4-YO toddler boy was beaten with a hammer, burnt and buried in a shallow grave sprinkled with dog food

Nearly four years after the body of Ethan Stacy was found buried on a mountainside in Utah, the child’s stepfather — Nathan Sloop — admitted Tuesday that he played a role in the four-year-old’s death. Sloop, 35, pleaded guilty but mentally ill to aggravated murder for the 2010 death of Ethan Stacy, who was found near Powder Mountain in Weber Country with his face disfigured by hammer blows and his grave sprinkled with dog food. Sloop was immediately sentenced to 25 years to life in prison for the murder and 1 to 15 years for aggravated assault by a prisoner for attacking a David County jail officer. A number of other charges were dismissed as part of a plea deal, which also spared him from the death penalty, according to The Salt Lake Tribune. READ MORE HERE

Macedonia adopted a bill imposing chemical castration on repeat offenders

The Macedonian government has been accused of being too lenient despite imposing laws which would allow pedophile repeat offenders to be castrated. Macedonia has adopted a bill imposing chemical castration on repeat offenders convicted of sexually abusing children. However, the country’s leading child protection group says the law is still too lenient. The Megjasi child protection group, which had campaigned for the procedure to be imposed on pedophiles, said today that the penalty should be mandatory for first time offenders. Lawmakers voted on Monday to make penalties harsher for convicted pedophiles increasing the maximum sentence to life imprisonment and imposing chemical castration on second-time offenders. READ MORE HERE

Two Texas men were arrested this week after authorities near Houston say they both had sex with the same 13-year-old girl on multiple occasions. The two suspected child molesters also happen to be brothers. The Harris County Sheriff’s Office say 20-year-old Juan Gonzalez first contacted the 13-year-old on Facebook. He then arranged to meet her. READ MORE HERE

Newborn Found With 19 Broken Bones

GRAND RAPIDS, MI — David Steiger was sentenced Tuesday to between three-and-a-half and 10 years behind bars for a first-degree child abuse charge after his newborn son was found with 19 broken bones last summer. Steiger was arrested July 2, 2013 and according to MLive pleaded no contest to first-degree child abuse in January. READ MORE HERE

Remains Of 55 Children Unearthed At Former Florida Reform School Site

TAMPA, Florida — The remains of 55 people have been unearthed from a graveyard at a former reform school with a history of abuse, researchers said Tuesday. University of South Florida researchers began excavating the graveyard at the now-closed Arthur G. Dozier School for Boys in September. The dig finished in December. Official records indicated 31 burials at the Marianna site, but researchers had estimated there would be about 50 graves. All the bodies found were interred in coffins either made at the school or bought from manufacturers, said Erin Kimmerle, a forensic anthropologist leading the university’s investigation. Some were found under roads or overgrown trees, well away from the white, metal crosses marking the 31 officially recorded graves. Now, researchers will try to identify the remains and determine the causes of death. The bodies were buried sometime between the late 1920s and early 1950s, researchers said. READ MORE HERE

55 bodies exhumed at shuttered Fla. reform school

More remains excavated at Fla. reform school yard

Bullying Breakdown: 7 signs your child may be bullied

If your child is feeling anxious, depressed or withdrawn, do not pass it off as “teen syndrome.” These warning signs may indicate serious physical, emotional, or psychological distress. Pay attention to a change in your child’s behavior, and take immediate action if you suspect he is a victim of bullying. I’m not a medical doctor, and my advice should not be substituted for medical consultation. If you suspect that your child is being bullied, seek immediate professional help. Here are several ways to detect that your child may be experiencing bullying: READ MORE HERE

Stopping bullying: Listen, focus and work with your kids

Bullying Must Be Addressed at Home and in School

Gym class bullying turns kids off fitness

Warning signs your child is being bullied

Your Child Is Being Bullied. Now What?

Stop Bullying: How to help the youngest

RALEIGH — An 11-year-old boy is in the hospital after trying to commit suicide — the victim of bullying at school. It’s not a new problem in North Carolina, but this puts a new face on the age-old problem as Michael Morones remains in WakeMed with a tube down his throat and potentially life-long brain damage. Michael tried to kill himself, apparently because he could no longer take the torrent of bullying he was facing at school. “He’s the kid that never walks. He dances everywhere,” said Michael’s mother, Tiffany Morones-Suttle. “He’s so full of energy. He’s always on the move. READ MORE HERE

Personal trainer who abused steroids and cocaine knifed his wife 58 times in front of six-year-old child after being released on bail for domestic violence

A personal trainer who stabbed his wife to death the day after being released on bail for domestic violence was jailed for more than 10 years today. Bulent Sessacar, 28, knifed trainee nursery nurse Rebecca Sessacar, 25, a total of 58 times in a frenzied attack in front of a six-year-old girl at their home in Croydon, south London. Mr Sessacar, who was abusing steroids and cocaine, had a history of violence and a police caution for battery of his wife. Two days before the killing he was arrested for assaulting Mrs Sessacar but was allowed to return to the family home after she said she did not want to press charges.READ MORE HERE

Boy, 2, dies after his mother ‘accidentally serves him methadone that she had stored in a Gatorade bottle’

TOOELE COUNTY, Utah — A toddler is dead and his mother behind bars as Tooele police are investigating after the child overdosed on methadone. Methadone is a pain reliever that can also be used to help recovering addicts through withdrawal symptoms. It’s a narcotic similar to morphine with side effects that can mimic heroine, and according to police: Three of Jill Goff’s five children tested positive for methadone in their system. READ MORE HERE

Man arrested on murder charge after 2-year-old child dies

DENVER — Denver police arrested a 26-year-old man was arrested Saturday after police said a 2-year-old child was found not breathing and died. Quinton Stanley is being held on a first-degree murder charge, said police spokesman Sonny Jackson. READ MORE HERE

FRISCO — Police say the mother of a 10-year-old boy found dead in their suburban home admitted to killing him before officers discovered his body in a bathtub. Arnav Dhawan, 10, was found dead in the home where he lived with his mother and father in the 1500 block of Mountain View Lane, said Frisco police spokesman Brad Merritt.  According to a statement released by the Frisco Police Department, officers were called at about 6:32 p.m. to the home in the Hunters Creek neighborhood. READ MORE HERE

GRAND JUNCTION — A 12-person jury found Heather Jensen guilty of child abuse that led to the hyperthermia deaths of her two young sons in 2012, but the same jury found her not guilty of criminally negligent homicide. The split verdict came after a day and a half of deliberations following an emotional four days of testimony about the events surrounding the deaths of William Jensen, 2, and Tyler Jensen, 4. The boys died of overheating while strapped and locked in their mother’s SUV on a cold evening in late November. READ MORE HERE

Chambersburg – Edy J. Aguirre, 30, is accused of assaulting and threatening two unidentified children ages 9 and 8, and will face a preliminary hearing Tuesday during Franklin County Central Court. Aguirre is charged with two counts of endangering the welfare of a child and three counts of terroristic threats, according to court documents. On Jan. 6, a member of the Franklin County Children and Youth Services spoke with the two children, who described Aguirre abusing them by verbally and physically threatening them, according to court documents. READ MORE HERE

Florida woman arrested for using stun gun to discipline children as young as seven-years-old

A Florida caregiver faces child abuse charges after the relatives she looked after ratted on her use of a taser-like gun for discipline to school officials. Letina  Smith, 41, of Kissimmee, made the three children aged seven, eight and nine-years-old sit against the wall as they would in a chair with their arms out, but minus the chair – if they moved they would be zapped, she called it the ‘electric chair,’ officials said. READ MORE HERE