child abuse

Read the latest news and reports on child abuse cases and reports of physical abuse, emotional abuse, and neglect on Newser.com

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Sect Children Slowly Meet Outside World

Care workers advised to keep them away from TV—and red clothes

(Newser) - The last of the 462 children removed from the compound of a polygamous sect have been placed in foster care in 16 locations around Texas, the Houston Chronicle reports. The caregivers have been given lengthy instructions on how to treat the children, including keeping them away from TV, radio, and...

25 Moms ID'd as Minors in Polygamy Probe

Families separated as probe into rogue Mormon sect continues

(Newser) - Texas authorities have identified 25 more mothers from a polygamist ranch as underage girls, bringing the number of juveniles in custody to 460. The girls had initially claimed to be adults, Reuters reports. Officials are keeping hundreds of women and children from the polygamist compound in temporary custody in a...

Polygamist Tip-Off Traced to Hoaxer's Phone

Woman has history of making fake calls to abuse hotlines

(Newser) - Some of the dramatic calls thought to be from an abused teen that sparked a raid on a Texas polygamist ranch have been traced to a cell phone number previously used by a well-known hoaxer, the Denver Post reports. Court documents reveal that the 33-year-old woman has a history of...

Texas Moving Sect Kids Into Foster Care

Action taken before notifying lawyers; some bused to group homes

(Newser) - Texas authorities began moving children from a polygamist ranch to foster group homes around the state today. More than 100 of the children were bused to facilities, and the remaining 300 or so will likely follow later this week, the Houston Chronicle reports. The move comes on the second day...

Polygamist Sect Launches Online PR Campaign

Features photos of tanks and 'pioneer girls'

(Newser) - Members of the Texas polygamist community whose children were seized because of suspected abuse have taken their battle against authorities to the Internet, reports the Deseret News. The sect has launched two companion websites—one of them featuring photos and videos of crying children being led away, flanked by armed...

Polygamist Sect Men Break Silence
Polygamist
Sect Men
Break Silence

Polygamist Sect Men Break Silence

Members 'have been made very aware' of state marriage laws

(Newser) - Male members of the Texas polygamist sect say they weren’t aware that state law prohibits people under 18 from marrying until after the raid on their compound, CBS News reports. Three men from the Yearning for Zion ranch said on the Early Show that they'll cooperate with court-ordered DNA...

13-Year-Old Moms Among Girls From Polygamist Ranch

Custody hearing told girls believed having babies was their duty

(Newser) - Moms as young as 13 are among the 416 children removed from the Texas ranch of a polygamous sect, a child protection officer told a hearing yesterday. The state, making its case to keep the children away from the ranch, testified that a pregnant 14-year-old and a number of pregnant...

Polygamist Hearing Has Chaotic First Day

State plans to relocate sect's 416 children

(Newser) - Lawyers for the state of Texas told a chaotic, objection-filled hearing today they would press for psychiatric evaluations and genetic testing of all members of a polygamist sect, the New York Times reports. On the first day of a custody hearing to determine the fate of the sect's 416 children,...

Texas Officials Justify Splitting Sect Families

Child-welfare authorities cite need to break 'code of silence'

(Newser) - Texas family-services officials today defended their decision to separate the mothers and children removed from a polygamous Mormon sect last week as the only way to get at the truth about alleged child abuse, the Houston Chronicle reports. Fifty-seven of the 139 mothers were forced to leave the group of...

Moms Return to Polygamist Ranch
Moms Return
to Polygamist Ranch

Moms Return to Polygamist Ranch

Texas moves their kids to new shelter, plans legal battle

(Newser) - Nearly 140 women from a polygamist sect returned home today as officials moved their kids to a new shelter, the AP reports. The mothers had joined 416 children who were seized by Texas troopers 2 weeks ago and taken to a historic fort. Today officials moved the kids to a...

Polygamist Moms Beg Governor for Help

Claim state is 'traumatizing' their kids

(Newser) - Mothers from a polygamist Texas sect are appealing to the governor to investigate the welfare of their children in state custody, AP reports. Three moms sent a letter claiming that several of the 416 kids seized in a raid on their compound because of suspected child abuse have been hospitalized,...

Texas Polygamists: Sect or Cult?
Texas Polygamists: Sect or Cult? 

Texas Polygamists: Sect or Cult?

Sociologist explores such groups and what keeps people there

(Newser) - While much of the media is calling the polygamous group raided in Texas a “sect,” some experts say it’s better defined as a cult, LiveScience reports. One scientist points out that the word “cult” is often avoided in academia for its negative connotations. But “if...

'Sex Bed' for Girls Found in Polygamist Temple

Temple used for sex with underage brides, tipster tells cops

(Newser) - Members of a polygamous cult had sex with underage girls inside the group's temple immediately after "spiritual weddings," according to court documents. Investigators found the bed, described by a tipster, in the temple of the Texas ranch. Men had sex with "brides" as young as 13, reports...

Sex Abuse 'Rampant' at Polygamist Ranch

Pubescent girls forced to 'marry' older men, say investigators

(Newser) - Young girls at a polygamous compound were readied for "spiritual marriages" to much older men as soon as they hit puberty, the AP reports. Papers submitted to a Texas court detail a "pattern of abuse" at the ranch, where young boys were forced to marry underage girls and...

Control, Isolation Kept Polygamist Wives Silent

Women in Texas compound have a fierce loyalty to leader Warren Jeffs

(Newser) - They can't cut their hair, wear red, watch TV, look at the Internet, or even laugh. They must be utterly subservient to their husbands. So why did the women now emerging reluctantly from a polygamous compound in Texas stay? They are under the almost godlike sway of jailed leader Warren...

534 Taken From Polygamist Ranch

Cops arrest one for interfering with evacuation

(Newser) - Texas officials have removed 534 people and arrested one in an ongoing raid of a polygamist ranch near Eldorado, the San Angelo Standard-Times reports. But the man they collared is only charged with obstructing the 4-day raid, not committing the rape that sparked it. Meanwhile, at a nearby historical fort,...

Texas Pulls 52 Kids From Sect Compound

Rape charge sparks move at Warren Jeffs' polygamy site

(Newser) - Texas authorities pulled 52 kids from the compound of a polygamous sect today after a girl said she was raped there, the Houston Chronicle reports. Eighteen of the children were bussed out by court order, based on claims of abuse or neglect, and put into temporary custody. State troopers are...

1 in 50 US Infants Mistreated
 1 in 50 US Infants Mistreated 

1 in 50 US Infants Mistreated

Study finds parents 'not being able to really care' for newborns

(Newser) - About 1 in 50 US children under age 1 is a victim of nonfatal neglect or abuse—particularly among the uninsured, a survey finds. One-third of the 91,000 victims were a week or younger when the maltreatment occurred. "It's not primarily kids being hit, but parents … not...

Global Child Sex Ring Busted
Global Child Sex Ring Busted

Global Child Sex Ring Busted

Arrests made in US, UK and Australia after two-year probe

(Newser) - Detectives coordinated by the FBI have busted a global pedophile ring and rescued eight children in the UK, reports the Guardian. Some 22 arrests have been made in the US, Britain and Australia, and 400,000 images of child abuse seized. Police, moving in after a two-year investigation, said the...

Graves at Children's Home Turn Out to Be TV Set

Police press on in hunt for remains

(Newser) - British police searching for bodies near a former children's home discovered a field full of shallow graves—only to learn it had been a mock graveyard for a TV show, the Daily Telegraph reports. The infuriated police chief "put his head in his hands and uttered a few choice...

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