An Oregon family said that a babysitter suspected of assaulting their 1-year-old son has been arrested.
Markell Deon Hilaire, 27, was arrested for criminal mistreatment and assault charges---a few weeks after the child’s parents, Alicia Quinney and Joshua Marbury, posted a picture of the boy, who appeared to suffer bruises and other injuries, on Facebook.
The parents demanded action from authorities to take action on the alleged mistreatment of their child.
The Sherwood couple said they came home to find Hilaire, a family friend they trusted, asleep on the couch. The baby, Jacob, was crying on the floor in his room, KPTV reported. Jacob woke the next morning with injuries---including a hand-shaped bruise---all over his body and face.
The parents then contacted police, but authorities pointed to a loophole in Oregon laws.
Prosecutors said that if the child is physically abused, in court they have to provide evidence that a child was in pain or the child was impaired. Victims have to be able to explain how they suffered, and if they’re too young to communicate, prosecutors said it would be hard to charge their alleged abuser with a crime, KPTV noted.
His aunt, Dionee Hilaire, said her nephew had been drinking alcohol before criticizing the parents for leaving the baby and another one of their children in his care.
Regarding Oregon’s abuse laws, prosecutors said the case does highlight major problems that prevent them from protecting children who can’t speak. “The term ‘physical injury’ to you and I means something very different than what it means under the law,” said Washington County Deputy District Attorney Kevin Barton last month, KPTV reported.
