32-pound 10-year-old found locked in Mo. closet

AP Graphics

(AP) KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Authorities say a 10-year-old Kansas City girl who weighed just 32 pounds was found locked in a closet that reeked of urine.

Prosecutors filed charges of assault and child abuse and endangerment against the girl's 29-year-old mother Saturday in Jackson County Circuit Court. The Associated Press is not naming the mother to protect the child's identity.

Officers freed the girl from the closet after responding Friday morning to a call to a child abuse hotline. The mother was arrested later after she was found with two younger children.

The other two children appeared healthy and have been placed in protective custody. Court documents say the mother wouldn't let the 10-year-old leave the house because she knows the girl is malnourished and would "get in trouble if someone saw her."

[magnumdr]

Lock the caretaker up and put them into solitary confinement, give them bread and water for 6 months and see how they like it!

[wizardlady]

And so all the posters pass judgment on this Mother..... just from reading this brief story. You have heard the saying...Don't confuse me with the facts for my mind is already made up. As horrible as it may seem, I would say "HELP THE WHOLE FAMILY" rather than break them up by sending the Mother off to jail. Where is the Father? How long has this been happening? Does the child have an illness causing loss of weight? How are their family finances? Need more info.....

[Big-Daddy-Kahuna]

Oh WizardLady, how I wish I could just make you disappear!

[Mays2011]

based on the facts she should be in jail. Child abuse is a CRIME! i don't care what the illness, YOU DON'T LOCK YOUR CHILD IN A CLOSET AND LET THEM SIT IN URINE! who cares about finances? there is help available if people wouldn't be so prideful and accept help if they need it.
she has no excuse for her actions. none.

[sfjonic]

This is such a sad case, but unfortunately it is not an isolated incident. The other children were just thankful it wasn't them and were probably to afraid to say anything. There is no doubt family knew about this (unless she lives in a different state or city too far away for visits). These so called "monsters" I mean mothers should be locked away for life and let the prison system take its toll on her because of her crime....we all know that is one thing prisoners do not take kindly to.

One story that this reminds me of is a book called "The Child Called It". It is the horrible TRUE story about a boy who grew up in a household and was tortured by his mother. There are 3 books, the story of Dave Pelzer.

[55minus5]

I see no way out of this, and I am very sad.

[Lerianis4]

I do: proper education of children that this is not the way that their parents should treat them in schools and in public service announcements so that we can get the children to realize the truth and rat on their parents.

[Antayap]

Have always said parents need to take responsible for teaching their children all the aspects of life. If you are capable of having children you should be able to talk about it with your children and help them understand. Watch what the girls wear, if they are 12-15 don't let them dress like trash and they are 20, which boys look at them say oh this one is easy. . They need to respect themselves. Who ever said it there are girls to women who should not have babies is correct. The babies are just used as pawns and abused. Even though we have laws to prevent things like this from happening and they are ignore them. Friends and family are aso to blame because they no ave balls to stand up for the child like they should, children can't do it them selves. Usually grown ups believe the child is lying. Pat attention when it is brought to you by a child and see for yourselves what is going on. Could go on forever on this but believe you all know this.

[carolhill814]

This is why I never ever had children I knew I couldn't handle it from very very small.

I worked in hospital when I was in school and wanted to test myself around especially babies and I couldn't take the screaming of young children so then and there I knew I couldn't handle childern at all so my early thinking was 100% correct.

This is what I think ALL young girls should do because we are told all of our lives to have babies so we will feel complete that is so complete hogwash.

Not all girls and women are good mothers they just aren't and this story says everything what more needs to be said.

[gnimelf1968]

It's different when it's your child. I can't stand listening to other people's kids but mine didn't bother me.

[doctressjulia]

BRAVA!

[Oh-Pin-Yun]

Educating people about child rearing should be done in the public
school system. Obviously too many do not have the opportunity to learn parenting skills from their own parents.

[Big-Daddy-Kahuna]

Right. Lesson number 1: DO NOT LOCK YOUR KID IN A CLOSET. Lesson number 2: FEED YOUR KID.

Are we learning anything here?????

[Htos1]

ANOTHER one of 100 reasons to heavily license,regulate,and vet child-birth and rearing.It's NOT for everybody.IAMCS is correct,don't like it?Here's a quarter,you know what to do.

[BWB2020]

License? Possible.

Regulate? Never gonna happen.

Vetting? Who are the ones vetting, and how can we be sure they are not motivated by other factors and mental illnesses themselves, such as, say, racism?

Nah, there is no "magic final solution", we just have to deal with such people as we find them.

[Lerianis4]

Neither licensing nor regulation is ever going to happen. The bottom line is that process would be too open to personal viewpoints/beliefs and therefore would not be fair.

[Calltwoarms]

This is what happens when we have certain groups "demanding life" regardless of the qualifications of the parents and refusing the sane option when it's clear that this is the outcome if the birth occurs.

[Lerianis4]

No, it isn't. This is what happens when in the richest country in the world, you still have abject poverty for a good 25% of Americans.

Add into this numerous CONSERVATIVE families teaching their children that this is how they are supposed to live in the boonies and even in cities.... you see the issue.

[matt6052]

Why does the identity of the child need to be protected? Those accused of child abuse and neglect are routinely identified in the media. There was a case in New Jersey where a couple was running a home with a bunch of foster children -- collecting the checks and starving the kids. Frightening stuff.

[Lerianis4]

What is frightening is that in some of those cases, things like this are allowed to go on even though there are numerous family member and friends who know that something is hinky, yet they do not intervene.

[skeezix06]

I would suggest the one of the reasons family and friends don't intervene is because quite a bit of the time it's a family tradition; handed down from one generation to the next. The other would be a reluctance to recognize child abuse for what it is due to personal friendship with the abuser.