Child Sex Abuse

A Westminster man is accused of raping, beating and burning the 21-month-old girl daughter of his girlfriend while the mother slept nearby, Carroll County sheriff's deputies said Tuesday. Ryan Chad Gifford, 23, was arrested Sunday and charged with first- and second-degree assault and first- and second-degree child abuse after the girl's mother took her to a hospital for treatment of burns, a swollen face and extensive abrasions. Gifford was being held at the Caroll County Detention Center in lieu of $500,000 bond after a bail review hearing Monday.

Child abuse demands that we choose sides. The victim demands that we speak up and take action; the perpetrator demands that we remain silent. Do-nothing bystanders collude with the abuser, enabling him to continue devouring children. That's what is alleged at Penn State. Football trumped the lives of children. Sexual predators will always plague us, out there scanning for prey. The tragedy is that many were victimized as children. They were not protected, no one recognized the traumatic aftereffects, and they had no treatment.

A 25-year-old Westminster man was detained on $25,000 bond Thursday after he was charged in an indictment with child sex abuse involving his girlfriend's son. David Olin Stinson was charged with three counts each of second-, third- and fourth-degree sex offense and unnatural or perverted practice, and with one count of assault, Westminster police said. Mr. Stinson was arrested after the Carroll grand jury returned an indictment Wednesday. Investigators allege that the sex acts occurred over the past two to three years, beginning when the boy was 12 years old.

Thomas Leroy Griffin, formerly of Hagerstown and Rosedale, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court on Monday to charges he sexually abused a child to produce child pornography. Griffin, 32, began committing the abuses against his victim when she was 5 or 6 years old, according to the plea agreement, engaging in sexually explicit conduct with the child in order to produce visual depictions on at least five occasions. The victim's mother discovered a videotape documenting the abuse last December.

A longtime Taneytown Elementary School teacher accused of sexually abusing five young boys over two decades has been released on $300,000 bond. Harold W. Fair Jr., 49, of the 100 block of W. Baltimore St. in Taneytown was arrested Thursday afternoon and charged with one second-degree sex offense, six counts of child sexual abuse, five third-degree sex offenses, one sodomy count and one perverted practice count. He was suspended with pay shortly after police began their investigation May 22. Yesterday was the last paid day of the school year for teachers.

A Bel Air business owner has been charged with sexually abusing a 15-year-old boy during an 11-month period that ended in July, according to the Harford County state's attorney's office. William L. Harrison, 62, owner of Trenton Property Services on Main Street, was arrested last week and charged with six counts of abuse, said Bruce Smith, the assistant state's attorney handling the case. Authorities say that the abuse occurred while the boy worked for Harrison's company. Police are continuing the investigation and have determined that Harrison has employed several boys of the same age in the past, Smith said.

A Harford County jury convicted Havre de Grace City Councilman Charles A. Maslin III yesterday of child sex abuse and molestation in a case that involved sex with a youth almost 20 years ago.Maslin, 40, was led away in handcuffs to the county Detention Center after being found guilty in Circuit Court of two counts of second-degree sexual offense, one count of third-degree sexual offense and one count of child abuse.Maslin, elected to office in May 1996, could receive prison terms totaling 65 years when he is sentenced by Judge Thomas E. Marshall in three weeks.

Two children took the witness stand yesterday in Carroll Circuit Court and told Judge Luke K. Burns Jr. that their father had sexually abused them in their grandmother's home."

The Anne Arundel County Board of Education named Washington, D.C., lawyer Alan I. Baron as the investigator who will determine whether Superintendent C. Berry Carter II failed to TTC report suspected child abuse, in violation of state law.Mr. Baron, a Baltimore resident who is a partner in the firm of Howrey & Simon, also has been asked to look closely at recent events at Northeast High School. Since April, three teachers have been indicted on charges of child sex abuse involving students at the Pasadena school.

A 67-year-old man is in City Jail today, charged with sexually assaulting two girls at a northeast Baltimore day-care home run by his wife.The man, Arthur A. Vaughn, of the 1700 block of Homestead St., was being held in lieu of $50,000 bail on charges of rape, child abuse and other sex-related offenses.The charges involve two girls, one who allegedly was assaulted over a four-year period, from 1985 through 1989. This case was first reported to police April 16 of this year, and Vaughn was arrested April 29.The day-care home's license, registered in the name of Vaughn's wife, was suspended in an emergency hearing April 17, Roberta Ward, assistant director of the state's child care administration, said today.

Sexually perverted adults are found in all walks of life, not merely college football programs. That the recent Penn State tragedy occurred around a sport with a reputation for machismo and tough men is a coincidence. This sort of criminal behavior has taken place in religious institutions, service organizations like the Boy Scouts, community recreation programs, public schools, and even in families. It has been suggested in the press that those who were aware of this behavior and did not stop it immediately or report it to the police used poor judgment.

FREDERICK, Md. (AP) — A Frederick County sheriff's deputy faces charges of sexually abusing a 14-year-old girl. The Frederick County Sheriff's Office said Thursday that 46-year-old Sam Bowman of New Market was charged Wednesday night. Bowman didn't immediately return a call to his home seeking comment. No defense attorney is listed in court records. Bowman has been with the sheriff's office since August. He was a school resource officer at Walkersville High School.

A 38-year-old Columbia teacher's aide was found guilty Friday of sexually abusing a third-grader by writing her dozens of explicit love letters, setting a new precedent in Maryland for a sex crime conviction without evidence of inappropriate physical contact. Howard County Circuit Judge Diane O. Leasure ruled that Karl Marshall Walker Jr., who worked at Bryant Woods Elementary School for three years, sexually exploited an 8-year-old girl by giving her notes that spoke of his passion for her, his desire to kiss her and his request that she keep their correspondence secret.

A Westminster man is accused of raping, beating and burning the 21-month-old daughter of his girlfriend while the mother slept nearby, according to charging documents filed in Carroll County. Ryan Chad Gifford, 23, was arrested Sunday and charged with first- and second-degree assault and first- and second-degree child abuse after the girl's mother took her to a hospital for treatment of burns, a swollen face and extensive abrasions. Gifford was being held at the Caroll County Detention Center in lieu of $500,000 bond after a bail review hearing Monday.

A Frederick County grand jury has indicted a former kindergarten teacher on charges of sexually abusing a child at school. State's Attorney J. Charles Smith acknowledged the indictment Wednesday of Matthew Berresford, 31, of East Berlin, Pa. Berresford couldn't be reached immediately for comment. He has no phone listing, and no defense attorney is listed in court records. Frederick County Public Schools spokeswoman Marita Loose says Berresford worked at North Frederick Elementary School.

Dundalk man arrested, charged in child sex abuse A Dundalk man has been arrested and charged with third- and fourth-degree sex offenses involving a 7-year-old girl whom he is accused of abusing in the laundry room of her grandfather's apartment building, Baltimore County police said yesterday. David Milton Wilson, 51, of the 7200 block of Shipway was arrested Thursday and remains in custody in the Baltimore County Detention Center, police said. The girl told her mother that she had been abused, and her mother took the child to detectives.

A Monday morning protest at Northeast High School has been postponed, now that the school principal has agreed to meet with parents upset over the way the school is dealing with the arrests of two teachers on charges of child sex abuse.Principal Joseph Carducci sent an announcement home with students Friday, promising to meet with parents at 7 p.m. Tuesday in the auditorium. Board of Education staff members and the board's lawyer, P. Tyson Bennett, will attend the meeting to answer questions.