A
frazzled Taunton mom who claims she
begged the state to take her kids
got her wish Friday, but not before
she allegedly shook her 6-month-old
son so violently he vomited and had
to be hospitalized with a skull fracture,
authorities said.
“It sounds like she was trying to
get help and it wasn’t there for her,
and the result was bad,” said Taunton
Police Lt. Michael Silvia.
Jessica
Rodenhiser, 22, told police she shook
her infant son, Daniel, because he
wouldn’t stop crying Friday morning
as her 18-month-old daughter, Janet,
was acting up, too. The boy was in
serious but stable condition last
night.
Rodenhiser
admitted to shaking Daniel one other
time and Janet twice, including once
in the last week, the police report
said.
“We
don’t know if the skull fracture was
a result of what happened Friday morning,”
Silvia said.
State
Department of Social Services spokesman
Denise Monteiro confirmed Rodenhiser
had sought state help in December,
but said the young mother had never
given any indication to any of her
counselors that she might harm her
children.
“We
had met with her Tuesday, and we were
putting some plans in place. We put
her on a high-priority list for daycare,”
Monteiro said. “She really wanted
some respite during the day.”
Rodenhiser
told police she had been “begging
DSS to take the children because she
couldn’t handle them,” the police
report said.
“If
she did, I’d be disappointed she didn’t
get help sooner,” Silvia said.
Rodenhiser,
who was still hospitalized for crisis
counseling yesterday, hasn’t been
charged with any crimes pending an
investigation by Bristol County District
Attorney Paul Walsh Jr.’s office.
Her daughter was placed with a foster
family after a physical exam determined
she wasn’t injured, Monteiro said.
Neighbor
Victoria Averill said Rodenhiser showed
outward signs of being an attentive
mother, but confided in her last week
that she felt overwhelmed and desperate
for help. “She said she was going
to give up her kids. I said if that’s
the way she feels, that’s probably
the best thing,” Averill recalled.
“They were making her wait. She was
frustrated by it.”
When will "equal rights":
mean equal responsibilities and equal
treatment for men and women?
Any man who did this would no doubt
be charged and sentenced to several
years in jail.
But "motherhood" is sacred,
even when she fractures her son's skull
for crying!!!!! |