Parents accuse babysitter of causing baby’s skull fracture
HASKELL, AR (KARK) – An Arkansas family believes their babysitter physically abused their six-month-old son.
Their fear, now turning to frustration as authorities tell them charges likely won’t be filed.
After a difficult pregnancy, the Kilburn’s twins Kyndall and Ryder are the light of their lives. But life’s already been hard on little Ryder.
“His head keeps swelling,” explained dad Briar. “If it gets any bigger, he has to have a shunt put in to keep the drainage off of his brain.”
Ryder was hospitalized for a week in early February. What’s frightening, and frustrating, for parents Briar and Nadine is that they still don’t know what happened.
The Kilburns were at work on Feb. 3 when all of a sudden, their babysitter called to say Ryder was on his way to the hospital.
“She said he went limp on her,” Briar said.
A CAT scan showed Ryder suffered a skull fracture. Doctors didn’t believe it was an accident. The boy’s discharge diagnosis read “child physical abuse.”
“They said he was hit over the head multiple times with a flat object,” Briar explained. “He had shaken baby syndrome, bleeding on the brain, and bleeding behind his eyes.”
Child protective services and Benton Police both then stepped in.
“They were asking everything like how is your relationship,” the Kilburns said. “How is the grandparents’ relationship, how is the babysitter’s relationship?”
After that, the Kilburns say their babysitter – a trusted family-friend – cut off all ties with them. Detectives allegedly told the family the babysitter wouldn’t cooperate with them either, and that as investigators, their hands were tied.
Multiple phone calls made to the babysitter and her husband were not returned Friday.
“How can you just let a person abuse a child and not bring them in for questioning?” Briar asked.
The two frustrated parents are now left to nurse their son back to health. Accident or not, all they want is an answer.
Benton Police confirmed this is an on-going investigation, but could not comment further because it involves a child. The Kilburns say they still don’t know the full extent of Ryder’s head trauma and what problems it could create in the future.
If criminal charges don’t come of this, the Kilburns are planning to file a civil suit.