Voodoobillyman - 10-18-2006 at 08:22 AM
BOSTON, Massachusetts (AP) -- A mother whose teenage daughter nearly died from an infection caused by a navel piercing was convicted Tuesday of
endangering the girl's life by failing to seek medical attention until she was gravely ill.
Deborah Robinson, 39, could get up to five years in prison.
The girl developed an infection after piercing her own navel and inserting a ring.
Prosecutors said Robinson watched for several weeks as her 13-year-old daughter dropped from 115 pounds to 75 pounds, became incontinent and grew so
weak that she could not get off the couch. (Full story)
When paramedics arrived at the family's apartment in 2005, the girl was emaciated and was wearing an adult diaper.
A jury convicted Robinson of wantonly and recklessly permitting substantial bodily injury to a child. She is scheduled for sentencing October 26.
The girl suffered extensive organ damage from an infection that ravaged her body. For nearly a week, doctors were unsure whether she would survive.
But after a series of operations and weeks of rehabilitation, she made a full recovery.
"This story is a story of poverty, of ignorance, of a single mother with two children trying to do the best that she could do with very little
resources," Robinson's lawyer, Janet Macnab, told the jury.
The girl, now 14, testified in her mother's defense. She said her mother urged her to eat, gave her orange juice and adjusted the temperature in the
apartment to make her comfortable. She also contradicted prosecutors in saying she was in no pain.
MyOwnWay - 10-18-2006 at 10:20 PM
Thats a tough call, as to what should happen to her. Its bullshit she didnt try sooner to get her daughter to a doctor. But from this story, the
family doesnt strike me as people with a sensible background or are of financial stability in at least someway. Part of me things nothing should
happen to the mom because if she goes the kids are gonna have a really difficult time getting along without her. The other side me thinks they're
having a hard enough time getting along with her. I dont know man. Tough call.
Six66Mike - 10-18-2006 at 10:28 PM
Haha welcome to private medicare & a system that doesn't let poor people get the help they need.
Government should be on trial but I still woulda dragged the kid to the hospital or free clinic for help.
joe - 10-18-2006 at 11:08 PM
I think its totally fucked up she didnt take her to clinic sooner especially because of the weight loss. If she goes away the kids are gonna be more
screwed up. tough call
JawnDiablo - 10-19-2006 at 05:56 AM
13 year old shouldnt be sticking belly rings in her gut to begin with......
i'd sooner gnaw off my own hand than let my kid rot on a couch like that.
stories like this disgust me.
you know what really sickens me?
them christian fundamentalistst cycos who dont beleive in medicine / doctors whom you hear about letting their kids die because it was in gods hands
when t could have been fixed by penecillin......bla
Voodoobillyman - 10-19-2006 at 11:02 AM
I agree with all points here, it is tough, but I have to go with letting the mother keep the kids and just watching a little closer to make sure there
is no more negligence. The kids obviously love their mom and she needs an education on the wrongs of what she did and the options open to her. She
could have taken her daughter to the free clinic and had the proper medicine to fix the problem with little to no cost to her, just tax payers in
general. She needs a tighter reign on those kids though, what with the 13 year old stickin herself with dirty rings and all.
DaveMoral - 10-19-2006 at 05:57 PM
Yeah, I say assign a social worker and check in every week. Maybe court ordered classes on better parenting or something, and an additional swift kick
in the ass for the daughter who was stupid enough to pierce her own navel. I mean, c'mon!
I know punks used to do shit like that back in the day, and no doubt many still do, but that shit's retarded.
The kids won't be any better off in an orphanage in my opinion.