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
Many occur with fathers, stepfathers or boyfriends and the mothers don't report it. They wouuld rather have somewhat of a meal ticket I guess rather than protecting their child. I might end up in prison as I might kill the SOB, but then I wouldn't hang around with someone abusive anyway. The mom's parents were often abusive, too, so this seems a way of life. Terrible. And a Mom does this to her child. I wonder what excuse she gave? Did she actually think bleach would cure something wrong with the child's eyes? What was going on? Could this have been the first abuse of this child? She is not a mother. She should go to jail.
When I was in college i knew person who was not quite right When I got them talking the parents made the person bath in bleach water every day saying it is the only way to get clean you had to bath in bleach water.
The mother was very nice when you meet her she did mention a wierd nosie all the time that was it.
Idk what the noise was about but she was crazy. nice but crazy as hell.
Don't just assume everything is ok just because they seem nice. If the person seems off find out more
Unfortunately for children, child abuse is all too common. I was adopted as a baby (healthy when they got me). I had a partial hysterectomy before I reached a year in age. I had UTIs all the time. Was told I was purchased & as such was personal property, & they could do anything they wanted to me. I suffered beatings, was burned with cigarettes, was cussed out, handed over to a friend who sexually abused me with "dad's" blessings, etc. Did anyone ever help me? Nope, not another living soul (not even the shrink when my "mother" flipped out in his waiting room). I learned early on to be self-reliant & to avoid my parents as much as possible, but I was stuck where I was in a hellish home with 2 abusers. I still can't shake my past, nor have I been able to get past the depression & anxiety that are my constant companions since I was a little girl.
The bad thing is that children often don't know any better. All they want to do is be accepted, & loved by their family. They'll do anything to please...no matter how painful or if it feels yucky. Until our society takes stuff like this seriously & checks into a child's background, abuse will continue.
I haven't read all of the comments but this is so horrendous that I can't even fathom how anyone could do this to anyone, and especially a baby. I'm willing to bet this woman started out with small animals because that's how they usually start and when she had her own kid, just had the perfect victim. This person needs to be locked up forever. Tht poor baby....
One other thing...if a child is told not to trust another living soul because "people are untrustworthy," these kids will obey. Brainwashing is part of the problem, & a lot of times, kids will make up excuses for the injuries, to keep mom/dad/whoever from getting into trouble. So what these adults do is make the child play along in a game that can turn deadly for that child. But the children trust that their parents have the childs' best interest & end up suffering even more because of the cover up. It's very very sad.
Pouring bleach in her child's eyes!??!?! Seriously!?!? Who would even THINK to do that!? Bless that child and I pray that she find a loving, wonderful home.
Read the book A Child Called It.
But yes absolutely horrifying. This reminded me of that book (above)