IN - 3 year old found locked in box, North Judson, 14 Dec 2016

[MzOpinion8d]

It doesn't seem likely those people are ALL "mandatory reporters", a category that includes teachers, medical workers, CPS, CASA volunteers, Child care workers, etc.

As sad as this case is, I don't see that it's completely different from keeping a child in a crib for long periods of time, which is something a lot of lazy parents do.

I'll be interested in hearing who was the "ring leader" in keeping this child locked in the box - I'd guess it's the partner of a biological parent, who isn't a bioparent of the child.

They're people who knew of the situation. They can still be charged with failure to report even if they're not mandated reporters.

It's a LOT different than being kept in a crib! It's a box with a lid and a lock! The child could have suffocated in there!

 

[JeannaT]

They're people who knew of the situation. They can still be charged with failure to report even if they're not mandated reporters.

It's a LOT different than being kept in a crib! It's a box with a lid and a lock! The child could have suffocated in there!

The official LE quote stated she was "located" in the box, not "locked". In the pic, there is no lock apparent.

I don't know what to think - LE arrived in the wee hours, when everyone was asleep and the child was located asleep in the box, and there are MANY MANY other people in this house. It does seem to me that she may have preferred to sleep in the wooden box, to have some privacy. One of my children preferred to sleep in a closet at that age.

I don't know if there will be any other coverage on this - and whether other abuses were uncovered (lack of food, injuries to the children, etc.). I am always open in cases like this to hearing more.

Interesting, for some reason the children apparently weren't given to the maternal grandfather, although he publicly asked to have them. Wonder why not.

 

[JeannaT]

They're people who knew of the situation. They can still be charged with failure to report even if they're not mandated reporters.

It's a LOT different than being kept in a crib! It's a box with a lid and a lock! The child could have suffocated in there!

Do you know that for a fact, or are you guessing that? (I mean that respectfully).

Edited to add: I researched it, and you're right - in the State of Indiana, every person is a mandatory reporter.

http://www.indianalegalservices.org/node/20/do-i-have-report-suspected-child-abuse

Unlike in Texas, where I am a mandatory reporter but most people aren't.

 

[LostOldUserName]

I tried to look at their house on Google maps, and let me tell you, Google does NOT know what to do with their address. North Judson has the very oddest way of naming streets, W 800 N, for example, and that doesn't exist. "Leslie Street" is what it reverts to. ???

That is common naming for country roads in Indiana

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N910A using Tapatalk

 

[JeannaT]

Chris Short is the dad of the two children, and Donna Sue Short is his mother.

Petition to "GIve Frank Jackson his Grandchildren". I'm still confused why this is such an effort - usually, a grandfather who is begging for his children who are in foster care is expedited so the children can be with family quickly.

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/give-frank-jackson-his-grandchildren/?utm_source=facebook

 

[Vail]

If she was going in it willingly, there are other things going on that still point to abuse or neglect. This made me think of a book I read years ago called Suffer the Child. She was also locked in a box often by her satanic mother and ended up with MPD.

 

[JeannaT]

If she was going in it willingly, there are other things going on that still point to abuse or neglect. This made me think of a book I read years ago called Suffer the Child. She was also locked in a box often by her satanic mother and ended up with MPD.

I volunteer with kids in foster care, and her situation may be just filth and over crowding (not that that's a good thing) and not some horrific abuse. For the sheriff to call this "the worst case of child abuse he'd ever seen" seems . . . kind of shocking to me. I've been in numerous houses where I think "how can people stand to live like this", and this case seems to fall into that category to me. Looking around on social media you can find a long standing rift in the family, and a lot of people who seem to be living on the edge. I think there's a good chance this case will end up being a substandard level of care for children to grow up in, but I doubt it will turn out to be the "worst case of child abuse" the court there has seen.

 

[Rayemonde]

Jan 2018:

Patricia Meeks, who is charged with felony neglect, did not show up for court Thursday, and there is now a warrant out for her arrest.

She was expected to plead guilty.

The prosecutor also planned to add an additional neglect charge.

The attorney for Christopher Short, the toddler's dad, continued his planned plea hearing. That's been re-scheduled for March 27.

He's also charged with felony neglect of a dependent.

Donna Short, who faced the same charge, died in a car accident last July.

The girl was handed over to Child Protective Services.

Warrant issued for suspect in Pulaski Co. child abuse case

March 2018:

Everyone thought Short would be walking into the courthouse Tuesday to take a guilty plea deal, but he decided to exercise his right to a jury trial and plead "not guilty."

The plea deal would have reduced his Neglect of a Dependent charge from a Level 5 Felony to a Level 6.

The wording differs slightly.

A Level 5 charge says the defendant "did knowingly cruelly confine said dependent," whereas a Level 6 says the defendant "plac[ed] said dependent in a situation that endangered the dependent's life or health."

The lesser charge carries a sentence of six months to two-and-a-half years.

The more serious Level 5 felony carries a sentence of one to six years, with the presumptive sentence being three...

The sheriff says he doesn't think even six years would be justice for locking a three-year-old in a box...

The six adults charged with Failure to Report will face a joint jury trial in May.

Pulaski father charged with neglect pleads not guilty

 

[Rayemonde]

May 2018:

Four defendants in a 2016 Pulaski County child abuse case have had their charges dismissed, due to what prosecutors are calling an administrative problem...

Murphy says the issue had to do with the six people who were charged with failure to report child abuse. “They had been set for a bench trial in October of last year,” he explains. “One of the defendants made a written request for a jury trial, which they can do under the rules, and the court continued all of the cases until May 2, 3, and 4, I think it was, of this year.”

The problem, according to Murphy, was that the proper record wasn’t made. “There’s a rule that says a court can’t speak through an absent record,” he says. “If there’s no record of it, then it didn’t happen.”

Murphy says that last month, four of the defendants argued that without the record of the continuance, their right to be brought to trial within a year was violated. “We had a hearing on that, and the judge ruled that although everyone was aware of what was going on, the judge’s office had failed to make any entry in three of those cases,” Murphy explains. “There was one outlier a little bit, but in three of those cases, there was no entry showing that the case had ever been continued but no one showed up for the trial. And therefore, he granted the Criminal Rule 4 in those three and dismissed those three cases.”

Murphy says the fourth defendant’s case ended up being dismissed, as well. “The attorney at the time had filed a motion to continue, but the judge never ruled on it until long after the fact, and the court found that that also violated his rights, and therefore, that case was also dismissed.”

Of the remaining two people accused of failure to report child abuse, Tim Senesac is scheduled to go to a jury trial on November 26 and 27, according to court documents. Meanwhile, Derrick Butala was sentenced to 180 days in jail, after pleading guilty this week, according to Murphy.

Four Accused of Failure to Report Child Abuse Have Charges Dismissed, Due to ‘Administrative Problem’