Toogood Allowed to Visit Daughter

Sept. 25 -- The mother who was videotaped beating her daughter in an Indiana store parking lot was allowed to briefly visit the 4-year-old today.

The scheduled supervised visit between Madelyne Gormon Toogood and her daughter Martha was originally scheduled Tuesday, but authorities at the Indiana Office of Family and Children said the girl was too ill with the flu. Today, doctors said Martha was well-enough for the visit and Toogood, along with her husband John, saw their daughter for about 95 minutes.

The visit was Toogood's first chance to see Martha, since the girl was placed in foster care and the mother was charged Saturday with battery of a child. The embattled mother will be allowed supervised visits once or twice a week. Toogood appeared teary-eyed after seeing her daughter.

"Yeah, she looked good," John Toogood said to reporters as he got into hiscar outside the Thomas N. Frederick Juvenile Justice Center.

Madelyn Toogood said nothing to reporters. Some people standing outside the center recognized her and began shouting. One woman yelled, "Someone ought to beat you."

Nomadic Lifestyle Under the Microscope

Madelyn Toogood, 25, became the subject of a nationwide search after she was videotaped shaking and hitting her daughter for about 30 seconds on Sept. 13 in the parking lot of a shopping center in Mishawaka, Ind. The videotape, which was released to the media as authorities sought to find Toogood, shocked people around the nation.

Toogood, who has two other children, turned herself in to authorities on Saturday. She faces a felony charge of battery to a child and is free on $5,000 bail.

Meanwhile, officials are weighing Toogood's unusual nomadic "Irish Traveler" background as they decide who will get custody of Martha.

St. Joseph Probate Court Judge Peter J. Nemeth told child protection officials they had two weeks to recommend who should care for Martha.

Charles Smith, the director of the St. Joseph County Office of Family and Children, said his agency tries to schedule family meetings quickly, but Toogood's link to the Irish Travelers will play a role in whether other family members get temporary custody of the girl, and whether Toogood and her husband regain custody.