Strollerderby : investigation

Save Aaliyah Puts Dad on Trial by YouTube Jury

JeanneSager — Mon, 18 May 2009 19:34:00 GMT

It's a blurry night vision video of a two-and-a-half-year-old talking in two-year-old-ese, but it's enough to have prompted thousands of YouTube viewers to start demanding an investigation into possible sexual abuse of a little girl.

But is Save Aaliyah a hoax?

The video was put online by Connie Bedwell, a California mother who lost custody of her daughter to her ex. A nine-minute rambling example of a situation Bedwell says is typical of the times she spends with her daughter, it includes the toddler referring to "Daddy's worm" and notes that she often tells Daddy "don't do that."

Bedwell's site, Save Aaliyah, also sports a lengthy list of examples that she says are evidence of abuse, including bruises on the baby's back, and repeated mentions that daddy hurt her and "owies."

It's all the evidence a lot of parenting bloggers have needed to demand child protective services yank the little girl from her father's home. A host of YouTube posts have cropped up directing you to the Save Aaliyah site and calling for justice, and a petition site sports more than thirteen hundred signatures calling for help for Aaliyah.

But here's the rub. Connie's local newspaper has done interviews with the police and district attorney's office, and they've all cleared Aaliyah's dad of wrongdoing. I'd like to think that child protective services would be in the right here, would have a clearer understanding of the matter at hand than a bunch of YouTube watchers.

So is the Website fair? Should Bedwell be fighting the good fight (if you really believed your child was being sexually abused, wouldn't you?) or is putting these type of details out on the 'net as part of a custody battle just proof that the judge has made the right decision?

Image: SaveAaliyah

Eight-Year-Old Charged with Murdering His Father

Hannah Tennant-Moore — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 18:59:00 GMT

An eight-year-old Arizona boy is facing two counts of premeditated murder for the deaths of his father and his father’s friend. Police are investigating whether abuse played a role in the murders, even as they continue with plans to prosecute the child.

Soon after 29-year-old Vincent Romero and 39-year-old Timothy Romans, who was renting a room at the Romero house (pictured), were fatally shot, the boy went to a neighbor’s house and said that he believed his father was dead. Police immediately arrived on the scene, and claim to have gotten a confession from the child. But the boy’s lawyer is charging that officers questioned him too severely without the benefit of a parent or representative at his side. (The boy’s father had full custody, with the mother visiting from out-of-state on the weekends.)

"They became very accusing early on in the interview," attorney Benjamin Brewer said. "Two officers with guns at their side, it's very scary for anybody, for sure an 8-year-old kid."

Although the boy’s home was unknown to Child Protective Services, police had responded to domestic violence calls there in the past. The judge has ordered a psychological evaluation.

Under Arizona law, children as young as eight can be charged with crimes. Even though the town’s police chief understands that an eight-year-old does not “just decide that he’s going to shoot his father and shoot his father’s friend for no reason,” police are pushing to have the boy tried as an adult.

To me, the fact that the boy immediately alerted neighbors of the deaths indicates that he lacked the moral reasoning necessary to understand the emotional complexity and consequences of his acts. No one, no matter how young, should be excused for committing murder, but I will be heartbroken if this boy, well before his mental capacities are fully formed, faces murder charges as an adult.

As a defense attorney uninvolved in the case commented, “[S]ociety has to make a decision as to whether they want to start using the criminal justice system to deal with 8-year-olds. That doesn't mean you don't have a troubled kid."

Photo: AP

Sad Update: Baby Never Really 'Came Back to Life'

Hannah Tennant-Moore — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 17:30:00 GMT

A premature baby who was pronounced stillborn, put in the morgue, and then discovered moving and breathing five hours later died on Tuesday and was buried the same day.

Since the baby's death, a leading Jerusalem neonatologist has shed new light on the situation, completely contradicting the hospital director's claims that this was a "medical miracle." According to Arthur Eidelman, the baby, named Bana Hiba, did not die and come back to life, as doctors at the Western Galilee Hospital asserted. Rather, babies who are that premature--Bana Hiba was in the 23rd week of gestation--have very irregular heartbeats, sometimes going for as long as five minutes without exhibiting any sign of respiration.

Given this, Eidelman said that premature babies who appear to be stillborn should be left in the delivery room for 20 minutes and closely monitored for signs of life. If there is no heartbeat after 20 minutes, the baby is pronounced dead. Putting live fetuses in the cooler, he said, slows down their metabolism so that they are in a state of "suspended animation." Doctors even do this intentionally sometimes to try to save premies.

So even if gynecologists were too quick to pronounce Bana Hiba dead, their actions were certainly not to blame for the baby's death. However, they may be to blame for putting her parents on a heartbreaking emotional roller coaster.

Both the Health Ministry and the hospital are conducting investigations into the sad case.

Photo: Channel 2

Stillborn Baby Comes Back to Life

Wha? School Starts Sex Abuse Investigation Based on Psychic's Tip

Kelly Mills — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 16:02:00 GMT

File this one under, "If it happened to me, my rage would know no bounds." Colleen Leduc has an eleven-year-old daughter, Victoria, who is autistic. Last month, shortly after she picked up her daughter from school, she got a call from the teacher saying she should come to the school immediately for an urgent matter. When she arrived for the meeting with the teacher, principal, and vice-principal, the teacher told her an educational aide in the classroom had been to see a psychic over the weekend, and that the psychic said a little girl with the initial "V" was being sexually abused by a man in his twenties.

Ridiculous, no? Well, by the time the meeting took place, the school HAD ACTUALLY REPORTED IT to Children's Aid Services, opening an investigation. Oh, and they gave Colleen a list of behaviors Victoria was exhibiting--like gyrating on staff members--and said that while these behaviors were consistent with autism, they were part of the report. When Colleeen asked if other autistic kids in the calss did these things, she was told yes, but none of those kids were reported because there was no psychic tip.

Fortunately the CAS worker on the case closed it immediately, so hopefully no more fall-out. But it sure is an example of how "zero tolerance" towards even a hint of abuse can veer into the profoundly idiotic in the wrong hands. I sure hope Colleen gets an apology from the school very, very soon. I might be tempted to tell them, "A psychic told me to bitch-slap you."

Mom Fights Church On Behalf of Autistic Son

Autistic Boy Voted Out of Kindergarten

Probe Uncovers Bad Behavior at Bootcamps for Kids

Kelly Mills — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 22:37:00 GMT

A federal probe has evidence of shady marketing practices at "bootcamps" for kids, also known as residential treatment facilities or behavior modification centers. These places, in case you don't know, claim they can "rehabilitate" children and teens with serious behavior problems such as violence, defiance, and drug abuse. Since no kid in his or her right mind would willingly check into one of these joints, some centers "abduct" the kids with the parents' permission. Oh, and the federal investigation began with thousands of allegations of abuse, sometimes resulting in death.

What did the probe find? The Government Accountability Office investigators, posing as parents, contacted some of these bootcamps. They found instances of deceptive marketing, including one program rep who urged the fictitious father not to tell his wife he'd be admitting their child to the program, and another facility that claimed the family could receive insurance reimbursement following treatment, but that they should not contact their insurance company in advance. Ick. This is on top of the verified claims of abuse, and the investigators plan to detail eight individual cases in which children were abused and in some cases, died, with untrained staff and horrific operating practices at a minimum contributing to the deaths and abuse. In addition, folks who went through these centers will testify. Hmm, maybe we could get these bootcamp-based treatment centers (or at minimum their abusive practices) banned?

Strollerderby : investigation

Save Aaliyah Puts Dad on Trial by YouTube Jury

Joba Loves His Messy Mom, Do You?

Jon Gosselin a Cheater, But a Good Dad?

Dad Fined $2,000 for Cursing in Front of Kid

Mom Uses Breastfeeding as Weapon in Custody Battle

Eight-Year-Old Charged with Murdering His Father

Sad Update: Baby Never Really 'Came Back to Life'

Wha? School Starts Sex Abuse Investigation Based on Psychic's Tip

Probe Uncovers Bad Behavior at Bootcamps for Kids