August 2011 Archives

A 21-year-old Phoenix mother faces child abuse charges after she was caught on video hitting her baby daughter and blowing marijuana smoke into her mouth, reports the Associated Press.

Phoenix police arrested Jessica Tara Callaway Saturday after her friend, Alexandrea Kingsley, turned in a cell phone video depicting Callaway's actions. In the video, the Phoenix mother reportedly picked up her 10-month-old daughter by her left leg and smacked her in the leg and the face, according to court documents. Kingsley also told police that Callaway blew pot smoke into the baby's face twice to keep her from crying.

Buckeye resident James Stark was sentenced to 347.5 years in prison on Friday for child molestation charges stemming from his abuse of his eight-year-old granddaughter, reports the West Valley View.

The 58-year-old was given seven consecutive life prison terms of 35 years each, plus an additional 102.5 years. The sentences were connected to his conviction last month of 18 out of 19 counts related to the abuse, according to Maricopa County prosecutors.

Phoenix father Amos Carle Andreas was arrested on one count of second-degree murder and two counts of child abuse for the suspected shaking death of his four-month-old daughter, reports the Associated Press.

Police began investigating the 25-year-old when he brought his daughter to the Phoenix Children's Hospital on July 22, with the girl's mother. Amos Andreas reportedly told police that the infant girl was injured after she fell off his chest while sleeping the night before. Later test results, however, showed that her injuries were more consistent with being shaken.

Chandler couple Amy and Matt Funicello aired their marrital dirty laundry on national television Sunday night and received a Caribbean vacation for their honesty, reports The Arizona Republic.

The Funciellos were contestants on the NBC program, "The Marriage Ref," which gives celebrity judges the chance to weigh in on an issue affecting a couple's relationship. In Amy and Matt Funicello's case, Amy's football fanaticism was the subject of dispute.

In the end, comedians Jim Breuer, Nick Cannon and Caroline Rhea all thought Amy's outgoing, cowbell-ringing enthusiasm at their son's youth football games was perfectly acceptable.

Gilbert parent Barry Boyd became another Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office statistic after he was arrested last week for allegedly owing more than $11,000 in court-ordered support to one of his ex-wives, reports The Arizona Republic. Boyd’s arrest is just one example of how trying to modify the terms of his court-ordered support, more commonly known as child support, could have saved him and many other Gilbert parents from going to jail.

Boyd, who has two ex-wives and six children, stated that he’s had a hard time keeping up with the court-ordered support payments since he’s been unemployed for most of the past two years. Boyd formerly worked as a construction worker, and the industry has been one of the hardest hit in the struggling Arizona economy.

A six-year-old Phoenix boy died on Sunday after succumbing to suspected child abuse injuries allegedly inflicted on him by his parents, reports The Arizona Republic.

Authorities found the young boy, Jacob Gibson, in critical condition at his Phoenix apartment, and he was hospitalized at the Phoenix Children's Hospital with a swollen brain last week. According to Phoenix police, the boy received the head injury after his head was slammed into a bedroom wall.

Senator Scott Bundgaard has finally ended a five-month ordeal stemming from a February freeway altercation with his ex-girlfriend by pleading no contest to a misdemeanor endangerment charge Tuesday.

Bundgaard, the "tired and embarrassed" Arizona Republican representative, initially entered a not-guilty plea for misdemeanor assault and endangerment charges. However, in a plea agreement with Phoenix city prosecutor Aaron Carreon-Ainsa, the misdemeanor assault charge was dismissed in exchange for Bundgaard pleading no contest to the endangerment charge, reports The Republic.

The parents of a six-year-old Phoenix boy have been arrested on child abuse charges after their son was found in critical condition at their Phoenix apartment Monday, reports ABC 15 News.

Forty-nine-year-old Benny David Gibson and 37-year-old Jennifer Edna Paul were arrested Tuesday night after Phoenix investigators gathered enough evidence against the two for the Monday morning incident.

The rippling effects of the economic meltdown have spread throughout the country, making it harder for average Janes and Joes to pay bills, take care of themselves, and, yes, even support families.

If you are suffering under financial stress and cannot afford to support your children at the same rate you used to, don't feel ashamed. It doesn't mean you're a deadbeat or greedy parent, just someone who may need a slight modification to ease the pain of financial hardship. However, courts do not easily modify child support arrangements, preferring to keep child support orders stable for the best interests of the child.

If you would like to modify child support payments, whether you need to lessen the cost of payments or increase the amount you receive, here are the top five reasons why courts will modify child support:

The streets of Arizona will be filled with streaming rainbow flags for the next week as same-sex marriage supporters take on a 99-mile Arizona march to demonstrate the 99 years the state has denied full marriage equality, reports Fox 11 News.

The demonstrators are using the Arizona-wide march to educate its citizens on the plight of same-sex couples.

“There’s 1138 rights that a gay couple or same sex couple does not have that a married couple does,” march participant Karon Bohlender told Fox 11. “We just want to be treated equally.”

The two-year mystery of what happened to baby Gabriel continues - Elizabeth Johnson, the infamous Tempe mother charged with kidnapping, child abuse and custodial interference related to Gabriel’s disappearance, is back in the news after refusing to show up to a competency hearing scheduled on Tuesday, reports azfamily.com.

Johnson has had five mental health evaluations in which professionals have determined she is not competent to stand trial, but court rulings swayed back and forth last year. She was originally ruled incompetent in June, ruled competent in September, and then ordered to undergo another psychological evaluation in May of this year, azfamily.com stated.

The brave six-year-old daughter of a Mohave County woman called 911 on her "daddy" after he threatened to burn the house down in an argument with her mother, reports ABC 15 News. The phone call led to Anthony Ewing's arrest on domestic violence charges.

"Mommy and daddy were arguing, and daddy said that he was going to burn the house down," the girl told emergency operators.

According to authorities, a woman, presumably the little girl's mother, told Mohave County Sheriff's deputies that she and her boyfriend had been arguing about gas money before the girl called the emergency hotline number.

Nine months after filing for divorce from his wife, who is currently spending a 13-year sentence in jail for attempted sexual conduct with a minor, Maricopa County Supervisor Fulton Brock has finally had his divorce finalized, reports The Arizona Republic.

Brock and his wife had been married for 28 years when allegations arose that Susan Brock reportedly had a sexual relationship with a teenage boy since he was 14.

The indiscretion has spread throughout the members of the Brock family - Brock's middle child, 22-year-old Rachel, recently pled guilty in connection with molesting the same teen over a three-year period. However, her scheduled sentencing hearing in August has been postponed.