VIENNA – When Elisabeth Fritzl emerged in April 2008 to her first breath of fresh air and ray of sunlight in a quarter of a century, she had been raped countless times by her father, Josef, and had borne him seven children. Five years after the horrors of Austria’s Fritzl case shocked the world, revealing 24 years of incest rape, captivity and childbirth in a damp cellar, the perpetrator and his victims are noticeable by their absence from the public eye.

Some important information about kidnappings in the U.S. — The first step in protecting your child from potential abductors is to know what you’re dealing with. Here are some important — and potentially surprising — facts about child abductions in the United States:

Date rape happens when someone you are going out with forces you or tricks you into having sex when you don’t want to. It doesn’t have to involve sexual intercourse, it can include things like penetration using an object or finger or forcing you to have oral sex. The person may use threats, get you very drunk, drug you, or trick you to get you to have sex when you don’t want to. This is not acceptable behavior Regardless of the relationship, sex without consent is RAPE. Any unwanted sexual contact or behavior is against the law.

CHEHALIS — The 15-year-old son of state Sen. Brian Hatfield, D-Raymond, pleaded guilty Tuesday in the juvenile division of Lewis County Superior Court to four counts of first-degree rape of a child and four counts of first-degree child molestation for crimes that reportedly took place in Hatfield’s homes in Lewis and Pacific counties, according to court documents. According to the Centralia Chronicle, the 15-year-old was taken into custody and booked into the Lewis County Juvenile Detention Center before being released into his father’s custody.

(CNN) — Detectives on Saturday arrested the 12-year-old brother of Leila Fowler on “charges of homicide” in connection with the 8-year-old girl’s death, Calaveras County, California, Sheriff Gary Kuntz said. The brother — who Kuntz did not name, but did speak publicly after his sister’s death — was arrested at 5:10 p.m. (8:10 p.m. ET) at a county sheriff’s office substation in his hometown of Valley Springs, according to the sheriff.

An Arlington sex offender has been arrested on federal charges of emailing videos showing toddlers being raped by adults. Barry Robert Turner, 42, also expressed his desire to rape young girls, according to a complaint filed by the FBI. He was arrested on Friday and remains in custody pending the filing of formal charges against him.

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – An accused child rapist from Agawam, who federal authorities said taunted them with messages like “catch me if you can,” has been caught by U.S. Marshals in Utah. According to a news release from the U.S. Marshals Service, John T. Blomquist, 34, was arrested outside a bar in Moab, Utah on Wednesday evening.

An Army major and his wife pleaded not guilty on Thursday to federal charges alleging the couple abused their three foster children by withholding food and water, making the children eat red pepper and assaulting them to the point of breaking their bones. Dressed in full military uniform, John Jackson appeared with his wife Carolyn Jackson in federal court in Newark, New Jersey on 17 counts of endangerment, assault and conspiracy. A trial date was set for July 8, and each of the Jacksons was allowed to remain free on $250,000 bail.

A father was jailed for seven years today after admitting killing his disabled seven-month-old son. Nathan Pick, 38, lashed out at James-Lee because he could not get him to stop screaming at their home in Chaddesden, Derbyshire. The baby, who was born with a heart defect and had to be tube-fed, suffered brain injuries and died the next day in hospital as a result of the blow to the back of the head. Pick was arrested on suspicion of murder and and charged, but originally claimed to police that James-Lee had begun to fit and hit his head in his swing chair. But on Wednesday, a week before his trial was due to start, he admitted manslaughter at Nottingham Crown Court.

Gina DeJesus’ family is planning to ‘adopt’ Michelle Knight and look after her as their daughter after Michelle rejected a meeting with her own mother, a friend of Felix and Nancy DeJesus has revealed to MailOnline. Lupe Collins, a neighbor who helped the DeJesus family look for Gina since she disappeared in 2004, said Nancy DeJesus told her in a phone call on Thursday that she and her husband are trying to convince Michelle, now 32, to stay with them. ‘She was Georgina’s sister for ten years in that house and she’s still her sister now,’ Ms Collins said.

A surrogate father who spent ten years in jail for shaking his baby son to death has been freed after new evidence revealed the boy died of poor health. Drayton Witt, who was convicted in 2002 of second-degree murder in the death of his four-month-old son Steven. But this week, an Arizona Superior Court judge dismissed all charges against Mr Witt and he is now reunited with his wife, Maria. The 31-year-old was not Steven’s biological father, but helped Maria raise him and had given the child his last name, according to Slate. Mr Witt said Wednesday that he was overcome with joy knowing the case was finally closed for good. ‘I can start my life over again,’ he told the Arizona Republic.

Congolese troops fleeing the M23 rebels last November raped at least 97 women and 33 girls, some as young as 6, according to a UN report. The report, released on Wednesday covered “mass rape, killings, and arbitrary executions and violations resulting from widespread looting,” UN spokesman Martin Nesirky told reporters. A report by the UN Joint Human Rights Office said most of the rapes took place over November 22-23 in the eastern Congo town of Minova.

(CNN) — The body of an 18-month-old girl whose mother was found dead last week along with two others may have been discovered Saturday, police in Kansas said. Authorities are conducting a forensic identification on the remains, a written statement said. “It is with great sadness that I report a body found in Osage County, Kansas, is believed to be the remains of 18-month-old Lana Bailey,” Franklin County Sheriff Jeff Richards said, adding that he was confident it was the missing toddler.

NEWPORT NEWS, VA – A Newport News community held a candlelight vigil for 4-year-old Madyson Van Cleave Hook. Police say she was murdered by her mother’s boyfriend. 23-year-old Carl Cottee Jr. was babysitting Madyson alone on Friday when emergency dispatchers received a call that the little girl was not breathing. Cottee is now facing murder, child neglect and cruelty charges.