Amanda Runyon is 3 years old and is the daughter of Eddie Runyon and Dawn Obptande. Amanda lived with her mom Dawn and her live-in boyfriend, Kraig A. Monroe. Neighbor's reported that they saw and heard domestic violence in the mobile home on several occasions but no one ever thought to call the cops and report it.

On March 1, 2010 Kraig repeatedly punched Amanda in the stomach while Dawn was at work. When Dawn came home and saw Amanda she gave her Motrin and put her to bed. The next day she took her to the ER. Amanda was vomiting, lethargic and lifeless. She had a lacerated ulcer, lacerations to her liver, a tear in her intestine, a previously broken leg that was healing, a broken foot, and a broken arm that had not been treated. She was placed in a medically induced coma and on a breathing tube. Doctors were not sure if she would live.

The next day Amanda had surgery and the surgeon's removed 18" of her small intestine. They also said she may not be able to ever eat properly again and inserted a feeding tube. It was a miracle though and Amanda recovered and was able to go home on March 19, 2010. Doctor's said she was healthy but may suffer a bowel obstruction later in life.

Kraig was arrested and charged with aggravated assault against a child. During his bond hearing the judge set his bond at $500,000. When it was determined that Amanda was going to live his bond was reduced to $300,000 and his family bailed him out. His only condition is to wear an ankle monitor. He has always claimed he is innocent. He has been free ever since and waiting on a trial date. Dawn has never been charged but she knew of Amanda's abuse and never did anything to help prevent it. Eddie Runyon now has full custody of Amanda and they are currently living in Kentucky. Dawn is still able to visit Amanda. The family has attended many status hearings and hope to one day get justice for little Amanda but they fear that as time has passed this case is not getting the attention that it deserves.

Please visit http://unforgottenangels.weebly.com/kids-that-need-your-help-now.html for more information about Amanda's case.

Pilot Speed - Alright

This story starts with a guardian angel watching the death of another child to child abuse. As he stands in a somber silence, he thinks back to the day at the hospital when he died. Then it goes to a guilt ridden teacher who remembers the day she saw the little girl's signs of abuse. At the end the two children run off to heaven, and the teacher sits mourning at the child's grave.
I made this video to portray what can happen when child abuse goes ignored.
Through out the video real life examples are used.

There is indeed so much more to this than teachers not reporting child abuse when it is their moral and legal obligation to do so.

We do not have enough social workers to address this problem as it currently exists. The case loads of social workers are way beyond manageable. In the USA alone, I understand that social (case) workers on average must juggle more than a hundred cases at any given time. Yes, we need more social workers. But the problem of child abuse will never be resolved by being solely reactionary.

We must be proactive. We must invest in programs that provide parenting skills to parents before they become parents; and then we must offer ongoing resources for those parents as the children grow up. We must invest in school programs that provide parenting classes to adolescents, our future parents.

We have instead cut school and social services budgets to the bone. These cuts are extremely shortsighted. They will have long-term consequences; consequences that I believe will seriously impede the ability of our future generations to contribute to society in a meaningful way.

There must be a shift in the way we look at child abuse. If we don't address the root cause, and then deliver the necessary support to parents and children alike, the problem WILL only get worse. More and more children will be abused, and more and more abused children will be ignored. Prevention is the only way to deal with this cycle.