Tag Archives: child abuse

Make Sure You Know Who’s Watching Your Kids

Did you hear the one about the man who put a feverish baby into a freezer to cool her down? Unfortunately this is not a joke. A 21-year-old Canadian man faces charges of criminal negligence and assault for putting his girlfriend’s 10-month-old baby in the freezer. The girl’s mother found the child crammed into a freezer alongside ice cubes and hamburger meat. The boyfriend claims, as if this would make any difference, that he left the door ajar. The mother refutes his claim, saying she found the door closed when she returned home. The boyfriend also claimed that the child … Continue reading →

What Happened to Those Children Kept in Cages?

Have you been wondering? I have, too. As of November 14th, 2006, jury selection has begun in the case of an Ohio couple who were the adoptive parents of 11 special needs children ranging in age from 14 to 1. (See my previous blog on this story by clicking here.) The couple were discovered by authorities to be keeping their children in cages at night. This is a story which has been aired and discussed on television news programs all over the country. So far, at least 250 jurors have been eliminated due to biases or other concerns. A judge … Continue reading →

Adoptive Couple Kept their Special Needs Children in Cages

I was recently reading a story in the CBS News Archives about an Ohio couple who were the adoptive parents of eleven special needs children ranging in age from 14 to 1. Some of the disabilities of the children included autism and fetal alcohol syndrome. Apparently, this couple had been keeping the children in cages at night. The cages were reported to be homemade, constructed of wood and chicken wire, and were approximately three feet by six feet wide… but the exact dimensions are in dispute. There was no bedding in the cages, and some had locks or were blocked … Continue reading →

Update: Parental Alienation Syndrome

In a previous blog I talked about Parental Alienation Syndrome (PAS) and its affect on kids. PAS is a form of child abuse where one adult, generally the parent, seeks to endanger the relationship between a child and their other parent. This happens many times in bitter divorce cases. For those out there who don’t believe the effects of PAS lasts a lifetime, listen to this story. Last week a Miami radio station held a 24-hour marathon to bring awareness of this important issue to listeners. During this time non-custodial parents, alienated parents and children affected by PAS, were given … Continue reading →

Selling Our Kids and Using Them As Weapons

Some women don’t deserve to call themselves mothers. I’m usually not this harsh but I am greatly disturbed by two sad incidents in the news recently. You may have heard about them, if not, let me fill you in. A 31-year-old Davenport, Iowa woman allegedly tried to trade her 4-year-old son to pay off a $200 debt on a wedding dress. She faces up to 10 years in prison for this class C felony (she’s charged with one count of purchase or sale of an individual). According to reports, on at least two separate occasions she offered her son as … Continue reading →

Bitss of Caramel Marmalade on Toast – Megan Bayliss

Megan Bayliss is an advocate for children’s safety in her home country of Australia, working as a social worker. Her blogs on child sexual abuse have caught our attention and her devotion to bringing this to the forefront is admirable. In a desire to help her spread her word about the importance of keeping our children safe and teaching them how to deal with would-be predators, I’m reviewing her children’s book “Bitss of Caramel Marmalade on Toast.” Bitssy is a half-dingo who lives in the city with her owner. She has a beautiful backyard full of plants, flowers and trees … Continue reading →

The Amber Photograph — Penelope Stokes

Twenty-five-year-old Diedre McAlister’s mother is dying. “Find yourself. Find your truth. Just don’t expect it to be what you thought it would be,” her mother tells her, pressing into her hand an old, yellowing photograph of a woman twirling around, holding the hands of a young girl. Diedre begins her journey to find the meaning behind her mother’s message, sensing that something is not right, and that she may be very dismayed to find what it is she’s been sent to find. Her first clue comes when she finds her birth certificate in an old cigar box, left on purpose … Continue reading →

Seeing God As Our Father

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For those who didn’t have a dad growing up, or didn’t have a healthy one, it can be difficult to imagine God’s perfect love for us as our father. A good father provides, comforts, protects, disciplines, and loves us beyond what we can imagine. There are so many examples in the Bible about God’s goodness to us as a father. I would like to share with you a few of these scriptures. Father to the fatherless: How wonderful that He can fill that father role in the lives of those who don’t have a one! Psalm 68:5, “A father of … Continue reading →

Shaken Baby Syndrome

Before being released from the hospital after having my twins, my husband and I BOTH, were required to watch the “Shaken Baby Syndrome Video.” What we saw was heart breaking and moved us to tears. For the families who are victims of SBS, the journey is surreal. Shaken Baby Syndrome, generally occurs with someone in the family or a trusted baby sitter. It is impossible to imagine what can move someone to hurt an infant, but the reality is that it doesn’t have to be significantly violent shaking to cause damage to an infant‘s delicate body. Shaken Baby Sydrome occurs … Continue reading →

Hazing: What Parents Need To Know

Last summer, at an Episcopal church camp in Prescott Arizona, a group of junior high school boys arrived for what they thought was going to be a spiritual leadership camp and left feeling sexually violated and demoralized. Camp counselors used broomsticks or poles to poke and prod these boys in their buttocks as both punishment and entertainment for counselors in a bad mood. Photographs were taken that clearly showed the displeasure on the faces of the campers. Although the prosecutor’s office did not find that there was any sexual intent, these boys were clearly harmed emotionally by the experience that … Continue reading →