Dad gets 27 years for killing baby girl, sexually assaulting 8-year-old (Milwaukee, Wisconsin)

Father SALVATOR OCHOA has pleaded guility to second-degree homicide in the death of his two-month-old daughter (he punched her in the stomach "for crying" after fracturing her skull the month before) and to sexually assaulting an 8-year-old.

Mom had been previously denied protective services by the Department of Children and Families because they found "no evidence" of abuse.

http://www.jsonline.com/news/milwaukee/50063952.html

Father gets 27 years for killing infant girl, assaulting 8-year-old
By Crocker Stephenson of the Journal Sentinel
Posted: July 6, 2009

Less than a month after a Bureau of Milwaukee Child Welfare social worker decided that Rubi Ochoa-Cervantes did not need protective services, the 2-month-old was dead.

The infant, born six weeks prematurely, had been punched in the stomach by her father, Salvador Ochoa, who in April pleaded guilty to second-degree reckless homicide and in May pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting an 8-year-old girl.

On Monday, Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Jeffrey A. Conen sentenced Ochoa on the two convictions to a combined 27 years in prison.

"Mr. Ochoa is a monster," Conen said. "There is no other conclusion I can come to."

A Spanish translator whispered the judge's words into the ear of Rubi's mother, Judith Cervantes, who, when told the sentence, lowered her head and closed her eyes.

"I am scared when he gets out," she said after the hearing.

Rubi was born Oct. 7, 2005. One month later, she was treated and released from Children's Hospital of Wisconsin for an unexplained head fracture. A doctor reported the injury to child protective services.

According to Department of Children and Families records, a bureau social worker consulted hospital staff and was told the fracture may have been caused by a fall or a drop from a short distance or by complications from the child's premature birth.

The social worker then interviewed members of Rubi's household, including the 8-year-old sexual assault victim. The social worker concluded that there was no evidence to support the physical abuse allegations and closed the case Nov. 21, 2005.

Ochoa killed the infant girl three weeks later. According to police reports, Ochoa already had been sexually abusing the 8-year-old for months.

Shortly after Rubi's death, Ochoa tried to persuade Cervantes to flee to Mexico with him. He confessed to her that he had punched Rubi for crying. Cervantes refused. Ochoa told Cervantes he had to go to the store and never returned.

Ochoa did flee to Mexico, where he is a citizen.

Under treaty, Mexico had for years refused to return its citizens to the United States if they faced charges here that could result in execution or life in prison.

A Mexican court modified that rule to protect only fugitives facing execution, not life sentences.
Officials returned Ochoa to Milwaukee in December.

"It's been a long road to get to this point," Milwaukee County Assistant District Attorney Mark Williams told Conen.