Shortly after Arabella McCormack died Aug. 30, her father died by suicide in front of deputies who made contact with him near the family’s home.

By Minyvonne Burke

An ordained elder at a California megachurch was arrested along with her parents in connection with the death of her 11-year-old adopted daughter.

Leticia McCormack, 49, was arrested Monday on a charge of murder, three counts of torture and three counts of willful cruelty to a child in the death of Arabella McCormack, the San Diego County Sheriff's Department said in a news release Tuesday.

Leticia McCormack's father, Stanley Tom, 75, was arrested on the same charges. Her mother, Adella Tom, 70, was charged only with torture and willful cruelty to a child.

By Patti Weaver

(Stillwater, Okla.)  — A Perkins couple, who were foster parents, have been placed on seven years’ probation each for abusing two boys, ages 4 and 5, three months after they adopted them.

Brittany Luv Edwards, 31, admitted choking the boys and hitting or failing to protect them from being hit with a belt that caused injuries, court records show.

John Wayne Edwards, 36, admitted failing to protect the boys from being strangled and hitting or failing to protect them from being hit with a belt, court records show.

The couple, who were arrested at their residence on March 25 by Perkins police, pleaded guilty to four counts of child abuse each and were sentenced last week.

The victim, 11-year-old Aarabella McCormack, died Aug. 30; deputies had responded to a call about a child in distress at a Lakeview Drive home

BY DAVID HERNANDEZ

EL CAJON — 

Three family members accused in the death of an 11-year-old Spring Valley girl pleaded not guilty Wednesday to charges including child abuse and torture.

Prosecutors say Leticia McCormack, 49, and her parents, Adella and Stanley Tom, abused and tortured McCormack’s three daughters for about five and a half years, leading up to the death of one of the girls, Aarabella, in late August, according to a complaint.

A proposed plea agreement called for the suspension of all time in jail or prison for Joel Koskan if he pleads guilty to felony child abuse.

By Hunter Dunteman

WHITE RIVER, S.D. — While a South Dakota Senate candidate charged with child abuse relating to molestation accusations lost his election, a proposed plea deal could result in no jail time if he pleads guilty to the felony charge.

Joel Koskan, who ran as a Republican for South Dakota Senate District 26, was defeated Tuesday, Nov. 8, in the race for the lone seat in the state’s upper legislative chamber by a margin of 58% to 42%.

In a race with just shy of 6,000 ballots cast, Koskan jumped out to an early lead, taking a 58% share of the first 1,000 ballots tallied in the first two hours after polls closed at 7 p.m. local time.

11-year-old Aarabella McCormack died Aug. 30 after being rushed to the hospital

By Alexis Rivas, Mike Dorfman, Meredith Royster and Jay Yoo

The San Diego County Sheriff's Department announced Tuesday it arrested three people in connection to an 11-year-old girl’s death – her adoptive mother and that woman's two parents.

On Aug. 30, emergency vehicles rushed to a Spring Valley home. The San Diego County Sheriff’s Department tells us it was a call for a child in distress. An 11-year-old girl named Aarabella McCormack was taken to the hospital where she died. Her two younger sisters, ages 6 and 7, were removed from the home and also hospitalized for a few days.

While we still don’t know exactly how Aarabella died, we now know that investigators believe her adoptive mother Leticia McCormack had something to do with it. McCormack and her father, Stanley Tom, have been arrested and charged with murder, three counts of torture, and three counts of willful cruelty to a child. McCormack’s mother, Adella Tom, is facing three counts of torture and three counts of willful cruelty to a child.

DANIEL LATHROP   Des Moines Register

Iowa taxpayers will pay $500,000 to a boy said to have been abused at a child care center run by a Perry couple now serving lengthy sentences in connection with the death of another child under their care.

State officials voted to award the damages to the now-10-year-old boy who, according to his family, is suffering post-traumatic stress disorder from his time under the care of Marc Alan Ray and Misty Jo Bousman-Ray. The couple pleaded guilty in connection with starving to death their adopted daughter, 16-year-old Sabrina, in 2017. The then-Iowa state ombudsman wrote in an investigative report in 2020 that the case "brought me to tears."

Bousman-Ray is now serving a life sentence, and Ray received an 80-year prison term.

The boy's family says he was kicked and denied food while attending Sunshine Day Care, according to the settlement approved unanimously by the three-member State Appeal Board.

Joel Koskan, a Wood resident running as a Republican to represent District 26 in the South Dakota Senate, was charged Thursday, Nov. 3, with one count of felony child abuse for allegedly exposing a minor to a foreseeable harm.

By Hunter Dunteman

WOOD, S.D. — As questions loom regarding the campaign of a South Dakota legislative candidate facing felony child abuse charges, more than $12,000 sits in his campaign account, and how that money can be used is highly regulated.

Joel Koskan, a Wood resident running as a Republican to represent District 26 in the South Dakota Senate, was charged Thursday, Nov. 3, with one count of felony child abuse for allegedly exposing a minor to a foreseeable harm. The charge stems from a detailed account provided to law enforcement from an adult member of Koskan’s family, who said that Koskan had been “raping her since she was a young child.”

In a probable cause statement supplied to the courts by an agent with the South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation, the woman claimed she was subjected to a pattern of inappropriate touching, molestation and other sexual behaviors from Koskan over the course of roughly five years.

Darren Thompson

WHITE RIVER, SD — Just days before the midterm elections, a Republican candidate for the South Dakota State Senate in next week’s election has been charged with child abuse.

Joel M. Koskan was charged on Thursday for multiple sexual acts against his adopted daughter.

Koskan’s challenger in the state senatorial race in District 26 is current state Rep. Shawn Bordeaux, an enrolled Rosebud Sioux Tribe.

South Dakota Assistant Attorney General Mandy Miller filed charges of rape, sexual contact with a child under sixteen, and aggravated incest—related child against Koskan on Thursday.

CLEVELAND, Ohio— A former employee of a defunct Strongsville adoptions agency was sentenced Friday to one year and one day in prison for two adoptions schemes that included bribing Ugandan officials and lying to Polish authorities about the adoption of a girl, who was later raped.

U.S. District Judge James Gwin sentenced Debra Parris, 70, to below the recommended sentence of about three years. He said he would have sentenced her to a longer prison term for her “terrible conduct” if it wasn’t for her serious healthcare needs.

“The amount of damage you’ve done to these children is horrendous,” Gwin said. “You’ve caused immeasurable psychological damage to these children and parents.”

Gwin also ordered Parris to pay a $10,000 fine and $118,197 in restitution to 42 families. He allowed her to self-report to prison by Jan. 9, unless the Bureau of Prisons directs her otherwise.

Parris, a former employee of European Adoptions Consultants, apologized to the families. Parris and her attorney, Bret Martin, blamed some of what happened on Margaret Cole, the agency’s owner.

A woman told investigators that, from age 14 through 19, Koskan was constantly monitoring her via surveillance cameras and GPS and would "require" the girl to engage in sexual activity with him.

By Hunter Dunteman

EDITOR’S NOTE: In cases of alleged sexual crimes, Forum News Service works to protect the identity and privacy of any alleged victims and/or witnesses in our reporting. Due to this policy, some identifying details have been intentionally left out of this story.

WHITE RIVER, S.D. — A South Dakota Senate candidate is facing felony child abuse charges in Mellette County after court documents indicate a family member said she was repeatedly groped and molested for years.

Joel Koskan, 44, of Wood, was charged Thursday, Nov. 3, with one count of exposing a minor to a foreseeable harm, a Class 4 felony, after Assistant Attorney General Mandy Miiller reviewed a months-long investigation by the South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation.