A 21-year-old Missouri father has been charged with felony child abuse after his baby son died from a traumatic brain injury last month. Cody Bunch of Festus told police three-month-old Aiden was injured when he fell over while carrying him. Aiden was hurt on January 6 and the infant died at St. Louis Children’s Hospital after he was taken off life support four days later. After doctor’s discovered evidence of seven prior injuries, Bunch was charged on January 16 with ‘child abuse resulting in death’ and he is being held in the Jefferson County Jail on a $500,000, cash-only bond.

An Indiana mother whose daughter took her own life when she was just 14 years old is fighting to push through a new piece of legislation that would make schools play a bigger role when it comes to bullying. Angel Green was in eighth grade when her mother found her hanged from a tree, leaving behind a suicide note after enduring years of bullying that started with her weight, hair and appearance and took a far darker turn at the end, with students mocking the girl for the years of sexual abuse she suffered at the hands of her father. She wrote at the end of her note; ‘It’s bullying that killed me. Please get justice.’

Amanda Rodgers took pen to paper, and wrote an open letter to the man whom she alleges repeatedly molested her, stole her innocence, and denied her a childhood. She shared it with me, and with her permission, I’m sharing it with you. Brace yourself.

OLYMPIA, Washington — Prosecutors say a Washington state woman accused of stabbing her three small children told detectives that she cut the children’s throats with a kitchen knife to keep them quiet for her soldier husband. In court papers filed Monday, a prosecutor says 29-year-old Christina E. Booth of Olympia said in the police interview that her husband never helped her with the children and got “very annoyed” when they cried. The children include a 2-year-old toddler and 6-month-old twins.

NICU Helping Hands’ Angel Gown® Program began in 2013 because we recognized there was an overwhelming need for better support for families who lost a baby. Our Angel Gown® Program provides comfort for bereaved families through the gift of a beautiful custom made gown for final photos and for burial services. We provide support resources and mentoring programs for bereaved families as well. There is no greater gift that can be given to a grieving family than affirming the importance of the life of their child by offering the simple gift of our Angel Gown® and supporting them emotionally and educationally afterwards.

ALOHA, OR – Less than two years after a man was sentenced to prison for sexually abusing a girl, his father is now facing charges of sexually abusing the same victim. Detectives arrested 49-year-old Ronald Kopf Jr. of Aloha on Jan. 20. He was arraigned in court Thursday on charges of rape, sex abuse, sodomy and delivery of marijuana to a minor. According to court documents, the 15-year-old victim disclosed to her mother and a family friend that she had been in a year-long sexual relationship with Kopf, who lives in the same area.

A four-year child was investigated by police for rape while 800 youngster under the age of ten have sexually assaulted other children in the last six years. The shocking revelations are a terrifying insight into the child abuse crisis plaguing Britain – with experts blaming internet porn and the sexualisation of children for the rise in offences. The figures, obtained by The Sunday Mirror, also show that the annual number of sex offenders under the age of ten has doubled in the last three years.

Logan, Utah – 40-year-old former police officer Cody C. Smith pleaded no contest this week to two counts of aggravated sexual abuse of a child. According to court documents, Smith first began forcing a 13-year-old girl to have sex with multiple boys back in 2011 or 2012. When the children refused, Smith allegedly gave them instructions and would physically force them to engage in sexual acts. This was apparently repeated on at least six different occasions in the year of 2012, and reportedly occurred with the same girl and multiple different boys.

Harm, or risk of harm to children and young people, can occur when stress, tiredness, lack of skills, information and support combine to make the pressures of caring for children overwhelming. There is generally not a single factor that results in the abuse or neglect of a child; it is usually a combination of various factors. In addition, the duration (such as the duration of an illness) or intensity (such as the level of drug or alcohol abuse) can make it more or less likely that a child will be at risk for abuse. When trying to understand child abuse and neglect, we often look at possible factors in the adult, factors based on something in society, and factors based on something about the child.

INDIA – An Indian father has been arrested for attempted murder after trying to bury his ten-year old daughter alive. Locals in Putia village, in Tripura, northeast India, alerted police that Abul Hussein was trying to bury his daughter in the backyard of his home. When police arrived at his home he had had tied his daughter’s hands with rope and taped her mouth before burying her up to her chest.

COLORADO – The father of reality television star Heidi Montag was arrested Thursday by Aspen police on charges of aggravated incest, sexual assault on a child and sexual assault of a child by one in a position of trust. William Montag, 67, of Glenwood Springs, was wanted on a statewide warrant from Arapahoe County. Aspen police said he was arrested at the Aspen Valley Ski and Snowboard Club, where he works.

DETROIT – The Detroit Crime Commission and Chief James Craig announced Friday that the award for information leading to an arrest and conviction in the Dec. 22 deadly shooting of Paige Stalker has been raised to $163,000. The 16-year-old from Grosse Pointe was killed when a gunman opened fire on the parked car she was in on the Detroit-Grosse Pointe Park border.

STERLING TOWNSHIP — A man from Wayne County is headed to prison for child rape. Gary Kroll of Sterling Township, near Hamlin, was sentenced Thursday to 50 to 101 years behind bars. A jury convicted Kroll in November of sexually abusing four girls under the age of 13.

In all 50 United States and Puerto Rico, there are safe haven laws designed for a parent to surrender a newborn child to designated ‘safe havens’. Designed to protect infants from neglect or abuse, most states do not ask questions about why you are turning over custody of the child. If you or someone you know is pregnant and do not feel that the child can be raised safely under the care of either parent, the infant can be usually relinquished without risk of prosecution.