tagged w/ child endangerment
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Animal Blawg...
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Link Between Domestic Violence and Animal Abuse?
Posted on January 1, 2012 by David
Ciara Smyth
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On November 26th, 2011, Chicago police officers responded to a call and found little Christopher Valdez dead had been beaten to death in his home, as his family prepared to celebrate his fourth birthday. The boy was found to have died from multiple blunt force trauma and his death was ruled a child abuse homicide Saturday. Police were alerted to the house after he was discovered by his aunt and uncle, who had come to investigate after a neighbor told them that Christopher was sporting a black eye when he attended Thanksgiving at their home the previous day. Police charged the toddler’s live-in boyfriend, Cesar Ruiz, with first degree murder, concealment of a homicidal death, and for having a suspended driver’s license. The mother of the toddler was originally charged with concealment of a homicidal death and with endangering the life of a child. However, after it was revealed through police questioning that she observed Ruiz beating her son earlier in the week he was murdered, and had joined in by spanking the toddler herself, the charges against the mother were upgraded to include first-degree murder. Steven Valdez, the boy’s great uncle, previously described Ruiz, as anti-social and violent. He said that two weeks before the boy’s death, Ruiz beat a dog severely after it relieved itself in his home.
Family members want to know why Christopher was allowed to stay with his mother and Ruiz following her conviction in October for domestic battery after she admitted to punching Christopher in July “because she was angry” and to using make-up to cover his injuries. She was sentenced to parenting classes, given a conditional discharge, and was not sentenced to jail. Following the incident, but prior to her conviction, the Department of Children and Family Services determined that that there was “no credible evidence” of abuse and allowed the boy to remain in the home. The toddler’s death this month has naturally raised a lot of discussion and commentators to ask questions on DCFS’s oversight in allowing the child to remain at home.
What is disturbing to me however, is the statement by the toddler’s uncle that just two weeks prior to the deadly beating, the alleged killer had just severely beaten a dog for relieving himself in the house? This statement deserves further examination and attention, just as DCFS’s oversight does. His family wondered how little Christopher could have been allowed by social services to remain with his mother after the domestic battery incident. The next natural question that should follow is how the family let him stay with her and her live-in boyfriend after they knew he severely beat a dog just two weeks prior to beating the boy to death. And the fact that no one called the police to report that an animal had just been severely abused is beyond disturbing! Had that been done, perhaps the creep would be behind bars, which would have made it conceivably more difficult for him to beat the toddler to death. After all, under Illinois law, severely beating a dog could potentially constitute the felony of Aggravated Cruelty, pursuant to 510 ILCS 70/3.03, or even possibly Animal Torture, pursuant to 510 ILCS 70/3.02, depending on the facts. Sentences for both felony charges can involve jail time.
In a Utah State University study done in 1997 by Frank R. Ascione, Ph.D, Claudia V. Weber, M.S., and David S. Wood, on the connection between domestic violence and animal mistreatment and cruelty, women in domestic violence shelters were more likely to report that their partners had threatened to hurt their pets (52%) than the sample of women who were not living in domestic abuse shelters (16.7%). The severity of these threats was also higher in the shelter sample. Actual hurting or killing of pets was reported by 54% of the shelter women but only 3.5% of the women sampled who were not living in shelters. In the majority of cases, shelter women reported that multiple incidents of hurting or killing pets had occurred. In the shelter group, nearly one in four women reported that concern for their pets had kept them from coming in to the shelter sooner. Regardless of group membership, some women indicated that pets had been hit or kicked, or had been shot. The more horrific instances seemed to be restricted to the reports of shelter women who reported the following examples (among many others): pet was drowned, pet was nailed to the woman’s bedroom door, pet was given alcohol and poison, pet’s entire fur coat was shaved during the winter, and pet was thrown out of a moving car. Most of the incidents involved cats or dogs, but in the shelter groups, birds, gerbils, and rabbits were also mentioned as victims of abuse or killing.
The Animals & Society Institute’s website contains several links to recent studies that have been done on the connection between violent criminals and animal abuse. One such study done in 1997 by Northeastern University in conjunction with the SPCA in Massachusetts (MSPCA) revealed that 40% of all animal abusers had committed violent crimes against humans.
Studies also found that a history of animal abuse was found in 25% of male criminals, 30% of convicted child molesters, 36% of domestic violence cases and 46% of homicide cases.
While these studies reveal a lot of numbers and percentages, they also open the door to further examination on whether animal abuser is an indication of abuse against spouses, children, and other humans. In fact, taking into consideration what is potentially at stake, further exploration should be demanded. Consider the situation with little Christopher Valdez: in looking at the brutal bruises that covered his body from head to toe, police were shocked and horrified that a grown man could unleash so much violence on such a small little frame.
In conclusion, little Christopher Valdez died in vain. But perhaps he did not have to. Had this community stepped up to the plate and protected its most vulnerable members when required to, perhaps he would still be alive. I hope this brings encourages everyone person who has read or heard about this case in the news, to never take animal abuse lightly.
.Animal Blawg...
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Link Between Domestic Violence and Animal Abuse?
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V.M. has been separated from her baby for three years in the name of "child welfare." All because she didn't want to pre-authorize a cesarean section that neither she nor the hospital had any reason to believe would be medically necessary, and wasn't.
RH Reality Check reports that when V.M. showed up at the hospital planning to give birth vaginally, she was asked to sign a pre-consent form permitting a c-section should it become necessary. She refused. Had there been an unexpected complication with the pregnancy, V.M. could have consented to the procedure at that time, but she didn't want to sign away her ability to make decisions about whether or not her baby would be sliced out of her belly. That sounds perfectly reasonable to me.
The hospital, however, disagreed. After giving birth, without complications, V.M.'s newborn was taken away from her on charges of endangering child welfare. She and her husband have been fighting for three years now to get their child back.
There are a number of problems with this decision by the hospital, starting with the fact that the only welfare endangerment you could allege at the time of V.M's refusal was that of the fetus, since there was not yet any child. Secondly, many hospitals are trigger-happy when it comes to this surgery — this New Jersey hospital had a 50% c-section rate — which can be due to financial considerations or simple bias toward the procedure, although a c-section can have its own complications and pose issues for future pregnancies. Thirdly, there is controversy surrounding whether hospitals should even be allowed to ask for "pre-consent" from pregnant women with no signs of needing the procedure.
And finally, when it comes to cutting a woman's body open, her decision to wait and see, thank you very much, is fully within her choice. If she doesn't want to be slashed across her belly willy-nilly, that's her right. It is not the equivalent of child abuse.
National Advocates for Pregnant Women staff attorney Farah Diaz-Tello argued, "Once the door is open you can have field day with every aspect of a woman’s life." Fortunately, the courts have now agreed that the child abuse/neglect statutes do not apply to fetuses, and in a previous warning, refusing a c-section specifically was found to not constitute endangering a child's welfare.
V.M. and her husband are still separated from their child. Now they have to head back to the lower courts (if there's no appeal) to now only fight the hospital's claim that V.M. was acting irrational, hostile, and yelling — well, you would too if someone told you they were taking away your baby because you refused to pre-authorize an unnecessary c-section. Actually, that sounds pretty rational to me.
http://news.change.org/stories/mother-loses-baby-for-three-years-due-to-refusing-c-section-pre-consentV.M. has been separated from her baby for three years in the name of "child... more
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Police have filed endangerment charges against a southeastern Pennsylvania woman whose toddler was photographed while bound to a chair with duct tape covering her mouth.
The Delaware County Daily Times reports that 21-year-old Caira Ferguson. of Toby Farms in Chester Township, was charged Wednesday after being questioned by Nether Providence Township police.
She was picked up earlier in the day for outstanding warrants.
Chester Township police became aware of the photograph when Ferguson, who is the woman pictured in the photo, lodged an identity theft complaint with the police station Tuesday, police told NBC Philadelphia.
The mother of the girl, Ferguson told police that someone else posted the photo on a blog called MediaTakeOut.com, according to police. Chester Township Police are investigating whether or not child abuse occurred.
“She told us that it is her in the photograph, but that she did not post it,” Police Chief Ken Coalson told the Delco Times. “She said someone else stole her identity and posted it.”
Ferguson was arrested Wednesday because of outstanding warrants, police told NBC Philadelphia. It is unknown whether or not Ferguson will be charged with child abuse.
Police have had contact with the toddler since the investigation began, Coalson said. The incident happened last summer when Ferguson lived in Nether Providence, according to police.
Police believe a friend of Ferguson took the photograph.
http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/Child-Gagged-Bound-by-Duct-Tape-in-Web-Photo-Police-116323489.htmlPolice have filed endangerment charges against a southeastern Pennsylvania woman whose... more
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Driver kicks 7-year-old out of taxi
By Marina Landis, CNN
October 13, 2010 6:11 p.m. EDT
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
* Police say cabbie Roy D. Sutherland, 66, left 7-year-old alone on a street corner
* The driver had asked the boy if he had money for the fare and got no answer
* Sutherland was arrested and is to be arraigned October 25
New York (CNN) -- A driver for the Valentine Cab Co. in Roosevelt, New York, was charged with endangering the welfare of a child after he kicked a young boy out of his cab Tuesday for not having any money, police said.
Nassau County Police detectives say a 7-year-old boy with special needs was put into a cab in Freeport, New York, by his grandmother and was supposed to be dropped off at his residence in the neighboring Long Island town of Roosevelt.
After picking up the child, the driver of the cab, 66-year-old Roy D. Sutherland, asked the boy if he had money for the fare. When the child was unable to provide any information, Sutherland told him to get out of the cab, police said.
Sutherland left the boy on a street corner in Freeport by himself and drove away, police said.
Sutherland was later arrested and issued an appearance ticket, police said. He's scheduled to be arraigned at the First District Court in Hempstead on October 25.
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7-year-old boy kicked out of cab - WABC/TV
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Lauren DeFranco
FREEPORT, NY (WABC) -- A cab driver is accused of dumping a 7-year-old boy onto the street because he didn't have any money.
He was making a routine trip from his Grandmother's home to his mother's house.
"I was just a little crazy at the moment, because I was like, what do you mean he didn't have fare, he's 7 years old," Joy Allen, Alex's mother said.
Joy Allen is still in a state of shock, she's so angry and upset.
Monday at around 5 p.m., a cab driver left her 7-year-old son Alex alone on a street corner in Freeport.
What's worse, is that Alex is a child with special needs and has difficulty communicating.
"He begged the cab driver not to put him out of the car, and he said that the cab driver told him, he doesn't have time for people who don't have money and to get out," Allen said.
"I said OK, and so I got out and stood by myself," Alex said.
Allen, who doesn't drive, had called the Express Valentine Taxi Company to take her son from her mother's home in Freeport to her house in Roosevelt.
When the cab driver realized the boy didn't have money, he kicked him out of the car.
"I called the cab company screaming, no forget everything, tell me where my son is before we resolve anything, where is my son, where is my son, and he couldn't get an answer out of the driver," Allen said.
Alex was alone and confused and crying for his grandmother who eventually found him.
"I was screaming for Grandma, and I keep saying, Grandma!" Alex said.
Eyewitness News went to the owner of the cab company who said it is company policy to turn away any passenger who doesn't pay the fare upfront.
Allen says a 7 year old child with a disability isn't just any passenger.
"I speak for a lot of people, I could never put a child out anywhere," Allen said.
The driver, Roy Sutherland, 66, will be arraigned on charges of endangering a child later this month.Driver kicks 7-year-old out of taxi
By Marina Landis, CNN
October 13, 2010 6:11... more
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SWAT team breaks into home, fires seven rounds at family’s pit bull and corgi (?!) as a seven-year-old looks on.
They found a “small amount” of marijuana, enough for a misdemeanor charge. The parents were then charged with child endangerment.
So smoking pot = “child endangerment.” Storming a home with guns, then firing bullets into the family pets as a child looks on = necessary police procedures to ensure everyone’s safety.
(video below the fold)
This is what happens when you give a bunch of cowboy assholes heavy weapons and fill them with a God complex. Although I’m sure Joe Lieberman would suggest we strip this family of their citizenship.
Oddly enough, I doubt the tea partiers screaming about individual liberty will notice this. After all, it isn’t like the cops were going to raise their taxes or provide them with affordable healthcare coverage. They were just shooting his dogs in front of his family and then made up some bullshit excuse to try to take away the kid. No big deal.SWAT team breaks into home, fires seven rounds at family’s pit bull and corgi... more
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Five men from the same family are in custody in a stunning child sex crimes case in Missouri — and cadaver dogs are now being used in a hunt for possible bodies of victims, a local news reports.
Police are searching a patch of land on a farm property Wednesday near Bates City, Mo., a day after the men were charged with committing sex crimes against children, according to a local news channel.
Charged with multiple counts of child rape are 77-year-old Burrell Edward Mohler Sr. and his son Burrell Edward Mohler Jr., 53, both of Independence, Mo., along with 48-year-old Jared Leroy Mohler of Columbia, Mo.
David A. Mohler, 52, of Lamoni, Iowa, was charged with one count of child rape, and Roland Neil Mohler, 47, of Bates City, Mo., is accused of using a child in a sexual performance — a felony. The relationships of Jared, David and Roland Mohler to Burrell Mohler Sr. and Burrell Mohler Jr. weren't immediately known.
The crimes allegedly were committed from the late 1980s until the mid-1990s.
The elder Burrell Mohler is accused of drugging and forcibly raping a child under 12 and using a child in a sexual performance. His son is charged with sexual assault of a child under 14 and using a child in a sexual performance.
It wasn't clear how many young victims there allegedly were. All five men are being held behind bars without bond.
A press conference will be held Wednesday to discuss more details of the case.Five men from the same family are in custody in a stunning child sex crimes case in... more
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KSirys
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2 years ago
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A nursery worker and two accomplices in Britain have pleaded guilty to carrying out a string of sex attacks on children as young as 18 months old.
Vanessa George, 39, admitted seven counts of sexual abuse and six counts of distributing and making indecent pictures of children.
She committed the crimes at Little Ted's nursery in Plymouth, where she worked.
She denied one count of sexual assault, which was ordered by the judge at Bristol Crown Court to lie on file.
The children in George's photographs have never been identified.
By analyzing electronic references stored within the images, detectives have been able to work out roughly when the pictures were taken.
With the assistance of a consultant paediatrician, they have also estimated the ages of the children involved.
By cross-referencing nursery records, they have narrowed down to 30 the number of families who would have had children of the right age, at the relevant time, in the care of George.
But beyond that, individual identification is very difficult.
** This is horrific!! and they talked about in Facebook, why didn't Facebook do something about it??A nursery worker and two accomplices in Britain have pleaded guilty to carrying out a... more
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KSirys
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A father and stepmother were charged with withholding their 14-year-old daughter's food and water so drastically that she weighed only 48 pounds, authorities said. A father and stepmother were charged with withholding their 14-year-old... more
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Toni Allexy, 39, of Paradise, California, who was accused last October of furbishing alcohol to minors, driving while intoxicated with minors in her vehicle and fondling a teenage boy during the drive was sentenced today (09/04/2008) to four years probation with strict terms and conditions for a felony child endangerment charge.
Allexy was initially charged with performing a lewd act upon a child and four counts of child endangerment, but she accepted a plea bargain from the district attorney's office to plead no contest to one felony child endangerment charge that would include driving while intoxicated with a minor in her vehicle and fondling him in her state of intoxication. The plea doubled her potential sentence exposure from three years to six, but it left sexual offender registration up to the discretion of the judge.
Allexy knew the minors through her position as the head cheerleading coach with the Paradise Junior Bobcats Football League. Deputy District Attorney Lynda Hunt addressed the judge, staint that this case has been "very hard for everyone involved."
In many cases, boys who have been abused don't tell because they feel embarrassed, Hunt said. The abuse of a teenage boy by a woman is often seen as a "right of passage" she said, but that abuse has long term affects."
The victim did not tell his family what happened, Hunt said. When he did tell the truth, he suffered humiliation, and he still has feelings of anger, she said. The defendant is an adult, 39 years old, and she was in a position of trust as a cheerleading coach, Evans said. Allexy also took pride in being considered "the cool mom," she said.
Hunt said some of the boys on the football league called Allexy a "MILF" which is an acronym to imply the boys found her attractive. Hunt continued, explaining to the judge Allexy believed young boys found her attractive. She had minors over to her home, where she served them beer and vodka and tired to hide it from her husband by serving the alcohol in sippy cups.
Hunt said Allexy adamantly denied having any alcohol besides beer in her home, up until she was confronted with a store surveillance photo of her buying vodka, accompanied by two boys. After she provided alcohol to the minor, Hunt said Allexy began wrestling with her victim, and then she painted his nails, put a lipstick kiss on his cheek and put him on her lap to take a photo and sent it to his ex-girlfriend.
After some time, Allexy's husband found his wife and the minors asleep, with Allexy under a blanket with the boy. He then became angry and wanted to drive the minors home, Hunt said.Toni Allexy, 39, of Paradise, California, who was accused last October of furbishing... more
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b2r
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27-year-old woman was arrested and charged late Thursday with fleeing police in a high-speed chase and nearly slamming into a cruiser – with her five children in the car.
Crisha Thompson of Colerain Township faces five counts of child endangering. She was booked into the Hamilton County jail about 9:20 p.m.
Three of the five children weren’t properly restrained, so he walked up to the car and advised her that driving without properly restraining them was dangerous. He warned her not to drive until she had car seats for all the children.
The officer went into a store. When he came out, he saw Thompson driving off erratically on Pippin Road by speeding and passing cars left of center. He flipped on his cruiser lights and tried to catch up with her.
When the officer finally caught up with her on Deblin Road, she had crashed her car into a home in the 2440 block.
Police did not say this morning what happened to the children: if they were staying with a relative or placed in foster care.
Thompson is scheduled to appear this morning before a Hamilton County Municipal Court judge.27-year-old woman was arrested and charged late Thursday with fleeing police in a... more
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A 35-year-old Texas woman has been jailed after police say she made her 12-year-old daughter drive her to a bar.
Police in Longview say they watched a minivan turn into a driveway without signaling on Wednesday and bump into a home at a low speed. They say the car was driven by Jennifer Lynn Rosenberg's daughter.
Police say the girl told an officer she had just dropped her mother off at a bar. They say they found Rosenburg at the bar and that she admitted having her daughter drive her there.
Rosenburg remains in the Gregg County Jail on a $2,500 bond. A jail official declined to say whether she had an attorney.
A spokeswoman for Child Protective Services told the Longview News-Journal that the agency is investigating.A 35-year-old Texas woman has been jailed after police say she made her 12-year-old... more
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