Knox News reports three people were arrested in Vonore, TN after authorities learned that a 4-year-old child had been tied repeatedly to a couch with a rope overnight, police said Thursday.
Robert Allen Jones, 29, Edna Mae Jones, 37, and Tammy Joyce Shubert, 30, were charged with child abuse and neglect. They were taken to the Monroe County Jail and booked on $5,000 bond each, according to Vonore Police Chief (and former Hawkins County officer) John Hines.
The investigation by police and the Tennessee Department of Children’s Services began Wednesday after they received a child abuse complaint at a home on Church Street, Hines said. When they arrived, they found “two short ropes” attached to the legs of a living room couch.
“Ligature marks were observed on the wrists and ankles of the child, and large bruises were observed on the child’s right leg and buttocks,” Hines said in a written statement.
The child was taken to Sweetwater Hospital for examination and then placed in state custody, the chief said. Hines said the victim’s gender wasn’t being released because he didn’t want to make information public that might further identify the child.
“Investigation, evidence and written statements indicate that the child has been tied to the couch on several occasions to include all night long,” Hines said.
If there is anything that can make one rethink one’s general inclination towards pacifism, it’s a story like this.
I agree, Joe and there were three people involved. This kinds of shoots holes in the theory that the abuser was mentally defective or challenged in some way. They couldn’t all be so crazy they’re collectively incognizant. So, the remaining explanation is these are fully functioning adults who are cruel just because they can be. Somehow that seems scarier to me – and completely unrepairable.
It’s pretty nuts all right. It also reminds me a lot of those people who keep their children on leashes at the store, which for some reason is considered acceptable, while doing the same thing here only using ordinary rope instead of some corporate made for the purpose baby chain is a-ok.
Oopsie daisy, I was trying to say that using ordinary rope is taboo and abusive, but doing the same thing using corporate made baby rope is a-ok.
Deborah, I’ve used those leashes: three actually. Three kids under the age of five on three leashes off to see Elmo at Knox Civic Coliseum. I didn’t tie them to a stationary piece of furniture. I didn’t restrain them because they were annoying or a nuisance. I didn’t hitch them to the railing while I wandered off to do my own thing.
I did this to keep them safe. I did this so they would not get separated and/or snatched by a stranger. I did this because I couldn’t run after one kid headed toward traffic and leave the other two unattended. I did this because any sane person knows trying to keep two eyes on three kids hopped up on cotton candy and Big Bird is begging for disaster, and I assumed the other parents would be upset if I lost their children.
I will say I did remove the leashes from their wrists and place them on the belt loops after awhile. The Velcro around their wrists didn’t hurt or mark the kids – but they were able to do this coordinated jump rope/maypole type thing, which kept tangling up my legs and causing me to “almost” fall. After the fifth time, I starting thinking the entanglement dance might have been intentional.
But yes, I did use the leashes. I would use them again in the same situation and wouldn’t make the same comparison at all.
Oh all right then. Yes, tying their legs and feet up all night with ropes is indeed a different level of restraint, particularly given that it left marks. But I’ve known people to put their kid in the harness all night to prevent them from wandering, and that’s not so different either, at that point the two methods do start to overlap and where do you draw the line.
I think leashes send the wrong message to children. They are on a leash. The dog is on a leash. They and the dog are both the parents pet.
And yes, I will confess to thinking about how convenient they would have been with mine, but I couldn’t get over the whole idea that I was approaching it from the same angle of leashing pets when going for a walk – to prevent the pet from wandering off.