Josephine was a teenage mother. She had a 1 year old son named Scott. Josephine lived with her mother Marian. Due to her pregnacy,she was not been able to complete high school. Her mother worries that the responsibilities of childhood maybe too much for her. She is really concerned about Scotts safety.

Marian knows that her daughter is not the most responsible person in the world, so she helps out as much as possible. She also knows that a teenagers tolerance level is low. With a child to look after, it drops even lower. Sometimes Josephine would blame Scott for all her problems. Other times she acted as if she could not live without him.

She was very unstable, so her mother kept a close eye on her. Marian knew she could not be there all the time. She feared that Josephine might do something crazy if she became too stressed. Lately, Scott has begun crying a lot. He has also been withdrawing when Josephine comes near him. Her mother wondered what was going on. Scott has never been exactly overjoyed to see Josephine, but now he tries to completely get away from her.

Marian thought, maybe Scott is sick, so they took him to the hospital. The doctor examined Scott all over. He asked Marian to remain at the office while he took a walk down the hall to get some lab results. When the doctor returned, the police and a lady in a suit accompanied him. Marian was surprised.

She wondered what it was all about. The police told her that she was under arrest for child endangerment. The lady in the suit scooped Scott up and started toward the door. As Marian was being handcuffed and having her rights read to her by the police, she asked where they were taking Scott. The lady in the suit said that he would be placed in foster care until the situation could be resolved. Marian said, but I am not the childs mother.

The police said they would hear her arguments and explain in detail when they got to the station. Marian knew Josephine was the cause of all this. Whatever the doctors found resulted from her treatment of the child. When they got to the station. A detective went over the evidence that the doctor found. Scott had several bruises on his back, which indicated he had been beaten. Marian explained that she was not the childs mother.

She explained, that the childs mother was a teenager. The detective listen and afterwards he told Marian that he was convinced that she was not the guilty party. He also explained that someone had to be responsible. He sent the police to pickup Josephine. After questioning, Josephine admitted the she had caused the bruises on Scott when she was under stress. She was in tears.

Her mother hated to see her that way, but she knew that Scotts safety was the number one concern. She was given a hearing. She was sentenced to 1 year probation and nine months service at a child abuse clinic. She experienced first hand the trauma an abusers actions cause in a childs life.

Marian was awarded legal custody of Scott. Josephine was allowed only supervised contact with Scott, until the court is convinced that she had matured enough to take full responsibility.

It is in your best interest to keep a close eye on children in the custody of relatives with questionable judgment. Use all methods at your disposal to keep a child safe.