New Mexico Governor Seeking Harsher Sentences For Child Abusers and Predators

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New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez announced several legislative proposals last month, which aim to alter the state’s Criminal Code in order to extend sentences for child abusers and predators. The legislation would triple jail time for first-time child abuse offenders, increasing sentences from three to nine years. The legislation would also double the sentences for repeat offenders, with second-time offenders potentially serving 18 years in prison as opposed to just nine. Gov. Martinez, a Republican, also wishes to extend New Mexico’s “Baby Brianna” law, which currently imposes a mandatory life sentence for anyone convicted of killing under 12, with the proposed legislation levying life sentences for those found guilty of killing anyone under the age of 18 within the state. The bill, introduced by state Rep. Al Park (D-Albuquerque) and state Senator Gay Kerman (R-Hobbs), would also stiffen penalties for drunk drivers responsible for accidents that result in the death or injury of children.

Kentucky Newspapers Fighting for Release of Unedited Child Abuse Records

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Earlier this week, The Lexington Herald-Leader and the Louisville Courier-Journal filed separate motions in an attempt to get the state’s Cabinet for Health and Family Services to release full case files involving child deaths and near-deaths as a result of abuse or neglect. The motions came following the cabinet’s release of more than 300 pages of heavily edited internal reviews on Monday. The redacted files omitted or censored the names of not only children that were killed or injured, but in some instances, the names of suspects and counties in which the abuses occurred. Wednesday, the Louisville Courier-Journal filed a motion in the Franklin Circuit Court requesting that the Cabinet for Health and Family Services be held in contempt for editing the files. That same day, the Lexington Herald-Leader asked Judge Phillip Shepherd to make the cabinet produced unabridged copies of social worker reviews from 2009 and 2010.

Penn State Support Wall for child abuse prevention. Photo credit: pennstatelive/Flickr

Reporting Child Abuse, in Pennsylvania and Around the Nation

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With former Pennsylvania State University assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky facing allegations of sexual abuse against eight children spanning a 15-year period, many in the American public are left wondering how such a chronic narrative of seduction and abuse could go on so long. At least one parent brought allegations of sex abuse to the police as early as 1998. Since then, at least two university employees say they witnessed Sandusky in the commission of a sexual act with young boys, yet according to records from local law enforcement the complaints never reached police. In 2000, a Penn State janitor says he witnessed what he described as Sandusky performing oral sex on a young boy in a university shower, according to a Pennsylvania state grand jury. He never reported the incident, fearing he would lose his job, according the grand jury.

The Tragic Story of an Innocent Child

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At the age of four William* was found wandering naked in his neighborhood. His home was “deplorable and unsanitary,” his room was covered in feces and urine. He was discovered to have suffered sexual abuse, and … he was kept in a cage. Some could argue that meth made her do it, his mom that is. Drug addict or not, William’s mother was charged with three felony child cruelty counts and is in prison today.

Fractured Leg, Fractured Family: A Misdiagnosis Leads to Allegations of Child Abuse

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When Anthony Richards, Jr., was born on an early Sunday morning in June, the only complications involved his family getting the cameras in focus to capture his arrival into the world. He was a healthy baby and his parents, Queenyona Boyd and Anthony Richards, Sr., couldn’t have been happier. Yet, only four days later Anthony was put in foster care after doctors discovered an unexplained broken femur, his distraught parents the suspects of child abuse. A Protective Father's Discovery

After the hospital discharged Boyd and her baby boy, Richards took the two straight home later that Sunday. The following day, Boyd slipped out to pick up her prescriptions at a pharmacy only a short drive away.

Brian Dixon

The Other Side of the Rainbow: Young, Gay and Homeless in Metro Atlanta

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["The Other Side of the Rainbow: Young, Gay and Homeless in Metro Atlanta" is part 1 of a 3 part series on LGBT issues. Bookmark this page for updates.]

In April 2008, Brian Dixon was 18-years-old and homeless. Being gay, he says, only exacerbated his predicament. After allegedly enduring years of mental and physical abuse, at age 14 Dixon left home to live with his grandparents. Within a year, they placed him in Georgia’s foster care system.

Michelle Barclay and Patricia Buonodono On Danielle’s Story

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*Danielle was born HIV positive. Her mother, while constantly in and out of jail, abused alcohol while pregnant with her. Her father couldn’t manage to care for her, often forgetting to give her the HIV medications she needed to survive. She was a year old when she entered foster care. Her father had finally given up, dropping her off at an AIDS clinic, saying he couldn’t handle it any more.

Child Abuse Prevention Month Begins with SafePath Kick-Off Event

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Cobb County, Ga.’s SafePath Children’s Advocacy Center wasted no time getting started on April’s Child Abuse Prevention Month activities, holding a kick-off event Friday morning.  Attended by a large crowd of parents, police officials, and politicians braving the cold spring weather, the event shone a light on the importance of preventing child abuse. The Walker School’s Lower School Chorus warmed up the crowd with a song before turning it over to a succession of speakers, including WSB-TV anchor Linda Stouffer and state Rep. Stacey Evans (D-Smyrna). SafePath Board President Ed Lee spoke first, reminding the audience that child abuse prevention is an “active process.”

It’s important to keep our eyes open and watch for signs of abuse, he said, a message that Rep. Evans reiterated. “We need to talk to our friends and colleagues about getting involved,” Rep. Evans said. Child abuse is often a self-perpetuating cycle, Evans said.  Thirty percent of abused children will grow up to abuse their own children, so it is even more important to stop the violence now.

Karen Worthington: If you Want to Prevent Crime, Work to Prevent Child Abuse

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Downtown Atlanta workers may not see pinwheels in the parks this April. The brightly colored children’s toys have twirled in the wind for many Aprils, each representing one of the thousands of children who are abused in Georgia each year. Just two weeks before the start of Child Abuse Prevention Month, Prevent Child Abuse Georgia (PCAG), an affiliate of Prevent Child Abuse America, abruptly closed its doors. The closure of PCAG presents an opportunity for Georgia to redesign and revitalize our child abuse prevention work. Child abuse prevention activities, such as public awareness, home visitation programs, parent education and early identification of risk factors, are essential components of a safe, healthy, prosperous community.

Protecting Undocumented Children from Abuse and Neglect

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There's some new research about how to better protect undocumented children in the child welfare system. It comes out of Texas where less than one percent of children in state care last year were undocumented, according to the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s report called Undocumented and Abused. Eighty-five percent of those children were Hispanic. The report maintains that a blanket policy to send them all home is not the answer. It goes on to explain in detail how a child can get special immigrant juvenile status (SIJS).