Unnamed infant girl - 8 months - / Arrested: Mother Porche Robinson and Derrick Randall - Wilmington NC

Two charged with felony child abuse




Derrick Randall (left) and Porche Robinson were indicted on felony charges related to alleged abuse.

By Brian Freskos
Brian.Freskos@StarNewsOnline.com


Published: Thursday, July 26, 2012 at 9:08 p.m.

Last Modified: Thursday, July 26, 2012 at 9:08 p.m.

Suspicions
arose after a battered 8-month-old girl arrived at a Wilmington
emergency room with several broken bones, injuries one doctor would
later tell police were consistent with "violent shaking."

More
than a month after the infant was discharged with casts around her arms
and legs, a New Hanover County grand jury indicted the girl's mother,
Porche Robinson, 21, and her boyfriend, Derrick Randall, 22, on felony
charges related to the alleged abuse.

The little girl's case is
one of more than a thousand instances of child abuse and neglect
reported in New Hanover County so far this year.

The frequency
of those complaints is on the rise. Between January and June, reports of
maltreated children poured in at a rate of 303 per month, said Wanda
Marino, an assistant director at the New Hanover County Department of
Social Services. Last year, authorities averaged about 292 reports a
month; 2010 averaged about 249.

Safety advocates say the
sputtering economy is likely having some effect, not just in New Hanover
County but nationwide, because budget cuts are threatening to derail
efforts aimed at preventing abuse and neglect, according to Prevent
Child Abuse America, a nonprofit based in Chicago.

An April
report from PCAA estimated the country will spend $80 billion – or about
$220 million per day – addressing child abuse and neglect by the close
of 2012. That includes money spent on foster care, police investigations
and health treatment.

The fiscal difficulties come at a time
when the full cost of the problem is becoming better understood.
Children who are abused are at a greater risk of experiencing health and
learning issues and are more likely to become involved in substance
abuse, said PCAA President Jim Hmurovich.

"The impact on a child
when the trauma of abuse and neglect is experienced is so
encompassing," he said in a telephone interview. "It has such an adverse
impact on their development."

Police became aware of the
possible mistreatment of the 8-month-old girl in Wilmington last month
when Robinson called 911. According to a sworn affidavit from police and
a recording of the call provided to the StarNews, Robinson told the
dispatcher that she was lifting her daughter out of the stroller when
her ankle got caught on the strap, and now her daughter's leg was
swollen.

"She's breathing. She's crying," Robinson said.

An ambulance came to Robinson's house on Metting Road and transported the infant to New Hanover Regional Medical Center, where X-rays showed fractures to her legs, wrist and forearm.

The
severity of the injuries and statements later made by Robinson and
Randall, her boyfriend, gave police reason to suspect abuse and arrest
the couple.

Attorneys for Robinson and Randall declined to comment.

Robinson
posted bond and was released pending trial, but her daughter has been
placed in the custody of social services. Randall was still confined in
the New Hanover County jail on Thursday.

http://www.i4u.com/2012/07/wilmington-nc/two-abuse-felony-charged-child