The three bills are Virginia’s response to child abuse allegations that rocked Penn State’s mighty football program and forced the November firing of its legendary head coach, Joe Paterno.Together, they place statutory requirements on coaches, recreation specialists, youth volunteers and others to report suspected child abuse to law enforcement and other authorities. The legislation also shortens the deadline from 72 hours to just 24.

One, by Del. Robert G. Marshall, R-Prince William, adds athletic coaches and leaders of private sports teams and organizations to the list of people the law requires to report abuse or neglect of children to the Department of Social Services.

Another, by Del. Rob Bell, R-Albemarle, specifically adds coaches at public or private colleges in Virginia to that same list.

And the third, by Del. Ed Scott, R-Madison, boosts the penalty for failing to report from a fine of up to $1,000, to a misdemeanor that carries up to a year’s jail time and a fine as high as $2,500. If sexual abuse to a child causes death or injury, failure to report it is a felony, punishable by up to five years in prison.

House floor debate on the three bills is expected early next week.

The bills as originally presented Thursday defined the authorities and chains of command to whom abuse claims should be made, primarily the Department of Social Services and its hotline. Bell, who is running for state attorney general in 2013, offered amendments that would allow a simple call to the police to satisfy the reporting obligations.

“All of us are aware of what happened at Penn State and that’s providing the backdrop to this,” Bell said.

Former Penn State assistant coach Jerry Sandusky, 68, faces trial on felony charges that he sexually abused 10 boys over a 15-year span, with some of the attacks reported in the school’s athletic facilities. But the scandal widened far beyond Sandusky because of the silence that surrounded the alleged abuses for years.

Paterno, who won more games than any coach in major college football history, was fired Nov. 9 amid criticism that he never notified police officers of the attacks when he learned Sandusky had been seen sexually assaulting a boy in the showers. Paterno told his superiors, but Penn State’s trustees felt he should have done more. Pennsylvania’s state police commissioner said that Paterno satisfied his legal obligation, but not a moral one.

Besides Paterno, who died at age 85 of lung cancer on Jan. 22, Penn State fired its president, placed its athletics director on administrative leave and forced a senior official who oversaw the university police department to step down.

The three bills, expected to win easy House and Senate passage, expand the number of groups or professions required to report child abuse to 18. Del. Joe Morrissey, D-Henrico, questioned why it stops there.

“Is there a group of people in … Virginia who we do not want to report suspected cases of child abuse?” Morrissey asked. “Would we not be better off saying anybody 18 years old or older … should be reporting suspected cases of child abuse?”

With the list so narrow, he said, legislators will be forced to return perennially to add new categories.

In an interview after the committee adjourned, Bell said that while decency dictates that everyone report child abuse, “the question is where is the law going to punish those who don’t. We have done this group-by-group in the past, but we are reaching the point where it may be essential to bring in everybody else as well.”

Source: Washington Post

“Protect the kids, that’s what it should be about,” Sergeant Brotherton says. “The parents trust that we are all doing that. When someone fails to do that, it just loses trust in the whole system.”

Police say 44-year-old Susan Freeman, of Iowa City, is accused of not reporting allegations a teacher in her center’s program sexually assaulted a girl under 12. The Iowa City police and the Iowa Department of Human Services are conducting a joint investigation into the sexual abuse allegations, according to Brotherton.

“We have to protect the children, that is the goal of this ultimately, to protect the children,” she says. “That’s what everyone’s ultimate goal should be in any of our positions.” The child’s mother reported the incident on December 12th to Iowa City police, which then reported the allegations to the D.H.S.

Freeman was arrested Wednesday night for suspicion of failing to report child abuse, a simple misdemeanor punishable by a fine of up to $300.

By Mark Carlson, KCRG, Cedar Rapids

Source: Radio Iowa

Reuben Mulamba, 27, of Ellensburg faces two counts of second-degree child assault and his girlfriend, 23-year-old Ashly Eli, of Ellensburg, faces two counts of second-degree criminal mistreatment. The couple may face additional charges upon further medical examination of the children, according to a news release from the Ellensburg Police Department.

As of Wednesday morning, the 4-year-old girl was in critical condition and the 8-year-old boy was in stable condition at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle. Both children have lacerations, bruises and infected wounds.

The girl is suffering internal bleeding and her kidneys aren’t functioning properly, said Kittitas County Deputy Prosecutor Chris Herion during the couple’s first appearance hearing in Kittitas County Superior Court Wednesday.

Police were notified of the abuse Tuesday after Eli went to ASPEN, an organization in Ellensburg that assists victims of domestic violence and sexual assault.

Eli admitted to investigators that Mulamba hit the children with a belt all over their bodies up to 20 times when they misbehaved, Herion said in court. Eli told investigators Mulamba also pinched the children with a pair of pliers, struck them with wood and an electrical cord, Herion said.

In a statement given to police, Mulamba admitted to spanking the children with a phone charging cord, Heroin said, and to pinching the children with his fingers, but not with a pair of pliers.

Eli admitted to police that she intentionally failed to take the children to the hospital out of fear of getting the police and Child Protective Services involved, according to the EPD news release and statements read in court. Eli has an active nursing assistant certification that was issued in September, according to information on the Washington State Department of Health’s website.

The couple and the children moved to Ellensburg in late 2011 or early this year. At the time of his arrest by Ellensburg police officers Tuesday, Mulamba was out on bail for a case pending in Grant County. According to documents filed in Grant County Superior Court, Mulamba is charged with second-degree burglary and third-degree theft for allegedly stealing two video game controllers worth about $55 apiece from the Moses Lake Walmart. Eli drove the getaway car, according to court documents.

On Jan. 13 Ellensburg police officers responded to a domestic dispute at the couple’s home on North Walnut Street in Ellensburg, at which time Mulamba told police he was upset with Eli because she didn’t discipline her kids, Herion said.

Then on Tuesday the couple were arrested for the alleged abuse, which investigators believe took place over the past two weeks. Both children were taken into protective custody by EPD detectives and turned over Child Protective Services.

Superior Court Judge Scott Sparks found probable cause to charge the couple with assault and criminal mistreatment. Sparks set Mulamba’s bail at $1 million and Eli’s bail at $750,000. Both are scheduled for an arraignment hearing on Feb. 13.

Source: Yakima Herald

Atlanta, GA – infoZine – The report released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, published in Child Abuse and Neglect, The International Journal, looked at confirmed child maltreatment cases, 1,740 fatal and 579,000 non–fatal, for a 12–month period.The lifetime cost for each victim of child maltreatment who lived was $210,012, which is comparable to other costly health conditions, such as stroke with a lifetime cost per person estimated at $159,846 or type 2 diabetes, which is estimated between $181,000 and $253,000. The costs of each death due to child maltreatment are even higher.

“No child should ever be the victim of abuse or neglect – nor do they have to be. The human and financial costs can be prevented through prevention of child maltreatment,” said Linda C. Degutis, Dr.P.H., M.S.N., director of CDC′s National Center for Injury Prevention and Control.

Child maltreatment has been shown to have many negative effects on survivors, including poorer health, social and emotional difficulties, and decreased economic productivity. This CDC study found these negative effects over a survivor′s lifetime generate many costs that impact the nation′s health care, education, criminal justice and welfare systems.

The estimated average lifetime cost per victim of nonfatal child maltreatment includes:
$32,648 in childhood health care costs
$10,530 in adult medical costs
$144,360 in productivity losses
$7,728 in child welfare costs
$6,747 in criminal justice costs
$7,999 in special education costs

The estimated average lifetime cost per death includes:
$14,100 in medical costs
$1,258,800 in productivity losses

Child maltreatment can also be linked to many emotional, behavioral, and physical health problems. Associated emotional and behavioral problems include aggression, conduct disorder, delinquency, antisocial behavior, substance abuse, intimate partner violence, teenage pregnancy, anxiety, depression, and suicide.

Past research suggests that child maltreatment is a complicated problem, and so its solutions cannot be simple. An individual parent or caregiver′s behavior is influenced by a range inter–related factors such as how they were raised, their parenting skills, the level of stress in their life, and the living conditions in their community. Because of this complexity, it is critical to invest in effective strategies that touch on all sectors of society.

“Federal, state, and local public health agencies as well as policymakers must advance the awareness of the lifetime economic impact of child maltreatment and take immediate action with the same momentum and intensity dedicated to other high profile public health problems –in order to save lives, protect the public′s health, and save money,” said Dr. Degutis.

Several programs have demonstrated reductions in child maltreatment and have great potential to reduce the human and economic toll on our society. Several examples of effective programs include:

Nurse–Family Partnership, an evidence–based community health program. Partners a registered nurse with a first–time mother during pregnancy and continues through the child′s second birthday. http://www.nursefamilypartnership.org/ link

Early Start, provides coordinated, family–centered system of services: http://www.dds.ca.gov/earlystart/ link California′s response to federal legislation providing early intervention services to infant and toddlers with disabilities and their families.

Triple P, a multilevel parenting and family support system: http://www.triplep–america.com/ link Aims to prevent severe emotional and behavioral disturbances in children by promoting positive and nurturing relationships between parent and child.

If you know or suspect a child is being abused, contact the National Child Abuse Hotline at 1–800–4–A–CHILD or visit the Childhelp website www.childhelp.org

Source: InfoZine

Mark Berndt appeared in court today on charges that he committed lewd acts on 23 boys and girls, ages 6 to 10, between 2008 and 2010. The Miramonte third grade school teacher was arrested Monday at his home in Torrance and is being held on $23 million bail.

His alleged crimes include gagging students aged 7 to 10 with tape, putting 3-inch long Madagascar cockroaches on their faces and in their mouths and forcing them to taste semen.Some parents complained yesterday that officials at the South Los Angeles school should have notified them when photos depicting the abuse were found in 2010.

The L.A. Times has reported that the acts Berndt is being charged with happened between 2005 and 2010 but they also said that school officials weren’t notified until January of 2011. Berndt wasn’t removed from classroom soon after but not fired until the following month and the majority of parents were not notified until yesterday.

Gloria Polanco, the mother of two children at the school asks why, if the principal knew this in advance, he didn’t he inform parents. “How long has he been doing this?” asked Polanco. School district officials say they were forced by law enforcement investigators to keep the case quiet so as not to cross-contaminate any evidence.

The probe began after the film processor, who is required by state law to report suspicions of child abuse and molestation, turned over some 40 photographs to authorities in October 2010. About 400 photos were found at Berndt’s home and at the photo lab during subsequent searches. It’s not clear how many different children were pictured.

Source: KPCC

The findings reveal the financial burden of child abuse is just as high or higher than that of costly health conditions, including Type 2 diabetes.

“No child should ever be the victim of abuse or neglect — nor do they have to be. The human and financial costs can be prevented through prevention of child maltreatment,” said Linda C. Degutis, director of CDC′s National Center for Injury Prevention and Control.In 2008, there were 1,740 confirmed cases of fatal child abuse, and 579,000 nonfatal cases of child maltreatment, which include physical abuse, sexual abuse, psychological abuse and neglect, according to the report.

The cost of health care, child welfare and other services for each victim who survived their abuse will be $210,012 over the average victim’s lifetime, which is higher than the lifetime cost of stroke ($159,846 per person) and Type 2 diabetes (between $181,000 and $253,000 per person). The costs of each death due to abuse are even higher, according to the report.

Child maltreatment has been shown to have many negative effects on survivors, including poorer health, social and emotional difficulties, and decreased economic productivity. These negative effects over a survivor’s lifetime generate many costs that deleteriously affect the nation’s health care, education, criminal justice and welfare systems.

The estimated average lifetime cost per victim of nonfatal child maltreatment includes:

$32,648 in childhood health care costs
$10,530 in adult medical costs
$144,360 in productivity losses
$7,728 in child welfare costs
$6,747 in criminal justice costs
$7,999 in special education costs

The estimated average lifetime cost per death includes:

$14,100 in medical costs
$1,258,800 in productivity losses

The emotional and behavioral problems associated with child maltreatment include aggression, conduct disorder, antisocial behavior, substance abuse, intimate partner violence, teenage pregnancy, anxiety, depression and suicide, according to the report.

Better solutions to prevent childhood maltreatment must be found, the CDC said. A parent’s or caregiver’s behavior is influenced by a range of inter-related factors, such as how they were raised, their parenting skills, the level of stress in their life, and the living conditions in their community.

“Federal, state and local public health agencies as well as policymakers must advance the awareness of the lifetime economic impact of child maltreatment and take immediate action with the same momentum and intensity dedicated to other high-profile public health problems in order to save lives, protect the public’s health, and save money,” Degutis said.

Source: Vitals

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.Prospective jurors were thanked and released from their subpoenas Monday — marking an unexpected end to a trial that was expected to last up to a month.

Whether “sloppy work” by the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office led prosecutors to sign off on Sims’ 11th hour plea deal wasn’t clear because prosecutors Margaret Vellar and Sharon Flaherty declined to comment, citing a gag order.

Sims will be sentenced April 14 by 4th Judicial District Judge G. David Miller.

Sims’ former girlfriend and co-defendant Monique Lynch has already been sentenced to 27 years in prison. She also eluded a first-degree murder charge in the case — by agreeing to testify against Sims at trial.

After Lynch made the deal with prosecutors last year, they dropped the murder charge against her and filed a first-degree murder count against Sims, citing new details that Lynch provided as a condition of the plea.

The couple have blamed each other for causing the girl’s death, leaving investigators with disputed accounts of what happened. An autopsy found that the girl, Genesis, died as a result of a homicide but didn’t determine how, with an El Paso County coroner saying her body was too decomposed. Genesis had been wrapped in plastic and left in the crawl space months before Sims and Lynch were arrested.

Sims and Lynch both were implicated in child abuse documented by New Jersey child welfare workers, who testified at pretrial hearings. Prosecutors alleged that Sims and Lynch left New Jersey to avoid the agency’s scrutiny.

According to testimony on the stand, New Jersey authorities determined Genesis was once made to carry her fecal matter to school as punishment for soiling her bedroom. The girl reportedly said she was too afraid to make it to the bathroom.

At Lynch’s sentencing, Miller said there were “many circumstances” in which she could have intervened in acts of abuse by Sims.

The case against Sims was weakened before trial by the revelation that El Paso County sheriff’s detectives made a series of false statements about a confession from Sims.

The proof came in December, when a missing tape turned up and established that regardless of what the detectives said, Sims didn’t confess to leaving his injured daughter to suffer for two days on a bed before she was possibly buried alive.

Sheriff’s detectives Ralph Losasso and Sgt. Robert Jaworksi, who conducted the interview after Sims and Lynch were arrested in Henderson, Nev., and who stood by their claims, were cited by Judge Miller for “stunningly sloppy police work.”

Confronted with the evidence, lead detective Losasso said on the stand he was sleep-deprived when he misinterpreted one of Sims’ answers.

Losasso and Jaworski had previously said they inadvertently destroyed notes of the interview and didn’t record it.

After Miller ordered a review of evidence-gathering practices by the sheriff’s office, a District Attorney’s investigator tracked down a copy of the interview from a Nevada police detective who was in the room at the time — even though Losasso said no one else was present.

After reviewing the record, Miller directed harsh words at the detectives but said he couldn’t determine if they were lying or mistaken.

Miller tossed out other evidence from the interview and ordered that Sims’ attorneys Matthew Werner and Tracey Eubanks would have “wide latitude” to question investigators over the errors.

Eubanks earlier this month offered a glimpse of what a jury might have seen as a result — by pushing Losasso on the stand until he was visibly shaken.

Source: Gazette

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.

“The national statistics say one in 4 girls and one in 6 boys under the age of 18 have been sexually abused, and that only one in 10 tell,” said Scott Miller, Executive Director of Just For Kids which hosted the event.

Just For Kids is a Child Advocacy Center in Beckley serving Raleigh, Fayette and Wyoming counties.

“We interviewed 271 children between the ages of 3-18 last year, and if the statistics are correct and only one in 10 tell, there are about 2700 cases just in these three counties alone.”

Just For Kids works with Child Protective Services and law enforcement when there is alleged child criminal abuse. Its nationally trained interviewers spend time with children to help determine what happened.

National data indicates this reduces the trauma for the child, according to Miller.

If abuse is disclosed, Just For Kids provides counseling. The agency also provides prevention and awareness programs throughout the area.

“Everyone that I give the statistics to is shocked. Then nothing much happens,” said Miller. “With the Penn State and Syracuse sexual abuse allegations, people are now clearly aware that this goes on, but what are we doing about it?”

“I know if everyone in the community is conscience of the issues that go on, that it will reduce the incidents of sexual abuse and certainly child abuse over all,” he said.

The Family Resource Networks of Raleigh, Wyoming and Fayette counties gave presentations on the child-focused programs they’ve been able to coordinate and expand in their counties. They reported on parenting classes, early literacy programs, faith-based services, and teen peer-review and support groups.

Skip Jennings of the Fayette County Family Resource Network believes the biggest issue in Fayette County, as well as southern West Virginia, is prescription drug abuse.

“The last statistic I heard was 20% of babies born in Raleigh General Hospital are addicted or have some kind of drug in their system,” said Jennings.

“Not only is drug abuse a problem, truancy is a problem in Fayette County,” he said. “The last statistics that we saw we had about 1970 children truant with more than 10 absences. There are only 6000 students registered in Fayette County.”

“These kids not being in school is going to affect their educational ability and if we don’t solve that we’re just going to continue the cycle of problems that we have now.”

Jennings stressed the goal is intervention with education, so that children would never have to be removed from their homes.

“Any child that comes into foster care is going to have problems later on,” he said. “Research shows that any child going into foster care continues to have problems with education, there are higher dropout percentages, and more people are into substance abuse.”

“So what we need to do is prevent that. We need to have services out there to help families so they don’t have to become involved with Child Protective Services.”

Rep. Nick Joe Rahall attended the conference, calling the safety of children a moral obligation.

“We must hold sacred the trust that children naturally place in adults and pursue and prosecute those who would do them harm,” said Rahall.

“We must continue to invest in our communities, law enforcement, and first responders to make sure they have the tools and technology with which to protect our children from predators,” he said.

The forum was opened for an exchange of questions and ideas. When a participant pointed out that Raleigh County teachers are not trained in a sexual abuse prevention program, Miller Hall, Director of Secondary Education for Raleigh County Schools, took the microphone.

“What you just said really touched me,” said Hall.

“I promise you I’ll take it back to the Superintendent and we’ll get that in teacher staff development because that’s not the way it should be,” he said. “And I promise you, I’ll get that done.”

The group also learned that House bill 4240 and its companion in the Senate, SB 161, known as the Prevent Child Abuse West Virginia Act is making its way through the legislative process.

The bill would invest $1 million in education and prevention programs – and increase the fine for failure to report sexual abuse from $100 to $1000.

The Senate passed its bill Monday and sent it to the House of Delegates.

Source: West Virginia Public Broadcasting

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.When the child was taken to Jackson Memorial Hospital, it was discovered he only weighed 35 pounds, or roughly the size of a 3 – 5 year old child.

“He looks like he came from Auschwitz,” said juvenile court Judge Cindy Lederman. “This does not happen in a month.”

Police said the child’s hands and feet were so swollen from lack of food and that the child told hospital staff that he had not eaten in roughly three days.

North Miami Beach Police arrested Marsee “Redd” Strong, 34, and charged her with two counts of aggravated abuse and neglect of a child.

In addition, Edward Bailey, 39, was arrested for his alleged part in the case and faces two counts of aggravated abuse and child neglect.

According to police, Strong admitted to failing to protect her child from others and “not properly supervising him and getting him medical treatment in a timely manner;” but denied physically abusing the kid. She did not dispute that bruising covered most of the child’s body.

Bailey told police that he didn’t abuse his son, but “allows other to do so without his intervention.”

Bailey also said he noticed the child’s small stature and abuse, but didn’t take him to get medical treatment.

Neighbors were stunned to hear about the charges.

“I was surprised. I was shocked. I didn’t even know what to say when the police were here and the mother was standing on the corner and then I heard the child had jumped out of the window and ran down the street naked,” said Mary Williams.

Willie Mitchell said he never saw any problems with his neighbors.

“I always seen a lovely family with the kids happy around their mother.”

Another neighbor said she knew the boy had a severe eating disorder.

The victim is one of six children living in the home. The investigation has also revealed that the parents have a history of involvement with the Department of Children and Families.

An uncle, Joseph Lee, stepped forward in and asked to care for the boy’s five siblings.

“I’m looking for words to express how I feel,” Lee said in court. “I was not aware. You try to do everything you can. I asked her about him. She told me he was fine.”

According to a social worker, DCF had been monitoring the boy because he had refused to eat and “self-mutilated himself and his own skin.”

“There was food in the house,” the social worker said. “But there was no neglect. He just refused to eat.”

But, Judge Lederman said there was gross negligence and appointed a guardian to take of the children and ordered medical tests for all of the children in the home.

The North Miami Beach Police Department and the DCF continue to investigate the incident and the family.

Source: CBS Miami

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.Paramedics rushed the boy to the hospital, where he begged for food and told employees he had not eaten in three days. His body showed “permanent marks of abuse all over,” according to an arrest report.

His tiny body weighed as much as a 2-year-old’s. His hands and feet were “swollen from the lack of food,” the police report said.

Strong denied hitting the child but “admitted to failing to protect her child from others and not properly supervising him and getting him medical treatment in a timely manner.” Bailey also denied hitting the boy but admitted he allowed “others” to hit him, police said.

Both suspects are unemployed.

The family had a history with the Florida Department of Children and Families, according to an agency spokeswoman, although details were not immediately released. Relatives are now caring for the boy’s siblings.

Source: Miami Herald