Dad demands unsupervised visitation with 9-year-old son, even though dad is "suspected" of killing boy's infant brother (Oak Lawn, Illinois)

It is utterly insane that this case has gone on like this, and hasn't been resolved. It makes no sense to me that dad JOSE OCEGUEDA has not been charged with homicide, and cut out of visitation or custody rights with the surviving son (now 9) entirely.

Follow this if you can. Back in 2008, when the infant son was just 3-months old, he was brought to the hospital with broken legs and a head injury. Daddy claimed that the then 7-year-old son had tripped while holding the baby and fell on him. Sounds pretty dubious to me. But the authorities bought this line, or at least didn't bother to disprove it. Two months later, the baby develops breathing problems and dies a few days later. An examination showed that the baby had old fractures in his legs that suggested PULLING AND TWISTING, not a child falling on him or dropping him. The baby's skull was broken, and he had bleeding in the back of his skull that suggested shaking.

An "investigation" began, as police started wondering if Daddy had a hand in all this after all. (Statistically, these kinds of fatal infant injuries are inflicted DELIBERATELY by fathers, not ACCIDENTALLY--on at least TWO separate occasions????--by a clumsy 7-year-old brother). No surprise that the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) also believed that Dad was responsible, and in fact has SUBSTANTIATED the allegations of abuse and neglect by the father. In addition, Dad was the last person to have contact with the baby before his death, and has refused a polygraph test.

Meanwhile, the mother (wisely) wants to suspend the father from seeing the surviving child until the death investigation was completed. But for some reason, even though it is now 2010, the investigation is STILL not complete and remains "open." Daddy hasn't been charged with anything, though he remains a "suspect." Why? Don't ask me. Ask the Cook County, Illinois authorities--never mind that Cook County has one of the worst records in the country for corruption and incompetence, especially in the areas of child abuse and domestic violence. Seems the State Attorney is dithering, though the police say there is enough evidence to press charges. Such a surprise.

Now Daddy wants more unsupervised time with the surviving child--the one he has traumatized and blamed for the baby's death. Mom has moved to California, and has remarried. But unless there is a "change" in the investigation, Judge La Quietta Hardy-Campbell "may" reinstate visitation, because she doesn't want to deny Daddy his parental rights. Even though the Division Chief of the Illinois State Police says this father shouldn't have visitation!

And check out the back story before this. Mom says that Dad had hit her before, but she dropped the charges after he threatened to take custody of the older son! Classic abuser move, and sheds a lot of light on subsequent events. But of course the authorities don't see the pattern emerging here. Even when there is already one dead child! No, they want to force a 9-year-old boy into cross-country visitation with a "suspected" baby killer who has tried to frame the 9-year-old for the crime, a 9-year-old who doesn't even want to see the father!

Do you need any more evidence on how Cook County caters to abusers and criminal fathers, especially in custody/visitation matters?

http://www.southtownstar.com/news/2258884,051110uglydivorce.article

Boy at center of courtroom tug-of-war
Oak Lawn father of dead infant wants more time with older son
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May 11, 2010

BY LAUREN FITZPATRICK
When David Ocegueda was just 7 years old, his father blamed him for the death of his infant half-brother, Marco.

Yet the authorities quickly suspected child abuse. It wasn't long before police began looking at whether Marco's father, Jose Ocegueda, had a hand in the baby's death.

While the Oak Lawn man hasn't been charged with any crime, Marco's November 2008 homicide remains an open investigation.

Meanwhile, there's a tug-of-war going on in a Chicago courtroom between Ocegueda and Nicole Dankert - his ex-wife and David's mother - over whether he'll get to spend more unsupervised time with David, who's now 9.

Dankert - now living in California with her new husband and David's two little half-sisters - vehemently opposes the idea.

"His father is blaming him for the death of the baby," Dankert said of her son. "He knows. He's really upset."

For her, it's a matter of keeping her son safe.

For his father, it's a matter of having a relationship with his surviving son, he said in court papers.

Barring any charges against Ocegueda, Cook County Circuit Court Judge La Quietta Hardy-Campbell soon may reinstate the visitation he had before Marco's death. The parties return to court in June.

According to Dankert's attorney, Louis Robles Jr., the judge has said she wouldn't deny Ocegueda's parental rights so long as he's not charged.

Jose Ocegueda's attorney, Patrick Markey, said he wanted to talk to his client before commenting but didn't return multiple subsequent calls for comment and declined to comment in an e-mail message. Jose Ocegueda also did not return phone messages for comment.

A life short lived

In late August 2008, when baby Marco was about three weeks old, he was treated at Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn for head injuries and broken legs. Jose Ocegueda told police that David tripped on an action figure while holding Marco and fell on him.

But the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services pointed a finger at the elder Ocegueda before returning the baby to his parents.

Two months later, Marco returned to the emergency room. Marco's mother told investigators that she had fed the baby and put him to sleep on the living room floor at 4 p.m., but that when she returned to check on him at 6:30 p.m., he wasn't breathing.

Two days after that, on Nov. 12, 2008, Marco's life support was turned off.

The death of the 3-month-old was ruled a homicide. The cause was listed as child abuse. Both of the baby's legs showed signs of old fractures that doctors said suggested pulling and twisting. The baby's skull was fractured, and bleeding inside the back of his head likely came from shaking, doctors who evaluated Marco's injuries said.

Dankert requested a month later to suspend her ex from seeing the older child until the death investigation was completed.

Ocegueda and Marco's mother, Araceli Cervantes, were questioned by Oak Lawn police. Ocegueda was listed as a suspect, according to Oak Lawn police.

To date, neither he nor anyone else has been charged.

Both parents claim cruelty

Nicole's and Jose's 2000 marriage didn't last very long.

David, their only child together, was born in 2001. Three years later, they separated. Dankert and David moved in with her parents.

Dankert filed for divorce that same year, alleging mental cruelty and that Jose was controlling with her.

And she said he hit her in the head in 2005, while the couple were living in Burbank. He was arrested, but she said she dropped the charges after he threatened to take their son.

Ocegueda filed a countersuit in 2006, claiming Dankert also was "guilty of extreme and repeated mental cruelty."

In the divorce settlement, David was to fly to Chicago to spend summers with his dad, a week at spring break and alternating Christmas and New Year's.

But then Marco died.

David's mother asked a California court to suspend David's visitation with his dad. David and Jose could talk on the phone, and for New Year's, David would fly to Chicago to stay with Nicole's mother. His father could visit him at his grandmother's home.

David has a court-appointed attorney who declined to comment, saying she wanted to protect the child's privacy.

His mother said David's been examined and interviewed by counselors.

"He was really upset," she said. "He doesn't want anything to do with his father. If he had to see his father, he wanted to stay at his grandparents' house and see his father," she said the child told her.

When Ocegueda calls on Sunday mornings, David hangs up, she said.

Difficult to prove

Oak Lawn police say the infant's death remains open and has been in the hands of an Illinois State Police unit for the last eight weeks.

"It's not a case we'd let go -- we feel we have enough to present to a jury, but the state's attorney doesn't feel the same," Division Chief Mike Kaufmann said. "Maybe a different review would find enough to prosecute the case."

A state police spokesman said the child homicide unit has been reviewing the case since February to determine if state officers would take over the case. He would not provide a timeline for the unit's decision.

Peter Troy, who supervises the felony unit at Cook County Circuit Court in Bridgeview, said his office did not formally reject charges. But neither were prosecutors ready to file them, either.

"Death by abuse is difficult to prove," he said. "The more you expand the potential abusers across the timeline, reasonable doubt sets in."

According to police reports obtained from November 2008, Jose Ocegueda was a suspect in Marco's death. Kaufmann now will only call Ocegueda a "person police are looking at."

"There were only two people in the unit (of the apartment), either him or the wife. He was the last person to have contact with the baby," he said.

DCFS spokesman Kendall Marlowe said his agency won't get directly involved in a private divorce matter. But he confirmed that the agency substantiated allegations both of abuse and neglect against Ocegueda. What the attorneys in the custody fight choose to do with DCFS reports is up to them, he said.

In other reports detailing the abuse against Marco, doctors said the head injuries and leg breaks weren't from being dropped.

When questioned by Oak Lawn detectives, Ocegueda answered but didn't once use Marco's name. And he wouldn't take a polygraph test, police said.

"Would I give him visitation? No, I wouldn't give him visitation," Kaufmann said. "I'm a father and if my child was hurt I'd do anything to help the police."

CONTRIBUTING: CASEY CORA