We’ve all heard fantasy stories, or true events that are either too good to be true, rags to riches tales, or so full of suffering and unspeakable human misery that we have a hard time comprehending its reality. No wonder that some of the biggest blockbusters made in Hollywood come out of true stories of ordinary people doing the impossible, exemplifying the good in us and not the all-too-common tragically wasted potential and literal loss of life when it comes to horrific circumstances like those of Debra Luptak’s.

Releasing a Green Paper for Vulnerable Children, Paula Bennett talked of “the single most important debate this country can have”. Given New Zealand’s appalling child abuse statistics, she has a point. Unfortunately, however, the contents of the document come nowhere near to matching the Social Development Minister’s rhetoric. Supposedly controversial ideas smack of the obvious, and the Government’s planned path involves a process that belies the urgency of the problem.

Snow Camp, NC — After a 13-year-old North Carolina girl ran away with a man she met online, investigators warn that its easier for kids to keep their online lives secret, than parents might think. Thirteen-year-old Alexandria was reported missing on Monday. Investigators said she met 18-year-old Tyler Cole online. He drove to North Carolina from West Virginia, stole thousands of dollars from Cagle’s house, and the pair drove off.

A Philadelphia man at the heart of a groundbreaking criminal case against the Philadelphia archdiocese has filed a related civil suit, charging that the church let two priests and a teacher serially rape him as a young altar boy. The 23-year-old man accused the Roman Catholic church in Philadelphia of “callous indifference” to his suffering as a 10-year-old schoolboy.

A 17-month-old baby girl’s brutal death is being blamed on her father’s girlfriend, who police believe also ruthlessly raped the child. Little Maleeya Marie Murley died after suffering a severe brain injury last week in the town of Bells, in western Tennessee, according to The Jackson Sun. Police believe the fatal impact occurred when Molly Jane Roe threw the baby, causing her to hit her head, court documents said. She was flown to Vanderbilt Medical Center in Nashville, but died on Saturday.

RED HILL — During what prosecutors described as “monstrous” acts, a Schwenksville area man allegedly drugged and sexually assaulted four little girls and videotaped the acts which he called “sleep assaults” to share with others on the Internet. “This is one of the most disgusting, most egregious cases of sexual crimes that I have ever prosecuted,” said veteran Montgomery County Assistant District Attorney Samantha Cauffman, who leads the district attorney’s sex crimes unit.

SYCAMORE – Authorities have exhumed the body of a 7-year-old Sycamore girl who was kidnapped and murdered more than 50 years ago, and the man accused of killing her is on his way to Illinois to face charges. Monique Bond, spokeswoman for Illinois State Police, said this morning while in Elmwood Cemetery in Sycamore that the DeKalb County State’s Attorney’s Office had a court order to exhume the remains of Maria Ridulph. The girl was abducted from a Sycamore street Dec. 3, 1957, and her remains were found nearly five months later in Jo Daviess County.

BESSEMER CITY, N.C. – 32-year-old Shanna Lanham is behind bars on charges including involuntary manslaughter and felony child abuse for the death of her two-year-old daughter, Addison. Lanham is already on three years probation for a felony drug conviction in 2009. Her family tells FOX Charlotte they blame Lanham for the little girl’s death but they also blame the Department of Social Services.

The Hawkins County Sheriff said Wednesday he knows who is responsible for the child abuse death of a three-year-old girl, but charges have not yet been filed against that woman. Sheriff Ronnie Lawson said Emily Barnard died Monday after she was found unresponsive by deputies on Saturday.

Say you’re a child welfare investigator. You get numerous reports that children in a particular family are being abused. Most recently, you hear they are being tied up and confined to a bathtub. How can you tell if these allegations are true? This is where your skill, training and experience as a professional investigator comes in. You go to the house and ask the parents if they are abusing their children. They say no. And that’s that. Case closed. No need to see the children. Why would their parents lie?

FAIRPLAY, Colo. — Two Teller County Sheriff’s Office deputies have been fired after they were issued summonses on misdemeanor child abuse charges.The incident happened early Saturday at a home in Park County.When deputies arrived in the 38000 block of Park County Road 77 (Tarryall Road) at 12:30 a.m., they found four children and two intoxicated adults in the home, according to Park County Sheriff Fred Wegener.

LOS ANGELES — Los Angeles police have arrested a woman they say attacked an infant in a stroller in the downtown toy district and claimed she was trying to break the baby’s arm off “so she could eat it.” Natasha Hubbard, 36, was arrested and has been charged with aggravated assault. The attack took place on July 21st around 1 p.m., according to detectives.

Joshua Carrier, a former Colorado Springs police officer, was already facing allegations of molesting six children with 78 child sex assault counts, but is now accused of sexually assaulting a total of 22 children and faces 189 counts of felony child sex assault, Fox31 reports. In May, The Huffington Post reported that Carrier was arrested for buying child pornography and then re-arrested a week later on suspicion of sexually assaulting several children.

TACOMA, Wash. — Marc Gilbert says what he did was wrong, and he’s ashamed of it. But because he wants to set the record straight, he agreed to an exclusive jailhouse interview with KOMO News. “There was some activity that took place that I’m not proud of,” he said. “It was activity that was condoned behind closed doors, but publicly is excruciatingly embarrassing.”