Family Rights and Child Abuse News

Hidden Torture: Georgia Abuse Cases Involving Homeschooled Kids

by Deb Belt

rom a Mableton boy repeatedly sexually assaulted by a babysitter to a former star college football player convicted of locking his son in a basement for nearly two years as punishment, all have something in common...

"Without any oversight, there is nothing to ensure a child is receiving an education or is seen by mandatory reporters," Coleman said. "Homeschooling parents could lock a child up and no one would ever know." Oversight of homeschooling in some states is non-existent. In most states, oversight is weak, at best. Nowhere in the United States do homeschool laws require welfare checks on the children involved to ensure they aren't being abused or tortured.

patch.com

February 21, 2018

10 Reasons Why Handheld Devices Should Be Banned for Children Under the Age of 12

by Cris Rowan

The American Academy of Pediatrics and the Canadian Society of Pediatrics state infants aged 0-2 years should not have any exposure to technology, 3-5 years be restricted to one hour per day, and 6-18 years restricted to 2 hours per day (AAP 2001/13, CPS

Children and youth use 4-5 times the recommended amount of technology, with serious and often life threatening consequences (Kaiser Foundation 2010, Active Healthy Kids Canada 2012). Handheld devices (cell phones, tablets, electronic games) have dramatically increased the accessibility and usage of technology, especially by very young children (Common Sense Media, 2013).

huffingtonpost.com

December 6, 2017

DCFS investigator is assaulted while trying to aid a child in Sterling, Ill.

by David Jackson, Gary Marx

Andrew Sucher allegedly struck a 59-year-old Department of Children and Family Services investigator in the head when she appeared at a child's home near Sterling on Sept. 29, 2017.

llinois child welfare officials are reacting with shock and anguish to the severe beating of a veteran investigator who was assaulted while taking protective custody of a 2-year-old child near Sterling, about 120 miles west of Chicago. The child's relative, 25-year-old Andrew Sucher, allegedly knocked the 59-year-old Department of Children and Family Services investigator to the ground and kicked her in the head when she appeared at the child's home Friday evening, according to court records and interviews with state and local authorities.

chicagotribune.com

October 4, 2017

Former Cook County human services director charged with child abuse

by Tom Olsen

The man who was responsible for overseeing social services in Cook County is himself accused of engaging in a years-long pattern of child abuse.

Former public health and human services director Joshua David Beck, 40, was charged last month in State District Court with multiple felony and gross misdemeanor charges stemming from allegations of abuse toward two children. The children, ages 12 and 10, reported to investigators this summer that they had been subjected to years of physical and verbal abuse, including strangulation, slapping, hair-pulling and name-calling, according to a criminal complaint.

duluthnewstribune.com

September 16, 2017

Foster parents who starved child sentenced to 5-10 years in jail

Megan Finlan and Stephen Bauer, foster parents who admitted to withholding food from an 8-year-old boy as punishment, were sentenced to 5-10 years in jail after pleading no contest to five counts of negligent child abuse in July.

The boy, Camron, weighed as little as 32 pounds at age 8 and he in November of 2015, staff at Florence Elementary reported that he was underweight. The boy would also eat food out of the trash at school.

3newsnow.com

September 16, 2017