ALSO TODAY: Table Talk Jockstrap anxiety should kids play sports? EARLIER: Time For One Thing I can't do anything anymore Got milk? There's nothing like a breast pump to get you in touch with your bovine side. Mothering magazine serves up a recipe for disaster Short story club A classic tale of family fisticuffs by F. Scott Fitzgerald Mamafesto Why it's time for Mothers Who Think Newsletter Sign up for a chance to win a set of signed Anne Lamott books BY LORI LEIBOVICH A ccording to Renee Polreis, the bruises that blackened her son's body at the time of his death were self-inflicted. Her adopted son David apparently suffered from reactive attachment disorder (RAD), a condition marked by violent fits of rage, inappropriate emotional responses, severe emotional detachment and an inability to feel pain. Last week, a Greeley, Colo., judge sentenced her to 22 years in prison for abuse resulting in David's death. Investigators found a broken, bloody wooden spoon wrapped in a diaper in the Polreis home; Polreis had called her attorney and her therapist before calling "911" to report her son's death. U.S. News and World Report reported that Polreis' defense characterized David's behavior as violent and out of control David banged his head on the floor, became rigid and smashed his face on the ground and tugged his penis until it bled. Despite the defense's focus on David's uncontrollable behavior, at least two witnesses for the prosecution testified to the mother's loss of control. According to the New York Times, one of the Polreis' family's two therapists, Byron Norton, stated that Renee Polreis called him at 4:30 a.m. on the day David died and told him that she'd hurt David. "I just lost it," Polreis told Norton. | |
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