95 Pounds Heavier, Angry Son Faces Mother Who Starved Him
增重95磅，憤怒的兒子面對讓他挨餓的母親
Published: February 11, 2006
CAMDEN, N.J., Feb. 10 — Bruce Jackson rose in a packed courtroom here on Friday, 95 pounds heavier and 15 inches taller than he was 27 months ago when he was found rummaging through a neighbor's garbage can looking for food.（紐澤西州康丹市，5月10日）星期五，Bruce Jackson在眾人注目下出現在法庭，此時的他比當初被發現時（那時他正在鄰居的垃圾桶裡找食物）重了95磅且高了15吋。
He looked directly at his adoptive mother, who was about to be sentenced to seven years in prison for systematically starving him and his three younger brothers in a case that drew national attention to the failures of New Jersey's child welfare system.
他雙眼盯著他的養母，該婦人即將因刻意讓他及三個弟弟挨餓而判處7年徒刑，而此案也使得全國人民注意到紐澤西兒童福利系統的漏洞。
"You would make us eat pancake batter, dried-up grits and oatmeal, uncooked Cream of Wheat, and raw potatoes instead of cooked food," Mr. Jackson, now 21, told her and the crowded courtroom. "You didn't take us to any doctor's appointments. You wouldn't let us watch TV or play with our toys. You wouldn't let us take a shower when we were dirty."
「你給我們吃的是煎餅糊、過期未經沖泡的粗麵粉及燕麥、沒煮過麥乳還有生洋芋而不是烹調過的食物，」Jackson先生，目前21歲，對著她及法庭內的群眾說「你不帶我們去醫院。你不讓我們看電視或玩玩具。我們髒的時候你不讓我們去沖洗。」
He read from a piece of paper in a calm and determined voice betrayed by a slight slur.
他以冷靜及堅定的語氣念將紙上的內容，但還是聲音卻有些許哽咽。
"You yelled at us, cursed at us, hit us with brooms, rulers, sticks, shoes and belt buckles; I still have the marks to prove it," he told Vanessa Jackson, 50, who took him in as a foster child when he was 7 and later adopted him.
「你吼我們，詛咒我們，拿掃把、尺、棍棒、鞋子和皮帶打我們；我仍有傷痕可以來證明這一切。」他告訴凡妮莎，現在50歲，在傑克森七歲起照顧他且之後也正式領養了他。
"I want to see Ms. Jackson go to jail for life," he said. "You were mean to me my whole life, so you deserve the same thing you did to me for the rest of your life. You took my childhood."
「我要親眼見到傑克森太太從今以後都被關在監獄，」他說「你對我的人生是那麼的苛刻，你下半生就應該也嚐受你帶給我的痛。你毀了我的童年。」
In a wrenching, angry series of personal statements that brought onlookers to tears, Mr. Jackson and his three brothers described publicly for the first time the horror of their life in Mrs. Jackson's Collingswood, N.J., home. Prosecutors said they were at a loss for a motive as to why the four boys were starved and abused while five other children in the house were allowed to live normal lives.
Jackson先生及三個弟弟將生命中第一次感受到的恐懼公諸於世，那是發生在Jackson太太位於紐澤西克Collingswood的家中，一連串令人揪心、氣憤難耐的陳述讓在場聽證的人不禁難過落淚。檢察官說，令他們不解的是，為什麼這四個男孩遭受挨餓及暴力對待的同時，家中另外四個孩子卻可以過著正常的生活。
"If we knew why these kinds of things happen, we would be able to put ourselves in the shoes of defendants, in the shoes of mass murderers, in the shoes of people who do horrible things to young children," said Vincent P. Sarubbi, the Camden County prosecutor. "We'd have to become them, and that's why it's impossible in some circumstances to truly understand what may motivate people."
「如果我們知道發生這些狀況的原因是什麼，我們也許就能理解那些被告、殺人者及虐童者的想法了，」Camden County檢察官Vincent P. Sarubbi表示「我們必須在心境上完全同理他們，然這也是我們無法在所有情境下，皆能真實地瞭解他們究竟是出於什麼動機要這樣做的困難處。」
Ms. Jackson sat impassively in her chair, staring straight ahead, as the boys recounted their life with her and her husband, Raymond, who died in late 2004: their sparse diets of raw food, how they were beaten with brooms and belts and forced to stand on the occasions when they were allowed to eat. They never saw a doctor or dentist, and were never allowed to bathe. Bruce Jackson said his teeth became so rotten they had to be removed.
男孩們敘述她及她先生Raymond（已於2004年底過世）帶給他們的遭遇：無法溫飽的粗食、掃把皮帶如何在他們身上留下痕跡，及被迫得站著吃飯。他們從未上過一般醫院或牙醫診所，也從不能洗澡。Bruce Jackson 說他到蛀牙已經嚴重到要被拔除的地步。此時，Jackson太太坐在椅子上，眼睛望著前方，沒有任何情緒反應。
Mr. Jackson's brothers, who now live with adoptive or foster families, were present in the courtroom but their testimony was presented on videotape played on a monitor in the courtroom. They spared none of the details of what was visited upon them in Ms. Jackson's home. Nor did they hold back their anger.
目前已被正式領養或安排寄養家庭的Jackson先生的弟弟們，出現在法庭，不過是透過錄影帶將他們的證詞播放在庭上。他們對於Jackson太太家中發生的事鉅細靡遺地說出來。也毫無保地的表達了他們的憤怒。
"When my new mom asked me what I thought, I told her that Ms. Vanessa could die for all I care," said Keith Jackson, 16. "I thought she should have gotten jail for life or the electric chair because she starved us and almost killed us. And she can't repay us."
「當我的新媽媽詢問我的想法時，我告訴她我要Vanessa女士被判死刑，」16歲的Keith Jackson說「我認為她應該被終身監禁或坐上電椅，因為她幾乎要把我們餓死。她永遠無法補償我們。」
Tyrone Jackson, now 12, recalled how he once threw up a dinner of white rice because he had been forced to go so long without food. "Man, I just wanted to kill you, I was so angry," he said. He ended his statement with a smile, telling her, "Good luck, and have fun in jail."現在12歲的Tyrone Jackson回憶起有次他嘔出了晚餐吃過的白飯，這是因為他之前被迫走了很長的一斷路，而且完全沒有進食。「媽，我真想殺了你，我氣的受不了，」他說。證詞的快結束時，他揚起嘴角告訴她「祝你好運，獄中生活愉快。」
None of the children looked remotely as they did the last time Vanessa Jackson saw them.
所有的孩子都憤恨地看著她，就像在Vanessa Jackson最後一次見到他們時，他們表現的一樣。
Keith, who was 4 feet tall and weighed about 41 pounds when the boys were found in October 2003, is now 5 feet 2 and 126 pounds. Tyrone, who was 3 feet 3 and
28 pounds, is now 4 feet 4 and 66 pounds. Michael,
now, 11, was about 3 feet tall and 23 pounds; he is now 4 feet 3 and weighs 63 pounds.
當Keith被發現時是4呎高且約41磅重，目前有5呎2及126磅重。Tyrone，過去是3呎3、重28磅現在是4呎4及和66磅。目前11歲的Michael以前約3呎高23磅重，他現在已是4呎3高重63磅。
28 pounds, is now 4 feet 4 and 66 pounds. Michael,
now, 11, was about 3 feet tall and 23 pounds; he is now 4 feet 3 and weighs 63 pounds.當Keith被發現時是4呎高且約41磅重，目前有5呎2及126磅重。Tyrone，過去是3呎3、重28磅現在是4呎4及和66磅。目前11歲的Michael以前約3呎高23磅重，他現在已是4呎3高重63磅。
The most striking gains have been made by Bruce Jackson, who lives on his own in a residential complex. He is now 5 feet 3 and weighs 140 pounds. Ms. Jackson's daughter Vernee was among her four biological children who spoke in her behalf.
身材上有最多改變是莫過於目前獨自住在集中住宅的Bruce Jackson。他現在是5呎3高重140磅。Vernee（Jackson太太的四個親身子女之一）替她說話。
She said that the case had torn her family apart, and that her mother did not deserve to go to jail. She and her mother sobbed briefly before Vanessa Jackson regained her composure and resumed her stoic stare.
她說這個案子造成她家庭的破碎，而她的母親不應該遭受牢獄之災。她和他母親哭了一會兒，隨後Vanessa Jackson又回到了平靜，眼神中看不出一絲的情感。
The Rev. Harry L. Thomas, the pastor of the Medford, N.J., church that the family attended and who has remained steadfast in his support of Ms. Jackson, also testified for her.
位於紐澤西Medford的有一間Jackson家庭會上的教會，那裡的牧師Harry L. Thomas始終堅定不已地表達他對Jackson太太的支持，並為她作證。
"I've known these people as very loving people," Mr. Thomas told the court, "people who have a heart for children and they have a heart for God."
「我知道他們都是非常可親善良的人，」Thomas先生告訴庭上「會對孩子付出真心，對上帝付出真愛。」
But Judge Robert G. Millenky of State Superior Court was unmoved. He said Ms. Jackson deserved the maximum seven-year term because her conduct "fits the description of cruel activity."
但身為州高等法院法官的Robert G. Millenky不為所動。他說Jackson太太應被判最高的徒刑（七年）因為她的虐待行為「已經符合殘忍舉止的標準。」
"You had boys who clearly needed help," Judge Millenky said. "To do nothing in the face of serious problems demonstrates an absolute failure to recognize fundamental obligations."
「你的孩子顯然亟需照顧，」法官Millenky說「漠視這麼嚴重的問題，證明了她未善盡一般大眾所認定的基本責任。」
He also faulted the child welfare agency, but deflected the attempts by Ms. Jackson's lawyer, Alan D. Bowman, to blame the system for the children's plight. "They in no way, provide an excuse for the decision made with regard to these children."
他也認定兒童福利機構是有過失，而Jackson女士的辯護律師，Alan D. Bowman，試圖藉此轉移焦點，指責該機構造成了孩子們的痛苦。「他們不可以找個藉口就想要解釋當時安置的事宜是如何決定的。」
Several of the brothers' foster and adoptive parents also addressed the court. Keith's adopted mother, whose identity was not given to protect the child's privacy, described how the boys had to be hospitalized when they first came to live with her because "their stomachs were so small and not used to having substantive food in them."
許多領養或繼養這些男孩們的家長也來到了法庭。領養Keith的婦人，為了保護兒童的隱私這此不透露其姓名，敘述男孩們當被領養時為何必須受住院治療，因為「他們的胃太小了，沒辦法吃大量的食物。」
She sobbed as she recalled how Tyrone, presented with a choice for breakfast, asked for tap water and dry oatmeal, and how the children would hoard food and "eat so much so fast the other kids would be afraid of not getting anything to eat. I assured them that there would always be enough food for them all."
她流著淚，回想起之前問Tyrone早餐想吃什麼，他要自來水跟乾燕麥片，他們又是如何秘密地保留食物，以及「像是要把其他孩子的份也吃完般的狼吞虎嚥。我向他們保證，永遠提供足夠的食物給他們吃。」
She noted the progress that the boys had made through therapy and the help of social workers. "They are overcomers instead of being overcome," she said. "Victorious, not victims."
她又說在男孩們接受治療及社工人員協助的過程裡「他們打敗了之前困境所帶了的種種，而不是被打敗」她說「是勝利者而不是受難者。」
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