A Cape Coral couple is facing serious criminal charges after police found them living in unsafe conditions with their infant. According to law enforcement officials, Marc Rush and Renee Vanalsburg have been arrested and charged with child neglect after police responded to a call regarding a domestic dispute between the couple. Vanalsburg, Rush, and their baby resided with Vanalburg's half-sister, who later told reporters that she was unaware of the conditions in which they were living or subjecting the baby due to her half-sister's secretiveness.
When police arrived at the couple's home, the found Vanalsburg breastfeeding the baby, although she appeared to officers to be "heavily under the influence of alcohol and narcotics." Rush had passed out, according to the police report. The floor in the room was covered in knives, an ant-killing pesticide, glass shards, and spray paint. There were drugs or drug paraphernalia sitting atop the baby's dresser. Additionally, police say they located a bottle of oxycodone pills - a heavy duty prescription painkiller - actually inside the infant's crib.
Since Vanalsburg and Rush have been arrested, the Florida Department of Children and Families has taken the infant into protective custody. Although the agency frequently tries to find appropriate familial placements for children who cannot live with their parents, its first goal in emergency situations is to make sure a child is safe - and to evaluate appropriate family members and their homes as potential temporary or permanent placements later.
Child neglect in Florida is a different criminal charge than child abuse. Child neglect involves a parent's or caregiver's failure to meet the child's most basic needs, such as food, clothing, shelter, and medical care. Child abuse, on the other hand, is marked by anyone's intentional actions that hurt a child, whether mental or physical. In the case of child abuse, the person causing injury need not be the child's caregiver. Child sexual abuse is a separate offense and is treated more harshly under Florida law.
The original article is available here.
When police arrived at the couple's home, the found Vanalsburg breastfeeding the baby, although she appeared to officers to be "heavily under the influence of alcohol and narcotics." Rush had passed out, according to the police report. The floor in the room was covered in knives, an ant-killing pesticide, glass shards, and spray paint. There were drugs or drug paraphernalia sitting atop the baby's dresser. Additionally, police say they located a bottle of oxycodone pills - a heavy duty prescription painkiller - actually inside the infant's crib.
Since Vanalsburg and Rush have been arrested, the Florida Department of Children and Families has taken the infant into protective custody. Although the agency frequently tries to find appropriate familial placements for children who cannot live with their parents, its first goal in emergency situations is to make sure a child is safe - and to evaluate appropriate family members and their homes as potential temporary or permanent placements later.
Child neglect in Florida is a different criminal charge than child abuse. Child neglect involves a parent's or caregiver's failure to meet the child's most basic needs, such as food, clothing, shelter, and medical care. Child abuse, on the other hand, is marked by anyone's intentional actions that hurt a child, whether mental or physical. In the case of child abuse, the person causing injury need not be the child's caregiver. Child sexual abuse is a separate offense and is treated more harshly under Florida law.
The original article is available here.
