Wednesday, August 5, 2015

Custodial dad gets just 7 years in prison for killing 2-year-old son; awarded custody despite history of domestic violence, "anger issues" (Homestead, Florida)

Unemployed deadbeat dad with history of domestic violence and "anger issues" gets custody--and there are 8 other kids in the house. Seriously, DCF. You don' need training in social work to see what would happen next. Notice that there is NO mention of the murdered 2-year old's mother, who took custody away from her and why.

Turns out we've posted on this case before.  This is what we said about it then:

This case illustrates the total double standards applied to mothers and fathers. Mom appears to be guilty of being a messy housekeeper and smoking a little pot. Okay, not necessarily mother of the year. But how could you possibly argue that Dad ANGEL LUIS VILLEGAS was a better choice with HIS history of unemployment, domestic violence and "anger issues"?
Within ONE MONTH of getting custody, this POS threw his 2-year-old son into a wall and killed him. Total father fawning by Florida DCF, and all overseen by a child sex trafficker within the department. Adds to the growing pile of evidence showing that fathers rights folks and assorted pedophiles/child porn/human trafficker types are either the same people or work hand in hand.

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/crime/article29873815.html

Homestead man gets 7 years prison for child death

By David Ovalle

A Homestead man who tossed his toddler son onto a bed — causing a fatal blow to the child’s head — will serve seven years in prison.

Angel Villegas, 31, has pleaded guilty to aggravated manslaughter of a child and will also serve five years of probation after he leaves state prison. He accepted the plea deal late last week.

“This was unquestionably a tragic accident,” Miami-Dade Assistant Public Defender Julia Seifer-Smith said on Monday. “No amount of time that Angel could possibly do would remove or even mitigate the incredible sadness he feels, and that he is going to feel for the rest of his life.”

The July 2013 death of his son, 2-year-old Jayden Villegas-Morales, was one in a string of deaths of youngsters who had already come to the attention of Florida child welfare administrators. The deaths sparked turmoil at the Department of Children & Families — then-Secretary David Wilkins stepped down the same week the boy died.

DCF had given Villegas custody of the toddler even though the man was unemployed, living in a one-bedroom home with eight other children, had been repeatedly accused of domestic violence and had admitted to child welfare authorities that he had “an anger issue.”

The toddler’s death was one of nearly 500 examined by the Miami Herald in its 2014 series “Innocents Lost.”

Back in July 2013, Villegas was caring for the boy, who had fallen ill and had trouble breathing. Jayden had spent much of the day vomiting, at one point waking up his father in the middle of the night.

After the boy vomited in the bathroom, Villegas picked up his son and tossed him on the bed. “It wasn’t far. It was pretty close but when I tossed him I’m pretty sure he hit the wall... with his head,” Villegas told police. #Jayden covered himself with blankets. “I felt bad, you know. I looked at him and I told him I’m sorry,” Villegas told police.

Villegas said he lost his cool because he was under a lot of stress. The next morning, Villegas found Jayden “unresponsive” in his bed.