Father watches over critically beaten girl at hospital

[Green_Lantern]

Source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Eddie Runyon watches his 2-year-old daughter, Amanda, clinging to life at Cardinal Glennon Children's Medical Center. He's not only angry about what put her there. He's hurt.

Two-year-olds should be watching Sesame Street and playing with baby dolls, not "hooked to 14 different machines" in a hospital, Runyon told reporters Thursday morning in the hospital lobby.

"She's the best daughter you could have," he said. As her father, "my job is to protect her. And I couldn't."

Runyon, 23, lives in Kentucky, about 150 miles away from his daughter. St. Clair County police say Amanda Runyon was beaten severely by her mother's boyfriend, Kraig A. Monroe, in their trailer home in unincorporated Belleville. Police say Amanda's mother, who was at work when the abuse happened, is being held and could face a charge of endangering the welfare of a child.

Monroe repeatedly punched Amanda in the stomach, as she sat in an Elmo chair, because she wouldn't stop crying, police say. The attack happened over four days last week and early this week. The mother took her to a hospital Monday when she was vomiting and lethargic. The girl also had a broken arm and a broken leg from previous incidents and was missing hair where it had been pulled from her head.

Read more: http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/stlouiscitycounty/story/643326078288C3D4862576DC0055AF17?OpenDocument

---

This is a local story but it has been on my mind all day.

It's an important and disgusting story because I know children are in such vulnerable positions.

[tularetom]

1. I don't want to say what that article makes me want to do

This one may be even worse:
http://www.truecrimereport.com/2010/02/kevin_and_elizabeth_schatz_rel.php

[FedUpWithIt All]

2. I would be unable to stop crying if i were repeatedly punched in the stomach by an adult for 4 days.

It is so difficult to understand...

My son is 2. They are so tiny.

Horrific.

[libodem]

3. 17,000

kids a year are murdered in this country.

We go to war over 3,000 people being murdered by 9/11 and spend a year watching Scott Peterson lie about killing Lacy and the unborn child she was carrying but not a peep about losing child welfare services all-over this country due to the failing economy.


Obviously a non-issue.

[Soylent Brice]

23. that's sick and saddening.

:(

[arbusto_baboso]

30. Of course. We only care about children until they're born.

Then, they become mere property of their parents and/or step-parents.

[alp227]

32. Ya rly, those damn "pro-life" fools

keep wailing and wailing about the unborn so loudly that they stop caring about welfare that is so so so much more helpful. Family values? My donkey!

[Blue Owl]

4. keep those monsters locked up

especially the sub-human named Kraig Monroe -- in fact take your raging temper to hell with you, fuckface.


:mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad:

[niyad]

5. THIS beating (not the one where her arm was broken) took place over FOUR DAYS last week AND Monday?

the mother didn't notice anything wrong before MONDAY?

there are some really serious gaps in the information in this story. My heart goes out to the child--and may those who did this die slow, horrific, excruciatingly painful deaths.

[Green_Lantern]

6. no, I'm betting the mother knew...

Any decent mother could tell if their 2 year old was punched just by looking at them.

My newborn niece has colic and even I can tell it hurts her, so this mother would likely know her child was in pain.

[tblue37]

42. The mother knew. She didn't seek medical care for the poor baby, though,

until the child wouldn't stop vomiting. That's how it typically works. The mother lets her boyfriend or the baby's stepdad beat on the kid, as long as the damage is "containable." But when it gets to the point that the child looks as though she might die, then the mother gets a bit worried--probably more about being charged with homicide if the child dies than about the child's well-being.

[Journeyman]

7. What's the Matter Here? . . .

Answer me and take your time,
what could be the awful crime he could do at such young an age?
If I'm the only witness to your madness offer me some words to balance out what I see and what I hear.
All these cold and rude things that you do I suppose you do because he belongs to you
and instead of love, the feel of warmth you've given him these cuts and sores that won't heal with time or age.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=47Wm_IAu_yM

[liberation]

8. Trash is, as Trash does...

A truly heartbreaking story, what piece of bettle dung could do that to an innocent two year old?

[proteus_lives]

9. Send both the mother and the boyfriend to jail.

Mothers who allow their boyfriends and husbands to hit their children are just as responsible.

And send the scumfuck boyfriend out into the yard and let all the prisoners know why he's there. Then let karma do the rest.

[Moosepoop]

10. I hope the father gets full custody.

The good news per the article is that the hospital has told the father that the little girl will be in the hospital for a "couple of weeks," so that sounds hopeful. Right now she's recovering from intestinal surgery and being medicated, but it sounds like they're expecting her to recover and be ready for release in about two weeks' time. Hopefully she'll recover without any complications like infection.

There were other children in the home, and they've all been removed by the authorities. I wonder where they'll end up, with other family or in the foster care system? I also wonder if it will turn out that there was abuse of the other children as well. What a sad situation, all around.

The little girl in this story is the only one that belonged to this particular father. I hope he gets full custody of her and can take her home once she's out of the hospital.

[REACTIVATED IN CT]

24. Re Foster care System

Many states need more foster care parents so kids removed from these situations have a safe, loving place to go to.

I found out this week that a co-worker has been a licensed foster home for 4 years and has cared for numerous children during that time. She is my hero.

If you think you may be able to become a foster parent, please give it serious consideration.

[Tsiyu]

33. Thank you for encouraging others

who care about children to consider becoming foster parents.



The need is staggering.

Some of the work I do involves the court cases of abused and neglected children. There are not enough caring, responsible adults out there willing to provide safe homes for abused children. Kids end up being separated from siblings or sent out of state - where there are foster homes available - at the times when they are most traumatized and vulnerable.

In this case, sounds like the baby's father (they are all babies to me at that tender age) can be the shelter she needs. In many cases, a traumatized child like this ends up in less than satisfactory foster care. These kids need love, love, security and often therapy to regain trust and to break abusive family cycles.

If you are a patient person, have a spare room and some time in your life to give to a child, research the requirements for foster parents in your area. You'll have to take classes and meet certain criteria. But you will be making a difference in a sad world that needs more people to do so.

In our state, foster parents are paid a stipend for the children's needs. The kids get state health and mental care. There are a lot of community organizations that will help foster parents, too, just not enough foster homes.

[Lerkfish]

11. I'm always amazed at how we have strong laws to protect pets.

but not children

[bluestateguy]

12. Why is it always the mother's "boyfriend" who does things like this?

Seems like a trend.

[Coventina]

13. I'm almost scared to say it, but I wonder if it's evolutionary.

In many species, an adult male will kill the offspring of another male, in order to mate with the mother and therefore pass on their own genes.

:shrug:

on edit: clarity

[Berry Cool]

15. We are more than our evolution.

Nah, this is just horrible behavior. And yeah, oftentimes it's done by Mom's boyfriend, because he doesn't have a stake in the kid the way he might if it were his own. But men have been known to kill their own children too.

And nine times out of ten, the news story contains the explanation "he said it was because the child wouldn't stop crying."

Disgusting.

[Coventina]

20. We SHOULD be more than our evolution, but sometimes I wonder

if there are members of our species who are just bundles of evolutionary impulses.

Please understand, I'm not trying to give this guy a pass. It is horrible behavior.

[BanzaiBonnie]

22. I believe this could be reason for some

Also, the child of another man is a constant reminder to these idiots that the woman once "belonged" to someone else.

[Rebubula]

21. As a 'Mother's Boyfriend'...

...I would direct your attention to Susan Smith, Andrea Yates, Mark Castillo and HUNDREDS OF OTHER CASES where a child was beaten or killed by their own biological parents. This occurs ALL Over the planet...not limited to the mobile homes and inner city apartments of the US.


Seems like a trend to try and make trends out of nothing....

[WriteDown]

14. These people need to be eliminated from the gene pool...

Send both the mother and her boyfriend to Afghanistan to meet the Taliban. That should do it.

[proteus_lives]

16. Or to a CIA black-site.

As "practice dummies".

[WriteDown]

18. Seriously, talk about lower than pond scum...

Hard labor for life would be about right. Nothing like breaking stones with a sledgehammer for 10 hours a day.

[bighart]

19. The Taliban would probably applaud this guys actions.

[bighart]

17. These kinds of stories make me so angry! Thre is no excuse for this.

"They cry in the dark, so you can't see their tears
They hide in the light, so you can't see their fears
Forgive and forget, all the while
Love and pain become one and the same
In the eyes of a wounded child
Because Hell
Hell Is For Children
And you know that their little lives can become such a mess
Hell
Hell Is For Children
And you shouldn't have to pay for your love with your bones and your flesh"

[Sherman A1]

25. Cardinal Glennon is one of the Best

The situation is incredibly bad, but if you have to be somewhere... that in my opinion IS the place to be.

They kept me alive when I was a kid suffering with asthma and not expected to make it.

[benld74]

26. Totally disgusting situation that happened here,,,

Illinois Dept DID NOT notify local police that they had been at that same trailor some time back. Everyone pointing fingers. The so called boyfriend had better be looking over his shoulder forever more,,,

[OneBlueSky]

27. the animal who did this should never be allowed to walk free again . . .

just lock him up and throw away the key . . . no parole, not time off for good behavior, no consideration of any kind . . . there's no place in civilized society (if that's what we have) for someone who would abuse an innocent child in this horrific way . . . none . . .

[reggie the dog]

28. I have a 2 year old

If anyone punched her I would have a hard time keeping myself out of jail........ I home Kraig goes to jail for a long, long fucking time. If the mother was battered too I would not say she deserved jail, just conseling, and the father deserves full custody.

[MrSlayer]

29. Just let the father have the son of a bitch.

Or better yet, let me have him.

[Echo In Light]

35. +1

[JAbuchan08]

31. self delete

[MrCoffee]

34. I am against the death penalty. I am against the death penalty. I am against the death penalty.

It helps to remind myself after reading stories like this.

[bighart]

36. One of my best friends lost a son in a situation like this.

His son was about 28 months old and 3 months younger than my oldest, now 25, and was killed by a blow to the head by his mothers new boyfriend while she was at work. We seriously thought my buddy was gonna kill the guy and if he hadn't gone to jail over it he probably would have. It took my buddy years to get over it, he has a tat of a teddy bear on his left arm with his birth and death dates.

[Odin2005]

37. I don't get how anyone could hurt a child, I really don't.

:cry:

[proud2BlibKansan]

38. I've never understood why adults keep hitting kids because they won't stop crying

Like hitting them is going to stop the crying?!

[tblue37]

43. I think also of the ones that hit a child because he or she "won't go to sleep."

Yeah, I doze right off whenever someone hits me--doesn't everyone?:sarcasm:

[flvegan]

39. I'm sure Mr. Monroe is coming to realize the error of his ways.

Many inmates have children they'd love to be with right now, and likely won't take kindly to what he's accused of.

[Shell Beau]

40. I know violence is never the right answer, but if this were my child, it

would take a really strong force to keep me from killing that man. I hope the little girl pulls through, and the beater is in prison forever. The mother needs to be evaluated. I wonder how long this has been going on.

[unabelladonna]

41. nothing good ever happens at trailer parks

when the mother's boyfriend is around.