SANTA ANA, CA — A man faces sex trafficking charges Monday afternoon in federal court after intending to prostitute three teenage girls, according to authorities.Samuel Martinez Gonzalez was due in court Monday at 2pm after he had lured the girls from Texas to Orange County with promises of trips to the beach, instead buying them revealing dresses and high-heeled shoes upon their arrival intending to force the girls to work as prostitutes, according to an affidavit.

The Delaware American Civil Liberties Union has filed court papers to stop sex offenders from being evicted from a safe house that is located near a new day care center. The ACLU, along with an attorney representing the safe house and three sex offenders, has asked a judge to issue a temporary restraining order to prevent the city from evicting the residents.

TITUSVILLE, Fla. — A Titusville preschool teacher was arrested Friday on charges that she slammed the face of a misbehaving 4-year-old into a desk. Priscilla Dale Cole, 48, of Mims, faces a charge of aggravated child abuse, a second-degree felony punishable by 15 years in prison. Cole is a teacher in the voluntary pre-kindergarten program at A Gold Star Academy at 330 Knox McRae Drive.

A Florida woman has been accused of child abuse after beating her son with a computer cable for using Facebook without permission. Althea Ricketts, 62 has been charged with aggravated child abuse.Ricketts first found out about her son’s account after an acquaintance told her about a disturbing post on his Facebook profile page.

The Archdiocese of Boston says it has placed a priest on administrative leave after receiving an allegation of sexual abuse of a child in the 1980s. The archdiocese announced Sunday that Rev. John M. Mendicoa, a vicar at Sacred Heart Parish in the Roslindale neighborhood, will remain on leave pending the outcome of a preliminary investigation. The archdiocese said in a news release that it initiated the investigation and notified law enforcement of the allegation.

Family First has released the list of child abuse deaths in the past 12 months, and says that the shocking trend of eight deaths in the past 12 months is ample evidence of the need for a non-political Commission of Inquiry into child abuse. “We have had Commission of Inquiries this year into the Pike river tragedy, the collapse of buildings and consequent loss of life in the Christchurch earthquake, and previous inquiries into police conduct (2004), genetic modification (2000-2001), and Auckland governance (2007-2009) – yet no inquiry into one of the greatest social problems facing the country. The issue of child abuse deserves a high priority total focus which a Commission would give,” says Bob Mccoskrie, National Director of Family First NZ.

“Our national security in the year 2030 is absolutely dependent upon what is going on in pre-kindergarten today.” — Retired Rear Admiral James Barnett. As a pacifist by nature and social services coordinator dedicated to child abuse prevention, it is odd that I have found some of the most compelling information to support expansion of services for children and families coming from the Pentagon. In a recent report, the Pentagon reported that a whopping 75 percent of Americans ages 17 to 24 — 26 million young Americans — cannot join the military. The reasons behind this are extremely serious, and if left unaddressed, there will be a deleterious effect on the future of national security. Seems that one out of four of our nation’s youth do not have a high school diploma. To make matters worse, about 30 percent of the recruits with a diploma who take the military qualifying test, fail it.

JACKSON, Miss. – A federal appeals court has reinstated a lawsuit that claims a 9-year-old Mississippi girl was checked out of school six times by an unauthorized man who then raped her. The lawsuit said the school failed to verify Tommy Keyes’ identity when he took the girl from a Covington County elementary school between 2007 and 2008. The 6-foot-2-inch Keyes allegedly signed the check-out sheet on one occasion as the girl’s mother but usually signed her father’s name.

CALGARY – Calgary cops walked in on a horrific scene early Saturday – a man with a knife, his baby son slashed and bleeding in the kitchen of a home in a quiet southeast community. He dropped the knife and surrendered, allowing officers to tend to the 11-month-old (not six months as police previously indicated), suffering severe cuts to his neck and abdomen.

The number of reports of child abuse crimes usually increases when schools start after summer vacation, said Joe Nabors, executive director of the Children’s Advocacy Center of Calhoun and Cleburne counties. He said when children are out of school for the summer, they often have had nobody to tell, and they seem to want to tell someone once school starts.

DETROIT, MI– The Detroit family of a 14-year-old who was shot and killed in his own home is searching for answers about exactly what happened. Dontavis Jones was shot by a gun that was being held by his 18-year-old friend. The shooting happened late Saturday on Coplin in Detroit.

BRONX, N.Y.—The senseless, bloody butchering of Brooklyn boy Leiby Kletsky shook our city to the core. How could this happen? Friday’s New York Daily News has an exclusive interview with confessed child killer Levi Aron and now we get a look into the mind of the 35-year-old. Reporter Reuven Blau talked to Aron for an hour at Riker’s Island.

DUNKLIN CO, Mo — A suspect in the disappearance of a 3-year-old Missouri girl last seen riding her bicycle was in custody Saturday, authorities announced. Authorities were searching for Breeann Rodriguez’ body and bicycle in an undisclosed area in Dunklin County, the Senath Police Department and Dunklin County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement. The unnamed suspect is from the area and is not related to the family, according to the statement. He was being held at the Dunklin County Justice Center pending formal charges.

EL DORADO COUNTY, Calif. — Authorities on Saturday found two bodies inside an abandoned car one week after a man abducted his 2-year-old daughter, prompting a statewide Amber Alert. Madeline Layla Samaan-Fay was taken by her father in Sacramento on August 7, according to a press release from the FBI. Mourad “Moni” Samaan has partial custody of his daughter, Madeline, but failed to return her to her mother’s home over the weekend, according to FBI agent John Cauthen.