Silvahalo
October 26th, 2009, 11:51 PM
The child abuse case of Xcatsy Garcia came up in the thread "The Child Called It", (thanks Nell). It is sited as one of the worst cases of child abuse at its time. Most astonishing is the number of people including CFS, police, neighbors, who had a chance to stop or intervene on the abuse but failed. Those approached to buy Xcatsy didn't report the attempted sale of a child until the abuse case hit the news. I wanted to see it here on D'D for reasons I think we all understand.
http://i510.photobucket.com/albums/s341/silvahalo68/Fallen%20angels/AbusedSurvivors/060727xctasy1.jpg
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.
It was the last week in May, and Belton just wanted to watch the NBA playoffs on TV. But the cries made it hard to hear. He heard a man in Room 16 yell "Get in the corner!" Belton drifted off to sleep, but more screams woke him at about 2 a.m.Finally, he couldn't take it any longer. He pounded on the door of Room 16. He thought he heard someone muzzle the child.
[...]
The next day, Belton told the motel's manager, who called county authorities. They said he should tell Belton to phone New York's child abuse hot line. Belton never did.
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. Law enforcement officials believe Munoz targeted Xctasy because she was the child of his girlfriend's former lover.
A month long Times Union-NewsChannel 13 investigation has found that government officials, police, family and friends repeatedly missed the chance to save Xctasy from her torturers. At least 10 people, some of them afraid or unwilling to speak publicly, either witnessed the abuse or saw or heard warnings. Nobody stopped it. Nobody helped the helpless child.
[...]
It may take months for authorities to sort out the blame, and even longer to figure out how to prevent another Xctasy. So gruesome was the sight of the child when she was rushed to a hospital by churchgoers who finally noticed her suffering that Xctasy's rescuers still cannot recall those moments without sobbing.
Hernandez and Munoz deny they abused their daughter.
.....more here.... (http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=503129&category=SCHENECTADY&BCCode=&newsdate=7/28/2006&TextPage=6)
"I tried. I'd stand in between, you know what I mean? But you're not there. You're not living that. Yeah, there is a lot of things people say could have happened and should have happened," Hernandez told reporters for the Times Union and NewsChannel 13 during an interview at Schenectady County Jail.
"Do you know what it's like to sleep with somebody and you don't know if you're going to wake up the next morning?" she asked. "It was .. hard not knowing what to do next."
Xctasy Garcia has regained her eyesight, and doctors recently removed screws they inserted to help the snapped radius bone in her left forearm heal. But putting a family back together again may prove harder than fixing a little girl's injuries.
[...]
It could take months before Schenectady County Family Court Judge Mark Powers decides who will raise Xctasy and the boys, children who for most of their lives have lived a nomadic existence with a mother who rarely stayed anywhere for more than a few months.
The judge has ordered home inspections and background checks on all those who want custody.Many family members petitioned for custody of Xcasty. At present I am not sure where Xcasty ended up; though Xcasty asked her father constantly when she was going home. Sadly, he wasn't in much of a position to take custody as he battled drug addiction. At the end Xcastsy survived her horrific abuse but left with many scars, some that will never leave her. Be happy and heal little one.
Slipping Through the Cracks. (http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=503129&category=SCHENECTADY&BCCode=&newsdate=7/28/2006&TextPage=6)
Reform Sought After Abuse. (http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?category=SCHENECTADY&storyID=504867&BCCode=&newsdate=8/2/2006)
Xctasy's Mom Tells of Fear. (http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?category=SCHENECTADY&storyID=503825&BCCode=&newsdate=7/29/2006)
No Quick Remedy to Heal a Family. (http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?category=SCHENECTADY&storyID=503130&BCCode=&newsdate=7/27/2006)
http://i510.photobucket.com/albums/s341/silvahalo68/Fallen%20angels/AbusedSurvivors/060727xctasy1.jpg
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.
It was the last week in May, and Belton just wanted to watch the NBA playoffs on TV. But the cries made it hard to hear. He heard a man in Room 16 yell "Get in the corner!" Belton drifted off to sleep, but more screams woke him at about 2 a.m.Finally, he couldn't take it any longer. He pounded on the door of Room 16. He thought he heard someone muzzle the child.
[...]
The next day, Belton told the motel's manager, who called county authorities. They said he should tell Belton to phone New York's child abuse hot line. Belton never did.
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. Law enforcement officials believe Munoz targeted Xctasy because she was the child of his girlfriend's former lover.
A month long Times Union-NewsChannel 13 investigation has found that government officials, police, family and friends repeatedly missed the chance to save Xctasy from her torturers. At least 10 people, some of them afraid or unwilling to speak publicly, either witnessed the abuse or saw or heard warnings. Nobody stopped it. Nobody helped the helpless child.
[...]
It may take months for authorities to sort out the blame, and even longer to figure out how to prevent another Xctasy. So gruesome was the sight of the child when she was rushed to a hospital by churchgoers who finally noticed her suffering that Xctasy's rescuers still cannot recall those moments without sobbing.
Hernandez and Munoz deny they abused their daughter.
.....more here.... (http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=503129&category=SCHENECTADY&BCCode=&newsdate=7/28/2006&TextPage=6)
"I tried. I'd stand in between, you know what I mean? But you're not there. You're not living that. Yeah, there is a lot of things people say could have happened and should have happened," Hernandez told reporters for the Times Union and NewsChannel 13 during an interview at Schenectady County Jail.
"Do you know what it's like to sleep with somebody and you don't know if you're going to wake up the next morning?" she asked. "It was .. hard not knowing what to do next."
Xctasy Garcia has regained her eyesight, and doctors recently removed screws they inserted to help the snapped radius bone in her left forearm heal. But putting a family back together again may prove harder than fixing a little girl's injuries.
[...]
It could take months before Schenectady County Family Court Judge Mark Powers decides who will raise Xctasy and the boys, children who for most of their lives have lived a nomadic existence with a mother who rarely stayed anywhere for more than a few months.
The judge has ordered home inspections and background checks on all those who want custody.Many family members petitioned for custody of Xcasty. At present I am not sure where Xcasty ended up; though Xcasty asked her father constantly when she was going home. Sadly, he wasn't in much of a position to take custody as he battled drug addiction. At the end Xcastsy survived her horrific abuse but left with many scars, some that will never leave her. Be happy and heal little one.
Slipping Through the Cracks. (http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=503129&category=SCHENECTADY&BCCode=&newsdate=7/28/2006&TextPage=6)
Reform Sought After Abuse. (http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?category=SCHENECTADY&storyID=504867&BCCode=&newsdate=8/2/2006)
Xctasy's Mom Tells of Fear. (http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?category=SCHENECTADY&storyID=503825&BCCode=&newsdate=7/29/2006)
No Quick Remedy to Heal a Family. (http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?category=SCHENECTADY&storyID=503130&BCCode=&newsdate=7/27/2006)