Mom uses hidden recording device to catch dad abusing baby during visitation (Indianapolis, Indiana)

UNNAMED DAD

http://thestir.cafemom.com/baby/148360/mom_uses_hidden_recording_device

Mom Uses Hidden Recording Device to Catch Dad Abusing Baby

Posted by Jeanne Sager on December 18, 2012 at 1:15 PM

What would you do if you thought someone was abusing your child? How about bugging the baby's car seat to catch the abuser in the act? That's what one mom did before sending her 7-month-old to one of his regular visits with Dad.

Extreme? Maybe, but it worked. The father is now the subject of a child abuse investigation.

Suddenly doesn't sound so crazy, does it?

The sad fact is, child custody arrangements are supposed to be made with the child's best interests at heart, but it's not always so. You need evidence that your ex is an unfit parent to get custody yanked, but that's hard to come by ... especially when you have a 7-month-old who can't exactly communicate that Daddy is a bad, bad man.

So what do you do? Refuse to send your child on visits with Dad? It sounds like the "smart" option, until you consider that it's illegal to violate a court order. Mom does that, and now she is being carted off to jail, leaving the child with ... you guessed it ... dear old Dad. What this mother did was risky. She sent her baby boy into the lion's den, knowing there was the chance he might be abused, that the recording device in his car seat might capture something awful. And the way the cops tell it, the little guy came out with injuries serious enough to require an ambulance ride to a hospital for treatment.

It hurts my heart to think of him in pain. And yet, I throw myself behind this mom 100 percent. What she did could prevent years of pain for this little guy.

What would you do? Would you have risked sending the child out with dad again?

Here's the case this blog posting was based on.

http://www.kshb.com/dpp/news/national/Babys-abuse-recorded-after-worried-Indianapolis-mother-plants-bug-in-7-month-olds-car-seat-1212181355832429406

Baby's abuse recorded after worried Indianapolis mother plants bug in 7-month-old's car seat Baby taken to Riley Hospital for Children

Posted: 6:21 AM Last Updated: 2 hours and 12 minutes ago

By: Stephen Dean, TheIndyChannel.com

INDIANAPOLIS - An Indianapolis mother handed police an audio recording of her 7-month-old son being abused, after she told officers she planted a recording device inside the baby’s car seat on a trip to see his father.

The 26-year-old mother told Indianapolis Metropolitan Police officers over the weekend that she planted the bug inside the baby’s car safety seat because she suspected the infant was being abused during regular visits to his father.

When the infant was picked up from the father’s home this past weekend, the mother noticed several bruises and abnormal behavior with her baby and called IMPD.

According to the police report filed in the case, an officer confirmed one bruise on the left side of the head and another bruise on the forehead above his left eye. Officers also noted the baby’s face was red and “puffy” and the child had bloodshot eyes after the visit.

The mother, who lives near I-465 and I-74 in southeast Indianapolis, told police that her baby came home acting strangely. She said he usually returned from trips to visit his father no longer acting happy and energetic.

The woman told police she wanted to confirm her suspicions, so she planted a small recording device inside the baby’s safety seat as he was being dropped off for his latest visit.

When officers were handed the recording, they said it contained loud and constant screaming from the baby during parts of the visit.

One officer wrote in the report that the screams did not sound like a typical baby’s crying.

Patrol officers notified Department of Child Services caseworkers, while also calling in IMPD child abuse unit detectives to launch a criminal investigation into the father.

No charges were immediately filed, but the report spells out that the investigation was under way.

When detectives arrived, an ambulance was called due to the child’s injuries. Medics took the baby to Riley Children’s Hospital for treatment.

The father is listed as a 23-year-old man, but his name was not included in the police report since charges had not yet been filed.