Pee-soaked diaper stuffed in child’s mouth leads to 22 charges against foster parents, cops say

Diapers stuffed in a child’s mouth, beatings and sexual battery: these are some of the things prosecutors say multiple children in a Dearborn County, Ind., home went through over the years, Fox 19 reported.

Now Diane and Timothy Combs face 22 felony charges related to the alleged abuse, WKRC reported. Both pleaded not guilty in court Tuesday, according to the station.

More >> Pee-soaked diaper stuffed in child’s mouth leads to 22 charges against foster parents, cops say

Dad shares heartbreaking footage of his children being taken away

A dad has filmed the heartbreaking moment his distressed children were taken away from him by police officers.

More than one million Facebook users have watched the disturbing footage taken at a Cornwall property.

More >> Dad shares heartbreaking footage of his children being taken away

Pinellas judge returned toddler to mom despite guardian's objections before child's murder

Confidential court records obtained by 8 On Your Side reveal that a Guardian Ad Litem tried to block Jordan Belliveau’s reunification with his mother just a few months before his alleged murder at her hands.

Tuesday, Largo police arrested Charisse Stinson for killing Belliveau three days after she reported he’d been abducted by a stranger named Antwan. She later confessed to striking the child, making up the abduction story and dumping his body in some nearby woods.

More >> Pinellas judge returned toddler to mom despite guardian's objections before child's murder

• Slain boy’s foster parents seek changes in child services

Lost in foster care: Problems persist

When 4-year-old Hunter Payton died in foster care last year, our investigation raised the possibility his death wasn’t an accident.

“They told us it was an ‘unlikely’ injury,” Hunter’s mother April Payton said. “It doesn’t happen. Something hit him hard.”

More >> Lost in foster care: Problems persist

California passes landmark legislation to help transgender foster youth

Yes folks!  Now they'll take your kid away and give them a sex change.

California’s legislature just passed a bill making health care more accessible to transgender foster youth.

Assembly Bill 2119 would clarify existing law to say that young people in the state foster care system have a right to “gender affirming health care and gender affirming mental health care.” It gives the California Department of Social Services two years to develop best practices and guidance.

More >> California passes landmark legislation to help transgender foster youth

DHS’ Negligence Led To Sexual Abuse Of Foster Girls, $15M Lawsuit Claims

Oregon’s Department of Human Services (DHS) was sued for allegedly placing two minor girls in a foster home with a sexually abusive teen, which laid the ground for their physical and mental trauma.

The lawsuit, which was filed in the Multnomah County Circuit Court in Oregon on Friday, claimed the DHS negligently placed a 13-year-old boy with a history of domestic abuse in the same foster home as six other children in October 2014, five of whom were below the age of 10. Among those five were the victims — aged seven and five years respectively at the time.

More >> DHS’ Negligence Led To Sexual Abuse Of Foster Girls, $15M Lawsuit Claims

Junction City foster father convicted of sexually abusing child in his care

A Junction City foster father is expected to be sentenced Wednesday for sexually abusing a child in his care.

A jury in Lane County Circuit Court on Monday convicted Joe Albert Raygosa, 46, on six counts of first-degree sexual abuse, two counts of first-degree unlawful sexual penetration and four counts of first-degree sodomy.

More >> Junction City foster father convicted of sexually abusing child in his care

Woman discovers she has five biological siblings – 53 years after her adoption

An adopted woman in Pennsylvania received quite the surprise this summer after taking a DNA test, discovering she has hundreds of relatives living all over the country - including five biological siblings!

Her name is Glenn Leonard, and she's a paramedic and firefighter living in New Freedom.

More >> Woman discovers she has five biological siblings – 53 years after her adoption

Foster care services in Donegal majorly non-compliant in three areas

The health watchdog has found foster care services in Donegal to be majorly non-compliant in three areas.

Hiqa has raised concerns over child protection, and the assessment and reviews of foster carers.

More >> Foster care services in Donegal majorly non-compliant in three areas

Should a woman pay child support if the child lives with the dad?

Cases of child custody and maintenance are becoming quite popular in children courts across the globe. Normally, it is the mother of the child who is supposed to take care of the young one until they reach a certain age when they can make sound decisions.

As per the Kenyan law, the mother is expected to get the child's full custody until the child is aged 18 years.  However, according to Kenya Law Resource Centre, a legal journal, custody can be given to any of the child's parents, guardian, or any person who applies for it with the consent of the initial custodian.

More >> Should a woman pay child support if the child lives with the dad?

Indiana couple accused of abusing foster children, including battery by bodily waste

A Dearborn County, Indiana, couple spent the weekend in jail after being charged with several counts related to the abuse of foster children in their care.

More >> Indiana couple accused of abusing foster children, including battery by bodily waste

Foster care services in Donegal majorly non-compliant in three areas

The health watchdog has found foster care services in Donegal to be majorly non-compliant in three areas.

Hiqa has raised concerns over child protection, and the assessment and reviews of foster carers.

More >> Foster care services in Donegal majorly non-compliant in three areas

Lawsuit: DHS negligence leads to girls' sex abuse

The guardian for two young sisters is suing the state, calling the Department of Human Services negligent for allowing the girls to live with a sexually abusive teen.

The $5 million lawsuit filed in Multnomah County Friday claims the state knew the 13-year-old boy had a history of sexual abuse.

More >> Lawsuit: DHS negligence leads to girls' sex abuse

Former client says he lost his son in custody case due to lawyer who is now facing charges

"I was lawyer shopping. I was going to everyone."

Cody Cotton says he is a victim of Natalie Robinson. Robinson is the woman who was arrested just last week for practicing law without a license. She is now out of jail after posting bond.

More >> Former client says he lost his son in custody case due to lawyer who is now facing charges

Cops don’t think she shot her children’s foster mom. But they’re still charging her

Miami resident Candi Johnson remains in Miami-Dade County jail on no bond, charged with attempted first-degree murder following Friday’s shooting of Johnson’s kids’ foster mother.

But Miami-Dade cops don’t think Johnson pulled the trigger.

More >> Cops don’t think she shot her children’s foster mom. But they’re still charging her

• Woman accused in foster mother shooting previously accused of pointing gun at DCF worker

Child trafficking in India: When children are bought and sold in the quest for a 'better life'

Babubhai* ran a unique matrimonial service out of a small shop in a busy Ahmedabad locality. He bought girls from Gujarat’s tribal areas and sold them as brides to rich Patel farmers. The ‘grooms’ were men who couldn’t find wives in their own communities because sex selective abortions over several generations had led to a severely skewed gender ratio. The few eligible women from the community didn’t wish to live on remote farms.

Babubhai was very proud of his ‘service’ – he didn’t think of it as trade. “I am saving them from poverty and starvation,” he’d say, of the girls involved in his transactions. “What sort of lives would they lead in their own tribal villages? Drunken husbands, more children. And I am giving these men healthy and obedient young wives. They are well worth their price.”

More >> Child trafficking in India: When children are bought and sold in the quest for a 'better life'

Revealed: cash crisis pushing child services to tipping point

Ministers are facing demands for emergency funds to protect thousands of vulnerable children after figures revealed that child social care services plunged more than £800m into the red in a single year.

In the latest sign of the cash crisis engulfing councils across England, senior local government figures now warn that children’s services are reaching a tipping point as the numbers needing help continue to grow and budgets continue to shrink.

More >> Revealed: cash crisis pushing child services to tipping point

Mom Accused of Shooting Foster Mother Tells Judge She's 'Aggravating'

The biological mother accused of shooting the foster mother of her two children in southwest Miami-Dade was ordered to be detained without bond during a tense court appearance.

Candi Nicole Johnson was rolled while in a wheelchair into the courtroom by Department of Corrections officials on Sunday.

More >> Mom Accused of Shooting Foster Mother Tells Judge She's 'Aggravating'

• Accused of shooting a foster mother, woman refuses to appear in court
• Foster mother shooting suspect accused of pulling gun on DCF worker in March

Woman accused of shooting foster mother to appear in court

A woman accused of shooting her children’s foster mother is expected to appear before a judge Saturday.

Candi Johnson, 33, lost custody of her two children after she was charged with child neglect in April.

More >> Woman accused of shooting foster mother to appear in court

Rastafarian woman wants removal from North Dakota county's child abuse registry

A practicing Rastafarian has filed a lawsuit against a North Dakota county social services agency to get her name off a child abuse registry.

Judge Todd Cresap heard arguments Tuesday in Shanika Lister's civil lawsuit against Ward County Social Services, the Minot Daily News reported.

More >> Rastafarian woman wants removal from North Dakota county's child abuse registry

Australian Catholic Church Rejects Reporting Abuse Confessions

THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IN Australia rejected recommendations to compel priests to report child abuse revealed to them in confessionals.

An investigation by the Australian Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse discovered widespread abuse, revealing that approximately 7 percent of the country's priests had been accused of abusing children.

More >> Australian Catholic Church Rejects Reporting Abuse Confessions

There was no sign that children lived in the Hart family home, report says

In the days after the Hart family's SUV was discovered at the bottom of a California cliff, investigators visited their Washington state home and were surprised to find almost no evidence that six children, ranging in age from 12 to 19, lived in the house.

There were no toys in the home and no personalized decorations in the kids' bedrooms, according to documents released by the Clark County Sheriff's Office.

More >> There was no sign that children lived in the Hart family home, report says

New adoption records law brings renewed hope for woman in search of sister

A state law that went into effect just this summer is making it possible for people to access thousands of adoption records for the very first time. The information in those records means siblings separated in childhood could be reunited. 

Sandra Kruse has dreamed of the day she would be reunited with her biological sister for decades. She said this new law gives her hope that the long-awaited reunion will happen soon.

More >> New adoption records law brings renewed hope for woman in search of sister

Another woman arrested over historical child abuse claims at orphanage

A twelfth woman has been arrested in connection with alleged historical abuse of children at Smyllum Park orphanage. Police Scotland said on Friday, a 76-year-old woman has now been charged in connection ‘with the non-recent abuse of children’

More >> Another woman arrested over historical child abuse claims at orphanage

The Complicated, Messy Identity of a Transracial Adoptee

In the Atlantic, David French says questioning a white family’s ability to raise a child of color is wrong. I know it isn’t.

More >> The Complicated, Messy Identity of a Transracial Adoptee