A Chinese company that assembles devices for Samsung Electronics Co. hired children at its production facilities and forced employees to work excessive hours, violating labor laws, China Labor Watch said in a report. Seven children younger than 16 were working in the factory of HEG Electronics (Huizhou) Co. that makes phones and DVD players for Samsung, according to the report issued today. Child workers faced the “same harsh conditions” as adults and were paid only 70 percent of the wages of other workers, according to the New York-based group, which said it conducted investigations in June and July.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The ombudsman appointed by the Kansas City-St. Joseph Catholic Diocese in the fallout of a priest abuse case says that only a few of the allegations of sexual abuse or inappropriate behavior reported in the last year have been substantiated. The report from diocese ombudsman Jenifer Valenti says that of those 40 allegations, 20 were reported cases of sexual abuse that involved clergy, diocese employees, religious orders or volunteers, and that only seven of those cases were substantiated, and involved five people.

La Grange, KY – Ashley Nicole Cox, a 22-year-old Kentucky woman has pleaded guilty to a reduced charge after she killed her newborn baby while visiting her boyfriend in prison. According to police, Cox was visiting her boyfriend at the Roederer Correctional Complex in March, 2010, when she ran to the bathroom and delivered a healthy baby girl. Investigators say Cox welcomed her new daughter into the world by stuffing toilet paper into the infant’s mouth until she was unable to breath. Cox then tossed the baby into a trash can and covered her with more toilet paper.

Shelbyville, Ind. – Bethany Appleton, a 28-year-old teacher at Shelbyville Middle School has been jailed after she allegedly had sex with multiple students after providing them with alcohol and marijuana. According to police, Appleton was taken into custody following a lengthy investigation through the Indiana Department of Child Services.

More than 125 hidden cases of child abuse stretching from 1970 to 1991 have been revealed by the Boy Scouts of America, and hundreds of other case files will be made available to the general public due to an Oregon Supreme Court ruling. A review of related documents by the Los Angeles Times showed that in many cases, the abusers had been allowed to stay in the organization even after the sexual misconduct allegations were made. The publication reports that although the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) kept a blacklist of sorts dubbed the “perversion files,” it failed to be a strong enough defense against child predators.

A 20-year-old woman took a baby to hospital with a fractured skull, a black eye, bruises and bite marks. Aadriane Dixon, from Tulsa, Oklahoma, was arrested after police decided the 13-month-old boy’s injuries were consistent with child abuse. Dixon is the child’s sole caregiver, although her relationship to the boy is unknown. She waited for two hours after the baby suffered the injuries before seeking medical help.

MOSCOW – A self-proclaimed prophet had a vision from God: He would build an Islamic caliphate under the earth. The digging began about a decade ago and 70 followers soon moved into an eight-level subterranean honeycomb of cramped cells with no light, heat or ventilation. Children were born. They, too, lived in the cold underground cells for many years — until authorities raided the compound last week and freed the 27 sons and daughters of the sect.

BROOKLYN, NY — A former New York butcher pleaded guilty Thursday to second degree murder and kidnapping in the second degree, after abducting, smothering and dismembering an 8-year-old boy in the Hasidic Jewish enclave of Borough Park. Judge Neil Firetog said Levi Aron accepted a plea deal and will spend 40 years to life behind bars for the two counts, after the official sentencing on August 29, for the killing of Leiby Kletzky last summer.

Melvin Morse, a well known pediatrician and researcher in near-death experiences in children, waterboarded his 11-year-old daughter by forcing her face under a running faucet while the mother simply stood by and watched. According to the Huffington Post, these actions stem from a July 12th incident in which Morse grabbed his daughter by the ankles, dragged her across a driveway, and aggressively spanked her.

Efrey Antonio Guzman, a 46-year-old LDS church leader, was arrested after breaking into a family’s home, sexually abusing the mother and bitting the woman’s 20-year-old son in his genitals. According to the Deseret News, the 13-year-old daughter of the family reported that on May 8th, Guzman came into their home when only the son and daughter were there, grabbed the girl, and started kissing her and squeezing her buttocks. He stopped as soon as the son entered the room.

The police arrived at a home to find a dead horse, multiple other mistreated dogs, cats, and horses, and a 1-year-old child with cockroaches crawling out of her diaper and covering her head, locked up in a cage. Deputies, as reported by The Vindicator, carried the child out of the home and the EMS treated her. She has since been released to Child Protective Services.

The five-day period from August 2 – 6 brought tragedy to families in Arkansas, Tennessee, Florida and New Mexico as 7 children died of heat stroke after being left in hot vehicles. According to KidsAndCars.org, a national nonprofit child safety organization working to prevent injuries and deaths of children in and around motor vehicles, the 7 heat stroke deaths recorded were:

WESTLAKE, Ohio – An Ohio man was arrested Saturday night after police say he brought weapons into a movie theater. Scott A. Smith, 37, entered the 10 p.m. showing of ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ with a bag full of ammo and knives, according to Westlake police. Jeremiah Bullins, an off-duty Westlake police officer, noticed and searched Smith’s bag. He found three knives in the bag, as well as a loaded 9 mm Glock handgun, two additional loaded magazines, and a fourth knife under his clothes. Each magazine had 17 rounds.

A four-year-old girl was beaten to death during a horrific punishment for dropping a meatball out of her Subway sandwich, her mother has claimed. Melanie Garcia, 21, brought Kayla Garcia to San Antonio’s Christus Santa Rosa Children’s Hospital, where employees called Texas police when they saw the girl covered in bruises and cigarette burns. She initially said the injuries were caused by a fall, but she now claims her then-boyfriend Matthew Carrillo, 23, beat the child to death merely for dropping food on the floor.