The Feral Child
By cynddvs
@cynddvs (2948)
United States
August 1, 2008 7:57pm CST
I just read a sad and amazing story about a little girl that was left neglected for almost 7 years. DCF responded to a call to find a roach infested, filthy house. "I've been in rooms with bodies rotting there for a week and it never stunk that bad," Holste said later. "There's just no way to describe it. Urine and feces — dog, cat and human excrement — smeared on the walls, mashed into the carpet. Everything dank and rotting." "It sounded like you were walking on eggshells. You couldn't take a step without crunching German cockroaches," the detective said. "They were in the lights, in the furniture. Even inside the freezer. The freezer!"
They found a little girl who looked to be 5 or 6 years old in a tiny bedroom laying on a torn, moldy mattress. Her chest was emaciated and her naked body was covered in insect bites, rashes and sores. She was naked except for a swollen diaper. "The pile of dirty diapers in that room must have been 4 feet high," the detective said. "The glass in the window had been broken, and that child was just lying there, surrounded by her own excrement and bugs."
DCF took this little girl, Danielle away from her mom. She has since been adopted by two very loving parents. She has gone from a little could that didn't even react to human interaction, couldn't feed herself, in diapers to a healthy little girl who can now feed herself, smiles, laughs and plays. She still isn't speaking. They don't know if she will ever be able to learn how to speak enough to have a conversation. But she has come a long way in a short amount of time.
http://www.tampabay.com/features/humaninterest/article750838.ece
This is a very long story if you wish to read it. Once I started reading it I couldn't stop. I can't imagine a parent just letting their child live neglected in such filth without showing her any sort of love or attention. It's just so sad. After reading this story all I wanted to do was sit and love on my daughter.
8 people like this
13 responses
@greenglitterturtle (2750)
• United States
2 Aug 08
what a horrible nightmare. at least she was discovered and rescued. makes you wonder sometimes about similar children that aren't found. the parents must be mentally ill. it's so wonderful that she has a loving family.
3 people like this
@soooobored (1184)
• United States
2 Aug 08
I just read the article, and I'm outraged. The mother was offered a deal! She got two years of house arrest and 100 hours community service!! And all she had to do in order to avoid jail was waive her parental rights. She was facing charges that could entail 20 years in prison, and got off.
I'm really upset about this, the mother should not only be imprisoned, but be imprisioned in the SAME conditions her daughter lived in for 7 years!
2 people like this
@cynddvs (2948)
• United States
2 Aug 08
And she didn't even have to serve her community service because she "injured" herself at work and is now unemployed. I don't see how they could let her off on this. It's infuriating! I know of parents who have had to sign over their parental rights for far less than this.
1 person likes this
@KrauseHome (36448)
• United States
2 Aug 08
How can someone ever do something like this, and expect to live a Healthy Happy life without causing a lot of problems in the end? What type of mother could ever live in this type of filth, and especially allow a child to as well. I have a woman I know who used to have tons of Cockroaches and filth in her place and even raised a daughter. I was friends with the woman, because the child was like a daughter to me, and I still consider my Goddaughter even now that she is grown. I turned this woman in for the filth, and nothing was ever really done, but Glad to hear this little girl will have a better chance at life for sure.
I really wonder how people can continue to live like this, and allow things like this to continue and not care? Is it a mental status of depression, or what? I only Pray for this girl, and others like her waiting to be found and rescued as well. At least this girl now has a second chance at life.
2 people like this
@twoey68 (13627)
• United States
2 Aug 08
I read the whole thing and I can't imagine anyone letting their child go through this and then professing how much they love and miss them. I'm astounded that the mother got no jail time...it's like saying what she did was ok. Personally I think the mother should be locked up for the rest of her life in a dark cell just like she did to her daughter.
I was relieved to hear that the couple took her in...at least she has a shot at a normal life. I cringed though when I read how their son had his bed in the laundry room so that the little girl could have his room. I think I would have had a carpenter come in and split his room in half so that they each had a smaller but still suitable room. It just struck me that he was kind of being pushed aside. I really hope it all works out for them.
**AT PEACE WITHIN**
~~STAND STRONG IN YOUR BELIEFS~~
2 people like this
@Savvynlady (3684)
• United States
2 Aug 08
I'm glad to know the little girl is doing very well now. I don't think I can read anything extra on that story. Seriously. I'm so tired of folks abusing kids and the kids suffering behind folks who should be protecting them and not harming them. I am just tired of it.
2 people like this
@thebohemianheart (8827)
• United States
2 Aug 08
Even before I had children, I had a very hard time dealing with stories like this. I lost several babies,and I wanted them. Yet, there were people out there abusing and killing them, for whatever reasons. None of those reasons were ever acceptable to me. I often thought to myself, We have to have a license to drive, a license to get married, but people can just have babies for no other reason than making a mistake? Why do they get to have those precious little beings? I still think that when I hear this kind of story. It breaks my heart when one of them doesn't make it. It makes my heart sing when they do, when they are given a chance to grow and have loving parents.
The fact that this woman got off just kills me. Where is the justice in that? Do they think just because the little girl is safe, and has a chance to become a healthy, loving human being, that woman should not be punished for the suffering she inflicted on a child who couldn't defend herself?
Ok, I should probably stop now, before I completely blow up.
2 people like this
@lossforredwords (3620)
• Philippines
2 Aug 08
What!! that was so mind boggling! I can't imagine a scene like that could really happen in reality.. living in a house with filth and insects.. What kind of a mother is that...I think the only good thing in here is that the child is still alive and still has the chance to do good in life.
2 people like this
@faith210 (11224)
• Philippines
2 Aug 08
Hi cynddvs! Oh that is really so sad and horrible. I have never felt so much sadness before until I read about Danielle. I can't fathom how people especially mothers could just neglect their children like that. This is really horrible and cruel for a child to go through. I am so thankful that she found a loving family who adopted her and took her as their own. I hope and pray that she will recover soon from her trauma. I hope and pray that she will soon grow up to be a healthy and happy teen. And I hope and pray that people will be more observant to the people around them, for there might be another child near us who badly needs help just like Dani.
Take care always..God Bless!
1 person likes this
@faith210 (11224)
• Philippines
20 Jan 09
Hi sylvvrain! God bless your soul! I feel so sad upon reading this and I do hope and pray that we will all be united in protecting the children. Although I just read your response at this time, I felt very sad again that there are people who can be really sick and cruel to do this to children. And I realized that no matter how much I cry and how much sadness I will feel, if I won't do nothing then I am just the same like those people who have cold and wicked hearts. Just like you, i vow that I will be more observant and will care more for the children and the needy.
Take care sylvvrain and Blessings to you!
lovelots..faith210
@Ldyjarhead (10233)
• United States
2 Aug 08
I just read the article and like you, couldn't stop.
I don't even have words to say what I'm feeling right now. That doesn't happen often.
God bless them all.
2 people like this
@NonaSaile (924)
• Philippines
2 Aug 08
You're right, once I started reading the story I couldn't stop. My heart ached throughout. It does make you want to reach out and hug someone you love. How could the biological mother just get away with that? God bless Bernie, Diane, William and Dani.
@redrockwolf (47)
• United States
2 Aug 08
That is so unbelievable, that any mother could allow her child to get that way. This woman doesn't even seem to realize she was in the wrong. No, a "dirty house" isn't against the law. But severe neglect IS! I cried, as I read that article. How sad, for Dani. But how touching and sweet, that she's come so far. I took care of a developmentally-disabled boy, a few years ago, when I was still doing home-health. I pictured him in my mind, learning to put the rings on that little post, and his smile that he'd done so well. His grin, when I clapped and said, "Wow, Nicholas, that's SO GOOD!" I thought of him, when I pictured Dani learning to just be a child. My heart goes out to her. And KUDOS to the family who adopted her, and shown her what she'd lacked: LOVE and ATTENTION.
