Since their 2-year-old granddaughter, Addison Grace Lanham, died on July 21, Scott and Paula Bridges have wondered what the next day will hold. They went from a life outside the spotlight to being thrust into the middle of a story that has tore at the hearts of countless people and left the community with many unanswered questions. Why did a little girl have to die from an infection that is easily treatable? Why didn’t Addison’s mother take her to a doctor or a hospital? How did the child end up with a broken leg and other wounds on her body before she died? And, the biggest question of all: did the Gaston Department of Social Services drop the ball by not intervening quickly enough after getting at least six calls from family members warning that the girl’s mother had placed her in harm’s way by living in the same place with a registered sex offender?

DENVER – A mother and her girlfriend accused in the death of a baby faced a judge Saturday. Denver Police arrested the women after 10-month old Adam Gonzales was found dead in his home in northwest Denver Friday morning. Amanda Lujan, 24, and her girlfriend, 23-year-old Frances Garcia were advised of the charges against them in a Denver courtroom this morning.

READ MORE HERE:

http://www.9news.com/news/article/212201/188/Mother-girlfriend-in-court-in-connection-with-baby-death

In a major escalation, a Philadelphia judge has ordered former Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua to testify in court in September about what he knows about child sex abuse cases in his archdiocese. Irish American Monsignor William Lynn (60) who was Secretary for the Clergy, is facing trial on child endangerment charges arising out of transferring priests who later abused.

READ MORE HERE:

http://www.irishcentral.com/news/Cardinal-is-ordered-to-court-in-pedophile-sex-abuse-trial-127087058.html

 

A man accused of attempting to castrate his girlfriend’s 11-year-old son was convicted on multiple charges Friday and is facing at least 33 years in prison. According to the Cumberland County District Attorney’s Office, Todd Louis Lanford, 36, of the 2400 block of Cleveland Avenue, was found guilty by a jury of attempted malicious castration of privy member, several counts of felony child abuse, several counts of felony assault, felony child abuse, assault by strangulation, communicating threats, first degree sex offense and taking indecent liberties with a minor.

READ MORE HERE:

http://www.fayobserver.com/articles/2011/08/06/1113678?sac=Crime

ASHEVILLE— Firefighters broke through a window to rescue a 2-month-old girl locked inside a hot car Saturday, police said. Police charged the child’s mother, 29-year-old Jennifer Knox, of Arden, with child abuse. Social workers will meet with the mother, Lt. Wallace Welch said in a statement released late Saturday night.

READ MORE HERE:

http://www.citizen-times.com/article/20110807/NEWS/110806004/Asheville-firefighters-rescue-baby-in-hot-car?odyssey=tab|mostpopular|text|FRONTPAGE

Manassas residents confronted a woman for taping an infant’s mouth shut in July.  According to police, when confronted, Kristina Leigh Moore, of the 9200 block of Hood Road, became so agitated that she assaulted her accusers. Officers were called to the scene.  When they arrived, Moore’s accusers said that Moore had taped an infant child’s mouth shut to keep it from crying.

READ MORE HERE:

http://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/DC-Woman-Accused-of-Taping-Infants-Mouth-Shut-127069123.html

Four years ago, a now 71-year-old woman was sentenced to 15 years in prison for the child-abuse murder of her adopted 3-year-old son who died in 1974 of what she claimed for decades was from falling off a lawn chair into the grass. Thursday, Catherine Wyman, formerly of Sparks, was sentenced to time served after the Nevada Supreme Court reversed her conviction in 2009 of second-degree murder, saying she was entitled to review her accuser’s psychiatric records.

READ MORE HERE:

http://www.rgj.com/article/20110804/NEWS01/110804040/Former-Sparks-woman-convicted-murdering-son-released-from-prison?odyssey=nav|head

LAWRENCE – A Lawrence father is facing child abuse charges after allegedly beating his newborn child blind. Emmanuel Quadros, 32, pleaded not guilty during his arraignment Wednesday. Police say the injuries to the 3-week-old baby boy are so severe that the child is now blind and will likely be wheelchair-bound.

UK–A paedophile described by police as the UK’s most prolific hoarder of pictures of child abuse has been given an indeterminate prison sentence. Daniel Taylor, 31, possessed more than 300,000 indecent images, including a large number considered the most extreme, Bradford crown court heard. Taylor used 47 devices including hard drives, phones, memory sticks and a laptop to store the pictures.

READ MORE HERE:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2011/aug/04/daniel-taylor-paedophile-jailed

SANTA ANA – A Santa Ana man facing trial in the beating death of his girlfriend’s sister’s 18-month-old daughter has been charged with abusing another child in 2009, prosecutors said Thursday. Juan Carlos Aguilar, 25, of Santa Ana is now charged with murder, assault on child with force likely to produce great bodily injury resulting in death and two counts of child abuse.

READ MORE HERE:

http://www.ocregister.com/news/aguilar-310851-old-charged.html

NEW YORK — Levi Aron, accused of butchering an 8-year-old boy on his first walk home alone from an Orthodox Jewish day camp, is competent to stand trial, according to a court evaluation released on Thursday. That means Aron is able to participate in his own defense and understands he is charged with kidnapping, suffocating and dismembering Leiby Kletzky, his defense lawyers said outside state Supreme Court in Brooklyn.

READ MORE HERE:

http://www.ktla.com/news/landing/ktla-levi-aron-trial,0,7354009.story

TARZANA, CA – A Los Angeles city official appointed by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has resigned amid a child porn investigation blaming his “odd behavior” on a tumor. 63-year-old Albert Abrams stepped earlier this week. FBI agents seized computers and other materials from his Tarzana home on Wednesday.

READ MORE HERE:

http://www.ktla.com/news/landing/ktla-child-porn-search-city-official,0,2815057.story

A 5-week-old girl is in the hospital and the father has been arrested for child abuse. According to the Wichita Police Department, around 6:00 p.m. Tuesday night, the child was taken into Wesley Medical Center for a head injury. The child had suffered a skull fracture and brain bleed. Workers at the hospital then called police and informed them of the injuries.

READ MORE HERE:

http://www.kake.com/news/headlines/Infant_Taken_To_Hospital_Father_Arrested_For_Child_Abuse_126718588.html?ref=588

Washington — More than 50 members of a child pornography ring who engaged in what authorities describe as “horrific” and “unspeakable” crimes have been arrested for sexually exploiting children from 12 years old to as young as infants. Top federal law enforcement officials say agents busted the global online pornography ring following an intense international investigation that began in 2009.

READ MORE HERE:

http://www.ktla.com/news/landing/ktla-global-child-porn-ring,0,3319714.story