"I don't want to say she deserved it, but ..."

Cesar Rodriguez, the man who beat his stepdaughter Nixzmary Brown, sparking a citywide investigation into children welfare services and lobbying for children's murder cases to require the death penalty, jailhouse interviews saying Brown was trouble and essentially deserved to be beaten. He said:

"I would hold her up to the mirror and make her look at herself and I would say, 'Do you really want to live like this? Look at yourself. Talk to yourself. How do you feel about yourself?'"

Rodriguez also admitted to using all of his force when hitting the 7 year old, who weighed 36 pounds when she was found. He says that life's frustrations - loss of a job, Christmas coming with no presents for the kids, his wife's miscarriage - made him feel like "everything was closing in." But he says beating Brown on the day she died (he was angry that she ate a yogurt without permission and jammed his printer) was "an accident," relating it to being shot on the street randomly. Gothamist supposes the interviews are to make him seem more sympathetic, but if anything, he seems more cruel.

Rodriguez also claims that a city social worker said his idea to send Brown to live with her grandmother in Puerto Rico was a bad idea. And it looks like the Administration for Children's Services knew its Brooklyn offices in Bed-Stuy had problems.

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Jen Chung in News on January 20, 2006 9:23 AM

Comments [rss]

guest

It's not fair how he's still alive, and she was being abused and the person/people are still alive! It's not fair! :'(

Tim N.

As a friend of mine once said: I'd like to beat him to within an inch of his life, then nurse him back to health so I could beat him up again.

your sister's gay boyfriend

Could it be that the lawyer angling for an insanity plea?

In any case, he's already getting his ass kicked by other inmates and I don't see him surviving a year in state pen.

Jack

I don't have a link to it, but there was a hillariously tragic interview Dominic Carter did on NY1 with Charles Ensley, president of the ACS workers union. The guy was incredible. Making excuses and vast generalizations about this case. And defending the specific ACS case workers beyond belief.

I understand the idea of a union leader sticking up for his members, but this is bulls--t. By defending the incompetent asshats who allowed this to happen he's bringing down the good workers who truly do good work. And he's making himself look like a buffoon.

Purge your agency of the bad blood and move forward. And don't defend the pensions or futures of the ACS workers who bring the whole place down. Let them find new jobs stocking the shelves at Target.

This Daily News piece sums up his attitude well:

http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/383726p-325711c.html

--Charles Ensley, president of the ACS workers union, visited Nixzmary's caseworkers at their office on Marcy Ave. in Williamsburg yesterday and said he is confident they won't be accused of misconduct.

"I would be stunned if the city blindsided us and announced tomorrow any disciplinary action or suspension of these workers," Ensley said. "I talked to all three workers today and they are comfortable with their performance in this case."

--

famdoc

I have two words for Mr. Rodriguez: John Geoghan

Jen

I guess that his lawyer was trying to give him a voice by okaying the interviews, but what kills me is that though there were five children in the family (some of them, including Nixzmary, were his wife's), it sounds like Nixzmary was the "bad" one and therefore was the one to be punished.

Max

I would say the spread in a death poll would be about a year. He will spend the next year getting worked over and then be found dead in the showers. Cons take a dim view of child abusers. Hope they use 'all their force' on him.

Anonymous

Death penalty is too good for this bastard. Someone should torture and beat the living hell out of him on a daily basis.

Anonymous

Death penalty is too good for this bastard. Someone should torture and beat the living hell out of him on a daily basis.

Benjamin

I am anti-death penalty but....

Jen W

Two very uncharitable thoughts: 1. What a blessing that woman's miscarriage was, considering what life that child would have been born into; I'm usually sympathetic to my fellow women's issues, but in this case, not so much. 2. Why is it that horrible people like these never seem to have fertility problems? They always seem to be able to get knocked up by whatever sleazy dude is hanging around them that week.

I don't seriously think the interview was a bid to look more sympathetic, was it? Dumb move by the defense if they allowed it. It's one of those cases where the more that is known, the worse it gets. Don't they watch Law & Order?

virid

I can't believe Children's Services couldn't get the girl out of a household run by these two babbling psychopaths. Poor Nixmary really never had a chance.