DASTARDLY DADS FROM THE ARCHIVES (Barbaroo, Wisconsin - 2008)

This story perfectly encapsulates the stupid decisionmaking that gets inflicted on families these days.

Why the hell did a father like DAVID R. YATES have care of 5-week-old twin infants when he obviously wasn't involved with their mother any longer? (Note that the mother had gone to the father's home to pick up the infants after what was apparently a weekend visitation.)

The last thing that newborn infants need is joint custody/visitation. They need a mother, a consistent caregiver, not to be tossed back and forth like hot potatoes. At best, you get children with a lot of attachment issues. At worst, you get murdered babies--which is what happened here.

And what's the point? These are babies, not children who already knew and loved their father. There would have been plenty of time for them to get to know their father later--if that's desirable.

And what couples split up when Mom is pregnant? My bet? Couples where there are serious problems, not just a loss of chemistry. And we see evidence of serious problems here. Daddy's on probation? For what? A violent crime? Why the hell would you give a criminal on probation responsibility for the the care of newborn twins? Was this a judge's idea? If so, I'd love to see the moron's name.

Hat tip to silvereyes1945 for sending me the story.

http://www.weau.com/news/headlines/17672979.html

Updated: 10:51 PM Apr 16, 2008

UPDATE: Father Now Charged with Murdering Infant Twins
Criminal complaint says officers found the 45-year-old father in bed and then found the babies dead underneath it
Posted: 5:57 PM Apr 16, 2008
Reporter: NewsCenter 13 Staff
Email Address: news@weau.com

The father of 5-week-old twins found dead in his home is now accused of killing them.

A criminal complaint filed today in Sauk County Circuit Court charges 45-year-old David R. Yates of Baraboo with two counts of first-degree intentional homicide in the deaths of twins Savannah and Tyler Yates.

The complaint says officers entered the home, found Yates in bed and then found the babies dead underneath it. It says the babies suffered brain and other head injuries.

The complaint says the babies were found dead at their father's home Sunday after the twins' mother called police. She told officers she had gone to the home to pick up the children and no one responded. The babies had been at the home since Friday.

Past Stories:

An investigators says the deaths of 5-week-old twins being cared for by their father are being investigated as potential homicides based on the autopsies.

Baraboo Police Department Lt. Rob Sinden says the autopsies of Savannah and Tyler Yates are not complete but the preliminary findings suggest they may have been murdered. He declined to elaborate.

Officers who went to the home Sunday found the babies dead and their father, 45-year-old David R. Yates, in bed.

Sinden says Yates remains hospitalized Tuesday and in police custody on probation violations. He would not say why Yates was taken to the hospital.

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A Baraboo man is in police custody after officers found his infant twins dead in their home.

Police say they went to the man's home about 8 p.m. Sunday to check on him and his two 5-week-old twins. They say no one initially responded, so officers entered the home.

They found the 45-year-old man in bed.

Then officers searched the home and found the dead babies.

Baraboo police are continuing to investigate the babies' deaths. Their father has been taken into custody on a probation hold.