SHERWOOD, Ore. – A Sherwood, Oregon family is expressing frustration through social media at what they say is abuse to their 1-year-old child. And that movement has attracted thousands of supporters online.
In a extensive post to Facebook recently, Joshua Marbury shared pictures of his son, Jacob, that showed bruises on the child's face.
According to the parents, the abuse happened in March when they were out on a date. When they returned home after being away for two hours, they found their babysitter asleep on a couch and Jacob crying. In the morning, they noticed the boy had a black eye, as well as bruising and scratches on his face.
Marbury said that an Oregon court ruling is blocking the alleged abuser, the child's babysitter, from facing criminal charges.
According to court language, in order to prove felony abuse of a child, prosecutors must show that the child had "substantial pain" and incurred a "physical injury." An obstacle can arise for children who are too young to explain their injuries or even describe what happened, as would be the case with a 1-year-old.
Legal officials told KGW that because the child had bruises and not something as apparent as an open gash, it makes a felony abuse charge harder to prove.
The alleged abuser has not been charged with a crime, so Jacob's parents are lobbying to get the law changed to provide additional protection to young victims.
A Change.org petition has more than 30,000 supporters.
The Washington County District Attorney's office said that "they
Read more about this story here.
I normally keep my matters with family very private cause i dont need the attention. But this is different. TWO months...
Posted by Joshua Marbury on Friday, May 20, 2016
Â
Child Abuse Victims by Age | HealthGrove
Child Abuse Victims | HealthGrove
Child Abuse Perpetrators by Relationship to Victim | HealthGrove