Child Abuse

Fractures, head trauma, burns and other serious injuries among child abuse victims is on the rise, despite what data from child protective service agencies show, according to new research by Yale School of Medicine. Serious injuries from child abuse increased nearly 5 percent in the last 12 years, the study found. Child protective service agencies show a 55 percent drop in physical abuses cases from 1997 to 2009. Yale researchers said it raises questions on the accuracy in the way abuse cases are reported to child protective service agencies.

A Fallston man found guilty earlier this year of child sex abuse charges was recently sentenced to serve 20 years in prison, according to court records. James Thomas Starr, 26, was found guilty by a Harford County Circuit Court jury Feb. 8 of sex abuse of a minor and a third degree sex offense. On April 17, Circuit Judge Stephen Waldron sentenced Starr to serve 25 years with five years suspended on the child sex abuse conviction and 10 years with all 10 years suspended on the third degree sex offense conviction, according to Maryland online court records.

As Maryland's leading child-abuse prevention organization, we at The Family Tree know that Senate Bill 689 will help protect Maryland's children from maltreatment. By providing clear guidance about how a parent may discipline his or her child, the bill both teaches parents appropriate behavior and protects children from dangerous abuse. The Family Tree wholeheartedly endorses Senate Bill 689 and applauds its co-sponsors, Sens. Jamie Raskin and Richard Madaleno. Child abuse takes a tremendous toll in the United States.

April is National Child Abuse Prevention Month and throughout the month CASA of Harford County is putting a focus making children's healthy development a community priority. "When parents have the knowledge, skills, and resources to provide children with safe, stable, nurturing, and healthy environments, we can prevent abuse and neglect before they occur," CASA noted in a press release. CASA is short for Court Appointed Special Advocates for Children. As part of the highlighting effort, CASA is planning a candlelight vigil outside of the Harford County Circuit Courthouse, facing Main Street, on Wednesday, April 17th at 7:30 p.m. On display will be a pinwheel garden "planted" by CASA of Harford County staff and volunteers.

When children are abused, the human costs are high, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention : Children who were physically, sexually or psychologically abused are more likely to have poorer health, social and emotional difficulties and lower economic productivity. But the abuse also substantially impacts the nation's health care, education, criminal justice and welfare systems - the costs from abuse and neglect are approximately $124 million just from one year's worth of cases over the abused lifetimes, the CDC says in a new report.

FREDERICK, Md. (AP) — The mother of a 2-month-old girl who was fatally beaten at her home in Brunswick has pleaded guilty to second-degree child abuse for failing to protect her daughter from the girl's father. Twenty-one-year-old Jessica Peavy entered the plea Tuesday in Frederick. Frederick County State's Attorney Charlie Smith says the state will seek a one-year jail term, with 14 years suspended, at Peavy's sentencing Oct. 27. He says prosecutors also will ask for supervised probation with drug treatment.

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.

The scandal currently rocking Penn State and its beloved football coach Joe Paterno sheds important light on how we respond to child abuse. It's a reminder that the impact of remaining silent in the face of sexual abuse can be devastating. We mourn the humiliation of the university and the coach, but let's give equal attention to the suffering of the victims. Some of the abuse was likely preventable had adults in the know, at the time, put their foot down. Children depend on adults to protect them.

Today we have witnessed a complete and total failure of the American higher education system ("Paterno fired," Nov. 10).  I am embarrassed that the educational system that I am a part of was responsible for affecting the lives of children in a negative way, not the positive ways that the good people in my field strive to do on a daily basis. This appalling scandal is not about touchdowns, a coaching legend's fall from grace, or money, this about breaching the trust that every parent that sends their child to college expects from us as educators.  Every person in higher education has a moral responsibility and expectation to protect the young men and women we interact with on a daily basis.

Maryland is one of three states that requires workers in certain occupations to report child abuse but whose law doesn't include criminal sanctions against those who fail to do so, according to a state legislative analysis. That distinction met with renewed criticism last week after a Baltimore Sun investigation by Tricia Bishop revealed court records claiming that a Catholic school principal and other Catholic officials were aware of a teacher's sexual abuse of students, but didn't report it until the teacher was under investigation - years after the crimes took place in the 1970s.

A former volunteer firefighter who worked with youths at the Lansdowne department pleaded guilty Monday to sexually abusing a teenage boy he mentored in a training program at the station. Anthony Maurice Cottle, 23, who appeared Monday in Baltimore County Circuit Court, also faces federal charges. Cottle, a resident of Owings Mills, was also a paid firefighter with the Baltimore County Fire Department. He has been suspended without pay from that department since being charged in October.

He was a bearded, Bunyanesque defensive tackle whose rugged play helped the Baltimore Colts to three straight division championships in the 1970s. But Tuesday, when Joe Ehrmann addresses a national gathering convened to deal with the problem of child sexual abuse in sports, he'll take part in one of the most meaningful huddles of his life. His words will weigh heavily on the audience at the two-day Safe to Compete summit in Alexandria, Va., because Ehrmann - minister, motivational speaker and onetime Gilman coach - is himself a survivor of child sexual 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.

Just wanted to say a resounding "thank you" for printing Maria Santo's article on the truth - the simple, basic truth - of what abortion is:  killing a very young baby.   Thank you for not bowing to the insanity of political correctness on this most fundamental issue of human rights.  How can we concern ourselves with child abuse or any other important human rights issue while we are endorsing genocide of babies? Yvette Ridenour Catonsville

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.

A man who has been tried three times in the death of a 3-year-old girl has been denied a chance at a fourth trial with a ruling by the state's highest court affirming his latest conviction for involuntary manslaughter and child abuse. The Maryland Court of Appeals ruled unanimously that 31-year-old Erik Stoddard's conviction and 40-year prison sentence will stand in the 2002 fatal beating of Calen Faith Dirubbo in her Northeast Baltimore home. Police said the suspect was angry because he had been unable to toilet train the girl.

A Severn couple already facing drug and weapons charges after rescue workers and police were called to their house for a report that their child accidentally took methadone are now also under indictment on child abuse and neglect counts. Paul Kristopher Brooks Sr., and his wife, Kimberly Brooks, both 28, are facing 12-count indictments, that include child abuse, firearms and drug charges, a spokeswoman for Anne Arundel County prosecutors said Friday. All charges stem from an incident Sept.

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.

An Annapolis woman was charged Thursday with murdering her two-year-old daughter, and the city's police also said she disposed of the body. Chelsea Booth, 25, of the first block of Bens Drive, is facing charges of first- and second-degree murder, and child abuse, according to court records. She was held without bond at the Anne Arundel County jail. Police said a "concerned citizen" reported Wednesday not having seen Kassidey Booth in recent days. They said an investigation indicated that the mother killed Kassidey earlier this week and disposed of her body.