Prosecutor: Baby dead after 8 days of neglect

[phrigndumass]

Source: Gatehouse News Service

PEORIA — Benjamin Sargent died with his eyes open, fists clenched and strapped into a car seat after eight days without food or water, authorities say.

The 5-month-old was dropped off at his parents’ house on Feb. 4, wearing a bright-blue snowsuit and strapped into his car seat. Eight days later, he was found in the filth-strewn home in the same position, Peoria County State’s Attorney Kevin Lyons said Wednesday during a bond hearing for the parents, Tracy D. Hermann, 21, and James E. Sargent, 23, both of Peoria, who are charged with murder for their son’s death.

“It’s the worst case of child neglect we have seen since the turn of this century,” Lyons said afterward. “(On Tuesday), I told (Peoria Police) Chief (Steven) Settingsgaard that this case even rattled me.”

...

A person who was staying at an unattached garage adjacent to the house had seen Benjamin at some point, thought it was “odd” that he was still on the living room floor after being dropped off and moved him, car seat and all, into the other room. There Benjamin sat for eight days, most of which both Hermann and Sargent were home, “playing video games, watching TV, feeding and caring for themselves,” Lyons said afterward.


Read more: http://www.sj-r.com/News/stories/25672.asp

---

Unbelievable!

[phrigndumass]

1. Safe link, doesn't require login

The link takes you to the Illinois State Journal-Register, Springfield's newspaper. I looked for the story in the local Peoria paper, but it's not there.

Pictures of the couple at the link ... they look eerie.

[indie_voter]

2. Sick.

They couldn't even give the poor baby some water? Disgusting.

As a human being this makes me ill, as a parent this just confounds me. How can anybody do this to a helpless child?
:cry:

[ikojo]

78. A niece of a co-worker has had both of her kids

taken from her due to not feeding them. She and her then boyfriend and now husband would eat regularly but she would "forget" that the babies needed feeding.



Well at least the mother didn't have an abortion! :sarcasm:

[Missy Vixen]

3. Just remember, "it's different when they're your own".

WHY didn't this couple give their baby up for adoption if they didn't want him in the first place?

Julie

[phrigndumass]

6. Mother also has a 3 year-old

They're trying to remove the 3 year-old from the home.

[kestrel91316]

10. "Trying"????

There is no "try" - there is only "do" or "not do".

[phrigndumass]

17. Oops, my bad ...

They've "begun proceedings to permanently remove" the 3 year-old from the home.

You're right, there's a big difference between "trying to remove" and "begun proceedings to permanently remove" ... that was my fault. Sorry!

This whole thing has me sick to my stomach, especially since it happened so close to home.

[toopers]

71. kestrel91316 was quoting Yoda.

[Maat]

75. Yes, I was with Child Protective.

The three-year-old was likely taken into immediate PHYSICAL custody, and it is referred to as the "temporary legal custody of the Department (DFS, or whatever)." The social worker has already found out if there are responsible relatives available; the child might be in temporary placement until they can be checked out. A hearing will be held in a special civil court, called Dependency Court, within 48 hours. It will likely be postponed for a few days, since it's the same time frame as is involved in a criminal arraignment. Therefore, the parents will likely face a judge in a criminal court first, and then they will be making an appearance in Dependency Court, over the three-year-old. Because of the special circumstances, involving the death of a child, the social worker can go "No FR," which means that parental rights could be terminated within six months, followed by a four-month appeals period. Bottom line, the three-year-old could be adopted within less than a year (hopefully, by a caring, responsible relative with whom the child is familiar; HOWEVER, I'm betting that's not going to be the grandmother who dropped the kid off).

Sorry, that's probably more than anyone wanted to know.

Newspaper reporters often got confused about the process, and used terms in weird places in an article, without understanding what was really going on.

[Maat]

76. Yes, I bored everyone with the details below.

Both are true. Technically, the child is in the 'temporary (legal) custody' of the Department, although the child is in the physical custody of a foster parent. Also, proceedings HAVE begun that will likely result in permanent removal.

Thanks for listening to this ol' retired social worker.

[BigDaddy44]

4. Words absolutely fail me

Where do people like this come from? How are they created?

[NaturalHigh]

48. I honestly have no idea...

but they should never again have the chance to do this to another child. Their remaining days should be spent cowering in prison.

[Warpy]

5. There has to be a substance issue and/or retardation involved

because the poor kid would have screamed for the first couple of days, then whimpered and moaned until the end within the next 2 days. Lack of fluid would have killed the poor baby very quickly as his kidneys shut down.

Who dropped the baby off and why? Since his mother felt no responsibility for him and said the man had all the responsibility, what the hell was the dynamic surrounding his birth? Was a bottle found anywhere near the car seat (not that a 5 month old was capable of grabbing it)?

Don't you wish you had the power to sterilize some folks?

[phrigndumass]

8. Bottle found with baby

Same source, also part of story at the link:

"Hermann’s last contact with her son was the night before police were notified. Then, she allegedly told police she “looked at the baby in the crib and presumed he was sleeping, so she said she stuck a bottle between the baby and the side of the car seat so that when he woke up, he could grab it and feed himself,” Lyons said in open court."

[Warpy]

11. That's what she said she did

but the article didn't say a bottle was actually found.

There are a lot of questions about this story, aren't there?

[indie_voter]

14. I wonder when she put the bottle there?

Kids have limited movement in carseats, so grabbing a bottle would have been tough even at full strength. But if the child was weak from starvation and dehydration, that makes it even worse.

Or maybe they put it there after the fact to protect themselves? Who knows.

Can you imagine? The baby must have been crying, how do you ignore it? Headphones?

Vile people.

[phrigndumass]

26. Mother claims she put the bottle there the night before police were called ...

... That would be on the seventh day, I guess? Mother claimed baby's care was father's responsibility, but good gawd, how long do you let the baby go without care even if you're being stubborn about it?!

[indie_voter]

38. I know. I can't even imagine

Even if we give them a pass on innate compassion (let alone love for your child). Wouldn't it be easier to meet the most basic needs of the baby for selfish reasons, to stop the crying, so they wouldn't have to listen to it?

Honestly. What in the world drives people to do such things?

Even high as a kite on whatever drug, how can anybody sit there and listen to a child cry for help for goodness knows how long?

Granted, we all have our thresholds for crying, and mine was very low. So I carried my kids in a sling everywhere because I couldn't listen to the crying, and both were high needs. Heck, sometimes it was more about me wanting the quiet, and if that meant they lived on top of me, so be it!

But even with a higher tolerance for crying.... For a child to DIE in a carseat means that child must have been crying for hours on end before giving up.

When I read stories like this, I need to hug my kids extra tight.

Sick people out there. Sick. Sick. Sick.

[HardWorkingDem]

25. Remember....baby was five months old...

don't even know if he could grab, find or hold onto a bottle by himself...

[ailsagirl]

18. Dehydration must have been the cause because I believe

humans can go for longer periods without food than they can water.

Just unconscionable-- blows my mind.

[EFerrari]

29. That's usually my question, too.

Who else knew about this and looked the other way. :(

[NashVegas]

43. That Was My First Thought

Drugs. Hard ones.

[sinkingfeeling]

7. It's a shame that any two people can just breed. The 'mother' also has a 3 yr. old girl. Wonder

what she was fed during those 8 days.

[LisaL]

51. The article said the mother seems to have "given the daughter to a family

member."
So, I doubt the daughter was in the house at all.

[barb162]

73. Lucky for the daughter at least n/t

[kestrel91316]

9. Two words:

Mandatory sterilization.

For BOTH "parents".

[Name removed]

28. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[phrigndumass]

32. Please delete your post ...

There was an earlier poster who said pretty much the same thing, and it was deleted by the moderator. I know you meant well, but it could be taken as highly offensive.

[Iwillnevergiveup]

12. The real villain

in this tragic case is undoubtedly crystal meth.

[balantz]

15. That's my guess.

[kirby]

19. I speculate World of Warcraft... n/t

[smiley_glad_hands]

22. Yeah either drugs, WOW, or both. eom

[Terran]

23. My first thought too, but gawd I hope not.

I've heard of WoW divorces, but WoW death??

[WinkyDink]

56. Yep; was just about to post that.

[Maat]

64. I said the same thing.

Other DUers guessed that also; I guess many of us have seen the horrible effects of the drug.

[balantz]

13. They should both be strapped in car seats looking at each other

from across the room with a couple of manikans sitting on the couch with the T.V. on, and a bunch of food and water just out of reach. That'll learn 'em!

[Name removed]

16. Deleted sub-thread

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Teaser]

20. shouldn't have read this

fuck, fuck, fuck.

I just want to beat someone senseless right now.

[southernleftylady]

21. Just because you can doesn't mean you should!

Just because people CAN make a baby doesn't mean that they SHOULD have a baby!
ugh what a horrible HORRIBLE story!

[awoke_in_2003]

24. Some stories

make it very hard to remain anti-death penalty.

[Javaman]

27. Two seriously fucked up individuals.

sounds like a meth house.

[NashVegas]

45. Here's This

Sargent says her son James Sargent has a history of depression and was once diagnosed with bi-polar disorder and spent sometime in Zeller Mental Health Center.

She says she does not know if Sargent has been taking medication lately but says he and Tracy Hermann always seemed like normal happy parents. She did say the couple had been fighting lately but she did not think it was affecting caring for the baby.

There's more info at one of the links near the bottom of the thread.

[phrigndumass]

55. Couple that with "mother said the baby is father's responsibility" ...

If the father is bipolar, and if the mother claims the baby was the father's responsibility, maybe they were fighting over taking care of the baby. My sister is bipolar, and some people with bipolar disorder can be stubborn as hell.

And with a third person living in the detached garage, with obvious access to the house.

It took both parents to neglect and kill this little boy.

Reading further, that little boy had a snow suit on, and it was 80 degrees in his bedroom. A snow suit, 80 degrees, for 8 freakin' days.

[LisaL]

59. The articles also said the mother has taken off to meet with a

man she met on the internet, apparently toward the end of the eight day period.

[Maine-ah]

79. my father was unmedicatied, depressed and bipolar.

never did that to any of us.

I can't feel for these people, and I have no problem with the death penalty on cases like this.

[heliarc]

30. As a new parent of a 1 and a half month old...

this is nothing short of nightmarish. The lengths that me and my wife go to to make sure that our child is healthy and fed- the worry that both of us feel to our core- the anguish that we feel when our little girl is even uncomfortable... and the sheer joy it brings us to provide for her. These two people are without humanity at all. The thought that they could sit through that child's cries of anguish and not do something is sheer horror.

Point of clarification. Why was the baby "dropped off" at their parents house and by whom? The poor soul was 5 months old? Where was he for 5 months? The article doesn't seem to clarify that.

[Dogmudgeon]

31. This is beyond my ability to be outraged.

I'm numb. I feel like a deflated balloon, and I want to cry, but I can't.

Eight days strapped to a car seat with no attention.

I can't even imagine it.

--p!

[Blue Diadem]

33. Survived by his loving parents..

that phrase in his obituary makes me sick.

I ran across this opinion piece with the information about the obituary while looking for more info on this story.

http://www.pjstar.com/stories/022208/PHI_BFRRG7VU.033.php

[phrigndumass]

34. Thanks, OurVotesCount ...

I couldn't find any links in the Peoria paper earlier.

However, I'm even more outraged now. I wonder what kind of nimrod at that newspaper could ever make such a stunning, sickening faux pas, and what kind of editor could let it pass without catching it.

Un. Be. Fucking. Lievable.

[Blue Diadem]

36. It probably came through the funeral home

They probably didn't realize at the time that it was neglect and cruelty by the parents. The funeral homes we used always handled our family obits.

I see from reading a few small articles I found that the parents weren't charged right away and the original autopsy was inconclusive but he was quite underweight. Poor little guy was buried on the 18th. I did see in one article that they didn't think either parent had mental illness.

[phrigndumass]

37. You could be right ... could have come from the funeral home

Hope I didn't offend ...

[Blue Diadem]

49. I had the same type reaction as you when I first read it and posted it.

After I posted, it came to me that our funeral home always provided a standard form, asked us questions about surviving relatives etc. and then submitted it on our behalf to the newspapers.

No matter who wrote the obit, it's sickening to read the words "loving parents" when they were responsible for his death.

[LisaL]

40. I doubt it would be hard to realize what had happened to the child.

The child was at 10 pounds when he was found (at 5 months of age).
He was at 8 pounds when he was born.
He was also found sitting in his own waste, wearing a snow jumper.
It wouldn't be that hard to figure this one out.
http://www.sj-r.com/News/stories/25672.asp

[sinkingfeeling]

35. Here's a picture of that sweet baby...

http://www.week.com/news/local/15849117.html

[LisaL]

39. I wonder who dropped the child off.

I couldn't find that information anywhere.
The child managed to make it to five months, having those two as parents, so, was he living somewhere else before this?

[indie_voter]

41. Here it says a grandmother

James Sargent was present at the house and, when interviewed on that day, and again on February 18, his answers to questions confirmed for police that Benjamin had been returned to the residence on february 4, 2008, by a grandmother and he was in the same car seat, wearing the same snow suit, and confined in the same manner as when he was found dead eight days later.

http://www.week.com/news/local/15816102.html

[LisaL]

57. I wonder if grandma raised the child for five months, and then quit,

or did these parents take care of him for five months? Somehow the child did manage to make it to five months, and considering the allegations, I wonder how.

[rocktivity]

72. If the photo is any indication, someone was doing right by him.

Benjy looks very well cared for and to be developing properly. Note how he figured out how to keep his thumb from slipping out of his mouth. One of my nieces was his age when she developed a system of putting her hands together, putting both thumbs in mouth, then pulling out the "wrong" one.

I'm actually hoping that it turns out that the parents are meth addicts because there's no other plausible explanation...

:cry:
rocknation

[ellie]

42. How could someone hurt a child?

[NoodleyAppendage]

44. Methamphetamine, I bet. Nothing else other than severe mental retardation makes sense.

I guess they could be complete sociopaths, but that doesn't fit with the apparently o.k. up to 5 months.

J

[LisaL]

50. I've looked at their photos. I very much doubt they are retarded.

[NoodleyAppendage]

52. Misnomer. Can't tell retardation sometimes just looking at someone.

While the majority of those with developmental delay will have some outward neurological "soft signs" or morphological problems, there are a goodly number of persons for whom there is no outward display of disorder.

J

[LisaL]

58. All I am saying is that they not appear to be retarded to me.

There also haven't been any information to suggest they were retarded.

[proud2BlibKansan]

61. Here they are

[NoodleyAppendage]

62. Something is not quite right with the mother from that photo.

While you can't say if she's developmentally delayed from the photo, she does appear to have some facial characteristics shared by individuals with those sorts of problems.

The male...he just looks like trouble.

J

[proud2BlibKansan]

66. I had the same thoughts

[NaturalHigh]

46. What bastards.

The parents should never see another day of freedom in their miserable lives.

[lonestarnot]

47. What in the fuck is wrong with people?

:cry:

[burrowowl]

53. 5-months and 8 days without food!

a baby that old would die sooner than that, an aduld can last 3 to 5 days without water, a baby a few hours to a day. I wonder how many babies in NO died with no water. No food, maybe 8 days.

[DiverDave]

54. Fry em

When are children's murders going to be taken seriously?
Why is it the perp's get so much slack...they killed a BABY

I dont give a rats ass if they had "other problems".
I'll pull the switch and go home for supper.

I'm gonna go throw up, then go check on my kids...God I'm gonna cry about the suffering that baby went through.

[BreweryYardRat]

80. Gotta agree.

I'm a lazy bastard who can't stand small children, but even I wouldn't be capable of doing this.

[proud2BlibKansan]

60. OMG this is sick

What a horrible death this baby must have had. :cry:

[Maat]

63. My bet is that methamphetamine abuse will be discovered.

I literally saw thousands and thousands of similar cases when I was a social worker in San Bernardino County, Ca. That's why I'm for decriminalization of drugs, but not legalization (except for marijuana). We need to direct first time offenders into rehabilitation and parenting programs. This mom might have tested positive at the time of the baby's birth; perhaps there could have been prior intervention. Decriminalizing methamphetamine abuse, but not legalizing use of the drug, aids in early intervention to prevent these tragedies. You simply CANNOT parent adequately and use the drug; it's impossible. We do, out here, in California (I'm proud to say we 'Prop. 36' most offenders, getting them into drug rehab programs). My worst case involved me putting on protective garb (hospital-required) and going in and saying 'goodbye' to a toddler. Mom wouldn't do it. Mom had crashed after a methamphetamine binge and left the water in the bathtub running. A two-year-old survived.

[LisaL]

67. Their faces look pretty clean (no acne) on what I assume are

their mug shots.

[Maat]

74. True, but not every abuser gets acne.

I met many who never did.

There's only one drug I know of that literally creates mental illness in the user like this - that would induce such a heartless crime. Eh ... it's just a guess of mine; but, I'll bet I'm right (tragically).

Ah, I took a look again ... those uniquely empty, souless eyes, as if Lucifer himself had taken over and was staring out of them; I know that look well.

[knitter4democracy]

65. I wonder why he didn't cry.

I can't imagine people ignoring a crying baby for that long unless they were so high or out of it or not even there. That means he'd been taught not to cry long before that.

This kind of thing makes my breasts hurt. If I were still nursing, I'd be soaked already. Little guy needed food and snuggles and love and a clean diaper and a new outfit and more snuggles. :cry:

[nodehopper]

69. or he cried and they ignored him

[and-justice-for-all]

68. Those people should be sterilzed and never allowed to have..

kids again. PERIOD! and that goes for all child abusiers and killers. This would also include a prison sentence for murder in the first degree.

[Stump]

70. I wish I wouldn't have even read this shit...n/t

[Maat]

77. Can you imagine if we had directed all of the money spent on needless invasions, occupations ...

and weapons systems on drug treatment centers and mental health care? Then none of us would have to read this crap ... at least constantly. It just makes me sick.