Counter Pedophilia Investigate Unit

A former Monument man accused in the murder of his 7-year-old daughter pleaded guilty to a lesser count Monday, a week after a judge cited what he called “stunningly sloppy police work” on the case.

Slated to begin trial Monday, Hanif Sims took a last-minute plea to child abuse resulting in death, averting courtroom battles over a tape that proved Sims never made a confession that authorities said he did.

Sims, 31, faces 27 to 40 years in prison rather than the automatic life term he would have received with a murder conviction. (more…)

Child sexual abuse, prescription drug abuse, truancy and other child welfare issues were the topics of a public forum in Beckley Monday.

Representatives from child advocacy agencies, the Department of Health and Human Resources, law enforcement, public education, community groups and private citizens participated.

The statewide organization “Prevent Child Abuse West Virginia” is funding child-issues forums across the state. (more…)

MIAMI (CBSMiami) – A North Miami Beach mother and father have been arrested and charged with child abuse after their severely malnourished child was found naked in the street.

Police said the child had jumped from the rear window of his house in the 14-hundred block of NE 152 Street, to escape his abusers on Saturday night.

The child, who is nine-years-old, was said to have the body of a much younger child, according to North Miami Beach Police. (more…)

A North Miami Beach couple severely beat their 9-year-old son, who was found so starved that he weighed just 35 pounds, police said.

Marsee Strong, 34, and Edward Bailey, 40, were arrested Saturday night on charges of aggravated child abuse. On Monday afternoon, they were still jailed and had yet to post $65,000 bail.

According to North Miami Beach police, neighbors found the naked boy wandering the streets. (more…)

It would allow people to challenge their inclusion on the state list after as few as five years.

A bill reforming due-process rights for people placed on Iowa’s child abuse registry advanced out of a House subcommittee on Thursday.

But changes are still on the table for the legislation, which has taken shape through an unusually cooperative process on what had been a sharply contentious issue. (more…)

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greek disability groups expressed anger Monday at a government decision to expand a list of state-recognized disability categories to include pedophiles, exhibitionists and kleptomaniacs.

The National Confederation of Disabled People called the action “incomprehensible,” and said pedophiles are now awarded a higher government disability pay than some people who have received organ transplants. (more…)

BERLIN—A German court has convicted a Roman Catholic priest of some 250 counts of sexually abusing children over a several-year period and sentenced him to six years in prison.

German news agency dapd reported that the state court in Braunschweig on Thursday convicted the priest, who was found guilty of abusing three boys aged 9 to 15 between 2004 and 2011. (more…)

BATON ROUGE, La. — A New Orleans state senator wants to toughen Louisiana law that requires people to report child abuse, in response to the allegations of sexual abuse of boys involving a former Penn State University assistant football coach.

Democratic Sen. J.P. Morrell has filed legislation to make it a felony if a person witnesses sexual abuse of a child and fails to report it to police. The prison sentence would be up to five years for conviction. (more…)

Some children are at risk of abuse even before they are born, Social Development Minister Paula Bennett has been told.

Ms Bennett brought her two-week Green Paper roadshow to Lower Hutt’s Little Theatre last night. Nearly 200 locals turned up to air their concerns.

The discussion paper, launched in July, asks the public to give their opinions on how to protect abused, neglected and disadvantaged children. (more…)

A Maori health researcher says reducing Maori child abuse will require tackling poverty and racial discrimination.

Dr Fiona Cram, in a report published today by the Families Commission, says family poverty is “the major contributing risk factor for children” – and Maori children are twice as likely as European children to live in poverty.

Families Commission chairman Carl Davidson said Dr Cram had “a particular perspective on Maori children in care” which the commission did not necessarily share. (more…)