Police in Oklahoma have arrested a man in the 1997 abduction of an 8-year-old girl after DNA linked him to her disappearance. Anthony Palma, 56, of Midwest City, was arrested late Monday at his home. He faces charges of kidnapping and first-degree murder of second-grader Kirsten Hatfield. Palma lived two doors down from Hatfield and her family when the girl was taken from her room on the night of May 13, 1997. She has never been found and investigators believe she was murdered by her abductor. READ MORE HERE

SARASOTA, Florida — Deputies say a 270 lb. Sarasota father played a video game and at the same time used his body weight to smother his 6-year-old son. Sarasota County Sheriff’s Deputies say the dead boy’s 7-year-old sibling watched the horrific Christmas Eve incident unfold. The sibling reported seeing the father, James “Rick” Dearman, 31, smother the boy on the couch, as Dearman played a video game with his live-in girlfriend. READ MORE HERE

An Arkansas man is accused of raping two young girls at an in-home day care, a police report with the Little Rock Police Department stated. Ronald Thrower, 45, was arrested on December 18 for two counts of rape on a four and five-year-old girl. One of the girls disclosed that while she was in the day care, Thrower allegedly pulled his pants down and made her perform a sex act on him, the arrest report stated. After further investigation, police noted that a five-year-old victim reported a similar encounter with Thrower. READ MORE HERE

Mark Salling, best known for his portrayal of Noah “Puck” Puckerman on the hit show “Glee,” has reportedly been arrested for possession of child pornography after the LAPD searched his home early Tuesday morning. The LAPD confirmed that the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force Unit served a search warrant at an address listed under the actor’s name in Sunland, California, after Crime Watch Daily broke the news. Authorities arrived at the home around 7 a.m. local time. READ MORE HERE

Married pastors guilty in decade-long rape, abuse of child

LOWELL, Massachusetts —A married couple of pastors from a northeast Massachusetts church have both been convicted in connection with the decade-long rape and abuse of a child. The Boston Globe reports 35-year-old Oscar Sanchez was found guilty Tuesday of child rape, indecent assault and battery and reckless endangerment of a child in Lowell Superior Court. READ MORE HERE

They were murdered by one of America’s most notorious serial killers, but for three decades they remained nameless. Now, the efforts to solve the mystery of killer clown John Wayne Gacy’s eight unidentified victims has yielded results for the first time – not only for the 33-year-old cold case but for scores of missing persons cases. Thanks to scientific breakthroughs in DNA testing, Sgt. Jason Moran has identified one of the unnamed men discovered in the serial killer’s Chicago home in the 1970s. William Bundy‘s mother had long suspected her son was among the killer clown’s 33 murder victims. READ MORE HERE

Identified Victims: Headshots of some of the boys/young men whose bodies were identified as victims of John Wayne Gacy

A student who allegedly plotted a Times Square bomb attack is also suspected in the stabbing of a young boy, as part of an audition to join ISIS. Police say that last January, 21-year-old Fareed Mumuni stabbed 9-year-old Jermaine Culver in the neck as he was walking to school in Staten Island. Culver survived the attack but the case went unsolved for some time. READ MORE HERE

Terrorist suspect ‘stabbed boy, 9, in neck as part of ISIS audition’

TEXAS – A Santa Claus who has delighted children on the South Texas circuit for more than a decade won’t be coming to town this year. Reynaldo Ramirez, 37, of Corpus Christi was arrested this week by local authorities and charged Friday in a federal criminal complaint with possession of child pornography. READ MORE HERE

PITTSBURGH, PA — The state attorney general has charged a Pittsburgh police recruit already on unpaid leave with molesting two 15-year-old girls he met through a messaging app. 23-year-old Cyrus Sukhadia faces a Dec. 29 hearing on involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, statutory sexual assault and other charges. READ MORE HERE

MURFREESBORO, Tennessee — A 31-year-old Murfreesboro woman was arrested Wednesday and charged with attempted first-degree murder after a failed attempt to end her pregnancy, according to a report from the Murfreesboro Police Department. Anna Yocca of Swindon Circle is accused of using a coat hanger to end her pregnancy in September, Detective Tommy Roberts reported. She was 24 weeks into gestation. READ MORE HERE

VIRGINIA – A police detective who had investigated online crimes against children killed himself Tuesday, moments before police could charge him with having inappropriate contact with two young teens. David Edward Abbott, 39, of Gainesville, Virginia, was a Manassas City detective. He had served on the Northern Virginia-Washington, D.C. Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force. READ MORE HERE

David Edward Abbott: Disgraced Cop Commits Suicide To Avoid Child Sex Charges 

David Edward Abbott, Cop in Sexting Case, Kills Himself to Avoid Arrest 

Detective Kills Self as Police Try to Arrest Him