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Topic: Big Brother Rescues Caged Siblings (Read 202 times)

MzWings
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Big Brother Rescues Caged Siblings
« on: Aug 26^th, 2003, 8:25am »

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http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/08/26/national/main570102.shtml

Unbelievably shocking and sad!

PHOENIX, Aug. 26, 2003

A Phoenix police department photo of the makeshift cages that authorities say the children were kept in for nearly 20 hours a day (Photo: AP)

A Child Protective Services spokeswoman says the agency got a complaint about the family in 2001 but child welfare workers who visited the home twice reported the children were outside playing, in good health and good spirits.

Etelvina Rodriguez and her husband, Louis, were charged with two counts of child abuse and kidnapping.(Photo: AP)

(AP) A couple were arrested on child abuse charges for allegedly keeping their 5-year-old twin sons locked in filthy makeshift cages for nearly 20 hours a day.
Police found the boys Saturday after an adult older brother told an off-duty officer at a grocery store about the squalid living conditions.

When police arrived at the home they found the children inside two cribs that had been wired together and sealed by plastic crates. Roaches filled the cages, which contained a blanket and small mattress stained with feces and urine.

Louis and Estelvina Rodriguez of Phoenix were arrested on suspicion of child abuse and kidnapping.

Authorities have not as yet elaborated on why kidnapping is part of their investigation.

The twins, who police said appeared to be healthy and well-fed, were placed in state custody, as was their 8-year-old brother, who neighbors said enjoyed more freedom.

"They were happy to see us and opened their arms wide, reaching out to be held and picked up," police Sgt. Jacqui MacConnell said.

Investigators believe the boys were released from the cages for a few hours a day when their mother returned from work.

Estelvina Rodriguez, 42, told police her 69-year-old husband wanted the active boys in cages because he suffers from health problems and couldn't keep up with them. She said they were trying to control the children, not punish them.

The children's mother:

http://wwwimage.cbsnews.com/images/2003/08/26/image570118.jpg

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Rhune
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Re: Big Brother Rescues Caged Siblings
« Reply #1 on: Aug 26^th, 2003, 10:12am »

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I hope she rots in prison for life, in her own little "cage".

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azure
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Re: Big Brother Rescues Caged Siblings
« Reply #2 on: Aug 26^th, 2003, 10:20am »

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this is so ridiculous, how can any living creature do this to a child, let alone their own child

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Rhune
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Re: Big Brother Rescues Caged Siblings
« Reply #3 on: Aug 26^th, 2003, 10:24am »

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I'm just glad they were caught while there is still time for the children to get some therapy and reverse the damage that was done. My mother works with the kids who come from the worst abuse cases out there, and she's said a few times to me, that once they hit puberty, it's too late to reverse all the damage done. At that point it's too late for them to learn how to love and trust another human being. At 5, if they get into a good placement and get the right kind of therapy, they can still come out of this unscathed in the grand scheme of life.

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azure
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Re: Big Brother Rescues Caged Siblings
« Reply #4 on: Aug 26^th, 2003, 10:41am »

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one of the boys I care for came from an abusive home.

He has mild mental retardation, when he was 12 years old, he was left in charge of his younger sister and brother (why would you leave a 12 year old child w/ mental retardation in charge of 2 other children??) His sister was holding his hand crossing the street, she darted away from him, and right in front of James was hit and killed by a bus. His father, never forgave him, told him he was the retarded one it should have been him that died. he was useless and he only was letting him live there to get his social security benefits. James ended up having to take care of, or at least the best he was able to, his two younger brothers all the time, one of whom also has mental retardation, as well as he was left to take care of their mother, who was dying of renal failure. One morning he left for school and had a typical argument with his mom, he told her he hated her and wished she was dead. Turns out she did die that day, he came home from school to find his brothers playing at her feet while she lay there dead. He was scared that he did this to her because of what he had said that morning so he didnt call anyone for 2 days when he slipped and told his teacher. The day of his moms funural, James was 15 at the time, his father threw him out and said he "f'ed up again" and he no lnoger could stay living with him. So for months, James was homeless and living under a bridge. While living there he was sexually molested by some homeless men.

I realize I rambled on and on, but basically I am trying to tell you, we have so many problems with James and trust. We constantly reassure him he is loved, when I need to scold him, I always have to follow it up with, I may not be happy with your actions right now, but I do still love you. He automatically will go up and pack and say I know you want to send me away, put me in the state hospital again. I know I failed. It breaks my heart. Cry

So many times the emotional abuse can be just as bad as the physical.

James has only lived with me for 14 months. So we are still going through a trial period technically but we have seen so many changes in him. He will not go to bed at night without saying I love you to us. Those are the times when we know we are doing it right. Tongue

Those are also the times when the whole issue of child abuse just irks me. How can someone enjoy doing this to any living being?

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MzWings
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Re: Big Brother Rescues Caged Siblings
« Reply #5 on: Aug 26^th, 2003, 10:45am »

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That woman is not a ~~mother~~

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Rhune
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Re: Big Brother Rescues Caged Siblings
« Reply #6 on: Aug 26^th, 2003, 11:06am »

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I just wanted to clarify my post above. It specifically pertains to children who have been so severerly beaten and neglected that they have no attachment to another human being, no sense of what love is. Those children can be turned around as long as they are reached before puberty, but not after. Children who did have some love, no matter how small and actually developed their own love for another person as a result can still be reached after puberty. I was specifically meaning the worst of the worst cases, like children who are kept in a cage 20 hours a day.

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azure
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Re: Big Brother Rescues Caged Siblings
« Reply #7 on: Aug 26^th, 2003, 11:08am »

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oh I knew what you meant rhune

and I totally agree

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darnchts
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Re: Big Brother Rescues Caged Siblings
« Reply #8 on: Aug 26^th, 2003, 11:18am »

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Reminds me of the book "A Child called It" by Dave Pelzer. If you can stomach this type of reading, you should read it and the 2 that he wrote afterward telling his continuing struggles to become "normal" again. I am reading his more current one right now called "Help Yourself". This man is incredible and it is incredible that he was able to become the man he has today considering the life he didn't have when he was a child.

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MzWings
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Re: Big Brother Rescues Caged Siblings
« Reply #9 on: Aug 26^th, 2003, 11:41am »

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Thanks for the Dave Pelzer info. I Googled his name -

http://www.google.ca/search?q=Dave+Pelzer&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8 &oe=UTF-8&start=0&sa=N

http://www.davepelzer.com/

What an amazing man!

We can only hope and pray these twins will be taken care of by loving and caring people.

Azure - you're a strong, loving and caring woman. When you described what happened to the boy you're caring for, my heart broke for him. Heaven only knows how he would be if it weren't for you.

« Last Edit: Aug 26^th, 2003, 11:45am by MzWings »

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"Senility Prayer"...God grant me...
The senility to forget the people I never liked
The good fortune to run into the ones that I do
And the eyesight to tell the difference."

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