Jack Straw, the former Home Secretary, provoked controversy when he said that white girls were seen as “easy meat” by some Pakistani men. Although some public figures condemned his comments as offensive, others said it was right that the matter had been addressed. Mohammed Liaqat, 28, and Abid Saddique, 27, were jailed on Friday for a series of rapes and sexual assaults on young girls as young as 12 around Derby.

An Orlando photographer who specialized in photos of children was arrested after authorities determined that he was distributing child pornography via the Internet, newly released documents show. The arrest affidavit for 53-year-old John Earl Huntt indicates that an investigator for the state Attorney General’s office began an investigation of child pornography distribution on Nov.10, 2010.

EVERETT — The state Department of Social and Health Services agreed Friday to pay $2.85 million to a boy whose brother was at the center of a high-profile child abuse case in Everett. The case was scheduled for trial next week in Snohomish County Superior Court. In 2007, Marilea Mitchell and her live-in boyfriend, Danny Abegg, were found guilty in Snohomish County Superior Court of criminal mistreatment after sheriff’s deputies found Abegg’s son in critical condition from malnourishment.

TORONTO– An aspiring actress remained in jail in Canada on Friday, accused of faking a casting call for babies in an elaborate effort to snatch an infant. The suspect, identified as Michelle Marie Gopaul, is facing charges of abduction of a minor, Toronto police said in a statement. “The accused abducted a 1-month-old girl from a casting audition,” the statement said. “With the assistance of the public, police located the child.”

COVINA — Police in Covina have busted three women they say faked a child’s funeral in a scheme to collect money. The women allegedly made signs and solicited cash donations from drivers in the 900 block of Arrow Highway, according to Covina police. Someone who had seen the same women holding up the same signs weeks before called police on Friday afternoon. Officers then located the women and questioned them.

IRVINE — Authorities in Orange County are trying to identify several girls allegedly molested by an Irvine man in acts that were videotaped. Matthew Christopher Tye, 31, was arrested Thursday on suspicion of having sex with two minor girls. Police searched his home and found videos of him having sex with several unidentified girls.

18 PEOPLE SHOT–U.S. Representative Gabrielle Giffords of Arizona was shot in the head during a public event in Tucson this morning. The trauma director of the University of Arizona Medical Center, Dr. Peter Rhee, said Giffords is in critical condition following surgery and he was “very optimistic” about her recovery because she was able to “follow commands.” Rhee said a total of 10 patients were brought to the hospital. One, a nine-year-old girl, died. Five other patients were in critical condition. U.S. District Judge John Roll, the chief federal judge in Arizona, also was confirmed dead. Giffords was holding an event outside a Safeway grocery store when a man ran up and started shooting, witnnesses said.

FROM SCENTSY: We are doing a fundraiser to help Dreamcatchers for Abused Children raise funds to pass out some Scentsy Buddies to abused kids.
Children that have suffered abuse often feel alone & scared. Especially those who have been removed from their homes and placed in shelters and foster homes. Most of these children are left without anything that they can call their own and take with them where ever they go so that they can feel secure. Something they can hold and love that is all theirs.
I am partnering with Dreamcatchers for Abused Children to help them distribute Scentsy Buddies to those children that are in shelters waiting placement with foster parents or other placements. Wouldn’t it be nice to show them that they are not alone and that people do care by helping to give them a Buddy that they can hug and hold and love when they are feeling sad and alone to remind them that they are not alone and that there are people out there who care and are there for them?

# Sixty-seven percent of all victims of sexual assault reported to law enforcement agencies were juveniles (under the age of 18) 34% of all victims were under age 12.
# One of every seven victims of sexual assault reported to law enforcement were under age 6.
# 8 out of 10 prisoners convicted of sexual assault had committed their crime against a victim under age 18.
# Convicted rape and sexual assault offenders serving time in State prisons report that two-thirds of their victims were under the age of 18, and 58% of those–or nearly 4 in 10 imprisoned violent sex offenders–said their victims were aged 12 or younger.

MOBILE, Alabama – 5:00 p.m.–Mobile County District Attorney John Tyson has authorized capital murder charges against Heather Leavell-Keaton, the woman accused of torturing Natalie and Chase DeBlase. Until late this afternoon, Keaton was only charged with child abuse and abuse of a corpse. The children’s father, John DeBlase, was charged with murder last month.

The Italian Postal and Communications Police, supported by Europol, have uncovered a criminal group who install malicious software on businesses’ unprotected web servers to distribute shocking child sex abuse material online. The Italian Police were first alerted to the criminal activity when a grandmother, who had been innocently surfing the internet buying gifts for her grandchildren, clicked on a link to an online shop only to find herself redirected to a child abuse website. She immediately informed the police who, in early 2009, began routinely monitoring the activities of the illicit web pages which seemed to be hosted on an Italian web server.

EVIL gang leaders who drugged girls as young as 12 for sex were yesterday jailed for a total of 19 years. Abid Mohammed Saddique, 27, and Mohammed Romaan Liaqat, 28, carried out a “reign of terror” against 26 victims in Derby. The men befriended vulnerable girls aged 12-18, giving them booze and drugs before taking them to parties where they were handed around and raped.

TECUMSEH — Authorities say they think a 3-month-old girl died at the hands of her father. Steven Trammell, 33, of Tecumseh, is jailed in Pottawatomie County on complaints of child abuse. District Attorney Richard Smothermon said Friday he plans to file a first-degree murder charge against the man now that his daughter has died. Lydia Trammell died about 1 a.m. Friday at The Children’s Hospital at OU Medical Center, he said.

Lawrence, Ind. —An elementary school boy is being investigated by Lawrence police after a classmate claims he pulled a knife on her and demanded oral sex. The student was sent home Tuesday after school administrators were notified that the 11-year-old boy had a knife at school.