One Oregon family’s viral Facebook post begging for justice for their abused son has people raising serious questions about the legal system.
Alicia Quinney and her boyfriend, Joshua Marbury, went on a date back in March, leaving their 1-year-old son Jacob in the care of a family friend, KATU reported.
But upon returning home, the couple discovered Jacob was distraught, crying alone in his room, while the unnamed man who was supposed to be taking care of him was asleep on the couch.
The next day, Jacob has developed severe bruising in the shape of a hand print down the right side of his face.
Marbury said he and Quinney took their child to multiple doctors to examine the injury.
They also went to the police, and a ‘detective said [the injury] could have killed’ the infant.
Days after the incident, Marbury said he “had a confession from the abuser saying they [sic] did it.”
However, more than two months after the incident, an arrest had not been made.
Marbury has since turned to social media to detail his family’s ordeal, sharing these heartbreaking pictures of Jacob along with a cry for help.
“I normally keep my matters with family very private cause i dont need the attention,” he wrote. “But this is different.”
“After TWO months of waiting we only find out that charges are dropped BECAUSE my one year old cannot tell you verbally he was abused and my son did not show he was in pain OR that this person “intentionally” did this,” he said.
According to KATV, the law he is referring to here is a ruling by the Oregon Court of Appeals which makes it difficult to prove “substantial pain” in cases where the victim cannot speak.
A 2009 conviction of an Oregon babysitter was overturned by a panel of judges in 2012 because the 16-month-old child who was allegedly abused could not explain that he felt “substantial pain.”
The judges ruled injuries such as bruises and minor cuts weren’t enough evidence to convict an alleged abuser.
The legal interpretation makes it difficult to file charges in cases where the victim is an infant or toddler, developmentally challenged or scared to speak out against an alleged abuser, making it almost impossible to prosecute the babysitter in question under Oregon law.
Naturally, Jacob’s parents refuse to stand for this.
“A dead body can’t tell you who killed them. Yet a baby isn’t held to the same standard because he cant talk???? Well neither can a dead body,” Marbury said in his post, which has since been shared nearly 300,000 times since Friday.
A GoFundMe campaign on behalf of the family went live on Sunday to help cover their household expenses, counseling for Jacob’s sister, Jaylynn, and any future attorney fees that may arise, as Marbury and Quinney intend to do whatever it takes to bring about justice for their son.
“NOBODY can just hit a child and more to just get away with it because the child can’t verbally tell you,” Marbury wrote.
A Change.Org petition calling for the Oregon Supreme Court to review the case has acquired more than 13,000 signatures since Sunday.
Blah blah blah….so…you left your child with an idiot.and you don’t have the gonads to beat him to death…. Wuss
Hmmm, some family friend. With friends like this, say it with me, who needs enemies?
I like koyote’s advice.
Agreed.
Did you see the photo of the baby (For me, it doesn’t show in this post. Click the link to the story at the bottom of the post)? I definitely would have taken “justice” into my own hands.
Angel, I just clicked on the link and saw his injuries. How infuriating! The most fragile of our society are ignored, while the freaks get a free pass. I couldn’t be so calm as these parents were on the news. If that were my child, I’d be on the news holding a broken bat after giving the ‘caretaker’ a lesson, probably while being tased by the 5, 0 to protect the child abuser. 🙁
Monsters live amongst us. Those without a voice have no justice. No more being pushed aside. There are no laws, there is no justice in a unjust system. We can only stand up and protect ourselves and our loved ones from a ‘just us’ system.
Agreed.
Of course the baby sitter won’t be charged, he caused trauma and metal anguish to the child, which is exactly what they want. However, if it had been the parents accused of causing these injuries, DCFS would have taken the child from them in a NY minute.