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This week, an Ohio mother faced court proceedings over allegations of medically abusing her two-year-old son almost continuously since his birth.
Jennifer Parker, aged 43, stands accused of three counts of child endangerment, as reported by WLWT.
Assistant Butler County Prosecutor Lindsay Sheehan explained in court, “She has engaged in a pattern of excessive and inappropriate medical care while neglecting necessary treatment.”
According to Sheehan, “From birth, under Ms. Parker’s care, the child, now two, has been hospitalized more than 20 times.” These hospital visits occurred both in Florida, where Parker previously lived, and in Ohio, her current residence.
This spring, doctors from Cincinnati Children’s Hospital and the Cleveland Clinic expressed concerns about potential medical abuse. The prosecutor noted that since the child was removed from Parker’s custody in May, he has been thriving and has not required any hospitalizations.
Sheehan told the court that Parker allegedly interfered with the child’s ability to eat, including cutting and clamping feeding lines and providing insulin or glucose to him even though he does not have insulin or glucose intolerance.
Regarding the feeding tube, Sheehan said that medical staff provided “multiple instances where the mother was not providing appropriate medical care, despite her child showing all instances and ability, for instance, not to have a feeding tube, and she was refusing to move him off that feeding tube and provide oral feeds,” Law&Crime reported.
This past spring, Sheehan said Cincinnati Children’s Hospital and the Cleveland Clinic raised concerns and agreed this is a case of medical abuse.
Parker pleaded not guilty and asked for a low bond, WLWT said.
“My only living relatives are here. My fiancée, all of my friends, actually my ex-husband’s parents are also here in support today so I’m really not a flight risk. Everybody in my whole life is here,” Parker said.
Judge Michael Oster set her bond at $50,000.
The boy’s father, Michael Carpenter, said after court that the child had medical issues since birth and that all decisions about hospitalizations had been made at the direction of doctors. Parker, he said, is “a caring mother who wanted the best for her children.”
According to Law&Crime, Parker was ordered to have no contact with her children, who are in the custody of Butler County Children Services. She is due in court again on November 24.