Latest Child abuse News

When should social workers separate families? A federal lawsuit raises thorny questions

May. 31, 2023 16:28 PM EDT

BOSTON (AP) — When child welfare workers and police knocked on Sarah Perkins’ and Joshua Sabey’s front door well past midnight one weekend last summer, the parents were shocked to learn the state of Massachusetts had come to take their two young sons. It’s the kind of...

Mother pleads guilty after Arizona boy starves to death

May. 27, 2023 11:24 AM EDT

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) — An Arizona mother has pleaded guilty to murder and child abuse charges stemming from the death of her 6-year-old son who had been locked in a closet and denied food. Elizabeth Archibeque reached a plea agreement with prosecutors this month, the Arizona...

Virginia man sentenced to decades in prison for 2-year-old's scalding death

May. 26, 2023 19:42 PM EDT

NORFOLK, Va. (AP) — A Virginia man was sentenced Friday to decades in prison for the 2018 death of his girlfriend’s 2-year-old daughter, delaying medical help for hours after she had been scalded severely. Norfolk Circuit Judge Jack Doyle issued the sentence to John Tucker...

Stepfather of murdered Delaware 3-year-old pleads guilty to child endangerment

May. 26, 2023 18:14 PM EDT

DOVER, Del. (AP) — The stepfather of a 3-year-old girl whose burned remains were found on a softball field several years ago has pleaded guilty to child endangerment charges, according to court documents. Brandon Haas, 41, pleaded guilty in March to one felony count and three...

Another deceased Jesuit priest accused of sex abuse in Bolivia as pedophilia scandal grows

May. 26, 2023 17:00 PM EDT

LA PAZ, Bolivia (AP) — A Spanish Jesuit priest who died in 2012 has been accused of sexually abusing a minor in Bolivia three decades ago, the latest in a string of pedophilia cases that have shaken the Catholic Church in this Andean country. Jorge Vila Despujol, who died in...

Members of polygamous group arraigned in court on child sex abuse charges

May. 26, 2023 16:01 PM EDT

PHOENIX (AP) — Members of a small polygamous group accused of child sex abuse of underage girls whom the group’s leader claimed as brides were arraigned in federal court on Friday. Sam Bateman and the three women followers, who are each represented by different attorneys, entered...

Doctor's supporters, hospital at odds with Indiana penalty for talking about 10-year-old's abortion

May. 26, 2023 15:47 PM EDT

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Supporters of an Indianapolis doctor voiced frustration Friday with the Indiana medical board’s decision that she violated patient privacy laws when she talked with a newspaper reporter about providing an abortion to a 10-year-old Ohio rape victim. The...

Indiana doctor reprimanded, fined $3,000 for talking publicly about Ohio 10-year-old's abortion

May. 26, 2023 08:47 AM EDT

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — An Indiana board decided Thursday night to reprimand an Indianapolis doctor after finding that she violated patient privacy laws by talking publicly about providing an abortion to a 10-year-old rape victim from neighboring Ohio. The state Medical Licensing Board...

Prosecutors widen child sex abuse case in polygamous sect

May. 25, 2023 16:03 PM EDT

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Prosecutors have widened their case against members of a small polygamous group that resides near the Utah-Arizona border, detailing its leader's sexual encounters with children he took as wives in new charges filed earlier this month. A grand jury accuses Sam...

7-year-old child charged with arson of family home

May. 25, 2023 15:58 PM EDT

RIPLEY, W.Va. (AP) — A 7-year-old West Virginia child has been charged with first-degree arson after intentionally setting the family home on fire while the child's parents were asleep inside, officials said. The juvenile was taken into custody Wednesday evening after the blaze,...