A Taekwondo instructor in Lithonia was indicted Tuesday on charges that he raped a female student, according to authorities. A DeKalb County grand jury returned a three-count indictment against Adrian Thomas Spellen, who authorities say assaulted a girl at his school, Powerkicks Martial Arts, in the 3000 block of Miller Road in Lithonia.

Sexual abuse of children… it’s not just for Catholic priests any more. And, as it turns out, enabling and cover-ups are not a Catholic monopoly either. According to a July 24 article in the Chicago Tribune, Theravada Buddhist monks are walking away from sex abuse accusations and temple superiors are frustrating law enforcement by insisting they have no control over monks’ actions or whereabouts.

LAS CRUCES, New Mexico — Nearly three weeks after a baby boy was transported to University Medical Center, he continues his fight to survive, while his mother and her boyfriend, are in jail for allegedly abusing him.The statement of facts contains graphic details about the abuse 7-month-old Malakai Workman suffered, allegedly at the hands of his mother, Danielle Workman, 22, and her boyfriend, Jaime Cardenas Jr., 24.

Florida lawmakers have rejected more than $50 million in federal child-abuse prevention money. The grants were tied to the Obama administration’s health care reform package, which many lawmakers oppose on philosophical grounds. The money, offered through the federal Affordable Health Care Act passed last year, would have paid, among other things, for a visiting nurse program run by Healthy Families Florida, one of the most successful child-abuse prevention efforts in the nation. Healthy Families’ budget was cut in last year’s spending plan by close to $10 million.

In many situations, a child may be unable or unwilling to report their own abuse or neglect. Therefore, it is important that the network of adults in a child’s life are vigilant advocates, giving abused children a voice. A child may not report abuse because they cannot talk, do not understand what is happening, are afraid, or have no one to talk to. That is why there are mandated reporters, people and professions who have a legal requirement to report child abuse or neglect to the State. Many times, these people are in the best position to recognize signs of possible abuse…

We don’t normally comment on the views expressed by judges as they’re sentencing criminal defendants, but in this case, we’ll make an exception. Mower County District Court Judge Donald E. Rysavy launched verbal barb after verbal barb at Brian and Charity Miller last week while sentencing the Dexter couple to one year in jail as punishment for chaining their 5-year-old son to his bed and depriving both their sons of food. Rysavy used words like “outrage,” “abhorrence” and “incomprehensible” to describe the Millers’ crimes.

SPRING HILL — Someone called 911. A 16-year-old boy — blind and mentally challenged — had collapsed in his family’s bathroom July 14. Paramedics rushed him to Spring Hill Regional Hospital. His organs were shutting down and his body was in septic shock. One of his eyes was black, and his arms, chest and legs were spotted with bruises.

An Arizona mother is facing child abuse charges after allegedly leaving her 2-year-old daughter in a hot car while she shopped on a day when temperatures reached 106 degrees. Police in Tolleson, Ariz., say Sandra Rey Holguin, 33, left her toddler daughter locked in a parked car while she shopped at a Kmart in Phoenix’s west valley on Friday, MyFoxPhoenix.com reports. Customers and employees at the store became concerned and called 911 when they saw the child crying, according to the station. Officers rescued the girl and gave her water before detaining Holguin.

DONGGUAN, China — A Chinese couple is accused of selling their three children in exchange for money to play video games at internet cafes, according to a southern Chinese newspaper. The Sanxiang City News (translated by ABC News, via VideoGamer.com) reports the couple, which met in an internet cafe, sold their second born child, a girl, for less than $500 in 2009.

New York – Singer Mary J. Blige unexpectedly made a painful deeply-buried revelation to VH1’s “Behind the Music” recently, saying she’d been sexually abused and molested as a very young child, which left her feeling worthless and ashamed for much of her life.

GREAT FALLS- The child victim of a Friday night child abuse incident has been pronounced brain dead at Benefis hospital in Great Falls. At around 2:40 pm on Friday police were dispatched to 119 Sharon Drive where they found a 15-month old who had sustained life-threatening injuries. Charles Cadwell was subsequently charged with attempted deliberate homicide for the incident.

ORLANDO, Fla. — A nonprofit charity dubbed Bring Kids Home is under contract with the real-estate agent in charge of the site where Caylee Marie Anthony’s remains were found in 2008.Recently, the group announced its plans for a walkway in memory of Caylee Anthony on the Suburban Drive lot in Orange County.

(CNN) — A man opened fire at a Texas roller skating rink during a birthday party for one of his children, killing his estranged wife and four of her family members before turning the gun on himself, police said Sunday.Tan Do, 35, and Trini Do, 29, were hosting the party at the Roller World Skating Rink in the Dallas suburb of Grand Prairie, Texas, on Saturday for one of their two children, Grand Prairie police said in a statement.

MIAMI — A Miami-Dade County grand jury is urging that the Department of Children and Families adopt better training and investigative skills for employees in the aftermath of the horrific killing of a 10-year-old girl. The jury’s report released Monday says DCF must beef up its law enforcement training for investigators looking into child abuse allegations. The report says DCF hotline counselors must learn how to properly classify cases so the most serious are investigated quickly.