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BOISE, Idaho - A longtime sex offender was sentenced to death Wednesday for the 2005 kidnapping, torture and murder of a 9-year-old northern Idaho boy after federal jurors who watched video of some of the brutality deliberated just three hours. The jurors' recommendation was binding on U.S. District Judge Edward Lodge, who thanked them, dismissed them and then sentenced Joseph Edward Duncan III. Relatives of the victim, Dylan Groene, remained somber as the jury's decision was announced. Duncan murdered Dylan's mother, older brother and his mother's fiance to kidnap him and his younger sister, who was sexually abused along with...

A flagship database intended to protect every child in the country will be used by police to hunt for evidence of crime in a "shocking" extension of its original purpose, The Daily Telegraph has learned. ContactPoint will include the names, ages and addresses of all 11 million under-18s in England as well as information on their parents, GPs, schools and support services such as social workers. The £224 million computer system was announced in the wake of the death of Victoria Climbié, who was abused and then murdered after a string of missed opportunities to intervene by the authorities, as...

For a long time, elements of the Chinese government itself thought women’s gymnast He Kexin was born Jan. 1, 1994, which would make her 14 and too young to compete in these Summer Olympics. Whether it was repeated mentions in the government-controlled media – including a new one uncovered Friday by the Associated Press – or on official gymnastic meet registration forms and websites, He was “this little girl” and a “new star.” As recently as December 2007, in provincial gymnastics meets and news reports that covered it, she was a 13-year-old prodigy, too young for the 16-year-old Olympic age...

OVIEDO, Fla. -- It's been 28 days since now 3-year-old Caylee Anthony was reported missing. Caylee's grandfather told Eyewitness News on Tuesday that she was kidnapped and the people that have her are being watched. George Anthony told Eyewitness News he was supposed to meet in Oviedo on Tuesday morning with "people assisting outside the normal scope of things" and he seemed to suggest that the people are doing surveillance on kidnappers who he believes have his granddaughter. "These people know they are being watched. They know it," George told Eyewitness News on Tuesday morning. "Who are these people?" WFTV...

ORLANDO, Fla. -- Threats from the public, including extortion, are targeting the family of a missing Orlando girl as the case continues to grab national attention. Cindy Anthony, the grandmother of missing Caylee, said she has received the threats through e-mails, letters and phone calls. The incidents have been forwarded to the authorities for investigation, Local 6 has learned. Charges Are 'Good Thing' Meanwhile, the state attorney's office filed formal charges of felony child neglect and making a false report to law enforcement authorities against Casey Anthony, 22, in connection with the disappearance of her daughter. The false information concerned...

ORLANDO, Fla. -- The attorney for the mother of a missing Orlando girl said on Monday that discussions about limited immunity for his client have taken place between him and the State Attorney's Office. Jose Baez referred to the discussions as "informal," saying that nothing has been put on paper. It's not clear if he has met face-to-face with a representative of the State Attorney's Office. Baez represents Casey Anthony, who remains jailed on child neglect charges in connection to the disappearance of her 2-year-old daughter, Caylee. Casey Anthony's father, mother and brother met with Baez on Monday after meeting...

Just saw on Fox this morning: O'Reilly will discuss the Edwards affair this evening, 8:00 PM EDT.

Officials have cleared the way for the burial of a British infant who has been kept in a mortuary freezer in London for the past 21 years. Christopher Blum was four months old in 1987 when he was found dead in his crib the same day he received an inoculation against whooping cough, polio and tetanus, The Times of London reported Monday. The boy's parents have refused to sign a death certificate allowing for burial because the document lists the cause as crib death instead of contaminated vaccine. Using new powers, the Enfield Council in North London has approved a...

Five indicted FLDS members have turned themselves in. The men, sought since they were indicted Tuesday on a series of charges relating to alleged sexual abuse at the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints' Schleicher County ranch, turned themselves in to the Schleicher County Sheriff's Office about noon today, said Texas Ranger Capt. L.C. Wilson. According to the Texas Attorney General's Office, the five men are: * Raymond Merril Jessop, 36, the alleged husband of a 16-year-old daughter of Warren Jeffs, is charged with one count of sexual assault of a child. * Allan Eugene Keate, 56, is...

An Ohio man is in jail for posing as an underwear researcher and examining children. Ken Hawkins is accused of arranging meetings this Spring with parents of at least three children to conduct a marketing research survey involving children's underwear and razors. While at the house of an eight-year-old girl, he instructed her to try on several pair of underwear while he took notes. Hawkins then took several measurements of the victim while she wore only the underwear. Prosecutors said Hawkins also ran his fingers around the waistband and looked at the rear of the panties to check out the...

BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan, July 15, 2008 – On a warm morning in early June, a worried Abdullah Haqim walked with his daughter into the weekly coalition medical clinic in Afghanistan’s Farah province. Six-year-old Gulzana was sick, and local Afghan doctors could not diagnose or treat the painful swelling that had engulfed her left eye. Gulzana Haqim, a 6-year-old Afghan girl, and her father, Abdullah, arrive at Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan, July 9, 2008. Gulzana was treated for a tumor over her eye at Craig Joint Theater Hospital. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Daniel Love, Combined Joint Special Operations Task Force  (Click...

TRUST "U.S. Army Task Force Regulators 1st Battalion, 6th Infantry Regiment Staff Sgt. Fred Hampton, of Lexington, Ky., kneels on a knee to talk with a young Iraqi boy at the future site of Regular 6 Park in the Thawra 1 section of the Sadr City District of Baghdad on June 20." Photo: Tech Sgt. Cohen Young, Joint Combat Camera Center Iraq. "In Sadr City. There are no words to express everything conveyed by this photo. To me, it represents the highest ideals of our country and our guys, and the hopes and aspirations of the Iraqi people. This is...

FORWARD OPERATING BASE DELTA, Iraq, June 19, 2008 – When she was born, doctors didn’t expect her to live a week, but a 1-year-old Iraqi girl is defying the odds. Noor Majeed smiles at the Forward Operating Base Delta medical facility in Iraq, where she received several life-saving procedures. She will undergo reconstructive surgery in Boston on June 30, 2008. Courtesy photo  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Noor Majeed overcame her initial prognosis, but without proper care, she still could die. But surgeons at Children’s Hospital in Boston have agreed to donate their services to help her, and...

Karl Hindle has been working tirelessly for five years and spent more than four hundred thousand dollars investigating his daughter's illegal abduction to the U.S. What he has uncovered is deplorable. The paper trail shows the United States government is in the business of illegal baby snatching and harboring criminals. Emily would not have suffered the loss of her father for the last five years, or the vision in her right eye, if it weren't for the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA.) And people like Barbara Grieg of the U.S. State Department who see it as an excuse for misandry...

Colin Nathaniel Custer, White, male, AGE 4 years old, HEIGHT 3 feet 00 inches, WEIGHT 35 lbs, WITH Hazel EYES AND short Blonde HAIR, WEARING grey with blue and red stripes short sleeve shirt, blue shorts pants, tan with blue stripes tennis shoes. THE CHILD IS LIKELY ABDUCTED BY Robert William Custer III, White, male, AGE 45 years old, HEIGHT 5 feet 08 inches, WEIGHT 200 lbs AND Balding Grey/Blonde HAIR. THEY MAY BE TRAVELING IN A 1988 White Chevrolet Conversion Van, LICENSE Q577ZE, FL, North towards Locust Grove, Virginia. Last seen in SC.

WINNIPEG - A case of two youngsters seized from a couple suspected of being racist has raised the question of how far parents can go in teaching their children what they think is right. "I think it's really a tough issue," Harvey Frankel, a professor of social work at the University of Manitoba, said Monday. "I'm not aware of the courts giving a whole lot of guidance here in (this) area of child welfare." A seven-year-old girl and a boy, 2, were recently taken by child welfare workers from a home in south Winnipeg after the girl showed up at...

Photos Of 6-Year-Old Holding Handgun Gets Felon Arrested POSTED: 4:28 pm EDT June 6, 2008 UPDATED: 5:49 pm EDT June 6, 2008 PALM BAY, Fla. -- A convicted felon was arrested in Palm Bay after allegedly putting a gun in a 6-year-old child's hands and forcing her to pose for pictures. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SEE PHOTOS: 6-Year-Old With Handgun, Suspect With Rifle VIDEO REPORT: Felon Arrested After Police Discover Photos Of 6-Year-Old -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Investigators said 30-year-old Toby Allen took the disturbing photos on a cell phone. They finally tracked him down at a house in Palm Bay on Tucson Street (see map),...

She's revered as a trail-blazing feminist and author Alice Walker touched the lives of a generation of women. A champion of women's rights, she has always argued that motherhood is a form of servitude. But one woman didn't buy in to Alice's beliefs - her daughter, Rebecca, 38. Here the writer describes what it was like to grow up as the daughter of a cultural icon, and why she feels so blessed to be the sort of woman 64-year-old Alice despises - a mother.

BAGHDAD – An Iraqi child was killed and nine other Iraqis were wounded when al-Qaeda in Iraq terrorists detonated a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device in the al-Mansour district of Baghdad at approximately 10 a.m. May 14. Following the blast, the terrorists continued the attack with small-arms fire. Iraqi Army soldiers arrived on the scene, secured the area and transported the wounded to a local hospital. “This attack is another example of al-Qaeda in Iraq’s chilling disregard for innocent civilians and further proof that AQI is determined to wreak indiscriminate attacks across Iraq,” said Col. Allen Batschelet, chief of staff, Multi-National...

Young Iraqi Girl Receives Prosthetic Legs May 12, 2008 BY Multi-National Security Transition Command - Iraq Shiad Abas Aziz and U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Luis Falcon, a squad leader with the 2nd Infantry Division, look on as Shiad is given instructions on how to properly care for her new legs. Photo by Airman 1st Class Andrew Davis BAGHDAD (Army News Service, May 12, 2008) - A 12-year-old Iraqi girl received two new prosthetic legs May 9, as part of an Iraqi Ministry of Defence program at the MOD Prosthetics Clinic located in the International Zone. Shiad Abas Aziz from Baquba...

Well the last 36 hours of my life have been, to put it mildly, surreal. You see I'm a 60 year old guy who has been married twice for a combined total of 27 year. I had two children with each wife. My son with my first wife drowned at a youung age and the psychological damage to his mother was a major factor in the the end of that marriage. Well to make a long story short my 29 year old daughter from the first marriage called me yesterday. We had not spoken for a longer that average interval,...

First Lt. Robert Seale, platoon leader, Company A,1st Battalion, 30th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, helps Ali Jamel Ali with his new back brace. The brace will help keep his back straight while recovering from the effects of TB. DoD photo. FORWARD OPERATING BASE KALSU — U.S. Soldiers took a break from their daily routine recently to help an Iraqi child recover from tuberculosis. Ali Jamel Ali, an Arab Jabour youth, was fitted for a back brace by Soldiers of 1st Battalion, 30th Infantry Regiment.Ali, a resident of Bayija Village, was originally diagnosed with tuberculosis by...

ALBANY, N.Y. (WIVB) - - The Albany Police Department has activated the New York State AMBER Alert and is investigating a confirmed child abduction that occurred at 41 North Allen Street , in Albany, NY at about 3:00 PM on 4/7/2008. The CHILD, Jose Estrada is a Hispanic male , approximately 6 years old with brown hair and brown eyes . He is approximately 3 feet 1 inch tall and weighs about 48 pounds. Jose was last seen wearing blue jeans, a mustard colored shirt and/or a plaid button down shirt, an orange jacket with blue sleeves, and black sneakers....

Noor Taha Najee gives 1st Lt. Michael Kendrick, platoon leader, 2nd Platoon, 1st Battalion, 30th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, a goodbye kiss near the end of a March 26 visit to her house in al Buaytha, Iraq. Noor, whose corneas are underdeveloped, has been blind since birth. The Soldiers of 1-30th Inf. Regt. are working with a nongovernmental organization in Los Angeles, the Eye Defects Research Foundation, to get Noor surgery that may provide her with sight. Photo by Sgt. Kevin Stabinsky. FORWARD OPERATING BASE KALSU — Her hands run across his hand, her fingers...

3/19/2008 - BALAD AIR BASE, Iraq (AFPN) -- Editor's Note: The names of the Iraqi mother and son in this article have been changed, at the mother's request, to protect their identities from terrorists who would harm them if it was known that the pair received help from American servicemembers and the U.S. government. A photo of an adorable little boy with a bowl haircut and big brown eyes was posted alongside a sign that read, "I may be little, but I am strong," but the scarred child within the hospital isolation room didn't look like the boy in the...

FORWARD OPERATING BASE KALSU, Iraq, March 20, 2008 – An Iraqi girl and her family, as well as soldiers here, are anxiously awaiting a decision from an organization in Los Angeles that will determine the fate of her eyesight. Army Capt. (Dr.) Angie M. Pruitt, 86th Combat Support Hospital in Baghdad, examines the eyes of 5-year-old Noor Taha Najee on March 14, 2008. Soldiers of Company D, 1st Battalion, 30th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, escorted Noor to the hospital for the exam and are assisting with the process of getting Noor surgery to correct...

JUST as Democrat Senator Lyn Allison announces a bipartisan inquiry into the "sexualisation of children in the contemporary media environment", news of a 15-year-old schoolgirl being filmed on a mobile performing a sex act on a classmate makes headlines. The footage was circulated among at least 100 other students and, understandably, family, police and the school are dismayed. Some people are using this case to push the argument for banning mobile phones from schools, discussing their misuse and how inappropriate it is to have them in an educational environment. But emphasising this aspect overlooks a much more salient point: what...

Shannon Found Alive After 24 DaysShannon Matthews has been found alive just a mile from her home after one of the UK's biggest police searches. The schoolgirl was discovered hidden in a bed base at the flat of a man related to her stepfather, say Sky News Online sources. Police smashed their way into a flat in Lidgate Gardens in the Batley Carr area of Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, and emerged carrying Shannon. A 39-year-old man was arrested at the address on suspicion of abduction. The man is known to police and is "remotely related" to Shannon's stepfather Craig Meehan, according...

CHICAGO (AP) — Treffly Coyne was out of her car for just minutes and no more than 10 yards away. But that was long and far enough to land her in court after a police officer spotted her sleeping 2-year-old daughter alone in the vehicle; Coyne had taken her two older daughters to pour $8.29 in coins into a Salvation Army kettle. Minutes later, she was under arrest — the focus of both a police investigation and a probe by the state's child welfare agency. Now the case that has become an Internet flash point for people who either blast...

Livejournal is making some much needed updates to their policies and they put them up for public comment. Check it out.. or better yet, take a look at the commentary. It seems to delve more into "how much can I get away with before it is child porn" than anything intelligent.

FL mom uses pressure washer on toddler; caught on tape Security video of mom using pressure washer on toddler There is some disturbing video coming out of Florida of a mother spraying her daughter with a high-powered hose. She has now turned herself in to police to explain what happened. Chilling surveillance tape of a mother and her child at a car wash in Orlando shows a mother turning a high powered hose on her 2 ½-year old daughter as punishment, police say. "It looks like the girl probably had an accident - urinated or spilled a drink." Police say,...

HANGING ROCK, Ohio - Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton offered a plan to improve childhood nutrition and set a goal to reduce by half the 12 million youngsters living in poverty over the next dozen years. The package of proposals includes a "comprehensive" early education initiative that starts with nurse's visits for pregnant women, lets children begin the Head Start program earlier and calls for universal pre-kindergarten programs. The New York senator also says she would deal with childhood hunger by putting in place a food safety net, and give children "greater access to healthy, fresh food." She spelled out her...

MIAMI — Florida's much-maligned child-welfare workers will soon begin carrying hand-held devices, like the ones delivery companies use to track packages, that show whether they really are checking in on the children under their supervision. The touch-screen units, about the size of a book and featuring Global Positioning System technology, will record the amount of time caseworkers spend with each family, take photos of children in state care and allow the workers to update case information on the spot, Gov. Charlie Crist and Children & Families Secretary Bob Butterworth said Thursday at a news conference in front of a UPS...

On February 10th The Devils Advocate Jr. came into the world as a healthy 9lb baby boy, the first child of his proud parents. He has been fortunate enough to have received a few hundred dollars in gifts from his friends and relatives. Now I'm wondering what is the best option for investing his little nest egg to provide the best return in about 18 years. Certainly there's something out there better than a savings account.

NEW YORK (AP) - New York City police say a father whose daughter's burned body was found stuffed in the boiler of his apartment building killed the girl because he was upset with her for text-messaging a boy. Police say 34-year-old Miguel Matias (muh-TY'-uhs) called 911 yesterday morning and claimed he strangled the 14-year-old the night before and dumped her body in the woods. Police aren't sure whether the girl was dead before she was stuffed into the boiler. The medical examiner's office is trying to determine the cause of death. Matias is separated from the girl's mother but had...

Seeking help from the Free Republic extended family regarding how to locate someone who is an adult child that has been estranged from their mother for two years. My friend is the mother.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- A spokesman for the Department of Children & Families was arrested Friday on child pornography charges, authorities said. Al Zimmerman was charged with eight counts of using a child in a sexual performance. Zimmerman, who has been with the agency for nearly two years, has been fired, agency officials said. Authorities say Zimmerman, 40, solicited at least two victims between the ages of 16 and 17 to create child pornography. DCF Secretary Bob Butterworth issued a statement asking the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to investigate whether any child in the state's care had been victimized as...

Time served, sex offender who killed 6-year-old girl has come to live in Derry By PAT GROSSMITH AND NANCY WEST New Hampshire Union Leader DERRY – A man who strangled, then sexually assaulted a 6-year-old girl and stuffed her body into a storm drain in 1981 is living near the Derry Montessori School, a park and the public library. Douglas Allen Simmons, 47, moved into 71 East Broadway, Apt. 3, Derry, over the weekend, according to police. Yesterday, his name and photo were posted on New Hampshire's child sex offender Web site. Simmons was a 20-year-old sailor when he lured...

Africa's first female president, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, came to power in Liberia a year ago, promising to tackle the problem of rape, which had become increasingly common during the previous 14 years of conflict in the country. Will Ross has been travelling around Liberia to assess whether that war on rape is being won. "I like to turn lemon into lemonade - make a bad situation into a good one," declared the smartly dressed woman as she entered the room. Annie Demen is Liberia's deputy minister of gender, a post set up to empower women. She also heads the taskforce charged...

Body Found May Be Last Ala. Bridge Child Monday January 21, 2008 1:16 AM By GARRY MITCHELL Associated Press Writer MOBILE, Ala. (AP) - A body believed to be the last of four children who were allegedly tossed from a coastal Alabama bridge by their father was recovered Sunday, authorities said. The body of an Asian child was found in the Gulf of Mexico off Louisiana by boaters who contacted Coast Guard officials, who then took the body to Venice, La., Mobile County Sheriff Sam Cochran said. Authorities in Alabama will not be able to confirm whether the body is...

HONOLULU - The man in hospital scrubs threw the toddler like a doll from a pedestrian overpass to the freeway humming with traffic. The 2 1/2-year-old boy fell 30 feet to the asphalt and was pronounced dead at the scene. The horrifying incident Thursday on the highway cutting through the heart of the city shocked Honolulu residents, causing panicked parents to phone day care centers to check on their children. Police arrested a 23-year-old man they say occasionally baby-sat the child after witnesses saw him throwing something, followed him and called authorities. Kraig Hengst told The Honolulu Advertiser he was...

FORT WORTH, Texas — Police have arrested several teenage gang members accused of forcing girls as young as 12 into a prostitution ring. After befriending the girls and getting them high, the Varrio Central gang members took them to some regular customers and then sought other men by trolling apartment complexes, offering the girls' services for $50, Lt. Ken Dean said Tuesday. The gang apparently targeted runaways and other girls with unstable homes, and if the girls refused to have sex for money the members beat and sexually assaulted them and threatened their families, Dean said. "The age of the...

MARION COUNTY, Fla. -- A man who kidnapped and molested a Marion County boy choked to death in prison. Frederick Fretz died at a federal prison in Atwater, California after choking on a hot dog. In 2005, Fretz kidnapped 11-year-old Adam Kirkirt from Dunellon Elementary School. At the time, he told Kirkirt he was going to take him to his father, who had been arrested in Kentucky. Fretz and the child were later found in Georgia.

1/2/2008 - ALI BASE, Iraq -- More than 50 Airmen from across the 407th Air Expeditionary Group came together here Dec. 22 to help sort through thousands of school supplies items, toys and more for children in southern Iraq. Hundreds of boxes filled with donations were gathered to support the Operation Iraqi Child project. "We are truly among people who care about the future of Iraq," said Col. Matthew Dorschel, the 407th AEG commander. "It is evident that our families and friends back home deeply care for the Iraqi people," Colonel Dorschel said to the volunteers standing amidst the heaping...

(AP) - An 18-year-old River Rouge man has been charged with child abuse after authorities say he helped a 3-year-old boy smoke what appeared to be a marijuana-type cigarette and videotaped it. “Just when you think you’ve seen all kinds of child abuse, this comes along. This is why parents must be ever vigilant about their child care arrangements,” said Prosecutor Worthy.

A 35-year-old Sacred Heart Cathedral School second-grade teacher was arrested Tuesday on suspicion of having sexual contact with a student at the school. Tabitha Adams is currently being held in the Ford County Detention Center on charges of sexual exploitation of a child, aggravated criminal sodomy and aggravated indecent liberties with a child. Her bond was set at $500,000, and her preliminary hearing was tentatively set for Dec. 27. Adams, who has taught at the private Catholic school for the past three years, was arrested after the Dodge City Police Department presented the school's principal with a search warrant Monday....

Behold the easy-publicity, make-ya-feel-good corporate kids' contests: The Fruit Roll-Ups $1,000 search for the funniest child comedians?! The McDonald's $2,500 prize for the most active child! And from Lego, the big kahuna: a $5,000 prize for each of 10 kids who display "creativity." That last one's winners were announced last week, and Bethesda's Kelsie Kimberlin, 8, got the nod. The judges of Lego's first annual Creativity Awards got more than they bargained for. When the third-grader is asked to describe her winning entry to Lego's Creativity Awards, her explanation -- with just a little prompting from her dad, Brett --...

Toddler Dies After Hooters Mom Forgets Child in Hot CarWednesday, October 31, 2007 PHOENIX — A 17-month-old boy left unattended inside a hot car for at least seven hours in a north Phoenix Hooters restaurant parking lot was found dead Tuesday afternoon. FOX 10 Phoenix reports the baby's mother had planned to drop the child off at childcare before heading to work at a restaurant near Bell Road and Interstate 17. Instead, authorities say the mother went to work with the child still inside the car. Police say the mother returned to her car after work and discovered the child....

BROOMFIELD, Colo. - A 6-year-old boy was hungry and decided he'd go to Applebees. So he grabbed the car keys, took his booster seat from the back seat of his grandmother's car and placed it in the driver's seat, then made a go of driving himself to the restaurant Tuesday. He made it about 75 feet. Unable to take the car out of reverse, he crossed the street and ran into a transformer and communication box, knocking out electricity and phone service to dozens of townhomes. Nobody was injured and the boy, whose name was not released, got out of...