PORTLAND –  A Milwaukie youth league coach has been indicted on child sex abuse charges involving a young player on his team and also his step-daughter. Police arrested 49-year-old Gary Clausen on nine counts of sex abuse. Bail has been set at $500,000. Detectives began their investigation after hearing in April that Clausen had inappropriate contact with a 16-year-old player on his Mt. Hood Little League softball team. READ MORE HERE

Routinely screening all children seen in the ER for signs of maltreatment seems to have improved child abuse detection in the Netherlands, a new study finds. The progress suggests that such systematic screening helps catch more cases of child abuse, researchers report in the journal Pediatrics. But whether the findings could extend to other countries is unclear. And one emergency physician doubted the usefulness in U.S. hospitals.  READ MORE HERE

The wife of the Minnesota State football coach accused of child pornography made an emotional statement today, saying that her husband is innocent and charges against him were ‘ridiculous and baseless’.  Melodee Hoffner said she hoped authorities would reconsider the charges against her husband after videos of their three children, aged nine, eight and five, dancing naked were found on his school cell phone by an IT worker.  Todd Hoffner, of Eagle Lake, faces two felony counts related to child pornography after authorities said they found nude images of the 46-year-old’s children earlier this month.  READ MORE HERE

INDIANAPOLIS – The man arrested in the death of a 3-year-old girl told police he beat her because she soiled herself, according to court documents. Jose Cruz, 21, was the boyfriend of the girl’s mother. He was arrested after police were called to the home in the 3700 block of Long Wharf Drive Tuesday for the girl’s injuries. She died Wednesday night .  READ MORE HERE

Neighbors tackle child kidnap suspect after mom punches him

PORTLAND – Strangers helped a Portland mom tackle and capture a man she said tried to drag her 6-year-old daughter into the bushes Sunday night. Antoinette Robinson told KGW she saw the man grab her daughter and her instincts kicked in. She sprinted outside and started punching him. The girl had been playing outside, at a friend’s house, when the young man grabbed her just before 6:30 p.m. in the 16900 block of SE Lafayette Street, according to police.  READ MORE HERE

Willie ‘Slick’ Parks faces aggravated assault charges after his ex-girlfriend filed a criminal complaint claiming that Parks broke her nose, gave her a concussion, and was beaten so badly that  she miscarried. According to Huffington Post,  the complaint also says that Parks did not allow the 28-year-old-woman to go to the hospital for days after the assault.  READ MORE HERE

COLUSA – A 14-year-old boy was found shot to death on a Colusa street Thursday night. Friends and family are overwhelmed with grief after the teen was gunned down on a residential street in the small town. Family has identified him as 14-year-old Miguel Muniz. “Whoever did this, I swear you’re going to pay for this,” his sister Alma Gallardo said on Friday. “He never caused any problems to anybody. “He was 14, he was 14. He was still a kid.”  READ MORE HERE

Former Playboy Playmate turned DJ, Colleen Shannon was arrested Thursday night afterallegedly trying to smuggle an unidentified man into the United States through the Canadian border. The 34-year-old blonde bombshell was arrested by Customs and Border Protection and was taken into custody at Clinton County Jail in Upstate New York. She was booked for violating a statue prohibiting “bringing in and harboring aliens.”  READ MORE HERE

MARION – A local woman charged with two counts of rape has pleaded guilty to both counts. Laura Owens, 26, of Marion, may be one of the first women to be charged with and convicted of rape in Marion County. An initial search of court records by clerk Julie Kagel did not produce any other cases.  READ MORE HERE

A teen who police say molested a 3-year-old boy over the weekend because he was bored appeared Monday in Columbus Recorder’s Court. Martinez Deontae Williams, 18, is charged with child molestation and enticing a child for indecent purposes, police said. Accused of inappropriately touching the child as the toddler sat on his lap, Williams pleaded not guilty Monday to both charges.  READ MORE HERE

A Parent’s Worst Nightmare’

In Casto Marim, Portugal, a depressed mother, Luciana Garcia, killed herself and her two children, Leticia and Leonardo,  by locking them together in a room and setting the furniture ablaze. According to Information Nigeria, the husband, Leonardo Gioso, had left for works two hours before the tragic event to complete tasks at a dental clinic he ran with his wife of fifteen years. READ MORE HERE

Six times, there was a sharp knock on the jury room door. After each knock, the bailiff took a piece of yellow lined notepaper and carried it to the judge. Each time, the note included a request. Once, the 12 jurors asked for air conditioning in the jury room. Another time they asked for an investigator’s notes summarizing the interview he had done with Tracy Leegaynor Miller in August of 2010.  READ MORE HERE

A 30-year-old man was sentenced to 24 years in prison Friday after being convicted on charges that he raped a 5-year-old girl while he was living with her family in North Aurora in the summer of 2000. Adrian Ramirez-Alcantar, now of Warrenville, was convicted of two counts of predatory criminal sexual assault and criminal sexual abuse after a two-day trial in May.  READ MORE HERE