A toddler was beaten to death as his family prepared to celebrate his fourth birthday. Christopher Valdez was found dead in his Chicago home on Friday, shortly before his party, with cake and presents, was supposed to begin. ‘The boy’s uncle told 7 News: ‘My niece’s boyfriend beat the baby to death, and I don’t know exactly what happened. I’ve never even met the man.’ Police believe the boy, who died form ‘multiple blunt trauma’ had been dead for several hours before emergency crews found him on Friday.

U.S. Rep. Dale Kildee–FLINT, Michigan — Patrick Kildee’s claims that his second cousin Congressman Dale E. Kildee sexually abused him 50 years ago will only be tried in one court: public opinion. There won’t be a trial. No criminal or civil charges. No opportunities to close the case with a guilty or innocent verdict.

UPDATE: Syracuse fires associate head basketball coach Bernie Fine!! Syracuse, N.Y. — A third accuser told police Wednesday that Syracuse University associate head basketball coach Bernie Fine sexually abused him as a child. That revelation prompted authorities to search Fine’s home two days later, a source said. Zach Tomaselli, 23, of Lewiston, Maine, told Syracuse police that Fine molested him in 2002 in a Pittsburgh hotel room when Tomaselli was 13 years old.

Glendale – Recent details have emerged about missing 5-year-old Jhessye Shockley being allegedly abused by her mother, Jerice Hunter. Jhessye was said to have suffered beatings and had even been locked in a closet. Digital Journal first reported of Jerice Hunter’s arrest when she was taken into police custody on Monday on suspicion of child abuse and is being held on $100,000 bond.

VICTIMS of historic child abuse in Scotland could be in line for financial compensation under plans to be presented to Scottish ministers. The independent Scottish Human Rights Commission will this week outline options for making reparations to the victims of abuse in state, church and private children’s homes across the country. It is estimated that many hundreds of people may have suffered systematic abuse in more than 100 care institutions in Scotland in the last 70 years but under current legislation cases are time-barred.

Child exploitation stands out as one of the most horrific federal crimes that my office prosecutes. The violence involved and the vulnerability of the victims are unparalleled. Child exploitation goes far beyond the actual acts of sexual molestation against young people, frequently taking the form of child pornography. Memorializing acts of sexual assault in photographs or videos sold or traded makes child pornography a crime that is committed every time those images are viewed.

The trauma and tragedy of the child sex-abuse scandal at Pennsylvania State University has inspired a Virginia lawmaker to take legislative action. School coaches and athletic directors would be required to report child abuse or neglect to Virginia authorities under legislation proposed by Del. Robert G. Marshall, R-Prince William.

It’s horrific and shocking, though in terms of effective law enforcement and honest dealings with the public, finally a good thing. Some background: The Brooklyn DA has been accused for years by child advocates of handling the insular, image-conscious Orthodox Jewish community with kid gloves over sex-abuse scandals. Those familiar with abuse survivors from within that community — myself included — have complained that Hynes is too fearful of retaliation from a politically powerful religious bloc to hold its sex abuse perpetrators to the same standard applied elsewhere in Brooklyn.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Kansas City police canceled an Amber Alert Tuesday evening for a missing 10-month-old girl, although the investigation and search for her continue.Police issued the alert for Lisa Irwin early Tuesday morning. The baby was last seen at 10:30 p.m. Monday asleep in her crib at her parents’ home in the 3600 block of North Lister Avenue. Click Here For Updates From The Live Blog

It’s a place for fun and exercise for families, but what happened to a 13-year-old boy at a popular Lansing recreational facility is something you’d never expect. The boy’s parents shared their son’s story, but they chose to hide their identities to help protect their son. They wanted to tell his story in hopes of bringing about change. Last March a Lansing mother dropped off her 13-year-old son at the Westside YMCA. He was going swimming. When she returned to pick him up, something was wrong.

Penn State administrators and faculty may have remained silent about their suspicions that former coach Jerry Sandusky was molesting children, but in the wake of the scandal authorities in several states say they’ve seen an increase in the number of calls to their abuse hotlines. In Pennsylvania, the State Department of Public Welfare received more than double the average number of reports of child abuse in the week after the scandal broke. According to spokesperson Anne Bale, in an average five-day period the department receives about 2300 abuse reports to its hotline; the week of November 7-11, they got 4,832 calls.

A Lakehurst toddler was found dead, still strapped in her car seat, in a park stream in Monmouth County on Tuesday afternoon, authorities said, and police were looking for her father, who was last seen with the girl.The body was positively identified as 2-year-old Tierra Morgan, who had been missing since Monday when her father, Arthur Morgan III, 27, picked her up for a court-approved visitation.

AUSTIN, Texas — Judge William Adams, who made national headlines after the release of a 2004 video of him beating his then-teenage daughter, has been suspended by the Texas Supreme Court. The reason for the action was not mentioned in an order of suspension that was made public Tuesday. Adams, a court-at-law judge in Aransas County, was roundly criticized when his now-adult daughter posted online a video of him beating her with a belt when she was 16.

ADELANTO, CA — The mother of an 8-month-old baby boy has been arrested after the child was found underweight, and with a broken leg and bruises. San Bernardino County officials say the suspected child abuse was found when the baby was admitted to Loma Linda University Children’s Hospital for treatment.