Eight new civil lawsuits claiming the Archdiocese of Philadelphia covered up child sex abuse allegations are being filed in Philadelphia. Two alleged victims of priest sex abuse spoke at a news conference on Tuesday, about their experiences and why they decided not to conceal their identities in the civil lawsuits. Andrew Druding and Michael McDonnell are two of nine plaintiffs who have filed lawsuits naming the Archdiocese, Archbishop Charles J. Chaput, Cardinal Justin Rigali and Msgr. William Lynn. READ MORE HERE

Childress, TX  – Shanice Lambert, a 37-year-old teacher’s aide at Childress ISD, has been indicted on child porn charges after she allegedly drove a student across state lines, took sexually explicit photographs of him and enticed him to have sex with her. According to a federal grand jury indictment, Lambert recorded a student’s sexual activity back in February and then sent the recording to different states. She also drove the student from Texas to Oklahoma on two occasions (Feb 11 and Feb 12) for the purpose of enticing him to have sex with her. READ MORE HERE

Shanice Lambert Facebook
Shanice Lambert MySpace

JACKSONVILLE, Fl — A decade before he was charged with murder, a 2-year-old Cristian Fernandez was found naked and dirty, wandering a South Florida street. The grandmother taking care of him had holed up with cocaine in a messy motel room, while his 14-year-old mother was nowhere to be found. His life had been punctuated with violence since he was conceived, an act that resulted in a sexual assault conviction against his father. Fernandez’ life got worse from there: He was sexually assaulted by a cousin and beaten by his stepfather, who committed suicide before police investigating the beating arrived. READ MORE HERE

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Cristian Fernandez, 13-year-old Fla. boy, faces life in prison for allegedly murdering his 2-year-old half-brother

SANTA ANA, CA — A second trial is set to begin Wednesday for woman charged with killing her newborn daughter and dumping her body in a restaurant trash can. An Orange County jury failed to reach a verdict and a judge declared a mistrial Monday in the first murder trial of Juana Perez Valencia. Valencia is accused of giving birth Dec. 22, 2009 in the restroom of Sombrero’s, a Mexican restaurant in Stanton, where she worked as a server.  READ MORE HERE

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — Jerry Sandusky, the former Penn State assistant football coach convicted of child sex abuse, will be sentenced on Oct. 9, the judge in the case has ordered. Sandusky, 68, faces hundreds of years in prison after he was convicted of 45 counts of abusing 10 boys over the course of 15 years. The former coach, who has been in jail since the June verdict, has maintained his innocence. READ MORE HERE

We’ve written quite a bit about sexual assault on the Resurgence because it is a huge issue (1 in 4 women and 1 in 6 men have been or will be assaulted during their lifetime). Heartbreakingly, many of the victims of this epidemic are children: 15% of those assaulted are under age 12, and 29% are between ages 12 to 17. Girls between the ages of 16 and 19 are four times more likely than the general population to be victims of sexual assault. Here are eight ways you as a parent can protect your children from sexual abuse.  READ MORE HERE

Amy Woodard-Davis, of Houston, TX, visited her biological mother in Galveston, who pitched Amy’s infant body into a burning barrel shortly after she was born in 1971. According to Chron, Amy’s adoptive mother, Lena Woodard, “worked as a burn technician in the Shriners Burns Hospital in Galveston, where Amy came when she was nine months old.”  READ MORE HERE

Talking to your child if you suspect that they are being sexually abused

Parents are surrounded by messages about child sexual abuse. Talk-shows and TV news warn parents about dangers on the Internet, at school and at home. However, parents don’t get much advice on how to talk to their children if they are concerned that sexual abuse is occurring. Talk to your child directly.  READ MORE HERE

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How and When to Talk to Your Child About Sexual Abuse

Talking to your kids about sexual abuse

City Official Charged With Child Porn Pleads Guilty

TARZANA, CA — A former president of L.A.’s Board of Neighborhood Commissioners pleaded guilty Friday on federal charges of distributing child pornography. 64-year-old Albert Abrams, of Tarzana, accepted the guilty plea months after claiming that the charges stemmed from a now removed growth on his spine that caused him to act out of character.  READ MORE HERE

A Philadelphia judge on Friday granted a condemned man a rare hearing to weigh whether prosecutors failed to disclose key evidence indicating the true motive behind a grisly killing nearly 30 years ago. The ruling is a major break for Terry Williams, 46, slated to be the first prisoner in more than 50 years to be executed in Pennsylvania while still appealing his sentence. Attorneys for Williams say his life should be spared due to his traumatic and violent childhood, and the fact that he was sentenced to die for killing a man who sexually abused him and other teenage boys. READ MORE HERE

Children’s Hospital doctor had previous reprimand for viewing adult porn

BOSTON (Reuters) – A prominent Boston physician, who served as medical director of the famed prep school Phillips Academy for nearly two decades, was arrested on Thursday and charged with receiving child pornography at his school office. A search of Richard Keller’s home turned up more than 500 photographs and as many as 100 DVDs full of pornography, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Boston said in a statement. An associated complaint described the content of some of the DVDs, which mostly featured young boys in a variety of situations.  READ MORE HERE

A 14-YEAR-OLD girl has filed a complaint for child abuse against her mother, whom she accused of hurting her physically and abusing her verbally. The alleged abuse pushed Joy to slash her wrist, hoping it would end her mother’s abuses. Mary, however, did not stop hurting Joy. (Sun.Star Cebu is withholding the names of the parties involved in compliance with Republic Act (RA) 7610, or the Anti-Child Abuse Law, which prohibits naming the victim and the accused.) READ MORE HERE

A substitute teacher and field hockey coach in the Muhlenberg School District has been arrested on charges she had an inappropriate relationship with a young girl. Jean Kleckner was charged Thursday with corruption of minors and endangering the welfare of children. READ MORE HERE

A Winnipeg father is facing the prospect of being locked up indefinitely after pleading guilty in what city police consider to be the worst case of child sexual abuse they’ve ever dealt with. The 48-year-old pleaded guilty to 11 charges Thursday relating to years of what can only be described as unspeakable sex crimes inflicted on his daughter and step-daughter inside his ramshackle west Winnipeg home between 2002 and 2009 when the girls were between 9-16 and 11-16 years old. READ MORE HERE