12-year-old may be charged as adult in killing
LAUDERHILL, Fla. — Prosecutors are reviewing whether a 12-year-old boy should be charged as an adult after police accused him of fatally beating his toddler cousin with a baseball bat for interrupting a cartoon show.
The boy, whose name was not released, was being held in juvenile custody in the death of 17-month-old Shaloh Joseph, who police said enraged the suspect by crying while he watched television.
The attack happened Friday afternoon, police said, when the suspect was left in charge of his second cousin at the cousin’s home. The boy was watching a cartoon when the baby started crying. The boy grabbed a wooden baseball bat, police said, and hit the girl multiple times. She was pronounced dead later and was found to have suffered several skull fractures.
The suspect is a seventh- grader who stands 4-feet-11 and weighs 90 pounds. Police say he confessed.
Teacher charged with child sexual abuse
CORAOPOLIS, Pa. — A high school gym teacher was charged with sending nude pictures of herself and sexually suggestive text messages to a 14-year-old freshman.
Beth Ann Chester, a 26- year-old health and physical education teacher at Moon Area High School in suburban Pittsburgh, was arrested Friday and charged with child sexual abuse, statutory sexual assault and related counts, authorities said.
Police said Chester, who is married, had sent a boy three pictures of herself, two of them naked, by cellphone on Dec. 22, and the boy replied with a naked picture of himself.
The boy denied having physical contact with Chester, but told police he “felt he was in love with the teacher now,” police said.
Poland’s prime minister takes tough line on U.S. base
WARSAW, Poland — Poland’s new prime minister broke from the staunchly pro- American stance of his predecessor, saying in comments published Monday that he will not rush a decision on hosting a U.S. missile defense base.
The tough line suggests the Bush administration’s clout with allies is weakening. With new leadership coming soon to Washington, Poland and the Czech Republic may be asking themselves if it is worth toeing President Bush’s line on missile defense.
The two nations attracted the ire of Russia by supporting the bid to build the defense system on their soil.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk told the Polish edition of Newsweek that Poland “definitely shouldn’t hurry on the missile defense issue. … Remember, the shield is supposed to defend America, not Poland.”
New Year’s resolution: Divorce?
LONDON — Thousands of Britons called their divorce lawyers or marriage counselors on Monday, a day widely referred to here as “D-Day” because of the large number of people filing for divorce after spending long periods of time with spouses over the holidays.
Many British divorce lawyers said that in recent years they have noticed that their busiest day of the year is the Monday of the first full week back to work after New Year’s.
“Our telephones have not stopped all day,” said James Stewart, a partner at Manches, Britain’s largest family-law firm.
Divorce lawyers in the United States have reported a similar surge after the holidays.
Marine Corps launches tribunal
CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. — The Marine Corps launched a rare tribunal Monday to publicly investigate disputed allegations that a special forces unit killed as many as 19 Afghan civilians after the military convoy was rammed by a car bomb.
The court of inquiry, an administrative proceeding last used by the Marine Corps more than 50 years ago, will focus on the actions of Maj. Fred Galvin, commander of the 120- person unit, and platoon leader Capt. Vincent Noble.
The officers were members of a Marine special operations company that opened fire March 4 along a crowded roadway in Nangahar province after an explosives-rigged minivan crashed into their convoy. No Marines were killed and only one was wounded.
Witnesses said the Marines fired indiscriminately along a 10-mile stretch of the road. A defense attorney said evidence would show the patrol followed regulations. Testimony was to start today.
