Sheriff Accused of Overreacting To Child Abuse

Sheriff Accused of Overreacting To Child Abuse
by Nathan Poole, Columnist

August 28, 2002

Contributor Nathan Poole When a sheriff's deputy in Jefferson County, Ohio noticed the severe burns on the three young children of Eve Hibbits while at the Jefferson County Fair, he acted immediately. The children were taken to the first-aid center, and then were rushed to the local emergency room. Doctors confirmed that the children suffered from second-degree burns over the upper halves of their bodies due to over-exposure to the sun, and that one child suffered from a collapsed lung. Upon hearing this information, Sheriff Fred Abdalla began questioning the Ms. Hibbits.

Sheriff Abdalla discovered that the children were not wearing shirts or protective sunscreen. "She pushed her kids around the fairground all day last Tuesday, and it looked like those kids' faces were dipped in red paint," he said to the Associated Press. "There was no sunscreen or nothing on these children." The sheriff added that Hibbits appeared to not even know what sunscreen was, and had asked where she could find some to purchase.

Hibbits was placed under arrest and charged with three felonies. Late Wednesday, however, Prosecutor Brian Felmet said the children were not as severely injured as officials had initially believed, and dismissed the three felony child endangerment charges. Instead, Hibbits now faces one count of misdemeanor child endangerment, which carries a maximum penalty of six months in jail and a $1,000 fine.

I am certain that you hard-nosed conservatives out there - you know who you are - believe that the sheriff of Jefferson County overreacted. I know that you wish the over-funded liberal government would just stay away and let parents abuse…er…treat their children however they see fit. Eve Hibbits and her attorney, Shawn Blake, could not agree more.

"The paramedics said it wasn't necessary, the kids were fine but they could take them to the hospital anyway," he said. The children were perfectly fine, but let's just check out their blistered red bodies for the fun of it.

And how was the jail experience for Ms. Hibbits? "It felt like the walls of the jail were falling in on me. I ain't never been in jail," she said. Poor thing. She ain't never been in jail before.

What would have been the overall reaction, I wonder, if sheriff Abdalla had done nothing? What would the public - or should I say the conservatives? - say if the little boy with a collapsed lung had died after the Sheriff had chosen to do nothing?

The "collapsed lung" did turn out to be a misdiagnosis. It seems that doctors mistakenly determined that the little boy had a collapsed lung, but, in reality, the little boy had underdeveloped lungs due to his premature birth. I am sure that Ms. Hibbits had nothing to do with this, either.

Quit blaming Sheriff Abdalla for doing his job, and start placing blame where it rightfully belongs: square on the shoulders of Eve Hibbits. Put your cotton candy down, put some shirts on those poor children, and splash some sun block on those kids. ***

A native of San Antonio, Texas and a veteran of the United States Air Force, Nathan Poole is employed by the United States Postal Service. He lives in Irwindale, California with his wife and family.

Photo of the author courtesy of staff files