@katliamom and it was an on going issue…
I thought schools were mandatory reporters? Doesn’t neglect count?
@HImom yes, schools are mandatory reporters and neglect does count but it takes away from the narrative that this abuse was not detected because they home schooled later on so it’s not getting that much attention.
Were schools mandatory reporters at the time? In my state, that’s a fairly recent addition.
I still think someone at the school should have said something and gotten it looked into. Absolutely no doubt there. I just wonder if it was mandatory in TX at the time.
If she’s 29 now she would have been 5 in the very early 90’s - I was a preschool teacher in 1984 in FL (I don’t know about TX but would think it would be similar, actually I think it was a national requirement) and even preschool teachers were mandated reporters then, so it wouldn’t have been some thing new.
Why are we assuming that no one looked into it at the time? CPS might not have found sufficient evidence… or perhaps the reporting encouraged the family to move. I have reported to CPS, and they are not always successful at gathering enough evidence to effect changes. They are typically overworked, underpaid, and have so much on their plates…
if they looked into this family and didn’t find an issue there still should be a record of an investigation.
My mil, who was a kindergarten aide, told me it wasn’t unusual to have students who were smelly and dirty. It is difficult to imagine, because soap is cheap and most of us would be embarrassed to let hygiene go to that extent. But she explained that many of these kids are in large families where all the kids share the same bed. Some of the parents are overwhelmed, but otherwise are loving. Some are very poor.
Having wasted six months trying to get adult protective services interested in our own relative being denied medical care while having all her money re-located, I have little faith that anything would have been done for these kids while they were still in TX. Abuse has to be extreme and obvious. This is 100% on the parents.
There was an elementary school-age girl at a local school who routinely smelled of feces. It was reported, and an examination found that the poor kid had a fistula that connected her bowel and vagina. Surgical treatment fixed the problem. The parent was not well educated and hadn’t understood that this was a medical problem, apparently.
So, yeah, schools should be making reports when there are major hygiene issues.
@juniebug since she was the oldest she wounldn’t have been in a large family when she was 5 years old.
Doesn’t matter. I’m pointing out that mandatory reporters may not react the way we do because their experience tells them the conditions of the children may be innocent. Typically, they try to treat the problem by keeping clean clothes and extra snacks available.
Re: rent v own. I googled the street where they lived. It reveals that there were about 20-30 houses total that could have that street name in their address in that town. Easy to find out who owned what house… if anyone wants to go through that exercise.
I’m failing at finding a beginning date for TX mandatory reporting for educators. I found this that seems to say it was 1995 for mental health workers, but it doesn’t clarify if others were before or after that date:
Via reading, I think it was 1974 for doctors, but states were supposed to come up with their own plans overall for other things. A bunch seems to have changed in 2013-2015 when more categories were added.
Then I wonder what the statute of limitations is… not that I’d expect anything to come of it, but I wonder. If it were on the books and a teacher(s) did not report it back at that time (as it seems no one did), could there be consequences now?
Re: Rent vs own - It’s easier than that to find the address. Just use WhitePages.com and look for David Turpin in Perris, CA.
Not even that… google earth is your friend. There are only 20 or so homes on that street in that town… both the street and the town were named in the articles.
Some children are neglected and so are dirty, smelly, and so on. What I can’t figure out, however (among so many other aspects of the case), is that these kids were dirty, not due to neglect, but the parents would not allow them to wash above the wrists. What would even be the rational for that?? Or to not allow them to bathe but once / year. It as purposeful, not neglectful.
Why would a parent want a house full of stinking kids? Could they not smell it? I could barely stand the smell of my son after he had been playing outside all day.
When I disciplined my kids, I tried to find ways that didn’t punish myself as well. (such as not allowing him to go somewhere, knowing that meant I couldn’t go there either since I couldn’t leave him home alone.)
Was the shower once per year supposed to be a special birthday present or something? I can’t imagine even thinking that was a good idea. I wonder if they will ever share the “reasoning” behind it (if it’s one of the journals or something).
Makes my skin hurt just thinking about not being able to wash for a year. And then you add the being made to soil yourself on top of normal dirt.
Those poor kids. Its just unimaginable…
The image that goes through my mind are those pitiful animal rescue commercials where dogs are tied to short chains and left starving or stuck in tiny kennels in their own filth. It is horrific to imagine people doing that to animals. I cannot fathom the mentality of people doing that to their own children. It is really beyond all comprehension.