Foster Mother Accused Of Abusing Children

A former foster mother was arrested over the holiday weekend, accused of child abuse.

Tember Rector faces felony charges for seriously injuring two children while in her care, including inflicting a severe head injury on a 2-year-old boy who was rushed unconscious to Children's Hospital three weeks after he was placed in her custody.

That boy's biological parents said there were signs of abuse long before their son's injuries were evident.

Tim Dodge and Misty Anderson had feared the worse when their son, Timmy Dodge Jr., was taken to the hospital Feb. 2. Doctors removed part of Timmy's skull to protect his swelling brain. They had worried that he might not ever speak or walk again but after the surgery, Timmy recovered quickly, with a swollen eye and stitches as visible remnants of his brain surgery.

"Until he gets into school, we are not going to know the full extent of the abuse, the damage," Dodge told 7NEWS.

Rector had told police Timmy fell from the bed and hit his head on her nightstand. But in Rector's arrest affidavit, released on Monday, doctors said that "aside from falling out of a two-story window, (Timmy) Dodge could not have caused this injury to himself."

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Parents Say They Had Complained About Foster Mother

In January, social services removed both Timmy and his younger sister, Serenity, from Dodge and Anderson's home after a judge ruled them to be unfit parents. Social workers had described their home as filthy and the couple were suspected methamphetamine users.

The children were placed in Rector's care in Castle Rock.

Anderson said she saw signs of abuse and feared for her children's safety after learning that five complaints had been filed against Rector before Timmy and Serenity were even placed in the home. All of those claims were unfounded, according to Douglas County Human Services.

But after a nine-month investigation Castle Rock police found otherwise, charging Rector with a second count of child abuse for allegedly injuring a 7-year-old girl. That girl broke her wrist in summer 2003 and told authorities that she was pushed down the stairs when she came home and her clothes were dirty.

For Timmy and Serenity's parents, they just hope soon their children will be home with them.

"You tend to get hopeless sometimes, but these are our kids and we are not giving up," Dodge said.

The state conducted an investigation into Maple Star, the agency that certified Rector as a foster parent. It cleared the agency of any wrongdoing.

For Dodge and Anderson, they're fighting for custody of their kids and hope that justice will be found through the courts when it comes to their son's abuse. The children have been placed in another foster home.