Parents Behaving Badly

In Pinneallas Park, Florida, police found a 12-year-old boy lying in his own feces and dried blood on the linoleum floor of an apartment unit. He had a fractured skull, broken nose and burns on his broken arm. After seeing a boy with a bleeding head wound and scraped feet walking through the lobby of the subsidized housing complex, a resident called police.   

Police arrested Drenda Patrick, 43 and her blind, live-in boyfriend, Reginald Carr, 42.  Police believe the child was abused by Carr with the mother’s complicity. Patrick is charged with four counts of child neglect. Bond is set for her at $80,000. Carr is charged with four counts of aggravated child abuse. His bond is $400,000.

Carr and Patrick also kept the child locked in a room with no furniture except for a plastic bucket for a toilet. He received little schooling and only had a bible to read. The boy said that Carr whipped him with an extension cord and beat him regularly with his fists.

Last year the boy was enrolled in school for a month, but his mom withdrew him saying that she was going to homeschool him. School officials say they didn’t notice any abuse at the time.  However, police believe that the abuse has been ongoing because the boy has old scars.

Another wonderful example of a mom refusing to protect her child from an abusive boyfriend.

Last Friday, Miriam Gallegos, 20, called Denver police to report that her two-year-old daughter, Niveah Gallegos, was kidnapped by two men in a car – one a redheaded white man. Police quickly learned that Gallegos’s boyfriend, Angel Ray Montoya, 22, had called Gallegos at work to get her to come home. When she arrived, the toddler wasn’t breathing, so instead of calling 911, Gallegos and Montoya put the girl in a plastic bag. Montoya left and disposed of the body.

Volunteers searched the area around their Denver neigborhood looking in dumpsters for the little girl’s body. On Monday, the city of Denver cancelled trash pickup to give police more time to find Niveah. After almost three full days of searching, Niveah’s body was found in a nearby ravine.

Gallegos is being held in the Denver County Jail on a $500,000 bond for false reporting, accessory to a crime and child abuse resulting in death. Montoya, who is a convicted sex offender, is being held in the Denver County Jail without bond for first-degree murder. The couple should be formally charged early next week, and are on a suicide watch.

Montoya was investigated previously for sexually abusing Nevaeh. In July 2006, Niveah was found to be bleeding in her diaper. She was examined at the Denver Family Crisis Center where doctors confirmed that the Niveah, who was only 23 months old, showed signs of sexual assault and  had been penetrated. However, because of the lack of physical evidence and since Gallegos refused to cooperate against her boyfriend, no charges were filed.

I hope these two serve in prison for a long, long time – especially Gallegos. As a mother, she should have protected her daughter from a man who was sexually abusive. Since she didn’t, a beautiful little girl is now dead.

Police noticed a strong marijuana smell coming from inside her home, giving them enough cause to enter.

Upon entering, they noticed a “hand-rolled cigarette”, a bag believed to contain pot and other drug paraphernalia. With two children in the home at the time, somebody was obviously getting a free ride in the back of the police car.

It’s not clear what went on after police informed her of her arrest, as she was only described as being “incredibly irate“.

Well, she was irate enough to stand up and throw her 6-month-old baby across the room at the state troopers.

Don’t worry… Fortunately the trooper was quick enough to catch the baby.

Evelyn Doninger is now being charged with multiple counts of child abuse and drug charges, charges which I’m sure she won’t escape.

As a mother I can’t imagine the horror of purposely trying to kill your child. Yet in Texas, there seem to be many mothers who have done just that, from Andrea Yates (drowning) to Gilberta Estrada (who hung herself and her four children).

The latest case involves Alysha Green, 29, who coaxed her three daughters into a closet, poured gasoline over her them, and set them on fire. She faces a capital murder charge in the death of three-year-old daughter, Ariania Green, who had burns over 90 percent of her body and had been taken off of life support.

Alysha is also charged with two counts of serious injury to a child in the case of her other daughters who remain hospitalized. Alexandria, 5, has burns covering about 40 percent of her body, and Adamiria, 7, has burns covering nearly 20 percent of her body. Their mother is also hospitalized with burnt feet.

Adamiria told an emergency worker that their mom asked them to play a game, and had them get into a closet. Alysha then opened the closet door and threw a burning shirt on the children. The girls and their mother then ran screaming from the burning house. Neighbors rushed in to help and said Adamiria was screaming, ”Why mommy? Why did you do this to me?”

Green has bipolar disorder and stopped taking her medication. Her husband Adam Green told police that his wife’s behavior had worsened and that she previously threatened to set him on fire. Alysha told an officer that she burned her children because she was mad at her husband.

I’m sure he never imagined that his wife’s mental illness was bad enough that she’d try to kill her daughters. (Neither did her sister.) Still, why did he leave the kids alone with her if she wasn’t taking her meds? Sounds like another Andrea Yates case to me. Like that case, I’m sure the media will be all over this one as well.

In Robertson County, Tennessee, Kresta Warner, 30 was arrested for child abuse and neglect after a school bus driver found her naked two-year-old standing at a roadside.

Bus driver Jack Fisher saw the little guy and pulled the bus over. He asked the child where his mom was, and got him on the bus. However, the toddler didn’t understand the driver and could only say “mama.” The school children on the bus kept the boy occupied while Fisher called dispatch to get a deputy out there. Six minutes later authorities got the boy and took turned him over to the Department of Child Services (DCS).

Deputies then conducted a door-to-door search in the area, and showed a picture of the two-year-old to a 11-year-old boy who was playing outside a home. The boy told them that the toddler was his little brother. Deputies then found their mother out in a back field searching for her son.

For some reason, Warner didn’t call 911, just the boy’s father. I’m guessing that she thought the child was near the house and not a half-mile from home across property that had several ponds. Scary!

The DCS then took the big brother into custody and turned them both over into the care of their paternal grandparents. DCS is now working with the family, but a judge has ordered her to stay away from the child until her hearing on November 4.  (Does this seem harsh? I think supervised visits would be better for the boy. After all he’s only two and probably misses his mama.)

Warner has no previous record and is out on $3,000 bail. I’m guessing that she’ll get a light sentence. Her family lived on a big several acre lot and she just assumed he was on their property, not naked, dirty and playing in the street. People make mistakes after all, and luckily this didn’t end tragically.

Funny thing is that this seems to be a common occurance in this part of the country. In the same county, another mom was arrested after her two-year old was found wandering in the middle of  the road. Maybe it’s just a Tenessee toddler  kind of thang.

In Oklahoma, Raye Dawn Smith, 27 will get 27 years in prison for the 2005 death of her two-year-old daughter, Kelsey Smith-Briggs. The judge found Smith guilty enabling child abuse.

Kelsey suffered multiple injuries including a broken collarbone, broken legs and bruises. Kelsey’s stepfather, Michael Porter, abused her for months and Smith did nothing to stop him.

Porter finally sexually assaulted and murdered little Kelsey. He’s serving a a 30-year prison term for enabling abuse, not murder or sexual assault.

There’s a lot of family drama in this case since Smith blames the Briggs family, namley Kelsey’s grandmother Kathie Briggs, for filing false charges and possibly abusing Kelsey. She even had the audacity to look at her and say, “Kathie I forgive you.”

I agree with Briggs -  Raye Dawn Smith is demented. Thank god she’ll be put away for a long time and won’t get out until after she goes through menopause.

While visiting relatives in San Diego, Lorrie Jean Boettger, 38, and Thomas Michael Boettger Sr., 39, woke up and found their baby dying. Six-month-old Thomas Boettger Jr. limbs had turned blue and stopped breathing.

Medical experts found the boy had suffered acute intoxication from an antihistamine and a sleeping aid that his parents had given him because he was “fussy.” They had crushed up Benadryl and Unisom tablets and given them to the baby. 

The Boettgers have been extradited from Washington state to San Diego and will stand trial for child abuse and murder. If convicted, they could get 15 years to life in prison.

Now you must be thinking, “Boy these parents are just stupid. They didn’t mean to hurt their child.” I’m not so sure since both had medical backgrounds. Thomas worked as an EMT and Lorrie was a midwife.

Lorrie told police that her husband had given the baby meds regularly to get him to go to sleep. Sounds like he couldn’t be bothered with a fussy baby.

We’re all familiar with the tragic story of the British couple, Drs. Kate and Gerry McCann, whose four-year-old daughter Madeline was taken from her room last May during a family vacation in Portugal.

Madeline was sleeping in an unlocked apartment with her two-year-old siblings while her parents ate dinner with friends 100 yards away.The McCanns left the kids unattended, but took turns checking on them. They told police that at about 9 p.m., Kate McCann returned to find an open bedroom window and Madeline missing. (Local media have published detailed accounts of the evening.)

On Friday, Portuguese police told the McCanns that they were suspects. Seems that a new round of tests conducted by a British lab showed that traces of Madeline’s blood, saliva and hair were found in the apartment. This suggests that she was killed there and not abducted. Also, British cadaver-sniffing dogs detected signs of a past presence of a dead body in the apartment.

Traces of Madeleine’s blood were also found in the trunk of a car rented by the McCanns after Madeline’s disappearance and dogs detected the scent of a corpse on the car’s keys.

Portuguese investigators believe that Kate McCann accidentally killed her daughter by giving her a sedative overdose. Supposedly, Kate gave her daughter medicine so that she would sleep while the parents ate dinner. Kate then supposedly hid the body with her husband’s help and staged the public pleas as a cover up. Of course, everyone’s outraged and the Portuguese police are accused of trying to cover up a bungled investigation.

However, it’s beginning to sound to me like the JonBenet Ramsey story. Like that little girl’s death, we’ll probably never find out what truly happend to Madeline McCann.

In Patrick, Nevada, Oregon rugby player Lucien Hoffman was arrested on charges of child neglect. Seems that he left his two-year-old daughter in a vehicle in the parking lot of  World Famous Mustang Ranch brothel in Sparks, Nevada. It was 95 degrees out, so you have to figure it was even hotter in the car.

Lucikly, a brothel security guard found the child crying inside the car. When he couldn’t locate her parents, he called the sherrif and took the child inside the brothel.

Hoffman was attending a pool party and barbecue at the Mustang Ranch, which was a co-sponsor of a Labor Day weekend rugby tournament. If brothel security had known that Hoffman brought a child with him, he would not have been allowed in the brothel.

After Hoffman’s arrest, the toddler was treated for dehydration and released to child protective services. She was eventually returned to her mom in Oregon.

The rugby club’s president said that Hoffman a good father who made a bad decision, and that he’s not neglectful or hurtful.

No he’s just incredibly STUPID! I don’t know what’s worse, taking a little girl to a brothel or leaving a kid out in the heat.

(Thanks to reader Cat for the tip!)

Her children were only 11 and 12 when Jackie allowed her boyfriend to have sex with both of her pre-teen daughters.

Fortunately this couple was stupid enough to keep records of the sexual abuse in a journal — a journal which lead to their arrest.

Williams was sentenced to two life terms, not eligible for parole until she serves at least 40 of them. The boyfriend Jones is yet to be sentenced, though I’m pretty sure he’s got his coming too.

Her attorney spouted a bunch of crap about Willilams dysfunctional child hood, physical & sexual abuse, post traumatic stress and bi-polar disorder. But do we really care?

Elizabeth Reta, 27 and her boyfriend Juan Antonio Sanchez Jr. are being booked for felony child abuse after a used meth pipe swab was used to clean his nose. They may be facing additional charges now that the boy has died.

Upon further inspection the baby boy also had a fractured skull, a broken arm and pneumonia. Obviously a quality couple with top notch parenting skills.

In New Beford, Rhode Island, not only did April Rice, 21, break her infant son’s leg. But she and her boyfriend, Joshua Cadwell, 30, waited two days to take the three-week-old to the hospital for treatment.

Rice told police that broke the boy’s leg when she slammed him into a chair. Her reason? The baby wouldn’t stop crying. Geez, maybe feeding or changing him would have been more appropriate?

Police also said the couple tried to reset the boy’s leg by themselves. The baby is in state custody.

Cadwell has an outstanding arrest warrant and faces extradition to Minnesota. During a competency evaluation, the judge deemed Rice, who suffers from a slight mental disability (she has ADD/ADHD and is mildly retarded) to be mentally competent to stand trial. Both she and Cadwell face charges that include assault and battery by means of a dangerous weapon and assault and battery on a child under 14.  Cadwell also faces an accessory after the fact charge.

Rice may be mentally competent for trial, but not for motherhood or living on her own. According to police officers, her apartment was cockroach-infested and smelled of cat urine, feces and garbage. Ewwwwww.

In Abingdon, Maryland, Richard Mosely, 22, and Giovanna Mosely, 26, and family friend, Daniel Reilly, 20, were indicted by a grand jury in the death of seven-week-old Seth Mosely. The Moselys have been charged with second-degree murder, first-degree child abuse resulting in death, and second-degree child abuse.

Seth was found unresponsive and in cardiac arrest. Authorities are not discussing the cause of death. However, the medical examiner determined the baby’s death was a homicide. There is speculation that Seth died of shaken baby syndrome, which is often associated with cardiac arrest in infants.

The Moselys are being held on $250,000 bond.

Social services had been working closely with the family. Sadly it wasn’t enough.