Charges Of Child

A Taneytown woman accused of leaving her 18-month-old daughter alone at home Tuesday night while she went to get beer had her bond reduced from $25,000 to $2,500 during a bail review hearing before District Judge Donald M. Smith yesterday.Terri Lynn Manolovich, 34, of the 100 block of E. Baltimore St. was charged with child abuse, reckless endangerment of a child, confining an unattended child, disorderly conduct and failure to obey the lawful order of a police officer.Officer Edward Engel of the Taneytown police force said the woman was a passenger in an automobile he stopped for a traffic violation at 11:50 p.m. Tuesday.

The mother of a slain Columbia 3-year-old has been indicted on charges of child abuse and related counts stemming from what Howard County police allege was abuse of Elijah Izale LaJeuness that took place five months before his death. Joaquinia Marie LaJeuness, 28, of the 5900 block of Stevens Forest Road was arrested in Meridian, Mich., and returned Saturday to Howard County, where she has been jailed in lieu of $25,000 bond, county police said. Elijah was 2 years old when the county Department of Social Services received a report on Nov. 3, 2010, that the boy had facial marks and bruising.

Anyone doing business with the Carroll County school system will be required to notify school officials of any charges of child abuse against its employees or officers. "If any officer of the corporation or organization [that uses our facilities] - or any employee of that organization - is accused of child abuse, they will notify us within 24 hours indicating the individual that was so charged," schools Superintendent Charles I. Ecker said at yesterday's school board meeting. This requirement "will be added to all of our facility-use applications and all the contracts we have for people using our facilities," Ecker said.

Anyone doing business with the Carroll County school system will be required to notify school officials of any charges of child abuse against its employees or officers. "If any officer of the corporation or organization [that uses our facilities] - or any employee of that organization - is accused of child abuse, they will notify us within 24 hours indicating the individual that was so charged," schools Superintendent Charles I. Ecker said at yesterday's school board meeting. This requirement "will be added to all of our facility-use applications and all the contracts we have for people using our facilities," Ecker said.

Yesterday's editions of The Sun included an incorrect spelling of the name of the defense attorney representing John Joseph Merzbacher Jr. on charges of child abuse. Her name is M. Cristina Gutierrez.The Sun regrets the error.

An Anne Arundel County grand jury has indicted three people on unrelated child-pornography charges. Shannon M. Jones, 20, of the 7900 block of Telegraph Road in Severn was accused of getting a 16-year-old girl drunk at her home and having sexual contact with her. A spokeswoman for the prosecutor's office said a male friend of Jones' took photographs of her and the girl in the shower, and that the two adults downloaded pornographic photographs of children...

A woman accused of scalding her 15-month-old daughter in a bathtub in 1997 pleaded guilty in Howard County Circuit Court yesterday to charges of child abuse.Mary V. Cabassa, 20, of Savage, was convicted of reckless endangerment in a jury trial three months ago. But the jurors were unable to reach a verdict on charges of child abuse and second-degree assault, and a second trial was scheduled to begin yesterday.Instead of going to trial, Cabassa pleaded guilty to child abuse. In exchange for her plea, prosecutors said they would recommend an 18-month sentence.

A Columbia man has been indicted on charges that he sexually abused his 16-year-old daughter repeatedly between June 1991 and last month, according to court records.The 43-year-old man was indicted Sept. 3 by the county grand jury on charges of child abuse and fourth-degree sexual offense, records say.Two of the alleged incidents occurred inside the Palace 9 Movie Theater in Columbia and while the man and his daughter were sitting on a bench at Lake Kittamaqundi in Columbia, according to a police report filed in Howard County District Court.

CHICAGO -- The criminal charges against the "Home Alone" couple have expanded into the area of physical child abuse, including allegations that Sharon Schoo kicked, scratched and choked her daughters and that both parents confined their 9-year-old to a crawl space.A Kane County grand jury yesterday returned a 64-count indictment charging Sharon Schoo on 39 counts and David Schoo on 25 counts. The charges include aggravated battery, misdemeanor battery and felony possession of marijuana.The indictment also restated charges of child abandonment and endangerment that had been filed earlier by the state's attorney's office.

A judge's ruling and the subsequent acquittal of a Baltimore man on child sexual abuse charges have upset Howard County prosecutors and child abuse investigators. They worry that widely accepted procedures used to interview child abuse victims are no longer valid.The acquittal was particularly troubling, say those involved in the investigation, because of the nature of the charges."This was a 5-year-old little girl who was given a sexual disease, and the stepfather was acquitted," said county police Detective Sandra Regler, who had interviewed the child.

A Baltimore man pleaded innocent yesterday to charges of child abuse and domestic violence in a case prosecutors said is among the first in which a single jury will hear allegations of abuse against a mother and her son. An Aug. 21 trial date was set for Michael Cole, 32, whom prosecutors have charged with 13 counts, including first- and second-degree assault and reckless endangerment. Assistant State's Attorney Julie Drake said Cole brutally abused the 3-year-old son of his girlfriend, Tiffany Myrick.

An Anne Arundel County grand jury has indicted three people on unrelated child-pornography charges. Shannon M. Jones, 20, of the 7900 block of Telegraph Road in Severn was accused of getting a 16-year-old girl drunk at her home and having sexual contact with her. A spokeswoman for the prosecutor's office said a male friend of Jones' took photographs of her and the girl in the shower, and that the two adults downloaded pornographic photographs of children...

Three people have been indicted by an Anne Arundel County grand jury on unrelated child pornography charges. The grand jury indicted last week Shannon M. Jones, 20, of the 7900 block of Telegraph Road in Severn in an alleged incident with a 16-year-old. She is accused of getting the girl drunk at her home, removing her clothes and having sexual contact with her. A spokeswoman for the prosecutor's office said that a male friend of Jones' took photographs of the two females in the shower and that the two adults had allegedly downloaded pornographic photographs of children from the Internet.

A 20-year-old woman accused of burning her daughter in a bathtub filled with scalding water and bleach in 1997 was arrested yesterday for allegedly failing to comply with a plea agreement that would have spared her a second trial on child-abuse charges.The trial of Mary V. Cabassa of Severn is scheduled for late next month.She was to be sentenced yesterday by Howard Circuit Judge Lenore R. Gelfman under a plea agreement reached with prosecutors.Cabassa had pleaded guilty in February to charges of child abuse and second-degree assault, and prosecutors were going to recommend that Cabassa spend 18 months in jail while attending parent classes and undergoing psychological counseling.

A woman accused of scalding her 15-month-old daughter in a bathtub in 1997 pleaded guilty in Howard County Circuit Court yesterday to charges of child abuse.Mary V. Cabassa, 20, of Savage, was convicted of reckless endangerment in a jury trial three months ago. But the jurors were unable to reach a verdict on charges of child abuse and second-degree assault, and a second trial was scheduled to begin yesterday.Instead of going to trial, Cabassa pleaded guilty to child abuse. In exchange for her plea, prosecutors said they would recommend an 18-month sentence.

The arrest of an Arundel High School teacher charged with possession of child pornography has deeply shaken and divided students, who knew him as a leader in youth theater and the writer of a highly praised play on child abuse.Bruce Edward McDade, a 24-year speech and drama teacher, is being held without bond at the Prince George's County Detention Center in Upper Marlboro, awaiting a bail hearing at 9 a.m. Monday before U.S. Magistrate Judge James E. Kenkel.A raid on his Greenbelt home Thursday uncovered computer images of boys engaging in "sexual intercourse, masturbation, and other sexually explicit conduct," according to an affidavit written by Postal Inspector Thomas E. Boyle filed in the U. S. District Court.

A 20-year-old woman accused of burning her daughter in a bathtub filled with scalding water and bleach in 1997 was arrested yesterday for allegedly failing to comply with a plea agreement that would have spared her a second trial on child-abuse charges.The trial of Mary V. Cabassa of Severn is scheduled for late next month.She was to be sentenced yesterday by Howard Circuit Judge Lenore R. Gelfman under a plea agreement reached with prosecutors.Cabassa had pleaded guilty in February to charges of child abuse and second-degree assault, and prosecutors were going to recommend that Cabassa spend 18 months in jail while attending parent classes and undergoing psychological counseling.

A Taneytown woman accused of leaving her 18-month-old daughter alone at home Tuesday night while she went to get beer had her bond reduced from $25,000 to $2,500 during a bail review hearing before District Judge Donald M. Smith yesterday.Terri Lynn Manolovich, 34, of the 100 block of E. Baltimore St. was charged with child abuse, reckless endangerment of a child, confining an unattended child, disorderly conduct and failure to obey the lawful order of a police officer.Officer Edward Engel of the Taneytown police force said the woman was a passenger in an automobile he stopped for a traffic violation at 11:50 p.m. Tuesday.