Jr's custody issue arising from Ron's arrest

[MADJGNLAW]

As far as remaing in contact with any of the Cummings clan with jr....that would not be in his best interest. Complete separation from these people would be best. This child has been traumatized enough. To even suggest TN or GMA had Jr's best interest would be deluding yourselves. Both Gmas knew from the very beginning that a 21 yr old Ron Cummings was in NO position to raise an infant and toddler.

These same two gmas allowed RC to continue down the same path and bring young girls into their precious lives. They knew he did/sold drugs. NO, keep them away from jr....break all ties. Ron kept them from their mother for five years and didn't even let her talk to them on the phone. His parents let this happen and to this day, they don't mention Crystal as being the children's MOM; they give that award to misty...no, no...jr needs to be completely cut off from RC and his toxic family.

:truce: Whisp I completely understand why you feel this way, I in a way feel the same but I am trying really hard to keep my emotions to myself or I would of had a T/O by now. However, regardless of what the Cummings have done, Jr. is to little to understand and he is so lost right now, he lost his sissy, then his father, then the grandmothers that were around regardless of how negligent they all were...IMO.
He still loves them and misses them dearly I am sure. I agree he should not be allowed to be around them alone, but feel that DCF should arrange a monitored visitation every other week so that Jr. can see his grandmothers.
It is not his fault he was brought into such a dysfunctional family. I feel he was alienated from CS and Marie's side of the family while in Ron's care..now that is JMO from what I understood and the little communication I had with CS and Marie last year.
It would not be fair to Jr. for them to do the same. Not to Jr.; Two wrongs don't make a right.. I could care less about the rest, I only care about what his poor little heart is feeling and how afraid and hurt he must be.
I do feel that CS will try really hard to make things right this time around with the right support system. I always say we should try not to Judge as hard as it is in this case, especially when most of us really don't know any of these players.
We do know for a fact that Ron, Misty, Hope, and DB are behind bars for some serious crimes and Ron has a very long record. Haleigh went missing while in Ron and Misty's care. I will stop there so that I don't get me a T/O. But for Jr. sake we should all pray for him and his mother to have the strength to pull through this horrific time in her life and give her the benefit of the doubt before jumping the gun. Just saying..

:blowkisseace everyone...Remember the people that really matter here are the children Haleigh and Jr.

 

[Baznme]

I give credit where credit is due. Crystal is taking classes and is under a doctor's care. That's the way you act when you're serious about being a responsible mother. Her torment of not knowing where her little girl is must be horrible and seem endless, so for her to keep on with her program through all this gets KUDO's from me. As far as Jr. visiting the grandma's, maybe in time.........but right now he needs his mother. No one can take her place. IMO

 

[Aqua]

Hmmm....I can only guess who is behind this.......deflect,deflect,deflect.. Chin up,Crystal.

 

[butwhatif?]

Posted: Saturday, 06 February 2010 7:17AM


"Snip" TJ Hart http://www.thesky973.com/pages/6301020.php


Rumors have been swirling all week that hearing was held early this week regarding the custody status of Ronald Cummings Jr., the young brother of missing Haleigh Cummings. He is the son of Ronald Cummings Sr, who is now in jail on drug trafficking charges, and Crystal Sheffield of Baker County.

According to the rumors, Crystal Sheffield allegedly failed a drug test yet the young boy remains with her in her Baker County home.

Since WSKY has had no luck in locating the records of this DCF hearing, I contacted Crystal's mother Marie Griffis for confirmation.

I told Marie that there is talk that Butterbean remains at home, but that Crystal may have failed a drug test due to the ingestion of a Loritab pill.


Marie Griffis responded:

"I will say yes that is true, all the other stuff on the internet came from the ones scorned (that is all I will say about them). Please let everyone know that Crystal is doing what DCF wants her too, Crystal has needed these therapies that they are offering she has dealt with a lot losing a child a second time and maybe this time peemanently and on top of that, everyone in the home will receive some type of therapy. Chad's children have been affected by HaLeigh's disappearance, they are all like brothers and sisters. Update on Butterbean he is doing great he is very happy and loving being with his Mommy he gets very upset when she has to be away from him from 3hrs to go to her classes but he understands why. We have explained everything to him that we feel he understands, he just simply wants to be with his Mommy."

Thanks, Marie


VIGIL REMINDER


A reminder that vigil for missing Haleigh Cummings is taking place today, Saturday, February 6, 2010 set for 5:30 p.m. at Celebration Park, in Glen St. Mary.

BBM- While I see no problem with anyone taking their normal prescribed dose of meds, the comment I bolded has left me a little confused.
If she needs meds to cope from the emotional trauma of her child being missing and the media circus surrounding it, I would have expected it to be and anti-anxiety/antidepressant drug.
But this is a narcotic pain reliever. That stuff helps with physical, not emotional pain. This is vicodin!

MG says :

Crystal has needed these therapies

Therapies- plural.

I would understand her being on AD's or anti-anxieties, but why the lortab/vicodin if it's in relation to her emotional state and healing from the trauma?

(Just read that it can also be used as a cough reliever- never heard of that before)

FWIW- The drug is lortab not loritab- it's just a common misspelling.

Please don't take this as me saying she is a drug addict and her children should be removed. If they removed children from homes of parents who take rx meds that can be abused by addicts, there wouldn't be many kids left at home with Mum and Dad. Even OTC's can and are abused.

I hope her therapies consist of psychotherapy as well as medical therapies. The poor girl is gonna need all the help she can get to heal from this....the whole family will.
JMO
ETA: sorry I made the mistake of posting before I'd read through most of the thread. I didn't realize that the lortab was still just a rumour, and we don't know exactly what drug made her have a positive on her test.

 

[SevenSeas]

A tiny bit OT... I was given a drugscreen at job I quit and wanted to return to, a few years later. I was told it came back positive for amphetimines! I was in total shock since I was a lab technician there and KNEW the very people running the tests.

I had failed to tell them I had taken Actifed, which at the time didn't register as being anything different from amphetamines. I didn't think it was anything out of the ordinary OTC drug to mention.. and they didn't ask.

Since they knew me, they sent my sample out to Smith-Kline, a lab that could further pinpoint, exactly was in my sample. Just sayin'.. things happen sometimes like that, luckily.. I was hired back.

 

[kaRN]

THANK YOU for stating that so clearly. i think it bears repeating.

For the record, i am squarely in CS's corner and praying that she finds the strength to do the hard work required to ensure a bright future for herself and for her children.

So am I bessie! I believe she'll succeed!!

 

[Helplessly Hoping]

I give credit where credit is due. Crystal is taking classes and is under a doctor's care. That's the way you act when you're serious about being a responsible mother. Her torment of not knowing where her little girl is must be horrible and seem endless, so for her to keep on with her program through all this gets KUDO's from me. As far as Jr. visiting the grandma's, maybe in time.........but right now he needs his mother. No one can take her place. IMO

*IF* there is a Substance Abuse issue, and IDK the reality, but CS deserves a chance to raise her son and it sounds as if she working with DCF and on their terms re testing...so give her time. She certainly does not exhibit a criminal bent...JMO

 

[bessie]

(Just read that it can also be used as a cough reliever- never heard of that before)

the opiate codeine and the newer semi-synthetic opiates like hydrocodone and oxycodone suppress the respiratory system. codeine was for many years a commonly prescribed cough suppressant.

 

[kaRN]

Just adding my comments to the idea that an addict would never be prescribed painmeds, there are many many people who fall off the wagon every year after taking much needed painmed prescriptions.

Some have doctors that don't take relapse seriously (I have personally seen a dentist I use to work for offer vicodin post op to known addicts in recovery, they both declined the script).

In other cases life happens in a way that pain management is a must and a skilled doctor will administer the minimal amount possible and be proactive in helping them taper back off.

But there are many legit reasons that an addict will end up with a narcotic prescription in hand.

Respectfully bolded by me. In prescribing a narcotic or doing anything else the Physician must first 'Do no harm'. If the risk of prescribing an addict a narcotic outweighs the medical benefit there would be no legitimate reason to prescribe it. If the benefit outweighs the risk and there's no alternative therapy they will. I'm not saying it isn't done. After the legal profession gets finished with MJ's Doctor though, it may not get done for long.

 

[kamky]

Posted: Saturday, 06 February 2010 7:17AM
"Snip" TJ Hart http://www.thesky973.com/pages/6301020.php ~SNIP~

I told Marie that there is talk that Butterbean remains at home, but that Crystal may have failed a drug test due to the ingestion of a Loritab pill.

Marie Griffis responded: "I will say yes that is true..."~SNIP~

ETA: sorry I made the mistake of posting before I'd read through most of the thread. I didn't realize that the lortab was still just a rumour, and we don't know exactly what drug made her have a positive on her test.

It sounds to me like TJ reported that Marie confirmed this "rumor".

 

[raisincharlie]

Hmmm....I can only guess who is behind this.......deflect,deflect,deflect.. Chin up,Crystal.

Everytime Ron and Misty get into some kind of trouble - something bad to be told about Crystal follows shortly - never fails. The one thing consistent throughout this past year...

 

[butwhatif?]

It sounds to me like TJ reported that Marie confirmed this "rumor".

I thought the 'Yes- it's true' was in relation to the drug screen being positive, not the specific drug that gave the positive result.

 

[pittsburghgirl]

IMHO you forgot to mention Ron C.. You may not think he has any problems with drugs because he has never failed a drug test, but I have seen him stoned out of his gord in at least three interviews since Haleigh disappeared...JMO

If you go back and read my original post, I did mention RC--more than once. Crystal, Misty and Tommy are clearly addicts. I don't use that term to stand in judgment of them or anyone else with addiction problems. It's easy to become addicted to legally prescribed meds. My father, who had metastasized lung cancer in his bones, was on morphine almost constantly. Had he somehow survived, he would have had to face addiction issues. I have seen, in print, discussions of particular drugs that these three individuals have reportedly used or abused. I haven't seen these explicit discussions regarding Ron, although as I said in my post "birds of a feather flock together." I did say that Ron has other issues, notably a big anger problem, that would suggest that he needs therapy or counseling. My guess would be that Ron 1) could be an addict; 2) could be an addict but more functional than the other three; 3) may be a recreational user and dealer. Whatever else can be said, RC has a "drug problem" because drugs are clearly at the heart of his daughter's disappearance because Misty was actively using at that point and because drugs have landed him in jail. The larger question is to what extent he has a physical addiction, and to that I do not know the answer.

I would love to hear Dr. Drew Pinsky talk about the people in this case. An expert opinion with nothing to gain could shed some real light.

 

[mikeysmommom]

She lost custody of both of her children, when she finally gets her son back she shows just what kind of a mother.IMO she is a drug user who should have cleaned up her act.If she loses custody what happens to him? a foster home?Her own lawyer claimed she was still using and that her last child was born with drugs in the system.WTH kind of a mother is that IMO not a good one.Just because she has not been arrested does not mean she has not been using drugs.IMO both parents are unfit!

 

[nomoresorrow]

Everytime Ron and Misty get into some kind of trouble - something bad to be told about Crystal follows shortly - never fails. The one thing consistent throughout this past year...

Your right raisincharlie. It's so redundant and tiresome at this point to even bother responding when the predictable begins...again. IMO, at this point there is nothing left to be said that hasn't been said before and that hasn't became evident 11 + months later. AFM, I'll reserve my energy for more useful and productive arguments that will add something, rather than take away, from the real issue at hand. JMHO ~

 

[LFlorida]

Everytime Ron and Misty get into some kind of trouble - something bad to be told about Crystal follows shortly - never fails. The one thing consistent throughout this past year...

This cannot be repeated enough, imo, charlie.

 

[debs]

She lost custody of both of her children, when she finally gets her son back she shows just what kind of a mother.IMO she is a drug user who should have cleaned up her act.If she loses custody what happens to him? a foster home?Her own lawyer claimed she was still using and that her last child was born with drugs in the system.WTH kind of a mother is that IMO not a good one.Just because she has not been arrested does not mean she has not been using drugs.IMO both parents are unfit!

Is it beneficial to continue to beat down a young mother for circumstances neither you nor I could imagine, while she attempts to make better those same circumstances in the harsh light of your or my vision?

I prefer to say "keep going forward" rather than "you'll always be a loser".............JMO

 

[Muffet]

Do we know when this test was taken? I was under the impression it was the pop-test she got before they sent Jr to her, after Ron was arrested for drug dealing.

 

[mikeysmommom]

Is it beneficial to continue to beat down a young mother for circumstances neither you nor I could imagine, while she attempts to make better those same circumstances in the harsh light of your or my vision?

I prefer to say "keep going forward" rather than "you'll always be a loser".............JMO

Not beating anyone down, just calling it as I see it.Making her sons circumstances better IMO is to not take drugs.He deserves better then that. He has lost his sister and his father and his fathers family due to drugs if she takes others prescription pills she is not acting in her sons best interest or her other children.Drugs have taken a toll on this child it just needs to stop IMO.I am very anti drugs when there are children involved.

 

[debs]

Not beating anyone down, just calling it as I see it.Making her sons circumstances better IMO is to not take drugs.He deserves better then that. He has lost his sister and his father and his fathers family due to drugs if she takes others prescription pills she is not acting in her sons best interest or her other children.Drugs have taken a toll on this child it just needs to stop IMO.I am very anti drugs when there are children involved.

So for some there is an absolute. A no-fault-no-faults existence.

Haleigh and Butterbean weren't born to those people. But I do see Crystal as moving on, one step at a time, past the future once laid out before her. God bless her efforts and guide her steps.