GUILTY NY - Thomas Valva, 8, autistic, killed, NYPD father & fiancee arrested, Suffolk Co, 17 Jan 2020 *arrests*

[Charlot123]

If he does this to his own child how does/did he interact with the citizens he comes into contact with as a cop?

How? This guy dreamed of being a big actor, and ended up being a small cop. He was taking it on the whole world.

The evil stepmom is even more despicable.

 

[bears10]

How? This guy dreamed of being a big actor, and ended up being a small cop. He was taking it on the whole world.

The evil stepmom is even more despicable.

I Wouldn't consider NYPD small cops. Jmo

 

[Emerald1328]

I paid for a subscription to a local news website so I could read their articles. I’m going to summarize the ones they’ve posted so far in the next few posts.

 

[Emerald1328]

In opening statements, the prosecutor claimed that Michael Valva and his former fiancé, Angela Pollina, forced Thomas and his brother Anthony to sleep in their unheated garage. The night of Thomas’s death he had been in there 16 hours, the temperature was 19 degrees that night and his body temperature on arrival to the hospital was 76.1 degrees.

The prosecution said they were forced to sleep in the garage because they had issues with incontinence. They made them wear pull ups, withheld food and access to the bathroom, sent them to school in dirty clothes. At school they stole food, took it out of the trash and ate crumbs from the floor.

One text from Valva to Pollina said “I will beat them until they bleed. It is the only thing that works.”

The defense alleged that the abuse was all Pollina’s idea and that Valva tried to bring them blankets and a mattress.

The morning Thomas died, he soiled himself so Valva took him outside, made him strip outside and cleaned him off with a hose. Valva said he put him in a warm bath and the defense said that caused a cardiac arrest. Due to various things going on his life, the defense said Valva was forced to stay with Pollina and as a result, allow the abuse to continue.

DA says Michael Valva wrote: 'I will beat them until they bleed'

Thomas Valva and his brother suffered years of abuse and neglect at the hands of their father, who stands accused of murder in his death, a Suffolk prosecutor told jurors during opening statements.

www.newsday.com

 

[Kiranerys]

In opening statements, the prosecutor claimed that Michael Valva and his former fiancé, Angela Pollina, forced Thomas and his brother Anthony to sleep in their unheated garage. The night of Thomas’s death he had been in there 16 hours, the temperature was 19 degrees that night and his body temperature on arrival to the hospital was 76.1 degrees.

The prosecution said they were forced to sleep in the garage because they had issues with incontinence. They made them wear pull ups, withheld food and access to the bathroom, sent them to school in dirty clothes. At school they stole food, took it out of the trash and ate crumbs from the floor.

One text from Valva to Pollina said “I will beat them until they bleed. It is the only thing that works.”

The defense alleged that the abuse was all Pollina’s idea and that Valva tried to bring them blankets and a mattress.

The morning Thomas died, he soiled himself so Valva took him outside, made him strip outside and cleaned him off with a hose. Valva said he put him in a warm bath and the defense said that caused a cardiac arrest. Due to various things going on his life, the defense said Valva was forced to stay with Pollina and as a result, allow the abuse to continue.

DA says Michael Valva wrote: 'I will beat them until they bleed'

Thomas Valva and his brother suffered years of abuse and neglect at the hands of their father, who stands accused of murder in his death, a Suffolk prosecutor told jurors during opening statements.

www.newsday.com

I know everyone is entitled to a defence, and we all need that to be the case to ensure justice is done and the results not be called into question, but not for all the money or belief in justice in the world,could you entice me into being a defence attorney,having to stand there and spew excuses for such a vile waste of human existence.
I couldn't stand to be in the same air space as it.

 

[Emerald1328]

A paramedic who responded to the home the morning Thomas died testified that Valva showed no emotion on the scene. When she arrived she was sure he was dead when looking at him. After Thomas was pronounced dead, a hospital staff member asked Michael if he needed anything and his reply was “No. I’ve been in more stressful situations.” The paramedic also testified to injuries that were shown in Thomas’s autopsy photos, which included bruising on his forehead and scrapes on his nose.

Another paramedic at the scene testified that Michael’s story about what happened changed in less than a minute, first saying that Thomas hit his head on a doorway and then that Thomas fell outside.

A nursing assistant who treated Thomas when he arrived at the hospital testified that Valva was expressionless when informed of Thomas’s death.

A crime scene investigator testified she found a red stain on the garage floor and on a white towel in the garage. She found a plastic bag on the backyard patio. That contained Thomas’s clothing, which was frozen.

Paramedic testifies Michael Valva showed 'no emotion' as first responders tried to revive his 8-year-old son

"There was no crying; most parents cry and freak out in a situation like that," said paramedic Erin Lambert, referring to 8-year-old Thomas' father, Michael Valva. "There was none of that."

www.newsday.com

 

[Emerald1328]

Police started treating this as a criminal investigation after the autopsy. Michael Valva said that Thomas collapsed shortly after hitting his head but the autopsy showed the facial injuries were superficial. Teachers at Thomas’s school told police that the boys came to school in dirty, urine soaked clothing and were denied food, stealing it from other students or taking it from the trash.

A search warrant was executed on the home a week after Thomas’s death. Trash bags outside contained 2 infant mattresses that were partially burned. A burn area was found in the backyard. A hole they cut in one wall of the garage showed no insulation. They did not cut into the other walls or garage door.

Detective: Thomas Valva's autopsy results prompted criminal probe

"It changed at that point from a non-criminal investigation to a criminal investigation," Det. Michael Ronca told jurors in a Riverhead courtroom at the murder trial of Michael Valva.

www.newsday.com

 

[Charlot123]

I Wouldn't consider NYPD small cops. Jmo

I don’t want one small apple to spoil the whole NYPD. I have been to NYstate and NYC many times and consider that as a megapolis, it is run well. But Valva’s plans initially were different, he wanted to become an actor, and with him, it is too obvios. He has to go downhill as much as possible.

I think this woman, Pollina, is even worse. What woman can get such a text and remain stone-hearted? She should get zero concessions for being a woman. And of course if kids were beaten up for enuresis, they’d have enuresis.

It all sucks.

 

[bears10]

I don’t want one small apple to spoil the whole NYPD. I have been to NYstate and NYC many times and consider that as a megapolis, it is run well. But Valva’s plans initially were different, he wanted to become an actor, and with him, it is too obvios. He has to go downhill as much as possible.

I think this woman, Pollina, is even worse. What woman can get such a text and remain stone-hearted? She should get zero concessions for being a woman. And of course if kids were beaten up for enuresis, they’d have enuresis.

It all sucks.

I live a couple towns from where Thomas died, and I dont know that I can agree that NY as a whole is run well in terms of law enforcement. Our county is well know for its corrupt police force.

Pollina and Valva are pure garbage and I pray they face the harshest consequences possible.

 

[Marysmith]

I paid for a subscription to a local news website so I could read their articles. I’m going to summarize the ones they’ve posted so far in the next few posts.

Thank you.
This case is so vile. Wow.

 

[caradana]

I feel enormously for the jurors in this case. Imagine being firsthand subject to this depth of sadness and evil all day, every day, for months, while your job languishes waiting for you to get back and your home life suffers with the stress. Tremendous empathy for them.

 

[Emerald1328]

A detective testified that he was given the username and password to the Valva’s cloud-based video surveillance system and accessed the videos. Most of the surveillance prior to 1pm on the day Thomas died had been deleted.

Witness: Video from Thomas Valva's house the day he died was deleted

Surveillance video recorded at the 8-year-old's Center Moriches home leading up to his 2020 hypothermia death was deleted hours after he died, a police detective testified.

www.newsday.com

 

[Emerald1328]

A plumber testified he worked at the Valva house about 6 months before Thomas died. Michael Valva came home and found that one of the sons (the plumber didn’t know which one) that had been locked in the bedroom had wet himself. Valva went to get cleaning supplies while his then-fiancé, Angela Pollina, flew into a rage. She said “this is the way I take care of **** business!”, throwing and dragging the boy down the stairs and out the door. Valva watched on, doing nothing. Pollina, who was friends with the plumber at the time, told him she didn’t watch the boys when Valva was home, instead locking them in their bedroom.

Valva’s attorney, on cross-examination, asked if Valva hit Pollina in any way. The plumber responded “He should have.” The plumber admitted he didn’t call CPS and said he wished he had.

A woman who taught piano to one of Pollina’s daughters at the house testified to hearing her yell at the boys upstairs. “It was viscous. She would have outbursts of rage.”

The assistant chief of the Suffolk County Crime Lab testified that several days after Thomas’s death she found 9 pieces of crumpled paper. Written on them were phrases such as “I will listen to mom.” and “I will not pee my pants.” She also smelled gasoline near 2 black trash bags that contained a burned crib mattress.

Witness: Michael Valva did 'nothing' as ex-fiancee Angela Pollina attacked his son

"She took the kid and threw him down the stairs," Thomas Norris told jurors at Valva's murder trial in Riverhead.

www.newsday.com

 

[rho]

Live Blog: Thomas Valva Murder Trial

Get the latest updates in the Thomas Valva murder trial.

longisland.news12.com

 

[Breezie]

I agree with you to a point that CPS may not have been aware of how horrifically these children were treated; the allegations from mandated reporters are not as bad as the reality.

But CPS may have been biased and wrong to let their biases impact the way the processed the information from Mom. MOO.

She was not a “mandated reporter,” she was probably less pleasant to talk to than the murdering parent, and what she reported was so horrific that it could have seemed unlikely. CPS workers might think, “Yeah, right. She just wants custody so she can stop paying child support. She is so high strung, she probably drives those kids crazy. She probably has put it in her sons’ heads that they are being sexually abused by that loving father. There shouldn’t be bruises, the kids should be clean. but —3 kids, 2 with special needs, full time work, that beautiful house! He’s such a mensch, and obviously there is something wrong with her if she lost custody.”

We know, of course, that Mom is not high strung, she was appropriately afraid for her children’s well being. And she was up against Powerful people and systems, fighting in good faith, while the overarmed oppositions fought to preserve power. She lost because the fight was not fair, and one side forgot that everybody was supposed to take the children’s needs into consideration first.

There is a CPS process, and one could go through the motions, (required visits, interviews, releases, discussions with supervisors, court involvement if appropriate...) with varying amounts of depth.

CPS could have a “appropriate” investigation and, for instance for a report called in by the teacher, not talk to Mom, not check social media, etc. These decisions about what information to seek and what do do when some questions go unanswered are complex. In discussion with supervisors, the worker has to find the right balance of being thorough enough and respecting the the family’s privacy, not acting on or being responsible for passing on rumors or hearsay that may be false, or even invented just to harass the family.

I do not know if the Suffolk County CPS did appropriate investigations “on paper,” going through the motions. That doesn’ t take much, frankly.

I don’t know but tend to suspect workers were either tired of having to investigate the family and mad that calls were made. The attitudes of family court and CPS could have been in sync. It is also possible they were too resigned that they couldn’t do much against all that power, and went through motions in depression more than in hostility to the calls.

I don’t know but suspect that CPS made the wrong decisions with the available information. I suspect CPS felt they already “knew” the family and that this investigation was a was a waste, either because it was a “nice” family being harassed because it was not perfect, or because the family court would never help no matter what they did.

This kind of abuse can be hidden. CPS workers are supposed to know that going in. They also know that reports get called in often enough that are somewhat ridiculous. They have to approach the family with a balance of respecting the family yet wondering if this could be one of those rare, awful cases. It is possible that CPS did a fulsome investigation (although I suspect they rather went through the motions) and did not learn of this awful abuse anyway.

There is a point in your post with which I very much disagree. Such horrific, deliberate abuse does not occur more often in disadvantaged or impoverished communities. CPS gets called for petty things much more often in communities where “helpers” like schools, medical facilities, community centers feel superior to the community they serve. But there is no reason to think lower socioeconomic status makes a family more likely to be abusive. If anything, it affords monstrous parents the opportunity to hire alternative evaluators, change schools, doctors, daycares, network and influence systems, etc. If this family lived in a crowded project apt. building and could only find one clinic that took Medicaid, and had a school that treated the families with disdain because they don’t take a day off of work and either spend a fortune on a cab or a lifetime on busses to come to a parent teacher conference...do you think this would have gone on so long?

Neighbors would have warmed and fed the boys.

Institutions would have had an easier time (too easy?) imaging the parents could be abusive.

A SIDS death on park avenue is seen as a tragedy. Everyone gathers around the grieving parents with support. A SIDS death in the projects is at least neglect.

If the parents put a toy in the crib, or gave into grandma and put the baby down on the tummy- and an infant died- this would be perceived very differently in the two neighborhoods. Part of this is confirmation bias because of beliefs like yours about “impoverished areas” and socioeconomic status. Maybe, if I am right in my suspicion that CPS felt they already “knew” the family, and if they thought the calls were harassing, which I think is possible, the thought that this couldn’t be going on in such a neighborhood contributed to their mistakes.

MOO.

Valva Trial: School Floods CPS Line After 'Suspicious Bruises, Abuse'

"We hoped it would raise a flag. We had major, major concerns." Principal of LI boy who froze to death in NYPD dad's LI garage.

patch.com

According to this article, the school really tried and flooded CPS with calls. It looks like CPS dropped the ball.

 

[Layne2020]

I am absolutely disgusted with the lack of media coverage on this trial and the fact that the judge would not allow cameras. Justyna, the mother to Thomas, has been recapping every day of the trial on her Facebook.

 

[Marysmith]

I am absolutely disgusted with the lack of media coverage on this trial and the fact that the judge would not allow cameras. Justyna, the mother to Thomas, has been recapping every day of the trial on her Facebook.

I’m actually shocked at the lack of coverage.

 

[Layne2020]

I’m actually shocked at the lack of coverage.

Not sure if you know the answer to this, but are we allowed to post the mother's daily recaps?

 

[Marysmith]

Not sure if you know the answer to this, but are we allowed to post the mother's daily recaps?

I don’t know.

 

[Kiranerys]

Not sure if you know the answer to this, but are we allowed to post the mother's daily recaps?

Sadly,no. Although you could always ask a mod to review,sometimes they can make exceptions in special circumstances.