By Scott Zahler, Attorney and David Wolf, Attorney
Published by Child Injury Lawyer Network
Elijah Johnson, nine-years-old, was treated for severe personal injuries at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta at Egleston. The boy’s family alleges that he was a victim of a brutal attack at an Atlanta day care center, but the day care center claims that the boy injured himself.
By Scott Soutullo, Attorney and David Wolf, Attorney
Published by Child Injury Lawyer Network
An Alabama child care center employee has been arrested after she confessed to injuring a child under her care. 29-year-old Allison Ross admitted to Huntsville police that she dropped a 10-month-old girl and then put a towel over the infant’s face to stop the child from crying. The girl was initially treated at Huntsville Memorial, but was transferred to Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston. The infant was treated for severe facial bruising. She has since been released from the hospital. After admitting to the violent act against the child, Ross was booked into the Walker County Jail and charged with injury to a child. Her bond has been set at $2,500. Ross was employed at Taking Care of Kids Daycare at the time of the incident. For more details please read Alabama day care employee admits to inflicting personal injuries onto a 10-month-old girl.
By Robert Chaiken, Attorney & David Wolf, Attorney Published by Child Injury Lawyer Network
Police in Mineola, Texas, are investigating a report of child abuse occurring at a local day care center, Guiding Light Childcare. According to the Mineola Police Department, the incident came to light after the mother of the child involved filed the complaint with local police. The mother’s complaint was filed after a former employee at Guiding Light Childcare posted a video of the incident on a social media website. Although no charges have been filed against the employee, the case is under investigation. However, Guiding Light Daycare has confirmed that the center has since let an employee go in regards to this incident, the center is cooperating with police. For more details, please read Child abuse complaint filed against Mineola, Texas, day care center.
Acts of abuse committed against children, whether physical, emotional or psychological, is a heinous crime, which could have lifelong consequences for the child victim. Incidents of child abuse can continue for a long duration of time, mainly because the abuse is unknown to others and is kept secret. However, if you are suspicious that someone is abusing a child please contact local authorities immediately. Filing a complaint with local officials will instantly prompt a criminal investigation and have the effect of stopping further of acts of violence and/or abuse.
By Scott Marks, Attorney & David Wolf, Attorney Published by Child Injury Lawyer Network
An emotional bond often develops between a teacher and their students. Especially during the adolescent years, teens often confide in their teachers and consider them to be a role model. However, some adults may take advantage of that special bond if a child is vulnerable.
In El Cajon, California, a karate instructor was sentenced to 26 years in California State Prison for allegedly engaging in a 10 month sexual relationship with one of his male students. The perpetrator was Eric Dylan Protas, 38. Protas was also required to register as a sex offender. John Philpott, the Deputy District Attorney said that the defendant molested the victim from August 2009 to May 2010, when the boy was 13 and 14.
By Scott Zahler, Attorney and David Wolf, Attorney
Published by Child Injury Lawyer Network
According to court documents obtained by The Atlanta Journal Constitution, a day care operator and staff member may have falsified reports tied to the death of two-year-old Jazmin Green. After the Clayton County daycare center had returned back from a trip to a Chuck E. Cheese restaurant in Fayetteville, an employee discovered that the child was missing. The child was found still strapped into her car seat roughly 35 minutes after the van returned back to the center, according to an affidavit. The child was unresponsive at that time and taken to Southern Regional Hospital, where she was sadly pronounced dead.
By Robert Chaiken, Attorney & David Wolf, Attorney Published by Child Injury Lawyer Network
Parents need a driver’s license to operate a motor vehicle but there is no such license or test to be a parent. Unfortunately and tragically, some parents are unfit and actually take affirmative action to harm a child. In Beaumont, Texas, a mother was sentenced to 25 years in prison for the heinous acts of pouring hot boiling water of her 5 year old daughter’s feet. The abuse caused severe burns to the child that, in turn, necessitated extended medical care and treatment for the personal injuries. The mother was arrested and eventually pled guilty to child injury charges. The child will need more skin grafts as she grows older. Hopefully, the child will be cared for in a more supportive and loving environment than the one that was provided by her mother. See Mother Behind Bars for Pouring Boiling Water Over Daughter in Beaumont, Texas.
By David Wolf, Attorney Published by Child Injury Lawyer Network
A former Olympia, Washington day care worker, Elisha Tabor, 20, pleaded guilty to molesting a five-year-old child in the child’s home and molesting a four-year-old child while at work. As part of the plea bargain, Tabor pleaded guilty to one count of first-degree child rape and two counts of first-degree child molestation. The Thurston County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office dismissed one count of first-degree child rape and a count of first-degree child molestation in exchange for the guilty plea. John Skinder, Deputy Prosecuting Attorney, said that he will recommend that Tabor serve 18 years to life in prison. Tabor’s sentencing hearing is scheduled for July 7 at 10:30 a.m.
Tabor worked at the Olympia Early Learning Center’s McPhee Road site on Olympia’s west side from May 2008 until January 2011. Tabor admitted that he raped and molested the five-year-old boy while acting as his babysitter. Prosecuting Attorney Skinder said that during Tabor’s sexual deviancy evaluation, Tabor told the psychologist that he molested the four-year-old.
By Robert Chaiken, Attorney & David Wolf, Attorney Published by Child Injury Lawyer Network
A jury in Forth Worth, Texas found 18-year-old Shantaniqua Scott guilty of two counts of injury to a child with serious bodily injury: a sentence of 25 years behind bars. The jurors watched a graphic hospital surveillance video that allegedly showed Scott smothering her four-month hold son with a blanket and then her hand.
At trial, doctors at Cook Childrens Medical Center testified that they put the baby in a room with a hidden camera because they suspected he was a victim of child abuse. The child was brought into the hospital after he had stopped breathing. At first the doctors thought he suffered from severe reflux; a condition when acid from the stomach backs up into the esophagus. The baby underwent surgery to correct the condition. However, two days later he mysteriously stopped breathing again. Hospital staff became suspicious of child abuse, so they secured a hidden camera in the child’s room.
By Joni J. Franklin, Attorney & David Wolf, Attorney Published by Child Injury Lawyer Network
Douglas County Judge, Sally Pokorny ordered Richard Gonzalex, 69, to serve 25 years to life in prison for allegedly molesting a four-year-old girl. According to prosecutors, the girl alleged the acts occurred several times over a six week period in 2009.
The Chief Assistant District Attorney, Amy McGowan, read a letter from the girls’ parents in court asking the judge to give Gonzalez two consecutive life sentences; the parents feared that the crimes would affect her as she grew older. The parents said in the letter, “that is something that will be with her for a life time”.
By Robert Chaiken, Attorney & David Wolf, Attorney Published by Child Injury Lawyer Network
In Star County, Texas a two-year-old girl suffered burn injuries when her parents left her unattended in a bath tub. Her mother, Carolyn Garza has been charged with injury to a child by omission. Her husband, the toddler’s stepfather, Jesus Alberto Lerma has also been charged for negligence. The toddler was taken to San Antonio Hospital and treated for burns. She has since been placed in the care of another family member. The parents claim it was an accident and blame a faulty water heater.
The Starr County sheriff’s deputies are not taking this incident lightly. The Department of Family and Protective Services have become involved in the investigation. The department’s spokesman, John Lennan said “it’s very important for parents or caretakers to properly supervise their children at all times, especially in the younger ages, because those children may not have the physical ability or the mental ability or the developed skill set to be able to remove themselves from that negative situation.”
Child Injury Lawyer Blog