Abuse

Following a string of recent cases in which coaches used their positions to sexually abuse children, the Cal Ripken Sr. Foundation says it is trying to help sports organizations better screen people who work with young athletes. The foundation has created an online resource that offers training for employees and volunteers. The site also directs sports organization leaders to a legal research website where they can search potential staff members' criminal histories at a minimal cost.

Every week, dozens of parents, guardians and leaders at youth-serving organizations tell me that they want to do whatever they can do to keep their children safe from abuse. One such tool is the state's sex offender registry. Accessible by the Internet, sex offender registries provide a simple map and list of people who have committed sexual crimes against children, or sexually violent crimes against adults. There are even apps for viewing the registry on mobile devices. One need only to do a routine check every so often in order to be reminded that the threat of child sex abuse impacts every neighborhood and that every community has its share of offenders.

The filibuster is back in the news, thanks to Sen. Rand Paul's nearly 13-hour talkathon on U.S. drone policy last week. Putting aside the merits of Mr. Paul's national security views, his feat of endurance was in the best tradition of the Senate. He used his right to unlimited debate on the Senate floor to draw the attention of his fellow citizens to an issue of profound national importance. Other recent filibusters are less noble. Last month, senators used the rules to delay, for little apparent reason, confirmation of their former colleague Chuck Hagel to be secretary of defense.

Out on bail after being caught on tape beating the elderly man she had been hired to care for, Anastacia Oluoch boarded a plane at Dulles International Airport, police said, and fled home to Kenya via Italy and Ethiopia. More than five years later and after an international search, Oluoch was again brought before a Baltimore judge Tuesday, brought to trial through the first ever international extradition by the Baltimore Police Department. She pleaded guilty to abusing 90-year-old John Taylor and was sentenced to six years in prison.

The CSX Transportation dockworker who is suing a Panamanian shipping company for $5.2 million in connection with an accident at a Curtis Bay coal pier last August will be in court next week on charges he sexually abused a child. David Rienas, 42, of Abingdon was indicted in December on three counts of sexual misconduct for an encounter last year, Harford County Circuit Court records show. He faces a felony charge that carries a maximum sentence of 25 years in prison and two misdemeanors.

The 1994 Violence Against Women Act has done tremendous good in stepping up prosecution of domestic violence, aiding victims and increasing awareness of a too-often silent threat to our society. But the act was allowed to lapse in 2011 amid partisan bickering. On Tuesday, the Senate sent a strong signal by voting to reauthorize the law by an overwhelming 78-22 vote, but its survival in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives is, sadly, far from certain. VAWA, as the law is called, aids in the investigation and prosecution of violent crimes against women and allows for civil redress in cases that prosecutors choose to leave unprosecuted.

A Harford County jury found James Thomas Starr, 26, of Fallston, guilty of sexual child abuse and third-degree sexual offense, Harford County State's Attorney Joseph Cassilly announced Friday. The verdict came after more than 10 hours of deliberation over two days and was announced Thursday, Cassilly said in a media release. Circuit Court Judge Stephen Waldron has ordered a pre-sentence investigation and remanded Starr to police custody. He had been free on $250,000 bail. Sentencing is scheduled for April 17 at 9 a.m. in Harford County Circuit Court.

A Severn father was found guilty of child neglect on Wednesday, but was acquitted of the most serious charge facing him - child abuse - in a case that stemmed from his 5-year-old son losing consciousness after drinking methadone. In a bench trial, Anne Arundel County Circuit Court Judge Paul A. Hackner found Paul K. Brooks Sr., 28, guilty of seven charges, including drug possession, stemming from the September 2012 incident. Hackner said Brooks should have acted faster to get the child medical help when he began to get sick - but he noted that Brooks ultimately made the 911 call, according to a recording of the verdict.

Police testified Tuesday that a Severn man, whose 5-year-old son lost consciousness last September after drinking methadone that the father acknowledged buying, waited more than an hour after the boy initially became ill to call for help because he "was scared. " The remark came as the trial of Paul K. Brooks Sr., 28, opened in Anne Arundel County Circuit Court. Brooks is facing child abuse and related charges. Three other charges in the case were dropped last month. In opening statements, defense attorney Peter S. O'Neill conceded neglect and "poor judgment," but said Brooks was not guilty of child abuse.

A 57-year-old Randallstown woman has been arrested after video of her abusing an intellectually disabled man in her care at a Columbia group home surfaced online, according to Howard County Police. Donna Everett, of the 9900 block of Cervidae Lane, was arrested after her employer, Emerge, Inc., brought the video to the attention of police after discovering it on the website YouTube, police said. Everett, a house manager at the home in the 6500 block of Quilting Way in Columbia, "can be seen striking the man in the head, face and neck, and spitting in the man's face," police said.