Society's ChildS


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Girl Brain-Damaged After Eating KFC Twister Dragged Back to Court as Fast Food Giant Fights $8 Million Ruling

KFC
© Medical Daily
In an ill-advised PR move, fast-food chain Kentucky Fried Chicken is taking a 14-year-old brain-damaged girl and her family back to court. The restaurant wants to get out of paying the family the $8.3 million it was ordered and for their legal bills to be covered.

Monika Samaan's saga began seven years ago. In 2005, she and her family visited a local KFC restaurant near their home in Sydney, where Samaan had a KFC chicken twister. Samaan and her family became ill with salmonella poisoning but she was the only one who did not recover. Samaan's illness was so severe that she slipped into a coma and was hospitalized for several months. Seven years later, the disease has left Samaan unable to speak and confined to a wheelchair.

In April, an Australian court ordered the chicken establishment to pay the family 8 million Australian dollars, or over $8.3 million in damages. As Supreme Court justice Stephen Rothman said in April, Samaan will not be able to have the normal life that it was believed that she would have.

The family, who lives in a modest home in the Sydney suburb of Yagoona, says that Samaan's disability has already depleted their limited resources. Their lawyer said that they are finding it difficult to lift their daughter and care for her basic needs, as well as devote attention to their other children.

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Mother-Of-Three Discovers Her Dead Husband Was Actually Her Father

Rings
© Medical Daily
Imagine the horror a mother-of-three would feel if she found out that her late husband was actually her biological father.

Valerie Spruill of Doylestown, Ohio, said that she only made the devastating discovery through a DNA test after her husband Percy had died, according to the Akron Beacon Journal.

The 60-year-old woman who has three children and eight grandchildren says that she is now telling her story in an effort to find her other sibling from her father.

"It needs to be told, because children need to know where they come from," she said, according to the Akron Beacon Journal. "And I know it hurts, because I have been devastated by this."

Spruill had been raised by her grandparents from 3-months-old and at 9-year-old she found out that the man she thought was her father was actually her grandfather and that a woman named Christine, who had been identified as a "family friend," was actually her mother.

Spruill said that it was revealed to her until later that her mother, who died in 1984, was of three "night ladies" who testified in a 1980 trial of Summit County Probate Judge James Barbuto who was convicted of sex charges.

Info

Gay Party Bad for Feng Shui?

Greene and Eng
© Jena Cumbo/New York Daily NewsNewlyweds Barrett Greene and Thomas Eng are suing a restauranteur in the West Village because they say their plans were canceled because they are gay.
The owner of a small chain of Asian restaurants - two in Greenwich Village, of all places - canceled a same-sex wedding party after saying gay and feng shui don't go together, a lawsuit charges.

Newlyweds Barrett Greene and Thomas Eng say the owner violated their civil rights. Greene, 50, is a plumbing contractor from upstate New York, and Eng, 38, is a Manhattan-based computer professional.

They met on a cruise ship in 2004 and had a jet-setting romance before deciding to make it official with a wedding this summer.

They decided to have a rehearsal dinner at Amber Village, and also have their big day catered by the Asian fusion joint at Sixth Ave. and 10th St.

On March 23, Greene met with manager Tommy Ho to plan a rehearsal dinner for 40 and reception food for 200 guests, court papers say. Ho took a $750 deposit for the dinner, charging it to Greene's American Express card.

Exactly a week later, Ho called to say the event might have to be moved to to Amber, a sister restaurant on Christopher St. - a short stroll from the birthplace of the gay pride movement.

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Faith Healing in Oregon Resulted in Son's Death

Brandi and Russel
© Brian Davies/The Register-GuardBrandi Bellew and her husband Russel Bellew leave a Lane County courtroom Tuesday in Eugene.
Nine months after their teenage son died of an infection from a burst appendix, a Creswell couple who chose prayer over medical care for the boy admitted criminal responsibility for his death.

Russel and Brandi Bellew each pleaded guilty on Tuesday in Lane County Circuit Court to charges of criminally negligent homicide, as part of an agreement with prosecutors.

The Bellews - who are members of a church that generally believes in using prayer instead of modern medicine to treat illnesses - avoided jail in the plea deal, but will spend the next five years on probation. During that time, they will be required to contact a doctor whenever any of their six surviving children suffer from an ailment that causes them to miss school for more than one day.

The Bellews were arrested in February after an autopsy revealed that 16-year-old Austin Sprout had died two months earlier from an infection that resulted from a ruptured appendix. The teen was Brandi Bellew's biological child and Russel Bellew's stepson.

The exact cause of Sprout's death had not been publicly disclosed before Lane County prosecutor Erik Hasselman detailed the case in court on Tuesday.

Sprout, who was a junior at Creswell High School, had been sick with a variety of cold- and flu-like symptoms for about 1½ weeks before he died, Hasselman said.

"The family, through their reliance on faith, ended up praying for his recovery," Hasselman said.

He added that the Bellews and their surviving children - who attend the General Assembly and the Church of the First Born in Pleasant Hill - told investigators that Sprout did not want a doctor to diagnose his illness.

"It appeared that (Sprout) wanted to respect his faith and the manner in which he was brought up," Hasselman said.

But under Oregon law, a person must be 18 or older to make decisions regarding his or her own medical care.

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Man 'Used Witchcraft to Traffic Children' for Prostitution

No Voodoo
© The Consummate Wordpress
An alleged people trafficker cut the chest of a vulnerable 14-year-old girl with a razor during a series of "juju" witchcraft rituals aimed at terrifying young recruits into silence before selling them into prostitution across Europe, a court heard yesterday.

Osezua Osolase recruited and raped impoverished young Nigerian orphans and forced them to undergo West African rituals in which hair, nails and blood were removed to "cast a spell" over them and ensure their obedience, Canterbury Crown Court was told.

Mr Osolase, a Nigerian living in Northfleet, Kent, told one of three young victims - who overheard him trying to sell her off for €70,000 - that he had been bringing girls into Britain for 15 years, the court heard.

The 42-year-old then used a series of fake identities, addresses and falsified passports for the trafficked girls and escorted them on budget airlines to cities in Europe to work in the vice trade, said Ms Sarah Ellis, prosecuting.

The court heard that Mr Osolase, posing as a man named Victor, picked up one homeless 16-year-old girl sleeping rough in Lagos and took her to a "place of witchcraft" in the city to establish his control over her.

The teenager - who had been promised an education in Britain - was given a mixture consisting of what appeared to be blood and cloth and told to bathe in it and wrap the cloth around her. As "Victor" watched, a man cut hair from her armpits, some of her finger and toenails and took blood from her hand, said Ms Ellis.

Book

Young Persons Called to Private Grand Jury for Owning Books

Just a few weeks ago, an FBI task force raided a home* in Portland, Oregon very early in the morning. They broke down the front door with a battering ram and threw in a stun grenade, which is non-lethal but produces a very loud and disorienting noise and a blinding bright light. The team locked down the building and secured the sleepy, compliant occupants. The operation was one of several which also occurred in Olympia, WA and Seattle, WA, involving some 60-80 officers.

Just who were these dangerous criminals, these domestic terrorists whose threat level is so high that an FBI team with stun grenades, battering rams, and assault rifles needed to burst into their homes in the wee hours of the morning?

Why, it's these two young folks,

Leah-Lynn Plante:
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and Matt Duran:

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Reportedly, the FBI search warrant was for black clothing, paint, sticks, computers and cell phones, and 'anarchist materials or literature.' According to an FBI Domestic Terrorism guide published by greenisthenewred.com, "anarchists are criminals seeking an ideology to justify their actions," and are "not dedicated to a particular issue." Common meeting places are "college campuses, underground clubs, coffee houses/ internet cafes." The implication is that owning "anarchist" literature is enough to indicate to the FBI that one is a criminal - even if that person happens to be a student studying political thought. Or maybe particularly if you are a student - the FBI document states that anarchists are "educated persons of various backgrounds, often students."

Handcuffs

Former Yale Student in Los Angeles Held on $1M Bail Over Death Threats to Children on ESPN's Website

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California - A former Yale University student remained jailed on $1 million bail, an amount normally reserved for murder or other crimes that could result in life sentences, after authorities say he made online death threats to children.

Eric Yee, a 21-year-old who recently withdrew from the Ivy League university, posted on ESPN's website that he was watching children and wouldn't mind killing them, Los Angeles County sheriff's officials said Tuesday.

Yee was taken into custody Monday at his parents' home, which is on a street that overlooks two schools in Santa Clarita, Calif. Several guns were found there.

Sheriff's Lt. Steve Low said Yee was arrested for investigation of making terrorist threats.

Experts said the bail amount was very high for a person suspected of making terrorist threats.

"To put it in perspective, $1 million is the presumptive bail for murder," said Hanni Fakhoury, an attorney for the Electronic Frontier Foundation and a former federal public defender who is not involved in the case. In comparison, the presumptive bail for making terrorist threats is $50,000 and it would take many specific circumstances to push it much higher, Fakhoury said.

Sheriff's Deputy Josh Dubin told the Los Angeles Times that the department had requested "a bail enhancement because of the totality of the situation," but would not elaborate.

Eye 2

StandUp for Kids Founder, 69, Arrested on Child Sex Assault Charges

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    Richard Koca, 69, faces seven felony counts of sexual assault on a child by a person in a position of trust involving a pattern of abuse
    Richard Koca Sr faces seven felony counts of sexual assault on a child
  • Charges so far relate to a single victim
  • Concerns there may be many more victims as Koca's extensive contact with juveniles goes back decades
  • Koca retired as charity's CEO in 2010, but continued to serve on board of directors until his arrest
The founder of StandUp for Kids, the national group for at-risk and homeless children, has been arrested in Aurora, Colorado on child sexual assault charges.

Richard Koca Sr., 69, faces seven felony counts of sexual assault on a child by a person in a position of trust involving a pattern of abuse, according to an Arapahoe County Court case summary. The court record indicates the alleged abuse began in August 2009 and continued into 2012.

Aurora police spokeswoman Sgt. Cassidee Carlson said Koca was arrested Saturday on a felony arrant for sexual assault on a child by one in a position of trust for acts with a child he was supervising in Aurora.

Heart - Black

California Chef Murdered His Wife, Told Police He Slow-Cooked Her Body for Four Days

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© KTLA.com David Viens is on trial for the murder of wife Dawn, who has been missing since 2009.
The grisly detail emerged during the second week of the murder trial of David Viens, accused in the death of Dawn Viens in October 2009.

A California chef told police he slow-cooked his wife's body for four days after accidentally killing her, the Los Angeles Times reported.

The grisly detail emerged Tuesday during the second week of the murder trial of David Viens, accused in the death of 39-year-old Dawn Viens in October 2009.

In two March 2011 interviews with authorities that were played for the jury on Tuesday, David Viens recounted how he caused the death of his wife and disposed of her remains. The interviews were conducted in a hospital because Viens had jumped off an 80-foot cliff when suspected by police in his wife's disappearance.

Heart - Black

Exploiting Children? Elizabeth Hurley's Leopard-Skin Bikini Line for Little Girls Creates Controversy

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'Inappropriate': A child models the 'Mini Cha Cha Bikini' on Liz Hurley's fashion website
British model Elizabeth Hurley made her name flaunting her beautiful face and body, but now she's making headlines for promoting a line of children's bikinis that critics say would be more appropriate for her than for little girls.

The suits in question are part of the Elizabeth Hurley Beach 2012 collection. One questionable design is the "Mini Cha Cha Bikini", a leopard print string bikini for kids under 8 that is modelled by a young girl who poses with her hands on her hips while gazing directly at the camera.

In the 8 to 13 age range, the "Colette Bikini" is held together in the front by a metal ring and is described as being "great for girls who want to look grown up."

The collection is available online worldwide, and it hasn't taken long for parenting groups to chastise Hurley -- who is a mom herself -- for the suits and the way they are being marketed.

"The poses in the photographs bother me more than the clothing," says Doone Estey, a partner at Canada's Parenting Network -- an agency that offers parenting courses. "Kids this age should be playing, running, swimming and doing sports, not showing off their bodies."

Comment: 6-Year Olds Striving To Be Sexy, Skinny, and Thinking of Themselves As Sex Objects