Latest Child endangerment News
While signing Laken Riley Act, Trump says he'll send 'worst criminal aliens' to Guantanamo
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Wednesday signed the Laken Riley Act into law, giving federal authorities broader power to deport immigrants in the U.S. illegally who have been accused of crimes. He also announced at the ceremony that his administration planned to send the “worst...
West Virginia couple convicted of forced labor, human trafficking of adopted kids
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — A West Virginia couple accused of neglect and forced labor involving their adopted children was convicted by a jury on Wednesday after eight hours of deliberations. Jeanne Kay Whitefeather and Donald Ray Lantz went on trial in mid-January and each faced...
Lawsuit alleges Vermont tracks pregnant women deemed unsuitable for parenthood
CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — Vermont’s child welfare agency relied on baseless allegations about a pregnant woman’s mental health to secretly investigate her and win custody of her daughter before the baby was born, according to a lawsuit that alleges the state routinely targets and tracks pregnant...
Labor Department puts spotlight on child labor in slaughterhouses with 3 settlements this week
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The problem of kids working in dangerous slaughterhouses continues to be a concern as the Labor Department announced its third agreement this week with a company in the industry agreeing to pay a penalty and reform its practices to help ensure it won't hire underage workers...
Perdue agrees to pay $4 million after children worked hazardous jobs, Labor Department says
ACCOMAC, Va. (AP) — Perdue Farms will pay $4 million in restitution after it employed children in hazardous occupations at a Virginia plant and let them work past 7 p.m. during the regular school week, the U.S. Department of Labor announced Wednesday. The hazardous work at the...
Trial starts for West Virginia couple accused of subjecting their 5 children to forced labor
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — A witness broke down in tears as she described children carrying heavy objects on hilly terrain at the home of a West Virginia couple who were later arrested after two of their five adopted children were found locked in an outbuilding. The trial of Jeanne...
In his first 2025 catechism lesson, Pope says anyone who exploits or abuses a child answers to God
ROME (AP) — Pope Francis on Wednesday denounced the “scourge” of child labor and other abuses suffered by children, saying anyone who harms or exploits a child will have to answer to God. Francis dedicated his first catechism lesson of 2025 to the plight of children, telling...
The list of Maine parents waiting for a lawyer grew by 700 percent in 2024
Like many of her colleagues, family law attorney Taylor Kilgore has been watching the list of child protection cases in need of lawyers grow over the past year. When the state removes children from their parents’ care because of concerns about abuse or neglect, those parents are...
An Iraqi couple is charged in Germany with keeping and abusing Yazidi girls as slaves
BERLIN (AP) — Germany's federal prosecutor on Monday charged an Iraqi couple with enslavement, torture and war crimes, alleging they kept two young Yazidi girls as slaves and sexually and physically abused them. The man and the woman, identified only as Twana H.S. and Asia R.A. in...
Former Uvalde schools police chief loses bid to toss criminal charges related to 2022 shooting
UVALDE, Texas (AP) — A Texas judge on Thursday refused to throw out criminal charges accusing the former Uvalde schools police chief of putting children at risk during the slow response to the 2022 Robb Elementary School shooting, while a lawyer for his co-defendant said they want to move the...
