SANTA MONICA, CA — Circumcising a boy under the age of 18, even for religious reasons, may soon be against the law in Santa Monica. A proposed ban on circumcision is already on the November ballot in San Francisco. Now supporters of the MGM Bill, which stands for male genital mutilation, are hoping to do the same in Santa Monica.

State child welfare officials determined allegations of child abuse to be unfounded on four separate visits to a New Jersey home where a child was found dead over the weekend from severe malnutrition and an untreated leg fracture. Eight-year-old Christina Glenn was pronounced dead at the scene by medics who responded with police Sunday afternoon to a report of a child not breathing.

In the last two years 75 people have been prosecuted for federal sex crimes against children in the Houston region, part of a nationwide crackdown on the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Houston said Wednesday. Launched in 2006 by the U.S. Department of Justice, Project Safe Childhood coordinates federal, state and local resources to catch and prosecute individuals who exploit children online, as well as to identify and rescue victims.

Advocates for survivors of child abuse in North Dakota are asking them to “come out” by writing something from the heart — about the abuse, how they’ve dealt with it or anything they’d like to say about their lives — for a publication to be called “Authentic Voices.” One of the pieces received so far, a poem titled “My Name,” includes the line, “No longer will I wear the name of fear upon my eyes,” and one of the images chosen to illustrate the public awareness campaign is a partial profile of a bright-eyed child.

Jackson County, WI – Rodney Tollefson, a 40-year-old Wisconsin man, has been jailed on charges that he sexually assaulted a female relative over a 15-year period – sometimes using bottles and screwdrivers during his attacks. According Wisconsin authorities, an investigation was launched in mid April when a woman mentoring the victim told Sheboygan County deputies of the horrific ordeal her friend had lived through.

LANCASTER, Calif. — A mother who initially claimed she was assaulted and her 18- month- old daughter kidnapped has been convicted of suffocating the little girl and dumping her body near a freeway. Stacey Barker, 24, was convicted of one count of first degree murder, assault on a child and child abuse.

BERKELEY, CA — Tens of thousands of children are sexually abused each year in the United States, yet news coverage of the subject is out of sync with both the magnitude of the issue and the context in which it occurs. This finding comes from a study released this month from Berkeley Media Studies Group, a project of the Public Health Institute. The report, Case by Case: News coverage of child sexual abuse, examined national news stories on child sexual abuse published between 2007 and 2009. Fewer than one story a week focused on the topic and even fewer covered the issue in detail.

CUYAHOGA FALLS, OH–Dave and Jen West are back home after more than a week in Illinois helping search for their missing six-year-old nephew, Timmothy Pitzen, and bury the boy’s mother. Amy Fry-Pitzen, 43, committed suicide at a Rockford, Illinois, hotel on May 15th. She left a note saying that her son was with people who love him.

When the nation’s top cop orders the 2010 Crime Statistics booklet be placed under the banner of Official Secrets Act, berefting the people details on the state of crime affecting women and children, what should the people make of it? The statistics are available in a booklet prepared by Bukit Aman’s Sexual Crimes Child Abuse Division. Women’s Aid Organisation (WAO), a non-governmental organisation, had three months ago requested for the information. The police responded saying they were unable to provide the details as the figures were classified as confidential documents.

CASTLE ROCK, CO — The Castle Rock mother accused of killing her two young children in a murder-suicide attempt went before a judge in Douglas County Tuesday morning where she was ordered to be held without bond. Kelli Murphy, 41, faces charges of first-degree murder and child abuse. Her wrists were covered in bandages as she made her first court appearance.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A man accused of shooting and killing a Louisville hip-hop dance creator is the father of a toddler who was found dead in a parked car over the weekend.

Police said Kenneth Brown shot LaShawn “Sugar Shizz” Talbert in August 2010 during a drug deal in Okolona. Talbert was credited with starting a dance that became popular through the Internet.

SALT LAKE CITY—A mother is facing multiple felony charges for trying to sell her 13-year-old daughter’s virginity for $10,000. The 32-year-old woman is behind bars on $250,000 bail. Jail documents say the woman’s boyfriend called Salt Lake City Police when he found explicit photos of the teen on the mother’s cell phone. He also allegedly found messages regarding sex acts between the girl and an older man.

ORLANDO, Florida — Two-year-old Caylee Anthony was not murdered by her mother as prosecutors maintain, but drowned in the family’s pool in June 2008, Casey Anthony’s defense attorney told jurors during his opening statements Tuesday. Authorities were not alerted to Caylee’s death, Jose Baez said, as Anthony and her father, George Anthony, panicked upon finding the child, and George Anthony told his daughter her mother would never forgive her and she would go to jail for child neglect, Baez said.

SAN DIEGO– Family members have identified a family of four found dead at their San Diego home Tuesday.
Firefighters, paramedics and police were sent to 162 Parkcreek Court, a home at the end of a cul de sac at about 6:40 a.m., San Diego police said. “The four victims were an adult male and three females. One appears to be a juvenile,” Lt. Ernie Herbst said.