A teen who police say molested a 3-year-old boy over the weekend because he was bored appeared Monday in Columbus Recorder’s Court. Martinez Deontae Williams, 18, is charged with child molestation and enticing a child for indecent purposes, police said. Accused of inappropriately touching the child as the toddler sat on his lap, Williams pleaded not guilty Monday to both charges.  READ MORE HERE

A Parent’s Worst Nightmare’

In Casto Marim, Portugal, a depressed mother, Luciana Garcia, killed herself and her two children, Leticia and Leonardo,  by locking them together in a room and setting the furniture ablaze. According to Information Nigeria, the husband, Leonardo Gioso, had left for works two hours before the tragic event to complete tasks at a dental clinic he ran with his wife of fifteen years. READ MORE HERE

Six times, there was a sharp knock on the jury room door. After each knock, the bailiff took a piece of yellow lined notepaper and carried it to the judge. Each time, the note included a request. Once, the 12 jurors asked for air conditioning in the jury room. Another time they asked for an investigator’s notes summarizing the interview he had done with Tracy Leegaynor Miller in August of 2010.  READ MORE HERE

When Rapists Seek Joint Custody of the Children They Father Through Rape, Everyone Loses

A 30-year-old man was sentenced to 24 years in prison Friday after being convicted on charges that he raped a 5-year-old girl while he was living with her family in North Aurora in the summer of 2000. Adrian Ramirez-Alcantar, now of Warrenville, was convicted of two counts of predatory criminal sexual assault and criminal sexual abuse after a two-day trial in May.  READ MORE HERE

Although GOP leaders have condemned Missouri Senate candidate Todd Akin’s claim that “legitimate rape” rarely causes pregnancy, the party this week adopted anti-abortion platform language that does not include an exception for rape. If a mother decides to carry a child conceived in rape to term, should she tell him or her about the rape? ….. Probably. Researchers estimate that approximately 12,000 children are born as the result of rape every year, and the majority of them are raised by birth mothers.  READ MORE HERE

PHOENIX, AZ.– A teacher at Paradise Valley High School has been arrested for allegedly having a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old female student at the school. Police said the student’s mother knew about and allowed her daughter and the teacher to engage in the sexual conduct at her residence. The teacher has been identified as Jordan Doneskey, 26. Police are not releasing the mother’s identity in order to protect the name of the minor in this case.  READ MORE HERE

MUNCIE, INDIANA – A two-month-old baby is fighting for his life after investigators say his father abused him. The child has a left skull fracture, bruises under the eye, bleeding in the brain and a host of old injuries. Now, Phillip Adkins is behind bars in Delaware County on charges of battery and neglect of a dependent. Court documents 24-Hour News 8 obtained say Adkins told police “he has anger issues and was frustrated and mad” the day he hurt his little boy, Michael Adkins.  READ MORE HERE

No Simple Answer

We can’t simply answer this question for you. But we can offer, based on years of experience and study, some information and some thoughtful reflections on this sensitive issue. We will make some basic points, and some more subtle and complex ones, that we hope you will find useful. Before we say more, we have a recommendation: As you read this page, allow yourself to be aware of any strong emotions that this question stirs up in you and, if the feelings get to be too much, take a break or do whatever else you might need to calm down.

This question always involves strong feelings, both in those who have been hurt by an unwanted or abusive sexual experience in childhood, and in people who care about them. It’s also normal for such strong feelings to influence our thought processes, and to prevent us from thinking clearly or even to prevent us from absorbing information. And so, as with everything else you can explore on this website, it’s important to pace yourself, and to give yourself all the time you need, including to put this page and this issue aside for a while, if that makes sense.  READ MORE HERE

Website Linked to Child Rapes

JACKSONVILLE – A Marine based in Onslow County was charged with raping an 11-year-old girl July 21, finding the victim through social networking website Skout.com. According to police investigations, three other men across the country are accused of using the same site to rape under-aged victims. READ MORE HERE

A child rapist, who attacked three young children in a ‘truly abhorrent’ way, was caught by police when they saw a porn film playing through the letterbox of his house after he lured the children there. Darren Mackrell, 45, pleaded guilty to raping the children he had drugged and forced to sexually abuse each other while he watched in a six-hour ordeal. In what Judge Gary Burrell QC called a ‘truly abhorrent thing to do’, two boys aged eight and ten years old, and a girl, nine, were lured to Mackrell’s flat in Southampton, Hampshire, after he approached them in a nearby park.  READ MORE HERE

A former police sergeant accused of molesting the children he adopted, has struck a bargain with prosecutors that will allow him to go free from jail in just a year. Maurice A. Martinez, 46, of Oklahoma City, was a foster father to some 60 children and a city lawman but on Tuesday he pleaded guilty to nine felony counts of sexual abuse against a child. He was arrested in April 2011, bringing to light a sordid saga of sexual abuse. READ MORE HERE

Saved: The teen’s baby is carried away by the SWAT team after it was rescued from the home in Illinois

A teenager held captive in a house for more than three years before escaping with a relative’s help initially went there voluntarily but wasn’t allowed to leave when she wanted to go home, an Illinois police chief said on Friday. Washington Park Police Chief David Clark said the 19-year-old St. Louis woman bolted from the home on Monday and told investigators her time in captivity included almost daily beatings and sexual assaults.  One of those attacks resulted in a now-2-year-old boy rescued when a police SWAT team raided the home next to a gas station on Thursday and arrested a 25-year-old man and his mother.  READ MORE HERE