Boy, 11, also charged in death of infant

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — An 11 year old is now charged with the abuse that led to his 7-month-old brother’s death. The infant’s mother, Wendy Latwann Johnson, was charged earlier this week in Camden Johnson’s death. CMPD responded to the home on Saturday on a report of an unresponsive baby. Seven-month-old Camden was taken to Carolinas Medical Center, where he was pronounced deceased. Relatives say the 11 year old confessed to abusing his brother, and doing it out of jealousy, while his mother ran an errand Saturday and was gone from the house for about 45 minutes. READ MORE HERE

3 Students Shot: Police Search for Shooter

A school shooting has been reported at Brashear High School in Pittsburgh. Police are searching for a gunman who shot three people near a Pittsburgh high school today. Three people were shot near Brashear High School in Pittsburgh this afternoon, according to ABC News affiliate WTAE. No one is in custody and there is a search for the shooter, according to the Pittsburgh mayor’s office. SWAT team members and armored vehicles responded to the school and surrounding neighborhood.  READ MORE HERE

3 shot outside Pittsburgh Brashear High School – Pittsburgh Post

Police: At Least 3 Shot Near Brashear High School « CBS

Father battles to rescue his two daughters who were ‘abducted by their mother and taken to Argentina three years ago’

A Colorado man is fighting to bring back his two daughters who he claims were abducted by his ex-wife to Argentina. Dennis Burns, of Snowmass, has spent the past three years missing out on the lives of his daughters, Sophia, 4, and Victoria, 7. His ex-wife, Ana Alianelli, took them from their home after a Colorado judge ordered that the children stay in the US after a bitter 13-month long custody battle following their divorce. A judge ordered their immediate return, but it was too late. The children were 3 and 1 years old at the time. READ MORE HERE

A young mother battered her 11-month-old son to death after covering up months of abuse by pretending he was not her child, the Old Bailey heard today. Emma Wilson, 25, is accused of inflicting an ‘unsurvivable brain injury’ on her son Callum, who had also lost sight from a detached retina and had multiple fractures and bruising all over his body. The jury heard she used a false name for her son and claimed that she was looking after him for her cousin. READ MORE HERE

Saginaw, MI – Kristie Flores, a 31-year-old Michigan woman, has been jailed after she allegedly had a 4-year-long sexual relationship with a girl under the age of 13. According to police, Flores sexually assaulted a girl under the age of 13 repeatedly from June 2009 until June of this year. According to the charging documents, at least three of the sexual encounters occurred while the child was under the age of 13 and involved penetration. READ MORE HERE

Man Accused of Plotting to Kill Ex-Wife, Kids With Car Bomb

A 28-year-old Victorville man was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder after allegedly planting explosive device under his e-wife’s car while she was shopping with her two children, police announced Tuesday. Steven James Sunny was taken into custody Monday at a home in San Bernardino, just hours after the device was discovered outside the Redlands Town Center shopping center on Alabama Street, according to a news release from the Redland Police Department. READ MORE HERE

The FBI is seeking the public’s assistance to stop a child predator. The individual we are seeking is currently known only as John Doe 27. Video of the man engaging in sexually explicit activities with a child were discovered online in April 2013 by the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC), and those images are still circulating in child pornography forums across the Internet. The video shows a glimpse of John Doe 27, which investigators hope will lead to his identification—and the recovery of the exploited child. “These types of individuals typically don’t stop with one victim,” said Special Agent Shanna Daniels, who is investigating the case. “That’s why we need to catch him before other children are victimized.” READ MORE HERE

DENVER, CO –  Every morning when the school bell rings, kids flood into classrooms thinking about the homework assignment they still need to complete or the test they have to ace. It’s not about the student sitting next to them, who may be a registered sex offender. FOX31 Denver asked the state of Colorado how many juveniles were on the state’s sex offender list. We were told the Colorado Bureau of Investigation doesn’t keep track of those numbers, so we went through hundreds of records and found a little more than 300 offenders, 17 and younger, who were required to register under state law. The registered teenage sex offenders have been convicted of crimes like rape, incest and sexual assault; the youngest on the list, five 12-year-olds. READ MORE HERE

LINK: Breakdown of juvenile sex offenses

Learn how to detect and deal with child sexual abuse

Any one sign does not mean that a child was sexually abused, but the presence of several suggests that you begin asking questions and consider seeking help. Parents can help keep their children safe by teaching them the correct terminology to describe their body parts and what kind of touching and interaction is off-limits. But, sometimes even this is not enough. Below is a list of some of the more prominent signs of child molestation/sexual abuse…

Behavior you may see in a child or adolescent:

• Has nightmares or other sleep problems without an explanation
• Seems distracted or distant at odd times
• Has a sudden change in eating habits
• Refuses to eat
• Loses or drastically increases appetite
• Has trouble swallowing
• Sudden mood swings: rage, fear, insecurity, or withdrawal
• Leaves “clues” that seem likely to provoke a discussion about sexual issues
• Develops new or unusual fear of certain people or places
• Refuses to talk about a secret shared with an adult or older child
• Writes, draws, plays, or dreams of sexual or frightening images

• Talks about a new older friend
• Suddenly has money, toys, or other gifts without reason
• Thinks of self or body as repulsive, dirty, or bad
• Exhibits adult-like sexual behaviors, language, and knowledge

All of the warning signs listed above are general indicators of sexual abuse in children. Many children do not actually disclose what happened; it is up to attentive adults to recognize hints. However, if you suspect a child has been abused by seeing these indications, please seek help immediately.  READ MORE HERE

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St. Paul archdiocese to name abusive priests

ST. PAUL, Minn. — In a reversal of decades-old policy, Archbishop John Nienstedt said he plans to release the names of some priests who have sexually abused children. The list will be limited to living priests who still reside in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis and who have been determined by the archdiocese to be guilty of abuse. Nienstedt did not say how many names would be released, and it’s unclear if the list would include any priests not already known to the public through lawsuits and media reports. READ MORE HERE

‘I was sexually abused by the people who were supposed to look after me’

A frank memoir by the granddaughter of Nelson Mandela has revealed she was sexually abused as a child. Zoleka Mandela, 33, also writes about the grief she suffered after losing two children, as well as her battle with breast cancer. Her 13-year-old daughter Zenani was killed in a car crash in June 2010.  Two days after celebrating her 13th birthday, the great granddaughter of the former South African president died on her way home from the FIFA World Cup Kick Off Concert in Soweto. Zoleka, who was 10 years old when Nelson Mandela walked free from prison, released her new book of memoirs, When Hope Whispers, today. READ MORE HERE

31 U.S. States Allow Rapists Custody and Visitation Rights

Editor’s note: Shauna R. Prewitt is a lawyer in Chicago. She is the author of “Giving Birth to a ‘Rapist’s Child’: A Discussion and Analysis of the Limited Legal Protections Afforded to Women Who Become Mothers Through Rape,” written for the Georgetown Law Journal.

Chicago, Illinois (CNN) — When I was in law school, my criminal law professor introduced us to the crime of rape by reading us a quote from Lord Chief Justice Sir Matthew Hale, a 17th-century English jurist: “In a rape case it is the victim, not the defendant, who is on trial.” It was not merely a history lesson. I had lived it. READ MORE HERE

The 31 states where rapists can sue for custody and/or visitation are: 
Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wyoming.

31 States Still Allow Custody and Visitation Rights for Rapists

As a boy, Paul Connolly was mocked, bullied and beaten up by his father. Now he has twins of his own…

My father is not a good man. He is not kind or gentle. He is not wise or funny. He is not cultured, sensitive, accepting or loving. He is not brave or adventurous, inspiring or supportive. Rather, he hates laughter and revels in the misfortunes of others – even those suffered by his own children. He is not burdened with even one quality that might have proved handy in fatherhood. My father, unfortunately, is a bad dad. READ MORE HERE