Photos show extensive abuse despite ex-Jag's repudiation of admissions

By Paul Pinkham

Despite their 2008 admissions to a judge, former Jaguar Rich Tylski and his wife adamantly denied the child abuse Wednesday that earned Jane Tylski a felony conviction and ended the couple's parental rights.

But a lawyer representing their former adopted daughter told the judge hearing a civil lawsuit against the Tylskis that they can't take the guilty plea back and presented extensive evidence of abuse. The evidence included pictures of the girl's injuries from the First Coast Child Protection Team and testimony from the unit's medical director.

Circuit Judge Hugh Carithers said he would rule next week. The case, which seeks payment for the 10-year-old girl's future medical and counseling expenses, was heard by Carithers without a jury.

The girl, who lived with the Tylskis for two years, showed up at Baptist Medical Center in 2006 with a broken leg Jane Tylski said resulted from her falling down the stairs. Doctors suspected abuse after noticing a previously broken and deformed ring finger and numerous bruises all over her body consistent with beatings from a belt.

The bruises, mainly on her back, were too numerous to count, said pediatrician Bruce McIntosh of the Child Protection Team. He said the girl initially confirmed Jane Tylski's account but after several weeks in protective custody said her leg and finger were broken by her mother bending them back to discipline her.

"It's very common for children once they are in a safe place to tell what really happened," McIntosh testified. "She will always bear some emotional scars from what she's gone through."

Jane Tylski, 40, pleaded guilty in 2008 to aggravated child abuse and was sentenced to two years' probation. She admitted maliciously punishing the girl by striking her and bending her fingers back but testified Wednesday she was merely reading a statement prepared for her as part of her plea bargain.

Her husband, who played guard for the Jaguars from 1996 to 1999, admitted in 2008 that he spanked his daughter with a belt beyond the scope of proper discipline in their Mandarin home. He completed a pretrial intervention program.

He didn't deny Wednesday that he struck his daughter with a belt but argued that the bruises were caused by the girl somersaulting down the stairs. Representing himself and his wife without a lawyer, he repeatedly referred to "the accident" and accused child welfare authorities of continuing to question his daughter until she gave them the answers they wanted.

"This is still treated as a death in our family. I lost a child over this," Tylski, 38, told Carithers. "... I believed I was guilty when I ran out of money to defend this thing."

He presented two family friends who testified they never saw any signs of abuse and described the family as loving and outgoing. Both said Rich Tylski is a respected baseball coach at the Mandarin Athletic Association.

But attorney Robert Spohrer, representing the Tylski's former daughter, said the evidence was overwhelming that she was systematically abused, both physically and emotionally.

"She was treated in a way that people would not tolerate their dog being treated," Spohrer said, noting that NFL quarterback Michael Vick went to prison for 21 months for operating a dog-fighting ring.

Spohrer asked Carithers for both compensatory and punitive damages because the abuse was intentional. Even if the money is never able to be collected, it's "the right thing to do," Spohrer said. He didn't specify an amount.

The lawsuit was filed by another lawyer representing a group appointed by the court to look after the girl's interests. Spohrer agreed to take the case for free.

After the Tylskis surrendered their parental rights, the girl was adopted by another Jacksonville family who said she is adjusting well but has problems with self-esteem and is self-conscious about her gnarled finger. Her new mother testified she observed the girl's 2006 interview with a guardian at litem, during which the youngster described the abuse.

"She will never be able to wear a wedding ring on that hand," the woman said.