Protecting the children: An interview with Abby Rittenour and Brigette Combs

Welcome back to the podcast, I’m Jamie Baynes. As many of you know, I’m a retired Homicide detective from Richmond, Virginia. Before becoming a Homicide detective, I was a Youth and Family Crimes detective, which meant that I often worked with Child Protective Services, also known as CPS, in the City of Richmond. Flash forward to my current position and I’ve been working with CPS again, which is where I met Abby. I thought that it would be great to have her on an episode to talk about the roles of CPS, so that’s what the first half of this episode is about. As we were talking about CPS, she mentioned that she and her mother, Brigette  Combs, were involved in legislation to make child marriages illegal in the US. I had to stop her and ask her what she was talking about because I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. She said that in 2024, there are only thirteen states and the Virgin Islands that have ENDED child marriage. I was and  am flabbergasted. So let’s cut this intro short and get right to it, shall we? I hope you enjoy this episode and, like I did, learn something from it.Once you listen,  can you BELIEVE that child marriage is still LEGAL in so many states? I still can’t wrap my head around it.  Here's a list of the ONLY states that have ENDED child marriage:DelawareNew JerseyVermontRhode IslandConnecticut New HampshireMassachusetts VirginiaPennsylvania New YorkWashington MinnesotaMichigan And the Virgin Islands.Check out the links below for more information:https://search.app/NHYwEEP9DmK9PfZd9https://search.app/Mc6zhDvnzAkVWkFq5https://search.app/PPXSMSe9cbYxdt5j6https://preventforcedmarriage.org/I’d like to thank Abby and her mom for coming on and educating me about this unbelievable situation, not to mention the incredible work that CPS workers do to protect the children.Please spread the word and get involved.And as always, take care of one another and thanks for listening.