BANGOR, Maine — With a ski mask, a fake Facebook profile and a plan, police say Kyle Dube thought he could make himself a hero. Now the 21-year-old Maine man is set to go on trial, charged with killing a teenage girl in what authorities call a botched attempt to look like he was rescuing her from a kidnapping. READ MORE HERE

A special education teacher faces life without parole after being accused of sexually assaulting a girl when she was 4 and again when she was 9. In court Thursday, Milton Cole, 32, told the judge he teaches at a private school on Kirby. He is charged with super aggravated sexual assault of a child and aggravated sexual assault of a child. If convicted of the super aggravated charge, a recent law that is used when the child is under 6 years old, Cole faces a minimum of 20 years in prison and could land behind bars for life without parole. Cole’s attorney, J.L. Carpenter, noted that accusations that he assaulted a girl in his home arose in the middle of divorce proceedings. READ MORE HERE

FATHER TO REMAIN BEHIND BARS AFTER USING BABY AS WEAPON

PRETORIA – A Pretoria father accused of murdering his own daughter by using her as a weapon to attack his girlfriend will remain behind bars for another week before applying for bail. Police arrested the 32-year-old Cameroonian man on Sunday night near the flat he shared with his girlfriend and newborn daughter. The child was declared dead on arrival at the Kalafong Hospital. The Pretoria Prison Court heard how Alexander Forba allegedly grabbed his three-day-old daughter from her mother’s back during a domestic dispute. He allegedly gripped the child by her legs and used her body as a clubto attack his girlfriend. READ MORE HERE

Father and stepmother charged with torture and abuse after they ‘locked 12-year-old son in basement for 11 days’ and claimed he was missing

Prosecutors have brought torture and child abuse charges against the father and stepmother of a 12-year-old Detroit boy who was found in his father’s basement last year after an 11-day disappearance. Charles Bothuell IV, 46, and Monique Dillard-Bothuell, 37, systematically physically abused the child, forced him to live in the basement and didn’t allow him to socialize, Wayne County prosecutors said. The boy, Charlie Bothuell V, was found by police in the basement of his family’s condominium on June 25, 2014, – 11 days after he was reported missing by his father and stepmom. Detroit police arrested the Bothuells this morning, the prosecutor’s office said. They have each been charged with one count of torture, punishable by up to life in prison, and second-degree child abuse, which carries a maximum penalty of four years in prison. READ MORE HERE

MICHIGAN – A woman whose child-abuse convictions sparked an effort to pass “Wyatt’s Law” and create a child abuser registry was sentenced to 33 months in prison for her most recent case. Rachel Edwards, 32, of Warren, received the sentence Thursday from Judge Richard Caretti after previously pleading no contest to second-degree child abuse for inflicting severe injuries on Wyatt Rewoldt, now 2, in November 2013. The offense is punishable by up to 10 years in prison, and the guideline range was 19 to 38 months in prison. The sentencing followed an emotional statement by Erica Hammel, 26, of St. Clair Shores, whose online petition to create a registry has drawn more than 13,000 signatures and the attention of lawmakers who intend to pursue establishing a registry. READ MORE HERE

‘Wyatt’s Law’ child-abuse case could establish abuse registry

Erica Hammel on Wyatt’s law – Detroit Free Press

Local mother wants to start petition for child abuser registry

A former College Township resident was charged with 91 felony counts in connection with the rape and abuse of a child over four years, according to court documents. Stephen Davis Lucas Jr., was arraigned Monday before District Judge Stephen Lachman on 18 counts of rape, 10 counts of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, nine counts of statutory sexual assault, nine counts of sexual assault, two counts of aggravated indecent assault, 40 counts of indecent assault, one count of corruption of minors, one count of endangering the welfare of children and one count of sexual abuse of children, all felonies. He also was charged with 40 counts of indecent exposure, a misdemeanor. READ MORE HERE

LA CROSSE, Wisconsin — A man and his girlfriend are facing charges of party to the crimes of child abuse and child neglect in the death of the man’s three-year-old daughter. Prosecutors filed the charges against Dylan Bartsh, 30, of Altura, MN and Jaymie Rundle, 24, of Holmen on Monday. In late October, crews responded to a home in Holmen for a three-year-old girl having a seizure. A criminal complaint says hospital staff noticed the girl was malnourished and that she had scars and bruises all over her body. The girl died three days later. An autopsy listed her cause of death as homicide, and the doctor who did it said a high concentration of sodium in her system contributed to her death. READ MORE HERE

A Simpsonville woman was charged with homicide by child abuse after the Greenville County Sheriff’s Office conducted an investigation into the death of her newborn daughter. Kelli Noelle Smith-Durham, 27, of 654 Harrison Bridge Road, was also charged with four counts of unlawful neglect of a child, according to arrest warrants. She is being held at the Greenville County jail without bond. READ MORE HERE

A British man accused of paying an 11-year-old girl for sex in Cambodia claimed he had only taken her to a cinema because she was poor and had been begging for money. Michael Glyn Jones, from South Wales, appeared in a court this week accused of sexually abusing four girls, purchasing youngsters for child prostitution and committing indecent acts against a minor. The 55-year-old has been photographed by police and a child protection group walking hand-in-hand with one young girl and sitting with a number of others, one of whom was on his lap. READ MORE HERE

In a rather shocking revelation, it has been found that Islamic State militants have been selling Yazidi and Christian girls as young as one to nine years of age for a price of $172 in Iraq. The Islamic State has put female sex slaves from the Iraqi ethnic minority on sale and has also released the age wise price list. According to a document issued by the ISIS, Christian and Yazidi girls, aged between 1 and 9, are up for grabs for $172. Girls that are 10 to 20 are sold for nearly $129, while those aged 20 to 30 are sold for about $86. ISIS sex slave price for women that are 30 to 40 is about $6 and for those aged 40 to 50, it is $43. Slaves are not listed as women – they are labelled as Merchandise. READ MORE HERE

Brownsville – A jury on Friday sentenced a Harlingen man to 25 years in prison for the continuous sexual abuse of a child.  Iginio Guzman, 50, will not be eligible for early release. Prosecutors Guzman had daily access to the child and sexually abused her from 2007 to 2008. The victim is now 17-years old. READ MORE HERE

The moment a pedophile was challenged by a vigilante group after he agreed to meet who he thought was a teenage girl has been caught on video. Vigilantes from the group Dark Justice in the UK posed as a 14-year-old girl in an online chat and lured Roger Lee, 45, to meet the ‘girl’, resulting in him being jailed. READ MORE HERE

PEDIATRICIAN FACING CHILD PORN CHARGES

MERCED, California — A pediatrician is accused of putting a hidden camera in a patient restroom, and police say parents and their children may have been recorded. His name is still on the front door, but pediatrician Carlos Teran Miranda is out of the office, booked on child pornography charges. “I don’t know, it just makes me feel sick to my stomach honestly,” Dejeanae Pugh said. Pugh was seen at the Merced clinic, part of Golden Valley Health Centers. Her son, too, although, she says not by Miranda. READ MORE HERE