Roselani Gaoa was accused of child abuse three times while pregnant with Baki.
JUN 6, 2024
A woman was accused of child abuse while pregnant with a baby who is now presumed dead. Child welfare officials in California and Utah did little to intervene.
www.latimes.com
Authorities in Utah say Gaoa was caught on video pummeling her 5-year-old daughter inside a homeless shelter just a day prior to Baki’s birth. Gaoa had left California weeks earlier, not long after finding out she was facing child abuse charges in Los Angeles after she “lost control” while disciplining her 1-year-old son, according to records reviewed by The Times.
Between November 2023 and April 2024, allegations surfaced that Gaoa, a mother of four, had battered her 1-year-old son, ripped and cut another child’s hair in Los Angeles, and beat and attempted to smother her 5-year-old daughter, according to police and child abuse reports obtained by The Times and a public criminal complaint filed in Utah.
The abuse allegations brought panicked outcries from relatives and a criminal filing against Gaoa, but child welfare officials took almost no action against the parents in the six months leading up to Baki’s disappearance, the reports show. After each incident, the children were left in the custody of either Gaoa or Dewees, who was also accused of child abuse last year, according to the reports.