Moderator's Notes

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Childhelp USA National Child Abuse Hot line
1 - 800 - 4 - A - CHILD
(1 - 800 - 422 - 4453)
TDD: 1-800-2-A-CHILD
Childhelp USA is a non-profit agency which can provide reporting numbers
and has Hot line counselors who can provide referrals.



State Hotlines

Alaska (AK)
(800) 478-4444

Arizona (AZ)
(888) SOS-CHILD
(888-767-2445)

Arkansas (AR)
(800) 482-5964

Connecticut (CT)
(800) 842-2288
(800) 624-5518 (TDD/Hearing Impaired)

Delaware (DE)
(800) 292-9582

Florida (FL)
(800) 96-ABUSE
(800-962-2873)

Illinois (IL)
(800) 252-2873

Indiana (IN)
(800) 800-5556

Iowa (IA)
(800) 362-2178

Kansas (KS)
(800) 922-5330

Kentucky (KY)
(800) 752-6200

Maine (ME)
(800) 452-1999

Maryland (MD)
(800) 332-6347

Massachusetts (MA)
(800) 792-5200

Michigan (MI)
(800) 942-4357

Mississippi (MS)
(800) 222-8000

Missouri (MO)
(800) 392-3738

Montana (MT)
(800) 332-6100

Nebraska (NE)
(800) 652-1999

Nevada (NV)
(800) 992-5757

New Hampshire (NH)
(800) 894-5533

New Jersey (NJ)
(800) 792-8610
(800) 835-5510 (TDD/Hearing Impaired)

New Mexico (NM)
(800) 797-3260

New York (NY)
(800) 342-3720

North Dakota (ND)
(800) 245-3736

Oklahoma (OK)
(800) 522-3511

Oregon (OR)
(800) 854-3508

Pennsylvania (PA)
(800) 932-0313

Rhode Island (RI)
(800) RI-CHILD
(800-742-4453)

Texas (TX)
(800) 252-5400

Utah (UT)
(800) 678-9399

Virginia (VA)
(800) 552-7096

Washington (WA)
(800) 562-5624

West Virginia (WV)
(800) 352-6513

Wyoming (WY)
(800) 457-3659

Remember: It is better to report in good faith than to stand back and do nothing at all.
You have the option to anonymously report suspected abuse.
Don't let your own fears prevent you from saving a child.
If you don't speak up for them, who will?

The Storm-




The storm is big and deadly as it sweeps across my room,

I'm shielded by my brother who's getting beaten with a broom.

He makes no sounds, he's so strong as he takes every hit,

If he'd just stayed in his room, he wouldn't have been touched one bit.

He runs to my protection, making sure that I am safe,

I wish the storm would go away, it's the only thing I hate.


A long time later, the storm is gone, screeching away in the car,

Headed off some other place, probably the nearest bar.

My brother's lying in his room, curled up on his bed,

I look at him and start to cry, bruises, scratches, open wounds,

Covering his head.

His eyes open as he hears my steps and for some reason he smiles,

He wipes away my tears and says "Don't cry pretty Cinda, hop up on the bed with me, lets sleep for a while."

Time goes by I start to drift, completely safe I feel,
Against my back, his beating heart, his arms create my shield.


Hours now, it's full black, we awake to a bang outside,

The storm is back, my brother yells "Quickly Cinda, Hide!"

Outside the door we hear the storm come loudly up the stairs,

I look up to see my brothers eyes, for my safety he is scared.

He lifts me up in his arms as he drops down to his knees,

So softly he places me under his bed, praying that the storm won't see.

Just in time he's on his feet as the storm blows open the door,

What happened to my brothers feet? I don't see them anymore..

Seconds later I hear a bang on the other side of the room,

His body smashes to the ground, but I don't see him move.


Tears are pouring down my face as I let out a little squeek,

The storm is mad and pulls me out but I can't fight it, I'm too little, too weak.

I feel it's grip on both my wrists as it's pulling them apart,

My back is hurting and I am screaming, I'm trying to kick but I can't.

My brother's crawling across the floor, he's now too weak to stand,

His arm is broken, can't move both legs, he's pulling with just one hand.

His face is covered, his shirt is soaked, in a red so dark, so deep,

I'm squinting my eyes and I'm screaming out loud, wishing we could just go back to sleep.


I wish it was over, I can't take this pain as I'm thrown down to the floor,

My brother scrambles to his feet, crouches over my body, trying to protect once more.

I feel his trembling body on me as it tries its best to protect,

His eyes can't focus, he can't move, he can barely lift his head.

I feel the storm yank him up, and by his leg, pull him down the stairs,

He didn't do anything, he doesn't deserve this, his life is so unfair.


As he's getting dragged down the hallway, I'm still crying on the floor,

His eyes find mine, he starts to smile, he knows he's kept me safe once more.

His eyelids close, his eyebrows flatten, he's somehow found his peace,

His lips move to say "I love you" but I don't hear him speak.

He's being pulled into another room, where the storm will soon unleash,

He tries to calm me and attempts to grin, I see his blood stained teeth.

The door slams shut, can't see him anymore, I try get to my feet,

I can't stand up, I fall back down and cringe as i hear him scream.

I heard every thing that went on in that room that night;

After the storm had gone away and driven off again,

What I saw as I opened that door, gave me the biggest fright.

His arms are twisted, his body mangled, lying in a pool of blood,

His eye's looking back at me, I couldn't breathe as I saw him there, I said "God, what have I done!"


The storm hit my big brother for the second time today,

I see the pain of every scratch spread across his face.

He smiles at me and tries to talk but he has no breath left to give,

I'm looking at him lying there, this is no way to live.

In the body of a ten year old boy, he's forced to be a man,

He's starting to fall asleep now, still smiling, as I'm right there holding his hand.



~S.L. Halpin

Dreamcatchers for Abused Children
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FACTS:
**The safest family for a child is a home in which the biological parents are married.
**Cohabitation, an increasing phenomenon, is a major factor in child abuse.
**The incidence of child abuse decreases significantly as family income increases.
**Child abuse frequently is intergenerational.
**Child abuse is prevalent in "communities of abuse" with family breakdown.
**Child abuse is directly associated with serious violent crime.
**The lowest risk ratio for physical abuse is one in which the biological parents are married and the family has always been intact.
**Abuse is 6x's higher in the second-safest environment: the blended family in which the divorced mother has remarried.
**Abuse is 14x's higher if the child is living with a biological mother who lives alone.
**Abuse is 20x's higher if the child is living with a biological father who lives alone.
**Abuse is 20x's higher if the child is with biological parents who are not married but are cohabiting.
**Abuse is 33x's higher if the child is living with a mother who is living with a man.
** 1,500 children die from abuse each year.
**There are 140,000 injuries to children from abuse each year.
**There are 1.7 million reports of child abuse each year.
** 1 in 4 women in North America were molested in childhood.
**2 million+ cases of child abuse and neglect are reported each year in the U.S.
**An estimated 150,000 to 200,000 new cases of sexual abuse occur each year.
**There were an estimated 903,000 victims of maltreatment nationwide.
**An estimated 1,100 children died of abuse and neglect, a rate of approximately 1.6
**1 in 7 males will have been sexually molested before the age of 18.
**10 deaths per 100,000 children per year in the general populations.
**Each day in the U.S. more than 3 children die as a result of child abuse in the home.
**Child abuse is reported on average every 10 seconds.
**Approximately 3 MILLION child abuse reports are made each year.
**oNLY two-thirds of the reported cases were investigated.
**An estimated 903,000 victims were substantiated by child protective services agencies in 1998.
**Convicted rape and sexual assault offenders report that 2/3 of their victims were under the age of 18.
**Among rape victims less than 12 years of age, 90% of the children knew the offender, according to police-recorded incident data.
**Frequently, the person who sexually molests a child is also a child themselves...



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ALL STATE "SUNSHINE LAW"

LIGHT A CANDLE
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EWTNKids

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New Amber Alert GPS Helps Track Kids
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Child Offenders Registry
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Nearly 500,000 Offenders On File
Get Maps, Photos & Offense Info
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Worldwide Social Network for Police Officers

Police Pulse
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Stop the abuse and murder of the children in the U.S.

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ALL STATE "SUNSHINE LAW"

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ABUSED CHILDREN
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DIRECTORY
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PREVENT CHILD ABUSE IN YOUR AREA-VOLUNTEER
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Tools for Child Abuse Prevention Month

Governor Charlie Crist signs 'Child Abduction Prevention Act' Into Law.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

PR Log (Press Release) – May 11, 2010 – It is official! Late this afternoon in Tallahassee, Florida Governor Crist officially signed the landmark ‘Child Abduction Prevention Act’ into law. The ‘Child Abduction Prevention Act’ will go into effect on January 1st, 2011.

Championed by Representative Darryl Rouson (D- St. Petersburg), the groundbreaking legislation that is now law will provide the Florida courts the responsibility to assess risk factors associated with a potential parental child abduction and further allows for judges overseeing high-risk cases of potential abduction to issue court orders that will prevent a child’s abduction from occurring.

Representative Darryl Rouson issued the following statement, “I am extremely pleased to announce that as of today, my dream and goal of creating law that would help prevent our state’s children from experiencing the nightmare of child abduction is now a reality. As abduction cases in our state and the nation continue to increase at alarming and unprecedented levels, it has become apparent that the combative way to prevent this epidemic from spreading was to create a sweeping law that will aid the courts in protecting our children. The ‘Child Abduction Prevention Act’ certainly does this. I would like to thank Governor Crist and all of my fellow lawmakers, including child advocate Senator Eleanor Sobel, for realizing the importance of this law. The significance of this new law in Florida should be a lesson for all states presently considering child abduction prevention legislation; it is critical to the children of every state to have preventive laws in place that will protect their well being. I would also like to thank Carolyn Ann Vlk, the astute writer of the ‘Child Abduction Prevention Act’ for her tremendous leadership in writing such a sweeping law, and, Peter Thomas Senese for his substantial advocacy in support of our state’s new law. Today is a great day for the children of Florida.”

Senator Eleanor Sobel (D- Fort Lauderdale) previously stated, “Abductions are incredibly damaging and can haunt a child for the rest of their lives. This new law will keep Florida’s children safe from these potentially devastating experiences… abductions out of the state or the country can be extremely harmful to children. It is also nearly impossible to locate and return a child who has been taken to a foreign country. The safest and most cost effective approach is to simply prevent an abduction.” Florida’s new law does exactly that.

Peter Thomas Senese, the author of the highly anticipated book on international parental child abduction titled ‘Chasing The Cyclone’ and one of the lead child abduction prevention advocates who actively championed for the passage of the legislation into law added, “Child abduction prevention laws such as Florida’s breakthrough ‘Child Abduction Prevention Act’ are the lines of first defense against the pandemic of abduction sweeping our nation and the world. There are many unique components that make the legislation that Carolyn Ann Vlk wrote that Florida’s legislative branch and Governor Crist enthusiastically supported that is best measured by the unprecedented act that this bill was unanimously passed into law. One of the unprecedented components of this law that uniquely stands out is that courts now have the opportunity to seek the assistance of the Department of Homeland Security's’ ‘Prevent Departure Program’ that is implemented via the Department of State in potential international child abduction cases. So in a certain sense, the Florida law, in my opinion, is actually the implementation of two laws: one is a new state law, and the second is a federal law few individuals are aware already exists.

“Now with the passage of this historic law, I hope other states will update or pass new legislation that will protect our nation’s children from abduction. According to the extensive report on abduction trends Carolyn Ann Vlk and I recently released titled, ‘International Parental Child Abduction: Crisis In America’, our study’s findings demonstrated an increased threat of abduction due to many tangible factors including economic hardship and increases in immigration population to our country. Child abduction prevention laws in all states are critical, and I was happy to play my role alongside the fine lawmakers in the state and one of our nation’s great child advocates, Carolyn Ann Vlk.”

Carolyn Ann Vlk, the author of the ‘Child Abduction Prevention Act’ stated, “Words cannot express the myriad of emotions I am experiencing at this historical moment in Florida State history. My dream of creating a comprehensive legislation to protect children from abduction is now a reality. My heart is filled with gratitude towards the many people whom have made this moment possible. First and foremost on behalf of the children and families of Florida I would like to express my deepest gratitude to State Representative Darryl E. Rouson, District 55. I first met with Representative Rouson in 2007 and relayed my family’s story and concerns that my child was at risk of being abducted. I shared my insight that our current laws were lacking reliable risk assessment and preventive measures to prevent the unspeakable tragedy of child abduction. Representative Rouson immediately offered to help in any way possible and has been a staunch children's advocate and a driving force leading the way for Florida to set the precedent for other states to follow. Henry Moseley, legislative aide to the Representative has been an invaluable and constant source of information and assistance throughout this entire process. I feel honored to have worked with Senator Eleanor Sobel who was the Senate sponsor of our bill. Senator Sobel has had a long and illustrious political career and her advocacy on behalf of our state’s children was undeniable. Thanks also go out to her legislative aide, Nick Matthews, whose political knowledge and expertise was invaluable in this process.

“And to Governor Charlie Crist, thank you Governor, for recognizing that our children need to be protected and for taking this issue seriously and acting proactively to better protect our precious citizens.

“What began as purely a personal issue and an innate desire to protect my own child morphed into the ‘Florida Child Abduction Prevention Act’. As I researched this issue, I found it difficult to believe that so many children were either at extreme risk of abduction, or worse, had already been abducted. I felt that my advocacy needed to extend beyond making sure my own child was protected and thus I began the writing of this bill.

“I would also like to express my most sincere thanks to author Peter Thomas Senese, a successful chasing parent who has actively and tirelessly advocated along with me. Peter has traveled from Los Angeles to Florida on several occasions, providing important testimony before the State legislators. He substantially raised the bar of awareness and understanding on this issue before our lawmakers, and he raised the profile of how important and significant an issue child abduction really is. Florida resident, Captain William Lake, whose own daughter Mary remains criminally abducted in Japan, also provided invaluable testimony in front of State legislators. And due to Peter Thomas Senese’s assistance, Ken Connelly, who was abducted as a child also provided testimony in front of our policy makers. I also would like to thank my family, for the love and support they have provided throughout this journey, I am forever indebted.

“My greatest desire has been to significantly reduce the number of children that are abducted and I believe that will be achieved through proper risk assessment and the implementation of preventive measures within our family court system. Indeed this is a monumental day for the great State of Florida now that the ‘Child Abduction Prevention Act’ is law.

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The Murder of Emma Thompson, 4 Years Old

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MOTHER OF 4 YEAR OLD EMMA THOMPSON FOUND GUILTY
Local / Area News

The mother of 4-year-old Emma Thompson, the Spring girl who died last year after suffering a severed pancreas and fractured skull, was found guilty of reckless and serious bodily injury to a child by omission by a Houston jury Monday.
Abigail Young could face two to 20 years in prison for the crime. The sentencing phase will begin Tuesday. Jurors rejected a more serious charge of injury to a child by omission, which could have sent her to prison for life.
Emma died at a Woodlands hospital on June 27, 2009. An autopsy showed she had “80 contusions, a severe head laceration, scalp hemorrhaging, a skull fracture, internal bleeding and a severe tear and hemorrhaging to the vagina.”
The cause of death was listed as blunt force trauma to the abdominal area, which caused several internal injuries.
Investigators also said the girl had genital herpes when she died. Young’s former boyfriend, Lucas Coe, is accused of raping Emma.
Initially, Young told investigators Emma hurt herself when she fell out of bed.
CPS began investigating the family in early June of 2009 after Emma’s dad called, saying she was covered in bruises. Her pediatrician had also contacted CPS, because he suspected blisters in her mouth and genital area were caused by genital herpes.
But an exam at Texas Children’s Hospital found no evidence of sexual abuse, and CPS did not remove her from the home.
Weeks later, she was dead.
Because of Emma’s case, CPS decided to use more aggressive procedures when investigating allegations of abuse in children with sexually transmitted diseases.
Emma’s two sisters were placed with grandparents after her death.
Coe, who faces trial in September in Harris County on charges of aggravated sexual assault and injury to a child, had been investigated by CPS prior to Emma’s case.
CPS investigated him three times in unrelated cases involving another girlfriend’s child.
Coe was reindicted on January 12, 2010 on a January 13, 2005 charge of first degree felony Serious Bodily Injury to a Child. The victim in the Montgomery County case is a seven-year old boy.
Emma’s injuries case will be prosecuted in Harris County where the abuse occurred, and not in Montgomery County, where she died.
Coe was not Thompson’s father, but shared a residence in Spring with Emma and her mother, Young, a registered nurse who worked in labor and delivery.
His criminal history includes charges of assault with a deadly weapon and criminal mischief.
If convicted, he could get life in prison.

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