The suspected beating of a 3-month-old Jacksonville girl who remained hospitalized Monday in intensive care has prompted a judge to place her and three siblings in protective custody.

The infant — who also tested positive for marijuana — was being treated for several skull fractures and a small amount of brain hemorrhaging, according to preliminary hospital tests.

SANTA ANA, Calif. (KABC) — A Santa Ana woman and her boyfriend charged with starving, beating and tying up her two young sons are each being held on $250,000 bail in an Orange County jail.

Cheryl Ann Stuart, 25, and her boyfriend, 31-year-old Mario Alberto Colin, appeared before Orange County Superior Court Judge Walter Schwarm via a video connection from the Orange County, but their arraignment was postponed until July 23. They did not enter pleas Monday.

WHEATFIELD — An 18-year-old who had a three-year sexual relationship with an adult woman while he was underage is suing the woman and her husband, seeking $22 million.

But the husband is fighting back with a counterclaim, accusing the teenager of interfering with his “marital contract” — in effect seeking damages for allegedly seducing his wife.

Portland, OR – I really wish I was updating this story to tell you all that Kyron has been found – sadly, that isn’t the case. I do, however, want to keep this story updated and continue to keep the kiddo’s picture circulating. Though family members and investigators have remained fairly tight-lipped throughout the investigation, there have been a couple of interesting new developments in the case. Kaine Horman, Kyron’s father, has taken the couple’s 18-month-old daughter and vacated the home he shares with Terri Horman, Kyron’s step-mother.

DUXBURY —

A former girls soccer coach from Duxbury was found guilty Monday of raping one of his 15-year-old players who was at his house for a sleepover with his daughter in 2004.

Following a five-day trial in Brockton Superior Court, a jury found Jose M. Arana guilty of rape of a child with force and two counts of indecent assault and battery of a person over the age of 14.

PHILADELPHIA (CBS/AP) In addition to hosting underage parties fueled by alcohol and drugs, a 61-year-old retired doctor is accused of raping one of the 16-year-old party-goers at gunpoint.

A judge ruled Friday that there was enough evidence to charge Tawfik Nakishbendi with unlawful contact with a minor, unlawful restraint, recklessly endangering another person, and possession of an instrument of crime.

The Philadelphia-area man the teens referred to as “Sugar Daddy” was arrested Thursday after police received an anonymous tip earlier this month regarding a man providing drugs and alcohol to teens in exchange for sex, reports Philly.com.

PITTSBURGH– A Greenfield man has pleaded guilty to abducting and raping an 11-year-old girl as she walked home from school last year.Clyde Haidle, 47, was arrested in May 2009, just hours after he grabbed the victim after she got off of her school bus and dragged her into an abandoned home on Ivondale Street.

A McMinnville man was arrested Friday on charges that he sexually abused a girl who is about 13 years old, according to McMinnville police.

Richard Wallace Werner, 56, of 641 N.E. Fourth St. was charged with second-degree rape, second-degree sodomy and using a child in a display of sexually explicit conduct. He was booked into Yamhill County jail on $450,000 bail.

A state funded survey has revealed that a third of Irish parents believe they should have the right to smack their children.

The study, Parenting Styles and Discipline: Parent’s and Chidren’s Perspectives, was funded by the Minister for Children’s office.

It found that 25% of respondents hit their children in the previous year and fathers were more inclined to support the legal smacking of children.

June 29 (IANS/AKI) A 74-year-old priest has been removed from his position in northern Italy after confessing he sexually abused minors.

Alois Kranebitter, parish priest in the Alto Adige region’s Bolzano-Brixen diocese, will no longer be allowed to celebrate mass in public and will be obliged to live in a place where he has no contact with children, the diocese said in a statement.

These days, all we have to do is pick up a newspaper or turn on the television and we are instantly invited into people’s lives surfacing around bad marriages, cheating and abusive spouses, alcohol and drug addiction. But what happens when these addictions are the reality of your own life?

Seven months ago, I was introduced to an amazing woman named Laurie Ann Smith. Laurie was different than any other woman I have ever met. For such a quiet, small framed woman, she had this will, drive and determination that could move mountains.

Human trafficking in the form of sex slaves and unpaid workers is now recognized as a booming crime element in the Washington area.

LAKE CUSHMAN, Wash. — An argument about disciplining a child led to the fatal slashing of the girl’s throat and the arrest of the victim’s stepfather, Mason County sheriff’s deputies said.

Police said the 5-year-old girl was killed at a rental home near Lake Cushman, west of Hoodsport, Sunday, where the family from Abbotsford, B.C., was vacationing.

Hartsville, SC – According to police, at about 12:40 Friday morning, Dearl James Douglas, boogeyman extraordinaire, crept into a family’s home after removing a screen from a bedroom window. Once inside the home, Dearl found his way to the bedroom of a 9-year-old girl. He reportedly picked up the sleeping child and carried her into another room where he attempted to remove her clothing.