Child Injury Lawyer Blog
By Scott A. Marks, Attorney and David Wolf, Attorney
Published by Child Injury Lawyer Network
A 61-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of molesting 3 girls at his wife’s day care facility in Riverside County, California. Ruben Avalos was arrested while he was picking up children after school and transporting them to his wife’s day care center, Carlos Family Child Care center in Moreno Valley. Avalos was suspected of molesting the girls after the initial allegations were made at Riverside County Regional Medical Centers. The alleged victims are under 14-years-old. Maria De La Luz Carlos, Avalos’ wife, stated she and Avalos have been married for 13 years and he sometimes helps her run her day care business. To see more details on this story please see Husband accused of molesting girls at wife’s day care center. Avalos will be entitled to an attorney and to defend himself against the accusations made against him. Victims of child abuse, whether sexual or physical, may suffer lifelong consequences resulting from the abuse. Therefore, it is imperative that day care facilities provide children with a safe and nurturing environment. Children should be encouraged to and provided the type of atmosphere that allow them to voice any concerns they have with day care workers or providers. Once suspicions are brought to light a criminal investigation will ensure, stopping the abuse or other inappropriate contact from occurring.
The Archdiocese of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, publicly stated it would filed for bankruptcy in the midst of pending child abuse lawsuits. According to Archbishop Jerome Listecki, the reason for filing for bankruptcy was because the pending sexual-abuse lawsuits could leave the archdiocese with debts it could not afford. However, one lawyer claims it is a delay tactic being used by the church to avoid opening its records to public scrutiny. In fact, Jeff Anderson, an attorney of St. Paul, Minnesota, who has filed 23 lawsuits against the church, stated he thought the bankruptcy filing was done to delay his deposition of Milwaukee Bishop Richard Sklba. Anderson and his clients have been pushing the archdiocese to make public the names of the priests accused of the sexual child abuse and the church officials who protected them.
Police officials in Baker, California, have arrested a former day are worker in connection with the October 2010 death of a 2-month-old baby at a local day care center. 22-year-old Ashley Rene Reifer was arrested and charged with one count of second-degree murder and one count of cruelty to a juvenile. The autopsy of Brody Hopper revealed that Brody died of traumatic brain injury or Shaken Baby Syndrome, said Police Chief Make Knaps. Reifer worked at Busy Bee Learning Center in Baker, California. According to investigators, Brody was in her sole care on the day of his death.
In Lawrence, Kansas (Douglas County), Richard Gonzalez was convicted of the crimes of
A 20-year-old day care worker was recently arrested and charged with cruelty to a juvenile. Alexis Binford was booked into Ouachita Correctional Center after she bit a child under her care at the day care center. In the arrest affidavit, the infant’s father told police his son had a bite mark on his cheek. The report also revealed that Binford texted the mother of the infant admitting she had bit the child, however, Binford claimed she was playing with the child when the incident occurred. According to the director of the day care center, Binford was in a room with multiple children including the infant victim. The oldest child in the room was 1-year-old and had only 2 teeth – the bite marks on the infant’s cheek reveal that his was bit by a person with more than 2 teeth. Although Binford told the child’s mother the incident was an accident, Binford did tell police the child had been crying non-stop, she could not make him stop and thus, felt overwhelmed. There was an incident in November 2010 where Binford’s own child was bit on the ear. Binford told West Monroe police she did not know who did it and denied doing it herself. If you would like to read more on this story please see 
A day care center has been shut down and its owner arrested in Omaha, Nebraska. Sandra Johnson, also known as Sandra Minor, was arrested for felony child abuse. An emergency order was issued to Johnson (Minor), which immediately suspended her license as a child care provider and, ultimately, shut down her day care center. The emergency order was issued after police were called to Creighton University Medical Center. After the officers arrived, hospital staff advised them that an 11-month-old was being treated for a broken arm. Police then talked with the child’s mother who told police that she believed the incident could have happened at her child’s day care center.
An 11-month-old boy was shot in an apparent drive by shooting in the Pleasant Grove area of Texas. Police have arrested a gang member, identified as 31-year-old Carlos Cordova, in relation to the drive by shooting. Cordova faces a charge of injury to a child and aggravated assault.
In West Virginia and other States, children are cared for and supervised at treatment facilities for emotional and behavioral problems. The facility and staff have a duty to provide consistent and compassionate care for these children. Unfortunately, some child care workers abuse their position and abuse or neglect children under their care. Having video surveillance in child care facilities including treatment centers, day care centers, and schools can be very helpful in monitoring and evaluating the care provided to children. In some instances, the situation would be difficult to evaluate without such video surveillance because it may just be the child’s word against the employee’s word. If the child has emotional or behavioral problems – then it may be difficult to prove the abuse / neglect and convince the sheriff’s office, district attorney / state attorney, and others to take action.