Yikes.

"A 17-month-old baby boy was murdered by his mother and her boyfriend despite being on a council "at risk" register and having already suffered a catalogue of injuries including eight fractured ribs and a broken back that left him paralyzed, a British court heard Tuesday."

I'm usually one of those "let the kid stay with the parents no matter what" sort of people, but even *I* have to admit that once the kid has eight fractured ribs and is paralyzed, it just *might* be a good idea to remove him for a little while and check out the story at home. It sounds more like the social agency investigating this sort of thing ought to be on trial, as well as the parents.

In another part of the article, however, it stated that the flap of skin between the upper lip and the gum was torn, indicating abuse. It's "highly suggestive of non-accidental injury, usually by forcing the teat of a bottle into a child's mouth or by a hard glancing blow across the mouth." I'd disagree. I think about three of the six children I have managed to bump their frenulums at one point or another. Usually it's because the child in question jumps up and runs away with a sippy cup in his mouth, or is running away with a toy in his mouth and then falls on his face or bumps into a wall. It isn't *necessarily* a sign of abuse, in my opinion, because I know jolly well that I wasn't slugging the kids or force-feeding them at the time of the injury. Um, but I guess when you couple it with a rather suspicious situation like broken ribs, removed fingernails and other trauma it might just be "highly suggestive" of abuse when you see a torn frenulum. By the way, a torn frenulum BLEEDS TERRIBLY, and is enough to freak any parent out pretty badly.

I just read stories like this and almost wonder if it isn't a blessing for the poor little baby to go be with Jesus, where he can't be touched any more. It just brings tears to my eyes to think of what this child's life may have been like day-to-day.