LOUISIANA – A pregnant mother of two who admitted throwing her boyfriend’s son on the floor, then leaving him unsupervised in a bathtub has been charged with injury to a child after the toddler died. Victalina Mendoza Cruz, 24, who is seven months pregnant, was arrested on Thursday in connection with the two-year-old boy’s death on February 6 at her boyfriend’s house in Louisiana. Cruz had been taking care of the boy since January 11, when her live-in boyfriend left for work in Louisiana. But after the child was found dead, she told investigators a story that simply did not add up. She initially said that she fed the toddler and then put him in a half-full bath tub while she fed her other children. READ MORE HERE

Online blocks on child porn have led to a nearly 70 per cent drop in searches for the material, a study has revealed. The first research to examine the global impact of blocking child sexual exploitation material (CSEM) found there was a ‘precipitous drop’ in searches after the measures were put in place. Google and Bing, Microsoft’s search engine, agreed in November 2013 to remove child abuse images from search results and show warnings when certain search terms were used. READ MORE HERE

Although we often focus on children being harmed or mistreated by strangers, most abuse is perpetrated by a parent or caretaker,someone who is supposed to love and care for the child. When we think of a parent who abuses a child the image is often of an angry, intoxicated person who is physically or emotionally abusive and intentionally harming the child. In most cases the child is actually being neglected. The Children’s Bureau (U.S Department of Health and Human Services, 2010) reported the percent of all child abuse victims who had experienced neglect in 2008 was just over 73%. The image of the intoxicated parent, however, is often accurate, as many parents who neglect and abuse their children are misusing substances. They are also often victims of domestic violence, and were themselves victims of child abuse and neglect. Often, these adults lack parenting skills and the resources or capacity to meet the needs of the children in their care. Unfortunately,there is no specific indicator that is known to cause child abuse and neglect. Researchers and professionalsin the field have identified risk factors impacting families that have been found to increase the probability of child abuse and neglect and poor developmental outcomesfor children. Risk factors can be found at the child, parent, family, and community levels. It makes sense really, as risk increases,so does the possibility of child abuse and neglect. READ MORE HERE

Risk and Protective Factors|Child Maltreatment|Violence

Child abuse Risk factors – Mayo Clinic

Factors That Contribute to Child Abuse and Neglect

Risk Factors of Child Abuse | Child Matters

Child Abuse: Making a Change

EXPERTS WARN PARENTS ‘FIFTY SHADES OF GREY’ FILM MAY HARM KIDS

While Kim Kardashian is unable to contain herself in her endorsement of the highly controversial film adaptation of the book Fifty Shades of Grey, health experts are warning parents of the dangers of allowing the film’s explicit bondage, domination, and sadomasochistic (BDSM) sexual violence to seep into what is considered “acceptable” in American culture. Dr. Miriam Grossman, a child and adolescent psychiatrist, has been publishing weekly installments of her official “Parent Survival Guide to Fifty Shades of Grey” on her blog as the film approaches its release this Valentine’s Day weekend. “Don’t underestimate the impact of the hard sell on your kids,” Grossman warns parents. “Even if they don’t see the film, they are absorbing its toxic message, and need your wisdom and guidance.” READ MORE HERE

A Psychiatrist’s Letter to Young People About Fifty Shades of Grey

I help people who are broken inside.  I ask questions, and listen carefully to the answers. One thing I’ve learned is that young people are utterly confused about love — finding it and keeping it.  They make poor choices, and end up in lots of pain. I don’t want you to suffer like the people I see in my office, so I’m warning you about a new movie called Fifty Shades of Grey. Even if  you don’t see the film, its toxic message is seeping into our culture, and could plant dangerous ideas in your head.

Fifty Shades of Grey is being released for Valentine’s Day, so you’ll think it’s a romance, but don’t fall for it.  The movie is actually about a sick, dangerous relationship filled with physical and emotional abuse.  It seems glamorous, because the actors are gorgeous, have expensive cars and planes, and Beyonce is singing.  You might conclude that Christian and Ana are cool, and that their relationship is acceptable. Don’t allow yourself to be manipulated! The people behind the movie just want your money; they have no concern whatsoever about you and your dreams. Abuse is not glamorous or cool.   It is never OK, under any circumstances. This is what you need to know about Fifty Shades of Grey: READ MORE HERE

Why I See 50 Shades Of RED

How Porn Affects the Brain (and can lead to increased child sex abuse)

‘Fifty Shades of Grey’ Word Puzzles Handed out to Middle School Kids

FORBES Review – ‘Fifty Shades Of Grey’ Is Abusive Gender Roles Disguised As Faux-Feminism

50 Shades of Grey Trilogy Normalizing Child Sex Abuse

Fifty Shades of Grey protests escalate | Film

There is a line between dominance and abuse — and ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’ is blurring it

Don’t Let ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’ Lead Your Daughter Astray

The Real Abuse at the Heart of ‘Fifty Shades of Grey“

‘Fifty Shades of Grey’ Film May Harm Kids

COLORADO – A woman gave away a newborn baby to a couple in a Walmart parking lot at the Lakewood, Colorado, location. 9 News reports that West Metro Fire Station 1 received the baby girl after the couple took her to their drop-off location at West 14th Avenue and Lamar Street. The fire department adds that the infant was still covered in amniotic fluid. Everything unfolded around 8:15 a.m. on Tuesday, according to the report. Cody Beinlich, of West Metro Fire, explains what condition firefighters discovered the baby in. READ MORE HERE

TEXAS – Lauren Kavanaugh was raped, tortured, starved, and forced to live in a closet for five years. Kavanaugh was 3-years-old when her mother and step-father first locked her inside a 4-foot by 9-foot closet. They also withheld food and only allowed her to see the light of day when she was taken out to be abused. The Athens, Texas, woman, now 21, is currently attending community college and studying to be a counselor for abused children. Lauren Kavanaugh was rescued from the nightmare ordeal after her mother and stepfather shared their “little secret” with a neighbor. The horrified neighbor quickly alerted police and the child was rushed to the hospital. READ MORE HERE

Mother ‘burned her three children alive and phoned their father: “Listen to their screams – they won’t survive” after he demanded custody in Belgium’

Husband Hellmut Ulin listened in horror as his wife allegedly said: “I can hear their screams but I will do nothing to save them.” A mother allegedly locked her three daughters in a shed and burned them alive while her husband was forced to listen at the end of a phone. It’s claimed Thioro Mbow phoned her husband on his mobile and said: “Listen to their screams…” as his three precious children perished in the flames. Husband Hellmut Ulin, 38, a foreman on a building site 12 miles away, listened in horror as his wife allegedly told him: “I can hear their screams but I will do nothing to save them. “You’d better hurry but you will be too late to rescue them. They won’t survive.” READ MORE HERE

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Thioro Mbow Burned Daughters Alive, Called Husband

“Listen to their screams…”: Mother’s chilling phone call to husband ‘as she burned their three daughters alive’

A mother has spoken of the horrifying childhood ordeal in which she was raped on a school bus at the age of five by her aunt’s boyfriend – who threatened to kill her if she exposed him. Rebecca Leyland, now 22, fell victim to bus driver Frederick Roskell – who targeted her on the back seats before taking her to a graveyard and threatening: ‘If you tell anyone I’ll bury you next to them.’ She has bravely decided to share her harrowing story in the hope that more child victims will gain the courage to report their abusers – even years down the line. READ MORE HERE

A stripper faces live in prison for being filmed sexually abusing a toddler and having sex with a dog after being indicted Thursday. Angeline Lodice, of New Orleans, Louisiana, was arrested in October after the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office obtained videos and photos that showed her engaging in intercourse with a canine and sexually abusing a 4-year-old boy. She has been charged with aggravated rape of a victim under the age of 13, pornography involving juveniles, crimes against nature and sexual battery. READ MORE HERE

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Virginia — Nearly four months after his arrest in the disappearance of a missing University of Virginia student, Jesse Matthew Jr. has been indicted on a murder count in the case – but he won’t face the death penalty and still has not been charged in the death of another student. Matthew, 33, is charged with first-degree murder and abduction with intent to defile, Albemarle County prosecutor Denise Lunsford said Tuesday. Hannah Graham, 18, disappeared in September and was found dead in the county a few weeks later. READ MORE HERE

Trial Date Set for Jesse Matthew in 2005 Fairfax Case

Warrant reveals DNA connection between Jesse Matthew and Morgan Harrington

14-year-old model Lily Goodman was shocked when she learned that there is human trafficking in America, that children like her are being preyed upon right here in the United States. She had assumed it only took place in other countries until she was asked to model in the Blue Campaign for Homeland Security in 2013 to raise awareness about human trafficking. Goodman learned that human trafficking is a huge problem in her home state of Virginia. Posing as photographers, agents or other workers in the modeling industry is one way traffickers lure young girls into modern-day slavery. READ MORE HERE

EASTPOINTE, MI – A man suspected of killing his 29-year-old girlfriend and infant daughter inside their Detroit-area home is now facing murder charges. The bodies of Monique Rakowski and 13-month-old Carmon were discovered around 9 p.m. Thursday inside of a home in the 23000 block of Normandy, just north of 9 Mile Road between Gratiot Avenue and I-94 in Eastpointe. Eastpointe Public Safety Director John McNeilance said Rakowski’s 30-year-old live-in boyfriend gave himself up shortly before noon Friday. READ MORE HERE

Slaying of Eastpointe woman, baby daughter ‘such a shock’

Police believe man fatally stabbed girlfriend, baby daughter

A North Carolina probation officer, who stopped at a house to talk to one of his offenders, stumbled upon something so horrific in the backyard shed, it was all he could do to restrain himself. Pitt County Probation Officer Johnathan Thomas went to the Greenville home on Sunday to speak with a man under his supervision. When nobody answered the door, Thomas went around to the back of the house to see if anyone was around. READ MORE HERE

A deputy headteacher’s haul of 1,500 spycam photographs of young boys undressing was found when he hanged himself after being questioned over indecent images of children. Martin Goldberg, 46, was found hanged in the garage of his home in Shoeburyness, Essex, the day after he was quizzed by police over child pornography he purchased online, the inquest into his death heard. Officers later discovered hundreds of pictures of naked children on his computer, which had been secretly taken in changing rooms at Southend Leisure and Tennis Centre, the hearing at Chelmsford Coroner’s Court was told. Police also believe he had been covertly filming children at the private £10,000-a-year Thorpe Hall School in Southend, where he had worked for more than 20 years.  READ MORE HERE