This sure sounds like a visitation arrangement--or even a single dad. If a mother had been in the home--and there is no mention of one--then it would not have been necessary for "a family member" (Mom? Somebody else?) to contact the police after receiving threatening phone calls from the father. Why was this drug-addicted. abusive idiot "caring" for four young children by himself? Dad RUPERTO LOPEZ has been charged with making terrorist threats, child endangerment, false imprisonment, resisting arrest, and being under the influence of a controlled substance.
http://www.fox40.com/news/headlines/ktxl-ceres-man-arrested-for-child-endangerment-20110728,0,5761231.story
Ceres Man Arrested for Child Endangerment
Ian McDonald
FOX40 News
12:21 p.m. PDT, July 28, 2011
CERES—
A man was booked into Stanislaus County Jail early Thursday morning for multiple offenses, including making terrorist threats and child endangerment.
Shortly before 1 a.m. Thursday morning, Ceres Police officers were dispatched to a home on Darrah Street to check on four young children of ages ranging from 3 months to 6 years old. A family member had been receiving phone calls from the kids’ father, who was threatening violence against the family member.
The family member believed the father, 25-year-old Ruperto Lopez, was intoxicated and in an unstable state of mind.
When the officers arrived, the man entered the home and refused to come out. He would occasionally open the door to shout obscenities and threaten the officers. The man would also show the children at the door, but would refuse to let them out. Police say the 3-month-old was not actually home at the time.
A Ceres SWAT team and negotiating team came to the home shortly before 3 a.m., and Lopez surrendered without further incident.
Lopez was booked into Stanislaus County Jail for making terrorist threats, child endangerment, false imprisonment, resisting arrest and being under the influence of a controlled substance.
Friday, July 29, 2011
Dad gets 6-8 months in prison for abusing infant daughter (Marion, North Carolina)
Dads like CHRISTOPHER MURRAY UPSHAW shouldn't be allowed around babies or young children ever again....He admits that he has already abused his infant daughter three times in her short life. That's enough.
http://www2.mcdowellnews.com/news/2011/jul/28/abusive-father-gets-time-behind-bars-ar-1249321/
Abusive father gets time behind bars
By: Richelle Bailey
Published: July 28, 2011
The father of an infant child will spend time behind bars and time on probation for abusing the little girl.
Christopher Murray Upshaw, 21, of Marion recently pleaded guilty in McDowell County Superior Court to three counts of felony child abuse inflicting serious injury.
On one count, Judge Laura J. “Suzy” Bridges sentenced Upshaw to six to eight months in prison. On the other two counts, the judge handed him a six- to eight-month suspended sentence and placed him on supervised probation for 36 months. He must serve nine months on intensive supervised probation, pay a $500 fine and court costs and perform 72 hours of community service.
Detective Jennifer Trantham of the McDowell County Sheriff’s Office charged Upshaw. Capt. Shanon Smith said the mother of the 3-month-old victim took the baby to the health clinic in early April after “observing signs that something wasn’t right with the child.”
The baby was later transferred to Memorial Mission Hospital in Asheville.
Smith stated that Upshaw admitted to abusing the child three times. She suffered head and brain injuries, often referred to as Shaken Baby Syndrome.
http://www2.mcdowellnews.com/news/2011/jul/28/abusive-father-gets-time-behind-bars-ar-1249321/
Abusive father gets time behind bars
By: Richelle Bailey
Published: July 28, 2011
The father of an infant child will spend time behind bars and time on probation for abusing the little girl.
Christopher Murray Upshaw, 21, of Marion recently pleaded guilty in McDowell County Superior Court to three counts of felony child abuse inflicting serious injury.
On one count, Judge Laura J. “Suzy” Bridges sentenced Upshaw to six to eight months in prison. On the other two counts, the judge handed him a six- to eight-month suspended sentence and placed him on supervised probation for 36 months. He must serve nine months on intensive supervised probation, pay a $500 fine and court costs and perform 72 hours of community service.
Detective Jennifer Trantham of the McDowell County Sheriff’s Office charged Upshaw. Capt. Shanon Smith said the mother of the 3-month-old victim took the baby to the health clinic in early April after “observing signs that something wasn’t right with the child.”
The baby was later transferred to Memorial Mission Hospital in Asheville.
Smith stated that Upshaw admitted to abusing the child three times. She suffered head and brain injuries, often referred to as Shaken Baby Syndrome.
Dad to stand trial in death of 3-month-old son (Montgomery County, Pennsylvania)
"Caretaking" dad JAMEEL EAST will be standing trial on 3rd-degree murder charges in the death of his 3-month-old son.
http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/local/the_intelligencer_news/father-to-stand-trial-in-infant-s-death/article_463a5296-0614-5e49-bfb7-00aa09d816d2.html
Father to stand trial in infant's death
Posted: Friday, July 29, 2011 12:00 am | Updated: 6:12 am, Fri Jul 29, 2011.
By BILL DEVLIN
STAFF WRITER Calkins Media, Inc.
The Towamencin man accused in the death of his infant son will be tried in Montgomery County Court.
Jameel Earthy East, 22, is charged with third-degree murder in the death of 3-month-old Enzo East.
On Thursday, District Judge Catherine Hummel Fried ordered East held for county court on the murder charge and a charge of making false statements to police.
The infant died June 25 in The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia from head injuries, including two skull fractures, that authorities said occurred when East was caring for the child.
Questioned by authorities, East initially told them that, while he was carrying the child down the staircase, he began to fall and the child’s head slammed against the wall. He later told authorities he felt “overwhelmed” when the child vomited on him. He took the child into the bathroom to bathe him and struck the child’s head against the hard counter surface between the two sinks, he later said.
East could be sentenced to a maximum of 20 to 40 years in prison if convicted of third-degree murder.
He is being held in Montgomery County Prison.
http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/local/the_intelligencer_news/father-to-stand-trial-in-infant-s-death/article_463a5296-0614-5e49-bfb7-00aa09d816d2.html
Father to stand trial in infant's death
Posted: Friday, July 29, 2011 12:00 am | Updated: 6:12 am, Fri Jul 29, 2011.
By BILL DEVLIN
STAFF WRITER Calkins Media, Inc.
The Towamencin man accused in the death of his infant son will be tried in Montgomery County Court.
Jameel Earthy East, 22, is charged with third-degree murder in the death of 3-month-old Enzo East.
On Thursday, District Judge Catherine Hummel Fried ordered East held for county court on the murder charge and a charge of making false statements to police.
The infant died June 25 in The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia from head injuries, including two skull fractures, that authorities said occurred when East was caring for the child.
Questioned by authorities, East initially told them that, while he was carrying the child down the staircase, he began to fall and the child’s head slammed against the wall. He later told authorities he felt “overwhelmed” when the child vomited on him. He took the child into the bathroom to bathe him and struck the child’s head against the hard counter surface between the two sinks, he later said.
East could be sentenced to a maximum of 20 to 40 years in prison if convicted of third-degree murder.
He is being held in Montgomery County Prison.
Police: Dad injured son during "rough play"
Why do abuser dads get off with this "boys will be boys" stuff? Why does a child's serious head injury get dismissed as "rough play" or "fooling around" ? Moms do not get this kid glove treatment.
http://www.tracypress.com/view/full_story/14876338/article-Police-Log--Man-injures-son-during-rough-play?instance=home_news_bullets
Police Log: Man injures son during rough play
by TP staff Tracy Press
Jul 28, 2011
A hospital official called at 11:10 p.m. to report a child was brought into Sutter Tracy Community Hospital, 1420 N. Tracy Blvd., with a head injury. The boy’s father said told hospital officials that he and the boy were fooling around when the child fell and hit his head. The boy was getting a CT scan at the hospital.
Police talked to the father, and he said he put the boy in a sleeper hold and the boy hit his head after he passed out. The boy was transported to Oakland Children’s Hospital, and police are investigating the incident.
http://www.tracypress.com/view/full_story/14876338/article-Police-Log--Man-injures-son-during-rough-play?instance=home_news_bullets
Police Log: Man injures son during rough play
by TP staff Tracy Press
Jul 28, 2011
A hospital official called at 11:10 p.m. to report a child was brought into Sutter Tracy Community Hospital, 1420 N. Tracy Blvd., with a head injury. The boy’s father said told hospital officials that he and the boy were fooling around when the child fell and hit his head. The boy was getting a CT scan at the hospital.
Police talked to the father, and he said he put the boy in a sleeper hold and the boy hit his head after he passed out. The boy was transported to Oakland Children’s Hospital, and police are investigating the incident.
Dad with history of domestic violence charged with murdering mom, apparently during visitation exchange (Isipingo, South Africa)
I can just hear all the ridiculous complainers and blamers. Why didn't she leave him? She did--ALMOST 8 YEARS AGO. And she was still viciously murdered.
The problem? They had children. And although UNNAMED DAD had a history of domestic violence and abusive threats, HE STILL HAD VISITATION with their children. That's what happens when we rank fathers rights above the rights of everybody else. And even though this mother had obtained numerous orders of protection, Mom still had to be "civil" with Dad and subject herself to additional risk when it "involved" the children.
We know that shortly before her murder, the tires on her car were slashed--apparently by Daddy. And when Daddy was dropping off the kids at Mom's house, he "allegedly" locked the kids in a bedroom, wrapped plastic around Mom's head, and slashed her throat.
So did these kids benefit from having Daddy in their lives? I'd say NO. All this did was encourage Daddy's sense of entitlement and further traumatize the children. Now those kids have been robbed of their mother in a terribly brutal way--all because the fathers rights people have convinced everybody that every daddy must be "involved." No matter how much of a criminal he is.
And after all this, the same kids are being "cared for" by the "alleged" killer's OWN MOTHER.
Sickening, but we see this all the time. Why do the families of killers get custody of the kids after Mom has been murdered???
We need to stop coddling violent fathers. If you're abusive, NO CUSTODY OR VISITATION. Sorry, but YOU LOSE.
http://www.themercury.co.za/mum-s-throat-slit-1.1108653
Mum’s throat slit
July 29 2011 at 02:53pm
JOLENE MARRIAH
AN ISIPINGO father of two will appear in the Durban Magistrate’s Court today in connection with his ex-wife’s murder. Beverley Naicker, 34, was found dead in her Lotus Drive, Isipingo, home on Monday evening.
There was a plastic packet over her head and her throat had been slit open with a steak knife.
Police spokesman Captain Thulani Zwane said the man was arrested by police in the Isipingo area a few hours later. He is 36 years old but cannot be named until he appears in court.
Naicker’s family have expressed shock. Her brother Bradley Naicker said his former brother-in-law had previously threatened to kill his sister. But no one thought it would end this way.
Possessive
“My sister and her husband were legally divorced for eight years. She divorced him because he was extremely possessive and would often abuse her. She tried to maintain a civil relationship with him because of their two children.
Naicker said his sister had obtained numerous restraining orders against her ex.
In 2005, the couple tried to work things out when their second child was born. However their attempts failed.
“He continued to make her unhappy and in 2006 she decided not to have anything further to do with him, unless it involved the children.”
Naicker said that his sister had recently started a new relationship. He was not sure if this triggered the attack.
According to Naicker his mother Tilly had spoken to his sister at around 6.05pm – minutes before the attack.
“She told my mother she was waiting for the children to arrive from their father’s home and that she was going to prepare supper for them.
“She asked my mother to call back at around 7pm. At exactly 7pm we tried calling Beverley on her cellphone and the landline but there was no answer.
“For 15 minutes we continually tried the landline and eventually a stranger, supposedly the neighbour, answered the phone and told us that Beverley had been stabbed.
Car tyres slit
“We rushed to the scene, but she had already been declared dead by paramedics.”
According to Naicker both children had been locked in a bedroom.
Beverley, an export co-ordinator at BP in Nandi Drive, was described by her colleagues as lively and bubbly.
“We worked with her for 10 years and even though she had her problems she was always positive.”
A colleague who did not want to be named said Beverley was troubled after her car tyres were slit on Sunday evening.
“She suspected her ex-husband but was afraid to confront him.”
Naicker said the children were currently living with their father’s mother.
“We haven’t decided on anything,” he said.
The funeral is expected to take place on Saturday.
The problem? They had children. And although UNNAMED DAD had a history of domestic violence and abusive threats, HE STILL HAD VISITATION with their children. That's what happens when we rank fathers rights above the rights of everybody else. And even though this mother had obtained numerous orders of protection, Mom still had to be "civil" with Dad and subject herself to additional risk when it "involved" the children.
We know that shortly before her murder, the tires on her car were slashed--apparently by Daddy. And when Daddy was dropping off the kids at Mom's house, he "allegedly" locked the kids in a bedroom, wrapped plastic around Mom's head, and slashed her throat.
So did these kids benefit from having Daddy in their lives? I'd say NO. All this did was encourage Daddy's sense of entitlement and further traumatize the children. Now those kids have been robbed of their mother in a terribly brutal way--all because the fathers rights people have convinced everybody that every daddy must be "involved." No matter how much of a criminal he is.
And after all this, the same kids are being "cared for" by the "alleged" killer's OWN MOTHER.
Sickening, but we see this all the time. Why do the families of killers get custody of the kids after Mom has been murdered???
We need to stop coddling violent fathers. If you're abusive, NO CUSTODY OR VISITATION. Sorry, but YOU LOSE.
http://www.themercury.co.za/mum-s-throat-slit-1.1108653
Mum’s throat slit
July 29 2011 at 02:53pm
JOLENE MARRIAH
AN ISIPINGO father of two will appear in the Durban Magistrate’s Court today in connection with his ex-wife’s murder. Beverley Naicker, 34, was found dead in her Lotus Drive, Isipingo, home on Monday evening.
There was a plastic packet over her head and her throat had been slit open with a steak knife.
Police spokesman Captain Thulani Zwane said the man was arrested by police in the Isipingo area a few hours later. He is 36 years old but cannot be named until he appears in court.
Naicker’s family have expressed shock. Her brother Bradley Naicker said his former brother-in-law had previously threatened to kill his sister. But no one thought it would end this way.
Possessive
“My sister and her husband were legally divorced for eight years. She divorced him because he was extremely possessive and would often abuse her. She tried to maintain a civil relationship with him because of their two children.
Naicker said his sister had obtained numerous restraining orders against her ex.
In 2005, the couple tried to work things out when their second child was born. However their attempts failed.
“He continued to make her unhappy and in 2006 she decided not to have anything further to do with him, unless it involved the children.”
Naicker said that his sister had recently started a new relationship. He was not sure if this triggered the attack.
According to Naicker his mother Tilly had spoken to his sister at around 6.05pm – minutes before the attack.
“She told my mother she was waiting for the children to arrive from their father’s home and that she was going to prepare supper for them.
“She asked my mother to call back at around 7pm. At exactly 7pm we tried calling Beverley on her cellphone and the landline but there was no answer.
“For 15 minutes we continually tried the landline and eventually a stranger, supposedly the neighbour, answered the phone and told us that Beverley had been stabbed.
Car tyres slit
“We rushed to the scene, but she had already been declared dead by paramedics.”
According to Naicker both children had been locked in a bedroom.
Beverley, an export co-ordinator at BP in Nandi Drive, was described by her colleagues as lively and bubbly.
“We worked with her for 10 years and even though she had her problems she was always positive.”
A colleague who did not want to be named said Beverley was troubled after her car tyres were slit on Sunday evening.
“She suspected her ex-husband but was afraid to confront him.”
Naicker said the children were currently living with their father’s mother.
“We haven’t decided on anything,” he said.
The funeral is expected to take place on Saturday.
Custodial dad charged with kidnapping, rape, and attempted murder of 8-year-old daughter (Bakersfield, California)
This is one weird case. It appears that dad RAY SALVADOR CORIELL had CUSTODY of this child from the time she was 4 years of age. Mom has been totally erased from the story. We're told there was no history of an "ugly custody battle" between the mother and the father, but given that Mom's side of the story has been conveniently omitted, who knows if this is true. Anyway, once again we see that giving a volatile, violent father custody of a child doesn't make him happy or content. This guy had all the parental control, and what happened? He was still a suicidal nutcase who "allegedly" abducted this child, raped her, and attempted to kill her.
There is obviously a LOT of back story that is still not being told....
http://www.bakersfield.com/news/local/x965389338/Deputies-surround-Bakersfield-home-where-girl-disappeared?utm_source=widget_16&utm_medium=popular_entries_widget&utm_campaign=synapse
Father suspected of major crimes against 8-year-old daughter
By COURTENAY EDELHART, JASON KOTOWSKI, JILL COWAN and JORGE BARRIENTOS
Thursday, Jul 28 2011 01:40 PM
Last Updated Thursday, Jul 28 2011 10:47 PM
A seven-hour standoff ended Thursday with the arrest of the father of a girl who vanished from her home in the middle of the night a day earlier and mysteriously resurfaced hours later across town.
Ray Salvador Coriell, 29, was arrested on a warrant for kidnapping with the act of rape; kidnapping with the intent to rape; intercourse with a child under 10 years old; and attempted murder, according to Kern County Sheriff’s Department spokesman Ray Pruitt.
Coriell’s bail has been set at $1 million.
On Thursday afternoon, sheriff’s deputies were summoned to the central Bakersfield home from which the 8-year-old girl had disappeared a day earlier because Coriell was inside and believed to be despondent and armed, officials said. He had sent a text message to the child’s stepmother that said he was contemplating hurting himself, said Kern County Sheriff’s Cmdr. Dan Leper.
That prompted law enforcement to surround the home at the corner of Loch Lomond Drive and Cleveland Way. Crisis negotiators tried for hours to coax Coriell out as hoards of deputies outside the residence stood by. A warrant for Coriell’s arrest was obtained a little after 6 p.m. He voluntarily emerged from the home about 7 p.m.
Authorities said a secondary crime scene is at a field east of Morning Drive, close to where the girl was found.
The daughter had been reported missing early Wednesday morning, but her recovery later that day did not allay the fears of a community stunned and shaken by her disappearance.
Law enforcement initially wouldn’t say publicly how the girl vanished or where she was during the period when she was missing, leading to widespread fear that a stranger had abducted her.
Then midday Thursday — her 8th birthday — her neighborhood was rocked by yet another shock.
SWAT team members, Sheriff Donny Youngblood and other law enforcement officers descended on the home to deal with the distraught father, and part of the street was evacuated.
Other people were in the home when deputies arrived, and they were evacuated, too. They told authorities that weapons were in the house.
“A concern at this point is for his safety,” sheriff’s spokesman Pruitt said at the time. Sheriff’s officials said then that the father was not a suspect in the girl’s disappearance, but later that evening they accused him of kidnapping and raping his own daughter.
The Californian identified the girl in early reports of her disappearance when law enforcement sought the public’s help in finding her. She is no longer being named because of the assault allegations.
The girl and her stepmother were at Kern Medical Center, where the child was taken after she was found Wednesday, and are under guard for their own protection, Pruitt said. A “hold” has been placed on the girl, meaning if she were ready to leave the hospital, deputies would be involved in deciding where she would go next.
The child’s stepmother received the text message at 12:11 p.m., she told deputies.
A crisis negotiation team and mental health officials tried to reach the father and SWAT teams arrived at about 4 p.m.
After the father’s arrest, neighbors expressed surprise and disgust.
Stella Gonzales, who lives behind the family’s high-walled backyard, said she didn’t think someone could have made it into the house without the dogs creating a racket.
Gonzales’ brother-in-law, Dickie Holman, said that when Coriell approached him to say Coriell’s daughter was missing, “he didn’t shed no tears,” and he didn’t seem distraught.
“I lost my son for 15 minutes and my neighbor told me I looked like a madwoman,” said Flora Hull, another neighborhood resident.
Her husband, Terry Hull, said he often saw the girl’s stepmother picking her up from school when Hull picked up his own son. But, he said, “we didn’t see him very often.”
On Wednesday, relatives told authorities they discovered the girl missing at about 3:45 a.m.
She was found hours later, nine miles away across town, and authorities wouldn’t say exactly what happened or how she got there.
Adrian and Candice Sandoval, who live next door to the family, said the girl’s paternal grandmother knocked on their door shortly before 4 a.m. Wednesday asking if they had seen her.
“She was hysterical,” Adrian Sandoval said.
He told the grandmother he hadn’t seen the little girl and immediately woke up his wife and checked on their own three children.
“My oldest daughter is in a back bedroom, so I was terrified,” Candice Sandoval said.
After relatives called 911, sheriff’s deputies swarmed the neighborhood, conducting a search on foot and by air near the home.
The child turned up at 10:20 a.m. Wednesday in the 9400 block of Eucalyptus Drive, east of Mount Vernon Avenue and south of Niles Street. The girl’s maternal grandfather said Thursday that he and his wife were deeply traumatized by the ordeal.
Authorities asked them not to discuss details of the case, but the grandfather said he wondered how anyone could have gotten inside the house to take the child, noting that the family has a fence and two large dogs that would make intrusion difficult.
He described his granddaughter as outgoing, smart and serious. “She’s loving, a really good girl,” he said. “She’s never run away before, and never had a problem with telling stories, no matter how much trouble she’s in.”
The grandfather hadn’t been able to see his granddaughter as of Thursday morning, he added.
He said he and his wife raised the girl until she moved in with her father at the age of 4. There is no ugly custody battle between the child’s parents, he said.
Mario Martinez, who said he found the child Wednesday, said she had injuries including a black eye that was nearly swollen shut and a bruised elbow.
Sheriff’s deputies have not confirmed that Martinez found the girl, but they did say Thursday night that the girl “displayed signs of trauma.”
Martinez said Thursday that he was raking his employer’s lawn when the girl wandered into the driveway Wednesday morning. He said she was thirsty, so he emptied his bottle of Brisk iced tea and filled it with water for her. She drank most of the bottle.
The child said she didn’t know where her mom was, and she couldn’t remember how she got from her home in central Bakersfield to the neighborhood of Martinez’s employer in east Bakersfield, a distance of about nine miles.
“She looked nervous, but also really tired,” Martinez said.
The girl was dressed in a pink shirt and pink pajama pants, he said. She was very dirty, especially on her face and hands.
Martinez’s employer, veterinarian Dr. Lynn Reno, said he was at work at the time but Martinez filled him in on what had happened. He added that Martinez didn’t have a cell phone on him and asked a neighbor to call police.
Nick Miranda lives on the same block as the surrounded house. He said deputies came to his door Thursday and told him to leave. He decided to take his daughter and his fiancee and leave in their SUV.
“I’m getting my kid out of here,” Miranda said. “I’m not sticking around to find out what happens.”
Roman Aragon lives on Castro Lane, a block over from Loch Lomond. He said his 11-year-old daughter and 9-year-old son were scared to sleep alone Wednesday night. They’re afraid.
The family ended up sleeping in the living room together. Aragon said his son propped a chair against the front door, and also placed a jar of marbles in front of it so the family would hear the noise if someone tried to get in.
“It’s scary,” Aragon said.
There is obviously a LOT of back story that is still not being told....
http://www.bakersfield.com/news/local/x965389338/Deputies-surround-Bakersfield-home-where-girl-disappeared?utm_source=widget_16&utm_medium=popular_entries_widget&utm_campaign=synapse
Father suspected of major crimes against 8-year-old daughter
By COURTENAY EDELHART, JASON KOTOWSKI, JILL COWAN and JORGE BARRIENTOS
Thursday, Jul 28 2011 01:40 PM
Last Updated Thursday, Jul 28 2011 10:47 PM
A seven-hour standoff ended Thursday with the arrest of the father of a girl who vanished from her home in the middle of the night a day earlier and mysteriously resurfaced hours later across town.
Ray Salvador Coriell, 29, was arrested on a warrant for kidnapping with the act of rape; kidnapping with the intent to rape; intercourse with a child under 10 years old; and attempted murder, according to Kern County Sheriff’s Department spokesman Ray Pruitt.
Coriell’s bail has been set at $1 million.
On Thursday afternoon, sheriff’s deputies were summoned to the central Bakersfield home from which the 8-year-old girl had disappeared a day earlier because Coriell was inside and believed to be despondent and armed, officials said. He had sent a text message to the child’s stepmother that said he was contemplating hurting himself, said Kern County Sheriff’s Cmdr. Dan Leper.
That prompted law enforcement to surround the home at the corner of Loch Lomond Drive and Cleveland Way. Crisis negotiators tried for hours to coax Coriell out as hoards of deputies outside the residence stood by. A warrant for Coriell’s arrest was obtained a little after 6 p.m. He voluntarily emerged from the home about 7 p.m.
Authorities said a secondary crime scene is at a field east of Morning Drive, close to where the girl was found.
The daughter had been reported missing early Wednesday morning, but her recovery later that day did not allay the fears of a community stunned and shaken by her disappearance.
Law enforcement initially wouldn’t say publicly how the girl vanished or where she was during the period when she was missing, leading to widespread fear that a stranger had abducted her.
Then midday Thursday — her 8th birthday — her neighborhood was rocked by yet another shock.
SWAT team members, Sheriff Donny Youngblood and other law enforcement officers descended on the home to deal with the distraught father, and part of the street was evacuated.
Other people were in the home when deputies arrived, and they were evacuated, too. They told authorities that weapons were in the house.
“A concern at this point is for his safety,” sheriff’s spokesman Pruitt said at the time. Sheriff’s officials said then that the father was not a suspect in the girl’s disappearance, but later that evening they accused him of kidnapping and raping his own daughter.
The Californian identified the girl in early reports of her disappearance when law enforcement sought the public’s help in finding her. She is no longer being named because of the assault allegations.
The girl and her stepmother were at Kern Medical Center, where the child was taken after she was found Wednesday, and are under guard for their own protection, Pruitt said. A “hold” has been placed on the girl, meaning if she were ready to leave the hospital, deputies would be involved in deciding where she would go next.
The child’s stepmother received the text message at 12:11 p.m., she told deputies.
A crisis negotiation team and mental health officials tried to reach the father and SWAT teams arrived at about 4 p.m.
After the father’s arrest, neighbors expressed surprise and disgust.
Stella Gonzales, who lives behind the family’s high-walled backyard, said she didn’t think someone could have made it into the house without the dogs creating a racket.
Gonzales’ brother-in-law, Dickie Holman, said that when Coriell approached him to say Coriell’s daughter was missing, “he didn’t shed no tears,” and he didn’t seem distraught.
“I lost my son for 15 minutes and my neighbor told me I looked like a madwoman,” said Flora Hull, another neighborhood resident.
Her husband, Terry Hull, said he often saw the girl’s stepmother picking her up from school when Hull picked up his own son. But, he said, “we didn’t see him very often.”
On Wednesday, relatives told authorities they discovered the girl missing at about 3:45 a.m.
She was found hours later, nine miles away across town, and authorities wouldn’t say exactly what happened or how she got there.
Adrian and Candice Sandoval, who live next door to the family, said the girl’s paternal grandmother knocked on their door shortly before 4 a.m. Wednesday asking if they had seen her.
“She was hysterical,” Adrian Sandoval said.
He told the grandmother he hadn’t seen the little girl and immediately woke up his wife and checked on their own three children.
“My oldest daughter is in a back bedroom, so I was terrified,” Candice Sandoval said.
After relatives called 911, sheriff’s deputies swarmed the neighborhood, conducting a search on foot and by air near the home.
The child turned up at 10:20 a.m. Wednesday in the 9400 block of Eucalyptus Drive, east of Mount Vernon Avenue and south of Niles Street. The girl’s maternal grandfather said Thursday that he and his wife were deeply traumatized by the ordeal.
Authorities asked them not to discuss details of the case, but the grandfather said he wondered how anyone could have gotten inside the house to take the child, noting that the family has a fence and two large dogs that would make intrusion difficult.
He described his granddaughter as outgoing, smart and serious. “She’s loving, a really good girl,” he said. “She’s never run away before, and never had a problem with telling stories, no matter how much trouble she’s in.”
The grandfather hadn’t been able to see his granddaughter as of Thursday morning, he added.
He said he and his wife raised the girl until she moved in with her father at the age of 4. There is no ugly custody battle between the child’s parents, he said.
Mario Martinez, who said he found the child Wednesday, said she had injuries including a black eye that was nearly swollen shut and a bruised elbow.
Sheriff’s deputies have not confirmed that Martinez found the girl, but they did say Thursday night that the girl “displayed signs of trauma.”
Martinez said Thursday that he was raking his employer’s lawn when the girl wandered into the driveway Wednesday morning. He said she was thirsty, so he emptied his bottle of Brisk iced tea and filled it with water for her. She drank most of the bottle.
The child said she didn’t know where her mom was, and she couldn’t remember how she got from her home in central Bakersfield to the neighborhood of Martinez’s employer in east Bakersfield, a distance of about nine miles.
“She looked nervous, but also really tired,” Martinez said.
The girl was dressed in a pink shirt and pink pajama pants, he said. She was very dirty, especially on her face and hands.
Martinez’s employer, veterinarian Dr. Lynn Reno, said he was at work at the time but Martinez filled him in on what had happened. He added that Martinez didn’t have a cell phone on him and asked a neighbor to call police.
Nick Miranda lives on the same block as the surrounded house. He said deputies came to his door Thursday and told him to leave. He decided to take his daughter and his fiancee and leave in their SUV.
“I’m getting my kid out of here,” Miranda said. “I’m not sticking around to find out what happens.”
Roman Aragon lives on Castro Lane, a block over from Loch Lomond. He said his 11-year-old daughter and 9-year-old son were scared to sleep alone Wednesday night. They’re afraid.
The family ended up sleeping in the living room together. Aragon said his son propped a chair against the front door, and also placed a jar of marbles in front of it so the family would hear the noise if someone tried to get in.
“It’s scary,” Aragon said.
Custodial dad charged in murder of mom (Lenoir County, North Carolina)
Once again, we see what a pack of lies we've been fed by the fathers rights people. We've been told for decades now that daddies only act out violently because they're so "frustrated" by all the "discrimination" they receive at the hands of the family courts. None of it's true, of course. But that doesn't keep them from repeating the same falsehoods over and over again.
This case is proof of the lies.
Notice that "alleged" murderer and daddy GRANT HAYES was CUSTODIAL. Though Mom attempted to get custody of these two young boys (as is still her legal right in America, at least for now), she lost. Daddy even managed to relocate, something the fathers rights people want to prohibit custodial mothers from doing. This father, who is accused of a gruesome violent crime, managed to get "emergency" custody--something manipulative abusers have a keen ability to negotiate. Mom, no doubt feeling entirely defeated, played nice and "agreed" to letting Daddy have "temporary custody" while she got nothing but weekend visitation with her very young sons. (Note that even in backwards, authoritarian "father friendly" countries like Saudi Arabia, mothers are granted temporary physical custody of children this young, even if they don't have the right to permanent legal custody. In America, mothers don't even get that much anymore.)
So Mom was defeated. Was Daddy happy yet? Ready for his victory dance? Nope. Because for abusers, it's never enough power, never enough control. So Daddy stands accused of murdering and dismembering this woman when she came to pick up the kids at Daddy's house for her visitation. Just had to have total power in a big Daddy Drama blood fest, didn't we?
http://www.wcti12.com/news/28674027/detail.html
Custody Battle For Kinston Woman And Murder Suspect's Children
By Megan Cassell / Reporter
POSTED: 6:21 pm EDT July 26, 2011
UPDATED: 2:08 pm EDT July 27, 2011
LENOIR COUNTY -- We're getting new information on the bitter custody battle between Laura Ackerson and Grant Hayes. Hayes had custody of the children he fathered with Ackerson. So where are the boys tonight?
The 2 children of Grant Hayes and Laura Ackerson are reportedly with Hayes' parents...for now. It appears the children were at their grandparents' house at the time of their father's arrest, but Hayes and Ackerson had been battling for custody for months, so it's unclear who will get custody in the long-term.
Ackerson filed a complaint against Hayes in September of 2010. She wanted custody of her 2 boys. At the time, Hayes lived in Manhattan, but by the time he filed a counter complaint on May 17th, of this year, he was living in Wake County.
Hayes got a lawyer and was awarded emergency custody of his children on June 15th. That document reads "the defendant (Hayes) is the fit and proper person to have the care, custody, and control of the minor children."
The Department of Social Services evaluated the children at the time their father was arrested and released them to the custody of "family members" We went to check on who has the kids, but no one was at the Hayes' Kinston home to talk to us about the children.
The most recent legal custody arrangement was made on June 29th. That's when Hayes and Ackerson filed a consent order It reads "the parties and attorneys have agreed to settle the issues of temporary child custody by executing this consent order." Under this agreement, Ackerson would have visitation with her children on the weekends, but primary temporary custody would go to Hayes. They agreed on every detail from sleeping arrangements for the kids to who would take their youngest to a doctor's appointment in Cary on July 2nd. Hayes, Ackerson, and both their children were also supposed to go through child custody forensic psychiatric evaluation. The children and their parents were supposed to go back to court September 15th to see if the consent order was working for everyone and to review their psychiatric evaluations.
Grant Hayes' parents have not filed a petition with the Lenoir County court for temporary custody -- even though the children are staying with them.
Grant Hayes also has an infant with his wife, Amanda. That child is not part of this custody battle.
This case is proof of the lies.
Notice that "alleged" murderer and daddy GRANT HAYES was CUSTODIAL. Though Mom attempted to get custody of these two young boys (as is still her legal right in America, at least for now), she lost. Daddy even managed to relocate, something the fathers rights people want to prohibit custodial mothers from doing. This father, who is accused of a gruesome violent crime, managed to get "emergency" custody--something manipulative abusers have a keen ability to negotiate. Mom, no doubt feeling entirely defeated, played nice and "agreed" to letting Daddy have "temporary custody" while she got nothing but weekend visitation with her very young sons. (Note that even in backwards, authoritarian "father friendly" countries like Saudi Arabia, mothers are granted temporary physical custody of children this young, even if they don't have the right to permanent legal custody. In America, mothers don't even get that much anymore.)
So Mom was defeated. Was Daddy happy yet? Ready for his victory dance? Nope. Because for abusers, it's never enough power, never enough control. So Daddy stands accused of murdering and dismembering this woman when she came to pick up the kids at Daddy's house for her visitation. Just had to have total power in a big Daddy Drama blood fest, didn't we?
http://www.wcti12.com/news/28674027/detail.html
Custody Battle For Kinston Woman And Murder Suspect's Children
By Megan Cassell / Reporter
POSTED: 6:21 pm EDT July 26, 2011
UPDATED: 2:08 pm EDT July 27, 2011
LENOIR COUNTY -- We're getting new information on the bitter custody battle between Laura Ackerson and Grant Hayes. Hayes had custody of the children he fathered with Ackerson. So where are the boys tonight?
The 2 children of Grant Hayes and Laura Ackerson are reportedly with Hayes' parents...for now. It appears the children were at their grandparents' house at the time of their father's arrest, but Hayes and Ackerson had been battling for custody for months, so it's unclear who will get custody in the long-term.
Ackerson filed a complaint against Hayes in September of 2010. She wanted custody of her 2 boys. At the time, Hayes lived in Manhattan, but by the time he filed a counter complaint on May 17th, of this year, he was living in Wake County.
Hayes got a lawyer and was awarded emergency custody of his children on June 15th. That document reads "the defendant (Hayes) is the fit and proper person to have the care, custody, and control of the minor children."
The Department of Social Services evaluated the children at the time their father was arrested and released them to the custody of "family members" We went to check on who has the kids, but no one was at the Hayes' Kinston home to talk to us about the children.
The most recent legal custody arrangement was made on June 29th. That's when Hayes and Ackerson filed a consent order It reads "the parties and attorneys have agreed to settle the issues of temporary child custody by executing this consent order." Under this agreement, Ackerson would have visitation with her children on the weekends, but primary temporary custody would go to Hayes. They agreed on every detail from sleeping arrangements for the kids to who would take their youngest to a doctor's appointment in Cary on July 2nd. Hayes, Ackerson, and both their children were also supposed to go through child custody forensic psychiatric evaluation. The children and their parents were supposed to go back to court September 15th to see if the consent order was working for everyone and to review their psychiatric evaluations.
Grant Hayes' parents have not filed a petition with the Lenoir County court for temporary custody -- even though the children are staying with them.
Grant Hayes also has an infant with his wife, Amanda. That child is not part of this custody battle.
Murder charge for dad after death of 7-year-old son (Campbell River, British Columbia, Canada)
Still not a lot of detail here. But at least the father, who has been charged with 1st-degree murder, has been identified as BRENT ALLEN WARREN.
http://www.theprovince.com/Murder+charge+father+after+year+death/5177693/story.html
Murder charge for father after 7-year-old's death
Son fatally injured after domestic incident
By Niamh Scallan, The Province July 29, 2011 3:04 AM
A 43-year-old Campbell River an has been charged with firstegree murder after his sevenear-old son died of severe injuies early Wednesday morning.
Brent Allen Warren appeared in court Thursday afternoon on one count of first-degree murder stemming from a domestic incident early Wednesday morning that saw his son fatally injured.
Warren will remain in custody until his next court appearance on Aug. 8. The court has ordered a publication ban on the case.
Mounties say they were called to the family home in the 2600-block South Alder Street in Campbell River's quiet Willow Point neighbourhood at around 2: 30 a.m. Wednesday to assist paramedics.
Officers arrived to find the boy severely injured. He died in hospital just after 3 a.m.
According to RCMP spokesman Sgt. Craig Massey, two other people, including Warren, were taken to hospital to be treated for injuries.
Other details - including the boy's injuries - are being withheld by investigators.
A spokesperson for B.C.'s Representative for Children and Youth - a government agency that may investigate a child's injury or death if the child or child's family "was receiving a reviewable service" - said the agency does not expect to get involved in the case.
The South Alder Street home remained blocked off Thursday as forensic investigators combed the area for evidence.
Massey said he expected a "lengthy" investigation into the boy's death.
http://www.theprovince.com/Murder+charge+father+after+year+death/5177693/story.html
Murder charge for father after 7-year-old's death
Son fatally injured after domestic incident
By Niamh Scallan, The Province July 29, 2011 3:04 AM
A 43-year-old Campbell River an has been charged with firstegree murder after his sevenear-old son died of severe injuies early Wednesday morning.
Brent Allen Warren appeared in court Thursday afternoon on one count of first-degree murder stemming from a domestic incident early Wednesday morning that saw his son fatally injured.
Warren will remain in custody until his next court appearance on Aug. 8. The court has ordered a publication ban on the case.
Mounties say they were called to the family home in the 2600-block South Alder Street in Campbell River's quiet Willow Point neighbourhood at around 2: 30 a.m. Wednesday to assist paramedics.
Officers arrived to find the boy severely injured. He died in hospital just after 3 a.m.
According to RCMP spokesman Sgt. Craig Massey, two other people, including Warren, were taken to hospital to be treated for injuries.
Other details - including the boy's injuries - are being withheld by investigators.
A spokesperson for B.C.'s Representative for Children and Youth - a government agency that may investigate a child's injury or death if the child or child's family "was receiving a reviewable service" - said the agency does not expect to get involved in the case.
The South Alder Street home remained blocked off Thursday as forensic investigators combed the area for evidence.
Massey said he expected a "lengthy" investigation into the boy's death.
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Dad pleads no contest to unlawful imprisonment of "missing" sons, presumably murdered during visitation (Morenci, Michigan)
We've posted on this case many times. While America was busy fretting about Florida mom Casey Anthony, a dad in Michigan apparently murdered his 3 sons to spite their mother, and nobody outside of Michigan seems to have noticed....
http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/28692760/detail.html
Skelton Dad Pleads No Contest To Unlawful Imprisonment Of Sons
Father Of Missing Michigan Boys Makes Plea ThursdayPOSTED: Thursday, July 28, 2011
UPDATED: 11:31 am EDT July 28, 2011
ADRIAN, Mich. -- The father of three missing Michigan boys from Morenci has pleaded no contest to three charges of unlawful imprisonment.
John Skelton entered the plea Thursday morning in Lenawee County Circuit court.
The brothers, 9-year-old Andrew, 7-year-old Alexander and 5-year-old Tanner Skelton, have been missing since Thanksgiving, when their father didn't return them to their mother, Tanya, after a scheduled visit.
Hundreds of people have searched woods and waters in Ohio and Michigan for the boys.
The case turned into a homicide investigation in February.
Skelton has said he gave them away to an organization, of which police said they have been unable to find.
http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/28692760/detail.html
Skelton Dad Pleads No Contest To Unlawful Imprisonment Of Sons
Father Of Missing Michigan Boys Makes Plea ThursdayPOSTED: Thursday, July 28, 2011
UPDATED: 11:31 am EDT July 28, 2011
ADRIAN, Mich. -- The father of three missing Michigan boys from Morenci has pleaded no contest to three charges of unlawful imprisonment.
John Skelton entered the plea Thursday morning in Lenawee County Circuit court.
The brothers, 9-year-old Andrew, 7-year-old Alexander and 5-year-old Tanner Skelton, have been missing since Thanksgiving, when their father didn't return them to their mother, Tanya, after a scheduled visit.
Hundreds of people have searched woods and waters in Ohio and Michigan for the boys.
The case turned into a homicide investigation in February.
Skelton has said he gave them away to an organization, of which police said they have been unable to find.
Tea Party, "pro-family" daddy refuses to pay child support (Chicago, Illinois)
Daddy JOE WALSH is your typical right-winger/fathers rights type. It's all "rights" for daddy--with no responsibility for the children. "Rights" means not paying for your kids. And threatening to strip the mother of custody if she persists in asking.
I have zero sympathy for these deadbeat dads. I paid child support for 11 years--though unemployment, a maternity leave, part-time jobs--to a chronically unemployed father who didn't want to work and neglected my daughter horribly. So badly the CPS finally had to get involved, though they desparately wanted to sweep the whole thing under the rug--given that our family court judge in Chautauqua County, New York (Judith Claire) is very pro-fathers rights. Ain't no abusive daddy our Judge Judy won't coddle!
And when I finally got custody back, the powers-that-be in Chautauqua County MADE SURE I would never received a cent of child support--and I never have. No attorney will even touch my case.
http://www.wisconsingazette.com/breaking-news/tea-party-pro-family-leader-refuses-to-pay-his-child-support.html
Tea Party 'pro-family' leader refuses to pay child support
Jul 28, 2011
U.S. Rep. Joe Walsh, a Tea Party Republican from Illinois, is being charged with hypocrisy over revelations he has neglected to pay court-ordered child support to his ex-wife and three children.
The Chicago Sun-Times reports that the tax-bashing freshman who sharply lectures President Barack Obama and other Democrats on fiscal responsibility owes $117,437, according to documents his ex-wife filed in their divorce case in December.
Walsh’s behavior is strongly at odds with his “pro-family,” anti-gay rhetoric. “The core unit which determines the strength of any society is the family; therefore the government should foster and protect its integrity,” Walsh stated on his campaign website prior to his unexpected 2010 victory in Chicago’s north and northwest suburbs.
“A free people cannot survive under a republican constitution unless they remain virtuous and morally strong,” Walsh wrote.
His behavior is also at odds with his personal fiscal irresponsibility.
“I won’t place one more dollar of debt upon the backs of my kids and grandkids unless we structurally reform the way this town spends money!” Walsh says directly into the camera in a viral video lecturing Obama on the need to get the nation’s finances in order.
Walsh starts the video by saying, “President Obama, quit lying. Have you no shame, sir? In three short years, you’ve bankrupted this country.”
In court documents, after ex-wife Laura Walsh asked a judge to suspend his driver’s license until he paid his child support, Joe Walsh asks his ex-wife’s lawyer, “Have you no decency?”
But Laura Walsh says her husband has taken his girlfriend on lavish vacations to Mexico and Italy during her futile nine-year battle to make him pay half of the cost of supporting the kids he fathered with her.
Before his election, Walsh told Laura Walsh that because he was out of work or between jobs, he could not make child support payments, she said. When he filed congressional campaign disclosures, however, she learned that he was earning enough money to loan his campaign $35,000.
In a 2005 court order, Cook County Judge Grace Dickler wrote, “If Joe Walsh fails to tender (his 50 percent share of children’s expenses) to Laura within 7 days … the court shall enter an automatic withdrawal . . . from Joe Walsh’s employer.”
I have zero sympathy for these deadbeat dads. I paid child support for 11 years--though unemployment, a maternity leave, part-time jobs--to a chronically unemployed father who didn't want to work and neglected my daughter horribly. So badly the CPS finally had to get involved, though they desparately wanted to sweep the whole thing under the rug--given that our family court judge in Chautauqua County, New York (Judith Claire) is very pro-fathers rights. Ain't no abusive daddy our Judge Judy won't coddle!
And when I finally got custody back, the powers-that-be in Chautauqua County MADE SURE I would never received a cent of child support--and I never have. No attorney will even touch my case.
http://www.wisconsingazette.com/breaking-news/tea-party-pro-family-leader-refuses-to-pay-his-child-support.html
Tea Party 'pro-family' leader refuses to pay child support
Jul 28, 2011
U.S. Rep. Joe Walsh, a Tea Party Republican from Illinois, is being charged with hypocrisy over revelations he has neglected to pay court-ordered child support to his ex-wife and three children.
The Chicago Sun-Times reports that the tax-bashing freshman who sharply lectures President Barack Obama and other Democrats on fiscal responsibility owes $117,437, according to documents his ex-wife filed in their divorce case in December.
Walsh’s behavior is strongly at odds with his “pro-family,” anti-gay rhetoric. “The core unit which determines the strength of any society is the family; therefore the government should foster and protect its integrity,” Walsh stated on his campaign website prior to his unexpected 2010 victory in Chicago’s north and northwest suburbs.
“A free people cannot survive under a republican constitution unless they remain virtuous and morally strong,” Walsh wrote.
His behavior is also at odds with his personal fiscal irresponsibility.
“I won’t place one more dollar of debt upon the backs of my kids and grandkids unless we structurally reform the way this town spends money!” Walsh says directly into the camera in a viral video lecturing Obama on the need to get the nation’s finances in order.
Walsh starts the video by saying, “President Obama, quit lying. Have you no shame, sir? In three short years, you’ve bankrupted this country.”
In court documents, after ex-wife Laura Walsh asked a judge to suspend his driver’s license until he paid his child support, Joe Walsh asks his ex-wife’s lawyer, “Have you no decency?”
But Laura Walsh says her husband has taken his girlfriend on lavish vacations to Mexico and Italy during her futile nine-year battle to make him pay half of the cost of supporting the kids he fathered with her.
Before his election, Walsh told Laura Walsh that because he was out of work or between jobs, he could not make child support payments, she said. When he filed congressional campaign disclosures, however, she learned that he was earning enough money to loan his campaign $35,000.
In a 2005 court order, Cook County Judge Grace Dickler wrote, “If Joe Walsh fails to tender (his 50 percent share of children’s expenses) to Laura within 7 days … the court shall enter an automatic withdrawal . . . from Joe Walsh’s employer.”
Dad gain custody of 15-year-old son; two months later, boy dead after boozing it up with Dad, step (Las Cruces, New Mexico)
Read this carefully. Daddy JOE A. TORRES SR. got custody of his teenage son in May. Whatever the boy's problems were with Mom (we assume he was with Mom, since she's been erased from the story), he was still alive. Less than two months after moving in with Daddy and the step, though, the boy is dead after a night of hearty partying with Daddy and the step. Not only did these idiots allow a teen to get drunk/high with them, they LIED about the boy's drug/alcohol use to the doctors, which delayed effective treatment.
http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/krwg/news/news.newsmain/article/1/0/1833618/Regional/Las.Cruces.Father.And.Stepmother.Charged.After.Death.Of.Suicidal.Son
Las Cruces Father And Stepmother Charged After Death Of Suicidal Son
KRWG News (2011-07-28)
LAS CRUCES (krwg) - A father and stepmother are charged with intentional child abuse for providing alcohol to their suicidal and drug-addicted 15-year-old son who lost consciousness and died 10 days after a night of drinking with his parents.
Joe A. Torres Sr., 39, and Heather C. Soto, 31, are charged with one count each of intentional child abuse resulting in death and negligent child abuse resulting in death. Joe Torres Jr., 15, was pronounced dead shortly after 10 a.m. on July 14 after being removed from life-support at University Medical Center of El Paso.
Las Cruces Police detectives learned that in late May 2011 Joe Torres Jr. moved from Colorado to Las Cruces to live with his father and Soto who he considered his stepmother. Torres Sr. and Soto knew that Joe Jr. had a self-destructive behavior and received therapy in Colorado for suicidal tendencies, alcohol abuse and overdosing on medication.
At around 6:30 a.m. on July 4, 2011, police were called to Torres Sr. and Soto's home where Joe Jr. was unconscious. He was rushed to a local hospital and then to El Paso.
Speaking with medical professionals and detectives at the hospital, Torres Sr. and Soto repeatedly denied knowledge of Joe Jr. consuming any alcohol or drugs. After around five hours of denials, and after being confronted with evidence, Torres Sr. and Soto finally admitted that Joe Jr. consumed alcohol with them during the previous evening.
Hospital examinations determined that Joe Jr. had a blood alcohol content of .115 and opiates in his system. Opiate is a derivative of opium and is found in various over-the-counter and prescription medications.
Medical professionals told detectives that their inability to determine exactly what Joe Jr. ingested hampered their ability to treat him. Joe Jr. never regained consciousness and remained in critical condition at University Medical Center until his death on July 14.
Detectives learned that while at a relative's home on the evening of July 3, and into the early-morning hours of July 4, Torres Sr. allowed his son to drink beer and Soto provided a concoction of wine and brandy. At around 2 a.m. on July 4 the three returned to their home on the 1100 block of Gardner Avenue.
Sometime after 6 a.m. another adult staying at the home alerted Torres Sr. and Soto that Joe Jr. was unconscious and was having difficulty breathing. The family spent quite a few minutes, possibly up to half an hour, attempting to resuscitate Joe Jr. before calling 911.
Torres Sr. and Soto were both arrested on warrants Wednesday, July 27. Torres was located in El Paso by the U.S. Marshals Office and is in the custody of the El Paso County Detention Center. He is awaiting extradition to New Mexico. Soto was arrested in Las Cruces. Both are being held on $ 50,000 bonds.
http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/krwg/news/news.newsmain/article/1/0/1833618/Regional/Las.Cruces.Father.And.Stepmother.Charged.After.Death.Of.Suicidal.Son
Las Cruces Father And Stepmother Charged After Death Of Suicidal Son
KRWG News (2011-07-28)
LAS CRUCES (krwg) - A father and stepmother are charged with intentional child abuse for providing alcohol to their suicidal and drug-addicted 15-year-old son who lost consciousness and died 10 days after a night of drinking with his parents.
Joe A. Torres Sr., 39, and Heather C. Soto, 31, are charged with one count each of intentional child abuse resulting in death and negligent child abuse resulting in death. Joe Torres Jr., 15, was pronounced dead shortly after 10 a.m. on July 14 after being removed from life-support at University Medical Center of El Paso.
Las Cruces Police detectives learned that in late May 2011 Joe Torres Jr. moved from Colorado to Las Cruces to live with his father and Soto who he considered his stepmother. Torres Sr. and Soto knew that Joe Jr. had a self-destructive behavior and received therapy in Colorado for suicidal tendencies, alcohol abuse and overdosing on medication.
At around 6:30 a.m. on July 4, 2011, police were called to Torres Sr. and Soto's home where Joe Jr. was unconscious. He was rushed to a local hospital and then to El Paso.
Speaking with medical professionals and detectives at the hospital, Torres Sr. and Soto repeatedly denied knowledge of Joe Jr. consuming any alcohol or drugs. After around five hours of denials, and after being confronted with evidence, Torres Sr. and Soto finally admitted that Joe Jr. consumed alcohol with them during the previous evening.
Hospital examinations determined that Joe Jr. had a blood alcohol content of .115 and opiates in his system. Opiate is a derivative of opium and is found in various over-the-counter and prescription medications.
Medical professionals told detectives that their inability to determine exactly what Joe Jr. ingested hampered their ability to treat him. Joe Jr. never regained consciousness and remained in critical condition at University Medical Center until his death on July 14.
Detectives learned that while at a relative's home on the evening of July 3, and into the early-morning hours of July 4, Torres Sr. allowed his son to drink beer and Soto provided a concoction of wine and brandy. At around 2 a.m. on July 4 the three returned to their home on the 1100 block of Gardner Avenue.
Sometime after 6 a.m. another adult staying at the home alerted Torres Sr. and Soto that Joe Jr. was unconscious and was having difficulty breathing. The family spent quite a few minutes, possibly up to half an hour, attempting to resuscitate Joe Jr. before calling 911.
Torres Sr. and Soto were both arrested on warrants Wednesday, July 27. Torres was located in El Paso by the U.S. Marshals Office and is in the custody of the El Paso County Detention Center. He is awaiting extradition to New Mexico. Soto was arrested in Las Cruces. Both are being held on $ 50,000 bonds.
Dad accused of battering 12-year-old son (Fort Wayne, Indiana)
Dad LARRY D. HILLIARD has been charged with felony battery. Notice that there is no mention of a mother at all. Is this another one of those Indiana abuser daddies with full custody?
Had this happened to a prisoner of war, we'd be calling it torture. Why aren't we here?
http://www.journalgazette.net/article/20110728/LOCAL07/307289941/1002/LOCAL
Published: July 28, 2011 3:00 a.m.
Dad accused of battering boy, 12
The Journal Gazette
A Fort Wayne father is accused of punching his 12-year-old son in the face and forcing him to stand in a stress position for an extended amount of time.
Larry D. Hilliard, 39, of the 900 block of Francis Street, was preliminarily charged Wednesday with felony battery to a child under 14 years old.
According to court records, Hilliard struck his son in the right eye with a closed fist July 19 after learning that the boy had urinated in a cup. Hilliard then used his fists to repeatedly hit his son in the face, court records said.
Hilliard also made his son raise his hands as high as he could, put his hands on a wall and place his feet away from the wall to the point that he had to stand on his toes, court records said. The boy told police this punishment lasted from July 19 until Tuesday. It’s not clear whether the boy stayed in this stress position the entire time.
Hilliard’s bail was set at $2,500, and he was out of custody Wednesday evening. A magistrate has ordered him to have no contact with his son.
Had this happened to a prisoner of war, we'd be calling it torture. Why aren't we here?
http://www.journalgazette.net/article/20110728/LOCAL07/307289941/1002/LOCAL
Published: July 28, 2011 3:00 a.m.
Dad accused of battering boy, 12
The Journal Gazette
A Fort Wayne father is accused of punching his 12-year-old son in the face and forcing him to stand in a stress position for an extended amount of time.
Larry D. Hilliard, 39, of the 900 block of Francis Street, was preliminarily charged Wednesday with felony battery to a child under 14 years old.
According to court records, Hilliard struck his son in the right eye with a closed fist July 19 after learning that the boy had urinated in a cup. Hilliard then used his fists to repeatedly hit his son in the face, court records said.
Hilliard also made his son raise his hands as high as he could, put his hands on a wall and place his feet away from the wall to the point that he had to stand on his toes, court records said. The boy told police this punishment lasted from July 19 until Tuesday. It’s not clear whether the boy stayed in this stress position the entire time.
Hilliard’s bail was set at $2,500, and he was out of custody Wednesday evening. A magistrate has ordered him to have no contact with his son.
"Monster dad" lets man rape, kill 9-year-old daughter (Mumbai, India)
The "monster dad" is identified as GHULAM MOHAMMAD HAMID KHAN. Notice that the deadbeat daddy was fond of "abducting" the kids in order blackmail the mother for money.
http://ibnlive.in.com/news/mumbai-monster-dad-lets-man-rape-kill-daughter/171026-3.html
Mumbai: monster dad lets man rape, kill daughter
Mid-Day.com
Updated Jul 28, 2011 at 01:36pm IST
Mumbai: When Ghulam Mohammad Hamid Khan (47), decided to abandon Mumbai and board a train for his UP hometown from the Mankhurd railway station, he decided to travel light. The first baggage that he decided to get rid of was none other than his 9-year-old daughter Roshni. He didn't have to look far - along came Irfan Sheikh (21), a drug addict. Not only did the desperate father give the addict permission to have his way with her, he also paid the man to buy himself some drugs.
Mankhurd police Sub-Inspector Popat Salunkhe said, "Hussain was unemployed, and his wife had thrown him out of their house. He wanted to make a fresh start in Jabalpur. He was in the habit of abducting his own children, and using them as leverage to force money out of her."
He added, "On July 17, he took Roshni with him to the Mankhurd railway station. He waited for three hours, expecting his wife to arrive there to retrieve their child. However, Hussain's wife did not turn up. Desperate to leave for his hometown, he started looking for an alternative means to get rid of his daughter."
Monster father, desperate to leave Mumbai, dumps his 9-year-old daughter with a drug addict.
"He accosted Irfan at the station, and decided to dump Roshni in his custody. He gave Irfan the licence to do anything he wanted with the girl. When Irfan refused to accept the responsibility, Hussain pleaded with him, even bribing him with a sum of Rs 20, asking him to purchase drugs of his choice," informed Salunkhe.
According to the police report, Irfan then took Roshni into a dark alley, where he attempted to rape her. The terrified girl screamed, at which he clamped her mouth shut, causing her to lose consciousness. Once the girl stopped resisting, he raped her and sodomised her in quick succession.
After having his way with her, he strangulated her with a dupatta, and threw her body into an open drain. The Mankhurd police found Roshni's stripped body on July 18, and began their investigations, trying to identify her.
Mother shocked
Roshni's mother identified her daughter at the Rajawadi hospital, divulging that Hussain had taken Roshni away. "Roshni's mother had not lodged a missing complaint, thinking that she was with her father. Roshni's mother's statement made us certain of Hussain's involvement," said Salunkhe.
Mankhurd police then sent two teams to UP and Ajmer, to search for Hussain. "We nabbed Hussain at Jabalpur station in UP, and brought him to Mumbai," said a police officer.
During his interrogation, Hussain confessed that he had handed over his daughter to Irfan, because he wanted to get rid of her and teach his wife a lesson. He had left Roshni at different stations on previous occasions as well. We nabbed Irfan, also a resident of Mankhurd, who confessed to the crimes of rape and murder. We will now produce both culprits at court," informed Salunkhe.
Other Dastardly Dads
JUNE, 2011
Last month, an 18-year-old Bandra girl went to cops after facing months of abuse at the hands of her father Shabbir Khan, who raped her at knifepoint, while her mother chose to look the other way for the sake of 'family reputation.' ('Brave teen stands up to rapist father,' June 3, 2011)
FEBRUARY, 2011
A man was arrested for allegedly killing his eight-year-old daughter after she resisted his attempt to rape her. ('Father kills 8-year-old daughter after failed rape attempt,' February 25, 2011)
MARCH, 2009
A father in Mira Road, Kishore Chauhan, allegedly raped his two daughters, aged 21 and 17, with the help of a tantrik, Hasmukhbhai Rathod. The duo had been raping the elder daughter for nine years and the younger one for a year before a police complaint was filed. The rapes had been going on with the mother's knowledge and support.
http://ibnlive.in.com/news/mumbai-monster-dad-lets-man-rape-kill-daughter/171026-3.html
Mumbai: monster dad lets man rape, kill daughter
Mid-Day.com
Updated Jul 28, 2011 at 01:36pm IST
Mumbai: When Ghulam Mohammad Hamid Khan (47), decided to abandon Mumbai and board a train for his UP hometown from the Mankhurd railway station, he decided to travel light. The first baggage that he decided to get rid of was none other than his 9-year-old daughter Roshni. He didn't have to look far - along came Irfan Sheikh (21), a drug addict. Not only did the desperate father give the addict permission to have his way with her, he also paid the man to buy himself some drugs.
Mankhurd police Sub-Inspector Popat Salunkhe said, "Hussain was unemployed, and his wife had thrown him out of their house. He wanted to make a fresh start in Jabalpur. He was in the habit of abducting his own children, and using them as leverage to force money out of her."
He added, "On July 17, he took Roshni with him to the Mankhurd railway station. He waited for three hours, expecting his wife to arrive there to retrieve their child. However, Hussain's wife did not turn up. Desperate to leave for his hometown, he started looking for an alternative means to get rid of his daughter."
Monster father, desperate to leave Mumbai, dumps his 9-year-old daughter with a drug addict.
"He accosted Irfan at the station, and decided to dump Roshni in his custody. He gave Irfan the licence to do anything he wanted with the girl. When Irfan refused to accept the responsibility, Hussain pleaded with him, even bribing him with a sum of Rs 20, asking him to purchase drugs of his choice," informed Salunkhe.
According to the police report, Irfan then took Roshni into a dark alley, where he attempted to rape her. The terrified girl screamed, at which he clamped her mouth shut, causing her to lose consciousness. Once the girl stopped resisting, he raped her and sodomised her in quick succession.
After having his way with her, he strangulated her with a dupatta, and threw her body into an open drain. The Mankhurd police found Roshni's stripped body on July 18, and began their investigations, trying to identify her.
Mother shocked
Roshni's mother identified her daughter at the Rajawadi hospital, divulging that Hussain had taken Roshni away. "Roshni's mother had not lodged a missing complaint, thinking that she was with her father. Roshni's mother's statement made us certain of Hussain's involvement," said Salunkhe.
Mankhurd police then sent two teams to UP and Ajmer, to search for Hussain. "We nabbed Hussain at Jabalpur station in UP, and brought him to Mumbai," said a police officer.
During his interrogation, Hussain confessed that he had handed over his daughter to Irfan, because he wanted to get rid of her and teach his wife a lesson. He had left Roshni at different stations on previous occasions as well. We nabbed Irfan, also a resident of Mankhurd, who confessed to the crimes of rape and murder. We will now produce both culprits at court," informed Salunkhe.
Other Dastardly Dads
JUNE, 2011
Last month, an 18-year-old Bandra girl went to cops after facing months of abuse at the hands of her father Shabbir Khan, who raped her at knifepoint, while her mother chose to look the other way for the sake of 'family reputation.' ('Brave teen stands up to rapist father,' June 3, 2011)
FEBRUARY, 2011
A man was arrested for allegedly killing his eight-year-old daughter after she resisted his attempt to rape her. ('Father kills 8-year-old daughter after failed rape attempt,' February 25, 2011)
MARCH, 2009
A father in Mira Road, Kishore Chauhan, allegedly raped his two daughters, aged 21 and 17, with the help of a tantrik, Hasmukhbhai Rathod. The duo had been raping the elder daughter for nine years and the younger one for a year before a police complaint was filed. The rapes had been going on with the mother's knowledge and support.
Dad loses appeal in conviction of molesting his 3 daughters (Greene County, Missouri)
Thank goodness this lying freak of a father, LEONARD CANNAFAX, has lost his appeal. I wonder if there was a mother in this home...No evidence of it, as far as I can tell.
http://www.imperfectparent.com/topics/2011/07/28/father-looses-appeal-in-conviction-of-molesting-his-3-daughters/
Father loses appeal in conviction of molesting his 3 daughters
He claimed he molested his daughters in order to teach them about love and sex, not for personal gratification
July 28th, 2011 by Pamela Wallace
In 2009 Missouri father, Leonard Cannafax, was convicted on six counts of child molestation involving his three young daughters.
The charges were of fondling two of his daughters with his hand and raping and molesting the third child on multiple occasions.
According to court records, Cannafax told authorities he had committed the sex acts not for his own enjoyment, but to educate his daughters about love and sex.
Cannafax appealed the ruling claiming although he touched the genitals of his eldest two daughters, he denied he actually penetrated either of them. He further stated that if he could feel them getting wet, he “pulled [his] finger out of there.”
He also argued that he couldn’t be charged with statutory sodomy of his eldest daughter because the fondling occurred prior to August 28, 2000, when penetration had to be proven in order to make molestation an act of “deviant sexual intercourse.” However, in its review of the case, the appellate court found enough evidence to believe that Cannafax was abusing his daughter past August 2000 and had likely penetrated her in so doing.
Cannafax also argued that his oldest daughter’s testimony that he touched her “near where she went pee” was not enough to prove he touched her vagina and that he shouldn’t be placed under lifetime supervision following his eventual release from prison because his raping of his youngest daughter (touching her with his penis in her “pee pee” and “poo poo” area, according to court records) occurred prior to a 2006 law requiring such sex offenders to be monitored until their deaths.
The molestation occurred when the girls ranged in ages from approximately 6 years old to 11 years old. One of the girls to told a school official which launched the investigation.
Cannafax freely spoke with investigators at the time, telling them he was relieved that he had not gotten any of his daughters pregnant.
Last week, according to the Riverfront Times, the Missouri Court of Appeals upheld a Greene County Circuit Court’s 2009 conviction.
Cannafax was originally sentenced to concurrent terms of 25 years’ imprisonment on each count, which he is currently serving.
http://www.imperfectparent.com/topics/2011/07/28/father-looses-appeal-in-conviction-of-molesting-his-3-daughters/
Father loses appeal in conviction of molesting his 3 daughters
He claimed he molested his daughters in order to teach them about love and sex, not for personal gratification
July 28th, 2011 by Pamela Wallace
In 2009 Missouri father, Leonard Cannafax, was convicted on six counts of child molestation involving his three young daughters.
The charges were of fondling two of his daughters with his hand and raping and molesting the third child on multiple occasions.
According to court records, Cannafax told authorities he had committed the sex acts not for his own enjoyment, but to educate his daughters about love and sex.
Cannafax appealed the ruling claiming although he touched the genitals of his eldest two daughters, he denied he actually penetrated either of them. He further stated that if he could feel them getting wet, he “pulled [his] finger out of there.”
He also argued that he couldn’t be charged with statutory sodomy of his eldest daughter because the fondling occurred prior to August 28, 2000, when penetration had to be proven in order to make molestation an act of “deviant sexual intercourse.” However, in its review of the case, the appellate court found enough evidence to believe that Cannafax was abusing his daughter past August 2000 and had likely penetrated her in so doing.
Cannafax also argued that his oldest daughter’s testimony that he touched her “near where she went pee” was not enough to prove he touched her vagina and that he shouldn’t be placed under lifetime supervision following his eventual release from prison because his raping of his youngest daughter (touching her with his penis in her “pee pee” and “poo poo” area, according to court records) occurred prior to a 2006 law requiring such sex offenders to be monitored until their deaths.
The molestation occurred when the girls ranged in ages from approximately 6 years old to 11 years old. One of the girls to told a school official which launched the investigation.
Cannafax freely spoke with investigators at the time, telling them he was relieved that he had not gotten any of his daughters pregnant.
Last week, according to the Riverfront Times, the Missouri Court of Appeals upheld a Greene County Circuit Court’s 2009 conviction.
Cannafax was originally sentenced to concurrent terms of 25 years’ imprisonment on each count, which he is currently serving.
Dad arrested after 7-year-old son dies following "domestic dispute" (Vancouver, Canada)
Gotta love the Canadian gift for euphemism. A 7-year-old child dies as the result of a domestic "dispute"? UNNAMED DAD is the arrested "disputer" (killer?) here.
Amazing how we can have a "killing" with no "killer"....
http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Father+arrested+after+seven+year+dies+following+domestic+dispute/5171445/story.html
Father arrested after seven-year-old boy dies following domestic dispute
By Cindy E. Harnett, Postmedia News July 28, 2011
A homicide investigation is underway and a man is in custody after his seven-yearold son died of serious injuries in Campbell River early Wednesday.
The child died shortly after arriving at the hospital, police said. A call to paramedics for help had come from inside the home.
Campbell River RCMP interviewed witnesses Wednesday in relation to what they called a domestic incident. Forensic investigators combed the home, cordoned off in police tape, for clues.
"We will exhaust every detail in terms of forensic and witness evidence," Sgt. Craig Massey said.
He would not say whether the man in custody is known to police.
"We are touching base with other agencies," Massey said.
Police did not release the name of the family or the nature of the boy's injuries. They also would not say whether his mother was present during the incident.
The couple had one child together.
The boy attended Ecole Georgia Park elementary. The mother works at the 7-Eleven store in Willow Point, a middle-class area where houses are being built.
B.C. Ambulance Service paramedics were called at 2: 28 a.m. to the home rented by the family.
"On arrival, officers determined that a seven-year-old male was suffering from serious injuries," Massey said. "This male was transported to [Campbell River] hospital via ambulance, where he succumbed to his injuries."
The call for an ambulance came from inside the house, said Kelsey Carwithen, spokeswoman for B.C. Ambulance Service.
"We transported three patients to hospital, one with serious and life-threatening injuries," Carwithen said.
The spokeswoman would not say whether the third patient was the boy's mother, but said the other two people had "nonlife-threatening injuries."
Campbell River Mayor Charlie Cornfield called the incident tragic and shocking.
"We're a very safe community, we don't have incidents like this," Cornfield said.
"Serious acts of violence are not common here. It's a shocker for me, especially with someone so young. I feel for the family."
Neighbour Janelle Bouzan said the news is hitting her hard.
"Especially because it happened three doors down from my home."
Amazing how we can have a "killing" with no "killer"....
http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Father+arrested+after+seven+year+dies+following+domestic+dispute/5171445/story.html
Father arrested after seven-year-old boy dies following domestic dispute
By Cindy E. Harnett, Postmedia News July 28, 2011
A homicide investigation is underway and a man is in custody after his seven-yearold son died of serious injuries in Campbell River early Wednesday.
The child died shortly after arriving at the hospital, police said. A call to paramedics for help had come from inside the home.
Campbell River RCMP interviewed witnesses Wednesday in relation to what they called a domestic incident. Forensic investigators combed the home, cordoned off in police tape, for clues.
"We will exhaust every detail in terms of forensic and witness evidence," Sgt. Craig Massey said.
He would not say whether the man in custody is known to police.
"We are touching base with other agencies," Massey said.
Police did not release the name of the family or the nature of the boy's injuries. They also would not say whether his mother was present during the incident.
The couple had one child together.
The boy attended Ecole Georgia Park elementary. The mother works at the 7-Eleven store in Willow Point, a middle-class area where houses are being built.
B.C. Ambulance Service paramedics were called at 2: 28 a.m. to the home rented by the family.
"On arrival, officers determined that a seven-year-old male was suffering from serious injuries," Massey said. "This male was transported to [Campbell River] hospital via ambulance, where he succumbed to his injuries."
The call for an ambulance came from inside the house, said Kelsey Carwithen, spokeswoman for B.C. Ambulance Service.
"We transported three patients to hospital, one with serious and life-threatening injuries," Carwithen said.
The spokeswoman would not say whether the third patient was the boy's mother, but said the other two people had "nonlife-threatening injuries."
Campbell River Mayor Charlie Cornfield called the incident tragic and shocking.
"We're a very safe community, we don't have incidents like this," Cornfield said.
"Serious acts of violence are not common here. It's a shocker for me, especially with someone so young. I feel for the family."
Neighbour Janelle Bouzan said the news is hitting her hard.
"Especially because it happened three doors down from my home."
Babysitting dad charged with murder of 2-year-old son (St. Louis County, Missouri)
Seems that daddy RAMOND WOODS has basically admitted that he beat this baby to death....
http://www.fox2now.com/news/kplr-man-charged-with-his-two-year-old-son-20110727,0,2112158.story
Man Charged With Murder Of 2-Year-Old Son
5:14 p.m. CDT, July 27, 2011
NORTH ST. LOUIS COUNTY, MO ( KPLR )— A man is charged with the murder of his 2-year-old son. At 8:40am Tuesday the man accused of murdering his child called for help. He told police two-year-old son fell and was injured and nearly unconscious.
But it turns out only part of that story was true. When police and the ambulance crew arrived at this home in the 2500 block of Carousel court in North St. Louis county they found 2-year old Jamal Reed having difficulty breathing and he was unresponsive.
The father, 23-year-old Ramond Woods had been babysitting the child for its mother. The father claimed 2-year-old Jamal fell from his high chair. The baby was rushed to De Paul hospital but did not survive. Based on his injuries doctors and the police did not believe his father's story.
"It was at that time that we talked to the father and took his statement and presented it to the prosecuting attorney's office and the issued the warrant for murder in the second degree." said Rick Eckhard of the St. Louis County Police.
According to the criminal complaint Ramond Woods admits to punching the child in the stomach twice. An autopsy showed the baby died from blunt force trauma. The autopsy also shows Jamal was badly bruised with broken ribs hemorrhaging throughout his body and a lacerated liver.
A next door neighbor heard all the police activity but she wasn't sure what had happened until much later. Police say no one else was home at the time and that the house actually belongs to a relative of the father.
The father is being held on a $250,000 cash only bond.
http://www.fox2now.com/news/kplr-man-charged-with-his-two-year-old-son-20110727,0,2112158.story
Man Charged With Murder Of 2-Year-Old Son
5:14 p.m. CDT, July 27, 2011
NORTH ST. LOUIS COUNTY, MO ( KPLR )— A man is charged with the murder of his 2-year-old son. At 8:40am Tuesday the man accused of murdering his child called for help. He told police two-year-old son fell and was injured and nearly unconscious.
But it turns out only part of that story was true. When police and the ambulance crew arrived at this home in the 2500 block of Carousel court in North St. Louis county they found 2-year old Jamal Reed having difficulty breathing and he was unresponsive.
The father, 23-year-old Ramond Woods had been babysitting the child for its mother. The father claimed 2-year-old Jamal fell from his high chair. The baby was rushed to De Paul hospital but did not survive. Based on his injuries doctors and the police did not believe his father's story.
"It was at that time that we talked to the father and took his statement and presented it to the prosecuting attorney's office and the issued the warrant for murder in the second degree." said Rick Eckhard of the St. Louis County Police.
According to the criminal complaint Ramond Woods admits to punching the child in the stomach twice. An autopsy showed the baby died from blunt force trauma. The autopsy also shows Jamal was badly bruised with broken ribs hemorrhaging throughout his body and a lacerated liver.
A next door neighbor heard all the police activity but she wasn't sure what had happened until much later. Police say no one else was home at the time and that the house actually belongs to a relative of the father.
The father is being held on a $250,000 cash only bond.
Dad charged with shaking 2-month-old son; baby in critical condition (Vineland, New Jersey)
Dad RONALD CUFF JR. has been charged with aggravated assault. No mention of the mother.
http://www.nj.com/cumberland/index.ssf/2011/07/vineland_father_charged_with_s.html
Vineland father charged with shaking 2-month-old baby
Published: Thursday, July 28, 2011, 9:46 AM
Updated: Thursday, July 28, 2011, 9:47 AM
By Jason Laday/The News of Cumberland County
Stumble Upon
VINELAND — A 2-month-old boy is in critical condition after his father allegedly shook the infant multiple times in an aggressive manner, the Cumberland County Prosecutor’s Office announced Wednesday.
Ronald Cuff Jr., 19, of the Park Towne Apartments, on West Chestnut Avenue, in Vineland, is charged with second-degree aggravated assault and endangering the welfare of a child.
He is lodged in Cumberland County Jail on $100,000 bail.
Cuff is accused of shaking his child multiple times on July 25.
The infant’s maternal grandparent at some point claimed the child and rushed him to South Jersey Healthcare-Regional Medical Center, in Vineland.
The child was later transferred to Nemours/Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children, in Wilmington, Del.
He remained in critical condition as of Wednesday, according to the prosecutor.
http://www.nj.com/cumberland/index.ssf/2011/07/vineland_father_charged_with_s.html
Vineland father charged with shaking 2-month-old baby
Published: Thursday, July 28, 2011, 9:46 AM
Updated: Thursday, July 28, 2011, 9:47 AM
By Jason Laday/The News of Cumberland County
Stumble Upon
VINELAND — A 2-month-old boy is in critical condition after his father allegedly shook the infant multiple times in an aggressive manner, the Cumberland County Prosecutor’s Office announced Wednesday.
Ronald Cuff Jr., 19, of the Park Towne Apartments, on West Chestnut Avenue, in Vineland, is charged with second-degree aggravated assault and endangering the welfare of a child.
He is lodged in Cumberland County Jail on $100,000 bail.
Cuff is accused of shaking his child multiple times on July 25.
The infant’s maternal grandparent at some point claimed the child and rushed him to South Jersey Healthcare-Regional Medical Center, in Vineland.
The child was later transferred to Nemours/Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children, in Wilmington, Del.
He remained in critical condition as of Wednesday, according to the prosecutor.
Dad convicted of beating mom to death with hammer--with their two kids pleading with him to stop (Victoria, Australia)
Dad GRAME PENGALESE has been sentenced to 22 years in prison--for beating the mother of his two children to death. With a hammer, AND in front of the two kids, who were screaming at him to stop, but were pushed aside by their loving father. Notice that Daddy had a history of domestic violence, but that the mother had left him. Not that it did her much good, because he was still "visiting" the kids.
http://www.smh.com.au/victoria/man-jailed-for-wifes-brutal-hammer-murder-20110728-1i1jw.html
Man jailed for wife's brutal hammer murder
Whitney Harris
July 28, 2011 - 4:27PM
A man who killed his former partner by beating her with a hammer in front of her children has been jailed for 22 years.
Graeme Penglase was this morning sentenced to 22 years' jail, and must serve at least 18 of those behind bars.
Joanne Penglase, 39, was beaten to death with a hammer in front of her two young children in June last year.
Penglase, 47, pleaded guilty in the Bendigo Supreme Court last week to one count of murder.
The court was told the children pleaded with their father to stop; however, he pushed them aside and continued his violent attack.
Prosecuting, Diana Karamicov told the court the children ran into the house in tears and called their grandparents.
They arrived a short time later to find their daughter on the ground surrounded by blood.
“When I was holding Joanne in my arms, I heard a gurgling noise," Joanne's father said in a victim impact statement.
“This gave me a sense of hope that she would live.
“Even though I had checked her pulse and there was none, it just gave me something to hang on to.
“It was a false hope that I could hang on to during the horror."
The court was told the couple's two children, now aged 11 and 12 years old, watched their father kick their mother in the head as she lay injured on the ground.
Ms Karamicov said the children screamed for their father to stop, but he pushed past them and went into the house, where he found a hammer.
“He returned back to where Ms Penglase lay and, whilst holding the hammer in both his hands, used repeated forceful blows to strike her to the head and face region," Ms Karamicov.
“Upon seeing this, the children ran back into the lounge room, crying and hugging each other while standing in front of the fire. They told themselves that it's all going to be all right."
Ms Penglase was described as a doting mother, sister, friend and confidant.
Her sister-in-law Tania Meharry said in a victim impact statement that the family's lives would never be the same.
“My in-laws are now former shadows of themselves. No parent should have to go through the loss of their child, but to lose Joanne the way they did and see what they saw will haunt them for the rest of their lives."
Ms Penglase was married to her husband for 14 years; however, they separated in early 2005 after a violent domestic dispute.
Penglase, a mechanical fitter, was working in WA but frequently returned to Koondrook to visit the family.
The court was told he had a long history of drug and alcohol abuse and had been drinking for almost 12 hours before the attack.
Justice Paul Coghlan told the victim's family they had shown great strength throughout the ordeal.
http://www.smh.com.au/victoria/man-jailed-for-wifes-brutal-hammer-murder-20110728-1i1jw.html
Man jailed for wife's brutal hammer murder
Whitney Harris
July 28, 2011 - 4:27PM
A man who killed his former partner by beating her with a hammer in front of her children has been jailed for 22 years.
Graeme Penglase was this morning sentenced to 22 years' jail, and must serve at least 18 of those behind bars.
Joanne Penglase, 39, was beaten to death with a hammer in front of her two young children in June last year.
Penglase, 47, pleaded guilty in the Bendigo Supreme Court last week to one count of murder.
The court was told the children pleaded with their father to stop; however, he pushed them aside and continued his violent attack.
Prosecuting, Diana Karamicov told the court the children ran into the house in tears and called their grandparents.
They arrived a short time later to find their daughter on the ground surrounded by blood.
“When I was holding Joanne in my arms, I heard a gurgling noise," Joanne's father said in a victim impact statement.
“This gave me a sense of hope that she would live.
“Even though I had checked her pulse and there was none, it just gave me something to hang on to.
“It was a false hope that I could hang on to during the horror."
The court was told the couple's two children, now aged 11 and 12 years old, watched their father kick their mother in the head as she lay injured on the ground.
Ms Karamicov said the children screamed for their father to stop, but he pushed past them and went into the house, where he found a hammer.
“He returned back to where Ms Penglase lay and, whilst holding the hammer in both his hands, used repeated forceful blows to strike her to the head and face region," Ms Karamicov.
“Upon seeing this, the children ran back into the lounge room, crying and hugging each other while standing in front of the fire. They told themselves that it's all going to be all right."
Ms Penglase was described as a doting mother, sister, friend and confidant.
Her sister-in-law Tania Meharry said in a victim impact statement that the family's lives would never be the same.
“My in-laws are now former shadows of themselves. No parent should have to go through the loss of their child, but to lose Joanne the way they did and see what they saw will haunt them for the rest of their lives."
Ms Penglase was married to her husband for 14 years; however, they separated in early 2005 after a violent domestic dispute.
Penglase, a mechanical fitter, was working in WA but frequently returned to Koondrook to visit the family.
The court was told he had a long history of drug and alcohol abuse and had been drinking for almost 12 hours before the attack.
Justice Paul Coghlan told the victim's family they had shown great strength throughout the ordeal.
Dad charged with fracturing skull of 4-month-old son (Harrisburg, Pennsylvania)
Another clueless daddy...TERRANCE MCMULLEN THREW a 4-month-old baby up into the air in order to calm him? WTF? The fact that this father then left the injured baby and walked away shows that this is MORE than clueless....Are we really sure this was an accident?
http://www.whptv.com/news/local/story/Father-faces-charges-for-fracturing-his-infant/JLf-72_8zU2XMEKWUX3eiw.cspx
Father faces charges for fracturing his infant son's skull
Reported by: Ben Russell
Published: 7/27 4:56 pm Share Updated: 7/27 6:31 pm
A Harrisburg father is charged Wednesday night with harming his own infant son.
Apparently in an effort to calm his crying, four month old boy, this father did what other fathers have likely done. He tossed him up into the air.
Except, the child's head hit a door frame and he suffered a fractured skull.
Harrisburg police have charged 38-year-old Terrance McMullen with aggravated assault, recklessly endangering a person, and endangering the welfare of a child.
Investigators tell CBS 21 News McMullen was alone with his son at the boy's mother's home in the 1300 block of South 13th Street. When the boy began crying, the dad reportedly tossed the child in the air to calm him, but accidentally hit the child's head on a door frame.
He then placed the child on a bed, closed the door and walked away. The child’s mother and grandmother then came home to find the child and took him to the hospital.
Police tell us although this may have been an accident, the father needs to be more careful.
“Sometimes a little common sense can go a long way,” said one officer. “Though you may love your child, protect your child and care for your child, things such as this, tossing your child into the air, especially a four-month-old infant, can be very dangerous as we see right now.”
McMullen has posted bond and is out of jail. He will have a court hearing later this month.
http://www.whptv.com/news/local/story/Father-faces-charges-for-fracturing-his-infant/JLf-72_8zU2XMEKWUX3eiw.cspx
Father faces charges for fracturing his infant son's skull
Reported by: Ben Russell
Published: 7/27 4:56 pm Share Updated: 7/27 6:31 pm
A Harrisburg father is charged Wednesday night with harming his own infant son.
Apparently in an effort to calm his crying, four month old boy, this father did what other fathers have likely done. He tossed him up into the air.
Except, the child's head hit a door frame and he suffered a fractured skull.
Harrisburg police have charged 38-year-old Terrance McMullen with aggravated assault, recklessly endangering a person, and endangering the welfare of a child.
Investigators tell CBS 21 News McMullen was alone with his son at the boy's mother's home in the 1300 block of South 13th Street. When the boy began crying, the dad reportedly tossed the child in the air to calm him, but accidentally hit the child's head on a door frame.
He then placed the child on a bed, closed the door and walked away. The child’s mother and grandmother then came home to find the child and took him to the hospital.
Police tell us although this may have been an accident, the father needs to be more careful.
“Sometimes a little common sense can go a long way,” said one officer. “Though you may love your child, protect your child and care for your child, things such as this, tossing your child into the air, especially a four-month-old infant, can be very dangerous as we see right now.”
McMullen has posted bond and is out of jail. He will have a court hearing later this month.
Dad pleads guilty to killing 2-month-old daughter (Santa Ana, California)
The guilty killer daddy: CHRISTIAN TRINIDAD GONZALEZ.
http://www.ocregister.com/news/gonzalez-309834-told-testified.html
Published: July 27, 2011 Updated: 3:30 p.m.
Father suddenly pleads guilty to killing baby
By VIK JOLLY / THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
SANTA ANA – In a rare development, a man charged with killing his 2-month-old daughter pleaded guilty Wednesday after testifying for about two hours and as his murder trial neared conclusion.
Under a barrage of questions by the prosecutor, many of whom Christian Trinidad Gonzalez, 25, responded to by saying "I don't recall" through a Spanish interpreter, the defendant suddenly asked to speak with his attorney, halting the proceedings and sending jurors to an early lunch.
Gonzalez agreed to plead guilty to second-degree murder, and prosecutors dropped a second count of child abuse.
Superior Court Judge William Froeberg ordered him to serve 15 years to life in prison after Gonzalez agreed he willfully threw his daughter Iliana against a couch and his action caused her death.
"In my opinion, this was a just and reasonable resolution of this case," Froeberg said after taking the plea. "After hearing Mr. Gonzalez's testimony, I do not believe there is any reasonable possibility that he would have been found not guilty and this case in my opinion does not rise to the level of a sentence of 25 years to life."
That's the sentence for first-degree murder.
On the stand Wednesday morning, Gonzalez testified that he told police different versions of what happened, including that he threw the baby against the couch and shook her because he was worried his daughters were being taken.
Under cross examination, he said "I don't recall" to numerous questions.
Gonzalez was charged with one count of murder and one count of assault on a child with force likely to produce great bodily injury resulting in death, both felonies.
Showing jurors photos of the Santa Ana apartment couch against which Gonzalez threw the child, Senior Deputy District Attorney Steve McGreevy told them last week that the defendant's account of what happened the day Iliana got injured kept evolving.
The father of two, who was dealing with money issues and suffered from headaches, the prosecutor said, demonstrated to police using a teddy bear how he threw Iliana against the couch, causing injuries that led to her death.
Senior Deputy Public Defender Lisa Eyanson said her client, who shook Iliana causing further injury, told jurors in her opening remarks that Gonzalez told authorities different stories about what transpired on March 17, 2009, because he wanted to reunite his family with social services stepping in and taking away his older daughter.
Eyanson declined to comment after the conviction, but the prosecutor said the defendant knew he was in a tight spot.
"He realized that what he was saying was not consistent with the facts in the case and what he did," McGreevy said.
Homicide cases sometimes end in guilty pleas by the accused after a jury has been picked but rarely at such a late stage in the trial.
Gonzalez testified he was feeding the baby that evening but she couldn't breathe very well, something the prosecutor challenged, saying he never told a 911 dispatcher anything about Iliana being sick.
Under further cross examination, Gonzalez said his daughter threw up twice that day, while the prosecutor said his wife had testified the child did not vomit.
"I don't recall," Gonzalez said of his wife's testimony, never looking toward the jury.
He also told his wife two different accounts of what happened, the prosecutor said: First that he left Iliana on the couch and returned to find her not breathing and then that the infant had fallen off the couch.
McGreevy zeroed in on why Gonzalez, as he testified, would leave alone an infant who was having difficulty breathing and go to the restroom, rather than call his wife who was about 24 feet away with their older daughter in the laundry room.
Did he consider putting the baby on a nearby swing with a belt rather than on the couch or call relatives from upstairs to watch her? Gonzalez answered no to both questions.
Gonzalez admitted to lying to police in about seven statements and one to a social worker because he said he thought if he shifted the blame to himself, he and his wife would get back their older daughter, who was taken away by Child Protective Services.
The day after Iliana was taken to the hospital, McGreevy asked, did he tell officers he shook her?
"Yes."
"Are you sure you didn't shake her?"
"No."
"Is there any reason prior to answering that question you looked at the defense table?"
"No."
At that point, Gonzalez asked to speak with his attorney. A short recess turned into a longer one, and the guilty plea followed.
http://www.ocregister.com/news/gonzalez-309834-told-testified.html
Published: July 27, 2011 Updated: 3:30 p.m.
Father suddenly pleads guilty to killing baby
By VIK JOLLY / THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
SANTA ANA – In a rare development, a man charged with killing his 2-month-old daughter pleaded guilty Wednesday after testifying for about two hours and as his murder trial neared conclusion.
Under a barrage of questions by the prosecutor, many of whom Christian Trinidad Gonzalez, 25, responded to by saying "I don't recall" through a Spanish interpreter, the defendant suddenly asked to speak with his attorney, halting the proceedings and sending jurors to an early lunch.
Gonzalez agreed to plead guilty to second-degree murder, and prosecutors dropped a second count of child abuse.
Superior Court Judge William Froeberg ordered him to serve 15 years to life in prison after Gonzalez agreed he willfully threw his daughter Iliana against a couch and his action caused her death.
"In my opinion, this was a just and reasonable resolution of this case," Froeberg said after taking the plea. "After hearing Mr. Gonzalez's testimony, I do not believe there is any reasonable possibility that he would have been found not guilty and this case in my opinion does not rise to the level of a sentence of 25 years to life."
That's the sentence for first-degree murder.
On the stand Wednesday morning, Gonzalez testified that he told police different versions of what happened, including that he threw the baby against the couch and shook her because he was worried his daughters were being taken.
Under cross examination, he said "I don't recall" to numerous questions.
Gonzalez was charged with one count of murder and one count of assault on a child with force likely to produce great bodily injury resulting in death, both felonies.
Showing jurors photos of the Santa Ana apartment couch against which Gonzalez threw the child, Senior Deputy District Attorney Steve McGreevy told them last week that the defendant's account of what happened the day Iliana got injured kept evolving.
The father of two, who was dealing with money issues and suffered from headaches, the prosecutor said, demonstrated to police using a teddy bear how he threw Iliana against the couch, causing injuries that led to her death.
Senior Deputy Public Defender Lisa Eyanson said her client, who shook Iliana causing further injury, told jurors in her opening remarks that Gonzalez told authorities different stories about what transpired on March 17, 2009, because he wanted to reunite his family with social services stepping in and taking away his older daughter.
Eyanson declined to comment after the conviction, but the prosecutor said the defendant knew he was in a tight spot.
"He realized that what he was saying was not consistent with the facts in the case and what he did," McGreevy said.
Homicide cases sometimes end in guilty pleas by the accused after a jury has been picked but rarely at such a late stage in the trial.
Gonzalez testified he was feeding the baby that evening but she couldn't breathe very well, something the prosecutor challenged, saying he never told a 911 dispatcher anything about Iliana being sick.
Under further cross examination, Gonzalez said his daughter threw up twice that day, while the prosecutor said his wife had testified the child did not vomit.
"I don't recall," Gonzalez said of his wife's testimony, never looking toward the jury.
He also told his wife two different accounts of what happened, the prosecutor said: First that he left Iliana on the couch and returned to find her not breathing and then that the infant had fallen off the couch.
McGreevy zeroed in on why Gonzalez, as he testified, would leave alone an infant who was having difficulty breathing and go to the restroom, rather than call his wife who was about 24 feet away with their older daughter in the laundry room.
Did he consider putting the baby on a nearby swing with a belt rather than on the couch or call relatives from upstairs to watch her? Gonzalez answered no to both questions.
Gonzalez admitted to lying to police in about seven statements and one to a social worker because he said he thought if he shifted the blame to himself, he and his wife would get back their older daughter, who was taken away by Child Protective Services.
The day after Iliana was taken to the hospital, McGreevy asked, did he tell officers he shook her?
"Yes."
"Are you sure you didn't shake her?"
"No."
"Is there any reason prior to answering that question you looked at the defense table?"
"No."
At that point, Gonzalez asked to speak with his attorney. A short recess turned into a longer one, and the guilty plea followed.
Dad murders mom, friend--in front of their 7-year-old son (Portland, Maine)
Note that scuzzbag killer daddy JOEL HAYDEN had an EXTENSIVE history of domestic violence and threats. Notice that Mom's requests for protection orders were ultimately DISMISSED. Authorities need to find out why victims are not/cannot appear in court--because this is more common than not. The same with so-called "requests" for dismissal by the victims.
Notice that with Mom's one order, Daddy still got SUPERVISED VISITATION from the (unnamed) judge with their son--even though Daddy had just threatened to torture and kill the mother and burn the house down! So what was the point of it all? I suspect Mom knew that. This is what fathers rights has wrought....
http://www.kjonline.com/news/police-child-sees-dad-gun-down-mom-friend_2011-07-27.html
Police: Child sees dad gun down mom, friend
By Ann S. Kim Staff Writer
PORTLAND -- Renee Sandora called 911 on Monday to report that her boyfriend had shot her and a friend. She spoke for 35 seconds before the call went dead.
"My boyfriend just shot me ... He shot his friend, too. I've got four kids," Sandora said, according to a police affidavit. Sandora said the gunman was inside the house and she was outside, but unable to leave because he had her car keys. The children were in her car.
On the recording, according to the affidavit, Sandora can be heard talking to someone else.
"What -- are you going to kill me in front of my kids?" she asked.
Maine State Police charged Joel Hayden with two counts of murder Wednesday following his release from Maine Medical Center in Portland. Hayden, 29, is scheduled to appear in Cumberland County Superior Court today.
Sandora, 27, and the friend, 28-year-old Trevor Mills of New Bedford, Mass., died at Central Maine Medical Center in Lewiston on Tuesday, a day after the shooting at Sandora's home in New Gloucester.
Sandora and Hayden's 7-year-old son witnessed the shooting. The child told a detective that his parents had been arguing about visiting "Auntie" and that Hayden was holding car keys away from Sandora, according to the affidavit. The boy told police that Hayden pushed Mills through a door, breaking the glass, before firing on Mills and Sandora.
Neighbors saw the child running in the yard yelling, "Don't shoot," and "Don't leave," as a car sped away, according to the affidavit. Joel Hayden was taken into police custody Monday night after he crashed in Lyman. He had been in the hospital until Wednesday afternoon.
Hayden and Sandora had four children together -- the 7-year-old son was the oldest and the youngest are 3-month-old twins. Sandora's parents told police the couple and their children lived at the Bennett Road mobile home. Sandora's parents said Sandora and Hayden had been arguing incessantly since June and that Sandora would kick out Hayden, who would return later.
They said Hayden was accusing her of having a relationship with Mills, whom police described as Hayden's longtime friend.
In 2008, Sandora twice sought protection-from-abuse orders in Portland District Court against Hayden. Both were dismissed -- the first because Sandora did not appear at the hearing and the second at her request.
Police said that there were no current orders at the time of the shooting.
In her complaint for the first order, issued in May 2008, she wrote that Hayden had attacked her and pushed her down. The complaint was dismissed and the temporary order was terminated after she failed to appear for the hearing.
In October 2008, Sandora wrote in a second complaint that Hayden had been verbally harassing her, threatening her and had stolen her car. On a separate page, she wrote "Threatened to tie me up and burn my house down with me in it. Kill anyone in my home and drowned me in their blood. Cut out my unborn child. (8 wks pregnant)."
A judge granted the order, which among other things, prohibited Hayden from contacting Sandora. Hayden was allowed to have supervised visits with his son through a program approved by Sandora.
In February 2009, Sandora asked for termination of the order. She wrote that their son had been asking for his father, who was serving an 11-month sentence at the Maine Correctional Center in Windham. She was the only one who could bring him, she wrote. Hayden had been arrested by Auburn police and convicted for the felony of eluding an officer.
The case file contains letters Hayden sent to Sandora while he was incarcerated. In an October letter, he wrote about missing their son and regretting that he had never taken him trick-or-treating at Halloween. He told her he realized that taking pills affected his reality and led to "thinking nuts," talking crazy and acting "paranoid skitso." He expressed hope that they could be friends even if they didn't remain a couple and praised her for having a good heart and being a loving mother. He apologized for disappointing her and breaking promises.
"I'm sorry for it all all the verbal mental and physical," Hayden wrote. He wrote he looked at her as "a real good person" and said "(I) just got problems with my self (I) guess" because "you do nothing wrong."
Notice that with Mom's one order, Daddy still got SUPERVISED VISITATION from the (unnamed) judge with their son--even though Daddy had just threatened to torture and kill the mother and burn the house down! So what was the point of it all? I suspect Mom knew that. This is what fathers rights has wrought....
http://www.kjonline.com/news/police-child-sees-dad-gun-down-mom-friend_2011-07-27.html
Police: Child sees dad gun down mom, friend
By Ann S. Kim Staff Writer
PORTLAND -- Renee Sandora called 911 on Monday to report that her boyfriend had shot her and a friend. She spoke for 35 seconds before the call went dead.
"My boyfriend just shot me ... He shot his friend, too. I've got four kids," Sandora said, according to a police affidavit. Sandora said the gunman was inside the house and she was outside, but unable to leave because he had her car keys. The children were in her car.
On the recording, according to the affidavit, Sandora can be heard talking to someone else.
"What -- are you going to kill me in front of my kids?" she asked.
Maine State Police charged Joel Hayden with two counts of murder Wednesday following his release from Maine Medical Center in Portland. Hayden, 29, is scheduled to appear in Cumberland County Superior Court today.
Sandora, 27, and the friend, 28-year-old Trevor Mills of New Bedford, Mass., died at Central Maine Medical Center in Lewiston on Tuesday, a day after the shooting at Sandora's home in New Gloucester.
Sandora and Hayden's 7-year-old son witnessed the shooting. The child told a detective that his parents had been arguing about visiting "Auntie" and that Hayden was holding car keys away from Sandora, according to the affidavit. The boy told police that Hayden pushed Mills through a door, breaking the glass, before firing on Mills and Sandora.
Neighbors saw the child running in the yard yelling, "Don't shoot," and "Don't leave," as a car sped away, according to the affidavit. Joel Hayden was taken into police custody Monday night after he crashed in Lyman. He had been in the hospital until Wednesday afternoon.
Hayden and Sandora had four children together -- the 7-year-old son was the oldest and the youngest are 3-month-old twins. Sandora's parents told police the couple and their children lived at the Bennett Road mobile home. Sandora's parents said Sandora and Hayden had been arguing incessantly since June and that Sandora would kick out Hayden, who would return later.
They said Hayden was accusing her of having a relationship with Mills, whom police described as Hayden's longtime friend.
In 2008, Sandora twice sought protection-from-abuse orders in Portland District Court against Hayden. Both were dismissed -- the first because Sandora did not appear at the hearing and the second at her request.
Police said that there were no current orders at the time of the shooting.
In her complaint for the first order, issued in May 2008, she wrote that Hayden had attacked her and pushed her down. The complaint was dismissed and the temporary order was terminated after she failed to appear for the hearing.
In October 2008, Sandora wrote in a second complaint that Hayden had been verbally harassing her, threatening her and had stolen her car. On a separate page, she wrote "Threatened to tie me up and burn my house down with me in it. Kill anyone in my home and drowned me in their blood. Cut out my unborn child. (8 wks pregnant)."
A judge granted the order, which among other things, prohibited Hayden from contacting Sandora. Hayden was allowed to have supervised visits with his son through a program approved by Sandora.
In February 2009, Sandora asked for termination of the order. She wrote that their son had been asking for his father, who was serving an 11-month sentence at the Maine Correctional Center in Windham. She was the only one who could bring him, she wrote. Hayden had been arrested by Auburn police and convicted for the felony of eluding an officer.
The case file contains letters Hayden sent to Sandora while he was incarcerated. In an October letter, he wrote about missing their son and regretting that he had never taken him trick-or-treating at Halloween. He told her he realized that taking pills affected his reality and led to "thinking nuts," talking crazy and acting "paranoid skitso." He expressed hope that they could be friends even if they didn't remain a couple and praised her for having a good heart and being a loving mother. He apologized for disappointing her and breaking promises.
"I'm sorry for it all all the verbal mental and physical," Hayden wrote. He wrote he looked at her as "a real good person" and said "(I) just got problems with my self (I) guess" because "you do nothing wrong."
Dad guns down six daughters in "honor" killing (Faisalabad, Pakistan)
Daddy entitlement plus religious nuttery gets you this: six dead young women. ARIF MUBASHIR has been charged, but will probably get off lightly.
http://tribune.com.pk/story/218250/honour-killings-man-guns-down-six-daughters/
Honour killings: Man guns down six daughters
Published: July 27, 2011
FAISALABAD:
A man gunned down six of his daughters on suspicion that two of them were in relationships with boys in the neighbourhood.
On Tuesday morning, Arif Mubashir called his teenage daughters to his room and shot them while the rest of the family, including their mother, watched. His wife Musarrat called the police after the incident.
Mubashir shot the girls after their brother said two of them were in a relationship. He told police officials that he had killed his daughters because they were both “without honour”. The man said his daughters Sameena, 14, and Razia, 16, were in a relationship with college boys from the neighbourhood and the sisters had helped each other. “I should have been told immediately but the girls sided with each other. They were both corrupt,” Mubashir told Tandlianwala Police Inspector Javed Sial.
Police officials have taken Mubashir into custody and filed a case against him. “He does not regret what he did. He boasted that he would do it all over again if he had to,” Sial told reporters.
Pakistan has repeatedly been termed as one of the least women-friendly countries. In June, the Thompson Reuters Foundation ranked Pakistan as the world’s third most dangerous country for women.
http://tribune.com.pk/story/218250/honour-killings-man-guns-down-six-daughters/
Honour killings: Man guns down six daughters
Published: July 27, 2011
FAISALABAD:
A man gunned down six of his daughters on suspicion that two of them were in relationships with boys in the neighbourhood.
On Tuesday morning, Arif Mubashir called his teenage daughters to his room and shot them while the rest of the family, including their mother, watched. His wife Musarrat called the police after the incident.
Mubashir shot the girls after their brother said two of them were in a relationship. He told police officials that he had killed his daughters because they were both “without honour”. The man said his daughters Sameena, 14, and Razia, 16, were in a relationship with college boys from the neighbourhood and the sisters had helped each other. “I should have been told immediately but the girls sided with each other. They were both corrupt,” Mubashir told Tandlianwala Police Inspector Javed Sial.
Police officials have taken Mubashir into custody and filed a case against him. “He does not regret what he did. He boasted that he would do it all over again if he had to,” Sial told reporters.
Pakistan has repeatedly been termed as one of the least women-friendly countries. In June, the Thompson Reuters Foundation ranked Pakistan as the world’s third most dangerous country for women.
Dad who killed 17-month-old daughter had previous record of child abuse (Bossier City, Louisiana)
LANCE THAMM is another one of those "frustrated" daddies who killed the baby for crying. But notice that this guy is a two-time loser. He severely injured a 12-month-old son back in 2003. Yet just five years after that, Daddy is "babysitting" when he obviously never should have been allowed around kids again.
By the way. The case of murdered child Celeste Lowe? This involved custodial dad WESLEY LOWE, another man who NEVER should have received custody. See our previous post here:
http://dastardlydads.blogspot.com/2011/02/death-of-child-at-hands-of-father-step.html
http://dastardlydads.blogspot.com/2011/02/missed-opportunities-with-murdered-5.html
http://www.shreveporttimes.com/article/20110727/NEWS03/107270336/Isabella-Thamm-not-first-victim-Lance-Thamm?odyssey=tab%7Ctopnews%7Ctext%7CFRONTPAGE
Isabella Thamm not first victim of Lance Thamm
6:20 AM, Jul. 27, 2011
Written by Alison Bath
Isabella Thamm was just 17 months old when she died.
On a January morning in 2008, her 34-year-old father — aggravated by her crying — took Isabella's head and slammed it into a doorjamb at the family's Bossier City apartment, according to court records.
Isabella suffered severe head trauma and died four days later.
Her father, Lance Thamm, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in November and was sentenced to life in prison.
"I don't know," said Thamm, during a 2008 interview with police, of why he injured his daughter. "I was just really frustrated."
Isabella is one of at least 201 Louisiana children who have died in the last six years of abuse or neglect.
Nationwide, Louisiana ranks in the top 12 states in the country for child abuse deaths, the National Coalition to End Child Abuse Deaths reports.
In the same year Isabella died, 35 other children throughout the state also were killed by abusers or died of neglect. Five of those children, including 6-year-old She'Je'Berne Small, lived in the four-parish area near Shreveport-Bossier City. So far this year, one local child — 5-year-old Celeste Lowe — has died as a result of suspected abuse.
Her step-mother, Catherine Murray Lowe, remains jailed in Bossier Parish charged with first-degree murder.
As it turns out, Isabella wasn't the first child Lance Thamm hurt.
In 2003, Thamm was living in Texas with Isabella's mother, Vanessa Ferris, when he severely injured the couple's 12-month-old son by squeezing and throwing him.
The boy suffered a broken collar bone and ribs, and spinal injuries.
Thamm was convicted of injuring a child and sentenced to two years in prison. The couple lost custody of their son, who was placed in the care of an aunt.
Yet five years later Thamm again was taking care of a child while her mother was away.
Read more about Isabella's story and those of other Louisiana abused children online.
As part of an ongoing investigation into child abuse.
The Times is featuring slideshow presentations about some of the children who have died of abuse or neglect.
By the way. The case of murdered child Celeste Lowe? This involved custodial dad WESLEY LOWE, another man who NEVER should have received custody. See our previous post here:
http://dastardlydads.blogspot.com/2011/02/death-of-child-at-hands-of-father-step.html
http://dastardlydads.blogspot.com/2011/02/missed-opportunities-with-murdered-5.html
http://www.shreveporttimes.com/article/20110727/NEWS03/107270336/Isabella-Thamm-not-first-victim-Lance-Thamm?odyssey=tab%7Ctopnews%7Ctext%7CFRONTPAGE
Isabella Thamm not first victim of Lance Thamm
6:20 AM, Jul. 27, 2011
Written by Alison Bath
Isabella Thamm was just 17 months old when she died.
On a January morning in 2008, her 34-year-old father — aggravated by her crying — took Isabella's head and slammed it into a doorjamb at the family's Bossier City apartment, according to court records.
Isabella suffered severe head trauma and died four days later.
Her father, Lance Thamm, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in November and was sentenced to life in prison.
"I don't know," said Thamm, during a 2008 interview with police, of why he injured his daughter. "I was just really frustrated."
Isabella is one of at least 201 Louisiana children who have died in the last six years of abuse or neglect.
Nationwide, Louisiana ranks in the top 12 states in the country for child abuse deaths, the National Coalition to End Child Abuse Deaths reports.
In the same year Isabella died, 35 other children throughout the state also were killed by abusers or died of neglect. Five of those children, including 6-year-old She'Je'Berne Small, lived in the four-parish area near Shreveport-Bossier City. So far this year, one local child — 5-year-old Celeste Lowe — has died as a result of suspected abuse.
Her step-mother, Catherine Murray Lowe, remains jailed in Bossier Parish charged with first-degree murder.
As it turns out, Isabella wasn't the first child Lance Thamm hurt.
In 2003, Thamm was living in Texas with Isabella's mother, Vanessa Ferris, when he severely injured the couple's 12-month-old son by squeezing and throwing him.
The boy suffered a broken collar bone and ribs, and spinal injuries.
Thamm was convicted of injuring a child and sentenced to two years in prison. The couple lost custody of their son, who was placed in the care of an aunt.
Yet five years later Thamm again was taking care of a child while her mother was away.
Read more about Isabella's story and those of other Louisiana abused children online.
As part of an ongoing investigation into child abuse.
The Times is featuring slideshow presentations about some of the children who have died of abuse or neglect.
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Lawsuit filed as woman who was beaten by father fights for life (Oxford, Michigan)
Notice that dad ROBERT BRIAN KELLY, who is charged with attempted murder in the vicious assault on his 20-year-old daughter, is a PSYCHOLOGIST. Oy....
http://www.themorningsun.com/articles/2011/07/26/news/doc4e2e89be3be1a048896604.txt?viewmode=fullstory
Lawsuit filed as woman who was beaten by father fights for her life
Published: Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Megan Roberts. Courtesy MegansTeam.com
By ANN ZANIEWSKI
JRC News Service
The guardian for a woman who is now in hospice after being beaten by her father with a baseball bat, has filed a lawsuit that seeks to secure funds for the woman’s long-term medical care.
Robert Brian Kelly, a 52-year-old psychologist from Oxford, is charged with assault with intent to murder for the May 9 attack of his daughter, Megan Roberts. He has a court hearing later this week.
Roberts, a 20-year-old Oakland Community College student, suffered a traumatic brain injury that left her in a coma and requiring mechanical ventilation and tube feeding.
Police said Kelly walked into the police station in Oxford the morning of May 9 to report that his daughter had been assaulted. Around the same time, the woman’s mother called 911 after finding her injured daughter in a bedroom.
Oxford Police Chief Michael Neymanowski said when Kelly was asked who did it, he replied, “I did.”
Roberts’ aunt and guardian, Sandra Bucklin, filed a lawsuit on behalf of Roberts against Kelly in Oakland County Circuit Court that seeks a monetary judgment and asks a judge to stop Kelly from accessing his assets.
The lawsuit said while Roberts was sleeping, Kelly beat in her face and head with an aluminum baseball bat until she was no longer recognizable.
“It’s a horribly tragic situation for a young woman to meet this fate, especially from a family member,” said Steve Weiss, Bucklin’s attorney. “It’s very mind-boggling and sad.”
A long-term care plan to provide for Roberts’ future medical needs is expected to cost more than $500,000 a year.
“Without an injunctive order preserving defendant’s assets ... Megan will be immediately and irreparably harmed, as she will require the use of the defendant’s assets to help pay for her present and future medical treatment, care and rehabilitation,” the lawsuit reads.
The lawsuit, which has been assigned to Oakland Circuit Judge Colleen O’Brien, alleges battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress and negligence.
According to the lawsuit, Kelly attempted suicide twice in the 30 days before the attack. It also said Kelly had been prescribed or taken medication to help control a “possible mental or emotional condition.”
Kelly’s previous attorney in the criminal case, James Galen, Jr., told The Oakland Press at a court hearing in May that Kelly said he blacked out.
“He has no recollection until he came to, with an aluminum baseball bat in his hand, and saw his daughter bludgeoned,” Galen said.
During Kelly’s last court appearance, a judge granted Galen’s request to have Kelly examined at the state’s Center for Forensic Psychiatry to determine whether he’s competent to stand trial and criminally responsible for his actions. Kelly remains in custody with a $2 million bond.
A subsequent court hearing is scheduled for Friday, July 29 in 52-3 District Court.
Galen said Kelly has two master’s degrees, one from the University of Michigan and one from Wayne State University. He worked for many years as a licensed psychologist in private practice.
Galen said Kelly inherited $1.4 million from relatives within the past few years but currently “has no assets whatsoever at this time.” He declined to elaborate.
Galen said he willingly left the case after one of Kelly’s relatives retained another defense attorney, Sanford Schulman, and because the case was gruesome and he didn’t want any further part of it.
Schulman could not immediately be reached for comment Monday.
A website set up for Roberts, www.megansteam.com, seeks donations to help pay for her medical care.
The site describes Roberts as a caring person who loves being outdoors, golfing, the Detroit Red Wings, playing roulette at the casino and walking her dogs. There are pictures of her smiling sweetly as she holds babies in her arms.
Several people have left hopeful well-wishes on a Facebook page called, “Prayers for Megan.”
Renee Jasgur, one of Bucklin’s good friends, said a lot of people have shown compassion for Roberts and are trying to help in anyway they can.
“It’s just been overwhelming how much people really do care,” Jasgur said. “It’s just a great community, and great friends and family.”
http://www.themorningsun.com/articles/2011/07/26/news/doc4e2e89be3be1a048896604.txt?viewmode=fullstory
Lawsuit filed as woman who was beaten by father fights for her life
Published: Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Megan Roberts. Courtesy MegansTeam.com
By ANN ZANIEWSKI
JRC News Service
The guardian for a woman who is now in hospice after being beaten by her father with a baseball bat, has filed a lawsuit that seeks to secure funds for the woman’s long-term medical care.
Robert Brian Kelly, a 52-year-old psychologist from Oxford, is charged with assault with intent to murder for the May 9 attack of his daughter, Megan Roberts. He has a court hearing later this week.
Roberts, a 20-year-old Oakland Community College student, suffered a traumatic brain injury that left her in a coma and requiring mechanical ventilation and tube feeding.
Police said Kelly walked into the police station in Oxford the morning of May 9 to report that his daughter had been assaulted. Around the same time, the woman’s mother called 911 after finding her injured daughter in a bedroom.
Oxford Police Chief Michael Neymanowski said when Kelly was asked who did it, he replied, “I did.”
Roberts’ aunt and guardian, Sandra Bucklin, filed a lawsuit on behalf of Roberts against Kelly in Oakland County Circuit Court that seeks a monetary judgment and asks a judge to stop Kelly from accessing his assets.
The lawsuit said while Roberts was sleeping, Kelly beat in her face and head with an aluminum baseball bat until she was no longer recognizable.
“It’s a horribly tragic situation for a young woman to meet this fate, especially from a family member,” said Steve Weiss, Bucklin’s attorney. “It’s very mind-boggling and sad.”
A long-term care plan to provide for Roberts’ future medical needs is expected to cost more than $500,000 a year.
“Without an injunctive order preserving defendant’s assets ... Megan will be immediately and irreparably harmed, as she will require the use of the defendant’s assets to help pay for her present and future medical treatment, care and rehabilitation,” the lawsuit reads.
The lawsuit, which has been assigned to Oakland Circuit Judge Colleen O’Brien, alleges battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress and negligence.
According to the lawsuit, Kelly attempted suicide twice in the 30 days before the attack. It also said Kelly had been prescribed or taken medication to help control a “possible mental or emotional condition.”
Kelly’s previous attorney in the criminal case, James Galen, Jr., told The Oakland Press at a court hearing in May that Kelly said he blacked out.
“He has no recollection until he came to, with an aluminum baseball bat in his hand, and saw his daughter bludgeoned,” Galen said.
During Kelly’s last court appearance, a judge granted Galen’s request to have Kelly examined at the state’s Center for Forensic Psychiatry to determine whether he’s competent to stand trial and criminally responsible for his actions. Kelly remains in custody with a $2 million bond.
A subsequent court hearing is scheduled for Friday, July 29 in 52-3 District Court.
Galen said Kelly has two master’s degrees, one from the University of Michigan and one from Wayne State University. He worked for many years as a licensed psychologist in private practice.
Galen said Kelly inherited $1.4 million from relatives within the past few years but currently “has no assets whatsoever at this time.” He declined to elaborate.
Galen said he willingly left the case after one of Kelly’s relatives retained another defense attorney, Sanford Schulman, and because the case was gruesome and he didn’t want any further part of it.
Schulman could not immediately be reached for comment Monday.
A website set up for Roberts, www.megansteam.com, seeks donations to help pay for her medical care.
The site describes Roberts as a caring person who loves being outdoors, golfing, the Detroit Red Wings, playing roulette at the casino and walking her dogs. There are pictures of her smiling sweetly as she holds babies in her arms.
Several people have left hopeful well-wishes on a Facebook page called, “Prayers for Megan.”
Renee Jasgur, one of Bucklin’s good friends, said a lot of people have shown compassion for Roberts and are trying to help in anyway they can.
“It’s just been overwhelming how much people really do care,” Jasgur said. “It’s just a great community, and great friends and family.”
Dad who murdered 4-year-old daughter by throwing her off bridge denied appeal (Melbourne, Australia)
We have posted on ARTHUR FREEMAN many times--the daddy who got unsupervised visitation despite erratic behavior and past threats. The mother had a terrible time with getting Australia's father-friendly family courts to take her concerns seriously--until it was too late. This murder was a direct result of Australia's near mandatory joint custody policies--any father, no matter how violent or crazy, was nearly guaranteed access. As a result, child homicides have excalated.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/australia/5347588/Man-who-threw-daughter-to-death-denied-appeal
Man who threw daughter to death denied appeal
Last updated 12:58 27/07/2011
Arthur Freeman, who threw his four-year-old daughter to her death off Melbourne's West Gate Bridge, has been denied the right to appeal his 32-year sentence for the horror murder.
Freeman in April was jailed for life with a non-parole period of 32 years after a jury convicted him of murdering his daughter Darcey.
He argued for the right to appeal his sentence on the basis that 32 years was manifestly excessive.
But the Victorian Court of Appeal today ruled that the sentence was not manifestly excessive and refused Freeman's application to appeal.
"In the present case, I do not regard it as reasonably arguable that the non-parole period of 32 years was outside the sentencing range open to the sentencing judge in the circumstances of this case," Justice Chris Maxwell said in his written decision.
"The judge's findings about the seriousness of this offence were very clear."
Justice Maxwell said sentencing judge Justice Paul Coghlan highlighted several aggravating features of the crime, including the fact that an innocent child was killed by being thrown from a bridge more than 50 metres above the ground.
Justice Coghlan had also said the murder was witnessed by Darcey's two other children, was a fundamental breach of trust, and was motivated by Freeman's desire to hurt his former wife, Justice Maxwell said in his ruling.
Freeman, 37, will be eligible for parole in 2041 - when he will be 67 years old.
Darcey was thrown from the West Gate on what was to be her first day of school - January 29, 2009.
Freeman's barrister, David Brustman, SC, argued during the trial that his client was mentally impaired, "mad not bad", when he killed Darcey.
The jury rejected the defence, after five days of deliberation.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/australia/5347588/Man-who-threw-daughter-to-death-denied-appeal
Man who threw daughter to death denied appeal
Last updated 12:58 27/07/2011
Arthur Freeman, who threw his four-year-old daughter to her death off Melbourne's West Gate Bridge, has been denied the right to appeal his 32-year sentence for the horror murder.
Freeman in April was jailed for life with a non-parole period of 32 years after a jury convicted him of murdering his daughter Darcey.
He argued for the right to appeal his sentence on the basis that 32 years was manifestly excessive.
But the Victorian Court of Appeal today ruled that the sentence was not manifestly excessive and refused Freeman's application to appeal.
"In the present case, I do not regard it as reasonably arguable that the non-parole period of 32 years was outside the sentencing range open to the sentencing judge in the circumstances of this case," Justice Chris Maxwell said in his written decision.
"The judge's findings about the seriousness of this offence were very clear."
Justice Maxwell said sentencing judge Justice Paul Coghlan highlighted several aggravating features of the crime, including the fact that an innocent child was killed by being thrown from a bridge more than 50 metres above the ground.
Justice Coghlan had also said the murder was witnessed by Darcey's two other children, was a fundamental breach of trust, and was motivated by Freeman's desire to hurt his former wife, Justice Maxwell said in his ruling.
Freeman, 37, will be eligible for parole in 2041 - when he will be 67 years old.
Darcey was thrown from the West Gate on what was to be her first day of school - January 29, 2009.
Freeman's barrister, David Brustman, SC, argued during the trial that his client was mentally impaired, "mad not bad", when he killed Darcey.
The jury rejected the defence, after five days of deliberation.
House speaker calls on DHS to make top priority out of internal review; 5-year-old killed after father given custody (Shawnee, Oklahoma)
The fathers rights people have generated tremendous pressure on child welfare organizations to "include" fathers. This is the fruit of that policy. Despite the fact that this girl came back from her daddy visits with bruises, child welfare workers STILL recommended that she be placed in her father's permanent "care." Less than one month later, she is beaten to death and her father, SEAN DEVON BROOKS, is arrested on 1st-degree murder charges.
http://newsok.com/oklahoma-house-speaker-calls-on-dhs-to-make-a-top-priority-out-of-its-internal-review-into-the-death-of-a-child/article/3589131
Oklahoma House speaker calls on DHS to make a top priority out of its internal review into the death of a child
Pottawatomie County's district attorney says he's opened an investigation into a child welfare case involving Serenity Deal, 5, but is having trouble getting documentation from the Oklahoma DHS.
BY ANN KELLEY akelley@opubco.com Oklahoman
Published: July 27, 2011
SHAWNEE — A district attorney and the state House speaker on Tuesday criticized child welfare officials' handling of the Serenity Deal case.
The 5-year-old was killed June 4, less than month after Department of Human Services workers recommended she live with her father. The girl's father, Sean Devon Brooks, 31, is charged in Oklahoma County District Court with first-degree murder in connection with her death.
Four DHS workers involved in her case were placed on administrative leave with pay pending the outcome of an internal investigation. What happened next has left even more questions surrounding the case:
• Donald Wheeler, a child welfare specialist with 30 years experience from Lincoln County, killed himself earlier this month.
• Wheeler's supervisor, Wesley Priest, resigned July 1. Priest's wife also resigned from DHS.
• Jennifer Shawn and Randy Lack, assigned to the Pottawatomie County DHS office, remain on leave.
Pottawatomie County District Attorney Richard Smothermon said he has opened an investigation to look for any system failures in the case and to determine whether all the information DHS had in the case was given to the court.
Smothermon said his investigation has been stalled because DHS has ignored his requests for all paperwork and internal correspondence in the case. He made his initial request several weeks ago, and several more since then.
“They keep putting me off,” Smothermon said.
House Speaker Kris Steele, R-Shawnee, said the agency needs to make the report of its internal investigation its top priority and release its findings.
“The agency's duty to explain what happened should not be this complicated and time-consuming,” Steele said. “It's time to give Serenity's family and the public answers. The DHS status quo of excuses and delays is not sufficient.”
DHS report sought
A state medical examiner reported Serenity was beaten to death.
Child welfare workers from Pottawatomie County recommended she be placed in her father's care as part of a trial reunification, despite two reports that she had returned from visits with Brooks with bruises and black eyes, according to a report by the Oklahoma Commission on Children and Youth, the watchdog agency that monitors DHS.
Oklahoma Commission on Children and Youth issued its report 10 days after Serenity died.
The report indicates there were disagreements between child welfare workers in Lincoln County, where the case began, and neighboring Pottawatomie County, where it was moved.
“Based on the information currently available, it seems likely that Serenity died because of a systematic breakdown,” Steele said. “We must find out precisely what happened so we can correct the problem, but we can't do that until DHS produces its report.”
Howard Hendrick, DHS director, said his agency will issue its report when it has all the information necessary to understand what family members and child welfare workers knew, and when they knew it.
“Without knowing what each person involved in the case knew, it would be premature to determine what errors in judgment happened,” Hendrick said.
He said the department is waiting on transcripts of the multiple-court hearing involving Serenity, which would detail the recommendations of everyone involved, including the district attorney and Serenity's court-appointed attorney.
DHS spokeswoman Sheree Powell said they need those court transcripts because they are required by law to include everyone's recommendations in their report.
Powell said their investigator met with Smothermon several weeks ago, and Smothermon agreed to wait until their investigation was done before they turned over agency emails and other items. She said he was updated by telephone two weeks ago about their progress on the internal review.
http://newsok.com/oklahoma-house-speaker-calls-on-dhs-to-make-a-top-priority-out-of-its-internal-review-into-the-death-of-a-child/article/3589131
Oklahoma House speaker calls on DHS to make a top priority out of its internal review into the death of a child
Pottawatomie County's district attorney says he's opened an investigation into a child welfare case involving Serenity Deal, 5, but is having trouble getting documentation from the Oklahoma DHS.
BY ANN KELLEY akelley@opubco.com Oklahoman
Published: July 27, 2011
SHAWNEE — A district attorney and the state House speaker on Tuesday criticized child welfare officials' handling of the Serenity Deal case.
The 5-year-old was killed June 4, less than month after Department of Human Services workers recommended she live with her father. The girl's father, Sean Devon Brooks, 31, is charged in Oklahoma County District Court with first-degree murder in connection with her death.
Four DHS workers involved in her case were placed on administrative leave with pay pending the outcome of an internal investigation. What happened next has left even more questions surrounding the case:
• Donald Wheeler, a child welfare specialist with 30 years experience from Lincoln County, killed himself earlier this month.
• Wheeler's supervisor, Wesley Priest, resigned July 1. Priest's wife also resigned from DHS.
• Jennifer Shawn and Randy Lack, assigned to the Pottawatomie County DHS office, remain on leave.
Pottawatomie County District Attorney Richard Smothermon said he has opened an investigation to look for any system failures in the case and to determine whether all the information DHS had in the case was given to the court.
Smothermon said his investigation has been stalled because DHS has ignored his requests for all paperwork and internal correspondence in the case. He made his initial request several weeks ago, and several more since then.
“They keep putting me off,” Smothermon said.
House Speaker Kris Steele, R-Shawnee, said the agency needs to make the report of its internal investigation its top priority and release its findings.
“The agency's duty to explain what happened should not be this complicated and time-consuming,” Steele said. “It's time to give Serenity's family and the public answers. The DHS status quo of excuses and delays is not sufficient.”
DHS report sought
A state medical examiner reported Serenity was beaten to death.
Child welfare workers from Pottawatomie County recommended she be placed in her father's care as part of a trial reunification, despite two reports that she had returned from visits with Brooks with bruises and black eyes, according to a report by the Oklahoma Commission on Children and Youth, the watchdog agency that monitors DHS.
Oklahoma Commission on Children and Youth issued its report 10 days after Serenity died.
The report indicates there were disagreements between child welfare workers in Lincoln County, where the case began, and neighboring Pottawatomie County, where it was moved.
“Based on the information currently available, it seems likely that Serenity died because of a systematic breakdown,” Steele said. “We must find out precisely what happened so we can correct the problem, but we can't do that until DHS produces its report.”
Howard Hendrick, DHS director, said his agency will issue its report when it has all the information necessary to understand what family members and child welfare workers knew, and when they knew it.
“Without knowing what each person involved in the case knew, it would be premature to determine what errors in judgment happened,” Hendrick said.
He said the department is waiting on transcripts of the multiple-court hearing involving Serenity, which would detail the recommendations of everyone involved, including the district attorney and Serenity's court-appointed attorney.
DHS spokeswoman Sheree Powell said they need those court transcripts because they are required by law to include everyone's recommendations in their report.
Powell said their investigator met with Smothermon several weeks ago, and Smothermon agreed to wait until their investigation was done before they turned over agency emails and other items. She said he was updated by telephone two weeks ago about their progress on the internal review.
Prosecution: Dad brutally murdered 2-year-old son (Birmingham, Alabama)
We've posted on this case before. Here's one link:
http://dastardlydads.blogspot.com/2010/07/dad-of-murdered-baby-now-fights-murder.html
All the media coverage I've seen thus far has been pretty cagey about this father's formal custodial status. But what I've seen seems to indicate that this father had "possession" (at minimum) and was not interested in "sharing" with the mother or anybody else. Note that last year, Dad JONATHAN KATAN was not willing to let the grandparents have access to this boy's body so they could do the funeral. Sounds like an abuser/control freak to me....
http://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/article/20110727/NEWS01/107270335/Prosecution-contends-father-brutally-murdered-2-year-old-son?odyssey=mod%7Cnewswell%7Ctext%7CFrontpage%7Cs
Prosecution contends father brutally murdered 2-year-old son
12:24 AM, Jul. 27, 2011
Written by Scott Johnson
Jurors viewed unsettling crime scene photos Tuesday at the start of the capital murder trial of a Montgomery man accused of killing his young son.
Prosecutors contend that Jonathan Katan, 26, brutally murdered his son either the morning of Feb. 16, 2010, or the night before.
Defense attorneys asserted that while the death of 2-year-old Preston Katan was tragic, the child's father was not responsible.
Jurors heard opening statements and the testimony of two state witnesses Tuesday.
Katan called 911 about 10:30 a.m. Feb. 16 and told a dispatcher that his son was dead.
Police said Katan told them that he found the boy wedged between a bumper guard and the mattress of the boy's bed. Officers arrested Katan the next day, and a grand jury indicted him Dec. 3.
Jurors saw photos Tuesday of the boy's body as a Montgomery Police Department crime scene investigator testified he found it after being called to the house on Oak Side Drive.
One photo showed blood around the boy's nose and mouth. Another showed blood on the box spring mattress of the boy's bed.
A Montgomery Fire Department medic testified that the boy was clearly dead when he and other medics arrived. The body was cold to the touch, and rigor mortis had started to set in, the fire medic testified.
An Alabama Department of Forensic Science autopsy concluded that the boy had suffered multiple blunt force injuries to the head, prosecutors said.
"We know from medical evidence that this was an intentional, brutal assault," Deputy District Attorney Kevin Davidson told jurors in his opening statement.
Defense Attorney Jon Taylor questioned the medical evidence, saying that jurors could acquit Katan even if they relied on that evidence alone to make their decision.
Taylor also questioned the suggestion that an insurance policy on Preston Katan could serve as a motive.
Jonathan Katan's ex-girlfriend also benefited from the policy, and she and Katan had recently broken up and were at odds with each other, Taylor said.
The district attorney's office is seeking a sentence of life in prison without parole.
Testimony will continue today in Montgomery County Circuit Judge Tracy McCooey's courtroom.
http://dastardlydads.blogspot.com/2010/07/dad-of-murdered-baby-now-fights-murder.html
All the media coverage I've seen thus far has been pretty cagey about this father's formal custodial status. But what I've seen seems to indicate that this father had "possession" (at minimum) and was not interested in "sharing" with the mother or anybody else. Note that last year, Dad JONATHAN KATAN was not willing to let the grandparents have access to this boy's body so they could do the funeral. Sounds like an abuser/control freak to me....
http://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/article/20110727/NEWS01/107270335/Prosecution-contends-father-brutally-murdered-2-year-old-son?odyssey=mod%7Cnewswell%7Ctext%7CFrontpage%7Cs
Prosecution contends father brutally murdered 2-year-old son
12:24 AM, Jul. 27, 2011
Written by Scott Johnson
Jurors viewed unsettling crime scene photos Tuesday at the start of the capital murder trial of a Montgomery man accused of killing his young son.
Prosecutors contend that Jonathan Katan, 26, brutally murdered his son either the morning of Feb. 16, 2010, or the night before.
Defense attorneys asserted that while the death of 2-year-old Preston Katan was tragic, the child's father was not responsible.
Jurors heard opening statements and the testimony of two state witnesses Tuesday.
Katan called 911 about 10:30 a.m. Feb. 16 and told a dispatcher that his son was dead.
Police said Katan told them that he found the boy wedged between a bumper guard and the mattress of the boy's bed. Officers arrested Katan the next day, and a grand jury indicted him Dec. 3.
Jurors saw photos Tuesday of the boy's body as a Montgomery Police Department crime scene investigator testified he found it after being called to the house on Oak Side Drive.
One photo showed blood around the boy's nose and mouth. Another showed blood on the box spring mattress of the boy's bed.
A Montgomery Fire Department medic testified that the boy was clearly dead when he and other medics arrived. The body was cold to the touch, and rigor mortis had started to set in, the fire medic testified.
An Alabama Department of Forensic Science autopsy concluded that the boy had suffered multiple blunt force injuries to the head, prosecutors said.
"We know from medical evidence that this was an intentional, brutal assault," Deputy District Attorney Kevin Davidson told jurors in his opening statement.
Defense Attorney Jon Taylor questioned the medical evidence, saying that jurors could acquit Katan even if they relied on that evidence alone to make their decision.
Taylor also questioned the suggestion that an insurance policy on Preston Katan could serve as a motive.
Jonathan Katan's ex-girlfriend also benefited from the policy, and she and Katan had recently broken up and were at odds with each other, Taylor said.
The district attorney's office is seeking a sentence of life in prison without parole.
Testimony will continue today in Montgomery County Circuit Judge Tracy McCooey's courtroom.
Dad gets 26 years for raping 13-year-old daughter (South Africa)
Notice that UNNAMED DAD started all this after the mother had been hospitalized and was no longer around to keep an eye on things....
http://www.grocotts.co.za/content/mymakana/mystory/man-gets-26-years-raping-his-daughter-26-07-2011
Man gets 26 years for raping his daughter
Tue, 26 Jul, 2011
Thembeni Plaatjie
A man who raped his daughter was sentenced to 26 years in prison by the Grahamstown Regional Court last week.
The 47-year-old father of four maintained his innocence throughout, as the court heard how he had raped his daughter, just 13 years old at the time, on three different occasions between May and October 2009. The first time was in their rented RDP house in Tantyi Location while the girl's mother was in hospital. The girl was at home with her father and her 4-year-old sister on the night of the incident. She said her father had ordered her to come and sleep in the bed with him, raped her and threatened to kill her if she told anyone.
The second time, he ordered her to take some items into a separate building where the family stored their excess furniture. He followed her and raped her, afterwards ordering her to go and wash herself. The third time, the girl and her father had been on their way to Sevenfountains, when he took her to the Makana Botanical Gardens and raped her there.
The man, who cannot be named to protect the identity of the child, denied all the charges against him.
In sentencing the man to 26 years in prison, Magistrate Samson Dunywa said he had breached his daughter's trust. He ordered his name be registered in the National Register for Sexual Offences against children and declared him unfit to possess a firearm.
The man had four previous convictions, varying from assault with intent to commit grievous bodily harm to crimen injuria.
http://www.grocotts.co.za/content/mymakana/mystory/man-gets-26-years-raping-his-daughter-26-07-2011
Man gets 26 years for raping his daughter
Tue, 26 Jul, 2011
Thembeni Plaatjie
A man who raped his daughter was sentenced to 26 years in prison by the Grahamstown Regional Court last week.
The 47-year-old father of four maintained his innocence throughout, as the court heard how he had raped his daughter, just 13 years old at the time, on three different occasions between May and October 2009. The first time was in their rented RDP house in Tantyi Location while the girl's mother was in hospital. The girl was at home with her father and her 4-year-old sister on the night of the incident. She said her father had ordered her to come and sleep in the bed with him, raped her and threatened to kill her if she told anyone.
The second time, he ordered her to take some items into a separate building where the family stored their excess furniture. He followed her and raped her, afterwards ordering her to go and wash herself. The third time, the girl and her father had been on their way to Sevenfountains, when he took her to the Makana Botanical Gardens and raped her there.
The man, who cannot be named to protect the identity of the child, denied all the charges against him.
In sentencing the man to 26 years in prison, Magistrate Samson Dunywa said he had breached his daughter's trust. He ordered his name be registered in the National Register for Sexual Offences against children and declared him unfit to possess a firearm.
The man had four previous convictions, varying from assault with intent to commit grievous bodily harm to crimen injuria.
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Dad gets 20-40 years for murder of 11-week-old daughter; assaulted older daughter in 2009 (Easton, Pennyslvania)
Why was a dad like JOSEPH URQUIA allowed anywhere NEAR a helpless infant? He had already been CONVICTED of assaulting an older daughter the year before! And yet this moron was doing primary care??? A guy who, despite (worthless) anger management therapy, couldn't manage to keep from bashing this baby's head in for crying? Why was the mother prevented from caring for her child?
http://easton.patch.com/articles/easton-dad-gets-20-40-years-in-babys-murder
Easton Dad Gets 20-40 Years in Baby's Murder Defense paints Joseph Urquia as a good man in over his head, but DA says he deserves maximum penalty.
By Tom Coombe
Joseph Urquia was born dead.
Twenty-two years ago in Venezuela, a doctor worked to revive him, his mother told a Northampton County Courtroom Tuesday.
Two decades later, in a fit of anger, Urquia would take the life of another baby: his 11 week-old daughter Joselynn, at their apartment in Easton.
For that crime, he will spend 20-40 years in prison, Judge Paula Roscioli ordered. Urquia pleaded guilty in May to third degree murder.
On December 19, 2010, Urquia punched Joselynn in the head, causing fatal injuries. Police say he lost his temper when the baby wouldn't stop crying. Urquia has a previous conviction for assaulting his older daughter in 2009; he had been in therapy since then to learn how to cope with his anger.
"Your baby was completely helpless at 11 weeks old, and you were given so many tools to keep this from happening," the judge said. Why not go outside to cool off, Roscioli asked, or call a neighbor or a family member.
"Anything...anything other than what you did," she said.
In court on Tuesday, the judge heard from witnesses who painted Urquia as a good man who was in over his head, and from the baby's mother, who wept through the hearing and spoke of her "angel" of a daughter.
"I'm not going to see her smile," Brenda De La Cruz said through an interpreter. "I'm never going to see how beautiful she could have been. No one is ever going to erase that I had a baby and her father killed her."
First Deputy District Attorney Terrance Houck noted that Urquia was on probation for the first assault at the time of Joselynn's death.
"There's no greater responsibility than a father to his child," he said. "He violated that. Twice. He's earned the maximum sentence. He deserves the maximum sentence."
And that's what he got. As a native of Venezuela -- he's a permanent resident of the United States, but not a citizen -- Urquia will likely be deported back to South America when his prison term is up.
Defense attorney Gary Asteak told the judge she needed to make a distinction between "the sin and the sinner" here, and argued that Urquia was a man with a moral compass, who cracked under pressure of trying to juggle a family and work.
"He wanted to be too much, too soon, too young," Asteak said.
"He wanted to be super dad," Xiomara Mulligan, Urquia's mother, wrote in a letter read by Asteak. She said she asked Children & Youth and mental health agencies for help, and told her son to get a babysitter. He didn't listen.
Now she's struggling with the knowledge that her son killed her granddaughter, and thinking back to when he was the baby the doctors had to revive.
"I ask God every day," Mulligan said, "why he allowed him to live if all this was going to happen."
http://easton.patch.com/articles/easton-dad-gets-20-40-years-in-babys-murder
Easton Dad Gets 20-40 Years in Baby's Murder Defense paints Joseph Urquia as a good man in over his head, but DA says he deserves maximum penalty.
By Tom Coombe
Joseph Urquia was born dead.
Twenty-two years ago in Venezuela, a doctor worked to revive him, his mother told a Northampton County Courtroom Tuesday.
Two decades later, in a fit of anger, Urquia would take the life of another baby: his 11 week-old daughter Joselynn, at their apartment in Easton.
For that crime, he will spend 20-40 years in prison, Judge Paula Roscioli ordered. Urquia pleaded guilty in May to third degree murder.
On December 19, 2010, Urquia punched Joselynn in the head, causing fatal injuries. Police say he lost his temper when the baby wouldn't stop crying. Urquia has a previous conviction for assaulting his older daughter in 2009; he had been in therapy since then to learn how to cope with his anger.
"Your baby was completely helpless at 11 weeks old, and you were given so many tools to keep this from happening," the judge said. Why not go outside to cool off, Roscioli asked, or call a neighbor or a family member.
"Anything...anything other than what you did," she said.
In court on Tuesday, the judge heard from witnesses who painted Urquia as a good man who was in over his head, and from the baby's mother, who wept through the hearing and spoke of her "angel" of a daughter.
"I'm not going to see her smile," Brenda De La Cruz said through an interpreter. "I'm never going to see how beautiful she could have been. No one is ever going to erase that I had a baby and her father killed her."
First Deputy District Attorney Terrance Houck noted that Urquia was on probation for the first assault at the time of Joselynn's death.
"There's no greater responsibility than a father to his child," he said. "He violated that. Twice. He's earned the maximum sentence. He deserves the maximum sentence."
And that's what he got. As a native of Venezuela -- he's a permanent resident of the United States, but not a citizen -- Urquia will likely be deported back to South America when his prison term is up.
Defense attorney Gary Asteak told the judge she needed to make a distinction between "the sin and the sinner" here, and argued that Urquia was a man with a moral compass, who cracked under pressure of trying to juggle a family and work.
"He wanted to be too much, too soon, too young," Asteak said.
"He wanted to be super dad," Xiomara Mulligan, Urquia's mother, wrote in a letter read by Asteak. She said she asked Children & Youth and mental health agencies for help, and told her son to get a babysitter. He didn't listen.
Now she's struggling with the knowledge that her son killed her granddaughter, and thinking back to when he was the baby the doctors had to revive.
"I ask God every day," Mulligan said, "why he allowed him to live if all this was going to happen."
Non-custodial mom sues state for wrongful death; custodial dad indicted for death of 5-year-old daughter (Lake Charles, Louisiana)
I salute mom Amber Vincent for taking on the state of Louisiana in this case. The evidence of incompetence and corruption in this child custody case is simply overwhelming. It took two years to even INDICT custodial dad WILLIAM STEWART for the murder of this child. That's how thick things are down there in Louisiana.
Here's additional background on this case:
http://dastardlydads.blogspot.com/2010/07/background-on-5-year-old-killed-by.html
http://dastardlydads.blogspot.com/2010/07/dad-step-indicted-in-death-of-5-year.html
http://www.kplctv.com/story/15149386/savannah-vincents-mother-sues-state-for-wrongful-death
Savannah Vincent's mother sues state for wrongful death
Posted: Jul 26, 2011 11:32 AM CDT
Updated: Jul 26, 2011 11:32 AM CDT
By Theresa Schmidt
It was June 2008 when five year old Savannah Vincent died of head injuries in a Lafayette Hospital. Last year her father and step mother were indicted for second degree murder.
Now Savannah's mother, Amber Vincent, is suing the state saying the Department of Social Services dropped the ball when it came to providing responding to validated complaints of child abuse. Amber Vincent says her purpose is to make sure, in the future, victims of child abuse get the protection needed to save their lives.
We are awaiting a response from the State Attorney General's Office and/or the Department of Social Services.
Watch for more on this story on later editions of KPLC 7News.
Here's additional background on this case:
http://dastardlydads.blogspot.com/2010/07/background-on-5-year-old-killed-by.html
http://dastardlydads.blogspot.com/2010/07/dad-step-indicted-in-death-of-5-year.html
http://www.kplctv.com/story/15149386/savannah-vincents-mother-sues-state-for-wrongful-death
Savannah Vincent's mother sues state for wrongful death
Posted: Jul 26, 2011 11:32 AM CDT
Updated: Jul 26, 2011 11:32 AM CDT
By Theresa Schmidt
It was June 2008 when five year old Savannah Vincent died of head injuries in a Lafayette Hospital. Last year her father and step mother were indicted for second degree murder.
Now Savannah's mother, Amber Vincent, is suing the state saying the Department of Social Services dropped the ball when it came to providing responding to validated complaints of child abuse. Amber Vincent says her purpose is to make sure, in the future, victims of child abuse get the protection needed to save their lives.
We are awaiting a response from the State Attorney General's Office and/or the Department of Social Services.
Watch for more on this story on later editions of KPLC 7News.
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