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My dad posted this on fb this morning. Mom who took children, claiming they were being sexually abused, pleads guilty in Stafford. Melody has a few blog posts that describe alleged incidents and name names -- based on my childhood, I definitely believe something happened to her kids. We were involved in the same church as the husband's family since I was an infant -- we literally grew up together. My sister went to prom with their eldest son (of four). When our families were introduced, the father looked at me and said "oh, is that my future daughter in law?", gesturing to the youngest son. I knew the husband as Billy, and Billy was the "smart one" -- with a mean streak. He hid it well, but there was always something seething below the surface. My parents were up-and-coming in the shared church until the B parents divorced and my mom stayed close with their mother -- their mother had serious stories, my mom believed some of them. Before that, they'd host pool parties through the summer "for church". I was abruptly told a few times to go inside, change, and find a book to read near the moms (I was pre-tween). I recognize several of the names Melody mentions -- JM was the pastor, RC is his in-law. They were both "fatherly" and promoted an idea called "spiritual fatherhood" (basically, "do what your father figure says or hell"). JTB was always part of things, despite having been divorced. Of the four sons, Billy was all-in -- the oldest spent time in the army, respected my parents more than JM; the youngest was always in trouble at school, and I have no idea what he's up to now. The fourth son, who was "a wussy boy" (i.e. felt his feelings), wavered between wanting to be one of the favorite sons and not wanting to follow JM. My family left when "spiritual fatherhood" was really being pushed -- my mom wasn't "trustworthy" so any momentum dad had picked up was gone; dad started openly challenging JM. All of that to say...whatever the details, I believe Melody's claims that her children were abused and that she was trying to get them to safety. I'm pissed that the people who offered to help seem to be nlq, v-kye g's peers, and q-n-n followers, which means people are more likely to dismiss her claims. I wish someone without a pocket full of conspiracies had been there to help.

I just finished reading the book "if You Tell", by Gregg Olsen about Michelle "Shelly" Knotek and her husband David's abuse of their three daughters and murders of three people, one being her nephew from the late 80's through 2003 when they were arrested. The book is amazing and so detailed, but as a huge true crime fan I was surprised I had never heard of this family before. Thought I would start a thread for anyone who would like to talk about this case.

I didn't see this topic, I checked around a bit. Sorry if it's being discussed elsewhere. If it is, please point me there. September of last year, A 6 year old baby girl was arrested at school after throwing a temper tantrum. As children do. Cuffed And Stuffed by a large male cop. She was calm by the time the cops were called. Why were the cops called? Why did no one at that school stop this or even comfort her? Why did this happen without her guardian being notified prior? Why did this happen at all? I'm in tears. Sweet baby, I'm so sorry they did this to you. It's a hard watch but important to be informed this happened. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/27/us/orlando-6-year-old-arrested.html

https://people.com/crime/vegan-parents-charged-death-toddler-malnutrition/ I'm not sure 'vegan' is the correct description of these parents. They claim that their family only eats raw fruit and vegetables and there is no mention of any grains, nuts, roots etc in any article I've seen. The probably cause statement says, "She told police that her children’s diets consist mainly of mangoes, rambutans, bananas and avocados, and the family only eats fruits and vegetables." Their 18 month old son died from complications of malnutrition and when medical personnel arrived, they also found their 3 and 5 yr old children "appeared pale and yellowish, and one had blackened teeth that required surgery to repair dental decay." The mother, Sheila O'Leary had a daughter from a previous relationship who appeared in better health but she has visitation with her father as well away from this mess and I guess he feeds her. Poor kiddos. She claims she was only breastfeeding in the week prior because her 18-month-old son was teething so he wouldn't eat ? In my experience with kids, they are on a spectrum of misery when teething but event the most severe cases I've seen, when bub spikes a low-grade fever and are just in pain, they might eat less because they are feeling rotten but not so little that they become malnourished in a week! And if she was truly breastfeeding him as much as she says, to my knowledge that wouldn't be enough sustenance for an 18 month old to be super energetic but it should be enough to keep him from being malnourished. Although, if she's only eating raw foods and veggies, her breastmilk is probably lacking a lot of the nutrients and proteins he needs too. Can someone with more breast-feeding and nutrition knowledge expand on this? It doesn't say they are 'fundie' and I'll keep looking for more details but most articles do say they are "devout Christians". I bet they homeschool as well and/or are fairly isolated for no one to notice the signs of malnutrition in the children. I wish people would pick just one thing to be extremist about! Or none but at the least, one. Even though I know the psychology behind any extremism often applies to nearly all of them.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/mother-8-adopted-children-special-needs-arrested-after-9-year-n959301 I'm all for special needs adoption, and I'm not against people adopting multiple times, but there's a piont where a lot of scrutiny needs to be given to ensure parents have adequete resources to care for another child and aren't just child collecting or giving in to some rescuer fantasy.

Erica Parsons' adoptive parents have not heard from here since December 2011, yet never reported her missing. I watched this on Dr. Phil yesterday and am awaiting the conclusion. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... -Phil.html One thing mentioned in the show and not in the article: the child was never reported missing partially because the Parsons home school. In NC there are ZERO homeschooling regulations, hence authorities were never alerted that she was no longer attending school.

48 Hours has an interesting new episode about an Australian cult run by a women who said she was Christ reincarnated. They were very child centered and she even stole other people's children. Very interesting commentary by a cult expert about how photographs show how children's personalities are being suppressed. http://www.cbsnews.com/news/inside-the-family-cult-australia-anne-hamilton-byrne/

https://people.com/crime/wisconsin-boy-allegedly-killed-during-punishment-not-knowing-bible-verses/ I'm still reading up on some other articles for some background on this so I don't have a lot of comments right now except for stating the horror I'm feeling. I'm not sure how far I'll get with reading into it this evening so I thought I'd post it now so maybe someone can share some links they come across too. So incredibly sad.

Fundamentalist Mormons were my first group that got me interested. I have studied A LOT about FLDS/bountiful/Kingston etc. However I have never heard of the Knights of the Crystal Blade?!? These girls were ages 4-8 seriously?!!?!?! Be prepared mentally this is a huge rabbit hole, https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/self-styled-utah-prophet-gets-additional-15-year-prison-term/ar-AAzhXwd

What does it take today to save children? This is a case where the state failed in a major way. Sigh. https://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2018/06/25/dcfs-anthony-avalos-lancaster-boy-abused-death/

From north of the border Seems that people who have Jesus as a lawyer have a fool for a client...

Another 10 kids rescued from hell https://www.cbsnews.com/news/police-fairfield-california-parents-charged-after-10-children-rescued-from-horrible-living-conditions/?ftag=CNM-00-10aab6a&linkId=51704955

Why do people do this? I don't see any biological children posted. These families should be banned from other adoptions and go through a standard investigation of the other children in the home. https://m.facebook.com/secondchanceadop ... =notify_me

So I've run across this fellow named Mike Martin, who is a father of five. He and his wife have a youtube channel with videos that consist primarily of "pranks" on the kids. Some (myself included...) are calling these "pranks" abusive--they involve a lot of yelling, strong language, and in one instance, one of the children gets pushed into a bookcase and has a nosebleed as a result. I've linked to one of the videos, but be aware it's very triggering.

So, the Georgia pastor who tweeted about the victims in the Orlando night club shooting “been through so much with these Jacksonville homosexuals that I don’t see none of them as victims. I see them as getting what they deserve” apparently spoke from a position of extreme self-loathing. Ken Adkins, of Brunswick, GA turned himself into police after charges that he molested a boy in the church, in his car, and in the victim's home. Anyone who is shocked by this turn of events, please meet at the dining room table for a special tutorial on homophobia. http://deadstate.org/pastor-who-warned-gays-would-sexually-molest-kids-in-bathrooms-is-arrested-for-child-molestation/

I found this piece on the front page of BBC News http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-39151842

https://www.apnews.com/2fcc70b19b6a484bb122bb9d4724e844/Jerry-Sandusky's-son-Jeffrey-charged-with-child-sexual-abuse?utm_campaign=SocialFlow&utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium=AP While there is no excuse for this, and I hope he pays the consequences for his actions, I can't help but be sad for him, too. His dad likely began with him, and I doubt he ever got help. My heart is with his victim(s) and families. May they receive the help they need and deserve so much.

I'm putting this one under Politics because I'm going to tie this to a tone-deaf move my Representative made a few minutes ago. Proving to me that she has no clue what is going on back home. Greitens is the new Missouri Governor. I had to pull the news off the Jefferson City station because it has more details than CoMo does. http://krcgtv.com/news/local/gov-greitins-holds-a-press-conference-regarding-child-abuse-at-a-dss-facility Bolding of SOUTHWEST BAPTIST UNIVERSITY is mine. So my Rep posts this lovely photo. Guess what SBUni stands for? Yes, Southwestern Baptist University. Their twitter is also followed by Republican Senator Roy Blunt. Shock shock shock.

http://www.wsbtv.com/news/local/gwinnett-county/testimony-begins-in-trial-of-couple-accused-of-locking-son-in-basement/487475026 http://www.ajc.com/news/local/son-kept-basement-for-months-testifies-wimbush-trial-begins/UvjX8WY8Gb5VKqq7cUbp7I/ In 2014 this couple locked their 12 year old son in a basement for 18 months, saying that he had done something that violated their old testament beliefs and had to be separated from the family. Apparently he stole a DVD player. The room had no lights and he was not permitted access to a bathroom. They also refused to get medical care for their 7 year old, who has a very large tumor that the Drs say would have taken years to grow - and is now cancerous. The defendants are representing themselves and have submitted some interesting documents, like this "plea offer" that demands hundreds of millions of dollars. https://www.scribd.com/document/334230263/Wimbush-Joint-Plea-Offer-002#from_embed They did not deny that they locked the child away or failed to seek medical attention for their other child (they have 8 others). They just seem to feel that it was their religious right to discipline him as they saw fit. Hopefully a verdict is reached today. http://www.ajc.com/news/local/verdict-wimbush-case-jury-continue-deliberations-friday/TCfJO7lOaIcwci9vGDQD0M/

The father was until just recently the CEO of a Christian adult care home. He and his wife were fundraising to go to Peru as missionaries with their Peruvian adopted children, who they are now accused of starving and torturing. They pulled them out of school to home school in 2014 and evidently have been keeping them isolated since then. http://www.thekansan.com/news/20160217/story-of-abuse-unfolds/1

I've always thought that Satanic panic was a uniquely American phenomenon, but today I heard a true crime podcast on Ella Draper and learned that it exists in the UK as well: http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Ella_Draper (not the best source, obviously, but the only one that explains everything in a brief manner) This story is bonkers, even by Satanic Panic standards: Draper and "Papa Hemp" giving marijuana to the children while withholding food, lurid accusations of cannibalism and pedophilia on Youtube, Internet lynch mobs. Do any UK FJers have any insights on this case?

I recently found out about the thankfully defunct Tony Alamo Ministries, and found this account of a woman who was raised in this craziness: http://www.oregonlive.com/news/index.ssf/2008/09/inside_the_arkansas_compound_t.html Franckiewicz's story has a happy ending, since she escaped and Alamo was put in prison. I seriously doubt Gothard, for example, will ever have to pay for his crimes, although now I'm wondering if the Bateses and Duggars will be praying to resurrect him when he eventually dies.

An absolute scumbag, rightly getting tried back in the UK for his crimes This is the major reason why I have such a problem with "independent" missionary (or teacher/NGO) jobs abroad, especially in developing countries. Without transparency, oversight, and regulation (hell, even with all those things), it's all too easy to have something like this go on for years. And this is far from the only case. But with any luck, this monster will be locked away for a nice, long time (hopefully forever) and he will perpetually have horrible diarrhea or something equally unpleasant as karmic punishment in addition to imprisonment.

http://m.whio.com/news/news/crime-law/girl-shackled-held-captive-in-basement-for-year/nrQHK/

This just came across my newsfeed. Horrible, horrible case. Trigger alert for child abuse. http://foxsanantonio.com/news/local/toddlers-found-chained-tied-up-outside-bexar-county-home I think this is breaking news, so there are not many details. All together, 8 children from 2-13 were found on the premises, with the two toddlers chained up like dogs outside. At midnight. There's a special place in Hell for whoever would treat children like this. The spokesman for the sheriff's department couldn't even speak about it without crying. ETA: I'm so glad that these children are now being cared for and helped.