Washington — More than 50 members of a child pornography ring who engaged in what authorities describe as “horrific” and “unspeakable” crimes have been arrested for sexually exploiting children from 12 years old to as young as infants. Top federal law enforcement officials say agents busted the global online pornography ring following an intense international investigation that began in 2009.

SEATTLE — Trisha Conlon’s motherly instinct seems reasonable: She doesn’t want her teenage boys living with a woman who shot and killed her own daughters in their sleep 20 years ago. But that will happen on Sunday thanks to a bizarre and convoluted custody dispute with her ex-husband, retired Marine fighter pilot Lt. Col. John P. Cushing Jr.

DETROIT (WXYZ) – When the ambulance arrived at a Detroit home on Sparta Street, neighbors recall seeing paramedics carrying out a baby boy. “They just took the baby to the ambulance and sat there for a minute,” said a neighbor who did not want to be identified. She did not know if the child was breathing or not.

MI–This is Tyler McVeigh’s way of helping his family following the sudden death of his big sister Kristen in mid-July. Bills have piled up so Tyler and his friends set up a lemonade stand outside Fillmore Elementary School on Irving in Sterling Heights. Monday was the first day of business. Meantime there is a police investigation underway into Kristen’s death. Police tell Action News they are now waiting on toxicology reports. Kristen went out with some friends, came home, and her family found her dead just a few hours later, according to Cheryl McVeigh, Kristen and Tyler’s mother. Kristen was a 16-year-old student at Cousino High School in Warren.

FREDERICK, MD — A Frederick man is being held without bail on charges he sexually assaulted a 1-year-old boy so severely the child needed surgery. Frederick County State’s Attorney Charlie Smith said Tuesday it is one of the most horrible child-abuse cases he has seen. Prosecutors say the boy underwent a colostomy last week at Children’s National Medical Center in Washington because his colon was torn.

EL PASO, Texas — An arrest affidavit, obtained by KFOX14, reveals that the mother of a 20-month-old girl became frustrated with her daughter’s cries and beat her to death.Lorraine Lizzette Merjil, 21, of east El Paso was arrested Tuesday morning and charged with capital murder.On Saturday around 8 p.m., Lorraine Merjil grew frustrated from Desiree Merjil’s cries, stated the affidavit.

Readers of the New York Times this morning, whether in print or online, were perhaps shocked by the searing image of an emaciated Somalian child, whose skin was wrapped so tightly around his body that the contours of a skeleton were clearly visible. The accompanying story, written by Times reporter Jeffrey Gettleman, detailed a group of Somalian insurgents accused both of blocking Western aid to the country, resulting in a severe famine, and of imprisoning refugees trying to flee to safety. Half a million Somalian children are “on the verge of starvation,” Gettleman reports. The photo itself — by Times photographer Tyler Hicks and spread large across four columns on Page One — was taken in Banadir Hospital.

A new study published in the Archives of General Psychiatry suggests that those children who develop mental problems due to abuse or other such experiences are more likely to suffer from chronic illnesses later on in their lives. Researchers from the University of Otago in New Zealand analyzed data from World Health Organization World Mental Health Surveys which included people from 10 different countries. The researchers checked into mental disorders such as anxiety and depression and also childhood difficulties such as abuse, loss of parent etc.

TUF 4 veteran and former UFC middleweight Edwin Dewees Jr., (37-15, 1 NC) was booked into the Yavapai County Jail in Camp Verde, Ariz., this past Thursday afternoon on charges of two counts of child abuse after his twin 2-year-old sons were found walking alone along the road near their home in Chino Valley, Ariz.

HUNDREDS OF REPORTS concerning the welfare of children across the country are not being properly assessed due to the increasingly heavy workloads of social workers, leaving many vulnerable young people at risk of serious abuse. Social workers speaking to the Irish Times said they are fearful that children may even die as a result of the failure of staff to properly assess and intervene in urgent cases.

Austin, Tx. August, 2011 — As in most of her books, the name-sake character in J.A. Carlton’s latest release, “Nick, of Time; Heroes of the Line Book 1” is no stranger to intense childhood traumas. To draw attention to what she calls the “Silent epidemic of child abuse”, Carlton has launched her “Heroes of the Line” campaign, asking readers to join by purchasing any of her books and pledging a whopping 30% of her own royalties to various Child Abuse Prevention agencies.

A Lexington day-care worker was indicted Monday by a Fayette County grand jury on three counts of second-degree criminal abuse involving a child younger than 12. Linda Ester Perkins, 55, of 313 Shropshire Ave., No. 202, is accused of torturing or cruelly punishing, or allowing another person to torture or cruelly punish, her great-nephew.

Nearly five children die every day in America from abuse and neglect. In 2009, an estimated 1,770 children died from abuse in the United States. In the same year, Children’s Advocacy Centers around the country served over 254,000 child victims of abuse, providing victim advocacy and support to these children and their families. In 2010, this number was over 266,000.

David James (Dave) Pelzer is an American author, best known for his 1995 memoir of childhood abuse, A Child Called “It”. Pelzer was born in San Francisco, California, and was the second of five boys. Pelzer wrote in his book that as a child he was continually abused, mistreated, and beaten by his mother, who thought of it as a game. The book documents how his mother starved him, forced him to drink ammonia, stabbed him in the stomach, burned his arm on a gas stove and forced him to eat his own vomit. His teachers stepped in on March 5, 1973 and 12-year-old Pelzer was placed in foster care. In 1979, he joined the Air Force and later became an author.