Parents Slept, Smoked Marijuana While Baby Girl Suffered: Cops

An Indiana couple is accused of. neglecting their baby so badly that by. the time she was eight months old, she. weighed just about nine pounds. And as. investigators started probing the. [music] couple's history, they. discovered a pattern of alleged neglect. We are taking a closer look at what. police say was behind their arrest. [music] As we look at the paperwork, the. reports, the interviews, and a lot more, and we're going to break it all down. with an [music] Indiana trial attorney. Welcome to Sidebar, presented by Law on. Crime. I'm Jesse Weber.

Now, here's [music] the truth. We. wouldn't be able to cover a story like. this if it wasn't for the incredible. support that we get from our sponsor, Morgan and Morgan. I'm talking about. America's largest personal injury law. firm. I'm talking about a firm with over. a,000 attorneys who have recovered $25. billion for more than 500,000 clients. Think about that. In fact, in the past. few months alone, a client in Florida. received $12 million when insurance. offered just $350,000. Out in.

Pennsylvania, another client was awarded. $26 million. That is 40 times the. insurers offer. Morgan andorggan, they. make it easy to fight for what you. deserve. You can even start a claim from. your phone. So, if you're injured, you. can start a claim at. forthepeople.com/lcsidebar. You can click the link below or you can. scan the QR code on screen. Investigators in Jennings County, Indiana, say that a baby girl's. development was likely compromised after. her parents allegedly stopped paying. close attention to her. An inconsistent.

feeding schedule, lack of physical. contact with the child, and apparent. lack of urgency on the part of the. parents who were believed to have. contributed to the baby's failure to. thrive. We are talking about severe. child neglect here. So, what do we do? Well, we wanted to find out more about. this and we requested the court. paperwork that was connected to the. arrests of 25-year-old Benjamin Tacket. and 25-year-old Kayla Thompson. This was. after their arrest in Mount Vernon on. November 5th. In that paperwork, you.

have medical experts who provided. information about the kinds of. milestones the baby should have been. hitting. Most 8-month-olds, they weigh. between 11 and 40 lbs. This baby weighed. less than 10, was showing signs of. severe malnutrition. This little girl. also reportedly wasn't able to crawl. yet. She lacked the core strength that. doctors would expect to see at that age. And it was during interviews with. detectives that we learned a lot more. about this couple and the alleged. admissions that they made. For example,

Tacket told police that he worked at. Pizza Hut sometimes for shifts as long. as 12 hours. Thompson was apparently. unemployed, stayed home with the three. children, and the news release from the. Jennings County Sheriff's Office. announcing their arrest said during the. interviews with Benjamin and Kayla, they. both admitted to knowingly neglecting. the child. Benjamin and Kayla advised. detectives during interviews that they. were tired after work and at times. locked the child in a separate bedroom. for approximately 10 hours at a time so.

they could sleep. So to talk about this. this particular situation, the charges. that Thompson and Tacket now face, what. we can expect from the court process, and a lot of I'm not sure I quite follow. or understand the timeline here of how. this happened. I want to bring on uh. Indiana trial attorney Ashley Hadler. Uh. Ashley, thank you so much for taking the. time. Here's the part that I don't get. So the incidents when the Department of. Child Services got involved happened. last year. My understanding is the. police interviewed both of them last.

year. Why are they only being Why are we. talking about arrest in 2025? Why why. did what's the delay? >> That is a great question. Um it seems. that the information was all available. at the time of the interviews last. October. And from review of the. documents available on the public record. at this point, there was nothing new in. addition to that other than potentially. a new case manager getting involved and.

notifying the police again to begin a a. separate investigation. It seems, and we're going to go through. this, it seems there is such an emphasis. on maintaining children with parents and. giving them an opportunity to change. that if they promise to do things. differently. That's the goal as opposed. to just immediately taking the kids out. of their custody, immediately uh filing. charges. I guess that's what we're.

seeing. And again, we'll talk a little. bit more about it, but am I do am I. understanding that right? Absolutely. And that's something that you'll see in. most states. And in Indiana, we do focus. on uh reunification and keeping children. with their paternal biological parents. Um if possible. And here I think you saw. the problem was that the reports and. information just kept coming in and no.

changes were being made. So, because. these probable cause statements are. redacted, they can be a little hard to. follow, but I want to go through them. because the baby at the center of this. case, we believe, is identified as JV1. in the documents. You also have JB2, JB3. These are the other siblings. So, the statements refer to four DCS. documents. Three of them are called 310. forms, which are filled out for. preliminary reports of alleged child. abuse or neglect. The statements also. refer to one 311 form which is filled.

out as part of an assessment of alleged. child neglect or abuse. And you have a. family case manager who has been. identified in the documents as Jessica. Gibson. She apparently filled out the. forms in her evaluation of what was. going on at the home. So according to. the affidavit, it reads home visits. revealed underweight JV1 accessible. paraphernalia, meaning drug. paraphernalia, and utility shut offs. Safety plans addressed substance use. sober caregiving and feeding neglect. substantiated against both parents for.

substance related and health issues. Closed without formal case due to. improvements i.e. utilities restored, home cleaned, weight gain. So those. apparent home visits took place between. April and June of 2024 according to the. DCS case manager. And since it seemed. that Tacket and Thompson were basically. moving in the right direction, the case. was closed. Now, Ashley, the case. worker, documented her various home. visits, the improvements that she saw.

each time or seemingly saw. We actually. discussed on a different uh sidebar. episode today how there's DCS case. workers are basically overloaded with. different cases and families. Have you. had experiences dealing with DCS in your. practice as an attorney? When you're. hearing allegations like this, is this a. is this a surprise to you? Um it is not. a surprise to me because there are. issues with funding, resources, manpower. Um this is something starting.

with our legislature. There are a number. of things that could be altered to. provide some relief to DCS case workers. Um I agree with you here. I think the. documentation that we're seeing does not. align with the picture in the medical. records and so that is certainly a red. flag. >> Yeah. And these 310 forms appear to have. been filled out after there were reports. from hospital personnel in August of. 2024. So after that other case was.

closed. And those reports, according to. the affidavit, indicate that hospital. staff, they were worried about severe. malnutrition and hygiene issues like. serious rashes and alleged caregiver. impairment. Um, when you're seeing when. you're seeing a case being brought like. this and you're talking about medical. personnel uh and caseworker reports and. police interviews, how does the. investigative pipeline work in cases. like this? Do hospital personnel have to.

report to DCS first? Can they report. their concerns directly to police? You. know, what responsibility does DCS then. have when it comes to reporting possible. criminal activity? I'm trying to. understand the process here. >> Sure. So, all adults in Indiana are. mandatory reporters. So, doesn't matter. if you're a medical person or a teacher. or not. Um these medical providers. though in their experience assessing the.

children were seeing things that raised. huge concern with them. And so at that. point they took that to DCS provided all. of the medical records documentation and. they were able to also provide their. unique perspective on the fact that. these conditions were not caused by an. underlying medical diagnosis. There was. no explanation for them other than abuse. or neglect. >> And I it seems when you're dealing with.

these issues that neglect can, you know, can seem pretty straightforward on its. face what it is. I mean, I'm going to. get into the charges a little bit more, but who decides who decides when. something is neglect? When it becomes. more than just a a DCS case, how does it. work? So DCS has the option to. substantiate or unsubstantiate a report. So they make their own decision of.

whether they believed based on the facts. and circumstances available to them. whether abuse or neglect occurred. Once. they've made that decision, they can. refer it on to law enforcement or like. you mentioned before, law enforcement. may already have another investigation. that's going on simultaneously if they. also receive a report from a medical. provider or the person who reported it. to DCS. And. >> and this is the big part, the probable. cause statement. It included apparent.

admissions from Thompson and Tacket. themselves regarding the baby's care. And this was made during an interview. with the Jennings County uh Sheriff's. Office. Again, we believe this was from. last year. The case manager uh Jessica. was also there uh for that interview. And at the time, all the children had. been placed with other family members. and friends, including JV1. So, the. probable cause statement reads, quote, "Parents acknowledged JV1's severe. underweight, 9.94 pounds at 8 months, and rash, possible scabies. Kaylee.

admitted postpartum depression limited. interaction leading to infrequent. feedings and diaper changes. She. discontinued medications and struggled. with schedules. Benjamin described. variable work shifts 9 to 12 hours. reliance on Kayla and daily marijuana. use away from children but paraphernalia. present. Feeding was reactive to cries. with bottle propping and no overnight. checks. Financial strains affected. formula access. specialized type via. SNAP uh wick and appointments were.

missed despite DCS resources. And the. affidavit later states, quote, Kayla. Thompson admitted the child's bed was. dirty, but stated it was cleaned upon. learning of the possible scabies. DCS. became involved around JB1's 5-month. mark after routine wellness checks. revealed underweight issues with formal. intervention around eight months. and. they both confirmed no other children. had issues as severe. Though JV2 had. underweight concerns until one year old.

due to metabolism and a diaper rash. during Kayla's postpartum depression. period, JV3 had no such issues. So, what. do you make of that? I mean, obviously, we look at this, Ashley, there's a lot. of people who struggle as as being. parents, parents of young children. Um, but those are really really serious. concerns that were documented. Are you. surprised that you're seeing them. admitting to this and admitting to the. struggles that they were going through? Um, and what does this tell you?

>> In in retrospect, it raises major red. flags to all of us why the charges. weren't brought then. Um, I think there. could be. some sort of issue between the ongoing. DCS investigation and the fact that even. if that was substantiated, and I believe. it was from the documents that they. believed that the children had been. removed from the home, they were with in.

foster care. The weight seemed to be. improving. So, at that point, I'm not. sure why the detective did not continue. and push this forward to a prosecutor to. consider charges. Um, I will say that. there is a discrepancy between a DCS. finding of neglect substantiating that. and the formal Indiana charge for. neglect of a dependent. So, there could. have been something missing with that. element that caused them not to move. forward at that time.

>> Yeah. Yeah, and let's keep that in mind. as we talk about the charges um uh later. on. But look, there's no excuse. I mean, when they admit they both apparently. admitted that the feeding was. inconsistent. That doesn't that shouldn't happen. So. Thompson apparently admitted that she. would become frustrated with JV1's. crying, so she would leave the room. But. when Tacket tried to feed the baby, he. stated that JV1 preferred her mom, so. that led to the baby kind of being. resistant. Tacka told detectives. apparently that he sometimes propped the. bottles in the baby's swing, which.

obviously can be a danger. And DCS. reportedly provided resources like. transportation so Thompson and Tacket. could take JV1 to doctor's appointments. because they didn't have a car. But the. parents only went to a couple before. there was a large two-month gap. And. JV1's weight reportedly regressed during. that time. a doctor warned that this. little girl might have to be. hospitalized, but it seems that warning. really had little effect because look. what we're talking about now. So, Ashley, going back to you, I parents are.

provided certain resources, but they. have to take them and and they are. given, I I guess perhaps some sort of. level of leeway, but there's no excuses. if a child's life is in danger. Again, these are very, very important legal. admissions. >> Absolutely. I I could not agree more. And it seems that for these particular. parents, there were so many resources. provided. They had the medications and. prescriptions that they needed and they.

failed to administer those. They. received benefits so that they could. obtain specialty formulas that were. designed to help the kids gain weight. obviously some of the other basic. hygiene and feeding and using the. transportation that was provided to go. to these necessary medical appointments. It is inexcusable that it didn't occur. and it seems like the pattern continued. that way for far too long. >> Now, according to the DCS uh.

documentation, both parents had specific. things that they needed to do to make. sure these children were safe or their. child was safe. Thompson needed to. consistently take medications to help. her manage her mental health struggles. Tacket swore he would stop using. marijuana, which he said he used in an. outdoor shed to, you know, stimulate his. appetite, help with his own weight. issues. But it seems based on these. allegations that those DCS. recommendations, those mandates, they. weren't consistently followed. On August.

27th, 2024, JV1 was admitted to Payton. Manning Children's Hospital by her. doctor for what's known as failure to. thrive or FTT as well as severe. malnutrition. She gained weight while. she was hospitalized, which confirmed. there wasn't medical reason that she was. so underweight and a timeline of JV1's. weight gain, maybe lack thereof. It's. part of supplemental medical records. that were included with these affidavit. So when she was 5 days old, JV1 weighed.

around 6 lb. At 1 month and 3 days old, she had gained a pound. Her weight gain. continued going up to 8 lb and 15. ounces, but then it yo-yoed. It yo-yoed. back and forth over the next couple of. months. Now we talk about the charges. here. So Tacket and Thompson, they were. charged with four counts of child. neglect each. We're talking neglect of a. dependent resulting in serious bodily. injury, a level three felony, neglect of. a dependent resulting in serious bodily. injury, a level five felony, and two.

counts of neglect of a dependent, which. are level six felonies. You know, Ashley, somebody might read that and. say, "Wait a minute, aren't these all. the same things?" Uh, why the variety of. charges here? >> Um, so Indiana law allows for different. levels of severity based on what happens. as a result of the neglect. So, how. severe and significant is the neglect? And then you see the tears of the. felonies going up from there. So, I. think that's why we see in the.

supplemental report that the detectives. were at one point waiting for feedback. from the medical providers at Payton. Manning uh Children's Hospital to. determine was this a catastrophic injury. and explaining why so that the. prosecutor would have something to. evaluate and potentially move forward. with. Are these broad charges, in other. words, would it be simple for. prosecutors to get a conviction here? Because you're talking about such a.

vulnerable uh alleged victim here, right? Somebody who can't care for their. for themselves and if they are in a dire. state, if they're underweight or they. have a rash or what have you, there's no. explanation other there's no explanation. other than the parents were neglecting. that child unless there was some. underlying condition, which as I. mentioned before, it doesn't seem to be. the case. if the child's taken to the. hospital and the child starts gaining. weight, right? Are these relatively. straightforward cases to prosecute and. prove?

>> Um, it it seems like it should be, but. the burden of beyond a reasonable doubt. is a very very high bar. And I think. some of the key language in the neglect. of a dependent statutes are the. knowingly or intentionally piece. Um, so. just speculating if there was any. concern that the defendant u mother. would potentially have a defense related. to her the state of her mental health at.

the time. That might be a consideration. for the prosecutor in is this strong. enough to move forward with. But then. you know the other side of that is of. course they have admitted certain things. to the police already. So that would. give the prosecutor something to rely. on. >> Based on these reports, these. interviews, do you get a sense of what. you you mentioned maybe postpartum. depression could play a role here, but. do you get a sense of what a defense. could be? Is it in the sense do you feel.

like one parent may put the blame, the. focus on the other parent, uh. particularly if one's unemployed and. one's working late? I mean, I I'm just. I'm not saying that's what's going to. happen, but aren't they both responsible. or do you or do you have you seen cases. before where there is one who blames the. other and vice versa? >> I think we certainly see cases like. that, but I think those cases have a a. different set of facts than we have here. where it seems like both persons were.

involved, both persons were very aware. of what they needed to do. like you said. before, they were each charged with. certain things they needed to personally. do um related to what DCS was following. them for. So, I think this seems very. much like a a shared responsibility and. a an absolute failure um on the part of. these parents. I wonder if it's also. possible would they call their own.

medical experts to dispute the findings. although that feels to me based on my. you know cursory review of this an. uphill battle if you're having medical. professional and by the way if it's. documented in photos I mean how do you. again what would even those their own. medical experts say. >> yeah it it seems like that would be. tough especially because the child. improved when it was out of their care.

and now that um the child is out of. their care permanently, we we hope and. assume it will continue to improve. So, it would be hard for a medical expert to. refute that, I would think. Well, look, both parents, they're scheduled to be in. court on November 13th for their uh. first appearance, and we will see which. way this legal process progresses, but. uh really difficult situation for the. children here, thinking about them. Um. Ashley Hadler, thank you for taking the. time. Appreciate it. >> Thank you, Jesse.

>> And that's all we have for you right now. here on Sidebar. Everybody, thank you so. much for joining us. And as always, please subscribe [music] on YouTube, Apple Podcast, Spotify, wherever you. should get your podcasts. You can follow. me on X or Instagram. I'm Jesse Weber. I'll speak to you next time.