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| Edward and Krystal Everett. |
An Oklahoma couple was arrested last week after authorities found their 6-year-old son covered in burns and bruises and locked in a bedroom with no furniture other than an egg crate for the boy to sleep on in what the local sheriff has described as one of the worst cases of child abuse he'd ever seen.
When asked why they allegedly abused the boy, 28-year-old Edward Everett and 32-year-old Krystal Everett told authorities they believed he was possessed by a demon.
The Canadian County Sheriff's Office says it received a call alerting them to the conditions in which the 6-year-old boy was living at the El Reno home he shared with his parents as well as three other children.
The boy's relationship to the other children found in the home is unclear.
When authorities went to the Everetts' El Reno home, they found the young boy wearing nothing but his underwear and laying in the fetal position in the small, locked room that had no furniture other than a tiny, foam egg crate.
Apparently the parents only fed this child once a day, and used a belt and cattle prod on him to discipline him and control his behaviors.
The child had two black eyes, and was covered in bruises and burns.
This article does not go into the religious beliefs of the parents, however if they immediately thought "demonic possession" rather than mental illness, chances are they were indeed members or believers in a fundamentalist type religion.
Hearing voices and self harm are as common to mental health professionals as near sightedness is to an eye doctor. There is nothing supernatural about them, and they are often easily treated with medication and therapeutic interventions.
What happened to this child is disgusting, and undoubtedly makes every parent, nay every human being, who reads this feel overwhelmed with anger at the ignorance of the parents and sympathy for this innocent six year old.
One of the reasons that I rail against fundamentalist religion so aggressively is that it promotes disrespect for science, and foments distrust in its ability to solve problems.
What happened to this child, happened in the 21st Century, and that should shame all of us.
It's a little concerning to realize that the parents could use a mental health defense, get some treatment, and regain custody of the little boy. Which would be great if they were sincere about treatment, stopped being delusional and received close oversight from mental health professionals.
ReplyDeleteWhen I read shit like this, I want to go Old Testament on "parents" like these pond scum (sorry scum, you are better than these things). Tie them to a stake and do what they did to their child. Over and over and over again.
ReplyDeleteYou know if this had been a same sex couple, the right wing religious fundies would be up in arms. These things are one of their own precious opposite sex couples who buy into the fundie beat them till they break religion of disciplining children. What do you want to bet there are several books on how to beat your kid into submission on their shelves?
There are. James Dobson has written some of them. My MIL bought into "The Strong Willed Child" when my nephew was about two and unmanageable because his mother let him have the run of the apartment, and his father was raised by an abusive man and stayed out of things. The book advocated 'spanking.' We never touched any of our kids in anger, or to discipline. Our kids are college grads, married, working, with families. This kid has a law degree and has never had a girlfriend (fun die schools until law school.) I feel bad for a 35 year old with zero social skills.
Delete"We have met the devil, and he is us."
ReplyDeleteFuck religion.
Makes me feel so badly for the child! The parents also showed their horrible behavior to the other children in the home. It's deplorable and I sincerely hope all the children are taken from them.
ReplyDeleteOnly problem is they'll go into foster care and then who knows where....but, that would hopefully still be better than the current conditions and teachings they've been living!
While fostercare is not ideal( and yes there are abusive homes there as well) it has saved many more children than you could ever imagine, including my 4 adopted children.
Delete"...undoubtedly makes every parent, nay every human being, who reads this feel overwhelmed with anger at the ignorance of the parents and sympathy for this innocent six year old."
ReplyDeleteWRONG! Jesse, you KNOW the fundies will defend them AND the Catholic church now that they have started doing exorcisms again.
And 12:13? I couldn't agree with you more when you say tie THEM to a stake and do it to them repeatedly. And, no, I won't take your bet.
Correction, The Catholic church never stopped doing exorcisms.
DeleteAfter writing this I realized I'm probably writing what everyone already knows, but it did help me to get my own thoughts organized and may be of help to others so I didn't delete it.
ReplyDeleteI don't feel angry at the parents, but instead know there are many others just like them who only have their religious believes to fall back on because they are ignorant, under educated, or both. As we all know, how they were raised by their parents also has a major effect in how they raise their own children. A great example is how Bristol Palin is raising her own child. Bristol doesn't seem to not know how to be a good mother or have any reasonable boundaries on what her child on what he should see or hear. Temporary fathers? Of course, she is simply relying on what she learned from being raised by a mother who was mentally distant to her children and self centered. Sarah really wasn't there for them and they basically took care of their own needs. This child's parents who are probably mentally ill, or perhaps have a low IQ were probably raised by similar parents who also probably relied heavily on their religious beliefs in their everyday decisions and in how they raised their children. In other words, the saying the apple doesn't fall far from the tree is very true.
I agree with you...up to a point.
DeleteIt's certainly much more difficult to learn the right ways to raise a child when you grow up in a dysfunctional family and your only parental models are doing it all wrong. However, unless you are home schooled and prevented from having access to the outside world, we all get exposure to the lives of people around us.
I grew up with a mentally ill mother, but realized as I grew older and saw the lives of my friends, that my childhood was quite different from the norm. Fortunately for me, I experienced only emotional abuse, not physical, and most people around us never knew how crazy my mother was. I never had children but my sister raised her children very differently than we were raised, using our childhoods as an example of what NOT to do.
I would find it extremely hard to be understanding towards these parents UNLESS they were raised in an extremely isolated community where everyone followed the same fundamentalist beliefs and they had no exposure to television, movies or libraries.
Every time I read one of these horrible child abuse cases, I'm reminded of a case from years ago. A little adopted girl died from parental abuse. As I recall, both parents were professionals, the husband a totally crazy whacked out doctor. And I want to show these articles to the people who oppose abortion and offhandedly say "oh, just give the baby up for adoption." I wonder how they'd feel, living their lives wondering if their child was being abused by kind and loving [sarcasm] adoptive parents.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you entirely! I have a friend who gave up a baby at 17 and she was tortured wondering who adopted her baby and if it was well taken care of. This is one of the most humane reasons for legal abortion. I’m convinced some of the opposition of Roe v Wade arose as soon as it became apparent there were fewer white babies for adoption.
DeletePart of the issue is that this abuse of all the children in this family was hidden for a long , long time. I am guessing that they were home schooled like many other abused children.
ReplyDeleteThat guy reminds me of one of the 'trial daddies' Tripp has had in the last couple of years... Junkie?
ReplyDeleteJoe Junker
DeleteI sometimes hear moms viciously berating their children in grocery stores and I wonder if they do this in public, what more do they do in private? We really need to get some type of parenting classes that serve as a mandatory requirement for high school graduation. I am sick seeing such abuse and a general lack of awareness that less obvious abuse is going on around us. As a society we pay the price when our young are not loved, respected and educated to their potential.
ReplyDeleteI'm more for a program along the lines of mandatory birth control from age 13 until such a time as the "breeders to be" pass a mental health examination and are found to be financially able to care for offspring.
DeleteMy kids went to a school that had baby sized dolls with computer chips in them. They were given lessons on the basics of raising a child and the chip measured everything from attempts to find what's making the kid cry and correct it etc along with force/abuse.
DeleteA lot of kids have kids to have someone "love" them or other wrong reason.
This class took a month, with five days of "simulated parenting" and was worth it if ONE kid learned a lesson.
So, have they done all this in the name of God? I agree that they were probably home schooled so that the parent could hide the abuse. Shameful! Let's hope the state deals with them severely (but somehow I kind of doubt that will come to pass.) Poor little boy...
ReplyDeleteThey should have consulted Bobby........I understand he is personally conversant with the genre........and can steer you to a modern-day Exorcist.......or.......how about an Inquisitor......?
ReplyDeleteJust imagine what could be if the "pro life" assholes put their money and energy toward child abuse causes instead. Sigh.
ReplyDeleteBelief in superstitious nonsense is NOT harmless.
ReplyDeleteI ache for that poor child. Nothing, nothing he could have done deserves what he got.
ReplyDeleteI'm with everyone else, reading this viscerally shocks a person's conscience. I feel badly for that poor child and hope the judge throws the book at the two parents who tortured, bruised and beat this child with a cattle prod. It's a damn shame we don't do the "eye for an eye" method of punishment, because in cases like this, the parents deserve what they dished out and more.
ReplyDeleteNo Gryphen, it doesn't shame atheists. We do all we can to disabuse people of religious mythologies. Look to those who support on ways large and small, the beliefs and institutions that legitimize this mindset. recently, RCC, exorcism, ring a bell?
ReplyDelete"The Canadian County Sheriff's Office says"
ReplyDeleteWhat else do you expect from Canadians, eh?
At least this couple has a nice Facebook profile pic, so they have that going for them to somewhat offset the whole horrific child abuse thing...
Careful there BJC. This took place in Canadian County OKLAHOMA which is not in Canada at all :) I personally expect much better from Canadian and American parents.
DeleteAnd how in hell does a "nice FB profile pic" offset their abuse of this child? You have an odd way of looking at reality here.
1smartcanerican