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In a 5-year-old’s eyes, his parents’ greatest sin was stealing. Living in the back seat of a green 1994 Buick — between mushed food in the seats and overturned drinks on the floorboard — the child was appalled that his parents would steal four food trays, dinner rolls and a half-gallon of tea from a Piggly Wiggly to feed them. As for the “white medicine” he said his parents forced him and his sister to snort through a straw, all he knew about it was that it made his nose burn and his 2-year-old sister throw up. The boy’s parents...

Three girls who were imprisoned by their mother in a house of indescribable filth for seven years may never recover from the ordeal, experts said last night. The girls were shut away from the outside world, existing in almost complete darkness, playing only with mice and communicating in their own language. When they were discovered, their home in a smart, upper middle-class suburb had no running water and was filled with waste and excrement a meter high. The floor was corroded by mice urine.

Police think alcohol, speeding were factors in midnight crash. (Austin) - Police say Susan Marie Roten was driving 84 mph in a 55-mph zone in Southwest Austin with her four children early Saturday when her vehicle struck a Ford Explorer, rolled several times and left her month-old son dying in a rocky median and her daughter seriously injured. She'd been drinking at one son's baseball practice and was on pain medication, according to an arrest warrant affidavit. The infant, Wyatt Hortness, was ejected and later died at Brackenridge Hospital. His 6-year-old sister also was ejected, suffering a skull fracture and...

Two parents are in trouble with the law and may permanently lose custody of their two children, thanks to a phone call from the other side of the world to Webster. Ken Sullivan said he has worked as a contractor mechanic in Iraq, and although it was difficult, he said he tried to talk to his daughters in Houston daily. "These are my daughters," said Sullivan. The photos of 5-year-old Jocelyn and 3-year-old Kaitlyn are a little worn from the mileage. Learning their stepfather had allegedly locked Kaitlyn in the garage on Friday made him mad. "I tried to find...

'This was torture': Boy malnourished, kept in closet By Sheila K. Stogsdill The Oklahoman BRAGGS - For longer than he can remember, a 4-year-old boy subsisted on ramen noodles and a makeshift oatmeal mixture and endured beatings and handcuffs, all for wetting the bed, investigators said Monday. "This was torture," said Tim Brown, a Muskogee County sheriff's detective, who called it "the worst child abuse case I've ever seen." The boy weighed 26 pounds when he was found June 25. Gore police responding to an anonymous tip of neglect found the child malnourished and severely beaten. Muskogee County Sheriff Charles...

Scowling Star of the Ramps Charged With Killing SonBy Ryan Pearson Associated Press Writer Published: Jun 4, 2005 RIVERSIDE, Calif. (AP) - On concrete ramps under Burnside Bridge in Portland, Ore., Neil Heddings thrashed out his reputation on a skateboard: Raw, talented and more than a little unhinged. Tattoos covered body parts not already gashed with "war wounds" from falls at the skate park he helped build, or from beer-fueled battles to fend off outsiders. A scowling passion blended with a bit of business smarts launched a professional career that took him to Southern California. By November 2002, Heddings had...

INDIANAPOLIS -- Prosecutors on Tuesday rested their case against a couple whose newborn died after they allegedly declined to seek medical treatment for religious reasons. The trial of Dewayne and Maleta Schmidt, who are charged with reckless homicide in connection with the August 2003 death of their infant daughter, began earlier in the day. The defense is expected to present its case Wednesday. The baby, Rhiana Rose Schmidt, was born at her parents' Johnson County home and died two days later. An autopsy showed she died of an infection that normally is treated with antibiotics. The parents allegedly told investigators...

LAUDERDALE LAKES, FLORIDA- A 9-year-old boy has told detectives his mother videotaped an assault on him by an adult male, who has been arrested. Broward Sheriff's detectives are investigating allegations by a 9-year-old boy who said his mother videotaped him being raped, then sold the tape. Investigators are looking into allegations that the boy was raped at least five times between July and October 2004, according to BSO spokeswoman Veda Coleman-Wright. She would not say when the detectives first heard about the alleged assaults. Detectives arrested Kevin Jerome Bynes, 27, of Lauderdale Lakes, Tuesday on five counts of sexual battery...