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John Daley ReportingAn angry phone call mysteriously caught on the voice mail of a worker at LDS hospital. Authorities today say the child is okay, and child experts remind us to get help before lose your temper.
By now most everyone has heard about a disturbing phone call capturing a woman admitting she abused a child. Today, police say the child is okay but questions still abound. How that phone call ended up on the voicemail of a nurse at LDS hospital is still a complete mystery.
Meantime, state child and family agency is investigating while child advocates say the disturbing call highlights a common problem. To anyone who heard it on the news yesterday, it is one disturbing phone call.
F: Hi.
M: Hi.
F: You got a minute?
M: Sure, what’s the matter?
F: I just beat the (Censored) out of Caitlyn.
M: Why?
F: I come in the other room she’s got something lying in there again. She went and got from in between my bed and I just lost it. I said “(unintell) (Censored) thing (unintell)”, you know I threw her down on the couch and I blistered her ass, I blistered her leg, slapped her face, threw her in the corner, got out of the house for her protection. Took the garbage out, came back in and smacked her some more. And I need you to calm me down.
That phone call was mysteriously left on the voice mail of a nurse at LDS hospital. How it got there was a mystery and today no one seems to know how it happened. We do know that the little girl who's grandmother and grandfather were heard on the phone has now been returned to her parents and she has no sign of injury.
Det. Becky Bracken, Tooele Police Dept.: "I interviewed the little girl for quite some time. DCFS interviewed her and there wasn't one mark on her."
Meantime, state child welfare agency says it is still investigating.
Liz Sollis, Division of Family & Child Services Spokesperson: “We were extremely concerned yesterday and I still think it’s concerning, because the phone message was very disturbing.”
One child psychologist not working on this case says the phone call presents a learning opportunity. Many babysitters lose their temper and the best thing to do is find a way to cool down.
Doug Goldsmith, Child Psychologist, The Children's Center: "If I start getting that frustrated I should step out of the house. I should allow the baby to cry in the crib, because better they be crying than being hit. Or get help."
There are a variety of places to turn to for help if you or someone you know is losing their temper with a child, including the Children's Center, Valley Mental Health, and the Family Support Center.
