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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Cruelty to children

502 replies

designSalmon · 05/08/2021 21:18

I’ve just read the absolutely tragic story of Kaylee-Jayde Priest. I’ve just been crying my eyes out this evening over the loss of her very short life. She has hair just like my daughter,

I’d really like some recommendations on charities and organisations that try to make a real difference in cases such as these, so that I may make a donation etc.

Rest in peace little girl, I hope you will find the kindness, love and compassion you so deserve in heaven.

Thank you

OP posts:
Houseofvelour · 05/08/2021 23:49

I've just seen it on bbc news page about 5 minutes ago and my heart is breaking. My 2 year old is in bed with me and I've given her a massive cuddle.

That poor little angel deserved so much better. She deserved a happy life where she was loved and nurtured.
Those monsters should rot forever.
How could anyone treat a child that way??

olidora63 · 05/08/2021 23:55

Absolutely shocking and has really upset me …it’s definitely not about me but I am so disturbed that absolutely no one gave a red flag 🚩.Am not blaming anyone but surely the family/ neighbours…just anyone should have picked on this child’s suffering.☹️

Littlekittyscupcake · 05/08/2021 23:55

This has upset me today too. In fact I came on here to post about her. I wish I hadn’t read the article. I have a little girl who is 4. I’m guessing Kayleigh would have been the same age as her by now. I gave my little girl lots of extra hugs today. I can’t bear the thought of people being cruel to children. She was do young and helpless. They are at the mercy of whoever they end up with as parents 😥 She probably never got to experience a mother’s love. I saw the video of her with her mum. Poor little girl. She did not deserve this and it will take me a long time to forget this. Why do people have children if they know they won’t love them and care for them properly 😥

Littlekittyscupcake · 05/08/2021 23:57

What a waste of a young dear little girl. I’m not really religious but it’s times like this when I hope there is a heaven.

Littlekittyscupcake · 05/08/2021 23:58

@olidora63

Absolutely shocking and has really upset me …it’s definitely not about me but I am so disturbed that absolutely no one gave a red flag 🚩.Am not blaming anyone but surely the family/ neighbours…just anyone should have picked on this child’s suffering.☹️
Someone’s failed her along the way. Surely.
toocold54 · 06/08/2021 00:00

I know it’s in a different place but the exact same thing happened with little Gabriel Fernandez, didn’t it. SS taking the word of parents

I still have sleepless nights over the Gabriel Fernandez case. I think I always convinced myself although it still horrible when they are killed it’s due to the parent snapping, not taking any joy from hurting them.

Reading the texts from this case reminded me of the Gabriel case - as a PP said it’s always a mum and her bf! It’s weird! I can’t fathom one person being like that but two is just inconceivable.
If you got a text saying they hit their child because their nappy was dirty wouldn’t you go mad and report it instead of going along with it too.
It sounds like she was abusive before he came on the scene so maybe they somehow attract them.

If you don’t want your child just give it up for adoption.
I’ll never understand why people keep children (or pets) when they obviously don’t want them.

hatgirl · 06/08/2021 00:06

I’ll never understand why people keep children (or pets) when they obviously don’t want them

It's not that simple. I could list all the theories (and there are many) but ultimately it boils down to there being a lot of very damaged and traumatised people being left to damage and traumatise others due to a lack of resources to attempt to break that cycle.

gardeninggirl68 · 06/08/2021 00:18

Gabriel Fernandez case was shocking, totally haunted by it

I follow on an American crime website, the amount of children being abused is off the scale

So many little children cruelly killed and disposed of. It's nearly ALWAYS the mothers new partner

LaundryForever · 06/08/2021 00:25

It's terrible and sickening to think how vulnerable children are having to go through such monstrosities. The text message about hitting her for leaving the room and pooing in her nappy was just vile.

OaxacaChihuahua · 06/08/2021 05:29

Just desperate. That poor little lamb, being frightened for her whole life

mowly77 · 06/08/2021 05:57

I hope they get what’s coming to them in prison.

Absolutely haunting case. Especially the CCTV. Wonder if the neighbours reported it , or turned a blind eye, & their testimonies are after the fact.

Always report any suspicions. With evidence if possible.

Westmid19 · 06/08/2021 06:14

The boyfriend was in ds year at school. He has a baby boy with a previous girlfriend who must be about 19 months old. I really hope he is never allowed contact with his own baby in the future. Same for kaylee's mother, hope she is never allowed contact with her baby boy in the future.

Eviethyme · 06/08/2021 06:20

I was on the bus once and got talking to a woman who was on her way to visit her BF in prison and was talking about how hard it is and she misses him blabla... Find out she was visiting her partner WHO beat her 2 year old to death and sexually abused the baby.

Who in there right mind stands by a guy like that?????

Those people need there minds assessed because that ain't right. Only a monster harms a child and only a monster stands by them.

It saddens me how many children are abused/ killed and I've always wanted to do something about it but what can you do apart from keeping your eye out and reporting any worrying behaviour you see :(

MrsTerryPratchett · 06/08/2021 06:31

@Awwlookatmybabyspider

If I read it correctly her Grandmother did know and actually reported it to the SS who went round and took the mother by her word. I know it’s in a different place but the exact same thing happened with little Gabriel Fernandez, didn’t it. SS taking the word of parents Angry
I might be wrong but I think I saw a post from you a while ago saying that SS unnecessarily take children away. I apologise if it wasn't you.

But that's the issue, people want SS to be psychic. When they believe parents have abused and remove they're baby-snatching power-hungry arseholes. When they investigate for too long and something happens they're incompetent idiots who believed parents.

I was a SW and I can tell you that alllllllll the neighbours and friends who don't report because it's 'interfering' or they don't 'grass', if they all reported SS would know what was going on. They'd have timelines and corroborated evidence. But people don't then you have one report and a parent who could be lying. How exactly can they know? Especially as the public thinks each SW has one case that's serious. I can tell you that everyone in my department had many many cases that could have gone horribly wrong. And you're managing all of them, hoping you get every single decision right.

Also, as someone said above, be the friend or 'auntie' or that mum whose house all the kids go to. When asked, care leavers said one of the things they wished they had was an unpaid adult who cared about them. Try to be that unpaid adult.

alexdgr8 · 06/08/2021 06:38

there are understandable strong feelings re children, but please let's keep the discussion to the case mentioned by OP, and not stray into matters that are still before the courts.
it is also illegal to do so, and may adversely affect the operation of justice. which is the opposite of what we all want.
when the matters have been concluded, then they can be discussed.

BlackSwan · 06/08/2021 06:46

There must be so many other children on the brink of this kind of tragedy. It's appalling. And to think that the ones which survive are still suffering greatly, physically and mentally.

Scum parents.

Meruem · 06/08/2021 06:54

I know it's not the same as giving money, but one of the best things you can do if you have children is to be supportive to the 'overlooked' children

This!
Giving money is all well and good but it’s an “easy” option. If I’d had another adult in my life I could have talked to, I probably would have opened up about what was going on at home. When a child is suffering at home they often end up bullied as well, for numerous reasons. If people opened their eyes a bit more and actually cared, it would help a lot.

Lemonsandlemonade · 06/08/2021 07:01

All these cases are so sad. Poor poor children

In my experience as a safeguarding lead in a pre school getting a child out of a horrible situation is very hard even if you can see that something is very much afoot.

One case I had I reported 35 times through correct channels nothing was done until an incident which could have cost lives was reported and seen by police.

lollipoprainbow · 06/08/2021 07:11

Terrible, why not give her up to someone who would love her? The other awful case was the little boy killed when his mums boyfriend (evil bastard) rammed his car seat back and crushed him to death.

TonkaTrucker · 06/08/2021 07:18

I feel like we are missing a word for the lack of regard for the value of children and the importance of a secure and happy childhood.
I think about this case, Lambeth council, Rotherham, the indigenous children in the Catholic homes in Canada, female foeticide/infanticide in some Asian countries etc etc.
Often the poor treatment is specifically because they are children, because they are vulnerable, because they are not seen as worth looking after, because the adults in the situation can get away with it.
There are obviously evil, highly predatory people but there are also uncaring, biased and blinkered enablers.
We have words for the 'mindset' behind why this happens to other groups, racism, sexism/misogyny, etc. But we only have a descriptive term when it happens to children - child abuse. It doesn't seem enough to me, it doesn't take into account the complete devaluing of them as individuals with worth and the rejection of the social responsibility we all have to the young. It also sort of prevents discussion in the framework of intersectionality. The female infanticide etc happens because of their sex and their age.
As a PP said, protecting childhood pays back over and over in society as you have healthier and happier adults, who also know how to raise healthy and happy children.
You could change the world in one generation if each child in that generation grew up nourished, educated, physically and emotionally secure.

I also bristled a bit at the 'one person who was meant to protect her' line in the article. Yes of course a child's mother should do that, but so should any adult that plays a role in that child's life. The mother's partner should have protected her too. It seems a bit to me that he has been let of the responsibility of protecting children because he's male and not a blood relative. I don't buy that. He betrayed her too.

PurpleCloak · 06/08/2021 07:28

I can’t stop thinking about her staring up at her “mother” in the lift, so innocently curious in what she was doing. And how not once did she talk or hold her hand out to be held etc. Awful awful Sad

Immaculatemisconception · 06/08/2021 07:29

I’ve worked in child protection and it’s very upsetting knowing that this is the tip of the iceberg.

Next time someone posts for advice about what to do if they have worries about a child’s welfare and safety, you’ll see posters telling them to mind their own business.

Child cruelty is everywhere and it’s sickening.

bluewanda · 06/08/2021 07:30

The mother's partner should have protected her too. It seems a bit to me that he has been let of the responsibility of protecting children because he's male and not a blood relative. I don't buy that. He betrayed her too.

Of course he did but she was that little girl’s mother. She had ultimate responsibility for the little girl, to love and protect her. Yet she invited that monster into their home. Poor little Kaylee was found to have had 68 injuries old and new inflicted on her according to the Birmingham Mail. They’re BOTH evil scum, I hope they get the maximum sentence possible today and rot in hell.

I’m so angry and upset.

bluewanda · 06/08/2021 07:32

I can’t stop thinking about her staring up at her “mother” in the lift, so innocently curious in what she was doing. And how not once did she talk or hold her hand out to be held etc. Awful awful

It’s absolutely heart-breaking isn’t it? Sad

Mummyoflittledragon · 06/08/2021 07:36

@SecondCityShark

I know the video of the lift is only a snapshot but I think that's what that poor girl's life was like most of the time.

Her mum couldn't have been less interested. Well, in anybody who wasn't herself.

I agree. This was also my thought. I would have had my eyes on my dd at this age and very close to me to ensure we both got out of the lift together… I also couldn’t take my eyes off her at this age anyway because of the all consuming love.