In 2008, a 6-year-old girl reported that Michael lifted up her skirt as he was bucking her seat belt. At the time, investigators determined that even if allegations were proven to be true, no crime had occurred under state statutes. In January 2009, a 5-year-old girl told her parents that Michael spanked her. The child’s mother informed deputies, who, in turn, contacted DCF. DCF refused to take a report because a bus driver isn’t considered a caregiver. Where the case went after that isn’t exactly clear, but I’m guessing there just wasn’t enough proof to warrant further investigation. In this particular incident, Michael Bowersock, 27, is being held without bail on charges of lewd and lascivious molestation on a victim under 12.

Officers believe Ronda lured the child away with the promise of candy – whether she was going to return the child is unknown. Dayton, with gumdrops in his mouth and a Tootsie Roll in his pocket, was safe. “It was the worst possible fear I’ve ever gone through in my life. You don’t do that, you don’t take someone’s child, how could you do that?” said Hillary. Though Ronda lives just doors away in the same complex, she doesn’t know the child or his family. Ronda, 50, admitted to using meth before kidnapping the child. She has been booked on suspicion of custodial interference. The case is now in the hands of the FBI.

Things started going bad when Eaves took the child into the bathroom and locked the door. Yay for Grandma, she got a butter knife and popped that lock, but Eaves blocked the door with his body. Grandma could see the baby on the floor and the knife in her son’s hand, so she essentially tore the fucking bathroom door off its hinges. She grappled with her son, but as you can imagine, he had the advantage of superior strength; it was only when she offered to help him complete the “surgical procedure” that he handed over the knife. She then grabbed her grandson and ran into the kitchen to call 911, but damned if Eaves didn’t follow her, get another knife, and wrest the baby from her. Then he started cutting. Despite her best efforts–as in, she jumped on her son’s back–Grandma couldn’t get the little boy away until Eaves decided he was done.

Ixnay on that psychiatric hospitalization for now. Send your letters to the Snohomish County jail, which is where you’ll find Eaves.

Gonzalez, who has a “stellar” attendance record, appeared in court Tuesday, where she was assigned eight hours of community service, a book report, and an essay on what she learned from her mistake. And what is it she learned? “I definitely learned not to ever draw on a desk,” said the girl. “They told me with a pencil this could still happen.”

Your tax dollars at work!

Back in 2008, when I got done writing about the life and horrible starvation death of 14-year-old Danieal Kelly, I assumed it would be a cold day in hell before I would ever find myself writing about a case so simultaneously grisly, disgusting, heartbreaking, infuriating, and fucking chock-full of FAIL. But in some ways, this one might actually be worse. Let me detail some comparisons for you.

1. Mom Spits Out Kids Like a Pez Dispenser Spits Out Candy. Like Andrea Kelly, Lockhart had at least one child with serious health issues (Danieal had cerebral palsy) and nine other children. Unlike Andrea, Lockhart had farmed those nine other children, ranging in age from 2 to 18, out to adults who, according to a CPS representative, “had drugs and weapons in the home.” Further, Lockhart is at least 6 years younger than Kelly, meaning that she either started on her reproductive warpath earlier, was trying for a baby-producing speed record, or both.

2. Child Rearing in a Completely Inappropriate Environment. Danieal Kelly suffered and died in the squalid, sweltering, just-this-side-of-condemned home she shared with her mother and siblings. Little Halle? She spent her last days in an empty apartment. And when I say empty, I mean empty. No furniture. No TV. No pretty little girl decorations. No one else. Just a bit of trash and some feeding supplies, as this photo posted by Houston’s KHOU shows.

I never thought I’d see that day where I’d be able to say I’m glad that Danieal at least had people around her and died on a bed.

3. Child Protective Services FAIL. You can read in the Danieal story I linked above about the many ways in which DHS failed Danieal Kelly, and the repercussions of that case continue to sound in the halls of that agency and criminal cases are still underway. It is only today, 13 months after Halle’s death, that the Houston Chronicle published a piece calling into question CPS’s role in Halle’s death, especially considering that CPS has suspected for 17 years that Almita Lockhart is unable and/or unwilling to care for her children, yet she has never had a child removed. As Terri Langford and Dale Lezon detail in the article, complaint after complaint after complaint was made about Lockhart, and it was only when Lockhart tested positive for drugs at the birth of Halle in 2000 and then the birth of a later child in 2005 that CPS stepped in, ordering her into drug treatment. In neither instance did she comply, yet the cases were closed by CPS.

Halle was last seen by a CPS worker in 2006, who described her as “healthy” but never consulted with Halle’s pediatrician. The failure to do so and the closure of the 2005 case despite Lockhart’s failure to complete drug treatment led CPS spokesman Patrick Crimmins to say, “At that point in the case, we could have consulted with our attorneys about a possible removal. We did not do so. In hindsight, that can certainly be viewed as a mistake.” Yes, Pat, it certainly can.

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To add insult to injury, the only photos available of Halle are those that were taken at her death. When she died, her sole belongings were listed as a shirt and a purple blanket. Her body is buried in an unmarked grave at Paradise North Cemetery.

Little Drake has been through surgery, is in stable condition, and could be released from the hospital as early as next week. As for his mom, she has no criminal history, and her family says that she’s never had any mental health issues…until the last week, during which she is reported to have begun having delusions. Those on Kristy’s side insist this is completely out of character for her and clearly represents a mental breakdown of some sort, but of course, some commenters on the news sites are pooh-poohing “the mental health defense” and calling for Kristy’s head. Denizens, what say you?

The charges against Bassett stemmed from a Sunday incident–police were called to his apartment after neighbors reported hearing a man screaming. What officers found was a wet, partially shaved, and nearly dead kitten; a plugged in electric razor; cat hair strewn about the apartment; and an alternately cooperative, confused, and agitated but very scratched Bassett. Apparently, Bassett had recently adopted the kitten but had determined that something was “wrong” with it, so he tried to drown it in the toilet then threw it against the wall or stomped on it, as the kitten had a crushed pelvis and vertebrae. He was charged with aggravated cruelty to animals and would’ve been arrested for same Thursday. Currently, police are not confirming the identity of the body nor the cause of death from Thursday’s incident, but it doesn’t really take an Einstein to put two and two together on this one.

As for Brown and Vetterlein, they were charged back in September with 14 counts of animal cruelty and 14 counts of animal abandonment after authorities received complaints about the condition of their animals. Ultimately, several horses, two dogs, a donkey, a goat, and a bull were removed. I’m not finding much on specifics that led to the charges, although it’s been suggested that the animals had been starved. Police last had contact with the two regarding the case in mid-November, and it’s suspected they committed suicide just a couple of days afterward.

The injuries to the spine of Bassett’s kitten were determined to be irreparable, and she was euthanized.

When police were called out to the home Sunday evening, it wasn’t because the girlfriend wanted to turn the piece of shit in for repeatedly beating the snot out of his kid. Nope. The girlfriend called because Joshua was intoxicated, irate, and wandering around the neighborhood with his Kevlar helmet, threatening to bust windows. The investigation into the child abuse allegations has revealed that Joshua may have a bit of a temper. Really? Well, color me shocked! I never would’a guessed! He has had “serious anger issues” in the past and has taken anger management classes. Based on the whole “serious anger issues” thing, I have to wonder how he managed to gain custody of the kid – it has been reported that the girl’s bio-mom lives in Kansas.

Joshua, 27, was booked on charges of second-degree assault of a child and was released from jail on Monday after posting $10,000 bail. As a condition of his release, Joshua has been ordered to remain on base and away from his child and girlfriend. Speaking of the nitwit girlfriend – authorities have referred a potential criminal charge against her for her participation in and knowledge of the abuse, but as of Sunday night, she hadn’t been arrested. The child was handed over to CPS.