GUILTY OR - Trevor Emptage for scalding 1yo girl, White City, 2012

[Belinda]

I know this family, and I feel really bad for everyone involved. I have a hard time believing this. They have two foster children, two sisters, both which are the wife's nieces, and one little girl who is their own. I have never feared for the kids' safety, and I hope they can figure it out with no one else getting hurt or slandered.

Why do you feel they are being slandered? Do you not believe the report of the scalding?

 

[MsFacetious]

Why do you feel they are being slandered? Do you not believe the report of the scalding?

Or is she maybe referring to concerns about the wife being slandered... if she had nothing to do with it?
It would be just as horrible for all these kids to be removed from her care if she is a loving mother to them, who is equally horrified by this.

 

[Missizzy]

I can attest to the fact that waivers do exist but they are hard to come by. I've found that they are far easier to procure when placing a child within the family. This article answers our family dynamics questions. I haven't found an update on the baby's condition but I'll keep watching.

http://www.kobi5.com/component/zoo/item/why-was-emptage-a-foster-parent.html

Why Was Emptage A Foster Parent?
March 8, 2012

"NBC-5 News broke the story Wednesday that the man accused of holding a one year old in scalding water causing first and second degree burns has a prior criminal record. But how could a man arrested for domestic violence be granted custody of a foster child? DHS can't comment on any specific case but they say that a person with a criminal record can become a foster parent, if an exception is made...."

and

"....Grants Pass Police arrested Emptage for domestic assault in 2008... yet the Department of Human Services deemed him fit to raise the little girl... granting him an exception..."

and

"...A huge factor in Emptage's case, he's the little girl's uncle... married to the birth mother's sister... and the birth mother supported the decision to grant Emptage and his wife custody...."

More at link

 

[Missizzy]

http://kezi.com/news/local/241537

Trevor Emptage Pleads "Not Guilty"
March 12, 2012

"The man accused of assaulting his 1-year-old foster daughter says he is not guilty. 28-year-old Trevor Emptage entered that plea in Jackson County Court on Wednesday. Police say he got upset with the toddler in early March, and held her in waist-deep scalding water, causing first and second degree burns...."

More at link

 

[not_my_kids]

I don't know about OR, but in MI, the rules for a family placement are a lot different from the rules for becoming an actual foster parent. The state of MI allowed me to be placed with my half brother when I was fourteen, even though he had a drug conviction on his record. That, I doubt would have been allowed if he had just gone down to DHS and filed the application to foster. At least here, preference must always be given to a suitable family member when a child has to be placed outside their home. And "suitable" is determined by the worker.

Just pointing that out. I doubt he would have been allowed to become a foster parent, in the traditional sense, but because the child that needed the fostering was his relation, an exception was made, likely on nothing more than the worker's word that this was a suitable home at that point in time. I wonder if they are considering strengthening their criteria on family placements, or if a couple hundred more kids have to die or be maimed in similar situations before they bother?

 

[Missizzy]

Oregon is typical of most states, NMKs. All must follow the federal mandate of first considering family or "kin". The only thing I'd add to your statement is that placement decisions are not wholly made by a caseworker but by a committee. Obviously, the caseworker's opinion carries weight but he/she must plead his/her case to a committee which is periodically convened to make these tough decisions.

I have no doubt that the placement committee in Jackson County is reeling from this horrid case. I know many of those men and women and hold quite a bit of respect for them. My sense is that the birthmother's opinion carried a lot of clout. Should it have? I surely can't say.

 

[Rayemonde]

June 2013- plea bargain.

A White City former foster parent pleaded guilty Monday to second-degree felony assault and was sentenced to nearly three years in prison for holding the feet of a 1-year-old girl in scalding bath...
Peterson said the toddler, now 3-years-old, suffered first- and second-degree burns to both feet. She was treated at a Portland hospital — and has fully recovered, he said.

"She has no memory of what happened," Peterson said.

Emptage maintained at sentencing that he did not mean to burn the toddler, but admitted he should have tested the temperature of the water. Emptage's wife and members of his church sent letters to Mejia asking that he not be sent to jail.

http://m.mailtribune.com/article/20130611/NEWS/306110314

 

[jtkmom]

my goodness alot of incorrect information from new outlets and questions. I can answer any questions you all have. its been 7 years and 3 days since this happened and it is still a reckoning force that drives a mother to stay clean and make the most of her and childrens lives..

 

[jtkmom]

Oregon is typical of most states, NMKs. All must follow the federal mandate of first considering family or "kin". The only thing I'd add to your statement is that placement decisions are not wholly made by a caseworker but by a committee. Obviously, the caseworker's opinion carries weight but he/she must plead his/her case to a committee which is periodically convened to make these tough decisions.

I have no doubt that the placement committee in Jackson County is reeling from this horrid case. I know many of those men and women and hold quite a bit of respect for them. My sense is that the birthmother's opinion carried a lot of clout. Should it have? I surely can't say.

If the birth mother in this case had all of the information at her fingertips when she made this decision, it would have been made completely differently trust that. 3 weeks prior to this incident during a visit. she and the observer during a visit noticed some bruising on the toddler on her upper arms.. Perfect finger prints wrapped about a toddlers arms. The observer took photographs of these bruises stating that they look very suspicous. Which they really did, the mother completely freaked out about this and started frantically calling the Case Manager to go and investigate this situation. She begged him to take a look at the pictures to see what she was talking about he stated he would. the next week when she called all the worker would say was that it is inconclusive as to where bruises like that could come from on a tddler leading her to believe that the worker had done his part... Fast forward 6 months Mom gets out of rehab and has her children back with her, th worker cames and stated that he JUST saw the pictures that were taken before the burns... More less stating that he didnt even go investigate or try to find out anything at all..

 

[MimosaMornings]

my goodness alot of incorrect information from new outlets and questions. I can answer any questions you all have. its been 7 years and 3 days since this happened and it is still a reckoning force that drives a mother to stay clean and make the most of her and childrens lives..

Oh my, didn’t realize this incident was 7 years old. The links no longer work, guess that is why. Hoping the children and parents are safe and sound.