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According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, in 2003, approximately 906,000 children were victims and an
estimated 1,500 children died of abuse or neglect. Locally, according to Colorado Association of Family
and Children's Agencies (CAFCA), children in Colorado desperately need protection and care. Recently released statistics
from 2005 include: - In 2005, apporoximately 30,000 children were reported abused or neglected
and referred for investigation in Colorado.
- Out of that number, nearly 9,000 cases were substantiated
or indicated as abused. Twenty-one percent suffered physical abuse, 46.6% neglect, 1.4% medical neglect, 11.5% sexual abuse,
5% psychological maltreatment and 18% other or unknown.
- Boys and girls are equally likely to be
abused or neglected.
- Approximately 80% of child abuse is perpetrated by a parent or caregiver.
- An
average of 20 children in Colorado die from suspected abuse or neglect every year.
- Children under
the age of 4 account for 75% of all child abuse deaths.
- Neglect occurs more frequently than abuse
and can be equally damaging and deadly. 30% of all child fatalities are due to neglect.
- 11,927 children
spent some portion of 2005 in substitute (foster) care .
- Approximately 1,500 abused and neglected
children receive intensive, rehabilitative mential health services in residential programs.
- The
majority of children in residential care have been victims of significant physical or sexual abuse.
Please
Help the Children of Colorado so they too can enjoy beautiful music and enjoy the beautiful land.
Lakewood police officer was about to be arrested, say copsby Ginger Delgado | News2
- July 1, 2008
COMMERCE CITY (KWGN)
- A Lakewood cop who was found dead in a murder-suicide was about to be arrested for allegedly abusing
his three-month old daughter, according to Commerce City police. William O'Shell and his wife, Tiffany O'Shell, who
was a former Lakewood police officer, were found shot to death inside their home Monday night on the 11500 block of River
Run Parkway in Commerce City. Police say it was 6:15 p.m. on Monday when they first got the call about two people dead
inside the home. The call came from Tiffany's mother.
Tiffany O'Shell was hired by the Lakewod Police in 2006, but resigned a year later. O'Shell
was a Lakewood police officer hired in 2005 and assigned to the patrol division.
At a news conference in Commerce
City on Tuesday, police made a stunning announcement: William O'Shell was the prime suspect in a child abuse case involving
his own 3-month-old daughter. Sgt. Joe Sandoval told reporters, "The child suffered what we consider to be serious bodily
injury. It was nothing life threatening, but serious enough to where it involved fractures, breaks and things of that nature."
Sandoval says it was June 17th when the couple first brought the baby to a hospital. "Our investigators responded
directly to the hospital to start interviewing doctors and family members who were there to try to make their determination
about who had cared for the child, " he said.
The investigation focused on four people: William O'Shell,
Tiffany O'Shell and two relatives who had cared for the baby. But soon, everyone but William was ruled out as a suspect
and police say they were just about ready to make the arrest. "The case was being built. We were getting very close to
presenting the case to the D.A.'s office," said Sandoval.
Now, instead of a child abuse case, police are
investigating a murder-suicide, and they say until the autopsy is completed, they still don't know who killed who.
Police say the couple's baby is expected to make a full recovery from her injuries. She is now in a foster home
and in the custody of Adams County Social Services.
| Posted: 5:26 PM Feb 29, 2008
Last Updated: 7:12 PM Feb 29, 2008
Reporter: KKCO
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| A Grand Junction man is behind bars accused of sexually molesting his own daughter. NBC
11 News has chosen not to release the suspects name in order to protect the young victim in this case. According to
the Mesa County Sheriff's Office, when deputies when to arrest the man he ran from them and tried to commit suicide by
swallowing pills. An arrest affidavit shows the 42-year-old had been sexually molesting and raping his daughter since
she was seven years old. The most recent attack happened two weeks ago. The man is facing eight felony charges including
two counts of aggravated incest and one count sexual assault on a child by way of force. He's being held at the
Mesa County Jail on a $100,000 bond. He'll be back in court in early March for a formal filing of charges |
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Father Arrested in Child Abuse of 2 Young Children
By For News Release questions, please contact our PIO
| On August 16th, the Colorado Springs Police Department was
notified by Memorial Hospital that a 4 month old baby boy had been transported to the hospital from the 6700 block of Dublin
Loop. It was determined that the baby had a subdural hematoma which would have occurred within the last day. In addition,
the baby had some other bruising on the front and back. The child was then transported to Denver Children’s Hospital.
At Children’s Hospital, it was determined that there appeared to be both
new and older subdurals in this child. They advised that this was non-accidental trauma. At this time, it was requested that
the other two children be transported to Children’s Hospital for a child abuse assessment. A 4 month old female that is a twin to the above child, along with a 17 month old male baby were evaluated
and it was determined that the older child was fine, however, the 4 month old female was found to have multiple fractures-in
excess of 20 that were to both arms, legs, and torso area. These fractures were all healing and could have occurred anywhere
from one to three weeks ago. The two twins are 4 months old and were born 6 weeks premature. The babies weigh approximately
7 lbs. at 4 months. Through the course of the investigation, an Arrest
Warrant was obtained for the father of the children. He has been identified as Bradley Jason Vincent, a 25 year old white
male. The Warrant charges him with 2 counts of Child Abuse, a class 3 Felony. The Arrest Warrant was signed this morning and
Bradley Vincent turned himself into the El Paso County Criminal Justice Center at approximately 3:00 p.m. this afternoon.
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January 20th, 2008
For a year, Lora Lee Hansen-Beard, 41, of Boulder, Colorado, would leave her eight-year-old daughter every Saturday
night with a 47-year-old man, Joseph Cardillo, 47.
If you read the story in the newspaper, you’ll see that Hanswen Beard was a complete and total nut. She is charged with two misdemeanor counts of child abuse
for placing the girl in a life- or health-threatening situation.
That’s it? As usual, the Boulder DA is doing a great job…not.
Authorities found out about the abuse after the girl’s teachers reported that she often showed up late to school,
unfed and wearing dirty clothes. Her teachers say that the girl cried all the time and was unable to focus on her work.
The girl told police that she and Cardillo slept naked in the same bed, would bathe together, and went in the hot
tub naked.
Cardillo is charged with sexual assault. He’s accused of using a sex toy on the girl and drinking her urine.
If convicted, he faces a possible life sentence in prison if convicted on charges of sex assault on a child by a person in
position of trust and a pattern of assaulting the girl. He’s free on a $100,000 bond.
6 months
ago DENVER – The father of a 10-year-old
girl killed in a shooting is scheduled to appear in court Wednesday on charges of child abuse resulting in death. Denver
Police said they arrested 29-year-old Leo Cisneros on Tuesday. He is scheduled to appear at noon. His
daughter, Auralia Cisneros, was killed during a shootout in their home on Nov. 26. Police
have said three men came to the home to rob Leo Cisneros and Auralia was killed during the confrontation. The DA's office
charged Trivi Trujillo, Joshua Rojas and Juvenico Hernandez, all 19, in her death. They also charged 22-year-old Manuel Talamantes
with felony murder and as an accessory to the crime. Police would not release details
on why Leo Cisneros was charged on Tuesday, but would only say they have "developed sufficient
information to arrest" him. "What we found through our investigation, we felt
that his actions that took place that night, those charges were warranted," said Sonny Jackson, spokesperson for the
Denver Police Department. "The gist of these charges is that the father of the slain
girl acted knowingly and recklessly in allowing his child to be placed in a position that was dangerous to her life or health,"
said 9NEWS legal analyst Scott Robinson. Auralia's mother was also in the home when
the shooting happened but she does not face any charges at this point. "The police
believe at least that the father was up to no good," said Robinson. "There are a number of scenarios that explain
the charges; could be drug business, gang affairs, could even be placing the child into the crossfire." According to the coroner's report, Auralia was sitting with her father when the shootout began. It says
she was found with "a small bag of green, leafy material clutched in her left hand." Despite
pictures on the family's MySpace page that appear to show gang signs, a gun and Leo Cisneros' criminal history of
drug possession, the family has insisted the shooting was random. 9NEWS attempted to contact
the family, but they did not return any phone calls on Tuesday. The police and the coroner's
office have never clarified which gun the bullet that killed Auralia came from – one of the alleged robbers or Leo Cisneros'.
Robinson says if the bullet came from Leo Cisneros he would also face charges of reckless manslaughter, not just child abuse.
The Denver District Attorney's office will now decide which charges will be formally
filed. |
| Rest in Peace |
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| Jason |
Dad arrested in stabbing of 2 kids - Colorado
Springs father was arrested Monday on suspicion of trying to kill his young son and daughter last week in what police said
was an attempted murder-suicide.
Matthew Valverde, 44, is accused of stabbing his 4-year-old
son, 5-yearold daughter and himself at their Stratton Meadows home in the 1200 block of Norwood Avenue off East Cheyenne Road
on the city's south side. All three were hospitalized Thursday with serious but nonlifeing
injuries, Colorado Springs police said. The children had been released by Monday. Valverde remained at Memorial Hospital in fair condition. Once released, he'll be jailed on suspicion
of two counts of attempted firstgree murder, police said.
 Detective Payton Patterson described the stabbings as an unsuccessful murdersuicide but said
investigators found no suicide note. It's unclear when the stabbings occurred. Officers found Valverde and the children covered in blood about 7:10 a.m. Thursday in a bedroom. All three were on the bed. Valverde was unconscious, but the children were not. Police
came to the house after the children's mother arrived to pick them up. When no one answered the door, she called 911 to
ask officers to check inside. Copyright 2006
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved.
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October 13th, 2007
 In Colorado Springs, Colorado, foster mother Jules Lynn Cuneo, 34, is being held without bond on suspicion of first-degree murder and felony child
abuse in connection with the death of her two-year-old foster child, Alizé Vick. The little girl died from a blow
to the head.
Cuneo called 911 and told them that Alizé was unconscious and breathing. She then told police that Alizé had
fallen out of a parked SUV earlier in the day and hit her head. Then she changed her story and said that she was bouncing
Alize on her lap when the child fell and struck her head and neck on the table.
Finally Cuneo admitted that she pushed the Alizé to the ground after getting angry with her. She told them she
threw the girl and Alizé’s head struck a table.
Police are now looking into a series of child abuse complaints against Cuneo from as far back as 2003 including one made a couple of months after Alizé and her nine-month-old brother,
Anthony, were placed in her care.
Seems that a neighbor recorded what she was hearing on her baby monitor, which was picking up what was going
on over at the Cuneo home. The neighbor said she could hear Alizé screaming for Cuneo, who weighs 3oo pounds, to
get off her and that she couldn’t breathe. There is no indication that this complaint was investigated.
Alizé’s grandmother, Kathleen Heil, said she had made three complaints after noticing a fat lip, a black eye,
a broken tooth and bruising when she picked up Alizé and Anthony for visitations.
Why didn’t anyone take these reports seriously? Someone besides Cuneo is going to have to pay for Alizé’s d
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
AURORA, Colo. - The father of a girl reported missing in 2005 has been arrested, authorities said
Wednesday. Jail records indicated Aaron Thompson was booked at 12:50 p.m. Wednesday on a charge of cruelty
toward a child causing death and was being held on $500,000 bail. His daughter Aarone was 6 when he told
police on Nov. 14, 2005, that she became upset and left the family's house when he refused to let her have a cookie. Three
days after the initial report, police announced that they believed the girl may have been dead for as long as 18 months, based
on a tip. They have not released any details. The girl's family was unable to provide
recent pictures of the girl. Police had said Thompson and his girlfriend, Shely Lowe, were "persons
of interest" in the case. Both denied any involvement in the girl's disappearance, and Lowe died May 12 of an apparent
heart attack, police said. A spokeswoman for the district attorney's office declined comment, citing
grand jury secrecy rules.
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| Rest In Peace |
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| Estela Bautista |
Man given 48-year sentence in beating death of 3-year-old
Michael Bueno apologized to families, court at sentencing.
By Sue Lindsay, Rocky Mountain News
January 23, 2007
Michael Bueno seemed to have the only dry eyes in the house as he was sentenced Monday to the maximum 48 years in prison
for beating to death his girlfriend's 3-year-old daughter.
His family wept as they begged for mercy for Bueno, whom they said was himself abused as a child.
The toddler's mother and other relatives cried over the horror little Estela Bautista was forced to endure in her short
life.
But Bueno himself sat stone-faced, seldom looking at those who spoke at his sentencing hearing. He had pleaded guilty to
child abuse resulting in death.
Denver District Judge Christina Habas said she watched in vain for some sign of remorse from Bueno since charges were filed
against him nearly two years ago.
"I've never seen it. Not once," Habas said.
The judge added that Bueno had done nothing to convince her that he is "redeemable."
Bueno, 21, fatally beat the girl Feb. 24, 2005, while her mother was at work.
He called relatives instead of 911 and fled the scene before paramedics arrived. He later told police the girl slipped
and hit her head in the bathtub.
Prosecutor Kerri Lombardi said Estela either was beaten after a potty-training accident or soiled her pants during the
beating.
Bueno apologized to the court and families.
"I don't have no excuses for my actions," he said. "I am remorseful. Whether it's 16 years or 48, I can never pay my debt
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+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Ft. Carson Soldier Johnathan Klinker Pleads Guilty to Child Abuse After Killing Infant Daughterby Anne-Marie Nichols on April 21st, 2007  Johnathan Klinker, 22, a soldier at Fort Carson in Colorado, pleaded guilty to child abuse resulting in death
and second-degree assault in the death of his infant daughter who died of severe bleeding of the brain.
Klinker claims his seven-week-old daughter, Nicolette, hit
her head after he held her four inches off the ground by her arms, then let her drop to the floor. He said he was
imitating a doctor doing a reflex test. The baby died at a hospital four days later. However, authorities believe Klinker became frustrated when Nicolette started crying and
shook her four or five times, put her into a sitting position, then let her fall to the floor. The beating resulted
in multiple injuries like bruising on her face and hemorrhaging. Klinker
is facing 30 to 64 years in prison. Fort Carson officials said it is up to his commanding officer to initiate discharge
proceedings
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