Posted on 04/15/2014 11:03:02 AM PDT by Idaho_Cowboy
On a cold Wednesday evening in January 2009, Josh Miller was finishing his 8:00-to-5:00 shift as an automotive detailer at a garage in Johnstown, Pennsylvania. It was just like any other day; he was tired and ready to go home. But that evening, his life would change forever. In just a few hours, Miller would find himself to be one of thousands of people embroiled in an ongoing national medical debate.
After work, Miller picked up his two-month-old son, Rhys (pronounced "Reese"), from the restaurant where his fiancée worked, and headed home with the boy. The two ate dinner and relaxed, sitting together on the couch. They were watching TV — Miller doesn’t remember which show — when the boy started to cry. Miller, who was 32 at the time, tried to soothe Rhys by patting the little boy’s belly and making shushing sounds. But Rhys continued to cry. And cry. And then cry some more. Soon, the cries became uncontrollable, Rhys’ voice cracking and distorting as he filled the air with as much sound as he could muster after each pained breath.
This wasn’t exactly a new thing for Rhys. Miller and his fiancée had other children, and they knew Rhys was colicky. So, as Miller tells it, he did what he’d done in the past with Rhys: he drew a bath. But as Miller filled the tub, the boy’s screams stopped. When Miller went to see why, he found that the boy hadn’t suddenly calmed himself on his own. He’d gone unconscious. And he wouldn’t wake up.
(Excerpt) Read more at theverge.com ...
Very painful read.
Sometimes parents do lie. And sometimes kids get sick and then well for no apparent reason.
Tough call. Probably why the law calls for evidence “beyond a reasonable doubt.” Is there reasonable doubt in this case? Probably.
Just a guess on my part.
I had a neighbor go through the exact same type of situation after picking his child up from a day care. There is no real science or proof, you are just at the mercy of a social worker and DA if they want to charge.
On the other hand..."Studies of biomechanics have suggested that it’s impossible for an adult to shake a child violently enough to cause brain bleeding."
I would have thought shaking would cause neck injuries before brain injuries. The article suggests their are alternative explanations for the brain swelling.
They also blame husbands, when their wives are in hospitals, even for chronic allergies.
The answer to the attacks against parents with kids is to encourage young folks to have more kids—many millions of them. Take control of the “overpopulation” hysteria of the political/regulator fascists.
“A child advocate’s job is to look for abuse”
I know what you mean by that. at work, we have inspectors who have to find “something” or else they would be perceived by their bosses as not doing their jobs.
however, in these cases, I think its the government putting pressure on social workers and hospitals to make sure the word is out, don’t even think about disciplining your kids via spankings, so the state is the de facto parent.
to be clear, i’m saying this case is about spankings.
It’s a good article. As a defense attorney I can just say that in this day and age never count on there being any common sense in the system. If you come across it then consider yourself blessed.
Literally the infrastructure of “criminal justice” in this country necessitates idiotic prosecutions and fake wars.
And yes I know I would personally stand to lose money (in the short run) if this changed.
Sounds like a variation of the child abuse day care center stories that destroyed lives during the 1980s.
I can't disagree with that logic.
Remember, "It takes a village"!
Years ago I had a friend who was traveling with her child. The baby fell asleep on his bottle while in the car seat. The next day you could see a reverse ‘Ger’ from the imprint on the bottle. The letters made a small mark.
The father’s mother called CPS and said that her son had hit the child. Even though you could READ the letters (I saw the mark), CPS took their baby.
Once CPS got their hands on the family, it was a nightmare to get the kid back. They had a cat. Two more weeks of review before they could get their child. Got rid of the cat, but the social worker lifted the toilet seat and found a small hair during an inspection. Two more weeks of review before they could get their child. There was a drip in their refrigerator. Two more weeks of review before they could get their child. A cup in the sink at the time of the unannounced visit. Two more weeks of review before they could get their child. The bed wasn’t made. Two more weeks of review before they could get their child.
My poor friend nearly had a nervous breakdown.
This hell went on for more than a year. If they had a perfect inspection, they still had two more weeks to get an answer. Ultimately, they’d fail the next unannounced inspection over something stupid and it would start all over again. And their cleanliness was never the issue!
How were the ‘abuse’ charges handled? The judge ordered the father to attend a four-day anger management class over two weekends, then the court was satisfied; but CPS wasn’t. (The judge wasn’t too concerned about abuse.)
Finally after two months of spotless inspections, they reluctantly let them have their child back.
Once the case was resolved, they had to leave the state to really get it to end. Even after they got custody of the child returned, they were to be subject to spot inspections by CPS until they did. No court order. No judgement against them. This was all up to CPS’s discretion.
‘Shocking Note’ Apparently Penned by Justina Pelletier to Her Parents
“They hurt me all the time push me all the time and more,” the purported note from Justina Pelletier says. It also says “[they] do not let me sleep vary [sic] much.
“Hury [sic]!”
Last Wednesday morning my three year old granddaughter woke up screaming and writhing in pain. After several hours of trying to sooth the pain her parents took her to a local emergency room. An ultrasound revealed a type of telescoping bowel known as an intussusception. It took a transfer to a Children’s hospital and surgery finally on Friday to solve a problem that would appear fixed and then return. All the poor girl could do was point to her belly as the location of the pain. My daughter and her husband were bombarded with suspicious questions even though that hospital is my daughter’s employer and she works as a nurse at an outpatient surgical center doing ear, nose, and throat surgeries on children! Not all screaming in an infant is colic, this type of bowel blockage is fairly common is infants.
these people are not medical experts, this is why genuine cases that have nothing to do with child abuse are incorrectly classified as such.
just as many arson/accident investigators really have no serious forensictraining and have sent a lot of people to jail for screwing up an assessment of a fire scene, what caused it, where it started, etc. I watched a program that showed just how bad some of these people were at their jobs compared to people who had years of training determining causes of fires and how they spread, what patterns they make, how things vary depending on if it’s started on purpose vs other reasons. Lotsa people got screwed based on totally wrong assessments. jail time and in some cases where people died, murder charges.
A lie detector test could shed some light on this situation.....
How times have changed. Same thing happened to us with our three year old daughter. Same diagnosis, same treatment. Never a question of abuse on our part. Of course, back then our family doc would show up at the hospital when he found out we were there and perhaps more importantly it was almost 30 years ago.
Once I was knocked unconscious.
Never was it the result of my parents actions.
In today's world I would be a foster child.
“As a kid I had to get stitched up 8 times.
Once I was knocked unconscious.
Never was it the result of my parents actions.
In today’s world I would be a foster child. “
—
My kids spent so much time getting stitched I finally gave up and would only take them if it involved the face.
I’d clean the wound,butterfly the bandage,and take care of it myself.
.
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