MN dad pepper-sprayed his 1-year-old daughter, police say

What a piece of work ...

PA mom tried to kill baby with saltwater, police say

Just monstrous ... Kiddo is only 4 months old.

Mother of the year?

What a piece of work: She basically adopted disabled kids to make money, somewhere north of $1.5 million, then treated them like garbage. She's getting 11 years. Naturally, the story is from Florida.

MO couple accidentally leave baby in shopping cart outside Wal-Mart

Accident or no, they could still face criminal charges. Story is from Lebanon.

World's Greatest Uncle gave beer to 1-year-old, IN police say

Snip:

According to court documents, Valens and his girlfriend argued when he allowed his nephew to drink beer on June 25. The woman told police Valens said the child could "handle it" because "he's a champ."

Unc is also accused of punching his girlfriend and then driving away in her vehicle. No word on the kiddo. I'm guessing he just slept it off.

Hat Tip: Saw this via QuizLaw!

Mother of The Year?

Florida woman denies giving birth -- even though she was found holding a garbage bag with a crying newborn inside.

Every day was "Take Your Daughters To Work Day," IL police say

An Illinois man is accused of keeping his two daughters locked in a cage in his truck whenever he went to job sites -- allegedly because he wanted to keep them safe, police say. The man reportedly didn't have a baby sitter.

Hat Tip: Many thanks to our man in the upper Midwest, Jay Tee!

An employee with a towing company in Posen, Ill., checks out the homemade cage made in the back of a small truck on Wednesday, July 2, 2008. Police in Posen arrested a man, Ricardo Gonzalez, 35, of Midlothian, Ill., Monday, June 30, 2008, after officials say a woman spotted him pushing a child's hands back into a cage at a gas station, Gonzalez who admitted locking his two young children, ages 2 and 5, in a cage in his pickup truck to control them. (AP Photo/SouthtownStar, Mary Compton)

Baby not for sale anymore

He could have been yours for $1.59.

But it was only a (really unappreciated) joke. Authorities took him away from Mom and Dad, but they're all back together now.

| Sara Shepherd

Baby-launching video prompts charges

Not good.

A south Georgia teenager is charged with child cruelty after an online video showed a young man launching a baby several feet across a room.

Yes, the video has been removed from YouTube.

| Sara Shepherd

Hat Tip: Thanks again, JUNGLE JIM!

KDHE: Infant was brain-damaged at Olathe daycare

From Jim Sullinger:

An Olathe day care owner has been charged with severely injuring a 7-month-old boy, and her business has been shut down.

Officials of the Kansas Department of Health and Environment said the infant, who was not identified, suffered injuries consistent with shaken-baby syndrome.

Julie Lynne Christlieb, owner of Lovable Little People Day Care Home, 633 S. Montclaire Drive, was arrested Friday on a charge of aggravated battery.

In the order suspending the day care’s operation, state officials said medical tests revealed that the baby suffered brain and eye hemorrhages as well as a lack of oxygen.

“The infant suffered brain damage and blindness, can see light but cannot focus, has no responsiveness on the left side of the body and is feeding through a tube,” the report added.

Dear Friends: Duct-taping your kids to trees is not OK

It's ... yeah, it's child abuse, even if you do tell the police you were just "playing a game."

Hat Tip: Many thanks, Keith G in PV!

IL dad shot kids with pellet gun as a game, police say

Since his ex-wife called the authorities and got him charged, I'm guessing Dad lost.

Hat Tip: Many thanks, JUNGLE JIM!

Nationwide sting saves 21 kids from child prostitution

And something like 345 people were arrested during Operation Cross Country, which rolled up child-prostitution operations in 16 cities. (Though not KC, St. Louis or Wichita -- I think the nearest one was Dallas.) They say it's the capstone of a five-year crackdown -- one that's needed more now that it's easier for pimps and johns to meet each other via the Internet.

Hat Tip: Many thanks, FanDanGo!

Monstrous

Another heartbreaking case of child abuse, if true. The truly shocking part? Authorities allege the children were trained to perform for groups of 50 to 100 people at a swingers club.

Hat Tip: Many thanks, T-Bone

Monstrous

Probably the worst case of child abuse I've read about in the last year.

The dumbest thing I've read today (so far)

Authorities at a Canadian school called child-protection officials after a teacher's aide went to a psychic, who claimed that one of the aide's students was being molested. That's right -- some poor parent got hotlined over a psychic prediction.

Hat Tip: Many thanks, kmb!

Charges for McPherson woman accused of leaving baby in trash bin

Mom, age 18, is looking at charges of child endangerment and child abandonment.

"It causes you to question the humanity of some people"

The Los Angeles Times has a story about a particularly gruesome case of child abuse. Authorities say a 5-year-old boy was horribly abused by his mom. He was

"hung by his hands and wrists from a door jamb and beaten with some sort of leash or chain, police said. He was routinely denied food and water, burned with cigarettes on his body and genitals, and left to sit in his own urine and feces."

Thank God that most criminals are stupid. Police say Mom and her girlfriend were eventually called for questioning by Child Services. They had the genius idea to bring along a DIFFERENT boy, one who hadn't been hideously burned.

Of course, that meant they had to leave the real kiddo with a stranger -- who, surprisingly enough, had enough of a conscience to call police.

Hat Tip: Many thanks, JUNGLE JIM!

UPDATE: N.C. boy dies after parents tie him to a tree

Mom and Pop have already had a brief court appearance. CrimeRant has a post here.

Another nominee for Father of The Year ...

An Oregon man is accused of smashing his daughter's ankle with hammer so she could get pain pills, which he would then allegedly use himself.

Hat Tip: Many thanks, kmb!

I believe the children are our future

That future, of course, resembles the movie "Blade Runner."

Exhibit A for my crappy-future theory? This story from Phoenix, where a 1- and 3-year-old are stopped BEFORE THEY CAN CROSS A FREEWAY at 5:40 in the morning. Police found two older siblings back home. Kiddos had gotten so hungry, they fished half a loaf of bread from the trash to eat.

Papa eventually came home and was arrested. Mom is still out there, presumably kicking it.

Hat Tip: Many thanks, eephus!

Kiddo gets sunburned -- Pop is charged with child abuse

Story is from Kentucky, and authorities describe the sunburn as second- and third-degree burns. The 2-year-old was allegedly left in the sun for 90 minutes with no sunblock.

Father of the Year?

Police say a Virginia man tried to avoid arrest by throwing his 10-month-old baby girl at an officer as he ran away.

KS teen, 18, accused of leaving 6-week-old in trash bin

Story is a followup from the business last week in McPherson. Kiddo is OK. Snip:

Officials were in the process of issuing an Amber Alert when a neighbor reported seeing the mother walking with the child in a stroller a short time before the abduction was reported. Officers found the baby wrapped in a blanket and placed "carefully" in the trash bin a few blocks from the house in the 500 block of North Chestnut.

Hat Tip: Many thanks, M@!

Mom leaves toddlers in bath while she goes to buy beer, police say

Luckily, nobody drowned. Dad arrived and called police, who arrested Mom when she returned. The store wasn't down the block, but was actually a few miles from the house. Story is from Washington state.

Hat Tip: Many thanks, JUNGLE JIM!

Because a casino is no place for a child

A Delaware couple is facing criminal charges after they allegedly left their kids in the car while they went into a casino and gambled.

Another drunk toddler

From up in St. Paul:

A 16-month-old St. Paul girl was taken into protective custody Wednesday night when hospital emergency room workers found alcohol in her system.

| Sara Shepherd

Texas high court: Sect children should be sent back home

From the AP:

In a crushing blow to the state's massive seizure of children from a polygamist sect's ranch, the Texas Supreme Court ruled Thursday that child welfare officials overstepped their authority and the children should go back to their parents.

The ruling shatters one of the largest child-custody cases in U.S. history.

| Sara Shepherd

This photo is from the first day of child custody hearings, back in April.

6-week-old found in McPherson trash bin

Kiddo is OK. Police are talking to the reputed Mom. Here's more from the Hutch News.

German couple tried to sell baby on Ebay, police say

Mom tried to play it off as a joke, but uh, if you close your "joke" listing with all-caps saying SERIOUS BIDDERS ONLY, the authorities might actually take you seriously ...

Cass County dad accused of abusing 3-month-old

Don Bradley has more information here.

FL mom kept adopted son, 17, in a locked cage

When the authorities found him, he weighed 49 pounds.

Just because duct tape CAN do anything, doesn't mean it SHOULD

A Wisconsin woman and her lovah are accused of duct-taping the woman's daughters, ages 6 and 9, together as punishment. The girls were also forced to hold weights over their heads, and as a bonus, Mom put vinegar in their mouths.

Probably the saddest story you're going to read today

Indiana police find an 8-year-old autistic boy living in a hovel with his mother. He's never been to school, the doctor or a dentist -- which is too bad because he apparently has existed exclusively on chocolate: chocolate pudding, chocolate cake, chocolate milk. Mom's rationale: "She felt like other kids would make fun of him if he went to school with other kids."

Judith Leekin, Monster

Leekin has confessed to adopting 11 disabled children, then basically keeping them as prisoners as she sat back and cashed their government checks. I say "prisoner" because that describes it best. She wouldn't let the kids go to school -- with some of them, she used twist ties to hold them in bed. She got away with it because she used different names in the adoption process, though you'd think the state could've caught her some other way.

Story is from New York.

Denver man leaves hungry toddler in car, uses lunch money for stripper tips, police say

So, yeah ... The guy left this poor 3-year-old girl locked in a car while he ordered a beer at Shotgun Willie's, police say. Luckily, a heroic porn-store manager came to the rescue and called the authorities. Kiddo's mom had given our man $20. He reportedly used that for cover and tipping strippers -- which is what he was doing when officers found him, the authorities say. Also, he's not 21.

The child was later given a Happy Meal.

KS superintendent accused of child abuse

KCTV has more details here. Jim Reece is the superintendent of the Central Heights Unified School District 288 in Franklin County. The alleged victim is a 14-year-old girl.

Teacher arrested after making boy, 7, clear clogged toilet with his bare hands, police say

Story is from Louisiana. The boy says Teacher threatened to make him do the unclogging with his teeth if it happened again. She's now facing a charge of cruelty to a juvenile. Snip:

An affidavit we obtained states that Trevor's teacher, Julie Landry, intentionally forced the child to place his hand in a toilet containing human feces and urine. However, that's not where the embarrassment ends.

"S--sssy (pronounced Essy) hands. Here comes sssy hands," says Michael Williams, Trevor's father. He says that's what the kids called his son the next day.

Via the always excellent News of The Weird!

Hat Tip: Many thanks, kmb!

Former Viking accused of holding dry-cleaning bag over son's head

Story involves  Darrion Scott, who used to be a defensive lineman. His kiddo is 2 years old. Snip from the Star-Tribune:

According to the criminal complaint filed in Hennepin County District Court: The boy's mother heard the child's muffled cries and found Scott, who is 6-3 and 290 pounds, holding the bag over the boy's head on April 26. She said the boy was on his back on the floor, his legs kicking and that Scott was holding the bag tightly around the boy's neck.

... Scott, 26, told police the two were playing with the bag, and he wanted to see if the boy could get the bag off his head by himself.

Hat Tip: Many thanks, Jane!

JoCo sitter accused of child abuse after 7-month-old was dropped

That's according to KCTV. Kiddo had a skull fracture and bleeding under the skull. Police originally thought it might be an accident, but the hospital believes there was more to it.

IN man accused of hitting girl with hammer because she snored

The girl is his girlfriend's daughter -- Mom is facing a criminal charge, too, for allegedly failing to get medical help.

Baby's first joint

Marissa Amora

The state of Florida has agreed to pay $18.2 million to Marissa Amora, a little girl who was brutally beaten when she was 2 years old -- beaten so badly, in fact, that she still has traumatic brain damage. She uses a wheelchair and has to eat through a tube.

Here's the thing: Those injuries didn't have to happen. Marissa was put in the hospital a few weeks before that final attack. The state's child-abuse investigators did their thing and decided, welp, home looks OK, let Mom and Boyfriend take the kiddo back. Even though hospital officials begged them to put Marissa into state care, the Sun-Sentinel reports.

Marissa's got a new family and, now, money to help pay for her care. But it's so infuriating that she could have avoided so much suffering if the state had actually done its job.

Okie accused of shooting kids with BB gun

As a way to punish them for bad grades or breaking things around the house, police say.

IL teen mom accused of child endangerment after kiddos fall from SUV

While she was rounding a corner. Mom, 16, says the babies, who are 2 years old and 5 months old respectively, pulled on the door handle. Why is this young woman carrying for not one, but two babies, let alone a sport-utility vehicle?

Newborn rescued from St. Louis trash bin

A man found him under a foot of brush. Kiddo still had his umbilical attached ...

A betting parlor is no place for a child

Which is why a New York couple allegedly left their 2-month-old in the car while they went indoors to watch the Kentucky Derby, police say. But everything was cool because they left the heat on. (Hmm ... unattended baby in a car where the keys were left in the ignition ... something seems out of place there ...)

MO gets a B- for releasing information on severe child abuse cases

A lot of states won't say word one about many child-abuse deaths or injuries, but Missouri does an above-average job of releasing information about these cases, a new report says. That, in turn, helps the public hold the state accountable. The News-Leader has more here.

WI mom shot girl in leg with BB gun to win $1 bet, police say

Uh, yeah, Mom had apparently been drinking with her boyfriend, police say. The shot ricocheted off the 8-year-old girl's leg and hit her brother, age 7, who wasn't hurt.

Iowa diocese plans to pay $37 million to abuse victims

It's the diocese based in Davenport, which declared bankruptcy and sold some of its property to help finance the payment. The church is coughing up $17.5 million with its insurer covering the rest.

Man tried to leave baby at Florida strip club, authorities say

The police got involved, but imagine for a moment if the strippers had raised the child as their own, the same way those gorillas did Tarzan.

Hat Tip: Many thanks to the Uncanny JUNGLE JIM!

NKC mom accused of beating teen over Facebook

From John Shultz:

Prosecutors on Monday accused a North Kansas City woman of striking her teenaged daughter at least 100 times with a leather strap because she didn’t like what the girl was up to on social networking Web site Facebook.

Demetria Worthington, 42, was charged with felony child abuse in the Friday morning incident.

According to court records, a neighbor of Worthington’s heard a rhythmic beating sound coming from the apartment next door. She also heard someone say “I have sacrificed too much for you to put me through this.”

Concerned about the girl’s well-being, the neighbor went over to see what was going on. Worthington let the neighbor in, then allegedly grabbed a bottle of bleach and said “she’s gotta go,” as she walked toward a back bedroom. The neighbor then called the police.

The girl was taken into protective custody, and told investigators that her mother picked her up from school and brought her to the apartment and confronted the girl about her Facebook and e-mail activities. Worthington then allegedly started beating her with the leather strap from her purse.

A doctor at North Kansas City Hospital told authorities that an examination suggested the girl had been struck more than 100 times.

Why did Daytona Robertson have to die?

Practically everybody knew 2-year-old Daytona Robertson was being abused -- but nobody was able to stop the Wichita toddler from being beaten to death in February. The Eagle has a look at how the system failed a little girl.

Hat Tip: Many thanks, Sara Shepherd!

MO man put girlfriend's kids in the dryer, police say

At first, I thought this was an old story, but nope, it's new. A man from Linn Creek, Mo., is accused of putting his girlfriend's kids, ages 8 and 10, in a clothes dryer, then turning the machine on. Doesn't sound like the kids had permanent injuries. Mom, by the way, is also facing criminal charges.

This is not to be confused with last year's case of a Kansas man doing something similar with a clothes dryer and his lovah's small children.

Child abuse story involving steel-toe boots

His 4-year-old stepson spilled his milk, so this guy kicked him with his steel-toe boots hard enough to break his leg. With mug.

Ugh.

Hat tip: JUNGLE JIM

| Sara Shepherd

Toddler dies after being beaten with video-game controller

Bad: Two-year-old  Darisabel Baez died Monday, a day after her mother's boyfriend beat her into unconsciousness with a video-game controller.

Worse:  Darisabel's "mother overheard the beating Sunday but did nothing until she realized the girl was unconscious, police said... It was clear from the bruises and other injuries on the little girl's body that Sunday was not the first time she had been abused."

Hat tip: Thank you, kmb

| Sara Shepherd

This undated photo from the York, Penn., Police Department comes to us via the AP.

FLDS ranch locked down by Texas authorities

Warren Jeffs' Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has a ranch in south Texas, where social workers and police were gathering Friday. Apparently, they're investigating the safety of the children who live there.

(AP Photo/Donna McWilliam, File)

Report: 1 in 50 U.S. babies is neglected or abused

Read it and weep.

You might be a bad mother if ...

... you use duct tape to tie up your kids, then post photos on MySpace for your friends to enjoy. (Mom, for her part, says the kids "asked to play with the tape and wanted to be tied up.")

Also, you might be a bad social worker if you let these kids continue to stay with this mother.

Hat Tip: Many thanks, JUNGLE JIM!

CO teacher told students to smack kid who was late for class, police say

Which the worrywarts down at the police station are calling "child abuse." Not sure if the teacher, who serves at the high-school level, is also being charged for making the kid do 100 pushups, too.

Bigfoot accused of child molestation

The accuser? A man who's facing charges of online enticement. He said it happened when he was a kid. Surprisingly, the man has been found competent to stand trial.

Hat Tip: Many thanks, Goshel!

Guilty verdict for man who microwaved baby

He'd tried arguing an insanity plea, and I'm a little surprised it didn't fly, even in Texas -- the guy had a history of mental illness. (Kiddo survived, by the way, though she'll have long-term health issues, it sounds.) I adored this bit from the defense attorney:

"This microwave is not, per se, a deadly weapon like a gun. This microwave was not meant to kill anybody or hurt anybody. It was meant to cook. So, the state has to bring you evidence that you believe in your mind that says that this microwave could kill a person -- it could seriously disfigure a person," he said.

"If they believe he was trying to kill that child, they would have charged him with attempted murder."

The defendant was found guilty of felony injury to a child.

Khandi Busby

We had a post about Busby yesterday: She's accused of throwing herself and her two sons off a Dallas overpass during rush hour. Amazingly, nobody died.

TX mom threw kids, self off overpass during rush hour, police say

And they all lived.

Hat Tip: Many thanks, aqua!

Should this mother be put on trial?

Not sure if you've heard about this story yet. An Illinois mom, Treffly Coyne, will go on trial this week because she left her 2-year-old alone in the family car while Coyne and her two older kids put money in a Salvation Army kettle last December.

It was sleeting, and the kiddo was asleep. Coyne contends the little girl, who was 10 yards away in a locked car with a working alarm, wasn't in any danger for the few minutes she was alone. Police still ended up arresting Coyne. Officers note that it only takes a minute or two for something unthinkable to happen.

Fact: Putting kids in a dryer could be considered child abuse

Aron Pritchard -- the Kansas man accused of putting his girlfriend's two kids in a dryer -- has been convicted of child abuse. Prosecutors say he was mad at the little boy for wetting his pants. The defense argued they were actually playing a game. Snip from The AP:

"This was a game," she said. "It was an incredibly stupid game, but ladies and gentlemen, he is not being charged with criminal stupidity."

Sentencing is scheduled for today.

IN parents accused of playing tug-of-war with baby

"Playing" might not be the right word because it allegedly happened during a fight. Kiddo is 7 weeks old. Mom and Dad, who face abuse charges, are both 19.

Hat Tip: Many thanks, kmb and blondie2hot7!

UPDATE on woman who sprayed girl with high-pressure washer

Yesterday, we had a story about a Florida women who sprayed a little girl with a high-pressure washer at a car wash. Mom has turned herself in. She says she was just trying to calm the girl down, and she says she didn't use the power-washer at full power, police report. No charges have been filed at this point.

Hat Tip: Many thanks, Tam!

Abusive boyfriends and the women who love them

Local blogger RDM has a great post here about mothers who leave their kids with boyfriends who either ignore or hurt them. Some folks call this "Abusive Boyfriend Syndrome." RDM says it's actually the fault of DTM -- "Dumb Trusting Mothers."

Why would women leave their kids with men who are not cut out to be around kids? Either one of three things is going on when the mom is away. The ABS man is beating the kid, sexually assaulting them, or just plain old ignoring them (my favorite) until the mother returns.

... It's also easy to find out if the child has been ignored by the ABS guy. They will either be walking with a soggy or full diaper, or sitting around in a locked room while the man is watching the game. You know the drill.

Women punish little girl with pressure washer at car wash

Story is from Florida. Just think of all the people who desperately want to have kids, but can't. And then we've got morons like this -- who have children, but obviously don't want them.

Hat Tip: Many thanks, FanDanGo   

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