Published: July 15, 2008 10:28 am            

Toddler’s death represents thousands

Two-year-old Callie Robinson was found by a jury to have been murdered by two people who were supposed to ensure her safety, one being her birth mother, 24-year-old Verona Brinegar.

Brinegar’s ex-boyfriend, Ronald Crabtree, 27, also was found guilty of Callie’s death.

The two will spend at least 35 and 45 years in prison, respectively. They then will be eligible for parole, which neither of them will be very likely to receive, said Madison Circuit Judge William T. Jennings.

I rest assured that justice had been served after covering the six-day trial and seeing pictures of Callie’s bruised, scratched, burned and malnourished body.

However, the cold, harsh truth is that Callie was only one case out of thousands that are never brought to justice or even reported.

There were 1,218 children involved in 465 child abuse investigations in 2007 in Madison County, according to information from Kentucky’s Child Safety Branch, which is a part of the Cabinet for Health and Family Services.

However, out of those reports, only 138 cases were substantiated with sufficient evidence.

I know from first-hand experience that it is not easy to prove a child abuse/neglect case. One day while I was standing outside of a Richmond business, I saw a woman smack her child (that appeared to be about 3 or 4 years old) three times on the back of the head so hard that the child fell down to all fours. She then proceeded to smack him in the head three more times, picked him up like a rag doll and threw him, yes, threw him into the backyard.

My first reaction was to call the police and social services.

I learned really fast that the children in these situations are trained to tell everyone that everything is OK. This breaks my heart. I spoke to the police officer afterwards and he said, “My hands are tied.”

This frustrated me, but they can’t do anything about the situation of child abuse unless they see it happen or see some very compelling evidence.

Another time, while standing outside a building near downtown Richmond, I witnessed a little girl about 5 or 6 running up the street completely naked.

I rushed to her and asked where her mother was. She pointed to a nearby trailer, and by that time, her mother had made her way outside.

“Get your mother-x-x-x-x-x-x-x ass in this house,” was her response. The little girl went into the trailer and all the doors and windows began to shut.

I was left wondering what that little girl was having to go through. Once again, I called the police and child services — same old song and dance.

Reports of child abuse can be substantiated in three ways: an admission of abuse or neglect by the person responsible; a judicial finding of child abuse or neglect; or enough evidence exists that abuse or neglect was committed by the person responsible, according to the state’s Child Safety Branch of the Cabinet for Health and Family Services.

Unfortunately, not every case of child abuse meets these criteria, therefore nothing can be done.

The social worker must consider information from the victim(s), parents or custodian, witnesses, relatives or other people with first-hand knowledge about the reported case of abuse or neglect, according to information from the Child Safety Branch.

The social worker’s role is to determine if abuse occurred and get the child(ren) to safety. The police is the entity needed to actually place charges against the person(s) accused of abusing the child.

There is no excuse for another child to be beaten to death as Callie was. She was not beaten all at once. The marks on her body clearly were in different stages, meaning that the abuse had occurred over a period of time.

It is our job as adult citizens to look out for those who cannot protect themselves. Even if you report a case and nothing is done at that time, I can guarantee that if there is enough evidence gathered, you could possibly prevent an innocent child or children from being beaten, or even killed.

Callie’s death was not in vain. She has helped shed light on the issue of abuse, the seriousness of it and what can happen when we turn our heads.

Reporting suspected abuse is the law in Kentucky, said Anya Armes Weber, public information officer for the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services.

Anyone who witnesses or suspects child abuse or abuse of the elderly are obligated to call Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services hotline at 1-800-752-6200.

Visit www.chfs.ky.gov/dcbs/dpp/ childsafety for more information about how to keep Kentucky’s children safe.

Ronica Shannon can be reached at rshannon@richmondregister.com or 623-1669, Ext. 234.

        

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