My my my, alot of folks are missing the point. 1. The child was not only taken from HER but taken from the TRAVELLER comunity! It is an internationaly accepted wrong to separate a child from a close kinship group like Indians or Roma, or Pavees and place that child with a group which discriminates against that child. Even if the family is liberal and not anti Traveller, the message it sends the child is that your people are not equal. As to the reporting...
"Beating suspect: 'I'm not a monster' Melody Mcdonald Star-Telegram Staff Writer Standing outside the county jail in South Bend, Ind., a Fort Worth-based Irish Traveller tearfully proclaimed that she is "not a monster" despite the videotaped image of her slapping and punching her 4-year-old daughter. Freed on bail Saturday after surrendering to authorities, Madelyne Toogood, 25, broke down during a nationally televised news conference over the loss of her daughter, who has temporarily been placed with foster parents. "They shouldn't have taken her," Toogood cried, referring to Child Protective Services. "They shouldn't have did this. ... I'm not a monster." With her hair changed from blond to brown since the day she was captured on videotape outside a department store, Toogood said her little girl shouldn't be punished for her mistake. "No one has the right to strike a child," Toogood said. "I'm paying for it. My entire family is paying for it. "Martha is my child. I think she is wonderful. ... I would lay my life down for her." Toogood, also known as Madelyne Gorman, surrendered to authorities about 4:30 p.m. Saturday. She arrived at the Mishawaka, Ind., police station in a convoy of vehicles that carried her Houston-based attorney Steven Rocket Rosen and her daughter. Authorities said the child was being examined by a doctor and appeared to be in good condition. The child "is a neat human being and seems to be fine," Christopher Toth, the prosecuting attorney of St. Joseph County, said Saturday in a press conference. Authorities said Toogood, who cooperated with investigators during an interview, was booked into the county jail and released after posting $5,000 bail. Prosecutors had initially requested a $50,000 bond because of her transient history. Officials said Child Protective Services will temporarily place the child with another family, a decision that clearly upset Toogood. The woman told reporters that she has been a mother since she was 19 and has three children, and that nothing like this has "ever happened before." She said she has 50 family members, many of whom have permanent residences, who could care for her child. Her attorney also criticized the girl's temporary placement with another family, saying that the Toogood family was tight-knit and traumatized by the decision. "To me, this is very detrimental, very psychologically detrimental, bordering on abusive," Rosen said. He said his client was angry because her child had misbehaved in the department store, but said he would not defend the attack. "It's clear here the young lady lost her temper," he said. "I'm not here to say she's not guilty. ... She committed a shameful act. She shall be punished." Indiana authorities issued an arrest warrant Friday afternoon for Toogood after charging her with battery of a child, a felony punishable by up to three years in prison. Authorities had been searching for Toogood and her daughter since Sept. 13, when the mother was captured on a videotape outside a Kohl's department store in Mishawaka. In the video, Toogood is seen placing her daughter in a sport utility vehicle, then slapping, punching and shaking the girl for several seconds. The episode occurred after the woman left the store angry over being refused a cash refund, authorities said. Authorities feared that the child might have been seriously injured, but they were unable to locate her or her mother. On Wednesday, the Mishawaka Police Department began distributing copies of the tape to the media, asking for the public's help in finding her. Toogood's sister, 31-year-old Margaret Daley, who authorities say was with her at the store, was arrested and charged with a misdemeanor count of failure to report child abuse and a felony count of assisting a criminal. She was released Friday after posting $2,150 bail. Toogood and Daley are affiliated with an Irish Traveller group in Texas known as the Greenhorn Carrolls, a close-knit family that often spends the winters at campgrounds in White Settlement, Fort Worth and Haltom City. During the summer, the group travels north seeking temporary work, such as asphalt paving, roofing and painting. While the men work, the women often frequent malls, beauty salons and tanning salons. Law enforcement authorities say that some Irish Travellers are experienced con artists, but that many are law-abiding citizens. Joe Livingston, a South Carolina-based expert on Travellers, said many are masters of "illusion and confusion," often obtaining fictitious driver's licenses and identification cards and using multiple home addresses. Toogood -- who under both names has identification cards and driver's licenses from numerous states, and several addresses in Fort Worth and elsewhere -- has warrants out for her arrest in Fort Worth and White Settlement. White Settlement issued a warrant on April 9 after she failed to pay a $202 traffic ticket for having no driver's license. In May, Fort Worth police issued another warrant for her arrest after she failed to appear in court to face theft charges stemming from a March 27 incident at a Kohl's store here. Dirk Moore, a Texas member of the National Association of Bunco Investigators who has investigated the Travellers for 12 years, said Saturday that he was surprised that Toogood surrendered. "I figured she would disappear, and someone would find her in five or six years when they ran her fingerprints," Moore said. "I'm surprised she turned herself in, and I'm surprised she brought the little girl with her." Moore said he was not surprised, however, that she sought out a prominent attorney to help her. "That is not a surprise," he said. "Most Travellers are fairly wealthy, and it is not uncommon for them to hire prominent attorneys to handle major cases -- and ones that have been successful in defending their clients. "They are able to afford the best." This article contains material from the Associated Press. "
The contention that all travellers are rich is nonsence, that they are all involved is liable, that you interview anti Fraud cops about a child slapping case is discrimination.
Cheers back at ya Rick!
Larry