10 Appalling Crimes That Exposed Major Flaws In Child Protection
In a world rife with human horrors, child abuse is among the most abominable. Almost equally horrifying is when individuals and institutions enable child abuse through neglect, willful ignorance, or woefully inadequate safeguards. Such failings shake the conscience to its core and sometimes even catalyze change.
10 Mary Ellen’s Ordeal
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Before 1875, legal remedies for the grotesque mistreatment of children were imposed inconsistently throughout the United States, and agencies devoted to child protection didn’t exist. That all started to change with the 1874 case of nine-year-old Mary Ellen Wilson.
Born in 1864, Mary Ellen became a ward of New York City’s Department of Charities after her father, Thomas Wilson, died, and her mother could no longer care for her. She ended up living with Thomas and Mary McCormack, whom the department illegally assigned as her caretakers. In a stroke of awful luck, Wilson’s adoptive father would also pass away, leaving Mary McCormack in charge. McCormack would remarry, adopt the surname Connolly, and relocate to a residence in Hell’s Kitchen. There, Mary Ellen’s suffering began.