Deborah Robinson Guilty: Cites Ignorance of her Daughter's Infected Naval Piercing

Too Ignorant to Get Her Medical Attention?

Imagine that your teenage daughter pierced her own navel and it got a little infected. Would you take her to the doctor? How about if the infection got worse and she began losing weight? Or would you wait until she was completely bed ridden, down to a weight of 75 lbs, and wearing an adult diaper? I don't know about you, but I would have probably taken her to the doctor after I first saw the botched piercing.

This is what happened to a 13 year old girl. The mother did not take her to seek medical treatment because she was "suspicious of doctors." She waited until the young girl was completely bed ridden and unresponsive to call for medical attention. Paramedics came to the home to see the frail little girl in a state of near death on the couch, with a foul, swollen infection in the hole of the botched piercing. The teen had perforated her intestine. A massive infection had spread throughout her abdomen and had caused organ damage. Doctors were not even sure if she would make it during that first week. The girl, who is now in state custody, has fully recovered after multiple surgeries.

On Tuesday October 17, the 39-year-old mother, Deborah Robinson, was found guilty of wantonly and recklessly permitting substantial bodily injury to a child. Sentencing is scheduled for October 26. Robinson could face up to five years in prison. Janet Macnab, Robinson's lawyer, told the jury, "This story is a story of poverty, of ignorance, of a single mother with two children trying to do the best that she could do with very little resources." Well she’s not getting any sympathy from me.