Articles Posted in Child Abuse

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Four children were taken into custody by the Los Angeles County Department of Child and Family Services on Tuesday when a child abuse investigation at their home uncovered illegal firearms and ammunition stored in the open and unsecured.

Paul Anthony Cruz, a father and convicted felon, was being interviewed by South Pasadena police at his home on January 23, due to suspicions that his children were being abused. A social worker from the Los Angeles County Department of Child and Family Services was also present.

While inside the home and speaking to the father, officers allegedly discovered a semi-automatic assault-style rifle that was fully loaded inside of the bedroom of one of the children. The social worker took custody of the four children residing with Cruz; three youngsters and one 11-year-old boy.

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A teacher from New York City who has been accused of performing oral sex on one of her 14-year-old male students entered a plea of not guilty to the criminal charges at a hearing on Saturday.

29-year-old Dori Myers has been employed as a social studies teacher at the New School for Leadership and the Arts in the Bronx since 2014. She also started a track team for the students of the school. Myers is the wife of a deputy sheriff, and they share a home in Rockland County.

On November 1, Myers was accused of sexually abusing one of her male students at a location off campus in Manhattan. According to reports, the teenager told one of his classmates that he had a sexual encounter where Myers administered oral sex, and the classmate informed the school principal of what he had been told.

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A Perris couple with thirteen children was taken into custody on Sunday when one of their teenagers snuck out of their home and called 911 to report that her parents were holding her hostage with her 12 siblings.

57-year-old David Allen Turpin and his wife, 49-year-old Louise Anna Turpin, have been married for 34 years. The couple share 13 children, the youngest of which is 2-years-old and the eldest 29.

The Turpin parents homeschool their children, and Mr. Turpin serves as the principal of the Sandcastle Day School; a state approved facility that operates out of the Perris residence. Records reflected six of the children were enrolled this year, and they were being instructed in sixth grade through twelfth grade materials.

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On Friday, the parents of two young boys who authorities allege tried to trade their children for money, or possibly drugs, have entered a plea of no contest to charges of felony attempted child abandonment.

Lancaster residents Vincent Calogero and Sarah Nilson, the parents of two toddlers, were reportedly under the influence of a controlled substance when they began offering the children to strangers. The sheriff’s department speculated that they were trying to give the boys away in order to obtain cash or narcotics.

Deputies dispatched to the family’s home to investigate reported child abuse and arrested 38-year-old Calogero and 32-year-old Nilson.

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A single mother of four in North Carolina is facing charges after locking the door to her house with while she attended a Christmas gathering while her 10-year-old son was unable to get into the home. The boy had allegedly spent near five hours outside in the time she was away.

43-year-old Susan Dowless was taking her family to a Christmas party to celebrate the holiday when one of her children who was playing at a friend’s house did not come home at the time she requested. After she waited an hour she concluded that the boy was staying with his friend and she left for the dinner with her three other children.

When the child came home he found that the door was locked and his family was not there. A neighbor notified the authorities when they spotted the boy roaming around the area by himself while he waited for them to return.

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An Oklahoma man who was left to care for his girlfriend’s child as she ran errands on Saturday is suspected of causing injuries to the boy by striking him as punishment for opening a Christmas present early without permission.

Bridgette Payne enlisted her boyfriend, Wesley McCollum, to babysit her 5-year-old son Ayrian while she finished her holiday errands. At some point during the time she was out shopping McCollum allegedly used physical disciplinary measures when he noticed Ayrian had gone under the Christmas tree and opened one of the wrapped gifts.

When Payne returned home McCollum informed her that he had sent Ayrian to bed early because of his misbehavior, and she went into the bedroom to check on her son. She became highly distraught when she noticed bruises covering his body and the impression of a hand on his face as if he had been slapped. When Payne asked the child what happened she reported that he told her, “Wesley hurt me bad mama.”

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A juvenile boy was reportedly left by his parents to fend for himself in an unfurnished trailer for approximately two months, and the couple is now facing charges.

Jennifer Nichols and Joshua Sanders of Pensacola, Florida rented a trailer in the beginning of September this year. The woman who rented the dwelling to them noted that they did not furnish the interior, and their child was living there without them. She stated that she attempted to provide some care for the boy, but it was not the amount of care that a guardian would offer him.

Nichols and Sanders allegedly visited on occasion and left the child with a little bit of money and a couple of meals. The landlady decided to reach out to the parents before contacting the authorities, and she informed them that they would need to move on site with their child or move him to another location where he would receive the care he needed. She told police that Sanders responded by telling her it was not her business as long as the rent payments were current.

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A father from Inglewood who was involved in a car accident allegedly caused by him driving under the influence of alcohol learned that he will face an upcoming trial for his charges. His 10-year-old daughter was a passenger in the front seat and she was initially reported in critical condition from the crash.

On October 6 Gil Paul Hernandez was driving through Torrance in his BMW with his daughter in the car. He has been accused of causing an accident involving three vehicles. According to witnesses at the scene Hernandez was driving erratically and at a high speed, and frequently changing lanes in order to pass other cars. His BMW crashed into a Chevrolet Impala in front of him, and he was unsuccessful in his attempt to stabilize the BMW before making impact with a Toyota Camry traveling on the opposite side of the street.

Officers arrived at the scene, and nearly an hour after the accident Hernandez agreed to breathalyzer tests which recorded 0.099 and 0.098 percent blood alcohol content. When he agreed to a blood test it came back as 0.09 percent. These numbers exceed the legal limit of 0.08 percent in the state of California.

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At the Growing Well Child Care Center in Raleigh, NC, two women who provide day care services have been accused of abusing a 4-year-old boy enrolled in their program.

The state-accredited day care owned by Shirley Leary Staten is run out of her home. She and Nina Staton Lassiter, the director of the business, share the responsibility of caring for and overseeing the children.

One of the services provided at Growing Well is supplying meals for the youngsters in their care. On October 4, Staten is said to have force-fed a 4-year-old child rice and water causing chronic damage to him in the form of an eating affliction. In addition she allegedly slapped and pushed him onto the floor.

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A Florida father allegedly left his two young sons in the back of his locked car in a parking lot while hanging out in a strip club. He has been accused of child neglect.

According to staff at the establishment Willie Lee Jordan Jr., 23, visited Fort Myers gentleman’s club Scarlett’s Cabaret on Thursday, and he was asked to leave because he did not meet the dress code standards of the club. He returned in proper attire later in the evening.

One of the security guards on shift heard the cries of a child and went to investigate where the sound was coming from. He came upon Jordan Jr.’s locked SUV which had the windows open a couple of inches, and he saw two young boys alone in the back seat. A 3-month-old infant was crying and found in an upside down position in an unbuckled car seat. The other child, a 3-year-old boy, was sitting in the back seat and also crying.

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