9 years old and 42 lbs.

[Improv Geek]

This is sickening. I mean it just boggles my mind and angers me. I can't comprehend this. This isn't punishment for poor behavior, this is torture. Sadistic and sick. I'm so glad that the authorities learned of the girl's predicament and rescued her. Jesus.

And then there is the note about "Raymond LaFontaine" where the gender was changed from male to female after a strip search.

Ugh.

[thelurkinghorror]

Come on, I know you could've made this a pitting.

Ahh, Florida.
Sick sick sick. It's good to know she is doing better, but I hope this isn't one of those things where the grandparents aren't much better than the parent. Did they have no contact with their grandchild previously, or not notice anything was wrong?

And Raymond? She must be transitioning one way or the other.

[Eleusis]

I was watching "Untold Stories of ER" last night, and this toddler who could no longer walk was brought in, with scurvy. Apparently, his parents thought feeding him nothing but oatmeal was a balanced diet.

[Nava]

Olé for LaFontaine's mother! (she's the one who called the cops)


I'm guessing Raymond may be a bad translation for Raimunda - which is not a name I'd give my daughter but I've seen worse ones...

[Auntbeast]

Yep, my neck of the woods again. My daughter is 11 months old and 22 lbs. (17lbs more than she was when she was born). Twisted creatures.

Don't forget the same-day headlines of the guy who got kicked out of a bar for NOT drinking, he was the designated driver, the restaraunt owner who got acquitted for running over a life-time felon for robbing him, the husband who "barricaded himself and his wife inside a car" and had a 2 hour stand-off blocking off a major road, the 10 year old who was abused by his drug dealer, and the two teenage boys murdered.

Just another day in paradise.

We are also home to the crack addict who delivered her baby in an alley and left it for dead, within a few blocks was a homeless shelter, a hospital and a fire station.

www.sptimes.com

Ask me again why I want to bug out of this hell hole?

[Mindfield]

It's stuff like that that makes me fully understand and appreciate why Florida is the only state to have its own Fark tag.

[AngelicGemma]

Poor girl.

Like thelurkinghorror I'm wondering where the grandparents were.

[Improv Geek]

Indeed. Florida (my current residence) has it's share of batshit insane moments. John Stewart did a segment recently where he noted that of the several hundred times they had sent correspondents to other places, Florida had been the location for over forty of them.

We're one messed up state.

And you're right I could have pitted this, but it would have then crossed into the realm of absurd rather than seething anger.

[Slypork]

What about the reverse situation? A 10 year old boy weighing 300 pounds. That’s right. My friends son weighs 70 pounds more than me, a 41 year old man.

Yes, both parents are obese people each weighing over 300 pounds. Both had struggled with their weight for years. The father had gastric bypass and lost 100 pounds but the mother refuses any kind of help.

Yet, they have not only watched their son devour plate after plate of food, they have encouraged him by telling him how good he is to clean his plate! They don’t stop him when he goes for thirds on dessert. I saw him at a party sitting in front of the chips and dips as if they were his alone.

The child is not being malnourished. On the contrary, he is over-nourished. How come this isn’t considered child abuse?

[Improv Geek]

Interesting flip side. I think the simple reason is that obesity is much more standard than starvation here in the US. There was a time when obesity was a major social black mark and now it's nearly standard, sadly. I'm trying to undo what I did in high school and college, and making progress but you're right - it's not what a responsible parent should do.

[iampunha]

Anyone else immediately think of http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genie_%28feral_child%29 ?