BILLINGS, Montana — A 5-year-old boy is hospitalized in intensive care after being shot by an 8-year-old playmate. The children were playing together at a Billings dog park when their parents said the could go into an wilderness area near the park. About 30 minutes later girls, ages 12 and 13, were riding their bikes through the area when the spotted the 5-year old lying on the ground.

HUNTINGTON BEACH — A 30-year old man was sentenced Friday to 65 years to life in state prison for kidnapping and sexually assaulting a developmentally disabled 7-year-old girl. Daniel Vlas Flores was convicted in April of kidnapping to commit a sexual offense, sexual intercourse, sodomy and sexual penetration of a child 10-years-old or younger, according to the Orange County district attorney’s office.

SAN JOSE, Calif. — A man charged with beating a Roman Catholic priest that he says molested him has been found not guilty. The jury found William Lynch not guilty of felony assault and felony elder abuse, despite his admission that he attacked Father Jerold Lindner in 2010. They were split on a final charge of misdemeanor assault and a Santa Clara County judge declared a mistrial on that count.

A 6-day-old infant and a 22-month-old toddler were left alone, unsupervised, by their 18-year-old mother Courtney Trench and her boyfriend so the couple could enjoy a night of drinking. According to WSB Radio, officials report that the mother’s blood alcohol level was .198, which is three times the legal limit, while the boyfriend’s was tested at .223.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A Memphis jury has found 17-year-old James Prindle guilty of raping a 23-month-old girl, taking all day Friday to convict him on all counts. Prosecutors claimed Prindle committed the disturbing act against the toddler while babysitting in Aug., 2010. Though just 15 at the time, he was later charged and indicted as an adult. Prindle was accused of bathing the child after the attack, before running to a neighbor for help. Prosecutors say he told that neighbor a lie that a “large black man wearing a mask broke into the apartment,” which police later disproved.

MARSHALLTOWN, Iowa – Autopsies say two siblings and a cousin died while swimming in central Iowa during a Fourth of July outing with family and friends. Marshalltown Police Chief Mike Tupper says 9-year-old Lee Meh, her 7-year-old brother, Sae Reh, and their 7-year-old cousin, Thay Mo, were found Wednesday night in the Iowa River. The children became separated from others while swimming in the river in Marshalltown, about 50 miles northeast of Des Moines. Authorities searched for more than three hours before finding them.

A South African real estate developer claims to have found the gravesite of Madeleine McCann. Self-styled investigator Stephen Birch says he used a ground penetrating radar device — a tool that that uses radar pulses to x-ray the subsurface — to locate the body of the missing British girl. McCann was 3 years old in May 2007, when she went on a trip to Portugal with her parents, Kate and Gerry McCann. The couple was dining with friends at a nearby restaurant when the little girl vanished from their holiday apartment in Praia da Luz. There have been no solid leads in the case since that time.

Dreamcatchers for Abused Children received it’s 2nd award from GREAT NON-PROFITS. We were awarded with the “Top-Rated Children & Families 2012 Nonprofit” Award thanks to the wonderful feedback we received from the public. We would like to publicly thank all of our supporters for this amazing nomination!! We are extremely honored and very grateful to have the opportunity to continue to serve and educate the public on child abuse awareness and prevention. Visit our Great Nonprofit Profile Page here!

DICKINSON, TX—In August of 1990, 8-year-old Jennifer Schuett was found barely alive in a field in Dickinson. Nineteen-year-old Dennis Bradford, a teen who had taken a course in butchering, randomly snatched Schuett through her bedroom window, drove her to a field, sexually assaulted her and left her for dead in a fire ant pile. Nineteen years later, in a cold case victory, police caught Bradford in Arkansas and he told them everything. “She was an innocent and I was a sick, deranged, beat up, little (expletive) punk,” he told a Dickinson police detective and an FBI agent during an interrogation after he was arrested. “I told that little girl that I was a police officer. I had strangled her to the point of unconsciousness,” he said.

ChildCare Education Institute (CCEI), an IACET approved, nationally accredited, online child care training institution, offers new users the opportunity to try online learning by taking the course CCEI112A: Child Abuse: Signs of Abuse and Reporting Requirements for Early Childhood Professionals at no cost in July, in recognition of National Make a Difference to Children Month. Child care professionals are mandated reporters, meaning they are legally responsible for identifying and reporting signs of child abuse and neglect. In order to uphold their duties, teachers and caregivers must receive adequate training on appropriate practices for identifying signs of maltreatment. Course participants will learn about the four major categories of abuse, along with the signs, symptoms, and examples of each type of abuse, as well as basic procedures and responsibilities when a suspicion of abuse arises.

A 3-year-old boy vanished from his home Sunday night, and his dad fears he was kidnapped by rival gang members. Police are now combing Memphis for Maurice Brown Jr., who went missing around 8:30 p.m. from his home on South Pauline Street. The 3-foot-tall, 65-pound child was last seen wearing a Batman shirt and blue jeans. His father, Maurice Brown Sr., is affiliated with a gang called the Grapestreets. He said he was asleep in the house and awoke to find the boy gone.

The horror of child abuse may continue to haunt the victims even after they enter adulthood. Symptoms of depression and anxiety are often reported in people who have been abused as children. Psychiatrists claim that a majority of child abuse cases go unreported. As a result, children are denied proper counselling and in some cases special help. This could lead to serious psychological disorders affecting a person’s normal life.

Every summer, tragic news of the death of a child left in a hot car bewilders parents and caregivers alike. This preventable tragedy is far too common—there have been seven hot car related deaths in 2012 alone—and the summer is far from over. For one Louisiana father whose 11-month-old son fell victim to this fate Monday, this already horrific accident could mean prosecution and possible jail time.

A doctor was arrested at Disney World, Florida, after staff said they saw him kick his three-year-old son in the face. Dario Napolitano, 41, from Italy, was at the Epcot area of the resort on Saturday with his family when the alleged incident happened. According to arrest reports, several witnesses saw Napolitano kick his son while he sat in his stroller during an argument with his wife and children.