2-yr old Logan Goodall abused by doctor's son, doctor knew and didn't report.

[SoUncool]

http://sundaygazettemail.com/News/20...=2&build=cache


Logan Goodall and his Mom, Pepper Eren.


Michael Merrifield


Dr. John Merrifield

This is a long and detailed story. The short of it is that in September of 2006, 2-yr old Logan Goodall, died due to injuries from severe assault and sexual abuse from Mom's (Pepper Eren) penis, Michael Merrifield, who happens to the son of kindly Dr. John Merrifield who had treated and not reported previous injuries to the child to cover up for his son. Here are some excerpts:

The state's chief medical examiner testified that Logan suffered a severe assault. He believed someone kicked, punched and shook Logan. His anus was torn. He died of injuries to his head and stomach, which caused fatal internal bleeding.

Dr. Merrifield treated Logan for other injuries twice before the day he died, according to court testimony.

The injuries started appearing on the little boy after Michael Merrifield and Pepper Eren began dating, according to trial testimony. Bumps, bruises, and much worse: a cut on his scrotum and a burn on his buttocks and heels.

Dr. Merrifield stitched up the cut and gave the Erens an ointment for the burn, according to trial testimony.

Pepper Eren faced a first-degree murder charge for not getting her son medical attention. Prosecutors later offered her a deal if she would testify against her ex-boyfriend. She is now serving a one- to 10-year sentence for child neglect causing death.

Jurors convicted Merrifield of first-degree murder, sexual abuse by a parent or guardian, and child neglect by a parent or guardian causing death. He was acquitted of first-degree sexual assault.

On Tuesday, Dr. Merrifield, 65, will be sentenced on a charge of gross neglect creating a substantial risk of serious bodily injury or death. He pleaded no contest to the charge in April. In exchange, prosecutors dismissed their case against his wife. He faces one to five years in prison and up to a $3,000 fine.

[godney]

What a sad little boy :(


This story is just so fuck up!

[Abroad]

Please tell me the doctor will be forced to take early retirement......

[Dakota Valkyrie]

They probably yank everything once you plead guilty to gross neglect creating a substantial risk of serious bodily injury or death. If they don't for some hellish reason, no carrier would issue malpractice insurance. Can't retire from a profession you don't have a license to practice.

[SNOOKIE]

This brought tears to my eyes. He looks like my son-(except my guy smiles)

[sherrz]

I agree with you, Abroad. I know he's 65 and that's the retirement age (unless it changed, again.) But he should definitely be stripped of his medical lisence for doing this, now this sweet little boy can finally rest in peace. I never thought I'd hear of a DOCTOR covering up abuse, even if it's so his son doesn't get into trouble.. Whatever happened to ethics?

[nurseronda]

Dr. Merrifield Sentenced to Home Confinement???

http://www.wsaz.com/news/headlines/26032889.html

[Jerri Blank]

Convicted Child Murderer to Remain Behind Bars

The West Virginia Supreme Court voted unanimously not to hear Michael Kent Merrifield’s appeal.

CHARLESTON -- A convicted child murderer’s request for a new trial was denied Wednesday in Charleston.
Michael Kent Merrifield was convicted in two-thousand–eight of the murder of 2-year-old Logan Goodall.

He had appealed his life without mercy sentence to the West Virginia Supreme Court and his request was unanimously denied.

Merrifield was convicted of child sexual abuse by parent, death of a child by parent and first-degree murder. He is currently being held in the northern correctional center.

http://wowktv.com/story.cfm?func=vie...&storyid=86525


Michael Kent Merrifield is currently being
housed in the northern correctional center.

______________________________


This story always bothered me so much that it seems Logan is never far out of my thoughts. I was shocked to run across this article. Pisses me off like the first time I heard it.

According to testimony by the Medical Examiner, Logan Goodall was either kicked, punched or beaten so severely that his liver ruptured. His abdominal injuries as well as his head injuries were severe enough to cause death. His little bottom and feet were burned by someone dipping him into either boiling water or chemicals. He was sexually assaulted by the application of pressure and/or pinching of his penis; his rectum was sexually violated, his scrotum was either cut, bitten or torn.
http://www.wvagainstabuse.org/

Logan Shane Goodall

[sgr1966]

omg that poor little boy. rotten nasty people.

[MadeaBecBec]

Logans myspace page: http://www.myspace.com/littleangellogan

Eventually little Logan was either kicked, punched or beaten so severely that his liver ruptured. He also suffered head injuries from that severe beating, and both injuries were serious enough to cause his death. The accused in this crime is Michael Kent Merrifield, the 31-year-old boyfriend of Logan Shane Goodall's mother Pepper Dawn Eren. Merrifield's parents John and Diane - John Merrifield is a Dunbar physician and one-time "Doctor of the Year", have been indicted for gross negligence resulting in death. Dr. Merrifield was additionally indicted on two counts of treating Logan for serious wounds resulting from abuse (the burns and scrotum injury), and failing to report the abuse to authorities. Diane Merrifield was charged because she allegedly lied to authorities when asked about the case. She allegedly claimed that she did not know Logan or his mother, and that her son lived out of state. This is a complicated case, complicated even further since one of Logan's grandparents is a registered sex offender. Pepper Dawn Eren, Logan's mother, stated that she believed Michael Merrifield when he told her Logan’s injuries - including bruises, burns, and a severe wound on his scrotum - were the result of accidents. She said she also relied on information from her longtime family doctor, none other than Dr. Merrifield, when he told her Logan’s injuries were accidental and not serious. Eren pled guilty and is serving one to ten years in prison for child neglect causing injury. Her first parole bid was denied. Additionally other members of the Eren family were allegedly told by Dr. Merrifield that the injuries were accidental and not the result of abuse, which is why none of them reported suspected abuse to authorities.

Someone called CPS about suspected abuse to Lil Logan and when the Investigators went looking for him and the Monsters, Diane Merrifield stated the above!


Logan Shane Goodall

Rest peacefully, God will dole out His justice for your suffering!

[badfish76]

He was so precious with those great big eyes!

I hope the "good" doctor and his son both get their scrotums busted in prison, but I hope no one stitches them up.

[Dakota Valkyrie]

Pepper Eren, the mother of two year old Logan Goodall, was released from the Lakin Correctional Facility in Mason County Wednesday. She served five of her ten year sentence for child neglect in connection to Goodall's death, before being released for good behavior.

Putnam County Prosecutor, Mark Sorsaia had this reaction to the news. "The death of Logan Goodall was an extremely difficult case because the fact that we lost a child in such a horrific way and the nature of a crime. Our focus was to make sure we convicted the person we thought was responsible for actually killing the child, which was Michael Merrifield, which is always our priority. Tough Decisions had to be made to achieve that, and Pepper Eren's plea agreement was one of those tough decisions."

http://www.wchstv.com/newsroom/eyewi...120_4045.shtml

[badfish76]

Oh fuck THAT shit! Fuck this bitch and fuck her EVER getting her freedom back after what she allowed to happen to that beautiful boy!

UGH! I am soooo pissed off right now!!

[FknKraze]

Mother.....Fucker....That's all I got!

[Dakota Valkyrie]

Jeremy Shane Goodall, father of the Putnam County toddler killed in 2005 by Michael Merrifield, is facing felony charges stemming from a shooting last month.

Goodall was not implicated in the death of 2-year-old Logan Shane Goodall. The child's death sparked a public outcry to change the penalties for those who abuse children.
[...]

Goodall, 31, of South Charleston was arrested Jan. 14 after an incident at the West Washington Street Rite Aid near W.Va. 21. According to the criminal complaint filed by Charleston police, Goodall pointed a handgun at a couple in a parked vehicle and demanded pills and money.

The couple refused, according to police, and Goodall began to walk away. Then he turned and fired a shot at the vehicle's tire, police said. He then fled the scene but was picked up later by officers.
[...]

"Jeremy's not a violent person," she told the judge. "When he lost his son in 2005 and in the midst of that whole, terrible ordeal, he was not a violent person."

Goodall is listed as indigent in court records, and an attorney was appointed to represent him.

After Logan's death, and amid criminal proceedings against Merrifield and his parents, Goodall filed a civil lawsuit against Merrifield's parents, Dr. John and Diane Merrifield. His contentions were the same as those in their criminal charges - that they were partly to blame because they knew of abuse involving Logan and didn't report it to authorities.

A settlement was reached in that civil case in June 2009, but a circuit judge agreed to seal the details.
[...]

Although those are his first felony charges, Goodall has a lengthy history of misdemeanors dating back to 1999 when he was arrested and charged with battery.

He has also been arrested for domestic battery, domestic assault, resisting arrest, driving under the influence and other traffic violations including speeding, driving without headlights and no proof of insurance.

http://www.dailymail.com/News/201102011162

[sgr1966]

poor,poor baby

[badfish76]

It's is no wonder the guys has issues after what happened to his son. It happens to those left behind time after time. He likely needs some help and not a long prison sentence. Can you imagine the guilt he deals with daily?

[Jerri Blank]

Trauma addressed in father's sentencing

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- A judge acknowledged the trauma suffered by a Dunbar man whose son died in a wellknown child abuse death case but said his opportunity to overcome a history of drugs and crime was up.

Kanawha Circuit Judge Tod Kaufman sentenced Jeremy Goodall, father of slain toddler Logan Goodall, to one to five years in prison after he was convicted of violating his home confinement rules.

Goodall was never implicated in the death of his son. Michael Merrifield, the mother's boyfriend, was convicted in 2008 and sentenced to life in prison without mercy for that crime.

Goodall was sentenced to five months in prison after shooting at the car of a couple in the parking lot of a West Side Rite Aid last year. Drugs were involved in that incident.

In January, he was arrested on a stolen vehicle charge and for driving on a license revoked for DUI. He was sentenced to home confinement with drug treatment at the Day Report Program.

Assistant Prosecutor Tera Salango told the judge, "I am mindful of things that have gone on in his life that contributed to his drug use. But I am also mindful that when people use drugs, bad things happen."

A probation officer supervising Goodall said he could no longer be helped by the Day Report option and suggested prison.

Kaufman questioned why the program, which he termed "the best this county has to offer," had failed to rehabilitate Goodall.

The officer replied, "It's not that the program failed. A person has to want to change. I think he needs to be taken out of the community where he can't get to his former drug contacts."

Goodall wept while his attorney explained that, since his positive drug screens, he has made progress. But the weaning process is slow for an addict, said Brian Cook.

Cook said, "His drug addiction really dates back to the trauma of losing his son. It's been downhill from there."

But the judge said Goodall's problems began long before his son's death.

"His first drunk driving conviction was 13 years ago," Kaufman said. "And he had another conviction six years after that. And there were more charges in 2006 and 2008.

"I don't want to give the impression that no mercy has been shown in this case," Kaufman said. "There's no question about his dependency. But he has never really served time on any of these offenses."

Goodall's mother, Donna, with whom he was living, attended the hearing along with Melissa Eren, the maternal grandmother of Logan Goodall.

http://www.dailymail.com/policebrfs/201207260029

I think I'd have one hell of a drug problem if this happened to my child too, I'm just saying...