Maria Colwell
March 26, 1965 - January
6, 1973
At the age of seven Maria Colwell
was murdered by her stepfather, William
Kepple. William was an evil
man with children of his own who he favored over
Maria. He would do things
such as buying ice cream for his own children and
making Maria watch them eat
it, buying none for her.
Maria had been in foster care
at an early age. He foster parents love her and
thought she was a happy,
normal child. Life was good for Maria until her
mother, Pauline Colwell,
was no longer living with her biological father and instead was living
with William Kepple. Maria went back to live with her mother and her the
man known as her stepfather.
Maria was forced to do chores
including carryng coal into the house. She was
beaten by her stepfather
and she was forced to stay in a room that had no
door handle on the inside
so she could not get get out unless he allowed it.
Maria also rummaged through
trash bins in order to find food when she was hungry. Where was her mother
during all of this? How could ANYONE allow their child to be treated
this way?
Complaints were made to various
agencies by neighbors and teachers and in
spite of that, Maria was
left with her mother and stepfather. The complaints
said that she looked like
a walking skeleton.
On January 6, 1973, Maria
was taken to the Royal Sussex County Hospital with injuries to her brain,
she died a short time later.
William Kepple was charged
and found guilty of manslaughter and his sentence wasn't nearly enough
to pay for what he did to Maria. A judge sentenced him to eight years in
prison and that sentenced was cut in half after his appeal.
The death of Maria did NOT
go unnoticed and the public and the press called
for action. A book was written
so that the public would not forget. In spite of
the book and the attention
the case received, it took over 30 years for the laws
to be changed so that agencies
would be required to share information.
The Report Of The Committee
Inquiry into the care and supervision provided in the case of Maria Colwell
was chaired by Thomas Gilbert Fisher. Three main factors were attributed
to the death, 1. The lack of of communication between the agencies aware
of what was going on with her situation. 2. The inadequate training for
social workers in charge of children's cases. 3. Changes in the
make up of society.
"It is not enough for
the State as representing society
to assume responsibility
for those such as Maria"
Thomas Gilbert Fisher
The local authority commissioned
it's own responce to the Thomsas Gilbert
Fisher's findings. Children
At Risk was the study done by the East Sussex
County Council to investigate
the problems that came to light because of the
death of Maria Colwell. "It
must never happen again" was repeated throughout
the report. Several other
high profile cases came to light before the law was
actually put into place,
including the cases of Heidi Koseda, Jasmine Beckford,
Toni-Ann Byfield. The Victoria
Climbie case brought about the legistration
known as "Every Child Matters".
For information about preventing
child abuse in England click below. If they can't help you, ask for someone
who can. NEVER give up looking for help for an abused child!
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