Editorial: We must all act against child abuse

The family of four-year-old Chance Mark Jones finally has closure this week after the last criminal case related to his death was resolved Monday.

The boy’s father, Robert Babcock, was sentenced by a Hall County Jury in June to life in prison for beating his son to death last year, and this week the child’s grandmother accepted responsibility for her actions – or rather her criminal inaction.

Gayle Edes’ plea agreement is not what many of us wanted, and that was reflected by the outburst from readers of the Enterprise’s Facebook page when the news of her deal was broken.  Edes could have faced 99 years or life imprisonment if she had been found guilty by a jury. By comparison, her sentence of 90 days seems miniscule.

The state and local law enforcement say Edes knew that her son was beating her grandson and they were prepared to prove it in court that she failed to get Chance any help when she saw him on January 3, 2011. Hours later, one more horrific beating sealed Chance’s fate and changed all of our lives forever. Had she acted like most normal people and gotten the boy medical attention – or at the very least taken him home with her – Chance might be alive today.

After Babcock’s conviction, Chance’s family and most of the people in Donley County were relieved but also ready for the next phase – the trial and conviction of Edes. With the acceptance of the plea agreement, we’ll never know how that might have turned out. The people of Donley County were denied their chance to deliver justice in this case. Ninety days is nothing compared to the life a child. This deal smacks more of expedience than it does justice.

So what are we left with? What can we take from Monday’s court action in Childress?

Well, by her own admission, Gayle Edes is guilty. She is guilty of felony Injury to a Child by Omission. She will spend some lonely time in jail without the comforts of home, and she will have ten years on probation with ample opportunity to screw up and go away for a long, long time.

Our hunger for justice – and even vengeance – cries out for harsher penalties, but we must accept that this is still punishment of some kind. She has not gotten away with it. Far from it. This admission will follow her for the rest of her life, and that is as it should be.

Some say Edes deserves our sympathies and even our prayers, but do not be confused. There was one victim in this case, and that was Chance. Edes’ situation is of her own choosing. Chance had no choice in his situation, but he did have one opportunity for rescue, and she turned her back on him.

We must never forget that, and we must never forget that child abuse can and does happen right here in our midst. We want this case to be over so we can all go on with our lives. But what about the other children out there who are suffering from abuse or neglect. In Donley County right now there are more than a dozen children in foster care because their parents aren’t measuring up to the level of responsibility they have been entrusted with.

There is no greater duty than to our children. We are morally bound to look after our own kids – and certainly not to harm them. But we are also morally bound to look after our kinfolk and our neighbors. If I thought one of my nephews was being hurt, I would step in, and I know my brothers- and sisters-in-law would do the same if something was happening to one of my kids.

The lesson we have to take from Chance’s death is a simple one – Speak up and take action! Do not sit idly by while a child suffers, because you will certainly answer to God and possibly find yourself in Gayle Edes’ position – in a small cell with plenty of time to think about what you didn’t do.

Never forget: Don’t take a Chance on child abuse.