Dad to be sentenced for abuse of twin infant sons (Washington County, Oklahoma)

Okay, what gives with the mother erasure stuff in the media?

You can wade through this article and find out how dad CHESTER TANNER ARTHUR abused his twin sons, who were barely 2 months of age. You can read about how one baby was hospitalized with several head fractures, including injuries that were in the healing stage (suggesting that Daddy had been abusing the babies since birth). Your can see how Daddy "used force" on both babies. You can hear how this poor widdle daddy was under an "extreme amount of stress" since the birth of the babies, and just couldn't stand that all that crying. How he admits shaking one of the babies just once--he says--though that baby was the one with several head fractures. How he kept "dropping" both the babies (clumsy daddy syndrome rears its ugly head). How the other baby now has cerebral palsy.

You will find mention of Daddy's mother. The babies' foster mother.

What you won't find is ONE DAMN WORD about the woman who gave birth to these babies. The woman normally called a mother. What happened? Were these babies found in a cabbage patch? Was this a single adoptive father? What? Why the silence? How was the mother pushed out of the picture?

http://www.examiner-enterprise.com/articles/2011/10/08/news/cooperpassed.txt

Sentencing passed for fatherFriday, October 7, 2011 3:00 PM CDT

Man to be sentenced on October 19 For abuse of twins

Formal sentencing for 21-year-old Chester Tanner Cooper in the abuse of his 2 1/2-month-old twin boys has been passed because Cooper's mother died on Tuesday, according to District Attorney Kevin Buchanan.

Sentencing had been set for Thursday but is now set for 2 p.m. Oct. 19.

Cooper had previously entered a blind plea to two counts of child abuse by injury on Aug. 12.

Authorities contend that on Dec. 13, 2010, a baby was brought to the Jane Phillips Medical Center emergency room with possible head injuries and that the child was found to have several fractures to his skull and bleeding on his brain in various areas and in various stages of healing.

Police say the baby's twin brother was admitted to the hospital for observation as a precaution.

Police contend that, when interviewed, Cooper described and demonstrated using force on both boys in the four days prior that would be sufficient force to cause the injuries.

In the Pre-Sentence Investigation report prepared in the case by the Oklahoma Department of Corrections, Cooper says that he was "under an extreme amount of stress" after the children were born and he describes several instances of shaking both boys in the days before the boy's injury.

"He had been crying for about two hours and I guess the stress got to me and before I could stop myself I shook him. It was not hard or repeated, it was only one time," he told investigators, referring to the child that was later found to have skull fractures on Dec. 13.

"He stopped crying for a moment and looked at me, then he started to cry again so I comforted him and did everything I could think of, then he stopped."

He also described another scenario in which he had given the same child a bath and had "accidentally dropped him."

He said that on the day in question, he dropped the second child, after the boy "started to squirm."

"I never meant to hurt my child, it was a complete accident and I am very sorry," he said.

The PSI also notes that the second child was diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy and that he continues to have seizures which require medication maintenance" and that the boy "is now 11 months old but is physically and cognitively equal to that of a 3-4 month old baby. (The victim) continues to show spasticity on the right side of his body, he is unable to roll over or sit up unassisted, and is non-verbal."

In an interview with the child's foster mother on Sept. 13, she said that recent medical information indicates "his brain is not growing and it is believed that his brain will never grow to reach it's full potential."

The report also says that the first child "continues to display some developmental delays."

Cooper remains in the Washington County Jail on $500,000 bond.