KS - Alex & Jennifer Wood for starving 6 & 7yo girls, Wichita, 2006

[concernedperson]

....families....what about ANDREA YATES?????????

I could say more but I want to wait until objectivity sets in. It will be later.

 

[southcitymom]

....families....what about ANDREA YATES?????????

Where did you the "really these events dont happen in homeschooled families" to which you were responding. I couldn't find where anyone here ever posted that.

 

[cathieq]

The dad's name is out now....so I can say it Alex A Wood and Jennifer Wood 1500 S Wichita.

But

Just hours before his arrest, the children's stepmother, Jennifer Wood, was released from jail...
While all of this was unfolding, the family of the father of Jennifer Wood's children, were in a panic. They didn't want to be identified, but say Wood brought all four children to their home for a picnic about a year ago. They say she wouldn't let the step children have anything but water, claiming they had food allergies...
http://www.kake.com/news/headlines/3424546.html

That statement I put in bold type....uh, shouldn't that have alarmed someone?

 

[Garnan]

My son goes to public school in Oklahoma, but I could home school him and not answer to anyone. All I have to do is not send him to school anymore, maybe they will call me and ask.... maybe not. If they do call, all I say is we are home schooling.

My son had the chicken pox at about 4, he had all of his shots and I had the records. So when he started school, I just gave them a copy of the records that the Dr.'s office gave me. (He has always had the same pediatrician.)

When he was in about the 4th or 5th grade, they wanted an updated record of shots from his Dr. He hadn't been to the Dr. for years, hadn't needed to. When I called the Dr. office they would not provide me with anything unless I brought him in. So, I did. It cost me $125.

They said that they could no longer represent that they were our Dr. if they hadn't seen him for such a long time. I thought it was a good thing, he hadn't been sick. They said that they needed to see him to show he was "okay". I got it. I have to have strangers see my baby periodically to prove that I am a fit mother.

Of course he is ok, he goes to school, he is an honor student, has friends, etc. but do I take him to the Dr. every 12 months? Nope. & I still don't.

I'm not sure what my point is, I know I'm babbling, but... you don't go to the Dr. if you aren't sick, or need vac's, you can't blame other's for your own short comings. You are the parent, take care of those kids!!!!

 

[LinasK]

The dad's name is out now....so I can say it Alex A Wood and Jennifer Wood 1500 S Wichita.

But

Just hours before his arrest, the children's stepmother, Jennifer Wood, was released from jail...
While all of this was unfolding, the family of the father of Jennifer Wood's children, were in a panic. They didn't want to be identified, but say Wood brought all four children to their home for a picnic about a year ago. They say she wouldn't let the step children have anything but water, claiming they had food allergies...
http://www.kake.com/news/headlines/3424546.html

That statement I put in bold type....uh, shouldn't that have alarmed someone?

How ridiculous!:furious: Having food allergies doesn't mean that they can only exist on air & water!!! It just means that they have to have special diets, avoid certain foods, not ALL food!!!

 

[cathieq]

Biological Mother Speaks Out About Child Neglect Case
...As details come out many were asking where the girls' real mother is. As it turns out, she is right here in Wichita, and until Tuesday, had no idea her girls were in trouble. It's been almost two years since Jamie Wood saw seven-year-old Sierra and six-year-old Abigail....

...She was just 18 when she married Alex Wood, the same year she gave birth to Sierra. Less than two years later came Abigail...She says her relationship with Alex was stormy at best. After four years, the marriage was over. Alex wanted sole custody, but Jamie fought him for nearly a year. She was granted joint custody with Alex as the primary care provider...

..."When I got divorced, to be honest, I was uneducated, no job, no driver's license, no nothing," said Jamie. "I had no way to take care of them, so in a way, I figured it was a good thing for them."

A rather telling article.
http://www.kake.com/news/headlines/3433086.html

 

[Jeana (DP)]

Biological Mother Speaks Out About Child Neglect Case
...As details come out many were asking where the girls' real mother is. As it turns out, she is right here in Wichita, and until Tuesday, had no idea her girls were in trouble. It's been almost two years since Jamie Wood saw seven-year-old Sierra and six-year-old Abigail....

...She was just 18 when she married Alex Wood, the same year she gave birth to Sierra. Less than two years later came Abigail...She says her relationship with Alex was stormy at best. After four years, the marriage was over. Alex wanted sole custody, but Jamie fought him for nearly a year. She was granted joint custody with Alex as the primary care provider...

..."When I got divorced, to be honest, I was uneducated, no job, no driver's license, no nothing," said Jamie. "I had no way to take care of them, so in a way, I figured it was a good thing for them."

A rather telling article.
http://www.kake.com/news/headlines/3433086.html

She's right. She didn't try hard enough.

 

[KrisNine]

Sorry guys, I made a comment about home schooling and checked out for a day or so. I in no way meant anything bad by that statement. I was just trying to figure out if these girls were ever seen by anyone other than the parents...like a teacher or a principal. Someone else that would have noticed that these girls were not being fed properly. I wasn't insinuating that homeschooling was bad or that the parents should be checked up on.

 

[southcitymom]

Sorry guys, I made a comment about home schooling and checked out for a day or so. I in no way meant anything bad by that statement. I was just trying to figure out if these girls were ever seen by anyone other than the parents...like a teacher or a principal. Someone else that would have noticed that these girls were not being fed properly. I wasn't insinuating that homeschooling was bad or that the parents should be checked up on.

NO problem, KrisNine.

Someone made a good point that it's summer so the girls were probably not in school - no teachers to notice their unhealthy conditions.

 

[cathieq]

Back in custody:

July 27 - A father and step-mother are officially charged with abusing a pair of young girls. At their first appearances on Thursday, Alex and Jennifer Wood were charged with child abuse.

...Authorities say the Woods intentionally tortured, beat and inflicted corporal punishment on the girls. Authorities say the abuse has been going on since september of last year and continued until a social worker checked on the girls last Friday and removed them from the home...
http://www.kake.com/news/headlines/3441121.html

Video shows step-mom, dad, and two of the most precious little girls I've seen.

 

[Floh]

Jennifer Wood's attorney says the facts in this case have been misrepresented in the media.

'misrepresented'?

she didn't torture the girls? beat them? starve them?

serious misrepresentation if so.

somehow, i believe the attorney is full of hot air and i have tried her and found her guilty, no matter what he says.

i am sure there isn't punishment enough for her and her 'man' to pay for what they have done to these children.

 

[BhamMama]

So it's been nearly a year, that we know of, that they did that to those poor babies.

Why does it take so long for someone to notice? No family? No neighbors? Do people just mind their own business too much these days? I know, it's a fine line between minding your own business and being a big ol pain in the arse, but come on, it had to have been noticeable, esp with what some of the others around them have said about not being to leave the porch, not eating when others did etc.

Maybe I live in a bubble, but someone here would def have said something. My family I know for sure would have smacked me upside my head if they thought my kids weren't being taken care of. Even my neighbors come tell if they see my kids doing something they think I'd not like. I do the same for them.

I'm so sick of reading of this kind of thing and trying to wrap my brain around the questions of why and how?

Back in custody:

July 27 - A father and step-mother are officially charged with abusing a pair of young girls. At their first appearances on Thursday, Alex and Jennifer Wood were charged with child abuse.

...Authorities say the Woods intentionally tortured, beat and inflicted corporal punishment on the girls. Authorities say the abuse has been going on since september of last year and continued until a social worker checked on the girls last Friday and removed them from the home...
http://www.kake.com/news/headlines/3441121.html

Video shows step-mom, dad, and two of the most precious little girls I've seen.

 

[j2mirish]

Friends of ours recently lost their 2yr old son due to a brain tumour and its unbearable to see the pain on their faces....then to read how this human filth has been treating these children......Im sorry but Im lost for words:furious:

a story like this, is always what makes me even more angry
why can someone treat a child like this of their own free will, when someone else who adores their children , lose's theirs to a horrible disease or accident-
these are the time's i have trouble with the upper powers.......I dont understand.....................xx-oo to your friends..........

 

[Alcina]

How ridiculous!:furious: Having food allergies doesn't mean that they can only exist on air & water!!! It just means that they have to have special diets, avoid certain foods, not ALL food!!!

She probably just said they had food allergies as her excuse to family for not letting them eat at the picnic. I bet neither girl actually has them.

 

[crimesleuther]

OMG, this breaks my heart, they are such adorable girls, it takes an evil person to do this to any child much less thier own. My sister can't have children, she and her husband would both be wonderful loving parents and consider all who have children to be very blessed, it's heartbreaking to me as a mother to watch her pain and sadness over not being able to have them. And then to read a story about people fortunate enough to have them, and evil enough to treat them with such disregard makes me sick. As many of you pointed out, these sorry excuses for human beings treated thier children worse than most people treat thier pets. I hope they give them the max sentences and never allow them around children again. Monsters they are. I can't even verbalize the disgust and sadness I feel over this.
My love and prayers go out to those poor baby girls and thier recovery.

 

[LinasK]

She probably just said they had food allergies as her excuse to family for not letting them eat at the picnic. I bet neither girl actually has them.

I gathered that, but even if the food allergies were real, I doubt there was NO food at the picnic that the girls could have eaten. I know well about food allergies, I know children who have them, my own daughter may have some. There is always something they can eat, even if you have to provide the special food... I should have phrased it, A parent of a child with true food allergies will bring their own special foods to events, school and such.

 

[Mygirlsadie]

What a step-monster from hell.. The dad is a sorry excuse for a father to let ANYONE hurt his kids. You stepmoms out there need to understand one thing and that is the kids come first. Not you! They were there before you and are more important. I wouldnt want a sorry *advertiser censored* man who let me abuse his children. What kind of loser is this? My husbands daughter was 2 when we got married she is 14 now and I love that little girl like I love my 3 that I gave birth to. I would never even consider touching a hair on that little girls head let alone deny her food or put even a finger on her. Im so sick of this. I don't care who I make mad by this post. I see this stepmom abuse thing way too often and they always end up saying some stupid crap like oh the kid was bad or the kid had add or adhd or the real mom brainwashed the kid blah blah blah. NO...its jealousy of the child to make the child look like the bad guy and it needs to freakin stop! :banghead:

 

[Shazzie]

For those wondering why this abuse was not uncovered sooner, here's a new wrinkle:

http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2006/jul/30/school_reported_possible_abuse_twice_arrests/

From this, it appears that this is NOT a case where no one noticed or reported, but rather the "authorities" who were supposed to investigate and do something about it dropped the ball.

According to this article, teachers or staff at the school the girls attended made TWO reports to the Kansas Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services. The first report was in SEPTEMBER 2005, and the second was this past May.

I think this may be the part of the article that pisses me off the most:

"SRS spokesman Mike Deines declined to comment on how the department responded to the reports from the school, saying state law prohibits discussion of the case."

:doh:

IFthis guy is not lying through his teeth (which seems highly possible to me), then I think the state of Kansas needs to change certain laws. This TAXPAYER-FUNDED social service agency should be REQUIRED by law to explain what went wrong to those whose taxes pay their salaries, not PROHIBITED from doing so!

If I was a resident of Kansas, I'd be on the phone to my state legislators big time. If this TAXPAYER-funded agency manages to avoid public accountability by claiming to be shielded by some law that forbids them from revealing whatever it is they did (or didn't do) in response to those reports and why they allowed to those kids to stay in that home, well...I think that would be the definition of adding insult to injury! :banghead:

This is for Mr. Deines : :slap:

And for his colleages at the KRS:

:slap::slap::slap::slap::slap::slap::slap::slap:

 

[MSM]

From the article that Shazzie posted above:

On Friday, Sedgwick County Jail staff put Jennifer Wood in a cell by herself because she had been threatened by other inmates, said her lawyer, Roger Falk.

“That’s one of the reasons why I was trying to keep her out of jail,” said Falk, who had unsuccessfully argued in court for a lower bond that would have allowed Wood to stay out of jail.

So, doing something so horrible that other inmates threaten her is a reason to keep her out of jail?! What kind of logic is that? She deserves whatever she gets in there, IMHO.

 

[southcitymom]

For those wondering why this abuse was not uncovered sooner, here's a new wrinkle:

http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2006/jul/30/school_reported_possible_abuse_twice_arrests/

From this, it appears that this is NOT a case where no one noticed or reported, but rather the "authorities" who were supposed to investigate and do something about it dropped the ball.

According to this article, teachers or staff at the school the girls attended made TWO reports to the Kansas Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services. The first report was in SEPTEMBER 2005, and the second was this past May.

I think this may be the part of the article that pisses me off the most:

"SRS spokesman Mike Deines declined to comment on how the department responded to the reports from the school, saying state law prohibits discussion of the case."

:doh:

IFthis guy is not lying through his teeth (which seems highly possible to me), then I think the state of Kansas needs to change certain laws. This TAXPAYER-FUNDED social service agency should be REQUIRED by law to explain what went wrong to those whose taxes pay their salaries, not PROHIBITED from doing so!

If I was a resident of Kansas, I'd be on the phone to my state legislators big time. If this TAXPAYER-funded agency manages to avoid public accountability by claiming to be shielded by some law that forbids them from revealing whatever it is they did (or didn't do) in response to those reports and why they allowed to those kids to stay in that home, well...I think that would be the definition of adding insult to injury! :banghead:

This is for Mr. Deines : :slap:

And for his colleages at the KRS:

:slap::slap::slap::slap::slap::slap::slap::slap:

Shazzie,

Thanks for the link. That just breaks my heart.

PS - I LOVE your Ghandi quote.