12-year-old boy urges prison for torture abuse by custodial dad, girlfriend (Wilmington, Delaware)

Custodial dad PEDRO RIVERA has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for the child abuse/torture of his 12-year-old son. It seems Dad had custody because the mother has had some drug problems. However, it doesn't appear that Mom ever inflicted systematic torture or abuse on her child. That was the specialty of Daddy and the new girlfriend.

http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20100116/NEWS01/1160328

Delaware crime: Boy urges prison for dad, woman
12-year-old writes of brutal treatment
By SEAN O'SULLIVAN • The News Journal • January 16, 2010

WILMINGTON -- The 12-year-old boy who was admitted to Christiana Hospital near death last February, suffering from hypothermia with burns and bruises covering his body after being brutally disciplined by his father and a girlfriend, stood in court Friday to see his tormentors for possibly the last time.

"I want my dad and Megan [Brazell] to be put in jail for as long as possible for what they did to me," he said in a letter that was read by his guardian ad-litem, Nicholas Krayer, standing by the boy's side. "For all the times they beat me with a belt and threw me on the ground. For all the times they made me stand in the freezing cold shower. For all the times they made me lie in the water with ice cubes in it. For all the times they locked me in the bathroom for days with no food or water. ... For all the times they told me I was worthless and was never going to be anything in life."

The boy also talked about being dangled over a balcony and having his hands held over a stove.

A few moments later, Superior Court Judge John E. Babiarz Jr. sentenced 30-year-old Pedro Rivera to 15 years in prison and Brazell, 26, to three years in prison.

Deputy Attorney General Phyllis Scully asked Babiarz to give Rivera the maximum for assault by abuse or neglect -- 25 years -- and Brazell five years for her admission to second degree assault.

But the 12-year-old, who is now living with foster parents, later said that he was not disappointed and now felt safe after seeing both taken out of the courtroom in handcuffs.

The child first came to the attention of authorities on Feb. 15 after a neighbor in the Village of Windhover apartments in Bear called police to report possible child abuse.

When police arrived, Brazell first denied either Rivera or the then-11-year-old were home, but police then saw Rivera emerging from a back room and found the boy inside a closet on his hands and knees and shaking.

He was so cold that when he arrived at Christiana Hospital, Scully said, it took ER workers four attempts to get any kind of temperature.

She said the infraction that led the father to submerge his son in ice-cold water for 40 minutes was taking some macaroni and cheese because he was hungry. She added that the first infraction that apparently kicked off the weeks of abuse, starting around Christmas, was taking a cookie without permission.

She said the infraction that led the father to submerge his son in ice-cold water for 40 minutes was taking some macaroni and cheese because he was hungry. She added that the first infraction that apparently kicked off the weeks of abuse, starting around Christmas, was taking a cookie without permission.

The boy ended up with his father in November 2008 when the boy's biological mother --who was having drug problems and felt she could no longer take care of the child -- left him.

According to Scully, Brazell apparently thought this was an inconvenience and she lobbied Rivera to get the boy to leave. Scully said Brazell told investigators that the 11-year-old was not vigilant enough in watching her two 1-year-old twins and when she got home at night, she didn't want to deal with him, so she locked him in a room.

And while her attorney, Joe Hurley, said Brazell was largely a bystander who administered the abusive treatment once and was sometimes a victim herself, Scully said Brazell told investigators she was the one who came up with "military stuff," like making the boy stand on one foot and hop. She also said there was evidence Brazell administered similarly harsh punishment to a 5-year-old who briefly stayed with the family.

Rivera's attorney, John Malik, said there was no justifying the abuse, which he said was torture and put the child "through hell." But he said by way of an explanation that Rivera had been abused both physically and sexually when he was a child, then continued the pattern with his own son -- like other abusers.

He also said Rivera was in a marijuana-induced haze at the time of the incident and his arrest. New Castle County police said 20 bags of marijuana were found in Rivera's bedroom.

Rivera apologized to the court, his family and his son. "I know what I did was wrong. I should have called for help but my pride was in the way. I know my family looks at me differently," he said in a letter read by Malik, adding, "I know I let you down as a father."

Later, after hearing his son's statement, Rivera said he loved his son but knows the boy may never forgive him.

Brazell, in her comments to the court, said she was sorry "for these tragic events," and added that she was glad the boy was now with people who can properly look after him.

Babiarz, however, pointed out that in all her statements Brazell never expressed remorse or regret for her actions, only regret at "these tragic events."

Afterward, outside court, after Rivera and Brazell had been taken away, the soft-spoken 12-year-old said, "I'll be happy if I never see them again."