Dad pleads guilty to murder of 7-year-old son; boy put into vegetative state when dad abused him at 3 months (Snow Hill, Maryland)

Another one of those stories that erases the mother. There is no indication here that she abused the baby, and yet she obviously lost custody. There is no mention of her pain or even her existence in all this. It's as if she never existed. This happens so often in the media.

Notice that dad GEMAYEL JARMON might get off with as little as 5 1/2 years in prison for destroying his son's life.

http://www.wmdt.com/news/more-local-news/Berlin-father-behind-bars-for-murder-of-child/33596016

Berlin father behind bars for murder of child

Jobina Fortson, Reporter
POSTED: 07:16 PM EDT Jun 15, 2015
UPDATED: 08:25 PM EDT Jun 15, 2015

SNOW HILL, Md. - 32- year- old Gemayel Jarmon of Berlin is behind bars after pleading guilty to the murder of his seven- year- old son Geoni.

Beau Oglesby, the Worcester County State’s Attorney says, “It is shocking and unimaginable that someone could do something like that to a completely defenseless child.”

This case stems from 2007 when Geoni was just three months old. He was abused by Jarmon.

Oglesby goes on, “The main injury was a fracture to the head that went from the left ear over to the right side of the head. The amount of force necessary to inflict that type of injury is tremendous.”

The injuries left Geoni in what some would describe as a vegetative state. He couldn't speak, walk, or see and was fed through a feeding tube. As a result, Jarmon was sentenced to fifteen years for child abuse and second degree assault. He received an additional six months for a violation of parole. However, through the courts decision he only ended up serving about five and a half years.

Meanwhile, a family adopted Geoni soon after his abuse. We're told he suffered frequent seizures. Last year, as his adoptive sister was rushing him to the hospital, he suffocated and died at the age of seven.

Oglesby continues, “When a person dies as a result of injuries sustained years prior, it is still appropriate certainly in my position, it's appropriate for someone to be prosecuted for those actions.”

In a letter to 47 ABC dated June 6th, Jarmon blames his son's death on the adoptive family. He alleged that they took too long to get Geoni to the hospital.

Oglesby replies, “Any suggestion by Mr. Jarmon or anyone else that someone else bears responsibility for that baby's death is inappropriate, it's not factually correct and it's offensive.”

On the case board in the Worcester County State's Attorney's office, there is a note describing how Geoni's adopted family described him..."he was perfect." Jarmon has been sentenced to 10 years for the murder.

Oglesby goes on, “Could he get out earlier than ten years from now? Certainly. Will he? That's unknown. That will be decided in large part by his behavior in prison.”

The Worcester County State's Attorney tells says Geoni's adoptive family is pleased with this outcome and right now they're just focused on healing.

As for Jarmon, we’re told he was transported to the diagnostics center in Baltimore to be classified. There, officials will decide which division of corrections facility will best suit him. Apparently that decision process can take several weeks.

Dad pleads guilty to murder of 4-mont-old son; had just been taken from adoptive parents weeks before (Des Moines, Iowa)

Dad is identified as DREW JAMES WEEHLER-SMITH.

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/investigations/2015/01/30/father-infant-death-pleads-guilty-murder-wheeler-smith-adoptive-parents/22602191/

Father accused in infant's death pleads guilty to murder

Grant Rodgers, 2:36 p.m. CST January 30, 2015 A Des Moines father accused of killing his infant son pleaded guilty to second-degree murder on Friday, avoiding a trial scheduled to start in February, said Polk County Attorney John Sarcone.

Prosecutors charged Drew James Weehler-Smith, 18, with first-degree murder in April of last year, alleging Weehler-Smith, then 17, killed his four-month-old son while the two were alone in an apartment where the child's mother lived. A medical examiner found that the infant, Gabriel King McFarland, died of head trauma.

The unusual case drew widespread media attention last year because Gabriel had been returned by his adoptive parents to his birth mother just weeks before his death. Ankeny couple Rachel and Heidi McFarland had adopted the infant after his birth, but Gabriel's birth mother, Markeya Atkins, wanted the child returned to her.

On the night of Gabriel's death, Weehler-Smith, then a junior at Des Moines Roosevelt High School, had been left alone with the child when Atkins went out to run errands. Police said that when Atkins returned, she saw Weehler-Smith driving away without the baby.

Atkins found Gabriel unresponsive in a chair inside the apartment. Weehler-Smith was scheduled to go to trial on Feb. 9, but will be sentenced on March 25.

A second-degree murder conviction under Iowa law is punishable by a 50-year prison sentence. As part of the plea agreement, prosecutors are recommending to a judge that Weehler-Smith be required to serve at least 17 years before he's eligible for parole.

"Through negotiations of parties, that's what we agreed to," Sarcone said.

Weehler-Smith's attorney did not immediately return a phone call from a reporter.

The McFarlands filed a lawsuit in August against their adoption attorney, Jason Rieper, claiming that he botched the process and ultimately forced them to give the infant back to his birth mother. A 2016 trial date has been set in the case.

9-year-old girl taken from adoptive parents and returned to ex-con biological dad she didn't know (Omaha, Nebreaka)

Horrible story illustrating how far fathers "rights" have come at the expense of everyone else.

But notice a little detail almost buried here. In 2004, the biological mother (or so we are told) "gave up her rights" to the biological father--a man who is, AT MINIMUM, a convicted felon for transporting firearms. Are we really sure this decision wasn't free from coercion?

Dad is identified as JOSH MCCAUL.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2630258/I-want-come-Heartbreaking-final-calls-girl-adoptive-parents-returned-ex-biological-father.html

'I want you to come and get me': Heartbreaking final calls of girl, 9, to her adoptive parents before she was returned to ex-con biological father
Sonya McCaul has been 'returned' to a ex-con father she did not know
Nine-year-old had been living with Kim and David Hodgin since 2006
They were given two hours notice before she was removed from their care
She now lives with her father, jailed for transporting arms, in Nebraska Sonya has been calling her adoptive parents, pleading to return home

By Sara Malm
Published: 03:51 EST, 16 May 2014 | Updated: 13:00 EST, 16 May 2014

A Tennessee couple has revealed the heartbreaking pleas of their adoptive daughter begging to be returned to their care after she was forcibly removed to live with her ex-con father in Nebraska.

Sonya, aged nine, had been in the care of Kim and David Hodgin, from Dickson, Tennessee since before she was two years old, but has recently been ‘returned’ to her biological father in Omaha, Nebraska.

In the last phone call to her adoptive parents, Sonya can be heard pleading with them to come and take her from her biological father more than 700 miles away.

Despite having adopted Sonya in 2008, the Hodgins were forced to watch their daughter be taken to her father, a convicted felon who served time for transporting firearms.

A Tennessee appeals court overturned the adoption of Sonya, who had lived with Mr and Mrs Hodgin since before she was two years old, after her father Josh McCaul was released from prison.

In a recording of a phone call made on January 30 this year, a day after Sonya was moved from Dickson County to Omaha, she can be heard asking for her adoptive parents to take her back.

'What did you say, baby doll?' Mrs Hodgin can be heard asking in a recording of the phone call obtained by CNN.

'I want to you to come and get me', the young girl responds.

During the phone call, the last time the Hodgins spoke to her, Sonya also describes her biological father's home as 'dirty, with mold and cigarettes everywhere,' and although the man is 'nice' to her, the home lacks clean water.

The Hodgins say they were given just three hours' notice before the young girl was taken from them.

'Sonya's crying her eyes out. Screaming bloody murder, "Please don't let them do this, Daddy, please, Mama, don't let 'em take me,",' Mr Hodgin told CNN.

'They took her bags, and that's the last that I've seen her,' Mrs Hodgin adds.

McCaul had been awarded custody of his infant daughter in 2004 after Sonya's mother gave up her rights.

However, she has been living with the Hodgins since 2006 and they were able to adopt Sonya after McCaul pleaded guilty to transporting firearms and was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison.

This automatically terminated his parental rights as Tennessee state law does not allow anyone incarcerated for more than ten years to have rights to a child under the age of eight.

However, his sentence was shortened to just eight years and he was able to retain it upon his release from prison after claiming his parental rights were illegally terminated.

In 2009, McCaul won an appeal claiming he did not voluntarily give up his rights and the court did not follow due process in the adoption proceedings.

For the next five years, Sonya continued to live with the Hodgins on their Tennessee farm as the two sides fought for custody.
In January this year, a judge ruled that the nine-year-old should return to her biological father, and a few hours later, she had been taken from the Hodgins.

The couple are now petitioning to have her returned based on Sonya's best interest and a hearing is scheduled for Friday.
DCS spokesman Rob Johnson said earlier this year that while foster parents often come to love the children in their care, the law is clear, 'Birth parents have the right to raise their children.'

Dad charged with murder in death of 4-month-old son; had just regained custody 1 month before from adoptive parents (Des Moines, Iowa)

The research evidence is crystal clear. Young males are the worst for child abuse. As a policy, they should not be encouraged to be caregivers. They are just too aggressive and have no nurturing skills.

Dad is identified as DREW JAMES WEEHLER-SMITH.

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/crime-and-courts/2014/04/28/father-charged-murder-infant-death/8422785/

Father, 17, charged with murder in death of infant

Regina Zilbermints, 12:21 a.m. CDT April 29, 2014

The 17-year-old father of an infant who died in Des Moines last week has been charged with first-degree murder in connection with the child's death, police said.

Drew James Weehler-Smith of Des Moines, was charged on Monday. He also faces a child endangerment resulting in death charge. The murder charge is punishable by life in prison. The child endangerment charge carries a penalty of 50 years.

Weehler-Smith is being charged as an adult, officials said.

Four-month-old Gabriel King McFarland died of abusive head trauma, a medical examiner determined.

Investigators haven't determined for certain how the injuries were inflicted but Weehler-Smith, 17, was the only one at home with the child on April 22 when Gabriel died, police said.

Gabriel's mother, Markeya Atkins, had gone to run errands around 7:25 p.m. on April 22 and left the infant in his father's care, police said.

About 25 minutes later, a friend dropped by the apartment and saw Weehler-Smith holding the baby. As she left, the friend called Atkins, who asked her to return to the apartment. When the friend drove back at around 8:10 p.m., she saw Weehler-Smith driving away without Gabriel, police said.

When Atkins returned home she found the baby unresponsive in his glider chair. Markeya Atkins and friend Siobhan Williams returned to Atkins’ home April 22 to find Atkins' 4-month old son, Gabriel King McFarland, unresponsive. This is audio from a 911 call made by Williams.

Officials said they determined that it was Weehler-Smith who inflicted the injuries. Among other things, they took into account that Weehler-Smith didn't report any injuries on the child when he arrived and later left him alone.

Weehler-Smith, who is a junior at Des Moines Roosevelt High School, was initially charged with neglect of a dependent person for leaving Gabriel alone in the apartment. He has been in custody at a juvenile detention facility for the past week and will be transferred to the Polk County Jail.

Gabriel had only been living with Atkins, 16, for about a month when he died. An Ankeny couple, Rachel and Heidi McFarland had cared for the infant from birth and were set to adopt him when his birth mother took him back, they have said.

The McFarlands could not be reached for comment.

Felicia West, Atkins' mother, said she and her daughter had not been contacted by law enforcement officials before Weehler-Smith's arrest on the murder charge and weren't aware of autopsy results.

The family did not expect a murder charge against Weehler-Smith, West said during a phone interview.

"That's the last thing we prayed for," she said. "We was praying that somehow the baby got sick and had a seizure or something and he panicked and left."

Atkins had not been in contact with Weehler-Smith since his arrest last week on the neglect charge, West said.

Atkins declined to comment.

Dad charged in death of 4-month-old son after lesbian adoptive parents forced to return baby (Des Moines, Iowa)

Dad is identified as DREW WEEHLER-SMITH.

http://www.hngn.com/articles/29650/20140424/adoptive-parents-forced-return-baby-learn-died-father-left-alone.htm

Baby Dies In Father's Care After Adoptive Parents Forced To Give Him Up

By Oulimata Ba | Apr 24, 2014 05:28 PM EDT

Father Charged In Infant's Death After Adoptive Parents Forced To Return Baby

A lesbian couple in Iowa that was forced to return their adopted baby boy was stunned when they found out their former son is now dead and the father is charged in his death.

Rachel and Heidi McFarland adopted baby Gabriel from birth, but were forced to return him nearly three months later when the 16-year-old mother changed her mind, The Des Moines Register reported. Now the couple has learned that baby Gabriel was found dead at his parent's apartment on Tuesday. The father, who was caring for the child at the time of his death, was arrested and charged with neglect.

The McFarlands, who live in Ankeny, found out about Gabriel's death while watching the news on TV.

"It's like he's been taken away from you again," Rachel McFarland told the newspaper. "I cut his umbilical cord."

Gabriel's biological mother, Markeya Atkins, agreed to give her son to the McFarlands in September 2013, WHO-TV reported. After he was born the couple took care of Gabriel like he was their own. That ended after two-and-a-half months on March 13, when their attorney told them the mother wanted Gabriel back. According to Iowa law, a mother who gives a child up for adoption has up until three months to change her mind, WHO-TV reported.

"We had to go through our worst possible day with our attorney," Rachel McFarland told the Des Moines Register. "And then we found out on the news today...Nobody called or told me."

On Tuesday afternoon, Atkins left Gabriel with his father, 17-year-old Drew Weehler-Smith, at an apartment on Chaffee Road while she went to the library. Police then received a call from the apartment a little after 8 p.m. about an unresponsive infant, according to police reports obtained by the newspaper.

The mother had returned home to find Gabriel alone, lying in a chair with a white substance around his mouth. The baby was pronounced dead after he was rushed to the hospital. He was four months old.

A friend of Atkins who stopped by the apartment earlier that evening said she saw the father driving away, leaving the baby alone.

Local police later apprehended Weehler-Smith and charged him with neglect of a dependent person. The father could face additional charges pending an autopsy on the child, the newspaper reported.

Adoptive dad and NSA official charged with murdering 3-year-old son (Damascus, Maryland)

Americans who adopt kids from Russia already have a terrible reputation.

Now we find out that dad BRIAN PATRICK O'GALLIGHAN was some high muckety muck in the National Security Administration. So you know this dude had all kinds of access and pull when it came to the adoption of a Korean child.

But when it comes right down to it, he was no better than some meth head from Kentucky. All kinds of BS and lies about an accident, while still admitting he hadn't really "bonded "with the child. Then he doesn't even bother to take the boy to the hospital for hours after the "incident." Just like you'd expect from some sort of trailer trash, but this particular sh**head is supposedly some well-educated professional. In reality, he's just another short-tempered father who killed a child.

http://www.csnwashington.com/article/md-dad-nsa-official-charged-adopted-sons-death

Md. Dad, an NSA Official, Charged in Adopted Son's Death

February 19, 2014, 5:54 am

A Maryland man has been charged with the murder of his adopted 3-year-old son, Montgomery County police said Tuesday.

Brian Patrick O'Callaghan, 36, of Damascus has been charged with first degree murder and child abuse.

In court, O'Callaghan's lawyer said the suspect worked for the National Security Agency as chief of its Korea division; the boy had been adopted from Korea in October.

Police say O'Callaghan told investigators he was caring for 3-year-old Hyunsu for two days while his mother was away, adding he hadn't bonded much with his new son. O'Callaghan said he helped give Hyunsu a shower Jan. 31, during which he said the 3-year-old had slipped in the bathtub, falling backward and hitting his shoulder.

O'Callaghan told police the next afternoon, Hyunsu was unresponsive following a nap and had mucus coming from his nose. O'Callaghan said he took Hyusnu to a Germantown emergency room several hours later, where he was deemed to be in critical condition, possibly brain dead.

Hyunsu was pronounced dead two days later. Investigators say he had impact trauma on his body, as well as internal bleeding.

O'Callaghan was arrested Feb. 16 and is being held without bond.

At his hearing Tuesday, O'Callaghan's attorney also said O'Callaghan was a Marine veteran who had been involved in the rescue of Army POW Jessica Lynch. O'Callaghan served in the Marine Corps from 1997 through 2004 as sergeant.

According to his service record, O'Callaghan was deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom for nine months in 2003 and served in Al-Wasit Province, An Nasiriyah and Al Kut. During the An Nasiriyah deployment, O'Callaghan worked with the Civil Affairs Group -- he was tasked with keeping civilians away from battle.

His awards include: Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal with Combat "V," Combat Action Ribbon, Navy Unit Commendation, Selected Marine Corps Reserve Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Kosovo Campaign Medal with 1 star, Iraq Campaign Medal with 2 stars, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Sea Service Deployment Ribbon with 1 star and Armed Forces Reserve Medal.

An obituary posted on the web site of the Frederick News-Post gave the child's full name as Madoc Hyeonsu O'Callaghan and said he was born in South Korea. He was described in the obituary as a "smiling, content, and loving son and brother.''

"He loved his dogs, his big brother Aidan, and anything his parents made for him to eat. He wasn't dealt the simplest hand in life, but he found something to love in it every day,'' the obituary said.

Dad charged in beating death of 3-year-old son (Damascus, Maryland)

Dad is identified as BRIAN O'GALLAGHAN. Why did this dad have "complete care and custody" of this little boy during the time period in which he was beaten to death? Are the parents divorced? No explanation, and no mention of the boy's mother.

http://www.wusa9.com/story/news/local/2014/02/18/father-charged-in-death-of-son/5575091/

Dad charged in beating death of 3-year-old son

Joanie Vasiliadis, WUSA 9:45 a.m. EST February 18, 2014

DAMASCUS, Md. (WUSA9) -- Montgomery County police have charged a father with first degree murder and child abuse for the death of his three-year-old son.

Brian O'Callaghan is being charged for the death of his adopted son Hyunsu O'Callaghan, who died on February 3.

On February 2, Hyunsu was unresponsive at Children's National Medical Center with multiple injuries. Police spoke with medical personnel at the hospital, who said the boy's injuries included trauma to the brain indicating that he was recently beaten.

The victim's father had not provided an explanation of the child's injuries to doctors, according to police.

An autopsy determined that the manner of death was homicide by multiple blunt impact injuries.

During the investigation, detectives interviewed Brian O' Callaghan, who said that he had complete care and custody of Hyunsu from January 31 through February 1.

Police say Brian O'Callaghan had driven Hyunsu to the Shady Grove Adventist Emergency Center at Germantown on February 1. The boy was then transported to the Children's National Medical Center.

O' Callaghan is currently being held without bond and will have a bond review Tuesday.

Anyone with information about this case is asked to call the Major Crimes Division at 240-773-5070.

Dad on trial for "injury to a child by omission"; other dad charged with murder (San Antonio, Texas)

Don't see these cases too often with gay fathers. But it still happens. The dads are identified as NORBERTO VELASQUEZ and MATTHEW ARANDA.

Makes me sick, though, that some poor mother gives up her baby for adoption, hoping/praying her child will have a better life. And then two apparent idiots like these guys adopt the baby....

http://www.foxsanantonio.com/newsroom/top_stories/videos/vid_18055.shtml

Father testifies in child death trial

By: Jennifer Saucedo

A man on trial in connection with his adoptive daughter's death takes the stand.

Norberto Velasquez, 49, is charged with injury to a child by omission.

Back in January 2009, 3-year-old Melody Velasquez died.

Velasquez and his partner, Matthew Aranda, adopted the toddler.

The couple told authorities she had fallen down the stairs and it was a tragic accident.

Prosecutors say an autopsy showed Melody died from blunt force trauma. The Medical Examiner ruled her death a homicide.

Authorities said the couple did not call 911 until more than 30 hours after the incident.

If found guilty, Velasquez is facing five years to life in prison.

Aranda, who's charged with Melody's murder, is set to go to trial in December.

Wednesday, November 6 2013, 09:41 PM CST

Dad admits killing 3-year-old son to his own father (Anaconda, Montana)

We've reported on dad JEREMY CRAMER before. 

http://www.kxlh.com/news/new-details-in-murder-of-child-near-anaconda-by-his-father/

New details in murder of child near Anaconda by his father

Posted: Jul 20, 2013 11:58 AM

by Dennis Carlson
Updated: Jul 20, 2013 11:58 AM

New details in murder of child near Anaconda by his father

ANACONDA - Jeremy Cramer has been formally charged with deliberate homicide in the death of his three-year-old son.

The court papers, which reveal new details of the alleged crime, were filed in District Court on Friday, including statements from Cramer about the death of his son Broderick.

Brody was reportedly taken from his family's home in Lacey, Washington, on July 8th by his father, reportedly triggered by a domestic dispute with the boy's mother.

The boy's mother, Natalie, then tried calling Jeremy more than 50 times, but he didn't answer and didn't return her text messages. She checked their bank account, and saw he had filled up his truck in Moses Lake.

Lacey police issued a bulletin to law enforcement to look for the vehicle in order to conduct a welfare check on Cramer and his son.

That night, Anaconda-Deer Lodge police officers were called to a convenience store at around 10:30 p.m. after a clerk reportedly saw a man trying to wash blood off his body and clothes in the restroom. 

The man, later identified as Jeremy Cramer, was then taken into custody on a misdemeanor charge of disorderly conduct.

Police found Cramer's vehicle five miles southeast of town on Montana Secondary Highway 569, but the child was not found at the time.

At daybreak on Tuesday, authorities began searching again and found the boy's body off of Mill Creek Road about five miles southeast of Anaconda.

At one point Cramer made a phone call from jail to his father which was recorded.

In the call his father questioned him repeatedly about Brody:

Father: Maybe he's still alive. 

Jeremy Cramer: Dad, Brody's dead. 

Father: Are you sure? 

Jeremy Cramer: My son is dead, 100 percent, my son is dead, yes I did it, something did it of me, but I didn't do it. 

Cramer also is said to have told law officers after that phone call: "I just want to relay to somebody a 4-year-old kid got carved up..."

On the morning of July 9th, officers recovered Brody's body on the west side of the Mill Creek Highway.

At the scene, investigators found a fixed blade knife and a large rock with blood and hair evidence on it.
The Montana State Crime Lab determined that Brody's cause of death was "homicidal violence with blunt force and sharp force trauma."

Court documents state that Cramer is a previous methamphetamine user.

An empty prescription container for amphetamine salts, a generic substitute for Adderall, was found in Cramer's possession.

Cramer is scheduled to appear in District Court at the end of the month.

Adoptive single dad sentenced to 60 years for raping three boys (Troy, Ohio)

UNNAMED DAD. And of course there was no mother in the home....Just a sexual predator who used the adoption system to set up his own child sex trafficking ring.

http://www.mcall.com/news/nationworld/sns-ap-us-adoptive-father-child-rape-20121217,0,5131297.story

Ohio adoptive father accused of raping 3 boys in his care sentenced to 60 years to life

DAN SEWELL
Associated Press
10:22 a.m. EST, December 17, 2012

TROY, Ohio (AP) — An Ohio adoptive father accused of raping three boys in his care was sentenced Monday to 60 years to life in prison.

Miami County Judge Robert Lindeman followed the terms of an earlier plea agreement for the 40-year-old man. He pleaded guilty to six rape counts and agreed to cooperate with authorities.

The man declined to make a statement in court. The Associated Press isn't naming the man to protect the identities of the children, who were ages 9-12.

His attorney Nick Gounaris (goo-NEHR'-us) says he is pleased the judge accepted the plea deal.

Prosecutor Gary Nasal (NAYZ'-ul) wouldn't comment, citing still pending cases, including the upcoming trial of a man who allegedly raped one of the boys.

The man had been charged with 31 counts of felony rape in Miami County, where he had been caring for the three boys and a girl in his home. Authorities have said the man had adopted all of the children, except for one of the boys, whom he was in the process of adopting.

Miami County prosecutors agreed to drop 25 counts and recommend a sentence of 60 years to life in prison in return for the adoptive father's guilty plea last month to six rape counts. The man could have faced life in prison without the possibility for parole

Dad jailed on "neglect" charges--after inflicting 21 fractures on infant daughter (United Kingdom)

More abuser daddy coddling. UNNAMED DAD inflicts 21 SEPARATE FRACTURES on an infant daughter, bruises to her face...and it's "neglect"? I thought "neglect" was when you didn't feed your kids dinner because you were out drinking with your pals. Isn't beating somebody bad enough to cause nearly two dozen broken bones normally called....assault? I guess it's not if you're a father and your victim is "just" a baby. 

http://www.heart.co.uk/bedford/news/dad-jailed-neglect/

Dad Jailed For Neglect

 By Bela Shah, 4th December 2012, 13:00

The father of a young baby girl who suffered 21 separate fractures and bruising to her face was jailed for three and a half years today for neglect.

The 28 year old Arlesey man was told by Judge Barbara Mensah he was "cold and lacked natural empathy for a young child."

Luton crown court heard the prematurely-born baby received the injuries when she was aged between a month and four months old, but it could not be proved who caused them.

She lived in a home in the village with her mother and father and other children. As well as bruising, she had 21 fractures to her chest and limbs.

Prosecutor Ian Wickes said the child, who has been adopted, was now doing well and "no long term problems had been detected."

The man was convicted by the jury of two counts of neglect.

Jailing him, Judge Mensah said: "You were the dominant partner in the relationship. If you had any concern about your daughter you would have called a doctor or health care professionals."

She described the man, who was muttering in the dock as he was sentenced, as a "bully who had abused his position of trust."

 In addition to the jail sentence, she banned the man from working with children for life.

"Adoptive dad" pleads guilty to child rapes (Cincinnati, Ohio)

This piece of sh** of a "father" basically used adoption to create his own child sex trafficking ring. Can't help but wonder how many so-called "single fathers" or "custodial fathers" have similar motives....Of course, it's not considered polite to question these men on why they want children, is it?

http://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/crime/article/Ohio-adoptive-father-pleads-guilty-in-child-rapes-4003197.php

Ohio adoptive father pleads guilty in child rapes

LISA CORNWELL, Associated Press

Updated 7:20 p.m., Friday, November 2, 2012

CINCINNATI (AP) — An adoptive father who pleaded guilty to raping three young boys in his care in one county faces trial in another on related charges.

The man had been charged with 31 counts of felony rape in western Ohio's Miami County, where he had been caring for the three boys and a girl in his home. Authorities have said that the 40-year-old man had adopted all of the children except for one of the boys, whom he was in the process of adopting.

The Associated Press isn't naming the man to protect the identities of the children, whose ages range from 9 to 12.

Miami County prosecutors agreed to drop 25 counts and recommend a sentence of 60 years to life in prison in return for the adoptive father's guilty plea Thursday to six counts of rape. The man could have faced life in prison without the possibility for parole.

Attorney Nick Gounaris, representing the adoptive father, said Friday that one of the main considerations for his client taking the plea agreement was that "it will keep his children from having to testify in court against him."

Prosecutor Gary Nasal said that "first and foremost in our minds is the health, safety and wellbeing — both physical and psychological — of the children."

He said another factor leading to the agreement was that the adoptive father agreed to testify in the trial of Jason Zwick, who is accused of raping one of the three boys who was in the adoptive father's care.

The trial for Zwick, 30, of Beaver Creek, had been scheduled for next week but has been continued to a later date to be set by the judge. The adoptive father still faces seven related charges of rape of a child under 13 and complicity to rape in nearby Montgomery County. Gounaris declined to comment on whether any plea agreement was under consideration there.

Montgomery County prosecutor's spokesman Greg Flannagan in Dayton said that the most current information he had was that the adoptive father was still scheduled for a Dec. 10 trial.

Zwick and Patrick Rieder, 32, of Dayton, also were arrested earlier this year on rape charges related to what authorities say was the prostitution of a boy under the age of 13 in meetings arranged by the adoptive father.

Rieder was indicted on four counts of rape of a child under 13 after authorities said the adoptive father took the boy to Rieder's home and both men engaged in sexual conduct with him.

Rieder was indicted last week in Montgomery County on child pornography charges that include more than 40 counts of pandering sexually oriented material involving a minor.

Attorneys for Zwick and Rieder did not immediately return calls for comment Friday.

Ohio men indicted in adoptive father rape case (Dayton, Ohio)

UNNAMED DAD. And single too--no mother in the home. "Adopting" was just a mechanism for getting access to and trafficking child victims.

http://www.wistv.com/story/18150793/ohio-men-indicted-in-adoptive-father-rape-case

Ohio men indicted in adoptive father rape casePosted: May 04, 2012 4:48 PM CDT
Updated: May 04, 2012 6:48 PM CDT


DAYTON, Ohio (AP) - An adoptive father who's been accused of raping three boys in his care was indicted along with another man Friday on rape charges.

The 39-year-old adoptive father from Troy was indicted by a Montgomery County grand jury on three counts of rape of a child under 13 and four counts of complicity to commit rape of a child under 13. Patrick Rieder, 31, of Dayton, was indicted on four counts of rape of a child under 13.

The adoptive father is accused of bringing the boy to Rieder's home, where both men engaged in sexual conduct with the child, county prosecutor Mat Heck Jr. said. The men were introduced in a chat room and eventually agreed to meet, Heck said.

The Associated Press is withholding the father's name to protect the child's identity.

All the counts carry a possible penalty of 10 years to life. Both men also were indicted with sexually violent predator specifications that would make the sentences 25 years to life on each count if the men are convicted.

Rieder's attorney didn't immediately return calls for comment Friday. Court records don't list an attorney for the adoptive father, who is in Miami County jail awaiting trial on 31 counts of rape involving three boys in his care.

The adoptive father was indicted in March in a Miami County on charges that he raped the three boys.

A third man, 29-year-old Jason Zwick, of Beavercreek, was indicted in March in Miami County on three counts of rape. Prosecutors say he raped a boy in meetings arranged through the adoptive father.

Both the adoptive father and Zwick have pleaded not guilty to the charges in Miami County. Zwick's lawyer hasn't returned messages for comment.

Officials have said that the Troy man adopted three children, including a 9-year-old girl, and was in the process of adopting a fourth child.

Authorities have said Zwick raped a boy at the adoptive father's home in Troy. They say the adoptive father took the boy Rieder is accused of raping to Rieder's Dayton home.

All three men were arrested after an undercover investigation.

Ohio authorities have said they're investigating a private adoption agency that helped place the children with the man. If Ohio Department of Job and Family Services investigators find serious procedural violations, the state could take actions including revoking the license of Action Inc. Several messages left at Action's office in Dayton haven't been returned.

Mom of missing baby testifies at Dad's trial (Mason County, Michigan)

We've posted ont his case several times over the past year or so. Dad is identified as SEAN PHILLIPS.

http://detroit.cbslocal.com/2012/04/17/mother-of-missing-baby-testifies-in-fathers-trial/

Mother Of Missing Baby Testifies In Father’s Trial

April 17, 2012 3:49 PM

LUDINGTON (WWJ/AP) – The mother of a 4-month-old missing for nearly a year has told a Mason County court that she last saw her daughter in the car of the girl’s father outside her Ludington apartment building.

Ariel Courtland testified Tuesday that she went inside to get a stroller and returned to find the child and Sean Phillips gone.

Phillips faces an unlawful imprisonment charge in the June 29, 2011 disappearance of Katherine Phillips. The baby lived with her mother, about 80 miles northwest of Grand Rapids.

 

Courtland said Phillips wanted to put Katherine up for adoption, but she refused.

Defense attorney Annette Smedley has told jurors that Sean Phillips has been cooperative with police.
Courtland has said Phillips told her that Katherine is still alive, but extensive searches haven’t turned up the girl. Police did find the clothing she was last seen wearing.

Anyone with information about what happened to Katherine is asked to contact Mason-Oceana 911 at (231) 869-5858.

Grand jury indicts dad on 31 counts of rape (Troy, Ohio)

UNNAMED DAD. Why was this dude approved for so many adoptions?

http://foreign.peacefmonline.com/news/201203/101598.php

Grand jury Indicts Ohio Dad On 31 Counts of Rape Date: 16-Mar-2012

cbsnews : A grand jury on Thursday indicted an adoptive father on charges he raped three boys in his care.

The announcement of the 31-count indictment came after an investigation police say began with an undercover detective talking online with someone who had expressed an interest in "taboo" sexual encounters.Troy police Capt. Chris Anderson said between 10 and 15 of the grand jury charges carry potential sentences of up to life in prison for the man, whom The Associated Press is not identifying to protect the children's identities.

Troy police have said the 39-year-old man regularly raped the three boys at his home in a quiet residential neighborhood of ranch homes in Troy, a city of 25,000 residents.

The man is being represented by the public defender's office, which didn't immediately return a request for comment.

Messages left after hours Thursday at the public defender's office and the Miami County prosecutor's office were not immediately returned.

Two other men were arrested earlier on rape charges related to what authorities say was the prostitution of a 10-year-old boy by the Troy man. Officials say the Troy man adopted three children, including a 9-year-old girl, and was in the process of adopting a fourth child.

Adoptive dad accused of raping 3 children, allowing others to have sex with 1 child (Troy, Ohio)

Of course it's an UNNAMED DAD. And of course, it's politically incorrect to question why a single dude wants to adopt all these kids....

http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/ohio-adoptive-father-accused-of-raping-3-children-allowing-others-to-have-sex-with-1-child/2012/02/29/gIQA2hbTiR_story.html

Ohio adoptive father accused of raping 3 children, allowing others to have sex with 1 child
By Associated Press, Updated: Wednesday, February 29, 1:19 PM

TROY, Ohio — An adoptive father in western Ohio has been accused of raping three children and allowing other men to have sex with one of them, allegations that a family services official on Wednesday called “heinous.”

The 39-year-old man was being held on $800,000 bond on three counts of rape and one of compelling prostitution. A message left for the county public defender’s office, which is representing him, wasn’t immediately returned. The Associated Press is withholding the man’s name to protect the children’s identities.

The man was jailed Feb. 24. He lives in Troy, a city of some 25,000 people about 20 miles from Dayton.

The Dayton Daily News reported earlier that the man had adopted three children and was in the process of adopting a fourth who lived with him.

Troy police said one boy, age 10, told them two other men besides the suspect had sex with him. The children aren’t all birth siblings and include three boys and a 9-year-old girl. Police said the other two boys, ages 9 and 12, also said the suspect had sex with them.

Further details about the children weren’t released. A message left at the Miami County children’s services agency wasn’t immediately answered.

Troy police said an undercover detective from Franklin County had talked to the suspect online about setting up sex with the 10-year-old boy, leading to his arrest.

“We’re hoping that we don’t have any other (victims) and we hope that we have stopped this before it got any further,” Troy police Capt. Chris Anderson said.

The children had been adopted through a private agency. Ben Johnson of the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services said the state will review how the adoptions took place. He called the allegations “heinous, horrific, awful.”

Dad denied parole in brutal beating of 6-month-old daughter (Harris County, Texas)

Dad IVAN CASTANEDA will not be getting parole....
http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/Father-denied-parole-in-baby-s-beating-2273407.php

Father denied parole in baby's beating

By TERRI LANGFORD, HOUSTON CHRONICLE
Updated 09:40 p.m., Wednesday, November 16, 2011

It will be at least another five years in prison for Ivan Castaneda, sentenced to life in 2005 for the savage beating of his 6-month-old daughter, who suffered injuries so brutal the case is considered one of Harris County's worst.

On Wednesday, the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles denied parole for Castaneda and set his next hearing for 2016.

His daughter Hailey survived the beating, despite injuries that included two broken legs, a broken arm, a nearly severed tongue and lacerations to her kidney, liver and pancreas. Dubbed Houston's "miracle baby," she and her sister were eventually adopted.

Change in law

Still, Castaneda's crime had been hanging over the girls' new lives. Because his conviction occurred before a critical 2007 change in state law, Castaneda became parole eligible for the first time this year, just six years into his life sentence.

Had he been convicted today, he would have had to had serve at least half his sentence before becoming eligible for parole. The 2007 change would have made Castaneda ineligible right now, based on his crime and corresponding "good time" credits, which are used to shorten a convicted felon's sentence.

The two girls have new names and have been thriving in their new lives.

"They are just happy innocent children who still believe in Santa and the Easter Bunny. I dread the day I have to sit them down and tell them that this has happened to them," said Zenia Ledezma, who along with her husband, Christopher, adopted Hailey and her sister.

Sister also injured

Castaneda first came to Houston child abuse workers' attention before Hailey was born, in November 2003, when Hailey's older sister Charla, then 4 weeks old, landed in the emergency room with a broken leg and a head injury.

Castaneda's common-law wife and the girl's mother, Donna Norman, told hospital staff the girl's injury had occurred after she left Charla in Castaneda's care.

Texas Child Protective Services took Charla into custody but returned her a year later after Norman had given birth to Hailey.

Dad going to trial for 2005 murder of 21-month-old son (Iowa City, Iowa)

The dad is BRIAN DALE DYKSTRA. The boy was in the "sole care and custody" of his father at the time of his murder. The boy's fatal brain injuries sound like abusive head trauma.

http://easterniowanewsnow.com/2011/10/21/iowa-city-father-accused-in-toddlers-death-to-be-tried-next-week/

Iowa City father accused in toddler’s death to be tried next week

Posted October 21, 2011 4:16 pm by Vanessa Miller/SourceMedia Group News

More than six years after a 21-month-old Johnson County boy died with severe brain injuries, his adoptive father next week will be tried on suspicion of delivering the fatal blows.

After a three-year investigation, Brian Dale Dykstra, 35, was arrested in August 2008 and charged with second-degree murder in the Aug. 14, 2005 death of his toddler son, Isaac Jonathan Dykstra.

The trial, which will start with jury selection Monday morning, is expected to last about a week and a half, said Assistant Johnson County Attorney Anne Lahey, the lead prosecutor on the case.

Prosecutors could call as many as 39 witnesses, according to trial information, and many of those witnesses are expected to offer medical-type testimony.

Isaac Dykstra was born Nov. 18, 2003, in Krasnoyarsk, Russia, and he was adopted by Brian and Lisa Dykstra, of Iowa City, just months before his death, according to police.

Officers were dispatched to the Dykstra residence on Aug. 13, 2005 after receiving an abandoned 911 call from the home. When a dispatcher called back, Dykstra said his son might have been having seizure and difficulty breathing.

Dykstra also told the dispatcher that the problem might be related to a head injury, according to police. When emergency crews arrived, they found the child unconscious on the living room floor, laboring to breathe, with apparent head injuries and bruising.

Isaac was taken by ambulance to the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, where doctors determined he was suffering life-threatening injuries, including massive brain swelling, severe bleeding inside his skull and retinal swelling in both eyes.

He also had severe bruising on his body, including his torso and legs. Doctors said the injuries had occurred that day and were “inconsistent” with Dykstra’s explanations.

Investigators also said they found Dykstra’s story “suspicious, incomplete and inconsistent.”

Isaac was pronounced brain-dead the following day, and Iowa City police, with the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation, launched a suspicious death investigation. They believe Isaac died from head trauma that was inflicted while he was in the sole custody and care of his father.

Dykstra, who moved to South Carolina after the child’s death, posted a $15,000 bond after his arrest and returned to South Carolina, where he has been living.

Dads accused of abducting (and murdering) their "missing" children (Michigan)

Interesting article comparing two different cases with eerie similarities. In both cases, the dads are suspected of killing their children, but no bodies have been found. The dads: JOHN SKELTON (who we have posted on here at Dastardly Dads) and SEAN MICHAEL PHILLIPS.

http://www.mlive.com/news/muskegon/index.ssf/2011/09/ready_to_edit_sean_michael_phi_1.html

Sean Michael Phillips, John Skelton cases have similarities: both fathers accused of abducting their missing children
Published: Thursday, September 15, 2011, 2:35 PM
Updated: Friday, September 16, 2011, 1:52 PM

By Heather Lynn Peters | The Muskegon Chronicle

In a Michigan town nearly 250 miles away from Ludington — where a 5-month-old baby girl has been missing since June — another community is searching for answers in a case similar to that of Sean Michael Phillips.

John Skelton, of Morenci — like Phillips — has been charged with unlawful imprisonment in connection with the disappearance of his three young sons.

Skelton was sentenced Thursday in Lenawee Circuit Court to 10 to 15 years in prison.

Both Skelton and Phillips are said to have had their missing children in their care at the time the children went missing.

Phillips is accused of abducting his infant daughter, Katherine Shelbie-Elizabeth Phillips, on June 29, when her mother briefly left his vehicle. He has refused to tell authorities the whereabouts of the child.

He was charged Wednesday with unlawful imprisonment, a 15-year felony, and parental kidnapping, a felony punishable up to a year and a day in jail. A more serious kidnapping charge against him, a potential life felony, was dismissed Wednesday.

A Mason County Circuit Court judge ruled that the kidnapping felony didn't fit the alleged crime and goes against Michigan law that states a "natural parent" can't be convicted of such a crime. A DNA test has proven Phillips is Baby Kate's father.

Phillips is scheduled for arraignment on the two lesser charges Tuesday.

In both the Skelton and Phillips cases, the children haven't been found and the fathers refuse to tell authorities where they might be. Extensive searches on both sides of the state haven't turned up any of the four missing children.

The Ludington baby's clothes were found in the pants pocket of Phillips when authorities questioned him the day the baby went missing, and her car seat and diaper bag were found in the trunk of his car.

Authorities have not said whether they believe the child is dead or alive. When asked where the child is, Phillips said he didn't know where "it" is, and told authorities to ask the baby's mother, authorities have said.

Phillips and the baby's mother, Ariel Courtland, had discussed giving the infant up for adoption, authorities said. But in the end, Courtland said she did not want to give the child up and testified that Phillips was angry about the issue the day he drove away with the infant in the back seat of his car.

In the other case, Skelton has said he gave his boys to an organization, but refused to identify it.

He told Judge Margaret M.S. Noe Thursday that he loves his sons Andrew, Alexander and Tanner, and that he has cried every day since their disappearance.

The boys — who were 9, 7 and 5 years old at the time — were last seen on Thanksgiving while visiting their father's home in Morenci, 70 miles southwest of Detroit near the Ohio border.

The boys' mother, Tanya Zuvers, had exclusive custody of them, but had allowed them to visit their father for the holiday.

Investigators don't believe Skelton, and Noe admonished him during Thursday's hearing, saying he has deprived the family and the community of the comfort of knowing where the boys are. Skelton interrupted the judge to say: "Including myself, your Honor."

The judge said she has given Skelton numerous opportunities to come clean about the boys' whereabouts, and he has repeatedly failed to do so.

"Your explanations have been ridiculous," she said.

Skelton pleaded no contest to the charge in July in exchange for prosecutors dropping a parental kidnapping charge. A no contest plea is not an admission of guilt but is treated as such for sentencing purposes, and Skelton later said he made the deal because he hopes to one day spend time with his sons after he's freed.

Unlike Skelton, Phillips has remained silent.

Courtland has said he will only answer "yes" when she's asked him if their daughter is alive. However, authorities haven't turned up any hopeful evidence that that is the case, despite searches conducted through miles of Mason County woods.

No one has come forward to back up a theory that the child was given up for adoption, and investigators have analyzed phones, bank accounts and computers of both Courtland and Phillips.

Adoption papers discovered in Courtland's apartment during the investigation were partially filled out, but Courtland testified she couldn't go through with it, despite Phillips urging her to do so.

The couple also has a 4-year-old daughter, Haley, together.

Courtland has been ruled out as a suspect, authorities say.

Deja vu over child deaths (Miami, Florida)

Yup. It's deja vu all over again....

http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/03/26/v-fullstory/2136213/deja-vu-over-child-deaths-in-florida.html

Déjà vu over child deaths in Florida
 For years, brutal child deaths have begat task forces, which produced reports – followed by still more child deaths.

By Carol Marbin Miller and Diana Moskovitz
cmarbin@MiamiHerald.com

For months a little girl goes to school, battered and bruised. Teachers’ calls to the state’s abuse hot line go unheeded. She disappears and is found, days later, dead. The prime suspect is her father.

A shocked state calls for reform, and a panel investigates what went wrong. It finds little urgency among front-line workers in the state’s child welfare system, too little credibility given to the concerns of educators and a startling lack of people using common sense.

The group concludes: “It is imperative that the children of Florida be protected from abuse better.”

But this is not the story of 10-year-old Nubia Barahona, found dead on Valentine’s Day, her small body awash in chemicals and shoved in a black trash bag inside her adoptive father’s pickup truck. They are the hauntingly similar findings of a grand jury called more than 10 years earlier to look into the death of 6-year-old Kayla McKean, a Lake County girl beaten to death on Thanksgiving Eve 1998 after a series of reports to state child protection workers saying she was physically abused went ignored.

The grand jury presentment on Kayla’s death is among about two dozen reports compiled in the last 20 years blasting Florida’s troubled child welfare system. Each resulted from a scandalous child death. Each found similar faults with the system and were soon followed by promises from leaders with the state’s Department of Children & Families to make Florida’s children safer.

Fast forward to Nubia’s death this year, and the cycle continues.

“It doesn’t sound like they learned a whole lot from Kayla,’’ said Susan Salazar, the little girl’s guidance counselor who had begged authorities to take action.

Once the largest state social service agency in the United States, DCF — originally called the Department of Health & Rehabilitative Services — has been chopped, renamed, centralized, decentralized, and mostly privatized.

Through successive administrations, it remained the whipping boy of state government. Lapses meant less money. Less money led to more lapses — followed by panels.

U.S. Circuit Judge Rosemary Barkett, a former state Supreme Court justice, helped draft the Bradley McGee Act when she headed the Florida Study Commission on Child Welfare following the ghastly death of 2-year-old Bradley from having his head plunged into a toilet.

“It gets very frustrating when you address the same issues over and over again,’’ said Barkett, who has been a forceful advocate for attorneys for abused and neglected children.

Before Nubia, and before Kayla, there was Corey Greer.

Corey was four months old and living in a Treasure Island foster home licensed for four children — but brimming with eight more. His caregivers neglected to turn on his heart monitor, and left him alone in a stiflingly hot room. Then-Gov. Bob Graham appointed a task force that found high turnover and low pay among caseworkers contributed to Corey’s death, and a host of changes were put in place.

Four years later, in July 1989, when 2-year-old Bradley McGee’s stepfather plunged the toddler head-first into the toilet as punishment for a potty-training accident, a panel, once again, found the state’s child protection workforce understaffed and underpaid.

The 1990s saw child death task forces at the rate of one every two years. In May 1995, it was Lucas Ciambrone, whose Bradenton adoptive parents beat, starved and tortured him. He died with cracked ribs, more than 200 bruises and weighed just 27 pounds.

The Ciambrone panel issued 44 recommendations, including that lawmakers stop passing child welfare laws without the money to pay for them. Four months later, legislators cut 33 child abuse investigators from their budget.

The Community Review Panel report that followed Lucas’ death barely had time to gather dust when Florida experienced one of the worst periods in its child-welfare history. In September and October 1997, six children with extensive DCF histories were killed: Beaunca Jones, 2; Nia Scott, 2; Alexandria Champagne, 21 months; Saydee Alvarado, 8 months; Walkiria Batista, 3, and Jonathan Flam, 2.

A task force followed, and then-DCF Secretary Edward Feaver developed new protocols for measuring risk to children.

Then came Thanksgiving, 1998. Richard Adams in Clermont reported his 6-year-old daughter missing.

“The Grand Jury understands that is impossible to legislate common sense, or to regulate an employee to care. Yet the Grand Jury is concerned about the reluctance of various individuals to enthusiastically embrace their duties.’’

That was among the criticisms offered in the look back at the short, tortured life of Kayla McKean, a little girl with blond hair and big eyes who forever peers out at the world from her grade school photo with a cautious smile. Born to teenage parents who never married, Kayla lived with her mother most of her life until, when destitute, Kayla’s mother gave her to Kayla’s father, Adams.

Six-year-old Kayla was well-known to Central Florida’s child protection system. When Kayla sustained two black eyes in April 1997, her mother blamed anemia and spider bites. When she, again, had two black eyes — in addition to a broken hand and a broken nose — her parents said she fell off a bicycle.

“Kayla didn’t even own a bicycle,’’ Salazar, the counselor, said of the quality of the DCF investigations.

In October 1998, Kayla had a “knot” on her head, a scraped chin, injured wrist, black eye and walked with a limp. The new explanation: a dog stepped on her face and she fell in the bathtub. Kayla told investigators the marks were because her dad tied her wrists together.

After her father reported her missing, an army of volunteers searched for Kayla for five days in the Ocala National Forest. Adams later admitted he beat his daughter to death, then buried her in a duffel bag. He was upset because she had soiled her panties.

A grand jury convened and proposed sweeping changes to how Florida responded to reports of child abuse: Require the state’s abuse hot line to accept all reports, “every complaint, no matter how inconsequential it may appear over the telephone.’’ Never minimize or ignore the concerns of educators. Require the Department of Health’s Child Protection Team to evaluate all allegations of physical injury. Allow the same investigator to look into all successive abuse allegations so patterns can be observed. Never interview abused children in front of their suspected abusers.

The Kayla McKean Act became law on July 1, 1999.

“We sent that damn thing to the head of the state Senate, the head of the House, the governor-elect, the sitting governor. We sent it to anybody who could possibly make a difference,’’ said Assistant State Attorney William M. Gross, who supervised the grand jury. “Maybe I was naive, but we assumed that when we passed the Kayla law we had done something to protect kids. We all were so heartbroken.’’

It took less than a year before another community was heartbroken.

When asked, 2-year-old Joshua Saccone told DCF investigators in Palm Beach County that his mother’s boyfriend beat him. In one report, the boy told investigators that “Junior hit him and it hurts,” referring to his mother’s boyfriend. His mother promised to keep the boyfriend away. Joshua died in August 2000 after he was beaten to death.

A Palm Beach County grand jury followed, as did another one in Broward a year later.

The third paragraph of the 73-page report warned, “Stability, organization and common sense, hallmarks of successful public systems, are lamentably absent from Broward County’s child welfare system.”

A year later, another panel was formed — this time to study how a 5-year-old foster child had disappeared.

A DCF case worker had lied for months about making visits to the foster home of Miami’s Rilya Wilson. Her foster mother, Geralyn Graham, had a criminal history, including welfare-fraud allegations, authorities somehow overlooked.

It was more than a year before authorities noticed she was missing; they waited another week before calling police.

A blue ribbon panel was appointed, held public meetings, issued angry statements and wrote a page-turning final report. Among its recommendations: Immediately call law enforcement when a child is believed to be missing. Pay caseworkers and supervisors better, but also based on their performance. Streamline policies to focus on preventing abuse and neglect.

Five years after Rilya, when Courtney Clark vanished in the Tampa Bay area, a private caseworker waited four months before reporting her disappearance to police.

The toddler was found alive — in a rural Wisconsin home. Locked in the closet was an 11-year-old torture victim. Buried in the yard under newly planted flowers: a woman’s body.

Courtney’s task force, once again, recommended establishing a “zero tolerance policy” for caseworkers and investigators who fail to call police when a child disappears.

In a 37-page report following the latest death, the missing children recommendations from both Courtney and Rilya’s panels were marked “completed.’’

Still, when investigators failed to find twins Nubia and Victor Barahona after a Feb. 10 report that they were being tied up and locked in a bathroom — and a report two days later that Nubia had vanished — police were never called. The February reports were the last of nearly a dozen made to the abuse hot line about Nubia in her short life. Several calls came from educators — would-be “heroes,’’ according to the panel, had their words been heeded.

The twins went missing for four days until, on Feb. 14, a road ranger found them on the side of Interstate 95 in West Palm Beach. Victor was awash in chemicals and having seizures inside his adoptive father’s pest control truck. Jorge Barahona was nearby, passed out.

Nubia’s body was decomposing in a trash bag inside the truck bed.

Police reports described hellish abuse of the twins in the home of their adoptive mother and father: tied hand and foot, confined to a bathtub, beaten, starved and “tortured.’’ Victor, police said, listened helplessly as his twin was beaten to death on the other side of a bathroom wall. She shrieked until her crying suddenly stopped.

DCF’s newest secretary called for a panel to act quickly. Among its members was Roberto Martinez, a former U.S. attorney who, even as a top federal prosecutor, cannot recall anything quite as horrible as the torment of Nubia and her brother.

The recommendations of Martinez and his two colleagues — children’s advocate David Lawrence, Jr. and former assistant Florida Department of Law Enforcement commissioner James Sewell — could have been cut-and-pasted from many others:

Place greater weight on the fears of educators. Call police at the first sign of a missing child. Review a child’s entire history when investigating abuse allegations, not just the last call. Avoid interviewing alleged victims in front of their reported abusers. Seek help from the Child Protection Team, the experts in evaluating child abuse. Use common sense.

“It sure seems like you could just substitute the names of the children,” Martinez said, “and the story repeats itself.”