Mexican officials confirmed Sunday an armed gang attacked a Christian camp for children in Ixtapaluca and raped at least seven girls. News emerged Sunday of the Friday attack at the park east of Mexico City, where about 85 people were camping, the El Sol de Mexico newspaper reported.

Agbofa Yao Hateka, the 47-year-old fetish priest who fathered nine kids with daughter has pleaded with a Sogakope circuit court to forgive him his sins as he would not do it again. He has so far made two appearances in the Sogakokpe Circuit Court for having nine children with his daughter, four of whom were dead.

Delhi tops the list of States where the highest number of crimes against children were committed in 2011 while Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh recorded the highest number of rape and murder cases of kids respectively. A total of 33,098 cases of crime against children were reported in the country in 2011 as compared to 26,694 cases in 2010, suggesting an increase of 24 per cent. According to the National Crime Records Bureau, the rate of crime against children was highest in Delhi (25.4 per cent) followed by Andaman and Nicobar Islands (20.3 per cent), Chandigarh and Chhattisgarh (7 per cent each), Madhya Pradesh (6 per cent) and Goa (5.1 per cent) as compared to the national average of 2.7.

FRANKLIN, Nebraska — A 35-year-old woman already accused of prostituting her 14-year-old and 7-year-old daughters has been charged with human trafficking and other felony counts in south-central Nebraska’s Franklin County. The Kearney Hub reports (http://bit.ly/M2EBhh) that the mother has been charged with five counts of visual depiction of sexually explicit conduct, two counts of human trafficking and two counts of child abuse.

Saying “Scooby Doo” at the drive-through window of a North Side Wendy’s might have brought certain patrons something extra in their fries — a memory card with videos of child pornography. Asking for “chiva” at an East Side restaurant, Anna’s Café, wouldn’t have brought out an order of goat meat, but an illicit delivery of heroin. The off-the-menu items stood out Wednesday among the run-of-the-mill details in a docket of immigration violators, gun smugglers and drug peddlers in line for sentencing in front of U.S. District Judge Xavier Rodriguez.

Sexual exploitation and victimization of children is a worldwide epidemic. We can sum up society’s historical attitude toward this epidemic in one word: DENIAL. Most people do not want to hear about child molestation, and would prefer to pretend that it just doesn’t occur. We know, however, that this is simply not the case. In order to stop this abuse from occurring, we must discover ways to increase our awareness as a whole, and become proactive as opposed to reactive. The key to preventing sexual exploitation and victimization of children is education. If we want to stop these terrible, ugly acts, we must teach our children to become aware and proactive.

If legendary football coach Joe Paterno were still alive he would most likely be facing criminal charges for his part in the Jerry Sandusky child-sex scandal. The damning Freeh Report leaves no room for doubt that Paterno was certainly aware of allegations of Sandusky abusing young boys in 1998 and may in fact have assisted in covering up reports of the molestation. And even though Paterno’s death in January of this year rules out any criminal investigation, the report by former FBI director Louis Freeh casts doubt on Paterno’s stellar reputation.

A Brooklyn prep school has been accused of covering up a former footbal coach’s sexual abuse of young boys in a case that shockingly mirrors the Penn State scandal. Phil Foglietta, who is now dead, has been accused of raping and assaulting students for more than 20 years at Poly Prep in Brooklyn, New York. A lawyer representing the 12 victims argues that the abuse could have been prevented had the school not buried the football coach’s abuse in a bid to protect its reputation and athletic program.

A rash of Oklahoma cases of teachers and coaches accused of sexual misconduct with their students has some wondering if enough is being done to weed out child predators from schools. In Oklahoma, state law requires that every new teacher and newly hired school employee pass a national criminal history check. But background checks often don’t provide any clues of such potential behavior.

BLISSFIELD, Mich. —The U.S. Marshals Service is now involved in the search for Thomas Jack Fritz, who is wanted for questioning in the Friday night shooting deaths of two women in Blissfield, MI–One of which was 8-months pregnant. He may be in Ohio or may be headed to Texas, where he has relatives, said Sgt. Aaron Hunt of the Adrian detachment of the Michigan State Police Monroe post. “He could be anywhere in the United States by now,” Hunt said Sunday evening.

A grand jury will convene to investigate the murder of a two–year–old who was killed four years ago today. Today petitioners submitted their call for a grand jury to investigate the murder of Juliette Geurts. The toddler was found dead in her Gering home on July 11th, 2008; but there haven’t been any arrests or convictions in the murder. Petitioners have been collecting signatures of registered voters in Scotts Bluff County since May. They needed a minimum of 974, 10 percent of the county’s registered voters. When they submitted the petition today, there about 17–hundred signatures.

Union, MO – Traci Storie, a 37-year-old middle school teacher has been jailed after she allegedly had sex with a 13-year-old student. According to police, an investigation was launched in February after investigators received information that Storie had engaged in a sexual relationship with a 13-year-old boy. Investigators say the alleged relationship took place after school hours and off school property.

New research from The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia raises concerns about gaps in national child abuse statistics. In the largest study to examine the impact of the recession on child abuse, researchers at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia’s (CHOP) PolicyLab detected a significant increase in children admitted to the nation’s largest children’s hospitals due to serious physical abuse over the last decade. The study, published today in the journal Pediatrics, found a strong relationship between the rate of child physical abuse and local mortgage foreclosures, which have been a hallmark of the recent recession. The CHOP findings, based on data from 38 children’s hospitals, contradict national child welfare data, which show a decline in child physical abuse over the same period.

DRYDEN, MICHIGAN — An Orion Township landlord who suspected his tenant took a rifle during a burglary led Oakland County Sheriff’s Office detectives to a man who was also wanted for child abuse. Edmund Joseph Proulx, 29, of Dryden, was arraigned before Judge Nancy Carniak in Rochester Hills’ 52-3 District Court on Friday, charged with first-degree home invasion, a 20-year felony, and larceny of a firearm, a 5-year felony. His bond was set at $75,000 cash without 10 percent provision.