“Breaking the Silence on Child Abuse: Protection, Prevention, Intervention, and Deterrence”

On December 13, I had the honor of participating in an important moment for the child advocacy field. As one of six panelists to testify in front of the United States Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee (HELP), Subcommittee on Children and Families, I joined my fellow child abuse intervention experts in shining a light on issues surrounding child sexual abuse in our country. The purpose of the hearing, titled “Breaking the Silence on Child Abuse: Protection, Prevention, Intervention, and Deterrence,” was to examine how well our federal laws, such as the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act, are working to protect our nation’s children from abuse and neglect. The hearing also examined related issues, including the prevalence of child sexual abuse committed by adults in entrusted organizations, the effect abuse has on children and their families, why adults may fail to report known or suspected abuse, and local and state efforts aimed at protecting, preventing, intervening, and deterring child abuse.  READ MORE HERE

COLUMBIANA, Ala. –Daniel Montague Acker, Jr, is in the Shelby County jail charged with three counts of sexual abuse. He is the son of Shelby County Commissioner Daniel Acker, Sr. Acker, Jr, was a fourth grade teacher for 25 years, he drove a school bus for 15 years and had been a substitute bus driver since he retired in 2009. Alabaster police say a former student, who is now roughly around the age of 13, filed a complaint against Acker, Jr. In that complaint she claims Acker, Jr. molested her. READ MORE HERE

 

TRENTON (NEW JERSEY) — An Assembly panel has approved a bill to remove the state’s two-year statute of limitations on lawsuits for child sexual abuse. Under current law, adult victims of childhood abuse have two years to bring suit against individuals or institutions from the point when they realize it damaged them. The measure (S2405) would allow them to file suit no matter how much time has passed, against individuals and institutions – public, private, for-profit and non-profit. READ MORE HERE

Ten years ago today, the FBI searched the townhouse of Scott Tyree in suburban Washington D.C. and found 13-year-old Alicia Kozakiewicz bound to a bed. She had been missing for 4 days. Now, a decade later, Alicia speaks with us about her experience of being deceived and groomed online by this predator over a period of 8 months, only to be abducted by him and taken to his home on New Year’s Day, where she was raped, beaten, and tortured.  READ MORE HERE

Abused child clings to life as father faces trial

MICHIGAN–Even if 5-month-old Hunter Sewejkis of Canton survives severe head injuries blamed on his father — a scenario that remains in doubt — his doctor testified in heart-wrenching detail Thursday what his life will be like. He likely would never walk, sit up or eat on his own. He probably would be blind and possibly deaf. “Hunter’s injuries are devastating, and I think it is still possible that Hunter could succumb to his injuries,” Lisa Markman, a University of Michigan Mott Children’s Hospital doctor, said.  READ MORE HERE

Canton man charged with fracturing 4-month-old child’s skull

Family, prosecutor say abused child not likely to survive

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A paedophile monk who forced a schoolboy to take part in sex acts and paid him 50p each time has been jailed for five years. Richard White, 66, was finally jailed yesterday after evading justice for more than two decades – because monastic authorities and the parents of one of his two victims hushed the matter up. White, a Benedictine monk, abused pupils while a geography teacher at Downside, one of England’s leading Roman Catholic schools. READ MORE HERE

A mother who was being attacked by her boyfriend with a knife held up their one-year-old son to act as a human shield, police say. Devin Juan Wilkes, 24, from Jacksonville, Florida, was beating his 22-year-old girlfriend with his fists before picking up a knife.  When Sheena Hunter grabbed their son in the hope he wouldn’t attack his own child, Wilkes allegedly threw the baby face first on to the floor and continued to attack the victim.  READ MORE HERE

A Filipino teen has become the victim of a horrifying, allegedly homophobia-fueled attack by his own father. The Philippine LGBT Hate Crime Watch (PLHCW) is now demanding justice for 19-year-old Edmund Padilla, who allegedly suffered severe burns after his father Erano scalded him with boiling water. Erano, who has since been detained and was reportedly drunk at the time of the attack, told authorities he committed the crime after Edmund turned out to be the third of his children who identified as gay.  READ MORE HERE

Judge said teenager within his rights to use deadly force to defend himself—Court ruled on ‘stand your ground’ law

A teenager has become the youngest person in the U.S. to escape a murder charge under a controversial ‘stand your ground’ law. A judge ruled that Jorge Saavedra, 15, was in danger from the older boy and acted in self-defence when he stabbed Dylan Nuno to death. Saavedra, who was 14 at the time, stabbed his attacker 12 times with a pocket knife he had been carrying in Naples, Florida. READ MORE HERE

Man arrested in beating of child who ‘ate Santa’s cookies’

Authorities said 37-year-old William R. Cramer became enraged when a boy peeked at Christmas gifts

NEW CASTLE — Thanks to the efforts of William R. Cramer, a 7-year-old New Castle boy likely will never forget Christmas 2011. But be advised this is anything but a feel-good holiday story. Cramer, a 37-year-old felon, was arrested on Christmas Eve after authorities determined he had beaten the youngster with a belt after finding the boy trying to sneak a peek at Christmas gifts.  READ MORE HERE

NEW DORP, STATEN ISLAND, NY–Amanda Cummings, 15, a Staten Island high school sophomore who committed suicide, clearly indicated on Facebook weeks beforehand that she was contemplating taking her life, possibly because of bullying at her school . Intimidating postings on Cummings’s social media page from others may have also been part of the cause for her suicide, and now that she has passed away, the same page on which she posted her contemplations of suicide is the same place where dozens of friends, family members and well wishers are leaving messages of loving support. READ MORE HERE

AMANDA CUMMINGS MEMORIAL PAGE ON FACEBOOK

CHICAGO — A 13-year-old girl who allegedly left her newborn son in a trash container behind her Country Club Hills apartment complex has been released from the hospital, and police and prosecutors are awaiting autopsy results as they consider charges against the young mother, Police Chief William Brown said. Police and paramedics found the 4-pound, 2-ounce body of a newborn boy Sunday night in the 17900 block of Huntleigh Court in the southwest suburb.  READ MORE HERE

Police say the school was immediately placed on lockdown and no one else was injured

BROWNSVILLE — Police shot and killed an armed teenage student in his Texas school hallway on Wednesday. Brownsville police Detective J.J. Trevino said police received a call at about 8 a.m. that someone had a weapon at Cummings Middle School. Police found the 15-year-old with a handgun in a hallway and shot him, Trevino said.  READ MORE HERE