EAST PITTSBURGH, Pennsylvania — Police say a Pennsylvania woman tortured her 2-year-old son with at least 15 cigarette burns while her boyfriend watched and laughed. Police have jailed 19-year-old Anna Russell and 25-year-old Enrique Soto on charges including aggravated assault and conspiracy. READ MORE HERE

CHICAGO, Illinois — At least four people have made “credible allegations of sexual abuse” against former House Speaker Dennis Hastert, the Chicago Tribune reported Thursday, citing unidentified law enforcement sources. The newspaper said all of the accusers are men whose allegations stem from when they were teenagers and Hastert was their high school coach in Yorkville, southwest of Chicago. One of the accusers is a relative of one of Hastert’s friends and was a student leader at the school in the 1970s, according to the paper. READ MORE HERE

Disgraced ex-House Speaker Dennis Hastert ‘accused of sex abuse by at least FOUR boys, including one he paid $1.7 million in hush money’

LOS ANGELES, CA — Prosecutors charged four Los Angeles County social workers with child abuse, saying they were so negligent in handling the case of an 8-year-old boy, Gabriel Fernandez, of Palmdale, CA, who died of gruesome, multiple injuries that just like his abusers they were criminally responsible. The four, who include two supervisors, also were charged with falsifying public records. The Department of Children and Family Services said Thursday all four were fired last year after an internal investigation into the 2013 death. READ MORE HERE

Prosecutors handed file connecting him to murder of 13-year-old Genette Tate in Devon. A file linking serial child killer Robert Black to the murder of a schoolgirl has been submitted to prosecutors. The Scottish-born sex attacker died in non-suspicious circumstances in Maghaberry high security jail in Northern Ireland in January, aged 68. He was serving multiple life sentences for the murders of four schoolgirls in the 1980s and a number of other crimes. READ MORE HERE

A Waterford man and woman sexually abused and exploited their son when he was aged between five and nine it has been alleged at the Central Criminal Court. The father of the boy is also accused of raping him, including with a poker, over the four year period. The parents deny the charges and stated that the boy was a “difficult child” who had attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and behavioral problems. READ MORE HERE

A child rapist who moved several times in North Yorkshire and the North East after raping a 15-year-old girl has been jailed for 10-years. Warwick Crown Court heard police finally arrested Peter Reynolds in Teesside after his victim took matters into her own hands to track him down. Grace Hale, prosecuting, said the girl had not felt police were doing enough to find Reynolds, following him traveling from his home in Harrogate to Rugby to carry out the attack in June 2014. READ MORE HERE

ARIZONA – A Cedar City man facing child rape and child sodomy allegations apparently is tied to an Arizona case involving the murder of his 6-week-old daughter, court papers have indicated. Pima County court records show that Scott David Sullivan, 34, who is in the Iron County Jail awaiting trial on multiple child rape and child sodomy charges, was sentenced to 3 1/2 years in prison for reckless child abuse in 2010 following the death of his daughter. READ MORE HERE

A Denver woman has been arrested after she allegedly beat her three-year-old niece to death and then hid her under a bed after locking the toddler in a closet for two weeks. Shanna Gossett, 29, has been charged with first-degree murder, child abuse resulting in death, second-degree kidnapping and false imprisonment. Bethannie Johnson was found unresponsive in the middle of a living room floor at a home in Grand Junction on March 17. She had been severely bruised on her head and stomach, and bruises were also found on her legs. READ MORE HERE

Heartless babysitter indicted for murder – confessed to torturing, killing 17-month-old 

The pill-popping babysitter who confessed to torturing and abusing 17-month-old Anthony Delgado has been indicted for murder, the Staten Island district attorney said Tuesday. Gloria Fields, 31, faces multiple charges, including first- and second-degree murder. She was also indicted on charges related to three days of sexual and physical abuse and torture of little Anthony while he was in her care, officials said. “The grand jury has charged defendant with murder in the first degree, having found reasonable cause to conclude that the defendant caused the death of her in an especially cruel and wanton manner,” said Staten Island District Attorney Michael McMahon. READ MORE HERE

LINCOLN, New York – A Madison County man was arrested Thursday and charged with repeatedly raping a child. Joseph M. Weyant, 34, of Canastota, has been charged with sexually abusing a child. The New York State Police said Weyant had sex with a child under the age of 15 multiple times over the course of more than one year. READ MORE HERE

ASHEVILLE, North Carolina – 17-year-olds Winston Eccleston and Lacey Mathews have been charged with one count of involuntary manslaughter each and felony child abuse. The charges result from an ongoing investigation by the Woodfin Police Department. Eccleston and Mathews had been reported missing by family members on March 11, and had not been seen since. On Thursday, the Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office released their names as missing persons and asked for the public’s help to locate them, but did not reveal they were part of an ongoing investigation and may be on the run. READ MORE HERE

Deputies locate, charge missing Asheville teens

Missing NC teens found, charged with manslaughter

Orlando, Florida – Police are searching for a man who grabbed and attempted to kidnap a 13-year-old boy in Ontario Friday night, authorities said. The teen was walking to a relative’s home about 11 p.m. when a man hiding behind bushes in the 900 block of North Beryln Avenue jumped out and grabbed him, according to an Ontario Police Department news release. READ MORE HERE

Oakdale, Pennsylvania – A 12-year-old boy’s suicide has rocked his community outside Pittsburgh after family members said he was the victim of ongoing bullying at school. Evan W. Ziemniak died on March 23, with the Allegheny County coroner’s office ruling it a suicide. His grandmother Debbie Long stated Evan had been shoved and stabbed with pencils on the school bus, while the sixth grader’s parents reportedly raised the issue with the West Allegheny Middle School several times. READ MORE HERE

A Long Island New York woman has been arrested on a murder charge after police say she suffocated her newborn baby girl and then stuffed the child’s body in a plastic bag. Nassau County police say 20-year-old Sharon Seudat was arrested Friday and is being charged with second degree murder. READ MORE HERE