Society's ChildS


Bad Guys

Dad charged with killing driver who killed his sons

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David Barajas, 31, has been charged with murder
A Texas man whose two young sons were killed in a traffic accident has been charged with murder in the fatal shooting at the crash scene of a suspected drunken driver.

Brothers David Jr. and Caleb Barajas were helping their father push their broken-down pickup truck when a vehicle driven by 20-year-old Jose Banda plowed into them. The December accident happened just 50 yards away from the Barajas' rural Houston-area home.

Eye 2

Illinois inmate accused of murder-for-hire plot against 11-year-old girl and her family: police

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Brian Thurman, 28, was denied bail Sunday after authorities charged him with an alleged murder-for-hire scheme against his victim and her family.
A Chicago-area man accused of sexually assaulting an 11-year-old girl faces new charges after police say he tried to hire a hitman to kill his victim and her family.

Brian Thurman, 28, was ordered held without bond Sunday after the Cook County Sheriff's Department charged him with murder for hire and solicitation of murder for hire.

Thurman, of Melrose Park, allegedly plotted to have someone murder the girl, her 16-year-old sister and their mom while he remains in custody at the Cook County Jail, where he was booked Jan. 13 on a predatory criminal sexual assault charge.

Eye 1

Male teacher accused of posing as female on Facebook to solicit nude photos from underage students

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© mug shot via City of Irvine
An Orange County male teacher is accused of allegedly posing as a girl on Facebook and getting young boys into online relationships.

Officials say 30-year-old Zachary Reeder pretended to be a young girl and then convinced young men to send him sexually explicit photos of themselves.

Bizarro Earth

NYPD officer who sexually assaulted teacher beats rape conviction

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© AFP Photo / Spencer Platt
A New York police officer who brutally sodomized and inflicted oral sex upon a schoolteacher at gunpoint has not been convicted of rape, despite DNA evidence and witness testimonies about the violent attack.

New York's state law excludes nonconsensual oral and anal sex from the definition of "rape", calling them "sexual assault" instead, the New York Daily News reports.

"New York lags behind such liberal bastions as South Dakota and Tennessee in how we define rape," said Assemblywoman Aravella Simolas, who last year introduced a bill that expanded the definition of "rape", which failed to get passed. "New York should be at the forefront to protect crime victims."

Lydia Cuomo, the 25-year-old schoolteacher who was victimized on the first day of her new job at a Bronx charter school, was sexually assaulted by off-duty police officer Michael Pena on Aug. 19, 2011. The cop asked her for directions to the subway at about 6:15 am, while she was waiting to be picked up by her principal.

Handcuffs

Official: 5 suspects arrested in Mexico tourist rapes

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Mexican authorities are holding five suspects in connection with the alleged rapes of six Spanish tourists in Acapulco, Guerrero state Gov. Angel Aguirre Rivero said Sunday.

The state attorney general has not yet released any information on the suspects or where they're being held, prompting demonstrations by family members concerned about their whereabouts.

Fifty investigators have been dedicated to the case.

The six women were among 14 people victimized by hooded gunmen who burst into a beach bungalow in the resort town before dawn February 4. There are seven suspects between the ages of 20 and 30, lead investigator Marcos Juarez said.

Health

Number of dead at northern Russia mine soars to 18 - local police

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© RIA NovostiThe entrance to the Vorkutinskaya mine
Eighteen people have been killed, and three others were injured in a blast at the Vorkutinskaya mine in the northern Russian Republic of Komi, according to the local police.

The bodies of 15 people have been identified.

One more person is reportedly missing in the mine, according to the local Emergencies Ministry.

A plane with the Head of Emergencies Ministry, doctors, and psychologists on board has flown from Moscow to Vorkuta. An additional aircraft carrying equipment to deal with the consequences of the blast is set to take off shortly.

Bizarro Earth

Afghanistan's growing number of child drug addicts

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© AFP Photo
They play badminton, kick a ball around and huddle over computer games just like normal children.

Except that they are recovering drug addicts aged around three to 12, representing a growing proportion of drug users in war-torn Afghanistan.

In response, increasing numbers of rehabilitation centers are weaning such children off their addiction and giving them a new appetite for life in a country that produces 90 percent of the world's opium used to make heroin.

While there are no statistics for kids, the rate of relapse is high for their parents, experts say.

For now two young girls, dressed in a blue uniform and playing badminton, and a group of boys playing football are all active and healthy - the total opposite of when they arrived.

Arrow Down

Indian women dumped in field after sterilisation

Mass Sterilisation
© Arab Times
Kolkata, India: Scores of women were dumped unconscious in a field after a mass sterilisation in eastern India because there was no room in hospital for them to recuperate, medical officials said Thursday.

The women had all undergone surgical procedures at a hospital in the Malda district of West Bengal, around 360 kilometres (220 miles) north of Kolkata, which officials admitted was not equipped to accommodate such a large number of patients.

The scandal came to light after news channel NDTV aired amateur footage of unconscious women being carried out of the hospital Tuesday by men and then placed on open land.

Local health officials acknowledged that the patients' treatment was unacceptable and promised an inquiry.

"Over 100 women, mostly poor, came to the camp for the surgery. Immediately after the procedure, the doctors asked the helpers to move each of them to the adjacent field," Biswa Ranjan Satpathi, West Bengal's director of health services, told AFP in Kolkata.

"This is inhuman and we have ordered a probe into the incident," he added.

Pistol

3 dead in Delaware courthouse shooting

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© 6abc.com Gunfire erupted inside the New Castle County Court of Common Pleas in Wilmington on February 11, 2013.
Three people, including the alleged shooter, are dead after gunfire erupted inside a Wilmington courthouse Monday morning.

The shooting happened at 8:00 a.m. in the public lobby of the New Castle County Court of Common Pleas, located at 500 N King Street.

According to Wilmington police, two women were killed in the incident. The alleged shooter, a male, is also dead.

Heart - Black

Students, teacher at Indiana high school demand 'traditional prom' without gay kids

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© NBC 2
A team of Valley high schoolers and parents rally for a traditional prom that bans gays.

NBC 2's Paige Preusse reports how Sullivan High School says there's nothing legally they can do to allow it... several students and parents are taking matters into their own hands.

Several parents, students, and others who believe gays should be banned from the Sullivan High School prom met Sunday at the Sullivan First Christian Church.

"We don't agree with it and it's offensive to us," said Diana Medley.

Their idea is to create a separate...traditional prom.Students say there are several others from their high school who agree, but are afraid to take a stand.