Please visit www.WeTrustMariel.com
This fall Mariel was caring for a 13 month old child whom she had been caring for since he was 9 weeks old. The child suddenly became stiff and unresponsive while he was in her care and was subsequently diagnosed with extensive brain damage. Because she was present when he first exhibited symptoms, Mariel has been unjustly accused of being an unfit mother and caregiver and charged with felony assault.
The State's case is built on the opinion of a doctor, Mark Hudson at Midwest Children's Resource Center. Other innocent people have previously been victimized by Dr. Hudson's opinions, have suffered tremendously, and have had to incur huge legal fees to "prove their innocence." Dr. Hudson escapes unscathed. Please watch this local news story from November for stories from other families. Dr. Hudson is not named in the story, but is the one who “diagnosed” the children in these other cases.
While we are all taught in school that America is the land where people are innocent until proven guilty, the reality is that people falsely accused like Mariel have to prove their innocence. To do that, WE NEED HELP.
Mariel has taken and passed a polygraph test showing her to be innocent of intentionally or accidentally hurting this child. This has been provided to the State but they don't care. Mariel has undertaken psychological testing requested by the State. The testing demonstrates that she doesn't have any psychological issues which would support in any way that she would ever harm a child; but the State doesn't care.
Mariel has NEVER been accused of inappropriate behavior involving anybody, including children. She has previously taught in a preschool where she was responsible for overseeing the program and she has four happy, healthy children of her own.
The family of another child who was in her care at the same time as the injured child continued to have Mariel care for their daughter until the state forced them to find childcare elsewhere. They know that their child is safe and loved with Mariel-- and they are ready to testify on behalf of Mariel. Without exposing their identity, they have allowed us to share that.
We have known the Grimm family for over 6 years and they are so very dear to us. We have witnessed Mariel's love for her children and other children she has cared for. She is an amazing mother who loves and cares for everyone who comes through her house. She is a shining example of Christ's love to those around her and would never hurt anyone. Our hearts are just sick seeing how this family is hurting and is in danger of being torn apart.
Praise God that the State has not taken away Mariel's precious children while she and her husband are fighting to establish Mariel's innocence. Please pray that the children would not fear being separated from their parents.
Competent legal counsel and hiring their own expert witnesses is essential to the Grimm family, but extremely expensive. They have retained a lawyer who is very experienced in defending cases exactly like this one. They must also retain the services of a Pediatric Neurologist to offset Dr. Hudson and other physicians whom the State might call. They will also have to retain additional experts to fight this false allegation. We believe that with help, Mariel's name will be cleared and her family will remain intact and become free from this nightmare.
Recently there have been local news stories about families in nearly identical situations where caregivers have been falsely accused of inflicting brain trauma on children in their care. The cause of injury was found to be an accidental short fall or unknown pre-existing conditions. Many times the injury occurred days or even weeks before becoming apparent. However, coming to this conclusion requires a lengthy and expensive legal process.
Please contribute whatever you can afford to help the Grimm family. We pray that through more successful challenges to people like Dr. Hudson, the State will be required to prosecute only guilty people.
If you wish to educate yourself more on matters like this, we recommend watching the video linked above and reading some of the articles linked here.
Thank you so much for your financial support of and prayers for the Grimm Family.
Please visit www.WeTrustMariel.com
