TARPON SPRINGS — A North Pinellas man was arrested on multiple child abuse charges Friday night. Tarpon Springs police said he went into a haunted house organized by high school students and fondled, kissed or harassed several of them. It happened about 10 p.m., police said, during an event organized by the Tarpon Springs High School drama club. Police would not disclose the location, but said it was not a private home. They could not say if any of the five victims, ages 12 to 18, were members of the drama club.

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http://www.tampabay.com/news/publicsafety/crime/groping-alleged-at-haunted-house/1131437

Clerical sex abuse victims from across the world on Sunday took their calls for justice from Pope Benedict XVI to the doors of the Vatican itself. Close to a hundred protesters _ victims of abuse and their families _ gathered in Rome before leading a candle-lit vigil to the edge of St Peter’s Square on which they will leave personal messages for the leader of the Roman Catholic Church. The US group behind the event, Survivor’s Voice, said the victims had not been given permission to enter the square as a group, but would attempt to go in small numbers to leave letters and stones to mark their visit. “This isn’t an attack on faith or religion, it’s about behaviour and ethics,” said Marco Lodo Rizzini, a spokesman for child victims of abuse from Italy’s Antonio Provolo Institute for the Deaf.

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http://www.bangkokpost.com/breakingnews/204162/abuse-victims-bring-protest-to-vatican

Critical injuries stemming from the abuse of two Clovis infants are in line with a statewide trend of increased severity in abuse cases. “What we’re experiencing now is an increase in cases that the abuse is more severe,” said Romaine Serna, spokeswoman for New Mexico’s Children Youth and Families. “Recently we’ve seen some kids with some pretty serious injuries; it’s cause for concern.” Overall, she said statewide child abuse statistics haven’t spiked, just the severity of injuries. Though doctors gave him a poor prognosis for surviving, police say a 6-month-old boy remains hospitalized and is undergoing physical therapy following ongoing abuse.

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http://www.cnjonline.com/news/abuse-40645-severity-line.html

In an incident sure to lend fire to the ongoing debate about whether or not video games encourage real-world violence, a grisly murder in Canada has been linked back to the popular online game World of Warcraft, where the two teenage perpetrators reportedly planned and then bragged about their crime.

The two British Columbia teens, a 16-year-old and an 18-year-old, pleaded guilty Wednesday to raping and murdering 18-year-old Kimberly Proctor, whose charred body was found on a hiking trail in March. The two teens, both gamers, reportedly planned the attacks with texts and online chats and later bragged about their horrific crime in World of Warcraft, even sharing links to newspaper articles detailing the murder.

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http://www.aolnews.com/surge-desk/article/teens-confess-to-brutal-real-life-murder-in-world-of-warcraft/19695190?ncid=AOLDSN00280000000001

Officials warning sex offenders this Halloween

CUMBERLAND COUNTY (WTVD) — It’s the one night of the year kids are encouraged to take candy from strangers, but some adults are forbidden from passing out treats on Halloween. In many communities, like Cumberland County, sex offenders are being ordered to have nothing to do with trick-or-treating. It’s called “Operation Lights Out.” It requires any sex offender on probation or parole to lock themselves inside their homes on Halloween night. Authorities say it is not a law, but a court order offenders better not violate.

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http://abclocal.go.com/wtvd/story?section=news/local&id=7755097

Hillsboro Police arrested a Forest Grove man Thursday on charges he sexually abused children when he worked at an area bowling alley. Michael David Hasson, who worked at the Park Lanes Entertainment Center in Hillsboro, is charged with unlawfully touching female victims who were 4 or 5 years old at the time. One victim was assaulted at the bowling alley and another victim related to Hasson was assaulted in Aloha, according to Hillsboro detectives. Both crimes occurred four or five years ago, also according to police.

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http://www.koinlocal6.com/content/news/topstories/story/Family-center-employee-charged-with-child-sex/lkH0-aQkJUeNdS1RkqNd0w.cspx

A Colombian soldier is suspected of sexually abusing a 13-year-old girl on October 2, in the Arauca department, close to the site where three children were killed earlier this month, Caracol Radio reported Thursday. The girl’s description of the assailant reportedly resembles a soldier of the 5th Brigade who was stationed in the area. The suspected man had been absent from the military camp for several hours when both offenses occurred, according to interviews and statements from several soldier.

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http://colombiareports.com/colombia-news/news/12650-investigation-sexual-abuse.html

THE trial of a man accused of assaulting a child has been told the youngster’s injuries resembled that of a car crash victim. The child suffered swelling of the brain and internal head bleeding after allegedly being attacked by 25-year-old Christopher David Newton in Barrow. The evidence was given by radiologist Dr Winston St Clair Forbes yesterday at Newton’s trial at Preston Crown Court. Dr Forbes, who helped treat the youngster at Manchester Royal Children’s Hospital, said: “These were absolutely serious injuries and the abnormal swelling would be considered, in my experience, as life threatening.

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http://www.nwemail.co.uk/news/barrow/child-abuse-trial-continues-1.774825?referrerPath=news/

A 4-year-old Brooklyn girl who weighed 18 pounds when she was found dead last month had toxic levels of antihistamines in her system, the city’s chief medical examiner’s office said on Friday in ruling the death a homicide. The office said the girl, Marchella Pierce, died of “child abuse syndrome with acute drug poisoning, blunt impact injuries, malnutrition and dehydration,” according to a statement issued by the office.

The drugs found in her body were diphenhydramine and desloratadine, said Ellen Borakove, a spokeswoman for the medical examiner’s office. Each drug is marketed under many names, including Benadryl for diphenhydramine and Clarinex for desloratadine. The term child abuse syndrome means that the abuse occurred over a period of time and was not a one-time occurrence, Ms. Borakove said.

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http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/30/nyregion/30girl.html

Evansville, IN – A toddler girl was seen in the hospital early Friday morning suffering from second- and third-degree burns to her face, neck and shoulders, and according to police, her mother’s boyfriend is responsible for the injuries. Authorities claim 28-year-old Kyle Hankins poured boiling water on the child’s face as she slept. The child’s mother, Krystal Lockridge, told police Kyle showed up at her apartment at about 10:00 Thursday evening – the couple spent about an hour together before Krystal fell asleep with her other two children. At about 2:00 a.m., she woke to the sound of 2-year-old Kayleigh screaming. Krystal said she found her daughter sitting in a chair in the living room with burns on her face.

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http://www.dreamindemon.com/2010/10/30/police-man-dumped-boiling-water-on-toddlers-face-as-she-slept/