Oh boy - What have I done?

Day 6 of the New Year. My file folder of child abuse stories is filling up, and my brain is filling up too. I am having a hard time shaking the stories I have read. I still believe that we need to look at these stories and look at the systems involved, for this story is bigger than any one individual and will require multiple "solutions" if we truly want to cure our country of this evil.

Twenty more stories to talk about... and one amendment.

In an earlier post, I mentioned that we need to look at mental illness when we talk about child abuse. Certainly, the majority of abusers are not likely to qualify as mentally ill, and certainly the majority of folks who are mentally ill are not child abusers. I mentioned that perhaps the mom who was living in filth, and duct taped her child to a car seat to sleep in was mentally ill. However, as new information comes to light, I dismiss this explanation.

The police chief reports that an unidentified person contacted police after seeing photos on a computer in the home showing the boy wrapped in duct tape. The cell phone images captured several months ago, show the child with duct tape on his face, torso, arms, wrist and legs. The mother's male cousin and female roommate were "watching" the boy for his mother.

One of the 20 new stories from yesterday and today does not quite fit the definition of child abuse as in the stories from previous days. However, I am trying to look at all aspects of stories about this topic so I thought I would include the highlights. In Greeley, Colorado after a man unknowingly broke into a home where his own children were being cared for, he was charged with child abuse.

Another story appears to illustrate the fine line between adult: adult relationships and adult: teen relationships. In Easton, Pennsylvania a 38-year old former ROTC instructor is accused of engaging in sexual acts with a 15-year old female student during a fundraising event.

However, 18 other stories from across the country follow the heartbreaking hallmarks of child abuse.

We go back to Florida where Mario James, from Ft. Lauderdale, punched his 4-week-old son in the head, fracturing his skull and causing three different areas of brian bleeding. In Jackson County 23-year old David Kirkland and 28-year old Sara Kirkland argued in a moving vehicle. The mother unstrapped the child "in an attept to get David to slow down." The father began punching the mother, losing control of the car and causing the mother to drop the baby. Oh yea, there was a meth lab in the car too. In Manatee County, 20-year-old Nathan Hurst was arrested after he struck his two-year -old boy multiple times. This was the second child abuse arrest for Hurst, although the child was placed with "other family members" after the first.

Let's move to Maryland, where a 46-year old sex offender Rodney Earl Key has been charged with fondling an 11-year old girl in a church. It is not clear from the report if the child was "officially" in the man's "care." Another sex offender, 25-year-old Kenneth Lloyd Bowser, Jr. sexually abused a six-year old victim over a couple of months.

In Massachusetts, Dwight Fishlock, 50, was arrested on charges of indecent assault and battery on a child under the age of 14. Also in Massachusetts two former soccer coaches have been arrested on forcible child rape charges. The Middlesex District Attorney Gerry Leone states that Roger Lau , 26, and Thomas Heinz (26) used "their position in order to inappropirately contact, entice and manipulate this vulnerable victim into forging a sexual relationship."

In Pennsylvania, Charles R. Koons II, age 40, is charged with molesting 17 boys from 2002 to 2008. Dauphin County Chief Deputy District Attorney Sean McCormick says, "The idea of a man lurking in a dark alley to molest kids is not realistic. The reality is it's someone who has access to kids, who is friendly, and at least on the surface, appears to be fun."

In the midwest, stories emerge from Wisconsin, Michigan, and Illinois In Kenosha, WI 34-year old Ernest Claiborne is accused of neglecting a 2-year-old boy. The toddler was found in a dark room, strapped in a car seat with a dirty diaper. Claiborne and his mother are also accused of chaining Claiborne's mentally and physically disabled sister to a weight bench.

Armando Kosta, 36, from Sterling Heights, Michigan is facing a felony child abuse charge after a drunken car crash. When Kosta drove off the road, he forced his 4-year old daughter and 2-year old son to walk a half-mile in the snow and below-zero temperatures. The 2-year old had only one shoe on and the other foot was bare!

In Albion, Ill Randall S. White (22) and Bethany Jo Mendehall (20) face child abuse charges for breaking the limbs of their 2-month-old son. The child was taken to the ER for treatment of a possible broken arm. While being examined for this injury, doctors found evidence that the child previously had sufferend fractures of both arms and one leg. This child was TWO MONTHS OLD!

While Montana may be the land of the big sky, it too has its share of child abusers. Christopher Lowmand, 23, pleaded no contest to charges that he abused his 5-month old daughter. The daughter received treatment when Lowman crushed her leg with his full weight, at which time the doctors found several healing fractures of her skull and ribs. Also in Billings, Lanita Fawn Walking Bear received a three-year deferred sentence for her felony convictions of assualt on a minor. Fueled by alcohol, she repeatedly kicked her 9-year-old daughter in the local park. The girl now lives with her father and the mother is not allowed even supervised visits.

In Aberdeen, South Dakota 21-year old Travis Zerr was sentenced for breaking a baby's arm. He also must undergo chemical dependency and mental health evaluations.

LaRhonda McCall and Steve Vern Hamilton face charges stemming from the abuse of the woman's 15-year old son. The boy stated that the adults beat him, tied him up and set him on fire over a period of four years. He and SIX other minors from the home are now in foster care.

In Texas, 32-year old Lois Renee Wiltz and 31-year old Carlton Prejean face child abuse charges when Prejean whipped their infant daughter with a wire clothes hanger. He also whipped Wiltz's 12-year old son with an extension cord. he is not the father of this child. Beatings began in October 2005 and investigators intervened on Dec. 14. Wiltz, a nurse at a local jail in Harris County admitted that she failed to ask about the injuries to her son becaue "she does not want to see how bad her son is injured." She "made the decision that if she did not see them, then it did not happen," according to court records.

Out of Utah comes our last two stories. In Cedar City news reports tell of the transfer of a 2-month old infant to a long-term treatment facility, after he suffered a traumatic head injury while in the care of his father. Twenty-five year old Andy Roy Gorecki remains in jail. In Lehi, Jameson L. Reid, 24, was jailed for abusing his 3-year old stepson. Officers found the boy naked on the floor with bruises all over his body. A doctor reported bleeding on his brain. Reports state that the boy told ambulance personnel "Daddy hurt me" on the way to the hospital.