Mark Christopher Nichols, 21, is being held in the Wagoner County jail. His bail has not been set. Maverick Nichols died of blunt force trauma of the head according to a preliminary finding from the state Medical Examiner’s Office, Wagoner County Assistant District Attorney Jack Thorp said. The child had skull fractures to the back of the head and a broken rib, the prosecutor said. Authorities believe they are “crushing” type injuries, not those associated with a short fall.

The Casey Anthony trial and the terrible story of the death and dismemberment of 8-year-old Leiby Kletsky in Brooklyn this week has captivated our nation like so many high profile cases in the past. While many might believe that cases like this will bring attention to the issue of protecting our children, at the end of the day these individual stories only highlight the tip of the iceberg.. The reality is that 150 children, most under the age of four, die every month from abuse or neglect. While high profile cases do bring awareness, they take our focus off the real issue of suffering children and instead keep us embroiled in speculation and legalities.

A toddler who was hospitalized this week in a child abuse case has died, and his 22-year-old mother is charged with murder. On Sunday, Shannon Shmir Merriman called 911 to report that her 1-year-old son had slipped and hit his head at her apartment on High Meadow Lane, in southwest Charlotte. The boy, Marcus Markee Davis Jr., was taken to Carolinas Medical Center, said Charlotte-Mecklenburg police. Merriman was taken into custody early Wednesday at the hospital and initially charged with felony child abuse inflicting serious injury.

A Gainesville woman accused of smothering a baby she was babysitting Tuesday night has been arrested on an aggravated child abuse charge. Arrested was Tiffany Long, 21, of 6029 NW 53rd Terrace, according to an arrest report. Schibuola said Long was babysitting at a home when the baby’s mother came home early and saw Long smothering the baby in her crib with a pillow.

TACOMA—A former pilot accused of sexually assaulting young boys and recording the abuse on tape is allowed to watch the video as much as he wants. How could this happen? The short answer is it is a loophole that allows Weldon Marc Gilbert, 47, to sit in the Pierce County Jail and watch child pornography that prosecutors say he shot himself. Gilbert is serving as his own lawyer, which allows him access to the evidence used against him. It is a legal technicality meant to ensure a defendant gets the best defense possible, but many say it is a loophole that needs to be closed.

A Venice woman with a history of arrests for child abuse and drug use now stands accused of washing her 18-month-old son with bleach and chlorine, and frequently making her other children jump into a pool with a high concentration of chlorine to “cleanse” them. Sandra Michelle Freeman, 38, of the 200 block of Venice Palms Boulevard, was arrested Wednesday on three counts of child abuse.

BROOKLYN, NY — Accused child killer, Levi Aron, was arraigned in a New York court Thursday on charges of murder and kidnapping in the death and dismemberment of an 8-year-old boy Hasidic boy who disappeared while walking home from day camp. Aron, 35, showed no emotion as he entered the court handcuffed and did not enter a plea.

ORLANDO, Fla. — Police have accused a local man of shaking his 4-week-old son so badly that the child’s ribs broke, his skull cracked and he may have permanent brain damage.Investigators said it is the worst case of child abuse they’ve seen in decades.The child’s maternal grandmother, Ingris Viscaino, said the child is on a ventilator at Florida Hospital Orlando.

Kenner, Louisiana – Jose Licona, a 33-year-old Louisiana man was jailed Monday after he allegedly raped a 5-year-old girl so brutally, the child required surgery to repair injuries to her vagina and anus. According to police, an investigation was launched after a 5-year-old girl arrived at the hospital with severe injuries to her vagina and anus areas.

LOS ANGELES– Los Angeles County is warehousing children in an office building with inadequate food and bedding, a social worker charges. “In some cases, the treatment that these children receive comes very close to the child abuse from which they are escaping,” supervising social worker Lincoln Saul wrote in a recent complaint letter, the Los Angeles Times reports.

PINE HILL — A borough man currently on parole for a child sex abuse conviction has been charged with sexually assaulting another child, Camden County Prosecutor Warren W. Faulk said Tuesday. Attilo Daversa, 68, of Fifth Street is charged with three counts of sexual assault, two counts of aggravated sexual assault and one count of endangering the welfare of a child.

MYFOXNY.COM – The body of a missing eight-year-old boy from Borough Park, Brooklyn, was found Wednesday in two separate locations, according to the NYPD. A man seen in surveillance video taken on the day of the boy’s disappearance was arrested, said police. The boy’s remains were discovered inside a refrigerator in the third-floor attic of the suspect’s home in Kensington and in a dumpster in Greenwood Heights. Speaking during a news conference Wednesday, NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly identified the man under arrest as maintenance supply clerk Levi Aron, 35. He was taken into custody inside his home in Kensington just before 3 a.m., according to police.

SALT LAKE CITY — Coming forward with her amazing story of survival, Jaycee Dugard — along with others like Elizabeth Smart — give other children who have suffered abuse the courage to talk about what happened to them. The story of Dugard’s kidnapping and 18 years of captivity has come to light in her new book “A Stolen Life.” Dugard was kidnapped near her California home in 1991 when she was just 11 years old. Convicted pedophile Phillip Garrido took her to his house and locked her in backyard sheds, where he subjected her to sexual assaults.

Nine former students of Mount Bachelor Academy, a now-defunct school in Oregon for “troubled teens,” have filed a $14.25-million lawsuit against the school for emotional, sexual and physical abuse. The suit was filed on behalf of the plaintiffs on July 6 in Multnomah County Circuit Court by attorney Kelly Clark, who specializes in child sex abuse cases and who has successfully represented survivors of abuse by Catholic priests and other clergy. Clark recently won a $20 million judgment in a case of sexual abuse involving the Boy Scouts.