July 18, 2005

Mother Tries to Poison Her Child

Anyone who reads my blog knows that one area of focus for me is the welfare of children, and protection against pedophiles, abusive parents, and any other sick monsters who try to harm children.  This story is no exception and it infuriates me that this woman is actually trying to get custody of her child!

BEAR, Del. -- A former pediatric nurse has been charged with trying to poison her toddler son by injecting human feces into his bloodstream.

Stephanie McMullen, 29, was charged Thursday with assault and reckless endangerment counts and released on bail.

Doctors at the hospital where McMullen worked alerted police that her 22-month-old son had been hospitalized six times since he was four months old for "serious, potentially life-threatening illnesses," acting police chief Lt. Col. Scott McLaren said.

During one examination, doctors found E. coli, a bacteria found in feces, in the boy's bloodstream, and said the only way it could have entered the bloodstream was "through injection, not consumption."

"This could have eventually led to the death of the child," McLaren said.

A search of McMullen's hospital locker turned up needles, a syringe holder and an intravenous line tap, and an examination of her home computer indicated she had been researching child poisoning, according to court records.

...and we let people like this out on bail.  Lovely...just lovely.

McLaren said the woman could have Munchausen syndrome by proxy, in which caregivers cause illnesses in children or exaggerate their symptoms in an effort to draw attention to themselves.

I don't care what syndrome she has, or whether she was in the right mental status when she did it.  That doesn't matter.  What matters is protecting the child, and any other children such a monster would come across.

McMullen's attorney, Elwood Eveland Jr., said the child has an eating disorder, and that he has consulted with a medical expert who believes that what the child is suffering is part of a medical condition.

He said police have "absolutely no evidence of an objective nature" against her.

Um, Mr. Eveland...did you bother to check her locker?  I think a few of those items (needles, syringe holder and intravenous line tap) might give her motives away.

The boy was placed in foster care, and McMullen is scheduled to appear in Family Court next week to try to regain custody.

If the courts allow her to regain custody, I can almost fully predict that we will have another major story in the MSM talking about a parent who killed their child.  She shouldn't have custody, and in my humble opinion, she shouldn't be walking free, either.