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 CPS. Show all posts
Showing posts with label CPS. Show all posts
Wednesday, June 1, 2016
Protective mother speaks out after custodial dad nearly beats to death 9-year-old son; she had been fighting for custody, with CPS for years (Richmond, Virginia)
Once again, a protective mother is ignored by the fathers rights-infiltrated CPS system.
The abusive custodial dad is identified as THOMAS JENNINGS JR.
http://www.wusa9.com/news/local/va-mom-pleads-for-cps-to-change-after-alleged-child-abuse/225036886
Va. mom pleads for CPS to change after alleged child abuse
A Virginia mother is begging CPS to change their procedures and investigate more after her 9-year-old son was nearly beaten to death.
Stephanie Ramirez, WUSA 6:05 PM. EST May 31, 2016
RICHMOND, Va. (WUSA9) -- A Virginia mother is begging CPS to change their procedures and investigate more after her 9-year-old son was nearly beaten to death.
Sheriff Deputies arrested the boy’s father on child abuse charges and told WUSa9 the father had been investigated before when he lived in Stafford County
“Try to follow-up. Try to follow-through, try to see that the child is in a safe place,” said 32-year-old Amy Brown outside of VCU Medical Center in Richmond, VA. That’s where her 9-year-old son, Elijah, is still be treated for severe injuries he sustained almost two-in-a-half weeks ago.
Brown told WUSA9 she’s been fighting for custody of her son Elijah for about two years and last year, had Elijah’s father, 37-year-old Thomas Jennings Jr., investigated after she found scars and bruises on Elijah’s back.
She said there was an open case, but they didn’t actually meet with a Child Protective Services case worker until the day of a custody hearing. She also said Elijah wasn’t forthcoming at the time.
“It’s been a struggle to get someone to believe us,” said Brown. Brown said Elijah did eventually reveal information to doctors, so she tried again. She showed WUSA9 an email sent to Stafford County CPS in June 2015 making a plea to the department to reopen the case and describes not being able to reach an investigator.
Brown believes Jennings’ military background and steady job as well as her decision to go back to school impacted the case.
May 17, 2016 is when Spotsylvania County Sherif Deputies say Jennings brought Elijah to the hospital unresponsive and admitted to striking Elijah. Doctors discovered a ruptured spleen among other injuries. Medical staff performed CPS for more than 30 minutes to revive Elijah.
“I’m hoping somebody, somewhere, either in CPS with other counties or throughout the nation could just learn that it takes more than just one time to sit with them. Children need time to open up,” she said.
A Stafford County Public Information Officer responded in a statement saying, “We are aware of the case but Virginia law precludes us from discussing case specific information about any Social Services case.”
A spokesperson for the Virginia Department of Social Services wrote:
Although we are not permitted by law to release any information regarding this case. The procedure is as follows:
A local department of social services is required to respond to all valid reports of child abuse and neglect by either conducting an investigation or a family assessment. A safety assessment is done and a safety plan is put in place, if needed. The worker is required to interview and/ or observe the victim child, interview and/observe minor siblings residing in the home, interview the caretakers, observe the environment where the alleged abuse/neglect took place, and to interview collateral contacts who may have pertinent information. Once this information/evidence is gathered, if an investigation was conducted, the worker makes a determination if the case is founded or unfounded based on a preponderance of the evidence. Once a finding is made, the case cannot be re-opened or re-investigated. A new investigation can be initiated, if there is a new incident.
In terms of screening valid reports for priority, local departments of social services are provided with guidance based on the following:
1. The immediate danger to the child;
2. The severity of the type of abuse or neglect alleged;
3. The age and vulnerability of the child;
4. The circumstances surrounding the alleged abuse or neglect;
5. The physical and mental condition of the child; and
6. Reports made by mandated reporters.
The abusive custodial dad is identified as THOMAS JENNINGS JR.
http://www.wusa9.com/news/local/va-mom-pleads-for-cps-to-change-after-alleged-child-abuse/225036886
Va. mom pleads for CPS to change after alleged child abuse
A Virginia mother is begging CPS to change their procedures and investigate more after her 9-year-old son was nearly beaten to death.
Stephanie Ramirez, WUSA 6:05 PM. EST May 31, 2016
RICHMOND, Va. (WUSA9) -- A Virginia mother is begging CPS to change their procedures and investigate more after her 9-year-old son was nearly beaten to death.
Sheriff Deputies arrested the boy’s father on child abuse charges and told WUSa9 the father had been investigated before when he lived in Stafford County
“Try to follow-up. Try to follow-through, try to see that the child is in a safe place,” said 32-year-old Amy Brown outside of VCU Medical Center in Richmond, VA. That’s where her 9-year-old son, Elijah, is still be treated for severe injuries he sustained almost two-in-a-half weeks ago.
Brown told WUSA9 she’s been fighting for custody of her son Elijah for about two years and last year, had Elijah’s father, 37-year-old Thomas Jennings Jr., investigated after she found scars and bruises on Elijah’s back.
She said there was an open case, but they didn’t actually meet with a Child Protective Services case worker until the day of a custody hearing. She also said Elijah wasn’t forthcoming at the time.
“It’s been a struggle to get someone to believe us,” said Brown. Brown said Elijah did eventually reveal information to doctors, so she tried again. She showed WUSA9 an email sent to Stafford County CPS in June 2015 making a plea to the department to reopen the case and describes not being able to reach an investigator.
Brown believes Jennings’ military background and steady job as well as her decision to go back to school impacted the case.
May 17, 2016 is when Spotsylvania County Sherif Deputies say Jennings brought Elijah to the hospital unresponsive and admitted to striking Elijah. Doctors discovered a ruptured spleen among other injuries. Medical staff performed CPS for more than 30 minutes to revive Elijah.
“I’m hoping somebody, somewhere, either in CPS with other counties or throughout the nation could just learn that it takes more than just one time to sit with them. Children need time to open up,” she said.
A Stafford County Public Information Officer responded in a statement saying, “We are aware of the case but Virginia law precludes us from discussing case specific information about any Social Services case.”
A spokesperson for the Virginia Department of Social Services wrote:
Although we are not permitted by law to release any information regarding this case. The procedure is as follows:
A local department of social services is required to respond to all valid reports of child abuse and neglect by either conducting an investigation or a family assessment. A safety assessment is done and a safety plan is put in place, if needed. The worker is required to interview and/ or observe the victim child, interview and/observe minor siblings residing in the home, interview the caretakers, observe the environment where the alleged abuse/neglect took place, and to interview collateral contacts who may have pertinent information. Once this information/evidence is gathered, if an investigation was conducted, the worker makes a determination if the case is founded or unfounded based on a preponderance of the evidence. Once a finding is made, the case cannot be re-opened or re-investigated. A new investigation can be initiated, if there is a new incident.
In terms of screening valid reports for priority, local departments of social services are provided with guidance based on the following:
1. The immediate danger to the child;
2. The severity of the type of abuse or neglect alleged;
3. The age and vulnerability of the child;
4. The circumstances surrounding the alleged abuse or neglect;
5. The physical and mental condition of the child; and
6. Reports made by mandated reporters.
Friday, May 27, 2016
Protective mom speaks out after custodial dad sentenced in murder of 2-year-old son (Canada)
Just repulsive. Besides the killer custodial daddy, we need to hold Justice John McCarthy responsible for this murder.
Dad is identified as MARIO WINT.
http://www.yorkregion.com/news-story/6692201-mother-of-newmarket-boy-ty-wint-2-shares-her-story-after-boy-s-father-sentenced-for-murdering-him/
May 26, 2016
Mother of Newmarket boy Ty Wint, 2, shares her story after boy's father sentenced for murdering him
Toronto Star
Newmarket Era
By Jeremy Grimaldi
The young mother’s face brightens as she recalls the tiny son to whom she used to read goodnight stories.
“He was the best of all of us; he always did what he was asked,” she said “He was full of life and had the biggest heart, the brightest smile.”
But it didn’t take long for two-year-old Mathias “Ty” Wint’s flame to be snuffed out.
He was killed after being struck by his father, Mario Wint, the man Simcoe Children’s Aid Society workers — the agency meant to protect our province’s most vulnerable children — deemed best to care for him.
“(Ty) was not cut out for this world,” she adds, her eyes now cast downward. “He was too good for this world.”
It was on Jan. 22, 2015 when Ty was struck in the stomach so many times with such force that his liver and pancreas were split in two, resulting in his death.
Ty’s mother, Melissa, (not her real name), along with many in the community have been left deeply disturbed by the details of Ty’s story.
How Ty ended up in the care of Mario, who has a lengthy criminal history, is a question Melissa can’t answer, noting social workers delivered Ty to Mario’s house 41 days before the toddler’s death.
Given the private nature of the case, the agency, now named Simcoe Family Connexions, would not comment directly on its role in the affair.
Melissa’s story begins in Simcoe County, where she, herself, was in the care of the CAS from an early age.
She met Mario, who was born in Jamaica and grew up in Newmarket, about a decade ago in a Barrie nightclub.
Mario, now 30, was quiet, sweet, soft-spoken and a talented spoken-word musician.
“We became very close, very quickly,” she said. “We began dating and moved in together. That’s when the abuse started. You name it, he did it.”
The physical and psychological abuse and controlling behaviour, would carry on for many years.
“It was a nightmare… It became so bad I had to leave,” she said.
It didn’t take Melissa — by then in her early 20s— long before she discovered she was pregnant and Mario was nowhere to be found.
After eight months, he showed back up and said he wanted to be a dad.
This was the couple’s first child, a six-year-old whose identity is protected by the courts.
“The abuse started again almost immediately,” she said. “A week later, he threatened to leave with my baby. Three months later, he forcibly confined me.”
On Dec. 31, 2008, Wint kneed Melissa in the stomach and, about one month later, he kneed her in the rib-cage.
Melissa called the police and Mario was charged.
He pleaded guilty to assault causing bodily harm.
The next few years involved Mario leaving and then re-entering Melissa’s life, repeatedly promising things would be different.
“I loved him. I saw goodness, through all his bull****,” she added. “So I fought for what I believed in.”
Despite Mario’s promises, the abuse continued, often targeting Melissa’s stomach.
Often, his physical abuse was followed by threatening and harassing messages to her phone, leading to a criminal harassment conviction.
After having a second child, Ty, the abuse reached new heights.
One night, in 2010, after showing up at Melissa’s apartment, Mario grew enraged.
When she asked him to leave, he agreed, on one condition — he would be taking the couple’s son with him.
Melissa refused and picked up Ty. Mario came at her with a knife, threatening, “I’m going to cut you”.
“He said if I put him in jail again, he would do whatever he could to ensure I didn’t have my kids,” Melissa said.
She called police, who in turn notified CAS. Mario was arrested again and convicted of assault with a weapon and handed a six-month prison sentence.
In all, he has 12 convictions, five of which involve domestic abuse.
Soon after his incarceration at the Central East Correctional Centre in Lindsay, Mario called CAS to complain about Melissa, she said.
“He made the most unthinkable, outlandish allegations,” she added.
Her file was soon closed, Melissa said, after the social worker found no truth in the allegations.
However, the case was re-opened when Melissa’s father-in-law was murdered in Barrie.
She continues to maintain it was her own upbringing with the CAS and this murder that acted as the catalyst for the children’s removal from her home.
In November 2013, Ty, his older brother and a child from a former relationship were all taken from Melissa and given to foster parents.
When Mario was released from prison, he began weekly supervised visits with the boys, which eventually grew into unsupervised visits and then overnights once a week. Meanwhile, Melissa was still restricted to supervised visits.
“The (CAS) deemed him fit to be alone with those children even with his huge violent domestic abuse record,” Melissa said.
Mario then sought custody of the boys, landing a job at a factory and completing a number of courses to show his worth to the CAS and the courts, Melissa said.
“I fought for a year for those boys,” she added. “He’s a smooth talker and comes off as caring.”
On Dec. 14, 2014, Mario was granted temporary custody of the boys in Barrie by Justice John McCarthy to live at his basement apartment at 136 Longford Dr., in Newmarket.
Soon after this legal victory, Mario quit his job and went back on welfare, Melissa said.
Despite being required to check on the boys’ welfare, Melissa insists that CAS did not conduct a required check after 30 days.
The CAS could not comment, by law, on the allegation. Nonetheless, Mario was on his very best behaviour, Melissa said.
During this time, she was secretly checking for bruises, but found nothing on the boys.
“I didn’t notice any problems, not one,” she said.
By January 2015, Mario was having money troubles, so his mother, Valerie, was helping him out financially and Melissa was buying diapers for Ty.
The specifics of what happened between Mario and Ty on Jan. 22 remain unknown.
Mario pleaded guilty to striking Ty “more than once with significant force”, breaking the toddler’s back, while in a rage, according to court documents.
“He hit with significant force. I have been hit by Mario with force. I was in bed for one month,” Melissa said. “No child could survive that.”
Melissa still blames herself for Ty’s death, in part because she said she refused to see Mario after he texted her the day Ty died, begging her to visit him.
She continues to believe that it was Mario’s anger over her relationship with another man that led to Ty’s death.
“I wonder, if I had of gone (to visit him), would he still be here?” she said. To this day, it remains an open question whether Ty was even alive as Mario walked around town with him in a stroller, running errands.
In one surveillance image, Ty’s 23-pound frame was seen to be lying motionless in the buggy, arms extended outward.
Valerie, a nurse by training, told Mario to take the boy to the medical clinic when she saw him, but he ignored the advice, too scared of the consequences.
He not only lied to her about what had happened to the boy, but he also lied to the 911 operator, paramedics, police and friends who supported him.
When Melissa got to the hospital, she felt her boy’s body and he was cold, signifying to her that he’d been dead for hours.
When Mario walked in, she said he tried to talk to Ty, before falling to his knees and crying.
He told Melissa that Ty was sick, wouldn’t eat or drink and just died.
“He could have got help for my boy. He did nothing. He hid,” Melissa said, referring to Mario’s failure to call 911 for hours. “He’s a wolf in sheep clothing.”
Weeks later, as Melissa continued to mourn the loss of her son, she felt another blow to her gut.
She believes the CAS wanted to adopt out the two remaining boys.
“You’re not my mommy; I’m getting a new mommy,” Melissa said one of her boys told her.
About a month ago, Melissa lost all her sons, after they were adopted by another family.
Although covered by a publication ban, a victim impact statement read in court showed the two boys, who lost their baby brother, experienced severe psychological anguish.
After pleading guilty to manslaughter, Mario was handed a 10-year sentence by Justice Nathan Dwyer on Tuesday, minus time served.
If he achieves parole at the earliest opportunity, Mario will be out in 32 months.
Melissa wants a coroner’s inquest into Ty’s death and plans to sue the Simcoe CAS.
---------------------
Dad is identified as MARIO WINT.
http://www.yorkregion.com/news-story/6692201-mother-of-newmarket-boy-ty-wint-2-shares-her-story-after-boy-s-father-sentenced-for-murdering-him/
May 26, 2016
Mother of Newmarket boy Ty Wint, 2, shares her story after boy's father sentenced for murdering him
Toronto Star
Newmarket Era
By Jeremy Grimaldi
The young mother’s face brightens as she recalls the tiny son to whom she used to read goodnight stories.
“He was the best of all of us; he always did what he was asked,” she said “He was full of life and had the biggest heart, the brightest smile.”
But it didn’t take long for two-year-old Mathias “Ty” Wint’s flame to be snuffed out.
He was killed after being struck by his father, Mario Wint, the man Simcoe Children’s Aid Society workers — the agency meant to protect our province’s most vulnerable children — deemed best to care for him.
“(Ty) was not cut out for this world,” she adds, her eyes now cast downward. “He was too good for this world.”
It was on Jan. 22, 2015 when Ty was struck in the stomach so many times with such force that his liver and pancreas were split in two, resulting in his death.
Ty’s mother, Melissa, (not her real name), along with many in the community have been left deeply disturbed by the details of Ty’s story.
How Ty ended up in the care of Mario, who has a lengthy criminal history, is a question Melissa can’t answer, noting social workers delivered Ty to Mario’s house 41 days before the toddler’s death.
Given the private nature of the case, the agency, now named Simcoe Family Connexions, would not comment directly on its role in the affair.
Melissa’s story begins in Simcoe County, where she, herself, was in the care of the CAS from an early age.
She met Mario, who was born in Jamaica and grew up in Newmarket, about a decade ago in a Barrie nightclub.
Mario, now 30, was quiet, sweet, soft-spoken and a talented spoken-word musician.
“We became very close, very quickly,” she said. “We began dating and moved in together. That’s when the abuse started. You name it, he did it.”
The physical and psychological abuse and controlling behaviour, would carry on for many years.
“It was a nightmare… It became so bad I had to leave,” she said.
It didn’t take Melissa — by then in her early 20s— long before she discovered she was pregnant and Mario was nowhere to be found.
After eight months, he showed back up and said he wanted to be a dad.
This was the couple’s first child, a six-year-old whose identity is protected by the courts.
“The abuse started again almost immediately,” she said. “A week later, he threatened to leave with my baby. Three months later, he forcibly confined me.”
On Dec. 31, 2008, Wint kneed Melissa in the stomach and, about one month later, he kneed her in the rib-cage.
Melissa called the police and Mario was charged.
He pleaded guilty to assault causing bodily harm.
The next few years involved Mario leaving and then re-entering Melissa’s life, repeatedly promising things would be different.
“I loved him. I saw goodness, through all his bull****,” she added. “So I fought for what I believed in.”
Despite Mario’s promises, the abuse continued, often targeting Melissa’s stomach.
Often, his physical abuse was followed by threatening and harassing messages to her phone, leading to a criminal harassment conviction.
After having a second child, Ty, the abuse reached new heights.
One night, in 2010, after showing up at Melissa’s apartment, Mario grew enraged.
When she asked him to leave, he agreed, on one condition — he would be taking the couple’s son with him.
Melissa refused and picked up Ty. Mario came at her with a knife, threatening, “I’m going to cut you”.
“He said if I put him in jail again, he would do whatever he could to ensure I didn’t have my kids,” Melissa said.
She called police, who in turn notified CAS. Mario was arrested again and convicted of assault with a weapon and handed a six-month prison sentence.
In all, he has 12 convictions, five of which involve domestic abuse.
Soon after his incarceration at the Central East Correctional Centre in Lindsay, Mario called CAS to complain about Melissa, she said.
“He made the most unthinkable, outlandish allegations,” she added.
Her file was soon closed, Melissa said, after the social worker found no truth in the allegations.
However, the case was re-opened when Melissa’s father-in-law was murdered in Barrie.
She continues to maintain it was her own upbringing with the CAS and this murder that acted as the catalyst for the children’s removal from her home.
In November 2013, Ty, his older brother and a child from a former relationship were all taken from Melissa and given to foster parents.
When Mario was released from prison, he began weekly supervised visits with the boys, which eventually grew into unsupervised visits and then overnights once a week. Meanwhile, Melissa was still restricted to supervised visits.
“The (CAS) deemed him fit to be alone with those children even with his huge violent domestic abuse record,” Melissa said.
Mario then sought custody of the boys, landing a job at a factory and completing a number of courses to show his worth to the CAS and the courts, Melissa said.
“I fought for a year for those boys,” she added. “He’s a smooth talker and comes off as caring.”
On Dec. 14, 2014, Mario was granted temporary custody of the boys in Barrie by Justice John McCarthy to live at his basement apartment at 136 Longford Dr., in Newmarket.
Soon after this legal victory, Mario quit his job and went back on welfare, Melissa said.
Despite being required to check on the boys’ welfare, Melissa insists that CAS did not conduct a required check after 30 days.
The CAS could not comment, by law, on the allegation. Nonetheless, Mario was on his very best behaviour, Melissa said.
During this time, she was secretly checking for bruises, but found nothing on the boys.
“I didn’t notice any problems, not one,” she said.
By January 2015, Mario was having money troubles, so his mother, Valerie, was helping him out financially and Melissa was buying diapers for Ty.
The specifics of what happened between Mario and Ty on Jan. 22 remain unknown.
Mario pleaded guilty to striking Ty “more than once with significant force”, breaking the toddler’s back, while in a rage, according to court documents.
“He hit with significant force. I have been hit by Mario with force. I was in bed for one month,” Melissa said. “No child could survive that.”
Melissa still blames herself for Ty’s death, in part because she said she refused to see Mario after he texted her the day Ty died, begging her to visit him.
She continues to believe that it was Mario’s anger over her relationship with another man that led to Ty’s death.
“I wonder, if I had of gone (to visit him), would he still be here?” she said. To this day, it remains an open question whether Ty was even alive as Mario walked around town with him in a stroller, running errands.
In one surveillance image, Ty’s 23-pound frame was seen to be lying motionless in the buggy, arms extended outward.
Valerie, a nurse by training, told Mario to take the boy to the medical clinic when she saw him, but he ignored the advice, too scared of the consequences.
He not only lied to her about what had happened to the boy, but he also lied to the 911 operator, paramedics, police and friends who supported him.
When Melissa got to the hospital, she felt her boy’s body and he was cold, signifying to her that he’d been dead for hours.
When Mario walked in, she said he tried to talk to Ty, before falling to his knees and crying.
He told Melissa that Ty was sick, wouldn’t eat or drink and just died.
“He could have got help for my boy. He did nothing. He hid,” Melissa said, referring to Mario’s failure to call 911 for hours. “He’s a wolf in sheep clothing.”
Weeks later, as Melissa continued to mourn the loss of her son, she felt another blow to her gut.
She believes the CAS wanted to adopt out the two remaining boys.
“You’re not my mommy; I’m getting a new mommy,” Melissa said one of her boys told her.
About a month ago, Melissa lost all her sons, after they were adopted by another family.
Although covered by a publication ban, a victim impact statement read in court showed the two boys, who lost their baby brother, experienced severe psychological anguish.
After pleading guilty to manslaughter, Mario was handed a 10-year sentence by Justice Nathan Dwyer on Tuesday, minus time served.
If he achieves parole at the earliest opportunity, Mario will be out in 32 months.
Melissa wants a coroner’s inquest into Ty’s death and plans to sue the Simcoe CAS.
---------------------
Wednesday, May 11, 2016
Four-year-old girl murdered by custodial dad let down by courts, social workers (United Kingdom)
As so often happens, not one word as to how the murdered girl's mother was erased from her life before Daddy assumed custody.
Once again, the courts, social workers just fawn all over Daddy and do nothing until it's too late.
The killer dad is identified as CARL WHEATLEY.
http://www.itv.com/news/2016-05-11/toddler-murdered-by-father-let-down-by-courts-and-social-workers/
11 May 2016 at 1:20pm
Little girl murdered by father let down by courts and social workers
Carl Wheatley was found guilty of murdering his daughter Alexa-Marie Quinn.
By Catherine Ellis
A four-year-old girl who was killed by her father was let down by social workers and local authorities, according to a report into her death.
Alexa-Marie Quinn was murdered by her father Carl Wheatley in March 2014, less than three months after Bedford Borough Council granted him custody.
Local agencies have been criticised in the report for "shortcomings" in their response to the suspicion that Alexa-Marie may have been at risk of harm.
What we know about Alexa-Marie
Alexa-Marie Quinn was found dead at her home in March 2014.
She had been beaten to death by her father.
She had suffered more than 60 injuries, including a bruise from her stomach to her ankles, and two lost teeth when she died in March 2014.
The four-year-old had been in Wheatley's care for the three months leading up to her death, after previously being cared for by foster parents.
Concerns had been raised about Wheatley's contact with Alexa-Marie by her foster carers in Bedford in May 2013.
Further worries about her contact with Wheatley had come up at a review the following month.
The trial of Alexa-Marie's father
Serious Case Review: Findings A Serious Case Review is launched when a child dies or is seriously injured where abuse or neglect is thought to be involved, to find out what lessons can be learned by local professionals and organisations to safeguard and promote the welfare of children.
The Serious Case Review published by Hertfordshire's Safeguarding Children's Board revealed a number of findings. These include:
Finding: There were weaknesses in management within and between different local authorities and social work teams in the Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire boroughs. These led to a lack of full understanding of potential risks that Alexa-Marie was exposed to.
Finding: There were shortcomings in the response to the suspicion that child protection risks may have left Alexa-Marie at harm.
Finding: All parties in the courts did not appropriately consider the implications of a psychiatric report on Carl Wheatley from September 2013.
Recommendations
The Serious Case Review made a number of recommendations for local agencies involved in the case to safeguard children in the future.
These included: reviews of training given to social workers and lawyers, reviewing case management arrangements for student social workers and looking into current guidance on children's contact arrangements following a move to a new permanent placement.
Phil Picton, chairman of the Safeguarding Children Board, said that Alexa-Marie was "a very vulnerable little girl" who was placed into the care of a man who went on to kill her.
During Alexa-Marie’s last days, Carl Wheatley deliberately misled professionals and resisted the efforts of those who were concerned for his daughter’s safety and tried to contact her.
All parties involved have cooperated fully with the Serious Case Review process and the Safeguarding Children Board has robust systems in place to monitor the implementation of the report’s recommendations.
– Phil Picton, Hertfordshire Safeguarding Children Board
Last updated Wed 11 May 2016
Once again, the courts, social workers just fawn all over Daddy and do nothing until it's too late.
The killer dad is identified as CARL WHEATLEY.
http://www.itv.com/news/2016-05-11/toddler-murdered-by-father-let-down-by-courts-and-social-workers/
11 May 2016 at 1:20pm
Little girl murdered by father let down by courts and social workers
Carl Wheatley was found guilty of murdering his daughter Alexa-Marie Quinn.
By Catherine Ellis
A four-year-old girl who was killed by her father was let down by social workers and local authorities, according to a report into her death.
Alexa-Marie Quinn was murdered by her father Carl Wheatley in March 2014, less than three months after Bedford Borough Council granted him custody.
Local agencies have been criticised in the report for "shortcomings" in their response to the suspicion that Alexa-Marie may have been at risk of harm.
What we know about Alexa-Marie
Alexa-Marie Quinn was found dead at her home in March 2014.
She had been beaten to death by her father.
She had suffered more than 60 injuries, including a bruise from her stomach to her ankles, and two lost teeth when she died in March 2014.
The four-year-old had been in Wheatley's care for the three months leading up to her death, after previously being cared for by foster parents.
Concerns had been raised about Wheatley's contact with Alexa-Marie by her foster carers in Bedford in May 2013.
Further worries about her contact with Wheatley had come up at a review the following month.
The trial of Alexa-Marie's father
Serious Case Review: Findings A Serious Case Review is launched when a child dies or is seriously injured where abuse or neglect is thought to be involved, to find out what lessons can be learned by local professionals and organisations to safeguard and promote the welfare of children.
The Serious Case Review published by Hertfordshire's Safeguarding Children's Board revealed a number of findings. These include:
Finding: There were weaknesses in management within and between different local authorities and social work teams in the Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire boroughs. These led to a lack of full understanding of potential risks that Alexa-Marie was exposed to.
Finding: There were shortcomings in the response to the suspicion that child protection risks may have left Alexa-Marie at harm.
Finding: All parties in the courts did not appropriately consider the implications of a psychiatric report on Carl Wheatley from September 2013.
Recommendations
The Serious Case Review made a number of recommendations for local agencies involved in the case to safeguard children in the future.
These included: reviews of training given to social workers and lawyers, reviewing case management arrangements for student social workers and looking into current guidance on children's contact arrangements following a move to a new permanent placement.
Phil Picton, chairman of the Safeguarding Children Board, said that Alexa-Marie was "a very vulnerable little girl" who was placed into the care of a man who went on to kill her.
During Alexa-Marie’s last days, Carl Wheatley deliberately misled professionals and resisted the efforts of those who were concerned for his daughter’s safety and tried to contact her.
All parties involved have cooperated fully with the Serious Case Review process and the Safeguarding Children Board has robust systems in place to monitor the implementation of the report’s recommendations.
– Phil Picton, Hertfordshire Safeguarding Children Board
Last updated Wed 11 May 2016
Wednesday, April 27, 2016
Mom: Custodial dad could have been stopped from murdering 5 kids (Columbia, South Carolina)
We've reported on this case before. Though so many of these cases are just insanely horrible, this one is particularly so. Dad is identified as TIMOTHY RAY JONES JR.
Notice, however, that there is no explanation as to who gave this crazy piece of sh** custody to begin with.
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/mother-slain-kids-sc-agency-stopped-deaths-38685169
Mother of 5 Slain Kids: SC Agency Could Have Stopped Deaths
By meg kinnard, associated press
COLUMBIA, S.C. — Apr 26, 2016, 4:38 PM ET
The mother of five South Carolina children who police say were killed by their father in 2014 says the state's social services agency knew the father was a threat and did nothing to stop him.
The allegations are part of a lawsuit filed last week by Amber Jones accusing the Department of Social Services of wrongful death and infliction of pain and suffering.
Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty against her ex-husband. Authorities say Timothy Ray Jones Jr. killed his five children — ages 8, 7, 6, 2 and 1 — at their Lexington County home in 2014 and drove around with their bodies in trash bags for nine days before dumping them in an Alabama field.
Jones was arrested in Mississippi after a deputy said he smelled the stench of death coming from the SUV at a traffic checkpoint.
A Social Services spokeswoman declined to comment on the lawsuit, which gives a detailed chronology of Jones' criminal past, including 2001 convictions for drug possession and forgery. It also notes his 2004 marriage to Amber Jones and the subsequent births of their five children.
By 2011, the family lived in Batesburg-Leesville, where, according to the lawsuit, Social Services received a report of child abuse and neglect, piles of trash at the home as well as a report Jones had threatened to shoot a neighbor's dog.
Caseworkers came to the family's home multiple more times that year, even calling law enforcement after Jones became violent and accused a caseworker of "ruining people's lives." But, according to the suit, no action was ever taken to discipline Jones or remove the children.
The complaint documents multiple additional instances in which Jones threatened the children's mother, who in 2012 made a criminal domestic violence complaint against him. The couple ultimately had a fifth child and then divorced in 2013, with Jones being awarded primary custody.
Over the next year, according to the lawsuit, teachers reported abuse claims to local Social Services workers after seeing bruises on three of the five children. A baby-sitter made similar claims. In August 2014, the agency contacted law enforcement, saying Jones didn't want to return his children to public school "because he feared the school would report the beatings."
Three weeks later, Jones picked up all five children from school and day care and killed them at the family home, authorities have said. Four children were strangled, and one was beaten to death.
Many of the claims mirror information in case files previously released by the Department of Social Services. Authorities never found anything serious enough to take the children away, but the documents show Jones as a single father and computer engineer struggling to raise his children.
"Dad appears to be overwhelmed as he is unable to maintain the home, but the children appear to be clean, groomed and appropriately dressed," a case worker wrote Aug. 13, two weeks before the children's disappearance.
Defense attorneys have suggested Jones suffered from mental problems, and an arrest warrant said he feared his children were going to kill him, chop him up and feed him to dogs. A judge in December ordered a psychiatric evaluation, and no trial date has been set.
Notice, however, that there is no explanation as to who gave this crazy piece of sh** custody to begin with.
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/mother-slain-kids-sc-agency-stopped-deaths-38685169
Mother of 5 Slain Kids: SC Agency Could Have Stopped Deaths
By meg kinnard, associated press
COLUMBIA, S.C. — Apr 26, 2016, 4:38 PM ET
The mother of five South Carolina children who police say were killed by their father in 2014 says the state's social services agency knew the father was a threat and did nothing to stop him.
The allegations are part of a lawsuit filed last week by Amber Jones accusing the Department of Social Services of wrongful death and infliction of pain and suffering.
Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty against her ex-husband. Authorities say Timothy Ray Jones Jr. killed his five children — ages 8, 7, 6, 2 and 1 — at their Lexington County home in 2014 and drove around with their bodies in trash bags for nine days before dumping them in an Alabama field.
Jones was arrested in Mississippi after a deputy said he smelled the stench of death coming from the SUV at a traffic checkpoint.
A Social Services spokeswoman declined to comment on the lawsuit, which gives a detailed chronology of Jones' criminal past, including 2001 convictions for drug possession and forgery. It also notes his 2004 marriage to Amber Jones and the subsequent births of their five children.
By 2011, the family lived in Batesburg-Leesville, where, according to the lawsuit, Social Services received a report of child abuse and neglect, piles of trash at the home as well as a report Jones had threatened to shoot a neighbor's dog.
Caseworkers came to the family's home multiple more times that year, even calling law enforcement after Jones became violent and accused a caseworker of "ruining people's lives." But, according to the suit, no action was ever taken to discipline Jones or remove the children.
The complaint documents multiple additional instances in which Jones threatened the children's mother, who in 2012 made a criminal domestic violence complaint against him. The couple ultimately had a fifth child and then divorced in 2013, with Jones being awarded primary custody.
Over the next year, according to the lawsuit, teachers reported abuse claims to local Social Services workers after seeing bruises on three of the five children. A baby-sitter made similar claims. In August 2014, the agency contacted law enforcement, saying Jones didn't want to return his children to public school "because he feared the school would report the beatings."
Three weeks later, Jones picked up all five children from school and day care and killed them at the family home, authorities have said. Four children were strangled, and one was beaten to death.
Many of the claims mirror information in case files previously released by the Department of Social Services. Authorities never found anything serious enough to take the children away, but the documents show Jones as a single father and computer engineer struggling to raise his children.
"Dad appears to be overwhelmed as he is unable to maintain the home, but the children appear to be clean, groomed and appropriately dressed," a case worker wrote Aug. 13, two weeks before the children's disappearance.
Defense attorneys have suggested Jones suffered from mental problems, and an arrest warrant said he feared his children were going to kill him, chop him up and feed him to dogs. A judge in December ordered a psychiatric evaluation, and no trial date has been set.
Tuesday, April 12, 2016
Custodial dad pleads not guilty to endangering 9-year-old daughter (San Diego, California)
Dad is identified as JOE TAVOLAZZI. CPS now has custody. Not one word on what happened to this girl's mother or how Dad got custody to begin with.
http://www.10news.com/news/father-pleads-not-guilty-to-child-endangerment-041116
Not guilty plea entered for man accused of endangering 9-year-old daughter
By: Robert Santos
Posted: 7:06 PM, Apr 11, 2016
Updated: 5 hours ago
SAN DIEGO - A father could face up to 14 years in jail if he’s found guilty of endangering his 9-year-old daughter.
The girl was found to be living in a backyard shed with her father and his 29-year-old girlfriend.
Joe Tavolazzi, 60, and his 29-year-old girlfriend Kimberly Bradeen were arrested Thursday along with six other adults at a property on the 12700 block of Lindo Lane in Lakeside.
Team 10 found out Sheriff's deputies responded to 19 complaints against the Lakeside home in the last two years.
One neighbor told 10News, “Nothing good was happening in there.”
Last Thursday, deputies searched the entire property. Their search quickly focused on the shed that contained a shot gun, a .22-caliber rifle and 8.1 grams of methamphetamine.
In court today, deputy district attorney David Williams III, told a judge there was a serious danger to the child. Via closed circuit TV, Tavolazzi pleaded not guilty to child endangerment and other felony charges.
A judge set his bail to $190,000 and ordered him not to have contact with his daughter. Bradeen also pleaded not guilty to similar charges except the one related to child endangerment. She also faces a charge of being an addict in possession of a firearm and a stun gun.
Shortly after deputies made arrests Thursday, a 10News crew went to the home and encountered hostility. One unidentified person used profanity at our crew.
The girl’s uncle, Ted Tavolazzi insisted the girl had access to a bathroom in the house 100 feet away.
“She was well taken care of, that's enough!” said Ted Tavolazzi.
Deputies say despite the conditions, they found the girl to be in decent health. She’s in the custody of Child Protective Services.
Tavolazzi and Bradeen will be back in court on April 20. They will be charged and tried as co-defendants.
http://www.10news.com/news/father-pleads-not-guilty-to-child-endangerment-041116
Not guilty plea entered for man accused of endangering 9-year-old daughter
By: Robert Santos
Posted: 7:06 PM, Apr 11, 2016
Updated: 5 hours ago
SAN DIEGO - A father could face up to 14 years in jail if he’s found guilty of endangering his 9-year-old daughter.
The girl was found to be living in a backyard shed with her father and his 29-year-old girlfriend.
Joe Tavolazzi, 60, and his 29-year-old girlfriend Kimberly Bradeen were arrested Thursday along with six other adults at a property on the 12700 block of Lindo Lane in Lakeside.
Team 10 found out Sheriff's deputies responded to 19 complaints against the Lakeside home in the last two years.
One neighbor told 10News, “Nothing good was happening in there.”
Last Thursday, deputies searched the entire property. Their search quickly focused on the shed that contained a shot gun, a .22-caliber rifle and 8.1 grams of methamphetamine.
In court today, deputy district attorney David Williams III, told a judge there was a serious danger to the child. Via closed circuit TV, Tavolazzi pleaded not guilty to child endangerment and other felony charges.
A judge set his bail to $190,000 and ordered him not to have contact with his daughter. Bradeen also pleaded not guilty to similar charges except the one related to child endangerment. She also faces a charge of being an addict in possession of a firearm and a stun gun.
Shortly after deputies made arrests Thursday, a 10News crew went to the home and encountered hostility. One unidentified person used profanity at our crew.
The girl’s uncle, Ted Tavolazzi insisted the girl had access to a bathroom in the house 100 feet away.
“She was well taken care of, that's enough!” said Ted Tavolazzi.
Deputies say despite the conditions, they found the girl to be in decent health. She’s in the custody of Child Protective Services.
Tavolazzi and Bradeen will be back in court on April 20. They will be charged and tried as co-defendants.
Thursday, March 31, 2016
Violent custodial dad hands over "sole care" of 3-year old to violent wife, child beaten to death (Boston, Massachusetts)
Another violent father who never should have received custody. Like a lot of guys, he seems to have increasingly coupled with the women who deserved him.
If this had been a custodial mother, she would be accused of failure to protect and end up doing hard time. But since it's a dad, well, he'll probably just play the Clueless Dad card and pay no penalty whatsoever.
By the way, this is a familiar theme with abusive custodial fathers. Since their motivations are all about punishment/control of the mother, and not about what's best fot the child or any desire to actively parent, they frequently dump the child on the new (resentful) wife or girlfriend.
Dad is identified as DAVE WHYTE.
http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2016/03/30/kenai-whyte-was-child-left-danger/ApI0rd9rADTrExHytGR5eP/story.html?event=event25
Kenai Whyte was a child left in danger
SUZANNE KREITER/GLOBE STAFF
Ashley Young is the mother of 3-year-old Kenai Whyte.
By Yvonne Abraham globe columnist
March 30, 2016
Ashley Young knew her son was in danger of being hurt. She was wrong, it seems, about who would do the hurting.
Young thought little Kenai Whyte’s father, Dave Whyte, was a danger to him — and she had good reason to think so. But prosecutors say it was Whyte’s wife, Marie Buie, who beat the child horribly on Jan. 31. The 3-year-old died two days later.
The court documents and police reports are gut-wrenching reading. From the day he was born, the toddler who loved firetrucks and Lightning McQueen was surrounded by threats and fear, the adults in his life battling and abusing each other, sometimes over him.
“I feel as if my child is in danger with his father,” Young wrote in a 2013 filing. “If he can beat on me and abuse me, I feel he can do the same to my son.”
Kenai’s father left a trail of police reports and restraining orders testifying to his abusiveness. Young said Whyte’s violence drove her to a shelter for domestic abuse victims. And later, she took out restraining orders against Whyte for pushing her against a wall and for visiting Kenai’s day care center to try to get her new address. Marie Buie surrendered to police for allegedly causing harm to Kenai Whyte, who died Feb. 2.
And she wasn’t the only one afraid of him. Police called to Whyte’s home in August of 2013 reported that he had pulled Buie’s hair and cut her hand. A year later, he was charged with assault and battery after he grabbed Buie by the throat. His mother, too, took out a restraining order against Whyte around the same time, saying her son had threatened to kill her.
Buie was trouble, too, according to police reports. She was twice arrested for assault and battery: once for stabbing a neighbor and once for hitting Whyte with a bottle, biting him, and pushing him down some stairs because, she told police, she was frustrated that he had left her to care for Kenai alone.
As ever in these impossible cases, it fell to the state to find a path for Kenai through the morass. The Department of Children and Families had been watching him since he was a baby, and checkups showed he was doing fine. A spokeswoman would not say whether DCF ran criminal background checks on the parents’ partners, citing privacy concerns. New rules announced Monday will make those checks mandatory.
If the probate judges mediating custody disputes between Young and Whyte knew about the father’s propensity for violence, they were apparently unperturbed by it. Whyte was granted full legal custody and half-physical custody of Kenai. Young, representing herself before the court (Whyte had an attorney), tried to change that late last year, but she missed a court date after her baby was born prematurely. So Whyte prevailed.
It is possible that, presented with this cavalcade of dysfunction, the court came to the measured (but mistaken) conclusion that Kenai was safe in his father’s home. It is possible, too, that what happened here is what happens too often when family court judges are presented with allegations of domestic abuse: The victim of the abuse is disbelieved and penalized. Their fragile state in the courtroom can make them seem disruptive or irrational. Worse, abusers can convince judges that the victims are using abuse claims to gain greater custody rights.
Courts can focus too hard on the breach between the parents, losing track of who is hitting whom — and whether the violence also endangers the child.
“Judges seem to care more about parental alienation,” said David Adams, head of Emerge, a counseling program for abusers. “So much so, that some victims’ attorneys aren’t even raising domestic violence in custody disputes.”
Whatever the reason, Young lost her bid to have her son spend less time in his father’s home. So there Kenai was, alone with Buie on the January night prosecutors say she brutally beat him.
You would like to think his parents fought this hard over their child because they both treasured him and wanted to protect him. But then you have to confront the realization that even a little boy as loved as Kenai Whyte seems to have been left in harm’s way to die.
If this had been a custodial mother, she would be accused of failure to protect and end up doing hard time. But since it's a dad, well, he'll probably just play the Clueless Dad card and pay no penalty whatsoever.
By the way, this is a familiar theme with abusive custodial fathers. Since their motivations are all about punishment/control of the mother, and not about what's best fot the child or any desire to actively parent, they frequently dump the child on the new (resentful) wife or girlfriend.
Dad is identified as DAVE WHYTE.
http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2016/03/30/kenai-whyte-was-child-left-danger/ApI0rd9rADTrExHytGR5eP/story.html?event=event25
Kenai Whyte was a child left in danger
SUZANNE KREITER/GLOBE STAFF
Ashley Young is the mother of 3-year-old Kenai Whyte.
By Yvonne Abraham globe columnist
March 30, 2016
Ashley Young knew her son was in danger of being hurt. She was wrong, it seems, about who would do the hurting.
Young thought little Kenai Whyte’s father, Dave Whyte, was a danger to him — and she had good reason to think so. But prosecutors say it was Whyte’s wife, Marie Buie, who beat the child horribly on Jan. 31. The 3-year-old died two days later.
The court documents and police reports are gut-wrenching reading. From the day he was born, the toddler who loved firetrucks and Lightning McQueen was surrounded by threats and fear, the adults in his life battling and abusing each other, sometimes over him.
“I feel as if my child is in danger with his father,” Young wrote in a 2013 filing. “If he can beat on me and abuse me, I feel he can do the same to my son.”
Kenai’s father left a trail of police reports and restraining orders testifying to his abusiveness. Young said Whyte’s violence drove her to a shelter for domestic abuse victims. And later, she took out restraining orders against Whyte for pushing her against a wall and for visiting Kenai’s day care center to try to get her new address. Marie Buie surrendered to police for allegedly causing harm to Kenai Whyte, who died Feb. 2.
And she wasn’t the only one afraid of him. Police called to Whyte’s home in August of 2013 reported that he had pulled Buie’s hair and cut her hand. A year later, he was charged with assault and battery after he grabbed Buie by the throat. His mother, too, took out a restraining order against Whyte around the same time, saying her son had threatened to kill her.
Buie was trouble, too, according to police reports. She was twice arrested for assault and battery: once for stabbing a neighbor and once for hitting Whyte with a bottle, biting him, and pushing him down some stairs because, she told police, she was frustrated that he had left her to care for Kenai alone.
As ever in these impossible cases, it fell to the state to find a path for Kenai through the morass. The Department of Children and Families had been watching him since he was a baby, and checkups showed he was doing fine. A spokeswoman would not say whether DCF ran criminal background checks on the parents’ partners, citing privacy concerns. New rules announced Monday will make those checks mandatory.
If the probate judges mediating custody disputes between Young and Whyte knew about the father’s propensity for violence, they were apparently unperturbed by it. Whyte was granted full legal custody and half-physical custody of Kenai. Young, representing herself before the court (Whyte had an attorney), tried to change that late last year, but she missed a court date after her baby was born prematurely. So Whyte prevailed.
It is possible that, presented with this cavalcade of dysfunction, the court came to the measured (but mistaken) conclusion that Kenai was safe in his father’s home. It is possible, too, that what happened here is what happens too often when family court judges are presented with allegations of domestic abuse: The victim of the abuse is disbelieved and penalized. Their fragile state in the courtroom can make them seem disruptive or irrational. Worse, abusers can convince judges that the victims are using abuse claims to gain greater custody rights.
Courts can focus too hard on the breach between the parents, losing track of who is hitting whom — and whether the violence also endangers the child.
“Judges seem to care more about parental alienation,” said David Adams, head of Emerge, a counseling program for abusers. “So much so, that some victims’ attorneys aren’t even raising domestic violence in custody disputes.”
Whatever the reason, Young lost her bid to have her son spend less time in his father’s home. So there Kenai was, alone with Buie on the January night prosecutors say she brutally beat him.
You would like to think his parents fought this hard over their child because they both treasured him and wanted to protect him. But then you have to confront the realization that even a little boy as loved as Kenai Whyte seems to have been left in harm’s way to die.
Wednesday, March 16, 2016
Dad living in transitional home for male addicts that helps him get custody of medically fragile 2-year-old daughter; girl dies within two months, but dad deemed not responsible (San Jose, California)
This has fathers rights crap all over it. For years, the federal government has funded FR groups meant to "reunite" dangerous criminals, addicts, and mentally ill fathers with their children and force those kids into the father's custody. There is funding to do this. No equivalent funding for mothers.
So we yank a medically fragile 2-year-old girl out of foster care for what? To give her to a formerly jailed, addicted father living in an all-male transitional housing situation devoted to getting these creeps access to little kids. No one with any background (or interest) in taking care of disabled children. Just getting ownership. Dead in two months. Who didn't see that coming.
Mother is (allegedly) "mentally impaired" but there are no details--the reporter doesn't bother to follow-up on the hearsay testimony. Maybe she wasn't mother of the year material, but you got to wonder whether she would have managed to kill off a todder within two months WITH NO CONSEQUENCES. He even keeps his name out of the media. Slick move!
http://www.contracostatimes.com/breaking-news/ci_29643334/santa-clara-county-foster-child-dies-after-being
South Bay foster child dies after being sent to live with dad in home for recovering addicts
By Karen de Sá
Posted: 03/16/2016 07:00:22 AM PDT | Updated: about 7 hours ago
SAN JOSE -- Santa Clara County officials are reviewing why a medically fragile 2-year-old girl was sent home to live with her father in a transitional home for recovering drug addicts, about two months before she was found dead.
It still isn't clear what caused the Feb. 28 death of Kelly Nguyen -- who required specialized care for a chromosomal birth defect known as DiGeorge syndrome. But the unusual placement -- and the rare death of a Santa Clara County foster child -- is raising troubling questions.
Kelly's death is not being investigated as a homicide. Her father is described by the girl's previous foster parents as loving and well-intentioned, but they had been told he was recently released from jail and struggling with drug problems when social workers placed Kelly in his care. Her mother had already been ruled out as a caregiver.
The couple had two older, healthy boys also in foster care, but authorities chose to give the father a second chance at parenting with Kelly, who could not speak and suffered from a genetic syndrome causing lifelong disability and developmental delays.
"It raises red flags," said Lisa Traxler, president of the Kinship, Adoptive and Foster Parent Association of Santa Clara County, a foster parents assistance program. "It's a home with men coming out of jail or in recovery and they're not better yet -- they're there for a reason, so having a nonverbal, medically fragile child in his care at age 2 -- if something happened, she can't tell anybody."
For now, all eyes are on the Santa Clara County coroner's office, which has completed an autopsy but is conducting further tests in the coming weeks to determine how the girl died.
"We grieve for her passing at much too young of an age," said Stanley Lee, social services program manager for the Department of Family and Children's Services. "But we don't know why she passed away."
Meanwhile, the county is exploring what might have gone wrong in Kelly's case: County Executive Jeff Smith said Tuesday that in light of the girl's death, the Department of Family and Children's Services "is reviewing the decisions related to her placement." Foster care placements must be approved by a judicial officer in the juvenile dependency court, after attorneys representing each parent, the child and the social worker have argued their positions. Traxler and other foster parents familiar with the case said they support reunification with birth families whenever possible. But this case was different.
"Had she been my foster child, I would have asked for a meeting," said Traxler, who has cared for 68 foster children over 21 years. "I would have spoken with the child's attorney, I would have stepped in to be a voice for this little child because she doesn't have a voice -- I would have said: 'What's the hurry? Let's let dad get a little further in his recovery.' "
Most parents working through dependency courts to regain custody of children they've been accused of abusing or neglecting suffer from addiction, homelessness or mental illness. Often, they are placed in transitional housing units while they work their way through court-ordered recovery and parenting programs.
At times, children are placed with mothers in transitional housing. But it is more unusual for fathers to reunite in those settings, Lee and other system insiders confirmed.
"The department does the best they can and they don't intentionally set out for anyone to be harmed, but I think sometimes mistakes are made as in any life situation," Traxler said. "From what it looks like from where I'm sitting, maybe it was a mistake."
Kelly's father -- who is not being named because he is not suspected of wrongdoing in her death and could not be reached Tuesday -- was referred to a six-bed, two-story home in South San Jose that serves fathers going through the local Dependency Wellness Court. The specialty foster care court serves parents in recovery who are actively engaged in regaining custody of their children.
"It doesn't matter whether it's a mother or a father, as long as a parent can safely protect and care for a child," Lee said. And if that parent is deemed worthy while "transitioning to more long-term housing," he added, "the law would require us to consider that as a possibility."
But the placement continues to trouble those mourning Kelly's death, including foster parents who attended services March 10 at the Oak Hill Memorial Park for the affectionate little girl with short-cut bangs and boundless enthusiasm. Her tiny body lay in a small casket in a lacy white dress.
"She was literally a ray of sunshine; she was infectious," said one of her several former foster mothers, Shellie Nichol. "Everywhere she went, she would walk around and hug everyone. Within hours, you'd fall in love with her because she was just the sweetest thing on the planet."
Kelly arrived at Nichol's San Jose foster home last June, completely nonverbal and with a clear need for ongoing medical attention and physical therapy, Nichol said. During the six months she cared for Kelly, who she affectionately called "Kiki," Nichol said she kept a video monitor trained on her all night. That's because the small girl would often choke on her mucus, and frequently vomited after crying and overeating, she said.
Nichol was told when she first received Kelly that her mother was mentally impaired and her father was in jail. But by July, he was out and visiting his daughter diligently, she said. Nichol and others familiar with the case said they believed the parents loved the girl but were unable to care for her.
Yet, based on a social worker's recommendation, Kelly was moved from Nichol's home to another in a succession of foster homes, and then reunified with her father.
Within two months, San Jose police received a 1:15 a.m. call from her father's temporary home stating that the toddler was unresponsive. She was pronounced dead at the hospital.
Although homicide detectives were initially called to the home -- following protocol for an unexpected child death -- there has been no arrest in the case. "We are not investigating it as a homicide at this point," San Jose police spokesman Officer Albert Morales said.
Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors President Dave Cortese, who leads a committee overseeing foster care, said Tuesday he was not familiar with the details of Kelly's death. But he noted the loss.
"The worst possible tragedy is the loss of a child -- in any circumstances -- and a foster child is our child," Cortese said. "Fundamentally it's our responsibility to ensure the safety of every child that's in our system. This is a member of our extended family and we need to feel the emotional pain and look at what we could have done differently."
So we yank a medically fragile 2-year-old girl out of foster care for what? To give her to a formerly jailed, addicted father living in an all-male transitional housing situation devoted to getting these creeps access to little kids. No one with any background (or interest) in taking care of disabled children. Just getting ownership. Dead in two months. Who didn't see that coming.
Mother is (allegedly) "mentally impaired" but there are no details--the reporter doesn't bother to follow-up on the hearsay testimony. Maybe she wasn't mother of the year material, but you got to wonder whether she would have managed to kill off a todder within two months WITH NO CONSEQUENCES. He even keeps his name out of the media. Slick move!
http://www.contracostatimes.com/breaking-news/ci_29643334/santa-clara-county-foster-child-dies-after-being
South Bay foster child dies after being sent to live with dad in home for recovering addicts
By Karen de Sá
Posted: 03/16/2016 07:00:22 AM PDT | Updated: about 7 hours ago
SAN JOSE -- Santa Clara County officials are reviewing why a medically fragile 2-year-old girl was sent home to live with her father in a transitional home for recovering drug addicts, about two months before she was found dead.
It still isn't clear what caused the Feb. 28 death of Kelly Nguyen -- who required specialized care for a chromosomal birth defect known as DiGeorge syndrome. But the unusual placement -- and the rare death of a Santa Clara County foster child -- is raising troubling questions.
Kelly's death is not being investigated as a homicide. Her father is described by the girl's previous foster parents as loving and well-intentioned, but they had been told he was recently released from jail and struggling with drug problems when social workers placed Kelly in his care. Her mother had already been ruled out as a caregiver.
The couple had two older, healthy boys also in foster care, but authorities chose to give the father a second chance at parenting with Kelly, who could not speak and suffered from a genetic syndrome causing lifelong disability and developmental delays.
"It raises red flags," said Lisa Traxler, president of the Kinship, Adoptive and Foster Parent Association of Santa Clara County, a foster parents assistance program. "It's a home with men coming out of jail or in recovery and they're not better yet -- they're there for a reason, so having a nonverbal, medically fragile child in his care at age 2 -- if something happened, she can't tell anybody."
For now, all eyes are on the Santa Clara County coroner's office, which has completed an autopsy but is conducting further tests in the coming weeks to determine how the girl died.
"We grieve for her passing at much too young of an age," said Stanley Lee, social services program manager for the Department of Family and Children's Services. "But we don't know why she passed away."
Meanwhile, the county is exploring what might have gone wrong in Kelly's case: County Executive Jeff Smith said Tuesday that in light of the girl's death, the Department of Family and Children's Services "is reviewing the decisions related to her placement." Foster care placements must be approved by a judicial officer in the juvenile dependency court, after attorneys representing each parent, the child and the social worker have argued their positions. Traxler and other foster parents familiar with the case said they support reunification with birth families whenever possible. But this case was different.
"Had she been my foster child, I would have asked for a meeting," said Traxler, who has cared for 68 foster children over 21 years. "I would have spoken with the child's attorney, I would have stepped in to be a voice for this little child because she doesn't have a voice -- I would have said: 'What's the hurry? Let's let dad get a little further in his recovery.' "
Most parents working through dependency courts to regain custody of children they've been accused of abusing or neglecting suffer from addiction, homelessness or mental illness. Often, they are placed in transitional housing units while they work their way through court-ordered recovery and parenting programs.
At times, children are placed with mothers in transitional housing. But it is more unusual for fathers to reunite in those settings, Lee and other system insiders confirmed.
"The department does the best they can and they don't intentionally set out for anyone to be harmed, but I think sometimes mistakes are made as in any life situation," Traxler said. "From what it looks like from where I'm sitting, maybe it was a mistake."
Kelly's father -- who is not being named because he is not suspected of wrongdoing in her death and could not be reached Tuesday -- was referred to a six-bed, two-story home in South San Jose that serves fathers going through the local Dependency Wellness Court. The specialty foster care court serves parents in recovery who are actively engaged in regaining custody of their children.
"It doesn't matter whether it's a mother or a father, as long as a parent can safely protect and care for a child," Lee said. And if that parent is deemed worthy while "transitioning to more long-term housing," he added, "the law would require us to consider that as a possibility."
But the placement continues to trouble those mourning Kelly's death, including foster parents who attended services March 10 at the Oak Hill Memorial Park for the affectionate little girl with short-cut bangs and boundless enthusiasm. Her tiny body lay in a small casket in a lacy white dress.
"She was literally a ray of sunshine; she was infectious," said one of her several former foster mothers, Shellie Nichol. "Everywhere she went, she would walk around and hug everyone. Within hours, you'd fall in love with her because she was just the sweetest thing on the planet."
Kelly arrived at Nichol's San Jose foster home last June, completely nonverbal and with a clear need for ongoing medical attention and physical therapy, Nichol said. During the six months she cared for Kelly, who she affectionately called "Kiki," Nichol said she kept a video monitor trained on her all night. That's because the small girl would often choke on her mucus, and frequently vomited after crying and overeating, she said.
Nichol was told when she first received Kelly that her mother was mentally impaired and her father was in jail. But by July, he was out and visiting his daughter diligently, she said. Nichol and others familiar with the case said they believed the parents loved the girl but were unable to care for her.
Yet, based on a social worker's recommendation, Kelly was moved from Nichol's home to another in a succession of foster homes, and then reunified with her father.
Within two months, San Jose police received a 1:15 a.m. call from her father's temporary home stating that the toddler was unresponsive. She was pronounced dead at the hospital.
Although homicide detectives were initially called to the home -- following protocol for an unexpected child death -- there has been no arrest in the case. "We are not investigating it as a homicide at this point," San Jose police spokesman Officer Albert Morales said.
Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors President Dave Cortese, who leads a committee overseeing foster care, said Tuesday he was not familiar with the details of Kelly's death. But he noted the loss.
"The worst possible tragedy is the loss of a child -- in any circumstances -- and a foster child is our child," Cortese said. "Fundamentally it's our responsibility to ensure the safety of every child that's in our system. This is a member of our extended family and we need to feel the emotional pain and look at what we could have done differently."
Custodial dad leaves 2- and 3-year-old children alone in trailer (Athens, Texas)
Wonder how neglectful dad PAUL YVON got custody of two toddlers, and what happened to their mother....
http://themonitor.net/blog2/2016/03/16/toddlers-found-unattended-dad-arrested-for-child-abandonmentendangerment/
Toddlers found unattended, dad arrested for child abandonment/endangerment
Posted by : Monitor Admin | On : March 16, 2016
Monitor Staff Reports
ATHENS–An anonymous report of children being left alone turned out to be a legitimate concern, as Henderson County Sheriff’s OFfice confirmed last Wednesday.
According to Henderson County Sheriff Ray Nutt a deputy answering a welfare concern in Chandler found a 2- and 3-year old unattended in a travel trailer without electricity for more than two hours.
When Sergeant Daniel Wright arrived at 10374 Paradise Circle, in Chandler, March 9, he found a 2-year-old little girl and 3-year-old little boy alone in the trailer. An unknown caller reported that small children were in a travel trailer with no electricity.
The officer also noted there was no running water, very little food, and an open flame in the trailer.
A Child Protective Services investigator arrived and the children were placed in CPS custody.
During Wright’s two hour stay, no guardian arrived to take custody of the children. Upon further investigation it was determined that Paul Yvon is the legal guardian of the children. Wright prepared an arrest warrant affidavit for Abandoning/Endangering a Child on Paul Yvon, 28, father of the children.
Precinct 1 Justice of the Peace Judge Randy Daniel determined there was probable cause and issued two arrest warrants.
Yvon was arrested two days later on March 11 and remains in custody with bonds totaling $20,000.
http://themonitor.net/blog2/2016/03/16/toddlers-found-unattended-dad-arrested-for-child-abandonmentendangerment/
Toddlers found unattended, dad arrested for child abandonment/endangerment
Posted by : Monitor Admin | On : March 16, 2016
Monitor Staff Reports
ATHENS–An anonymous report of children being left alone turned out to be a legitimate concern, as Henderson County Sheriff’s OFfice confirmed last Wednesday.
According to Henderson County Sheriff Ray Nutt a deputy answering a welfare concern in Chandler found a 2- and 3-year old unattended in a travel trailer without electricity for more than two hours.
When Sergeant Daniel Wright arrived at 10374 Paradise Circle, in Chandler, March 9, he found a 2-year-old little girl and 3-year-old little boy alone in the trailer. An unknown caller reported that small children were in a travel trailer with no electricity.
The officer also noted there was no running water, very little food, and an open flame in the trailer.
A Child Protective Services investigator arrived and the children were placed in CPS custody.
During Wright’s two hour stay, no guardian arrived to take custody of the children. Upon further investigation it was determined that Paul Yvon is the legal guardian of the children. Wright prepared an arrest warrant affidavit for Abandoning/Endangering a Child on Paul Yvon, 28, father of the children.
Precinct 1 Justice of the Peace Judge Randy Daniel determined there was probable cause and issued two arrest warrants.
Yvon was arrested two days later on March 11 and remains in custody with bonds totaling $20,000.
Sunday, February 7, 2016
3-year-old boy beaten to death at home of custodial dad with history of DV--just hours after CPS said he was well-fed and clean (Revere, Massachusetts)
My heart just sobs for this mother.
This little boy's death was absolutely preventable. But this is what happens when the legal system refuses to take men's violence against women seriously, when criminals are allowed to have domestic violence charges dismissed multiple times. This is what happens when mothers are punished for being the victim of a crime, and not the criminal, and are forced into homelessness. And most of all, this is the logical result of the INSANE FATHER'S RIGHTS-INSPIRED POLICY OF GIVING WIFE BEATERS CUSTODY OF YOUNG CHILDREN. What the hell do they think is going to happen when these violent men are given custody of babies, toddlers, and preschoolers?
Dad is identified as DAVE WHYTE JR. See the Killer Dads and Custody list for Massachusetts.
http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2016/02/05/governor-baker-dcf-working-with-district-attorney-death-year-old/wLvc9mktekovymwv2XsuOK/story.html
Mother of toddler who died shares his final days
Revere, MA., 02/05/16, Ashely Young describes the condition her son was in when taken from her ex-husband's house. She is the mother of the three year old Kenai who died after being in the custody of her ex-husband. After his death DCF took her other 2 children from her.
Suzanne Kreiter/Globe staff
Ashely Young is the mother of 3-year-old Kenai Whyte, who died Tuesday.
By Evan Allen Globe Staff
February 05, 2016
Ashley Young slipped into her son’s hospital bed Monday afternoon, kissed his face and hands, and sang him the songs he had always loved to dance to.
“Pooh Bear, Pooh Bear, I love my Pooh Bear.”
She said she told the toddler that he had to wake up: They had to decorate his bedroom and they had a trip planned to Disney World.
But 3-year-old Kenai Whyte did not move. His body was bruised, cut, scraped, and swollen, and the doctors said he could not hear her, she said. He died Tuesday, his mother curled at his side.
“Mommy will find out what happened to you,” Young, 27, said she promised him. On Sunday night, Kenai Whyte’s battered body was found in his father’s home. He died from his injuries on Tuesday.
Kenai’s death is under investigation, and police have released few details about the surrounding circumstances. The boy was found unresponsive at his father’s house on Alpine Street in Roxbury Sunday night, just days after a Department of Children and Families social worker reported that he was well-fed and clean.
Officials have not yet determined what killed him. Young said the doctors told her it appeared as though the child had been beaten. Police declined to comment.
Governor Charlie Baker said Friday that the DCF is working with the Suffolk district attorney’s office to determine what happened during the two days between a social worker’s check on Kenai and the moment he was rushed to a hospital on the verge of death.
“In the short term, the big issue is: What happened between between the 29th and the 31st?” Baker told reporters Friday.
The department is reviewing its handling of the case.
In the wake of the boy’s death, DCF removed another child from his father’s house, DCF has said, and Young said the agency also took her two daughters, an infant and a 6-year-old.
In the same breath, Young said, she had to tell her older daughter that her brother had died and that she couldn’t come home with Young and her fiance. Young said she had not been given an explanation for why her daughters were taken. The DCF declined to comment on any aspect of the case.
On Friday night, Young sat in her Revere apartment assembling a memorial for her son, fitting pictures of his smiling face into frames. He was a rambunctious child who couldn’t wait to be a “big boy” and loved to do everything by himself, she said. He was proud to be a big brother and nicknamed his baby sister “Peanuts.”
“It hurts that nobody knows what happened to him,” Young said.
The boy’s short life was marked by upheaval. Young fled her marriage to Kenai’s father, Dave Whyte Jr., when their son was just 3 months old, according to Young and court documents, which allege that Whyte abused her. They lived in a domestic violence shelter with Young’s older daughter for another three months, she said, then spent a year living with Young’s mother before moving to another shelter, then a motel. She had been in her apartment less than a month when Kenai died.
The DCF was involved from the time the boy was a baby, according to court documents. Young shared physical custody of Kenai with the boy’s father, who had legal custody. Whyte’s criminal record includes multiple dismissed charges of domestic violence against women. Reached by phone, he declined to comment.
But in the last month, Young said, things were looking up.
She moved into the new apartment with her children and her fiance, and Kenai was excited about decorating his bedroom with characters from “PAW Patrol,” a TV show he loved. It was the first time he had a space of his own.
Young’s infant daughter, born prematurely in November, was finally home from the hospital. Snow was coming, and Young bought a snowman-making kit. She got Kenai a snowsuit. They got Internet service. The apartment felt like home.
Last Thursday, when Young went to drop Kenai off at day care, where his father would pick him up later, the boy asked if he could stay home with her, she said.
“Mommy will see you soon,” she told him.
Young can’t bear to open her day planner and see the list of pants, shirts, and sneakers to buy for Kenai and her daughters. She went grocery shopping and found herself unable to buy strawberries or doughnuts — Kenai’s favorite. Her fiance offered her an orange, and she broke down sobbing: Kenai loved oranges. Her fiance threw out every orange in the apartment.
“When I get the kids back . . . my son won’t be here,” Young said.
On the dresser in his bedroom, where she said she goes twice a day to say good morning and good night to Kenai,
Young has a print of his hand and foot, taken in the moments after the doctors declared him dead. A wisp of his baby-fine hair lies in a bag in a cushioned blue box. The prayer blanket they covered him with in the hospital is folded neatly; the two bears he was holding when he died sit on the dresser and on his bed. She will keep one and bury the other with her child. Young has not been able to make funeral plans yet, she said.
“He is my world; he is my king,” she said, and with a gasp caught herself speaking in the present tense. She started to correct herself, then shook her head. “No — he is. I’m gonna keep it that way. He still will always be.”
This little boy's death was absolutely preventable. But this is what happens when the legal system refuses to take men's violence against women seriously, when criminals are allowed to have domestic violence charges dismissed multiple times. This is what happens when mothers are punished for being the victim of a crime, and not the criminal, and are forced into homelessness. And most of all, this is the logical result of the INSANE FATHER'S RIGHTS-INSPIRED POLICY OF GIVING WIFE BEATERS CUSTODY OF YOUNG CHILDREN. What the hell do they think is going to happen when these violent men are given custody of babies, toddlers, and preschoolers?
Dad is identified as DAVE WHYTE JR. See the Killer Dads and Custody list for Massachusetts.
http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2016/02/05/governor-baker-dcf-working-with-district-attorney-death-year-old/wLvc9mktekovymwv2XsuOK/story.html
Mother of toddler who died shares his final days
Revere, MA., 02/05/16, Ashely Young describes the condition her son was in when taken from her ex-husband's house. She is the mother of the three year old Kenai who died after being in the custody of her ex-husband. After his death DCF took her other 2 children from her.
Suzanne Kreiter/Globe staff
Ashely Young is the mother of 3-year-old Kenai Whyte, who died Tuesday.
By Evan Allen Globe Staff
February 05, 2016
Ashley Young slipped into her son’s hospital bed Monday afternoon, kissed his face and hands, and sang him the songs he had always loved to dance to.
“Pooh Bear, Pooh Bear, I love my Pooh Bear.”
She said she told the toddler that he had to wake up: They had to decorate his bedroom and they had a trip planned to Disney World.
But 3-year-old Kenai Whyte did not move. His body was bruised, cut, scraped, and swollen, and the doctors said he could not hear her, she said. He died Tuesday, his mother curled at his side.
“Mommy will find out what happened to you,” Young, 27, said she promised him. On Sunday night, Kenai Whyte’s battered body was found in his father’s home. He died from his injuries on Tuesday.
Kenai’s death is under investigation, and police have released few details about the surrounding circumstances. The boy was found unresponsive at his father’s house on Alpine Street in Roxbury Sunday night, just days after a Department of Children and Families social worker reported that he was well-fed and clean.
Officials have not yet determined what killed him. Young said the doctors told her it appeared as though the child had been beaten. Police declined to comment.
Governor Charlie Baker said Friday that the DCF is working with the Suffolk district attorney’s office to determine what happened during the two days between a social worker’s check on Kenai and the moment he was rushed to a hospital on the verge of death.
“In the short term, the big issue is: What happened between between the 29th and the 31st?” Baker told reporters Friday.
The department is reviewing its handling of the case.
In the wake of the boy’s death, DCF removed another child from his father’s house, DCF has said, and Young said the agency also took her two daughters, an infant and a 6-year-old.
In the same breath, Young said, she had to tell her older daughter that her brother had died and that she couldn’t come home with Young and her fiance. Young said she had not been given an explanation for why her daughters were taken. The DCF declined to comment on any aspect of the case.
On Friday night, Young sat in her Revere apartment assembling a memorial for her son, fitting pictures of his smiling face into frames. He was a rambunctious child who couldn’t wait to be a “big boy” and loved to do everything by himself, she said. He was proud to be a big brother and nicknamed his baby sister “Peanuts.”
“It hurts that nobody knows what happened to him,” Young said.
The boy’s short life was marked by upheaval. Young fled her marriage to Kenai’s father, Dave Whyte Jr., when their son was just 3 months old, according to Young and court documents, which allege that Whyte abused her. They lived in a domestic violence shelter with Young’s older daughter for another three months, she said, then spent a year living with Young’s mother before moving to another shelter, then a motel. She had been in her apartment less than a month when Kenai died.
The DCF was involved from the time the boy was a baby, according to court documents. Young shared physical custody of Kenai with the boy’s father, who had legal custody. Whyte’s criminal record includes multiple dismissed charges of domestic violence against women. Reached by phone, he declined to comment.
But in the last month, Young said, things were looking up.
She moved into the new apartment with her children and her fiance, and Kenai was excited about decorating his bedroom with characters from “PAW Patrol,” a TV show he loved. It was the first time he had a space of his own.
Young’s infant daughter, born prematurely in November, was finally home from the hospital. Snow was coming, and Young bought a snowman-making kit. She got Kenai a snowsuit. They got Internet service. The apartment felt like home.
Last Thursday, when Young went to drop Kenai off at day care, where his father would pick him up later, the boy asked if he could stay home with her, she said.
“Mommy will see you soon,” she told him.
Young can’t bear to open her day planner and see the list of pants, shirts, and sneakers to buy for Kenai and her daughters. She went grocery shopping and found herself unable to buy strawberries or doughnuts — Kenai’s favorite. Her fiance offered her an orange, and she broke down sobbing: Kenai loved oranges. Her fiance threw out every orange in the apartment.
“When I get the kids back . . . my son won’t be here,” Young said.
On the dresser in his bedroom, where she said she goes twice a day to say good morning and good night to Kenai,
Young has a print of his hand and foot, taken in the moments after the doctors declared him dead. A wisp of his baby-fine hair lies in a bag in a cushioned blue box. The prayer blanket they covered him with in the hospital is folded neatly; the two bears he was holding when he died sit on the dresser and on his bed. She will keep one and bury the other with her child. Young has not been able to make funeral plans yet, she said.
“He is my world; he is my king,” she said, and with a gasp caught herself speaking in the present tense. She started to correct herself, then shook her head. “No — he is. I’m gonna keep it that way. He still will always be.”
Friday, December 11, 2015
Judge Lee A. Schreiber: Dad "suspected" in murder of estranged wife retains custody of 8- and 10-year-old daughters (Lee County, Florida)
More insanity from the fathers rights-dominated state of Florida. The state that typically leads the US in father custody-related murders.
There is no "speculation" here. The research and the evidence is very clear: these children are at a VERY HIGH RISK of abuse and murder. Check out Josh Powell, the guy who was never arrested for the murder of his wife--who went on to murder his sons.
http://www.news-press.com/story/news/2015/12/07/judge-dcf-motion-denied-sievers-girls-stay-father/76798902/
Judge: Sievers girls to stay with father, DCF petition denied
BEN BRASCH, BBRASCH@NEWS-PRESS.COM 8:34 p.m. EST December 7, 2015
Despite a state agency's attempt to take his children away after documents implicated him in his wife's killing, a judge ruled Mark Sievers' two daughters will remain in his custody.
Circuit Judge Lee A. Schreiber denied Monday a Department of Children and Families sheltering petition to remove Sievers' daughters, ages 8 and 11.
Sievers has not been charged with a crime, but documents released by the state attorney's office Tuesday linked him with two men arrested in the murder of Dr. Teresa Sievers — Curtis Wayne Wright Jr., 47, and Jimmy Rodgers, 25. According to court documents, witness testimony alleges Sievers hired his longtime friend, Wright, to kill his wife. Wright then planned to pay Rodgers $10,000 to help him. Rodgers is in a Illinois prison on an unrelated gun charge.
Schreiber underscored that when she denied the request: "The possibility that the father would abscond, that he would place the children in harm's way, (that) he would intentionally harm the children as he is alleged to have harmed their mother, is just that – it's a possibility. The grounds to remove children from parents is more probable than not, probably this happened. I can't speculate about what's going to happen in the future. There is a reason why it's a probable cause standard and not 'I think this happened, we think this might happen, we're suspicious this might happen, we have concerns that this may happen, there's a possibility this may happen' – that's not the standard for removing children, so I deny the shelter petition." Mark Sievers was present at the Lee County Courthouse for a shelter hearing for his two children on Monday. Sievers will keep custody of his children after a judge denied a DCF request for a sheltering petition.
Teresa Sievers, 46, was found dead in her Bonita Springs home June 29. An autopsy showed she died of blunt force trauma to the head and investigative files say a bloodied hammer was found beside her body.
The DCF scheduled an emergency shelter hearing for Friday after someone called a child protection investigator. Schreiber continued the hearing to Monday.
Sievers remained emotionless throughout Monday's hearing, which the girls did not attend.
Sievers refused to answer questions by the media after the hearing. His attorney, Lee Hollander, attended but left before the proceedings ended. Mark Sievers exiting the Lee County courtroom Monday where a judge denied a DCF petition to take his daughters away.
Despite court documents implicating him in the killing of his wife, Sievers will retain custody of his daughters, ages 8 and 11.
Natalie Harrell, DCF spokeswoman, said child safety is the agency's top priority.
"If we receive concerning information that we believe could signal impending danger for children involved, as we did in this case, we take immediate steps to ensure the safety of the children," she wrote in an email. "Moving forward, we will keep our investigation open; however, we have limited ability to work with the family unless the father is arrested."
Harrell said she couldn't comment further, citing HIPPA laws.
Theresa Fracek, a DCF program administrator with years of experience investigating child maltreatment, testified that the agency's "specific concern is the result of the impending danger."
Fracek said the agency didn't know Sievers was more than a person of interest — common to homicide cases in which one spouse is still alive and uncooperative with authorities — until Wednesday.
"We became aware from information media released," she said.
Schreiber asked Fracek why DCF didn't remove the girls from their father's custody, which it doesn't need the court's permission to do.
"It just seems like this was not the normal protocol," Schreiber said. Fracek said: "Our concern was the reaction by the father … We were trying to coordinate with the father."
Big question: Will Mark Sievers be arrested?
Fracek said another arrest is "very likely" and described the situation as having "extenuating circumstances beyond the norm."
Under cross examination by Pamela Montgomery, who represented Sievers at the hearing, Fracek said the agency didn't contact him for fear of what he could do to the children.
"This is based purely on speculation," Montgomery said in closing. "The children are safe."
Schreiber ended the hearing with a salient reminder: "Obviously, if the facts and circumstances change, as they well may from day to day, the department clearly has authority over the statute to make a physical removal of the children."
There is no "speculation" here. The research and the evidence is very clear: these children are at a VERY HIGH RISK of abuse and murder. Check out Josh Powell, the guy who was never arrested for the murder of his wife--who went on to murder his sons.
http://www.news-press.com/story/news/2015/12/07/judge-dcf-motion-denied-sievers-girls-stay-father/76798902/
Judge: Sievers girls to stay with father, DCF petition denied
BEN BRASCH, BBRASCH@NEWS-PRESS.COM 8:34 p.m. EST December 7, 2015
Despite a state agency's attempt to take his children away after documents implicated him in his wife's killing, a judge ruled Mark Sievers' two daughters will remain in his custody.
Circuit Judge Lee A. Schreiber denied Monday a Department of Children and Families sheltering petition to remove Sievers' daughters, ages 8 and 11.
Sievers has not been charged with a crime, but documents released by the state attorney's office Tuesday linked him with two men arrested in the murder of Dr. Teresa Sievers — Curtis Wayne Wright Jr., 47, and Jimmy Rodgers, 25. According to court documents, witness testimony alleges Sievers hired his longtime friend, Wright, to kill his wife. Wright then planned to pay Rodgers $10,000 to help him. Rodgers is in a Illinois prison on an unrelated gun charge.
Schreiber underscored that when she denied the request: "The possibility that the father would abscond, that he would place the children in harm's way, (that) he would intentionally harm the children as he is alleged to have harmed their mother, is just that – it's a possibility. The grounds to remove children from parents is more probable than not, probably this happened. I can't speculate about what's going to happen in the future. There is a reason why it's a probable cause standard and not 'I think this happened, we think this might happen, we're suspicious this might happen, we have concerns that this may happen, there's a possibility this may happen' – that's not the standard for removing children, so I deny the shelter petition." Mark Sievers was present at the Lee County Courthouse for a shelter hearing for his two children on Monday. Sievers will keep custody of his children after a judge denied a DCF request for a sheltering petition.
Teresa Sievers, 46, was found dead in her Bonita Springs home June 29. An autopsy showed she died of blunt force trauma to the head and investigative files say a bloodied hammer was found beside her body.
The DCF scheduled an emergency shelter hearing for Friday after someone called a child protection investigator. Schreiber continued the hearing to Monday.
Sievers remained emotionless throughout Monday's hearing, which the girls did not attend.
Sievers refused to answer questions by the media after the hearing. His attorney, Lee Hollander, attended but left before the proceedings ended. Mark Sievers exiting the Lee County courtroom Monday where a judge denied a DCF petition to take his daughters away.
Despite court documents implicating him in the killing of his wife, Sievers will retain custody of his daughters, ages 8 and 11.
Natalie Harrell, DCF spokeswoman, said child safety is the agency's top priority.
"If we receive concerning information that we believe could signal impending danger for children involved, as we did in this case, we take immediate steps to ensure the safety of the children," she wrote in an email. "Moving forward, we will keep our investigation open; however, we have limited ability to work with the family unless the father is arrested."
Harrell said she couldn't comment further, citing HIPPA laws.
Theresa Fracek, a DCF program administrator with years of experience investigating child maltreatment, testified that the agency's "specific concern is the result of the impending danger."
Fracek said the agency didn't know Sievers was more than a person of interest — common to homicide cases in which one spouse is still alive and uncooperative with authorities — until Wednesday.
"We became aware from information media released," she said.
Schreiber asked Fracek why DCF didn't remove the girls from their father's custody, which it doesn't need the court's permission to do.
"It just seems like this was not the normal protocol," Schreiber said. Fracek said: "Our concern was the reaction by the father … We were trying to coordinate with the father."
Big question: Will Mark Sievers be arrested?
Fracek said another arrest is "very likely" and described the situation as having "extenuating circumstances beyond the norm."
Under cross examination by Pamela Montgomery, who represented Sievers at the hearing, Fracek said the agency didn't contact him for fear of what he could do to the children.
"This is based purely on speculation," Montgomery said in closing. "The children are safe."
Schreiber ended the hearing with a salient reminder: "Obviously, if the facts and circumstances change, as they well may from day to day, the department clearly has authority over the statute to make a physical removal of the children."
Saturday, November 28, 2015
Why did CPS grant criminal father custody of two young daughters? (Pocatello, Idaho)
Great editorial from Idaho State Journal.
http://www.idahostatejournal.com/editorials/what-about-the-health-and-welfare-of-zinnia-and-dahlia/article_46a23eeb-fdbf-507b-b5d0-79e5fdaf2e03.html
ISJ opinion editorial: What about the health and welfare of Zinnia and Dahlia?
Updated Nov 24, 2015
The last time we took issue with the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare, it was back in April when it became apparent that this government agency had essentially destroyed a local business for no good reason.
That business was Seasons of Hope, a mental health services provider with seven locations in Southeast Idaho and about 200 employees.
Health and Welfare accused Seasons of Medicaid fraud and ordered the company to pay $550,000 in fines and restitution. It took Seasons Chief Executive Officer Heath Sommer two years and lots of money in attorney’s fees to prove his business was innocent of the charges, but by that time Seasons was no more.
Fast forward to now and we have Health and Welfare involved in an even more questionable action. Health and Welfare has recommended that two young American-born girls from Southeast Idaho be essentially deported to be with their father in Mexico.
Health and Welfare officials say they’re only resolving a custody dispute.
We call it child endangerment on the part of a government agency.
The children’s father, a Mexican national, was previously deported from the United States. This individual has a criminal record, but it has unfortunately been sealed by the courts.
The children’s mother, Kelly Fink, of Pocatello, is a recovering drug addict who currently lives in a homeless shelter.
But she’s staying clean and clearly wants to put her life back together. Kelly’s mother and stepfather have moved to Southeast Idaho to help her get back on her feet.
Kelly’s two daughters, Zinnia and Dahlia, were being cared for by a foster family in Idaho Falls with regular visitation by their mom.
Rather than see these kids reunited with their mother, Health and Welfare decided to move the girls to Mexico to be with their father — the guy with the sealed criminal record who was deported.
Zinnia and Dahlia were transported by Idaho authorities to Boise for their Monday trip to Mexico. By the time you read this, the girls will likely be in Mexico, where they will spend the rest of their childhoods.
Perhaps if Health and Welfare officials had perused Mexico’s crime statistics, even by doing a quick Internet search, they would have realized what kind of mistake it was to send these two Southeast Idaho girls there.
According to the Council on Foreign Relations, “Criminal cartels — which traffic 90 percent of the cocaine that enters the United States — have killed an estimated 60,000 Mexican soldiers, police, politicians and civilians since 2006.” Other sources put the death toll much higher. Mexico’s murder rate is at least three times that of the United States.
During a less than two-year period between late 2012 and May 2014, 8,000 Mexicans simply disappeared. Since 2006, the number of Mexicans who’ve gone missing is nearly 30,000. It’s believed that these individuals who’ve mysteriously vanished were also murdered by Mexican drug cartels.
An incident in September 2014 illustrates the level of violence and lawlessness in Mexico. Members of a drug cartel rounded up over 40 students at a Mexican university. The students were never seen again. Their parents went looking for them and while they did not find any traces of their children, they did find multiple mass graves containing the bodies of 300 other people.
We won’t even delve into Mexico’s well-deserved reputation as a place with rampant sex trafficking, forced prostitution, forced labor, child sexual abuse and rape.
It’s a country known for attracting what are called child sex tourists — people who specifically travel to Mexico from other places because of the abundance of child prostitutes there. It’s not reassuring that Health and Welfare said it has talked to Mexican officials who promise they’re going to keep a close watch on Zinnia and Dahlia and make sure their father is taking good care of them.
Google “child abuse Mexico” and you’ll find out what kind of job Mexican officials are doing to protect Mexican children.
Judge Bryan Murray signed off on Health and Welfare’s plan to send Zinnia and Dahlia south of the border and we are obviously left wondering why.
We wish we could be sure that Zinnia and Dahlia will somehow not become tragic statistics as new residents of Mexico.
If something bad happens, Idaho will have nothing to offer but an apology.
http://www.idahostatejournal.com/editorials/what-about-the-health-and-welfare-of-zinnia-and-dahlia/article_46a23eeb-fdbf-507b-b5d0-79e5fdaf2e03.html
ISJ opinion editorial: What about the health and welfare of Zinnia and Dahlia?
Updated Nov 24, 2015
The last time we took issue with the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare, it was back in April when it became apparent that this government agency had essentially destroyed a local business for no good reason.
That business was Seasons of Hope, a mental health services provider with seven locations in Southeast Idaho and about 200 employees.
Health and Welfare accused Seasons of Medicaid fraud and ordered the company to pay $550,000 in fines and restitution. It took Seasons Chief Executive Officer Heath Sommer two years and lots of money in attorney’s fees to prove his business was innocent of the charges, but by that time Seasons was no more.
Fast forward to now and we have Health and Welfare involved in an even more questionable action. Health and Welfare has recommended that two young American-born girls from Southeast Idaho be essentially deported to be with their father in Mexico.
Health and Welfare officials say they’re only resolving a custody dispute.
We call it child endangerment on the part of a government agency.
The children’s father, a Mexican national, was previously deported from the United States. This individual has a criminal record, but it has unfortunately been sealed by the courts.
The children’s mother, Kelly Fink, of Pocatello, is a recovering drug addict who currently lives in a homeless shelter.
But she’s staying clean and clearly wants to put her life back together. Kelly’s mother and stepfather have moved to Southeast Idaho to help her get back on her feet.
Kelly’s two daughters, Zinnia and Dahlia, were being cared for by a foster family in Idaho Falls with regular visitation by their mom.
Rather than see these kids reunited with their mother, Health and Welfare decided to move the girls to Mexico to be with their father — the guy with the sealed criminal record who was deported.
Zinnia and Dahlia were transported by Idaho authorities to Boise for their Monday trip to Mexico. By the time you read this, the girls will likely be in Mexico, where they will spend the rest of their childhoods.
Perhaps if Health and Welfare officials had perused Mexico’s crime statistics, even by doing a quick Internet search, they would have realized what kind of mistake it was to send these two Southeast Idaho girls there.
According to the Council on Foreign Relations, “Criminal cartels — which traffic 90 percent of the cocaine that enters the United States — have killed an estimated 60,000 Mexican soldiers, police, politicians and civilians since 2006.” Other sources put the death toll much higher. Mexico’s murder rate is at least three times that of the United States.
During a less than two-year period between late 2012 and May 2014, 8,000 Mexicans simply disappeared. Since 2006, the number of Mexicans who’ve gone missing is nearly 30,000. It’s believed that these individuals who’ve mysteriously vanished were also murdered by Mexican drug cartels.
An incident in September 2014 illustrates the level of violence and lawlessness in Mexico. Members of a drug cartel rounded up over 40 students at a Mexican university. The students were never seen again. Their parents went looking for them and while they did not find any traces of their children, they did find multiple mass graves containing the bodies of 300 other people.
We won’t even delve into Mexico’s well-deserved reputation as a place with rampant sex trafficking, forced prostitution, forced labor, child sexual abuse and rape.
It’s a country known for attracting what are called child sex tourists — people who specifically travel to Mexico from other places because of the abundance of child prostitutes there. It’s not reassuring that Health and Welfare said it has talked to Mexican officials who promise they’re going to keep a close watch on Zinnia and Dahlia and make sure their father is taking good care of them.
Google “child abuse Mexico” and you’ll find out what kind of job Mexican officials are doing to protect Mexican children.
Judge Bryan Murray signed off on Health and Welfare’s plan to send Zinnia and Dahlia south of the border and we are obviously left wondering why.
We wish we could be sure that Zinnia and Dahlia will somehow not become tragic statistics as new residents of Mexico.
If something bad happens, Idaho will have nothing to offer but an apology.
Registered sex offender dad with unspecified custodial rights arrested for beating 9-year-old son (Orange County, Florida)
Where can you even start with this level of crazy?
Let's see.
* The obvious bullsh** of the Clueless Neighbor, who insists "nice guy" daddy "loves his kid very much" despite the fact that the same daddy beats the child so badly that he has facial injuries, bruises, and belt wounds?
*How about the fact that Daddy has had multiple encounters with CPS, and they do nothing to protect the boy? (Never mind how this fits in with Clueless Neighbor's idiotic insistences referenced above).
* CPS is so f***ed up that they can't even deal with a media interview?
* And this, which just takes my breath away. Daddy has been convicted of sexual assault, failed to register as a sexual offender, and yet in his custody filings claims he needs to provide his son with a "positive male role model." WHAT?
*And what custody dealings? What moronic Florida judge gave this father any access at all? Just what custody rights did Daddy have? Obviously not supervised visitation. Did this piece of crap have full custody? And what happened to Mom?
Dad is identified as WESLEY MCVAY.
http://www.wftv.com/news/news/local/9-investigates-father-arrested-child-abuse-charges/npWsx/
Posted: 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 25, 2015 9
Investigates father arrested on child abuse charges after multiple DCF encounters
ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — Inside a nondescript block home on a quiet Conway-area street, investigators believe a 38-year-old registered sex offender hit his 9-year-old son so hard that it broke capillaries in the boy's face.
Neighbors told Channel 9's Karla Ray that they didn't know that Wesley McVay had been arrested.
"All I know is he loves his kid very much," neighbor Shaffie Mohammed said.
The Florida Department of Children and Families took McVay's son from him three weeks ago, after they reportedly found the boy with the facial injuries, bruises and belt wounds on his backside.
"Have you ever seen bruises or anything on the little boy?" Ray asked Mohammed. "No. Never," Mohammed said.
McVay was arrested Tuesday and charged with child abuse.
According to his arrest report, McVay has a history of encounters with DCF, in regards to child abuse allegations. All of those incidents included the same child.
When Ray asked DCF officials why the child wasn't taken from McVay sooner, they said the family's history wasn't public. No one from the agency would agree to an on-camera interview with Ray.
"I've seen a DCF truck come in here a couple of times but I don't get involved with it. That's his personal business. I don't get involved with it," Mohammed said.
McVay was found guilty of sexual assault in Texas in 1998.
The year before his son was born, McVay was convicted in Florida of failing to register as an offender.
According to custody filings that Ray examined, McVay wanted more access to his son so that the child would have a "positive male role model in his life."
"I'll be surprised. He's a really nice guy. He really takes care of his kid. He loves his kid, he really does," Mohammed said.
McVay was being held in the Orange County Jail.
Let's see.
* The obvious bullsh** of the Clueless Neighbor, who insists "nice guy" daddy "loves his kid very much" despite the fact that the same daddy beats the child so badly that he has facial injuries, bruises, and belt wounds?
*How about the fact that Daddy has had multiple encounters with CPS, and they do nothing to protect the boy? (Never mind how this fits in with Clueless Neighbor's idiotic insistences referenced above).
* CPS is so f***ed up that they can't even deal with a media interview?
* And this, which just takes my breath away. Daddy has been convicted of sexual assault, failed to register as a sexual offender, and yet in his custody filings claims he needs to provide his son with a "positive male role model." WHAT?
*And what custody dealings? What moronic Florida judge gave this father any access at all? Just what custody rights did Daddy have? Obviously not supervised visitation. Did this piece of crap have full custody? And what happened to Mom?
Dad is identified as WESLEY MCVAY.
http://www.wftv.com/news/news/local/9-investigates-father-arrested-child-abuse-charges/npWsx/
Posted: 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 25, 2015 9
Investigates father arrested on child abuse charges after multiple DCF encounters
ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — Inside a nondescript block home on a quiet Conway-area street, investigators believe a 38-year-old registered sex offender hit his 9-year-old son so hard that it broke capillaries in the boy's face.
Neighbors told Channel 9's Karla Ray that they didn't know that Wesley McVay had been arrested.
"All I know is he loves his kid very much," neighbor Shaffie Mohammed said.
The Florida Department of Children and Families took McVay's son from him three weeks ago, after they reportedly found the boy with the facial injuries, bruises and belt wounds on his backside.
"Have you ever seen bruises or anything on the little boy?" Ray asked Mohammed. "No. Never," Mohammed said.
McVay was arrested Tuesday and charged with child abuse.
According to his arrest report, McVay has a history of encounters with DCF, in regards to child abuse allegations. All of those incidents included the same child.
When Ray asked DCF officials why the child wasn't taken from McVay sooner, they said the family's history wasn't public. No one from the agency would agree to an on-camera interview with Ray.
"I've seen a DCF truck come in here a couple of times but I don't get involved with it. That's his personal business. I don't get involved with it," Mohammed said.
McVay was found guilty of sexual assault in Texas in 1998.
The year before his son was born, McVay was convicted in Florida of failing to register as an offender.
According to custody filings that Ray examined, McVay wanted more access to his son so that the child would have a "positive male role model in his life."
"I'll be surprised. He's a really nice guy. He really takes care of his kid. He loves his kid, he really does," Mohammed said.
McVay was being held in the Orange County Jail.
Wednesday, October 14, 2015
Drunk, abusive formerly custodial dad assaults daycare worker for not handing over kids (Ronan, Montana)
It appears that this drunken lunatic of a father had custody before he lost it to CPS. Notice that there is NO MENTION of the mother. The unnamed girlfriend does not appear to be the mom, and I think daycare would have recognized the mother of these kids had she been caring for them.
So what happened to Mom? Who gave the idiot custody to begin with?
http://thenewsreports.com/day-care-worker-assaulted-for-not-handing-over-children-to-drunken-father/25451/kevin-sawyer
Day Care Worker Assaulted for Not Handing Over Children to Drunken Father
October 14, 2015
By Kevin Sawyer
A Montana day care worker was severely beaten and injured when she tried to protect three young children form a drunken father. A day care worker in Ronan, Montana was violently attacked when she refused to hand over three of her charges to the father of the children because he had no legal custody and because he was drunk. Martha McClure has been hospitalized for her injuries and remains afflicted with double vision due to the attack.
Francis Jackson, 31, father of three children who attend Martha’s Mini Day Care Center, showed up there last week accompanied by a woman who has not been identified. He demanded that his three children, all of whom are younger than 4 years old, be handed over to him, according to The Huffington Post.
When Jackson showed up at the day care center, he demanded that McClure release his children into his custody. McClure told police that she could smell alcohol on Jackson and refused to let the children go. McClure was aware that the Salish and Kootenai Tribal Child Protective Services had recently revoked Jackson’s custody rights and that he was not allowed to be anywhere near his children. The Child Protective Services agency currently has the legal custody of Jackson’s children.
When Jackson became agitated, McClure managed to push Jackson out of the room they were in and secured the door behind him. Jackson, then, became enraged and began hurling children’s toys, which included a small tricycle, at the dividing windows in an effort to get in. McClure, then, went out into the other room to confront Jackson and the woman that was with him.
McClure and Jackson were having angry words when the other woman smashed McClure in the face with a snow shovel. Jackson, right after, punched McClure in the face and then both Jackson and the woman hurried from the building without taking the children.
Jackson was arrested by police on the Kalispel Indian Reservation and was immediately charged with aggravated burglary. The woman who was with Jackson has yet to be arrested or identified. Police say charges and decisions are pending regarding the woman who hit McClure in the face with a snow shovel.
McClure had surgery done to her eyes and face and a social media photo shows her with two black eyes and some severe facial bruises and injuries. Her stepdaughter stated that McClure is “still in high spirits” and is anxious to return to work.
So what happened to Mom? Who gave the idiot custody to begin with?
http://thenewsreports.com/day-care-worker-assaulted-for-not-handing-over-children-to-drunken-father/25451/kevin-sawyer
Day Care Worker Assaulted for Not Handing Over Children to Drunken Father
October 14, 2015
By Kevin Sawyer
A Montana day care worker was severely beaten and injured when she tried to protect three young children form a drunken father. A day care worker in Ronan, Montana was violently attacked when she refused to hand over three of her charges to the father of the children because he had no legal custody and because he was drunk. Martha McClure has been hospitalized for her injuries and remains afflicted with double vision due to the attack.
Francis Jackson, 31, father of three children who attend Martha’s Mini Day Care Center, showed up there last week accompanied by a woman who has not been identified. He demanded that his three children, all of whom are younger than 4 years old, be handed over to him, according to The Huffington Post.
When Jackson showed up at the day care center, he demanded that McClure release his children into his custody. McClure told police that she could smell alcohol on Jackson and refused to let the children go. McClure was aware that the Salish and Kootenai Tribal Child Protective Services had recently revoked Jackson’s custody rights and that he was not allowed to be anywhere near his children. The Child Protective Services agency currently has the legal custody of Jackson’s children.
When Jackson became agitated, McClure managed to push Jackson out of the room they were in and secured the door behind him. Jackson, then, became enraged and began hurling children’s toys, which included a small tricycle, at the dividing windows in an effort to get in. McClure, then, went out into the other room to confront Jackson and the woman that was with him.
McClure and Jackson were having angry words when the other woman smashed McClure in the face with a snow shovel. Jackson, right after, punched McClure in the face and then both Jackson and the woman hurried from the building without taking the children.
Jackson was arrested by police on the Kalispel Indian Reservation and was immediately charged with aggravated burglary. The woman who was with Jackson has yet to be arrested or identified. Police say charges and decisions are pending regarding the woman who hit McClure in the face with a snow shovel.
McClure had surgery done to her eyes and face and a social media photo shows her with two black eyes and some severe facial bruises and injuries. Her stepdaughter stated that McClure is “still in high spirits” and is anxious to return to work.
Tuesday, September 29, 2015
Dad found drunk and passed out at pool; dehydrated child taken in by CPS (Mesa, Arizona)
So police (supposedly) couldn't find Mom. I hope that doesn't mean dad NAYSHON BENDLE was custodial....
http://www.abc15.com/news/region-southeast-valley/mesa/mesa-child-brought-to-cps-after-father-reportedly-passes-out-drunk-at-pool-faces-child-abuse-charge
Mesa child brought to CPS after father reportedly passes out drunk at Mesa pool
By: Katie Faller Posted: 12:08 PM, Sep 28, 2015 Updated: 12:14 PM, Sep 28, 2015
MESA, AZ - A father faces charges of child abuse in connection to allegedly passing out by the pool while watching his child in Mesa on Saturday, according to the Mesa Police Department.
The father, Nayshon Bendle, and his brother were reported to have been drinking by the pool near Country Club Drive and Brown Road while watching over Bendle’s child.
When officers arrived to the scene, Bendle would not wake up and the child was dehydrated and had an elevated heart rate.
Police took the child to Child Protective Services.
Police were not able to contact the child's mother.
Bendle was arrested once he woke up and is facing one count of child abuse.
He admitted to drinking three beers before sitting with his brother and passing out.
http://www.abc15.com/news/region-southeast-valley/mesa/mesa-child-brought-to-cps-after-father-reportedly-passes-out-drunk-at-pool-faces-child-abuse-charge
Mesa child brought to CPS after father reportedly passes out drunk at Mesa pool
By: Katie Faller Posted: 12:08 PM, Sep 28, 2015 Updated: 12:14 PM, Sep 28, 2015
MESA, AZ - A father faces charges of child abuse in connection to allegedly passing out by the pool while watching his child in Mesa on Saturday, according to the Mesa Police Department.
The father, Nayshon Bendle, and his brother were reported to have been drinking by the pool near Country Club Drive and Brown Road while watching over Bendle’s child.
When officers arrived to the scene, Bendle would not wake up and the child was dehydrated and had an elevated heart rate.
Police took the child to Child Protective Services.
Police were not able to contact the child's mother.
Bendle was arrested once he woke up and is facing one count of child abuse.
He admitted to drinking three beers before sitting with his brother and passing out.
Tuesday, September 15, 2015
Custodial dad with history of chld abuse charged with capital murder in stabbing deaths of three sons (Los Angeles, California)
Now we find out how coddled custodial dad LUIS FUENTES was despite multiple complaints to CPS. Typical. So he kept on abusing the boys till he murdered them.
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-father-charged-with-capital-murder-in-stabbing-deaths-of-three-sons-20150915-story.html
Father charged with capital murder in stabbing deaths of three sons
By Nicole Santa Cruz
September 15, 2015, 4:36 PM
A father accused of fatally stabbing his three young sons was charged Tuesday with capital murder, according to the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office..
The children, Luis Fuentes, 10; Juan Daniel Fuentes, 9; and Alexander Fuentes, 8, were found in the backseat of a silver SUV in the 300 block of East 32nd Street the morning of Sept. 9.
Their father, Luis Fuentes, 33, was found in the front seat, seriously wounded. #Police believe he stabbed himself with a kitchen knife. Fuentes was charged with three counts of murder with an allegation of multiple murders.
Last week, the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services launched an investigation into whether social workers had adequately probed several allegations that the boys were at risk and whether staff responded appropriately to what they learned.
The department's involvement with the family began in March 2010, when someone called the county's child abuse hotline to allege that the boys were being physically abused, said two officials who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the case. Social workers were unable to prove or disprove the allegation and marked it inconclusive, the officials said.
Another hotline call alleging abuse came in September 2010. Social workers determined the allegation to be true, and lawyers for the department petitioned the juvenile court to open a case, officials said. The boys reportedly remained in the father's home until the case was closed about a year later.
Two more hotline calls alleging physical abuse were made in April 2014, the sources said. Social workers investigated the allegations, finally marking the claims "inconclusive" in October.
The department had no further contact following last year's hotline calls, despite at least one call to police about an argument in recent months. Investigators will now analyze whether police shared that report with the child abuse hotline.
Family and friends were shocked by the deaths. Byron Fuentes, the man’s brother, told The Times last week that the last time he saw Luis Fuentes was about a month ago. Lately, his brother had withdrawn from relatives. As tears welled in his eyes, he said family will always be family.
“I’m trying to process what happened, I just don’t understand it,” he said.
In the neighborhood where the family recently lived, neighbor Maria Munoz said her 10-year-old grandson would play on scooters with the three boys.
“I always saw them happy,” she said. “They were like normal kids.”
Fuentes is being held without bail and is due in court Wednesday.
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-father-charged-with-capital-murder-in-stabbing-deaths-of-three-sons-20150915-story.html
Father charged with capital murder in stabbing deaths of three sons
By Nicole Santa Cruz
September 15, 2015, 4:36 PM
A father accused of fatally stabbing his three young sons was charged Tuesday with capital murder, according to the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office..
The children, Luis Fuentes, 10; Juan Daniel Fuentes, 9; and Alexander Fuentes, 8, were found in the backseat of a silver SUV in the 300 block of East 32nd Street the morning of Sept. 9.
Their father, Luis Fuentes, 33, was found in the front seat, seriously wounded. #Police believe he stabbed himself with a kitchen knife. Fuentes was charged with three counts of murder with an allegation of multiple murders.
Last week, the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services launched an investigation into whether social workers had adequately probed several allegations that the boys were at risk and whether staff responded appropriately to what they learned.
The department's involvement with the family began in March 2010, when someone called the county's child abuse hotline to allege that the boys were being physically abused, said two officials who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the case. Social workers were unable to prove or disprove the allegation and marked it inconclusive, the officials said.
Another hotline call alleging abuse came in September 2010. Social workers determined the allegation to be true, and lawyers for the department petitioned the juvenile court to open a case, officials said. The boys reportedly remained in the father's home until the case was closed about a year later.
Two more hotline calls alleging physical abuse were made in April 2014, the sources said. Social workers investigated the allegations, finally marking the claims "inconclusive" in October.
The department had no further contact following last year's hotline calls, despite at least one call to police about an argument in recent months. Investigators will now analyze whether police shared that report with the child abuse hotline.
Family and friends were shocked by the deaths. Byron Fuentes, the man’s brother, told The Times last week that the last time he saw Luis Fuentes was about a month ago. Lately, his brother had withdrawn from relatives. As tears welled in his eyes, he said family will always be family.
“I’m trying to process what happened, I just don’t understand it,” he said.
In the neighborhood where the family recently lived, neighbor Maria Munoz said her 10-year-old grandson would play on scooters with the three boys.
“I always saw them happy,” she said. “They were like normal kids.”
Fuentes is being held without bail and is due in court Wednesday.
Sunday, September 13, 2015
Dad charged with severely beating 10-year-old son during visitation; dad previously a murder suspect (Chattanooga, Tennessee)
Despite an intensive criminal background, it appears dad CLARENCE SCHREANE had joint custody, or at minimum, extensive visitation. Whether this was court-ordered or not is not indicated. But then mothers are under intensive pressure to "involve" fathers regardless of how violent or abusive they are.
http://www.wdef.com/content/news/developing/story/1996-attempted-murder-suspect-now-charged-with/VQBxh8gAA06Vaj11VaGlGw.cspx
1996 attempted murder suspect now charged with child abuse
Reported by: Erik Avanier
Published: 9/09 8:13 am Updated: 9/09 12:49 pm
CHATTANOOGA, Tennessee(WDEF) -A man who was once a murder suspect back in 1996 is now suspected of severely beating his young son.
Clarence Schreane, 39, of Chattanooga was charged with one count of aggravated child abuse.
Deputies from the Hamilton County fugitives division transported Schreane back to Hamilton County after he was picked up by authorities in Washington County Tennessee.
Back on may 12, police were called to T.C. Thompson Children's Hospital after the staff suspected a 10-year old boy had been physically abused.
According to the arrest affidavit, the child had visible signs of deep dark bruises covering his buttocks and upper thighs.
This child told authorities his father whipped him with a belt.
The boy's mother told police that she dropped him off at his fathers house two days prior and had not seen him again until the day she went to pick him up from school.
The boy told his mother the pain was so bad that he could not sit down.
A child protective service worker reportedly spoke to Mr. Schreane and told him about the bruising. According to the CPS worker, Schreane's response to her was to talk to his lawyer.
A warrant had been issued for Schreane's arrest and he was finally taken into custody in Washington County. He was transported back to Hamilton County on Tuesday and booked into the Hamilton County jail on a $25,000 bond.
Schreane is no stranger to trouble.
According to a News 12 background check, Schreane was arrested back in 1996 and charged with attempted first degree murder. The case was bound over to criminal court where it was dismissed. The following year, Schreane plead guilty to aggravated robbery.
In 1995, Schreane plead guilty to theft and reckless endangerment.
His next court date is scheduled for September 23.
http://www.wdef.com/content/news/developing/story/1996-attempted-murder-suspect-now-charged-with/VQBxh8gAA06Vaj11VaGlGw.cspx
1996 attempted murder suspect now charged with child abuse
Reported by: Erik Avanier
Published: 9/09 8:13 am Updated: 9/09 12:49 pm
CHATTANOOGA, Tennessee(WDEF) -A man who was once a murder suspect back in 1996 is now suspected of severely beating his young son.
Clarence Schreane, 39, of Chattanooga was charged with one count of aggravated child abuse.
Deputies from the Hamilton County fugitives division transported Schreane back to Hamilton County after he was picked up by authorities in Washington County Tennessee.
Back on may 12, police were called to T.C. Thompson Children's Hospital after the staff suspected a 10-year old boy had been physically abused.
According to the arrest affidavit, the child had visible signs of deep dark bruises covering his buttocks and upper thighs.
This child told authorities his father whipped him with a belt.
The boy's mother told police that she dropped him off at his fathers house two days prior and had not seen him again until the day she went to pick him up from school.
The boy told his mother the pain was so bad that he could not sit down.
A child protective service worker reportedly spoke to Mr. Schreane and told him about the bruising. According to the CPS worker, Schreane's response to her was to talk to his lawyer.
A warrant had been issued for Schreane's arrest and he was finally taken into custody in Washington County. He was transported back to Hamilton County on Tuesday and booked into the Hamilton County jail on a $25,000 bond.
Schreane is no stranger to trouble.
According to a News 12 background check, Schreane was arrested back in 1996 and charged with attempted first degree murder. The case was bound over to criminal court where it was dismissed. The following year, Schreane plead guilty to aggravated robbery.
In 1995, Schreane plead guilty to theft and reckless endangerment.
His next court date is scheduled for September 23.
Custodial dad suspended from police job interfering with abuse investigation involving son; threatens non-custodial mom with kidnapping charge (Harrisburg, Pennsylvania)
This case just reeks of backroom deal making and corruption. Because he is a well-connected cop, the abuse allegations against him are perpetually "unfounded." He gets physical custody. Threatens the protective mother with kidnapping charges though she communicated to him the location of their son. He barges into CPS, manhandles the kid out of an interview with an abuse investigator, and then the authorities CONTINUE to force the boy to live his father for another three months before suspending him from his job.
Dad is identified as STEPHEN C. KRUM.
Typical of the fathers rights corruption that infects the whole judicial system.
http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2015/09/harrisburg_police_officer_susp_3.html
Harrisburg police suspend officer accused of obstructing child abuse investigation
Dauphin County investigators say Harrisburg Police Officer Stephen Krum barged into a room inside this Children &Youth Services building and forcibly removed a boy being interviewed.
The District Attorney's office later charged Krum, 31, with felony obstruction of a child abuse investigation.
By Christine Vendel on September 10, 2015 at 7:41 AM, updated September 10, 2015 at 11:15 AM
HARRISBURG - The city of Harrisburg has suspended a police officer who authorities say barged into the Dauphin County Children Youth Services building and removed his son who was being interviewed as a possible child abuse victim.
Officer Stephen C. Krum has been charged by the Dauphin County district attorney's office with felony obstruction of a child abuse investigation.
Krum showed his police ID and badge to a security guard at the building who asked if he had an appointment, court records state.
"This is my access and all the appointment I need," he told the guard, according to court records. The six-year veteran, who earns $63,198 annually, has been on paid leave since Aug. 19, when the charge was filed. His next court date is set for Oct. 2.
The incident occurred about 4 p.m. May 14 at the Dauphin County CYS facility at 1001 N. Sixth St. Krum and the boy's mother are divorced, said Krum's attorney, Brian Perry. Krum has primary physical custody of the boy, who has special needs, Perry said.
A county detective investigated the incident. Court records gave this account:
The boy reportedly called his mother after school but before getting on the school bus saying he did not want to go to his father's house. The boy reportedly said he was afraid of his father and wanted to go to CYS to talk to somebody.
The mother responded to the school, picked up her son and drove him to the CYS facility. She called Krum from the facility and left a message letting him know where the boy was.
Krum reportedly called back and threatened to have his ex-wife arrested for kidnapping. Krum showed up at the facility 10 minutes later.
Krum walked past a security guard and bypassed the metal detector initially, but then agreed to go through the detector. The guard then asked about his appointment and he pulled his police badge.
Krum eventually went into a playroom, where the boy was being interviewed by a caseworker and demanded the boy leave with him.
A supervisor confronted Krum and asked him to go back to the waiting room, but he refused. He pushed past the supervisor, grabbed his son by the arm and dragged him to the door, actions that were captured on security footage.
Krum talked with his son briefly, then grabbed him "in a sort of a bear hug," and took him out of the building as the boy "appears to be resisting."
The boy told a screener at CYS that "he was fearful of his father and did not want to go home." He reportedly asked staff members several times to "please don't make him go with him."
Perry said the visit to CYS was the latest in a string of abuse allegations filed by the mother against Krum in Dauphin and Lebanon counties. All of the allegations have been unfounded, Perry said.
Perry noted that the boy was allowed to remain in Krum's home during the three months following the incident, until the criminal charge was filed.
"I think that speaks volumes about the strength of the [abuse] case against Steve," he said. "He found out the boy's mother took him to CYS again and he said, 'No. We're not doing this. You're coming with me.'
"Should he have handled himself differently that day? The answer is yes," Perry said. "But he reacted as most fathers would have."
Assistant District Attorney Sean McCormack disagreed and said he believed most parents would have allowed the interview to finish.
"Justified or not, the system has to work," McCormack said. "Other parents in similar situations have shown much more restraint."
McCormack said his office would file a similar charge against anyone who committed the same offense.
"The allegation here is that he forcibly removed a child from an interview," he said. "That's not something we can condone."
Krum has not been allowed to contact his son since the charge was filed, Perry said.
Dad is identified as STEPHEN C. KRUM.
Typical of the fathers rights corruption that infects the whole judicial system.
http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2015/09/harrisburg_police_officer_susp_3.html
Harrisburg police suspend officer accused of obstructing child abuse investigation
Dauphin County investigators say Harrisburg Police Officer Stephen Krum barged into a room inside this Children &Youth Services building and forcibly removed a boy being interviewed.
The District Attorney's office later charged Krum, 31, with felony obstruction of a child abuse investigation.
By Christine Vendel on September 10, 2015 at 7:41 AM, updated September 10, 2015 at 11:15 AM
HARRISBURG - The city of Harrisburg has suspended a police officer who authorities say barged into the Dauphin County Children Youth Services building and removed his son who was being interviewed as a possible child abuse victim.
Officer Stephen C. Krum has been charged by the Dauphin County district attorney's office with felony obstruction of a child abuse investigation.
Krum showed his police ID and badge to a security guard at the building who asked if he had an appointment, court records state.
"This is my access and all the appointment I need," he told the guard, according to court records. The six-year veteran, who earns $63,198 annually, has been on paid leave since Aug. 19, when the charge was filed. His next court date is set for Oct. 2.
The incident occurred about 4 p.m. May 14 at the Dauphin County CYS facility at 1001 N. Sixth St. Krum and the boy's mother are divorced, said Krum's attorney, Brian Perry. Krum has primary physical custody of the boy, who has special needs, Perry said.
A county detective investigated the incident. Court records gave this account:
The boy reportedly called his mother after school but before getting on the school bus saying he did not want to go to his father's house. The boy reportedly said he was afraid of his father and wanted to go to CYS to talk to somebody.
The mother responded to the school, picked up her son and drove him to the CYS facility. She called Krum from the facility and left a message letting him know where the boy was.
Krum reportedly called back and threatened to have his ex-wife arrested for kidnapping. Krum showed up at the facility 10 minutes later.
Krum walked past a security guard and bypassed the metal detector initially, but then agreed to go through the detector. The guard then asked about his appointment and he pulled his police badge.
Krum eventually went into a playroom, where the boy was being interviewed by a caseworker and demanded the boy leave with him.
A supervisor confronted Krum and asked him to go back to the waiting room, but he refused. He pushed past the supervisor, grabbed his son by the arm and dragged him to the door, actions that were captured on security footage.
Krum talked with his son briefly, then grabbed him "in a sort of a bear hug," and took him out of the building as the boy "appears to be resisting."
The boy told a screener at CYS that "he was fearful of his father and did not want to go home." He reportedly asked staff members several times to "please don't make him go with him."
Perry said the visit to CYS was the latest in a string of abuse allegations filed by the mother against Krum in Dauphin and Lebanon counties. All of the allegations have been unfounded, Perry said.
Perry noted that the boy was allowed to remain in Krum's home during the three months following the incident, until the criminal charge was filed.
"I think that speaks volumes about the strength of the [abuse] case against Steve," he said. "He found out the boy's mother took him to CYS again and he said, 'No. We're not doing this. You're coming with me.'
"Should he have handled himself differently that day? The answer is yes," Perry said. "But he reacted as most fathers would have."
Assistant District Attorney Sean McCormack disagreed and said he believed most parents would have allowed the interview to finish.
"Justified or not, the system has to work," McCormack said. "Other parents in similar situations have shown much more restraint."
McCormack said his office would file a similar charge against anyone who committed the same offense.
"The allegation here is that he forcibly removed a child from an interview," he said. "That's not something we can condone."
Krum has not been allowed to contact his son since the charge was filed, Perry said.
Saturday, September 5, 2015
Sole custody abusive dad subject of DCF child abuse report (Hardwick, Massachusetts)
We've reported on this case before. Abusive dad RANDALL LINTS had sole custody. And yet the Fathers Rights guys in Massachusetts still wail about how discriminated against they are in custody matters. Total bullsh**. The reality is that the system bends over backwards to accommodate abusive fathers in custodial matters, and won't interfere with the father's "rights" till it's often too late.
http://www.whdh.com/story/29960177/dcf-to-release-report-on-hardwick-child-abuse-investigation
DCF releases report on Hardwick child abuse investigation
Posted: Sep 04, 2015 10:16 AM Updated: Sep 05, 2015 5:11 PM
Hardwick (WHDH) - The Department of Children and Families released on Friday a report on its investigation into what led a young Hardwick boy to be hospitalized.
Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker held a press conference on Friday and said the report was intended to identify failures of DCF processes that led to the injures sustained by 7-year-old Jack Loiselle. "These kids deserve the same chances other kids have," Baker said of children in DCF care. "To go to school, play with their friends, and find the kind of security, predictability and unconditional support that most of us take for granted so that they can grow, learn and succeed."
Baker said the report showed that DCF, despite its best intentions and efforts, does not have the policy framework, operating rules and other aspects that are required to properly served children. Several policies are more than 10 years old.
"DCF does not have a parental capability review policy for all cases involving custody issues," he said. "Neither the courts, nor DCF, did enough diligence concerning the childhood of Jack's biological father. His own childhood was enormously troubled and should have been factored into every decision concerning Jack's care, well being and safety."
By Jan. 1, the Western Massachusetts region of DCF will return to its previous management structure by recreating the Central Massachusetts region, costing between $1 million and $2 million.
"DCF has the authority to recruit, hire and train the social work team and the staff it needs to deal with rising case load and if we need to we will find the money to support the department's efforts," he said.
Baker said many people who work in DCF do good work every day, but the systemic issues show that much more needs to be done in order to keep children safe.
According to authorities, Loiselle weighed just 38 pounds.
The 7-year-old was unconscious and suffering from starvation and dehydration.
He had bruises on his face and bleach burns on his hands and knees.
At last check, he remains unresponsive at a long-term rehabilitation facility.
DCF became involved with the family in February, eight months after Randall Lints was granted sole custody of his son.
Police arrested and charged Lints a week after Jack was taken into intensive care.
Governor Charlie Baker will discuss the case Friday afternoon.
http://www.whdh.com/story/29960177/dcf-to-release-report-on-hardwick-child-abuse-investigation
DCF releases report on Hardwick child abuse investigation
Posted: Sep 04, 2015 10:16 AM Updated: Sep 05, 2015 5:11 PM
Hardwick (WHDH) - The Department of Children and Families released on Friday a report on its investigation into what led a young Hardwick boy to be hospitalized.
Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker held a press conference on Friday and said the report was intended to identify failures of DCF processes that led to the injures sustained by 7-year-old Jack Loiselle. "These kids deserve the same chances other kids have," Baker said of children in DCF care. "To go to school, play with their friends, and find the kind of security, predictability and unconditional support that most of us take for granted so that they can grow, learn and succeed."
Baker said the report showed that DCF, despite its best intentions and efforts, does not have the policy framework, operating rules and other aspects that are required to properly served children. Several policies are more than 10 years old.
"DCF does not have a parental capability review policy for all cases involving custody issues," he said. "Neither the courts, nor DCF, did enough diligence concerning the childhood of Jack's biological father. His own childhood was enormously troubled and should have been factored into every decision concerning Jack's care, well being and safety."
By Jan. 1, the Western Massachusetts region of DCF will return to its previous management structure by recreating the Central Massachusetts region, costing between $1 million and $2 million.
"DCF has the authority to recruit, hire and train the social work team and the staff it needs to deal with rising case load and if we need to we will find the money to support the department's efforts," he said.
Baker said many people who work in DCF do good work every day, but the systemic issues show that much more needs to be done in order to keep children safe.
According to authorities, Loiselle weighed just 38 pounds.
The 7-year-old was unconscious and suffering from starvation and dehydration.
He had bruises on his face and bleach burns on his hands and knees.
At last check, he remains unresponsive at a long-term rehabilitation facility.
DCF became involved with the family in February, eight months after Randall Lints was granted sole custody of his son.
Police arrested and charged Lints a week after Jack was taken into intensive care.
Governor Charlie Baker will discuss the case Friday afternoon.
Wednesday, August 26, 2015
Dad gets 11 years for death of 5-week-old daughter (Vista, California)
Dad is identified as LEE TRAHAN.
http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/2015/aug/18/father-11-years-prison-baby-death-case-vista/
Father gets 11 years in baby death case
Defendant, who said child's injury was accidental, faced 25 years to life in prison
By Dana Littlefield | 2:08 p.m. Aug. 18, 2015 | Updated, 4:13 p.m.
VISTA — A father convicted of manslaughter in the death of his infant daughter three years ago was sentenced Tuesday to 11 years in prison.
A jury found Lee Trahan, 28, of Escondido guilty in February of voluntary manslaughter and assault on a child for causing the injuries that killed daughter Willow in 2012. The panel acquitted him of a second-degree murder charge.
Trahan, a former Marine who was stationed at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, contended in trial that he had accidentally banged Willow’s head against a door frame early one morning as he bent over to pick up a pacifier while holding his 5-week-old baby.
The District Attorney’s Office contended that Willow died as a result of abuse.
During the sentencing hearing Tuesday, attorneys on both sides of the case appeared to be operating under an understanding that Vista Superior Court Judge Harry Elias had only two options when it came to sentencing the defendant under the assault charge: probation or 25 years to life in prison.
Trahan’s lawyer, Brian J. White, argued that his client wasn’t someone who needed to be removed from society. Instead, he said, Trahan was a loving father with no previous criminal record, who had the strong support of his family.
“This is not somebody who’s dangerous,” White said.
Deputy District Attorney Michelle Ialeggio said she did not believe Trahan was “a monster,” and conceded that Trahan felt remorse over what happened to his daughter. But, the prosecutor said, evidence showed the baby was injured more than once while in her father’s care, and that the parents hesitated to seek immediate medical help on April 24, 2012, the day Trahan said he inadvertently hit the baby’s head.
#“He made the decision to sit there and wait until her body gave out…,” Ialeggio said.
Defense lawyers said the parents waited because Willow’s condition improved, but Ialeggio said it was because one of the baby’s injuries — a bruise or skin discoloration on her abdomen — had already drawn the attention of Child Protective Services earlier that month and they didn’t want to alert authorities again. The prosecutor said text messages exchanged between the couple support that contention.
Willow was rushed to a hospital three days after the door frame incident, after she stopped breathing. She died 10 days later.
The judge said it was the delay in seeking medical aid that helped him conclude that probation was inappropriate in this case, but a potential life sentence would be inappropriate as well.
Acknowledging that the prosecution might challenge his decision on appeal, Elias chose to sentence Trahan to an 11-year term on the manslaughter charge, and grant probation for the assault. The probation term will expire when Trahan is released from prison on parole.
“Ethically, I believe I’m doing the right thing,” said the judge, who denied a defense motion for a new trial before ordering the sentence.
Trahan will have to serve 85 percent of his prison term. He has credit for more than three years in custody.
The prosecutor argued in trial that Trahan and his wife, Jessica, were overwhelmed by the demands of caring for Willow and her twin brother, who were born six weeks premature. Citing testimony from a deputy medical examiner, the prosecutor said the blunt-force injuries Willow suffered, including a skull fracture and bruising on the brain, were too severe to be accidental.
Jessica Trahan was convicted of misdemeanor child neglect for failing to seek medical attention for Willow right away. At a previous hearing, the judge placed her on probation for four years and ordered her to complete 200 hours of community service.
Outside the courtroom Tuesday, White said Trahan was a “devoted husband and father,” and that what happened to his family was a tragedy, but would never happen again.
http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/2015/aug/18/father-11-years-prison-baby-death-case-vista/
Father gets 11 years in baby death case
Defendant, who said child's injury was accidental, faced 25 years to life in prison
By Dana Littlefield | 2:08 p.m. Aug. 18, 2015 | Updated, 4:13 p.m.
VISTA — A father convicted of manslaughter in the death of his infant daughter three years ago was sentenced Tuesday to 11 years in prison.
A jury found Lee Trahan, 28, of Escondido guilty in February of voluntary manslaughter and assault on a child for causing the injuries that killed daughter Willow in 2012. The panel acquitted him of a second-degree murder charge.
Trahan, a former Marine who was stationed at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, contended in trial that he had accidentally banged Willow’s head against a door frame early one morning as he bent over to pick up a pacifier while holding his 5-week-old baby.
The District Attorney’s Office contended that Willow died as a result of abuse.
During the sentencing hearing Tuesday, attorneys on both sides of the case appeared to be operating under an understanding that Vista Superior Court Judge Harry Elias had only two options when it came to sentencing the defendant under the assault charge: probation or 25 years to life in prison.
Trahan’s lawyer, Brian J. White, argued that his client wasn’t someone who needed to be removed from society. Instead, he said, Trahan was a loving father with no previous criminal record, who had the strong support of his family.
“This is not somebody who’s dangerous,” White said.
Deputy District Attorney Michelle Ialeggio said she did not believe Trahan was “a monster,” and conceded that Trahan felt remorse over what happened to his daughter. But, the prosecutor said, evidence showed the baby was injured more than once while in her father’s care, and that the parents hesitated to seek immediate medical help on April 24, 2012, the day Trahan said he inadvertently hit the baby’s head.
#“He made the decision to sit there and wait until her body gave out…,” Ialeggio said.
Defense lawyers said the parents waited because Willow’s condition improved, but Ialeggio said it was because one of the baby’s injuries — a bruise or skin discoloration on her abdomen — had already drawn the attention of Child Protective Services earlier that month and they didn’t want to alert authorities again. The prosecutor said text messages exchanged between the couple support that contention.
Willow was rushed to a hospital three days after the door frame incident, after she stopped breathing. She died 10 days later.
The judge said it was the delay in seeking medical aid that helped him conclude that probation was inappropriate in this case, but a potential life sentence would be inappropriate as well.
Acknowledging that the prosecution might challenge his decision on appeal, Elias chose to sentence Trahan to an 11-year term on the manslaughter charge, and grant probation for the assault. The probation term will expire when Trahan is released from prison on parole.
“Ethically, I believe I’m doing the right thing,” said the judge, who denied a defense motion for a new trial before ordering the sentence.
Trahan will have to serve 85 percent of his prison term. He has credit for more than three years in custody.
The prosecutor argued in trial that Trahan and his wife, Jessica, were overwhelmed by the demands of caring for Willow and her twin brother, who were born six weeks premature. Citing testimony from a deputy medical examiner, the prosecutor said the blunt-force injuries Willow suffered, including a skull fracture and bruising on the brain, were too severe to be accidental.
Jessica Trahan was convicted of misdemeanor child neglect for failing to seek medical attention for Willow right away. At a previous hearing, the judge placed her on probation for four years and ordered her to complete 200 hours of community service.
Outside the courtroom Tuesday, White said Trahan was a “devoted husband and father,” and that what happened to his family was a tragedy, but would never happen again.
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