Vote for the Worst Parent of 2006
It’s that time of the year: time to look back at the stream of bad parents who have graced the pages of PBB and do the impossible by picking out the worst parent of 2006. Since I can’t possibly do that on my own, I’m asking YOU, my readers, for help.
Below is my selection of the worst parents of the year from the PBB archives. I based most of these selections on reader reactions and the length of the accompanying comment threads, which gives us a nice balance between the criminally stupid and the truly gruesome.
Because of the gap in my coverage, there’s an obvious imbalance toward the latter end of the year. Hey, you go to war with the blog you have! It balances out, though, as not all of these stories happened in late 2006; one or two actually happened in 2005, but I’m throwing them into the pot because they still managed to echo into the headlines of 2006. To correct any additional imbalance, I’m allowing you guys to add write-in candidates. Just go to the poll in this blog’s left sidebar and select or type in your choice. (NOTE: If the write-in future is abused, I’ll remove it. Please use sparingly.)
Voting will close on Friday, January 5th.
The Finalists
Khalid Adem. Friends and supporters insists he was railroaded, but a jury of his peers found him guilty of forcibly circumcising his daughter.
China Arnold. She maintains she’s innocent; the state says she microwaved her baby to death.
David and Liz Carroll. The foster parents left their son, Marcus Fiesel, bound in a closet while they skipped town for a family reunion. They came back to find him dead.
Savarin DeJesus (not pictured). The 18-year-old New York City mom got drunk, got sick, and then slept…while her child drowned in mommy’s vomit bucket.
Melinda Duckett. Holy shit…where to begin? The Florida mom offed herself after appearing on Nancy Grace and being grilled over her son Trenton’s disappearance. Evidence strongly indicates that she handed off her son to someone else to keep him away from his dad. Then the stories of her extra-sexular activity surfaced, including a photo purportedly of Melinda that showed her feeding Trenton a bottle while giving head. I know you shouldn’t speak ill of the dead, but in this case, the temptation’s almost overwhelming.
Jonathon Edington. The loving father thought his neighbor had molested his daughter, so he killed the guy. Edington was wrong. The dad now faces a very long prison sentence for losing his shit and killing an innocent man.
Michael and Sharen Gravelle. The “caged kids” parents from Ohio were convicted this year after offering pitiable explanations for locking their 11 foster kids up like rabbits.
Heather Heck. This supposedly Christian mom sparked a firestorm of controversy by first hiding her pregnancy, then leaving the kid in a car all weekend while she went out and had fun.
Festus Oguhebe. The professor from Nigeria who saw fit to motivate his lazy kids by torturing them with ants.
The Parents of Castro Valley High School. To their credit, they didn’t murder or mutilate anyone. But the parents of Castro Valley High continue to inflict an undue sense of entitlement on their kids by waging war against a local basketball coach (Nancy Nibarger, pictured) who doesn’t deserve their constant bullshit.
Tags: castro-valley-high-school, china-arnold, david-carroll, festus-oguhebe, heather-heck, jonathon-edington, khalid-adem, liz-carroll, melinda-duckett, michael-gravelle, parents-behaving-badly, ruth-kane, savarin-dejesus, sharen-gravelleRelated Stories
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42 opinions for Vote for the Worst Parent of 2006
The Worst Parent of 2006? - from The Zero Boss by Jay Andrew Allen
Dec 28, 2006 at 2:22 pm
[…] It’s a crowded field, but over at PBB I’m asking folks to tell me who the worst parent of 2006 was. (You can also vote for the story on Reddit, if you’re so inclined.) Give This Article a Thumbs-Up! […]
Herb Urban
Dec 28, 2006 at 3:21 pm
All of the candidates are richly deserving of the dishonor. How about we save some time and just flip a coin. Britney is heads, tails goes to Madonna? Sounds about right.
Karen
Dec 28, 2006 at 3:40 pm
They all seem so worthy of the title. It’s hard to choose.
Shakespeare's Sister
Dec 28, 2006 at 3:46 pm
For the foreseeable future, I’m afraid George H.W. and Barbara Bush will have to get my vote.
Jill
Dec 28, 2006 at 3:48 pm
I live in the same town as the Carroll’s did, and I have to vote for them. They are disgusting human beings. Can you vote more than once? I would vote all day.
Trench
Dec 28, 2006 at 4:58 pm
Gotta go with China Arnold.
Stephanie
Dec 28, 2006 at 5:42 pm
I have to go with the Carroll’s. I live here in Cincinnati, and when I watched the news bullitin with Liz Carroll at a press conference asking people to help her look her her missing child, I said to myself - “She Did It!” Her demeanor gave it away. They had hundreds of searchers looking for several days. David Carroll’s live in mistress rolled over for the police, and they are not imprisoning her in exchange for her help. The police said they weren’t happy about that, but needed somebody to break so they could look for the body, or what was left of it, at any rate. I have a coworker who went to high school with David Carroll, she said he was crazy even then. He was also chronically unemployed, and a wife beater. I want the social worker who placed Marcus to share a cell with these people.
SuperSnark
Dec 28, 2006 at 7:23 pm
“One owes respect to the living. To the dead, one owes only the truth.” (Voltaire)
Hey, go right ahead and “speak ill of the dead”. Duckett is a worthless P.O.S. - although ultimately I had to vote for the Carrolls. There just isn’t one mitigating factor (drugs, tequila, psychosis) for that one - they simply have no souls.
KR O'Day
Dec 28, 2006 at 8:00 pm
I tried to add a nomination, but although the option is listed, it is non-functional (won’t allow that dot to be filled in; clicks go nowhere). So here is my nomination:
Zero Boss, as “parent” of an irresponsible, unethical, and sensationalist blog site
~KRO
Diamond
Dec 28, 2006 at 9:34 pm
Sheet. How to choose? Khalid Adem’s story hurts me in my nether regions… can I vote for the man who just BURNT HIS KIDS to their death?
Weapon of Mass Disturbance
Dec 29, 2006 at 7:01 am
Is the category restricted to parents who harm their own children or can you consider parents who teach their children to harm other people’s children?
SuperSnark
Dec 29, 2006 at 7:16 am
KRO - Then why are you here? I for one come to this site to find out which judges and parole boards I need to write letters to. Mmmkay? So Go. Away. Now.
Robyn Tippins
Dec 29, 2006 at 10:08 am
SuperSnark, if anyone can take this abuse, Jay can take it…
SuperSnark
Dec 29, 2006 at 10:21 am
Yeah, after I posted I saw where he took care of it in commentary on China Arnold. Apologies - I get pissy when someone reads a site not to offer dissent and counterpoint, but solely to bitch about its entire content and purpose. But thanks, Robyn - I needed the “down, girl!”
Parent of the Year « Rattling the Kettle
Dec 29, 2006 at 10:35 am
[…] Terrorism, middle east, Parenting, God, Israel, Infant/Children, Palestine, Parenting Issues, IDF. trackback Over at Parents Behaving Badly, the Zero Boss put together his nominations for Worst Parent of2006. There are some quality contestants in there, but I’d like to nominate the parent of this child in Hebron, the West Bank, who came out to greet an Israeli army patrol this morning with a realistic-looking toy gun: […]
MissMommie
Dec 29, 2006 at 10:46 am
Well as there are soo many parents who deserve this award for bad parenting 9even though they shouldnt get anything for it but a life time of punishment. me being a first time parent of an unborn child.. i have many votes… But to choose only one you just have to decide to yourself which is most gruesome, or violent to you taste.
Me? I will have to go with Michael and Sharen Gravelle.. Only because they were given the great oppertunity to take care of all of those beautiful children, and love them when no one else could… and take care of them because they were otherwise incompetant from reasons that werent thier fault.
And what did they do?
They took advantage of this wonderful gift, and decided they were more like wild misbehaved animals that needed to be caged up, and paper trained cause they were nothing but “MONKEYS”
And to top it off they got the bright idea to plead to the judg that they will give the children rooms and beds if they just let them go home with thier kids. Yes, I believe these adults are disgusting, and revolting.. and mentally competant to get treated like a caged animal and tourtured in prison just like thier helpless kids. (not anymore) They deserve alot more by my eyes, but im not in charge of all this. But thats my vote.
KR O'Day
Dec 29, 2006 at 11:28 am
I’m sorry, SuperSnark, I didn’t realize ZB had retired or died, and turned this blog over to you. No? Then perhaps you should *leave* monitoring the blog, and making his decisions, up to him.
Please do not feel the need to explain or justify the reasons you are here to me. Use the time and energy more constructively, such as writing your letters to judges and parole boards. I am neither, only a person concerned about such as reason and justice.
I have offered quite valid dissent and counterpoints, and had productive exchanges with ZB, elsewhere on the blog (as well as *rescinding* my nomination, as a result thereof), should you be interested.
~KRO
The Zero Boss
Dec 29, 2006 at 11:32 am
KR, I’d appreciate it if you not be a bitch to my regular readers. If you’re gonna play that game, you can leave, and stop trolling this blog. I value SS’s contributions to this site far more than yours.
This will be the last time I pay attention to you. Have a nice life and all that jazz.
Doug
Dec 29, 2006 at 11:57 am
The microwave lady, hands down. That is just the sickest thing I’ve ever heard done to a person. Even the worst torturers in the world aren’t as cruel as that.
Heather Heck and Savarin DeJesus should have been publicized more. Sure they may have been young parents (at least Heck), but there is no excuse. Publicizing it more might push people to give more child care education to high schoolers.
Karen
Dec 29, 2006 at 12:15 pm
Microwaving a baby is right up there with Sadaam Hussein putting people through meat grinders.
MCA
Dec 29, 2006 at 1:19 pm
The hard choice for me is those who inflicted such emotional abuse the child may not experience the full effect for years. For instance how will the daughters of the parent’s at war with Nancy Nibarger turn out? Are they potential future PBB’s?
There is no “proof” Melinda Duckett harmed Trenton (as in murdered) but his disappearance has profoundly impacted many. The case of the mother and grandmother you highlighted yesterday could also have long term ramifications on the children.
My vote would probably be China Arnold as it would take real evil just to even think of doing that but to actually do it.
KR O'Day
Dec 29, 2006 at 2:40 pm
Aw, ZB, just when I thought there was hope for you. ;-)
I’ll take being called a *bitch* as a grand compliment, thank you. Not sure what a “troll” is, so won’t comment on that. But as I said, it’s your blog, and your call, and it’s certainly true I can spend my own time more productively than being an intruder into your realm where reactivity and irrationality reign supreme.
Unsubscribely yours,
~KRO
Stephanie
Dec 30, 2006 at 2:29 pm
This may be a little off topic, but am I the only one thinking that KRO is flaming this site because he has a guity conscience? I wonder what the judge nailed him for?
I started visting PBB when I was following the case of the strange Mormon couple who abducted their adult daughter, and lately, I have mostly been interested in the Coach Nilbarger case. This is the sort of reason that I trained as a teacher, and then decided to be a Legal Assistant instead.
Jennifer
Dec 31, 2006 at 4:28 pm
“Khalid Adem…”
Me: HE WINS!
Boyfriend: There are nine more choices, baby.
Me: Oh. Fuck.
Herb Urban » The Best of Herb: Comments left on other sites
Jan 1, 2007 at 2:03 am
[…] 60. All of the candidates are richly deserving of the dishonor. How about we save some time and just flip a coin. Britney is heads, tails goes to Madonna? Sounds about right. […]
Melissa
Jan 1, 2007 at 10:13 am
personally I think the Eubanks of Ny should have made this list…..cant come to FL to support their child when their grand baby is missing because they cant afford to come back for his funeral but yet they can hire a lawyer to sue Nancy Grace because they exposed their “cold and hard” daughter for some cash in their pocket @!
Michelle G.
Jan 1, 2007 at 8:31 pm
Nope, too hard to pick just one.
Shelby
Jan 2, 2007 at 9:29 pm
To Jay or who ever Zeroboss is,
If you have any kids it’s you. Your false accucations against Melinda Duckett make me ill, and your disciple phony photograph of Melinda giving He*d that you have been spreading the internet is a flat out lie.
The Zero Boss
Jan 2, 2007 at 9:31 pm
Thanks, Shelby! It’s good to know that merely writing a blog post makes me MORE evil than people who rape, murder and neglect their children. Thanks for your balance and perspective!
Shelby
Jan 2, 2007 at 9:51 pm
It takes a evil person to spread fraudulent porn photos of someone, fully knowing they are false all over the internet. Yeah keep beating up the dead mommie , it must make you feel good.
The Zero Boss
Jan 2, 2007 at 9:53 pm
The “dead mommie” took her own life while her son was still missing. All the evidence points to her involvement. My sympathy is limited.
You know what will make me feel good, Shelby? Seeing Trenton Duckett, safe and sound in his father’s arms.
SuperSnark
Jan 3, 2007 at 7:45 am
WORD!
Mrs.Columbo
Jan 3, 2007 at 8:09 am
I agree with you 150% Zero,AllI want is to see Trenton in his daddy’s arms. I vote for melinda.
Shelby
Jan 3, 2007 at 5:06 pm
You forgot to include Josh Duckett , for pimping his son’s name out for a dollar and hawking t- shirts and braclets on national Television.
SuperSnark
Jan 3, 2007 at 7:45 pm
Is Shelby related? Or perhaps just pissed she didn’t get a cut of the proceeds?
The Zero Boss
Jan 3, 2007 at 7:47 pm
Dunno, SS, but it looks like her ramblings have succeeded in driving Melinda Duckett even with the Carrolls.
Melinda Duckett Voted Worst Parent of 2006 - from Parents Behaving Badly by Jay Andrew Allen
Jan 7, 2007 at 3:18 pm
[…] Your votes are in, and it’s official: Melinda Duckett has been voted by Parents Behaving Badly readers as the Worst Parent of 2006. When I announced the awards originally, I had this to say about the deceased mama: […]
Michelle from Madison
Jan 8, 2007 at 5:10 am
If Nancy Grace was not a contributing-factor in Melinda’s suicide, perhaps it would have been nice to get some comment directly from Melinda regarding this subject. And, let us not forget the Award Nancy Grace recently just won. http://irqportz.wordpress.com/2006/09/07/nancy-grace-attention-whore-of-the-month-award/
Pharmakon
Jan 8, 2007 at 10:50 am
Shelby, did Local 6 doctor these photos as well?
http://www.local6.com/news/10322224/detail.html
It is very strange that google searches are coming up empty, at least in the image department. Conspiracy theorists, talk amongst yourselves!
I’m saddened to see that Melinda won this award from your readers, however. As far as we know, she wasn’t a ‘bad’ parent who did unspeakable horrors to her child like some of the other contenders. If it’s true that she handed Trenton off and he is still alive, it would be resonable to believe that she had his best intentions in mind. There is such an iceberg of a situation that there’s no way to tell if living with the father was the best situation.
Pharmakon
Jan 8, 2007 at 10:53 am
Oh.. here’s a link straight to the slideshow, just in case you don’t want to be bothered by all of that “text”
http://www.local6.com/slideshow/news/10322549/detail.html
jack
Jan 8, 2007 at 3:19 pm
Nice site actually. Gone to my favourites. Thanks for creation.
Inside Fatherhood » Bad Parent Award For 2006
Jan 9, 2007 at 7:11 am
[…] Thanks to Jay at Parents Behaving Badly for keeping up with parents who behave badly and make the news. If you haven’t been over to his blog yet it is a definite must. Add it to your favorites. His blog readers voted and gave the Worst Parent Award for 2006 to Melinda Duckett. […]