This weekend, I told you about little Jacob Marbury, a one-year-old baby boy from Sherwood, Oregon who was horribly beaten by his babysitter while his parents were out on a date. Incredibly, the sleazeball who did this to Jacob hasn’t been charged yet. Apparently current precedent in Oregon requires an abuse victim to be able to talk about the pain he or she experienced.
Jacob’s parents, Joshua Marbury and Alicia Quinney, took to Facebook to express their frustration at this gross miscarriage of justice, and people around the world have taken up their cause. They gave their first national interview on Monday night’s edition of “Inside Edition.”
Marbury and Quinney went out on a date one night in March. When they came home, came home, they found the babysitter–a longtime family friend–asleep and Jacob screaming. Quinney noticed that “the whole side of his face,” as well as his arm, had what looked like bruises. However, she really got alarmed the next day, when she saw bruises on his back and a black eye. She also saw marks on and in his eye and on his ear. She described Jacob’s face as “something you see when people get in fights.”
They immediately rushed Jacob to the hospital. Doctors found a handprint on Jacob’s head, and the detective said that if Jacob had been hit any harder, he would have died. Quinney wrote on Facebook that Jacob spent time in two hospitals and underwent numerous tests.
Incredibly, the man who outrageously betrayed the trust of these parents is still out on the streets. This weekend, Marbury and Quinney learned that because of a 2012 ruling from the Oregon Court of Appeals, it is extremely difficult to prove that an abused child suffered “substantial pain” at the hands of an abuser unless the child can talk about what he or she endured. As any parent knows, most one-year-olds can’t talk.
What makes it even more incomprehensible is that the attacker admitted what he did to police. According to Quinney, the babysitter “hit … dragged… and smothered” Jacob. Even in the face of this, without the victim being able to talk, prosecutors’ hands are apparently tied. Meanwhile, the lowlife who did this to Jacob has apparently decamped for California.
When Marbury found out about this, he reacted like any father would react–he hit the ceiling. He took to Facebook and posted pictures of what his now-former friend did to his son. In a colossal understatement, Marbury wrote, “I am SO furious.” He’s not the only one. As of Monday night, his post has been shared almost 312,000 times. Even before then, prosecutors and police have been lobbying the state legislature to close a loophole that, in the words of one prosecutor, gives pets more protection than kids.
Washington County deputy district attorney Dustin Slaten, who handled the case, knows the babysitter is guilty. However, he didn’t think there was anything he could do until the pictures went viral over the weekend. He says that they made him “want to take a different path.” Even with Slaten’s renewed interest, this loony precedent still makes it possible that the scum who did this to Jacob could walk.
Jacob’s aunt, Kayla Quinney, has set up a GoFundMe campaign to help Jacob and his parents cover their expenses, as well as counseling for Jacob’s sister, Jaylynn, who witnessed the beating. Marbury works as a salesman at a car dealership, and the stress of this ordeal has made it hard for him to work. Click here to donate. Also, sign this petition asking the Oregon Supreme Court to make sure no other child in Oregon has to endure this.
