Children locked in basement

[Artemis Windsong]

I am so sorry for these kids.  I'm sure they tried to tell someone, anyone what was happening and no one got involved.  Someone finally listened and did something.



bismarcktribune.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/two-accused-of-locking-children-in-basement-sentenced/article_f14dff36-5ba9-11e3-98bf-001a4bcf887a.html

[Deleted]

I can't even look at this article. I have enough nightmares about abused children as it is. I am sooooo glad someone listened and got involved. The amount of punishment for people who mistreat children is NEVER enough.

[billisonboard]

Dec 3, 2013 22:31:25 GMT -5 Artemis Windsong said:

I am so sorry for these kids.  I'm sure they tried to tell someone, anyone what was happening and no one got involved.  Someone finally listened and did something.



bismarcktribune.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/two-accused-of-locking-children-in-basement-sentenced/article_f14dff36-5ba9-11e3-98bf-001a4bcf887a.html

Schaeffer, 29, and Runningbear, 33, were arrested and charged in May. They had pleaded not guilty in July.

A 9-year-old boy, the child of Schaeffer’s ex-husband, reported to school authorities in May that his mother and her boyfriend were physically abusing him and his two younger brothers, ... (emphasis added)(from the link in the OP)

So the boy told school authorities and the adults involved were arrested and charged in the same month.  Not sure who these "someone, anyone" you are sure didn't listen and get involved.  At least the school authorities, police, and prosecutors listened and got involved immediately.

[Artemis Windsong]

The confinement was not short term.  Kids mention things they don't like to gramma's, aunts, uncles.  Even the clerks at the store.  The kids have zero idea who can really help them unless someone tells them where to report it.

I've been round and round with these problems in family.   

My GrGs said he didn't like his stepdad.  He's too young to tell me why.  Do I step in and get in the Dad's face?  No.  The issue could be as simple as the child not picking up toys and getting discipline.  If I stepped in every time, I would be running a children's home.

[Deleted]

What makes me so mad is the way these abusers are able to brainwash these kids into not talking.
"Don't tell anyone, or they will take you away from your family and you will have to go live with strangers."
This seems to be standard threat. And what is really sad is it's true. As abused as many of these kids are, most of them would rather live with their abusers than to face the unknown living with a strange family.

[Tennesseer]

Dec 4, 2013 11:09:53 GMT -5 @lonewolf said:

What makes me so mad is the way these abusers are able to brainwash these kids into not talking.
"Don't tell anyone, or they will take you away from your family and you will have to go live with strangers."
This seems to be standard threat. And what is really sad is it's true. As abused as many of these kids are, most of them would rather live with their abusers than to face the unknown living with a strange family.

The law needs to be very careful.  Sometimes children say what the adults want them to say.  The most recent case of wrongful conviction and imprisonment.

SAN ANTONIO — After years of imprisonment, three of the “San Antonio Four” have finally stepped back into the world, returning into the arms of friends and family.

On Monday, Elizabeth Ramirez, Cassandra Rivera and Kristie Mayhugh were released on bond. They join Anna Vasquez, who has been on parole for more than a year. The release extends to Vasquez, who no longer will have to meet the strict requirements of parole.

In the late 1990s, the four women, all friends, were convicted of sexually abusing two of Ramirez's nieces, then 7 and 9 years old. But there were numerous problems with the prosecution and conviction.

In 2010, San Antonio Express-News reporter Michelle Mondo outlined these issues: changing stories by the nieces, flawed science used as evidence by prosecutors and the specter of homophobia potentially prejudicing Ramirez's jury.

More:  Freedom for 'San Antonio Four' overdue EXPRESS