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.

By Sarah Pridgeon

Karey Hedlund of Moorcroft has accepted a plea deal related to the 16 separate counts of child abuse and one of aggravated assault and battery with which she was originally charged.

Hedlund’s alleged victims accuse her of years of mental and physical abuse. According to reports from a Crook County Sheriff’s Office deputy, an investigation was launched at the beginning of June, 2021 in response to a report of “abusive and neglectful behavior”.

The victims reported numerous incidents of cruel and physical abuse at Hedlund’s hands.

At change of plea hearing, Judge James Michael Causey approved a plea agreement in which Hedlund will plead guilty to one charge of felony child abuse involving slapping a juvenile victim in the mouth, causing them to bleed, and one charge of felony child abuse involving hitting a juvenile victim’s hands with a mallet.

Het kabinet wil nog dit jaar het adopteren van kinderen uit het buitenland hervatten. Er mag dan weer vanuit zes landen geadopteerd worden. Maar zolang er nog een verdienmodel aan adoptie hangt, vindt Sam van den Haak dat adoptie niet meer door kan gaan.

Binnenkort mag er dan weer vanuit zes landen geadopteerd worden: Filipijnen, Hongarije, Lesotho, Taiwan, Thailand en Zuid-Afrika. Vanaf begin vorig jaar werden vanwege de vele misstanden internationale adopties tijdelijk opgeschort.

Niet meer uit China en VS

Er mag niet meer geadopteerd worden uit landen waar kinderen zelf ook goed opgevangen kunnen worden, zoals de VS en China. Dat heeft mogelijk grote gevolgen voor gay-stellen, want Amerika is één van de weinige landen ter wereld waaruit zij mogen adopteren.

Met andere landen waarvan de procedures niet op orde zijn, wordt de samenwerking afgebouwd. Lopende procedures mogen worden afgemaakt, maar er mogen geen nieuwe worden gestart.

The couple is facing a total of 26 charges for murder, assault and child endangerment

By: Valerie Lyons

SPRINGFIELD TOWNSHIP, Ohio — Nearly six years after the death of an 8-year-old boy, his parents appeared before a judge charged with his murder.

John and Katherine Snyder are facing 26 charges combined for murder, aggravated assault and child endangerment.

The parents appeared virtually in the Hamilton County Common Pleas Court Thursday morning for their arraignment.

By FOX19 Digital Staff

SPRINGFIELD TOWNSHIP, Ohio (WXIX) - Two parents charged with murder in the death of their 8-year-old son more than six years ago and abusing their other five children appeared in court Thursday morning.

John Snyder II and Katherine Snyder were arraigned in Hamilton County Common Pleas Court.

Katherine Snyder pleaded not guilty and her bond was set at $50,000.

Her attorney says they will be fighting a no-contact order that she has to stay away from her children.