INDEPENDENCE, Missouri — An Independence woman is charged with felony child abuse after prosecutors say she beat her little girl so badly, she had a broken nose, a swollen lip and bruises all over her body. Kimberly Cooper, 32, is now in the Jackson County jail under a $50,000 cash bond. Cooper’s brother said he couldn’t believe his eyes when he returned home to see his beloved 10-year-old niece covered in blood. READ MORE HERE

A Bernalillo County jury found Stephen Casaus guilty of child abuse with reckless disregard resulting in the death of his 9-year-old stepson Friday. The jury reconvened Friday morning to determine a verdict in the 2013 beating death of Omaree Varela. The reckless disregard count of child abuse means Casaus did not call for help or try to save Omaree’s life when the boy was allegedly kicked to death by his mother. Casaus was found not guilty of the most serious charge: intentional child abuse resulting in death. That charge alleged Casaus took part in Omaree’s fatal beating. READ MORE HERE

A prominent Sydney solicitor is being sued by his daughter for allegedly sexually abusing her numerous times since the age of four. Jayne Gersbach, 32, is planning to take her father, Rodney Gersbach, to court in civil preceedings claiming he repeatedly raped and physically assaulted her in their family home for over 15 years. Responding to the allegations, Mr Gersbach said there is no evidence to support her claims and it was all a lie in a bid to take her grandfather’s inheritance. READ MORE HERE

A former youth counselor has been jailed for a decade for sexually abusing troubled boys in his care 25 years ago. Allan Keith Huggins, 68, was convicted after a trial in the West Australian District Court earlier this year found him guilty of 16 offences committed in 1990 and 1991. The Perth father-of-three was sentenced on Friday for the offences against boys aged 13 and 17, and some were wards of the state who had been in trouble with the law. READ MORE HERE

A gang of pedophiles who raped babies, toddlers and pre-school children and streamed the abuse over the internet have been jailed for 78 years. The seven man ring, aged between 31 and 51, preyed on the families of the children they targeted, in one case grooming a mother and father before their baby was born. They traveled across the country to carry out vile attacks together in groups, or used internet streaming so they could be ‘encouraged and directed’ in real-time by other pedophiles. READ MORE HERE

BEDFORD, TEXAS – Parents in North Texas want to know why a pastor with pending charges of child rape and sodomy in Alabama has been hired by the First Baptist Church of Bedford. According to Alabama court documents obtained by KDFW, Kyle Adcock faces charges for 29 counts of sexually abusing a 14-year-old girl while he was working at Woodward Avenue Baptist Church between 2010 and 2012. READ MORE HERE

NOTE: Anyone who would like to reach out to the First Baptist Church of Bedford to voice their concerns can do so by calling them at: (817) 283-5359

12-Steps to Healing From Childhood Trauma

If you experienced trauma or abuse in childhood for any reason, you may realize that you have a mess on your hands. Hopefully there will come a time in your life when you are ready to heal. The following steps are of my own personal journey to healing, wholeness and self love. It is not easy, it is ongoing and must be conducted for each wound you hold in your heart. Steps 1-5 are the hardest and most painful, but once you get past these 5, you will be a different person. It is within your own power to heal yourself. You have everything inside of YOU to get the job done. I hope these steps help you as they have changed my life. READ MORE HERE

The disgraced former mayor of a New Jersey town has been sentenced to 25 years behind bars for repeatedly raping a relative’s daughter, beginning when she was age 6. Matthew Scannapieco, 71, was also ordered Friday to have no contact with the victim. He was arrested in August 2014 after the girl told her mother about the abuse, authorities said. READ MORE HERE

Police were searching on Monday for a man in his 50s who authorities said sexually assaulted a little girl inside a Riverside home over the weekend while her parents were asleep. The family reported the incident, which occurred in the 5000 block of Picker Street, at about 6 a.m., according to a news release from the Riverside Police Department. READ MORE HERE

Gynecologist Accused of Switching Newborns at Birth

The mother of the baby boy allegedly swapped at birth at a private hospital in El Salvador screamed: ‘Doctor, where is my son?’ as she confronted her gynecologist.  Mercedes ‘Mercy’ Casanellas and her husband Richard Cushworth – who is British born but a longtime US resident who calls himself American – are currently fighting to find out what happened to their biological son after he was born by emergency Caesarean at a private hospital in the capital San Salvador. A DNA test has proven that Ms Casanellas and her husband are not the biological parents of four-month-old Jacob, the child she has been ‘loving, breastfeeding and caring for 24/7’ since he was handed to her in May this year. She spoke to Daily Mail Online after a courtroom confrontation last Friday with the doctor arrested on suspicion of being involved in swapping their baby – part of child trafficking crime. READ MORE HERE

A married female tutor seduced a 13-year-old boy during a lesson at his home before having sex with him 100 times over the next two years, a court has heard. Carolyn Keeling, 64, from Taynton, Oxfordshire, allegedly smoked cannabis and drank wine during bi-weekly lessons at the teenager’s family home. Gloucester Crown Court heard how the abuse began when Keeling, who was in her forties at the time, stripped down to her underwear to sunbathe during an outdoor lesson at the boy’s home. READ MORE HERE

“He messed with the wrong mom”

ALABAMA – Mobile Police arrested 27-year-old Patrick Herron Sunday, September 6, and charged him with four counts of Criminal Surveillance after reports of him videotaping and taking photos of customers in the women’s restroom at San Miguel’s restaurant on Schillinger Road. According to Robyn Toomey-Glass of Mobile, she and her family were celebrating at the restaurant when her 11-year-old daughter and a friend went to the restroom together. “My daughter’s friend didn’t want to stand outside of the stall alone, so she went in with my daughter and turned to the wall,” said Toomey-Glass. “That’s when she saw him with a cell phone and came and got me.” READ MORE HERE

INDIANAPOLIS – Jeffrey Fairbanks, the father of a three-month-old girl reported missing earlier this year, is now facing murder charges. Fairbanks, 45, was arrested Thursday and charged with one count of murder and one count of neglect of a dependent resulting in death. His initial court hearing on Friday only lasted a few minutes. He answered all of the judge’s questions and asked for a public defender.  “Certainly, the state has elements that we need to prove. But as indicated, we’ve spent a considerable amount of time looking at this case and believe that we’re prepared to go forward,” said Marion County Deputy Prosecutor Denise Robinson after the hearing. READ MORE HERE

Fairbanks’ ex-wife: ‘I was so scared’

Docs: Baby Janna’s dad covered her face with pillow

Indiana father of missing baby now presumed dead charged in case