Yipes!!! The worst child abuse case I have ever read about. M

Mom sentenced to 20 years for keeping son in cage
Fri May 23, 12:18 AM ET


JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - A mother was sentenced to 20 years in prison Thursday for keeping her 17-year-old adopted son caged in her home.

Brenda Sullivan pleaded guilty in January to three counts of aggravated child abuse. Prosecutors agreed to drop lesser child neglect charges.

The teen weighed 49 pounds when child welfare workers found him in 2005 in what appeared to be a cage. Sullivan told a judge at the time that Ohio authorities told her to keep the boy, who had severe medical and emotional problems, in a crib.

"There's only one conclusion when you look at the medical evidence in this case, and that is that she literally starved him," prosecutor Julie Schlax said.

Two other children, 13-year-old twins the Sullivans adopted as infants, both testified they were kept in similar cages.

Sullivan's husband was also arrested, but died in January 2007 while awaiting trial.

Sullivan's lawyer, Charles Fletcher, said he didn't think prison was the right option because she does not pose a threat to society. He said they would appeal the sentence.

Mom sentenced to 20 years for keeping son in cage - Yahoo! News

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Nice.

However, I am waiting for a Libertarian to argue that she has a "right" to do so, and government shouldn't "nanny" her about it...

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"Oh, bother", said Pooh, as he chambered another round...

If this was a foster child case, a caseworker would have challenged the situation early on. However, when you adopt, there is no case worker follow up.

There is a place for the Libertarian position on individual rights. However, I would expect this 17 year old kid to be medically and emotionally damaged the rest of his life. The individual rights of the parents should not impede the individual rights of their adopted son to grow up healthy and have basic needs fulfilled. They have seriously compromised the life of another human being.

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I really doubt you will hear that.

Oh, great! Now this woman gets free room and board at taxpayer expense for the next 20 years!

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A panda walks into a cafe. He orders a sandwich, eats it, then draws a gun and fires two shots in the air.

"Why?" asks the confused waiter, as the panda makes toward the exit. The panda produces a badly punctuated wildlife manual and tosses it over his shoulder.

"I'm a panda," he says at the door. "Look it up."

The waiter turns to the relevant entry and, sure enough, finds an explanation.

"Panda. Large black-and-white bear-like mammal, native to China. Eats, shoots and leaves."

Kind of ironic. She is found guilty of having her adopted son in a cage for years because ..................... we say that's wrong. So now we are putting her away in a cage for years because .................. we say that's wrong. Mr Spock of Star Trek would say "humans are illogical."

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Then you obviously don't understand libertarian thought. Libertarians believe in freedom to do WHAT DOES NOT HARM ANOTHER. This woman was harming children and that is a no-no even for the Libertarians many here love to lambaste.

And I don't understand why those who obviously don't understand what they are talking about when it comes to libertarianism continue to express their misguided notions. Apparently a strong belief in freedom, personal responsibility,and a smaller, accountable government is threatening to some.

(sarcasm alert)

Freedom=bad
Coercion=good.

(End of sarcasm alert)

I just don't get it.

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"When the people fear their government, there is tyranny. When the government fears the people, there is liberty." Thomas Jefferson

Walter Mondale: "George Bush doesn't have the manhood to apologize." George Bush: "Well, on the manhood thing, I'll put mine up against his any time."

Heh good point.

They guy in Europe that kept his daughter in that hidden room and fathered children with her is the worst case of child abuse ever. This story is horrible without a doubt but no where near as bad as the case over there.

With both stories, it amazes me that the people involved in the child abuse were involved for years and otherwise carrying on normal lives in the outside world.

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