Couple in case of child abuse freed, investigator at fault

False testimony by an investigator and failure to call key witnesses has led to the acquittal of a couple charged with torturing their five-year-old daughter.

A magistrate's court ruled last Friday that Keyur Navinchandra and Jyoti Keyur had no case to answer since Frederick Mong'are lied to the court that he had investigated the case.

More >> Couple in case of child abuse freed, investigator at fault

Traffickers on the loose: How children are sold to highest bidder in name of adoption

For years there has been hue and cry over children being stolen or going missing from hospitals, homes, schools, among other places and later being sold.

Some of these children have remained untraced to date while others are believed to have been abandoned and placed for adoption as their families could not be found. Accusing fingers pointed to the manner adoption of children has been carried out in the country for years.

More >> Traffickers on the loose: How children are sold to highest bidder in name of adoption

Mother of baby stolen by two social welfare officials yet to re-unite with child

The mother of a stolen baby in Kumasi will have to wait a while longer to reunite with the child.

It’s been three weeks since police retrieved the unidentified woman’s four-month-old baby from foster parents to whom social workers had sold her in the Central Region.

More >> Mother of baby stolen by two social welfare officials yet to re-unite with child

2 Social Welfare officers arrested for stealing and selling baby

The suspects have been identified as Evelyn Jemima Alangeah and Samuel Obeng Afriyie, the former a Probation Officer and the latter a Justice Administration Officer.

More >> 2 Social Welfare officers arrested for stealing and selling baby

News Line Report Child of Abuse By Foster Mother In Kogi State

More >> News Line Report Child of Abuse By Foster Mother In Kogi State

Six illegal orphanages closed down in B/A

The Department of Social Development in the Brong Ahafo Region has threatened to close down more children’s homes in the near feature.

More >> Six illegal orphanages closed down in B/A

Girl stabs foster Father to death

A 16 year-old girl morning stabbed his foster father to death in Athi River town, Machakos County, in an incident which shocked area residents.

More >> Girl stabs foster Father to death

Khartoum starts to hand over Darfur child soldiers to their families

Sudanese government has embarked on actual moves to hand over 21 child soldiers to their families after completing the legal procedures, said children official.

More >> Khartoum starts to hand over Darfur child soldiers to their families

Foster Mother Cages Fouryears- Old Girl For Five Months

For allegedly being ‘possessed,’ a toddler, Precious Michael, was banished to a solitary confinement in a cage for about five months by her foster mother, Mrs. Mary Matthew. Precious was fed like a dog and made to defecate in a corner of the cage.

More >> Foster Mother Cages Fouryears- Old Girl For Five Months

Orphanages a shame to Uganda

The Children’s Act of 1997 describes a child as a person below the age of 18 years. A child is entitled to education and guidance, immunisation, adequate diet, clothing, shelter and medical attention. The Act makes mention of child protection from discrimination, violence, abuse and neglect and also caters for ‘a probation and social welfare officer’ and a minister to approve homes for children.

More >> Orphanages a shame to Uganda

Judge must now decide contested adoption of 6-year-old girl from Central Africa

Attorneys for Allegheny County Children, Youth and Families and KidsVoice argued in recent court filings that a 6-year-old girl up for adoption should be placed with her foster mother in Penn Hills and not her maternal aunt in Cameroon.

More >> Judge must now decide contested adoption of 6-year-old girl from Central Africa

Nigeria: A Foster Mother From Hell

Precious Chiwendu is a nine-year-old child with a budding ambition. Like her contemporaries her desire has always been to excel in her academic pursuits in order to unlock the door to her greatness. But due to life circumstances and the harsh economic conditions, her parents did not have the financial wherewithal to give this dream the desired support. So, they sent her to Lagos to become a housemaid to Ifeoma Mbakwe.

More >> Nigeria: A Foster Mother From Hell

Man convicted in Kenyan orphanage case asks for new US judge

Man convicted in Kenyan orphanage case asks for new US judge

An attorney for an Oklahoma man convicted of sexually abusing children at a Kenyan orphanage has asked a federal judge to disqualify himself from deciding the man's motions to overturn his conviction and grant a new trial.

16 year old girl ‘defiled’ by foster father seeks justice

16 year old girl ‘defiled’ by foster father seeks justice 

A 16-year-old girl from Kiambaa Constituency is seeking justice after she was allegedly defiled by her foster father, whom she claimed used a sleep-inducing drug before committing the act.

‘Let’s protect rights of orphans, foster children’

‘Let’s protect rights of orphans, foster children’

The Children’s Act Act, 1998 (Act 560) envisages a situation where children will find themselves in a condition where temporary homes will be the option for their maintenance and rehabilitation.

Three people spent years in prison over a horrible crime against children – that never happened

Three people spent years in prison over a horrible crime against children – that never happened

A week before Christmas in 1992, Buffalo police rounded up three suspects. They handcuffed a machine operator at Rich Products on Niagara Street, a chemist working his second job at a downtown hotel, and later a federal employee living near City Hall. The three were named in an appalling crime. Two 8-year-old girls, twin daughters of the machine operator, said their father raped them on three occasions during the previous year – when they were 6 and 7 – and the other defendants joined in the assaults. The girls said they had been tied to mattresses or chairs, then violated as their mouths were sealed with duct tape. Afterward, life would go on as normal.  Prosecutors could offer no scientific proof and only dubious physical evidence of rape and molestation. But they had the girls’ statements. As the suspects fought the charges and rejected plea deals, prosecutors placed the sympathetic victims in front of the jury. The verdict: guilty on all counts. The years passed, and the three convicted sex offenders refused to back down. From prison cells they filed appeal after appeal. All were long shots. But the three insisted they were innocent. As it turns out, they were.

Orphans in crises overseas need emergency adoption protocols, say advocates

Orphans in crises overseas need emergency adoption protocols, say advocates

Australia needs to set up emergency protocols for the quick adoption of children from overseas who have been orphaned by Ebola, west African community leaders say.

Ebola Orphans Challenge West African Culture

Ebola Orphans Challenge West African Culture

The image has haunted Andrew Brooks for months, but UNICEF’s regional child protection specialist for West Africa described it as if it were yesterday.

For Ebola Orphans In Liberia, It's A Bittersweet New Beginning

For Ebola Orphans In Liberia, It's A Bittersweet New Beginning

Ebola has "orphaned" about 2,000 children in Liberia, health authorities say. Some children are being looked after in two shelters in the country's capital, Monrovia. Reuniting the kids with their relatives, or finding them foster homes, can take time.

Ebola Heightens Need for Aid for Orphans

The Ebola epidemic has put adoptions in impacted west African countries at a standstill for obvious reasons. The arrival of orphans from Liberia are on hold, indefinitely, as the state of emergency continues there. Even as some families keep their commitment to adopt, despite the Ebola threat, the numbers of children in west African orphanages who've lost parents is only increasing because of the deadly virus. Some aid workers also say a shortage of food and supplies is making it difficult to care for those of children, and that fear is hampering efforts to place those who've lost parents to Ebola, even within their home countries.