ABILENE, Texas – Abilene police took 18-year-old Amber Craker into custody in connection with the dead newborn found in a south Abilene house Monday. Craker is the birth mother of the dead female baby, police said in a news release. Police said she was arrested shortly after her release from the hospital at about 4:15 p.m. She has been officially charged with first degree felony murder and second degree felony tampering with evidence. Her bond was set at $300,000 and she remains in the Taylor County Jail.

The number of U.S. children victimized by abuse and neglect increased by nearly 3 percent in the latest annual reporting period, according to new federal data. According to the report released Monday by the Department of Health and Human Services, the estimated number of victimized children in the 2014 fiscal year was 702,208 — up from 682,307 in 2013. The report estimated fatalities attributable to child abuse and neglect at 1,580 — up from 1,530 in 2013.

Britax Child Safety is recalling more than 71,000 infant car seats because the carrying handles can break. The recall covers the B-Safe 35, the B-Safe 35 Elite and the B-Safe 35 Travel System made from Oct. 1, 2014, to July 1, 2015. Documents posted Thursday by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said the seats have handles that can develop cracks that can lead to fractures.

A television director with credits on Law & Order and other shows has pleaded guilty to child pornography charges in New York. Westchester County District Attorney Janet DiFiore says 51-year-old Jason ‘Jace’ Alexander pleaded guilty Tuesday to promoting a sexual performance by a child and possessing an obscene performance by a child. Prosecutors say digital files showing minors engaged in sex acts were found on computers at the director’s Dobbs Ferry, New York, home. The married father-of-two could face up to seven years in prison when he is sentenced on May 3.

A pedophile who repeatedly raped a baby has died after being found unresponsive in his prison cell. Robin Hollyson, 31, was part of a gang that attacked babies, toddlers and pre-school children in abuse that was streamed over the internet. The men, described as “beyond human instinct” by a judge, preyed on the families of youngsters to gain access to them, in one case grooming a mother and father before their baby’s birth.

JONESBORO, Arkansas – Scott Ellington, District Prosecuting Attorney for the Second Judicial District of Arkansas, announces that a Jonesboro man convicted of raping a minor child who was in his custody will spend the next 30 years in prison after jurors found him guilty early Saturday morning. Ellington said that Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Gina Knight charged Richard Raymond Ressler, 47, 1210 Haltom St., Jonesboro, of rape and tried him before a Craighead County jury for two and a half days. Jurors took the case Friday afternoon and deliberated late into the night until 1 a.m. Saturday before returning a guilty verdict, arriving at a 30-year prison sentence at about 2 a.m. Circuit Judge Victor Hill of West Memphis followed the jury’s recommendation and ordered Ressler to serve 30 years in the Arkansas Department of Corrections.

OHIO – A woman’s ex-boyfriend forced his way into her apartment early Tuesday and fatally stabbed her and her two children before being critically injured in a knife fight with her current boyfriend, police said. Officers were called to the sprawling apartment complex on the north side of Columbus just before 1:30 a.m. and found the woman and children already dead and the two men with stab wounds, police Sgt. Rich Weiner said. The slain victims were identified as Erveena Hammonds, 32, and her daughters, 10-year-old Anaesia Green and 7-year-old Breya Hammonds.

SEATTLE — The Archdiocese of Seattle has published a list of 77 child-sex abusers who served or lived in Western Washington over the past several decades. Seattle Archbishop J. Peter Sartain apologized for the actions by the nearly all-male list of priests, brothers and deacons, and at least one sister, who abused minors. He said in a letter released Friday that he is disclosing the names “in the interest of further transparency and accountability” and to continue to encourage victims of sexual abuse by clergy to come forward.

LOUISIANA – A Baton Rouge man who planned to abduct a 5- to 6-year-old girl and turn her into his sex slave was sentenced Wednesday to 25 years in prison by a federal judge who said the man’s stated intentions are horrifying. Pierre A. Moosebroker Jr., who pleaded guilty in June to possession of child pornography and lying to FBI agents, also will be on supervised probation for the rest of his life once he completes his federal prison term.

ROSWELL, New Mexico —Authorities have arrested a third man suspected in connection with the kidnapping and rape of a teenage girl. The incident is reported to have happened Friday. Two men, Fabian Palma-Gabaldon, 29, and Steve Carroll, 51, were arrested earlier this week. Daniel Ridge Madison, 46, was arrested Wednesday.

Search crews continue to canvas areas of Pinson, Tennessee in search of a two-year-old boy who went missing Thursday. Noah Chamberlin was last seen while hiking in the woods with his grandmother and older sister. His grandmother said she was distracted for a minute and turned around to discovery he was gone.

MINNEAPOLIS — A 21-month-old girl is clinging to life after suffering injuries police say appear to be intentional. Rae’Ana Hall was left with her father while her mother went to work on Sunday morning. Hours later, her mother says she got a call from the hospital saying her child was in critical condition. Rae’Chelle Hall has not left her daughter’s side since the incident. She says her child’s father kept their baby often, but this time something happened that put her child into critical condition.

ST. CHARLES, Missouri — Two adults are facing charges in the death of a toddler found deceased in his crib in St. Charles on December 20, 2015 in the 3700 block of Baden Street. According to court records, Kathleen Peacock and Lucas Barnes are both charged with endangering the welfare of a minor. Police said 2-year-old Braydon Barnes was put in his crib on Friday and a space heater was turned on. The boy was left in the crib for 38 hours, according to police, with no one checking on his well-being. On December 20, 2015 Braydon was found dead in his crib.

More than 40 Rhode Island boarding school alumni are speaking out, demanding justice for a string of alleged sexual assaults by staff and peers going back into the 1970s. Two lawyers representing former students of the elite St. George’s School, which counts the likes of former presidential candidate Howard Dean and “Modern Family” actress Julie Bowen in its alumni, claim there has been a cover up for years at the school.