With most kids now back to school, it’s important for parents to make sure their children are staying safe. KENS 5’s Stacia Willson caught up with Dr. Nancy Kellogg, Professor and Division Chief of Child Abuse at the University of Texas Health Science Center Department of Pediatrics, to discuss some ways to keep children our of harm’s way.

Q: What are some things to be aware of when it comes to preventing child abuse at the start of a new school year?

A: At home, there is a lot of excitement and changes in schedules, which can produce added stress and fatigue. It is a time to stop and remember to be patient and understanding as everyone gets used to the changes.

Remember that stress and fatigue can lead to short tempers and rash words or actions.

At school, children should pay close attention to the rules, especially about where they can go and when. They should get to know their teachers so they feel comfortable talking to them, and talk to their parents about anything that makes them feel uncomfortable, sad or scared.

A retired Hampshire police officer who sexually abused two boys while he worked for the force has been jailed for seven years.

Gordon Hunter, 64, of Dene Way, Ashurst, was convicted in August of 14 offences in the 1980s and 1990s.

Hampshire Constabulary said there was nothing to suggest the offences were directly related to his former roles within the force.

KANSAS CITY, MO – Police have taken a person into custody after a two-year-old girl was taken to the emergency room Wednesday night with life threatening injuries. Police said the girl was taken to the hospital by her mother and her mother’s boyfriend. Because of the girl’s injuries, police were called and the child’s mother and the mother’s boyfriend were questioned.

Albuquerque, NM – When Michelle Charley failed to show up at school to collect her daughter and nephews Tuesday afternoon, school officials called the safe house where Charley and the children had been staying. Staffers at the safe house were able to reach Charley, but she told them she was too drunk to go anywhere. Knowing the woman had a 6-month-old son, social workers paid a visit to the woman’s apartment to check on the infant. When they couldn’t make contact with her, the police were called. When Officers Joey Tosta and Nick Wheeler arrived at the apartment, they found Charley in the bedroom, highly intoxicated, with a man she had met at a gas station earlier that day. Her infant was reportedly laying on the bed, covered from head to toe in flaky, crusty dried shit.

Severely Malnourished Girl, 4, Found Dead, Tied to Crib

NEW YORK — A 4-year-old girl who weighed only 15 pounds was found dead in a Brooklyn apartment Thursday. Police say the body of Marchella Pierce was found with her arms and legs tied to a crib with twine.

LYNN – A Lynn man is behind bars after he was allegedly caught photographing his uncle’s 4-year-old daughter in the nude. Carlos Filiberto Orozco, 28, of 262 South Common St., #1, was charged with rape of a child with force, indecent assault and battery on a child under the age of 14, posing a child for sexual photographs and possession of child pornography. He was arraigned Monday at Lynn District Court by Judge Dominic Paratore and was ordered held without bail pending a dangerousness hearing on Sept. 7.

Hey you guys? Uh, this is a little awkward but just in case you have any 41-year-old male friends who’ve disappeared in Sweden recently, they might have been arrested on charges of rape, statutory sodomy, attempted sexual exploitation of a child and sexual misconduct – all involving a 14-year-old girl. Just in case you hear any crazy rumors.

OCEAN PINES — Police charged an Ocean Pines man with child abuse and several sex offenses after an incident this spring involving a four-year-old Salisbury girl. Daniel Alan Kerstetter, 24, was charged with second-degree child abuse, second-degree assault, second-degree sex offense, third-degree sex offense and fourth-degree sex offense after the four-year-old recently told her parents that he had tried to make her perform oral sex.

MARTINEZ — An Antioch man will be arraigned this afternoon on felony child abuse charges in the beating his girlfriend’s 4-year-old son, who suffered a brain injury and has lost the function of one arm, a prosecutor said.

“He is suffering at least partial, maybe total paralysis in one arm,” Contra Costa County deputy district attorney Dara Cashman said. “Whether that will be permanent or not, I don’t know at this time.”

LOS ANGELES—Los Angeles County officials aren’t following a state law that requires them to publicly disclose child fatalities resulting from abuse or neglect, according to an independent audit released Monday. The audit by the County Office of Independent Review found violations involving dozens of child fatalities, County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky said.

Germany’s Catholic Church unveiled on Tuesday tougher guidelines on investigating and preventing child sex abuse that it hopes will stop a repeat of the hugely damaging scandals of this year.

“The dreadful findings and experiences of recent months have shown us that the (previous) guidelines of 2002 were imprecise in some areas,” said Stephan Ackermann, bishop of Trier, as he presented the new rules.

Sumter, South Carolina (The Weekly Vice) – Alison Alsbrooks Scurry, a 31-year-old Sumter County woman was jailed after she was allegedly found to be raising her three kids in a home filled with almost a foot of garbage. According to the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office, deputies were called to Scurry’s home after they received an anonymous tip that her children, ages eight, nine, and ten, were reportedly being neglected and were living in filth.

CHICAGO — Police are investigating allegations that a 3-year-old girl was sexually assaulted by a 12-year-old boy on a school bus. The incident, part of which was captured by bus surveillance-cameras, allegedly happened Friday afternoon. The 12-year-old was taken into custody Sunday evening, according to Gurnee police.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A Jacksonville nanny caught on camera swatting, slapping and kicking an 11-month-old boy has been sentenced to eight years in prison. A Duval County judge sentenced 53-year-old Jeannine Marie Campbell on Friday.