A Rowan County couple faces child abuse charges after investigators found a 6-year-old boy living in what was described as “deplorable conditions,” the sheriff’s office says.

Ronald Eugene Burgess, 38, and Rhonda Dawn Burgess, 35, of Long Ferry Road near Salisbury, were arrested Tuesday, according to deputies. They face initial court appearances today.

Woodhaven — A 23-year-old man will be charged today with first-degree child abuse for injuries that critically injured a 7-week-old girl, according to the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office.

A warrant has been issued to charge Deangelis Devin Nicholas of Brownstown Township in 33rd District Court this afternoon for the Aug 1 assault on the infant daughter of his girlfriend.

HOMESTEAD, Fla. — A South Florida toddler is dead and his father charged with aggravated child abuse and neglect after allegedly punching the child in a “boxing” lesson.

According to Miami-Dade police, Lee Wille DeJesus told investigators he punched his son repeatedly, up to 15 times, while the boy was on a bed to teach him how to box.

EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. – While Kari Richardson was out shopping her husband, Randel Eudean Richardson, 36, took their 6-month-old son and held him underwater in a laundry tub he had filled with cold water. After his son quit struggling, he left him their and waited for his wife to return home. When she found their son unresponsive, she called 911.

PRESCOTT – Prescott area authorities say a 2-year-old Dewey-Humboldt boy missing since Monday evening has been found dead.

Prescott Valley police say Emmitt Trapp was found around 11:30 a.m. by search and rescue personnel approximately one mile from his home.

SAN ANGELO, Texas — Even with an average rate 19 percent higher than the Texas average, local authorities believe child abuse in Tom Green County is understated by the statistics.

“There’s tons more child abuse than I think the numbers can ever tell us,” said Deidre McCoy, director of community resources for the Children’s Advocacy Center of Tom Green County.

Each year, approximately 780,000 children in the US are caught up in the court and child welfare maze because they are unable to live safely at home. Imagine what it would be like to lose your parents, not because of something you did, but because they can’t—or won’t—take care of you. Now, into these children’s lives come dozens of strangers: police, foster parents, therapists, social workers, judges, lawyers, and more. Hopefully, one of these strangers is a CASA volunteer.

CASA volunteers are appointed by judges to watch over and advocate for abused and neglected children, to make sure they don’t get lost in the overburdened legal and social service system or languish in an inappropriate group or foster home. They stay with each case until it is closed and the child is placed in a safe, permanent home. For many abused children, their CASA volunteer will be the one constant adult presence—the one adult who cares only for them.

TOOELE COUNTY — A man convicted of beating his stepson for nearly 10 hours and then attempting to rape his stepdaughter was sentenced to 31 years to life in prison. Willie Phillips was also fined and ordered to pay restitution.
Phillips was convicted in June of first-degree felony aggravated sexual abuse of a child and attempted rape of a child. He also pleaded guilty to intentionally inflicting serious injury to a child, which is a second-degree felony.

Miami-Dade Police have arrested 23-year-old Lee Willie DeJesus and charged him with one count of aggravated child abuse and one count of child neglect after his 2-year-old son suffered a severe injury.

The child was airlifted to Miami Children’s Hospital where he remains in critical condition.

A 23-year-old Carson City man faces a felony child abuse and a gross domestic battery charge after admitting to abusing a 20-month-old toddler.

David Phillip Gawdun, who lives in the 1700 block of Russell Way, is being held on $43,132 bond in the Carson City Jail after he was arrested on Saturday. In an interview, he has admitted to slapping the girl and other instances of child abuse on the toddler and the girl’s 3-year-old brother.

Neosho, Mo. —

A group of rough and tough motorcyclists showed their softer side on Saturday in a fundraising event to help victims of child abuse.

Bikers Against Child Abuse held its annual Bash and Poker Run at the West 60 Cycle, between Neosho and Seneca. It was a daylong event that began at 10 a.m. and lasted until after dark.

BACA is a worldwide organization of motorcyclists who seek to offer encouragement and support to children who have been abused. It was the local West Central Chapter of BACA, of around 16 members, which put on Saturday’s event.

IAN HUNTLEY, the paedophile child-killer, could be forced to hand over £100,000 to a woman he sexually abused 13 years ago. The Soham murderer is suing the prison service after being attacked by another inmate, but Hailey Edwards says any cash he gets should be hers.

And legal experts reckon if the former school caretaker succeeds in his action that warders failed to protect him from the attack, the £100,000 he is claiming could go straight to Hailey.

MINDEN, Neb. — A failure of the system…That’s what former neighbors say contributed to the death of 4-year-old Landon Payne of rural Kearney County.

Landon’s aunt, Sharon Payne Turnell, 37; her husband, Charles Turnell, 38; and her daughter, Katie Payne, 19, each have been charged with aiding and abetting child abuse that led to Landon’s death Dec. 22. The family lived in Pleasanton, Neb., from September 2006 to October 2009. During that time, neighbors say they called law enforcement and the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services numerous times to report suspected abuse and neglect.

The Department of Justice released its first-ever national strategy to combat child exploitation and abuse Monday, calling for a crackdown on the most dangerous sex offenders in the country.

The strategy will assess the threats that children face — including child pornography, online enticement, sex tourism and commercial sexual exploitation — and outline ways for the federal government to curb abuse.