It was enough to break a police officer’s heart — the sight of a barefoot little boy walking alone on the street, trying to sell his teddy bear for food.
Officer Steve Dunham spotted the 7-year-old wandering around a busy area in downtown Franklin.
“It broke my heart. He told me he was trying to sell his stuffed animal to get money for food because he hadn’t eaten in several days,” Dunham said.
After getting him something to eat, Dunham learned the boy and his four brothers lived in squalor, in a home full of garbage, cat urine, and liquor bottles.
The boy and his four brothers are now staying with family members, and their parents have been ordered to have no contact with them.
Ohio Police thanked the offficer
We received the below message from our local Victim Witness Advocate, Mrs Hawkins.
“We had a really sad child abuse case today and I wanted to say a special thank you to Officer Amanda Myers, Steve Dunham, Franklin dispatch, and Franklin Ohio Police Department.
We see sad cases all the time and sometimes it just feels like “another day in the life”, but you all fed this little boy and his brothers and made him feel safe in the middle of a nasty situation. I can’t imagine doing what you all do day in and day out. I know you do stuff like this for your community all the time and we don’t see or hear about it. The way you treated and took care of this little guy touched my heart. Thank you for taking the steps to not only keep him safe and healthy, but also going the extra mile to comfort him and show him that people care about him. I’m lucky to work beside officers like you.”
Thank you, Nikki for bringing this to our attention. We will make sure a copy of this goes into the personnel files of all involved!
Chief Whitman
Awww poor baby good people are still out there kudos to you officer.
Oh gosh imagine! No contact which is damn right.
Dem parents need some public shaming and di cat o nine ova dem backs.
Several day wicked with parent like dem deh to ban from having kids