Mom Charged with Allowing Kids to Sunburn

FoxNews

[Tired of Taxes]

Mother Faces Charges for Allowing Kids to Get Sunburned

Tuesday, August 20, 2002

STEUBENVILLE, Ohio — A woman was arrested on felony charges for allegedly letting her three children get so severely sunburned they looked like they "were dipped in red paint."

Eve Hibbits was arrested a week ago on three counts of child endangerment, said Sheriff Fred Abdalla. She remained in jail Tuesday in lieu of $15,000 bail.

Abdalla said a deputy noticed her 2-year-old daughter and 10-month-old twin boys had severely sunburned faces at the Jefferson County Fair.

"She pushed her kids around the fairground all day last Tuesday, and it looked like those kids' faces were dipped in red paint," he said. "There was no sunscreen or nothing on these children."

The children had second degree sunburns and were treated with cold compresses, said Trinity Medical Center West spokesman Keith Murdock.

Hibbits, 31, of Brilliant, could face 15 years in jail if convicted of all three counts. A preliminary hearing was set for Wednesday.

Abdalla said Jefferson County Children's Services had been contacted about Hibbits' children in the past.

[Tired of Taxes]

Just thought this story was odd. On the one hand, I wonder how such young children became so sunburned. Was she leaving them in the sun for hours? On the other hand, will parents now be charged with child abuse or endangerment if their children become severely sunburned? A small story, but perhaps not so insignificant...

[AppyPappy]

Abdalla said Jefferson County Children's Services had been contacted about Hibbits' children in the past.

Most likely, neglect.

[TamiPie]

She's from Brilliant, eh?

[maximus@Nashville]

I once got 2nd degree sunburn as a child in the pre-sunscreen days. I went swimming with friends at a municipal park. Had an adult been with us, they would have gotten me out of the water earlier. Large blisters form on the skin as well as swelling of all the affected areas. This woman would have to notice those types of blisters.

[afraidfortherepublic]

It doesn't take much exposure to become severely sunburned if you are fair skinned. It has happened to me and to my kids. Of course, in our day it was considered a "healthy" look.

Even though I know better now, you can become focused on what you are doing and forget. You can be bright red before you even notice. I got severely scorched "FReepin" with the DC Chapter in front of the White House in July, 1999; and I am quite old enough to know better.

[strela]

"Anyone not wearing SPF two million sunblock is gonna have a REAL bad day!"

I sincerely hope these kids don't pay for mom's neglect years down the road with melanomas.

[moyden]

Life in Hillary's Gulag Village.

Every mistake must be criminalized in the pursuit of utopia.

[aberaussie]

"Just thought this story was odd. On the one hand, I wonder how such young children became so sunburned. Was she leaving them in the sun for hours? On the other hand, will parents now be charged with child abuse or endangerment if their children become severely sunburned? A small story, but perhaps not so insignificant... "

When my neice was an infant, her parents were working all morning out in the yard. They had her *in the shade* in a baby seat outside with them and she burned and blistered on her cheeks. Her mom was devastated, of course, not to mention embarrassed since the entire family, both sides, arrived the following week for the baby's baptism. Healing blisters are evident in all the pictures....

So should they be charged with neglect? How about when my best friend took my kids to the beach and last years sunscreen was no longer effective?

[frodolives]

I burned the tar out of my eight year old on an overcast day at the waterpark last summer. But, as I'm sure like your friends at the beach did, when you notice the tyke's turning pink, you DO something. And you can bet it's never happend to my boy again.

[syriacus]

I remember going on class trips to a not-too-distant state park when I was in grade school and in high school.

It was usually in May, when few of us had much of a tan. We'd go out on the lake in rented canoes and rowboats and get especially bad sunburns because of the reflection of the sunlight off the water. At the end of the day we all tried to figure out whose burn was the most "lobster-red."

Looking back, I guess we should have sued the boat rental companies. (/sarcasm). After all, on sunny days at home my Mom had us kids play in the shade of trees a lot so we wouldn't burn. (All of us had red hair, freckles and pale skin.)

I feel bad for the mother in this story, if she really meant to show her kids a good time and just wasn't smart enough to know they would get burnt. Knowing how a bad burn feels, I'm sorry for the kids, too.

[syriacus]

You can be bright red before you even notice.

That happened to my husband, who rarely gets a burn. We were at a mid-June soccer tournament and our daughter was in two different matches in one day, one in the morning and one in the afternoon.

My kids and I tried to warn him he should put on sunscreen, but he didn't.

I think he learned a lesson--the exposed area of his legs, between his shorts and his sock tops, was painfully burned.

[WIladyconservative]

Well then, you'll have to arrest and charge my parents with this type of abuse throughout my childhood (and my other siblings as well)!. I was even allowed to LIFEGUARD without sunscreen! OMG! The reason that this all occured? It was the 60's! No sunscreen available man . . . .and I've lived to tell about it. Go figure.

[I still care]

I find this story terribly upsetting. All of us who have been mothers have made mistakes, from babies falling off beds to sunburns to having an outlet uncovered so the kids stick a key in it. (They do that you know, and even if you are constiencious they will catch you out somewhere.) A good burn can catch you by surprise.

According to the article, a week later this woman is STILL in jail. Is this doing her sick kids any good? The law is getting scarier and scarier. It seems to have nothing to do with justice or what is right anymore, seems more like a game of "gothcha".

I have heard of women losing their children because of a messy house or because they didn't want their child to take Ritalin. I was once threatened with the loss of my child because the school counselor wanted me to admit my son to the mental hospital and I didn't want to do it.

[I still care]

Whoops, conscientious. Sometimes I can't spel....

[another cricket]

Abdalla said Jefferson County Children's Services had been contacted about Hibbits' children in the past.

I think there might be a lot more to the story then we know.

It there isn't then it was definite over-reaction. Two possibilities that would make it not an over reaction would be if she was approached by several people telling her that the kids were getting burned or if she made a habit of this.

Just guessing.

a.cricket

[SeattleTiger]

I, too, find this story upsetting. I have a four year old, and I have been zealous about applying sunscreen to his fair skin. However, if I weren't, or if it did not work, that should not be grounds for a police action. Anyone who has applied sunscreen to a squirming young child knows that full coverage is chancy sometimes.

It sounds like the lady in question has had other run-ins with the police, but using this as a basis for a possible 15 year sentence is absurd. If there is other negligent or harmful activity going on in the home, they need to build a case from that.

I am not eager for the state to assume any more responsibility for policing my child. I worked with sexually abused children and emotionally disturbed adolescents in the deep south throughout the 80s as a recent college grad. One of the reasons I went back to school for an MBA and went into high tech (besides that I could not financially support myself in social work) was that the state sent sexually abused children home for visits with the parents who abused them. It was heart-wrenching to watch the happiness and hope light up those children's faces as they went off with the people who should love them most for a weekend visit, and then see the children return withdrawn, angry, hurt, and ashamed. These were children ages 6-12, and I could not understand why the parents had any access to them whatsoever, if all they would do was return the children's selfless love with such malevolent activity.

There is a tremendous case to be made for removing children from homes where the type of neglect I saw manifested itself. However, we should be very careful when giving control over family issues to the government, unless signs of physical, sexual or emotional abuse or life-endangering neglect are apparent

SeattleTiger

[MadelineZapeezda]

They better get paddywagons to the beach, stat.

Stupid parents......not felons. Local news bump, Mountaineer, did you see this?

[JediGirl]

At the end of the day we all tried to figure out whose burn was the most "lobster-red."

My friends and I always do that after going out, then take turns rubbing aloe or aloe leaves on eachothers backs.

[mountaineer]

My impression is that Sheriff Fred is a little more "proactive" when it comes to possible child neglect than some other police chiefs might be. I imagine a sunburn is extremely painful to such young children as 2 and 10 months, however, and even if the charges are reduced or dismissed, hope it's a wakeup call to this woman, who apparently has a history of failing to pay proper attention to these little kids.

[trevorjohnson]

What about fat kids...should we charge all those parents too? Where do we stop? If the kid says a potty word at school is that felony evidence for parental neglect/abuse?

Some people in authority are always "FOR THE CHILDREN", aren't they. They use this phrase to pass all sorts of legislation. They use "for the good of the kids" to pressure folks and cow them.

Kids get sunburn. That's what happens sometimes.