Babysitter Gets Probation, Not Jail For
By Jeff Small
(KSDK) - A Manchester mother says a babysitter was put on probation, rather than sent to prison, for abusing her six-month-old boy.
Christina Hubert Thone pleaded guilty in the case, rather than face a jury. A prosecutor says he wanted Hubert Thone to go to jail. But without any witnesses in the case, he simply didn't have strong evidence.
Genelle Gutman says doctors found retinal hemorages and traumatic brain injuries to the back of her son's head. The injuries were discovered three years ago when he was just 6 months old and vomiting constantly.
The little boy was shaken so violently his retina partially detached from one of his eyes.
Police eventually determined that the problems were caused by months of abuse at the hands of Hubert Thone, 29, the little boy's babysitter.
Genelle Gutmann hired Thone in August of 2002 after seeing an ad at her Manchester church. Just one month later, problems surfaced. His mother says he was throwing up repeatedly. At each hospital visit, doctors would only say he had acid reflux.
Suspiscious incidents continued, including one occasion when the little boy stopped breathing.
Finally the babysitter was arrested after the child's mother sent a friend to pick him up from the sitter.
The mother says her sitter was angry because the little boy had been crying. The sitter allegedly slammed the child's head in the door when he was picked up a short time later. Police began an investigation after the friend who picked up the child called 911.
Thone denied any abuse until the last minute, when she pleaded guilty in court. The abuse happened between September 2002 and January 2003. It has left the child prone to seizures and with a learning disability.
Under a plea agreement, Hubert Thone received a six-year suspended sentence and five years probation. A prosecutor stressed that the felony conviction will always remain on her record. She also is barred from working in a daycare or acting as a babysitter.
KSDK
11:15 PM CST on Wednesday, February 9, 2005
KMOV-TV
For Genelle Gutmann, it's been a nightmare. Her 2-and-a-half year old son, Austin, looks and acts normal now, but just two years ago, doctors thought he was near death. He was battling a variety of illnesses, and they couldn't figure out why.
His mother says after months of hospital visits, a friend of hers spotted signs of child abuse when she picked Austin up at his babysitter's house.
Police investigated, and Wednesday in St. Louis County Court, babysitter Christina Thone pleaded guilty to felony child abuse for repeatedly shaking Austin to stop him from crying. She got five years probation but no jail time. Prosecutors say they feared losing at trial because of a lack of eyewitnesses to the abuse.
The victim's mother says she had hoped the babysitter would go to jail.
The babysitter did receive a suspended jail sentence, so if she violates the terms of her probation, she could go to prison for up to six years.
Prosecutor Bob McCulloch said it is significant the babysitter will always have a felony child abuse conviction on her record.