Vermont Stepfather Crushed Baby’s Skull After Months of Abuse Didn’t End Parental Rights
The family of a dead 2-year-old girl in Vermont is blaming the Vermont Department for Children and Families (DCF) in Rutland for returning the child to her home even though they were aware of repeated abuse.
On Monday, 31-year-old Dennis Duby was charged with second-degree murder for squeezing the skull of his stepdaughter, Dezirae Sheldon, until she died.
“It appeared that someone held her head so tight her skull cracked,” a doctor who treated the child reportedly told investigators after she was brought to the hospital on Friday.
…As protesters demonstrated outside DCF offices in Rutland on Monday, Commissioner Dave Yacovone vowed to conduct a thorough investigation to determine why Sandra Eastman had custody of Dezirae, even though she had lost custody of her two other children.
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