Onondaga County vows to protect Cherron Patterson's second child

Syracuse, NY.----Many people have been asking about the child Cherron Patterson is carrying. Cherron, who is six months pregnant, is the mother of Imani Jennings, the 20-month-old baby who was beaten to death. Syracuse Police charged Cherron,18 and her 15-year-old boyfriend, Anthony Weakfall in connection with Imani's death.

At Sunday's vigil, I asked Amy Patterson, Cherron's mother if she would take her grandchild. She told me one of Cherron's aunts has offered to take the child because she can't. Amy said she's pregnant and can't handle two infants.

Amy is expecting her eighth child. She lives with her mother on Bellevue Avenue. Cherron was living there before she moved into an apartment at 124 Fage Ave. in August. The Onondaga County Department of Social Services paid the rent.

Today, I asked Onondaga County Commissioner David Sutkowy about the future of Cherron's child.

Sutkowy couldn't discuss the specifics of the case because of confidentiality reasons, but he said emphatically, "that child will be safe.''

"I promise you that child will be safe,'' he said.

In a case like this, the baby will be taken into foster care when it's born.

Amy and other relatives said they knew Imani was being spanked too hard, but they didn't know she was in danger. Police said Weakfall beat the girl to death over a potty-training accident. The teen spent an hour Friday beating the toddler with a metal rod, a cable cord, bedsprings and his fists, police said. He then left to attend Corcoran High School.

Most times when we hear about a child abuse case that ends tragically, there were a few people who knew abuse was occurring, but didn't report it.

Why are people reluctant to report child abuse and neglect?

Sutkowy told me that 20 percent of the 5,000 child abuse and neglect cases reported in Onondaga County every year comes from immediate or extended family members. An estimated 50 percent comes from mandated sources such as doctors, teachers, school administrators, police or other official sources.

Sutkowy said he's trying to understand why such a tragic situation happened in this community.

There certainly needs to an increased awareness about reporting child abuse. Geneva Hayden, who works with young moms on Syracuse's South Side, said parents who abuse children have been abused themselves.

Ms. Hayden said she often tells the mothers she works with that they can't treat their children the way they were treated.

"There's so much dysfunction in our community,'' she said. "Now, we have two kids in jail, a mom is pregnant and a baby is dead. Most people were abused and everybody wants to pretend it didn't happen.''

Deputy Police Chief Frank Fowler said there's no excuse for not reporting child abuse.

"When we talk about children, we talk about it takes a village to raise a child. But it takes a village to protect children,'' he said." I'm so angry over this thing. If you had seen what I saw that would make you even angrier. All children are innocent, and an innocent child does not deserve to be treated the way this child was treated.''