A 78-year-old mental health therapist was convicted today for the second time on a charge that he drove to the Tampa area to sexually and physically abuse two boys. ...more

March 27, 2009

A federal judge has granted a new trial for a 78-year-old mental health therapist who faced up to life in prison on a charge that he drove to the Tampa area to sexually and physically abuse two boys he thought would be made available by their father. ...more

February 6, 2009

Ernest and Rose Flanagan always left home at 5 a.m. when they traveled, and they apparently held to that routine Christmas morning as they started on a two-day journey to visit a relative in Ohio. ...more

December 27, 2008

Ernest and Rose Flanagan always left home at 5 a.m. when they traveled, and they apparently held to that routine Christmas morning as they started on a two-day journey to visit a relative in Ohio. At 10 minutes after 5 – when the Flanagans were roughly 10 miles from their New Port Richey home -- a car going the wrong way on State Road 54 in Pasco County crashed head-on into the Flanagans' 2006 Cadillac, the Florida Highway Patrol reported. Ernest Flanagan, 77, was killed. Rose Flanagan, 86, suffered broken wrists and ankles, along with other injuries. She was taken to St. Joseph's Hospital in serious condition Thursday. Her condition Friday wasn't available. "It's sad this happened on Christmas Day," said Ernest Flanagan's son Donald, who lives in Willoughby, Ohio. The driver of the other car, Donald P. Holes, 52, of Jacksonville, died at the scene. ...more

December 26, 2008

TAMPA A 78-year-old mental health therapist faces up to life in prison after being convicted this afternoon of a federal charge that he drove to the Tampa area to sexually and physically abuse two boys he thought would be made available by their father. After the verdict was read, Charles Friedlander was overcome with emotion, according to his attorney, George Tragos. He was led away to jail in a wheelchair. ...more

December 16, 2008

The Tri-County area of Polk, Highlands, and Hardee counties has the second highest rate of child abuse in Florida. Many of these children who are abused by their parents enter the foster care system. One such child is Jennifer, who came to Children's Home Society's Hansen House at 17 after being in 27 different placements. ...more

November 9, 2008

Even after nearly 23 years on the job and thousands of cases, Jane Occhiolini remembers her first call to help a victim deal with the aftermath of a horrific event. ...more

September 26, 2008

Statistics show that cases of reported child abuse were up for the first eight months of 2008 compared to the same time period last year, according to Sheriff's Lt. John Chess, with the sheriff's Special Victims Unit. ...more

September 26, 2008

A 31-year-old man is being held in Highlands County Jail without bond after being charged Tuesday with six counts of sexual assault and two counts of lewd molestation of children less than 12 years of age, according to the Highlands County Sheriff's Office. ...more

September 12, 2008

Not long after the 18-year-old woman's corpse was discovered on Eglin Air Force Base's reservation, detectives began hunting for the "long-armed man." ...more

September 8, 2008