The judge Sept. 10. 2007 ordered Raye Dawn Smith to serve the FULL 27 years in prison for enabling child abuse. Jurors in July found Smith guilty of allowing her then-second husband to abuse Kelsey. They chose the punishment of 27 years Kelsey, 2, died on Oct. 11, 2005, at her home near Meeker. Doctors determined she died from abuse. Jurors heard testimony that Kelsey had been abused for months, suffering broken bones, bruises, a sexual assault and other injuries. Kelsey, 2, died Oct. 11, 2005, at her home near Meeker after months of suffering broken bones, bruises and other injuries. (On October 11th, 2005 at 1:30 p.m., an Oklahoma DHS worker visited Kelsey for the last time. That worker said everything looked fine, about two hours later Kelsey Died)The tragedy exposed serious flaws in how the state protects children because, at the time of her death, both the state Department of Human Services and a judge were overseeing her care because of abuse allegations.Smith was convicted of enabling child abuse, accused of allowing her then-husband, Michael Lee Porter, to injure the child.He once was charged with sexually abusing and murdering Kelsey but pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of enabling child abuse after reaching a deal with prosecutors. He and Smith wed on April 18, 2005,Kelsey's father, Lance Briggs, (who was Serving in Iraq at the time of Kelsey's Death) called the prison sentence fitting. "I was relieved," he said. "What this was, right here today, was justice for my daughter."Many are pointing to Kelsey's death as as an example of how the judicial system and DHS fail to protect children. Kelsey died four months after a judge returned her to her mother, despite suspicions the mother had abused her
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