Custodial dad arrested for fracturing skull of 16-month-old son; mom lost custody for being a minor (Tampa, Florida)

Tell me again how daddies are depressed, oppressed, and generally discriminated against when it comes to child custody?

Dad DWAYNE POOLE was obviously an adult who had been messing with an underage girl and got her pregnant. Used to be that would get Daddy some buckshot in his butt and maybe some jail time. Or perhaps a shotgun wedding in his future.

But not so under the new regime of fathers rights. As a matter of fact, when the mother of his "girlfriend" died, the "girlfriend" was placed in foster care and then lost custody of the baby. Wonderful. The young mother had already been manipulated (raped?) by an older male, given birth, and suffered through the death of her own mother. And to show Florida DCF's true compassion in this matter, they then stripped this girl of her baby! I'm sure they figured she was just a poor underaged girl--not much more than a domesticated animal, really--so she had no real feelings that were worth getting too steamed up about, right? (So where is the real bias now? Hint: It ain't against the menfolk.)

So now the statutory rapist, er, Outstanding Single Father, gets custody. Not only does he mess with underage girls, he knows ZERO about raising children and doesn't seem to give a sh** about learning anything either. In a word: outlet covers. For at least the past twenty years or so, any semi-competent American parent has known about outlet covers, those little plastic gizmos you put in your electrical outlets to keep curious toddlers from electrocuting themselves. These are generally the same parents who have this quaint notion that it's not quite seemly to throw your children into the wall for exhibiting a healthy curiosity.

Not our Outstanding Single Father. Nope, he threw his 16-month-old son for "playing near" an electrical outlet. Not only that, he threw him hard enough to fracture his skull. The boy also had bruises on his legs and buttocks, apparently from being hit. Medical authorities say the boy is brain dead.

Now Florida DCF is jumping into their usual deer-in-the-headlight/who-us? mode. We didn't know of any history of violence in this family! (And it didn't strike you as stupid to give this boy to a statutory rapist, just because he was the sperm donor?) Oh my goodness me! We're going to check all our case records for signs of "gross negligence," we promise! And we're going to "address" those problems if we find anything! (DCF definition of "address"--sweep under the carpet as soon as it's politically expedient to do so).

Here are the real questions: Why did they so treat the mother and child like so much dirt, and refuse the mother the support that would have allowed them to stay together? Why were the rights of a statutory rapist/sperm donor privileged over those of the mother? If it had truly been impossible for the mother and child to stay together, then why not find a competent caretaker for this child instead of the statutory rapist/sperm donor?

These outcomes, my friends, are the predictable result of 25 years or so of fathers rights agitation. No more, no less.

http://www2.tbo.com/content/2011/feb/02/021728/police-boys-skull-fractured-tampa-man-arrested/

Boy's skull fractured; father arrested
BY JOSH POLTILOVE AND LAUREN MAYK

The News Center

Published: February 2, 2011

Updated: 05:28 pm

TAMPA - A 16-month-old boy suffered a fractured skull after being thrown on a bed as punishment for playing near an electrical socket, police said.

His father, 23-year-old Dwayne Poole, was arrested Tuesday night on an aggravated child abuse charge.

Authorities said the child, Ronderique Anderson, appears to be brain dead. He was taken to St. Joseph's Children's Hospital.

"He's a very good boy," said the child's mother, Fredreda Scott, who does not have custody of her son. Authorities said Poole threw the boy on the bed, causing the child's head to hit a dresser or wall. He also is accused of hitting the child with a belt or his hand, leaving bruises on the legs and buttocks.

"What I was thinking when I heard was, 'How does this happen?'" said Scott's stepmother, Tashia Nunn-Scott.

Poole, of 7919 Lakeshore Drive, was arrested at St. Joseph's. Jail records list him as working in construction.

He remained in jail today; bail has not been set.

Scott, 18, doesn't live with Poole.

She said Ronderique was removed from her care when she was placed in foster care after her mother died. Poole was given custody.

Scott said Poole last allowed her to see her son on Christmas Day.

"I just aged out of foster care like five months ago, and I've been trying to get Ronderique back," she said.

The state Department of Children & Families is not aware of any history of violence involving Poole or Scott and the child, said Terry Field, the agency's spokesman.

Jeff Rainey, chief executive officer of Hillsborough Kids Inc., which contracts with DCF to provide services to families in the foster care system, said his agency is reviewing the case.

"We've pulled all the case records … and if there's anything we find that was gross negligence, we're obviously going to address that," Rainey said.