A Waldo mom was arrested for child abuse after her seven-year-old daughter showed deputies bruises she said were caused by her mother’s fist and a belt. According to the Alachua County Sheriff’s Department, the child told deputies she was beaten Saturday with a belt for teaching a sibling to do something wrong. Another relative told deputies the little girl was spanked with a belt for rolling her eyes.

Ten-week-old Lyon D. Campos died from multiple blunt force injuries in October and the cause of death was homicide, the Boulder County Coroner’s Office said today in closing its investigation into the Lafayette child’s death. The boy’s father, 21-year-old Joaquin Campos, is facing charges of child abuse resulting in the death, harassment and domestic violence. He is free on $500,000 bond and is scheduled for arraignment on March 18.

What has prompted me to write this piece is the current increasing rate at which the media is reporting cases of pedophilia on a daily basis. Like armed robbery, the situation seems to be out of control. The flood of reports could almost make you think that everyone who sexually abuses a child is mad. Teachers, carpenters, masons, drivers, farmers, truck-pushers, men of God and even chiefs are, on a daily basis, reported to have defiled or abused a child across the country. Of course, many of such dangerous monsters are sex maniacs but it is also true that some of them are sane and deliberately abuse these kids out of lust.

CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. – A former Fort Campbell soldier was scheduled to start trial Monday, but it was postponed. Investigators said he is responsible for the death of a 23-month-old boy. Doctors said Keegan Andrew Metz had head injuries, bruises all over his body and there was evidence he had been raped. Starner claimed the child fell down in the bathtub.

A 27-year-old woman was arrested early Monday when she was found nude in a 16-year-old girl’s room after investigators say she plied the girl with alcohol and pills. After hearing a loud noise coming from the girl’s bedroom, her brother entered the room and found Heather Lynne McKechnie, naked in the girl’s bed. The girl was partially nude as well and was standing by the bed. The girl’s mother also came into the room and saw what was going on and called authorities, Marion County Sheriff’s Office reports state.

Lansing, MI Dentist Accused Of Sexual Abuse–For many children and even some adults, going to the dentist is not a trip they like to take. But for one young patient, police say his visits were a nightmare. “This child was put in an unreasonable situation,” said Detective Elizabeth Reust. “His parents took him to the dentist and he got abused there so it’s particularly bothersome.”

TROY — Miami County prosecutors vowed Monday to fight to ensure Jason Durig, sentenced to 15 years to life for the abuse and murder of his 8-month-old son, “never sees the light of day” beyond prison walls. Durig, 29, of Troy pleaded guilty in December to felony murder and child endangering in the July death of his son, Caleb. The child’s grandparents, an aunt and an uncle called Durig “a monster with no heart” in a written statement read during Durig’s sentencing in county Common Pleas Court. Durig looked down at the defense table while the statement was read by a victim’s advocate.

MCCRACKEN COUNTY, KY – Police are looking for a woman accused of child abuse of her 55-day-old infant. Melissa M. Kobielaski is wanted after her child was taken to the Western Baptist Hospital on September 15, 2010 with a spiral fracture to the right arm, according to the McCracken County Sheriff’s Department. A grand jury returned indictment warrants for the child’s father and mother on December 3, 2010.

NAPLES, FL — It’s not the warm and fuzzy work people assume nonprofits do. That’s one of the first things Armando Galella or Jacqueline Stephens will tell you of the collaborative work done by Catholic Charities of Collier County and the Children’s Advocacy Center through its Child Protection Team. They also will tell you that child sexual abuse is a growing problem in Collier County — one that many people don’t equate with Southwest Florida.

A man charged in the death of his 5-month-old daughter was previously convicted of homicide by child abuse, according to court records.The Greenville County Sheriff’s Office charged 42-year-old Daron Duane Davis, of Greer, with homicide by child abuse after the baby died on Sunday.The arrest warrant said that Davis caused injuries to his daughter by using blunt force to her head. He was arrested on Monday.

SAULT STE. MARIE, Ontario — Police are accusing a northern Ontario man of murdering his baby boy last summer. Emergency officials were called to a home in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., in the early afternoon of Aug. 14, 2010, where a baby was reportedly in distress. Paramedics found the child unresponsive. Liam Thomas Allan Oben, 17 days old, died later that day in hospital. The Sault Ste. Marie Police Service launched a criminal investigation after a post-mortem examination found the baby died of blunt impact head injuries.

This newspaper is never lacking for stomach-turning, gut-churning, heartbreaking crime stories. But none flips my outrage switch faster than a report about some mother’s boyfriend abusing and killing her kid. Whom do you judge more harshly, the monster who tortures and batters a small child, or the mom who stupidly left her little one in the care of some cretin she just met? As a parent, I really don’t know. It’s never more than a few months until the next horror story is reported — in Southern Nevada or anywhere else.

It is almost a rhythmic pattern that every day, a school child is beaten by their teacher somewhere around Zimbabwe. Some are beaten so severely they have to seek medical attention. Although no figures are yet available to substantiate the extent of this violence, media reports have shown that corporal punishment is still being meted out on pupils in violation of standing rules over the matter. Children are beaten with sticks, whips, rulers, boards and many other objects from pre-school right up to high school.

NEW YORK – Not my Life, an independent documentary on child exploitation and abuse today premiered at New York’s Lincoln Centre. The film, which was filmed across five continents, looks at the devastating issues of child trafficking, sexual exploitation and child labour. Not My Life features Dr. Nicholas Alipui, UNICEF Director of Programmes, and Dr. Susan Bissell, UNICEF’s Chief Child Protection, who provide insight into the key issues.