Child killed by "licensed caretaker" -- ignored warning signs

Clicked this article out of curiosity. Sometimes I have to shake my head at the stupidity.



Care Worker Faces Charges in Boy's Death

Quote:

A Bronx caretaker was arrested and charged in the death Friday of a 20-month-old boy who was beaten and scalded, the police said on Sunday. Athena Skeeter, 40 years old, was looking after Cardell Williamson on Friday and told investigators she was wrestling with the boy when he suffered a number of blows to the body and was later burned in a tub of hot water, according to court records. Ms. Skeeter, a licensed caretaker who was known in the neighborhood as a day-care worker, was charged with manslaughter and endangering the welfare of a child, police said. No information about her attorney was available. The victim's father, Carlyle Williamson, 56, brought the child to Ms. Skeeter's second-floor apartment on College Avenue in the Claremont section of the Bronx at 6 a.m., according to court records. Mr. Williamson had noticed his son's body was covered in bruises for the last six weeks and suspected Ms. Skeeter was hurting him despite excuses she would offer him. For example, two weeks ago she said his shoes had been too tight, causing him to fall down the stairs, Mr. Williamson said. He also noticed his son had a black eye and busted lip. "I don't know what to think. I lost my baby. My child was too young. I'm so sorry my kid was there. I feel helpless," he said. Ms. Skeeter told investigators of the 44th Precinct Detective Squad that she wrestled with Cardell on Friday morning, first throwing him on a cluttered bed, then pulling him by his arm and leg before slamming him onto a hardwood floor, according to court records. "I stepped on his stomach three times. I didn't use full force," Ms. Skeeter told investigators, according to court records. Ms. Skeeter then threw her 3-year-old son on top of Cardell and stepped on his stomach three more times, according to court records. "Cardell acted different after that. He started throwing up. His head kept tilting. He couldn't walk on his own," she said, according to court records. Ms. Skeeter then rubbed cold water on the boy's face and left him in the bathtub while she left the room to remove a chair, she said, according to court records. She came back to find the boy passed out in the water, which was steaming, she told investigators, according to court records.

First of all, when your 20-month-old child comes back from the babysitter covered in bruises, black eyes and busted lips, you do not keep sending him to that babysitter! It's not a case of missed warning signs, it's ignored warning signs. He probably should have reported her to the police the first time it happened, but at a minimum you don't send the child back there.



Oh, and she was a "licensed caretaker". What does that mean anyway? Apparently it doesn't mean you know how to care for toddlers.

Who gives out these "licenses"?

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