Ethiopian Adoptive Mother Rachel Tipton case UPDATED and Lawsuit

From Jeffersontown, Kentucky, Ethiopian Adoptive Mother Rachel Tipton,28, was arrested “after she allegedly abused her child more than two months ago.

According to the police report, around May 9 [2013] Rachel Tipton, 28, struck her adopted son in the genitalia with a wooden spoon. After striking the child, police said she then force fed the four-year-old causing a cut on the inside of his mouth.

Investigators said the child was at the hospital for an unrelated injury and was evaluated by hospital staff – that’s when staff members saw a cut in his mouth and bruising on the boy’s penis. Hospital staff contacted Child Protective Services and CPS notified police.

Tipton was arrested at her Jeffersontown home in the early Thursday morning [July 11,2013]. She is facing a criminal child abuse charge, a third degree offense.”

Louisville mom accused of hitting child in genitals with wooden spoon[WHAS11 7/12/13 By Patrick O’Rourke]

“A Jeffersontown woman accused of abusing her adopted child has been arraigned in Jefferson County.

Investigators say 28-year-old Rachel Hatfield Tipton struck her adopted 4-year-old son in the genitalia with a wooden spoon. After striking the child, police say she then force fed him causing a cut on the inside of his mouth.

Tipton was arrested in July on those accusations but entered a not guilty plea on Monday.

The little boy was adopted from Ethiopia.

Tipton is facing a criminal child abuse charge.”

Police: Woman accused of beating adopted child with wooden spoon [WHAS 11 10/28/13]

“A Louisville mother pleaded not guilty to charges of criminal abuse concerning one of her four children on Monday.

According to Louisville Metro police, Rachel Tipton and her husband adopted a 4-year-old boy from Ethiopia.

The boy was taken to Kosair Children’s Hospital for a scheduled procedure when the medical staff  said they discovered injuries to various parts of the child’s body including his head, mouth and genitals.

Tipton posted a $10,000 bond during her arraignment.”

Adoptive mother pleads not guilty to criminal abuse[WAVE 3 11/4/13 by Sarah Eisenmenger]

According to the Louisville prosecutor,she is facing 3 charges: “KRS 508.100CRIMINAL ABUSE IN THE FIRST DEGREE (IF CHILD IS L

Update 2:“Opening statements in the trial of a Jeffersontown mother accused of abusing her special needs adopted son in 2013 focused on the child’s medical injuries and the differing narratives of how the 4-year-old sustained his injuries.

Mother Rachel Tipton and her pediatrician husband adopted the now-5-year-old boy from an African orphanage.

The child’s father died before he was born and his mother died in childbirth. After 11 months in the orphanage — and developing tuberculous, viral meningitis and pneumonia — he was adopted by the Tiptons, defense attorney David Lambertus told the jury in opening statements.

Tipton, a homemaker, hit the boy on his genitals with a wooden spoon, cut the inside of his mouth when force feeding him and is responsible for observed bruising to the child’s head, prosecutors told the Jefferson Circuit Court jury Wednesday in opening statements.

Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Erin McKenzie said Tipton would get angry when feeding the boy, who suffers from Neurofibromatosis, a genetic disorder that causes tumors to grow on nerve tissues. Despite his parents providing “excellent care” for the boy, McKenzie said, children in the family told investigators his adoptive mother would yell and become irritated when the child wet himself or didn’t easily intake food.

But those facial and groin injures can be attributed to the child’s many medical issues, Lambertus said, for which the child had regular checkups and treatments and regularly saw a battery of specialists who are all required to report child abuse.

While at a visit to Kosair Children’s Hospital in May 2013 for a biopsy to figure out the cause of the child’s intermittent groin swelling, concerned hospital personnel reported the child to Child Protective Services. Criminal charges against Tipton soon followed. She’s charged with first and second degree criminal abuse.

“Nobody anytime anywhere, all these people never reported any suspected child abuse,” Lambertus said of the health care professionals prior to May 2013. He also noted that the commonwealth’s expert who determined the child’s injuries came from force feeding and being hit with an object never examined the child, interviewed physicians close to the child or reviewed his medical records from Ethiopia.

Three of the Tipton children testified Wednesday, including the adopted boy.

The eldest, 7, recalled his mother using a cooking spoon to spank him, but not the adopted child. One of the Tipton daughters, 6, testified that being hit with the spoon was painful, but that she never saw her mother get angry with the adopted boy at feeding time.

When the adopted child took the stand, he told jurors he was never hit with a wooden spoon and denied having pains in his legs from groin swelling. Waving goodbye as he stepped off the stand, he stopped as he passed his mother to reach out for a hug.

The trial is expected to resume Thursday morning.”
Mother on trial, accused of abusing adopted son[Courier-Journal 2/25/15 by Matthew Glowicki]

Update 3:“A Louisville mother was found not guilty of abusing her special needs child.

Rachel Tipton was acquitted Monday night on two counts of criminal abuse.

The jury deadlocked on a lesser count.

Prosecutors claimed she abused the boy, who was adopted from Ethiopia, when he was 4 years old.”

Mother found not guilty of abusing special needs child
[Wlky 3/3/15 by J J Dixon]

Update 4: Thanks to commenter Earl for updated us on this case.

“A Louisville mother and father have filed a lawsuit against a Cabinet for Health and Family Services social worker, alleging she was caught lying to the court in claiming the couple had abused or neglected their children.

The lawsuit, filed Wednesday in Jefferson Circuit Court on behalf of Dr. James Tipton and Rachel Tipton, alleges that Michelle Isham deliberately misrepresented what witnesses told her in “falsely accusing” the Tiptons of abusing or putting their children in danger.

Following a trial, a Jefferson Family Court judge dismissed the case on Sept. 3, 2014, after several witnesses testified that “statements attributed to them” in interviews with Isham were “not true or were misleading or taken out of context,” according to court records in the case.

Isham did not record any of her interviews, according to the lawsuit, instead generating hand-written notes weeks after she spoke with witnesses in the summer of 2013.

Judge Eleanor Garber wrote in her order dismissing the abuse case that she “cringes at the thought that (Isham’s) notes, without a taped record, could alone be deemed a full and accurate record of testimony at hearings.”

Attorney Pete Lay, who represents the Tiptons, said multiple witnesses testified that they had to correct Isham during their interviews, in which she was misquoting them. Among those Isham interviewed were teachers, physicians and the children.

As a result of the allegations, Rachel Tipton had only supervised visits with her four children for more than a year.

“The nightmare that these two (the Tiptons) went through has to be made right,” Lay said. “And losing your kids for over a year can never be made right. But we are going to do everything we can to correct it.”

In her order dismissing the case, Judge Garber found that it is “highly unlikely” there had been any abuse or neglect and called the parents “loving, caring and dedicated.”

The cabinet also found the claims against the Tiptons unsubstantiated, according to records.

A spokesperson for the cabinet said they had not yet seen the lawsuit and declined to comment.

Claims made in filing a lawsuit present only one side of the case.”

LAWSUIT: Cabinet social worker lied about abuse allegations against Louisville parents [wdrb 9/3/15 by Jason Riley]