Martha Toogood Is Sick Now

Various | Sep. 25, 2002 | Self

[A Vast RightWing Conspirator]

Since the Martha Toogood's story is being dissected into the most minute details, here's one aspect not yet discussed:

- Martha gets a spanking from her mommy (some call it a savage beating). Whatever that was, it turns out that not one doctor, not even the prosecutor could find any sign of abuse such as bruises, cuts, broken bones, missing limbs or rigor mortis. In fact there are nude pictures apparently showing Martha as intact as ever.

- The state takes Martha under its own loving wing and... MARTHA IS SICK NOW!!! In fact, Martha is so sick, not even her mother can be allowed to see her.

Can anyone explain what's going on here? Is Martha better off with the authorities in charge? Or is she a victim of the authorities loving care. Perhaps too much love got Martha sick?

[MinuteGal]

The prosecuter stated the little girl has the flu. The flu that launched a hundred replies, LOL.

Leni

[Humidston]

I doubt under normal circumstances, the state would remove the child for a thrashing. Except these people are flight risks due to their transient and shady lifestyle.

(FYI, if any of you wonder why I seem prejudiced against Irish Travelers, it's because a member of my family was also ripped off by these people.)

[Lower55]

should the state TRANSFER custody of the child to the next CLOSEST relative. The state itself should NEVER have a child in it's custody.

Exactly.

The damage from the a$$-beating will be forgotten/forgiven by the child in short order.

The abuse by the state will be lifelong.

If lifestyle dictates who gets to keep their children, then gays, lesbians, swingers, .........well, you get the drift.

[MissAmericanPie]

Some posting here make a big issue that she suffered no bruises. I maintain she did suffer bruises, bruises that tell her that it's ok for someone to handle her in such a manner. Bruises that tell her that this is what love means and will scar her relationships.

Behinds are for paddling, and not very hard at that. What her mother did was an attack, not discipline, and an unwarranted attack at that. You don't discipline your kids while your angry, the discipline is for their benefit not as a punching bag for the parent to take out their putrid flustrations.

Her mother is a con artist, trying to get across on the American public the biggest con of her life. The child is better off away from her until and unless mom gets some instruction on parenting. I hope everyone will hold this little girl in their prayers and that she gets better soon.

[Lower55]

why I seem prejudiced against Irish Travelers, it's because a member of my family was also ripped off by these people.)

This makes them all bad. I'm not defending them, but I've been ripped off by members of most 'groups' , I'm sure also by a member of your group.

[Emily RN]

Does this whole case remind anyone of the carnival worker with the "crispy-fried" children law enforcement fiasco? When the medical profession won't back you up on an abuse claim your case is over! LE should be more concerned about kids like that 7 year old in Florida that weighed 25 lbs. Now that's abuse, although it doesn't look as exciting and news worthy on TV.

This is disgraceful! They should see that she has some counseling and parenting skills classes. One would think the CPS would be more concerned with giving Martha a functional family as opposed to stealing the child!

[sinkspur]

He said (to paraphrase) that the government seems to like to set their sights on somewhat flawed or strange individuals when searching for folks to make an example of. Thus the govt. can usually garner public sympathy for themselves in these cases despite their going waaaay over the line in destroying a human being's life. And you know what? It is TRUE!

So you and ole Tiger think "the State" set this whole thing up? If you remember, at first nobody knew who this woman was, only that she was beating her kid in the face with her fists. Even then the DA said she was guilty of child abuse.

The fact that she's an Irish Traveller, and may have beaten her child because she didn't go along with a possible scam only adds to Toogood's disgrace.

[A Vast RightWing Conspirator]

108 and counting :)

[southern rock]

So you and ole Tiger think "the State" set this whole thing up?

No. I don't think the state "set it all up". I think the state saw the video at first and went "ho-hum". Then they discovered that she had this strange lifestyle., and they began to go "Hmmmmmm". Then they realized that her strange lifestyle (much like Randy Weaver and David Koresh) was all about existing outside the bounds of the loving, caring, tender arms and watchful eyes of Big Brother. That is when the state went "oooohhhhhh". They knew then that they could take her down, wipe the floor with her, increase the goodwill of govt. and state agencies and bureaucrats in the minds of the sheeple, and forever show that people who live outside the scope of the state (and keep their kids outside the scope of the state) are just plain eeeeeeeevil! Then the media frenzy began.

[Humidston]

Since "my so-called group" doesn't

1. Travel in packs
2. Teach and practice lying, cheating and stealing
3. Dress my 12 yr old to be provocative
4. Believe God says we can cheat others
5. Rip off grannies
6. Rip off store owners
7. Eschew normal society and morality

I think you'd be fairly safe around me and "my group." ;-)

[Spiff]

I doubt under normal circumstances, the state would remove the child for a thrashing.

You, apparently, are terribly naive about what state CPS agencies do on a regular basis. Simple spanking or anonymous imaginary reports of abuse often lead to removal. Please educate yourself on this.

[Darnright]

"The Unites States has never been totally free of slavery, because the state owns each persons children. Slave parents are allowed to raise the chldren they bear as long as what they do pleases the state. Just as any slave master in the south could take a slaves children away from its slave parent, out government can take children away from us."

Chilling post, CT. The problem with this whole mess, as I see it, is the State's arbitrary decision to keep this child from her relatives, because they are afraid the child will be hidden. The family are not, to paraphrase Common Tator, "good slaves", so they don't get to keep the child, even though there is NO PROOF the grandparents would run or put the child in hiding. Therefore, this little kid is jerked from her close-knit relatives and plunked down in some foster home with people she's never seen before. Now she's sick, and instead of being allowed a visit from her mother, she's kept away. A sick child needs her mother far more than a well one. The mother isn't going to abuse her, for crying out loud, in a supervised visit!

[Humidston]

Oh no, friend. I am not naive about CPS. I can't stand those pointy-headed liberal wack-jobs most of the time. It's just that in this case, I think they did the only thing they could do under the circumstances. I belive there's much more to this story than we know right now.

I think when this case unfolds in a court we'll find out. I also think Madelyn is a low-life and I know she'll lie because, to her, lying is just another part of their con.

[gubamyster]

Because the family appears to be a bunch of crooks

I think what this lady did was despicable & there is no excuse for her actions. However, because she abused the child does not mean the father has ever abused the child. If the situation was reversed where the father beat the kid, do you think CPS would take the child away from the mother?

The key word in your sentence is appears. I agree, there are numerous stories about Irish Travelers, and I am not sticking up for them, but until there is evidence or charges against the father or the relatives it is my opinion the child should be with her father than with the government. God forbid, my wife ever did this, I certainly wouldn’t want the government to take my kids from me because people of my same ethnicity were unsavory.

[philetus]

Sure, she admitted "beating" her,but where is the damage.
No bruises,welts,large scars,old cigarette burn marks, poorly healed broken bones, old concussions.

I too think it was faked.
The type of anger and loss of control on that tape is not a one time thing.
After the first part of it, the mother raises the bar on the child seat and you can see the little girl bound into it. Then before the mother continues again, you can see the girls feet swinging up and down and it looks carefree.

[sinkspur]

Then they realized that her strange lifestyle (much like Randy Weaver and David Koresh) was all about existing outside the bounds of the loving, caring, tender arms and watchful eyes of Big Brother.

Nonsense. This woman would be toast if she were the wife of the mayor of Mishwaka, Indiana.

The fact that she's part of a roving band of scam artists does, in fact, mean that this girl is part of a group which is teaching her a life of crime. Her own mother is likely passing along the tricks of the criminal trade to her.

[TigersEye]

AppyPappy wants to know if you have a blue crayon.

[gubamyster]

Are you referring to the same relatives who refused to tell authorities where they could find the beaten child?

Isn't it possible because the lady went to Maryland & then to NJ before returning to IN that the relatives in fact did not know where she & the child were when asked by authorities?

[Risa]

"I would also say that this sort of violent, arbitrary environment does damage to a child that cannot be seen in photographs."

Absolutely. The continual pummeling of a child's head may not leave visible damage, but does cause little bits of neuronal damage which build over time (for an extreme, think of Mohammed Ali).

In fact, if the abuser happens to strike the child's jaw so it torques in just the right way, the damage rips right through the brain tissue, from one side of the head to the other. Yet, you won't see actual physical damage. The child will have learning problems, or severe ADD-like symptoms, or 'mental illness' and everyone will think he/she was just born this way.

The there are the ever-present stress biochemicals. A child's brain is actively developing, and it does so in response to its physical and social environment. Such arbitrary abuse puts the child in a continual state of stress and fear,(or sheer terror) and much evidence exists that the continuing high levels of stress chemicals (cortisol, specifically) damage developing brain cells, dooming the child to potential learning problems, neurobiological illnesses, and often post traumatic stress disorder---lots of the totally dysfunctional adults (some of them our worst criminals) in our country experienced a childhood of arbitrary abuse. And even the victims who are able to overcome the effects and lead meaningful lives, underwent an enormous challenge at some point to do so.

To my mind continual child abuse is tantamount to murder, because in many cases, the victim is being robbed of the opportunity to pursue a healthy, meaningful adulthood. Instead they suffer and society does, too.

[glory]

And you think a member of the Irish Traveler clan would stick around to receive said parenting classes. frankly some people here are being naive and need to stop looking at Mrs. Toogood as your average mother who made a mistake who generally is stable in her locale and not corrupt in her other endeavors in life.