In less than a week, two fathers in Oklahoma were taken into custody on charges of murdering their newborns, which has led to grave worries about the state’s child protection policies.
“Unfortunately, we see circumstances like this happen far too often. Parents will lose their temper, sometimes a baby just won’t stop crying, and they don’t know how to react,” according to Joe Dorman of the Oklahoma Institute for Child Advocacy.
Monday saw the arrest of a 25-year-old father from Newcastle on charges of first-degree murder. It is possible that his 9-month-old son was abused, as he died.
The infant was under his father’s care when he was discovered unresponsive last week.
“They were talking with him about the process of what occurred, why that baby was unresponsive when officers got to the home, and based on what we were able to gather from that conversation, we determined he needed to be charged with first-degree murder,” OSBI Spokesperson Hunter McKee stated.
Another parent was detained by Oklahoma City police on April 11 on suspicion of first-degree murder. His 4-month-old kid passed away in the hospital after being discovered to be unconscious.
The medical examiner found evidence of blunt force trauma, despite the father’s initial theory that the injuries were caused by the child falling off the couch.
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“Too often these things happen in a momentary lapse of judgment,” Dorman stated.
Dorman stated that he thinks a lack of education is frequently the cause of child abuse and neglect.
“Too often we see parents raising kids the way they were raised. So with these situations, you have to take into consideration a lot of parents don’t know the proper ways to raise children, and it feels like we’re losing more of those skills each day,” Dorman stated.
Parents, particularly those who are first-time parents, who wish to interrupt this cycle can access tools and classes, according to Dorman.
“The Department of Human Services, the health department, different nonprofits like Parent Promise, they offer programs to individuals to learn parenting skills,” Dorman stated. “I would encourage parents, if you’ve had a stressful day, the baby’s crying and you are just feeling that grading feeling, step away from that situation. It’s OK to leave your baby for five minutes and take a deep breath.”
Public advocates for children are asking people to report any indications of child abuse right away. On Thursday, the 25-year-old father who was detained in Newcastle is scheduled to appear in court for the first time in McClain County.
