By Mark Hayward Union Leader Staff

New Boston police, who are being sued by a woman who alleges she was enslaved by her adoptive parents, on Tuesday stressed that they were instrumental in her rescue.

An attorney for the town spoke on behalf of the police department in response to a lawsuit filed by Olivia Atkocaitis, who was adopted as a Chinese infant by a New Boston couple.

Joseph and Jodi Wilson reportedly used "attachment therapies" on their son — controversial practices that sometimes use restraint and starvation to treat supposed attachment disorders. 

By Jax Miller

A4-year-old boy is dead, allegedly at the hands of his adopted parents who were practicing a controversial "therapy" on him.

Joseph Paul Wilson, 41, and his wife, Jodi Ann Wilson, 38, were arrested on Jan. 13 for the murder of their adoptive son, Skyler Wilson, according to the Surry County Sheriff’s Office in North Carolina. The victim died during what one witness called an “exorcism” performed at the Wilsons' Mount Airy home — about 60 miles northwest of Greensboro and just south of the Virginia state line — according to charging documents reviewed by Fox Greensboro affiliate WGHP.

By Minyvonne Burke

A North Carolina couple are accused of performing an amateur exorcism on their 4-year-old son, who later died.

Joseph Paul “Joe” Wilson, 41, and Jodi Ann Wilson, 38, of Mount Airy, were arrested Jan. 13 on accusations their actions led to the death of their son, Skyler Wilson. They are being held at the Surry County Detention Center under no bond.

The Surry County Sheriff’s Office said deputies received a call Jan. 6 from Child Protective Services about a child who had been admitted to the hospital after having suffered a "medical emergency" the previous day. Skyler died Jan. 9 "from injuries related to the abuse sustained by his parents," authorities said.

A cause of death was not revealed. The department said it is being investigated as a homicide.

JOHN HINTON Winston-Salem Journal

A4-year-old Mount Airy child who died earlier this month was swaddled with a sheet, deprived of food and subjected to exorcism during nearly two years he was with his adoptive parents, a court record alleges.

Skyler Wilson died Jan. 9 at Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center. Skyler suffered from a hypoxic/anoxic brain injury, according to a search warrant. Such injuries occur when a person’s brain gets too little oxygen.

His adoptive parents, Joseph “Joe” Paul Wilson, 41, and Jodi Ann Wilson, 38, of Mount Airy were arrested Jan. 13 and charged with murder in connection with Skyler’s death, the Surry County Sheriff’s Office said.

Joe Wilson is a chiropractor and worked at Affordable Wellness in Mount Airy.

Skyler and another child had been with the Wilsons since August 2021.

Joe Wilson told investigators he received a Jan. 5 text with a photograph from his wife. The photo showed Skyler wrapped in a sheet and lying face down on the floor, a court record shows.

By Ian M. Giatti, Christian Post Reporter

A now-defunct Christian adoption agency was reportedly used by a same-sex couple in Georgia who were arrested last August on charges of allegedly sexually abusing their two adopted sons and filming the abuse to upload and share on the internet.

William Dale Zulock, 32, and Zachary Jacoby Zulock, 35, were charged with child molestation and sexual exploitation following their arrest on July 27 in Loganville, Georgia, after officials with the Walton County’s Division of Family and Child Services joined deputies in a raid at the men’s home.

During the raid, authorities said investigators found evidence the Zulocks were “engaging in sexually abusive acts and video documenting this abuse.”

Now an investigation by Townhall has uncovered new details about the Zulocks, including that Zachary was the focus of a pedophilia investigation in 2011 in which he was accused of engaging in sexual acts with a 14-year-old boy in Walton County. 

By Ken Paiva 

BOSTON, A Massachusetts man was charged with sexually assaulting one of three boys he brought back from Columbia last summer after traveling to that country to adopt them, District Attorney Kevin Hayden announced.

52-year-old Kiyoshi Yu of Winthrop was charged in East Boston BMC with one count of assault and battery on a child under 14. Judge John McDonald ordered Yu held on $2,500 bail and directed him to surrender his passport, have no contact with the three boys and have no contact with children under 16. Yu will return to court March 7 for a pre-trial hearing.

Assistant District Attorney John Blazo said Yu traveled to Bogota, Columbia last summer to adopt the boys, aged eight, nine and 13. One of the boys told investigators that Yu repeatedly abused the boys in a Bogota hotel shortly after the adoption. The abuse continued when Yu returned with the boys to the United States.

The charge stems from an incident in Yu’s apartment in Winthrop, where Yu forced one of the boys to stroke his private area.

By Yaron Steinbuch

A gay couple from Georgia charged with molesting their two adopted sons and using them to record child porn also allegedly pimped them out to members of a local pedophile ring, according to a disturbing new report.

A months-long investigation by Townhall revealed that William Dale Zulock, 33, and Zachary Jacoby Zulock, 35, allegedly used social media to prostitute their two elementary-aged sons.

William Zulock, a government worker, and Zachary Zulock, a banker, were indicted in August 2022 on charges of incest, aggravated sodomy, aggravated child molestation, felony sexual exploitation of children and felony prostitution of a minor.

But the shocking investigation reveals in more detail the sickening abuse the boys suffered.

Glory Mushinge

Four Croatian couples are on trial in Zambia for attempted child trafficking after authorities found their adoption papers to be fake. The case has put a spotlight on foreign child adoption in Africa.

It should have been a dream come true for Damir M and his wife, Nadica; Subosic Z and his wife, Azra; Ladislav P and his wife, Aleksandr; and Noah K and his wife, Ivona. The four Croatian couples had finally adopted their children from the Democratic Republic of Congo, or so they believed.

But before they could board their flight to Croatia, Zambian authorities detained the four couples, claiming the children's adoption papers were falsified. Now, all eight face child trafficking charges.

The Croatians have spent at least a month in detention since December 2020, and were only recently granted bail by a Zambian court.

ALBERTO LUPERONJan 15th, 2023, 11:47 am

A North Carolina couple is accused of murdering their four-year-old son. Surry County deputies say victim Skyler Wilson wound up in the hospital with injuries and died after several days. Investigators blame father Joseph “Joe” Paul Wilson, 41, and mother Jodi Ann Wilson, 38. They were arrested Friday.

“This is a tragic event that resulted in the death of a precious child way too soon,” Sheriff Steve C. Hiatt said. “Please remember the other siblings involved in this situation as well as the investigators who worked tirelessly on this case in your thoughts and prayers.”

In alleged timeline, Skyler sustained injuries on Jan. 5. EMS took him to a hospital, where he died on the 9th. Authorities did not detail the injuries or suggest a motive.

From deputies:

Kiyoshi Yu, a 52-year-old man from Winthrop, Massachusetts, is accused of sexually assaulting one of the three boys he adopted last summer in Bogota, Colombia

By Mike Pescaro

A Massachusetts man is accused of sexually assaulting one of the three boys he adopted last year in Colombia.

The office of Suffolk County District Attorney Kevin Hayden announced Thursday that 52-year-old Kiyoshi Yu of Winthrop had been charged with assault and battery on a child under 14.

Prosecutors say Yu traveled last summer to Bogota to adopt three boys aged 8, 9 and 13.