Jonathan Boudonck
June 10, 2005 - June 23, 2007
On June 23, 2007, a call would come in that would shatter
the lives of the Boudonck family. Amy Boudonck was crying when she said:
"Get to the hospital"
Two year old Jonathan was in trouble, he was not
breathing and they needed to get to the hospital. Greg Boudonck would be
holding his grandson as he died
|
With teears in his eyes Greg Boudonck
spoke with anger, frustration and sorrow, about
his grandson:
“It feels like a very big part of us is gone.
This is the worst time of our lives. I’ve never had anything so bad, he’s
just such a loving boy. He didn’t deserve
to die"
Greg Boudonck
|
Living in a local motel were David Olson, Amy Boudonck
and her son, Jonathan Boudonck, who was two years old. One night, Amy come
home from work to find David in the shower with
Jonathan, she did
find this to be odd since she had already given
her son a bath that
day. David said Jonathan wasn't breating right
and that he was going
to put him to bed. Later, when Amy checked on Jonathan,
he was no
longer breathing and she rushed him to the hospital.
David claimed that Jonathan had fallen in the shower and hit his head:
“From what I understand, my daughter had just
gotten
home from work and the boyfriend and the
boy were in the
shower, which my daughter questions. She
had given him
a bath earlier. But she didn’t question it
too highly because
she trusted the boyfriend. They came out
and he said Jonathan wasn’t breathing right and, from what I understand,
said he was going to put him down
to bed"
Greg Boudonck
Amy had tried to do CPR on Jonathan, it didn't help
at all. Greg said
that he doesn't believe Jonathan fell in the tub,
he feels that David did
something to cause the death of his grandson:
“It’s real questionable. I saw Jonathan just
before he died.
He didn’t fall in the bathtub, it didn’t
do that damage. There
is just no way. There’s no way possible.
The relationship between David and Amy was rocky
from the start.
Amy's parents didn't like or approve him as he
had been in jail and
he seemed to be able to manipulate her. David didn't
work at all and
he took care of Jonathan while Amy did. David was
working overtime
to convince Amy that her parents didn't love her
at all. At times, Amy
would move back in with her parents because David
had beaten her
up, he was always able to convince her that he
was a good guy and she would go back to living with him.
Before his death, there were other incidents that
caused Greg and his
wife to become suspicious about how David was treating
Jonathan. At one point, his wife went to visit and Jonathan was crawling
instead of walking. When questioned, David said that Jonathan had sprained
his
leg and had not been taken to the hospital. Raising
a fuss, she was
finally able to get them to take Jonathan to the
hospital where it was
discovered that he had a broken leg. Even a doctor
had called Social
Services, still, they ignored the abuse that Jonathan
was going through and it cost him his life.
Greg immediately called Social Services and after
several weeks went
by, they finally showed up to investigate. After
speaking to the Social
Worker, Greg realized that she was only going to
defend David. Many
arguments woudl take place, with nothing being
done about what was happening to Jonathan. Greg thought that living in
a hotel with a child was not acceptable, Social Services said that they
had no problem with the living arrangement as long as food was available:
“They said living in that cheap motel was
just fine, as long
as they had food in there. I don’t agree
with that”
Other incidents left bruises on Jonathan's body,
including one on his spine:
“I have seen other cases when Jonathan come
to visit and
there was a case a couple weeks earlier where
we saw him
and we questioned — there were a few bruises
down his
spine. And the boyfriend said he fell in
the bathtub again.
It’s amazing how many times a kid can fall
in the shower
with someone in there”
Greg continued to call Social Services and it did
him no good. Social
Sevices would fail Jonathan, the same way they
had and will continue
to fail far too many other children.
 .....
Greg and his wife, Jonda, did all they could to
see Jonathan as often as it was possible for them to do so. There were
times when Amy wouldn't allow Greg to see him because she was angry with
him for one thing or another. Her mother Jonda was still allowed to see
him, though. During the times she moved home due to being beaten by David,
Greg got into an argument with David about his treatment of his daughter.
David always won, when Amy would return to live with him. There came a
time when Amy announced that she was once again pregnant.
On the night that Jonathan died, he had a large
cut over on of his
eyes and a bruise on his face. David was still
saying that Jonathan had fallen in the shower. An autopsy would reveal
that Jonathan died as
a result of a cerebral edema. If he had been taken
to the hospital
after what was supposedly a fall in the shower,
he would be alive right now.
“I requested and requested and requested help
and I felt
like it was falling on deaf ears. They did
not help.
They did not check up on that child like
they should have”
Greg Boudonck
Ana Compain-Romero, a spokesperson with the Missouri
Department of Social Services, said that they have had visits with the
family in the
past and that the case was being reviewed. Ana
said that they were
cooperating with law enforcement and would continue
to cooperate
thoughout the investigation in the death of Jonathan.
David was not arrested in connection with the death
of Jonathan. He
was allowed to return to the hotel the night Jonathan
died. Greg is
asking why:
"My questions are: why does this guy still
walk free? Why
is child protective services NOT protecting
children"
Greg wanted to obtain an ex-parte ordert to prevent
David from
attending the funeral for Jonathan. David had made
it clear that he
was going to be there.
“He’s telling people he’s showing up at the
funeral.
If he shows up there, for his protection,
I was filing
the ex-parte. I don’t want a big scene"
Greg felt that the crowd of people attending the
funeral would not
appreciate the presence of the man who was responsible
for the death of Jonathan, he says they feel the same way he does about
what has
happened and how David is allowed to walk freely
among them:
“There might be a scene in this town. And
it won’t be
a very good one if he shows up there.
I’m trying to prevent something like that
happening"
Greg says he feels like a zombie, his heart is still
aching and he misses Jonathan. Amy gave birth to another boy and named
him Elijah, Greg calls him a beautiful gift from God:
"His name is Elijah he is a beautiful gift
from God.His face
and smile help me get through my days. I
will Not give
up on my battle for Justice for Jonathan"
Greg is asking only that people pray for them. He
says that no one
should have to experience what they have been through,
that grand-
children are supposed to outlive their grandparents.
Greg is still searching for the trugh. He doesn't
want Jonathan to have
died in vain and hopes that further investigations
will reveal what he
calls a damaged system:
“I hope they investigate the heck out of this
town
and take a look at how this town is run.
Because
one child’s death is way too many. There
needs to
be something done in this town"
Jonathan's case was eventually transferred to the
Department Of
Social Services State Techincal Assistance Team.
This team does the
investigating of serious child abuse, neglect and
sexual bause as well
as child exploitation and fatalities:
“We’ve asked them to take the lead in this
one. Their job,
I think, is children’s deaths investigations.
So they do
that all the time, I think"
Lebanon Police Chief Sam Mustard
Sam Mustard belived that the decision to pass this
investigation on to
STAT will help out and allow his department to
give their attention to
some of their other cases:
“It’s a benefit to have them there. They’ve
got the
resources. They’ve got people that do that
day in, day
out. Places like Lebanon, thank God, we don’t
have
children dying every day. So when you get
a case that
you don’t know exactly why the child died
then why
not call in someone that’s an expert? It
makes sense.”
How said that passing off the death of an innocent
child is such an easy thing for ANYONE to do. WHO does this
make sense to? Sam
Mustard? I guess as long as he can sleep at night,
that's all that should matter. The Social Services and law enforcement
of Lebanon, Missouri has failed Jonathan Boudanck and his family. Unfortunately,
this is not the first, nor will it be the last child to be failed by the
very services which are put in place to protect them.
"He should be here with me. He should be
at this park.
He should be able to play ball with these
boys. I tried to
get all the help in the world for my grandson.
I had so
many plans for this boy and I'm never gonna
forget him"
Please visit the following links created by Greg:
Jonathan's
Place
>For
Our Children's Future
In
Memory Of Jonathan
A
Book Written By Greg Boudonck
.
For information about preventing child abuse in the
state of Missouri, click the links below. If they can't help you, ask for
someone who can. NEVER give up looking for help for an abused child!
 ......
Call this number to report
child abuse ANY WHERE in the United States!
1-800-4-A-Child
1-800-422-4453
  
.
Share this page with your
family and friends!
.
.
Please let me know that you
were here, by signing my
guestbook. The link below
will take you to my guestbook
page where you can read a
message about my site and
choose to read or sign.
  
This free script provided by
Dynamic
Drive
|
