3 children found starved in hotel bathroom

[Forkboy]

DALLAS - Three children were kept in a hotel bathroom for about a year and were “horribly emaciated’’ when police found them earlier this month, authorities said. One said she had been repeatedly sexually assaulted.

The children were so emaciated that they threw up when child protective workers first tried to feed them. The children’s lips were dry, swollen, and cracked, their ribs were protruding.

The children’s mother, 30-year-old Abneris Santiago, is charged with injury to a child. Her 37-year-old live-in boyfriend, Alfred Santiago, is charged with aggravated sexual assault and continuous sexual abuse.

According to an arrest affidavit, Abneris Santiago called police on July 2 and asked for help getting her children and belongings from the hotel. Officers found a healthy 1-year-old girl - the child of the Santiagos, Jamison said - in a crib.

Inside the bathroom, they found an 11-year-old girl, a 10-year-old boy, and a 5-year-old boy - Abneris Santiago’s children from other relationships, Jamison said. It was apparent they suffered from “serious physical, emotional, and mental neglect,’’ according to the affidavit.

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2009/07/23/3_children_found_starved_in_hotel_bathroom/

What a world we live in. :(

[BlooInBloo]

1. Jeebus. Has this been like an especially hard week all-around, or is it just me?

Poor kids. :(

[Forkboy]

3. No, it's not just you.

Been thinking the same thing. Maybe shitty news just comes in bunches. This stuff really gets to me, probably as much as anything out there. What we do to each other as adults is bad enough, but to do this to children is beyond my comprehension.

[mzmolly]

19. I agree Forkboy.

As a Mother myself, I'd fight to my death to protect my child from harm. Indeed, it is beyond comprehension. I hope these people are jailed for a looooooooooong time. I also hope they never have the privilege of having children in their care again.

[redqueen]

21. No, seems that way to me, too.

There are no words... :(

[Name removed]

2. Deleted sub-thread

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Ian David]

28. Beyond the pale. Putting you on ignore. "Straight Story" my ass. More like "Twisted Dogma." n/t

[liberalhistorian]

41. Wow, please don't tell me someone actually either tried to

defend the parents or put the blame on the kids! I sure hope that wasn't what they said, 'cause I just can't fathom that.

[Ian David]

42. It's so cute when "ignored" tries to reply after they were put on ignore.

They're like little birds that keep crashing into the same window.

[wisteria]

4. There are no excuses for child abuse and endangerment.

This couple should never be able to raise another child. How sad, these children were the innocent victims of two sick and depraved human beings.

[TorchTheWitch]

5. They should never be allowed outside of a prison

I'm pretty astounded that you somehow believe they'd be in any kind of position to raise another child after this... neither one should ever see the light of day outside a jail cell again.

[SoCalDem]

7. Lock them in a bath room & give 'em a cheese sandwich..once a week.. n/t

[Selatius]

6. Some people shouldn't be parents. The only problem is figuring out which ones.

The only way we know if a person is unfit to have kids is usually after they have done something horrible to the children. Maybe if we had an extensive safety net as far as mental health goes. Did the mother have a history of mental illness?

[Mimosa]

8. Monsters live among us. n/t

[shadowknows69]

10. .....

In the thousands

[ejpoeta]

9. ok... WTF!!! a healthy 1 year old from those two but three kids who had been starved

and probably trapped in that bathroom for a year. i am going to cry. This just makes me sick.

[TwilightGardener]

11. This happens a lot in abuse cases, actually--one or several children

targeted for abuse, others treated well. The one year old was the child of both of the couple, while the three in the bathroom were just the mom's (other fathers).

[Liberal_in_LA]

29. sick. Love all your kids or give them to someone who will

[lumberjack_jeff]

12. Those children have a dad.

Sometimes mom is not the best caregiver. Sometimes mom is completely unsuitable.

Nevertheless, awarding custody to mom is the default setting.

[ejpoeta]

13. maybe she wasn't awarded custody.... maybe the fathers didn't fight for custody.

who knows. i have a friend who ended up losing custody after hte father took her to court. he was concerned about the boy, since her boyfriend beat the crap out of her. then she had the nerve to tell me that it wasn't fair that she only gets to see her son every other weekend.

[ourbluenation]

14. In california domestic violence victims will lose their kids if they don't get themselves

and their kids out of the home. this is a protection for the kids, but a lot of times the victim has no power within themselves to make the move. it's a tough situation. hopefully in your friends case she will do the work she needs to do to see the light about her life. It sounds to me like your friend is a battered woman who needs a lot of empowerment work. hopefully some day she will dig deep and do the work to the point where she can recognize an unhealthy relationship and avoid them like the plague and can have a more active role in her child's life. I don't think it's a thing where she had the nerve to tell you it wasn't fair. in her mind it truly was unfair. You can call your local dv agency and talk to someone about your friends situation to get some tools to try and convince her to come and talk to them. Hopefully then she will leave her abuser and work on why she chose to stay with this guy even if it meant losing her kid.

[ejpoeta]

16. she came here and spent two weeks!! i tried to get her to get into

low income housing and help, but she ended up going back to the guy!! after that i just quit dealing with her. i felt bad, because I wanted to make sure the kids were ok.... but i went to her house after her ex called me and said i could get there faster. i went with my daughter and was scared enough of the situtation that i made my daughter stay in the car. i had my cell phone ready to call 911. i was afraid the guy might hurt me. but he didn't. he tried to get me mad at her by saying she said all this stuff about me. i didn't listen. i jsut stayed focused on getting her out of there. I was scared to death!! and she went back!! i fault myself for not calling the cops. i was afraid i would not be able to at least keep an eye on the kids. her aunt had called cps on her and dee wouldn't talk to her aunt for over a year!!! pisses me off that cps didn't actually look at anything. they just took dee's word for things. infuriating!!! I just couldn't stand by any more and watch this girl let herself be a punching bag!! i went over there a few months ago for mychael's bday party.... she insisted that ray doesn't hit her anymore. i don't trust it. she says she doesn't want to be treated that way, but she stays!!! i just don't understand it. She used to be such a good mother... with a job and self esteem. I actually would trust her to watch my daughter when emy was little.... we worked together. she had a job, an apartment at a low income housing.... and she moved all the way out to akron...it would be an hour drive to her job!!! all because HE didn't want to live too far from his job. so she ended up with no job and trapped. It's hard to stand by and watch someone destroy their life like that. Especially when there is nothing you can do about it. i wish they had something like that here..... do what's best for the kids.

[ourbluenation]

17. check your pm's. n/t

[lumberjack_jeff]

18. It's not tough at all.

If a parent "lacks the power" to protect his or her children, the kids should be placed someplace that can, preferably the other parent.

I think the problem is waiting until the unfit parent has demonstrated with tragic results that they aren't up to the job before intervening and awarding custody to the other.

[ourbluenation]

24. It is tough. Tough for everyone...

many times a dv victim stays with the abuser for one reason only - the abuser is the bread winner that provides a roof and food for the kids...in their minds they put up with the abuse to literally keep the kids fed and housed. to them homelessness would be worse for their kids. Is this in the best interest of the kids? of course not. but in the victim's mind it is. it's hard to grasp the deep pit of dispair some of these folks are in. in other words, it's a tough situation.

many times though getting the kids taken away is the impetus to make a change for the better. on edit I should add that we are in agreement that the kids should be removed from violent homes. but we also need some compassion for the desperate situation some of these people find themselves in.

[lumberjack_jeff]

27. So long as that compassion doesn't take the form of leaving kids at risk...

... then I agree.

It is also certainly one of the reasons that domestic violence is underreported; fear that the kids will get taken away. I don't find covering up a crime to keep the kids at risk to be a morally defensible act.

It is undoubtedly a difficult situation to be in. It should not be a difficult decision for CPS.

[mwooldri]

34. There are fathers who don't fight for custody...

... because they've got it in their head that the courts always award custody to the mother and don't even try and just resign themselves to a life away from their children. These are also the fathers who can't afford lawyers, so just end up going to court pretty much giving their rights away.

[bdamomma]

15. there are alot of mentally challenged people out there.

[Forkboy]

31. There are a lot of mentally challenged people out there who would never do such a thing.

I'm bipolar, but have no urge to starve children.

[mwooldri]

35. +1

My docs think I'm bipolar, I just say depressed, but it's a "mental challenge".

Children are a GIFT!!! I would not do ANYTHING to hurt my son (nor ANYONE for that matter, child or adult) and do my utmost to do what I can to support him and my wife. Heck, I even go so far to volunteer with the local anti-violence committee...

[Odin2005]

39. I have Asperger's and I adore kids and would never do anything to hurt one.

These people aren't "mentally ill" they are simply EVIL.

[mwooldri]

36. Yes, me for one. but not one that would hurt anyone least of all my own kids. nt

[babylonsister]

20. How on earth can people be so cruel? nt

[SidneyCarton]

22. I want to say that these people need a trial.

I want to say that they should be tried, and if proven guilty sentenced to rot in prison, I want to say this.

But the parent in me screams out for blood, particularly to work the boyfriend over with a pipe full of concrete.

:cry:

There really are no words.

[NoodleyAppendage]

23. Abneris Santiago is a WHORE and a sorry excuse for a mother.

No excuses for such treatment of her children. She's a scumbag and so is the asshole she shacked up with this time.

[readmoreoften]

26. Uh, calling her an all-caps "whore" is a little fucking over the top.

The fact that you call the mother a whore and then add the actual physically abusing male to your rant as some last minute tag on is kind of frightening.

[NoodleyAppendage]

32. I figured someone would lose sight of the real tragedy and excuse her behavior. Thanks for the conf

J

[aikoaiko]

25. Life in prison on a 1000 cal per day diet seems reasonable to me.

Fuckin evil people.

Of course, there could be more to the story, but if it is as seems.....

[azmouse]

30. So I guess the ability to have children doesn't automatically make someone a good parent...

Just like the inability to conceive doesn't mean someone would be a lousy parent.

[Maru Kitteh]

37. well said.

[obliviously]

33. It's a sick ass world!

[Odin2005]

38. There are simply no words...

My God... :cry:

[David Zephyr]

40. Every time I read any story like this, it makes me question what sort of species are we.

And what tears me to pieces is knowing that those little ones were crying for help and no one answered. Very, very sad.