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A group is demanding Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey begin investigating facilities accused of abuse, like Agape School in Stockton, Circle of Hope Ranch in Humansville and Kanakuk Kamps in Branson. The group is also advocating to extend the statute of limitations.
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Members of the Missouri House this week plan to boost the pay of child abuse investigators. But Gov. Mike Parson has expressed wariness about increasing state employee salaries in a piecemeal fashion.
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Kansas will pay $1 million to settle a lawsuit over the 2015 murder of a 7-year-old boy.
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Despite the U.S. Supreme Court ruling the practice unconstitutional, legislation from state Sen. Mike Moon’s, R-Ash Grove, would allow the death penalty in non-homicide cases.
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Under current Missouri law, survivors of sexual abuse must take legal action before they turn 31. New legislation would expand that limit to age 41, to give victims “more time to work through their own pain and suffering."
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Holy Trinity Catholic Parish announced earlier this month that Father John Pilcher had been appointed as its senior associate pastor. Pilcher was accused of sexual assault of a minor while working in Topeka, but the Kansas Bureau of Investigation could not substantiate the claims and no charges were filed.
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Under current Missouri law, 16- and 17-year-olds are allowed to get married with parental permission to anyone under the age of 21. A new bill co-sponsored by Kansas City state Sen. Lauren Arthur would prohibit issuing marriage licenses to anyone under the age of 18 under any circumstances.
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The starting salary for an child abuse investigator is around $43,000 a year. Missouri's inability to hire and retain staff resulted in a backlog of thousands of cases, prompting alarm from child welfare agencies and legislators.
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In Missouri, the state’s Children’s Division is responsible for investigating abuse and neglect claims made through the state’s hotline. A bill would make it so the attorney general's office oversees juvenile officers instead.
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Part of the Investigation Discovery series, which examines abusive practices in the Independent Fundamental Baptist Church, highlights two cases at religious schools in southwest Missouri. The docuseries is now streaming on Max.
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The reports, which range from September 2022 to little more than a month before her death, warned that the child wasn’t supervised, was living in a home without utilities and was around drugs, among other allegations. A 25-year-old man has since been charged with capital murder, first-degree murder and rape.
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State Auditor Scott Fitzpatrick says a review of the Children’s Division, which has struggled for years to recruit and retain staff, may not happen right away because of staff constraints in his own office. Meanwhile, Missouri has a backlog of more than 10,000 open child abuse and neglect cases.