Much in the same vein as “This Week in the News,” the Bulletin Board will list news stories and also blog and forum posts. It should be noted at I do not necessarily endorse or support the items linked. I simply find them to be interesting and/or relevant to the issues discussed on this blog. As the weeks go by, each new “volume” will be added to a page link, that way the way easily available without having to do a search or hunt through all my posts (not that I am suggesting not to hunt through the posts).
2 youth counselors charged in California boy’s death — Two counselors at a residential youth treatment center in Draper where a 14-year-old boy died in June were charged Thursday in connection with the boy’s death. Deborah Cole and Jorge Ramirez, from Youth Care Inc., 12600 Minuteman Drive, each face one count of abuse or neglect of a child, a third-degree felony.
Devlin Pleads to Explicit Photos — Already sentenced to multiple life terms on other charges, a pizza shop manager who kidnapped and held captive two young boys pleaded guilty Wednesday to making explicit photos and videotapes with one of them and taking him across state lines. Michael Devlin entered pleas to six counts in the last of a series of court proceedings this week in which he pleaded guilty to dozens of child kidnapping and sodomy charges for the abduction and abuse of [the victims*].
Diocese settles 4 sex abuse claims — The Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange agreed Friday to pay $6.7 million to settle a high-profile Catholic school sex-abuse case and three other claims, ending the possibility that church officials would have to take the stand and testify about sex-abuse allegations.
GAO: Boot camps neglected teens’ fatal health problems — Bacon is scheduled to testify at a House hearing today on the investigation, which was requested by Rep. George Miller, D-Calif. The death of Bacon’s son, Aaron, at a Utah wilderness program in 1994 was one of 10 fatalities examined by the GAO. No government agency is able to say how many children have died at boot camps or wilderness programs. The GAO investigators reviewed records, talked to law enforcement officials and interviewed parents. They visited five facilities that remain in operation.
Hearing Scheduled In Case of Autistic Child Murder — A Tucson woman accused of killing her son will go on trial April 8, 2008 along with her roommate. The trial date was set at a pre-trial hearing for Diane Marsh and her roommate Flower Thompson Tuesday. Marsh and Thompson are accused of killing 5-year-old Brandon Williams in March.
Ignoring controversy over previous remarks, O’Reilly now says kidnapping victims “have been through enough” — On The O’Reilly Factor, Bill O’Reilly reported that Michael Devlin had “pleaded guilty today to kidnapping and sexually brutalizing two young boys in Missouri. One of them he had held captive for four years.” O’Reilly later said, “I’m not going to name the boys, because the boys have been through enough.” However, O’Reilly did not address the statement he made regarding the boy who was “held for four years” … on the January 15 edition of The O’Reilly Factor: “[T]here was an element here that this kid liked about his circumstances.”
Ohio Woman Gets 4 Years in Son’s Caging — A mother convicted of punishing her son by forcing him to sit in a dog cage was sentenced Wednesday to four years in prison. Jessica Botzko, 28, apologized before the sentencing, saying that her time spent in jail the past six months “has really opened my eyes to the pain I was my causing children.” Botzko pleaded no contest last month to child endangering.
Teenage alleged abuse victim may have been kept in attic — Michael Ryan and Geneva Foster are being held on a $250,000 bond for what they allegedly did to their son. According to CPS officials, the boy was taken to a local hospital by his mother and stepfather on September 19 because he was urinating blood. Doctors found he had many old and new injuries, including fractures, bruises, burns, scratches, broken teeth and internal injuries. He also had marks that indicated he had been tied up.
‘Torture’ monk loses abuse appeal — The Court of Criminal Appeal in Edinburgh upheld the case against Michael Murphy, 73, who worked at St Ninian’s school in Stirlingshire. In 2003 Murphy, known as Brother Benedict, was convicted of ten assaults on nine boys dating from the 1960s. Murphy was jailed for two years for the crimes but released after nine days to await the outcome of the appeal.
Women are worse offenders of child abuse — Female teachers attending a workshop on gender and domestic human rights abuse have identified women as worse violators of child rights, saying they are mostly responsible for inflicting physical and psychological pain on children. They held that these situations are more evident in polygynous families where women treat the children of their rivals badly by denying them food and shelter and that in some cases, women inflict wounds on their domestic assistants for minor offences.
* Edited to attempt to give the victim’s some anonymity
Toy Soldiers 