Counter Pedophilia Investigate Unit

Police increasingly look to Facebook to investigate crimes, as an Arizona couple was arrested after allegedly binding their babies with duct tape and posting photos on the social network.

The young parents, Frankie and Kayla Almuina, are facing charges of child abuse after one of the mother’s Facebook friends anonymously tipped off the Arizona Child Abuse Hotline.

According to Reuters, the couple’s 2-year-old boy and a 10-month old girl were shown on the mother’s Facebook page with duct tape on their wrists and ankles and with their mouths taped shut. The boy was also pictured hanging upside down from an exercise machine. (more…)

Phoenix: Two Arizona parents were arrested by sheriff’s deputies after apparently posting pictures on Facebook that showed their children, an infant and a toddler, bound with duct tape, authorities said on Thursday.

Coconino County deputies arrested Frankie Almuina, 20, and Kayla Almuina, 19, on suspicion of two counts of child abuse on Wednesday at their northern Arizona home after being alerted to the photos by an anonymous tip. (more…)

GLENDALE, Ariz.—Police on Monday arrested the mother of a missing 5-year-old Arizona girl on child abuse charges “directly related” to the girl, and said they don’t believe they’ll find the child alive.

In a news conference that offered the most detail yet about what investigators think happened to Jhessye Shockley, Glendale police said the girl’s mother, Jerice Hunter, was now the investigation’s “No. 1 focus.” (more…)

CHANDLER, AZ (KPHO) -

Chandler Police say one child in Arizona is abused or neglected every hour and, in 2009, 64 children died as a result of maltreatment. Police expect that number to be even higher in 2010.

What’s even more alarming is that not only is the number of deaths from child abuse going up, but investigators said the severity of abuse is also getting worse. (more…)

GILBERT, Ariz. – Alexandrea Kingsley, 18, only knew Jessica Callaway, 21, and her 10-month-old daughter, Laura, for about a month.

The three only lived together a couple of weeks but it didn’t take long for Kingsley to realize the mom’s bad behavior, record it and report it.

“I wanted to get up and grab her, hold her in my arms and keep her safe, but the smartest decision was to sit there and make the video because without that video I’d have no proof,” Kingsley said. (more…)

One of the most beautiful places on earth held a terrifying secret

In an unbelievable case of child abuse, a grandfather has been arrested and charged with what amounts to torture of his three grandchildren.

The incident occured in one of the worlds most beautiful places, The Grand Canyon and had apparently been going on for some time, according to officials. (more…)

Warren Jeffs, the leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (FLDS), has been on trial for barely a week, but the jury has already convicted him of sexually assaulting a 12-year-old girl and a 15-year-old girl, both of whom Jeffs claims were his “spiritual wives.” Jeffs could face life in prison.

Earlier this week, the prosecution rested its case after playing a tape of Jeffs having sex with a 12-year-old church follower. Forensic evidence also presented nearly-certain proof that Jeffs was the father of a child born to a 15-year-old follower. Jeffs, after firing his lawyers, defended himself, saying that the issue was not sexual assault; rather, his religious freedoms were being “trampled” upon. (more…)

Obviously not hip to the work of Dateline NBC’s To Catch a Predator, a 24-year-old Phoenix man was arrested Tuesday after allegedly trying to solicit sex from a 14-year-old in an online chat room.

Police say Godfrey Exal Pinho was trying to solicit sex from a person he believed to be a 14-year-old girl Tuesday morning. In reality, though, that “girl” was more likely a  40-year-old cop with a mustache than a teen looking to hook up.

After asking the “girl” about her sexual experiences and sending her some pictures of himself and his car, Pinho wanted to meet in person.

According to documents obtained by New Times, Pinho asked if “she was interested in meeting him for the purposes of engaging in oral sex and digital manipulation of her genitals.” (more…)