Divorced dad accused of sexually abusing "female relatives" murders 4-year-old son (West Plains, Missouri)

WHOA! Read this carefully. Dad ERIC CHAPPELLE had been accused of molesting two "female relatives," and yet he had some sort of custody/visitation rights with his 4-year-old son? Notice that Dad is divorced from the boy's mother, who is "currently out of state"--whatever that means. Is she traveling on business or for personal reasons? Does she live out of state? If she lives out of state, was she prohibited from moving away with the boy? Just what were the custodial arrangements here anyway? Not one word of clarification here.

It is pretty apparent to me that if a father has been accused of sexual abuse, then his vistation/custodial rights should be non-existent--at least until it can be DEFINITIVELY PROVEN that the sexual abuse did not happen. That OBVIOUSLY DIDN'T HAPPEN HERE. We don't know if this father sexually abused his son. But we do know that he has admitted to drowning the boy, supposedly as part of a murder-suicide plan, because Poor Daddy "did not want to live with those allegations." Boo hoo.

Then this piece of sh**, er, this Poor Misunderstood Father (as the fathers rights crowd would say), ATTACKED THE POLICE WHO CAME TO INVESTIGATE WITH A KNIFE.

Are you going to seriously tell me that this father had no history of pulling this kind of daddy drama crap before? That until now, there has never been any history of domestic violence, volatility, craziness, or sexual abuse? I seriously doubt that.

And I also suspect some unnamed judge set up this boy's murder--a judge who will never be named publicly identified either. 

http://www.ky3.com/news/ky3-toddlers-death-is-under-investigation-in-west-plains-20110411,0,134361.story

Father in West Plains is charged with drowning young son
by Marie Saavedra, KY3 News
newsalerts@ky3.com

2:07 p.m. CDT, April 12, 2011

WEST PLAINS, Mo. -- A father is now charged with killing his 4-year-old son on Monday. Howell County prosecutors charged Eric Chappelle, 38, with first-degree murder, abuse of a child resulting in death, assault on a law enforcement officer, and two counts of armed criminal action.

A detective's probable cause statement used as the basis of the charges says Chappelle admitted he drowned the child, who is identified only as J.E.C., in the bathroom of his home. Police say Chappelle told them he is accused of molesting two female relatives, and did not want to live with those allegations, so he decided to kill himself and his son.

Police say Chapelle’s co-workers called 911 from his home on Monday afternoon. They went to check on the father and son when the pair didn’t show up for work or at a childcare center. The caller told dispatchers the child wasn’t breathing. When officers arrived, the boy was dead.

“When officers got there, they spoke to the father, and there was some kind of incident, then the father attempted to assault the officers with the knife. He was taken into custody at that time and transferred to the hospital,” said Officer Bryan Brauer with the West Plains Police Department.

The boy’s mother was notified by a family friend. She’s currently out of state, and officers say she and the father of her son were recently divorced. Detectives say they are not looking for any other suspects in the boy’s death.

Chappelle remained in the hospital on Tuesday. A judge has ordered him held in lieu of a $500,000 bond.