SEXUAL ABUSE AGAINST CHILDREN

How to spot sexual abuse



Detroit, MI – Karonne Ivey’s three year-old daughter complained several times that her "tootie" hurt and expressed that something of a sexual nature had happened to her. Ivey says that what her daughter admitted was “shocking to me” and that she could not be lying. After checking her daughter at home, Ivey later took her to the emergency room of a children’s hospital for an examination. When it comes to sexual abuse, what are the signs parents should look for? Prevent Child Abuse America, an organization that works to prevent the abuse and neglect of children across the country, has outlined several key signs parents should look for to help recognize a problem.
Physical Indicators:

• Torn, stained or bloody underclothes
  
• Frequent, unexplained sore throats, yeast or urinary infections
  
• Somatic complaints, including pain and irritation of the genitals
  
• Sexually transmitted diseases
  
• Bruises or bleeding from external genitalia, vagina or anal region
  
• Pregnancy
  

Behavioral Indicators:

• The victim's disclosure of sexual abuse
  
• Regressive behaviors (thumb-sucking, bedwetting, fear of the dark)
  
• Promiscuity or seductive behaviors
  
• Disturbed sleep patterns (recurrent nightmares)
  
• Unusual and age-inappropriate interest in sexual matters
  
• Avoidance of undressing or wearing extra layers of clothes
  
• Sudden decline in school performance, truancy
  
• Difficulty in walking or sitting
  

For more information, head over to www.childabuse.org

Officials: Mom Prostitutes Child For Drug Money

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Authorities have arrested a southwest Florida woman they say forced four children to commit illegal acts for her.

She faces four counts of aggravated child abuse and four counts of forced labor or services by human trafficking. She is being held Wednesday at the Lee County Jail on $200,000 bond.

Authorities say she forced one child into prostitution to buy drugs. Authorities say all four children were forced to purchase drugs for her, if they refused beatings would follow.

She is accused of leaving them without proper supervision and food, and withholding food from for misbehavior.

Authorities say she threatened to beat the children if they didn't lie to investigators looking into the abuse allegations.

It wasn't immediately known if she had an attorney.

Former county official pleads to sexually abusing minors



SHARP COUNTY, AR (KAIT)

Former Sharp County Office of Emergency Services Director Pete Reilly pleaded guilty to four counts of second degree sexual assault according to Third Judicial District Prosecuting Attorney Henry H. Boyce.

Authorities say Pete Reilly, 66, of Hardy was sentenced to a total of 20 years in the Arkansas Department of Correction, and fined $5,000. Reilly was scheduled to face a Sharp County jury later this month.

Police say they were notified of the crimes on March 11, 2009 when they received a report of child abuse. Once the investigation began, they compiled more information to file a probable cause case against Reilly.

According to court affidavits, Reilly's four victims ranged from the ages of nine to 14. One victim was a relative and the others were friends who were staying the night at his home. The affidavit also says Reilly told his victims he was teaching them about sex "for their own good."

Reilly had served as the Office of Emergency Services Director in Sharp County for 26 years.

Jones High ROTC instructor quits amid investigation


Orlando


A Jones High School instructor has resigned following allegations that he took a female student to his home during school hours. Byron Conover, a junior ROTC instructor, ended his employment with the Orange County school district last week, said Kathy Marsh, a spokesman for the Orange County school district.

That was about a week after the Orlando Police Department said it was investigating the actions of the 56-year-old retired U.S. Army lieutenant colonel, though it did not say if he was suspected of any criminal actions.

Case: Texas agency didn't stop foster home abuse

10/22/2010 3:48:55 PM EDT



In this June 22, 2010 photo, the Vick family home is shown in Elkhart,... ((AP Photo/LM Otero))


ELKHART, Texas—A frame house surrounded by connecting mobile homes served for years as a home for dozens of the most vulnerable children in Texas foster care. But instead of being a safe haven, it was a place where young girls were repeatedly molested and the abuse long ignored.

In a case with implications that reach beyond Elkhart, a community of 1,215 about 125 miles southeast of Dallas, a criminal prosecution has revealed how the state continually ruled out allegations of child abuse at the home before many of the same charges sent the man who served as its foster father to prison last year.

Officials with the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services consider the case an aberration, saying it in no way reflects how standard cases in the child services system are managed. But some foster care experts say it calls into question how the state investigates abuse in its largely privatized network of foster homes. The Anderson County district attorney says investigations should be done by an independent office.

James Vick, who operated the home for 10 years with his wife, Marilyn, was sentenced to 20 years in prison after pleading guilty to 18 counts of indecency with a child by contact. Marilyn Vick was not charged in the case.

Anderson County prosecutors believe as many as nine preteen girls were abused by Vick, 47, and his adopted son, Michael, over 13 years, usually under the pretense of playing games such as hide and seek. Michael Vick has pleaded not guilty to three counts of indecency with a child and is free while awaiting trial. The number of victims makes the case one of the worst examples of foster care abuse to emerge in recent years, experts said. But as troubling for many is the back story, detailed in court records, of how state investigators ruled out allegations of sexual abuse against James Vick on at least three occasions before his arrest. Even if the Department of Family and Protective Services couldn't immediately prove the allegations, the mounting number should have been a sign something was seriously wrong, foster care experts said.

"This is damaging in a million ways," said Susan Lambiase, associate director of the New-York based child welfare advocacy group, Children's Rights.

The case raises questions about the personnel group within the Department of Family and Protective Services that oversees foster homes. That unit, Residential Child Care Licensing, allowed the Vick home to continue taking in children even as case workers removed those who alleged abuse.

Patrick Crimmins, spokesman for the Department of Family and Protective Services, acknowledged mistakes were made in the Vick case, but said they don't point to a larger problem. He said no other case has presented similar circumstances.

"Our investigators are well-trained and do good work, and the Vick case was an unfortunate exception to that," Crimmins said.

Law enforcement authorities began investigating in April 2007 after receiving a videotape in which two sisters, ages 11 and 12, alleged during an interview at a child advocacy center that they had been abused in the foster home three years earlier. The allegations surfaced when the department's Child Protective Services division was called to investigate an accidental shooting involving a gun belonging to the adoptive father of the two girls.

The videotape, sent anonymously to the Anderson County sheriff, led to a grand jury's indictment of James Vick.

But a Residential Child Care Licensing investigator who viewed the tape ruled out the allegations because she said the girls didn't mention Vick's prosthetic leg and, therefore, weren't believable. After Vick's arrest, a supervisor from the unit revisited the matter and issued a report citing "overwhelming evidence" that six foster children had been sexually abused.

The report also questioned whether the collection of mobile homes, converted into bedrooms, was suitable for children. In a September interview with The Associated Press at the state prison unit in Snyder, Vick said he doesn't consider himself a predator. He said he pleaded guilty and avoided a trial largely out of fear that he could receive a life sentence.

"I believe God knows the truth," he said. "He's the one who let me come in (prison), and He's going to bring me out."

Vick's son, Michael, is a 22-year-old Army private who was serving in Iraq at the time of his arrest and remains on active duty. His attorney, Jeff Herrington of Palestine, did not respond to AP's interview requests.

Court records show that Michael Vick acknowledged to a military investigator that as a teenager he fondled some of the young girls living in his parents' home as foster children and felt remorse. "I can't change the past or what I did, but I can assure you that I am changing what tomorrow holds for myself and everyone around me," he told the investigator, according to the records.

James Vick and his wife were affiliated with the Bair Foundation, one of the approximately 200 child-placing agencies that have contracts with the state to recruit and train foster parents. The Pennsylvania-based nonprofit, which describes itself on its website as a "Christian foster care ministry," typically takes in more than 1,000 children a year in Texas, making it one of the largest doing business with the state.

The Vick home was a significant part of the system because it could accommodate as many as 12 children, including those with severe behavioral problems.

James Vick told the AP he and his wife were paid as much as $70,000 a year as foster parents and that it became their sole source of income.

Anderson County District Attorney Doug Lowe contends the state's failure to verify cases of abuse in the home reflects a conflict of interest in the investigative process. He said investigators are prone to minimizing problems because Residential Child Care Licensing is the same unit that approves the agencies and regularly monitors their homes.

Crimmins, the Family and Protective Services spokesman, said suggesting state investigators lack objectivity is "an enormous leap" that isn't justified.

Besides initially dismissing the allegations of sexual abuse detailed in the two young sisters' videotape, state licensing investigators ruled out similar allegations against James Vick by other girls in foster care in 2003 and 2004, court records show. The records do not specify why those cases were ruled out.

Family and Protective Services did not provide its records to the AP because the attorney general's office ruled them confidential. The 2003 case involved an 11-year-old girl who claimed Vick fondled her breasts within a week of her arrival at the home, according to court records. The girl and her sister, with whom she had confided, were both to testify against Vick at trial, the records show.

Lowe said a 2003 videotape of the girl's allegations wasn't made available to his office until the criminal investigation four years later. "We didn't have a chance to review it, so more kids were harmed," the district attorney said.

Deputies Arrest Man On 45 Counts Of Sex Abuse

COLTON, Ore. -- Clackamas County deputies have arrested a man accused of sexually abusing a 7-year-old girl, marrying the child's mother and then running off to California.

Don Smock Jr., 45, was wanted on 45 counts of sex abuse-related charges, deputies said.

Shortly after FOX 12 showed Smock's photo on "The 4 O'clock News," deputies said they located him after receiving a tip from a television viewer.

A grand jury indicted Smock on the charges last month. Within two hours of the hearing, Smock secretly married the victim's mother in Colton, according to the sheriff's office. The couple spent their honeymoon at a Portland hotel with the girl, deputies said. Smock then fled to California, they said.

Investigators said the child's mother hasn't been cooperative in the case and deputies arrested her Tuesday.

She appeared in court on charges of hindering prosecution, tampering with a witness and perjury. FOX 12 is not naming her to protect the identity of the child.

Awareness program targets child sex abuse



Durham, N.C. — The physical and sexual abuse that led to 4-year-old Teghan Alyssa Skiba's death isn't unusual, according to experts, who say educational programs can prevent abuse.

Teghan had cuts, lacerations, bite marks, head trauma and sexual assault injuries. Her mother's boyfriend has been charged with murder and felony child abuse.

"Obviously, the death of this young girl is more unusual.

Unfortunately, I don't believe that the abuse that happened to her is as unusual," said Nancy Kent, a child mental health specialist at The Durham Center.

Kent said she hears stories about sexual abuse every day in her work, and she cited statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that one-fourth of girls in the U.S. and one-sixth of boys are sexually abused.


"It's up to the adults to protect the kids," she said.
Kent said she decided to focus on prevention, and she partnered with a national program called "Darkness to Light," which trains adults to look for situations in which a potential abuser could strike.




This murder is found in our Murdered Children thread. I'm adding it here because of the severe sexual abuse she endured, that her mother was aware of and allowed. She has also been arrested.

Abuse by Toxic Step-Fathers and Colluding Mothers

Toxic step-fathers and step-mothers are clichés because they’re all too common. But the ubiquity of harassment, bullying and verbal, sexual and physical abuse doesn’t diminish the pain and long-term damage inflicted on defenseless kids.

Of course, kids can also treat their step-parents cruelly, and step-mothers and biological parents can also be relentlessly cruel, but let’s focus here on step-fathers who abuse their size, control and power.
These step-fathers sexually abuse one or all of their step-daughters while the moms ignore the evil. The perpetrators are to blame and the daughters’ anger is rightly focused on these men.

But let’s also look at the moms who won’t see or hear anything bad about their new husbands even though the complaints and evidence are clear, and the damage to their children is striking.

Later, when the complaints and evidence are brought forth by the now-adult and articulate children, these mothers will usually still defend and excuse the predators they invited into their homes.

Typically, the mothers whine and demand that their children should perpetuate the lies and secrets. “After all,” they complain, “they deserve a little happiness after all they’ve suffered. Their daughters should understand how hard it was for them.”

Nonsense. These narcissistic mothers deserve nothing; certainly not the allegiance of their abused daughters. Most daughters make repeated overtures of friendship to their uncaring and unsympathetic mothers. The daughters hope that by understanding why their mothers didn’t protect and defend them they’ll be able to forgive their mothers and maintain a loving connection.

I hope that the emotional blackmail and manipulation contained in the word “forgiveness” will be the last straw. How can the mothers heal the wounds they ignored and let fester during years of abuse? In addition, these mothers rarely start making amends by getting rid of the perpetrators.

The daughters, who held the pain and trauma when they were young, are still left holding the emotional bag. There’s no way they can release their anger by simply beating the bullies to death or making them burn slowly, even though he deserves even worse.
Separate from what social services and the police might have been able to do, what can the adult children do now?

• Don’t debate or argue. Don’t try to get your mother and step-father to admit what they did. They can keep you hung up, focusing on them for years. Take your time and energy away from them and focus on a new life.
  
• Stop abusing yourself with negative self-talk and predictions of failure that increase self-doubt, stress and depression, and destroy self-confidence and self-esteem. Convert those inner, self-bullying voices into helpful coaches.
  
• Get away from both your mother and step-father; physically and emotionally. Get away from triggers that are guaranteed to keep you in emotional turmoil. Don’t let abusers keep hitting a very black-and-blue area of your body, emotions and spirit. Distance and no contact will help you focus on your present and future instead of on your past.
  
• Don’t let your children near them. More important than their knowing their toxic grandparents is your protecting them from emotional and physical perpetrators. Be a model for them to keep a flame of strength, courage and determination burning in their hearts no matter what happens to them.
  
• Forget about understanding and forgiveness; let these come in their own time, if they ever do. Understanding why that old man, who may or may not be truly sorry now, could torture you like he did does not excuse or justify the behavior. Understanding how your mother could allow you to be tortured does not excuse or justify the behavior. Understanding why they maintained a conspiracy of silence then and now does not excuse or justify the behavior.
  
• Become internally invulnerable. Use the past pain to inspire your present life. I know that’s easy to say and hard to do. Find people to remind you of your fighting spirit when your energy flags. Get an expert coach to help you put the wounds behind you. Fill the mental space in front of you with your vision of the present and future you want.
  

Don’t let toxic step-fathers and colluding mothers ruin any more of your life than they did when they had physical control of you. You’re now an adult. You have control of your physical, emotional and spiritual island. Vote them off it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ben Leichtling, Ph.D. is author of the books and CDs “How to Stop Bullies in Their Tracks,” “Parenting Bully-Proof Kids” and “Eliminate the High cost of Low Attitudes.” He is available for coaching, consulting and speaking. To find practical, real-world tactics to stop bullies and bullying at home, school, work and in relationships, see his web site (http://www.BulliesBeGone.com) and blog (http://www.BulliesBeGoneBlog.com).

Police: Man Claims Virus Downloaded Child Porn To Laptop, Cell Phone

Randy Carl Daugherty Charged With Possession Of Child Pornography

October 7, 2010

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- A Louisville man is facing child pornography charges after police said he acquired files using a file-sharing program.

According to arrest records, police executed a search warrant at 24-year-old Randy Carl Daugherty's residence on Wednesday.

Police said when they entered Daugherty's apartment, he was watching pornography through Limewire and he had several pornographic files opened on his laptop.

According to arrest records, Daugherty deleted files of child porn from his cell phone.

Police said Daugherty also had child pornography on his MP3 player.

According to arrest records, Daugherty admitted he knew that child pornography was in his possession but said a computer virus automatically downloaded the material to his laptop, cell phone and MP3 player.

Daugherty is charged with possession of child porn and tampering with evidence.

He pleaded not guilty to the charges in court Thursday.

Calif. county restricts sex offenders on Halloween

VISALIA, Calif. --
A California county has passed a law barring people convicted of sex crimes against children from decorating their homes and handing out candy to kids on Halloween.

The Porterville Recorder reports that the Tulare County Board of Supervisors voted 4-1 Tuesday in favor of the new ordinance despite objections it could violate state law and the U.S. Constitution.

Supervisors say the law will keep children safe while trick or treating.
But Public Defender Michael Sheltzer says there is no evidence that children are more vulnerable to sex offenders on Halloween.

He says the new regulations are legally questionable under the state's Jessica's Law and also restrict the rights of sex offenders under the First Amendment.
___

20 Women Arrested in Swedish Child Porn Raid

STOCKHOLM -- Swedish police say they have arrested 23 people in a nationwide raid against a child pornography ring, including 20 women.

Police spokesman Sven-Ake Petters called the raid "unique" and said he has never come across so many female suspects in a child pornography investigation before. He says arrests were made at 12 different locations across Sweden on Wednesday and include women aged between 38 and 60.

Police uncovered the network during the investigation of a man in Dalarna, western Sweden, who was charged last month with breaking child pornography laws.

Petters says there were no immediate clues as to why so many women were involved but that police will now investigate computers and mobile phones that were seized during the raid.

**FoxOrlando

Renter arrested after apartment worker stumbles on child pornography

An apartment maintenance worker changing air-conditioner filters stumbled on a collection of child pornography that led to the arrest of a renter, the Orange County Sheriff's Office said.

The worker at Colonial Pointe luxury apartments in east Orange saw numerous photos on Sept. 29 and notified a complex manager, a sheriff's report states. The manager entered Thomas Birkbeck's apartment and took pictures of the photographs, which she provided to detectives, according to the report.

Armed with a search warrant, investigators went to the apartment Tuesday night and found stacks of photos at the foot of the bed that depicted young girls naked, some performing simulated sex acts.

Birkbeck, 51, came home to find the deputies in his apartment and admitted that he had collected the images over 20 years on CDs, DVDs and computer hard drives, investigators said. He also printed and downloaded them from the Internet, the report states.

Birkbeck described his actions as an "addiction," a deputy wrote.

Birkbeck is being held without bail at the Orange County Jail on 24 counts of possession of materials depicting a sexual performance by a child.

The complex had warned residents via flyer that the filters would be changed during that time period.

Mom Pleads Guilty In Plot To Impregnate Girl

Pa. Woman Can't Have Any More Kids, Asked Daughter To Carry Child

UNIONTOWN, Pa. -- A western Pennsylvania woman accused of conspiring with her boyfriend to drug her 13-year-old daughter so he could try to impregnate her has pleaded guilty in a deal with prosecutors.

The 34-year-old Uniontown woman was slated for trial Monday in Fayette County Court of Common Pleas. But she pleaded guilty to criminal conspiracy, endangering the welfare of children, corruption of minors and unauthorized administration of intoxicants.

Police say the mother can't have more children and asked her daughter to carry her boyfriend's child but the daughter refused.
The girl says she was given alcohol and sleeping pills mixed in tea and soda and the man tried to assault her but she awoke and fought him off.

The mother's boyfriend, 42-year-old Dewayne Calloway, is scheduled for trial next month on charges including attempted rape. His attorney says he's innocent.

Abducted California 8-year-old was sexually assaulted, police say


Police identify suspect as as Gregorio Gonzalez, 24, of Fresno

Police chief says citizens and "good Samaritans" are "heroes"

(CNN) -- The remarkable recovery of an abducted 8-year-old girl in Fresno, California -- which combined solid police work with the efforts of good Samaritans -- turned bittersweet when authorities said the victim had been sexually assaulted.

Still, the fact that the girl was back home after the harrowing ordeal brought thanks from her parents during a news conference.

Speaking through an interpreter, the girl's father said he was "very happy that his daughter is home."

Police praised citizens, the media and good Samaritans as "heroes" on Tuesday, saying their efforts led to recovery and the arrest of the man, a suspected gang member, accused of taking her.

"It is truly a miracle of God that she is with us today," Police Chief Jerry Dyer said.

The girl was recovered hours after authorities said she was forced into a pickup truck at a Fresno apartment complex by a man who had approached a group of children playing.

Suspect Gregorio Gonzalez, 24, faces charges that will include kidnapping, false imprisonment and sexual assault.

She was taken to a hospital for an examination, Dyer told reporters, initially saying the girl was "frightened" and "traumatized" but in good condition. Police indicated later she was the victim of sexual assault in a wooded area, perhaps out of town, before the motorist drove back to Fresno.

Watching the girl and her mother reunite, Dyer said, was "the highlight of my career."

Police identified the suspect as Gregorio Gonzalez, 24, of Fresno. Charges against him will include kidnapping, false imprisonment and sexual assault. Gonzalez, who lives with his grandparents, is a member of the Bulldog gang, has been arrested for possession of a sawed-off shotgun and was on probation for felony domestic violence, Dyer said.

A person described by Dyer as a good Samaritan told police he was driving when he saw a truck similar to a description of the suspect's vehicle given by authorities. The person, who had watched the news and was familiar with the case, began to follow the truck, Dyer said.

The driver initially said he only saw a man in the truck and no one else, but within a few minutes saw a child stick her head up. "He realized right then and there he had the suspect vehicle," Dyer said.

The man pulled in front of the truck and cut it off, and the young girl "took the moment of opportunity, opened up the passenger door, and jumped out and ran," he said. A second good Samaritan stayed with the girl, Dyer said.

The driver pursued the pickup truck and was able to obtain a partial license plate number, which he gave to dispatchers, the chief said.

Victor Perez, who was the motorist who followed the suspect's truck. "I thank God that he put me here to help out that little girl."

About 40 minutes later, the California Highway Patrol received a report of a truck matching the vehicle description parked behind a church, Dyer said. Responding officers were not able to find the truck at the location and contacted the tipster, who advised them it had been driven away. It was later found parked nearby, behind an apartment complex.

The officer initially thought the truck was not occupied, but a man raised up as the officer exited his car, Dyer said. The unarmed man was taken into custody without incident, he said.

A witness has identified the man as the person at the abduction scene, the chief said.

"We beat the odds," Dyer said, adding that often abduction victims aren't found until it is too late. Of those killed in an abduction, 74 percent are killed in the first three hours, he said.
The suspect was tracked in this truck by citizens and police. One car pulled in front of the truck and the girl jumped out.


"I want to say thank you to the citizens of Fresno and the good Samaritans," he said. "They are heroes." He also thanked the media for their assistance.

Authorities were notified of the incident about 8:30 p.m. Monday, Dyer had said earlier. A man reportedly drove up to an apartment complex where a group of children were playing, approached two girls and attempted to lure them into his truck. A younger girl, 6, walked away, Dyer said, but the victim began walking with the man.


Two witnesses nearby, a man and a woman, saw what was going on and yelled at the children to get away from the vehicle and the man, Dyer said. But before the girl had time to react, he said, the man grabbed the girl, pushed her into the driver's side of the pickup and sped off with the truck's headlights off.

The girl's mother got into a car and tried to chase the truck down, but was unsuccessful, Dyer said.

Police had received a report shortly before the incident of a man with a similar description and vehicle exposing himself to young girls nearby, the chief said. The man got into a pickup and drove away with his lights out, Dyer said. The mother of one girl chased him on foot but did not catch him.

The vehicle was described as being a late 1970s or early 1980s model Ford or Chevy pickup, either dark brown or reddish-brown in color, Dyer said earlier. The two-door pickup reportedly had a 6-inch-wide white stripe on the side, and was spotted on policing cameras from the area, he said.

The police chief said the man attempted to entice the girls into the truck by promising them something, but would not say what. CNN affiliate KFSN reported the man spoke in Spanish and told the children that he would take them to the Dollar Store and buy them toys if they got into the truck.

A man was detained after a witness tip was questioned and released; authorities believed he was not involved.

"This is truly the first stranger abduction kidnapping that I believe has occurred at least since I have been the chief," Dyer said. Such incidents are "very rare in law enforcement today, fortunately."
Mayor Ashley Swearengin summarized the city's reaction.

"This is a remarkable accomplishment for an entire community," she said. "This is a relatively happy ending to an otherwise tragic tale."

Man Suspected in 11-Year-Old's Kidnapping, Assault Dies After Shooting Self in Face




Larry Kirby was named as a suspect in the kidnapping and assault of an Oklahoma City middle school student.

OKLAHOMA CITY -- A man who police named as a suspect in the kidnapping and sexual assault of an Oklahoma City middle school student died in the hospital Wednesday.

The 11-year-old girl was walking to Jefferson Middle School when she said a man pointed a gun at her, forced her into a small gray car, and then assaulted her before dropping her back off near school.

Police named Larry Kirby as the suspect. The convicted sex offender was taken to the hospital Tuesday after shooting himself in the face.

Kirby died Wednesday just before 6 p.m.

Police never got a chance to question Kirby and said the investigation into the kidnapping and assault remains open.

Kissimmee felon faces sex and child abuse charges
October 29, 2010

Victor Sanchez Jr. remains held without bail in the Osceola County Jail after being accused of drugging a teenager last year and having a series of sexual encounters with the girl, according to the sheriff's office.

The teen's mother contacted deputies Thursday saying she had found notes detailing an inappropriate relationship between her daughter and h Sanchez, who was the mother's former boyfriend, according to the sheriff's office.

"When deputies spoke with the 16-year-old victim she told them last year …Sanchez gave her a pill when her arm was hurting," a report states. "She said the pill made her sleepy and when she awoke, Sanchez was touching her inappropriately."

The teen told deputies about seven other sexual encounters with Sanchez, 33, who has an arrest record in Osceola County on marijuana and traffic charges, records show. The sheriff's office identified him as a registered felon.

Sanchez was questioned by detectives and booked on eight counts of lewd & lascivious battery and one count of child abuse, according to the sheriff's office.

Child Molestation Suspect Kills Self
25-Year-Old Found Dead In Camden County Jail Cell

October 29, 2010

WOODBINE, Ga. -- A 25-year-old woman accused of molesting seven boys younger than 16 years old earlier this year was found dead in her Camden County Jail cell Friday.

Detention officers at the Camden County Sheriff's Office Public Safety Complex in Woodbine, Ga., said they discovered Amy Mykkanen hanging from an air conditioning unit by her bed sheet and unresponsive in her cell about 5:30 a.m.

She was unable to be revived.

Investigators said another inmate in the cell was asleep when Mykkanen hanged herself.

"She did leave a note saying she had planned this," Camden County Sheriff Tommy Gregory said. "She didn't let anybody know, and basically leaving a note to her parents and officers and inmates saying she was sorry for hurting them."


Agents with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and the Camden County Coroner's Office were called to investigate the death.

"We're trying to review to see if there's anything that we missed that could have keyed us off to prevent this," Gregory said.

According to an indictment, Mykkanen had sexual contact with seven boys younger than 16. She was facing eight counts of child molestation, one count of statutory rape and one count of enticing a child for indecent purposes.

Investigators said one 13-year-old boy's parents and grandparents called police in July and told them the boy had been molested by Mykkanen, an acquaintance of the family.

Investigators said they seized laptop computers with cameras and digital video cameras from her home.

Mykkanen's husband is in the Navy. The sheriff said he is deployed at sea and has been notified of his wife's death.

Vampire Wannabe Arrested During Sex Offender Operation

USMS: Gray sleeps in a coffin, drives a hearse
Friday, 29 Oct 2010

• 
  

PHOENIX - Investigators say Robert Gray is a sex offender who violated his probation and failed to register as a sex offender. If that's not scary enough, take a look at his photo - your eyes aren't deceiving you. Gray has fangs.

You would think so, but U.S. Marshals say this isn't a Halloween costume. The fangs are dental implants -- Gray sleeps in a coffin and drives a hearse.

Deputy Mike Mahorniak has seen the worst of the worst, but says this is a new one.

Gray's arrest is part of Operation Safe Treat, which targets sex offenders in Arizona who failed to register, along with fugitives wanted for crimes against children.

"Historically, the noncompliant sex offender fugitives are the harder fugitives because they're ones that jail is not a good place for them," said Matt Hershey, a Supervisor Deputy U.S. Marshal. "They have a tendency to run a little bit harder and a little bit smarter."

In the past week, U.S. Marshals have arrested more than 30 sex offenders, just in time for their biggest night of the year.

"On Halloween we have a lot of kids coming out and we want to make sure the streets are safe for them to go and do their trick-or-treating, show off their costumes and enjoy their time," said Hershey.

On Halloween night, there will be a compliance check. U.S. Marshals will visit the homes of registered sex offenders to make sure their lights are out and that they're not giving out candy -- and doing nothing to attract children.

Lillington man gets 20 years on child porn charges

Lillington, N.C. — A Lillington man convicted on federal child pornography charges was sentenced Friday to nearly 22 years in prison.

William Joseph Black, 40, was found guilty in June of nine counts of receipt of child pornography and two counts of possession of child pornography.

Senior U.S. District Judge Louise Wood Flanagan also ruled that after his release, Black will be subjected to supervision for the rest of his life and must register as a sex offender.

U.S. Attorney George Holding said that Black's sentence was stiffer because of his criminal history. Black has convictions for third-degree sexual exploitation of a minor and disseminating obscene literature to a minor under age 13, according to state Department of Correction records.

Holding said that the investigation began when the Harnett County Sheriff's Office received complaints that Black had assaulted three girls. In his home, investigators found child pornography on two computers and 53 discs, prosecutors said.

Victims of abuse to protest at the Vatican

October 31, 2010

People from across the world who have been abused by priests gather outside the Vatican on Sunday to condemn the Catholic Church's handling of the scandal, its worst crisis in years. Several hundred protesters -- victims of abuse and their families -- are expected to demonstrate at the home of the powerful Church before leading a candle-lit vigil at which they will leave personal messages for the Vatican.

"This isn't an attack on faith or religion, it's about behaviour and ethics," said Marco Lodo Rizzini, a spokesman for child victims of abuse from Italy's Antonio Provolo institute for the deaf.

Sixty-seven deaf-mute children at the Catholic institute in the city of Verona were allegedly abused by priests and lay staff between the 1950s and 1980s.

Similar claims have emerged from across Europe and the United States, with the Church accused of not acting quickly or firmly against priests involved and even covering up the problem.

"Society has failed to address the problem of child abuse by priests, but we can't let this go unresolved, it's time to act," Bernie McDaid, co-founder of the US group Survivors Voice that is behind the event, told AFP.

"We're hoping to expose the cover-up and ensure that children all over the world who suffer abuse receive help," said McDaid, who was abused by a priest when he was a boy.

The protest, due at (0300 AEDT on Monday) will draw people from 13 countries including Australia, Belgium, Britain, The Netherlands and the United States, organisers said. McDaid founded Survivors Voice with a fellow victim of clerical child abuse, Gary Bergeron, "to bring survivors and supporters from around the world together for the first time" and to recognise the issue's "global impact."

"We're gathering at the Vatican because we want the world to realise that if a child can be abused somewhere that is supposed to be the ultimate safe place, it can happen anywhere," said Bergeron. "If children can be abused by a person who represents God -- in any faith -- they can be abused by anyone," he said.

Bergeron, who told his parents in 2002 he had been abused before discovering that his father was also a victim of clerical paedophilia, said the demonstration was not about making an example of the Catholic Church.

"Sadly it has already made an example of itself," he said. The Church is grappling with its worst crisis in recent years since the publication in November 2009 of a report revealing serial abuse of children by priests in Ireland and a subsequent cover-up, with similar cases unveiled in countries including Belgium and Germany.

Senior clerics were accused of protecting guilty priests by shifting them to other parishes, where some offended again, instead of handing them over to face justice.

Pope Benedict XVI himself has faced allegations that, as Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger when he headed the Vatican morals watchdog and earlier as the Archbishop of Munich, he failed to take action against predator priests.

The pope has stepped up his displays of contrition towards victims of pedophile priests on state visits as part of a concerted effort to convince Catholics and the wider world that the Church is now serious about tackling abuse.

The US association plans to mark the demonstration in Rome by announcing "The Year of the Survivor" and has started a global online petition to call on the United Nations to define paedophilia a "crime against humanity."

Police Asking For Public's Help In Child Abduction, Molestation Case

October 30, 2010 9:56 AM EST

News9.com

OKLAHOMA CITY -- The Oklahoma City Police Department's Crimes Against Children Unit is asking for the public's assistance in a recent child abduction and molestation that may be related to similar incidents in the area.

Officers received a report that a 12-year-old female had been abducted at gunpoint, taken to an unknown location, and molested by a male suspect Thursday morning.

During their investigation, they learned that the victim was walking from her home to school in the 2800 block of Brookline when she was approached by the suspect. The suspect forced the victim into the vehicle at gunpoint and drove her to an unknown location, where he molested her. He then drove her back to approximately the same location where he had picked her up, and dropped her off.

The suspect is described as a white male, unknown age/hair color, wearing a gray hoodie and dirty jeans. He was driving a gray four-door car.

Investigators are exploring the possibility that this is related to similar incidents that recently happened in the area.
Anyone with information should call either 911, if it's a tip requiring immediate action, or Crime Stoppers (405) 235-7300. Callers can remain anonymous, and may be eligible for a cash reward.