Pope Francis on Wednesday accepted the resignation of Bishop Richard Malone, whose diocese in Buffalo, N.Y., faces more than 220 lawsuits filed by people claiming priests sexually abused them. The Vatican named Bishop Edward Scharfenberger of Albany, N.Y., to head the diocese temporarily.

Individuals who experience childhood trauma have poorer health and life outcomes as adults, sometimes repeating the same unhealthy behavior they witnessed, according to a new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report released earlier this month. The findings underscore the importance of family stability for children.

When Jackson, Ga., decided not to hold its annual trick-or-treating event on the town square this year, locals worried about the safety of children going door-to-door on Halloween. Butts County Sheriff Gary Long planned to put signs in the yards of homes of registered sex offenders warning kids to keep away. But a federal judge ruled Tuesday the sheriff can’t do that.

A sting on a darknet child pornography site led to the arrest of more than 300 people around the world and the rescue of at least 23 children. The United States on Wednesday unsealed an indictment against Jong Woo Son, 23, on charges he operated the largest child sexual exploitation market by volume of content. Jong, a South Korean, ran a website dedicated solely to videos of child sexual abuse.

Tech companies, child protection advocates, and law enforcement agencies find themselves drowning in an ever-increasing number of child pornography cases. A New York Times investigation published late last month found reports of child porn have exploded in recent years—from 3,000 in 1998 to 1 million in 2014 to 18.4 million in 2018, which included more than 45 million images and videos.

Idaho Gov. Brad Little said last week he will appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court over a ruling requiring his state to provide sex-change surgery to a transgender inmate convicted of sexually abusing a child.

Nearly two dozen women who accuse Jeffrey Epstein of sex trafficking and abuse gathered in a federal courtroom to testify before an empty defense chair. Courts usually dismiss charges against deceased defendants without a hearing, but U.S. District Judge Richard M. Berman gave the women a chance to speak Tuesday in a New York City courtroom despite Epstein’s death by apparent suicide on Aug. 10.