CAMDEN, N.J., Feb. 10 — Bruce Jackson rose in a packed courtroom here on Friday, 95 pounds heavier and 15 inches taller than he was 27 months ago when he was found rummaging through a neighbor's garbage can looking for food.He looked directly at his adoptive mother, who was about to be sentenced to seven years in prison for systematically starving him and his three younger brothers in a case that drew national attention to the failures of New Jersey's child welfare system.
"You would make us eat pancake batter, dried-up grits and oatmeal, uncooked Cream of Wheat, and raw potatoes instead of cooked food," Mr. Jackson, now 21, told her and the crowded courtroom. "You didn't take us to any doctor's appointments. You wouldn't let us watch TV or play with our toys. You wouldn't let us take a shower when we were dirty."
He read from a piece of paper in a calm and determined voice betrayed by a slight slur.
"You yelled at us, cursed at us, hit us with brooms, rulers, sticks, shoes and belt buckles; I still have the marks to prove it," he told Vanessa Jackson, 50, who took him in as a foster child when he was 7 and later adopted him.
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"If we knew why these kinds of things happen, we would be able to put ourselves in the shoes of defendants, in the shoes of mass murderers, in the shoes of people who do horrible things to young children," said Vincent P. Sarubbi, the Camden County prosecutor. "We'd have to become them, and that's why it's impossible in some circumstances to truly understand what may motivate people."
Why???????????
95 Pounds Heavier, Angry Son Faces Mother Who Starved Him from NYTimes
2 comments:
Cruelity to children is unpardoable. Wonder what prompted it in this case. One cannot understand the true motives of someone unless one goes through the same experiences.
A total screw-up by some people of a good system. That of fostering. The blurb says that this kid was initially taken as a foster cared child into this woman and then she later adopted him. If someone heard this before hearing about all the atrocities, they would look quite kindly on the woman for taking in a homeless, familyless child into her home and life. If this is the 'goodness' in some people, let there not be any good about. Very sad, unpardonable, crime. There will be people and doctors and experts who might put a spin on all this and say that the world does not understand such people (the 'mother')and they need our help and not punishment. I cant go along with that. Not only was a biggest and worst crime committed in actually hitting the child and hurting him, it was followed by Nazi camp level of atrocities.
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