As soon as her mother’s car pulled away, Cathy Harper Lee always counted the blades of grass on the lawn. She hoped to reach a high number. That meant a few moments alone before her step-father ordered her inside.Cathy’s abuse began when she was just five-years-old. It was then that her step-father began what would become years of abuse, in which her step-father would molest and rape her, telling her over and over that he loved her. He would touch her sometimes, and hold a gun to her head, pulling the trigger. She never knew if the revolver was loaded but eventually she began to hope that it was. Today, she doesn’t know why she never told her mother or anyone else what was going on at home. Maybe she was too frightened. Maybe she thought no one would believe her.

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va.– The father of a 5-year-old boy who died one week ago is dealing with his grief. Police charged the mother’s boyfriend with child abuse a few days later. Che Ernest Hazell, 29, of the 600 block of Arthur Avenue in Virginia Beach, was taken into police custody on April 6 and charged with assault and battery of a family member and child abuse and neglect.

Online child abuse is growing rapidly as more people gain access to the Internet, a top United Nations official warned today, calling for concerted global action to combat one of the most common forms of cybercrime. “Serious offences are being committed – often right under a parent’s nose,” Yury Fedotov, the Executive Director of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), said in his address to the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, which opened its 20th session in Vienna.

A mother was arrested Sunday morning and charged with beating her 12-year-old son, who had earned an F on his report card, the Tampa Police Department said. Daymaris Vazquez, 35, of Tampa, hit her son several times with a wooden and a metal spatula, which caused bruising, according to an arrest affidavit.

(Reuters) – The U.S. Roman Catholic Church and its insurers paid $124 million last year to settle allegations of child sexual abuse, up from $104 million a year earlier, a church-commissioned audit showed on Monday. There were 428 new allegations of sexual abuse against a minor filed in 2010, seven of which related to child abuse that was said to occur during the year, the U.S. Conference of Bishops said, citing the audit.

A Sweetwater man faces charges for child abuse and neglect after he was arrested on Sunday. According to a police report, 30-year-old David Bryant was in the yard with a small child when officers arrived for a welfare check in the Valley Trailer Park in Sweetwater on April 10.

Kendall Reed, 35, was charged with child abuse after he allegedly beat his 17-year-old niece during an argument, according to Chattanooga Police Department. A 35-year-old man is charged with child abuse after school officials discovered his niece with two black eyes, abrasions, a broken nose and hair missing from her head. Kendall Lebron Reed was arrested Sunday at his residence at 1207 N. Chamberlain Ave., according to Chattanooga police reports.

KATY, TX — The teenager accused in the shooting death of local high school student faced a judge and the father of the girl he’s accused of killing. The accused killer facing a murder charge stood before a judge Monday morning. Alexander Olivieri is charged in the murder of 17-year-old Bridgett Frisbie. Investigators say he shot her in the head and left her body in a wooded area near Katy. She was laid to rest this weekend and her father was there as Olivieri faced those charges.

HOUSTON — Law enforcement officials are asking for the public’s help in finding a man who is wanted for continuous sexual abuse of a child. The 14-year-old female victim disclosed to child abuse investigators and forensic interviewers at the Children’s Assessment Center that Carlos Moreno Depaz had sexually abused her numerous times while at a residence in Houston. The girl stated the abuse began when she was 11 years old. Depaz would touch her in a sexual manner. She said the abuse continued until the victim was approximately 13 years old.

OAK BEACH, N.Y. – One of the eight bodies discovered on a New York highway leading to Jones Beach doesn’t seem to match the profile of the suspected serial killer’s other victims, according to a report. The remains of a child were one of the four sets of remains recently recovered by investigators, according to a report form the New York Post.

The issue of sexual assault on college campuses is making headlines this week, thanks in part to a Title IX complaint against Yale for its handling of such cases. It also doesn’t hurt that it’s officially Sexual Assault Awareness Month and that the White House is kicking off an initiative to raise — here’s that word again — awareness about federal guidelines for dealing with sexual violence on college campuses. Most of us have heard the 1 in 4 statistic, but if you’re anything like me, this recent coverage might make you wonder: What’s the takeaway — is the reported rate of sexual violence on college campuses on the rise or what? It turns out the short answer to that is no.

A US couple have been arrested after an investigation into complaints of suspected child abuse revealed the man emulated professional wrestling moves with the woman’s 21-month-old son. The Lee County Sheriff’s Office in south-west Florida launched the investigation after 26-year-old Alexis Serrano’s son was found to have bruises to his ribs and back, WZVN-TV said. The toddler was later found to have four or five fractured ribs.

Police are investigating an alleged case of child abuse after a three-year old boy was taken to the hospital with injuries. Just before 11:30 p.m., Hartford Police were called to Connecticut Children Medical Center for a child who had been allegedly abused. A woman complained that her husband, the boy’s step-father, had disciplined her son earlier in the day for throwing his toys, police said.

I have been an advocate for children, provided workshops on child abuse, and taught parenting classes longer than I have been a parent. I was qualified to provide these services because of my education and training. However, becoming a parent has not changed my opinions of child abuse.