Stop Child Abuse Now (SCAN) - 2305

Tonight's special guest is Joann Brown from Ohio, a grandmother of two abused children who helped save them from their situation. Imagine a grandmother's horror at finding out that her own son and his wife have been physically abusing their two children – her grandchildren. Joann immediately started building a case – complete with pictures – recording all marks of abuse on her young grandchildren's bodies. The abuse included being bitten, repeatedly hit in the head (sometimes with a hammer), suffering major bruising, being hit in the knee with dog chains causing infection, and other atrocities. The young boy was hit so hard that he had a skull fracture, dizziness, and drainage from his ears; but it took his parents – Joann's son and daughter-in-law – 3 days to get the boy to the hospital. Joann was not allowed to see the boy in the hospital. Eventually, Joann was able to gain custody of her two grandchildren. As Joann relates, “I had custody of my grandkids … for years and so I told my lawyer I wanted to adopt them; and I got adoption the 7th of November. We are a big happy family now the abuse is over for them, and we are in counseling and more over this. I don't have anything to do with my oldest son who abused my grandkids.” Joann now sees to it that the two grandchildren are safe in her loving home and are getting the counseling they need to deal with their trauma. This grandmother's tenacity to rescue her grandchildren from that brutal abuse provides an opportunity for Joann and NAASCA to speak of the important role each of us can play in intervening for abused children everywhere!