Etna Green’s Robinette Sentenced In Child Neglect Case
Etna Green’s Robinette Sentenced In Child Neglect Case
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Amanda Bridgman-
Etna Green’s Robinette Sentenced In Child Neglect Case The aunt of Jammy Stacy and one of the five people arrested in a Nappanee child neglect case received a sentence of non-reporting probation Monday.
Fayette Robinette, 60, of 9462 N. Ind. 19, lot 24, Etna Green, appeared Monday in front of Kosciusko Superior Court I Judge David Cates and was convicted of a lesser charge of failure to report child abuse, a Class B misdemeanor. Robinette was initially charged with a Level 3 felony for neglect of a dependent.
In court Monday, Kosciusko County Chief Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Brad Voelz said the amended charge – and the dismissal of the Level 3 felony – was part of a plea deal reached based on the lengthy investigation of the case.
The case stems from an incident on March 2, 2018, when police were called to a Nappanee home to help a 2-year-old boy named Vincent. Rune Springer, the boy’s biological mother, and Travis Tillotson, the boy’s stepfather, called 911 after waiting nearly 24 hours after Vincent had been dropped off at their home by Stacy and Annette Priestley the day before.
Stacy had been the sole caregiver of Vincent since October 2017 after Springer said she was unfit to care for the boy and dropped him off at Stacy’s Etna Green trailer home. While under Stacy’s care, the boy had injuries in all stages of healing from literally head to toe that included broken bones and bleeding on his brain. Vincent spent a week in the intensive care unit at Parkview Regional Medical Center in Fort Wayne, where he was treated for malnutrition. When police found the boy on March 2, 2018, he was unable to lift his arms above his head and was acting distressed. He had an injury on top of his head that would not heal and had grown facial hair in reaction to the severe malnourishment. To this day, Vincent still cannot lift his arms above his head, but he has been adopted and is receiving therapy.
When Stacy and Priestley, 60, of White Pigeon, Mich., dropped the boy off at Springer’s residence, they told her not to call authorities or they’d all get arrested for child abuse. Priestley is Stacy’s mother.
Robinette was charged in the case for her role in occasionally babysitting Vincent while he was under Stacy’s care. Robinette and Stacy lived in the same trailer park, and Voelz said Monday that the investigation revealed Robinette had minimal interaction with the boy and no interaction during the last month that Vincent spent with Stacy.
That last month, prosecutors claim, is when Vincent’s condition deteriorated the most, and when Robinette had nothing to do with seeing the boy.
“The protection of Vincent has been the focus of one of the most diligent and intense investigations I’ve been a part of,” Voelz told Cates Monday, adding that all of the information from the investigation really pointed to Stacy.
Cates sentenced Stacy to 16 years in the Indiana Department of Corrections Aug. 31 for her Level 3 felony conviction of neglect of a dependent resulting in serious bodily injury, after a jury found her guilty.
Stacy has appealed her conviction, and that appeal is pending.
Voelz said Robinette should have called authorities to investigate Vincent’s care, which is why she’s being charged with the lesser misdemeanor.
“We can’t prove that she saw Vincent within that last month, and his decline during that month was rapid and severe,” Voelz said.
Cates sentenced Robinette to 180 days in the Kosciusko County Jail, the maximum amount punishable for a Class B misdemeanor, but suspended it all to non-reporting informal probation.
“This child deserved better,” Cates told her.
Springer and Tillotson were both convicted of Level 6 felony neglect of a dependent earlier this year through plea agreements. They were sentenced to time served and probation, respectively.
Priestley is the only remaining suspect in the case who has yet to have her day in court. A 2-1/2-day jury trial is scheduled to begin for her Jan. 18.
