Roberts: DCS was called HOW MANY TIMES to burned boy's house?
Sad to say it – shocking, actually -- but the severe burns that recently sent a 6-year-old boy to the hospital may be the best thing that ever happened to him.
It’s pretty clear the state of Arizona hasn’t been much help to him so far.
The little boy caught the attention of Phoenix police on July 12 after he was brought to Maricopa County Burn Center with severe burns to his feet – the result of standing barefoot on the ground in the backyard for 10 minutes.
More specifically, the result of being forced to stand barefoot on the ground in the backyard for 10 minutes.
'Parents' burned his feet, didn't seek help
According to court documents, the child was being punished by his father, Mark Simmons, with the full knowledge of his stepmother, Sarah Simmons.
The records don’t say what dire act the boy committed to merit what amounts to torture. Whatever it was also got him walloped with a belt to the point of bruising “throughout his body.”
Fortunately, the child got all manner of TLC from step-mommy, who put some ointment on the burns and basically told the kid to suck it up.
“The victim … disclosed that Sarah cut the blistered flaps of skin from the bottom of his feet and told him that if he did not stop crying, he would go back outside and burn worse,” police wrote. “There were further disclosures of physical abuse by Mark as well as him forcing the children in the home to be locked in a room when they were grounded.”
The “parents” didn’t seek medical help for the boy until the next day, when the wounds became infected. This, because they feared the Department of Child Safety would find out.
30 prior DCS contacts. Yes, really
Clearly, there wasn’t much to fear.
DCS is apparently well acquainted with this family.
Cue police: “Sarah has approximately 30 prior DCS reports involving her children.”
Thirty.
As in 10 times 3 reports that her children were in need of help.
State law doesn't allow DCS to discuss the case. We can't know how the boy came to be in this spot or what DCS did to help him unless he first dies or comes close to death.
But spokesman Doug Nick told me not every one of those 30 or so calls to DCS rose to the level of a report.
How will parenting classes help?
"There were about that number of communications re Simmons, but the number of reports defined as allegations of abuse or neglect is far lower," he said, via email.
Still, 30 "communications" would surely be cause for concern. Surely, bells were ringing wildly in the bureaucracy that there was a problem.
Yet there this little boy was in mid-July, compelled to stand barefoot on the ground in his backyard on a 110-degree day.
We have no idea what the complaints have been or how they’ve been resolved. But it’s pretty clear they haven’t been resolved in a way that protects the kids.
And here’s 10-to-1 odds that the DCS plan for this family will be “reconciliation.” There will be drug tests and child care vouchers and parenting classes.
As if parenting classes could teach parents that burning their child's feet is not an appropriate form of punishment.
Instead of planning the next cycle of parenting classes for this sorry crew, someone over at DCS should be asking this question:
How many chances do rotten parents get before their kids get a chance to live without fear of torture?