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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 Florida woman caught allegedly riding her horse while highly intoxicated in early November is now facing additional charges, and the loss of custody of her horse when a judge deemed she was unfit to provide proper care for the animal.

Donna Byrne was celebrating her 53rd birthday on November 2, when she had decided to ride her horse, Bo Duke, to a local store to buy herself spurs and spur straps.

A concerned person who saw Byrne contacted the Polk County Sheriff’s Office and reported that a woman who appeared disoriented was riding a horse down a busy road.

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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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In Port St. Lucie, Florida, a man who was furious that there were no chocolate chip cookies left in the house reportedly vented his anger by punching his girlfriend in the face.

On December 14, 31-year-old Richard Anthony Hessic confronted his girlfriend, whom he has been with for three years, when he had realized that what was left of the chocolate chip cookies in his home had been eaten. His girlfriend was said to respond to the situation with humor by making a joke about locating the responsible party, and she expressed that she felt that it was not something worth arguing over. She purportedly offered to replace the cookies to diffuse the fight.

Hessic’s girlfriend left the room to take a shower, and he felt as if she was not taking the situation as seriously as he wanted. According to the arrest affidavit, he then allegedly entered the bathroom still angry from the argument, proceeded to rip the shower curtain down and assaulted her by punched her in the left side of the face.

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A Clearlake Oaks, California, couple driving across the country to deliver Christmas presents to family members are now facing felony charges, when the gifts they were planning to hand out were allegedly identified by police as packages collectively containing 60 pounds of marijuana.

80-year-old Patrick Jiron accompanied by his wife, 70-year-old Barbara Jiron, left California in their Toyota Tacoma with the intent of driving to Vermont and Boston to visit relatives for the holiday.

On December 19 as the couple drove through York, Nebraska, the York County Sheriff’s Department reportedly spotted the Jirons’ vehicle changing lanes and the driver failed to use the turn signal.

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In Minnesota, a teenage girl is facing criminal charges for distribution of child pornography when she shared a racy selfie with a male friend on a popular smartphone-based social media application.

The case has caught the attention of the American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota (ACLU) who are lending their support to the young girl. They believe going forward with the charges against the teen “undermines the seriousness and intent of child pornography laws,” which according to Minnesota statute exist to “protect minors from the physical and psychological damage caused by their being used in pornographic work depicting sexual conduct which involves minors.”

The 14-year-old female, who is being referred to as “Jane Doe” to protect her identity as she is a minor, was taking part in what she described as sexting. Sexting, which she believes is a common activity amongst her peers, refers to interactions of a sexual nature taking place through computer-mediated communications such as texting, and sharing pictures and videos.

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A New York man has been accused of harassing his son-in-law by instigating him with his hairpiece, which the victim believes holds a great resemblance to a cartoon character he has feared since childhood.

Mazen Dayem, a Staten Island man, has a self-proclaimed lifelong phobia of the Loony Tunes licensed cartoon character called the Tasmanian Devil. He has allegedly been the victim of nearly half a decade of instigation by his father-in-law, 62-year-old Yunes Doleh, who sports a hairpiece that Dayem finds disturbingly similar to the animated animal that strikes fear in him.

According to the lawsuit, the tension between 36-year-old Dayem and his father-in-law escalated in early September when they met at a restaurant and tried to mend fences. They were unable to reconcile, and their meeting resulted in the arrest of Doleh for allegedly damaging Dayem’s vehicle. Dayem was issued a restraining order from the court prohibiting him from coming into contact with the victim, and he faced charges of criminal mischief.

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On Tuesday, December 19, police arrested a man who they believe participated in 20 or more package thefts throughout several Irvine neighborhoods.

As reported by the Irvine Police Department, after home video surveillance cameras picked up footage of a man stealing delivered packages off doorsteps in Irvine, authorities released photos and a video to news outlets in an attempt to locate the responsible party. 33-year-old Anthony Brian Palusso, a Mission Viejo resident, was identified at a local hotel by someone who had seen the video during a broadcast.

It was discovered that Palusso was in possession of an outstanding warrant, and Garden Grove police picked him up at the hotel and took him into custody.

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A Beaumont, California teacher is facing charges for allegations that she had sexual relations with a student on various occasions. She was also reported to have supplied alcohol for the encounters.

Samantha Ciotta began working as an English teacher at Beaumont High School in 2015. In August this year, a student discovered a Snapchat video believed to contain footage of Ciotta scantily clad and inebriated with two shirtless minors When the Beaumont Unified School District caught wind of the rumored video they reported it to the police, which launched an official investigation.

According to documents, when authorities questioned one of the alleged victims he aggressively refused to talk to them about Ciotta, and he stated that he had moved on.

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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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