leaders, athletic coaches, neighbors, babysitters and, as the world now knows, clergy.

Places of worship should be, and usually are, safe havens from the dangers of the world. Still, every congregation must implement policies and practices to reduce the possibility of sexual abuse. These policies can help to protect not just children, but also the adolescents and vulnerable adults in your community.

The following is a checklist of 10 critical steps that can help reduce the potential for abuse in your congregation:

1. Develop and implement a “Safe Congregation” policy that prescribes a code of ethical behavior and enunciates the congregation’s safety procedures. Make sure congregants know about the policy. Provide copies to all employees, volunteers and job applicants. Let it be known that your faith community does everything possible to protect its members from abuse and harassment.
2. Create a Safe Congregations Committee or a Sexual Misconduct and Abuse Response Team, and provide them with the skills training they need to be effective guardians of the congregation. This committee will be responsible for adopting and enforcing safety policies, communicating with the congregation, and reporting regularly to the congregation’s leadership.
3. Implement annual training for all volunteers in the religious education program so that they can recognize signs of possible sexual abuse and know what actions to take.
4. Know your state’s laws about reporting concerns about child abuse. Make sure the pastor or rabbi, religious education director and board chair understand the procedures to follow. Unless they are mandated reporters (required by state law to report suspected child abuse directly to the authorities), religious educators and volunteers should have a clear policy about how and when to alert the professional ministerial staff about potential abuse.
5. Adopt a screening form for all employees and volunteers (adults and teenagers) who work with children and youth. The form should ask directly about histories of sexual offenses. The use of a screening form in and of itself may deter someone looking for easy access to children. Rigorous screening procedures demonstrate that your congregation is committed to being a safe place for children.
6. Implement a policy requiring that two adults be present in every class or program for children and youth, as well as in vehicles transporting young people to activities.
7. Offer annual adult education programs on sexual abuse prevention for parents and families, as well as for religious education teachers.
8. Offer regular sexuality education programs for children and adolescents as well, including sex abuse prevention, so they know how to recognize when an adult is acting inappropriately toward them. Every child, from the age of three onward, can learn “No, Go, Tell” – say no to the abuse, leave the situation as soon as possible, and tell a parent or trusted adult if someone tries to touch them or asks them to keep a secret about touching. Tell children that their religious educator, minister or rabbi, or youth leader can help them.
9. Be sure adults in your congregation (including youth ministers) understand the difference between working with youth and becoming their friends. Healthy adults do not seek friendships with children and teens. An unhealthy relationship initiated by a sex offender may begin as a mentor or friend relationship as the offender “grooms” the child for intimate behaviors.
10. Create and distribute a referral list of local organizations and therapists who specialize in sexual abuse prevention and treatment. Ask for help when you need it.

READ MORE:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rev-debra-haffner/is-your-congregation-safe_b_523162.html?just_reloaded=1

Reported cases of child sexual abuse are up 42 percent over last year, according to Deputy Director of Social Services Carolyn Hepburn.

Hepburn revealed to The Nassau Guardian yesterday that so far for 2010, 118 cases have been reported, up from 83 in the same period last year.

“That is primarily due to the enactment of the Child Protection Act 2007 in October last year. So therefore persons are mandated by law to report abuse and we find that children are stepping forward, relatives and concerned individuals are becoming more vigilant,” Hepburn said.

Of the 118 reported child sexual abuse cases, 26 have been recorded in New Providence and 92 in the Family Islands.

Chairman of the National Child Protection Council Pastor Gil Maycock said he believes child sexual abuse is far greater than what is being reported.

“We do have an alarming epidemic in our nation and it drives me crazy,” he said. “These numbers seem to be increasing over the last three or four years. They just seem to be going up. We do know in certain pockets in The Bahama Islands we are having serious problems. The Council plans to travel to at least 10 or 11 Family Islands for the remainder of 2010 to get that message out (that children are off limits) and we know it is an uphill battle.”

Last year, there were 218 reported cases of child sexual abuse in the country. Of that number, 155 were recorded in New Providence, with the remaining 63 reported in the Family Islands.

READ MORE:

http://www.thenassauguardian.com/national_local/296938743397780.php