Are your kids’ toys safe?

When shopping this holiday, keep guidelines in mind.

By Dayton Children's Hospital

You are probably already swamped with toy advertisements this holiday season. Toys are supposed to be fun and help with appropriate development, but knowing the safety of the toys you buy your kids is extremely important. Each year, scores of kids are treated in hospital emergency departments for toy-related injuries.

For safety, manufacturers follow certain guidelines and label most new toys for specific age groups. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) closely monitors and regulates toys. Any toys made in or imported into the United States after 1995 must comply with CPSC standards. But perhaps the most important thing a parent can do is to supervise play.

Here are some general guidelines to keep in mind when shopping for toys:

• Toys made of fabric should be labeled as flame resistant or flame retardant.

• Stuffed toys should be washable.

• Painted toys should be covered with lead-free paint.

• Art materials should say nontoxic.

• Crayons and paints should say ASTM D-4236 on the package, which means that they’ve been evaluated by the American Society for Testing and Materials.

• Avoid older or hand-me-down toys. They may not meet current safety standards or have become hazardous through play.

• Read labels for age appropriateness and check the guidelines published by the CPSC or other groups. Age levels for toys are determined by safety factors, not intelligence or maturity.

After you’ve purchased safe toys, make sure kids know how to use them. Playing with your kids teaches them how to play safely while having fun.

To keep toys safe at home, parents should:

• Teach kids to put toys away.

• Check toys regularly to make sure that they aren’t broken or unusable:

• Wooden toys shouldn’t have splinters.

• Bikes and outdoor toys shouldn’t have rust.

• Stuffed toys shouldn’t have broken seams or exposed removable parts.

• Throw away or repair broken toys right away.

• Store outdoor toys when they’re not in use so that they are not exposed to rain or snow.

• Keep toys clean. Read the manufacturer’s directions as some plastic toys can be cleaned in the dishwasher. Another option is to mix antibacterial soap or a mild dishwashing detergent with hot water in a spray bottle and use it to clean toys, rinsing them afterward.

If you find an unsafe toy, check the CPSC website for the latest information about toy recalls or call their hot line at 800-638-CPSC (2772) to report a toy you think is unsafe. If you have any doubt about a toy’s safety, err on the side of caution and do not allow your child to play with it.

This look at a children’s health or safety issue comes from Dayton Children’s Hospital.

Email: newsroom@childrensdayton.org.

IKEA is re-issuing a recall for the Malm dressers:

Elizabeth Hendren, WTSP 5:55 PM. EST November 21, 2017

Parents, if you still have a dresser from IKEA in your home and you haven't secured it to the wall,  the retailer hopes you will listen to this.

IKEA is re-issuing a recall for the Malm dressers.

The parents of a two-year-old boy are suing the retailer after a Malm dresser fell on top of him at the family's California home.

He's one of eight children who has been killed by dressers tipping over.

IKEA took quite a bit of criticism from groups like 'Kids in Danger' and the 'American Academy of Pediatrics,' who say the retailer didn't do enough to get the word out about the chests and dressers.

There are about 17 million of the recalled dressers that are still out there across the country.

It's pretty simple to fix.

You can get a refund or a free wall anchoring kit.

If you opt for the refund, IKEA will even pick up the dresser from your home free of charge.

If you want to keep it, IKEA will come out and anchor it to the wall.

For either of those options, just log on to Ikea's website or you can call them toll-free.

WTSP 10 News - Video and Source

DOJ - Denaturalization Sought Against Five Child Sexual Abusers in Florida, Illinois, and Texas

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, November 21, 2017

Denaturalization Sought Against Five Child Sexual Abusers in Florida, Illinois, and Texas

Today, the U.S. Department of Justice filed denaturalization lawsuits against five individuals who, according to the Department’s complaints, unlawfully procured their U.S. citizenship by concealing sexual abuse of minor victims during the naturalization process. The civil complaints were filed in federal court in the Southern District of Florida, the Northern District of Illinois, the Northern District of Texas (two cases), and the Southern District of Texas.

“Committing fraud in any immigration matter undermines the integrity of our immigration system, and is a betrayal of the American people’s generosity,” said Attorney General Jeff Sessions. “It is especially appalling when it also involves the sexual abuse of children. The Department of Justice has a duty to prosecute these crimes vigorously, particularly so for individuals who commit fraud in the naturalization process. I am confident that justice will be done in these cases, and I want to thank ICE, CBP, USCIS, our Civil Division, and our U.S. Attorneys’ offices for their hard work. This Department will continue to fight to denaturalize immigration fraudsters and to protect the American people from sex offenders.”

The cases were referred to the Department of Justice by the Department of Homeland Security’s U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Customs and Border Protection with investigative support from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

“I commend the DHS personnel working diligently to remove dangerous criminals from our streets,” said Acting Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security Elaine Duke. “Those who unlawfully procured citizenship by concealing crimes – especially sexual abuse of minors – should have their citizenship revoked.”

Under the Immigration and Nationality Act, the citizenship of a naturalized U.S. citizen may be revoked, and his or her certificate of naturalization canceled, if naturalization was illegally procured or procured by concealment of a material fact or by willful misrepresentation.

The five defendants committed crimes of sexual abuse of minor victims prior to naturalizing. As the civil complaints allege, such crimes rendered the defendants ineligible for citizenship from the start. By willfully concealing child sexual abuse crimes, the defendants also independently rendered themselves subject to denaturalization.

A description of each of the five cases and the allegations of the United States follows:

Jorge Luis Alvarado

Jorge Luis Alvarado, 56, a native of Mexico, naturalized on March 9, 2000. Shortly before filing his naturalization application, Alvarado made unlawful sexual contact with a sixteen-year-old child. In March 2007, he pleaded guilty in Texas state court to committing indecency with a child by sexual contact, a second-degree felony. Alvarado was ordered to community supervision and to register as a sex offender. He has been residing in southern Texas. United States of America v. Jorge Luis Alvarado (S.D. Tex.).

Alberto Mario Beleno

Alberto Mario Beleno, 64, a native of Colombia, naturalized on Feb. 26, 2001. Before Beleno naturalized as a U.S. citizen, he committed lewd and lascivious acts on a six-year-old child. In 2001, less than three months after he naturalized, Beleno was arrested and ultimately pleaded guilty/nolo-contendere in Florida state court to committing felony lewd and lascivious exhibition and felony lewd and lascivious molestation on a minor in 1993 and 1994. Beleno was ordered to register as a sex offender for his conduct. His last known residence in the United States is in Miami, Florida. United States of America v. Alberto Mario Beleno (S.D. Fla.).

Eleazar Corral Valenzuela

Eleazar Corral Valenzuela, 49, a native of Mexico, naturalized on June 15, 2000. Prior to applying to naturalize, he sexually abused a minor child. In November 2000, after he had naturalized, Corral pleaded guilty in Illinois state court to aggravated criminal sexual abuse, a Class 2 felony. He was ordered to register as a sex offender. He has been residing in Aurora, Illinois. United States of America v. Eleazar Corral Valenzuela (N.D. Ill.).

Moises Herrera-Gonzalez

Moises Herrera-Gonzalez, 55, a native of Mexico, naturalized on Sept. 25, 1999. On Jan. 1, 1996, before he filed his naturalization application, Herrera-Gonzalez sexually assaulted and injured a six-year-old child. He filed his naturalization application in September 1996, nine months after the sexual assault. On July 8, 2002, after he naturalized, Herrera-Gonzalez pleaded guilty in Texas state court to committing bodily injury to a child, a third-degree felony. He was sentenced to five years in prison. He has been residing in Arlington, Texas. United States of America v. Moises Herrera-Gonzalez (N.D. Tex.).

Emmanuel Olugbenga Omopariola

Emmanuel Olugbenga Omopariola, 60, a native of Nigeria, naturalized on July 1, 2004. Before he filed his naturalization application in May 2003, Omopariola made unlawful sexual contact with a seven-year-old child. In 2015, after he naturalized, Omopariola pleaded guilty in Texas state court to Indecency with a Child – Sexual Contact, a second-degree felony. He was ordered to five years of community supervision and placed on the sex offender registry. He has been residing in Grand Prairie, Texas. United States of America v. Emmanuel Olugbenga Omopariola (N.D. Tex.).

These cases were investigated by ICE, CBP, and USCIS, and the Civil Division’s Office of Immigration Litigation, District Court Section (OIL-DCS). These cases are being prosecuted by OIL-DCS and its National Security and Affirmative Litigation Unit (NS/A Unit) with support from the U.S. Attorney’s Offices for the Southern District of Florida, Northern District of Illinois, Northern District of Texas, and Southern District of Texas.

The claims made in the complaint are allegations only, and there has been no determination of liability.

Victims 'told not to report' Jehovah's Witnesses child abuse - BBC U.K.

Children who were sexually abused by Jehovah's Witnesses were allegedly told by the organisation not to report it.

Victims from across the UK told the BBC they were routinely abused and that the religion's own rules protected perpetrators.

One child abuse lawyer believes there could be thousands of victims across the country who have not come forward.

The organisation said it did not "shield" abusers and any suggestion of a cover-up was "absolutely false".

'Bring reproach on Jehovah'

BBC Hereford and Worcester spoke to victims - men and women - from Birmingham, Cheltenham, Leicester, Worcestershire and Glasgow, one of whom waived her right to anonymity.

Louise Palmer, who now lives in Evesham, Worcestershire, was born into the organisation along with her brother Richard Davenport, who started raping her when she was four. He is serving a 10-year prison sentence for the abuse.

The 41-year-old, formerly of Halesowen, West Midlands, said she was told not to go to police.

Former Jehovah's Witnesses have been speaking to the BBC about abuse:

"I asked [the organisation], 'what should I do? Do you report it to the police, [or] do I report it to the police'?

"And their words were that they strongly advised me not to go to the police because it would bring reproach on Jehovah."

Another woman, from Worcestershire, said she was sexually abused as a child by a friend of her brother.

She said she told her parents and elders in the congregation what happened and they advised her not to report it.

"It started off just being very cuddly and I was always a very tactile little girl, but it gradually got worse and worse.

"It escalated until... he started raping me."

Jehovah's Witnesses movement at a glance:

Jehovah's Witnesses are members of a movement best known for their door-to-door evangelistic work.
Child abuse lawyer Kathleen Hallisey said there were concerns that the organisation's procedures compromised child safety.

"[For example] in order for [victims] to take allegations of sexual abuse further, they have to have two witnesses to the abuse," she said.
The 'two witness' rule - Felicity Kvesic, BBC News

I've spoken to multiple victims who have told me of the abuse they have suffered while in the Jehovah's Witnesses organisation.

What most of them keep coming back to is something known as the "two witness rule".

It is a procedure set by the main governing body of the religion and means for any sin committed, there must be two witnesses to it in order for the elders of the congregation to take any action.

The problem with this is it can be rare to have witnesses in cases of abuse.

The victims I've spoken to said the organisation self-polices and teaches members to avoid interaction with outside authorities or to take another member of the religion to court.

To do so, they say, could lead to expulsion from the religion.

In a statement the organisation said "any suggestion that Jehovah's Witnesses covered up child abuse was absolutely false".

It said victims and their parents had "the absolute right to report the matter to the governmental authorities" and reporting so was "not contingent on the number of witnesses to the offence".

It described child abuse as a "heinous crime and sin" and said the congregation did not "shield abusers from the authorities of the consequences of their actions".

The statement added "loving and protective parents" were the "best deterrent to child abuse" and elders provided "abuse victims and their families with spiritual comfort from the Bible".

In 2013 the Charity Commission started an inquiry into safeguarding issues in the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Britain - the UK's main Jehovah's Witnesses organisation which the commission regulates.

Its inquiry continues.

For information and support for anyone affected by sexual abuse, including sources of support for children, young people and concerned parents, visit listings on BBC Action Line.

Photos - The Watchtower pamphlets - a free monthly publication of Jehovah's Witnesses.

Original Article

Google responds to brand safety reports it benefited from child abuse on YouTube

Google has responded to reports that it has benefited through adverts appearing on channels that supported child abuse after it closed channel Toy Freaks and announced that it had launched a subsequent investigation on the platform.

During a year where Google has responded to concerns by advertisers over brand safety, where it was found that adverts were running against terrorist propaganda video with the brand's knowledge, it is now defending itself against further claims that the same has happened on channels featuring children.

The channel, Toy Freaks, which began two years ago with Greg Chism and his daughters in different situations, had 8.53 million subscribers making it one of YouTube's top 100 most viewed channels when it was closed.

Google released a statement following the Times claim on Saturday that the channel was one that benefitted from featuring children in 'abusive' situations.

“We take child safety extremely seriously and have clear policies against child endangerment. We recently tightened the enforcement of these policies to tackle content featuring minors where we receive signals that cause concern. It’s not always clear that the uploader of the content intends to break our rules, but we may still remove their videos to help protect viewers, uploaders and children. We’ve terminated the Toy Freaks channel for violation of our policies. We will be conducting a broader review of associated content in conjunction with expert Trusted Flaggers," the statement read.

Google responded to The Drum's questions over what it was planning to do to ensure further examples of child exploitation were not found on the platform.

Asked how quickly it moved upon discovering the violations by Toy Freaks, a spokesman claimed it closed the account "as soon as we were notified, we took action." The channel has also been developing machine learning capabilities to determine which channels do violate its policies, they also highlighted.

"We have strict policies against child endangerment on YouTube. We cannot always speak to the intent of families uploading content, but sometimes they may cross a line and violate our Community Guidelines even if they didn’t intend to do anything harmful. In these instances, we may still remove their videos to help protect the children or viewers. We are going to do a broader review of content such as these with expert Trusted Flaggers," they continued to explain.

On brand safety and how YouTube was working with advertisers to avoid future brand safety concerns, it was claimed that it had "ramped up" its training to educate clients and agencies on the safety controls that had been introduced.

"In any situation whereby a brand's ad runs against content they feel is inconsistent with their values, we work with them to review their current settings and put additional exclusions in place. We continue to be transparent on the process we've made with our machine learning algorithms and our dedication to making sure they are reaching the right audience on YouTube," it was stated.

Read More

Article by Stephen Lepitak

Trinity Mount Ministries YouTube Channel

Lest we forget: The missing children of India

More than 2,40,000 children went missing between 2012 and 2017.

In 2016, the Delhi High Court had raised concern over the issue of missing children in the country, equating it with the menace of terrorism. And if the government data is to be believed, the issue is indeed of grave importance.

Information from the Ministry of Women and Child Development show that more than 2,40,000 children went missing between 2012 and 2017. However, the number might be much higher in reality as many such cases often go unreported.

According to The New York Times, the police is also reluctant in fling first information report in such cases. The international media outlet claimed that FIRs were filed in only 40% of the cases between 2012 and 2014.

The report further mentioned that there could be many socio-economic factors behind the menace of missing children. One of the reasons cited is poverty. It says that families living in acute poverty at times fail to report the matter to police if the possible reason behind it is abuse of any manner.

Some families are so poor that they even resort to selling their children as they do not have the means of livelihood to sustain, said the report.

NYT further says that a bad monsoon can also be a factor leading to spike in missing children cases. According to the report, bad monsoon pushes families to starvation, and hence the children are set out to work. It is in this situation that the children often fall prey to trafficking situations.

A recent report by the US, millions of children and women in India are victims of sex trafficking.

FBI MISSING - MYRA LEWIS

#MISSING

MYRA LEWIS

Camden, Mississippi
March 1, 2014

Date(s) of Birth Used: November 30, 2011
Hair: Black
Eyes: Brown
Height: 3'1"
Weight:27 pounds
Sex: Female
Race: Black

Reward:

The FBI is offering a reward of up to $20,000 for information regarding the whereabouts of Myra Lewis.

Remarks:

Myra Lewis was last seen wearing white or khaki pants, a turquoise sweater with a bear on the front, and pink tennis shoes.

Details:

Myra Lewis, age 2, has been missing in Mississippi since March 1, 2014. She was last seen by family members, between 10:30 am and 11 am, playing outside her home in Camden, Mississippi.

Submit a Tip:

If you have any information concerning this person, please contact your local FBI office or the nearest American Embassy or Consulate.

Field Office: Jackson

Submit an anonymous Tip online