It’s nearly unthinkable, but every year thousands of children become victims of crime—whether it’s through kidnappings, violent attacks, or sexual abuse.

The mission of our Crimes Against Children program is threefold: first, to decrease the vulnerability of children to sexual exploitation; second, to develop a nationwide capacity to provide a rapid, effective, and measured investigative response to crimes against children; and third, to enhance the capabilities of state and local law enforcement investigators through programs, investigative assistance, and task force operations.

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http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/investigate/vc_majorthefts/cac

APD says a man driving a van kidnapped a 6-year old girl on the city’s Southwest side Monday and was only stopped because a quick-thinking neighbor followed the van and called the police. Police said at about 4:45 p.m. Monday, Phillip Garcia pulled the little girl into his blue van near Javier Way SW, near Unser and Gibson.

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http://www.kob.com/article/stories/s2242642.shtml

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — A man is accused of inappropriately touching three young girls in the wave pool at Disney’s Typhoon Lagoon water park.Moses Velasquez, 39, is accused of touching the girls in the park Thursday afternoon. The girls were between the ages of 12 and 16.

Police: Father Threw Infant In Frustration

KENNER, La. — A 3-month-old boy will likely have permanent neurological defects after Kenner police said the father threw the infant in a fit of frustration.Kenner police arrested Tyler Jonathan Eastgate, 22, after doctors at Ochsner Kenner notified police of possible child abuse.According to police, Eastgate was home babysitting his son on Monday and grew upset when the infant wouldn’t stop crying.

HAYWARD, Calif. — Philip and Nancy Garrido, the couple convicted in the rape and abduction of Jaycee Dugard, are being questioned by police investigating the kidnapping of another young girl more than two decades ago. Michaela Garecht, 9, was abducted from a grocery store parking lot in Hayward in 1988.

READ MORE HERE:

http://www.ktla.com/news/landing/ktla-garrido-other-abductions,0,5957381.story

Too often, children are the victims of warring parents. Now the federal government wants to expand the definition of child abuse to give them more protection.

A LITTLE boy is forced to visit a doctor and endure an anal examination for signs of sexual abuse. The humiliating ritual continues for months. He is just five years old, and is caught in the middle of his parents’ bitter custody battle over him. His father insists the boy’s mother is abusing him, although there appears to be no basis for the accusation. A police report even suggests the claim is most likely fabricated to help the father’s bid for full custody.

Coroner: Manner of Death was Child Abuse

LAS VEGAS — The Clark County Coroner has ruled the death of one-year-old Dyon Johnson a homicide. Metro Police detectives say the woman who was watching the child at the time of her death is a suspect and is being questioned. The coroner says the primary cause of death was blunt head trauma and ruled the manner of death was child abuse.

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http://www.8newsnow.com/story/15271649/coroner-manner-of-death-was-child-abuse

COLUMBIA — A Horry County mother is in jail after being accused of abusing her six-year-old daughter and then attempting to hide the bruises with makeup. Sarah Elizabeth Houle, 25, is charged with child neglect. She’s being held on a $10,000 bond at the J. Reuben Long Detention Center in Horry County.

READ MORE HERE:

http://www.midlandsconnect.com/news/story.aspx?id=652205#.Tks8_GHdfgg

HUBERT, N.C. – A U.S. Marine assigned to Camp Lejuene and his wife were arrested and charged with abusing and torturing their five children.  Lance Corporal Larry Anderson and his wife Janet Lynn Anderson were arrested Monday.  The pair appeared in court this morning.  Corporal Anderson is assigned to the 2nd Battalion 9th Marine 2nd Marine Division at Camp Lejuene.

READ MORE HERE:

http://www2.wnct.com/news/2011/aug/15/7/onslow-county-parents-arrested-child-abuse-ar-1303160/

One is a former music teacher acquitted of groping two girls, the other a high school principal accused of beating his daughter with an electric cord. Neither will be returning to his job with the Broward County School District. On Tuesday, the School Board fired Hallandale High School Principal Darren Jones, who was arrested in January on child abuse charges. A district report said Jones “struck his daughter numerous times with an extension cord.”

Boy was beaten with a hammer and phone book over 100x’s over a period of several hours.

 

Should teachers communicate with their students on Facebook and other social media sites? Missouri teachers are angry after a new state law limits their contact with students through such websites, saying they use site like Twitter and MySpace for lessons and to stay in contact with students.

READ MORE HERE:

http://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2011/08/should_teachers_become_faceboo.html

 

At what point does spanking or hitting – not punching but hitting like on the back of the hand or even slapping the cheek – a child cross the line legally? If you spanked your child on the bottom and they called police what would happen?

We got some answers from people who should know including Assistant Kent County Prosecutor Helen Brinkman who specializes in crimes against kids; Susan Powers who is a therapist with the Children’s Assessment Center where children who are victims of crimes are taken to be interviewed by staff trained in child psychology; and Grand Rapids Police Detective Dan Adams, a member of the department’s major crimes unit.