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The Child Protection eNewsletter

Casey Anthony arraigned on murder charges...

The mother of a Florida toddler missing and presumed dead pleaded not guilty Tuesday to first-degree murder and other charges for allegedly killing her child, Caylee Anthony. Fox News story here

Casey Anthony, 22, didn't attend her arraignment hearing in Orange County, Florida, but a written not guilty plea was entered beforehand. She remains jailed without bond.

Her trial is scheduled to start January 5; a pretrial conference will be held December 11, according to the judge in the case, Stan Strickland.

In addition to first-degree murder, Anthony is charged with aggravated manslaughter, aggravated child abuse and four counts of lying to investigators.

Meanwhile, forensic test results released Friday show that hair found in the car trunk of a missing Orlando toddler's mother came from a decomposing body. Fox News story here

Police had already determined that the strands found in Casey Anthony's Pontiac Sunfire belonged to her daughter, Caylee, and said DNA evidence suggested a corpse had been in the car's trunk.

The results of tests, some done at a so-called "body farm" at the University of Tennessee, released by the state Friday morning confirm those theories.

Head hair taken from the trunk is "microscopically similar" to that taken from a brush used on the child, the forensic report says.

Georgia mom drops 12 year old off in Nebraska...

A woman drove her 12-year-old son from Georgia to Nebraska to abandon him under the state's unique safe-haven law, the 20th child left at a hospital since the law took effect in July. Fox News story here

The boy, from the Atlanta suburb of Smyrna, Georgia, was dropped off at BryanLGH Medical Center East Saturday night, said Todd Landry of the Department of Health and Human Services.

The youngster is the third child from out of state driven to Nebraska to be abandoned under the law.

Nebraska's law is the only one in the country that allows caregivers to abandon children as old as 18 at hospitals without fear of prosecution.

Nebraska and Georgia officials are working together to decide what to do with the boy, who was placed in residential shelter care, Landry said. Abandoned children from Iowa and Michigan have been returned to their states. For more on those stories see vol6_iss66, vol6_iss64 and vol6_iss63.

The law, intended to protect newborns, was written to include the word "child," which some have interpreted to mean teenagers. Most of the Nebraska Legislature's 49 senators have agreed to amend the law in January so it applies only to infants up to 3 days old.

Governor Dave Heineman has resisted calls for a special legislative session, but said October 20 that he would call a special session if there were several more safe-haven cases from out of state. On Monday his spokeswoman said Heineman has not changed his mind about the special session.

The Georgia boy's mother, who has not been identified, was raised in Nebraska, according to a Monday story in the Lincoln Journal Star. She told the newspaper that she regretted her actions but thought the safe-haven law was her last chance at saving her troubled son.

FBI child prostitution sting rescues 47 children...

Dozens of juveniles have been freed from forced prostitution by a nationwide operation that resulted in the arrests of hundreds of other people, the FBI announced Monday. CNN News story here

In the three-day operation, which began Thursday night, the FBI, along with local and state law enforcement agencies, took the 46 girls and one boy–all of them U.S. citizens ages 13 to 17–into protective custody.

"Operation Cross Country II" involved efforts in 29 cities and resulted in the arrest of 73 pimps and 518 adult prostitutes, the FBI said. Those arrested could face federal or state charges, depending on their alleged activities.

FBI Deputy Director John Pistole said some of the alleged sex traffickers were working in networks of six to 10 pimps. "Sex trafficking of children remains one of our most violent and unconscionable crimes in this country," he told reporters.

Authorities said some of the alleged prostitutes were found at casinos and truck stops. Others were advertised on the Internet.

Ernie Allen, president of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, likened teen prostitution to "21st century slavery" and estimated that tens of thousands of teens may be involved. He said it is "happening on Main Street U.S.A. ... These people are moving kids city to city."

These children were in nightmarish conditions, said Matthew Friedrich, acting assistant attorney general for the Justice Department's criminal division. "Make no mistake, the minors who were recovered, were the victims of the worst kind of sexual exploitation," he said. ABC News story here

The Justice Department and FBI have increased their focus on the child sex slave problem since 2003 through a project known as the Innocence Lost National Initiative. The Justice Department estimates that as many as 300,000 U.S. children are engaged in prostitution, most of them runaways.

The cities targeted included: Alexandria, Virginia; Atlanta; Las Vegas; Miami; Dallas; Houston; Honolulu; Phoenix; and San Diego.

More than 365 suspects have been convicted and 575 children have been rescued.

FBI Deputy Director John S. Pistole vowed today that the effort would continue. "Those that exploit children should know they will be brought to justice," Pistole said. See vol6_iss46 for previous raid.

In other news...

Holding on to each other, overcome by emotion, Oscar-winning actress Jennifer Hudson and six relatives viewed a closed-circuit TV screen at the Chicago morgue Monday afternoon and identified a small boy as Hudson’s 7-year-old nephew Julian King. Chicago Sun-Times story here The boy had been missing since Hudson's mother and brother were found shot to death Friday in their Englewood home. Monday morning, a howling dog alerted neighbors in the 1300 block of South Kolin to a white Chevrolet Suburban, where police found Julian’s body on the floor of the back seat. He had been shot at least once in the head, and he was wearing basketball shorts and a white T shirt, sources said. Police believe the boy was shot to death inside the Suburban. Julian was missing when the bodies of Darnell Donerson and Jason Hudson were found shot to death in their home in the 7000 block of South Yale Avenue. Jennifer Hudson had identified their bodies Saturday morning. The boy's stepfather, William Balfour, remains the primary suspect in the murders, police sources say. He is the estranged husband of Julia Hudson, who lived in the home with her brother Jason, 29, and mother, Darnell Donerson, 57. Julia Hudson is Julian's mother and the sister of Jennifer Hudson.

Students at a suburban St. Louis high school headed to the gymnasium for HIV testing this week after an infected person told health officials as many as 50 teenagers might have been exposed to the virus that causes AIDS. CBS News story here Officials refused to give details on who the person was or how the students at Normandy High School might have been exposed, but the district is consulting with national AIDS organizations as it tries to minimize the fallout and prevent the infection–and misinformation–from spreading. Health Department spokesman Craig LeFebvre has said the possibilities on how the students may have been exposed include sexual activity, intravenous drug use, piercings and tattoos.

A cannibal cult mother who tortured her son in a locked cellar while relatives skinned him and forced him to eat his own flesh has been jailed for nine years. The Mail news story here Klara Mauerova, 31–a member of a sinister religious cult and her sister Katerina led the sickening torture of her eight-year-old son Ondrej and his ten year-old brother Jakub. A court in Brno in Czech Republic heard how relatives partially skinned Ondrej and forced him to eat his own flesh. The judge also jailed Katerina, 35, for ten years for her role in the sickening abuse. The two boys had told judges how their mother and relatives had stubbed cigarettes out on their bare skin, whipped them with belts, and tried to drown them. They were also sexually abused and forced to cut themselves with knives. The terrified youngsters said they were kept in cages or handcuffed to tables and made to stand in their own urine for days.

The Brooklyn mom accused of beating her 11-year-old daughter to death with a mop handle was charged with murder Monday night, and her boyfriend was arrested for manslaughter. New York Daily News story here "I didn't kill her!" Florencia Vazquez yelled in Spanish as the two suspects were led out of the 75th Precinct late Monday night. Boyfriend Andres Pavon-Balderas looked stunned and managed only a "yes" when asked if he was innocent. Cops said Vazquez, 36, admitted breaking the mop handle over daughter Alejandra and also told detectives she abused the girl's older sister, law enforcement sources said. Alejandra was sent from her father's home in Mexico to live with her mother last month. Her older sister, Imelda, 14, had already been removed by child welfare services from the East New York apartment Vazquez shared with Pavon-Balderas, 28. Alejandra's lifeless body was found in her bed Sunday, almost two full days after Vazquez savagely hit her with the mop handle, officials said. Although she took the time to repair the broken handle, Vazquez ignored her daughter's whimpers and dialed 911 only when a man who rented a room in the couple's apartment saw the girl's battered body.

Cold, hungry, but safe. My Fox Kansas City News story here That is how police in Council Bluffs, Iowa found Paige Alley, 14, and Levi Carlson, 16, both missing from Lathrop, Missouri, for nearly two weeks. The teens were found under a highway bridge Sunday afternoon by an alert police officer who recognized the teens from the news. The parents of Paige Alley said she did not want to come home because she was afraid she would be arrested. For the original story see vol6_iss67.

*for access to member only sites like the New York Times, use the ID "JohnDoeID" and the password "whatever". On sites asking for an email address, feel free to use "info@childprotectionprogram.org"


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