Girl recovers from violent assault by dad, who served four years in prison (New Bedford, Massachusetts)

Dad STEPHEN A. SPOONER pleaded guilty to assaulting his daughter when she was 4-months old, and served just four years in prison. This POS broke 24 bones in this baby's body. This past summer, he got sent back to prison on a probation violation.

Notice that the Mom got trashed for Daddy's crimes, though she was not the perpetrator. She lost her kids to foster care, even though she and other family members had not detected any prior evidence of abuse. Any why is she being required to take parenting and DV classes? She didn't beat anybody up.

http://www.therepublic.com/view/story/d5fbf8e34a8b40079afaba610b9663f3/MA-FEA--Broken-Baby-Miracle/

New Bedford girl recovers from horrific injuries to become an active, bright child
BRIAN FRAGA The Standard-Times
First Posted: September 11, 2011 - 12:05 am
Last Updated: September 11, 2011 - 12:06 am

NEW BEDFORD, Mass. — Laughing and playing, running around a kitchen table with her baby brother, 6-year-old Hannah Guimont is a happy, well-adjusted little girl.

"I know my numbers and my ABC's," Hannah, who will enter first grade this fall, proudly told a visitor to her family's apartment.

"Hannah makes friends easy. She's a little goofy and has a great personality," said her mother, Bethany Guimont.

"After what she's been through, she's come out advanced and really smart."

It is almost a miracle that Hannah is even alive, never mind a budding young scholar.

Six years ago, when Hannah was 4 months old, the state Department of Social Services called her "the broken baby."

Hannah was the victim of a classic case of shaken baby syndrome. A full-body X-ray in 2005 showed she had suffered 24 bone fractures caused by having been violently shaken back and forth, according to court documents.

Her biological father, Stephen A. Spooner, 27, subsequently pleaded guilty in 2005 to causing her injuries. He served four years in state prison and was released, but was sent back to prison last summer for violating his probation.

Guimont, 26, recalled taking Hannah to the doctor's office in March 2005 when she noticed her daughter's swollen leg. Guimont and other relatives said they had not seen any prior signs that Spooner had abused his daughter.

"My heart was ripped out of my chest and stomped on. ... It was a very dramatic time," said Guimont, who temporarily lost custody of Hannah and her older son, Charles, now 8 years old.

For nine months, the children lived in separate foster homes. The state required Guimont to attend parenting and domestic violence classes, and to submit to daily drug screenings.

"It would be pouring, below zero degrees, but I would have to walk from my house to DSS to have my visits," Guimont said.

The process took its toll. Guimont said she hit rock bottom and began to drink and take painkillers. She also went on anti-depressants, and said she came close to quitting.

"There were days I wanted to give up, but what kind of mother would I be if I gave up?" she said.

Evelyn Menard, Guimont's mother, moved in with her daughter, and "smartened" her up.

"She told me you got to fight for your babies," Guimont said.

"It was heartbreaking," said Menard, who also went into a depression at that time.

"It was tough on everybody," she said.

When Guimont regained custody of her children, she said Hannah, then 1 year old, had several medical issues.

"She couldn't use her right side. It took her longer to crawl," Guimont said.

But X-rays taken at the time showed all her fractures had healed.

"It was like nothing had happened to her," Guimont said.

Hannah graduated from kindergarten two months ago, and is preparing to begin first grade next month.

Guimont said her daughter has no mental or physical ailments, although Hannah is prone to sadness.

"Growing up without a dad, she has that void," said Guimont, adding that Hannah has not expressed any interest in having a relationship with her biological father. Married last summer, Guimont said her husband, Raymond Guimont, adopted Hannah.

"She's around people who love her. That's helped," Guimont said.

"I have a better life," Hannah said during a short break in playing with her 3-year-old brother. Hannah said she hopes her story will help people.

Guimont, who attended Bristol Community College and became a certified nurse's aide, said she now knows the red flags of child abuse, and said she has been invited to speak at school programs for teenage mothers.

"From then to now, there have been big changes," she said.

"It's good, because not every kid has a happy ending."