Category: News and Views
This is a story that was on our local news today, my comments follow.
Mother Accused of Starving Son
Sep 25 2006 5:44PM
Reported by Penny Moore
A 16-year-old is in foster care, where authorities hope he will receive better treatment. Patrick Faller, who has cerebral palsy, was found so malnourished
he spent 11 days in a hospital.
The teenager's mother, 40-year-old Mildred McMannis, is now charged with two counts of child endangering.
McMannis is being held under a $500,000 bond. Authorities say this summer her son apparently subsisted mostly on green canned vegetables, and by the time
he started high school in late August he stood 5 feet 11 inches and weighed 76 pounds.
Patrick Faller's biological father hadn't seen Patrick since early summer. He came to court Monday, as the boy's mother faced a judge.
"I didn't know what to do. I just couldn't believe anyone could do this to a mentally challenged kid and get away with it," says Faller.
It was a teacher at Newark High School who reported Patrick's condition. According to a Children Services report, the boy's lip was swollen and he "looked
like a person from a concentration camp."
"That was the thing. We didn't know if it was a health issue or an abuse issue at that point," says Principal Jesse Truett.
McMannis told authorities she needed to restrict Patrick's diet because diabetes runs in the family.
On the day the day police were called, Patrick's lunch consisted of mustard greens and sardines. McMannis also sent instructions to the school that Patrick
was to receive no additional food and that he was to have no contact with his brother Stephen at school.
According to a police report, as Patrick was being driven to Newark Hospital, he continued to cry and beg for food, stating, "he was hungry."
The family lived in the historic district of Newark, and a neighbor told Patrick's father that Patrick was only allowed outside into a fenced-in area with
the dogs.
The Children Services report says McMannis is extremely depressed and attempted suicide two weeks ago.
"All of this could have been avoided if she just picked up the phone and said, 'I can't handle this anymore.' We would have went and got him," says Stacy
Faller, Patrick's stepmother.
As for the swollen lip Patrick was suffering from, Patrick told authorities his mother punched him in the face because he wet his pants.
Now how sick can one woman be. From what the 5:00 news said the child has CP. This woman is sick and needs a lot of help. You don't do that just because your son is disabled or do that anyone for that matter. You deserve to be locked up and never see your child again. Your son can not help it because he has a disability and you need to accept that he does you sick woman.
Troy
i agree, how can a mother do that to her son.
it's just so not motherly like is it?
That's dispickable. Definitely agree with you, Troy, she's got no right to see the lad after that sort of behaviour. That's more than sad, if you ask me. Honestly, I really don't get how someone could do that...