- 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?
I've come very close to starting a thread long these lines. You've taken a little differnt tac thank I would have. The illness issue is valid and an interesting question. The kid was fine until a few hours before the visit. The excuse was a ruse in my opinion.
Look, the depiction of that mother shown on the video was clearly wrong. No I didn't word that incorrectly. The depiction was wrong. The implication was wrong. The child was not being brutalized in the manner we thought she was. Now, if we wish to discuss the actions of the mother, I think they were wrong. She shouldn't flail at and around the kid in that manner, and if the courts wish to make sure she doesn't do that again, I'm all for it. But let's be honest. The child was not physically abused, despite what we think we saw. She was definately psychologically abused momentarily.
Now does that psychological abuse reach the level that we assess that mom should go to prison? Folks, I gotta tell ya, that's a stretch. The mom needs to be corrected. This should never happen again. But I am not particularly impressed by the authorities here.
The authorities have used this incident to delve into every aspect of this mom's life, even the procurement of the family vehicles is now in question. What has that to do with the welfare of the child? This has all the appearances of a witch hunt, law enforcement officials given carte blanche to pry into any and every nook and cranny of the mom's personal life. Is that warranted?
We were told the child could be near death. We were told that she would likely have brain damage and be a vegetable for life. We were told that her mom had brutally beaten her to within an inch of her life. All this was untrue. If it was untrue, the public officials should back off and treat this case properly. There isn't a chance I'd give that woman prison time under the circumstances. I would place her on probation for several years and make sure she recieved parenting classes that would give her options when her child is a problem.
I would not keep the child in foster care. I would place the child with the grandparents for the time being, slowly to be returned to the mother's home as parenting classes and anger management progressed.
This frenzied feeding based on the original mis-perception is frankly, scarey.