Are you Kidding me 18 months probation for killing a kid what kind of justice is that thats a bunch of _____ must be nice to commit a crime an walk away from it that bull you know what

I think if we stand united and attend this trial date, a silent but strong prescence, it would speak volumes for Little Israel.

SarahB that is true, but the newspaper stated that it was obvious and severe, so probably very apparent?

And the bio mother couldn't have been out for that long because she gave birth to him while there and he was only a little over a year. I believe 14 months or so. I do remember reading that she begged the courts to not allow him to be with his father because of his drug addiction.

The mother was in jail when she gave birth to isreal and now she lives in a drug rehab or possibly a half way house. I'm not sure on that detail. But hannah you are right, I'm not sure of any place that wouldn't understand you needing to take off work for this. If the date changed you could simply GO INTO work, doesn't sound too confusing to me! And I don't think hannah is BLAMING the foster mother or biological mother she is just simply stating that if they REALLY REALLY cared they would have made sure they were there. I know as a mother of an 18 month old if anything like this ever happened I would be there no matter what it took. It's my CHILD, of course I would be there! If the foster mother didn't know then that is a sad thing and the we are not being judgemental when we dont know the facts we are just going off what the news reports. We don't all know the mothers ourselves so how were we supposed to know they weren't really notified? Bottom line is this woman should have gotten a much worse punishment and it's sad no one was there to defend the child. Not BLAMING those people that wern't there but it's still sad!

so why doesnt the real mom have custody then?and why still in foster care. i am not judging. i am asking questions. maybe if people would judge better like the people who gave the father rights to see this child even though still a druggie this WOULDNT have happened.

wow hannah you should keep reading because the mother is not in jail and hasn't been for some time why do you feel the need to keep judging the victims instead of the people who did the crime

okay- i was sent an article from dec. the real mom doesnt have custody because she is in jail! nice. it seems it wouldnt be to hard to find her then and let her know when these court dates are. unless jail isnt understanding either like places of employment are as some of you mentioned. Guess i just work in a place that would understand.

soside4life thank you for your support and fyi yes when charles goes to court there will be someone there to speak for israel a call was made to make sure notication is made to the right people

even if we attent the trial there isnt anything we can do exept possible get arrested for CONTEMP!!

hannah~ Honestly, NO!...MOST employers DON'T understand!!... :( :( :( It IS HARD to get time OFF...!!
.
You are fighting a GOOD fight here, though! :)
.
I only WISH I could have attended THIS trial!!! If you have time..PLEASE, PLEASE attend the next one!!! :) :) :)

loveforkids93~ QUOTE "Anne Nack, assistant district attorney, told Judge Michael Fitzpatrick that the other victims in the case, presumably including Gordon’s biological and foster mothers, had been notified of the sentencing hearing for Peabody." ...Now, in re-reading the article, I notice (as I should have BEFORE "passing judgement" perhaps! Sorry! :) the word "presumably" was used...And THAT REALLY SUCKS...IF the other victims (..Especially the foster mother & YES, even biological mother!) weren't informed!!!! :(
.
....I STILL just wish SOMEONE would have been able to attend this woman's hearing, for lil' Israel's sake!!

mymaro... LOL! That was funny! I was trying not to point that out myself. Glad you did it for me!!!!

Wasnt sure if i should throw in my opinion,but,here goes anyway.Why is it that everyone in this country needs a license or permit of some kind to do or say anything anymore ,but ANY IDIOT can have a child?This reality has always bothered me.

what kind of bubble do you live in employers do not understand when you have to take alot of time off and do you have a job or financial responsibilites to anyone other than yourself do you have bills to pay because they dont understand you are passing judgement without knowing all the facts as to why nobody was there who knows maybe why the mother could not be there maybe shes i the hospital or something you dont know why Israel was in foster care you just assume because he was in foster care nobody cared for him

i am not passing judgement- just wondering why. as i mentioned before WHY doesnt the real mother have custody?and if they cared alot they WOULD find out where to be no matter how much work it would have been to find out.i am sure their employer would understand. wouldnt you?

hannah yes it is posted in the wiscinsin court access but if you really watched it thier court case dates changed numorous times some people cannot afford to take 10 different days off to be there I'm sorry you feel you need to pass judgement on the family of the victim instead of passing judgement on the people who did the crime

his case will be 12-17-08 9 am court room d.

the wisconsin site would show a court date pending along with the date of trial.just fyi.
http://wcca.wicourts.gov/index.xsl They must have know about the case coming up. why didnt they call somebody and ask. I sure the heck would have. most of these case trials ar eopen to public too.

The people in care of him were responsible but CPS is in control of visits and should never allowed unsupervised or overnight visits. Reunification is a wonderful goal, but how much are the children to suffer with addicted parents whether it be alcohol or drugs. Biological parents aren't always the best to raise their own children. We all make mistakes but when we keep repeating them and never learn from them there is definitely a problem.

sarahb- yes i know she wasnt the drug user but SHE drove him to go get more drugs for him before taking the baby to hospital. sounds like neglect to me on both- parent/girlfriend

soside4life i know for a fact the foster mother was never made aware of the court dates maybe possibly neither was the mother

God Bless That Lil' Man! :)

I'm sorry, BUT (& in MY opinion ONLY! :)...this woman (she's OBVIOUSLY NOT a "MOTHER"!!) got off way TOO easy & it kind of.....NO, it REALLY angers me!! :( She shouldn't even get her OWN kids back! (EVER!!) THAT should be her ultimate "punishment", since she proved what her priorities are & her "mothering" instincts (pregnant + 1 child already) w/ poor lil' Israel on that fateful day!! :( ....QUOTE "Rivers was the one who primarily tended to the baby that afternoon and evening, Peabody told investigators." PRIMARILY, according to the definition, meaning SHE too, took "care" of baby Israel, as well (or "should have"!!) !!
.
I also find troubling, from this article, the facts of...QUOTE " Peabody “does feel horrible” about Gordon’s death, Howard said. He apologized for her to Gordon’s biological and foster mothers."...Just MY THOUGHT~ WHY couldn't/DIDN'T SHE apologize..??! Yet, QUOTE "no one testified in court Tuesday about the loss of Gordon." ....Now, THAT'S REALLY SAD! :( :( :(

Hanna: The story reports the woman is not a drug user. The boy's father was the drug user. Nurse4u: I sure wish they would release the autopsy report. Same as you, I am a registered nurse. I took care of numerous head trauma patients when working in ICU/CCU in Iowa. I have seen some with all the signs/symptoms you reported but have also seen others where the only symptom was that they could not be aroused. I wish we had more details on this case.

"...If she does not comply with the terms of her probation, she would be back in his court facing “very serious consequences,” the judge said." The charges were plead down to a misdemeanor- she'd probably be looking at 9 months jail (and no doubt with work release), not a prison term. Very serious consequences?! Hmmm....

“She’s a 27-year-old and made a mistake that will haunt her for the rest of her life,”

So, when does responsibility for ones actions kick in? 30? 40? 65?

SarahB: A head injury on a child would become apparent within a short time of the injury occuring, especially if it was obvious and severe. The brain swells, causing pressure that does not have anywhere to go. Definite signs would be change in conciousness, vomiting, flaccid muscles, seizures, etc.
It was a tradegy that this child died, and a bigger tradegy that the punishment for this boy's murder would be so outrageous.

lakennedey what a wonderful idea i hope you somehow bring this idea to state reps to have it considered i would vote it in

evansvillehousewife: I agree with you regarding sterilization. Unfortunately, I think we both know that would never happen. What I would like to see happen is an "incentive" package, if you will. I don't know if you remember this or not, but a couple of years ago, Mayor Bloomberg in New York passed an incentive plan that actually paid parents to be...well, basically parents. These parents were "paid" to attend parent-teacher conferences, take their children to the dentist, etc. I would like to see a program--purely voluntary--where people are paid to be sterilized. I know this sounds harsh, and believe me, I've gotten a lot of criticism. I just think it really makes sense. If you think of the burden/cost to society that these neglectful parents cause both financially and socially, offering $5000.00 would be an excellent bargain. On a social level, the people this type of procedure would appeal to are people who either already don't want children, or probably shouldn't have them to begin with. Just a thought...

someone on herion that IS THEIR 1st priority NOT the child.

sarahb- not sure about your questions- but i would think if you ARE on drugs THAT WOULD be a case of child neglect right there!!!!

again jvlman- yes no intent (maybe) still very serius trama to head it appeared. BUT REMEMBER she went to get drugs first and DIDNT go get treatment for a hurt child. does anybody wonder if this child was just screeming in pain or unconcious from the serious head trama they spoke of in the paper.

jvrs77- maybe the younger the child the lesser the sentance- havent had that long to bond yet!!

spiff- i agree she may still have what is coming to her. the real mom might have some friends out there. but why is this child in foster care anyway. maybe the real mom isnt upset??

i would cry too if i thought i was going to jail!!

Unfortunately David O'Leary runs uncontested . Don't really know why. Isn"t there someone out there that could (would) run against him?

(sarahb) the woman lied to the police and covered up for her boyfriend she had to have known something was wrong with the child throughout the day goto the search engine and type in israel gordon you will be able to get facts on the case the baby apperantly hit his head in the morning and medical treatment was not sought until later that night after the baby already died

heres_my_opinion - Here is your exact comment - "why not a test before you are allowed to even allowed to take a child home from the hospital? a simple written basic knowledge exam would weed out most of the problem population." So are you suggesting we allow women to have children and THEN give them a test and if they don't pass the test they cannot take home their child? So, if they don't pass are you going to watch all these newborn children? Ridiculous idea! Again written tests will not prevent this type of tragedy.

Please do not misinterpret this posting, but I have one question. I have read the story twice and cannot figure out why the woman was charged. Does anybody know if the injuries were visible? Closed head injuries can occur and leave no markings at all. She wasn't at home when the injury occurred. The father was the one taking care of the child that day. I am confused here. If it hadn't been for the "drug run," would there even be charges? Perhaps that is what the charges developed from. I would think taking a child on a drug run could be considered neglect, although I doubt the child was taken into the residence where the drugs were obtained ... if they were even obtained inside a residence. Many dealers just meet with their buyers in a parking lot or at a street corner. Exchanges take place so quickly that most people in the area have no idea they are even taking place. There must be more involved here than the story explains.

Janesville seems so civilized, but you get a case like this, and people clamor for mob rule. Just because a child died does not mean there was intent to kill, and these are pretty serious penalties. She won't get custody of any of these kids for a long time yet. Parenting classes at taxpayer's expense, if she should in fact learn something from them, are a lot cheaper than lifetime foster care (if you care about the actual $ spent, that is). There is no picture of Rivers because this is not an article about him, and there will be one when he is sentenced. The people complaining about O'Leary seem to get their ideas about our criminal justice system from television.

why not a test before you are allowed to even allowed to take a child home from the hospital? a simple written basic knowledge exam would weed out most of the problem population.

cosmo_millie - And who do think will pay for these parenting classes?? Hmm...The TAXPAYERS!!
That is a great idea! We have drivers education and we still have unsafe drivers. We have hunters safety and we still have unsafe hunters. Who will you blame then?? Get real. No class is going to prevent a tragedy like this. Yeah, let's get more government programs to pay for and fail. GREAT IDEA!

sweet79 i cannot vouch for the mother but i can vouch for the foster mother and she was never notified about this hearing i just spoke to her she is outraged that it was printed that she was notified If you read carefully it says she was presumably notified and now here you are bashing a presumation

What good would it have done for anyone to speak on behalf of the child when the DA has already plea bargined the case and the end result is a done deal?

I'm praying that O'leary doesn't get elected again, it's him that is lowering these sentances. Anytime someone does something under the influence of a controlled substance he lets them off easy as if thats an excuse. Is this father even getting in trouble for the herion? I'm sure they didn't even ask him about his dealer to try and make an arrest on him for dealing. As far as the mother and foster family go, they obviously don't care enough to be there for the child. The mother didn't have any custody of him to begin with. He was taken from her at 3 days old because she gave birth while in jail. I saw Peabody last weekend, she works at a campground I stayed at. I had my 18 month old with me and I'm telling you it was the hardest thing when she looked at my daughter to not jump across the counter and start choking her! I wanted to scream at her how horrible of a person she was and how she doensn't deserve to be a mother or even be alive, she's trash! And to let her have her children back again so that it can happen all over? She obviously mistreats them even if she isn't going to KILL another one. She can't be a great mom if she got drugs over taking a child to the hospital.

Here you go TRHIATT65

http://media.graytvinc.com/images/rivers...

Just a little known fact for all of you freaking out about the fact that this woman is being "reunified" with her children...State law requires CPS to attempt/work towards reunification with parents and children, it doesn't matter if they are incarcerated or not. Once the child has been placed outside of their parents care for 15 of the most 22 months, then CPS is able to file for a termination of parental rights and the child is able to move towards adoption. So please don't be so quick to offer your opinions on cases like this where reunification is mentioned because the CPS worker is only doing their job and following state law.

Well, that clears things up. Now we all know what a life is worth...1 year in jail, 5 yrs probation?!! What a joke!

You have to take drivers education before you can drive, you have to take hunters safety before you can hunt, they need to do something to educate parents before they are allowed to have children. Parenting classes after the child is dead is just wrong

the foster mother was never notified

You are right. Morally they should be sterilized.

But you can see that CPS is working for reunification. Apparently casuing the death of a child is not enough to prove someone would not be a mother. Odd.

And no one spoke for the child. No one.

Maybe next time David O’Leary is up for re-election all of you will remember that and not vote for him. If he has been doing things like this for years then why do the citizens of Rock County keep electing him. What a sad broken system we have.

darius, right and wrong was not being negotiated. The punishment was negotiated and the judge accepted the negotiated agreement.
gms1969... Are you serious?? The case worker and supevisor should be held accountable. Get real. Once again you people try to place the blame elsewhere other than the person responsible. The father neglected to care for his child. PERIOD.

oh and had it been my child..this girls been walking the streets..she never would have made it to court..

They should sterilize these two.

well loveforkids...exactly what the judge needed to see..curious..

(spiff) where is the childs mother or foster mother this child died right before christmas last year just think of how christmas was for the familys its been nine months since his death they relive it often enough now your want them to goto court and be outraged by this sentence do you really think you could stand there look at this woman and not want to do her bodily harm and for what to hear shes getting a slap on the wrist (just might put them over the top you think)

She should be subject to public criticism. A CHILD IS DEAD! The fact that she is earning the right to be a mother again is sickening.

Again, right and wrong being "negotiated"!
The next parent who does the same thing won't get the same sentence...... the judicial system has been altered just like every other part of the U.S. Constitution. The constitution was put in place to protect the people from their government, not the give the government free reign over the people. There can be no peace without justice! This is such a sad story. An innocent child being raised by the new generation of parents who have no clue what morals, values and responsibility really are! God bless this child in your kindgom.

another case cleared from the docket with little justice for the victim, the murdered child.

What could have possibly been a huge impact on the judge decision...to hear from the childs real mother and foster mom..where were they?

This is insane, a child is dead and they might as well give a slap on the hand. Kill or abuse a pet and you get worse. What about Rock County? This was a foster child, the case worker and their supervisor should be held somewhat accountable as they are the ones that allowed the child unsupervised visits knowing the drug history of these people. There is definitely something wrong when CPS can do something like this and not be held held responsible. THEY ARE SUPPOSED TO PROTECT OUR CHILDREN!

this lady is not the mother of this child she is just the fathers girlfriend

why is the mother's picture posted on here where is the picture of the father to since he was invalved in the death of the child?

What about the judge?? He accepted the plea bargin between the 2 attorneys. He has the authority NOT to accept it and sentence her to the full extent of the law.

What a joke for a sentence. A child is dead and this person basically gets a slap on the wrist. The district attorney is suppose to be the voice of the victims. Good job of not listening D.A. You do hard time in rock county for having a gun, but if you allow a child to die then you do no time.

gina51: "the district atty should be ashamed of himself"
.
Gina, the DA has been doing this type of thing for years.

18 months probation,parenting classes,1 year in jail and 5 years probation. Is that what the life of a child is worth? How sad for Israel.
Another felony plea bargain by the district attorney's office. Why are people who hurt or kill children any better than a child molester? Put these people away so they don't do it again. The child was dying and they both made the decision to go get drugs instead of trying to save this child's life. That's how much the life of that child meant to them. The district attorney should be ashamed of himself.