Monday, January 07, 2002

 

Where was the father?

Jury selection in the trial of Andrea Yates, the Texas mother accused of drowning her five children begins today. I can't help but wonder how many people called to jury duty will be thinking the same thing I'm thinking: Where was the father?

I don't mean during the actual drowning of his children. I mean, where was he for the months leading up to the drownings? Russell Yates has said his wife suffered from postpartum depression after the births of their two youngest children. Her condition worsened when her father died in March, three months after six-month-old Mary's birth. If he knew she suffered from postpartum depression, what was he doing to help? If he knew she was suffering from postpartum depression after the birth of their 2-year-old, why did they have another baby?

Surely he saw signs that his wife needed help. Did he choose to ignore those signs? Did he hope she would just "get over it" and life would be back to normal soon? Was he overwhelmed by the whole situation?

For whatever reason, Russell Yates was not there for his wife or his children. In my opinion that's enough to charge him as an accessory to the crime. At the very least, because he knew his wife was in no condition to take proper care of their children, he should be charged with endangering the welfare of children.

In the end, however, whether he's ever charged with anything or not, he'll have to live with the question: "Could I have prevented this?" That just may be a worse punishment than anything the State of Texas could give him.

posted by Anne 1/07/2002 09:30:00 AM