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A victim Of Child Abuse |
Kelsey Briggs was born in Oklahoma on December 28,2002 after her parents Lance Briggs and Raye Dawn Smith were divorced.
At the end of 2004 Raye Dawn Smith started dating a man named Michael Lee Porter, whom she met at a local bar.
The first reported incident of child abuse regarding Kelsey was made on Jan.17,2005.
DHS confirmed Kelsey was abused and stated her mother Raye Dawn was the perpetrator due to her conflicting stories of Kelsey's injuries.
Kelsey Briggs grandmother Kathie Briggs was granted emergency custody Jan.24,2005.
Raye Dawn Smith married Michael Lee Porter on April 18,2005.
Kelsey was having overnight visitation with Raye and Porter even though a court order stated Porter was not to be around Kelsey.
On May 3,2005 Kelsey was taken out of her grandmother Kathie's care by OKDHS.
Kelsey was put in protective custody because of her broken legs that were confirmed from abuse.
May 4,2005 Kelsey was then moved to her maternal Grandmother Gayla Smith.
Kelsey suffered months of documented abuse.
June 15,2005 Judge Craig Key went against DHS recommedation and sent Kelsey back home to her mother and stepfather.
The judge confirmed Kelsey was being abused and stated,
"Perpetrator Unknown."
Kelsey was visited by a social worker approximately once every week.
Kelsey's biological father Lance Briggs was a soldier in Iraq he was undergoing care at a treatment facility for a back injury and was in the process of checking out from his duty in Fort Benning,Georgia.
Lance was schedueled to be home within
a week or two.
On October 11,2005 Kelsey was murdered.
Raye Dawn and Michael Porter were the only ones who had contact with Kelsey in the hour leading up to her death.
The cause of death was blunt force trauma to the abdomen,it was ruled a Homicide.
Two weeks later Porter was arrested on first degee murder.
Kelsey's mother Raye Dawn was later charged with two felonies, Child Neglect, and, Enabling Child Abuse.
In April of 2006 Kelsey's body was exhumed for a second autopsy where sexual abuse was documented.
The Stepfather's charges were amended to add the sexual abuse.
Porter and Smith divorced after Kelsey's death.
On February 2,2007 a plea negotiation was entered and approved by the paternal family.
The stepfather plead guilty to a reduced charge of Enabling Child Abuse and received 30 years in prison.
He has no possibility of parole for 25.5years.
Kelsey's mother Raye Dawn Smith went on trial July 9,2007.
She was found guilty of enabling child abuse, she will serve 27 years in prison, without the possibility of parole for 23 years.
Alot of people failed Kelsey.
Remember her story the next time you think a child is being abused.Please report it, if you don't, that child may suffer the same fate as Kelsey.
Please don't let that happen.
With the help and persistence of Kelsey's paternal grandma Kathie,
a new law "The Kelsey Briggs Child Protection Act" was established
into Oklahoma Law to help prevent this type of failure in the Oklahoma State System.
What Selena says:
Kelsey Briggs is one of the millions of kids that has been abused and unfortunetly child abuse is one of the big problems in society today. Child abuse happens everywhere and it is our job to prevent it from happening again. Finding the courage to even talk about this is tough enough, if there was no one to listen, it would be a tradgedy as it is in this case with kelsey. If someone would have said something before kelsey still might be here. If you are reading this and you know someone that is being abused right now make sure you tell the an adult right away or they could be dead next and you will feel the guilt for not telling anyone...you can save a childs life just by telling your parents.
with love and hope,
Selena |
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easter
Posted on 04/11/2010 08:13 PM |
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Sweet Angel |
Daddy's little girl
Gone too soon
Rest in peace
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