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| A boy you probably never heard of and his sad, lonely story
Jul. 27, 2005 12:00 AM I wonder what it must have been like to be Dustin Rhodes. The world must have seemed a pretty lonely place. Maybe he couldn't tell anybody what was happening to him those last days of his life. Maybe there was no one in the world who could (or would) help the boy. Oh, there were a few who tried. His teacher for one, and an emergency room nurse. But in the end, it didn't make a damned bit of difference. Not the calls to police. Not the calls to Child Protective Services. Not the questions to his family about why he was so often injured. advertisement Two years ago this week, Dustin Rhodes was spending his last conscious hours on this Earth. He was 9. Chances are you don't know about Dustin. His death never made the news and really, why would it? A child suspected of being beaten to death hardly constitutes news anymore, so often does it happen. Dustin lived in Litchfield Park with his aunt, Bethany Rhodes; his grandmother, Linda Rhodes, who had raised him since he was 2; and a great-grandfather. Friends would later tell police that he was a happy kid until early in 2003. That's when he became sullen, sad. That's when the first bruises were noticed. That's also when Ryan Pellerin, Bethany's fiance, moved into the house, according to court records. Dustin's teacher was first to notice the bruises and take action, according to a Maricopa County Sheriff's report. On Feb. 12, 2003, school officials called Avondale police, who did nothing. They also called CPS, which found a black eye and bruises on his back, leg, waist and shoulder. Dustin had several explanations for his injuries - a 5-year-old had hit him, he ran into some tires, Pellerin massaged him too hard. The case was closed on March 19, 2003. Conclusion? No abuse. Dustin next came onto CPS radar on June 30, 2003, after he was taken to West Valley Emergency Center. The left side of his face was bruised and swollen. He also had multiple bruises, in various stages of healing, on his body, including some that looked to a nurse as if somebody had been poking him. Dustin explained that he had fallen off a step stool. Family members said he was clumsy and often fell out of his bunk bed. The Sheriff's Office was called but didn't do anything. CPS took the boy to see a doctor who specializes in child abuse, but the doctor couldn't determine whether the boy had been mistreated. The case was closed on July 2, 2003. Conclusion? No abuse. Twenty-eight days later, Dustin was taken to the hospital in a coma. Family members said they heard a noise and found him lying on the floor, twitching. They explained that the boy was accident-prone and had been acting strangely since his earlier fall from the step stool. Dustin Rhodes died on Aug. 13, 2003, having never awakened. An autopsy concluded the boy died of "multiple traumatic injuries," including a blow to the head, according to police. He had bruises "from head to toe," some so deep, they reached the muscle. There also was evidence of sexual abuse, according to a CPS report. Linda Rhodes, Bethany Rhodes Pellerin and Ryan Pellerin were indicted this month on charges of child abuse. Prosecutors don't have the evidence to charge anyone with Dustin's death, so we'll likely never know what really happened that night. No one would talk about it. Not the Sheriff's Office, not prosecutors, not the attorneys for the three suspects. And, of course, Dustin can no longer speak for himself. But if he could, I wonder what he would say about the person who killed him. And about those who stood silently by and let it happen. |
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