Dad, step charged with causing "significant permanent damage" to 4-year old (Suffolk, Virginia)

So what's the deal here? How and why did these two have access to/possession of this child? Is the father custodial? If so, what happened to Mom?

Let's ask our usual questions, the ones the authorities always fail to ask. Is the mother deceased? If she is, do we know for a fact that it was a natural death? Is she "missing"? If so, was she driven out of the home by death threats and/or violence? Did the abusive father strip her of custody through the family courts in order to "punish" her? These are always important questions to ask when we have a violent father who has managed to gain possession of a child, only to harm that child.

Dad is identified as BERNARD OLONZO ESANNASON.

http://www.suffolknewsherald.com/2014/01/06/couple-charged-with-cruelty/

Couple charged with cruelty

Published 8:36pm Monday, January 6, 2014

The father and stepmother of a 4-year-old boy were charged with cruelty and injuries to children on Friday after a Dec. 11 incident that result in “significant permanent damage” to the child, according to a Suffolk spokesperson.

Bernard Olonzo Esannason, 30, and Vallerie Maria Esannason, 33, were charged at Western Tidewater Regional Jail, where they already were being held on aggravated malicious wounding charges, according to Suffolk spokeswoman Diana Klink.

Referring to HIPAA health privacy regulations on Monday, Klink refused to elaborate on the charges, the alleged abuse, the reason for the delay between the first and second set of charges, the extent or type of the child’s injuries or the current health of the child.

Both suspects are being held at WTRJ without bond.