Judy Gratton Starves Her Three Kids and Gets 15 Years
Judy Gratton, 48, of Cortland, NY got15 years behind bars for assault, drug possession, and nearly starving her five-year-old son with Downs Syndrome and his siblings to death.
During a drug bust, they found the boy, Harley Morgan, in a playpen, covered with body lice, and wearing a soiled diaper. He only weighed 15 pounds and was near death. A five-year-old boy should normally weigh around 40 pounds.
Along with cockroaches and bags ofsoiled diapers, police found an 11-year-old girl and 12-year-old boy who also showed signs of malnutrition.
Social services did receive calls telling them neglect was taking place. Social workers visited several times but were not allowed in. A new law was passed giving social workers easier access into homes where they suspect a child being neglected or abused.
In court, Gratton showed no remorse, blamed her alcoholism, and showed little regard for her own children. The judge believes that she didn’t starve her three kids on purpose, but blasted her for hiding them from social workers.
God, how far do you have to crawl into a bottle to forgot to feed your kids? By the way, Harley is doing better. He’s starting to walk.
(Thanks to Dena for the tip.)
Tags: alcoholism, child-abuse, cockroaches, Cortland-New-York, diaper, drugs, Harley-Morgan, Judy-Gratton, lice, malnourished, playpen, roaches, social-workers, soiled-diaper, starvationRelated Stories
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10 opinions for Judy Gratton Starves Her Three Kids and Gets 15 Years
Bridget
Feb 26, 2007 at 9:42 am
What a piece of sh*t. I try not to judge a book by it’s cover but she looks like a mean bitch. My one year old boy (who some call a little guy) is 22 lbs. I watch Animal Cops and I’ve seen dogs in this condition and this bitch had her kids living like that? With 5 ounces of pot? All I can think is if she had the drugs packaged for sale then why didn’t she use the money she was making to feed her kids? Down’s kids tend to be on the plump side so she must have been starving him for a while. And they are medically fragile and often have bad hearts so this poor little boy isn’t out of the woods yet. I hope the inmates steal her food every day so she can know the agony of going hungry, damn her.
Leah
Feb 26, 2007 at 11:10 am
Dude, you guys have got to start spell-checking your pieces. Two mistakes in this one (as in previous ones):
“Along with cockroaches and bags soiled diapers, police found an 11-year-old girl and 12-year-old boy who also showed signs of malnutrition.” (You missed “bags OF soiled diapers).
Also:
“Social workers visit several times but were not allowed in.” Visited? Tried to visit?
Love your blog, but it’s getting pretty sloppy.
Leah
Laura
Feb 26, 2007 at 11:22 am
Leah hold off on the spell check.Dang.
Starving is such a terrible thing to happen to chidren. I hope the children are okay now.
Lisa
Feb 26, 2007 at 6:08 pm
My mother was an alcoholic, a drug addicts, and suffering from manic depression. I remember neglect, some physical abuse (back then it was called disipline), and sometimes going without a meal, but never to this degree. We were on the skinny side, but never more than 5 lbs below normal. This woman has no excuse.
MissMommie
Feb 26, 2007 at 10:25 pm
This is such a sad story.. very wrong of that woman. She showed not only the judge she didnt care for her childrens well being but she showed those kids she doesnt love them, and then blamed it all on her alcohol addiciton.. what a bitch..
Bogustoo
Mar 1, 2007 at 3:56 am
This “mother” is just horrible! And what about the case workers? Couldn’t they have received a court order to enter the house? It doesn’t take long and could have save these children months of abuse.
Amraann
Mar 2, 2007 at 9:11 am
Please do not take this as a defense of this women.
What she did was awful and she should suffer the rest of her life the same she inflicted on them.
That being said … it must be once a week I read of a parent of a disabled child abusing them.
Does this not scream warning bells to society that these people need help??
As the parent of an autistic child I can tell you its frustrating.. there is little help.
Would I ever harm my child? HELL NO!
But I also have a very loving supportive husband and consistant stable income.
In order to utilize the resources available to those with disabled children … You must know how to find them.. They don’t just advertise on the local TV station and often overworked social workers don’t even know about them.
Although these resources are becoming more common in some areas, it is not always easy.
I do not think that having a disabled child gives one the right to be a shitty parent…
But I do think inlight of ALL the cases we read that the resources available should be more available and those that are available are overwhelmed.
I have encountered pediatricians who have no clue how to treat my son… I have to do the research and tell them what he needs.
Another issue is that Dr’s seem to be of the consensus that all disabled children have poor parents. I cannot tell you how many times I have had to explain “NO, we do not use medicaid”.
I honestly think that it sways their opinion because they know the limits of what is covered and they just assume.
OK sorry this was sooo long.
Just hit a nerve.
Blurgle
Mar 24, 2007 at 11:32 pm
Amraann, A lot of doctors assume that most parents of disabled children are on Medicaid because disability causes desperate poverty. Many parents can’t even begin to afford even the most fundamental basics for a disabled child unless they divorce and the wife goes on Medicaid. My friend with a disabled child said that if she lived in the US she’d be paying over $6,000 a month for her care - their entire take-home income is only $2,500.
There’s nothing immoral or wrong about being poor - and I’m not saying you’re implying that (in fact, I agree with you 100%): but many people do think being poor is a moral failing and are uncomfortable mentioning they’re on Medicaid unless the doctor cajoles it out of them.
What frustrates me about this case is that social workers tried to help but didn’t have the laws behind them to save a child’s life.
anonymouse
May 25, 2007 at 6:55 pm
This happened literally 2 streets down from where I live as a college student. I know the boy’s new foster mother, and as of a couple of months ago, he was doing MUCH better. Gained weight, had some verbal skills.Thought maybe some of you would like to know!
rockdoll_71
Nov 25, 2007 at 10:17 pm
What a piece of shit! I hope she got some hard time out of this. Too many times we hear about these worthless mothers doing unspeakable things to their children and getting a slap on the wrist. Any more updates?
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