Baby Grace, aka Riley Ann Sawyers

You know, stories like this just make me sick. Children are the most precious gifts that anyone could be given, and this is how parents treat them? I have tears in my eyes right now for this little girl. I can't even imagine how she must have suffered. What was she feeling, when the person she trusted more than anyone in the world (her mother) allowed someone to beat her senselessly? For not saying please and thank you? Are you kidding me? People like Kimberly Trenor and Royce Zeigler make me furious and irritated and heartbroken all at once.

First of all, what on earth was Trenor thinking when she married someone (stories say it was only a month prior to Riley's death that she and Zeigler were legally wed) who would abuse her child in such a way? Since when is it more important to have a man in your life than it is to make sure your child (a human being you brought into the world) is treated well? This is why I cringe when I hear of blended families, children living with their bio mom and their stepdad. I'm sure plenty of these families are healthy and happy, but unfortunately, statistics show that abuse is much more likely to occur in a home without BOTH biological parents (I'm going to be doing a post on that this weekend, so I'll provide the source then. I don't have it on me now. But I digress). This is obviously what happened here; a young 17 year old gets pregnant (why on earth wasn't she on birth control, or, better yet, not having sex while she's still in high school?), has a daughter, and then after she and the bio father break up, she's on to someone else.

This someone else obviously doesn't love his child as his own (I'm seriously wondering right now if he is capable of loving anyone at all). Abuse ensues, but instead of being out of there at the first sign of abuse (such as I would have been), she stays. And stays. And stays.

And allows her daughter (her TWO YEAR OLD daughter) to be beaten with leather belts. To have her head pushed underwater. To be thrown across the room. And yet she does nothing to curb this abuse? What is wrong with these people? Oh, I forgot; she said that "there was no intentional desire to kill Riley." Well, that makes it all better then, doesn't it? I cringe when people abuse animals, for crying out loud, and I don't understand how anyone could do it. Abusing a two year old CHILD is just unfathomable.

(Oh, and by the way, the mother is supposedly pregnant again. How lovely. I wonder if this child will be treated in the same loving manner that its sibling was?) I'm not usually one to advocate government intrusion in our lives, but people like this almost make me wish for forced sterilization.

So what do I propose? Well, sadly, nothing can be done for Riley, except to have BOTH of her parents punished to the fullest extent of the law, if they are found guilty of the charges against them. But in the future, the following policies should help protect the weakest members of our society (our children).

• Encourage high schoolers to wait until they are out of high school and in mature, loving, monogamous relationships before having sex. This isn't coming from a religious standpoint; it's common sense. You're more mature and more able to handle the physical, emotional, and spiritual consequences of sex. Why take on this very wonderful gift (when it's with the right person) before you're ready?
• That being said, I in no way favor abstinence only education. I truly believe that children should be taught to wait, but if they do not, to use both condoms and some type of birth control. Some say that this is just teaching them to have sex before they're ready; I disagree. If someone is going to have sex, they're going to have sex. Might as well make sure they have protection. Likewise, if someone is going to wait, they'll wait. (By the way, I was taught about all sorts of contraceptives in high school, and it didn't make me run out and have sex. Instead, I had already decided that I would wait until I was older, and I didn't lose my virginity until I was 19, to the man who is now my husband. Any talk of contraceptives had no effect on my decision whatsoever.)
• Teach teens about what a big undertaking (and how much work!) a baby is. I know that babies seem so cute and cuddly (and trust me, I can't wait to have one), but they are a lot of work. Perhaps if teens understood this, they would be more careful about avoiding pregnancy.
  
• Encourage adoption (or, in rare cases, abortion) when teen moms find themselves pregnant. For crying out loud, if you're going to allow your child to be abused, give it up to someone who wants it!
  
• If they choose to keep the child, encourage educational opportunities that will allow them to support themselves and their child comfortably. Who knows, perhaps Kimberly Trenor was with her husband because she had no other viable career opportunities in which she could have successfully raised her child as a single mother (still doesn't make it right, though).
• Most importantly, we need to make sure that people report any sign of abuse to CPS, and CPS needs to take action! Riley's abuse on the day of her death wasn't a one-time thing; it was over a period of quite awhile. Why on earth wasn't someone reporting that? (And if someone DID report it, why didn't CPS take her out of there?)

My blood is still just boiling. I have less than no respect for a man such as Royce Zeigler, who would use his physical strength to inflict suffering and death on a child. I also despise Kimberly Trenor, because once you become a mother, your child comes first. I don't care how much she "loved" this man (and how could she?); once she saw that her daughter was abused, she should have been out of there. And where on earth was the biological father? He's just off in another world, not in contact with his child or his ex-girlfriend? Did he not even pay enough attention to his child that he knew what was going on? Why are men not taking more responsibilities for their children?!? Having kids takes two to tango, you know. Even if fathers no longer live under the same roof as their children, they still need to do an EQUAL share of raising them.

I don't even believe in a hell, but I hope there is one so Trenor and Zeigler both rot in it.

Disclaimer: Of course the old adage "Innocent until proven guilty" applies here, yada yada. I'm just going off what the news reports claim to have happened.