ST. PAUL, Minn. — A Minnesota state lawmaker who authorities say admitted having a liaison with a 17-year-old boy at a rest stop faced calls from party leaders Monday to give up his re-election bid. Rep. Kerry Gauthier, 56, hasn’t been charged in the July incident, and authorities said he wouldn’t be because the boy was older than 16, the legal age of consent, and no money was exchanged. Police say the teenager responded to the lawmaker’s Craigslist ad for “no strings attached” sex.

BILLINGS – A man who was wanted in Ohio for raping a 13-year-old girl and fathering a child with her was arrested in Billings this week. David Martin, 38, was tracked to Billings where he was working at Rent-A-Wreck. He was apprehended there without incident on Wednesday, Aug. 15, according to the U.S. Marshal’s Office. Martin is charged with two counts of unlawful sexual conduct with a minor-rape in Ohio State District Court in Morrow County. Martin reportedly impregnated the girl as well, according to the Morrow County Prosecutor’s Office.

A call to action at ThePetitionSite.com created by Christian Miller targets the Iranian government and requests that it not legalize the forced marriage of girls under the age of 10. The petition has garnered the signatures of many thousands of people worldwide, a number of whom have expressed outrage at the Islamic Republic’s move, which some consider to reflect an attitude towards female children as property and household slaves. Entitled “Iran: Don’t Legalize Marriage for Girls Under 10!” the petition reads:

When neighbors found 6-year-old Adrianna Harmon lying on her bed, she was covered in blood. The critically injured little girl told officers, “Mommy tried to kill me.” Now, her mother, 30-year-old Tasha D. Harmon, is in a Wisconsin jail on charges of attempted homicide, the Wisconsin State Journal reports.

LOUISA, KY — A manhunt is underway for someone police call a child abuser. The victim, now blind for life, is the young father’s now 14-month-old son. It was a father home alone with his then 2-month-old son. He says there was an accident. But, after a lengthy police investigation, a grand jury handed down a felony child assault and abuse indictment last Friday. And for little Landyn’s mother, there’s a cry for justice for a child who’s life was changed forever that August 2011 day.

KARACHI: The rights of children are being taken as granted in Pakistani society with the incidents of violence, abuse and torture against them on rise. In the first six months of the current year, as many as 2,331 cases of violence against children were reported from different parts of the country, said a report of Madadgaar National Helpline issued here recently. Children are considered amongst the most vulnerable sections of society and protecting them against violence and abuse is considered to be the prime responsibility in civilised societies. However, the situation is quite different in our country.

Police have arrested a Compton, Ca. church pastor, Anthony Lavon Smith, 47, of Rialto, Ca., suspected of molesting two Rialto girls for several years. One of the girls was 11-years-old when the alleged sexual abuse first started. The Press-Telegram out of Long Beach, Ca. reported yesterday that Smith was arrested at the Carter High School on Wednesday while he was picking up a family friend.

Divers found the body of missing 3-year-old Reena Williams in a canal only yards from her Wisconsin home. Williams had last been seen Tuesday evening playing with the family dog in her front yard. About an hour and a half later she was reported missing. Hundreds of volunteers scoured the hour and police brought out police dogs and a helicopter to help with the frantic search. But late Wednesday afternoon, divers found her body in a canal.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Two dangerous men are on the run and police need your help to find them. First, take a look at 32-year-old John Pine. Pine has an especially violent past, and has used guns in his sex crimes in the past. For the most part, he looks like an average Joe, but his body art really sets him apart.

FARMINGTON, N.M. — San Juan County deputies are questioning the family of a 5-year-old girl who was taken to a hospital suffering from apparent abuse and remains in a coma. Sheriff’s spokesman Lt. Cory Tanner tells the Farmington Daily Times (http://bit.ly/S87YVp ) the girl remained in a coma on Friday after five days in the hospital.

In 1986 three-year-old Tiffany Hubbard was removed from her mother’s home by Butler County Children’s Services. She was then placed with her father Jeffrey Hubbard on September 3, 1986. Prior to placing Tiffany with Jeffrey Hubbard a psychological evaluation found Hubbard had grown up in a family “filled with conflict and abuse.” He was raised by an alcoholic father and abandoned by his mother. Although Hubbard was not mentally ill, the evaluation stated he is “a very immature and inadequate young man who has substantial underlying anger.” Hubbard also was convicted at age 17 after he molested a seven-year old girl.For the next 27 days Tiffany would be savagely beaten and raped by her father on a daily basis. She spent most of her time locked in the bathroom and slept on the cold bathroom floor. Her father would go into the bathroom regularly and beat Tiffany repeatedly with a wooden board. Jeffrey Hubbard always drank a Dr. Pepper after beating Tiffany because he was so exhausted and sweaty. Hubbard also forced Tiffany to spend all her time in the bathroom with a werewolf mask because he knew it terrified her. The only time she ate was when Hubbard held her head back and forced her to eat uncooked Campbell’s Soup out of the can.

CENTERVILLE — A Centerville man was charged Friday with sexually abusing two children, crimes enhanced because he was in a “position of trust” for the children. Timothy William Bothell, 43, was arrested Thursday and is facing two first-degree felony counts of aggravated sexual abuse of a child and four counts of lewdness involving a child, a class A misdemeanor.

FORT WAYNE – The victims at the center of a child abuse case that ended Friday didn’t offer a word on their own behalf. They were not in Allen Superior Court when Judge Fran Gull sentenced their abuser, Michael A. Combs, 27, to 61 1/2 years on charges of child molesting, battery and two counts of neglect of a dependent.

A Park Ridge man was ordered held in jail on $250,000 bond on Thursday after police say he assaulted a 16-year-old-girl the previous day. Anthony M. Nugent, 37, has been charged with felony aggravated battery and possession of cannabis following the assault on a 16-year-old female who was walking in the 900 block of S. Home Avenue in Park Ridge at around 5 p.m. Wednesday, police said.