Ohio Police: Women stopped attempted child rape in laundry room

OHIO -TWO WOMEN TAKE THE STAND AND FIGHT BACK AGAINST A MAN THEY SAY TRIED TO RAPE A 7-YEAR-OLD GIRL. NOW THEY ARE SHARING THEIR STORY, AND THEY HAVE A WARNING FOR ALL PARENTS OUT THERE. THIS HAPPENED IN EVANSTON, OHIO IN THE LAUNDRY ROOM OF AN APARTMENT BUILDING. SEE VIDEO HERE

BURLINGTON, Vermont —Two women filed lawsuits Tuesday in state and federal courts alleging they were sexually abused as youngsters by an authority figure at their Jehovah’s Witness congregation in Bellows Falls in the mid-1990s, and claiming church elders did nothing to stop it. The litigation, announced in Burlington, involves sisters Miranda and Annessa Lewis. Miranda Lewis, now 23, appeared with her mother, Marina Mauvoleon-Folsom, and lawyers Irwin Zalkin and Jerome O’Neill at a news conference. Lewis said she was 4 years old when she was first molested and fondled by Norton True, a “ministerial servant” in the congregation. Zalkin said that position is one approved by church elders. READ MORE HERE

Attorney General Eric Holder ripped technology companies Tuesday that he said are “thwarting” the federal government’s ability to stop child abuse, just days after Apple and Google announced new security measures that would prevent the companies from giving authorities data on users. “We would hope that technology companies would be willing to work with us to ensure that law enforcement retains the ability, with court-authorization, to lawfully obtain information in the course of an investigation, such as catching kidnappers and sexual predators,” Holder said at a Washington conference of the Global Alliance Conference Against Child Abuse Online. “It is fully possible to permit law enforcement to do its job while still adequately protecting personal privacy. When a child is in danger, law enforcement needs to be able to take every legally available step to quickly find and protect the child and to stop those that abuse children. It is worrisome to see companies thwarting our ability to do so.” READ MORE HERE

Rapist jailed for 12 years after he filmed his abuse of a baby girl

A child rapist who filmed himself sexually abusing a baby girl was caught after new owners of his home found child pornography he left behind during the move. The new owners of his home were quick to tip off police when they re-decorated the home and found a disc hidden behind kitchen units at the Frinton, Essex, property. Martin Hunt, 24, was eventually tracked down when police happened to find indecent images at another pedophile’s house in Kent and a trail of emails linking Hunt to the abuse. READ MORE HERE

“Pedophile Hunter” entraps internet perverts including teachers by posing as underage child 

This is the dramatic moment a self-styled ‘pedophile hunter’ confronted a potential sex attacker who he had lured to a house by posing as a child online. Vigilante Stinson Hunter, who is based in Nuneaton, Warwickshire, works with his team to entrap internet perverts – including soldiers, teachers and solicitors – by posing as underage boys and girls. In this dramatic clip, undercover vigilantes from Hunter’s team were seen poised for action with a camera while they waited for one of the suspects. When the man walked in, one of the vigilantes asked the suspect to explain himself, before starting to click away with his camera in a bid to expose him. READ MORE HERE

Two teen girls vanish during sleepover

Alabama authorities are asking for the public’s help to find two 14-year-old girls who disappeared early Sunday morning. The girls, Kyndell “Brooke” East and Jana Lynn Cowan, were having a sleepover at Jana’s house Saturday evening and were last seen at approximately 2:00 a.m. at the Peach Park off Interstate-65 in Clanton. According to reports, the Clinton County Sheriff’s Office has been working non-stop searching for the missing teens. READ MORE HERE

Foster mom, 20, arrested in baby girl’s death

A 20-year-old Colorado woman is behind bars in connection with the death of her 11-month-old foster daughter. Sydney Danielle White is charged with child abuse resulting in death. She’s being held at the Mesa County Jail on a $100,000 bond. The victim, Angel Lane Place, was airlifted from St. Mary’s Hospital in Grand Junction to the Denver Children’s Hospital on September 16 with severe head trauma. The child died after being taken off life support the next day. READ MORE HERE

Mervyn Bell guilty of murder and sexual assault of baby

A 27-year-old man has been found guilty of sexually assaulting and murdering a 10-month-old boy in Western Australia’s north. The child’s family welcomed the verdict but said his death could have been avoided if police had acted more quickly when his abduction was first reported. Police have confirmed an internal investigation into complaints by the family is being conducted. Mervyn Bell was alone with the child for 15 hours after taking him from his grandfather’s home in Broome and driving about 1,000 kilometres west, Perth Supreme Court was told. READ MORE HERE

A Braham day care was shut down Aug. 14 immediately following allegations that rape and sexual abuse of young girls had occurred there. Kathryn Bakke Family Child Care is a day care based in the home of Kathryn Bakke and her husband, Byron Douglas Bakke, which was licensed to care for a maximum of 12 children. The facility’s child care license was immediately temporarily suspended by the Department of Human Services after Byron, 73, was charged with five felony charges of first-degree criminal sexual conduct and four felony burglary charges. Byron was jailed Aug. 12, charged Aug. 14 and is currently in custody at the Kanabec County Jail. READ MORE HERE

SOUTHBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS — Children were kept indoors for lunch, physical education and recess in the Southbridge schools as a precaution Friday as authorities searched for a man accused of child rape. Police say a child-rape suspect who became a fugitive after cutting off his court-ordered GPS device returned home to Massachusetts briefly and assaulted a relative before grabbing a gun. Greg Lewis, 26, of Southbridge, has been on the run since Sept. 15, according to police, but he returned to his parents’ home Thursday afternoon. READ MORE HERE

Child rape suspect cuts off GPS bracelet, beats relative, on the run

Their history with Clark County Child Protective Services stretches back to 2008. Las Vegas parents Donald E. Brown and Melissa D. Lawrence received 10 visits from CPS staff investigating allegations of possible neglect or abuse reported to the county’s child abuse hotline from 2008 to 2012, according to police and court records. CPS, part of the Department of Family Services, investigated the welfare of one of Melissa’s daughters, who had injuries that included black eyes, bruises and a chipped tooth during that four-year period, court records show. Court records also show the agency was aware during a 2010 investigation that Brown, 51, already had a criminal conviction in the death of another child. In 1984, he was convicted in California on a charge of manslaughter after his daughter died of multiple skull fractures, according to Clark County District Court records. READ MORE HERE

HACKENSACK, N.J. — In study after study, as many as 8 out of 10 adults in America say that spanking is an appropriate form of discipline.?What the studies don’t show is how people define spanking and where they believe corporal punishment of children crosses a line to abuse.?Those questions have long been quietly debated, but the indictment of NFL star Adrian Peterson has raised them in a public way, even if many of those who believe in spanking find Peterson’s alleged behavior abhorrent. The story is well-known by now — the Minnesota Vikings running back has been indicted on child-abuse charges after stuffing leaves in the mouth of his 4-year-old son and beating him with a tree branch that left the boy with cuts and bruises all over his body. The incident started a conversation among opponents and defenders of corporal punishment of children by their caregivers. The issue is so uncomfortable that pediatricians, who are supposed to ask parents how they discipline and whether they spank their kids, rarely broach the topic. READ MORE HERE

What is and is not child abuse

When does physical discipline become child abuse?

The mother charged with poisoning her son to death with a massive dose of salt is now telling investigators the 5-year-old may be to blame and she had nothing to do with it. Lacey Spears, 26, told Westchester County authorities the boy ‘would once in a while play with his feeding tube and could have put something in it.’ Documents filed Friday reveal that police now believe Spears not only poisoned her son’s feeding tube with salt, but did so over the course of several days. READ MORE HERE

Jane Fonda opens up about her mother’s suicide and history of sexual abuse

Jane Fonda, 76, told an audience of activists and philanthropists that her mother had been sexually abused and eventually committed suicide. Fonda made the personal revelation at an event celebrating the 40th anniversary of the Rape Treatment Center, which provides comprehensive free treatment for sexual assault victims. She hosted the Rape Foundation’s annual fundraising brunch on Sunday at billionaire Ron Burkle’s Greenacres estate in Beverly Hills.  READ MORE HERE

FOR MY MOTHER | Jane Fonda

Jane Fonda’s mom sexually abused

Jane Fonda opens up about her mother’s suicide