AR - Couple charged with starving, abusing 8yo son, Fayetteville, Jan 2018

[OkieGranny]

http://5newsonline.com/2018/01/29/police-fayetteville-couple-starved-handcuffed-child-as-punishment/

A Fayetteville couple faces child abuse charges after police say they punished an 8-year-old boy by handcuffing him to a table for several hours a day and starving him for months.

Melissa Miranda, 33, and Josue Tovias, 28, were arrested Saturday (Jan. 27) in connection with kidnapping, permitting child abuse, second-degree domestic battery, first-degree endangering the welfare of a minor, aggravated assault on a family or household member, first-degree terroristic threatening and tampering with physical evidence -- all felonies.

Miranda, who is pregnant and has four other children, singled her son out for punishment because she was jealous that her mother loved him more than her, according to a probable cause affidavit.

 

[Teche]

Oh my! Poor child.

 

[1HogFan]

This is an awful story!!

 

[MsMarple]

http://5newsonline.com/2018/01/29/police-fayetteville-couple-starved-handcuffed-child-as-punishment/

IMO Miranda was angry at her mother, her boyfriend and her child and in order to make herself feel better she chose to torture an innocent little boy. And IMO, based on following abuse cases I believe she also enjoyed hurting him. More of the history:

During the initial investigation, police say allegations surfaced that the victim was being starved and that Miranda was jealous that her mother loved the victim more than she loved her. This was said to be the reason for the victim being singled out from the other children.
...
Police say that when the staff called Miranda and Tovias, to remedy the situation, they were very defensive and at one point said the victim would just have to spend the day sitting in the nurse's office. They also resisted requests to bring the victim clean clothes.
...
[Miranda's 17-year-old daughter gave LE a recording] In the recording, Miranda was extremely irate, aggressive, vulgar, and loud, the report stated. She was mad because the victim stole candy. She threatened him, saying "I'll cut you" and threatened to abandon him in the cold and to have him arrested for stealing candy. The detective reported hearing sounds of something being struck repeatedly. She was heard speaking to Tovias, which indicated he was there when this was happening, police say. [Tovias claims it was not his voice.]

Miranda gave many reasons why she tortured her son, including:

She had a lot of regrets and did not know why she did the things that she did. She said she experienced emotional turmoil in October when she found out that Tovias had cheated on her. The incident reportedly led to her arrest for Aggravated Assault on a Family or Household Member, Domestic Battery and Possession of a Controlled Substance (Meth).
...
She said when she put the victim in timeout, he refused to stay put. She also said he was stealing "junk food" from the kitchen during the night.
...
However, he wet and defecated on the living room carpet on several occasions when he could not make it to the bathroom. The carpet was starting to stain. As a result, she began making him sleep on a trash bag. She also admitted that while handcuffed to the desk in time out, she made him bend at the waist, touch his toes, and remain in that position as punishment.

Due to copyright I had to leave some things out. But to me, this is very telling:

Police say Miranda displayed emotions of sorrow and disappointment in herself and said that she needed help. When asked why she did not disclose the abuse earlier in the investigation, or in three previous DHS investigations, she said she was afraid of the consequences of her actions and knew that she would get prison time. She also admitted that she frequently told her children that they were not to tell the family's business to anyone outside of the home, which was why they did not disclose the abuse during interviews.

http://www.fox16.com/news/local-new...f-5-accused-of-starving-abusing-son/943543142

More at the link. Miranda and Tovias face these charges:

-Domestic Battery
-Aggravated Assault on a Family Member
-Endangering the Welfare of a Minor
-Tampering with Physical Evidence
-Kidnapping
-Terroristic Threatening

Tovias also is charged with permitting child abuse.

 

[mistivon]

Really weird....I see Tovias at this link with a court date of 1/9 but all I see for her is a traffic citation?? Surely, I am looking wrong or she is in another county or something. No way did those charges disappear. Cant find any news follow up either.

Docket Report Results - Not an Official Document