If you are concerned about a child being neglected or abused, call Maine’s 24-hour hotline at 800-452-1999 or 711 to speak with a child protective specialist. Calls may be made anonymously. For more information, visit maine.gov/dhhs/ocfs/provider-resources/reporting-suspected-child-abuse-and-neglect.
A Bangor woman will spend a decade in prison for her role in her 10-year-old son’s 2024 murder.
Braxtyn Smith died Feb. 18, 2024, after experiencing about two years of abuse. His mother, Jem Bean, 37, was sentenced to 25 years, with all but 10 years suspended, on Friday. She pleaded guilty to manslaughter in his death in February.
“The abuse that this child endured was horrendous,” Judge Ann Murray said, noting that he’d been deprived of food and water and been bound, punched and kicked.
“He had his head smashed against a door. He was tied to the door. His hands were bound behind his back while his head was being smashed. He was sleep deprived. He was required to sleep on the bathroom floor. He was hit with hands. He was hit with bamboo sticks.”
While the community at large may find Bean’s sentence distasteful, Murray said she had to consider Bean’s cooperation with the investigation for the sentencing. The Office of the Maine Attorney General and Bean agreed to that sentence.
The boy’s paternal grandmother, Mistie Latourette, 59, is scheduled to be sentenced Friday. She pleaded guilty to manslaughter. The boy’s father, Joshua Smith, 35, pleaded guilty to depraved indifference murder June 11. He will be sentenced this fall.
Braxtyn’s younger sister, now 7, has memories of him draping his body over hers to protect her from abuse, said Samantha Winter, the adoptive mother of the girl.
“One phone call when he was zip tied and she was away from danger at work could have saved him,” Winter said of Bean’s ability to prevent Braxtyn’s death.
Through tears, Bean apologized to Braxtyn and his younger sister. There were enough moments of hope in Bean’s relationship with Smith that she stayed because she thought it was better for their children, she said.
The guilt is something Bean said she will always carry and she is left with a hole in her heart from Braxtyn’s death.
“I am so sorry that he’s gone and I wish more than anything that I could go back and do it differently,” Bean said.
Bean was one of three people who knew of the abuse happening to Braxtyn, but she was a “more passive member” of the three, Assistant Attorney General Leanne Robbin said. She added that Bean was directed on what to do by Smith and Latourette.
Most of the abuse likely happened during the day, when Bean was out of the house for work, Robbin said. However, there was abuse when Bean was home.
“She knew [Smith] was assaulting Braxtyn and she did not do more to protect him,” Robbin said.
Braxtyn experienced about two years of abuse that wasn’t noticed because the boy was homeschooled, Robbin said previously.
The domestic abuse Bean experienced should have been a mitigating factor in her sentence, attorney Hunter Tzovarras said. Bean offered to assist the investigation early on and has no public criminal record, he said.
Bean would get between Smith and Braxytn to protect him, as well as sneak him food when he wasn’t being fed, Murray said. There are things Bean did to try to help, but those were not effective.
The abuse happened while Bean was in an abusive relationship, Murray said. Bean has post traumatic stress disorder and a battered person diagnosis, which is a mitigating factor in the case, but Tzovarras said he knows it doesn’t absolve her responsibility.
The duration, intensity and nature of the “terrible” child abuse means Murray did not give the abuse to Bean as much weight in determining a sentence. Bean worked for the Department of Health and Human Services at Dorothea Dix Psychiatric Hospital in Bangor in an administrative position, which Murray said was also a reason to not give the domestic abuse as much weight.
“I think it’s hard to fathom how a mother could let this happen,” Murray said.
Bean is not allowed to have contact with any children under the age of 14 when she is on probation, including with Braxtyn’s younger sister. She cannot live within 10 miles of her biological daughter and cannot attend any of the girl’s activities.