CLINTON – Investigators say a 3-year-old girl suffered a life-threatening brain injury Wednesday while left in the care of her mother’s friend at their Clinton residence. The girl, whose name was not given, is in critical condition at UNC Hospitals in Chapel Hill, according to a release from the Sampson County Sheriff’s Office.

A Punta Gorda man has been arrested on sexual assault charges after Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office deputies say he forced a woman to watch as he assaulted her 12-year-old daughter three times. Jerome Nubin, 32, of 6417 Scott St., is facing three charges of sexual battery on a child under 12 years old, three counts of aggravated assault, kidnapping a child and domestic battery. Deputies responded to a call at 8:30 a.m. Wednesday and were told by the victim’s grandfather Nubin had raped the girl, according to a sheriff’s office release.

McPHERSON – A former Inman police chief accused of sexually abusing four children took the stand Tuesday in his own defense, and he was adamant. “Did you ever touch the children in a sexual way?” defense attorney David Harger asked 39-year-old Mike Akins Jr. “No, I did not,” Akins said. Throughout the questioning by Harger and Assistant Attorney General Christine Ladner, Akins maintained he never touched the children inappropriately. He said there wasn’t any accidental touching, either, when he wrestled with the children.

BURBANK, Calif. — The family of a middle school student who had a sexual affair with his Burbank teacher has filed a lawsuit against the woman’s husband, a Los Angeles police officer, claiming he threatened to kill the teen. The lawsuit, filed Tuesday in Los Angeles Superior Court, alleges that the officer threatened to kill the then 14-year-old boy and his parents with his department-issued weapon after his wife confessed about the sexual relationship, The 818 Now is reporting.

OAKLAND, Calif. — An elementary school teacher in Oakland has been placed on leave after reports that two students engaged in oral sex during class and others stripped off their clothing in separate incidents. The alleged incidents took place last week at Markham Elementary School but weren’t reported to school officials until Wednesday, KTVU is reporting.

It is estimated that at least two out of every ten girls and one out of every ten boys are sexually abused by the end of their 13th year. To protect all children, we first need to learn the facts. Did you know that most children who are sexually abused, are abused by a family member or close friend? Did you know that “stranger danger,” by comparison, is quite rare?

Homicide detectives are investigating the death of a nine-year-old girl in Mountain View. Officers received a report of a non-breathing child at a home in the 300 block of Milbrae Street on Monday. The family told police they noticed Elizabeth Holloway, 9, did not appear to be breathing and had “sort of a fixed look in her eyes.” “She had her daughter in her arms and she was telling me to come here. When I went out there she laid her daughter in the doorway and her daughter was just passed out,” said Lajahnique Webster.

INDIANAPOLIS — A rash of child abuse cases have made headlines recently, but one local expert said she doesn’t believe it’s the beginning of a trend.Tiara Peoples, 21, and her boyfriend, Terrence Taylor, 24, pleaded not guilty to neglect charges Thursday in connection with the death of Peoples’ 2-year-old daughter, Tyneise Quiller.

PORTLAND, Ore.–A 24-year-old Oregon woman, Inez Lambert, is charged with 21 counts of child sex abuse after she allegedly molested a year-old child and sent videos of the abuse to her Marine boyfriend overseas. A Multnomah County grand jury indicted Lambert, of Portland, Jan. 14 on seven charges each of first-degree sodomy, using a child in a display of sexually explicit conduct, and first-degree sex abuse.

The Auckland mother accused of systematically abusing her nine-year-old daughter wrote to Prime Minister John Key for help, her lawyer says, but the alleged abuse still slipped between the cracks of 12 different agencies. The woman, 30, faces 33 assault and neglect charges and the father faces three, after the girl was found in a cupboard, starving and dehydrated when police responded to a domestic dispute at the couple’s home in November.

COVINGTON, Ky. – A Northern Kentucky mother is behind bars after she woke up and found her infant daughter lying on the ground severely burned, according to police. Covington police say Megin Gray, 26, admitted to taking Xanax, Percocet and drinking alcohol before going to sleep with the 9-month-old girl at a home on John Street Monday night.

GARDENA, Calif. — Felony charges have been filed against a 17-year-old boy suspected of bringing a gun to school where accidentally discharged wounding 2 classmates. District attorney’s spokeswoman Jane Robison says the teenager could face up to seven years in state prison if he’s convicted as an adult on charges of bringing a gun to a school zone and discharging it in a school zone.

Carlina White was 19 days old when she was kidnapped. NEW YORK — A woman who was kidnapped as an infant 23 years ago says finding her real mother “felt like a dream.” “I’m so happy. At the same time, it’s a funny feeling because everything’s brand new. It’s like being born again,” said the woman, who was named Carlina White by her parents but was raised in Connecticut under the name Nejdra Nance.

New statistics show that child pornography is increasing faster than any other crime in the state of Virginia. Since 2003, the number of child pornography cases has risen by 218 percent and Charlottesville and Albemarle County are doing their part to reverse this disturbing trend. “Would you let your 4-year-old, 7-year-old, 8-year-old walk through a park with predators with no adult supervision? That’s exactly what’s going on on the internet right now,” stated Albemarle County Sheriff Chip Harding.