Marie
Daughter, if you don't remember us...who will?
- Joined
- Sep 28, 2005
- Messages
- 1,291
- Reaction score
- 103
I don't know how we missed this one. Such a sad story and once again an example of the horrific failure of our child welfare system. Looks like there's been lots of attention to the case, vows of reforming the system and a new "Xctasy Law".
July 27, 2006 Slipping through the cracks
The little girl screamed and screamed, like she was dying. Her cries penetrated the walls of Reggie Belton's room at the Twins Motor Inn.
Two weeks later, the couple in Room 16 -- Delia Hernandez, 26, and her boyfriend, Jose Munoz, also 26 -- were charged with the attempted sale, torture and attempted murder of Hernandez's 4-year-old daughter, Xctasy Garcia. Xctasy's eyes were burned with bleach, her arm and shoulder fractured and her delicate body marred by cigarette burns and covered with bruises. (much more at link - comprehensive article)
July 28, 2006 Xctasy's agony
All of us should demand vigorous enforcement of a federal law that establishes a national registry so authorities in, say, Schenectady County, can know right away if people suspected of child abuse have engaged in it before. Coincidentally, President Bush signed such a bill into law on Thursday. What's required now is separate approval of the funding, about $1.2 billion, so the law is more than just words. That's a lot of money, but the price of not spending it is to turn a deaf ear to the harrowing screams of Xctasy and thousands of children like her.
Even more essential is a strengthening of a state law making it mandatory for all social service workers, like those in, again, Schenectady, who did nothing about reports of the abuse of Xctasy, to take all complaints of child abuse to a special hot line. Laws that are supervised at the state level but administered at the local level are troublesome. But reporting these allegations should be mandatory for everyone in government, and it should be a felony, not just a misdemeanor, when someone required to report evidence of child abuse fails to do so.
Something is inexcusably wrong when a county social worker doesn't do much more, as in this instance, than urge a motel manager to tell a witness to such child abuse to call the state hot line and the local police.
August 23, 2006 Custody weighed in Xctasy abuse case
A Family Court judge said he is considering giving custody of one of Xctasy Garcia's brothers to the boy's father.
Numerous family members, all from Massachusetts, are seeking custody of the 4-year-old victim of what has been called the county's worst child abuse case, and her brothers, Hennessy Velazquez, 8, and Damien Munoz, 7.
There are so many articles that I can't possibly post them all. A list is here
July 27, 2006 Slipping through the cracks
The little girl screamed and screamed, like she was dying. Her cries penetrated the walls of Reggie Belton's room at the Twins Motor Inn.
Two weeks later, the couple in Room 16 -- Delia Hernandez, 26, and her boyfriend, Jose Munoz, also 26 -- were charged with the attempted sale, torture and attempted murder of Hernandez's 4-year-old daughter, Xctasy Garcia. Xctasy's eyes were burned with bleach, her arm and shoulder fractured and her delicate body marred by cigarette burns and covered with bruises. (much more at link - comprehensive article)
July 28, 2006 Xctasy's agony
All of us should demand vigorous enforcement of a federal law that establishes a national registry so authorities in, say, Schenectady County, can know right away if people suspected of child abuse have engaged in it before. Coincidentally, President Bush signed such a bill into law on Thursday. What's required now is separate approval of the funding, about $1.2 billion, so the law is more than just words. That's a lot of money, but the price of not spending it is to turn a deaf ear to the harrowing screams of Xctasy and thousands of children like her.
Even more essential is a strengthening of a state law making it mandatory for all social service workers, like those in, again, Schenectady, who did nothing about reports of the abuse of Xctasy, to take all complaints of child abuse to a special hot line. Laws that are supervised at the state level but administered at the local level are troublesome. But reporting these allegations should be mandatory for everyone in government, and it should be a felony, not just a misdemeanor, when someone required to report evidence of child abuse fails to do so.
Something is inexcusably wrong when a county social worker doesn't do much more, as in this instance, than urge a motel manager to tell a witness to such child abuse to call the state hot line and the local police.
August 23, 2006 Custody weighed in Xctasy abuse case
A Family Court judge said he is considering giving custody of one of Xctasy Garcia's brothers to the boy's father.
Numerous family members, all from Massachusetts, are seeking custody of the 4-year-old victim of what has been called the county's worst child abuse case, and her brothers, Hennessy Velazquez, 8, and Damien Munoz, 7.
There are so many articles that I can't possibly post them all. A list is here
