Albuquerque, NM – Investigators are calling it one of the worst cases of abuse they have ever seen. A 4-month-old baby girl is clinging to life in critical condition thanks to the numerous injuries inflicted upon her by her mother, 29-year-old Angela Meza.

The child, a twin, was taken to Presybeterian Hospital Wednesday, and was found to be broken all over. She was suffering from severe abusive head trauma and several rib and leg fractures. Doctors say she is blind and may never walk. In an interview with Meza’s 5-year-old son, investigators learned the child witnessed his mother repeatedly hitting and choking his baby sister.

EAST PIKELAND — Two Stowe men were arrested on rape charges Thursday after they allegedly lured a 14-year-old Linfield girl to The French Creek Inn and raped her on Wednesday.

Police arrested William Parker, 33, and Matthew Dise, 20, both of the 500 block of Glasgow Street in Stowe, and charged them with felony rape, statutory sexual assault, indecent assault, corruption of minors, selling or furnishing liquor or malt or brewed beverages to minors, luring a child into a motor vehicle and possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance.

A former girls’ football team coach has been jailed for six years for spiking a girl’s drink with a drug during a day trip to a theme park.

Michael Andresen, 36, of Barry, took the 12-year-old girl to Thorpe Park in Surrey and put Rohypnol in her drink.

A 45-year-old Waynesboro man will go to trial and face a possible life sentence on a child rape charge.

David Harrison Cave is accused of raping a 12-year-old girl last fall. Police say the alleged crime took place at the victim’s home in the northwest part of the city. Cave turned himself in soon after.

LOGANSPORT, Ind. (WISH) – Police in Logansport have arrested a person of interest as they investigate the rape of a four-year-old girl. However, the arrest is on an unrelated charge.

Officers arrested Robert Ackley for failure to register as a sex offender in Logansport, Cass County. Ackley is registered offender in St. Joe County. The 39-year-old was charged with child molesting in 1995. Ackley now faces a charge of failure to register as a sex offender which is a Class D Felony and carries a minimum sentence of 6 months.

MORGANTON, NC (WBTV) – A Morganton man has been charged for allegedly causing traumatic injuries to his daughter because he was “stressed” about upcoming court cases, sheriff’s investigators say.

According to the Burke County Sheriff’s Office, Cody Garret Chadwell, 23, beat the 23-month-old girl so hard last week that she suffered serious injuries and was hospitalized at Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte.

COLUMBIA, SC (WIS) – The uncle of a 5-year-old child shot and killed outside a Columbia home Friday evening has been charged in connection with his death.

Officials say 24-year-old Waddell McGhee has been charged with homicide by child abuse.

We didn’t need a recent report to tell us that child abuse in the Carolinas and Mecklenburg County was a problem. The almost weekly, sometimes daily, reports in this newspaper of neglected, injured and dead children aptly detail it.
Imagine how many children could be saved from harm if more of us took that imperative to heart about child abuse and neglect. Let’s pledge today to do so.

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. —

Angela Meza, 29, is accused of child abuse after doctors discovered her 4-month-old baby girl suffered from head trauma and broken ribs.Angela Meza spent Mother’s Day in jail after she was arrested on Saturday. Detectives said her 4-month-old daughter suffered from severe head trauma and broken ribs after she brought the girl to the hospital last week.

Amid heightened awareness about child safety, local parishes have changed

VERONA — On the rare occasion when the Rev. William Vernon hugs a child at St. Andrew Catholic Church, almost everything about the interaction has been carefully considered.

Since 2001, when a flurry of high-profile lawsuits against the Catholic Church reignited a child abuse scandal, Vernon has made it his personal policy not to initiate hugs with children. He encourages handshakes, high-fives and fist bumps instead.

Based on the statistics, the recession has had a noticeable impact on babies, casinos, customer brand loyalty, and the church collection plate.

The recession’s impact …

A study by the Swiss paediatrics society pulled together figures for 2009 from 14 of the country’s biggest paediatrics institutions, for the first time giving an overall scale of the problem.

SUFFERN, N.Y. — Pro Football Hall of Famer Lawrence Taylor was charged Thursday with raping a 16-year-old runaway who police said was forced into prostitution by a man who had beaten her up.

TROY — A father and son have been arrested on felony sexual assault charges for allegedly abusing the same child.

Scott Wolf, 40, and his 18-year old son Robert are charged with first-degree misdemeanor endangering the welfare of a child and felony first-degree course of sexual conduct against a child.