Some public child consultation centers and police are stepping up efforts to share information about suspected child abuse cases after a series of serious cases occurred. The central government drew up a package of emergency measures on child abuse following the death of 5-year-old Yua Funato in Tokyo’s Meguro Ward in March, not long after she and her family moved to the capital from Kagawa Prefecture. The package calls for close information sharing between police and child consultation centers on suspected serious abuse, such as cases that have resulted in injury as well as possible neglect and sexual abuse cases. [...]

The Department of Justice is not only investigating child sexual abuse in the Catholic Church in Pennsylvania, but also in Buffalo, New York. The U.S. attorney in Buffalo served a subpoena to the diocese, opening an investigation into whether diocesan clergy took children across state lines for sexual purposes, which would constitute child trafficking. That investigation, along with federal subpoenas served to seven Pennsylvania dioceses, marks the first time the federal government has investigated the Catholic Church for sexual abuse cases. The investigation was prompted by the release in August of Pennsylvania’s grand jury report on clergy sexual abuse. That report identified over 300 predator priests [...]