Woman accused of cutting baby's ear, tossing hot oil

Cleveland Plain Dealer ^ | June 10, 2006 | Gabriel Baird

[Past Your Eyes]

A 35-year-old woman accused of throwing hot oil on her baby boy and hacking off part of his ear will most likely never have custody of her son again, a county official said.

Tonya M. Edwards of Cleveland was in City Jail Friday on suspicion of endangering children, domestic violence and felonious assault. She denied cutting her 10-month-old son's ear.

"I bit [his] ear by accident," she said, according to a police report.

Doctors told police the wound was clearly made by a sharp object, not by teeth.

The boy, Micah Belcher Jr., was in good condition at MetroHealth Medical Center.

The Cuyahoga County Department of Children and Family Services has taken temporary custody of Micah. James McCafferty, department executive director, said the chances of Edwards regaining custody of the baby are "very slim."

She has convictions for soliciting, abusing drugs and endangering children. The department took permanent custody of seven children she abused and neglected several years ago. Officials had no idea Edwards had given birth again.

After they took away her seven children and closed her case in 2003, they

[Past Your Eyes]

"the chances of Edwards regaining custody of the baby are "very slim."

I wonder what might be done to make those chances ZERO.

[RadioAstronomer]

Jail time.

[Charlespg]

Jail time

in cases like this the gallows

[Perdogg]

Death penalty time.

[cripplecreek]

Most likely?

[Concho]

This is a case for mandatory sterilization.

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

I wonder what might be done to make those chances ZERO.

Under the system we have now? Nothing.

There is a conviction in Social Services mother and child must remain together. It doesn't matter that one of them likes to torture the others. They will hand the kid back to her while cooing, "Who loves his mommy?"

You can literally kill a child and regain custody of their surviving siblings when you finish serving your 18 months if indeed you go to jail at all.

Statistically the person most likely to harm a child is mommy's boyfriend. The second most likely is mommy.

Why we are not as strict on female abusers as male is something I don't understand.

There would be a lot less hurt and dead kids in the country.

[confederate_infidel]

Sick sick sick.

[brytlea]

A 35-year-old woman accused of throwing hot oil on her baby boy and hacking off part of his ear will most likely never have custody of her son again, a county official said.

Most likely??

sheesh

susie

[madprof98]

The boy, Micah Belcher Jr., was in good condition . . .

Wonder where Micah Belcher SENIOR was while all this was going on.

[Talking_Mouse]

Statistically the person most likely to harm a child is mommy's boyfriend. The second most likely is mommy.

AMEN.

Why we are not as strict on female abusers as male is something I don't understand.

Because foster care is a big flaming mess. The massive influx of children into foster care, if female abuser were truly treated as the abusers they are, would overwhelm the current system. To preserve the "system" they let children die, stay if foster care instead of being adopted, and stay with abusive adults rather then move them.

Personal rant - stop reading if you want to.

The foster care system is run by people who believe in theory over experience. This is why children are reunited with abusive relatives, because the theory of family unity is much more important than the experience that abusing children is a learned behavior that is difficult to unlearn.

The prevailing theory is that only people of a child's ethnic group should adopt that child. It is better to keep a baby or toddler in foster care with the "chance" of adoption later by someone of the same ethnic group than to allow the baby or toddler to be adopted by people outside the ethnic group. The experience is that while in foster care, the child will have a less than 5% chance of being placed with foster parents of his or her ethnic group. The experience is that after children get out of toddlerhood they have a less than 10% chance of being adopted, often less than 1%.

The theory is that it is better for the child to be with relatives than in foster care, and female relatives more than male relatives. This is why children will be placed back with their mothers or grandmothers when the {grand}mothers have completed a course on anger management or parenting. Experience is that children are most likely to be killed and abused by {1} mom's boyfriend, {2}then mom, {3}then grandma, {4}then dad, {5} then outside male (not mom's boyfriend), {6}then uncles, {7} then grandpa, {8} then aunts, {9} then an outside female.

[Feiny]

She should sue Mike Tyson.

[Mr. Brightside]

A 35-year-old woman accused of throwing hot oil on her baby boy and hacking off part of his ear will most likely never have custody of her son again

"most likely"?

[Talking_Mouse]

Wonder where Micah Belcher SENIOR was while all this was going on.

Micah Belcher Sr., 45, the injured baby's father, told police that Thursday's trouble started after he refused to give Edwards money. She threw hot oil on him as well as the baby before taking the 10-month-old into the kitchen, where the baby's ear was injured, Belcher told police.

[metmom]

This is a case for mandatory sterilization.

Boy, it kills me to have to agree with you on this one because I can see the slippery slope that it would lead to, but....

[Hildy]

Tie her tubes.

[mbsenior]

If you read the news reports correctly you would have noted that I had just gotten off work and was at the house visiting with my son when this incident happened. I as a father was trying very hard to be a part of my sons life, as god intended.

MICAH SENIOR

[P8riot]

sew up the hole

[madprof98]

I as a father was trying very hard to be a part of my sons life, as god intended.

Since you raised the subject . . .
God intended for people to get MARRIED (to each other) and then - and only then - bring children into the world whom they would raise together. When people come up with what they think is a better plan, innocent little children are usually the victims.