Results tagged “childabuse”

The woman accused of fatally beating her 4-year-old son was allowed to attend his wake yesterday. Myrna Chenphang was escorted from Rikers Island to the Robeson and Brown Funeral Home in Brooklyn to see Jayden Lenescar in an open casket; she was reportedly weeping. Chenphang and her boyfriend Steven Dadaille face second-degree murder charges for little Jayden's death.

A Queens Village mother and grandmother have been charged with assault and endangering the welfare of a child after permanently scarring a six-year-old girl in a Voodoo ritual where they engulfed her in flames. 29-year-old Marie Lauradin and 70-year-old Sylvenie Thessier are accused of pouring rum both onto the head of young Frantzcia Saintil and in a circle around her and then lighting both on fire. After performing the "Loa" ritual, the pair doused the girl in ice cold water and put her to bed. Lauradin, a recent Haitian immigrant, and her mother were allegedly helped by a friend named "Sketch," who has not been charged. The Daily News reports, "Lauradin initially claimed she was boiling rice in a pot when the girl 'startled' her, causing her to spill the scalding water on her." She could face up to 25 years if convicted.

The ME's office will conduct an autopsy on a 2-month-old who died after being found unconscious in an apartment in the Wingate section of Brooklyn. According to the Daily News, the baby's father asked a neighbor to help revive baby Tuquan Bennett-Shuler, but the neighbor, John Mercano, "dialed 911 when he realized the newborn was near death." When FDNY EMS arrived, Tuquan didn't respond to CPR; he later was pronounced dead at Kings County Hospital. The News reports that police were questioning the baby's mother, "who has faced child abuse accusation," as well as the baby's father, who allegedly told Mercano that "the mother smothered the baby because the baby was crying too much."

A complaint to child services led police to a home in Mastic Beach where seven children were being raised in conditions of utter squalor and prompted the arrests five adults who lived there. Newsday reports that the house had no heat along with "no running water, feces on the floor and bottles of urine around the house, with rotted food in the refrigerator." On top of that, "appliances and lights that were being run off a generator, a television was being charged with a car battery and cooking was being done indoors with propane." The seven children ranged from ages two to thirteen and are now in foster care with an order of protection from their former caretakers. One of the five adults was also charged with animal cruelty after the SPCA discovered two dogs and 14 cats. One neighbor told the paper that she refused to open windows in the side of her house that faced their home. A Suffolk County official said redundantly, "It was obviously a health hazard."

A Hunter College student was arrested yesterday for molesting three Manhattan boys in his care. Jonathan Then, 20, was "dragged out of class" by the cops yesterday morning and then charged with sexual abuse, predatory sexual assault and other charges. The Manhattan DA's office says the investigation is continuing: "We have learned that the defendant has been a live-in nanny and baby sitter for more than 20 families throughout Manhattan, Brooklyn and New Jersey, and that number is growing. Each family we have spoken to has given us names of other families who hired the defendant and whose homes the defendant has been in."

Look, we try not to pepper these Hasidic stories with cliche Yiddish catchphrases, but if ever an Oy Vey was in order... Just as one Hasidic man pleads guilty to charges of rape, sodomy and child endangerment, another's been indicted on charges of sexually abusing a teenage boy for years. Yesterday David Silverman entered a guilty plea to end his trial, which stemmed from charges that he used MySpace to lure teenage girls from Westchester to a nightclub-style porn set near the Javits Center, where he'd get them drunk and videotape the sex.

The 45-year-old woman, charged with murder and accused of beating and then ignoring her 4-year-old grandson, collapsed in court yesterday, according to the Daily News. Angela Barksdale also "wept" when the prosecutors read her statement to detectives detailing his injuries and final days.

A Parkchester resident was arrested for apparently killing her 4-year-old grandson. The Post reports that Angela Barksdale, who had three prior arrests, called 911 around 6 p.m. because little Kevion Shand wasn't breathing. He was pronounced dead at the scene, and, according to the Daily News, he may have been ignored and left unconscious for a day or longer (the News also says Barksdale's boyfriend finally called 911). Barksdale also claimed that the boy, whose mother is in jail, hit his head on the bathtub; the ME's office found he "died of blunt impact to the head and hemorrhaging under the skull." An outraged neighbor told the Post, "Children have become like paper. We just throw them away...They should dig a hole and bury the grandmother in it."

Yesterday, a funeral was held for 10-year-old Jaquan Oscar Porter, who was apparently killed by his abusive mother in their Staten Island home. The boy's father, Charles Porter, said, "I'm glad he's not suffering anymore," but was also angry that his ex Melissa Sekulski managed to keep their son from him, "From the Board of Education to the family courts to ACS, nobody helped me see him. No city officials called to help. It just fell down the drain." Porter, who last saw his son alive in 2003, had asked for a court-ordered visitation in 2005, but Sekulski never showed up to that hearing—or to subsequent ones in 2006, 2007 and 2008. Police say that Sekulski, who had pulled Jaquan out of school last year and kept him out of sight, admitted to slamming her son's head into the wall and a long history of abusing him. Porter said at the funeral, "I don't want this to happen to anyone else. I don't want this to happen in vain," and wants other dads to know, "Don't stop fighting. Don't let them tell you that they can't help you."

The Staten Island Advance reports that the woman accused of fatally beating her 10-year-old son had "defied a judge's order by not allowing the boy's father to visit for nearly three years." Melissa Sekulski was arrested on Saturday after her son Jaquan's death (he was brutally beaten on Friday, but prosecutors say he was abused for much of his life). Yesterday, a family court judge revealed she was a no-show for five court hearings between July 2005 and June 2008 about Jaquan's father's request for visitation (a warrant had been issued in August 2005). Investigators are also looking into whether Jaquan's beating took place in Brooklyn or Staten Island. Currently the S.I.'s DA's office is handling the case and her S.I. neighbors said Sekulski was crying, "My son, my son, pray for me ... He's obese!" on Friday night (Jaquan 250 pounds). According to the Daily News, Sekulski "said her son was too fat for school - she could do a better job with him at home," so she home-schooled him, and the Post reports that Sekulski's family blames her abusive behavior on a controlling "lesbian lover who didn't want anyone to come between them."

The Staten Island's DA's office gave some very grim details about the final hours of 10-year-old Jaquan Sekulski's life, after his mother was arraigned on manslaughter charges. Melissa Sekulski was arrested after the boy's unconscious body was found in their apartment Friday night. The prosecutor, who noted the apartment was infested with cockroaches and had no food, said, "The defendant has been physically abusing the victim for years, by her own admission... She thrashed him with a belt and belt buckle and a burned him with the buckle." The boy's headed was smashed against the wall repeatedly on Friday night, but a neighbor, who came to help when he heard the mother's cries and saw fluid coming from Jaquan's nose, told the News, "His mother told me he was having trouble breathing and he wanted to lay down on the floor... I was thinking, poor woman - I was really feeling sorry for her." The News also heard from an inmate, who claimed Sekulski "was telling a lot of people that the kid got out of hand and she just lost it." The S.I. D.A.'s office said the child died of "battered child syndrome."

A Staten Island woman has been arrested in connection with the death of her 10-year-old son in Mariners Harbor. 30 year-old Melissa Sekulski was charged yesterday and is expected to be arraigned today on manslaughter charges in the death of her son, Jaquan Porter. Following a 911 call from someone inside the apartment Friday evening, the boy was found to be not breathing and later pronounced dead at Richmond University Medical Center. The Medical Examiner's office later determined that Porter died due to blunt trauma to the head.

Nixzaliz Santiago, who was convicted of manslaughter in her 7-year-old daughter's death, was sentenced to "the maximum consecutive sentence"--40 1/2 to 43 years-- in prison. The death of Nixzmary Brown shocked the city--the girl was found unconscious after her stepfather threw her head into a bathtub faucet (he claimed she had been misbehaving). She severely malnourished, the victim of severe child abuse, and it turned out that the Administration for Children's Services had been contacted numerous times about the family. Stepfather Cesar Rodriguez was convicted of manslaughter earlier this year and is serving a 29-year prison sentence.

On Saturday, a Merrick woman and her boyfriend, a personal trainer, were charged with assaulting her 6-year-old son. Newsday reports that Nassau police knocked on their door and called, but no one answered, so "emergency services officers broke down the door and found the boy crying in a bedroom, with cuts and bruises on his leg, buttocks and groin area." It's believed he was beaten with a weight-lighting belt. Jessica Muniz, 29, is being held on $50,000 bond and Anthony Badalamenti, 31, (pictured) who gained some fame after helping a man lose 186 for The Biggest loser, is being held on $100,000 bond. Their landlord was the one who called; he said he had heard the boy crying for a month, but when he heard screams on Friday, "The child was pleading for mercy. I said, 'That's it, I can't take it anymore.'"

The mother accused of murdering her 11-year-old daughter says the child died from a fall in the bathroom. Anthony Baratta, lawyer for Florencia Vazquez claims that his client's daughter Alejandra had been standing on the bathroom tub edge to hang a shower curtain when she fell on October 20. Baratta says Vazquez checked on the girl repeatedly throughout the week, even calling a doctor at one point, and called 911 this past Sunday when she began foaming at the mouth. However, prosecutors say that Vazquez confessed to fatally beating Alejandra on October 23 (after hours of police questioning) and leaving her body for days. Earlier reports said that 911 was called only when a man came to rent a room this past Sunday and saw the girl's body. The ME's office said that Alejandra had injuries all over body, calling her a victim of child abuse.

A woman was charged with murder in the fatal beating of her 11-year-old daughter, who had recently arrived from Mexico to live with her. The Daily News reports that Florencia Vazquez cried out in Spanish, "I didn't kill her!" when she was led from the 75th Precinct.

The discovery of a dead 11-year-old girl in a Brooklyn apartment led to the girl's mother to admit to killing her, according to police. WABC 7 reports that Florenzia Vazquez told police she beat daughter Alejandra "with a mop handle so hard, it broke in two." Vazquez is being held at the 75th precinct.

A 22-year-old Newark man was arrested yesterday for beating and sexually assaulting a 9-month-old infant who died Friday after going into cardiac arrest in what has been ruled a homicide. After an autopsy is released as soon as today, police say charges may be upgraded against Everett Sheppard, the boyfriend of the late infant Victoria Madsen's mother. No charges have been made against the mother, 19-year-old Sheila Troutman, but her other son, a 2-year-old, has been taken into custody by the Division of Youth.

A Brooklyn jury convicted Nixzaliz Santiago on manslaughter charges for the death of her 7-year-old daughter Nixzmary Brown.

The police arrested a man for abusing his 8-month-old son to death. The medical examiner's office says that baby Elijah Rodriguez had "blunt trauma to the abdomen" (the Daily News says there were "fist-shaped bruises" there), attributing his death to "fatal child-abuse syndrome." His 21-year-old father, John Rodriguez, was charged with murder and manslaughter; he and the baby's mother Wanda Rosado, who were living at a Bronx shelter for homeless families, were already being monitored because Elijah had a broken arm in the summer. Rosado apparently "rushed" at Rodriguez when he was being led from the stationhouse. She told the Post, "I wanted to kill him. He will suffer for this."

The Brooklyn DA's office played a videotaped interview with the mother on trial of killing her abused daughter, saying the video implicated her in the death. Nixzaliz Santiago spoke to police and prosecutors after her 7-year-old daughter Nixzmary Brown was found dead in January 2006, saying that she didn't "call for help because Nixzmary"--who was brutally beaten by Santiago's husband--was "moaning, breathing." Prosecutors, who say that Santiago's inaction led to the child's death, pointed to how one moment she's crying, the next she's composed, suggesting Santiago was acting when she eventually called 911. The jury may start deliberating next week.

Yesterday, Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Patricia DiMango stopped the Nixzmary Brown murder trial to question a juror. A letter suggested the 35-year-old male schoolteacher indicated he could not be fair during jury selection by raising his hand, but "the judge and the lawyers did not notice," according to the Daily News. However, the juror said he could be fair in the emotional trial, where Nixzaliz Santiago is accused of murdering her 7-year-old daughter. Earlier this week, the AP looked at how the trial " raised the question of whether mothers should be held to a higher standard than fathers at a time when traditional gender roles in the home are changing." The Brooklyn DA's point is that Santiago left Nixzmary to die after her husband administered a brutal beating.

Prosecutor Ama Dwimoh told jurors what 7-year-old Nixzmary Brown's final words were, "Mommy, Mommy, Mommy" "after being beaten, battered, broken and thrown naked onto a cold wooden floor." Brown's mother Nixzaliz Santiago is on trial for the girl's murder, as the Brooklyn DA's office contends Santiago did nothing to prevent her husband Cesar Rodriguez from delivering a fatal beating in January 2006. Dwimoh added, "She left her to die. Nixzaliz Santiago simply did not care."

Jurors were warned by prosecutors that the trial would be "emotional" as jury selection began in for a second trial related to 7-year-old Nixzmary Brown's death. This time, the child's mother Nixzaliz Santiago faces murder charges.

After a jury found her stepfather guilty of manslaughter, the Brooklyn DA's office is readying for a second trial in the death of 7-year-old Nixzmary Brown. This time, her mother Nixzaliz Santiago will be in court, and the Daily News reports reports prosecutors may suggest Santiago was "jealous because she believed her husband having sex with the 7-year-old" and therefore allowed her daughter to be tortured. A prosecutor said, "Motive is always relevant. If she believed her husband was doing that ... whether the allegations are true or not, it goes to her state of mind." Stepfather Cesar Rodriguez's defense had been that Santiago directly caused the child's death.

Last year, it was discovered that Judith Leekin adopted 11 foster children from NY adoption agencies using aliases, taking over $1 million while abusing and starving them. Today, Leekin will be sentenced, and lawyers representing the children hope she'll be be given a long sentence. The lawyers recounted a litany of abuses--siblings described pulling the decaying teeth of one profoundly retarded and autistic sibling (Leekin received more subsidies for special needs children) because they had no dental care. While Leekin pleaded guilty to mail fraud and wire fraud in NYC, she will face abuse charges in Florida,where she moved with the children. Update: Leekin was sentenced to 10 years, three-and-a-half more years than sentencing guidelines.

Yesterday, a funeral was held for three-year-old Kyle Smith, who died under the care and apparent abuse of family friends. Family members, friends and neighbors shed tears and voiced regrets over the child's death.

A is for Apple..B is for Blood and C is for Crip? The Daily News has a disturbing story about gang-member parents indoctrinating their children from birth in gang life. Before they can even speak, some of these tots can flash their signs and are adorned with gang colors and accouterments. Are gang-themed line of onesies far behind?

Family members mourning the death of a 3-year-old child at the hands of a family friend who was caring for him are speaking out, including the child's mother.

The godmother of a 3-year-old boy and her boyfriend reportedly admitted to prosecutors that they beat the child, who died on Friday. However, Nymeem Cheatham and Lemar Martin, who are being held without bail, did not confess to killing Kyle Smith, who was found with cigarette burns, bruises all over his body, a torn tongue, a broken pelvis, and signs of sexual abuse.