Workers failed to report abuse of 4-year-old Muskogee County boy

Thursday, July 28th 2005, 5:12 pm

By: News On 6

BRAGGS, Okla. (AP) -- State and hospital workers failed to report to police that a 4-year-old boy had fallen into a three-day coma after drinking rubbing alcohol his mother allegedly told him was green Kool-Aid, the sheriff said.

The boy was returned to his abusive home, where police found him malnourished and severely beaten June 25. They arrested his mother, Melanie Smith[pictured left], 24, and her half brother, Roy Albert Smith[pictured right], 20, on charges of child abuse, neglect and endangerment.

Muskogee County Sheriff Charles Pearson said someone "dropped the ball" in the boy's hospitalization in March.

"This child was unnecessarily tortured from March to July, because somebody failed to call the authorities," Pearson said. The incident is still under investigation.

Sheriff's Deputy Jan Ray said the hospital called the state Department of Human Services, which took a report but never passed the information to police. Proper protocol is for hospital workers to contact police directly, agency spokeswoman Stephanie Bond said.

She declined to comment on any current or previous DHS investigations involving Melanie Smith. Officials at St. Francis Hospital did not immediately return telephone calls Thursday. The child was first brought to a doctor in Muskogee, then was taken by ambulance to the Muskogee Regional Medical Center and then was taken by helicopter to St. Francis.

Pearson said any number of people could have reported the case.

"This is shocking and heinous," he said. "I don't want to point to the doctor, the DHS or the nurse, but anybody with a third-grade education could see this child and say this isn't right and that law enforcement needs to be contacted.

Melanie and Roy Smith are accused of starving and beating the boy, keeping him handcuffed, bound with tape and locked in a closet. The child told investigators he was being punished for wetting the bed, Pearson said.

Melanie and Roy Smith are being held in the county jail without bail.

The mother's attorney, Jeff Price, said: "She maintains her innocence and we don't feel it's appropriate to get into the details due to ethical constraints."

Pearson said Roy Smith will not talk to anyone except his attorney, who could not immediately be located.

The boy's aunt also was charged with child abuse, and Pearson said he is seeking charges against family members and friends who noticed the abuse and did not report it.

He also said he is seeking incest charges against the Smiths, saying Melanie Smith told authorities that she and Roy Smith were married. The boy's father lives in another state, the sheriff said.