And why only a $50,000 bond? Just this morning, I saw that a Columbus, Ohio mom was being held on a $1 million bond for child endangerment, for failing to protect her 4-year-old son from his abusive stepfather. The same guy who ordered the mom to shut and get out of the room while he beat the boy. Yes, I wish this mom had been the big hero, and had somehow thrown this guy through the window. Don't we all. But sometimes are fantasies are just not the reality.
http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2010/03/20/nikkie21-web.html?sid=101
And it says a lot about the TRUE DOUBLE STANDARD when mother are held to higher bail standards for failing to protect against abusers--even those who are much larger and stronger than they--than the fathers who actually beat and abuse the kids.
My opinion? Fine. Hold moms to higher standards. But grant them unilateral power to "gatekeep" who comes near their kids. If anybody--even the biological father--abuses, threatens, or harrasses the mother or the children, then that perpetrator should be jailed with NO BAIL.
http://www.greatfallstribune.com/article/20100320/NEWS01/3200314/1002/On-probation-for-stabbing-local-man-accused-of-breaking-ribs-of-infant-daughter
On probation for stabbing, local man accused of breaking ribs of infant daughter
By TRAVIS COLEMAN • Tribune Staff Writer • March 20, 2010
A Great Falls man on probation for a stabbing two years ago is accused of breaking the ribs of his 2-month-old child.
Stephen Perry, 23, made his initial appearance in Cascade County District Court Friday on a felony charge of assault on a minor. His bond is set at $50,000.
Perry also is charged with violating his probation. His bond for that charge was set Thursday at $30,000.
The new charge came after Great Falls Police officers received a report of a child with significant bruising around her chest and midsection Tuesday. Bruises also were found on her lower left leg, left abdomen, upper left arm and the left side of her forehead.
The child's mother said her boyfriend Stephen Perry, who is the baby's father, would often get frustrated and yell at the child.
When interviewed by police Thursday, Perry initially denied knowing how the baby was hurt but eventually told investigators that he squeezed the infant around the chest under her arms and heard a gasp, court documents state. Perry squeezed the child because she was being fussy, the documents state.
Perry did not admit to causing the other bruising found on the baby, according to court documents.
Police Detective Doug Otto said Thursday that the child is doing OK.
Perry faces up to 5 years in prison if convicted on the assault charge.
Perry was on probation at the time of the alleged child assault after receiving a three-year deferred sentence for a stabbing in February 2008. In that incident, Perry admitted to stabbing a 14-year-old boy who had antagonized him several times on the day of the stabbing.
Perry and the 14-year-old boy previously lived together and had a history of altercations, according to police.
