Custodial dad charged with abusing 15-year-old son (Loxahatchee Groves, Florida)

Once again, we have a case where the mother has been eliminated from the story entirely. Is she dead? Alive, but non-custodial? "Disappeared"? (which happens a lot in Florida). The media doesn't tell you. Meanwhile, like a lot of custodial dads, JOSE GUADELUPE PENA JR. plays the clueless daddy card--he had absolutely no idea that the step (blame the woman!) was injuring his kids! You never ever noticed that your son had all these bruises and scars? Bull crap. And if you really were clueless, you have no right to call yourself a parent.

Mothers never get away with playing that they're ignorant of what the baby daddy or the boyfriend is doing to their kids. They almost always know (except with the really crafty sexual abusers), but they don't always have the resources or the power to the get themselves and their kids away safely. Especially in a state like Florida, where every sperm donor with a pulse--regardless of criminal history--gets his "rights."

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/news/loxahatchee-groves-father-charged-with-child-abuse/nPT9p/


Friday, June 15, 2012 | 10:23 a.m.
Updated: 2:15 p.m. Thursday, June 14, 2012 | Posted: 1:27 p.m. Thursday, June 14, 2012

Loxahatchee Groves father charged with child abuse
Jose Guadelupe Pena Jr. is charged with aggravated child abuse, cruelty to a child and neglect causing great harm to a child

By Sonja Isger

Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

A 32-year-old Loxahatchee Groves father has been arrested and charged with abusing and neglecting his 15-year-old son, who was covered with cuts and bruises from a recent beating as well as scars from belt-whippings that the boy reluctantly told investigators date back years.

Jose Guadelupe Pena Jr. is charged with aggravated child abuse, cruelty to a child and neglect causing great harm to a child, according to his arrest report. Because of the boy’s age and the nature of the crime, his name has not been released.

The countywide Child Protective Team was alerted to the boy’s injuries by personnel at his school June 1. The doctor who examined him found multiple “loop and linear marks” to his back, chest, and the back of both arms. Some marks broke the skin. He also was bruised across his shoulders and had old scars. He was scratched and bruised under his eyes.

The boy told the protective services people he’d been beaten by kids he didn’t know in a park.

The doctor, however, said the number and pattern of the injuries indicated that he was abused. “There have been concerns in the past that this child is the ‘target’.” The doctor also noted the boy is underweight at 94 lbs for his 5’3” frame and concluded he is likely suffering neglect as well.

When Palm Beach County Sheriff’s detectives spoke to the boy Tuesday, he had been moved to his grandparents’ home. He told detectives that he lied about the beatings because he feared his family, including two brothers would be split up. The brothers, he said, are not beaten.

He said he is seen by his family as “the maid” and that he gets in trouble when he doesn’t complete his chores. He said his stepmother hit him with her open hand, his father beat him with a belt and other objects.

The most recent beating left him unable to sleep on his back, he told detectives.

When detectives asked Pena about the abuse, Pena denied ever hitting his son and said he didn’t know the boy was injured, hadn’t seen any injuries, until he heard from the Sheriff’s office and the Department of Children and Families.

Pena was booked into the Palm Beach County jail Thursday morning. A judge has denied bond.