Mom in jail on child neglect charges...kids sunburned

[SeaSpray]

STEUBENVILLE, Ohio (AP) -- A woman was arrested on felony charges for allegedly letting her three children get so severely sunburned that they looked like they "were dipped in red paint."

Eve Hibbits was arrested a week ago on three counts of child endangerment, said Sheriff Fred Abdalla.

She remained in jail Tuesday in lieu of $15,000 bail, and a preliminary hearing is set for Wednesday.

Abdalla said a deputy noticed her 2-year-old daughter and 10-month-old twin boys had severely sunburned faces at the Jefferson County Fair.

"She pushed her kids around the fairground all day last Tuesday, and it looked like those kids' faces were dipped in red paint," he said. "There was no sunscreen or nothing on these children."

The children had second-degree sunburns and were treated with cold compresses, said Trinity Medical Center West spokesman Keith Murdock.

Hibbits, 31, could face 15 years in jail if convicted of all three counts.

 

[caitycaity]

while she probably should have put sunscreen on them, i think 15 years in jail for this crime is a bit extreme.

 

[bsnyder]

This sounds a bit extreme to me too! I'm a big proponent of sunscreen, but I think 15 years in jail is a stretch on this one. Maybe this mom just needs some education on the dangers of sun posioning.

 

[EROS]

MY DW, who is a pediatric nurse practitioner, FREQUENTLY walks up to parents at WDW when she sees that their accompanying kids are getting burned .............

 

[Kermit]

I just heard on the news that they released her and downgraded the charges to one misdemeaner.

I think that letting your kids get burned without attempting to stop it is bad, but it's a case for social services. She needs parenting lessons. If that's the only thing she's done wrong, I think her kids would most benefit from staying with her while she takes some classes on how to be a better mom.

 

[Ranatra]

Just heard this on the news:

Felony charges have been dropped but misdemeanor charges are pending.

The Prosecutor says the kids are not as badly burned as first suspected.

Meanwhile, the woman has been in jail for 8 days!

 

[ZPT1022]

I think that's a bit extreme I remember as a kid going to Florida every summer to visit the grandparents and I would always go to the beach the first day, always burned, even wearing my dermatologist-prescribed sunscreen and then I spent the rest of the vacation at home with my grandparents while everyone else went to the beach. If one sunburn is a standard for neglect warranting 15 years in jail, my parents probably would have gotten the death penalty.... geez. What bothers me the most is that in that same town there's probably some child molester or someone who beats their kids and this goes unnoticed

 

[linny172]

I also saw this on the Today show this morning and I thought when they were talking to the police officer he said on of the children also had a collapsed lung.
I don't know how I feel about this certainly I agree 15 year is a bit extreme.

 

[glo]

I also heard that the kids had been screaming and that when they got one of the twins to the hospital it had a collapsed lung.

 

[Pete's Mom]

Instead of 15 years why don't they put her in a tanning bed for a few hours straight and let her see how it feels.

Kids depend on their parents to watch out for them and protect them because they are too little to look out for themselves.

Just Saturday I was signing my 5 year old son up for baseball inside the rec building and one of the other parents came walking up with a little boy about the same age. He was crying so hard! She asked "Does this child belong to anyone?"

20 minutes later we found the mom 4 ballfields down watching her other child play baseball while talking on the cell phone. She just kind of shrugged her shoulders and went back to talking on the phone

With all the terrible and horrific crimes against children that have been happening lately, this IMHO, is neglect!!!

 

[Claudia1]

15 years is too much but the burns did sound severe.

According to a Good Morning America interview with a law enforcement official, the children had 2nd degree burns and some 1st degree burns. The children had been crying for quite some time (which is what brought them to somebody's attention) and one did indeed have a collapsed lung, possibly from the crying.

It wasn't a typical sunburn and the mother should have not had the kids out so long.

 

[helenabear]

I just saw this on our local news (this happened in the state where I live) and the charges have now been reduced to misdemeanor child endangerment, which carries a maximum penalty of six months in jail and a $1,000 fine. What I find most interesting is that on the news and on the local news sites, I haven't heard anything about the child with the collapsed lung... I wonder why

http://abcnews.go.com/wire/US/ap20020821_1819.html

 

[dalepool]

I would think there is more to this story. I wonder why people waited to do any thing. On the beach in Hawaii If I see a baby or small child in the sun with out a hat I let the parents know strong that sun can be on the younger ones. When there is a gentle breeze you sometimes forget the sun is still shining brightly. I don't even care if they think I'm interferring at least I can rest at night knowing I tried.

I remember one time I reminded a couple ---They must have just flown in the night before because they were very white--that the sun is closer in Hawaii and they shouldn't stay out to long. They didn't listen-----poor things spent the next day in the emergency room.

In the end I hope the littles ones will get the help they need and if their mother needs help I hope she gets it to.

PattyN

 

[Ranatra]

There was no truth to the collapsed lung story. It just shows how things get blown out of proportion.

They said the one child was born with something wrong with one of her lungs and thats possibly how that one got started.

Meanwhile, the woman spent 8 days in jail!!
Does this not bother anyone else??

 

[cotye]

Poor things... burned to a crisp!!! Well, she needs to learn a lesson and I think the misdemeanour charge is sufficient.