Dad with joint custody charged with 1st-degree murder in death of 3-year-old son; mom had been fighting for sole custody (Memphis, Tennessee)

Thanks to the fathers rights movement and the related corruption of the family court/CPS system, the carnage just never ends.

A TV station of deadline was able to figure out that dad TERRY PATTERSON was a child sex offender. CPS couldn't?

WHO gave this father joint custody, despite what I can presume (given the typical trajectories of these cases) was a history of child abuse and/or domestic violence?

WHO at CPS decided to continually ignore abuse complaints about a father with joint custody? Did they just write off all the complaints as women lying like they usually do without looking at the evidence?

WHO in the courts continually stonewalled this mother's efforts to get sole custody of this boy so she could protect him from his father's abuse?

WHEN are theses people going to be held responsible for the young lives that are lost due to their actions or failure to take action?

See the Killer Dads and Custody list for Tennessee.

http://www.wmcactionnews5.com/story/29967009/police-investigating-death-of-3-year-old

Father charged with first degree murder of 3-year-old

Posted: Sep 05, 2015 4:10 PM EST Updated: Sep 07, 2015 7:41 AM EST

By WMCActionNews5.com Staff
By Rose Eiklor

MEMPHIS, TN (WMC) - A father is behind bars following the death of his 3-year-old son that was found unresponsive Saturday.

The child was found in the 1200 block of Evergreen Street.

The child was taken to Le Bonheur Saturday morning, and later died.

Terry Patterson, 47, has been charged with first-degree murder in perpetration of aggravated child abuse and neglect.

Patterson told MPD that he found his son unresponsive on the couch.

Investigators ruled the child's death a homicide from blunt force trauma.

Family members of 3-year-old Josiah said he went to visit his father's house and never came home.

"My sister dropped him off. She said she went the night before and he was fine.

The next morning she got a phone call saying her son had passed."

They said Josiah's mother, Kiera Quin, and his father, Terry Patterson, had joint custody and his mother was fighting for sole custody after finding bruises on his body.

Family said they called the Department of Children Services multiple times since 2013, but nothing was ever done.

Family members said Josiah's mother brought him to his father's house Friday night and at 5 a.m. Saturday, she found out he was gone.

They said Josiah constantly came home with bruises.

"It hurts I can't see him no more. I can't kiss him no more. How can you do this to an innocent child?" one family member asked.

They described Josiah as a sweet little boy who loved SpongeBob and cheeseburger Happy Meals.

They said his love for everyone always shined through and they do not know how someone could have hurt him.

WMC Action News 5 investigators looked into Patterson's past and found that he is listed as a sex offender from a statutory rape charge from 1998.

If you want to report child abuse, you can call these hotlines:

Tennessee: 1.877.237.0004
Desoto County, Mississippi: 1.662.429.1480
Mississippi (other than Desoto): 1.800.222.8000
Arkansas: 1.800.482.5964