POMONA, CA — A 32-year old woman who smothered her two young sons and killed her husband with a sword was formally sentenced to death today. Manling Tsang Williams was convicted in 2010 of three counts of first-degree murder in the 2007, killings of her 27-year-old husband Neal, and sons Ian, 3, and Devon, 7.  She was also found guilty of the special circumstance allegations of multiple murders and lying in wait.  READ MORE HERE

TUCSON – The Tucson Police Department makes two new arrests in the child abuse death of a baby girl. They arrested Kiyana Higgins a week ago. One day after her infant daughter, Za’Naya died and her 3-year old son was hospitalized. The death prompted Child Protective Services to take custody of Higgins’ three other children. Thursday night, Tucson Police made two more arrests. The accused killer’s mother and sister were picked up for not reporting the alleged abuse.  READ MORE HERE

Ordered to pay legal fees after withholding public child abuse records

FRANKFORT, KY. — In a sharply critical decision, a judge has ordered a state agency to pay $16,550 in fines and $56,663 in legal costs to three newspapers for illegally withholding public records involving child-abuse deaths and serious injuries.Franklin Circuit Judge Phillip Shepherd also rejected efforts by the Cabinet for Health and Family Services to heavily redact, or remove, information from such documents. He said the cabinet was continuing its “efforts to blanket the operation of the child welfare system under a veil of secrecy.”  READ MORE HERE

AN INTERNATIONAL karate champion from York has been jailed for five years for child abuse against a 13-year-old girl. Liam O’Grady, was sentenced today at York Crown Court, after being convicted by a jury last month. O’Grady, 30, of Osbaldwick, has taught hundreds of children karate at after-school clubs and won gold at World and European level. A jury had heard earlier that he sent sexual texts and pictures of himself to the girl and sexually abused her in his house, his car and men’s toilets.  READ MORE HERE

After listening to testimony for more than a week, a Clark County District Court jury began deliberating this morning in the child abuse murder trial of a Henderson man accused of killing his girlfriend’s 16-month-old daughter in 2010. Jurors returned at 9:30 a.m. today to sift through the evidence in the trial of Cody Geddings, 26, who has been accused in the death of Addison Weast on March 31, 2010, in his home in Henderson.  READ MORE HERE

The body parts of a missing teenage girl have been found scattered across a field, authorities confirmed. The girl had been staying with a family friend when she went missing in Fannett, Texas, a small town of around 100 people, an hour north of Houston. A rancher called authorities three months later to report he had found a human skull in an empty canal on his property close to the town. The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office confirmed last Friday that the remains were of Sharon West, who had been identified using dental records.  READ MORE HERE

SUNSHINE COAST, Australia — A 37-year old woman has been sentenced to 4 years in jail for raping her daughter under the pretense of teaching the 11-year-old about sex. The mother of four used her cell phone to videotape herself repeatedly raping her young daughter. And this was just one of many “lessons” the mother gave as part of a “bizarre sexual education,” the presiding judge said.  READ MORE HERE

$100,000 bail in beating, robbery posted on YouTube

Seven teenagers have been charged with the beating and robbery of a 17-year-old high school senior that was captured on video and posted on the Internet. Only one of the teens, Raymond Palomino, 17, of the 3500 block of South Hoyne Avenue, was charged as an adult, with one count of robbery and one count of aggravated battery for the attack that has gone viral on YouTube. Judge Israel Desierto set bail for Palomino at $100,000 over the strenuous arguments of the youth’s attorney.  READ MORE HERE

(WARNING: Video is extremely graphic!)

FIFTEEN men have appeared in the District Court to answer more than 100 sex-related charges. Among the barrage of allegations heard in the unrelated court listings yesterday was a man charged with 20 various child-sex offenses and another accused of sexually abusing his adopted son. Others centred on child pornography and rape, with some offences dating back to the 1960s. Included in the allegations was Alan Gordon Maxwell, 42, of Hackham, who faced court on five rape charges.  READ MORE HERE

FARMINGTON A district judge denied a request for a 24-hour furlough for the man accused of stomping and killing 17-month-old Taegen McKinney. Jose Garcia, 23, is accused of killing McKinney on April 14, 2007, after he allegedly stomped on the toddler’s chest while his girlfriend was asleep. The couple was babysitting the child when she was killed. Shoe impressions that matched Garcia’s shoes remained on the child’s abdomen, according to court records.  READ MORE HERE

Sexual abuse victims often struggle for years with memories of the traumatic abuse they suffered as children. In some cases, the experiences are so traumatic that they block out (or repress) the memories. This week the Minnesota Supreme Court is hearing a motion to determine whether a survivor of sexual abuse can present evidence of repressed memory syndrome. In the United States, courts will not consider expert scientific evidence unless the party seeking to submit the evidence can establish that the evidence is scientifically reliable. The motion is called a Daubert motion.  READ MORE HERE