*Prayin' For Aiden*
/ Baby Aiden...
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Total Votes: 96
MONDAY, MARCH 24th- (WTOC.com) - Aiden Waller is now out of the hospital and in the state's custody. Judge Gates Peed confirmed that today. Baby Aiden was at Memorial University Medical Center for eight weeks and suffered from severe head injuries.
Effingham County Sheriff's deputies said Aiden's mother Tina Richards, abused her young son last July and again this past January. She's in prison right now. Deputies said Aiden's father Phillip Waller, knew about the abuse and didn't report it. He's also behind bars.
Baby Aiden will turn 1-year-old on Wednesday. He will spend the next year of his life in the custody of the state. That's what was decided in court today at Aiden's second custody hearing.
Attorneys representing Aiden's parents acknowledged in court the couple will likely never get to see Aiden again or his newborn baby brother. Today, the attorneys told the judge the parents want a family member to raise their sons.
Aiden's grandfather Steve Richards, is the only one seeking custody at this point. But it will be 12 months from now until the court and the Department of Family and Children Services decides who will get custody.
An investigator with DFACS will do an extensive home evaluation and conduct interviews with family and friends. The attorney appointed as Aiden's guardian et litem said she will do an investigation of her own to make sure Aiden is placed in a safe and loving home.
It was grandfather Steve Richards who had custody of Aiden last year after his daughter first admitted to the abuse.
April Hardy keeps in contact with the grandfather and helped form a support group for Aiden. "My concern is the fact that they're trying to make sure nothing goes wrong," said Hardy. "But in that same aspect, Steve was good enough in the beginning so why is it taking so long to figure out he's good enough now."
Hardy said a year is a long time for Aiden and his brother to wait for a permanent home.
The attorneys and the judge said they are very concerned about Aiden's safety right now. They will not release information on Aiden's exact whereabouts or who exactly has custody. All they will say is that he is the state's custody.
Aiden's attorney said several strangers tried to get into Aiden's hospital room at Memorial and at least one person tried to take pictures of him.
So far no more custody hearings have been scheduled yet. *Tina Richards and Phillip Waller will be back in court April 9*, they will be arraigned on the child abuse charges.



Quoting april2208:
Steve didnt know about the abuse...he only found out the TRUTH recently...Tina told him that he fell in his crib(while trying to pull himself up) and hit his face on the musicbox in his crib.....and yes he was only with Steve for a short period of time...though I think it was a little longer than a month.....but thats because Tina completed her "case plan" as ordered by the court, therefore she was granted custody of Aiden....




Quoting ALiLBabyPHAT18:
FROM MR. STEVE: "I know that I have not been on here, but I wanted to let everyone know that Aiden and his brother will not be in custody for 12 months. I confirmed what I understood in court with DEFACS. They asked to continue custody for UP TO 12 months. That just makes sure they have enough time to finish the investigations that they do. I have not been told an exact time, but talking to people I know that has been through somthing similiar to this, it should be anywhere from one to three months. That is not a quote from anyone involved, just an estimate. But I do know that it will not be a year. Thanks again everyone. Thanks for understanding my being away, and for not talking. I would not even say this much, but there is a lot of concern about this. I figure if the pree can report it, I can correct it. God Bless you all."




Hello, first I would like to introduce myself and thank the group owner for sharing this child's story. I am called MADJGNLAW for the children I represent that have been abused and my own love ones.
How tragic this is. I hate the system for this reason. I just don't understand why they take so long to investigate the children that are really being abused and then send them back to the birth parents. My daughter used to work for Child Protective Services and she came home crying almost everyday. She was not allowed to talk to me about her cases but she did tell me that they are so over worked by the state and a lot of them have learned to block out their emotions and some just don't care. The hand full that do care are over there head in work. Child Protective Services has been given pages of rules to follow to make sure the children stay with their birth parent and it is sad to say, but some children come into this world with a family that does not deserve them. I really feel this child should be put up for adoption because if goes back to the family member the mother will have access to the child. Now, if Papa would adopt him then it would be very hard for the mother to get the child back. They make it so hard to adopt a child in the U.S. and that is another reason so many children are in the system and continue to be abused. I pray for these children and I wish there was something I could do. I have recently went to Washington and meet with the Senate committee to introduce a general "Bill" for reforming children's rights in honor of Caylee Marie Anthony and all of America's abused and neglected children. That is a process that takes quite some time and needs a lot of people involved to get the attention of the Senate. But I will not give up and keep on fighting. Anyone live in the State and City this is in? Maybe someone could become this child's Advocate and speak to the Mayor and Senator in the city and try to help find this child a permanent home. Just a suggestion.
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