Probably the saddest thing you'll watch today

A 5-year-old boy describes being shot in the eye. And shoulder, and thigh, and cheek.

| Sara Shepherd

Was there anything they didn't molest?

Two Amish men have been charged with having sex with inappropriate things, including but not limited to: relatives, children, a horse and a cow.

The Grant County sheriff said it's one of the strangest and most disturbing cases he has seen.

Hat tip: Thanks to JUNGLE JIM via the OT!

| Sara Shepherd

Girl, 2, killed for crying during World Cup game, Texas cops say

The suspect is the little girl's stepfather, authorities in McAllen, Texas, say. The attack allegedly happened during the U.S.-Ghana match over the weekend.

Hat Tip: Many thanks, Searching!

Police: Boy kept 'caged' in bedroom

In Port Charlotte, Fla., police say they've uncovered a terrible case of child abuse. The local ABC affiliate quotes police saying the boy was essentially caged in his own room and treated poorly.

Hat Tip: Many thanks, Jellybean!

KCK police: Shooting of 3-year-old was accidental

The shooting, which seriously injured the child, happened Wednesday in the 100 block of S. 18th Street.

Kansas City, Kan., police announced today that detectives determined the following: When the child's mother exited the vehicle, the child climbed into the front seat and grabbed the handgun. When the mother reached for the gun, it discharged, striking the child in the mouth. The child has been placed in protective custody, and the Wyandotte County DA is reviewing the case for possible criminal charges.

| Sara Shepherd

Police: Mom waited two hours to get help after toddler's shooting

After her 3-year-old was shot, a Louisville woman allegedly waited two hours before seeking medical attention, police say. Mom is now facing criminal charges. How the child ended up with those injuries isn't clear, but authorities believe the woman was trying to give the other defendant -- a man who wasn't supposed to see the kiddo at all, according to a court order -- time to flee the scene.

Another 'Mother of the Year' candidate

Police in Surprise, Ariz., arrested a woman who allegedly punched her 11-year-old son in the stomach as she was leaving him and his younger brother to run away and become a stripper.

"She told our officers she was happy to be rid of the kids because she wanted to move to California and pursue her dream of being a stripper," said Surprise police Sgt. Mark Ortega.

In an interview with the local FOX affiliate, the woman denied hitting the boy and said that she suffers from alcoholism and mental-health issues.

Another Mother of the Year nominee

A New Jersey woman is accused of leaving her daughter, 12, home alone while Mom flew to the Pacific Northwest for a week to marry her boyfriend. Mom's Lawyer says there was a misunderstanding with a family friend who was left "in charge" of the girl and only checked on her every few days.

Man gave up his kids to pay off debt, Mexican police say

Mexican police have arrested a man from Mexico City who said that his two young children were abducted last month. Instead, authorities allege, the man gave the children to a woman in order to pay off a debt of $1,900. The man was arrested over the weekend and has reportedly confessed, prosecutors report. The children have not been found.

Dad could get life for son's gang tattoo

In Fresno, 27-year-old Enrique Gonzalez is on trial for letting his son, age 7, get a gang tattoo and could get a life sentence if found guilty, the Bee reports. The boy says his father made him get the ink and held him down, but Gonzalez testified that it was his son's idea. The tattoo is about the size of a quarter, is on the boy's hip and is of a pawprint, for the Eastside Bulldogs.

Hat Tip: Many thanks, cripjak!

Parents played video games while baby starved to death

A South Korean couple has been convicted of letting their baby starve to death while they played online video games, which involved raising a "virtual child," The AP reports. They've been sentenced to two years in prison, though the woman's sentence was suspended: She's pregnant again.

Tougher sentences for molesters comes with a cost

California plans to increase the punishment for some child molesters, but the tougher sentences will come with a big price tag -- tens of millions per year, the state corrections department says. (Another estimate puts it higher, forecasting a cost of hundreds of millions annually.) Chelsea's Law -- named for a teenage girl killed by a sex offender near San Diego -- would require life sentences for some convicts and lifetime parole for others. Naturally, that means California will need more prison cells and will have to spend more on parole officers.

This is coming at a very bad time for the state, which faces a $19 billion budget deficit. Supporters note that California's budget is $100 billion, and that for the first several years, Chelsea's Law only costs a few million -- a relatively small price to pay to keep children safe, one backer tells the AP.

A child's in danger? Not our problem

From the Wichita Eagle's Tim Potter:

A state agency responsible for protecting children is arguing in a court document that one of its social workers had no duty to protect a Coffeyville toddler who died from abuse in 2008. An attorney for SRS also contends that because the girl was not in the agency's custody, the state owed no duty to protect her.

Mom pleads guilty to getting teens drunk

Karen Christine Downs has pleaded guilty to felony child endangerment after she let several teenage girls drink alcohol at a sleepover for her daughter's 14 birthday, Platte County prosecutors say. Two girls were taken to the hospital for treatment as a result. Prosecutors alleged that Downs offered $10 to the girl who could down a glass of vodka the fastest.

Accused teacher cleared of molestation

In 2008, an elementary-school teacher named Tonya Craft was arrested and accused of molesting three girls, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. She's now been acquitted of all 22 charges -- after she lost custody of her daughter, lost her job and lost her home. The defense is complaining to the FBI about the judge and prosecutor in the case. (The judge, as it happens, represented Craft's ex-husband during their divorce several years ago.)

Crime writer Dave Lohr talks about the problems with the case:

As the trial continued, many conflicting details emerged. One of the alleged victims admitted to lying in a previously taped interview; another said she was promised a toy for talking to police. Other times, witnesses said they could not remember pertinent details of the case.

Experts for the prosecution and defense were also unable to agree on whether the alleged victims showed signs of sexual abuse.

Hat Tip: Many thanks, Keith G in PV and cripjak!

Man branded his kids like cattle, prosecutors allege

In Washington state, a man named Mark Seamands is accused of branding his teenage sons and daughter, ages 13, 15, and 18. (The brand was "SK" for "Seamand's Kids.") The children allegedly agreed to the brands, but the man's ex-wife is very unhappy. The daughter was old enough to give consent, so there's no charge involving her. The boys, who are expected to testify on Dad's behalf, are another matter.

Nobody likes a tattletale, kid

In Albuquerque, N.M., a 5-year-old boy has gotten his mother and now his grandmother arrested. He first told police that Mom had abused his little sister, who is only 4 months old. When police reinterviewed him, the boy said that his grandma had told him to not say anything bad about his mother. Grandma has now been charged with witness intimidation.

5-year-old forced to smoke, police say

A Tennessee woman is accused of making her 5-year-old smoke a cigarette so that he would learn that it's wrong to smoke a cigarette, police say.

Who would do something like this?

In Columbus, Ga., someone taped razor blades on playground equipment, especially in places where kids would have touched them, police say.

Hat Tip: Many thanks, Cronk!

Okla. man used 'power bomb' move on boy, 4, police say

In Bartlesville, Okla., a man is accused of using a professional wrestling move on a 4-year-old boy as a way to "discipline" the child, the Tulsa World reports. The boy was injured badly enough to require a hospital stay. Snip:

Police said Laird eventually told them that he disciplined the boy by using a "power bomb" move from professional wrestling, in which he raised the boy over his head and slammed him onto a bed.

Laird also said he slammed the boy repeatedly into a door frame and became angry because the child had become injured, the affidavit states.

KC boy, 1, dies from abuse, cops say

Rey A. Cruz Jr., who was 1 year old, was pronounced brain dead Friday, and his organs were donated over the weekend, Christine Vendel reports. The little boy's father, age 19, is accused of severely beating him. Right now, Cruz Sr. faces counts of assault and child endangerment, though police are expected to seek upgraded charges. The boy's mother is serving a prison sentence.

Oklahoma mother found not guilty in the murder of 6-month-old daughter

A jury found Heather Trask, 25, not guilty of first-degree murder for the death of her daughter Mackenzie.

Prosecutors had accused Trask of allowing her husband, Jonathan Trask, to abuse their infant daughter. He was found guilty in December 2008 of first-degree murder and is serving a life sentence in prison.

| Bob Cronkleton

Disabled girl found chained to bed

Renee L. Dennis, 35, and Paul Coleman, 38, were charged for leaving their 6-year-old son and the woman’s disabled 12-year-old niece alone at the woman’s Park Forest house.

An officer found the girl wearing a nylon dog harness, with a chain connecting her harness to a wooden crib and the leg of a bunk bed. Her clothing was wet and stained with feces, and she was wearing a diaper that had not been changed in several days, police said.

Coleman also faces a charge of failing to register as a sex offender.

| Bob Cronkleton

 

3 years for tattooing baby's behind

The victim, then 19 months old, was being babysat by the defendant, the Canton Repository reports. The tattoo was about a half-inch big, but getting a tattoo can be very painful.

'I was reduced to an object and a paycheck by my own mother'

A Blue Springs woman was sentenced to 15 years for letting her daughter be prostituted when she was just a girl. The victim, now in her 20s, testified during Wednesday's sentencing:

The victim, now in her early 20s and married, said she “cried and pleaded” with her mother many times to get her out of the situation. “Every time, she turned me down flat,” she said. “She made it clear I was wrong as a child to question her.”

She said she longed for a normal childhood and ached when she saw other kids her age doing the kinds of things she never got to do.

“You only get one shot to be a child,” she said, sobbing. “I will never get that back. I wanted to have it so bad.”