Failure to report seen in many child abuse cases

On one side of an Ozark courtroom sat a mother who may never see her son again. On the other side was the boy’s father, who never imagined he would have to protect his son from the boy’s mother.

Such was the scene for Bryan Henry on Tuesday when he asked a judge to make his ex-wife, June Vickie Henry, serve prison time for the bruises, burns, insect bites and broken bones their son allegedly suffered at the hands of her former boyfriend, Eddie Ledbetter. Authorities said Mrs. Henry was charged with aggravated child abuse because she knew of the abuse her son endured but did not report it.

Law enforcement officials say similar crimes are reported throughout the Wiregrass far more often now than in the past. More than 20,000 child abuse reports were filed with the state Department of Human Resources last fiscal year, according to Public Information Officer Barry Spear.

The number has steadily climbed since 2005, when reports were around 18,000. There was decline that year from 2004, when the state saw around 19,000 reports.

Sherryl Walker of the Child Advocacy Center in Dothan said the center sees more than 30 children a month for abuse. The abuse more commonly takes place by a person the child knows who might have also been abused or seen it take place, she said.

More mothers and other relatives have been arrested for knowing of the abuse but failing to report it.

“A lot of times you have women, or even fathers, who get out of one situation and jump right into another. They then put their children at risk. That cycle has to be broken somewhere,” Walker said.

Dale County Chief Sheriff’s Investigator Harvey Mathis said the cycle of abuse is usually revealed during interviews with the victims and the accused.

“You do see a high propensity for that, a lot of times because the victimizer didn’t seek help when they were abused so they in turn abused the victim. Sometimes the victimizer might have thought no one would listen, so they let the abuse with them go on,” Mathis said.

“There are also people — whether it be the mother or someone else — who see this abuse and have to report it but don’t. Our policy now is to arrest everyone who knows about the abuse but doesn’t try to get help for the abused.If the cycle isn“t broken, then it becomes a possibility that the victim, even though we’ve stepped in, could also turn into a victimizer.“

Walker said some people like teachers, counselors, hospital employees and social workers could face penalty if they failed to notify law enforcement when they assumed abuse was taking place.

But the worse punishment would be something severe happening to the child, Walker said.

“The law doesn’t say if you ‘prove,’ it says if you ‘suspect.’ You hear that a child always has a silent voice, but you have to listen to their cries. It would be horrible if you suspected abuse but didn’t report it and then the person ends up getting killed and you deal with that guilt,” Walker said.

Walker said anonymous phone calls could be made to the state or county Department of Human Resources offices, as well as local law enforcement, if abuse is suspected.

Spear said DHR policy is to have face-to-face contact with the child within five days of the allegation based on its severity. The person who reports the abuse is never identified to the accused, he said.

Mr. Henry said speculation of his son’s injuries came to light because he and his family would call him at his mother’s house. The boy often would not talk to his relatives, and if he did the conversation was short.

The Henrys married in 1999 and Mr. Henry said his wife was generally a good mother before the couple legally separated two years ago.

Mrs. Henry said Tuesday she deserved just as much as her children had gone through. She pleaded guilty to a suspended sentence of 15 years for child abuse but applied for probation, which a judge will decide later.

Ledbetter is serving a 20-year sentence after pleading guilty to the same crime.

Mr. Henry appeared moved by his former wife’s plea of regret, but said it doesn’t help their son. “If we hadn’t of called when we did, I’m afraid my son wouldn’t even be here today. The point of this is she could have did something, anything, to protect our son and she didn’t. Even he knows she has to serve some prison time,” he said.

The couple’s son has been greatly affected by what’s occured. “My son said he wants to be an investigator so other children won’t go through what he did,“ Henry said. “That’s a very important job, but it’s a decision he shouldn’t have to make for the reasons he did.“

Steps to reporting abuse

Contact local law enforcement agency or state Department of Human Resources
What is child abuse?

Under Alabama law, it is “harm or threatened harm to a child’s health or welfare which can occur through nonaccidental physical or mental injury; sexual abuse or attempted sexual abuse; sexual exploitation or attempted sexual exploitation.“
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What is child neglect?

Under Alabama law, it is “negligent treatment or maltreatment of a child, including the failure to provide adequate food, medical treatment, clothing, or shelter: provided, however, that a parent or guardian legitimately practicing his religious beliefs who thereby does not provide specified medical treatment for a child, for that reason alone shall not be considered a negligent parent or guardian; however, such an exception shall not preclude a court from ordering that medical services be provided to the child, where his health requires it.“

What happens to the child?

Generally, Alabama law requires the Department of Human Resources “to seek out, through investigation, complaints from citizens, or otherwise, the minor children€¦in need of its care and protection and €¦ aid such children to a fair opportunity in life.”

The department works closely with the child and the parents or caretaker through direct counseling or referral to appropriate helping professionals or agencies. The purpose of providing these services is to keep the family unit together, if possible.

If removal of the child from his home is necessary, the department will petition the court for custody and make plans for substitute care of the child.

The department will continue to work with the child and seek to work with the parents to prepare them for the time when the child may be returned to their home or receive continued care elsewhere.

Source: Alabama Department of Human Resources, http://www.dhr.al.us