A profound sense of sadness and loss hangs over Donley County this week as its citizens struggle to make sense of the senseless and find reason where there is none.
Word of the horror spread through the community quickly last Tuesday. A 911 call and an unresponsive child was enough to capture anyone’s attention, but then details of the severity of the four-year-old boy’s injuries emerged quickly followed by the knowledge that his own father was believed to be responsible. Then on Wednesday morning, Chance Mark Jones died.
Shock, anger, confusion, and sadness each took their turns sweeping over us. Why had this happened? Were there signs that were missed? And how could anyone commit such brutality against a helpless child? But there are no answers.
Like many folks in Clarendon, I went to school with Robert Babcock. We were in Scouts together, and we even had a patrol meeting or two at his house. I only saw Robert occasionally in recent years, but thanks to technology, we were connected by Facebook. So, I knew about his discovery of having a son, and I followed his posts with interest since Chance was the same age as my own son.
His first comment about his son that I noticed came in early October, when he announced to the Facebook world that he had gotten a tattoo bearing his son’s name and he said: “I found out just a little bit over a month ago I do have a son.”
On November 21 he said it was a “true blessing to be his Dad” and that “he is a wonderful Son to have.” He also wrote that he was trying to get Chance “into everything that’s wonderful in this world.”
That same night he posted: “I just had the most amazing weekend of my life. Spent it with my son who is 4 this was the first time I have ever spent any time with him. We road my tractor for a lot of this weekend, spent about two hours coloring on Saturday night. Went to Chucky Cheese for about three hours today loved every second of it. And yes I know I still can’t spell that good, Loved this weekend can’t wait for next weekend.”
He also noted that he was hoping to get full custody of his son and said it “would make me the happiest Dad in the world.”
The next weekend was “wonderful,” and soon after that posts and pictures showed Chance living with him and talked of the boy’s excitement to start school here and of Christmas time and toy shopping. It appeared for all the world that a happy family had been created just in time for the holidays. I got a glimpse of the boy a few times, and all I could think was that this was a pretty cool story. I was very happy for Robert and his family, and I remember telling my wife how neat it was.
On Christmas Eve, Robert wished all his Facebook friends a merry Christmas, but that same day investigators now believe he began abusing Chance. And the abuse continued, they say, until last Tuesday, when Robert Babcock beat his son to death.
No one saw it coming, and apparently no one saw it happening until it was too late for Chance.
Could someone have done something to stop it? We can’t answer that. Maybe we should have all been more involved in Robert’s life or maybe he should have had more support as an instant father. Ultimately, the responsibility rests with him for what happened, and he will have to answer to the law and to God for his actions.
As a community we are left to pick up the pieces. We often believe that we live in Mayberry, USA, but the fact of the matter is that Clarendon – just like all small towns – has the same problems as any big city. They just aren’t as prevalent, and so we don’t see them every day. Child abuse is an inexcusable crime, and it happens more than we know. It is beyond tragic that it takes the death of a child to open our eyes to that fact.
For those of us with young children, it is hard to look at our kids and not think of Chance, the fear and pain he must have felt, the crushed spirit, and the life snuffed out. Like many families, our kids have gotten a lot of extra hugs and kisses the last seven days. Discipline is somewhat more lax at our house, we’re quicker to honor requests to play, and more likely to say okay to snacks or other rewards. It’s impossible to look upon their innocence and not somehow try to compensate for the suffering Robert Babcock’s son endured.
Chance Jones will never have the opportunities that we all want for our kids. He apparently had a troubled life with his mother, and then his father took his life completely. The only consolation for those of us left behind is that Chance cannot be hurt anymore… but that is of little comfort to us. As a community what we really want now is an explanation and justice for this precious boy. We know that we may never get the first, but we pray to God that Chance gets the second.
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