Single dad with "shared custody" leaves 3-year-old outside, in freezing temperatures, in just a T-shirt and diapers (DeArmanville, Alabama)

A single UNNAMED DAD with "shared custody" left his 3-year-old daughter at home alone. She was later found outside, dressed in nothing but a T-shirt and diapers, in freezing temperatures. Since this poor baby had no shoes on, her feet were blue by the time she was found. That means, of course, that she was already developing circulatory failure and on her way to developing hypothermia, which can be deadly. Unnamed dad has been charged with felony child abuse.

It would be nice if mom could get sole custody now--but I'm not betting the mortgage money on it. In fact, since Dad was apparently driving the other child to school at the time he abandoned the 3-year-old at home, it sounds like he had physical custody of these kids. And if mom didn't leave a toddler home alone in freezing weather, why are the kids being placed with "a family member"?

As always, we have everybody making excuses for this guy and claiming he's really a "good guy." And that's the big problem: all the near mandatory excuse making for abusive and neglectful fathers.

http://www.annistonstar.com/pages/full_story/push?article-Man+charged+with+child+abuse-+3-year-old+daughter+found+alone+outside+in+freezing+temperatures%20&id=5557011&instance=home_right_top

Man charged with child abuse; 3-year-old daughter found alone outside in freezing temperatures
by Rebecca Walker
Staff Writer Jan 15, 2010

A DeArmanville man was arrested Thursday morning after he allegedly left his 3-year-old daughter home alone.

A neighbor who knows the family found the girl in a nearby yard at about 7:30 a.m., barefoot and without a coat, according to police reports. Temperatures would likely have been between 22 and 25 degrees, according to National Weather Service data.

The neighbor took the child to her home but her 38-year-old father was not there, said Sheriff Larry Amerson.

At that point, the neighbor called the Sheriff's Office. Deputies responded and found that the child's feet were blue from being outside in the cold, Amerson said. The deputies called Anniston Emergency Medical Services, and responders determined the child suffered no permanent harm.

Chief Deputy Matthew Wade said the child was wearing only a T-shirt and a diaper.

When the father returned home, he told officers he left to take another child to school in White Plains, according to deputy reports. Amerson said there was evidence in the vehicle of a trip to a grocery store, as well.

The suspect is charged with child abuse, a felony. Under Alabama law, that charge includes torture, willful abuse, cruel beating or otherwise willful maltreatment of a child.

The Star does not identify victims of child abuse. The name of the father is being withheld to avoid identifying the girl. He is a single parent and shares custody of the children with his former wife, Amerson said.

"From what we've seen, it appears that he's been a good parent, but he made a really bad decision," Amerson said. "Everyone is lucky that it didn't turn into a tragedy. Not only was the child alone, but she was also able to get out of the house."

The Department of Human Resources decided to place the children with a family member, Amerson said.

Dr. Gerald Woodruff, a retired Anniston pediatrician, said children exposed to such cold temperatures are at risk of going into shock, and, consequentially, respiratory or circulatory arrest.

"Children can stand an amazing amount of trauma that way, but it can get to them, too, in time," Woodruff said.

He said that if the child's feet were blue, it was because she faced hypothermia.

"It's (because of) a circulatory shock situation from circulatory failure," he said.

Amerson said friends and family members have contacted him in the suspect's defense, saying it was simply a bad decision and he did not intend to harm the child.

Amerson, however, likened this situation to an upstanding citizen making a bad decision to drink and drive.

"If they hit someone and kill them, they can be charged criminally just as quickly because of a bad choice," he said. "While he may not have deliberately done something to intentionally harm the child, it's still neglect."

The suspect was in the Calhoun County Jail Thursday evening with no bond amount set, Amerson said.