Illness 'got out of hand,' lawyer says

(Correction: Because of incorrect information provided by the Suffolk District Attorney's office, a Page One story yesterday about the alleged medical abuse of a Hyde Park girl reported the wrong hospital where her mother will undergo a psychiatric evaluation to determine if she is competent stand trial. Deborah Robinson was sent to Tewksbury Hospital.)

Deborah Robinson didn't call a doctor, prosecutors said yesterday, when her daughter botched an attempt to pierce her own belly button and a life-threatening infection set in. She didn't call one when the girl, in excruciating pain, took to the living room couch three weeks ago and basically stopped eating or moving, prosecutors said. And she didn't call when her daughter lost control of her bowels; instead, prosecutors say, Robinson put her 13-year-old in diapers.

Robinson told a court psychologist yesterday that she was afraid that a doctor would sexually abuse her daughter. The 38-year-old Hyde Park resident, charged Saturday with child neglect after paramedics found her daughter emaciated and near death last week, was ordered held without bail yesterday until a more complete psychiatric evaluation is conducted to determine whether she is competent to stand trial.

West Roxbury District Court Judge Robert N. Tochka ordered the evaluation after the court psychologist testified that Robinson was showing signs of mental illness, including paranoia.

Robinson's daughter, meanwhile, underwent another in a series of surgeries at Boston Medical Center to stem the infection and treat numerous abscesses in her abdomen, prosecutor David Deakin said. She remained in critical condition. The Globe is withholding the girl's name to protect her privacy.

Robinson listened attentively but with little emotion as Deakin described what state social service officials have called one of the most shocking cases of neglect in years.

Last week, paramedics found her daughter, a tall girl wasted away to about 75 pounds, lying on the living room couch wearing a diaper, despondent, and with no detectable blood pressure. Doctors diagnosed her with sepsis, a bloodstream infection that would have caused ''incredible pain" within 24 hours of onset. Deakin said she could have been sick for as long as four weeks.

Police searched the family's Garfield Avenue townhouse and found more diapers that Robinson said she bought for her daughter to wear and to soak up fluids oozing from her belly, Deakin said. Robinson told police that she was doing the best she could to take care of the girl at home. ''She indicated she doesn't believe in doctors," Deakin said.

Robinson's court-appointed lawyer said she is a single mother with no job and no health insurance who called paramedics to her townhouse when her daughter's illness ''got out of hand."

''She loves her daughter and tries to do the very best she can," lawyer William Concannon said.

The court psychologist, who spoke with Robinson and some of her family members before yesterday's arraignment, told the judge that Robinson has a history of mental illness in her family, and that Robinson had lately become isolated and distrustful. Family members said she had recently begun talking to herself and not making sense.

Forensic psychologist Helene Presskreischer told the court that while Robinson ''understands the factual situation, I'm not sure she appreciates or understands the severity of the situation."

Robinson was arrested Saturday and charged with wantonly and recklessly permitting substantial bodily injury to a child under 14, a felony that carries a maximum sentence of five years in state prison. She was also charged with child endangerment, a misdemeanor with a maximum sentence of 2 1/2 years in county jail.

Paramedics were called shortly before 3 a.m. last Wednesday after the girl had become unresponsive. They notified police and the state Department of Social Services, which launched investigations after doctors determined the girl's condition was caused by delayed medical care. DSS took custody of the girl, a student at William Barton Rogers Middle School in Hyde Park, and placed Robinson's other child, a 15-year-old boy, with relatives.

''We have to make medical decisions, because obviously the mom can't," DSS spokeswoman Denise Monteiro said yesterday.

Robinson will undergo an evaluation at Caritas Carney Hospital in Dorchester and is scheduled to return to court Aug. 26 for a status hearing and possible bail hearing.

Several family members attended yesterday's court proceeding, some dabbing their eyes, others looking forlorn, resting their head in their hands. Robinson stood a few feet away in a partially glass-enclosed defendants' bay, her hands clasped in front of her as the charges were read.

A family friend, who relatives said would speak on their behalf, told reporters later that Robinson was a good, protective mother.

''She walks her kids to school and picks them up every day," said Pamela Gray, a friend and neighbor who said she has known Robinson for nine years. ''She was really involved."

Gray said that without income or insurance, Robinson has been struggling recently. ''She's been going through a lot," Gray said.

Donovan Slack can be reached at dslack@globe.com.