The story below is less about the attack by the pitbulls and more about the criminal justice system that would allow a judge to dismiss charges on this woman who expressed such idiotic behavior and actions that has destroyed this child's life forever. This especially in light of the fact that this woman (who by the way is NOT a young mother at 23 y.o.) had her other children taken away just a week earlier. If the other children were taken, then why was this one left in her custody?
No Charges for Mom Whose Baby Lost Testicles in Dog AttackPolice say the 6-month-old boy was strapped in a baby carrier and left alone with the pit bull mix.
Carrie Rae McKinney, 23
KTLA News
5:53 p.m. PDT, October 20, 2010
RIVERSIDE, Calif. -- Charges have been dropped against a young mother whose baby son lost his testicles in a dog attack.
Carrie Rae McKinney was charged with felony child endangerment back in April after her 6-month-old son was mutilated by a friend's pit bull mix in Riverside County.
But at McKinney's preliminary hearing last Friday, Judge Dennis McConaghy dismissed the case, calling the attack a terrible accident.
"I don't see a crime here," he said.
According to court records, the 23-year-old San Diego woman was visiting a friend in Murrieta on April 3 when she left her son on the floor in a baby carrier near the dog.
She was in another room for about 10 minutes when she heard a scream and returned to find the child's groin area was injured and his diaper had been torn off, according to Deputy District Attorney Gerald Fineman.
The baby's testicles were severed in the attack, Fineman said.
The boy will need hormone therapy for life.
Animal control seized the dog, as well as another dog that may or may not have been involved in the attack.
Both dogs were euthanized.
Prosecutors say the attack was foreseeable because the dog had previously shown an interest in the baby's diaper.
The judge did not allow testimony from police about child protective services having removed McKinney's two older children from her custody within a week before the dog attack.