Dance instructor accused of sexually assaulting foster children for years

Court records reveal new disturbing accusations about foster children who were sexually assaulted for years, WTKR reports.

The Poquoson Police Department arrested a 27-year-old man as a suspect in an aggravated sexual battery case.

More >> Dance instructor accused of sexually assaulting foster children for years

The horror story inside an Indian children's home

"The sun rose very slowly for us every morning," a girl rescued from a shelter home in India's Bihar state told an investigator recently. She had cupped her hands together forming a small bowl shape and smiled wanly.

More >> The horror story inside an Indian children's home

ACS ignored background check law for years: officials

The city’s child-welfare department has for years failed to conduct required criminal background checks on prospective employees — such as the convicted murderer who is now charged with assaulting a child, state officials revealed Thursday.

“An analysis of background checks shows Administration for Children’s Services was out of compliance with the law requiring them to be run through the Justice Center from 2013 until at least 2017,” Christine Buttigieg, a spokeswoman for the Justice Center for the Protection of People with Special Needs, told The Post.

More >> ACS ignored background check law for years: officials

Former foster child sues county for alleged invasion of privacy

A former foster child who is suing San Diego County for allegedly failing to protect him from years of sexual abuse by his former foster father has filed a new lawsuit accusing the government's attorneys of snooping through his confidential juvenile files without required court authorization.

More >> Former foster child sues county for alleged invasion of privacy

Brooklyn Park couple indicted for first-degree murder in death of foster daughter

A Brooklyn Park couple was indicted by a grand jury July 19 for first-degree murder in connection with the death of their 3-year-old foster daughter.

Sherrie Dirk, 33, and Bryce Dirk, 31, were indicted for first-degree murder while committing child abuse and second-degree murder while committing the underlying felonies of neglect, child endangerment or malicious punishment of a child, after a child in their care was found dead Nov. 6, 2017.

More >> Brooklyn Park couple indicted for first-degree murder in death of foster daughter

Foster parents still insist toddler choked on chicken bone as case heads to Ga. Supreme Court

Laila Marie Daniel's foster parents said she choked on a chicken bone, but the autopsy results revealed otherwise. Now the Rosenbaums are having their case heard by the Georgia Supreme Court

Jennifer and Joseph Rosenbaum were indicted on multiple charges after the November 2015 death of 2-year-old, Laila.

More >> Foster parents still insist toddler choked on chicken bone as case heads to Ga. Supreme Court

Marshfield man sentenced to nine months in jail for molesting foster children

A 37-year-old Marshfield man convicted of molesting his foster children received a nine-month jail sentence Tuesday in Wood County Circuit Court.

John G. Hanley also received six years of probation for two counts of third-degree sexual assault of a child.  Hanley was convicted of the charges, which were reduced from two counts of first-degree sexual assault of a child, on June 4.

More >> Marshfield man sentenced to nine months in jail for molesting foster children

More than 1000 caregivers unused as children shifted around dozens of foster homes

Children in state care are "too often" being shifted around as many as sixty different homes, the Children's Commissioner says.

Figures released to Newshub under the Official Information Act show more than a thousand approved caregivers are not being used.

More >> More than 1000 caregivers unused as children shifted around dozens of foster homes

Toddler in S.C. Foster Home Dies Choking on Food, Coroner Says

A toddler who was in a foster home died choking on his food, the Greenville County Coroner's Office said Monday.

The Coroner's Office identified the toddler as 2 1/2-year-old Kamryn Arnold-Garrett of Greenville.

More >> Toddler in S.C. Foster Home Dies Choking on Food, Coroner Says

Report: State to Audit LA County Family Services After Boy’s Death

California state officials will conduct an audit of L.A. County’s Department of Children and Family Services to determine, in the aftermath of the death of a 10-year-old boy allegedly tortured by his mother and her boyfriend, whether the agency is doing enough to protect children, it was reported Thursday.

More >> Report: State to Audit LA County Family Services After Boy’s Death

How Does a Poppy Seed Bagel Trigger a Positive Drug Test?

A mother in Maryland said that eating a poppy seed bagel caused her to test positive for opiates while she was giving birth, according to news reports. But how does this happen?

The woman, Elizabeth Eden, ate a poppy seed bagel the morning she gave birth to her daughter in April, according to local news station WBAL. Eden was in labor when her doctor told her she had tested positive for opiates.

More >> How Does a Poppy Seed Bagel Trigger a Positive Drug Test?

Woman scams two adoption agencies out of nearly $20,000 after faking pregnancy

A northwest Harris County woman is accused of faking a pregnancy with twins in order to steal thousands of dollars from two adoption agencies.

Jessica Felder, 35, is charged with felony theft.

More >> Woman scams two adoption agencies out of nearly $20,000 after faking pregnancy

Camas man accused of raping foster child

A 30-year-old Camas man stands accused of raping a foster child at his mother’s home years ago, the same household where his older brother carried out similar abuse of another victim.

Kevin John Rose faces two counts of first-degree rape of a child.

More >> Camas man accused of raping foster child

Social worker on trial over disclosing foster care data

Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court heard that 59-year-old Jacqueline McMillan had been using her personal email address instead of her National Fostering Agency (NFA) email address and had sent details to a former NFA employee.

The jury were told that McMillan of Brookbottom Close, Ramsbottom had admitted using her personal email and disclosing information to a third party but said her managers were aware.

More >> Social worker on trial over disclosing foster care data

ACS worker with homicide record accused of slamming 6-year-old boy's head at Manhattan foster care center

An ACS worker with a murder conviction on his record shoved a 6-year-old boy’s head into a file cabinet at a foster-care center in Manhattan, police said.

Jacques Edwards, 55, who works at the city-run Nicholas Scoppetta Children’s Center on First Ave. near E. 29th St. in Kips Bay, attacked the boy on Friday, authorities said.

More >> ACS worker with homicide record accused of slamming 6-year-old boy's head at Manhattan foster care center

Man threatens to kill cops, social worker, police say

A man who in 2015 scuffled with Easton police threatened to kill three officers and a Northampton County Children, Youth and Families worker on Monday night in his Easton home, court papers say.

Joshua Michael Clark, 27, of the 100 bock of North Eighth Street, was told by officers just before 9 p.m. that his 4-month-old daughter was being placed into foster care for the night, city police said.

More >> Man threatens to kill cops, social worker, police say

New details in fire death of foster child are 'bizarre,' judge says

Child welfare officials offered new details Monday into the death of a 3-year-old foster child in an apartment fire last month, but a Juvenile Court judge expressed skepticism over the account, saying police must continue investigating the “bizarre” circumstances.

More >> New details in fire death of foster child are 'bizarre,' judge says

Fairfield County JFS sent one child to treatment center later accused of abuse, neglect

Fairfield County Child Protective Services has confirmed sending one child to a facility that the state has since shut down amid allegations of child abuse, neglect, and unsanitary living conditions.

The Eagle-Gazette first reported the closure of The Heritage of Hannah Neil's residential center on July 20 — the day it was ordered to have every child removed from its custody. The majority of the children were sent to Hannah Neil by child protective service agencies across Ohio, including one from Fairfield County placed there on April 20.

More >> Fairfield County JFS sent one child to treatment center later accused of abuse, neglect

Police investigate child abuse in orphanages in Odesa, Volyn oblasts

Odesa Oblast police say they have launched an investigation into alleged cases of child abuse in a local orphanage, Svitanok (Sunrise).

According to the message published on Odesa Oblast National Police website on Aug. 6, the investigation started after a five-year-old girl, an orphan living at Svitanok, was filmed on Aug. 5 complaining about numerous cases of humiliation and violence children there suffer at the hands of orphanage staff.

More >> Police investigate child abuse in orphanages in Odesa, Volyn oblasts

Poppy Seed Bagel Behind Woman's Ordeal At Towson Hospital

A Baltimore County woman paid the price for her breakfast choice the day her daughter was born.

"I was in labor. I was sitting in the bed. I was having contractions. I was on a Pitocin drip, and the doctor came in and said, 'You've tested positive for opiates,'" mother Elizabeth Eden said.

More >> Poppy Seed Bagel Behind Woman's Ordeal At Towson Hospital

Note: While this is absolutely pathetic and bizzar, it's not the first time it's happened.  In Pennsylvania in 2018 a similar case was settled in court.  Here's the link. 

Mother Settles Suit Over Poppy Bagel Drug Test

That's a totally different person.

When Adopted Children Want to Meet Their Birth Parents

I first met my birth father in the parking lot of a Holiday Inn near Indianapolis. I was 18.

We had been working toward this moment for three years. Letters. Phone calls. Even mix tapes.

More >> When Adopted Children Want to Meet Their Birth Parents

Court Rejects Lawsuit That Claims Native American Adoption Law Is Racist

A court has thrown out a bid to void a federal law that challengers say is racist because it places the desires and rights of Native American tribes over the constitutionally protected best interests of children.

In a unanimous ruling Monday, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals did not address the contention of the Goldwater Institute, who brought the case on behalf of Arizona couples adopting Native children, that the law is unfair and illegal.

More >> Court Rejects Lawsuit That Claims Native American Adoption Law Is Racist

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

Illegal adoptions on for years, probe thwarted earlier: Child panel

In a month of illegal adoptions surfacing at a childcare home run by the Missionaries of Charity in Ranchi, a probe carried out by the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) has revealed that illegal adoptions were being carried out by the trust since 2013.

More >> Illegal adoptions on for years, probe thwarted earlier: Child panel 

1 In 4 Foster Kids In Missouri Are Taking Strong Psychoactive Drugs And The State’s Not Keeping Track, Lawsuit Says

Foster kids in Missouri are overmedicated with powerful drugs that keep them in “chemical straight-jackets,” putting them at risk of harm, according to a class-action lawsuit calling on the state to improve the care it offers the youngest people in its charge.

At least 23% of the 13,500 children in the care of the state’s Children’s Division were taking one or more psychotropic drugs as of December 2017, according to court documents. This mirrors a national trend: Children in foster care are at least twice as likely to be taking these powerful drugs than kids outside the system, according to an analysis of Medicaid data.

More >> 1 In 4 Foster Kids In Missouri Are Taking Strong Psychoactive Drugs And The State’s Not Keeping Track, Lawsuit Says