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.” |