The 10 Absolute Worst Parents of 2012 (First-Half)

When 10 year-old Johnathan Ramsey got rowdy like 10 year-olds do, his father Aaron Ramsey whacked him in the chest and then locked him in his bedroom. Then Aaron and his wife, the boy's stepmother Elizabeth, decided to put him on "military rations" to whip him into shape, limiting the boy's food to bread, water, and occasionally milk for several months. As a reminder, even convicted criminals are given several square meals a day.

The Ramsey kept Johnathan hidden from relatives for more than a year, including his own mother, Judy Williams. When Johnathan was finally reported missing, Aaron and Elizabeth lied and told police that they had sent him to live with his mom.

Then, in May 2012, police found Johnathan's skeletal remains in a creek outside Dallas. The Ramseys confessed that they had only been trying to get him to act right. Aaron claimed that Johnathan punched his stepmother in the stomach when she was pregnant, causing a miscarriage. Maybe he did, maybe he didn't. Maybe he just knew something that some of the rest of us are scared to admit: That no matter what the law says, some people should never, ever be allowed have children.

More details on the Johnathan Ramsey case

It's hard to say who was more at fault here - the father who did the shooting or the idiot mother who instigated the whole thing.

Kerri and Kayla Allen were both 10 years old - not twins, but born just 10 months apart. On Kerri's birthday, her parents had the benevolent idea to take her to a Cracker Barrel outside Cleveland. I know, right? Lucky girl. Everything was going well, all chicken fingers and biscuits and peg games and maybe trying on some hand puppets or something (have you ever been to a Cracker Barrel? so much to do)... Then Kerri blew out the candles on her birthday cake. To sweeten the moment, the girls' mother Katherina brought out a very special gift that Kerri would remember forever: The news that she was leaving their father, Kevin. (4 Ks, btw.)

Well, it turns out that Kevin had a decades-long history of being a dick to his numerous ex-wives and had been in trouble with police for threats of violence. So maybe Katherina did this in public to avoid a scene; fine.

Actually, Kevin's the worse parent here. I'm sure of it.

He circled the parking lot while Katherina, still inside, called 911 and said, "I'm having some spouse problems." By the time police arrived, he had re-entered with the restaurant with a shotgun and opened fire, killing Katherina and Kerri and wounding her sister Kayla. When Kevin refused to surrender, police shot and killed him.

Kayla died a month later. More about the miserable Allen family.

Let's go through this one chronologically. Warning: It's so disgusting, you'll need to hug some sort of kitty or puppy afterward. Have one on standby.

In 2008, Tessa Vanvlerah was 18 years old. She seduced and had sex with a 16 year-old autistic boy in Clayton, MO, and became pregnant with his child. The boy's mother got a restraining order against her.

When the resulting baby girl was 5 months old, Vanvlerah met Kenneth Kyle (49) online, and started sending him buttloads of child pornography of her own child. He visited Vanvlerah several times, and they each had sex with the baby and each other. (What.)

Vanvlerah was head over heels. She allowed Kyle to choke, burn, and urinate on her, and she carved his name - not Kenneth, but "Lord Nikon" - into her skin. She two also met another guy online, sent him some more child porn, and made plans for him to join them in St. Louis so he could also have sex with the baby.

When Kyle was arrested for all the pictures of naked children he had on his computer, police also found Vanvlerah. She pleaded guilty to incest, statutory rape, and statutory sodomy. In May 2012, she was sentenced to 37.5 years in prison.

The little baby was put into foster care and quickly adopted. In the beginning, she would scream when anyone tried to bathe her or change her diaper. Though she's doing better, at 3 years old, she still has night terrors and asks every night at bedtime to make sure no one else comes into the home.

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In 3 AM one morning in May 2012, Tonya Thomas (33) sent a text message to a neighbor that I imagine looked something like this:

I want 2 b cremated w mi children lol ;)

At dawn, Tonya Thomas (33) opened fire on her children. Three (of four) of them left their house outside Cape Canaveral, FL, and went to a neighbor's front door covered in blood. They tried to break into the house, but the confused neighbors refused them entry.

Then - according to weird reports - their mother calmly stepped outside and called them back to the house. The kids turned around and went. Then she killed all of them: Pebbles (17), Jaxs (15), Jazzlyn (13), and Joel (12). And then she shot herself, too.

Analysts suggest that the children returned out of guilt, loyalty, and fear. They were also probably used to seeing their mom act crazy. The family was reported to be fairly normal, with "problems like everybody else but nothing drastic." One of the boys had thrown a bicycle through a window, and a police report said that Thomas once called when her son kicked and punched her when she tried to wake him up for school. The boys also liked to shoot BBs at a home across the street and threatened to set it on fire. You know, pretty normal.

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