Judge: 12-year-old boy can stay with older sister after custodial dad charged with aggravated child abuse (Miami, Florida)

We first reported on this case a few days ago. Even at that time, we suspected that ADOLFO GUZMAN was a custodial father. Turns out we were correct. Still no word on what happened to the mother of these kids, or how this guy was able to move from the Dominican Republic to the U.S. with three kids.

http://www.local10.com/news/judge-to-decide-where-boy-lives-after-fathers-child-abuse-arrest/-/1717324/20139690/-/cath1gz/-/index.html

Judge: Boy can stay with older sister

Adolfo Guzman charged with aggravated child abuse

Author: Benjamin Candea, Senior Web Producer
Alexandra Fruin, Producer

Published On: May 14 2013 10:49:52 AM EDT
Updated On: May 14 2013 02:19:41 PM EDT

MIAMI - A dependency court judge ruled a 12-year-old boy can stay with his older sister after their father was charged with tying the boy to a pole with a bicycle cable wire.

The judge ruled Adolfo Guzman's son could stay in their Miami Beach apartment with his 15 and 21-year-old sisters under the supervision of the Department of Children and Families.

Guzman can have no contact with his son until his criminal case is resolved, the judge ruled.. He can see his 15-year-old daughter.

Police arrested Guzman on Sunday and charged him with aggravated child abuse. Neighbors said Guzman hadn't been back to his apartment since his arrest.

According to an arrest report, Guzman's son left their apartment without permission Saturday. When he returned home, Guzman threatened to tie him up if he continued to wander off. A neighbor said Guzman woke up and his son wasn't home.

On Sunday, the boy left again without permission. When he returned, Guzman used the cable wire to tie him to the pole outside their apartment, according to the arrest report.

Passer-bys flagged police officers down, who had the Miami Beach Fire Department cut the boy loose.

"It's all my fault. It's not his fault," the 12-year-old boy told Local 10's Glenna Milberg. "It's all my fault because I'm the one who got out of the house without permission. I came late."

The boy is the youngest of Guzman's children. A single father, Guzman raises his three children on a disability check. He moved to the U.S. from the Dominican Republican about three years ago.

"I don't say nothing because he deserved that because he made my dad do that," said the boy's sister.

"He never hit me in my life. Not even my sisters," said the boy.

Dad shoots and kills mom while she's holding their 14-month-old daughter (Metairie, Louisiana)

The dad is identified as FRANCISCO FERNANDEZ.

Hat tip to E.

http://www.nola.com/crime/index.ssf/2011/08/woman_killed_in_metairie_murde.html

Woman killed in Metairie murder-suicide shot by husband while holding their baby
Published: Tuesday, August 30, 2011, 4:59 PM
Updated: Tuesday, August 30, 2011, 6:51 PM
By Michelle Hunter, The Times-Picayune

The Metairie man who shot and killed his wife Monday afternoon before taking his own life opened fire while she was holding the couple's 14-month-old daughter, according to authorities.

The little girl, who has not been identified, was not injured in the shooting, said Sgt. Larry Dyess, spokesman for the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office.

The girl's parents have been identified as Francisco Fernandez, 32, and Yosaria Fernandez, 31. The couple lived at the Windmill Creek Apartment Homes, 3501 Apollo Drive in Metairie, where the shooting took place.

Deputies were called to the complex just before 3 p.m. after receiving reports of two people shot. Investigators later determined that Francisco Fernandez approached his wife while she was sitting inside of a maroon Ford Explorer in the back parking lot and opened fire, Dyess said. He then turned the gun on himself.

Yosaria Fernandez was taken to a local hospital where she was pronounced dead shortly after arrival. Francisco Fernandez was pronounced dead at the scene, his body lying face up between the Explorer and a pick-up truck.

Dyess said the couple is originally from the Dominican Republic. They've lived in the New Orleans area for the past few years. Detectives found no records of abuse or domestic strife in either Jefferson Parish or any of the neighboring jurisdictions.

The couple's daughter had been in Yosaria Fernandez's lap during the shooting, Dyess said. The baby appeared uninjured and mostly calm Monday afternoon as detectives scoured the crime scene for evidence. The girl, clad in pink, was bounced and held by an unidentified woman, possibly another resident of the apartment complex.

The Louisiana Department of Children and Family Services eventually took custody of the girl, Dyess said. Trey Williams, communications director for the state child welfare agency, said he could not discuss specifics about the girl's case because of confidentiality concerns. But Williams said in general that law enforcement officers try to contact and place children with relatives, especially after they have been witnesses to violent crimes.

"It's when a relative is not available right then that law enforcement contacts DCFS," Williams said.

The agency then attempts to identify and locate a relative and perform a background check to ensure the child's safety. If no relatives are found, then the child is placed with a foster parent while the search continues. If no family members can be located after an extended search- or none can pass the background checks - then the child could be placed up for adoption.

Immigrant Dads--who once in the U.S. or Canada, get custody--only to abuse the kids

Just recently, I was in a discussion with some folks about fathers in the U.S. or Canada--typically immigrants--who manage to strip child custody from impoverished mothers still living in so-called "developing" countries (usually countries like Mexico or other countries in the Carribean basin). So I decided to tally up how many articles we have collected here at Dastardly that fall into this general category.

As you will see, sometimes the father's custody is phrased as the mother "willingly" giving the child to the father so the child can have a better life. But really, what kind of choice is that? These mothers have no resources to feed their kids, no way to immigrate themselves, no way to receive financial support. In short no way to better their lives or the lives of their children, no way to fight back in the legal system.

Here are some examples of kids who came to the U.S or Canada., only to be seriously abused/murdered by the custodial dad and/or the new step:

Charlenni Ferrera - Murdered in Philadelphia, PA by custodial dad and/or step.
Mom from Puerto Rico via the Dominican Republic: http://dastardlydads.blogspot.com/2010/02/dhs-not-at-fault-for-abuse-death-of-10.html> http://dastardlydads.blogspot.com/2009/11/charlennis-tragic-journey-actually.html> >

Manuel Gonzalez - Miami, Florida father who had sexually abused his daughter, and then stabbed her and her infant son, killing the son. What is often not reported in this case is that he was custodial--the girl's mother is from Guatamala: http://dastardlydads.blogspot.com/2010/05/estranged-wife-of-stabbing-suspect.html

Naticia Laurent-Murdered by custodial dad and/or step in Beauford, South Carolina.
Mother in Haiti:
http://dastardlydads.blogspot.com/2010/05/stepmom-accused-of-homicide-wants-to.html>>

Unnamed girl sexually abused, neglected by custodial father in Miami, Florida. Mother in Dominican Republic:
http://dastardlydads.blogspot.com/2010/04/custodial-dad-molests-teen-daughter-dcf.html>

Randall Dooley, murdered by custodial dad/step in Toronto, Canada.
Mom in Jamaica:
http://dastardlydads.blogspot.com/2009/09/custodial-dad-stepmother-want-new-trial.html>

And finally dad Melvin Ortiz in Ponciana, Florida. He and/or the step murdered his son while he was visiting from Puerto Rico. Mom still had custody back in Puerto Rico at the time: http://dastardlydads.blogspot.com/2009/07/custodial-dad-charged-with-killing-5.html

Stepmom accused of homicide wants to stand trial (Beaufort, South Carolina)

Any case where a child dies is terribly horrible and sad. But there's a special poignancy in these cases involving international exploitation.

Why was this 4-year-old girl living with her custodial father and stepmother, who apparently beat her to death? (Notice that nobody is hassling the father about child endangerment in this case--fathers are seldom bothered with such things, though mothers are held responsible for everything any adult male does under their roof.)

Why wasn't this little girl with her mother?

It's pretty clear, actually. Her mother lives in Haiti, and is probably poor. Almost everyone in Haiti is poor, and most are wretchedly poor with no way out out of poverty unless they can emmigrate. The mother no doubt wanted a better life for her little girl, a life where she would have a nice home, toys, plenty of food, a chance at an education. So with pain in her heart, she made the supreme maternal sacrifice and sent off the little girl to be with her Daddy in America. And what she gets instead is a funeral for her 4-year-old baby girl, and visa hassles about whether she can stay for the trial. Just disgusts me. My heart truly goes out to this mom.

But this isn't the only case where something like this has happened. Where children from poor countries, stripped of their mothers, are left vulnerable to abuse by their custodial fathers and/or new steps. Here are some similar cases I have observed:

1) Charlenni Ferreira, whose mother was from the Dominican Republic. The girl was viciously abused and finally murdered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania while living with her custodial father and stepmother:

http://dastardlydads.blogspot.com/2009/11/charlennis-tragic-journey-actually.html

2) Unnamed girl, whose mother was also from the Dominican Republic. She was sexually abused and neglected (not sent to school) by her drug-addicted custodial father in Miami, Florida:

http://dastardlydads.blogspot.com/2010/04/custodial-dad-molests-teen-daughter-dcf.html

3) Randal Dooley, whose mother was from Jamaica. He was murdered by his custodial father and stepmother in Toronto, Canada:

http://dastardlydads.blogspot.com/2009/09/custodial-dad-stepmother-want-new-trial.html

4) And now Naticia Laurent, whose mother lives in Haiti. She was murdered while living with her custodial father JEAN ROBERT LAURENT and stepmother in Beaufort, South Carolina.

http://www.islandpacket.com/2010/05/03/1228186/woman-accused-of-homicide-in-4.html

Woman accused of homicide in 4-year-old's death wants to stand trial
By CASSIE FOSS
cfoss@islandpacket.com
843-706-8125
Published Monday, May 3, 2010

A 25-year-old Beaufort woman expected to plead guilty for beating her 4-year-old stepdaughter to death in October instead opted to go to trial during a hearing Monday.

Naticia Laurent was arrested and charged Oct. 8 with child abuse and neglect, but the charge was elevated to homicide by child abuse after Giselle Laurent died Oct. 10at the Medical University of South Carolina. She died from blunt force trauma to the head that investigators say she sustained at her stepmother's hand.

Fourteenth Circuit Solicitor's Office prosecutors recommended that Laurent serve a 20-year sentence if she pleaded guilty to the homicide charge. If convicted, she faces 20 years to life in prison.

Laurent had no prior arrests in South Carolina, according to a S.C. Law Enforcement Division background check.

"I agreed that I would recommend 20 years, which I believe was a fair offer under the circumstances," said Angela McCall-Tanner, a prosecutor for the Solicitor's Office. "The injuries to the child were quite severe. The state will not be offering anything else."

McCall-Tanner said she expects the trial to be later this year, although a date has not been set.

After her arrest, Laurent's bond was set at $250,000, according to the county's jail log. Her bond was lowered in March to $50,000 with an option to pay 10 percent in cash for her release. She posted the $5,000 bond March 23 and now lives with her husband, Jean Robert Laurent -- the child's father -- in Beaufort, authorities said.

"She is an intelligent woman who is here today with support from her family and friends and has decided to plead not guilty and go forward with a jury trial," said Laurent's attorney, Helen Roper, a Beaufort County public defender.

Laurent, her husband and family members would not comment.

Paramedics arrived at the couple's home on Stone Martin Drive at about 11:50 a.m. Oct. 8 to find the girl on the bathroom floor unconscious and not breathing, according to a Beaufort Police Department report. Giselle was rushed to Beaufort Memorial Hospital, where a nurse reported the injuries to authorities.

Police reported "numerous fresh bruises" to the child's stomach, chest and legs. Doctors also performed a CT scan on the child before taking her to MUSC.

The youngster's mother, Carmelite Jean-Pierre of Port Au Prince, Haiti, was granted a special visa to travel to the U.S. for the child's funeral, McCall-Tanner said. The visa is set to expire soon, and it is unclear if she will be able to stay in the country for the trial, McCall-Tanner said.

"Hopefully, they will extend her visa," she said.

Read more: http://www.islandpacket.com/2010/05/03/1228186/woman-accused-of-homicide-in-4.html#ixzz0mz2C1b9O

Custodial dad molests teen daughter, DCF bumbles (Miami, Florida)

Let's see. UNNAMED DAD is unemployed, has a $100-$200 a day cocaine habit, and abuses steroids which makes him "psychotic." The daughter says he's pulled a knife on her before. She hasn't been in school. Florida DCF catches him TWICE in a state of undress with his teen daughter after receiving calls alleging sexual abuse. But they blow it off. Yes, Daddy had custody. Seems Mom is in a different country (Dominican Republic) where "investigators couldn't locate her." Really? Are these the same investigators who caught Daddy naked with a teenage daughter--locked in a bedroom with her no less--and ordered him to "sleep in a separate bedroom"? Yessir, daddies are sure discriminated against and picked on something awful, aren't they?

Hat tip to Annie.

http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/04/07/v-fullstory/1568195/incest-case-raises-questions-about.html

Incest case raises questions about DCF's family-preservation policy
BY CAROL MARBIN MILLER
cmarbin@MiamiHerald.com

When child welfare investigator Simon Roberts went to the home of a 39-year-old Miami man accused of having sex with his own teenage daughter, he found the man locked in a bedroom with the girl -- both of them undressed.

Roberts' action: He ordered the man to sleep in a separate bedroom. And then he left.

Two days later, another investigator took the girl into state custody after -- acting on another call to the state's abuse hot line -- she found the man, once again, naked with his daughter, this time in a Biscayne Boulevard motel. Both Roberts and his supervisor were fired last month after child welfare leaders said they left the girl at ``imminent risk.''

``This was a crime,'' Department of Children & Families Secretary George Sheldon said of the man's behavior with his daughter. ``Clearly, there wasn't a sense of urgency in this case, and, clearly, there was no utilization of common sense.''

In a broader sense, details of the girl's case raise troubling questions about the methods DCF administrators have employed in an effort to reduce the number of children the agency serves. Believing that children fare better with their parents than in foster care, DCF leaders are seeking to preserve families with help from the state, whenever possible.

So they have reduced the number of children in state care by 37 percent statewide, or from 29,255 children in December 2006 to 18,471 children as of March 14. The reduction in foster children in Miami-Dade has been even more dramatic, at 43 percent during the same time period.

Administrators insist troubled families are being served just as well -- if not better -- through programs that offer parenting classes, substance abuse treatment, domestic violence counseling and even hands-on home instruction to parents on a voluntary basis.

But critics of the new policy say the agency seldom follows through to ensure parents accept the services that are offered, and that, often, children remain at risk when their parents continue to abuse drugs or make poor decisions -- outside the agency's oversight.

Patricia Anyamele, Roberts' supervisor, said the ``pressure'' to leave families intact has forced investigators to second-guess themselves when they truly believe a child is in danger.

``What is a protective investigator supposed to do, go with his gut and get berated again?'' she asked.

Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Jeri B. Cohen, who is presiding over the girl's case in juvenile court, declined to discuss the investigation, citing the child's confidentiality.

But Cohen, who also leads Miami's Community Based Care Alliance oversight group, said she has been fielding concerns for months from other judges, service providers and healthcare workers that there is an ``environment of fear'' that discourages investigators from acting more forcefully -- which could lead to tragic consequences.

``That is why judges across the state are worried,'' Cohen said. ``And it's why I'm concerned.''
``They put the entire family preservation program into place without filling in the gaps, developing a good tracking mechanism or developing a safety or risk assessment,'' Cohen said. ``I think that's dangerous. You can't have philosophy running the system. Safety has to run the system.''

And Roy Miller, who heads the Florida Children's Campaign and was appointed to a panel by Sheldon earlier this year to help review Florida's child protection system, said details of the case suggest child welfare authorities have not done enough to keep children safe while they implement the far-reaching effort to lower foster care caseloads.

``Can't a state agency get the pendulum in the middle -- where common sense rules the day?'' Miller asked.

Sheldon insists his agency's foremost goal will always be to protect children from harm, though he acknowledges implementing the philosophical shift remains ``a work in progress.''

``The goal of trying to preserve families cannot be done to the exclusion of trying to keep kids safe,'' he said.

The father at the center of the controversial case, who was unemployed at the time of his arrest, is not being identified here to protect the privacy of his daughter, who was 16. The girl's mother lives in the Dominican Republic, where investigators could not locate her. The girl has no siblings. His first contact with DCF occurred in January 2009. That's when the agency's hot line received a report the father had a $100- to $200-a-day cocaine habit, and was abusing steroids -- which made him ``psychotic.'' The daughter had found him wielding a knife to his own throat. She had broken three bones when he crashed a car he was driving.

``The victim hasn't been in school for four months,'' the report said. The allegations were ``verified,'' according to a DCF quality assurance investigation provided to The Herald. The father was referred to a drug treatment center, and a better-parenting program.

DCF administrators acknowledge the agency failed to follow up with the dad to make sure he completed his drug treatment, had ensured his daughter was attending school, and was no longer leaving the girl in harm's way. Indeed, sources say, the girl had not been to school for two years when she was taken from her father.

Miller of the Children's Campaign said DCF left the girl at risk by failing to act more forcefully.
``I think you have to assume her life is in danger. You have to either remove the child to get to the bottom of the story, or you have to allow her to stay in the home, but, immediately provide very intensive services. . . . You can't walk away from the case with a referral to drug treatment. It's ridiculous.''

And Anyamele, who was Simon Roberts' supervisor when he investigated the father eight months later -- and was fired for failing to insist the girl be removed -- said ``if the court had mandated services [then] it probably would have yielded a better outcome.''

Jacqui Colyer, DCF's top Miami administrator, said the agency did not have sufficient cause in January 2009 to shelter the girl, or to ask a judge to order the dad to accept help from the state.
``What we did was provide the family with as many services as possible without moving forward with any type of legal action,'' Colyer said. ``We didn't think we had any real standing to go forward at that time.''

Eight months later, when authorities next came into contact with the family, the father had lost his business, was unemployed, and was living with his brother's family.

According to court records and Miami-Dade Police Detective Rebeca Perez, on Aug. 17, the girl's uncle called MDPD to report the man and his daughter were sleeping in the same bed together ``nude.'' Police alerted DCF to the allegations.

Two police officers accompanied Roberts to the uncle's house hours later. According to records, the girl's uncle told authorities ``he has seen the victim and [her dad] laying naked in bed on numerous occasions.'' As a church leader, he added, he told his brother ``his behavior was inappropriate.''

During the home visit, the father was found on his bed naked; his daughter had locked herself in a bathroom. When coaxed to leave the bathroom, she was naked from the waist down.

``The victim denied any sexual abuse,'' a police report said. The father insisted he'd done nothing wrong, adding: ``The room I sleep in is hot and I cannot sleep.''

The police report quotes the uncle as saying the officers ``instructed'' the father ``to leave the residence for the night.''

Colyer, DCF's Miami administrator, and DCF records obtained by The Miami Herald say Roberts told the father to sleep in a separate bedroom from his daughter -- and then did nothing more. Anyamele, Roberts' supervisor, approved of Roberts' decision, records show.

``The [investigator] initiated a safety plan for the father and child to remain in separate rooms, but that plan was insufficient to protect the child from future harm,'' the internal investigation said.

The next day, the DCF hot line received a new report that the father had moved with his daughter to a Biscayne Boulevard motel room where, it was feared, the girl would continue to be sexually abused. When a different DCF investigator arrived at the motel, the father and daughter were once again together naked.

Miami-Dade police officers interviewed the girl, who insisted she had not had sex with her father. Still, the DCF investigator took the girl into state custody. She now lives with her uncle's family, and is receiving counseling and other services from the state.

Roberts, the investigator first assigned the case, said his decisions that day were approved not only by his direct supervisor, but, later, by several administrators up the chain of command. ``All agreed with my decision until recently,'' he said.

Anyamele, who has appealed directly to Sheldon to be reinstated, said the investigation was not as clear-cut as her bosses now insist: The girl, she said, repeatedly denied having sex with her father. Even the police who went to the home failed to take action for almost a week.

What's more, Anyamele said, investigators are under tremendous ``pressure ''to leave children in their homes -- absent the gravest of risk. Supervisors meet weekly, she said, to justify every case in which a child is removed from parents. ``My own supervisor comes back and says he was grilled to death as to why children were removed.''

``We are damned if we do, and damned if we don't,'' Anyamele said. ``That is the crisis we are facing.''

Perez, the police department spokeswoman, said her officers all acted appropriately, as well, given that the girl repeatedly denied being the victim of sexual abuse. ``There is no indication that a crime was witnessed by a MDPD officer,'' Perez said.

On Aug. 24, Miami-Dade police, alerted by DCF to the girl's removal, arrested the father on four charges of having sex with an underaged family member, records show.

At first, the teen denied having sex with her dad, but acknowledged it later after a detective told the girl her dad had confessed -- which was untrue. She said she had sex with her father four to six times the past few years -- usually ``on his birthday or when he requested.''

In a statement to police, the girl called the intercourse ``an accident.''

``I love my dad to death, and I know he wouldn't do anything to hurt me,'' she told police.

Later, after learning her father had not confessed, the girl recanted her statements.

The father, court records show, pleaded guilty to one charge of felony battery, was given credit for 180 days of jail time, and was placed on 4 ½ years of probation. To complete his probation, he was ordered to enroll in a sex offenders' treatment program, and to stay away from his daughter.

But at a hearing earlier this month at which the father agreed to allow his daughter to remain in state care -- in lieu of a dependency trial -- he asked Cohen for permission to visit with the teen.

``No,'' the judge replied. ``Absolutely not.''

``Don't you go near her. Don't you call her. Don't you write her. Don't you walk down her street.''
Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/04/07/v-fullstory/1568195/incest-case-raises-questions-about.html#ixzz0kTl0r7fi

Indictment: Fugitive dad stabbed child's mother dead; abandoned 3-year-old son (Trenton, New Jersey)

Dad JOSE DELGADO-FEBRES (aka MICHAEL MARTINEZ) has been indicted in the stabbing death of his girlfriend, the mother of their 3-year-old son. The murder took place while the 3-year and the mother's teenage son were in the home. Shortly after the murder, dad disappeared, effectively abandoning the 3-year-old. Not that anybody would accuse him of being a good dad or anything.

http://www.trentonian.com/articles/2010/01/26/news/doc4b5e84d017a01088015123.txt

Indictment: Fugitive stabbed his child's mother dead
Published: Tuesday, January 26, 2010

By SULAIMAN ABDUR-RAHMAN
Staff Writer

TRENTON — At-large murder suspect Jose Delgado-Febres has been indicted in absentia on charges he killed his girlfriend at their Trenton home while their children were inside the Beatty Street apartment nine months ago, authorities said yesterday.

The 36-year old fugitive is accused of ramming a blade into 27-year-old Yerika Hernandez’s back during an early morning argument on April 28, 2009.

Delgado-Febres, a Guatemalan also known as Michael Martinez, has been on the lam since the incident. When cops arrived at the crime scene at 1:20 a.m., they found the mother of two lying in a pool of blood.

Delgado-Febres is the biological father of Hernandez’s youngest son, who was 3 years old when his mom was taken from him. The fugitive also was the stepdad of Hernandez’s teenage son, who called the cops after witnessing his mom fall prey to the alleged domestic violence.

Medics rushed Hernandez to Capital Health-Fuld hospital, but she was soon pronounced dead from the deep puncture wound.

Hernandez was born in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, but she had been living in Trenton for several years prior to her death. Hernandez enjoyed cooking Spanish meals for her loving family and dancing, according to her obituary. She was buried in her native country.

Cops issued arrest warrants for Delgado-Febres on the day of the murder, but the fugitive never answered his charges. The cold-hearted father abandoned his son and didn’t attend his girlfriend’s funeral. The INTERPOL international police force is reportedly hunting for the suspect in addition to U.S. law-enforcement agencies.

Yesterday, Mercer County Prosecutor Joe Bocchini said a county grand jury slapped Delgado-Febres with an indictment on counts of murder, possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose and unlawful possession of a weapon. Those charges were handed up last week.

If you know where Delgado-Febres is hiding, call the Trenton police confidential tip line at (609) 989-3663.

Child sexual abuse in eastern Carribean: Most sexual abuse caused by fathers & stepfathers, though sex tourism abuse increasing (Bridgetown, Barbados)

I have highlighted some of the major points below. Despite a relatievely new and horrifying increase in the sexual abuse of children--including boys--related to cruise ship sex tourism, cell phone pornography, and internet-related abuse, the majority of victims continue to be girls abused by fathers and stepfathers. As many as 45% of children could be affected by sexual abuse overall.

http://www.caribbean360.com/News/Caribbean/Stories/2009/11/27/NEWS0000009605.html

Study unmasks child sexual abuse in Eastern Caribbean

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, November 27, 2009 - A landmark study on child sexual abuse in the Eastern Caribbean has discovered that the problem is escalating in the sub-region and identified emerging forms of abuse, including the use of boys in an organised network to service cruise ship passengers.

The first of its kind study in the region, commissioned by UNICEF and carried out across the Eastern Caribbean during the period October 2008 to June 2009, explored the situation in Barbados, Dominica, Grenada, Montserrat and St Kitts and Nevis, considered representative of the region.

The 303-page report, "Perceptions of, Attitudes to and Opinions on Child Sexual Abuse in the Eastern Caribbean", documented that the more than 1400 respondents presented "an alarming picture of a social problem that is escalating, has increasingly severe consequences for Caribbean societies, has multiple layers and is perpetuated not only by adults who carry out harmful sexual practices with children but also by non-abusing adults through complicity, silence, denial and failure to take appropriate action".

One of the shocking revelations in the document was that while it was difficult to say how many people have been affected by child abuse, the figure could be as high as 45 percent.

"If one was to assume an under-reporting rate of 20 percent (international studies would suggest a higher under-reporting rate than this) then based on the Community Survey, the numbers of people who have experienced behaviour that could be described as child sexual abuse can be estimated at between 20 percent - 45 percent," it said.

"This would suggest that child sexual abuse may be more prevalent in the region than in some other countries in which studies have been carried out."

Common and emerging sexual abuse trends

The study identified the main forms of sexual abuse as intra-familial abuse, which happens in the privacy of the home and includes incest and step-father abuse; non-family abuse that takes place outside of the family setting; and transactional sexual abuse, where sex is exchanged for money, goods or favours, but involves the sexual abuse of a minor.

Transactional sexual abuse, reported as being committed by men at all levels of society, including politicians and senior professionals, was of particular concern.

"Such is the extent of this problem, that it was considered a firmly entrenched and established pattern of behaviour that did not need to be hidden since it was unlikely to attract penalty and, in some circumstances, would not even attract disapproval," the report noted.

But the study also found evidence of new trends in sexual abuse as well as patterns of abuse that, although not net, emerge as a consequence of specific events such as natural disasters. Among those identified were cell phone pornography, a growing problem among children who use the cameras on their cell phones to take sexual images of themselves and their friends and then distribute the images; and internet abuse, which was identified following "disturbing reports of children being approached by predators through social networking sites".

The study also found clear evidence of a growing market for child sex tourism.

"There were several specific examples given, such as the existence of an organised paedophile network set up to service cruise ships, boys were a specific target of this activity," it said.

Opportunistic abuse linked to natural disasters was also identified: "Natural disasters often result in families being relocated to temporary shelters where children are sharing living space with adults who take advantage of them; families are disrupted and focused on survival, this may lead to children being left unsupervised; children may have to fend for themselves and their siblings and are at increased risk of being sexually exploited in return for money".

"In one country, an example was given of electrical technicians demanding sex from young girls in order to reconnect the electricity supply to their houses following a hurricane," it added.

According to the study, sexual aggression by girls is also becoming a problem. It said there was evidence from several countries of girls engaging in sexually aggressive behaviour in which groups of them gang up on individual boys and sexually abuse them.

Transactional sex between children was reported as a problem across all countries with young girls agreeing to sex with teenage boys for money and material goods.

The report noted that although there were some differences in relation to specific countries, and according to different variables, such as age, gender, and socio-economic status, there were fewer than expected.

The role men and women play in sexual abuse

The researcher team, led by Professor Adele Jones of the University of Huddersfield and Ena Trotman Jemmott, a consultant working on the behalf of Action For Children, confirmed findings reflected in other studies that the majority of child abuse was committed by adult men, with most victims being girls.

However, it also indicated that the abuse of boys, mostly by men also, was a significant and growing problem.

The study showed that while some women were also sexually abusing children, their main contribution to the problem was failing to protect minors even when made aware that abuse was occurring.

Tom Olsen, UNICEF Representative for Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean, described the study as the first important step in the process of addressing the growing problem of child sexual abuse in the sub region.

"We've always believed that we must have an evidence-based approach to support partners in the delivery of programmes to ensure a protective environment for children in the sub region. This study fills some of the research gaps which previously prevented stakeholders from designing holistic programmes to begin tackling this problem," he added.

More action suggested to tackle problem

Among the recommendations made in the report was for the reframing of child sexual abuse at the policy level as a public health issue, bearing in mind that while abuse is a children's rights issue, its most tangible and costly effects for Caribbean societies are health implications in that it contributes to teenage pregnancy, abortions and related complications, mental illness, drug and alcohol abuse, sexually transmitted infections and HIV transmission.

"Treating child sexual abuse as a public health issue would push the problem higher up the political agenda and would enable governments to access funds from different sources to tackle the problem," the report said.

The researchers also argued that there is need for governments to adopt the child/family friendly approach to budgeting, social planning and economic development that has been promoted by UNICEF and Action for Children; and for the introduction of child-sensitive justice systems for child sexual abuse crimes.

The report said while some recommendations require planning and will take time, others should be acted upon speedily.

"Not all of the recommendations require resources and many of them are about behaviour and attitude change and providing supportive interventions for children and families. It is vitally important that people do not sit back and wait for government to lead the way. There is much work for governments to do but there are changes that can be implemented today or tomorrow by every section of society," it said.

In order to progress these recommendations and to propel the movement for abuse-free childhoods the researchers have recommended the development of a Regional Strategic Plan for Building Abuse-free Childhoods and the establishment of a Regional Child Protection Hub.

These recommendations and the results of the study are currently being discussed with the governments of the six countries where the research was carried out.

Charlenni's "tragic" journey--actually a story about colonialism and a desperate mother with few choices (San Juan, Puerto Rico)

This story is not just about the murder of a little girl by her custodial father, DOMINGO FERREIRA, though it's certainly about that too. It's also about a destitute, illiterate (but loving) mother in Puerto Rico (originally from the Dominican Republic) who hoped that her daughter would have a better life with her father in the United States. A chance for an education and the American Dream and all that.

But we now know that the girl was viciously abused by her father and his live-in girlfriend (reports started just MONTHS after the little girl arrived) and continued over three years till she died at age 10--one of the worst cases of child abuse ever seen by the Philadelphia police. Some new things I have observed here, which are very typical of child abusers:

1) Dad cut off telephone contact between the daughter and her mother

2) Dad was masterful at coaching and intimidating the daughter into blaming the mother (who lived out of the country!) for signs of abuse, and saying nothing about what was going on at home. He was also an expert at concocting excuses about mysterious "illnesses" to explain away the bruises and other injuries for neighbors, relatives, and other experts who (with a few notable exceptions) did nothing to intervene.

Now the mother herself is dying from untreated cancer--no one could afford to pay for the necessary surgery.

This is not a "tragedy"--it's an outrage that impoverished and exploited mothers from poor countries--with no education, no health care, no way out of poverty--have so very few choices when it comes to saving themselves or their children. It's essentially the story of how an abusive father can exploit colonial oppression to further his own agenda.

http://www.philly.com/inquirer/health_science/daily/20091108_Charlenni_s_tragic_journey.html?viewAll=y

Posted on Sun, Nov. 8, 2009

Charlenni's tragic journey
By James Osborne, Troy Graham, and Mark Fazlollah

Inquirer Staff Writers

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - Seven-year-old Charlenni Ferreira was like many of the children in Buen Consejo, a worn hillside barrio of boxy concrete homes by the city's edge.

Money was tight for her mother - a maid raising a son and daughter alone - but the family, while poor, was not destitute. The three shared a two-bedroom apartment, watched satellite TV, and had plenty of food on the table.

Support came, in part, from Charlenni's father. Domingo Ferreira had moved from San Juan to Philadelphia and was sending them a portion of his earnings as a limousine driver.

Charlenni spoke lovingly of him, though he had left when she was a toddler.

She also talked wistfully of someday living in the United States. Most of the kids in Buen Consejo did.

"The dream of going to America is so strong," said Neyda Fuster, the social worker at Charlenni's elementary school. "They all want to go."

Charlenni got her wish after visiting her father in the summer of 2006. He called her mother, Rosalinda Almeida Dominguez, and asked to keep his daughter, then 7, in Philadelphia.

"She loved her father so much," Rosalinda recalled last week. "So I let her go."

The dream would be the death of Charlenni.

Within a few months, a nurse at her new school in the Feltonville section made the first of two complaints to the city's Department of Human Services that the child bore the marks of abuse.

In three years, at age 10, Charlenni was dead in what Philadelphia police called one of the worst cases of child abuse they had seen.

On Oct. 23, Domingo and his live-in girlfriend, Margarita Garabito, were charged with murder. Two days later, he hanged himself in his jail cell.

He once told caseworkers that he had taken in his child because her mother could not care for her. Charlenni herself, in explaining signs of abuse to a doctor in 2007, cast blame on her mother.

In numerous interviews last week in Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic, however, relatives, friends, and teachers said Charlenni had been happy on the island, and safe.

"She was a normal kid. She was always out playing," said Brenda Ires Rivera, who lived down the street in Buen Consejo.

"The only problem was in that house in Philadelphia. . . . When she left, we never thought anything like this would happen."

Village burial
Charlenni Ferreira was buried last Sunday, two days after her 11th birthday, in her mother's hometown of Las Galeras, a seaside village in the Dominican Republic.

In the cemetery at the threshold to the jungle, cracked pieces of stone littered the ground. The names of the deceased, painted by hand, were faded from years in the Caribbean sun.

Early last week, fresh cement and a single bouquet marked Charlenni's resting place. But her name had yet to be added to the family tomb.

In life, the child had never set foot in Las Galeras. Nor had she met the relatives who for generations have farmed yucca and plantains in the mountains of the Samana Peninsula on the north coast.

Her mother, like many young Dominicans before her, left the village in her early 20s, setting off in a small boat bound for Puerto Rico's western shore - a one-day trip across open ocean that, in bad weather, is perilous.

Undocumented, Rosalinda Dominguez found work as a maid for wealthy families outside San Juan. Within a year, she was pregnant with a son, Julio Angel, now 18. The father left the barrio, said Rivera, the neighbor.

A few years later, Rosalinda met Domingo, also a Dominican, who had found a job in San Juan laying floors. He had spent more than a year working in the United States, where his sister lived.
He had a teenage daughter, Glenny, and around 1996 they all began living together in Buen Consejo - translated, "Good Counsel" - a Dominican enclave where the crowing of fighting cocks echoes amid the brightly colored homes.

The family grew close to neighbors, who also worked across the city as maids, waiters, and laborers.

When Rosalinda "was pregnant with Charlenni, Domingo would go with her on her cleaning jobs," said Lucresia Brito, a neighborhood friend. "He would do everything."

Rosalinda's father, Antonio Almeida, who lives in San Juan, described Domingo as "a good man, a good father. The years they lived together were good." Whenever he visited, "everything was fine."

Charlenni, the couple's only child, was born in 1998.

Within a couple of years, Domingo returned to the United States, where he found work as a limo driver in Philadelphia. Married at 17, Glenny also moved to the United States, ultimately to Vineland, N.J.

Rosalinda was left alone to raise Charlenni and Julio Angel. Although Domingo sent money monthly, Rosalinda struggled at times to pay the bills, her father said.

"She would work two days some weeks, sometimes three. It was never steady," he said. "She was very poor, living in a room in a house filled with people."

The place was typical of Buen Consejo - a two-story house broken up into apartments - and so were the family's difficulties.

Charlenni had plenty of playmates. She attended a Head Start program at a nearby community center and first grade at Dr. Luis Pereira Leal Elementary down the street. Teachers called her popular and "sweet," but noted she lagged academically.

"Her mother didn't know how to read and write, so she didn't have a lot of help at home," said Fuster, the social worker.

Charlenni's half-brother, big and strong for his age, kept a close eye on her. "He protected the girl," said first-grade teacher Nehemias Garcia.

In class, he said, Charlenni often spoke of her father. "She had strong feelings about him. She was such a baby. She was really fragile."

A move to Philly
In Philadelphia, Domingo had met Garabito and was living with her and her three children in Feltonville. When Charlenni finished first grade in San Juan, she joined them.

"It was for better schools and a better life," said Rosalinda's brother, Elvin Almeida, who lives in Rhode Island.

Police have not said when they believe the abuse of Charlenni began, but a nurse at Clara Barton Elementary made the first of two complaints to DHS in October 2006, just months after the child arrived in Philadelphia.

DHS investigated, and Charlenni was seen numerous times by caseworkers, doctors, and counselors. None could prove abuse.

The agency closed the case in 2007. There were no further complaints regarding Charlenni.

Rosalinda rarely spoke to her daughter.

"Rosalinda would call, and [Garabito] would say, 'She's not here,' and hang up," said Fedelina Santos, a friend in San Juan. "She was a good mother, and it was tough on her. She wanted to visit, but she didn't have documents."

Relatives in the United States described Charlenni as increasingly sullen and withdrawn.

"It was as if someone was intervening," said Elvin Almeida. "The girl didn't talk with anyone."

Domingo's sister, Petra Nila "Tata" Ferreira, and her husband, Juan Paulino, also visited every couple of months. They now live in Wilmington.

Charlenni barely spoke to them, said her aunt, who said she did not suspect abuse. She once noticed a red mark on the girl's arm, but, she said, Garabito explained it away as the result of a blood illness.

According to DHS records, Charlenni and Garabito both provided doctors with ready, if sometimes conflicting, reasons for her injuries. Tests did show Charlenni was anemic, bolstering the family's claim that she bruised easily.

"Her room was well-decorated, and she was always well-dressed," Tata said. "How are you going to think she is badly treated?"

A few years ago, Domingo took his girlfriend and Charlenni to Santo Domingo, capital of the Dominican Republic and his hometown. Relatives there questioned why Charlenni was so quiet.

Garabito insisted "the girl is mentally bad," Tata said. Charlenni was taken to a local clinic, she added, but nothing was found to be wrong.

Philadelphia police sources have said Garabito, 42, confessed to beating Charlenni; investigators believe she was the chief tormentor.

Domingo, 53, was charged with murder, they said, because he did nothing to stop the abuse.

Domingo, who visited the Dominican Republic for a month twice a year, returned from a trip this fall just three days before Charlenni died, of an infection caused by untreated broken ribs.

She also had a fractured hip and a seven-inch gash on her head, hidden under a wig, as well as sexual-assault injuries.

Tata said she thought her brother hadn't realized his daughter was being beaten.

"He didn't know what he was looking at," she said.

Garabito's attorney, however, could cast blame solely on Domingo.

At a Municipal Court hearing last month, Barbara A. McDermott said his suicide could be interpreted as "an admission of guilt."

In an interview, Domingo's daughter Glenny said he had never abused her - never even liked to raise his voice - and she believes he was innocent.

She suggested he might have been unaware of Charlenni's abuse because he worked long hours, getting behind the limo wheel at dawn, coming home late at night.

Glenny talked to him shortly after he and Garabito were arrested. She said he had told her, "I didn't know I lived with a monster."

Added pain
Earlier this year, Rosalinda felt a pain in her abdomen and went to a doctor.

The diagnosis was cancer.

Living in Puerto Rico illegally, she did not qualify for assistance. Doctors said removing the tumor would cost $18,000, a sum she and her family could not afford.

A few weeks ago, she returned to Las Galeras to wait for the end.

She was so ill that her family did not tell her of Charlenni's death.

She learned of it a week later, when she called to wish her child a happy 11th birthday, said Rosalinda's uncle Carlos Almeida.

"These sorts of things happen all over the world, in this country, in this town," he said. "But when it's someone in your family, it's very sad for everyone."

Each day, Rosalinda's relatives help her to a foldout recliner, under a mango tree in her mother's garden.

As the mountain breeze blows through, they arrange themselves in plastic chairs, taking turns rubbing cream on her arms and fetching her cold drinks.

Sitting in the garden, Rosalinda said Charlenni had "sounded so happy" the last time they had spoken, nine months before her death. At the memory, she slumped over, mumbling.

Her 78-year-old mother, Luisa Dominguez, said the shock had taken a heavy toll.

Rosalinda, she said, hasn't accepted what happened.

"She believes it was all an accident."