The body parts of a missing teenage girl have been found scattered across a field, authorities confirmed. The girl had been staying with a family friend when she went missing in Fannett, Texas, a small town of around 100 people, an hour north of Houston. A rancher called authorities three months later to report he had found a human skull in an empty canal on his property close to the town. The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office confirmed last Friday that the remains were of Sharon West, who had been identified using dental records.  READ MORE HERE

SUNSHINE COAST, Australia — A 37-year old woman has been sentenced to 4 years in jail for raping her daughter under the pretense of teaching the 11-year-old about sex. The mother of four used her cell phone to videotape herself repeatedly raping her young daughter. And this was just one of many “lessons” the mother gave as part of a “bizarre sexual education,” the presiding judge said.  READ MORE HERE

$100,000 bail in beating, robbery posted on YouTube

Seven teenagers have been charged with the beating and robbery of a 17-year-old high school senior that was captured on video and posted on the Internet. Only one of the teens, Raymond Palomino, 17, of the 3500 block of South Hoyne Avenue, was charged as an adult, with one count of robbery and one count of aggravated battery for the attack that has gone viral on YouTube. Judge Israel Desierto set bail for Palomino at $100,000 over the strenuous arguments of the youth’s attorney.  READ MORE HERE

(WARNING: Video is extremely graphic!)

Anyone can report suspected child abuse or neglect. Reporting abuse or neglect can protect a child and get help for a family—it may even save a child’s life. In some States, any person who suspects child abuse or neglect is required to report. To see how your State addresses this issue, read the Information Gateway publication, Mandatory Reporters of Child Abuse and Neglect.   READ MORE HERE

ALSO SEE OUR “REPORT ABUSE” PAGE HERE

THE number of reports of child abuse received by the Office of the Children’s Registry (OCR) has grown by more than 1,000 per cent between the registry’s establishment in 2007 and last year when it received the highest number of reports in a one-year period — 7,000 cases. The registry recorded its lowest number of cases in 2007, 455. Last year’s figure represented an 11 per cent jump from the 2010 figure of 6,330. In 2009, the registry received 6,439 reports, a 62 per cent increase from the 3,973 cases it received in 2008.  READ MORE HERE

CHILDREN BEING USED FOR RITUAL SACRIFICE

WASHINGTON, January 17, 2011— Human trafficking often involves prostitution and forced labor of victims. But in Uganda, traffickers buy and sell children against their will to use their genitals, heads, and blood for ritual sacrifice.  The U.S. Department of States recently reported 9000 children missing in Uganda over the last four years. Traffickers transport children both inside Uganda and to other countries for use in ritual sacrifices.   READ MORE HERE

ALSO READ MORE HERE:

FIFTEEN men have appeared in the District Court to answer more than 100 sex-related charges. Among the barrage of allegations heard in the unrelated court listings yesterday was a man charged with 20 various child-sex offenses and another accused of sexually abusing his adopted son. Others centred on child pornography and rape, with some offences dating back to the 1960s. Included in the allegations was Alan Gordon Maxwell, 42, of Hackham, who faced court on five rape charges.  READ MORE HERE

James Ernest Bledsoe, Child Molester-Turned-Serial Rapist, Gets 129 Years

It was easy to lose amid all the serial killer coverage, but late last week serial rapist James Ernest Bledsoe, 30, of Huntington Beach, was sentenced to 129 years to life in state prison for sexually assaulting four women in his apartment and surreptitiously videotaping the rapes without the victims’ knowledge or consent. At the time of his crimes, Bledsoe was a registered sex offender thanks to a 2005 child molestation conviction. READ MORE HERE

Don’t Be an Enabler —  When a Child Is Abused,  Here’s What to Do
By Michael Reagan
Published November 10, 2011
| FoxNews.com

Michael Reagan: “The reason I tell you all this? Because, I was once that boy.”

Allegations of child sexual abuse by a former assistant football coach at Penn State University have dominated the news this week. On Wednesday legendary football coach Joe Paterno released a statement in which he said, “With the benefit of hindsight, I wish I had done more.” How lame is that, coach? Would you have accepted that excuse from one of your players? “With the benefit of hindsight, coach, I wish I had run the route we rehearsed a thousand times in practice.” See how stupid that sounds? It doesn’t take “hindsight” to know that when some monster is raping children in your locker room, you call the police.  READ MORE HERE

FARMINGTON A district judge denied a request for a 24-hour furlough for the man accused of stomping and killing 17-month-old Taegen McKinney. Jose Garcia, 23, is accused of killing McKinney on April 14, 2007, after he allegedly stomped on the toddler’s chest while his girlfriend was asleep. The couple was babysitting the child when she was killed. Shoe impressions that matched Garcia’s shoes remained on the child’s abdomen, according to court records.  READ MORE HERE

Sexual abuse victims often struggle for years with memories of the traumatic abuse they suffered as children. In some cases, the experiences are so traumatic that they block out (or repress) the memories. This week the Minnesota Supreme Court is hearing a motion to determine whether a survivor of sexual abuse can present evidence of repressed memory syndrome. In the United States, courts will not consider expert scientific evidence unless the party seeking to submit the evidence can establish that the evidence is scientifically reliable. The motion is called a Daubert motion.  READ MORE HERE

Marlon Iverzander Lopez is wanted in connection with allegations of continual sexual abuse of six children over a span of several years, beginning in approximately 1997. A state arrest warrant was initially issued on September 28, 2002, by the Riverside Superior Court in California after Lopez was charged with 30 counts of lewd or lascivious acts with a child. He was located and arrested on March 12, 2005; however, after posting bond, Lopez failed to appear for subsequent court dates. A second arrest warrant was issued in Riverside Superior Court on August 15, 2005. Lopez was charged federally with unlawful flight to avoid prosecution and a warrant for his arrest was issued by the United States District Court, Central District of California, on July 17, 2006.  READ MORE HERE