What should happen with this baby?

I agree that sentiment is bullcrap. This is the first time I have heard anything of the child's ethnicity. That issue is beyond moot it's almost a deadly smoke screen now it's been thrown into the scenario like a grenade.

I don't care what ethnicity the child is - I'm just thinking she's 7 months pregnant and nobody noticed?? I'm sorry, but I'd notice if my daughter gained that much weight (unless she was built very oddly) and also, if she was withdrawn, angry, sullen, etc. Yes, I'm putting most of this on the mom, because who else do you put it on?

Another unasked question is did the mother notice the 10 year old daughter possibly affected by symptoms of morning sickness (if they apply to a pregnant 10 year old)?

I know children often are susceptible to sickness but I can imagine the amount of coincidences adding up should have at least thrown up a red flag regarding the state of health of the daughter.

That's kind of what makes me think the mom didn't know -- no mom is going to guess that her 10 year old daughter is pregnant.

I'm around kids in this age group a lot. Some of the girls are starting to get curvey. Last year one of the girls in Mo's class was obviously maturing and she was getting teased without mercy. She started wearing baggy clothes and trying to hide her body in a variety of ways.

Plus, I've been through the shock of having the doctor discuss puberty with you when your kid is only 9. She most likely thought the physical changes she saw happening were puberty.

The mom took the girl to the ER for stomach cramps. If she'd known the girl was pregnant she probably wouldn't have done that. If she knew her boyfriend was raping her daughter and she was okay with it she would have tried to hide it.

I think the mom was probably blindsided by this.

I wouldn't say ... in a worst case scenario ... the mother was complicit with the rape but perhaps ... willfully ignorant of the abuse. Something tells me, the abuse wasn't some kind of one time event.

I don't think it matters if it was one time or many times -- abusers are good at hiding their abuse. They threaten and intimidate thier victims into silence. I think people who abuse kids like this are masters at gaining the trust of the person responsible for the child.

I think it is really easy to say "I'd know if this were happening" but I think it is really, really hard to actually know.

The mother may well have been in on it. Mother's have certainly been known to do worse things.

To me, it just doesn't make sense that the mom would take the girl to the ER with stomach cramps if she knew the girl was pregnant.

If you look at the link that Soz provided on the youngest mothers, many of them did not know they were pregnant and their parents assumed something else was the issue because of their young age.

Arrest records are public; this is the man involved http://www.mcso.us/PAID/BookingDetail.aspx?ID=v3RSoFp4DpehJRgaRVqAIQ==

Police said he's illegally in the country and has made a full confession concerning relations with the 10-year old girl. Perhaps the mother hesitated to get medical care sooner due to residency status. The Oregonian had whole pages of commentary yesterday, now gone - but some of it is on Google's cache.

Perhaps the mother was suspicious of the possible abuse but wasn't aware of how severe the abuse was and thusly she was unaware of the pregnancy.

oh please
and perhaps the little girl actually seduced her mothers' boyfriend and he's the real victim.

Where do you get that nonsense? Have you bothered reading my past posts? I think your pathetic attempt at reading between the nonexistent lines would have a teacher fail you in an elementary school reading class.

I'm just saying perhaps the mother knew something and didn't act upon her suspicions. Nothing else. The father is the ultimate abuser and the one who needs to be thrown into jail.

Seriously... you need to pay more attention to the letters and words of other people's posts before you try to shame them on some nonsense that ISN'T there in the first place.

I haven't heard anything regarding immigration status but people delay/don't get medical care for a million reasons -- mostly because they can't afford it.

But yes, I heard he'd made a full confession after they'd asked for a DNA sample.

I'm pretty sure he's going to prison for a long, long time.

Not long ago there was a case here where the family called an ambulance for their 13 year old daughter. Police hardly recognized the girl as a human, they wouldn't let other members of the family even see the body the girl was so.... misshapen... from abuse.

So I know sometimes parents are in on it, even if they aren't the abusers.

I learned this from Mo's other mom.

They're just as guilty.

So unbelievably guilty. Even more so. It's a mothers' duty to protect her child. I couldn't imagine living as such a miserable failure. That's why I'm not so quick to go there with this child's mother because there's the very real possibility that she was completely in the dark and had no idea of what this man had done.

This is truly a disgusting case. How many ways can they hang him from his balls until they snap off?

The Mother of the 10 year old child has jurisdiction. No one else does.

One of the things that society is very lax on, what belongs to whom--no matter what you think is right or wrong, a child is owned by their parent.

What is first needed is a clear understanding of lines of demarchation between the individual and the social structure the individual resides in. Is it simply a heap of people, or is it a civil social structure?

oddly enough, i would have bet this kids parents were lilly white trailer trash if i hadn't read other wise

and my advice would be the same, a retroactive abortion for the fiance and possibly for the mother, as for the poor kid, i have no idea

It matters in the statistical sense that chronic abuse is more likely to be noticed than a single occurrence. Separately, I also am mystified by EOE's comment that reaction might be different if the child were not hispanic: in what sense? And which part of the reaction - surely not the general revulsion?

I don't see how a 10-year old can be forced to continue this pregnancy to term without serious danger to her physical and mental health. To my knowledge most churches permit even late-term abortions in cases of danger to the life of the mother and/or in cases of rape - and both apply here.

What a sad situation.

Cub was born at 31 wks almost 20 years ago. He's fine. I can't imagine tearing that baby apart at this stage when it is a viable human being. The only reason to think otherwise is that there may be medical problems for the baby due to the age of the mother, and her lack of prenatal care.

I'd take the child and baby in a heartbeat. There isn't an absolute path to total life destruction for the 10 year old. It can be handled with openness, honesty and reassurance so that the 10 year old can go on to be a healthy adult. I absolutely wouldn't lie to her about being pregnant. Why wouldn't she already know this since she went to the hospital and likely has overheard from someone if not directly from the doctor?

Agreeing with you 100% squinney

well, expect for the taking the baby part, but I'd say "Give him to Squinney!"

http://www.usatoday.com/communities/ondeadline/post/2010/11/10-year-old-girl-gives-birth-in-spain/1