I don’t usually feel many emotions about the cases I put up — I’m kind of closed off from that — but child abuse cases really get to me sometimes. I added the case of Noah Thomas McIntosh today and the details are just horrific. The things that poor child went through in the months and years before his death. The apathy of social services. The stuff his dad bought after his disappearance, presumably to dispose of his body.
I don’t like kids myself, but I really don’t get people mistreating them. If Noah’s dad was so tired of him and his toileting accidents (which were not in any way Noah’s fault), why keep him at all? Noah’s grandfather loved him, and tried to save him. I bet he would have taken him, if Bryce had given up custody.
It doesn’t help that the kid looks so darn adorable in all the pictures, like a little doll. That smile, those teeth growing in.
And his sister… I didn’t include it in the casefile, she was occasionally forced to help her father torture her brother, by holding him down in the bathtub for example. And she may have been in the apartment when her brother was murdered, even if she didn’t actually see it happen. I really hope that girl is being looked after by someone who cares about her. And that she’s getting therapy.
As far as I know, the police are still hoping to find Noah’s body. Though looking at all the stuff his dad got, there may not be much of a body left to find.
I really hope Bryce just decides to plead guilty and be done with it. If he cares at all about his daughter (who will probably have to testify), he won’t put her through a trial. But then again, he DID torture and murder an eight-year-old, his own flesh and blood, which strongly suggests he doesn’t care about anyone but himself.
The Charley Project Blog 