I am dealing with a case and I had some questions. If i dont request an appeal on a prelimanary finding can i go to jail. Second I got a letter saying that I am the suspected perpatrator in the case against my 2 year old step-daughter coming to my house with bruises. Me and her father get her every other week and i watched her on the opposite weeks that we didnt bc i am a daycare provider. That friday on july 22(which was her moms week) I had watched her and noticed some bruising on her and i told her father to ask where they came from. When he did she wouldnt give him a straight answer and just asked if we could take her a day earily on july 23 so we said yes. We were going to take her to the doctors to get it checked out but the mother said she would do it and we didnt know at the time that even without the childs medicade card(we did not know that otherwise we would of taken her). We had went to my moms on july 25 and my mom seen the bruises and so did my friend and her daughter, then on sunday july 30th we took her back to her moms for her week and then a couple days later we got the thing in the mail saying we were being investigated. They said the sunday she went back that they took her to the ER and the bruises were estimated at about 3-4 days old. The state wont listen to us when we told them that she came with them friday and my family had seen them on monday which is already 3 days past the doctors estimated time. Why am i being blamed and all the bruises were a brownish color which i looked up on the computer are anywhere from 10-14 days old but we live in a small town and the doctors here are ignorant. I dont know what to do because they arent believing that she came with them and even my family seen them on that monday.
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2 year old with bruises
- Thread starter Renee2010
- Start date
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Zigner
Senior Member, Non-Attorney
Assuming you are in the US.
As a mandated reported, why did you fail to report the bruising?
As a mandated reported, why did you fail to report the bruising?
lealea1005
Senior Member
Well, I guess all that money the Doctors spent on their medical education was a big waste. They could have looked up the answer on the internet for free!
I also would like to know why, as a mandated reporter, YOU did not immediately report the suspicious bruises to CPS. Being a daycare provider, I'm sure you are aware you could face criminal and civil charges for not reporting.
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Ohiogal
Queen Bee
She should lose her business for failing to do a mandated report. And that could be one of the reasons she is being considered as a perpetrator. Because she did NOT follow through on her legal obligations to report any thing of this nature.Well, I guess all that money the Doctors spent on their medical education was a big waste. They could have looked up the answer on the internet for free!
I also would like to know why, as a mandated reporter, YOU did not immediately report the suspicious bruises to CPS. Being a daycare provider, I'm sure you are aware you could face criminal and civil charges for not reporting.
Mandated Reporters are required to report child abuse when they have a reason to believe or suspect that abuse has occurred. By itself, bruising on a child does not automatically mean the child has been a victim of abuse. The OP has not said that she thought the bruises might have indicated abuse. Without seeing the bruising, it’s very difficult to determine if a reasonable person would have suspected abuse.
I suspect though, since CPS is investigating, that the bruising is either REALLY bad or there are other indicators of abuse or both.
To the OP: You need a lawyer NOW and you need to stop talking to CPS. Your story sounds half made up and bad enough as it is. It doesn’t matter if your family saw the bruising on July 25th; it only confirms that the bruising was present AFTER you received the child. It also does not matter if you and your husband saw the bruising on July 22nd when you received the child from the mother. Without a reliable third party who can confirm that the bruising was present when the mother brought the child to you, that claim does you no good.
I suspect though, since CPS is investigating, that the bruising is either REALLY bad or there are other indicators of abuse or both.
To the OP: You need a lawyer NOW and you need to stop talking to CPS. Your story sounds half made up and bad enough as it is. It doesn’t matter if your family saw the bruising on July 25th; it only confirms that the bruising was present AFTER you received the child. It also does not matter if you and your husband saw the bruising on July 22nd when you received the child from the mother. Without a reliable third party who can confirm that the bruising was present when the mother brought the child to you, that claim does you no good.
Proserpina
Senior Member
I did read the post.
The OP was not concerned enough to have the child examined by a doctor and she allowed the child to go back to her mother's care twice. That tells me she was not suspicious of the bruising at the time. Perhaps in hind sight.
I am also not saying I believe the OP's story.
My point was that a Mandated Reporter is not required by any law to report every bruise, scratch, scrape or cut that a child may have. They are required to report when they have a reason to believe that abuse may have occurred. If the OP suspected abuse, yes, she should have reported it.
For perspective: If you see a 2 year old with a bruise on his/her knee, do you say "Who did that to you?" or "Ooohh, did you fall down and go boom?". There's noting in the post to imply that the bruising wasn't on the child's knee.
The OP was not concerned enough to have the child examined by a doctor and she allowed the child to go back to her mother's care twice. That tells me she was not suspicious of the bruising at the time. Perhaps in hind sight.
I am also not saying I believe the OP's story.
My point was that a Mandated Reporter is not required by any law to report every bruise, scratch, scrape or cut that a child may have. They are required to report when they have a reason to believe that abuse may have occurred. If the OP suspected abuse, yes, she should have reported it.
For perspective: If you see a 2 year old with a bruise on his/her knee, do you say "Who did that to you?" or "Ooohh, did you fall down and go boom?". There's noting in the post to imply that the bruising wasn't on the child's knee.
Banned_Princess
Senior Member
If I saw a 2 year old with a bruise on his knee
i would say awwww what happened to you?
I don't think a two year old falling to his knee ever leaves a bruise still visible after 3 weeks. unless he fell from really high, where was his supervision while high enough to fall off and be bruised black enough to be shown for a half of month. ?????
If I had a daycare, and I didn't know the child and his family intimately, I would report it, and thats how I would decide I should report it on a kid I did know.
i would say awwww what happened to you?
I don't think a two year old falling to his knee ever leaves a bruise still visible after 3 weeks. unless he fell from really high, where was his supervision while high enough to fall off and be bruised black enough to be shown for a half of month. ?????
If I had a daycare, and I didn't know the child and his family intimately, I would report it, and thats how I would decide I should report it on a kid I did know.
July 22nd to July 30th = 9 days. Where did you come up with 3 weeks?
Ok. In post #’s 2, 3 and 4, Zinger, lealea1005 and Ohiogall all said that the OP should have reported the bruising. That would be correct IF the OP suspected the bruises were caused by abuse. There is no law which requires anyone to report based on the presence of bruises alone. The OP has not given us enough information about the bruises to tell if they were enough to warrant concern by themselves.
Read the OP’s post again and you’ll see that her actions show that she was not concerned about abuse. She was satisfied with the mother’s answer to how the child got the bruises and she was satisfied that the mother was going to take the child to a doctor. According to the OP, neither herself, her husband, her mother or her friend thought the bruises should be reported. The OP doesn’t even say if the mother thought the bruises might have been caused by abuse. That could have been the doctor’s opinion.
The OP needs an attorney. She’s trying to build a timeline that supports the bruises being pre-existing and it’s not going to work by having only family members back her up and by trying to refute a doctor’s evaluation. Even if everything in her post is the truth, and the bruises really did happened before July 22nd, she’s not the one who made the report. She’s looking at very serious charges which can destroy her marriage and livelihood. If she is responsible for the bruises, she needs help which she’s more likely to get with an attorney working for her.
And I seriously doubt the OP has a licensed daycare. She should be more up to speed if she had taken the classes most states require to get a daycare license.
Ok. In post #’s 2, 3 and 4, Zinger, lealea1005 and Ohiogall all said that the OP should have reported the bruising. That would be correct IF the OP suspected the bruises were caused by abuse. There is no law which requires anyone to report based on the presence of bruises alone. The OP has not given us enough information about the bruises to tell if they were enough to warrant concern by themselves.
Read the OP’s post again and you’ll see that her actions show that she was not concerned about abuse. She was satisfied with the mother’s answer to how the child got the bruises and she was satisfied that the mother was going to take the child to a doctor. According to the OP, neither herself, her husband, her mother or her friend thought the bruises should be reported. The OP doesn’t even say if the mother thought the bruises might have been caused by abuse. That could have been the doctor’s opinion.
The OP needs an attorney. She’s trying to build a timeline that supports the bruises being pre-existing and it’s not going to work by having only family members back her up and by trying to refute a doctor’s evaluation. Even if everything in her post is the truth, and the bruises really did happened before July 22nd, she’s not the one who made the report. She’s looking at very serious charges which can destroy her marriage and livelihood. If she is responsible for the bruises, she needs help which she’s more likely to get with an attorney working for her.
And I seriously doubt the OP has a licensed daycare. She should be more up to speed if she had taken the classes most states require to get a daycare license.
Ohiogal
Queen Bee
She was concerned about bruises being more than just accidents. The proof is in what she stated. See the bolded:
The bolded shows she was concerned with the bruises. There is no evidence that the bruises were there on July 25. Or that they were the same bruises on July 30. If she was concerned and was not getting a straight answer regarding the bruises she NEEDED TO MAKE A REPORT AS A MANDATED REPORTER. It is NOT up to her to investigate.
You're assumming that she was concerned the bruises indicated abuse. She never said that. No one is required to make a report just because of the presence of bruising. Failure to report is when someone has or should have had a reason to suspect that abuse occurred. Without more information about the bruises (size, shape, location), it's impossible to say if these particular bruises should have caused concern.
So once again: It is INCORRECT to say or imply that a Mandated Reporter is required to report bruises. They are required to report if they have reason to suspect that a child has been a victim of abuse.
Here is the website for the US Dept of Health and Human Services summary of state laws regarding mandatory reporting.
Mandatory Reporters of Child Abuse and Neglect: Summary of State Laws
Standards for Making a ReportThe circumstances under which a mandatory reporter must make a report vary from State to State. Typically, a report must be made when the reporter, in his or her official capacity, suspects or has reasons to believe that a child has been abused or neglected. Another standard frequently used is when the reporter has knowledge of, or observes a child being subjected to, conditions that would reasonably result in harm to the child. Permissive reporters follow the same standards when electing to make a report
Can you make a report based on bruising alone? Of course you can.
Are you breaking the law by not reporting bruising? Maybe. It depends. And we don't have enough information to say if the OP should have reported.
mistoffolees
Senior Member
That's all true. HOWEVER, OP says that they couldn't get a straight answer about where the bruising came from. That's an enormous red flag. The fact that OP says that she felt that the bruises might indicate abuse also says that the thought was in her head.
It sure looks like prudence would have required a report. Whether she's legally wrong in not reporting it is unclear, but she had concerns and didn't act on them.
Where does the OP say this? I can't find it.
The presence of bruises on a child does not automatically mean a reasonable person would be concerned about abuse. Children get bruises. It's normal. The OP, either intentionally or not, left out the details needed to determine if concern of abuse was warranted.
The OP's post is vauge and full of unanswered questions. That's why she needs an attorney. If this is what she has been telling CPS, a prosecutor fresh out of law school could get an indictment on the OP's words alone.
lealea1005
Senior Member
Right here:
and here:
I do agree there is info left out....starting with her state and whether her daycare business is certified by that state.
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