Boy ‘killed by father in brutal attack’ was kidnapped by him a year ago,

An Oklahoma City mother is devastated after her son, who she hadn’t seen for more than a year because he was kidnapped by his father, was killed in a ‘brutal attack’ Thursday. Katrina DeBoard dropped the 2-year-old Dominic off for a visit with his Marine vet father, Derek Wells, at a home in North Carolina in May 2013. And the next time she saw him was early Friday morning, dead. ‘I never would’ve imagined, in two years, the only way I’d see my son again was him being cold,’ DeBoard said on Saturday. READ MORE HERE

Nanny, 85, sentenced to community service after shaking a baby and leaving him with brain and eye injuries 

An 85-year-old Virginia nanny has been convicted of assaulting an infant she had been babysitting. Evelyn Faye Pillow appeared in Henrico Circuit Court Friday, admitting that there was sufficient evidence to convict her on a misdemeanor assault charge. The abuse occurred last September while the octogenarian was caring for a little boy. Medical experts were prepared to testify that the months-old child showed classic signs of shaken baby syndrome. As part of the plea agreement, Pillow was ordered to perform 400 hours of community service. READ MORE HERE

Misty Stoddard, 37, has been convicted of the first-degree murder of her stepdaughter, Melissa Stoddard, 11

A southwest Florida woman will now spend the rest of her life in prison after being found guilty of killing her autistic stepdaughter by gagging her so tightly the little girl became brain dead. Misty Stoddard, 37, blinked away tears after a Sarasota jury took just two and a half hours to convict her of the first-degree murder of 11-year-old Melissa Stoddard on Friday. Melissa died of suffocation in December 2012 after being tied to a wooden plank with her mouth duct-taped shut. She had moved in with her father and his second wife – Misty – just five months earlier to escape her mothers abusive household in North Carolina. READ MORE HERE

The mother of a 14-year-old girl bombarded with many hundreds of sexually explicit Facebook messages from a paedophile trainee teacher has reacted with fury and disbelief after he was spared jail. Tony Marsden sent thousands of messages to the youngster which  at first used charm and flattery to groom but quickly grew explicit and sinister. When the girl’s mother found out what he was doing it took her 1,450 sheets of A4 paper to print out the vile transcript. READ MORE HERE

DOUGLASVILLE, GA — A man is facing murder charges after police say he intentionally rammed a woman with his car and then ran her over. Police say 53-year-old Janice Pitts was sitting at a traffic light on Highway 5 in Douglasville Wednesday when her Lincoln Navigator was hit from behind by 23-year-old Dewey Green. “He just kept hitting us, he just kept hitting us,” said Pitts’ daughter, Iesha Davis. Davis was in her mom’s SUV at the time with her 4-year -old son. READ MORE HERE

DRIPPING SPRINGS, Texas — A man arrested for burglary in a Central Texas town told police he had been held captive for at least four years by his adoptive parents in a garage apartment locked on the outside, authorities said. Jenifer Elise Thyssen, 40, and Dane Andrew Thyssen, 39, were being held Friday at the Hays County jail. They were arrested Wednesday on kidnapping charges. READ MORE HERE

Scope of the Problem

Domestic violence is a devastating social problem that impacts every segment of the population. While system responses are primarily targeted toward adult victims of abuse, increased attention is now being focused on the children who witness domestic violence. Studies estimate that 10 to 20 percent of children are at risk for exposure to domestic violence (Carlson, 2000). These findings translate into approximately 3.3 to 10 million children who witness the abuse of a parent or adult caregiver each year (Carlson, 1984; Straus and Gelles, 1990). Research also indicates children exposed to domestic violence are at an increased risk of being abused or neglected. A majority of studies reveal there are adult and child victims in 30 to 60 percent of families experiencing domestic violence (Appel and Holden, 1998; Edleson, 1999; Jaffe and Wolfe, 1990).

Impact of Domestic Violence on Children

Children who live with domestic violence face increased risks: the risk of exposure to traumatic events, the risk of neglect, the risk of being directly abused, and the risk of losing one or both of their parents. All of these may lead to negative outcomes for children and may affect their well-being, safety, and stability (Carlson, 2000; Edleson, 1999; Rossman, 2001). Childhood problems associated with exposure to domestic violence fall into three primary categories:

• Behavioral, social, and emotional problems. Higher levels of aggression, anger, hostility, oppositional behavior, and disobedience; fear, anxiety, withdrawal, and depression; poor peer, sibling, and social relationships; and low self-esteem.
• Cognitive and attitudinal problems. Lower cognitive functioning, poor school performance, lack of conflict resolution skills, limited problem solving skills, pro-violence attitudes, and belief in rigid gender stereotypes and male privilege.
• Long-term problems. Higher levels of adult depression and trauma symptoms and increased tolerance for and use of violence in adult relationships.

READ MORE HERE

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STATISTICS: Provided by Safe Horizons

The Victims

• One in 4 women will experience domestic violence during her lifetime.
• Women experience more than 4 million physical assaults and rapes because of their partners, and men are victims of nearly 3 million physical assaults.
• Women are more likely to be killed by an intimate partner than men
• Women ages 20 to 24 are at greatest risk of becoming victims of domestic violence.
• Every year, 1 in 3 women who is a victim of homicide is murdered by her current or former partner.

The Families

• Every year, more than 3 million children witness domestic violence in their homes.
• Children who live in homes where there is domestic violence also suffer abuse or neglect at high rates (30% to 60%).
• A 2005 Michigan study found that children exposed to domestic violence at home are more likely to have health problems, including becoming sick more often, having frequent headaches or stomachaches, and being more tired and lethargic.
• A 2003 study found that children are more likely to intervene when they witness severe violence against a parent – which can place a child at great risk for injury or even death.

The Circumstances

• Domestic violence is most likely to occur between 6 pm and 6 am.
• More than 60% of domestic violence incidents happen at home.

The Consequences

• According to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, domestic violence is the third leading cause of homelessness among families.
• In New York City, 25% of homeless heads of household became homeless due to domestic violence.
• Survivors of domestic violence face high rates of depression, sleep disturbances, anxiety, flashbacks, and other emotional distress.
• Domestic violence contributes to poor health for many survivors.  For example, chronic conditions like heart disease or gastrointestinal disorders can become more serious due to domestic violence.
• Among women brought to emergency rooms due to domestic violence, most were socially isolated and had fewer social and financial resources than other women not injured because of domestic violence.
• Without help, girls who witness domestic violence are more vulnerable to abuse as teens and adults.
• Without help, boys who witness domestic violence are far more likely to become abusers of their partners and/or children as adults, thus continuing the cycle of violence in the next generation.
• Domestic violence costs more than $37 billion a year in law enforcement involvement, legal work, medical and mental health treatment, and lost productivity at companies.

#1 FACT:

Most domestic violence incidents are never reported.

READ MORE STATISTICS HERE

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The National Domestic Violence Hotline

Help for Abused & Battered Women: Domestic Violence

An Exit Action Plan: Guidelines for Leaving

Safety planning for abusive situations

Leaving a domestic violence situation

The We Stand Up Coalition (www.we-stand-up.org) is an organization in Delaware that is working for the awareness and prevention of Child Sexual Abuse. They recently collaborated with a publishing/media group to create a song, publish a book, music video, and Public Service Announcement  (PSA) to bring awareness to sexual molestation. The founder of the We Stand Up Coalition, Terrance Tykeem, published a book about child molestation called “TOUCHED.” The book acknowledges the work Dreamcatchers for Abused Children does on page 105.

Terrence Tykeem Presents “Touched” (Full Length Version) from PeterParkkerr on Vimeo.

Child Sexual Abuse PSA from PeterParkkerr on Vimeo.

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by Terrance Tykeem (Author)

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KNOXVILLE, Tennessee — Campbell County child murder suspect Joshua Adams Comer has been taken into custody. Comer was wanted in connection with an investigation into the murder of a 3-year-old in LaFollette. It was a search that crisscrossed Campbell County for more than 24 hours. And on Wednesday evening, in a valley on Whitman Hollow Road, Josh Comer was found hiding inside the home of someone he knew. It took law enforcement everything they had. Officers from other cities, US Marshals, K-9 Units, helicopters, TBI agents, and of course the deputies that Sheriff Robbie Goins says stayed out all night to search. READ MORE HERE

Sex Trafficking in the U.S.

Sex trafficking occurs when people are forced or coerced into the commercial sex trade against their will.  Child sex trafficking includes any child involved in commercial sex.  Sex traffickers frequently target vulnerable people with histories of abuse and then use violence, threats, lies, false promises, debt bondage, or other forms of control and manipulation to keep victims involved in the sex industry.  Sex trafficking exists within the broader commercial sex trade, often at much larger rates than most people realize or understand.  Sex trafficking has been found in a wide variety of venues of the overall sex industry, including residential brothels, hostess clubs, online escort services, fake massage businesses, strip clubs, and street prostitution. For sex trafficking resource packs, click here.

Major FBI bust highlights problem of human trafficking

FBI Steps Up Crack Down Of Child Sex Trafficking

Foster parents to get training to combat child sex trafficking

Recardo Wimbush, Sr, 33, and Therian Cornelia Wimbush, 37, have been arrested for child abuse

A super-religious former football star kept his eldest son prisoner in the basement for two years because he had ‘sinned’ by stealing a DVD player, the MailOnline can reveal. Strict Recardo Wimbush Sr, 33, and wife Therian Cornelia Wimbush, 37, locked up 13-year-old Recardo Jr as punishment for his ‘wicked’ act to keep him on the ‘straight and narrow’. The child was kept in a tiny, sparsely furnished room with all the windows blacked out. READ MORE HERE

A Queensland girl who was repeatedly bashed with a metal pole by her mother asked the woman to pray for her hours before she died alone and in pain. The horrific abuse the eight-year-old was subjected to in the days leading up to her death in Cairns in 2011 was outlined by a Coroner on Friday. “I flogged her with the vacuum pole in her room and kept hitting her and hitting her,” the girl’s mother told police after the death. The girl was beaten with the pole on three occasions between November 22 and 28, 2011. During the days in between she lay in bed in pain. READ MORE HERE

VATICAN CITY — The Vatican’s former ambassador to the Dominican Republic has been convicted by a church tribunal of sex abuse and has been defrocked, the first such sentence handed down against a top papal representative. The Vatican said Friday that Archbishop Jozef Wesolowski was found guilty by the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in recent days, and sentenced to the harshest penalty possible against a cleric under canon law: laicization, meaning he can no longer perform priestly duties or present himself as a priest. READ MORE HERE

A pedophile who targeted victims through mobile phone apps and computer game chat facilities has been jailed after being caught red-handed downloading child abuse images. Police said 21-year-old Aaron Honey was a “dark and devious” prolific offender adept at grooming vulnerable children online. He incited young boys and girls to send him indecent images of themselves after contacting them via instant chat mobile phone apps WhatsApp and Kik Messenger. Honey also preyed on other youngsters through chat facilities on popular computer games, including Call of Duty and Fifa Football. READ MORE HERE