OCOEE, Florida — The estranged daughter of Oscar-winning actor Billy Bob Thornton was sentenced in Florida on Thursday to 20 years in prison for killing a child in her care. Amanda Brumfield, 32, was convicted in Orlando in May of aggravated manslaughter of a child in the death of Olivia Madison Garcia, the 1-year-old daughter of one of Brumfield’s close friends.

The Cinderella effect is a term used by psychologists to describe the high incidence of stepchildren being physically abused, emotionally abused, sexually abused, neglected, murdered, or otherwise mistreated at the hands of their stepparents at significantly higher rates than at the hands of their genetic parents. It takes its name from the fairy tale character Cinderella, who in the story was cruelly mistreated by her stepmother and stepsisters.

As many as 75 percent of all children in foster care, upon leaving the system, will have experienced sexual abuse. One study by Johns Hopkins University found that the rate of sexual abuse within the foster-care system is more than four times as high as in the general population; in group homes, the rate of sexual abuse is more than 28 times that of the general population. These statistics do not speak to the situation these children are coming from, but it does show the very large problem of child-on-child sexual abuse within the system.

Over the last few weeks, grand juries in Clay and Jackson counties in Missouri have convened to investigate how the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph has dealt with the problem of priests who sexually abuse minor parishioners. The investigations center on the arrest of Reverend Shawn Ratigan, who was arrested on federal child pornography charges earlier this year. The grand jury is marching right up the diocese hierarchy, even taking testimony from Bishop Robert Finn. The Missouri investigation comes on the heels of the Philadelphia grand jury, which issued its report earlier this year, the effects of which are still reverberating through the City of Brotherly Love. As a clergy abuse lawyer, I am encouraged by these developments.

Healing-Your-Inner-Child. Is this something that you have done? Did you know you have a inner child? I didn’t either, at first, then I began to think about all of the decisions I had made in my life and how I had gotten to the place I was at that time in my life. It started to make sense that someone else might be influencing my decisions other than the adult part of me. Why? because many of my decisions were spur of the moment, like a child’s and had gotten me into trouble!

Child abuse and neglect, or, more generically, child maltreatment, is a pervasive problem facing children and families throughout the world. In the United States, approximately 905,000 children were found to have been maltreated in 2006, most of whom (66.3%) were neglected. Sixteen percent were physically abused, 8.8% were sexually abused, and 6.6% were psychologically or emotionally abused. These various forms of child maltreatment can result in many long-term physical and emotional consequences, including posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The teenager who was the last person with a baby before her death has had his charges upgraded from aggravated child abuse to murder. Javarris Jawon Lane, 16, was arrested following the Sept. 25 incident at a home on West First Street.

A nine-month old girl who was brought to Mease Countryside Hospital in what authorities claim was a case of child abuse had died a little more than a day after she initially received medical attention. Aaliyah Siler, who was born this past January, was brought to the hospital yesterday morning for treatment for injuries of blunt force trauma when medical personnel determined the injuries were consistent with abuse.

The father of an infant who died under what police called suspicious circumstances last week has been charged with capital murder and felony child abuse, Covington police said today. Jared Meadows, 25, was arrested Tuesday evening and is being held without bond at the Alleghany Regional Jail.

27-year-old Antonio Brown could face charges that include felony murder and child abuse. A 14-month-old infant dies from injuries that Salina Police believe are the result of child abuse, and a man is facing murder charges. Police Captain Mike Sweeney says that EMS was called to 612 West Prescott at around 10:45 Tuesday morning to the report of a child not breathing. First responders found 14-month-old Clayden Urbanek on the couch, not breathing.

SCRANTON – A Green Ridge couple who allegedly punished their child by either duct taping him to a chair or locking him in a coffin in their basement have turned themselves in to Scranton police earlier this afternoon, police have confirmed. The couple allegedly punished their child by either duct taping him to a chair or locking him in a coffin in their basement, according to a criminal complaint filed by Scranton police on Sept. 30.

LOS ANGELES– The Ventura County District Attorney’s office announced Wednesday that 17-year-old Brandon McInerney will be retried in the shooting death of his gay classmate. Prosecutors said they will retry McInerney as an adult but will drop a hate crime allegation, which some legal experts say made it harder for them to win a conviction.

International Directory of Domestic Violence Agencies

Global list of abuse hotlines, shelters, refuges, crisis centres and women’s organizations, plus domestic violence information in over 80 languages.

If you’ve been sexually assaulted or abused, you may have come out of the experience feeling like a victim. It took strength and courage for you to survive. You are, indeed, a survivor. But, being a survivor is not the most we should be able to hope for. When you ask yourself what you want out of this life, can you honestly answer that you merely want to survive? Or would you like to survive and thrive?