Texas Child Abuse

I don’t know where I’ve been since July but apparently there is a child abuse trial going on in Texas. First check out this article from Texas Cable News. As an aside I have to give credit to my wife for bringing this to my attention.

Lauren Calhoun was in the process of being adopted when the birth mother Barbara Calhoun opposed the adoption. Even amidst accusations of abuse and neglect, a judge returned Lauren to her birth mother.

In June of this year Lauren, now age 8, was rescued from her parents’ trailer (a trailer, go figure) where she had been kept in a closet. When police rescued her she only weighed 25 lbs. Now check this article from Fox News and you’ll be horrified. The trailer was lice-infested. One of Lauren’s eyes was swollen shut with mucus. Forced to stay naked for months at a time. And she was forced to eat her own waste. And that’s not the worst of it. Barbara Calhoun’s ex-husband, Kenneth Ray Atkinson was sexually abusing Lauren. Why is it that redneck pedophiles and serial killers always have Ray as their middle name?

Ok, this situation was a cluster fuck to begin with. Why the judge returned Lauren to her birth mother is beyond me. That judge should at the very least be disrobed and disbarred. Yeah let’s take the baby away from a nice home and put it in a trailer with an unmarried couple. Birth mother or not that makes no sense. Why did she put her daughter up for adoption anyway then all of a sudden change her mind. And you know what the mothers defense was. She claims that Lauren had an eating disorder and locking her in the closet was the only way to control it. Excuse me? Do you really expect us to believe that crap? Whatever. So what was your excuse for letting you ex-husband rape her. Was that part of the treatment too? Let me guess. You had no idea what was going on. I bet keeping Lauren meant more welfare money coming in. I may be wrong about that but I doubt it.

Now think of what poor Lauren will have to go through for the rest of her life. It’s bad enough that she has to live with the memories of what she went through, but I’m sure there will be kids and people who will ostracize and discriminate against her over something that she had no control over.

Barbara Calhoun is at trial now and is facing life in prison if convicted. Or should I say when convicted. I say let the punishment fit the crime. Stick her in a closet without food or clothing for months at time and let her eat her own waste. But some wussed out rights group would get upset over that. Good ol’ Kenny Ray is facing sexual assault charges which means if he spends one day in jail it’s a death sentence for a child molester like him. One could only hope.