TOLEDO, OH – The Toledo Police Department (TPD) says it is working several tips to locate a man who sexually assaulted a seventh grader on her way to school Friday. TPD is directing all on duty patrols to local schools when kids are walking back and forth to classes until the attacker is caught. School leaders say the 13-year-old had to walk four more blocks to reach East Broadway Middle School to tell administrators about the attack. Toledo Public Schools (TPS) leaders sent parents a letter about the attack, but say student safety is not the district’s responsibility before kids arrive at school.

The Chronicle looked at the sentences handed down in categories that give the judge discretion on punishment, while at the same time selecting cases that have the greatest effect on the average person. These include: aggravated assault, burglary, child molestation, cruelty to children, possession of cocaine, possession of methamphetamine and theft by taking. Mandatory minimum sentences for crimes such as murder and armed robbery, which take the discretion out of a judge’s hands, were not included. Aggravated assault aptly fits the description of a crime that has a great impact on a person. It is often a murder attempt that doesn’t result in death.

Nearly a quarter of the homicides in Sangamon County have gone unsolved in the past decade, mainly because witnesses refuse to provide information about the killings, investigators say. A review of law enforcement data dating back to 2000 shows Springfield police still are looking for leads on 20 open cases. The Sangamon County Sheriff’s Office is seeking to close one unsolved killing.

BEDFORD, PA — Authorities in western Pennsylvania say an evangelist from Lexington has been arrested and charged with assaulting an 11-year-old girl a few years ago. State police in Bedford County say the Rev. Walter Donald Bradshaw was arrested Tuesday at his home in Lexington. He is being held in lieu of $150,000 bail pending extradition to Pennsylvania. He is charged with rape, rape of a child, and involuntary deviate sexual intercourse with a child. Police say 61-year-old Bradshaw was a traveling evangelist and met the family at a revival four years ago.

Every time the former Catholic priest and Lake Worth resident Neil Doherty enters the news, it seems like more (alleged) victims come a’tumbling from the woodwork. Last week, Doherty was hauled off to the poky for a violation of the terms of his bail — he had left his house, which was a no-no, apparently to attend a funeral. This was not the first time his ankle monitor had reported him straying, and finally the police took notice.

With the (alleged) serial-abuser Doherty languishing in jail, another (alleged) victim filed suit against the ex-priest, telling a story similar to those of the many, many other boys Doherty has (allegedly) abused. In this case, the (alleged) victim was a 14-year-old runaway hanging out in a trailer park, whom Doherty first assisted, then befriended, and then (allegedly) plied with pot, booze, and cocaine. And then Doherty (allegedly) had sex with him.

OCALA, FL – Friday, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) special agents and officers arrested a Belgian man in Ocala who is wanted in his home country for child rape and extortion. ICE, assisted by the Marion County Sheriff’s Office, administratively arrested Andy Vertoont, 31, a native of Belgium, at his Ocala place of employment for being in violation of U.S. immigration law.

Vertoont remains in ICE custody pending his removal to Belgium, where he is wanted on an arrest warrant for the June 2009 rape of a 12 year-old-boy in Belgium. He had been arrested in Belgium and conditionally released prior to his trial. Shortly thereafter, he fled to the United States to avoid prosecution in Belgium.

At the end of their rope, some parents sedate their babies A frazzled mother on a crowded flight tries to coax a screaming baby to sleep as surrounding passengers stare —some in empathy, some in barely disguised annoyance. When the child doesn’t calm down, the parent discreetly pulls a bottle of children’s Benadryl from a diaper bag and administers a small dose.

Surveys and parental testimonials suggest that this scene is repeated every day in the skies over America and in other settings. But the use of the antihistamine, known generically as diphenhydramine, to sedate babies is controversial, with at least one study suggesting it is a form of child abuse.

SHELBY, NORTH CAROLINA — Cleveland County children are worse off than children in nearly three-fourths of other North Carolina counties. Cleveland County ranks 72 out of the state’s 100 counties in a recent report highlighting 10 wellness indicators, according to “A Roadmap to Need” report released by the Public School Forum’s Center for Afterschool Programs. Cleveland County scored lower than Gaston County, which ranked 62nd, but higher than Rutherford County, which ranked 92nd, according to the report. The report ranked counties on indicators including, graduation rates, the number of children in Department of Social Services custody and number of reported cases of child abuse and neglect.

VACAVILLE —A Vacaville couple is in Solano County Jail tonight facing attempted murder and child abuse charges allegedly related to their 9-month-old baby. Saturday morning Vacaville Police received a call from Kaiser Hospital reporting an unresponsive child was being treated in the emergency room for serious head injuries. Officers responded to the hospital and contacted the child’s mother Colleen Hernandez. After further investigation, detectives determined Hernandez and her husband Michael Hernandez had a history of child abuse and prior arrests involving their older children.

MOUNT VERNON, Ohio — A sheriff in central Ohio says a 13-year-old girl who was missing with her mother, brother and a friend has been found bound and gagged in the basement of a man’s home about 10 miles from her house. Knox County Sheriff David Barber said Sunday that Sarah Maynard’s mother, Tina Herrmann, is still missing, along with her 10-year-old brother, Kody, and her mother’s 41-year-old friend Stephanie Sprang. Barber says 30-year-old Matthew Hoffman was arrested on one count of kidnapping at his home in Mount Vernon, about 40 miles north of Columbus. He says reports that a body bag had been taken from the home are false.

Officers in Colorado say they are investigating whether Phillip Ray Greaves II has done anything illegal. They have also revealed they are monitoring the author’s home following threats against him on a local website. Greaves attracted condemnation on both sides of the Atlantic after his self-published “code of conduct” for paedophiles appeared on the online retailer’s site. Amazon initially defended its actions before blocking sales. Hundreds of customers posted critical comments on its website and a group on Facebook called for a boycott of its services. In television interviews Greaves questioned whether children actually suffered in child abuse cases and said some offenders should simply be fined.

(Reuters Legal) – The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Miami was accused on Friday of covering up the activities of a U.S. priest facing child sexual abuse charges and described by a victim’s lawyer as a “serial predator.” A Florida man filed a complaint in Florida state court seeking damages “in excess of $5 million” from the archdiocese. He alleges the archdiocese is liable for employing a priest who allegedly sexually molested the man when he was a teenager.

A 49-year-old Canyon Country man was arraigned in Newhall Superior Court on Friday and is facing nine felony charges, including the alleged attempted murder of a child. Preston Brandon was arrested on a warrant Thursday in connection with an alleged crime that occurred Oct. 22, according to a complaint from the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office. Brandon has been charged with attempted murder, four counts of assault with a deadly weapon, four counts of child abuse and one misdemeanor count of assault and battery.

A Fernley mother is in jail after allegedly plunging a kitchen knife into the chest of her sleeping 7-year-old son Thursday night, saying it was at the urging of God, police said. Jeannine Ravenna Brandt, 40, is being held in the Lyon County Jail on suspicion of felony battery with intent to kill and child abuse.

According to Lyon County Detective Lt. Bryan Veil, Brandt’s husband called officers to the home on Primton Way in the Villa Mobile Home Park about 11 p.m. on a report of an accidental stabbing. According to the police report, Brandt’s husband reported his wife was “sleepwalking and stabbed son with knife.” When deputies arrived they found Brandt in her bedroom and the boy lying in his bed screaming. The knife had been removed from his chest by his mother before police arrived, said Veil.

“When deputies found her she had her knees on the floor and was bent over her bed,” said Veil. “She told us she did it because God told her to do it.” Veil said she also called the child the “anti-Christ.”