All crimes against children are horrible but....

This one has to rank at the top (sex crimes are obviously higher)

Man Charged With Savagely Biting Little Girl

(WBZ) NEW BEDFORD A New Bedford man will be in court today charged with biting off the lip and ear of his girlfriend's 3-year-old daughter.

The girlfriend is charged with covering it up.

Police say the attacks left the child so mutilated doctors could not fully repair the damage.

34-year-old Bryan James allegedly put up a brief struggle after officers arrested him and the girl's mother, 26-year-old Jessica Silveira, Wednesday as they were driving back to New Bedford. State and local police officers were tipped off that the couple was planning to drive to New Bedford after their names and photos were posted on the Massachusetts State Police most wanted list, police Capt. Richard Spirlet said.

The girl suffered bites to the face in which she lost the upper part of her lip. Her ear was so mutilated that surgery could not return it to its natural state. The child also suffered other human bites on her body, Spirlet said.

"It was malicious, mayhem," Spirlet said. James is charged with assault and battery upon a child causing substantial bodily injuries. Silveira is charged with permitting substantial injuries to a child under 14 and intimidation of a witness. They are expected to be arraigned in New Bedford District Court Thursday. New Bedford police began investigating the case in mid-May after the child was taken to Children's Hospital in Boston for treatment.

Officials at the hospital called it one of the most horrific cases of child abuse they had ever seen. Police think the biting attacks began in January, and continued until April. The girl and her older brother have been taken into state custody.

ANIMALS.