~ Joanna
Reference: http://www2.indystar.com/special/childabuse/
for grieving families.
An Owen County man supervising nine children at a neighborhood swimming pool takes six Vicodin painkillers and drinks several beers.
His 6-year-old nephew drowns.
In Marion County, a mother is trying to catch up on her laundry. Exhausted, she puts clean clothes in the crib and lies on the couch to sleep with her baby.
The child suffocates.
Cases of violent physical abuse may grab more headlines, but, nationally, more children die because of neglect. The toll: more than 600 children a year.
The often silent killer has claimed more than 300 Indiana children since 1990, according to the state's Family and Social Services Administration.
Abuse has claimed more children in Indiana during the past five years, but neglect has been cited in more deaths since 1990.
Those are just the deaths state officials know about.
Child advocates say a true tally is impossible because the state has no comprehensive system for reviewing all child deaths.
And in many neglect deaths -- such as the Owen and Marion county cases -- the person responsible is not prosecuted.
When they are, sentences typically are light.
That's true even when drugs and alcohol played a role, and when Child Protection Services had been involved previously.
It can be difficult to build a criminal case in a neglect death. Many police agencies have limited investigative resources and may lack the specialized skills for investigating child deaths. Evidence often is scant, and it is difficult to prove intent.
But one of the biggest factors is sympathy -- the attitude that individuals and families have suffered enough.
It's a sentiment that extends from Child Protection Services workers, to police and prosecutors, to judges and juries.
In Indiana, neglect runs the gamut from accidents to lapses of supervision. The most common causes of death in neglect cases: drownings, fires, traffic accidents and suffocations that occur when babies sleep with adults, rather than in cribs.
In those types of deaths, Child Protection Services often cites a parent or caregiver for neglect. That is a civil charge, and the most severe consequence is the removal of other children from the home.
Criminal charges are seldom filed.
Andrea Marshall, executive director of Prevent Child Abuse Indiana, said the state's accounting of neglect victims is low because all deaths are not brought to the attention of Child Protection Services.
"CPS only gets involved if they have already been working with the family, or second, if law enforcement or somebody calls them," she said.
"They don't usually call CPS in the smaller communities. They have known this family, and they've been there forever, and they see their grief, and the baby is dead.
"They don't say, who was with the baby while they drowned . . . and so, CPS never even gets told about that case because the coroner will automatically rule it as an accidental death."
A deeper, more objective investigation might have revealed neglect, she said.
"The parent may have been downstairs drinking while a 15-month-old baby was taking a bath by itself.
"That's neglect."
But proving the culpability of a parent or caregiver -- even when there were earlier indications of problems -- can be a tough call for Child Protection Services and prosecutors.
"It's easier to charge when there's physical abuse and a person -- the mom or the parent or whatever -- is responsible for that," said Wayne County Prosecutor David Kolger.
When circumstances aren't clear, prosecutors can ask a grand jury to decide whether a case merits prosecution.
Kolger turned to a grand jury in the death of 23-month-old Micha Lewis, who died after being pinned beneath a stove that fell on him while his mother, Angela, slept.
"The last thing she wanted was her kid to be hurt. But at the same time, the child wouldn't be hurt if she was awake," said Detective Michael French of the Richmond Police Department.
Micha's mother ended up serving 30 days after pleading guilty to a felony charge of neglect.
"You lost a child," French said. "Obviously, yeah, there's got to be some accountability there. So, I guess, yeah, 30 days in that case, in addition to losing your child, yeah, I'd say that's enough."
Almost a third of Indiana's neglect victims came from families where Child Protection Services had made prior findings of abuse or neglect. In those instances, case managers had already intervened -- sometimes more than once.
In other Indiana deaths, sympathy for survivors appeared to trump concern for the innocent, often helpless victims.
After a 17-year-old girl's parents learned she had delivered a baby in the bathroom of their family home in Posey County, Child Protection Services and police were called.
The mother wrapped the newborn in some towels and placed it in a wastebasket, according to a Child Protection Services report. An autopsy revealed the child was born alive.
The case manager substantiated neglect against the mother. A coroner ruled the death a homicide, and the county prosecutor charged her as a juvenile.
But a judge ruled she was not at fault. He said the young mother had suffered enough.
As a former prosecutor, child advocate Victor Vieth, director of the National Center for Prosecution of Child Abuse, understands the pain families experience with the loss of a child.
Vieth also knows how difficult it can be to prosecute neglect cases.
"Where I would draw the line?" asked Vieth.
"I ask myself: Is this person mentally ill or not? Then I say: Would a reasonable parent do this? Is it conceivable?"
If the answers are no, Vieth said, caretakers should be prosecuted.
"I think society should react, simply because a civilized society says kids matter."
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