When you leave your child in someone else’s hands, you expect that person to take the job seriously.
Being a babysitter means you earned a great deal of trust from the parents — they trust you to take care of their most precious gift in the world.
But, unfortunately, there are tragic examples where babysitters, preschool teachers, and others who should be a child’s protector become something completely different.
Taking the time to choose the right babysitter with the proper qualifications means you have significantly greater chances of actually finding the right person.
That said, no one should have to go through what Alicia Quinney and Joshua Marbury experienced a couple of years ago.
Parents Alicia Quinney and Joshua Marbury from Oregon wanted some time to themselves and went out to eat at a restaurant, without their son, Jacob.
But, they started to become concerned when they called to check in and the babysitter didn’t answer the phone.
The babysitter was supposed to be looking after Joshua and Alicia’s two children, their 1-year-old son and their 3.5-year-old daughter. Unfortunately, when they worried about whether or not the babysitter was doing his job, they were proven right.
When they arrived home and opened the door they found the babysitter — passed out. Their son Jacob was injured. The whole house was in chaos.
The following day, the parents discovered that Jacob’s face was covered in bruises. Their little boy had been hit by the babysitter, according to the parents.
Jacob was terribly bruised on his face, on his arm, and even his ear. He had a black eye and blood vessels in his eye were damaged.
Due to a law in the state of Oregon, it was difficult to prosecute the man who was abusing the child.
Then, dad, Joshua turned to Facebook in his frustration:
“I normally keep my matters with family very private cause i dont need the attention. But this is different. TWO months ago if not longer my 1 year old son was smacked across the right side of his face by our babysitter (keep this person anonymous) to the point where MULTIPLE doctors (who in fact showed us hand prints) and the detective said it could have killed him.”
According to the Oregon law, the prosecutor must prove that the victim has suffered an injury and that the victim has also experienced significant pain. It makes it hard to convict people when the victim is a child who can’t talk about the event and describe his pain.
“STILL this person was not arrested because they had to build a case and a jury to find him guilty BEFORE they go to jail. Side note if im not mistaken (if i strike a person in the face and the cops were called i would be put in hand cuffs immediately). After TWO months of waiting we only find out that charges are dropped BECAUSE my one year old cannot tell you verbally he was abused and my son did not show he was in pain OR that this person “intentionally” did this,” wrote Joshua.
The family struggled emotionally after what happened and has tried to handle the trauma as well as they can. Mom Alicia told Oregon Live that her trust in other people is gone.
“Jacob has always been a mother’s dream, but after this happened, I can’t leave him without him crying. And our daughter goes to a psychologist because she saw her little brother get hurt,” explained Alicia Quinney
Dad Joshua’s Facebook post went viral and hundreds of thousands of people supported the family.
In the end, he also helped bring justice to the babysitter, Markell Hilaire.
Three months after the incident, the babysitter was arrested and faced a trial, according to KTLA.
The babysitter, who was drunk that night, was apologetic during the trial.
“First of all, I want to apologize for what I did,” he said in court. “It does not define what I am and I was not in the right state of mind when I did what I did and I hope that Jacob is OK and he grows.”
Hilaire was sentenced to three months in prison for his crime.
Today, the family and Jacob are doing well, thank goodness! Hopefully, something like this never happens again and that this story can make us all think twice about who we let watch our kids.
This terrible situation could have been much worse, but fortunately, Jacob will grow up in safe hands with a family who loves him.
It’s awful that the babysitter’s punishment was only three months in jail — it shows that in many cases, the courts aren’t taking child abuse seriously.
Please share this if you think there should be a stronger punishment for people who abuse children!
It doesn’t matter if you’re drunk, tired, or sick: You don’t raise your hand to a small child. Share and comment if you agree.
