Crazy person Sean Harris, senior pastor of the Berean Baptist Church in North Carolina, delivered a terrifying sermon on Sunday to his congregation suggesting that parents "crack" their fey sons' limp wrists, rein in daughters who appear butch, "punch" them if they act gay, and a slew of other child-abuse recommendations that are sure to horrify anyone with commonsense and a heart. Harris was speaking in support for North Carolina's Amendment One, the state's looming ban on gay marriage and civil union. Care of Good As You, who first reported the story, the transcript of the infamous sermon reads as follows: more ›

Like the Dalai Lama, Mother Teresa enjoyed dancing on the dark side via the occasional bout of fame-mongering. But who wouldn't fall prey to the siren song of celebrity and fortune? Unlike the Dali Lama, however, Mother Teresa (née Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhi) defended pedophilic priests. In fact, the Nobel Prize-winning nun — now on the fast track to sainthood from the Vatican — defended a Bay Area priest accused and convicted of sexual molestation back in the 1993. An act that, in addition to reinstating the criminal man of God, resulted in more horrifying sexual abuse. more ›

Down in San Jose on Christmas morning, a mother dropped her young son out of a second-floor apartment window. Why? Well, according to reports, police had been called to her abode that morning after she locked herself in the bathroom with her kids. Police "forced their way into the room and discovered the child had already been thrown," notes AP. "[T]he child's 24-year-old mother saw police come toward her then jumped herself." more ›

Miguel and Erik Cerda, two brother who took the law into their own hands on a brutal child molester, decided on a trial rather than a plea deal yesterday. The budding heroes (?) face charges that they tortured convicted San Jose child molester Avelino Rodriguez. "The man was attacked after duct-taping the mouth of an 8-year-girl so she couldn't scream as he sexually molested her last Thanksgiving," reports NY Daily News. "Molester Avelino Rodriguez was whipped, punched and burned with a cigarette in retaliation for the incident." more ›

Raven Stewart, 26, and Lache Rodriguez, 24, were arrested on Friday in connection with a series of car burglaries in Emeryville and Berkeley. They are suspected in at least five smash and grabs, and they even brought along a 4-month-old infant for the fun. Charming. more ›

For those of you who haven't been following the saga of Casey Anthony and her allegedly filicidal ways, good for you. (Actually, too bad for you. Because, murder of a child aside, it's been choice drama.) Anthony was released from jail on Saturday after being acquitted in the murder of her 3-year-old daughter, Caylee. Days before her freedom, a California lawmaker introduced Caylee's Law... more ›

Drunk drivers. They're the scum on the Earth, right? Right. Well, what about if you're a drunk driver who gets in a car with your daughter and then crashes into a fire house? You make for a good news story, that's what. Lasheena Cardona, 36, was behind the wheel of a big ol' GMC Yukon on Monday night "when it slammed into the front of station No. 27 at 1801 DeAnza Blvd." more ›

Gregory David Colver Jr., 20, will stand trail this week for allegedly (and accidentally?) plopping his 17-month-old son into a hot oven. Associated Press reports: "Prosecutors say 20-year-old Gregory Colver Jr. had turned on the oven in his Daly City home to make pizza on Dec. 28 and saw his son banging his hand on the open door. To teach the child a lesson, prosecutors say, Colver lifted the boy's legs into the oven but lost his grip and dropped him onto the hot coils." more ›

Anthony Josef Norris, 46, the founder and director of Kid Serve Youth Mural, was charged with possession of child pornography. He surrendered to FBI agents yesterday morning, who "reportedly traced Norris’ log-on name of 'Spanky' to his home computer and discovered 600 pornographic images of children." ... more ›

The 8-year-old girl whose mother gave her Botox injections and bikini waxes, in a bizarre effort to turn her into a pageant beauty winner, was taken out of her home. After fame-hungry San Francisco mom Kerry Campbell appeared on Good Morning America and Inside Edition on March 12 to defend her daughter's painful beauty treatments, the "San Francisco Human Services Agency" and SFPD conducted an investigation. more ›

After San Francisco stage mom Kerry Campbell appeared on Good Morning America and Inside Edition Thursday to defen her 8-year-old daughter's Botox injections and bikini waxes, Child Protective Services and SFPD plan on an investigation. Viewers who watched the interviews apparently "flooded" CPS with calls. "We need to sit down and talk with the mom, talk with the child, and see what's going on," Trent Rhorer, head of San Francisco's Child Protective Services, explained to ABC 7. "It's pretty unusual for a mom to be injecting an 8-year-old with Botox and certainly is grounds for an investigation." more ›

The depressing story of 34-year-old San Francisco pageant mom Kerry Campbell, who gives her 8-year-old daughter Botox injections, made readers foam at the mouth after The Mommy Files brought the all-too-true tale to the public's attention. Kerry, looking to make her young daughter both famous and sexually alluring, "purchases Botox online and injects her 8-year-old daughter Britney with it." She also waxes her daughter's legs and bikini line in a chilling effort "to get rid of peach fuzz and to make sure she doesn't develop pubic hair later in life." Mom and daughter, named Britney (of course), appeared on Inside Edition today to explain. more ›

A suspected prostitue was busted in Oakland for felony child endangerment and soliciting an act of prostitution. The woman arrested on Wednesday afternoon during a police sting. "Officers saw the woman loitering in the 1500 block of 16th Avenue and once saw her go check on something inside a 'ratty and dirty' Oldsmobile parked nearby," reports Oakland Tribune. After the woman returned to her place of business, if you will, and signed a verbal contract to perform a sex act in exchange for monetary compensation, she got into her client's car and drove away. That's when things got ugly: more ›

Remember Livermore mom Christine Hubbs who was arrested last summer on charges that she liked 13-year-old boys a little too much? She pleaded no contest yesterday in Alameda County Superior Court, and she's expected to serve five years in jail and to have to register as a sex offender. In exchange for her plea, prosecutors dropped 63 other felony sex counts and a few misdemeanor counts. That's quite a lot of counts! Sounds like this wasn't a one-time deal. more ›

Robert Klatt, 32, was charged with child molestation on Tuesday. The San Jose minister is accused of "lewd and lascivious acts with a minor for allegedly victimizing two junior-high-age youths." Witnesses and potential victims are urged to call Detective Latendresse of the San Jose Police Department’s sexual assault unit at 408-277-4102. For those who want to remain anonymous, call Crime Stoppers at 408-947-STOP or visit svcrimestopper.org. [CBS 5] more ›

Darren Hayes, 36, will be charged with 9 felony counts of alleged sexual assaults on his underage stepdaughter, Kamala Harris announced today. Hayes faces 4 counts for aggravated sexual assault of a child, 1 count for "continuous sexual abuse," 2 counts for sexual penetration with a child, 1 count for oral copulation with a child, and 1 county for a lewd act upon a child. SF Appeal reports, "Hayes was arrested November 13, 2009 after his stepdaughter told the police that he had sexually abused her from age 6 to age 11." [SF Appeal] more ›

The mother of the toddler who was allegedly tossed into traffic on Saturday insists that the father would never do such a thing. Although a police officer and several eyewitnesses stated otherwise, Elena Bartholomew - who told KTVU her daughter is "none the worse for wear," except for massive scrapes on her forehead and her back - wasn't shaken and then thrown into traffic by her manic depressive father, 21-year-old John Taylor Jr. of Oakland. "He loves his daughter...I know he loves his daughter...whether he's manic depressive or not," she says. Taylor was booked on suspicion of child endangerment and resisting arrest. He will appear in court tomorrow with Bartholomew by his side. [KTVU] more ›

An off-duty police officer witnessed 21-year-old John Taylor Jr. of Oakland toss his toddler into traffic on Saturday. It's a jarring, sensational story. Depressing too. See, the officer saw Taylor yelling in the middle of the street. He then "allegedly picked up his daughter, forcefully shook her and threw her into oncoming traffic." The toddler was hit by a car, but didn't suffer any major physical injuries. Read more at CBS,News. Donate your entire paycheck to The San Francisco Child Abuse Prevention Center. more ›

This stunning creature at right is Shemeeka Davis, 39, of Antioch, and she's currently about to stand trial in the murder of her biological niece and foster daughter Jazzmin Davis, who died in 2008 at the age of 15 after years of brutal physical abuse that included being kept naked in a closet for days alongside her twin brother. more ›

A Salinas couple faces child endangerment charges today, according to the Chronicle, after they allegedly "tried to sell their 6-month-old baby for $25 outside a Walmart store." more ›

On Wednesday, SFist wondered about this installation at Civic Center. Turns out is an exhibit called "Keeping Our Promise," a kid-cutout visual representation of the "433 abused or neglected San Francisco children who entered state care in 2009." The exhibit will raise awareness for National Child Abuse Prevention Month. The cutouts were prepared by San Francisco CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates), a non-profit organization that uses community volunteers to advocate for the rights of abused and neglected children in foster care. (Side note: we're told that 20% of the state of California’s foster children come from San Francisco). more ›

There are many reasons to fear parts of California not near the coast. So much so, in fact, that LAist editor Zach Behrens and your SFist editor tend to argue about which of us has to write about items in central, non-coastline parts of the state. Here's one reason why: a Bakersfield father is in jail "after allegedly biting out one of his 4-year-old son's eyes and mutilating the other." The child told investigators, "My daddy ate my eyes." Neighbors who found the injured kid also discovered the boy's father, Angel Vidal Mendoza, 34, in the backyard of a nearby home "hacking his own legs with an ax." Mendoza has been charged with mayhem, torture, child cruelty and inflicting an injury to a child. This raises questions about the quality, or lack thereof, of Kern County's Child Protective Services department. It seems Mendoza and the boy's 23-year-old mother were "charged with being under the influence of PCP in 2006 and pleaded no contest to child cruelty charges in that case." more ›

Alfonso Israel De Leon, 34, was arrested on charges of tossing a two-year-old boy from a car in El Paso, Texas, on Saturday. While police wouldn't "disclose the children's relationship to De Leon," it seems the man was passing through the scary state of Texas with two children, the little boy and a four-year-old girl, when he threw the kid, as well as other objects, from the moving car. The boy is expected to survive. more ›

The whole story of the Tracy child abuse case is starting to emerge. The boy's aunt, Caren Ramirez, who was arrested on Tuesday night, was charged in 2006 with inflicting "cruel and inhuman corporal punishment" on her nephew. IN 2007, Ramirez admitted in court to using "a deadly or dangerous weapon" while abusing the boy. more ›

The final suspect in this week's terrible Tracy child abuse case has been nabbed. Caren Ramirez, 43, was picked up by police at her Berkeley home at around 9:30 p.m. last night. The case has received much media attention ever since a 17-year-old boy escaped from the home of Michael Luther Schumacher, 34, and Kelly Layne Lau, 30, on Monday via "vaulting over an 8-foot wall separating the couple's backyard and the parking lot of the In-Shape Sports Club in Tracy." He was found emaciated, nearly naked, and wearing a chain padlocked to his ankle. Schumacher and his wife, Lau, were arrested on Monday. more ›

Know the holiday log know God; no holiday log no God. more ›

We just caught wind of this worldwide Michael Jackson "Thriller" movement, so [insert bad pedophilia, child abuse, or body dysmorphic disorder jokes here]. Thrill the World, "a worldwide attempt to break the Guinness World Record (GWR) for the largest simultaneous dance with Michael Jackson's 'Thriller,'" will take place in Dolores Park this Saturday. So...have at it, Michael Jackson followers. more ›

Two small plane crashes -- one into a tank of raw sewage in Gilroy, and another onto Highway 4 in Contra Costa County. The Highway 4 crash involved a pilot who misjudged the location of the landing runway in the low cloud cover Thursday, and tied up traffic for miles. They're still investigating the Gilroy crash; investigators got a later start because they had to drain and disinfect the tank before it was safe to go in. more ›

So last Saturday, this 36 year old father is watching his thirteen year old son play youth league football in Stockton. The 36 year old father is also an assistant coach on his son's team. Anyways, the son gets hit on the play after the whistle blows and just as the ref goes to call the penalty, the dude, Cory Petero, runs out onto the field and cold cocks the thirteen year old kid who put the late hit on his son. Thus leading to a twenty minute melee and fight between the football players and parents. more ›

Shoppers trying to enjoy the a/c at the Oakridge Mall in San Jose on Sunday afternoon got less cool air than they were hoping for when the straining mall transformer outside the movie theater blew up. Witnesses reported seeing the lights flicker, hearing a huge boom, and then seeing sparks. In light of the panic and lack of power for the mall, Oakridge threw up its hands and decided just to close for the rest of the day. more ›