KC Missouri mother held in malnourishment deaths
Patty
By CHRISTINE VENDEL - The Kansas City Star
Date: 10/21/99 22:26
Eight-year-old Larry Bass weighed less than 30 pounds when he died
Wednesday. His ribs poked through his sagging skin. His feet, which
allegedly had been dunked in scalding water, were badly infected and
blood-red.
On Thursday, Larry's mother, Mary Bass, was charged with 10 counts of
criminally abusing Larry, who was a triplet, and four siblings. Another
triplet nearly died Wednesday night -- doctors revived the boy after
his heart stopped beating -- and was in critical condition Thursday. He
was being treated for severe malnourishment and burns to his feet.
"It was the worst case of child neglect I've seen," homicide Capt.
Darryl Forte said of Larry Bass. "He was just a skeleton covered with
skin. He looked mummified. It was like famine you would see in a third-
world country.
"He basically died a slow death. It really hurts your heart to see
something like that."
Bass, 31, was charged with two counts of first-degree assault, two
counts of armed criminal action, two counts of endangering the welfare
of a child and four counts of child abuse. She was in jail Thursday
night, and bond had not been set.
The medical examiner did not rule the case a homicide Thursday. Police
said the office would wait for the results of some tests before
officially declaring the cause of death. Charges against Bass could
then be upgraded.
In addition to the triplets, Bass had a 12-year-old daughter and a 10-
year-old son living with her in a 21/2-story house at 300 S. Elmwood
Ave.
Three of the children were placed in protective custody. The
hospitalized boy might have to have some toes amputated -- and possibly
his feet -- because of infection.
The case marks the third time in two weeks that a Kansas City area
child has died allegedly at the hands of a caregiver. Two-year-old
E'Lexis Crawford died Oct. 11, and her 41-year-old caregiver was
charged with second-degree murder. Eleven-month-old Luis Graber died
Oct. 12; a 22-year-old man was charged with second-degree murder in
that case.
The Bass case, however, is notable not only for the severity of the
alleged abuse, but also for its duration -- and for the potential
failure of the social safety net.
As far back as two years ago, say teachers and school administrators,
state social workers had been alerted of possible neglect. Because case
records are closed to the public, the Missouri Division of Family
Services would not release any details about the family's case or say
whether it had investigated the family.
Early concern
It would take several weeks for a child to die from malnutrition, as
long as the child was receiving fluids, said Maria Little, a certified
pediatric nurse practitioner at St. Vincent's Operation Breakthrough
day-care center. If fluids were withheld, a child probably would die in
two or three days.
Malnourished children appear ashen, have dark circles under their eyes
and lack stamina to play, Little said.
Suspicions that the Bass triplets were malnourished arose at least two
years ago when they attended Whittier Elementary School in the
Northeast area. Teachers at Whittier, where the triplets went to school
for kindergarten and first grade, said Thursday that they had noticed
the boys took packs of crackers from a teacher's desk and food from
other classrooms.
Larry was the ringleader, they said, and often scrounged enough food to
share with his siblings. The boys often complained of being hungry,
said Tracy Johnson, the parent-community liaison at Whittier. They
cleaned their trays at breakfast and often asked classmates, "Are you
going to finish that?"
Cafeteria managers noticed the boys' unusually hearty appetites and
routinely gave them second helpings. School officials said they began
to suspect neglect and soon alerted state officials.
Johnson said the school had sponsored the family for Thanksgiving,
providing ham, turkey and canned foods.
The boys transferred to Garfield Elementary for second grade and were
enrolled at Swinney Elementary this year. Swinney officials, however,
said that only one of the triplets attended classes regularly this
year. They declined to discuss whether anyone from the school had
questioned Bass about the other boys' absences.
Larry's death, Johnson said, might have been avoided had there been a
better system in place to track troubled families.
Another statistic
More than 200 Missouri children have died from abuse and neglect this
decade. In Jackson County three dozen children died between 1992 and
1998.
"When parents become very frustrated or angry and they hit a child, it
happens very quickly because someone has lost control," said Jeannie
Jones, who oversees child abuse investigations for the state Division
of Family Services in Jackson County. "It's very different to
essentially withhold food from a child and have that child be
malnourished to the point it contributes to a child's death. That is
truly horrific."
All adults need to protect children by informing authorities when abuse
occurs, Jones said.
"It is really easy for us to think we don't need to interfere in a
parent's responsibilities, but sometimes we have to," she said.
Sister Berta Sailer, a child advocate and administrator at St.
Vincent's, said: "I bet there are hundreds of other (abused) kids the
whole world is missing, including us. Kids are taught they can't tell
anything. If they tell, they'll get beaten. The kids kind of go along
and protect mom in so many cases."
Loss of control
The condition of the Bass children came to the attention of police for
the first time about 7:25 p.m. Wednesday, with a call from Mary Bass to
911. She talked with police and a MAST dispatcher. Donald Pickard, a
spokesman for MAST, said the dispatcher gave the caller directions on
how to administer cardiopulmonary resuscitation, which was ineffective.
Police said Bass told them that she had her hands full, working full
time at the Federal Aviation Administration, raising five children and
going back to school, and said she was having a hard time controlling
Larry and another triplet. Because nothing else seemed to work, police
said, she resorted to withholding food as discipline. Police said
severe food restrictions began this summer.
According to police and court records, the boys would be fed only bread
and water for up to two weeks at a time. Once, when one of the boys was
caught stealing food, they were locked in a room, where the starvation
continued, records said. They would be let out only to use the
restroom, the records said, and would stay locked up all day while Bass
was at work.
Last week, court records allege, Bass became enraged at Larry and one
of the other triplets and dipped their feet in a tub of scalding water.
Their skin was burned off in places; police said the boys' feet looked
as though they had on blood-red socks.
Bass treated the boys at home with gauze bandages and ointment,
according to court records, because she feared hospital workers might
suspect abuse.
The father of the triplets lives out of state and did not have much
contact, if any, with the children, Forte said. Information about the
father of the other two children was not available, Forte said.
Bass' live-in boyfriend, who is not charged with harming the children,
told police he didn't report the abuse because he did not want to be
accused of being responsible for it.
Neighbors said Larry was largely out of sight. Jim Clary, who lives
behind the house, said he thought there were only three children.
The neighborhood was among those made a target two years ago by
Kidsafe, a program to reduce child abuse and neglect and juvenile
delinquency. The program centers on three Kansas City ZIP codes that
have experienced high numbers of abuse and neglect cases.
"We as a community are responsible for child abuse and neglect," said
Diane Koehler, Kidsafe's project director. "It's not one agency or two
agencies....We are in an age today where we isolate ourselves and our
families. We don't know our neighbors. We've become afraid of children,
especially teen-agers. We've got to change those views. Certainly there
needs to be more education in regard to parenting."
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Before you buy.
Patty
from Fox News
Missouri Mother Held In Malnourished Sons' Deaths
7.01 p.m. ET (2309 GMT) October 22, 1999
KANSAS CITY — A mother of five who said she withheld food from her
children as a disciplinary measure may face murder charges after the
second of her triplet sons died Friday, apparently from malnutrition,
Missouri police said.
The emaciated and scalded body of 8-year-old Gary Bass was being
examined along with that of his brother Larry by the local medical
examiner to determine the exact causes of death. Larry died earlier
this week.
"It's appalling. These children were helpless,'' said Kansas City
police spokesman Steve Young.
The boys' mother Mary Bass, 31, was being held in jail on assault,
child endangerment and other charges, pending further charges that
could include murder, Young said.
Both boys' feet were burned and infected, apparently after their mother
lowered them into hot bath water as punishment for trying to steal
food, and their ribs nearly poked through their skin, local news
reports said.
Bass had a job with the Federal Aviation Administration and took
classes, the reports said.
The boys' three siblings were in protective custody. Bass' live-in
boyfriend was questioned but not charged as yet.