Child Injury Lawyer Blog
By David Wolf, Attorney
Published by Child Injury Lawyer Network
Sara Beth Whited, 48, owner of a residential child care center in Casper, Wyoming, has been charged with one count of child endangerment for an incident that occurred in October 2010. Whited was charged for her alleged role in the death of 3-month-old Tyler Parker. Nicole Parker, the infant’s mother, found Tyler unresponsive inside a bedroom at Sara’s Child Care, Whited’s day care facility operated out of her Vista Way home. Parker told investigators she found her son around 3:30 p.m., he was “cold to the though” and his face appeared “bluish and purplish.” Parker tried to perform CPR on her son, but her attempts failed because his jaw was “locked shut,” according to an affidavit from the case. The affidavit also states that Tyler was found “swaddled in a blanket” with “his arms tightly pulled down to his body.” An autopsy revealed the cause of death to be “asphyxia by bedding due to the fact of the infant being swaddled and placed on a soft foam bedding.” According to the rules and regulations governing day care providers, infants must be placed on their backs for sleeping unless a licensed physician says otherwise and provides a waiver. No waiver exists in the instant case. There is some debate about the frequency Tyler was checked on after he was put down to sleep. In an interview with detectives, Whited stated she had checked on the child numerous times, usually about every 10-20 minutes. However, authorities say the facts do not support this claim. The affidavit states the child must have been dead for a considerable period of time before her was discovered. Upon being discovered, the unresponsive Tyler was taken to Wyoming Medical Center where he was pronounced dead. If convicted, Whited could face up to a maximum of on year imprisonment. Whited is represented by an attorney and will be presumed innocent until proven guilty. For more please see Casper, Wyoming day care owner charged after child dies from asphyxiation in her care.
A 4-year-old boy from New Bedford, Massachusetts was beaten so badly that the mere sight of the child brought tears to a hospital nurse. Police have arrested and charged the the mother’s boyfriend for the horrific beating of the child. 31-year-old Elvis Garcia has been charged with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon. Officials stated the little boy’s body was covered in bruises and cuts and had dried blood in his ear. Detective Alberto B. Silva described the crime committed against the victim to the New Bedford Times as “heinous.” 33-year-old Sandra Augusto, the child’s mother, was also arrested and charged with substantial injury to a child and and reckless endangerment to a child under 18; she is accused of allowing the abuse to happen. For more see 
Lufkin, Texas, police are currently investigating a possible injury to a child case after they were notified of suspicions of child abuse / neglect by hospital personnel. 30-year-old Julia Goodwin of Lufkin, brought a one-year-old unresponsive child to Memorial Hospital’s Emergency. Standard drug tests done by the hospital revealed the child had ingested a dangerous drug, possibly PCP. Under Texas law, doctors and nurses are considered mandatory reporters of child abuse. These Texas medical providers have 48 hours to report their suspicions from the time they are made aware. Both doctors and nurses are taught to always be aware of warning signs: bruises of different healing stages on the child’s body and inconsistent stories about how the injury occurred. The investigation of the infant is ongoing and no charges have been filed as of the time that this new story was released. For more read 
An 18-month-old girl of San Antonio, Texas, is recovering from second- and third-degree burns she sustained while she was taking a bath. According to the arrest warrant, the girl’s 18-year-old babysitter, Juan Valentine Castillo, left the toddler unattended in the bathtub. Castillo claims that while unattended the little girl turned on the hot water and burned herself. Castillo has been arrested and charged with “injury to a child — assault — serious bodily injury,” and remains in jail with a $65,000 bond. Child Protective Services began to investigate the case after the toddler was transported to Christus Santa Rosa Hospital by her foster parents. The victim was eventually transported to University Hospital due to the severity of her burns. The arrest warrant reveals that doctors diagnosed the child with immersion burns and showed signs of abuse. Castillo told police he was the only person caring for the child at the time of the incident and claimed she adjusted he water setting on her own. Castillo was initially taken into custody on outstanding warrants for drug possession and assault. For more details see
A day care owner in Adams County, Pennsylvania, who is accused of not reporting acts of child sex abuse at her day care, has waived her arraignment. The former Aspers day care employee recently pleaded guilty to molesting six girls who attended the day care, which is located at the 100 block of Clines Church Road. Police were notified by Children and Youth in May 2010. After local police were presented with the sexual abuse allegations, other mothers of victims came forward. A sign is posted on the front door of the residential day care reading that the child care center is closed until February 21. Sadly, the Adams County Child Advocacy Center stated the number of reports of child abuse is increasing, also calling it an epidemic. A statistic in a local Pennsylvania newspaper stated that one in every four girls and one in every six boys will be sexually abused before they turn 18-years-old. All the six girls in this case who were sexually abused are now receiving help. Raymond Messinger, the man who admitted to sexually abusing the young girls, will be sentenced in March 2011. For more read 
Officials in Manassas Park City, Virginia, have officially released notice of several violations of the city’s extended child care program, Costello Park Preschool after allegations of sexual abuse against an 8-year-old child were found to be true. An 8-year-old girl who attended the day care program told her mother in September 2010 of separate incidents where she was sexually abused by a program employee in July and August 2010. After the child’s mother learned of the accusations, she reported the information to the City Parks and Recreation Director, Catherine Morretta. Morretta then notified local police, which lead to an investigation by both the city police and social service officials. The Virginia Department of Social Services Division of Licensing Programs also began an investigation since the day care is licensed by the state.
A woman of Portland, Oregon, has been charged with more than 20 felony charges after the woman allegedly recorded herself performing sexual acts on a 1-year-old boy. The 24-year-old woman was identified as Inez Lambert. Lambert was arrested after a friend saw 3 separate videos on Lambert’s computer and called the child abuse hotline. The videos allegedly show Lambert performing a sex act on the child. The videos were described by members of the Multnomah County Child Abuse Team as very disturbing. Lambert allegedly sent the cell phone videos to a man who is currently overseas. Investigators are highly concerned that other acts of abuse occurred due to Lambert’s previous occupations. She was a day care provider at LA Fitness and also worked the front desk at a 24 Hour Fitness. Officers are looking into whether Lambert every babysat for other families. The FBI and Department of Justice are also investigating the case. Lambert has been charged with seven courts of sodomy andusing a child in a display of sexually explicit conduct and sex abuse. The man overseas might also be arrested, however that will be handled by the military. To read more on this story please see 
The Archdiocese of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, publicly stated it would filed for bankruptcy in the midst of pending child abuse lawsuits. According to Archbishop Jerome Listecki, the reason for filing for bankruptcy was because the pending sexual-abuse lawsuits could leave the archdiocese with debts it could not afford. However, one lawyer claims it is a delay tactic being used by the church to avoid opening its records to public scrutiny. In fact, Jeff Anderson, an attorney of St. Paul, Minnesota, who has filed 23 lawsuits against the church, stated he thought the bankruptcy filing was done to delay his deposition of Milwaukee Bishop Richard Sklba. Anderson and his clients have been pushing the archdiocese to make public the names of the priests accused of the sexual child abuse and the church officials who protected them.