Child abuse

A Connecticut law passed this year will require homeschooling families to register and undergo a DCF background check starting in 2027, after lawmakers cited several abuse cases involving children withdrawn from school. The bill advanced despite overwhelming written and in-person testimony against it. Angered families say legislators, including Education Committee co-chairs Jennifer Leeper and Doug McCrory, ignored their objections.

Several homeschooling parents, a grandfather, and a recent homeschool graduate are now running for state legislative seats, mostly as Republicans in Democratic-leaning districts, aiming to repeal or revise the law. Candidates frame the race as a broader fight over parental rights and government accountability rather than homeschooling alone.

Bo Tyler Hounshell, son of the former Apache County sheriff, has been arrested on charges of impersonating a sheriff's deputy and misconduct involving weapons, and is held on a $100,000 cash bond. Investigators say Hounshell, who works in the county's emergency management "drone unit," used an unmarked county truck to pose as a deputy, including visiting a friend's ex-wife and urging reconciliation. The Coconino County Attorney's Office is handling the case due to his parents' county roles. The arrest follows an Arizona DPS drug search of his home and comes weeks after separate DUI and child abuse charges tied to a traffic stop with his young son in the vehicle.

A House Judiciary Committee report led by Rep. Jim Jordan and Rep. Tom McClintock alleges that police and sheriff's departments in Los Angeles, San Francisco and San Diego rejected nearly 9,000 ICE detainer requests in recent years, with Los Angeles honoring roughly 0.1% of those it received. The report also cites ICE figures claiming California authorities released over 4,500 sought immigrants since January 2025, and highlights several high-profile killings involving previously deported individuals to argue sanctuary laws like the Trust Act and California Values Act endanger public safety.

Newsom's office has disputed similar claims previously, saying California has transferred thousands of inmates to ICE custody since 2019. Republicans are pushing the Shut Down Sanctuary Policies Act to bar such local restrictions.

Vivek Ramaswamy's campaign confirmed it produced the controversial ad featuring Dr. Amy Acton's long-estranged mother, Donna Arthur, who calls her daughter "a liar." The campaign is spending $4 million to run the ad statewide and has declined to pull it despite bipartisan condemnation. Acton's brother says the siblings were removed from their mother's custody as children after their stepfather was indicted for raping Acton between ages 9 and 12. Gov. Mike DeWine called the ad "deeply, deeply troubling" and urged Ramaswamy to take it down while keeping his endorsement; Sen. Jon Husted and former Rep. Jim Renacci also criticized it, warning of a GOP backlash. VP JD Vance dismissed the outcry as "whining," and President Trump defended Ramaswamy, calling the mother's hostility "unusual." Acton leads polling in a race drawing over $120 million in outside spending.

Wisconsin has rolled out a new court portal allowing people to complete and submit restraining order petitions online or by phone, rather than only in person. Launched last month, the system walks users through account creation, form selection, and direct submission to their circuit court. It currently covers domestic abuse and harassment petitions; child abuse and individual-at-risk petitions still require paper filing or the standard e-filing process.

Wisconsin Supreme Court Chief Justice Jill Karofsky said the court system's budget request asks the governor and Legislature for funding to extend the portal to child abuse and adult-at-risk petitions. The budget request also seeks $3 million for statewide courthouse security, half of which would fund a grant program for equipment and facility upgrades. Circuit court judges reported 129 security threats in 2025. Karofsky emphasized that everyone entering a courthouse — jurors, witnesses, staff, and the public — deserves to be safe.

The Palm Beach County Republican Party published a voter guide endorsing Mike Caruso for Clerk of the Circuit Court and Comptroller, despite his suspension from the role earlier this year. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who had appointed Caruso in 2025, suspended him in August after he was charged with kidnapping, lewd or lascivious molestation of a victim under age 12, lewd or lascivious exhibition, luring or enticing a child, and child abuse.

Caruso has pleaded not guilty to all charges and has since posted bond. Party officials had previously said they would not back his election bid following the arrest, but the guide listing him as the party's pick circulated on the county GOP's Instagram account for at least 19 hours before disappearing after a reporter sought comment. Officials did not respond to requests for explanation. A spokesperson for Caruso says he remains in the race and intends to win, though his campaign website is currently offline.

Gallatin County, Kentucky prosecutors say a state Cabinet for Health and Family Services worker sent two girls, ages 6 and 8, back home despite witnessing suspected abuse injuries — including neck bruising that had reportedly been covered with makeup — after school officials reported the abuse and called law enforcement. County Attorney Grant Axon alleges the worker ordered the girls home over school officials' objections, and that the children were abused again in the roughly 30-minute window before deputies arrived. The girls later underwent forensic interviews at Cincinnati Children's Hospital; two people have since been charged.

The Cabinet, citing Kentucky confidentiality law (KRS 620.050), declined to directly address the allegation but said it treats abuse reports with the "highest level of seriousness." Advocates note the case emerges amid rising demand: Kentucky logged over 83,000 CPS intakes and nearly 8,800 substantiated abuse findings statewide in the past year, with thousands more in the Northern Kentucky region alone, underscoring strain on child-protection systems.