By Category Explore the best News sites in Grand Junction and around the world. Search 900,000 of the world's best sites . The Boyfriend Syndrome is killing young children. So says an increasing body of evidence from around the country, as well as a survey from the Child Welfare League of America.
Mesa County offers no exception to the incidence of non-biological relatives endangering children.
In December 1998, Hunter placed the girl in a freezing shower then repeatedly punched her, court records showed, apparently because the girl wet her pants. The survey from the Child Welfare League estimates that anywhere from 10 percent to an astounding one-third of all child fatalities are caused by unrelated adults living in a home. Of course, not all live-in boyfriends are killers or child abusers. Many work hard to help the mothers take care of their children. And not all biological parents are nurturing mothers and fathers.