NEW YORK — A new federal study documents an unprecedented and dramatic decrease in incidents of serious child abuse, especially sexual abuse. Experts hailed the findings as proof that crackdowns and public awareness campaigns had made headway.
An estimated 553,000 children suffered physical, sexual or emotional abuse in 2005-06, down 26 percent from the estimated 743,200 abuse victims in 1993, the study found.
The number of sexually abused children decreased from 217,700 in 1993 to 135,300 in 2005-2006 — a 38 percent drop, the study shows. The number of children who experienced physical abuse fell by 15 percent and the number of emotionally abused children dropped by 27 percent.
Report warning of autism, vaccine is now retracted
Twelve years after Dr. Andrew Wakefield published his research in the medical journal The Lancet purporting that the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine causes autism, the journal on Tuesday formally retracted the paper. Wakefield’s study, conducted on only 12 children, concluded that the MMR vaccine is a primary cause of autism. His words and actions led to a sharp drop in vaccination rates in both Britain and the United States and a resurgence in measles. Last week, the U.K. General Medical Council’s Fitness to Practice Panel concluded that Wakefield had provided false information in the report and acted with “callous disregard” for the children in the study.
Fla.: Woman linked to lottery winner’s death, police say
A woman who befriended a Florida lottery winner who later disappeared was charged Tuesday in connection with his slaying, five days after his body was found buried in her back yard. Dorice Moore, 37, was charged as an accessory after the fact to first-degree murder in the slaying last year of Abraham Shakespeare, Hillsborough County Sheriff David Gee said. Investigators said in an affidavit released Tuesday that Moore asked an unnamed witness if he knew anyone who was awaiting sentencing to prison and would be willing to take the rap for killing Shakespeare in exchange for $50,000. Authorities say Moore befriended Shakespeare after he claimed the $30 million winning ticket in 2006 and took a $17 million lump sum payment.
S.C.: Sanford asked wife’s advice on affair, book says
In a new memoir, South Carolina first lady Jenny Sanford writes that Gov. Mark Sanford sought her advice about his romance and how to deal with the media after she discovered his extramarital relationship with an Argentine woman. Jenny Sanford writes in “Staying True” that the governor used her as a sounding board, wondering aloud whether he should follow his heart to Argentina and if he would live a life of regret if he didn’t. “Clearly those are thoughts I wish he had kept to himself,” Jenny Sanford writes in the book, to be released Friday. Mark Sanford disappeared for five days last summer, returning to reveal that he was not hiking the Appalachian Trail, as he told his staff, but in Argentina seeing his mistress.
Pa.: Black man says white fast-food worker spit on food
A black Ohio man claims in a federal discrimination lawsuit that a white worker at a Burger King spat on his food while a co-worker tried to obscure his view. Glenn Goodwin says the worker spat in his food in November 2008 at the Fairview restaurant. The lawsuit contends police found saliva in Goodwin’s food.
Arizona: Woman arrested in case of missing infant
A Scottsdale woman who wanted to adopt an Arizona baby missing for more than a month was arrested Tuesday, but police said she was not connected to the boy’s disappearance and that she and her husband likely don’t know where the boy is. Tammi Smith, 37, was booked into Maricopa County jail on charges of custodial interference, conspiracy to commit custodial interference and forgery. Lt. Mike Horn said the charges stem from Smith’s repeated and apparently desperate attempts to adopt 8-month-old Gabriel Johnson, not from the boy’s Dec. 26 disappearance in San Antonio. Gabriel’s mother, 23-year-old Elizabeth Johnson, was arrested Dec. 30 in Florida and is charged in Arizona with kidnapping, child abuse and custodial interference. She has refused to say where the baby is.
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