“It’s ok for homosexuals to do what they want at home, how is this different?” A respected professor at one of the nation’s leading Ivy League universities is defending the incestuous relationship with his daughter, as reported by the official newspaper of the Dallas Fort Worth Catholic Archdiocese and Google News on April 6, 2013. Columbia University’s Professor David Epstein was charged with one count of incest for what was allegedly a consensual three-year sexual relationship with his 24-year-old daughter.

JONESBORO, AK – Law enforcement officers have arrested 11 people in northeast Arkansas on rape and child pornography charges involving a 12-year-old girl. Jonesboro Police Sgt. Lyle Waterworth told reporters that local, state and federal officers arrested seven adults and four juveniles in various cities and towns in the region on Tuesday.

Clyde Tonkin is a fugitive again. Hours before his child rape trial was set to begin Monday in Luzerne County Court, the 30-year-old removed an electronic monitoring bracelet that tracked his whereabouts. As police and a bail bonds service spent the day trying to find Tonkin, court officials worked to seat a jury to hear his case. Whether or not Tonkin is located, the trial will start this morning with opening arguments, court officials said. Luzerne County Judge Joseph Sklarosky Jr. is set to preside over a rare “trial in absentia” in which the defendant isn’t present for the court proceedings that determine his fate.

(CNN) — One of the longest-lasting effects of conflict is one that is all too often hidden away, breaking down social fabric and affecting those it touches for the rest of their lives. Rape and sexual violence are easy to overlook — private tragedies with public stigmas. According to a new report from Save the Children, children bear the brunt of this unseen crisis, enduring the unthinkable when they are most vulnerable. And sexual violence against children is more common than we dare to think. More than half of the victims of sexual violence are children, according to our report. In places of active or past conflict, from Liberia to Colombia to Afghanistan, children — both boys and girls — have been afflicted by this horrendous crime. One study cited in the report shows that in post-conflict Liberia, a staggering 80% of victims of sexual violence were children, and the majority of those had been raped.

A lawsuit was filed Monday in Wayne County Circuit Court on behalf of the parents of three special needs children against a former teacher and the Livonia Public Schools for the teacher’s alleged abuse of special needs students. The 177-page complaint alleges criminal child abuse, neglect and civil rights violations. The suit seeks in excess of $75,000 in several counts. The complaint alleges that on multiple occasions in 2010-2011 and 2011-12 school years that teacher Sharon Turbiak used her position as an educator to “physically and/or mentally abuse” three of the plaintiffs who were identified as M.D. Doe, K.H. Doe and C.W. Doe. That constituted criminal child abuse, the lawsuit states.

WICHITA, Kansas — A 1-month-old Wichita girl is in the hospital with broken ribs in a case of suspected child abuse. Police were called Monday afternoon to Wesley Hospital. Doctors said the injuries to the infant weren’t consistent with the story the parents had given that the baby was accidentally dropped on Sunday.

A Wisconsin woman recently convicted of killing her daughter more than 50 years ago is an ‘evil monster’ who deserves to die in prison, said her adult son, who claims he suffered years of horrific abuse at his mother’s hands. Ruby C. Klokow, 76, of Sheboygan, pleaded no contest in February to second-degree murder in the 1957 death of her 6-month-old daughter, Jeaneen. But as part of a plea agreement, prosecutors have agreed to recommend a sentence of 45 days in jail and 10 years’ probation, citing her age and medical issues.

A Chicago couple smothered their crying daughter unconscious before dumping her limp body back into her playpen so they could have sex, police claim. Rodrigo Rodriguez, 29, is accused of covering 5-month-old Angelina’s mouth with his hand three times on Thursday night as her mom, 21-year-old Angela Petrov, looked on. The pair, who were reportedly drinking Hennessy, then allegedly went to the bedroom of their West Rogers Park apartment and had sex before falling asleep.

APOPKA, Fla. —A 23-year-old father has been charged with murder after the 1-year-old child he is accused of abusing died, Apopka police said. Honey Veus was pronounced dead at 6 p.m. Saturday after suffering injuries to the brain, head, face and eye. Officials said they received a call on Thursday about a toddler .who was not breathing and had no pulse.

A young girl and her family were threatened by people of “higher class.” Shortly after a 10-year-old Indian girl filed a rape charge against Lodhe Rajputs, a man of higher social status, she was locked behind bars and told that she would be stoned to death if her family did not withdraw the charge. According to The Huffington Post, the girl’s mother had found her unconscious in a field and brought her to a local police station, where she was incarcerated for nearly 20 hours.

My first step of healing from child abuse My “healing from child abuse” journey began with the movie Mommie Dearest. I had heard all the talk about it being about child abuse and like many others, I was curious. As I left the theater, I remember thinking “That’s child abuse? That’s nothing.” But later that […]

Cyberbully follows Taylor Hillridge (Emily Osment), a teenage girl who falls victim to online bullying, and the cost it nearly takes on her and her family. Taylor is a pretty 17-year-old high school student but a little awkward, and painfully aware of it. When her mom gives her a computer for her birthday, Taylor is excited by the prospect of freedom and the independence of going online without her mother always looking over her shoulder. However, Taylor soon finds herself the victim of betrayal and bullying while visiting a social website, and afraid to face her peers at school, including her best friend (Kay Panabaker), she is pushed to a breaking point. Taylor’s mom, Kris (Kelly Rowan), reels from the incident and takes on the school system and state legislation to help prevent others from going through the same harrowing ordeal as her daughter.

A judge has condemned the Church of England and social services for a cover-up that allowed a vicar who sexually abused a teenage orphan to escape justice for 26 years. John Yallop, a married father of four, had been offering bereavement counselling to the 16-year-old girl just months after she lost her entire family. He admitted the abuse, which took place over two months, when confronted by a social worker. But instead of reporting him to police, the Bishop of Sheffield and social services chiefs hushed up the scandal and Yallop, then 40, was allowed to leave his job and move away from the area to restart his life. The victim, now aged 42, has suffered depression and suicidal thoughts ever since.

A young sadistic couple acted out dark sexual fantasies on a 14-year-old girl after grooming her on internet chat rooms, a court heard today. Married engineer Christopher Zeb, 26, and his deviant mistress Poppy Knight, 22, blindfolded, bit and bruised their teenage victim in a seedy 24-hour sex session in a hotel. The schoolgirl, whose name police found in a document in Zeb’s home entitled ‘Slaves In Training’, told her mother she was going to stay with a schoolfriend before catching a train to Manchester and spending the night with the couple. A judge today condemned the pair’s ‘serious sexual offences’ as he jailed Zeb for six-and-a-half years and Knight for 30 months.