By Stephanie Brown, Attorney, and David Wolf, Attorney
Published by Child Injury Lawyer Network
In an effort to deter sex offenders from further crimes and to monitor their computer activities, the State of Georgia passed a law that requires sex offenders to disclose their passwords for internet, e mails, and screen names to authorities. It is estimated that there are 16,000 registered sex offenders in the State of Georgia. Legislators, who approved the law, have taken the position that the law is for the protection of children. Opponents to the law state that it is a violation of the privacy rights of the sex offenders. We expect that the law will be challenged on privacy issues and will go before the Georgia appellate courts for review at some point in time in the future.
An English teacher in North Carolina faces child pornography charges. The North Carolina State Bureua of Investigation is looking into the acts of a Durham North Carolina teacher who may have participated in the sharing of over 1800 images over the Internet. Through the efforts of law enforcement agents in an undercover online investigation, the computer activity of an internet address linked to Willem J. Pet, a English teacher at Southern High School in Durham, North Carolina, has been linked to photos of underage children engaging in sexual intercourse with adults. The evidence of hundreds of images will be used as part of any state or federal potential future prosecution of Willem Pet and any other individuals engaged in the ownership or dissemination of the child pornography materials.
In Nassau County, New York and other cities throughout the State, there are holiday festivals and celebrations. Grandparents, parents, and children celebrate the holidays together with food, song and dance. A good time is expected by all. Unfortunately, holiday gatherings are some times the site of unexpected tragedy, injuries to children and in the most tragic cases death. A 76 year old man lost control of his 2007 BMW X3 and crashed into a Channukah Wonderland party in commercial area of Woodmere, New York. A total of 14 people were injured including a child under the age of 2. The accident victims were taken to three local hospitals for evaluation and treatment. The BMW at issue was reported to be registered to Theodore Saretsky, a local psychiatrist. A local religious leader, Rabbi Heshy Blumstein of Young Israel of Hewett and his wife, Mimi, visited some of the injured at Winthrop hospital.
For decades, the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has warned about the dangers of crib meshing. Between 1978 and 1985 when crib meshing was more common, CPSC records document 15 deaths. While deaths related to meshing have fallen over the years, about 50 babies die annually due to defectively designed cribs. Just two months ago, the CPSC announced the recall of 600,000 drop side cribs manufactured by Delta Enterprise Corp. after the death of an 8-month-old baby who suffocated when the drop side of his crib detached. The recall announcement is available at the CPSC’s website at 
Are Day Care Centers in Maine required to carry liability insurance? The simple answer to this important question is Yes. Liability insurance will cover medical bills and the pain and suffering of an injured child that result from the negligence or lack of supervision of the day care facility and its employees. The Maine Department of Heath and Human Services (DHHS) requires that day care centers have liability insurance in place of at least $100,000. There are some exception for this requirement if a person is using his or her own home for a day care program. Most day care centers are operated as a business outside of one’s home. A children’s day care facility or center is defined as a house or other place in which a person carries out a regular program for consideration (i.e. payment, money) for any part of the day for the care, protection, and supervision of three or more children under the age of 13 years of age.
Winter storms create driving hazards for drivers across the United States including those in Arkansas. In Central Arkansas, freezing drizzle recently resulted in a traffic death and the closure of several school districts.
Teenagers like to have fun. Sometimes teenage fun is a prank on a friend, neighbor, or strangers. Pranks like throwing fruit, vegetables, rocks, eggs, and litter can literally lead to serious injuries and death. The Columbus (Ohio) Dispatch published a very good article on this topic. The article cited several instances where a teenager, who thought he or she was playing an innocent or not so innocent prank, was seriously injured or shot by a person who was not in on the joke or prank. A teenager with a prank in mind can often be mistaken for a dangerous intruder, burglar, or criminal. The following tragedies were reported:
The Associated Press reported a very good but sad story about the trafficking of children for slave and indentured servant type of labor in the United States. The children were reported to work day and night with little to no breaks and very poor wages. While many think that these arrangements only take place outside of the United States, there are numerous reports showing child labor and child labor trafficking as a real problem in California and other States in the United States. You can read the sad stories of some of these children at