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33 Pounds

When post people picture a 33 pound person- they imagine a small loving child, maybe a chubby little three year old with big eyes and a bright smile. Few picture a 19 year old, however when teacher began to worry about the lack of presence of a former student for the new school year- her interest in this young woman would lead her to seeing a very malnourished frail girl- ""bony -- skin deteriorating to the point you could see the bones underneath the skin. "

The teacher grew so worried that she paid a visit to the student's home, and asked the teen's mother, 44-year-old Ronda Ferrell, where her daughter was.

The teacher said Ferrell didn't let her in the house.

"When the child showed up for school the next day, they noticed the child was very malnourished," said Risner.

Detective John Fogle, who is investigating the case, described the teen as "bony -- skin deteriorating to the point you could see the bones underneath the skin. It reminded me of a Third World country where you see images of a child starving to death, and it was right here in America."

Detectives were not able to communicate with the teen because she suffers from cerebral palsy.

However, they did speak with Ferrell and arrested her on Tuesday.

"The mother told me the child just doesn't eat," Fogle said. "I said: 'ma'am, the child has cerebral palsy, you have to be patient and take the time to feed your child.' And again the mother just told me the child doesn't eat. To be perfectly blunt, it was like she didn't care. She did not care."

Ferrell, like so many horrible abusive parents who get caught- has been released on bail. I suppose we should feel better about that since the judge let her go on the condition she not have any contact with the 19 year old daughter. Asshole. Sorry, but I have to wonder- had the child died, would she still have received bail? I mean really, the ONLY thing that saved this helpless woman was the concern of a teacher. I would have hoped that the judge would have used better judgement in this case... but we know what hopes are worth when dealing with senseless judges on power trips.

Many thanks to Butch for this one.

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Comments

Anonymous said…
I don't suppose it occurred to the mother that if the child wasn't eating, was losing weight, that maybe the child needed to go to the Doctor?
33 lbs., she hadn't eaten for a good while.

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