April Rice Break Three-Week-Old Boy’s Leg, Waits to Take Baby to Hospital
In New Beford, Rhode Island, not only did April Rice, 21, break her infant son’s leg. But she and her boyfriend, Joshua Cadwell, 30, waited two days to take the three-week-old to the hospital for treatment.
Rice told police that broke the boy’s leg when she slammed him into a chair. Her reason? The baby wouldn’t stop crying. Geez, maybe feeding or changing him would have been more appropriate?
Police also said the couple tried to reset the boy’s leg by themselves. The baby is in state custody.
Cadwell has an outstanding arrest warrant and faces extradition to Minnesota. During a competency evaluation, the judge deemed Rice, who suffers from a slight mental disability (she has ADD/ADHD and is mildly retarded) to be mentally competent to stand trial. Both she and Cadwell face charges that include assault and battery by means of a dangerous weapon and assault and battery on a child under 14. Cadwell also faces an accessory after the fact charge.
Rice may be mentally competent for trial, but not for motherhood or living on her own. According to police officers, her apartment was cockroach-infested and smelled of cat urine, feces and garbage. Ewwwwww.
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7 opinions for April Rice Break Three-Week-Old Boy’s Leg, Waits to Take Baby to Hospital
Ihavekidstoo
Sep 3, 2007 at 11:21 am
Please God, let the judge have the sense NOT to give the baby back to these two. They BOTH have obvious mental problems. This time it was just a broken leg that will heal and he’ll never remember it. Put him back with these two and next time it will be a fractured skull or worse.
The courts should fast track him into the hands of a loving, adoptive family who will give him the happy, safe life all children deserve. And never, ever let his biological “parents” see him again.
One more case for mandatory sterilization …
Lisa
Sep 4, 2007 at 7:45 pm
I have always believed that a womans body is hers alone and that any decision to be made should be her own. This case is quite swaying though, and I have to agree with Ihavekidstoo and vote manditory sterilization.
Kathy
Sep 5, 2007 at 4:30 am
You know, in cases like these, where one or more of the parents is considered “mildly retarded,” I think childrens services should be notified when a child is born. The family should be monitored and they should see if they need or will have any help in raising the child. If someone can’t take care of themselves, how are they expected to take care of a helpless life?
I know, CPS is OVERBURDENED with cases. It’s a shame that instead of prevention, we have to wait until a child is hurt or killed before anything is done. There are no easy answers, but if a person is so mentally incompetent that they believe shoving a child ina chair will make them stop crying, maybe it is time to forego the political correctness and start with the mandatory sterilizations.
Shel
Sep 5, 2007 at 11:42 am
I’ll walk the line between agreeing with sterilization and CPS intervention. If CPS had been involved before her baby was born, they either would have helped with housing or taken the baby into protective custody until Ms. Rice had a suitable place for the child and had taken some parenting classes.
Both sound mentally retarded and their friends they were living with were the ones with the filthy house. Gross! I’m sure their hearts were in the right place to allow two homeless old friends to stay with them and buy them things for their baby, but a mop and some Lysol would have been a better start.
Susan
Sep 6, 2007 at 9:20 am
just another example of where it seems everyone is using the same excuses over and over again…I have mental problems, I was abused as a chld, etc etc etc. Seems to be becoming quite a pattern! Maybe we need to wakeup, see the pattern, and start putting more measures into place to prevent everyone from “growing up” with these “issues”! What is causing all of these mental disorders suddenly, why is causing all of this abuse suddenly? Where do we draw a line? We’re even allowing parents who have a simple lapse of judgement with no past anythings to walk away freely from their “crimes” against their children, does anyone else see a major, troublesom pattern forming here that we should try to stop now?? ADHD is an attention deficient, hyper issue, she obviously was paying attention to the child, just in the wrong way, and I highly doubt that ADHD has anything to do with her abuse towards the child! *shakes and scratches head as I walk to go sit under a tree and think about this all for awhile” :)
Susan
Sep 6, 2007 at 9:26 am
This reminds me….there was a woman locally who was just cleared of killing her two year old daughter, who the mother had left in the van August of last year. The judge cleared the woman of the charges and she is now free. What was her convincing defense to the judge that allowed her to walk away free? She is a SCHOOL ADMINISTRATOR, and the morning that she left her daughter in the car to die she had been busy and stressed about picking up donuts for a faculty meeting!! The judge says the mother made a mistake, uh yeah, uh ok?!? A two year old is facing towards you, and surely the child, wouldn’t the mother have noticed the child, remembered she was in the car, while putting the donuts in the van? If the child was awake, wouldn’t the child have been wanting one of the donuts and making a fuss about it? Now a person is allowed to use donuts as a defense, let’s not worry about the child but make sure the faculty has breakfast! What a bunch of nonsense bull! I see a pattern here then in this defense….police + judge = donuts, I wonder if she sent the judge a basket of donuts thanking him for his verdict? WTF?????
kerrymenard
Sep 21, 2007 at 9:50 am
Susan I heard of this case you are talking about and it floored me. This is the best explanation of how the judicial system fails us at times. This woman left her TWO YEAR OLD in a van and said she forgot her in there. I have a two year old and I know that my child would never let me leave him, not that I would, but he would make a fuss like never before. Even if the child was sleeping, no excuse. Every morning I wake up, dress myself, dress my son, get in my car, take him to daycare, and go to work. I could do it blindfolded, with the world on my shoulders for the simple fact that it becomes routine. Every mother out there knows what I mean. You can not possibly forget that your child is with you, where else would they be? Here is something to ponder upon…. Would the verdict have been the same if it was a woman of lower class? I’m sorry if no one agrees with that question, but I was raised in a lower class and worked my way up and I see a difference in the way people are treated. I don’t need anyone coming down on me about this post, but I’m speaking based upon my own experience and I know that verdict would not have been the same. People wonder why so many of us doubt the goverment.
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