Spiral Leg Fractures in Toddlers not Always Child Abuse
Disclaimer:
This page will probably receive much controversy from the medical and child protective service areas of practice. I am taking this opportunity to tell our story, in hopes that it could help even one innocent person that has been accused of child abuse. If you are a caretaker or parent that has been accused and are innocent of causing a child's spiral leg fracture please feel free to contact me by email. I can provide you with information and referrals that may be able to help your case. I am not an attorney so I cannot give you legal advice. I am a nurse and a Mother of three who has just spent the last eight months of my life dealing with such an ordeal. I wouldn't ever want anyone else to go through this nightmare! I cannot be held responsible for any negative outcome due to information provided on this page, and do not determine the accuracy of any medical information. That is up to people more qualified than me in these matters.
Our Story, Our Nightmare
   In October 2004 my 20 year old son was watching his girlfriend's three year old. She receieved an accidental spiral fracture of the femur. He and the girlfriend took her to the hospital for medical care. The ER nurse called child protective services and the case has been a huge mess since! In a very short amount of time the case became founded against my son, and against the Mother for failure to provide adequate supervision.The child was taken away from her Mother. Since the injury happened in one state, and the child lived in another, two states became involved in this case. Words were twisted by the professionals to make this simple accident into child abuse. The professionals did not accuratly document the way the injury happened, and they also gave false testimony. Not once did they ever look into an accidental etiology. Not once did CPS or the physicians interview my son. The police interviewed my son, but CPS did not review the tapes or hear his side of the story before making any determination. In my opinion they made a lot of mistakes in this case, which had a negative outcome on those involved. To put it bluntly it rides right up there in the stress level as if we were dealing with a death in the family!
     Thousands of dollars later it was determined by a criminal jury trial that my son was innocent of all charges.
    After doing my research I came to the determination it does not take a violent force to cause a spiral femur fracture in a toddler (or infant) for that matter. Now, perhaps infants should be viewed differently and throughly investigated, but that still does not mean there could not be an accidental explination.
    We consulted with an excellent orthopedic physician who gave reasons this could be an accident, and spent a huge amount of money on the best trial lawyer. Not everyone has that money to spend--and we really don't either. In fact, we still owe a large amount of money, and are now dealing with those issues. However based on what I have learned it is possible you could do a lot of the defense work yourself. I could show you how and give you tips on the same.
LINKS
Click Here: This link will provide you with an opportunity to purchase and download an article published in the Journal of Pediatric Orthopedics. It was a study completed in a New York hospital that explains why Spiral Femur Fractures can be accidental. Do a search to find the correct article. While there are many publications that basically say the same thing. This one had the most impact on my son's case and was actually entered as evidence.
Long Bone Fractures in Children distinguishing accidental injuries.
Low engery Spiral Fracture in Toddlers an AAOS presentation.
Femur Fractures in infants a possible accidental etiology.
If you are dealing with Child Protective Services. There is support and people who may be able to help you. Most of all DON'T EVER GIVE UP!

The thing that helped me the most was my faith in God and all the prayers we received from everyone.
[Shout Out]
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