DCF lays off 500 workers, claims children will not be affected

The Florida Department of Children and Families began issuing layoff notices Thursday to nearly 500 employees — a move officials said would save taxpayers $48 million while preserving the agency’s protection and care of abused and neglected kids. The layoffs are a result of budget cuts passed by the Florida Legislature and signed into law Thursday by Gov. Rick Scott. They come as the department has faced sharp criticism for its handling of the Barahona case in south Florida.

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http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2011-05-26/news/os-dcf-layoffs-20110526_1_dcf-information-technology-abuse

The Saskatchewan ICE (Internet Child Exploitation) Unit has charged seven men from across the province with possession and distribution of child pornography. This comes after the unit began an investigation into online activities of child abuse images in the province. Police executed nine search warrants between February 1 and April 21 at several locations, including Saskatoon, Regina, Moose Jaw, Raymore and Churchbridge.

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http://www.globaltoronto.com/Seven+Saskatchewan+charged+with+child+pornography/4850957/story.html

LANCASTER, S.C. — A Lancaster woman is charged with letting her son drown in a bathtub.Yasika Patterson, 25, is in jail, charged with homicide by child abuse.Her 18-month-old son, Randell McIlwain, was found dead on May 19 in the family’s home on Pinta Drive, south of Lancaster.

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http://www.wsoctv.com/news/28051108/detail.html

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2011/05/27/2331491/woman-wanted-for-murder-by-child.html

SAN FRANCISCO—A former California college professor has been convicted of sexually abusing a child. Kenneth Kyle pleaded guilty on Thursday in federal court in San Francisco to crossing state lines in August 2009 to have sexual contact with a minor. Authorities say Kyle and 21-year-old Tessa Van Vlerah of Ballwin, Mo. took photos while sexually abusing a 13-month-old girl during Kyle’s visits to the St. Louis area.

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http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_18153984?nclick_check=1

Robin Leigh Pagoria, 45, faces child abuse, child pornography charges.

A Polk County sheriff’s deputy filmed herself strapping naked children to a desk and spanking them with sex toys, then sent the videos to a boyfriend she met on a fetish website, investigators said. On Thursday, 45-year-old Robin Leigh Pagoria was charged with aggravated child abuse, production of child pornography, promotion of child pornography and possession of child pornography. According to an arrest report, the two children, described only as girls between the ages of 10 and 18, described in graphic detail multiple spanking sessions.

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http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/breakingnews/os-polk-detention-deputy-charged-20110526,0,5783092.story

Harlan County, KY—- A Loyall pastor has been arrested and charged second-degree rape, first-degree sexual abuse and two counts of second-degree sodomy involving a minor under the age of 14. Jeremy D. Caraway, 36, a pastor at the Loyall Church of God, was perp walked from his home on Sunday after an investigation by the Kentucky State police. He is alleged to have had sex with the young female member of his congregation. The arrest warrant states that they had sex in his church.

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http://deadkidsofmyspace.com/

SANTA MONICA, CA — Circumcising a boy under the age of 18, even for religious reasons, may soon be against the law in Santa Monica. A proposed ban on circumcision is already on the November ballot in San Francisco. Now supporters of the MGM Bill, which stands for male genital mutilation, are hoping to do the same in Santa Monica.

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http://www.ktla.com/news/landing/ktla-circumcision-ban-santa-monica,0,857021.story

In the last two years 75 people have been prosecuted for federal sex crimes against children in the Houston region, part of a nationwide crackdown on the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Houston said Wednesday. Launched in 2006 by the U.S. Department of Justice, Project Safe Childhood coordinates federal, state and local resources to catch and prosecute individuals who exploit children online, as well as to identify and rescue victims.

Advocates for survivors of child abuse in North Dakota are asking them to “come out” by writing something from the heart — about the abuse, how they’ve dealt with it or anything they’d like to say about their lives — for a publication to be called “Authentic Voices.” One of the pieces received so far, a poem titled “My Name,” includes the line, “No longer will I wear the name of fear upon my eyes,” and one of the images chosen to illustrate the public awareness campaign is a partial profile of a bright-eyed child.

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http://www.grandforksherald.com/event/article/id/204517/group/homepage/

Rodney Tollefson – Charged With Raping Relative For 15 Years, Using Screwdrivers And Bottles During Attacks

Jackson County, WI – Rodney Tollefson, a 40-year-old Wisconsin man, has been jailed on charges that he sexually assaulted a female relative over a 15-year period – sometimes using bottles and screwdrivers during his attacks. According Wisconsin authorities, an investigation was launched in mid April when a woman mentoring the victim told Sheboygan County deputies of the horrific ordeal her friend had lived through.

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http://www.theweeklyvice.com/2011/05/rodney-tollefson-charged-with-raping.html

Mom Killed Her Own Daughter, Emma Leigh Barker

LANCASTER, Calif. — A mother who initially claimed she was assaulted and her 18- month- old daughter kidnapped has been convicted of suffocating the little girl and dumping her body near a freeway. Stacey Barker, 24, was convicted of one count of first degree murder, assault on a child and child abuse.

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http://www.ktla.com/news/landing/ktla-lancaster-toddler-mom-convicted,0,1767690.story