How do we know this was a custodial dad? Careful reading. Dad lives in North Platte, Mom lives in Lincoln. The child attends a North Platte school.
How did this violent dad get custody and who gave it to him? That we don't know. It is very seldom explained in the typical news article.
Dad is identified as JUSTIN FOUST.
http://www.nptelegraph.com/news/local_news/two-arrested-in-child-abuse-case/article_a18cced2-22f3-11e6-bcd2-c3751fc946b2.html
Two arrested in child abuse case
Posted: Thursday, May 26, 2016 3:00 am
By Tammy Bain
Two people were arrested Tuesday after a weeks-long investigation into felony child abuse.
On May 6, a North Platte police officer was called to Adams Middle School. A girl had arrived at school with a black eye, said Investigator John Deal. Her mother, who lives in Lincoln, had reported that her daughter texted her on the way to school and said her father had punched her in the eye.
The victim was interviewed at Bridge of Hope and said she and her father had argued the day before, Deal said. The father slapped the girl’s face several times and punched her eye, he said. The girl’s injuries matched her report.
The victim said her father told her to lie and say that a picture frame fell from the wall and hit her, Deal said. She said that her stepmother had witnessed the incident, and that other children in the home had been abused.
The other children living in the home were removed by North Platte Police Department and Department of Health and Human Services while the investigation is continuing, Deal said.
Two of the children, a boy and girl who are elementary school age, were sent to their mother’s home in Lincoln and interviewed at a Child Advocacy Center, Deal said. Both reported that at night, the father and stepmother would screw shut the door to the boy’s room so he could not use the bathroom, Deal said. They also reported that the father threw the boy on the ground. Deal said both children reported having witnessed the original punching incident.
The second girl also reported that the boy wasn’t allowed to eat lunch or breakfast at home.
The father and stepmother, Justin and Cortney Foust, were jailed on suspicion of felony child abuse. Each was released after posting 10 percent of $20,000 bail.
Deal declined to release ages of the three children. Other children who did not report abuse also lived in the home, and police hope to preserve their anonymity, he said.
Showing posts with label Nebraska. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Nebraska. Show all posts
Wednesday, June 1, 2016
Saturday, August 8, 2015
Dad found not guilty of deliberately burning 6-week-old daughter (Lancaster County, Nebraska)
Astonishing how excuses can be made for the most outrageous behavior--when you're a father.
We're supposed to believe that this buffoon "innocently" scalded a 6-week-old baby causing burns over 65 percent over her body, and that the reason was because he was "inexperienced."
How experienced do you have to be to know that you don't put babies in boiling hot water? How experienced to you have to be to know that you call 911 when someone is injured?
Over and over I find that abusers do NOT call emergency medical help, but engage in stalling tactics like calling other people. That's why I tend not to believe this guy.
Yet another reason why we need paid maternity leave in this country. Young males are absolutely incompetent infant caregivers--and that's when there not out and out dangerous. Statistics show that infants are at the highest risk of abuse and neglect with this group. They have no nurturing skills and are easily "frustrated"--a volatile combination.
Dad is identified as REID ALDEN.
http://journalstar.com/news/local/911/jury-finds-young-dad-not-guilty-of-abuse-for-baby/article_5fdb12e7-eaf8-5e98-b49d-1beb8726a111.html
Jury finds young dad not guilty of abuse for baby's burns from bath
August 06, 2015 7:00 pm • By Lori Pilger | Lincoln Journal Star
A jury Thursday found a young Lincoln father not guilty of negligent child abuse for scalding his 6-week-old daughter in bath water that was too hot.
"You have to remain focused not on how bad these injuries were. They were terrible," Reid Alden's attorney Sean Brennan said. "But every time something happens it doesn’t make it a crime."
This was an accident, he said.
Alden's daughter ended up with burns over nearly 65 percent of her tiny body, from her cheeks, chin and ears to her whole back and bottom to the middle of her thighs.
Dr. David Voight said when she got to the hospital she probably had a 20 percent chance of survival.
She spent five weeks in the hospital. Doctors had to remove her loose skin and cover the burned spots with pig skin grafts and put her on a ventilator to help her breathe.
And they saved her.
But she was forever scarred at her father's hands, Deputy Lancaster County Attorney Jeff Mathers said Wednesday afternoon in closing arguments.
"He didn't beat her. He didn't shake her. But she is scarred for life. It was his hands that put her in that tub that was too hot," he said.
On April 16, 2014, the day Alden's wife returned to work after giving birth to their daughter, Alden called her frantic. So hysteric, she said, she didn't even recognize his voice right away.
Something was wrong with Raelynn. He'd filled up the baby tub, like usual, and gave her a bath, for the first time without his wife. This time, the tiny girl's skin turned bright pink and her skin started sloughing off when he took her out.
Alden called his wife, not sure what to do.
She sent her brother-in-law, a dad of five who lived nearby, to check on Raelynn. One look at Raelynn, and he told Alden to call 911. He could tell she was burned.
At the counsel table Tuesday, Alden, now 21, cried as a recording of the 911 call played, his daughter's pained cries caught in the background.
While rescue workers whisked her from the family's apartment at 1517 Superior St. to the burn unit at St. Elizabeth, Lincoln police started questioning Alden.
Alden ended up charged with a felony, but not because he had intentionally abused his daughter. At trial this week, he wasn't accused of that. Prosecutors charged him with negligent child abuse, alleging he recklessly placed his daughter in danger by putting her in water that was too hot without checking it first.
"It wasn't his intent or on purpose, but he did it, and it resulted in serious bodily injury," Mathers said.
But Brennan said the question was whether Alden knew how hot the water was, realized it could hurt her and put her in it anyway.
Voigt testified that it was possible Alden could have put his hands in the water and not been scalded by it. Adults have thicker skin than babies. And people don't all have the same sense of touch.
Brennan said Alden was a new, inexperienced parent who made a mistake.
"There isn't anybody more sorry about what happened to Raelynn than Reid Alden is. It's his daughter, he loves her," the attorney said.
The jury got the case around 4:30 p.m. Wednesday and returned to the courtroom Thursday at 2:45 p.m. with a verdict finding Alden not guilty.
We're supposed to believe that this buffoon "innocently" scalded a 6-week-old baby causing burns over 65 percent over her body, and that the reason was because he was "inexperienced."
How experienced do you have to be to know that you don't put babies in boiling hot water? How experienced to you have to be to know that you call 911 when someone is injured?
Over and over I find that abusers do NOT call emergency medical help, but engage in stalling tactics like calling other people. That's why I tend not to believe this guy.
Yet another reason why we need paid maternity leave in this country. Young males are absolutely incompetent infant caregivers--and that's when there not out and out dangerous. Statistics show that infants are at the highest risk of abuse and neglect with this group. They have no nurturing skills and are easily "frustrated"--a volatile combination.
Dad is identified as REID ALDEN.
http://journalstar.com/news/local/911/jury-finds-young-dad-not-guilty-of-abuse-for-baby/article_5fdb12e7-eaf8-5e98-b49d-1beb8726a111.html
Jury finds young dad not guilty of abuse for baby's burns from bath
August 06, 2015 7:00 pm • By Lori Pilger | Lincoln Journal Star
A jury Thursday found a young Lincoln father not guilty of negligent child abuse for scalding his 6-week-old daughter in bath water that was too hot.
"You have to remain focused not on how bad these injuries were. They were terrible," Reid Alden's attorney Sean Brennan said. "But every time something happens it doesn’t make it a crime."
This was an accident, he said.
Alden's daughter ended up with burns over nearly 65 percent of her tiny body, from her cheeks, chin and ears to her whole back and bottom to the middle of her thighs.
Dr. David Voight said when she got to the hospital she probably had a 20 percent chance of survival.
She spent five weeks in the hospital. Doctors had to remove her loose skin and cover the burned spots with pig skin grafts and put her on a ventilator to help her breathe.
And they saved her.
But she was forever scarred at her father's hands, Deputy Lancaster County Attorney Jeff Mathers said Wednesday afternoon in closing arguments.
"He didn't beat her. He didn't shake her. But she is scarred for life. It was his hands that put her in that tub that was too hot," he said.
On April 16, 2014, the day Alden's wife returned to work after giving birth to their daughter, Alden called her frantic. So hysteric, she said, she didn't even recognize his voice right away.
Something was wrong with Raelynn. He'd filled up the baby tub, like usual, and gave her a bath, for the first time without his wife. This time, the tiny girl's skin turned bright pink and her skin started sloughing off when he took her out.
Alden called his wife, not sure what to do.
She sent her brother-in-law, a dad of five who lived nearby, to check on Raelynn. One look at Raelynn, and he told Alden to call 911. He could tell she was burned.
At the counsel table Tuesday, Alden, now 21, cried as a recording of the 911 call played, his daughter's pained cries caught in the background.
While rescue workers whisked her from the family's apartment at 1517 Superior St. to the burn unit at St. Elizabeth, Lincoln police started questioning Alden.
Alden ended up charged with a felony, but not because he had intentionally abused his daughter. At trial this week, he wasn't accused of that. Prosecutors charged him with negligent child abuse, alleging he recklessly placed his daughter in danger by putting her in water that was too hot without checking it first.
"It wasn't his intent or on purpose, but he did it, and it resulted in serious bodily injury," Mathers said.
But Brennan said the question was whether Alden knew how hot the water was, realized it could hurt her and put her in it anyway.
Voigt testified that it was possible Alden could have put his hands in the water and not been scalded by it. Adults have thicker skin than babies. And people don't all have the same sense of touch.
Brennan said Alden was a new, inexperienced parent who made a mistake.
"There isn't anybody more sorry about what happened to Raelynn than Reid Alden is. It's his daughter, he loves her," the attorney said.
The jury got the case around 4:30 p.m. Wednesday and returned to the courtroom Thursday at 2:45 p.m. with a verdict finding Alden not guilty.
Friday, June 12, 2015
Dad with custody/visitation rights arrested for leaving "mssing" 5-year-old daughter at water park (Beatrice, Nebraska)
Fortunately this is not one of those cases that ended in tragedy. But it does highlight the problem of granting custody/visitation rights to young, probably never married fathers who don't have a clue as to how to supervise young children. Notice this is the second time police became involved because dad ZACHARY C. SHEPARDSON "lost" the child. And this last time, he didn't even bother to contact police though she had been gone for at least two hours.
The poor mother must just shudder every time she has to submit her daughter to this. And yet, how much you want to bet that the court's won't revoke Daddy's "rights"?
http://journalstar.com/news/local/911/year-old-found-alone-in-pool-father-arrested/article_118c979e-b25b-51ee-9c14-5a621113c1ab.html
5-year-old found alone in pool; father arrested
June 09, 2015 11:40 am • By the Beatrice Daily Sun
BEATRICE — A Beatrice man was arrested after his 5-year-old daughter was found alone in the Beatrice pool.
Shortly after 11 a.m. Saturday, an hour before the Big Blue Water Park opened, a pool worker spotted a child in the pool in chest-high water with no clothing or supervision.
The worker contacted police, who determined the 5-year-old was unable to swim. The father was eventually identified as Zachary C. Shepardson, 23.
Officers got in touch with a family member, who contacted Shepardson, who then contacted police at 12:35 p.m.
During an interview with police, Shepardson said he knew the child had been missing since around 10 a.m. but did not report it to officers because he was afraid he would get in trouble. Shepardson told officers he knew he should have notified police based on a previous experience when his daughter was lost and returned to him by officers, according to Gage County Court documents.
Shepardson was arrested on suspicion of committing intentional child abuse for not notifying police, because it placed his child in a situation that endangered her physical health.
Police Lt. Mike Oliver said the girl was unharmed, and was turned over to her mother, who does not live with Shepardson.
Shepardson appeared in Gage County Court Monday, where bond was set at $5,000 with a 10 percent deposit. He’s due back in court June 23.
The poor mother must just shudder every time she has to submit her daughter to this. And yet, how much you want to bet that the court's won't revoke Daddy's "rights"?
http://journalstar.com/news/local/911/year-old-found-alone-in-pool-father-arrested/article_118c979e-b25b-51ee-9c14-5a621113c1ab.html
5-year-old found alone in pool; father arrested
June 09, 2015 11:40 am • By the Beatrice Daily Sun
BEATRICE — A Beatrice man was arrested after his 5-year-old daughter was found alone in the Beatrice pool.
Shortly after 11 a.m. Saturday, an hour before the Big Blue Water Park opened, a pool worker spotted a child in the pool in chest-high water with no clothing or supervision.
The worker contacted police, who determined the 5-year-old was unable to swim. The father was eventually identified as Zachary C. Shepardson, 23.
Officers got in touch with a family member, who contacted Shepardson, who then contacted police at 12:35 p.m.
During an interview with police, Shepardson said he knew the child had been missing since around 10 a.m. but did not report it to officers because he was afraid he would get in trouble. Shepardson told officers he knew he should have notified police based on a previous experience when his daughter was lost and returned to him by officers, according to Gage County Court documents.
Shepardson was arrested on suspicion of committing intentional child abuse for not notifying police, because it placed his child in a situation that endangered her physical health.
Police Lt. Mike Oliver said the girl was unharmed, and was turned over to her mother, who does not live with Shepardson.
Shepardson appeared in Gage County Court Monday, where bond was set at $5,000 with a 10 percent deposit. He’s due back in court June 23.
Friday, May 15, 2015
Dad charged with abusing 3-month-old son; baby has "six cracked bones" and "two brain traumas" (Omaha, Nebraska)
Dad is identified as BRIAN M. SWANSON.
http://www.omaha.com/news/crime/dad-charged-with-child-abuse-of--month-old-son/article_27b7ca00-e4e9-5139-9a11-7bc6183f55e2.html
Dad charged with child abuse of 3-month-old son who he said was choking
Posted: Wednesday, May 13, 2015 12:30 am
By Kevin Cole / World-Herald staff writer
An Omaha father has been charged with felony child abuse in connection with injuries to his 3-month-old son.
Brian M. Swanson, 31, was charged Friday in Douglas County Court. He was released from jail Monday after posting 10 percent of his $500,000 bail.
If convicted, he could face up to 50 years in prison.
The infant’s maternal grandmother, Aecha Otero, said doctors told her that the infant suffered “six cracked bones” and “two brain traumas.” She said the child is blind, but doctors are hopeful that condition can be reversed.
“The doctor cannot guarantee that he will be able to see again, but we are all thinking positive,” Otero said.
Otero said the child’s mother, Alexandria Otero, has been “devastated” by the incident and broke off her engagement to Swanson. A Douglas County Juvenile Court judge placed the boy in protective custody.
According to a police report, Swanson told officers that he was alone with the child when the boy began to choke on the morning of April 18. Swanson said he attempted to help the boy breathe by “putting his finger in his mouth” and then “turning him over and smacking his back.”
The child was rushed to a nearby hospital and later transferred to Children’s Hospital & Medical Center. The infant was diagnosed with a subdural hematoma, according to a petition filed by the Douglas County Attorney’s Office.
Subdural hematoma, or blood on the brain, is usually caused by severe head injuries.
http://www.omaha.com/news/crime/dad-charged-with-child-abuse-of--month-old-son/article_27b7ca00-e4e9-5139-9a11-7bc6183f55e2.html
Dad charged with child abuse of 3-month-old son who he said was choking
Posted: Wednesday, May 13, 2015 12:30 am
By Kevin Cole / World-Herald staff writer
An Omaha father has been charged with felony child abuse in connection with injuries to his 3-month-old son.
Brian M. Swanson, 31, was charged Friday in Douglas County Court. He was released from jail Monday after posting 10 percent of his $500,000 bail.
If convicted, he could face up to 50 years in prison.
The infant’s maternal grandmother, Aecha Otero, said doctors told her that the infant suffered “six cracked bones” and “two brain traumas.” She said the child is blind, but doctors are hopeful that condition can be reversed.
“The doctor cannot guarantee that he will be able to see again, but we are all thinking positive,” Otero said.
Otero said the child’s mother, Alexandria Otero, has been “devastated” by the incident and broke off her engagement to Swanson. A Douglas County Juvenile Court judge placed the boy in protective custody.
According to a police report, Swanson told officers that he was alone with the child when the boy began to choke on the morning of April 18. Swanson said he attempted to help the boy breathe by “putting his finger in his mouth” and then “turning him over and smacking his back.”
The child was rushed to a nearby hospital and later transferred to Children’s Hospital & Medical Center. The infant was diagnosed with a subdural hematoma, according to a petition filed by the Douglas County Attorney’s Office.
Subdural hematoma, or blood on the brain, is usually caused by severe head injuries.
Thursday, April 30, 2015
Dad gets 20-25 years in prison for assaulting 2-month-old son; baby had fractured skull, broken leg (Saunders County, Nebraska)
Dad is identified as SCOTT NEEMAN.
http://www.wowt.com/home/headlines/Man-Sentenced-To-20-25-Years-In-Prison-For-Bhild-301439161.html
Father Sentenced To 20-25 Years In Prison For Child Abuse
By: sixonline
A man convicted of child abuse will spend 20-25 years is prison for seriously injuring his two-month old son.
A man convicted of child abuse will spend 20-25 years is prison for seriously injuring his two-month old son.
Scott Neeman, 22, received the sentence in Saunders County District Court Monday.
Ashland police were called to investigate a report of an infant not breathing in June 2014. The baby was taken to Children's Hospital in Omaha where it was later discovered he had skull fractures, a broken leg and other injuries consistent with Shaken Baby Syndrome.
A police report reveals Neemann later demonstrated on a doll how he punched, kicked and shook his son after he became frustrated with the child's crying.
http://www.wowt.com/home/headlines/Man-Sentenced-To-20-25-Years-In-Prison-For-Bhild-301439161.html
Father Sentenced To 20-25 Years In Prison For Child Abuse
By: sixonline
A man convicted of child abuse will spend 20-25 years is prison for seriously injuring his two-month old son.
A man convicted of child abuse will spend 20-25 years is prison for seriously injuring his two-month old son.
Scott Neeman, 22, received the sentence in Saunders County District Court Monday.
Ashland police were called to investigate a report of an infant not breathing in June 2014. The baby was taken to Children's Hospital in Omaha where it was later discovered he had skull fractures, a broken leg and other injuries consistent with Shaken Baby Syndrome.
A police report reveals Neemann later demonstrated on a doll how he punched, kicked and shook his son after he became frustrated with the child's crying.
Tuesday, March 3, 2015
Dad pleads guilty in death of infant son (Atkinson, Nebraska)
Dad is identified as MICHAEL A. SCHROEDER. No mention of the mother.
http://norfolkdailynews.com/news/briefs/father-pleads-guilty-in-death-of-son/article_7b5fac50-c1e9-11e4-981f-bb75d6cda9b1.html
Father pleads guilty in death of son
Posted: Tuesday, March 3, 2015 3:09 pm
Special to the Daily News
O’NEILL — An Atkinson man accused of intentional child abuse following the death of his son appeared in Holt County District Court last week.
Michael A. Schroeder, 26, pled no contest to child abuse resulting in death, a Class 1B felony in his role of the death of his 8 1/2-month-old son Kalium D. Ebsen of Atkinson.
Schroeder appeared Feb. 23 and was represented by Holt County Public Defender Rod Smith.
District Judge Mark Kozisek set Schroeder’s sentencing date for May 4.
He was reprimanded back into the custody of the Holt County sheriff’s office and is being held at the Holt County Jail pending sentencing.
Schroeder was taken into custody on Nov. 1 by the Atkinson Police Department.
A court affidavit filed by an Atkinson office stated the boy was taken to West Holt Memorial Hospital the night of Oct. 26 after he had become unresponsive.
The infant was then flown to an Omaha hospital where he died Oct. 29.
http://norfolkdailynews.com/news/briefs/father-pleads-guilty-in-death-of-son/article_7b5fac50-c1e9-11e4-981f-bb75d6cda9b1.html
Father pleads guilty in death of son
Posted: Tuesday, March 3, 2015 3:09 pm
Special to the Daily News
O’NEILL — An Atkinson man accused of intentional child abuse following the death of his son appeared in Holt County District Court last week.
Michael A. Schroeder, 26, pled no contest to child abuse resulting in death, a Class 1B felony in his role of the death of his 8 1/2-month-old son Kalium D. Ebsen of Atkinson.
Schroeder appeared Feb. 23 and was represented by Holt County Public Defender Rod Smith.
District Judge Mark Kozisek set Schroeder’s sentencing date for May 4.
He was reprimanded back into the custody of the Holt County sheriff’s office and is being held at the Holt County Jail pending sentencing.
Schroeder was taken into custody on Nov. 1 by the Atkinson Police Department.
A court affidavit filed by an Atkinson office stated the boy was taken to West Holt Memorial Hospital the night of Oct. 26 after he had become unresponsive.
The infant was then flown to an Omaha hospital where he died Oct. 29.
Wednesday, January 21, 2015
Custodial dad, girlfriend arrested for abusing 23-month-old boy; toddler has skull fracture, brain injury - what happened to the mother? (Omaha, Nebraska)
As very often happens in these accounts, the abusive father's custodial status is basically hidden and has to be teased out. The clues?
1) The reference to this being JOSHUA POWELL's son--but not Erika Duckworth's.
2) Erica Duckworth is referred to as the girlfriend (in paragraph 6), not as the mother. Though you could miss this with all the references to the "couple."
3) It took 10 days for the "couple" to seek medical attention during which time there was apparently no interaction with the boy's mother, who has been written out of this story entirely.
So who gave an abusive father like Joshua Powell custody and why? What happened to this little boy's mother??? Was she subjected to similar treatment?
http://www.ketv.com/news/Couple-booked-after-child-suffers-skull-fracture-experiences-seizures/30851968
Couple booked after child suffers skull fracture, experiences seizures
Joshua Powell, Erika Ducksworth charged in connection with case
Published 9:11 PM CST Jan 21, 2015
OMAHA, Neb. —Doctors said a toddler’s injuries are not consistent with a couple’s story. #The couple, Joshua Powell and Erika Ducksworth, told police Powell’s 23-month-old son fell from a couch Jan. 2 and hit his head on a tile floor. They said he seemed fine, so they didn’t seek medical attention.
Ten days later, the boy was stiff and wouldn’t wake up. Court records indicate the couple took the child to the hospital after 13 hours.
Physicians at Nebraska Medicine saw the child had an eye injury and death of brain tissue due to lack of oxygen.
“This baby suffers from very serious injuries,” said Douglas County Attorney Don Kleine. “Probably the most serious is a skull fracture, along with other significant injuries.”
Doctors said a retinal hemorrhage was the result of blunt-force trauma and “not consistent with a fall from a couch.” They said they believe the child seized all night without medical care until Powell brought his son to the hospital.
“The baby wasn’t taken to the hospital immediately after the injuries, it suffered these injuries, which is one issue, of course, we have with the father and his girlfriend,” Kleine said.
Kleine said his office has filed a petition in juvenile court to sever the couples’ ties with the child and protect four others in their home.
Powell and Ducksworth are each charged with intentional child abuse with serious injury.
Those charges, however, could change. Kleine said officials will be monitoring the baby’s health on a daily basis with medical staffers.
“Depending on the child’s condition and the child improving or not improving, that could change the charges,” Kleine said.
Nebraska Medicine indicated the boy was in fair condition Wednesday. An affidavit indicated Powell and Ducksworth told police they had no idea how the child got the other injuries, but said they should have sought medical attention.
Powell and Ducksworth will be in court for an arraignment on felony child abuse charges Thursday afternoon.
1) The reference to this being JOSHUA POWELL's son--but not Erika Duckworth's.
2) Erica Duckworth is referred to as the girlfriend (in paragraph 6), not as the mother. Though you could miss this with all the references to the "couple."
3) It took 10 days for the "couple" to seek medical attention during which time there was apparently no interaction with the boy's mother, who has been written out of this story entirely.
So who gave an abusive father like Joshua Powell custody and why? What happened to this little boy's mother??? Was she subjected to similar treatment?
http://www.ketv.com/news/Couple-booked-after-child-suffers-skull-fracture-experiences-seizures/30851968
Couple booked after child suffers skull fracture, experiences seizures
Joshua Powell, Erika Ducksworth charged in connection with case
Published 9:11 PM CST Jan 21, 2015
OMAHA, Neb. —Doctors said a toddler’s injuries are not consistent with a couple’s story. #The couple, Joshua Powell and Erika Ducksworth, told police Powell’s 23-month-old son fell from a couch Jan. 2 and hit his head on a tile floor. They said he seemed fine, so they didn’t seek medical attention.
Ten days later, the boy was stiff and wouldn’t wake up. Court records indicate the couple took the child to the hospital after 13 hours.
Physicians at Nebraska Medicine saw the child had an eye injury and death of brain tissue due to lack of oxygen.
“This baby suffers from very serious injuries,” said Douglas County Attorney Don Kleine. “Probably the most serious is a skull fracture, along with other significant injuries.”
Doctors said a retinal hemorrhage was the result of blunt-force trauma and “not consistent with a fall from a couch.” They said they believe the child seized all night without medical care until Powell brought his son to the hospital.
“The baby wasn’t taken to the hospital immediately after the injuries, it suffered these injuries, which is one issue, of course, we have with the father and his girlfriend,” Kleine said.
Kleine said his office has filed a petition in juvenile court to sever the couples’ ties with the child and protect four others in their home.
Powell and Ducksworth are each charged with intentional child abuse with serious injury.
Those charges, however, could change. Kleine said officials will be monitoring the baby’s health on a daily basis with medical staffers.
“Depending on the child’s condition and the child improving or not improving, that could change the charges,” Kleine said.
Nebraska Medicine indicated the boy was in fair condition Wednesday. An affidavit indicated Powell and Ducksworth told police they had no idea how the child got the other injuries, but said they should have sought medical attention.
Powell and Ducksworth will be in court for an arraignment on felony child abuse charges Thursday afternoon.
Saturday, January 3, 2015
Dad arrested for fracturing skull of 3-month-old son (Lincoln, Nebraska)
The "frustrated" dad is identified as KOTY BUESING.
http://www.wowt.com/home/headlines/Lincoln-Father-Arrested-For-Fracturing-Babys-Skull-287252841.html
Lincoln Father Arrested For Fracturing Baby's Skull
Updated: Wed 9:16 PM, Dec 31, 2014
By: WOWT 6 News
Police arrested a Lincoln father after his 3-week-old baby was found with a skull fracture and bleeding on the brain.
Koty Buesing was arrested December 30th for felony child abuse. Police say the baby's 19-year-old mother discovered swelling on her 3-week-old December 19th. Police say Buesing told her he accidentally hit the baby's head against a table while he picked him up. The mother decided to keep an eye on the injury and waited to go to a doctor until a regular visit on the 24th.
The pediatrician immediately sent the baby to the hospital and eventually to Children's Hospital in Omaha.
Doctors found a skull fracture and bleeding on the brain. They told police the injury was not accidental.
Investigators later discovered Buesing had not only caused the fracture, but also shook the baby on multiple occasions out of frustration.
The baby has been released from the hospital and is in the care of Health and Human Services.
http://www.wowt.com/home/headlines/Lincoln-Father-Arrested-For-Fracturing-Babys-Skull-287252841.html
Lincoln Father Arrested For Fracturing Baby's Skull
Updated: Wed 9:16 PM, Dec 31, 2014
By: WOWT 6 News
Police arrested a Lincoln father after his 3-week-old baby was found with a skull fracture and bleeding on the brain.
Koty Buesing was arrested December 30th for felony child abuse. Police say the baby's 19-year-old mother discovered swelling on her 3-week-old December 19th. Police say Buesing told her he accidentally hit the baby's head against a table while he picked him up. The mother decided to keep an eye on the injury and waited to go to a doctor until a regular visit on the 24th.
The pediatrician immediately sent the baby to the hospital and eventually to Children's Hospital in Omaha.
Doctors found a skull fracture and bleeding on the brain. They told police the injury was not accidental.
Investigators later discovered Buesing had not only caused the fracture, but also shook the baby on multiple occasions out of frustration.
The baby has been released from the hospital and is in the care of Health and Human Services.
Thursday, November 20, 2014
Protective mom fights abusive custodial dad over disabled sons (Plymouth County, Iowa)
Since this is being covered in the Native American press, the issue is being framed as a Native mother being crushed by a white father. That angle obviously plays into it, no doubt about it.
But we have seen similar situations played out where ethnic/racial differences are not apparent. To a very large extent, this is testimony to how much power the fathers rights movement has been able to wield over the family courts and child "protection" system. And that also needs to be brought out.
The fact that 17-year-old boys are being silenced by the courts is very much a fathers rights thing. SHAME ON JUDGE EDWARD JACOBSON for engaging in heavy-handed FR tactics.
See our previous post here. For some reason, the father has not been identified in the media.
http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2014/11/20/sioux-mother-return-court-latest-fight-her-abused-sons-157916
Sioux Mother to Return to Court in Latest Fight for Her Abused Sons
Suzette Brewer 11/20/14
On Friday, November 21 another hearing is scheduled in the Iowa District Court in Plymouth County in an interstate custody showdown that has sparked national outrage among tribes and Indian child welfare advocates over the return of disabled twin brothers to the custody of their non-Indian father, who has six founded cases of child abuse on his record. One of the boys is wheelchair bound with cerebral palsy, while the other is blind and has autism.
Last June, Audre’y Eby, the twins’ Rosebud Sioux mother who resides in Nebraska, was jailed for a week in Iowa on kidnapping charges for refusing to return the boys back to their father after officials in Nebraska threatened her with child endangerment charges when they found evidence of abuse during an emergency room visit, in which blood and bruises were found on one of the boys’ groin area. The boys testified to officials in both states that their father’s girlfriend had kicked one of them after she caught him masturbating and that the father had threatened to “cut his privates off.”
Trapped between competing interstate jurisdictions, Eby said she had no choice but to keep her children, even though she subsequently went to jail in Iowa for trying to protect them from their abusers.
Eby kept the boys in Nebraska for a time, but subsequently moved them to the Rosebud Indian Reservation in South Dakota in order to protect them from their father and his live-in girlfriend, both of whom have been placed on the Iowa Central Abuse Registry for physical abuse, denial of critical care and failure to provide proper supervision to the twins. In early October, the boys, who are now 17, were ordered to appear before Judge Edward Jacobson for testimony at a hearing, with which Eby complied. But rather than allowing the boys to testify as ordered, Jacobson instead ordered half a dozen police officers to physically remove the boys from their mother’s custody in the hallway of the courthouse in front of at least a dozen bystanders, who were shocked that the incident took place in such a public manner with no plan for a peaceful transfer, as usually is required under these circumstances. Eby said both boys were struggling and screaming to stay with her as they were being led away by law enforcement.
“Judge Jacobson said ‘I don’t allow children to testify in my court,’” said Eby. “The order was a ruse to get me to bring them [to Iowa] so they could take them from me.”
Subsequently, in a one-page ruling issued by Judge Edward Jacobson that only vaguely refers to the evidence that was presented, the boys were immediately ordered back to their father that day. Jacobson only mentioned that Eby had “absconded” with the children, in spite of the fact that the State of Nebraska had threatened her with child endangerment if she returned them to their father. Judge Jacobson also ordered that “Mr. Courtright shall have full care, custody, and control of both children. Visistation [sic] shall be at Mr. Courtright's discretion,” in spite of six founded charges of abuse on father’s record.
Eby has had no contact with her children since that time and that the boys’ father has threatened her that she will “never see them again” if she continues with the case.
“One can say that these young men fell through the cracks,” says Frank LaMere, the director of the Four Directions Community Center in Sioux City, Iowa. “The people over in Plymouth County absolutely knew what was happening to these boys and they turned a blind eye. The DHS and the officers of the court are very aware of the abuse charges against their father, but they feel no responsibility whatsoever in spite of the fact that these allegations have been confirmed and are on the record.”
LaMere says that he intends to be at the hearing on Friday, along with other members of the Native community to show their support for the twins and their mother, who they feel is victim of the racist policies toward Native parents in courtrooms across the country.
“If a Native man had six allegations of abuse on his record, he would be serving five to 10 years in prison,” said LaMere, who is a member of the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska. “But we have a white father and a white girlfriend with six founded charges and what does Judge Jacobson do? He gives the abused children back to their perpetrators and throws the Indian mother in jail. I’ve never seen anything like it in all my years of Indian child welfare experience.”
Next week, Eby and LaMere are scheduled to attend the 12th Annual March to Honor Lost Children in Sioux City. For 12 years, says LaMere, it has been necessary to organize these marches and events to raise awareness of the challenges faced by Native community members who find themselves locked in a never-ending battle with child welfare systems across the country.
“We have worked hard to build a good relationship with officials here in Woodbury County,” said LaMere. “But there are countless counties across the country that ignore the Indian Child Welfare Act. Sadly, they forget that ICWA is not a ‘defense’ strategy – it is federal law. And we want to ensure that they are attentive to the requirements of the law.”
But we have seen similar situations played out where ethnic/racial differences are not apparent. To a very large extent, this is testimony to how much power the fathers rights movement has been able to wield over the family courts and child "protection" system. And that also needs to be brought out.
The fact that 17-year-old boys are being silenced by the courts is very much a fathers rights thing. SHAME ON JUDGE EDWARD JACOBSON for engaging in heavy-handed FR tactics.
See our previous post here. For some reason, the father has not been identified in the media.
http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2014/11/20/sioux-mother-return-court-latest-fight-her-abused-sons-157916
Sioux Mother to Return to Court in Latest Fight for Her Abused Sons
Suzette Brewer 11/20/14
On Friday, November 21 another hearing is scheduled in the Iowa District Court in Plymouth County in an interstate custody showdown that has sparked national outrage among tribes and Indian child welfare advocates over the return of disabled twin brothers to the custody of their non-Indian father, who has six founded cases of child abuse on his record. One of the boys is wheelchair bound with cerebral palsy, while the other is blind and has autism.
Last June, Audre’y Eby, the twins’ Rosebud Sioux mother who resides in Nebraska, was jailed for a week in Iowa on kidnapping charges for refusing to return the boys back to their father after officials in Nebraska threatened her with child endangerment charges when they found evidence of abuse during an emergency room visit, in which blood and bruises were found on one of the boys’ groin area. The boys testified to officials in both states that their father’s girlfriend had kicked one of them after she caught him masturbating and that the father had threatened to “cut his privates off.”
Trapped between competing interstate jurisdictions, Eby said she had no choice but to keep her children, even though she subsequently went to jail in Iowa for trying to protect them from their abusers.
Eby kept the boys in Nebraska for a time, but subsequently moved them to the Rosebud Indian Reservation in South Dakota in order to protect them from their father and his live-in girlfriend, both of whom have been placed on the Iowa Central Abuse Registry for physical abuse, denial of critical care and failure to provide proper supervision to the twins. In early October, the boys, who are now 17, were ordered to appear before Judge Edward Jacobson for testimony at a hearing, with which Eby complied. But rather than allowing the boys to testify as ordered, Jacobson instead ordered half a dozen police officers to physically remove the boys from their mother’s custody in the hallway of the courthouse in front of at least a dozen bystanders, who were shocked that the incident took place in such a public manner with no plan for a peaceful transfer, as usually is required under these circumstances. Eby said both boys were struggling and screaming to stay with her as they were being led away by law enforcement.
“Judge Jacobson said ‘I don’t allow children to testify in my court,’” said Eby. “The order was a ruse to get me to bring them [to Iowa] so they could take them from me.”
Subsequently, in a one-page ruling issued by Judge Edward Jacobson that only vaguely refers to the evidence that was presented, the boys were immediately ordered back to their father that day. Jacobson only mentioned that Eby had “absconded” with the children, in spite of the fact that the State of Nebraska had threatened her with child endangerment if she returned them to their father. Judge Jacobson also ordered that “Mr. Courtright shall have full care, custody, and control of both children. Visistation [sic] shall be at Mr. Courtright's discretion,” in spite of six founded charges of abuse on father’s record.
Eby has had no contact with her children since that time and that the boys’ father has threatened her that she will “never see them again” if she continues with the case.
“One can say that these young men fell through the cracks,” says Frank LaMere, the director of the Four Directions Community Center in Sioux City, Iowa. “The people over in Plymouth County absolutely knew what was happening to these boys and they turned a blind eye. The DHS and the officers of the court are very aware of the abuse charges against their father, but they feel no responsibility whatsoever in spite of the fact that these allegations have been confirmed and are on the record.”
LaMere says that he intends to be at the hearing on Friday, along with other members of the Native community to show their support for the twins and their mother, who they feel is victim of the racist policies toward Native parents in courtrooms across the country.
“If a Native man had six allegations of abuse on his record, he would be serving five to 10 years in prison,” said LaMere, who is a member of the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska. “But we have a white father and a white girlfriend with six founded charges and what does Judge Jacobson do? He gives the abused children back to their perpetrators and throws the Indian mother in jail. I’ve never seen anything like it in all my years of Indian child welfare experience.”
Next week, Eby and LaMere are scheduled to attend the 12th Annual March to Honor Lost Children in Sioux City. For 12 years, says LaMere, it has been necessary to organize these marches and events to raise awareness of the challenges faced by Native community members who find themselves locked in a never-ending battle with child welfare systems across the country.
“We have worked hard to build a good relationship with officials here in Woodbury County,” said LaMere. “But there are countless counties across the country that ignore the Indian Child Welfare Act. Sadly, they forget that ICWA is not a ‘defense’ strategy – it is federal law. And we want to ensure that they are attentive to the requirements of the law.”
Wednesday, July 23, 2014
Custodial dad, girlfriend plead no contest in abuse of 10-month-old son with fractured skull; what happened to the mother of this baby? (Columbus, Nebraska)
Once again, we see the convoluted way the media disguises a father's custodial status.
Notice that your have to read six paragraphs down to find out that JUAN TREJO is the biological father while the woman in question is not the biological mother.
Then you have to skip back to the first paragraph to find out that this abuse took place over two months, so it was not something that just happened over weekend visitation. Ergo, Daddy must have been custodial.
Notice that the baby is now in foster care. And it apparently doesn't even OCCUR to this reporter to find out what happened to this baby's mother! Or how and why she lost custody. Or what judge may have been responsible for this outrage.
http://columbustelegram.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/columbus-couple-admit-physical-abuse-of-baby/article_ab553ed6-6d2e-517b-be37-3f28c7336ef2.html
Columbus couple admit physical abuse of baby
3 hours ago • By Jim Osborn
COLUMBUS – A Columbus couple admitted their roles in abusing a 10-month-old boy over a two-month period this spring that eventually sent the baby to the hospital with a fractured skull and bleeding on the brain.
Defendant Juan Trejo pleaded no contest to felony child abuse in connection with an April 22 incident in which the 22-year-old defendant admitted fracturing his son’s skull in multiple places after throwing him to the floor when the baby became fussy and wouldn’t stop crying.
Trejo entered his plea in Platte County District Court in exchange for the prosecution dismissed two similar abuse charges. The defendant was convicted of a Class II felony, which carries a maximum penalty of up to 50 years in prison.
Trejo’s fiancée, Julie Staroscik, 22, pleaded no contest to misdemeanor child abuse in county court. The Class I misdemeanor has a maximum sentence of up to a year in prison.
District Judge Robert Steinke scheduled Trejo for sentencing Aug. 15. Staroscik is set for sentencing in county court on Aug. 25.
Trejo, who is the boy’s biological father, has remained in custody at the Platte County Detention Facility since his April 22 arrest. Staroscik, who is not the boy’s biological mother, has been free on bond since late April.
The victim, who turned 1 year old about a month ago, has been placed in foster care after being treated in an Omaha hospital for multiple bone fractures.
Trejo and Staroscik are the biological parents of four other children who were in the home at the time of the April 22 incident. Police said those children showed no evidence of abuse.
The boy, who is recovering from his injuries, was transported to Children’s Hospital in Omaha where a bone survey by Dr. Suzanne Haney revealed about 20 fractures to the skull, ribs, both arms and both legs in different stages of healing. The doctor said the bone breaks ranged from about a week old to not more than a couple of months old.
Columbus Police Investigator Bret Strecker said Trejo admitted causing the April 22 injuries to his son when the boy was “crying and screaming and would not stop.”
The defendant said he became frustrated and threw the boy to the ground, Strecker said in a sworn statement supporting the defendant’s arrest.
“He said that he was holding (his son) in his hands while he was standing up,” Strecker said. “He raised him a bit and then slammed him to the floor of the residence.”
Trejo denied abusing his son at any other time, Strecker said. Staroscik denied knowledge of any of the boy's injuries.
Notice that your have to read six paragraphs down to find out that JUAN TREJO is the biological father while the woman in question is not the biological mother.
Then you have to skip back to the first paragraph to find out that this abuse took place over two months, so it was not something that just happened over weekend visitation. Ergo, Daddy must have been custodial.
Notice that the baby is now in foster care. And it apparently doesn't even OCCUR to this reporter to find out what happened to this baby's mother! Or how and why she lost custody. Or what judge may have been responsible for this outrage.
http://columbustelegram.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/columbus-couple-admit-physical-abuse-of-baby/article_ab553ed6-6d2e-517b-be37-3f28c7336ef2.html
Columbus couple admit physical abuse of baby
3 hours ago • By Jim Osborn
COLUMBUS – A Columbus couple admitted their roles in abusing a 10-month-old boy over a two-month period this spring that eventually sent the baby to the hospital with a fractured skull and bleeding on the brain.
Defendant Juan Trejo pleaded no contest to felony child abuse in connection with an April 22 incident in which the 22-year-old defendant admitted fracturing his son’s skull in multiple places after throwing him to the floor when the baby became fussy and wouldn’t stop crying.
Trejo entered his plea in Platte County District Court in exchange for the prosecution dismissed two similar abuse charges. The defendant was convicted of a Class II felony, which carries a maximum penalty of up to 50 years in prison.
Trejo’s fiancée, Julie Staroscik, 22, pleaded no contest to misdemeanor child abuse in county court. The Class I misdemeanor has a maximum sentence of up to a year in prison.
District Judge Robert Steinke scheduled Trejo for sentencing Aug. 15. Staroscik is set for sentencing in county court on Aug. 25.
Trejo, who is the boy’s biological father, has remained in custody at the Platte County Detention Facility since his April 22 arrest. Staroscik, who is not the boy’s biological mother, has been free on bond since late April.
The victim, who turned 1 year old about a month ago, has been placed in foster care after being treated in an Omaha hospital for multiple bone fractures.
Trejo and Staroscik are the biological parents of four other children who were in the home at the time of the April 22 incident. Police said those children showed no evidence of abuse.
The boy, who is recovering from his injuries, was transported to Children’s Hospital in Omaha where a bone survey by Dr. Suzanne Haney revealed about 20 fractures to the skull, ribs, both arms and both legs in different stages of healing. The doctor said the bone breaks ranged from about a week old to not more than a couple of months old.
Columbus Police Investigator Bret Strecker said Trejo admitted causing the April 22 injuries to his son when the boy was “crying and screaming and would not stop.”
The defendant said he became frustrated and threw the boy to the ground, Strecker said in a sworn statement supporting the defendant’s arrest.
“He said that he was holding (his son) in his hands while he was standing up,” Strecker said. “He raised him a bit and then slammed him to the floor of the residence.”
Trejo denied abusing his son at any other time, Strecker said. Staroscik denied knowledge of any of the boy's injuries.
Monday, July 21, 2014
Dad sentenced for sexually abusing 7- and 9-year-old daughters during court-ordered visitation and creating child porn (Columbus, Nebraska)
Of course we are not told whether UNNAMED DAD had a previous history of abuse that was ignored when a judge gave him his weekend visitation rights with two young girls. Nor are we told the judge's name. But then, that almost never happens.
http://columbustelegram.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/city-man-gets-years-for-assaulting-daughters/article_29d0a8e3-a668-5014-a8b6-f10a3ad68594.html
City man gets 60 years for assaulting daughters
July 18, 2014 8:00 am • By Jim Osborn
COLUMBUS — A 38-year-old Columbus man who admitted to sexually assaulting his two preteen daughters last fall during visits to his home and creating and possessing child pornography will spend the next few decades in prison.
Platte County District Court Judge Robert Steinke sentenced the city man, who is not being identified to protect the victims, to up to 60 years behind bars on charges in connection with two separate cases.
The defendant pleaded no contest to first-degree sexual assault and incest in one case and to manufacturing and possessing child porn in the other case. In exchange, the prosecution dismissed similar charges in both cases.
Steinke gave the city man 30 to 50 years for sex assault and 10 to 15 years for incest. The defendant was sentenced to seven to 10 years on the porn charges to run consecutive to the assault and incest sentences.
The sexual assault charge is a Class IB felony and carried a maximum penalty of up to life imprisonment. Manufacturing child porn is a Class ID felony with a maximum sentence of 50 years behind bars.
The incest and possession of child porn charges are Class III felonies, each punishable by up to 20 years in prison.
Steinke gave the defendant credit for 255 days already served in the county jail since his arrest last fall.
The county attorney’s office dismissed two counts of sexual assault and three counts of possession of child porn.
The defendant was charged last fall with three counts of first-degree sexual assault of a child in connection with the assaults of his daughters, then aged 9 and 7, last October during visits to his rural Columbus mobile home.
Meanwhile, the porn charges arose this spring and involved four separate female victims ranging from ages 7 to 11. The manufacturing charge accused the defendant of creating the visual images between early August and late October.
Court documents in the sexual assault case describe an investigation that got underway last fall after the Platte County Sheriff’s Office received information from a state agency alleging child abuse and neglect involving the defendant and his children.
The Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services report included allegations of sexual abuse involving the defendant taking baths with his minor biological daughters, said Sheriff’s Investigator Dane Jensen in his statement supporting an arrest warrant.
Jensen said one of the daughters disclosed to her mother that their father had been taking baths with her and her sister.
The defendant was not the custodial parent of the children and has been divorced from their mother for more than five years. The defendant had visitation rights with the children every other weekend.
During recorded forensic interviews at the Child Advocacy Center in Norfolk, Jensen said the girls described explicit sexual acts their father committed during their visitations to his home. The investigator said one of the victims said her father told her not to tell anyone about the sexual activity.
Jensen said the defendant denied all allegations of sexual activity with his daughters.
http://columbustelegram.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/city-man-gets-years-for-assaulting-daughters/article_29d0a8e3-a668-5014-a8b6-f10a3ad68594.html
City man gets 60 years for assaulting daughters
July 18, 2014 8:00 am • By Jim Osborn
COLUMBUS — A 38-year-old Columbus man who admitted to sexually assaulting his two preteen daughters last fall during visits to his home and creating and possessing child pornography will spend the next few decades in prison.
Platte County District Court Judge Robert Steinke sentenced the city man, who is not being identified to protect the victims, to up to 60 years behind bars on charges in connection with two separate cases.
The defendant pleaded no contest to first-degree sexual assault and incest in one case and to manufacturing and possessing child porn in the other case. In exchange, the prosecution dismissed similar charges in both cases.
Steinke gave the city man 30 to 50 years for sex assault and 10 to 15 years for incest. The defendant was sentenced to seven to 10 years on the porn charges to run consecutive to the assault and incest sentences.
The sexual assault charge is a Class IB felony and carried a maximum penalty of up to life imprisonment. Manufacturing child porn is a Class ID felony with a maximum sentence of 50 years behind bars.
The incest and possession of child porn charges are Class III felonies, each punishable by up to 20 years in prison.
Steinke gave the defendant credit for 255 days already served in the county jail since his arrest last fall.
The county attorney’s office dismissed two counts of sexual assault and three counts of possession of child porn.
The defendant was charged last fall with three counts of first-degree sexual assault of a child in connection with the assaults of his daughters, then aged 9 and 7, last October during visits to his rural Columbus mobile home.
Meanwhile, the porn charges arose this spring and involved four separate female victims ranging from ages 7 to 11. The manufacturing charge accused the defendant of creating the visual images between early August and late October.
Court documents in the sexual assault case describe an investigation that got underway last fall after the Platte County Sheriff’s Office received information from a state agency alleging child abuse and neglect involving the defendant and his children.
The Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services report included allegations of sexual abuse involving the defendant taking baths with his minor biological daughters, said Sheriff’s Investigator Dane Jensen in his statement supporting an arrest warrant.
Jensen said one of the daughters disclosed to her mother that their father had been taking baths with her and her sister.
The defendant was not the custodial parent of the children and has been divorced from their mother for more than five years. The defendant had visitation rights with the children every other weekend.
During recorded forensic interviews at the Child Advocacy Center in Norfolk, Jensen said the girls described explicit sexual acts their father committed during their visitations to his home. The investigator said one of the victims said her father told her not to tell anyone about the sexual activity.
Jensen said the defendant denied all allegations of sexual activity with his daughters.
Saturday, June 7, 2014
Custodial dad, girlfriend accused of fracturing skull of 10-month-old son; dad had had custody for only FIVE WEEKS (Columbus, Nebraska)
Dad is identified as JUAN TREJO. Appears Daddy basically abused this baby from the time he assumed custody, as the baby had 20 FRACTURES in various states of healing.
http://columbustelegram.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/city-couple-heading-to-trial-for-child-abuse/article_369ead69-ad18-52b6-8816-46f2ced061cb.html
City couple heading to trial for child abuse
June 06, 2014 8:00 am • By Jim Osborn
COLUMBUS — A Columbus couple accused of abusing a 10-month-old boy over a two-month period this spring have been bound over for trial in district court.
Judge Frank Skorupa bound over Juan Trejo, 22, and his fiancée, Julie Staroscik, 22, for hearings on felony child abuse charges in connection with an April 22 incident that sent the baby to the hospital with a fractured skull and bleeding on the brain.
Skorupa scheduled the couple for arraignment on the charges in district court on June 27.
Trejo has remained in custody at the Platte County Detention Facility since his April 22 arrest and Staroscik has been free on bond since late April.
Trejo, who is the boy’s biological father, is accused of fracturing his son’s skull in multiple places after throwing him to the floor when the baby became fussy and wouldn’t stop crying. He faces three counts of child abuse, each a Class II felony with a maximum penalty of 50 years in prison.
Staroscik is not the boy’s biological mother. She faces one count of abuse, a Class IIIA felony that carries a penalty of up to five years in prison.
Trejo was arrested the day of the April 22 incident after he and Staroscik took the baby to Columbus Community Hospital. Hospital personnel alerted authorities of the suspected child abuse.
The defendants took the boy to the hospital because he was unresponsive and having trouble breathing.
Police removed the baby from the couple’s home and turned him over to the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services. The boy had been living at the couple’s home for about five weeks and Trejo had parental visitations with him prior to that time.
The boy’s biological mother is currently incarcerated.
Trejo and Staroscik are the biological parents of four other children who were in the home at the time of the April 22 incident. Police said those children showed no evidence of abuse.
The boy, who is recovering from his injuries, was transported to Children’s Hospital in Omaha where a bone survey by Dr. Suzanne Haney revealed about 20 fractures to the skull, ribs, both arms and both legs in different stages of healing. The doctor said the bone breaks ranged from about a week old to not more than a couple of months old.
Columbus Police Investigator Bret Strecker said Trejo admitted causing the April 22 injuries to his son when the boy was “crying and screaming and would not stop.”
The defendant said he became frustrated and threw the boy to the ground, Strecker said in a sworn statement supporting the defendant’s arrest.
“He said that he was holding (his son) in his hands while he was standing up,” the sergeant said. “He raised him a bit and then slammed him to the floor of the residence.”
Trejo denied abusing his son at any other time, Strecker said.
Staroscik denied knowledge of any of the boy's injuries.
http://columbustelegram.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/city-couple-heading-to-trial-for-child-abuse/article_369ead69-ad18-52b6-8816-46f2ced061cb.html
City couple heading to trial for child abuse
June 06, 2014 8:00 am • By Jim Osborn
COLUMBUS — A Columbus couple accused of abusing a 10-month-old boy over a two-month period this spring have been bound over for trial in district court.
Judge Frank Skorupa bound over Juan Trejo, 22, and his fiancée, Julie Staroscik, 22, for hearings on felony child abuse charges in connection with an April 22 incident that sent the baby to the hospital with a fractured skull and bleeding on the brain.
Skorupa scheduled the couple for arraignment on the charges in district court on June 27.
Trejo has remained in custody at the Platte County Detention Facility since his April 22 arrest and Staroscik has been free on bond since late April.
Trejo, who is the boy’s biological father, is accused of fracturing his son’s skull in multiple places after throwing him to the floor when the baby became fussy and wouldn’t stop crying. He faces three counts of child abuse, each a Class II felony with a maximum penalty of 50 years in prison.
Staroscik is not the boy’s biological mother. She faces one count of abuse, a Class IIIA felony that carries a penalty of up to five years in prison.
Trejo was arrested the day of the April 22 incident after he and Staroscik took the baby to Columbus Community Hospital. Hospital personnel alerted authorities of the suspected child abuse.
The defendants took the boy to the hospital because he was unresponsive and having trouble breathing.
Police removed the baby from the couple’s home and turned him over to the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services. The boy had been living at the couple’s home for about five weeks and Trejo had parental visitations with him prior to that time.
The boy’s biological mother is currently incarcerated.
Trejo and Staroscik are the biological parents of four other children who were in the home at the time of the April 22 incident. Police said those children showed no evidence of abuse.
The boy, who is recovering from his injuries, was transported to Children’s Hospital in Omaha where a bone survey by Dr. Suzanne Haney revealed about 20 fractures to the skull, ribs, both arms and both legs in different stages of healing. The doctor said the bone breaks ranged from about a week old to not more than a couple of months old.
Columbus Police Investigator Bret Strecker said Trejo admitted causing the April 22 injuries to his son when the boy was “crying and screaming and would not stop.”
The defendant said he became frustrated and threw the boy to the ground, Strecker said in a sworn statement supporting the defendant’s arrest.
“He said that he was holding (his son) in his hands while he was standing up,” the sergeant said. “He raised him a bit and then slammed him to the floor of the residence.”
Trejo denied abusing his son at any other time, Strecker said.
Staroscik denied knowledge of any of the boy's injuries.
Friday, May 16, 2014
9-year-old girl taken from adoptive parents and returned to ex-con biological dad she didn't know (Omaha, Nebreaka)
Horrible story illustrating how far fathers "rights" have come at the expense of everyone else.
But notice a little detail almost buried here. In 2004, the biological mother (or so we are told) "gave up her rights" to the biological father--a man who is, AT MINIMUM, a convicted felon for transporting firearms. Are we really sure this decision wasn't free from coercion?
Dad is identified as JOSH MCCAUL.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2630258/I-want-come-Heartbreaking-final-calls-girl-adoptive-parents-returned-ex-biological-father.html
'I want you to come and get me': Heartbreaking final calls of girl, 9, to her adoptive parents before she was returned to ex-con biological father
Sonya McCaul has been 'returned' to a ex-con father she did not know
Nine-year-old had been living with Kim and David Hodgin since 2006
They were given two hours notice before she was removed from their care
She now lives with her father, jailed for transporting arms, in Nebraska Sonya has been calling her adoptive parents, pleading to return home
By Sara Malm
Published: 03:51 EST, 16 May 2014 | Updated: 13:00 EST, 16 May 2014
A Tennessee couple has revealed the heartbreaking pleas of their adoptive daughter begging to be returned to their care after she was forcibly removed to live with her ex-con father in Nebraska.
Sonya, aged nine, had been in the care of Kim and David Hodgin, from Dickson, Tennessee since before she was two years old, but has recently been ‘returned’ to her biological father in Omaha, Nebraska.
In the last phone call to her adoptive parents, Sonya can be heard pleading with them to come and take her from her biological father more than 700 miles away.
Despite having adopted Sonya in 2008, the Hodgins were forced to watch their daughter be taken to her father, a convicted felon who served time for transporting firearms.
A Tennessee appeals court overturned the adoption of Sonya, who had lived with Mr and Mrs Hodgin since before she was two years old, after her father Josh McCaul was released from prison.
In a recording of a phone call made on January 30 this year, a day after Sonya was moved from Dickson County to Omaha, she can be heard asking for her adoptive parents to take her back.
'What did you say, baby doll?' Mrs Hodgin can be heard asking in a recording of the phone call obtained by CNN.
'I want to you to come and get me', the young girl responds.
During the phone call, the last time the Hodgins spoke to her, Sonya also describes her biological father's home as 'dirty, with mold and cigarettes everywhere,' and although the man is 'nice' to her, the home lacks clean water.
The Hodgins say they were given just three hours' notice before the young girl was taken from them.
'Sonya's crying her eyes out. Screaming bloody murder, "Please don't let them do this, Daddy, please, Mama, don't let 'em take me,",' Mr Hodgin told CNN.
'They took her bags, and that's the last that I've seen her,' Mrs Hodgin adds.
McCaul had been awarded custody of his infant daughter in 2004 after Sonya's mother gave up her rights.
However, she has been living with the Hodgins since 2006 and they were able to adopt Sonya after McCaul pleaded guilty to transporting firearms and was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison.
This automatically terminated his parental rights as Tennessee state law does not allow anyone incarcerated for more than ten years to have rights to a child under the age of eight.
However, his sentence was shortened to just eight years and he was able to retain it upon his release from prison after claiming his parental rights were illegally terminated.
In 2009, McCaul won an appeal claiming he did not voluntarily give up his rights and the court did not follow due process in the adoption proceedings.
For the next five years, Sonya continued to live with the Hodgins on their Tennessee farm as the two sides fought for custody.
In January this year, a judge ruled that the nine-year-old should return to her biological father, and a few hours later, she had been taken from the Hodgins.
The couple are now petitioning to have her returned based on Sonya's best interest and a hearing is scheduled for Friday.
DCS spokesman Rob Johnson said earlier this year that while foster parents often come to love the children in their care, the law is clear, 'Birth parents have the right to raise their children.'
But notice a little detail almost buried here. In 2004, the biological mother (or so we are told) "gave up her rights" to the biological father--a man who is, AT MINIMUM, a convicted felon for transporting firearms. Are we really sure this decision wasn't free from coercion?
Dad is identified as JOSH MCCAUL.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2630258/I-want-come-Heartbreaking-final-calls-girl-adoptive-parents-returned-ex-biological-father.html
'I want you to come and get me': Heartbreaking final calls of girl, 9, to her adoptive parents before she was returned to ex-con biological father
Sonya McCaul has been 'returned' to a ex-con father she did not know
Nine-year-old had been living with Kim and David Hodgin since 2006
They were given two hours notice before she was removed from their care
She now lives with her father, jailed for transporting arms, in Nebraska Sonya has been calling her adoptive parents, pleading to return home
By Sara Malm
Published: 03:51 EST, 16 May 2014 | Updated: 13:00 EST, 16 May 2014
A Tennessee couple has revealed the heartbreaking pleas of their adoptive daughter begging to be returned to their care after she was forcibly removed to live with her ex-con father in Nebraska.
Sonya, aged nine, had been in the care of Kim and David Hodgin, from Dickson, Tennessee since before she was two years old, but has recently been ‘returned’ to her biological father in Omaha, Nebraska.
In the last phone call to her adoptive parents, Sonya can be heard pleading with them to come and take her from her biological father more than 700 miles away.
Despite having adopted Sonya in 2008, the Hodgins were forced to watch their daughter be taken to her father, a convicted felon who served time for transporting firearms.
A Tennessee appeals court overturned the adoption of Sonya, who had lived with Mr and Mrs Hodgin since before she was two years old, after her father Josh McCaul was released from prison.
In a recording of a phone call made on January 30 this year, a day after Sonya was moved from Dickson County to Omaha, she can be heard asking for her adoptive parents to take her back.
'What did you say, baby doll?' Mrs Hodgin can be heard asking in a recording of the phone call obtained by CNN.
'I want to you to come and get me', the young girl responds.
During the phone call, the last time the Hodgins spoke to her, Sonya also describes her biological father's home as 'dirty, with mold and cigarettes everywhere,' and although the man is 'nice' to her, the home lacks clean water.
The Hodgins say they were given just three hours' notice before the young girl was taken from them.
'Sonya's crying her eyes out. Screaming bloody murder, "Please don't let them do this, Daddy, please, Mama, don't let 'em take me,",' Mr Hodgin told CNN.
'They took her bags, and that's the last that I've seen her,' Mrs Hodgin adds.
McCaul had been awarded custody of his infant daughter in 2004 after Sonya's mother gave up her rights.
However, she has been living with the Hodgins since 2006 and they were able to adopt Sonya after McCaul pleaded guilty to transporting firearms and was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison.
This automatically terminated his parental rights as Tennessee state law does not allow anyone incarcerated for more than ten years to have rights to a child under the age of eight.
However, his sentence was shortened to just eight years and he was able to retain it upon his release from prison after claiming his parental rights were illegally terminated.
In 2009, McCaul won an appeal claiming he did not voluntarily give up his rights and the court did not follow due process in the adoption proceedings.
For the next five years, Sonya continued to live with the Hodgins on their Tennessee farm as the two sides fought for custody.
In January this year, a judge ruled that the nine-year-old should return to her biological father, and a few hours later, she had been taken from the Hodgins.
The couple are now petitioning to have her returned based on Sonya's best interest and a hearing is scheduled for Friday.
DCS spokesman Rob Johnson said earlier this year that while foster parents often come to love the children in their care, the law is clear, 'Birth parents have the right to raise their children.'
Thursday, May 1, 2014
Custodial dad accused of fracturing skull of 10-month-old son; had only had custody for about five weeks (Columbus, Nebraska)
Judging by the age of the healing injuries, dad JUAN TREJO began abusing this baby as soon as he assumed possession.
For moms in the criminal justice system, other family members may be a better choice for child care. Or maybe we should just house babies with moms in jail.
http://columbustelegram.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/father-accused-of-fracturing-boy-s-skull/article_b719f47d-5af4-5c8b-9818-919189b3f5ac.html
Father accused of fracturing boy's skull
12 hours ago • By Jim Osborn
COLUMBUS — A Columbus father is accused of fracturing his 10-month-old son’s skull in multiple places after throwing him to the floor when the baby became fussy and wouldn’t stop crying.
Platte County Court Judge Frank Skorupa on Tuesday scheduled Juan Trejo, 22, and his fiancé, Julie Staroscik, 22, for Monday hearings on felony child abuse in connection with the April 22 incident that sent the infant to Columbus Community Hospital with three skull fractures and bleeding on the brain.
Trejo and Staroscik, who is not the boy’s biological mother, were arrested by Columbus Police after hospital personnel alerted authorities of the suspected child abuse. The defendants took the boy to the hospital because he was unresponsive and having trouble breathing.
Police removed the baby from the couple’s home and turned him over to the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services. The boy had been living at the couple’s home for about five weeks and Trejo had parental visitations with him prior to that time.
The boy’s biological mother is currently incarcerated.
Trejo and Staroscik are the biological parents of four other children that were in the home at the time of the April 22 incident. Police said those children, who showed no evidence of abuse, were also removed from the couple’s home.
Deputy County Attorney Tonia Soukup said Wednesday the boy remained in an Omaha hospital. The child is expected to recover from his injuries, she said.
Trejo, whose bond has been set at $750,000, 10 percent allowed, has been in custody at the Platte County Detention Facility since his arrest. Staroscik, whose bond was set at $10,000, 10 percent allowed, was released from jail Wednesday.
The boy was transported to Children’s Hospital in Omaha where a bone survey by Dr. Suzanne Haney revealed about 20 fractures to the skull, ribs, both arms and both legs in different stages of healing. The doctor said the bone breaks ranged from about a week old to not more than a couple of months old.
Police Investigator Bret Strecker said Trejo admitted causing the April 22 injuries to his son when the boy was “crying and screaming and would not stop.”
The defendant said he became frustrated and threw the boy to the ground, Strecker said in a sworn statement supporting the defendant’s arrest.
“He said that he was holding (his son) in his hands while he was standing up,” the sergeant said. “He raised him a bit and then slammed him to the floor of the residence.”
Trejo denied abusing his son at any other time, Strecker said. Staroscik denied any knowledge of any of the boy's injuries. Trejo is a charged with three counts of child abuse, Class III felonies that each carry a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.
Staroscik had not yet been formally charged by the county attorney’s office as of Wednesday.
For moms in the criminal justice system, other family members may be a better choice for child care. Or maybe we should just house babies with moms in jail.
http://columbustelegram.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/father-accused-of-fracturing-boy-s-skull/article_b719f47d-5af4-5c8b-9818-919189b3f5ac.html
Father accused of fracturing boy's skull
12 hours ago • By Jim Osborn
COLUMBUS — A Columbus father is accused of fracturing his 10-month-old son’s skull in multiple places after throwing him to the floor when the baby became fussy and wouldn’t stop crying.
Platte County Court Judge Frank Skorupa on Tuesday scheduled Juan Trejo, 22, and his fiancé, Julie Staroscik, 22, for Monday hearings on felony child abuse in connection with the April 22 incident that sent the infant to Columbus Community Hospital with three skull fractures and bleeding on the brain.
Trejo and Staroscik, who is not the boy’s biological mother, were arrested by Columbus Police after hospital personnel alerted authorities of the suspected child abuse. The defendants took the boy to the hospital because he was unresponsive and having trouble breathing.
Police removed the baby from the couple’s home and turned him over to the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services. The boy had been living at the couple’s home for about five weeks and Trejo had parental visitations with him prior to that time.
The boy’s biological mother is currently incarcerated.
Trejo and Staroscik are the biological parents of four other children that were in the home at the time of the April 22 incident. Police said those children, who showed no evidence of abuse, were also removed from the couple’s home.
Deputy County Attorney Tonia Soukup said Wednesday the boy remained in an Omaha hospital. The child is expected to recover from his injuries, she said.
Trejo, whose bond has been set at $750,000, 10 percent allowed, has been in custody at the Platte County Detention Facility since his arrest. Staroscik, whose bond was set at $10,000, 10 percent allowed, was released from jail Wednesday.
The boy was transported to Children’s Hospital in Omaha where a bone survey by Dr. Suzanne Haney revealed about 20 fractures to the skull, ribs, both arms and both legs in different stages of healing. The doctor said the bone breaks ranged from about a week old to not more than a couple of months old.
Police Investigator Bret Strecker said Trejo admitted causing the April 22 injuries to his son when the boy was “crying and screaming and would not stop.”
The defendant said he became frustrated and threw the boy to the ground, Strecker said in a sworn statement supporting the defendant’s arrest.
“He said that he was holding (his son) in his hands while he was standing up,” the sergeant said. “He raised him a bit and then slammed him to the floor of the residence.”
Trejo denied abusing his son at any other time, Strecker said. Staroscik denied any knowledge of any of the boy's injuries. Trejo is a charged with three counts of child abuse, Class III felonies that each carry a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.
Staroscik had not yet been formally charged by the county attorney’s office as of Wednesday.
Wednesday, April 23, 2014
Dad arrested for burning 6-week-old daughter (Lincoln, Nebraska)
Sounds like dad REID ALLEN has abused this baby from birth. Wonder if he was a primary caretaker. He sure seemed to have a lot of time alone with the baby.
http://www.1011now.com/home/headlines/Infant-Suffers-Severe-Burns--Father-Arrested-for-Child-Abuse-256222201.html
Infant Suffers Severe Burns | Father Arrested for Child Abuse
Updated: Wed 12:13 PM, Apr 23, 2014
A Lincoln man is facing charges after police say his six week old child turned up at the hospital with burns.
According to police, on April 16, 20-year-old Reid Alden called 911 after giving his daughter a bath. Police say he reported her skin was burned and peeling off her body.
The child was taken to the hospital burn unit from her home near 14th and Superior Street.
Police say she remains hospitalized with partial and full thickness burns over 62 percent of her body. Her injuries are considered life threatening. If she survives, she will need ongoing treatment for a upwards of 60 days and will have permanent scarring.
Through further hospital examination, police say a chest x-ray revealed three healing rib fractures, highly suggestive of abuse.
At this point in the investigation, police say the injuries sustained on April 16 and the healing injuries, which occurred approximately one month prior, were at the hands of her father.
Alden turned himself in Tuesday morning at LPD headquarters. He was accompanied by his attorney.
Court documents show he told investigators he didn't think the water was too hot for the baby. Records also show he admitted to picking the child up forcefully a month ago and squeezed her because of excessive crying. In the court documents he acknowledged he may have squeezed hard enough to break her ribs.
He was booked in the Lancaster County Jail for felony Child Abuse.
Tuesday afternoon he was charged with negligent child abuse resulting in serious injury and was given a $50,000 bond. He is also not allowed to have contact with the victim.
The child's mother said the baby was doing better at the hospital.
http://www.1011now.com/home/headlines/Infant-Suffers-Severe-Burns--Father-Arrested-for-Child-Abuse-256222201.html
Infant Suffers Severe Burns | Father Arrested for Child Abuse
Updated: Wed 12:13 PM, Apr 23, 2014
A Lincoln man is facing charges after police say his six week old child turned up at the hospital with burns.
According to police, on April 16, 20-year-old Reid Alden called 911 after giving his daughter a bath. Police say he reported her skin was burned and peeling off her body.
The child was taken to the hospital burn unit from her home near 14th and Superior Street.
Police say she remains hospitalized with partial and full thickness burns over 62 percent of her body. Her injuries are considered life threatening. If she survives, she will need ongoing treatment for a upwards of 60 days and will have permanent scarring.
Through further hospital examination, police say a chest x-ray revealed three healing rib fractures, highly suggestive of abuse.
At this point in the investigation, police say the injuries sustained on April 16 and the healing injuries, which occurred approximately one month prior, were at the hands of her father.
Alden turned himself in Tuesday morning at LPD headquarters. He was accompanied by his attorney.
Court documents show he told investigators he didn't think the water was too hot for the baby. Records also show he admitted to picking the child up forcefully a month ago and squeezed her because of excessive crying. In the court documents he acknowledged he may have squeezed hard enough to break her ribs.
He was booked in the Lancaster County Jail for felony Child Abuse.
Tuesday afternoon he was charged with negligent child abuse resulting in serious injury and was given a $50,000 bond. He is also not allowed to have contact with the victim.
The child's mother said the baby was doing better at the hospital.
Thursday, April 3, 2014
Dad charged with raping his two daughters, manufacturing child porn during court-ordered visitation (Columbus, Nebraska)
UNNAMED DAD obviously had weekend visitation by court order. Wonder what judge ordered it? What custody evaluators and the like recommended it? Were there previous allegations of domestic violence and/or child abuse that were ignored? What is the back story here?
http://columbustelegram.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/new-charges-added-against-dad-accused-of-sex-assaults/article_3b351775-10e4-575f-98d9-fa675697ebe6.html
New charges added against dad accused of sex assaults
1 hour ago • By Jim Osborn
COLUMBUS — A 38-year-old Columbus man accused of sexually assaulting his two daughters last fall during visits to his home is now charged with multiple counts of manufacturing and possessing child pornography.
The new charges against the city man, who is not being named to protect the privacy of the victims, accuse the defendant of one count of creating the visual depiction of sexually explicit conduct and four counts of possession of child porn.
The manufacturing charge involves four separate female victims ranging from ages 7 to 11. All five charges have been filed in Platte County Court.
The manufacturing charge has a maximum penalty of 50 years imprisonment while the possession charges each carry a penalty of up to 20 years behind bars. The manufacturing charge accuses the defendant of creating the visual images between early August and late October.
Meanwhile, the defendant had been scheduled for a jury trial on three counts of first-degree sexual assault of a child in connection with the assaults of his daughters, ages 9 and 7, last October during visits to his rural Columbus mobile home.
The sexual assault charges are all Class 1B felonies, each punishable by a maximum of life imprisonment and a minimum of 20 years in prison.
The defendant has been in custody at the Platte County Detention Facility since his arrest last fall.
Deputy Platte County Public Defender Nathan Sohriakoff said the manufacturing and possession of porn charges were expected.
Sohriakoff asked for and received a delay in the sexual assault trial earlier this week. A new trial date has been set for May 28 in district court.
Rescheduling the trial will allow both felony cases to be resolved together, Sohriakoff said.
Court documents in the sexual assault case describe an investigation that got underway last fall after the Platte County Sheriff’s Office received information from a state agency alleging child abuse and neglect involving the defendant and his children.
The Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services report included allegations of sexual abuse involving the defendant taking baths with his minor biological daughters, said Sheriff’s Investigator Dane Jensen in his statement supporting an arrest warrant.
Jensen said one of the daughters disclosed to her mother that their father had been taking baths with her and her sister.
The defendant was not the custodial parent of the children and has been divorced from their mother for five years. The defendant had visitation rights with the children every other weekend.
During recorded forensic interviews at the Child Advocacy Center in Norfolk, Jensen said the girls described explicit sexual acts their father committed during their visitations to his home. The investigator said one of the victims said her father told her not to tell anyone about the sexual activity.
Jensen said the defendant denied all allegations of sexual activity with his daughters.
http://columbustelegram.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/new-charges-added-against-dad-accused-of-sex-assaults/article_3b351775-10e4-575f-98d9-fa675697ebe6.html
New charges added against dad accused of sex assaults
1 hour ago • By Jim Osborn
COLUMBUS — A 38-year-old Columbus man accused of sexually assaulting his two daughters last fall during visits to his home is now charged with multiple counts of manufacturing and possessing child pornography.
The new charges against the city man, who is not being named to protect the privacy of the victims, accuse the defendant of one count of creating the visual depiction of sexually explicit conduct and four counts of possession of child porn.
The manufacturing charge involves four separate female victims ranging from ages 7 to 11. All five charges have been filed in Platte County Court.
The manufacturing charge has a maximum penalty of 50 years imprisonment while the possession charges each carry a penalty of up to 20 years behind bars. The manufacturing charge accuses the defendant of creating the visual images between early August and late October.
Meanwhile, the defendant had been scheduled for a jury trial on three counts of first-degree sexual assault of a child in connection with the assaults of his daughters, ages 9 and 7, last October during visits to his rural Columbus mobile home.
The sexual assault charges are all Class 1B felonies, each punishable by a maximum of life imprisonment and a minimum of 20 years in prison.
The defendant has been in custody at the Platte County Detention Facility since his arrest last fall.
Deputy Platte County Public Defender Nathan Sohriakoff said the manufacturing and possession of porn charges were expected.
Sohriakoff asked for and received a delay in the sexual assault trial earlier this week. A new trial date has been set for May 28 in district court.
Rescheduling the trial will allow both felony cases to be resolved together, Sohriakoff said.
Court documents in the sexual assault case describe an investigation that got underway last fall after the Platte County Sheriff’s Office received information from a state agency alleging child abuse and neglect involving the defendant and his children.
The Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services report included allegations of sexual abuse involving the defendant taking baths with his minor biological daughters, said Sheriff’s Investigator Dane Jensen in his statement supporting an arrest warrant.
Jensen said one of the daughters disclosed to her mother that their father had been taking baths with her and her sister.
The defendant was not the custodial parent of the children and has been divorced from their mother for five years. The defendant had visitation rights with the children every other weekend.
During recorded forensic interviews at the Child Advocacy Center in Norfolk, Jensen said the girls described explicit sexual acts their father committed during their visitations to his home. The investigator said one of the victims said her father told her not to tell anyone about the sexual activity.
Jensen said the defendant denied all allegations of sexual activity with his daughters.
Tuesday, March 11, 2014
Judge: Non-custodial mom can't have custody of son, even though custodial dad, girlfriend in prison for abusing boy (Douglas County, Nebraska)
CHAD CYMABALISTA was a custodial father, though that is not made real clear here. Notice that the Judge's reasons for not returning custody to the mother are not specified. Why?
According to our earlier post on this case, Dad and his gal pal had had custody of this poor little boy for only six freaking weeks before they put him into the hospital. No indication as to who gave this sicko dad custody or why. Typical of the media vagueness with which these things are reported.
http://www.wowt.com/home/headlines/Judge-Denies-Request-for-Return-of-Child-249639651.html?ref=651
Judge Denies Request for Return of Child
Posted: Tue 5:45 PM, Mar 11, 2014
Tara Olson failed in a bid to regain custody of her son Aiden on Tuesday.
Tara was in South Dakota when her baby’s father, Chad Cymbalista, and Cymbalista’s live-in girlfriend, committed acts that sent them to prison for attempted child abuse.
Aiden was put into foster care.
During a hearing on Tuesday, a judge told Tara that she was not meeting the requirements needed to get her son back.
Aiden remains in foster care.
According to our earlier post on this case, Dad and his gal pal had had custody of this poor little boy for only six freaking weeks before they put him into the hospital. No indication as to who gave this sicko dad custody or why. Typical of the media vagueness with which these things are reported.
http://www.wowt.com/home/headlines/Judge-Denies-Request-for-Return-of-Child-249639651.html?ref=651
Judge Denies Request for Return of Child
Posted: Tue 5:45 PM, Mar 11, 2014
Tara Olson failed in a bid to regain custody of her son Aiden on Tuesday.
Tara was in South Dakota when her baby’s father, Chad Cymbalista, and Cymbalista’s live-in girlfriend, committed acts that sent them to prison for attempted child abuse.
Aiden was put into foster care.
During a hearing on Tuesday, a judge told Tara that she was not meeting the requirements needed to get her son back.
Aiden remains in foster care.
Friday, February 28, 2014
Dad arrested for breaking ribs of 5-month-old daughter (Lincoln, Nebraska)
Dad is identified as ANDREW VOSSEN. No mention of a mother in the home.
http://www.klkntv.com/story/24851546/lincoln-father-arrested-infant-daughters-x-ray-reveals-broken-ribs
Lincoln father arrested; infant daughter's x-ray reveals broken ribs
Posted: Feb 28, 2014 11:22 AM EST
Updated: Feb 28, 2014 11:22 AM EST
Posted By: KLKN Newsroom
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) _ Police suspect a 26-year-old Lincoln man of injuring his 5-month-old daughter.
Police say Andrew Vossen was arrested Thursday. Officer Katie Flood says Vossen took the baby to a family doctor on Tuesday for breathing problems due to congestion. An X-ray showed that five of her ribs had been broken. The arrest affidavit says Vossen told an investigator that he'd accidentally dropped the baby a few weeks earlier. A doctor told police the injuries weren't accidental.
Investigators believe that the injuries occurred when Andrew Vossen squeezed the baby's chest, in frustration. The victim has since been released from the hospital. He remains in custody at the Lancaster County Jail.
http://www.klkntv.com/story/24851546/lincoln-father-arrested-infant-daughters-x-ray-reveals-broken-ribs
Lincoln father arrested; infant daughter's x-ray reveals broken ribs
Posted: Feb 28, 2014 11:22 AM EST
Updated: Feb 28, 2014 11:22 AM EST
Posted By: KLKN Newsroom
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) _ Police suspect a 26-year-old Lincoln man of injuring his 5-month-old daughter.
Police say Andrew Vossen was arrested Thursday. Officer Katie Flood says Vossen took the baby to a family doctor on Tuesday for breathing problems due to congestion. An X-ray showed that five of her ribs had been broken. The arrest affidavit says Vossen told an investigator that he'd accidentally dropped the baby a few weeks earlier. A doctor told police the injuries weren't accidental.
Investigators believe that the injuries occurred when Andrew Vossen squeezed the baby's chest, in frustration. The victim has since been released from the hospital. He remains in custody at the Lancaster County Jail.
Monday, January 27, 2014
Rapist dad who pleaded guilty to sexual assault in court STILL gets child visitation rights (Lincoln, Nebraska)
Shame on Madison County District Judge James Kube for an atrocious decision. And shame on Nebraska state senator Ernie Chambers for the same old fathers rights crap. Glad to see that Mom is fighting back for her little girl. Little girls do not need, and do not benefit from,
visitation with sex offenders who raped their mothers.
http://www.omaha.com/article/20140126/NEWS/140128981
Mother of child conceived through rape wants father's parental rights restricted
By Joe Duggan / World-Herald Bureau
LINCOLN — She made an agonizing decision two years ago to give birth to a child who was conceived during a rape.
Today, the 20-year-old Norfolk, Neb., woman has a beautiful toddler, but a different sort of agony. Recently a judge granted child visitation rights to the man who pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting her.
“Most victims of rape choose to abort their babies,” she said. “Those of us who choose to keep our child have to face the overwhelming fear of being bullied and being controlled by the rapist.”
The woman testified last week in support of proposed legislation that would make it more difficult for sex offenders to claim parental rights to children conceived in a sexual assault.
Nebraska law currently terminates parental rights when the perpetrator is convicted of first-degree sexual assault. Under the legislative proposal, rights would also be terminated for those convicted of less-serious second-degree and third-degree sexual assaults.
The offender in the Norfolk case was originally charged with first-degree sexual assault, but he eventually pleaded guilty to third-degree sexual assault.
Reached after the legislative hearing, the 23-year-old man said he fought for visitation not to manipulate the victim but to establish a relationship with his daughter.
An attorney for the mother questioned him extensively, and he underwent psychological testing, which was provided to the court. The judge in the case determined the man did not represent a threat to the child.
The mother was granted sole legal and physical custody. Under last month's court order, the father's brief visitation sessions are supervised and will take place at a counseling office, where the mother can drop off and pick up the girl without having to come into contact with her attacker.
“I understand the delicacy of the situation,” he said. “If she is traumatized by the event, seeing me would cause a lot of emotions for her.”
Similar visitation arrangements aren't unheard of, said Amy Richardson, director of the Women's Center for Advancement in Omaha. The center, which runs a hot line for victims of sexual assault, sees “a handful” of such cases every year.
Just the prospect of being forced to allow visitation prompts some sexual assault victims to forgo child support claims against their rapists, Richardson said.
“One would have to question how that could be in the child's best interest,” she said.
Yet that's exactly what Madison County District Judge James Kube had to determine in the Norfolk child visitation case. The same judge handled the related criminal case.
Norfolk police got involved April 1, 2011, when a high school counselor called about an 18-year-old student who was pregnant and said she had been raped, according to court records.
The young woman told an officer the incident had occurred at a co-worker's apartment about two months earlier. She and the co-worker, who was a 20-year-old college student, engaged in consensual physical contact, but she made it clear she did not want to have intercourse. Specifically, she told him she wanted to remain a virgin until marriage.
When questioned by the woman, the co-worker told her he was penetrating her with his fingers, which wasn't true. The next morning she once again asked if she was still a virgin. Lying, he told her she was.
The woman told the officer that she suffered from occasional blackouts and that she had no clear memory of the incident.
Under police questioning, he conceded that he had engaged in intercourse with the young woman, who had not given him consent, the arrest affidavit stated. He was arrested and charged in May 2011.
By late September 2011, the prosecution reduced the charges and the man pleaded guilty. He served about two weeks in jail and 18 months of probation. He also must register as a sex offender for 15 years.
About a month after the criminal case concluded, the child was born, and the young mother sought public assistance through the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services. That application set in motion the events that would lead to the eventual visitation order.
HHS required the mother to identify the father. The state, in turn, ordered paternity testing, confirming that the young man was the child's father.
In March 2012 the state began pursuing an order of child support against the father. In response, he filed a claim seeking visitation, and the mother obtained an attorney to help her fight the claim.
The civil case played out over the next 21 months. Rather than go to trial and risk having less control over what sort of visitation might be granted, the mother and her attorney decided to negotiate the terms of the visitation. The judge signed the order last month.
The order requires the father to pay $450 per month in child support and requires the mother to allow 30 minutes of supervised visitation every other week.
The father said at one point it was suggested that if he gave up his visitation claim, he wouldn't have to pay child support. He declined, saying it wasn't about money.
The judge ordered a review of the visitation arrangement after six months. The father said he hopes he gradually will be granted more time with the child. “I would like to have a normal father-daughter relationship — although, under the circumstances, I realize that may not happen,” he said.
Society often views sexual assaults as a matter of degree, said Elizabeth Power with the Women's Center for Advancement. Some cases are worse than others. Some victims are more responsible for what happens to them than others.
Whether it's a date rape, a stranger attack or a situation in which the woman doesn't remember the assault, the trauma can be profound. And while she can heal through counseling, treatment and support, her scars remain forever, Power said.
She and Richardson said they support Legislative Bill 748, which was introduced by State Sen. Bill Avery of Lincoln. In cases in which a child is conceived through sexual assault, the bill would require county attorneys to file petitions to terminate the man's parental rights. The bill would allow for exceptions if the mother or guardian consents or if judges find that terminating parental rights is not in the child's best interest.
The bill would still require the man to pay child support.
“We must not have cases in our state where a person is faced with choosing between a lifetime tethered to a rapist or moving forward with a meaningful life for herself and her child,” Avery said as he introduced the bill to the Judiciary Committee.
Omaha Sen. Ernie Chambers, who sits on the committee, expressed concerns that parental rights could be cut off for men who have been wrongly accused or whose convictions are later overturned.
That's not the situation in the Norfolk case. But attorney Frederick Bartell, who represented the father in the visitation matter, suggested it's better to let the courts decide what's best for children on a case-by-case basis.
“He is actively contributing to the child's financial welfare,” Bartell said. “This is not re-victimization. This is a father taking responsibility for his child.”
The child's mother said she sees it differently. “I don't think anyone who's been raped should be forced to have ongoing contact with their rapist,” she said.
visitation with sex offenders who raped their mothers.
http://www.omaha.com/article/20140126/NEWS/140128981
Mother of child conceived through rape wants father's parental rights restricted
By Joe Duggan / World-Herald Bureau
LINCOLN — She made an agonizing decision two years ago to give birth to a child who was conceived during a rape.
Today, the 20-year-old Norfolk, Neb., woman has a beautiful toddler, but a different sort of agony. Recently a judge granted child visitation rights to the man who pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting her.
“Most victims of rape choose to abort their babies,” she said. “Those of us who choose to keep our child have to face the overwhelming fear of being bullied and being controlled by the rapist.”
The woman testified last week in support of proposed legislation that would make it more difficult for sex offenders to claim parental rights to children conceived in a sexual assault.
Nebraska law currently terminates parental rights when the perpetrator is convicted of first-degree sexual assault. Under the legislative proposal, rights would also be terminated for those convicted of less-serious second-degree and third-degree sexual assaults.
The offender in the Norfolk case was originally charged with first-degree sexual assault, but he eventually pleaded guilty to third-degree sexual assault.
Reached after the legislative hearing, the 23-year-old man said he fought for visitation not to manipulate the victim but to establish a relationship with his daughter.
An attorney for the mother questioned him extensively, and he underwent psychological testing, which was provided to the court. The judge in the case determined the man did not represent a threat to the child.
The mother was granted sole legal and physical custody. Under last month's court order, the father's brief visitation sessions are supervised and will take place at a counseling office, where the mother can drop off and pick up the girl without having to come into contact with her attacker.
“I understand the delicacy of the situation,” he said. “If she is traumatized by the event, seeing me would cause a lot of emotions for her.”
Similar visitation arrangements aren't unheard of, said Amy Richardson, director of the Women's Center for Advancement in Omaha. The center, which runs a hot line for victims of sexual assault, sees “a handful” of such cases every year.
Just the prospect of being forced to allow visitation prompts some sexual assault victims to forgo child support claims against their rapists, Richardson said.
“One would have to question how that could be in the child's best interest,” she said.
Yet that's exactly what Madison County District Judge James Kube had to determine in the Norfolk child visitation case. The same judge handled the related criminal case.
Norfolk police got involved April 1, 2011, when a high school counselor called about an 18-year-old student who was pregnant and said she had been raped, according to court records.
The young woman told an officer the incident had occurred at a co-worker's apartment about two months earlier. She and the co-worker, who was a 20-year-old college student, engaged in consensual physical contact, but she made it clear she did not want to have intercourse. Specifically, she told him she wanted to remain a virgin until marriage.
When questioned by the woman, the co-worker told her he was penetrating her with his fingers, which wasn't true. The next morning she once again asked if she was still a virgin. Lying, he told her she was.
The woman told the officer that she suffered from occasional blackouts and that she had no clear memory of the incident.
Under police questioning, he conceded that he had engaged in intercourse with the young woman, who had not given him consent, the arrest affidavit stated. He was arrested and charged in May 2011.
By late September 2011, the prosecution reduced the charges and the man pleaded guilty. He served about two weeks in jail and 18 months of probation. He also must register as a sex offender for 15 years.
About a month after the criminal case concluded, the child was born, and the young mother sought public assistance through the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services. That application set in motion the events that would lead to the eventual visitation order.
HHS required the mother to identify the father. The state, in turn, ordered paternity testing, confirming that the young man was the child's father.
In March 2012 the state began pursuing an order of child support against the father. In response, he filed a claim seeking visitation, and the mother obtained an attorney to help her fight the claim.
The civil case played out over the next 21 months. Rather than go to trial and risk having less control over what sort of visitation might be granted, the mother and her attorney decided to negotiate the terms of the visitation. The judge signed the order last month.
The order requires the father to pay $450 per month in child support and requires the mother to allow 30 minutes of supervised visitation every other week.
The father said at one point it was suggested that if he gave up his visitation claim, he wouldn't have to pay child support. He declined, saying it wasn't about money.
The judge ordered a review of the visitation arrangement after six months. The father said he hopes he gradually will be granted more time with the child. “I would like to have a normal father-daughter relationship — although, under the circumstances, I realize that may not happen,” he said.
Society often views sexual assaults as a matter of degree, said Elizabeth Power with the Women's Center for Advancement. Some cases are worse than others. Some victims are more responsible for what happens to them than others.
Whether it's a date rape, a stranger attack or a situation in which the woman doesn't remember the assault, the trauma can be profound. And while she can heal through counseling, treatment and support, her scars remain forever, Power said.
She and Richardson said they support Legislative Bill 748, which was introduced by State Sen. Bill Avery of Lincoln. In cases in which a child is conceived through sexual assault, the bill would require county attorneys to file petitions to terminate the man's parental rights. The bill would allow for exceptions if the mother or guardian consents or if judges find that terminating parental rights is not in the child's best interest.
The bill would still require the man to pay child support.
“We must not have cases in our state where a person is faced with choosing between a lifetime tethered to a rapist or moving forward with a meaningful life for herself and her child,” Avery said as he introduced the bill to the Judiciary Committee.
Omaha Sen. Ernie Chambers, who sits on the committee, expressed concerns that parental rights could be cut off for men who have been wrongly accused or whose convictions are later overturned.
That's not the situation in the Norfolk case. But attorney Frederick Bartell, who represented the father in the visitation matter, suggested it's better to let the courts decide what's best for children on a case-by-case basis.
“He is actively contributing to the child's financial welfare,” Bartell said. “This is not re-victimization. This is a father taking responsibility for his child.”
The child's mother said she sees it differently. “I don't think anyone who's been raped should be forced to have ongoing contact with their rapist,” she said.
Thursday, January 9, 2014
Custodial dad kills 2-year-old daughter in murder-suicide (Burwell, Nebraska)
We have often observed here at Dastardly Dads that a killer dad's custodial status is often left ambiguous. And so it is here.
The fact that the NEIGHBORS had to call the police for the perceived lack of "activity" at the house strongly suggests that no mother was living in the home. The fact that the mother wasn't the one calling also suggests that contact with her had been lost for some reason.
So once again, we see that a depressed, volatile, and violent father somehow gained and retained access to/control of a toddler--only to slaughter said toddler--and we have to ask how and why.
Was the mother deceased? If so, do we know for a fact that her death was from natural causes? Did she "disappear"? If so, do we know if she is "missing" because of death threats or past domestic violence? Is she "missing" because her body is well hidden? Did the father gain custody through the courts? If so, who were the officials involved? We just don't know because we just aren't told.
When a father is capable of shooting to death a tiny 2-year-old child he is more than capable of committing other violent crimes as well.
Dad is identified as CHRISTOPHER MELLING.
http://www.wowt.com/news/headlines/Deaths-Of-Father-Toddler-239414921.html
Deaths Of Father, Toddler A Murder-Suicide
By: The Associated Press
Posted: Thu 7:27 AM, Jan 09, 2014
The Nebraska State Patrol says the shooting deaths of a Burwell, Nebraska man and his 2-year-old daughter are being investigated as a murder-suicide.
The bodies of 31-year-old Christopher Melling and his daughter Aimee, who would have turned 3 later this month, were found Tuesday afternoon after officers were sent to the house to check on the residents. Neighbors had reported their concerns after seeing no activity at the central Nebraska home.
A gun was found at the scene. Autopsies will be done before the end of the week.
"It's always tough when you have a suicide in town and we have dealt with those, but in this case we have a young child that's involved and I think that grabs everyone's hearts," said Garfield County Attorney Dale Crandall.
The fact that the NEIGHBORS had to call the police for the perceived lack of "activity" at the house strongly suggests that no mother was living in the home. The fact that the mother wasn't the one calling also suggests that contact with her had been lost for some reason.
So once again, we see that a depressed, volatile, and violent father somehow gained and retained access to/control of a toddler--only to slaughter said toddler--and we have to ask how and why.
Was the mother deceased? If so, do we know for a fact that her death was from natural causes? Did she "disappear"? If so, do we know if she is "missing" because of death threats or past domestic violence? Is she "missing" because her body is well hidden? Did the father gain custody through the courts? If so, who were the officials involved? We just don't know because we just aren't told.
When a father is capable of shooting to death a tiny 2-year-old child he is more than capable of committing other violent crimes as well.
Dad is identified as CHRISTOPHER MELLING.
http://www.wowt.com/news/headlines/Deaths-Of-Father-Toddler-239414921.html
Deaths Of Father, Toddler A Murder-Suicide
By: The Associated Press
Posted: Thu 7:27 AM, Jan 09, 2014
The Nebraska State Patrol says the shooting deaths of a Burwell, Nebraska man and his 2-year-old daughter are being investigated as a murder-suicide.
The bodies of 31-year-old Christopher Melling and his daughter Aimee, who would have turned 3 later this month, were found Tuesday afternoon after officers were sent to the house to check on the residents. Neighbors had reported their concerns after seeing no activity at the central Nebraska home.
A gun was found at the scene. Autopsies will be done before the end of the week.
"It's always tough when you have a suicide in town and we have dealt with those, but in this case we have a young child that's involved and I think that grabs everyone's hearts," said Garfield County Attorney Dale Crandall.
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