Franklin, Ohio: Children Removed From Home After 7-Year-Old Boy Found Peddling Stuffed Animal

Officer Steven Dunham said he bought the boy a meal after finding him trying to sell the toy for food. The boy's parents, who have four other sons, face 10 counts of child endangerment, WLWT reported. “It broke my heart. He told me he was trying to sell his stuffed animal to get money for food because he hadn’t eaten in several days,” said Officer Steve Dunham of the Franklin, Ohio police force.

Chief Whitman of the police department posted this on their Facebook page: 

We received the below message from our local Victim Witness Advocate, Mrs Hawkins.

"We had a really sad child abuse case today and I wanted to say a special thank you to Officer Amanda Myers, Steve Dunham, Franklin dispatch, and Franklin Ohio Police Department.

We see sad cases all the time and sometimes it just feels like "another day in the life", but you all fed this little boy and his brothers and made him feel safe in the middle of a nasty situation. I can't imagine doing what you all do day in and day out. I know you do stuff like this for your community all the time and we don't see or hear about it. The way you treated and took care of this little guy touched my heart. Thank you for taking the steps to not only keep him safe and healthy, but also going the extra mile to comfort him and show him that people care about him. I'm lucky to work beside officers like you."

Thank you, Nikki for bringing this to our attention. We will make sure a copy of this goes into the personnel files of all involved!

Chief Whitman