Imagine the worst case of child abuse you've heard in the past few years. Now double it. You might be somewhere near the horror of what happened to the Washington State toddler who had bleach repeatedly poured in her eyes.
And now for the coup de grace. The woman charged with this heinous cruelty is the girl's own mother. Jennifer Mothershead (hard to believe, but yes, that's her real name) has been charged with first-degree child assault for allegedly causing permanent vision damage to her then 15-month-old daughter in May 2011.
I have just one question.
How did it get this far?
Pardon me if I sound naive, but I don't think a normal person simply wakes up one morning and says, "Today, I think I will become a monster." And monster is really the only word I can use to describe the kind of person who pours bleach into a child's eyes, describing it as "eye drops" to "treat" an eye infection. A "mother" certainly wouldn't do that.
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So if Jennifer Mothershead did this to her daughter, she is a monster, plain and simple. How did someone not notice this side of her before? Why wasn't this little girl already living with her father (who is now her legal guardian)? I don't mean to shift blame for this despicable act to anyone else.
But when child abuse is this depraved, I have to wonder: weren't there signs that this person was not fit to care for a young life? Didn't someone see something was ... off? Maybe they didn't. Maybe this is just my reaction because I want to live in a world where there are signs, where we can prevent children from suffering such unspeakable horrors. Sadly, instead, I live in a world where there are people who pour bleach in the eyes of an 18-month-old child.
Did you ever have the feeling that someone just was not fit to be a parent? What tipped you off?
Image via Vox Efx/Flickr
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Comments 160
I told my husband about this article when I read it. He asked why she did it. I said I don't know. People do crazy things all the time. It's hard for me to comprehend how anyone could abuse a child especially their own child.
this made me so sick, poor sweet baby
That IS utterly horrid. I think you both exaggerate the situation though and undermine other cases of child-abuse by saying 'Imagine the worst case you heard of in the last few years and double it'. One of the cases I learned about in the last few years was the six month old who was repeatedly raped during her entire lifetime and mercilessly beaten, bitten, and thrown up and smacked off of the ceiling and floor until she died.
Yes, what happened to this girl is a horrible tragedy, and yes her mother is a monster, but please don't undermine chronic, fatal child abuse by saying that this is 'double as bad' as anything that's happened to kids in the last few years.
Oh, I should add, the six month old was repeatedly raped by her father and uncle and bitten up by her mother^, that may make the horror of that situation more clear.
true sometimes it seems obvious there is abuse,other times its hidden,til something bad happens and noone suspects a thing.
There is nothing a 15 mo. old child can do to deserve that. Her mother needs to be locked up andyou hear horror stories about prison, maybe another crazy mother will do that to her and see.... if she likes it.
Yes I agree there are some people who should not be parents, I know this cute little girl with shaken baby syndrome, her mother was never charged but claims that the boyfriend did it, he was not charged either. but the mother admitted to harming the baby when she got into a fight with her new boyfirend that wanted to leave her by saying leave me and I will hurt the baby again and no one will do anything to me. Go figure it is just crazy
It's a horrible story...but I wonder why dad didn't notice before? Was he not involved? If not, why not? Is he really the best option this little girl has or was this mom being a bitch and "hiding" the girl from him?
Unfortunately, I have to ask wtf????? But i would imagine the mom may be uneducated. I wonder if she genuinely believed that bleach would clean her child's eyes of the infection. Why did she not carry her daughter to the doctor? What would make ANYONE think that something so toxic as bleach would be remotely okay in something as fragile as a child's eyes?????? Was the mother uneducated and just back woods? I have heard of some INSANE home remedies for simple ailments from backwood uneducated people. Some downright terrify me. I have dispelled everyone I came across. Yes, if only one person had been alarmed that this was going to take place, this little girl could have been saved. It is utterly tragic.