{Excerpted}
“One of the most sadistic tales of child abuse has been the recent story of 7-year-old Nixzmary Brown. Her stepfather, Cesar Rodriguez (read the NY Post article), beat her to death after she took some yogurt without permission. New York City officials say the girl’s mother, Nixzaliz Santiago, did nothing to help or stop this abuse. What is even more shocking about this story is that the poor girl was ignored by everyone. According to reports, there were at least TWELVE opportunities where authorities could have intervened to save this girl’s life. Both parents had systematically beaten, tortured, tied up, bound, and deprived this 7-year-old of food. Twelve chances missed!
Did the system fail? No! It was not the system. People failed. The people who set up the system, who run the system, and who check the system should be held accountable. Child welfare workers say that the parents were not cooperating and were not responsive or receptive to their inquiries. C’mon! You call, they hang up on you. You knock on the door, and they slam it in your face. Is it just me, or shouldn’t that kind of consistently hostile behavior raise a red flag or two? Wouldn’t a normal and responsible child welfare worker wonder if these people were hiding something? Did they talk to the neighbors? Since Nixzmary’s death, some have come forward saying things were just not right in that household. Sooner or later somebody will come out with another excuse and say, “well, we have so many cases and not enough child welfare workers.” Unacceptable! “(more…)
