Children should be cherished, not abused
By Staff
Child abuse cases seem to be sweeping the nation this week. I have seen several cases on national news website, and have learned about several serious cases in our county.
A mother, in Pennsylvania, used her infant son as a weapon against her boyfriend, the baby's father. The baby was reported to be in serious condition with broken bones and a fractured skull. The mother has been arrested and charged with reckless endangerment, aggravated assault and simple assault, according to CNN news.
Closer to home, a Red Bay man has been indicted for the murder of his three-week-old son. The man has been charged with capital murder, and he will have to stand trial. In an unrelated case, a mother has been indicted on child abuse charges after her one-year-old tested positive for cocaine.
I was outraged to learn about these crimes. Innocent children are being harmed, emotionally and physically, and in one case, a life was lost.
As a community, we should be calling for justice for these children because they can't speak out.
Parents have the ultimate responsibility to protect their child. When a parent ditches this responsibility and harms their child, the penalty should be stiff. I am talking Chinese torture stiff.
It is not acceptable for anyone to hurt innocent children regardless of where you live. We hear about babies dying or children being harmed at the hands of their parents too much. Two high profile cases where mothers murdered their kids are the Susan Smith and Andrea Yates cases.
Susan Smith was convicted in 1995 of killing her two children, ages three and 14 months. She is serving a prison sentence for the crimes but may be eligible for parole in 2025, according to the Wikipedia website.
Andrea Yates was found not guilty by reason of insanity last summer after drowning her five children in a bathtub. She was found guilty in her first trial, but a court of appeals reversed the verdict because of false testimony and granted a new trial.
She was acquitted after her second trial but was committed to a mental facility, according to Wikipedia website.
If I were judge and jury in these two cases, I would have sentenced both of these women to death only because our constitution prohibits cruel and unusual punishment. I think the amendment should say "no cruel and unusual punishment unless a child has been harmed in any way, or killed by his/her parent."
Children are a gift, and they should be loved and cherished, not abused in anyway. Not everyone can have children, and they should be treated like a precious commodity, not like yesterday's trash.
