Seven-year-old Sean Gibson was found earlier this month wandering in a parking lot by employees of Westgate Resorts in Kissimee, Florida. He was out late by himself and begging for food at a buffet. The poor kid only weighed 37 pounds. They called authories who took him to the hospital.
Now domestic partners Suzette Stevenson, 45, and Jamie Lynn Martin, 26, have been charged with aggravated child abuse.
Think that drugging your kid and leaving him in the car while you looked at timeshares was bad? Read on…
Staff at the hospital were shocked at the extent of Sean’s abuse. They had to amputate one of his big toes that had been broken by bending. They boy also had rope burns on his wrists from where he was left hanging by his arms from two large wall lights at the trailer. He had burns on the side of his ears from being dragged across carpets.
One of doctors thought he may have damage to internal organs from repeated kicking. Sean’s head was covered in bruises and knots believed to be from blows by fists, hands or other objects.
Sean told police that he was forced to drink shampoo, was burned with cigarettes, and had to urinate and defecate in a closet.
Even more shocking was that Sean was not the biological child or related to either woman. The boy was born to parents addicted to meth. First he was taken away from his mom and given to his dad. The father who did not want him, gave Sean to an aunt who was in a domestic partnership with Stevenson.
Stevenson then purchased an illegal birth certificate for the boy after his aunt died. Then Stevenson met Martin in September 2005 and they moved in together.
There was no one else in Sean’s life to make sure he was o.k. After he got in trouble at daycare, Stevenson pulled him out and she did not send him back to school this fall.
But that’s changing. Not only is he in custody of the Department of Children and Families. Local school kids are sending him care packages. Employees at the Westgate Resort are collecting clothing and gifts for him. Once he’s released from the hospital, Sean will be a special guest of Disney World.
Let’s just hope this is the beginning of a good life for him.
(Thanks to M. Court for the tip.)
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