Suffer the Little Children

*This formerly Patreon-exclusive bonus minisode was originally released on April 23, 2022. On April 15, 2020, less than a week after his seventh birthday, Tazmir Ransom died at St. Christopher's Hospital for Children in Philadelphia. This minisode may be short, but Tazmir deserves his story told. This is the tragic story of Tazmir Ransom. Photos related to today's episode can be viewed here: https...

Note: This episode was originally released on June 7, 2023. Over the last two episodes, I told you the story of Alexavier Pedrin, whose six years were marred by family turmoil, alleged abuse and neglect, and CPS involvement. On February 11, 2023, Alexavier was found dead in his family’s rented home in Medary, Wisconsin with multiple inflicted injuries and Xanax in his system. Three months later, h...

Note: This episode was originally released on June 2, 2023. In the last episode, I began telling you the story of six-year-old Alexavier Pedrin, whose short life was filled with constant family turmoil and frequent involvement by various CPS agencies in his home state of Wisconsin and others. After Alexavier’s mom went to prison, his father eventually stopped letting her side of the family see the...

*Note: This episode was originally released on May 30, 2023. In 2011, 19-year-old Josie Dikeman was accused of child neglect after her boyfriend’s one-year-old daughter suffered a skull fracture and a brain injury in her care. That charge was dropped. Two years later, she was convicted in a separate child neglect case regarding the same little girl, by then age three, who had been returned from fo...

In the last episode, I told you the story of Marion Jester-Montoya, a joyful little girl with sparkling brown eyes and a ready smile, who tragically died at the age of 10 months after her mother’s boyfriend zipped her into a backpack all day instead of having someone else care for her. That man, Trevor Rowe, is now serving a life sentence in the Texas Department of Corrections for Marion’s brutal...

In my thirteenth episode, I shared the story of 10-month-old Marion Jester-Montoya, an adorable and joyful little girl with a head full of dark hair and an ever-present smile. Marion died on January 7, 2020, after her mother’s boyfriend, Trevor Rowe, decided that instead of leaving Marion with his mother for the day like he usually did, he would stuff the baby into a backpack and leave her in the...

(FYI: I'm still here, and new episodes are coming! See today's Facebook post.) Stacey Schuchart was nine months pregnant with her seventh child. None of her previous six children were legally in her custody, although at least some of them had been illegally staying with Stacey and her partner, Sean Buttery, for about a month when, on August 16, 2019, a 911 call summoned first responders to the fam...

Around 6:00 PM on Friday, May 1, 2020, a woman named Maranda Alford burst into a police station in Little Rock, Arkansas, to notify authorities that her 11-year-old son, Jordan Roberts, had been taken hostage in their home by her fiancé, 32-year-old Brent Martin. Police rushed to the scene, soon followed by a swarm of upwards of 40 SWAT team members. When the first officers on the scene arrived, t...

In this bonus minisode, which was originally released for Patrons only in February 2022, you’ll hear the story of 18-month-old Kendall Lynn Doss, a precious little girl with blonde hair, her daddy’s brown eyes, and the chubbiest, most adorable cheeks you might ever see, who fell prey to the temper and disgusting urges of her mother’s fiancé. This story is horrific, infuriating, and gut-wrenching,...

Research has long shown that child abuse and neglect can and often do lead to a wide range of negative effects on a person’s life, including mental, physical, and behavioral problems. This kind of treatment during childhood causes stress that alters the way the child’s brain develops, affects gene expression, and changes the body’s stress response system.  Kate Russell is the author of three memoi...

If you’ve listened to this show for any length of time, and most likely even if you haven’t, you know the US legal system all too often fails domestic abuse survivors, especially women, children, and adolescents. My guest, Professor Dale Margolin Cecka, knows it all too well.   Professor Cecka is an advocate for women, children, and teens who have survived domestic abuse. Not only that, but she’s...

Over the last two episodes, I’ve told you the story of five-year-old Dennis Vaughan Jr., known affectionately as “Boo,” who died in his grandmother’s house on Christmas Eve, 2019. Boo’s mom, Danielle Vaughan, fought to regain custody of her five kids, all of whom were under the guardianship of Danielle’s mother, Sherry Conner. Despite dozens of reports to DCYF, all alleging that Sherry was abusing...

Young mother Danielle Vaughan knew her children were being abused in the home of her mother, Sherry Connor. She spent years pleading for someone to intervene before it was too late. No one listened, and Danielle’s worst nightmare became reality when her five-year-old son, Dennis “Boo” Vaughan Jr., was pronounced dead on Christmas Eve, 2019. Boo’s body told a story of severe and prolonged suffering...

Get your favorite Magic Mind formula (like my favorite, MAXX) at www.magicmind.com/lainemf, and use code LAINE60 for 60% off your subscription! In 2016, toddler Dennis “Boo” Vaughan Jr. and his three siblings were removed from their parents’ custody due to concerns of substance abuse and domestic violence. They were ultimately placed in the Laconia, New Hampshire, home of their maternal grandmothe...

Lawrence Swift Noxon was born in March 1943. At five months old, he was diagnosed with what we now call Down syndrome. Three weeks later, on September 22, 1943, baby Lawrence died from electrocution under highly suspicious circumstances. His father, John Franklin Noxon Jr., was soon charged with murdering his infant son in what many considered a “mercy killing.”  For this episode, I spoke with aut...

My guest in this episode, Morrene Hauser, spent decades repressing traumatic memories from her childhood. When she finally cracked open that vault, her life all but fell apart. Morrene speaks with raw honesty about surviving a childhood marked by relentless abuse at the hands of her mother and stepfathers.  Morrene is driven by a fierce desire to help others by telling her painful but inspiring st...

Back in 2021, both episode 49 and minisode #3 featured the story of 20-month-old Quortney Kley. On February 25, 1997, Quortney was sexually abused and murdered by her mom’s boyfriend, Cayce Williams. It took nine years for the legal case to end with Williams accepting a plea agreement in 2006, and he was released in 2021 after spending only 24 years behind bars for the violent sexual assault and m...

*Supporting my sponsors keeps the show going! Get your Magic Mind subscription at 60% off through my link (https://magicmind.com/lainemf) and using my code (LAINE60) at checkout. On August 24, 2020, 23-year-old Luis Luna ran into the living room of his shared Houston apartment in a panic, holding his unresponsive 8-month-old daughter, Savayah Mason. Despite an immediate 911 call, Savayah didn’t ma...

The Innocent is a nonprofit organization made up of active or retired law enforcement. Their mission is to train law enforcement agencies across the country about preventing and investigating child sex crimes.  In this episode, my guest is Nate Lewis, CEO and founder of The Innocent, whose passion and dedication to the mission are inspiring. You’ll hear us talk about what led Nate to launch the or...

In the last episode, I told you the story of ten-year-old Dakota Levi Stevens, a smart, creative, charming kid who was dealt a bad hand in life and died at the hands of a foster mother and longtime family friend. Jennifer Wilson is now serving a regrettably short sentence in the Indiana prison system for crushing 91-pound Levi to death with her 341-pound body weight. In this episode, you’ll hear m...

Get your Magic Mind here: https://magicmind.com/BYLAINE20 You get 20% off for a one-time purchase and up to 48% off for subscriptions with my code: BYLAINE20 On April 25, 2024, 10-year-old Dakota Levi Stevens was rushed to the hospital in Valparaiso, Indiana, unresponsive. He was placed on life support, but his brain had been deprived of oxygen for too long, and after two days, Levi died. His fost...

*This formerly Patreon-exclusive bonus minisode was originally released on August 19, 2021. In January 2020, a Tennessee mom stepped away for ten minutes of "me time," leaving her two young children alone in the bathtub, and returned to find her 11-month-old son, Aidan Leonardo, floating in the water, unresponsive. Photos related to today's episode can be viewed here: https://www.patreon.com/posts...

*This formerly Patreon-exclusive bonus minisode was originally released on September 28, 2021. A young North Carolina couple lost a baby in what appeared to be a tragic case of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). When their second infant died less than two years later with multiple suspicious injuries, authorities began looking harder at father Zachary Lee Littell. Photos related to today's episo...

Get 25% off the Magic Mind gummies here:  magicmind.com/LAINEGM  You can also use my code, LAINE25, directly on their website. #magicmind #gummies In 2022, 15-month-old Isabella Kuykendall attended the United States Navy’s Ford Island Child Development Center, a daycare at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, for three days. During those three days, Bella went from a happy, bubbly baby to alternately crying hyst...

Get up to 48% off your Magic Mind subscription by visiting magicmind.com/LAINE20 and using my code, LAINE20.  **Live chat with me on Discord when the episode drops! I'll be live chatting from 6:00-8:30 PM Eastern on February 19, 2025 here: https://discord.gg/JRvW3FYw?event=1341862349870600303 Over the last three episodes, I’ve told you the story of 8-year-old Raylee Browning, a little girl who die...