Rage And Child Abuse

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Self doubt can breed the seeds of anger and denial. And as anger fills pits deep inside the soul and rages, it solidifies itself into a wall of unconquerable insecurities, the need to control. I can't comprehend why; all I know is it’s all built around actions and reactions. Usually, it’s an action that breaks through already previously singed crevices. Sadly, the reactions to these self insecurities become harsher and define rage.


Perhaps, the self doubts begin as a fight in the soul and a person becomes frustrated, emotionally distraught? Oh well! Some things are burdens to carry but they are necessary burdens so we can grow and become better persons. We’ve all passed through that ‘what next’ channel but we cannot allow the negatives to become the defining factor in whom we are. And, for it to be used as an excuse, the cause, for people to commit unspeakable violence is unfathomable. It isn’t an excuse! No excuse exists for abusing or taking the life of innocent children.

Our children, all children, are the future of this world. Even as this piece is being read, a child is being abused, severely beaten, raped, or murdered. Think about it. It’s a true sad fact. And, I repeat my belief, absolutely no excuse exists for these despicable actions. No doubts, insecurities, anger nor rages are viable excuses to abuse a child.

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Matthew Wayne Lightbody, Jr., of Brick, N.J., has second-degree counts of aggravated assault and endangering the welfare of a child lodged against him. He let his anger take over common sense and compassion. The child is in critical condition. His precious victim: A nine-month-old female. His excuse - He was playing aggressively with the baby.  (My immediate thought- how can a nine-month-old baby play aggressively?)

http://www.app.com/article/20100322/NEWS/100322091/9-month-old-girl-from-Brick-critically-injured-by-caregiver-police-say

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Curtis Leon Copeland, of Denton Co., TX asked a neighbor call 911. He told the neighbor a child had fainted. When EMS arrived the child was unresponsive and bleeding. According to doctors, the child had severe head trauma, a broken pelvis and broken thoracic vertebrae. Evidence also suggested he had been sexually abused.

Copeland has been charged with capital murder. His precious victim: a three-year-old boy. His excuse - Mom did it. According to Copeland the mother had advised the child had fallen down a flight of stairs prior to her bring her children to his home. He stated in his police interview that the child was slower than usual, had a bruised eye, and he’d noticed an oval shape bruise on the child’s back when he bathed him. (My immediate thought- not a vulgar word was thought but it's still not repeatable on this blog)

http://www.timesrecordnews.com/news/2010/apr/03/man-charged-in-childs-death/

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Sharon Nicole Worthy, of Denton Co., TX was charged with injury to a child. She was at the hospital giving birth to her third son when the child was sexually abused and severely beaten. However, she was allegedly present when Curtis Leon Copeland pushed the child in the back and caused him to fall face first onto the floor. Allegedly, Worthy did nothing to protect the child or seek assistance for injuries. Her precious victim: Her three-year-old son. Her excuse: According to the article author, she gave several explanations. (My immediate thought:  Her last name is not a hint that she exemplifies good parenting - more so it's - Is lack of maternal instinct an excuse? )

Worthy has had numerous dealings with the child protective services involving bad parenting due to her abuse and the neglect of her children. Her three children all have different fathers. The victim’s father is currently in prison. Worthy wasn’t supposed to have contact with Copeland because he was a convicted felon and had spent time in prison due to the convictions.

http://www.wfaa.com/news/crime/Murdered-childs-mom-arrested-in-Denton-County-89890672.html

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Jamille Hardy of Taylors, S.C., was charged with bodily injury on a child. The child is in critical condition. His precious victim: His four-year-old foster-son. His excuse - The boy wouldn’t eat.

Allegedly, Hardy was trying to get his son to eat his dinner but the boy tried to run away. Hardy said he pushed the child. His foster-son is in critical condition with brain and bodily injuries. (My immediate thought - From being pushed?)

http://www.wltx.com/news/story.aspx?storyid=85837&catid=2


Check the included links for more details on these tragic stories. One is just as appalling as the others.

Some Moans of Cherish Lewis’s Court Experiences

I recently listened to a radio show and heard of a case out of Ohio about a jailed mother, Cherish Lewis. I admit the more I heard, the more angry I was with what I was hearing. Cherish is doing jail time because of what (I believe) she was doing to protect her child, Jaelyn Rice, from an alleged abusive father, Stephen Rice. She was accused of hiding her daughter and defying court orders to turn her over to the father. I scratched my head in confusion and with the strangeness of the Ohio justice system. As of today, I still feel angry. And too, I am still feeling a need to scratch my head; so if you have problems understanding this post I heartily apologize.

When these suspicions of abuse first came about, Cherish, as a smart mother should, took her child to a doctor. Her suspicions had begun when she saw too many bruises on her daughter after Jaelyn returned from a court ordered visit with Stephen, the child’s dad. A doctor checked Jaelyn. Cherish’s suspicions of physical abuse were deemed by the doctor, law enforcement and child services as credible and true, and suspicion became became allegations. What also was discovered during this time is that Jaelyn had been sexually abused, allegedly by her father.

I feel Cherish rallied her inner strength to do right by her daughter, because during a court proceeding she advised the court of the allegations. And too, she had a medical expert, child services evidence and law enforcement evidence to prove her case. What decision came from these allegations? Well, the trial court judge decided Mom Cherish was an overly protective mother and believed she had Munchhausen Syndrome by proxy. (Allegedly the lawyer of the child’s paternal grandmother sowed the seed of this idea) The court demanded Cherish seek psychiatric evaluation. This evaluation was to be at her own expense. As was all the court cost. And at a hearing, due to yet another question from the grandmother’s lawyer, it was mentioned that she could have Parental Alienation Syndrome. The judge didn’t question these suggestions; nor (from what I personally understand in the ruling of the appeals court) did he understand what they were, but sadly he allegedly took them as fact.

Although a few months later Cherish brought an expert before the judge and that expert stated that Cherish did not have Munchhausen Syndrome nor Parental Alienation, the trial court judge apparently did not believe the expert; he ruled against Cherish and her feelings about her daughter’s best interest.

In 2009 an Appeals Court upheld the expert’s testimony that Cherish didn’t have Munchhausen Syndrome or Parental Alienation. And, in their ruling, stated the trial court had abused its discretion. The Appeals Court also ruled that the child had not adjusted to her father’s home, preschool and community as the trial court had said.

However, Cherish is still in jail and has been in jail for the last seven months.

More background of the tribulations of this dedicated young mother. Jaelyn was born premature and spent her first six months of life in a hospital incubator. She also had to have physical therapy, speech therapy and developmental therapy at home after her discharge. Mom had genetic testing done to prove parentage of the child, and there began the years of her court hearings. Dad had left and joined the Marines.
(I will, in defense of Cherish due to critical comments of her asking for proof of parentage from the father that was made on forums, say that it’s my personal understanding when child services become involved and the state is helping support a child, they ‘highly recommend’ both parents be involved in support and rearing of a child)

Stephen decided when he was home on leave from Marines that he wanted to have his daughter over for a visit. Cherish didn’t approve of this since he had been away and had not bonded with Jaelyn since her birth. She didn’t feel he’d know how to properly care for his daughter. Jaelyn was then only a year old. Stephen’s mother decided to file for grandparents rights and the court granted them.   They discharged Stephen from the Marines a few months later, allegedly for failing a drug test and he made his home in California. (Stephen has moved to several different states and cities during this long five-year ordeal.) He also decided that Jaelyn, at the age of 3, no longer needed therapy sessions and told the court he had taken her to a pediatrician and that pediatrician agreed she was healthy. (I can’t find anything on anyone ever saying Jaelyn wasn’t healthy, just that she needed continuing physical, speech and developmental therapy) However, I have not found any legal papers online showing Stephen brought forth proof from the pediatrician nor have I discovered this pediatrician’s name. I did read in the Appeals Court findings that some of Jaelyn’s therapists testified that it was not in the best interest of Jaelyn for her to discontinue therapy. I also did not see where the trial court judge ruled Jaelyn should continue her therapy sessions after that time.

Cherish Lewis, to me, has done everything she can do to keep her child happy and has given her the proper care she needed. She has, to me, also shown what any loving and caring mother would show, and do, when suspicions of abuse were suspected then declared factual. She put her child above herself and tried to protect her.

Sadly, the appeals’ court sent the case back to trial court so the same judge is still the sitting judge. The same judge after the appeals court ruling of April of 09 sent Cherish to jail in July of 09. But I pray that after the more recent filing in Aug of 09 of a petition of disqualification of the trial court Judge Frederick Crow III, the Supreme Court of Ohio will declare him disqualified. Hopefully a different and a non bias judge will hear the case and make a fair assessment of facts before ruling; more importantly, rule only on those facts.

Until then, and sadly so, Cherish, it seems will stay in jail. I am of the feeling that Cherish needs to be freed. She needs a fair hearing and by a non bias judge. Hopefully with all the support she now has, that will come to fruition soon.



http://www.supremecourtofohio.gov/rod/docs/pdf/4/2009/2009-ohio-1823.pdf


http://www.sciotocountycpcourt.org/calendar/..%5Cnxhist.exe?casen=04PD000736