SHERWOOD, Ore. -- An Oregon couple frustrated with the legal system are using social media to expose their babysitter's alleged child abuse.
On Friday, Alicia Quinney and Joshua Marbury posted a picture of their badly-bruised son, Jacob, on Facebook. They say they took it after coming home to find the child on the floor crying, and his babysitter asleep on the couch.
"The first thing I saw was Jacob's black eye," said Quinney. "And I was like, 'Oh my gosh, what happened?' And he turned over and the whole side of his face was black and blue."
Quinney and Marbury said they took their son to the hospital after the incident, where doctors and social workers took pictures, documenting the injuries. They also filed a police report. A spokesman with the Sherwood Police Department said the case was under investigation, and in the hands of the Washington County District Attorney.
More than two months after the incident, however, police haven't made any arrests.
"I saw the evidence and what the doctors told me and showed me, of a hand print on his face," said Marbury. "There's no denying what he did."
Marbury and Quinney said the prosecutor on the case told them there isn't currently enough evidence to bring charges against the suspect.
No one with the Washington County District Attorney's office was available for comment on Sunday.
Another Oregon prosecutor, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said child abuse cases are often very difficult to prosecute, because of the way Oregon law is written. State statute requires a prosecutor to prove beyond a reasonable doubt there substantial pain and serious physical injury to the child, and when there is no witness to the act and the child is too young to say he or she was in pain, the burden of proof is high.
Quinney and Marbury said they will continue to fight for a conviction.
